Hezbollah using Mexican drug routes into U.S.

The Iran-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah, which makes its base of operations in Lebanon is known to be working with the cartels of Mexico not just in drug trafficking but also in trafficking people, says The Washington Times.

Michael Braun, retired assistant administrator and chief operating officer at the Drug Enforcement Administration said that Hezbollah uses "the same criminal weapons smugglers, document traffickers and transportation experts as the drug cartels."

"They work together," said Mr. Braun. "They rely on the same shadow facilitators. One way or another, they are all connected. They'll leverage those relationships to their benefit, to smuggle contraband and humans into the U.S.; in fact, they already are [smuggling]."

The Washington Times piece goes on to say,

"A U.S. official with knowledge of U.S. law enforcement operations in Latin America said, 'we noted the same trends as Mr. Braun' and that Hezbollah has used Mexican transit routes to smuggle contraband and people into the U.S.

Two U.S. law enforcement officers, familiar with counterterrorism operations in the U.S. and Latin America, said that 'it was no surprise' that Hezbollah members have entered the U.S. border through drug cartel transit routes.

'The Mexican cartels have no loyalty to anyone,' one of the officials told The Washington Times. 'They will willingly or unknowingly aid other nefarious groups into the U.S. through the routes they control. It has already happened. That's why the border is such a serious national security issue.'"

Given the fact that the U.S. government has done very little to secure the southern border and that the war with the cartels has greatly intensified in the last couple of years this is very disturbing news.

UN Human Rights Council approves call to curb religious criticism

The United Nations Human Rights Council yesterday approved a measure to urge countries around the world to protect religion from criticism. The resolution was put forward by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of The Islamic Conference.

The resolution encourages nations to provide "protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from defamation of religions and incitement to religious hatred in general."

The Associated Press story stated, "Muslim nations have argued that religions, in particular Islam, must be shielded from criticism in the media and other areas of public life. They cited cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad as an example of unacceptable free speech."

The resolution also says that Islam, "is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism."

Standing in opposition to the resolution were Canada, all European Union countries, Switzerland, Ukraine and Chile.

The fact that a "Human Rights Council" would actively encourage nations to stifle free speech is simply absurd and antithetical to standing up for human rights.

Global Economic Council to be proposed at G-20

A panel of experts appointed by the United Nations is expected to recommend a "Global Economic Council" at the upcoming April 2 G-20 conference in London. The panel of experts is headed by economics scholar, Joseph Stiglitz, who is a professor at Columbia University and recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics.

The idea of a global economics council was originally proposed by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel earlier this year. Mrs. Merkel said, "All of these issues... need to be enshrined in a charter for the global economic order....This may even lead to a UN Economic Council, just as the Security Council was created after World War II."

According to the Associated Press, Stiglitz' panel is going to propose that the Global Economic Council "should 'help set the agenda for global economic and financial reforms' and work together with all important global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the International Labor Organization, the panel said. Proposals by the panel, which also include creating international bodies for financial regulations and competition policies, will be discussed at a G-20 financial summit to be held in London on April 2."

Granting the United Nations controlling power over a global economy could among other things mean the end of free markets and could easily lead to tyranny.

Is a global currency emerging?

Ahead of the G-20 meeting slated for April 2 in London, some influential world leaders are clamoring for a global currency arguing that it would remedy the world's current economic woes.

Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, has been voicing his belief that the ruble should be used as a regional reserve currency.

President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, pitched the idea of a global currency called the "acmetal" which is a fusion of the words "acme" and "capital." And according to the Moscow Times he also suggested, "that the Eurasian Economic Community, a loose group of five former Soviet republics including Kazakhstan and Russia, adopt a single noncash currency -- the yevraz -- to insulate itself from the global economic crisis."

Reuters reported last week that a United Nations panel plans to announce their recommendation that the dollar should be "ditched" as the world's reserve currency in favor of a "shared basket" of currencies. The shared basket of currencies apparently will function as a conglomeration of currencies much like the old European Currency Unit.

Canadian economist and Nobel prize winning professor Robert Mundel is also pushing for a global currency. Mundel is credited as the intellect behind the creation of the Euro.

In a move that will likely further weaken the dollar, the Federal Reserve last week announced that it will put $1 trillion into the system by buying debt from the U.S. Treasury. The further weakening of the dollar will certainly propel the plans of the global currency proponents.

Needless to say, the G-20 meeting will undoubtedly be filled much discussion not just on whether or not the would should move to a global currency, but on how to actually move the world to a global currency. Perhaps this is part of what British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was referring to a few days ago when he said a global New Deal could happen in months.

Some Guantanamo Detainees May Be Released in U.S.

In a stunning statement, the Obama administration has admitted that it may release Guantanamo detainees into the continental U.S. According to a story in today's Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, made this statement,

"European justice ministers met with Mr. Holder earlier this week and pressed for details on how many Guantanamo prisoners the U.S. planned to release domestically, as part of any agreement for allies to accept detainees. Mr. Holder said U.S. officials would work to respond to the questions European officials have over U.S. Guantanamo plans. For 'people who can be released there are a variety of options that we have and among them is the possibility is that we would release them into this country,' Mr. Holder said. 'That process is ongoing and we've not made any determinations or made any requests of anybody at this point.'"

State of Minnesota offers Islamic mortgages

Since Sharia Law forbids Muslims to obtain interest bearing loans, Minnesota Public Radio reports that the state of Minnesota is now offering mortgages tailored specifically for Muslims.

According to the MPR piece, the arrangement between qualifying Muslims and the state of Minnesota works like this:

"The state buys a home and resells it to the buyer at a higher price. The down payment and monthly installments are agreed to up front at current mortgage rates. The deal is identical to a thirty-year fixed-rate loan, except there's no additional interest, because the higher up front price factors in payments that would have been made over the life of a traditional mortgage. A handful of private banks and lending institutions offer Islamic mortgages in the U.S., but Minnesota Housing is the first state agency to offer such a product."

Evidently, the loans actually do include interest, but it is just not called "interest" and it is loaded on the front end instead of throughout the life of the mortgage. This arrangement raises some significant questions. Not the least of which is that paying an inflated price for a house -"interest free" mortgage or not- does not seem wise for the buyer or the market. Furthermore, one has to wonder how rearranging the interest actually gets the Muslim buyer around the Sharia Law prohibition against paying interest.

British Prime Minister: Global New Deal possible in months

In a March 3 Yahoo! News story, British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, told reporters in the Oval Office,

"Look, there is the possibility in the next few months of a global new deal that will involve all the countries of the world in sorting out and cleaning up the banking system. There is the possibility of all the different countries of the world coming together to agree the expansion in the economy that is necessary to restore confidence and to give people jobs and growth and prosperity for the future. There is the possibility of the international institutions for the first time being reformed in such a way that they can do the job that people want them to do, and deal with some of the problems that exist in the poorest countries of the world."

Perhaps as was discussed on this blog a few weeks ago, a global government is not just plausible, but is now very near!