News for today's 2018

ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI ALLIANCE AND IRAN Part 3

2:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtdj3WNr2UpacCVOCq3Cogu27gLyDNFKGG2htW0soeUPFxwUKjOLWRVI2wx67y3BH4TY2rBtFe6poZn6k_QmECEC89rOzXpGCo4NslRfNBIBY7Fm_M5U5deHwA-4wN2aTjIYcWRo-Enlf4/s1600/129536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtdj3WNr2UpacCVOCq3Cogu27gLyDNFKGG2htW0soeUPFxwUKjOLWRVI2wx67y3BH4TY2rBtFe6poZn6k_QmECEC89rOzXpGCo4NslRfNBIBY7Fm_M5U5deHwA-4wN2aTjIYcWRo-Enlf4/s320/129536.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">IRAN AND ISRAEL: REAL ARCH FOES OR JUST A FACADE? </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By <a href="http://www.gloria-center.org/author/mahir-khalifa-zadeh/" title="Posts by Mahir Khalifa-zadeh"><span style="color: windowtext;">Mahir Khalifa-zadeh</span></a></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A key element in the AZERBAIJAN-ISRAEL relationship has been their mutual concern over the Islamic Republic of IRAN. IRAN presents the most serious threat to ISRAEL. As result, Jerusalem has launched a strategy of active diplomacy in the region surrounding IRAN. At a May 2009 conference at the Center for IRANIAN Studies at Tel Aviv University, the former head of the ISRAELI Military Intelligence Directorate Major General Aharon Ze’evi Farkash said, “It is very important to form a coalition with the moderate Sunnite countries which… [fear the] IRANIAN nuclear threat.” In addition, according to ISRAELI analyst Uzi Rabbi, “ISRAEL must conduct active diplomacy in the regions surrounding IRAN,” and “to resist IRANIAN aggression several coalition alliances should be formed.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_edn42" title="">[42]</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Comment by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring: </span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As mentioned numerous times on this blog, mainstream media and to some extend even alternative media report that IRAN presents the most serious threat to ISRAEL, and that IRAN’S nuclear threat should be a concern for the entire world is mainly a convenient bargaining tool for both, ISRAEL and IRAN. In most likelihood the behind the scene scenario looks rather different. Like with AZERBAIJAN, ISRAEL may conduct secrete wheeling and dealings with the PERSIAN state, a scenario not at all impossible, since ISRAEL’S new political doctrine fosters geopolitical as well as economic alliances with non Arab Muslim stated. After all the two countries, in the not too distant past, had not always been arch enemies. See: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ARE IRAN AND ISRAEL REALLY ARCHENEMIES, OR IS IT JUST A FACADE? </span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/iran-and-israel-real-archenemies.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/iran-and-israel-real-archenemies.html</a>and</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">IRAN SOFTENS TUNE ON ISRAEL</span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/iran-and-israel-improvement-in.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/iran-and-israel-improvement-in.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISRAEL’S ARMENIAN, IRANIAN AND AZERBAIJAN EQUATION </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thus, AZERBAIJAN, with its strategic location along IRAN’S northern border, plays an important part of ISRAEL’S foreign policy agenda vis-à-vis the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). ISRAELI policymakers are aware of AZERBAIJAN’S insecurity and mistrust towards IRAN because of Tehran’s aid to ARMENIA, which occupies territory internationally recognized as part of AZERBAIJAN.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In view of these facts, ISRAEL has repeatedly declared that Jerusalem supported AZERBAIJANI territorial integrity. The former ISRAELI ambassador to TURKEY and the ex-deputy foreign minister, Pinkhaz Avivi, said, “Our position is the following: We recognize the principle of AZERBAIJAN’S territorial integrity. We don’t try to hide the fact that our relations with AZERBAIJAN are more intense and rewarding than our relations with ARMENIA and that relations with AZERBAIJAN are strategically important for us.” He also added in an interview, “We have common goals. We understand AZERBAIJAN’S concern with its IRANIAN neighbor better than anyone, and that’s a good ground for rapprochement. Our dialogue with ARMENIA, on other hand, has always been interconnected with our relations with TURKEY.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_edn43" title="">[43]</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TURKEY IS ESSENTIAL FOR ISRAEL’S FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJCngVWblHG953iGENfg6hGiAAcu5BfcjDAxkmXGHfH7F-mqA-nw6K9z5yNs7Ne3Rmq23KXTys8Vt4rdBu0YmBSsZZRP7QngvsW0vtj0DkZXcRZwfCkuF_OrL0Mllmr5eKn6RWTeuY_Rq/s1600/israel-turkey-relations-july-2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJCngVWblHG953iGENfg6hGiAAcu5BfcjDAxkmXGHfH7F-mqA-nw6K9z5yNs7Ne3Rmq23KXTys8Vt4rdBu0YmBSsZZRP7QngvsW0vtj0DkZXcRZwfCkuF_OrL0Mllmr5eKn6RWTeuY_Rq/s200/israel-turkey-relations-july-2010.jpg" width="200" /></a></b></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Undoubtedly, TURKISH cooperation is essential for ISRAEL’S foreign and security policy. ISRAEL considers the TURKISH-AZERBAIJANI alliance as a favorable factor for deepening and enhancing security and defense cooperation with AZERBAIJAN despite the cooling of ISRAEL’S relations with Ankara. ISRAEL, for its part, considers the expansion of political and defense cooperation with AZERBAIJAN an influential factor for improving its relations with TURKEY. The ISRAELI military industry is now a major provider of advanced aviation, anti-tank artillery, and anti-infantry weapon systems to AZERBAIJAN. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISRAELI DRONES FOR AZERBAIJAN </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Furthermore, ISRAELI Aeronautics Defense Systems have helped AZERBAIJAN assemble unmanned aircrafts.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_edn44" title="">[44]</a> In February 2012, ISRAELI defense officials reportedly confirmed a deal to sell unmanned military aircrafts as well as antiaircraft and missile defense systems to AZERBAIJAN for approximate $1.6 billion.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_edn45" title="">[45]</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information</span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">$1.6 BILLION ARMS AGREEMENT THAT PROVIDES AZERBAIJAN WITH SOPHISTICATED DRONES AND MISSILE-DEFENSE SYSTEMS</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/israel-azerbaijan-and-iran.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/israel-azerbaijan-and-iran.html</a>and </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/israel-azerbaijan-and-kazakhstan_6.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/israel-azerbaijan-and-kazakhstan_6.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">WAHHABI ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING IN AZERBAIJAN?</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISRAEL and AZERBAIJAN maintain intense cooperate on security issues as well. In October 2001, President Heydar Aliyev met with ISRAEL’S ambassador, Eitan Naeh, and confirmed that “their positions in the fight against international terrorism… were identical.” According to ISRAELI experts, groups like Hizb al-Tahrir pose a threat both to Jerusalem and to Baku. ISRAELI analysts also argue that some Wahhabi organizations may be operating in AZERBAIJAN. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ORIGIN OF WAHHABISM</b> at:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/08/saudi-arabia-origin-of-wahhabism.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/08/saudi-arabia-origin-of-wahhabism.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ALLEGEDLY, IDF ELECTRONIC LISTENING STATIONS HAVE BEEN SET UP ALONG THE CASPIAN SEA AND IRANIAN BORDER</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Security cooperation between the two countries has entailed intelligence exchanges, data analysis (including satellite information), briefings, and other activities. ISRAEL also trains AZERBAIJANI security and intelligence services and provides security for the AZERI president on foreign visits. Some sources also report that ISRAEL has set up electronic listening stations along the Caspian Sea and IRANIAN border.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_edn47" title="">[47]</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISRAEL’S next priority is to counter the IRANIAN intelligence network in AZERBAIJAN and in other Muslim countries of the CIS. IRAN has attempted to expand its political influence to its immediate neighbors as well as to intensify intelligence operations, particularly in AZERBAIJAN. According to AZERBAIJANI media reports, the national security services have arrested 22 people who were sent by IRAN to carry out terrorist attacks against the U.S. and ISRAELI embassies, as well as against Western-linked groups and companies in Baku. In February 2012, the AZERBAIJANI Ministry of National Security announced the arrest of a terrorist group allegedly working for IRAN’S secret services. In January 2012, AZERBAIJAN’S secret service arrested two people accused of plotting to kill two teachers at a Jewish school in Baku. In 2007, AZERBAIJAN arrested 15 people in connection with an alleged IRANIAN-linked spy network accused of providing intelligence on Western and ISRAELI activities.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_edn48" title="">[48]</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">AZERI-ISRAELI security cooperation is vital and beneficial for both Baku and Jerusalem. The failure of the AZERBAIJANI-ISRAELI alliance to work together to counter IRAN would be irresponsible and would have unpredictable consequences for Baku and Jerusalem. Tehran’s attempts to expand its Shi’i and IRANIAN ideology could have a negative impact on AZERBAIJAN’S potential to be an independent and strong AMERICAN ally in the region. It is clear that the fall of secular AZERBAIJAN would badly damage ISRAEL’S security and AMERICA’S strategic interests. Moreover, this would strengthen IRAN and create a totally new balance of power in the GREATER MIDDLE EAST, particularly in the SOUTH CAUCASUS and CASPIAN basin, as well as in CENTRAL ASIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ENERGY FACTOR, ISRAEL AND AZERBAIJAN</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last, AZERBAIJANI energy is a critical factor in ISRAEL’S strategic calculations. In 2011, AZERBAIJAN exported as much as to 2.5 million tons (about 18.5 million barrels) of oil with total worth of $2.1 billon to ISRAEL. Last year trade turnover between ISRAEL and AZERBAIJAN reached $4 billion, making AZERBAIJAN ISRAEL’S top trade partner within CIS countries.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_edn49" title="">[49]</a> According to Ariel Cohen, ISRAEL “… can benefit from projects designed to bring CASPIAN and CENTRAL ASIAN oil and gas to WESTERN markets as they allow ISRAEL to diversify supply and receive abundant energy at affordable price.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_edn50" title="">[50]</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDzvfNGaSrW9MQ8Vmg4TEmK3AYE5VF5GPjMw8qGWytF5zHbiq8eHeu6FFHXs7YXjBTfMzyRE0IEquCHVboq2NE9c7xmjwSSfyQY-Whi0_nSxLcvptsbnd4q_6gvHa9J1xCCDwG9De0tk0/s1600/800px-Baku_pipelines.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDzvfNGaSrW9MQ8Vmg4TEmK3AYE5VF5GPjMw8qGWytF5zHbiq8eHeu6FFHXs7YXjBTfMzyRE0IEquCHVboq2NE9c7xmjwSSfyQY-Whi0_nSxLcvptsbnd4q_6gvHa9J1xCCDwG9De0tk0/s1600/800px-Baku_pipelines.svg.png" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI energy cooperation has clearly become an extremely important factor for ISRAEL’S energy security. This cooperation allows for the diversification of supplies of oil and gas and for exploration of ISRAEL’S energy resources. Baku provides Jerusalem with over one-third of ISRAEL’S oil supply.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_edn51" title="">[51]</a> As a result of former ISRAELI Foreign Minister Lieberman’s April 2012 visit to Baku, SOCAR will start drilling in Med Ashdod, ISRAEL’S oil field, located 16 kilometers off the MEDITERRANEAN coast.  The ISRAELI Ambassador to Baku, Michael Lotem said, “The drilling will begin soon. The work is at a very advanced stage and delivery of a drilling rig to the field is now expected.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_edn52" title="">[52]</a> The project is SOCAR’s first oil-production or drilling operation outside of AZERBAIJAN. The contract allows SOCAR to gain international experience and expand its operations in TURKEY, GEORGIA, ISRAEL, and other countries.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is well-known that the UNITED STATES has declared the CASPIAN basin as vital to its national interests. In this context, the ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI partnership is an effective tool to strengthen and support AMERICA’S strategic presence in this very sensitive part of the world. Furthermore, the ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI alliance to counter IRAN has strategic importance for U.S. interests, particularly in the GREATER MIDDLE EAST and CENTRAL ASIA. Unlike ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN and GEORGIA are AMERICA’S allies in the SOUTH CAUCASUS and the CASPIAN basin. The strengthening of AZERBAIJAN’S secular and pro-Western independence should be a strategic priority for U.S. diplomacy in the region.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, the Obama administration’s lack of focus on SOUTH CAUCASUS affairs jeopardizes AMERICA’S strategic interests in the region. Unlike the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, the Obama administration has not been active in managing IRANIAN and RUSSIAN influence in this part of the world. As result of the RUSSO-GEORGIAN war of 2008, the Tehran-Moscow axis effectively decreased AMERICA’S influence in the GREATER CASPIAN BASIN. Now, the axis continues to limit or minimize U.S. political activity and increases pressure on Washington’s allies.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Indeed, AZERBAIJAN is under double pressure from IRAN and RUSSIA and needs strong U.S. support to secure its national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. AZERBAIJAN’S pro-WESTERN independence ensures a U.S. strategic presence in the CASPIAN basin and facilitates its power projection deep into ASIA. In this context, AZERBAIJAN is of the utmost geostrategic importance for the UNITED STATES. The loss of a secular and independent AZERBAIJAN, as previously discussed, would badly damage both U.S. and EU strategic interests.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">GEO STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since the fall of the SOVIET UNION, the historically close and warm relations between Jews and Azeris became a solid base for mutual cooperation between the State of Israel and the Republic of AZERBAIJAN. Both countries are strategically located but in hostile environments. This has strengthened their rapprochement and led to expanded cooperation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Despite strong opposition from Tehran and Moscow, AZERBAIJAN has established a close partnership with ISRAEL. Today, Baku and Jerusalem are partners on a wide range of issues. The insecurity and regional threats have pushed both AZERBAIJAN and ISRAEL to create a strategic alliance that enhances security and defense capabilities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, the future of the ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI relationship depends on the political nature of the ruling power in AZERBAIJAN. IRAN continues its attempts to spread its Islamic Revolution ideology into AZERBAIJAN through Shi’i propaganda, while expanding its intelligence network in Baku and other major AZERBAIJANI cities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The strengthening of pro-Islamist or Shi’i political forces would have a catastrophic impact on AZERBAIJAN’S political future as a secular state and a strong ISRAELI and AMERICAN ally. In this light, the strengthening of ties in all areas is crucial in order to combat IRANIAN influence. It is also of fundamental importance that the AZERI-JEWISH/ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI alliance is cultivated as a long-term and mutually advantageous relationship.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SIGNIFICANCE OF RICHARD MORNINGSTAR’S NOMINATION AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With its pro-WESTERN foreign policy, AZERBAIJAN is strategically important for U.S. and ISRAELI interests in the GREATER MIDDLE EAST and in the post-Soviet space. Ensuring AZERBAIJAN’S future as a secular, independent state should be a key priority for ISRAEL and the UNITED STATES. It is likely that the new U.S. administration will intensify efforts to support AZERBAIJAN’S independence and territorial integrity in order to position it under NATO’s security umbrella and to protect the strategic WESTERN oil infrastructure in the CASPIAN basin. Richard Morningstar’s 2012 nomination as U.S. Ambassador to AZERBAIJAN was a strategic move aimed to revive and push forward U.S. diplomacy in the SOUTH CAUCASUS and CASPIAN basin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information on RICHARD MORNINGSTAR:</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read below extracts from</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">COMPLEXITY-OF-EASTERN-MED-ENERGY-GAMES</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">US SPECIAL ENVOY FOR EURASIAN ENERGY, AMBASSADOR RICHARD MORNINGSTAR AND THE USA’S GEOPOLITICAL AGENDA</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOKHJ6xSjc0Y9Tfpdy-QuhM8jeF7OjraLfdzxJlF9nGdb85LHbRJvQHP-YsP8bSTyZ2lvjj_gfyYzVQer9zAmE1yBMV6hmzC8t8r3lfZYl8X54x1JdEHi-IdLYXIzns6lZ77cB2MlNY_j/s1600/Turkey_to_israel_pipes.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOKHJ6xSjc0Y9Tfpdy-QuhM8jeF7OjraLfdzxJlF9nGdb85LHbRJvQHP-YsP8bSTyZ2lvjj_gfyYzVQer9zAmE1yBMV6hmzC8t8r3lfZYl8X54x1JdEHi-IdLYXIzns6lZ77cB2MlNY_j/s320/Turkey_to_israel_pipes.gif" width="320" /></a></i></b></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In July 2011 Washington joined the GREEK energy game. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to Athens with energy on her mind. That was clear by the fact she brought along Special Envoy for EURASIAN Energy, Richard Morningstar. Morningstar was husband Bill Clinton’s Special Advisor to the President on CASPIAN Basin Energy Diplomacy. Morningstar, along with his controversial aide, Matthew Bryza, have been the key Washington architects of Washington’s geopolitically-motivated oil and gas pipeline projects that would isolate RUSSIA and its Gazprom gas resources from the EU. Bryza is an open opponent of RUSSIAN Gazprom’s South Stream gas pipeline that would transit the EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN states. The USA seems to have its own agenda regarding GREEKS recent oil and gas discoveries, for three days after Hillary left Athens the GREEK government proposed creation of a new government agency to run tenders for oil and gas surveys and ultimate drilling bids.<br /><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">US SPECIAL ENVOY FOR EURASIAN ENERGY, AMBASSADOR RICHARD MORNINGSTAR  - </span></b></span></i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THE US SPECIALIST IN “ECONOMIC WARFARE”</span></i></b>:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He was instrumental in backing the controversial B-T-C oil pipeline from Baku through Tbilisi in GEORGIA across to the TURKISH Mediterranean port of CEYHAN, a costly enterprise designed solely to bypass RUSSIAN oil pipeline transit. </span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Entire article can be read at:</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/complexity-of-eastern-med-energy-games.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/complexity-of-eastern-med-energy-games.html</a></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With regard to any military option to stop IRAN’S nuclear program, AZERBAIJAN continues to attempt to remain neutral. On a May 29, 2012, visit to Tehran, the AZERBAIJANI minister of defense said, “The Republic of AZERBAIJAN, like always in the past, will never permit any country to take advantage of its land, or air, against the Islamic Republic of IRAN, which we consider our brother and friend country.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Indeed, Baku would like to avoid any possible military clashes with IRAN and maintain its neutrality. However, AZERBAIJAN’S actions and pragmatic foreign policy indicate that Baku’s position is more pro-Western than pro-IRANIAN. Baku will thus continue to cooperate with ISRAEL in order to protect and advance AZERBAIJANI national interests.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Mahir Khalifa-zadeh,</b> Ph.D. is a political analyst based in Toronto, Canada. He is affiliated with the Montreal-based Center for Research on Globalization and is a member of the Canadian Political Science Association. He is also Professor of Political Science at the International Eco-Energy Academy (Baku, Azerbaijan) and a regular contributor to international journals on global politics and security. His latest article is “Iran and the South Caucasus: A Struggle for Influence” (Sweden, 2011).</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: yellow; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-highlight: yellow;"><br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Notes:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_ednref42" title="">[42]</a> Artak Grigoryan, “Priority Directions in the Foreign Policy of Israel: South Caucasus and Central Asia,” <i>Noravank Foundation</i>, September 22, 2009, <u><a href="http://www.noravank.am/eng/articles/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=3623">http://www.noravank.am/eng/articles/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=3623</a>.</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_ednref43" title="">[43]</a> “Pinkhaz Avivi: We Embrace the Potential of Economic Ties with the South Caucasus,” November 7, 2011, <i>Vestnik Kavkaza</i>, <u><a href="http://vestnikkavkaza.net/interviews/politics/19641.html">http://vestnikkavkaza.net/interviews/politics/19641.html</a>.</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_ednref44" title="">[44]</a> “Azeris Get Israel UAVs Built Under License,” UPI, October 7, 2011, <u><a href="http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Azeris_get_Israel_UAVs_built_under_license_999.html">http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Azeris_get_Israel_UAVs_built_under_license_999.html</a>.</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_ednref45" title="">[45]</a> “Israel Signs $1.6 Billion Arms Deal with Azerbaijan,” <i>Haaretz.com</i>, February 26, 2012, <u><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-signs-1-6-billion-arms-deal-with-azerbaijan-1.414916">http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-signs-1-6-billion-arms-deal-with-azerbaijan-1.414916</a>.</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_ednref47" title="">[47]</a> Shamkhal Abilov, “The Azerbaijan-Israel Relations: A Non-diplomatic but Strategic Partnership,” <i>OAKA</i>, Vol. 4, No. 8 (2009), <u><a href="http://www.usak.org.tr/dosyalar/dergi/gm3veLfV7Q5rP83jaIV34UObvarinb.pdf">http://www.usak.org.tr/dosyalar/dergi/gm3veLfV7Q5rP83jaIV34UObvarinb.pdf</a>, </u>pp. 138-56.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_ednref48" title="">[48]</a> “Azerbaijan Arrests Alleged Iran-hired Terrorists,” Fox News, March 14, 2012, <u><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/03/14/22-arrested-in-azerbaijan-in-plot-on-us-israeli-embassies/">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/03/14/22-arrested-in-azerbaijan-in-plot-on-us-israeli-embassies/</a>.</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_ednref49" title="">[49]</a> “Lieberman: The Trade Turnover Between Azerbaijan and Israel Reaches $4 Billion,” <i>Contact.az</i>, April 23, 2012, <u><a href="http://www.contact.az/docs/2012/Politics/04234650en.htm">http://www.contact.az/docs/2012/Politics/04234650en.htm</a>.</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_ednref50" title="">[50]</a> Cohen and DeCorla-Souza, “Eurasian Energy and Israel’s Choices.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_ednref51" title="">[51]</a> Jen Alic, “Azerbaijan’s International Energy Aspirations Raise Tensions in Middle East,” <i>Oilprice.com</i>, May 15, 2012, <u><a href="http://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/Azerbaijans-International-Energy-Aspirations-Raise-Tensions-in-Middle-East.html">http://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/Azerbaijans-International-Energy-Aspirations-Raise-Tensions-in-Middle-East.html</a>.</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Yeru/Documents/Yeru%20GLORIA/MERIA/v17n1/Khalifa-revised-YA-au3.doc#_ednref52" title="">[52]</a> Shahin Abbasov</span></div>

ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI ALLIANCE AND IRAN Part 3

IRAN AND ISRAEL: REAL ARCH FOES OR JUST A FACADE? By Mahir Khalifa-zadeh A key element in the AZERBAIJAN-ISRAEL relationship has been the...

It doesn't make any sense

12:49 PM Tukiyooo 0

That's what he said.  Nothing, nothing at all that I've been trying to talk about makes any sense.  Nothing.  How long has this been?  9 months, maybe more?  None of my blabbering makes sense.  That's why there's never any response to me.  I just don't ever make sense.  He knows about the blog but hasn't asked for the link.  Now I know it's because it won't make sense.<br /><br />I totally understand DD not making any sense... I get that and despite my wishes I truly wasn't expecting that to go anywhere soon or ever.  It's the nothing else that has me perplexed.  You know, things like talking or making time to spend together, none of it made sense so no real need to go there.  Fantasies that don't make sense, so shouldn't be explored.  Even when they were lightly humored, my eager reactions didn't make sense so sweep it back under the rug.  My feelings don't make sense, so shouldn't be validated.  His exact words were, "I don't do crazy."  Half of me hopes his words were just poorly chosen, though I know he meant what he said.  Completely crushed and all I could say was, "I know."  I still don't even know where to begin moving from here. <br /><br />Oh well, good try.  Sometimes it's better for fantasies to stay in fantasy land, sometimes it's better to continue seeking coping skills in pill bottles and therapy, sometimes it better to appreciate close friendships more deeply and let marriage simmer on the back burner where it belongs.  If I had to do it again, I would do it differently.  But I love my family, don't get me wrong. <br /><br />There's only been a few things I've been wanting, but they're each  really big things.  Making time to talk about things other than kids/work, even just a few  times a month - maybe date nights once in a while.  Stop being so nice in bed and dominate me at least sometimes.  Spank me - both erotic and emotional release - and not just one swat to leave a handprint.  The big big one, lead me either through  DD or just by generally being a leader for our family.   <br /><br />Maybe in time I'll get brave and try again.  Maybe next time, I'll just focus on one tiny thing rather than trying to improve things in general.  I didn't pummel him with everything at once so it shouldn't have been overwhelming though!  Maybe I'll find a way to break down one of the things into a way that perhaps might make sense.  In the meantime, I'll continue to submit where I can even though there's rarely something to submit to.  I feel good when I'm able/allowed to so I can do that for myself.<br /><br />I'm not special, we're not special, everybody else we know is basically  like this.  We don't have to just because some people have close strong marriages or  really kinky times together or more traditional roles in the household.  Face it, none of that is typical.  It's very appealing to me,  but nobody else does has these things and they're fine too.  My brain is wired weird, can't help it.  Reading  about happy people and strong marriages has jaded me and left me longing  for things that really aren't normal or typical.  I married normal and  typical.  And that's what we are.<br /><br />Disappointment is certainly the understatement of the century. But I've  got my big girl panties on and life goes on.  I have a family, we love  each other very much, and my struggles pale in comparison to what other  people struggle with every day and right this very second.   <br /><br />In other completely silly news, my 6 year old announced that she wants to be called Chickadee from now on.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj42WtiDm2FgJACsPi3aFOepgj_8bRHjJ1KE1KbkrpydWMPmYMqxPM86ga6c2ldLjfS6jkbnNC9XGYgi30YsKJLEbxZB6NnzMh7KAJ-gtKwqiGC4hKTVA7XihKw9sEVHx58h-L21nrQNFM/s1600/chickadee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj42WtiDm2FgJACsPi3aFOepgj_8bRHjJ1KE1KbkrpydWMPmYMqxPM86ga6c2ldLjfS6jkbnNC9XGYgi30YsKJLEbxZB6NnzMh7KAJ-gtKwqiGC4hKTVA7XihKw9sEVHx58h-L21nrQNFM/s1600/chickadee.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />Why?  Because they're just adorably cute little birds that hop around and they're just so cute and can't we have one please please please?

It doesn't make any sense

That's what he said. Nothing, nothing at all that I've been trying to talk about makes any sense. Nothing. How long has this been...

Motivation for Workout

10:49 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Motivation for Workout, is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. <span style="color: #6aa84f;">It is the biggest factor in fitness success.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I am addicted to motivation for workout. I have them on my laptop and on my phone. <span style="color: #6aa84f;">it is maintains goal-oriented behaviors</span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I get energy from words. I glimpse at them, read them, repeat them and they channel my thoughts in a positive way. Motivation for Workout, It’s a great way to keep you motivated with your fitness program.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="color: red;">Don't have time.. Too tired.. It's too cold..</span> Whatever your excuse, These some of Motivation, <span style="color: #6aa84f;">are the panacea to skipping your workout</span>. These some of Motivation for Workout; will help you succeed.. Will get you moving :</span><br /><br /><h1>Motivation for Workout : </h1></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Motivation for Workout" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHLs75oAMDYC5SNTGBTROs5CnQKsgNzFF3L_dsXuBdqr4S4ANWjogDz_Uro4Ll1Gz8pj0YthQI9JYamNxOXmRQQmoMOxSDKKSXk91F8yaQC_jWa_W-kcRPmxYsWInzCSEhsjQPrwozas/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_1.jpg" title="Motivation for Workout" width="426" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Motivation to Workout" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FUP5c2sS7HgEz9cPtiF9fssIIg_knv8UfPS2YXOxBcfij78GAjSuv9kVsavdyxH0Qd1JO95GtWyMts3hs0q0JYjq9a0M4BGE2YBonV95-DEiKgUcYmY1O68b0b3X1tiooNt8aqLmst4/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_2.jpg" title="Motivation to Workout " width="640" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="workout motivation tips" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7B_eJbZV3TD0v5T3oNQOUM36OsZsLs4uhUq5W1bbCrZWSNoPCrzvsbnKUt3ErMNDzDqdNc-6sArTvy8UyRlqcPVobMwtUS8joqjZFKvKMas0TMf6JHR-4E4__9wArBlC9ETSc9ri4BF4/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_3.jpg" title="workout motivation tips" width="640" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="workout motivation quotes" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPF9xOaTsJCqWVYifnQQeB9Ja6JbClKhRXWAvyHZQad9sy4t4vakRiT6Pyviof9w2_t8qRk9gLsAu62k1yDpTTcd3LPjEhcMo6XhvU-HC0z3Dqy_IkIPW9fg5AxR5ybPrWAhd0QT2GlA/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_4.jpg" title="workout motivation quotes" width="640" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="workout motivation pictures" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4etIwVnNyYrbnqsz23aUpt8OyctHbJeNhVr1yjFl5wnGgCRzDSHg8qYjGv6cAAltGHGl-4yOp2gh7kk2Qvq2x76r5wzpJHSUqFwIYaanp6HtYjc6iDdKcbEzXCi-JJkaYZTh5wwIe4Cs/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_5.jpg" title="workout motivation pictures" width="458" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="workout motivation music" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcsuv2d2LOgEikQhGcJPzSPtGcdOSrU0sPo5AQzII6q_IsxOEyRgTZ_AAD3IVK1D3DeUXl2owRPNbCDY2CNBjPBEZFxOsWpFvlzvUUIwNvkdq0Tatv3wTympFTEzF08OCf4fH6xHbLEg/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_6.jpg" title="workout motivation music" width="432" /></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="workout motivation video" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh19g9fZc8CfNyWwVA1sx8C-jXwDK2-hST2oUN-xhJ7bDnR6FmaeFgtKKI44tynyoBLXt6Z7EvEvn1FzsxFT8g2as_bMRSOmgNtI2VjeoPRjcfDV_cRaNYOssL-Q-VlzoHkFup9Z4mvnHI/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_7.jpg" title="workout motivation video" width="408" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="workout motivation posters" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW416TCVX9Jjt8mUXnRmj1ggl8tE5OJkkwgzVMFfkCWXOa-V_2MrHcTNc6YjJtCXby2WiFQPFF_XDpq9k2JHBVpnk0hL_Nv8OPUJd9hzTdeF31oiNFTb9POqGxyqs-u_yYlDnTzcuRF3I/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_8.jpg" title="workout motivation posters" width="640" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="workout motivation songs" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-vhnCmXFZepaDzihZamtifRAMgPVu3pbxzx54Utme69-oOkbAxaRbfkllK0ju59DLhGO9EX2SeG3Fa5IgWObVNWi3G9iAYkrltE25mz3bS_sNaZdoP0RKMW3ppccduWZoL1uE5eIavg/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_9.jpg" title="workout motivation songs" width="640" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="goal-oriented behaviors" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguquSLH00tLqvOjpFqb_325kcDjgAPD1FYDO8qeJ0D8BM8p6wTt4H4W8Cq0oXX8EslySpI73bBscQwhiJls-wSU5y8_ONXyu0qd-OBOTCczvLvG9FhNqoYsD1IWK45EiqRAJ2440bAaGQ/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_10.jpg" title="goal-oriented behaviors" width="640" /></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Motivation fitness" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5ARByIiVpE3zslgP1kIJsvFfu-HAeq991fU2tbQGSikJKN9yzE0lugB8wb70yDGtJ3FmcjRIXDjZJ1-kcsXp6UsS4iYWZAB-gff8Yh1n3hPdXKCxkrmgRyGbOKlbglevHb3RJjFIAWY/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_11.jpg" title="Motivation fitness" width="640" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Motivation weightloss" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSD1VbWsl_iB4TB7tP5Ff6A1wLNa97gItNMsajeIYA78etcZpPebdq6LTS5-ZrIYXDBkjkJNtK8DnIGwoZXCRevzuiCQMTBinrUjMvSaN1ErZEXcvbqTpo51LcluQKpbbMrK8F9UyqmD8/s1600/Motivation+for+Workout_12.jpg" title="Motivation weightloss" width="640" /></div><br /><br /><br /></div></div>

Motivation for Workout, is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is...

A Louisville Clinic Races to Adapt to the Health Care Overhaul - NYTimes.com

6:52 AM Tukiyooo 0

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One morning last month, a health clinic next to a scruffy strip mall here had an unlikely visitor: a man in a suit and tie, seeking to bring a dose of M.B.A. order to the operation.<br /><br><br /><br>A dozen clinic employees, who spend intense, chaotic days treating an unending stream of Louisville's poor and uninsured, stared stonily at handouts he had brought as he made his pitch.<br /><br><br /><br>The visitor was Danny DuBosque, a "coach" hired to help the nonprofit clinic adapt to the demands of the federal health care overhaul. He had come to discuss a new appointment system, one that will let patients see a doctor or nurse within a few days of calling, instead of weeks or months.<br /><br><br /><br>"It's a huge satisfier," he declared — management-speak that fell flat with Dr. Michelle Elisburg, a pediatrician who was scheduled to see 26 patients that day.<br /><br><br /><br>"It puts me on edge," said Dr. Elisburg, who has spent her career treating the poor. "Under this model, it's first come first served, whoever calls fastest. But that's not necessarily the patient who really needs to be seen."<br /><br><br /><br>Mr. DuBosque, 35, raised his arms, a plea for patience. "We're going to take the next few years going through and untangling all these issues," he said before hurrying to another meeting.<br /><br><br /><br>"It's frightening," Dr. Elisburg, 42, murmured as Mr. DuBosque left.<br /><br><br /><br>The debate that morning was just one expression of the tensions rippling through medical offices around the country in the countdown to January, when the Affordable Care Act will require most Americans to have health insurance or pay a tax penalty. For doctors and their staffs, this is a period of fevered preparation for the far-reaching changes that are soon to come as the law moves out of the realm of political jousting and into the real world.<br /><br><br /><br>To follow how the historic law is playing out, The New York Times will look periodically at its impact in Louisville, a city of 600,000 that embodies both the triumphs and the shortcomings of the medical system in the United States.<br /><br><br /><br>The nation's first hand transplant was performed here, as was the world's first implant of a self-contained artificial heart. One of the nation's largest insurers, Humana, is based here, and the city's downtown area alone has four hospitals and a medical school. Health care increasingly fuels the local economy, accounting for many of the largest employers and a growing number of start-ups.<br /><br><br /><br>Yet for all the resources and expertise, the health outcomes in Kentucky remain "horrendous," as Gov. Steven L. Beshear, a Democrat, put it recently. The state has some of the nation's highest rates of smoking, obesity and deaths due to cancer and diabetes. At this point, the only sure thing about putting the law's many pieces in place here is that it will not be easy.<br /><br><br /><br>The potential benefits are huge. Some 90,000 people could get medical coverage in this city alone. It could create thousands of jobs in Kentucky and, if its aspirations are realized, provide better care at lower cost. Yet the law still provokes suspicion and confusion, among both health care providers and the uninsured population it is meant to help.<br /><br><br /><br>Community clinics like the one Mr. DuBosque was visiting, one of seven in a network here called Family Health Centers, are at the front lines of the change. They expect that their patient load could double, even as they struggle to recruit doctors and other staff members. They serve people who, because of poverty or entrenched habits, often have a hard time staying healthy and tend to put off preventive care. Now these clinics are anticipating competition from private providers who may see newly insured patients — no matter how poor — as opportunities for profit. So they are working on improving the patient experience and their own efficiency.<br /><br><br /><br>The legislation allots $11 billion over five years to improve and expand community clinics across the nation. Family Health Centers is getting $5.4 million to renovate a clinic for the homeless and move a downtown clinic to a much bigger building, adding dental and X-ray departments and a pharmacy. The organization hopes to eventually serve 10,000 additional patients at that site alone, if it can hire enough doctors and nurses to treat them. Meanwhile, it is using federal stimulus money to convert 60,000 paper charts to electronic medical records, and trying to improve patient access with the new scheduling system and other changes.<br /><br><br /><br>"We have to change from being the provider of last resort to the first choice for the community we serve," said Bill Wagner, the longtime executive director of Family Health Centers. "Everything we do needs to say, 'You're valuable to us.' "<br /><br><br /><br>Soft of voice and low-key, Mr. Wagner, 60, nonetheless acknowledges that the stakes for Family Health Centers are unnervingly high. He gets to work at 6:30 a.m. these days, relies on a steady stream of caffeine and clears his head with weekend motorcycle rides.<br /><br><br /><br>"We couldn't have more balls in the air right now," he said.<br /><br><br /><br>Patients and Problems<br /><br><br /><br>The West End of Louisville is a patchwork of poor neighborhoods, where asthma, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions are stubbornly common. In Portland, a neighborhood of one-way streets and faded shotgun homes, the biggest Family Health Centers clinic provides basic care to some 16,000 patients per year, regardless of ability to pay.<br /><br><br /><br>Here, Alaina Brohm, a brisk nurse practitioner, treats a diverse and challenging population: the unemployed, the chronically depressed, the obese, patients with advanced diabetes and feeble hearts. Ms. Brohm, 30, could be making more money at the retail clinics popping up in drugstores and supermarkets, diagnosing strep throats and bladder infections. Maybe someday she will. But for now, she wants a bigger challenge.<br /><br><br /><br>"I knew I would see it all here — a lot of chronic conditions, the worst of the worst," she said. "I know a little bit about everything."<br /><br><br /><br>Few in Louisville may feel the effects of the new health care law as tangibly as the uninsured patients who churn through Ms. Brohm's cramped exam rooms — and how they will respond to the law is one of the crucial questions that will determine whether it succeeds. For now, many seem either wary of it or uninformed.<br /><br><br /><br>Marchelle Edwards, 55, had been absent from the clinic for more than a year when she arrived there one Monday in May. She had a painful infection in her foot, linked to uncontrolled diabetes. She had stopped taking medicine to control her blood sugar after her prescription ran out months earlier. She also had a bladder infection and a thyroid condition that was making her hoarse. Her daughter Tammy, who had driven her to the clinic, reported that she was subsisting on Pepsi and junk food and feeling tired all the time.<br /><br><br /><br>Ms. Edwards seemed to be a walking example of the potential benefits of the same-day appointment system that Mr. DuBosque had been pitching. "I just couldn't get an appointment in here," she said, alluding to the long wait time and why she had not bothered trying.<br /><br><br /><br>"Even if you made an appointment and it was two months out," Ms. Brohm softly chided, "it would be a lot sooner than waiting a year."<br /><br><br /><br>The last time Ms. Brohm had seen Ms. Edwards, in April 2012, she had referred her to a podiatrist affiliated with University Hospital, which provides most of the city's specialized indigent care. But Ms. Edwards, a former food service worker, said she had stopped seeing the podiatrist because he charged $35 per visit.<br /><br><br /><br>"I stay at home and I hurt," she said.<br /><br><br /><br>Ms. Brohm started her back on two medicines: one to regulate her blood sugar, and another to help with pain in her feet, a result of nerve damage from the diabetes. One would be free through a pharmacy discount program for the poor; the other would be $6 a month, an expense Ms. Edwards said was prohibitive.<br /><br><br /><br>"There's only so much I can do with your toes, O.K., without surgery," Ms. Brohm told her. "You're going to need another referral to a podiatrist, another appointment with a financial counselor. Let me grab you a list."<br /><br><br /><br>She left the room to get one, but Ms. Edwards stalked out, scowling, before she could return. Her daughter shook her head.<br /><br><br /><br>"Not having insurance," Tammy Edwards said, "not being able to get the treatments and stuff that she really needs, it's depressing for her."<br /><br><br /><br>Ms. Edwards will almost certainly qualify for Medicaid under an expansion next year, which means she would pay nothing or a few dollars for most drugs and medical care, with a maximum of $450 a year.<br /><br><br /><br>Yet Ms. Brohm wonders whether Ms. Edwards will pursue the care she needs even if she gets Medicaid. "She's scared of health care," Ms. Brohm said after the appointment. "She's one of the ones that's more in denial. I guess it's her defense mechanism: 'If I don't find out, then I won't know.' "<br /><br><br /><br>Ms. Edwards's case raises a crucial question about the health care law: Will insurance necessarily make unhealthy people healthier?<br /><br><br /><br>David Elson, 59, who has congestive heart failure and chronic kidney disease, skipped an appointment at the clinic in April because he could not afford the fee. He earns enough to pay the highest fee on the clinic's sliding scale: $65 per visit, he said, and more if he needs blood work. He came one recent evening for an urgent visit, laboring to breathe.<br /><br><br /><br>Mr. Elson, who has his own business installing alarm systems, used to pay $125 a month for health insurance, he said. But then he developed diabetes, and his premium soared to more than $500 a month. He dropped the policy years ago.<br /><br><br /><br>His nurse practitioner, Susan Elrod, quickly determined that he had fluid in his lungs. Ashen and slumped, he had gained 50 pounds in two months — all water weight, she said — because his weakened heart had not been pumping efficiently enough. He now weighed 309 pounds, and his legs had swelled so much that large lesions had opened on them, fluid seeping out.<br /><br><br /><br>"We're going to have to send you to the emergency room," Ms. Elrod told him. "Do you feel strong enough to drive, or would you like me to call an ambulance?"<br /><br><br /><br>Mr. Elson grimaced, realizing he now faced a far greater expense than what he had saved by skipping his last appointment. He was already struggling to pay for his insulin — $240 a month, he said — and other drugs, which filled a plastic bag he had brought with him.<br /><br><br /><br>"I can't afford to go," he said, looking blank, after Ms. Elrod had left the room.<br /><br><br /><br>He went nonetheless, but not until the next morning, when a neighbor could drive him.<br /><br><br /><br>Mr. Elson said he earned about $24,000 a year, too much to qualify for Medicaid even under the expansion. It will cover people with incomes up to $15,856 for a household of one.<br /><br><br /><br>But Mr. Elson could still get federal subsidies starting next year to help him buy private coverage through the insurance marketplace, or exchange, that Kentucky is creating under the law. People with incomes up to 400 percent of the poverty level — about $46,000 for an individual — will be eligible for such subsidies if they buy coverage through an exchange. But Mr. Elson said he was certain the cost would still be too high.<br /><br><br /><br>"I don't see it helping anybody," he said, "just making everybody get insurance."<br /><br><br /><br>In fact, Mr. Elson might pay about $130 a month for coverage if he signed up for a medium-cost plan, according to an estimate by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan research group. He would qualify for a subsidy that would cover 80 percent of his premium costs. The law will also prohibit insurance companies from turning him away or charging him more because he is sick.<br /><br><br /><br>Even Ms. Brohm, the nurse practitioner, is suspicious of the law and confused about the changes it will bring. For one thing, she worries that poor people who become eligible for Medicaid under the expansion will be required to pay a part of their medical costs.<br /><br><br /><br>"If it does help out with the expensive stuff, that will be very exciting," she said. "But my concern is if they have to pay anything, will things still be done? Sometimes even a small percentage is too much for people."<br /><br><br /><br>The law's divisiveness, meanwhile, makes her uncomfortable. She knows of a restaurant chain that may be sold, she said, because the owner cannot afford to provide insurance for his employees, as the law will soon require.<br /><br><br /><br>"If it becomes something a lot of people argue about," she said, "that frightens me."<br /><br><br /><br>Changes on the Way<br /><br><br /><br>At a meeting of the Family Health Centers medical staff in May, Ms. Brohm and her colleagues listened as Dr. Peter Thurman, the medical director, delivered a pep talk of sorts. He was pressing them to complete a day's worth of online courses about the electronic records system that the clinics were poised to adopt. More training would come later in the year.<br /><br><br /><br>"It's self-preservation, in my opinion," Dr. Thurman said.<br /><br><br /><br>The topic shifted to the new appointment system, which only one of the clinics, known as Fairdale, had adopted so far. The early news was good: the average no-show rate had dropped from 21 percent in March to 10.5 percent in May.<br /><br><br /><br>"This thing is working," Dr. Thurman proclaimed, and went on to credit Mr. DuBosque. "Danny's been a godsend for us, I'll just be honest with you."<br /><br><br /><br>Later that day, Mr. DuBosque drove to the Fairdale clinic on the south side of Louisville, to get some firsthand feedback. The staff had more good news: fewer patients were turning to private urgent-care centers, a growing source of competition for Family Health Centers.<br /><br><br /><br>"They're acting shocked: 'What, we can get in today?' " said Saundra Kay Webb, a receptionist.<br /><br><br /><br>Technically, Mr. DuBosque's job is to help Family Health Centers get certified as a "patient-centered medical home." Under that model, teams of providers take a highly organized approach to patient care, with a focus on customer service. Better access is a central goal, which is why Family Health Centers is cutting its wait time for appointments.<br /><br><br /><br>Electronic medical records are also essential to the medical home model, partly to reduce what Mr. DuBosque called "the sheer work of keeping tabs on things with paper charts."<br /><br><br /><br>Among other things, he is learning that change sometimes comes more slowly in community clinics than in the fiercely competitive hospital sector, where he used to work. For example, Mr. DuBosque thinks it would be smart to start and end the workday later at Family Health Centers, because patients are reluctant to show up for early-morning appointments. But the idea is not catching fire.<br /><br><br /><br>"There's a whole host of things we're going to have to fight through with that," he said. "We have a lot of staff with some established routines and schedules. But I think it's a no-brainer."<br /><br><br /><br>Doctors working full time at Family Health Centers earn about $127,000 a year, far less than many of their counterparts in private practice. In the last year alone, the clinics lost five doctors, including one who moved, one who retired and one who took a higher-paying job at a hospital. Nurse practitioners are filling the void. They now make up 60 percent of the medical staff at the seven clinics, and their role will continue to grow.<br /><br><br /><br>But they, too, are in high demand, and their salary at Family Health Centers, about $67,000 a year for a full-time position, comes up short compared with the private sector.<br /><br><br /><br>If Family Health Centers sees enough new revenue, raising salaries will be a top priority. But as with so much of the Affordable Care Act, there are still far more questions than answers.<br /><br><br /><br>"Will it allow a community health center to be competitive on M.D.'s against the hospitals?" Dr. Thurman asked. "I just don't know."<br /><br><br /><br>Financial Considerations<br /><br><br /><br>One afternoon last month, Mr. Wagner, the director of Family Health Centers, canceled his appointments and hurried to the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, about an hour away. Governor Beshear was announcing that he would expand Medicaid in the state, a measure called for under the health care law but one that many states are opting out of. By the governor's estimate, it would allow up to 308,000 additional Kentuckians into the program, almost half of the state's uninsured population.<br /><br><br /><br>Mr. Wagner was eager to bear witness to an announcement that he deemed historic, the culmination of a goal he has spent his career trying to achieve. The Medicaid expansion could also solve Mr. Wagner's budget problem. Family Health Centers is facing a deficit of about $3 million in its overall annual budget of $30 million, largely because so many of its 42,000 patients, 54 percent, are uninsured.<br /><br><br /><br>"Right now we're living off our reserve fund, and that can only last so long," Mr. Wagner said.<br /><br><br /><br>Then it was back to his office in Louisville to keep planning. That day he learned that community clinics around the country would receive $150 million to help sign up people for insurance. Family Health Centers anticipates getting about $300,000, which it will use to get the word out starting this summer. Under the law, people can start signing up in October for coverage that starts in January.<br /><br><br /><br>"We will undoubtedly be hiring staff who will sit in the lobbies with patients — with laptops, with tablets — to provide assistance in enrolling online," Mr. Wagner said.<br /><br><br /><br>October will be a critical month at Family Health Centers. The insurance sign-up period will begin just as construction on the new downtown clinic gets under way. At the same time, the huge Portland clinic will go live with the electronic medical records, and it will have just adopted the new appointment system.<br /><br><br /><br>Ms. Brohm, the nurse practitioner, will be married by then, returning from her honeymoon to what may feel like a strange new world. Ms. Elrod, her colleague, will have cut her hours at Family Health Centers and started working in the relative calm of a private doctor's office. Short of a miracle, neither Ms. Edwards nor Mr. Elson, their chronically ill patients, will have health insurance yet. But if the outreach campaign succeeds, they will have learned of their options and may be poised to sign up.<br /><br><br /><br>The day after Mr. Elson was admitted to the hospital, Ms. Elrod called to check on him. His breathing had improved, and the hospital had prescribed a different diuretic to help him excrete water. He had lost 10 pounds so far and would lose 20 more by the end of his five-day stay. She told him to follow up at the clinic after his release.<br /><br><br /><br>"Get on my schedule for Tuesday night, O.K.?" she said, then paused for his response. "O.K., if you have the money. I understand, Mr. Elson. O.K. Bye."<br /><br><br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/us/a-louisville-clinic-races-to-adapt-to-the-health-care-overhaul.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/us/a-louisville-clinic-races-to-adapt-to-the-health-care-overhaul.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print</a>

A Louisville Clinic Races to Adapt to the Health Care Overhaul - NYTimes.com

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One morning last month, a health clinic next to a scruffy strip mall here had an unlikely visitor: a man in a suit and tie...

Caner Lawsuit Update: Turns Out Caner is Suing Small Church Pastor, Funds Needed to Provide for Defense

6:43 AM Tukiyooo 0

Readers - just a quick update on the Ergun Caner lawsuit against Jason Smathers and Jon Autry as we head to church:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.witnessesuntome.com/2013/06/legal-defense-fund/" target="_blank">Jason posted on his blog yesterday</a> that he has found legal representation in Kel McClanahan, the Executive Director of a legal group called "<a href="http://www.nationalsecuritylaw.org/" target="_blank">National Security Counselors</a>". You can read about Mr. McClanahan's experience <a href="http://nationalsecuritylaw.org/board_of_directors.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and it surely is impressive. It is a wonderful thing that Jason is standing up to Ergun Caner's lawsuit, not backing down, and is going to fight it all the way. Jason most certainly has a big legal bazooka in Mr. McClanahan to match Caner's.<br /><br />However, we must not just cheer from the sidelines for Jason and wish him well. We need to get involved with finances. Funds must be raised for this defense. I urge all readers of the FBC Jax Watchdog who are able, to donate money to Jason's defense, as there is no way Jason can do this alone - as you'll read about below. You can find the information on Jason's website on how to make a donation. I'm making a donation today via PayPal as soon as I get home.<br /><br />Also, you will want to read <a href="http://www.witnessesuntome.com/2013/06/who-is-witnesses-unto-me/" target="_blank">Jason's personal testimony that he posted on his blog on Friday</a>. He explains who he is, and how he came to faith in Christ in 2004-2005, and how his marriage was saved through his personal turmoil. He now is a pastor of a <a href="http://www.gscbc.net/" target="_blank">small church in Arizona</a>. Trust me, you want to read his testimony, it is nothing short of amazing. And <u><b>genuine</b></u>.<br /><br />And who really is the "bully" here? Now that we know about Jason - we now know that it is Caner who is the bully here, not Jason. Jason, small church pastor in Arizona - Caner, popular speaker, famous author, promoted and defended by the big names in Christian circles like Tim Lee and Norman Geisler...and Caner, the man who promoted himself to stardom right after 9/11 at my church by concocting a phony-baloney story of being a trained terrorist who came to America. <a href="http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/2010/04/ergun-caner-now-hes-described-as.html" target="_blank">Remember my blog article</a> where I exposed as late as 2010 Caner STILL being promoted as a formerly trained terrorist on Phil Waldrep's website?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDRQIHleOtZ4ofTDpKA9fRcZ5IeUi6p3aKI9L47iQoqJxNlWDtzXm2f9LTuJ8fubJMNrHG5JvQKOzJH3AypndxStnD5r5shyPOofB5Z-19SPmLE6jxDbyeYo8Y17zyM4EbmfUrSk7iH7a/s1600/CanerTerrorist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDRQIHleOtZ4ofTDpKA9fRcZ5IeUi6p3aKI9L47iQoqJxNlWDtzXm2f9LTuJ8fubJMNrHG5JvQKOzJH3AypndxStnD5r5shyPOofB5Z-19SPmLE6jxDbyeYo8Y17zyM4EbmfUrSk7iH7a/s400/CanerTerrorist.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Do you see that? In April 2010 Caner's taped testimony was being peddled for $35 as a "hardened terrorist". That is a threat to Christianity, when false testimonies are told, believed, and then sold for thirty-five bucks. And what Jason did and what many other bloggers were doing the past three years was doing what Christian news agencies like ABP and BP should have done: got the REAL story on Caner so that others could be warned.<br /><br />The good news is that pastors are so far 0-3 in their attempts to bully bloggers they don't like, so Caner is trying to finally get a win. It is quite ironic that Ergun Caner fashions himself as "fighting bullies" - he regularly demeans those who have tried to expose his lies and warn others about Caner by calling them "bullies" and "trolls", and his tag line on his Twitter account was recently changed to "Bullies/Trolls: I fight back". When he posted that on his Twitter tag line, I knew what that meant - that he was going to begin the lawsuits. I believe Jason and Jon are just the first of Ergun's planned legal assault.<br /><br />So let's show Ergun that we will back up Jason. Give to his defense fund as soon as you can.

Caner Lawsuit Update: Turns Out Caner is Suing Small Church Pastor, Funds Needed to Provide for Defense

Readers - just a quick update on the Ergun Caner lawsuit against Jason Smathers and Jon Autry as we head to church: Jason posted on his blog...

ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI ALLIANCE AND IRAN Part 3

It doesn't make any sense

Motivation for Workout

A Louisville Clinic Races to Adapt to the Health Care Overhaul - NYTimes.com

Caner Lawsuit Update: Turns Out Caner is Suing Small Church Pastor, Funds Needed to Provide for Defense

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