The demonstrations in Jordan have very little to do with any Palestinian issue.

It is about austerity. The Prime Minister has resigned over the riots. The riots never received retaliation the way Israel hands it out.

January 15, 2018
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi 

June 4, 2018 - Police clash (click here) with protesters near the prime minister's office in Amman.

Amman (Reuters) - Jordan’s cabinet announced (click here) on Monday a major package of IMF-guided tax hikes it says are crucial to gradually lower record public debt needed to get the economy hit by regional conflict growing again.

The package announced on state media includes removing exemptions on general sales tax and unifying low 4 to 8 percent rates on a large number of items at 10 percent while leaving it at 16 percent ceiling for others, alongside raising special taxes on tobacco, premium gasoline and streamlining customs duties.

Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki said the delay in implementing the much needed reforms to generate at least 540 million dinars ($761 million) in extra revenues would increase the already high financing needs and threatens to hit the country’s finances.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved in 2016 a three-year extended ambitious program of long delayed structural reforms to cut public debt to 77 percent of GDP from a record 96 percent by 2021.

The debt is at least in part due to successive governments adopting an expansionist fiscal policy characterized by job creation in the bloated public sector, and by lavish subsidies for bread and other staple goods....

...Debt service would peak in 2019-2020 at about 6.5 percent of GDP with Eurobonds that will be due.

The government has said it will mitigate the impact on the poor by exempting sales taxes on basic food products and medicines.

But economists reckon subsidy cuts are bound to worsen the plight of poorer Jordanians, a majority of the country’s population, and removing subsidies has triggered civil unrest in the past....

What is the proposed tax?

• The new law - which still must be approved by Parliament - will increase the percentage of citizens who will be taxed from 4.5 to 10 percent.
• It will lower the taxable income for a family from $34,000 to $22,500 and for an individual from $17,000 to $11,200. 
• The law proposes raising tax rates for banks from 35 to 40 percent.
• It will increase government revenue to between $350m and $430m by 2020-2021, according to Mousa al-Tarawneh, spokesman for the income and sales tax department.
• The law will combat tax evasion across all sectors which, according to government figures, amounts to about $800m a year.
• The law will also reclassify tax evasion from a criminal misdemeanour to a felony.
• The government asserts that 90 percent of Jordanian citizens will not pay taxes because of their poverty rate and family exemptions.
• It also maintains the increase is needed for the annual interest of about $1.5bn it pays to service its nearly $40bn debt, according to economic journalist Salameh Derrawi Jordan.
• The government has been borrowing more expensive loans to pay for older loans.
• Because parliament is not in session, King Abdullah II must call Parliament to convene an exceptional session to discuss the law.

When Prime Minster Netanyahu is entertained in Europe regarding the Iran Agreement, the European leaders need to take notice of the treatment of Palestinians in Jordan.

The contrast is startling. Jordan has never turned away Palestinian refugees and now they are receiving their own medical facility and more schools are being built.

UNRWA (click here)

June 5, 2018

Amman — “UNRWA is moving ahead (click here) on the assumption that we are here to stay and we will continue to improve our services regardless of the financial crisis,” UNRWA's director of operations in Jordan, Roger Davies, said on Monday, stressing that “Jordan is now home to a total of 2.3 million Palestinian refugees and we have to keep on providing them with the services they need because it is their right”. 

His remarks came during a media briefing held at the UNRWA’s field office in Amman, where the official outlined the agency’s plans for the rest of the year following the turmoil of the past few months. 

New operations are expected to begin on June 12 at Zarqa refugee camp, where four schools are set to be rehabilitated and upgraded with the funding provided by the Saudi Fund for Development.

A brand new clinic will also be built in Zarqa within the next two years, while the two existing health centres in the area will be merged together in order to provide “faster and better services”.

“The areas of Irbid and Jerash are currently suffering from continuous power cuts, which is especially critical considering that the clinics have fully turned into the electronic health system,” Davies continued, explaining that “in order to fix this situation, UNRWA is planning to install solar panels aimed at generating backup electricity to keep the system running during the power cuts”. 

Regarding UNRWA’s financial situation, Davies noted that the agency has been able to raise $210 million since the beginning of the crisis: a total of $100 million were pledged at the extraordinary ministerial meeting to mobilise support for Palestine refugees co-chaired by Jordan, Egypt and Sweden while a subsequent meeting in Saudi Arabia resulted in a $50 million pledge by the host country and another $50 million from the UAE. A recent $10 million donation was further announced by Turkey....

The relationship with Palestine that Israel practices is based in punitive measures in the name of punishing any violence. Demonstrators at the Gaza border paid with their lives and now Israel is stating there were arson attacks. Well, I guess when Israel leverages power rather than diplomacy there might be other measures by those desperate enough to carry them out. IF there were arson attacks it was not sponsored by the Palestinian government. This is the way Israel leverages power. The Palestinian government does not carry out attacks. 

June 4, 2018

The Palestinian government on Monday (click here) has warned Israel against plans to deduct funds from the Palestinian tax revenues to compensate Israelis living near the Gaza Strip for a wave of arson attacks.


Israel, which collects the Palestinian tax revenues on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, announced plans to compensate Israeli farmers in the Gaza area peripheries whose fields were burnt by Palestinian action.


The Palestine News Agency (WAFA) quoted Palestinian government spokesman Yousef Al-Mahmoud describing the Israeli plans as “an act of robbery and banditry.”

“The Israeli government is plotting to steal the revenues of the Palestinian people,” he said in a statement. “This is an act of aggression committed by thieves called Israeli officials.”

Palestinian protesters in Gaza have been flying flammable kites to set Israeli fields ablaze after Israeli troops responded with deadly force to weekly Friday protests on the border....

June 4, 2018

Esraa Albuti, an executive director at Ernst & Young, shows her driving license issued by the General Department of Traffic in Riyadh on Monday

Jeddah: History (click here) is in the making in Saudi Arabia as the General Directorate of Traffic issued first driver’s licenses to 10 women on Monday.

The Kingdom is all set to allow women driving in three weeks. An official statement said the 10 women who were issued licenses already held international licenses. They took a brief driving test and eye exam before being issued the licenses at the General Directorate of Traffic in Riyadh.

Following the issuance of licenses, a video showing a woman receiving here Saudi driving license went viral online. The social media was also abuzz with the news and excited Saudis took to Twitter to express their feelings on this historic day.

“Thousands of congratulations to the daughters of the homeland, being issued the first license in Saudi Arabia,” a tweet by @saudalzmanan read....

John Roberts leads one of the worst Supreme Courts ever to exist.

This is going to divide the country further and there will be a Gay and Straight bakery on every corner.

Amazing.

The really interesting aspect to this is that Straight Bakeries will be watched as to whom enters and leaves and the Gay Bakeries will be monitored as well. The thing is this, I find Gay couples just as loving as any other and I would purchase form the Gay Bakery out of principle alone. I am looking forward to the mess the Robert's Court has made today and the ridicule that will follow.

This is the most immoral decision and it will go down in history as same. There will be a profound divide in the country and it will carry over to all sorts of commercial ventures. This decision is pathetic.


June 4, 2018
By Pete Williams

Married couple David Mullins (L) and Charlie Craig pose for a photo in Denver on Nov. 28, 2017.

The U.S. Supreme Court (click here) gave a boost to advocates of religious freedom on Monday, ruling that a Colorado baker cannot be forced to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, in a case that involved marriage equality and protection from discrimination.

But the opinion was a narrow one, applying to the specific facts of this case only. It gave no hint as to how the court might decide future cases involving florists, bakers, photographers and other business owners who have cited religious and free-speech objections when refusing to serve gay and lesbian customers in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2015 same-sex marriage decision....

The Justices that created a divisive method among the people completely ignored the state law. That is more than disturbing. Ignoring the LAW Roberts is destroying "The Rule of Law." This is going to carry over into other decisions regarding state's anti-discrimination laws. This is going to have fallout the Justices are too myopic to see.

...Ginsburg, joined by Sotomayor, said that the actions of a few commission members did not obscure that Phillips had violated the Colorado Anti-discrimination Act....

(1) As used in this part 6, (click here) “place of public accommodation” means any place of business engaged in any sales to the public and any place offering services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to the public, including but not limited to any business offering wholesale or retail sales to the public;  any place to eat, drink, sleep, or rest, or any combination thereof;  any sporting or recreational area and facility;  any public transportation facility;  a barber shop, bathhouse, swimming pool, bath, steam or massage parlor, gymnasium, or other establishment conducted to serve the health, appearance, or physical condition of a person;  a campsite or trailer camp;  a dispensary, clinic, hospital, convalescent home, or other institution for the sick, ailing, aged, or infirm;  a mortuary, undertaking parlor, or cemetery;  an educational institution;  or any public building, park, arena, theater, hall, auditorium, museum, library, exhibit, or public facility of any kind whether indoor or outdoor.  “Place of public accommodation” shall not include a church, synagogue, mosque, or other place that is principally used for religious purposes.

I don't care who it is, a bakery is not a place of worship or a place of religious practice. Kosher sells to the entire public and if anyone doubts that go into the local grocery and ask for Kosher anything and they will show the items and their shelves. The public can purchase Kosher products and do.

This is outrageous and pandering to right wing Caucasian extremists. The Roberts Court is hacking away at civil rights again.

The Colorado statue for against discrimination sets up the states agency of Civil Rights. This ruling is hideous and an offense to the democracy of the USA.

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke, so it is evening papers."

I have a story for you. There once was a man in New Zealand that painted penises wherever pot holes on the road existed. 

He did it so well, it got the attention of local authorities and they fixed the potholes without question. Well, the rest of the country empathized with him about potholes and wanted their potholes fixed. But, they were so embarrassed by the public display of disdain as Penis Art, they asked him to run for President.

The populous movement grew wildly and the people felt good to have 'one of their own' running as President. He was ultimately voted the "Populous Party" candidate and later won the general election.

When he got into office the first thing he did was sign an executive order mandating all potholes to be repaired as they happened and it was to stand for generations or until there were no more potholes due to modern technology. 

The people loved "Mr. Penis" and the people rejoiced. Then came the news there was a party of immigrants coming to their shore to seek a better life. "Mr. Penis" didn't know what to do so he turned to those that elected him and they were afraid of the immigrants. When the boats full of women and children, elderly and some men showed up on the shoreline, they were immediately escorted to Australia where they could live happily ever after in the Outback. 

As time wore on and "Mr. Penis" didn't know what to do time and time again, the people stated they loved the country's roads, but, not him and he was banished from the land forever in fear he would retaliate and paint penises all over the countryside. He was exiled to Australia where he now lives with the immigrants he once turned away.

"Good Night, Moon"

The waning gibbous

19.8 day old moon

74.2 percent lit

Okay, are there or are there not sterile neutrinos in the universe? What do you mean, MAYBE or SOMETIMES.

June 1, 2018

Scientists (click here) have produced the firmest evidence yet of so-called sterile neutrinos, mysterious particles that pass through matter without interacting with it at all.

The first hints these elusive particles turned up decades ago. But after years of dedicated searches, scientists have been unable to find any other evidence for them, with many experiments contradicting those old results. These new results now leave scientists with two robust experiments that seem to demonstrate the existence of sterile neutrinos, even as other experiments continue to suggest sterile neutrinos don't exist at all.

That means there's something strange happening in the universe that is making humanity's most cutting-edge physics experiments contradict one another....