Report Says Al-Qaeda Still Aims to Use Weapons of Mass Destruction Against U.S.

When al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called off a planned chemical attack on New York's subway system in 2003, he offered a chilling explanation: The plot to unleash poison gas on New Yorkers was being dropped for "something better," Zawahiri said in a message intercepted by U.S. eavesdroppers.

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Indonesia Mulls Tearing Down Obama Statue

Perhaps they should send it to Kenya.

From AFP

Indonesian authorities said Monday they are considering a petition to tear down a statue of US President Barack Obama as a boy, only a month after the bronze was unveiled in Jakarta.

The statue of "Little Barry" -- as Obama was known when he lived in the capital in the late 1960s -- stands in central Jakarta's Menteng Park, a short walk from the US president's former elementary school.

Critics say the site should have been used to honour an Indonesian and 55,000 people have joined a page on social networking website Facebook calling for the statue to be removed.

"We've been discussing for the past two weeks what to do with the statue... whether to take it down, move it elsewhere or retain it. We're finding the best solution," Jakarta parks agency official Dwi Bintarto said.

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Couple Find Jefferson Letter at American Legion Hall

From The Washington Post
By Anne Miller

Army veteran Tom Hewitt hovered over the stained and brittle page, itching to get closer but afraid to touch. Crowded into the upstairs office at American Legion Post 24 in Old Town Alexandria, he couldn't believe what his wife was saying.

Not an hour before, Hewitt, 39, and his friends were drinking beer and talking about updating the walls with historic photos. His wife, Candice Bennett, dropped by, and the couple went upstairs to poke through the drawers and file cabinets in the messy third-floor office to look for some photos.

In a drawer, Bennett, 34, spotted a paper that looked very old and unusual. She pulled out her iPhone and tapped away, frantically searching for names. Then she turned to her husband.

"Tom, I think this is a Thomas Jefferson letter," she said.

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Pope Benedict Revives Ecumenical Dialogue with Orthodox World, Vatican-Watcher Finds

Pope Benedict XVI shakes hands with Theophilos III at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem on May 15, 2009 in the Old City of Jerusalem.

From Catholic World News

Pope Benedict XVI has successfully begun a discussion with the Orthodox churches that Pope John Paul II sought but could not bring about, writes Sando Magister of L’Espresso. The German Pope has persuaded Orthodox leaders to engage in genuine dialogue about the role of the Petrine ministry in the universal Church. Already those theological talks have produced an agreement that the See of Rome enjoys primacy—although the exact nature of that primacy remains a subject of debate.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• "The Pope Is the First Among the Patriarchs." Just How Remains to Be Seen (L'Espresso)

Geert Wilders: "If Something is True, How Can It Be Illegal?"

Geert Wilders, the great Dutch freedom fighter, legislator, and opponent of the Islamization of Europe, has been put on trial in Amsterdam by leftist, European ideologues for standing bravely and heroically against the Islamization of his country and, indeed, that of all the West.

Wilders has always made clear that he has no objection to Muslims, but rather to a radical Islamist ideology that advocates violence, intimidates all opposition, and seeks to impose Sharia Law on Western nations.

The political show trial to which he is being subjected by suicidal, European socialists is only beginning, but Wilders has given an eloquent and historic opening speech reminding his countrymen that:

"of all our attainments, freedom is the most precious and most vulnerable. It is what people have dedicated their lives to and what people have given their lives for. Our freedom in this country is the fruit of centuries."

Invoking Thomas Jefferson, Wilders speech is a clarion call for the remnants of Christian civilization to wake up before it is too late. The barbarians are inside the walls.

Hat Tip to Gates of Vienna for the following video and their preeminent reporting on this issue.

'Chemical Ali' Executed in Iraq

From BBC News

Ali Hassan al-Majid, a former Iraqi official known as "Chemical Ali", has been executed by hanging, a government spokesman has announced.

Majid, an enforcer in Saddam Hussein's regime and his cousin, had earlier been sentenced to death four times for genocide and crimes against humanity.

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State of the Union Preview: 'It's Not My Fault'

By Gary McCullough

In our office pool to predict the paraphrased expression most often used in President Obama's first State of the Union, I chose the catch phrase of Star Wars' Hans Solo; it's not my fault. I use the term paraphrased because although it is exactly what the President will mean, he will never speak the words.

But I have been told that my pool entry is too broad, thus unfair, akin to predicting American Idol judge Simon Cowell will say, you can't sing. So I am being forced to break down "it's not my fault" into more specific sub-phrases. For those who have yet to finalize your blather-pool on what President Obama will say, here is how we did it:

Number of times said __ -- It's Bush's fault

Number of times said __ -- It's finance executives' fault

Number of times said __ -- It's corporate executives' fault

Number of times said __ -- It's obstructionist Republicans' fault

Number of times said __ -- It's talk radio's fault

Number of times said __ -- America is to blame

I am not going to give you the odds as to which is our pool's leading phrase; that would be cheating. But if you have a sure-winner that we missed, please email it to me marked private. Me cheating? I am just, aaaah, doing research.

I do have a disclaimer since there is a way President Obama will sound like he is accepting blame. It is likely he will say something close to, "I should have communicated our message better." This could be mistaken as President Obama owning-up -- but he and all of us know how inundated we have been with his messages. Such a mea culpa would actually be the President blaming us for either not listening or not understanding his brilliance. Stupid us.

Gary McCullough is Director of Christian Newswire.