2011
Chinese Year: Cat (Rabbit) (Feb. 3).
This is the U.N. Internat. Year of Forests.
World pop: 7B on Oct. 31 (U.N.) or next Mar. 12 (U.S. Census Bureau),
1B new people since 1999; five babies are born each sec.
Time Mag. Person of the Year: The Protester (Dec. 14).
Babies
who are non-Hispanic white are the minority of new U.S. infants for the first time.
The Afghan drug war
begins failing as opium prices soar and the allies focus on the Taliban not opium farmers.
U.S. aid to the Middle East: Afghanistan: $3.9B, Pakistan: $3.1B, Israel: $3B, Egypt: $1.5B ($63B since 1948).
Renewable energy
overtakes nuclear energy in the U.S.; China uses more concrete in 2011-13 than the
U.S. did in the entire 20th cent.
The 2011 Tex. wildfire
sees 31,453 fires burning 4M acres, exacerbated by the 2010-13 Southern U.S. and Mexico Drought.
For the first time the Internet
overtakes newspapers as America's top choice for news.
China becomes #1 in patent application filings.
The Russian Navy launches an extensive rearmament program, incl. 20 new subs, 35 new corvettes,
15 frigates, and 100 new warships by 2020.
Mexico deports
46.7K immigrants from Central Am., almost half from Guatemala.
China passes the U.S. to become the world's largest smartphone market.
On Jan. 1 a half hour into the New Year an al-Mujahidin (al-Qaida affiliate) car bomb explodes outside the Saints Church Coptic Christian church in
Alexandria, Egypt, killing 23 and injuring 97 of 1K emerging from Mass, after which angry Christians clash
with Muslims on the streets, causing Egyptian pres. #4 (since Oct. 14, 1981) Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak (1928-2020)
to utter the soundbyte: "We will cut off the hands of terrorists and those plotting against Egypt's security", adding: "This terrorist act has shaken the conscience
of the nation. All Egypt was targeted, and terrorism does not distinguish between Copt and Muslim"; Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu utters the soundbyte "All nations
which support freedom stand together in the war against terrorism", scheduling a meeting with Mubarak on Jan. 4; Pres. Obama surprises no one by
condemning
the attack while taking pains to point out that Muslims were injured in it too, meaning the attackers themselves maybe, since none but Christians were injured; witnesses
claim that Egyptian security guards withdrew an hour before the blast; on Jan. 3 the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
drops its opposition to a Coptic presidency, but not really?
On Jan. 1 Dem. N.Y. atty. gen. #64 Andew Mark Cuomo (1957), son of former N.Y. gov. #52 (1983-94) Mario Cuomo becomes N.Y. gov. #56 (until ?).
On Jan. 1 former Marxist guerrilla Dilma Vana Rousseff (1947-) becomes pres. #36 of Brazil (until Aug. 31, 2016), becoming the first woman.
On Jan. 1 a Russian Tu-154 passenger aircraft explodes in Surgut, Siberia
(1.35K mi. E of Moscow), killing three and injuring 43 of 128.
On Jan. 1 the 2011 Rose Bowl sees the 12-0 TCU Horned Frogs defeat the 11-1 Wisc. Badgers by 21-19.
On Jan. 1 Estonia adopts the euro.
On Jan. 1 three U.S. missile strikes in the Khyber
tribal region near the Afghan border kill 54 alleged militants during a meeting.
On Jan. 1 the biggest income tax increase in U.S. history takes effect, falling mostly on small business owners and high-income taxpayers, along
with a 60% capital gains tax increase from 15% to 23.8%, incl. new universal health care taxes, and an increase on taxes on dividends from 15% to 39.6%,
followed by another 3.5% in 2013; 18K new IRS agents are planned on being hired to help force compliance.
On Jan. 1 a Tenn. law requiring jailers to check the citizenship of new inmates to see if they're
in the U.S. illegally goes into effect.
On Jan. 2 (Sun.) a 7.1 earthquake strikes
S Chile.
On Jan. 2 Goldman Sachs invests $500M in Facebook
after valuing it at $50B - the Beast cometh, or just a great capitalist success story?
On Jan. 2 a Russian Orthodox church is set afire with a grenade in Muslim-majority
Ordzhonikidze in N Caucasus.
On Jan. 2 Pakistan's governing coalition splits as the
Muttahida
Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaves Pres. Asif Zardari's govt., leaving him 12 seats short of a majority in the 324-seat parliament and threatening the full-blown operations against Taliban
insurgents in NW Pakistan; on Jan. 7 it reverses its decision and rejoins.
On Jan. 3 former gov. #34 (1975-83) Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown (1938-)
becomes Dem. Calif. gov. #39 (until ?), going on to become the longest-serving Calif. gov. (until ?).
On Jan. 3 the 112th U.S. Congress convenes (until Jan. 3, 2013); the
Tea Party comes to power in the U.S. as several freshman legislators arrive in Washington, D.C.; the first time that women reps decline since 1978;
Eric Ivan Cantor (1963-) of Va. becomes House majority leader (until July 31, 2014), the highest-ranking Jewish member of Congress in history
(until ?).
On Jan. 3 after raunchy videos from 2006-7 surface, U.S. Navy Capt.
Owen Honors is temporarily relieved of duty as 2nd in command of the
aircraft carrier USS Enterprise - he's just keeping the tradition of Capt. Kirk alive?
On Jan. 3 Father Christmas (Dennis Jackson)
is banned from a children's nursery in Minn. after a Muslim family complains.
On Jan. 4 a partial solar eclipse is visible over Europe, the Arabian peninsula, North Africa and W Asia.
On Jan. 4 Iran announces the arrest of several suspected Christian missionaries in Tehran.
On Jan. 4 a study
by Kevin Brice of Swansea U. in Britain is pub., revealing that up to 100K Britons converted to Islam since 2001, with white women leading the charge.
On Jan. 4 Pres. Obama's Gallup approval rating rises back up to 50%.
On Jan. 5 Ohio Repub. rep. (1991-) John Andrew Boehner (1949-)
is elected speaker #53 of the House by 241 votes (vs. 173 for Nancy Pelosi), uttering the soundbyte: "It's still just me".
On Jan. 5 the World Bank issues its first Chinese yuan bonds in Hong Kong.
On Jan. 5 a gang of 15-y.-o. teenies shoot it out with police in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
On Jan. 5 six Hamas members are released from a Palestinian Authority prison in Hebron, after which the IDF arrests them; on Jan. 8 the PA
announces that is has been holding Hamas members prisoner to prevent Israel from capturing them.
On Jan. 5 former U.S. atty.-gen. Ramsey Clark
(known for being on Saddam Hussein's legal defense team) visits Hamas in Gaza in a solidarity mission.
On Jan. 5 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates
announces
that the Pentagon will cut spending by $78B over the next five years, the first military spending freeze since 9/11.
On Jan. 6 Pres. Obama selects former Clinton admin. commerce secy. William Daley (brother of mayor Richard J. Daley) (an exec at
J.P. Morgan Chase) as his new White House chief of staff, replacing Robert Gibbs, who announced his resignation on Jan. 5.
On Jan. 6 (12:30, 12:45) two packages addressed to Md. gov. Martin O'Malley blow up inside two govt. office bldgs. in
Md.; one has a message indicating anger at the
govt.'s terror warnings; on Jan. 7 another package addressed to
Janet Napolitano ignites in a Washington, D.C. postal facility.
On Jan. 6 Moroccan analyst Mohamed Darif
says that al-Qaida is plotting revenge on Morocco for supporting U.S. efforts against Islamic terror after 9/11 king Mohammed VI pledged support for Bush's war on terror.
On Jan. 6 (first day of session) the Repub.-dominated U.S. House of Reps
reads the Constitution on the floor for the first time in history;
a screaming Birther interrupts the reading and is ejected.
On Jan. 6 two young Pakistani men are arrested in Nottingham for a series of rapes and sexual assaults on vulnerable white girls picked up on the streets; on Jan. 9
ex-British Labor justice secy. Jack Straw
accuses young Pakistani immigrants of viewing vulnerable white girls as "easy meat" for sexual abuse, causing a PC backlash.
On Jan. 6 a Gallup Poll
shows that only 31% of Americans identify themselves as Dem., the lowest in 22 years.
On Jan. 6 Iranian nuclear chief vice-pres. Ali Akbar Salehi
announces that Iran has 40kg of 20%-enriched uranium, up from 30kg in Oct.
On Jan. 6 senior Hamas leader
Mahmud Zahar
accuses Israel of "countless holocausts" against the Palestinians, while claiming that the Nazi genocide of the Jews was a "lie".
On Jan. 7 a predawn raid by Israeli troops in
Hebron
results in a 65-y.-o. Palestinian man being mistakenly shot and killed in his bed,
causing street demonstrations; they thought he was wanted militant Wael Mahmoud Said Bitar.
On Jan. 7 a suicide bomber in a public bathhouse in
Spin Boldak
in S Afghanistan on the Pakistani border kills 17 and wounds 20+ washing for weekly prayers.
On Jan. 7 Pres. Obama
reiterates strong support for U.S. civilian trials of Gitmo jihadists, vowing to overturn language in a new
defense bill that blocks them.
On Jan. 7 al-Qaida attacks Yemeni troops near
Lawadar
in S Yemen, killing 10 and injuring six.
On Jan. 7 hundreds of protesters in Kabul
accuse Iran of stopping fuel tanks from crossing the border into Afghanistan.
On Jan. 7 illegal immigration hardliner Steve King (R-Iowa) is passed over as chmn. of the House immigration subcommittee for Calif. Repub.
Elton Gallegly.
On Jan. 7 Germany orders the closure
of 4.7K farms after finding dioxin in animal feed.
On Jan. 7 Italian RAI public broadcasting employee Nello Rega is fired on by
a suspected radical Muslim in S Italy, causing the dir. to call for the govt. to protect him.
On Jan. 7 Amen Ahmed Ali of Bakersfield, Calif.
is sentenced to five years in federal prison for spying for Yemen.
On Jan. 7 Al-Shabaab mlitants murder 60-y.-o.
Mohamed Muhumed (1950-)
in Hamey village for refusing to pay his yearly 5-camel jizya tax for infidels.
On Jan. 7 Israeli intel chief Meir Dagan
revises previous estimates and says that Iran can't acquire a nuke before 2015.
On Jan. 7 Taliban leader Mullah Omar has a heart attack,
and is treated in a Karachi hospital for several days with the help of Pakistan's spy agency.
On Jan. 8 (Sat.) U.S. Rep. (D-Ariz.) (2007-) Gabrielle Dee "Gabby" Giffords (1970-),
first Jewish congresswoman from Ariz. is shot in the head during a public event in Tucson, Ariz. outside a Safeway store by er, lone gunman
Jared Lee Loughner (1988-),
a mixed-up white leftist-rightist pothead whose favorite books are the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf, and is against the abandonment of the gold standard;
he is captured; six others are killed, incl. federal judge (since Nov. 25, 1991) John McCarthy Roll (b. 1947)
and 9-y.-o. Christina-Taylor Green; 13 are injured; on Dec. 6 Gifford read the First Amendment to the House;
Gifford's last Tweet said "My 1st Congress on Your Corner starts now. Please stop by to let me know what is on your mind or tweet me later"; the leftist PC media knee-jerks
by blaming the Tea Party and/or Sarah Palin for the shooting, causing her on Jan. 11 to release a
video
calling the politicization of the shooting a "reprehensible... blood libel"; 20-y.-o. gay political intern
Daniel Hernandez (1990-)
becomes a hero for helping save Giffords by applying pressure to her wounds; on Jan. 10 U.S. secy. of state
Hillary Clinton
gives a townhall interview in Abu Dhabi, and comments that Gifford's shooter is like Islamic extremists in other countries, pissing them off and causing her to flop; on
Jan. 12 Pres. Obama delivers a eulogy
before an overflow crowd at Ariz. Stadium at the U. of Ariz., with the soundbytes:
"Gabby opened her eyes for the first time", and "The hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen"; after dissing leftist comments that the shooter was
motivated by rightist politics, he calls on the country to start "talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds"; the speech is his biggest hit ever, causing his
popularity rating
to go positive for the 1st time since last May 18; N.Y. Dem. Rep.
Carolyn McCarthy
uses the shooting as an excuse for introducing legislation prohibiting high-capacity gun magazines; on Jan. 15 shooting victim
James Eric Fuller
is arrested at a town hall meeting for shouting "You're dead" to Tea Party spokesman Trent Humphries, and is committed for psychiatric evaluation.
On Jan. 8 Shiite Iraqi cleric Moktada al-Sadr
celebrates his return after three years of voluntary exile in Iran with a speech in Najaf in support of the U.S.-supported Iraq govt. while calling for U.S. troops
to leave; too bad, he makes his support of the govt. conditional on its effectiveness.
On Jan. 8 Mexican police find 14 decapitated bodies and one with a head outside a shopping center in
Acapulco.
On Jan. 8 rioting in Nigeria around
Jos
kills 11; on Jan. 9 jihadis storm a bar and kill seven.
On Jan. 8 Islamist insurgents
ban
unrelated men and women from shaking hands, speaking, or walking together.
On Jan. 9 a referendum in
Southern Sudan
on independence from the Arab Muslim north has a large turnout despite threats by Islamic militants, who on
Jan. 10 kill 30 in
Abyei,
then on Jan. 11 ambush and kill 10;
no surprise, there is a 99% vote for secession.
On Jan. 9 (5:00 a.m.) there is a "small explosion" at the
Tunisian consulate
in a suburb of Paris.
On Jan. 9 50K march in
Karachi, Pakistan
in support of blasphemy laws and in support of Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of Punjab gov. Salman Taseer; on
Jan. 10 Pope Benedict XIV
calls
on Pakistan to repeal its blasphemy laws, saying that they serve as a pretext for acts of injustice and violence
against religious minorities, and calling on Middle East govts. to do more to protect Christian minorities,
causing Egypt to recall
its ambassador to the Vatican for "unacceptable interference"; meanwhile on Jan. 11 Pakistan jails Muslim imam
Mohammed Shafi
(1965-) and his 20-y.-o. son Mohammad Aslan (1990-) for life for damaging a poster
containing verses from the Quran as part of a rivalry between the Deobandia and Barelvi sects.
On Jan. 9 a
vulture
tagged by Israeli scientists flies into Saudi Arabia, where it is arresting for being a Mossad spy; it is later
cleared
and released.
On Jan. 9 suspected al-Qaida militants kill two Frenchmen in
Niger,
causing France to warn that the African Sahel region is no longer safe for its citizens.
On Jan. 9 an Iran Air jet
(Boeing 727) en route from Tehran to Orumiyeh crashes near Orumiyeh in NW Iran (460 mi.
NW of Tehran), killing 77 and injuring 27 of 104 passengers and crew.
On Jan. 9 (Sun.) the animated sitcom Bob's Burgers
debuts on Fox Network for ? episodes (until ?), about the Belcher family, incl. Bob and Linda, and their children Tina, Gene, and Louise, who run a hamburger restaurant on
Ocean Ave. in Seymour's Bay, N.J. near Wonder Wharf Amusement Park, and compete with Jimmy Pesto's Pizzeria.
On Jan. 10 Turkish pres. Abdullah Gul stages a historic visit to Yemen
to establish relations, followed on Jan. 11 by U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton.
On Jan. 10 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden makes an unannounced trip to Kabul
to discuss Obama admin. strategy, uttering the soundbyte that U.S. troops will stay beyond 2014 if the Afghans want them to.
On Jan. 10 Warrensburg, Mo.-born Repub. Mary Fallin (1954-)
becomes Okla. gov. #27 (until ?), going on to push for increased use of lethal injection in executions, convene a task force to reform the state criminal justice
system, unsuccessfully support the Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Okla. State Capitol, seek to expand sales tax and eliminate state income tax,
order Nat. Guard facilities to deny spousal benefits to same-sex couples, refuse to comply with EPA regs to combat climate change, sign a law in Apr. 2014 prohibiting
Okla. cities from establishing min. wage and sick leave reqts., along with another law in May 2015 prohibiting local govt. from enacting local bans on oil and gas drilling,
sign a law in Apr. 15 expanding charter schools statewide, and sign 20 anti-abortion laws while vetoing a 2016 bill making it a felony to perform an abortion.
On Jan. 11 (1 p.m.) the Sun rises over
Greenland
two days earlier than expected, baffling scientists.
On Jan. 11 prominent Iranian human rights atty. Nasrin Sotoudeh,
who was arrested Sept. 4 is convicted of security crimes and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
On Jan. 11 Japan
promises to buy EU bonds to help with its debt crisis; meanwhile Portugal says it doesn't need outside help.
On Jan. 11 a 71-y.-o. Christian Coptic man is shot and killed by an Allahu-Akbar-shouting Muslim policeman on a train in
Upper Egypt,
who wounds five more Copts, causing a clash with protesters at the hospital.
On Jan. 11 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu calls for a "credible
military option against Iran" to force it to end its nuclear energy program, saying it should be an internat. effort headed by the U.S.
On Jan. 11 after U.S. interior secy. Ken Salazar endorses him, Dem. Denver, Colo. mayor #41 (since July 21, 2003)
John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. (1952-)
becomes Colo. gov. #42 (until ?), waiting in the wings to succeed Pres. Obama.
On Jan. 11-13 floods in Southern Queensland.
On Jan. 12 the Nov. 2009 Lebanese govt. falls, and on June 13 Muslim billionaire Najib Mikati (Miqati) (1955-)
becomes PM of Lebanon (until ?) after uttering the soundbyte that his govt. will go to work "liberating land that remains under the occupation of the Israeli enemy."
On Jan. 12 after John Hickenlooper resigns to become Colo. gov., Camaguey, Cuba-born Dem. deputy mayor
Guillermo "Bill" Vidal (1951-) becomes mayor #44 of Denver, Colo. (until July 18).
On Jan. 12 Saudi Arabia
enacts new regs for bloggers, requiring them to obtain licenses and promote Islam.
On Jan. 12 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden visits Pakistani PM Gilani, uttering the
soundbyte:
"We are not, we are not the enemies of Islam, and we embrace those who practice that great religion in our country."
On Jan. 12 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden visits Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.
On Jan. 12 U.S. House Repubs. vote to repeal Obamacare.
On Jan. 12 Hezbollah abruptly withdraws from the Lebanese cabinet, forcing the collapse of the govt. of PM
Saad Hariri just moments after he finishes a meeting with Pres. Obama; on Jan. 17 the
first indictment
in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri is filed by a U.N. tribunal, but it is sealed.
On Jan. 12 continued deadly protests in Tunisia
kill 10, causing the U.N. to call for a probe into the police; on Jan. 13 Tunisian army CIC Gen.
Rachid Ammar (1947-), splits with dictator
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
and refuses to shoot protesters; on Jan. 14 Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia after an army coup, and the foreign minister takes power; some of Ben Ali's
relatives take refuge in the Disneyland Hotel
in Paris; on Jan. 16 Syrian pres. Bashar al-Assad
holds a security meeting over concerns of a copycat uprising; on Jan. 17 amid protests Tunisia
announces
a new govt. that is open to opposition parties; on Jan. 26 Tunisia issues an
internat. arrest warrant
for Ben Ali and six relatives for taking money out of the country illegally; on Feb. 13 Italy
intercepts
1K Tunisian illegal immigrants and announces a plan to deploy more security forces; on Mar. 7
Beji Caid el Sebsi
heads the 3rd govt. since Ben Ali's overthrow; in June Ben Ali is convicted
in absentia along with his wife for embezzlement, and sentenced to 35 years in prison and fined $64M; on July 4 Ben Ali is convicted of smuggling and
sentenced to 15 years and fined $72K.
On Jan. 12 the Mexican govt. announces
that 34,612 people have died in the Mexican drug war since pres. Felipe Calderon
launched it four years earlier.
On Jan. 12 a Muslim mob in
Pakistan beats
and humiliates two Christian women over alleged blasphemy, causing them to go
into hiding with their families.
On Jan. 13 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton
tells
Arab leaders in Doha, Qatar that unless they enact political and economic reforms and deal with
other problems like depleting oil and water reserves, they will face consequences incl. radical
extremist rebellion; meanwhile Turkish PM Tayyep Recep Erdogan
calls
the Israeli govt. of PM Benjamin Netanyahu the worst in the history of Israel, and urges the Israeli
public to "get rid" of him, denying that Hamas is a terrorist org.
On Jan. 13 Danish Muslim-to-Christian convert
Massoud Fouroozandeh
is caught with Christian crosses hanging inside his family cars in Odense, causing angry Muslims
to smash them and him to flee with his family.
On Jan. 13 the
Am. Heart Assoc.
issues a call to the public to reduce salt consumption to a max of 1.5g a day.
On Jan. 14 U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano
cancels
the $1B virtual border fence with Mexico after only 53 mi. are finished.
On Jan. 14 Afghan education minister Farooq Wardak
announces
that the Taliban is no longer opposed to female education, and is putting away the face acid.
On Jan. 14 12 al-Qaida militants walk out of a prison in
Basra, Iraq
dressed in police uniforms.
On Jan. 14 a shootout with gang members in Veracruz kills 14; on Jan. 15 Mexico police cmdr.
Raul Espinoza
and his bodyguard are abducted while on patrol in the port city of Boca del Rio, Veracruz.
On Jan. 14 Al-Shabaab militants arrest Muslim father
Mo'alim Mohamud Aw-Omar
in Kismayo, Somalia after two of his teenage sons convert to Christianity.
On Jan. 14 (night) a pilgrim stampede in
Kerala, India
kills 100+ and injures 25.
On Jan. 15 a Muslim jihadists smuggles live bullets into a training exercise in
Mosul, Iraq,
and kills two U.S. soldiers; meanwhile a group of jihadists enter the
Rabi'a Hospital
in Mosul and shoot and seriously wound a Christian doctor.
On Jan. 16
Jean-Claude
"Baby Doc" Duvalier returns to Haiti after 24 years (1986); on Jan. 18 he is arrested
in Port-au-Prince.
On Jan. 17 Israeli defense minister
Ehud
Barak abruptly announces that he's leaving the Labor Party to form his own political
block called Atzmaut (Heb. "independence").
On Jan. 17 Pakistani Sunni jihadists explode a minibus full of Shiites in
Hangu
in NW Pakistan, killing 17 and injuring 11.
On Jan. 17 restaurant owner
Abdo
Abdelmoneim sets himself on fire outside the Cairo parliament because he can't afford to
buy bread in a copycat of the event that sparked the Tunisian revolt. causing Islamic scholars at
Al-Azhar U.
to declare that self-immolation is forbidden under Islamic law.
On Jan. 18 the FCC by 4-1 approves a merger between Comcast and NBC Universal.
On Jan. 18 a suicide bomber in the Sunni town of Tikrit, Iraq
N of Baghdad blows up in a crowd of aspiring police recruits, killing 50+ and wounding 150.
On Jan. 18 34 religious and political leaders in Mauritania
sign a fatwa banning female genital mutilation (FGM).
On Jan. 18 the Central Bank of Ireland prints its own notes, dumping the Euro.
On Jan. 18 an Ariz.-style immigration status check law passes in
Miss.
On Jan. 18 a radio-controlled pipe bomb is found in a backpack along the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade route in
Spokane, Wash. minutes before the parade is scheduled to start.
On Jan. 18-19 Chinese pres. Hu Jintao
visits the White House; on Jan. 20 he holds closed-doormeetings
with Congressional leaders, who jawbone him about human rights abuses.
On Jan. 19 a 7.2 earthquake hits Baluchistan Province, Pakistan.
On Jan. 19 the Repub.-controlled U.S. House votes 245-189 to repeal the Obama health care law of 2010; on Feb. 2 the U.S. Senate votes 81-17 to scrap the 1099 reporting requirement,
then by 47-51 the Dems. unanimously defeat a Repub. attempt to repeal the health care law.
On Jan. 19 Andrew Ryan (1979-) of Summerhill, Carlisle, England is
arrested for burning a copy of the Quran in front of a monument, after which the judge sentences him to 80 days for "theatrical bigotry", and because he stole the book from a library.
On Jan. 20 Tunisian Liberation Party leader Osman Bakach
utters the soundbyte "Muslims are fed up with these dictatorial regimes and we will not stop until Islam and only Islam is back in power."
On Jan. 20 the Largest Roundup in FBI History
arrests 127 worldwide incl. 30 made men from seven crime families; they are held on an army base.
On Jan. 20 Birmingham imam Shaykh Asrar Rashid
tells Muslims not to fight in the British armed forces due to their presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, and calls Queen Elizabeth II a "disgusting woman" for knighting writer Salman Rushdie.
On Jan. 21 the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
threatens to foment a Tunisian-style uprising in Egypt if its demands for political reform aren't met; meanwhile retired U.S. Gen.
Stanley McChrystal
denies that he is part of a religious order waging war on Islam as claimed by journalist Seymour Hersh, who names Opus Dei and the Knights of Malta.
On Jan. 21 anti-govt. clases outside the PM's office in Tirana, Albania
kills three and injure dozens.
On Jan. 22 a mass demonstration is held in
Algeria
against the govt. of pres. Abdelaziz Bouteflika;
George Soros funds opposition groups
and lobbies for Bouteflika to incl. Islamist political parties in his govt. incl.
those linked to al-Qaida incl. GSPC, Houmat Daawa Salafia (HDS), and the Salafist Group
for Preaching and Combat.
On Jan. 22 Irish PM Brian Cowen resigns as leader of the Fianna Fail Party,
but vows to stay PM until the Mar. 11 election.
On Jan. 24 Pres. Obama appoints former Rhodes College prof. Quintan Wiktorowicz
to the Nat. Security Council; his research found that the most religious Muslims are least susceptible to radicalization.
On Jan. 24 a Hezbollah-backed PM Najib Miqati
takes office in Lebanon, causing angry protests as the Shiites gain mo' powah.
On Jan. 24 U.S. Border Patrol catches
Mexican drug smugglers using a Medieval-style catapault to launch drug packages over the U.S.-Mexico border fence.
On Jan. 24 (4:32 p.m.) a Muslim terrorist suicide bomber at the Domodedovo Airport
in Moscow sets of a device with the equivalent of 15 lbs. of TNT in a crowded internat. arrival zone, killing 35 and wounding 160+; the bomber is
Magomed Yevlovyev (1990-); the initial suspect is Russian Muslim convert
Vitaly Razdobudko, who works for Chechen leader Doku Umarov; imam
Abdullah Stepanenko,
who converted him was convicted of holding a man captive in 2006 and was found with Wahhabist lit. and a manual on explosives in his home; Russian media link the attack to the computer game
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
On Jan. 24 gunmen open fire at a soccer game in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico,
killing seven and wounding two.
On Jan. 24 machete-wilding Islamic attackers kill six in two Christian villages in
C Nigeria,
in retaliation for a New Year's attack on a van full of Muslims that killed eight.
On Jan. 25 (Egyptian Nat. Police Day) the 2011 Egyptian (Papyrus) Rev.
in Tahrir (Liberation) Square in Cairo
begins with Tunisian-copycat violent demonstrations against the govt. of Egyptian pres. #4 (since Oct. 14, 1981)
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (1928-),
sparked by a video blog by activist Asmaa Mahfouz (1985-);
they are followed by calls for a 2-day nat. strike; Coptic pope Shenouda III
orders
Copts to not participate for fear of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover; on Jan. 25 Mubarak's son and heir
Gamal Mubarak
flees to Britain with his family; on Jan. 26 IAEA dir.-gen. (1997-2009) (mistruster of the U.S., accused of pro-Iranian ties) (Gandhi lookalike?)
Mohamed ElBaradei (1942-) returns to Egypt, expecting to lead the protesters; on Jan. 27 the
Egyptian stock exchange plunges 6.25% in 15 min., causing trading to halt
and the Egyptian govt. to cut off Internet access
(first time in Internet history?) (restored on Feb. 2); on Jan. 27-28 U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano secretly
meets
with Muslim, Arab, and Sikh "community leaders, incl. three orgs. associated with the Muslim Brotherhood; on Jan. 28 after several vehicles are
stolen
from the locked-down U.S. embassy in Cairo and used to run people over, fanning riots, the Egyptian military
deploys
in Cairo under curfew, killing Egyptian protester Sally Zahran (b. 1987-),
causing NASA to name a spaceship after her; police use U.S.-made tear gas canisters;
after police use rubber bullets and pellet guns on the protesters, 3.8K suffer
serious eye injuries, and 1.5K lose one eye; on Jan. 28 Mubarak
dismisses his govt., then names a new one on Jan. 29, causing
U.S. stocks
to take a dip on Jan. 28; on Jan. 29 mobs ignore
curfew and set fire to Mubarak's ruling party HQ and state security bldgs., confronting the military, with a
Tiananmen Square deja vu moment;
Mubarak's wife Suzanne and sons Alaa and Gamal flee to London, while Israel severs
diplomatic relations and flies out 200 members of Israeli diplomatic families, and several Arab nations
do ditto; on Jan. 29 (Day 5) after giving the order for police to fire on crowds, only to see troops switch sides to the protesters, Mubarak appoints his first-ever pres. and successor,
intel head Gen. Omar Mahmoud Suleiman (1936-2012)
(known for orchestrating the brutal interrogation of terror suspects abducted by the CIA, then passing intel info. to the U.S.)
after passing over his groomed son Gamal Mubarak, sacking Egyptian PM #4 (since July 14, 2004) Ahmad Nazif (1952) in favor of
Ahmed Mohamed Shafik Zaki (1941-), who becomes Egyptian PM #49 (until Mar. 3),
while IAEA dir. gen. Mohamed ElBaradai announces that "the state of Egypt is in a state of collapse", calling upon the Egyptian army
"to take the side of the people" and for Mubarak to step down; on Jan. 29 an escape attempt at
Abu Zaabal Prison
in Cairo results in eight killed and 123 wounded; on Jan. 29 an assassination attempt
is made on Omar Suleiman, killing two bodyguards; on Jan. 28 White House press secy.
Robert Gibbs
calls for Egypt to turn the Internet and social media back on, after which
Chip Reid
of CBS asks him "why is the president not standing where you're standing right now?", after which Pres. Obama
speaks
from the White House State dining room, revelaing that he spoke with Mubarak and told him that "he has a responsibility to give meaning" to the words of his recent speech, and calling on the
Egyptian govt. to "refrain from any violence on peaceful protesters"; on Jan. 28 Iranian Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami says that
the U.S. dream of creating a new Middle East it dominates isn't coming true, and that a new Middle East based on Islamic principles is taking shape; on Jan. 28 after looters break into the
King Tutankhamen
collection and destroy two Pharonic mummies, the Egyptian army storms the
Egyptian Nat. Museum
at Tahrir Square in Cairo to protect it from looters, after which students form a
human chain
to help them as the army starts disappearing and anarchy reigns; on Jan. 28 leading Egyptian Islamic scholar Saeed Amer of Al Azhar
says that protests that cause violence are forbidden (haram) in Islam; on Jan. 29 the Egyptian army
surrounds
the U.S. and U.K. embassies to prevent a repeat of 1979 Iran?; on Jan. 29 Saudi king
Abdullah
slams Egyptian protesters as "infiltrators", and says Mubarak "reassured" him about the situation, then begins opening his checkbook and
spending $130B in his own country to forestall any Egypt-style revolt; on
Jan. 30 the U.S. tells
its citizens to leave Egypt as soon as possible, while the Egyptian govt. pulls the license for Al Jazeera Network,
which had been broadcasting the protests lives on the Internet; on Jan. 30 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton calls
for the Egyptian govt. to conduct elections, while protesters in
Alexandria
begin shouting anti-U.S. and anti-Israel slogans, and armed gunmen from
Hamas
cross from Gaza into N Sinai to attack and push back Egyptian forces on orders of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in order to open a new front against the Mubarak regime,
causing Hamas to close the Rafah border crossing after Egyptian guards flee their posts; on Jan. 31
Cairo Airport
is jammed with foreigners trying to escape, while Hillary Clinton convenes an unprecedented
mass meeting
of U.S. ambassadors from nearly all of its 260 embassies and other posts in 180 countries; on Jan. 31 Mubarak swears in a
new cabinet, while Hamas shoots Grad rockets from Gaza to the S Israeli cities of
Ofakim and Netivot,
and a Qasam rocket to Eshkol, and Israeli security officials report
that "something big" was smuggled from Egypt into the Gaza Strip; on Jan. 31 former U.S. ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner holds a
secret meeting
in Cairo with senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Issam El-Erian; on Feb. 1 White House press secy.
announces
that the new Egyptian govt. must incl. a "whole host of important non-secular actors", becoming the first time that the U.S. govt. supports granting a govt. role to
the Muslim Brotherhood, which wants to exterminate Israel, and calls for a referendum on the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty;
meanwhile the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
waits in the wings for a possible Islamist takeover, with leader Mohamed Ghanem calling on Egypt to stop pumping gas to Israel and prepare for a war with it;
polls show that only 27% of Egyptians support modernizers, while 59% support Islamists
incl. Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, causing commentators to
conclude
that Egyptians want Mubarak ousted because of his non-belligerent stance toward Israel and U.S. ties; on Feb. 1 Pres. Obama's envoy
Frank Wisner
suggest to Mubarak not to run for reelection, which he accepts, insisting on stay in power until Sept. elections, while U.S. ambassador
Margaret Scobey
talks with Mohamed ElBaradei; Pres. Obama gives a news conference, calling for an "orderly transition" which "must begin now", saying that Mubarak "recognizes that the status quo
is not sustainable and that a change must take place"; too bad, the protesters want Mubarak out immediately, and vow to stay in the streets until he goes; on Feb. 2 (Bloody Wed.)
Mubarak and anti-Mubarak forces clash
in Tahrir Square, with anti-Mubarak protesters claiming that some of
the opposition protesters are security personnel dressed in civilian clothing, while
others
ride camels
and horses and are armed with clubs, injuring 1.5K and killing three; CNN's
Anderson Cooper
gets caught in the middle of the protesters and punched 10x; four Israeli journalists are
arrested
in Cairo; on Feb. 2 ElBaradei orders
Mubarak to leave Egypt by Feb. 5 (Fri.) or he'll be a "dead man walking", to which Mubarak replies "This dear country is my country... and I will die on its land"; on Feb. 2
Iranian spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast claims that the
U.S. is trying "to prevent the tremendous movement of Egypt's magnanimous nation", calling the dispatch of Frank Wisner part of a scheme aimed at "devising deviatory plots"; on
Feb. 3 ("Day of Departure") anti-govt. protesters take over the Oct. 6 Bridge,
while chaos grips Cairo, causing the army to move in and the U.S. to recall
envoy Frank Wisner, while Omar Suleiman invites
the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to a nat. dialog, and the U.S. Senate unanimously approves a
resolution calling on
Mubarak to create a caretaker govt. but not step down; on Feb. 3 former Israeli cabinet minister
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
says that the U.S. doesn't realize the catastrophe they're pushing the Middle East into because Mubarak kept the peace with Israel; on Feb. 3 Mubarak grants an
exclusive interview
with ABC-TV's Christiane Amanpour, telling her that he'd like to resign but can't because the country would plunge into chaos; on Feb. 4 (Departure Fri.) while
journalists
are being rounded up, beaten, and threatened, Pres. Obama gives a press conference on Egypt,
saying that the "entire world is watching", that the U.S. can't decide Egypt's fate, that "suppression is not going to work", and Mubarak "cares about his country - he is proud,
but he's also a patriot", and should be asking himself "How do I leave a legacy behind in which Egypt is able to get through this transformative period... and my hope is that he will end up
making the right decision"; on Feb. 5 (a.m.) masked men attack the Israeli-Egyptian gas pipeline in
El-Arish, Egypt in N Sinai,
causing Israel to deploy military forces to demilitarized Sinai, and more on Feb. 16; on Feb. 5 Mubarak
meets
with his economic ministers in the hopes that curing the unemployment and food price problems might save him; on Feb. 5
France announces that it
has suspended sales of arms and riot equipment to Egypt; on Feb. 6 Suleiman forms a
constitutional reform committee
with opposition groups incl. the liberal Wafd Party, the leftist Tagammu Party, and the Muslim Brotherhood, and agrees to end the 30-y.-o. emergency law, permit press
freedom, and release those detained during the protests, with Hillary Clinton saying "Today we learned the Muslim Brotherhood decided to participate, which suggest they at
least are now involved in the dialogue that we have encouraged", saying she would "wait and see"; meanwhile Mohamed ElBaradei
slams
the talks because he wasn't invited, and says they lack credibility; on Feb. 6 Jordanian prince
El-Hassan bin Talaal urges that the Muslim Brotherhood not be excluded from a future Egyptian govt.; on Feb. 7
Human Rights Watch announces that 297 were killed during the protests; on
Feb. 8 new crowds
in Tahrir Square celebrating the release of Wael Ghonim incl. middle class protesters; on Feb. 8 Iranian defense minister Brig. Gen.
Ahmad Vahidi claims that the Egyptian uprising is inspired by the 1979 Iranian Rev.; on Feb. 9
strikes erupt around the country, while
Al-Qaeda in Iraq
urges Egyptians to wage jihad and establish an Islamist govt.; on Feb. 10 Pres. Obama
calls for an "orderly and genuine"
transition to democracy, and claims that Mubarak will step down; on Feb. 10 Mubarak delivers an
Address to the Egyptian People,
saying he won't quit and needs to stay in power until the Sept. elections, causing pissing-off the crowd in Tahrir Square, who angrily wave their shoes at him, after which Pres.
Obama questions
whether his pledge to shift power to his vice-pres. is "immediate, meaningful or sufficient"; on Feb. 10 Iran puts opposition leader
Mahdi Karroubi
under arrest for asking permission to hold a rally on Feb. 14 in support of the uprisings; meanwhile
rumors
of the death of Saudi King Abdullah after a phone call with Pres. Obama in which he warned him not to humiliate Mubarak surface; on Feb. 11 (Day 18) after protesters move to the
Ittihadiya pres. palace in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis and threaten massive protests in Tahrir Square, more
rumors surface that Mubarak and his family have fled Cairo for Sharm el-Sheikh, followed by an
announcement that he has stepped down and transferred power to the military supreme council, with the soundbyte:
"In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate: Citizens, during these very difficult circumstances Egypt is going through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down
from the office of president of the republic and has charged the high council of the armed forces to administer the affairs of the country. May Allah help everybody";
Rachel Maddow of MSNBC calls it "a Berlin Wall moment"; vice-pres. Joe Biden calls it a
"pivotal moment in history", adding: "The United States has largely spoken with one voice"; before stepping down, Mubarak
called
former Israeli minister Benjamin Ben-Elizier and slammed the U.S., saying that the U.S. push for democracy will result in an Islamist takeover; on Feb. 11 Pres. Obama delivers a
Speech on the Resignation of Mubarak,
praising the protesters for changing "the arc of history" (from a quote by MLK Jr.), through non-violence not "terrorism and mindless killing", saying that by stepping down, Mubarak
"responded to the people's hunger for change", but "this is not the end", adding "What is clear... is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be
peaceful, and it must begin now"; Robert Gibbs resigns the same day, with Obama uttering the soundbyte that he's not the biggest resignation news of the day;
Switzerland wastes no time in freezing
Mubarak's assets; on Feb. 11 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket praises
the Egyptian uprising as proof that a new Middle East is emerging that will break free of U.S. "interference" and doom Israel; on Feb. 11 South African CBS reporter
Lara Logan (1971-)
is assaulted by a 200-man Muslim mob shouting "Jew! Jew!", who beat and sexually assault her; on Feb. 12 the Egyptian military
pledges
to hand power to a civilian grovt. and abide by its peace treaty with Israel, then on Feb. 13 after large demonstrations of police, public and private sector workers, along with
rallies to attempt to clear the name of the police for use of force against protesters, it dissolves parliament,
suspends the constitution, and calls for elections in 6 mo., and on Feb. 14 issues
Communique No. 5
to dozens of remaining protesters to leave Tahrir Square, calling for them to go back to work for nat. solidarity and to restore the economy; on Feb. 15 the Muslim Brotherhood
announces
the formation of a new political party, but pledges it won't field a pres. candidate in the next election; too bad, the committee appointed to draw up a new constitution in 10 days
is headed by a fundamentalist Islamic judge, who refuses
to remove Article 2 that makes Islam the state religion and makes Sharia the main source of law, becoming a V for the Muslim Brotherhood; meanwhile the British
Guardian claims that the Mubarak regime disappeared thousands of demonstrators; meanwhile
Arab govts.
in Jordan, Yemen, Syria et al. raise subsidies on food and heating oil, and raise salaries and lower taxes in an attempt to stave off more unrest; after a govt. shakeup in early Feb.
in Jordan, new justice minister Hussein Mjali
utters the soundbyte that Israel is a "terrorist state that will be destroyed"; meanwhile leftist Jewish billionaire
George Soros
calls Israel an obstacle to Egyptian reform, pissing-off the Anti-Defamation League (ADL); meanwhile
Gamaa Islamiya,
Egypt's largest extremist org. resurfaces; Egyptian protester
Jamal Ibrahim
names his newborn daughter Facebook; on Feb. 18 Victory Fri. sees hundreds of thousands demonstrate in Cairo to celebrate one week sans Mubarak, while tens of thousands of Egyptian
migrant workers in Libya begin returning; on Mar. 2 a constitutional referendum is announced for Mar. 19; on Mar. 3
PM Ahmed Safik steps down to prevent planned protests against him the next day, and
Essam Sharaf
is appointed the new PM of Egypt (until ?); on Mar. 5 protesters raid several State Security Investigations (SSI) offices across Egypt to find evidence of crimes
committed during the Mubarak regime; on Mar. 22 an interior ministry bldg. catches on fire during police demonstrations outside it; on Mar. 23 a new law is announced outlawing protests
and strikes, with a fine up to $100K; on Mar. 29 the military council postpones parliamentary elections until Sept.; on Apr. 1 Save the Rev. Day sees tens of thousands demonstrate to
demand the military council to dismantle the old regime faster; on Apr. 5 the U.N. high commissioner on human rights urges the military council to move towards dem. reform; on Apr. 8
protesters stage a "Friday of Cleansing" in Tahrir Square, calling for a new constitution, removal of the emergency law, an end to military rule, and Mubarak's arrest; on
Apr. 9 protesters in Tahrir Square calling for Mubarak's arrest are fired on by security forces, killing two and injuring dozens; on Apr. 10 Egyptian blogger
Maikel Nabil
is sentenced to three years in prison for criticizing the military; on Apr. 11 Egyptian ex-PM (2004-11) Ahmed Nazif is called in for questioning on corruption allegations; on
Apr. 13 while in the hospital for heart problems, Mubarak is arrested
for corruption, abuse of power, and the killing of protesters, along with his two sons.
On Jan. 25 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton announces
$500M in additional aid to Mexico this year to fight crime.
On Jan. 25 (9:00 p.m. EST) Pres. Obama delivers his 2011 State of the Union Address,
claiming that 1M private sector jobs have been added over the past year, vowing to veto all bills containing earmarks, and calling for bipartanship on job creation, along with a 5-year
freeze
on non-security discretionary spending; the 2nd time since Truman's 1948 State of the Union Address that poverty or the plight of the poor isn't mentioned by a Dem. pres.
On Jan. 26 Lauren Booth,
sister-in-law of former British PM Tony Blair turns against him and says he should be tried for war crimes over the invasion of Iraq.
On Jan. 26 an Islamist car bomb in front of a cafe in Dagestan, Russia
kills four and injures six.
On Jan. 26 the 2011 Syrian Uprising (ends ?) begins with protests, which escalate to a full uprising by Mar. 15.
On Jan. 26 the Carlyle Group
agrees to purchase AlpInvest Partners, giving it $150B in assets under mgt., up from $98B, making it the world's largest buyout firm.
On Jan. 27 Janet Napolitano announces the retirement of the color-coded
Homeland Security Advisory System
(introduced Mar. 11, 2002) in favor of the
Nat. Terrorism advisory System.
On Jan. 27 tens of thousands participate in rival rallies by pro and anti-govt. parties in
Sana'a, Yemen,
causing the ruling party on Jan. 28 to
call
for talks with the opposition; on Feb. 2 Yemeni pres.
Ali
Abdullah Saleh announces that he won't seek to become pres. for life or stand for another term,
causing simultaneous
pro and anti govt. protests
in Sana'a on Feb. 3.
On Jan. 27 Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon signs a new
asylum law
bringing Mexico in line with internat. agreements on handling of refugees.
On Jan. 27 Israeli strategic affairs minister
Moshe Yaalon claims that Hezbollah
has infiltrated agents from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip to train Palestinian militants.
On Jan. 27 a Sunni car bomb outside a funeral tent in a Shiite area of
Baghdad
kills 48+.
On Jan. 27 CIA contract security officer
Raymond Allen Davis
shoots two men trying to rob him in Lahore, Pakistan, causing the Pakistani govt. to arrest him and
hold him as a political hostage, terrorist, and spy; on Feb. 19 a Pakistani court
orders the arrest
of another U.S. consular employee for driving a car that run over another robber while
trying to pick Davis up; on Mar. 16 he is
released
after the families of the victims pardon him in return for $2.34M in blood money, causing
countrywide protests; the
money was arranged by
Saudi Arabia?
On Jan. 27
Amazon.com
announces that it sells more Kindle ebooks than paperbacks, 115 for every 100.
On Jan. 27 the White House outlines an ambitious
plan
to put 1M electric cars on the road by 2015.
On Jan. 28 anti-govt. demonstrations in
Tirana, Albana sees three killed
by police, causing EU to urge rival political leaders to defuse the crisis.
On Jan. 28 3K Islamists and leftists protest in
Amman, Jordan
against the govt., shouting "We want change".
On Jan. 28 the women's wing of the Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami movement demonstrates in
Karachi, Pakistan
in support of Pakistan's Islamic blasphemy law.
On Jan. 28 40K Cypriots demonstrate in
Nicosia, Cyprus
against cuts in public spending by the Turkish govt.
On Jan. 28 the
German parliament
votes to extend Germany's military mission in Afghanistan by one year despite
polls showing the war's unpopularity.
On Jan. 28 it is announced that Mark Zuckerberg's fan page was
hacked,
with a message appearing under his name reading "Let the hacking begin. If
Facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn't Facebook
let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? Why not transform Facebook
into a 'social business' the way Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus described it?"
On Jan. 28 White House senior adviser
David M. Axelrod (1955-)
leaves, and 2008 Obama campaign mgr.
David
Plouffe replaces him.
On Jan. 28 (01:00) a UFO is spotted on the
Dome of the Rock
on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
On Jan. 29 Pope Benedict XVI launches a new outreach called the
Courtyard of the Gentiles
as an outreach to atheists, starting with a 3-day event in Paris in Mar.
On Jan. 29 the Islamic Jamiya org. asks Singapore minister
Lee Kuan Yew
to explain statements in a recent book that Islam is a difficult religion to integrate.
On Jan. 29 the Yemeni al-Qaida cmdr. declares
jihad against the Houthi-led Shiite fighters in N Yemen.
On Jan. 29 Pres. Obama announces
his determination to "spark the minds of innovators" in the U.S. to produce new products and technologies to make the country more competitive.
On Jan. 29 Tunisian technocrat PM (since 1999) Mohamed Ghannouchi (1941-)
(who serves as pres. on Jan. 14-15) vows a transition to democracy, while hundreds of pro-Islamists protest in
Tunisia,
shouting "We want freedom for the hijab, the niqab, and the beard", and hundreds of women
march
in Tunis to express fears of a new Islamist regime that keeps them down; on Jan. 30 exiled Tunisian Islamist Hizb al-Nahdah (Renaissance Party) leader
Rachid Ghanouchi (Rashid al-Ghannushi) (1941-)
arrives from Britain with 70 party members, and is greeted by crowds cheering Allah Akbar, causing him to
utter
the soundbyte "I'm no Khomeini" and claim that his views are more moderate; military chief of staff Rachid Ammar becomes Tunisia's powerbroker.
On Jan. 29 Dutch-Iranian protester Zahra Bahrami (b. 1965)
is executed in Tehran on ambiguous charges, causing the Dutch govt. to cut off diplomatic contact with Iran.
On Jan. 29 a cargo train and passenger collide near Hordorf,
Germany (near Magdebug), killing 10 and injuring 23.
On Jan. 30 the anti-corruption protest fever spreads to India,
with marches in New Delhi and other cities.
On Jan. 30 Pres. Obama appoints new deputy budget and mgt. dir.
Jeffrey Zients
to oversee the biggest reorg. of the federal govt. in over 50 years to allow the U.S.
to adapt to global economic cooperation.
On Jan. 30 Cyprus becomes the first EU country to recognize Palestinian statehood.
On Jan. 30 14-y.-o. Bangladeshi girl Hena Gegum (b. 1996)
is raped by a 40-y.-o. married man; on Jan. 31 a Muslim Sharia court sentences her to 100
lashes for having an illicit affair, and she bleeds to death in the hospital.
On Jan. 31 the Arab Spring begins in Baghdad, Iraq
as 100 march in Firdos Square, and 100 more march in Tahrir Square near the Green Zone. On Jan. 31
Oman claims to have uncovered a spy network in its midst run by the UAE.
On Jan. 31 Nigerian security officials thwart an Islamist attempt to bomb a Christian church in
Bauchi, Nigeria.
On Jan. 31 two Islamist bomb explosions in Peshawar, Pakistan
kill six incl. a deputy supt. of police.
On Jan. 31 the New York Times and Washington Post reveal that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal
is estimated at 100+ deployed nukes, having doubled since Obama took office, and is surging and set to overtake Britain as the world's #5 nuclear weapons power.
On Jan. 31 the U.S. State Dept. issues
an updated warning on the "continuing threat of terrorist actions" for U.S. citizens worldwide, along with a 2nd advisory cautioning against travel to Britain.
On Jan. 31-Feb. 2 the 2011 North Am. Winter Storm (Blizard), AKA the Storm of the Cent.
and the 2011 Groundhog Day Blizzard hits three-quarters of the U.S. with record snowfalls and low temps.
In Jan. the British Health Protection Agency
announces that a fatal superbug called NDM-1 has invaded Britain from India and Pakistan.
In Jan. a U.S. extradition treaty with El Salvador goes into effect.
In Jan. the Bombay Stock Exchange and the Istanbul Stock Exchange debut Sharia-compliant equity indexes.
In Jan. Muslim GOP activist Subhail A. Khan is outed as a
radical Muslim Brotherhood suporter, along with his mother.
In Jan. the heartwarming story of homeless African-Am. DJ
Ted Williams,
who was discovered on the street complete with a golden voice, made it big with a viral video and TV morning show interviews and showered with job offers becomes the Susan Boyle story of 2011.
In Jan. world food prices
surge 3.4% for the 7th straight mo., reaching a new record.
In Jan. two Kurdish mass graves
are discovered in SE Turkey, the result of Turkey's war with the Kurdish rebel group PKK.
In Jan. Romania
begins taxing witches and fortune tellers, causing some to celebrate that they're now legalized.
In Jan. Wash.-born Phil Hill (1970-)
announces plans for an alien refueling station on the summit of Pikes Peak in Colo., featuring a 480-ft. pyramid sans visitors center and coffee shop (no room).
In Jan. after finding that the number of sexual assault cases in Palestinian terrority has increased 7x from 2006-9, the Palestinian Authority launches a
plan to combat violence against women with funding from the U.S. and Spain.
In Jan. Israel tests its Magic Wand
intermediate-range anti-missile system that fills the gap between its Iron Dome system for short-range missiles and its Arrow system for long-range missiles; it
begins operation in S Israel on Mar. 27, 2011.
In Jan. the U.S. Nat. Security Agency begins the $1.2B Utah Spy Data Center
25 mi. S of Salt Lake City to complement the one in Ft. Meade, Md.
In Jan. radical Canadian Muslim imam Said Jaziri, who was deported to Tunisia
in 2008 is caught trying to sneak into the U.S. over the Mexican border inside the trunk of a BMW near San Diego, Calif.
In Jan. the U.S. unemployment rate falls from 9.4% to 9%, adding 36K new jobs.
In Jan. the Ground Zero Mosque org. replaces Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf with Abdallah Adhami,
who goes on to call homosexuality a disease, claim that true Muslims follow Sharia, and
utters
the soundbyte "We have more of a right to Moses" than Jews do; he is
fired on Feb. 4.
In Jan. the govt. of Tajikistan
begins closing mosques on various pretexts, reaching 1.5K by June.
In Jan. 25 Islamic scholars Meet
to argue in favor of reviving Islam's doctrine of Ijtihad, i.e., reevaluation fo basic teachinges, incl. jihad, women's rights, secularism, etc.
On Feb. 1 after the army promises not to get violent 1M+ protest in Cairo
against Hosni Mubarak; other protests are held throughout Egypt, incl. 250K in Sinai.
On Feb. 1 after protests over poor living conditions and high food prices, Jordan king
Abdullah II fires PM Samir Rifai and his cabinet, and asks ex-PM (2005-7) Marouf al-Bakhit to form a new
one that will launch reforms.
On Feb. 1 Iran human rights activist (Baha'i member) Navid Khanjani
is sentenced to 12 years, their heaviest sentence to a human rights activist so far; it also issues
five death sentences for others for obscene Web sites and other Islamic offenses; Iran also
announces that it will segregate male and female students at Allameh Tabatabai U.
On Feb. 1 EU foreign minister Baroness Ashton
of Britain scuttles a EU attempt to agree on a statement condemning attacks on Christians in the Islamic word because she won't use the word Christian.
On Feb. 1 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. closes above 12K for the first time since June 2008.
On Feb. 2 the German state of Hesse and state employees from wearing the burka.
On Feb. 2 British Muslim minister
Mohammed
Hanif Khan is convicted of raping a 12-y.-o. boy, and sexually abusing another at a
mosque in Stoke-on-Trent; he had been honored by Princess Anne for his work.
On Feb. 2 IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn
warns
that the weakened world economy and joblessness could bring war within more nations than
Tunisia and Egypt, and calls for a new world currency to challenge the
U.S. dollar.
On Feb. 3 Category 3 (180 mph)
Cyclone Yasi
slams into N Queensland, Australia, causing $3.5B damage.
On Feb. 3 police chief Manuel Farten of
Nuevo Laredo, Mexico
is killed along with two bodyguards after holding the job for 33 days.
On Feb. 3 the Homeland Security and Govt. Affairs Committte chaired by Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) release their
Report on the Ft. Hood Massacre, concluding that the "ticking time bomb" massacre could have been prevented.
On Feb. 3 Pres. Obama addresses the Nat. Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.,
claiming his Christian faith as "a sustaining force" in his life, and praying for an end to violence in Egypt.
On Feb. 3 after residents of a former squat are evicted, 1.5k leftists riot in Berlin, Germany injuring 61 police officers, who arrest 82.
On Feb. 4 hundreds of protesters, incl. leftists and the Muslim Brotherhood march in
Amman, Jordan
against the govt. and in support of the Egyptian Rev.
On Feb. 4 a Gallup Poll shows that Pres. Obama
has the most polarizing 2nd year in office since Ike in 1953, with a 68% gap between Dems. and Repubs.; Reagan's 2nd year gap was 56%.
On Feb. 4 140+ Roman Catholic theologians from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland call for an end to celibacy for priests.
On Feb. 4 the Jewish People Policy Inst. of Jerusalem claims that
Hamas hacked its Web site.
On Feb. 4 British PM David Cameron
launches a war on 30 years of failed multiculturalism with a new policy of "muscular liberalism", telling Muslims that he is declaring an end to "passive tolerance" of divided communities,
and they must integrate and accept core British values and speak English or else they will lose public money.
On Feb. 4 Asteroid 2011 CQ1
passes within 5.5K km of Earth, close enough to change its orbit; it is first discovered the same day.
On Feb. 5 the New START Treaty goes into force, limiting the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550;
it is expected to last until 2021.
On Feb. 5 the French senate votes 182-156 to reject a tough Sarkozy-backed
immigration bill
that would strip citizenship if they have been citizens for less than 10 years and threaten the police, place an "unreasonable" strain on the welfare state, or are guilty of
"aggressive begging"; critics liken it to the Vichy regime.
On Feb. 5 hundreds of members of the English Defence League
stage an anti-Islam demonstration in Luton (N of London), shouting "No more mosques", "Never surrender", and "Islam is of the Devil".
On Feb. 5 three teen boys are shot to death in
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico,
two of them U.S. citizens.
On Feb. 5 the Vatican announces
that Pope Benedict XVI doesn't carry an organ donor card - because his organs are too holy to donate to lesser mortals?
On Feb. 5 Sheikh 'Ahed Ahmad 'Abd Al-Karim Al-Sa'idani (AKA Abu Al-Walid Al-Maqdisi), leader of the Salafist jihadi group Jama'at Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad issues a
fatwa, saying that while the Quran prohibits the killing of innocents, it is permissible to kill
Jewish and Christian civilians in a jihad since they are "fundamentally not innocent" - judge now that ye be not judged - not?
On Feb. 5 British Special Forces seize
a shipment of 48 Iranian rockets in Nimruz Province, S Afghanistan en route to the Taliban.
On Feb. 6 the U.N. celebrates Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Day.
On Feb. 6 a machete-wielding mob of 1.5K Muslims attacks the home of an Ahmadiyah Muslim sect leader along with 20 members in
Banten Province, Java, Indonesia,
killing three and wounding six.
On Feb. 6 Pres. Obama gives a pre-Super Bowl interview
with Bill O'Reilly, laughing off the millions who hate him with "What they hate is whatever funhouse mirror image of you that's out there - they don't know you", and pooh-poohing the
Muslim Brotherhood, saying they don't have majority support, but that there's "no going back" for Egypt.
On Feb. 6 20K rally in Lahore, Pakistan
over Kashmir, calling for jihad and nuclear war against India.
On Feb. 6 a Turkish parliamentary commission releases a report
that claims that the Swiss ban on minarets is responsible for increasing xenophobia and Islamophobia in Switzerland.
On Feb. 6 a military clash begins on a disputed border by Thailand and Cambodia.
On Feb. 6 a video posted by Chechen emir Doku Umarov,
Russia's most wanted terrorists claims credit for the Moscow airport massacre, and warns the pop. of Moscow to brace for a "year of blood and tears"; he controls up to 60 suicide bombers in N Caucasus.
On Feb. 6 Super Bowl XLV (45) (2011) is played in Arlington, Tex.; the Green Bay Packers defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25;
Christina Aguilera
flubs a line while singing the U.S. nat. anthem; Packers QB (#12) Aaron Charles Rodgers (1983-) is MVP;
Pres. Obama serves White House Honey Ale
at his Super Bowl party, becoming the first U.S. pres. to home-brew beer in the White House.
On Feb. 7 Pres. Obama delivers a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
in an attempt to mend fences.
On Feb. 7 AOL agrees to buy the leftist pro-Islam
Huffington Post
(founded May 2005) for $315M; it has 25M monthly visitors, and blocked TLW from posting.
On Feb. 7 Afghan Red Cross activist
Said Musa
(1965-) is sentenced to death for converting to Christianity; he can only
save himself by reconverting to Islam.
On Feb. 7 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton announces that the U.S. is starting the process of removing Arabic-speaking
Sudan
from its list of state sponsors of terrorism following the finalization of the referendum on independence for Dinka-speaking
South Sudan,
which becomes the first new country of the decade, and up-and-coming U.N. member #193;
too bad, the secession of oil-rich South Sudan causes a
depression in Sudan.
On Feb. 7 24-.y.-o. Christian
Imran
Masih (b. 1986) is found dead at his Muslim employer Chaudhry Masqood Cheema's farmhouse,
and he claims suicide, which is backed up by the hospital and police, causing Christian protests.
On Feb. 8 police in
Burundi
arrest eight Pakistani Muslim preachers for preaching jihad.
On Feb. 8 hundreds of Islamists storm a courthouse in
Temanggung, Indonesia
and set two churches on fire to protest a lenient 5-year sentence for Antonius Richmand Bawengan,
a Christian convicted of blaspheming Islam, which they think merits the death penalty.
On Feb. 8 U.S. House majority leader
Eric Cantor
(R-Va.) says that the primary goal of U.S. policy in Egypt should be to "stop the spread
of radical Islam".
On Feb. 8 a Jordanian official
discloses
that senior Palestinian Authority and Fatah officials incl. Mahmoud Abbas and his two sons
have been given Jordanian citizenship, despite Jordan revoking the citizenship of thousands
of other Palestinians.
On Feb. 8 the U.S. House votes 277-148 to
reject
a 9-mo. extension of counterterrorism survillance powers under the U.S. Patriot Act.
On Feb. 9 a suicide bomber posing as a dairy deliveryman strikes a Kurdish security HQ in
Sulaimaniyah, Iraq,
killing seven and wounding 80.
On Feb. 9-10 the govt. of
Malayasia
resumes talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Clap on, clap off, it's the Clapper?
On Feb. 10 U.S. nat. intel dir. #4 (since Aug. 5, 2010)
James R. Clapper (1941-)
tells Congress that he didn't miss warning signs of turmoil in Egypt, and
tells
Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.) that the horrible Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is "a very
heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried
al-Qaeda as a perversion of Islam", that it has "pursued social ends, a betterment
of the political order in Egypt" and "There is no overarching agenda, particularly
in pursuit of violence, at least internationally"; its violent record 60 years ago
is forgotten, along with its slogan "God is our objective, the Quran is our Constitution,
the Prophet is our leader, struggle is our way, and death for the sake of God is the
highest of our aspirations", and its
handbook
which incl. the soundbyte "Prepare yourself and train in the art of warfare, and embrace the causes
of power. You must learn the ways and manners and laws of war. You must learn them and embrace
them and adhere to them, so that your Jihad will be the one accepted by Allah"; hours before his
testimony the real Muslim Brotherhood
admits that Sharia
in Egypt is "not its immediate end, but we will work for it in future", the opposite of secular;
Clapper spokesman Jamie Smith later releases a clarification:
"In Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood makes efforts to work through a political system that has been, under Mubarak's rule, one that is largely secular in its orientation. He is well aware that the
Muslim Brotherhood is not a secular organization"; meanwhile FBI dir.
Robert Mueller
tells Congress that the Muslim Brotherhood has supported internat. terrorism, and that its ideology inspired Osama bin Laden and other terrorists; last Dec. 23 Clueless Clapper was
caught
being unaware of British anti-terror raids when questioned by Diane Sawyer of ABC-TV; on Mar. 10 Clapper tells the
Senate Armed Services Commitee that "over the longer term Qaddafi will prevail", causing the Obama admin. er, to contradict him; on May 29, 2011 Muslim Brotherhood leader Sheikh
Sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail announces his candidacy for pres. of Israel, promising to turn Egypt into an Islamist state
complete with Sharia, and to go to war with Israel.
On Feb. 10 French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy
joins other world leaders, declaring that multiculturalism has failed, with the soundbyte "Of course we must all respect difference, but we do not want... a society where
communities coexist side by side... If you come to France, you accept to melt into a single community...and if you do not want to accept that, you cannot be welcome in France"; on Feb. 15
Dutch Christian Dem. leader Maxime Verhagen does ditto, followed on Feb. 18 by
Australian Liberal politician Cory Bernardi, who says "Islam itself is the problem, it's not Muslims"; in Feb. France's governing party
announces
plans for a nat. debate on the role of Islam and respect for secularism among Muslims; on Mar. 11 Sarkozy fires Muslim diversity head
Abderrahmane Dahmane for calling on Muslims not to support his governing UMP party.
On Feb. 10 the U.S. Treasury
announces
that Lebanese Canadian Bank SAL has been laundering millions of dollars in drug money
for Hezbollah.
On Feb. 10 the
Islamic Umma Party
is founded as the first political party in Saudi Arabia as a sop to the
Arab revs. in other countries?
On Feb. 10-12 fighting in
Southern Sudan
between the army and rebels under Gen. Athor kills 105, mostly civilians.
On Feb. 10-12 the first regional Conservative Political Action Conference
is held in Orlando, Fla., attended by 11K; surprise guest Donald Trump (his first appearance since its 1973 founding) comes out as a conservative in a
speech,
hinting at a White House Run (decision by June), with the soundbyte:
"America is becoming a whipping post for the rest of the world... America today is missing quality leadership, and foreign countries have quickly realized this. It's for this reason
that the United States is becoming the laughing stock of the world... And I can tell you this, if I run and if I win, this country will be respected again... If I decided to run, I will
not be raising taxes. We'll be taking back hundreds of billions of dollars from other countries that are screwing us, we'll be creating vast numbers of productive jobs, and we'll rebuild
our country so that we can be proud. Our country will be great again"; of course he can't help talking about himself, with the
soundbyte:
"Over the years I've participated in many battles and have really almost come out very, very victorious every single time. I've beaten many people and companies, and I've won many wars.
I have fairly but intelligently earned many billions of dollars, which in a sense was both a scorecard and acknowledgment of my abilities", adding "I may be willing to put that to work",
although "Frankly I wish there was a candidate that I saw that would be fantastic, because I love what I'm doing."
On Feb. 11 Pres. Obama meets
with Canadian PM Stephen Harper to agree on a common "perimeter" around the two countries along with a biometric system to track North Ams.
On Feb. 11 the New York Times Bestseller List finally incl. ebooks.
On Feb. 11 the Iran-Balkan News Agency IRBA pub. a list of 24 NATO bases in Turkey.
On Feb. 11 the Umatilla native Am. tribe is permitted to hunt and harvest bison outside Yellowstone Nat. Park per an 1855 treaty.
On Feb. 12 a planned speech at the annual Jewish Keren Hayesod dinner by ex-pres.
George W. Bush
is cancelled after the Swiss govt. issues an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.
On Feb. 12 anti-govt. demonstrations in
Algiers, Algeria
result in 400 arrests, while the govt. shuts down the Internet, and an anon. group stages a
cyberattack
on the Web site of the Algerian Interior Ministry.
On Feb. 12 more govt. vs. anti-govt. demonstrations in
Sa'naa, Yemen
end with police beating anti-govt. protesters.
On Feb. 12 armed men hurl a grenade into a crowded nightclub in
Guadalajara, Mexico,
killing six and woundin 37; hours earlier a shootout between the cartel and the army in Monterrey killed eight.
On Feb. 12 Egyptian-born Muslim cab driver
Sam Hassan Daly
(1958-) plows into a crowded sidewalk in the Gaslamp District of San Diego, Calif., injuring 25.
On Feb. 13 U.S. House Speaker John Boehner
says that though he believes that Pres. Obama was born in Hawaii and is a Christian, he won't tell Americans what to think who question it, and that it's not just a ploy to
delegitimize and weaken him as a foreign-born closet Muslim.
On Feb. 13 a drive-by shooting on the outskirts of Mexico City kills seven.
On Feb. 13 the 53rd Grammy Awards
sees African-Am. singer-bass player Esperanza Spalding (1984-)
become the first jazz artist to win the best new artist award.
On Feb. 14 Pres. Obama proposes a
2012 federal budget
that will cut the deficit by $1.1T over 10 years.
On Feb. 14 suspected Fatah al-Islam member
Ghaleb
Taleb is arrested in Athens while allegedly planning attacks in Europe.
On Feb. 14 Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir (1938-) is put on trial for being the leader of a terrorist network
based in Aceh, to which he replies "I was only defending Islam"; on June 16 he is convicted of supporting a jihadist terrorist camp, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
On Feb. 14 Columbian authorities announce
the seizure of the first fully submersible drug-smuggling submarine capable of reaching the Mexican coast.
On Feb. 15 Libyan human rights atty. Fathi Terbil,
who represents the families of 1.2K detainees killed in a 1996 massacre in Abu Salim Prison in Tripoli is arrested, causing a day of rage on Feb. 17, escalating into an armed revolt
starting in Benghazi in E Libya, causing Libyan ambassador to the U.S. (since Jan. 2009)
Ali Suleiman Aujali (known for working to get Abdelbaset al-Megrahi returned to Libya) to resign; the
2011 Libyan Civil War (Revolt) (Feb. 17 Rev.) begins (ends Oct. 23) on the 100th anniv. of the
1911 Libyan War to oust the Ottoman Empire; in Feb. Pres. Obama signs a secret pres. directive authorizing
the State Dept. and CIA to begin Operation Zero Footprint
to arm the Libyan rebels, giving command authority to NATO Adm. James G. Stavidris not the U.S. military?
On Feb. 15 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton warns
that nations that restrict the Internet to hold back popular demand for dem. reforms in the Middle East do so at their own risk, and that the U.S. is ready to help the dissidents evade the restrictions.
On Feb. 15 Islamic rebels clash with police in Karachayeva-Cherkessia
and Stavropol in the Russian Caucasus, killing three police and three rebels.
On Feb. 15 opposition protests in Tehran
anger Iranian lawmakers, who shout and chant for them to be executed, causing the
Rev. Guard to issue
a letter on Feb. 18 promising not to shoot at protesters.
On Feb. 15 oil industry sources
announce
that drug cartel gunmen are threatening to attack isolated natural gas well drillers in N
Mexico unless they pay protection money.
On Feb. 15 the U.S. reverses itself and
informs
Arab govts. that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that it "does not
accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity".
On Feb. 15 Ghaybullo Avzalov,
head of Tajikistan's S Khatlon Province announces new measures to combat the spread of
radical Islam, starting by distributing 400K free copies of the Quran - spreading more?
On Feb. 16 a U.S. ICE agent Jaime Zapata
is killed and his partner Victor Avila wounded 100 mi. N of Mexico City en route to Monterey; on
Feb. 24 Mexican authorities capture Julian Zapata Esponza AKA Tweety Bird (El Piolin)
along with five other suspected Zeta members in San Luis Potosi, and
arrest
700 suspects, confiscating drugs, weapons and $8M in cash.
On Feb. 16 after visiting the Saudi port of Jeddah in the Red Sea, two Iranian warships, the frigate
Alvand and the supply ship Kharq head for Syria via the
Suez Canal
for the first time since 1979 en route to their ally Syria, causing Israel to declare a high alert,
suspecting
them of carrying weapons for Hezbollah, and Iranian supreme assaholah
Ali Khamenei
to issue the soundbyte "The fake Zionist government is a cancerous tumor and the
cause of different diseases and political, economic calamity in the region"; he also issues the
soundbyte:
"The main problem in the Muslim World is the presence of the United States. It is the biggest problem...
We need to remove the United States from the Islamic world."
On Feb. 17 (night) police in
Bahrain crack down on peaceful
anti-govt. protesters in Manama's Pearl Square, shooting them with shotguns while they sleep and
firing guns at them in the street; on Feb. 20 thousands of protesters
return
after the troops pull out.
On Feb. 17 Hillary Clinton
pledges
$150M to assist Egypt's dem. transformation.
On Feb. 18 Islamic fundamentalist cleric
Yusuf al-Qaradawi
returns from Qatar to address a rally of hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square, telling them
"The revolution isn't over. It has just started to build Egypt... Guard your revolution", and
calling for the conquest
of Al-Aqsa (i.e. Jerusalem); despite the rev. being owed to his Internet activity, he
bans
non-Islamist leftist Wael Ghonim from the stage.
On Feb. 18 Yemeni protesters hold a
Friday of Fury.
On Feb. 18 Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) protesters in
Jakarta, Indonesia
against the Ahmadiyah minority Muslim sect demand that pres. Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono outlaw it, threatening another march next mo.
On Feb. 18 Pres. Obama visits an
Intel
plant in Hillsboro, Ore. along with CEO Paul Otellini.
On Feb. 18 the the U.N. Security Council votes 14-1 to pass a
resolution
condemning Israeli settlements as illegal and calling for an immediate halt to all settlement
building; U.S. ambassador Susan Rice says that the U.S. "regrettably" vetoes it, because "This
draft resolution risks hardening the positions of both sides... We reject in the strongest terms
the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity. While we agree with our fellow council
members and indeed with the wider world about the folly and illegitimacy of continued Israeli
settlement activity, we think it unwise for this council to attempt to resolve the core issues
that divide Israelis and Palestinians"; on Feb. 25 German chancellor
Angela Merkel
talks with Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone, and after he slams her for supporting the
resolution she responds "How dare you? You are the one who disappointed us - you
haven't made a single step to advance peace."
On Feb. 18 Tunisia's transitional govt.
approves
a gen. amnesty of political prisoners, incl. convicted terrorists.
On Feb. 18 an Afghan soldier turns jihadist in
Pul-e-Khumri
and fires on German troops, killing three and wounding six.
On Feb. 18 four men are tied and thrown 600 ft. over a bridge to their deaths in
Chilpahcingo, Mexico.
On Feb. 18 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton expresses the
hope
that military action will split the Taliban from al-Qaida, laying the groundwork for a political solution
in Afghanistan.
On Feb. 19 Somalian pirates hijack the yacht
Quest,
with four Americans aboard.
On Feb. 19 the house of reps. of
Utah
by 58-15 passes a law giving law enforcement officials the power to check the immigration status
of those suspected of being in the u.S. illegally, with it being mandatory if they are charged
with class A misdemeanors and felonies.
On Feb. 19 Islamic jihadists
kill four tourists
from Moscow in N Caucasus en route to a ski resort.
On Feb. 19
George Soros
tells CNN that he doesn't expect the regime in Iran to survive the year.
On Feb. 20 Libyan troops fire machine guns at mourners marching in a funeral for anti-govt. protesters in
Benghazi, Libya,
after which they
seize
some army vehicles, and the fighting erupts into a
civil war
to oust Muammar Gaddhafi, with troops joining armed protesters while the govt. tries
to hang on by clamping down on news and the Internet far better than in Egypt, and Daffy's
bald son Saif Gaddhafi
gives an impromptu TV speech promising 100K deaths, vowing to "fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet, then offering a new govt. in 48 hours;
Madman Daffy is worth $200B?;
he orders soldiers who refuse to shoot protesters to be tied up and set on fire, while rounding up mercenaries; on Feb. 21
Libyan airplanes bomb protesters in Tripoli, while two Libyan Mirage jets
escape
to Malta to avoid carrying out the orders; meanwhile the Libyan ambassador to London resigns and joins the protesters, and rumors spread that Daffy himself has fled the country for Switzerland
or Venezuela; on Feb. 21 Hillary Clinton condemns the govt. violence
and tells Gadhafi to "stop this unacceptable bloodshed"; on Feb. 22 Col. Daffy gives a
speech
on state TV, rejecting demands to resign, saying "I will not leave the country, and I will die as a martyr" on Feb. 23 Egyptian Muslim cleric
Yusuf al-Qaradawi
calls on Libyan soldiers to kill Daffy; on Feb. 23 the African Union
joins in condemning the use of force against protesters in Libya; on Feb. 23 Pres. Obama
"strongly condemns"
the violence in Libya but doesn't call for Daffy's resignation, causing Libyan rebels
to begin shouting "Send Bush!"; on Feb. 23 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket tells
the Daffy to allow free speech and "let their peoples express their opinions and then follow their noations", while simultaneously suppressing his own peoples' free speech; on Feb. 23
Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini
expresses fears that up to 300K Libyans might flee to Italy, while Malmo U. prof. Anne Sofie Roald
utters the soundbyte "We can't deny that today Islam is regarded as the biggest threat to Europe for many Europeans"; on Feb. 24 Daffy
blames
Osama bin Laden for the uprising; on Feb. 25 after his troops fire on demonstrators, bizarre ranter Daffy appears in
Green Square,
proclaiming "I am here" and telling the crowd "Dance, sing, live your lives... Ghadafi is here among his people"; meanwhile on Feb. 25 the
Islamic Emirate of Libya
is proclaimed in Derna in NE Libya; on Feb. 25 Pres. Obama finally
imposes
sanctions on Libya minutes after the U.S. flies its diplomats out of the country, with the soundbyte:
"We will stand steadfastly with the Libyan people in their demand for universal rights and a government
that is responsive to their aspirations. Their human dignity cannot be denied"; on Feb. 26 Obama finally
calls for Daffy to step down immediately, and hours later the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopts
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1970,
condemning the use of lethal force by Daffy's govt. and imposing sanctions, referring the matter to the Internat. Criminal Court, causing Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to
criticize
Obama for hypocrisy for not doing ditto with Iran; on Feb. 28 British and German military planes
rescue
hundreds of stranded oil workers and civilians in E Libya; on Mar. 1 Hillary Clinton
tells
Congress that Libya is collapsing into "protracted civil war"; meanwhile rumors
spread in the Arab press that Daffy is a secret Jew; on Mar. 2 Daffy's forces launch a counteroffensive against the rebel-held E half of the country, and battle for control of the
Brega Oil Port,
while the U.S., Britain and France send hundreds of advisers to train
and support anti-Daffy forces in E Libya, and India sends three warships, and U.S. warships
USS Kearsarge and USS Ponce
the Suez Canal en route to Libya; on Mar. 3 the Internat. Criminal Court in The Hague
announces
that they're going to investigate Daffy and his inner circle incl. his sons for crimes against humanity; on Mar. 4 Pres. Obama
ramps up
the strength of his remarks, saying that the U.S. is keeping "all options open", incl. considering enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya, and insisting
that Daffy leave office because he has lost his authority to lead; on Mar. 5 Pres. Obama sends U.S. defense secy.
Robert Gates
to Cairo as the unrest veers out of control and seize the HQ of the security police in Alexandria and Cairo, while the military leaders start losing their grip; on Mar. 6 there are brutal
battles in Bin Jawwad; on Mar. 11 in Addis Ababa the African Union Peace and Security (PSC)
rejects any use of force on Libya; on Mar. 12 Daffy's forces tighten
their grip on the coastal road linking his territory to the rebel-controlled E, while the Arab League
in Cairo recognizes the rebels
and calls on the U.N. security Council to impose a no-fly zone to protect the rebels, which the White House
hails as an "important step"; on Mar. 13 Al Jazeera cameraman
Ali Hassan al-Jaber
is killed in S Libya in an ambush; on Mar. 13 U.S. defense secy. Robert M. Gates
says that the U.S. would have no trouble enforcing a Libyan no-fly zone if Pres. Obama orders one; on
Mar. 15 the G8
rejects a no-fly zone over Libya in favor of stringer economic sanctions; on Mar. 15 four New York
Times journalists go missing win Libya; on Mar. 16 Daffy
warns
the rebels in Benghazi that they will be shown "no mercy", after which on Mar. 16 the U.S. ramps up to
pushing
for U.N. authorization for a full military attack; on Mar. 17 by 10-0-5 the U.N. Security Council passes
U.N. Security Resolution 1973,
calling for an immediate ceasefire in Libya and authorizing member states "to take all necessary measures... to protect
civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack", setting up a no-fly zone (first U.N. resolution to
authorize military action to protect civilians), causing celebrations in Benghazi, after which Libya declares a
ceasefire while Daffy's son Seif al Islam al Qadhafi
says that the Daffy family is "not afraid", and claims the resolution is "unfair" because they have
"proved to everybody that there have bee no air strikes against civilians"; on Mar. 19 (8th anniv. of U.S. invasion
of Iraq) French fighter jets deploy over Libya,
firing on and destroying four
Libyan tanks near rebel-held Benghazi, which is under attack by Daffy's forces, while the U.S. launches
Operation Odyssey Dawn,
starting with U.S. warships in the Mediterranean firing 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles to destroy 20
Libyan air defense sites, putting the U.S. into its 3rd simultaneous war in a Middle Eastern Muslim
country; Pres. Obama utters the soundbyte "I want the American people to know that the use of force
is not our first choice, and it's not a choice that I make lightly, but we can't stand idly by when
a tyrant tells his people that there will be no mercy"; unfazed, Daffy sets up a human shield of supporters
at his compound, and vows
a "long war" in Libya, and opens his armories to issue 1M guns to his loyal followers to fight
a civil war, which doesn't stop the compound from being hit by "accidental" U.S. airstrikes; on Mar. 22 a U.S. F-15 jet
crashes
in NE Libya after a technical failure after both crewmembers eject safely; discord in
NATO
emerges on Mar. 21 as Turkey blocks participation, Italy issues a veiled threat to withdraw use of its bases, and Vladimir Putin of Russia calls the Security Council resolution "flawed",
saying it is "reminiscent of a medieval call for a Crusade", because "it allowed intervention in a sovereign state"; on Mar. 24 NATO
assumes
partial control over the no-fly operations; on Mar. 25 Libyan rebel cmdr.
Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi
admits that his fighters have al-Qaida links, having fought against Allied troops
in Iraq; on Mar. 27 Pres. Obama give a
Speech on Libya,
saying that the Libya mission saved "countless" civilian lives; on Mar. 30 the rebels retreat from the oil port of
Ras Lanouf,
blaming lack of air support; on Mar. 30 Libyan foreign minister Musa Kusa
defects to Britain; on Mar. 31 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
says that sending weapons to the Libyan rebels could feed terrorism because Daffy has unleashed war between Christians and Muslims; on Apr. 2 NATO "friendly fire"
kills 13 Libyan rebels; on Apr. 2 Hillary Clinton's aid Sidney Blumenthal sends her an
email
confirming that the real reason for removing Col. Daffy is that his govt. "holds 143 tons of gold, and a similar amount of silver", not to mention all his oil; on Apr. 4
Italy recognizes the opposition Libyan Nat. Transitional Council; on Apr. 5 Daffy sends a
letter to Pres. Obama, addressing him as "Dear Son", and asking him to stop the NATO airstrikes,
which he calls an "unjust war against a small people of a developing country", asking for a ceasefire; on Apr. 14 al-Qaeda #2 man
Ayman al-Zawahiri issues a video telling Arab nations
to intervene militarily in Libya to eject Daffy before "Western aid... turns into invasions"; on Apr. 15 Daffy's forces shell
Misrata, the only remaining rebel stronghold in W Libya, while his daughter Aisha
gives a defiant speech; on Apr. 20 the Obama admin. announces
$25M in nonlethal aid to the rebels; on Apr. 25 NATO forces bomb Daffy's compound,
flattening a bldg. inside it; on May 19 NATO air strikes hit eight warships belonging
to Daffy in Tripoli, Al Khums, and Sirte.
On Feb. 20 thousands of protesters march in Rabat, Morocco,
demanding a new constitution and more democracy.
On Feb. 20 authorities in China
stage a show of force to stop a planned Jasmine Rev.-style protest as called for via the Internet.
On Feb. 20 Kamal Helbawi,
leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood gives a speech in Iran settling the issue by saying
that the Egyptian Rev. was Islamic not democratic.
On Feb. 20 hundreds of Copts protest
in front of the state TV bldg. in Cairo to call for Egypt's constitution to be amended to establish a secular not Islamic state.
On Feb. 20 singer
Pat Boone
says that Christians must mobilize now to defeat Pres. Obama in 2012.
On Feb. 21 (09:15 a.m.) Mount Bulusan
in the Philippines erupts.
On Feb. 21 Egypt's public prosecutor asks
for a freeze on Hosni Mubarak's foreign assets, which the EU agrees to on Feb. 25,
along with a travel ban on Libya's leadership, and an arms embargo.
On Feb. 21 a group of 90 Islamic preachers and scholars around the Muslim World issues a statement supporting
the revs. in Tunisia and Egypt and slamming democracy and "un-Islamic" political parties - if you're not holy in Allah's eyes you can never have the right to rule by sheer numbers?
On Feb. 21 Christian Union Sen.
Roel Kuiper
announces his goal of amending the Dutch constitution to ban Islamic Sharia law.
On Feb. 21 U.S. Gen. David H. Petraeus
stinks himself up with a comment that Afghans caught up in a coalition attack in NE Afghanistan may have burned their own children to exaggerate civilian casualties.
On Feb. 21 a 6.3 earthquake near Christchurch, New Zealand
kills 75, with 300 missing.
On Feb. 21 Repub. pres. contender
Mike Huckabee
criticizes Islam as "the antithesis of the gospel of Christ"; on Feb. 24 he adds that Am. Muslims
are receiving special treatment "at the expense of others", and that this is "un-American".
On Feb. 22 Egyptian Coptic priest
Daoud Boutrus
is found dead in Shatab, increasing tensions between Copts and Muslims.
On Feb. 22 Israeli archeologist
Eilat 'Mazar
announces the discovery of a wall in Jerusalem dating to 1K B.C.E., which he claims bolsters
the Biblical account of the reign of Solomon.
On Feb. 23
oil prices
on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit $100 a barrel for the first time since 2008.
On Feb. 23 a group of 180 police in
Yangdang
in Hubei Province, China raid a Christian legal center and arrest a group of Christians.
On Feb. 23 the Council on Am.-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and ACLU
sue
the FBI over surveillance at Calif. mosques, claiming their First Amendment rights
were violated by targeting the most devout and likely to engage in terrorism; on Mar. 18
FBI dir. Robert Mueller
testifies
to Congress that "We have no formal relationship with CAIR because of concerns with regard
to the national leadership."
On Feb. 23 Amir Kabir U.
and the Industrial U. of Isfahan in Iran open two supercomputer centers in a ceremony led by Pres. Imadinnajacket.
On Feb. 23 (night) a Palestinian Grad rocket hits Beersheva, Israel, injuring 14.
On Feb. 23-24 Egyptian army forces storm the 5th cent.
St. Bishoy Monastery
in Wadi el-Natroun (66 mi. from Cairo), injuring 19; meanwhile a 2-day
meeting
between the Vatican and the Egyptian Inst. of Sunni Islam set for Feb. 23-24 is suspended because the Muslims want the pope to apologize first, causing Pope Benedict XVI
to refuse and reply that the dialogue will continue on God's time.
On Feb. 24 20-y.-o. Saudi Tex. student Khalid Aldawsari (1990-)
is arrested on terrorism charges, incl. plans to build a bomb and target the Dallas residence of Pres. George W. Bush along with dams and nuclear power plants;
meanwhile the FBI sends a warning letter to fertilizer stores.
On Feb. 24 gunmen open fire on six children playing in front of a home in
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, killing three.
On Feb. 25 hundreds of thousands
protest
across the Middle East in solidarity with the Libyans.
On Feb. 25 high-ranking Juarez drug gang boss
Luis Humberto Peralta Hernandez
(AKA El Condor) is killed in a gun battle with police in Chihuahua, Mexico; meanwhile three gunmen
are killed in a failed attack on Garcia mayor
Jaime Rodriguez Calderon.
On Feb. 25 Pres. Obama names
Jeremy Bernard
as the first openly gay White House social secy.
On Feb. 25 U.S. federal officials announce an investigation of
Tri-Valley U.
in Calif. for luring hundreds of foreign students by promising to take care of their visa problems.
On Feb. 25 the U.N. Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
announces that it has received info. indicating that Iran is "not engaging with the agency in substance on issues concerning the allegation that Iran is developing a nuclear payload
for its missile program."
On Feb. 25 Christian Dior suspends its Gibraltar-born head designer (since 1997)
John Galliano (Juan Carlos Antonio Galliano-Guillen) (1960-)
for an alleged anti-Semitic speech in a Paris bar, incl. "I love Hitler" - you're under arrest, drop that fascinator?
On Feb. 26 Facebook-planned demonstrations in Mauritania
are staged by up to 1.5K.
On Feb. 26 elections in Ireland
become the worst D since 1932 for the ruling Fianna Fail party, and a V for Fine Gael.
On Feb. 26 the U.N. Security Resolution votes 15-0-0 for Resolution 1970,
condemning the use of lethal force by the Libyan govt. against protesters in the civil war, and imposing a series of internat. sanctions, becoming the first time a country is
unanimously referred to the Internat. Criminal Court by the council; France is accused of violating the resolution by parachuting weapons to Libyan rebels.
On Feb. 27 after three weeks of debate, the EU issues a
statement
denouncing the persecution of Christians by Muslims, albeit in a timid fashion; meanwhile Turkish PM
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
is given a hero's welcome in Germany by Turkish immigrants, telling them to infiltrate, er, integrate
into German society but not assimilate, learning the Turkish language before German.
On Feb. 27 Muslims throw a bomb at the car of prominent Gaza Strip Christian surgeon
Maher Ayyad (1955-)
for preaching Christianity.
On Feb. 27 Am. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan
says that the revolts in the Middle East and North Africa are imminent in the U.S.; he also refuses to cut loose his old buddy Col. Daffy.
On Feb. 27 the 83rd Academy Awards,
presented at the Kodiak Theatre in Hollywood, hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway awards the best picture Oscar for 2010 to
The King's Speech, along with best dir. to Tom Hooper, best actor to Colin Firth, and best original screenplay to David Seidler;
Natalie Portman wins best actress for Black Swan; Christian Bale wins best supporting actor for The Fighter, and
Melissa Leo wins best supporting actress for ditto; The Social Network wins best adapted screenplay and best original score;
We Belong Together by Randy Newman from Toy Story 3 wins best original song.
On Feb. 28 Iran arrests opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi.
On Feb. 28 British Airways Muslim computer expert Rajib Karim (1980-)
is found guilty of conspiring with Anwar al-Awlaki to blow up a plane.
On Feb. 28 four people storm the Libyan embassy in Berlin,
vowing to kill Col. Daffy and shouting Allah Akbar.
On Feb. 28 Osama bin Laden's #2 man Ayman al-Zawahri
issues a message urging Tunisians and Egyptians to create Islamic states.
On Feb. 28 (night) Muslims storm the Christian village of Dabwak
in C Nigeria near Jos and murder a mother and her four children.
In Feb. the U.S. unemployment rate drops to 8.9%.
In Feb. Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic movement in Israel is arrested in Jerusalem on suspicion of starting a forest fire to protest
the Jewish Nat. Fund; on May 24 he addresses students at Tel Aviv U. and utters the soundbyte: "We must keep fighting until we remove the Israeli occupation and free
holy Jerusalem"; on June 28 after entering the country illegally and giving a lecture, British authorities arrest him, pissing-off Palestinians and Arab Israelis, who accuse Israel of being behind it.
In Feb. the U.S. begins sending spy drones
into Mexico to monitor the drug trade; on Mar. 3 after it helps locate suspects in the murder of U.S. ICE agent Jaime Zapata, Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon agrees to allow it to continue; in Mar.
it is revealed that they really began sending them in 2009.
In Feb. an arrest warrant is issued for former Pakistani pres. (2001-8) Gen. Pervez Musharraf for involvement in the 2007
assassination of former PM Benazir Bhutto, causing him to live in self-exile in London.
In Feb. the Obama admin. accuses the secretive Lebanese Canadian Bank
of financing Hezbollah, causing it to be shut down and sold.
In Feb. the first Islamic TV channel in Russia debuts.
In Feb. the Borders
chain of bookstores files for bankruptcy and closes 200 of its 642 stores.
On Mar. 1 the funeral of former Islamist Turkish PM
Necmettin Erbakan (b. 1926),
who died on Feb. 27 draws thousands of Allah Akbar-shouting protesters.
On Mar. 1 more massive protests across
Yemen
cause embaddled pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh to offer to form a unity govt., blaming it all on
the West, with the soundbyte that there is "an operation room in Tel Aviv with the aim of
destabilizing the Arab world", and "It is all run by the White House"; on Apr. 30 Saleh
backs out of a mediated deal
that would have allowed him to step down in exchange for immunity, and his forces shoot at
demonstrators, killing four.
On Mar. 1 Am. Muslim Brahim Lajqi (1960-)
is convicted of falsifying immigration documents and sentenced to five years, but is not charged with threats to blow up the White House and other federal bldgs. and vowing
to "slaughter the enemies of Islam".
On Mar. 1 Taliban gunmen on motorbikes wound 15 girls at a college party in
Marden, Pakistan,
25 mi. NE of Peshawar.
On Mar. 1 German defense minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
resigns after revelations that he plagiarized large parts of his doctoral thesis in law at the U. of Bayreuth; on Mar. 2
Hans-Peter Friedrich succeeds him, on Mar. 5 uttering the soundbyte
that Islam is not part of Germany.
On Mar. 1 in response to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's treatment of protesters in the civil war,
U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 65/265 is adopted, suspending Libya's right to take part
in the U.N. Human Rights Council.
On Mar. 2 Pakisani minority affairs minister (Christian)
Shahbaz Bhatti
is killed by Muslim gunmen for opposing their sick Muslim blasphemy laws.
On Mar. 2 two U.S airmen are killed and two more seriously injured by Allah Akbar-shouting 21-y.-o. Kosovan Albanian Muslim gunman
Arid Uka (1989-)
in a bus outside Frankfurt Airport
in Germany, becoming the first successfully Islamic terrorist assassination in Germany, causing Pres. Obama to
condemn
the attack, saying "I am saddened, I am outraged by this attack"; Uka receives a life sentence, with possible deportation to Kosovo in 15 years;
as usual, the PC press tries to coverup the Muslim angle, and the German govt. claims he acted as a "lone wolf", until they arrest German Muslim
Rami Makanesi (1985-)
whom they suspect of working for al-Qaida to develop a Euro support network - lone wolf or known wolf?
On Mar. 2 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 8-1 in Snyder v. Phelps
that protests by the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. at military funerals where they shout that God is killing
U.S. soldiers to punish the U.S. for homosexuality are constitutionally protected, trumping a jury verdict that they're offensive;
Samuel Alito is the lone dissenter, saying a family has a right to bury their dead sons in peace.
On Mar. 2-3 an Obama-Calderon Summit
sees Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon also meet with House Speaker John Boehner and U.S. business leaders; on Mar. 3 Calderon
announces
that cables released by WikiLeaks have caused "severe damage" to the U.S.-Mexico relationship, and that he can no longer work with U.S. ambassador (since Aug. 9, 2009)
Carlos Pascual (1959-),
causing him to resign on Mar. 19; on Mar. 4 the two countries unveil a deal to resolve their 19-year
cross-border trucking feud,
and Calderon utters the soundbyte
that organized crime in Mexico jeopardizes the prosperity of North Am.
On Mar. 3 British radical Islamist Anjem Choudary
holds a protest in front of the White House demanding that Sharia be enacted, causing a counter-protest.
On Mar. 3 Pres. Obama expresses
"deep regret" over a NATO airstrike that killed nine Afghan boys in the Pech Valley in Kunar Province on Mar. 1.
On Mar. 3 Egyptian PM Ahmad Shafiq resigns in favor of transportation minister Essam Sharaf,
who plans to form a caretaker cabinet.
On Mar. 3 Am. Muslims Mohamed Mahmood Alessa (1989-) and Carlos Eduardo Almonte (1986-)
plead guilty to planning to join al-Shabaab in Somalia to kill U.S. troops; it is later revealed that 21 Muslims jihadists were recruited from
Minn. to join al-Shabaab.
On Mar. 4 London School of Economics dir. Sir
Howard Davis
resigns for accepting a Ł300K research grant from a foundation run by Col. Daffy's son Saif al Islam Gaddafi.
On Mar. 4 a Muslim Appreciation Day at the mosque of the Islamic Society of Tulsa, Okla.
is made mandatory for police officers; Capt. Paul Fields is suspended for two weeks for refusing to order his officers to attend.
On Mar. 5 a Sunni bomb in a Sufi shrine in Nowshera
in NW Pakistan kills 10 incl. a child, and injures 30.
On Mar. 5 the Gulf Cooperation Council
meets to prepare a Marshall Plan for Oman and Bahrain in an attempt to quell the unrest there; on Mar. 14 Saudi Arabia sends
troops into Bahrain to quell the uprising, pissing-off the U.S.; on Mar. 15 Bahrain's king imposes
a 3-mo. state of emergency and gives the military wide authority to battle the protesters.
On Mar. 5 4K Muslims attack Coptic Christian homes in Soul, Atfif
in Helwan Governate, Egypt (30 km. from cairo), and burn down the Church of St. Mina and St. George.
On Mar. 6 (4 a.m.) Muslim New York City cabbie Mohammed Azam (1983-)
runs over two of four men hailing a cab in Manhattan.
On Mar. 6 the History Channel debuts the 8-part miniseries The Kennedys
in Canada after canceling the U.S. debut because it isn't historically accurate enough.
On Mar. 6 Obama's new deputy nat. security adviser (since Oct. 22)
Denis McDonough (1969-)
releases a statement titled "Partnering with Communities to Prevent Violent Extremism", touting American tolerance and religious freedom, and parroting Obama's Cairo speech, saying that Islam
has nothing to do with violent extremism and that the Egyptian Rev. was commendable for "the moral force of nonviolence - not terrorism, not mindless killing".
On Mar. 7 the price of oil
jumps to $106 in Europe amid fierce Libyan fighting.
On Mar. 7 Space Shuttle Discovery
reenters Earth's atmosphere for the last time, ending its 39th and final voyage after 5,750 orbits and 150M mi.
On Mar. 7 protesters outside the U.S. embassy in Manama, Bahrain
are greeted by an embassy official who offers them a box of doughnuts.
On Mar. 8 the Mar. 8 Coalition
in Lebanon sees Hezbollah, Amal, and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) unite against PM Najib Mikati and Walid Jumblatt.
On Mar. 8 the Obama admin. finally admits that it will quit trying to close Guantanamo Bay,
and resumes military trials there.
On Mar. 8 a car bomb outside the office of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Faisalabad, Pakistan
kills 30+ and wounds 100+; it was set by the Islamist Al Tawhid Wal Jihad org. in revenge for killing one of their own.
On Mar. 8 the Black Hawks
self-proclaimed anti-Islamist terrorist commando group announces a war on them in North Caucasus.
On Mar. 8 zillions of dead fish wash up along a marina in Redondo Beach, Calif..
On Mar. 9 a video of Betsy Liley and Ron Schiller, an exec of
Nat. Public Radio (NPR)
calling the Tea Party racist and saying that NPR would be better off without federal money causes his resignation; the PC media covers up the real story that the investigative journalists
James O'Keefe
et al. were stinging him while posing as a Muslim Brotherhood connected org., which they were very friendly to; on Mar. 17 the U.S. House
votes
along party lines to block federal funding for NPR.
On Mar. 9 responding to an Iranian call for protest marches there, Saudi foreign minister Prince
Saud Al-Faisal
says that Saudi Arabia won't permit foreign intervention in its internal affairs.
On Mar. 9 the Peter King Hearings on Islamic Radicalization in the U.S.
("The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community's Response"), chaired by U.S. Rep. (R-N.Y.) (1993-)
Peter T. King (1944-)
(a longtime supporter of the IRA) begin; Minn. Dem. Rep. (Muslim)
Keith Ellison
(known for support of the Nation of Islam and financing of a trip to Mecca by the Muslim Brotherhood) puts on a
crying act
at the injustice of singling out one group, which happens to be the group responsible for radical extremist Muslims, namely Muslims, American and not;
Tex. Dem. Rep. (1995-) Sheila Jackson Lee (1950-)
gives a long ranting speech
mixing Islam up with the KKK et al., calling for the committee to take up "cold cases" from the civil rights era, and thumping the Constitution to try to stop the hearings.
On Mar. 9 three Shiite opposition groups call for an end to the monarchy in
Bahrain, and replacement by a "democracy".
On Mar. 9 Ill.
becomes U.S. state #16 to abolish the death penalty; the last execution in Ill. was in 2000.
On Mar. 9 the Dalai Lama
gives up his political role in Tibet's govt.-in-exile in favor of an elected rep.
On Mar. 9 a Pew Research Center Poll
shows that 40% of Americans think that the Islamic religion is more likely to encourage violence
than others, while 42% don't; Republicans and Tea Partyers are on the winners team, thinking that it does.
On Mar. 9 the Ninth (Unity) Wave
begins, ending on Oct. 28 with the achievement of Unity Consciousness, according to Swedish Mayanist
Carl Johan Calleman (1950-).
On Mar. 10 Saudi police open fire at a Shiite protest in Qatif, Saudi Arabia; on
Mar. 11 a planned Day of Rage in Saudi Arabia
is a dud, with several hundred protesting
in heavily Shiite E Saudi Arabia; the fall of the Saudi royals will bring a
worldwide recession?
On Mar. 11 the 9.0 2011 Tohoku Japan Earthquake
(biggest ever) strikes off Senai (near Tokyo), causing tsunami alerts in 20+ countries, with a 33-ft. wall of water swamping town in N Japan,
killing 10K and causing $35B in damage; an explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi (No. 1) Power Plant
nuclear reactor 170 mi. NE of Tokyo causes radiation to hit 1Kx the safe level, causing a 6-mi. exclusion zone to be placed around it, after which
a 2nd power plant explodes; on Mar. 14 the 3rd nuclear power plant explosion
occurs, causing panicked residents of Tokyo to flee as the U.S. braces for possible radioactive fallout;
the earthquake shortens the length of the day by 1.8 microsec.; on Mar. 15 100K protesters throughout Germany
call for closing of nuclear power stations; on Mar. 17 German chancellor Angela Merkel
orders Germany's older nuclear reactors to be temporarily shut down for a safety check; on Mar. 18 Pres. Obama
orders
a review of nuclear power plants, while standing strong on the need for more; on Mar. 26 after radioactive iodine spikes 1.2Kx higher than normal in nearby seawater,
Japanese authorities order
the evacuation zone to be expanded to 18 mi.; on Apr. 12 Japan raises
the crisis level at Fukushima to 7 (highest), equal to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
On Mar. 11 a Rasmussen Poll
of U.S. voters shows that 63% think that gaining control of the U.S.-Mexico border is more important
than legalizing undocumented workers already in the U.S.
On Mar. 12 (night) Palestinian Arab terrorists infiltrate a Jewish town in the N West Bank settlement of
Itamar
near Nablus in Samaria and brutally stabs and kills the sleeping
Fogel Family
of five, incl. a child and an infant; Palestinians in Gaza
celebrate
the murders and pass out candy; on Mar. 15 two members of Mahmoud Abbas's official security forces
are arrested for it, causing Israeli
foreign minister
Avigdor Lieberman
to accuse the Palestinian Authority of perpetuating terror attacks via incement against Israelis; on
Mar. 16 Palestinian pres.
Mahmoud Abbas
offers to visit Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for the first time in four hears to reunite Fatah with Hamas;
on Mar. 21 20K attend the Fogel Family funeral; on Apr. 19 the Israelis
arrest
Amjad Awad (19) and Hakim Awad (18) of the nearby village of Awarta; U.S. PC media is strangely silent
about the whole affair.
On Mar. 12 the Malaysian govt.
blocks
the import of 35K Bibles in the Malay language from Indonesia, then releases them on Mar. 16.
On Mar. 13 gunmen ambush a van in
Parachinar
in NW Pakistan and kill 11, incl. eight civilians before police kill three gunmen.
On Mar. 13 tens of thousands demonstrate the 6th anniv. of the uprising against Syria in
Beirut
demanding that Hezbollah be disarmed.
On Mar. 13 after preaching against secular violence in Nigeria Muslim imam
Ibrahim Ahmed Abdullahi
is murdered in his mosque in Maiduguri by Boko Haram gunmen.
On Mar. 13
Philip J. Crowley
resigns as U.S. asst. secy. of state for public affairs for remarks that pre-trial detention
of WikiLeaker PFC Bradley Manning is "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid".
On Mar. 13 it is
revealed
that Pres. Obama told his aides that it would be much easier to be pres. of China.
On Mar. 14 Pres. Obama addresses the
Kenmore Middle School
in Arlington, Va., saying "In the 21st century, it's not enough to leave no child behind.
We need to help every child get ahead."
On Mar. 14 (2 p.m.) a suicide bomber in Kunduz Province
in N Afghanistan kills 33 and wounds 42, most of them volunteers trying to enroll in the nat. army.
On Mar. 14 Pervez Musharraf
appears on BBC-TV, saying that he believed that Britain gave him "tacit approval" to torture terrorism suspects.
On Mar. 14 a bomb explodes at the office of the moderate
Liberal Islam Network (JIL)
in Jakarta, Indonesia, injuring four incl. a police officer.
On Mar. 14 it is announced
that the Egyptian army shelled 6+ vehicles attempting to smuggle weapons into Egypt from Sudan.
On Mar. 14 a 35-y.-o. man in Grand Cayman
stages a 9/11 phone prank claiming to be an Islamic jihadist planting C4, getting him arrested.
On Mar. 15 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton arrives in Cairo;
she is snubbed by a coalition of six youth groups from the Egyptian rev.; after pledging $90M in emergency economic aid, she
visits
Tahrir Square with PM Essam Sharaf, saying that she's "deeply inspired" by the rev., with the soundbyte:
"To see where this revolution happened and all that it has meant to the world is extraordinary for me. It's just a great reminder
of the power of the human spirit and universal desire for human rights and democracy. It's just thrilling to see where this happened."
On Mar. 15 the Israeli navy seizes the Liberian flagship Liberia
320 km off the Israeli coast, claiming that it carries Iranian weapons destined for Hamas et al. in Gaza Strip.
On Mar. 15 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police charge
two Canadian Muslims incl. Ferid Imam and ? with terrorism-related offenses involving al-Qaida, incl. training Najibullah Zazi.
On Mar. 15 the African Union Summit
in Ethiopia discusses the formation of an African Union Authority to replace the African Union Commission as the next step towards a U.S. of Africa.
On Mar. 15 Canadian Liberal MP
Justin Trudeau
blasts a Discover Canada guide calling honor killings "barbaric", saying "there needs to be a little bit of an attempt at responsible neutrality"; after a Tory firestorm, he
apologizes.
On Mar. 15 WikiLeaks whistleblower Julian Paul Assange (1971-)
claims
that the U.S. diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks helped spur the Arab uprisings because it made it difficult for the U.S. to continue supporting the regimes while trying to explain to
them that they couldn't rely on U.S. support if they used military force on protesters.
On Mar. 15 protests in Damascus demanding dem. reforms and the release of political prisoners are met with security forces firing on them, triggering the
Syrian Civil War (ends ?) between the Syrian govt. of Bashar al-Assad, rebel groups incl. the Islamic Front, Al-Nusrah Front et al.,
and Hezbollah.
On Mar. 17 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu criticizes
Europe's "strange fusion" of radical Islam and the far left, saying "There is a new boiling anti-Semitism of radical Islam that sweeps Europe as a whole, and there's a strange fusion –
it's the only word I can use to describe it – a fusion with the anti-Semitism of the radical far far left"; meanwhile
Ehud Barak
warns that Israel faces a "diplomatic tsunami" for its indecisiveness about a new Palestinian state, which has been recognized by 110+ countries.
On Mar. 17 British Muslim former hospital dir. Saeeda Khan
is convicted of trafficking Tanzanian woman Mwanahamisi Mruke (1963-) then using her as a slave.
On Mar. 18 thousands protest in Sana'a, Yemen;
govt. forces fire on them from rooftops, killing 52 and wounding 200.
On Mar. 18 hundreds of Saudi Shiites protest in E Saudi Arabia
in support of Shiites in Bahrain, causing King Abdullah to offer them $93B more in benefits while strengthening security forces.
On Mar. 18 (Fri.) Syrian rebels begin naming Fridays for their rev. cause; the first one is "Day of Dignity".
On Mar. 18 an ABC News - Washington Post Poll
finds that for the first time over 50% (53%) of Americans say it should be legal for gays and lesbians to marry; in 2004 it was 32%; 44% are opposed, vs. 62% in 2004.
On Mar. 18 Visa announces a new peer (person-to-person) payment system.
On Mar. 18 masked men open fire in a bar in Acapulco, Mexico,
killing 10 and injuring four.
On Mar. 19 elections in Egypt
on a referendum on changes to the constitution to reduce the powers of the pres. and ensure fair elections see a crowd throw stones at Mohamed ElBaradei in Cairo while trying to vote,
calling him a U.S. agent; article #2 of the constitution making Islam the official religion is not up for vote; after Islamist groups incl. the
Salafists declare plans to establish political parties for the coming pres. elections, the
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
announces that Egypt won't "fall into the hands of Islamists"; Christian Copts begin
fleeing
Egypt, reaching 93K by late Sept.
On Mar. 19 Pres. Obama makes a trip to
South Am.,
starting with Brasil, announcing that he wants to put the two nations "on a path toward
even greater cooperation for decades to come",
pledging
that the U.S. will be a "major customer" for Brazilian oil in coming years; on Mar. 18 (eve.) an
anti-Obama protest in Rio
causes the police to use rubber bullets; on Mar. 20 Obama gives a
speech in Rio,
praising Brasil's democracy as an example to his, er, the Arab world; on Mar. 21 (Mon.) he
visits Chile,
and talks about expanding economic copper, er, cooperation; on Mar. 23 he ends by visiting
El Salvador, saying
that the best strategy for curbing illegal immigration to the U.S. is to create economic growth there.
On Mar. 19
Palestinian militants
fire 50+ rockets into Israel, the heaviest barrage in two years; meanwhile Hamas police beat up
reporters and confiscate their reporters.
On Mar. 19 Muslims spray
Sri Mandir Hindu Temple
in Auburn, Australia with bullets.
On Mar. 21 U.S. Sen. (D-Va.)
James Webb
issues a press release, saying that the U.S. mission in Libya "lacks clarity".
On Mar. 21 Pfizer begins selling
Viagra Jet,
a new chewable form in Mexico.
On Mar. 22 German finance minister
Wolfgang Schauble
says that Islam is a part of German society and that Germany must not discriminate.
On Mar. 22 Venezuelan pres.
Hugo Chavez
utters the soundbyte that capitalism may have ended life on Mars.
On Mar. 22 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton gives an
interview
to Diane Sawyer of ABC World News, revealing that Libyan Col. Madman Daffy is exploring exile options.
On Mar. 22/23 (midnight) after 15 boys aged 10-15 imitate the Arab Spring protesters by placing
graffiti on public bldgs., and the secret police under Bashar al-Assad's cousin Gen. Atef Najeeb
torture them by pulling their fingernals, outraging the pop., Syrian forces attack the
Al-Omari Mosque
in Deraa 70 mi. S of Damascus near the Yarmuck River border with Jordan, killing six protesters.
On Mar. 23 a bomb tied to a telephone pole near a bus stop outside the Internat. Convention Center
in C Jerusalem wounds 25.
On Mar. 23 clashes between pro and anti govt. tribesmen in
Al-Jawf
in N Yemen kill 40+.
On Mar. 23 Palestinian militants in
Gaza
fire a new barrage of rockets deep into Israel, causing the Jerusalem Post to declare it the start of
the Third Intifada.
On Mar. 24 U.S. attys. Stephen W. Preston, Mary B. DeRosa, Jeh Johnson, and Rear Adm. James W. Crawford III
meet
in secret to develop a legal rationale to take out Osama bin Laden, paving the way for the SEAL hit.
On Mar. 24 by 22-7-14 the U.N. Human Rights Council
in Geneva adopts a resolution on combating intolerance based on religion, finally dropping all reference to Islam in revulsion against
Pakistan's infamous blasphemy laws, dropping restrictions on peaceful free expression and calling on member nations to adopt "measures to criminalize the
incitement to imminent violance based on religion or belief"; after Iran fails to heed a Gen. Assembly call to improve their record, it also creates its first-ever
special rapporteur for human rights in Iran
after the Org. of the Islamic Conference bloc splits ranks; on June 17 ex-foreign affairs minister of Maldives (Muslim)
Ahmed Shaheed (1964-) is appointed (until ?).
On Mar. 24 the U.S. Census Bureau
announces that the new mean center of pop. is 2.7 mi. NE of Plato, Mo. (pop. 109);
in 2000 it was in Edgar Springs, Mo., 40 mi. NE.; U.S. pop. is 308M;
Hispanic pop.
is up to 50M.
On Mar. 25 10K protest in
Syria,
causing the govt. to crack down, with troops killing 37 in Daraa in S Syria as they try to topple a
statue of ex-dictator Hafez Assad; the 10K-man
Iranian Rev. Guard Corps
is put in charge of ending the uprising; on Apr. 8 Syrian soldiers are
shot
for refusing to shoot at protesters in Banias; on Apr. 13 hundreds of women march in protest
after mass arrests in Baida.
On Mar. 25 after being criticized for refusing to help the NATO mission in Libya, the German Bundestag
votes to broaden the German mission
in Afghanistan.
On Mar. 25 U.S. prosecutors
admit
that a human smuggling ring brought in an undetermined number of potential Somalian Muslim jihadists via Brazil.
On Mar. 25 Muslims in
London, England protest to demand
Sharia law for the U.K.
On Mar. 25 a report by the Swiss-based
Displacement Monitoring Center
claims that 230K+ have been displaced by drug violence in Mexico, and about half may have taken refuge
in the U.S.; meanwhile
Mexico
finally repeals federal criminal penalties for adultery.
On Mar. 25 the Asia Times reports that Osama bin Laden
was recently spotted in the Hindu Kish Mts. of Pakistan-Afghanitan; meanwhile Al-Qaida in Libya
steals some SAMs from an arsenal in Libya.
On Mar. 26 Syrian pres. Bashed Ass, er, Bashar al-Assad issues an amnesty
for 260 prisoners in Sednayya Prison outside Damascus; too bad, they are mainly islamists, who join Islamist terrorist orgs. like ISIS and al-Nusrah Front.
On Mar. 27 Islamic militants seize a weapons factory in Abyan, S Yemen.
On Mar. 27 Taliban fighters abduct 50 off-duty Afghan policemen in an ambush in the
Chapa Dara
district of NE Kunar Province.
On Mar. 27 an Israeli strike on a Palestinian rocket squad in Gaza Strip
kills two militants.
On Mar. 27 former U.S. defense secy. Donald H. Rumsfeld
says that he is worried that the Muslim Brotherhood will hijack the Egyptian Rev.
On Mar. 27 Hillary Clinton's advisor Sid Blumenthal sends her an email
informing her that U.S.-backed Libyan Arab rebels are exterminating anybody with black skin, and does nothing about it?
On Mar. 28 the New York Times
puts up a firewall on the Internet to block non-paying subscribers.
On Mar. 28 Repub. pres. hopeful Newt Gingrich
gives a speech at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Tex., and says that he's worried that the U.S. could turn into "a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists".
On Mar. 28 an unusual air attack is staged by the Russians against a militant Islamist base in North Caucasus, after which on Mar. 29 pres. Dmitri Medveyev
warns
the separatist fighters to surrender or "be destroyed".
On Mar. 28 the Mansfield City School District
in Ohio withdraws permission for a Tea Party group to stage an event on school grounds featuring a speaker who urges Muslims to convert to Christianity, causing them to sue.
On Mar. 29 the govt. of Syria resigns;
Hillary Clinton condemns it for its harsh treatment of pro-democracy protesters.
On Mar. 29 uniformed jihadists in military trucks blast their way in a provincial govt. HQ in
Tikrit, Iraq,
killing 55+ and injuring 95.
On Mar. 29 the first-ever hearings on
Discrimination Against Muslims in the U.S.
are held by the Senate Judiciary Committee's panel on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights,
chaired by asst. Sen. Dem. majority whip (2007-15)
Richard Joseph "Dick" Durbin (1944-),
who claims it's not an attempt to counter Pete King's House hearings, and utters the soundbyte:
"We should all agree that it is wrong to blame an entire community for the wrongdoing of a few";
Sen. Jon Kyl
(R-Ariz.) questions the need for the hearings in light of the fact that most religious hate crimes
in the U.S. are committed against Jews, and says he's "stunned" that Muslim Advocates dir.
Farhana Khera
gives advice to Muslims to not speak to the FBI or infidel law enforcement sans an atty.
On Mar. 29 a German govt. conference on Islam
in Berlin is boycotted by Germany's main Muslim group the Central Council of Muslims.
On Mar. 29 after many complaints from the Israeli govt. et al., Facebook shuts down the
Third Intifada Group,
calling for Muslims to launch another war against the Jews.
On Mar. 29 ABC-TV's Diane Sawyer
interviews
Pres. Obama, and compares him to Abe Lincoln who prayed when "his own wisdom and that around
him was insufficient for the day", and got him to respond "I do a lot of praying" - to Allah?
On Mar. 29 U.S. HUD secy. Shaun Donovan
says that no other pres. "better understands" the need for public housing than Obama, and that the admin. will fight House Repubs. over proposed cuts.
On Mar. 29 the London Conference on Libya
sponsored by Britain and France in hopes of building a consensus sees several Arab states back out, incl. Egypt.
On Mar. 29 the moderate Muslim Am.-Islamic Leadership Coalition
is founded to defend the U.S. Constitution, religious pluralism, U.S. security, and diversity in Islam as a counter to CAIR etc.
On Mar. 30 Pres. Obama calls
for a one-third cut in oil imports by 2020.
On Mar. 30 Ugandan pres. Tamale Mirundi
says that Libyan dictator Col. Daffy is welcome to live in his country - today and tamale?
On Mar. 30 Syrian pres. Bashar Assad
blames "conspirators" for the wave of protests against his authoritarian rule.
On Mar. 30 a suicide bomber on a motorbyke blows up in a crowd in Swabi, Pakistan (44 mi. from Islamabad)
as they gather to meet hardline Islamist leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman of Jamiat Uleme-e-Islam.
On Mar. 30 a massacre in Blolequin, Ivory Coast
sees 85 men, women and children seeking refuge in a govt. bldg. killed.
On Mar. 30 Yemeni-Am. Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki
breaks his silence on the Arab Spring, saying that Islamists are elated by the revolts against govts. they have long despised.
On Mar. 30 a new poll
by Quinnipiac U. finds that 50% of voters say that Pres. Obama doesn't deserve a 2nd term, with 41% saying he does.
On Mar. 30 the U.S. House Oversight and Govt. Reform Committee issues a
report
alleging that the Dept. of Homeland Security has politicized the way it responds to
FOIA request for info. from the public and press.
On Mar. 30 new German interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich hosts a
Conference on Islam
with Muslim leaders in Berlin, saying that he wants to "work together on preventing radicaliation and extremism"; he
proposes
a "security partnership" with German Muslims, causing a firestorm of controversy.
On Mar. 30 the 9/11 Commission
tells the Senate Homeland Security Committee that the U.S. is still unprepared for terrorist attacks.
On Mar. 30 the Ł8M Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies
at Cambridge U. in Britain opens.
On Mar. 30 U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.)
introduces legislation to order secy. of state Hillary Clinton to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist orgs.
On Mar. 30 the LA Times reports White House comments that
"CIA officers on the ground in Libya are coordinating with rebels and sharing intelligence."
On Mar. 30 (midnight) Camp Pendleton, Calif.
issues a security alert after three Middle Eastern Muslim men in two vehicles drive to it under suspicious circumstances - Islamophobia?
On Mar. 31 Israel releases a
map
showing how Lebanon has been booby-trapped with 1K underground military sites by Hezbollah,
which they call "resistance tunnels"; on Mar. 31 Hamas member
Hasan Abyu Jaser
is killed in a tunnel collapse.
On Mar. 31 Nation of Islam leader
Louis Farrakhan
gives a speech praising Libyan dictator Col. Daffy and thanking him for lending them $8M
over the years, giving the Nation of Islam its first headlines in years.
In Mar. the U.S. Army is exposed for its
Afghanistan Kill Team
that posed for photos of murdered civilians.
In Mar. Ntrepid Corp.
of the U.S. is awarded a $2.76M contract to develop sock puppet software to manipulate social media on non-English speaking Web sites incl. Arabic, Farsi, Urdi, and Pasho as
part of the $200M Operation Earnest Voice Program.
In Mar. billionaire real estate celeb
Donald Trump (1946-)
begins making moves to announce his Repub. candidacy for U.S. pres., saying that "I have some real doubts" that Obama was born in the U.S., and dissing him for
not releasing his birth certificate, saying there might be something on it he doesn't want people to see, such as that it lists him as Muslim, or worse, maybe
Obama originally had a different surname and father; Trump reportedly sent investigators to Hawaii on the trail of it, stay tuned; he also
claims
that Obama spent $2M+ trying to keep his birth certificate, college transcripts, etc., sealed, when actually that number is little more than speculation;
Orly Taitz claims that it was more than $5M, paid to nat. law firm
Perkins Cole,
but then, signing Executive Order 13489
(Jan. 21, 2009) sealing all his records didn't cost him a cent, did it?
In Mar. the U.S. economy
adds 216K job, leaving unemployment at 8.8%.
In Mar. 51% of Americans ages 12+ have profiles on Facebook.
In Mar. the U.S. military begins issuing 13K
Individual Gunshot Detectors
that can tell where a shot was fired from, incl. distance and direction in less than 1 sec.
In Mar. Tibetan Buddhist monks begin
self-immolation
to protest Chinese govt. opression; by Nov. 9 monks and one attempt suicide.
On Apr. 1 after reports that Christian pastor Terry Jones burned a Quran in Fla. in Mar., a
mob of enraged Muslims in
Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan
turns violent, killing eight at a U.N. operational center, beheading two of them, after
which Jones calls on
the U.N. to take "immediate action" against Muslim nations to hold them accountable for
the deaths, urging them to "alter the laws that govern their countries to allow for
individual freedoms and rights, such as the right to worship, free speech and to move
freely without fear of being attacked or killed"; instead, Pres. Obama extends condolences
to the families of the murdered, and
calls
desecration of the Quran "an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry"; on Apr. 2 the Muslims
continue
their rampage in Kandahar, killing 10 and wounding 83, causing U.S. gen.
David Petraeus
to condemn Jones, calling Quran burning "hateful", "intolerant", and "extremely disrespectful",
adding "we condemn it in the strongest manner possible"; a
2nd and 3rd day
of rage sees more marches and mayhem, followed by a 4th and 5th; meanwhile officials in Pakistan
send a letter
to Interpol demanding the arrest of Jones for his "violent crime", and U.S. Sens. Harry Reid
(D-Nev.) and Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) call for Quran burning to be criminalized, with Graham uttering the soundbyte "Free speech is a great idea, but we're in a war."
On Apr. 1 protests in Douma, Syria
(near Damascus) cause 10 to be killed; on Apr. 3 thousands march in Douma to mourn those killed in protests; meanwhile pres. Bashar Assad appoints a former agriculture minister to form a new govt.
On Apr. 1 British security and counter-terrorism minister (since May 13, 2010) baroness
Lilian Pauline Neville-Jones (1939-)
tells the Daily Telegraph that the govt. needs to persuade the Muslim pop. that the U.K. is a single nation, and that they don't just "rub along together" but must be persuaded that their
longterm future lies in Britain - but not in becoming British?
On Apr. 2 a massacre of 1K+ in Duekoue, Ivory Coast
in an area controlled by forces fighting to install pres. Alassane Ouattara is reported by a Catholic charity.
On Apr. 3 a group of Islamists stage a protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh
against a govt. policy giving women equal rights to inheritance, and throw stones, causing police to open fire and use tear gas, killing one and injuring 25.
On Apr. 3 the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood gets more vocal and demands
that the govt. establish Saudi-style modesty police.
On Apr. 3 an Islamist suicide attack in the Sufi
Sakhi Sarwar Shrine
in Punjab, India kills 41.
On Apr. 3 the Obama admin. flops,
dropping support
of pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh; Yemeni officials announce that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula
has seized the city of
Jar
and declared an Islamic Emirate; pres. Saleh let them in to bolster his tenuous grip on power?
On Apr. 3 Somalia declares the new state of
Azania.
On Apr. 3 Ai Weiwei,
the Chinese artist known for the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing is arrested for criticism of the govt.
On Apr. 3-10 the miniseries The Kennedys
debuts on History Channel, starring Greg Kinnear as JFK, Katie Holmes as Jacqueline Kennedy, Barry Pepper as RFK, and Tom Wilkinson as Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
On Apr. 4 (4th day of 4th mo. of the 44th anniv. of the assassination of MLK Jr.), U.S. pres. #44 Barack Obama (born on Aug. 4 and elected pres. on Nov. 4, 2009)
launches his reelection campaign.
On Apr. 4 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder finally announces
that he's cleared military prosecutors to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others accused in the 9/11 case for military trials at Gitmo, flopping on his Nov. 2009 decision to try them in a civil court in
New York City; knowing how bad it makes Obama looks, he tries to blame
Congress for forcing him to do it.
On Apr. 4 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket
utters
the soundbyte: "A Mideast without Israel and America is now possible"; on Apr. 7 he adds:
"You should know that the Zionist regime has reached the end of the line and no one can save this regime."
On Apr. 4 the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights releases a
letter
headed "Dear Colleague" that dramatically changes procedures for handling alleged sexual assault cases, making suspects guilty
until proven innocent and bypassing the police to please hardcore feminists.
On Apr. 5 the Obama admin. gives Congress a
report
on Pakistan, saying that its military has "no clear path toward defeating the insurgency" by al-Qaida.
On Apr. 5 the Wall Street Journal
reports
that the U.S. has frozen military aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces, which are controlled by Hezbollah.
On Apr. 5 a
Debate on the Practice of Islam
is held by France's ruling party in an attempt to stem the growing influence of the far right party
of Marie Le Pen; meanwhile French interior minister
Claude Gueant
is prosecuting for declaring that the "growing" number of Muslims in France poses a "problem" - suicide in Eurabia?
On Apr. 5 the legislative house in
Ala.
passes an Ariz.-style immigration crackdown law by 73-28, sending it to the Ala. senate.
On Apr. 5 Israel
attacks
Sudan, killing 100+ in an air strike.
On Apr. 5 renewed clashes in
Yemen in Sana'a and Taiz
kill three and injure 400+; on Apr. 6 tens of thousand siege the HQ of the governate of
Taiz; meanwhile 15 are arrested in Aden after clashes with police; on Apr. 8 ("Fri. of
Determination") hundreds of thousands protest in 15 of Yemen's 21 governates; on Apr. 10
clashes between protesters and police in Taiz result in four killed and 43 injured, with
500 becoming ill from tear gas; on Apr. 11 Saleh announces acceptance of a 30-day exit
plan offered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); on Apr. 12 hundreds of thousands protest
the GCC proposals; on Apr. 13 the 1st Armored Div. defects from Yemen's army; on Apr. 15
("Fri. of Tolerance") hundreds of thousands protest throughout Yemen; on Apr. 17 GCC
ministers meet with Saleh's opposition in Riyadh, while two protesters are killed and 45
injured in Sana'a; on Apr. 21 Saleh's eldest son Ahmad leads the Repub. Guards against
armed tribesmen in the S governate of Lahj, killing 15, incl. 13 soldiers; on Apr. 22
("Last Chance Fri.") hundreds of thousands protest in main cities; on Apr. 27 protesters
advancing towards the state TV bldg. in Sana'a are attacked by police, who kill seven
and injure 100+; on Apr. 29 ("Fri. of Loyalty with Martyrs") hundreds of thousands
demonstrate in 17 governates, while Saleh dismisses atty.-gen. Abdullah al-Ulifi for
demanding an investigation of the Repub. Guards; on May 4 tens of thousands protest
in major cities after the govt. bombs the Yafea district of the Lahj governate; meanwhile
the govt. accuses protesters of cutting out the tongue of a poet loyal to Saleh; on May 5
tens of thousands demonstrate, demanding that Saleh step down; on May 6 ("Fri. of Loyalty
with People of the South") hundreds of thousands demonstrate throughout Yemen, while
Saleh vows a crackdown on "opposition-backed bandits" for hitting oil pipelines and a
power plant in Marib Governate; on May 8 protests in Taiz and Hodeidah governates kill
three and injure 20 protesters; on May 9 "rev. youth" close offices in Ibb, Taiz, and
Hodeidah; meanwhile four are killed and 100+ injured in Taiz by govt. troops dispersing
protesters sieging govt. offices; on May 11 thousands march toward the Council of
Ministers bldg. in Sana'a, killing 12 and injuring 150, plus another eight killed in
Taiz, Hodeidah and Ibb; on May 13 ("Fri. of Decisiveness") hundreds of thousands protest
throughout Yemen, which Saleh counters by calling it the "Fri. of Unity"; meanwhile
fights between the 1st Armoured Div. and the Repub. Guards in Ban Matar District 40 km
W of Sana'a kill three soldiers; on May 14 five Repub. Guardsmen are killed in an ambush
by tribesman in Marib governate 180 km E of Sana'a, along with six govt. security forces
in Rada in Beida governate 150 km SE of Sana'a.
On Apr. 6 the Obama admin. reaches an agreement with
Colombia
regarding violence against labor leaders, enabling a free trade agreement negotiated by the
Bush admin. to win approval although Obama campaigned against it in 2008.
On Apr. 6 U.S. defense secy. Robert M. Gates
visits
Saudi Arabia to mend fences with King Abdullah and discuss the $60B arms deal.
On Apr. 6 Syria
reverses
its ban on teachers wearing the Islamic veil, and closes the country's only casino in a bid
to appease Islamists amid calls for more pro-dem. demonstrations; meanwhile Tunisia
announces
that women will be allowed to wear hijan on photographic IDs.
On Apr. 6 Mexican police uncover a mass grave near San Fernando (80 mi. S of Brownsville, Tex.) in
Tamaulipas
containing 183 bodies; on Apr. 15 16 police officers are arrested for covering for the drug cartel, which kidnapped bus passengers en route to Matamoros, where 400 unclaimed suitcases are reported.
On Apr. 6 the U.S. Govt. Accountability Office (GAO) tells
Congress that the TSA failed at least 23x to stop terror suspects who boarded planes at U.S. airports; on Apr. 7 the U.S. govt.
announces
that its new style of terror alerts will be seen on Facebook and Twitter.
On Apr. 6 Acorn (Assoc. of Community Orgs. for Reform Now)
is convicted in Las Vegas, Nev. of felony "compensation" for registration of voters, becoming their first criminal conviction.
On Apr. 7 former PM (1993-4) Mahamadou Issoufou (1952-)
becomes pres. of Niger (until ?), inheriting the 2011-2 Sahel Food Crisis, and launching the
3N (Nigerians Feeding Nigerians) Initiative next year.
On Apr. 7 the Taliban attack a police compound in
Kandahar, Afghanistan,
killing six Afghan security personnel, who kill four Taliban jihadis;
the use of an ambulance
by the attackers is later lamented by the Taliban, who promise an investigation and that
it won't happen again.
On Apr. 7 a Muslim gunman opens fire on students at
Tasso da Silveira Primary School
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing 20.
On Apr. 7 French interior minister
Claude Gueant
warns that humanitarian permits granted to thousands of Tunisians are temporary,
and that France won't tolerate a "wave of Tunisian immigration".
On Apr. 7 the Iraqi army clashes with the
People's Mujahedeen,
an Iranian exile group at Camp Ashraf N of Baghdad, killing 33, then blocks humanitarian aid.
On Apr. 7 the first-ever Islamic univ. in
Albania
opens in Tirana.
On Apr. 7 the Hawaiian Appeals Court
rejects a request by Robert V. Justice to "inspect and copy" Obama's birth certificate, saying he must be a close family member - duh, so why doesn't a close member
request it to satisfy everybody? Because Obama told them he's got nothing to hide, or the reverse? The burden of proof is on Obama if he wants the issue to go away,
else it shouldn't, it could be a major scandal in U.S. history, if anybody still cares about the Constitution that is, because his entire presidency could become like
the Lost Season of Dallas, when Pam wakes up and finds Bobby in the shower?
On Apr. 8 Pres. Obama signs an executive order
to continue the nat. emergency with respect to Somalia declared on Apr. 12, 2010.
On Apr. 8 N.Y. Repub. U.S. sen.
Gregory R. Ball,
chmn. of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs
holds another hearing on Muslims and terrorism, hearing a talk by ex-Muslim Nonie Darwish; a
Curious George doll
with Star of David stickers on it and a hate-filled Muslim letter is sent to him, which on Apr. 14 is traced to
Jameela Barnette
of Marietta, Ga. who also sent the bloody pig's foot to Peter King.
On Apr. 8 1K non-Iranian Shiite clerics and students from Qum, Iran
demonstrate
outside the U.N. HQ and Saudi embassy in an attempt to get the Iranian govt. to support
the protesters in Bahrain, shouting Death to America and Death to the Saud Family; meanwhile
demonstrations are held
in several Iraqi cities calling for the departure of PM Nouri Al-Maliki, and an end to corruption.
On Apr. 8 1M stage a protest
in Liberation Square in Cairo demanding that the Egyptian govt. abandon the peace treaty with Israel and lift the blockade on Gaza Strip.
On Apr. 8 the
Izzadin Kassam Brigades
of Hamas shoot an anti-tank missile at an Israeli school bus, injuring
a student and the driver, causing Israel to respond with air attacks in Gaza Strip, killing five;
meanwhile Hamas ramps up
the rocket attacks on Israel.
On Apr. 8 prominent Muslim cleric
Moulvi Showkat Ahmad Shah,
who denounced stone-throwing protests as un-Islamic is murdered outside a mosque in Srinagar.
On Apr. 8 (Fri. night) Dems.
surrender
$38.5B in cuts to Repubs. to avert a U.S. govt. shutdown.
On Apr. 8 NASA astronaut
Cady Coleman
aboard the Internat. Space Station performs the first Space-Earth flute duet with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.
On Apr. 8-11
Bretton Woods II
is held in Bretton Woods, N.H., sponsored
by leftist billionaire George Soros, who wants a NWO OWG with a global currency under U.N. rule.
On Apr. 9 a Muslim opens fire with an automatic weapon at a crowded shopping mall outside
Amsterdam, Netherlands,
killing six and wounding 11.
On Apr. 9 the U.S.
criticizes
Saudi Arabia for putting restrictions on the Internet.
On Apr. 9-10 Am. rock star
Bob Dylan
performs in China and Vietnam after allowing the govt. to preapprove his playlist - the 1960s are dead?
On Apr. 10 1K Muslims and leftist anti-war activists protest in
Union Square
in New York City, carrying signs that read "Stop War/Terrorism/Islamophobia".
On Apr. 10 a 21-.y.-o. Jew in Villeurbanne (near Lyon), France
is attacked by anti-Semites and seriously wounded as he returns from a Torah course.
On Apr. 10 an Islamic jihadist in Dagestan
in N Caucasus is killed when his suicide vest prematurely detonates.
On Apr. 10 Welsh British Nat. Party candidate Sion Owens (1970-)
is arrested for burning a Quran in his garden; the charges are dropped, but the investigators state that "almost certainly other proceedings will ensue".
On Apr. 11 tens of thousand protest Mexico City
to demand an end to the war on drugs, chanting "No More Blood" and calling for pres. Felipe Calderon's resignation for sending the army on the cartels in late 2006, causing 35K deaths.
On Apr. 11 France's new anti-veiling law
comes into effect, making it illegal to hide one's face in public or encouraging another to do so, whether a Muslim or not, causing
protests
outside Notre Dame Cathedral, with two arrested; only 2K women bear the burqa or niqab in France; on Apr. 11 the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood issues a
warning, calling the French veil ban "the beginning of a dangerous battle".
On Apr. 11 Ivory Coast pres. #4 (since Oct. 26, 2000) Laurent Gbagbo
is arrested at his residence in Abidjan by French and U.N. troops after a battle; in Nov. he is extradited to The Hague and charged with four counts of crime against humanity in the
Internat. Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with post-election violence.
On Apr. 12 an Egyptian man declares himself to be the Mahdi (Muslim Messiah) at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and is immediately arrested.
On Apr. 11 female deputy police chief Atifete Jahjaga (1975-) is elected pres. of Kosovo (until Apr. 7, 2016).
On Apr. 11 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton gives a news conference with Finnish foreign minister Alexander Stubb in Washington, D.C., and
decries
the marginalization of women in the Islamic world, saying they must be empowered for true democracy in the Middle East.
On Apr. 12 the 50th anniv. of first astronaut in space Yuri Gagarin causes Russian pres. Dmitri Medvedev to gush.
On Apr. 12 the U.N. declares the Palestinian Authority largely ready to govern a Palestinian state.
On Apr. 12 an Egyptian man declares himself to be the Mahdi
(Muslim Messiah) at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and is immediately arrested.
On Apr. 13 Pres. Obama gives a Speech on the Deficit,
calling for it to be reduced by $4T over the next 12 years.
On Apr. 13 the FBI announces the dismantling of the giant internat. Coreflood
botnet that commandeered 2.3M Windows PCs (1.8M in the U.S.), and stole up to $100M.
On Apr. 13 U.S. Rep. (R-N.C.) Sue Myrick,
chmn. of the Intel subcommittee begins holding hearings on the Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood.
On Apr. 14 Pres. Obama, British PM David Cameron, and French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy pub. an
op-ed in
the New York Times, with the soundbyte: "There is a pathway to peace that promises new hope
for the people of Libya - a future without Qaddafi that preserves Libya's integrity and
sovereignty, and restores her economy and the prosperity and security of her people."
On Apr. 14 after their gang leader Abu al-Walid al-Maqdisi was arrested by Hamas on Mar. 2, Italian pro-Palestinian activist
Vittorio Arrigoni (b. 1975)
is kidnapped in Gaza by members of al-Qaida-linked Tawhid wal-Jihad,
then hanged on Apr. 15 after their ransom demands aren't meant; Hamas denies involvement, as does Tawhid wal-Jihad.
On Apr. 14 350 Islamist Salafi hardline protesters in Zarqa, Jordan
clash with supporters of Jordan's king, wounding dozens.
On Apr. 14 a delegation from the British Foreign Office led by consul-gen. Marie-Louise Archer
meets in Alexandria, Egypt with the Muslim Brotherood.
On Apr. 14 Obama interviews
fan George Stephanopoulos of ABC-TV, and utters the soundbyte: "I think that over the last two and a half years there's been an effort to go at me in a way that is politically
expedient in the short term for Republicans, but creates, I think, a problem for them when they want to actually run in a general election where most people feel pretty confident
the president was born where he says he was, in Hawaii. He doesn't have horns... We're not really worrying about conspiracy theories or birth certificates" - that settles it -
the president says he was born in Hawaii - which president, Clinton?
On Apr. 14-16 the U.S. tornado outbreak of Apr. 14-16, 2011)
produces 178 confirmed tornadoes across 16 days, killing 38 and causing $2.1B damage, becoming the deadliest since the 2008 Super Tues. tornado outbreak.
On Apr. 15 leaders of BRICS (Brazil,
Russia, India, China, South Africa) meeting in S China unanimously criticize the West for waging war on Libya and causing civilian casualties.
On Apr. 15 Islamists armed with swords, daggers and clubs attack police in
Zarqa, Jordan,
wounding 51; 32 others are treated for tear gas inhalation, while eight civilians are injured.
On Apr. 15 a suicide bomber in a mosque in
Ciberon, West Java
(180 mi. from Jakarta) detonates, wounding 28 incl. several policeman, becoming the first Islamist suicide bomb in Indonesian history.
On Apr. 15 the Egypt govt. appoints 20 new governors, incl. Emad Mikhail, a Copt for the city of
Qena, causing Islamist protests.
On Apr. 15 protests by Sunnis in
Ahwaz, Khuzestan, Iraq
result in 12+ killed.
On Apr. 15 (night) hundreds of Egyptians rally outside the Israeli consulate in
Alexandria, Egypt,
calling for a new intifdada aginst the Jews in Israel.
On Apr. 15 (night) non-Muslim Kashmiri candidate
Haseena Akhtar
is pulled out of her home and murdered by suspected Muslim rebels.
On Apr. 15 U.S. comedian
Jerry Seinfeld
appears on the BBC-TV morning show Daybreak, and calls the upcoming royal wedding
a "circus act" for people who think they're "special".
On Apr. 16 hundreds of mad Muslims attack the Christian village of
Gurjarnwala, Punjab
after a bag with torn pages of the Quran is found hidden near a home.
On Apr. 16 top U.S. congresswoman
Kay Granger (R-Tex.)
warns that if the Palestinians pursue a unilateral statehood declaration with the U.N. that the U.S. could reduce aid to both.
On Apr. 16 a suicide bomber in an Afghan military uniform kills five NATO and four Afghan soldiers at
Forward Operating Base Gamberi
in Laghman Province, E Afghanistan.
On Apr. 16 Roman Catholic protesters destroy the hated Piss Christ
by Andres Serrano while on display in a museum in former papal seat Avignon, France.
On Apr. 17 a poll
of Repubs. in Iowa show that 48% believe that Pres. Obama wasn't born in the U.S.
On Apr. 17 the XXX porno-filled medieval fantasy series Game of Thrones,
based on George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel series debuts on HBO (until )?, set in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, about noble families who vie for
control of the Iron Throne, as Littlefinger, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, and Diana Rigg as Olenna Tyrell.
On Apr. 18 after the U.S. debt
tops $14.3T for the first time ever, Standard & Poors
lowers its outlook on the U.S. to negative for the first time since it started assigning outlooks in 1989, causing stocks to slide.
On Apr. 18 (8 a.m.) Islamist suicide bombers detonate two cars outside the
Green Zone
in Baghdad, killing nine and wounding 23.
On Apr. 18 thousands of protesters in Homs, Syria
demand the resignation of pres. Bashar Assad.
On Apr. 18 in response to the election of Christian pres. Jonathan Goodluck, Muslims in
N Nigeria
kill 100+ Christians and burn 40+ churches; meanwhile two al-Shabaab militants murder newly-converted Christian
Hassan Adawe Adan (b. 1990)
in Shalambod, Somalia as part of a campaign to exterminate Christianity from Somalia.
On Apr. 19 Pres. Obama holds an Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House in Washington, D.C., with the soundbyte:
"I wanted to host this breakfast for a simple reason, because as busy as we are, as many tasks as pile up, during this season, we are reminded that there's something about the resurrection,
something about the resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ that puts everything else in perspective."
On Apr. 19 a Boeing 737 carrying First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Jill Biden has a close call
with a Boeing C-17 military transport jet that gets within 2.94 mi. as they are about to land at Andrews AFB near Washington, D.C.
On Apr. 19 Repub. Ariz. gov. Jan Brewer vetoes
a law requiring pres. candidates to prove their citizenship before their names can be placed on the state ballot.
On Apr. 19 a mill outside Kabul, Afghanistan
that recycles worn-out Qurans into toilet paper draws an angry stone-throwing mob of 1K, causing the govt. to arrest three and shut it down.
On Apr. 20 U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen
is interviewed on Pakistani TV, accusing Pakistan's spy agency of supporting the Hawwani network of Islamic militants in Afghanistan, who are killing U.S. and NATO troops.
On Apr. 21 300 Israeli leftist intellectuals incl. 17 Israel Prize winners in Tel Aviv
announce:
"We are here to welcome the expected announcement of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, according to the borders of our independence, fixed during the 1949 armistice";
it also calls for a complete Israeli pullout from the West Bank.
On Apr. 21 police uncover a 330 lb. bomb buried near a church near
Jakarta, Indonesia
set to to off on Easter Sun. (Apr. 24).
On Apr. 21 Israel warns
the U.N. that a planned new Gaza flotilla has organizers tied to Hamas and other Islamist jihadist groups.
On Apr. 21 Israeli authorities rearrest Palestinian activist
Ahmed Qatamesh (1950-),
who was detained for six years in the 1990s.
On Apr. 22 Fla. pastor Terry Jones is briefly
jailed
for refusing to pay protection money to the city of Dearbornistan, Mich. in the event of Muslim violence at his planned
protest outside a mosque.
On Apr. 22-24 Tex. Gov. Rick Perry declares Days of Prayer for Rain in Tex.
On Apr. 23 hundreds of Russian nationalists and racists stage a rally in
Moscow
to demand an end to social welfare payments for Muslim repubs. of North Caucasus.
On Apr. 24 (Sun.) Easter falls on the latest date since 1943 C.E.
On Apr. 24 an Islamist bomb at Sacred Heart Church
in Karradah, Baghdad wounds three civilians and three policemen.
On Apr. 24 Allah-Akbar-shouting Palestinian police open fire on pilgrims visiting Joseph's Tomb in Nablus.
On Apr. 24 Pres. Obama and his family attends Easter Sun. service at
Shiloh Baptist Church
in Washington, D.C., which was founded in 1863 by freed slaves from Fredericksburg, Va.
On Apr. 25 a daring jailbreak by the Taliban in Kandahar, Afghanistan
sees 488 escape in a tunnel that took 5 mo. to dig.
On Apr. 25 ProPublica
becomes the first non-print journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism, for its series "The Wall Street Money Machine".
On Apr. 25-28 the 2011 Super Tornado Outbreak in the S, midwest, and NE U.S. produces 360 confirmed tornadoes,
killing 324 and causing $12.2B damage, with up to 210 mph winds; on Apr. 27 4.5 in. hail falls in Saltville, Va.
On Apr. 26 French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi meet
in Rome to discuss the influx of North African (mainly Muslim) immigrants.
On Apr. 26 the world's
last typewriter factory, Godrej & Boyce in India shuts down.
On Apr. 27 the legislative house of
Mo.
passes a law banning state courts from making rulings based on foreign (read Sharia) laws.
On Apr. 27 the
Fatah-Hamas Accord
is signed; the Islamic Jihad
refuses to join the unity govt.; the Obama admin. says they won't support the new govt.
unless it commits to peace conditions spelled out by the Quartet (U.S., Russia, EU, U.N.),
but continues plans to send the Palestinian Authority $550M in U.S. aid
despite
bipartisan opposition; Likud leader
Moshe Kahlon
said that if there is a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood, Israel should
annex the West Bank; on Apr. 30 Gaza PM
Ismail Haniyeh
calls on the PLO to withdraw its recognition of Israel; on May 4 a
Palestinian Nat. Accord is signed by all Palestinian factions;
after Mahmoud Abbas says that he will continue pursuing peace talks with Israel,
Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar says that Hamas will stick to its stance of not recognizing
or negotiating with Israel, but "if Fatah wants to negotiate with Israel over trivialities,
they can"; the unity is a sham to help their appeal in the U.N. for Palestinian statehood in Sept.?
On Apr. 27 an Afghan Air Corps pilot gets in an argument with nine Am. trainers
at Kabul Airport,
then leaves, returns with a rifle and methodically slaughters them.
On Apr. 27 two Christian Afghan asylum seekers,
Ahmed Faizi and Ali Hussani
are deported from the U.K. despite fears that they will be killed for apostasy by the Taliban or other Muslims.
On Apr. 27 after a 4-year battle backed by the ACLU, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney
rules
that CAIR can't have access to FBI files on it because of nat. security concerns.
On Apr. 27 after the pressure by Donald Trump mounts, the White House finally
releases
a certified copy of the long form birth certificate, saying that the nation was being "distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers", causing Trump to claim "I won",
and say that he's "proud" of forcing the release, dropping out of the race in May; no surprise, the birth certificate lists the place of birth as
Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, the father as Barack Obama Sr., and the delivering physician as Dr. Richard Kimble, er,
David A. Sinclair,
who conveniently died in 2003 without telling anybody; too bad, it's only a copy, dated Apr. 25, 2011 and signed by the state registrar, not the real birth certificate made in 1961,
which has never been forensically tested,
and the serial number is out of sequence with the Nordyke Twins,
born in you know what hospital a day after Obama, leading to more doubts, although the ball is now in the Birthers' court?; for starters, it's got plenty of evidence of being
PhotoShopped,
actually, created with Adobe Illustrator,
with multiple typefaces,
and shows evidence that the original birth certificate was scanned while still in its
binder, complete with curved surfaces, while the information on the form doesn't curve with
the printed text, and worse, the certificate purports to be a color scan of an actual piece of paper,
but it has no chromatic artifacts;
tt also goofs
and lists Obama's daddy's race as African instead of Negro, a modern PC terminology; nationally
recognized Adobe and Microsoft computer expert Mara Zebest
has stated that "The PDF file released by the White House contains evidence of manipulation suggesting that one or more forgers utilized existing Hawaiian birth certificates to assemble fraudulently
for Barack Obama a document the president presented to the world as authentic." And why did mommy wait to sign it until Aug. 7, and Sinclair until Aug. 8? Who is the registrar, it looks
a lot like "Ukelele"?; why did a purported Kenyan birth certificate have the exact same time of birth if it was a fake and the authors didn't have access to the real one, aha, it's starting
to make sense?; did mommy have a premature delivery in the British colony of Kenya, then fly back to Honolulu, walk into the hospital with the infant Messiah,
and ask for them to help make him a legal alien quick, maybe telling them she had it at home in Honolulu, meanwhile telling her mother to place an ad in the local paper as a cover story, and now
the hospital has to go along with the fraud to avoid criminal charges?; how convenient that all key witnesses are now dead, incl. mommy, daddy, grandparents, and Sinclair; bada bing, bada boom,
the name of the hospital was Kauikeolani Children's Hospital until 1978, when it merged with Kapi'olani Maternity Home?;
wrong, it was called
that by the Hawaii legislature in 1954; funny how Obama jumped and released the certificate right before the
immigration file of his daddy Barack Sr. was released, showing how he was suspected of never
divorcing his first wife in Kenya, which would make his marriage to Ann a sham for the purpose of securing immigration status, and make Obama the illegitimate child of a foreign bigamist - somebody
take my pulse?
On Apr. 27-28 a tornado-thunderstorm outbreak in the U.S. South
does $5B damage and kills 343 in five states, becoming the 2nd deadliest in U.S. history since the Mar. 1932 Ala. twister outbreak
that killed 332; three TVA nuclear reactors are knocked out; on Apr. 29 Pres. Obama
visits Ala. to survey the damage and offer condolences.
On Apr. 28 a Sunni suicide bomber kills 10 in the Imam al-Hussein Mosque
in Baladruz in C Iraq 50 mi. NE of Baghdad.
On Apr. 28 a remote-controlled bomb in a cafe in Marrakesh, Morroco
kills 11 foreigners and three Moroccans.
On Apr. 29 (early a.m.) a Pentecostal Christian church in Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
is firebombed.
On Apr. 29 (Fri.) (11 a.m. BST) the royal wedding
of Prince William, duke of Cambridge, and Catherine "Kate" Middleton in Westminster Abbey (16th royal wedding there) is watched by 2B; she becomes the first commoner to become heir
to the British throne in over three cents.; her wedding dress is designed by English fashion designer Sarah Burton (1974-),
formerly of Alexander McQueen's fashion house; she is heir to the Party Pieces
fortune; a group of extremist Muslims threaten to disrupt it, then back off.
On Apr. 29 Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru sign
a trade agreement, creating one of the biggest trading blocks in Latin Am.; meanwhile the Mexican Senate unanimously
votes
to overhaul Mexico's anti-trust law to stiffen fines and add prison sentences for monopolistic practices.
On Apr. 29 Egyptian foreign minister Nabil al-Arabi announces
that Egypt is permanently opening the Rafah border crossing to ease the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
On Apr. 29 German authorities arrest
three Moroccan al-Qaida suspects in North Rhine-Westphalia carrying a "large amount of explosives".
On Apr. 29 soldiers fire on protesters carrying olive branches in Banias, Syria, killing 16+.
On Apr. 29 a U.S. appeals court overturns
an order to suspend federal funding for stem cell research, becoming a V for the Obama admin.
On Apr. 29 a Biannual Report to Congress on the Afghanistan War
claims that the 2009 surge has produced "tangible security progress".
On Apr. 29 Saudi king Abdallah issues a decree making it a crime to insult public figures, incl. religious clerics.
On Apr. 29 (eve.) pastor Terry Jones stages an Anti-Islam Rally
outside city hall in Dearborn, Mich., which is cut short by loud counter-demonstrators who outnumber his and
storm the barricades, causing mayor
John O'Reilly Jr.
to call the Muslims, er, Jones a troublemaker.
On Apr. 30 police break up 300 angry Muslims threatening to burn a church in
Gujranwala
in E Pakistan after rumors of a Quran burning.
On Apr. 30 the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
announces
the formation of the Freedom and Justice Party, headed by Dr.
Muhammad Morsi,
and that it will contest up to half of the parliamentary seats in the Sept. elections, but will not field
a pres. candidate.
On Apr. 30 the U.S. places sanctions
on senior Syrian officials Maher Assad, his cousin Atif Nijab, and intel dir. Ali Mamluk.
On Apr. 30 the Syrian military seizes the landmark
Omari Mosque
in Daraa from protesters, killing 6+.
On Apr. 30 the
2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner
sees Pres. Obama roast
Donald Trump, chiding him for questioning his birth certificate and comparing that with being a UFO nut etc., dissing his credentials and experience;
the real reason Trump later runs for U.S. pres.? - 30 months later he has Obama's job?
On Apr. 30 (night) a NATO airstrike
on Tripoli narrowly misses Libyan Col. Madman Daffy and kills his youngest son Saif al-Arab (b. 1982);
Daffy fabricates
a claim that three grandchildren were also killed; after the bombing attack frenzied Libyans
sack
the U.S., U.K. and U.N. embassies; on May 1 Turkish PM Erodgan
urges
Daffy to leave Libya.
In Apr. the Iranian Rev. Guards Web site pub. an
article
about the day after Iran tests its first nuclear bomb, saying it "will be an ordinary day for us
Iranians but in the eyes of some of us there will be a new sparkle"; it turns out to be a
hoax.
In Apr. unemployment in the U.S. rises 0.2% to 9.0%; in
Germany it drops to a 20-year low;
employment among
black men
drops to the lowest point in 40 years; meanwhile U.S. taxes
are at the lowest level since 1958.
In Apr. Mt. Tambora
in Indonesia, scene of the humongous 1815 earthquake begins getting active again, with 200+ quakes/mo., spewing ash and smoke as high as 4.6K ft. (1.4km).
In Apr. British Astronomer Royal (since 1995) Martin John Rees (1942-)
is awarded the Ł1M Templeton Prize, pissing-off the British scientific establishment, which doesn't want to have anything to do with Christianity.
On May 1 (Sun.) after Pope Benedict XVI signs off on his first miracle on Jan. 14, Pope John Paul II is
beatified.
On May 1 suspected al-Qaida gunmen kill seven soldiers in Abyan and Sayoun E of Yemen.
On May 1 a 12-y.-o. suicide bomber kills three incl. a district council head in Shaken Ditrict
of Paktika Province, Afghanistan on Day One of the Taliban's spring offensive.
On May 1 New York city mayor Michael Bloomberg
appears on NBC-TV's "Meet the Press", and suggests that "you pass a law letting immigrants come in as long as they agreed to go to Detroit and live there for five or ten years, start businesses,
take jobs, whatever."
Ding, dong, the witch is dead?
On May 1 (23:40 p.m. EDT) (12:40 a.m. local time) 66 years after the announcement of Adolf Hitler's death) Pres. Obama
announces
that pesky al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden (b. 1957) was killed by 23 U.S. Navy SEALs, an interpreter, and a tracking dog named Cairo in
Operation Neptune Spear
around 3:30 p.m. EDT in a $200K (20M rupee) 10-bedroom 3K sq. ft. mansion compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan ("City of Pines",
founded as a British garrison town in the 1840s and named after deputy commissioner Maj. James Abbott) in the Hazara district of the NW Frontier Province 31 mi. NE of Islamabad
and 93 mi. E of Peshawar, located only a few hundred yards from the elite Kakul Military Academy, the Pakistani equivalent of West Point or Sandhurst;
Pres. Obama remote-views the hit from his Situation Room along with secy. of state Hillary Clinton, deputy nat. security advisor John O. Brennan et al., with Brennan calling Obama's
decision to green-light the hit one of the "gutsiest calls of any president in memory", later claiming that the U.S. troops had been "met with a great deal of resistance", and that
bin Laden had used a woman as a human shield, later finding out that he misunderstood Am. William McRaven and that he was unarmed; on Nov. 6, 2014 bin Laden's killer is revealed to be
Robert O'Neill (1976-);
the town is HQ of a brigade of the 2nd Div. of the Northern Army Corps, and home to many retired officers; the $1M mansion built in 2006
is surrounded by 18 ft. walls topped with barbed wire(an ISI safe house?); in Aug. the U.S. got a tip about the mansion by tracking his personal couriers;
Osama moved there in 2006 after U.S. drones drove him out of the mountains?; the CIA set up a spy house nearby to watch, and kept it secret
from the Pakistani govt.; fabled Seal Team Six stages Operation Neptune's Spear
with two special ops super-secret stealth helis and an unmanned drone; one heli hard-lands in the compound after mechanical failures;
four are killed besides bin Laden, incl. his oldest son Hamza, a female used as a shield, courier Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti (only one to return fire) and his brother;
the first shot at bin Laden misses, and he shoves a wife at the SEALS before being killed; four of his children and two wives are arrested,
and his computer disks captured (the original al-Qaida or database?); on May 6 al-Qaida
and the Taliban confirm bin Laden's death, promise retaliation;
Pres. Obama remote-views the hit from his Situation Room along with secy. of state Hillary Clinton, deputy nat. security advisor John O. Brennan et al., with Brennan calling Obama's
decision to green-light the hit one of the "gutsiest calls of any president in memory", later claiming that the U.S. troops had been "met with a great deal of resistance", and that
bin Laden had used a woman as a human shield;
bin Laden leaves a will giving $29M to continue global jihad; on May 6
Yemen praises bin Laden's killing, while the
Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas condemn it;
Jordan says that it hopes Osama's death will end the "terror era"; on hearing the good news,
thousands swarm Ground Zero in New York City to celebrate; in Nov. 2011 Navy Seal cmdr.
Chuck Pfarrer
pub. a book about the mission, saying that bin Laden was killed within 90 sec. of entering his home, only 12 bullets were fired, and they would have
captured him if he had surrendered; the Pakistani govt. is not officially involved in the operation although it is suspected they helped locate the
compound and knew of it, with elite Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) kept out of the loop on suspicion they were on bin Laden's side; in
Mar. 2014 it is revealed that Ahmed Shuja Pasha,
head of the ISI knew bin Laden's whereabouts along with other top officials; hundreds flock to
Ground Zero to cheer his death; the intel community
warns
of possible retaliatory attacks; the first of five nat. security meetings about
the compound was held on Mar. 14, and the attack was
originally
authorized in Mar. as a B2 stealth bomber strike, but Obama changed his mind since he wanted evidence that bin Laden was dead; bin Laden's Yemeni former teenie wife
Amal Ahmed Abdulfattah (1983-)
tries to protect him by rushing the SEALs and is shot in the leg, then is left behind when there is no room on the only remaining heli; the news causes
U.S. financial markets to surge; on May 1
Pres. Obama gives a Speech on the Late Osama bin Laden,
issuing the soundbyte "Justice has been done"; too bad, he repeats
his dumbass soundbyte: "The United States is not and never will be at war with Islam", and adds the double dumbass soundbyte:
"Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al-Qaida slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries including or own,
so his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity" (he should know, he's a true Muslim?);
also: "As we have stated repeatedly since the 9/11 terror attacks, bin Laden never represented Muslims or Islam"; on May 2 Obama adds that
"This is a good day for America", adding "The world is safer. It is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden. Today we are reminded that as a nation,
there's nothing we can't do when we put our shoulders to the wheel, when we work together. And we remember the sense of unity that defines us as Americans"; on May 4
Obama ends speculation by announcing
that he won't release bin Laden's death photo, saying he has been ID'd by his wife and children and doesn't want to stir Muslim anger, "That's not who we are",
"We don't need to spike the football"; an
NBC Poll
reveals that 64% agree with his decision; under Osama bin Laden's leadership, al-Qaida was
responsible for 10K deaths and injuries in a dozen years; bin Laden's clothing had
two phone numbers sewn into it, along with 500 Euros; on Obama's orders his body is quickly (within 24 hours of death) buried in the North Arabian Sea after
ritual burial rites
in accordance with Islamic practice, incl. the reading of Quran Sura 1 and its curse on Jews and Christians, despite Obama claiming he isn't a real Muslim, and despite
Sunni doctrine
that it's a "sin"; devout Muslims begin calling the site the "Martyr's Sea"; the quick disposal raises suspicions that it's all a
hoax
to save Obama's presidency despite govt. claims of DNA verification; on May 5 archbishop of Canterbury
Rowan Williams
say that the killing of unarmed bin Laden left a "very uncomfortable feeling"; on May 5 Pakistani army chiefs eat crow, er,
warn
the U.S. not to violate Pakistani sovereignty or face "the direst consequences", and call for
cuts
in U.S. military personnel inside the country, which doesn't stop the U.S. from staging a predator drone strike in NW Pakistan on May 6 that kills eight Talibani;
analysis of the captured material from his compound shows that bin Laden was considering an
attack
on U.S. commuter trains on the 10th anniv. of 9/11; on May 6 Pres. Obama tells cheering solders of the 101st Airborne Div. at
Ft. Campbell, Ky.,
awarding the Pres. Unit Citation to SEAL Team Six, calling them "the finest small fighting force in the history of the world", and
shaking
the hand of the lucky SEAL who killed bin Laden, uttering the soundbyte:
"We're making progress in our major goal... of disrupting and dismantling, and we are going to ultimately defeat al-Qaida. We have cut off their head and
we will ultimately defeat them"; meanwhile the U.S. Congress gets pissed-off at the complicity of the Pakistan govt., and
prepares
a list of sanctions incl. cutting aid; the initial lead of bin Laden's courier's nickname came from
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
after waterboarding, causing the debate on waterboarding to resume; on May 7 the CIA
releases
photos and five videos found in bin Laden's compound showing him
preening
while shooting propaganda films, describing him as thinking of himself as a "head coach" to al-Qaida; on May 8 Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S.
promises
that "heads will roll" as Pakistan investigates how bin Laden could hide for years in his country, and also promises "zero tolerance"; on May 9 Pakistani PM
Yousuf Raza Gilani
calls bin Laden's killing "indeed justice done", but warns against any more unilateral strikes, saying they will be met with "full force";
it is revealed that after 9/11 the U.S. and Pakistan struck a
secret deal
to permit the U.S. to hunt and kill bin Laden on Pakistani soil; on May 11 the
U.S. Senate Armed Forces Committee
is allowed to view photos of dead bin Laden; a stash of porno
is found in bin Laden's computer drives; on May 17 U.S. Sen. Majority Leader (D-Nev.)
Harry Reid
says that the U.S. needs a "good relationship" with Pakistan, and now "isn't the time to start flexing our muscles"; Pakistani army chief Gen.
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
faces a colonel's revolt by the 11-man Corps Commanders for letting the U.S. raid happen; Calif. diver
Bill Warren
announces plans to spend $400K searching for bin Laden's body; Pakistan arrests
the CIA informants who helped locate Obama, causing deputy CIA dir. Michael J. Morrell to rate Pakistan's cooperation with the U.S. on counterterrorism operations
as 3 on a scale of 1-10; in 2013 Pakistan begins building a $30M amusement park
in Abbottabad.
Free speech is dead in Europe, and now the pop. is defenseless against mass Muslim immigration?
On May 3 the Danish high court reverses the acquittal of
Lars Hedegaard,
pres. of the Free Press Society, and fines him 5K kroner for making anti-Muslim comments in Dec. 2009 incl. "Girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles,
their cousins, or their fathers", and "When a Muslim man rapes a woman, it is in his right to do so."
On May 3 five Muslims are arrested under anti-terrorism laws near a nuclear waste-processing plant in
Seallafield, England.
On May 3 Ammar Qurabi,
head of the Nat. Org. for Human Rights in Syria claims that 1K+ have been arrested in the latest sweep by the forces of pres. Bashful Asshole.
On May 3 Jordanian PM Ma'rouf Al-Bakhit says that Jordan won't consent to the establishment of a Palestinian state
that doesn't incl. a guarantee of the "historic right" of return, and that it will fight any attempt to eliminate this issue or undermine Jordanian interests.
On May 3 the Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami (Arab. "helpers of the global jihad") send a message to jihadist forums around the world to
prepare a jihad against the "Zionist-Crusader alliance" for the killing of Osama bin Laden;
its head is Abu Suleiman al-Naser (al-Nassir) of al-Qaida in Iraq.
On May 4 Queens, N.Y.-born Jewish Princess, er, U.S. Rep. (D-Fla.) (1993-2001, 2003-) Debbie Wasserman Schultz (1966-)
becomes chmn. #52 of the Dem. Nat. Committee (until July 28, 2016), succeeding Tim Kaine.
On May 4 Pres. Obama meets
at the White House with Britain's Prince Charles, offering his best wishes to the newlyweds, and praising his work on environmental issues.
On May 4 Sandlin Matthew Smith (b. 1964),
wanted for the bombing of a mosque in Jacksonville, Fla. almost a year earlier is shot and killed by the FBI after he pulls a weapon during his arrest.
On May 4 the Great Mississippi River Flood of 2011 begins, cresting on May 10 near Memphis, Tenn. before ending on
June 20 after killing 20 and causing $2B-$4B damage.
On May 5 Pres. Obama visits
Ground Zero in Manhattan, N.Y., and lays a wreath, uttering the soundbyte: "When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say"; 49 of 50 9/11 family members
accept
an invitation to be with him, the 50th John Vigiano saying he didn't like the way it was addressed to "Dear 9-11 family member - no names".
On May 6 the U.S. goes for two in a row and launches
a drone strike in Yemen aimed at Anwar al-Awlaki, killing two aides.
On May 6 (Martyrs Day) Syrian pres. Bashar Assad lays a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Damascus
while surrounded by supporters; meanwhile protests throughout
Syria
see security forces fire on protesters, killing 30, causing the U.N. to send a team to
investigate, while the EU places sanctions on Syria.
On May 6 Francesc Antich,
pres. of the Balearic Islands issues the first official Spanish apology for the execution of Jews
during the Spanish Inquisition.
On May 7 after rumors of a mixed romance, Muslims and Christians fight on the street in
W Cairo,
killing five.
On May 7 thousands of Muslim Salafists stage three protests in
Cairo,
demanding the prosecution of Coptic Pope Shenouda III and the release of the wives of two priests
they claim converted to Islam; during the night Muslim mobs set two Coptic churches on fire in
Cairo
during Muslim-Christian clashes that kill 12 and injure 200+;
St. Mary's Church
in Imbaba near Cairo is torched, but on May 26 the Egyptian army orders its reconstruction.
On May 7 protesters in Kuwait
demand
the execution of a blasphemer who insulted Aisha, Mother of Believers, and Omar bin Al-Khattab,
a companion of Muhammad via graffiti inside a mosque.
On May 7 after an 11-stay strike ends with 25 associates of Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket being
arrested
for sorcery, the growing rift with Ayatollah Khamanei results in
street fights
between their supporters.
On May 7 rock star Madonna splits
with Muslim boy toy hip hop dancer Brahim Zaibat after 9 mo. after her devotion to Jewish Qaballah conflicts with his religion and causes arguments.
On May 7-8 U.S.-Taliban Talks in Germany are mediated by the Germans.
On May 8 the king of Bahrain orders
the end of emergency rule (began in mid-Mar.) on June 1.
On May 8 Yemeni pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh announces
that he won't resign until the protests end.
On May 8 the Syrian govt. broadens
its military crackdown on protesters, killing 14 in Homs, and arresting hundreds.
On May 8 Mexican authorities catch drug lord
Jose Zarco (1979-).
On May 8 (night) the crew of
Am. Airlines Flight 1561
en route to San Francisco tackle and arrest Muslim man
Rageh Almurisi (1972-),
who has a Yemeni passport and Calif. ID, and was banging on the cockpit door while shouting
"Allahu Akbar", which the PC press attempts to coverup.
On May 9 reps of 25 towns in
Libya
meet in Abu Dhabi in a show of unity.
On May 9 NATO announces
that it has significantly weakened the Taliban insurgency by capturing or killing thousands of
militants in Afghanistan in the past 3 mo.
On May 9 a ship carrying up to 600 trying to flee Tripoli, Libya
sinks
off the N coast of Libya.
On May 9 the U.S. Navy announces that it will soon
authorize
chaplains to perform same-sex marriages in Navy chapels; on May 11 after howls from Congress, it
suspends
the idea.
On May 9 Bashar al-Assad's adviser and spokeswoman
Bouthaina Shaaban
claims that the Syrian govt. has gained the upper hand in the 7-week uprising.
On May 10 a 7.1 earthquake hits off New Caledonia in the South Pacific.
On May 10 Microsoft agrees to purchase 170M-user Skype
for $8.5B, becoming the biggest deal in Microsoft history (until ?).
On May 10 Galleon Group co-founder Raj Rajaratnam
is found guilty of 14 counts of insider trading, becoming the biggest case in a generation.
On May 10 Pres. Obama visits El Paso, Tex.,
becoming his first visit to the U.S.-Mexican border since being elected with 67% of the Hispanic vote, and brags about cracking down on illegal immigration,
calling for Repubs. to join him in legalizing border-crossers; he makes fun of Pres. Bush with the soundbyte:
"All the stuff they (Repubs.) asked for, we've done... I suspect that there will be some who will try to move the goalposts on us... Or they'll want a higher fence.
Maybe they'll need a moat. Maybe they'll want alligators in the moat. They'll never be satisfied"; Hispanic disillusionment
with Obama causes Dem. Fernando Romero to found the
Tequila Party,
which holds is kickoff event on June 4 in Tucson, Ariz. meanwhile on May 10 the Tex. legislature passes a
law
that restricts cities providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants.
On May 10 hundreds of Taliban militants launch a large-scale attack on Afghan police near
Parun, Afghanistan.
Osama bin Laden has been taken out, so his action movie career is kaput on the home front?
On May 10 Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announce
that they're separating after a quarter cent. of marriage; on May 7 they celebrated the graduation of their nephew, but Maria wasn't wearing her wedding ring; she moves out on him.
On May 10 federal officials in Manhattan announce
that cell phone users in New York City and Washington D.C. will soon be able to receive emergency alerts via text message.
On May 10 the supreme court of India recommends
the death penalty for honor killers, calling the practice "barbaric" and "feudal".
On May 10 U.S.-born Yemeni al-Qaida jihadist
Anwar al-Awlaki
issues a letter calling on U.S. Muslims to embrace jihad and war against the U.S. govt.
On May 11 German police raid the homes in
Ulm and Bonn
of two alleged Islamic extremists suspected of raising funds for terrorists in Pakistan's border region.
On May 11 Turkish opposition politicians
Bulent Didinmez and Ihsan Baratcu
resign 1 mo. before the gen. election, bringing the total to four who had to resign over secret sex tapes
are posted on the Internet showing them in extramarital affairs.
On May 11 an
AP Poll
reveals that Pres. Obama's approval rating has reached 60%, highest in two years, and over half
believe he should be reelected; too bad, a
Rasmussen Poll
has Obama's approval rating at 48%, and a Gallup Poll has it at 52%.
On May 11 NATO forces capture several suspected insurgents in
Kandahar, Afghanistan.
On May 11 after a 2-mo. siege Libyan rebels seize the city of
Misurata.
On May 11 the Times of India
reports
that Lashkar-e-Tayyiba is obtaining biological weapons incl. anthrax from al-Qaida.
On May 11 (eve.) Pres. Obama hosts controversial rapper
Common (Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr.) (1972-)
at the White House.
On May 12 the Am. Journal of Public Health pub. a
report
claiming that 1.1K+ women are raped daily in the Dem. Repub. of Congo (DRC).
On May 12 Dutch MP
Geert Wilders
visits Toronto, Canada, and tells Canadians that they should ban immigration from the Muslim World,
with the soundbyte: "What happened in Europe will also happen here. We should wake up to the fact
that Islamisation means less freedom to us and our children... Freedom is the most precious thing
we have. (Canadian soldiers) didn't give their lives to free Europe, (so that) not 50, 60, 70 years
later we would face another totalitarianism ideology called Islam."
On May 12 two Muslim men from North Africa
Mohamed Mamdough and Ahmed Ferhani (1984-)
(Morocco and Algeria) are arrested in Manhattan, N.Y. for allegedly talking about attacking Jewish synagogues
and attempting to purchase AK-47s and hand grenades.
On May 12 the U.S. District Court holds its last oversight hearing on its antitrust lawsuit
against Microsoft.
On May 12 seven top Mexican Immigration Inst. officials are
fired
amid allegations of being involved in kidnapping migrants.
On May 13 the first revenge for the killing of Osama bin Laden sees two explosions in a paramilitary
training center in
Charsadda District, Pakistan
kill 69.
On May 13 the
Pakistan Parliament
holds a 10-hour session and decides that all U.S. incursions incl. drone strikes must
end or it will impede free passage of NATO materials headed for Afghanistan.
On May 13 a Palestinian refugee protest to mark Nakba Day sees IDF forces fire on protesters
crossing from Syria onto the
Golan Heights,
killing six and wounding 71.
On May 13 Joseph Jeffrey Brice (1990-)
of Clarkston, Wash. is arrested for attempting to aid Islamic terrorists by creating a jihadi website
and posting bombmaking tips; after pleading guilty in Sept. 2012, he is sentenced to 12 years in
federal prison on June 12, 2013.
On May 14 IMF dir. Dominique Strauss-Kahn
is arrested at Kennedy Internat. Airport and accused of a sexual attack on maid
Nafissatou Diallo
at the Midtown Manhattan Sofitel New York Hotel; on July 1 after it comes out that the maid is involved in criminal activity and isn't on the up-and-up,
changing her story and lying, he is released
without bail and charges dismissed, only to have Tristane Banon,
daughter of Moroccan Jew Gabriel Banon accuse him of attempted rape in France; on Aug. 23 the charges
are finally dropped
after the prosecution says no jury will believe Diallo; the DA's press conference is interrupted by the big 2011 East Coast Earthquake.
On May 14 Arab rioters storm Jewish homes in the Moscowitz housing project in
Old Jerusalem
following the funeral of a Palestinian teen shot the day before in rioting.
On May 15 Allah-Akbar-shouting Muslim truck driver
Issa Islam
plows into cars in Tel Aviv, killing one and injuring 17; he is charged with murder and
seven counts of attempted murder.
On May 15 the decapitated bodies of 27 farm workers are discovered in
Peten, N Guatemala;
the Los Zetas drug cartel is suspected.
On May 16 the U.S. hits its
debt limit
of $14.294T.
On May 16 the Internat. Criminal Court issues
warrants
for the arrest of Libyan Col. Daffy, his son Seif, and Libyan intel head Abdullah al-Sanoussi.
On May 16 Iran sends an
aid flotilla
from the S port city of Bushehr to Bahrain to express solidarity with the Shiite pop.; after
opposition by the Gulf Cooperation Council, it turns back.
On May 16 motorcycle gunmen kill Saudi diplomat
Hassan M. al-Kahtani
in Karachi, Pakistan; retribution for the killing of Osama bin Laden?
On May 16 former Obama White House #23 (Jan. 20, 2009 to Oct. 1, 2010) Rahm Israel Emanuel (1959-)
becomes Dem. mayor #55 of Chicago, Ill. (until May 20, 2019), going on to see his approval ratings tank in late 2015 for protecting cops from justice, esp. the killer of 17-y-o.
Laquan McDonald.
On May 17 mixed-up Pakistan ground forces
exchange fire
with a NATO heli in Datta Khel near the Afghan border, with Pakistan claiming that the heli attack their checkpoint; meanwhile Pakistan announces the arrest of a senior al-Qaida operative.
On May 17 the "Berlin patient" Timothy Ray Brown (1966-)
of San Francisco, Calif. becomes the first known AIDS patient to be cured after a stem cell bone marrow transplant.
On May 17 British PM David Cameron announces
that the first 450 troops will withdraw from Afghanistan this year.
On May 17 a U.N. Report on China
claims that for more than a decade China has been aiding Iran and North Korea in developing ballistic missiles and nukes and getting around sanctions.
On May 17 a Pew Poll
shows low confidence in Pres. Obama by world Muslims, with the highest being Indonesia, at 63%, and the lowest
being Turkey, at 14%; Palestinian Territories: 15%, Jordan: 25%, Pakistan: 16%, Lebanon: 55%, Egypt: 27%.
On May 17-20 British Queen Elizabeth II visits Ireland.
On May 18 Pres. Obama issues an
executive order
imposing sanctions on Syrian pres. Bashar al-Assad and six senior Syrian govt. officials, incl. a freeze on U.S. assets and a ban on cos. doing business with them.
On May 18 violence in Afghanistan in Taloqan
in Takhar Province and other locations kills 28.
On May 18 Sol Lineas Aereas Flight 5248
crashes in S Patagonia, Argentina, killing all 22 aboard.
On May 19 (12:15 p.m. EDT) Pres. Obama gives his
2011 Speech on the Middle East at the
U.S. State Dept. in Washington, D.C., hailing the "extraordinary change" taking place, and stating that "The United States believes... the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the
1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps", reversing longstanding U.S. policy that this was only the Palestinians' goal, becoming the first U.S. pres. to require it as a starting point for negotiations
with Palestinians, with the soundbyte:
"We know that our own future is bound to this region by the forces of economics and security, by history, and by faith"; "A new generation has emerged, and their voices tell us that chance cannot
be denied"; "The status quo is unsustainable. A lasting peace will involve two states for two peoples", adding "Symbolic actions to isolate Israel at the United Nations in September won't create
an independent state", and that the "future of Jerusalem" remains to be worked out; he adds:
"The full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coordinated with the assumption of Palestinian security responsibility in a sovereign, non-militarized state. The
duration of this transition period must be agreed, and the effectiveness of security arrangements must be demonstrated", meaning that Obama's plan is for Israel to first unilaterally withdraw
to the 1967 borders, then later negotiate some border swaps; he also calls for Syrian pres. Bashar Assad to "lead that transition [to democracy] or get out of the way"; he also
pledges
$1B in aid to the Muslim Brotherhood-infested Egyptian regime; Jews do a double-take when he says that Israel must be able to defend itself "by itself", and calls for a "full and phased
withdrawal of Israeli military forces"; the speech causes former Mass. gov. Mitt Romney
to say that Obama "threw Israel under the bus"; Obama then meets
with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, who even before the meeting voices his displeasure with the speech, calling Israel's pre-1967 borders "indefensible", and calling on him to
reaffirm the U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, with the soundbyte "Among other things, those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible
and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines. Those commitments also ensure Israel's well-being as a Jewish state by making clear that Palestinian
refugees will settle in a future Palestinian state rather than in Israel. Without a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem outside the borders of Israel, no territorial concession will bring peace";
"Equally, the Palestinians, and not just the United States, must recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, and any peace agreement with them must end all claims against Israel";
he says that Israel also needs a military presence along the Jordan River, and won't deal with the terrorist org. Hamas; Obama's speech causes
U.S. Jews to begin to turn on him; after the speech, Obama allegedly flew into a
rage with his people, shouting "What the fuck was that?"; on May 21 the Palestinians
defy Obama, pressing on for a Sept. U.N. declaration of statehood, while Obama gives a
speech to AIPAC, assuring them that his commitment to Israel is "ironclad", that the U.S. demands Hamas to recognize
Israel's right to exist, and that the borders he's talking about are not identical to the June 4, 1967 lines, although he fails to recognize that they were never borders, only
armistice lines dating back to 1949; AIPAC member
Mort Zuckerman later utters the soundbyte "For the first time since their state's founding Israelis feel
Americans aren't behind them"; U.S. Sen. majority leader (D-Nev.) Harry Reid
utters the soundbyte "The place where negotiating will happen must be the negotiating table, and nowhere else. Those negotiations will not happen, and their terms will not be set, through
speeches, or in the streets, or in the media. No one should set premature parameters about borders."
On May 19 the U.S. State Dept. tells
Turkey that sending another flotilla to Gaza will not be "helpful".
On May 19 China issues an ultimatum
to the U.S. that any attack on Pakistan will be interpreted as aggression against them, harkening back to the 1958-61 Berlin Crisis.
On May 19 thousands of Salafi Muslims surround the Coptic St. Mary and St. Abraham Church in
Ain Shams, Egypt
to prevent its reopening; the police do nothing.
On May 20 a convoy of N Sudanese soldiers and U.N. peacekeepers are ambushed near
Goli, Sudan (near Abyei) by unknown attackers.
On May 20 Syrian security forces fire
on protesters around the country, killing 27.
On May 20 a gun battle between Mexican soldiers and CDG drug cartel gunmen in
Matamoros
kills three gunmen.
On May 20 a suicide vest strapped to a 12-y.-o. boy in
Nooristan, Afghanistan
prematurely explodes, killing him along with several other insurgents, causing
the Afghan Nat. Intel Directorate to detain 100 other boys 12-17 for their safety.
On May 21 a suicide bomber in an Afghan military uniform detonates inside the main military hospital
in Kabul, Afghanistan,
killing six medical students.
On May 21 Taliban militants blow up a tanker carrying oil for NATO forces in Afghanistan in the
Landi Kotal
area of Pakistan's Khyber tribal region; a secondary explosion kills 15 trying
to siphon fuel; another bomb damages 14 tankers in a nearby town.
On May 21 Iranian authorities raid 30 homes of members of the
Baha'i
sect in a crackdown.
On May 21 Saudi Arabia
pledges
$4B to the Egyptian ruling council in order to shore it up.
On May 21 (6 p.m.) Armageddon (Judgement Day)
is supposed to arrive via a worldwide earthquake starting in Fiji and New Zealand, after which
mass graves will open while 200M lucky saved people ascend to Heaven, after which the remainder
live on an anarchic Earth for 5 mo. until God annihilates it, according to U.S. Christian broadcaster
(ex-civil engineer) Harold Camping (1921-2013)
of Oakland, Calif., gaining thousands of true believers before it goes bust; he then resets
the date to Oct. 21.
On May 22 the first Islamic halal restaurant in Italy opens in
Bologna.
On May 22 Saleh loyalists seize the UAE embassy in
Sana'a, Yemen, taking U.S. and other
diplomats hostage; on May 26 big blasts
rock
Sana'a as Yemen nears civil war.
On May 22 a dozen bomb attacks in and around
Baghdad
kill 18 and wound 80.
On May 22 the EU opens
a diplomatic office in rebel-held E Libya, pledging support for a dem. Libya where Col. Daffy
"will not be in the picture".
On May 22 Islamic jihadists attack the Mehran naval aviation base in
Karachi, Pakistan,
killing four.
On May 22 Chinese police announce a search for a man who threw eggs and shoes at
Fang Bingxing,
architect of China's Great Internet Firewall.
On May 22 Saudi police arrest
Manal al-Sharif (1979-),
a female Internet consultant for Armco, who defied Saudi law and drove a car in Al-Khobar
while wearing a black abaya, then posted a video of it on YouTube;
they then jail her for a week and force her to sign a document agreeing not
to talk to the press or continue her protests, and crack down on others allied with her
in her campaign and shut down their Facebook page; in early June princess
Reem al-Faisal,
granddaughter of King Faisal speaks out in the Arab News, jokingly suggesting
that women at least be allowed to drive camels; billionaire prince Alwaleed bin Talal
bin Abdulaziz al-Saud also speaks out for women, saying that the pilot of his private
jet is a woman, and that his wife gets away with driving; on June 17 a
protest
sees Saudi women driving openly in droves; on June 22 Huma, er,
Hillary Clinton
expresses support for the Saudi women, but takes pains to deny that the U.S. has anything to
do with their movement; meanwhile in June the Saudi committee for religious edicts issues a
fatwa
banning men and women from mingling at offices and educational institutions "until the
Day of Judgment", while King Abdullah
ends
the practice of male-only clerks at lingerie shops, which caused them to guesstimate sizes by
staring at their abayas; too bad, on Jan. 24, 2012 Manal al-Sherif is
killed
in a car crash.
On May 22 elections in Spain
are a V for the conservative Popular Party over the ruling Socialist Workers Party
by 10% (2M votes); in 2007 the Popular Party lost by 100K votes.
On May 22 the market cap for IBM
surpasses Microsoft, $207.52B vs. $206.52B; at one point Microsoft's value was 3x higher.
On May 23 a slew of 70 tornadoes in seven states hit the U.S. Midwest
(worst tornado outbreak in 1958 years), the worst one, an EF-4 (200 mph) killing 116 in
Joplin, Mo.
On May 23 Pres. Obama begins a week-long European tour,
starting with his mother's ancestral homeland in Ireland,.
where he utters the soundbytes: "There's always been a little green behind the red, white, and blue", "My name is Barack Obama, of the Moneygall Obamas";
"I've come home to find the apostrophe that we lost somewhere along the way"; on May 24 he after leaving Ireland early to avoid the volcanic ash from
Grimsvotn Volcano in Iceland, Obama visits
Buckingham Palace, receiving a royal welcome from the queen and royal family along with a 62-gun salute;
too bad, he signs the guestbook at Westminster Abbey with the date "24 May 2008".
On May 23 Afghanistan reports that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar
has been killed in Pakistan while in the custody of the Pakistani ISI; they deny it.
On May 23 the U.S. and U.K. launch a new Nat. Security Strategy Board.
On May 23 armed clashes break out in yummy
Sana'a, Yemen
between police and tribes loyal to opposition leader Sadiq al-Ahmar; on May 25 the
U.S. orders
nonessential diplomats to leave Yemen; on May 27 Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces use helis and
MiG fighter jets
to attack bases of a rival tribal group after they seize an army camp; meanwhile on May 27
tens of thousands gather for the
Fri. of Peaceful Rev., carrying the coffins
of 30 killed in clashes and releasing white doves.
On May 23 clerics in Aceh, Indonesia
criticize a call from Amnesty Internat. to stop the practice of caning.
On May 23 Switzerland
stops refueling Iran Air jets.
On May 23 a Hill Poll
reveals that 61% of voters believe that the Arab uprisings will make things more difficult for the U.S.
On May 24 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu addresses
a joint session of Congress, telling them he will accept uprooting Jewish settlements in a "generous" peace deal with Palestinians, but not accept a return to the 1967 borders, or
share Jerusalem, or deal with Hamas, demanding a permanent Israeli military presence along with the Jordan River, with the soundbytes "I am willing to make painful compromises to achieve
this historic peace. As the leader of Israel, it is my responsibility to lead my people to peace. This is not easy for me. I recognize that in a genuine peace, we will be required to
give up parts of the Jewish homeland. In Judea and Samaria, the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers. We are not the British in India. We are not the Belgians in the Congo.";
"This is the land of our forefathers, the Land of Israel, to which Abraham brought the idea of one God, where David set out to confront Goliath, and where Isaiah saw a vision of eternal peace.
No distortion of history can deny the four thousand year old bond, between the Jewish people and the Jewish land. But there is another truth: The Palestinians share this small land with us.
We seek a peace in which they will be neither Israel's subjects nor its citizens. They should enjoy a national life of dignity as a free, viable and independent people in their own state.
"They should enjoy a prosperous economy, where their creativity and initiative can flourish. You have to ask it. If the benefits of peace with the Palestinians are so clear, why has peace
eluded us? Because all six Israeli Prime Ministers since the signing of Oslo accords agreed to establish a Palestinian state. Myself included. So why has peace not been achieved? Because
so far, the Palestinians have been unwilling to accept a Palestinian state, if it meant accepting a Jewish state alongside it. You see, our conflict has never been about the establishment of
a Palestinian state. It has always been about the existence of the Jewish state. This is what this conflict is about."
On May 24 Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi
accuses the left wing of wanting to change Milan into "an Islamic city full of Roma", adding "Milan cannot be allowed to become an Islamic city, a Romopolis full of Roma camps and
encircled by foreigners whom the left even wants to give the right to vote."
On May 24 a roadside bomb in Kandahar, Afghanistan
kills 10 road workers and injures 28.
On May 24 (a.m.) NATO conducts its heaviest bombardment so far of Tripoli, Libya, striking 15+ targets.
On May 24 Labour councillor Naveeda Ikram becomes the first Muslim woman lord mayor in the U.K. in Bradford.
On May 24 a massive refinery blast in Abadan, Iran
during a visit by pres. Imadinnajacket kills two - shaken not stirred?
On May 24 Libyan ambassador to Brazil Salem Omar Zubeidy gives a speech at the HQ of the ABI in Rio, claiming that the CIA was behind the
riots in Libya in recent months, starting with the one on Feb. 17; on May 25 the African Union meets in Addis Ababa, and issues a decision
calling for peaceful resolution of the Libyan crisis, starting with a ceasefire.
On May 25 Pres. Obama gives a Speech to the British Parliament,
saying that Western influence remains strong in the world despite emerging powers incl. China, India, and Brazil, and that Western powers have a responsibility to uphold
"universal rights" via multilateral forums incl. the G20, with the soundbyte: "Ultimately freedom must be won by the people themselves, not imposed from without"; he gives a
joint press conference with British PM David Cameron, saying that he believes a 2-state solution for Israel
and Palestine is achievable, urging Palestinians to negotiate with Israel over statehood instead of seeking U.N. recognition first.
On May 25 a suicide bomber in a pickup truck levels a police bldg. in Peshawar, Pakistan,
killing five and wounding 30 officers; only the bomber's finger is found.
On May 25 former Bosnian Serb war criminal gen. Ratko Mladic
is captured in a small town near Belgrade living under an alias; he is extradited to the Netherlands to stand trial for genocide et al. on his 1995 indictment after his men
massacred 8K Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.
On May 25 the Taliban kills Khan Mohammad,
head of the Porak girls' school in Logar Province, Afghanistan.
On May 25 new European laws on Web browser cookies require the user to give explicit consent first.
On May 26 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-3 in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting
to uphold the 2007 Ariz. law revoking licenses of businesses knowingly employing illegal aliens, becoming a big D for the Obama admin.;
dissenters incl. Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor; Kagan recused herself.
On May 26 Belgium
becomes the 2nd country after France to ban the burqa.
On May 26 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton
visits
Pakistan in an attempt to salvage relations after the killing of Osama bin Laden, and pressures
them to help find four militant Islamic leaders incl. Osama's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri; on May 27
she says that Pakistani officials have
conceded
that bin Laden had a support network in Pakistan to remain undetected for at least five years in
Abbottabad; in exchange for a clean bill of health regarding bin Laden, the Pakistan military
promises to start a military offensive in North Waziristan, but soon
reneges.
On May 26 fighting among rival drug gangs in W Mexico
kills 28, causing 700+ to flee villages.
On May 26-27 the G8 Summit
is held in Deauville, France; on May 27 they meet
with Egyptian PM Essam Sharaf and Tunisian PM Beji Caid Essesbi; on May 27 the summit ends with Russia acknowledging that Libyan Col. Daffy has to go, and agreeing to mediate his exit; G8 nations
issue a statement expressing support for the dem. uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, and unveil the
Deauville Partnership,
pledging $20B for economic aid, mainly to Tunisia and Egypt, with no conditions about democratization; Canadian PM
Stephen Harper
blocks the G8 from issuing a statement calling for Israel to return to its 1967 "Auschwitz" borders; on
May 27 Obama visits
Poland,
meeting with Polish pres. Bronislaw Komorowski before returning to the U.S., and
praising
it as an example for pro-dem. movements in North Africa and the Middle East to follow.
On May 27 a suicide car bomb attack in
Hangu
in NW Pakistan kills 36, incl. 10 policemen, and injures 50+.
On May 27 two Italian U.N. peacekeepers are killed by an IED near
Sidon, S Lebanon.
On May 27 Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi claims that the ouster of two autocratic leaders
proves that Islam is compatible with democracy, with the
soundbyte:
"The principle has been established that democracy is not only compatible with Western countries and their
civilizations, and I believe this is very important."
On May 27 Egypt
reopens
its border with Gaza Strip at the Rafah crossing after four years, then implements a series of
restrictions on
May 31, causing angry Palestinians on June 4 to
storm the gates; on May 28 hundreds
of thousands demonstrate in
Tahrir Square in Cairo
to denounce the military govt., calling for a "2nd rev."
On May 27 a Jerusalem Post poll
reveals that 40% of Jewish Israelis believe that the Obama admin. is pro-Palestinian.
On May 28 hundreds protest in
Amman, Jordan,
calling for closure of the Israeli embassy and nullifcation of the peace treaty with Israel.
On May 28 police arrest several people at the
Jefferson Memorial
in Washington D.C. for protesting a recent court decision upholding a ban on dancing.
On May 29 (Sun.) pres. (since May 5, 2010)
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (1957-)
is sworn-in for a 4-year term as pres. of Nigeria (until Mayh 29, 2015); meanwhile the new
Muslim Personal Law Bill
gives more power to Islamic Kadhi courts for Muslims in matters of marriage, divorce, and inheritance,
pissing-off Christians, who claim it promotes Islamic fundamentalism.
On May 29 French Conservative minister
George Tron (1958-)
resigns over rape allegations after two women encouraged by the Dominique Strauss-Khan case come forward.
On May 29 a NATO air strike in
Helmand Province, Afghanistan
inadvertently hits two civilian homes, killing two women and 12 children.
On May 29 three Greenpeace activists board the Leiv Eiriksson Oil Rig
off the coast of Greenland to protest deepwater drilling in Arctic waters; dozens of environmental activists climb on top of the
Brandenburg Gate
in Berlin to demand an end to the use of atomic energy.
On May 29 the MV First Ocean bulk carrier ship is attacked by Muslim pirates in the Gulf of Aden, and is saved by the Iranian navy,
its 12th confrontation since late Mar.
On May 29 former Egyptian Bank of Alexandria CEO Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar
is arrested for a sexual attack on a maid at the Pierre Hotel on 5th Ave. in Manhattan, N.Y.
On May 29 the Wallow Fire
in Apache Sitgreaves Nat. Forest in E Ariz starts, burning for more than 1 mo. and destroying 840 sq. mi. of forest, displacing 10K, and doing $79M damage; on June 18
U.S. Repub. Sen. John McCain suggests that it was started by illegal immigrants, causing Hispanic groups to demand he apologize after non-Hispanic campers Caleb Joshua Malboeuf (26) and
David Wayne Malboeuf (24) are charged by federal authorities.
On May 29 (10:45 p.m.) United Airlines Flight 990 (Boeing 767) en route from Washington, D.C. to Ghana
with 144 passengers is disrupted when a passenger lowers his seat too far, causing the person behind him to start a fight, ending in the flight returning to Dulles Airport while U.S. F-16 jets are
scrambled.
On May 30 the city of Zinjibar, S Yemen falls to Islamist militants, their 2nd.
On May 30 19-y.-o. Russian Christian girl Katya Koren (1992-)
is stoned to death in her village in the Ukraine after participating in a beauty contest, causing reports that she was Muslim and was executed for violating Muslim Sharia;
it turns out to be a classmate, Bilal Gaziyev, a Crimean Tatar.
On May 30 an Egyptian security official claims
that over 400 al-Qaida members have made their way into the Sinai Peninsula.
On May 30 the First Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish Leaders
in Brussels, Belgium, organized by two U.S. Jewish groups declares that Muslims have "deep roots" in the European continent, and that Muslims are as imperiled by Islamophobia as Jews are by anti-Semitism;
a dozen Muslim leaders sign the declaration.
On May 30 a Gallup Poll
reveals that Pres. Obama's approval rating is just 37% among active military or veterans, vs. 48% among non-military personnel.
On May 31 Israeli strategic affairs minister Mose Ya'alon
calls on the "entire civilized world... to take joint action to avert the nuclear threat posed by Iran", with a military strike being on the table.
On May 30 the Sydney Morning Herald reports
that billboards reading "Jesus: Prophet of Islam" are being paid for by Muslims in Australia, causing an uproar, with Roman Catholic bishop
Julian Porteous calling them "provocative and offensive".
On May 30 Muslim clerics of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam
hold a press conference in Karachi, Pakistan to demand that the Bible be banned for containing "immoral stories".
On May 31 Pres. Obama nominates former Edison Internat. CEO
John Bryson
as commerce secy.
On May 31 the U.S. Supreme Court by 8-0
throws out
the lawsuit against former U.S. atty.-gen. John Ashcroft by Am.-born Muslim Abdullah al-Kidd, with justice Antonin Scalia writing:
"Qualified immunity gives government officials breathing room to make reasonable but mistaken judgments about open legal questions."
On May 31 the U.S. govt. refiles
charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other alleged 9/11 conspirators to allow prosecution before
a military commission in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
On May 31 defying the Daghestani authorities, the
Congress of the Nogays
is held by 3K in Terkli-Mekteb, demanding a new Nogay motherland composed of Daghestan, Stavropol, and Checnya.
On May 31 Maulana Salimullah,
senior leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party is gunned down and killed in the Latambar area of NW Pakistan;
four others are injured.
On May 31 Syrian pres. Bashar al-Assad issues a
decree
granting a gen. amnesty to political opposition parties incl. the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood; meanwhile
the story emerges of
Hamza Ali al-Khateeb (b. 1998),
who was tortured to death and castrated by Syrian security forces.
On May 31 Bangladeshi PM
Sheikh Hasina
announces her support for restoring Islam as the state religion after abolishing the 1972 secular constitution;
meanwhile a 40-y.-o. woman in the Jhalakathi district of
Dhaka, Bangladesh cuts off the penis of a man trying to rape her in her shanty, then takes it to the police
as evidence; meanwhile Moldovan PM Vlad Filat
pledges to review the recent registration of Islam as one of the country's recognized religions.
On May 31 Afghan pres. Hamid Karzai issues an ultimatum
to NATO to stop air strikes on Afghan homes, warning them that if they don't then the Afghan people will drive them out as occupying enemy forces, warning that if they continue "We will
be forced to take unilateral action".
On May 31 Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzads,
who wrote the week before about infiltration of the Pakistan navy by al-Qaida is found murdered.
On May 31 a bus plunges into a river in Assam State
in NE India, killing 31.
In May Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are all visible within the same 6 deg. area of sky.
In May Taiga Ishikawa
of Tokyo's Toshima ward becomes the first openly gay political office holder in modern Japan.
In May authorities in Tatarstan, Russia
warn of radical Islam spreading into their region, which had been known for Muslim-Christian mutual tolerance.
In May Iraqi Muslim immigrants
Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi
are indicted by the U.S. govt. for trying to obtain and ship Stinger missiles and money to al-Qaida in Iraq.
In May Cuban-born Hillary Clinton favorite Carlos Pascual (1959-)
(U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in 2000-3) succeeds David L. Goldwyn as dir. of the U.S. State Dept. Bureau of Energy Resources, working to draw
Ukraine into the Western sphere while pissing-off Vladimir Putin.
In May the U.S. unemployment rate rises to 91%, with the economy adding only 54K jobs.
In May Saudi Arabia announces
plans to build 16 nuclear reactors by 2030.
In May Nepal
census takers recognize a "third gender" for gay and transgender people; they decriminalized gay sex in 2008.
In May-June after record snowfall in the Rocky Mts. of Mont. and Wyo. and near-record spring rainfall in C-E Mont., the
2011 Missouri River Flood results after six major dams are opened to prevent overflow,
flooding towns and cities from Mont. to Mo. incl. Bismarck, N.D., Pierre, S.D., Dunes, S.C., South Sioux City, Neb., Sioux City, Iowa, Omaha, Neb., Council Bluffs, Iowa,
Kansas City, Mo., and Jefferson City, Mo.
On June 1 Dutch politician Geert Wilders delivers his
final remarks
at his misguided hate speech trial in Amsterdam, saying "I am risking my life in defense
of freedom in the Netherlands", and "The Netherlands is threatened by Islam. Islam is an ideology
of hate and destruction. Islam threatens Western values and norms.", and "Acquit me. I do not
encourage hatred, I do not encourage discrimination."
On June 1 the state of
Ill.
declares the Islamic calendar month of Ramadan "green", becoming the 1st U.S. state.
On June 1 the first of
three eclipses, a midnight solar eclipse
in the high Arctic occurs, followed on June 15 by a full lunar eclipse, and on July 1
by a partial solar eclipse over the Antarctic.
On June 1 El Salvador defense minister Gen.
David Munguia
says that Mexican drug cartels are trying to buy high-powered army weapons in Central Am.;
meanwhile Mexican police arrest 25 drug cartel members in
Hidalgo, Mexico,
incl. a police chief.
On June 1 a plague of
tornadoes
hits the U.S., incl. N Calif., Kan., Neb., and Mass.
On June 1 the biggest protest so far in
Syria sees
hundreds protest in Abdoun holding placards calling Bashful Asshole a butcher; ex-Muslim Brotherhood
pres. Salem Falahat calls on the Syrian army to shoot at Israel rather than their own people; on June 3
a protest by 50K in Hama
sees security forces fire on the protesters, killing 34.
On June 1 former Israeli Mossad chief Meir Dagan
says that Israel only has the capability to delay Iran's nuclear ambitions, not stop them, and that "Israel would not withstand a regional conflict ignited by an Israeli strike of Iran's
nuclear facilities".
On June 1 the Washington, D.C. think tank Center for Global Development
recommends that the U.S. delay the $7.5B Kerry-Lugar-Berman aid package to Pakistan authorized in 2009.
On June 1 the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture releases the MyPlate
icon to replace the Food Pyramid.
On June 2 200 Taliban militants dressed in Afghan military uniforms cross the border and ambush a security checkpoint in
Upper Dir, Pakistan, killing 25 Pakistani troops.
On June 2 Japanese PM Naoto Kan
narrowly survives a no-confidence vote over the post-tsunami crisis.
On June 2 Palestinian Authority chmn. Mahmoud Abbas
tells his people on TV in Arabic: "We refuse to recognize a Jewish state".
On June 2 German pres. Christian Wulff
says that Islam is part of a modern changing Germany, and necessary to develop a vibrant society, with the soundbyte: "If one is not open to other religions, one cannot expect Muslim societies
to be receptive to freedom of religion" - and when did Muslim countries agree to their part of this bargain?
On June 2 White House counsel Bob Bauer resigns,
causing Birthers to claim it's because he knows the certificate can't stand up to a criminal investigation.
On June 3 (Fri.) the Muslim Youth League in the West Bank sponsors a march
toward Jerusalem to mark the 1967 Israeli occupation; they repeat on June 5.
On June 3 former U.S. Sen. John Edwards
is indicted by a federal grand jury in Raleigh, N.C. for misuse of $1M in campaign finance funds to coverup his affair and child with former campaign staffer Rielle Hunter.
On June 3 the pres. palace in Yemen
is shelled by members of the Hashed tribe of Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar; rockets slam
into a mosque where Ali Abdullah Saleh is praying, wounding his PM and killing four others,
and giving him severe burns,
after which on June 4 Saleh flees to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment; his brother
?,
cmdr. of the Yemeni Repub. Guard is behind the palace massacre?
On June 3 al-Qaida "military brain" Ilyas Kashmiri
is killed in Pakistan in a NATO drone stroke in NW Pakistan; his death is confirmed on July 7.
On June 3 about 300 protest in Tahir Square in Cairo, demanding Sharia law for Egypt.
On June 3 Islamist militant David Murashev (1977-)
is arrested for hacking North Ossetian poet Shamil Dzhikayev to death for denouncing Muslim pilgrims on Hajj who allegedly urinated on a memorial to children slain in the 2004 Beslan School Siege.
On June 3 a U.N. Report on the Internet
declares Internet access a human right, dissing France and Britain for passing laws removing access of accused copyright scofflaws, and other countries for blocking access to quell political unrest.
On June 3 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton receives an
email
from Anne-Marie Slaughter, with the title "Google email hacking and woeful state of civilian technology".
On June 4 the U.N. Security Council calls for Sudan to pull out of the disputed Abyei region.
On June 4 Pres. Obama decides
not to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, citing nat. security interests; the Palestinian Authority welcomes it as "encouraging"; meanwhile thousands of Israelis mark the
44th anniv. of the 1967 Six-Day War by demonstrating
in Tel Aviv against the continued occupation of the Palestinian territories.
On June 4 Syria shuts down the Internet.
On June 4 a CNN Poll
reveals that American support for Israel over the Palestinians is 67%, up from 60% in 2009, vs. 16%; 65% say that the U.S. shouldn't take sides in the conflict, 35% say it should take Israel's side,
and 1% wants it to take the Palestinian side.
On June 5 hundreds of Palestinians and Syrians storm the Israeli border near the
Golan Heights,
causing Israeli forces to open fire, killing 20 and wounding 350, causing Syrian police to
hold them back on June 6; on June 6 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu utters the
soundbyte
that the attempt to break Israel's borders proves that "The argument is over the fact of the establishment of the state of Israel."
On June 5 the IAEA warns Iran that its nuclear program has "possible military dimensions", with new info. revealing
secret activity since 2004 and as recently as 2010; it also calls out Syria for ditto.
On June 5 Tijuana mayor
Jorge Hank Rhon,
one of Mexico's richest men is arrested in a military raid that uncovers an arsenal in his home.
On June 6 120 security personnel are killed in Jisr al-Shughour, Syria,
causing the govt. to vow to deal "decisively" with the gunmen.
On June 6 (Khordaad 14) the Shiite Mahdi is due to arrive in Medina.
On June 7 U.K. home secy. Theresa May
unvieils PM David Cameron's new violent extremism prevention policy, which finally recognizes that the goal of jihad is the establishment of Sharia, hence those who advocate Sharia may be
non-violent but fail to "reflect British mainstream values".
On June 7 a rocket barrage in a Shiite neighborhood of
Baghdad
kills five U.S. soldiers, becoming the most fatalities in a single day since May 11, 2009.
On June 7 NATO rejects a
Russian missile defense proposal
that would have required NATO to share details.
On June 7 former U.S. secy. of state
Henry Kissinger
attends a global affairs conference in Berlin, and says that Dem. change in Bahrain is not
in the interest of the U.S. because Shiites might take over, leading to "the breakup of Saudi Arabia".
On June 7 moderate Muslim prof.
Maksud Sadikov (b. 1963)
is shot dead at his home in Makhachkala, Dagestan after criticizing radical Islamists.
On June 8 after the Obama admin. allows some deepwater drilling, ExxonMobil
announces
the discovery of 700M barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, becoming the largest find in 12 years.
On June 8 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
announces
that Turkey won't close its door to Syrians fleeing unrest.
On June 9 Chihuahua atty.-gen.
Carlos Manuel Salas
says that the drug cartels have 14K armed men in the N Mexico cities of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua.
On June 9 the U.S. issues
sanctions
on Iran for attacking 2009 election protesters.
On June 9 the
Palestinian Authority
says that it may postpone plans for seeking unilateral recognition of statehood in the U.N. in Sept. in exchange
for U.S. guarantees that Israel will refrain from "creating facts on the ground".
On June 9 the U.S. govt. announces a plea bargain deal with accused NSA spy
Thomas Drake,
dropping 10 felony charges in exchange for a guilty plea to one misdemeanor, with no prison time.
On June 9 Iranian parliament speaker
Ali Larijani
utters the soundbyte that Iran will use its missiles to defend other Muslim nations if threatened.
On June 10 Pres. Obama signs an executive order creating the
White House Rural Council
to strengthen the rural U.S. economy.
On June 10 outgoing U.S. defense secy.
Robert Gates
delivers a speech in Brussels, saying that the U.S. military alliance with NATO faces a
"dim if not dismal future", dissing its penny-pinching and lack of political will, with
the soundbyte: "Future U.S. political leaders, those for whom the Cold War was not the formative
experience that it was for me may not consider the return on America's investment in NATO worth the cost."
On June 10 gay rights activists target a mosque in
East London, England
for harboring homophobic clerics, claiming a 21% rise in gay hate crime in the area.
On June 10 Malaysian PM
Datuk Seri Najib Razak
warns Malaysian Muslims not to accept foreign doctrines based on violence and intolerance,
and instead stick with moderate Islam.
On June 10 the
Barnabas Fund
reports that Eritrean Christians fleeing persecution in Eritrea face imprisonment, torture, beatings,
and sexual assault after they arrive in Egypt.
On June 10 stone-throwing Muslim Arabs on the
Temple Mount
in Jerusalem force hundreds of Jewish worshippers to flee.
On June 10 Somalian minister
Mohamud Abdullahi Weheliye
is killed by his suicide bomber niece, who works for al-Shabaab, and is also killed; meanwhile soldiers
open fire on stone-throwing protesters angry at an agreement to oust the country's PM, killing two.
On June 10 Pres. Obama
presses
Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu to accept his policy that Israel's pre-1967 border should be the basis of peace talks.
On June 10 CIA dir.
Leon Panetta
visits Islamabad, Pakistan, and tells them that security officials colluded with militants, tipping them off
to an IED factory raid.
On June 10 the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services issues
warnings,
adding eight substances to its Report on Carcinogen, listing formaldehyde as a carcinogen, and styrene as a possible carcinogen.
On June 11 Syrian troops come under fire as they attack the rebel town of
Jisr al Shughur.
On June 11 tens of thousands protest nuclear power in
Tokyo, Japan.
On June 11 crazed Muslim
Abdullah Mohammed (1960-)
gets mad at elderly shopper William Perry (1941-) in a Pathmark store in Harlem, N.Y., steps on his
foot at the Lotto desk, leaves, returns with a razor, and slashes his neck in a meat aisle.
On June 12 elections in
Turkey
are a V for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), who win 50% of the vote and 325 seats in parliament,
a 90-seat margin over the secular opposition, giving resurgent Islamism another boost.
On June 12 Hamas rejects Fatah's nomination of
Salam Fayyad
for PM of the transitional Palestinian govt., accusing him of cooperating with the Israeli
blockade of the Gaza Strip.
On June 12 Jordanian king Abdullah II
announces
sweeping reforms in a nationally-televised address, promising to establish a parliamentary majority govt. et al.
On June 12 Bahrain begins trying former Shiite MPs
Matar Matar and Jawad Favrouz
for calling for regime change in mid-Mar.
On June 12 Mexican authorities discover
210 migrants
from Central and South Am. crammed in a truck heading to the U.S. in S Mexico.
On June 12 Israel Radio
reports
that Pres. Obama has given Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu an ultimatum of 1 mo. to decide whether to accept
his proposal to resume talks with the fake so-called Palestinians based on the 1967 lines.
On June 12
South Korea
announces that North Korea can likely miniaturize a nuke for placing on a rocket.
On June 12 Am.-Israeli tourist
Ilan Chaim Grapel (Grappelli)
(AKA Ilan Goren) is
arrested
in Egypt as an alleged Mossad spy; he is released on Oct. 27 and returns to Israel.
On June 12 Yemeni acting pres.
Abdullah Oubal
agrees with opposition parties to begin discussions on transferring power from embattled pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh.
On June 12 multimillionaire FIDE pres. (since 1995)
Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov (1962-)
(known for claiming to be taken for a ride of the galaxy by E.T.'s in Sept. 1997) plays a game of chess
with Libyan dictator Col. Daffy Duck.
On June 13 the U.S. Congress Govt. Accountability Office pub. a
report
that reveals that the U.S. govt. still doesn't have a foolproof way to check foreign visitors
in and out of the U.S., leaving an unknown number unaccounted for.
On June 13 a roadside bomb in
South Waziristan
kills three Pakistani soldiers.
On June 13 a 51-y.-o. hijabbed Muslim woman from McLean, Va. causes a panic on the
Red Line
when she shouts "Praise Allah, I'm going to kill the world" and throws a backpack onto the
train at Rockville, Md. before exiting; she ends up in a mental health facility.
On June 13 former Fatah strongman (Mahmoud Abbas' rival)
Muhammad Dahla
is voted out of the party after allegations of corruption and crimes.
On June 13 Germany and the UAE
recognize
the Libyan rebel Transitional Nat. Council; meanwhile Daffy's forces flank Misrata in a pincer movement.
On June 13 Buffalo, N.Y. Muslim
Saddam Hussein Mohsin (1981-)
is charged with attempted murder of Detroit police officer Charles Armour with his car after
he tries to stop him from driving the wrong way down a 1-way street.
On June 13 Indonesian authorities announce that they have foiled a jihadist
plot
to poison police with cyanide, arresting 16 suspects.
On June 13 Lebanese PM Najib Mikati
announces
a new cabinet dominated by Hezbollah and its allies; Hezbollah has 18 of 30 sets in parliament.
On June 13 Boko Haram Islamists shoot and kill four at a beer garden in
Bulunkutu, N Nigeria.
On June 13 74-y.-o. Libyan-born Jew
Raffi Cohen (b. 1937)
is murdered in Rome, shocking the city's Jews.
On June 13 the U.S. Dept. of Education releases the
2010 Nat. Assessment of Educational Progress,
which reveals that only 12% of h.s. seniors have a firm grasp of U.S. history; 2% understand the meaning of
Brown v. Board of Education.
On June 13-23 the
Unexpected Israel
exhibit in the Duomo Piazza of Milan, Italy takes place despite protests from pro-Palestinian activists.
On June 14 after Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi condemns attempts to "delegitimize and boycott" Israel,
Italy and Israel
sign
eight bilateral agreements.
On June 14 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton issues a
statement
comparing the unrest in Syria to the 2009 Iranian protests, claiming that "Iran is supporting
Syrian assaults on protesters".
On June 14 U.S. House Speaker John A. Boehner sends a
warning
to Pres. Obama that unless he gets authorization from Congress for his military action in Libya,
he will be in violation of the War Powers Resolution, giving him until June 17 to prove a clear
justification; too bad, Obama overrides
the usually binding conclusion of his own Office of Legal Counsel and tells Congress that what the U.S. is
doing in Libya doesn't fit the definition of "hostilities".
On June 14 Knesset members visit
Joseph's Tomb
in Shechem for the first time since 2000.
On June 14 Pres. Obama visits
Puerto Rico
for 4.5 hours, becoming the first U.S. pres. to visit since JFK in Dec. 1961; meanwhile Obama gives an
interview
with NBC-TV's "Today" show, saying that his family "are not fully invested" in a 2nd term.
On June 14 after pressure from within the military, Pakistani army chief gen.
Ashfaq Kayani
meets with pres. Asif Zardari and PM Yousuf Raza Gilani and decide not to come under
"foreign" (U.S.) pressure in their military operations in North Wazaristan; meanwhile the
Pakistan Daily warns
that "A break with the U.S. might go in favor of Al-Qaeda's plans to impose a 'nuclearized' theocracy on Pakistan."
On June 14
S.C.
passes a law requiring employers to use the federal online E-Verify program to verify that their
employees can legally work in the U.S., with suspension of the business license as the punishment
for failure to cooperate; a similar law was passed on June 9 in
Ala.
On June 15 25-y.-o. Austrian Islamist
Thomas M.
is arrested in Vienna and accused of planning a 9/11-style attack on the Reichstag.
On June 15 Kuwaiti Shiite
Nasser Abul
is arrested for posting criticism of the ruling families of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on Twitter.
On June 15 Yemen claims to intercept financial transfers made through
Qatar
to fund dissidents, warning it to stop.
On June 15 U.S. Muslim soldier Pfc.
Naser Abdo (1990-),
who was approved as a conscientious objector to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan is charged with possession of child porno.
On June 15
Tajikistan
passes a law banning children and adolescents from attending mosques - they're way smarter than the rest of the world?
On June 15 the Obama admin. claims that its deeper engagement with the U.N. has helped counter its anti-Israel bias; on
June 17 the Arab-dominated U.N. Human Rights Council passes a
resolution
retaining Israel as the only one of its 192 member states that is the target of a dedicated permanent item
on its agenda, ignoring human rights abuses in Muslim countries.
On June 15-16 U.S. rep. (R-N.Y.) Peter King chairs hearings on
Radical Islam Infiltrating U.S. Prisons,
sparring with
Sheila Jackson,
who tells him to turn the spotlight instead on "Christian militants", Rep. (D-Mi.)
Hansen Clarke,
who gives an irrelevant speech about prison reform, and Rep. (D-Calif.)
Laura Richardson,
who accused King of racism for focusing on one particular group, causing King to
utter the soundbyte "The fact is that this committee was set up to combat terrorism, it
was set up after September 11. There are already procedures in place that follow gangs
in prison. Unfortunately because [of] too many instances of political correctness, we
do not have protocols put in place to follow those who had trained in jihad in the prison
systems. And that's why this is unique.", then adds "Your party had control of this
committee for four years and had not one hearing on prisons, on skinheads, on Nazis, on
Aryan Nation, on white supremacists, at all. Suddenly this issue emerges when we start
talking about Muslim radicalization... If we find out that neo-Nazis are coordinating
with a foreign power to attack this country, then we will investigate it."
On June 16 Pakistan lobbies for membership in the China-dominated
Shanghai Cooperation Org.,
and urges Afghanistan to join also.
On June 16 Lebanon mufti Sheikh
Mohammed Rashid Qabbani
tells Palestinian reps. in Beirut that they are "trash" that are no longer
welcome in his country.
On June 16 al-Qaida
announces
that former #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri is now #1, causing the U.S. to announce that they will hunt him down
and kill him like they did Osama bin Laden; al-Qaida
announces
that it will "never recognize any legitimacy for the alleged" state of Israel".
On June 16 (10:55 a.m.) a Boko Haram suicide bomber at the police HQ in
Abuja, Nigera
becomes Nigeria's first?
On June 16 an Islamist bomb in
Netanya, Israel
kills three and wounds 12.
On June 16 the Taliban warns
Prince Harry
that if he is captured in Afghanistan on his 2nd tour of duty next year, he will be shown no mercy and will be "destroyed".
On June 16 an
Australia-Malaysian people swap deal
sees 4K refugees go to Australia while 800 go back to Malaysia, which alredy has 93K refugees from Myanmar.
On June 16 the OIC (Muslim)-financed
Council of Europe
pub. a Report on Racism,
calling for horrible laws against online "hate speech" to be pumped up by stronger laws making it "impossible" to even use it.
On June 17 Spain freezes
33M euros of assets held by a detained associate of ousted Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak et al.
On June 17 a suspicious vehicle outside the Pentagon containing ammonium nitrate is identified as
belonging to Muslim U.S. Marine lance cpl.
Yonathan Melaku,
who is found carrying a notebook containing phrases incl. "Taliban rules" and "Mujahid defeated
Croatian forces"; later a
videotape
showing firing shots at the U.S. Marine Corps museum while shouting "Allahu Akbar" along with documents on
bombmaking are found in his home; under Obama influence, the Washington Post reports "motive unclear" - Semper Fi?
On June 17 protests across Syria sees Syrian security forces
shoot
and kill eight protesters; meanwhile a Syria-allied Lebanese politician is killed by gunmen shooting at people
holding an anti-Assad protest in N Lebanon.
On June 17 protesters in
Guangzhou Province, China
protest the treatment of a pregnant migrant worker by police, who forced her to move her food stand off a road
in Xiantang and pushed her to the ground.
On June 17 the U.S. Human Rights Council issues its first
condemnation of discrimination against gays, lebians, and transgender people,
which is supported by the U.S. and opposed by Islamic and African countries.
On June 17 White House communications dir.
Dan Pfeiffer
is heckled and booed at the liberal activist Netroots Nation conference in Minneapolis, Minn.
On June 17 London-based
Al-Sharq al-Awsat
reports that Hamas vetoed a "good deal" offered by Israel for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
On June 17 a report in Der Spiegel
claims that the June-July Women's World Cup of Football
in Germany may bring Islamist violence because they regard it as decadent.
On June 17 U.S. Rep. (R-Calif.)
Darrell Issa
says that he believes that Obama's Justice Dept. is covering up a scandal where they allowed
Mexican drug cartels to purchase guns in the U.S., causing Obama to fire ATF Bureau chief Kenneth Melson.
On June 17 the new
2011 Moroccan Constitution
with dem. reforms is unveiled; on July 3 a referendum approves it by a 98.5% vote.
On June 17 the
U.S. Conference of Mayors
introduces a resolution calling for a quicker end to the Afghan War and a speedier withdrawal of troops,
becoming their first anti-war resolution since the Vietnam War.
On June 18 NewsMax reports
that North Korea may have tested a "Super EMP" weapon that produces a large electromagnetic pulse.
On June 18 Syrian troops attack a Syrian refugee camp near the Turkish village of
Boynuyogun
in Hatay province near the Syrian border.
On June 18 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai
acknowledges
that the Afghan and U.S. govts. have been holding talks with the Taliban; meanwhile
Taliban suicide attacks in Kabul kill nine.
On June 18 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder makes the
claim
that lawyers are America's "most effective terror-fighting weapon", pissing-off nat. security experts.
On June 19 (Sun.) (Father's Day) Pres. Obama sends his
first Tweet:
"Being a father is sometimes my hardest but always my most rewarding job. Happy Father's Day
to all the dads out there."
On June 19 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai accuses U.S.-led NATO troops of remaining in the country
"for their own national interests", causing outgoing U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan
Karl Eikenberry
warns that the U.S. people are growing weary of being viewed as occupiers, saying "My people
in turn are filled with confusion and they grow weary of our effort here."
On June 19 a NATO airstrike in the Souk al-Juma
neighborhood of Tripoli accidentally kills civilians, incl. a child.
On June 19 9-y.-o. Pakistani girl Sohana Jawed (2002-),
who was kidnapped en route to school and forced to wear a suicide vest escapes her captors as they tried to get her to attack a paramilitary checkpoint in NW Pakistan.
On June 19 Miss Calif. Alyssa Marie Campanella (1990-)
of LA is crowned Miss USA, saying "I'm a huge history geek", as well as a "science geek".
On June 19 Falling Skies
debuts on TNT-TV for 52 episodes (until Aug. 30, 2015), starring Will Patton as Capt. Dan Weaver, and Noah Wyle as history prof. Tom Mason, 2nd-in-command of the
2nd Mass. Militia Regiment, who help a group of civilians flee Boston after an alien invasion by brown 6-legged Skitters, Mech attack drones, and the Overlords (Espheni).
On June 20 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejects a class action for gender discrimination in
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Dukes,
but splits 5-4 over the scope of the decision.
On June 20 the 9-ship
Freedom Flotilla II,
led by the Audacity of Hope (after a book by Pres. Obama) leaves for Gaza from various Mediterranean
ports carrying 1.5K activists from 100 countries, incl. leftist writer Alice Walker; this despite the May 27
Egyptian decision to reopen its border at Rafah with Gaza; flotilla coordinator
Mohammed Sawalha is a Hamas leader in the U.K.;
writer Alice Walker is aboard; 1,150 of 1,500 activists drop out; on July 1 after a new pro-U.S.
Greek-Israeli-Turkish alliance is created,
Greek authorities detain the Audacity of Hope, and on July 2
arrest
the capt. when he tries to slip away; on July 4 Hamas
blows up
Egypt's gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan in protest (3rd time in 6 mo.); on July 7 the flotilla gives
up and disperses.
On June 20 the Israeli govt. announces the building of a new wall on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights
to block infiltration of Palestians through the border town of
Majdal Shams.
On June 20 (6:30 p.m.)
Egypt Air 986
(B777) comes dangerously close to a mid-air collision after failing to follow ATC instructions.
On June 20 16-y.-o. Faheen Abdul-Jaleel of Rochester, N.Y. brutally stabs his 13-y.-o. cousin
Samina Qasim
in an attempted honor killing, which he tries to cover up by calling it an argument.
On June 21 tens of thousands demonstrate again in
Yemen
against Ali Abdullah Saleh, demanding the departure of his sons Ahmad and Khaled Saleh.
On June 21 a Russian Tupolev Tu-134 crash-lands in
Karelia, Russia,
killing 40.
On June 21 La Familia cartel drug lord
Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas,
AKA El Chango (The Monkey) is captured in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
On June 21 the Wall Street Journal exposes
anti-black ethnic cleansing
in Misurata, Libya by the Brigade for the Purging of Slaves and Black Skin.
On June 21 (eve.) Pres. Obama gives a
Speech on Afghanistan
titled "The Way Forward in Afghanistan", saying that he will withdraw 33K troops
by the end of Aug. 2012 in time for the pres. election season, starting with 5K in July and 5K by
the end of 2011; "This decade of war has caused many to question the nature of America's engagement
around the world. When threatened, we must respond with force, but when that force can be targeted,
we need not deploy large armies overseas. We stand not for empire, but for self-determination";
his own top military advisers are against his plan, and NATO doesn't plan on turning over the war
to the Afghan army until the end of 2014.
On June 21 Boston, Mass. crime boss
James "Whitey" Bulger (1920-)
is arrested in Santa Monica, Calif. after being on the run since 1994 from charges of 21 killings and racketeering.
On June 21-26 First Lady
Michelle Obama,
her daughters Malia and Sasha, and mother Marian Robinson visit Africa, starting with Johannesburg, followed by Gaborone.
On June 22 a jailbreak in
Mukalla, Yemen
sees 62 al-Qaida members overpower guards while others attack the prison from the outside.
On June 22
S.C.
passes a new immigration law requiring police to check the immigration status of anybody they arrest; on Oct. 31 the U.S. Dept. of Justice
sues
them over it after the Dept. of Homeland Security announces that it has cancelled long-standing checks of
transportation hubs for illegal immigrants; meanwhile Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Jose Antonio Vargas
outs himself as an illegal U.S. immigrant in the New York Times, risking prosecution to influence the debate.
On June 22 Gig Harbor (near Tacoma), Wash. man
Brooks Papineau
aims a gun loaded with armor-pierced bullets at a police officer after a traffic stop, and is killed;
his truck is carrying a large ammount of ammo, a Quran, and books on converting to Islam; the
40th Islamic terrorist attack
against the U.S. foiled since 9/11.
On June 22 after a tipoff from a convicted Seattle Muslim, Am. Muslim converts
Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif (Joseph Anthony Davis) (1978-)
of Seattle, Wash., and Walli Mujahidh (Frederick Dominigue Jr.) (1979-) of LA are arrested for plotting to attack
a military recruiting station with machine guns a la Ft. Hood.
On June 22 the Pakistani army questions four majors about links to the banned
Hizb ut-Tahrir
global Islamist party, causing members to stage a demonstration on July 1 calling for Islamic rule.
On June 24 the U.S. House of Reps. votes down a
resolution
to grant Pres. Obama authority to continue supporting the NATO mission in Libya by 123-295, with 70 Dems.
and eight Repubs. switching sides.
On June 24 a suicide bomber in
S Yemen
kills four, incl. three soldiers, and injures 10.
On June 24 former Rwandan minister for family and women affairs
Pauline Nyiramasuhuko
becomes the first woman convicted of genocide for her part in the 1994 Rwanda genocide; her son
Arsene Ntahobali is also convicted; they receive life sentences.
On June 24 Pres. Obama launches the Nat. Robotics Initiative,
part of the Advanced Manufacturing Initiative, with the soundbyte:
"You might not know this, but one of my responsibilities as Commander in Chief is to keep an eye on robots. And I'm pleased to report that the robots you manufacture here seem peaceful,
at least for now."
On June 25 N.Y.
becomes state #6 to legalize gay marriage, along with Washington, D.C.
On June 25 German interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich
meets with Muslim community leaders and urges them to prevent the radicalization of Muslim youth, causing the usual PC firestorm.
On June 25 a car bomb in a hospital in Logar Province, Afghanistan kills 27 and injures 52.
On June 25 six Taliban militants, some of them in burqas, incl. a husband-wife pair detonated in a police station in
Kolachi, NW Pakistan, killing 10 policemen.
On June 25 Egyptian finance minister Samir Radwan
says that Egypt won't borrow from the IMF despite prior loan agreements.
On June 26 hundreds of Muslim youths burn a Jehovah's Witness hall in
Dakar, Senegal during a meeting; local imam
Thierno Mbeugne
tries to justify the attack by claiming that the JWs were handing out crosses, when their cult doesn't believe in them.
On June 26 a Boko Haram Islamist attack in a beer garden in
Maiduguri, Nigeria
kills 25+.
On June 26 Palestinian Authority pres. Mahmoud Abbas
announces
that he will go to the U.N. for recognition of an independent Palestinian state in Sept.
On June 26 Pakistani Taliban deputy cmdr.
Waliur Rehman
tells the AP that it will avenge Osama bin Laden's death by carrying out 10 new terrorist attacks incl.
in the U.S. and Europe; meanwhile former Fadayeen-e-Islam Taliban cmdr.
Shakirullah Shakir
is killed in Miramshah, North Waziristan.
On June 26 U.S. churches embrace
Chrislam
via the Faith Shared group?
On June 26 a Gallup Poll
shows that only 45% of Americans in the lowest income bracket ($24K a year or less) approve of the job
that Pres. Obama is doing, vs. 47% of Americans in the highest bracket ($90K a year or more).
On June 27 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court by 5-4 in McComish v. Bennett
strikes down a key provision of an Ariz. public financing law, giving those who opt for campaign funds from the govt. to apply for more
if their privately-financed opponents spend more than they get, saying that a "trigger mechanism" violates the free speech rights of the opponents.
On June 27 the Internat. Criminal Court in The Hague issues
warrants
for Libyan Col. Daffy, his son Saif al-Islam, and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi
for crimes against humanity incl. murder and persecution.
On June 27 Iran tests the long-range
Sajiil
missile, which has a range of 2K km, allowing it to strike Israel; on June 29
British foreign secy.
William Hague
says that Iran has been secretly testing ballistic missiles capable of delivering nukes, violating
U.N. Resolution 1929, causing Saudi prince
Turki al-Faisal
to say that if Iran comes close to developing nukes it will follow suit and "pursue policies which
could lead to untold and possibly dramatic consequences".
On June 27 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 7-2 in
Brown (Schwarzenegger) v. Entertainment Merchants Assoc.
that states don't have the power to act as parents and censor violent games for minors, voiding a 2005 Calif. law.
On June 27 Kurdish militants attack Turkish troops in
Orenburch, Turkey
in the Van region, killing one soldier and wounding three; meanwhile a
Turkish gay pride march
is held in Istanbul.
On June 27 Turkish-born ex-boxing champ
Fuat Sanac
is elected head of Austria's Islamic community, succeeding Anas Schakfeh (since 1999).
On June 27 Space Rock 2011 MD
passes 7.5K mi. above the Earth's surface over the S Atlantic Ocean.
On June 28 France confirms
that it has supplied weapons to the Libyan rebels despite a U.N. arms embargo; meanwhile on June 29 Britain
decides against arming them.
On June 28 Rinderpest
is officially declared wiped out by the U.N. in a ceremony in Rome.
On June 28 (night) a Taliban suicide attack at the Intercontinental Hotel
in Kabul, Afghanistan sees six attackers storm it during a conference of Afghan provincial govs. and go through the rooms targeting the 300 Afghans and foreigners staying there,
killing six until they are killed, showing that they can get the Yankee infidels where they live.
On June 29 the U.S. Senate passes Resolution 185,
calling on Palestinians to halt their bid for unilateral recognition by the U.N. and threatening to suspend financial aid.
On June 29 the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security pub. a
new list of specially designated countries
that support terrorism, adding Israel for the first time while dropping North Korea; meanwhile the Obama admin. resumes formal contact with the
Muslim Brotherhood,
whose avowed goal is Islamist takeover of the U.S., while U.S. deputy nat. security advisor
John Brennan
says that the new Obama admin. counterterrorism strategy will be to focus on would-be terrorists in the U.S. who are inspired by al-Qaeda's "hateful ideology", and adds that this
is the first strategy to "designate the homeland as a primary area of emphasis in our counterterrorism efforts", adding the
immortal soundbytes:
"Our strategy is... shaped by a deeper understanding of al-Qaida's goals, strategy and tactics... I'm not talking about al-Qaida's grandiose vision of global domination through
a violent Islamic caliphate. That vision is absurd, and we are not going to organize our counterterrorism polices against a feckless delusion that is never going to happen"; on
June 30 Hillary Clinton in Budapest says that the Obama admin. is loosening criteria for interaction with the Brotherhood, permitting diplomats to deal directly with low-level officials; on
July 2 Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan
says that they are "ready for dialogue", but only "within a framework of mutual respect", calling for the Obama admin. to "side with the rights of the people and their demands and to stop
supporting the corrupt and tyrannical regimes, backing the Zionist occupation and using double standards"; meanwhile the Obama admin.
imposes
financial sanctions on Syrian and Iranian domestic security forces for killing of peaceful anti-govt. protesters in Syria.
On June 29 the Yemeni air force mistakenly bombs a bus in Zinjibar,
killing four; meanwhile clashes with rebels kill 23 on both sides.
On June 29 two Chinese warplanes chase a U.S. U-2 spy plane over the 100-mi.
Taiwan Strait,
becoming the first direct conflict since 2001.
On June 29 French journalists Herve Ghesquiere and Stephane Taponier
are released, becoming the longest-held Western hostages in Afghanistan; they were kidnapped on Dec. 30, 2009 in Kapisa NE of Kabul.
On June 30 the U.N. Special Tribunal for Lebanon
issues
arrest warrants for four members of Hezbollah, incl. senior official Mustafa Badreddine for the 2005 assassination of Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri.
On June 30 U.S. State Dept. official Daniel Benjamin
tells the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the Obama admin. doesn't think that Hezbollah is doing anything in Venezuela other than fundraising, pissing-off Repubs., who think
they're into terrorism.
On June 30 after a Coptic Christian couple is attacked at a bus terminal, and the man has the
effrontery to fight back, a Muslim mob of thousands attacks Christian homes and business in 75% Coptic
W Kolosna, Egypt
in Minya Province, injuring 10.
On June 30 a panel of FDA experts votes that the world's best-selling cancer drug
Avastin
is unsafe to use on breast cancer patients.
On June 30 thousands protest in
Dhaka, Bangladesh
to protest the new 2011 Bangladesh Constitution
that proclaims it an Islamic state.
On June 30 Iranian supreme assatolah
Ali Khamenei
holds a meeting with Iranian officials where he warns that the U.S. is in a Zionist plot
to stir up trouble with Syria, after which he sends a letter to the Obama admin. warning
them not to pressure the Syrian leadership or Iran will retaliate against U.S. troops in Iraq.
On June 30 Kabul Bank ex-chmn.
Sherkhan Farnood
and ex-CEO Khalilullah Fruzi are arrested for $900M in fraudulent lending activities.
On June 30 Atlanta, Ga. public school suptd.
Beverly Hall
resigns days before a report is released that she encouraged teachers and principals to change student
test answers to get higher scores on standardized tests so she could get a bonus.
On June 30 (4 p.m.) a bus strikes a Taliban IED in Khash Rod District
in the SW Nimroz Province of AFghanistan, killing 20 civilians.
In June the first Arctic-crossing algae
from the Pacific to the N Atlantic in 800K years are accompanied by a whale native to the Pacific.
In June a huge E. coli outbreak in Germany
starts in Hamburg, killing 22 and sickening 2K; it is traced to bean sprouts.
In June the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N)
begins fighting the Sudanese army in the Nuba Mts. of South Kordofan.
In June the
Central Bank of Nigeria
announces plans to switch to non-interest Islamic banking.
In June the
Anthony Weiner Scandal
sees Dem. N.Y. U.S. rep. (1999-)
Anthony David Weiner (1964-)
get caught sending photos of his wiener to love mates on the Internet despite having married Saudi-raised
(puppet?) Muslim Hillary Clinton deputy chief of staff
Huma Mahmood Abedin (1976-)
11 mo. earlier on July 10, 2010 (officiated by Bill Clinton), compounded by lying before
a complete confession, causing calls for his resignation, incl. from Pres. Obama despite
support from pregnant Huma, after which he finally resigns on June 16; Huma's marriage is
a sham arranged for convenience by her Saudi puppetmasters, and is not recognized by Sharia?;
Huma was once rumored to be Hillary's
lesbian lover,
and her mother Saleha Abedin
belonged to the Muslim Sisterhood, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, while her brother
Hassan Abedin
works at the infamous Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, whose board is loaded with
Muslim Brotherhood members, and who has aspiring Turkish caliph
Muhammad Fethullah Gulen (Gülen)
among its trustees; the Clintons helped Gulen flee to the U.S. after being indicted in Turkey in 2000.
In June the 57-member Org. of Islamic Cooperation (Conference) (OIC) sets up the 18-member
OIC Permanent Commission on Human Rights (OICCHR);
too bad, it reverses the Western logic of human rights to protect Islam, advocating "the non-use of the universality
of human rights as a pretext in the state;s internal affairs and diminish their national sovereignty", and calling
upon OIC members to work together to "increase Islamic solidarity to confront any initiative that may lead to use
of human rights as a means of exercising pressure on any member state"; nothing but a Saudi tool to foist a world
Islamic blasphemy law on infidels?
In June the first Christian-Muslim gay marriage in the Nordic countries sees
Knut Egil Asprusten (1967-) and Kaltham Alexander Lie (1962-)
get hitched in Oslo, Norway.
In June the
Gary Becker Milton Friedman Inst. for Research in Economics
is established at the U. of Chicago by Lars Peter Hansen et al.
In June the
U.S. unemployment rate
rises to 9.2%, adding only 18K jobs.
On July 1 another protest in
Tahrir Square
sees thousands protest the slow pace of change.
On July 1 300K protest in
Hama, Syria
(2nd largest since start og uprising in Mar.), while the police and military give them a
wide berth, after which pres. Bashar al-Assad fires gov.
Ahmed Abdul-Aziz
on July 2, and sends tanks
into the city on July 4, arresting dozens.
On July 1 1M-1.7M protest in
Tripoli, Libya
in support of Col. Daffy and against NATO.
On July 1 Moroccans vote for
constitutional changes
proposed by King Mohammed VI, incl. full equality of women, the rights of minorities incl. Jews and Berbers,
criminialization of torture, and the independence of the judiciary; they also invest executive authority in the
head of the party that wins the most seats in parliament.
On July 1 the Internat. Community of Democracies meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania sees U.S. secy. of state
Hillary Clinton liken the Arab Spring to the democratization of E Europe in the 1990s, and utter the
soundbyte:
"Today there are new democracies fighting for life, there are vicious autocrats clinging to power.
This is an hour of need, and every democracy should stand up and be counted."
On July 1 the 17th African Union Summit
in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea sees the leaders wrestle with what to do about once-impregnable Libyan dictator Col. Daffy, who
threatens
to attack European civilians, causing U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton to
call for him to stand down.
On July 1 the govt. of Bolivia
renounces the U.N. Anti-Drug Convention because it objects to classifying coca leaf as an illegal drug.
On July 1 the Sudanese army
seizes Kufra in S Libya, which is the gateway to Libyan oil fields.
On July 1 the U.S. embassy in Pakistan
holds a gay pride celebration, pissing-off the Muslim establishment, incl. Jamaat-i-Islami leader Ameer Munawar Hassan, who claims the U.S. "has violated the rules and laws of the land".
On July 1 Monaco prince Albert II (b. 1958) marries South African swimmer
Charlene Lynette Wittstock (1978-),
who becomes princess of Monaco and is set to work producing an heir.
On July 2 R.I.
authorizes same sex civil unions, but no gay marriage.
On July 2 a planned rally by
Stop Islamisation of Europe
in Strasbourg, France, seat of the EU Parliament is cancelled by EU authorities - making their point?
On July 2-3 (night) Boko Haram jihadists kill a politician, three retired police officers, and six others, then set off a bomb at a police beer garden in
Maiduguri, N Nigeria, killing 10.
On July 3 the first free elections in Thailand
since 2006 gives a landslide V to Yingluck "Pu" (crab) Shinawatra (1967-),
sister of exiled ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who becomes PM of Thailand on Aug. 5 (until ?).
On July 3 a Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attack on a construction vehicle in
Bingol, E Turkey
kills one Turkish soldier and injures another.
On July 3 U.S. Sen. (I-Conn.)
Joe Lieberman
tells Fox News Sunday that Iran has a "day of reckoning coming", and that the U.S. should
"retire our ambiguous mantra about all options remaining on the table" and make sure that
defense secy. nominee Leon Panetta has a plan for attacking them.
On July 4 Turkish foreign minister
Ahmet Davutoglu
reverses policy on Libyan col. Daffy, pledging $200M in additional aid for the rebels on top of
the $100M they pledged under U.S.-EU pressure.
On July 4 a statue of U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan is
unveiled
in Grosvenor Square in London, England.
On July 4 the Indian govt. announces the discovery of a $22B gold-jewel treasure trove in the
16th cent.
Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple
in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
On July 5 Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (1956-)
of France becomes the first woman dir. of the IMF (until ?).
On July 5 after a 6-week trial in which the defense portrayed her as a slut and liar to a T, Fla. mom
Casey Anthony
is found not guilty of murder or manslaughter over the death of her 2-y.-o. daughter Caylee, causing massive outrage; she is convicted of
four misdemeanors of providing false info. to law enforcement, and is released from jail on ?.
On July 5 the U.K.-based
Muslims Against the Crusades
Islamist group calls on U.K. to establish three independent "emirates" that are completely under Sharia, incl. Bradford and Dewbury in Yorkshire,
and Tower Hamlets in East London.
On July 5 German chancellor Angela Merkel comes under fire for a $1B
arms deal with Saudi Arabia to supply it with 200 Leopard 2 battle tanks,
but lawmakers fail to override it.
On July 5 an Azerbaijani tanker plane
crashes in Afghanistan en route from Baku to Bagram Air Base, killing nine crew.
On July 5 Zetas drug gang leader (Mexican army deserter)
Jesus Rejon Aguilar
(AKA El Mamito), suspected in the slaying of U.S. agent Jaime Japata is captured.
On July 5 (11 p.m. local time) white Muslim convert jihadist
Saifullah (b. 1961),
key aide to Osama bin Laden is killed by a U.S. drone in Mir Ali, N Waziristan, Pakistan
along with five other militants.
On July 5-8 protests in
Karachi, Pakistan
kill 71, causing security forces to be authorized to shoot gunmen on sight.
On July 6 after his enemies seek to arrest his closet aides, Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket issues a
warning
that if they try it he will expose corruption in the Rev. Guards, incl. smuggling of cigarettes.
On July 6 the U.S. and Mexico end a 15-year cross-border trucking dispute by signing a
pact,
lifting punitive tariffs on $2.4B on U.S. goods in exchange for Mexican trucks complying with all
U.S. federal motor vehicle safety standards and install monitoring systems to track hours on the road.
On July 6 the Obama admin. decides to try Somalian Islamic militant
Ahmed Abdulkadir Warseame
in the U.S. civil courts, pissing-off Repubs.
On July 7 after Saudi al-Qaida military cmdr.
Walid Mashafi Ali Asiri
(AKA Abu Khaled Al Asiri) is killed along with 40 others in Zinjibar, al-Qaida militants ambush Yemeni soldiers in
S Yemen, killing 10.
On July 7 surprise appearance on state TV by Yemeni pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh
sparks a wave of violence.
On July 7 rapist-murderer Humberto Leal Garcia Jr.
of Mexico is executed in Tex. despite a last minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by the Obama admin.; his last words are "Viva Mexico".
On July 7 News Corp. chief exec Rupert Murdoch announces plans to shut down the 168-y.-o.
News of the World,
Britain's largest circ. newspaper after a scandal about hacking into the phones of thousands of
British citizens and payoffs to police for info.; his deputies Lee Hinton and Rebekah Brooks resign by July 15; on July 17 Sir
Paul Stephenson, head of Scotland Yard resigns; on July 19 Rupert's wife
Wendi Murdoch (1969-)
becomes a hero after she smacks an assailant on the head after he throws a foam pie at him.
On July 7 1K secular Muslims protest in
Tunisia
to protest creeping takeover by Islamists bent on Sharia.
On July 7-8 scores of pro-Palestinian activists trying to fly into Israel are
blocked
at airports in Europe; two Am. activists who arrive in Israel are deported on July 8.
On July 8 (12:28 a.m. ET) Space Shuttle Atlantis
takes off on its final flight, returning before dawn on July 21.
On July 8 (Fri.) protests in Egypt
sees tens of thousands demand justice for victims of Hosni Mubarak's regime and a clear transition plan to democracy, shouting "No parties, no Muslim Brotherhood",
causing Egyptian maj. gen.
Mohsen El-Fangary
to tell the protesters on July 12 that they won't allow public life to be disrupted or their authority to be "hijacked"; meanwhile 500K protest in Orontes Square in
Hama, Syria,
greeting U.S. and French ambassadors Robert Ford and Eric Chevalier, while other demonstrations take place throughout Syria; July 9 Syrian forces raid
Homs; on July 11 protesters in Damascus
break into
the U.S. embassy, and attack the French embassy, but are repelled by gunfire; on July 12 the U.N. Security Council votes 15-0-0 for
Resolution 1998,
condemning attacks on schools and hospitals as subject to being placed on a list of those committing "grave violations" against children.
On July 8 killer bees
attack 46-y.-o. Oscar Navarro and his dog and kill them in Tucson, Ariz.
On July 8 Calif.
begins requiring Amazon.com and other large out-of-state retails to collect sales tax on online purchases made by Calif. customers.
On July 8-9 a killing spree in
Mexico
by the Zetas drug cartel kills 40+.
On July 9 (9:57 local time) (00:57 GMT) a 7.1 earthquake in guess-where
NE Japan
off Honshu Island is needed like a hole in the head.
On July 9 after a decades-long struggle to free itself from Muslim-run N Sudan, oil rich
South Sudan officially becomes a nation #54 in Africa; on July 9 pres. (since July 30, 2005)
Salva Kiir Mayardit (1951-)
becomes pres. #1 (until ?), visiting Israel in Dec. to thank it for its help during the first civil war (1956-72), uttering the soundbyte:
"Only we can determine how our vision will be read in history books generations from now. Will we let our challenges define us, or will we rise as a nation and define our own future?...
If we work together, the story of South Sudan will inspire the world"; Sudan exports 150K barrels of oil a day via a pipeline running through Sudan, providing $1K a year for each
of its 8M citizens; too bad, his son Salva Kiir converts to Islam; on July 13 the U.N. Security Council adopts
Resolution 1999 without vote to admit South Sudan (#193).
On July 9 a senior Iranian Rev. Guard cmdr.
threatens
the U.S. with attack on its aircraft carriers if Iran is attacked over its nuke program.
On July 9 the Obama admin. announces that it is
suspending
up to $800M in military aid to Pakistan for expelling U.S. military trainers and to spur it into
fighting the Taliban more effectively, causing Pakistani defense minister
Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar
on July 12 to say that Pakistan might withdraw thousands of troops from the border areas in response.
On July 9 Nigeria bans motorbikes in
Maiuguri
to stop Boko Haram attacks.
On July 9 Iranian Rev. Guards brig. gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh
announces that they have tested long-range nuke-capable ballistic missiles during the month of Bahman (Jan. 21 - Feb. 20).
On July 10 a Muslim immigrant destroys the image of the patron saint in the sanctuary of St. Calogero in Sicily.
On July 10 Newt Gingrich calls the dismal U.S. economy the Obama Depression.
On July 10 the Middle East Quartet meets
in Washington, D.C., and endorses Pres. Obama's May 19 speech.
On July 10 U.S. defense secy. Leon Panetta utters the soundbyte
that weapons supplied by Iran have become a "tremendous concern" for the U.S. in Iraq, which saw more combat deaths of U.S. troops in June than in any mo. since June 2008.
On July 10 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan issues a message
to Pres. Obama to redefine terrorism in the Middle East and use it as the basis for a new foreign policy, i.e., accept Hamas and Hezbollah.
On July 10 after NATO's air war on him gets nowhere, French defense minister Gerard Longuet
gives a speech on TV saying that NATO has "stopped the hand that was striking" Libyan Col. Daffy, and that the rebels should begin direct negotiations with him.
On July 10 France becomes the first nation to ban the fracking technique for oil and natural gas extraction.
On July 10 the govt. of Australia announces
a $24.74 per metric ton tax on carbon emissions.
On July 10 the Kalka Mail
passenger train derails near Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh, India, killing 67.
On July 10 Karamakhi village imam Magomed Makhdiyev
is shot and killed in his mosque in Dagestan, Russia by a Muslims who didn't like his opposition to hijabs.
On July 11 the Middle East Quartet
(U.S., EU, U.N., Russia) meets in Washington, D.C. to discuss ways to revive the stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations; Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas utters the soundbyte
that the U.S. should not have veto power over its decisions; U.S.-Israeli relations reach a historic new low?
On July 11 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton utters the soundbyte
that Syrian pres. Bashar al-Assad has lost his legitimacy, pissing-off him and his govt.
On July 11 hundreds protest in Tunis, Tunisia,
calling for the govt. to refrain from establishing diplomatic ties with "Zionist Israel".
On July 11 a bomb attack in Battagram, Pakistan
in Peshawar kills six incl. three policemen, and wounds 10.
On July 11 Israel passes a controversial ban
on settlement boycotts, allowing settlers to sue Israelis who promote boycotts of settlements, which is even
opposed
by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as a disservice to Israel's democratic rep.
On July 11 an overloaded cruise ship in a reservoir on the Volga River
sinks in wind and rain, killing 55.
On July 11 (night) 30-y.-o. teacher Firdaus, who is showing students how to build a terrorist bomb in the Islamic Umar bin Khatab school in
Bima, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia
on Sumbawa Island sets it off accidentally, killing himself, causing a 2-day standoff by
machete-wielding students and teachers with police, who
arrest
the headmaster on July 15, who is accused or running a terrorist training camp for the Islamist
Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid group headed by Abu Bakar Bashir; more than two dozen homemade pipe bombs are
found
in the school.
On July 11 Egyptian politician Ahmed Ezz El-Arab
makes statements denying the Holocaust and claiming that 9/11 was an inside job, pissing-off human rights groups.
On July 11 the U.S. House of Reps. votes 233-193 to preserve
their scheduled phase-out of incandescent light bulbs under the 2007 U.S. Better Use of Light Bulbs (BULB) Act.
On July 11 a contingent of 600 Hindus arrives in the border town of
Attari, India
after fleeing Islamist jihadists in Sindh province, Pakistan.
On July 11 (5:30 p.m. local time) Muslim passenger
Saleh Ali S. Alramakah (Alramaleh) (1990-)
of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia disrupts United Airlines Flight 944 en route from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany,
causing it to land in Cleveland, Ohio by repeatedly using an electronic device in the bathroom despite warnings,
then getting belligerent, kicking and spitting at passengers.
On July 11 Alphas
debuts on Syfy Channel (until ?), starring David Strathairn as Dr. Lee Rosen, head of a team of people with ESP
who fight a renegade criminal team.
On July 12 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai's half-brother
Ahmed Wali Karzai,
head of the Kandahar provincial council is assassinated by police official Sardar Muhammad
at his home in S Afghanistan, leaving a power vacuum in S Afghanistan; the Taliban
claims
responsibility, calling it "one of our biggest achievements"; on July 14 his funeral is hit by another suicide bomber,
killing four incl. Kandahair's chief cleric.
On July 12 Egyptian deputy PM Yehia el-Gamal
resigns as protests in Tahrir Square enter day #5; on July 13 the military govt. announces
the early retirement of 600 senior Mubarak-era police officers to mollify protesters.
On July 12 the U.N. stinks itself up by making North Korea
the pres. of the Conference on Disarmament, joining China, Iran, and Pakistan to stop the arms race.
On July 12 Pres. Obama threatens to cut off Social Security checks after Aug. 3 if there is no agreement on an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling, causing Sen.
(R-Fla.) Marco Rubio to call him an incompetent pres.; on July 13 Obama
walks out
of debt limit talks, with the soundbyte "I've sat here long enough. No other president, including Ronald Reagan would sit here like this."
On July 12 Norway files terrorist charges against Iraqi-born Islamic cleric
Mullah Krekar,
founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam for threatening Norwegian politicians with death if he's deported.
On July 12 Israel opens the traditional baptism site of Jesus
on the Jordan River after removing mines, pissing-off Palestinian officials; it has been closed since the 1967 war.
On July 12 Neptune completes its first full orbit since its 1846 discovery.
On July 13 three Islamist explosions in Mumbai, India kill 20 and injure 81.
On July 13 diplomatic sources reveal that Iran is planning
to install centrifuges for higher-grade uranium enrichment in an underground bunker.
On July 13 Turkish police arrest 14 in Ankara
for plotting to get even for the death of Osama bin Laden by attacking U.S. installations.
On July 13 drug cartel gunmen kill 11 in Monterrey, Mexico in a turf war.
On July 13 a blog post in the Canadian anti-consumerist org. site Adbusters launches the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement,
calling for a peaceful demonstration for people regardless of their access to wealth, which is held on Sept. 17, attended by 1K, spreading around the U.S. and the world.
On July 14 the Arab League announces that it will ask the U.N. to recognize a Palestinian state in Sept.
On July 14 the U.S. Defense Dept.
announces
that 24K computer files were stolen by "foreign intruders" from a defense contractor in the spring, causing it to begin
designating
cyberspace as an "operational domain", with a more robust defense.
On July 14 Calif. gov. Jerry Brown signs a controversial law
requiring public schools to teach gay history in social studies classes - this in a nation of history ignoramuses?
On July 14 a group of seven illegal immigrant students get arrested in a street protest in in
San Bernardino, Calif.
to see what the Obama admin. will do with them.
On July 15 ("Fri. of the Last Ultimatum or Call") thousands protest in
Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, calling for faster reforms,
and end to military trials of civilians, and an end to the military govt.
On July 15 1M demonstrate in
Damascus, Syria
in the suburbs of Douma and Qaboun; 28 are killed and scores are wounded around Syria.
On July 15 Pres. Obama
appears
on morning TV, and says "The American people are sold" on tax increases, pushing
a deal with Repubs. to trade them for raising the debt ceiling.
On July 15 the U.S. govt. formally
recognizes
the Libyan rebels as the legitimate govt., and backs them with $30B in frozen Libyan assets in the U.S.
On July 15 drug gunmen ambush police on a highway in
Sinaloa, Mexico,
killing 12 plus a bystander; meanwhile a riot in the
Sanctions Enforcement Center
in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas kills seven prisoners, while 59 escape; meanwhile Mexican authorities
announce the discovery of one of the largest
marijuana plantations
ever found in Mexico, 200 mi. S of San Diego in Baja Calif.
On July 15 Boko Haram members throw a bomb at a police car in
Maiduguri, N Nigeria,
wounding seven.
On July 15 after asserting Muslim superiority until officials crack,
Kulsoom Abdullah
becomes the first woman to compete in the U.S. weightlifting championships (in Council Bluffs, Iowa)
while wearing Muslim clothing covering her arms, legs, and head.
On July 15 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton
addresses
the Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey, with the soundbyte:
"The Human Rights Council has given us a comprehensive framework for addressing this issue on the
international level. But at the same time, we each have to work to do more to promote respect for
religious differences in our own countries. In the United States, I will admit, there are people
who still feel vulnerable or marginalized as a result of their religious beliefs. And we have seen
how the incendiary actions of just a very few people, a handful in a country of nearly 300 million,
can create wide ripples of intolerance. We also understand that, for 235 years, freedom of expression
has been a universal right at the core of our democracy. So we are focused on promoting interfaith
education and collaboration, enforcing antidiscrimination laws, protecting the rights of all people
to worship as they choose, and to use some old-fashioned techniques of peer pressure and shaming,
so that people don't feel that they have the support to do what we abhor"; on July 16 she speaks
at a coffee house in Istanbul, and
criticizes
Turkey's human rights record, incl. lack of religious freedom, censorship of the Internet, and
improper detention of 50 journalists during the Sledgehammer Coup last year, but adds that it is
"one of the most exciting places in the world" because of ties to both Eastern and Western cultures.
On July 16 after new rocket strikes, an Israeli air strike
wounds
a Gaza gunman; meanwhile medics find the remains of another man killed in an earlier attack in Hamas-controlled territory.
On July 16 an Afghan army soldier kills a NATO soldier near
Lashkar Gah
in S Afghanistan, which is scheduled to be one of the first places NATO will hand
security control to Afghan forces.
On July 16 al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) suicide bombers detonate a car bomb outside a police HQ in
Bordj Menaiel
in E Algeria; another suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonates among rescue workers; four are killed.
On July 16 Iranian forces begin shelling the self-ruled Kurdish region of
N Iraq,
displacing 200+ families.
On July 17 (1 a.m.) Australian Muslim convert
Chris Martinez
of Sydney is whipped by four fellow Muslims for drinking alcohol; he still claims that Islam is peaceful.
On July 18 a new Egyptian cabinet is sworn-in by the
military govt. amid reports of Hosni Mubarak being in a coma, pissing-off protesters.
On July 18 Malaysia
agrees to establish diplomatic ties with the Vatican after a meeting between
PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Pope Benedict XVI in Castel Gandolfo outside Rome.
On July 18 former EU commissioner
Frits Bolkenstein
releases a book which claims that due to anti-Semitism among young Moroccans, Jews have no future in the Netherlands and should emigrate to the U.S. or Israel,
causing Dutch politician Geert Wilders to reply that it's the anti-Semitic Moroccans who should emigrate; meanwhile the death of a 22-y.-o.
Turkish man in a jail cell in
Beverwij, Netherlands
causes accusations of police brutality.
On July 18 (12 p.m. local) 14 rioting Chinese Muslims attack a police station in
Hotan
in Xianjiang Uygur province in NW China, hacking security guard Memet Eli to death, taking six civilians
and some staff hostage, and trashing the station while shouting Allah Akbar, after which police kill them.
On July 18 Iranian weightlifter (Iran's strongest man)
Ruhollah Dadashi
is stabbed to death in Tehran after taking pres. Imadinnajacket's side in the power struggle with supreme leader Asahollah Ali Khameinei.
On July 18 Fort Hood, Tex.-born Dem. Michael Hancock (1969-)
becomes mayor #45 of Denver, Colo. (until ?) (2nd African-Am.); on May 5, 2015 he is reelected with 80.16% of the vote.
On July 19 Russian authorities claim to foil a major terror attack in
Moscow,
arresting four from the N Caucasus.
On July 19 the FBI arrests Fairfax, Va. man
Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai (1949-),
chmn. of the Kashmiri Am. Council for working for decades as a secret agent of Pakistan to funnel
millions of dollars from the Pakistani govt. to U.S. elected officials to help drive India out of
the disputed Kashmir territory; they also issue an arrest warrant for Zaheer Ahmad (1948-), who is in Pakistan.
On July 19 Israel intercepts the French Gaza Flotilla ship
Dignite al Karama
containing 15 leftists et al. as it tries to break the blockade; it is the last ship of the original 10-ship flotilla.
On July 20 Iranian pres. Madman Inastraightjacket
threatens
to destroy the U.S. and Israel if attacked, saying "Resistance will continue until Iran sends its enemies
to the morgue", calling the U.S. and Israel "on the verge of collapse and gasping for their last breaths."
On July 20 Brian Ross
of ABC World News reports that the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security is concerned about potential attacks by insiders at U.S. utility plants, incl. nuclear plants.
On July 20 Irish PM Enda Kenny attacks the Roman Catholic Church in parliament, praising the
Cloyne Report for showing how allegations of sexual abuse by priests in Cork has been covered up by the Church, and saying that the
historic relationship between church and state in Ireland cannot be the same again.
On July 20 the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security releases its
See Something, Say Something
video, for its new $10M program to encourage Americans to report "suspicious activity", pointedly characterizing the most likely suspects as white middle class Americans not Muslims or Arabs.
On July 21 Palestinian Authority info. minister Nabil Amr
becomes the first Palestinian official to go on record that they should defer statehood another year; meanwhile Hamas foreign minister
Mahmoud al-Zahar
gives a TV interview, in which he utters the soundbyte "Palestine in its entirety is Islamic waqf land, which cannot be relinquished."
On July 22 (7/22/11) (3:26 p.m. local time) (13:26 GMT) (65th anniv. of the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem by the Jewish Irgung?) two bombs in
Oslo, Norway
(home of the Nobel Peace Prize) damage several bldgs. incl. the office of PM Jens Stolgenberg, killing eight and injuring 10; at 4:50 p.m.
the same man disguised as a police officer opens fire at a summer youth camp for members of the ruling Labor Party on Utoya Island 25 mi. from Oslo, where
Stolgenberg is scheduled to attend a Labor Party conference, calling people to come to him them shooting them with a rifle, incl. those fleeing by
jumping in the water, killing 68 and injuring 309 by the time police arrive at 6:20 p.m.; after initial speculation that it's an al-Qaida attack, and the
jihadist group Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami taking credit for it briefly, the killer turns out to be blonde-blue Norwegian
Anders Behring Breivik (1979-)
(AKA Andrew Berwick), a nationalist non-fundamentalist pro-Israel pro-gay Protestant Christian,
son of a retired Norwegian diplomat who has been estranged for over 16 years and later says
he should have killed himself, who has posted on anti-Islam Web sites, and claims to be one of 15-80 secret
Justiciar Knight Commanders
devoted to ridding Europe of Marxists and multiculturalists, and saving it from becoming Islamized
by sparking a Christian war against Islam; he leaves an unexploded bomb and a romantic but unrealistic 1.5K-page manfesto
2083: A European Declaration of Independence
under the alias Andrew Berwick; hours before the attack he emailed to his friends a
list
of Euro traitors, whom he claims deserve the death penalty for permitting the spread of Islam in Europe, incl. Gordon Brown,
Prince Charles, Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, and European Commission pres. Jose Manuel Barroso; he was delayed both ways
from Oslo to Drammen by accident caused by Muslim truck driver
Mohamed (1991-),
messing up his timetable; under Norway's permissive laws he faces a max of 21 years in prison; the Utoya Island meeting incl.
"Break the Israel Blockade" games, causing Am. blogger Wayne Madsen
to blame the Mossad for the attack; Glenn Beck compares
the Norway Camp to the Hitler Youth, with the soundbyte "Who does a camp for kids that's all about politics?"; on July 25 100K hold a
rose march
in Oslo; on July 26 Norway's ambassador to Israel
Svein Sevje
says that Norwegians consider the "occupation" to be the cause of the terror against Israel, and that Breivik's attack won't change
their minds; on July 26 Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi ally
Mario Borghezio
describes some of Breivik's ideas as "excellent", saying he agrees with his "opposition to Islam and his explicit accusation that Europe
has surrendered before putting up a fight against its Islamization"; on July 27 Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg
speaks
at the Central Jamaat Mosque in Oslo to attend a memorial ceremony for the two Muslim victims of Breivik's attack, Bano and Ismail, saying
"We will be one commnity, across religion, ethnicity, gender, and rank. Bano is Norwegian, Ismail is Norwegian, I am Norwegian. We are Norway,
and I am proud of this"; on Aug. 4 the blogger
Fjordman,
who is repeatedly referencesdin Breivik's manifesto reveals himself to be 36-y.-o. Peter Jensen; in Jan. 2014 Breivik
flops
and disowns the anti-Islam movement, claiming to have been trying to discredit it and spark a neo-Nazi movement.
On July 22 Pres. Obama signs an order to end the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy in the military, effective Sept. 20.
On July 22 Belgium
becomes the 2nd EU nation after France to ban the full Islamic face veil in public.
On July 22 1M demonstrate in
Hama and Deir Ezzor, Syria;
eight are killed.
On July 22 Islamists stage demonstrations in
Ramsis, Egypt
to demand that secularists leave Egypt; on July 23 armed men clash with pro-reform protesters marching toward the
Egyptian ministry of defense in
Cairo,
injuring dozens.
On July 22 a NATO-U.S. strike on a Haqqani Network training camp in
Sar Rowzah District
in Paktika Province, E Afghanistan kills 80.
On July 22 the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee
cuts
the Obama admin.'s $51B 2012 budget request for the State Dept. and foreign aid for the Palestinians,
Egypt, Lebanon, and Yemen by $6.4B, while leaving Israel's $3B in military aid unchanged.
On July 22-23 activists for the rival Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiai (MQM-h)
battle in E Karachi, Pakistan,
killing 12 on July 22, and eight more on july 23.
On July 23 (early a.m.) a rebel-Nato strike on
Tripoli, Libya
incl. an RPG hit near Col. Daffy's Bab al-Aziziya compound during a meeting between him and his son, intel chief, and PM.
On July 23 gunmen on motorcyles kill Iranian physicist
Darioush Rezaei (b. 1976)
in front of his home in NE Tehran, causing Iranian brig. gen.
Mohammed-Reza Naghdi
to blame Israel and the U.S., and utter the soundbyte: "In order to protect the security of our country,
we have no option but to have the Zionist regime wiped off the map"; on Aug. 2
Der Spiegel
blames the Israeli Mossad, caliming that in recent months it has engineered "the virtual decimation of the
Islamic republic's elite physicists".
On July 23 former Peruvian armed forces chief of staff gen.
Francisco Contreras
warns that Iran is supporting terrorist orgs. throughout South Am.
On July 24 clashes in Cairo, Egypt injure 298.
On July 24 the state of N.Y.
allows the first same-sex couples to marry, with New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg officiating the wedding of staff members Jonathan Mintz and John Feinblatt along with their
two daughters Georgia and Maeve - watch where you kiss me?
On July 24 Peoria, Ariz. Muslim Ajaz Rahaman (1969-)
plows into the Surprise shopping center in Sun City West in his Porsche Cayenne SUV, hitting three cars
and injuring a pedestrian before crashing into a nail salon; he dies in the hospital - vehicular jihad?
On July 24 (night) 300K leftists protest rising housing prices in
Tel Aviv, Jerusalem,
shouting "Revolution", and "Muabarak, Assad, Netanyahu", resulting in 42 arrests.
On July 25 a group of Libyan diplomats storm the Libyan embassy in
Sofia, Bulgaria,
smashing statues and portraits of Col. Daffy and declaring it under control of opposition forces.
On July 25 Pres. Obama addresses the
Nat. Council of La Raza,
promising to fight for immigration reform while blaming the Repubs.
On July 25 Israeli authorities
seize
a boat in the Dead Sea carrying arms to Palestinians from Jordan.
On July 25 Pres. Obama delivers a
speech on the budget impasse
which is threatening on Aug. 2 and can cause the nation's AAA credit rating to be downgraded et al., calling it
a "dangerous game" and calling on the people to deluge congresspersons with pleas to compromise; House majority leader
John Boehner responds that Obama just wants to continue increasing spending.
On July 25 the Taliban shoots down a NATO Chinook heli near the
Nangalam Base
in the Pech River Valley in E Afghanistan.
On July 25 a Muslim mob attacks Coptic Christians in
Ezbet Jacob Bedawi, Egypt
(near Samalout) with rods and pipes over their installation of a new church bell.
On July 26 the U.S. returns 33 Mexican soldiers who accidentally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border over the
Donna-Rio Bravo Internat. Bridge in S Tex.
On July 26 the
Fourth Conference of the Arab-Palestinian Resistance Front
in Cairo, Egypt calls for a massive Arab uprising to save Palestine from the pesky Jews, saying that the
Arab Spring is a good start.
On July 26 Hamas
executes a father in son in Gaza for aiding Israel; Fatah calls the execution "illegal".
On July 27 a Taliban suicide bomber with an exploding turban assassinates Kandahar, Afghanistan mayor
Ghulam Haider Hamidi (b. 1946);
meanwhile top U.S. cmdr. Navy SEAL Adm.
Eric T. Olson
says that al-Qaida has been bloodied and is "nearing its end", with the killing of Osama bin Laden being a
near-fatal blow, and the Arab Spring proving that the Muslim World doesn't need it to overthrow Muslim dictators,
although a new generation of militants can make it necessary for special ops to fight them for a decade.
On July 27 English Christian churchgoer
John White (1948-)
is jailed for leaving pork products outside a mosque - just free samples?
On July 28 the Obama admin. accuses
Iran
of a "secret deal" with al-Qaida to provide money, recruits, and transit for attacks
in Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying "This network serves as the core pipeline through
which al-Qaida moves money, facilitators and operatives from across the Middle East to
South Asia"; the U.S. Treasury Dept. indicts six members incl. Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil,
Atiya Abd al-Rahman, Salim Hasan Khalifa Rashid al-Kuwari, Abdallah Ghanim Mafuz Muslim al-Khaar,
and Ali Hassan Ali al-Ajmi; Treasury spokesman David S. Cohen says "Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world today."
On July 28 after winning a runoff election over Keiko Fujimori, left-winger
Ollanta Moises Humala Tasso (1962-),
who led an usuccessful military revolt against pres. Alberto Fujimori in Oct. 2000 becomes
pres. of Peru (until?), causing the largest 1-day plunge in the Peruvian stock market because of his opposition to the
Conga
open mine pit project of the Yanacocha Co., owned by Newmont Corp. in Denver, Colo.
On July 28 German Muslim converts
Robert Baum (1978-) and Christian Emde (1973-)
are arrested as they enter Britain with jihadist lit., bombmaking manuals etc.
On July 28 Abu Sayyaf jhihadists kill five soldiers, behead two of them, and wound 26 in
S Philippines.
On July 28 Fatah security forces raid the home of Fatah official
Muhammad Dahlan (Abu Fadi) (1961-)
to stop him from blocking a reconciliation with Hamas.
Oh July 28 children in Gaza fly a record
15K kites,
their 4th world record this summer.
On July 29 a
million man march
called for by the Muslim Brotherhood takes place in Tahrir Square and other cities in Egypt.
On July 29 Pres. Obama
announces
new fuel economy regs. for 2025; cars must get 54.5 mpg.
On July 29 5K Syrian soldiers of the 7th Armored Regiment defect in
Deir ez-Zor and take over the airport.
On July 29 tens (hundreds?) of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members let the cat out of the bag
and call for an Islamic Sharia state in
Tahrir Square
in Cairo, Egypt in the largest demonstration since Feb., with banners reading "Sharia above
the constitution"; on Aug. 1 the military
clears the remnants
of a 3-week sit-in protesting the slow pace of change, with
help
from mobs of ordinary citizens.
On July 29 tens of thousands protest in several cities in
Yemen
again, with a defector gen. giving them protection in Sana'a with a large military vehicle convoy; on
July 30 opposition tribesmen threaten to strike
Sana'a Internat. Airport
in retaliation for attacks on their villages in Arhab, 20 mi. to the N.
On July 29 after a court charges 22 suspects incl. several gens. and military officers of carrying out
an Internet campaign to undermine the govt. Turkey's top four senior military cmdrs., led by
CIC Isik Kosaner resign
in protest over the detention of 250 officers for conspiring against the govt. of
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, allowing him to tighten Islamist, er, civilian control over the
longtime secular military by
appointing
a new top military brass on July 30-Aug. 8 led by new CIC #28 (until ?) Gen.
Necdet Ozel (Özel) (1950-) (until Aug. 18, 2015).
On July 30 (2 p.m.) Islamists burn down a Christian church in
Fuoni, Zanzibar
while shouting "We do not infidels to spoil our community, especially our children."
On July 31 allegedly secular Syria launches the Islamic religious TV satellite channel
Noor al-Sham (Light of Syria)
in an attempt to appease the religious pop.
On July 31 Bloody Sun. in Hama, Syria sees Syrian tanks storm it and kill 136 civilians; on Aug. 1 they attack it
again and kill eight, while demonstrations erupt in other parts of Syria in support,
causing Italy on Aug. 2 to recall
its ambassador and urge other Euro nations to do ditto, while Russia announces that it won't oppose a U.N. Security Council resolution to condemn the violence, which is
issued on Aug. 3,
causing Bashar al-Assad on Aug. 4 to issue a decree
permitting a multi-party political system, while having his troops round up and execute hundreds in Hama via firing squad; on Aug. 5 Syria
announces that it has captured (and pulverized) Hama, and stopped the 5-mo.-old rebellion.
On July 31 Hezbollah
announces that it has carried out 19 operations against U.S. forces in Iraq.
On July 31 former Mexican federal police officer Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez,
accused of ordering 1.5K drug killings and masterminding the attack on the U.S. consulate employee last year is arrested.
On July 31 Pres. Obama announces
a last-min. deal on the budget and debt crisis before the Aug. 2 deadline, causing U.S. Rep. (D-Mo.)
Emanuel Cleaver,
chmn. of the Congressional Black Caucus to call it a "sugar-coated Satan Sandwich"; on Aug. 1 Russian PM Vladimir Putin issues the
soundbyte
about the U.S.: "They are living beyond their means and shifting a part of the weight of their problems to the world economy... They are living like parasites off the global economy
and their monopoly of the dollar... Thank God that they had enough common sense and responsibility to make a balanced decision"; on Aug. 1 the U.S. House votes 269-161 to approve it
and raise the debt ceiling by $14.3T, with Gabrielle Giffords returning to vote for it; on Aug. 2 the Senate approves it by 74-26, and Pres. Obama signs it into law; it
slashes
the defense budget by $350B; on Aug. 4 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. drops 512 points, erasing the year's market gains; on Aug. 5 after the Obama admin. spends 60% of the $400B initial budget
increase in one day (largest in history), the
U.S. federal deficit
tops $1T, 2nd largest in history, with the govt. in its 34th straight mo. in the red, causing Standard and Poor's to
downgrade the U.S. debt from AAA to AA for the first time in U.S. history (same as 1917 rating), with the soundbyte
"The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to
stabilise the government's medium-term debt dynamics. More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and
political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges"; on Aug. 8 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg.
plunges
by 634.76 (5.6%) points, ending at 10,809.85, worst 1-day loss since Dec. 1, 2008, and first below-11K close since Oct. 2010; the total loss since Aug. 1 in 1.3K points, dropping like a stone,
causing ditto to world stock markets, causing a reaction against Standard & Poor's; on Aug. 8 Pres. Obama utters the soundbyte "Markets will rise and fall, but this is the United States of America...
The U.S. will always be a triple-A country, despite what rating agencies say"; on Aug. 9 after the Federal Reserve Board announces that it will keep interest rates at the current historic
low through 2013, the Dow rebounds
by 429.9 points - the Titanic has scraped the iceberg?
On July 31 a suspected Islamist attack in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China kills 11.
In July the U.S. economy
creates 117K new jobs, lowering the unemployment rate to 9.1%.
In July Al-Shabaab
begins blocking starving people from fleeing S Somalia, setting up a camp to imprison and starve them to death.
In July Google launches their Facebook-killer
Google+
social network service - let's hope?
In July the Mexican newspaper
El Milenio
exposes a program by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to monitor the Internet,
incl. social media sites, blogs, and forums worldwide.
In July Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan establish a
Customs Union.
On Aug. 1 Hezbollah deputy secy.-gen. (#2 in charge) (since 1992)
Naim Qassem
utters the soundbyte: "Billions of dollars have been offered to us to rebuild the deprived
south Lebanon and in return to surrender our arms and stop the work of the resistance. But
we told them we're not in need [of their money] and the resistance will go on regardless of
the consequences."
On Aug. 1 Israeli forces raid a refugee camp in
Kalandia, West Bank
and kill two after being set upon by stone-throwing Palestinians.
On Aug. 1 the U.S. Congress creates a special envoy for Middle East religious minorities
to highlight persecution of Christians and Jews by Muslims.
On Aug. 1 Pres. Obama and First Lady Michelle issue a
Statement on the Occasion of Ramadan,
sending "best wishes to Muslim communities in the United States and around the world", and urging people to help the humanitarian crisis in Somalia.
On Aug. 2 the U.N. Human Rights Committee issues a Report on Blasphemy Laws,
saying that they are incompatible with the U.N.'s Internat. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that came into force in 1976 and was ratified by 167 states; meanwhile the
Geneva-based Human Rights Council is still controlled by the Muslim OIC.
On Aug. 2 (5:30 a.m.) a bomb at a Christian church in Kirkuk, Iraq
injures a priest and 19 others, and damages 40 homes.
On Aug. 2 a Muslim plot to kill 45+ Hindu Amarnath pilgrims in a bus in
Kakizund, India.
On Aug. 2 female Kurdish nationalist Turkish MP
Aysel Tuglik
is convicted of spreading terrorist propaganda for making a speech in Yuksekova in SE Turkey on Mar. 17, 2010 supporting the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
On Aug. 2 Mohammed Moussaoui,
pres. of the Muslim Council of France announces that almost 150 new mosques are under construction in France; there are now more practising Muslims than Roman Catholics in the country.
On Aug. 2-5 ethnic violence in Karachi, Pakistan
kills 47; 240 were killed in July.
On Aug. 3 Champaign, Ill.-born Daniel B. "Dan" Shapiro (1969-)
becomes U.S. ambassador #19 to Israel (until ?).
On Aug. 3 the British govt. announces
the arrest of six and seizure of 2.6K lbs. of cocaine in June, worth $490M, becoming the largest drug bust in British history.
On Aug. 3 the number of Americans on food stamps reaches a record 46M.
On Aug. 3 N.J. gov. Chris Christie nominates Indian-born
Sohail Mohammed (1964-)
to be the 1st Indian-Am. and 2nd Muslim judge in N.J.,
telling
reporters: "Sharia law business is just crap... and I'm tired of dealing with the crazies... It's just unnecessary
to be accusing this guy of things just because of his religious background."
On Aug. 3 Col. Daffy's son
Saif al Islam Qaddafi
announces that his regime is breaking down and forging an alliance with radical Islamists, giving
them the town of Darna to become "an Islamic zone like Mecca".
On Aug. 3 a
Gallup Poll on Muslim-Ams.
assisted by the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center headed by Dalia Mogahed finds that they are more optimistic
about their future than other faith groups, and that their views are highly similar to Jews;
meanwhile the Muslim-infested Obama admin. releases the
Nat. Strategy on Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States
(AKA the Obama Doctrine), masterminded by Nat. Security Council extremism expert
Quintan Wiktorowicz,
announcing a new policy for fighting radical Islam by stopping the use of material by well-studied
Islam expert Robert Spencer because it isn't "accurate", and replacing it by Muslim disinfo. propaganda
designed to undermine the U.S., because although al-Qaida has a "bankrupt ideology", claiming that accusing
the entire Am. Muslim community of complicity in terrorism could "feed the sense of disenchantment and
disenfranchisement that may spur violent extremist radicalization."
On Aug. 4 former Iranian Rev. Guard cmdr. (2007-11)
Rostam Ghasemi (1950-)
becomes head of OPEC (until ?).
On Aug. 4 the U.S. govt. announces that the
2011 Somalian Famine
has killed 29K children under age 5 in the last 90 days.
On Aug. 4 the entire 20-man police force of
Ascension, Mexico
quits after drug cartels kill the police chief and five officers over the last 3 mo.
On Aug. 5 the
U.S.-Bahrain Defense Pact
(signed Oct. 28, 1991) is renewed for another 10 years.
On Aug. 5 the Western-backed Somalian govt. of pres. Sheikh
Sharif Ahmed
ousts 3K Al-Shabaab fighters from Mogadishu.
On Aug. 5 five New Orleans police officers
in La. are found guilty by a federal jury for shooting six citizens (killing two) and trying to cover
it up during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.
On Aug. 5 a jilted Muslim
Mehmet Y (1985-)
shoots the 45-y.-o. mother and 22-y.-o. sister of his 24-y.-o. ex-wife in a busy public square in Berlin, Germany.
On Aug. 6 (a.m.) a decrepit Vietnam-era U.S. twin-rotor Ch-47 Chinook heli is
shot down
in Wardack Province in E Afghanistan by the Taliban, killing all 38 aboard incl. five Army troops,
seven Afghan commandos and their interpreter, three AF controllers, and 22 Navy SEALs of the
300-member bin Laden-killing Team 6, becoming the largest U.S. military loss since the Jan. 2005 heli
crash in Anbar Province; on Aug. 6 a bomb hits a convoy of NATO supply tankers in
Peshawar, Pakistan,
destroying 16; on Aug. 9 Pres. Obama makes a surprise visit to
Dover AFB
to pay his respects to the heroes; on Aug. 10 U.S. special forces
claim
to hunt down and kill the Taliban cmdr. and shooter responsible for the heli attack;
the SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden was a fake because he had been dead for years, and Obama gave
the Taliban the info. and weapons needed to assassinate
the SEALs who went on the raid to silence them?
On Aug. 6 the
Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI)
condemns Muslim arson attacks on three Christian churches in Riau Province, Indonesia during the past week.
On Aug. 6 rioting in the poor area of
Tottenham, N London
begins after a fatal police shooting of 29-y.-o. black Mark Duggan, spreading to Enfield
5 mi. to the N, followed by Manchester, Nottingham, Salford, and Birmingham, killing one; 16K
police are called out, and 1.2K are arrested, causing PM David Cameron to utter the soundbyte:
"The sight of those young people running down streets, smashing windows, taking property, looting,
laughing as they go, the problem of that is a complete lack of responsibility, a lack of proper
parenting, a lack of proper upbringing, a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals"; it's
really a race riot but the PC media covers it up?
On Aug. 7 the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
retracts
its position that it will accept a secular govt. in Egypt, wanting an Islamist govt.
On Aug. 8 arrest warrants are issued for 14, incl. seven senior pro-secular gens. in
Turkey
for setting up Web sites to disseminate free speech, er, anti-govt. propaganda.
On Aug. 8 (11 p.m. local time) (21:00 GMT) a NATO airstrike in
Majer
S of Zlitan 100 mi. E of Tripoli in Libya kills 85 civilians.
On Aug. 8 Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait pull their diplomats out of blood-soaked
Syria,
with Kuwaiti foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sabah uttering the soundbyte "No one can
accept the bloodshed in Syria", and King Abdullah calling on Assad to stop "the killing
machine and end the bloodshed"; the body count is up to 1.6K since Mar.
On Aug. 8 tapes
recorded by Jackie Kennedy Onassis months after JFK's assassination are released
by the JFK Library in Boston, revealing that she believed that LBJ and other
"influential individuals" orchestrated it; too bad, that was only an advance report;
when the tapes come out in Sept., they only talk about how JFK thought LBJ shouldn't
becomes pres. but still was going to keep him on the ticket.
On Aug. 9 radical Shiite cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr
calls on U.S. troops to pull out of Iraq on his Web site.
On Aug. 10 China tests its first aircraft carrier,
after refurbishing an old one obtained from Russia, causing the U.S. to ask it explain why it needs one - to conquer Taiwan?
On Aug. 11 Pres. Obama hosts a
White House Ramadan Dinner
1 mo. before the 10th anniv. of 9/11, uttering the soundbyte:
"There's no them and us - it's just us".
On Aug. 12 Muslim gunmen ambush some police accompanying terror suspects to the dentist at the
U. of Peshawar
in Pakistan, killing three police then freeing the terror suspects, who incl. a Taliban cmdr.
On Aug. 13 Muslim gunmen use Ramadan as a ruse to break into the house of U.S. embassy official
Warren Weinstein
in Lahore, Pakistan and kidnap him.
On Aug. 13 after high winds, the main stage at the
Ind. State Fair
collapses prior to a performance by Sugarland, killing five and injuring 45.
On Aug. 13-16 the Syrian army assaults the Palestinian enclave of
Latakia,
causing 10K residents to flee.
On Aug. 14 a suicide bomber at a police HQ in
Tizi Ouzou, Algeria
(60 mi. E of Algiers) injures 29.
On Aug. 14 six suicide bombers storm a provincial governor's compound in
Charikar, Afghanistan
(50 mi. N of Kabul), killing 22.
On Aug. 14 Pakistan
launches
its first comm satellite from a facility in China.
On Aug. 14 Chinese army chief of staff Gen.
Chen Bingde
makes a state visit to Israel, a first.
On Aug. 14 after expressing support for Israel via a poem in Arabic on a Web site, St. Louis, Mo. Muslim
Alaa Alsaegh
is attacked by two Muslims, who carve a Star of David on his back.
On Aug. 15 bombs in a dozen cities in
Iraq
kill 60+ incl. seven Sunnis who used to be aligned with al-Qaeda but turned on them, who are pulled
from a mosque in Baghdad
by gunmen who execute them.
On Aug. 15 Am. billionaire Warren Buffett
calls on the "mega-rich" to pay more in taxes, saying that he would raise taxes on households making $1M or more, plus additional for those making $10M or more.
On Aug. 16 Seattle, Wash.-born former Dem. Wash. gov. #21 (1997-2005) Gary Faye Locke (1950-)
becomes U.S. ambassador to China #10 (until Mar. 1, 2014).
On Aug. 16 the Obama admin. denies to
Taiwan
its request for new Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds, instead forcing them to retrofit older F-16A/Bs.
On Aug. 16 Pres. Obama utters the
soundbyte
that a "lone wolf terrorist, somebody with a single weapon being able to carry out wide-scale
massacres of the sort that we saw in Norway recently" is more likely than a coordinated 9/11-type
attack, especially an Islamist one.
On Aug. 16-21 the
XXVI World Youth Day
in Madrid, Spain is attended by 1M-1.5M.
On Aug. 17 Dubai
admits to monitoring social media for signs of coming protests and strikes.
On Aug. 17 the separatist Freedom Party (FP) holds a protest in
Srinagar;
police detain senior leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, "the Nelson Mandela of Kashmir".
On Aug. 17 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton
orders
Israel to apologize to Turkey over the flotilla attack last year or face strained ties, to which Israel replies stuff it.
On Aug. 17 the Am. Psychological Assoc. (APA) holds a Conference on Pedophilia
in Baltimore, Md., seeking to normalize pedophiles as "minor-attracted persons".
On Aug. 18 Pres. Obama finally calls
for bashful Syrian dictator Bashar al-Sosad, er, Assad to "step aside"; coordinated messages
for his resignation come from Britain, France, Germany, and the EU, along with a U.N. recommendation that Syria be referred to the Internat. Criminal Court for investigation.
On Aug. 18 24 Al-Qaida in the Sinai Peninsula gunmen aided by the Popular Resistance Committee and Jaish al-Islam cross the Egyptian border into
Eilat, S Israel,
and kill eight Israelis and wound 20+, with five gunmen killed, after which on Aug. 19 Israel retaliates and kills five Palestians dressed as Egyptian policeman on the Eliat Road, which
causes Egypt to threaten to recall its ambassador and end the 1979 peace accord until defense minister Ehud Barak publicly
apologizes and offers a joint investigation on Aug. 20 (night). On Aug. 19 on the anniv. of Afghan independence from Britain in 1919 Taliban suicide bombers attack the British Council in
Kabul, Afghanistan, killing eight; meanwhile a turban bomber in
Helmand Military Corps Center wounds three policeman.
On Aug. 19 a Ramadan suicide bombing at a mosque in Ghundi, NW Pakistan
in the Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border kills 48 and injures scores; they were trying to get anti-Taliban elders.
On Aug. 19 a storm at the outdoor Pukkepop Rock Festival
in Hasselt, Belgium kills five.
On Aug. 19 Bill Clinton receives a
$1M check
for his birthday from the pro-ISIS Islamist state of Gutter, er, Qatar.
On Aug. 20 Pakistani army troops kill 12 militants infiltrating the
Gurez Sector
near the dividing line between India and Kshmir.
On Aug. 20 Am. celeb
Kim Kardashian
marries New Jersey Nets player
Kris Humphries (1985-);
they break up in 72 days.
On Aug. 21 Iran sentences the three Am. hikers
Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Joshua Fattal
(captured near the N Iraq border on July 31, 2009) to eight years in priz for espionage, causing singer
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
of England to call for their release; Sarah Shourd was freed on $500K bail in Sept. 2010.
On Aug. 21 Col. Madman Daffy's sons Saif al-Islam, Saadi, and Mohammed are reported
captured,
and his personal guard surrenders to rebel forces who are closing in on Tripoli, while his troops begin
deserting, causing Daffy to appear on TV to exhort his supporters and tribes to rise up and defend him;
meanwhile Pres. Obama issues the
soundbyte
"Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant", French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy
calls
on Daffy to give up "immediately what power he has left" because a rebel V is "no longer in doubt",
and U.S. Repub. Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.)
praise
Daffy's fall but task Obama for his limited use of airpower; too bad, on Aug. 22 after allegedly being
allowed to escape by the rebels, Saif al-Islam Daffy
reappears,
and rallies loyalists; on Aug. 23 the rebels take Daffy's
Bab Al-Aziziya
fortress compound in Tripoli.
On Aug. 21 Sharia is abolished for Muslims in
Greece,
incl. polygamy.
On Aug. 21 Bloomberg News pub. an
article claiming that the
Wall St. aristocracy got $1.2T in secret loans from the U.S. govt. in 2007-10.
On Aug. 22 battles in S Yemen kill 80 al-Qaida militants.
On Aug. 23 (1:51 p.m. EST) the 5.8 2011 U.S. East Coast Earthquake
(worst in 67 years) centered in Mineral, Va. S of Washington, D.C. is felt all the way to Boston and Chicago, causing the White House, Pentagon, and other govt. bldgs. and memorials to be evacuated; an
unrelated 5.3 earthquake hit S Colo. just before the bigger quake.
On Aug. 24 Steve Jobs
announces that he's stepping down as CEO of Apple, and names Mobile, Ala.-born gay bud
Timothy Donald "Tim" Cook (1960-) as his successor, while seeking to become the chmn. of the board; in 2014 he becomes the first
Fortune 500 CEO to come out.
On Aug. 24 in response to Apple's motion for a preliminary injunction in its iPad patent infrigement suit over the Galaxy Tab 10.1 smartphone, Korean manufacturer
Samsung
cites the 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey as prior art for tablet computers.
On Aug. 25 (4 p.m.) a grenade attack at the Casino Royale
in Monterrey, Mexico kills 40+.
On Aug. 25 Syrian anti-Assad cartoonist Ali Farzat (1951-)
is pulled out of his car in Ummayad Square, Damascus by masked gunmen and viciously beaten, breaking both of his hands then ordering him to quit it.
On Aug. 26 a Muslim suicide bomber attacks the U.N. HQ in Abuja, Nigeria,
killing 10+ and injuring scores.
On Aug. 26 after pressure from the Arab League, Honduras
officially recognizes Palestine as an independent state.
On Aug. 28 Palestinian Authority chmn. Mahmoud Abbas declares
that they won't recognize a Jewish state of Israel, and tells the internat. community to stuff it.
On Aug. 28 an Allah Akbar-screaming Nablus-area Muslim in Tel Aviv
steals a cab, rams border police outside a nightclub, gets out, and stabs seven, incl. five police officers.
On Aug. 29 Afghan and coalition security forces kill and capture multiple insurgents in a Haqqani terrorist network attack cell in
E Afghanistan.
On Aug. 30 Rye Playland
in Westchester County, N.Y. is disrupted by 15, incl. three scarved Muslim women who got pissed-off at being barred from rides.
In Aug. Russia announces that its 5th-gen. stealth fighter, the PAK FA
will become operational in 2015.
In Aug. police inspector
Bernard Witthaut
tells the Westdeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung that Muslim no-go areas beyond police control are spreading throughout Germany.
In Aug. for the first time since 1945 the U.S. has zero job growth.
In Aug. the U.S. has its 2nd warmest Aug.
on record (1st in 1983) at 75.7F; the avg. summertime temp is 74.5F.
In Aug. zero U.S. troops are killed in Iraq, the first time since Mar. 2003.
On Sept. 1 Libyan Col. Madman Daffy reaches 42 years in power.
On Sept. 2 Turkey expels
Israeli ambassador Gaby Levy and cuts military ties over the 2010 Gaza Fake Freedom Flotilla incident; on Sept. 2 the 105-page
U.N. Report on the 2010 Gaza Fake Freedom Flotilla Incident
is released, concluding that the blockade is legal but that the Israeli commandos used excessive force; on Sept. 5 Turkey
humiliates 40 Israeli passengers after they land in Turkey en route from tel Aviv to Istanbul; on
Sept. 4 Israel and Greece sign a mutual defense pact,
then on Sept. 16 invoke it against Turkish naval-air movements in the E Mediterranean.
On Sept. 2 Pres. Obama announces
that he will not raise federal air pollution ozone standards, pissing-off environmentalists.
On Sept. 2 Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon delivers a state of the nation speech,
in which he will continue his fight against drug cartels and vows to clean up the cops.
On Sept. 2 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) pub. a
Survillance Report on Mental Illness Among American Adults,
with the soundbyte: "Published studies report that about 25% of all U.S. adults have a mental illness and that nearly 50% of U.S. adults will develop at
least one mental illness during their lifetime", calling for "surveillance efforts at the national or state level... directed toward documenting anxiety disorders."
On Sept. 3 1M protest in Tel Aviv, Israel
to protest against the govt.
On Sept. 3 Iranian pres. Madman Imadinnajacket meets
with Qatari emir Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, during which the emir gives him a request by Pres. Obama to obtain his consent to maintaining 15K troops in Iraq for another two years, along with a request
to stop hostile operations against U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, to which Madman replies that if Syria is attacked, "the first missile will fall on you."
On Sept. 7 (10:14 a.m. local time) a suitcase bomb explodes outside the high court of
New Delhi, India,
killing 11 and injuring 66.
On Sept. 7 the Second Global Conference on World Religions After September 11
in Montreal, Canada sees the Dalai Lama, Tariq Ramadan et al. speak.
On Sept. 8 Iranian pres. Madman Inastraightjacket finally joins the chorus and calls
for an end to the Syrian crackdown.
On Sept. 8 amid low opinion poll ratings, Pres. Obama calls for an end to the "political circus", and delivers a speech pitching his $447B
U.S. American Jobs Act stimulus bill.
On Sept. 8 the U.S. govt. announces
that three suspected jihadists waltzed into the U.S. in Aug. and plan to launch a "vehicle-borne attack" on 9/11, triggering heightened security.
On Sept. 8 after exposing the regime of PM Nouri al-Maliki for foisting fear a la Saddam Hussein, Iraqi journalist
Hadi al-Mahdi is assassinated at his home.
On Sept. 9 the U.S. Senate by 89-9 passes the U.S. America Invents Act,
changing the patent system from first-to-invent to first-to-file, with a new bureaucracy to review patent applications.
On Sept. 9 (5 p.m. local time) as the authorities observe without interfering, a Muslim mob of 5K from Tahrir Square storms storms the
Israeli embassy
in Cairo, Egypt, tears down a protective wall, and ransacks it, causing the Israel ambassador and staff to flee at 9:30 to Tel Aviv, leaving six Israeli security guards, who lock themselves in a room,
and are rescued at 4 a.m. by Egyptian commandos;
on Oct. 31 71 Egyptians get 6-mo.
suspended sentences
for the attack.
On Sept. 11 (9/11/11) the U.S. Nat. Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum at the old WTC site in in Manhattan, N.Y.
opens on the 10th anniv. of 9/11, incl. the biggest manmade waterfall on Earth, and the Tribute in Light;
Pres. Obama delivers a 9/11/11 Speech
that carefully avoids
blaming Islam for 9/11, and even implies
that it was an act of God by quoting Psalms 46:8: "Come behold the works of the Lord, how he has wrought desolations in the Earth"; no surprise, the weekend event
A Call to Compassion
at the Nat. Cathedral in Washington, D.C. features a Muslim imam and a Buddhist nun, but no evangelical Christians, pissing-off Frank Page, pres. of the Southern Baptist Convention;
American fear of an imminent terrorist attack is near the low point, at 38%;
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech
in Jerusalem, warning of Islamic radicals achieving the "ultimate terrorist nightmare" of getting nukes.
On Sept. 11 an Islamist suicide truck bomber at a NATO base in
Wardak Province
in C Afghanistan kills four civilians and injures 77 troops, becoming the worst suicide bombing in the Afghan war; the same province where the Navy SEALs heli was shot down in July.
On Sept. 11 about 100 Islamists protest
near the U.S. embassy in Cairo demanding the release of Egyptian "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel-Rahman,
mastermind of the 1993 WTC bombing.
On Sept. 11 lifelong friends Brendan Mess (25), Erik Weissman (31), and Raphael Teken (37)
are brutally murdered in Mess' apt. in Waltham, Mass.; the murders are later traced to Boston Bombers Tamerlan and Djokar Tsarnaev, along with Ibrahim Todashev.
On Sept. 12 Yukiya Amano, head of the U.N. IAEA nuclear agency announces
plans to pub. new info proving that Iran is building nukes.
On Sept. 13 U.S. Rep. (R-N.Y.) Peter King
testifies
on Muslim-Am. radicalization before a British Parliamentary committee, saying the he won't be stopped by political correctness.
On Sept. 13 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erodgan visits
Egypt, where he is given a hero's welcome; the Muslim Brotherhood tasks him for telling Egypt to erect a secular govt. like in Turkey, and
warns
Turkey not to seek Middle East domination; on Sept. 16 he visits Libya, and gives a speech
in Martyrs' (Green) Square in Tripoli, saying that the Syrian regime that inflicts repression on its people won't survive.
On Sept. 13 Lloyd's of London sues
Saudi Arabia for $215M for terrorist attacks and jihad in the Balkans.
On Sept. 13-14 the Taliban Haqqani Network stages a 19-hour rocket attack on the U.S. embassy in
Kabul
that kills 14 and wounds 77, showing the U.S. that when they leave they shouldn't have even arrived; on
Sept. 14 U.S. defense secy. Leon Panetta warns Pakistan that he blames them for it, and that the U.S.
will "do everything we can" to defend its forces; on Sept. 23 U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chmn. Adm. Mike Mullen
accuses
the Pakistani intel community of connections to the embassy attack, saying "The Haqqani Network... acts as a
veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency."
On Sept. 15 Pres. Obama decides to sell a $4.2B arms package to
Taiwan,
incl. an upgrade to its F-16s, causing China to
threaten
the U.S. with "disaster", with the soundbyte "Don't play with fire".
On Sept. 15 the Islamist
Syrian Nat. Council
is formed in Istanbul to help overthrow Bashar Assad and set up an Islamist govt.
On Sept. 16 France finally
outlaws
Muslims praying in the street; on Sept. 16
Netherlands
becomes the 3rd country after France and Belgium to draft legislation banning the burka, with a max fine of 380 Euros.
On Sept. 16 Britain
amends
its universal jurisdiction law to allow Israelis accused of war crimes to enter the U.K. without risk of arrest,
pissing-off leftists.
On Sept. 16 a plane crashes near the grandstand at the
Reno Air Races
in Nev., killing three and injuring 50.
On Sept. 16 Financial Times of Britain
reports
that Pres. Obama personally warned Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan that if it doesn't change its position
towards Israel, the U.S. will not sell weapons to Turkey.
On Sept. 16 the U.S. announces the killing of top al-Qaida man in Pakistan
Abu Hafs al-Shahri.
On Sept. 16 Israel becomes an assoc. member of CERN
in Switzerland as a prelude to full membership.
On Sept. 17 the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) Movement goes activist with 24/7 occupation of part of Lower Manhattan, N.Y.
On Sept. 17 Maldives
criminalizes the preaching of any religion other than Islam.
On Sept. 18 Turkish deputy PM Besir Atalay
warns that Turkey will freeze its ties with the EU if Cyprus occupies the rotating EU presidency in the 2nd half of 2012, causing Hans van Baalen of Netherlands to declare that Turkey has disqualified
itself for EU membership.
On Sept. 18 the Palestinian Authority uses
Latifa Abu Hameid,
mother of four terrorists who killed seven Israeli civilians and attempted to kill 12 others as their poster girl for their statehood campaign with the U.N.
On Sept. 18 Islamist insurgents explode multile bombs in the Thai border town of
Su-Ngai Golok,
known for its brothels, killing five and wounding 110.
On Sept. 19 Pres. Obama proposes
a debt reduction plan that calls for $3 in new taxes for $1 in new spending cuts.
On Sept. 19 Saudi Arabia announces
that 41 suspects will be tried for forming a cell linked to al-Qaida that planned to attack U.S. forces in Kuwait and Qatar; meanwhile Saudi Arabia
pays
$200M to the Palestinian Authority to help it apply for full U.N. membership.
On Sept. 19, the sitcom 2 Broke Girls
debuts on CBS-TV for 138 episodes (until Apr. 17, 2017), about roommates Max Black (poor, brunette), played by
Kat Dennings (Katherine Litwack) (1986-),
and Caroline Channing (nouveau pauvre, blonde), played by Beth Behrs (1985-),
who work in a diner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, N.Y. to raise $250K to start a cupcake business, with the running tally shown at the end of each episode.
On Sept. 20 a Kurdish rebel car bomb explodes near a high school in
Ankara, Turkey, killing three and wounding 34.
On Sept. 20 after being lured by a false offer of a Taliban peace offer, former Afghan pres.
Burhanuddin Rabbani (b. 1940),
head of the Afghan high peace council is assassinated by a Taliban (Haqqani Network?) suicide turban bomber
in Kabul, causing Pres. Obama and Afghan pres. Hamid Karzai to issue a joint condolence statement at the U.N., and claim it won't set peace talks back.
On Sept. 20 Palestinians hold mass demonstrations
on the eve of the U.N. gen. assembly vote on Palestinian statehood.
On Sept. 20 Pres. Obama tells
the Libyan rebels "We will stand with you", pledging support for a post-Daffy Libya.
On Sept. 20 the Obama admin. announces
that it has sharply warned Pakistan to cut ties with the Miranshah-based Taliban Haqqani Network in the tribal region along the Afghan border (which it blames for the Sept. 13 attack
on the U.S. embassy in Kabul) and help eliminate its leaders, else the U.S. will act unilaterally.
On Sept. 20 four U.S. Marines are killed in an ambush in Ganjgal, Afghanistan.
On Sept. 20 the sitcom New Girl
(working title "Chicks & Dicks") debuts on Fox Network for ? episodes (until ?), starring
Zooey Claire Deschanel (1980-)
as Los Angeles middle school teacher Jessica "Jess" Christopher Day, who moves into a loft with three men, Nick, played by
Jake Johnson (Mark Jake Johnson Weinberger) (1978-), Schmidt, played by
Max Greenfield (1980-),
and has-to-be-black Winston, played by Lamorne Morris (1983-).
On Sept. 21 Pres. Obama gives a speech
to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, opposing the Palestinian Authority's bid for statehood through the U.N. Security Council, with the soundbytes:
"One year ago, I stood at this podium and I called for an independent Palestine. I believed then, and I believe now, that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own";
"Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the U.N. If it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now"; French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy gives a
speech to the gen. assembly and calls for a resolution to upgrade the PA to "observer status", claiming that failure
will spark Muslim violence, with the soundbyte "Let us cease our endless debates on the parameters. Let us begin negotiations and adopt a precise timetable"; meanwhile pro-statehood
protests
by Palestinians in the West Bank result in a 16-mo.-o. Israeli baby being struck by a stone in the head; Obama poses for a group photo, and
blocks the face of
Mongolian pres. #4 (since June 18, 2009) Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj (1963-) with his hand.
On Sept. 21 the Arab League
calls for freezing Syria's and Yemen's membership until they stop violence against protesters.
On Sept. 21 Iran finally releases convicted U.S. spies Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal on bail.
On Sept. 21 Syria's SANA news agency accuses
Turkish camps housing 7.5K Syrian refugees of being "centers of isolation full of rape and torture".
On Sept. 21 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears
on U.S. TV, and says that the term "moderate" doesn't need to be used with Islam because it excludes all extremists - what about the sultans?
On Sept. 21 the U.S. military finally allows
openly gay service members to serve.
On Sept. 21 a McClatchy Newspapers and Marist College Poll
shows Pres. Obama just 5 points ahead of Sarah Palin, 49% to 44%; Obama's approval rating falls
to its lowest at 39%, while for the time time a majority (52%) of registered voters disapprove of him.
On Sept. 21 (10:53 p.m. local time) after a 2-decade legal battle
Troy Davis
is executed in the state prison at Jackson, Ga. for the murder of off-duty police officer Mark McPhail in 1989.
On Sept. 22 the Federal Reserve Board announces
Operation Twist,
a plan to shift debt holdings to spur growth, causing the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. to fall 391 points,
wiping out all the gains of the year amid rumors of a coming 2nd double-dip recession; billionaire George Soros
announces
"I think we are in it already."
On Sept. 22 Iranian pres. Madman Inastraightjacket gives a U.N. speech,
taking on 9/11 ("mysterious"), the Holocaust ("excuse to pay ransom... to Zionists"), etc., causing 30 nations incl. the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany to walk out; Israel boycotts his speech entirely;
meanwhile former U.S. pres. Bill "Bubba" Clinton
blames Benjamin Netanyahu for sabotaging the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
On Sept. 22 British fitness instructor Lucy Misch (1984-)
becomes the first pole dancer in Saudi Arabia.
On Sept. 22 Jonathan Nolan's sci-fi crime drama series Person of Interest
debuts on CBS-TV for ? episodes (until ?), starring James Patrick "Jim" Caviezel (1968-)
as ex-CIA agent John Reese, who is presumed dead, and hooks up with mysterious billionaire genius Harold Finch,
played by Michael Emerson (1954-), who uses his AI system The Machine to prevent violent crimes.
On Sept. 23 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech to the U.N.,
noting the "malignancy [that] is growing between East and West" of militant Islam, and bemoaning "Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon now presides over the U.N. Security Council";
meanwhile just before Netanyahu's speech, after rebuffing last-minute U.S. pressure, Mahmoud Abbas gives a
speech to the U.N. Gen. Assembly asking for it to accept Palestine as a member state, with the soundbyte:
"It is a moment of truth, and my people are waiting to hear the answer of the world"; meanwhile top Hamas official
Ghazi Hamad says that Hamas wasn't consulted about the bid, and is ill-prepared for it.
On Sept. 23 Yemeni pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh
makes a surprise return to Yemen after 3 mo. of medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.
On Sept. 23 Operation Mountain Gardian,
a large-scale DEFCON 1 "cocked pistol" maximum readiness terrorism alert drill involving 81 agencies is held in 10 locations in Denver, Colo., and joined by Pres. Obama; simulated weapons,
smoke, emergency vehicles, and other equipment.
On Sept. 23 Pope Benedict XVI calls
for Christianity and Islam to forge a relationship based on "dialogue and mutual esteem", claming they could enjoy a "fruitful collaboration".
On Sept. 24-25 the Fiqh Council of North Am. (FCNA)
adopts a resolution at its gen. meeting in Va. that the U.S. Constitution is compatible with Sharia law - like two scorpions in a bottle?
On Sept. 25 Libyan rebels announce the finding of the remains of 1.7K prisoners slain in
Abu Salim Jail
during Col. Madman Daffy's rule.
On Sept. 25 Saudi King Abdullah
announces
that women can now vote in municipal elections and have limited political power, but not until 2015,
and not vote, but only nominate themselves and participate in the nomination of candidates - still can't drive though?
On Sept. 25 Britain
charges
six Pakistani Muslims with planning to unleash suicide bomb attacks.
On Sept. 25 Al-Shabaab militants behead 17-y.-o. Somalian Christian
Guled Jama Muktar (b. 1994)
near Deynile (12 mi. from Mogadishu).
On Sept. 25 (eve.) an Afghan employed by the U.S. govt. kills one American and wounds another in
a CIA office in
Kabul.
On Sept. 26 a
Gallup Poll
finds that a record 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is being governed.
On Sept. 26 the food and lifestyle TV talk show
The Chew
debuts on ABC-TV (until ?), replacing the soap opera All My Children, hosted by chefs
Mario Francesco Batali (1960-),
Michael D. Symon (1969-), and
Carla Hall (1964-),
along with fashion consultant
Clinton Kelly (1969-)
and nutrition consultant
Daphne Oz (1986-).
On Sept. 27 the Israeli govt. approves 1.1K new housing units in
East Jerusalem.
On Sept. 27 Turkey officially accepts delivery of its first domestically manufactured warship, the 300-ft. stealth corvette
TCG Heybeliada.
On Sept. 28 26-.y.-o. Mass. Muslim
Rezwan Ferdaus
is arrested for a plot to bomb bldgs. in Washington, D.C. with remote-controlled aircraft filled with plastic explosives.
On Sept. 28 Mexico's Supreme Court votes
7-4 to reject a decision to legalize abortion.
On Sept. 29 a suicide bomber near a bank where policemen are picking up their salaries in Kirkuk, Iraq
kills two and wounds 60.
On Sept. 29 China launches the unmanned 8.5 ton Tangong-1 ("Heavenly Palace")
space station.
On Sept. 29 the first Hajj flight arrives at the new King Abdulaziz Internat. Airport (KAIA)
in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. On Sept. 29 the White House calls for the release of Muslim convert Christian pastor
Youcef Nadarkhani,
who is scheduled for execution in Iran for not reconverting to Islam.
On Sept. 29 the U.S. Treasury Dept. announces sanctions against brothers
Faizullah and Malik Noorzai
from Afghanistan for raising millions for the Taliban.
On Sept. 29 the
Islamic Defender Front (FPI)
in Indonesia appeals on its Web site that all "un-Islamic" statues in the country be destroyed,
esp. those in public places; meanwhile on Nov. 2 Salafists veil a mermaid statue in
Alexandria, Egypt.
On Sept. 30 the U.S. finally whacks al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader
Anwar al-Awlaki (b. 1971)
in the mountains of Yemen, along with al-Qaida mag. ed. Samir Khan; they wanted to kill him on 9/11, but there were too many
civilians around.
On Sept. 30 a car bomb at a Shia funeral in
Hilla, Iraq
57 mi. S of Baghdad kills 18 and wounds several.
On Sept. 30 3K Salafist Muslims burn the
Mar Gerges Church
in Aswan, Egypt, then loot and burn nearby Christian homes and businesses.
On Sept. 30 Afghanistan holds
Sound Central,
its first rock festival since 1975.
On Sept. 30 the Pentagon
announces
that military chaplains may perform same-sex weddings, even in states where it is illegal,
causing U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) to say that the Obama admin. is "bordering on lawlessness";
meanwhile on Oct. 3 White House press secy. Jay Carney
dodges
a question about a letter written by U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops pres.
Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, who wrote Obama in late Sept. warning him that
his Justice Dept.'s argument that federal courts should hold that opposing same-sex
marriage is the legal equivalent of racial discrimination will precipitate an enormous
nat. conflict between church and state.
In Sept. Iran announces the launch of its first Spanish language TV channel
HispanTV,
which debuts on the Web then goes broadcast by the end of the year.
In Sept. the
Tevatron
at the Fermi Nat. Accelerator Lab. in Batavia, Ill. is shut down after 27 years of searching
for the elusive Higgs Particle.
In Sept. NASA implements no-fly zones on the Moon
to protect Apollo historical sites - keep the coverup going?
In Sept. the U.S. unemployment rate
remains at 9.1%, with 103K jobs added.
In Sept. niqab-clad woman Kenza Drider announces her bid for pres. of France.
On Oct. 1 control
of U.S. forces in Iraq switches from the military to the U.S. State Dept.
On Oct. 1 the U.S. Congress blocks
$200M in aid to the Palestinians over their statehood bid; meanwhile Iranian supreme assaholla
Ali Khamanei
rejects the Palestinian U.N. statehood bid, saying that any deal that accepts the existence of Israel would leave a "cancerous tumor" threatening the security of the Muslim Middle East.
On Oct. 1 senior Haqqani Network leader in Afghanistan Haji Mali Khan,
uncle of network leaders Siraj and Badruddin Haqqani is captured in Paktiya Province by a NATO-Afghan operation.
On Oct. 1 a mob of 150 shoots and hacks to death 19 and injures six in Lingyado in NW Nigeria.
On Oct. 1 Pakistani bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri
is sentenced to death in Rawalpindo for murdering Punjab gov. Salman Taseer despite invoking the Quran to justify it, triggering bloody riots in major cities on Oct. 1-2.
On Oct. 1 Occupy D.C. begins in McPherson Square in Washington, D.C. with two encampments; on Oct. 29 Howard U. students join; on Nov. 22
a group who set out from New York City arrive; on Feb. 4, 2012 police raid them, arresting 11 but leaving 15 tents; on June 10, 2012 they vacate.
On Oct. 2 the Syrian state-run Al Baath newspaper tells
U.S. ambassador to Syria Robert Ford to quit supporting the protesters or expect more rotten egg attacks.
On Oct. 2 New York City police arrest
700+ demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street protests on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.
On Oct. 2 Egyptian ambassador to Ramallah Yasser Othman
tells the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency that Egypt fears that Israel might seize control of the Sinai Peninsula.
On Oct. 2 the Unknown Soldiers of the Hidden Imam
in Iran sends emails to 11 Iranian ex-Muslim Christians who left the country, threatening them to
return to Islam or be killed.
On Oct. 2 seven bullet-ridden bodies are dumpbed at a downtown bus stop in the resort city of
Zihuatanejo, Mexico;
drug violence results in 20 killed along a stretch of coastal vacation spots.
On Oct. 2 (Sun.) the political thriller series
Homeland
debuts on Showtime for ? episodes (until ?), starring
Claire Catherine Danes (1979-)
as CIA officer Carrie Mathison, and
Damian Watcyn Lewis (1971-)
as her USMC hubby Sgt. Nicholas Brody, who is held captive by al-Qaida and is suspected of turning;
"The nation sees a hero. She sees a threat"; episode 1 of season 5 has CIA man in Syria Peter Quinn
debriefed by his bosses, who ask him how their strategy is working, to which he
replies:
"What strategy? We have no strategy."
On Oct. 3 Minn. Muslim woman
Amina Farah Ali (1976-)
is arrested in U.S. court in Minneapolis for refusing to stand for the judge for a 2nd time, claiming
to recognize only Islamic law, not U.S. law; she and Hawo Mohamed Hassan are on trial
for raising money to funnel to Al-Shabaab in Somalia.
On Oct. 4 Syrian pres. Bashar Assad warns
that he will set the Middle East on fire if NATO attacks Syria, with the soundbyte:
"If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv",
causing Israel to respond via Turkey that if he starts a war with them to divert attention from his domestic problems, they will target him personally.
On Oct. 4 Russia and China veto
a U.N. resolution condemning Syria and threatening sanctions, causing British foreign secy.
William Hague
to call it "deeply mistaken and regrettable", and French foreign minister Alain Juppe to call it a "sad day for the Syrian people", while Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erodogan
says that Turkey and other nations will press ahead with sanctions.
On Oct. 4 Al-Shabaab militants detonate a truck bomb in front of the education ministry in
Mogadishu, Somalia,
as students and parents wait for scholarship info., killing 100+ and wounding dozens.
On Oct. 4 a mosque in Tuba-Zangariyee, Upper Galilee
near Safed is burned by Jews, causing a day of rage by Muslims, followed by the arrest of 20 Palestinians on Oct. 5 at dawn.
On Oct. 4 all of Iraq's political parties but the Sadrists agree
to keep U.S. trainers past the 2011 withdrawal deadline, but don't grant them immunity
from prosecution as requested by the U.S.; Sadrist leader Moqtada al-Sadr announces that starting on
Jan. 1 he's reviving his Mehdi Army to exterminate all of the 3K-4K U.S. soldiers remaining in Iraq.
On Oct. 4 Rusian PM Vladimir Putin floats the idea of a new
Eurasian Union
to compete with the EU; in Nov. Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus sign an agreement to launch it by 2015 - call it PU?
On Oct. 5
AsiaNews
claims that the Saudis are plotting to use their oil money to bring Egypt under Islamist rule and
expel all other religions incl. Coptic Christians.
On Oct. 7 Syrian Kurdish leader
Mashaal Tammo
is killed in his apt. in Qamishli by masked gunmen; on Oct. 8 police fire on the funeral procession,
causing 50K to mourn at his funeral on Oct. 9 amid calls for the 1.7M Syrian Kurds join the rising against
Bashar Assad by his son Fares Tammo.
On Oct. 7 surging Repub. pres. candidate Herman Cain is caught with his pants down with a question about
Uzbekistan,
with the soundbyte: "When they ask me who's the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan
I'm going to say, 'You know, I don't know. Do you know?' And then I'm going to say, 'how's that going to create one job?'"
On Oct. 8 bombs strike two oil pipelines in
S Iraq,
causing temporary production halts.
On Oct. 9 (Black Sun. in Cairo) riots break out in
Cairo, Egypt
after Coptic Christians protest the attack on their church in Merinab village by Muslims, after
which police take on the Copts, firing into the crowd and running over it in armored vehicles, killing 24
and injuring 270; no surprise, Pres. Obama
calls
on the Muslims, er, all sides to show restraint so that the elections can go on.
On Oct. 9 police in
Tunisia
arrest dozens of 300 Islamist demonstrators who are attacking the offices of a TV channel showing the film
"Persepolis" and trying to set it on fire.
On Oct. 9 Hamas enacts new entry restrictions for
Gaza,
requiring most foreigners to obtain a visa.
On Oct. 9 U.S. special rep for Pakistan and Afghanistan
Marc Grossman
admits that 19K Pakistani civilians have been killed in terrorist attacks since 2003.
On Oct. 9 the anti-clerical party of
Janusz Palikot (1964-)
captures a record 10% of the popular vote and 40 seats in Poland's lower house of parliament.
On Oct. 10 Dutch MP (Middle East expert) Wim Kortenoeven
blasts the govt. of Turkey for "sliding into an abyss of Islamic extremism" and for its "belligerence" against Israel.
On Oct. 11 U.S. officials claim to have disrupted an Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabian ambassador (since 2007)
Abdel Al-Jubeir (1962-)
along with bomb attacks on the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, D.C., and arrest Am. Muslim Manssor Arbabsiar; on Oct. 13
Pres. Obama says
that there is no doubt that members of the Iranian govt. knew of the plot, and warns that they will be held accountable for their "reckless behavior";
the Obama admin. also accuses Iran of trying to recruit a Mexican drug cartel member into the plot, and ramps up its internat. sanctions on Iran, with vice-pres. Joe Biden saying
that "Nothing has been taken off the table"; Iranian foreign minister
Ramin Mehmanparast
calls the claims "ludicrous", and blames Zionists; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
shows that this plot is a "very embarrassing and difficult moment" for the Obama admin., and shows that Obama is clueless about Iran; did the Obama admin. break the news to divert attention
from the Fast and Furious scandal that's putting heat on U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder?
On Oct. 11 the Israeli cabinet approves a deal to return kidnapped Israeli soldier
Gilad Shalit
after 1,934 days in captivity, in return for 1,027 Arab POWs, 477 of them convicted terrorists; no surprise, Saudi cleric
Awad al-Qarni
issues a $100K reward to any Palestinian who kidnaps another Israeli soldier, after which Saudi prince
Khaled bin Talal
(brother of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal) pledges $900K more; on Nov. 5 Saudi king Abdullah
provides
his private plane to ferry them to the hajj in Mecca free of charge, while Mahmoud Abbas
promises to build homes for them.
On Oct. 11 (Tue.) the sitcom Last Man Standing
debuts on ABC-TV for ? episodes (until ?), starring Tim Allen as sporting goods store exec Mike Baxter of Denver, Colo., Nancy Travis as his geologist wife Vanessa Baxter, Alexandra Krosney/Amanda Fuller
as daughter Kristin Beth Baxter, Molly Ephraim as daughter Amanda Elaine "Mandy Baxter, and Kaitlyn Dever as daughter Eve Baxter.
On Oct. 12 a slew of coordinated bomb attacks targeting police in Iraq
kills 25 and wounds dozens.
On Oct. 12 Underwear Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
stuns prosecutors by abruptly pleading guilty and issuing a rant about Islam on the 2nd day of his trial, calling his bomb a "blessed weapon to save the lives of innocent Muslims"
and that the purpose was to retaliate against the U.S. for supporting Israel, adding:
"Participation in jihad against the United States is considered among the most virtuous deeds in Islam and is highly encouraged in the Quran", pissing-off CAIR spokesman Dawud Walid,
who says 'The Quran clearly states whoever kills an innocent soul has committed an act like murdering all of humanity', and the Quran commands Muslims not to kill themselves."
On Oct. 12 Serbia
receives EU candidate status; Albania is rejected, and Turkey is put on hold.
On Oct. 13 two bomb blasts in Baghdad, Iraq kill 16.
On Oct. 13 the
King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Internat. Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICID)
in Vienna, Austria is established by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Austria, and Spain.
On Oct. 14 U.N. human rights commissioner Navi Pillay
calls for "immediate measures" to protect civilians in Syria.
On Oct. 14 Pres. Obama announces the deployment of 100 troops to
C Africa
to advise forces fighting the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army.
On Oct. 14 the U.S. Dept. of Justice announces a V for Am. Muslim teacher
Safoorah Khan,
who was denied 19 days unpaid leave to go on Hajj to Mecca; she will receive $75K.
On Oct. 14 (7:00 p.m. local time) Tunisian Islamists firebomb the home of Nessma private TV chief
Nabil Karoui for broadcasting the film "Persepolis" on Oct. 7, which they claim violates Islamic values.
On Oct. 14 Ahmed (Saif) Omar Abdul Rahman,
son of Blind Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman is killed by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan.
On Oct. 15 an Islamist suicide attack at the Provincial Reconstruction Team base in
Panjshir, Uzbekistan
kills two security guards; on Oct. 17 the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) claims credit, and also claims that they had help from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban).
On Oct. 16 Comet Elenin
passes within 21M mi. of Earth.
On Oct. 16 a riot in Matamoros Prison
in Mexico, known for housing drug gang members kills 20.
On Oct. 16 U.S. forces announce
that they have been taking increasing rocket fire from Pakistan in the past month; officers allege
that the jihadists are operating in sight of the Pakistani military.
On Oct. 16 Operation Linda Nchi
(Swahili "protect the country") begins as Kenyan troops cross into Somalia to help the Somalian army
pursue Al-Shabaab militants, gaining more help from the Ethiopian military; it ends in June 2012.
On Oct. 16 the daytime TV talk show
Super Soul Sunday,
hosted by Oprah Winfrey debuts on the Oprah Winfrey Network (until ?).
On Oct. 17 a bomb near a liquor store in
Baghdad, Iraq
kills seven and injures 18.
On Oct. 18 two 18-y.-o. men from
Cardiff, Wales
are detained by Kenyan police for attempting to join the Somalian jihad.
On Oct. 18 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton makes an unannounced
visit
to Tripoli, Libya after the Defense Dept. positions assets off the Libyan coast in case it needs to rescue her - unlike the diplomats in Benghazi?
On Oct. 19 the
Third Papuan Peoples' Congress
in Indonesia sees police invade and disperse attendees, then arrest 300, charging five with rebellion and incitement.
On Oct. 19 the Swiss study
The Network of Global Corporate Control
by Stefania Vitali, James B. Glattfelder, and Stefano Battiston is pub. in New Scientist,
exposing a small group of 1,318 central banks and other financial institutions as a cartel controlling
the global economy through control of the 43K transnational cos.; 80% of the control is in the hands of 737 of them; 40% of the total wealth is controlled by 147 of them.
On Oct. 19-28 the 107th World Series
sees the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat the Texas Rangers (AL) 4-3 in the first 7-game WS since 2002; St. Louis 3B player
David Richard Freese (1983-) is MVP.
On Oct. 20 five 20-something French Moroccan Muslims are arrested after breaking into the
Bexar County Courthouse in San Antonio, Tex.
On Oct. 20 after NATO bombers destroy his convoy, causing him to hole-up in a drainage pipe,
Libyan dictator (since Sept. 1, 1969) Muammar al-Gaddafi (b. 1942)
is captured hiding under a manhole, dragged by a mob, and killed near Sirte, shot several times while begging for his life, sparking large outbursts of joy; he was
sodomized by a bayonet first?;
Pres. Obama calls it a "momentous day in the history of Libya", adding "Today we can definitely say that the Gaddafi regime has come to a end. One of the world's
longest dictators is no more"; Hillary Clinton utters the soundbyte:
"We came, we saw, he died", pissing-off Vladimir Putin and increasing his hatred for her; on Oct. 23 transitional nat. council chmn.
Abdel-Jail
declares to a large crowd that the Libyan Rev. has ended, and vows that the new govt. will be based on Sharia; on Oct. 21 German chancellor
Angela Merkel
says that Daffy's death clears the way for a new era of peace and democracy in Libya; on Oct. 26 U.S. Nation of Islam leader
Louis Farrakhan
says that those rejoicing Daffy's death will come to sorrow, and predicts that the U.S. is unprepared for the backlash from his
worldwide supporters; during his last days Daffy
wrote
to Italian PM Silvio Berlusconing, asking for help in stopping the bombing; on Oct. 28 NATO
announces
the end of its 7-mo. Libya mission; too bad many local militia leaders
renege
on their pledge to give up their weapons so they can act as "guardians of the rev.", and instead loot Daffy's arsenals; Daffy's
female bodyguards
are hunted down, raped, and murdered.
On Oct. 21 Pres. Obama triumphantly announces the
Iraq pullout
by the end of the year, with the soundbyte "After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over"; on Oct. 23 retired Army gen.
John M. Keane
(author of the 2007 troop surge) calls the plan an "absolute disaster"
that puts Iraq at risk of an Iranian "strangling"; meanwhile the Obama admin.
begins planning
for a military buildup in the Persian Gulf - you can be my wing man
anytime?
On Oct. 21 top Obama U.S. Justice Dept. officials
invite
a gaggle of Muslim activists to tell them what to do, giving them their chance to
vigorously lobby for cutbacks in anti-terror funding, changes in federal agent training
programs, new curbs on investigators, and above all, a legal declaration that any
criticism of Islam constitutes racial discrimination - yes, naked Sharia, even
though they have to stoop to the pretext that the ideology of Islam is a race, when
it wants to absorb all races whether you like it or not, clearly the First
Amendment is going to get its biggest test since ever; on Oct. 24 the
Obama admin. takes off the rubber mask and
announces
that the U.S. govt. will begin removing all references to Islam in connection
with terrorism, and revamp the FBI and other agencies' training programs to
gut them of all the valuable knowledge about Islam and jihad that moi and so many
others have been publishing on the Internet for free; on Oct. 25 Pres. Obama issues an
executive order
to give it force, if he's not a Muslim plant he should get an Oscar for playing one
in the White House, eegads, the truth is now banned from the top; FBI
agent Kenneth Moore
in Knoxville, Tenn. approved the FBI memo detailing the info. purged from
FBI training programs.
On Oct. 21 Quebec Muslim
Mouna Diab
(1985-) is charged with trying to export assault rifle parts to Lebanon for jihad.
On Oct. 21 the
world ends,
according to Harold Camping, whose original date May 21 has been corrected.
On Oct. 22 Saudi crown prince
Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Said
(b. 1930) dies, causing a scramble to reestablish the succession, resulting
in King Abdullah naming 77-y.-o. Prince
Nayef (Naif) bin Abdul-Aziz (1934-2012)
as new crown prince on Oct. 27, who vows that Saudi Arabia would "never sway from and
never compromise on" adherence to Wahhabi doctrine, removing religious authorities who
objected to the mingling of men and women in public spaces.
Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud
as the new crown prince and deputy PM on Oct. 27
On Oct. 22 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton visits
Dushanbe, Tajikistan,
and warns Tajikistan and Uzbekistan that their efforts to crack down on religious freedom might backfire
with increased sympathy for radical Islamist views in C Asia.
On Oct. 22 Afghan Ores. Hamid Karzai
announces
that if the U.S. invades Pakistan, Afghanistan will support Pakistan not the U.S.
On Oct. 22 an Al-Shabaab suicide bomber wounds two AU peacekeepers in
Mogadishu, Somalia;
meanwhile Al-Shabaab warns
Kenya
of an imminent jihad, with the soundbyte "Your skyscrapers will be destroyed, your
tourism will disappear"; on Oct. 23 Kenyan forces join an offense against them,
advancing toward their stronghold of
Kismayu; on
Nov. 4 Al-Shabaab rebels
announce
that they are going to plunge Kenyan forces into an "endless war".
On Oct. 22 an Egyptian court sentences
Ayman Yusef Mansur
to three years of hard labor for insulting Islam in postings on Facebook.
On Oct. 22 a mass
Rally to Defend Islam Against Christian Proselytization
is held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
On Oct. 23 elections in Tunisia
are a V for Islamic Ennahdha Party, which wins 91 of 217 assembly seats, and calling for a coalition with secular groups on Oct. 26 after claiming a lead, incl. the
secularist Congress for the Repub. (CFR), and the Ettakatol (Dem. Forum for Labour and Liberties); on Oct. 28 the moderate Islamist party
An-Nahda agrees to supply 42 of the 49 women elected to the nat. unity govt.;
Tunisian Jews
are discouraged by the Islamic V.
On Oct. 23 the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood (Islamic Action Front) (IAF) declines an offer from King Abdullah II to join Jordan's new cabinet,
headed by squeaky clean PM-designate Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (1950-), who becomes PM of Jordan on Oct. 24 (until May 2, 2012).
On Oct. 23 the 2011 Iranian Aria Embezzlement Scandal
state trading scandal sees Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket accused of being involved in the emblezzelement of 2.8B toman from seven banks via his aide
Mahafarid Amir Khosravi (1969-2014), causing Imadinnajacket to threaten to resign;
341 Shiite scholars are accused, making it the largest fraud in Iranian history.
On Oct. 23 Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas gives a TV interview,
saying that he will never recognize a Jewish state of Israel, and that the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was a good thing.
On Oct. 23 the fairy tale drama series Once Upon a Time debuts on ABC-TV for 155 episodes (until May 18, 2018),
set in seaside Storybrook, Maine, starring Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan; season 7 moves to Hyperion Heights in Seattle, Wash., starring Jared S. Gilmore as Emma's son Henry Mills;
also stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White, Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen, and Josh Dallas as Prince Charming.
On Oct. 24 the SE Turkey Earthquake
kills 264; on Oct. 26 Israel begins
sending civilian planes with earthquake relief despite tensions between the govts.
On Oct. 24 citing "credible threats" against his safety, the U.S. pulls its envoy Robert Ford out of
Syria, causing Damascus to follow suit.
On Oct. 24 elections in Switzerland
give the far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) its first drip in 20 years, from 28.9% in 2007 to 25.9%.
On Oct. 24 seven new mosques are officially recognized in Flanders, Belgium, making a total of 24.
On Oct. 24 a YouGov-Cambridge Poll
conducted in July finds that 73% of Iraqis believe that it is likely that Iran will act aggressively toward Iraq after the U.S. troops leave in Dec.; 51% say
that the security situation within Iraq will worsen.
On Oct. 25 ethnic Malay Muslim rebels in predominantly Buddhist
Yala, Malaysia
shoot soldiers dead then explode a bomb that kills three and wounds 34.
On Oct. 25 Islamists in Malaysia call for the country to ban a Nov. concert by gay English pop star Sir
Elton John,
saying that he promotes "hedonism".
On Oct. 25-26 (night) protests in Sana'a, Yemen
incl. hundreds of women burning their veils in protest against violence.
On Oct. 26 Pres. Obama visits Colo.
to push student loan relief.
On Oct. 26 Germany announces
that it's "reconsidering" deal to sell Israel a 6th Dolphin class sub over chancellor Angela Merkel's disapproval of new housing plans for E Jerusalem.
On Oct. 26 10th grader Mehnez is killed by her fiance on her way to school in
Pishtakhara, Peshawar, Pakistan
after she refuses to abandon her education.
On Oct. 27 (7 p.m. local time) twin bomb blasts in Baghdad, Iraq kill 18 and injure 37.
On Oct. 27 Pope Benedict XVI speaks
at a gathering of 300 world religious leaders in Rome, and acknowledges "with great shame" that Christianity has used force in its long history, but claims that violence in God's name
has no place in the modern world.
On Oct. 27 in the case of Taner Akcam v. Turkey,
the European Court of Human Rights unanimously rules that Turkey can't criminalize recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
On Oct. 27 Saddam Hussein's home region of
Salahuddin
N of Baghdad declares regional autonomy in Iraq.
On Oct. 27 Al-Shoula, a
consortium of 12 Spanish cos. beats French rivals to win a 6.7B euro
($9.3B) contract to build a high-speed railway on the Mulim hajj route
between Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
On Oct. 27 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton gives an
interview
to BBC Persia, saying that the State Dept. is planning to set up a "virtual embassy" in Tehran
to facilitate Iranian student visas.
On Oct. 27 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg.
closes above 12K for the first time since Aug.
On Oct. 28 a French court cancels a permit for a mega-mosque in Marseille, France
that was touted as a symbol of Islam in France.
On Oct. 28 a car bomb near Aden, Yemen kills Ali al-Haddi, head of Yemen's anti-terror force.
On Oct. 28 (5:00 a.m. local time) Wahhabist gunman Mevlid Jasarevic
opens fire at the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and is wounded after wounding a policeman; 17 are arrested.
On Oct. 28 after advice by her Saudi attache Huma Abedin, U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton
announces
that the U.S. is now ready to negotiate with Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and regards his involvement as crucial to peace prospects in Afghanistan.
On Oct. 28 Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas gives a speech
on Israeli TV, where he admits that the Arab world erred in rejecting the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan.
On Oct. 28 Syrian forces open fire on protesters in Homs and Hama, killing 30.
On Oct. 28 Iran sends a diplomatic note
to the U.S. complaining about its claims that it was involved in a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., and demanding an apology.
On Oct. 28 three niaq-wearing women with shielded faces are denied entry to a
courtroom in Gothenburg, Sweden
for the trial of Lars Vilks attempted murderer Abdi Aziz Mahamud.
On Oct. 28 Palestinian Nat. Authority foreign minister (since 2006) Mahmoud al-Zahar (1945-) utters the
soundbyte
about Western civilization: "This civilization will not be able to withstand the great and glorious Islam, with its great humane platform."
On Oct. 29 a Taliban (Haqqani Network?) suicide bomber rams his van into an armored NATO bus in
Kabul, Afghanistan,
killing 17, incl. five ISAF troops, becoming the deadliest attack on coalition forces in over 2 mo.; the Taliban
claims
that the bomber was a Kabul-born 23-y.-o. European Afgahan; meanwhile an Afghan soldier turns his weapons on Australian NATO soldiers in
Nish, Kandahar Province, killing three.
On Oct. 29 the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood visits Gaza Strip, allegedly for the first time.
On Oct. 29 Minneapolis, Minn. Muslim Abdisalan Hussein Ali (b. 1989)
and one other stage a suicide attack on African Union troops in Mogadishu, killing scores of peacekeepers, becoming the 3rd Am. Muslim used by Al-Shabaab.
On Oct. 29 officials of the Obama admin. meet with hundreds of parents, teachers, and community leaders at a
Bullying Prevention Summit, claiming that one-third of 40M students are bullied each year;
no surprise, the summit focuses on Muslim students, despite
statistics
showing that it's Jews who are victims of most bias incidents.
On Oct. 29 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Assoc.
in Britain begin helping the Royal British Legion collect money for the annual Poppy Appeal.
On Oct. 29 (7 p.m.) immigrant Arab Muslims stone Roman Catholic festival-goers at the
Joyeuse
Union Don Bosco in Nimes, France.
On Oct. 29-30 Muslim protests against Islamophobia in
Berne, Switzerland
anger Jews when some protesters wear a yellow Star of David with the intent of
comparing themselves to persecuted Jews.
On Oct. 30 Israeli pres. Shimon Peres
calls
the spate of recent rocket attacks from Gaza a "declaration of war"; meanwhile an
Israeli airstrike in
Gaza Strip
kills one, causing calls for a ceasefire by the Palestinians.
On Oct. 30 Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad gives his first
interview
with a Western journalist since the beginning of the 7-mo. uprising, saying
that Western intervention will cause "another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans"
because "Syria is the hub now in this region - it is the fault line, and if you play
with the ground you will cause an earthquake."
On Oct. 30 an Israeli court sentences former Israeli soldier
Anat Kamm (1987-)
to 4.5 years in prison for leaking classified military documents about a
policy of assassinating Palestinian fighters to a newspaper.
On Oct. 30 a twin bombing at a music store in a Shiite neighborhood of
Baghdad, Iraq
kills 32 and wounds 71.
On Oct. 30 Iranian pres. Madman Imadinnastraightjacket
hails
the U.S. troop exit from Iraq as a "golden" victory.
On Oct. 30 Libyan interior PM
Mahmoud Jabril
confirms the presence of chemical weapons in Libya, and says that foreign inspectors will arrive later in the week to deal with them.
On Oct. 30 Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan
holds a large rally in Lahore, causing established political parties concern.
On Oct. 30 the Iran-sponsored Press Union of the Islamic World
is launched by 38 countries.
On Oct. 31 by 107-14-52 (U.S., Israel, Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Australia against, France in favor, Britain abstains)
UNESCO
becomes the first U.N. agency to grant the Palestinians full membership, causing the U.S. to stop their $80M annual financing (22%) of it under 1990 Public Law 101-246
that prohibits them from funding any U.N. body that admits Palestine as a member state before a negotiated settlement with Israel; Israel
retaliates
by building 1,650 more homes in E Jerusalem and 350 in the West Bank settlements of Gush Eztion and Maaleh Adumim, and withholding tens of millions of dollars/mo. of custom
and sales tax revenue collected for the Palestinian Authority at Israel-controlled checkpoints; Palestinian chief negotiator
Saeb Erekat
claims that Israel should have been the first to congratulate them.
On Oct. 31 a 4-man Taliban suicide team attacks a U.N. HQ in Kandahar City, Afghanistan, killing five.
On Oct. 31 the Tashnaq Party in Lebanon organizes an expulsion of all Syrian Kurds from the predominantly Armenian district of
Burj Hammud.
On Oct. 31 elections in Kyrgyzstan
retain PM Almazbek Atambayev's party in power.
On Oct. 31 the Jund Al-Khalifah
(Soldiers of the Caliphate) based on the Afghan-Pakistan border claim credit for two bombings in the city of Atyrau in Kazakhstan in retaliation for banning the veil.
On Oct. 31 a mosque in Wichita, Kan.
is heavily damaged by fire after receiving anti-Islam letters.
On Oct. 31 the 7th billion person on Earth is born.
In Oct. a total of 23 U.S. soldiers are killed in Afghanistan, making the war total 1,720.
In Oct. the U.S. unemployment rate falls from 9.1% to 9.0%, with only 80K new jobs added.
In Oct. the Obama admin. makes mosques
off-limits to FBI survillance incl. undercover sting operations without special approval from the Sensitive Operations Review Committee of the U.S. Justice Dept.
On Nov. 1 700 rebel fighters attack Kadugli and Teludi, South Kordofan, killing hundreds of SPLN-North fighers.
On Nov. 1 dual U.S.-Libyan citizen Abdurraheem el-Keib
is chosen by the Libyan Nat. Transitional Council as PM of Libya (until ?) to replace Mahmoud Jibril, who resigned on Oct. 23.
On Nov. 1 Israeli strategic affairs minister Moshe Ya'alon
says that Israel must confront Iran's attempts to get nukes, and not depend on others to do it.
On Nov. 1 South African Judge Richard Goldstone
pub. an op-ed in the Washington Post (after the New York Times
turns him down), blaming himself for his Goldstone Report, and going on
to blast those who claim Israel is an apartheid state, with the soundbyte
"It is important to separate legitimate criticism of Israel from assaults
that aim to isolate, demonize and delegitimize it", calling the apartheid charge
"an unfair and inaccurate slander against Israel."
On Nov. 1 Greek PM George Panadreau
announces
that Greece will hold a referendum on the $180B Greek bailout announced by
EU leaders the week before, pissing them off, after which on Nov. 3 he
drops it.
On Nov. 1 Israeli strategic affairs minister
Moshe Ya'alon
says that Israel must confront Iran's attempts to get nukes, and not depend
on others to do it, testing its new
Jericho
ICBM in a show of strength against Iran.
On Nov. 1 the U.S. House of Reps votes to reaffirm the motto "In God We Trust",
to which Pres. Obama responds "I trust in God, but God wants to see us help
ourselves", accusing them of wasting time.
On Nov. 1 2.5M Muslim pilgrims begin flocking to Mecca for the annual
hajj,
which starts on Nov. 4 (Fri.); Pres. Obama utters the
soundbyte
that the Hajj is "one of the world's largest and most diverse gatherings" -
except that non-Muslims who enter Mecca are executed?
On Nov. 1 Turks and Kurds clash in
Paris, France,
wounding 15; meanwhile Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu
urges
Iraqi Kurds to cooperate with Turkey in fighting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
saying otherwise Turkey has the right to invade Iraqi territory to prevent attacks
on Turkish targets.
On Nov. 1 an oil conference in Cape Town, South Africa claims that the breakaway nation
of Somaliland
has huge unexplored oil potential.
On Nov. 1 Russian foreign minister
Sergei Lavro
tells the Serbian press that if its objections to NATO's planned missile defense
system are not heeded, Russia could take steps of "a technically military nature".
On Nov. 2 Syrian-born Baton Rouge, La. Muslim
Jamal M. Roman (1960-)
is convicting of defrauding state and local govts. of $726K in sales taxes and
funneling $700K to Syria, and is sentenced to 53 mo. in federal prison plus two
years of post-prison supervision.
On Nov. 2 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
visits
Germany to celebrate the 50th anniv. of the guest worker agreement, and issues
the soundbyte "German politicians do not acknowledge the contribution of the three
million Turks in Germany enough."
On Nov. 2 the offices of the French satirical mag.
Charlie Hebdo
are firebombed the day it is set to pub. an issue with a cover satirizing Muhammad,
causing French PM
Francois Fillon
to speak out against the attack; on Nov. 3 they go offline after death threats,
then on Nov. 4 pub. the Muhammad cartoon that pisses-off the Muslims in a special supplement
distributed with the left-wing newspaper
Liberation,
after which on Nov. 8 it runs another
issue
showing a cartoonist kising a bearded Muslim man, with the caption "Love is stronger than hate".
On Nov. 2 Syria claims to fully accept peace proposals by the
Arab League,
incl. troop pullout from cities and meetings with the opposition.
On Nov. 2 senior religious official
Jamel Oueslati
claims that radical Islamists have seized control of 150-200 of Tunisia's
5K mosques since the Jan. Rev.
On Nov. 2 after extensive natural gas discoveries,
Mexico
scraps plans to build up to 10 nuclear plants.
On Nov. 2 as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu lobbies the Knesset to strike Iran's nuclear
facilities, Iran's top military official maj.-gen.
Hassan Fayrouz Abadi
says that if this happens Iran will cause serious damage to Israel and the U.S.
On Nov. 2 a U.S. Congressional committee approves tougher sanctions on Iran,
focusing on the central bank of Tehran.
On Nov. 2 the 2-ship
Freedom Waves for Gaza
flotilla, consisting of the Tahrir and the Saoirse leaves
Turkey to try to run the Gaza blockade, carrying 27 activists from nine countries
incl. the U.S.; on Nov. 4 the Israeli navy
seizes
the ships 50 mi. from Gaza.
On Nov. 2 a jury awards $7.5M in damages to Iranian-born Am. Muslim
Shawn Esfahani,
owner of Eastern Shore Toyota after a competitor calls his business
"Taliban Toyota" and accuses him of being a terrorist.
On Nov. 2
Tel Aviv
holds a massive civil defense drill.
On Nov. 2 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
accuses Germany
of letting it down in its bid for EU membership, claiming it should show much
more solidarity; it also fails to recognize Turks' efforts to integrate
into German society.
On Nov. 2 a liquor store in
Assi Youcef,
Algeria is burned down by a group of Muslims terrorists; they first
enter the shop and steal their mobile phones to get their IDs.
On Nov. 2 PAN member
Ricardo Guzman Romero,
mayor of La Piedad in Michoacan, Mexico is shot and killed while campaigning
for a Nov. 13 election.
On Nov. 2 the 12K-member
Bosnian Islamic Society
becomes the first Muslim in Sweden to begin receiving the "church tax" along with the Church of Sweden.
On Nov. 2 China
docks
two space vehicles for the first time, the unmanned Shenzhou 8
and the Tiangong-1 space lab.
On Nov. 2 the
G-20 Summit
in Cannes, France is attended by Pres. Obama, who shakes the hands of Euro
leaders then gives Turkish Islamist PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan a
big hug.
On Nov. 3 the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee votes
14-9 to subpoena internal White House documents on the solar co.
Solyndra,
which filed for bankruptcy after receiving a $535M federal loan guarantee;
the White House
rebuffs
the subpoena, claiming it is politically motivated.
On Nov. 3 Italy pub. a
Survey on Antisemitism,
which finds that 44% of Italians harbor some prejudice or hostile attitude
towards Jews.
On Nov. 3 a triple bombing in oil hub
Basra, Iraq
kills eight and wounds dozens.
On Nov. 3 Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu
orders
in investigation into an info. leak about Israel's plans to attack Iran,
blaming the heads of Mossad and Shin Bet, Meir Dagan and Yuval Diskin, as
well as opposition Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni; meanwhile Hezbollah leader
Hassan Nasrallah
announces that his forces have 10K rockets ready to fire at Tel Aviv, and can handle the Israeli military without aid from Iran or Syria.
On Nov. 3 women's groups in Galkayo, Somalia
in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland announce a drive to lobby authorities to ban female genital mutilation (FGM).
On Nov. 3 France, Britain, and Colombia announce
their decision to abstain from any vote on Palestinian membership in the U.N.; the U.S. has already pledged to veto it in the 15-member U.N. Security Council.
On Nov. 3 after their fight over the Church's handling of sex abuse cases earlier in the year, Ireland
closes its embassy to the Vatican, claiming it "yields no economic return", becoming the first major Roman Catholic country to do so.
On Nov. 3 a cleaning woman at Ostwall Museum
in Dortmund, Germany mistakes a $1.1M Kippenberger installation titled "When It Starts Dripping from the Ceiling" for a mess and destroys it.
On Nov. 3-4 U.S. drone raids in Somalia and Pakistan kill 120.
On Nov. 4 Israeli soldiers exchange fire with Palestinian terrorists at the N Gaza border fence after they are ambushed.
On Nov. 4 U.S. Afghanistan cmdr. Gen. Peter Fuller
is relieved by Internat. Security Assistance Force cmdr. Gen. John R. Alolen for making comments against pres. Hamid Karzai and calling his govt. "isolated from reality".
On Nov. 4 Pres. Obama announces
that he would be "satisfied" if the Muslim Brotherhood won the Egyptian elections, say that he will judge elected parties based "on what they do, and not what they're
called"; he adds that in his last visit to Cairo he didn't meet with Muslim Brotherhood officials, but would have given the chance.
On Nov. 4 10K march in Moscow, Russia
against Muslim immigrants, calling for ethnic Russians to "take back" Russia.
On Nov. 4 Germany passes a new law
that forces employers to recognize qualifications of immigrants, effective next Mar. 1.
On Nov. 4 former Mossad dir. Ephraim Halevy
says that Iran poses no "existential threat" to Israel, thus attack it must be a last resort, and that an attack "will impact the region for 100 years".
On Nov. 4 St. Louis, Mo. cab driver Mohamud Abdi Yusuf (1980-)
pleads guilty to funneling $6K to Al-Shabaab in Somalia.
On Nov. 4 Pres. Obama admits that U.S. pilots
flew French fighter jets off a French carrier in the Mediterranean Sea during the final strike on Daffy's convoy in Sirte.
On Nov. 4 officials of Jefferson County, Ala.
vote to file the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history (until ?).
On Nov. 5 FARC's guerrilla leader Guillermo Leon Saenz Vargas (b. 1948)
(AKA Alfonso Cano) is killed in combat by Colombian forces.
On Nov. 5 former U.N. head Kofi Annan
says that the West should not fear the rise of Islamic political parties in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings, with the soundbyte "Islam doesn't mean terrorism."
On Nov. 5 Obama admin. spokesman William Taylor, vice-pres. of the Inst. of Peace utters the
soundbyte
that they'd be "satisfied" with a Muslim Brotherhood V in Egypt; meanwhile the U.S. State Dept.
requests
$2B from Congress to train parties of "all ideologies" for the elections - U.S. taxpayer money for Islamist enemies of the U.S.?
On Nov. 5 YouTube removes a video posted by Minn. Congressional candidate
Gary Boisclair
warning voters about his Muslim opponent Keith Ellison swearing his oath on the Quran, which teaches Muslims to regard non-Muslims as infidels and fight them, claiming
it as shocking and disgusting content.
On Nov. 5 Iranian supreme assaholah Ali Khamenei
calls on the Muslim nations of the world to form an "internat. Islamic power bloc".
On Nov. 6 a series of blasts at a market in Baghdad, Iraq kill six.
On Nov. 6 Israeli pres. Shimon Peres
warns that an Israeli strike is "now closer to being applied than the application of a diplomatic option"; causing Libertarian Tex. Rep. Sen. and pres. candidate
Ron Paul
to call concern over Iran's nuke program "blown out of proportion", and that instead the U.S. should be "offering friendship" to Death to America Iran.
On Nov. 6 the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture announces a new 15% Christmas Tree Tax
on large farmers to support a federal program to improve their image and marketing; although it was initiated by tree farmers during the Bush admin., Fox commentator
Tammy Bruce
can't resist using it as more evidence that Pres. Obama is a secret Muslim who hates Christmas.
On Nov. 6 the Western series Hell on Wheels
debuts on AMC for 57 episodes (until July 23, 2016), about the building of the Union Pacific Railroad after the 1865 assassination of Pres. Lincoln, starring
Anson Adams Mount IV (1973-) as chief engineer Cullen Bohannon,
Colm J. Meaney (1953-) a mean investor Thomas "Doc" Durant, and
Common (Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr.) (1972-) as freed slave Elam Ferguson.
On Nov. 7 despite the Arab League agreement, Syria launches a bloody assault to retake
Homs.
On Nov. 7 the IAEA releases a Report on Iran's Nuclear Capability,
saying that Iran has mastered the critical steps for building nukes after receiving help from foreign scientists, and is on the brink of getting nukes; no surprise, the
Obama admin. only seeks
to impose more sanctions; U.N. sanctions are also unlikely because of Russian and Chinese opposition, the
Russian foreign ministry
saying that the IAEA presented no new facts, and deliberately politicized existing ones, ignoring Iran'a willingness to cooperate, with the soundbyte
that the IAEA "had a set goal to deliver a guilty verdict"; meanwhile the Israelis
ex-IAEA chmn. Mohamed ElBaradei of being an Iranian agent who covered-up their nuke program during his term; he denies it; on Nov. 10 Imadinnajacket utters the
soundbyte
"This nation won't retreat one iota from the path it is going... Why are you ruining the prestige of the (U.N. nuclear) agency for absurd U.S. claims?",
and Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini warns
the U.S. and Israel that "Anybody who takes up the idea of an attack on Iran should get ready to receive a strong slap and an iron fist"; on Nov. 11 Hillary Clinton
demands
that Iran respond within days to the IAEA report, and says that the U.S. is seeking to marshal internat. support for more sanctions; on Nov. 13 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
claims
that the full extent of Iran's nuclear program isn't reflected in the IAEA report.
On Nov. 7 Islamic Relief Worldwide releases its 2010 Annual Report,
showing an 89% increase in zakat donations since 2006, to Ł64M; the IRW had been caught giving assistance to Hamas, and accepting $50K from an agent of Osama bin Laden in 1999.
On Nov. 7 the Taliban posts a
message
on its Web site celebrating the U.S. troop withdrawal as a big V, and calling the U.S. the "greatest enemy of Islam", mocking Pres. Obama's soundbyte that
the U.S. is not and never will be at war with Islam.
On Nov. 7 Hamza Abu Fas
is appointed Libyan minister for religious affairs, responsible for returning Libya to traditional 4-wives-at-a-time Sharia.
On Nov. 7 the former office of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi
is invaded by security forces, who confiscate equipment.
On Nov. 7 sources in Israel reveal
that the U.S. Congress plans to unfreeze some of the $200M in assistance to Palestine, causing it to follow suit and plan to renew its funds transfer.
On Nov. 7 the Penn State U. Pedophile Sexual Abuse Scandal
begins with a grand jury report about football asst. Jerry Sandusky, spreading to icon coach
Joe Paterno for
his role in the coverup, who is fired on Nov. 10 along with univ. pres. Graham B. Spanier;
Paterno utters the soundbyte: "This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight I wish I had done more"; on Nov. 9-10 (night)
thousands of Penn State students riot in protest.
On Nov. 7 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton gives an address at the Nat. Dem. Inst., and utters the
soundbyte
that the claim that "Muslims cannot thrive in a democracy" is "insulting, dangerous, and wrong, and promising
that the Obama admin. will work with ascendant Islamist parties in the Muslim World - they do it in this
country every day" - like when her hubby claimed that he didn't have "sex with that woman"?
On Nov. 8 Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi
tenders his resignation effective Nov. 13 on the condition that parliament pass the austerity measures demanded by the EU, with the soundbyte that he feels "liberated"; on Nov. 14
former EU commissioner Mario Monti
becomes PM of Italy (until ?).
On Nov. 8 (Tues.) Hattiesburg, Miss. mayor Johnny DuPree,
first black Miss. gov. candidate since Reconstruction loses 59-49 to Repub. lt. gov.
Phil Bryant;
Miss. voters also reject 58-41 a measure which would have defined "personhood" as beginning at fertilization; powerful Ariz. politician
Russell Pearce,
author of the Ariz. immigration law is recalled; a measure in Ohio to continue the work of Repub. gov. John Kasich in curbing the power of unions is rejected.
On Nov. 8 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management
criticizes a congressional proposal to add FDR's June 6, 1944 D-Day Prayer to the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C., saying that it would "dilute" its "central message",
along with its ability to "inspire" visitors.
On Nov. 8 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder tells
Congress that the recently banned FBI training on Islam as violent and Muslims as terrorist sympathizers is not only "flat-out wrong" but undermines govt. efforts to stop terrorism
because it has a "negative impact on our ability to communicate effectively" with Am. Muslims.
On Nov. 8 to fight global warming caused by carbon dioxide emissions, the Clean Energy Act of 2011,
introduced by the Labor govt. of Australian PM #27 (2010-13) Julia Eileen Gillard (1961-) is passed,
establishing an emissions trading scheme preceded by a 3-year period of fixed carbon pricing, with the goal being to "drive substantial changes in patterns of energy production and energy use"; on
July 1, 2014 it is repealed by the Labor govt. of Tony Abbott.
On Nov. 8 the public school district of Cambridge, Mass.
schedules a holiday to recognize the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha; a first.
On Nov. 8 (Eid al-Adha) Muslim gunmen shoot dead three Hindu doctors in
Shikaripur,
Pakistan after a dispute over a dancing girl.
On Nov. 8 CAIR publicly blasts Somali-born anti-terrorism activists
Omar Jamal and Abdi Bihi
as "anti-Muslim" for blowing the whistle on terrorist efforts to recruit Somalis from Minn. for Al-Shabaab.
On Nov. 8 Saudi cleric
Aidh al-Qarni
calls on the Arabs to manufacture nukes to take on the West, with the soundbyte "The world respects no one but the strong."
On Nov. 9 coalition forces defeat a massive assault by the Haqqani Network
in Paktika Province, Afghanistan
near the Pakistani border, killing 60-70 terrorists.
On Nov. 9 ethnic Serbs Albanians clash in N Kosovo,
killing two and wounding one.
On Nov. 9 the Pentagon announces the new Air Sea Battle Concept,
a Cold War posture on China with the goal of denying its military access to areas near its territory and in cyberspace.
On Nov. 9 a Repub. Pres. Debate
sees Tex. gov. Rick Perry fail to remember one of the three federal agencies he had vowed to close if elected, badly hurting his candidacy; the debate is a V for Newt Gingrich, who
surges in the polls despite poor funding.
On Nov. 9 the U.S. govt. charges seven Estonians with a Web scam
that swaps their ads onto users' pages on 4M computers and made them $14M.
On Nov. 9 the U.S. military warns
Congress that budget cuts by the Obama admin. are seriously weakening the U.S. defense.
On Nov. 9 the Obama admin. stages
a 3-min. test to seize all the airways in the U.S., which fails miserably.
On Nov. 9 Praveen Togadia,
secy.-gen. of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in India calls for beheading of those who convert Hindus to other religions; meanwhile 31 Hindus who burned 33 Muslims
alive in Gujarat
state are sentenced to life in prison.
On Nov. 9 a U.S. Commission on Internat. Religious Freedom releases a
Report on Pakistani Schools,
saying that they teach Hindu hatred and view non-Muslims as "enemies of Islam".
On Nov. 9 the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung pub. a
Report on Forced Marriages
by the German ministry for family affairs, which finds that almost half of forced marriage brides are German, and a third are minors.
On Nov. 9 Honduran pres. Porfirio Lobo
begins the session of the council of ministers with a Quran reading and Muslim prayer to welcome female members of the Islamic community.
On Nov. 9 Venezuelan-born Minn. Twins catcher Wilson Abraham Ramos (1987-)
is abducted near his home in Valencia, Venezuela and held for ransom; on Nov. 11 police raid the kidnapper's home and rescue him.
On Nov. 9-23 the Occupy Wall Street Movement marches from New York City to Washington, D.C., demonstrating at a congressional committee that's deciding whether to keep Pres. Obama's
extension of tax cuts enacted under Pres. George W. Bush, which they claim only benefit the rich.
On Nov. 10 the 2nd 2011 Turkish Earthquake in E Turkey.
On Nov. 10 bowing to environmental activists, the Obama admin. delays a decision on the 1.7K-mi.
Keystone XL Oil Pipeline
from Alberta, Canada to Okla. and the Gulf Coast until after the 2012 election.
On Nov. 10 Repub. pres. candidate Mitt Romney pub. an op-ed
in the New York Times saying that if elected he'd "prepare for war" with Iran,
starting by deploying more warships in the Persian Gulf.
On Nov. 10 U.S. Rep.
Allen West
denounces the "five-star resort" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba after a report claims
the U.S. spends $800K a year for each of the 171 prisoners.
On Nov. 10 Britain home secy. Theresay May bans the extremist Muslim
Muslims Against Crusades (MAC)
after they plan to protest Armistice Day on Nov. 11; on Nov. 14 British Muslim (Conservative party co-chmn.)
Lady Warsi
utters the soundbyte that extremist Muslims such as Anjem Choudry forfeit the
right to call themselves Muslims.
On Nov. 10 Libyan rev. spiritual leader
Sheikh Ali Salabi (al-Sallabi), spiritual guide of
announces
that he's forming a new political party to rule Libya based on the "moderate" Islamic laws of Turkey and Tunisia.
On Nov. 10 Human Rights Watch releases a
Report on Mexico claiming widespread human rights violations in the war on drugs.
On Nov. 11 (11/11/11) the superstitious hold marriages at 11:11 a.m. all over the world; Egypt closes
the pyramids, claiming that pesky Jews, Freemasons, and numerologists are planning to hold un-Islamic rituals there.
On Nov. 11 (11/11/11) the U.N. Security Council votes on full membership in the U.N. for the Palestinians.
On Nov. 11 (Veteran's Day) The Call,
a 24-hour Christian prayer meeting hosted by Lou Engle is held in Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. despite calls by CAIR to beef up security in Muslim-filled Dearbornistan.
On Nov. 11 Labour Party pres. (since 2003) Michael Daniel Higgins (1941-) becomes pres. #9 of Eire (until ?), going on to
make the first state visit by an Irish pres. to the U.K. in Apr. 2014 and win election to a 2nd term in 2018 by a landslide, with the largest personal mandate in the history of Eire
(822,556 first preference votes).
On Nov. 11 a U.S. federal grand jury indicts suspected al-Qaida member Abdeladim El-Kebir,
AKA Abi al-Barra, who was arrested in Germany in Apr. with conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida.
On Nov. 11 30K attend an Al-Aqsa Rally
to celebrate the Palestinian POW release.
On Nov. 11 Mexican interior minister Francisco Blake Mora (b. 1966)
is killed in a heli crash near Mexico City.
On Nov. 11 U.S. Sgt. Calvin Gibbs (1985-) is sentenced to life in prison for
encouraging his troops to kill three Afghan civilians; cutting fingers and yanking teeth from corpses to keep as trophies didn't help his case.
On Nov. 11 Niger announces that late Libyan Col. Madman Daffy's son Saadi Gaddafi
is being granted asylum; the other son Saif al-Islam's whereabouts are still unknown.
On Nov. 11 Rabbi Dan Martzbach
is shot and killed by Israeli forces who mistake his vehicle for terrorists; two women are wounded; the Israeli govt. classifies the incident as an act of terror so his family can receive nat. insurance.
On Nov. 11 would-be Muslim robber Jordy is shot dead in Liege, Belgium,
causing Muslims to go on a rampage the same night.
On Nov. 11 Pres. Obama opens
a college basketball game between Mich. State and the U. of N.C. aboard the Osama bin Laden-killing aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
On Nov. 11 Hungary reports a higher than usual concentration of iodine-131 prticles in the atmosphere, along with Czech, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria; the source is
Pakistan,
which had a leak at the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant on Oct. 19?
On Nov. 11 Israel announces
that it's rushing the installation of laser anti-missile defenses on its airlines after news of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb acquiring SAMs from Libya.
On Nov. 11 (12:35 EST) a bullet is fired at the White House, entering a window,
after which Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez
is arrested on Nov. 16 at a hotel in Indiana, Penn.
On Nov. 11 Boko Haram militants storm the town of Damaturu, Yobe, Nigeria,
and destroy 10 churches and kill 150, incl. 130 Christians who wouldn't recite the Islamic shahada statement of belief.
On Nov. 11 the site of a planned mosque in Gretchen, Switzerland
is found to have pig parts and blood in an effort to desecrate the ground and prevent its construction; the Muslims say they will build it anyway.
On Nov. 12 after the Syrian govt. fails to quit oppressing the protesters, an urgent meeting of the
Arab League
called by Qatar to discuss the situation in Syria; it calls on Syria to stop the killing of civilians, and suspends it from the league, causing armed crowds
to storm the Saudi, French, and Turkish consulates in Latakia, Syria;
Pres. Obama congratulates the league; on Nov. 13 Jordan's
King Abdullah
becomes the first Arab leader to call for Bashar al-Assad to step down.
On Nov. 12 an explosion at a weapons factory near
Tehran, Iran
kills 17 and wounds 16, incl. senior weapons industry officer
Hassan Tehrani Moqaddam.
On Nov. 12 Pres. Obama's chief Middle East adviser
Dennis Ross
resigns after working for five U.S. presidents.
On Nov. 12 a suicide bomber attack in
Taraz, S Kazakhstan
kills five.
On Nov. 12 the govt. of
Bahrain
claims that Iranian-linked terror cells linked with the Rev. Guard
planned attacks against the Saudi embassy and a Gulf causeway linking
Bahrain with Saudi Arabia.
On Nov. 12
Ahmed Rezaie (b. 1980),
son of high-ranking Iranian official Mohsen Rezaie is found dead in Gloria Hotel in Dubai.
On Nov. 12 the Salafist jihadist Web site Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad pub. a
fatwa
by Sheikh Abu Mundhir Al-Shinqiti allowing mujahideen to join rebel forces
in Arab countries, and encourages them to form their own forces.
On Nov. 12 the
Asian
Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns forced conversions of young Pakistani
Hindu women to Islam, saying that such a "malicious campaign is in full swing" there.
On Nov. 12-21 Pres. Obama goes on an
Asian Tour,
starting with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in
Honolulu, where he pokes fun at Birthers, and
announces
that China and Russia are united with the U.S. on the need to prevent Iran from getting nukes; on
Nov. 18 he attends an
East Asian Summit
in Bali, Indonesia; on Nov. 19 Obama has a surprise meeting with Chinese PM
Wen Jiabao,
confronting him with China's claims to the South China Sea.
On Nov. 13 the TLC show
All-American Muslim
debuts (until), attempting to whitewash them as just plain average boring Am. Joes
who happen to dress funny.
On Nov. 14 the govt. of Yemen
announces
the release of three French aid workers held hostage by al-Qaida for 6 mo.
after help from the sultan of Oman.
On Nov. 14 the EU decides to impose additional sanctions on
18 Syrians
connected with repression in Syria.
On Nov. 15 the Israeli Knesset
approves
two new bills that critics say threaten the independence of the supreme court.
On Nov. 15 the Iranian govt. disses a claim by the Iranian Christian news agency
Mohabat News
that young Iranians are converting to Christianity, with the soundbyte: "While Western media keep reporting that people in Europe and America are
converting to Islam, the agents of Western political cliques claim that Iranian youth show a sincere interest in Christianity. These claims are
being made to cover up the fact that Western people are coming towards Islam."
On Nov. 16 the U.S. nat. debt
reaches $15T.
On Nov. 16 Pres. announces a new security agreement with
Australia
to counter the growing aggressiveness of China, which Obama says the U.S. doesn't fear, starting by setting up a Marine base with 2.5K Marines.
On Nov. 16 a bomb explodes at the Queen Elissa Hotel
in Tyre, Lebanon, which is frequented by U.N. staffers; no casualties.
On Nov. 16 Syrian army defectors attack military and intel bases near
Damascus.
On Nov. 16 a Loya Jirga
(assembly of elders) called by Hamid Karzi to discuss the Afgan-U.S. Strategic Partnership Agreement is rejected by the Ittehad-e-Ulema
Afghanistan alliance of orthodox clerics, who call for jihad against the U.S. and its allies, and urges other Muslim clerics to issue fatwas for jihad.
On Nov. 16 Tex. Muslim Barry Walter Bujol Jr. (1981-)
is convicted of attempting to provide material support to Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
On Nov. 16 Benetton clothing co. in Italy starts an ad campaign featuring a
PhotoShopped photo
of Pope Benedict VI kissing Egyptian #1 imam Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayed, pissing-off the Vatican and causing them to threaten legal action.
On Nov. 16 protesters storm the Kuwaiti Parliament during a debate on corruption.
On Nov. 17 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan utters the soundbyte
that the world must "hear screams" from Syria and do something to stop the bloodshed.
On Nov. 17 the long-banned