"Violent Islamic terrorism ... was part and parcel of the Fort Hood killings," Napolitano told the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday morning. "There is violent Islamic terrorism, be it Al Qaeda in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen or anywhere else, [and] that is indeed a major focus of this department and its efforts."

In the months since an Army psychiatrist - who had been in contact with a radical Muslim cleric in Yemen - opened fired inside the Army base, many on Capitol Hill have urged administration officials to publicly identify the attack as terrorism. Those calls have been used by Republicans and others to paint administration officials as weak on terrorism and subsequently unwilling to use the word "terrorism."

During the Senate hearing on Wednesday morning, Senator Joe Lieberman, the Homeland Security Committee's chairman, called the administration's "reluctance" to use terms such as "Islamist extremism" or "Muslim terrorist" a "pet peeve of mine." He said his "concern" about the issue was "aroused again" when an internal Pentagon review of the events leading up to the attack by Army Major Nidal Hasan on November 5, 2009, never used such terms.

Napolitano has often used the word "terrorism," including several times during her Senate confirmation hearing more than a year ago. But she, like others in the Obama Administration, has rarely referred to "Islamic terrorism."

But a string of allegations about coup plots by the military - and this week's arrest and formal indictment of seven senior military officers, including four admirals, a general and two colonels - have brought these tensions to a new level. They raise fundamental questions about whether peaceful cohabitation is possible between the staunchly secular military and a governing party with Islamist roots. And for Turkey's Western allies, they raise troubling questions about where the country could be heading.

If Mr Erdogan presses the issue even harder, this will strengthen the view of his critics that he is out to settle scores and is becoming increasingly authoritarian. But, as they watch their power and credibility eroding, the generals find themselves in a bind. To wage a war of attrition against the AKP, which has already won two convincing election victories, could simply ensure it wins a third.

There is no credible political rival on the horizon. Besides, the current chief of the Turkish general staff, the widely respected General Ilker Basbug, says coups are a thing of the past. Still clinging to its traditional role as guardian of the nation, but aware the tide of history is moving against it, the Turkish military finds itself at an uncomfortable crossroads.

Prince Ahwaleed has been buying his anti Semitic and Muslim way right into American life. Let us review just how generous he is a moment. He purchased a 5.6% stake in News Corp in 2005, second from the top now. He manipulated Islamic study departments into place by giving $20 million each to Georgetown and Harvard Universities. Ahwaleed is a man who gave $500,000 to CAIR, Council on American Islamic Relations, and then there is the mother load of $27 million in 2002 to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. Naturally, he called them 'martyrs.'

He is not a man of mystery in any way. Before he jumped in bed with Murdoch and his son James, he revealed his true heart on Arab News. Just some of the things he said were: "Arabs should focus more on penetrating US public opinion as a means to influencing decision making" rather than boycotting US products... Arab news stated "Arab countries can influence US decision making if they unite through economic interest, not political... We have to be logical and understand that the US administration is subject to US public opinion."

What ever happened to the tough guys on Fox taking on Islamic radicals? No one can truly say just how this Muslim control influences Fox, yet Alwaleed bragged if you recall, saying he had called Fox to make sure their coverage of the Muslim riots in France weren't described as 'Muslim' riots in France. I remember that! Fox never has denied this by the way. By the way, THEY DID TALK ABOUT THOSE RIOTS IN MUTED WAYS BUT YES, THE RIOTS WERE NOTHING BUT MUSLIM RIOTS!

I am all for capitalism and fair commerce, but does it really protect our freedom of speech and the truth in media, especially in a time of war with Muslim radicals, when our most conservative network FOX is largely controlled by a rich Muslim who wants control? Are they completely on drugs or is it us who are on drugs for slowly allowing ourselves to boil in water while the temperature keeps getting higher.

Attorney Mario Apuzzo said his background information in the case confirms that two US Supreme Court decisions reveal the definition for "natural born citizen" is found not in the Constitution but in common law. "We maintain that Obama is not an Article II 'natural born citizen' because he lacks unity of citizenship and allegiance from birth which is obtained when a child is born in the United States to a mother and father who are both United States citizens at the time of birth," he said.

"Obama's father was only a temporary visitor to the United States when Obama was born and never even became a resident let alone a citizen. Not being an Article II 'natural born citizen,' Obama is not eligible to be president and commander in chief," he said. The appeal further challenges that not only might Obama not be a "natural born citizen," he might not even be in the United States legally. "If Obama was not born in the United States, there exists a possibility that Obama could be an illegal alien," it states.

Adding fuel to the fire is Obama's persistent refusal to release documents that could provide answers and the appointment - at a cost confirmed to be at least $1.7 million - of myriad lawyers to defend against all requests for his documentation. While his supporters cite an online version of a "Certification of Live Birth" from Hawaii as his birth verification, critics point out such documents actually were issued for children not born in the state.

WND also has reported that among the documentation not yet available for Obama includes his kindergarten records, Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, passport, medical records, files from his years as an Illinois state senator, his Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records and his adoption records.

The "certification of live birth" posted online and widely touted as "Obama's birth certificate" does not in any way prove he was born in Hawaii, since the same "short-form" document is easily obtainable for children not born in Hawaii. The true "long-form" birth certificate - which includes information such as the name of the birth hospital and attending physician - is the only document that can prove Obama was born in Hawaii, but to date he has not permitted its release for public or press scrutiny.

Oddly, though congressional hearings were held to determine whether Senator John McCain was constitutionally eligible to be president as a "natural born citizen," no controlling legal authority ever sought to verify Obama's claim to a Hawaiian birth.

The FDIC's so-called problem bank list jumped to 702 institutions in the fourth quarter, up from 552 in the third quarter, putting further pressure on the agency's already strained insurance fund, which ran a deficit of $21 billion for 2009. Not since 1993 have so many institutions been on the FDIC's list, although the industry does appear to be on the mend.

"Consistent with a recovering economy, we saw signs of improvement in industry performance," said FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair in a statement. "But as we have said before, recovery in the banking industry tends to lag behind the economy, as the industry works through its problem assets."

Banks swung to a small profit in the most recent quarter, earning $914 million, versus a loss of $37.8 billion in the final quarter of 2008. Most of that improvement was driven by large banks, the FDIC said, although for the first time in three years, more than half of federally insured institutions reported increases in profit compared to a year earlier. "It's not that this was a strong quarter; it's simply that everything was so bad a year ago," Bair said.

New data from First American CoreLogic shows why the solution to the problem banks face is so difficult to find. Eleven million, three hundred thousand homes had underwater mortgages as of the fourth quarter of last year. That number represents 24% of all residential home loans in America.The mortgage numbers are much worse when homes with equity of less than 5% are included.

First American reports that "an additional 2.3 million mortgages were approaching negative equity at the end of last year, meaning they had less than five percent equity." THAT MEANS THAT THREE OUT OF TEN HOMES HAVE VIRTUALLY NO FINANCIAL VALUE TO THEIR OWNERS. The pressure that the home value trouble puts on banks is clear. The aggregate dollar value of negative equity was $801 billion at the end of last year, up $55 billion from $746 billion in Q3 2009.

People who believe there is no hope of their homes ever having any economic value are more likely to default on mortgages, especially in an environment where unemployed and under-employed people make up 17% of the total available workforce nationwide. Many homeowners are as concerned about their employment future as they are about the value of their houses.

The difficulties that face small and mid-sized banks, which ultimately are a problem for the FDIC, are to a large extent still a fallout of the deteriorating real estate sector. The underwater mortgage problem is still growing and that almost certainly means bank closings will be high again this year as well.

But when CAIR is exposed as a terrorist front group, an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator, a haven for more than a dozen men already indicted or convicted of terrorism charges, the media go silent. It's astonishing. What causes this double standard so big a blind sheikh could see it in the dark?

The fact of Saudi influence in the US press.

Saudi Arabia is a totalitarian country where it is illegal to be anything other than a Sunni Muslim. For those who like Sharia law, Saudi Arabia is the model. All the churches and synagogues were destroyed long ago. The once-thriving Jewish communities were slaughtered hundreds of years ago. It's not even legal for non-Muslims to enter the "holy city" of Mecca.

Saudi Arabian money funds most of the mosques in the US today. It's also responsible for spreading the fanatical jihadist ideology throughout the world. And it also writes the checks that keep CAIR afloat. At the same time, Saudis are investing increasingly large amounts in media enterprises the American people depend upon to give them their news.

Do you think you can get "fair and balanced" news about the Middle East, about the Islamo-fascist terrorist threat, about stealthy jihadist operations inside the US from a media thoroughly compromised by Saudi petro-dollars?

The proportion of people, questioned in a survey by Ipsos Mori, who believe climate change is 'definitely' a reality has dropped from 44 per cent to 31 per cent in the last year. The poll of 1,000 people also found a significant drop in those who said climate change was caused by human activities. Last year, one in three people believed it was caused by people. Now just one in five hold this conviction.

Coupled with higher prices for energy and other goods, this decrease will make it harder to persuade the public to support action to curb the problem. Edward Langley, Ipsos Mori's head of environment research, said the results suggest that it will be harder to get individuals to reduce their carbon emissions.

'It's going to have be a hard sell to make people make changes to their behaviour unless there's something else in it for them - such as energy efficiency measures saving money on fuel bills. It's a hard sell to tell people not to fly off for weekends away if you're not wholly convinced by the links. Even people who are convinced still do it.' he told the Guardian.

The poll follows two months of allegations which claimed climate scientists might have manipulated and withheld data. Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, recently called on the public to ignore the 'siren voices' of climate sceptics. He last night said the Ipsos Mori poll illustrated the scale of the task of building public support for action.

But opposition politicians branded his plans a 'terrific muddle' after he insisted faith schools would still be free to teach pupils that contraception and homosexuality were wrong. The row centres on proposals to make sex and relationships education compulsory in primary and secondary schools. Last week, critics accused Mr Balls of performing a 'last minute' U-turn by tabling an amendment to his controversial Bill making clear that faith schools would be able to teach about issues such as contraception, abortion and homosexuality within the tenets of their religion.

But on Monday it emerged that such schools will be required to teach pupils about abortion in a 'non-judgmental way' and tell them about a range of contraception options even though their faith may not condone sex before marriage.

The Children, Schools and Families Bill was going through its final Commons stages last night. Under current laws, secondary schools must teach sex education but the elements they must cover are not laid down. Parents have a legal right to withdraw their children from sex education until the age of 19. Primary schools do not have to offer it at all. Under the changes, sex and relationships education will become mandatory for five to 16-year-olds.

Lessons in the first three years of secondary school will cover sexually-transmitted diseases, contraception, pregnancy, abortion and the importance of stable relationships such as marriage and civil partnerships. Parents will be able to withdraw their children on moral and religious grounds but will lose the right on their 15th birthdays. The Catholic Education Service said it had 'secured' last week's amendment afterwards and was now supportive of the Bill.

Argentina's Foreign Minister is to meet the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon. A resolution is also set to be tabled in the UN General Assembly condemning Britain for allowing Ocean Guardian to begin drilling 60 miles north of the islands after Argentina annouced new shipping controls. Desire Petroleum, which is operating the rig, has said that the drilling will take about a month. Further exploration is likely by other companies.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, insisted that the exploration was fully within international law. But ministers admit privately that the UK has been preparing for a diplomatic confrontation with Argentina for months. Although both sides played down the prospect of renewed military conflict, a government source told The Times that a submarine had been made available to supplement the routine military presence, although it is not yet in waters off the Falklands.

The Ministry of Defence said that HMS York, a frigate, was expected to remain there for the foreseeable future. The Falklands air defences were quietly upgraded late last year with the arrival of four Typhoon jets. The US offered Britain only tepid support. The State Department said that it took no position on the sovereignty claims of either country.

This second storm will be nothing short of a monster. Even in light of the blizzards earlier this winter that targeted the southern mid-Atlantic, this may be the one that people remember the most this winter in parts of New England and the northern mid-Atlantic.

At its peak, the storm will deliver near hurricane-force wind gusts (74 mph) blinding snow falling at the rate of over an inch per hour. For some people in upstate New York and eastern and northern Pennsylvania, this may seem more like a "snow hurricane" rather than a blizzard.

Cities likely to be impacted by heavy snow for all or at least part of the storm include: New York City, Albany, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Scranton, Allentown, Reading, Williamsport and Burlington. The storm will also deliver heavy rain and flooding northeast of the center of circulation. The cities of Boston, Providence and Portland may have their hands full with coastal flooding problems.

The combination of wind, heavy rain and heavy snow will lead to extensive power outages and property damage. Where numerous trees and lines are blown down, the power could be out for a week in some areas. One thing is for sure, most people in the mid-Atlantic and New England will have problems from this storm's strong winds. Keep checking in at AccuWeather.com for updates on snowfall and other impacts on this potentially very dangerous, destructive storm.

The US is likely to tighten monetary policy before cutting government spending, sending "shockwaves" through financial markets, Rogoff said in an interview after the speech. Fiscal policy won't be curbed until soaring bond yields trigger "very painful" tax increases and spending cuts, he said.

Global scrutiny of sovereign debt has risen after budget shortfalls of countries including Greece swelled in the wake of the worst global financial meltdown since the 1930s. The US is facing an unprecedented $1.6 trillion budget deficit in the year ending September 30, the government has forecast.

"Most countries have reached a point where it would be much wiser to phase out fiscal stimulus," said Rogoff, who co-wrote a history of financial crises published in 2009. It would be better "to keep monetary policy soft and start gradually tightening fiscal policy even if it meant some inflation."

Mexico is hosting a regional summit in the beach resort of Cancun. The OAS has been dogged by rifts between some Latin American members and the US over economic policy and trade. It has also been criticised as promoting US interests over those of other members.

The proposed new grouping was one of the main issues on the agenda of the two-day summit, ending on Tuesday. It "must as a priority push for regional integration... and promote the regional agenda in global meetings," Mr Calderon told the summit, which includes leaders and representatives from 32 countries.

Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962 because of its socialist political system. In 2009, the OAS voted to lift Cuba's suspension but the country has declined to rejoin. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez earlier expressed his support for the proposal, citing it as a move away from US "colonising" of the region. A US State Department official said he did not see the new body as replacing the OAS.

In a letter to The Times a group of Church of England clerics say today that religious denominations should be allowed to register civil partnerships on their premises if they wish. It would be up to individual denominations whether to offer civil partnership ceremonies. The Church of England, which along with the wider Anglican Communion is divided over gay ordinations and same-sex blessings, will maintain its official ban. But if the legislative prohibition is lifted, as seems likely, the Church's own ban is likely to be ignored by some clergy.

The Lords amendment is expected to be tabled in the next few days by Lord Alli, the Labour peer, who is openly gay. It is likely to be backed by the Conservatives and, significantly, the Bishop of Leicester, the Right Reverend Timothy Stevens, who convenes the 26 bishops in the House.

The amendment is expected to be strongly opposed by conservative Christians. Andrea Williams, of the Christian Legal Centre, said: "What is being advanced as an issue of religious freedom today will be used to remove religious freedom in the future. Homosexual activists have made clear that this is not the end. It is a step towards forcing churches to conduct same-sex unions that would go against their beliefs. Changing the law will further blur the distinction between marriage and what the Government put forward as a purely secular ceremony."

If she is right, the findings would indicate a strong central government in Jerusalem then because building city walls demanded great resources and organisation. One school of archaeologists, including Miss Mazar, believes that David and Solomon were 10th century rulers. A second school argues they were mythical. But she said her findings provide support to the biblical account that David and Solomon ruled the city then.

Based on the wall's age and location, Miss Mazar said she believes it was built by Solomon. She called her find "the most significant construction we have from First Temple days in Israel. It means that at that time, the 10th century, in Jerusalem there was a regime capable of carrying out such construction," she said.