Iran racing for the immunity zone

(CARL HAS) ...discussed the concept of an 'immunity zone' - a point where Iran has moved enough nuclear enrichment underground so that Israel could no longer effectively attack Iran's nuclear program, but the United States still could - several times over the past few weeks. The most detailed discussion is here.
On Monday, diplomats in Vienna reported that Iran has moved more of its uranium enrichment activities underground. Neither Iran, nor the IAEA which is based in Vienna, were available for comment.

Iran last month confirmed it had begun refining uranium to a fissile concentration of 20 percent at Fordow, shifting its highest-grade enrichment from an above-ground location to better protect it against any strikes by Israel or the United States.
Washington, which has not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to resolve the long-running nuclear dispute, on Jan. 9 denounced the start-up of the Fordow plant as a further escalation of Iran's "ongoing violations" of UN resolutions.
At that time, diplomats said Iran was operating at Fordow two so-called cascades, each of 174 centrifuges - machines that spin at supersonic speed to increase the ratio of the fissile isotope. More centrifuges were being installed, they said.
Enriched uranium can have both civilian and military uses.
One Vienna-based diplomat said two more cascades, like the first pair connected with each other to make the process more efficient, had now also been deployed to enrich uranium.
"The second set of cascades is operational ... my understanding is they are both operational and (have) no problems," the diplomat said.
Another diplomat accredited to the IAEA also painted a picture of expanding activity at Fordow, without giving details.
...
The decision to move work which the UN Security Council has called on Iran to suspend to an underground facility could further complicate diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff peacefully.

How's that last paragraph for an understatement.
It's no longer a question of whether there will be a strike on Iran's nuclear weapons program. It's a question of when and by whom. US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta may have been right. Or he may have given too late a date.

I don't get it. someone explain this. Surely Israel could bomb the place enough that it would crater?

Apple to join Microsoft and Google in setting up Israeli R&D?

(Carl) In December, I reported on Apple's acquisition of Israeli flash memory company Anobit, and how it would likely result in Apple opening up an R&D facility here.
But Intel has been here for 40 years, and Microsoft and Google have also been here for a long time. So what took Apple so long? I'm sure you'll be shocked (Hat Tip: Israellycool).

The real question: why did it take Apple so long? One suspected cause was the political leanings of Steve Jobs’ wife: firmly in the left-leaning liberal and pro-Palestinian camps. Apple has neglected Israel as a market for its computers for years despite Israel leading the world in per-capita computer use. Apple’s market share in personal computers is much lower in Israel than in the United States or even Europe, and support for Hebrew is not as comprehensive as it is on Windows.

And people always ask me why I don't consider buying a Mac (it's also a lot more expensive and that's another good reason). Read the whole thing

don't forget that Jobs was Syrian by blood.

Hackers attack NBN with “Zombie Assad”

(Now Lebanon) A snapshot of the NBN news website after it was hacked on Monday.
A hacker going by the name, “Dark Coder,” hit the NBN news website – affiliated with Speaker Nabih Berri – on Monday, calling the organization “dirty criminals” and posting a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad photoshopped as a Zombie.
Here is an English translation of the hacker’s message:
“Dear hypocritical criminals, your support for this regime makes you despicable accomplices to his crimes, which is why I’m telling you that you are dirty criminals without a single ounce of humanity in you. You, who trade the blood of humans, know that we Syrians will not accept this humiliation and shame, and you and your channel can go to hell, and screw you, Bashar, Dounya Channel, and the Syrian Channel, and they better know that their turn is coming.”
As for the zombie reference, I for one already think of Assad as a soulless politician…. So, well played.

Do you think the Arab world would cheer if it turned out they were hacked by Israelis?