2010 Doomsday Clock: 6 min. to midnight (+1 since 2007). Chinese Year: Tiger (Feb. 14) - as in Woods? In the 2010s the Woke Movement begins in the U.S., appropriating an African-Am. word and ramping it up to becoming super-sensitive to race issues bordering on Negrophilia, capturing corporate boardrooms and leading by 2019 to virtually every Madison Ave. TV ad featuring at least 50% black actors even though they're only 12%-13% of the U.S. pop., preferably black-white racemixed couples with children, while leaving Hispanics, Asians and other entitlement groups in the lurch? This is the U.N. Internat. Year of Biodiversity and U.N. Internat. Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures. Generation A (Alpha) consists of people born in 2010-25, the first generation born exclusively in the 21st cent. Time Mag. Person of the Year: Mark Zuckerberg (1984-). World pop.: 6.8B, incl. 1.57B Muslims, 1.647M in Britain (2.7%), vs. 2.4% for Europe; U.S. pop.: 308,745,538 (9.7% increase since 2000); Tex. passes the 25M mark (25,145,561) (20.6% increase since 2000). Number of people fed by one U.S. farmer: 155 (v. 16 in 1950, 26 in 1960, 47 in 1970, 76 in 1980, and 100 in 1990). Americans have 4.4M births this year, exceeding the record 4.3M in 1957 at the peak of the 1946-64 Baby Boom (U.S. Census Bureau); for the first time non-white new births outnumber white (37% in 1990, 48% in 2008). The Twenty-Third (23rd) U.S. Census gives the U.S. pop. as 308.7M, a 9.7% increase since the 2000 census; the Hispanic pop. grew by 43%, from 35.3M (13%) in 2000 to 50.5M, an increase of 15.2M; Mexicans make up 63% of U.S. Hispanics (vs. 58% in 2000), vs. 9% Puerto Rican, and 4% Cuban; 75% of all Hispanics in the U.S. come from Mexico, Puerto Rico, or Cuba; the number reporting that they're both black and white grows to 1.8M from 785K in 2000; the U.S. immigrant pop. is 40M (highest ever), with 13.9 new immigrants since 2000; in 1970 it was 9.7M. Declining birthrates cause deaths to exceed births in the European Union, pop. growth becomes dependent entirely on immigration (EU); Sweden has 1.6M foreigners out of a total pop. of 9.3M (17%). This is the last year that Baby Boomers (born 1947-65) are the most represented age group in the U.S. pop.; in 2013 it is 22-year-olds. China replaces Japan as the #2 world economy after Japan's GDP falls 0.3% in Oct.-Dec. Hispanics outnumber African-Ams. in 191 of 366 large U.S. metro areas; a record 83.7% of the U.S. pop. lives in large metro areas. JPMorgan Chase reports record profits of $17.4B this year. This year and 2010 humans add about 100 billion tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere, which is about 25% of all the CO2 put there by humanity since 1750. The total number of Internet users exceeds 2B this year, with 226M new users, 162M from developing countries; the total amount of new digital data generated per year reaches 1 zettabyte (1 billion trillion bytes); Internet usage catches up with TV in the U.S., and next year U.S. TV ownership declines for the first time since 1970; too bad, many suffer from govt. censorship. The S China Drought (ends 2011) affects 35M and causes billions in financial losses. The Mexican Drug War begun 2008 reaches a death toll of 22K by Apr. According to a study by Brandeis U., over the past 23 years, the white-black income gap rose from a median of $22K per family to $100K; black household wealth rose only from $2K to $5K; banks repossess 1M U.S. homes this year. Communist China makes its move to control the Western Pacific this year, despite expert predictions that it would take until 2025? Sudan punishes 40K women a year with a total of 600K lashes. Honor attacks in Britain reach 3K thanks to years of Muslim immigration. The Winter of 2010 (Dec. 2009 - Mar. 2010) is the coldest since 1963; on Jan. 5 Norway records a temp of -45.6C as hundreds die in Europe. This is the Mexican Double Anniv. Year, the 200th anniv. of independence and 100th anniv. of its rev. This year a record 25 of the 182 accredited ambassadors in Washington, D.C. are female, incl. Hunaina Sultan Al-Mughairy from Oman, the first female ambassador from an Arab country, and Meera Shankar, first female ambassador from India in over 50 years. Pop. of Mexico: 112.3M in June (vs. 97.4M in 2000), #11 in the world. Number of mosques in the U.S: 1,897 (vs. 1,209 in 2000). Number of Muslims in Germany tied to Islamist extremist groups: 37,470 (vs. 36,270 in 2009). The U.S. hurricane season is the first in 110 years with at least 10 hurricanes and none hitting the U.S. This is the Year of Islamist Infiltration in the U.S. according to Patrick Poole. This year Hamas arrests 150 witches in Gaza. Number of civilians murdered in Juarez, Mexico: 3,111 (vs. 2,421 in Afghanistan). This year 39 Muslims are tortured to death in Uzbekistan by the govt. (vs. 20 in 2008). World CO2 emissions reach a record 30.6 gigatonnes, up 5% from 2008; they had dipped to 29 gigatonnes in 2009. Total number of people allowed to leave Islam by the govt. of Indonesia since 2000: 135. Since 1999 2.8% (33K sq. mi.) of the Amazon Rainforest has been burned. Between this year and 2010 U.S. suicide rates for ages 35-64 rise by almost 30%. The 2010-12 Southern U.S. Drought. On Jan. 1 (Fri.) the 2010 Rose Bowl sees the 10-2 Ohio State Buckeyes defeat the 10-2 Oregon Ducks by 26-17. On Jan. 1 the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership goes into effect, seeking to expand the EU to North Africa, despite fears of Islamic immigration to and Islamization of Europe; meanwhile al-Qaida's #2 man Al-Zawahiri posts a video on the Internet praising members for kidnapping three Spanish volunteers and a French national and calling on them to reconquer Al-Andalus (Spain) after first "disinfecting" the Maghreb of all infidels. This year 663 illegal aliens from countries designated as "special interest" for ties with terrorism are arrested along the U.S.-Mexico border. On Jan. 1 Israeli officials announce support of Pres. Obama's decision to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, but criticize the measures being considered as too narrow, calling for "crippling" restrictions. On Jan. 1 North Korea issues a New Year Message calling for an end to hostility with the U.S. and a nuke-free peninsula, just week after sending signals that it wants to end its year-long boycott of nuclear disarmament talks - hold that tiger? On Jan. 1 a U.S. drone aircraft fires a missile that kills at least three militants in a car in Pakistan's North Waziristan region on the Afghan border; meanwhile a Taliban suicide car bomber in Shah Hasan Khel in NW Pakistan targeted at an anti-Taliban militia kills almost 100, pissing-off tribal elders; meanwhile on Jan. 1 a suicide bomber at a volleyball tournament near Lakki Marwat, Pakistan (in NW Pakistan near Waziristan) kills 75. On Jan. 1 the U.S. military celebrates their first month without a combat death in Iraq since the start of the war in 2003. On Jan. 1 China announces that it arrested 5,394 in 2009 for Internet porn, vowing to increase the crackdown. On Jan. 1 thousands march in Hong Kong to demand that Beijing grant full democracy. On Jan. 1 a new Irish Anti-Blasphemy Law passed last July comes into effect, causing Atheist Ireland to vow to fight it by publishing anti-religious quotes on its Web site. On Jan. 1 Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard (nee Vestergaard) (1935-), known for his Muhammad cartoons is attacked in his home by a mad 27-y.-o. Somalian Muslim Al-Shabaab terrorist wielding a knife and axe, who smashes his way through the glass door Jack-Nicholson-in-The-Shining-style but escapes by hiding in his panic room, after which the police shoot the intruder; meanwhile Muslim youths carbecue 1,137 cars across France as New Year's Eve celebrations turn violent, causing 549 to be detained overnight; 1,147 cars were burned in France last year, and 288 detained; 40K are burnt this year, and next the figures for next year are suppressed by the French authorities; meanwhile on Jan. 1 (night) French-Moroccan father Caude Sturni kills his three daughters ages 5, 11, 13 in Haguenau, then burns his house down with himself inside, all because of a separation; on Jan. 3 the Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC) issues a statement in English condemning the attack on Westergaard; on Jan. 8 the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten repub. six of the original 12 Muhammad cartoons, causing the OIC to condemn the paper on Jan. 10 in a statement in English, French and Arabic - the first one condemning the violence was meant for infidel consumption only? On Jan. 1 Pres. Barack Obama signs an executive order directing govt. agencies, local law enforcement and the U.S. Post Office to work on a plan for distributing medical countermeasures in the event of a biological attack. On Jan. 1 Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki issues an ultimatum to the West to accept Iran's low-enriched uranium for higher-enriched uranium for their U.S.-built reactor, or they will begin enriching theirs from 3.5% to 20%. On Jan. 1 the Y2.01K Crisis is smallish, with some ATM users getting locked out when the machines can't read the year 2010 properly. On Jan. 2 there is a rare palindromic day: 01022010. On Jan. 2 Pres. Obama gives a speech on Yemen, saying that Xmas Underwear Bomber was trained there, and vowing to hold those responsible "to account", answering former vice-pres. Dick Cheney's criticism that he doesn't recognize the struggle with terrorists to be a war with "Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred", and sending a message to Yemeni pres. (since 1978) Field Marshal (Fiver Shiite) Ali Abdullah Saleh (1942-) via U.S. Gen. David H. Petraeus congratulating him on his counterterrorism efforts and promising close cooperation; on Jan. 3 the U.S. and U.K. close their embassies in Yemen, signaling that they consider it a terrorist haven, and agree to fund a counterterrorism police unit for that country as well as fund Yemen's coast guard to fight Somalian pirates; U.S. military aid to Yemen will double from $70M to $150M; too bad, on Jan. 4 six trucks filled with explosives give security forces the slip and disappear into Sana'a. On Jan. 2 the Afghan parliament rejects 14 of 24 cabinet nominees by pres. Hamid Karzai as being cronies or under the influence of warlords, telling him to submit new acceptable ones. On Jan. 2 Mexican police capture Carlos Beltran Leyva, brother of drug lord Arturo Beltra Leyva in Culiacan, Sinaloa. On Jan. 2 four trains collide in two separate incidents in fog in India, killing 10 and injuring 47. On Jan. 3 (Sun.) the worst snowstorm since 1951 hits Beijing, China, dumping 8 in.; meanwhile a cold wave in N India kills 40, incl. 30 in the last 24 hours, and on Jan. 4 the worst snowstorm since 1937 hits South Korea. On Jan. 3 the Obama admin. still refusing to implement Muslim Ideological Profiling (MIP) as proposed by TLW et al., the Transportation Security Admin. instead issues orders that all travellers flying into the U.S. be given tightened random screening, and 100% from seven terrorism-prone countries (Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Mali, Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen) to be patted down and have carry-ons searched; the list is later increased to 14, incl. Cuba, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen; no surprise, Euro airports are slow to respond, Cuba and Sudan formally protest, and France wants to add 23 more countries to the risk list; meanwhile a 2008 report by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security about a rogue aviation network run by al-Qaida across the Atlantic Ocean that was buried resurfaces. On Jan. 3 human rights activist Josefina Reyes is killed in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; on Jan. 9 police find two severed heads and the bullet-ridden bodies of two women and a man in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the victims of drug cartels. On Jan. 3 a security scare at Newark, N.J. Airport shuts it down for hours and delays thousands of passengers after a man slips into a secure area to give a woman a goodbye kiss when a federal officer momentarily leaves his post. On Jan. 3 Brit Hume tells Fox News Sunday that Tiger Woods could make over his personal life by switching from Buddhism to Christianity, causing the PC police to come out. On Jan. 4 after a series of earthquake (up to 7.2) in the South Pacific since Jan. 3, a tsunami hits the Solomon Islands, but no injuries are reported. On Jan. 4 Yemeni security forces kill two suspected al-Qaida militants in Sa'ana, while the French, Czech, and Japanese embassies close like their U.S. and British counterparts; on Jan. 5 the Obama admin. announces that the U.S. govt. is suspending transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen, but continuing plans to close it, despite a new faulty report that one in five Gitmo prisoners released returns to terrorism. On Jan. 4 the U.S. Secret Service reports the discovery of a 3rd gate crasher at the Nov. 24, 2009 state dinner for Indian PM Manmohan Singh. On Jan. 4 the U.S. House Judiciary Committee holds hearings on NFL brain injuries; former NFL brain injury committee chmn. Ira Casson testifies that he sees no evidence that prof. football is linked to dementia. On Jan. 4 Bangladesh orders dozens of Islamic political parties to drop Islam from their name and stop using religion on the campaign trail per the constitution. On Jan. 4 after getting pissed of at the Social Security admin., black-clad gunman Johnny L. Wicks (1943-) hoots up the federal courthouse lobby in Las Vegas, Nev., then flees and is shot and killed by federal officers. On Jan. 5 Pres. Obama gives a press conference where he repeatedly admits that U.S. intel agencies failed with Xmas Condom Bomber and could have prevented it, and orders them to shape up, saying "This was not a failure to collect intelligence, it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had... That's not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it." On Jan. 5 China warns the U.S. not to sell more arms to pesky Taiwan, which doesn't stop it from announcing $6B in arms sales on Jan. 29. On Jan. 5 a U.S. federal appeals court upholds a lower's court's 2008 decision that the govt. has sweeping authority to detain terrorism suspects linked to al-Qaida, the Taliban or affiliated groups. On Jan. 5 (night) 14 suspected Muslim terrorists die after their explosives-rigged bus blows up prematurely in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. On Jan. 5 ESPN 3D debuts; on June 11 it broadcasts the Mexico-South Africa World Cup match in 3D; meanwhile Discovery, Imax and Sony announce a joint venture to create a 3-D TV channel next year. On Jan. 6 a U.S. military convoy travelling in the wrong lane hits a passenger van in Hillah, Iraq S of Baghdad, killing five Iraqis and injuring seven Iraqis and three U.S. soldiers. On Jan. 6 armed Nuer tribesmen kills 139 members of a rival tribe in a remote area of S Sudan. On Jan. 6 two U.S. drone strikes kill 12 in NW Pakistan. On Jan. 6 Calif. gov. Arnold Schwazenegger addresses the state assembly, asking the U.S. govt. to give Calif. $8B to help with its $20B deficit; he also shocks the Obama admin. by distancing himself from support of his health care reform bill, saying Calif. can't afford it. On Jan. 6 Xhosa tribal king Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo threatens to secede his 10M pop. Thembu tribal subgroup and take 60% of the land of South Africa with him if criminal charges against him aren't dropped. On Jan. 6 a Muslim suicide car bomber near Makhachkala, Dagestan in S Russia kills six police and injures 10 others. On Jan. 6 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton says that troubled countries like Yemen need development aid along with diplomacy and air strikes to fulfill U.S. security interests; on Jan. 6 Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi chimes in and says that Yemen doesn't welcome U.S. and foreign troops, even for training and logistical support. On Jan. 6 retiring Prague archbishop cardinal Miloslav Vlk (1932-) warns that Europe is letting itself be Islamized without a fight, adding "Today, when the fighting is done with spiritual weapons which Europe lacks while Muslims are perfectly armed, the fall of Europe is looming." On Jan. 6-7 a 20-hour gun battle in Srinagar, Kashmir, India between police and militants at a police outpost kills four. On Jan. 7 (midnight) Muslin gunmen stage a drive-by shooting outside a church in Nag Hamadi in Qena Province in S Egypt (40 mi. from the ruins of Luxor), killing six. On Jan. 7 an attempt to oust British PM (since 2009) Gordon Brown fails, but shakes his authority. On Jan. 7 a series of five bomb attacks on police in Hit, Iraq 120 mi. W of Baghdad kill eight and injure 10. On Jan. 7 in response to the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 in S Philippines, the Philippine govt. begins disbanding 132 militias used by politicians to intimidate rivals. On Jan. 7 the French govt. announces the deportation of radical Egyptian imam Ali Ibrahim El Soudany for issuing calls to violence - but not his followers? On Jan. 7 assembly line worker Timothy Hendron. (b. 1958), who has a pending lawsuit against them brings a rifle to electrical products co. ABB Power, killing three and wounding five workers before killing himself. On Jan. 7 after a 2-day trip to Turkey, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle tells Turkey to press ahead with reforms to bring it closer to the EU, denying that Germany is blocking its bid to join. On Jan. 7 Iranian opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi is fired on by pro-govt. demonstrators in Qazvin (90 mi. W of Tehran). On Jan. 7 former archbishop of Canterbury (1991-2002) Baron George Carey (1935-) pub. a letter in the London Times warning that uncontrolled Islamic immigration will threaten the "very ethos or DNA" of Britain. On Jan. 7 suspected al-Qaida member Adis Medunjanin (1984-) of Queens, N.Y. crashes his car into the back of another at the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge after leading U.S. federal agents on a high-speed chase through Queens, N.Y. and uttering the soundbyte "We love death more than you love life." On Jan. 7 (eve.) the Nag Hammadi Massacre see Muslim jihadists kill seven Coptic Christians and a Muslim guard outside a church in Nag Hammadi, Egypt; on Jan. 17, 2011 Mohamed El-Kamouny is sentenced to death for it. On Jan. 7-8 race riots by underpaid African workers in Rosarno, Italy in Calabria (toe of the boot) cause more than 1K to be shipped to immigrant detention centers, after which Pope Benedict XVI urges Italians to respect their rights, with the soundbyte "An immigrant is a human being, different only in where he comes from, his culture and tradition"; on Jan. 11 the pope denounces the failure at the Dec. 2009 Hopenhagen Conference, saying that world peace depends on safeguarding God's creation. On Jan. 8 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai defends his record on corruption, calling it "blown out of proportion". On Jan. 8 Georgian Airways resumes direct flights to Russia for the first time since the 2008 war. On Jan. 8 only a handful of the promised thousands of "good" Muslims march in Dearborn, Mich. to protest Islamic terrorists, saying that they don't represent Islam; meanwhile the FBI arrests Adis Medunjanin (1984-) and Zarein Ahmedzay (1985-) in connection with the Najibullah Zazi domestic Muslim terrorism case; on Apr. 24 Ahmedzay pleads guilty. On Jan. 8 Portugal legalizes same-sex marriages, but still won't allow gay couples to adopt. On Jan. 8 Obama admin. spokesmen Hillary Clinton and George Mitchell change the U.S. Mideast peace approach, stepping up pressure on Israel and the Palestinians to resume stalled talks by moving straight to negotiations on the toughest issues, incl. borders of a Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem; on Mar. 12 Hillary rebukes Israel for building new settlements in E Jerusalem, causing the Zionist Org. of Am. to send her a letter on Mar. 28 asking her to apologize to her former constituents in New York for promising to support an undivided Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and former New York mayor Ed Koch to say that he is "close" to "getting off the Obama train". On Jan. 8 police in Acapulco, Mexico discover a record 15 decapitated bodies outside a shopping mall; another 12 are killed by drug gangs around Mexico. On Jan. 9 (4:27 p.m. local time) a 6.5 earthquake strikes off the coast of N Calif., leaving 25K households without power. On Jan. 9 after his 2008 comment is pub. in the new book "Game Change", by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, U.S. Sen. majority leader (D-Nev.) Harry Reid personally apologizes for once predicting that Barack Obama would become the first black U.S. pres. because he is "light-skinned" and has "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one"; Obama accepts the apology, saying "I know what's in his heart". On Jan. 9 a bus is attacked in Angola about 6 mi. from the Congo border, killing six and wounding Togo's nat. soccer team asst. coach , spokesman and eight players, causing the team to withdraw from the African Cup of Nations. On Jan. 10 Social Dem. Ivo Josipovic (1957-) is elected pres. of Croatia, taking office on Feb. 18 (until ?). On Jan. 10 250K protest in Madrid and 100K in Barcelona against the Israeli invasion of Gaza, followed on Jan. 11 by 25K in Paris and 100K in London, all orchestrated by the Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood. On Jan. 11 an explosion outside the village of Nawa, Helmand in S Afghanistan kills a U.S. Marine, plus Rupert Hamer (b. 1960) of the Sunday Mirror, who becomes the first British journalist killed in the Afghan War. On Jan. 11 tearful retired ML baseball star Mark McGwire finally admits that he used steroids during his record-setting years, saying he needs to make the admission before becoming the hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, and that he already apologized to Roger Maris' widow Pat; former ML commissioner Bud Selig proclaims the end of the steroid era. On Jan. 11 after 60-y.-o. born-again anti-gay-rights grandmother Iris Robinson (1949-) ' is exposed as having a 2008 affair with 19-y.-o. Kirk McCambley and helping him raise $81K to open a cafe, her hubby Peter David Robinson (1948-) temporarily steps down as first minister of the North Ireland assembly (until ?); on Jan. 13 she resigns as MP for Strangford; meanwhile the Simon and Garfunkel song "Mrs. Robinson" gets downloaded heavily in Northern Ireland. On Jan. 11 Pres. Obama signs an Executive Order Establishing a Council of Governors "to strengthen further the partnership between the federal government and state governments to protect our nation against all types of hazards... reviewing such matters as involving the National Guard of the various States; homeland defense; civil support; synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities"; the news stirs fears of coming martial law in the U.S. On Jan. 11 N.J. passes a law legalizing medical marijuana, becoming the 14th state; on Jan. 12 Calif. begins efforts to legalize, tax and regulate it. On Jan. 11 a poll by ABC News, the BBC, and ARD German TV is released claiming that almost 70% of Afghans support the presence of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, and 61% favor the troop buildup; 42% blame the Taliban for the violence. On Jan. 11 Osama bin Laden's former driver Salim Hamdan has a new boy son in Sana'a, Yemen 14 mo. after returning from Guantanamo Bay, where he was convicted of war crimes in Aug. 2008; the birth falls on the 8th anniv. of the prison camp's opening. On Jan. 11 Dutch brewing giant Heineken Internat. announces the purchase of Mexican Economic Development Inc. (FEMSA) in Mexico, the beer giant that produces Tecate, Dos Equis, Carta Blanca and other brands. On Jan. 12 (4:53 a.m.) the 7.0 Great 2010 Haiti Earthquake centered 10 mi. from Port-au-Prince kills 100K-316K and leaves most of the 3M city pop. homeless, becoming the worst earthquake in the area in 200+ years; the nat. penitentiary collapses, allowing inmates to escape; the H.Q. of the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) (9K troops) in Port-au-Prince collapses, causing many personnel to be unaccounted for; the pres. palace collapses, along with the parliament bldg., causing Haitian pres. Rene Preval to flee to the Port-au-Prince airport and live there; the U.S. suspends deportations of illegal Haitian immigrants, and Pres. Obama promises "unwavering support" to rebuild the country, pledging $100M in immediate aid and sending thousands of troops; $5M in aid is donated in the first 48 hours via texting in $10 increments, and $22M within a week; U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson stinks himself up by calling the earthquake God's revenge because Haiti had made a "pact with the Devil" to throw out the French in 1791, followed by Rev. Bill Shuler, who claims that the "practice of witchcraft" caused God's wrath; a group of 10 U.S. Baptists are arrested for child trafficking and kidnapping for trying to cross the border to the Dominican Repub. with 33 Haitian orphans, some of whom turn out not to be orphans, and on Feb. 17 they are finally allowed to leave the country; by Oct. 1 not one cent of the $1.1B pledged by the U.S. for rebuilding arrives as 1M+ Haitians still live on the streets; after South Korean textile co. Sae-A Trading Co. donates $50K-$100K to the Clinton Foundation, several hundred farmers are evicted to make way for the 600-acre $300M Caracol Industrial Park in 2012, creating 8K jobs, although Bill Clinton claimed it would be 100K; conspiracy theorists claim that big oil caused the quake by secret drilling, but in Oct. scientists announce that a previously unmapped fault caused it, and that the originally blamed fault is ready to trigger another one; in 2012 Hillary Clinton's youngest brother Anthony Dean "Tony" Rodham (1954-) sits on the board of N.C.-based VCS Mining as it receives one of two "gold exploitation permits" from the Haitian govt. (the first issued in over five decades) for Morne Bossa, with options to renew for up to 25 years. On Jan. 12 NATO and Afghan security forces open fire during a demonstration in Garmsir in Helmand Province S Afghanistan, a former Taliban stronghold. On Jan. 12 Yemen begins negotiations with kidnappers holding a German family and a Briton hostage; on Jan. 11 German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle visit Sa'ana. On Jan. 12 China successfully tests an anti-missile system; meanwhile the People's Bank of China surprises investors by raising the required reserves of banks to tighten its monetary policy. On Jan. 12 Iranian nuclear physicist Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, who is linked to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi is assassinated by a remote-controlled bomb; Iran blames Israel and the U.S. On Jan. 12 Iraqi forces bring parts of Baghdad to a standstill with a crackdown on insurgents, arresting 25 and seizing 880 lb. of explosives, claiming to stop a terrorist plot. On Jan. 12 protests in Kabul, Afghanistan triggered by rumors that internat. troops destroyed copies of the Quran kill six. On Jan. 12 French feminist Rayhana is doused with gasoline on the streets of Paris by two Arabic-speaking men after appearing in a show on the oppression of Algerian women, but oops, they fail to set her ablaze with a cigarette. On Jan. 12 Carmen Milagros Ortiz becomes the first woman and first Latina U.S. atty. in Mass. On Jan. 12 the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rules U.K.'s stop and search powers under Sect. 44 of the 2000 Terrorism Act are illegal because they violate the Convention on Human Rights. On Jan. 12 the Mexican govt. arrests drug lord Teodoro Garcia Simental AKA El Tedo in S Baja Calif., known for ordering massacres, beheadings, and dissolving bodies in acid. On Jan. 12 the Am. Israel Action Coalition calls for the firing of Obama's anti-Semitism czar Hannah Rosenthal for supporting the supposedly Jewish-run J Street lobbying org., saying that it's really funded by Arabs and is a fake Jewish front. On Jan. 12 TLW pub. his Winslow Plan to Defeat Islam, calling for all non-Muslim nations to unite, occupy, and disarm Muslim nations, then take the children away and raise them without seeing a Quran or a mosque before releasing them back into society on probation - nobody listens until ? On Jan. 13 (7:47 a.m. EST) a 33-to-50-ft.-wide mystery object whizzes by Earth, coming within 80K mi. On Jan. 13 Google Inc. announces that it discovered a massive attempt to hack into its email accounts of Chinese dissidents, and is responding by stopping its censoring of search results in China; China censors the news of it, after which on Jan. 14 its official spokesperson Jiang Yu claims that "China's Internet is open", and that the govt. prohibits e-mail hacking; on Jan. 21 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton gives a Speech on Internet Freedom, singling out China, drew analogies between the Iron Curtain and the free and unfree Internet, pissing them off and causing them on Jan. 22 to tell the U.S. govt. "to respect the truth and to stop using the co-called Internet freedom question to level baseless accusations", then on Jan. 24 they pub. an article in People's Daily accusing the U.S. of controlling the Internet in the name of Internet freedom and mounting a "hacker brigade" to foment unrest in Iran; on Mar. 22 after a Chinese official Googles himself and finds material critical of himself, ordering a crackdown, another official claims China can live without Google, and they get into a mini-war for 2 mo., Google announces that it's closing its China-based Web site and redirecting traffic to an uncensored site in Hong Kong, which the Chinese will censor; on July 9 China gives Google a green light to keep its search page. On Jan. 13 Yemeni forces announce the killing of al-Qaida leader Abdullah Mihzar in the mountainous region of Maysaa (230 mi. SE of Sana'a); on Jan. 14 Yemen declares war on al-Qaida, warning its citizens against aiding it and calling for help; meanwhile Islamic clerics threaten jihad if foreign military forces intervene. On Jan. 13 Israeli deputy foreign minister Daniel Ayalon formally apologizes to Turkish ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol for humiliating him earlier in the week by making him sit on a low chair while Israelis towered over him in order to express anger at a Turkish TV series claiming that Israelis try to kidnap and convert Muslim children. On Jan. 13 veteran civil rights activist Larry Platt (1948-) appears on American Idol and performs his cool song "Pants on the Ground", about the silliness of low-rider pants. On Jan. 13 Dubai launches the OneWorld 2011 project to defeat stereotypes and misunderstandings between Islam and the West, despite there being no misunderstanding by TLW and other history students that Islam's values are totally opposed to those of the West?; meanwhile on Jan. 14 a group of 15 top Muslim clerics in Yemen incl. Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani (1942-) warn the U.S. of jihad if it sends troops - misunderstanders of Islam? On Jan. 14 Pres. Obama proposes a sharp increases in taxes paid by the largest financial institutions in the U.S. to raise $90B over the next decade and rein it in from taking large risks and giving out "obscene bonuses" - first they bail you out, then they tax you to death and tell you what to do? On Jan. 14 the Iraq govt. bans 570+ candidates from the Mar. 7 election, 400 of whom are discovered to be Sunnis, pissing-off Sunni politicians, who blame Shiite-run Iran, and causing U.S. vice-pres. Joseph Biden to rush to Baghdad to try to make them reconsider, telling them there will be no Baathist coup attempt following U.S. withdrawal, after which on Feb. 3 they flop and allow them to run, but they drop out anyway on Feb. 20, blaming Iranian influence on the vetting panel that blacklisted hundreds of candidates. On Jan. 14 the U.K. bans the Islamic group Islam4UK as a terrorist group after it tries to stage a march through Wootton Bassett (where the remains of British troops are received) and draws thousands of protests. On Jan. 14 500K celebrate the Kumbh Mela (Pitcher) Festival in India by bathing in the filthy Ganges River in Haridwar, with at least seven killed (incl. six women) in a stampede in West Bengal; 50M are expected to visit Haridwar over the next 4 mo. On Jan. 14 a suicide bomber at a market in Dihrawud in the ethnic Pashtun Uruzgan Province of Afghanistan 250 mi. SW of Kabul kills 20 incl. three children. On Jan. 14 (5:30 p.m.) three explosions rock the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq 90 mi. S of Baghdad, becoming the first in the city since 2006; remnants of the Baath Party are blamed, causing provincial council member Jawad al-Garawi to vow to purge them from police and govt. positions. On Jan. 14 (5 p.m.) a roadside bomb explodes near a vehicle convoy carrying Israeli diplomats near the village of Naour, Jordan, 30 mi. W of Amman. On Jan. 15 hundreds of Muslims riot in Nairobi, Kenya after Jamaican cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal is jailed. On Jan. 15 a 5.6 earthquake hits Sucre, Venezuela 235 mi. E of Caracas. On Jan. 15 the FBI unveils a Times Square Digital Billboard to display suspects' mugs and other "security messages", stirring fears of George Orwell's Big Brother and the 1987 Arnold Schwarnegger film "The Running Man". On Jan. 15 al-Qaida leader Qasim al-Raymi (b. 1979), who orchestrated the Xmas Panty Bomber last year is killed in Yatama, Yemen by a Yemeni air strike; a statement by him later appears on the Internet, saying "We will blow up the earth from below your feet." On Jan. 17 U.S. drones fire four missles into a suspected Uzbek militant house in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan, killing 20+. On Jan. 17 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzi announces a new peace plan featuring "economic incentives" to lure the Taliban to join his govt. ranks, saying that many Taliban fighters "have no ideological commitment to the principles, values or political movement led by Mullah Omar" and are "not supporters of the ideology of al-Qaida"; Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani announces that Pakistan wants a role in the negotiations. On Jan. 17 the Saudi-based Islamic Solidarity Games Federation cancels the Islamic Solidarity Games after Persia refuses to call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf. On Jan. 17 Spanish Communist politician Gaspar Llamazares threatens to sue the FBI for using his photo as the basis of a hypothetical image of Osama bin Laden as he would look now. On Jan. 17 Harvard-educated billionaire M.R. Sebastian Pinera Echenique (M.R. Sebastián Piñera Echenique) (1949-) is elected pres. of Chile, taking office on Mar. 11 (until ?), ending 20 years of leftist rule since the fall of Gen Augusto Pinochet in 1990; he promises to boost economic growth to 6% a year and create 1M jobs; Chile's economy shrank last year for the first time in a decade. On Jan. 17 Haitian-born Brooklyn resident Jules Paul Bouloute (1952-) is arrested at JFK Internat. Airport in connection with a security breach that caused an Am. Airlines terminal to be evacuated. On Jan. 17 U.S. atty. Preet Bharara announces the merging of drug and terrorism units to go after extremist Islamic groups. On Jan. 17 after they protest construction of a mosque, angry Muslim youths set a Christian church filled with worshippers on fire, starting a riot that kills 27 and wounds 300+ in Jos, Nigeria. On Jan. 17 (5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. PST) the 2010 (67th) Golden Globe Awards, presented at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. and hosted by Ricky Gervais (first live broadcast) award best picture to "Avatar" and "The Hangover", best dir. to James Cameron for "Avatar", best actor to Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart" and Robert Downey Jr. for "Sherlock Holmes", best actress to Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side" and Meryl Streep for "Julie and Julia", best supporting actor to Christoph Waltz for "Inglourious Basterds", best supporting actress to Mo'Nique for "Precious", best foreign language film to "The White Ribbon", and best screenplay to "Up in the Air". On Jan. 18 the Taliban stages a brazen attack in C Kabul, Afghanistan, with suicide bombers at several locations along with a gun battle inside a shopping center. On Jan. 18 Somalian Muslim pirates free Greek-flagged tanker Maran Centaurus, seized Nov. 29 carrying 2M barrels of oil after they receive the biggest ransom yet paid, $5.5M-$7M. On Jan. 19 a U.S. drone fires two missiles at a house in the Datta Khel district 20 mi. W of Miranshah in Pakistan's North Waziristan region, killing six militants. On Jan. 19 Iran rejects an internat. plan to ship its low-enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment. On Jan. 19 Sheikh Ahmed Hassoun, Syria's top Muslim leader says that Islam commands its followers to protect Judaism, adding "If the Prophet Mohammed had asked me to deem Christians or Jews heretics, I would have deemed Mohammed himself a heretic", and "If Mohammed had commanded us to kill people, I would have told him he was not a prophet." On Jan. 19 Christopher Bryan Speight (1970-) fatally shoots eight people in Appomattox, Va., then hides in the woods overnight before surrendering. On Jan. 19 53 Haitian orphans land in Pittsburgh, Penn. to be placed in group homes until their adoptions are finalized. On Jan. 19 Repub. state sen. and former June 1982 Cosmopolitan model Scott Philip Brown (1959-) narrowly defeats Dem. Mass. atty.-gen. Martha Coakley (known for prosecuting British au pair Louise Woodward) for Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat, ending the 60-seat Dem. majority and throwing Obama's health care reform into trouble; he goes on to loses the Nov. 2012 election. On Jan. 19 the Washington Post reports that the FBI collected more than 2K records on U.S. telephone calls illegally by falsely invoking terrorism or strong-arming telephone cos. On Jan. 20 an 11-member Israeli squad with Euro passports kills senior Hamas cmdr. Mahmoud Abdel Rauf al-Mabhouh (b. 1960) in his hotel room in Dubai; on Feb. 1 the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees places bombs in barrels and sends them into the Mediterranean Sea from the Gaza coast, and three wash ashore in Israeli cities but are detonated on Feb. 19 Dubai police chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan calls for Interpol to issue a "red notice" to approve the arrest of Meir Dagan, head of the Israeli Mossad.; on Feb. 21 the UAE seeks U.S. govt. help in tracing prepaid credit cards used by the assassins; on Apr. 22 the EU condemns the Dubai killing and the use of fraudulent EU passports, but doesn't refer to Israel directly; on Feb. 24 Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni calls on the internat. community to stop criticizing them, saying "I don't expect the world to welcome the killing of terrorists, but I do expect the world to not criticize it"; the hit was actually a botched kidnapping attempt in order to use him as a bargaining chip to get Hamas to return captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit? On Jan. 20 Pres. Barack Obama has been in office one full year and the world is still here and he still hasn't held precondition-free talks with Iran. On Jan. 20 the 6.1 2nd 2010 Haitian Earthquake rocks Port au Prince, causing the 12K U.S. troops to step up aid efforts, while Hugo Chavez of Venezuela et al. loudly complain that the U.S. is "occupying" Haiti. On Jan. 20 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates tells the press that al-Qaida and its affiliates might be trying to start a war between India and Pakistan and spread it to all of South Asia; meanwhile U.S. Sen. (R-Ala.) Jeff Sessions, raking Repub. on the Senate Judiciary Committee "calls out" the Obama admin. for its lax approach to fighting the war with Islamic terrorists, incl. reading Miranda rights to terrorists, closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, and trying to rehabiliate and release them only to fight us again, with the soundbyte "On Christmas Day we narrowly escaped disaster. It was a harrowing reminder that we are faced with a ruthless enemy - one that will stop at nothing in its quest to kill American civilians." On Jan. 21 the govt. of South Korea turns off the lights at 7:00 p.m. and tells its workers to go home and make babies to help reverse the pop. decline. On Jan. 21 the U.S. Supreme Court rules 5-4 in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corps. can spend freely on political campaigns, and don't have to go through PACs; justice John Paul Stevens writes the dissenting opinion, dissing the court for stretching its jurisdiction over the film "Hillary: The Movie" in order to create a broad sweeping opinion; the Obama admin. responds with the U.S. Disclosure Act to get around it, which Repubs. unite to stop from passing with a filibuster; in Mar. the IRS begins closely scrutinizing orgs. with certain words in their names that are applying for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(4), developing the "Be on the Look Out List" in Aug.; too bad, it flags the words "Tea Party", "patriots", "Israel", "occupy", "progressive", and "9/12 Project", leading to the 2013 IRS Scandal. On Jan. 21 Pres. Obama takes on Wall Street, proposing rules to prevent any bank from becoming "too big to fail", and barring them from making "reckless" investments that are little more than gambling, incl. hedge funds and private equity funds; his plan was proposed by Paul Volcker; Euro govts cautiously back his plan. On Jan. 21 Afghan CIC U.S. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal announces that he plans on tightening the rules on night raids in Afghanistan to avoid pissing-off the pop. and throwing them into the arms of the Taliban. On Jan. 21 after weeks of rumors, public jokes and negotiations, NBC-TV officially boots Conan O'Brien out, with a $32.5M buyout, and moves Jay Leno back to the Tonight Show. On Jan. 21 India puts its airports on high alert after getting info. that an al-Qaida attack is in the works; on Jan. 22 Britain raises its terror threat level to its 2nd highest possible level. On Jan. 21 a report by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee says that the U.S. should be put on heightened alert for attacks from Americans in Yemen, incl. ex-prisoners who converted to Islam in priz. On Jan. 22 the new Bolivia parliament meets, with a record 28% of seats occupied by women, incl. the pres. of the Senate, Ana Maria Romero; pres. Evo Morales is sworn-in for a 2nd term (until ?). On Jan. 22 U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Ryan T. Mathison steps on an IED and it fails to go off; on Jan. 23 a roadside bomb kills two U.S. soldiers in S Afghanistan, bringing the year's total to 22. On Jan. 22 Russian police officer Alexei Dymovsky from Novorossisk, who accused his bosses of corruption and abuse of office, and whose YouTube video got over 1M hits is arrested and charged with ditto to silence him, with a 10-year sentence hanging over his head for allegedly stealing $800. On Jan. 22 Guantanamo Bay Prison stays open despite Obama's campaign promise to close it by this date; it finally closes on ? On Jan. 23 tens of thousands demonstrate in Caracas, Venezuela against the regime of Pres. Hugo Chavez, blaming him for power blackouts, water rationing, and high crime. On Jan. 23 12-y.-o. Shazia Bashir (b. 1997) is murdered by her wealthy Muslim lawyer employer Chaudhry Mohammad Naeem, former pres. of the Lahore High Court Bar Assoc., which threatens to "burn alive" any lawyer who prosecutes her; meanwhile two Christian women are freed after their employer Muhammad Ikram kidnaps and tortures them for months to try to convert them to Islam. On Jan. 23 prof. and amateurs protest in Trafalgar Square in London over being intimidated into not taking pictures of public bldgs. On Jan. 24 torrential rains in Peru strand thousands of tourists in Machu Picchu. On Jan. 25 (3:10 a.m.) Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET409 (Boeing 737) catches fire and crashes into the Mediterranean Sea min. after takeoff from Beirut, killing all 90 aboard. On Jan. 25 Saddam Hussein's cousin Chemical Ali (Ali Hassan al-Majid) (b. 1941) is hung; meanwhile three big car bombs rock Baghdad hotels, killing 36 and ending a 6-week lull; on Jan. 26 another suicide bomber detonates in a police crime lab outside the Interior Ministry, killing 21 and injuring 80. . On Jan. 25 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai announces that Western allies back his plans to reconcile with Taliban fighters. On Jan. 25 Daniel Kerrigan (1939-), father of Olmpic skater Nancy Kerrigan dies of a heart attack after a fight with his hothead jailbird son who thought he was faking when he collapsed in their Stoneham, Mass. home. On Jan. 25 the worst Tex. oil spill since 1995 sees an 800-ft. tanker headed for an Exxon Mobil refinery in Beaumont, Tex. collide with another vessel, spilling 220K gal. of oil. On Jan. 26 elections in Sri Lanka for the first time since the end of the civil war reelect pres. Mahinda Rajapaksa with 57.8% of 10.4M votes cast; too bad, soldiers surround his chief rival Gen. Sarath Fonseka in a luxury hotel, causing him to call for the results to be nullified. On Jan. 26 the U.S. Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation issues a report saying that the U.S. isn't prepared for a bioterrorist attack. On Jan. 26 a French parliamentary committee pub. a 200-page report recommending a partial ban on women wearing Islamic face veils, calling the burqa "contrary to the values of the republic"; on Mar. 7 EU chief Thomas Hammarberg says that a ban on the full Islamic veil would be an invasion of privacy and would alienate Muslim women from French society; in Mar. a 31-y.-o. French Muslim woman is fined for wearing a full veil while driving; on Apr. 21 French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy approves a ban; of 4M-6M French Muslims, only 1.9K women wear full burqas; on May 19 the French parliament imposes a $185 fine on women wearing a full-face Islamic veil in public; on Sept. 14 the French Senate overwhelmingly (246-1) votes to ban the full Islamic veil in public, and on Oct. 7 the French Constitutional Council approves it except in places of worship; a legal challenge in the European Court of Justice is planned. On Jan. 26 Mohamed Ali Harrath, head of Britain's Islam Channel is arrested in South Africa on terrorism charges, and faces deportation to Tunisia. On Jan. 26 Toyota suspends the manufacture and sale of eight of its most popular models after a flaw that causes sudden potentially fatal acceleration remains unsolved; on Feb. 5 after allegations of coverups, Toyota's pres. (since June, 2009) Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founder publicly apologizes; on Feb. 9 it recalls 400K hybrid Toyota Priuses, on top of the 8M vehicles in line for fixes, all causing U.S. automakers to dance with glee that they have their chance; on Feb. 24 Toyoda appears before a U.S. House oversight committee to offer a tearful apology; on Apr. 5 the U.S. Transportation Dept. announces a maximum allowable $16.4M fine for failing to promptly notify them about problems with accelerator pedals. On Jan. 27 Porfirio Lobo "Pepe" Sosa (1947-) of the center-right Nat. Party is sworn-in as pres. of Honduras (until ?). On Jan. 27 (9 p.m. ET) Pres. Obama delivers his 2010 State of the Union Address, saying "Jobs must be our number one focus in 2010", calling on Congress to send him a new jobs bill; he also announces plans to take $30B in repaid Wall St. bailout funds to create small business loans, and calls for a small business jobs credit to help 1M cos. to create jobs or raise wages; Obama asks Congress to abolish the "don't ask don't tell policy" for gays in the military, and bashes the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision permitting corps. to pay for political ads, causing justice Samuel Alito Jr. to mutter "Not true" from the audience at Obama's insistence that the ruling allows foreign corps. to influence U.S. campaigns, after which on Mar. 9 chief justice John Roberts calls it "very troubling", that the address has "degenerated to a political pep rally", and openly wonders whether the justices should attend in the future; a 2005 soundbyte by Sen. Barack Obama the week before Roberts' confirmation hearing is dug up by the press: "A political philosophy that typically errs on the side of the powerful rather than the powerless, that's a judicial philosophy that can make worse, can exacerbate some of the problems that we have in this country"; Obama also claims that there is "overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change", and that it "is not an intellectual luxury but an actual fact". On Jan. 27 German-born socialite Frederic Prinz von Anhalt (9th hubby of Zsa Zsa Gabor) announces his candidacy for gov. of Calif. On Jan. 27 Hany Mawla (1973-) becomes the first Muslim to be appointed to the N.J. superior court, and also the youngest. On Jan. 28 (8 a.m.) a U.S. soldier kills Islamic cleric imam Mohammad Yunis in E Kabul, pissing-off the local Muslim pop. and causing a U.S. military investigation. On Jan. 28 the U.S. Senate raises the U.S. debt ceiling by $1.9T to $14.3T, about $45K per capita, and confirms Ben Benanke for a 2nd term as head of the Federal Reserve by 70-30. On Jan. 28 world leaders meet in London, England to discuss the allied war effort in Afghanistan and discuss how to combat Islamic radicalization in Yemen. On Jan. 28 Iran hangs two anti-govt. activists for the crime of "waging war against Allah"; meanwhile on Jan. 27 Pres. Obama warns Iran that it faces "growing consequences" over its nuclear activities, and on Jan. 29 the U.S. Senate votes to cut off Iranian oil imports after the House voted a similar bill 6 weeks earlier. On Jan. 28 Ojore Nuru Lutalo (1945-) of Elizabeth, N.J. is arrested on an Amtrak passenger train in Colo. en route from L.A. to Chicago after passengers hear him talking about al-Qaida and making threats on his cell phone. On Jan. 29 former British PM Tony Blair defends the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, saying that after 9/11 the game rules changed, and Saddam Hussein had to be disarmed or removed, saying "This isn't about a lie, or a conspiracy, or a deceit, or a deception, this is a decision, and the decision I had to take was, given Saddam's history, given his use of chemical weapons, given the over 1 million people whose deaths he caused, given 10 years of breaking U.N. resolutions, could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his weapons program? I believed... that we were right not to run that risk", adding that he was convinced that Sodamn Insane had WMDs at the time. On Jan. 29 another audio tape by Osama bin Laden is aired on Al Jazeera, and this time he urges the world to drop reliance on the U.S. dollar and blames industrialized countries for global warming. On Jan. 29 Bill Gates pledges $10B to fund research for a "Decade of New Vaccines" for the world's poorest countries, becoming the biggest charitable donation in history (until ?). On Jan. 29 Hillary Clinton warns China that it risks diplomatic isolation and disruption to its energy supplies unless it helps stop Iran from developing nukes. On Jan. 29 the U.S. Nat. Counterterrorism Center announces that it's creating new teams of specialists to connect the dots of emerging terrorist plots in an effort to prevent a repeat of the 2009 Xmas Underwear Bomber; meanwhile Obama admin. officials leak the news that they might not try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed in New York City after all, and are are considering Guantanamo Bay; in Mar. after White House input, the Pentagon appoints retired Navy vice adm. Bruce MacDonald as the war crimes convening authority to bring criminal charges, select jury pools, etc., causing speculation that KSM will be tried by a war crimes tribunal. On Jan. 29 Pres. Obama stages an unusual meeting with House Repub. members in Baltimore, Md., saying that they're painting his health care program as a "Bolshevik plot". On Jan. 29 Islamic extremists set off a bomb in a mosque compound in S Thailand, then start a firefight with Thai soldiers, killing one and wounding two. On Jan. 30 (dawn) a joint U.S.-U.N. airstrike in Wardak Province SW of Kabul mistakenly targets an Afghan army post, killing four Afghan soldiers, pissing-off the Afghan govt.; meanwhile a U.S. drone strike in the Mohammad Khel area of North Waziristan kills five; meanwhile a suicide car bomber in Bajaur in NW Pakistan kills 14; meanwhile a suicide bomber at a falafel restaurant near a Shiite shrine in Sunni-dominated Samarra (60 mi. N of Baghdad) kills two; meanwhile critics diss the Obama admin. for never admitting to the strikes. On Jan. 30 Yemeni forces capture al-Qaida militant Saleh Abdul-Habib Saleh Shawash, who is wearing a bomb belt and planning suicide attack on "economic facilities. On Jan. 30 16 children are massacred in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico by gunmen in two trucks, who block off a dead-end street in the Villas de Salvarcar neighborhood and open fire on three houses; the mayor calls it a "random criminal act". On Jan. 30 former Iranian pres. (1989-97) Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani tells a meeting of the Iranian Expediency Council that Iran's nuclear program is "irreversible", a "symbol of national resolve", and that Iran will not be stopped by new sanctions. On Jan. 30 the 2010 Miss Am. Pageant is won by Caressa Cameron (1987-) of Va.; conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh is a judge. On Jan. 31 "unauthorized" anti-Kremlim protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg result in 100+ arrests incl. several opposition leaders. On Jan. 31 a test of a U.S. anti-ballistic missile system managed by Boeing fails; on Dec. 15 a 2nd test fails. On Jan. 31 U.S. and Pakistani officials announce that they believe that their strikes have killed Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud; on May 3 two new videos by him surface, in which he utters the soundbyte "The time is very near when our fedayeen will attack the American states in the major cities", pointing to the Times Square bombing attempt. On Jan. 31 the U.S. announces that it is deploying a Patriot Missile Shield in the Persian Gulf to protect its allies incl. Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait. On Jan. 31 (Sun.) the NFL Pro Bowl is held for the 1st time in the continental U.S. at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Fla., becoming the first Pro Bowl held before a Super Bowl. On Jan. 31 the 52nd Grammy Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. are a big V for Beyonce (Beyoncé Giselle Knowles) (1981-), who wins a female artist record six awards; country singer Taylor Swift (1989-) wins four. In Jan. U.S. unemployment falls from 10% to 9.7%, losing only 20K jobs. In Jan. UCLA prof. Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda pub. a study suggesting that legalizing immigrants would produce a $1.5T increase in U.S. GDP over 10 years. In Jan. Prosy Katura of the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announces that the U.S. is allowing 5.8K Muslim Ugandan refugees to immigrate, the reason given being that they don't get along with other refugee camps. In Jan. in accordance with Pres. Obama's June 4, 2009 speech at Cairo U., the Science Envoy Program is launched to send U.S. scientists to Muslim-majority countries from N Africa to SE Asia. In Jan. cyber criminals hack 75K computer systems at 2.5K cos. in 196 countries; the attack isn't discovered until mid-Feb. In Jan. U.S. defense secy. Robert M. Gates sends a secret memorandum to the White House warning that the U.S. has no effective long-range policy for dealing with Iran's nukes; it is leaked in Apr. In Jan. Italy opens the first prison for transgender inmates. In Jan. veterinarian Erhan Elibol delivers a human-faced lamb in Izmir, Turkey, saying that it must have been the result of sex with a man. In Jan. radical Islamic cleric Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, who was convicted of inciting racial hatred in Britain returns from exile to Jamaica, causing U.S. concerns that he could turn Jamaica into an incubator for Islamic extremism. In Jan. China debates a law banning the eating of cat and dog meat despite their popularity. In Jan.-Feb. the U.S. experiences its coldest winter in 25 years, while Canada experiences its warmest winter on record. On Feb. 1 Pres. Obama unveils a blueprint for the $3.8T 2010 U.S. Budget, which incl. a record $708B in defense spending, and cuts out the planned $100B NASA 2020 Constellation Moon trip and the Ares 1 rocket, successor to the Space Shuttle; meanwhile he asks NASA head Charlie Bolden to "find ways [for NASA] to reach out to dominantly Muslim countries", incl. partnering with them in science missions. On Feb. 1 the U.S. Defense Dept. releases its 128-page 2010 Auadrennial Defense Review, which spends eight pages on climate change but doesn't even mention the threat of radical Islam. On Feb. 1 a female suicide bomber in Baghdad, Iraq in the middle of a procession of pilgrims in the well-named Shiite Boob al-Sham area kills 41 and wounds 106. On Feb. 1 Kazakhstan foreign minister Kanat Saudabayev begins a 5-day visit to the U.S., calling for a summit meeting of the Org. for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and warning the U.S. against quitting Afghanistan "without creating the conditions for the Afghans to turn away from arms and to move to plowshares". On Feb. 1 Pope Benedict XVI makes comments on the British Labour Party's proposed Equality Bill, saying it will limit religious freedom by forcing them to accept gays into Church ranks, saying "The effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs." On Feb. 2 a bomb explodes on the railroad tracks in St. Petersburg, Fla., injuring one; the govt. calls it a terrorist attack. On Feb. 2 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai leads a delegation to Mecca, then on Feb. 3 holds talks with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to ask for spiritual and financial help against the Taliban, while Abdullah says that the Taliban must deny sanctuary to Osama bin Laden before they will agree to mediate in any peace deal. On Feb. 2 top Pentagon officials tell the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that they are scaling back the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, no longer aggressively pursuing disciplinary action against gay service members who are outed by 3rd parties, with JCS chmn. Adm. Mike Mullen saying that lifting the ban is "the right thing to do"; Ariz. Sen. John McCain comes out against the idea, telling them to "Keep the impact it will have on our forces firmly in mind"; Mullen also tells the committee that the next 12-18 mo. will be critical in reversing the momentum gained by the Taliban in Afghanistan, adding "Our future security is greatly imperiled if we do not win the wars we are in", asking for $192B for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next 18 mo., $33B to be used to send 30K more troops to Afghanistan by fall. On Feb. 2 CIA dir. #3 (since Feb. 13, 2009) Leon Panetta tells Congress that the U.S. an expect an al-Qaida attack in the next 3-6 mo.; on Feb. 3 White House counterintel chief John Owen Brennan (1955-) claims that none of the 48 Guantanamo Bay detainees released or transferred by the Obama admin. have turned back into jihadists, vs. 20% of the 540 detainees released by the Bush admin.; meanwhile on Jan. 28 the new High-Value Detainee Group is authorized under a classified charter that allows interagency interrogation teams to question key terrorism suspects. On Feb. 2 (night) the U.S. carries out its largest drone missile attack so far, launching 16-8 and killing 10+ in North Waziristan. On Feb. 2 Protestant clergyman Rev. Issavi (1944-) is arrested in Isfahan, Iran for converting Muslims, then tortured and threatened with execution. On Feb. 3 a bomb outside a girls school in Timergara, Pakistan kills three U.S. soldiers; the Taliban claims responsibility and threatens more attacks on Americans; another motorcycle bomb in Kerbala, Iraq kills 20+ Shiite pilgrims. On Feb. 3 Iranian pres. Mahmoud Imadinnajacket flip-flops and says that Iran is willing to ship enriched uranium abroad "for 4-5 months" in exchange for fuel for a Tehran medical reactor. On Feb. 3 Iran announces the launch of a Kavoshgar-3 rocket capable of carrying a satellite, bragging about breaking "the global domineering system". On Feb. 3 (6 p.m. local time) a U.S. UH-60 Black Hawk heli crashes in a wooded area near a highway near Heidelberg in SW Germany, killing three. On Feb. 3 a roadside bomb in Lower Dir, Pakistan destroys a girls' school and kills three U.S. soldiers, a Pakistani soldier, and three schoolgirls, and wounds 100+ incl. two U.S. soldiers. On Feb. 3 U.S. nat. intel dir. retired adm. Dennis C. Blair tells Congress that the intel community must first obtain high-level govt. approval before killing U.S. citizens who have joined al-Qaida. On Feb. 3 veiled U.S.-educated Pakistani female neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui (1972-) is convicted by a jury in New York City of shooting at U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in 2008, raising her arm after the verdict and uttering the soundbyte "Your anger should be directed where it belongs", referring to Israel, sparking angry protests in cities in Pakistan. On Feb. 4 Pres. Obama holds a Nat. Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., bemoaning the "erosion of civility" and saying there's a growing sense that "something is broken" in Washington, D.C.; he also takes a rare shot at the Birthers who question his U.S. citizenship, saying "Surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith, or for that matter, my citizenship." On Feb. 4 Romania approves a U.S. proposal to position anti-ballistic missile interceptors on its soil as part of a revamped U.S. missile shield, set to become operational in 2015. On Feb. 4 the White House announces that it will welcome the Dalai Lama later in Feb. despite Chinese pressure. On Feb. 5 the $550-a-seat 1.1K-delegate Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tenn. features speaker Tom Tancredo, who claims that Obama's voters couldn't even spell the word vote, or say it in English, and that Obama is a "committed Socialist idealogue"; on Feb. 6 Sarah Palin speaks, saying "America is ready for another revolution", and mocking Pres. Obama with "How's that hopey-changey thing workin' out for you", and "To win that war [against terrorism] we need a commander in chief, not a professor of law", using crib notes scribbled on her hand despite criticizing Pres. Obama for using a teleprompter, causing White House press secy. Robert Gibbs to mock her on Feb. 9 with his own hand notes; she responds by quoting the Bible, Isaiah 49:16: "I have engraved you on the palms of my hands". On Feb. 5 a twin car bombing targeting Shiite pilgrims in Karbala, Iraq S of Baghdad kills 32 and wounds 154; two bombs more targeting Shiites in Karachi, Pakistan kill 22 and wound 50. On Feb. 5 Pres. Obama attends a funeral in Washington, D.C. for the seven CIA employees killed in Afghanistan on Dec. 30, telling the CIA to "carry on their work, to complete this mission, to win this war and to keep our country safe"; on Feb. 5 the Obama admin. sends a cable to the U.S. embassy in Britain, ordering them to conduct outreach to "empower" the British Muslim community. On Feb. 5 Danish special forces storm the ship Ariella captured by Somalian pirates and free the 25 crew, becoming the first warship to intervene during a hijacking. On Feb. 5-6 and Feb. 9-10 the Snowpocalypse (Snowmageddon) buries the Washington, D.C. area in 30 in. of snow, causing govt. workers to be told to stay home on Feb. 8-10; a 3rd blizzard hits on Feb. 25-26. On Feb. 7 (11:37 a.m.) an explosion at a 620MW natural gas power plant in Middleton, Conn. kills two and injures several. On Feb. 7 Super Bowl XLIV ("the Who Bowl", with the Who Dat Saints vs. the Colts from the Hoosier State, and the Who playing the halftime show) is held in Dolphins Stadium in Miami, Fla.; the New Orleans Saints (NFL) defeat the Indianapolis Colts (AFC) by 31-17 (1st ever SB win); New Orleans QB Andrew Christopher "Drew" Brees (1979-) is MVP; a TV ad featuring Bible-thumping Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and his mother, who tells how she's glad she didn't abort him as a fetus pisses-off the pro-abortion crowd; meanwhile on Feb. 6 Dem. La. lt. gov. Mitchell Joseph "Mitch" Landrieu (1960-) is elected by a landslide as the first majority-black white mayor of New Orleans since 1978, when his daddy Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu left office. On Feb. 7 Iranian supreme leader and CIC Ayatollah Ali Khameini utters the soundbyte "Israel is going downhill toward decline and fall and God willing its obliteration is certain" in a meeting with Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, adding that Iran will deliver a "punch" to its enemies on or before the Feb. 11 anniv. of the 1979 Islamic Rev.; meanwhile on Feb. 7 Iranian pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran will raise its uranium enrichment level to 20%, taking it weeks away from weapons-grade uranium (90%), which White House spokesman Robert Gibbs discounts as unbelievable; on Feb. 11 Imadinnajacket announces that the first batch of enriched uranium has been produced, but denies any intention of building nuclear weapons. On Feb. 7 elections in Ukraine give a V to pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovich (1950-); his opponent, PM (since Dec. 18, 2007) Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko (1960-) claims election fraud, but he is sworn-in as pres. of Ukraine on Feb. 25 (until ?); on Apr. 25 he allows the Russian naval fleet to remain in Ukraine for another 25 years. On Feb. 7 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton gives an nterview to CNN, stating that she considers WMDs in the hands of Islamic terrorists to be the #1 security threat of the U.S., not a nuclear-armed Iran, calling al-Qaida "a very committed, clever, diabolical group of terrorists who are always looking for weaknesses and openings". On Feb. 7-8 Muslim taxi drivers in Oslo, Norway park their cars to protest some Prophet Muhammad cartoons that were pub. on Feb. 3 by the Norwegian "Dagbladet"; on Feb. 12 2.5K march in protest. On Feb. 8 the Obama admin. proposes the U.S. Climate Service, a new global warming agency to study and report on the climate. On Feb. 8 the Am. Bar Assoc. (ABA) calls on the U.S. Congress to create new independent immigration courts to handle the giant backlog. On Feb. 8 Tijuana, Mexico drug lords Raydel Lopez "El Muletas" Uriarte and Manuel Garcia "El Chiquillin" Simental are arrested in La Paz, Baja Calif., wiping out the leaders of the cartel headed by Teodoro Garcia Simental, who was arrested in Jan. On Feb. 8 six suspected Taliban militants carrying a suicide vest and grenades are arrested while allegedly on their way to attack the 5-star Pearl Continental Hotel in Lahore, Pakistan. On Feb. 8 British Christian teacher Nicholas Kafouris is fired after complaining about Muslim students who were praising the 9/11 hijackers as "heroes" and "martyrs" and claiming that when they grow up they want to be suicide bombers. On Feb. 8 Iranian-born Muslim Scotland Yard cmdr. (former pres. of the Nat. Black Police Assoc.) Ali Dizaei (1962-) is convicted of criminal misconduct and perversion of the course of justice, ending his reign of terror, becoming the highest official convicted since the 1970s. On Feb. 8 a group of Muslim students disrupt a speech given by Israeli ambassador Michael B. Oren at the U. of Calif. in Irvine; on Sept. 23 the Irvine 11 are convicted of conspiracy despite efforts of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) et al. On Feb. 9 Pres. Obama vows to impose "significant" new sanctions on Iran fairly quickly for stepping up its uranium enrichment activities, and wants to concentrate on the Islamic Rev. Guards. On Feb. 9 Pres. Obama meets with Repubs. for two hours to try to end the impasse on health care and other programs, accusing Repubs. of obstructionism while calling Dems. to "put aside matters of party for the good of the country". On Feb. 9 Russian Gen. Nikolai Makarov says that the revised U.S. plan to place Patriot missiles in Europe threatens Russia's security despite assurances that they're not directed at it. On Feb. 10 Israeli soldier Sgt. Maj. Ihab Khatib is killed by a Palestinian Muslim jihadist with a knife while sitting in his jeep stuck in a traffic jam. On Feb. 10 a British court decides to discover a U.S. confirmation that the CIA tortured Ethiopian terrorist suspect Binyam Mohamed, pissing-off the White House, which says this will "complicate" their intel relationship. On Feb. 10-? Operation Moshtarak by 15K U.S., British and Afghan troops targets Marjah, Afghanistan in Helmand Province, becoming the first major offensive of the Obama admin.; on Feb. 25 after heavy fighting the U.S. installs a new Afghan govt. in Marjah. On Feb. 11 Saudi religious (Sharia) police launch a nationwide crackdown on stores selling items related to Valentine's Day On Feb. 11 (11:44 EST) the Airborne Laser Testbed of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency successfully shoots down a boosting ballistic missile using a laser at the Naval Air Warfare Center at Point Mugu, Calif. On Feb. 11 the 31st Anniv. of the Iranian Islamic Rev. is marked by opposition protests, with Pres. Imadinnajacket telling a large trucked-in crowd in Tehran that Iran is now a nuclear nation. On Feb. 11 the U.S. and EU express dismay at the upholding of an 11-year prison sentence (2009-2020) for anti-Communist Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo (1955-); on Oct. 8 he is awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for using nonviolence to fight for fundamental human rights and multiparty democracy, pissing off the Chinese govt., who call him a criminal, and declare that relations with Norway will be harmed, which they call a petty thing to do; last year's winner Pres. Obama calls for his release, which they respond to by placing Liu's wife under house arrest in Beijing; meanwhile almost to dozen elders in the Chinese Communist Party sign a petition demanding an end to govt. censorship. On Feb. 11 EU leaders hold a summit and express sympathy over the economic plight of Greece, which needs 53B euros, but fall short of offering them a financial bailout; meanwhile Germany talks about building a "firewall" to contain the crisis and keep it from dragging down other countries using the euro; on Mar. 26 all 16 Eurozone countries back a 20B euro plan to help them, incl. IMF funds. On Feb. 11 Pres. Obama warns that the U.S. economy recovery he's taking credit for won't be complete until citizens find work and the U.S. borrows less money from other countries, and calls on Congress to pass new measures to boost hiring. On Feb. 11 a suicide bomber in a border policeman's uniform in Paktia Province 35 mi. E of Gardez in Afghanistan wounds five Americans. On Feb. 11 the govt. of Yemen and its N Shiite rebels agree to end their war. On Feb. 11 Gordon D. Fox (1961-) (D-R.I.) becomes the first openly gay house speaker in the U.S. On Feb. 12 Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops raid suspected members of an Iranian-backed terrorist group, killing five. On Feb. 12 Obama admin. officials announce that Pres. Obama will step up his role in the debate over where to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in order to thwart Congress from blocking funding for the trial, taking over the decision-making from atty.-gen. Eric Holder. On Feb. 12 (4:15 p.m.) after being denied tenure, Harvard-educated biology prof. Amy Bishop kills three and wounds three in Shelby Hall at the U. of Ala. in Huntsville. On Feb. 12 a Muslim bomb attack on a popular German bakery near a Jewish prayer house in Pune, India kills 9 and injures 45; al-Qaida 313 Brigade cmdr. Ilyas Kashmiri (-2011) claims responsibility, saying they warned the world to give self-determination to Kashmir, and warning against attending the 2010 World Cup of Cricket in Delhi or even visiting India; on July 7, 2011 Kashmiri is confirmed killed by a U.S. drone in NW Pakistan. On Feb. 12-28 the XXI (21st) Winter Olympic Games are held in Vancouver, B.C. Canada; too bad, before it begins Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili (b. 1988) is killed in a test run at too-fast Whistler Sliding Center, throwing a pall over the opening ceremony; the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security announces that it is monitoring social networking Web sites incl. Twitter and Facebook to gather info. on possible terror threats; on Feb. 20 Apolo Anton Ono (1982-) wins a record 7th medal, surpassing the record of Bonnie Blair; Lee Jung-Su (1989-) of South Korea wins his 2nd straight gold in short track skating, with Ohno winning silver; Kim Yu-Na (1990-) of South Korea wins gold in figure skating; too bad, 1 in 10 athletes are injured during the Winter Olympics, and 1 in 14 fall ill. On Feb. 13 Pres. Obama appoints Detroit-connected White House deputy counsel Rashad Hussain as his rep. to the Muslim World and special envoy to the 57-member Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Muslim U.N.; he replaces Bush's appointee Sada Cumber. On Feb. 13 a Tex. highway is shut down for five hours overnight after two Muslims, Kimberly Suzanna (Asma) Al-Homsi (1964-) and Yasinul Alan Ansari (1991-) are arrested with a bomb in their truck; they are sentenced to 10 years in prison. On Feb. 14 an errant U.S. rocket strike in Helmand Province in Afghanistan hits a civilian compound, killing 10 incl. five children. On Feb. 14 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton visits Doha, Qatar as part of a 3-day regional visit, and calls for Iran's religious and political leaders to rise up against the Rev. Guards, saying that they're moving it toward a military dictatorship; on Feb. 15 she visits Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and suggests that evidence points to Iran seeking nuclear weapons, saying it would create "quite dangerous" problems if they get them; meanwhile Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket says that Iran will suspend its uranium enrichment in exchange for processed fuel rods from abroad, but says that the swap must be "simultaneous"; at a town hall meeting in the all-women's Dar Al Hekma College, Hillary Clinton is asked if she'd leave the U.S. if Sarah Palin becomes U.S. pres., and she says no, but "I will be visiting as often as I can"; on Feb. 17 Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accuses the U.S. of warmongering and of turning the Persian Gulf into an "arms depot". On Feb. 15 two suicide bombers in Bannu, Pakistan kill 15 incl. 7 policemen, and wound 25; one bomber hides in a mosque before emerging to attack the police. On Feb. 15 two commuter trains crash head-on near Brussels, Belgium, killing 10. On Feb. 15 a U.S. drone strike in the village of Tapi in North Waziristan, Pakistan kills three militants. On Feb. 15 Irish bishops meet in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI to discuss the huge Irish clergy pedophilia scandal. On Feb. 15 five Australian Muslim men convicted of plotting to go on a violent jihad are sentenced to 23-28 years each, with the court saying that they were "motivated by intolerant, inflexible religious conviction". On Feb. 15 the U.S. govt. announces the capture of top Taliban military cmdr. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, #2 after Mullah Muhammad Omar; on Feb. 18 the Pakistan govt. announces the capture of more Taliban chiefs. On Feb. 15 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu meets in Moscow with Russian pres. Dmitry Medvedev, and presses for "severe sanctions" against Iran over its nuclear program. On Feb. 15 the U.N. Human Rights Council reviews Iran's human rights record, incl. mass arrests, torture, and executions, causing Western nations to line up on one side and Iran's Islamic and leftist allies incl. Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba to line up on the other as Iran tries to win a seat on the council in May elections. On Feb. 15 Scottish reporter Robert Green is arrested in Aberdeen for reporting on a ring of pedophiles in the Scottish and British govts. involving Dunblane mass child killer Thomas Hamilton. On Feb. 15 Libyan nutjob Muammar Gaddafi bans most Euros from Libya. On Feb. 15 Saudi prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud (1976-) (grandson of King Fahd) murders his servant Bandar Abdulaziz in the Landmark Hotel in London; he is convicted on Oct. 19 using a video of him attacking him in an elevator at the same hotel on Jan. 22; the prosecution alleges a sexual element, despite homosexuality being punishable by death in his home country; on Oct. 20 he is sentenced to 20 years. On Feb. 16 Pres. Obama announces a loan guarantee to allow construction of two nuclear reactors in Ga., becoming the first new construction since the 1970s. On Feb. 16 the Convention on Cluster Munitions is ratified by Burkina Faso and Moldavia, reaching 30 ratifications and making it internat. law effective Aug. 1. On Feb. 16 Pres. nominates William J. Burns as the first U.S. ambassador to Syria since 2005; on Feb. 17 he meets with Syrian pres. Bashar Assad in Damascus, ending a 5-year rift with the former state sponsor of terrorism. On Feb. 16 a 3-y.-o. baby girl is thrown from the Driscoll Bridge on the Garden State Parkway in N.J. by her Muslim immigrant father Abdur-Raheem (1988), who is arrested after visiting two mosques; he had been denied custody rights, and attack the child's grandmother before stealing the baby; the mother says "She is a very bubbly baby." On Feb. 17 Obama's Muslim-friendly nat. security deputy John O. Brennan (1954-) speaks at an Islamic student event at New York U., claiming that Islamic extremists twist real Islam, with the soundbyte: "They are not jihadists, for jihad is a holy struggle, an effort to purify for a legitimate purpose, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, holy or pure or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women and children"; also "We are not waging a war against terrorism because terrorism is but a tactic that will never be defeated, any more than a tactics of war will. Rather, such thinking is a recipe for endless conflict... We are at war with al-Qaida and its extremist allies, and any comment to the contrary is just inaccurate. We will destroy that organization"; he then goes on to praise the Obama admin. for using hate crime laws to prosecute anybody doing anything against Am. Muslims; he also fields a question from Sheikh Omar Shahin, leader of the flying imams of 2006. On Feb. 18 tax protester computer engineer Joseph Andrew Stack III (b. 1956) crashes his private plane into an IRS bldg. in Austin, Tex., killing two, while leaving an online manifesto explaining his reasons. On Feb. 18 Maoist rebels attack the village of Kasari in E India 125 mi. SE of Patna in Bihar state, killing 12 in revenge for police capture of their brothers. On Feb. 18 a U.S. missile strike on a militant compound near Miranshah in North Waziristan, Pakistan, kills three militants; meanwhile a bomb explodes in a mosque in the Aka Khel area of the Khyber tribal region of NW Pakistan, killing 29 (incl. some militants) and wounding 50, while U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke meets with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad to discuss the recent revelation that they have been arresting Afghan Taliban leaders on their soil. On Feb. 18 U.N. nuclear inspectors declare for the first time that they have extensive evidence of "past or current activities" by Iran to develop a nuclear warhead that continued "beyond 2004"; on Feb. 19 Russia issues the soundbyte that it is very alarmed that Iran might be working to develop nukes; Iranian supreme assaholla Ali Khamenei quickly trots out with his claims that Islam "is opposed to nuclear weapons" - what is this prisoner doing out of his cell? On Feb. 18 a coup in Niger by renegade soldiers results in pres. Mamadou Tandja being kidnapped and then appearing on state TV to declare the coup successful, afteer which Salou Djibo becomes head of the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Dem., saying they want to turn Niger into "an example of democracy and of good governance". On Feb. 18 Pres. Obama quietly meets off-camera with the Dalai Lama while trying to avoid offending pissed-off China more. On Feb. 18 the Obama admin. announces a $1.25B settlement with black farmers over past discrimination in USDA loan programs. On Feb. 18 U.S. vice-pres. Joseph Biden utters the soundbyte that the Obama admin. is moving ahead with Senate ratification of a treaty banning nuclear tests, and that its goal is the elimination of all U.S. nuclear arms, although it is spending $7B next year to repair its aging arsenal. On Feb. 18 ex-U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney appears at the Conservative Political Action Conference and utters the soundbyte "I think 2010 will be a phenomenal year for the conservative cause and I think Barack Obama is a 1-term president." On Feb. 18 Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) posts an online message claiming that it has prepared "dozens" more bombs like the one used by Xmas Panty Bomber. On Feb. 18 Moroccan Muslim Said Namou (1972-) is sentenced to life in prison in Montreal, Canada for plotting attacks in Germany and Austria while touting Islamic terrorism online from his basement apt. On Feb. 18 Miami businessmen Khaled T. Safadi, Ulises Talavera, and Emilio Gonzalez-Neira are arrested for conspiring to smuggle video game consoles to a shopping center in Paraguay that funds the Islamic terrorist group Hezbollah. On Feb. 18 the Iranian Web site Asr-e Iran posts an editorial stating that since Israel's raison d'etre is the illusion that it can provide absolute security for the Jewish people, once Iran has nukes it will result in the end of Israeli society even if they are never used. On Feb. 19 the Obama admin. announces that it's giving the Iraq War the new name Operation New Dawn to reflect the reduced U.S. role. On Feb. 19 the U.S. Justice Dept. releases a report on Bush admin. interrogation tactics for terrorism suspects, saying they used flawed legal reasoning but weren't guilty of prof. misconduct. On Feb. 19 golf champ Tiger Woods emerges from sex therapy and gives a public apology to the press; on Aug. 23 he divorces his wife Elin Nodegren - can I go back to making billions now? On Feb. 20 the Dutch govt. collapses over military deployment in Afghanistan; on Sept. 21 Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenende announces that Dutch troops will begin leaving S Afghanistan in Aug. for lack of authority of his caretaker govt. to accept a NATO request to stay. On Feb. 20 U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke declares that al-Qaida is moving into C Asian countries Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. On Feb. 20-21 flash flooding and mudslides in Madeira Island kill 40 and injure 120. On Feb. 21 Iran's first Iranian-made destroyer the 1.5K-ton Jamaran makes its maiden voyage. On Feb. 21 Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad is killed along with five others in Barangay Karawan in Maimbung, Sulu, Philippines. On Feb. 21 Israel announces a new fleet of huge Boeing 737-sized drones that can fly as far as the Persian Gulf. On Feb. 21 after Muslim police kill a Muslim tractor driver, a Muslim mob burns down eight Christian churches in Kazaure in N Nigeria, along with several Christian shops, all of which had nothing to do with it. On Feb. 22 52 Turkish military cmdrs., incl. 21 gens. and adms. are arrested for allegedly planning to blow up mosques to precede a military overthrow of the Islamic-oriented govt., signalling a V against the secularist govt. founded by Kemal Ataturk in the 1920s, and which has ousted four govts. since 1960; 400 have been jailed since the July 2007 reelection of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, although nobody has been convicted. On Feb. 22 a suicide bomber in a busy market in the district capital of Minora in the Swat Valley of NW Pakistan kills eight and wounds dozens, incl. British convert Belinda Khan (b. 1965). On Feb. 22 eight members of a Shiite family are killed in the Sunni-Shiite village of Wahda 20 mi. S of Baghdad; some are beheaded, raising fears of a resurgence of Sunni insurgents. On Feb. 22 a NATO airstrike in Day Kundi Province near the border with Uruzgan on a 3-vehicle convoy mistakenly kills 27 Afghan civilians, pissing-off the Hamid Karzai govt. off; meanwhile a suicide bomber in E Afghanistan kills 15, incl. tribal leader Haji Zaman (Mohammad Zaman Ghamshaik), who led the failed capture of Osama bin Laden in the mountains of Nangarhar Province in Tora Bora in 2001; meanwhile the U.S. govt. announces that NATO neglect has allowed the Taliban to build up its forces by 35% in the last two years. On Feb. 22 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu calls for an immediate embargo on Iran's energy sector, saying that the U.N. Security Council should be sidestepped if necessary. On Feb. 22 the U.S. Navy announces that it will end the exclusion of women on submarines, giving Congress 30 working days to bar it. On Feb. 22-24 shootouts in Oaxaca, Mexico kill 13, while more shootouts in Tamaulipas state kill 19, incl. a soldier and police officer, and on Feb. 23 gunman attack the police HQ in Miguel Aleman, kidnapping six police officers, causing the U.S. govt. to warn against traveling to Mexico. On Feb. 23 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 7-2 in Fla. v. Powell that police don't have to quote an official script but can ad-lib Miranda warnings - you have the right, to, you know? On Feb. 23 (3:15 p.m.) 32-y.-o. convicted felon Bruco Strongeagle Eastwood (1977-) arrives with a high-powered rifle and shoots students Reagan Weber and Matt Thieu at Deer Creek Middle School in Lakewood, Colo. on Columbine Dr. 3 mi. from infamous Columbine H.S. before he is tackled by 7th grade math teacher David Benke. On Feb. 24 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules unanimously in Md. vs. Shatzer that the its 1981 Edwards v. Ariz. Rule barring police from questioning a suspect once he asks to remain silent and speak with an atty. lapses after 14 days if he is on bail, and if he freely agrees to talk at that point, his statements can still be used against him. On Feb. 23 CIA-financed Sunni Jundullah (Arab. "Soldiers of Allah") rebel org. leader Abdolmalek Rigi, is captured in SE Iran in Sistan-Balochistan province by Iran (with Pakistani help?); on Feb. 26 he claims on Iranian TV that the U.S. promised him financial and military aid to overthrow the Iranian govt.; the real reason the U.S. Marjah offensive was announced in advance was to drive the Taliban into Pakistani Balochistan and wrest Chinese control of the port of Gwadar to seize it for themselves for a new supply line avoiding the Khyber Pass, and the capture of Rigi throws a monkey wrench into their plans? On Feb. 24 after the Obama admin. rules out an aerial bombing campaign in Iran in favor of measures to isolate it from the internat. financial system, Russia warns the U.S. against "crippling" sanctions on Iran, they will support only "Those that are directed at resolving non-proliferation questions linked to Iran's nuclear program"; meanwhile on Feb. 23 Imadinnajacket issues the soundbyte that "The Islamic revolution's final objective is global revolution", and that Iran will "cut the hands off" of any enemies who attack it, especially pesky Israel, whom Iran will go to war with it if it tries to do a repeat of its 1981 air raid on Iraq's Osriaq Nuclear Reactor on them, causing U.N. dir.-gen. Sergei Ordzhonikidze on Feb. 26 to say that calls for jihad by a head of state are unacceptable, and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Mar. 2 to say that there is still room for diplomacy rather than sanctions on Iran. On Feb. 24 a $15B jobs program is passed by the U.S. Senate by 70-28 incl. 13 Repubs. On Feb. 24 a court in Milan, Italy convicts three Google execs for violating the privacy of an Italian boy with autism by letting a video of him being be bullied be posted in 2006. On Feb. 24 2M Greek workers hold a gen. strike in response to govt. austerity measures. On Feb. 24 trainer Dawn Brancheau (b. 1969) is pulled underwater and killed by 30-y.-o. 6 ton killer whale (orca) Tilikum, who already a criminal record with humans but was allowed to slide because after all he's a killer whale and brings in big tourist bucks. On Feb. 24 Cuban pres. Raul Castro issues an unprecedented statement of regret over the starvation death of imprisoned dissident Orlando Zapata Tayamao, but blames the U.S. On Feb. 24 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket visits Damascus, Syria to visit his pal Bashar al-Assad, and says that Arab nations will establish a Middle East "without Zionists and without colonialists", and that Iran, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon will stand against Israel, causing U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton to tell the U.S. Senate that the Obama admin. is urging Syria to back off from its "deeply troubling" relationship with Iran, but will go through with its appointment of an ambassador to Syria for the first time since the 2005 assassination of Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri; al-Assad shrugs her off - I smell a coup? On Feb. 24 a Gallup poll shows support for Israel in the U.S. to be at a near record high of 63%; 15% side with the Palestinians. On Feb. 25 India and Pakistan hold their first talks in 15 mo. since the Nov. 26-29 2008 Mumbai Attacks. On Feb. 25 Pres. Obama hosts a televised Summit on Health Care Reform in a last-ditch attempt to save his stalled health care overhaul program; when it doesn't work, he reverts to bulldogging the program through on straight-party ticket votes. On Feb. 25 the Dem. leadership of the U.S. House stops a vote on a $50B classified intel budget after Repubs. and moderate Dems. balk at provisions banning degrading treatment of Islamic detainees and imposing fines and prison terms on intel officers. On Feb. 25 (Muhammad's birthday) Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi declares jihad against Switzerland over the minaret ban, leaving Western leaders puzzling over whether he's serious or just staging a publicity stunt - proof of the folly of permitting mass Muslim immigration to the West? On Feb. 25 a decision by the Israeli govt. to incl. the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron on the occupied West Bank (2nd holiest site in Judaism after the Temple Mount in Jerusalem), along with the burial site of Jacob's wife Rachel in Bethlehem on a list of 150 nat. heritage sites pisses-off Muslims and draws disapproval by the Muslim-friendly Obama admin., which calls the move "provocative", with PA chmn. Mahmoud Abbas warning that it could spark a "religious war"; on Apr. 29, 2015 UNESCO adopts two resolutions condemning Israel and siding with the PA; the U.S., Germany, and Czech. are the only countries to vote against one, and the U.S. alone against the other. On Feb. 25 English Muslim Rajib Karim (1979-) is arrested for planning suicide bombings by taking advantage of a strike by airline staff to become a temporary cabin crewmember. On Feb. 25 SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau (b. 1969) is grabbed by her long pony tail and dragged underwater to her death by Tillukum, largest Orca whale in captivity, his 3rd human kill; he is allowed back into the arena on Mar. 30, 2011, with new no-pony-tail rules for trainers. On Feb. 26 a 7.0 earthquake hits Okinawa, Japan, but only does minor damage. On Feb. 26 at a conference in Tallinn, Estonia, U.S. undersecy. for defense policy (since Feb. 9, 2009) Michele Flournay warns Russia against asserting its power in the Baltic. On Feb. 26 an insurgent suicide attack in Kabul kills 17, half of them foreigners. On Feb. 26 a group of three Indian Humanists are arrested in Pakistan for distributing a book critical of Islam titled "Crescent Over the World" after massive protests in Khammam. On Feb. 26 three Am. Muslims Mohammad Habibzada, Shafiq Hasheme, and Sayed Bassam (all b. in 1985) allegedly fire a BB rifle at the face of a man for being gay in San Francisco on 16th & Guerrero Sts., and are arrested, released on bail, then rearrested after police find a video in their car showing them attacking 11 other men and laughing as they fire. On Feb. 27 (3 a.m. local time) the 8.8 2010 Chile Earthquake (64x stronger than the Haiti earthquake), with epicenter 100 mi. N of the SW coastal city of Conception causes damage as far away as Santiage 200 mi. away, killing 551 destroying 220K homes, and causing tsunami warnings as far away as Hawaii, causing 100K to be evacuated, but turns out to be a false alarm; unlike Haiti, Chile was ready for an earthquake; on Feb. 28 Am. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan claims that the earthquake is a warning of "what's coming to America", adding "You will not escape"; the earthquake lengthens the day by 0.3 microsec. and moves the Earth's axis by 3 in. On Feb. 27 Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says that a dictatorial cult is ruling Iran in the name of Islam, becoming his strongest statement to date. On Feb. 27 the U.S. Congress votes to extend the U.S. Patriot Act, incl. the civil rights-threatening provisions criticized by Dems. over the years. On Feb. 27 British environment minister Jim Fitzpatrick told the Sunday Telegraph that his Labour Party has been infiltrated by the fundamentalist Muslim group called the Islamic Forum of Europe, which wants to turn Britain and Europe into an Islamic state with Sharia. On Feb. 27-28 storms seep through W Europe, killing up to 50 in France. In Feb. Iran moves its nuclear fuel to an above-ground facility, surprising Western observers because of the ease with which it could be bombed. In Feb. Sri Lanka releases the last 136K of 300K Tamil refugees held in squalid crowded govt.-run camps. In Feb. French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy visits Rwanda for the first time since the 1994 genocide. In Feb. the Pentagon spends $6.7B on Afghanistan, compared with $5.5B on Iraq, putting Afghanistan on top for the first time; the cumulative cost for both wars is greater than $1T. In Feb. several top members of the Taliban Quetta Shura (leadership council) are detained by Pakistani intel, who agrees to repatriate them if they didn't commit any crimes in Pakistan. In Feb. videos taken by the Taliban Islamist Haqqani network showing them raping young women surface, with 2nd in command Sirajuddin "Siraj" Haqqani, his cousin Ishak, and uncle Ibraham photographing their rapes as they go from village to village to seek Taliban recruits, becoming known as the "Taliban Abu Ghraib". In Feb. the U.S. Defense Dept. pub. FM 3-39.40 Internment and Resettlement Operations, which is later leaked, detailing plans on rounding up political activists and putting them in reeducation camps Soviet-style, causing a firestorm of controversy. In Feb. Scott (Jessica) Moore (1979-) of Calif. becomes the 2nd woman-turned-man to give birth and still claim not to be a woman; his woman-turned-man wife Laura (1979-) is overjoyed. On Mar. 1 the govt. of Afghanistan announces a ban on news coverage of Taliban strikes, claiming they embolden them. On Mar. 1 Islamic militants blow up a fuel tanker near Peshawar carrying fuel for NATO troops; meanwhile Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani says that Islam has no room for terrorism - no, it has a million rooms? On Mar. 1 the govt. of Mexico begins requiring U.S. and Canadian visitors to present passports when entering Mexico except when visiting border regions and staying for less than 72 hours; U.S. citizens already have to have a passport to reenter the U.S. On Mar. 1 rain-caused mudslides in E Uganda kill 83+. On Mar. 1 a Pew Research Center poll shows that online news has become more popular than print newspapers. On Mar. 1 ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic gives a 4-hour opening statement at the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, saying that Muslim attacks are to blame for Serbian atrocities against them. On Mar. 1 six NATO service members are killed in separate attacks in Afghanistan, incl. near Kandahar City, and nine Afghan civilians die in four bombings in the S. On Mar. 2 Pakistani Sunni Sufi scholar Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri (1951-) pub. a 600-page Fatwa Against Terrorism incl. suicide bombing in the name of Islam; too bad, he's a Sufi, and why would non-Sufis listen to him?; on Mar. 3 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan backs him up, calling Islamic terrorism "the outcome of an ugly propaganda"; meanwhile real Muslims celebrate Muhammad's birthday by looting and burning shops and houses owned by Hindus and Sikhs in Bareili, India - terrorism isn't Islamic, jihad is? On Mar. 2 the U.S. Senate votes 78-19 to end a filibuster by Repub. Sen. Jim Bunning and restore highway money and jobless funds despite the giant budget deficit. On Mar. 2 Pakistan seizes a Taliban and al-Qaida network in the Bajaur tribal area in NW Pakistan along the Afghan border; during the night Taliban militants blow up a boys school in the Spin Qabar area of Kyber Agency, while others throw grenades at a univ. music concert, killing one student. On Mar. 2 the drama series Parenthood, based on the 1989 film debuts on NBC-TV for 103 episodes (until Jan. 29, 2015), set in Berkeley, Calif., starring Craig Theodore Nelson (1944-) as patriarch Zeke Braverman, Bonnie Bedelia (1948-) as matriarch Camille Braverman, Peter William Krause (1965-) as son Adam Braverman, Lauren Helen Graham (1967-) as daughter Sarah Braverman, Dax Randall Shepard (1975-) as son Crosby Braverman, and Erika Jane Christensen (1982-) as daughter Julia Braverman-Graham. On Mar. 3 Turkish-born imam Abdullah Antepli, Muslim chaplain since 2008 of Duke U. delivers the opening prayer for the U.S. House of Reps. On Mar. 3 triple suicide bombers in Baqouba, Iraq kill 32 in advance of the Mar. 7 elections, incl. police and at a hospital. On Mar. 3 same-sex marriage becomes legal in Washington, D.C., becoming #6 after Conn., Iowa, Mass., N.H., and Vt. On Mar. 3 Islamic separatist militants in Narathiwat in S Thailand shoot and kill a father and his young daughter; meanwhile a roadside bomb wounds five soldiers. On Mar. 4 a 6.4 earthquake in S Taiwan injures 64. On Mar. 4 a court in Punjab sentences Christian couple Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi to 25 years in prison for blasphemy for touching a Quran without washing their hands first; after the court diddles on the issue, sparking massive pro-blasphemy riots, next Jan. 4 anti-blasphemy Punjab gov. Salman Taseer (1944-) is assassinated by his bodyguards in Islamabad, after which 500 Pakistani clerics and scholars praise him as a ghazi or Islamic warrior and warn against expressing sympathy for the dead infidel. On Mar. 4 John Patrick Bedell (b. 1973) shoots at and wounds two police officers at the entrance to the Pentagon before they shoot and kill him. On Mar. 4 the Vatican is rocked by a sex scandal reaching into Pope Benedict XVI's household after chorister Angelo Balducci is sacked for allegedly procuring male hos for a papal gentleman-in-waiting; meanwhile after archibishop Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishops Conference apologized in Feb. for 100+ cases of sexual abuse of children by priests in elite Jesuit boarding schools, the pope's brother Rev. George Ratzinger is discovered to have led the cathedral choir in Regensburg in 1964-94, where some of the abuse occurred, but denies knowledge; on May 1 the pope takes over the scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ after revelations that its Mexican-born founder Father Marcial Maciel Degollado (1920-2008) sexually abused young seminarians and fathered a child. On Mar. 5 the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee votes 23-22 to declare the 1915 WWI murder of 1.5M Armenians by the Turks as genocide, pissing Turkey off and causing it to recall its ambassador Namik Tan, and make diplomatic overtures towards Iran. On Mar. 5 the atheist Secular Coalition of Am. meets with Obama reps in the White House, becoming a first. On Mar. 6 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai calls on the Taliban to stop attacking schools so that the 5M Afghan children can reach their potential; meanwhile at 8:30 a.m. a car bomb in Najaf kills three and wounds 54. On Mar. 7 (Sun.) elections in Iraq see 55% turnout, despite violence, incl. 136 attacks and 100 projectiles and 13 bombs in Baghdad that kill 37 and injure 89; secular candidate Ayad Allawi (1945-) wins by two seats, signaling a V for secularism, although in 2004 he was PM of the interim govt. and viewed as a puppet of the U.S.; Shiite PM Nouri al-Maliki demands a recount; Allawi is alleged to have murdered six restrained men in 2004 while U.S. and Iraqi guards watched in shock. On Mar. 7 Pakistan announces the arrest of Am.-born Muslim terrorist Adam Yahiye Gadahn (1978-) in Karachi; the first Am. to be charged with treason since WWII, he has a $1M U.S. bounty on his head; they later admit it isn't him; a video by him is posted on the Web, calling for U.S. Muslims to follow the example of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasson and attack U.S. troops; he was the one producing fake videos of Osama bin Laden, and they couldn't retire him yet?; meanwhile the Taliban threatens to release 3K suicide bombers in Pakistan. On Mar. 7 Iran unveils the new short-range Nasr-1 Cruise Missile, which can destroy warships. On Mar. 7 Muslim herders attack three predominantly Christian settlements near Jos, Nigeria, killing several hundred; on Mar. 29 Muammar Gaddafi of Libya utters the soundbyte that Nigeria should be divided into separate Christian and Muslim states, causing Nigeria to recall its ambassador to Tripoli. On Mar. 7 an al-Qaida suspect tries to shoot his way out of a hospital in Sa'ana, Yemen, killing one intel agent and wounding another; meanwhile separatists battle security forces in S Yemen, wounding five. On Mar. 7 the 82nd Academy Awards are held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.; The Hurt Locker wins best picture of 2009, and dir. Kathryn Bigelow wins best dir. (first female); the song "I Am Woman" is played as she exits the stage; Geoffrey Fletcher becomes the first African-Am. to win for best screenplay for Precious; Jeff Bridges wins best actor for Crazy Heart, and Sandra Bullock best actress for The Blind Side; Christoph Waltz wins best supporting actor for Inglourious Basterds, and Mo'Nique best supporting actress for Precious; meanwhile activist actor Sean Penn stinks himself up with statements that journalists who call his hero Hugo Chavez of Venezuela a dictator should be jailed; a week after the awards, Sandra Bullock's husband (since July 16, 2005) Jesse Gregory James (1969-) is caught cheating on her during the filming of "The Blind Side" with white supremacist ex-Amish tattoo artist Michelle "Bombshell" McGee, causing him to publicly apologize but ruining their relationship, becoming another example of the Oscar Curse. On Mar. 8 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden visits Israel, pledging support against a nuclear-armed Iran. On Mar. 8 a Taliban suicide car bomber on a police intel unit in rush hour in Lahore, Pakistan kills 13. On Mar. 8 a 6.0 earthquake in E Turkey kills 51. On Mar. 8 N.Y. Dem. rep. Eric J.J. Massa (1959-) resigns, citing a pending investigation by the House Ethics Committee plus cancer, and claiming it to be a conspiracy by White House chief of staff Rahm "Rahmbo" Emanuel because he voted against an earlier House version of the health care reform bill, calling him "the son of the Devil's spawn"; too bad, on Mar. 9 he interviews Glenn Beck on Fox News Channel, and utters the soundbyte: "Now they're saying him until he couldn't breathe and then four guys jumped on top of me. It was my 50th birthday." On Mar. 8 seven Muslims are arrested in the Irish Repub. over an alleged plot to assassinate Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks for drawing a doodle Muhammad with the body of a dog, causing Swedish newspapers to repub. it in protest; one of them is pregnant Am. Muslim convert Jamie Paulin-Ramirez (1978-) from Colo., who becomes known as Jihad Jamie, and who along with two other of the seven suspects are released after questioning, after which she is arrested on arrival in Philly, and charged on Apr. 2 with terrorism; since 2007 there has been a $100K bounty on Vilks by an al-Qaida-linked group; on May 11 angry Muslims attack Vilks again at Uppsala U. for showing a scene from an Iranian film depicting Muhammad entering a gay bar. On Mar. 8 Barre Ali Barre, cmdr. of the Hizbul Islamic group is murdered in Mogadishu by members of the rival al-Shabaab Islamic group; on Mar. 26 200 protest outside the Swedish embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia over the cartoon. On Mar. 9 4'11" Mich.-born blonde-blue Colleen Renee "Fatima" LaRose (1963-) from Philly, who has been under custody since Oct. 16 when she landed in Philly on a flight from the Netherlands is identified as Muslim terrorist Jihad Jane, who used the Internet to plan terrorist attacks, and charged with providing material support to terrorists; on Mar. 18 she pleads not guilty to four terrorist conspiracy charges, then on Jan. 28, 2011 announces that she will change her plea to guilty, which she does on Feb. 1, with the soundbyte that she still wants to murder Vilks, and "will make this my goal till I achieve it or die trying"; on Jan. 6, 2014 she is convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. On Mar. 9 after years of enjoying a rape-murder spree and flouting the legal system, then being convicted in Feb., 1978 "Dating Game" contestant Rodney James Alcala (1943-) is sentenced to death in Calif. on five counts of murder incl. four women and a 12-y.-o. girl; on Jan. 27, 2011 he is indicted for two more murders in N.Y. during the 1970s. On Mar. 10 Islamic militants attack the office of the British World Vision Aid Agency in the Mansehra district of Pakistan 40 mi. N of Islamabad, killing five. On Mar. 10 U.S. officials announce that the no-fly list has doubled in size since Xmas Panty Bomber to 6K names. On Mar. 10 the Inter-Am. Press Assoc. announces the kidnapping of eight journalists in Mexico, which they claim is the biggest wave of abductions in recent Western Hemisphere history. On Mar. 10 the U.S. House Appropriations Committee votes to limit the ability of lawmakers to add earmarks into spending bills to fund pet projects. On Mar. 11 a 7.2 earthquake hits guess where Chile during the inauguration of new pres. Sebastian Pinera. On Mar. 11 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejects challenges by Sacramento, Calif. atheist Michael Newdow that the use of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency are unconstitutional. On Mar. 11 six same-sex couples (4 women, 8 men) marry in Mexico City under the first law in Latin Am. allowing it; the thousandth same-sex marriage is performed on Aug. 15, 2011, 548 male, 452 women, 6% foreigners, 85% between partners age 31+. On Mar. 11-12 U.S. vice-pres. Joseph Biden visits Jordan, and meets with four Jordanian civil activists in the U.S. embassy in Amman, causing the Jordanian press to accuse him of interfering in Jordan's internal affairs and claim that he is exploring the resettlement of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, wiping out the good impressions made by Pres. Obama's 2009 Cairo Speech; on Dec. 12 the Islamic Action Front of the Muslim Brotherhood accuses the govt. of Jordan of apostasy for assisting the U.S. in Afghanistan to fight against fellow Muslims. On Mar. 12 Israel seals off the West Bank amid tensions in Jerusalem over plans to build new homes for Jews, which U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden criticized during his recent visit; Hillary Clinton gives PM Benjamin Netanyahu a 43-min. telephone harangue, telling them that the Israeli govt. "needed to demonstrate not just through words but through specific actions that they are committed to this [bilateral] relationship and to the peace process." On Mar. 12 twin suicide bomb attacks in Lahore, Pakistan kill 45, becoming the 2nd attack of the week, proving that the Taliban is still going strong. On Mar. 12 after an imam tells them that they are planning to build a new church, a crowd of 3K Muslims attack a Coptic Christian community in Mersa Matrouh, Egypt, injuring 25 incl. women and children. On Mar. 12 British couple Charlotte Lewis (1984-) and Ayman Najafi (1985-) are arrested in Dubai for publicly kissing in a restaurant - they got a taste of Sharia? On Mar. 12 Natalie Randolph (1980-) becomes the only full-time h.s. varsity football coach in the U.S. (until ?). On Mar. 12 China pub. The Human Rights Record of the U.S. in 2009, attempting to reverse the charges - duh, where would China's people rather live if given the choice? On Mar. 13 another suicide attacker in Saidu Sharif in the Swat Valley in NW Paksitan kills 13+ and wounds 50+. On Mar. 13 Pakistani minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain addresses a conference in Peshawar, claiming that Islam is a religion of peace, brotherhood, and tolerance, and that there is no place in it for extremism and terrorism. On Mar. 14 a Taliban assault in Kandahar, Afghanistan described as a preemptive response to Western plans to eradicate them kills 35. On Mar. 14 Mexican authorities announce the murder by drug traffickers of a pregnant U.S. consulate worker and her hubby in Ciudad Juarez; during the weekend nearly 50 are killed in Mexico in drug-related violence, incl. Acapulco as U.S. college students arrive for spring break; on Nov. 27 suspected Aztecas gang leader Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, AKA El Farmero is arrested in Juarez. On Mar. 14 Indian police arrest two men for plotting a series of terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. On Mar. 14-? anti-govt. Red Shirt protesters in Bangkok, Thailand, who are pissed-off by the 2006 military coup that ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra cap it off on Mar. 16 by dumping their own blood at the gates of Govt. House. On Mar. 15 Israeli ambassador Michael B. Oren utters the soundbyte: "Israel's ties with the United States are in their worst crisis since 1975... a crisis of historic proportions." On Mar. 16 Islamic Mayalsian religion minister Jamil Khir Baharom defends Islamic laws allowing girls under age 16 to marry, saying "Maturity is a subjective question". On Mar. 16 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder tells Congress that Osama bin Laden will never be captured alive, saying "The possibility of capturing him alive is infinitesimal"; he also claims that Islamic terrorists should be prosecuted in civil courts as "common criminals", comparing them to mass murderer Charles Manson; meanwhile U.S. Middle East cmdr. David Howell Petraeus (1952-) tells Congress that Iran is assisting al-Qaida by facilitating links between senior terrorist leaders and affiliate groups, and that al-Qaida has a safe haven in Iran "and the Iranian government knows it" - they look like you, they sound like you, they're not like you? On Mar. 16 the crime drama TV series Justified, based on the Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole" debuts on FX Network for 78 episodes (until Apr. 15, 2015), starring Timothy Olyphant as deputy U.S. marshal Raylan Givens, who turns to his home town of Harlan, Ky. to work for Marshal Art Mullen (Nick Searcy) to fight career criminal Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins). On Mar. 17 a U.S. missile strike in Mazoni in North Waziristan, followed by another in Datta Kheil kill 9+ militants. On Mar. 18 the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act comes into effect, requiring all U.S. citizens to report their offshore financial accounts, and requiring foreign financial institutions to do ditto. On Mar. 18 the number of deadly Muslim terrorist attacks since 9/11 tops 15K. On Mar. 18 Iranian-Am. businessman Hassan Nemazee, who raised campaign money for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama pleads guilty to defrauding Bank of Am. Corp., Citigroup Inc., and HSBC Holdings Plc of $292M by obtaining huge loans based on fake collateral documents; on July 15 he is sentenced to 12 years in prison. On Mar. 19 Kai Eide, former top U.N. official in Afghanistan complains that recent arrests by Pakistan of high-ranking Taliban figures have torpedoed secret talks with the West. On Mar. 19 Arshed Mashih is mrudered in Rawalindi, Pakistan for refusing to convert from Christianity to Islam; on Mar. 25 Pakistani potato trader Rasheed Masih (1974-) is murdered by Muslims in Khanewal, Punjab ditto. On Mar. 21 200K march for immigration reform in the Nat. Mall in Washington, D.C. On Mar. 21 Dallas, Tex. Muslim Javid Kamal sends emails to Kansas legislators with a "call to Islam", a traditional prelude to jihad, causing him to later be arrested, discovered to be an illegal alien, and deported. On Mar. 21 (night) the U.S. House of Reps passes the Senate version of Obama's health reform program by a straight party ticket vote of 219-212, with zero Repubs. voting for it, and 34 Dems. voting against it; Obama utters the soundbyte "This is what change looks like", adding "This isn't radical reform, but it is major reform"; he signs it on Mar. 23, AKA Obama Care Sunday. On Mar. 22 British security minister Lord West announces that al-Qaida bomb makers from Afghanistan may already have the ability to produce a dirty bomb, and might plant it on a small craft and float it up the Thames River to London, causing him to set up a command center to track suspicious boats. On Mar. 22 the EU Times carries an article titled "World Mourns as Communist Darkness Falls Upon America", saying that Obama's power grab now incl. nationalization of the health care industry and student loan program, and takeover of the automobile, mortgage, and banking industries, claiming that the Internet is next in his sights. On Mar. 22 Christian Pakistani Arshed Mashih is burned to death by Muslims for refusing to convert to Islam, while a Muslim policeman rapes his wife Martha. On Mar. 23 Maoists derail the Rajdhani Express in E India, injuring dozens. On Mar. 23 Saudi king Abdullah II orders his senior clerics council to issue a Fatwa Against Funding Terrorism, which they dutifully issue in early May. On Mar. 23 the U.S. announces that Iran is helping train Taliban fighters within its borders. On Mar. 24 as part of Obama efforts to "restart" their relationship, the U.S. and Russia reach a deal on a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) to replace the 1991 pact that expired in Dec., the most extensive in two decades, with reductions of long-range nukes from 2.2K to 1.5K-1.675K, along with platforms; Obama and Medvedev sign it in Prague on Apr. 8; James R. Schlesinger et al. of the Nixon Center claim that Russia bested the U.S. in it by avoiding cuts in short-range tactical nukes; Obama signs it on Feb. 2, 2011. On Mar. 24 the govt. of Saudi Arabia arrests 113 Islamic militants with tis to al-Qaida planning attacks against oil and security facilities in E Saudi Arabia. On Mar. 24 leftist guerrillas set off a car bomb in the port city of Buenaventura, Columbia, killing six and wounding 30+. On Mar. 24 Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi says that he feels that the longtime suspicion and mistrust of Pakistan and its commitment to fighting Islamic extremists has vanished, as proved by fast-tracking of requests for military equipment. On Mar. 24 the U.N. Human Rights Council votes 45-1 in favor of Palestinian self-determination, with only the U.S. voting against; a resolution to urge Israel to pay reparations to the Palestinian people for the 2009-10 invasion of Gaza is tabled by Pakistan; on Mar. 25 the Saudi-greased council passes another non-binding OIC-backed Resolution on Religious Defamation (really an attempt to foist Islamic Sharia on the world, which makes insulting Islam a capital offense), with 20 countries voting in favor, 17 against, and 8 abstaining, becoming the 11th time in 12 years (first in 2005), with the lowest victory margin yet; Zambia becomes the first African country to vote against it, and Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and Benin abstain; U.S. ambassador Eileen Donahoe calls it an "ineffective way to address" the issue, saying "We cannot agree that prohibiting speech is the way to promote tolerance, because we continue to see the defamations of religions concept used to justify censorship, criminalisation, and in some cases violent assaults and deaths for political, racial, and religious minorities around the world", adding "Contrary to the intentions of most member states, governments are likely to abuse the rights of individuals in the name of this resolution, and in the name of the Human Rights Council." On Mar. 24 Abdullah Mohammed Muslim (1972-), a white Am. convert to Islam formerly known as Johnnie Clagg pleads guilty to firearm and destructive device possession along with attempted identity theft and passport fraud; despite traveling to North Wazaristan he claims no terrorist connections. On Mar. 25 U.S. defense secy. Robert M. Gates takes the first steps to soften the military ban on openly gay service members, restricting the evidence that can be used against them while retaining the possibility of discharge. On Mar. 25 the top U.N. official in Afghanistan holds the first reconciliation talks with reps. of Taliban warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. On Mar. 25 a member of the Kenyan Parliament claims that Pres. Obama was born in Kenya. On Mar. 26 Chicago, Ill. Pakistani-born Muslim taxi driver Raja Lahrasib "Kojak" Khan (1954-) is arrested for attempting to send money to al-Qaida. On Mar. 26 the Islamic org. Hizb ut-Tahrir holds a meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia that brings together Islamists and secular nationalists, calling for China to defy the U.S. and its "neo-liberal" economic creed, despite Pres. Obama's Indonesian roots and praise of Islam, signalling a sea change in Indonesia, which has been anti-Chinese ever since China armed and financed Indonesian Communists in an attempted coup in 1965. On Mar. 26 the 1.2K-ton South Korean naval ship Cheonan sinks off Baengnyeong Island in South Korea, killing 26 marines; on May 21 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton condemns North Korea for the torpedo attack, promising to marshal an internat. response with Japan, China, and other countries, with the soundbyte that "provocative actions have consequences"; North Korea warns of war if punished. On Mar. 27 the FBI raids the Hutaree ("Christian warrior") militia group in Mich., Ohio, and Ind. for plotting to kill police officers and war on the U.S. govt., which it considers the Antichrist, and arrests eight men and one woman. On Mar. 27 Facebook summarily deletes TLW's account, destroying his social network, without an explanation or warning, most probably pressure by Muslim fanatics, causing TLW to launch a Boycott Facebook campaign; meanwhile Facebook began showing its true colors, an outrageous attempt to foist a monopoly in social networking, pissing-off many orgs., U.S. state govts., and the EU; on May 20 a poll by IT security firm Sophos shows tht 60% of Facebook users are thinking of quitting over privacy concerns; TLW launches a Boycott Facebook movement; on May 29 Bangladesh blocks Facebook over Muhammad cartoons, then allows it again after Facebook's geek ruler Mark Zuckerberg takes all offensive cartoon off to please them; after a threatened mass exit fails to materialize, Facebook gains its 500 millionth user on July 21. On Mar. 28 (Sun.) Pres. Obama makes a surprise visit to Kabul, Afghanistan, his first since taking office, meeting with pres. Hamid Karzai and dining with him and Taliban warlords; meanwhile U.S. gen. Stanley A. McChrystal (senior NATO cmdr. in Afghanistan) utters the soundbyte: "We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat", which is jumped on by war critics, who call for war crimes prosecutions. On Mar. 28 after two Israeli soldiers are killed there, Israeli finance minister Yuval Steinitz says that Israel will "sooner or later" have to destroy the Islamic Hamas regime that controls the Gaza Strip. On Mar. 28 former U.S. U.N. ambassador John Bolton says on Army Radio that the Obama admin. is willing to accept a nuclear Iran, which explains their "extraordinary pressure on Israel not to attack Iran"; on Jan. 12 he warns Israel that it "has to move in the next eight days" before Iran brings its first nuclear reactor online on Aug. 21 to avoid release of radiation, saying that otherwise Iran "will achieve something that no other opponent of Israel, no other enemy of the United States in the Middle East really has, and that is a functioning nuclear reactor." On Mar. 28 (7 a.m.) several bombs explode in Qaim, Iraq (200 mi. W of Baghdad) near a house linked to Sunni politician Sheik Murdi Muhammad al-Mahalawi (supporter of Ayad Allawi), killing five and wounding 26. On Mar. 28 several Islamic groups raid a hotel occupied by a number of gay and lesbian advocates in Surabaya, Indonesia attending an internat. conference on gay/lez issues, after which they call for police to arrest the Islamists. On Mar. 28 Israeli minister Uzi Landau outlines a new vision of a world no longer dependent on oil, calling it the best way to defeat "Islamic terror", saying "Whoever wants to fight radical Islam and terrorist organizations should know that by purchasing gasoline, he's giving terrorists increased motivation"; meanwhile Sheikh Tayseer Rajab Al-Tamimi, chief justice of Palestine calls on Palestinians to fight to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. On Mar. 28 33-y.-o. Am. Muslim Norman Leboon (1976-) of Philly is arrested for threatening to kill Jewish Va. Repub. House Whip Eric Cantor in a YouTube video. On Mar. 29 (Mon.) (7:56 a.m. local time) two female suicide bombers, Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova from Dagestan and Markha Ustarkhanova from Chechnya detonate during rush hour in the Moscow Metro, killing 40 and injuring 102, becoming the deadliest attack in Moscow since 2004; Muslim Chechen warlord Doku Umarov claims responsibility, causing Russian PM (2008-) Vladimir Putin (1952-) to order the bombers "scraped from the sewers" and exposed; in 1999 he uttered the soundbyte about Chechen separatists that we wants to "rub them out in the outhouse"; the nearness of these Islamic militants to Sochi, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics makes their control more urgent; Alexander Tikhomirov is suspected of being the militant known as Sayid Buryatsky who trained the bombers; on Aug. 21 Russian forces kill Magomedali Vagabov, self-proclaimed emir of Dagestan, whom they claim was the mastermind. On Mar. 30 the 2010 CIA WINPAC Report says that Iran is poised to begin producing a nuke with a yield of a couple of kilotons of TNT despite problems with uraniuum centrifuges. On Mar. 30 U.S. district judge Robert Sweet strikes down a patent on two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer, saying that genes can't be patented even in an isolated form. On Mar. 30 the U.S. announces the Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who has been missing since June has defected to the U.S. and is helping the CIA assess Iran's nuclear program with $5M paid to him; on July 12 after claiming to be kidnapped in Saudi Arabia last summer by U.S. intel agents to question him about Iran's nuclear program, he appear appears in front of Iran's diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C. hopping mad and asking for a ticket back to Iran; he leaves on July 14, after which he is suspected of being an Iranian double agent trying to snow the U.S. about how far along the Iranian nuclear program is. The worst environmental disaster in U.S. history happens on Obama's watch? On Mar. 30 after saying that he was assured "that it would be absolutely safe", Pres. Obama announces that he is planning to open offshore areas along the Atlantic, E Gulf of Mexico, and N coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time; Pres. Obama officially announces it on Mar. 31; too bad, on Apr. 20 (anniv. of Hilter's birthday and the 1999 Columbine School Massacre) the mile-deep BP (formerly British Petroleum until 1998) Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig in the Gulf of Mexico 42 mi. S of the La.-Miss. coast explodes and begins spewing 35K-60K (100K?) barrels of petroleum a day (which is originally announced by BP as 1K a day, then increased on May 14 by the U.S. govt. over BP's objections to 5K a day, causing a mini-scandal) plus natural gas from the ocean floor, getting so bad that on Apr. 29 the U.S. Defense Dept. intervenes to control the 120-mi. oil slick, causing the Obama admin. to halt new offshore drilling until a study can be made; on May 8 an attempt to cap it with a 98-ton steel dome fails after becoming clogged with gas hydrates; on May 17 a small pipe (undersea straw) is inserted in the big broken pipe, siphoning off 20% of the oil, about 1K barrels a day; on May 26 drilling mud is poured into the leak in an attempt to end it; on May 27 the U.S. govt. admits it's the worst oil spill in history, and fires Susan Elizabeth "Liz" Birnbaum, dir. (since July 15, 2009) of the Minerals Mgt. Service Agency that oversees drilling operations, and announces a stop to all 33 offshore drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico along with an extension of the moratorium on new permits for 6 mo. (Oct. 12) until a commission can investigate, causing billionare George Soros to be singled out for benefiting from this because he's heavily invested in the Brazilian oil co. Petrobras, and got the Obama admin. to loan them $2M for offshore drilling, and can now use the idle U.S. drilling rigs and crew; on June 22 after loud complaints that it will hurt the U.S., the 6-mo. deepwater oil drilling moratorium is overturned by federal judge (since 1983) Martin Feldman in New Orleans, La., who is later found to have extensive investments in the oil and gas industry; on June 8 eight of 15 experts who where consulted by the Interior Dept. write a letter complaining that they weren't informed of the moratorium; on May 29 an attempted top kill with junk shot fails, causing Obama to call the ongoing oil leak (18M-40M gal.) "enraging"; Chicago-based NALCO makes a fortune selling the U.S. oil dispersants; on June 1 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder announces a criminal investigation into the oil spill, causing BP's stock to go down 50% by June 9; Obama's slowness in taking on BP causes Sarah Palin et al. to point to the fact that Obama was the top recipient of money from it in the 2008 pres. race, collecting $71K; on June 4 an oil cap partially seals the leak, collecting 42K gal. a day; meanwhile on June 2 up to 34M gal. of oil has hit a 127-mi. stretch of La. coastline, and reaches the shores of Dauphin Island 35 mi. S of Mobile, Ala., threatening the Fla. Keys; on June 7 Pres. Obama disses BP CEO Tony Hayward (1957-), saying that he would have fired him by now, while refusing to speak with him personally; on June 8 Obama ramps up his rhetoric, saying that his talks with Gulf fishermen and oil spill experts were not an academic exercise but "so I know whose ass to kick", splitting opinion on whether he's finally showing a macho side or whether he's showing his badass street black side like Samuel L. Jackson in "Pulp Fiction" (1994); on June 15 after a 2-day visit to the Gulf, Pres. Obama gives a Speech on the BP Oil Spill from the Oval Office (his first), channeling FDR and promising to mobilize all available resources military-style to fight the oil spill, with the soundbyte "We will fight this spill with everything we've got for as long as it takes", and calling BP "irresponsible" and promising to make them pay for all the damages via an escrow account administered by an independent 3rd party, appointing former Miss. gov. #60 (1988-92) and U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia (1994-6) Raymond Edwin "Ray" Mabus Jr. (1948-) (current U.S. Navy secy. #75 since June 18, 2009) as the Gulf cleanup tsar, with the task of developing a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan (to be funded by BP), along with Michael Bromwich as new dir. of the Minerals Mgt. Service, then using the spill as an excuse to push clean energy, saying it is "the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now", and that the U.S. needs to end its "addiction to fossil fuels", because "we're running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water", pooh-poohing the costs by adding "I say we can't afford not to change how we produce and use energy, because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security and our environment are far greater"; all this despite Repub. leaders warning him not to use the disaster to further his political agenda; while touring the Gulf, his motorcade passed a billboard reading "Where's the birth certificate?"; the Repub. response to the speech is that Obama's decision to shut down offshore drilling makes it "a tragedy on top of a tragedy"; on June 16 Obama meets with BP execs, and they agree to cough up $20B for the escrow account, managed by 9/11 victim payout atty. Kenneth Feinberg (1945-); on June 16 BP chmn. Carl-Henric Svanberg apologizes for the spill and announces that BP won't pay any futher dividends this year, but uses the term "small people" for those hurt by the spill, causing him to later apologize; on June 17 BP exec Tony Hayward is grilled by the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, after which he is relieved of his job of managing the spill and cleanup, leaving him free to enter a yacht race on the Isle of Wight on June 19, drawing criticism by Rahm Emanuel until it is found out that Obama went golfing that day, causing deputy White House press secy. Bill Burton to respond that it "does us all good as American citizens"; meanwhile Tex. Repub. rep. (since 1985) Joe Linus "Joe" Barton (1949-) lambastes Pres. Obama for his "$20 billion shakedown", causing Repub. leaders to force him to apologize under threat of taking away his head ranking of the committee; on June 18 BP captures a record 25,290 barrels of oil from the well; BP continues its $58M sponsorship of the 2012 London Olympics; on June 23 the BP well begins spewing oil full force again after a robot sub accident; on June 23 an oil slick hits the beaches in Pensacola, Fla.; on July 6 La. the oil hits Lake Pontchartrain in La., while the BP oil spill cleanup effort hits the $3B mark, and the A-Whale is deployed to skim 25M gal. of oil a day; the leak is finally stopped on July 15, and declared officially dead on Sept. 19, the oil is cleaned up by ?; on July 26 BP posts a record $17B 2nd quarter loss, and announces the replacement of Hayward with American Robert "Bob" Dudley (1956-); the drilling moratorium is lifted on Oct. 12. On Mar. 30 pro-immigrant groups demand the ouster of John T. Morton, head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after one of his underlings laments in a Feb. 22 memo that the pace of deportations is falling behind the goal of 400K per year; meanwhile U.S. Sen. (R-Ariz.) John McCain calls on homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano to send Nat. Guard troops to the "southern border region" to stop "the continued and apparently growing violence". On Mar. 30 the iFreedom Plus Mastercard is announced for Muslims, featuring no bills, no interest, and no credit card debt, financed by upfront deposits of up to $6K. On Mar. 30 Detroit, Mich. public schools official Robert Bobb meets with Arab-Am. spokesmen to discuss how to get more Arab-Am. children to stay in school by accomodating their Muslim faith, causing concerns of bowing to Islam. On Mar. 30 an Egyptian court dismisses a lawsuit filed by Christian Coptic mother Camilia Lutfi for refusing to remove the designation of Muslim from their birth certificates after their father converted; she utters the soundbyte "We refuse to be Muslims by force". On Mar. 31 suspected Islamic suicide bombers kill 12+ in Kizlyar, Dagestan, next door to Chechnya. On Mar. 31 a bicycle bomb near a crowd gathering to receive free vegetable seeds from the British govt. in return for giving up opium poppy growing near Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, capital of Helmand Province in Afghanistan kills 13 and wounds 45. On Mar. 31 the Belgian parliament unanimously votes against wearing face-covering veils in public, becoming the first Euro country. On Mar. 31 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 7-2 in Padilla v. Ky. that lawyers for people thinking of pleading guilty to a crime must advise their clients who are not citizens "that pending criminal charges may carry a risk of adverse immigration consequences" such as deportation. On Mar. 31 a U.S. district court judge in San Francisco, Calif. rules that the Nat. Security Agency illegally wiretapped the phones of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation without a search warrant, becoming a rare V for Islamic groups. On Mar. 31 Sarah Palin posts on her Facebook page that a nuclear-armed Iran would result in a "Second Holocaust" against Israel, and that "The Obama admin. has their priorities exactly backwards; we should be working with our friend and democratic ally to stop stop Iran's nuclear program, not throwing in the towel on sanctions while treating Israel like an enemy." On Mar. 31 the German ARD TV network broadcasts Until Nothing Remains, an expose of Scientology, pissing-off Scientologists. On Mar. 31 a U.S. federal judge rules that the U.S. Marine Corps can't ban car decals saying "Islam = terrorism" while allowing others that say "Islam is peace". On Mar. 31 former Israeli deputy defense minister Brig. Gen. Ephraim Sneh says that unless the U.S. and its allies enact "crippling sanctions that will undermine the regime in Tehran", Israel will be compelled to attack Iran's nuclear weapons facilities by Nov., adding that Iran will probably have "a nuclear bomb or two" by 2011, and that "An Israeli military campaign against Iran's nuclear installations is likely to cripple that country's nuclear probject for a number of years. The retaliation against Israel would be painful, but bearable"; he admits that "acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran during Obama's term would do him a great deal of political damage" in the Nov. elections, but that the damage to him resulting from an Israeli strike on Iran "would be devastating"; Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and Internat. Studies has already concluded that Israel would have to use small nukes (20KT) to destroy Iran's nuclear sites. On Mar. 31 a group of 100 Muslims try to pray in Cordoba Cathedral in Spain (a former mosque), and are ordered to stop by security guards, but they attack the guards, injuring two, after which police arrest two. In Mar. the U.S. unemployment rate stays at 9.7% for the 3rd straight mo. In Mar. Kuveyt Turk Bank of Turkey (based in Istanbul and Kuwait) opens the first Islamic bank in Germany in Mannheim, forbidding interest on loans or loans to enterprises flouting Sharia; borrowers must offer collateral and lenders receive a share of business profits. In Mar. a survey by Harris Interactive reveals that 57% of Americans who chose the Republican Party believe that Obama is a Muslim. In Mar. the Obama admin. requests $30.7M for the Dept. of Homeland Security's Visa Security Program, the same amount approved by Congress for 2009, causing Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) to introduce the U.S. Secure Visas Act, allocating $60M for the program to put VSP units in the 15 "highest risk" consulates on top of 14 already in place. In Mar. Wachovia admits to laundering Mexican drug cartel money for the last four years to the tune of $300B, causing it to be charged with violation of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. In Mar. Indonesian Muslims are ordered to pray in the wrong direction, W toward Africa instead of NW toward Mecca; they fix it on July 19. In Mar. Israel ambassador to London Ron Prosor meets with exiled croen prince Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr al-Thani of Ras al-Khaimeh (RAK), the northernmost member of the UAE 40 mi. from Iran to help him stage a coup; Israel accuses RAK of "aiding trafficking in nuclear parts" to Iran. In Mar. climate scientists report the most sea ice covering the Arctic since 2001 after cold weather over the Bering Sea, surprising them, although they won't drop their belief in global warming. In spring Garland, Tex.-born Am. Muslim convert U.S. Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo (1990-) (Am. Christian mother, Jordanian Muslim father) makes news for refusing to fight in Afghanistan, applying for conscientious objector status before deployment to Afghanistan, saying "I don't believe I can involve myself in an army that wages war against Muslims. I don't believe I could sleep at night if I take part, in any way, in the the killing of a Muslim", and "Islam is much more peaceful and tolerant religion than it is an aggressive religion. I don't believe that Islam allows me to operate in any kind of warfare"; too bad, in June child porno and bombmaking components are found in his belongings, causing him to go AWOL from Ft. Campbell, Ky. during the July 4 weekend; on July 28, 2011 he is caught trying to purchase guns in Killeen, Tex. near Ft. Hood, and is arrested for planning a jihadist attack on a restaurant near the base, being found with explosives; on May 24, 2012 he is convicted, and on July 29, 2012 as he is leaving the courtroom where he freely admits his guilt, he shouts "Nidal Hasan Ft. Hood 2009"; on Aug. 10, 2012 he is sentenced to two life terms plus 60 years. In Apr. U.S. home prices fall to a new recession low. On Apr. 1 U.S. Census Day sees thousands of census workers knocking on doors, with historic plans to photograph and fingerprint every citizen over age 15 and issue nat. ID cards; 2.5M census takers begin visiting 630K villages and 5K cities. On Apr. 1 dozens of drug cartel gunmen assault two army garrisons in Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon border states in N Mexico, losing 18 attackers while wounding only one soldier, signaling an escalation of the Mexican Drug War. On Apr. 1 San Francisco, Calif. police chief George Gascon apologizes for remarks made on Mar. 25 that the U.S. faces the threat of domestic terrorism from Yemen and Afghanistan, and that significant numbers of people from those countries reside in the Bay Area, pissing-off the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) et al. On Apr. 1 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzi delivers a scathing sour grapes attack on the West, accusing the U.N. and the West of perpetrating a "vast fraud" in the 2009 pres. election in order to deny him reelection and/or make him "an ineffective president", drawing criticism from Afghan politicans and the White House. On Apr. 1 the conference Terrorism: Between Extremist Ideology and the Ideology of Extremism is held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to create a unified definition of terrorism that will "prevent the term being used as a cover to target Islam and portray Muslims wrongly, prevent foreign interference in Islamic countries' affairs, and prevent humanitarian aid to Muslim organizations being held up for terror-related reasons." On Apr. 1 after it successfully begins colliding particles, a self-described Man from the Future is arrested at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, wearing a fluorescent bow tie and claiming his name is Eloi Cole and that he traveled back in time to prevent the LHC from destroying the world; his real name turns out to be Arthur Dent :). On Apr. 2 the U.S. govt. announces that travelers from 14 countries known as terrorist homes will no longer face automatic extra screening when trying to fly to the U.S., and will only undergo extra screening if they match descriptions provided by intel officials. On Apr. 2 Islamic gunmen dressed as soldiers execute 24 in Hawr Rijab, Iraq in a Sunni area - the religion of peace is baack? On Apr. 2 German soldiers in Afghanistan accidentally kill six Afghan soldiers in a firefight with the Taliban near Kunduz, Afghanistan, while losing three KIA. On Apr. 2 (Good Friday), Roman Catholic Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa gives a Good Friday sermon in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome attended by Pope Benedict XVI, saying that recent accusations about sexual abuse of priests reminds him of the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism", pissing-off Jewish and victims groups; meanwhile Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone claims that homosexuality not celibacy is behind clergy child sex abuse, drawing criticism from gay rights activists, and Mass. priest James Scahill calls for the pope to resign over the sexual abuse scandal. On Apr. 2 landslides caused by heavy rains hit two towns in NE Peru, killing 28, injuring 54, and leaving 25 missing. On Apr. 2 veiled Saudi babe Hissa Hilal becomes a celeb for reading anti-Islamic poetry on the Saudi TV show "The Millionaire Poet", causing death threat fatwas to be issued against her; she places 3rd; "I have seen evil in the eyes of the fatwas at a time when the lawful is condemned as unlawful; when I unveil the truth a savage monster comes out of its hiding place; barbaric in thought and action, angry and blind; wearing death as a robe with a belt over it. When I unveil the truth a savage monster comes out of his hiding place; barbaric in thought and action, angry and blind; wearing death as a robe with a belt over it." On Apr. 3 U.S. House Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Jim Moran (D-Va.) attend a fundraising dinner for the radical Saudi-funded Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in falls Church, Va., which is tied to the 9/11 hijackers and Ft. Hood Massacre, causing outcries from watchdog groups; meanwhile in the U.K. the Islamic charity Muslim Aid, which was praised by British PM Gordon Brown and Prince Charles is investigated for paying hundreds of thousands of pounds to groups linked to Islamic terrorists. On Apr. 3 two German-born British women are arrested at John Lennon Airport in Liverpool for trying to smuggle their dead German relative onto a flight to Berlin without paying the extra costs. On Apr. 3 the 2010 Sahel Famine starts with drought in the Senegal River area in Feb.-Aug., killing 9-62 by Sept. 18. On Apr. 4 (Easter Sun.) Pope Benedict XVI delivers his 2010 Easter Sermon; meanwhile on Apr. 2 Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican Congregation for the Dictrine of the Faith denies that the pope declined to punish pedophile priest Lawrence C. Murphy of Wisc., who is accused of abusing up to 200 deaf boys in the 1950s-1970s. On Apr. 4 three embassies in Iraq are bombed by suicide bombers, incl. the Iranian and German embassies and Egyptian consultate, killing 41 and wounding 237. On Apr. 4 despite appeals by the home minister to hold peace talks, a landmine attack by Maoist rebels in Orissa in E India kills 10 Indian policemen and injures another 10, making over 6K deaths since the rebels began fighting 20 years earlier. On Apr. 4 the 7.2 2010 Mexico Baja Earthquake with epicenter 20 mi. SE of Mexicali, Mexico kills two and is felt in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. On Apr. 4 Jewish-Am. Conn. independent Sen. Joseph "Joe" Lieberman appears on "Meet the Press", and says that the world is "at a turning point in history" because of Iran's drive to get nukes, and that the Obama admin. is "not going to do enough to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons quickly enough". On Apr. 4 a jailbreak in Reynosa, Mexico near the U.S. border sees 13 inmates escape, becoming the 2nd mass jailbreak in Tamaulipas state in less than two weeks; meanwhile Mexican drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, says that the Mexican govt. cannot win the drug war because millions of people are involved in the drug business. On Apr. 4 al-Qaida urges Islamic jihadists in the U.S. to build their own cruise missles and attack passenger jets. On Apr. 4 Iraqi police arrest three doctors and others in Mosul on charges of plundering body organs incl. kidneys. On Apr. 4 (Sun.) Pres. and Mrs. Obama attend Easter service at the black methodist Allen Chapel AME Church in SE Washington, D.C. On Apr. 5 Pres. Obama announces a new 5-10-year Nuclear Posture Review, substantially narrowing the conditions under which the U.S. will use nukes, even in self-defense, committing not to use them against non-nuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, even if they attack the U.S. with non-nuclear WMDs, with an exception for "outliers like Iran and North Korea"; it contains no mention of Islamic terrorism or jihad, and reverses the 2008 Bush policy document that says "The struggle against militant Islamic radicalism is the great ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century", causing Conn. Sen. Joe Lieberman to call the move dishonest, wrong-headed, and disrespectful to the majority of non-terrorist Muslims; former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani calls nuclear disarmament a "left-wing dream", and Obama an "inept" leader; conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh says that Obama wants to blame the U.S. instead of its enemies, and that his plan to build Muslim hospitals and spend $200M for security for the 9/11 terrorists awaiting trial should outrage 9/11 victims; Sarah Palin compares Obama's plan to a kid asking to be punched in the face in the playground and vowing not to hit back, causing Obama on Apr. 8 to comment "Last time I checked, Palin's not an expert on nukes. If the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are comfortable, I'll take my advice from them and not Sarah Palin"; on Apr. 7 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket calls Obama an "inexperienced amateur" who is quick to threaten to use nukes on U.S. enemies, adding "American politicians are like cowboys. Whenever they have legal shortcomings, their hands go to their guns"; on Apr. 8 Imadinnajacket adds that he won't plead with opponents of Tehran's nuclear program to avoid sanctions; instead of planning on retaliating with nukes, the Obama admin. pumps up a program to create Prompt Global Strike weapons, non-nuclear IBMs that can hit any place in the world in less than an hour; on Apr. 20 Saudi Arabia announces the building of the first nuclear power plant in the Gulf states in Riyadh; while Obama shows signs of accepting a nuclear Iran, Israel will never accept it; Obama's unilateral disarmament approach will only provoke another nuclear arms race? On Apr. 5 a Pakistani Taliban bomb attack on the U.S. consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, kills six, incl. two militants, but no Yankees. On Apr. 5 an Islamic attack in Karabulak, Ingushetia kills two police officers, spreading the Islamic war on Russia. On Apr. 5 100+ Chinese miners in Xiangning, China are rescued after being trapped in a flooded mine for over a week; meanwhile on Apr. 5 an explosion in the Upper Big Branch Mine owned by Massey Energy Co. in Montcoal (30 mi. S of Charleston), W. Va. kills 29, becoming the worst U.S. mine disaster since 1984. On Apr. 5 a U.S. appeal court rules that the FCC doesn't have the right to enforce Net Neutrality, effectively killing the movement without federal legislation. On Apr. 5 ABC News airs a segment about the Fishing and Hunting Tour Sex Trade that hooks up Yankees with hos in Brazil incl. preteen girls. On Apr. 6 the U.S. govt. announces that the Obama admin. has authorized operations to capture or kill U.S.-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is holing up in Yemen with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, calling him a "proven threat"; on Apr. 9 former U.S. atty.-gen. Michael Mukasey backs the decision. On Apr. 5 the heaviest rains in more than four decades cause floods and landslides in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing 110. On Apr. 6 British PM Harold Brown calls for new elections on May 6 against David Cameron (1966-) of the Conservatives and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Dems., which will feature a U.S.-style 3-part TV debate; actor Michael Caine wades into the political arena to support the Conservatives. On Apr. 6 (5:15 a.m.) the 7.7 2010 Sumatran Earthquake in Indonesia causes a brief tsunami warning. On Apr. 6 a series of seven bomb blasts markets and apts. in Shiite areas of Baghdad, Iraq kills 35+ and wounds 140+. On Apr. 7 after years of graft and corruption of pres. Kurmanbek Bakiyev, police fire on thousands of mainly pro-Russian protesters in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan as the govt. is on the verge of toppling and Bakiyev goes into hiding, and on Apr. 15 resigns and leaves the country; on Apr. 20 riots in Bishkek against the interim govt. kill several and injure scores; meanwhile the U.S. Manas military base near Bishkek is threatened. On Apr. 7 after anti-govt. protesters break into parliament and force lawmakers to flee by heli, Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva declares a state of emergency in Bangkok. On Apr. 7 Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb threatens to attack the World Cup games in South Africa this summer, with the soundbyte "How amazing could the match United States vs. Britain be when broadcasted live on air at a stadium packed with spectatorswhen the sound of an explosion rumbles through the stands, the whole stadium is turned upside down and the number of dead bodies are in their dozens and hundreds, Allah willing" - it's Lobsterfest? On Apr. 7 attempted shoe bomber Mohammed al-Modadi is subdued by federal air marshals on United Airlines Flight 663 en route from Washington, D.C. to Denver, Colo. with 157 passengers and six crew; he turns out to be a diplomat in the Qatar embassy with full diplomatic immunity, and isn't charged. On Apr. 7 Saudi Sunni cleric Sheik Mohammed al-Areefi cancels a historic visit to Jerusalem to support Muslim claims to the city after pressure from his kingdom. On Apr. 8 the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty is signed in Prague, Czech. by U.S. Pres. Obama and Russian Pres. Dmitry Medvedev, to take effect on Feb. 5, 2011 and last until at least 2021, reducing the number of strategic missile launches by half, but not limiting the number of stockpiled nuclear warheads. On Apr. 8 the Equality Act of 2010 is enacted in the U.K., protecting people from "discrimination because of religion or religious or philosophical belief. To be protected, a person must belong to a religion that has a clear structure and belief system"; Britain opens itself up to takeover by the Muslim World without breaking into a sweat? On Apr. 8 a 24-y.-o. Muslim woman dies after her burka gets caught in a go-kart she is driving near Port Stephens, Australia (N of Sydney). On Apr. 8 13-y.-o. Yemeni girl Ilham Mahdi al Assi (b. 1996) dies five days after her wedding after her sex organs rupture and hemorrhage; she was used in a swap marriage, with her brother marrying the groom's sister. On Apr. 8 80+ gunmen in 15 pickup trucks attack the town of Maycoba in N Mexico, killing 4+. On Apr. 8 the British Muslim group Bradford Council of Mosques makes a publicity play by demanding the ministry of defense to apologize because its firing range in N England uses green-domed structures that they claim look like mosques; meanwhile after the Palestinian Authority announces the building of a pres. compound on a street in Ramallah named after Palestinian suicide bombmaker Yihye "the Engineer" Ayyash, Israel urges the U.N. to condemn them; meanwhile on Apr. 8 a poll by the IMAS Inst. shows that 54% of Austrians consider Islam "a threat to the West and our way of life", while 72% believe "Muslims don't adapt to the rules of community life", and 71% believe that Islam isn't compatible with Western concepts of democracy. On Apr. 9 U.S. Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens announces his retirement at the end of the session in June, leaving the court with no Protestants for the first time ever (until ?); he turns 90 on Apr. 20. On Apr. 9 Iran unveils a 3rd generation of domestically-built uranium centrifuges that do it faster. On Apr. 9 the high court of Bangladesh rules that women cannot be forced to wear a veil or hijab against their will, calling it a "flagrant violation of human rights enshrined in the Constitution". On Apr. 9 the U.S. removes Syria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and other Muslim nations from its airport watch list for augmented airport security imposed on Jan. 3, adding "This is not a system that can be called profiling in the traditional sense - it is intelligence-based"; meanwhile French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy warns that Pres. Obama is a "mad lunatic" for his systematic appeasement of Islam. On Apr. 9 after a coverup fails, U.S. Special Forces cmdr. vice-adm. William H. McRaven goes personally to Paktia in E Afghanistan to offer family head Haji Sharabuddin two sheep and $3K for the deaths of his two sons, who were accidentally killed along with two pregnant women and a teen girl by U.S. forces on Feb. 12; he follows ancient Pashtun tribal ritual for paying blood money. On Apr. 9 the Good Friday ed. of the German satire mag. Titanic pub. a cartoon of a Roman Catholic priest giving Jesus Christ a beejay while hanging on the cross, outraging the Church. On Apr. 9 (11:30 p.m.) the U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico is bombed, breaking windows but causing no injuries. On Apr. 10 a Pakistani govt. airstrike in Tirah, Pakistan in NW Pakistan during a meeting of Lashkar-e-Islam kills 48 militants. On Apr. 10 the conference Islam in Italy: Fulfilling the Prophecy is held in London, England to celebrate the coming fulfillment of Prophet Muhammad that Islam will conquer first Constantinople then Rome. On Apr. 10 a Soviet-era Tupolev jet carrying an elite Polish delegation incl. Polish pres. (since 2005) Lech Kaczynski (b. 1949) and his wife Maria Kaczkynska crashes during landing in fog in Smolensk, Russia, killing all 95 aboard; they were scheduled to commemorate the 70th anniv. of the Katyn Massacre of 22K Polish officers by the Soviets; the cmdrs. of all four branches of the Polish military are lost, along with the head of the central bank and many of Kaczynski's top advisers, the cream of Poland's elite; a conspiracy by PM Vladimir Putin to humble Poland for trying to host U.S. missile defense systems is suspected. On Apr. 10 U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid tells a crowd in Las Vegas, Nev. that Congress will begin working on immigration overhaul after returning from recess this week. On Apr. 10-11 the govt. of Mexico disconnects 25.9M of 83.5M cell phone lines for not being registered as part of a plan to fight drug cartels. On Apr. 10-May 23 the Shroud of Turin is publicly exhibited, and Pope Benedict XVI visits it on May 2, all-but endorsing its authenticity, with the soundbyte "This is a burial cloth that wrapped the remains of a crucified man in full correspondence with what the Gospels tell us of Jesus." On Apr. 11 the TV reality series Basketball Wives debuts on VH1-TV for 61 episodes (until Oct. 21, 2013), filmed in Miami, Fla. and New York City, spawning Basketball Wives LA for 41 episodes on Aug. 29, 2011-Aug. 2012. On Apr. 11-16 elections in Sudan are the first since the 1989 Omar El-Bashir coup give him 88%+ of the vote; former U.S. pres. Jimmy Carter stinks himself up by calling them fair. On Apr. 12-13 Pres. Obama meets with 46 world leaders in Washington, D.C. (largest gathering of world leaders since the U.N. organizing meeting in San Francisco in 1945) at the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit; after hearing that Middle Eastern nations are waiting to task him for not signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Benjamin Netanyahu of #47 Israel bugs out; on Apr. 11 Obama, who has already called a nuclear attack by terrorists "the single biggest threat to U.S. security" admits that if al-Qaida acquired nukes, it "would have no compunction at using them", and says that it "could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come", but doesn't incl. Iran in that assessment; on Apr. 13 Obama presses for tightened sanctions on Iran, but Russia balks at gasoline restrictions, and obtains a voluntary agreement to secure vulnerable nuclear materials within four years; Chile becomes the first nation to agree to surrender all its highly enriched uranium, 40 lbs. obtained from Britain and France for two research reactors; meanwhile an Apr. 11 report by Jane's Defense Weekly says that Israel has 100-300 nuclear warheads; on Apr. 12 Russian pres. (since 2008) Dmitry Medvedev (1965-) warns Israel that if they attack Iran it might lead to a nuclear war; on Apr. 13 China says that any sanctions must promote a diplomatic way out of the nuclear standoff, while continuing its transfer of nuclear technology ot Pakistan and Iran; on Apr. 14 U.S. Ariz. Rino Sen. John McCain says that the U.S. keeps pointing a loaded gun at Iran, which is going to get nukes unless the U.S. hurries up and "pulls the trigger", meaning on sanctions not guns; at the close of the summit, Obama utters the soundbyte "Whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them", pissing-off McCain, who calls the remark a "direct contradiction to everything America believes in"; on Apr. 17-18 Iran holds its own nuclear disarmament conference in Tehran, attended by Russia; Ayatollah Ali Khameini calls the U.S. the world's "only nuclear scofflaw"; on Apr. 27 Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi calls the U.S. decision to not invite Libya a "political blunder" that will discourage Iran and North Korea from giving up their nuclear ambitions. On Apr. 12 a splinter group of the IRA detonates a car bomb outside British MI5 HQ in Belfast just minutes after the official transfer of police and justice powers from Britain to Northern Ireland. On Apr. 12 Indonesian pres. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gives a speech at the Sixth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy, claiming that "Islam, democracy, and modernization grow together". On Apr. 12 British atheists Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens announce that when Pope Benedict XVI enters Britain that they will attempt to arrest him for "crimes against humanity" a la Augusto Pinochet in 1998. On Apr. 12 a massive human smuggling ring in Ariz. that stretches the length of the U.S. is busted by ICE officials. On Apr. 13 the 6.9 2010 Tibetan Earthquake kills 1.1K and injures 8K. On Apr. 13 Israeli pres. Shimon Peres accuses Syria of giving 430-mi.-range Scud missiles to Hezbollah, shifting the balance of power in the region as the missiles could reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem instead of only targets in N Israel like in the 2006 war; Syria denies it; on Apr. 14 Jordanian king Abdullah III tells U.S. congressmen that war is imminent between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and that it could spread across the Middle East. On Apr. 13 nonprofit online newsroom ProPublica becomes the first online org. to win a Pulitzer Prize, along with its reporter Sheri Fink, for a story about a hospital after Hurricane Katrina. On Apr. 13 James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation criticizes Pres. Obama, saying that his cutting of conventional military capabilities and talk of pullouts from Iraq and Afghanistan is creating a dangerous environment vis a vis Iran. On Apr. 13 Ariz. passes SB 1070, the toughest state immigration law in the U.S., making all illegal aliens guilty of trespassing and requiring state and local police to arrest them, along with encouraging them to enter the state, causing outcries from pro-immigrant groups; John McCain drops opposition hours before its passage, saying "I think it is a good tool"; U.S. judge Andrew Napolitano says that the law will "bankrupt the Republican Party"; on Apr. 23 blonde-blue Ariz. gov. #22 (since Jan. 21, 2009) Janice Kay "Jan" Brewer (1944-) signs it, triggering protests, calls for boycotts of Ariz., lawsuits, etc.; it is set to goe into effect on July 29; on Apr. 27 Pima County sheriff Clarence Dupnik says that he has "no intention" of complying with the law, calling it "abominable" and a "national embarrassment"; on Apr. 26 Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon condemns the law as discriminatory, and warns that relations will suffer; on Apr. 30 Brewer signs a revised version that attempts to stop racial profiling; on May 1 Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger M. Mahoney, archbishop of Los Angeles leads a march in downtown Los Angeles, Calif. by 50K, comparing the law to "German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques whereby people are required to turn one another in to the authorities on any suspicion of documentation"; other anti-Ariz. rallies are held throughout the U.S., incl. 25K in Dallas, Tex. and 10K in Chicago, Ill.; on May 4 NBA Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver issues a statement that his team will wear "Los Suns" on their uniforms on May 5 to "honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation"; on May 6 N.Y. Dem. Sen. Chuck Schumer calls for a 1-year delay on implementation of the law to give Congress time for federal-level immigration reform; on July 6 the Obama admin. Justice Dept. files a lawsuit challenging it in federal court on preemption grounds, claiming it steps on federal prerogratives; on July 11 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder announces that politics aren't behind the decision to sue, but "The basis for this was a legal determination by those of us at the Justice Dept. that the new law was inconsistent with the Constitution", holding out the possiblity of a racial profiling suit later; on July 28 a federal district judge Susan Bolton blocks the key parts of SB 1170 that angered opponents, with the soundbyte "Requiring Arizona law enforcement officials and agencies to determine the immigration status of every person who is arrested burdens lawfully-present aliens because their liberty will be restricted while their status is checked"; Mexico and 10 other Latin Am. countries ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court fo Appeals for permission to file friend-of-the-court briefs in Brewer's appeal of the ruling. On Apr. 13 Christian barber Marwat Masih (1981-) is beaten and sodimized by eight Muslims in Pakistan for trimming a Muslim's beard. On Apr. 14 hundreds of protesters armed with machetes battle security forces in Jakarta, Indonesia after hearing news that the govt. is going to remove the tomb of Islamic scholar Habib Hasan; they were only going to renovate it. On Apr. 14 U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama visits Mexico, where she meets with Mexican first lady Margarita Zavala and minimizes the danger of drug cartels and discusses drug treatment programs. On Apr. 14 U.S. undersecy. of state Judith A. McHale says that the Obama admin. is shifting focus of public diplomacy efforts to downplay the Bush admin. emphasis on countering violent extremists in order to avoid offending foreign audiences, which they believe only a tiny percentage of are at risk for becoming extremists; on Apr. 26 Roger L. Simon, CEO of Pajamas Media TV calls upon the U.S. Senate to launch an investigation into censorship by the Obama admin. of terminology about Islam, incl. the words "Islamic extremism", "jihad", "Sharia", "Hamas", and "Hizbollah". On Apr. 14 Kosovo bans headscarves (hijabs) in public schools, joining Tunisia and France. On Apr. 14 Quran-thumping Am. Muslim convert James A. Larry (1978-) of Madison, Wisc. shoots to death his pregnant wife, three children, and an adult in Chicago, Ill., then claims that "Allah told him to do it"; many news services incl. the AP sanitize the story to remove all mention of Islam. On Apr. 14 the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) criticizes Israel for incl. photos of the Western Wall in a tourism ad, saying that the site isn't within Israel's borders. On Apr. 14 Britain announces a secret deal to permit a small number of Yemeni Jews to immigrate to escape severe Islamic persecution. On Apr. 14-16 the members of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) meet in Brasilia to draw up a plan for a "new internat. order" for presentation at the G20 meeting in June; BRIC has 42% of the world pop. but only 15% of the GDP; the parallel BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India, China) coalition is becoming increasingly alienated by U.S. efforts to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. On Apr. 15 after a U.S. woman summarily sent her violent troublesome 7-y.-o. adopted son back to Russia on a plane alone, the Russian foreign ministry suspends all adoptions by U.S. families. On Apr. 15 after erupting for the 2nd time in a mo. on Apr. 14, a giant volcanic ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull (Eyjafjallajökull) Volcano (pr. EYA-fyatla-yokl) (AKA E15) in Iceland causes Britain to suspend all air traffic for the first time ever, reopening it on Apr. 20 at 10 p.m. after it costs $1.7B; too bad, by May 8 the volcanic ash cloud drifts over Africa, closing airports there. On Apr. 15 another suicide bombing in Kandahar, Afghanistan kills three foreigners and three Afghan soldiers. On Apr. 15 Pres. Obama gives a speech at the Kennedy Space Center in Fla., calling another Moon mission redundant, and instead calling for missions to asteroids and Mars. On Apr. 15 Pres. Obama signs an executive order to the Dept. of Health ending discrimination in hospital visitation and power of atty. against same-sex partners. On Apr. 15 U.S. federal district court Barbara B. Crabb in Madison, Wisc. rules the U.S. Nat. Day of Prayer unconstitutional, along with a 1988 law giving the U.S. pres. authority to designate the first Thur. in May as one, causing Sarah Palin on Apr. 16 to call it "mind-boggling" to suggest that the U.S. isn't a Christian nation. On Apr. 15-16 Islamic jihadists murder four Russian officers in Chechnya. On Apr. 16 Roman Catholic bishop Richard Williamson is fined 10K euros by a German court for denying the magical 6M Holocaust victim figure and claiming it was really only 200K-300K; judge Karin Frahm declares "The statements by the accused represent a denial of the actions taken under the National Socialist regime" - was there a minimum number of victims that gave him a defense? On Apr. 16 the SEC accuses Goldman Sachs of civil fraud by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments during the housing market collapse, causing its stock to drop 15%. On Apr. 16 a suicide bomb attack outside a hospital emergency ward in Quetta, Pakistan kills nine, incl. two police officers and a TV cameraman. On Apr. 16 (Fri.) senior Iranian cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi gives a Fri. mosque sermon claiming that women who dress immodestly cause sexual immortality that leads to earthquakes, and is backed up by Guardian Council head Ahmad Jannati, causing worldwide scorn incl. a campaign to trigger a "Boobquake" by U.S. student Jennifer "Jen" McCreight AKA the Blag Hag. On Apr. 17 Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi praises Pres. Obama, saying "He is someone I consider a friend. He knows he is a son of Africa. Regardless of his African belonging, he is of Arab Sudanese descent, or of Muslim descent. He is a man whose policy should be supported, and he should be assisted in implementing it in any way possible, since he is now leaning towards peace." On Apr. 17 two suicide bombers dressed in burqas detonate in a refugee camp in Kacha Pukka, Kohat in NW Pakistan, killing 41 and wounding 62. On Apr. 17 snow falls in Tokyo, Japan, becoming the latest in the season since Apr. 17, 1969. On Apr. 18 U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen, chmn. of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says that a U.S. strike against Iran would go a "long way" to delaying its nuclear weapons program, but that he considers it his "last option" right now; meanwhile Iranian pres. Madman Inastraightjacket boasts of Iran's military might and says that no country would dare attack it; he also orders the U.S. and its allies to leave Afghanistan. On Apr. 18 (night) al-Qaida in Iraq AKA ISI (Islamic State in Iraq) leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Bahgadi are killed by U.S. forces in their safe house near Tikrit, allowing Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi (Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badri) (1971-) to claim leadership of ISI as emir #2, later claiming to be caliph because of alleged descent from Muhammad's Quraysh tribe. On Apr. 19 the U.S. Defense Dept. submits a Report to Congress on Iran, claiming that it could develop and test an ICBM capable of hitting the U.S. by 2015. On Apr. 19 the 15th anniv. of the Oklahoma City Bombing is marked by gun-toting protesters on federal land in N Va. On Apr. 19 the high court of Indonesia rules 8-1 that the 45-y.-o. law banning blasphemy against Islam and five other recognized religions is valid. On Apr. 19 the Islamic Web site RevolutionMuslim.com issues pseudo-threats against Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of the TV cartoon series South Park for airing an episode showing Muhammad in a bear suit, with the soundbyte: "We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them"; on Apr. 22 the threat causes the show to remove all references to Big M, which doesn't stop Malaysia from demanding a worldwide apology to show that they are submitting to Islamic superiority; the poster turns out to be 20-y.-o. Zachary Adam Chesser (1989-), AKA Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee from Centreville, Va., who tells FoxNews.com "It's not a threat, but it really is a likely outcome"; in June he is arrested for trying to go to Somalia to join al-Shabaab; on Apr. 24 the RevolutionMuslim.com Web site is hacked; Seattle, Wash. artist Molly Norris declares an Everybody Draw Muhammad Day for May 20, then gets scared and drops it, then picks it back up, then drops it again and apologizes to Muslims; on May 19 the govt. of Pakistan blocks Facebook for hosting her group, followed by YouTube, dropping the blocking on the latter after it buckles under and removes offensive videos; on May 23 Muslims in India ask the govt. to ban Facebook; on May 30 Bangladesh bans Facebook; on May 31 a Pakistani court removes the Facebook ban; in Sept. after the FBI warns her of Muslim death threats, she goes into hiding; on Feb. 26, 2011 Chesser is sentenced to 25 years in prison. On Apr. 20 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 8-1 in U.S. v. Stevens strikes down a 1999 federal law banning "crush videos" depicting graphic violence against animals (incl. crushing them to death by women with stiletto heels) as a violation of free speech for being overbroad, leaving open the possibility of a law limited to crush videos. On Apr. 20 New York City businessman Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari (AKA Michael Mixon) (1953-) is sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to funnel money to an Islamic terrorist training camp in Afghanistan. On Apr. 20 the Pentagon delivers its first Report to Congress on Iran's Military, saying that Iran is increasing its paramilitary Qods force in Venezuela (first official warning of Iranian paramilitary activities in the Western Hemisphere) while covertly supplying munitions to Taliban and other Islamic insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq. On Apr. 20 the head of Saudi Arabia's religious police fires Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi, chief of the Mecca branch for suggesting the mixing of the sexes in an interview, saying that it "is just natural and there is no good reason to ban it". On Apr. 20 a Europol Report on Third World Immigration to the EU reveals that at least 900K illegal immigrants enter the EU each year, and 350K legal visitors overstay their visas, adding that Europe faces major criminal threats from them. On Apr. 20 a Report on Salt Intake by the Inst. of Medicine calls on the U.S. FDA to begin regulating salt levels in food to save 100K lives a year. On Apr. 21 Iraqi and U.S. officials announce that an Iraqi security force under PM Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's command held hundreds from N Iraq in a secret prison in Baghdad and tortured dozens until the U.S. intervened in Mar. and al-Maliki played dumb and closed it. On Apr. 21 white supremacist Richard Barrett (b. 1943) is stabbed and beaten to death and his house set on fire to cover it up by ex-con black neighbor Vincent McGee (1988-). On Apr. 21 nat. security adviser #22 (2009-) USMC Gen. James Logan Jones Jr. (1943-) stinks himself up with a Jewish stereotype joke at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in front of a crowd of mainly Jews. On Apr. 22 it is announced that Gita Sahgal has resigned from Amnesty Internat. after it refused to cut loose its ties with former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg and his group which supports "jihad in self-defense". On Apr. 22 worldwide Earth Day celebrations are marred by an announcement by Brazil of the $10B Belo Monte Hydroelectric Dam (world's 3rd largest) on the Xingu River, which will flood a part of the Amazon River basin despite protests by Indians. On Apr. 22 Iran's Rev. Guards hold war games in the Hormuz Strait to flex their muscles. On Apr. 22 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton addresses a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, resisting their pressure to remove U.S. battlefield weapons from Europe unless Russia cuts its arsenal first, since it's 10x larger. On Apr. 22 the U.S. test launches two unmanned space vehicles, incl. the secret 30-ft. X-37B space plane, signaling a new era of space warfare. On Apr. 22 Lily-May Woods becomes Britain's first baby with two women parents on her birth certificate. On Apr. 22 Am. Christian evangelist Franklin Graham (1952-), son of Billy Graham is disinvited to speak at a May 6 Pentagon prayer service by the U.S. Army for remarks he made in 2001 describing Islam as evil, with spokesman Col. Tom Collins callins his remarks "not appropriate", adding "We're an all-inclusive military, we honor all faiths"; Graham replies that Obama is "giving Islam a pass", adding "Look at the violence that they have portrayed against women, it's just horrific"; on Mar. 1-9 a survey by LifeWay Research reveals that 4 in 10 U.S. Protestant pastors believe that Islam is dangerous and promotes violence; his affiliation with Shirley Dobson's Nat. Day of Prayer Task Force is in violation of govt. regs anyway?; on Apr. 27 the Council on Am.-Islamic Relations (CAIR) calls on Congress to ban Franklin also, after which on May 5 35 Repub. congressmen call on the U.S. Defense Dept. to reinvite him, and on May 6 he takes the podium at the Nat. Day of Prayer on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C On Apr. 22 the U.S. Office of Public Engagement meets with Arab-Am. leaders, incl. Hatem Abudayyeh, whose Chicago home is searched in late Sept. as part of an anti-terrorism probe after he is connected with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Rev. Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). On Apr. 22 the stream of data sent back to Earth by NASA's Voyager 2 suddenly changes, causing German academic Hartwig Hausdorf to claim that it has been taken over by ETs. On Apr. 23 a series of bombs in Shiite mosque areas of Baghdad, Iraq, incl. Sadr City kill 72; bombs in W Iraq in Sunni areas kill eight; on Apr. 25 Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (1974-) calls on believers to join the Iraqi authorities to "defend their shrines, mosques, prayers, markets, houses and their towns", but not give the U.S. an excuse to postpone their withdrawal. On Apr. 23 the 57-member Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC) announces the creation of a human rights div., despite its idea of human rights being the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrines horrible Sharia as the norm. On Apr. 23 Swiss bank UBS AG client Jack Barouh (1945-) is sentenced to 10 mo. in U.S. federal prison for hiding his assets, despite his defense that his experience in fleeing the Nazi Holocaust caused him to become a compulsive hoarder. On Apr. 24 the worst tornado in decades in Miss. kills 10. On Apr. 24 gunmen ambush two police vehicles in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, killing seven officers plus a 17-y.o. passerby. On Apr. 24 Aygul Ozkan, Germany's first female Muslim state minister calls for crucifixes to be removed from state schools, citing headscarves to justify it. On Apr. 25 the 95th Anniv. of the Armenian Genocide sees Muslim-appeasing Pres. Obama renege again on his campaign promise to label the Christian Armenian Genocide of 1915 by Muslim Turkey a genocide, calling it "one of the worst atrocities" of the 20th cent. and a "devastating chapter" in history. On Apr. 25 seeing his chance with Pres. Obama's freezing relations with Israel, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas urges Pres. Obama to impose a Mideast peace deal. On Apr. 25 elections in Hungary give a V to the center-right opposition Fidesz Party of ex-PM (1998-2002) Viktor Orban (1963-), who on ? becomes Hungarian PM (until ?). On Apr. 25 Joseph McVey (1987-) of Ohio is arrested and charged with impersonating a police officer at Asheville, N.C. airport as Pres. Obama departs on Air Force One. On Apr. 25 Afghan troops kill three civilians in their home overnight, causing protesters to torch NATO trucks in Logar Province in E Afghanistan. On Apr. 25 English physicist Stephen Hawking says that we shouldn't try to contact extraterrrestrials because they might be looking to take us over like Christopher Columbus did the New World, pissing-off self-appointed E.T. Messiah Rael, who issues the soundbyte "With these views, Hawking demonstrates that he's not only physically handicapped but mentally handicapped by the degenerative disease of 'evolutionism' or 'Darwinism'. His fears about murderous, invading aliens are based on the theory of evolution – the myth of evolution, to be more precise. He's afraid humans are inferior to aliens who might invade. That's logical, but only if you accept the myth of evolution." On Apr. 25 over 1K Jewish protesters in Manhattan demonstrate against the Obama admin.'s call for a freeze on construction in occupied East Jerusalem, demanding unlimited rights to colonize the West Bank. On Apr. 25 a Chinese-Turkish team announces the discovery of Noah's Ark in E Turkey, with pieces of wood found at 12K ft. elev. that were dated to 4.8K years old. On Apr. 25-26 the White House convenes a World Summit on Entrepreneurship, with 250 participants from 60 mainly Muslim countries. On Apr. 26 accusing them of rushing the process Repubs. block Dem. legislation in the U.S. Senate to regulate the financial system, with the vote coming out at 57-41, three votes short of that needed to end a filibuster. On Apr. 26 a suicide bomber in Yemen targets the British ambassador, killing himself and three othrs, but missing the ambassador. On Apr. 26 the U.S. military cancels a major field exercise to test its reponse to a nuclear attack after the planned site Las Vegas, Nev. pulls out. On Apr. 26 Yemeni cleric Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani vows to gather a million signatures to protest a draft law banning child brides, saying that such a ban "threatens our culture and society and spreads immorality". On Apr. 26 a group of Islamic clerics in NE Kenya crack down on public broadcasts of soccer and films as un-Islamic. On Apr. 26 the documentary film Feathered Cocaine debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, claiming that Osama bin Laden is hiding in Iran with help of the Iranian govt. On Apr. 26 British Labour candidate John Cowan is suspended after posting on the Internet that he wouldn't want his children to marry a Muslim - he means the same Muslim? On Apr. 27 former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is extradited by the U.S. to France, where he is accused of laundering $7M in drug profits by purchasing luxury apts. with his wife in Paris; he was previously convicted in absentia, but is being given a new trial. On Apr. 27 Iranian Sharia police announce a crackdown on women who dare to display suntans in public. On Apr. 27 two human rights activists are ambushed and murdered in San Juan Copala, Oaxaca, Mexico by the Union de Bienestar de la Region Triqui; on May 16 12 women and children are kidnapped, then released. On Apr. 28 British PM Gordon Brown commits a political gaffe, calling a loyal Labour voter a "bigoted woman" in his limo over a live mike for expressing concerns over high taxation and immigration; despite apologizing, his chances for reelection fizzle to zero?; Brexit is born? On Apr. 28 thousands of enraged Muslims attack a Christian educational center in Bogor Regency, West Java Province, Indonesia after hearing rumors that they are going to build a church, Sharia forbidding even repairing one. On Apr. 28 Hollywood star Sandra Bullock reveals that she is divorcing her cheating hubby Jesse James, and is in the process of adopting 3.5-mo.-old black New Orleans child Louis Bardo Bullock. On Apr. 28 10 Israeli Prize winners send a letter to Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak asking him to lift the prohibition on students from Gaza Strip studying in West Bank univs. On Apr. 28 a McLaughlin & Assocs. Poll finds that only 42% of Jewish voters would vote to reelect Pres. Obama, vs. 78% who elected him. On Apr. 29 Moroccan terrorist suspects Mohammed Hlal and Errahmouni Ahmed are deported from Italy for allegedly plotting to kill Pope Benedict XVI. On Apr. 30 the U.S. House of Reps passes a bill allowing Puerto Ricans to vote on Puerto Rican statehood. On Apr. 30 a 26-y.-o. Tunisian woman is arrested and fined $650 for wearing a niqab (face veil) while walking to a mosque in Novara, Italy, home of the anti-immigration Northern League, stirring controversy. On Apr. 30 (night) Ariz. Pinal County sheriff's deputy Louie Puroll (1957-) is shot by a Mexican drug smuggler with an AK-7, inflaming anti-Mexican passions. In Apr. the U.S. adds 290K new jobs, leaving the unemployment rate at 9.9%. In Apr. the Islamic Solidarity Games (Muslim Olympics) are called off by Arab states because Iran inscribed "Persian Gulf" on the official logo and medals, and they want it called the Arab Gulf. In Apr. Iraqi police and veterinarians begin killing stray dogs in and around Baghdad, killing 58K by mid-July. In Apr. 15% of world Internet traffic is routed through servers in China, incl. from govt. and military sites; it is not made public until Nov. In Apr. USAF flight surgeon Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin of Colo. refuses to board his plane until he sees proof that Pres. Obama was born in the U.S., causing him to be court-martialed; on Dec. 15 a federal jury convicts him of disobeying orders to deploy to Afghanistan, and he is sentenced to 6 mo. in military prison and dismissal from the Army. In Apr.-Oct. the June 2009-May 2010 El Nino launches the 2010 Northern Hemisphere heat waves, which affects the U.S., China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, N Africa, and Europe incl. parts of E Australia, Canada, Russia, Indochina, South Korea, and Japan, receiving a boost from the 2010-11 La Nina, causing $500B damage, causing climate scientists to claim a V for their CO2-boosted climate models. On May 1 thousands protest Neo-Nazi marches across Germany. On May 1 it is announced that Islamic successionists in S Yemen have captured two U.S. soldiers and demand the release of two of their leaders in exchange for their release. On May 1 Islamic separatists bomb a horse race at the hippodrome in Nalchik in Kabardino-Balkaria, North Caucasus, killing one and wounding 29. On May 1 a tricycle bomb in Saryab, Quetta in SW Pakistan injures six. On May 1 a 3-vehicle convoy of drug cartel with 40 commandos ambushes the police in Morelia, Mexico, but they escape unharmed. On May 1 two explosions in the Abdala Shideya Mosque in the biggest market in Mogadishu, Somalia kill 30+ and injure dozens, becoming the first terrorist attack in a Somalian mosque; it is a gathering place for members of Al-Shabaab. On May 1 Pres. Obama gives a commencement speech at the U. of Mich., saying that partisan rants and name-calling pose a serious danger to Am. democracy that could incite "extreme elements" to violence, with the soundbyte "What troubles me is when I hear people say that all of government is inherently bad. When our government is spoken of as some menacing, threatening foreign entity, it ignores the fact that in our democracy, government is us." On May 1 two bombs near buses carrying Christian students in Mosul, Iraq planted by Sunni insurgents kill one bystander and injure 100. On May 1 (eve.) after Sengalese Muslim vendor Alioune Niass alerts them, police find a smoking defective fertilizer-propane car bomb in a Nissan Pathfinder in Times Square set by the Times Square Bomber in New York City near Comedy Central, causing them to evacuate thousands; the Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility on the Internet as revenge for the killing of leaders al-Baghdadi and al-Mahajer "and Muslim martyrs"; the feds investigate possibile connections to the South Park case, then on May 3 night arrest Pakistani-born Am. Muslim Faisal Shahzad 1979-) of Shelton, Conn. at JFK Airport after tracing a discarded disposable cell phone, causing U.S. atty-gen. Eric Holder to announce "It was clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans"; he had just returned from a trip to Pakistan; U.S. Customs officer Daniel Donohue becomes a hero for finding Shahzad's name in time to stop his flight; an FBI test finds that the bomb would have killed thousands; on May 4 (morning) Pres. Obama gives a news conference, calling the incident a "sobering reminder of the times in which we live" and vowing that Americans "will not cower in fear"; the fact that he just spent 5 mo. in Pakistan causes the investigation to be expanded there, followed by several arrests, incl. former army maj. Adnan Ahmad, who is released on May 31; Shahzad is Mirandized, renewing the debate on Mirandizing terrorism suspects; despite attempts by the PC media to downplay his Muslim religion, claiming that a home repossession triggered the jihad, etc., Conn. Sen. Joe Lieberman calls for a new law stripping Americans found to be involved in a foreign terrorist org. of their citizenship rights and shipping them to Guantanamo Bay; on May 7 U.S. Gen. David Howell Petraeus (1952-) says that Shahzad was a "lone wolf" with no connection to other terrorists despite his claiming to have attended a terrorist training camp; on May 9 Holder finally announces that the Pakistan Taliban is behind the bombing attempt, and "probably helped finance it"; on May 13 federal agents arrest two people involved in funneling money into the U.S. to pay for the truck and bomb materials; on June 21 Shahzad pleads guilty and brags about receiving 6 mo. of training in Pakistan, saying that he is a "Muslim soldier", and would plead guilty "100 times over" until the U.S. pulls its troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq and stops drone attacks that are "terrorizing the Muslim nations and the Muslim people"; on Oct. 5 he is sentenced to life without parole, telling the judge "Brace yourself because the war with the Muslims has only just begun - we will keep terrorizing you - the defeat of the U.S. is imminent and will happen in the near future", and shouting Allahu Akbar, to which the judge responds that he should consider "carefully about whether the Quran wants you to kill lots of people" - Shahzad stamps the word dumbass on Obama's forehead? On May 1 the 2010 U.S. Commission on Internat. Religious Freedom Report concludes that Pres. Obama is failing to talk about or fight for religious freedom around the world incl. Nigeria, and expresses alarm at Pres. Obama and Hillary Clinton phasing-out the term "freedom of religion" for the Muslim superiority version "freedom of worship" in public pronouncements, despite the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment's wording about free exercise of religion - not Muslim salami baloneys in public with hog callers and prayer towers? On May 1 the Antarctic Volcanoes Project Blog is launched by TLW, who claims that global warming is good not bad, and more not less CO2 and H2O need to be pumped into the atmosphere to create more living space and food supplies, calling for a global scientific effort that starts with an evaluation of the potential of reactivating volcanoes in the Antarctic. On May 1-2 a Gallup Poll reveals that 9 out of 10 Americans want the U.S. govt. to secure the U.S.-Mexico border this year. On May 1-Oct. 31 the 2010 World Expo is held in Shanghai, China, receiving 70M visitors while featuring an online version called Expo Shanghai Online. On May 2 drug-related violence kills 25 in the state of Chihuahua near the U.S.-Mexico border; on May 4 the Mexican govt. says that the drug war that has already killed 23K could rage until 2014; meanwhile on May 4 U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano admits that the U.S.-Mexico border is not as secure as it could be, but praises the Obama admin. for an "absolute laserlike focus on that border". On May 2 Jewish-Am. Repub. Hawaii gov. (2002-) Linda Lingle (1953-) states that Pres. Obama was born in Kapi'olani Hospital in Honolulu. On May 2 Afghan cleric Mullah Adahdad is killed by a U.S. Army platoon from the 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Div., after which it is revealed that he was unarmed and that they had a conspiracy to kill unarmed Afghan men, dismember the corpses, and pose for photo ops, becoming a war crimes scandal. On May 3 the U.S. govt. releases its classified statistics about the total size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal for the first time: 5,113 warheads. On May 3-28 the 189 signatories to the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meet at the U.N. in New York City; on May 3 Iranian pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attends, claiming that the U.S. has failed its obligations, started a global nuclear arms race, and dismissing the prospect of "nuclear terrorism", causing the U.S., Britain, and France to walk out; later U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton gives a speech, dissing Iran for disregarding the treaty; U.N. secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon utters the soundbyte that "the onus is on Iran" to prove it's not building nukes; Egypt calls for a Middle East nuclear-free zone that incl. Israel; meanwhile David Hale, deputy of U.S. Middle Envoy envoy George Mitchell tells Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas that if there is "significantly provocative settlement activity" in E Jerusalem et al., the U.S. might allow U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning Israel to pass for the first time ever. On May 3 the U.S. Supreme Court announces that it will close the 44 marble steps and bronze doors to its great hall for the first time due to security concerns. On May 3 former CIA dir. James R. Woolsey says that the likelihood that Iran will have a nuke in a year or less is "extremely high". On May 3 Pres. Obama sends a letter to Congress calling Syrian support for terrorist orgs. "a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States", renewing the economic sanctions begun in 2003. On May 4 protests are held in Paris against Islamic persecution of women working in the oil city of Hassi Messaoud, where the imams incite violence against them as hos just for being independent, cuasing them to be robbed, beaten, raped and tortured. On May 3 Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolas Naduro addresses the 12-member Union of South Am. Nations in Buenos Aires, dissing the Ariz. "papers please" law, saying that it should be repealed and that the U.S. should give up its "old habits of racism". On May 4-5 North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visits Beijing, China; neither country admits to the visit. On May 5 Christian zoologist Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (1957-) becomes pres. #14 of Nigeria (until May 29, 2015). On May 5 Pres. Obama attends a Cinco de Mayo celebration, calling for immigration reform work to begin this year, incl. holding employers responsible for hiring illegals and making them pay for citizenship; meanwhile at Live Oak H.S. in Calif., asst. principal Miguel Rodriguez makes two students remove U.S. flag bandanas and turn t-shirts with U.S. flags on them inside-out, calling them "incendiary", while allowing other students to wear Mexican flags. On May 6 the news of the Greek crisis causes the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. to plummet 998 points before rebounding by nearly 400 points, closing at 10,520.32. On May 6 elections in Britain result in a hung Parliament although Conservatives make some gains; Labour comes in 2nd, and the Liberal Dems. 3rd; Labour candidates Shabana Mahmood (1980-), Rushanara Ali (1975-), and Yasmin Qureshi (1963-) become the first British female Muslim and Asian MPs; on May 10 Gordon Brown announces his intentions of resigning as MP in favor of Conservative David William Donald Cameron (1966-) (direct descendant of William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan) (5th cousin twice removed of Elizabeth II), who becomes British PM on May 11 (until July 13, 2016) (youngest British MP since the 1810s), heading a coalition govt. with the Liberal Dems. headed by Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg (1967-); on May 13 George Gideon Oliver Osborne (1971-) becomes chancellor (until ?); English Muslim baroness Sayeeda Hussain Warsi (1971-) is promoted to chmn. of the Conservative Party, and on May 12 she is appointed to Cameron's cabinet as minister without portfolio (first Muslim woman), causing radical Islamist Anjem Choudary (1967-) (leader of the banned group Islam4UK) to comment "She may look like a Muslim and have a Muslim-sounding name but she does not represent Islam or anyone in this country who is a Muslim... She is a coconut, brown on the outside but white on the inside. In fact, she is whiter than most of the other white people in government. How can she be a Muslim and support the military involvement of the British Army in Islamic countries?"; on May 13 Pres. Obama announces that Cameron is committed to continuing British assistance in the battle against terrorism in Afghanistan for the long term. On May 6 U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells the Catholic Community Conference on Capitol Hill to speak from the pulpit for immigration reform and tell the faithful that reform "is a manifestation of our living the gospels", adding "We can't say to people, 12 million of you, go back to whever you came from or go to jail"; on May 13 she calls for a "path to legalization" for illegal aliens now in the U.S. On May 7 Turkey passes a series of constitutional amendments giving the Islamic part of the govt. more power over the mainly secular judiciary. On May 7 the PLO announces that it accepts indirect peace talks with Israel, with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell acting as broker, becoming the first time since talks were broken off after the offensive against Hamas in Gaza in 2008. On May 7 foreign domain names are launched on the Internet, incl. Arabic. On May 7 stone-throwing Palestinians attack Israel soldiers in Nabi Saleh near Ramallah in the West Bank, setting fire to a historic Jewish cemetery. On May 7 due to the Times Square Bomber, U.S. Afghan military cmdr. Stanley A. McChrystal meets with Pakistani military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and urges him to speed up their offensive against the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaida in North Wazaristan; meanwhile on May 8 Pakistan announces the test-firing of two nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, the Shaheen-1 (range 400 mi.), and the Ghazvani (range 180 mi.). On May 7 Islamic terrorists explode a bomb on a train station platform in Derbent, Dagestan, S Russia, killing one and injuring five. On May 8 two explosing rip through Russia's largest underground coal mine in Kemerovo, killing 12, injuring 58, and trapping 83. On May 8 Mexico extradites Mario Villanueva, former gov. (1993-9) of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo to the U.S. to face charges of helping a cartel smuggle cocaine through Cancun, becoming the first former Mexican state govt. to be extradited to the U.S. on drug charges. On May 8 the secret Trilateral Commission meets in Dublin, Ireland, causing enemies of a 1-world govt. to go nonlinear again. On May 9 a massive Red Square Military Parade (biggest since the collapse of the Soviet Union) marks the 65th anniv. of the defeat of Nazi Germany after losing 27M people, becoming the first time that soldiers from four NATO countries incl. China and the U.S. are allowed to take part, joining 10K Russian troops; the new Russian Mi-28 Havoc attack heli (test-flown in Jan. 1988), their answer to the U.S. Apache is rolled out, along with the Ka-52 Alligator gunship; meanwhile on May 9 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates complains that increasing health care costs, big-ticket weapons system, and a top-heavy mgt. force require the Pentagon to make tough choices to hold down spending despite angering "powerful people", and has ordered the Pentagon to shave off 2%-3% from their $550B budget. On May 9 Pres. Obama speaks at historically black Hampton U. in Va. (founded 1868), saying that giving all Americans access to education is the responsibility of all Americans, "to offer every single child in this country an education that will make them competitive in our knowledge economy"; he then disses modern info technology, incl. iPods, iPas, Xboxes and PlayStations as "a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation". On May 9 Iran hangs five members of the "anti-revolutionary" Kurdish Party of Free Life for Kurdistan (PJAK) on charges incl. "waging war against God" (moharebe). On May 10 Pres. Obama nominates New York City-born U.S. solicitor gen. #45 (since Mar. 19, 2009) (dean #11 of Harvard Law School since July 1, 2003, the first female) (never been a judge) (Jewish) (closet lesbian?) Elena Kagan (1960-) for the U.S. Supreme Court, calling her a "trailblazing lady" who was admired "across the ideological spectrum", and is known for a "habit of understanding before disagreeing"; she is known for the soundbyte "Someone suspected of helping finance al-Qaida should be subject to battlefield law - indefinite detention without a trial - even if he were captured in a place like the Philippines rather than a physical battle zone"; at Harvard she accepted a $20M gift from the Saudi royal family to establish a center for Islamic studies, incl. horrible Sharia law; the 850-member Rabbinical Alliance of Am. says that she is "not kosher" and "not fit to sit on this court or any court" because "she will function as a flame-throwing radical, hastening society's already steep decline into Sodom and Gomorrah"; on Aug. 5 she is confirmed by the Senate by 63-37, with five Repubs. for and one Dem. against; on Aug. 7 she is sworn-in as U.S. Supreme Court justice #112 (until ?), becoming the first Hispanic and Latina U.S. Supreme Court justice, 4th woman, and 12th Roman Catholic (until ?), also the youngest (until ?), giving the court a record three women members (one-third); she recuses herself from nearly half of the 51 cases before the Oct. 4 term because of potential conflicts of interest. On May 10 the G20 unleashes its $957B Shock and Awe Rescue Plan, causing a spectacular rally in Euro stocks and bonds, the biggest 1-day rise in 17 mo., reversing panic selling the week before. On May 10 Benigno Aquino III is elected pres. of the Philippines (until ?). On May 10 the Obama admin. changes a 76-y.-o. rule on union elections, making it easier for them organize workers at U.S. airlines and railroads. On May 10 insurgent attacks across Iraq kill 84+. On May 10 Fahim Ahmad, ringleader of the Toronto 18 suddenly reverses his plea to gilty in the first terrorism case in Canada to be decided by a jury. On May 10 British man Paul Chambers (1984-) is convicted of sending a menacing message over Twitter for texting that if his flight was delayed by snow he would blow up an airport; that he was joking didn't matter to mean judge Jonathan Bennett. On May 10 Bangladeshi-born Muslim Mohammed Miah (1981-) allegedly kills a swan for food on the Great Ouse River in Bedford, England, breaking an ancient English law that all of Britain's 30K wild swans belong to the monarch, and is charged. On May 11 a U.S. drone strike against the Tehrik-e-Taliban in North Waziristan (linked to Times Square Bomber Faisal Shahzad) kills 14 militants. On May 11 a bug on Twitter.com allows users to force other users to follow them, especially celebs like Oprah, Lady Gaga, Conan O'Brien, Perez Hilton, Justin Bieber, Barack Obama, and Britney Spears. On May 11 First Lady Michelle Obama unveils a 120-page White House Task Force Report on Solving Childhood Obesity, with the goal of returning the childhood obsesity rate to 5% by 2030, same as in the 1970s. On May 12 (8:20 a.m.) Wu Huanming (b. 1962) charges into Shengshui Temple Kindergarten in Hanzhong, C China with a cleaver and hacks seven children and two adults to death, then goes home and kills himself; the 5th school rampage in less than 2 mo. On May 12 a Libyan Afriqiyah Airways (Airbus A330-200) en route from Johannesburg crashes while trying to land at Tripoli airport, killing 103, incl. Dutch passengers; an 8-y.-o. Dutch boy is the only survivor; the aircraft is the same type as Air France Flight 447, which crashed in the Atlantic on June 1, 2009. On May 12 a NATO tanker carrying fuel for troops in Spin Boldak in S Afghanistan is blown up by a planted bomb. On May 12 the govt. of Yemen announces that it refuses to extradite U.S.-born jihadist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, saying he will be tried in the Arabian Peninsula when captured. On May 12 Pres. Obama and Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai make a joint appearance at the White House, and Obama says that U.S. military action in Afghanistan and the surrounding region is "in our national security interests" because of recent terrorist plots in the U.S. that have ties to the region, while seeming open to the idea of negotiating and reconciling with elements of the Taliban; on May 13 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton vows that despite Karzai's plan to reintroduce Taliban extremists into society, the U.S. will not abandon the women of Afghanistan to Sharia. On May 12 U.N. officials reveal that up to one-third of the Afghanistan poppy harvest has been destroyed by a mysterious disease, implicating the U.S. and NATO summer offensives. On May 13 renegade Thai Gen. Khattiya Sawatdiphol (Seh Daeng) (b. 1951) is shot in Bangkok during an anti-govt. demonstration; the govt. calls him the main obstacle to a compromise plan to end a 2-mo. sit-in in exchange for a Nov. election. On May 13 Afghan and NATO forces kill 18 militants in Helmand Province in S Afghanistan. On May 13 the Obama admin. announces that the U.S. will join the U.N.-backed Alliance of Civilizations (founded 2005) to ease strains between the West and Islam; the Bush admin. boycotted it for its anti-Israel and anti-West positions, and connections with the Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC). On May 13 China announces a deal to sell nuclear reactors to Pakistan to compensate for a U.S.-India nuclear deal, despite Pakistan never signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, leaving the U.S. with the decision whether to come out against it or keep trying to gain Chinese help against Iran's nuclear program. On May 13 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder testifies before the House Judiciary Committee, waffling about an answer as to whether radical Islam was a motivating factor for the recent radical Islamic attacks on U.S. soil, incl. the Xmas Condom Bomber and the Times Square Bomber. On May 13 Emirates Palace in UAE installs a gold-covered vending machine that dispenses gold bars up to 10g each. On May 14 Russia announces deals with Syria to sell them warplanes, anti-tank weapons, and air defense systems; at least their 2nd rate compared to U.S. models which they are prohibited from buying? On May 14 three suicide bombers at a sports field during a soccer game in the Shiite town of Tal Afar, Iraq in N Iraq kills 10+ and wounds 120. On May 14 after leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri (Abu Hamza al-Muhajir) and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi are killed, an al-Qaida group in Iraq names new war minister al-Nasser Lideen Allah Abu Suleiman, and threatens Shiites with "dark days covered in blood"; meanwhile the Pakistani Taliban repeats their claim of responsibility for the Times Square Bombing, and warns the U.S. that it will soon "burn", while calling for the overthrow of the govt. of Pakistan for following "America's agenda". On May 14 Sarah Palin keynotes the Celebration of Life Breakfast of the Susan B. Anthony List in Washington, D.C., saying that an "emerging feminist coalition" will produce a "better America in this exceptional country" after the Nov. elections, harkening back to the feminism of the Am. West frontier days. On May 14 British MP Stephen Timms is stabbed by British Muslim Roshanara Choudhary (1989-) for supporting the U.S. war in Iraq; she had been watching videos by Am. radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. On May 15 a spokesman for radical anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr announces that he won't stop Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki from keeping his job despite his not meeting a demand to release 2K of his followers; meanwhile former PM Iyad Allawi says that if violence continues in Iraq, civil war looms. On May 15 the Sudanese army seizes control of a key Justice and Equality Movement base in Jebel Moun in W Darfur, Sudan after killing 100+ and capturing 61. On May 15 former Mexican pres. candidate Diego Fernandez de Cevallos is reported missing after his car is found near his ranch in Queretaro state along with "signs of violence"; he is freed in Dec. after paying $30M of the $100M ransom demanded. On May 15 Iranian Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi (known for the Mar. 16, 2009 soundbyte "Whenever we develop the bomb then we will establish a relationship with the U.S. - if we shouldn't develop the bomb we shouldn't have a relationship, and if we can have a relationship we should make the bomb too") (also the soundbyte that the Quran was revealed in Arabic so that the Arabs, "the greatest infidels and hypocrites" could be reached "in the poorest of the world's languages", instead of Persian, "the most superior language of the dwellers of Paradise") calls for the creation of a Persian-speaking Greater Iran that he calls the Islamic United States, ruling the Middle East and C Asia from Afghanistan to Israel after destroying the Jewish state of Israel along with the pesky Sunni heretics incl. the Baathists in Iraq and Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia before or after the appearance of the Mahdi. On May 16 Arab-Am. Shiite Muslim Rima Fakih (1986-) of Dearborn, Mich. wins the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas, becoming the 1st Arab and 2nd Muslim winner (first in 1983); judge Oscar Nunez tries to sink blonde-blue Miss Oklahoma Morgan Elizabeth Woolard with a question about the new Ariz. immigration law, causing the crowd to boo her, and causing many to think it prejudiced him against her and that she would have won otherwise; criticism of the winner as "Miss Hezbollah" are soon shot down when the real one disses her for her immodest dress etc.; Fakih gets into several scandals, incl. pole dancing photos from 2007 - oh how Donald Trump loves that Saudi oil money? On May 16 the Israeli govt. denies entry to leftist Jewish-Am. brain man Noam Chomsky (1928-) at the Allenby Bridge border crossing in the Jordan Valley, then claims it made a mistake - after checking on his background which incl. denial of the 6 million Holocaust figure and support for a 2-state solution? On May 16 Mary Glasspool (1954-) of Baltimore, Md. is ordained in Long Beach, Calif. as the Episcopal Church's 2nd openly gay bishop, following Gene Robinson of N.H. in 2003. On May 16 5'9" Lebanese Shiite Muslim (Miss Mich. USA) Rima Fakih (1985-) wins Miss USA 2010, becoming the first Muslim, first Mich. USA winner since 1993, and the first not from a Southern U.S. state since 2004; after numerous criticisms of her loose take on Islam, in Apr. 2016 she converts to Marionite Christianity for her wealthy Arab music producer fiance Wassim Salibi. On May 16-18 the 4th Internat. Conference on Climate Change in Chicago, Ill. questions the extend of manmade global warming. On May 17 Iran signs a surprise nuclear fuel swap deal with Western nations, brokered by Brazil and Turkey (who secretly want to go nuclear along with them?), the first since 2004, alleviating concerns that they're secretly building nukes, but not really, since the deal involves only 50% of their enriched uranium stockpile, while they continue to run the centrifuges; on May 18 the U.S. submits a draft Iranian sanctions resolution to the U.N. Security Council, targeting the Rev. Guards, causing Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki to tell the press "There is no chance for a new resolution", adding "A couple of the members of the Security Council have come up with a new recipe in the kitchen. It seems that this new dish they have prepared is not being given to the guests in a timely manner, and the guests have already had their lunch"; on June 21 Brazil announces that it is partially backing out of the Iran deal; meanwhile Congress pushes for unilateral gasoline sanctions. On May 17 a Pamir Airways local plane with 38 passengers and five crew crashes in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan near Kabul, Afghanistan, killing all aboard. On May 17 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Terrance Jamar Graham vs. Fla. that juveniles younger than 18 may not be sentenced to life without parole unless guilty of homicide, expanding on their 2005 decision that they can't be executed, saying that these practices have been "rejected the world over" (except in Sharia countries?); the court cites the 1959 U.N. Child's Rights Treaty, which was never adopted by the U.S. as relevant to its decision on a case, becoming a new low? On May 17 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 7-2 in U.S. v. Comstock that federal officials can indefinitely hold mentally-ill federal inmates labeled "sexually dangerous" even after their prison terms are served. On May 17 Pres. Obama's aunt (Barack Sr.'s half-sister) Zeituni Onyango (1953-), who ended up in rundown public housing in South Boston, applied for asylum in 2002, was rejected in 2004 and ordered to leave the U.S., but stayed illegally, until Obama's election changed things in her favor enormously, while he kept her at arms length and disavowed intervening in her situation, is granted asylum by an immigration judge, with the possibility of citizenship in six years. On May 17 most of the police force of La Union, Guerrero, Mexico quit after armed gunmen ambush and wound two officers. On May 18 a suicide bomber in a Toyota minivan explodes in a Nato convoy in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 18 incl. five U.S. soldiers and one Canadian soldier, and wounding 47, mostly civilians in rush-hour traffic; on May 18 a brazen pre-dawn attack on Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan N of Kabul kill seven Islamic guerrillas and wounds six foreign troops; the U.S. death toll in Operation Infinite Justice, er, Enduring Freedom tops the 1K mark. On May 18 Pres. Obama visits steel tubular goods manufacturer V&M Star in C Ohio, telling them that without his economic stimulus package the U.S. would be in a "deeper world of hurt", claiming the U.S. economy has begun generating jobs again despite "unified, determined opposition of one party". On May 18 a Pakistani Taliban attack in the NW town of Dera Ismail Khan kills 12, incl. a senior police officer they targeted. On May 18 authorities in Baghdad, Iraq announce that they will enclose the city with a 15-ft. wall to keep suicide bombers out, and are already constructing eight gateways. On May 18 a new U.S. Senate Report on the Christmas Condom Bomber blames nearly every facet of the U.S. intel community for failing to connect the dots and stop him, causing nat. intel dir. Dennis C. Blair to resign on May 20, which House intel committee ranking Repub. Pete Hoekstra of Mich. calls "the result of the Obama admin.'s rampant politicization of national security and outright disregard for congressional intelligence oversight." On May 18 (night) Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York (1960-) is filmed taking a £27K ($40K) downpayment on a £500K bribe from an undercover News of the World reporter to grant access to her trade envoy ex-hubby Prince Andrew. On May 19 the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee releases the proposed U.S. Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, aimed at regulating Internet sites that sell products or services with recurring charges. On May 19 200+ Pakistani Taliban fighters attack a security post in Orakzai in NW Pakistan, killing 40 militants and two Pakistani soldiers; meanwhile Pres. Obama sends his top nat. security advisers to Pakistan to reiterate the importance of cracking down on terrorists after the Times Square Bomber incident. On May 19 Dutch officials announce that terrorism suspect Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani, who was arrested in Iraq made comments leading them to believe that Islamic terrorists are planning an attack on Dutch or Danish fans at the World Cup in South Africa. On May 19 after a 6-week occupation of downtown Bangkok, the Royal Thai Army crushes the barricades of Red Shirt protesters, causing them to retreat and set fire to the stock exchange and other bldgs., all causing exiled former PM Thaksin Shinawatra to say that this could lead to guerrilla warfare, which causes a Thai court to order his arrest on terrorism charges on May 25. On May 19 Moroccan-born Muslim Kansas City auto parts dealer Khalid Ouazzani (1978-) pleads guilty to sending al-Qaida $23.5K in 2007-8; meanwhile popular Raleigh, N.C. Muslim leader Mohammed "Moe" El-Gamal, pres. of the Muslim-Am. Public Affairs Council is arrested on trrorism charges for exporting computer equipment to Libya. On May 19 Cyclone Laila hits Andhra Pradesh, India, killing 23 by May 21. On May 19-20 U.S. Pres. Obama and Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon stage a U.S.-Mexico Summit in Washington, D.C. to join in a push for a major overhaul of U.S. immigration rules, with Obama uttering the soundbyte that they have agreed to work toward a U.S.-Mexico border that is "modern, secure and efficient" and stops the flow of "drugs, weapons and cash" (not people?); after saying "In the 21st century, we are defined not by our borders but by our bonds" and calling the Ariz. law "a misdirected expression of frustration over our broken immigration system", and mentioning that his admin. is taking a close look at its civil rights implications, Obama calls for comprehensive immigration reform but admits that he needs Repub. support to pass it; on May 20 a partisan Congress greets Calderon, who calls for more money to control the gun flow over the border and a ban on assault rifles, and calling the Arizona Senate Bill 1070 "a law that not only ignores a reality but also introduces a terrible idea of racial profiling as the basis for law enforcement", becoming a first as a foreign leaders slaps Congress in the face and they clap and cheer; on May 20 7-y.o. 2nd grader Daisy (of Peruvian descent) makes nat. news by telling First Lady Michelle Obama that her hubby is "taking everybody away that doesn't have papers", and that her mother doesn't have any, after which the govt. says it won't deport them, and she asks to visit the White House; on May 25 Pres. Obama announces that he's requesting $500M to send 1.2K Nat. Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border,giving a total of 18K, or about 9/mi. On May 20 the U.S. Senate passes a sweeping U.S. Wall St. Reform Bill by 59-39, requiring it to be reconciled with the House version. On May 20 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket's chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei utters the soundbyte "If the Zionist regime attacks Iran, the Zionists will have no longer than a week to live." On May 20 German foreign minister Guido Westerwell meets with Google co-founder Larry Page over its Street View service and its threat to data privacy; meanwhile Google announces its new Google TV platform to bring "the Web to your TV and your TV to the Web". On May 20 (eve.) two Taliban militants blow themselves up in North Waziristan to kill two men they believe are U.S. spies. On May 21 after mo. of controversy the Texas State Board of Education by 9-5 approves new U.S. history curriculum standards with a conservative Christian emphasis, which will end up being taught in other states because nat. textbook publishers tailor their materials to big purchaser Texas. On May 21 a U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security document is pub. saying that "the number and pace of attempted attacks against the United States over the past nine months have surpassed the number of attempts during any other previous one-year period." On May 21 (eve.) an al-Qaida in Iraq suicide bomber in a pickup truck explodes in a commercial strip in the Shiite town of Khalis, Iraq in Diyala Province N of Baghdad, killing 21+ and wounding 50+ after the roof of a cafe collapses and other catch fire, burning victims. On May 21 Spanish matador Julio Aparicio slips while doing the faena (series of passes with cape and sword prior to the estocada or death blow) on 1.1K-lb. bull Opiparo at the Feria de San Isidor bullfighting event in Las Ventanas, Spain, and the bull sticks his horn through his jaw, tongue and roof of his mouth, leaving him in critical condition. On May 22 (dawn) an Air India Express (Boeing 737) arriving from Dubai overshoots the runway and crashes while trying to land in the rain at a tricky hilltop airport in Mangalore in S India, killing 159 of 166. On May 22 Pres. Obama delivers a commencement address at West Point Academy, pledging to shape a "new international order" based on diplomacy and engagement rather than Pres. Bush's policy of preemptive war. On May 22 (8 p.m.) Taliban fighters launch a ground assault against Kandahar Air Field 300 mi. SW of Kabul in S Afghanistan, wounding several coalition troops and civilian employees, becoming the 2nd attack on a major military installation this week. On May 22 Charles Djou becomes the first Repub. member of Congress from Hawaii in 20 years. On May 23 Sicilian Maria Vittoria Longhitano (1975-) becomes the first Roman Catholic woman to be ordained in Italy, by the breakaway Old Catholic Church, which broke with the RCC in the 19th cent. over papal infallibility, and is in full communion with the Anglicans. On May 24 Pres. Obama orders the U.S. military to coordinate with South Korea to "ensure readiness" for possible aggression by North Korea; on May 25 North Korea severs all ties with South Korea as tensions soar; on May 26 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton leaves Beijing after two days and arrives in Seoul in a show of support. On May 24 Pres. Obama asks Congress for a new version of the line-item veto so he can slice pork projects from spending bills. On May 24 Iran hangs Abdolhamid Rigi, brother of Pakistan-based terrorist group Jundallah's chief Abdolmalek Rigi, who is hanged on June 20. On May 25 Pres. Obama meets with small business owners in the White House, calling himself a "fierce advocate" for them, and calls on Congress to approve incentives for them. On May 25 gunmen rob a row of goldsmiths in Baghdad, Iraq in broad daylight, making off with gold and cash after killing 14. On May 25 Kamla Persad-Bissessar is elected as the first female PM of Trinidad and Tobago (until ?), leading a 5-party coalition. On May 25 Cancun mayor Gregorio Sanchez is arrested by Mexican federal police on drug and organized crime charges while on a leave of absence to run for gov. of Quintana Roo state. On May 26 Iran clashes with Russia over its support of draft U.N. sanctions against it, becoming one of their worst clashes since the Cold War. On May 26 the Red Cross admits to giving first aid kits and basic training to the Taliban. On May 26 after support by Mayor Bloomberg, New York City approves the controversial Ground Zero Mosque despite it being what amounts to a victory flag and come-follow signal for Sharia-loving Islamic jihadists; meanwhile the Greek Orthodox St. Nicholas Church near Ground Zero languishes as city officials refuse to approve reconstruction. On May 26 Pres. Obama's deputy nat. homeland security advisor John O. Brennan gives a speech at the Center for Strategic and Internat. Studies in Washington, D.C., praising his master Pres. Obama to the skies, and attempting to justify Obama's Cairo speech of June 2009, with the soundbytes: "Our enemy is not terrorism, because terrorism is a tactic. Our enemy is not terror because terror is a state of mind, and as Americans we refuse to live in fear. Nor do we describe our enemy as 'jihadists' or 'Islamists' because jihad is a holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam, meaning to purify oneself or one's community, and there is nothing holy or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women, and children"; "Moreover, describing our enemy in religious terms would lend credence to the lie - propagated by al-Qaeda and its affiliates to justify terrorism - that the United States is somehow at war against Islam. The reality, of course, is that we never have been and will never be at war with Islam. After all, Islam, like so many faiths, is part of America. Instead, the President's strategy is clear and precise. Our enemy is al-Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates. For it was al-Qaeda who attacked us so viciously on 9/11 and whose desire to attack the United States, our allies, and our partners remains undiminished. And it is its affiliates who have taken up al-Qaeda's call to arms against the United States in other parts of the world." On May 26 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. closes under 1K for the first time since Feb. 8, falling 69 (0.7%) to 9,974. On May 27 the Obama admin. pub. its first formal Declaration of Nat. Security Goals, which break with the Bush policy and formalize Obama's new folly, er, approach that the U.S. is not at war with Islam, only al-Qaida and affiliates, and incl. the soundbyte "The burdens of a young century cannot fall on American shoulders alone. Indeed, our adversaries would like to see America sap our strength by overextending our power"; for the first time homegrown terrorists will be targeted; the report's main author is deputy nat. security adviser Benjamin J. "Ben Rhodes (1977-). On May 27 Apple passes Microsoft as the world's largest tech co. by market capitalization. Tell me, friend, when did Saruman the Wise abandon reason for madness? On May 27 the misnamed Gaza Freedom Flotilla of six cargo ships (three flying Turkish flags, incl. Mavi Marmara, carrying 400 Turks who are members of the Islamic terrorist Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) (Insani Yardim Vakfi), headed by Fehmi Bülent Yildirim (1966-), carrying 10 tons of humanitarian aid incl. bldg. materials and medical supplies sets sail from Cyprus for the Gaza Strip in a symbolic attempt by 680 Muslim and non-Muslim activists from 50 countries to break the 3-year Israeli blockade by refusing to stop at an Israel port for inspection and trucking of supplies by Israel into Gaza like is done every week with 10K tons of food and other supplies; Pres. Obama's associates Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn are closely associated with the Free Gaza Movement; Turkish activist Erdinc Tekir, who is wounded in the fighting is later found to have participated in an Islamic terrorist attack on a Russian ferry in the Black Sea in 1996; some activists chant Intifada songs; others chant the Islamic battle cry "Khaibar, Khaibar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return", and praise martyrdom before departure; on May 31 (U.S. Memorial Day) (pre-dawn hours of June 1 in Israel) the Israeli military boards the flotilla 75 mi. from the coast, initially carrying only paintball guns, then meeting violent resistance, the Turkish jihadists taking four Israeli marines hostage before other armed commandos storm aboard, killing nine activists and wounding 53 (incl. 37 members of the IHH or other Turkish Islamic orgs.), all on the Mavi Marmara, while getting two Israeli commandos wounded while trying to board, then tows it to Ashdod, later releasing the activists accused of attacking Israeli troops after an internat. outcry; causing Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize, expressing regret and cancelling a planned trip to the White House, later uttering the soundbyte: "The state of Israel faces an attack of international hypocrisy... it is our right and obligation to prevent arms from reaching Gaza. This was not a Love Boat, it was a Hate Boat"; Obama calls the raid "a tragic situation", adding "You've got a loss of life that was unnecessary", calling for an "effective investigation"; on May 31 10K march in Istanbul, Turkey to denounce Israel, along with other demonstrations in London, Athens, etc.; in London 800 protesters attempt to storm BBC Manchester; a women's rally near the Qalandiya Checkpoint between Rammalah and Jerusalem sees Am. journalist Emily Henochowicz loses an eye after being shot with a tear gas canister by Israeli border guards; Turkey threatens action against Israel, putting it on alert; meanwhile on May 31 the U.N. Security Council holds an emergency meeting to discuss the Israeli raid, while Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Liberman claims that the flotilla organizers wanted blood to be shed, saying "Everything proves that it was a group of terrorists who want to promote terror and cooperate with terror"; Arab-Israeli Knesset member Hanib Zoabi, who is aboard the Mavi Marmara calls the IDF operation "criminal"; meanwhile Hillary Clinton is emailed by anti-Israeli advisor Sidney Blumenthal, who compares the raid on the flotilla to the 1976 Entebbe raid, suggesting ways for the U.S. to respond to the incident, with the soundbyte: "Somebody in authority needs to read Israel the riot act"; on June 2 Israeli forces find 1M Euros on one of the ships, intended for use by Hamas, along with a weapons cache; on June 2 pro-Palestinian activists send another boat, the Irish-flagged Rachel Corrie to challenge the Israeli blockade, while Egypt opens a temporary crossing into Palestinian territory, causing thousands of Gazans to flock to it hoping to escape; on June 2 Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls for Israel's PM and defense minister to face trial for the raid; on June 2 two rockets are fired from Gaza Strip by the Islamic Jihad, causing a retaliatory Israeli air strike that kills five; on June 2 after warning Israel not to cause an incident, the Obama admin. sides with the flotilla, and announces that it considers the Israeli blockade of Gaza to be "untenable"; Turkish-born Furkan Dogan (b. 1990) is found among the dead activists, with four bullets in his head and one in his chest, all at close range, causing the Israelis to backpeddle; on June 5 after Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead McGuire says that the activsts are prepared to be arrested, the IDF intercept the Rachel Corrie 35 mi. W of Gaza and escort it to Ashdod without incident; this time the U.S. warns the flotilla not to cause an incident; on June 5 Arab foreign ministers meet in Cairo go discuss the flotillas, and decide to "break the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza", "in any legitimate way", incl. "resistance" (violence); on June 6 Iranian supreme assashollah Ali Khamenei offers the Iranian Rev. Guards to escort future cargo ships to break the blockade; on June 7 the Israeli Navy kills six Palestinian divers, claiming they are terrorists; meanwhle on June 7 Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi warns Israel of Allah's impending warath for having "killed God's prophets"; on June 9 48 trucks with the cargo of the Freedom Flotilla is still waiting at Kerem Shalom crossing after Hamas refuses to accept it, and on June 17 the U.N. agrees to oversee the transfer; on June 11 Turkish pres. Abdullah Gul says that Israel must apologize and compensate the Turkish victims or it might sever diplomatic relations; on June 14 Israel assembles a investigative commission, which on July 12 finds no wrongdoing; on June 15 the Internat. Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) calls Israel's Gaza Strip blockade "collective punishment" and a violation of the Geneva Conventions; on June 17 Syrian pres. Bashar al-Assad says that the Israeli attack on the flotilla has increased the chances of war in the Middle East, and that the current Israeli admin. is a "pyromaniac" govt; on June 19 the Israeli cabinet bows to pressure and eases restrictions on Gaza Strip, reserving the right to inspect for military items; on June 20 Israel gives preliminary plans for razing Palestinian homes in E Jerusalem as a prelude to building Israeli homes, pissing-off the Obama admin. again; on Jan. 23, 2011 the Turkel Commission (Public Commission to Examine the Maritime Incident of 31 May 2010) finds that the blockade "was lawful and complied with the rules of international law, in view of the security circumstances and Israel's efforts to fulfill its humanitarian obligations." On May 27 the U.S. House by 234-194 (incl. 5 Repubs.) votes to let the Defense Dept. repeal their 1993 "don't ask don't tell" policy. On May 27 Pres. Obama signs the U.S. Daniel Pearl Act of 2009, an amendment to the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act requiring the U.S. State Dept. to expand its scrutiny of news media restrictions and intimidation as part of its annual human rights review in each country. On May 27 Pres. Obama hosts the first-ever White House (East Room) reception to mark Jewish Heritage Month; after being outed a videocam by Rabbi David Nesenoff, Lebanese-descent Arab-Am. veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas (1920-2013) (AKA the Sitting Buddha, who covered every U.S. pres. since JFK and has her own reserved seat in the White House press room) stinks herself up with remarks that the Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and return to Europe, causing the Repubs. to try to get her fired from Hearst Newspapers; on June 5 she apologizes, which doesn't stop her agency Nine Speaker Inc. from dumping her; on June 7 after the White blasts her remarks as "offensive and reprehensible" she announces her retirement; on Dec. 2 she retracts her apology, and adds that "Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by the Zionists", causing Abraham Foxman, dir. of the Anti-Defamation League to call her a "vulgar anit-Semite", and call on all journalism schools and prof. orgs. to rescind all honors they granted her, causing her alma mater Wayne State U. to pull its Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award; in Feb. 2011 she utters the soundbyte that after WWII the Jews "didn't have to go anywhere, really, because they weren't being persecuted anymore, but they were taking other people's land." On May 28 two minority Ahmadiyya Muslim sect mosques in Lahore, Pakistan are hit by Muslim suicide bombers, killing 80 and wounding 110+. On May 28 10K-20K from around the U.S. march in Phoenix, Ariz. for and against the Ariz. immigration law. On May 28 Zakir Naik gives a public speech in Maldives renouncing Islam; too bad, after being arrested and threatened with death he claims to revert to Islam. On May 28 Hawaii becomes the first U.S. state to ban possession or sale of shark fins. On May 29 a grand council (jirga) of Afghans meets in Kabul, where the Afghan govt. offers Taliban leaders exile overseas if they agree to stop fighting, along with "de-radicalization" classes and thousands of new jobs for militants who renounce violence. On May 29 (4:00 p.m.) after snubbing Arlington Cemetery Memorial Day ceremonies for his hometown of Chicago, Pres. Obama visits the home of friend Marty Nesbitt for a backyard cookout, but since his house is across the street from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, there is a confrontation between the Secret Service and Farrakhan's guard called the Fruit of Islam. On May 29-June 1 Tropical Storm Agatha in Central Am. kills 204 in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, and causes $1.1B dmage; Guatemala evacuates 112K and puts 29K into temp shelters; a giant sinkhole opens up in Guatemala City after a landslide. On May 30 Israel announces that it is deploying three German-built subs in the Persian Gulf near the Iranian coastline to intercept missiles. On May 30 Turkish PM Recept Tayyip Erodgan cancels the Argentina leg of his Latin Am. tour after officials in Buenos Aires call off an event inaugurating a monument to Turkish secular hero Kemal Ataturk, blaming it on Armenian pressure over the 1915 genocide thang. On May 30 U.S. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal says that Afghan insurgents are being trained and equipped inside Iran. On May 31 Pres. Obama's 2010 Memorial Day Address is rained out; vice-pres. Biden delivers his address at Arlington Nat. Cemetery in sunny weather. On May 31 World No Tobacco Day is sponsored by the Am. Lung Assoc. and WHO. On May 31 German pres. Horst Kohler announces his surprise resignation after suggesting that the country's mission in Afghanistan is partly motivated by commercial concerns. On May 31 the Mexican govt. removes the skulls and bones of a dozen historical figures incl. Father Miguel Hidalgo from the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City as part of Mexico's bicentennial celebration. On May 31 the Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) pub. a report claiming that Iran has enough nuclear fuel to turn into two nuclear bombs after more refining. On May 31 #3 al-Qaida leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid (Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law) (an Egyptian) is reported to have been killed in Pakistan by a U.S. missile strike. On May 31 a judge in Mexico charges former "Survivor" producer Bruce Beresford-Redman with the murder of his wife during a vacation in Cancun. On May 31 Pope Benedict XVI appoints a high profile team of bishops incl. the archbishop of New York to investigate sexual abuse in Irish dioceses and seminaries. On May 31 Afghan Red Cross worker Sayed Mossa is arrested for converting from Islam to Christianity; the Red Cross stinks themselves up by cutting him loose? On May 31 the cable TV Cooking Channel, owned by Scripps Networks Interactive debuts, based in Knoxville, Tenn. In May Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei announces that he wants Iran to double its pop. to 150M, therefore families should have more then two children. In May 6'5" 280 lb. Israeli-born Arab Elias Abuelazam (Abullazam) (1976-) begins a murder spree on small-framed mostly black men in and around Flint, Gennesee County, Mich., followed by 16 more that kill four ending with 49-y.-o. Arnold Minor on Aug. 2 until his arrest on Aug. 11 while trying to board a plane in Atlanta for Tel Aviv, becoming known as "the Flint Serial Slasher/Stabber", getting convicted of Minor murder and receiving a life sentence without parole, after which prosecutors refuse to press any more charges. In May Ireland establishes the Laureate na nOg (Laureate na nÓg) position for best children's writer or illustrator; the first award goes to Niamh Sharkey. On June 1 the U.S. debt reaches $13T. On June 1 three gunmen attack a hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, killing eight then taking several hostages. On June 1 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Berghuis v. Thompkins that criminal suspects must explicitly invoke their right to remain silent to force police to stop questioning; new justice Sonia Sotomayor dissents, with the soundbyte: "Today's decision turns Miranda upside down. Criminal suspects must now unambiguously invoke their right to remain silent - which, counterintuitively, requires them to speak." On June 1 Al Gore announces that he will separate from his wife of 40 years Tipper Gore. On June 1 a WWII bomb explodes in Goettingen, Germany while being defused, killing three. On June 1 Shamma al Qassim (1991-) becomes the first Emirati woman to become a NASA intern, followed on Sept. 1 by Reem Ketait (1987-). On June 1-Dec. 29 the 2010 West African (Nigerian) Floods leave 110K homeless in Niger after the Niger River reaches its highest level in 80 years and spreads into Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Benin. On June 2 Ala. U.S. Dem. Rep. (since 2003) Artur Genestre Davis (1967-) loses his bid to become the first African-Am. Ala. gov., losing a primary to agriculture commissioner Ron Sparks by 62-38 after alienating black voters by opposing Obama's health care reform package. On June 2 Joran van der Sloot (1989-), prime suspect in the June 2, 2005 disappearance in Aruba of Ala. teenie Natalee Holloway is named as the main suspect in the May 30 slaying of 21-y.-o. Stephany Flores in a hotel in Lima, Peru; on June 7 he confesses to killing Flores after he caught her looking up info. on his Aruba case on his laptop. On June 2 English taxi driver Derrick Bird (b. 1958) shoots 12 random victims at point blank range during a 3.5-hour spree in Cumbria, then kills himself. On June 2 ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney (1942-) receives the Gershwin Prize from the Library of Congress, singing "Michelle" to First Lady Michelle Obama, and dissing the intelligence of ex-pres. George W. Bush, with the soundbyte "It's great to have a president who knows what a library is", drawing jeers from Repubs. On June 2 weather forecasters predict that the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season will be more active than in 2009, with 10 hurricanes, five of them major, and a 76% change that a major hurricane will hit the U.S. coastline, bringing in all that oil. On June 3 Japanese PM Yukio Hatoyama resigns over his broken campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine base off the southern island of Okinawa; his resignation was due to pressure by Pres. Obama; on June 8 Naoto Kan (1946-) becomes Japanese PM #61 (until Sept. 2, 2011). On June 3 ministers from the U.S. and the EU promise to protect the rights of all religions, esp., er, incl. Islam in the fight against internat. terrorism - dooming the fight from the start? On June 3 Pres. Obama meets for a half hour with Ariz. gov. Jan Brewer over their controversial immigration law, and ease tensions. On June 3 U.S. Sen. Jim Webb cancels a visit to Burma after reports by a high-level defector that the Burmese military junta is mining uranium and working with North Korea to develop nukes. On June 3 Roman Catholic bishop (the pope's apostolic vicar in Anatolia) Luigi Padovese is stabbed to death in S Turkey in his house then beheaded a day before he is scheduled to leave for Cyprus to meet with the pope by Allah Akbar-shouting Islamic nutcase Murat Altun, who claims to have killed him for being homosexual and/or a "command from Allah"; the govt. tries to coverup by claiming he has psychological problems and that it wasn't about Islam. On June 3 Ohio residents Hor I. Akl (1973-) and Amera A. Akl (1973-) (dual citizens of the U.S. and Lebanon) are arrested on charges of conspiracy to provide money to Hezbollah. On June 3 Japan deploys the 200 sq. m (2.1K sq. ft.) solar sail Ikaros as part of an experiment to test its potential for space propulsion. On June 3 New Zealand bans the kosher slaughter of animals, pissing-off the Jewish community. On June 4 the U.S. govt. announces that 431K new jobs were created in May, dropping the unemployment rate to 9.7%; too bad, all but 20K of the jobs were temporary Census jobs. On June 4 African Union peacekeepers and Somalian govt. forces launch attacks against Islamic insurgent strongholds in N Mogadishu, Somalia, killing 17+ and wounding 61+ civilians. On June 4 Pres. Obama postpones a planned trip to Australia and Indonesia to concentrate on the Gulf oil spill. On June 4 U.S. atty. Eric Holder marks the first anniv. of Pres. Obama's Cairo Speech by vowing to prosecute horrible Islamic, er, hate crimes aimed at Muslims, Arabs, and Sikhs in the U.S. On June 4 U.S. defense secy. Robert M. Gates has a combative exchange with a Chinese gen. over arms sales to Taiwan, which caused China to cancel its military-exchange program with the U.S. earlier in the year, saying that the U.S. is turning China into an enemy. On June 5 after meeting with Orthodox archbishop Chrysostomos II the day before, Pope Benedict XVI meets with N Cyprus Muslim Sufi leader Sheik Mehmet Nazim Adil (1922-) outside the Vatican embassy in Cyprus to discuss the Turkish occupation since 1974, becoming the first pope to visit Cyprus, and uttering the soundbyte that the plight of Christians in the Middle East should be "a source of concern to all of Christ's followers"; meanwhile on June 6 the Vatican pub. The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness, which criticizes Israel, Egypt, Islam, and even Christian fundamentalists for using the Bible to justify Israeli occupation of Palestine. On June 5 Muslim "New Jersey Jihadists" Mohamed Mahmood Alessa (1990-) and Carlos Eduardo "Omar" Almonte (1986-) are arrested at JFK Internat. Airport in New York City en route to Somalia to "wage violent jihad" and commit violent acts in the U.S. by the U.S. anti-terrorism Operation Arabian Knight. On June 5 a riot in Srinagar, Kashmar begins after somebody is spotted with an undergarment allegedly containing a blasphemous image of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. On June 6 a car bomb explodes outside a police station in Al-Amil, Iraq near Baghdad, killing six. On June 6 JCS chmn. Adm. Mike Mullen says that al-Qaida in Iraq has been "devastated" by its string of recent setbacks. On June 6 Pamela Geller's and Robert Spencer's new org. Stop Islamization of America stages a 10K-person protest against the proposed Ground Zero Cordoba Mosque (AKA Park51 because it's going to be the first "green mosque" in the U.S.) which the Islam history ignoramus PC media ignores, pans, and/or smears, falsely claiming that Joseph Nassrallah, a Coptic Christian and SIOA supporter was beaten up by the crowd after being mistaken for a Muslim in order to paint the whole group as racist and Islamophobic. On June 16 blogger Khaled Saeed (Said) (1982-) is arrested and beaten to death in Alexandria, Egypt by two policemen who believe he has videotape evidence of their involvement in drug dealing; after lying that he died from swallowing a marijuana joint, they are sentenced to four days in prison, causing a protest, and on Mar. 3, 2014 they are sentenced to 10 years in jail each; on Jan. 27, 2010 after founding a Facebook page "We Are All Khaled Saeed", Google exec ("the Google Gandhi") Wael Ghonim is arrested, then after an outcry released on Feb. 7. On June 7 (2 a.m.) a 3.6 earthquake hits coastal waters W of downtown Los Angeles, Calif. On June 7 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai removes two top security officials, the interior minister and intel chief for failing to stop an attack on a major peace conference. On June 7 the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyassa reports the Osama bin Laden and six of his lts. have been hiding out for the past five years in the mountains of Sabzevar in Khorasan Province in NE Iran, guarded by Iranian troops. On June 7 10 NATO soldiers are killed in Afghanistan, becoming their deadliest day in months, incl. five U.S. soldiers killed in an IED blast in E Afghanistan; meanwhle the war in Afghanistan official becomes the longest war in U.S. history, 104 mo. On June 7 Yukiya Amano, head of the Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) singles out Iran as a "special case" for monitoring teams because of suspicions that it's secretly building nukes. On June 7 a former maj. in its army claims that Myanmar (Burma) is attempting to build a nuclear weapon; analysts claim their program is primitive and poorly planned. On June 7 the first lesbian couple weds in Portugal, Teresa Pires and Helena Paixao, 30-something divorcees, becoming the first gay marrieds there. On June 7 the Pew Research Center pub. a Study on Interracial Marriages, finding that one in seven U.S. marriages are interracial or interethnic, incl. 26% of Hispanics, 16% of blacks, and 9% of whites. On June 7 a Gallup Poll shows that 6.2M Mexicans say that they want to come to the U.S. permanently. On June 8 (Super Tues.) primary elections in the U.S. give a V to three candidates endorsed by Sarah Palin: Nikki Haley in S.C., Sharron Angle in Nev., and Carly Fiorina in Calif. On June 8 Iran opens its first women-only bank branch in Mashhad. On June 8 Egypt begins allowing Muslim Brotherhood MPs into Gaza as part of an indefinite opening of the Rafah crossing. On June 9 after Turkey and Brazil try an end-run that is rejected, the U.N. Security Council votes 12-2-1 (Brazil, Turkey, Lebanon abstaining) for Resolution 1929, imposing a 4th round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program; Iranian pres. Madman Inadinnajacket ridicules the new sanctions, calling them a "used tissue", and on June 11 saying that Israel is "doomed"; on July 7 opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi criticizes Imadinnajacket, saying "To say that this resolution is like a used hankie won't erase the hardships arising from demagogic policies, as it is clear to me that this resolution will affect our nation's security and economy"; the new sanctions incl. the power to inspect Iranian cargo, making war with Iran inevitable? On June 9 Pres. Obama announces a $400M aid package for Gaza, and tells Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas in the Oval Office "The current situation in Gaza is unsustainable", this despite Abbas having supported the blockade since he's anti-Hamas; on June 10 Abbas tells the Brookings Inst. that the prospects for a peaceful 2-state solution "I fear is beginning to erode". On June 9 Cairo-based Saudi prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud warns his country's royal family to flee before a military coup or uprising overthrows them a la the shah of Iran. On June 9 a suicide bomber at a wedding ceremony in Nagaan in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province kills 39 and wounds 73. On June 9 France bans Al-Aqsa TV. On June 10 Sen. Dems. by 53-47 defeat a Repub.-led effort to strip the EPA of authority to regulate greenhouse gases; sponsor Lisa Murkowski of Alaska issues the soundbyte "We need to be growing our economy, not paralyzing it". On June 10 Am. Muslim Gregory Houston Holt, who was once imprisoned for threatening pres. George W. Bush's daughters is sentenced to life in prison for cutting his girlfriend's threat; he wrote letters describing himself as the "American Taliban" and calling for death to America. On June 10 U.S. gen. Stanley A. McChrystal says that the planned Kandahar offensive in Taliban land in Afghanistan will take months longer than planned; meanwhile new British PM David Cameron visits Kabul, reaffirming British support for the effort. On June 10 the U.S. govt. announces the arrest of 2.2K in 19 states as part of Project Deliverance targeting violent Mexican drug cartels. On June 10 a bipartisan group in the U.S. House offers a resolution calling for the govt. of Iran to cease oppression of its people and political dissidents, with Calif. Repub. rep. Dana Rohrbacher uttering the soundbyte "Any enemy of the mullah is a friend of ours." On June 10-14 the Shah Wali Kot Offensive in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan is conducted by U.S., Afghan, and Australian forces. On June 11 16-y.-o. Abby Sutherland (1994-), who attempted a solo around-the-world voyage in a 40-ft. boat is rescued in the Indian Ocean after becoming stranded. On June 11 Pope Bendedict XVI begs forgiveness from God and victims for child sexual abuse by priests, and vows that the Church will do everything in its power to ensure that it never happens again - cancel the orders for the minidresses? On June 11 a suicide car bomb in Jalawla, Iraq 70 mi. NE of Baghdad hits a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol, killing two U.S. and three Iraqi soldiers. On June 11-15 riots in Osh, Kyrgyzstan kill 223 (official story) or 2K and injure 1.8K; on June 14 400K minority Uzbeks fleeing mobs in Kyrgyzstan mass at the border; by June 15 31 Americans and 40 Europeans are evacuated to Bishkek. On June 12 Iran marks the 1st anniv. of Imadinnajacket's reelection with a heavy police presence to scare potential protesters, who scrapped plans to protest on June 10; 900+ are arrested in Tehran. On June 12 Pres. Obama urges Congress to approve $50B in emergency aid to state and local govts. to prevent "massive layoffs of teachers, police, and firefighters". On June 12 the London Times reports that Saudi Arabia is preparing to stand down its air defenses to allow Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on its enemy Iran's nuclear facilities. On June 12 Mexico has a record 85 deaths related to organize crime, the highest since pres. Felipe Calderon took office in Dec. 2006; on June 12-16 an explosion of Mexican drug violence kills hundreds, causing pres. Felipe Calderon to issue a 5K-word manifesto saying that the fight against organized crime must continue "or we will always live in fear"; on June 14 drug cartel hitmen in the Mexican state of Michoacan (home state of pres. Felipe Calderon) kill 12 police officers in a prison gun battle, along with 38+ inmates. On June 13 attackers in military uniforms storm the Central Bank of Iraq, causing a standoff that kills 15 and wounds 50. On June 13 a blast at a rally in Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya kills three and injures 75. On June 13 Arab League chief Amr Moussa visits the Gaza Strip, becoming the first senior Arab official to do so since Hamas took over in 2007. On June 13 the U.S. announces the finding of vast mineral riches in Afghanistan, incl. iron, copper, cobalt, gold, and lithium, worth $1T-$3T, turning the country into the new El Dorado. On June 13 52-y.-o. Colo. Christian construction worker Gary Brooks Faulkner (1958-) is arrested in N Pakistan en route to Afghanistan carrying a pistol and 40-in. sword plus Bible materials, telling investigators that he is on a solo mission to kill Osama bin Laden; he is released on June 24 and arrives in Denver around midnight, being hailed as the Rocky Mt. Rambo - they should have helped him? On June 13 Rubicon debuts on AMC-TV for 13 episodes (until Oct. 17), about the Am. Policy Inst. in New York City and its war with a secret OWG society; the Aug. 1 2-hour debut draws 2M viewers; too bad, it soon tanks and is cancelled. On June 14 the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who claims that U.S. officials deported him to Syria in 2002 knowing that he would be tortured. On June 14 the EU Foreign Affairs Council calls on Israel to open crossings into Gaza immediately to transfer humanitarian aid, but allows them the right to inspect for weapons. On June 14 a video showing N.C. Dem. congressman Bob Etheridge repeatedly asking "Who are you?" then assaulting a college student with a Webcam asking him "Do you support Obama's policies?" outside a fundraiser headlined by Speaker Nancy Pelosi surfaces, causing him to apologize, while the pro-Obama PC press buries the story. On June 14 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules that immigrants convicted of minor drug offense shouldn't face automatic deportation. On June 14 Barcelona, Spain announces a ban on Islamic face veils, becoming the first large city in Spain to do it. On June 14 Fox News reveals that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been accepting bids for mgt. of the proposed 1,776-ft. One World Trade Center Freedom Tower by the Arab-owned Related Companies. On June 14 U.S. ambassador Luis C. deBaca says that African-Am. citizens have been enslaved in agricultural work in Fla. during the last six years. On June 14 Hamas ambushes a police van and kills Israeli policeman Yehoshua "Shuki" Sofer (b. 1971) and injures two more; Sofer was scheduled to be married on Sept. 20; in July the Israeli army announces the arrest of the Hamas cell on June 22, incl. some who had been arrested before but were not deported to Lebanon because of an internat. outcry. On June 15 U.S. gen. (prostate cancer survivor) David Petraeus collapses at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, blaming dehydration and a skipped breakfast; he calls the conflict a "roller coaster", and warns that the Afghan campaign could be heading toward a crisis". On June 15 the U.S. claims success after 56 countries on the U.N. Human Rights Council (less than a third) support a statement critical of Iran's human rights record. On June 15 Elton John shocks his gay fans by singing at the wedding of conservative anti-gay pundit Rush Limbaugh, for $1M. On June 16 two successive earthquakes (one 7.0) hit E Indonesia off the N coast of Papua province, killing two. On June 16 the U.S. House of Reps. by 233-169 passes the Puerto Rico Dem. Act, then by a 198-194 vote defeats an amendment requiring English as the sole official language as a condition for Puerto Rican statehood. On June 16 flash floods in the French Riviera kill over a dozen. On June 16 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket gives a Speech on the Jews in Shahre-Kord (near Isfahan), calling Jews "the filthiest and greatest of criminals, who only appear to be human", then adding "I hereby announce that from this point forward, one of the Iranian nation's main aspirations will be to deliver the American people from its undemocratic and bullying government." On June 16 despite his big speech on the oil spill the night before, a Rasmussen Poll finds Pres. Obama's approval rating dipping to an all-time low of 42%, with 44% strongly disapproving and 24% strongly approving, giving him a pres. approval index of -20; a Gallup Poll for June 7-13 gives him an all-time low 46% approval rating, with 46% disapproving, esp. those 65 and older, the married, and churchgoers; the middle class seems to be abandoning him, with a majority approval rating only from those making less than $24K a year. On June 17 plans to sell a Roman Catholic convent Staten Island, N.Y. for use as a mosque are scrapped after community opposition. On June 17 a nationwide alert is issued for 17 Afghan pilots who went AWOL from Lackland Air Force Base in Tex.; seven turn themselves in; on July 7 the number is increased to 46; they are being used for a false flag op by the U.S. in order to start another war? On June 17 a mine blast in Amaga, Colombia kills 16 miners and traps dozens. On June 17 the EU adopts new sanctions against Iran, causing it to threaten retaliation. On June 18 convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner is executed by firing squad in Utah, becoming the first execution by that method in the U.S. in 14 years; the firing squad option was eliminated by Utah in 2004, but he was sentenced to death before that and chose it over lethal injection. On June 18 5-y.-o. Viktor Shmyakin (2005) is slaughtered by a knife-wielding Muslim fanatic shouting "Allahu Akbar" in Dneprovka, Ukraine on the Crimea. On June 18 Orlando, Fla. becomes the first city to name a road after Pres. Obama; it is paid for by an Obama stimulus. On June 18 four Christian evangelists are arrested for proselytizing Muslims at the Arab Internat. Festival in Dearborn, Mich., bringing cries of Sharia creeping into the U.S.; on Sept. 24 after the Muslim-friendly DA of Dearbornistan prosecutes, their trial results in acquittal. On June 19 Swedish Crown Princess Victoria weds commoner gym trainer Daniel Westling in a fancy $2.6M wedding attended by Europe's royalty, becoming the biggest royal wedding since the 1981 marriage of Prince Charles and Diana. On June 19 Turkish warplanes attack Kurdish rebels in N Iraq, killing 12. On June 19 al-Qaida gunmen shoot their way into intel HQ in Yemen, killing 11 and freeing several members. On June 19 Egypt announces that a naval flotilla of 11 U.S. and one Israeli warships passed thrugh the Suez Canal, while an Iranian flotilla approaches Gaza; on June 24 Iran sends a letter to the U.N. saying that the presence of Iranian and Lebanese ships in the Gaza area would be considered a declaration of war on Israel, and is backing down. On June 20 (11 a.m.) twin car bombs explode outside the state-run Trade Bank of Iraq in Baghdad, killing 27 and wounding 55. On June 20 two bombs in push carts explode in Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province, killing two and wounding 14 in the first blast, and injuring five in the 2nd blast, incl. an Afghan soldier. On June 20 former minister of trade, finance, and defense Juan Manuel Santos Calderon (Calderón) (1951-) is elected pres. #50 (#32) of Colombia with 69%, vowing to continue the fight against the FARC leftist guerrilla group; he is sworn-in on Aug. 7 (until ?), going on to successfully negotiate a peace treaty and win the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize anyway. On June 20 the British govt. announces the foiling of a Taliban plot to kill Afghan schoolchildren on their first day of school by planting bombs in the school. On June 20 Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar announces that Palestinians should begin firing rockets at Israel from the West Bank, not just Gaza. On June 20 ex-Mossad chief (1989-96) Shabtai Shavit tells a conference in Tel Aviv that Israel should launch a preemptive strike against Iran now to prevent it from getting nukes. On June 20 German development minister Dirk Niebel is denied entrance to Gaza Strip by Israel, who claims the visit is a publicity ploy by Hamas, causing an internat. flap. On June 21 voters in Fremont, Neb. pass a law prohibiting businesses and landlords from hiring or renting to illegal immigrants. On June 21 a train crash in Congo-Brazzaville kills 76. On June 21 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 6-3 in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project to uphold the Oct. 26, 2001 Bush era USA Patriot Act barring Americans from providing "material support" to foreign terrorist groups, incl. the help given to the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka by the Humanitarian Law Project, rejecting free speech and free association arguments; dissenter Stephen Breyer reads his dissent aloud in the courtroom: "Not even the serious and deadly problem of international terrorism can require automatic forfeiture of First Amendment rights"; the court ruling outlaws peaceful efforts, worrying ex-pres. Jimmy Carter that his Carter Center may be prosecuted for monitoring fair elections in Lebanon et al. A rolling stone finally gathers some moss? On June 22 U.S. gen. Stanley A. McChrystal is called to Washington to try to save his job after remarks dissing Obama and Biden to Rolling Stone mag. are publicized, incl. an aide calling vice-pres. Joe Biden "Joe Bite Me", tendering his resignation in advance of his June 23 meeting with Obama, who says that he "exercised poor judgment", while White House press secy. Robert Gibbs says that he made "an enormous mistake", adding "I think the magnitude and graveness of the mistake here are profound" but wants to talk to him before making a decision, "to see what in the world he was thinking", adding that Obama is questioning whether he is capable and mature enough for his job; on June 23 after the meeting with him Obama announces that McChrystal has resigned and is being replaced as CIC of Afghanistan by his boss David Betrayus, er, Petraeus, with the soundbyte "The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general. It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system, and it erodes the trust that's necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan"; Petraeus takes command on July 4, while McChrystal retires with 4 stars; Obama fires McChrystal despite Afghan leaders lobbying for him, saying that it could disrupt progress in the war and jeopardize the offensive against the Taliban in S Afghanistan; the article The Runaway General by Michael Hastings is officially pub. on June 25, but online articles are made available on June 22; on June 24 Obama disavows the July 2011 Afghan drawdown date, with the soundbyte "We didn't say we'd be switching off the lights, we said we'd begin a transition phase that would allow the Afghan government to take more and more responsibility" (before the Taliban takes it over along with all them billions of infrastructure?); the Taliban in Afghanistan says that the dismissal is aimed at hiding U.S. failure in Afghanistan, and that Petraeus is "no smarter"; on July 2 Robert Gates quietly changes the rules to require Pentagon approval before journalists can interview sensitive military or civilian officials, and on July 8 nominates USMC gen. James N. Mattis as Petraeus' replacement; meanwhile publisher Mort Zuckerman says that Obama is being increasingly viewed as incompetent by the rest of the world when it comes to foreign policy, especially with his ingenue view that the U.S. is not at war with the Muslim World, and the 25 Euro countries that have a combined 30K troops in Afghanistan see the firing as an indicating that Obama is losing the war and it's time to pull their troops out - never has a leftist antiwar rag got the chance to influence the war machine like this? On June 22 a bomb attack on a bus in Istanbul, Turkey kills four, one day after the Turkish military stepped up operations against Kurdish PKK rebels. On June 22 a female suicide bomber hiding the bomb beneath her burqa kills two U.S. soldiers in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, becoming Afghanistan's first female suicide bomber. On June 22 the U.S. Congress finalizes an Iran sanctions bill, and on June 24 votes 99-0 in the Senate and 408-8 in the House to approve them, with Dem. Mass. Sen. John Kerry uttering the soundbyte "A nuclear-armed Iran would pose an intolerable threat to our ally Israel, risk igniting an arms race in what is already one of the world's most dangerous regions, and undermine our global effort to halt the spread of nuclear weapons." On June 22 Sarah Palin-endorsed Nikki Haley (daughter of Indian immigrants) becomes the first Repub. woman nominated to run for gov. in S.C.; African-Am. Tim Scott defeats Paul Thurmond, son of late Sen. Strom Thurmond. On June 22 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton attends a Gay Pride Month celebration, and encourages U.S. State Dept. employees to let their teenie kids know that it's okay to be gay. On June 22 a Pew Research Center Poll finds that 40% of Americans believe that Jesus Christ will return by 2050, while 71% believe that cancer will be bured, 66% think that artificial limbs will work better than real ones, and 81% believe that computers will be able to converse with humans; 58% believe that WWII will happen by then, and 53% think there will be a nuclear terrorist attack on U.S. soil; only 64% are optimistic about life, vs. 81% in 1999. On June 23 Iran announces that it will send a ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists to break the Gaza blockade; Iran claims that the Israeli Air Force unloaded military equipment at a Saudi Arabian base, while a large U.S. forced is massed in Azerbaijan on the NW Iranian border. On June 23 the senate of Spain votes 131-129 to ban the burqa despite opposition by PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. On June 23 U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick says that a senior Mexican military officer told her that Hezbollah is teaching Mexican drug cartels how to make car bombs. On June 23 a federal judge sides with Google in the $1 Viacom Video Copyright Infringement Suit. On June 23 documents are released linking the govt. of Pakistan's Punjab province to $1M in donations to Jamaat ud Dawa, an Islamic charity on the U.N. terrorist list that is affiliated with the 2008 Mumbai attack. On June 23 a 5.0 earthquake strikes the Ontario-Quebec border of Canada. On June 24 Welsh-born atheist Julia Eileen Gillard (1961-) of the Labor Party becomes the PM #27 (first female) of Australia (until ?). On June 24 a new report by the U.S. Govt. Accountability Office (GAO) says that federal agencies are still failing to "connect the dots" on security threats to the U.S. On June 24 Pres. Obama meets with Russian pres. Dmitry Medveded in Washington, taking him to his favorite hamburger joint, Ray's Hell Burger for cheddar cheeseburgers with jalapeno peppers, mushrooms, and Coke, sharing french fries with him; Obama issues a 10-page factsheet claiming to have "reset" the relationship with Russia, and endorsing Russian membership in the World Trade Org. (WTO). On June 24 at the annual meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in New Zealand, China announces that it will provide Pakistan with more nuclear reactors, with the U.S. not opposing it because it wants China to help it impose harsher sanctions on Iran; this will give Pakistan reactors Chasma I through IV. On June 24 a high-speed train passing through a station hits a group of partiers in Castelldefels, Spain, killing 12 and injuring 14. On June 24 U.S. deputy White House nat. security adviser John O. Brennan says that dozens of Americans have joined terrorist groups and are posing a threat to the U.S. and its interests abroad. On June 24 a senior U.S. official is quotes as saying that a high level U.S. envoy will arrive in an Arab country this week to hold meetings with the leaders of Hamas and deliver a message from the Obama admin., which asks Hamas not to comment on it. On June 24 police raid a Roman Catholic Church HQ in Mechelen, Belgium during a child abuse investigation; on June 27 Pope Benedict XVI calls the raid "deplorable". On June 25 U.S. Congressional leaders agree on the most sweeping reform of financial regulations since the Great Depression of the 1930s, causing Pres. Obama to praise them for strengthening his hand at the upcoming G20 meeting; on June 30 the House passes them by 237-192; Obama signs it on July 21, calling it "the strongest consumer financial protections in history". On June 25 the first U.S. predator drone makes its first flights over the U.S.-Mexico border in W Tex. on an intel-gathering mission. On June 25 Hurricane Alex forms in the Caribbean, dumpingdumps heavy rain in Central Am. and Yucatan Peninsula, killing four, then moves into the Gulf of Mexico, attaining hurricane status on June 30 as it approaches NE Mexico, becoming the first hurricane of the season and first June hurricane in the Atlantic basin since Allison in 1995. On June 25-26 (night) the Israeli military bombs a weapons smuggling tunnel on the Gaza-Egypt border, killing two Palestinians. On June 25-27 the 36th G8 Summit in Huntsville, Ont., Canada; meanwhile on June 26-27 the 4th G20 Summit is held in Toronto, Ont., Canada; over 400 protesters are arrested; despite opposition by Pres. Obama, the G-20 nations reach a compromise and agree to cut budget deficits in half by 2013, with each country setting its own pace; Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi says that world leaders "believe absolutely" that Israel may take military action against Iran to prevent it from getting nukes, and urges Iran to "respect rule of law" and "hold a transparent dialog" over its nuclear program. On June 26 an armed mob attacks a political rally in Chiapas, Mexico, killing three and wounding six. On June 26 Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez calls Israel (which he turned against after the 2009 Gaza Strip offensive) "genocidal", and predicts that one day it will be "put in its place", adding "It has become the assassin arm of the United States... it is a threat to all of us" and that "the territory will one day return to Syrian hands" - how much money did that cost the Arabs? On June 27 a bomb blast in Bugojno, Bosnia (47 mi. SW of Sarajevo) kills a policeman and injures five others. On June 27 CIA dir. Leon Panetta says that the last time the CIA had good intel on the location of Osama bin Laden was in "the early 2000s", and that there are less than 100 al-Qaida still in Afghanistan after they moved to the tribal areas of Pakistan; he also admits that sanctions won't dissuade Iran from trying to get nukes. On June 27 Czech Repub. pres. Vaclav Klaus appoints center-right leader Petr Necas as PM, making the govt. pro-U.S. and focused on fiscal austerity. On June 27 after Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat approves the demotion of 22 illegally-built Arab homes, 150 stone-throwing Palestinian protesters in East Jerusalem in the Silwan neighborhood wound six border police officers, who respond with tear gas. On June 27 the Raelians declare World Swastika Rehabiliation Day, seeking to end Nazi ties and promote the ancient Indian symbol as good. On June 28 Pres. Obama signs a memorandum to nearly double the amount of federal and commercial spectrum available for smartphones and wireless Internet devices. On June 28 the U.S. Supreme Court by 5-4 in McDonald vs. Chicago strikes down the 28-y.-o. handgun ban in Chicago, Ill., extending rights to own guns to every state and city in the U.S., declaring that the right to self-defense with them as espoused in "District of Columbia v. Heller" (2008) is fundamental, becoming a giant V for pro-gun forces; Obama's appointee Sonia Sotomayor sides with the minority, as does retiring justice John Paul Stevens; the plaintiffs are represented by Israel-born DC v. Heller atty. Alan Gura. On June 28 the U.S. Supreme Court rules 5-4 in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez that a public law school (U. of Calif. Hastings) did not violate the First Amendment by withdrawing recognition from a Christian student group that discriminated against gay/lez students; dissenter Samuel A. Alito Jr. calls it "a serious setback for freedom of expression in this country." On June 28 after Pres. Obama urges the Chinese to take a stronger stance on the Mar. 26 warship sinking, North Korea accuses the U.S. of bringing weapons into the Panmunjom truce village in the DMZ, and threatens a "new" nuclear deterrent. On June 28 a group of 25 armed masked men attack and set fire to a U.N.-sponsored summer camp in Gaza. On June 28 the FBI announces the arrest of 10 alleged Russian spies in the 10-year Operation Ghost Stories, eight of them on deep-cover assignments in the Acela Corridor (Boston-New York City-Washington, D.C.), incl. redheaded femme fatale Anna Chapman (1982-); on June 29 Bill Clinton gives a speech in Moscow at the Kremlin-front Investment Bank for $500K for 1 hour to set up the uranium deal selling 20% of U.S. uranium to Russian control; after all 10 spies plead guilty on July 8, and Hillary Clinton makes a quick dirty deal with Vladimir Putin, they are deported to Russia, which promises to release four U.S. prisoners in exchange. On June 28 Rodolfo Torre of the PRI, the front-running candidate for gov. of the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas is assassinated by drug cartels; on June 26 anti-drug-war Mexican musician Sergio Vega is shot dead in Sinaloa hours after denying reports of his death; Torre's older brother Egidio Torre Cantu (1957-) is chosen to run in his place, and is elected on July 4. On June 28 French PM Francois Fillon urges French Muslims to reject full face veils, with the soundbyte: "The Islam of France, the Islam you practice daily, has nothing to do with this caricature that dims the lights of your faith. You should stand in the front line against this hijacking of the religious message... It's up to you to make intelligence triumph over obscurantism and tolerance over intolerance." On June 28 Hillary Clinton releases a video praising her "friend and mentor" Robert C. Byrd, a former KKK member, which is later trotted out by her enemies. On June 29 Pres. Obama meets in the White House with Saudi King Abdullah. On June 29 a U.S. Senate panel unanimously approves Gen. David H. Petraeus as new Afghan war cmdr., vowing to continue Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's strategy of trying to avoid civilian deaths; the full Senate confirms him 99-0 on June 30. On June 29 (Tue.) a Conference Board report that consumer confidence fell more than expected in June causes the Dow Jones to fall 268 points despite a press briefing by Pres. Obama and Federal Reserve chmn. Ben Bernanke in which Obama claimed that the economy is strengthening but much remains to be done to put Americans back to work. On June 29 a series of bombings and shootings in Iraq kill 13, incl. an Iraqi army gen., four policemen in Beiji, Iraq 155 mi. N of Baghdad, and a 9-y.-o. girl. On June 29 protests on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan over a reported U.S. attack on a madrassa that disrespected its sanctity by bringing in dogs and detaining people result in clashes with police that injure 20, incl. 15 police; Afghan authorities claim that only Afghan police were involved in the madrassa operation - what's your flavor? On June 29 a U.S. drones kills 6+ in Karikot village in Pakistan's NW tribal belt. On June 29 Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan sends a letter to Jewish leaders asking them to repair the damage they have caused blacks for cents., with the soundbyte "We could charge you with being the most deceitful so-called friend, while your history with us shows you have been our worst enemy." On June 29 Pres. Obama holds his 2nd meeting with Saudi King Abdullah in the Oval Office, assuring him that he intends to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, where almost 20 Saudis remain; Saudi Arab has refused to accept Yemeni prisoners for its militant rehab program; they also discuss "efforts to prevent violent extremism", avoiding the term "radical Islam". On June 29 Maoist rebels in Chattisgarh, India kill 26 Indian security personnel in an ambush. On June 29 N.C. Repub. rep. Sue Myrick warns that Hezbollah terrorists might be hooking up with Mexican drug cartels to stage "Israel-like bombings" against customs officials or Nat. Guard units on the U.S.-Mexico border. On June 30 the U.S. Nat. Debt reaches a record 90.5% of GDP (vs. 74.1 under Bush on Dec. 31, 2008). On June 30 a 6.2 earthquake near Pinotepa Nacional (80 mi. SW of Oaxaca) in S Mexico shakes bldgs. as far away as Mexico City but does no serious damage. On June 30 Jalalabad Airfield, one of the biggest NATO bases in Afghanistan is attacked by the Taliban. On June 30 British defense secy. Liam Fox warns the U.S. and NATO against "premature" withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying "To leave before the job is finished would leave us less safe and less secure." On June 30 the French daily Le Figaro reports that Saudi King Abdallah told French defense minister Herve Morin: "There are two countries in the world that do not deserve to exist: Iran and Israel", which the Saudis deny; on July 3 the online daily Elaph reports that King Abdallah has postponed a scheduled July 11 visit to Paris to meet with pres. Nicolas Sarkozy to plan a Saudi exhibition at the Louvre, which had been planned during a 2006 Saudi visit by former French pres. Jacques Chirac. On June 30 Paul Ceglia of Westbrook, N.Y. files suit, caliming he owns 84% of Facebook under a 2003 work for hire contract with Mark Zuckerberg when he was a college freshman; he claims to have waited so long because he only dug up the paperwork while being investigated for fraud for his wood pellet startup. In June the 2010 E European/Russian Heatwave begins, hitting Russia especially hard, with daytime temps of 38.2C and devastating fires covering 1M hectares that cause crop failures of 25% ($15B). In June the Dancing Boys Scandal sees employees of U.S.-based DynCorp hired to train Afghan policemen exposed for paying young dancing boys to entertain them in N Afghanistan. In June the Stuxnet cyberworm is detected, becoming the first known cyber superweapon designed to destroy a real-world target incl. factory or nuclear power plant, causing speculation that it is aimed at Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant; top German computer expert Ralf Langer claims that it set Iran's nuclear program back two years, making it nearly as effective as a military strike. By the end of June 422 are killed and 1.1K+ are wounded in the N province Nineveh, Iraq, 3x the death doll in the Sunni Anbar Province. On July 1 Pres. Obama gives a Speech on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, calling for a "clear national standard" and "accountability", with the soundbyte "The system is broken and everybody knows it", adding "Unfortunately, reform has been held hostage to political posturing and special interest wrangling, to the pervasive sentiment in Washington that tackling such a thorny and emotional issue is inherently bad politics"; also "Our task now is to make our national laws actually work, to shape the system that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. That means being honest about the problem and getting past the false debates that divide the country rather than bring it together"; also "Americans are skeptical of amnesty but they're also skeptical of rounding up and deporting all these people" because that "would tear at the fabric of this nation because immigrants who are here illegally are already woven into that fabric"; Repubs. respond by demanding that Obama visit the U.S.-Mexico border to see for himself how bad it is and why it must be sealed - no mention of TLW's Megamerge Dissolution Solution? On July 1 Pres. Obama signs tough new U.S. sanctions on Iran, saying "With these sanctions, along with others, we are striking at the heart of the Iranian government's ability to fund and develop its nuclear programs"; "We are showing the Iranian government that its actions have consequences, and if it persists, the pressure will continue to mount, and its isolation will continue to deepen"; "There should be no doubt, the United States and the international community are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons"; too bad, China and Turkey soon take up the slack with fuel supplies to Iran. On July 1 al-Qaida in Yemen begins promoting its first online propaganda newspaper called Inspire to recruit new Xmas Condom and Ft. Hood Massacre jihadists. On July 1 Finland becomes the first country to make broadband Internet a legal right for every citizen. On July 1 a triple suicide attack on the Sufi Data Darbar Shrine in Lahore, Pakistan kills 35 and injures 175 of thousands visiting to see the remains of Sufi saint Abul Hassan Ali Hajvery. On July 1 Saudi mother Heila al-Qusayyer, known as "the First Lady of al-Qaeda" is arrested for running a cell of 60 Saudi militants incl. young women. On July 1 a Pew Research Center survey reveals that the U.S. recession that began 30 mo. earlier has caused 55% of all adults in the workforce to become unemployed, take a pay cut, have their work hours reduced, or reduced to involuntary part-time workers. On July 1 the town of Teaneck, N.J. makes history by appointing Muslim Mohammed Hameeduddin for mayor, and Orthodox Jew Adam Gussen as his deputy. On July 2 the number of combat-related U.S. casualties in Afghanistan during the Obama admin. (452) passes the total during the Bush admin. (448). On July 2 (3:30 a.m.) six suicide bombers storm a U.S. Agency for Internat. Aid (USAID) in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing four and wounding several. On July 2 a massive gun battle near Nogales, Mexico near the U.S.-Mexico border kills 21 and wounds six. On July 2 Pres. Obama announces that $795M of the economic stimulus will go toward expanding broadband Internet access across the U.S. On July 2 the U.N. creates U.N. Women, a billion dollar agency for radical feminism devoted to gender equality. On July 2 Rush Limbaugh says that Pres. Obama destroyed the economy on purpose as a "payback" for 230 years of white supremacy racism, and because he doesn't like America - do you want heartburn pain now or later? On July 3 Communist atheist Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva (1950-) becomes pres. of Kyrgyzstan (until ?), becoming the first female head of state in C Asia. On July 3 a fuel tanker flips and explodes in Sange, E Congo, killing 220+ and wounding 100+ villagers after they rush to siphon the vehicle illegally. On July 3 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton utters the soundbyte that intolerant govts. across the world are "slowly crushing" activist and advocacy groups, singling out Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, China, Egypt, Ethopia, Zimbabwe, and Congo. On July 3 Saudi King Abdullah orders a halt to exploration for new oil fields, saying he wants to preserve the wealth for future generations. On July 3 the Presbyterian Church USA holds its annual meeting in Minneapolis, Minn., promoting the Kairos Palestine Document dissing Israel and cheering on the Palestinians. On July 3-4 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden visits Iraq to try talking them into picking a new PM; too bad, his visit is marred by nearby explosions, along with suicide bombers in Mosul and Ramadi who kill four and injure 25. On July 4 elections in Mexico are held amid fears of drug cartel violence, causing low voter turnout; pres. Felipe's Calderon holds on to governorships despite hopes by the PRI. On July 4 Christian teacher T.J. Joseph is kidnapped by the Muslim Popular Front of India in Muvattupuzha, Kerala, India, and his right hand amputated and his left hand nearly amputated for alleged blasphemy in questions on a test, after which his college fires him; the police side with the Muslims and arrest Joseph, then after pressure they reluctantly investigate the Muslims and make arrests; Joseph is acquitted on Nov. 15, 2013, and offered his job back. On July 4 the annual July Fourth Hot Dog-Eating Contest in New York sees prior champ Takeru Kobayashi jump up on the stage and get arrested Gestapo-style by the pigs, who charge him with a trainload of nothing while the sheeplike public doesn't get alarmed? On July 4 Taliban militants behead school headmaster Sakandar Shah Mohammadi, head of Berooni School in Qara Bagh district, Ghazni Province in S Afghanistan, and torch two schools - stop the symptoms of thought before they stop you? On July 4 after escaping a juvenile detention center for the 4th time in early 2008, 6'5 Wash.-born "Catch Me if You Can" wannabe Colton A. "Colt" Harris-More (1991-), known as the Barefoot Bandit for his modus operandi while stealing small aircraft, boats and cars and doing burglaries in the Pacific NW steals an airplane in Ind. and flees to the Bahamas, thumbing his nose at the authories by racking up 50K fans on three Facebook accounts, along with a tribute song on YouTube and more accounts on Twitter; too bad, they arrest him on July 11 in Harbor Town, Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas after a high-speed boat chase. On July 4 26-y.-o. Elnaz Babazadeh (b. 1984) is raped and murdered by Basij forces in Tabriz, Iran for not following the Sharia dress code - she asked for it? On July 5 Iran complains that Britain, Germany, and UAE are refusing to fuel its passenger planes as per the sanctions they said would be nothing. On July 5 Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad hold their first high-level talks in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem; meanwhile Israel rejects a demand by Turkey to apologize over the Gaza Freedom Flotilla under threat of cutting ties. On July 5 Lady Gaga reaches a record 10M friends on Facebook, incl. 14K new ones a day. On July 5 a Report on Terrorist De-Radicalization by the Nat. Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the U. of Md. et al. shows that prison-based programs show promise if well-run. On July 5 NASA chief (2009-) (first African-American) Charles Frank "Charlie" Bolden Jr. (1946-) utters the soundbyte to the Al-Jazeera network that Obama told him to reach out to the Muslim World and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their "historic contribution to science and engineering", which after a brouhaha White House press secy. Robert Gibbs denies, even though he said the same thing on Feb. 16, but only mentioned Indonesia. On July 6 (Tue.) during a 3-digit heat wave in the E U.S., Queen Elizabeth II of Britain makes her first address to the U.N. Gen. Assembly since 1957, when "Leave It to Beaver" was debuting, telling them "In my lifetime, the United Nations has moved from being a high-minded aspiration to being a real force for common good"; she also visits Ground Zero for the first time; on July 5 a fire at a transformer station in Toronto, Canada causes blackouts affecting 250K and disrupts a royal dinner. On July 6 after the U.S. State Dept. vetoes former Pres. Bill Clinton's request to meet with him, Pres. Obama meets with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, and they pledge to work toward a new round of Mideast peace talks, with Obama uttering the sondundbyte: "Those are goals that have obviously escaped our grasp for decades now", adding "It's going to be difficult, it's going to be hard", affirming the "special relationship" between the U.S. and Israel; Netanyahu says that reports of a growing rift are "flat wrong"; in their first meeting, Obama left Netanyahu with his aides for hours in the West Wing to snub him over the East Jerusalem issue; right-wing Israelis incl. Druze deputy minister Ayoub Kara say that they still consider Obama "evil"; meanwhile Israel announces the first prosecutions of soldiers for killing civilians during the Dec. 2008-Jan. 2009 Gaza war, although it dismisses dozens of other cases. On July 7 Pres. Obama takes advantage of Congress being in a 2-week recess to appoint "Dr. Death Panel" Donald M. Berwick (1946-), a supporter of British socialized medicine, single-payer system, and death panels as admin. of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid; Congress had been considering his appointment and giving him questionnaires to fill out when they were sandbagged. On July 7 UAE ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba states that he endorses a military attacks on Iran's nuclear sites as preferable to the long-term risks, calling it a "cost-benefit analysis". On July 7 NATO troops mistakenly kill five Afghan army allies in an airstrike against insurgents in E Afghanistan incl. three U.S. soldiers. On July 7 a Sunni suicide bomber at a police checkpoint in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims to the gold-dome shrine of Kadhimiya in Bagdhad, Iraq kills 28+ and wounds 81; on July 7 another bomb targeting Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad kill seven, and a returning pilgram is shot dead outside Kirkuk. On July 7 the Turkish supreme court strikes down parts of a proposed govt. package aimed at restructuring the Turkish constitution to make it more like Western European democracies, clearing the way for a referendum in Sept. backed by the anti-Islamist Repub. People's Party, which claims that the changes are phony and an attempt to give the increasingly Islamist state more control over military and legal appointments. On July 7 Pres. Obama gives an interview to Israeli TV, and utters the soundbyte that Israel is suspicious of him because his middle name is Hussein; he finally reveals the truth about his reaching-out to the Muslims, saying that it is designed to reduce hostility toward Israel and the West, adding "The United States under my administration has provided more security assistance to Israel than any administration in history. And we've got greater security cooperation between our two countries than at any time in our history. And the single most important threat to Israel, Iran and its potential possession of a nuclear weapon has been my number one foreign policy priority over the course of the last 18 months"; he also mentions that his middle name Hussein "creates suspicion" among Israelis, countering that Rahm Emanuel's middle name is Israel, and adding "My closeness to the Jewish American community was probably what propelled me to the U.S. Senate." On July 7 Bangladeshi publisher Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, pub. of the anti-Islamist newspaper Weekly Blitz is hauled into court for the 150th time for being pro-American and pro-Israel. On July 8 Norway and Germany arrest three suspected al-Qaida members suspected of plotting to clone terrorist attacks in N.Y. and England. On July 8 Malaysia appoints the first two women Sharia judges; too bad, they are barred from hearing criminal cases. On July 8 Pres. Obama finally explains why he has been reaching out to Muslims, namely, to reduce hostility toward Israel and the West, saying that the fact that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is perceived as a hawk "can be helpful in the sense tha any successful peace will have to incl. the hawks and the doves, on both sides, and in the same way that Richard Nixon here in the United States was able to go to China because he had very strong anti-Communist credentials", adding "The United States under my administration has provided more security assistance to Israel than any administration in history. And we've got greater security cooperation between our two countries than at any time in our history. And the single most important threat to Israel, Iran, and its potential possession of a nuclear weapon has been my number one foreign policy priority over the course of the last 18 months." On July 8 white former Oakland, Calif. transit police officer Johannes Mehserle (1982-) is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of handicapped suspect Oscar Grant (b. 1988) on Jan. 1, 2009 despite a videotape showing him pulling out his gun and shooting him in the back on the ground, causing neighborhood outrage and protests which turn violent, causing 50 arrests. On July 8 a federal judge in Mass. strikes down as unconstitutional the 1996 U.S. Defense of Marriage Act that blocks the federal govt. from recognizing same-sex marriage. On July 9 (7:05 a.m. PT) the U.S. military scrambles two F-16 jets after Obama's air space is violated during his visit to Las Vegas, Nev. On July 9 two suicide bombers explode outside a govt. office in Khar, Pakistan, killing 62 and wounding 111. On July 9, 2010 Obama meets with Palestinian Nat. Authority pres. (2005-) Mahmoud Abbas (1935-), expressing strong support for his "leadership on behalf of the Palestinian people and his commitment to peace", days after Abbas told the Arab League Summit "If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it." On July 9 four men are arrested at a gas station in Pretoria, South Africa while trying to sell a nuclear device for $9M. On July 9 Iranian woman Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani is temporarily spared death by stoning for alleged adultery via an announcement by the Iranian embassy in London, but the option of executing her remains on the table in the horrible Islamic Repub. of Iran as Iranian human rights judge Mohammad Javad Larijani, says that Iran's Sharia judicial system and the "sacred sentences of Islam" won't change under "Western attacks" and "media pressure"; on July 30 she is sentenced to hanging, and Brazilian pres. Lula offers her asylum; on Aug. 8 her Iranian atty. Mohammad Mostafaei seeks asylum in Norway; on Aug. 30 a state-run newspaper in Iran calls French First Lady Carla Bruni a prostitute for speaking out and signing a petition for Sakineh's release, and also calls for her death; on Sept. 5 the Vatican calls stoning "brutal" and raises the possibility of secret diplomacy; meanwhile on Sept. 5 she is sentenced to 90 lashes for posing in a photo without a headscarf - send in James Bond 007? On July 9 a bomb in a box of chocolates left at the home of a Tex. oil exec in Houston, Tex. explodes, injuring no one - the start of a new trend? On July 10 the Obama admin. opens up 1.8M acres of the Alaskan Nat. Petroleum Reserve, an important area for bird migration, pissing-off environmentalists. On July 10 Pres. Obama makes it easier for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to receive federal benefits. On July 10 ear-chewing Am. boxer (Muslim convert) Mike Tyson visits Mecca, posting a photo of himself in front of the Kaaba on the Internet. On July 10 five U.S. troops and a dozen civilians are killed in battles in E and S Afghanistan. On July 10-11 a surprise raid by Colombian forces on the camp of FARC leader Guillermo Seanze kills twelve bodyguards and their top female cmdr. Magaly Grannobles. On July 11 a total solar eclipse is visible in an 11km arc over the Pacific. On July 11 Pres. Obama reaches 537 days in office without issuing a pardon or commuting a sentence, passing John Adams; on Nov. 24 he will reach Clinton's record of 672 days; the avg. is 133 days. On July 11 Bangladesh jails 11 policeman on suspicion of carrying out an extrajudicial killing two years ago, becoming a first. On July 11 Al-Shabaab sets off two bombs among fans watching the World Cup final in Kampala, Uganda, killing 64. On July 11 a taped conversion is aired between often-drunk Hollywood star Mel Gibson (1956-) and his babe Oksana Grigorieva, admitting to hitting her while carrying her 8-mo.-o. daughter Lucia, making threats, and uttering the N-word, all of which causes the PC police to call for his career to end pronto; later L.A. detectives investigate allegations of extortion by Grigorieva. On July 11 Alan Simpson (Repub.) and Erskine Bowles (Dem.), head of Obama's nat. debt commission tell the Nat. Governors Assoc. that the federal debt next year is expected to exceed $14T ($47K per capita), and "is like a cancer", requiring new measures incl. curtailing of popular tax breaks like the home mortgage deduction and instituting a financial trigger mechanism for gaining Medicare coverage. On July 12 Russian pres. Dmitry Medvedev says that "Iran is nearing the possession of the potential which in principle could be used for the creation of a nuclear weapon"; on June 11 Iranian atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi announces that Iran has produced 20kg of 20% enriched uranium. On July 12 the 1.3K-member Shinnecock Nation wins a 32-y.-o. lawsuit giving them ownership of 750 acres of land in the rizty Hamptons of Long Island, N.Y., allowing them to set up a reservation. On July 12 Israel's Labor Party threatens to leave Benjamin Netanyahu's govt. coalition if he doesn't make serious progress toward a final-status agreement with the Palestinians on a 2-state solution in the upcoming months. On July 12 the Internat. Criminal Court issues a 2nd arrest warrant for Sudanese pres. Omar Bashir, charging him with three counts of genocide in Darfur. On July 12 Ustad Ahmad Farooq, al-Qaida official in charge of the Da'wah and Media Dept. for Pakistan releases an interview claiming that their war in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a bona fide jihad per Islamic Sharia law, with the soundbyte: "The battle which is being fought here in Pakistan... cannot be described as khurooj [rebellion against an Islamic state] - it is jihad. The way we are confronting America in Afghanistan and any army that is siding with America, whether it be the Afghan National Army or different tribal chieftains, is the same way we are confronting America in Pakistan and the Pakistani Army that is aiding America. That is jihad, and this too is jihad. It is a duty incumbent upon every individual." On July 12 London, England religious studies teacher Gary Smith is brutally beaten with an iron rod and brick by four Muslims for "mocking Islam". On July 12 the police procedural crime drama series Rizzoli & Isles, based on the novels by Tess Gerritsen debuts on TNT for ? episodes (until ?), starring Angela Michelle "Angie" Harmon (1972-) as Boston, Mass. police detective Jane Rizzoli, and Sasha Alexander (Suzana S. Drobnjakovic Ponti) (1973-) as medical examiner Maura Isles. On July 13 (eve of Bastille Day) France's lower house of parliament by 335-1 finally approves a ban on face veils (niqabs) in public, subject to a 150 euro fine, with men who force a woman to wear them subject to a 30K euro fine and a year in jail; the law never mentions any religion; the senate will vote on it in Sept.; leading Saudi cleric Sheikh Aed al-Qarni condemns France for their face veil ban, but approves of Muslim women going without them if they're illegal because "We must not confront people in their own country or other countries, or bring hardship on ourselves". On July 13 news surfaces from Iraqi civilians that Iranian trucks filled with missiles have recently passed through Iraq en route to Syria. On July 13 the NAACP passes a resolution condemning the Tea Party for not expelling "racists from the ranks", causing Sarah Palin to respond that it doesn't allow them in the first place. On July 13 U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno warns reporters that Iranian-supported militants might try to attack U.S. soldiers as they try to leave Iraq this summer. On July 13-14 Taliban attacks in S Afghanistan kill 8+ members of the U.S.-led NATO forces, incl. three who are killed in a night assault on a police post in Kandahar. On July 14 the U.S. hands over Tariq Aziz and 28 other officials of Saddam Hussein's regime to the Iraq govt. On July 14 90 mph Typhoon Conson hits the Philippines, killing 26, with 38 missing. On July 14 (9:30 a.m.) a fire at the Clairton Cook Works of U.S. Steel in Allegeny Cpunty, Penn. injures 15. On July 14 a quarterly report shows that Pres. Obama's Recovery Act created between 2.5M-3.6M jobs, more than expected, even though the U.S. is lagging far behind other major economies in restoring lost jobs; Obama meets with Warren Buffett to discuss the economy. On July 15 Sunni Baluchi Jundullah insurgents stage a double suicide bombing in a Shiite mosque in Zahedan in SE Iran to avenge the execution of their leader, killing 27, incl. members of the Rev. Guard, and wounding 169; Iranian cleric Hujjat al-Islam Kazem Sadiqi charges the U.S. with putting them up to it. On July 15 (8 p.m.) a Ford Focus owned by the La Linea drug gang rams two federal police vehicles in Juarez, Mexico, then explodes, killing two police officers and a paramedic, becoming the first car bomb attack by Mexican drug trafficers; 4K have been killed in Ciudad Juarez since Jan. 1, 2009; the explosive used was Tovex. used in mining. On July 15 Venezuela charges Luis Enrique Acosta Oxford (1969-) and Carmen Cecilia Nares Castro (1975-) with "disseminating false rumors" to "destabilize the banking system" via Twitter. On July 15 a Jordanian Gaza Aid Convoy of 25 trucks and 150 activists leaves Amman; on July 18 it is turned back by Egypt at the port of Nuweibeh; unlike when Israel turns back a convoy, there is no internat. outcry; meanwhile Olympia Food Co-op in Wash. becomes the first U.S. store to boycott Israeli goods. On July 15 Muslim-Am. Yahya Wehelie (1984-) is allowed to fly back to Va. from Yemen on a waiver, but remains on the no-fly list. On July 15 Pres. Bush's top political adviser Karl Rove says that his biggest mistake was not fighting back against the Dems. who accused Bush of lying to support the Iraqi invasion. On July 16 Pres. Obama's approval rating for handling the Afghanistan War hits a record low of 43%, down from 52% in Dec.; former Carter nat. security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski tells MSNBC's Morning Joe: "I think we're now going through a phase in which there is a sense of pervasive malaise which affects different groups in society in different ways... There's no grand mobilizing idea. And I have a sense that Obama, who started so well, and who really captivated people - he captivated me - has not been able to generate yet some sort of organizing idea for an age which combines a malaise that's pervasive and percolating." On July 16 a fire in the 5-story Soma Hotel in Sulaimaniyah in N Iraq kills 29, nearly half foreigners. On July 16 U.S. federal authorities arrest dozens in the largest Medicare Fraud Bust in history, with a total of $251M allegedly scammed. On July 16 the Federal Election Commission finances the 2008 pres. campaign of Joe Biden $219K for violations. On July 16 Russia and Iran sign a "roadmap" to future economic cooperation in oil, gas, and petrochemicals. On July 16 a Jerusalem Post poll reveals that only 10% of Jewish Israelis believe that the Obama admin. is more pro-Israel than pro-Palestinian. On July 17 the U.S. Treasury Dept. places Las Cruces, N.M.-born Anwar al-Awlaki (1971-2011) on its global terrorist list, prohibiting Americans from doing business with him et al.; on July 20 a message from him appears on Islamic Web sites, warning that Pres. Obama will get U.S. forces stuck in Yemen the same as Pres. Bush in Afghanistan. On July 17 Muslims in Grenoble, France riot after armed Muslim casino robber Karim Boudouda (b. 1983) is killed by police while fleeing and shooting at them; the rioters also shoot at police - great idea Muslim immigration, eh? On July 17 Muslim jihadists murder seven Christians in Maza village near Kos, Nigeria. On July 17 a gay pride parade by 8K in Warsaw, Poland is the first held in a former Communist bloc country; it is met with jeers from some in the crowd. On July 17 a luxurious new shopping mall operated by Hamas opens in Gaza, selling mainly cheap Chinese goods, and a supermarket filled with Israeli goods. On July 17-23Tropical Storm Caloy (Typhoon Chanthu) causes floods and landslides killing 700+ in S China. On July 18 a predawn attack on partygoers by drug dealers in Torreon, Mexico kills 17 and injures 10; they are later revealed to be prisoners in Gomez Palacio the guards let out and armed for the mission; on July 26 prison guard Ofelia Veronica Lares Rodriguez (1965-) is stabbed to death by inmates during a demonstration; on July 28 four journalists covering the prison protests are reported missing. On July 18 militants armed with assault rifles ambush a civilian convoy in Char Khel village in the tribal region of Kurran in NW Pakistan, killing 16. On July 18 yet another suicide bombing in Radwaniya, Iraq SW of Baghdad kills 48+, most of them members of the formerly (until 2006) pro-al-Qaida Sunni Awakening militia who are waiting in line for their paychecks. On July 18 a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan kills three civilians three days before the 60-nation Kabul Conference on July 21, where Hamid Karzai calls for all foreign troops to pull out by 2014. On July 18 the 6.7 2010 Alaska Earthquake is centered 27 mi. W of Nikolski in the Aleutian Islands; no tsunami results. On July 18 after U.S. special envoy George Mitchell brokers it, a Cairo Summit is held by Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority pres. Mahmoud Abbas, and Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak; too bad, Netanyahu and Abbas won't meet together, and see Mubarak separately. On July 18 to maintain its secular lifestyle Syria bans the face veil (niqab) in public univs. On July 18 Sarah Palin coins a new word and asks Muslims to "refudiate" the proposed Ground Zero Mosque in New York City on Twitter.com, tweeting "Doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate"; she later re-tweets "Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused". On July 19 (2 a.m.) the Uttarbanga Express and Vanachal Express collide in Kolkata, India, killing 49 and injuring 150+. On July 19 Hina Rabbani Khar (1977-) becomes the first female and the youngest person to head the Pakistani ministry of foreign affairs (until ?). On July 19 Pres. Obama tasks Repub. lawmakers for blocking a $34B extended unemployment benefits package for millions of Americans because of insistence of commensurate spending cuts, after which on July 20 after Carte Patrick Goodwin (1974-) is sworn-in as the replacement for Robert Byrd, the filibuster is broken and it passes the Senate 59-39 on July 21. On July 19 Hillary Clinton announces $500M in new development projects for Pakistan to help it fight the Taliban and al-Qaida - or to finance them? On July 19 longtime dictator (since 1980) Desire (Desiré) "Desi" (Dési) Delano Bouterse (1945-) is elected pres. of Suriname; he is sworn-in on Aug. 3 (until ?). On July 19 Christian brothers Rashid Emmanuel (b. 1978) (a pastor) and Sajid Emmanuel (b. 1986), charged with capital blasphemy for writing a pamphlet containing statements against Muhammad are shot dead outside court after being acquitted, causing clashes in their Christian community and police refinforcments to be called in. On July 19 Germany launches the HATIF (Arabic for phone) Program for Islamic extremist radicals who want to quit; there are 36K+ in Germany out of a Muslim pop. of 3.8M-4.3M (4.6%-5.2% of the pop.). On July 19 Israel's outgoing U.N. ambassador Gabriela Shalev tells the press that the #1 threat to Israel is not Iran but efforts by EU courts and U.N. committees to delegitimize the Jewish state, which she calls "the most isolated, lonely country in the world". On July 19 a video clip of African-Am. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture official (first black head of the Ga. office) Shirley Sherrod on the Web site of Andrew J. Breitbart (1969-) (former associate of Arianna Huffington) talking about wittholding help to a white farmer in Douglas, Ga. on Mar. 27 causes her to resign; it incl. the soundbyte: "I was trying to decide just how much help I was going to give him. I was struggling with the fact that so many black people had lost their farmland, and here I was faced with having to help a white person save their land. So I didn't give him the full force of what I could do. I did enough"; too bad, it dates back to 1986 when she was working for a private firm, and she was using it to illustrate how she changed and gave up racism, the video having been edited to sucker-punch her; the NAACP initially supports her firing, but then flops, claiming to have been "snookered"; on July 21 White House press secy. Robert Gibbs apologizes to her, and agriculture secy. Tom Vilsack reinstates her; she claims to have been directly pressured by the White House to resign before Glenn Beck's Fox News show comes on at 5 p.m. ET via phones to her in her car before she can leave Ga.; on July 22 Pres. Obama apologizes to her; on July 28 she announces that she plans to sue Breitbart. On July 19 the U.S. Senate unanimously passes the U.S. SPEECH Act, stopping the Muslim jihad practice of "libel tourism, such as in the case of Dr. Rachel Ehrenfield, who was sued by a Saudi financier in England over 23 copies of her book on Islamic terror financing sold in the U.K.; the act bars enforcement of foreign libel judgements against U.S. persons if they would not have been found liable in a U.S. court applying First Amendment protections. On June 19 the U.K. introduces an immigration cap; on Dec. 17 the high court rules the cap unlawful for lack of following proper parliamentary procedures. On July 19 Amazon.com announces that ebooks have outsold hardcover books 143-100 for the past 3 mo., signalling the end of the paper-based book?; paperbacks are still #1. On July 20 Russia announces that it won't sell "large missile systems" to Iran. On July 20 an explosion in a 3-story bldg. near Sana'a, Yemen kills two and injures four; 500 detonators are found in the site. On July 20 a record heat wave in Russia sees 71 drown in a single day in reservoirs and ponds, with over 90 injured. On July 20 a new Israeli Report on the 2008-9 Gaza War says that the Israeli army is taking steps to reduce the number of civilian casualties in future wars incl. restricting the use of white phosphorus. On July 21 Kurdish PKK rebels blow up an Iranian-Turkish natural gas pipeline in N Kurdistan. On July 21 the U.S. announces new sanctions on North Korea, warning it of serious consequences if it attacks South Korea. On July 21 Sudanese Jem rebels in Darfur sign an agreement to stop using child soldiers. On July 21 an al-Qaida in Mesopotamia car bomb in crowds near a Shiite mosque in Abe Sayeda, Iraq kills 13 and wounds 24. On July 21 Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Royal Dutch Shell commit $1B to create a rapid-response system to deal with future deepwater oil spill a la BP's. On July 21 Am. Muslim converts Paul Rockwood and his wife Nadia are charged with lying to federal officials about compiling a hit list of 15 people they believed had harmed Muslims and deserve to die. On July 21 after proposing it in June 2009, Pres. Obama signs the U.S. Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a response to the Great Recession, becoming the greatest change in U.S. financial regs since the Great Depression, restricting financial institutions, consolidating regulatory agencies and creating a new oversight council, bringing derivates onto exchanges to make them more transparent, implementing a resolution regime to complement the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) in handling bankrupt firms, requiring the Federal Reserve to obtain authorization from the U.S. Treasury Dept. for extensions of credit in "unusual or exigent circumstances", and tightening regulation of credit rating agencies; in Jan. the Volcker Rule was added, restricting U.S. banks from making certain kinds of speculative investments that don't benefit customers, incl. proprietary trading by commercial banks. On July 22 the Internat. Court of Justice rules 10-4 that the declaration of independence from Serbia of Kosovo was legal according to internat. law. On July 22 a rocket attack at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in the Green Zone kills three guards and wounds 15 incl. two Americans; meanwhile Iraqi officials disclose that four al-Qaida suspects escape from a prison that the U.S. handed over to their control a week earlier; on July 23 al-Qaida in Iraq claims responsibility for suicide recent suicide bombings in Qom and elsewhere, saying it hopes they will inspire others to martyrdom. On July 22 Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah makes a surprise announcement that his party is likely to be implicated in the Feb. 14, 2005 assassination of Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri. On July 22 a House investigative committee charges former House Ways and Means Committee chmn. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) with 13 counts of ethics violations; on Nov. 16 after walking out of the House ethics subcommittee a day earlier, U.S. Rep. (D-N.Y.) Rangel is found guilty of 11 of the 13 counts relating to personal finances and fundraising efforts for a New York college; on Nov. 18 the subcommittee votes 9-1 to censure him, followed by the entire House by 337-79 on Dec. 2, the first time in 29 years. On July 22 U.S. Sen. Dems. pull the plug on Cap and Trade legislation until after the midterm elections in Nov., preferring a limited bill targeted at electric utilities and responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. On July 22 the U.S. freezes the assets of Gul Agha Iskakzai, head of the Taliban's financial commission, along with two others who raised money for the Taliban and its Pakistan-affilate the Haqqani Network, and calls on Pakistan to follow suit. On July 22 a Gallup Poll indicates that Bill Clinton is more popular than Barack Obama by 61%-52%; George W. Bush comes in at 45%. On July 23 Mauritanian commandos backed by French troops raid a terrorist camp at night in the Sahara Desert, killing six members of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb; four members escape. On July 23 North Korea threatens the U.S. and South Korea with "nuclear deterrence" if they go ahead with naval maneuvers on July 26 in the Sea of Japan. On July 23 the U.S. State Dept. announces to the Palestinian Nat. Authority that it is upgrading its status from bureau to gen. delegation, allowing its office to fly their flag. On July 23 a NATO rocket in Sangin District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan kills 52 civilians, incl. women and children, causing Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai on July 26 to condemn the strike and call on NATO to make avoiding civilian casualties their top priority. On July 23-25 the United Nat. Antiwar Conference in Albany, N.Y. sees 850 turn against Israel, demanding an end to all U.S. aid, and backing the Palestinian cause - Arab oil money gets results? On July 24 a bombing in S Afghanistan kills five U.S. service members; meanwhile two U.S. troops are abducted by the Taliban after leaving Kabul. On July 24 a panic among partygoers in an overcrowded tunnel in Duisburg, Germany after the Love Parade ("world's largest techno music party") kills 19 and injures 342. On July 25 a cache of 90K secret records of U.S. screwups in the Afghan War from Jan. 2004 to Dec. 2009 from WikiLeaks is announced after they gave them to several major newspapers incl. the New York Times, the U.K. Guardian, and Der Spiegel; the records reveal that the Pakistani govt. helps the Taliban, that an incident in 2007 shows they might have acquired SAMs, that the U.S. set up a secret black unit to hunt down and "kill or capture" sans trial Taliban leaders, and that Iran helps smuggle arms to the Taliban; on July 26 White House press secy. Robert Gibbs says that the leaked documents pose a security threat to the U.S.; despite the fallout; on July 29 Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says that his men are studying the leaked reports so they can hunt down informants; on July 27 Jon Stewart expresses outrage that the U.S. gave Pakistan $6.6B in aid in 2002-8, and pledged another $7.5B over the next five years, even as it financed, trained, and colluded with the Taliban against the U.S. On July 25 radical Israeli Arab Islamic movement leader Raed Salah receives a 5-mo. jail sentence for spitting at a border policeman during a protest in East Jerualem in 2007; his 9-mo. sentence was shortened. On July 25 a suicide bomber in a white minibus detonates in front of the office of Al Arabiya in Baghdad, killing six and wounding 16. On July 25 a bus explodes at a bus stop in Bangkok, Thailand, killing one and wounding 10. On July 25 the 2010 African Union Summit convenes in Kampala, Uganda, becoming dominated by discussion of attacks by the Islamic group Al-Shabaab. On July 26 the EU tightens its sanctions on Iran, with new steps to block oil and gas investment and curtail its refining and natural gas capability. On July 26 the road used by Shia pilgrims to Najaf in Karbala, Iraq is hit by twin car bombs, killing 19. On July 26 Cuban Rev. Day celebrations in Santa Clara are held sans Fidel Castro, while his brother Raul doesn't speak, and Hugo Chavez cancels his trip to Cuba, becoming the first in which neither Castro speaks. On July 26 a U.N.-backed tribunal sentences Khmer Rouge chief jailer Kaing Guek Eav (Duch) (pr. doik) to 35 years for overseeing 16K deaths, of which he will only serve 19, becoming the first senior KR member to be convicted - 1 year in priz per 1K deaths? On July 26 an epidemiological study pub. by the Internat. Journal of Environmental Studies and Public Health reports higher rates of cancer in Fallujah than those in the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, pointing to the use of depleted uranium by U.S. forces. On July 26 Hollywood dir. Oliver Stone gives an interview, claiming that Jews are "the most powerful lobby in Washington, D.C., and dominate the media, also defending Hitler and Stalin, saying "Hitler was a Frankenstein but there was also a Dr. Frankenstein, German industrialists, the Americans and the British. He had a lot of support", also "Hitler did far more damage to the Russians than the Jewish people - 25 or 30 [million killed]"; he adds that Stalin "fought the German war machine more than any person"; in actual fact, Jews do control Jewywood? On July 26 the U.S. Defense Dept. announces that it can't account for $8.7M of $9.1B in Iraqi oil revenue entrusted to it from 2004-7. On July 26 Iranian pres. Madmaninastraightjacket announces that he expects the Great Satan U.S. to launch a military strike in the next 3 mo. on "at least two countries" in the Middle East, without specifying which; meanwhile Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu calls Iran "the ultimate terrorist threat". On July 26 the 101st Airbone 4th Brigade Combat Team, the last brigade of Pres. Obama's Afghan surge prepares to head for Afghanistan. On July 26 anti-Mexican-immigrant former Colo. rep. Tom Tancredo leaves the Repub. Party to run for Colo. gov. on the ticket of the Am. Constitution Party to run against Dem. John Hickenlooper, mayor of Denver, insuring the latter's big V? On July 26 an Israeli AF heli (Sikorsky Yasour CH-53) crashes over the Carpathian Mts. in Romania, killing six; it had been doing high-risk drill attacks on mountain tunnels like are found with Iran's nuclear facilities. On July 27 the House passes a $59B war funding bill by a 308-114 vote, with 102 Dems. voting against, revealing a split with Pres. Obama. On July 27 British PM David Cameron visits Turkey, and calls Gaza a "prison camp", saying "the situation in Gaza has to change", calling for Israel (but not Egypt?) to lift its blockade; this despite a new luxury mall opening in Gaza earlier in July; Cameron also also calls for new special relationship with its former colony India - a family that saves together stays together? On July 27 (a.m.) a boat strikes an oil well, causing a new oil-gas leak in Bayo St. Dennis, La. On July 27 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden releases a video in which he claims that $600B in stimulus funds have already been spent, adding "Americans deserve a government that actually works" and "We're building a government that delivers more bang for the buck than ever before." On July 27 U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson launches a campaign to renew the Bush tax cuts, saying that it would be "devastating" and "castrophic" not to; Donald Trump chimes in about Obama that "He's taking away a lot of incentives from a lot of people that produce a lot of taxes". On July 27 French PM Francois Fillon says in a radio broadcast that France is "at war against al-Qaida" after Aqmi (al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb) claimed to have executed a French humanitarian worker, adding "These people are indescribably cruel", and "France does not practice revenge, however, we have agreements with regional governments, especially Mauritania to track these terrorists and bring them to court." On July 27 Master Chef debuts on Fox-TV, starring chef-judges Gordon Ramsay (1966-), Joe Bastianich (1968-), and Chicago, Ill.-based Graham Elliot (Bowles) (1977-), who loves to wear square white eyeglasses; in season 6 Christina Tosi replaces Joe Bastianich; on Sept. 27, 2013 MasterChef Junior debuts on Fox-TV (until ?), starring the same three original chef-judges. On July 28 47 (nearly one-third) of House Repubs. led by Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) introduce a resolution backing an Israeli strike on Iran. On July 28 Pres. Obama snubs the 100th anniv. of the Boy Scouts of Am. to appear on July 29 on the ABC-TV daytime show The View (first U.S. pres. to visit a daytime talk show), which helped him get elected with its daily pro-Obama propaganda to a mainly woman audience, where he admits that the wasn't invited to Chelsea Clinton's wdding, and never heard of Snooki (Nicole Polizzi), star of the MTV reality show "The Jersey Shore", and calls Am. blacks as a race "mixed up", saying "We are sort of a mongrel people. I mean, we're all kinds of mixed up. That's actually true of white people as well, but we just know more about it." On July 28 the U.S. House votes to reduce the 1986 disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine that make 5g of crack equal to 500g of powder, raising it to 28g of crack. On July 28 a passenger jet crashes into the hills overlooking Islamabad, Pakistan in poor weather, killing all 152 aboard. On July 28 #2 al-Qaida man Ayman al-Zawahri releases a recording slamming France's face veil ban, calling Muslim women who defy it "holy warriors" against the "secular Western crusade", and urging all Muslims to continue their jihad against the West. On July 28 24-y.-o. Latvian-born Jewish Tex. beautician Anna Fermanova is arrested for allegedly spying for the Kremlin by smuggling night vision weapons. On July 28 the Japanese Mitsui O.S.K. Lines oil tanker M. Star is rocked by an explosion near the mouth of the Persian Gulf, causing a "huge wave" to be blamed, after which Islamic terrorists are blamed. On July 28 the Slovenian malware writer whose code infected 12M computers worldwide is arrested. On July 28 retired Pakistani gen. Hamid Gul denies allegations that he was a key link between the Taliban in Afghanistan and their backers in Islamabad. On July 28-Aug. ? floods in Pakistan affect 20% of the country (62K sq. mi.), kill 2K, and maroon 4M in three of five provinces plus 8M in the Punjab; U.N. secy.-gen. Ban Ki Moon calls it a "slow motion tsunami"; the internat. community pledges $800M in assistance, incl. $100M from the U.S., which sends in the military to help bring food and medicine; the floods are caused by a rogue weather system that wandered hundreds of mi. too far W? On July 29 Moscow, Russia suffers a record 37.7C (99.86F) temp, 0.2C higher than on July 26, and the hottest in 130 years. On July 29 the former supt. of Arlington Nat. Cemetery admits that as many as 6.6K graves might have been mixed-up with the wrong bodies or names. On July 29 Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel lord Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel (b. 1954) is killed by the Mexican army. On July 29 Catalonia, Spain votes 68-55 to end bullfighting, the first time it has been outlawed in Spain. On July 29 two Armenians file a class action suit against Turkey over the Armenian genocide, seeking hundreds of millions in damages. On July 29 Pres. Obama appears on The View daytime TV show, saying that African-Ams. are "sort of a mongrel people". On July 29 Repub. leader Newt Gingrich (1943-) gives a Speech on Banning Sharia in the U.S. at the Am. Enterprist Inst., becoming the first U.S. politician to wake up to the threat of Islam and its horrible Muslim-supremacy Sharia and its threat to the U.S. Constitution. On July 30 the Iranian resistance Mujahedeen Org. of Iran (PMOI) is taken off the U.S. State Dept. list of foreign terrorist groups after a long court battle. On July 30 Pres. Obama visits Detroit, Mich. to tout the revival of the U.S. auto industry and his bailout of GM and Chrysler, uttering the soundbyte "If some folks [the GOP] had their way... your jobs might not exist." On July 30 Gaza militants fire a rocket into the Israeli city of Ashkelon N of Gaza City, causing damage but no injuries, causing Israel to retaliate with air strikes in Gaza City on three rocket manufacturing sites, injuring eight in a Hamas-run police training center, and killing senior Hamas member Saed Al Bitran; an explosion at the home of bomb-maker Abu Anas el-Danaf in C Gaza is caused by an accidental detonation according to the Israelis; meanwhile the Arab League endorses direct Palestinian talks with the Israelis, but leaves the timing to the former, causing Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to diss the Arabs, after which on Aug. 1 Pres. Obama warns Mahmoud Abbas that unless the Palestinian Nat. Authority agrees to joint direct peace talks with Israel within weeks it might downgrade its relationship. On July 30 Afghan protesters shout "Death to America" and set fire to vehicles in Kabul after a SUV accident kills four Afghans. On July 30 the U.S. House by 209-193 passes offshore oil drilling reforms On July 30 King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Syrian pres. Bashar al-Assad meet in Beirut to calm tensions over the Lebanese PM assassination scandal; Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and King Abdullah II of Jordan reiterate their support for a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria; meanwhile on July 30 a Gallup poll shows U.S. support of Israel at a near all-time high of 67%, and support for the Palestinian Nat. Authority at only 20%. On July 30 a 5.6 earthquake in NE Iran S of Neyshabur 445 mi. E of Tehran injures 110+. On July 30 senior U.N. official Jean-Paul Laborde says that terrorism in Africa is increasingly linked to organized crime, and calls for stronger steps to break the connection. On July 30 Mexican Roman Catholic priest Carlos Salvador Wotto (b. 1927) is found dead in Oaxaca with signs of torture on his body, incl. cigarette burns; meanwhile Mexico's biggest TV network Televisa cancels its popular news show after four reporters are kidnapped by drug gangs. On July 30 German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle angers conservatives by leaving the possibility of EU membership for pesky Turkey, calling them to have a "privileged partner" rather than full member status. On July 30 "The Vampire Chronicles" author Anne Rice (who shocked fans in 1998 by returning to Roman Catholicism) announces that "Today I quit being a Christian -I'm out", adding "I remain committed to Christ as always, but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else." On July 31 the $5M wedding of Chelsea Clinton (1980-) and Marc Mezvinsky (1977-) (a Jew) in the 50-acre Astor Courts estate in Rhinebeck, N.Y. is the affair of the year; Pres. Obama isn't invited. In July the U.S. Agency for Internat. Development (USAID) secretly creates ZunZuneo, a "Cuban Twitter" social network that they try to use to organize "smart mobs" to trigger a Cuban spring; it peaks at 40K users; when its cover is blown, USAid won't say who approved the program or whether the White House had knowledge, becoming a potential scandal for U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton. In July at least 66 U.S. troops are killed in Afghanistan, the deadliest mo. in the 9-year Afghanistan War; 270 Afghan civilians are killed. In July the U.S. loses 131K jobs, incl. 143K census jobs; private employment only rises 71K (vs. 31K in June). In July U.S. home sales fall 27%, the weakest showing in 15 years. In July the U.S. govt. begins shutting down Web sites TVShack.net, Movies-Links.TV, FilesPump.com et al. for streaming copyright-protected videos, and announces a gen. crackdown in the works. In July a total of 34 U.S. citizens or residents have been charged with ties to internat. Islamic jihadists in the past 18 mo. In July the U.S. reestablishes the U.S. Navy's 10th Fleet, and stations four upgraded Ticonderoga class cruisers equipped with Aegis ballistic missile systems in the Persian Gulf? In July the state of Israel stinks itself up with a conviction of "rape by deception" of Palestinian man Saber Kushour for having consensual sex with a Jewish Israeli woman after passing himself off as a Jew. In July 24-y.-o. Augusta State U. grad student Jennifer Keeton (1986-) sues her univ. after being told she must undergo a remediation program due to her Christian beliefs on homosexuality and transgenered persons. In July the Tucker Carlson Web site Daily Caller reveals emails from the private e-mail list JornoList, showing how liberal-leftist journalists conspired to get Obama elected by refusing to cover Rev. Jeremiah Wright et al. In July a record 41.5M Americans receive food stamps, up 18% from a year earlier. In July U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano launches a See Something, Say Something campaign to encourage commuters in Washington, D.C. subway stations to report behavior suspicious of terrorism; in Dec. it's expanded nationwide. In July Syrian pres. Bashar Assad bans the full head-covering niqab in univs.; next June he transfers hundres of niqat-wearing school primary school teachers in govt. schools to admin. posts., pissing-off conservative Muslims, and causing the govt. to let them return. On Aug. 1 1.2K Nat. Guard troops begin arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border; the buildup takes several weeks; they aren't used for law enforcement against border-crossers, pissing-off anti-immigration forces. On Aug. 1 Pres. Obama says that his goal for the Afghanistan War is not to turn it into a "model of Jeffersonian democracy" but to keep it from returning to being a terrorist haven, calling it "difficult, very difficult, but it's a fairly modest goal"; meanwhile Netherlands becomes the first NATO to country pull its troops out of Afghanistan; U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff adm. Mike Mullen says that the U.S. has a plan to attack Iran, but thinks it's a bad idea, although their getting nukes is unacceptable, causing Rev. Guard deputy chief Yadollah Javani to say that "if Americans commit the slightest mistake" security in the Persian Gulf will be jeopardized, not mentioning prior threats to target Tel Aviv. On Aug. 1 the Islamic Jihad announces that is resuming suicide attacks on Israel from the West Bank. On Aug. 1 an entire hemisphere of the Sun erupts, the first time ever observed. On Aug. 2 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket calls on Pres. Obama for a televised debate to see who's got the best solution to the world's problems. On Aug. 2 struggling Newsweek mag. is sold for $1 to Jewish-Am. billionaire Sidney Harman (1919-) and his wife Jane. On Aug. 3 Israeli and Lebanese forces exchange fire near the Lebanese border, injuring two on the Israeli side and one on the Lebanese side, becoming the first border clash since the 2006 war. On Aug. 3 the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service stinks itself up by announcing that undocumented immigrants trying to leave the U.S. could face arrest at the border. On Aug. 3 five rockets fired from the Sinai Peninsula are fired at Eilat, Israel, and miss, killing a taxi driver in Aqaba, Jordan. On Aug. 3 Pakistani official Raza Haider is murdered while attending a funeral at a mosque in Karachi, causing street violence that kills 45, injures 93, and torches dozens of stores and vehicles. On Aug. 3 after being caught stealing beer from a warehouse where he worked as a driver, Am. Muslim Omar Thornton (b. 1976) goes on a shooting spree, killing eight and wounding two before committing suicide. On Aug. 3 Am.Muslim Shaker Masri (1984-) is arrested for trying travel to Somalia to become a suicide bomber for al-Qaida. On Aug. 4 an explosion near the convoy of Iranian pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Hamadan (280km SW of Tehran) is later claimed to be a firecracker. On Aug. 4 a controversial new 2010 Kenyan Constitution enacting Islamic Sharia is passed, and signed into law on Aug. 27; despite supposedly not being a citizen of Kenya, Obama personally campaigned for it as far back as 2006; outlaw Sudanese pres. Omar al-Bashir is present at the signing. On Aug. 4 federal judge Vaughn Walker rules that Calif.'s 2008 Proposition 8 banning gay marriage is unconstitutional because he says so, despite the will of millions of voters, pissing many off, and causing Pres. Obama to finally state that he's against gay marriage but in favor of civil unions. On Aug. 4 Pres. Obama celebrates his 49th birthday; it later comes out that he dialed three Christian pastors to pray with him as he flew on Air Force One to Chicago. On Aug. 5 retired USAF lt. gen. James R. Clapper Jr. (1941-) becomes U.S. nat. intel dir. #4 (until ?). On Aug. 5 Russian PM Vladimir Putin bans wheat exports after a summer drought causes millions of acres to wither, pushing world wheat prices up; in Aug. Russian wildfires spread across six provinces contaminated by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, bringing poisonous smog to Moscow. On Aug. 5 the U.S. Dept. of Justice announces four separate indictments charging 14 with terrorism for providing aid to Al-Shabaab (al-Shebaab) in Somalia. On Aug. 5 the U.S. Senate approves $600M for border security, incl. 1.5K new agents; Pres. Obama signs in on Aug. 13. On Aug. 5 Tariq Aziz, leading lt. of Saddam Hussein accuses the U.S. of "leaving Iraq to the wolves", calling Pres. Obama a hypocrite who promised "to correct some of the mistakes of Bush" and is about to "leave Iraq to its death". On Aug. 5 Harvard senior Caroline Giuliani (1990-), daughter of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is arrested for shoplifting $100 worth of makeup at Sephora on E. 86th St. in Manhattan; after they find out who she is, the store owners drop the charges. On Aug. 5 the San Jose Mine in the Atacama Desert in Chile collapses, trapping 33 miners 2K ft. underground for 68 days (until Oct. 13) until they can be rescued with U.S. aid and equipment, during which time they become reality TV stars and end up showered with money and honors as South Am. heroes; they still celebrate the Sept. 18 Chile Bicentennial. On Aug. 5-9 First Lady Michelle Obama goes on a controversial trip to Spain, causing critics to compare her to Marie Antoinette; on Aug. 7 she visits Ronda in S Spain, favorite haunt of Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway; on Aug. 8 she meets with King Juan Carlos I in Mallorca; meanwhile on Aug. 8 Pres. Obama plays pick-up basketball with some NFL pros at a birthday-weekend White House BBQ. On Aug. 6 rapper Wyclef Jean announces his candidacy for pres. of Haiti on Larry King Live; on Aug. 20 Haiti's electoral council rules him ineligible because he didn't live in Haiti for five years before the elction. On Aug. 6 the U.S. sends its first delegation led by ambassador John Roos to Hiroshima, Japan to observe the anniv. of the U.S. atomic bomb attack, causing an outcry that Pres. Obama is about to apologize for it; U.N. secy.-gen. Ban K-Moon also attends, calling for Obama to attend personally. On Aug. 6 mudslides in Kashmir, India kill 125+. On Aug. 6 a new poll of Arab opinion finds that a majority now believe that a nuclear-armed Iran would be a positive development in the Middle East. On Aug. 7 the Taliban announces the murder of eight "Christian missionary" medical doctors in Afghanistan, who were found shot dead on Aug. 6, incl. British surgeon Karen Woo, who was set to get married in two weeks, and Colo. dentist Thomas Grams (b. 1959-); the internat. Christian aid group Internat. Assistance Mission denies that the medics were proselytizing. On Aug. 7 Saudi Arabia reaches a deal with BlackBerry on granting access to user data so they can monitor messages to stop them from banning it in their country as a security risk. On Aug. 7 Fidel Castro makes his first official govt. appearance since his emergency surgery in 2006, calling on Pres. Obama to prevent a global nuclear war. On Aug. 7 a power generator explosion in Basra, Iraq kills 25+. On Aug. 7 politicians in Lebanon get pissed-off at calls from Israel to restrict U.S.sale of advanced weapons to their army after the recent border incident. On Aug. 7 Pakistani pres. Asif Ali Zardari visits Birmingham, England and addresses a political rally, where protesters incl. one shoe-thrower criticize him for touring overseas while floods are devasting his country; meanwhile Carl Moeller, pres. of Open Doors USA claims that some Pakistani Christian families are being denied flood aid unless they convert to Islam. On Aug. 8 Sky News reports that British couple Gul and Bagum Wazir of Birmingham, England have been murdered in a suspected "honor killing". On Aug. 8 Gen. Sebhattin Isik Kosaner (1945-) becomes CIC of the Turkish army (until July 29, 2011). On Aug. 9 the U.S. announces a 10-year $30B deal to sell F-15 aircraft to the Saudis, minus advanced long-range weapons systems opposed by Israel. On Aug. 9 the Masjid Taiba Mosque in Hamburg Germany, once frequented by the 9/11 attackers Mohammed Atta et al. is shut down by the govt. for being involved in violent extremism again. On Aug. 9 radical Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir (Baasyir) (1939-), who was sentenced to 30 mo. for the 2002 Bali bombs and served 26 mo. is arrested for supporting a terrorist group that runs a training camp in Aceh, and next June 16 is sentenced to 15 years, blaming it on the U.S., and saying "This verdict is contrary to Sharia, and I cannot accept it because to me it is against the law." On Aug. 9 Ed Stafford (1976-) becomes the first to walk the length of the 4K-mi. Amazon River after 859 days, starting on Apr. 2, 2008. On Aug. 10 Pres. Obama signs the U.S. Securing the Protection of our Ending and Established Constitutional Heritage (SPEECH) Act, preventing Americans from being sued for libel by individuals from other countries with inadequate First Amendment rights, protecting those speaking out against Islam et al. On Aug. 10 the U.S. House adjourns after passing by 247-161 a $26B state aid bill to prevent layoffs of 160K teachers and cuts to Medicaid. On Aug. 10 white radio personality Dr. Laura Schlesinger draws the PC police for saying the n-word 5x on the air during a call with an African-Am., after which she is forced to resign. On Aug. 11 Sudanese-born Ibrahim al-Qosi, former cook and driver for Osama bin Laden is sentenced to 14 years in prison by a Guantanamo Bay tribunal. On Aug. 11 Iran and Russia issue a surprise joint announcement that Russia will load the nuclear fuel to activate Iran's first nuclear reactor on Aug. 21, causing speculation of an Israeli airstrike; meanwhile AP reports that Arab nations are urging the U.S. to end its support of Israel's nuclear secrecy and push for an internat. inspection program. On Aug. 11 White House press secy. Robert Gibbs sticks his foot in his mouth, complaining about the "professional left" and claiming "those people ought to be drug tested." On Aug. 12 shocking photos surface of Turkish chemical weapon attacks on Kurdish PKK rebels. On Aug. 13 (Fri. the 13th) Pres. Obama gives his 2010 Iftar Speech to commemorate the Muslim holy day of Ramadan, defending the super-controversial Ground Zero Mosque, with the soundbyte "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable", and full of history ignoramus remarks, incl. "Islam has always been part of America and American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country", and has been a major force in "advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings", causing an outcry, after which on Aug. 14 he backs down a bit, saying that he upholds the principle that govt. should treat everyone equal, regardless of religion, but wasn't commenting on this particular project, with the soundbyte "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding"; on Aug. 18 a Gallup Poll finds that 37% of Ams. disapprove of Obama's comments and only 20% approve; on Aug. 16 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) comes out against the mosque, saying to build it elsewhere; meanwhile Ground Zero Mosque (soon renamed Park51 to diffuse opposition) imam Feisal Abdul Rauf (a Kuwaiti-born Egyptian Sufi), who claims it is "about promoting integration, toleration of differences, and community cohesion through arts and culture" (like in Saudi Arabia?) and later claims that it's only a community center with a small mosque inside, until an ad they placed for it says it must accomodate 1K at one time, and who claims that the U.S. Constitution is based on Sharia principles is exposed as having attended a 2007 conference in Indonesia of the terrorist group Hizb-ut Tahrir al Islami (Islamic Party of Liberation), which seeks a global caliphate and is banned in several countries; Rauf also uttered the soundbyte "In a true peace it is impossible that a purely Jewish state of Palestine can endure... In a true peace, Israel will, in our lifetimes, become one more Arab country, with a Jewish minority"; on Dec. 8, 2009 the NYT ran a pro-mosque article quoting Rauf as saying "New York is the capital of the world, and this location close to 9/11 is iconic"; apparently choosing to ignore this, on Aug. 19 Assoc. Press (AP) tells its staff to quit using the term "Ground Zero Mosque" because it's two whole blocks (600 ft.) away; on Aug. 19 N.Y. Roman Catholic archbishop Timothy Dolan says that he prays for compromise, offering to help relocate the mosque; Manhattan developer Sharif el-Gamal (1973-), whose co. Soho Properties owns the former site at 45 Park Place where there was an old Burlington Coat Factory for $4.8M in 2009 used to be a Manhattan waiter at Serafina on the Upper East Side; on Sept. 12 Imam Rauf appears on ABC's "This Week", calling Sarah Palin's opposition to the GZ Mosque "disengenuous", saying that he had known it would cause such controversy he would never have started it, denying that the site is on hallowed ground, and adding "My major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim World will be 'Islam is under attack in America'. This will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim World, help their recruitment, this will put our people, our soldiers, our troops, our embassies, our citizens under attack in the Muslim World and we [would] have expanded and fueled terrorism"; on Sept. 26 60 Minutes airs a segment on the Ground Zero Mosque, and reveals that a mosque has already been functioning there for over a year; in Sept. the bldg. design is released, appearing to be a giant crushed Star of David - has closet Muslim Pres. Obama finally succeeded in turning a critical mass of the American people against him with his submission to every Islamic demand? On Aug. 13 25-y.-o. Libyan imam Abrahim Ghait (1985-) allegedly exposes himself to a 28-y.-o. woman in Castle Park in Bristol, England, followed on Aug. 16 by a 12-y.-o. girl, saying his genitals are named "Lexie". On Aug. 14 Fatah al-Islam terrorist group leader Abed al-Rahman Awad is killed in Lebanon in a shootout with Lebanese troops. On Aug. 14 three incl. a policeman are killed in Yala, Thailand by Muslim separatists, who have killed 4K+ in the rubber-rich region bordering Malaysia, which was a Muslim sultanate until its annexation in 1909 by Buddhist Thailand. On Aug. 15 al-Qaida #2 man Ayman al-Zawahiri releases an audio tape calling for Turkey to cut all ties with Israel and withdraw their NATO forces from Afghanistan. On Aug. 15 a Rasmussen Poll reveals that 76% of Americans believe it likely that a terrorist group will detonate a nuke on Am. soil in the next 25 years, with 45% believing it very likely. On Aug. 15 Israel begins dismanting a barrier wall in Jerusalem that had been erected to protect residents from Palestinian sniper fire from the West Bank. On Aug. 15 Turkey allows Orthodox Christians to worship at Sumela Monastery after 88 years of closure. On Aug. 15 the Taliban orders the stoning for adultery of a young couple in the NE province of Kunduz, Afghanistan, sparking outrage incl. Pres. Hamid Karzai. On Aug. 16 5 mo. after an inconclusive vote the party that won the most seats in Iraq's Mar. election suspends talks on forming a coalition. On Aug. 16 Iran announces that it will build 10 new uranium enrichment plants inside mountain strongholds starting in Mar. - I can give you what you want? On Aug. 16 Mexico's supreme court upholds a law permitting gay adoption on Aug. 9 it upheld gay marriage; meanwhile gunmen kidnap and murder Edelmiro Cavazos, mayor of Santiago in N Mexico, after which six police offers are arrested for involvement. On Aug. 16 Pres. Obama holds a Hollywood fundraiser, saying that he and Congressional Dems. have passed the most progressive legislation in decades - the beautiful people? On Aug. 17 U.S. treasury secy. Timothy Geithner raises basic questions about the govt.'s long-standing role in subsidizing the $10.7T housing market, saying "It is not tenable to leave in place the system we have today." On Aug. 17 a suicide bombing among Iraqi army recruits outside the army's 11th div. HQ in downtown Baghdad, Iraq kills 51 and wounds 119. On Aug. 17 (eve.) a Palestinian Arab man enters the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel and begins firing before he is shot by staff; he had earlier tried to take hostages at the British embassy using a fake gun; the Turkish govt. complains to Israel to increase the security at the embassy. On Aug. 17 France rejects a petition calling for it to pay $17B in reparations to Haiti for its oppression 2 cents. earlier. On Aug. 17 former Israeli soldier Eden Aberjil (1984-) stirs up a firestorm of controversy after posting photos of herself in uniform smiling among blinded Palestinian prisoners on Facebook. On Aug. 17 two Muslim suicide bombings target vacationers in Pyatigorsk in the Caucasus region of Russia. On Aug. 17 Amin Al-Hindi, last surviving planner of 1972 Munich Massacre dies in Jordan, and Palestinian Authority chmn. Mahmoud Abbas stinks himself up by giving him a military funeral and calling him a "patriotic leader" and "martyr". On Aug. 17 an Open Letter to Republican Leaders by Arab-Am. and Muslim-Am. leaders expresses concern about Repub. opposition to the Manhattan Ground Zero Mosque. On Aug. 18 Pres. Obama promises that he won't privatize Social Security while he's in office. On Aug. 18 business leaders of Monterrey, Mexico, the country's wealthiest, most modern and safe city take out a newspaper ad begging pres. Felipe Calderon to send in more soldiers to stem the increasing drug violence. On Aug. 18 Newsweek pub. a list of the world's most respected leaders, which incl. Saudi king Abdullah, causing Iranian Rev. Guards pub. Sobh-e Sadeq on Aug. 30 to call it a joke, since the Saudi regime is the most tyrannical in the world. On Aug. 19 the U.S. troop death count in Afghanistan reaches 575, the same as during the Bush years, making it Obama's war? On Aug. 19 the Obama admin. convinces ' Israel that Iran's ability to make a "dash" for a nuke will take at least another year. On Aug. 19 ML baseball star pitcher Roger Clemens is indicted by a federal grand jury for lying to Congress about steroid use; he continues to deny it and vows to fight the charges. On Aug. 19 Pew Poll finds that 18% of Americans believe that Pres. Obama is a Muslim (incl. 31% of Repubs.); on Aug. 19 a Time mag. poll raises the figure to 24% (incl. 46% of Repubs.); on Aug. 27 a new Gallup Poll shows Muslims giving Obama the highest rating of any religious group (78%), with Mormons the lowest (24%); Jews slide from 77% in early 2009 to 61%; on Aug. 29 to silence all objections, Obama appears on "NBC Nightly News", and claims that he isn't worried about the polls, saying "the facts are the facts" and still claiming to be Christian, adding that he can't go around with his "birth certificate plastered on his forehead", and that he has faith in "the American people's capacity to get beyond all this nonsense"; on Aug. 29 Obama's former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright gives a Sun. sermon claiming that anybody who believes that Obama is a Muslim is a "psychopath". On Aug. 20 Hillary Clinton announces new Israeli-Palestinian talks, with Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas promising a 1-year time limit, and Pres. Obama to invite them to Washington on Sept. 2; too bad, on Aug. 24 leftist Palestinian factions meet in Ramallah to protest Mahmoud Abbas' decision to accept the U.S. invitation, causing a security crackdown; on Aug. 27 Mahmoud Al-Habbash gives a Fri. sermon with Abbas in the audience, with the soundbyte "Jerusalem can ignite a thousand and one wars", and that there will never be peace until Jerusalem becomes the capital of the Palestinian people; on Sept. 1 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu utters the soundbyte "President Abbas, you are my partner in peace"; too bad, on Sept. 7 Mahmoud Abbas tells the press that he will not recognize a Jewish state, adding that his position is no different from Yasser Arafat's, and his staff is the same; on Oct. 13 the Palestinians demand that the U.S. and Israel provide a map of the borders of the proposed state of Israel that they want them to recognize, knowing they won't since it might cause a Jewish civil war? On Aug. 20 Pakistan announces that it will clamp down on charities linked to Islamic militants who are seeking to exploit flood relief. On Aug. 20 a Saudi judge stirs internat. outrage by asking several hospitals to damage a man's spinal chord as punishment for paralyzing another man with a cleaver; on Aug. 23 the high court in Tabruk reverses him, saying the victim should accept monetary compensation. On Aug. 21 Russia helps fuel-up the Bushehr Reactor, Iran's first nuclear reactor, promising to monitor and remove spent fuel that could be used to build nukes; meanwhile Israel announces that reactor is "totally unacceptable", and that a country that "so blatantly violates U.N. resolutions, IAEA decisions should not enjoy the fruits of using nuclear energy"; meanwhile former top U.N. nuclear official Olli Heinonen admits that Iran has enough uranium for 1-2 bombs, but claims that they wouldn't try it with only this amount. On Aug. 21 Sweden revokes an arrest warrant for Australian-born WikiLeaks founder Julian Paul Assange (1971-) for rape, but keep him under suspicion of a lesser charge of molestation, which turns into a real stretch charge of having sex with a feminist without a condom; after Interpol places him on its red notice list on Nov. 30 (dating police?), he is finally arrested on Dec. 7 in London, and released on $316K bail after Am. leftist filmmaker Michael Moore poneys up some of the dough, saying that the Am. Founding Fathers would have been Wikileakers. On Aug. 21 a stray bullet hits El Paso, Tex. from the Mexican side of the border, causing a furor. On Aug. 21 the Third Annual Topless Sat., founded by Rael is held in nine U.S. cities incl. Denver, Chicago, and Miami to fight for equal rights for women. On Aug. 21 a 19-y.-o. migrant farm worker from Mexico who was bitten in Michoacan, Mexico on July 15 dies in La., becoming the first death from a bite from a vampire bat in the U.S. On Aug. 22 Iranian pres. Myishouldbe Inastraightjacket inaugurates Iran's first domestically-built unmanned drone aircraft bomber, calling it an "ambassador of death for the enemies of humanity", with "a main message of peace and friendship"; it can carry four cruise missiles and has a 1K km (600 mi.) range; on Aug. 23 Iran announces that it will also step up production of the new Zolfaghar and Seraj (Light) assault boats carrying cruise missles. On Aug. 22 Bangladesh bans all enforced Islamic dress codes, incl. veils and skull caps in public places. On Aug. 22 retired Calif. engineer Gregory Luke (1946-) barges into a mosque in Lombok Island, Indonesia to tell t hat their nightly Ramadan prayer reading is too loud, causing a mob to attack his home; he is then arrested for blaspheming Islam, and given 7 mo. in jail. On Aug. 23 the Pentagon refutes the Taliban claim that Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl has converted to Islam and joined their cause. On Aug. 23 Iraq announces that it is tightening security around oil installations after news that al-Qaida plans to attack them when U.S. forces leave. On Aug. 23 U.S. Gen. David Petraeus claims that the Taliban's momentum has been reversed in S Afghanistan. On Aug. 23 the ever-less-sovereign U.S. makes its First Report to the U.N. Human Rights Council on internal conditions, saying that the U.S. doesn't have a perfect record esp. with minorities and women, and that "Although we have made great strides, work remains to meet our goals of ensuring equality before the law for all"; it also claims that the U.S. is committed to closing Gitmo and "fixing our broken immigration system" - what should we do next, masters? On Aug. 23 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden addresses the Ind. VFW, uttering the soundbyte: "Many people point to the Iranian influence in Iraq but I believe this to be exaggerated. The Iranian government spent over $100 million dollars to try to sway the national elections but Iran failed. The Iraqi people voted for their desired candidate, not who the Iranians wanted them to vote for." On Aug. 23 white New York City college student Michael Enright asks a cab driver if he's a Muslim, then after receiving an affirmative answer stabs him; after leftists try to use it as ammo in favor of the Ground Zero Mosque, it is revealed the he supports it too, and the cabbie didn't - and that's why he stabbed him? On Aug. 23 Frank Johansson, head of the Finnish branch of Amnesty Internat. calls Israel a "scum state", stirring controversy, after which under pressure he (insincerely?) apologizes; on Aug. 24 British former PM Tony Blair utters the soundbyte that any attempt to delegitimize Israel is an affront to people "everywhere, in every part of humanity who share the values of a free and independent spirit". On Aug. 23 Miss Mexico Jimena "Ximena" Navarrete Rosete (1988-) of Guadalajara wins the Miss Universe contest in Las Vegas Nev.; Miss USA Rima Faikh (first Muslim-Am. winner) doesn't make it to the final round; it was rigged because this is the centennial of Mexico's independence? On Aug. 24 the Mexican military discovers 72 massacred bodies of migrants from Central and South Am. in a ranch in ever-violent Tamaulipas,Mexico, and get into a gunfight with Zeta drug cartel members, who flee after one Mexican marine and three gunmen are killed; on Aug. 27 a car bomb explodes in San Fernando, Mexico in front of a major TV station in the same N Mexican state, and a prosecutor investigating the massacre disappears,while a string of four bombings in 24 hours injures 17. On Aug. 24 (13th day of Ramadan) a suicide attack in a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia by Al-Shabaab kills 32 incl. six parliamentarians; U.S. State Dept. spokesman Phillip Crowley utters the soundbyte: "The attack occurring during Ramadan highlights al-Shabaab's complete disregard for human life, Somalian culture, and Islamic values". On Aug. 24 a Henan Airlines ERJ-190) en route from Harbin to Yichin, China overruns the runway after landing in fog, breaking up and catching fire, killing 43 of 91 passengers and all but one crew. On Aug. 25 a string of attacks against the Iraqi govt. kills 43. On Aug. 25 an attempted suicide attack against an army barracks near Nouakchott, Mauritania is foiled when soldiers shoot the driver of the truck. On Aug. 25 former U.S. pres. Jimmy Carter arrives in Pyongyang, North Korean on a private mission to free imprisoned African-Am. Aijalon Gomes (1979-) of Boston, Mass., who is serving eight years for illegal entry via China; he arrives in Boston with Carter on Aug. 27. On Aug. 25 a day after Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah asks Lebanon to seek their assistance, Iran announces that it's ready to sell arms to Lebanon. On Aug. 25 Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak announces that Egypt's first nuclear power plant will be built at El Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast - there goes the neighborhood? On Aug. 25 Canadian police arrest three Islamic terror suspects, Hiva Alizadeh, Misbahuddin Ahmed, and Khurram Syed Sher, who appeared on Canada's version of "American Idol". On Aug. 26 EU foreign policy chief Lady Catherine Ashton rebukes Israel for convicting Palestinian protester on Aug. 23 of inciting protests in the West Bank village of Bilin plus not having a permit. On Aug. 26 Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon proposes legislation to stop money laundering by organized crime. On Aug. 26 aging demented Cuban dictator Fidel Castro pontificates that documents posted on WikiLeaks.org prove that Osama bin Laden is a paid CIA agent that Pres. Bush made pop-up when needed to scare the world, saying "Bush never lacked for bin Laden's support. He was a subordinate." On Aug. 28 conservative Mormon talk show host Glenn Beck holds his Restoring Honor to America rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniv. of MLK Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech", which he claims is accidental; 87K-500K attend to hear about how the U.S. needs to return to God; the crowd is not all-white but racially diverse; MLK Jr.'s niece Alveda King speaks at the rally, along with Sarah Palin; the rally raises $5.5M for wounded soldiers; on Aug. 29 after murmurs about his Mormonism, Beck appears on Fox News Sunday, and utters the soundbyte that despite his claim to be a Christian, the American people don't recognize "Obama's version of Christianity". On Aug. 28 the Iraq govt. goes on high alert against terrorist attacks as the U.S. combat mission winds down. On Aug. 28 Islamic jihadists in U.S. Army uniforms launch pre-dawn attacks at Forward Operating Base Salerno, a major NATO base in Khost province in E Afghanistan 60 mi. SE of Kabul near the Pakistan border and the nearby camp where seven CIA employees were killed last year in a suicide attack; this time they are repelled with no casualties. On Aug. 28 Israel places its largest-ever order for military fuel with the U.S., increasing speculation of a planned attack on Iran; on Oct. 7 it signs a $2.75B deal with the U.S. for 20 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets. On Aug. 28 Israeli rabbi Ovadia Yosef, head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party gives a Sat. evening sermon with the soundbyte "May God strike them [Palestinians] down with the plague along with all the nasty Palestinians who persecute Israel", causing an outcry and the U.S. State Dept. to condemn his remarks. On Aug. 28 after they dismantle 100+ illegal camps and send hundreds back to E Europe, the U.N. tells France to stop the forced expulsion of Roma (Gypsies). On Aug. 28 Belgian cardinal Godfried Danneels is revealed to have tried to stop a sex abuse victim from going public, causing an outcry. On Aug. 29 a bus runs off a highway and overturns 55 mi. S of Quito, Ecuador, killing 36 and injuring 12. On Aug. 29 a 50-y.-o. gunman opens fire in Bratislava, Slovakia, killing six and injuring 14 before committing suicide. On Aug. 29 Mt. Sinabung on Sumatra Island in Indonesia erupts for the first time in 400 years. On Aug. 29 Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi calls for Europe to convert to Islam, saying that "Islam should become the religion of all of Europe", causing the Vatican to call that disrespectful to the pope and Catholic Italy. On Aug. 29 the U.S. birth rate for 2009 is announced at 13.5 per 1K, down from 14.3 in 2007, and the lowest in U.S. history; in 1820 it was 55.2. On Aug. 30 prosecutors in Clark County, Nev. file felony cocaine possession charges on Paris Hilton after a weekend arrest. On Aug. 30 Mexico fires 3.2K federal police officers, 10% of the force for suspected corruption. On Aug. 30 "Pepto-Bismol terrorist" Muslims Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi and Hezem al Murisi arriving in Amsterdam from Chicago are arrested at the airport for a "dry-run" terrorist attack, complete with "mock bombs" in their luggage, incl. box cutters, a wad of cash, and a Blackberry duct-taped to a bottle of Pepto-Bismol; al Soofi is from Detroit, Mich., and al Murisi is an illegal immigrant from Yemen; after the authorities can't prove anything they are released - did they put them on the watch list? On Aug. 30 the German Social Dem. party (SPD) begins expulsion proceedings for central bank officer Thilo Sarrazin over comments in his new book "Deutschland Schaaft Sich Ab" (Germany Does Away With Itself", claiming that Muslim Arabs and Turks are ruining the country by swamping it then having lower IQs combined with higher birthrates; a remark that Jews have a common gene is distorting to make him look anti-Semitic, when he also said that he would prefer immigration "if it was by Eastern European Jews with a 15% higher IQ than the German population". On Aug. 30 Pres. Obama broadens U.S. financial sanctions on North Korea, and freezes the assets of four North Korean citizens and eight firms to punish it for the sinking of the South Korean warship. On Aug. 30 four Ugandan peacekeepers are killed in Mogadishu, Somalia by Islamist rebels firing mortars at the pres. palace. On Aug. 30 the ACLU et al. sue the Obama admin. over its program they claim illegally tries to kill U.S. citizens believed to be terrorists living abroad, incl. Anwar al-Awalaki; the suit is brought in the name of his father Nasser al-Awlaki, claiming violation of the U.S. Constitution and internat. law. On Aug. 30 the U.S. Justice Dept. files a 2nd lawsuit against Arizona for its community colleges requirements that non-citizens provide green cards to be hired for jobs. On Aug. 30 after returning from his vacation, Pres. Obama arranges a hasty media event at the White House on the economic crisis, pushing a $30B small business package; too bad, his microphone doesn't work, becoming a magic moment for the public that he's clueless and out of control?; meanwhile the Oval Office gets a makeover incl. new carpet, furniture, and wallpaper, some of which bears a striking resemblance to furniture seen in TV series The Jeffersons, making Obama seem smaller? On Aug. 30 Mexican drug lord Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez (1973-) is captured by Mexican authorities. On Aug. 30 a Gallup Poll reveals that 51% of registered voters say they will vote for the Repub. candidate in their district if the election were held now, vs. 41% for the Dem. candidate, the biggest Repub. lead since 1942 and the 4th straight weak that the Repubs. have the edge on the Dems. On Aug. 30 Repub. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisc. warns that the U.S. economy faces a "lost decade" like Japan had in the 1990s if it continues to spend. On Aug. 30 insurgents attack Afghan civilians praying at a mosque in Marjah in Helmand Province, killing two and wounding one. On Aug. 31 (10:45 a.m.) Pres. Obama gives a Speech to the Troops at Ft. Bliss Army Base in El Paso, Tex., thanking them for making the U.S. safer, and uttering the soundbyte that his coming evening speech won't be a "victory lap, it's not going to be self-congratulatory"; it contains the soundbytes "As we wind down the war in Iraq, we must tackle those challenges at home with as much energy, and grit, and sense of common purpose as our men and women in uniform who have served abroad", "They have met every test that they faced. Now, it's our turn"; he also announces new loosened rules on export of sensitive military and other technology; at ? p.m. Pres. Obama gives his End of the U.S. Mission in Iraq Speech, with the soundbyte "Tonight I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended", announcing the End of Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began 89 mo. earlier on Mar. 20, 2003 and totalled 4,421 killed (incl. 3,492 in combat and nine civilian DOD employees), one every 15 hours; the deadliest mo. was Nov. 2004 (139 troops killed); the deadliest period was Oct. 2006-June 2007 (805 troops killed); only 18 killed this year; the last brigade team, the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Div. left on Aug. 18, after which the troop level fell below 50K on Aug. 24, down from a max of 165K in 2007; meanwhile a Gallup Poll reveals that more Iraqis approved of U.S. leadership under Bush than Obama, by 35% to 33%, and another Iraqi poll shows that almost 60% don't want U.S. soldiers to leave now, and 53% oppose Obama ending the combat mission; meanwhile a CBS Poll shows that 70% of Americans approve of Obama's decision. On Aug. 31 the Coordinating Council of Muslim Orgs. (CCMO) sends 25 leaders of 20 nat. Muslim groups to a special workshop presented by the White House and U.S. govt. agencies to provide them with "funding, government assistance, and resources" and "cut through red tape"; this despite the CCMO having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood whose explicit goals incl. subversion and takeover of the U.S. by Islam? On Aug. 31 a Palestinian gunman opens fire on an Israeli vehicle near Hebron in the West Bank, killing four Jewish settlers, incl. a pregnant woman; Hamas praises the shooter but doesn't claim responsibility until Sept. 1; Hebron has 500 Jewish settlers living among 100K Palestinians, causing PM Benjamin Netanyahu to utter the soundbyte: "Terrorism will not determine the fate of Judea and Samaria residents or borders - these issues and others will be determined during negotiations"; meanwhile on Aug. 31 10 settlers fire at and chase three Palestinian farmers in Deir Istiya village in Nablus, and on Sept. 1 3K Palestinians celebrate the Hebron murders in Gaza, with Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida saying "The Qassam Brigades announces its full responsibility for the heroic operation in Hebron"; meanwhile on Aug. 31 former Israeli foreign minister and ambassador to the U.S. Moshe Arens pub. an article in Ha'aretz, saying that Mahmoud Abbas "does not have the backing of all Palestinians, not even of most of them. As far as Hamas is concerned, he has no right to represent the Palestinians in the upcoming negotations.... But most important, he does not have the authority to carry out any agreement he might arrive at with Netanyahu... Abbas may or might not want to conclude a peace with Israel, but he cannot." On Aug. 31 North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il returns from a trip to China, where he met with pres. Hu Jintao, leaving observers clueless about who his successor will be - a rocket man? On Aug. 31 a drug cartel attack in the Castillo del Mar Bar in Cancun, Mexico kills eight Mexicans. On Aug. 31 the U.S. Dept. of Justice Web site takes down its red-white-blue banner and replaces it with a plain black-white one, along with the quote "The common law is the will of mankind, issuing from the life of the people" by 1930s globalist lawyer C. Wilfred Jenks. On Aug. 31 Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christian leader Pope Shenouda III (1923-2012) is charged with detaining Camillia Shehata, wife of a Coptic cleric after she converted to Islam; he claims the conversion was forced. On Aug. 31 a new Newsweek poll reveals that 52% of Repubs. believe that Pres. Obama sympathizes with Islamic fundamentalists and wants to impose Islamic Sharia worldwide. On Aug. 31 after Hurricane Danielle fizzles, My Name is Hurricane Earl reaches category 4, threatening the U.S. E coast. On Aug. 31 Pres. Obama signs Executive Order No. ?, amending the rules for court martials. In Aug. after minister Tony Muhammad is beaten by LAPD police for holding a prayer vigil for a young man killed in a drive-by shooting, and claims that Scientology saves his life, turning on white-hating Jew-hating leader Louis Farrakhan Sr. (Louis Eugene Walcott) (1933-) (AKA Louis X), who finds similarities between Xenu and mad scientist Yakub, who allegedly created the devil white race, the Nation of Islam sends hundreds of members to a seminar on Dianetics in Rosemont, Ill., after which Farrakhan tells everyone to become a certified auditor. In Aug. U.S. unemployment rises to 9.6%, a net job loss of 54K, although private employment increased by 67K jobs. In Aug. the Big Am. Egg Recall sees 500M eggs sold under 24 brands recalled for salmonella infestation, after which federal inspectors uncover unspeakably filthy conditions, causing an outcry. In Aug. Pres. Obama's Summer of Recovery proves a bust as a Reuters poll shows that 75% of Americans are very worried about joblessness, and 67% are very concerned about massive govt. spending; unemployment remains hovering near 10%. In Aug. 2010 aging Fidel Castro gives an interview to Jeffrey Goldberg, in which he criticizes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran for always slamming the Jews, with the soundbyte that the Iranian government should understand the consequences of theological anti-Semitism, saying "This went on for maybe two thousand years. I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims. They have been slandered much more than the Muslims because they are blamed and slandered for everything. No one blames the Muslims for anything." He adds that the Iranian govt. should understand that the Jews "were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world", adding "The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust." In Aug. Ethiopian Christian Tamirat Woldegorgis is arrested after his Muslim co-worker accusing him of writing "Jesus is Lord" in a copy of the Quran; he is jailed until ? On Sept. 1 the U.S. draws down to 50K troops in Iraq. On Sept. 1 three bombs explode in a Shiite religious procession in Lahore, Pakistan, killing 18 and wounding 150. On Sept. 1 Hamid Karzai's brother Mahmoud Karzai calls for the U.S. to intervene to head off a meltdown of Kabul Bank, Afghanistan's biggest bank, which he is a major shareholder in, after which depositors throng its branches, causing Hamid on Sept. 2 to tell Afghans not to panic; on Sept. 7 Mahmoud Karzai's Kabul Bank assets are frozen. On Sept. 1 a poll by the Arab World for R&D shows that most Palestinians don't want a state next to Israel, with 78.2% wanting Israel to be gone, only 17.7% accepting a 2-state solution, and a tiny 9.6% accepting a joint state. On Sept. 1 former U.S. Sen. (R-Wyo.) (1979-97) Alan Kooi Simpson (1931-), co-chair of Pres. Obama's fiscal commission apologizes for an Aug. 24 e-mail to Nat. Older Women's League exec dir. Ashley Carlson calling Social Security "a milk cow with 310 million tits". On Sept. 1 former British Labour PM (1997-2007) Tony Blair (1953-) releases his new memoir "A Journey"; on Sept. 3 he gives an interview on it, calling radical Islam the greatest threat facing the world, saying that after 9/11 he didn't understand it yet, but that its roots go far deeper than he thought, and "If they could, they would use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons" and kill 300K not just 3K, saying "This is actually more like the phenomenon of revolutionary Communism", and "It's the religious or cultural equivalent of it, and its roots are deep, its tentacles are long, and its narrative about Islam stretches far further than we think into even parts of mainstream opinion who abhor the extremism, but sort of buy some of the rhetoric that goes with it"; on Sept. 4 he holds the first public signing of his memoir in Dublin, Ireland, where protesters hurl shoes and eggs at him; on Sept. 5 he warns that Iran's nuclear program must be stopped by tougher sanctions followed by a military action. On Sept. 1 Iranian consul Hossein Alizadeh resigns in Oslo, and requests asylum in Finland. On Sept. 1 the Pentecostal Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Fla., led by pastor Terry Jones (1951-) (who posted a sign outside his church in 2009 reading "Islam is of the Devil") gains mass media attention for his July announcement of a public burning of 200 Qurans on 9/11, calling it Internat. Burn a Koran Day, complete with a Facebook page, causing Pope Benedict VI, Hillary Clinton, U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, Sarah Palin, Franklin Graham, and Pat Robertson, along with Pres. Obama (who calls it a "stunt" that is "contrary to American values") to ask them not to do it; on Sept. 6 hundreds of Afghans protest the planned action outside Kabul, shouting "Death to America"; the FBI announces that an Islamic extremist relatiatory attack is likely; Terry Jones is revealed to have led a 1K-member congregation in Cologne, Germany, where he preached hatred of Islam, and got a 3K Euro fine in 2002 for claiming a fake doctorate before he was kicked out by the church in 2008 for financial irregularities; Sept. 9 after FBI agents visit him and tells him about a blizzard of death threats, Terry Jones cancels the planned Quran BBQ after being told that the Ground Zero Mosque will moved, calling it "a sign from God", which Imam Rauf denies, saying "We're not here to barter", after which Fla. imam Muhammad Musri claims he only told him he'd go to New York with him and discuss moving it, pissing Jones off, causing him to say "I've been lied to", and that the event is only suspended not cancelled; meanwhile Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. vows to hold a Quran BBQ if they don't, then flops and vows never to do it; on Sept. 12 two Iranian grand ayatollahs issue fatwas calling for death for all who insult the Quran or burn it; on Sept. 9 the Council on Am.-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announces it will distribute 200K Korans, and on Sept. 10 Iraqi Muslim al-Qaida leader Abu Suleiman Al-Naser (al-Nassir) posts a call on the Web for Am. Muslims to murder Terry Jones; Jones' 225 Qurans are given to the Christian Defense Coalition, who distributes them to Christian churches as a reminder to pray for Muslims and share the love of Christ with them; meanwhile reports that authorities in Iran have have intercepted and burned hundreds of Bibles are ignored by the PC media; in Oct. it is announced that Jones received a free $13K 2011 Hyundai for calling the Quranicue off; on Jan. 20, 2011 Jones is banned from Britain by babyproof home secy. Theresa May; on Mar. 21, 2011 Jones burns a Quran anyway, by which time his 15 min. of fame is up and nobody cares, which doesn't stop irate Muslims from issuing a $2.3M fatwa on his head. On Sept. 2 a shootout between soldiers and drug cartel members in Ciud Mier in Tamaulipas, Mexico kills 25 cartel gunmen. On Sept. 2 EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht warns on a Flemish radio show that the Jewish lobby has a grip on U.S. politics so there is no point in more Middle East peace talks; on Sept. 3 she is forced to issue a clarification that her views are personal. On Sept. 2 the shallow water Mariner Energy facility S of Vermillion Bay in La. explodes; there are no injuries; some report seeing an oil slick. On Sept. 2 Middle East expert Arnaud de Borgegrave tells Newsmax.TV that the odds of an Israeli strike on Iran is "a 50-50 proposition", adding "It seems to be moving up the ladder." On Sept. 2 (1 p.m.) leftist eco-terrorist James Jay Lee (b. 1967) takes three hostages at the Md. HQ of Discovery Channel, saying that he has been inspired by Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and is pissed-off at their rejection of his ideas for a new show; he is shot dead by police. On Sept. 2 Pakistan state minister for industries Ayatullah Durrani publicly asks Pres. Obama to offer Eid prayers at the Sept. 11 Eid-ul-Fitr festival and declare himself the leader (caliph) (Amur-ul-Momineen) of all Muslims, saying "This is a golden opporunity, Muslims badly need it", and that Obama's elevation to the caliphate would be the "key to success". On Sept. 3 Iranian armed forces chief of staff Hassan Firouzabadi announces that if Israel attacks its nuclear facilities it will retaliate by attacking theirs. On Sept. 3 Turkey grants limited military concessions to the U.S. to use its territory, allowing them to move technical and logistical military equipment while withdrawing from Iraq; in 2003 it refused to allow U.S. troops to invade Iraq via its SE border. On Sept. 3 World Qods (Jerusalem) Day sees massive rallies in Iran calling for the "ignominious annihilation" of the "usurper Zionist regime" in Israel; meanwhile on Aug. 29 Arab League head Amr Moussa, who earlier had doubted that the Israeli-Palestinian talks would be successful says that they will be the last round of negotiations because Arabs are ready for full peace with Israel in exchange for a pullout of the lands occupied in 1967 incl. East Jerusalem; on Sept. 5 foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman warns Israelis to remember what happened after the Oslo peace talks with the 2nd Intifada, and says that there will be no peace in our time; meanwhile U.S. envoy Michael B. Oren warns that Hezbolllah has 15K rockets on the Lebanese border hidden under homes, hospitals and schools with enough range to hit Eilat, Israel. On Sept. 3 after Arab pressure, Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Yukiya Amano invites Israel "to consider to accede" to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, causing foreign minister Avigdor Liberman to call it a political ploy to divert attention from the "real proliferation challenges" of Iran and Syria. On Sept. 3 a car bomber in Tajikistan kills two police and wounds 25, becoming the first Islamic suicide bombing in the country since 2005. On Sept. 3 an explosion in a Shiite procession in Quetta, Pakistan kills 65 and wounds 150. On Sept. 3 a mudslide buries a bus in Guatemala, killing 28 and injures 30, with 40 missing. On Sept. 3 U.S. district judge Richard Kopf overturns a Neb. law banning flag mutilation, clearing the way for protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church of Kan. to trample U.S. flags at religiously-motivated military funeral protests; the members also announce that they burn Korans - nyaa? On Sept. 4 (4:35 a.m.) a 7.1 earthquake hits 19 mi. W of Christchurch, New Zealand, causing $1.4B damage and injuring two. On Sept. 4 Christians announce their concern about Muslim plans to pour tons of concrete on top of a wall above Jesus' Garden Tomb in Jerusalem for a Muslim cemetery. On Sept. 4 top Iranian grand ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi calls the Holocaust a "superstition", and says that "Zionists say that people of the world should be forced to accept this." On Sept. 4 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karazi announces the formation of a High Council for Peace to hold talks with the Taliban. On Sept. 5 an early morning car bomb at a military HQ in Baghdad, Iraq kills 12 and wounds 20, and is followed by a 2.5 hour gun battle as two men in explosive vests slip into the old defense ministry bldg. and throw grenades at Iraqi soldiers until they are killed. On Sept. 5 an Islamic suicide bomber on a Russian military base in Dagestan kills five soldiers and wounds 36. On Sept. 5 Iranian pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits Qatar, and utters the soundbyte "The U.S. and the Zionist entity will not be able to hit Iran right now. This is a wish... Any Israeli attack against Iran means the elimination of the Zionist entity from the world map"; meanwhile it is revealed that at least five Iranian cos. in Afghanistan have a $1K bounty on the head of any U.S. soldier killed by a Taliban member, also paying them monthly salaries of $233 and offering them $6K to blow up a U.S. military vehicle, and that Hezbollah is hitting U.S. targets in Iraq as a subcontractor for Iran and Syria. On Sept. 6 (Labor Day) Pres. Obama announces a 6-year $50B Infrastructure Plan to revamp aging roads, railways, and runways. On Sept. 6 a Taliban suicide bomber rams his car into a police station in Lakki Marwat in NW Pakistan, killing 19; meanwhile the Taliban threatens violent attacks on polling places in the Sept. 18 Afghanistan parliamentary elections. On Sept. 6 the Palestinian Nat. Authority objects to holding internat. meetings in Jerusalem, calling it a "provocation" because most of the world doesn't recognize it as Israel's capital. On Sept. 6 the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency IAEA releases a report saying that Iran is "hampering" their work, and possesses 2.8 tons of enriched uranium; the White House calls it "troubling". On Sept. 6 Pres. Obama gives a speech in Milwaukee, Wisc., where he utters the immortal soundbyte "Some powerful interests who had been dominating the agenda in Washington for a very long time and they're not always happy with me, they talk about me like a dog. That's not in my prepared remarks, but it's true." On Sept. 6 French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy vows to go ahead with plans to strip French citizenship from Muslim immigrants who attack police, but rules it out for those who only practice polygamy or promote female circumcision. On Sept. 6 a fire at a private stable near Charles Town Races in W. Va. kills 27 thoroughbred racehorses. On Sept. 6-13 a wildfire burns 6.4K acres in Four Mile (Fourmile) Canyon near Boulder, Colo., burning 159 homes incl. the homes of four firefighters, becoming the worst fire in Colo. history.; it starts in a fire pit of a volunteer fireman. On Sept. 7 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton hosts a Ramadan dinner with Muslims on Capitol Hill - does she wear a burqa? On Sept. 7 former Obama Office of Mgt. and Budget (OMB) dir. Peter Orszag breaks with Obama and recommends extending the expiring Bush tax cuts for two years. On Sept. 7 Pres. Obama issues a Rosh Hashana Message to the Jewish community, urging them and Arabs to "seize peace", adding "We had an opportunity to move forward, toward the goal we share — two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security." On Sept. 7 prominent Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders hold an "emergency summit" in Washington, D.C. to denounce "the derision, misinformationa and outright bigotry" over Am. Muslims, esp. in the Ground Zero Mosque debate - they never denounce the intolerance, bigotry, supremacy, anti-Semitism etc. of Muslims worldwide? On Sept. 7 a bomb in a residential compound for police in Islamabad,Pakistan kills 18, incl. children, and injures 50. On Sept. 7 the govt. of Iraq announces the return of hundreds of Iraqi antiquities from the U.S.; meanwhile 632 pieces repatriated last year are announced as missing. On Sept. 7 transit strikes cripple London and France. On Sept. 7 Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley announces that he won't run again; Pres. Obama okays Rahm Emanuel to go for it, and he resigns on Oct. 1. On Sept. 7 (7 p.m.) 300 Egyptian security forces attack the St. Macarius of Alexandria Monastery in Wadi Rayan, Fayoun Province 90 mi. S of Cairo to stop them from building new limestone brick cells for the monks. On Sept. 8 Sri Lanka removes term limits for the pres., causing critics to say this could lead to a dictatorship. On Sept. 8 Italian Roman Catholic priest Piero Gheddo says that the low birth rate in Europe coupled with mass Muslim immigration will lead to Islam "sooner rather than later conquering the majority in Europe". On Sept. 8 it is announced that the Obama. admin. increased the federal debt by $2.526T, more than the cumulative total of all U.S. presidents from Washington to Reagan combined. On Sept. 8 Danish 2005 Muslim-offending Muhammad cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is awarded the M100 Media Prize in Berlin, Germany by chancellor Angela Merkel. On Sept. 8 Gaza terrorists launch a mortar attack on children and parents in S Israel hours before the start of the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah. On Sept. 8 the U.S. blacklists the German-based European-Iranian Trade Bank AG, claiming that it finances weapons proliferation. On Sept. 8 the city council of Hartford, Conn. begins kicking-off meetings with Islamic prayers from the Quran to show solidarity with Muslims, sparking outrage. On Sept. 8 the Obama admin. wins a major victory from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, allowing it to shield Bush-era crimes from judicial review as "state secrets". On Sept. 8 a survey carried out by the Palestinian Authority claims that 63.1% of 1.5M Palestinians in Gaza live below the poverty line, a higher percentage than the same size pop. in Rwanda. On Sept. 9 Calif. U.S. district judge Virginia A. Phillips overturns the U.S. military ban on openly gay service members. On Sept. 9 an Islamic suicide car bomber in Rostov-on-Don, Russia kills 17 and wounds 130+. On Sept. 9 a federal jury convicts Peter Seda, co-founder of the Islamic charity Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation in Ashland, Ore. for helping smuggle $150K to Islamic terrorists in Chechnya. On Sept. 9 an Iranian dissent group claims that Iran is developing a secret nuclear site called Behjatad-Abyek (Code Name 311) near Qazvin, 120 mi. W of Tehran. On Sept. 9 a natural gas line ruptures in San Francisco, Calif., causing a massive fireball and destroying 50+ homes. On Sept. 9 Muslim-Am. Yvonne Hiller shoots and kills two co-workers and injures a 3rd at a Kraft plant in NE Philly using a .357 Magnum. On Sept. 9 Forbes mag. pub. a cover story article from Dinesh D'Souza titled How Obama Thinks, containing the soundbytes "Barack Obama is the most antibusiness president in a generation, perhaps in American history. Thanks to him the era of big government is back", and claiming that he adopted "the cause of anti-colonialism" from his dead Kenyan father, which is praised by Newt Gingrich, causing White House Press secy. Robert Gibbs and call it a "publication you would see in a dentist's office, so lacking in truth and fact. I think it represents a new low." On Sept. 9-11 the Muslim Eid al-Fitr date falls near 9/11 for the first time since 2001, causing Am. Muslims to tone down festivities. On Sept. 10 Pres. Obama holds a news conference (first since May), fielding questions on the dismal chances for Dems. in the Nov. election, dissing Repubs. for "holding middle class tax relief hostage because they're insisting we've got to give tax relief to millionaires and billionaires, which would cost, over the course of 10 years, $700 billion and economists say is probably the worst way to stimulate the economy. That's an example of what this election is all about"; he also pontificates about Pastor Terry Jones' "stunt" and how it threatens American lives abroad, reminding us that he's commander in chief and seeming to regret not ordering U.S. marshals to arrest him for endangering troops, saying "You don't play games with that", and repeating his support of Muslims' right to build a mosque anywhere they can get away with, esp. Ground Zero, never mentioning that he could work with the Muslims to move it in a compromise, cautioning Americans not to "turn on each other", and uttering the soundbyte: "We are not at war against Islam, we're at war against terrorist organizations that have distorted Islam or falsely used the banner of Islam to engage in their destructive acts - we've got to be clear about that"; he also announces the appointment of Austan Dean Goolsbee (1969-) chmn. of the Council of Economic Advisers (until ?); meanwhile thousands protest the Pastor Terry Jones Koran Burning media stunt in Afghanistan, burning effigies of Terry Jones, and resulting in at least one death as German troops shoot a protester outside a NATO base; meanwhile Iranian pres. Imanutjob says that Quran burning is a "Zionist plot" that will hasten Israel's annhilation, and Newt Gingrich calls on Obama to come out against the Ground Zero Mosque to show the Am. people some "even-handedness"; meanwhile CIA dir. Leon Panetta tells his employees in a 9/11 memorial message that "The enemy is defined not by any religion, but by their actions, their atrocities", saying "We are united by our shared belief in liberty, equality, tolerance, fairness, and better lives for our children" (so we are at war with Islam?); meanwhile a new U.S. Terror Report from the former heads of the 9/11 Commission says that the U.S. has been slow to take seriously threats posed by homegrown Islamic radicals and failed to put systems into place - duh, no brainer with a president like Obama? On Sept. 10 former Osama bin Laden comrade Norman Benotman calls for al-Qaida to stop its U.S. campaign, saying that the 9/11 attacks only brought sufferings to ordinary Muslims. On Sept. 10 a record 25 are killed by drug gangs in Juarez, Mexico; meanwhile 85 inmates scale the walls of Reynosa Prison and escape, while Pres. Felipe Calderon denies a statement by Hillary Clinton that Mexico resembles Colombia in the 1990s, saying "We face an increasing threat from a well-organized network, drug-trafficking threat that is, in some cases, morphing into, or making common cause with, what we would consider an insurgency." On Sept. 11 Pres. Obama marks the 9th Anniv. of 9/11 at the Pentagon, giving a speech with the soundbyte "We define the character of our country", continuing his act of pretending Islamic jihad doesn't exist by calling al-Qaida "some small band of murderers", while vice-pres. Joe Biden attends services at Ground Zero which begin with a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m when the first plane hit the North Tower of the WTC, and First Ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush mark it at the Shanksville, Penn. Flight 93 Memorial Site; New York anti-mosque activists Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller of Stop the Islamization of Am. and the Freedom Defense Initiative lead 40K in a protest against the Ground Zero Mosque (Cordoba House) (Park51) in New York City, where Dutch politician Geert Wilders delivers his No Mosque Here Speech, with the soundbytes "A tolerant society is not a suicidal society", "We must draw the line so that New York, rooted in Dutch tolerance will never become New Mecca", and "We must not give a free hand to those who want to subjugate us"; too bad, the already-subjugated major media skunk it despite giving unlimited publicity to the 1-man band Pastor Terry Jones; N.J. Transit worker Derek Fenton bravely burns pages from his Quran at Ground Zero, and is taken away by the pigs for questioning, then released, two days later getting fired, after which the ACLU takes up his cause, getting his job back with damages and lost wages by Apr. 2011; six men from Gateshead, Tyneside, England are later arrested for filming themselves burning Qurans on 9/11. On Sept. 11 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu demands that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, saying "That is the real basis of the end of demands from the state of Israel and the end of the conflict between the two peoples", but adds that he will not make it a precondition of talks; he also says that Israel won't continue the freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria beyond Sept. 26; on Sept. 15 the 2nd round of talks in Sharm e-Sheikh ends with no movement on the construction moratorium issue. On Sept. 11 Saudi diplomat Ali Ahmad Asseri asks the U.S. govt. for asylum because the Saudi govt. refused to renew his diplomatic passpart and fired him discovering he has a Jewish woman friend and is gay, saying he fears for his life and that if he returns "they will kill me openly in broad daylight". On Sept. 12 Pres. Obama extends the 9/11 state of emergency for another year. On Sept. 12 Turkish voters by 58-41 pass a sweeping constitutional reform package, veering it toward Sharia and away from secularism by reining in the possibility of secular military coups while protecting individual and women's rights on paper, but with no teeth for enforcement, allowing Islamist officers expelled from the military to appeal to the courts, which are controlled by Islamists; no surprise, Pres. Obama praises Turkey for this move, while Israeli defense minister Amos Gilad says that "If there is not a change in personality, then Turkey will become Iran number two". On Sept. 12 in an effort to save midterm elections for the Dems., Pres. Obama flops and backs extending the Bush-era tax cuts, but only for the 98% of Ams. making less than $250K a year. On Sept. 12 Repub. leader Newt Gingrich says that Pres. Obama harbors a deep-seated animosity toward the West coming from his daddy's rebellion against British rule in Kenya, calling him "factually insane", and his worldview "outside the comprehension" of most Americans. On Sept. 13 the Obama admin. closes a $60B arms deal with retro Sharia country Saudi Arabia, the biggest U.S. arms deal in history, incl. 84 F-15 Strike Eagles, 70 Apache helis, 72 Black Hawk helis, and 36 Little Bird helis; Pres. Obama's Nobel Peace Prize isn't even 1 year old; a plan to train Saudi pilots at Mountain Force AFB in Idaho in 2014-19 pisses-off the locals; meanwhile a U.S. envoy to the IAEA Glyn Davies urges Arab states to withdraw a resolution calling on Israel to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, saying it would give a negative signal to peace talks. On Sept. 13 deadly riots in Kashmir kill 16 after Iranian TV broadcasts images of Ams. desecrating the Quran, causing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to jump and claim that Quran-burning is like "shouting fire in a crowded theater" and hence can be banned, not mentioning that it should be the press that is punished not the individual for broadcasting the event worldwide and creating the crowded theater; the next day he flops and says that the Constitution does protect book burning, with the soundbyte "We protect expression that we hate" - so he loves the holy Quran and wants everybody to imbibe its evil ideology? On Sept. 13 Cuba announces that its bad economy is forcing it to fire 1M state by employees by next Mar. On Sept. 13 the FBI bans 16-y.-o. English teenie Luke Angel (1993-) from the U.S. for life for sending a drunken email to Pres. Obama that calls him a "punk". On Sept. 13 Italy announces that it's presenting a resolution to the U.N. to protect the rights of religious minorities in Pakistan from Muslims. On Sept. 13 the decision of the city council of Hartford, Conn. to reverse its decision to host an Islamic prayer in favor of an interfaith moment of silence pisses-off area Muslims, who demand Islamic prayer sessions. On Sept. 13 an Australian jury hears testimony about a planned attack by five Muslim men on Holsworth Army Base. On Sept. 13 blonde Mexican reporter Ines Sainz receives catcalls in the New York Jets locker room, causing the PC police to come out. On Sept. 13 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police pub. their annual report for 2010-1, containing the first mention of a possible coup d'etat. On Sept. 14 Sarah Shourd of the U.S. is released after 400 days in solitary confinement in Iran (July 2009) for alleged spying after paying £500K bail. On Sept. 14 Mexican immigration minister (since 2006) Cecilia Romero Castillo resigns three weeks after the massacre of 72 Central and South Am. migrants. On Sept. 14 (9 p.m.) a bomb alert at the Eiffel Tower in Paris causes 25K to be evacuated. On Sept. 14 a panel of U.S. nat. security experts releases a report saying that Pres. Obama is abandoning the U.S. to Muslim Sharia by his policy of delinking Islam to terrorism et al., threatening subversion of the U.S. Constitutional govt. On Sept. 14-18 Category 3 Hurricane Karl forms off the coast of Venezuela then hits the Yucatan Peninsula, killing three. On Sept. 15 Western govts. accuse Iran of trying to intimidate the IAEA by barring some nuclear inspectors; the U.S. warns them of possible diplomatic consequences. On Sept. 15 U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano tells the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that the U.S.-Mexico border is largely secured, and asks lawmakers to quit "moving the goalposts". On Sept. 15 Gaza militants fire mortars and rockets at S Israel to stop peace talks, causing Israeli aircraft to bomb a smuggling tunnel at the Egyptian border, killing a Palestinian. On Sept. 15 Iranian pres. Madmaninastraightjacket interviews head-covered Andrea Mitchel on NBC Nightly News, saying that "Muslims do not hate America" - just the non-Muslims in it? On Sept. 15 Pres. Obama addresses the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Inst. 33rd Annual Award Gala in Washington, D.C., and omits the word "Creator" from the Declaration of Independence. On Sept. 15 Austrian diplomat's daughter Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff is charged with "hate speech" and "denigration of religious teaching" by the Islam ignoramus Austrian govt. for speaking against Islamic Sharia, with the soundbyte "Sharia is a definite no-no. We want no gender apartheid, no ghettoes, no social and cultural discrimination, no polygamy, no theocracy, no hate." On Sept. 16 ailing Mexico celebrates its bicentennial, complete with a $40M celebration - how long till the Megamerge Dissolution Solution? On Sept. 16 South Korean pres. Lee Myung-bak names Kim Hwang-sik as PM of South Korea (until ?). On Sept. 16 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton leaves the Middle East with no sign of breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after three days. On Sept. 16 (5:20 p.m.) a 100 mph tornado-like storm hits Brooklyn, N.Y., killing one and leaving 25K without power. On Sept. 16-19 Pope Benedict XVI visits Britain (at a cost of 10M pounds to the British govt.), offering to "extend the hand of friendship", and urging it to resist "more aggressive forms of secularism" after the queen welcomes him at Holyroodhouse in Edinbugh, praising Britain for fighting Hitler's "atheist extremism", and saying that though it had a "great history of anti-Catholicism" it also had a "great history of tolerance"; he also expresses a "great sadness" for the pedophile priest scandal, saying "It is difficult to understand how this perversion of the priestly ministry was possible", and why the "authority of the Church" was not "sufficiently vigilant"; the Vatican is shocked at the hostile British reaction to him; on Sept. 15 six Algerian Muslims are arrested for a plot to kill him, then released after the police decide there's "no credible threat"; during his flight from Rome, he said the child sex abuse scandal by the clergy was a great personal shock to him; the pope meets with the secy.-gen. of the Muslim Council of Britain; on Sept. 18 the Raelians file suit against the pope, claiming that he violated human rights by claiming that condoms don't stop the spread of AIDS. On Sept. 17 Pres. Obama announces the appointment of Harvard law prof. (consumer advocate) Elizabeth Warren as the head of a new consumer financial protection bureau. On Sept. 17 Ark. Repub. leader Mike Huckabee says that Pres. Obama treats Muslims better than Jews or Christians, adding "it certainly would be helpful if he would show a little love to the people that are unapologetically Christian." On Sept. 18 Chile celebrates its bicentennial. On Sept. 18 elections in Afghanistan are attacked by the Taliban with 739 attacks as 2.5K candidates incl. 400 women run for the 249 seats of the lower house; the results are announced on Oct. 8. On Sept. 19 Pres. Obama makes his first appearance in a church since Easter Sun. at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.; it later is revealed that the church also invited Jerusalem-born Muslim guest speaker Dr. Ziad J. Asali (1942-), 2003 founder of the Am. Task Force on Palestine, which promotes a 2-state solution, with Asali known as the official U.S. delegate to the funeral of Yasser Arafat; ask the PC media why they tried to cover it up, although Obama left before he spoke; meanwhile his moderate Repub. point man Colin Powell appears on NBC's "Meet the Press", calling all the talk of his secret Muslim leanings and foreign birth "nonsense", saying "Let's not go down low... Let's attack him on policy, not nonsense." On Sept. 19 Islamist gunmen kill 23 in Racht Valley in Tajikistan 150 mi. E of Dushanbe. On Sept. 19 a Somali-descent Muslim British citizen from Liverpool is arrested on a plan en route to Entebbe, Uganda for suspected terrorism. On Sept. 20 after the worst U.S. recession since the 1930s is officially declared to be over last June (begun Dec. 2007) by the Nat. Bureau of Economic Research, Pres. Obama holds a town hall meeting hosted by CNBC, and commiserates with his mainly disappointed supporters, saying "Even though economists may say the recession officially ended last year, obviously for the millions of people who are still out of work... It is still very real for them"; he adds "I am confident that the American dream will continue. There is not a country in the world that would not want to change places with us." On Sept. 20 France announces that it is stepping up vigilance against terror threats, incl. one against the Paris transport network. On Sept. 20 Turkish pres. Abdullah Gul abruptly cancels a planned meeting with Israeli pres. Shimon Peres at Bill Clinton's Millennium Challenge after Peres won't apologize for the Gaza Flotilla incident, but meets with Israel-hating Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket, who on Sept. 21 addresses the U.N. Gen. Assembly, saying that Capitalism is failing, and that a "pure, righteous and glorious" NWO should be created, and warning the U.S. that if its nuclear facilities are attacked, it will start a war "without boundaries", and that "war is not just bombs", also calling Hillary Clinton "an enemy of Iran", and saying that "the Zionist regime is finished" and can't attack Iran, so they're not even planning for an attack; meanwhile French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy vows a fight on world poverty, pledging to boost aid to the world's poorest by 20% over three years and inviting other nations to join. On Sept. 20 three U.S. drone attacks in South Waziristan,Pakistan kill 25+. On Sept. 20 Lebanese Muslim Sami Samir Hassoun of Chicago, Ill. is charged in federal court with trying to blow up a bomb in Wrigley Field after the FBI targeted him and set him up. On Sept. 20 a report by the U.N. World Meteorological Org. (WMO) says that the ozone level is recovering and will return to pre-1980 levels by 2048, while the annual springtime ozone hole over the Antarctic will recover by 2073. On Sept. 20 (Mon.) Mark Roberts' sitcom Mike & Molly debuts on CBS-TV for 127 episodes (until May 16, 2016), starring William "Billy" Gardell (1969-) and Melissa Ann McCarthy (1970-) as fat couple Mike Biggs and Molly Flynn, who met in a Chicago Overeaters Anonymous group. On Sept. 20-21 the Earth is at its closest approach to Jupiter in a decade, and brighter than any night sky object other than the Moon. On Sept. 21 a U.S. Army Black Hawk heli crashes in Zhari District in Zabul Province in S Afghanistan, killing nine coalition service members, becoming the deadliest coalition heli crash since 2006, and bringing the yearly death total to 529 (2.1K since the start of the war), making it the deadliest year of the war. On Sept. 21 U.S. Sen. Dems. fail to break a Repub. filibuster of a defense authorization bill that also would have allowed the repeal of the DREAM ACT that would give citizenship to illegals who go to college, and the military's 17-y.-o. Don't Ask Don't Tell policy prohibiting openly gay men and women from serving in the armed forces; the bill is defeated in a largely party-line vote of 56-43, with no Repubs. voting for it, and three Dems. voting against it. On Sept. 21 German chancellor Angela Markel admits that Muslim immigration is transforming Germany, and that Germans should get used to more mosques than churches. On Sept. 21 Italian authorities seize 23M euros of Vatican bank assets from the Rome branch of the Credito Artigiano Spa bank as part of an investigation into money laundering. On Sept. 21 Palestinian Authority PM Salam Fayyad walks out of a U.N. meeting after refusing to acknowledge to the Israeli rep that the "2-state solution" he claims to accept is "two states for two peoples", i.e., a Jewish and a Muslim state. On Sept. 21 U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy introduces the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) that would allow the U.S. govt. to order Internet domains shut down, with the U.S. Dept. of Justice being able to get around judicial review, disturbing civil libertarians. On Sept. 21 (well-named?) well-built black Lithonia, Ga. New Birth Missionary Baptist Church (25K members) anti-gay bishop Eddie Lee Long (1953-) (who once called homosexuality a "spiritual abortion") is sued for preying sexually on teenie boys, exposing him as a closet gay even though he is a prominent spokesman against homosexuality; he is caught sending photos of himself in a muscle shirt to 16-y.-o. congregation boys to entice them; his congregation covers for him for years? On Sept. 21 Chinese PM Wen Jiabao threatens retaliation against Japan unless it releases a trawler capt. accused of ramming two Japanese coast guard ships near disputed islands; on Sept. 23 it blocks export of rare earth metals to Japan. On Sept. 21 a bomb explodes in a crowd watching a military parade in Mahabad in NW Iran in a Kurdish area near the Iraq-Turkey border, killing 12 and injuring dozens. On Sept. 21 Russia officially bans the sale of S-300 missile systems to Iran 3 mo. after U.N. sanctions were imposed. On Sept. 21 al-Qaida in North Africa claims responsibility for abducting five French nationals in Niger the week before. On Sept. 22 (early a.m.) a bomb explodes 100M from the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia; next July it is is traced to Russian GRU officer Maj. Yevgeny Borisov of Abkhazia. On Sept. 22 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton congratulates Saudi King Abdullah on Saudi Arabia's nat. day, praising him for his Arab Peace Initiative calling for Israeli withdrawal to pre-1967 boundaries, with East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state. On Sept. 22 a 56-page report by the 3-member U.N. Human Rights Council fact-finding mission concludes that Israel's naval blockade Gaza is unlawful because of the humanitarian crisis there, and calls the IDF raid on the flotilla brutal and disproportionate, accusing the IDF of murder of two, incl. 19-y.-o. Turkish-Am. citizen Furkan Dogan (1991-2010); causing the Israeli Foreign Ministry to respond that the council has a "biased, politicized and extremist approach." On Sept. 22 Iranian pres. Madmaninastraightjacket gives an interview with CNN's Lary King, calling Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu "a skilled killer" who "should be put on trial for killing women and children", and saying that Iran has "no interest" in nukes and that nobody is concerned about the issue other than "the Zionist regime and some American authorities"; he gives another interview to Christane Amanpour, saying that he's open to working with the U.S. against the Taliban. On Sept. 22 an appeals court in Miami, Fla. rules 3-0 that the 33-y.-o. Fla. law banning adoption by gays and lesbians is unconstitutional; the Fla. supreme court will rule next. On Sept. 22 18-y.-o. Rutgers U. student Tyler Clementi (b. 1991) commits suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge in New York City after a video of him having sex with a dude is put on the Internet by roommate Dharun Ravi. On Sept. 22 U.S. homeland secy. Janet Napolitano releases the DHS Official Statement on Terrorism in America, cataloging one example of Islamic terrorists bent on destroying the U.S. after another then denying that Islam has anything to do with it, as per her boss Obama's orders; meanwhile FBI dir. Robert S. Mueller III tells Congress that the spike in recent homegrown terrorist cases is evidence of an evolving threat as "Groups affiliated with al-Qaida are now actively targeting the United States and looking to use Americans or Westerners who are able to remain undetected by heightened security measures." On Sept. 22 Euro airports are put on high alert amid report of planned attacks by female Algerian suicide bombers, according to Israeli Web site Debka. On Sept. 22 an Israeli contractor kills two Palestinians in East Jerusalem, causing mass protests. On Sept. 23 Teresa Lewis (b. 1970) is executed in Va. after being convicted of hiring two men to kill her husband, becoming the first execution of a female in Va. since 1912. On Sept. 23 U.S. House Repubs. announce their conservative 21-page Pledge to America, promising to reverse Obama's programs and shrink the size of govt.; Pres. Obama calls it "irresponsible". On Sept. 23 one week after the Senate passes it,the U.S. House by 237-187 passes a $42B small jobs bill. On Sept. 23 Pres. Obama gives an address to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, promoting human rights and democracy, with the soundbyte: "Part of the price of our own freedom is standing up for the freedom of others - that belief will guide America's leadership in this 21st century", and challenging delegates to support an Israeli-Palestinian peace and accept the Jewish state of Israel, saying "Israel's existence must not be a subject for debate. Israel is a sovereign state, and the historic homeland of the Jewish people. It should be clear to all that efforts to chip away at Israel's legitimacy will only be met by the unshakeable opposition of the United States"; he also calls for the Israeli building moratorium to be extended, and adds that Israel "must understand that true security for the Jewish state requires an independent Palestine – one that allows the Palestinian people to live with dignity and opportunity"; "If an agreement is not reached, Palestinians will never know the pride and dignity that comes with their own state. Israelis will never know the certainty and security that comes with sovereign and stable neighbors who are committed to co-existence. The hard realities of demography will take hold. More blood will be shed. This Holy Land will remain a symbol of our differences instead of our common humanity." On Sept. 23 Iranian pres. Madman Inadinnajacket gives a speech at the U.N., where he backs the 911 Truther Movement that claims that the U.S. not Islam did 9/11 in order "to reverse the declining American economy and its grip on the Middle East, and in order to save the Zionist regime" (he won't admit the existence of Israel), causing the U.S. and 31 other nations to walk out, incl. all 27 EU nations, Australia, New Zealand, and Costa Rica, while the rest of the 192 nations applaud, after which Pres. Obama calls his claims about 9/11 ""offensive" and "hateful", adding "Particularly for him to make the statement here in Manhattan,just a little north of Ground Zero, where families lost theirloved ones, people of all faiths, all ethnicities who see this as the seminal tragedy of this generation, for him to make a statement like that was inexcusable"; Ahmadinejad asks the U.N. to proclaim 2011 as the Year of Nuclear Disarmament, with the slogan "Nuclear energy for all, nuclear weapons for none"; too bad, Obama also says "We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever... we absorbed it and we are stronger", causing some to claim that not only did the U.S. govt. do 9/11 but that it's planning a nuclear followup; the U.S. org. Muslims of the Americas supports Dinnerjacket's speech. On Sept. 23 the children's TV show Sesame Street pulls an episode featuring singer Katy Perry in a dress that some claim shows too much cleavage. On Sept. 23 to counter his bad image in the new movie "The Social Network", new billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg donates $100M to the schools of Newark, N.J. - should be 20 times that? On Sept. 23 the U. of Ill. unanimously denies emeritus status to Obama's friend-acquaintance Bill Ayers after board chmn. Christopher George Kennedy (1963-) (son of RFK) gave a speech containing the soundbyte "I intend to vote against conferring the honorific title of our university to a man whose body of work includes a book dedicated in part to the man who murdered my father, Robert F. Kennedy." On Sept. 23 the Taliban blows up two more girls schools in Peshawark, Pakistan, bring the total to 1K+ over the last five years. On Sept. 23 the world's northernmost mosque arrives by barge in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. On Sept. 24 Turkish interior minister Besir Atalay calls on Germany to stop harboring separatist Kurdish rebels. On Sept. 24 comedian Stephen T. Colbert testifies in full character on immigration reform for 5 min. in front of a U.S. House subcommittee, which Dem. House majority leader Steny H. Hoyer calls "not appropriate - I think it was an embarrassment for Mr. Colbert more than the House." On Sept. 24 an Arab-backed measure to force Israel to accede to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is narrowly defeated at the annual meeting of the IAEA in Vienna. On Sept. 24 concerned about textbooks that contain glowing descriptions of Islam while ignoring or dissing Christianity, the Texas State Board of Education by 7-5 adopts a resolution urging textbook publishers to limit what they print about Islam in world history books. On Sept. 24 two Mexican mayors, Prisciliano Rodriguez of Doctor Gonzalez, and Ricardo Solis of Gran Morelos are murdered, bringing the yearly total to four; on Sept. 27 Gustavo Sanchez (b. 1981), mayor of Tancitaro is stoned to death along with an aide; on Sept. 25 U.S. border inspector Oscar Obaldo Ortiz Martinez is charged with taking $50K to wave-in drug-laden vehicles; meanwhile on Sept. 22 Mexican pres. Felipe Calderone announces a new plan to protect journalists, who say it won't be enough to protect press freedom. On Sept. 24 Hamas PM Ismail Haniya appears on Al-Jazeera TV and reaffirms support for the "Iraqi resistance", with the soundbyte: "The Quran is our constitution, Allah is our destination, the Prophet Muhammad is our leader, Jihad is our path, and death for the sake of Allah is our most supreme desire." On Sept. 24 lesbian USAF flight nurse Maj. Margaret Witt is ordered reinstated by a federal judge, making her the first openly gay U.S. military member and challenging the Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy; on Oct. 12 U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips of Riverside, Calif. suspends enforcement of the DADT policy after a lawsuit by gay GOP grop Log Cabin Repubs., requiring the govt. to appeal to reinstate it; meanwhile on Oct. 19 they announce that they will begin admitting openly gay recruits, subject to a court reversal. On Sept. 24 the Washington Times reveals that despite denials, the J Street lobby org. was heavily funded by George Soros; on Sept. 30 it reveals that it facilitated meetings been members of Congress and South African judge Robert Goldstone, author of the U.N.-sponsored Goldstone Report slamming Israel. On Sept. 24 the police procedural drama Blue Bloods debuts on CBS-TV for ? episodes (until ?), about the Irish-Am. Reagan family of NYPD police officers, led by former USMC officer and Vietnam vet Francis X. "Frank" Reagan, played by Thomas William "Tom" Selleck (1945-). On Sept. 25 Jordanian king Abdullah II appears on "The Daily Show" and says that if Israel restarts settlement construction there could be a war by the end of the year. On Sept. 25 a shipment of 8,080 computers worth $1.8M for schoolchildren in Babil (Babylon), Iraq that arrived at the main seaport in Feb. officially disappears. On Sept. 25 Egyptian grand imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb leads an extraordinary meeting of the Islamic Research Center to express shock and dismay at comments by Coptic bishop Bishoy criticizing the Quran, saying it "threatens national security", causing Coptic Pope Shenouda III to apologize. On Sept. 25 the Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC) uses the coverstory of "Islamophobia" to call for the U.N. to develop a "legally binding institutional instrument" to muzzle free speech about Islam; meanwhile U.S. officials announce that they want sweeping new regulations allowing them to wiretap the Internet. On Sept. 26 former Mass. Repub. gov. Mitt Romney calls the first two years of Pres. Obama's admin. "an abject failure"; meanwhile on Sept. 22 Obama is heckled by gay activists at a fundraiser in New York City for not getting the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy overturned and fornot getting for funding for AIDS programs, causing him to tell them to blame the Repubs. not him. On Sept. 26 a Jewish Freedom Flotilla consisting of the British-flagged Irene sets sail from Turkish-occupied Famagusta, Cyprus to Gaza carrying nine, incl. members of the U.K. group Jews for Justice for Palestinians; it is intercepted by the IDF and steered to Ashkelon without incident. On Sept. 26 (midnight) the 10-mo. new housing moratorium in the West Bank ends, and Mahmoud Abbas reneges on his threat to quit peace negotiations, causing the U.S. State Dept. to say that it is disappointed, and offer security guarantees to Israel in exchange for a 60-day freeze renewal. On Sept. 27 (11:22 GMT) a 6.1 earthquake in Konar Takhteh, W of Shiraz, Iran kills one and injures three. On Sept. 27 rumors circulate that the U.N. is appointing Malaysian astrophysicist Mazlan Othman of the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs as its official extraterrestrial greeter. On Sept. 27 the 35-member U.N. Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) votes for Pakistan to chair its governing board despite its widely-condemned nuclear bomb tests in 1998. On Sept. 27 ICANN (Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers) drops their policy of doing background cheps for new Top Level Domain applicants after Muslims complain and demand submission. On Sept. 27 Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez announces that Venezuela is thinking about starting a nuclear energy program. On Sept. 27 Disney Corp. caves into a Chicago Muslim woman who demands to be allowed to wear an Islamic hijab head scarf to work, but she agrees to wear a beret over it. On Sept. 27 WikiLeaks suffers a mass defection after founder Julian Paul Assange (1971-) refuses to cancel an Oct. release of 392K more classified U.S. documents from the Iraq War. On Sept. 27 a plan to build a mosque in Tekstilshchiki, Moscow causes mass protests. On Sept. 27 a Politico/George Washington U. Battleground Poll reveals that only 38% of U.S. voters would vote to reelect him, and 44% have already decided to vote for someone else; meanwhile Sen. Dems. quietly agree to block recess appointments by Obama. On Sept. 27 gold hits a record high of $1308.50 an oz., while silver hits its highest price in 30 years of $21.70 an oz. On Sept. 28 former U.S. U.N. ambassador John Bolton blasts Pres. Obama in the Washington Times, saying that his appeasement of Islamists in Sudan may rekindle genocide; meanwhile Obama gives a backyard chat in Albuquerque, N.M., dissing the Repubs. for not having "good answers" on how to pay for their economic plans, incl. cutting education spending by 20%, and asking questions about his faith with the soundbyte "I'm Christian by choice", admitting that his mother "didn't raise me in the church" and that his family doesn't attend church every week, adding "I came to my Christian faith later in life", and that his "understanding that... Jesus Christ dying for my sins spoke to the humility we all have to have as human beings, that we're sinful and we're flawed and we make mistakes, and that... we achieve salvation through the grace of God. But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people and do our best to help them find... their own grace. And so that's what I strive to do. That's what I pray to do every day. I think my public service is part of that effort to express my Christian faith"; too bad, at a campaign stop in 2007 he said the opposite, namely, that he became a Christian through his mother, with the soundbyte "My mother was a Christian from Kansas... I was raised by my mother, so I've always been a Christian"; he also takes pains to point out that the U.S. "is still predominantly Christian. We have Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, and... their own path to grace is one that we have to revere and respect as much as our own"; meanwhile on Sept. 2 conservative Christian pundit Ann Hart Coulter (1961-) says that maybe he's really an atheist playing the crowd. On Sept. 28 mudslides in Oaxaca, Mexico bury a village, trapping hundreds while they sleep. On Sept. 28 Kim Jong-il's son Kim Jong-un (1983-) officially becomes 2nd in command in nuke-powered North Korea. On Sept. 28 a plot by eight German and two British Muslims to launch Mumbai-style terrorist attacks on Britain and other Euro countries is exposed and stopped by intel agencies, causing the U.S. to step-up drone attacks in Pakistan per Pres. Obama's doctrine that "the cancer is in Pakistan"; Osama bin Laden personally directed the plot?; on Oct. 5 French police arrest 12 suspected terrorists. On Sept. 28 Octavio Garcia Von Borstel (1981-), mayor of Nogales, Mexico is arrested on bribery and corruption charges. On Sept. 28 the govt. of Kenya announces its intention of going nuclear by 2017, with the U.S. giving them $25M to get started. On Sept. 28 Colton J. Tooley (1991-) runs through the U. of Tex. campus in Austin firing an AK-47, then killing himself. On Sept. 28 non-practising Muslim Ed Husic becomes the first Muslim Australian MP; his parents are Bosnian immigrants. On Sept. 28 Sacred Heart Primary School in Blackburn, England becomes the first to go Muslim as the Catholic students plunge from 91% to 3% in 10 years. On Sept. 28 the German Gothaer Insurance Co. apologizes for trying to avoid paying a male Muslim accident victim for a maid while recovering by citing the Quran. On Sept. 28 Eric Lewis, atty. for a rival Saudi family tells the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversights and Investigations that the leading Saudi Al Sanea family has laundered up to $1T through U.S. banks. On Sept. 28 the first snow falls in Britain, becoming the earliest cold snap since 2003. On Sept. 28 Claude Heller of Mexico urges the U.N. Gen. Assembly to ratify an internat. convention protecting the rights of migrant workers and their families. On Sept. 28 as part of a midwest tour, Pres. Obama addresses students at the U. of Wisc., telling them "We can't sit this one out", referring to the upcoming nat. elections. On Sept. 28 the Viva Palestina convoy of 150 vehicles headed by U.K. lawmaker George Galloway departs from Istanbul, Turkey for Gaza with 5 tons of supplies; it arrives on Rafa on Oct. 21 after the Egyptians pass them through. On Sept. 28-30 the Conference on Islam and Muslims in America is held in Chicago, Ill., with the goal of establishing a new caliphate along with Sharia in the U.S.; the White House sends special envoy Rashad Hussein and Dalia Mogahed. On Sept. 29 Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak addresses the U.N. Gen. Assembly and calls for a "global movement of the moderates" in the Islamic world who will openly take a stand against Islamic extremism. On Sept. 29 U.S. citizen (of Algerian descent) Mohamed Omar Debhi (1967-) is arrested in Spain for sending 60K euros to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. On Sept. 29 the Obama admin. slaps financial and travel sanctions on eight Iranian officials accused of human rights abuses. On Sept. 29 Hossein Derakhshan, "the Father of Blogging in Iran" is sentenced to 19 years in jail. On Sept. 30 the Dutch Liberal Party and Christian Dems. join with the anti-Islam Freedom Party of Geert Wilders to form the first minority govt. in the Netherlands since WWII (until ?); a Taliban spokesman threatens an attack by a "jihadist group" if Wilders keeps influencing Dutch policies; meanwhile a poll in Germany reveals that a majority believe that the country's 4M Muslims are an economic burden. On Sept. 30 a 7.2 earthquake hits E Indonesia off Papua Province underneath the ocean floor. On Sept. 30 Ecuadoran pres. Rafael Correa is assaulted and kidnapped by rebel police and held in a police hospital in Quito until he is rescued by soldiers, after which the police chief resigns for failing to stop it. On Sept. 30 Muslims and Hindus agree to divide the holy site of Ayodhya. On Sept. 30 Pakistan cuts a key NATO supply route for its forces in Afghanistan after a NATO aircraft crosses into Pakistani airspace to fight Afghan rebels, and kills three Pakistani troops; despite a U.S. apology, they refuse to reopen it; on Oct. 1 militants attack NATO fuel convoys in Pakistan, burning 27 tankers - Obama's foreign policy is coming apart? On Sept. 30 Repub. Calif. gov. candidate Meg Whitman claims that she didn't know that her longtime housekeeper Nicandra Diaz Santillan was an illegal immigrant until June 2009, when she promptly fired her, causing her to say that Whitman "treated her like a dog". On Sept. 30 Czech Repub. pres. Vaclas Klaus says that the EU is "weakening" free markets and democracy with massive regulations, comparing it to the "authoritative, oppressive, and nonfunctioning" Commie regime in Czech's past. On Sept. 30 Calif. gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs a Calif. law partly decriminalizing marijuana, making possession of up to 1 oz. an infraction with a max fine of $100. On Sept. 30 the Washington Times reports that the allegedly Jewish lobbying org. J Street facilitated meetings with South African judge Richard Goldstone and members of the U.S.Congress in Nov. 2009, causing pres. Jeremy Ben-Ami to downplay it; meanwhile the Obama admin. begins distancing itself from the org. On Sept. 30 Calif. gov. Ahnuld Terminator signs SB 1317, a statewide anti-truancy law designed to curb absenteeism, allowing state officials to prosecute parents when their kids don't show up for school, to go into effect next Jan. 1; the law was created by "female Obama" Kamala Harris; too bad, it makes a misdemeanor of missing just three days of school in a year, with up to a $2.5K fine and a year in jail for the parents, who will most likely be disproprionately black and Hispanic, breeding disrespect for the law? On Sept. 30 the new Chinese Shanghai-Hangzhou High-Speed Train sets a world record of 259 mph (416.6 km/h). On Sept. 30 the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture announces a plan to rid Guam of brown tree snakes by dropping frozen mice laced with acetaminophen. On Sept. 30 Colo. residents David Hartley (1980-) and Tiffany Hartley (1981-) are ambushed by Mexican pirates while jet-skiing on Falcon Lake in Tex. near the Mexican border, and David is shot in the head and killed, after which an investigator is beheaded and his head delivered in a suitcase. In Sept. the magnificent $578M 24-acre ($140K per student) Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools Complex in Wilshire, Los Angeles, Calif. opens, the most expensive public school in U.S. history, becoming a monument to Ahnuld's debt to the Kennedy family at the expense of education and the ailing Calif. economy?; the Los Angeles Staples Sports and Entertainment Center cost $375M. In Sept. the U.S. Agency for Internat. Development (AID) gives a $250K grant to the H.L. Education for Peace (Geneva Initiative) to pay for an ad campaign in Israel with the slogan "We are partners - what about you?" In Sept. the U.S. loses a net 95K jobs, leaving the unemployment rate at 9.6%. In Sept. after pressure by LGBT orgs. on health minister David Chiriboga Allnutt, 200 illegal "reparative therapy clinics" designed to cure homosexuality are shut down by the govt. of Ecuador. In Sept. U.S. home foreclosures exceed 100K for the first time, with 930,437 since July. In Sept. an AP-MTV Poll finds that college students are cooling to Pres. Obama, with 44% approving of the job he's doing, and 27% unhappy, compared to 60% and 15% in May 2009. On Oct. 1 Rahm "Rahmbo" Emanuel tearfully resigns to run for mayor of Chicago, and Peter Mikami "Pete" Rouse (1946-) becomes interim White House chief of staff, the first of Asian descent (his mother is a 2nd gen. Japanese-Am.), who negotiated the terms of Pres. Clinton's impeachment to make sure that no evidence against him would be entered in the Sen. trial, and convinced Obama to vote against John Roberts in his U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearing; Emanuel is presented a gift of a dead Asian carp by new Council of Economic Advisers chmn. Austan Goolsbee, alluding to the legend that he sent a dead fish to a pollster he didn't like a la "The Godfather". On Oct. 1 two car bombs explode in Abuja, Nigeria on its 50th independence anniv., killing seven. On Oct. 1 three grenades explode near the U.S. consulate in Monterrey, Mexico; meanwhile the Mexican govt. prepares to put all local police under a "unified command" to restore public trust, closing 2.2K local police depts. On Oct. 1 the Pentagon's new Cyber Command becomes operational. On Oct. 1 an independent, er, the White House releases a Report on the Economic Stimulus Package, claiming that it is coming in on time and under budget, with strikingly few claims of fraud or abuse. On Oct. 1 the Security Policy Inst. of George Washington U. and the Center for Assymetric Threat Studies of the Swedish Nat. Defense College release a report saying that the U.S. and EU need to work together to stop homegrown terrorists. On Oct. 1 former Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf announces that he's returning to politics to battle corruption, revive the economy, and fight Islamist militants; meanwhile a new tape allegedly by Osama bin Laden criticizes Pakistan relief efforts and calls for action against climate change, claiming that it caused the Pakistani floods - finally giving away that he's a CIA plant? On Oct. 1 the U.S. govt. admits to infecting hundreds of Guatemalans with syphilis in 1946-8. On Oct. 1 Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr publicly backs struggling Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki in a bid to give his own anti-U.S. bloc political legitimacy. On Oct. 1 the U.S. Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 is introduced by U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). On Oct. 1 a protest against the Stuttgart 21 project in Stuttgart, Germany injures 116. On Oct. 1 (11:00 GMT) China launches the Chang'e-2 Moon probe. On Oct. 2 a double train crash in C Indonesia kills 36 and injures 26. On Oct. 2 Britain finally recognizes it ancient religion of Druidry as a religion and gives it charitable status. On Oct. 2 Calif. gov. Ahnuld signs a law decriminalizing possession of up to 1 oz. of marijuana. On Oct. 3 Iranian pres. Madman Inastraightjacket calls for U.S. leaders to be "buried" for threatening its nuke program militarily, with the classic Iranian insult "May the undertaker bury you, your table and your body, which has soiled the world." On Oct. 3 the labor union and NAACP-led One Nation Rally on the Mall in Washington, D.C., meant to counter Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally slams the Repubs. and conservatives for racism and bigotry; too bad, the crowd is tiny, and the Communist Party USA openly endorses it. On Oct. 3 Germany finally makes its last payment on its WWI reparation debt; meanwhile German pres. Christian Wulff gives a speech celebrating two decades of reunification, weighing in on the immigration debate and the 4M Muslim in Germany, saying that "Islam also has a place in Germany" (belongs to Germany) along with Christianity and Judaism, pissing-off conservatives incl. fellow Christian Dems.; on Oct. 6 chancellor Angela Merkel (who praised the German soccer team this year for its multiethnicity) says that multiculturalim has "utterly failed", and that Muslims must obey the German constitution and not Sharia law if they want to live in Germany, and "must not only obey our laws, they must also master our language', adding "Our culture is based on Christian and Jewish values and has been for hundreds of years, not to say thousands", adding that after inviting foreign workers in, they made them mistake of thinking they wouldn't stay; on Oct. 27 Merkel disses Geert Wilders for praising her, saying she in no way wants to express "criticism of Islam"; on Oct. 18-22 Wulff visits Turkey, becoming the first official visit by a German pres. in 10 years, and tells the Turkish parliament "Christianity too undoubtedly belongs to Turkey", to stony silence - at least they're anti-Semites like us? On Oct. 3 the Indian Mujahideen of Assam threaten to launch a biological war in Assam if their supporters aren't released from jail within 24 hours. On Oct. 3 two Israeli Givati soldiers (unidentified) are convicted of using a 9-y.-o. Palestinian boy as a human shield in the 22-day 2008-9 Gaza War; on Nov. 21 they are given suspended sentences of 3mo. and demotions from staff sgt. to sgt. On Oct. 3 a Non Sequitur comic strip by Wiley Miller satirizing U.S. media hesitancy to offend Islam is pulled by many newspapers for fear of you know what. On Oct. 4 a Hungarian Toxic Sludge Spill of iron, silicon and aluminum oxide begins in Kolontar, Hungary 45 mi. S of the Danube River, spreading deadly ochre red sludge there on Oct. 7, becoming as big as the Gulf Oil Spill. On Oct. 4 Iraq raises its proven oil reserves figure by 25% to convince OPEC to grant it a higher output quota in an effort to match the clout of #1 producer Saudi Arabia. On Oct. 4 Pakistani intel officials announce a successful drone strike that killed eight German nationals in Waziristan; meanwhile Europe stiffens security with high expectation of an al-Qaida attack. On Oct. 4 a Gallup Poll reveals that 57% of 18-to-29-year-olds still support Pres. Obama, along with 91% of African-Ams., 79% of Dems., and 75% of liberals, which doesn't stop 56% of likely voters from supporting the Repubs., vs. 38% for Dems., giving Repubs. an "enthusiasm advantage"; on Oct. 5 a ABC News/Washington Post Poll shows 49% for the Repubs. vs. 43% for the Dems. (vs. 53-40 in Sept.), the lartest GOP lead over the Dems. since their first poll in 1982; 71% are dissatisfied with the federal govt. On Oct. 4 the Am. Sociological Review pub. a study claiming that predatory lending aimed at racially-segregated minority neighborhoods led to the mass foreclosures that fueled the U.S. housing crisis. On Oct. 4 former senior U.N. official Antonio Maria Costa claims that Taliban sleeper cells have been set up inside Afghan police and army forces, and are waiting for orders to strike. On Oct. 4 the U.S. State Dept. issues a travel alert warning of Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe, incl. the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and Hotel Adlon near the Brandenburg Gate in Germany, causing German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere to dismiss them as "alarmist", claiming that they help the terrorists spread fear. On Oct. 4 the U.S. Justice Dept. sues Am. Express, Visa, and MasterCard for violating antitrust laws for trying to prevent customers from getting a discount for not using a credit card. On Oct. 4 former U.S. vice-pres. Walter Mondale says that Pres. Obama relies too much on teleprompters, calling them "idiot boards" tht keep him from connecting with audiences; meanwhile on Oct. 5 a poll for the Arab Am. Inst. by Zogby Internat. reveals that Arab-Ams. will vote Dem. by 2-1, and are pro-Ground Zero Mosque, the controversy reinforcing their Dem. leanings. On Oct. 4 In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) pioneer Robert Geoffrey "Bob" Edwards (1925-) is awarded the Nobel Med. Prize, causing the Vatican to diss it. On Oct. 4 the hate speech circus trial begins for Danish anti-Islamization leader-hero Geert Wilders (1963-), who gives a speech with the soundbyte "We will not accept Islamization"; British EU MP Gerard Batten braves the PC police to stand up for him, saying "He's standing up for Western liberal democracy in the face of an ideology that wants to destroy it"; on Oct. 15 after the farce continues as far as they can get away with, all of the weapon-like Sharia-compliant charges are recommended by prosecutors to be dropped, which doesn't stop the court, which allows the ridiculous Dutch-hating Muslim "aggrieved parties" to take them over on Oct. 19; on Oct. 22 after a motion by Wilders claiming that judge Tom Schalken tried to influence Arabist Hans Jansen during a dinner, a retrial is ordered; on June 22, 2011 he is finally acquitted, which doesn't stop them from plotting against him. On Oct. 5 despite opposition from Islamic states, the U.N. Human Rights Council passes a resolution on women's rights, establishing a 5-person working group to advise govts. on eliminating laws and practices discriminating against women. On Oct. 5 the Obama admin. announces plans for solar panels on the White House by next spring, despite the fact that 1-term Dem. pres. Jimmy Carter did it first. On Oct. 5 Gavriel Avital was fired as Israel's education ministery chief scientist for his views favoring creationism and denying global warming - you can't believe in Jehovah and be a top scientist in Israel? On Oct. 5 Islamic terrorist Istaq Ahmed in Maoist-dominated Purulia in West Bengal, India carrying 1kg of uranium with a market value of $7M. On Oct. 5 former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf admits that Pakistan trained underground militant groups to fight in Kashmir, the first such admission by a top leader. On Oct. 6 the Nat. Commission on the DP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling releases a report revealing that govt. scientists who wanted to tell the public early on how bad the spill could be were muzzled by the White House. On Oct. 6 Germany announces that it is bowing out of its nuclear sharing agreement with the U.S., under which its fighter jets could be used to drop U.S. nukes, as soon as it decommissions its Tornado fighter jets in 2013 or sooner; the Tornado base in Buchel houses 22 U.S. nuclear bombs, guarded by U.S. soldiers. On Oct. 6-10 the 62nd Annual Frankfurt Book Fair is attended by 7,533 exhibitors from 111 countries, stubbornly holding out on ebooks, and featuring a $100K 6'x9' 128-page Atlas by Australian publisher Gordon Cheers (world's largest atlas, beating the record set by the 1660 Klencke Atlas), who utters the soundbyte "This will still be around in 500 years." On Oct. 7 the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Shrine Sufi mosque in Karachi, Pakistan is blown up, killing seven and injuring dozens; the Taliban claim responsibility. On Oct. 7 Israeli police arrest a 17-y.-o. resident of Hebron, Israel for uploading a video to YouTube exposing a top Shin Bet agent. On Oct. 7 Pres. Obama says he will pocket-veto the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act, saying it will make it easier for banks to foreclose on homeowners. On Oct. 7 a group of Nobel scientists warn the British govt. that its permanent cap on immigration slated for next Apr. would threaten the country's future as a center of scientific excellence. On Oct. 7 at a rally in Md., Pres. Obama brings up the Chamber of Commerce, complaining that their donors are secret and waxing lyrical about foreign monies used by them to push domestic political activism; too bad, when challenged the White House can't prove it; meanwhile Obama conveniently sidesteps his own foreign donations received in his 2008 campaign, incl. from Hamas-controlled sections of Gaza. On Oct. 7 Forbes mag. pub. its annual list of the world's most powerful women, sliding Michelle Obama past Angela Merkel to the #1 spot; #1 for four years, Merkel slides to #4 past Kraft Foods CEO Irene Rosenfeld and Oprah Winfrey. On Oct. 7 the Vatican calls for a special conference of 172 bishops from Islamic countries to discuss the rise of radical Islam, causing Syed Munawar Hasan, head of the Jamaat e Islami Islamic org. in Pakistan to call the entire talk of interfaith dialog and tolerance a farce, claiming that Pastor Terry Jones was part of a Vatican plot, and explaining that Islam had its own political system, its own culture and civilization, besides also delivering an economic system based on equity and service to the humanity; meanwhile U.S. asst. secy. of state Philip Crowley meets with 30 Muslim reps from Indianapolis, Ind. at the HQ of the Islamic Society of North Am. (ISNA) to discuss U.S. foreign policy, despite it being suspected of being part of the Muslim Brotherood, whose agenda is to "eliminate and destroy Western Civilization". On Oct. 8 deputy nat. security adviser Thomas E. "Tom" Donilon (1955-) replaces Gen. James L. Jones as U.S. nat. security adviser #23 (until June 30, 2013). On Oct. 8 Israeli troops kill two senior Hamas militants in an early morning raid in Hebron in the West Bank. On Oct. 8 Pres. Obama signs Rosa's Law requiring the terms "mentally retarded" and "mental retardation" to be removed from all U.S. laws. On Oct. 9 French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy meets with Pope Benedict XVI over recent French actions against the Roma (Gypsy) pop. of clearing several illegal camps in Aug. and forcing repatriation. On Oct. 9 Iran acknowledges espionage for the West occurred at their nuclear facilities. On Oct. 10 (10/10/10) the Netherlands Antilles is dissolved. On Oct. 10 the World Day Against the Death Penalty is sponsored by Amnesty Internat., who claims there are 137 countries with capital punishment, and only 60 of them implement the sentence; the top bad guys are China and Iran. On Oct. 10 U.K. aid worker Linda Norgrove (b. 1974) is killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan during a rescue attempt by U.S. forces after being held hostage since Sept. 26. On Oct. 10 a book is thrown at Pres. Obama during a campaign rally in Philly, narrowly missing his head. On Oct. 10 leftist Green Party leader Femke Halsema shocks the PC police with a statement that leftist and progressive thinkers should start criticizing Islam and not succomb to radical Muslim pressure, concentrating on the position of women and gays within Islamic communities just as much as they do within Christian ones. On Oct. 10 Catholic archbishop of Khartoum Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Islamists. On Oct. 10 double arm amputee piano player Liu Wei (1987-) wins "China's Got Talent". On Oct. 10 Martin Alejandro Cota-Monroy is found beheaded in his apt. in Chandler (near Phoenix), Ariz., causing fears of Mexican drug cartel violence crossing the border. On Oct. 11 Pres. Obama signs the $58B NASA Authorization Act of 2010, defining a long-term goal for a permanent human presence beyond low Earth orbit incl. full use of the Internat. Space Station (ISS) in fiscal years 2011-13. On Oct. 11 Chinese energy giant CNOOC announces that it's buying 600K acres of S Texas oil and gas fields for $2.2B. On Oct. 11 the Israeli cabinet okays a loyalty oath for non-Jews to require them to swear loyalty to Israel as a Jewish state; after an internat. uproar, it is amended to incl. non-Jews. On Oct. 11 Bavarian PM Horst Seehofer says that Turkish and Arab migrants who can't assimilate are no longer needed in Germany, causing the Angela Merkel admin. and German Turkish community to diss him. On Oct. 11 a dozen genetics experts release their DNA to the public to challenge the view that such info. should be kept private. On Oct. 11 (night) a Muslim jumps up and dances on the altar of Florence Cathedral in Italy. On Oct. 12 drug cartel hitmen ambush a police convoy in you-guessed-it Sinaloa, Mexico, killing eight officers. On Oct. 12 a Nat. Air Cargo cargo plane crashes outside Kabul, Afghanistan, killing six Filipinos, one Indian, and a Kenyan. On Oct. 12 Hollywood actor George Clooney meets with Pres. Obama in the White House to discuss the plight of S Sudan. On Oct. 12 250 Lebanese politicans and others issue an Open Letter to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asking him not to meddle in Lebanese affairs. On Oct. 12 after Repub. U.S. Senate candidate in Nev. Sharron Angle pisses-off the PC police with observations that Dearborn, Mich. ("Dearbornistan") is now ruled by Muslim Sharia law, Muslim activist Tarek Beydoun of guess where pays for 250K robo-calls to Nev. voters to oppose her. On Oct. 12 the Union for a Popular Movement Party of French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy cancels a planned debate on "Immigration, Islamism: Is France Threatened?" for fear of you know what; meanwhile on Oct. 12 the al-Qaida mag. Inspire pub. an article urging Islamic terrorists to target crowded restaurants in Washington, D.C. in order to massacre U.S. govt. workers; another article suggests using a pickup truck as "the ultimate mowing machine" to mow down the enemies of Allah; another calls on Muslims to emulate the Ft. Hood treason jihadist; meanwhile on Oct. 1 clueless dhimmi Diane Sawyer of clueless ABC-TV's "20/20" hosts a segment on Islam portraying it as peaceful and misunderstood, hoping for a "reconciliation" between Americans and American Muslims, and on Oct. 3 CNN internat. correspondent Christiane Amanpour (1958-) (Persian Muslim father, British mother) hosts Town Hall Debate: Should Americans Fear Islam?, both of which whitewash Islam and portray those who are warning of its dangers incl. Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer as intolerant "Islamophobes" - my pickup truck or yours? On Oct. 13 the legislature of Ga. votes to ban illegal immigrants from the U. of Ga., Ga. Inst. of Tech, and three other top public colleges, making it the 2nd state after S.C. On Oct. 13 an explosion at an Iranian Rev. Guard base in Lorestan kills 18 and injures 14 - Bond, James Bond? On Oct. 13 Canada becomes the first country to declare Bisphenol A (used to make polycarbonate baby bottles and epoxy resins) to be a toxic substance and environmental hazard. On Oct. 13 a study released by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, associated with the Social Dem. Party finds that one third of Germans feel that Germany is "overrun by foreigners", 60% would "restrict the practice of Islam", 17% think Jews have "too much influence", and 13% would welcome another Fuehrer. On Oct. 14 Mark Rutte (1967-) of the conservative Liberal People's Party for Freedom and Dem. (VVD) becomes PM of the Netherlands (until ?). On Oct. 14 Iranian pres. Madman Inastraightjacket visits S Lebanon, calling the village of Bint Jbeil the "capital of freedom, resistance and victory", and saying "The Zionists will not last long", calling for Palestine to be "forcefully freed" and the Zionists to "go back where they came from", adding "Lebanon is an example... for the unwavering resistance to the world's tyrants and a university for jihad", and "Our world today stands on the verge of change, a change that is starting from our region", and predicting that "the Mahdi will come here, accompanied by Jesus Christ" to help his side; he receives a warm reception from Lebanese pres. Michel Suleiman and other Lebanese leaders; on Oct. 17 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says that Lebanon is increasingly becoming a satellite of Iran, with the soundbyte "This is a tragedy for Lebanon, but we in Israel will know how to defend ourselves and continue to build our country"; meanwhile the European Jewish Congress warns that some Jewish communities in Europe are "teetering on the brink" due to nat. endorsement and/or neglect of anti-Semitism, with pres. Moshe Kantor uttering the soundbyte "We are entering a very dark period for Jews in Europe." On Oct. 14 a new U.S. military tally claims that 77K Iraqis were killed from Jan. 2004 to Aug. 2008, disputing the Iraq govt. tally of 85,694. On Oct. 14 Turkish attys. representing pro-Palestinian activists file a criminal complaint with the Internat. Criminal Court in The Hague claiming that Israeli troops committed war crimes against the Fake Freedom Flotilla. On Oct. 14 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. pub. a study showing that Latinos outlive whites by two years and blacks by almost eight years, with a Hispanic born in 2006 having a life expectancy of 80 years 7 mo. On Oct. 15 a 3.1 earthquake in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in Calif. puzzles scientists since it's not on a known fault line. On Oct. 15 Russian signs a deal with Venezuela to build its first nuclear power plant and buy $1.6B of oil assets in a move to end U.S. global dominance; on Oct. 19 Pres. Obama says he has no objection to them developing nuclear power for civilian energy purposes. On Oct. 15 Israel ends its unofficial construction freeze in East Jerusalem, with plans to build 238 housing units. On Oct. 15 a gold mine collapses in S Ecuador, trapping four miners 490 ft. underground. On Oct. 15 Am. Muslims hold a Jummah Prayer on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with the slogan "Jesus: The Messiah of Jerusalem"; despite being billed as a meeting for 100K, only a few hundred show up. On Oct. 17 the Arab League calls on countries belonging to the Org. for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to boycott a tourism confrence in Jerusalem to protest the existence of, er, policies of Israel. On Oct. 17 a jewel heist in Baghdad, Iraq sees three shop owners, two robbers, and three security personnel killed. On Oct. 17 unemployed Staten Island, N.Y. house painter Juan Rodriguez (1986-) receives $100K of a $1M reward offered by media mogul Alki David Thursday for streaking past Pres. Obama at a rally in Philly after failing to fulfill all the requirements. On Oct. 17-20 violence in Karachi, Pakistan kills 52; meanwhile on Oct. 20 the Obama admin. announces that Pres. Obama will visit Pakistan next year to shore up the relationship. On Oct. 18 a NATO official claims that Osama bin Laden is hiding in NW Pakistan under protection of the govt., and lives in a house not a cave. On Oct. 18 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates says that the U.S.-Turkey alliance is still strong despite tensions. On Oct. 18 the Obama admin. files a brief in support of the construction of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., saying that it is a recognized religion covered by the First Amendment, and not saying that despite Sharia making it a govt. system and potential enemy of the Constitution, Obama wants to use federal power to open the gates of America to it and its mosques because Congress hasn't officially passed a law yet? - Daniel Boone rolls over in his grave? On Oct. 18 Greece signs a civil aviation agreement with Israel, their first bilateral pact since 1950. On Oct. 18 Hamas PM Isma'il Haniyah reaffirms that Hamas will not recognize Israel. On Oct. 18 the Obama admin. announces that it has asked China to quit helping Iran improve its missile technology and develop nukes. On Oct. 18 Mexican authorities seize 105 tons of marijuana in Tijuana, becoming the biggest bust in Baja Calif. history; on Oct. 20 the U.S. Coast Guard seizes a ton of marijuana tossed from a boat 40 mi. from San Diego, Calif. On Oct. 18 The Talk daytime talk show debuts on CBS (until ?), produced by Sara Gilbert, sister of "Little House on the Prairie" star Melissa Gilbert. On Oct. 18-22 Super Typhoon Megi kills three in the Philippines, followed by seven in Taiwan. On Oct. 18 Hassan Karami, police chief of Esfahan, Iran announces that it is a crime for women to cycle or roller-skate in public. On Oct. 18 Chinese vice-pres. Xi Jinping is named to a top military command post, positioning him as heir apparent. On Oct. 18 Yemeni blogger Nashwan Ghanem allegedly commits suicide after posting that the Yemeni military was complicit in the Sept. 2008 attack on the U.S. embassy. On Oct. 18 Israel announces that Hamas now has anti-aircraft missiles, threatening the Israeli air force. On Oct. 18 20-y.-o. mother and college student Marisol Valles Garcia (1990-) becomes the police chief of Guadalupe Distrito Bravo in Chihuahua after nobody else will take the dangerous job in N Mexico; in Oct. Hermila Garcia becomes police chief of Meoqui (43 mi. from Chihuahua), and on Nov. 30 is killed while driving to work; in Mar. 2011 Marisol quits and flees across the border after receiving death threats. On Oct. 19 (5 a.m.) multiple shots hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., doing no damage to bulletproof windows; meanwhil more shots are fired at the Nat. Marine Corps Museum in Triangle, Va. (36 mi. S of Washington, D.C.). On Oct. 19 an Islamic suicide attack on parliament bldgs. in Grozny, Chechnya kills six. On Oct. 19 Iranian pres. Madman Inadinnajacket greets Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki in Tehran, congratulating him on his 2nd term, and telling him to "get rid of America". On Oct. 19 over 1M begin daily protests in France to protest a change of the retirement age from 60 to 62, which is approved by the French Senate on Oct. 22 by a 177-153 vote, which doesn't stop the strikes that cost the economy up to 400M euros ($557M) a day; on Oct. 29 the unions end their strikes at oil refineries and major ports - it's about joie de vivre not Yankee capitalism? On Oct. 19 the German govt. charges eight German Muslim members of the Global Islamic Media Front with supporting Islamic terrorist orgs. incl. al-Qaida by spreading propaganda on the Internet; on Oct. 20 the German Federal Crime Office announces that Germany has over 1K potentially violent Islamists; in Oct. the U. of Osnabrueck in Germany begins a program to train German Muslim imams in an attempt to create a pro-democratic tolerant brand of German Islam - not likely? On Oct. 19 20+ violent Muslims occupy a Christian chapel at Gordon College in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, claiming ownership. On Oct. 19 a ABC News/Yahoo! News Poll finds that 63% of Americans think that the media is to blame for the widening nat. political divide instead of Pres. Obama. On Oct. 19 Mary Bale (1965-) of Coventry, England pleads guilty to animal cruelty for a summer incident where she grabbed 4-y.-o. cat Lola and threw into a trash bin then shut the cover and walked off, which was videotaped and went viral on the Internet, outraging animal lovers, some of whom threaten her. On Oct. 19 ground is broken for the first mosque in Alaska by the nat. dir. of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) - you betcha? On Oct. 20 Britain announces the biggest spending cuts since WWII. On Oct. 20 the Turkish parliament defeats a motion to lift a ban on wearing Islamic head scarves at univs. On Oct. 20 White House Press Secy. Robert Gibbs tries to explain why Pres. Obama has omitted the word "Creator" when reciting the Declaration of Independence at least three times, saying that "he believes in the Declaration of Independence" - how about a Creator, and which one? On Oct. 20 U.N. secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon (1944-) warns against "a dangerous trend" of polarizing Europe over Muslim immigrants by accusing them "of violating European values", saying "Too often it is the accusers who subvert these values and thus the very idea of what it means to be a citizen of the European Union"; meanwhile 250 Roman Catholic bishops meet at the Vatican in the 2-week Special Assembly for the Middle East for the Synod of Bishops, and discuss Muslim aggression and murder and how it is driving Christians out of the Middle East, with Antioch patriarch archbishop Raboula Beylouni uttering the soundbyte "The Koran gives Muslims the right to judge Christians and kill them with Jihad. It gives orders to impose religion with force, with the sword. For this reason, Muslims don't recognise the freedom of religion among themselves or others"; after trying to draw a sharp distinction between extremist and moderate Muslims, the synod adds "but for Christians on the ground in Muslim-run countries, such distinctions are often hard to maintain"; on Oct. 23 the bishops close the meeting with a statement that Israel shouldn't try to use the Bible to justify "injustices" against the Palestinians, with Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 24 uttering the soundbyte "Peace is possible. Peace is urgent. Peace is the precondition for a life worthy of human beings and society"; meanwhile a report by the Christian group the Gift Foundation claims Christian asylum seekers fleeing Muslim countries to the Netherlands are often threatened or physically abused by fellow refugees who are Muslims, and a proposed giant mosque near the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, England is canceled after local opposition. On Oct. 20 after a call by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), African-Am. Nat. Public Radio (NPR) commentator, er, news analyst Juan Williams is fired for agreeing with Bill O'Reilly about Muslims, with O'Reilly stating "The cold truth is that in the world today jihad, aided and abetted by some Muslim nations is the biggest threat on the planet", to which Williams replies "I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous"; NPR CEO Vivian Schiller stinks herself up with varying reasons for summarily firing him, incl. that his comments should have been "between him and his psychiatrist or his publicist", which Williams calls "low", after which a backlash by Whoopi Goldberg., Sarah Palin et al. results in Fox News signing him to a $2M deal along with calls of ending NPR's federal funding by U.S. Sen. (R-S.C.) Jim DeMint et al.; the first major Am. leftist attack on a fellow leftist over Islam?; Williams claims they fired him for telling the truth; on Jan. 6 after the dust settles, NPR dumps senior VP Ellen Weiss, who engineered Williams' firing. On Oct. 20 the Obama admin. agrees to pay up to $680M to Am. Indian farmers to settle a 11-y.-o. discrimination suit. On Oct. 20 NATO officials announce that U.S. and Afghan forces have been routing the Taliban in Kandahar Province in recent weeks. On Oct. 20 Egyptian Copts rally at the U.N. to protest Egyptian Muslim persecution. On Oct. 20 Hollyweird star Mel Gibson is fired from "The Hangover 2" after dir. Todd Phillips and co-star Zach Galifianakis complain about his history of un-PC remarks. On Oct. 21 U.S. agriculture secy. Tom Vilsack says that in order for the Obama admin. to reach its goal of 36B gal. of renewable fuel by 2012, it may blend algae and grass with gasoline. On Oct. 22 UNESCO passes a series of resolutions regarding archeological excavations of Jewish holy sites in Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jerusalem, which the Anti-Defamation League calls "politicized and one-sided", favoring the Palestinians. On Oct. 21 a Gallup Poll shows Pres. Obama's approval falling to a new low of 44.7%; it has been declining each quarter since he took office, when it was at 63%. On Oct. 22 WikiLeaks releases 400K U.S. intel reports on the Iraq War, becoming the largest intel leak in U.S. history, with Daniel Ellsberg uttering the soundbyte "I've waited 40 years for this"; the reports expose a longstanding Iranian war on the U.S., and that Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki ran his own private army. On Oct. 22 after the Obama admin. told him what to do, U.S. Appeals Court judge Jorge Solis removes the unindicted co-conspirator status of CAIR along with the Islamic Society of North Am., Northern Am. Islamic Trust, and 243 other orgs. and individuals, all on the technicality that the govt. forgot to seal the list. On Oct. 22 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu addresses world Jewish leaders at the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem, saying "Israel must do all in its power to ward off the goals of radical Islam while doing all it can to reach true peace. Iran continues to deny the Holocaust and call for Israel's destruction. Today, its influence is apparent in Gaza, Lebanon, Afghanistan, South America and Africa. This is what they are doing without a nuclear weapon – imagine what they would do with a nuclear weapon." On Oct. 22 Haitian authorities announce a cholera outbreak has killed 150+. On Oct. 22-23 finance officials from the G20 meet to issue a statement setting a target of 4% of GDP for account surpluses and deficits, aimed at China, which balks, causing conspiracy theorists to call it the beginning of the end of the cent.-old Anglo-Am. conspiracy to create a OWG. On Oct. 22 gunmen massacre 13 young partygoers in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. On Oct. 22 Hollywood actor Randy Quaid appears in a Canadian court seeking refugee asylum along with his wife Evi Quaid, claiming that he's fearful of being murdered in Hollywood like Heath Ledger, Chris Penn, and David Carradine. On Oct. 22 outgoing New York office dir. of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Andrew Whitely utters the soundbyte "The right of return is unlikely to be exercised to the territory of Israel to any significant or meaningful extent", suggesting that UNRWA help resettle them in Arab territories, pissing-off the Arabs and causing him to flip-flop, with the soundbyte "It is definitely not my belief that the refugees should give up on their basic rights, incl. the right of return." On Oct. 23 Staten Island, N.Y. Muslim Abdel Hameed Shehaden is arrested after trying to join the Taliban then join the U.S. Army so he could defect in Iraq and kill U.S. soldiers. On Oct. 23 the New York Times reveals that Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai has been receiving bagfuls of cash from Iranian ambassador Feda Hussein Maliki via Karzai's chief of staff Umar Daudzai. On Oct. 23 four Taliban suicide bombers dressed in burqas attack the main U.N. compound in Herat in W Afghanistan, but score no casualties before they are killed. On Oct. 23 11 people jump out of a 2nd story window in La Verriere W of Paris after claiming to see the Devil, who turned out to be a naked man tending his crying baby. On Oct. 23 a Newsweek Poll shows that 48% of registered voters will more likely vote for Dems., vs. 42% for Repubs.; Obama's approval ratings jump to 54% (vs. 48% in Sept.), and those who disapprove of him drop to 40%, lowest since Feb. On Oct. 23 "I Kissed a Girl" Am. singer Katy Perry (1984-) marries British playboy comedian Russell Edward Brand (1975-) in a Hindu ceremony in Rajasthan, India (until ?). On Oct. 24 Afghanistan announces its first TV soap opera The Secrets of This House. On Oct. 24 Calif.-born Muslim terrorist Adam Gadhan urges Muslims living in "the miserable suburbs of Paris, London, and Detroit" to begin a jihad in defense of Islam, causing Dawud Walid, head of the Mich. branch of CAIR to say "He obviously doesn't know Muslims in Detroit". On Oct. 24 Britain has its coldest Oct. night in 17 years as it reaches -6C. On Oct. 24 Tony Blair's journalist sister-in-law Lauren Booth (1967-) announces her conversion to Islam six weeks earlier after after a "spiritual experience" in the Fatima a-Masumeh Shrine in Qom, Iran, saying that she's all the way up to page 60 in the Quran; meanwhile Iranian authorities publicly cut the hand off a thief to signal a new era of Islamic law and order. On Oct. 25 EU ministers decide to open the path to EU membership to Serbia despite it refusing to help arrest former Bosnian Serb gen. Ratko Mladic. On Oct. 25 the EU for the first time begins sending border guards to Greece to stop Muslim illegal immigrants from Turkey, many of whom claim to be Afghanis; meanwhile ever-backsliding Turkey begins action to ban BlackBerry smartphones. On Oct. 25 Pres. Obama announces to Congress his plans of allowing 80K immigrants, most from Islamic countries to immigrate to the U.S. during fiscal year 2011, calling it "justified by humanitarian concerns or otherwise in the national interest", despite record deporations to Mexico, high unemployment, etc. - Saudi oil money at work to fill up all the new mega-mosques? On Oct. 25 the East London borough of Tower Hamlets elects its first Islamic mayor, Lutfur Rahman, who is linked with the Islamic Forum of Europe. On Oct. 25 a bomb planted on a motorcycle explodes at the gate of the Sufi Farid Shakar Ganj Shrine in Pak Pattan, Pakistan (125 mi. W of Lahore), killing five. On Oct. 25 a 7.7 earthquake earthquake hits Indonesia 13 mi. off the coast of Sumatra, causing a tsunami that kills 113, which is combined with a volcano on Mt. Merapi in C Java that erupts 3x and kills 430. On Oct. 25 Naheed Nenshi (1972-) becomes mayor of Calgary, becoming Canada's first Muslim mayor; he likes to wear a Stetson cowboy hat. On Oct. 25 it is announced that Aleida Guevara, daughter of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara visited Lebanon and voiced support for Hezbollah, embracing them in a common struggle with Communism, with the soundbyte "If we do not conduct resistance, we will disappear from the face of the Earth." On Oct. 26 Robert Serry, U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process says that if Israel doesn't renew its new settlement construction freeze, the Obama-backed U.N. Security Council could approve the Palestinians' unilateral bid for statehood, making the first rocket they fire at Israel be an official act of war? On Oct. 26 Pope Benedict VI delivers his Message for the Church's World Day of Migrants and Refugees, saying that all states have the right to regulate immigration and defend their borders as long as they treat immigrants with dignity. On Oct. 26 Iraq War protester Paeter Gray throws his shoes at former Australian PM John Howard on Australian TV. On Oct. 26 Va. Muslim Farooque Ahmed (1976-) is arrested for helping al-Qaida plan terrorist attacks around the Washington, D.C. area, incl. the DC Metro; the tip leading to his arrest came from the Muslim community. On Oct. 26 the entire police force of Los Ramones in N Mexico resign after their HQ is attacked by drug cartel gunmen; meanwhile on Oct. 25 a group of non-govt. orgs. (NGOs) announce that drug violence in Mexico has killed 1.2K children since Dec. 2006. On Oct. 26 the Berlin-based TI Annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) moves the U.S. down from 19th to 22nd least corrupt of 178 nations. On Oct. 26 (1:33 a.m.) Hollyweird actor Charlie Sheen goes on a naked cocaine-fuled frenzy in a New York City Plaza hotel, causing his date, porno actress Christina Walsh (AKA Capri Anderson AKA Alexis Capri) (1988-) to lock herself in the bathroom; meanwhile Sheen's ex-wife Denise Richards and their two young daughters sleep across the hall; Sheen is hospitalized, is not charged, and pays the hotel $7K for damages. On Oct. 27 South Africa's Cape Town Opera turns down an appeal from Bishop Desmond Tutu to cancel a planned tour of Israel on his theory that it's an apartheid state. On Oct. 27 Germany makes forced marriages (mainly an Islamic practice) illegal, with up to five years in prison; meanwhile a survey by SingleMuslim.com of London reveals that 26.2% believe that polygamy is legal within Islam; meanwhile it is revealed that Muhammad is now the most popular infant boy name in England, ahead of Jack and Harry. On Oct. 27 Asma Jahangir becomes the first woman pres. of the Supreme Court Bar Assoc. in Pakistan. On Oct. 27 an online report by the U.S. Inspector Gen. admits that the U.S. Dept. of Defense got $9B+ from the sale of Iraqi oil to be used for reconstruction, but has lost the documentation for $8.7B of those funds. On Oct. 27 Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi (b. 1918) dies,and his 4th son Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi (1956-) becomes emir of Ras al-Khaimah in the UAE (until ?). On Oct. 27 Hampshire College in Mass. announces a new center for the study of science in Muslim societies. On Oct. 27 the Somalian Islamist Shabaab executes two teen girls in Beledweyne after deciding that they're spies. On Oct. 27 a poll by Doug Schoen shows that 56% of likely voters want to see Pres. Obama fired, with only 42% approving of his job performance, while 48% think he's a nice guy. On Oct. 27-Nov. 1 the 106th World Series sees the New York Giants (NL) defeat the Texas Rangers (AL) 4-1, the first Giants win since 1954, and first since relocating from New York City in 1958; Giants pitcher Timothy "Tim" Lincecum (1964-) is the key to the big V, but Giants SS ("the Barranquilla Baby") Edgar Enrique Renteria Herazo (1975-) becomes MVP after game-hitting homers in Games 2 and 5. On Oct. 28 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) chief John Sawers delivers the first public speech by a U.K. espionage chief, saying that terrorists might hit the West again "at huge human cost", but that nuclear proliferation is a more far-reaching danger, singling-out Iran. On Oct. 28 Muslim students at a Roman Catholic primary school in Malawi tear up New Testaments being distributed by Gideons Internat., and begin howling at their teachers; 13% of Malawis are Muslim, vs.28% Catholic and 52% Protestant. On Oct. 28 Jordan orders all Israelis entering the country to take off their yarmulkes for "security reasons". On Oct. 28 Pres. Obama announces that in his upcoming visit to Indonesia he'll visit Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, largest mosque in SE Asia and 3rd largest in the world - I'm home? On Oct. 28 gunmen in three vehicles fire on a car wash in Tepic, Mexico, killing 15 and injuring three. On Oct. 28 the Dutch parliament passes a motion to "proclaim in word and deed that fighting Islamization is not a goal of the policy [of the govt.]"; parties in opposition incl. the PVV and Christian SGP; meanwhile Hamas spokesman Mahmoud Al-Zahar tells the West that it should be ashamed to support Israel, because "You do not live like human beings. You do not live like animals. You accept homosexuality, and now you critize us?"; he adds "We have the right to control our life according to our religion, not according to your religion. You have no religion, you are secular." On Oct. 28 former U.S. pres. Jimmy Carter vows to push for U.S. and internat. sanctions against Israel and for the Obama admin. to open dialog with Hamas. On Oct. 28 drug cartel gunmen ambush a police convoy in Jalisco, Mexico, killing nine of 20 policemen; earlier buses taking people home from work are ambushed in Ciudad Juarez, killing five women and wounding 14, and six youths are killed in a gang feud in Mexico City. On Oct. 28 Rene Stadtekewitz, ex-member of German chancellor Angela Markel's Christian Dem. Union forms Die Freiheit (Freedom Party) to "combat political Islam". On Oct. 28 Hezbollah conducts a military exertise to test its ability to take over Lebanon and "corner" PM Saad Hariri in the event that the internat. tribunal on the assassination of former PM Rafiq Al-Hariri indicts them; meanwhile leader Hassan Nasrallah gives a speech that's tantamount to a declaration of war. On Oct. 28 UNWRA official Andrew Whitley says that Palestinian refugees should be resettled in Arab countries such as Jordan, causing Jordanian official Wajih Azaizeh to criticize him. On Oct. 28 Australian Islamic school dir. Anwar Sayed (1960-) of Perth is found guilty of massive fraud with govt. grants; earlier the case made news when judge Shauna Deane ruled that a Muslim woman giving evidence had to remove her burqa. On Oct. 28 Israel-hating Iran bans weightlifter Hossein Khodadadi for life for daring to stand next to an Israeli weightlifter on the platform in Poland. On Oct. 29 the women's rights group Sisters of Islam in Malaysia, known for speaking out against caning of women wins the right to use their name after a challenge by Muslim activists. On Oct. 29 the U.S. govt. releases the total cost of U.S. intel for the first time: $80B for 2010, incl. $27B for military intel and $53B for the CIA and 16 other intel agencies; only $51B is spent on foreign aid. On Oct. 29 Pakistani lt. gen. Khalid AhmedKidwai says that Pakistan has the right to use its nukes should the need arise. On Oct. 29 Chinese PM Wen Jiabao tells Indian PM Manmohan Singh that the world is big enough for both countries to develop and cooperate. On Oct. 29 Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf refuses a call by Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Taleed to move the Ground Zero Mosque. On Oct. 29 the Muslim, er, Obama admin. exempts, Yemen, Sudan, Chad, and DRC from U.S. penalties under the 2008 Child Soldiers Accountability Act, allowing those involved in their recruitment or use to become admissible aliens and/or avoid deportation. On Oct. 29 a tip that al-Qaida in Yemen placed explosive devices in packages on a cargo plane causes Emirates Flight 201 to be escorted by fighter jets into JFK Airport; the packages are addressed to synagogues in Chicago, Ill., and contain PETN like the Christmas Underwear Bomber inside HP printers, with Nokia cell phones as detonators; Pres. Obama calls them a "credible terrorist threat", and says they are powerful enough to bring down a plane; a medical student and her petroleum engineer's wife mother are arrested in Yemen in connection with the plot, which is traced to language schools; Saudi intel provided U.S. intel with their initial tip; they bombs are later found to have been designed to detonate in flight 17 min. after being defused, and are traced to Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri (1982-) (AKA Abu Saleh), the same person who made the Christmas Underwear Bomber's PETN bomb, who planted a bomb on his brother in Aug. 2009 to kill a Saudi prince, which blew up prematurely; a dry run of the cargo plane bomb was intercepted in Sept.; on Nov. 1 British PM David Cameron utters the soundbyte "It's clear that we must take every possible step to work with our partners in the Arab world to cut out the terrorist cancer that lurks in the Arabian Peninsula"; on Nov. 20 the al-Qaida mag. Inspire pub. an article bragging that it was their work and only cost $4.2K, promising the U.S. "death by a thousand cuts". On Oct. 29 North Korean troops fire two rounds toward South Korea at the border, who immediately fire back; a repeat happens on Nov. 3. On Oct. 29 Britain issues a 5-pound John Lennon Coin. On Oct. 29 25-y.-o. Pakistani Christian Fayaz Masih (1985-) is jailed after his Muslim boss Zafar Iqbal Ghuman calls on villagers to torture him for refusing to work in the fields for him for free, then frames him on having sex with his own niece; Ghuman allegedly regularly subjects Christians to slavery. On Oct. 29 eight members of a Muslim-dominated drug-smuggling operation in Oldham, England are sentenced to a total of 46 years in prison. On Oct. 29 the Fake Old White Man becomes a celeb for boarding Air Canada Flight AC018 in Hong Kong en route to Vancouver, then going to the restroom and emerging as a young Asian male, making a joke out of all the elaborate airline security. On Oct. 30 army chiefs in Turkey boycott an official ceremony at the pres. palace celebrating the creation of modern secular Turkey in 1923 because pres. Abdullah Gul's wife wears an Islamic headscarf (hijab) in the non-secular fashion, covering the neck to indicate adherence to Islamic Sharia. On Oct. 30 the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in the Nat. Mall in Washington, D.C. is hosted by comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (in character), and attended by 215K, becoming a spoof of Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally and Al Sharpton's Reclaim the Dream Rally; it features surprise guests Yusuf Islam AKA Cat Stevens and Ozzy Osbourne; Ariana Huffington leases 200 buses from Manhattan to bring in supporters, but there are far less than at Glenn Beck's rally. On Oct. 30 50 members of the English Defence League demonstrate in Amsterdam in support of Geert Wilders; the police arrest 34, incl. five English. On Oct. 30-31 four U.S. citizens are killed in El Paso, Tex. near the Mexico border, indicating that the violence is spilling over. On Oct. 31 a final USA Today/Gallup Poll finds that 52%-55% of likely voters prefer a Repub. candidate, vs. 40%-42% who prefer a Dem. candidate. On Oct. 31 leftist Dilma Rousseff (1978-) is elected pres. of Brazil (first woman) with 56% of the vote to succeed Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and is sworn-in on Jan. 1 (until ?). On Oct. 31 Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmajo" (1962-) becomes PM of Somalia (until June 19, 2011). On Oct. 31 Islamic gunmen take dozens of hostage in a Christian infidel church in Baghdad, Iraq, threatening to kill them unless al-Qaida POWs are released, after which police storm it, and two attackers set off explosive vests, resulting in 36 hostages and 17 security officers along with five gunmen killed and 75 wounded, who killed the two priests the moment the police stormed the bldg; the Islamic State of Iraq (al-Qaida in Iraq) claims responsibility, posting on their Web site that: "The Mujahedeens raided a filthy nest of the nests of polytheism, which has been long taken by the Christians of Iraq as a headquarters for a war against the religion of Islam", tying the attack to claims that the Coptic Church in Egypt is holding women who have converted to Islam, causing the Egyptian govt. to beef up security for them; Iraqi Christian archbishop Athanasios Dawood calls on Iraqi Christians to leave the country. On Oct. 31 Saudi King Abdullah calls on the leaders of Iraq to meet in Riyadh, and is overwhelmingly rejected. On Oct. 31 the terrorist group Islamic Jihad holds a rally in Gaza City attended by 100K out of 2M pop., with chants of death to America and Israel; meanwhile British foreign secy. William Hague signs the first treaty with the non-existent country of Palestine. On Oct. 31 Palestinian atheist blogger Walid Husayin (1984-) is arrested amid calls his death for calling Allah a "primitive Bedouin" and Islam a religion of "irrationality and ignorance"; on Nov. 29 he posts an apology from jail, but despite an internat. outcry isn't released until ?. On Oct. 31 the horror drama series The Walking Dead, based on the comic books by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard debuts on AMC-TV for ? episodes (until ?), featuring phony zombies being massacred en mass, becoming super-popular the more bloody and stupid it gets until audiences begin to tire?; stars Andrew Lincoln (Andrew James Clutterbuck) (1973-) as former sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes, leader of Alexandria, a group of survivors. In Oct. the U.S. adds 151K jobs but the unemployment rates stays at 9.6%; the news isn't announced until after the elections. In Oct. 34M sockeye salmon return to spawning grounds in the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada despite only 1M last year. In Oct. Nigerian authorities discover weapons hidden in shipping contains, and trace them to the Iranian Rev. Guards; next Feb. 16 they begin prosecuting guard member Azim Aghajani and his Nigerian associate Usman Abbas Jega. In Oct. Moslim Vandaag (Muslim Today) begins pub. as the first Muslim newspaper in the Netherlands. On Nov. 1 Islamist insurgents set three Christian churches on fire in Karachayevo-Cherkessia, North Caucasus. On Nov. 1 shots are fired into a Coast Guard recruiting center in Woodbridge, Va. On Nov. 2 Yemen puts U.S.-born Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki on trial in absentia along with two others for membership in al-Qaida and plotting to kill foreigners, becoming their first formal legal action against him. On Nov. 2 (Tues.) a wave of Islamic terror hits Iraq, Greece, and Germany, incl. a parcel bomb delivered to German chancellor Angela Merkel, 10 bomb blasts in Shiite public places in Iraq that kill 64 and wound 360, and more bomb blasts at embassies in Athens. On Nov. 2 an Ipsos MORI Survey in eight countries finds that people in the U.S., U.K., and India see war and terrorism as the top global challenges, while those in China are more worried about climate change. On Nov. 2 Calif. gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bans the use of state-issued debit cards at businesses "inconsistent with the intent" of the welfare program, incl. medical marijuana shops and mediums. On Nov. 2 (Tue.) U.S. nat. elections are a big V for Repubs., who take control of the U.S. House in the biggest turnover of seats (63) since 1948, and retain control of the Senate after the Repubs. gain six seats; a record nine new Repub. women gain seats in the House; the fewest seats held by Dems. in the House since 1947; despite spending $100M of her own fortune, former eBay CEO (1998-2008) Margaret Cushing "Meg" Whitman(1956-) loses to former gov. (1975-83) Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown Jr. (1938-) (Dem.) for Calif. gov. to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger (Repub.); House Armed Services Committee chmn. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) is defeated, along with House Transportation Committee chmn. James Oberstar (D-Minn.); 18-year veteran Wisc. Dem. Sen. Russ Feingold is defeated by Ron Johnson (1955-); World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda Edwards McMahon (1948-) is defeated by Dem. atty.-gen. Richard M. Blumenthal (1946-) for retiring Chris Dodd's Sen. seat; Dem. gov. Joseph "Joe" Manchin III (1947-) wins late Sen. Robert C. Byrd's Sen. seat in S.C.; after Latinos go for him by 90% to 8%, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) survives a challenge from Sharron Angle, allowing the Dems. to retain control of the House; Nimrata Randhawa "Nikki" Haley (1972-) (daughter of Indian Sikh immigrants) becomes the first woman gov. of S.C.; Tea Party Sen. candidates Randal Howard "Rand" Paul (1963-) (Tenn.) and Marco Antonio Rubio (1971-) (Fla.) (son of Cuban immigrants) win, while Tom Tancredo (Colo.) loses; Mark Steven Kirk (1959-) defeats Dem. state treasurer Alexi Giannolias to take Pres. Obama's former Senate seat, handing him his lunch, and completing the Rust Belt Massacre, which incl. Pat Toomey defeating Joe Sestak in Penn., John Kasich becoming Ohio govt.; on Nov. 17 in Alaska, despite opposition from Sarah Palin-backed Tea Party candidate Joe Miller (who beat her in the primary), Repub. Sen. (since 2002) Lisa Ann Murkowski (1957-) becomes the first Sen. candidate in 50+ years to win a write-in campaign; Calif. voters reject Proposition 19, a measure to legalize marijuana that was opposed by Obama; Okla. becomes the first state to pass a law (State Question 755) banning judges from using Sharia or internat. law in their decisions, causing the Muslim Brotherhood front CAIR to file a lawsuit, after which on Nov. 8 Clinton-apointee U.S. district judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange (1953-) issues a temporary restraining order against the amendment, with the non-sequitur soundbyte "We are humbled by this opportunity to show our fellow Oklahomans that Muslims are their neighbors and that we are committed to upholding the U.S. Constitution and promoting the benefits of a pluralistic society"; on Nov. 29 she makes it permanent; Pres. Obama never speaks out on the constitutional issues involved, particularly that any attempt to enact Sharia is sedition?; on Nov. 5 Forbes mag. pub. its list of the most powerful people on Earth, demoting Obama from #1 to #2 after Chinese pres. Hu Jintao; Facebook mogul Mark Zuckerberg comes in #40. On Nov. 3 stupified Pres. Obama holds a news conference, taking responsibility for the election disaster, admitting that "it feels bad", calling it a "shellacking" that "every president needs to go through", referring to Reagan and Clinton, appealing for "common ground" with Repubs., and saying "I've got to do a better job" - he's totally clueless? On Nov. 3 after secret pre-prepared orders of Obama on event of losing the election?, the Federal Reserve decides to pump $600B into the banking system because the recovery is "disappointingly slow", causing concerns of hyperinflation bringing the U.S. to its knees, to which Obama replies that the Fed "doesn't take orders from the White House". On Nov. 3 Army of Islam senior field cmdr. Mohammed al-Nemnem (al-Namnam) (b. 1983) is killed when his car explodes near a Hamas police station in Gaza City after direct hit by a missile fired by a U.S. warship in the Mediterranean, becoming the first target assassination in Gaza by the U.S., who claims he worked for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to plan terrorist attacks on U.S. targets after a tip by Egyptian intel. On Nov. 3 fear of more bombings empties Baghdad streets. On Nov. 3 Mexican authorities find a massive 1.8K-ft.-long smugglers tunnel in Tijuana, Mexico that links with warehouses in Otay Mesa, Calif.; it incl. its own rail system. On Nov. 3 after the RIAA and major music labels bring suit, a jury orders single Minn. mother Jammie Thomas-Rasset to pay $1.5M in damages for downloading 24 copyrighted songs, $62.5K each - should be more like $1 each? On Nov. 3 the Palestinian Authority arrests a Palestinian from Bethlehem for purchasing wood products from Israeli Jews located beyond the 1949 armistice line, continuing their ban on all economic contact between Palestinians and Jews living and working beyond the line, incl. Judea and Samaria; by the end of the year thousands are arrested. On Nov. 4 police invade a private home in Muslim-run Qusar, Azerbaijan and arrest four Baptists for the crime of praying together. On Nov. 5 West Vancouver, Canada Muslim convert Khadija Abdul Qahaar (Beverly Giesbrecht) dies in Taliban captivity after being captured and held for ransom despite her conversion. On Nov. 5 Yves Rossy becomes the first human to fly with a jet-fitted wing above Lake Geneva near Bercher, W Switzerland. On Nov. 5 yet another Islamic suicide bomber explodes in a mosque in Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan, killing 66 worshippers, and injuring 200. On Nov. 5 Somalian national Basaaly Saeed Moalin and two others living in San Diego, Calif., along with three others in the U.S. are indicted by federal authorities for funneling funds to al-Shabaab. On Nov. 5 bankrupt Norfolk Island in the Pacific, home of descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers gives up independence in return for financial aid. On Nov. 5 Mexican drug lord Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen is killed by Mexican marines. On Nov. 5 Am. non-Muslim Ilya Sobolevskiy (1985-) of Md. is sentenced to 12 mo. in prison and fined $3K for "violating the civil rights" of sacred cow Muslim members of the central Ill. Mosque and Islamic Center of Urbana, Ill. merely for sending them an email promising to "do whatever it takes to eradicate Islam"; the prosecutor proposed probation with electronic monitoring but judge David G. Bernthal was harsh, claiming that prior emails probing into the mosque's connections with CAIR "escalated" the crime into "an act of terror", giving him the max; Obama shows his true colors by enforcing Sharia in the U.S.?; all patriotic Americans should declare their intentions of doing whatever it takes to eliminate Islam, starting by ousting these officials? On Nov. 5 a combined Afghan-coalition forces captures the Haqqani terrorist network's shadow gov. for the Spera district of Khost Province in Afghanistan. On Nov. 5-14 Pres. Obama makes an Asian Tour, featuring stops by a president from the country with the most Christians in countries with the most Hindus (India) and most Muslims (Indonesia), fending off possible Islamic foul play with an unprecedented escort of 34 war ships, 400 cars, 3 helis, 3 luxury jets, 800-person entourage, etc., costing $200M a day; a military sniffer dog pisses-off Indian Muslims with its name of Khan, which they claim is a Muslim name and hence a deliberate provocation; on Nov. 7 Obama talks with students at St. Xavier's College in Mumbai, saying that India has assumed a greater role on the world stage, saying that it is a job creator for the U.S. not a job vacuum, invoking Gandhi, saying that his ideal eludes modern India, and answering a student question about Pakistan (which he snubs) and why he doesn't put it on the terrorist nation list with "We want nothing more than a stable, prosperous and peaceful Pakistan... But I'm also going to say something that may surprise you. The country that has the biggest stake in Pakistan's success is India"; he answers a student question about his opinion on Islamic jihad with the soundbyte: "The phrase jihad has a lot of meanings within Islam and is subject to different interpretations. Islam is one of the world's great religions. More than a billion people who practise Islam, the overwhelming majority view their obligations to their religion as ones that reaffirm peace, fairness, tolerance. All of us recognize that this great religion in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to violence, which is never justified. One of the challenges we face is how do we isolate those who have these distorted notions of religious war. We can all treat each other with respect and mutual dignity. We should try to live up to universal principles and ideals that Gandhi so fought for. We live in nations of diverse religious beliefs. It's a major challenge in India and around the world. Young people can make a huge impact in reaffirming that you can be a strong observer of your faith, without putting somebody else down or visiting violence on somebody else. I think a lot of these ideas are formed very early and how you respond to each other is going to be as important as any speech that a president makes in encouraging the kind of religious tolerance that is so important, in a world that is getting smaller and smaller. More and more people of different background and different territories and ethnicities are interacting and learning from each other. All of us have to fundamentally reject the notion that violence is the way to mediate our differences"; on Nov. 6 Obama and his family visit the 16th cent. Muslim Tomb of Humayun, while snubbing Buddhist and Hindu tombs and shrines; on Nov. 8 Obama announces his support of a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council for India, and says that he's ready to play "any role" requested by India and Pakistan to foster peace between them; on Nov. 9 Obama stops in Indonesia, where he tells them that his efforts to improve relations with the Muslim World are an "incomplete project", but never mentions the horrible Muslim atrocities against Christians in East Timor; he also says that the Israeli announcement of 1K new housing units for East Jerusalem "is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations", causing Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to reply that "Jerusalem is not a settlement. Jerusalem is the capital of the state of Israel", which has "never agreed to limit its construction in any way in Jerusalem where 800,000 inhabitants live"; Obama becomes the first to use a teleprompter inside the Indian parliament; Muslim Hizbut Tahrir protesters take the streets in Jakarta; Indonesian pres. Yudhoyono presents Obama with a gold model on behalf of his late mother Ann Dunham; Michelle Obama raises eyebrows for shaking hands with info. minister Tifatul Sembiring, exposing Obama as clueless when he claims Indonesia as a role model for moderate and progressive Islam; on Nov. 10 Obama visits the Istiqial Mosque in Jakarta, where Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket was greeted as a rock star in 2006, and later gives a Speech on Islam, repeating the soundbyte "America is not and never will be at war with Islam"; Michelle wears an animal print scarf into the mosque; before the Obamas arrive, on Nov. 8 China announces a $6.6 investment in Indonesia's infrastructure. On Nov. 6 leading U.S. Senate Repub. Lindsey Graham of S.C. says that the U.S. should consider "neutering" Iran's navy and air force if it doesn't stop trying to get nukes, adding that a surgical strike on nuclear facilities would bring military retaliation on U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and is probably already too late anyway. On Nov. 6 the Sunday Telegraph in Britain pub. an Andrew Gilligan exposing the British govt. as whitewashing reports on Muslim schools to censor that they "oppose the lifestyle of the West". On Nov. 7 (Sun.) the 41st 2010 New York City Marathon features rescued Chilean miner Edison Pena. On Nov. 7 the first elections in 20 years in Burma (Myanmar) are rigged by the military rulers. On Nov. 7 Islamists murder two more Christians in Iraq, incl. Louay Daniel Yacoub (b. 1961). On Nov. 7 the U.S. carries out two airstrikes in North Waziristan, killing 14 terrorists, five of them "foreigners". On Nov. 7 Israel charges Imam Nazim Mahmoud Salim of Nazareth with inciting violence against Pope Benedict XVI and supporting al-Qaida and global jihad. On Nov. 7-8 minority ethnic Karen Buddhist guerrillas attack Burmese troops, causing 15K to flee E Burma. On Nov. 8 mayor-elect Gregorio Barradas Miravete of Juan Rodriguez Clara in Veracruz, Mexico is kidnapped and murdered along with two companions by drug gunmen. On Nov. 8 U.S.-born radical Yemeni Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki issues a video, telling mujahideen that their best option is an all-out war against the corrupt West, saying that there is no need for a fatwa to be issued because "killing Satan does not require any fatwa". On Nov. 9 a Somalian sex-trafficking ring operating in Minn., Tenn., and Ohio is indicted. On Nov. 9 a district court in Pakistan sentences Christian woman Asia Bibi (Aasiya Noreen) (1971-) to death by hanging for blasphemy, causing a world outcry; meanwhile Pakistani cleric Maulana Yousef Qureshi offers a reward on her head of 3.7K pounds ($5.8K), and religious minorities minister Clement Shabhaz Bhatti (198-2011) (a Roman Catholic) has another fatwa put on his head for speaking out against the death sentence, and is assassinated on Mar. 2, 2011 in Islamaad by Tehrik-i-Taliban; meanwhile on Jan. 4, 2011 liberal gov. #26 of Punjab (since 2008) Salmaan Taseer (1944-2011) is assassinated in the Kohsar Market in Islamabad by his bodyguard Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri (1985-2016), who is hanged on Feb. 29, 2016 in Rawalpindi, after which Taseer's son Shahbaz Taseer, who was kidnapped in Aug. 2011 in Lahore by the Pakistani Taliban is released in Kuchlak, Balochistan on Mar. 8, 2016. On Nov. 8 a mystery missile takes off near the coast of Southern Calif.; the govt. can't or won't explain it for days, then claims it is a jet airplane, and clams up completely after it is revealed that the Nat. Geo-Spatial Intel Agency warned about missiles fired in that area; it's really a Chinese missile? On Nov. 9 the curator of a French parish in Avignon, France complains to the police that a Muslim youth entered his church during a Mass On Nov. 10 after fierce opposition from the U.S. and human rights groups, the U.N. rejects a bid by misogynistic Iran for a seat on the new U.N. Women's Rights Panel, but accepts far worse Saudi Arabia - how much did that cost them? On Nov. 10 the first Global Indian Music Awards (GIMA) are held in Mumbai. On Nov. 11 the Sunnis walk out of the Iraqi parliament after the pres. gives Shiite PM Nouri al-Maliki the nod to form a new govt. On Nov. 11 Osama bin Laden appoints Saif el-Adel (Arab. "Sword of the Just") as new chief of internat. ops to lead the attack on the West. On Nov. 11 an Armistice Day silence in London is disrupted by three 2nd-gen. radical Muslim protesters Asad Ullah, Abu Yahya, and Abu Hifzudeen of Muslims Against Crusades, who burn a giant poppy and demand Sharia law implementation in the U.K., causing nationwide revulsion. On Nov. 12 the G20 Summit strikes an agreement that major economics will abide by common standards; weakened by the midterm elections Obama fails to secure a $10B annual free-trade agreement that would have supported 70K U.S. jobs. On Nov. 12 after "Gate Rape" AKA "enhanced pat down" is quietly put into effect by the TSA in Oct., CAIR issues a travel warning to Muslim passengers in U.S. aircraft, telling women in hijad to insist that they only be searched around the head and neck etc.; on Nov. 13 non-Muslim computer programmer ("Junk Man") John Tyner (1979-) refuses a full-body scan in San Diego, and tells the TSA agent trying to search him, "Don't touch my junk or I'll sue you", causing a firestorm of support, after which he faces a $11K fine for refusing the "enhanced patdown" (as if American non-Muslims are now true dhimmis with no rights compared to Muslims?); on Nov. 19 (12:00 p.m.) the TSA stinks itself up by strip-searching a young non-Muslim boy; on Nov. 24 it stinks itself up again by fondling a menstruating woman's vulva after her panty liner obscures the X-ray; on Nov. 22 TSA Chief John Pistole tells the press that no immediate changes are planned, although "there is a continual process of refinement and adjustment to ensure that best practices are followed", and that the groping is "as minimally invasive as possible"; on Nov. 22 a Washington Post-ABC News Poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans support the 400 new full-body security screening machines in use at 70 of 450 U.S. airports since Oct., but less than half support the new groping procedures; on Nov. 15 U.S. Homeland Security Dept. head Janet Napolitano lamely defends heightened airport security screening measures for non-Muslims incl. revealing full-body scans on "porno-scanners" and junk-touching pat-downs; on Nov. 16 a lawsuit is filed against Napolitano and the Transportation Security Adm. by John Whitehead of the Rutherford Inst. alleging that the invasive airport security procedures are "profane, degrading, intrusive and indecent", and violate the Fourth Amendment. On Nov. 12 Prince George County, Md. exec Jack B. Johnson is arrested by the feds on corruption and obstruction charges. On Nov. 12 ABC News air a segment revealing a sting on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) that shows them giving better grades for pay, incl. giving an "A" to Hamas, bringing a call from the U.S. atty.-gen. to end the "deceptive practice". On Nov. 12 the leftist Talking Points Memo (TPM) org. is founded by journalist Josh Micah Marshall (1969-). On Nov. 13 a huge suicide bomb blast in the HQ of the main anti-terrorist agency in Karachi, Pakistan kills 18 and wounds 130, showing that the Taliban is gaining ground. On Nov. 13 the Burmese military dictatorship releases reformer Aung San Suu Kyi. On Nov. 13 a mob of 2K+ Muslims attack a police outpost in Hazaribagh, Jharkand, India during Chhath celebrations after police fail to turn down a loudspeaker during Fri. prayers. On Nov. 13 300+ residents of the colonial ranching town of Ciudad Mier flee drug gang violence between the rival Zetas and Gulf Cartel. On Nov. 14 a huge blast at the 676-room Grand Riviera Princess Hotel in Playa del Carman (S of Cancun), Mexico caused by a leaking gas line kills five Canadians and two Mexican workers; security guards keep ambulances from entering, causing criminal charges to be considered. On Nov. 14 radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, AKA the Tottenham Ayatollah is captured in his home in Tripoli, Lebanon after he being convicted on Nov. 12 of working with al-Qaida and vowing never to be captured. On Nov. 14 French embassy in Tehran is blocked, causing France to accuse Iran of "unacceptable acts of violence". On Nov. 14-16 3M Muslims attend the 2010 Hajj in Mecca, which culminates by throwing pebbles at three stone walls representing Satan; during a ceremy in the Arafat Desert 12 mi. from Mecca, pilgrims chant "Death to Israel" and "Death to America"; Saudi King Abdullah is a no-show for the start of the hajj, causing speculation that he's about to kick off and there will be a succession struggle. On Nov. 15 the Mexican navy rescues 10 migrants (incl. a baby) who had been kidnapped by a drug gang in Tamaulipas state. On Nov. 15 a fire in a high-rise apt. bldg. in Shanghai, China kills eight and injures 90+. On Nov. 15 U.S. citizens Arquimedes Bautista (1990-) and Rosalba Artimas (1964-) of Colo. file a lawsuit against ICE for an incident in Apr. when they were taking a bus to an Amway convention and were arrested for speaking Spanish; ICE later explains they suspected human trafficking. On Nov. 16 Walid al-Bustani of the radical Sunni group Fatah al-Islam escapes from prison in Rumieh, Lebanon; 2nd inmate Munjid al-Fahham fails to escape. On Nov. 16 a Muslim mob sets fire to 10 Coptic Christian-owned homes in S Egypt. On Nov. 16 U.S. defense secy. Robert M. Gates says that the internat. sanctions on Iran has caused a rift between Pres. Imadinnajacket and Supreme Leader Assahola Khameini. On Nov. 16 Pres. Obama awards U.S. Army SSgt. Salvatore Giunta the Medal of Honor, becoming the first for the Afghanistan War, and the first awarded since the Vietnam War. On Nov. 16 after years of lawsuits, Apple finally begins selling Beatles music downloads. On Nov. 16 2K+ aborted fetuses are discovered at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand, causing the govt. to crackdown on illegal abortion clinics. On Nov. 16 an Iraqi Christian and his 6-y.-o. daughter are killed in a bombing in Mosul, Iraq; on Nov. 15 two Christian men are killed in their homes by intruders; on Nov. 17 Iraqi pres. Jalal Talabini advises Christians to seek refuge in Kurdistan in N Iraq until the govt. can guarantee their security; on Nov. 22 two more are murdered in the Sina'a neighborhood of Baghdad; on Nov. 25 the Vatican holds a mass in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to commemorate the 58 killed in Baghdad in Oct.; in the Obama era of covering-up everything bad about Islam, the world doesn't seem to notice the systematic Muslim jihad on Iraqi Christians? On Nov. 17 U.S. Chamber of Commerce head Thomas J. Donahue scolds the Obama admin. for its "regulatory tsunami", calling it "the biggest single threat to job creation" in the country. On Nov. 17 a shootout in a mosque between rival Muslim factions over who should lead prayers during Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) in Khuzdar, Pakistan injures 18. On Nov. 17 Israel agrees to withdraw troops from part of the disputed Lebanese border village of Ghajar and hand control to a U.N. peacekeeping force. On Nov. 17 a federal grand jury returns a 14-count indictment against the Muslim owners of Sunrise Equities in Chicago, Ill., which allegedly cheated investors out of $43M while claiming to be compliant with Sharia law. On Nov. 17 1998 U.S. embassy bombing suspect Ahmed Ghailani (1974-) (first Gitmo POW to be tried) is acquitted on 284 of 285 charges in a civil trial, causing Sen. Repub. leader Mitch McConnell to rally critics of the Obama admin. for their "deeply misguided" and "potentially harmful" approach to prosecuting Islamic terrorists; on Nov. 19 Obama says that he still wants to close the Gitmo terrorist prison because it's a recruiting tool for al-Qaida. On Nov. 18 after buckling to pressure by the recording industry and Hollywood, and ignoring all the concerns of civil libertarians, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves the U.S. Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), which would give the U.S. Atty. Gen. the right to shut down Web sites via court order if copyright infringement is deemed "central to the activity" of the site. On Nov. 18 a survey shows that 81% of Kosovo Albanians favor unification with Albania, where support for unification fell from 68% to 62.8%. On Nov. 18 the Egyptian govt. denies Israeli reports of a joint effort to eliminate leaders of the al-Qaida-affiliated Army of Islam in Gaza and Sinai. On Nov. 18 hundreds of Muslims march in Athens, Greece, damaging shops and cars to protest an alleged desecration of a Koran by a Greek policeman. On Nov. 18 Russian serial murderer Sergei Kashfulgayanovich Martynov (1962-) AKA the Torso Killer is arrested without resisting after a crime spree that began with his release from prison in 2005 for a 1992 murder, for a total of nine known victims W and C Russia, incl. seven women (two minor girls) and one man, often mutilating the females by removing their genitalia and breasts, leaving letters at crime scenes and making no effort to conceal evidence, later claiming his motivation was "cleaning of society"; after being convicted of eight murders, he receives a life sentence. On Nov. 19 an explosion at the Pike River Coal Mine in New Zealand traps 29 miners, who are all killed; on Nov. 24 there is a 2nd explosion. On Nov. 19 Palestinians fire three mortars and four phosphorous shells at Negev, causing the Israeli air force to bomb targets in Gaza Strip. On Nov. 19 the German govt. announces a nationwide alert against a Mumbai-style Islamic attack. On Nov. 19 U.S. officials announce that the military is sending its first contingent of heavily-armored battle tanks to Afghanistan. On Nov. 19 Pres. Obama visits Lisbon, Portugal for a NATO summit, where he discusses Portugal's economic problems with pres. Anibal Cavaco Silva. On Nov. 19 46-y.-o. Muslim Carnita Matthews (1964-) is sentenced to 6 mo. in jail for falsely accusing a police officer of forcibly removing her veil, the magistrate calling her crime "deliberate, malicious, and ruthless". On Nov. 19 the number of cartel-related murders in Mexico's drug war for the year passes the 10K mark (10,514), with 230 more each week, headed for 12K by the end of the year. On Nov. 20 a NATO-Russia Summit on missile defense reaches an agreement sans details; on Dec. 1 Russian pres. Dmitri Medvedev warns that if its proposals for a joint defense aren't followed, "Russia will have to ensure its own security", and refers to the WikiLeaks revelations, warning the U.S. to stay out of Russian internal affairs. On Nov. 20 a poll by the Israeli Project finds that 55% of Palestinians want a 2-state solution only as a stepping-stone to a 1-state solution under Islamic Sharia; meanwhile Hezbollah announces that Iran has provided them with Fatah-110 rockets, which have a range of 300km and come with guidance systems, turning Hezbollah into a military not just terrorist threat. On Nov. 20 Taliban suicide bombers in bicycles kill four and wound 31 in Mehtar Lam, E Afghanistan. On Nov. 20 Pope Benedict XVI elevates 24 new cardinals in a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica, and unwraps, er, opens up the subject of condoms, saying they are the "first step" of assuming morality for male hos in order to reduce the risk of infection, even though they are not a moral solution to stopping AIDS; he wades into the debate on Islam on Europe with "Christians are tolerant, and in that respectthey also allow others to have their self-image", and "As for the burqa, I can see no reason for a general ban" - or else they'll ban nuns' habits? On Nov. 20 Tex. Muslim businessman Samir Mahmoud Itani of Am. Grocers Ltd. agrees to pay $15M to settle federal allegations of relabelling old food and selling it to the U.S. military. On Nov. 21 U.S. scientist Siegfried Heckler claims that North Korea showed him a covert uranium enrichment facility. On Nov. 21 Ireland becomes the 2nd EU country after Greece to ask for a multibillion-euro emergency loan; in Nov. 28 the EU agrees to give $89.4B in bailout loans to struggling Ireland. On Nov. 21 a 20-something Saudi woman defying the ban on female driving is killed along with three female friends in a driving accident. On Nov. 21 N.Y. joins Mich., Wash., Utah and Okla. in banning Four Loko, a potent drink that combines alcohol and caffeine. On Nov. 21 the World Mayors Council on Climate in Mexico City sees reps from 135 cities around the world sign the Mexico City Pact, establishing a monitoring and verification mechanism for cities to address climate change; on Nov. 20 Mexican marines bust a gang of suspected kidnappers with detailed plans of security arrangements for the U.N. climate change talks in Cancun on Nov. 29. On Nov. 21 after a march against Muslim extremism, masked men throw taboo beer and bacon at the Kingston Mosque in England, pissing-off the PC establishment, after which top political and police leaders address the 1K congregation on Dec. 6 to reassure them. On Nov. 22 a stampede at a festival near the royal palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia kills 339 and injures hundreds. On Nov. 22 admit fears of new Islamic terrorist attacks, Germany closes the famous glass dome at the Reichstag in Berlin. On Nov. 22 an arms convention is signed in Brazzaville in an attempt to stem the flow of small arms in C Africa. On Nov. 22 the BBC-TV program Panorama exposes a network of 40+ unregulated weekend Islamic schools in Britain that teach anti-Semitism along with draconian forms of Sharia, incl. execution for homosexuality. On Nov. 22 Israel passes the Referendum Law, requiring either a two-thirds Knesset majority or a nat. referendum to approve any peace deal involving the ceding of land from sovereign Israel. On Nov. 22 it is revealed that talks being held for months by the Afghan govt. with Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour were actually being held with an imposter. On Nov. 22 Melanie and Aaron Richman en route from Colo. to Mo. see their car hijacked at a gasoline station in Kansas City, Mo. with their 6-mo.-old baby in the back seat, turning them into heroes who doggedly pursue and board the car until he crashes and flees, leaving the baby unharmed. On Nov. 22 a man in a burqa robs Jadee Jewellers in Manchester, England. On Nov. 23 North Korea fires artillery shells at Yeonpyeong Island, causing South Korea to respond with its own artillery fire; White House deputy press secy. Bill Burton says that Pres. Obama "is outraged by this action" and that "We stand shoulder to shoulder with South Korea"; on Nov. 24 a U.S. aircraft carrier group takes off for Korean waters; on Nov. 25 South Korea sends troops to fortify the island and border, while South Korean defense minister Kim Tae-young resigns after criticism that the response was too slow. On Nov. 23 China admits that it's the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. On Nov. 23 China and Russia announce that they are renouncing the U.S. dollar in favor of their own countries for bilateral trade. On Nov. 23 the annual OIC-sponsored draft Resolution Against Religious Defamation passes by 12 votes, 76-64 with 42 abstentions, the smallest margin ever, showing that it's losing steam. On Nov. 23 the Dalai Lama receives an honorary degree from Jamia Millia Ilamia U. in Delhi, calling Islam "one of the great religions of the world", and claiming that true jihad is "a struggle within ourselves against all negative emotions like anger, hatred, attachment, that creates problems in society", adding "I defend Islam. We should not generalize Islam due to a few mischievous people. Such mischievous people are there among Hindus, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, and all religions"; "Islam is one of the very important religions for many centuries, in the past, present and future it is the hope of millions of people." On Nov. 23 Pres. Obama visits an Chrysler Plant in Kokomo, Ind. to announce a new $800M investment in the facility by Chrysler, and tells auto workers "Don't bet against America". On Nov. 23 former Russian counterterrorism agent Col. Sergey Ignatchenko testifies that the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation charity once headquartered in Ore. was financing Islamic jihadists in Chechnya. On Nov. 23 the U.S. DEA decides to use its emergency powers to ban the herbal product K2 AKA "fake marijuana" for one year while Congress considers making it permanent. On Nov. 23 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton suggests at a State Dept. meeting that WikiLeaks man Julian Assange be killed with a drone, calling him a "soft target", after which aides settle on a $10M reward for his capture and extradition to the U.S. On Nov. 23-27 the first-ever Arab-European Young Leaders Forum is held in Vienna, Austria. On Nov. 24 Pakistani federal minister Maulana Attaur Rehman calls the Taliban "true followers" of Islam, sparking controversy. On Nov. 24 in a major shift toward Islamism, Coptic Christian demonstrators in Cairo,Egypt are tear-gassed after authorities refuse a permit for a new church; four are killed, 78 wounded, and hundreds are arrested, with 170 charged with 10-15-year felonies. On Nov. 24 a Sunni car bomb explodes in a Shiite religious procession in Al-Jawf Province in N Yemen, killing 47; on Nov. 25 officials announce that escalating fighting between Houthi-led Shia rebels and pro-govt. militia in Yemen has caused dozens of families to cross the border into Saudi Arabia. On Nov. 24 Mexican police arrest La Barbie's successor Carlos Montemayor in Mexico City. On Nov. 24 Jordanian-born Muslim Mohammad Alkaramla (1985-) of Chicago, Ill. is sentenced to 25 mo. in prison for mailing a letter threatening to blow up a Jewish high school. On Nov. 24 al-Qaida explodes a car bomb in N Yemen against Houthi Shiites in Al-Jawf, killing 23 and wounding dozens; on Nov. 26 another bomb kills two and injures 14; a gen. war on Shiites begins (ends ?). On Nov. 24 Sarah Palin responds to a statement by former First Lady Barbara Bush that "She's beautiful. She's very happy in Alaska, and I hope she'll stay there", calling them "bluebloods" who are trying to thwart the "will of the people". On Nov. 25 (Thur.) (Thanksgiving) the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat claims that WikiLeaks documents show that NATO member Turkey allowed weapons to be smuggled to al-Qaida forces in Iraq. On Nov. 25 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatens Israel in the event it goes to war with Lebanon or Hamas, saying that Turkey will not "remain silent"; on Nov. 26 hundreds of Lebanese of Armenian descent protest his visit to Beirut, clashing with army troops. On Nov. 25 three teenage boys Edward Nasau (1996-), Samu Perez (1995-), and Filo Filo (1995-), who had been presumed dead after 50 days of sea are rescued NE of Fiji. On Nov. 25 Canada withdraws from the planned Sept. 2001 U.N. Conference on the Escalation of Islamophobia, saying that it will spend much of its time condemning Israel as racist and criminal. On Nov. 25 former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says that Israel should agree to the U.S. demand to halt settlement construction on the West Bank in order to restart peace talks. On Nov. 26 the British Muslim group Engage (iEngage) announces that it will be acting as the secretariat to a new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia. On Nov. 26 Pres. Obama gets inadvertently elbowed in the upper lip by Rey Decerega during a friendly basketball game at Ft. McNair in Washington, D.C., requiring 12 stitches. On Nov. 26 world-renowned rabbi David Rosen of the Am. Jewish Congress warns that Europe risks being "overrun" by Islam unless it returns to its Christian roots. Merry Christmas Infidels, Boom? On Nov. 26 the FBI arrests Muslim Somali-Am. student Mohamed Osman Mohamud (1991-) for trying to set off a car bomb at a Christmas tree lighting in Portland, Ore.; he is found guilty on Jan. 13, 2013. On Nov. 27 U.S. forces have been in Afghanistan one day longer than the Soviet Union when it completed its 1989 withdrawal. On Nov. 27 the 5K-strong English Defence League stages three demonstrations against Sharia in England. On Nov. 27 (5:40 p.m.) after leaving an Osama-style pre-attack video railing against his parents for "holding me back from jihad in the cause of Allah", former Ore. State U. student Mohamed Osman "Mo Mo" Mohamud (1991-) AKA the Christmas Tree Bomber is arrested by the FBI after trying to use a cell phone to set off a van full of explosives in a crowd of 25K in Pioneer Courthouse Square in Corvallis, Ore. during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony while shouting "Allahu Akbar"; the FBI was tipped off by his father, and strung him along and put fake explosives in the van, allowing Muslim disinfo. artists to claim he was framed, despite many statements he left along the way that he hates America and wants to kill Americans for Allah; in 2005 city officials voted to now allow local law enforcement to participate in the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, which foiled the plot; on Nov. 28 angry arsonists set fire to the Salman Al-Farisi Islamic Center that he frequented, his imam issuing the soundbyte: "There wasn't anything that would prompt me to think he would plan this. It's completely, clearly, textually denounced in the Islamic religion" - and the stupid PC press focuses on that instead of the jihadist, the violent intolerant supremacist passages in the Quran, and the stupidity of mass Muslim immigration? On Nov. 27 Amir Hossein Shirana, an abducted employee from a secret Iranian nuclear plant claims they were enriching uranium to build a nuclear weapon. There are no bathrooms out there, you know? On Nov. 28 250K embassy cables, some as recently as this Feb. are released by Julian Assange's WikiLeaks revealing a long list of U.S. foreign strategies and secrets, incl. spying on allies, messages from Saudi King Abdullah calling on the U.S. to "cut off the head of the snake" with an air strike on Iran, and warnings from Israel that Iran is close to getting nukes; it also reveals that Iran had used Red Crescent to smuggle weapons and agents into Lebanon, and reveals that "Saudi donors remains the chief financiers of Sunni militant groups like al-Qaida"; Iranian officials lied to the IAEA about their nuclear plants; the Saudi king urged the U.S. to implant chips in Gitmo inmates to track them "like horses, falcons"; Arab leaders called Iranian pres. Madmaninastraightjacket "evil" and an "existential threat"; Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai pardoned cops caught dealing drugs incl. heroin, repeatedly threatened to join the Taliban; Armenia sent arms to Iran that were used to kill U.S. troops; future pope Benedict XVI wanted Muslim Turkey kept out of the EU; the U.S. set up an intel unit in Barcelona, Spain after calling Catalonia "the greatest center of radical Islamist activity in the Mediterranean"; U.S. diplomats conclude that Britain made "little progress" in fighting Islamists after the 7/7/2005 London Bombings despite investing considerable time and resources; Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi told U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates in Feb. that no one could stop Israel from attacking Iran if it feels an existential threat; Sudanese pres. Omar al-Bashir has stuffed up to $9B in U.K. banks; a survey of 30 univs. in Britain found that 32% of Muslim students support killing for Islam, and 40% want Sharia law; Israeli Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi told a U.S. Congressional delegation in late 2009 that Israel was preparing for a large war against Hamas or Hezbollah; the U.S. fears that Saudi Arabia has overstated its oil reserves by 40% (300B barrels); Turkey allowed the U.S. to use its Incirlik airbase as a refueling stop despite official denials; U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder promises to prosecute anybody who broke U.S. law by leaking secret diplomatic cases, and U.S. Rep. Peter King (in line to be the next House Homeland Security Committee chmn.) calls for Assange to be prosecuted under the U.S. Espionage Act and for WikiLeaks to be designed as a foreign terrorist org.; Sarah Palin disses the Obama admin.'s handling of the documents release as "incompetent"; Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy calls for Assange to be put on the U.S. kill list like Anwar al-Awlaki; after Amazon shuts down their site, they get new hosting from Banhof, which is located inside a Cold War bunker in a Swedish mountain; on Dec. 9 Russia chimes in, suggesting that Assange be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize; the leaked cables spark the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen? On Nov. 28 after Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak rejects U.S. demands for monitors to observe them on Nov. 25, parliamentary elections in Egypt are marked by massive fraud in favor of Mubarak's Nat. Dem. Party, causing protests by the Muslim Brotherhood - little does he know about next Jan. 25? On Nov. 28 pres. elections in Ivory Coast. On Nov. 28 voters in Switzerland approve harsher laws for immigrants, incl. automatic deportation for those convicted of serious crimes. On Nov. 28 U.S. authorities announce that Mexico has become the #1 source for all meth sold in the U.S. On Nov. 28 suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels shoot and kill Bejunson Basnillo, a driver for the U.N. World Food Program in Marantao in S Philippines. On Nov. 28 clashes between Islamic al-Shabab fights and the Somalian govt. in Mogadishu begin (until ?). On Nov. 29 Pres. Obama proposes a freeze on civilian pay for federal employees for 2011-12 to save $28B over five years. On Nov. 29 an Afghan border policeman kills six U.S. servicemen during a training mission near the Pakistani border. On Nov. 29 four Islamist militants clash with govt. forces in Osh, Kyrgyzstan; at least four are killed. On Nov. 29 secy.-gen. of the Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu warns that the West has hatched plots to spread Islamophobia in order to block conversions to Islam, and calls on member nations to work to defuse them - kafirophobia? On Nov. 29 15-y.-o. Wisc. h.s. student Samuel Hengel (1995-) takes his teacher and 23 classmates hostage for six hours, then commits suicide. On Nov. 29 the annual U.N. Gen. Assembly discussion on the Middle East sees Libyan nutcase Moammar Gaddafi propose a new binat. state called Isratine. On Nov. 29-Dec. 10 the 2010 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Mexico, attended by 15K is dominated by global warming proponents, who call for an end to the developed world's growth for the next 20 years - the U.N. is a criminal enterprise of haters of the developed world? On Nov. 30 the U.S. Senate by 73-25 passes the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act, SB-510, the biggest overhaul to U.S. food safety laws since the 1950s, giving vast new power to the FDA, placing new responsibilities on farmers and food cos. to prevent contamination, and setting safety stds. for imported foods; it makes it illegal to grow, share, or sell homegrown food? On Nov. 30 the U.S. House votes 256-152 to approve the $4.6B Pigford II and Cobell settlement of class-action suits from Indians and 70K African-Am. farmers, the latter getting $1.25B of it, and Alaska Natives getting $3.4B; in 1999 15,640 black farmers received $1B under Pigford I. On Nov. 30 the U.S. Senate votes 39-56 against a proposal from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to ban congressional earmarks. On Nov. 30 Pres. Obama meets with Repub. and Dem. leaders in a White House bipartisan summit to discuss extending the Bush tax cuts, ratifying the new START treaty etc. On Nov. 30 Iraqi security forces foil a plot to bomb the French embassy in Baghdad, arresting 12 suspected al-Qaia members connected with the Oct. 31 church assault. On Nov. 30 al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb denies Mauritanian military reports that 30 members defected - it was 29? On Nov. 30 the Turkish military suspends its longstanding practice of dismissing Islamists. On Nov. 30 the Pentagon releases a Review of the Proposed Repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal, which concludes that it is unlikely to hurt the effectiveness of U.S. troops, with a low risk after a short term "limited and isolated disruption to unit cohesion and retention". On Nov. 30 the U.S. and Mexico announce a frequent flyer program with streamlined procedures through immigration and customs for pre-screened flyers. On Nov. 30 Egyptian police use live ammo on unarmed Christian Coptic protesters in Cairo, killing four. On Nov. 30 Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi demands £4B from the EU to fight illegal immigration, claiming that otherwise Europe will "turn black" and be swamped by Muslims. On Nov. 30 after an outcry, the Nat. Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Inst. announces that it will remove a video exhibition showing Jesus Christ on a cross being eaten alive by ants, but will keep other homoerotic artworks. In Nov. Peru launches its first nanosatellite from Russia. In Nov. Sweden decides to send Kurdish lesbian couple Pari and Dilsa back to Iraq, despite facing execution for homosexuality. In Nov. the U.S. unemployment rate increases to 9.8%, although the economy adds 39K jobs, setting a record of unemployment above 9% for 19 straight mo. In Nov. the U.S. loses 45 troops killed in Afghanistan, the deadliest Nov.in the 9-year Afghanistan War. In Nov. Norway suffers its coldest Nov. since 1919. In Nov. Colombia, Peru, and Chile agree to merge their stock exchanges, with a total of 600 stocks and a combined GDP of $500B. In Nov. the $40B Indian Telecom Scandal sees the govt. get into a faulty cell phone licensing deal. On Dec. 1 a cold spell in N Europe sees Moscow ' have its coldest day since 1931, -23.6C (-10.5F); on Nov. 30 Trondheim, Norway has its coldest temp since 1788; meanwhile Italy suffers from floods and high tides; on Dec. 3 12 freeze to death in Poland. On Dec. 1 Spanish police arrest seven men in Barcelona for stealing passports for radical Islamic cells in Thailand and Pakistan. On Dec. 1 residents of the village of Fureidis near Haifa, Israel are indicted for spying for Hamas and planning to create a terror cell made up of Arab-Israelis. On Dec. 1 Palestinian Authority chmn. Mahmoud Abbas finally calls for the unconditional release of 24-y.-o. Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit (1986-), who was captured by Hamas in 2006 and held on the demand of the release of 1K terrorists, with Abbas backing them up until now. On Dec. 1 the U.S. Treasury Dept. cites five Iranian corporate officials and 10 businesses serving as fronts for Iran's shipping co. Iran Shipping Lines. On Dec. 1 Pres. Obama's fiscal commission releases a final report recommending sharp cuts in military spending, a higher retirement age, and reforms costing taxpayers an avg. of $1.7K a year; on Dec. 2 the U.S. House votes on partisan lines 234-188 to extend the Bush tax cuts for low and middle income taxpayers only (less than $250K per year); on Dec. 4 the Senate votes 53-36 to reject further debate on that plan; on Dec. 3 it falls three votes short of 14 votes needed to pressure Congress to quickly vote it in; on Dec. 15 the Senate by 81-19 passes a $858B package preserving the Bush era tax breaks for all income levels for two years, and extending emergency unemployment for more than a year; on Dec. 16 despite liberal opposition the Houses passes it by 277-148. On Dec. 1 the cases of Maj. Nidal Hasan and others cause former U.S. Defense Dept. inspector gen. Gen. Joseph Schmitz calls on Congress to oversee and vet the process for Muslim clerics nominated to serve as U.S. miitary chaplains. On Dec. 1 Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu denies reports that Turkey listed Israel as a threat in a key policy paper and that he had questioned Israel's long-term viability; meanwhile ex-PM Necmettin Erbakan (1926-2011) claims that PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AKP (Justice and Development Party) are stooges of the Zionists. On Dec. 2 Abdel Hamid Shaari, head of the Mosque of Viala Jenner becomes the first Muslim mayoral candidate of a major Italian city, Milan. On Dec. 2 a 3.7K-acre fire in Carmel Forest near Haifa, Israel (worst in Israeli history until ?) kills 40 cadets and the driver on a bus en route to Damon Prison to rescue prisoners; after the Lions of the Mujahideen in Palestine claim responsibility, two teen brothers from Usfiya admit doing it through negligence. On Dec. 2 Al-Shabaab takes over the Burhakaba District in Somalia from Huzbil-Islam, the last they control in the Bay region. On Dec. 2 U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano calls on the lame duck Congress to pass the U.S. DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act that grants legal status to 2.1M illegal immigrant students at a cost of up to $20B; on Dec. 8 it passes the House by 216-198 incl. 8 Repubs; on Dec. 18 the Senate kills it after a 55-41 vote fails to achieve the necessary 60 votes. On Dec. 2 Pres. Obama celebrates Hanukkah at the White House. On Dec. 2 Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh insists that there is no al-Qaida presence in Gaza. On Dec. 2 the U.S. House passes a bill that would force the FCC to set new lower volume stds. for pesky TV ads. On Dec. 2 a Pew Research Center Poll of six Muslim countries shows that only a minority of world Muslims support al-Qaida; too bad, the total comes to 130M of 1.5B. On Dec. 3 amid growing tensions in the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. and Japan launch their biggest-ever joint military exercises off Japan's S islands near South Korea. On Dec. 3 Pres. Obama makes a surprise holiday visit to Afghanistan to join the Taliban, er, to visit the troops at Bagram Air Base, telling them that we're "tired of playing defense"; he talks with Hamid Karzai only by phone. On Dec. 3 U.S. Marine commandant Gen. Jim Amos and USAF chief of staff Gen. Norton Schwartz tell the Senate that they don't recommend that Congress allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. On Dec. 3 Turkish pres. Abdullah Gul says that Israel and Turkey are no longer friends, and any cooperation between NATO and Israel is out of the question. On Dec. 3 U.S. Gen. David Petraeus addresses his troops at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, and pisses-off Afghans with a statement that corruption has been a part of their history and culture for "however long this country has probably been in existence". On Dec. 3 Pres. Obama issues his first pardons since taking office, all involving minor offenses. On Dec. 3 Mexican police arrest 14-y.-o. U.S.-born hitman Edgar Jimenez Lugo (1996-) AKA El Ponchis (The Clock), who confesses to doing at least four decapitations; on July 27, 2011 he is given the max minor sentence of three years. On Dec. 3 the lit. elite of Baghdad protest a govt. order banning liquor in restaurants and hotels under Islamic influence. On Dec. 3 Am. Muslim convert Maria Hardman, a student at the U. of Colo. refuses to remove her headscarf for a mugshot, causing judge Noel Blum to come down on her, but after Muslim pressure he folds on Dec. 15 and allows her to wear the scarf provided she exposes her hairline and ears. On Dec. 4 Brazilian pres. Lula da Silva recognizes a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, causing Israel to say they are "saddened"; on Dec. 6 Argentina follows suit, joining 100+ other nations incl. Cuba, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. On Dec. 4 Palestinian pres.Mahmoud Abbas warns that if peace talks fail he might ask Israel to resume full control of the West Bank. On Dec. 4 Anaheim, Calif. Muslim Ahmed Nasir Taalil Mohamud (1975-) is indicted for conspiracy to provide material support to al-Shabaab. On Dec. 4 Qatar is selected over the U.S. for the 2022 World Cup, which Pres. Obama calls a "mistake", causing Egyptian scholar Shikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi to call it a V for Muslims worldwide over the U.S. On Dec. 4 gunmen kill 10 in two attacks in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, incl. four police officers in an ambushed police car. On Dec. 4 the Brazilian govt. announces that it has been "closely monitoring" about 20 people linked to Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad. On Dec. 4 the marriage of 23-y.-o. Muslim schoolteacher Abdul Manan Othman to a 14-y.-o. girl in Malaysia stirs calls for reform. On Dec. 4 Egyptian minister of family and pop. Moushira Khattab says that Egypt is seeking internat. support to urge the U.N. Gen. Assembly to issue a resolution against female genital mutilation (FGM). On Dec. 5 the govt. of Albania announces that floods the past week have caused 11K to be evacuated and 7.8K houses damaged. On Dec. 5 Iran announces that it can produce yellow cake, allowing it to freely convert local or African uranium ore into nuclear fuel. On Dec. 5 Muslims murder yet two more Christians in Iraq, an elderly coupe in Baladiyat, Iraq in E Baghdad. On Dec. 5 a 22-y.-o. N African is arrested in Italy on suspicion of the kidnapping-murder of 13-y.-o. Yara Gambirasio in Brembata Sopra (near Bergamo); the same day a 21-y.-o. Moroccan DUI driver kills seven cyclists and injures three in Lamezia Terme in S Calabria; the incidents cause outcries over the stupidity of mass Muslim immigration. On Dec. 5 WikiLeaks reveals that Obama admin. officials admit that they have failed to shut down the money pipeline to Islamic terrorists after nine years of trying, with Hillary Clinton sending a classified memo saying: "It has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority. Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide." On Dec. 6 two Islamic suicide bombers in the Mohmand Agency in NW Pakistan near the Afghan border kill 50 and wound 100. On Dec. 6 Pres. Obama makes a deal with Repubs. to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for rich, er, all Americans for two years at a cost of $620B in tax revenues in return for a $120B 2011 tax cut and $56B renewal of jobless benefits for 13 mo.; he holds a surprise press conference to defend the deal amid criticism from Dems. that he caved in too quickly, saying that tax cuts for the wealthy are the Repubs.' "Holy Grail" and that he couldn't get them to budge, dissing Dems. for being "sanctimonious" and reminding them that "this country was founded on compromise"; on Dec. 9 House Dems. vote not to accept his deal as-is; on Dec. 10 Bill Clinton tries to get Dems. to support Obama, who bails out of the White House press conference as if Clinton is back as the boss? On Dec. 6 a survey is released revealing that George W. Bush is the most unpopular living U.S. pres. On Dec. 6 Awais Younis (AKA Sundullah "Sunny" Ghilzai and Mokhammed Khan) is charged with posting threats on Facebook to bomb the Washington, D.C. Metro Subway. On Dec. 6 (11 p.m.) Karen Leuders (1953-) kisses her hubby Willard and bites off half his tongue; her hubby doesn't want to press charges - maybe his tongue had been bad? On Dec. 6-7 the U.S. and Iran hold their first direct talks on Iran's nuclear program in over a year in Geneva, and they agree to meet again next Jan. after no substantive progress - did they serve yellow cake? On Dec. 7 the 2010 PISA (Program for Internat. Student Assessment) scores put Shanghai at the top of 65 countries in math, reading, and science, and the U.S. way down at #23 or #24 in most subjects and #31 in math. On Dec. 7 (6:30 p.m.) an Islamic terrorist explosion in Varanasi, India in retaliation for the Babri Masjid demolition 18 years earlier kills a 1-y.-o. child and injures 20+. On Dec. 7 Pres. Obama abandons his 2-year policy of trying to persuade Israel to stop settlement construction; on Dec. 8 Palestinian Authority official Yasser Abed Rabbo says that "Israeli obstinacy" made Washington give up on efforts to freeze Jewish settlements, and questions whether the U.S. can help them attain independence. On Dec. 7 an Indian Muhamideen bomb explodes during a Hindu ceremony at the Ganges River in Lucknow, India, killing a 2-y.-o. infant and causing a stampede that injures 19. On Dec. 7 the U.S. dir. of nat. intel releases an intel assessment revealing that 150 of 598 (25%) former Gitmo detainees are either "confirmed or suspected of reengaging in terrorist or insurgent activities". On Dec. 7 Amnesty Internat. condemns a religious ruling by Israeli ultra-orthodox rabbis banning rental or sale of homes to non-Jews; on Dec. 10 top ultra-orthodox rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv slams the ruling, saying that the other rabbis should "have their pens taken away". On Dec. 7 a new meningitis A vaccine is released in Burkina Faso. On Dec. 7 the U.S. Surgeon gen. releases the 30th Report on Tobacco, which claims that even one puff of tobacco smoke is harmful. On Dec. 8 (5:30 a.m.) a fire in the overcrowded San Miguel Prison S of Santiago, Chile kills 81 inmates and injures 14. On Dec. 8 the U.S. Senate votes unanimously to convict U.S. district judge G. Thomas Porteous (9147-) of La. of four impeachment charges, removing him from the bench, the 8th in U.S. history. On Dec. 8 the $600M private Dragon space capsule is launched on a Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.), founded by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk. On Dec. 8 Baltimore, Md. Muslim convert Muhammad Hussain (Antonio Martinez) (1989-) is arrested for a plot to blow up an Armed Forces recruiting center in Cantonsville (near Baltimore), Md. with a car bomb; he was allegedly "grinning from ear to ear" and shouting "Allahu Akbar" while trying to detonate a fake bomb; on Jan. 26 he pleads guilty, saying he was motivated by his belief that the U.S. is at war with Islam. On Dec. 8 Britain okays the sale of meat and milk from offspring of cloned animals sans special labelling. On Dec. 8 WikiLeaks reveals that U.S. TV shows and movies incl. "Desperate Housewives" are doing more to diffuse Islamic extremism in Saudi Arabia than official U.S. efforts. On Dec. 8 New York transportation police officer Eddie Crespo (1982-) breaks up an altercation involving a Muslim and non-Muslim Albert Melendez in lower Manhattan, the latter uttering anti-Muslim statements, causing CAIR to get them both charged with trumped-up charges; on Dec. 16 prosecutors drop the charges against Crespo, while Melendez is indicted by a grand jury on a misdemeanor. On Dec. 8 (night) vandals cut down the Glastonbury Holy Thorn Tree in England shortly after a sprig was cut to put on Queen Elizabeth II's Christmas table. On Dec. 9 a U.N. report urges Afghanistan to protect women's rights and give up child marriage, honor killings, and the giving away of girls to settle disputes. On Dec. 9 a defense bill containing a repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is blocked from the Senate floor after a 57-40 vote falls three votes of the 60 votes needed to overcome a Repub. filibuster. On Dec. 9 students stage mass demonstrations in C London against increased tuition fees, assaulting the car of Prince Charles and Camilla. On Dec. 9 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder finally stands up to the Muslim-Am. community who are pissed-off at the FBI's use of informants, saying that sting operations are an "essential law enforcement tool in uncovering and preventing terror attacks", and not entrapment as they claim; his speaking at a Muslim event is a first, the annual dinner of Muslim Advocates in Millbrae (near San Francisco), Calif.; too bad, he takes the Obama line that the main concern of the Justice Dept. is not to protect non-Muslims but to protect Muslims from "violence, threats, vandalism and arson", "to ensure that members of every religious community enjoy the ability to worship and to practice their faith in peace, free from intimidation, violence or suspicion". On Dec. 9 a woman in Sudan receives 40 lashes from a police officer for the crime of wearing pants inside her long dress; a male audience laughs at her pain and suffering. On Dec. 9 Bahama Buck's in Lubbuck, er, Lubbock, Tex. makes the world's largest snow cone, 15 ft. tall and weighing 25,095 lbs. On Dec. 10 Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez announces that he's moving into a Bedouin tent given to him by Muammar Gaddafi to show solidarity with the homeless from the recent floods. On Dec. 10 a gun battle between rival drug gangs in Tacalitlan, W Mexico kills 11 during a Virgin of Guadalupe celebration. On Dec. 10 Monica Marquez becomes the first Colo. Supreme Court justice who is openly gay, and the first who is Latina. On Dec. 10 Bolivia passes a law lowering the retirement age to 5 and nationalizes the pension system to extend coverage to the 60% of the pop. who work in the informal economy. On Dec. 10 the Rolls Royce carrying Prince Charles and Camilla is attacked by a street mob in London during a protest over tuition hikes, smashing windows and splattering it with paintballs; since 1997 tuition had been free. On Dec. 11 a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban in Khan Neshin District of Helmand Province, Afghanistan kills 15 civilians; meanwhile a shootout with NATO troops kills seven, causing 500 to gather in Paktia to shout "Death to Americans". On Dec. 11 N Sudanese army troops drop bombs on Kiir Adem in S Sudan to hinder upcoming elections, then deny it. On Dec. 11 Jordanian-born Allah Akbar-shouting Islamic suicide bomber Timur Abd Al-Wahab al-Abdaly (b. 1981) sets his car on fire, walks 200m, then detonates prematurely amid sparse Xmas shoppers in Stockholm, Sweden (first terrorist attack in three decades), killing one along with himself, and injuring two; he pre-sent an email to the Swedish news agency TT with the soundbyte "Now your children, daughters and sisters die like our brothers' and sisters' children die... as long as you don't stop your war against Islam and degrading the prophet and your stupid support of that pig Vilks", exhorting fellow Muslims to "stop sucking up to and degrading", and calling on "all the mujahedeen in Europe and Sweden"; three years earlier he was thrown out of a mosque in Luton, England for trying to recruit extremists, and named his son Osama; on Dec. 13 senior al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Suleiman al-Nasser warns that this attack is "only the beginning of a new era in jihad"; on Dec. 13 Finnish pres. Tarja Halonen says that it's only a matter of time before there is an Islamist terror attack in Finland; Muslim groups in Luton had been handed £550K since 2008 to combat extremist but failed to supply a single tipoff to police. On Dec. 12 a suicide bomber outside govt. offices in Ramadi, Iraq, kills 17 incl. women and elderly waiting to collect welfare checks. On Dec. 12 Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel is released from prison after serving a 5-mo. sentence for spitting at an Israeli police officer during a 2007 demonstration at Al-Aqsa Mosque; on Dec. 12 Iranian Muslims demonstrate at the tomb of Jewish Biblical queen Esther in W Iran and threaten to destroy it if Israel damages Al-Aqsa. On Dec. 12 Pakistani authorities announce the arrest of Muslim physician Nausahad Valiyani in Hyderabad for throwing away a business card of a man named Muhammad - Islam stinks? On Dec. 13 Iranian pres. Imadinnacket fires foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki after five years. On Dec. 13 Va. federal judge Henry E. Hudson strikes down the part of the Obama health care program that forces Americans to buy health insurance; Congress doesn't have the power to force people to buy something from a private co. On Dec. 13 Yale Law School librarian Fred Shapiro picks the soundbyte "I am not a witch" by Christine O'Donnell as best quote of 2010. On Dec. 13 a cold wave in the E U.S. causes the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn. to collapse from snow. On Dec. 13 Marie Le Pen utters the soundbyte that the Muslim crowds who take over the streets of Paris for daily prayers are like the Nazi occupation; a poll on Dec. 13-14 finds that 39% agree. On Dec. 13 a South Korean fishing boat sinks in the Antarctic Ocean, with 22 killed and 20 rescued. On Dec. 13 Muslim airport shuttle driver Muhammad Teshale (1985-) drives his SuperShuttle up to 95 mph, striking at least six vehicles; he claims he did it "to be famous". On Dec. 14 a 20-something Saudi woman is arrested after fleeing her husband in Al-Qunfudha and living for 2 mo. disguised as a man. On Dec. 14 Ayad Allawi, head of a Sunni-backed political party joins the Shiite-led govt. of Iraq, ending months of near-anarchy. On Dec. 14 German authorities raid two Salafist Islamist groups in three cities and charge them with sedition for seeking to overthrow the govt. and establish an Islamic state. On Dec. 14 Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi narrowly wins a vote of confidence, causing violent riots in Rome. On Dec. 14 a fire in a garment factory in Ashulia, Bangladesh 16 mi. N of Dhaka kills 25 and injures 100+. On Dec. 14 right-wing Danish MP Jesper Langballe pleads guilty to defamation for accusing Muslim families of rape and honor killings; in Denmark the truth is no longer a defense? On Dec. 14 USMC top gen. James E. Amos says that allowing gays in the military could result in more casualties because they will create a "distraction"; on Dec. 15 the House by 250-175 passes an end to the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy; meanwhile on Dec. 15 ex-U.S. pres. Jimmy Carter says that the U.S. is ready for a gay pres., mentioning a black female (Condoleezza Rice?). On Dec. 14 Senate Repubs. announce their intention of forcing a reading of all 1,924 pages of a $1.1% omnibus spending bill ($575M per page) that has 6K "shameful" and "outrageous" earmarks - ho ho ho, Merry Christmas? On Dec. 14 the Venezuelan parliament approves 1-year decree powers for pres. Hugo Chavez, pissing-offthe opposition, who call it an "ambush" on democracy; meanwhile banks and landowners brace for nationalization. On Dec. 14 Clay Duke (1954-) pulls a gun on a school board in Fla., causing board member Ginger Littleton to attack him with her purse; after repelling her, he fires at the panel and misses, then is hit by a bullet from security guard Mike Jones and kills himself. On Dec. 14 after being arrested and jailed for refusing to remove her hijab before entering a courthouse in Douglasville, Ga., Muslim-Am. woman Lisa Valentine files a federal lawsuit against the city. On Dec. 14 after complaints from a prominent Muslim family that they don't want to pray next to a Christian grave, the remains of Canadian diplomat Hans-Joachim Himmselsbach (1945-2010) are removed from a cemetery in Turkey. On Dec. 14 Dubai's grand mufi Ahmad 'Abd-al-'Aziz al-Haddid releases a fatwa saying that it's okay for men to use makeup as long as "they don't look like women". On Dec. 15 the U.S. House passes a Resolution Opposing the Unilateral Declaration of a Palestinian State, introduced by Dem. Howard Berman, reaffirming "strong support for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states, a democratic, Jewish state of Israel and a viable, democratic Palestinian state." On Dec. 15 foreign ministers of the Arab League say that they will resume failed U.S.-brokered Israel-Palestine negotiations only after a guarantee of progress. On Dec. 15 a Joint U.S.-Mexico Committee meets for the first time to address border violence. On Dec. 15 two Sunni suicide bombers outside the Imam Hussein Mosque in Chabahar, Iran kill 39+, incl. a newborn baby during a Shiite mourning ceremony; an Iranian parliamentarian blames Zionists and the U.S.; on Dec. 20 11 members of the Sunni Jundallah (Arab. "soldiers of Allah") group are hanged. On Dec. 15 two white British men, Gerry Smith (b. 1985) and Abu Bakar (Stephen) (1962-) are killed fighting alongside al-Qaida in Pakistan, becoming the first. On Dec. 15 incoming House Foreign Affairs Committee chmn. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen blasts the Obama admin. for giving the Palestinian Authority a "blank check" while pressuring Israel. On Dec. 15 NASA's Mars Odyssey (launched 2001) breaks the record for longest-serving spacecraft on Mars, beginning day #3,340 at 5:55 p.m. PST. On Dec. 16 a White House Review of Pres. Obama's Afghan War Strategy is released, which concludes that it is "showing progress", but that "the challenge remains to make our gains durable and sustainable". On Dec. 16 Pres. Obama meets with leaders of 500 Native Am. tribes, and tells them that efforts to strengthen their communities and improve relationships with the federal govt. have already borne fruit; he also gives belated U.S. endorsement to the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. On Dec. 16 the Obama admin. calls for an Online Privacy Bill of Rights. On Dec. 16 a Gallup Poll shows Pres. Obama's support among liberals dipping below 80% for the first time, to 79%. On Dec. 16 some of the last sanctions on Iraq from the Sodamn Insane era are lifted. On Dec. 16 U.S. Predator drones strike the Khyber Agency in Pakistan for the first time in almost six years, killing seven Taliban members. On Dec. 16 Marisela Escobedo Ortiz is gunned down in front of a governor's office in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico while demanding justice for her slain daughter Rubi Frayre Escobedo, who was found burned and dismembered in a trash bin on June 18 after going missing for a year. On Dec. 16 Sunni-run Malaysia arrests 200 Shiites for the crime of deviating from true Sunni Islam, blowing its cover story of religious tolerance. On Dec. 16 supporters of opposition leader Alassane Quattara clash with security forces in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, killing 18 and causing talk of another civil war. On Dec. 16 ABC News reports that Houston-based Iranian-Am. Muslim businessman Farid Seif left a loaded Glock pistol in his computer case and it sailed through security untouched. On Dec. 16 British MP Bob Ainsworth tells Parliament that it's time to legalize all drugs in order to take them away from criminals and hand them to doctors and pharmacists. On Dec. 16 after pressure from law enforcement and lawmakers over the slaying of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Janet Napolitano visits the Ariz.-Mexico border. On Dec. 16 a fight in the Ukrainian Parliament sends six to the hospital. On Dec. 17 (3:00 a.m.) TLW's Mo.-born angelic mother Wilma Louise Winslow (b. 1925) dies peacefully in her sleep in her home in Denver, Colo. On Dec. 17 Pres. Obama signs the U.S. Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act, extending the Bush-era tax rates for high-income taxpayers, and ending the Making Work Pay Credit. On Dec. 17 Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah addresses large crowds in Lebanon during the Shiite holy day of Ashura, and predicts that the U.N. court on how they, er, on who murdered Rafiq Haria would "disappear with the wind". On Dec. 17 191+ prisoners walk out of a prison in Nueva Laredo, Mexico across the border from Laredo, Tex.; staff help is suspected. On Dec. 17 after much opposition, the Dubai-funded Essalam Mosque in Rotterdam opens, becoming the largest mosque in the Netherlands. On Dec. 17 a French court convicts 13 former officials of Chilean dicator Augusto Pinochet for roles in the disappearance of four French nationals; one defendant is acquitted; all 14 are tried in absentia, two receiving life sentences. On Dec. 17 the Jasmine Rev. in Tunisia begins when univ. graduate street peddler Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia to protest police confiscating his fruits and vegetables, and a policewoman slapping him, triggering demonstrations; he dies on Jan. 4; on Jan. 7 the U.S. summons its ambassador to express concerns about continuing protexts. On Dec. 18 the U.S. Senate by 65-31 repeals the 17-y.-o. Don't Ask Don't Tell policy for the military - kisses for Christmas? On Dec. 18 Saudi police arrest 38 in Medina after Sunni-Shiite fighting erupts near the Al-Quba Mosque on the Shiite holiday of Ashura. On Dec. 18 the Iraqi parliament lifts a ban on three Sunni politicians, clearing the way for a unity govt. On Dec. 18 the top CIA spy in Pakistan is pulled after U.S. officials claim that Pakistan's intel service deliberately exposed him/her; meanwhile Pres. Obama gives a speech warning Pakistan's leaders that "terrorist safe havens within their borders must be dealt with". On Dec. 18 40-y.-o. U.S. tourist Kristine Luken, member of the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) (a Christian evangelist org. founded in 1809 specializing in converting Jews) is kidnapped while hiking with friend Kaye Susan Wilson, and found bound and suffering from knife wounds near Beit-shemesh, Israel; authorities say she was attacked by two Arabs. On Dec. 18 anti-Muslim groups from left to right gather in Paris to protest the Islamization of Europe. On Dec. 18 a 35-y.-o. veiled Muslim convert woman Shayna Bharuchi (1975-) in Clapton, East London is arrested for cutting out the heart of her 4-y.-o. daughter Nusayba while listening to a recorded chanting of the Quran. On Dec. 19 an explosion at an oil pipeline in Texmelucan in C Mexico kills 10 and injures 12. On Dec. 19 the Iranian parliament cuts ties with Britain after statements by British ambassador Simon Grass criticizing Iran's human rights record. On Dec. 19 the U.N. high commissioner on human rights announces that post-election violence in Ivory Coast has killed 50+ and injured 200+; the EU gives Laurent Gbagbo until Dec. 20 to concede defeat or face sanction. On Dec. 19 chief magistrate Howard Riddle becomes the first judge in British history to permit live updates to be sent from his court via Twitter during the trial of Julian Assange. On Dec. 20 Alexander Lukashenko is reelected to a 4th term as pres. of Belarus, causing hundreds of opposition supporters to protest election fraud, and seven opposition pres. candidates to face up to 15 years in prison. On Dec. 20 Palestinian leaders tell the Obama admin. that they are ready to accept nearly any security arrangements for a Palestinian state demanded by Israel short of Israeli troops on their soil. On Dec. 20 Benzion Evers, son of prominent Dutch rabbi Raphael Evers announces plans to leave Amsterdam for Isrel over increased anti-Jewish sentiment; meanwhile Coptic Egyptian priest Rafic Greische tells Vatican Radio that radical Muslims are trying to rid the Middle East entirely of Christians. On Dec. 20 British police arrest 12 Muslims with links to Bangladesh and Pakistan in the biggest anti-terrorist sweep in nearly two years, accusing them of plotting large-scale attacks inside the U.K.; on Dec. 21 Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina announces that the govt. will show zero tolerance to those who are smearing the name of Islam, the religion of peace. On Dec. 20 Pres. Obama issues a memo asking federal officials to draft "appropriate workplace" accomodations for federal employees who are doing breastfeeding. On Dec. 21 (winter solstice) there is a total lunar eclipse. On Dec. 21 China urges North Korea to allow U.N. nuclear monitors to alleviate internat. tensions. On Dec. 21 Israeli defense forces chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi admits that a massive Kornet anti-tank missile has been fired at an Israeli tank earlier in Dec. by Hezbollah in Lebanon, penetrating its outer shell, becoming a quantum leap in their military power. On Dec. 21 gay Muslim man Azwan Ismail comes out to the AP, telling them that he fears for his safety after coming out on the Internet and receiving death threats and condemnations by Muslim religious authorities. On Dec. 22 Pres. Obama signs the 2010 U.S. Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act. On Dec. 22 the U.S. Senate by 71-26 ratifies the new START treaty with Russia. On Dec. 22 explosions rock the Swiss and Chilean missions in Rome, Italy, wounding two. On Dec. 22 (100th anniv. of the Chicago Union Stockyards fire) two firefighters in Chicago, Ill. are killed and 12+ are injured at an abandoned warheouse blaze after the roof collapses. On Dec. 22 after a 12-year lobbying effort wins unanimous approval from the House, the Senate kills a bill to empower whistleblowers. On Dec. 22 former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla is sentenced to life in prison for the torture-murder of 31 prisoners in 1976. On Dec. 22 Roman Catholic bishop Thomas Olmsted tells St. Joseph Hospital in Phoenix, Ariz. that it can no longer call itself a Catholic hospital because it permitted an abortion. On Dec. 23 protester Adrian Sobaru jumps from a 22-ft. balcony of the Romanian parliament during a speech by PM Emil Boc. On Dec. 23 after repeated Muslim attacks, hundreds of Iraqi Christians flee N to the semi-autonomous Kurdish town of Ankawa. On Dec. 24 Iran bans opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahdi Karroubi, and Mohammad Khatami from leaving the country. On Dec. 24 Dutch police arrest 12 Somalis in Rotterdam for planning a terrorist attack in the Netherlands. On Dec. 24 the Jama'atu ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'awati wal Jihad stages Xmas Eve bomb blasts in Jos, Nigeria and Borno State that kill 32. On Dec. 24 Taliban insurgents launch coordinated assaults in NW Pakistan, killing 11 soldiers and 24 militants; on Dec. 25 a woman throws a hand grenade at a crowd and then blows up in their midst at a U.N. food distribution center in Bajaur Agency (near Khar in NW Pakistan near the Afghan border), killing 45 and injuring 70, becoming the first female suicide bomber in Pakistan; Pres. Obama calls it "outrageous" and "an affront to the people of Pakistan". On Dec. 24 illegal Mexican immigrant Quelino Ojeda Jimenez, who fell from a roof and became a quadriplegic is shipped back by Oak Lawn Hospital in Ill. to Oaxcaca without his consent, causing an uproar. On Dec. 24 Indian police search Mumbai for four men believed to be planning a terrorist attack. On Dec. 25 (7:15 a.m.) Abu Sayyaf Islamics set off a bomb in a church during Chritmas Mass in Jolo Island in S Philippines, injuring six. On Dec. 25 Dutch queen Beatrix delivers a Christmas speech calling for her people to be more understanding and tolerant towards Muslim immigrants; too bad, a plot by 12 Somalis to shoot down an Apache attack heli at Gilze-Rijen AFB is exposed, causing her to feel foolish. On Dec. 25 52-y.-o. Iraqi farmer Al-Najem Ambagui (1958-) hands his 19-y.-o. daughter Shakhla in Mandali in Diyala Province after discovering that she had joined al-Qaida and was planning a suicide bombing. On Dec. 25 an Indian rocket carrying the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) explodes after lift-off, becoming the 2nd launch failure for India this year. On Dec. 25 white gay couple Steven Adams and Kevin Powell are murdered in their home Wilton Manors, Fla. by white convicted felon Peter Avsenew (1984-), who is turned in by his mother, writes the soundbyte: "It is my duty as a white man to cull the weak and timid from existence. I will always stand up for what I believe in and eradicate anything in my way. Homosexuals are a disgrace to mankind and must be put down. These weren't the first and won't be the last. I must secure an existance (sic) for white people and a future for white children. I regret nothing and am proud of every choice I've made in my life... I will not ask for mercy and am not sorry"; in June 2018 he utters the soundbyte: "I have no consequences for my actions. I plan on hurting people... I wholeheartedly have nothing to lose, and I’m going to take it out on everybody I can"; on Aug. 28, 2018 he is sentenced to death, and gives the victims' family the middle finger. On Dec. 26 a bus collides head-on with a van carrying mourners from a funeral near Badaun in Uttar Pradesh state in N India, killing 35 and injuring 14. On Dec. 26 a tour bus en route from Asway to Abu Simbel collides with a truck in S Egypt killing eight U.S. tourists and injuring 21 other. On Dec. 27 Philippine citizen Madhatta Asagal Haipe, founding member of the Abu Sayyaf Group is sentenced to 23 years. On Dec. 27 the Fox Network game show Million Dollar Money Drop stinks itself up when it refuses to give Gabe Okoye and Brittany Mayti the $800K they won after they wrongly dropped their money then admitted they made a mistake, and only offered them a do-over. On Dec. 28 Jesse Quinn Harrison (1977-) of Tulsa, Okla. is arrested and charged for sending a letter dissing Islam to a local mosque, then held in a mental health facility while the Obama-owned prosecutors try to make the charges sound real instead of like oppression and de facto Sharia in Okla. On Dec. 30 Russia exonerates the Jehovah's Witnesses of extremism, saying that its pubs. "do not contain any statements in the form of a call or incitement against any social, racial, national, ethnic or religious group or its representatives". On Dec. 31 an Islamic bomb attack in a popular market inside an army barracks in Abuja, Nigeria kills 30 celebrating New Year's Eve. On Dec. 31 the Black Widow Islamic suicide bomber is foiled in an attempted attack near Red Square in Moscow when a text message sets her suicide belt bomb off early. On Dec. 31 the U.S. nat. debt tops $14T. In Dec. the U.S. unemployment rate falls to 9.4% and adds 103K jobs, although 150K were expected. In Dec. the Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) council of the Muslim World League reiterates its demand that religious films worldwide ban images of Muhammad and his companions. In Dec. Syrian blogger Tal al-Mallouhi (1992-) is arrested and put on a secret trial, causing internat. outcries. In Dec. Israel announces the discovery of an immense natural gase field in its territorial waters. The U.S. Justice Dept. begins the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative to try to spot potential terrorists, collecting reports from citizens and law enforcement agencies at "fusion centers" in several U.S. cities incl. Boston, Chicago, and Houston. Pres. Obama issues Pres. Study Directive 11 (PSD-11), ordering an assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood and other "political Islamist" movements, ultimately concluding that they should be courted in preference to propping up "stable regimes" like Egypt; the govt. keeps it classified until ? Hesham Aborea becomes the first Muslim Arab officer in the Israeli military; Christian Cpl. Eleanor Joseph becomes the first female Arab combat soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). According to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, this is the final year. Israel completes its Security Barrier. Nevada's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site opens. NFL football legend Jim Brown gives an interview to Graham Bensinger, saying that there is more racism in the U.S. now than at any time in history. The privacy-conscious open source social networking site Diaspora is launched by Ilya Zhitomirskiy, Daniel Grippi, Maxwell Salzberg, and Raphael Sofaer of NYU's Courant Inst. of Mathematical Science to take on Facebook; too bad, Zhitomirskiy dies prematurely on Nov. 14, 2011 at age 22. The Wikistrat geostrategic analysis site is founded in New York City by by Joel Zamel and Daniel Green to become a combination of Facebook and Wikipedia. The U.K. phases out analog TV broadcasts; Australia phases out analog TV broadcasts and the incandescent light bulb. French thinker Renaud Camus (1946-) warns about the Great Replacement (Grand Remplacement) of native French by Muslim immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East, giving a speech on Nov. 13, 2012, causing the leftist overlords who run the French govt. to convict him in 2014 of telling the truth, er, inciting racial hatred. The 2010-11 U.S. TV season features a record 3.9% of gay characters. 281-ft. $82M Cakewalk is launched in Oct., becoming the largest yacht built since the 1930s, owned by Denver, Colo. investor Charles Gallagher. In June Uber (originally UberCab) is founded in San Francisco, Calif. by Travis Cordell Kalanick (1976-) and Garrett M. Camp (1978-) to allow people to become taxi drivers after customers use a smartphone (iPhone) app to issue ride requests, growing to 300 cities in 58 countries and doing $10B a year by 2015. Revenge Porn gets popularized by the Web site Is Anyone Up?, which pub. explicit photos of girlfriends taken by spurned beaus. The word refudiate is accepted by the New Oxford Am. Dictionary after Sarah Palin uses it in a Tweet in July and her critics pan her; "From a strictly lexical interpretation of the different contexts in which Palin has used 'refudiate', we have concluded that neither 'refute' nor 'repudiate' seems consistently precise, and that 'refudiate' more or less stands on its own, suggesting a general sense of 'reject'." Sports: On Jan. 21 Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers becomes the youngest NBA player to reach 25K points. On Jan. 24 Union Township, N.J.-born Kelly Kulick (1977-) defeats Chris Barnes 265-195 in the PBA Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas, Nev., becoming the first female winner of a nat. PBA Tour event. On Feb. 14 the 2010 (52nd) Daytona 500 is won by James Christopher "Jamie" McMurray (1976-), who goes on to win the 2014 Brickyard 400. On May 1 Super Saver (jockey Calvin Borel) wins the 136th Kentucky Derby by 2-1/2 lengths over Ice Box, becoming the first win for trainer Todd Pletcher after a record 24 failures. On May 9 lefty Dallas Lee Braden (1983-) of the Oakland Athletics becomes the 19th ML pitcher to pitch a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays, winning by 4-0; on May 29 Harry Leroy "Roy" "Doc" Halladay III (1977-) of the Philadelphia Phillies becomes the 20th to you know what against the Florida Marlins, winning by 1-0; on Oct. 6 he pitches a no-hitter in a 4-0 win over Cincinnati in game 1 of their MLB playoff series, the 2nd ever (first in ?); too bad, on June 2 Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers is robbed of a perfect game by a bad call by umpire Jim Joyce, who calls Jason Donald of the Cleveland Indians safe, then later apologizes; the Tigers win 3-0. On May 29-June 9 the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals see the Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Philadelphia Players 4-2, becoming their 4th title and first since 1961; MVP is 6'2" Blackhawks center Jonathan Bryan Toews (1988-), who passes Peter Forsberg to becoming the youngest player to join the Triple Gold Club. On May 30 (Sun.) the 2010 (94th) Indianapolis 500 is won by George Dario Marino Franchitti (1973-) (2nd win), with Dan Wheldon coming in 2nd, and Marco Andretti coming in 3rd; Tony Kanaan starts in the final position but runs as high as 2nd before finishing 11th; the first Indy 500 with four female drivers. On June 3-17 the 2010 NBA Finals sees the Los Angeles Lakers (coach Phil Jackson) defeat the Boston Celtics (coach Doc Rivers) by 4-3; Kobe Bryant of the Lakers is MVP. On June 6 Francesca "the Lioness" Schiavone (1980-) defeats Samantha Stosur to win the French Open, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam tennis title. On June 8 super-hyped pitcher Stephen James Strasburg (1988-) (#1 draft selection in June 2009, who signed a record $15.1M contract) debuts with the Washington Nationals against the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out a record 14 batters in 7 innings for a 5-2 win; luckily he starts the ML season too late to be selected for the All-Star Game, which was a jinx to Mark Fidrych in 1976, Fernando Valenzuela in 1981, and Hideo Nomo in 1995; too bad, on Aug. 26 he tears an elbow ligament, causing him to miss 12-18 mo. after Tommy John surgery. On June 12-July 13, 2010 2010 (19th) FIFA World Cup of Soccer is held in Brazil, hosted by the South African Bafana ("boys") Nat. Football Team, becoming the first African country to host it; the crowds blow noisy vuvuzelas, causing team confusion and ear damage, but are allowed by the officials, although the UAE issues a fatwa against their use; on June 18 the U.S. ties Slovenia 2-2 after U.S.-hating referee Koman Coulibaly (1970-) of Mali (known as Sleepy Eyes for his heavy eyelids) denies U.S. midfielder Maurice "Mo" Edu (1986-) a tie-breaking goal in the 84th min. with an unsupportable call that he never tries to explain, and FIFA later orders him not to explain, making him wildly unpopular in the U.S.; on June 22 South Africa becomes the first host team not to survive the initial round, although it knocks France out in its last match; on June 26 Ghana knocks the U.S out of the match for the 2nd straight time; on July 11 Spain defeats Netherlands 1-0 in OT to win; on July 11 Al-Shabaab sets off two bombs among fans watching the World Cup final in Kampala, Uganda, killing 64; Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket dumps on Paul the Octopus (2008-10) of the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany (who predicted the outcome) as a symbol of "Western propaganda and superstition"; Paul dies on Oct. 26. On June 17 the Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Boston Celtics 83-79 at home in Game 7 to win the NBA title. On June 18 Tiger Woods begins sobbing uncontrollably on the 5th hole of the U.S. Open, saying "What the hell is going on with my life" and "Oh God", also "What are you all staring at?"; four min. later his playing partner Ernie Els also begins sobbing. On June 21 Jenny Higgs (1947-) becomes the first woman chief ump at Wimbledon, in charge of 310 umps; on June 22-23 Nicolas Mahut (1982-) of France and John Robert Isner (1985-) of the U.S. play the longest match in Assoc. of Tennis Profs. (ATP) history; after being suspended at 59-59 for darkness, Isner defeats Mahut 70-68 in the 5th set after 11 hours of play; on June 24 Queen Elizabeth II makes her first Wimbledon appearance since 1977; on June 29, 2009 winner (6-time winner) Roger Federer is stopped in four sets by 12th seed Tomas Berdych of Czech. Repub., who becomes the first Czech man to reach the final four since Ivan Lendl in 1990; on July 3 Serena Williams of the U.S. wins the women's singles title, and on July 4 Rafael Nadal of Spain wins the men's singles title. On July 3-25 the 2010 Tour de France is won by Alberto Contador Velasco (1982-) of Spain (3rd win), who is later found to have 8x the allowable amount of a chemical indicating doping in his system. On July 13 the 2010 ML All-Star Game is the first win for the NL since 1996, with Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colo. Rockies pitching two scoreless innings, and Brian McCann of the NL Atlanta Braves hitting a 3-run double in the 7th inning to win 3-1. On July 8 after seven seasons, two NBA MVPs, and six All-Star picks, superstar 6'8" forward (#23) LeBron Raymone "King" James (1984-) leaves the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat (#6) (until 2014), as announced in the ESPN special The Decision. On Aug. 4 Alex Rodriguez hits his 600th homer. On Aug. 10 Am. jockey Russell A. Baze (1958-) becomes the first to reach 11K wins at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rose, Calif. on first-time starter Separate Forest. On Aug. 14-26 the 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore are held; FIFA bans headscarves for women, drawing protests from Iran and other Muslim Sharia countries, and causing it on May 1 to flop and permit them. On Aug. 22 a horse race at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. features a hilarious finish between My Wife Knows Everything and The Wife Doesn't Know. On Sept. 24 Ardolis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds throws a record 105 mph fastball against the San Diego Padres. In Oct. Cigar Guy steals the show from golfer Tiger Woods, standing in the crowd near him wearing a mustache and wig; he turns out to be 30-y.-o. investment analyst Rupesh Shingadia of S London, who claims he's paying tribute to Spanish golfer Miguel Angel Jimenez. On Nov. 13 5'-6-1/2" southpaw Filipino boxer Emmanuel Dapidran "Manny" "Pac-Man" Pacquiao (1978-) defeats Antonio Margarito to clinch the WBS super welterweight title at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, becoming the first 8-div. boxing champion (until ?). On Dec. 4 Oklahoma U. defeats Nebraska U. 23-20 in their last football game until Sept. 18, 2021, with a series lead of 45-38-3. China holds the first Internat. Robot (Humanoid) Olympics in Harbin. Architecture: On Jan. 4 the $1.5B 160-story 2,717K-ft. (800m) (1/2 mi.) Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai (renamed after the leader of neighboring Abu Dhabi, which saved it from a financial meltdown) opens, becoming the world's tallest bldg. (until ?), along with a $20B new shopping district incl. 1.2K-shop Dubai Mall and 30K apts.; meanwhile the Dubai economy is in the pits. On Mar. 11 Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. is begun as the home of the NBA New Jersey Nets. On Apr. 22 worldwide Earth Day celebrations are marred by an announcement by Brazil of the $10B Belo Monte Hydroelectric Dam (world's 3rd largest) on the Xingu River, which will flood a part of the Amazon River basin despite protests by Indians. On May 9 the Guangzhou Opera House in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China opens, designed by Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid. On May 11 the $160M NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. opens. On July 4 the 100K sq. ft. 6-story Nat. Museum of Am. Jewish History in Philadelphia, Penn., directly across from the Liberty Bell opens, tracing Am. Jewish history from 1654. Mainz Synagogue in Germany is guilt er, built on the site of the one destroyed by the Nazis. The Russia-China Oil Pipeline is completed. The 185m (610 ft.) Great Berlin Wheel is finished. The $300M 300-ft. stainless steel Statue of Responsibility is unveiled on the W coast of the U.S., as proposed by Jewish concentration camp survivor pshrink Dr. Viktor Frankl (1905-97) in 1970, creating a bookend effect with the Statue of Liberty in New York City (liberty + responsibility = freedom). The $1.3B New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. opens in Aug. as the new home of the NFL New York Jets and New York Giants. Israel builds the world's largest emergency underground hospital under Rambamn Health Care Campus in Haifa. Nobel Prizes: Peace: Liu Xiaobo (1955-) (China); Lit.: Jose Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa (1936-) (Peru); Chem.: Richard Fred Heck (1931-) (U.S.), Ei-ichi Negishi (1935-) (Japan), and Akira Suzuki (1930-) (Japan) [new ways of linking carbon atoms together]; Physics: Sir Andre Konstantin Geim (1958-) (U.K.) and Sir Konstantin Sergeevich "Kostya" Novoselov (1974-) (U.K.) (graphene); Med.: Robert Geoffrey "Bob" Edwards (1925-) (U.S.) (IVF); Econ.: Peter Arthur Diamond (1940-) (U.S.), Dale Thomas Mortensen (1939-) (U.S.), and Christopher Antoniou Pissarides (1948-) (Cyprus) [theory of search frictions in unemployment]. Inventions: A feminine hygiene product for robots? On Jan. 27 (13:00 ET) Apple unveils the $499 iPad tablet computer, releasing the first one on Apr. 3 for $629 with AT&T data; on June 10 the FBI opens a probe into a security breach of Apple's iPad that exposed personal info. of AT&T customers incl. several high-ranking govt. officials. On Jan. 29 the Russian single-seat twin-jet Sukhoi PAK FA (T-50) 5th-gen. stealth fighter makes its first flight, becoming the first Russian stealth aircraft, intended as the successor to the MiG-29 and Su-27; it goes into service in 2018. On Feb. 8 (4:14 EST) NASA launches Space Shuttle Endeavour, carrying six astronauts to install the lat two main pieces of the Internat. Space Station (ISS); meanwhile a U.S. judge in Calif. sentences Chinese-born ex-Boeing engineer Dongfan Chung to 15+ years for economic espionage, telling China to "stop sending your spies here". On Feb. 21 the Bloom Box is unveiled on 60 Minutes, which can power a corp. for $700K-$800K by transforming a flow of methane and oxygen into electricity after being heated to 100C; inventor K.R. Sridhar claims that the unit will be in every home one day. On Apr. 1 Space Shuttle Discovery takes off from Kennedy Space Center in its final flight, STS-13, after which the U.S. Space Shuttle fleet is retired and replaced by Project Constellation, with new space vehicles Orion and Ares, capable of eventually traveling to Mars. On Apr. 2 George Wills (b. 1942) of San Pedro, Calif. is sentenced to 6 mo. in federal court for selling the Whizzinator, a prosthetic penis designed to help men beat urinalysis drug tests. On Apr. 20 a test-flight of the $308M Falcon HTV-2 burns up in the atmosphere after 9 min. of flight, bringing into question the Obama admin. plan to develop a non-nuclear weapon that can strike anywhere on Earth in 1 hour. On May 26 the NASA Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) makes its first flight. On June 21 the free Quora site is founded by former Facebook employees Adam D'Angelo (1984-) and Charlie Cheever (1981-), allowing users to pub. their own articles under the guise of answering questions from other users, along with commenting on the answers of others, reaching 300M users per mo. by 2020. In June the European aerospace firm EADS launches its first algae-powered airplane. On July 13 Apple debuts the iPhone4; on July 16 Steve Jobs holds a surprise conference to admit problems with the antenna; meanwhile rival Microsoft all-but drops out of the mobile phone biz, while its stock is valued less than Apple's. On July 29 STS-134, the final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour launches; NASA replaces it with Project Consellation, incl. space vehicles Ares I and Ares V, and the Orion. In July the govt. of India releases a prototype $35 touchscreen tablet computer. On Aug. 24 Niek van Hulst of the Inst. of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona announces the development of a new nano-antenna that can transmight light in a single direction and resembles a tiny directional TV antenna. On Aug. 27 engineers at Tel Aviv U. announce the development of an organic LED light source. On Sept. 9 the Here You Have E-Mail Virus attacks major corps. and govt. orgs. incl. Comcast and NASA. On Sept. 15 NASA launches ARTEMIS-P1, the first spacecraft to achieve a kidney-shaped Earth-Moon libation orbit around the L1 and L2 Lagrangian points. On Sept. 27 Research In Motion (maker of the BlackBerry) introduces the BlackBerry PlayBook, its first tablet computer. In Sept. the FDA approves the Zerona low energy cold laser light (658 nm) device that shrinks fat cells. On Oct. 1 Instagram mobile photo and video sharing social networking service is launched, gaining 300M users by Dec. 2014; in Apr. 2012 Facebook acquires it for $1B even though it has no revenue and only a dozen employees. On Oct. 13 scientists at Berlin's Free U. unveil a self-driving car, with Prof. Paul Rojas predicting "In the future it will be forbidden for safety reasons for people to drive cars." On Oct. 26 China unveils its Hongqiao-Hangzhou High-Speed Rail Line that sets a new record of 260 mph. On Oct. 28 China passes the U.S. in supercomputers, with its Tianhe-1A beating the top U.S. computer in speed by 1.4x; the U. of Fla. Novo-G reconfigurable supercomputer is faster for some important science applications? In Oct. the LCD 20 in. Toshiba Regza GL1 3-D TV is introduced, becoming the first that doesn't require glasses by using a double convex sheet and parallax, requiring the viewer to be close to the screen. In Dec. the Nissan Leaf debuts as the first all-electric car from a major auto co.; the U.S. govt. offers a $7.5K federal tax credit for purchasers, along with a free $3K home-charging unit from the U.S. Dept. of Energy; Tenn. offers a $2.5K cash rebate. Microsoft releases Windows 7 client operating system. The EU Sartre (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project is launched to create the technology for 6-8 cars to create a road train that automatically drives them to their common destination, all within 10 years. The U. of Ariz. develops the first Skinput, which allows the arm to be used as a touchscreen. Hewlett Packard scientists create the first real-time holographic telepresence that can project a 3-D moving image without the need for special eyewear. memristors as first proposed in 1971 by Leon Ong Chua, making fast more efficient computers a possibility. The U. of Tuebingen in Germany develops a retinal implant that allows blind people to see shapes and objects within three days of installation. Engineers from Southeast U. in Nanjing, China invent an Illusion Media, which can act as an invisibility cloak plus generate virtual images on top of the background. The European robot Nao becomes the first robot that can allegedly detect and express emotions. An MIT computer program that translates ancient languages cracks ancient Ugaritic in a few hours by comparing it with Hebrew. Researchers at Stanford U. develop glass wall-climbing robots. The Neuneu Project funded by the EU's Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Proactive Initiative builds a massive parallel computer out of lipid BZ (Belousov-Zhabotinskii) Bubbles. Zhong Lin Wang et al. of Georgia Inst. of Tech. in the U.S. develop paper clip-sized plastic-encased nanogenerators that put out as much voltage as a AA battery when squeezed, bent, or shaken. Science: On Jan. 4 the Journal of Sexual Medicine pub. a study of 1.8K women that concludes that the female G-spot doesn't really exist but is subjective. On Jan. 4 the Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Science pub. an article describing a computer method to spot art fakes by "sparse coding", which builds a virtual library of an artist's works and breaks them down into the simplest possible visual elements. On Jan. 6 Dutch physicist Erik Peter Verlinde (1962-) pub. the article "On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton", claiming that the force of gravity doesn't exist and is just a result of entropy, "an entropic force caused by changes in the information associated with the positions of material bodies", i.e., an emergent force like temperature, announcing the theory of Entropic Gravity. On Jan. 8 Radu Colea et al. of Oxford U. and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fur Materialien und Energie in Germany pub. an article in Nature claiming to have seen signs of the Golden Ratio at the quantum level, becoming the first observation of hidden symmetry in a material. On Jan. 8 the Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Sciences pub. a study by Mauro Santos of the U. of Barcelona rejecting the "metabolism first" theory that life originated from a system of self-catalytic molecules capable of Darwinian evolution sans the need for RNA or DNA. On Jan. 10 Reuben Harris et al. of the U. of Minn. pub. an article in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology announcing the discovery of the human immune cell enzyme APOBEC3A that deactivates and degrades foreign DNA. On Jan. 10 Astrophysical Journal Letters pub. an article explaining the mysterious Space Ribbon at the outer boundary of the Solar System as a reflection of solar wind particles by a galactic magnetic field. On Jan. 14 William Peterson of the U. of Iowa et al. pub. an article in Nature reporting the detection of the first magnetic field from a star other than the Sun, a giant magnetic loop sweeping out from the Algol binary pair 93 l.y. from Earth. On Jan. 20 Nature pub. an article announcing that scientists have made a "microbial clock" consisting of bacteria that count time together. On Jan. 25 Martin Dominik of the U. of St. Andrews leads a conference at the Royal Society in London to develop a framework for responding to a possible discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence. On Jan. 27 scientists at Stanford U. announce that they have turned skin into nerve cells without intermediate steps. In Jan. A. Welfore Castleman Jr. et al. of Penn State U. announce the creation of superatoms with electronic signatures of more expensive or exotic atoms. In Jan. AraNet is announced, a new computational model to predict gene function of uncharacterized plant genes, with over 19.6K genes and 1M links. In Jan. Anna Tampiere et al. of Istec Lab of Faenza (near Bologna), Italy announce a new process for turning rattan wood into bone-like material. On Feb. 2 Thomas Nystrom of the U. of Gothenburg et al. pub. research poving that old and damaged mother cells produce health daughter cells by using a conveyor belt machanism to offload damaged proteins. On Feb. 3 Nature pub. an article by Gregory Scholes of the U. of Toronto et al., that algae and bacteria can perform quantum calculations. On Feb. 4 the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a weird bright spot on Pluto near the equator, perhaps caused by carbon monoxide frost. On Feb. 11 NASA launches the Solar Dynamics Laboratory to observe the Sun for 5+ years, producing new high-detail images incl. extreme closeups of surface activity. On Feb. 11 Neuron pub. an article by Cosimo Urgesi et al. of the U. of Udine in Italy linking a specific area of the human brain with the personality trait of self-transcendence. On Feb. 14 Nature Photonics pub. research by Andrew MacRae et al. of the U. of Calgary on constructing 2-story "quantum toy houses" using photons. On Feb. 19 Cell pub. research by Susan Golden of UC San Diego et al. describing how the cell's biological clock works. On Feb. 21 U. of Colo. researchers Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn announce the creation of a tabletop X-ray laser, which can be used for super hi-res imaging. In Feb. Lori Marino et al. of Emory U. pub. their research on dolphins, claiming they are the 2nd most intelligent species next to humans and that they should be treated as "non-human persons" and not kept in zoos. In Feb. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention pub. a study by Noel Mueller et al. indicating that drinking two or more soft drinks a week doubles the risk of pancreatic cancer. On Mar. 1 the Journal of Animal Behavior pub. a study by Markus Knaden et al. of the Max Planck Inst. for Chem. Ecology in Jena, Germany, proving that some ants navigate by stereo smell. On Mar. 4 a panel of 41 world scientists announces that the theory of extinction of the dinosaurs by an asteroid has been proven, and the volcano extinction theory disproven. On Mar. 9 researchers at the City of Paris Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Inst. (ESPCI) pub. an article in Physical Review Letters announcing research showing that it's possible to focus light through opaque materials and detect objects behind them using the material's transmission matrix. On Mar. 24 Michael West pub. research showing how to turn any adult cell into a completely rejuvenated stem cell; the same week, the Internat. Stem Cell Corp. announces a breakthrough with parthenogenic stem cells. On Mar. 27 Universe Today pub. an article by Matthew Hayes announcing that observations with the HAWK-I telescope camera show that 90% of galaxies have gone undetected. On Mar. 29 Nature pub. research by the U. of Tex. MD. Anderson Cancer Center that a 2-drug combo can destroy precancerous colon polyps. In Mar. Eleanor Maguire et al. at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuromaging at the Univ. College London announce the creation of a computer algorithm that can predict which of three short films a person is thinking about by analyzing brain activity. On Apr. 6 Theodor W. Hansch et al. of the Max Planck Inst. announce in Nature the first multi-particle entanglement in a Bose-Einstein Condensate on a microchip. On Apr. 7 Thomas Werner et al. of the U. of Wisc.-Madison announce in Nature that the protein called Wingless helps fruit flies produce 16 colored spots in their wings, leading to theorizing that it controls all complex animal color patterns. On Apr. 8 Robert Danovaro et al. of Marche Polytechnic U. in Ancona, Italy announce the Spinoloricus Cinzia and two other new species of the Loriciferans group, the first animals that can survive and reproduce entirely without oxygen, who live on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea. On Apr. 8 Am. paleoanthropologist Lee R. Berger pub. a report in Science on the new hominid species Australopithecus sediba (Sotho for fountain or wellspring) that lived in South Africa 1.78M to 1.95M years ago and might be the missing link. On Apr. 11 Howard Kaufman et al. of Rush U. in Chicago, Ill. announce a new cure for melanoma (skin cancer) using a vaccine treatment. On Apr. 13 the first direct recording of mirror neurons in the human brain is announced by Itzhak Fried et al. of UCLA in Current Biology. On Apr. 13 the RAS Nat. Astronomy Meeting in Scotland announces that a new group of 27 exoplanets contains six with retrograde orbits; 452 exoplanets have been identified. On Apr. 14 scientists at Newcastle U. in Britain announce in Nature the first three-parent IVF to prevent inherited disease by preventing damaged DNA in mitochrondria from being passed on by the mother. On Apr. 19 scientists at the NIST in Boulder, Colo. set a record for measuring the smallest force ever, 174 yoctonewtons (10^-24 newtons); the old record was in the attonewton (10^-18) range. On Apr. 22 scientists at Columbia U. announce the first lab-grown human jawbone using human stem cells. On Apr. 22 Scripts Research Inst. and the Genomics Inst. of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) pub. an article in Nature Neuroscience identifying a region of the protein TRPV1 that enables temperature sensitivity. On Apr. 22 the USAF launches the Boeing X-37B Space Drone into orbit from Cape Canaveral, which can loiter in space for 270 days. On Apr. 23 IBM scientists announce the world's smallest 3D map, with 1K able to fit on a grain of salt. On Apr. 23 the first full face transplant is announced by a team of 30 Spanish doctors at Vall d'Hebron U. Hospital in Barcelona. On Apr. 30 Cell announces that researchers at UCLA led by Hong Zhou have used a new type of cryo-electron (cryo-EM) microscope to see atoms for the first time in a virus with 3.3 angstrom resolution. In Apr. Stephen R. Quake (1969-) becomes the first scientist in history to decode his own genome with a machine he invented. In Apr. Wake Forest U. School of Medicine in N.C. announces a bioprinter that sprays skin cells onto burn wounds to speed healing. In Apr. NASA unveils SOLO-TREC, a wax-filled buoy that is powered by temp differences in the ocean water. On May 2 Nature Genetics reports the cloning of the hemoglobin protein from mammoth blood, and that it oxygenates blood at lower temperatures than modern elephants. On May 18 the Fermi Nat. Accelerator Lab in Batavia, Ill. announces that 1% more muons than antimuons arise from the decay of B mesons, allegedly explaining why the Universe exists. On May 20 scientists at the J. Craig Venter Inst. announce the first organism controlled by completely manmade DNA, the first synthetic cell, a Mycoplasma bacterium with DNA made with four bottles of chemicals in a chemical synthesizer using computerized info., causing the word "Frankenstein" to be mentioned. On May 20 the Japanese Akatsuki (Jap. "dawn") (Venus Climate Orbiter) (Planet-C) space probe is launched; too bad, on Dec. 6 it fails to enter Venus orbit, and goes into orbit around the Sun until Dec. 7, 2015, when engineers place it into an alternative elliptical Venusian orbit using its attitude control thrusters. On May 26 scientists at UC Irving announce the creation of a retina from human embryonic stem cells. On June 7 Steve Squyres et al. of Cornell U. announce that the rock outcrop Comanche on Husband Hill near Home Plate Plateau on Mars show evidence of a past wet non-acidic environment that may have been favorable for life. On June 14 scientists at the Geophysical Lab of Carnegie U. announce that the water content of the Moon may be up to 5 parts per million, two orders of magnitude higher than previously thought. On June 18 Science pub. an article by Christopher Bronk Ramsey et al. of Oxford U. and Cranfield U., reporting that radiocarbon measurements from 211 different plants have given a more accurate dating of ancient Egyptian kings, making Pharaoh Djoser's reign 50-100 years earlier than before. On June 23 Ivan Schwab et al. of UCD announce a new stem cell treatment for blindness, with a 75% cure rate. On June 24 Laura Niklason et al. of Yale U. announce the building of the first functioning lung in a lab animal (rat) by growing cells on the skeleton of a donor lung. On July 9 Anthony S. Fauci of the Nat. Inst. of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the Nat. Insts. of Health announces the discovery of two antibodies that can prevent 90% of known HIV strains from infecting human cells in the lab. On July 9 Geophysical Research Letters pub. an article by Noath Diffenbaugh of Stanford U., predicting that by 2039 most of the U.S. will experience four seasons as exceptionally long heat waves become commonplace. On July 22 astrophysicist Paul Crowther et al. discover R136a1, the most massive star yet discovered, which may once have weighted 320 solar masses. On July 23 Gregor Weihs et al. from the U. of Innsbruck and U. of Waterloo experimentally confirm the 1926 Born's Rule that quantum interference only occurs in pairs of probabilities, not higher order. On July 23 Buckyballs are detected by Jan Cami of the U. of West Ontario 6.5K l.y. from Earth in the cosmic dust of Tc 1. On July 23 it is announced that 100+ Earth-like planets have been discovered in the past few weeks via the Kepler space telescope; scientists believe there might be 100M such planets in the Milky Way. On Aug. 9 researchers at UCI, UCSD, and Harvard announce the regeneration of nerve connections that control voluntary movement after spinal cord injury in rodents. On Aug. 19 scientists at the Nat. Insts. of Health announce thediscovery of three antibodies that neutralize a broad range of HIV strains, making an HIV vaccine closer to reality. On Aug. 19 Abraham Loyter et al. of Hebrew U. announces the development of a new technique to eliminate HIV by targeting killing of only HIV-infected cells, becoming the first treatment that doesn't merely inhibit replication and delay onset. On Aug. 20 researchers at Loyola U. announce the discovery of a protein called TRIM5a that destroys HIV in rhesus monkeys; meanwhile other researchers isolate the protein BRCA2 that is involved in inherited cases of breast and ovarian cancer. On Aug. 23 Am. Chem. Society scientists report the first evidence that eating blueberries, strawberries, acai berries, and possibly walnuts may help the aging brain stay healthy by activating its "housekeeper" mechanism that cleans up and recycles toxic proteins related to age-related memory loss et al. On Aug. 23 Genome Research pub. a new study of Vitamin D that finds that it influences over 200 genes. On Aug. 23 researchers in the U.K. announce the successful use of drugs to restart the natural 24-hour body clock in lab mice. On Aug. 24 researchers at the European Science Observatory announce the discovery of the "richest" system of exoplanets yet found, five planets orbiting star HD 10180, 127 l.y. away in the southern constellation Hydrus. On Aug. 25 the first artificial corneas are announced by May Griffiths et al. of Linkoping U. in Sweden. In Aug. 26 Angewandte Chemie pub. work by MIT prof. Christopher Cummings et al. that instead of using chlorine, phosophorus can be attached to organic compounds using UV light. On Aug. 27 Nature announces the creation of the first 3-D atomic views of genetic processes by Song Tan et al. of Penn State U. On Aug. 27 British scientists announce the cracking, er, of the genetic code for wheat, and release it for free to help growers develop new better strains. On Aug. 30 the Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Sciences announces the discovery in Romania of Balaur bondoc (stocky dragon), a kick-boxing cousin of Velociraptor that was unearthed in 2019 by Transylvanian geologist Mtys Vremir. In Aug. scientists find a treatment for the rare birth disorder congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which causes girls to develop ambiguous genitals and facial hair and fail to menstruate, causing an outcry from lesbians that this could lead to engineering in the womb to control sexual orientation. On Sept. 1 scientists in Utah announce that they can read words inside a human mind. On Sept. 5 Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Sciences pub. an article by the U. of Ore. that determined the fine-scale genetic structure of the first animal to show an evolutionary response to rapid climate change, the pitcher plant mosquito Wyoeomyia smithii. On Sept. 7 BioMed Central's Genome Biology reports the first sequencing of the entire genome of an Irish person; meanwhile PLoS Biology reports the 90%-sequencing of the genome of the turkey. On Sept. 17 David Grennan of Dublin, Ireland becomes the first amateur astronomer to discover a supernova. On Sept. 22 a team led by Daniel Meulemans Medeiros of the U. of Colo. pub. an article in Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Science tracing the genes for jaw development to lampreys. On Sept. 30 Bruce Kane of the U. of Md. announces the fastest-spinning object ever created, a speck of levitating graphene spinning at 60M rpm. On Sept. 30 Nature announces the first 3-qubit entanglement by a team at Yale U. On Sept. 30 Nature pub. an article by Peter B. McIntyre of the U. of Wisc. revealing that the world's rivers are in a crisis state. In Sept. astronomers announce the discovery of Gliese 581g (20 l.y. from Earth), the first exoplanet that can support liquid water and hence potentially life. In Sept. Global Rainmakers Inc. signs a contract with the city of Leon, Mexico to become the first city secured through biometric identification, via iris-scanning technology. Beatrice H. Hahn completes an analysis of great ape dung samples and discovers that the most dangerous form of malaria originated in gorillas not chimps. On Oct. 1 a study on breast cancer screening on women aged 40-49 in Cancer finds that annual mammography screening reduces the death rate by nearly 30%. On Oct. 3 Nature pub. an article by scientists Brandt Eichman of Vanderbilt U. et al. announcing discovery of a new way that DNA-repair enzymes detect and repair damageto the chemical bases that form the letters of the genetic code. On Oct. 4 the Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Sciences pub. a study showing that storing fat in the thighs lowers the risk of metabolic disease, while storing it in the abdomen raises it. On Oct. 5 Lan Zhou et al. of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio pub. research showing that inflammation helps heal wounds by producing insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), increasing the rate of muscle regeneration, revolutionizing treatment of sports injuries. On Oct. 11 Yuk Ting Ma et al. from the Inst. of Cancer Studies in Britain report the first link proved between smoking and epigentic changes associated with the development of cancer. On Oct. 14 Mark Brodwin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics pub. a paper in Astrophysical Journal announcing the discovery of a record galaxy cluster with 800T Suns and hundreds of galaxies 7B l.y. from Earth. On Oct. 15 a study of Egyptian mummies by Michael Zimmerman of Manchester U. finds no trace of cancer, suggesting that it is a manmade modern disease. On Oct. 18 the 2010 Living Planet Report of the World Wildlife Federation is pub., showing "an alarming rate of biodiversity loss in low-income, often tropical countries while the developed world is living in a false paradise, fuelled by excessive consumption and high carbon emissions", and claiming that humanity's demands on natural resources are skyrocketing to 50% more than the Earth can sustain. On Oct. 21 NASA reports vastly more water on the Moon than previously believed, along with mercury, gold, and silver. On Oct. 21 Science pub. an article by scientists from Imperial College London et al., revealing that two strains of the Anopheles gambiae mosquito appear to be becoming different species. On Oct. 25 a report by investigators at the U. of Mich. indicates that statin use is associated with a statistically significant reduction in colorectal cancer. On Oct. 25 Kevin Choe et al. of the U. of Tex. report that men with prostate cancer who take aspirin plus radiation therapy or surgery may cut their risk of dying by more than half. On Oct. 25 Susanne Dams of Eindhoven U. of Tech. reports that laser heat shocks of 45C on wrinkled skin causes the cells to produce more collagen, restoring firmness and elasticity. On Oct. 26 the Lawrence Berkeley Nat. Lab announces the discovery of six new isotopes of the superheavy elements. On Oct. 29 the U.S. Dept. of Justice files a brief saying that human and other genes should not be patentable because they are part of Nature and aren't manmade. On Oct. 31 Douglas Keszler et al. of Oregon State U. announce the creation of the first metal-insulator-metal diode, which could spawn a new industry. In Oct. Gary Miller et al. of Carnegie Mellon U. announce a breakthrough algorithm for solving systems of linear equations that promises a revolution in image processing, logistics and scheduling problems et al. On Nov. 10 the VIRUS-W spectograph sees "first light" at the Harlan J. Smith Telescope in Tex. with images of a spiral galaxy 30M l.y. from Earth. On Nov. 17 scientists from Lawrence Berkeley Nat. Lab and UCB announce the first successful trapping and storing of antimatter atoms. On Nov. 18 Rainer Klement of the Max Planck Inst. announces the discovery of the first planet of extragalactic origin in the Milky Way galaxy; still no planets outside it. On Nov. 24 scientists at the U. of Nottingham announce a breakthrough allowing them to build 3-D nanomolecular structures on a 2-D surface. On Nov. 24 NASA's JPL pub. a study claiming that the Earth's largest lakes have warmed over the last 25 years due to climate change. On Nov. 25 NASA's Cassini probe discovers oxygen on Saturn's moon Rhea, becoming the first outside Earth. On Nov. 25 Christina Smolke of Stanford U. et al. announce the creation of a programmable genetic "circuit" that can make cells respond to signals to transform to different cells or die. On Dec. 2 Ed Weiler of NASA announces the discovery of the first known microorganism on Earth that can thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic, located in Mono Lake in Calif. On Dec. 2 Calestous Juma of Harvard U. pub. an article claiming that Africa can feed itself in a generation. On Dec. 3 Cell Stem Cell pub. an article by Shen Ding of Scripps Research Inst. that a new cocktail of small drug-like molecules assisted by gene Oct4 enables reprogramming of human skin cells into stem cells. On Dec. 6 Vaccine pub. a study showing that flu vaccine can be grown in bacteria instead of eggs, allowing those allergic to eggs to take it. On Dec. 6 NASA ejects NanoSail-D from the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite (FASTSAT), becoming the first nanosatellite (cubesat) successfully ejected from a free-flying microsatellite. On Dec. 7 Charite Hospital in Berlin announces the first machine that can create MRI images of a baby being born. On Dec. 8 a team led by MIT verifies the discovery of the first planet with a carbon-enriched atmosphere, WASP-12b, 1.2K l.y. from Earth. On Dec. 8 Slovenian scientists Matjaz Humar and Igor Musevic announce the first practical 3-D laser, which uses spherical drops holding dye molecules. On Dec. 12 James Wells et al. of Cinainnati Children's Hospital in Ohio announce the first time that human intestinal tissue has been created in the lab from stem cells. On Dec. 17 the first Quantum Machine is announced, the first to move according to the laws of quantum mechanics not classical mechanics. On Dec. 18 the IceCube, the world's largest neutrino observatory located at the South Pole is completed. Transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN) is developed for use in genome editing with engineered nucleases to cut specific sequences of DNA, taking its place alongside CRISPR/Cas9 and zinc finger nucleases. Complete Genomics Inc. begins offering low-cost human genomes, sequencing thousands this year and promising 1M over the next five years. Polish-born Am. physicist Nikodem Janusz Poplawski (1975-) of Indiana U. proposes that the Universe came from a wormhole in another Universe. Two Fermi Bubbles each 25K l.y. tall above and below the disk of the Milky Way are first detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. The first Quark Soup (quark-gluon plasma) is created at Brookhaven Nat. Lab, becoming the densest matter ever seen on Earth. Francesco Belgiorno et al. of the U. of Milan make the first desktop black hole, and claim that it has produced Hawking radiation; other physicists question the whole thing. The Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia discovers the synthetic radioactive element Ununseptium (Uus) (#117). Nonfiction: Anon., U.S. Special Forces Unconventional Warfare Manual; methods for the takedown of Col. Daffy's regime in Libya; later used by U.S. leftists to topple the U.S.? Youssef H. Aboul-Enein, Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat; claims that only the militant Islamists are a threat to the U.S. - the rest only want blasphemers beheaded? Gilbert Achcar, The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives; how 20th cent. Arabs split into liberal Westernizers, Marxists, nationalists, and pan-Islamists. Talmiz Ahmad, Children of Abraham at War: The Clash of Messianic Militarisms (Sept. 20); a refutation of Samuel Huntington's "The Clash of Civilizations". Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Jan. 5); how Reagan's 1982 war on drugs ended up creating a new de facto black slave caste. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nomad: From Islam to America - been there, done that? Nujood Ali (1998-), I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced (Mar.); Yemeni girl makes history by getting a divorce. Sami Alrabaa, Veiled Atrocities: True Stories of Oppression in Saudi Arabia (Mar. 23). John Amato and David Neiwert, Over the Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane (June 1). Andrew J. Bacevich (1947-), Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War (Aug.). Rene Backmann, A Wall in Palestine (Feb. 2). Philip Ball, The Music Instinct: How Music Works and Why We Can't Do Without It. Mitchell Bard, The Arab Lobby: The Invisible Alliance That Undermines America's Interests in the Middle East (Aug. 31). Daniel Benjamin (ed.), Europe 2030. Paul Berman (1948-), The Flight of the Intellectuals (Apr. 27); rejects the motives of Western Islam reformer Tariq Ramadan, calling him a gateway drug for radical Islam, and disses Am. liberals incl. Timothy Garton Ash and Ian Buruma for trying to make him respectable. Kai Bird (1951-), Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978 (autobio.). Edwin Black, The Farhud: Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust. Tony Blair (1953-), A Journey (autobio.) (Sept. 1); bestseller. Howard Bloom (1943-), The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism. Derek Bok, The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being. Anthony Bourdain (1956-), Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook (June 8); criticizes fellow TV chefs as having never worked in a real restaurant. Susan Boyle (1961-), The Woman I Was Born to Be: My Story (autobio.) (Oct. 12). Mark Braverman, Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land (Feb. 16); Am. Jew who was radicalized after a 2006 trip to the West Bank claims that it's not "anti-Semitic" to stand up for justice for Palestinians; forward by Am. leftist Protestant theologian Walter Brueggermann (1933-), who once supported Israel but flops and blames it for exploiting "ancient promises" to create a "toxic ideology". Timothy H. Breen (1942-), American Insurgents - American Patriots: The Revolution of the People. Ian Bremmer (1969-), The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations; pivot states (Canada) vs. shadow states (Mexico). Pascal Bruckner, The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism (Feb. 21); how multiculturalism is destroying Europe. Robert Buchar, And Reality Be Damned... Undoing America: What the Media Didn't Tell You About the End of the Cold War and Fall of Communism in Europe; just because the Soviet Union is kaput doesn't make Russia the friend of the U.S. Carol Burnett (1933-), This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection (autobio.). Rhonda Byrnes (1951-), The Power (Aug. 17). Belinda Carlisle (1958-), Lips Unsealed: A Memoir (June 1). David Caute (1936-), Politics and the Novel During the Cold War. Zev Chafets, Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One. G. Paul Chambers, Head Shot: The Science Behind the JFK Assassination. Ha-Joon Chang (1963-), 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism. Phyllis Chesler, The History and Psychological Roots of Anti-Semitism Among Feminists: Their Gradual Palestinization and Stalinization (Aug. 25). Ron Chernow (1949-), Washington: A Life (Pulitzer Prize); his life was a struggle to contain his emotions? Noam Chomsky (1928-), Hopes and Prospects. Angelo M. Codevilla, The Ruling Class: How They Corrupted America and What We Can Do About It (Sept. 12); intro. by Rush Limbaugh; it's all about the political elites vs. those who feed them? Paul Collier (1949-), The Plundered Planet: Why We Must, and How We Can, Manage Nature for Global Prosperity. Ray Comfort, Nothing Created Everything: The Scientific Impossibility of Atheistic Evolution. Christopher Corbett, The Poker Bride; the Chinese immigrants during the 1848 Calif. Gold Rush. Phil Cousineau (1952-), The Oldest Story in the World (Jan.); Wordcatcher: An Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words (Apr.). Tad Daley, Apocalypse Never: Forging a Nuclear Weapon-Free World (Apr. 30). Theodore Dalrymple (1949-), The New Vichy Syndrome: Why European Intellectuals Surrender to Barbarism (Mar. 9); how Europe is allowing itself to be Islamized without a whimper. Antonio Damasio (1944-), Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain; how the brain constructs the mind. Benjamin Dangl, Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in Latin America. Sefik Dinc, The Mavi Marmara Incident; Turkish journalist who was on the ship claims that radical jihadists on the Gaza Flotilla planned to attack Israeli forces and provoke a confrontation. Wendy Doniger, The Hindus: An Alternative History; banned in India. James W. Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters; the CIA got too powerful, and still is? John W. Dower, Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, 9-11, Iraq. Dinesh D'Souza, The Roots of Obama's Rage (Sept. 27); claims his ultimate motivation is rage against Western dominance that he got from his father. Paul Driessen (1948-), Eco-Imperialism: Green Power Black Death (Jan. 1) (first book); slams the environmental movement as a group of affluent Westerners imposing their views on backward impoverished Third World peoples, violating their basic rights and denying them economic opportunities, going on to promote the use of fossil fuels and pooh-pooh climate change alarmists. Mark Durie, The Third Choice: Islam, Dhimmitude, and Freedom (Apr. 15); the modus operandi of Islam and how the West must fight it. Jonathan Eig, Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster (Apr. 27). Tom Engelhardt, The American Way: How Bush's Wars Became Obama's (July 1). Abigail R. Esman, Radical State: How Jihad Is Winning Over Democracy in the West (May 20). John L. Esposito, The Future of Islam; is there a middle ground? R. Tripp Evans, Grant Wood: A Life (Oct.). Tarek Fatah (1949-), The Jew Is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths That Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism (Oct.). Jules Feiffer (1929-), Backing into Forward: A Memoir. Niall Ferguson (1964-), High Financier: The Lives and Times of Siegmund Warburg (June 24). Norman Finkelstein, This Time We Went Too Far: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion. Richard L. Florida (1957-), The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity (Apr.); big hit with WEF founder Klaus Schwab, who in 2014 utters the soundbyte: "What we want to do in Davos this year . . . is to push the reset button". Jerry Fodor, What Darwin Got Wrong; atheist academic uses Science to prove Darwin wrong, claiming that genes are too tied together to be used in natural selection. Michael Fried (1939-), The Moment of Caravaggio; the rise of the "gallery picture" ca. 1590 and the influence of the violence and realism of brawl-loving Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1610), precursor of modern painting; followed by "After Caravggio" (2016). Paul Froese and Christopher Bader, America's Four Gods: What We Say About God - And What That Says About Us (Sept.); ABCD: Authoritative, Benevolent, Critical, and Distant. Graham E. Fuller, A World Without Islam. Pamela Geller (1958-) and Robert Spencer (1962-), The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America (July 27). Martin Gilbert, In Ishamael's House: A History of Jews in Muslim Lands. Newt Gingrich (1943-), To Save America: Stopping Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine (May 17). David Goldberg and Jeff Blomquist, A User's Guide to the Universe: Surviving the Perils of Black Holes, Time Paradoxes, and Quantum Uncertainty (Feb. 22). Ken Gormley, The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr. J.D. Greear, Breaking the Islam Code: Understanding the Soul Questions of Every Muslim; N.C. Christian minister claims that a majority of Christians would agree with the five core beliefs of Islam. Tanni Grey-Thompson (1969-), Seize the Day (autobio.). Tom Grimes, Mentor: A Memoir (Aug.); his relationship with Frank Conroy at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Alex Grobman, The Palestinian Right to Israel (Mar.); proves that there isn't one. Stanislav Grof (1931-), Holotropic Breathwork: A New Approach to Self-Exploration and Therapy. Osman Nuri Gundes, Witness to Revolution and Near Anarchy (Dec.); retired Turkish intel official claims that U.S.-based Turkish imam Muhammed Fethullah Gulen (Gülen), who has 4M followers and 600 schools is a CIA front, drawing strong denials from ex-CIA officials. Stefan Halper (1944-), The Beijing Consensus: Legitimizing Authoritarianism in Our Time (Apr.). Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime (Jan. 11). Chelsea Handler (1975-), Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang (Mar. 9). Sam Harris (1967-), The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values (Oct. 5); claims that science esp. neuroscience has something to say about morals. Brian Haughton, History's Mysteries: People, Places and Oddities Lost in the Sands of Time (Apr. 20). Stephen Hawking (1942-) and Leonard Mlodinow, The Grand Design (Sept. 9); claims that God didn't create the Universe; "Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist"; "It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going." Chris Hedges (1956-), Death of the Liberal Class (Oct. 17); the liberal class has failed to confront the corporate state?; "The real division in America today is not between Democrats and Republicans, but between average citizens and the corporate and financial elite"; "The election of Obama was one more triumph of illusion over substance. It was a skillful manipulation and betrayal of the public by a corporate power elite. We mistook the style and ethnicity - an advertising tactic pioneered by Calvin Klein and Benneton for progressive politics and genuine change"; "The creed of 'impartiality' and 'objectivity' that has infected the liberal class teaches, ultimately, the importance of not offending the status quo. the 'professionalism' demanded in the classroom, in newsprint, in the arts or in political discourse is code for moral disengagement." Stephane Hessel (1917-), Indignez-Vous! (Oct.); political pamphlet that becomes a bestseller in France (1.5M copies). Laura Hillenbrand (1967-), Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (Nov. 16); Louis Zamperini and the USAF bomber that crashed into the Pacific Ocean in May 1943. Henry Holt, The Last Train from Hiroshima (Jan.); claims a secret A-bomb accident that killed one American, irradiated others, and greatly reduced its destructive power, based on recollections of Enola Gay observation pilot Joseph Fuoco (1924-2008); after historians call him an imposter, Holt says he will rewrite the book. Mitch Horowitz, Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation. Toby E. Huff, Intellectual Curiosity and the Scientific Revolution: A Global Perspective. Arianna Huffington, Third World America; dedicated to "the millions of middle-class Americans fighting to keep the American Dream alive". Earl Ofari Hutchinson, How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge (Jan.). Lewis Hyde (1945-), Common As Air (Aug.); argues against intellectual property. Keith Jeffery, The Secret History of MI6. Ian Johnson, A Mosque in Munich: Nazis, the CIA, and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in the West (May 4); how a group of ex-Soviet Muslims defected to Germany during WWII and set up shop, giving radical Islam its first toehold in the West. Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From; Bldg. 20 at MIT. Terry Jones, Islam is of the Devil: Know the Spiritual Truths That Will Bring the Christian Church Back to Its God-Given Position (Aug. 3). Gabriel Josipovici, What Ever Happened to Modernism? (Sept.). Tony R. Judt (1948-2010), Ill Fares the Land (last book). Daniel Kahneman (1934-), Thinking, Fast and Slow. Efraim Karsh (1953-), Palestine Betrayed; reverses the Western academic PC moose hockey about the Palestinians being an oppressed people who were run out of their homeland by Nazi-like Israelis, showing that they did it to themselves, strategically withdrawing to leave an open field for Arab armies to wipe Israel off the map before triumphantly returning, only to see it backfire then manufacture a victim narrative to gain sympathy. Eric Kaufmann, Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?; secularists are blowing it with low birth rates. Meb Keflezighi (1975-) and Dick Patrick, Run to Overcome (autobio.). Kitty Kelley (1942-), Oprah; sanitizes rather than sensationalizes her, but admits her wild child teen days and time as a ho, affair with John Tesh, and sexual obsession with Diane Sawyer. Robert Louis Kemp, Super Principia Mathematica: The Rage to Master Conceptual and Mathematical Physics. Piper Kerman (1969-), Orange Is the New black: My Year in a Woman's Prison (autobio). Abeed Khalid, Islam After Communism: Religion and Politics in Central Asia; the revival of Islam after decades of atheistic indoctrination. Eli Kintisch, Hack the Planet: Science's Best Hope - or Worst Nightmare - for Averting Climate Catastrophe (Apr. 19). David Kirkpatrick, The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World. Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott, The Manchurian President: Barack Obama's Ties to Communists, Socialists and Other Anti-American Extremists (May 3); bestseller chronicling Obama's dirty laundry; too bad, Klein's earlier expose of Pres. George W. Bush makes him unpopular with Republicans, who need him most now? Edward Klein (1937-) and John Le Boutillier, The Obama Identity. James T. Kloppenberg, Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope, and the American Political Tradition (Oct. 31); the first philosopher pres. since Woodrow Wilson?; heir of Lincoln, J.Q. Adams, Madison, Jefferson, and John Adams? Michael Muhammad Knight, Journey to the End of Islam (autobio.). Nancy Koehn (1959-), Ernest Shackleton: Exploring Leadership. Joel Kotkin (1952-), The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050; "The America of 2050 may not stride the world like a hegemonic giant, but it will evolve into the one truly transcendent superpower in terms of society, technology and culture. Its greatest power will be its identification with notions of personal liberty, constitutional protections and universalism." Matthew Kroenig, Exporting the Bomb: Technology Transfer and the Spread of Nuclear Weapons (Apr. 1); countries export nuclear technology in a desperate search for hard currency? Scott Kugle, Homosexuality in Islam: Islamic Reflections on Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Muslims. David Kupelian, How Evil Works: Understanding and Overcoming the Destructive Forces That Are Transforming America (Feb. 16). Stanley Kurtz, Radical-in-Chief: Barack Obama and the Untold Story of American Socialism (Oct. 19); Nelly Lahoud, The Jihadis' Path to Self-Destruction (Nov.). Gideon Levy (1953-), The Punishment of Gaza. Michael Lewis (1960-), The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. David Liepert, Muslim, Christian, and Jew: Finding a Path to Peace Our Faiths Can Share (June 1). David Limbaugh (1952-), Crimes Against Liberty: An Indictment of President Barack Obama (Aug.); Obama is trying to bankrupt the U.S. with trillion-dollar deficits, and wouldn't mind being a 1-termer to do it? Alex Malarkey, The Boy Who Came Back from heaven: A Remarkable Account of Miracles, Angels, and Life Beyond This World (autobio.) (July 2); bestseller about visiting a Christian heaven after a traffic accident; on Jan. 13, 2015 he admits it's fictional. Klaus-Michael Mallmann and Martin Cuppers, Nazi Palestine: The Plans for the Extermination of the Jews in Palestine (July 1); the Nazi plan that went awry. Salim Mansur, Islam's Predicament: Perspectives of a Dissident Muslim. Harry Markopolis, No One Would Listen; Bernie Madoff whistleblower tells how he contemplated killing him. Moshe Ma'oz, Muslim Attitudes To Jews and Israel: The Ambivalances of Rejection, Antagonism, Tolerance and Cooperation. Mark Matousek (1957-), Ethical Wisdom: What Makes Us Good; the Dalai Lama's secret. Andrew C. McCarthy III, The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America (May 25); how it's not just the radical Islamists but Islam itself that's the threat. William McGowan, Gray Lady Down: What the Decline and Fall of the New York Times Means for America (Nov. 16); how it has degenerated into liberal PC propaganda. Bill McKibben (1960-), Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tought New Planet; about climate change. Corinne McLaughlin (1947-) and Gordon Davidson, The Practical Visionary: A New World Guide to Spiritual Growth and Social Change. Edwin Meese III (1931-), One Nation Under Arrest; the overgrowth of criminal laws that don't require criminal intent, incl. 4K total federal criminal laws and 300K federal regulations. Giulio Meotti, A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism. Kenneth Minogue (1930-2013), The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life. Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), Ludwig von Mises on Money and Inflation (posth.). Raymond Moody (1944-) and Paul Perry, Glimpses of Eternity: Sharing a Loved One's Passages from This Life to the Next. Thomas Moore (1940-), Care of the Soul in Medicine (Apr.); The Guru of Golf. Markos Moulitsas, American Taliban: How War, Sex, Sin, and Power Bind Jihadists and the Radical Right (Sept. 1). Samuel Moyn, The Last Utopia: How We Invented Human Rights. Andrew P. Napolitano (1950-), Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History. Phillip Nelson, LBJ: Mastermind of JFK's Assassination (July 23). Jorgen S. Nielsen (ed.), Shari'a as Discourse: Legal Traditions and the Encounter with Europe; Muslim claims that Euro judges should recognize Sharia. Barack Obama (1961-), Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters (Nov.). Naomi Oreskes (1958-) and Erik M. Conway (1965-), Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming (June 3); filmed in 2004 by Robert Kenning. Suzie Orman (1951-), Suze Orman's 2010 Action Plan (Mar.). David M. Oshinsky (1944-), Capital Punishment on Trial: Furman v. Georgia and the Death Penalty in Modern America. Nicholas Ostler (1952-), The Last Lingua Franca: English until the Return to Babel (Nov. 23); claims that the days of English as a universal language are numbered, but there will be no replacement because computer translation will take over. Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People (Mar. 15). Sarah Palin (1964-), America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag (Nov.). Robert Pape, Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It; claims that Islamic suicide attacks are caused by occupations not Islam. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson, Conduct Unbecoming: How Barack Obama Is Destroying the Military and Endangering Our Security (Sept. 7). Tom Pauken, Bringing America Home: How America Lost Her Way and How We Can Find Our Way Back; the U.S. middle class won't last another decade? Roger Penrose (1931-) and Vahe Gurzadyan (1955-), Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe; proposes Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, in which the U iterates through infinite cycles where the future timelike infinity of each iteration becomes the Big Bang singularity of the next; "Concentric circles in WMAP data may provide evidence of violent pre-Big-Bang activity." Tom Peters (1942-), The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence. Walid Phares, The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East; predicts that Islamists will try to take over. Melanie Phillips (1951-), The World Turned Upside Down: The Global Battle over God, Truth, and Power (Apr. 20). Sasha Polakow-Suransky, Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with South Africa (May 25); claims that Apartheid-era South Africa and modern Israel are kissing cousins because of their alleged apartheid of Muslim Arabs. Andrew Potter, The Authenticity Hoax: How We Get Lost Finding Ourselves (Apr. 13); Facebook "friends" et al. Stephen Prothero, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World - and Why Their Differences Matter. Philip Pullman, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. Michael S. Radu (1947-2009), Europe's Ghost: Tolerance, Jihadism, and the Crisis in the West (Jan. 12); how Muslim immigration threatens Euro civilization. Richard Reeves, Daring Young Men: The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift, June 1948-May 1949. Robert Reich, Aftershock: The Following Economy and America's Future (Sept.). Robert R. Reilly, The Closing of the Muslim Mind: How Intellectual Suicide Created the Modern Islamist (May 17); "Those involved in training Middle Eastern military forces have encountered a lackadaisical attitude to weapons maintenance and sharp-shooting. If God wants the bullet to hit the target, it will, and if He does not, it will not. It has little to do with human agency or skills obtained by discipline and practice." Keith Richards (1943-), Life (autobio.). Sir Christopher Ricks (1933), True Friendship: Geoffrey Hill, Anthony Hecht and Robert Lowell Under the Sign of Eliot and Pound. Sir Matt Ridley (1958-), The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves (May 18); "The average human being is richer, healthier, and kinder". Paul Rosenzwieg and Brian W. Walsh, One Nation Under Arrest: How Crazy Laws, Rogue Prosecutors, and Activist Judges Threaten Your Liberty; horror stories of govt. abuse in the U.S. David Rubin, The Islamic Tsunami: Israel and America in the Age of Obama (Oct.); "uncovers the true nature of Islam: a dangerous, violent ideology that strives for world domination through terrorism, as well as what Rubin calls non-violent aggression. Rubin uncovers the reason why Islam chooses terror over peace and explores Israel and America's vital roles in combating the rampant spread of Islam throughout the world." Daniel Ruddy, Theodore Roosevelt's History of the United States (Apr. 20). Don Miguel Angel Ruiz (1952-), The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery (A Toltec Wisdom Book) (Mar. 9); 5) Be skeptical but learn to listen. Erik Rush, Negrophilia: From Slave Block to Pedestal: America's Racial Obsession (June 15); "the undue and inordinate affinity for blacks (as opposed to antipathy towards them) that has been promoted by activists, politicians and the establishment press for the past 40 years". Thaddeus Russell, A Renegade History of the United States. Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha, Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality (How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships); bestseller claimins that humans evolved in egalitarian hunter-gatherer bands in which sex was a shared resource like food. Oliver Wolf Sacks (1933-), The Mind's Eye (Oct. 26). Claude Salhani, While the Arab World Slept; what could the Middle East accomplish if it dropped its endless religious conflicts? Stephan Salisbury, Mohamed's Ghosts: An American Story of Love and Fear in the Homeland (Apr. 27). Thilo Sarrazin, Deutschland Schaaft Sich Ab (Germany Does Away With Itself); claims that immigrants esp. Muslims and Jews are ruining the country and making Germans "strangers in their country", stirring a firestorm of controversy. Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra: A Life (Nov.): NYT bestseller. Peter Dale Scott (1929-), American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan (Nov.). John Selby (1945-), Tapping the Source: Using the Master Key System for Abundance and Happiness. Tom Segev, Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends (Sept.); claims that he was a Mossad agent. Richard Seymour, The Meaning of David Cameron (June 3). Anthony Shaffer, Operation Dark Heart: Spycraftand Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan - and The Path to Victory; its Aug. 31 pub. date is delayed by the U.S. govt. to censor classified material. Gen. Hugh Shelton, Without Hestitation: The Odyssey of an American Warrior (Oct.); U.S. JCS chmn. from 1997-2001; "President Bush and his team got us enmeshed in Iraq based on extraordinarily poor intelligence and a series of lies purporting that we had to protect Americans from Saddam's evil empire because it posed such a threat to our national security"; reveals that Pres. Clinton lost his nuclear "biscuit" containing the nuclear codes while pres. for months in 2000. Stephen Shen, America Is Also Ridiculous (Sept. 27) (autobio.). David Shields, Reality Hunger: A Manifesto; defends plagiarism and faked memoirs, and declares fiction dead, causing a firestorm of controversy in the lit. world. Clay Shirky (1964-), Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age; a world without TV? Gary Shteyngart, Super Sad True Love Story. Kenneth Silverman (1936-), Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage. Joseph Morrison Skelly (ed.), Political Islam from Muhammed to Ahmadinejad: Defenders, Detractors and Definitions. Lee Smith, The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations. Wesley Smith, A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement; the animal rights movement has an anti-human agenda? Howard Sounes, Fab: An Intimate Portrait of Paul McCartney. Thomas Sowell (1930-), Intellectuals and Society (Jan. 5); expounds on "the fatal misstep of intellectuals", viz., their assumption that superior ability within some superspecialist subject gives them superior wisdom and morality in everything, causing these "idea workers" to manufacture public demand for more of themselves by making alarming predictions about economics, nat. defense, and the environment incl. climate change, ending up exercising profound influence on public opinion and policy makers even though they are not only regularly wrong but personally unaccountable for the results, using their "undue influence" and "vulgar pride" to cause disaster for societies. Robert Spencer (1962-), Pamela Geller, and John Bolton, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America (July 27). Victor J. Stenger (1935-), The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning: How the Universe is Not Designed for Humanity. Jennifer Stevens, The Historical Jesus and the Literary Imagination, 1860-1920. Terry Greene Sterling, Illegal: Life and Death in Arizona's Immigration War Zone. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (1960-), The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms; "The opposite of success isn't failure, it is name-dropping"; "To bankrupt a fool, give him information"; "The person you are most afraid to contradict is yourself." Marc A. Thiessen, Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America Safe and How Barack Obama is Inviting the Next Attack (Jan. 18); speechwriter for Pres. George W. Bush claims that CIA interrogations were highly effectiving in foiling al-Qaida attacks, and how stupid Pres. Obama is in shutting down their program and releasing secret documents aiding the enemy plus trying to prosecute CIA members. Fred Dalton Thompson (1942-), Teaching the Pig to Dance: A Memoir of Growing Up and Second Chances (autobio.) (May 18). Mark Twain (1835-1910), Autobiography, Vol. 1 (Nov.); withheld for 100 years per his wishes. Douglas Valentine, The Strength of the Pack; the U.S. DEA is a function of nat. security and defends America's traditional values of race, class and gender while expanding its influence abroad? Shankar Vedantam, The Hidden Brain; how racism is unconscious. Jesse Ventura (1951-), American Conspiracies: Lies, Lies, and More Lies that the Government Tells Us (Mar. 8). John Walbridge, God and Logic in Islam: The Caliphate of Reason. Ibn Warraq (1946-), Virgins? What Virgins? And Other Essays. Jeffrey Wasserstrom (1960-), China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know; 2nd ed. in 2013. Steven Weber and Bruce W. Jentleson, The End of Arrogance: America in the Global Competition of Ideas (Sept. 30); the world is changing from a Ptolemaic to Copernican reality vis a vis the U.S., and thanks to the Internet is becoming a marketplace of ideas not war? Brent White, Underwater Home: What Should You Do If You Owe More on Your Home Than It's Worth? Stuart Wilde (1946-), Plum Red: Taoist Tales of Old China. Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Sons (Sept. 1); the Great Southern Migration of 6M blacks to the North in 1915-70. Garry Wills (1934-), Bomb Power. G. Willow Wilson (1982-), The Butterfly Mosque (autobio.) (June); N.J.-born woman converts to Islam, goes to Egypt, and marries an Egyptian man. Robert S. Wistrich, A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad. Fred Alan Wolf (1934-), Time Loops and Space Twists. Roger J. Woolger (1944-2011), Healing Your Past Lives: Exploring the Many Lives of the Soul. Bob Woodward (1943-), Obama's Wars; Pres. Obama's sad struggle to win in Afghanistan in two years to pacify progressives back home, and how gens. in civilian posts were the toughest critics of his surge; incl. Biden's soundbyte to Obama not to "get locked into Vietnam", and Obama's soundbytes "We need to make clear to people that the cancer is in Pakistan", and "We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever... we absorbed it and we are stronger." Bat Ye'or, Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis. Andrew Young (1932-), The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards' Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down; former aide who helped him coverup his affair with pregnant lover Rielle Hunter then was cut loose fights back. Mosab Hassan Yousef (1978-), Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices (Mar. 2); eldest son of Hamas founding member Sheikh Hassan Yousef breaks with it, works as a Shin Bet agent in 1997-2007, when he turns Christian and flees to Calif. and tells all; after an outcry, a deportation attempt is cancelled on July 1; "All Muslims, moderate Muslims and fanatics to me are the same. At the end of the day they believe in the God of the Koran and they believe that this Koran is from God"; "The most criminal terrorist Muslim has morality, a minimum of humanity more than his god. Their god is a terrorist and ignorant"; "The God of Koran is trying to unskin Muslims from their humanity. Muslims are good people, but their God is absolutely bad"; some suspect he's a double-agent working against Israel. Howard Zinn (1922-2010), The Bomb (posth.); claims to have been involved in the first U.S. use of napalm in 1945 on a French town, burning anyone it touched. James Zogby, Arab Voices: What They Are Saying to Us and Why It Matters. Music: Saving Abel, Miss America (album #2) (June 8) (#24 in the U.S.); incl. Miss America, Stupid Girl (Only in Hollywood), The Sex Is Good. AC/DC, Iron Man 2 Soundtrack (album) (Apr. 19). Lady Antebellum, Need You Now. Aerosmith, Aerosmith's 15th Album (album #15). Apocalyptica, 7th Symphony (album #7) (Aug. 20); incl. End of Me (w/Gavin Rossdale). David Archuleta (1990-), The Other Side of Down (album #3) (Oct. 5); incl. Something 'Bout Love. Natasha Bedingfield (1981-), Strip Me (album #3) (Dec. 7) (#103 in the U.S.); incl. Touch. Justin Bieber (1994-), My World 2.0 (album #2) (Mar. 19) (#1 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.); incl. Baby (w/Ludacris), Somebody to Love (w/Usher), U Smile, Never Let You Go. Mary J. Blige (1971-), My Life II, The Journey Continues (album #10) (Sept. 3); incl. Someone to Love Me (Naked). James Blunt (1977-), Some Kind of Trouble (album #3) (Nov. 8) (#11 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.) (1M copies); incl. Stay the Night. B.o.B., Nothin' on You (w/Bruno Mars), Airplanes. Brandon Boyd (1976-), The Wild Trapeze (album) (solo debut) (July 6); incl. Runaway Train. Susan Boyle (1961-), The Gift (album #2) (#1 in the U.S.) (#1 in the U.K.) (2.18M copies). Michelle Branch (1983-), Everything Comes and Goes (album #3) (Aug. 27); incl. Sooner or Later (#46 in the U.S.) Buckcherry, All Night Long (album #5) (Aug. 3); incl. All Night Long, Dead, It's a Party. Bush, The Sea of Memories (album #5) (Sept. 13) (#18 in the U.S.) (first album since 2001); first with Chris Traynor and Corey Britz; incl. The Sound of Winter. Owl City, All Things Bright and Beautiful (album #3) (June 14); incl. Alligator Sky (w/Shawn Chrystopher). New Young Pony Club, The Optimist (album #2) (Mar. 8); incl. Stone, The Optimist. Joe Cocker (1944-2014), Hard Knocks (album #21) (Oct. 1); incl. I Hope (by the Dixie Chicks). Cheryl Cole (1983-), Messy Little Raindrops (album #2) (Nov. 1); incl. Promise This. Susan Cowsill (1959-), Lighthouse (album #2) (May). Sheryl Crow (1962-), 100 Miles from Memphis (album #7) (July 20). Taio Cruz, Break Your Heart. Cults, Go Outside (debut); from New York City, incl. Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin. Miley Cyrus (1992-), Can't Be Tamed (album #2) (June 18) (#3 in the U.S., #8 in the U.K.); incl. Can't Be Tamed, Who Owns My Heart, Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Green Day, Awesome As Fuck (F**k) (album) (Mar. 22). Deftones, Diamond Eyes (album #6) (May 4) (#6 in the U.S.) (original title "Eros"); first with Sergio Vega; incl. Diamond Eyes, Rocket Skates, You've Seen the Butcher, Sextape. Disturbed, Asylum (album #5) (Aug. 31, 2010) (#1 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.) (first band with four consecutive #1 U.S. albums since Dave Matthews Band and Metallica); incl. Another Way to Die, Asylum, The Animal, Warrior. Goo Goo Dolls, Something for the Rest of Us (album #9) (Aug. 28); incl. Home, Notbroken. As I Lay Dying, The Powerless Rise (album #5) (May 7) (#10 in the U.S.); incl. The Plague. Finger Eleven, Life Turns Electric (album #6) (Oct. 5); incl. Living in a Dream. Eminem (1972-), Recovery (album #7) (June 18) (#1 in the U.S.); sells 741K copies in week #1; incl. Not Afraid, Love the Way You Lie. Eve 6, Horrorscope (album #2) (July 25); incl. Promise (#25 in the U.S.), Here's to the Night (#30 in the U.S.), On the Roof Again. Exodus, Exhibit B: The Human Condition (album #9) (May 7) (#114 in the U.S.); incl. Burn, Hollywood, Burn, Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer). Extreme, Take Us Alive (album) (May 5). Filter, The Trouble with Angels (album #5) (Aug. 17) (#64 in the U.S.); incl. The Inevitable Relapse. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs (album #3) (Aug. 2) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); incl. The Suburbs/Month of May, We Used to Wait, Ready to Start. Maroon 5, Hands All Over (album #3) (Sept. 21) (#2 in the U.S., #6 in the U.K.) (500K copies); incl. Misery, Give a Little More, Never Gonna Leave This Bed. The Flobots, Survival Story (album #2) (Mar. 16); incl. White Flag Warrior (w/Tim McIlrath). Lady Gaga (1986-), Telephone. Godsmack, Oracle (original title "Saints & Sinners") (album #5) (May 4) (#1 in the U.S.) (500K copies in the U.S.); incl. Cryin' Like a Bitch, Love-Hate-Sex-Pain, Saints and Sinners. Selena Gomez (1992-) and the Scene, A Year Without Rain (album #2) (Sept. 17) (#4 in the U.S., #14 in the U.K.); incl. A Year Without Rain, Round & Round, Live Like There's No Tomorrow. Macy Gray (1967-), Beauty in the World. Nina Hagen (1955-), Personal Jesus (album #15) (July 16); incl. Personal Jesus (by Depeche Mode). Heart, Red Velvet Car (album #14) (Aug. 31) (#10 in the U.S.); incl. WTF, Hey You. Jimi Hendrix (1942-70), Valleys of Neptune (album) (posth.) (Mar.9); incl. Valleys of Neptune. Crowded House, Intriguer (album #6) (June 13) (#50 in the U.S., #12 in the U.K.); incl. Saturday Sun. Emily Howell (2004-), Classical Music from a Computer (album) (debut); a classical music program. Jessie J (1988-), Do It Like a Dude (debut) (Nov. 18) (#2 in the U.K.). Jimmy Eat World, Invented (album #7) (Sept. 28) (#11 in the U.S.); incl. My Best Theory. Jack Hody Johnson (1975-), To the Sea (album #5) (May 26) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); incl. You and Your Heart, At Or With Me, From the Clouds. Jonas Brothers, Jonas L.A. (album) (July 20) (#7 in the U.S.); Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (album) (Aug. 10) (#3 in the U.S.); Sonny with a Chance (album) (Oct. 5) (#163 in the U.S.). Norah Jones (1979-), ...Featuring (album) (Nov. 16). Midnight Juggernaut, The Crystal Axis (album #2) (May 2); incl. Lemuria, This New Technology. R. Kelly (1967-), Love Letter (album #10) (Dec. 14) (#6 in the U.S.); incl. Love Letter, When a Woman Loves. Ke$ha (1987-), Animal (album) (debut) (Jan. 5); incl. Tik Tok, Your Love Is My Drug. The Black Keys, Brothers (album #6) (May 18) (#3 in the U.S.); incl. Tighten Up, Next Girl, Howlin' for You. Korn, Korn III: Remember Who You Are (album #9) (July 13) (#1 in the U.S., #23 in the U.K.); first with drummer Ray Luzier; incl. Oildale (Leave Me Alone), Let the Guilt Go. Barenaked Ladies, All in Good Time (album #9) (Mar. 23) (#23 in the U.S., #20 in Canada); first sans Steven Page; incl. You Run Away. Chloe Lattanzi (1986-), Wings and A Gun (debut) (Oct.); daughter of Olivia Newton-John. Cyndi Lauper (1953-), Memphis Blues (album #11) (June 22). Avril Lavigne (1984-), Goodbye Lullaby (album #4) (Mar. 2) (#4 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.); incl. What the Hell, Smile. Ludacris (1977-), Battle of the Sexes (album #7) (Mar. 9) (#1 in the U.S.k, #58 in the U.K.); incl. How Low, My Chick Bad (w/Nicki Minaj), Sex Room (w/Trey Songz), Everybody Drunk (w/Lil Scrappy). Madonna (1958-), Sticky & Sweet Tour (album) (Mar. 26) (#10 in the U.S., #17 in the U.K.). Iron Maiden, The Final Frontier (album #15) (Aug. 16); incl. El Dorado. Paul McCartney (1942-), Paul McCartney: Live in Los Angeles (album) (Jan. 17). Katie Melua (1984-), The House (album #4) (May 24); incl. The Flood, I'd Love to Kill You, A Happy Place. Natalie Merchant (1963-), Leave Your Sleep (double album); based on 26 poems by Robert Graves, Robert Louis Stevenson, Ogden Nash, and Christina Rossetti. M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasm) (1975-), Maya (album #3) (July 7); incl. The Message, XXXO, Born Free. Millionaires, Stay the Night (EP) (July 25); incl. Stay the Night; Cash Only (EP) (Sept. 7); incl. Party Like A Millionaire, and Microphone ("No one will ever know I wanna touch your microphone"). Nicki Minaj (1982-), Pink Friday (album) (debut) (#1 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); incl. Your Love, Right Thru Me, Moment 4 Life (w/Drake), Check It Out (w/will.i.am), Roman's Revenge (w/Eminem), Did It On'em, Girls Fall Like Dominoes, Super Bass, and Fly (w/Rihanna); first artist with seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. Kylie Minogue (1968-), Aphrodite (album #11) (June 30) (#19 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); incl. All the Lovers, Get Outta My Way, Better Than Today, Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love). Paddy Moloney and the Chieftains, San Patricio (album); the St. Patrick Battalion in the 1846-8 U.S.-Mexico War. Motorhead, The World (Wörld) Is Yours (album #20) (Dec. 14); incl. Get Back in Line. Far East Movement, Like a G6 (#1 in the U.S.); samples Booty Bounce, uploaded to MySpace by Dev (Devin Star Tailes) (1989-), who wins a contract with Universal Records. Dropkick Murphys, Live on Lansdowne, Boston MA (album) (Mar. 16). The National, High Violet (album #5) (May 10) (#3 in the U.S.); incl. Bloodbuzz Ohio, Conversation 16, Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks. Vomito Negro, Skull & Bones (album #14) (Jan. 22); incl. Black Tie White Shirt, Darkmoon. Nelly (1974-), 5.0 (album #6) (Nov. 12) (#10 in the U.S.); incl. Just A Dream, Move That Body (w/T-Pain and Akon), Gone (w/Kelly Rowland). Stevie Nicks (1948-), In Your Dreams (album #7) (May 3); first since 2001; dedicated to fan who died of cancer; incl. Secret Love, Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream). Wild Nothing, Gemini (album) (debut) (May 25); Jack Tatum. Oasis, Time Flies... 1994-2009 (album) (June 14) (#131 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); incl. Whatever, Lord Don't Slow Me Down. Omarion (1984-), Ollusion (album #3) (Jan. 12). Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns (album #4) (Sept. 14) (#1 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); incl. The Catalyst (#1 in the U.S., #40 in the U.K.), Waiting for the End (#42 in the U.S., #90 in the U.K.), Burning in the Skies, Iridescent. Black Eyed Peas, Imma Be. Katy Perry (1984-), Teenage Dream (album #3) (Aug. 24) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); 9th album in Billboard history with four #1 hits (5th by a female artist); incl. California Gurls (w/Snoop Dogg) ("California girls/ We're unforgettable/ Daisy dukes, bikinis on top/ Sun-kissed skin, so hot, will melt your popsicle"), Firework, E.T. (w/Kanye West), Peacock. Wilson Phillips, Christmas in Harmony (album #4) (Oct. 12); first album since 2004. Stone Temple Pilots, Stone Temple Pilots (album #6) (May 21); first albums since 2001; incl. Between the Lines, Take a Load Off, Cinnamon. Pitbull (1981-), Armando (album #5) (Nov. 2). The New Pornographers, Together (album #5) (May 4) (#18 in the U.S.); incl. Moves (used in T-Mobile commercials), Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk (used in Amazon Kindle ads), Crash Years, Your Hands (Together). Manic Street Preachers, Postcards from a Young Man (album #10) (Sept. 20) (#3 in the U.K.); incl. Postcards from a Young Man, (It's Not War) Just the End of Love, Some Kind of Nothingness. Nathaniel Rateliff (1978-), In Memory of Loss (album #2) (May). Ratt, Infestation (album #7) (Apr. 20) (#30 in the U.S.); first with guitarist Carlos Cavazo; incl. Best Of Me, Eat Me Up Alive. My Chemical Romance, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (album #4) (Nov. 19) (#8 in the U.S., #14 in the U.K.); incl. Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na), Sing, Planetary (Go!); The Mad Gear and Missile Kid (EP) (Nov. 22); incl. F.T.W.W.W., Mastas of Ravenkroft, Black Dragon Fighting Society. Busta Rhymes (1972-), Anarchy (album #4) (June 20); incl. Fire, Get Out! Rihanna (1988-), Loud (album #5) (Nov. 10) (#3 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); incl. Only Girl (In the World), What's My Name? (w/Drake), S&M . Sade (1959-), Soldier of Love (album #6) (Feb. 8) (#1 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.); first original album since 2000; incl. Soldier of Love, Babyfather. Seal (1963-), Commitment (album #7) (Sept. 20) (#11 in the U.K.); incl. Secret, Weight of My Mistakes. Belle and Sebastian, Belle & Sebastian Write About Love (album #8) (Oct. 11); incl. Write About Love (with Carey Mulligan). Shakira (1977-), Sale el Sol (The Sun Comes Out) (album #7) (Oct. 19) (#7 in the U.S.) (4M copies); incl. Loca (w/Dizzee Rascal), Sale el Sol, Rabiosa. Trombone Shorty (1986-), Backatown (#3 jazz), (album #7) (Apr. 20); incl. Backatown. Skrillex (1988-), My Name is Skrillex (EP) (debut) (June 7); incl. WEEKENDS!!! (w/Sirah); Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (EP) (Oct. 22); incl. Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites. Fatboy Slim (1963-) and David Byrne, Here Lies Love (album #5) (Feb. 23); about Imelda Marcos of the Philippines. Ringo Starr (1940-), Y Not (album #15) (Jan. 12) (#58 in the U.S.). Stornoway, Beachcomber's Windowsill (album) (debut) (#14 in the U.K.); from Oxford, England, incl. Brian Briggs (vocals), Jon Ouin, Oli Steadman, and Rob Steadman (drums); incl. Zorbing, Unfaithful, and I Saw You Blink. The White Stripes, Under the Great White Northern Lights (album) (Mar. 16). The Strokes, Angles (album #4) (Mar. 18) (#4 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.); incl. Under Cover of Darkness (#28 in the U.S., #47 in the U.K.). Sugarbabes, Sweet 7 (album #7) (Mar. 15); incl. Get Sexy, About a Girl, Wear My Kiss. Nada Surf, If I Had a Hi-Fi (album #6) (June 8); all covers. Taylor Swift (1989-), Speak Now (album #3) (Oct. 25) (#1 in the U.S.) (4.8M copies); incl. Mine (#3 in the U.S.), Back to December, Mean, The Story of Us. Tinie Tempah (1988-), Disc-Overy (album) (debut) (Oct. 4) (#21 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); incl. Pass Out (#1 in the U.K.), Written in the Stars (w/Eric Turner) (#1 in the U.K.), Frisky, Miami 2 Ibiza. Therion, Sitra Ahra (album #14) (Sept. 17); incl. Cu Chulainn, Kali Yuga III, The Shells Are Open. KT Tunstall (1975-), Tiger Suit (album #3) (Sept. 24) (#43 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.); incl. Fade Like A Shadow, (Still A) Weirdo). Six Feet Under, Graveyard Classics III (album) (Jan. 19). Usher (1978-), Raymond v. Raymond (album #6) (Mar. 26) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. OMG, Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home), Lil Freak, There Goes My Baby; Versus (album) (Aug. 24); incl. DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love, Hot Tottie. Suzanne Vega (1959-), Close-Up Vol. 1, Love Songs (album #8) (Feb. 2); Close-Up Vol. 2, People and Places (album #9) (Oct. 12). Weezer, Hurley (album #8) (Sept. 10) (#6 in the U.S., #49 in the U.K.); cover featres actor Jorge Garcia, who played Hugo "Hurley" Reyes on the TV series "Lost" from 2004-10; incl. Memories, Hang On; Death to False Metal (Odds and Ends) (album #9) (Nov. 2). Kanye West (1977-), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (album #5) (Nov. 22) (#1 in the U.S.) (1M copies in the U.S.); incl. Power, Runaway, Monster, All of the Lights (w/Rihanna, Kid Cudi). Westlife, Gravity (album #11) (Nov. 22) (#3 in the U.K.); incl. Safe. Chely Wright (1970-), Lifted Off the Ground (album #7); on May 3 she becomes the first major country music artist to come out as gay. Art: Anne Wallace, Talking Cure. Movies: Michael Perlin's 3 Magic Words is a spirituality documentary based on the 1954 book by Uell Stanley Anderson. Danny Boyle's 127 Hours (Jan. 28) is about mountain climber Aron Ralston (James Franco), who became trapped under a boulder in Blue John Canyon in Moab, Utah, and amputated his arm to survive. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (Mar. 5), written by Linda Woolverton based on the Lewis Carroll books turns the story into female teen Goth, starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and Mia Wasikowska as Alice; does a record $116.3M at the box office on opening weekend, passing the $70.9M mark set by "300"; a secret White House party featuring an Alice in Wonderland State Dining Room room decorated by Burton is held, and not revealed until Jan. 2012. Anton Corbijn's The American (Sept. 10) (Smokehouse Pictures) (Focus Features) stars George Clooney as hit man Jack, who hides out in Castelvecchio, Italy and hooks up with hot ho Clara (Violante Placido) while playing head games with hit woman Mathilde (Thekla Reuten); Johan Leysen plays his handler Pavel; Paolo Bonacelli plays Father Benedetto; does $67.9M box office on a $20M budget. Janus Metz Pedersen's Armadillo (May 27) is an anti-war flick about a group of Danish soldiers in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Joel Gilbert's Atomic Jihad: Ahmadinejad's Coming War for Islamic Revival and Obama's Politics (Feb. 23) is a documentary tasking Pres. Obama for playing into his hands. Richard J. Lewis' Barney's Version (Sept. 10) stars Paul Giamatti as un-PC Barney Panofsky. Mike Mills' Beginners (Sept. 11) stars Ewan McGregor as young man Oliver Fields, who is shocked by the news that his elderly father Hal (Christopher Plummer) has terminal cancer and a young male lover, causing him to go for French actress Anna Wallace (Melanie Laurent); does $14.3M box office on a $3.2M budget. Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan (Sept. 1) stars Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers, who lands the role of the Swan Queen, and has to compete against Lily (Mila Kunis), who lands the Black Swan role. Will Gluck's Easy A (Sept. 11) (Olive Bridge Entertainment) (Screen Gems) is a teenage exploitation flick starring Emma Stone as Olive Penderghast, who fakes losing her virginity and ruins her rep, and has trouble getting it back; also stars Amanda Bynes as Marianne Bryant, Penn Badgley as Olive's real beau Woodchuck Todd, Aly Michalka as Rhiannon Abernathy, Stanley Tucci as Olive's father Dill, Patricia Clarkson as her mother Rosemary, Malcolm McDowell as Principal Gibbons, and Lisa Kudrow as Mrs. Griffith; does $75M box office on an $8M budget; "The rumor-filled totally false account of how I ruined my flawless reputation"; "If there's one thing worse than chlamydia, it's Florida." Albert Hughes' and Allen Hughes' The Book of Eli (Jan. 10), set in Calif. 30 years after a nuclear apocalypse stars Denzel Washington as Eli, who carries the last copy of the Bible to a group on Alcatraz Island while defending it with Samurai-style swordwork, running into lizardlike saloon owner Carnegie (Gary Oldman), who lusts after his book; Mila Kunis plays Eli's disciple Solara; too bad, the group starts cranking out copies of the Bible, but only to place alongside copies of the Quran; does $157M box office on a $80M budget. George Hickenlooper's Casino Jack (Dec. 17) stars Kevin Spacey as crooked Washington, D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff, becoming Hickenlooper's last film after he dies on Oct. 29. Brad Peyton's Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (July 30) is an animated film about the war between cats and dogs and a rogue cat spy; "Just like real spies... only furrier." Neil Marshall's Centurion (Apr. 22) stars Michael Fassbender as Roman centurion Quintus Dias, who marches with with Gen. Titus Flavius Virilus' (Dominic West) 9th legion into Pict territory in Britain in 117 C.E. to destroy Pictish chief Gorlacon (Ulrich Thomsen) and instead get massacred, then must return with a small group of soldiers while being chased all the way; Olga Kurylenko plays vicious Celtic she-wolf Etain; Imogen Poots plays she-angel witch Arianne. Michael Apted's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Dec.), based on the C.S. Lewis novels stars Ben Barnes as King Caspian. Shana Feste's Country Strong (Nov. 8) (Screen Gems), produced by Tobey Maguire stars Gyneth Paltrow and Garrett Hedlund as country singers Kelly Canter and Beau Hutton, who have a fling while she's in rehab cheating on hubby James Canter (Tim McGraw); Leighton Meester plays man-stealer country singer wannaba Chiles Stanton; "Love and fame can't live in the same place" (Kelly); features the songs Country Strong by Jennifer Hanson, Tony Martin, and Mark Nesler, performed by Gwyneth Paltrow (#30 country) (#81 in the U.S.), Coming Home by Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, and Troy Verges, Me and Tennessee by Tim McGraw and Gwynteth Paltrow (#34 country) (#63 in the U.S.), and Kissin' in Cars (Stephen Barker Liles and Jesse Lee); does $20.5M box office on a $15M budget. John Madden's The Debt (Sept. 4) (Mav Films) (Focus Features) (Miramax), based on the 2007 Israeli film "Ha-Hov" stars Helen Mirren and Jessica Chastain as Mossad agent Rachel Singer, who searches for "the Surgeon of Birkenau" Nazi butcher Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen), and captures him in Argentina 1965, only to let him escape and lie that they killed him, becoming big heroes; meanwhile they quietly search for him again until 1997, finding him in Kiev, Ukraine; also stars Sam Worthington and Ciaran Hinds as David Peretz, and Marton Csonkas and Tom Wilkinson as Stefan Gold; does $45.6M box office on a $20M budget. Pierre Coffin's and Chris Renaud's computer-animated comedy Despicable Me (June 19) (Universal Pictures) (Illumination Entertainment) is about three orphan girls (Margo, Edith, Agnes) who cause the despicable Gru (Steve Carell) to rethink his plan to steal the Moon using his army of Minions; Jason Segel voices Vector; Russell Brand voices Dr. Nefario; does $543.2M box office on a $69M budget; followed by "Despicable Me 2" (2013), "Minions" (2015), "Despicable Me 3" (2017), "Minions: The Rise of Gru" (2022), "Depicable Me 4" (2024). Jay Roach's Dinner for Schmucks (July 30), based on the 1988 French comedy "Le diner de Cons" (Dinner of Cunts) stars Steve Carrell as IRS employee Barry Speck and mouse taxidermist, and Paul Rudd as exec Tim Conrad; Zach Galifianakis plays Barry's boss Therman Murch; the Chiodo Brothers create elaborate mouse dioramas and "mouseterpieces". Troy Nixey's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (Nov. 6) (Miramax Films), a remake of the 1973 ABC-TV movie written by Matthew Robbins and Guillermo del Toro based on the book by Nigel McKeand and filmed in the Drusilla Mansion in Mount Macedon, Victoria, Australia stars Katie Holmes as Kim Raphael, Guy Pearce as Alex Hurst, and Bailee Madison as 8-y.-o. Sally Hurst, who move into the 19th cent. Blackwood Manor mansion in Providence County, R.I., where evil creatures begin emerging from a sealed ash pit in the basement; does $36M box office on a $25M budget. Ryan Murphy's Eat Pray Love (Aug. 13) (Plan B Entertainment) (Columbia Pictures), based on the 2006 bestseller by Elizabeth Gilbert stars Julie Roberts as Gilbert, and Javier Bardem as her lover Felipe; does $204.6M box office on a $60M budget. David Slade's Eclipse (June 30), #3 in the series based on the Stephenie Meyer novel stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, who must choose between vamp beaus Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Martin Campbell's Edge of Darkness (Jan. 29) stars Mel Gibson as Boston homicide detective Thomas Craven, whose activist daughter Emma is killed before his eyes, turning him into a mean human wrecking vengeance machine a la Mad Max; Ray Winstone plays bad guy Darius Jedburgh, and Danny Huston plays corporate spin doctor Jack Bennett. Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables (Aug. 13), about a team of aging mercenaries stars Stallone as Barney "the Schizo" Ross, Jet Li as Bao Thao, Jason Statham as Lee Christmas, Dolph Lundgren as Gunnar Jensen, and Eric Roberts as Monroe, and features a small role for Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, causing speculation about a reprisal of his movie career after he leaves politics. David O. Russell's The Fighter (Dec. 17) stars Mark Wahlberg as middleweight boxer Micky "Irish" Ward, whose older half-brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) helps train him to go pro in Lowell, Mass. in the mid-1980s; Melissa Leo plays their mother; Amy Adams plays Micky's babe. Sean Tretta's The Frankenstein Syndrome (Experiment) (July 5) stars Scott Anthony Leet as security guard David Doyle, who is murdered and reanimated, acquiring psychic powers and superhuman strength. Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer (Feb. 12), based on the Robert Harris novel stars Ewan McGregor as a ghost writer hired to write the memoirs of disgraced former British PM Alan Lang (Pierce Brosnan); released while Polanski is under house arrest in Switzerland awaiting extradition to the U.S.; on July 12 the Swiss govt. announces that it won't allow him to be extradited. Noah Baumbach's Greenberg (Apr. 1), based on a story by Jennifer Jason Leigh stars Ben Stiller as a burned-out New Yorker who moves to L.A. to housesit for his brother Philip Greenberg (Chris Messina), and begins eating, er, dating his asst. Florence Marr (Greta Gerwig). Brian Helgeland's Green Zone (Mar. 12), based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran's 2006 book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" stars Matt Damon as Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, who is sent into Iraq in 2003 to find the WMDs and instead discovers it was all a lie; also stars Brendan Gleeson, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan, and Yigal Naor, and Khalid Abdalla. Chris Sanders' and Dean DeBlois' computer-animated How to Train Your Dragon (Mar. 21) (Paramount Pictures) (DreamWorks) is about a 15-y.-o. Viking teenager named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, son of chieftain Stoick the Vast, who decides to become a dragon slayer in the Viking village of Berk and instead falls in love with them; does $494.9M box office on a $165M budget; followed by "How to Train Your Dragon 2" (2014), "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" (2019). Christopher Nolan's Inception (July 8) (Warner Bros.) stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dominick "Dom" Cobb, a thief who enters people's dreams and steals ideas from rivals, and is then asked to try planting ideas by energy magnate Mr. Saito (Ken Watanabe), with a special assignment involving business magnate Robert Michael Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy); Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Cobb's partner Arthur; Ellen Page plays dreamscape builder Ariadne; Tom Hardy plays Cobb's associate Eames; does $825.5M worldwide box office on a $160M budget. Josh Appignanesi's The Infidel (May 5) stars Omid Djalili as Mahmud Nasir, a British Muslim who discovers he was born a Jew, launching an identity crisis; an attempt at making a "Monty Python's Life of Brian" about Islam that falls flat? Charles Ferguson's Inside Job (Feb. 2) is a documentary about the big financial meltdown. James Wan's Insidious (Sept. 14) (Blumhouse Productions) (FilmDistrict) is about couple Josh and Renai Lambert (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne), whose son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) goes comatose and becomes a vessel for ghosts; "It's not the house that's haunted, it's your son"; does $97M box office on a $1.5M budget; inspires sequels incl. "Insidious: Chapter 2" (2013), "Insidious: Chapter 3" (2015), and "Insidious: The Last Key" (2018). Gregg Araki's Kaboom (May 15) is a sci-fi story about the sexual awakening of some college students. Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass (Apr. 16), based on the Mark Millar comic books stars Aaron Johnson as comic book fan Dave Lizewski, who decides to become a superhero sans super powers; "I can't fly, but I can kick your ass." Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right (July 30) stars Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson as Joni and Laser, children of married lezzie parents Nic and Jules (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore), who were conceived by artificial insemination and set out to find their sperm donor father Paul (Mark Ruffalo). Shahriar Bahrani's The Kingdom of Solomon (Oct. 5) stars Amin Zendegani as King Solomon in the Islamic version of his life. Tom Hooper's The King's Speech (Sept. 6) (U.K. Film Council) (Momentum Pictures), written by David Seidler stars miscast Colin Firth as English king George VI (Prince Albert, Duke of York), and Geoffrey Rush as Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue, who helps him overcome his stuttering p-p-problem; Helena Bonham Carter plays Queen Elizabeth (Duchess of York), Guy Pearce plays Edward VIII (Prince Edward of Wales), and Timothy Spall plays PM Winston Churchill; does $414.2M box office on a $15M budget; first release of See-Saw Films and Bedlam Productions of London, England. Michael Winterbottom's The Killer Inside Me (Jan. 24), based on the Jim Thompson novel about a psycho 1950s West Tex. deputy sheriff stars Casey Affleck as Lou Ford, Kate Hudson as his girl Amy Stanton, Jessica Alba as ho Joyce Lakeland, and Ned Beatty as Chester Conway. James Mangold's Knight and Day (formerly "Wichita and Trouble Man") (June 16) (Regency Enterprises) (Dune Entertainment) (20th Cent. Fox) is an action comedy starring Tom Cruise as crazy secret agent Roy Miller/Matthew Knight, who hooks up with classic car restorer June Havens (Cameron Diaz) and shanghais her on his run from the CIA; does $261.9M box office on a $117M budget. Daniel Stamm's The Last Exorcism (June 24) (Strike Engertainment) (StudioCanal) (Lionsgate) is about evangelical rev. Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) of Baton Rouge, La., who wants to expose exorcism as a fraud, and has filmmakers Iris Reisen (Iris Bahr) and Daniel follow him during his last one, on farmer's daughter Nell Margaret Sweetzer (Ashley Bell), which turns into a nightmare; does $67.7M box office on a $1.8M budget; followed by "The Last Exorcism: Part II" (2013). Scott Stewart's Legion (Jan. 22) (Bold Films) (Screen Gems) stars Paul Bettany as Archangel Michael, who falls to Earth in L.A., cuts off his wings, and becomes a heavenly Terminator of a legion of demon-possessed, getting into a ridiculous fight with Archangel Gabriel (Kevin Durand) after sprouting new wings, all pissing-off Christian groups; Adrianne Palicki plays Charlie, a waitress pregnant with humanity's savior in a ripoff of "The Terminator"; Jeanette Miller plays possessed old hag Gladys Foster, who walks on the ceiling; Doug Jones plays a possessed ice cream man; does $67.9M box office on a $26M budget. Ethan Maniquis' and Robert Rodriguez' Machete (Sept. 3) stars Danny Trejo as Mexican vigilante Machete Cortez, Steven Seagal as drug lord Rogelio Torrez, Cheech Marin as pacifist priest Padre Cortez, and Robert De Niro as corrupt Texas Sen. John McLaughlin in an open borders propaganda fest; also features Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Alba, and Don Johnson; does $44M box office on a $10.5M budget. Michel Leclerc's The Names of Love (July 10) stars Sara Forestier as leftist activist Baya Benmahmoud, who has sex with right-wingers incl. Muslims for freedom until she meets her match in Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin). Mark Romanek's Never Let me Go (Sept. 3), based on the 2005 Kazuo Ishiruo novel about an alternate Universe of 100-year lifespans and organ donors stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield as Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy in a love triangle; "We all complete." Laura Poitras' The Oath is a documentary about Gitmo POW Salim Hamdan, AKA Osama bin Laden's bodyguard, and his Yemeni taxi driver brother Abu Jandal. Francois Ozon's Potiche (Fr. "trophy wife") (Sept. 4) is a French feminist farce set in 1977, starring Catherine Deneuve as submissive wife Suzanne Pujol, who gets to run her hubby Robert (Fabrice Luchini)'s umbrella factory after the employees rebel against tyrannical mgr. Maurice Babin (Gerard Depardieu); Jeremy Renier plays son Laurent Pujol; does $28.8M box office on a $11.2M budget. Nimrod Antal's Predators (July 9) stars Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, and Topher Grace as a group of killers who are selected to be hunted by alien predators in a jungle world. Christoper Cain's Pure Country 2: The Gift (Oct. 15) (Warner Bros.), sequel to "Pure Country" (1992) stars Katrina Elam as Nashville hopeful Bobbie, who makes it big then loses her voice; also stars Dean Cain as the music video dir., Bronson Pinchot as Joseph, Cheech Marin as Pedro, Michael McKean as Peter, Travis Fimmel as Dale Jordan, and George Strait as himself. Robert Schwentke's Red (Sept. 29) (Di Bonaventura Pictures) (Summit Entertainment) is an action comedy based on the DC Comics series by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, starring Bruce Willis as ex-CIA agent Frank Moses AKA Retired Extremely Dangerous, who lives in Cleveland, Ohio and shanghais pension clerk Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) while being chased by a CIA assassination squad; also stars Morgan Freeman as Joe Matheson, John Malkovich as Marvin Boggs, Helen Mirren as Victoria Winslow, and Karl Urban as William Cooper; does $199M box office on a $58M budget; followed by "Red 2" (2013). Miguel Spochnik's Repo Men (Mar. 19) (Universal), based on the novel "The Repossession Mambo" by Eric Garcia, set in 2025 stars Jude Law and Forest Whitaker as Remy and Jake, employees of The Union, who reclaim biomechanical organs from people who miss their payments; does $18.M box office on a $32M budget. Allen Coulter's Remember Me (Mar. 12) stars Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin as lovers who have to cope with family tragedies. Ridley Scott's Robin Hood (May 12) (Imagine Entertainment) (Universal Pictures) stars Russell Crowe as Robin Longstride, Cate Blanchett as Marion Locksley, Max von Sydow as her father Sir Walter Locksley, Mark Addy as Friar Tuck, Oscar Isaac as nutso Prince John, and Danny Huston as his older brother Richard the Lionheart; does $321.7M box office on a $200M budget. Quentin Dupieux's Rubber (May 15) is a French horror comedy about a killer tire with psychic powers, starring Stephen Spinella as Lt. Chad. Philip Noyce's Salt (July 23), written by Kurt Wimmer stars Angelina Jolie as sexy muscle-free drink of water female rogue super CIA agent Evelyn A. Salt (originally Edwin A. Salt until Jolie is offered a part as a Bond girl and replies that she'd rather play Bond), who turns out to be a double, no triple, no quadruple, who knows sleeper agent in a U.S. that's been infiltrated extensively by Russian sleeper agents starting with Lee Harvey Oswald; also stars Liev Schreiber as her CIA boss Ted Winter, Chiwetel Ejiofor as CIA agent Peabody, August Diehl as Salt's lovey-dovey hubby Mike Krause, and Daniel Olbrychski as sinister Russian agent Orlov; the news of the arrest in the U.S. of Russian spies incl. a woman turns out to be perfect timing to boost the box office; grosses $118M in the U.S. and $293M worldwide. Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (July 27), based on the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley stars Michael Cer as Pilgrim, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona, his new babe, who comes with seven evil exes. Srdan Spasojevic's A Serbian Film (June 11) (Contra Film) (Jinga Films) is an erotic horror film about porn star Milos, his wife Marija, and 6-y.-o. son Peter, and his corrupt police office brother Marko, who wants Marija; the film bill itself as an art film, but has so many disgusting graphic scenes of rape, child sexual abuse, and necrophilia that it ends up banned in seven countries, making it more popular? Burhan Qurbani's Shahada (Faith) is about three young Muslims in Berlin who struggle with their faith. The Brothers Strouse's Skyline (Nov. 11) (Rogue) (Universal Pictures) stars Eric Balfour, Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Crystal Reed, David Zayas, and Donald Faison in a sci-flick about brain-sucking aliens from outer space invading Earth; does $68.3M box office on a $20M budget. David Fincher's The Social Network (Oct. 1), based on the 2009 novel "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich about the founding of Facebook stars Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, along with Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Brenda Song; grosses $23M its first weekend; meanwhile the real Facebook reaches 517M members, 7.6% of the Earth's pop., causing TLW to warn that it is fast positioning itself to become the Beast Antichrist 666 as in Rev. 3:16, taking away your family's privacy and forcing you to have its mark on your forehead to buy or sell etc.; TLW's Boycott Facebook Web page gets a total of 568 visitors by Oct. 4; "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies". John Curran's Stone (Sept. 10) (last from Overture Films) stars Robert De Niro as parole officer Jack Mabry, who is gamed by convicted arsonist Gerald "Stone" Creeson (Edward Norton) and his hot wife Lucetta (Mila Jovovich), while loyal wife Madylyn (Frances Conroy) waits in the wings; does $9.5M box office on a $22M budget. Stephen Frears' Tamara Drewe (May 18) (BBC Films) (Momentum Pictures), based on the Moira Buffini comic strip and Thomas Hardy's novel "Far from the Madding Crowd", set in Ewedown, Dorset, England is about young journalist Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton), who gets a nose job and returns to her hometown to sell her dead mother's house, turning on the local men incl. Andy Cobb (Luke Evans), Ben Sergeant (Dominic Cooper), and Nicholas Hardiment (Roger Allam), who is killed by stampeding cows; does $11.9M box office on £6M budget. Nathan Greno's and Byron Howard's computer-animated Tangled (Nov. 14) (Walt Disney Pictures), based on the Brothers Grimm Rapunzel fairy tale features the voice of Mandy Moore; Greno's dir. debut; the title is changed for Disney's new woke mgt. for gender-neutrality; does $592.4M box office on a $260M budget (most expensive animated film to date?). Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's The Tourist (Dec. 10) is a remake of the 2005 French film "Anthony Zimmer" starring Angelina Jolie as beautiful Interpol agent Elise Clifton-Ward, who hooks up with Am. tourist Frank Tupelo (Johnn Depp) on a train in Venice, getting him mistaken for super thief Alexander Pearce by Inspector John Acheson (Paul Bettany) and gangster Reginald Shaw (Steven Berkoff); Timothy Dalton plays Chief Inspector Jones. Ben Affleck's The Town (Sept. 8) (Legendary Pictures) (GK FIlms) (Thunder Road Pictures) (Warner Bros. Pictures), based on Chuck Hogan's novel "Prince of Thieves" stars Affleck as Douglas "Doug" MacRay, Jeremy Renner as James "Jem" Coughlin, Slain as Albert "Gloansy" MacGloan, and Owen Burke as Desmond "Dez" Edlen, four lifelong friends from Charlestown, Boston who rob Penway Park of $3.5M; Rebecca Hall plays Doug's babe Claire Keesey; Jon Hamm plays FBI agent Adam Frawley; Chris Cooper plays Doug's imprisoned dad Stephen; Pete Postlethwaite plays crime boss Fergus "Fergie" Colm; does $154M box office on a $37M budget. Ethan Coen's and Joel Coen's True Grit (Dec. 22), a more realistic remake of the 1969 John Wayne flick stars Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross, Matt Damon as LaBoeuf, Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney, and Barry Pepper as Lucky Ned Pepper. Tony Scott's Unstoppable (Oct. 26) (20th Cent. Fox), based on the May 15, 2001 CSX 888 (Crazy Eights) Incident in Ohio stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine as Frank Barnes and Will Colson, two railroad men who try to stop a runaway freight train; Scott's final feature film; does $167.8M box office on a $95M budget. Gregor Jordan's Unthinkable (June 14) stars Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Sheen, and Carrie-Anne Moss in a thriller about a man is tortured after threatening to detonate three nukes in three U.S. cities. Davis Guggenheim's Waiting for Superman (Jan. 22) is a documentary about the Harlem Children's Zone and dir. (1990-) Geoffrey Canada (1952-). Oliver Stone's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Sept. 24) is a sequel to the 1987 flick starring Michael Douglas as recently-released Gordon Gekko, Shia LeBeouf as young trader Jacob "Jake" Moore, Josh Brolin as hedge fund mgr. Bretton James, and Carey Mulligan as Gekko's estranged daughter (Jake's fiance) Winnie. Joe Johnston's The Wolfman (Jan. 27) (Relativity Media) (Universal Pictues), a remake of the 1941 film stars Benicio del Toro as Lawrence Talbot the Wolfman, Anthony Hopkins as his father Sir John Talbot, Emily Blunt as Lawrence's babe Gwen Conliffe, and Hugo Weaving as Inspector Francis Aberline; does $139.8M box office on a $150M budget. Plays: Denis Johnson (1949-), Vagtastic Voyage. Tod Machover, Death and the Powers(Sept. 24) (Monaco); 1-act robot opera. Rain, Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles (musical revue) (Neil Simon Theatre, New York) (Oct. 26) (Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York) (Feb. 8, 2011) (300 perf.), recreating their career starting at the Cavern Club in 1962; Beatles cover band founded in 1975 as Reign in Laguna Beach, Calif. James Strahs, North Atlantic. Poetry: Ai, No Surrender (Sept.). Julie Carr, Sarah - Of Fragments and Features (Sept.). Thomas Sayers Ellis, Skin, Inc.: Identity Repair Poems (Aug.). Beckian Fritz Goldberg, Reliquary Fever: New and Selected Poems (Oct.). Steve Healey, Ten Mississippi (Sept.). Seamus Heaney (1939-), Human Chain (Sept.). Major Jackson, Holding Company (Aug.). Gjertrud Schnackenberg, Heavenly Questions (Oct.). Philip Schultz (1945-), The God of Loneliness: Selected and New Poems. Charles Simic (1938-), Master of Disguises (Oct.). Richard Wilbur (1921-2017), Anterooms: New Poems and Translations (Nov. 12) (last poetry book); incl. A Measuring Worm; "This yellow-striped green/ Caterpillar, climbing up/ The steep window screen,/ Constantly (for lack)/ Of a full set of legs) keeps/ Humping up his back./ It's as if he sent/ By a sort of semaphore/ Dark omegas meant/ To warn of Last Things./ Although he doesn't know it,/ He will soon have wings,/ And I too don't know/ Toward what undreamt condition/ Inch by inch I go." Novels: ?, The Silicon Jungle; the data mining operation of Ubatoo and its Terrorist-o-Meter. Greg Bear (1951-), Hull Zero Three; about a lost spaceship; The Mongoliad; set in Foreworld, created by the Subutai Corp. Glenn Beck (1964-), The Overton Window (June); NYT bestseller about the Founders' Keepers led by Noah Gardner and Molly Ross staging a civil war in the U.S. to save it from Saul Alinsky-thumping leftists. Steve Berry (1955-), The Emperor's Tomb (Nov. 23); Cotton Malone #6; The Balkan Escape; Cassiopeia Vitt #1. Maeve Binchy (1940-), Minding Frankie. T. Coraghessan Boyle (1948-), Wild Child and Other Stories. Tina Brown (1953-), The Clinton Chronicles; by now she looks more like Hillary than Princess Diana? Jim Carroll (1949-2009), The Petting Zoo (posth.) (first novel). Lan Samantha Chang, All Is Forgotten: Nothing Is Lost (Sept.). Tom Clancy (1947-2013), Dead or Alive (Dec.); first Jack Ryan Jr. novel since "The Teeth of the Tiger" (2003). Paul Coelho (1947-), Aleph. Suzanne Collins (1962-), Mockingjay (Aug. 24); #3 in the Hunger Games Trilogy. Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-), The Shroud Codex; Father Paul Bartholomew turns into the Shroud Man. Justin Cronin, The Passage (June 8); bestseller clone of Stephen King's "The Stand"; first of a trilogy. Jenny Erpenbeck, Visitation (Sept.). Ken Follett (1949-), Pillars of the Earth; #2 in the Century Trilogy; the carnage of WWI via 100+ main chars., incl. Billy and Ethel Williams, and Earl Fitzherbert. Margaret Forster (1938-), Isa and May. Esther Freud (1963-), Lucky Break. William Gibson (1948-), Zero History. Rebecca Goldstein (1950-), 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction; Cass Seltzer and his dream babe Lucinda Mandelbaum, the Goddess of Game Theory, proposer of Mandelbaum Equilibrium. Nadine Gordimer (1923-), Life Times: Stories (Nov.). Seth Grahame-Smith (1976-), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Mar. 2); after vampires kills his mommy, Lincoln goes on a lifelong vendetta against them and their slave-owning allies, sparking the U.S. Civil War. Eliza Griswold, The Tenth Parallel. Michael Guber, The Good Son. Barry Hannah (1942-2010), Long, Last, Happy: New & Selected Stories (Nov.) (posth.). Helene Hegemann (1992-), Axolotl Roadkill; features her new technique of "mixing", lifting passages from other books without attribution, pissing-off the authors, despite the technique being considered OK for music? Peter Hitchens (1951-), The Cameron Delusion; The Rage Against God. Amil Imani, Obama Meets Ahmadinejad (July 1). Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question (Aug.); BBC radio producer Julian Treslove, Jewish philosopher Sam Finkler, and Czech teacher Libor Sevcik have a My Dinner With Andre Part II? Ismail Kadare (1936-), The Accident (Nov.). Millard Kaufman (1917-2009), Misadventure (posth.). Brooks William Kelley, The Martyr's Prize: A Tale of American Exceptionalism and Ruthlessness in the Age of Religiously Inspired Terrorism (Feb. 8). Michael Knight, The Typist (Aug.). Nicole Krauss (1974), Great House (Oct. 12). Amitava Kumar, A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb. Yiyun Li, Gold Boy, Emerald Girl (Sept.). Annabel Lyon (1971-), The Golden Mean (Mar. 9) (first novel); Aristotle and his pupil Alexander the Great. Gregory Maguire (1954-), The Next Queen of Heaven; the Scales family matriarch is driven half-mad by a blow to the head by a statue of the Virgin Mary; gay choirmaster Jeremy fights local nuns to find a practice room for his band. Steve Martin (1945-), An Object of Beauty (Nov. 23); New York artist Lacey Yeager. Dinaw Mengestu (1978-), How (Easy Methods) to Read the Air (Oct.). Patrick Modiano (1945-), L'Horizon. Robyn Okrant, Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment to Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk (Jan. 4). Cynthia Ozick (1928-), Foreign Bodies (Nov. 1); reimagining of Henry James's "The Ambassadors". Charles Pellegrino, The Last Train from Hiroshima; details of the horrors of the A-bomb. Ralph Peters (1952-), Endless War. Jim Powell, The Breaking of Eggs: A Novel (first novel) (July 27); 61-y-o. Polish leftist Feliks Zhukovski in France. John Reimringer's Vestments (Sept.). Salman Rushdie (1947-), Luka and the Fire of Life (Nov.); sequel to "Haroun and the Sea of Stories". Gary Shteyngart (1972-), Super Sad True Love Story (July 27); Lenny Abramov and Eunice Park. Mona Simpson, My Hollywood (Sept.). Jane Smiley (1949-), Private Life. Lee Smith (1944-), Mrs. Darcy Meets the Blue-Eyed Stranger (Mar.). Gilbert Sorrentino (1929-2006), The Abyss of Human Illusion (posth.). Danielle Steel (1947-), First Sight; Family Ties. Steve Stern (1947-), The Frozen Rabbi. Brad Thor (1969-), Foreign Influence; The Athena Project. Anne Tyler (1941-), Noah's Compass; 5th grade teacher Liam is fired and gets hit on the head. Teddy Wayne, Kapitoil (first novel); computer whiz Karim Issar from Qatar flies to New York City to help Schrub Equities survive the Y2K bug in 1999. Xiaoda Xiao, The Visiting Suit: Stories from My Prison Life (Nov. 1). Charles Yu, How to Live Safetly in a Science Fictional Universe (Sept. 7). Births: Icelandic "L7" actress Freyja Sif Arnarsdottir on Apr. 1 in Reykjavik. Am. "Blue Winslow in The Smurfs" actor Nicholas Martorell Jr. on May 7 in Philadelphia, Penn. Am. "Lucy in All My Children" actor Phoenix Nicholson on Dec. 23 in Los Angeles, Calif. Deaths: Am. Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson (b. 1979) on Jan. 4 in Los Angeles, Calif. (OD). Am. abstract painter Kenneth Noland (b. 1924) on Jan. 5 in Port Clyde, Maine (kidney cancer). Am. Gumby clay animator Art Clokey (b. 1921) on Jan. 8 in Los Osos, Calif.: "The essence of Gumby is that he makes children feel safe. He's their greatest pal." Am. geneticist Marshall Warren Nirenberg (b. 1927) on Jan. 15 in New York City; 1968 Nobel Med. Prize. Am. Taco Bell founder Glen Bell (b. 1923) on Jan. 16 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. Am. "Davy Crockett", "Daniel Boone" actor Fess Parker (b. 1924) on Mar. 18 in Santa Ynez, Calif. Am. R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass (b. 1950) on Jan. 13 in Philadelphia, Penn. (colon cancer). Am. jazz drummer Ed Thigpen (b. 1930) on Jan. 13 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Am. country singer Carl Smith (b. 1927) on Jan. 16 in Franklin, Tenn. Indian Marxist politician Jyoti Basu (b. 1914) on Jan. 17 in Kolkata, West Bengal. Am. "Love Story" novelist Erich Segal (b. 1937) on Jan. 17 (heart attack). Am. "Spenser" novelist Robert B. Parker (b. 1932) on Jan. 18 in Cambridge, Mass. Am. historian Louis Rudolph Harlan (b. 1922) on Jan. 22 in Lexington, Va. (liver cancer). Am. "Adam Cartwright in Bonanza", "Dr. Trapper John MacIntyre" actor Pernell Roberts (b. 1928) on Jan. 24 in Malibu, Calif. (pancreatic cancer). U.S. Sen. (R-Md.) (1969-87) Charles Mathias Jr. (b. 1922) on Jan. 25 in Chevy Chase, Md. Iraqi minister ("Chemical Ali") Ali Hassan al-Tikritieh (b. 1941) on Jan. 25 (hanged). U.S. lt. col. (Tuskegee Airmen ace) Lee Archer (b. 1919) on Jan. 27 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. "The Catcher in the Rye" novelist J.D. Salinger (b. 1919) on Jan. 27 in Cornish, N.H. Am. historian Howard Zinn (b. 1922) on Jan. 27 in Santa Monica, Calif. (heart attack): "Historically, the most terrible things - war, genocide, and slavery - have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience." Am. basketball player-coach Dick McGuire (b. 1926) on Feb. 3 in Huntington, N.Y. Am. serial murderer Janie Lou Gibbs (b. 1932) on Feb. 7 in Douglasville, Ga. Am. Dem. politician John Murtha (b. 1932) on Feb. 8 in Arlington, Va. U.S. gen. Frederick C. Weyand (b. 1916) on Feb. 10 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Am. Dem. politician Charlie Wilson (b. 1933) on Feb. 10 in Lufkin, Tex. English gay fashion designer Alexander McQueen (b. 1969) on Feb. 11 in Mayfair, London (suicide). Am. Frisbee inventor (1946) Fred Morrison (b. 1920) on Feb. 9 in Monroe, Utah. English fashion designer Alexander McQueen (b. 1969) on Feb. 11 in Mayfair, London (suicide); dies 9 days after his mother Joyce (age 75). U.S. secy. of state (1981-2) gen. Alexander Haig Jr. (b. 1924) on Feb. 20 in Baltimore, Md. Australian fountain designer Robert Woodward (b. 1923) on Feb. 21. Am. artist Ruth Kligman (b. 1930) on Mar. 1. English Conservative politician Winston Spencer Churchill (b. 1940) on Mar. 2 in Belgravia, London (prostate cancer). Am. meteorologist Joanne Simpson (b. 1923) on Mar. 4 in Washington, D.C. Am. oldest person in the U.S. and 2nd oldest in the world Mary Josephine Ray (b. 1895) on Mar. 7 in Westmoreland, N.H.; 5th oldest person in the world and oldest living black person Daisey Bailey (b. 1896) dies the same day in Detroit, Mich. Indonesian Muslim terrorist Dulmatin (b. 1970) on Mar. 9 in Pamaulang, Jakarta (killed by police). Candian actor Corey Haim (b. 1971) on Mar. 10 in Burbank, Calif. (OD). Egyptian grand imam (since 1996) Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi (b. 1928) on Mar. 10 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (heart attack); he is succeeded by Sheikh Ahmed Muhammad Ahmed el-Tayeb (1946-) (until ?), becoming the most influential Muslim on Earth? Am football player-actor Merlin Olsen (b. 1940) on Mar. 11 in Duarte, Calif. (cancer). Am. "Jim Phelps in Mission: Impossible" actor Peter Graves (b. 1926) on Mar. 14 in Pacific Palisades, Calif. (heart attack). Am. "Box Tops" singer-songwriter Alex Chilton (b. 1950) on Mar. 17 in New Orleans, La. (heart attack). Scottish pharmacologist Sir James Whyte Black (b. 1924) on Mar. 22 in London, England; 1988 Nobel Med. Prize. Am. hall-of-fame bowler Bill Beach (b. 1931) on Mar. 22 in Hermitage, Penn. Am. music photographer Jim Marshall (b. 1936) on Mar. 23 in New York City. Am. "Kelly Robinson in I Spy" actor Robert Culp (b. 1930) on Mar. 24 in Los Angeles, Calif. (dies from a fall outside his home). Am. Miss America 1952 Colleen Kay Hutchins (b. 1926) on Mar. 24 in Newport Beach, Calif. Soviet world chess champ #7 (1957-8) Vasily Smyslov (b. 1921) on Mar. 27 in Moscow. Am. jazz guitarist Herb Ellis (b. 1921) on Mar. 28 in Los Angeles, Calif. Canadian-Am. actress June Havoc (b. 1912) on Mar. 28 in Stamford, Conn. Am. "Stand and Deliver" math teacher Jaime Escalante (b. 1930) on Mar. 30 in Reno, Nev. (bladder cancer). Am. "Blake Carrington in Dynasty", "Charlie Townsend in Charlie's Angels" actor John Forsythe (b. 1918) on Apr. 1 in Santa Ynez, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. PC pioneer engineer Ed Roberts (b. 1941) on Apr. 1 in Cochran, Ga. (pneumonia). Am. "Velvet Brown in National Velvet" actress Lori Martin (b. 1947) on Apr. 4 in Oakhurst, Calif. English Sex Pistols founder Malcolm McLaren (b. 1946) on Apr. 8 in New York City (cancer). Zimbabwean PM #1 (1979) Bishop Abel Muzorewa (b. 1925) on Apr. 8 in Borrowdale, Harare. Am. "Julia Sugarbaker in Designing Women" actress Dixie Carter (b. 1939) on Apr. 10 in Houston, Tex. (endometrial cancer). English parapsychologist Tony Cornell (b. 1924) on Apr. 10. Polish pres. (2005-10) Lech Kaczynski (b. 1949) on Apr. 10 near Smolensk, Russia (airplane crash while attempt to land to celebrate the 70th anniv. of the Katyn Massacre). Pakistani Islamist leader Israr Ahmad (b. 1932) on Apr. 14 in Lahore. Polish psychologist Alice Miller (b. 1923) on Apr. 14 in Saint-Remy de Provence, France. Am. "Type O Negative singer Peter Steele (b. 1962) on Apr. 14 in ? (heart failure). Am. cannabist activist Jack Herer (b. 1939) on Apr. 15 in Eugene, Ore. (Sept. 12, 2009 heart attack). Am. NAACP dir. (1977-92) Benjamin Lawson Hooks (b. 1925) on Apr. 15 in Memphis, Tenn. Am. L.A. police chief (1978-92) Daryl Gates (b. 1926) on Apr. 16 in Dana Point, Calif. (bladder cancer). Am. hall-of-fame bowler Marion Ladewig (b. 1914) on Apr. 16 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Indian-born Am. mgt. consultant C.K. Prahalad (b. 1941) on Apr. 16 in San Diego, Calif. (lung failure). Am. civil rights activist Dorothy Irene Height (b. 1912) on Apr. 20 in Washington, D.C. Spanish Internat. Olympic Committee pres. #7 (1980-2001) Juan Antonio Samaranch (b. 1920) on Apr. 21 in Barcelona (heart failure). English "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" novelist Alan Sillitoe (b. 1928) on Apr. 25 in London. Czech-born Anthora paper cup inventor Leslie Buck (b. 1922) on Apr. 26 in Glen Cove, N.Y. (Parkinson's). English "Georgy Girl" actress Lynn Redgrave (b. 1943) on May 2 in Manhattan, N.Y. (breast cancer). Am. Detroit Tigers sportscaster Ernie Harwell (b. 1918) on May 4 in Novi, Mich. Nigerian pres. #2 (2007-10) Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (b. 1951) on May 5 in Aso Villa, Abuja (pericarditis). Am. singer Lena Horne (b. 1917) on May 9 in New York City. Am. historian Norman Arthur Graebner (b. 1915) on May 10 in Charlottesville, Va. Am. Jewish Bible scholar Moshe Greenberg (b. 1928) on May 15 in Jerusalem, Israel. Am. rocker Ronnie James Dio (b. 1942) on May 16 in Houston, Tex. (stomach cancer). Am. All-Am. Girls Prof. Baseball League star Dottie Kamenshek (b. 1925) on May 17 in Palm Desert, Calif. Am. Jews for Jesus founder Moise Rosen (b. 1932) on May 19 (prostate cancer). Am. recreational math writer Martin Gardner (b. 1914) on May 22 in Norman, Okla. Canadian-Am. TV personality Art Linkletter (b. 1912) on May 26 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, Calif. Am. dir. George Hickenlooper (b. 1963) on Oct. 29 in Denver, Colo. (OD). Am. "Arnold in Diff'rent Strokes" actor Gary Coleman (b. 1968) on May 28 in Provo, Utah. Am. actor Dennis Hopper (b. 1936) on May 29 in Venice, Calif. (prostate cancer). French spider sculptor Louise Bourgeois (b. 1911) on May 31 in New York City: "Art is restoration; the idea is to repair the damages that are inflicted in life, to make something that is fragmented - that is what fear and anxiety do to a person - into something whole." Canadian Trivial Pursuit co-creator Chris Haney (b. 1950) on May 31 in Toronto, Ont. Am. "Blanche Devereaux in The Golden Girls" actress Rue McClanahan (b. 1934) on June 3 in New York City (stroke). Am. UCLA basketball coach (1948-75) John Wooden (b. 1910) on June 4 in Los Angeles, Calif. English "The Pied Piper" singer Crispian St. Peters (b. 1939) on June 8. Am. "Big Bad John" singer-actor-sausage king Jimmy Dean (b. 1928) on June 13 in Varina, Va. Soviet cosmonaut Leonid Denisovich Kizim (b. 1941) on June 14. Am. jazz musician Bill Dixon (b. 1925) on June 16. Portuguese novelist Jose Saramago (b. 1922) on June 18 in Tias, Las Palmas, Spain; 1998 Nobel Lit. Prize. Sudanese basketball player Manute Bol (b. 1962) on June 19 in Charlottesville, Va. (kidney failure). Norway-born Am. sociologist Elise Boulding (b. 1920) on June 24. Am. photojournalist Bill Hudson (b. 1932) on June 24 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (congestive heart failure). Am. Tex. gov. #41 (1973-9) Dolph Briscoe Jr. (b. 1923) on June 27 in Uvalde, Tex. U.S. Sen. (D-W. Va.) (1959-2010) Robert Byrd (b. 1917) on June 28 in Falls Church, Va. English novelist Dame Beryl Bainbridge (b. 1932) on July 2 in London (cancer). Italian opera bass Cesare Siepi (b. 1923) on July 5 in Atlanta, Ga. (stroke). Egyptian liberal Muslim theologian Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (b. 1943) on July 5 in Cairo. Am. New York Yankees announcer (1951-2007) Bob Sheppard (b. 1910) on July 11 in Baldwin, N.Y. Am. "The Fugs" co-founder Tuli Kupferberg (b. 1923) on July 12 in New York City (kidney failure): "Nobody who lived through the '50s thought the '60s could've existed. So there's always hope." Am. "American Splendor" comic book writer Harvey Pekar (b. 1939) on July 12 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Am. New York Yankees owner. George Steinbrenner (b. 1930) on July 13 in Tampa, Fla. (heart attack). U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia (1973-6) James Elmer Akins (b. 1926) on July 15 in Mitchelville, Md. (heart attack). Am. "Make the World Go Away' country singer-songwriter Hank Cochran (b. 1935) on July 15 in Nashville, Tenn. Am. musician Fred Carter Jr. (b. 1933) on July 17 in Nashville, Tenn. (stroke). Am. climate scientist Stephen Henry Schneider (b. 1945) on July 19 in London, England (pulmonary embolism). Am. TV journalist Daniel Schorr (b. 1916) on July 23 in Washington, D.C. Am. "Nero Wolfe" actor Maury Chaykin (b. 1949) on July 27 in Toronto, Ont. (heart prolblems). Am. football player Jack Tatum (b. 1948) on July 27 in Oakland, Calif. (heart attack). English-born Am. food writer Michael Batterberry (b. 1932) on July 28 in Manhattan, N.Y. (cancer); "not survived by Gourmet magazine, which ceased publication in November" (NYT). Am. "Sing Along with Mitch" bandleader Mitch Miller (b. 1911) on July 31 in New York City. Ugandan pres. #5 (1979-80) Godfrey Binaisa (b. 1920) on Aug. 5 in Kampala; at his death he is Uganda's only surviving former pres. British historian Tony R. Judt (b. 1948) on Aug. 6 in Manhattan, N.Y. (ALS). U.S. Sen. (R-Alaska) (1968-2009) Ted Stevens (b. 1923) on Aug. 9 in Aleknagik, Alaska (airplane crash). Am. "Hud" actress Patricia Neal (b. 1926) on Aug. 8 in Edgartown, Mass. U.S. Rep. (D-Ill.) (1959-95) Dan Rostenkowski (b. 1928) on Aug. 11 in Wisc. Am. economist Arnold Zellner (b. 1927) on Aug. 11. Am. TV journalist Edwin Newman (b. 1919) on Aug. 13 in Oxford, England (pneumonia). Am. "Penny in Sky King" actress Gloria Winters (b. 1931) on Aug. 14 in Vista, Calif. Am. conservative newspaper journalist James J. Kilpatrick (b. 1920) on Aug. 15 in Washington, D.c. (congestive heart failure). Italian PM #63 (1979-80) and pres. #8 (1985-92) Francesco Cossiga (b. 1928) on Aug. 17 in Rome. British WWII Pvt. Bill Millin (b. 1922) on Aug. 17 in Torbay. U.S. deputy secy. of state (1974-6) Robert Stephen Ingersoll (b. 1914) on Aug. 22 in Evanston, Ill. Am. singer Natalie Nevins (b. 1925) on Aug. 23 in Langhorne, Penn. Am. astronaut William Benjamin Lenoir (b. 1939) on Aug. 26 in Sandoval County, N.M. (head injuries from a bicycle accident). Am. "Bonnie Blue Butler in Gone With the Wind" actress Cammie King (b. 1934) on Sept. 1 in Ft. Bragg, Calif. (lung cancer). German spy Erich Gimpel (b. 1910) on Sept. 3 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. English writer Elizabeth Jenkins (b. 1905) on Sept. 5 in Hampstead, London. English "What's New Pussycat?" dir. Clive Donner (b. 1926) on Sept. 6 in London (Alzheimer's). German-born Am. TV mogul John Werner Kluge (b. 1914) on Sept. 7. Danish chess grandmaster Bent Larsen (b. 1935) on Sept. 9 in Buenos Aires, Argentina (cerebral hemorrhage from diabetes). Canadian "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" voice actress Billie Mae Richards (b. 1921) on Sept. 10 in Toronto, Ont. (stroke). English "The Dumarest Saga" novelist Edwin Charles Tubb (b. 1919) on Sept. 10 in London. Am. African-Am. scholar Ron Walters (b. 1938) on Sept. 10 in Bethesda, Md. (cancer). Am. "Martin Morgenstern in Rhoda" actor Harold Gould (b. 1923) on Sept. 10 in Woodland Hills, Calif. North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop (b. 1923) on Oct. 10 in Seoul, South Korea. Am. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" actor Kevin McCarthy (b. 1914) on Sept. 11 in Hyannis, Mass. (pneumonia). Am. statistician Joseph Bernard Kruskal Jr. (b. 1928) on Sept. 19 in Princeton, N.J. Belgian U.N. asst. secy.-gen. Robert Muller (b. 1923) on Sept. 20. Am. singer Eddie Fisher (b. 1928) on Sept. 22 in Berkeley, Calif. (hip surgery). Am. "100-y.-o. Rose in Titanic" actress Gloria Stuart (b. 1910) on Sept. 26 in Brentwood, Calif. (lung cancer); oldest person to be nominated for an acting Oscar (until ?). Am. hall-of-fame football QB-kicker George Blanda (b. 1927) on Sept. 27 in Alameda, Calif.; record 7 TD passes in a single game. Am. "Bonnie and Clyde" dir.-producer Arthur Hiller Penn (b. 1922) on Sept. 28 in New York City. French physicist Georges Charpak (b. 1924) on Sept. 29 in Paris; 1992 Nobel Physics Prize. Am. writer Eustace Mullins (b. 1923) on Feb. 2 in Hockley, Tex. Am. "Some Like It Hot" actor Tony Curtis (b. 1925) on Sept. 29 in Las Vegas, Nev. (heart attack); buried with a Stetson hat, Armani scarf, driving gloves, iPhone, model of a Trans-Am, and a copy of his favorite novel "Anthony Adverse", which inspired his stage name. Am. TV writer-producer Stephen J. Cannell (b. 1941) on Sept. 30 in Pasadena, Calif. (melanoma). Am. "The Scalphunters" screenwriter William W. "Bill" Norton (b. 1925) on Oct. 2 in Santa Barbara, Calif. South African-born Australian historian Rhys Llywelyn Isaac (b. 1937) on Oct. 6 in Blairgowrie, Victoria. Am. astronomer John Peter Huchra (b. 1948) on Oct. 8. Azeri-born Am. "The 12th Planet" writer Zecharia Sitchin (b. 1920) on Oct. 9 in New York City. Polish-born French-Am. mathematician ("Father of Fractal Geometry") Benoit B. Mandelbrot (b. 1924) on Oct. 14 in Cambridge, Mass. Am. "June Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver" actress Barbara Billingsley (b. 1915) on Oct. 16 in Santa Monica, Calif. Am. "Howard Cunningham in Happy Days" actor Tom Bosley (b. 1927) on Oct. 19 in Palm Springs, Calif. (lung cancer). Am. Penthouse mag. founder Bob Guccione (b. 1930) on Oct. 20 in Plano, Tex. Am. cartoonist Alex Anderson (b. 1920) on Oct. 22 in Carmel, Calif. (Alzheimer's). Am. folk singer Tom Winslow (b. 1940) on Oct. 23 in Albany, N.Y. Am. actress Lisa Blount (b. 1957) on Oct. 27 in Little Rock, Ark. Israeli archeologist Ehud Netzer (b. 1934) on Oct. 28 in Jerusalem. Am. basketball player Maurice Lucas (b. 1952) on Oct. 31 in Tigard, Ore. Am. JFK adviser Ted Sorensen (b. 1928) on Oct. 31: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Russian conductor-violinist Rudolf Barshai (b. 1924) on Nov. 2 in Basel, Switzerland. Italian Dune"" film producer Dino De Laurentiis (b. 1919) on Nov. 10 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Am. publicist Ronni Chasen (b. 1946) on Nov. 16 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (murdered in her car near Whittier Dr. and Sunset Blvd.). Am. Libertarian Party founder David Fraser Nolan (b. 1943) on Nov. 20 in Tucson, Ariz. (stroke while driving). Am. anthropologist Covington Scott Littleton (b. 1933) on Nov. 25 in Pasadena, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. physicist Samuel Theodore Cohen (b. 1921) on Nov. 28 in Brentwood, Calif. (stomach cancer). Am. "The Naked Gun" actor Leslie Nielsen (b. 1926) on Nov. 28 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (pneumonia). U.S. Rep. (D-N.Y. (1975-93) Stephen Joshua Solarz (b. 1940) on Nov. 29 in Washington, D.C. (esophageal cancer). Am. baseball player Ron Santo (b. 1940) on Dec. 2 in Ariz. (diabetes). Am. "Turn out the lights!" NFL sportscaster Don Meredith (b. 1938) on Dec. 5 in Santa Fe, N.M. Am. atty. Elizabeth Edwards (b. 1949) on Dec. 7 in Chapel Hill, N.C. (cancer). Am. "Burke's Law" actor Gene Barry (b. 1919) on Dec. 9 in Woodland Hills, Calif. Am. philanthropist-murderer John du Pont (b. 1938) on Dec. 9 in Laurel Highlands, Penn. (COPD); dies in prison. Am. chemist John Bennett Fenn (b. 1917) on Dec. 10 in Richmond, Va.; 2002 Nobel Chem. Prize. Turkish-born Armenian-Am. filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian (b. 1913) on Dec. 10 in Thousand Oaks, Calif.; spent 40 years gathering evidence on the Armenian Genocide by Turkey. Am. diplomat Richard Holbrooke (b. 1941) on Dec. 13 in Washington, D.C. (torn aorta); last words: "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan." Am. "The Pink Panther", "Breakfast at Tiffany's" dir. Blake Edwards (b. 1922) on Dec. 15 in Santa Monica, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. baseball pitcher Bob Feller (b. 1918) on Dec. 15 in Cleveland, Ohio (pneumonia). Am. "Arthur P. Dietrich in Barney Miller" actor Steve Landesberg (b. 1945) on Dec. 17 (cancer): "Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense." Am. musician Capt. Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) (b. 1941) on Dec. 17 in Glendale, Calif. (multiple sclerosis). French scholar Jacqueline de Romilly (b. 1913) on Dec. 18 in Boulogne-Billancourt. English journalist Anthony Howard (b. 1934) on Dec. 19 in London (ruptured aneurysm). Italian soccer player-mgr. Enzo Bearzot (b. 1927) on Dec. 21 in Milan. Am. "The Lone Ranger" radio-TV announcer Fred Foy (b. 1921) on Dec. 22 in Woburn, Mass. Venezuelan pres. (1974-9, 1989-93) Carlos Andres Perez (b. 1922) on Dec. 25 in Miami, Fla. Am. nuclear scientist Albert Ghiroso (b. 1915) on Dec. 26 in Berkeley, Calif. Am. R&B singer Teena Marie (b. 1956) on Dec. 26.
