club3.clubledlighting.info

Share With Friends: | | Products – Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/products/top-stories/136106495?client_source=feed&format=rss

Justin timberlake Kate winslet Katie holmes

The curators are taking a back-to-basics approach, at least in their choice of locations, and channeling an artist’s aesthetic for a more visual and visceral punch.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=31abcd0dab4326913a0bccd295bd4319

Enrique iglesias Eva mendes Fergie

Share With Friends: | | USA – Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/usa/top-stories/136066675?client_source=feed&format=rss

Top charts Urban World

Syrian regime renews crackdown in Homs and delays Arab League visit  

Syrian forces launched a fresh crackdown in the city of Homs in response to a 2,000-person anti-regime protest. Up to seven people were killed and 20 others injured when the Syrian forces, backed by tanks, opened fire in the central city. The troops were reportedly significantly composed of an Alawite militia, increasing sectarian tensions in the majority Sunni town. Meanwhile, Syria made a last minute request for the Arab League’s chief, Nabil al-Arabi, to postpone his visit originally scheduled for today. Syria’s official news agency, Sana, stated the delay was necessary "due to circumstances beyond our control." The purpose of the visit was to present the Arab League’s initiative calling for Syrian elections within three years as well as pushing for President Bashar al-Asad to carry out previously pledged reforms, though late last month, Syria criticized the Arab League’s decision pressing for the end of attacks on protesters. 

Headlines  

• Libyan rebels have threatened a "fierce battle" in the loyalist town of Bani Walid; meanwhile Qaddafi’s security chief was in the convoy of fleeing loyalists that arrived in Niger’s capital. 
• US officials met with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to head off the U.N. statehood bid, which the Palestinian Authority said is "out of the question." 
• Clashes between anti-Mubarak Egyptians and police at a football match injured 72 policemen and 7 civilians amidst setbacks in the trial against Mubarak . 
• US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has proposed a plan to maintain 3,000 – 4,000 troops in Iraq to train Iraqi forces despite President Obama’s deadline for withdrawal. 
• Israeli police began raiding the tent city and "cleaning up" tents, some of which were occupied, stating they will carry out forcible evictions if they need to. 

[[BREAK]]

An Egyptian anti-Mubarak protester holds up scales in front of a line of riot police outside the police academy, on the outskirts of Cairo, where the ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s trial resumed off-camera on September 7, 2011 (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images).

Arguments & Analysis    

‘Middle East: Bread and dignity’ (Jane Kinninmont, Chatham House)

"The west should be careful to avoid complacency about its potential to act as a model, as has been highlighted by the decision of Egypt’s interim government to reject conditional loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Supposedly liberal economic policies in Egypt and Tunisia have failed to create the level playing field envisioned by theorists of free markets — a problem that is hardly exclusive to the Arab world. The idea that economic and political reforms can be carried out on separate tracks is essentially an illusion, although it may be a compelling one for economists at international financial institutions and banks, which prefer to imagine themselves as apolitical technical commentators. Rather, economic reforms and political reforms will need to be carried out together to build fairer and more inclusive Arab economies."

‘Is civil war in Syria inevitable?’ (Hussein Ibish, The Atlantic)

"By using extreme measures against unarmed protesters, the Assad regime has made it quite clear how it would react to any genuine armed rebellion. Taking up arms would mean facing the unrestrained wrath of a large, disciplined, well armed, and, apparently, fiercely loyal elite military who already appear capable of almost unimaginable levels of cruelty. Syrians, perhaps more than any other Arabs, are intimately familiar with both the self-crucifixion of Lebanon and the sectarian carnage in Iraq.The opposition has so far been unable to organize even politically. Could it really organize a coherent armed rebellion? Unlike in Libya, there is no clear political body for the international community to engage with, as Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton has pointed out. Sectarian differences, tensions between secularists and Islamists, internal and external opposition groups, personal and ideological rivalries, and other divisive factors have thus far prevented the development of a single coherent opposition grouping. Most worryingly, Kurdish figures walked out of one of the latest of many opposition conferences, protesting that most of the participants wanted any post-Assad Syria to remain defined as an "Arab" country, as the current designation "the Syrian Arab Republic" has it. Opposition hopes currently rest on long-time dissident Burhan Ghalioun, who agreed, apparently reluctantly, to lead the self-described "Syrian National Council," the latest effort at an alternative national leadership. But his unenthused and apparently haphazard appointment is not encouraging. Traditional opposition leaders and young protesters still appear divided. These would-be political leaders could be simply brushed aside by an ad hoc leadership of armed men — especially one driven by the worst elements of banditry, Salafism, and even Salafist-Jihadism."

‘Turkey crisis’ (Tony Karon, Time)  

"The trigger for Turkey expelling Israel’s ambassador, cutting defense ties and vowing to wage a diplomatic campaign against the blockade of Gaza and in support of the Palestinian move for recognition of statehood at the United Nations was the Netanyahu government’s refusal to apologize for the killing of nine Turkish citizens and a Turkish American in last year’s raid on the Gaza flotilla. The Obama Administration had tried to broker a rapprochement involving some form of Israeli apology, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reportedly been inclined to accept but his ultranationalist foreign minister and key coalition partner (as well as rival) Avidgor Lieberman refused to countenance it. The breakdown, however, is about a lot more than an apology: The flotilla itself, after all, had sailed in direct challenge to the Gaza blockade, with the support of the Turkish government — an expression of the fact that Ankara was no longer willing to follow its NATO allies, under U.S. leadership, in turning a blind eye to the plight of the beleaguered Palestinians. Israeli leaders and their most enthusiastic boosters in Washington like to paint this as a sign that Turkey had "gone over" to the region’s Iranian-led "resistance" camp, but despite the ruling AK Party’s roots in moderate political Islam and its insistence on a political solution to the nuclear standoff with Iran, Turkey is in fact a regional rival for influence with Tehran. Ankara’s stance on the Palestinians, like its refusal to support or enable the Bush Administration’s invasion of Iraq and its stance on the Iran nuclear issue or its break with the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, is based on its own reading of what’s good for the region — which is quite different from Washington’s — and on Turkish public opinion. And, as if to underscore the fact that its break with Israel doesn’t threaten its commitment to NATO, Turkey announced last week that it had agreed to host radar installations for a NATO missile defense system targeting Iran."

Source: http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/07/mideast_brief_syrian_regime_renews_crackdown_in_homs_and_delays_arab_league_visit

Pierce brosnan Pink Robin williams

By Anne Frühauf

Nationalization is the topic of the moment in South Africa and will likely continue to dominate political debate until the end of 2012, when the African National Congress (ANC) will elect its next president. The most likely long-term outcome, however, will not be too far from the government’s current incremental approach to tighter regulation, which may be sold as "nationalization by other means."

The debate is largely being driven by political infighting within the ruling alliance. The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) and its populist leader Julius Malema are trying to use the issue to gain traction ahead of the December 2012 party conference, by tapping into popular grievances over economic and racial inequalities that persist nearly two decades after the end of apartheid. The ANCYL has said it will not support any candidates who do not favor nationalization, but its attacks against President Jacob Zuma (also the ANC head) have become increasingly personalized.

Zuma, fearful of alienating key constituencies ahead of his reelection campaign, is unlikely to lay the debate to rest once and for all. Malema won reelection as ANCYL leader in June and he has exploited the issue to maximum effect. Malema presents a growing threat to Zuma, not as a direct successor but as a detractor. His political future, however, may be undermined by investigations into his business dealings and ANC disciplinary procedures. Still, the ANC is finding it increasingly difficult to control the ANCYL. As a result, it prefers to attack the Malema and the populist youth wing on non-core issues rather than by openly debunking nationalization. But even if Malema’s political career takes a knock, the nationalization debate is unlikely to fade.

The factional fighting will only intensify ahead of the party congress, and the nationalization issue is easily exploited for political gain. The ANCYL is supported by some African nationalist elements within the ANC. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) are internally divided on the issue but worry that the ANCYL may simply be using it to secure political clout and bailouts for indebted black entrepreneurs. But the unions are equally concerned that the ANCYL is trying to invade their traditional left-wing turf and hijack their popular appeal. Pushed on to the back foot by the ANCYL, they may only give nationalization a lukewarm endorsement.

The mining sector has been the main target. (The ANCYL, however, has occasionally eyed the financial, agricultural, and industrial sectors as well.) But, the various constituencies also differ on the definition of nationalization, and options include expropriation without compensation; expropriation with compensation or alternative measures such as more taxes, royalties, black economic empowerment (BEE) policies, and greater state participation. Possible policy proposals over the next two to five years could include a mining tax like that recently implemented in Australia, and efforts to tighten BEE equity transfer targets. It is, however, far from clear whether the current equity transfer target (26 percent by 2014) will be increased. The government may instead more strictly enforce the existing target. Greater participation by the state-owned African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation may also form part of this agenda, but the government faces real capitalization and management challenges.

At the ANC congress, party delegates are unlikely to endorse outright nationalization, nor complete rejection. Instead, their resolution is likely to be a muddled middle of the road call for greater public benefit. This lack of clarity is unlikely to reassure investors unnerved, not only by questions over South Africa’s long-term policy trajectory, but also the existing regulatory burden. What many in the industry would consider a best-case scenario-a firm rejection of the nationalization proposals and efforts to ease the regulatory burden-is increasingly unlikely given South Africa’s political dynamics. A worst-case outcome such as outright expropriation (even with compensation) is limited by constitutional and fiscal concerns, however. Nationalization without payment would result in capital flight and severe economic damage (as in Zimbabwe), while payment for mining assets would bankrupt the government. (For example, the mining industry’s current market capitalization of around $270 billion is about twice the government’s total budget). As a result, a "muddle through" scenario probably implies no radical departure from the status quo, but may allow the government to sell its policies to disgruntled voters as nationalization by other means.

Anne Frühauf is an analyst with Eurasia Group?s Africa practice.

Source: http://eurasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/08/25/south_africa_s_political_elite_mines_nationalization_debate_for_advantage

Pink Robin williams Russell crowe

By Joseph Sarkisian
Best Defense bureau of Iranian affairs

The Marine Corps University’s recently published monograph titled, The Strategic Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran, brings to light an unconventional viewpoint on Iranian grand strategy. Its author, Michael Eisenstadt, dispels the myths surrounding Iranian policy while providing an in-depth analysis of the creative calculus the regime uses when making its decisions at home and abroad. It is this calculus that the United States must solve in order to achieve more effective engagement.

Eisenstadt makes the case that the Iranian regime operates in a very pragmatic, calculated manner as opposed to the image of an "irrational, ‘undeterrable’ state with a high pain threshold," that its leadership likes to portray. Being able to see past the rhetoric of holocaust denial, destruction of Israel, and fears of a nuclear apocalypse, which Iran intentionally uses to paint itself as a fearsome enemy, will be key to making tangible diplomatic progress.

In his view, the image of Iran as an irrational actor is overblown — but the idea that Iran seeks to become a regional power capable of exerting influence over the entire region and becoming the guardian of Islam is real. Iranian defense planning is formed around this goal, as well as to deter potential adversaries and to achieve self-reliance from the outside world.

The argument that, "The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) is an unconventional adversary that requires unconventional approaches in planning, strategy and policy" is underscored by the fact that the conventional method of sanctioning to change behavior has done nothing to stop uranium enrichment.

The unconventional approach suggested by Eisenstadt suggests a rewriting of the policy manual on Iran. The United States must spend less time countering Iranian hard power and more time countering its even stronger soft power, pay more attention to the effectiveness of Iranian psychological warfare, and brainstorm better ways to pierce the veil of Iranian ambiguity. Once more of these unconventional tactics are implemented, the end of the 32-year diplomatic stalemate may finally come within reach.

Source: http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/14/eisenstadt_sure_iran_is_aggressive_but_does_that_make_them_craaaazy

Pink Robin williams Russell crowe

The long anticipated reelection of Ban Ki-moon for a second term as U.N. secretary-General was noted by the international press, but only in the most restrained and dutiful fashion. The New York Times registered the occasion with a three-line item. The Wall Street Journal ran a sentence at the bottom of its news briefs.

To compensate for the relative lack of press attention — a problem that has plagued Ban throughout his first term — the United Nations decided to produce its own tribute to the secretary-general in the form of a video that follows him throughout his workday. Weaving in the thrumming beats of a 1980s MTV video and liberal doses of soaring rhetoric, the whole thing has the air of a political-campaign advertisement.

Titled the World in a Day: Behind the Scenes with the UN Secretary-General, the video tracks Ban from his Sutton Place residence at 7:15 a.m. through a hectic day of handshakes and speeches on the opening day of the 2010 U.N. General Assembly general debate, which draws world leaders from across the globe for a few weeks of speech-making and backdoor diplomacy. The New Zealand pop band Evermore provides the background music to tweak Ban’s cool’s factor.

There are cameos of the rich and famous, including U.S. President Barack Obama and billionaire Bill Gates, moving through the crowd to shake hands with the U.N. leader. There are cutaways to the villains he must confront, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is filmed in an unflattering moment of vanity, fixing his hair as he prepares for an interview.

But the real star is Ban.

We hear Ban weighing in on the momentous issues of the day, poverty, climate change, and justice. We capture a glimpse of Ban’s human side, cuddling his granddaughter, waving good morning to a neighbor and his two dogs.

We learn of Ban’s humble beginnings, his tireless work habits, his waking up at 4 in the morning, and his well-known habit of measuring his achievements by the number of meetings he conducts, the number of miles he travels, and the number of hours he works during a week.

"I have had during the last 10 days 192 events, including 120 bilateral meetings with heads of state, heads of government, and foreign ministers," Ban says.

There are the personal testimonials of his devoted staff, breathlessly conjuring up the magic of life in the "hothouse" of U.N. diplomacy.

"This is the Super Bowl of diplomacy; this is the World Cup of diplomacy," says Bob Orr, his policy planning advisor. "It’s happening fast and furious, and no one wants to get left out."

"It’s amazing to watch," says Kim Won-soo, a former South Korean foreign service officer who followed Ban to the United Nations. "One day he may give like 10 speeches and [meet] with maybe 25, 30 different leaders, all different topics."

Follow me on Twitter @columlynch

Source: http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/06/23/a_day_in_the_life_of_the_ban

Eva mendes Fergie George clooney

AP – Sarah Palin’s husband on Thursday called a book critical of his family “disgusting lies, innuendo and smears” as the former Alaska governor’s camp sought to discredit a racy biography that includes allegations of infidelity and drug use.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110916/ap_on_re_us/us_palin_book

found slain fridays earthshaking fuel storage

When I was a kid, there was an advertising campaign for an insurance company that typically involved someone walking along, minding their own business when, unbeknownst to them, something awful was about to happen. A piano, for example, was about to be dropped out a window onto them. The clueless protagonist would then turn to his friend who noticed the impending calamity and respond to an implied question, "My insurance company? New England Life, of course. Why?"

I look at the current economic situation and feel a kind of déjà vu that takes me back to those ads. The president of the United States is walking down a street, surrounded by his inner circle, discussing whether or not to offer a minor jobs bump or an insignificant deficit patch while overhead that piano is bearing down on its mark.

Frankly, were the president actively debating big fixes for America’s job crisis, its growth crisis, or its deficit crisis, he still might be blindsided by the next big disaster as it is likely to be none of those things.

Over in Europe they are cooking up a global financial crisis that is likely to hit harder in the near term than any of the longer term structural issues being debated in Washington. It might be not months but weeks or days away. Today’s Constitutional Court decision in Germany requiring that future bailouts get parliamentary approval is but the latest worrisome sign. Neither the major structural changes required to get the EU’s fiscal house in order nor the major safety net the international community should be providing seem imminent or even likely. The consequence is the growing possibility of a market meltdown that takes down a number of big European financial institutions, the American investors heavily tied up in them, financial houses around the world with hidden counterparty exposure and world stock markets.[[BREAK]]

The equivalent of the $300 billion mini-lift the president is going to timidly offer up for the U.S. economy will be wiped out of U.S. markets within minutes of the next financial wobble in Europe. But, still the administration does not play a leadership role in forestalling the crisis, demanding and pushing for fast approval for critical IMF recapitalization, calling for a G20 meeting to get ahead of the problem. In fact, the United States has, despite deep concerns of senior officials about European mismanagement of the problem and downplaying of the real issues, not been the kind of factor in addressing the crisis as it once might have been. And given the need for the United States, China, and Japan, among others, to be on board with many of the multilateral emergency scenarios that may emerge, saying we have other fish to fry is not a sufficiently good excuse. Neither is saying we are working it behind the scenes because, well, it’s just not working behind the scenes.

That said, the "other fish to fry" argument would work better if in fact, the administration were effectively consumed by its efforts to bail out the U.S. economy. But it is not. I have been flabbergasted over the past few days to have conversations with multiple senior administration officials — top folks and loyal supporters of the president in key policymaking jobs — who have confided that they have not been consulted by the White House in its preparations for President Obama’s speech tomorrow night. That’s a pity, because in each of my conversations with these people, they floated big, doable ideas that trump the parade of halfway measures that we are now being led to believe will comprise the bulk of the president’s "plan." Ideas about a really big commitment to infrastructure funded by really sensible approaches to gas taxes, tolls, etc. Ideas about clearing away regulatory obstacles so energy transformation happens much quicker creating hundreds of thousands or millions more jobs now rather than in five or seven years. Ideas about how to manage the Eurozone crisis.

But this White House historically does not turn to its cabinet or sub-cabinet effectively when it comes to Presidential speeches or initiatives. It’s all about the president and his political team. (Hence, the spectacle of them rolling out the president’s chief political advisor David Plouffe during the height of the August economic tumult. As if he would soothe the markets. As if he were the best economic spokesperson they could muster. They seem to think that the most important qualification a person can have is proximity to the president rather than any particular substantive knowledge.)

The result is an administration that is not so much a team of rivals as it is a team of benchwarmers, smart, capable, experienced, creative people at the cabinet and sub-cabinet level who are just not consulted. What’s more, for all the political "prowess" of the inner circle, they haven’t even thought to get their surrogates lined up to hit the road with a message reinforcing the president’s. No talking points circulated as of yesterday night. No plans discussed. Nada. A waste of an opportunity.

Big problems, small ideas, wasted talent. As Dean Wormer would have said, "it’s no way to go through life, son." As one very wise man, intimately familiar with not just the ways of this administration but with Washington history accurately observed to me, Franklin Roosevelt offered a better formula: "bold, persistent, experimentation." He acknowledged he didn’t have all the answers. But he was willing to take risks and never stop trying. It bought him time and support. It also ended up saving the country.

At breakfast today with another very wise Washington insider, a former cabinet official in the Clinton administration, our conversation took an unexpected turn. We both recalled how a year ago, one of the worst things you could say about Obama was that he was another Jimmy Carter. And we both agreed that today we were starting to wish he were even that good.

It’s not too late for this president to tap his full potential by tapping the full potential of his team — but it will be very, very soon.

Source: http://rothkopf.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/07/we_need_an_fdr_not_a_carter_and_were_getting_neither

family home fears grow fight preceded

The ruling Labor Party won its best result in local elections in more than two decades.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=8bbe1d0d2625a506835c7757e71addee

lowest mortgage rates As seen on oprah Lowest insurance rates