Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the United States is "at war" with Islamic State militants. After facing ISIS's brutal beheading of two American journalists and one British Aid worker, the US eagerly sought for the international coalition for military operation against Islamist terrorist group. Who are they? The terrorist organization is claiming to represent all Muslims everywhere, declaring it as the Islamic State (IS). It could be huge propaganda if the claim is successfully delivered to Muslims not just in Middle East but in other parts of the world including Asia and America because they can recruit fanatic fundamentalists from all over the world.Nevertheless, the Western media and governments called them the ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) and actually promoted their image. Here, "Syria" does not mean the modern nation Syria but "Great Syria" referring to Syria, Lebanon, parts of Turkey, part of Jordan: literally covering the whole Islamic community in the Middle East.It is psychological warfare. In order to try and avoid provoking the whole Islamic world and at the same time to contain the target, the Obama administration preferred to name them ISIL: switching the S for Syria to "the Levant" which is another name for the same region. The Levant, which has French colonial associations, is the term that many Arab nationalists disdain.With a mutual enemy, the US is seeking the support of an international coalition to establish the legitimacy for executing another war in a region.But how can the administration persuade the American people?  If it is the battle waged by the US, where is the American interest? 

More than a dozen prominent Washington research groups have received tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments in recent years while pushing United States government officials to adopt policies that often reflect the donors' priorities, an investigation by The New York Times has found. (NYT)

Apple Pay is designed to let iPhone 6 owners use their smartphones to pay for purchases at brick-and-mortar stores as well as online via apps. It puts Apple in direct competition with services like PayPal and Google Wallet. (CBS)

A Times Square Elmo was busted in a sting operation by cops looking to combat overly aggressive panhand­ling by costumed creeps (NYPost)