MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• France starts removing Roma camps.France has begun dismantling illegal Roma (Gypsy) camps following a presidential order for 300 such camps to be removed.On Friday police were emptying a camp in the city of Saint-Etienne that had been home to at least 100 Roma.The Romanian Roma had been there in makeshift shelters and tents since May.

• North Korea:About 23 Christians arrested,3 executed.North Korea’s Stalinist regime has discovered some underground Christians in a house church in Pyongan Province. All 23 who met to celebrate a religious function were arrested. Three were tried and given the death penalty, which was swiftly executed, sources told AsiaNews. Confirmation about the incident also came from the North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, a group of North Korean exiles.

• Mandela charity official 'received Campbell diamonds'.The former head of Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Jeremy Ractliffe, has said he did receive uncut diamonds from the model Naomi Campbell."Three small uncut diamonds were given to me by Naomi Campbell on the Blue Train on 26 September 1997," he said in a statement sent to the BBC.

• Oregon girl not bitter after lemonade stir.The apology sweetened up some sour feelings and made 7-year-old Julie Murphy eligible to resume selling her Kool-Aid and water concoction for 50 cents a cup.Last week at a local arts fair, Julie and her mother were surprised when a county inspector asked to see their restaurant license.They didn't have one.The inspector told them they would face a fine of up to $500 if they didn't stop selling lemonade.

• Flat deaths mother Theresa Riggi charged with murder.An American woman whose two sons and daughter were found dead in Edinburgh has been charged with their murder.

• HT:WeaselZippers.Video:Boy Scouts Send President Obama a Little Message.Barack dissed the Boy Scouts and their 100th anniversary celebration but it looks like the young lads got in the last word … Heh.

• Video:Obama: My father served in WWII.Keep in mind that Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was 9-years-old when WWII ended. The president may have been referring to his step-father, Lolo Soetoro. But Soetoro was 10 when WWII came to an end.But in all fairness, Barack Hussein Obama has also stated in the past (bottom video) that his uncle was part of "the first American troops to liberate Auschwitz."When Auschwitz was liberated, the closest American troops were 600 miles away.It was the Russians who freed Auschwitz.Hmmm a psychiatrist might come up with"pathological ......"

•  HT:Amnon&Jonathan.Israel Demands Dismissal or Trial of Lebanese Officer who Opened Fire … or Else!Israel on Friday demanded the dismissal or trial of the Lebanese army officer who opened fire at Israeli soldiers in Tuesday's deadly tree-pruning operation that left dead and wounded on sides of the Lebanon-Israel border.Among the dead were a senior Israeli officer and two Lebanese soldiers and a Lebanese journalist.Israeli sources said Israel has threatened to "choose the appropriate method" in the event its demand was not met.

• Saudis suspend BlackBerry, company shares plunge.As of noon (local time), 700,000 Saudi subscribers cannot use their BlackBerry for e-mail, text messaging and internet. Citing security considerations, local authorities suspended its use because the information encrypted on the smartphone cannot be vetted. Algeria, UAE, Kuwait, Lebanon, India and Indonesia are looking at the possibility of doing the same. In the meantime, shares of the BlackBerry maker, RIM, plunge, wiping out US$ 2.7 billion in value.

• Saudi Blackberry service resumes.Blackberry services have been restored in Saudi Arabia, reports say.A ban on the use of the device for sending and receiving messages was due to have come into force.And locals said the handsets had stopped working for four hours.But there is no sign yet that the ban has been lifted. Earlier reports that Blackberry manufacturers RIM (Research in Motion) had found a solution to security issues raised by local authorities cannot be confirmed.

• Dutch woman held after 4 dead babies found in suitcases.A Dutch woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing four of her babies and hiding them in suitcases in the attic, police said.The human remains were found in the 25-year-old woman's home in the village of Nij Beets in the Friesland province.Update here by Google translator.

• Michelle And Sasha’s Excellent Spanish Adventure…At Taxpayers Expense!Mrs. Obama’s Spain vacation is one of eight she is taking this year."We feel your pain"Whatevah!

• HT:ElderofZion.Arabs worried that US will move embassy to Jerusalem.Al Quds al Arabi reports that there is concern among Arab analysts about the sudden US move to symbolically upgrade the status of the PLO mission in Washington.Their fear is that this was a precursor for the Obama administration moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, a move long favored by Congress and that would give President Obama a big boost among Jews in the US.

• Economy sheds 131,000 jobs in July.Employment fell for a second straight month in July as more temporary census jobs ended while private hiring rose less than expected, pointing to an anemic economic recovery.Mr president?Pardon....Ah Michelle...on the phone.. in Spain nice.... mosque ?

• 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll: Results of Arab Opinion Survey Conducted June 29-July 20, 2010.Among the most striking findings on the question of attitudes toward President Obama: Early in the Obama administration, in April and May 2009, 51% of the respondents in the six countries expressed optimism about American policy in the Middle East. In the 2010 poll, only 16% were hopeful, while a majority - 63% - was discouraged.

• Hearing set for soldier in Obama birth certificate case.A court hearing is scheduled for Friday in the case of an Army officer who has refused to deploy to Afghanistan because, in his view, President Barack Obama has not proven that he was born in the United States and is therefore ineligible to be president."The truth matters. The Constitution matters," he said. "If President Obama is a natural born citizen, then the American people deserve to see proof, and if he is not, then I believe the orders in this case were illegal."

• HT:WeaselZippers.Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Screw Obama, We’re Going to Check Immigration Status of All Criminal Offenders in Jail.

• Three Senators Oppose Ground Zero Mosque.Snowe, McCain, and Isakson call the mosque "insensitive".When asked about the shady dealings of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the founder of Cordoba Initiative and the American Society of Muslim Advancement (ASMA), the organizations behind the building of the Ground Zero mosque, Senator McCain was concerned: “If they move forward, that clearly needs to be investigated,” he told me.

• Arizona State Senator Who Crafted Immigration Law Says Obama’s Failure to Enforce Immigration Laws is an “Impeachable Offense”.

• Lockerbie Release Flawed.Scotland Lacked Medical Consensus in Returning Convicted Bomber to Libya.What was Scotland thinking?Follow the career of Tony blair?

• Chinese missile could shift Pacific power balance.U.S. naval planners are scrambling to deal with what analysts say is a game-changing weapon being developed by China — an unprecedented carrier-killing missile called the Dong Feng 21D that could be launched from land with enough accuracy to penetrate the defenses of even the most advanced moving aircraft carrier at a distance of more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles).

• HT:TheJawaReport.video:Follow Up To The Iranian Assassination Attempt on Ahmadenejad.

• Slave-labor conditions at Sherrods’ farm?Combined, the new 2010 allegations and the original 1974 allegations accuse Shirley and Charles Sherrod of:

          Paying farm workers as little as 67¢ per hour, far below minimum wage for the era.
        • Employing underage children to perform hard labor.
        • Compelling their employees to work in unsafe conditions, including getting sprayed with
           pesticides.
        • Firing any workers who acted as whistleblowers.
        • Forcing employees to work overtime in the fields at night with practically no advance notice.
        • Having a capricious payscale under which employees doing the exact same jobs were paid
          different amounts according to the whims of the managers.
        • Being unwilling to address the abuse even after it was raised by union representatives.
        • Seriously mismanaging the farm to such an extent that it went bankrupt.
          We must get rid of the whitey with his uncle Tom mentallity?

• Niqab Security Outrages at Canadian Airports.Today, Baird came out with a more assertive statement:"I'm the minister of transport, they validate my ID every the time," Baird told Ottawa radio station CFRA. "I do have one cabinet colleague that was denied entry to a plane because he forgot his valid ID at home. … We're going to get the facts first and then we're going to take all the action necessary to make sure that the current regulations are followed and followed to the letter."As for setting up special rooms where Muslim women can remove their veils away from other  passengers, Baird dismissed the idea as unworkable. "I have no intention of establishing special rooms at every single gate so that we can validate someone's identification," said Baird. "This is Canada, we're an open society, we're a society where men and women are treated equally."He also stated that anyone, veiled or otherwise, who puts up a fuss at airport security and refuses identity checks, ought to be arrested. "If people are intimidating and threatening airport workers doing security checks, we won't tolerate that in Canada. We're seeking 100% compliance not 99%."

• 'I never talk about weight with my girls,' reveals Michelle Obama.Michelle and her younger daughter Sasha toured the stunning Alhambra Palace as part of their visit to Grenada.Seems i won my bet about them visiting the Mosque,a pity nobody took it.

• Christian setup in suicide bomb attack on Zamboanga airport?The explosion occurred yesterday, causing 2 deaths and 24 wounded. The man was a respected person from the Christian community. According to AsiaNews sources the suicide bomber was in fact a victim. Police and army investigations reveal he that brought the parcel bomb inside the airport without knowing it.Now who would setup a Christan with an explosive device?Hmmm......silence?

• Dozens of swimmers poisoned by weever fish after warm weather leads to population explosion in British waters.British holidaymakers have been warned to beware the innocent-looking but dangerous weever fish after at least 30 beachgoers were poisoned in a week.The venom in its spines is a nerve poison and has a chemical in it which is one of the most potent pain producing substances known.