Kerry claims that Syrian 'rebels' are moderate not borne out by facts.

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9/4/13, "Kerry portrait of Syria rebels at odds with intelligence reports," Reuters

Video from April 2013

"Secretary of State John Kerry's public assertions that moderate Syrian opposition groups are growing in influence appear to be at odds with estimates by U.S. and European intelligence sources and nongovernmental experts, who say Islamic extremists remain by far the fiercest and best-organized rebel elements.

At congressional hearings this week, while making the case for President Barack Obama's plan for limited military action in Syria, Kerry asserted that the armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "has increasingly become more defined by its moderation, more defined by the breadth of its membership, and more defined by its adherence to some, you know, democratic process and to an all-inclusive, minority-protecting constitution.

"And the opposition is getting stronger by the day," Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. U.S. and allied intelligence sources and private experts on the Syrian conflict suggest that assessment is optimistic.

While the radical Islamists among the rebels may not be numerically superior to more moderate fighters, they say, Islamist groups like the al Qaeda-aligned Nusra Front are better organized, armed and trained."...

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Photo above appeared in this NY Times article:

9/5/13, "Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West," NY Times, Chivers

"The Syrian rebels posed casually, standing over their prisoners with firearms pointed down at the shirtless and terrified men....

The commander, known as “the Uncle,” fired a bullet into the back of the first prisoner’s head. His gunmen followed suit, promptly killing all the men at their feet. 

This scene, documented in a video smuggled out of Syria a few days ago by a former rebel who grew disgusted by the killings, offers a dark insight into how many rebels have adopted some of the same brutal and ruthless tactics as the regime they are trying to overthrow.....

Across much of Syria, where rebels with Western support live and fight, areas outside of government influence have evolved into a complex guerrilla and criminal landscape. 

That has raised the prospect that American military action could inadvertently strengthen Islamic extremists and criminals. 

Abdul Samad Issa, 37, the rebel commander leading his fighters through the executions of the captured soldiers, illustrates that very risk. ...

Mr. Issa, the former aide said, then arranged for their execution to be videotaped in April so he could show his work against Mr. Assad and his military to donors, and seek more financing. 
.

The video ends abruptly after his fighters dump the soldiers’ broken bodies into a well. One of the participants, a young man wearing a purple fleece jacket, looks into the camera and smiles."

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Brutal Syrian 'rebels' torture and execute 7 captured Syrian soldiers-NY Times photo. Updated, video is from 2012 not 2013

NY Times "Correction: September 6, 2013, posted at Legal Insurrection, also noted by Politico:

An article on Thursday about the brutal and ruthless tactics adopted by some rebel groups in Syria misstated the date of a video that showed a band of rebels executing seven captured Syrian soldiers. The video, which was smuggled out of Syria by a former rebel, was made in the spring of 2012, not April 2013."

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 9/5/13, "Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West," NY Times, Chivers

Video from April 2013

 "The Syrian rebels posed casually, standing over their prisoners with firearms pointed down at the shirtless and terrified men.

The prisoners, seven in all, were captured Syrian soldiers. Five were trussed, their backs marked with red welts. They kept their faces pressed to the dirt as the rebels’ commander recited a bitter revolutionary verse. 

“For fifty years, they are companions to corruption,” he said. “We swear to the Lord of the Throne, that this is our oath: We will take revenge.” 

The moment the poem ended, the commander, known as “the Uncle,” fired a bullet into the back of the first prisoner’s head. His gunmen followed suit, promptly killing all the men at their feet. 

This scene, documented in a video smuggled out of Syria a few days ago by a former rebel who grew disgusted by the killings, offers a dark insight into how many rebels have adopted some of the same brutal and ruthless tactics as the regime they are trying to overthrow.....

Across much of Syria, where rebels with Western support live and fight, areas outside of government influence have evolved into a complex guerrilla and criminal landscape. 

That has raised the prospect that American military action could inadvertently strengthen Islamic extremists and criminals. 

Abdul Samad Issa, 37, the rebel commander leading his fighters through the executions of the captured soldiers, illustrates that very risk. 

Known in northern Syria as “the Uncle” because two of his deputies are his nephews, Mr. Issa leads a relatively unknown group of fewer than 300 fighters, one of his former aides said. The former aide, who smuggled the video out of Syria, is not being identified for security reasons....

In Washington on Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the issue of radicalized rebels in an exchange with Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican. Mr. Kerry insisted, “There is a real moderate opposition that exists.” 

Mr. Kerry said that there were 70,000 to 100,000 “oppositionists.” Of these, he said, some 15 percent to 20 percent were “bad guys” or extremists. 

Mr. McCaul responded by saying he had been told in briefings that half of the opposition fighters were extremists. 

Much of the concern among American officials has focused on two groups that acknowledge ties to Al Qaeda. These groups — the Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — have attracted foreign jihadis, used terrorist tactics and vowed to create a society in Syria ruled by their severe interpretation of Islamic law....

One of his tactics has been to promise to his fighters what he calls “the extermination” of Alawites — the minority Islamic sect to which the Assad family belongs, and which Mr. Issa blames for Syria’s suffering. This sentiment may have driven Mr. Issa’s decision to execute his prisoners in the video, his former aide said. The soldiers had been captured when Mr. Issa’s fighters overran a government checkpoint north of Idlib in March. 

Their cellphones, the former aide said, had videos of soldiers raping Syrian civilians and looting. Mr. Issa declared them all criminals, he said, and a revolutionary trial was held. They were found guilty. 

Mr. Issa, the former aide said, then arranged for their execution to be videotaped in April so he could show his work against Mr. Assad and his military to donors, and seek more financing.

The video ends abruptly after his fighters dump the soldiers’ broken bodies into a well. One of the participants, a young man wearing a purple fleece jacket, looks into the camera and smiles." via Drudge

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Ted Cruz: US isn't 'Al Qaeda's air force.' Pamela Geller: 'We don't need a third party. We need a second party.'

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9/4/13, "Ted Cruz: U.S. not 'Al Qaeda’s air force'," Atlas Shrugs, Pamela Geller

"The Senate panel just approved the resolution giving Obama authority to use military force against Syria.

It's like I said in my piece at WND today; "...it isn’t just McCain. John Boehner Tuesday announced his support for Obama’s Syrian plan. And Jeb Bush is going to present an award to Hillary Clinton. Why? Why would the GOP and a potential 2016 candidate sanction this? Remember: Clinton’s State Department was told that Benghazi was a “terrorist attack” minutes after it began – and lied about it.

"We don’t need a third party. We need a second party. Ted Cruz is not enough. The GOP is all but disappearing before our very eyes. They are MIA on Obamacare, Benghazi, the IRS and now Syria."

Even the NY Times reported, “Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of."

One voice of sanity on Capitol Hill. "Ted Cruz: U.S. not 'Al Qaeda’s air force,’" by Tal Kopan for Politico, September 4: (thanks to Jihadwatch)

Sen. Ted Cruz called President Barack Obama’s efforts to authorize military intervention in Syria a public relations move, saying the U.S. military shouldn’t be “Al Qaeda’s air force.” The Texas Republican said Tuesday on TheBlaze that while he’s glad the president listened to calls from him and others to bring the issue to Congress, America shouldn’t get involved and risk helping terrorists in the rebel forces.
“We certainly don’t have a dog in the fight,” Cruz said, calling it a civil war in Syria. “We should be focused on defending the United States of America. That’s why young men and women sign up to join the military, not to, as you know, serve as Al Qaeda’s air force.”
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told reporters that Cruz sounded “totally uninformed” in his comments and that there is “overwhelming” evidence that the Free Syrian Army is still the dominant opposition force on the battlefield, not terrorists. McCain met with the army’s leader, Gen. Salim Idriss, in June.

“This is based on this assumption that they’re all extremists,” McCain said. “That’s just false, totally false. That’s someone that’s totally uninformed.”

Instead of being focused on securing chemical weapons in Syria, Cruz said, the president is too focused on “international norms” and his own public image.

“It appears what the president is pressing for is essentially protecting his public relations because he drew a red line, and, essentially, the bluff was called,” Cruz said.

Cruz said of nine major groups of rebels fighting in Syria, at least seven had ties to Al Qaeda, and a strategy from Obama that would arm those groups “makes no sense whatsoever.”

“I’ll give you one of the simplest principles of foreign policy that we ought to be following: Don’t give weapons to people who hate you. Don’t give weapons to people who want to kill you,” Cruz said."

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"JAMES CARVILLE: I think he (Ted Cruz) is the most talented and fearless Republican politician I’ve seen in the last 30 years."

5/5/13, "ABC This Week," Real Clear Politics, about Ted Cruz

"JAMES CARVILLE: I think he is the most talented and fearless Republican politician I’ve seen in the last 30 years. I further think that he’s going to run for president and he is going to create something. I’m not sitting here saying he’s going to win, and I think Senator DeMint is right. I’ve listened to excerpts of his speech in South Carolina. He touches every button, and this guy has no fear. He just keeps plowing ahead. And he is going to be something to watch. And a lot of Republicans feel this way, George, and you hear this a lot: "If we only got someone who was articulate and was for what we were for, we would win elections. And we get these John McCains and these Mitt Romneys and these squishy guys that can’t do anything." Well, there’s one thing this guy is not - he ain’t squishy, not in the least." 

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All invited to press conference and memorial at Ground Zero on 12th anniversary of 9/11 jihad terror attacks, 1PM, SW corner of Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, 9/11 family members will speak, 9/11/13

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9/4/13, "Join us September 11, 2013 at Ground Zero," Atlas Shrugs, Pamela Geller

"AFDI 911 Event: The human rights organization the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), a group of 9/11 family members, and noted human rights activists are holding a joint press conference and memorial service at Ground Zero in New York City on September 11, 2013, the twelfth anniversary of the 9/11 jihad terror attacks.

The memorial and press conference will begin at 1PM at the southwest corner of Zuccotti Park,
at Church and Cedar streets in lower Manhattan. 

The press conference will be hosted by AFDI’s Executive Pamela Geller and Associate Director Robert Spencer. Featured speakers will be 9/11 family members Rosaleen Talon and Nelly Braginsky, 9/11 first responder Alan T. DeVona, Sudanese human rights activist Simon Deng, and Coptic Christian human rights activist Ashraf Ramelah. 

Nelly Braginsky is the mother of Alexander Braginsky, who was killed also killed at the WTC on 9/11. Alan T. DeVona was the Port Authority Police Department World Trade Center Patrol Sergeant at the time of the 9/11 jihad attack.

Deng and Ramelah will explain how the appeasement of jihadists and Islamic supremacists such as is represented by the direction of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum only aids and abets the wholesale persecution of non-Muslims in Sudan, Egypt and elsewhere.

Geller said in a statement: “The Million Muslim March on 9/11 in Washington is an attempt to obscure the reality of what happened on 9/11, portray Muslims as victims, and intimidate government and law enforcement officials into ending surveillance of suspected jihadists. Our memorial and press conference puts the focus back where it should be: on the victims of 9/11, and our need to be vigilant in the face of the ongoing jihad threat.”

The press conference will advocate for the honorable and respectful interment of unidentified 9/11 human remains at Ground Zero – not inside the Museum, as planned. Nearly a decade ago, 9/11 families were promised in writing by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) in 2003 that these remains would be located in a “separate and distinct repository – separate from any museum or visitor center.” But city officials and the Museum directors reneged on that promise, and plan to place 9,000 unidentified remains 70 feet (seven stories) below ground – where their relatives will be charged $25 admission to visit.

The press conference will also address the non-patriotic theme of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, including the absence of American flags on the site (there is only one flag at the site, and that one was originally put up by construction workers and then moved to the edge of the site where it can barely be seen at all). This is consistent with the initial rejection by National September 11 Memorial and Museum creative director Michael Shulan’s initial rejection of the iconic flag-raising photo in the Museum, complaining that it was “too rah-rah American.”

Press conference speakers will also note the fact that the photos of the 9/11 jihad terrorists, plus their martyrdom quotes, will be prominently displayed in the Museum, while information on the victims will be in a kiosk, much less prominently displayed. The victims’ photos will be twelve feet above the floor on one wall (3,000-plus photos), while those of the 19 jihadis will have their own wall, with their murderous statements and artifacts at eye level.

Geller concluded: “We will be calling upon the federal government to take over the administration of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. It should be a national museum. 9/11 family members should not have to pay $25 to visit the remains of 9,000 victims deep underground.”

AFDI stands for:

• The freedom of speech – as opposed to Islamic prohibitions of “blasphemy” and “slander,” which are used effectively to quash honest discussion of jihad and Islamic supremacism;
• The freedom of conscience – as opposed to the Islamic death penalty for apostasy;
• The equality of rights of all people before the law – as opposed to Sharia’s institutionalized discrimination against women and non-Muslims." image above from Atlas Shrugs


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Baltimore Ravens will aid ObamaCare enrollment in Maryland-Politico

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9/3/13, "Baltimore Ravens to aid Obamacare enrollment effort in Maryland," Politico, Kyle Cheney

"The NFL may have spiked the White House’s request for Obamacare PR help — but the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens just called an audible.

The team has signed onto efforts to market the health law to Marylanders, according to an announcement from Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and officials running the state’s Obamacare insurance exchange, known as Maryland Health Connection.

“Research shows that 71 percent of the uninsured population in Maryland have watched, attended or listened to a Ravens game in the past 12 months,” the announcement said. “The partnership will provide Maryland Health Connection with the opportunity to reach and engage fans while making them aware of the new opportunity they have for health coverage beginning this fall through the health insurance marketplace.”

A Ravens spokesman said the team would reveal more details on Wednesday, after a conference call to discuss its role. According to the Maryland Health Connection, the team is expected to assist during a six-month enrollment period that begins on Oct. 1, a few weeks into the start of the NFL season. The partnership is intended “to connect with Maryland residents about the importance of developing a health coverage game plan.”

In Maryland, the partnership with the Ravens is one facet of a broader enrollment effort, which also includes a social media campaign and partnerships with CVS and Giant Food. The stores will provide shoppers with information about coverage....

Efforts to solicit help from sports are modeled on a partnership that Massachusetts formed with the Red Sox in 2007, when the state conducted outreach in support of its own health reform law, a precursor to Obamacare. Supporters of such partnerships say teams are often viewed with nonpartisan reverence and particularly connect with the young, healthy people that the White House is hoping will sign up for coverage." via Free Republic

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Unemployment week ending 9/1/13 is 8.5%, a one year high per Gallup

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Gallup, Unemployment, underemployment, 9/1/13

9/3/13, "Unemployment At One Year High, Gallup Finds," Zero Hedge

"And with this Friday's non-farm payroll report "the most important ever", as every other month of course, this time because it will seal the fate of the taper (or won't) depending if the data is bad enough, everyone is eager to get a sense of what is going on behind the scenes and how to position for Friday. Unfortunately this Wednesday's ADP private payrolls report will be quite inconclusive as well: not only has it become a laughable predictor of the immediately following NFP data, it does not even disclose what the unadjusted data actually is.

Which leaves us with a third, and final, approach
to analyze jobless trends in the US: Gallup, which every week polls thousands of adults to get an unadjusted, snapshot picture of who has a job, who has a part-time job and who has no job. The latest weekly results are good and bad. Good for those who fear that the NFP print on Friday will be so bad Bernanke will have no choice to delay (or reduce) the taper; bad for the economy. Because at 8.5%, unemployment for the week ended September 1 is now near the highest levels it has been in one year, following a spike in mid-August that sent it all the way to 8.8%. 

And while there are seasonal variations in the data set, it is notable that on a year over year basis, unemployment one year ago only peaked at 8.4%. It has risen in a gradual at first, and then sharp, fashion since then. 

Whether the NFP number will show a comparable deterioration in its own data set is debatable and quite unlikely: thanks to seasonal smoothing, it is very probably that the goalseeked number the BLS has in mind for August is already being being "built." However, while that particular NFP print at best impact machines scanning headlines and responding in the stock market, it is unlikely that the Fed, which by now has certainly made up its mind if it will taper or not, will care much if the jobs print goes +/-100K at this point.

Which means that while the Gallup data is largely useless from a policy, or trading perspective, it is very useful in one key fashion: it shows that the US economy continues to deteriorate, and that increasingly more people have no jobs when stripping out the BLS' favorite labor force participation adjustment gimmick.
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A breakdown of the Gallup polling methdology can be found here." chart above from Zero Hedge, August 2012-Sept. 2013

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Obama Energy Sec. Moniz says Obama credits gas fracking with reducing US CO2, Moniz makes case for gas fracking and its safety-NY Daily News Editorial

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9/3/13, “A tutor for Cuomo,” NY Daily New Editorial Board

“U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz makes the case for gas drilling.”

“Take it from the man who knows, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz: Fracking for natural gas is climate-friendly, environmentally safe and economically stimulating. Which is just what America and New York need.

Moniz speaks not just as the nation’s top energy official, but as a nuclear physicist, a former MIT professor and the coauthor of an exhaustive 2011 report on the future of natural gas production in the U.S. In a meeting with the Daily News Editorial Board, he explained the numerous reasons why President Obama embraces fracking as a key part of his strategy for tackling global warming and creating jobs.

The President’s endorsement contrasts markedly with Gov. Cuomo’s dithering over whether to green-light fracking in upstate New York . Under pressure from fracking opponents, the governor awaits yet one more report on fracking dangers, this one to be delivered by his health commissioner, Dr. Nirav Shah.

Fracking — short for hydraulic fracturing — is a drilling technique that pumps chemically treated water deep into the ground at high pressure, cracks the surrounding rock and releases pockets of natural gas. The technology has opened vast U.S. reserves to feasible drilling. Gas production has boomed, creating thousands of jobs and driving prices to historic lows. But opponents have stoked fears that fracking will pollute water, foul the air and even trigger earthquakes.

To Moniz, these risks are readily managed.

Protecting water quality, he says, is a straightforward matter of properly encasing wells in concrete to avoid leaks, and of carefully handling fracking fluids . Operators can easily minimize methane leaks to the atmosphere.

“You know what to do,” Moniz said. “You know how to complete a well. You know how to capture methane.”

What critics too often ignore are the huge environmental upsides of natural gas, by far the cleanest-burning fossil fuel — meaning less asthma-inducing smog and half as much planet-warming carbon dioxide as coal. As electric power companies have converted from coal to gas, the country’s overall carbon output declined by 12% over the past five years.

“It’s been a big contributor to our carbon reduction,” Moniz said.

Finally, Moniz talked dollars and cents.

“Obviously, it’s a huge economic benefit,” he said, citing one estimate that the abundance of affordable fuel has stimulated $100 billion worth of capital investment in manufacturing.

While other states have seized the opportunity, New York has hemmed and hawed for five years. Cuomo’s environmental commissioner was on the brink of giving the go-ahead last fall when the governor ordered Shah’s latest review.

Moniz wouldn’t comment on New York’s deliberations . But Cuomo has promised a decision based on science, not emotion or politics — which makes this an easy call. For the good of the economy and the environment, he must say yes to safe, well-regulated gas drilling in New York State.” via Tom Nelson



“Dr. Ernest Moniz meets with the Daily News Editorial Board.” Santos, NYDN


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Antarctic Sea Ice Extent increases again in August 2013-NSIDC

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9/3/13, Antarctic Sea Ice Extent, August 2013, NSIDC

"This graph shows monthly ice extent anomalies plotted as a time series of percent difference between the extent for the month in question and the mean for that month based on the January 1981 to December 2010 data. The anomaly data points are plotted as plus signs and the trend line is plotted with a dashed grey line."

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July 2013 Antarctic Sea Ice Extent:

August 2, 2013, "Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Breaking All Records," Paul Homewood

"Antarctic sea ice extent at the end of July was the highest on record for that day, growing to 18.077 million sq km. The previous record of 17.783 was set in 2010, whilst the 1981-2010 average was 16.869"

"ftp://sidads.colorado.edu/DATASETS/NOAA/G02135/south/daily/data/

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9/1/13, "35th Daily Record of Year for Antarctic Sea Ice Extent," sunshinehours.wordpress.com

"August 31 (Day 243) saw the 35th Daily Record of the Year for Antarctic Sea Ice Extent.

Antarctic Sea Ice Extent is 19.03105  million sq km.

Click graph [at link] for bigger. Data is here."


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