This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Madonna faces legal action for using Swastika on Marine Le Pen's head
• Foreclosed properties 'shadow inventory' shows housing crash far from over
• Libor investigations expand to other banks
• Japan recalls ambassador to China
• China frigate runs aground near Philippines, but gets refloated
• Syrian defector confirms stories about 'Al-Qaeda in Iraq'
• International Red Cross lays groundwork for war crimes charges against Syria's Assad

Madonna faces legal action for using Swastika on Marine Le Pen's head

Madonna's image of Marine Le Pen with Nazi Swastika on her forehead

Madonna is facing criminal prosecution in France after depicting, in her sell-out concert in Paris on Saturday, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far right National Front party, with a Nazi Swastika on her forehead. Marine Le Pen is the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, who led the National Front party until last year, when Marine took over. Jean-Marie is a Holocaust denier and a convicted racist and anti-Semite, but was nonetheless very popular in the 2002 presidential election. Marine has toned down the party's extremist views, but still pledges to limit Muslim immigration. Madonna is currently dating Brahim Zaibat, a Frenchman with North African Muslim immigrant ancestry. Daily Mail (London)

Foreclosed properties 'shadow inventory' shows housing crash far from over

Anyone who watches television knows that financial pundits have been announcing the bottom of the real estate bust every month since 2007, when the housing bubble burst. Now, according to reports by two analytic firms, RealtyTrac and CoreLogic, real estate prices have much farther to fall because banks have been holding 90% of foreclosed properties off the market. Even worse, banks holding these properties are committing financial fraud, since their financial statements value these homes at their housing bubble prices, rather than their current values. This huge "shadow inventory" of houses is going to depress housing prices for years to come. Furthermore, with hundreds of thousands of homeowners delinquent in their mortgage payments, this shadow inventory may grow significantly. In case of a panic, many of these houses may be dumped on the market at the same time. AOL Real Estate and Naked Capitalism

Libor investigations expand to other banks

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, UBS AG, Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Deutsche Bank AG are among the lenders regulators in Europe, Asia and the U.S. are investigating in the Libor scandal. Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) is a benchmark interest rate for financial products valued at $360 trillion (over 1/3 of $1 quadrillion) worldwide. Barclays Bank has already settled, paying a fine of $448 million, which is tiny compared to the possible consequences. Bloomberg

Japan recalls ambassador to China

Map showing locations of disputed islands (AFP)

There's a conflict in the South China Sea that pits China against Vietnam, the Philippines, and other countries, and there's a conflict in the East China Sea that pits China against Japan in a dispute over the group of islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. Japan last week lodged two separate complaints against China, after Chinese vessels approached the islands, but Japan is saying the recall is for consultations only, and not related to the complaints. AFP

China frigate runs aground near Philippines, but gets refloated

A Chinese frigate ran aground on the Half Moon Shoal in Philippine waters, prompting Manila to send two vessels and reconnaissance aircraft to the area. There could have been a major standoff, but China sent a rescue team and refloated the boat, sending it home. Reuters

Syrian defector confirms stories about 'Al-Qaeda in Iraq'

During the Iraq war, airheads in the loony left like Nancy Pelosi and the staff of the New York Times were claiming that there was no such thing as "Al-Qaeda in Iraq," when in fact anybody who bothered to learn even the most basic things about what was going on knew that Al-Qaeda in Iraq not only existed, but was responsible for triggering most of the sectarian violence. From 2007: "Iraqi Sunnis are turning against al-Qaeda in Iraq" Now Nawaf al-Fares, Syria's ambassador to Iraq who defected two days ago, is confirming how the regime of Bashar al-Assad worked closely with al-Qaeda in Iraq:

"The Syrian regime felt threatened and felt that it, too, might fall. So they had an agreement with al Qaeda to keep the road open to Iraq. The militants started coming from all over the world through Syria, under the eyes of the Syrian secret police, which are directly responsible for the killing of thousands of Iraqis in Iraq as well as Americans and coalition forces.

The secret police were encouraging enthusiastic young people in Syria to go for jihad in Iraq and join al Qaeda. Bashar al-Assad and his security forces are directly responsible for the killing of thousands and thousands of Iraqis and coalition forces, because he gave al Qaeda everything it needed. He trained and provided shelter and he built safe havens for them to hide in."

So Bashar al-Assad was working with al-Qaeda to do everything in his power to bring about the defeat and humiliation of the United States in Iraq. In that sense, Bashar al-Assad was no different from American organizations like the New York Times and NBC News, which were ALSO doing everything in their power to bring about the defeat and humiliation of the United States in Iraq. This continues to the present time, as illustrated by the fact that the New York Times recently revealed the U.S. participation in the development of Stuxnet. In my opinion, the actions of organizations like the NY Times and NBC News have been on the edge of treason. CNN

International Red Cross lays groundwork for war crimes charges against Syria's Assad

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) made a symbolic change in classification by declaring that the war in Syria is a "civil war," according to its own definition. This reclassification means that people who order or commit attacks on civilians including murder, torture and rape, or use disproportionate force against civilian areas, can be charged with war crimes in violation of international humanitarian law. Reuters

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