MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Authorities search for missing members of cult-like Palmdale group.Five adults and at least eight children are sought in what a CHP alert describes as a potential suicide plot. A sheriff's captain points out, however, that documents left behind don't mention suicide and the group has no history of harming themselves.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:GatesofVienna.Justice Must Not Be Made the Handmaiden of Sharia”.We have reported previously on the pending “hate speech” case against our Austrian correspondent Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff. The most recent post featured a CBN news report about her (links to the earlier articles are at the bottom of this post).For the last ten months Ms. Sabaditsch-Wolff has had the possibility of a formal charge hanging over her head, based on what she said last November in a seminar she gave about Islam. She has been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and now it seems that the red patent-leather stiletto heel of Austrian “justice” has finally thumped against the floor.The travesty of the matter is that Ms. Sabaditsch-Wolff did not learn of the charge filed against her through a court document.She received no official summons.It was not communicated through her lawyer.No, that’s not the way they do things in modern multicultural Austria. As is typical of the corrupt soft-totalitarian state known as the “European Union”, she learned of the official charge via the Austrian media.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Four dead including young child after woman goes on gun rampage in Germany.Four people are dead after a woman opened fire at a flat and then in a hospital in Germany last night before police shot her dead in a hail of bullets.A child is among the victims at the St. Elisabeth Hospital in the town of Lörrach in Baden-Wuerttemberg - not far from the site of the Winnenden massacre in March last year when teenaged gunman Tim Kretschmer killed 15 people with his father’s handgun before taking his own life.Two bodies - a woman and a child - were later found in the burned-out apartment and police said later they were certain the hospital shooter was responsible.'We were playing with the children in the garden when there was a huge explosion that shook the house,' said Ayed Centinier, who lives in the apartment block next door.There was no immediate explanation as to motive.The female killer then moved through wards at the hospital, shooting at staff and patients with a sub-machine gun. At least one police officer was hurt in the incident with a shot to the knee. At least one other person was seriously wounded by the woman.She shot dead a male nurse before hitting the policeman, who was at the hospital on a private matter and not part of the response team. He was in critical condition last night.It was as she opened fire on police who stormed the hospital after staff rang the emergency number that officers returned shots and she was killed.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Dutch anti-Semitism reaches record high.According to Dutch police statistics, the 48% increase represented 209 reported anti-Semitic incidents in 2009.“CIDI and the gay rights organization COC called on the upcoming government of the Netherlands – whose makeup is being determined in coalition talks following a recent election – to address the growing anti-gay and anti- Jewish trends apparent in the report,” CIDI noted in its statement.Dutch observers say that the Netherlands’ 1 million Muslims (about 5% of the population), largely from Morocco, coupled with anti-Israel leftists have contributed to a hostile climate for Jews in the Netherlands.The tolerant country where Anne Frank lived is long gone!Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Gingrich Calls For Federal Ban On Shariah Law In US.The second morning of speeches at the Values Voter Summit here in DC was dominated by a man who is swiftly becoming the nation's spokesperson for Islamophobia -- former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Fresh off the release of his Islam-focused film "America At Risk," Gingrich told the crowd at VVS that it's time to take federal action to prevent Shariah Law from infiltrating courtrooms in the US."We should have a federal law that says sharia law cannot be recognized by any court in the United States," Gingrich said to a standing ovation from the audience. The law will let judges know, Gingrich said, that "no judge will remain in office that tried to use sharia law."Hmmm President Gingrich sounds suddenly great to me.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Tourists in New Delhi Shot Amid Security Concerns.NEW DELHI – Two armed assailants riding a motorcycle opened fire on a tourist bus parked outside of New Delhi’s most famous mosque on Sunday in an attack that comes as the city prepares to host the Commonwealth Games in two weeks. Two Taiwanese tourists were injured in the shooting, which occurred outside of the Jama Masjid at 11:30 a.m., police said. The two attackers indiscriminately fired seven or eight rounds into the bus before escaping on their motorcycle as a nearby police officer tried to give chase. A citywide manhunt was underway for the two attackers.“It is difficult to say what the motive is,” Karnail Singh, the New Delhi joint police commissioner, told reporters.The BBC’s Hindi-language channel apparently received an e-mail taking responsibility for the attack from the Indian Mujahideen, a group the Indian government considers a terrorist organization. The group said it would target the Commonwealth Games.“We know that preparations for the Games are at its peak, beware, we too are preparing in full swing for a great surprise,” the e-mail said, according to local news reports.Islam the religion of peace?Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Islamic Saudi Academy: Fairfax Plans October 19 Hearing!The many Virginia and national voices who have opposed over the last two years Fairfax County leasing its land to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia for the operation of the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) will have an opportunity on October 19 once more to tell local politicians that they don't want the ISA operating on public land in Fairfax County. Genuine and continuing transparency of both the curriculum and the practices of the ISA to ensure the school is not an academy for Shariah should be a condition precedent, in our view, to any such rental of Commonwealth land.The October 19 Fairfax County Board of Supervisors hearing on extending the lease is a sovereign opportunity to insist that the curriculum and teaching practices of the Islamic Saudi Academy be wholly and continually transparent if that school is to be allowed to conduct further operations on land belonging to the Commonwealth.The two best witnesses to speak to the Fairfax Board in the ISA matter would be 10th District U. S. Representative Frank Wolf and 11th District House of Representatives candidate Keith Fimian.Their appearance in person at the hearing would concentrate the supervisors' minds wonderfully, and would get across the point that facilitating with public resources any propagating of Shariah is a national concern. For the Shariah costs to the fabric of our society would clearly outweigh whatever rental revenue Fairfax County might receive from the Royal Saudi Embassy.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:BacktoBasics.Union Bosses Blow Pension Funds on Politicians – Now Want Government Bailout.The election cycles of 2006 and 2008 cost the labor unions many, many millions of dollars to get all those liberal Democrats elected and reelected to Congress and the presidency.Where did those bribe bucks come from? Were they in some union slush fund? Do you suppose that all those bribes came out of the pension fund money that the suckers, er, members paid into for retirement benefits? It is becoming common knowledge that the various union pension funds may not be there when Joe or Jane ‘lunch pail’ retires.That is why the union bosses are banging on the doors of all of the liberal Democrats’ looking for payback; payback in the form of “stimulus” or “bailout” tax dollars for getting them elected plus unfair legislation that would take away the secret ballot when union strong-arm tactics are needed to increase membership numbers.Now if the truth were really known, those libs would most likely have been elected and reelected without all those bribe bucks being paid out given the anti-establishment atmosphere and animosity against the incumbent Republicans at that time.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• PLO: Goal of peace talks is to delegitimize "rebellious, racist" Israel.The PLO's ambassador to Lebanon says that the current peace talks "are not a goal," but just another stage in the Palestinian attempt to undermine Israel's legitimacy. The Palestinian Authority official daily reported that the Ambassador Abdullah Abdullah described the peace talks as part of a broader process to isolate Israel, "threaten its legitimacy" and present it as a "rebellious, racist state."Abdullah indicated that this goal to call attention to Israel's "war crimes" and isolate it, as was done to South Africa, is already being realized: "Many Israelis in senior positions are afraid to travel to European countries lest they be put on trial for their crimes."Hmmm i believe for once they spoke the truth about their intentions.I still don't understand why Israel even would consider to talk to them?Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• For God and Country: The Rise of a Religious IDF.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has always had a certain biblical element to it. Top IDF commanders, be they religious or secular, have never shied away from invoking biblical military heroes to inspire their troops. But the IDF has also always a bastion of neutrality in a nation increasingly torn down a religious-secular divide.That is why researchers at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv expressed surprise last week when the vast majority of Israelis said they didn’t care that a growing number of IDF commanders are from the national-religious camp.In contrast to the ultra-Orthodox movement, religious Jews belonging to the national-religious camp all serve in the army, hold down regular jobs and see the modern State of Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. They are usually characterized by knitted skullcaps, or kippas.So, it should come as little surprise that left-leaning Israelis are keen to hurry through their mandatory service and get out of the army, while religious, biblically-focused Israelis are increasingly motivated to make a career out of their military service.Hmm a motivated soldier is worth more.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Obama makes rare church appearance in Washington.President Barack Obama, who invoked his own Christian faith recently in seeking to quell anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States, attended church in Washington on Sunday for the first time in about five months.The morning sermon at St. John's dealt with Luke 16:1-13, the parable of the dishonest steward that ends with the admonition "you cannot serve God and wealth."God he must really need the votes?Read the full comedy story here.Click here for comments.

• Rep. Meeks helped 'jihad' flier.Queens Democrat: Ease JFK grill of Osama 'ally'.The Queens Democrat contacted federal agencies -- finally appealing to then-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff -- asking why Anwar Hajjaj faced "unwarranted scrutiny" when he returned to the United States from trips abroad through JFK Airport. Meeks described Hajjaj as a "highly regarded" professor of Islamic studies who leads Friday Muslim prayers at the Capitol.But The Post has learned Hajjaj also headed the Taibah International Aid Association, a charity that has been accused of funding Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. The group was co-founded by Abdullah A. bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's nephew, who has been investigated for his ties to groups that have funded al Qaeda and Hamas.Hajjaj is also director of another Virginia-based nonprofit, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth International, or WAMY. It was also founded by bin Laden's nephew and said to support al Qaeda. The group's 2005 federal tax form, the most recent available, is signed by Hajjaj, who is listed as director. Hajjaj, 65, told The Post that he was routinely harassed and sometimes missed flights when he traveled to and from Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage to Mecca."It was an awful experience under the Bush administration," he said. "Now under Obama, I have no complaints."He said he asked Meeks to write a letter on his behalf. He said he knew the Democratic lawmaker through Jameel Aalim-Johnson, Meeks' chief of staff from 2006 to early 2008."Now under Obama, I have no complaints."With such friends you don't need enemies?I bet they probably question Orthodox Jews now?Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Moscow Mayor Leaves Russia Amid Doubts About Fate.Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov left the country today amid growing speculation that he could be dismissed.Luzhkov's spokesman, Sergei Tsoi, told state-run RIA news agency that the mayor planned to spend a week in Austria on a break.A close ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Luzhkov and his billionaire property mogul wife Yelena Baturina are viewed as having fallen out of favor.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Indonesian Christians in Standoff With Police After Being Prevented From Using Their Church.Dozens of Christians held prayers inside their boarded-up church near Indonesia’s capital Sunday, saying they had as much right as anyone to worship in the world’s most populous Muslim country.They were surrounded by hundreds of police and unarmed security guards.Using bullhorns, local officials reminded members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church they were banned from the site following an attack on two church leaders by suspected Islamic hard-liners.“We just want to carry out our obligations as Christians, but authorities are treating us like terrorists,” said Advent Tambunan, a member of the congregation in the industrial city of Bekasi.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Dutch police hold British 'terror suspect' in Amsterdam.A British man of Somali origin has been arrested at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on suspicion of being a terrorist, Dutch prosecutors say.He had arrived from Liverpool en route to Entebbe in Uganda, they said.A police spokesman said the man had been arrested before a flight took off from the airport, one of Europe's busiest, on Sunday morning.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:IslaminEurope.Islam in Europe: Brussels: No pork served in half of Dutch speaking schools.Vlaams Belang checked how many school kitchens have adapted to 'the multicultural context' in the Dutch-language educational system in Brussels.  Slightly more than half of the 61 schools they've surveyed do not serve pork, so as not to disgust the Muslim community.  12% of the schools serve halal exclusively."Appaling," says Brussels fraction chairman Dominiek Lootens, who calls halal slaughter 'barbaric".  Vlaams Belang says it's unprecedented that non-Muslim children are forced to eat halal meat, often without their or their parents' knowledge.Lootens says this is yielding to the pressure of radical Muslims who demand that people blindly follow Sharia.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:BigPeace.How Does Shariah Define Jihad?Shariah – the law derived from Islam’s foundational documents – defines the Islamic doctrine of the universal obligation to jihad against non-believers.The question is, What is meant by “jihad”? Is it merely a personal struggle to sacrifice for God and be the best possible Muslim? Or does jihad mean holy war, the pursuit of a global Islamic state known as a caliphate, that rules in accordance with shariah?The Center for Security Policy’s “Team B” studied the question in its recent report, Shariah – Threat to America. On September 17, BigPeace ran Team B’s answer to the question, “What is Shariah?“ Today we summarize the Team B report’s findings on shariah and jihad.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Obama Misleads (Again?) on Citizens United in Political Hit on GOP.In his weekly address, President Obama repeated his claim that the Citizens United ruling would allow "foreign-controlled corporations seeking to influence our democracy... to spend freely in order to swing an election toward a candidate they prefer."In fact, Citizens United did not change existing FEC law that blocks foreign contributions to political campaigns (FEC regulation 11 CFR 110.20(i)) Justice Kennedy even noted in his majority opinion: “We need not reach the question whether the Government has a compelling interest in preventing foreign individuals or associations from influencing our Nation's political process.”Read and see the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Colin Powell critical of President Obama.Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican who endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president in 2008, said on Sunday the president needs to “shift” his approach with voters feeling overloaded by a series of new laws that expand the scope of government.“The president also has to, I think, shift the way in which he has been doing things,” Powell said on NBC’s "Meet the Press." “I think the American people feel that too many programs have come down. There are so many rocks in our knapsack now that we're having trouble carrying it.”Powell declined to say whether he would endorse Obama in 2012, adding that he will evaluate both candidates as the election draws closer.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Unions Struggling to Get Members to Rally Behind Dems.Unions have been bitterly disappointed by Obama. When they voted for him only 2 years ago they thought that they had won the battle for all the freebies and payoffs that they'd ever want. But they've been frustrated by key losses -- such as an inability to get cap and trade, green initiatives, and their most desired legislation the Employee Free Trade Act (EFCA).Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• David Brooks on the Faults of the Tea Party — Faults That MOST DEFINITELY!!!1!!1! Are Not Shared by Obama.David Brooks on the Tea Party:Along the way, the movement has picked up some of the worst excesses of modern American culture: a narcissistic sense of victimization, an egomaniacal belief in one’s own rightness and purity, a willingness to distort the truth so that every conflict becomes a contest of pure good versus pure evil.It’s good to know none of this applies to the Democrat party!Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Getty Images anti Palin bias? 'Woman dressed as Sarah' photo (tattoo & navel).One glimpse and this photo, of a group focusing on the black movement within the Tea Party, followed by a read of the official Getty blurb that accompanies and it's immediately apparent something is way off kilter.There's absolutely nothing wrong with the tattoo or the way she is dressed - but, But, BUT! - pray tell, in what way is this woman dressed as Sarah Palin? Is this an example of anti- Palin bias from Getty Images or did someone make an error? Does this sort of thing help Obama in Elections 2010-12?Read and see the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Truth Is the New Hate Speech: Long Past Time to Overthrow the Media and Save Ourselves.In the latest issue of the New Yorker, in a piece called “Intolerance,” Lawrence Wright compares me to the radical Danish imams who incited the Islamic world to riot over the cartoons of Muhammad that appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Ironic, isn’t it, when we are so tolerant of a fatal ideology, and worse, a subversive, dangerous media is shilling for our mortal enemy.The good news is that the American people have been burned too many times (see 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue); they are not buying it this time. The media, in its last gasps, is pulling a Baghdad Bob, and the Islamic machine is in full throttle.This is the derangement of the left. Their invective is so destructive and polarizing, it is painful to watch. It’s a voyeuristic window into a sick mind, and yet this is the accepted narrative. The norming of spewing the most vile propaganda. And then they carry out relentless attacks on every single person who deviates from their hateful and fascist rhetoric. All neatly packaged and served up to the American people everyday, every way, everywhere. As if this were normal.Responsible journalism is dead. Nail, meet coffin.This is what we are up against, and they have the whole culture in a chokehold. It’s going to get ugly, folks. Steel yourselves.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• China Halts Talks With Japan in Growing Dispute.China suspended high-level government exchanges with Japan, significantly escalating the two countries' worst dispute in five years, after Japanese authorities extended the detention of the captain of a Chinese fishing boat detained near disputed islands in the East China Sea.Beijing also threatened "strong countermeasures" following Japan's decision, which could provoke fresh nationalist protests across China this week and potentially damage commercial relations between the world's second- and third-largest economies.China and Japan have frequently clashed over the unpopulated islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, and the Senkaku in Japan, whose waters are thought to contain substantial natural-gas reserves, but this year's row has graver implications for both—and the U.S.—as China is rapidly acquiring the naval power to enforce its claims.It is being closely watched by many other Asian countries—including India, Vietnam and the Philippines—which have territorial disputes with China, and which have concerns about China's expanding naval power.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Hypocritical Mexico is now building their own wall on border with Guatemala...press ignores.The Inter-Press Sevice (IPS) is reporting that the head administrator of the Mexican Superintendency of Tax Administration, Raul Diaz, has confirmed that his government is building a wall in the state of Chiapas, along the Mexican/Guatemalan border. The official reason is to stop contraband from coming into Mexico, but as Diaz admitted: “It could also prevent the free passage of illegal immigrants.”According to Mexico's National Commission on Human Rights, 500,000 people from Central America cross into Mexico illegally every year.Just as Mexican authorities have opposed the construction of a fence by the U.S., along our border with their country, Mexico is now receiving a great deal of criticism from the Guatemalan government.The executive coordinator of the National Bureau for Migration in Guatemala, Marila de Prince, told a local newspaper: “It is not a correct measure being taken by the Mexican government.”Read the full story here.Click here for comments.