Meanwhile, John Boehner, GOP House Leader is in Israel to receive further orders from GOP Likuds Leader Bibi Netanyahu
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Iranian and Western negotiators signaled what they described as good news Thursday after a marathon all-night session, followed by further talks a few hours later in a last-ditch effort to get a preliminary agreement to constrain Iran’s nuclear capacity in exchange for easing sanctions.
“Found solutions. Ready to start drafting immediately,” tweeted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani followed that up with a tweet from Tehran saying: “Solutions on key parameters of Iran #nuclear case reached. Drafting to start immediately, to finish by June 30th.”
Congratulations to The President of the United States, Barack Obama and congratulations to John Kerry.
ReplyDeleteThey saved a lot of American lives and the lives of many Iranian civilians. None of those who object to this proposal have any blood stake in the game.
Israel and the Jewish people are in the cross hairs of the Mullahs of Iran.
DeleteTo ignore this? Shows your bias.
But the good news?
Israel is not part of this agreement.
When Americans DIE because of Iranian aggression? You should be arrested and tried for treason.
Blessed be the Peacemakers.
ReplyDeletePeace in our time..
DeleteScrew the Sunnis, Jews, Druze, Christians, Gays, Women.
Now watch the machinations involved in trying to screw this up. I urge all veterans to send a message to John Kerry and President Obama thanking them.
ReplyDeleteTake a look from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq or Yemen, it's your future.
DeleteIt is simply revolting to watch these Republicans disgracing themselves.
ReplyDeleteIt's simply revolting to watch folks like you sell out the security of the USA.
DeleteAs talks over a nuclear deal with Iran continued past self-imposed deadlines, Israel’s intelligence minister has warned that the military option is on the table–and noted that Israel does not need U.S. cooperation to carry out a pre-emptive strike.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Times of Israel, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio Thursday: “…if we have no choice we have no choice… the military option is on the table.” He reminded listeners that Israel had attacked Saddam Hussein’s Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 without help from then-President Ronald Reagan (who actually condemned the attack).
Foreign policy analysts estimate that Israel has the political will to carry out such a strike against Iran, but note that the logistical challenge of doing so makes such an operation extremely risky. Israel also has little ability to follow up with a ground assault, and will likely sustain heavy incoming fire from Iranian rockets in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria in retaliation.
-----------------------------------------
The USAF may have to take out some Israel warplanes.
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Delete:o)
.
The USAF doesn't have flying rights over Iraq.
DeleteBetter yet?
Israel should use drones….
Or maybe Israel should just use some ICMB's and hit Iran, America has no power to shoot those down…
ANy other ideas?
I know that it fits in your plans to have Israel destroyed, but Obama has only 22 months left…
good luck
.
DeleteKudos to Kerry. The guy is dogged in his pursuit of these peace talks. Did the same in the Israel/Palestine talks although he the parties there were unwilling to actually negotiate.
Kudos to Obama. I won't even give him my usual 'but'. Good job.
Of course, trying to actually get this thing done will be tough given the obstructionists, the GOP, the neocons in both parties and the right wing media, and the Lobby. But still you can't deny the effort.
.
Who do these people think we are?
ReplyDeleteThe world thinks america is a cuckolded, whimsy, appeasing pathetic spineless nation…
Deletethat's who they think we are…
Sure tough guy.
DeletePresident Obama, who had been scheduled to depart just after noon for Louisville, Ky., for an economics speech, remained at the White House, where there was no word about his plans for the remainder of the day.
ReplyDeleteMr. Zarif had said previously that he and Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, would appear together to make a general statement on the talks.
But Obama administration officials have insisted that the current round of talks here produce more than a general understanding. They want a “quantitative dimension” — that is, specific limits on Iran’s nuclear program that the White House can cite to push back against congressional moves for additional sanctions.
Washington and Tehran also differ over the economic sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program. The United States wants to lift the sanctions in steps, tied to Iran’s compliance with the agreement. But Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on any deal, has insisted that all the sanctions be lifted when the final accord is signed.
With their dueling news conferences, it appeared that Mr. Zarif and Mr. Kerry would try to tailor the perceptions of the final agreement to meet those specific political imperatives, though it was not clear how they would respond to each other’s remarks.
President Obama had set March 31 as a deadline for reaching a political accord to define the main terms of a final, comprehensive agreement due by the end of June.
The Crowds Cheer Chamberlain Announcing Peace In Our Time
ReplyDeleteutube
What's revolting is watching you disgrace yourself by being so foolish.
There's not anything even on paper yet, according to what I read.
Neville at least had a piece of paper.
We might think of the Sudetenland as Yemen, or something.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SetNFqcayeA
There's always time for war. God bless those that try very hard to avoid it.
ReplyDeleteThe Administration is not trying to avoid it.
DeleteThey are enabling those who wish to kill us all.
The Devil take them.
Looks like it is going to be some more months before anything is really known.
I bet it turns out to be a 'deal bubble' - but who knows, Iran seems to be getting 90+ of what it wants.
Until then, I'm gonna try and tune it out.
Don't know where that France opting out info came from......still don't see anything about it elsewhere.
It is time you gave up,on American Thinker!
DeleteThe Democratic Gangster Regime continues apace -
ReplyDeleteFifth Amendment
U.S. Won't Charge Former IRS Official Lois Lerner With Contempt
Apr 1, 2015 12:07 PM PDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-01/u-s-won-t-charge-former-irs-official-lois-lerner-with-contempt
But of course.
BM, a good corrupt Democrat, gets charged because he went off the Reservation on the mid east.
Lerner, a good corrupt Democrat, doesn't get charged because she stayed on the Reservation.
Simple as that.
The Democratic Party is a criminal organization.
The former Majority Leader of the United States Senate, reputed to be 'the greatest deliberative body in the world', is being given a going away party by Shari's Ranch, a whorehouse outside of Vegas.
DeleteYou gotta love it !!~!:)
I told you "Dirty" Harry has been pocketing $$$money$$$ from the whore industry for years.
bwabwabwahahahaha
The Democratic Party USA is criminal organization.
Quirk, Deuce, Rufus, Ash you ought to all be heading to Vegas......:)
I am exchanging e-mails as I type with OGF in Vegas, who started the American Concierge Society from there, and was it's head for many years, if she might know what a BDSM chamber is, and if she can score 4 or 5 tickets to Harry's Retirement Party on the cheap.
DeleteI see "Dirty" Harry is being given a going away, or coming home, or something party by Shari's Ranch outside of Vegas.
DeleteDo you have any idea what a BDSM chamber is ?
>>>>>>The brothel offers Reid and his “friends, family and co-workers” the use of the VIP sex bungalows, BDSM chamber and massage room.<<<
And could you possibly score me four or five tickets?
***********
Will post reply ASAP.
.
ReplyDeleteQuirk, Deuce, Rufus, Ash you ought to all be heading to Vegas......:)
Clarification.
Is this a new offer to pay for all our trips?
.
With Bob?
DeleteI'd rather go to jail.
You would be in jail if I had anything to say about it.
DeleteRufus, someday they might arrest you for being a traitor to the USA, let me know, i'll crack open some scotch.
Delete>>>Is this a new offer to pay for all our trips?<<<
DeleteYou think I'm an idiot ?
I've offered to fly you all to Gaza under certain conditions, and that's it.
I don't forget the phone booth thingy.
What is “Occupation”Thu Apr 02, 02:49:00 PM EDT
DeleteRufus, someday they might arrest you for being a traitor to the USA, let me know, i’ll crack open some scotch.
You conflate the USA with your first love, Israel . Rufus actuually did something for his country that you did not do. He raised his hand, took an oath and put his ass on the line for the USA . You merely opened your mouth to spout your nonsense and never served a day and I mean you not anyone else. You serve Israel daily.
DeleteDon't pay any attention to this comment, WiO.
Deuce always goes personal when he's frustrated and losing an argument and knows it in the back of his mind.
IF Rufus served he was drafted.
DeleteHe did nothing more than what was required by law, JUST as I did.
He and I did nothing more than the LAW required IF he actually served.
The US government had the OPTION of drafting me, I was registered for the draft. They choose not to call me up.
My family has bleed for this nation. Rufus calls me a foreigner, you call me a traitor.
Fuck you both.
When Iran fucks over America? You and he should be arrested and tried as traitors.
Obama looked great. I admire him. Let the GOP slime machine and their Israeli backers keep it up. Every time they open their mouth, they lose more and more support. I’ll keep cheering them on.
ReplyDelete.
DeleteIf Obama actually pulls off a deal, not a sure thing, it could be one of those 'legacy establishing' things.
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DeleteMy happy face above was with the notion that the US would actually be shooting any Israeli planes down. I'm sure the comment was merely wishful thinking.
:o)
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All that's happened is Iran has bought some more time.
DeleteZero has actually been agreed upon.
It's a farce and you folks are suckers.
Even Quirk, who ought to know better, given his history..........
I remember when Quirk negotiated with the Court over.......
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DeleteAbout 3500 years ago, the pharaoh Akhenaten tried to move Egypt in a different direction when he tried to install monotheism on a society that had worshiped numerous gods for centuries. The move had less to do with religion and more to do with power and trying to centralize that power in small group of elite priests and functionaries with Akhenaten at the top. It is always useful when you can argue that there is only one god and you happen to be the one who can talk to him.
Akhenaten, because of the power of office, was able maintain the changes through the 17 years of his reign but they fell apart quickly after he died. While religion played a part, the real revolt came from the priests, the bureaucracies, the merchants, the temples, the cities, and all the others who were dependent on the old ways and the multitude of gods that populated all walks of life.
Obama's got the same problem. Bibi has given him reasons for sticking it to the current Israeli government. And Bibi has certainly given Obama motivation to try to stick it to Bibi personally. And Obama is trying to create a realignment in the ME with less dependence upon old alliances including that with Israel. I wouldn't be surprised to see Obama trying to throw a little shit in the game wherever he can; however, Obama will only be in there for 21 months and I suspect everything will sadly return to 'normal' once Obama leaves.
There are just too many people involved and profiting from the current bought and paid for system we have now. After Obama is gone, who will try to change anything. things will quickly settle back in.
Besides while Obama has the reason for changing direction with Israel as well as the motivation, what will drive him? Will it be the continuation of longstanding US foreign policy and his personal animus for Bibi that drives him or will it be politics? Will it be his legacy he is interested in or will it be politics? I may be too cynical but I'm betting on politics.
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.
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DeleteLong term, given the demographics and the associated politics in Israel their future course in the absence of strong outside pressure appears set. Bibi has come clean and stated as much and if he does form a government his main pressure will be coming from those that are even farther right than he is. And that doesn’t bode well for the Palestinians.
Of course, and let's be honest, other than Deuce and people who have some kind of general affinity to the Palestinians because of a perception that 'something' ought to be done for them, there are few people in the US other than the young who really give a shit about the Palestinians. Even J-Street, as evidenced in the last Gazan war, has lost its edge. In fact, young Jews are leaving J-Street and forming their own organization claiming that the membership of J-Street is way to the left of J-Street. It is unlikely things will change in the US any time soon.
Though the EU is leading in efforts to hold Israel accountable vis-a-vis the Palestinians, most of the world yawns when the issue comes up. The argument that Arab countries attacked Israel in 1948 to help the Palestinians was/is ridiculous. Arab countries couldn't care less about the Palestinians. When those countries attacked Israel they may have used the Palestinians as an excuse but they were really trying to advance their own nationalistic interests. Today, they still use the Palestinians as an excuse for their actions against Israel just as Israel uses Hamas as an excuse for denying the Palestinians statehood.
Things won't change.
.
On the other hand, there are as many Jews in the US as there are in Israel and if you can believe the polls the younger generation of Americans, Jews and otherwise, find their views at variance with the direction Israel is moving. That doesn’t bode well for the Israelis.
Or America.
DeleteThe United Socialist States of America where PC reigns high, we stand for nothing, we have no spine and men are pussies...
You love America till the numbers tip against your precious. Israel is the litmus test on American values. Got it.
DeleteAmerica I love. Obama I don't trust.
DeleteYou I don't trust.
Real Americans don't trust obama
The corrupt Democratic Gangster Media has been covering for Reid, not just since 2012, but for decades.
ReplyDeleteWatch: Nevada’s Jon Ralston condemns Las Vegas media for protecting Harry Reid in 2012
posted at 2:41 pm on April 2, 2015 by Noah Rothman
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The exorable and unscrupulous Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid will retire from the U.S. Senate in 2017, and few on the right will miss him much. The Nevada senator, who set his legacy on fire in 2012 by making unfounded allegations of fraud against the GOP presidential nominee and who called two private citizens “un-American” from the Senate floor, is utterly unrepentant.
Ed observed this week that Reid displayed nothing even resembling contrition for his irresponsible actions in the last presidential cycle when he justified his unprincipled attacks on Mitt Romney by observing that they had their intended effect. When pressed on the fact that many saw Reid’s unsubstantiated accusations against Romney as “McCarthyism,” Reid didn’t deny it. As Mr. Morrissey noted, he essentially conceded that this contemptible practice is actually rather effective.
It turns out that Reid’s propensity to intimidate his political opponents is a facet of his approach to governance that is well known in Nevada. This week, the veteran Silver State political journalist Jon Ralston revealed that one of his 2012 columns that was critical of Reid was spiked by the editor of the Las Vegas Sun who wanted to shield the then Senate Majority Leader from justified censure.
“It’s finally time to publish a column I wrote contemporaneously with the Nevada senator’s McCarthy-like tactic during the 2012 campaign,” Ralston wrote on his blog. “The column was never published because Las Vegas Sun Editor Brian Greenspun attempted to protect his friend, Reid, from the criticism.”
“I never wrote for the Sun again,” Ralston revealed.
On Thursday, Ralston joined the hosts of Morning Joe where he excoriated the Sun’s editorial staff over their lack of journalistic ethics (hat tip to Washington Free Beacon):
He noted that the excuse The Sun gave for spiking his column, the excessive nature of invoking the late Sen. Joe McCarthy, was undone by the fact that the term “McCarthyism” had been used just days prior in the paper to describe Republicans. Ralston added that Greenspun had helped his friend Reid by scuttling unfavorable coverage of the senator during his 1998 and 2010 reelection campaigns, too.
The collusion that Ralston is alleging here between a powerful Democrat and the institution ostensibly tasked with holding him accountable is perfectly corrupt. The Sun has a responsibility to perform an internal review of Greenspun’s practices and to respond to Ralston’s allegations comprehensively. If they do not, using Reid’s logic, the paper is essentially confirming that they underserved their readership and abdicated their mission in order to secure the support of an influential politician. After all, if they won’t reveal their internal communications to the public for a comprehensive audit, they must be guilty. Right?
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/04/02/watch-nevadas-jon-ralston-condemns-las-vegas-media-for-protecting-harry-reid-in-2012/
They may pull this off; they may not. But, dammit, they gave it a good try. I'm proud of them for the effort.
ReplyDelete
DeleteFarce.
Iran isn't complying with the inspections already in place.
They likely have enough highly enriched material by now in any case.
Whole thing is a farce and a facade, a false front.
You are being grubbered.
You are in Dream Land.
Gruber was right. The American People are really dumb.
North Korea was a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty at one time, IIRC.
ReplyDeleteNow they are working hand in hand with Iran.
How's this working out for you ?
I take it OGF wasn't particularly pleased with my ticket request. She hates Reid. Writing back on another topic, she didn't even the mention the tickets.
ReplyDeleteSorry but I gave it my best try.
:(
Kerry comes out looking great.
ReplyDeleteR I G H T
DeleteI am hearing right now via Fox News:
NO SNAP INSPECTIONS
Which is to say:
No real inspections at all.
Kerry comes out looking great, if you hate Israel.
An Israeli comment thread:
ReplyDeleteAvatar
Ron Turner • 5 minutes ago
Poor warmongers. They lose one - deservedly.
1 • Reply•Share ›
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Issraeli • 5 minutes ago
Iran = junkyard !
• Reply•Share ›
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Issraeli • 6 minutes ago
USA =garbage !
• Reply•Share ›
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Issraeli • 6 minutes ago
End of relations between USA and Israel ! Close the amerikaki embassy now !
• Reply•Share ›
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surgeon1 Issraeli • 5 minutes ago
lol you do realize that USA doesn't benefit from Israel.
• Reply•Share › Show 1 new reply
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rusty_armor surgeon1 • 3 minutes ago
Sort of like the USA doesn't benefit from you.
lol
• Reply•Share ›
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Michael Burns surgeon1 • 3 minutes ago
yes, but it was the jewish democrats who ensured a democrat homeboy was re-elected, wont happen again me thinks....Israel does not need american anymore either....time to wake up Jews
• Reply•Share ›
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Issraeli • 7 minutes ago
Those Persians clowns will be nuked by Israel !
• Reply•Share ›
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surgeon1 Issraeli • 5 minutes ago
remember it was the Persians who freed you when you were about to die.
• Reply•
In Iran
ReplyDeleteSaeed Kamali Dehghan
Thursday 2 April 2015 15.42 EDT Last modified on Thursday 2 April 2015 15.51 EDT
Iranians have reacted jubilantly to news of a breakthrough in nuclear negotiations, in the hope it will end years of international isolation and economic hardship – and avert the threat of war.
The news from Switzerland was especially sweet coming as Iranians celebrated the final day of their Nowruz new year holidays. Even though newspapers, bazaars and state institutions were closed, many welcomed the landmark agreement which they believe will have a dramatic effect on the lives of ordinary Iranians.
Live John Kerry on Iran nuclear talks: agreement is a 'solid foundation' - live updates
‘Key parameters’ for nuclear deal with Iran reached as EU and US agree to terminate economic sanctions
Read more
Drivers in the streets of Tehran honked their car horns as news of the deal started to break. Others shared the news via texts or on Twitter. “The winter is over,” read one widely-shared text message.
“This will bring hope to our life,” said Ali, a 34-year-old Tehrani citizen. “It was as if someone had blocked my airways but I can now breath. Everyone is happy, we’ve been waiting for this for too long.”
Sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear programme – including an EU and US embargo on imports of Iranian oil – have compounded the country’s economic woes in recent years.
Iran’s currency, the rial, dropped dramatically against the dollar at the height of the sanctions in 2012, but is likely to benefit almost immediately from Thursday’s announcement.
Analysts predict that the rial will strengthen and Tehran’s stock market will rally when markets open on Saturday, the beginning of the Iranian week.
OOOOOO Wait !
ReplyDeleteHold the Champagne....
Iran to be allowed to continue enriching uranium with over 6,000 centrifuges in huge bomb proof underground bunkers beneath a massive mountain......and to be allowed to continue to work with North Korea on methods of weaponizing said enriched uranium.
Work on ICBM's to continue.......
(Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles)
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Delete-- Drudge
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Delete-- American Thinker
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Delete-- Weird Tales
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Delete-- Weekly World News
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Did you know Kerry's grandfather was in shipping and made the big bucks moving opium to China ?
ReplyDeleteGrandpappy Kerry was made of sterner stuff than John and would never sign on with this farce.
Deletefarce? You are just foaming at the mouth demonstrating you have no idea of what is agreed or not.
DeleteAfter a quick reading of the actual document I would say it looks pretty good from a P5+1 perspective but not so hot from the Iranian perspective - it certainly doesn't amount to 'normalization' nor the end of all sanctions.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/02/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-agreement.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=b-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
DeleteWhy was the Iranian representative, during his twenty five minutes before the cameras, smiling from ear to ear all the way through, hmmm?
ReplyDeleteWell, there you have it, firm decisive evidence of Idaho Bob's analytic skills!
Delete.
DeleteNo, Bob, merely watches FOX and then tries to get to the computer before he forgets all inanities they spout.
.
:)
DeleteI admit I pass on their wisdoms once in a while to you fools.
I can't be everywhere at once.
By the way, most of them are saying the 'deal'........'looks good'.......
But as Deuce might put it, a $20 transvestite hooker at the gas station might look good, if one is in the mood.....
You city slickers would know more about this subject than I.
But, I know a farce when I see one.
Besides, I've maintained all along they have enough weapons grade material for bomb(s) now.
You guys are walking around in a Horror Hall of Mirrors.
Time will tell.
.
ReplyDeleteOne thing we can all count on with the hard core libs out there, Chris Mathews, Lawrence O'Donnell, Ed Shultz, et. al. and all their spawn and minions in the libospere is there instinctive rush to use the racist charge on those who disagree with them no matter what the issue or the facts. However, IMO, the next most popular charge they like to throw around is that of sexism. (Misogyny, 'war on women', etc.) The latest example of this is a premptive threat coming from the Hillary Clinton campaign supporters.
13 Proscribed Words When Speaking of HRC
The email sent on behalf of Hillary Rodham Clinton showed up in the inbox of a female New York Times correspondent Thursday, along with a pre-emptive threat: “You are on notice that we will be watching, reading, listening and protesting coded sexism,” read the missive from “HRC Super Volunteers.”
Then came the list of words and phrases constituting “coded sexism,” at least to HRC Super Volunteers: “polarizing,” “calculating,” “disingenuous,” “insincere,” “ambitious,” “inevitable,” “entitled” and “overconfident.” Nearly doubling George Carlin’s list of “7 Dirty Words,” Clinton’s loyalists added “secretive” and “will do anything to win,” “represents the past,” “out of touch” and “tone deaf.”
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/clinton-655905-hillary-list.html
Despite the fact no sane person would consider the words mentioned as sexist, the arbiters of sexist words left out other possible sexist words such as hysterical, feisty, possibly 'pant-suit', and maybe best of all Limbaugh's 'cankles'.
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Just think of her as a smelly gash.
DeleteThat suffices.
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DeleteOnce again, thanks for bringing the conversation down to the Idaho hick level.
It was getting a little crowded in here and you have a unique ability to clear a room.
.
I am going to howl with laughter when you, Deuce, Dufus actually vote for that criminal fraud.
DeleteI can hear myself now -
Bwabwabwahahahaha
I am glad you have shown me you are watching Fox at least once in a while, Quirk.
ReplyDeleteEven Rufus 'sneaks a peek' once in a while.
OGF and her hubby watch it all the time.
Delete"Our network", she calls it.
All real Americans watch Fox.
No, he doesn't.
DeleteYes, he does.
DeleteYou let the cat out of that bag twice, some time ago.
You said you didn't like Andrea Tantaros, for instance
You even quoted her.
There was another time too, though I can't recall the details.
Liar, liar pants on fire
Nose longer than a telephone wire
You're fucking nuts. I have never, in my entire life, quoted whatever her name is.
DeleteYour memory is shot, fuckhead.
Liar, liar pants on fire
DeleteNose longer than a telephone wire
Your memory is shot from booze, fuckhead.
Then, post it asshole.
DeleteI'll make it easy for you; it was either Rat, or Quirk (I remember the exchange, but don't remember which it was.)
Hmmmmmm.........you remember the exchange........hmmmmm......perhaps it was Q then......in which case I would apologize.
DeleteLet's ask him.
Quirk, did you post a quote by Andrea Tantaros and say in effect what a shithead she was ?
I agree she is nauseating.
DeleteThis thought comes wandering through -
DeleteHow do you know Fox is so bad if you never watch it ?
:)
Anyway if you didn't do that Tantaros quote I apologize.
The fate of the world doesn't actually depend on it.
.
ReplyDeleteThe GOP once again attempts to throw a sop to the richest 0.2% by trying to repeal the estate tax.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/03/25/estate_tax_repeal_republicans_want_to_cut_taxes_for_rich_dead_people_again.html
.
The Gangster Democrat Mafia Choom Gang doesn't want us to work hard and give things to our children.
DeleteThat creates independence and, wanting total control, they don't like the idea.
The Democrat Gangsters want the money to go to themselves, and their children, instead.
DeleteForget Iran. The Real Nuclear Threat Lies East
ReplyDeleteBy David Brewster
While the world focuses on the dangers that a nuclear-armed Iran could present in the Middle East, a potentially more dangerous and unstable nuclear proliferation is occurring in the Indian Ocean.
In the coming years India, Pakistan, and perhaps China will likely deploy a significant number of nuclear weapons at sea in the Indian Ocean. This could further destabilise already unstable nuclear relationships, creating a real risk of a sea-based exchange of nuclear weapons.
Observers have long seen India-Pakistan nuclear rivalry as the most unstable in the world, and South Asia as the most likely location of nuclear conflict. This is not just academic speculation. Foreign diplomats have been evacuated from Islamabad on several occasions from fears of an impending nuclear exchange with India.
India has a 'no first use' (NFU) nuclear-weapons policy of sorts, although it is increasingly subject to caveats and exceptions. But Islamabad refuses to adopt an NFU policy and indeed has announced a long list of actions that it claims would justify a nuclear response against India. Pakistan is also busy miniaturising its nuclear weapons for tactical use, thus reducing the threshold for Pakistani nuclear action.
Importantly, Pakistan sees its nuclear arsenal not only as a deterrent but also as an enabler, providing an umbrella under which it can sponsor sub-conventional attacks against India. In the face of terrorist attacks such as those in Mumbai in 2008, Delhi has found its options constrained by concerns about a possible Pakistani nuclear response. But few are confident that India's restraint can be maintained in the face of another serious cross-border attack that is proved to have been sponsored by Pakistan.
Both India and Pakistan are now in the process of moving their nuclear weapons capabilities into the maritime realm.
India is the furthest down this track, having launched its first indigenous nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant in 2009 (expected to be commissioned this year); it is also in the process of building two more so-called SSBNs................
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2015/04/02/forget_iran_the_real_nuclear_threat_lies_east_111088.html
SANCTIONS
ReplyDeleteLifting international sanctions was one of Iran’s major goals in the nuclear talks, and Iran’s Zarif told reporters Thursday that all sanctions would be terminated once the deal is implemented.
The U.S. statement said American and European Union sanctions on Iran will be rolled back, but gradually, after the International Atomic Energy Agency confirms that Iran has complied with each step of the deal. “If at any time Iran fails to fulfill its commitments, these sanctions will snap back into place,” the U.S. statement said. It noted that U.S. sanctions related to terrorism, human rights abuses and ballistic missiles will not be lifted.
U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran also will be lifted as the deal progresses. A new U.N. Security Council resolution will endorse the agreement and aid its full implementation.
ENRICHMENT
DeleteIran agreed under the framework to significantly limit its uranium enrichment capacities.
Tehran will reduce the number of uranium enrichment centrifuges it has installed from 19,000 to 6,104, and it will only operate 5,060 of these.
For 15 years, Iran will not enrich uranium over 3.67 percent, and will reduce its current stockpile of uranium at this level from 10,000 kg to 300 kg. The U.S. document did not specify how Iran will remove the excess stockpile, which had been a point of contention in the talks.
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
DeleteZarif heralded the deal for keeping Iran’s nuclear facilities open, but most will be converted to non-enrichment purposes.
Iran will keep only one site for nuclear enrichment, Natanz, and agreed not to build any new such facilities for 15 years.
Iran’s fortified Fordo site will be converted into a nuclear research center, and will not house any fissile material. The facility, built underground and kept secret until 2009, raised concerns that it would shelter Iran’s nuclear program from potential military action.
Iran’s heavy water reactor at Arak will be rebuilt so that it cannot produce weapons-grade plutonium, and Iran won’t build any more such facilities for 15 years.
BREAKOUT CAPACITY
DeleteThe deal would reduce Iran’s breakout capacity -- the time it would take to produce the uranium necessary for a nuclear weapon -- from several months to a year, for the next 10 years.
The U.S. argues that this extension provides ample time to nix Iran’s weapons development if the deal collapses. Israel has argued that a buffer of a year is not enough.
The White House is also likely to face domestic pushback on the 10-year window, The New York Times reports.
Clearly one area where the Obama administration will run into criticism in Congress and elsewhere is the duration of the agreement. Iran faces sharp limits for the first 10 years, and during that time the United States would be able to say that the country remains a year away from being able to produce one weapon’s worth of fuel -- Mr. Obama’s objective.
But it cannot claim that in years 10 to 15, when Iran would be permitted to gradually increase production. And after Year 15 the agreement largely expires -- meaning that Iran would be able to produce as much material as it wishes, like Japan or Brazil.
INSPECTIONS
DeleteThe framework mandates a thorough inspection program that would last for 25 years after the deal is signed, but does not elaborate on monitoring mechanisms that will be in place. The deal requires Iran to provide the IAEA with access to all of its nuclear facilities.
"If Iran cheats, the world will know it," President Barack Obama said after the deal was announced.
"The fine detail of any deal will be very important, in particular specifics of oversight measures and mechanisms for handling U.N. Security Council resolutions," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement.
Nuclear Deal Framework
A strong inspections regime, and a year break-out time - Sounds pretty good to me.
DeleteIt looks a little lopsided toward the west to me but the devil is in the details regarding sanctions. I'm not sure Iran will go for it in the end if it doesn't get significant sanctions relief and the key there is how sweet it will be to get the Nuke oriented sanctions lifted vs. the 'other stuff'.
DeleteIdaho BobThu Apr 02, 06:10:00 PM EDT
DeleteJust think of her as a smelly gash.
That suffices.
No. you don’t have a woman problem.
Well, the Iranian people really do want to get rid of the sanctions . . . . . .
DeleteWe'll know more on June 30th, I guess. :)
Speaking of Hillary:
DeleteThe new ABC/WP Poll of Registered Voters has her up by 12 against Bush, and 14, or so, against everyone else.
Nope, I don't.
DeleteSome felonious bitches ought to called what they really are, metaphorically speaking.
You vote for her, you will prove yourself to be the biggest sucker in the world.
It is a good deal for everyone especially Israel, at least the sane wing. Time will prove that.
ReplyDeleteMark Kirk - Illinois: Senate Vote on Sanctions to be delayed until July. :)
DeleteJoseph Cirincione is all over TV expounding the brilliance of the deal.
He says it's the damnedest Inspections regime in the history of regimes.
DeleteStein pointed out two details in the framework that I'd missed, both of which appeared to be pretty significant concessions by the Iranians.
DeleteFirst, Iran has finally agreed to comply by a rule known as Modified Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements General Part to Iran's Safeguards Agreement, shorthanded as Modified Code 3.1. It says that Iran has to notify inspectors immediately on its decision to build any new facility where it plans to do nuclear work — long before construction starts.
Iran in the past has either rejected this rule or stated that it would only notify inspectors a few months before introducing nuclear material at a facility — a "cover your ass" move in case the world caught them building a new nuclear site. Tehran's promise to comply may signal that it intends to stop building such covert facilities.
Second, Stein reads the framework as including Iran's ballistic missile program — something that critics of the deal warned would be left out. Indeed, even many supporters of the negotiations have said that it would be unlikely that American negotiators could get the deal to cover ballistic missiles or other conventional weapons programs; it would simply be asking for too much in one agreement.
"It looks like they were able to expand the scope beyond just nuclear issues," Stein said. He pointed to a line in the section that explains that the UN Security Council would replace its old resolutions imposing sanctions on the nuclear program with a new resolution that incorporated the finalized deal.
The line reads, "Important restrictions on conventional arms and ballistic missiles, as well as provisions that allow for related cargo inspections and asset freezes, will also be incorporated by this new resolution."
"The way I read that is that they address the ballistic missile issue, that that will remain in the new UN Security Council resolution," Stein said. "So you're going to keep the restrictions on ballistic missiles that are already present."
Astonishingly Good Agreement
BREAKING NEWS ALERT FOR USA SUCKERS
ReplyDeleteIran Accuses U.S. of Lying About New Nuke Agreement
Says White House misleading Congress, American people with fact sheet
Javad Zarif / AP
BY: Adam Kredo
April 2, 2015 5:40 pm
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Just hours after the announcement of what the United States characterized as a historic agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, the country’s leading negotiator lashed out at the Obama administration for lying about the details of a tentative framework.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused the Obama administration of misleading the American people and Congress in a fact sheet it released following the culmination of negotiations with the Islamic Republic.
Zarif bragged in an earlier press conference with reporters that the United States had tentatively agreed to let it continue the enrichment of uranium, the key component in a nuclear bomb, as well as key nuclear research.
Zarif additionally said Iran would have all nuclear-related sanctions lifted once a final deal is signed and that the country would not be forced to shut down any of its currently operating nuclear installations.
Following a subsequent press conference by Secretary of State John Kerry—and release of a administration fact sheet on Iranian concessions—Zarif lashed out on Twitter over what he dubbed lies.
“The solutions are good for all, as they stand,” he tweeted. “There is no need to spin using ‘fact sheets’ so early on.”
Zarif went on to push back against claims by Kerry that the sanctions relief would be implemented in a phased fashion—and only after Iran verifies that it is not conducting any work on the nuclear weapons front.
Zarif, echoing previous comments, said the United States has promised an immediate termination of sanctions.
“Iran/5+1 Statement: ‘US will cease the application of ALL nuclear-related secondary economic and financial sanctions.’ Is this gradual?” he wrote on Twitter.
He then suggested a correction: “Iran/P5+1 Statement: ‘The EU will TERMINATE the implementation of ALL nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions’. How about this?”
The pushback from Iran’s chief diplomat follows a pattern of similar accusations by senior Iranian political figures after the announcement of previous agreements.
Following the signing of an interim agreement with Iran aimed at scaling back its nuclear work, Iran accused the United States of lying about details of the agreement.
On Thursday evening, Zarif told reporters the latest agreement allows Iran to keep operating its nuclear program.
“None of those measures” that will move to scale back Iran’s program “include closing any of our facilities,” Zarif said. “We will continue enriching; we will continue research and development.”
“Our heavy water reactor will be modernized and we will continue the Fordow facility,” Zarif said. “We will have centrifuges installed in Fordow, but not enriching.”
The move to allow Iran to keep centrifuges at Fordow, a controversial onetime military site, has elicited concern that Tehran could ramp up its nuclear work with ease.
Zarif said that once a final agreement is made, “all U.S. nuclear related secondary sanctions will be terminated,” he said. “This, I think, would be a major step forward.”
Zarif also revealed that Iran will be allowed to sell “enriched uranium” in the international market place and will be “hopefully making some money” from it.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-accuses-u-s-of-lying-about-new-nuke-agreement/
Gonna sell enriched uranium in the open market but will it be bomb grade material.
SUCKERS
Hillary wouldn't last long, walking around Gaza without a bodyguard.
ReplyDeleteYour lovely Gaza, your lovely 'Palestinian' State.
You're the one with the woman problem Deuce. You don't seem to give a shit one or the other how they are treated, advocating for a totally sexist state as you have been doing.
Hill wouldn't last long.
I don't want her dead, I just want her in a Federal Prison where she so richly deserves to be.
You seem to think they way women are treated in Iran is civilized.
DeleteAfter all, Iran is fighting for civilization, so it must be so.
There was an Iranian professor at the U of Idaho, lived four houses down from my father.
DeleteTenured.
He got an American wife.
Foolishly, she married him.
After a few months of marital bliss (I surmise) things went downhill. Rumors surfaced of discord. Couple of police visits.
He had started to order her around, mistreat her verbally and then the slapping her around began.
Then she moved out, and the divorce papers arrived.
I know what happened as my dad had the inside scoop on the deal.
She was lucky to be in the USA. In Iran she would have probably had to put up with it. Maybe even given a lashing, or stoned to death if she did not.
The Koran is the book of Gaza, the last Christian bookseller having been shot long ago.
DeleteThe Koran, you know, encourages men to be severe with their wives, who are only 50% human, and need the discipline and instruction.
It's hard to get a bead on this story. This is about all I could find -
ReplyDeleteFrance Leaves Iran Nuclear Talks, Will Return When ‘Useful’
France has left the US-led nuclear talks with Iran in Lausanne, saying it will return when it is 'useful.'
By: Hana Levi Julian
Published: April 1st, 2015
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is leaving the marathon negotiations that have gone into overtime led by the United States between world powers and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear technology activities.
A French official told France 24 today (Wednesday, April 1) that Fabius was leaving the talks and would return from France when it was “useful.”
Speaking at a joint news conference with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, French President Francois Hollande said it would be better to have no deal than a bad deal – the same opinion expressed last month by Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu while speaking to the U.S. Congress.
And yet, talks are continuing in a marathon effort to reach a deal which by all accounts other than those of the negotiators themselves, appears to be a bad deal, at least for everyone other than Iran.
The deadline for talks had been set for March 31 – a supposed “hard” red line that U.S. President Barack Obama vowed would not be crossed.
Today that line was crossed with ease, in Obama’s desperation to reach a deal with Tehran – as was the “red line” set by Obama over the use of chemical weapons against Syrian citizens by President Bashar al-Assad.
It was not clear what prompted the French foreign minister to leave..........
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/france-leaves-iran-nuclear-talks-will-return-when-useful/2015/04/01/0/
Maybe his mistress got lonely.
Syria: ISIL Conquest of Yarmouk Palestinian Camp refutes Israeli Propaganda
ReplyDeleteBy Juan Cole | Apr. 2, 2015 |
Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) –
On Wednesday, the extremist Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) group, known for its brutal beheadings and mass murder, took over the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp inside Damascus city limits. Palestinian women and Christians and male secularists are at special risk now. Had they been living normally in their homes in what is now Israel, with their own state, they would not have been left vulnerable to this fate. Refugees and stateless people not only have no courts or armies to defend their rights, they are not even recognized as having the right to have rights.
The Israelis ethnically cleansed three fifths of the Palestinians of British Mandate Palestine in 1947-48, creating enormous refugee crises in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon that roiled the region through the subsequent decades and continue to contribute to instability in the region. Some 70% of the Palestinians cooped up by the Israelis in the open-door concentration camp called Gaza are descendants of refugee families from what is now Israel, some living only an hour’s walk from the homes that were stolen from them. Some 40% of Palestinians in Gaza are still living in refugee camps, despite Israeli direct rule 1967-2005, which propagandists say was benevolent– but clearly it left Palestinians with blighted lives.
Propagandists who excuse the ethnic cleansing campaign and the continued explicit denial to Palestinians of the right of citizenship in a state often maintain that it should have been possible for “the Arabs” to “absorb” the Palestinians. But in international law, the state that committed the ethnic cleansing is responsible for it and for reparations, not the hapless neighbors on whom the refugees were unceremoniously dumped.
Moreover, the right wing Israeli construction of “the Arabs” is intended to deny specific Palestinian political identity and to create all the hundreds of millions of speakers of the Arabic language as an undifferentiated mass, as a way of making that mass responsible for absorbing the people on whom Israelis inflicted a tort.
As for “Arabs,” they include the Christians of Lebanon, who rejected Lebanese citizenship for Muslim Palestinians because it would change the politics of that country. It should be remembered that most Palestinians also reject ‘taw tin,’ being given citizenship that would preclude their claim on Palestinian identity or the right to return to their homeland.
The Palestinians expelled by Israelis to Syria are a case in point. They have grown through natural increase to some 400,000 (Syria’s population is 23 million). Many of these Palestinians still live in 9 large refugee camps. Among the more prominent is Yarmouk, a camp that had until recently come to have 160,000 residents and now has only about 18,000. Palestinians are not Syrians and do not have Syrian citizenship, but they were given substantial rights as residents in Syria.
DeleteNone of that means anything now that the Syrian state is in collapse. Some 90 percent of the population of Yarmouk has fled, caught in the cross-fire of the civil war. The fighting presented a dilemma to Palestinians themselves with the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC) siding with the regime and the Storm Brigade (Liwa’ al-`Asifa) siding with the secular rebel group of some years ago, the Free Syrian Army. Now leftists and secularists and democrats are all gone, along with tens of thousands of refugees made refugees all over again. Indeed, this is a common fate of the stateless, since their basic human rights are unstable and often denied, so that even when they build up a little island of prosperity, it is often abruptly taken back away.
Does it mean anything for the displaced Palestinian victims of the Israelis that they are “Arabs” among Daesh murderers? Where is the Palestinian army that would rescue them (the West Bank isn’t far away)?
Palestinians continue to suffer, not only under Israeli military occupation, but wherever they are stateless refugees, open to the cruel turns of fate that beset the powerless.
Case in Point
DeleteThe High Court of Justice on Thursday ordered the IDF to plan a new route for the security barrier just outside of Jerusalem, through an area known as the Cremisan Valley.
It set no time frame, other than to advise that a new plan be submitted soon.
Since 2006, the IDF has wanted to build a 1.5 km. stretch of the security barrier between Har Gilo and the Palestinian city of Beit Jala, located just outside Bethlehem, to prevent terrorists from entering Jerusalem.
The Beit Jala municipality appealed to the court against the route, which it said created hardship for its residents. It also would have placed privately owned Palestinian land on the Israeli side of the barrier. But the case has been made famous because the route also threatens to separate the 19th-century Salesian Monastery and the Salesian Sisters’ Convent.
Bethlehem’s Mayor Vera Baboun had spoken to Pope Francis about barrier’s route during a visit to Rome in February.
On Thursday the court ruled that the current route “violated the rights” of the people of Beit Jala, because it separated them from their lands. It also said that the route was harmful to the two monasteries.