It is a desperate situation for minority moderates and Coptic Christians in Egypt. I hope the beacon of freedom can provide them a measure of hope.

(Reuters) – Egyptian army tanks deployed outside the presidential palace on Thursday in streets where supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Mursi had clashed into the early hours of the morning in violence that killed five people.

Armored troop carriers also moved into the roads around the palace, in what Egypt’s state news agency said was a measure to secure the palace. The area had become a chaotic battleground between Mursi’s Islamist backers and their opponents.

The soldiers’ badges identified them as members of the Presidential Guard and Republican Guard, whose duties include guarding the presidency. At least five tanks and nine armored personnel carriers were seen near or around the palace. (more…)

SYRIA – Syrian forces have mixed chemical weapons and loaded them into bombs in  preparation for possible use on President Bashar Assad’s own people, Fox News  confirms.

A senior U.S. official told Fox News that bombs were loaded with components  of sarin gas, a deadly nerve gas. Syrian forces have 60 days to use these bombs  until the chemical mixture expires and has to be destroyed.

NBC News,  which first reported this latest escalation in the Syrian civil war, cited  sources saying bombs filled with a sarin component have not yet been loaded onto  planes, but the Syrian military is prepared to use these chemical weapons  against civilians pending orders from Assad.

The United States has said chemical weapons use would be unacceptable and  would trigger greater Western intervention in the conflict. (more…)

I’m thinking something could be learned from them.    Egypt’s President Morsi evacuated from residence after freedom supporters stage mass protest and clash with security at compound.

(VIA BBC)  Police have fired tear gas in clashes with tens of thousands of protesters gathered near the presidential palace in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Some of the protesters reportedly cut through barbed wire around the palace.  Crowds have been gathering to protest against what they say is the rushed drafting of a new constitution and the decision by President Mohammed Morsi to extend his powers.

Mr Morsi was in the palace but left as the crowds grew, sources there said. (more…)

Canada Free Press is running an insider series into the Benghazi Fiasco.   The following article is Part II of an ongoing series.   Part I is HERE.

We’ve heard different accounts and different timelines concerning the attack at Benghazi. What exactly happened?

First, people must understand that the compound that was attacked was situated in a somewhat rural area and was not a consulate, but a rented villa, or a residential structure. The residence was the primary building, and what has been referred to as the annex was located about 1800 feet away as the crow flies, but just over a mile to travel by road. And again, visible security was not present as the compound was the headquarters for a covert operation. No one wanted to draw attention to what was taking place at this location. (more…)

(Via GWP) It’s no secret that Egyptian slavery is as old as the pyramids.  It’s also common knowledge that Barack Obama’s ancestors owned slaves.

So it’s really no surprise that he helped usher in a radical Egpytian regime that is restoring slavery. According to the AP Egypt’s new constitution has dropped its ban on slavery:

Omissions of certain articles, such as bans on slavery or promises to adhere to international rights treaties, were equally worrying to critics of the new draft, who pulled out from the panel before the vote.

The Obama administration declined to criticize Egypt’s constitution despite its slavery clause. (more…)

Bear with us… lotsa dots…. eat slowly…..  First the CNN report – Pay attention to who they are calling the “FSA” (Free Syrian Army). We have painstakingly outlined the FSA is now run (as in taken over by) al-Qaeda operatives (aka “AliSnackBars”):

Today U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice met with key Senators to discuss her manipulative falsehoods spewed on Sunday talk shows about the killing of Four Americans and the U.S. Ambassador to Libya in Benghazi.

In essence Susan Rice said:

 “Neither I nor anyone else in the administration intended to mislead the American people at any stage in this process, and the administration updated Congress and the American people as our assessments evolved,”…

Horsepucky. (more…)

When asked on FNS if she thought President Obama would nominate Susan Rice to be Secretary of State Kirsten Powers says:

“I don’t know. I think if he does though it could be, that kind of arrogance, which I think it would be, would be his undoing. Because if she is put under oath and is forced to go through and answer all of these questions about Benghazi, it’s going to put the administration into a really bad position. And I don’t think she was the frontrunner. I don’t understand where this came out of… It’s now become almost a sense of pride… His defense of her was fine but then it kind of went into an area that didn’t make sense.”

(more…)

Fresh off plane(s) from the Middle East and Asia, and just in time for the holidays, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama return to Washington DC amid the growing ferocity of House and Senate hearings on Benghazi, Libya and the possible cover up.  

Simultaneous to the hot button political issues surrounding Susan Rice and “who changed the Benghazi talking points” to reflect falsehoods and lies…..

….. an unusual fire breaks out, on a long holiday weekend, in the State Department building, in Washington DC, on the Seventh Floor [Office of the Secretary of State], and Eighth Floor [State Reception and only Public Tour venue] ……  You just can’t make this stuff up.

ABC News – Authorities say a fire broke out at the State Department headquarters in Washington, seriously injuring three maintenance workers.

D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Lon Walls said the fire started at around 11 a.m. Saturday in the ductwork on the 7th floor. Workers were able to put out the fire before firefighters arrived, but not before three people had suffered burns. (more…)

(AP) — Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi issued decrees giving himself broad powers and effectively neutering the judiciary. Morsi, an Islamist hailing from the Muslim Brotherhood, defends the step as necessary to clear obstacles holding up Egypt’s transition, particularly from judges who could have disbanded a controversial assembly writing the constitution or overturned his decisions. Critics say Morsi, who already holds both executive and legislative powers, is setting himself up as a new dictator.

Here is a look at the main points of his decrees:

– All laws and decisions by the president are final, cannot be appealed, overturned or halted by the courts or other bodies. This applies to decisions he has made since taking office in June and any he makes until a new constitution is approved and a new parliament is elected, expected in the spring at the earliest. (more…)