Merry Christmas !

                    In This Festive Period
     Remember Those Who Are Less Fortunate !



Christmas 2010 :    THE CROSS HAS BEEN BANNED IN BETHLEHEM  !

Was President Obama Baptised or not ? Is he a Christian ?

I caught myself today wondering why President Obama is not speaking up against the Christmas day violence against Christians?Somehow i came up with this : Obama's  Indonesian years, 1967-71:

Obama was an irregularly practicing Muslim who rarely or occasionally prayed with his step-father in a mosque. This precisely substantiates my statement that he "for some years had a reasonably Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father."
Therefore, what MMfA calls the "Obama-Muslim falsehood" is in fact confirmed by both articles as truthful and accurate.Calling this a falsehood is in itself a falsehood.

Anyway Obama himself writes that he was only baptised in his mid 20's !

Nobody, except Obama knows if his conversion to Christianity is real or not. Although some reports and even Obama have referred to a "baptism", there doesn't appear to be any record of a baptism.

Chicago-based journalist, broadcaster and critic Andy Martin, when asked about Obama's baptism, wrote, "I have never been able to obtain any evidence that he was baptized, although I asked for those records."

It seems that Obama's conversion occurred when he answered one of Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright's altar calls by walking down the aisle of Trinity Church to make a formal commitment of his faith.

Cathleen Falsani, religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, writes, "He (Obama) described his conversion experience in his mid-20s, how he walked the aisle at Trinity United Church of Christ one Sunday in a public affirmation of his private change of heart."I came to Christianity through the black church tradition where the line between evangelical and non-evangelical is completely blurred. Nobody knows exactly what it means."

Falsani warns us that Obama’s walking the aisle at Trinity is poles apart from what Christians commonly refer to as being "saved, transformed or washed in the blood." In other words, it’s not to be confused with what Jesus called being "born again." As Mr. Obama himself explains, "It wasn’t an epiphany … but just a moment to certify or publicly affirm a growing faith in me."

In another account of this event, Manya Brachear, writing in the Chicago Tribune, describes the event thusly: "When Obama sought his own church community, he felt increasingly at home at Trinity. Before leaving for Harvard Law School in 1988, he responded to one of Wright's altar calls and declared a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Falsani wonders, "What kind of faith is it that is growing in Barack Obama? Is it the historic Christian faith? Not according to the good senator, who describes his faith as: (1) Suspicious of dogma (2) Without any monopoly on the truth (3) Nontransferable to others (4) Infused with a big healthy dose of doubt, and (5) Indulgent of and compatible with all other religions."

Unlike traditional Christianity, which Mr. Obama bemoans for its "call to evangelize and proselytize," the good senator’s faith is strictly a personal and private affair. Although he has no qualms about parading it in public in hopes of bolstering his political career, he would never dream of preaching it to others in hopes of converting them to Christ.

At the core of Obama's faith -- whether lapsed Muslim, new Christian or some mixture of the two -- is African nativism and Obama's having pledged allegiance to the Black Value System raises political issues of its own.

The phrase, “having been baptized,” is apparently based on Obama’s claim about being baptized. Our major media haven’t questioned the claim.

Miller went on to say, “His baptism presents its own problems. The senior pastor at Trinity at the time of Obama’s baptism was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., the preacher who was seen damning America on cable TV…”

Notice the formulation, “at the time of Obama’s baptism.” She carefully does not say that Wright performed the baptism. In fact, there’s no evidence it was a baptism in the traditional sense that it was performed by Wright or anybody else. It looks like Obama walked down the aisle and made a profession of faith. That is not a Christian baptism.

The Canada Free Press published a very interesting article in February by Madeline Brooks, who asked, “Where is the baptism certificate? We do not see one because there was no baptism. That central part of Christianity was not required at Obama’s former church, the Trinity United Church of Christ, during the years Obama attended…”

She cites the research of a pastor, Usama Dakdok, who had called Obama’s church to ask about membership:

“Do I have to be baptized to join the church?” asked Pastor Dakdok. “No, you don’t,” was the answer. “You can be a member without being baptized.”
“And what exactly is required to become a member?” The answer: “You attend two Sunday school classes in a row about membership, and then you walk the aisle.”

The phrase, “having been baptized,” is apparently based on Obama’s claim about being baptized. Our major media haven’t questioned the claim.

What do The Scriptures tell us about the Sacrament of Baptism?
The Necessity of Baptism:

Christ Himself ordered His disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations and to baptize those who accept the message of the Gospel. In His encounter with Nicodemus (John 3:1-21), Christ made it clear that baptism was necessary for salvation: "Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." For Catholics, the sacrament is not a mere formality; it is the very mark of a Christian, because it brings us into new life in Christ.



Hmmmm....Nope nothing about "“You attend two Sunday school classes in a row about membership, and then you walk the aisle.”

In other words it seems according to the description by the Scriptures of the act of Baptism Barrack Hussein Obama is not Baptised and thus still a Muslim!
I'm sure any Islamic scholar will agree that "attending two Sunday school classes in a row about membership, and then you walking the aisle" doesn't mean renouncing your Islamic Faith!

Now you all know why he doesn't speak up when Christians are bombed on Christmas day! Instead of concentrating on his so called Islamic past we should concentrate on his so called Christian past !
And before i forget to mention it "Christianity is a Great Religion" ! Will.

Sources : Catholicism ; Freerepublic ; Danielpipes .

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• HT:BloggerBase.Attacking Christians on Christmas; Where is the outrage?Christians around the world who live in countries dominated by the Muslim faith live in fear of attack and even death everyday, but particularly on Christmas"Most of the churches here in Baghdad have canceled Christmas celebrations." CANON ANDREW WHITE. Yet where is the overriding public demonstration of outrage? Where is President Obama and his administration with wholesale condemnation? Where is the condemnation from leaders around the world and the United Nations?If the positions were reversed and Muslims living in Christian dominated countries suffered from daily persecution that included mosque attacks, physical violence, death and the inability to observe holy holidays, what do you suppose the reaction would be?I think we know.Hmmmm....Still waiting for Obama's condemnation of this violence?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheJawaReport.Video : CAIR (Un-indicted co-conspirators In the Holyland Foundation)Decries Anti-Muslim Police Trainers.Hmmmm...."We don't want to take over your country"?Read and see the full story here.

• Bombing wounds 11 at Christmas Mass in Philippines.MANILA: A bomb exploded during Christmas Day Mass at a chapel inside a police camp in the volatile southern Philippines, wounding a priest and 10 churchgoers.The device was hidden in a ventilation window near the ceiling of the chapel, which is on the compound where the provincial police office is located in Jolo town on Jolo Island, Sulu provincial police said.The island is a stronghold of Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants, but it wasn’t clear who was responsible for the bombing. Investigators recovered parts of a cell phone they believe detonated the device.All of the wounded were civilians. One woman remained at a hospital for observation later Saturday, but police said one did not need hospital treatment and the others have been treated and sent home.The Rev. Romeo Villanueva, 72, said a newly ordained priest, the Rev. Ricky Bacoldol, who was assisting him, was thrown off his feet by the blast impact and suffered a slight leg injury.“I was reading the Gospel. I was not yet finished when there was a loud explosion,” Villanueva told The Associated Press by telephone.Hmmm...."The war on christianity"?Outrage  by the US President......Silence and we all know why !3 bomb attacks on Christmas aimed at Christians not a word - 1 bomb among Muslims in Iran, but there he is speaking out against it! And he wonders why people don't believe he's a Christian?Read the full story here.

• Merry Christmas From a Very Merry Muslim.The last time I wrote a column about saying “Merry Christmas” without feeling guilty was a few years ago and I recall noting in conclusion that I hope I don’t have to write this again because the message is loud and clear. Alas political correctness has become a Canadian epidemic and with politicians still shying away from using the word, we have no role models left.To acknowledge that I love this time of the year and that I have already been an active participant in the launch of the Christmas season is redundant, to say the least. I use the word “Christmas” with feeling since I’ve recently celebrated my own festival of Eid , wished my Hindu and Sikh friends a delightful Diwali, and my Jewish friends a Happy Hannukah. Therefore, I feel we should have absolutely no qualms about wishing our Christian friends a “Merry Christmas” on their day of joy.Just to to think that in the year 2010, when Canada is fast set to become the most pluralistic country in the world, we’re avoiding saying “Merry Christmas.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but pluralism doesn’t mean minimizing the celebrations of the majority but being inclusive about everyone’s festivals. We know that every minority celebrates with full gusto, taking time off work with pay and having their kids take time of school without any qualms. In fact, employers have to accommodate minority faiths.But when it comes to Christmas, the story is different. A huge corporation (one of the largest in Canada) sent out a memo to its employees giving them guidelines on how to enjoy the holiday. The guidelines tell them not to use the word “Merry Christmas” lest they offend someone who doesn’t celebrate.My fellow Canadians, allow me to express what’s offensive.A Must Read !Read the full story here!

• EXCLUSIVE: The untold stories of two Christmas Day 2009 flights over Detroit.The bomb attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Christmas Day 2009 has been widely documented, but until now details of two other incidents have not been known.Two other travelers on two other flights put passengers and crew at risk that day.Action News was the only station to report about one of those incidents, and details on both are now revealed in documents obtained by Channel 7. Unbelievably, one of the incidents happened on the very same Delta route - Amsterdam to Detroit - that Abdulmutallab was also flying that day.Abdulmutallab was on Flight 253. But there was another incident, on Delta Flight 249 Amsterdam to Detroit later that day.Hmmmm.....The Obama administration transparent?Yeah ....keep dreaming.Read the full story here.HT:InfidelBloggers.

• HT:BackToBasics.Surviving Christmas in an anti-Christian society.As Americans prepare to celebrate the Christmas holiday, many are unaware that religious observances are practically a luxury when compared with nations that continue to oppress, persecute and even kill followers of Jesus Christ.Christians in several countries find it difficult to practice even the fundamentals of their faith. To openly celebrate the birth of the man they believe is their Savior could be nothing short of a death sentence.“It’s time for Christians in the United States to help in protecting their brothers and sisters overseas,” says political strategist and Christian Mike Baker.Read the full story here.

• HT:NewsRealBlog.Noam Chomsky’s 12 Days of Christmas.Have A Very Chomsky Christmas!On the first day of Christmas Noam Chomsky gave to me…Read and see the full story here.

• Video : Muted Christmas in Iraq. While millions of Christians celebrate, threats against Iraqi churches force the cancellation of celebrations. Iraq's Christian community have gathered despite continued threats, to mark Christmas in the same church where, less than two months ago, dozens of members of their community were killed in an attack.The walls of the church were marked with bullet holes, and plastic sheeting still covered the gaps where glass windows were shattered."No matter how hard the storm blows, love will save us," Matti Shaba Matouka, an archbishop told his congregation.Photographs of the dead parishioners were placed in front of the altar, and two black cassocks hung from the walls, representing the two priests killed in the attack.Outside the building hung a homemade sign that said the church would prosper during times of oppression.
  Hmmmm....When will this US President speak up for christians?Read and see the full story here.

• Hamas commander: Israel will disappear.Day after Mahmoud al-Zahar says Islamist group committed to unofficial truce, head of its armed wing says Israel will 'cease to exist and we will have Palestine. Spokesman: We have something that will worry the occupation.Muhammad Deif, the commander of Hamas' military wing, said the Palestinians will not give up their struggle until Israel ceases to exist.In a statement issued Saturday to mark 23 years since the Islamist group was founded, Deif also vowed to release all Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. "We promise to release them and break the (prison) bars despite the occupiers' efforts," he said.Speaking at a press conference with three guards, who were all masked and armed, he said the group was ready to repel any future Israeli invasion and hinted at a secret weapon."We are completely ready to answer any Israeli aggression," he said. "Our weapons are few compared to those of the Israeli occupation, but we have something that will worry the occupation," he said without giving details.Hmmmm....Anyone expecting a dirty bomb from the next aid convoy from Asia?Read the full story here.

• At Least 32 Killed in Blasts in Nigeria after Muslim attacks.MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Police in northern Nigeria say that Muslim radical sect members have attacked two churches in the restive region. Police chief Mohammed Abubakar told The Associated Press on Saturday that members of Boko Haram, a radical Muslim sect, attacked two churches in the city of Maiduguri on Friday evening. Danjuma Akawu, secretary of Victory Baptist Church said about 30 men attacked his church Friday evening, killing five people. Rev. Haskanda Jessu of Church of Christ in Nigeria said that three men attacked his church at the other end of the city, killing the security guard.Police accuse Boko Haram of a rash of targeted killings in recent months.Hmmm.....When will this selfproclaimed "Christian" President speak up for Christanity?Merry Christmas.Read the full story here. More here.

• Obama's Reversal on 'Indigenous Peoples' Rights Stirs Concern Over Legal Claims.President Obama's decision last week to reverse U.S. policy and back a U.N. declaration on the rights of "indigenous peoples" has touched off a debate on whether the move could boost American Indian legal claims over the ills they suffered dating back to the colonial period.But John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the "abstract" document -- which in several sections discusses the "right to redress" -- will probably be used to fuel new legal claims. And he predicted the issue would complicate those cases more than it would help either side actually resolve them. "It's a kind of feel-good document that has so many unclear phrases in it that nobody's really sure what it means when you agree to it," Bolton told FoxNews.com. "It's wrong and potentially dangerous to sign onto a document that you don't fully understand the implications of." The non-binding U.N. document includes dozens of provisions but generally states that indigenous people should not be discriminated against, should be able to sustain their own political and social systems, and have rights to the "lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned" or used.Those concepts are not radically new. Americans Indians, as demonstrated by a spate of recent settlements, have legal rights to pursue discrimination and other claims against the government. Plus Obama's support for the document follows his signing of a congressional resolution last year that officially apologized to "native peoples" for the "violence, maltreatment and neglect" inflicted on them by U.S. citizens. However, that resolution included explicit language to ensure it could not be used in the courts. A disclaimer at the end declared that "nothing" in the resolution would authorize or support claims against the United States. By contrast, several sections in the U.N. document explicitly outline those rights. One article in the middle of the declaration states that indigenous peoples can be entitled to "restitution" for land and resources that were damaged or confiscated from them. The document says compensation "shall take" the form of land or resources or even money.A detailed document released by the State Department underscored the importance of the "redress provisions," saying the government would continue to work with American Indians to accommodate their territorial rights. "While the declaration is not legally binding, it carries considerable moral and political force," the State Department said in a written statement last week.The Obama administration, though, has demonstrated an interest in settling claims from American Indians and other groups when possible. On top of the so-called Pigford settlement, which recently awarded $1.2 billion to black farmers who claimed they were cheated out of loans by the Agriculture Department, Obama earlier this month signed a law authorizing $3.4 billion to address American Indian claims in a case known as Cobell. In that case, the plaintiffs had accused the Interior Department of bilking 300,000 American Indians out of revenue from oil, gas and other resources. Obama noted last week that the settlement fund also includes money to "put more land in the hands of tribes to manage or otherwise benefit their members." A separate $760 million settlement closed a discrimination case against the Agriculture Department similar in nature to the Pigford case. According to the State Department, the Obama administration has so far picked up more than 34,000 acres of land "in trust" for Indian tribes. That land can be used for housing and other purposes. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who has been particularly critical of the Pigford claims process, expressed concern about the potential implications of the U.N. document on indigenous peoples. He said he's curious what "special rights" the document could convey. Carl Horowitz, a project manager with the National Legal and Policy Center who follows discrimination cases against the federal government, used the r-word -- reparations -- to describe those implications. "It reflects a global egalitarianism," he said. "It's a shakedown."Hmmmm....I've been saying this here on MFS since he made the statement,and what is the role of the Turkish firms willing to work with the native tribes in order to escape taxes?Read the full story here.

• Dutch arrest 12 Somalis on suspicion of terrorism.Dutch authorities have arrested 12 men of Somali origin they believe were about to carry out a terrorist attack, authorities said Saturday.The country's intelligence service provided information that led to the arrests in Rotterdam, Public Prosecution Service spokesman Wim de Bruin told CNN.No weapons or explosives were found, he said. The suspects are in police custody."The attack was said to be imminent so the national police started an investigation which led to the arrest of 12 Somalis later on Friday in Rotterdam," de Bruin said. "We are not sure about what the target was, how they were going to carry out the attack or when."A Dutch counterterrorism office spokeswoman said the immediate threat to the country has been removed and the terror alert level will remain "limited," or relatively low."We are now following the information that comes out of the interrogations with these 12 individuals to see if there still remains a threat from this plot," said Judith Sluiter of the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism.Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including a series of bombs tore through an Ethiopian restaurant and a rugby center in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. Officials said the July 11 blasts, which killed 79 people, were probably set off by suicide bombers.Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in September asked other countries to train Somalia's forces to help counter militant groups.Hmmmm....And we shouldn't profile??Read the full story here.More here.

• Xmas joy mixed with threats for Mideast Christians.Christians in the Middle East prepared on Friday to celebrate Christmas, some in fear of attacks against their community, as in Iraq, and others in the most discreet way possible, as in Saudi Arabia.For Iraq's battered Christian community, threats of attacks from Al-Qaeda and mourning for the victims of an October massacre at a Baghdad church have turned a normally festive season into one of fear and sadness.Many mass gatherings in Iraq were cancelled on Friday, and Saturday services will be held during the morning for safety reasons.Security measures have been stepped up after Al-Qaeda threats against Christians, with protective walls erected around some churches and the number of soldiers and police guarding churches strengthened.On October 31, militants laid siege to Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation church, leaving 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces personnel dead in an attack claimed by Al-Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq.Ten days later a string of attacks targeted the homes of Christians in Baghdad, killing six people and wounding 33 others.On Friday, Chaldean Catholic archbishop Monsignor Louis Sarko said in a message from Kirkuk that Iraqi Christians must remain steadfast, despite their fears."Today we are living a painful experience in Iraq, which reached its peak with the massacre at Our Lady of Salvation, which touched both Christians and Muslims. But we must persevere in the face of disaster," Sarko said."We will not surrender to division and frustration," he said.In Saudi Arabia, Christians will be as discreet as possible in their Christmas celebrations, as the Gulf kingdom forbids the overt practice of any religion but Islam.In the capital Riyadh, there are no signs of the Christmas season."We don't do much for Christmas; we have to be careful," said Raul, one of the more than one million mostly Christian Filipino migrant workers in the country, who along with two other fellow welders from Pangasinan were doing their weekly shopping at the popular Pinoy supermarket in Riyadh."I put up some Christmas lights in my apartment, and made a tree in the shop," said Valentin, a metal shop worker from Cavite. "You can't buy a Christmas tree in Saudi Arabia."Religious services take place, but are exceedingly hush-hush. The state oil giant Aramco, with thousands of non-Muslim employees, has long allowed services in its tightly guarded compounds in Eastern Province.Foreign communities also organise their own services, though most of the Christians in the country do not have access.Although private worship in homes is protected under government orders, many Saudis including the religious police are not aware of that and so Christians are particularly cautious of attracting attention.
  Hmmmmm.....The Saudi king getting treatment in a US hospital does atract more attention of course.Read the full story here.

• Iran : Travel ban for Iran reform leaders. Prominent opposition candidates of disputed 2009 vote, are barred from leaving country.Iran's two main opposition leaders have been barred from leaving the country, a prominent Iranian politician has said.Mousa Qorbani, a member of the judicial committee, announced the travel ban on Saturday for Mir Hossain Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi - reformist leaders who ran in the disputed 2009 presidential elections.The measures are part of a state-sponsored crackdown on the reform movement after the elections sparked nationwide protests against the ruling party over vote fraud allegations.The government accuses opposition leaders of being "stooges of the west'' and of seeking to topple the ruling system through street protests.Qorbani also suggested to put the leaders on trial after many mid- and low-level figures in opposition groups have been tried and sentenced to long prison terms.He said authorities had "recognised'' that Mousavi, Karroubi are "mohareb" - a term meaning that they are "fighting God". "Therefore, they are barred from leaving,'' he was quoted by state media as saying.Many other opposition figures who have been convicted were tried on charges of being "mohareb".Hmmmm....Fighting God or the President?Read the full story here.

• IHH to host welcome party for Marmara.Thousands expected to cheer flotilla ship back to home port in Istanbul after lengthy stay in Haifa.The Mavi Marmara, the main ship that participated in a calamitous flotilla to Gaza in May, is set to return to its home port in Turkey Sunday amid festivities planned by the IHH, the group that organized the flotilla.Bülent Yıldırım, the president of the humanitarian aid group whose assaulted IDF soldiers on board the Marmara, described before the press the welcome the ship would receive. "The ship was a symbol of conscience, and now it is a symbol of freedom," he said. The Marmara, which has been docking in Haifa port, will arrive in Istanbul through the sea after which it was named. On board are family members of the nine activists who were killed during the IDF raid on the vessel. In the meantime, another aid convoy is on its way to the Strip – the Asia 1, an "Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan", arrived Friday in Lebanon. According to the Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar, the convoy visited Sidon and the Hezbollah commemoration site in Mlita. It then continued to Syria, from where members are expected to fly to Egypt and transfer the goods by land. The convoy left New Delhi on December 1, and after being held up by the Indian authorities succeeded in leaving Pakistan for Iran on the 7th. They were welcomed by the Iranian president and other officials, and a number of parliament members joined them, according to reports. There are some 200 members altogether.Hmmmm....A dirty bomb underway to Gaza?Read the full story here. 

• Saudi school’s name changed for blasphemy.Saudi education authorities have decided to change the name of a local school called after a famous pre-Islam Arabian poet because he was not a Muslim, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom reported on Friday.Hatem Al Tai School in the northern town of Hail has been changed into Hatem School on the grounds the poet Hatem Al Tai was Christian, Sharq daily said.“Education sources said the decision to change the school’s name was because Hatem Al Tai was a blasphemous man who had lived during the Jahiliyya era before Islam…several intellects in the city criticized the decision and considered it as an act of fanaticism, which is hated in Islam.”Hatem Al Tai was a famous pre-Islamic Jahiliyyah Arabian poet. He was a Christian and belonged to the Ta'i Arabian tribe in north Saudi Arabia.Stories about his extreme generosity have made him an icon to Arabs up till the present day, as in the proverbial phrase "more generous than Hatem Al Tai.”Hmmmm......."more generous than Hatem Al Tai.”Who was a Blasphemer?Hmmmm.....Says a lot about them.Read the full story here.

• HT:TundraTabloids.In 'moderate' Muslim Malaysia :srtict Islamic state kept Brit a virtual prisoner at home.Shivaun Orten:‘I soon learned what it was like to be an Islamic bride,’ she said. ‘My husband insisted I live across the border in Terengganu, which is a strict Islamic state and which I call Taliban Land. I cannot go out by myself. I have to cover up. I am there to serve my husband and family.‘My husband on the other hand was out all the time, often with women and taking drugs. What angered me most was that the women were of no class at all, just tarts.‘It got so bad that in 2003 I packed my bags and got in the car. I had made it almost 200 kilometres and was within an hour of Kuala Lumpur and the airport and a flight back to London when I was stopped by police at a checkpoint near a town called Bentong.‘I was handcuffed and raped, twice each by two policemen, and one did it three times. My husband had phoned the police and set me up.‘He later admitted that he had said I was a runaway prostitute and told police to give me a warning before sending me home.’Read the full story here.

• HT:What'sUpWithThat.And now for something completely different ! Snowmageddon II: Monster blizzard to bomb New England?Merry Christmas! The best numerical weather prediction models in the world have been churning out 5-day forecasts for the past few days that will make someone pull their hair out. The main question is how far east will the major extratropical cyclone or blizzard develop over the Atlantic off of New England. The track details will determine who will get a dusting of snow and who could possibly get 1-2 feet. As the event unfolds,this post will provide additional links.From meteorologist Ray Hawthorne, fellow FSU grad:This is one of the most complex forecasts I’ve seen since the infamous, so-called Blizzard of 2000. There appear to be four distinct shortwaves — one along the Texas Gulf coast, another in the Middle/Upper Mississippi Valley, a third in the Middle Missouri Valley, and a fourth in western Ontario province, Canada.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• HT:AmericanThinker.The Palestinians' brilliant ''peace' strategy -- Drive a big wedge between the U.S. and Israel.You've got to give credit to the diplomatic and political savvy of the Palestinian Authority and its Fatah leaders, now only left with rule in the West Bank, while Hamas holds sway in Gaza.Not wishing to be outdone by Hamas in taking a hard line against Israel, PA President Mahmoud Abbas seized an opportunity, when President Obama took his turn at U.S. mediation last year, by insisting that, even before negotiations were resumed, Israel had to freeze all Jewish construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.And this is but Abbas's first Security Council gambit. How Obama handles it is bound to be interpreted as a signal of whether he would -- or would not.

1. veto a resolution endorsing Palestinians statehood along the 1967 lines.
2. another current Abbas priority in lieu of real negotiations.Either way, Abbas will have put Obama behind the eight ball and saved himself from having to make concessions that Hamas immediately would denounce as high treason -- a threat he's determined to avoid at all costs.When it comes to political/diplomatic tactics, the Palestinians are in a class by themselves. Israel doesn't even come close. Neither does Obama.Hmmmm....Only if you believe that Obama is not behind the whole idea in the first place?Read the full story here.

• Pakistan bomb attack kills dozens. At least 42 people killed and dozens injured after 'female suicide bomber' attacks town in northwest of the country.At least 42 people have been killed and some 60 others injured after a suspected suicide bomber attacked a crowd of people receiving food aid in northwest Pakistan.Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said that the incident took place on Saturday morning at a World Food Programme (WFP) distribution centre in the area of Bajaur."A lone suicide bomber penetrated into the crowd and then detonated his device and according to reports from the area there are high casualties."Fazal-e-Rabbi, a local police official, said that the bomber, dressed in a traditional women's burqa, first lobbed two hand grenades into the crowd.Rabbi said that the attacker, believed to be a woman, then detonated an explosive vest.No group has yet claimed responsibility for this attack.Our correspondent said that Bajaur is not equipped to deal with such incidents even in the best of times and hospitals are struggling to cope."It is a public holiday, both being Christmas and also the birthday of the founder of Pakistan, so doctors were called back to the hospital on loud speakers."Hmmm.....Merry Christmas.Read the full story here ,more here.

• HT:AmnonAndJonathan.Reminder.What Happened at the Church of the Nativity in April 2002?On April 2, 2002 armed Palestinian Arab terrorists forced their way into the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, one of Christianity's most sacred sites, the birthplace of Christ. In the midst of over 200 nuns and priests, they sought refuge from Operation Defensive Shield, the Israel Defense Forces action against suicide bombing activity originating from West Bank locations. For 38 days, until May 10, 2002, the world watched as the gunmen refused to surrender their positions inside the Church. Only Israeli restraint and respect for the Christian shrine prevented the Palestinian desecration from turning into its destruction.Why was the IDF in Bethlehem at the time? In December, 1995, Israel had turned over control of Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority, but the PA failed to quell terrorist activities. Quite the contrary; terrorism never stopped and after September 2000, increased dramatically with the al-Aqsa Intifada. In February and March, 2002, more than two dozen Israelis had died in five separate incidents of murder, bombings and gunfire within Israel and the territories, with over six dozen injured. In each case, the Fatah in Bethlehem claimed responsibility for the deaths.In the first days of April 2002, an IDF Paratroop Brigade moved into the area to seek out and destroy explosives, arms factories and related terrorist infrastructure. A heavily armed band of terrorist gunmen, trying to evade the IDF, moved into Manger Square but found IDF troops and tanks ready for them. That triggered a planned and premediated Palestinian Arab operation to take over the Church of the Nativity.IDF forces began negotiations to end the takeover. The Palestinian Arabs inside the church included many who were known terrorists and Israel demanded that they surrender. They were members of Palestinian groups on the U.S. Department of State Foreign Terrorist Organizations list, including several Hamas operatives who had killed innocent civilians. Also taking cover in the Church were Tanzim militia leaders from Yasir Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) who were involved in recent suicide bombings, plus members of the Al Aqsa Brigade.Israel identified the terrorist individuals by name and sought to take them into custody; the Palestinian Authority refused to transfer them into Israeli hands. Nor were representatives of other governments helpful in concluding the matter. An early agreement to end the standoff failed when Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi declined to accept the gunmen, saying that no one nation could be asked to take that responsibility, and the European Union needed to find an EU solution.Israeli negotiating initiatives for humanitarian services during the siege were also rejected. Several efforts to remove injured persons and bodies of the dead were stymied by Palestinian Arab refusal to cooperate, and when International Red Cross representatives, recruited for the task by Israel, adamantly refused to enter the Church.As IDF operations continued in the area, a nearby explosives laboratory was found and destroyed, and a large pipe bomb in an adjacent mosque was retrieved. Several Hamas and Tanzim operatives were arrested. Eventually some of the Palestinians inside begin surrendering, while occasional exchanges of gunfire occurred. Gradually, various church staff and trapped civilians were evacuated. One by one over time, 95 persons were released during the siege.Finally, on May 10, after 38 days, the crisis concluded with a negotiated plan. Thirteen "senior terrorists" departed for Cyprus by British aircraft, to be dispersed among various EU nations. Twenty-six more were transported to the Gaza Strip where they were to be put on trial for terrorism. But their arrival in Gaza was greeted with a celebration and they were treated as heroes. One hundred twenty-four other Palestinian Arabs inside the Church were set free.After the Palestinians' departure, the IDF was invited inside by Church officials to look for explosives or booby traps. An IDF spokesman said that 40 "explosive devices" were found in the Church compound. The IDF reported that seven Palestinians and no Israelis died in the confrontation at the Church.The Church was not seriously damaged, but cooking utensils, trash, and clothing were strewn around. The debris of the occupation, and the smells of the unsanitary conditions, lingered.Subsequent to release of the terrorists into European exile, more than fifty Congressmen wrote to United States Attorney-General Ashcroft, demanding that extradition be sought for two of them. Tanzim members Ibrahim Mussa Abayat and Jihad Yusef Halil Ja'ara had murdered an American citizen in Israel before fleeing to the Church of the Nativity. Under US law, individuals who commit acts of terrorism against American nationals may be prosecuted for such acts in the United States, regardless of where the acts took place. Congress has prodded the Executive Branch for enforcement of the law.Hmmmm.....Now Eight years later the Cross is being banned in Bethlehem in souvenir shops,thanks to the Palestinians their "Protection",how long before Christianitty is banned?Read the full story here.

• Indonesia: Radical Islamic Groups Gain Strength on the Sly: Setara.While the antics of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front frequently make headlines, other radical groups are working quietly behind the scenes to build a wide base of support, a nonprofit has said.The Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace on Wednesday released a report detailing how radical Muslim groups were shoring up their support by forging political alliances and embracing more liberal groups and moderate clerics.Another tactic highlighted in the report was for the groups to get their members appointed to the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), the country’s highest Islamic authority, in an effort to steer Shariah jurisprudence.The seven groups identified in the Setara report included the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), headed by Rizieq Shihab; Islamic Reform Movement (Garis), led by Chep Hermawan; and the Islamic People’s Forum (FUI), helmed by Muhammad Al Khaththath.NU and Muhammadiyah are the nation’s two biggest Islamic organizations and are considered moderate. The conservative PKS is the fourth-biggest political party in the country.“In 2005, Al Khaththath and the HTI’s Ismail Yusanto made it onto the MUI board,” the report said. “By the end of that year, he had been appointed to the counterterrorism team formed by Religious Affairs Ministry and the MUI.”The report also said that during the MUI’s national caucus in 2005, Al Khaththath was among those who “actively lobbied the MUI to issue an edict forbidding the practice of liberal Islam.”The council would go on to issue an edict “forbidding religious pluralism, liberalism and secularism.” It also outlawed the minority Ahmadiyah sect, branding it “outside Islam, false and misleading, and the followers can no longer be called Muslims.”Hmmmm.....Obama "Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance".Read the full story here.

• HT:Wachington'sBlog.The Oil BP Tried To Hide Has Been Discovered, In Thick Layers On the Sea Floor Over An Area of Several Thousand Square Miles.BP and the government famously declared that most of the oil had disappeared.But as I've noted, as much as 98% of the oil is still in the ocean.I have repeatedly pointed out that BP and the government applied massive amounts of dispersant to the Gulf Oil Spill in an effort to sink and hide the oil. Many others said the same thing.BP and the government denied this, of course.But the oil is not remaining hidden.Under federal direction, about 1.8 million gallons of dispersants were sprayed on the spilled oil in an effort to break it up into tiny droplets that natural ocean microbes could eat up. At the time, officials said the dispersants shouldn't cause oil from the spill to sink to the seafloor. However, more recently, a federal report said dispersants may have helped some spilled oil sink to the sediment.Scientific teams have reported in recent months finding a strange substance on the Gulf floor, in some cases as far as about 80 miles from BP's ill-fated Macondo well, which blew out in April and spilled an estimated 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf before it was capped."The chemical signatures are identical," said Mr. Hollander, who found the contaminated samples in an area of the Gulf floor off the Florida Panhandle. Although it's conceivable the tests could show a false match with the BP oil, "the statistical probability of something like that is unimaginable," Mr. Hollander said.The Journal noted on December 18th : Oil from BP PLC's blown-out well has lodged in the sediment of the Gulf of Mexico at levels that may threaten marine life, according to a federal report released Friday.There is no practical way to clean up the spilled oil that has settled deep in the Gulf, officials said, adding that microbes in the water could eventually eat it up.Hmmmm....Merry Christmas?Read the full story here.

• HT:SultanKnish.Hijacking the Internet.There has been a good deal of talk about Net Neutrality, but the Clinton Administration's internationalization of ICANN means that there's a much more serious threat to freedom of speech on the internet than even the FCC. A threat that hardly anyone is talking about.Here's a brief excerpt of a much longer piece :

1. 10) Further alterations to the geographical makeup of ICANN's Board of Directors would mean a considerable shift in power towards the Arab League, which would presumably vote as a bloc far more than preexisting Geographic Regions.
2. 12) Should the League of Arab States gain bloc voting power at ICANN, there is every indication that it will seek to replicate its effective takeover of the United Nations General Assembly, likely in conjunction with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
3. 15) On October 28, 2010, at OIC-CERT's Second Annual General Meeting, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu noted the following as a core mission of OIC-CERT: "In view of the phenomena of discrimination, stereotyping and defamation targeting Muslims and their religion known as 'Islamophobia,' we invite the OIC-CERT to use its available professional and technical resources (in line with its objectives stated in terms of reference) in order to cooperate with the 'OIC Islamophobia Observatory' to identify the best ways and means including technical, administrative and legal tools to combat anti-Islamic contents on the internet."The OIC has already effectively used the UN to push its censorship agenda. But the UN is virtually toothless when it comes to the United States. However if the Muslim world can dominate ICANN the way it dominates the UN General Assembly, then free speech on the internet is dead.Read the full story here.

• HT:BloggerBase.Defamation of Religions 2010.The General Assembly vote on the Defamation of Religions resolution [Word Document] was not unexpected, nor was the slight decline in support for the resolution.The resolution has no enforcement mechanism, it is an exhortation, not law. Unfortunately, it affords undeserved legitimacy to national blasphemy laws which are used to persecute minorities in Islamic dictatorships. To make matters worse, there is a parallel process whose outcome will be a binding protocol to ICERD which will be legally enforcible. The information I have gathered is reported in these blog posts:

1. Ad Hoc Cmte: They aim to add a protocol to ICERD to criminalize these blog posts.
2. Ad Hoc Cmte: Pakistan's Submission
3. U.S.A.'s Submission
4. African Submission
5. The Ad Hoc Cmte. Non-Paper Paper; crucial to comprehending the other documents!
6. Letter from OIC to Ad Hoc Cmte; This is about the drive to criminalize criticism of Islam.
7.  Our freedom of expression is almost safe until their next session.
8.  Competing Nigerian & American drafts in pursuit of a binding protocol to ICERD for the purpose of outlawing these blog posts..Human rights belong to humans, not to institutions. There is no human right to be shielded from criticism of evil actions or intentions which are propagated in the name of religion.Read the full story here.

• HT:BigGoverment.The Pigford Report !The Pigford Shakedown: How the Black Farmers’ Cause Was Hijacked by Politicians, Trial Lawyers & Community Organizers — Leaving Us With a Billion Dollar Tab.Hmmmm....Something smells awfully bad Ten miles against the wind and it aint the manure!Read the full scandal story here.

• HT:BloggerBase.How underfunded are the public pension plans in your state? The numbers are staggering! (Interactive chart).The crisis of grossly underfunded public pension plans.How badly underfunded are the public pension plans in your state? The interactive map below will give you an idea and the picture is not a pretty one. This is from a follow-on article from Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis in which he is specifically examining the looming crisis in New Jersey.The estimate of the unfundedpublic pension liability in the United States is an astounding $3 trillion as calculated by the American Enterprise Institute. This represents yet another ticking economic time bomb that will only be addressed when the situation grows dire and the states assumptions for returns on their portfolios prove impossible to achieve (i.e. New Jersey estimates are for an annual 8.25% portfolio return).Read and see the full story here.

• Saudi police shoot dead Al Qaeda suspect disguised as woman after he opened fire on troops at checkpoint.Saudi police have shot and killed a man dressed as a woman after he opened fire at the troops at a checkpoint southwest of the capital, Riyadh.The kingdom's Saudi Press Agency carried a police statement saying the shooter was traveling with another man in a vehicle in the Wadi al-Dawasir area on Friday.It says the man, believed to be an Al Qaeda militant, stepped out of the car and started shooting at security officials who had asked for ID papers.The police returned fire, killing the man. His companion was arrested.The police said the case was under investigation.Mansour al-Turki, the ministry's security spokesman, said: 'We have a strong suspicion it is Al Qaeda, but we are still trying to identify the dead man and questioning the detained suspect.'Read the full story here.

• FM: Iran with nuclear bomb will seek occupation of Gulf.Lieberman tells 'Newsweek' that best approach to conflict is "exchanging territory and populations," says biggest threat to PA is Hamas, not Israel.Speaking on Iran, Lieberman compared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Hitler, saying that the situation is "Exactly like in the ’30s. Everyone knew that Hitler was a problem, and the Western world sacrificed Czechoslovakia. Not enough sanctions [have been imposed] to prevent them [Iran] from acquiring nuclear capability."Lieberman said that is Iran acquires a nuclear bomb than "It’s clear that the first step will be occupation, de facto or de jure, of the Gulf countries," adding that Iran will seek to overthrow the Saudi dynasty.Asked where Israel fits in within this scenario, Lieberman said, "We’re next, you know. It’s like Hitler. First there was Czechoslovakia and afterwards Poland. But after that the Jews paid the heaviest price."Returning to peace with the Palestinians, the foreign minister commented that, "The Palestinians, when they speak in a closed meeting with you, they understand we’re not the enemy. The only one they can trust at the end of the day is Israel. What you have in the Middle East is tension not between Jews and Arabs, not between Israelis and Palestinians, but between the radical wing and the moderate people. The biggest threat for [Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam] Fayyad and [PA President] Abu Mazen is not Israel, it’s Hamas and [Islamic] Jihad."The foreign minister concluded by saying that if the Palestinians turn to the UN Security Council to ask for recognition of a state in 1967 borders, all the agreements signed since Oslo will be nullified, and that "they have have much more to lose than Israel from this step." Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Iraqi kills daughter recruited as Al-Qaida bomber.Baghdad: An Iraqi man killed his 19-year-old daughter after he discovered Al-Qaida had recruited her as a suicide bomber in an area north of Baghdad, a police spokesman said on Friday.Al-Qaida has been recruiting women for suicide attacks because they can pass police checkpoints easier than men by concealing explosives under an abaya, a loose, black cloak that conservative Muslim women wear. Suicide bombers have been al-Qaida's most lethal weapon in Iraq, killing hundreds of civilians and members of Iraq's security forces.The killing of the young woman was discovered when security forces, searching for her on suspicion she had ties to Al-Qaida, raided her father's home Thursday outside the former Sunni-insurgent stronghold of Baqouba, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, said Maj. Ghalib al-Karkhi, a police spokesman in Diyala province.The father, Najim al-Anbaky, was detained in the raid. During questioning he told police he had killed his daughter, Shahlaa, a month earlier because he found out she intended to blow herself up in a suicide attack for Al-Qaida, al-Karkhi told The Associated Press.Hmmmm.....A man of honor.Read the full story here.

• Europe’s Bad Weather Adds to Heathrow’s Woes.LONDON — Huddled together Thursday morning with hundreds of displaced passengers in a large semiheated tent outside Terminal 1 at Heathrow Airport, Dennis and Bonnie Barlow of Virginia were reviewing the high points of their vacation so far.First, they cruised the Mediterranean on the Brilliance of the Seas, the ship, now notorious, whose battle with hurricane-force winds and gargantuan waves became worldwide news. Then they decided to spend a relaxing day in London before returning home. That was Saturday. “I’m not trying to be negative, but they herded us in here and we have not been able to talk to anyone,” Mr. Barlow said of the tent, the latest step in a surreal odyssey in which the couple has tried mightily to find a flight to Washington, despite there being no flights and no information after a snowstorm five days ago. (At this point, there is no longer any snow, either.) The couple’s latest potential flight — to Frankfurt, from where they hoped to continue on to Washington — was scheduled to depart in a little over an hour, but passengers had been barred from entering the terminal unless their flights had been confirmed. The Barlows’ flight had not been confirmed.Mr. Mills, who was not traveling to Munich, said that the problems at Heathrow were indicative of a general lack of competence in Britain during the latest cold snap. “We’ve lasted two world wars, and we can’t even deal with some snow,” he said sadly, describing how the local government arrived to pour sand and salt on the icy roads near his house just as the ice was beginning to melt.As for Mr. Barlow, he said his experience at Heathrow had been far worse than his experience on the Brilliance of the Seas, which at one point listed at an 11-degree angle, shattering china and glass throughout the ship and slamming him, his wife, their possessions and a heavy table in a heap against their cabin door. “At least that was quick,” he said.Hmmm...."Happy Holidays"?Read the full story here.

• UN to hold summit in September to commemorate contentious 2001 racism conference.The U.N. General Assembly voted early Friday to hold a summit commemorating the 10th anniversary of the contentious U.N. conference on racism that was dominated by clashes over the Middle East and the legacy of slavery.The U.S. and Israel walked out midway through the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in the South African city of Durban over a draft resolution that singled out Israel for criticism and likened Zionism to racism.U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the United States voted against Friday's resolution for a commemoration of the 2001 conference "because the Durban declaration process has included ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Semitism, and we do not want to see that commemorated."David Harris, executive director of AJC, the American Jewish Committee, expressed "profound regret" that there will be a Durban commemoration."The global campaign against racism has been hijacked by countries that have little regard for human rights and whose primary goal is to advance highly political agendas," he said in a statement.Hmmmm.....It has come to the point that  ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Semitism are commemorated !Merry Christmas?Read the full story here.More here.

• HT:NortheastIntelligence.More evidence emerging that that Constitution supporters are considered threats.23 December 2010: A report published today by Kurt Nimmo states that a Department of Homeland Security fusion center in Florida conducted surveillance on Ron Paul supporters and other political groups. A law enforcement sensitive bulletin dated 4 June 2010, issued by the Central Florida Intelligence Exchange, identified one event hosted by Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty that was subjected to official intelligence monitoring by that arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Nimmo notes that the Central Florida Intelligence Exchange was established with the assistance of an $850,000 Department of Homeland Security grant, which is your tax dollars at work. The center is specifically tasked with looking for terrorist leads.As we detailed in our report dated 19 April 2009, over a year before the Ron Paul event and today’s article, we informed readers of the existence of a FBI directive issued in March, 2009 that tasked FBI field offices to collect specific times, dates and locations of TEA party and other similar patriotic events. A second directive was issued the following month directing domestic intelligence agencies to perform covert video surveillance and data collection of the participants of the TEA parties. The directive instructed that surveillance was to be performed from “discreet fixed or mobile positions” and was to be performed “independently and outside of the purview of local law enforcement.”We wrote at that time that we fully expected the government’s denial of the surveillance of the TEA Parties to “go viral” as soon as this story is posted. We were not disappointed, as U.S. government officials denied or declined to comment about any such surveillance conducted at the patriotic events as well as the directives behind the orders. Subsequent to the publication of our 2009 report, we have developed both direct and anecdotal evidence that traced the directives from the local FBI field offices to the DHS fusion centers, to the Holder Justice Department and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Ultimately, the orders to allocate important counterterrorism and intelligence assets away from the more logical threats of foreign nationals and Islamic terrorists has the imprimatur of the Obama administration and his cadre of national security advisors.As we wrote in 2009, “the implications to the citizens of the U.S. are ominous. It seems that there is a hostile political agenda coming from Washington that characterizes the supporters of our constitutional freedoms as threats to our domestic security, which is totally absurd. The redirection, the refocusing of domestic threats from al Qaeda cells to ‘flag waving right-wingers’ is something that has gone from a murmur a few years ago to a roar today.”Hmmmm......The enemies Obama talked about?Read the full story here.

• Protestors warn of anarchy if blasphemy law changed.Thousands of people rallied in major Pakistani cities on Friday threatening further protests and anarchy if the government moves to amend a controversial blasphemy law.A ruling Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker sparked outcry last month by seeking to end the death penalty for blasphemy, after a Christian mother of five was sentenced to hang for defaming the Prophet Mohammed.Demonstrators marched in the eastern city of Lahore, the port city of Karachi and the central city of Multan, after influential religious parties called for protests to defend the law.A crowd of nearly 1,500 people gathered in Lahore, calling for “Jihad” and pledging to sacrifice their lives to protect the honour of Prophet Mohammad. They also warned that attempts to soften the law would trigger nationwide protests.“Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and we will not tolerate any attempt to amend the law,” a leader of the pro-Taliban Jamiatul Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), Maulana Ahmad Khan told the participants.Leaders of JUI and radical Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party warned that the government would “face a strong reaction if Bibi was pardoned.””The government should forget about amending the blasphemy law as any attempt in this regard will prove fatal,” a local religious leader Yahya Ludhianvi said.Read the full story here.

• Muslim radicals colonising the country, Indonesian bishops say.Mgr Mathinus D Situmorang, president of the Indonesian Bishops of Conference’s (KWI), warned Indonesian political elites on a potentially serious threat to the national interest. The prelate, who is the bishop of Padang (Western Sumatra), delivered his word of caution during the admission ceremony for new members of the Indonesian Catholic University Student Association (PMKRI). In his address, he criticised the state for its powerlessness in the face of dozens of attacks carried out by Islamic fundamentalist groups against churches and Christians.Hmmm....Obama :"Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance".Read the full story here.

• Meet the newest Jihad Jane?Indiana Grandma Under Investigation for Possible Terror Ties.A 46-year-old, blue-eyed grandmother and U.S. citizen from Indiana is under investigation for her possible ties to suspected and convicted international terrorists, FoxNews.com has learned.Muslim-convert, Kathie Smith, 46, of Indianapolis, married a suspected German jihadist tied to the Islamic Jihad Union last year and has been flying back and forth between the U.S. and Germany as recently as two weeks ago.A pro-jihadist video featuring Smith and her husband is being investigated by the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center, a threat and counterterror intelligence analysis clearinghouse staffed by law enforcement officials from local and federal agencies, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security."Certainly, it's being looked at evaluated by Indiana State Police, which runs Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center, " Indiana Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Emily Norcross told FoxNews.com, adding that the video would be passed along to appropriate law enforcement for further investigation. "As a human being with a conscious, I can not idly stand by and watch "innocent" people being tortured and genocide which is what is happening to the Islamic world. This includes Palistine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indoneasia, Somaila to name a few."In the nearly six-minute video, under investigation, the Indiana grandmother and her husband, known online as Salahudin Ibn Ja'far, 28, appear posing and hugging and holding weapons interspersed with photos of known and suspected terrorists and assorted jihadist propaganda, like an Awlaki sermon album cover. There are photos of German Taliban Mujahideen and Daniel Martin Schneider, Eric Breininger and Houssain Al-Malla, members of the Saarland cell of Islamic Jihad Union charged with plotting failed terror attacks against U.S. targets in Germany, including Ramstein Air Force Base.In an email to FoxNews.com, Smith said of the Ramstein plotters featured in her video:"The so-called "jihadists" you have mentioned are actually personal friends of my husband from childhood. In the video he was expressing his love and gratitude to his friends, who have died fighting for freedom. Just like any other American or European citizen who displays pictures of soldiers who have died on their videos. There is no difference in gratitude and love. It is just that your government has deemed these noble men as "terrorists" because they are not on the same side. Least us not forget the Mujahideen who fought the Russians for the US. They were deemed "heroes" and lead by Osama Bin Laden at that time, and now because the government says so..they are "terrorists.""But in email messages, Smith told FoxNews.com she was just speaking her mind, writing:"I am exercising my right, as an American citizen to freedom of speech, religion, and the right to bare arms. I have the right in America to say what ever I want. That is what makes America so great, right?"But a paid government consultant aware of Smith's movements tells FoxNews.com there's concern that Smith will follow the path of Colleen LaRose, a suburban Philadelphian dubbed "Jihad Jane," who pleaded not guilty in March to conspiracy charges involving a plot to kill a Swedish artist and providing material support to terrorists."As we saw in the case earlier this year with the arrests of "Jihad Janes" Colleen LaRose and [co-conspirator] Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, Kathie Smith has been exhibiting classic signs of extremism possibly transitioning into violence. Her online postings on Facebook have been increasingly promoted acts of terrorism and statements by terrorist leaders, such as Anwar Al-Aulaqi," the contractor said."When her husband released the video earlier this month of the two of them holding weapons and included standard jihad imagery, such as pictures of German jihadists that have left to join terrorist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan or have been arrested for plotting terror attacks, we were concerned that they might be escalating to an attack themselves."Hmmmm....Sounds serious enough to me to investigate.Read the full story here.

• Chaos at European airports as Charles de Gaulle roof at risk of collapse from heavy snow and mass cancellations continue.Charles de Gaulle airport was in chaos Friday as more flights were cancelled and heavy snow threatened to collapse the terminal roof.Passengers at the airport were asked to leave a section of a major terminal for security reasons because of large amounts of snow on the roof, Bernard Cathelain, deputy director of the Paris airport authority ADP, said.He denied French media reports that the terminal, 2E, was evacuated, and said the terminal was still operating.'We've asked passengers to move' to another part of the terminal, he said.Read the full story here.

• HT:DougRoss.15 Bizarre Photos of the SoCal Mud Invasion--The Aftermath of "a Year's Worth of Rain in Just One Week".Read and see the whole "thing" here.

• Main Turkish opposition implores Obama to stop 'genocide' bill.The leader of Turkey’s main opposition has requested that U.S. President Barack Obama take all necessary steps to prevent a vote on an Armenian “genocide” resolution in the U.S. Congress.“Mr. President, I would like to devote my first letter to you to Turkish-American relations and international developments. However, as the vote about Armenian claims at the U.S. House of Representatives is on the immediate agenda, that obliges me to focus solely on this issue this time,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said in his letter sent to Washington on Thursday. The letter’s Turkish version was posted on the party’s official website.Calling on Obama to prevent the vote with immediate action, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “If you want the continuation of the goodwill of the Turkish people, than Mr. President, it is time to act. There are so many things Turkey and the United States will do together for the peace, stability, security and the prosperity of the world.”Hmmmm....“If you want the continuation of the goodwill of the Turkish people, than Mr. President, it is time to act"Sounds like a threat to me,we all know how Reagan or Bush would have acted against a threat ,but this "President" will say nothing and obey his Turkish allies.Read the full story here.

• HT:GlobalEconomicAnalysis.WSJ Reports New Jersey Pension Deficit at $54 Billion; Actual Deficit $174 Billion; Illinois, California, New Jersey Among Worst States.New Jersey’s pension gap grew to $53.9 billion in the last fiscal year, up from $45.8 billion, thanks to market losses and a lack of state funding, according to figures released Thursday.Gov. Chris Christie’s administration said the gap, which reflected the state’s investment positions as of June 30, highlighted the need for proposed cuts to current public workers’ pensions. The $53.9 billion figure reflects the difference between the retirement benefits the state has promised to roughly 780,000 state and local workers over the next few decades and the amount on hand to pay those benefits.In addition, an accounting practice called “smoothing” allows the state to factor market gains and losses over several years — meaning pension funds, on paper, are still feeling the effect of the 2008 market crash.Christie, a Republican, wants to reverse a 9% pension bump workers received in 2001 under a Republican administration. Unions argue their members have an irrevocable right to benefits they have earned. The governor has challenged the unions to meet him in court.Hmmm....Merry Christmas.Read the full story here.

• HT:parkwayreststop.Michelle Obama’s Christmas List.PRS Operatives have managed (Don’t ask) to get a copy of Mrs. Obama’s letter to Santa. Enjoy.Source.

• Police search Mumbai for 4 in alleged terror plot.Police searched India's financial capital on Friday for four men who authorities believe entered Mumbai to carry out a terrorist attack, a top police official said.Read the full story here.

• Related:Laskhar terrorists in Mumbai most likely not Indians.Four alleged members of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), who sneaked into the city to carry out "violent" attacks, could be "foreigners" and are believed to have infiltrated into the country from the Bangladeshi border, police said."The nationality of the four terrorists could not be ascertained yet, but they do not appear to be Indians. They could be from other country or countries," Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal told PTI.The city police yesterday said that four suspected LeT operatives have sneaked into Mumbai recently to carry out "violent" attacks with the aim of causing "destruction" ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations."The four jihadis were identified as Abdul Kareem Moosa, Noor Abu Ilahi, Walid Jinnah and Mahfooz Alam. The four recently sneaked into the city to carry out extremely dangerous activities," Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) Himanshu Roy had told reporters last night.A Crime Branch source said that Kalimuddin was a Pakistani and Sarif was from Bangladesh and both were suspected to be members of terror outfit HuJI.Read the full story here.More here.

• US issues terror alert for thermos on planes.The US Homeland Security has issued a terror alert on use of thermos on planes, saying terrorists might conceal explosives inside insulated beverage containers."The possible tactics terrorists might use include the concealment of explosives inside insulated beverage containers, so in the coming days, passengers flying within and to the US may notice additional security measures related to insulated beverage containers," said Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in a statement issued yesterday.TSA is responsible for maintenance of security at all US airports. US Homeland Security regularly alerts law enforcement about evolving terror tactics as counter terror officials learn about them through intelligence exchanges.While such items are not being banned from travel, TSA officers have been trained to detect a variety of threats including the concealment of explosives in common items, the statement said which has been issued in the midst of a heavy travel season.Clarifying that there is no ban on insulated beverages, TSA said at this time, insulated beverage containers are permitted in carry-on and checked baggage.TSA liquid policy still applies at the checkpoint, it added. Passengers traveling with insulated beverage containers can expect to see additional screening of these items using procedures currently in place, including X-ray screening, physical inspection and the use of explosives trace detection technology.As is currently the case, any item that alarms while undergoing X-ray screening will receive additional screening, to include the use of explosives trace detection technology.If TSA officers are unable to resolve the alarm, the item will not be permitted on board the plane, it said. Hmmm....Wouldn't profiling make things a lot easyer?Read the full story here.

• HT:HIDF.Falsely accused of killing spouse, doc jailed in Saudi.NEW DELHI: It was an ordeal that will haunt Dr Shalini Chawla for the rest of her life. Her husband died in his sleep of a heart attack in Saudi Arabia, where the couple worked. But she was told that he had converted to Islam and accused, without a shred of evidence, of poisoning him. That was bad enough. But Shalini was then put behind bars with an infant in a foreign land and later kept confined to a home for months with hostile people around her and the fear of death hanging over her every living moment. It was an ordeal that could have broken the strongest of people. But on Thursday, a day after she landed in the capital with her husband’s body, she was a picture of fortitude. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stood with folded hands at the Uthala ceremony. Dr Ashish Chawla’s body had finally been cremated at Nigambodh Ghat on Wednesday, bringing an end to a sordid tale of how human rights of Indians working abroad are violated.Speaking to TOI on Thursday, Shalini said, ”They put me in jail with my newborn child for a crime I never committed.” Ashish had never mentioned any intention of converting to Islam but the entire incident had assumed a communal colour and she was at her wits end. ”I lived with the two-year-old girl in the hospital complex when Shalini was sent to prison. Later, when she was released, we were so frightened. We could not go out fearing a backlash from the locals. We would go out only once a week,” recalled Uma Nagpal, Shalini’s mother. Barred from communicating with anybody, Shalini suffered severe mental trauma and agony. The case was now referred to the headquarters of the bureau of investigation and prosecution in Riyadh, which ordered a third autopsy by an independent panel of doctors. It was once again confirmed that Ashish had died of a heart attack. Finally, the file was closed, and on December 3, she was given permission to leave the country. Hmmm....Islam the religion of peace.Read the full story here.

• Muslims ‘comfortable’ in Britain, but still cautious.The latest sign of Islamophobia in Europe was the International Conference against Islamization, organized in Paris over the weekend. Participants -- from ultra-secularists to Marxists, from feminists to far-right activists -- discussed a number of issues such as blocking the construction of mosques in Europe, closing down supermarkets selling halal food and the rights of women and homosexuals.French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who engaged in a contest of Islamophobia with Marine Le Pen, the deputy leader of the National Front Party, ahead of the regional elections in early 2010, is expected to call Muslims’ praying in the streets “unacceptable” in his Christmas speech.In Britain police, intelligence units, the Foreign Office and NGOs have joined efforts to “prevent” Muslims from joining radical and violent movements. Following the July 2005 attacks, a “counter-radicalization” strategy known as “Preventing Violent Extremism” was introduced. The strategy is dubbed “Prevent” for short.Turks in Britain are believed to be connected with “underground” groups rather than with radical organizations. There are around 250,000 Turks in Britain. Police in the country are engaged in a tough fight against Turkish gangs that are involved in drug smuggling.During a visit of a group of journalists to the building of the British Foreign Office, I came across a weird photo. Just across a room of Turkish officials in the ministry was a photo of the Kaaba, the cube-shaped building in Mecca, which is the most sacred site in Islam, side by side with many photographs about bullets, missiles, land mines, nuclear weapons and terrorist attacks.The Kaaba photo was taken during a pilgrimage. Below the photo was another that displayed the scene and victims of a terror attack. I called our tour director and asked why the photo of Kaaba was being displayed along with photos of terror attacks. He said he did not have any idea and recommended that I direct my question to officials in the ministry. I directed the same question to officials at the Prevent program. They admitted that it is a mistake to display the photo of Kaaba along with photos of terror attacks. The unexplainable and mysterious Kaaba photo spurred Turkish journalists to wonder whether Islamophobia began at the Foreign Office.Hmmmm....Islamphobia...unfounded Fear,Islamosophia rational fear of the ideology of Islam.Read the full story here.

• Fresh humiliation for eurozone as China says it will bail out debt-ridden nations.China has said it is willing to bail out debt-ridden countries in the euro zone using its $2.7trillion overseas investment fund.In a fresh humiliation for Europe, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jiang Yu said it was one of the most important areas for China's foreign exchange investments.The country has already approached struggling European countries with financial aid, including offering to buy Greece's debt in October and promising to buy $4billion of Portuguese government debt.'To have any discernible effect China will have to buy a lot more than 5billion euros if they expect to have any impact on the negative sentiment surrounding Europe,' said Michael Hewson, currency analyst at CMC Markets.China's astonishing economic growth has put it on track to overtake America as the world's economic powerhouse within two years, a recent report claimed.But experts believed still be some years before America's leadership role is really challenged - largely because Beijing has given no indication it is ready to take on the responsibility of shepherding the world' economy.Read the full story here.

• Treasury defends 10,000 exceptions to Iran, other sanctions.The Treasury Department is defending its nearly 10,000 exceptions granted to companies to skirt around sanctions on Iran and other countries blacklisted as state sponsors of terrorism.The New York Times reported Thursday that the waivers were granted for companies ranging from Kraft to Pepsi, mostly under a law exempting agricultural and medical humanitarian aid from sanctions. But the billions in American business allowed through has included cigarettes, chewing gum and hot sauce.Other applications were approved on the basis that they served American foreign policy goals. In one instance, a company was allowed to help on a natural-gas pipeline job that enabled Iranian sales to Europe.A Treasury official speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters defended the decade worth of exemptions."These are not discretionary exceptions to U.S. sanctions made by Treasury," the official said. "Because the U.S. has the toughest and most comprehensive sanctions against Iran, allowing for the exportation of food, medicine and medical devices is consistent with our objective of not hurting the Iranian people."Hmmmm....Sanctions that "Byte" maybe?Read the full story here.

• NHS at the limit: Intensive care units almost full as swine flu takes its toll.Intensive care units across Britain are almost full as the NHS faces one of the worst flu outbreaks in a decade.Some hospitals have only one or two life-support machines left and critically ill patients are being transferred by ambulance to other trusts.Managers are drawing up emergency plans to transform operating theatres into makeshift intensive care departments to cope with the soaring demand.Senior doctors report that they are seeing the highest number of flu cases in more than 20 years and expect the situation to worsen over the coming weeks.Children’s intensive care units are under particular pressure and some of the largest departments in the country are full.Hospitals including Great Ormond Street in London, Manchester Children’s, Bristol Children’s and Alder Hey in Liverpool have reached full capacity or have just one or two beds left.The latest figures show that 302 people – adults and children – are in intensive care because of flu, taking up one in ten of all available beds.Father-of-four is latest victim of swine flu as health chiefs confirm virus has caused 24 deaths.In addition, 16 of the most seriously ill victims have been placed on heart-lung machines known as ECMOs which take blood out of their body and pump it with oxygen.Hmmmm....Vaccinations do save lives,have you had yours?Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Meet some of the world's largest Santas.Bangkok: Meet the elephant Santas of Thailand. They hand out presents, dance to music, and even perform with balloons regaling kids with their antics. The schoolchildren of the Thai town, Ayuttaya, near Bangkok cheered loudly on seeing the six elephant Santas. They jostled and tussled to snatch toys from the trunks of the elephants."I enjoyed it so much and I got a gift to bring back home," said a cheerful student."We bring elephants to get people to have more joy and happiness. For children, every time they see elephants, they feel happy and want to have activities with elephants," said Reangthongbaht, owner of the camp where elephants are kept. The elephants also munched hungrily on the bananas fed lovingly to them by the children.The kids went back home thrilled with their encounter with the giant Santas.Read and see the full story here.