Another Islamic Charity in Trouble with Feds.

First the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development which was charged with funneling money to the Muslim Brotherhood. Now another Islamic charity in trouble with the Feds.

The Alavi Foundation,  a foundation that provides Koran to prison inmates seems to have a sideline  business as a property manager may funded monies to Iran via a front company Assa Corporation. Assa has funneled money through the Bank of Iran Melli.

Assa Corporation owns mosques in New York City, Houston, Sacramento, Suburban Maryland near Washington D.C.; 100 acres of land in Northern Virginia also  near Washington,D.C. and piece De Resistance 36 story office tower on Manhattan’s tony 5th Avenue.

Federal prosecutors took steps Thursday to seize four U.S. mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper owned by a nonprofit Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.

In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.

The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centers consisting of schools and mosques in New York City, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story glass office tower in New York.

Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which has been accused by the U.S. government of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb.

A telephone call and e-mail to Iran’s U.N. Mission seeking comment were not immediately answered. Nor was a call to the Alavi Foundation.

It is extremely rare for U.S. law enforcement authorities to seize a house of worship, a step fraught with questions about the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

The action against the Shiite Muslim mosques is sure to inflame relations between the U.S. government and American Muslims, many of whom are fearful of a backlash after last week’s Fort Hood shooting rampage, blamed on a Muslim American major.

AP via Yahoo News

H/T: Hot Air and Michelle Malkin

Cuba Has a Massive Energy Crisis

The Raul Castro government has order all government business to cut energy use by  extreme measures. These cuts are imposed until  the end of  the year. To prevent massive power failures that plague the Cuba after the fall the Soviet  Union.

Reuters news service has learned from document government officials has warned the people that the island nation faces a  “critical” energy shortage. This will require non-essential business and workshops to close. The government ordered shut down non-essential air conditioner and refrigerators.

The Cuban government has cut spending, reduced imports after being slammed by  world-wide economic crisis. The country was also hammered by three hurricanes in 2008.

“The energy situation we face is critical and if we do not adopt extreme measures we will have to revert to planned blackouts affecting the population,” said a recently circulated message from the Council of Ministers.

“Company directors will analyze the activities that will be stopped and others reduced, leaving only those that guarantee exports, substitution of imports and basic services for the population,” according to another distributed by the light industry sector.

President Castro is trying to avoid the energy crisis the  Cuba  experienced in the early 1990’s When the Soviet Union collapse and it lost  oil industry which cause frequent blackouts for Cuban people.

All government agencies to cut by12% or face government imposed electrical cuts.

We could only wonder what’s going on with Cuban people in all of this. Only God Knows.

Reuters

Brazilian Blackout effects Millions

A massive power failure in Brazil affected Ten of millions of people in Brazil and Paraguay on Tuesday.  The problems were due to issues with transmission lines that linked to the Itaipu dam.

The blackout effected the cities of Rio de Janerio and Sao Paulo the largest cities in South America. Hitting the southeastern Brazil highly urbanized area. Six states were impacted including Bel Horizonte and Sao Paulo states.

In Addition, the entire nation of Paraguay  was hit with the blackout.

Transportation was in chaotic. Trains stopped. People was abandon rail cars  to return to the surface in both Sao Paulo and Rio.

A spokesman with the operator of Itaipu Dam first blamed the dam. Later the spokesman blamed transmission lines.

“The most likely hypothesis is that there was some sort of accident that affected one or more points in the transmission system,” the operator said in a statement. “This accident probably provoked others, a phenomenon that is known as the domino effect.”

Edison Lobao, Brazilian Energy Minster told reporters in Brasilla the Brazilian Capital the cause unknown at this time. Lobao said,”atmospheric problems, an intense storm, may have contributed to or caused the transmission lines to Itaipu to shut down.”

Brazil CBN Radio says Rio de Janeiro state Governor Sergio Cabral has order additional police for safety purposes.

Reuters

Eyes on Hurricane Ida for The Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Ida has left death and destruction in its wake. It is on a collision course with US Gulf Coast. Ida has killed 91 people in El Salvador. Sixty people were missing. The cause of the missing was mudslides and floods.

US oil refiners has evacuated oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. Louisiana Offshore Oil plant. The facility that can handle larger supertankers have stop unloading ships  due to the storm.

A quarter of the US oil refining 15 percent of natural gas are produced in the  Gulf of Mexico. The  region produces 40% of the nations refining capacity.

The National Hurricane Center in Florida has issues a Hurricane watch from Grand Isle, LA to Mexico Beach,Fl.  New Orleans was not including.

Governor Bobby Jindal,  of Louisiana has proclaimed a state of Emergency on Sunday. This allows the government mobilized first responders.

The government in Mexico has called for mandatory evacuations for islands in the Caribbean Sea. However, the government will  not evacuate Cancun resorts.

Reuters

Some Passengers Faint on Flight to London.

Six Passengers fainted on a trans-Atlantic flight from Newark, NJ to London.  The situation caused an emergency where  police, fire and paramedic crews met the plane at Heathrow International Airport, in London. The crew check for hazardous materials and did not find any.

Paramedics said that the passenger were treated on board the British Airway jet. No one was hospitalized.

The London bound plane arrive at Heathrow at 6A.M. at terminal five and was met with emergency personnel  which was notified of the passengers who fainted on board.

British Airways said the calling of emergency crews was a precaution.

The Boeing 777 had 216 passenger and 14 crew members on board.

AP via Google News

Israel to Make Concessions on Settlements says Clinton.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Israel is willing to make concessions involving the building settlements in areas of the West Bank.

Clinton announcement comes as the Palestinians are demanding that Israel gives up building settlement in the West Bank, Gaza and other disputed lands that Palestinian claim as their own.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

What the prime minister has offered in specifics on restraints on a policy of settlements … is unprecedented,” she said.

The settlements has been the sticking point between The Palestinians and Israelis.

“There are always demands made in any negotiation that are not going to be fully realized,” she said.

Previous engagements by Secretary Clinton was more demanding to Israel. Demanding a complete halt to settlement construction. Israel was not willing to capitulate to Palestinian demands.

While Israel has made this concessions. This did not move the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas want the complete withdraw of Israel out of the region with removal of Israelis settlements.

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh, responding to Clinton’s comments, said, “There can be no excuse for the continuation of settlements, which is really the main obstacle in the way of any credible peace process.

“Israel is not interested in stopping its settlement activities and the American administration didn’t succeed in convincing the Israeli government to stop these activities,” he said. “There should be a real change in the Israeli position toward this issue in order for the peace process to be restarted.”

At the press conference with Clinton, Netanyahu said Israel is “willing to engage in peace talks immediately without preconditions. Unfortunately the other side is not.”

AP via Yahoo News

Eight US Troops in Afghanistan killed by Bombing

Eight US troop members were killed on Tuesday in a series of bombing attacks in southern Afghanistan and one Afghan civilian. They were with NATO forces when they were attacked.

The NATO led International Security Assistance Forces said other troops members were wounded by “multiple complex (bomb) attacks.” No additional information was given.

These attacks comes after 14 were killed on Monday in two separate attacks in Afghanistan.

Reuters

14 Dead in Two Seperate Events in Afghanistan

Fourteen people are dead in separate incidents in Afghanistan on Monday.   A military helicopter has crashed returning from a firefight against Taliban drug traffickers. Killing 10 Americans including 3 Drug Enforcement Agents. The  crashed in the western province of Badghis .

The second event was when two US Marine helicopters a UH-1 and a AH-1 collided in southern province of  Helmand killing 4 on board  and wounding two others Marine spokesman Major Bill Pelletier.

This is the first deaths of DEA since their operations in Afghanistan in 2005. Afghanistan is the world largest producer of opium the key ingredient on Heroin. The fed recently is going after distribution networks instead of going after destroying poppy fields which caused the farmer to oppose American activities.

President Obama mourned the heroes lost. He stood firm is decision to take his time in make the right moves for Afghanistan.

I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm’s way. I won’t risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary,” Obama said during a visit to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, in Florida.

AP via My Way News.

British Climate Leader Says Stop Eating Meat to Save the Planet

A leader in global climate change Lord Stern say one way to end climate change is to go vegan. Lord Stern of Brentford said: “Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better.”

Emissions from pigs and cows is a significant source of methane which a greenhouse gas. Methane is 23 times stronger that carbon dioxide as a gas.

Lord Stern author the 2006 Stern Review of the cost of global warming said that a good outcome of  the  upcoming Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen  would including higher food cost that raise the price of meat and other food the contributes to massive amounts of greenhouse gasses.

Stern believe that Copenhagen presents a unique opportunity to for the world break free from the world current course. He believes the world need to change the output of worldwide greenhouses from 50 gigatons to 25 gigatons by 2030.

He believes that peoples attitudes will change. “I think it’s important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating,” he said. “I am 61 now and attitudes towards drinking and driving have changed radically since I was a student. People change their notion of what is responsible. They will increasingly ask about the carbon content of their food.”

Lord Stern is calling for US President Barack Obama to attend the Copenhagen conference in December so an effective agreement with the U.S.in the lead will be reached. He said, was “desperately needed” to secure a deal.

Critics calls it  foolish. Jonathan Scurlock, of the National Farmers Union, said: “Going vegetarian is not a worldwide solution. It’s not a view shared by the NFU. Farmers in this country are interested in evidence-based policy making. We don’t have a methane-free cow or pig available to us.”

Times of London.

Cheney Says White House is Dithering on Afgahanistan

Former Vice President Dick Cheney called out the Obama administration Wednesday  and said President Obama is dithering on General Stanley McChrystal request of sending 40,000 troops  to Afghanistan.

Cheney called on the White House to do what it takes to win.”

“Make no mistake. Signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries,” Cheney said while accepting an award from a conservative national security group, the Center for Security Policy.

The former Vice President disputed the White House claim by Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel that the Bush Administration left was not paying attention to Afghanistan all the while focusing on Iraq and it was the Obama Administration had to create it own policy on Afghanistan .

Chaney says that the Bush White House provided the Obama Administration information on Afghanistan by review its polices and procedures and presented them to the Administration.

“They asked us not to announce our findings publicly, and we agreed, giving them the benefit of our work and the benefit of the doubt,” Cheney said. The strategy Obama announced in March bore a “striking resemblance” to what the Bush administration review had found, the vice president said.

Last Sunday Chief of Staff Emmanuel criticized the Bush Adminstration on it Administration Policy on CBS’s “Face the Nation”. He was also on CNN where he was on State of the Nation program.

“When you go through all the analysis, it’s clear that basically we had a war for eight years that was going on, that’s adrift, that we’re beginning at scratch, and just from the starting point, after eight years,” Emanuel said.

Cheney said the Obama Administration is playing the blame game.

“The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger,” the former vice president said. “It’s time for President Obama to do what it takes to win a war he has repeatedly and rightly called a war of necessity.”

Well today the White House fired back

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

“What Vice President Cheney calls dithering, President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform,” Gibbs said Thursday. “I think we’ve all seen what happens when somebody doesn’t take that responsibility seriously.”

Gibb called the Cheney remarks “curious” and proceed to criticized the Bush Administration taking years to provide for the troops.

“I think it’s pretty safe to say that the vice president was for seven years not focused on Afghanistan,” Gibbs said. “Even more curious given the fact that an increase in troops sat on desks in this White House, including the vice president’s, for more than eight months.”

Cheney remarks came as a keynote speaker the Center For Security Policy  Annual dinner. When word of Cheney remarks the West Wing was fired up.

CBS News

Politico