MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Row over Israel to dominate UN atomic watchdog meeting.A bitter row over Israel's assumed nuclear arsenal looks set to dominate the annual general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency which begins Monday.Every year at the week-long conference which brings together all 151 member states of the IAEA, Arab nations table a resolution urging Israel to foreswear atomic weapons and sign up to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).Because the resolution is non-binding and the Jewish state -- believed to be the only Middle East power to possess nuclear weapons -- steadfastly refuses to become a signatory of the NPT, it is purely symbolic.Washington's concern is shown by the decision to fly in President Barack Obama's top nuclear advisor, Gary Samore, to Vienna last to try and persuade Arab nations to drop their resolution.The annual conference, scheduled to run from September 20-24, will be opened with a message from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday, followed by the opening address by IAEA chief Amano.Read the full story here.Click here for comments. 

• Shooting at Fort Bliss Army Base.A shooting at Fort Bliss Army base in Texas forcing the area into lock-down Monday afternoon, U.S. Army officials confirmed to Fox News.Officials said shots were fired inside Shopette, a convenience store on base. They are sealing off the area and closing the gates at Fort Bliss.Details about the identity of the shooter or about possible casualties are still unclear.A press conference is underway.Update:Two people were killed during a shooting on Fort Bliss Army base in Texas, officials said.Law enforcement arrived on scene and killed the person they believed to be the shooter, officials said. Details about the identities of the victims and of the shooter remain unclear.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Ground Zero Mosque Imam: “I’m a Loyal American, Just Look at my Voting Record,”… Records Show He Hasn’t Voted Since 2001, Not Even Registered Anymore.The leader of the Ground Zero mosque, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, yesterday said he's a loyal American, and cited his voting record to prove it.The only problem is that, according to Board of Elections records, Rauf hasn't voted since 2001. In fact, New Jersey records show that he's no longer registered in his home state, The Post has learned."I vote in elections, I pay taxes, I pledge allegiance to the flag, and I am a Giants fan -- I am glad they won yesterday," Rauf quipped during a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday.But New Jersey records show that Rauf, once a registered Democrat, voted last in November, 2001, when Jim McGreevey was elected governor.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Obama says military action against Iran not ideal.U.S. President claims military action is an option but army commanders warn of region destabilization.U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that Iran having a nuclear weapon would be a "real problem" but he did not think military action by Israel or the United States was the "ideal way" to solve the crisis."We continue to be open to diplomatic solutions to resolve this," Obama told a town-hall style meeting on CNBC.The thing with bullies is they're usually cowards! Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• A Mosque at Ground Zero? Sure! A Synagogue in Litchfield, CT? Now, That's a Zoning Violation!Chabad shul too revolutionary, says Connecticut town.Trial expected after federal judge finds evidence of “discrimination against Jewish people.” Chabad’s federal suit contends that, under the US and Connecticut constitutions and federal law, the borough violated Chabad’s religious freedom and denied it the right to expand its building to the same size as Christian churches in the historic district.US District Judge Janet C.Hall wrote in her July ruling on pretrial motions, “Several statements were made in what appear to be meetings of the [historic district commission] that may contain evidence of discrimination directed against Jewish people in general and the Chabad in particular.”Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Iran and Syria to back Hezbullah coup in Lebanon? At a brief Saturday meeting in Damascus on his way from Tehran to New York, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad agreed with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the two would support a Hezbullah coup against the Lebanese government, according to a report by DEBKA which has been picked up Lebanon's Naharnet.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Muslim man disgusted with Chicago Politics tries to bomb Wrigleyville.A 22-year-old Chicago northsider Lebanese man, Sami Samir Hassoun, who is disgusted with Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago politics is in custody for allegedly attempting to bomb the Wrigleyville bar district on Saturday night.according to a law enforcement source close to this author, is a “devout Muslim and permanent legal resident from Lebanon.” He appeared on the radar screen of federal authorities in early June, when he solicited assistance and advice from associates to “wage jihad on the streets of America.”Authorities were tipped off by a co-worker of the man, and the bomber was caught in the act of carrying out his plan.In June, HASSOUN was directed to an undercover FBI agent whom he believed was a “jihadist contact.” HASSOUN “worked” with the undercover agent through August, at which point he decided to plant a powerful “anti-personnel” bomb in a crowded area near Wrigley Field last Saturday night. While under direct FBI surveillance, HASSOUN was provided with a realistic looking but inert bomb and given instructions on how to use it. Agents arrested HASSOUN as he placed the inert bomb inside of a trash container in an area filled with people and popular night spots near the corner of Eddy and Clark Street, about one block south of Wrigley Field.Sami Samir Hassoun allegedly admitted to planning to blow up Willis Tower or locations along Chicago's Lake Michigan lakefront. He is being arraigned in Chicago this afternoon.Read the full story here and here.Click here for comments.

• “We pray for peace in Ayodhya,” Card Gracias says, against possible Hindu-Muslims tensions.On 24 September, an Indian court will rule on the destruction of the Ayodhya mosque in Uttar Pradesh and the Hindu-Muslim clashes that followed.The verdict, according to the cardinal, “could lead to violence between Muslims and Hindus. Clashes would in turn raise tensions and cause social disorder. As spiritual leaders in India, we have called on all the faithful to pray for our beloved homeland, especially for peaceful acceptance of the sentence. [However,] we fear that someone might resort to unlawful methods to express their dissatisfaction with the ruling”.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Health Care Law : 61% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law.Sixty-one percent (61%) of Likely U.S. Voters now at least somewhat favor repeal of the new national health care law, including 50% who Strongly Favor it. That’s up eight points from a week ago and the highest level of opposition measured since late May. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 33% of Likely Voters oppose repeal. Since the passage of the bill in late March, a majority of voters have consistently favored repeal of the new law, with support ranging from a low of 53% to a high of 63%.Only 33% say the health care plan will be good for the country, the lowest level measured since late July. Fifty-six percent (56%) disagree and believe the new law will be bad for the United States.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• I'd do it again, says Dishonour killer.Every year hundreds of women are killed by their husbands or brothers or another male family member for supposedly bringing shame on their families.In many countries the honour killers are given leniency. Many men are not charged, or they spend only a few days or weeks in custody.But Palestinian human rights groups have recently drafted their own amendments to have them treated as murderers.Khaled Mahmoud, 21, admits beating his sister to death last year in the West Bank."She has made very wrong decisions," he said.As brother and sister they were close, yet Mahmoud says she made the unforgivable mistake of sleeping with another man, a Christian, and brought enormous shame on the family.I refuse to call them"honor"killings, there's no Honor in murder, to me they are Dishonor killings.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• PA affirms death penalty for land sales to Israelis.The PA says the land law is necessary to prevent the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.The PA later drafted its own law to replace the Jordanian statute. The law is called the “Property Law for Foreigners.”Hahahahaha!What a joke!Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:Investigativeproject.Iman Rauf's Group Claims Credit for 'Training' NY Times Reporter.A reporter who helped write the first and positive New York Times story on the Ground Zero Mosque was trained by the group run by mosque leader Feisal Abdul Rauf, according to that group's website.Rauf's organization, the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), touted the journalist's participation in a training program by ASMA's "Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow" (MLT)."Media trainings showed immediate results," Yeah i bet!ASMA's 2009 year-end report said.Rauf's group then cited Sharaf Mowjood, "a journalism student at Columbia University and trained at the MLT [Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow] conference, wrote a compelling story about the Muslim community's plan to establish a center near Ground Zero. The story was published on the front page of the New York Times with Sharaf as co-author." The article appeared in the Dec. 9, 2009, edition of the New York Times.Rauf, the force behind the mosque near the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, started ASMA in 1997 as an organization to promote Muslim values. As the Investigative Project on Terrorism reported earlier this month, ASMA's application for tax-exempt, church status from the Internal Revenue Service included a number of questionable assertions. Among them, the group – originally called the American Sufi Muslim Association – promised to build a "permanent large scale prayer center in New York City," and claimed to be operating as a prayer center for between 450 and 500 daily worshipers.The promised building never materialized. The address given for the existing prayer services turned out to be an Upper West Side apartment building with no space large enough to hold such daily crowds.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Anti-Immigrant Party Gains Seats in Swedish Parliament.Sweden's prime minister sought help from the opposition Greens on Monday to avoid a political deadlock after an Islam-bashing far-right group spoiled his center-right government's control of Parliament.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• China, Japan Appear Headed For Bruising Encounter Over Fishing Incident.A temperamental trawler captain is at the center of an increasingly bitter row between Asia's two biggest nations, China and Japan. The Chinese fisherman, Zhan Qixiong, stands accused of deliberately ramming his ship into a Japanese patrol boat early this month in the East China Sea.The incident, which normally would be considered relatively minor, occurred in disputed waters near islands claimed by both nations.Ministry spokesman Ma Zhouxu promised further actions if Japan acts -- as he put it, "willfully" -- "making mistake after mistake, China will take strong counter-measures, and all the consequences will be born by the Japanese side."A popular Chinese tabloid, "Global Times," as reported by Reuters on September 20, runs a robust editorial even hinting at military action."China should use enough resources and force, and be prepared to sustain losses, because if we don't, Japan will go further down the path of a hard line toward China, and conflict that erupts between China and Japan will be even more intense," the editorial said.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Lockerbie Bomber 'Can Get Out of Bed, Walk'."I was very relieved to see him as well as he was. He is a very sick man but he can get out of bed and walk though not very far," the 74-year-old told AFP. "I think one of the reasons he has lived so long is he has had good treatment in Libya and he has been returned to his family and his community and his country.Scottish and British officials have already turned down requests to appear at Senate committee hearings in Washington. Tony Hayward, the outgoing chief executive of BP PLC, also declined to attend.Some U.S. legislators have expressed concerns that oil giant BP — seeking better access to Libyan oil fields — may have pressured officials to approve Al-Megrahi's release, a claim strongly disputed by ministers in Scotland and London.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Building sand castles on Florida’s beaches is illegal, feds tell oil-hunting reporter.Ever go to the beach and not think of slapping together a sand castle? And who doesn't enjoy the feeling of wet, warm sand between her toes?According to federal authorities who recently intercepted an oil-hunting reporter on a Florida beach, those activities have been deemed "illegal."Shovel men at the ready, it did not take Thomas long to uncover splotches of oily crude less than a foot below the surface. Within seconds, his report had shown that BP's cleanup efforts, which have been limited to just the top six inches of sand in most cases, are not entirely effective.That's when a representative of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service showed up, demanding he produce a permit to use shovels on a public beach."Are you digging for oil product?" the official asked. When Thomas did not immediately confirm his intentions, the man threatened to call law enforcement and advised the journalist to move down the beach.Moments later, an officer of the National Parks Service was demanding the reporter identify himself, insisting over and over, "you can't dig.""So, no sand castles?" Thomas asked. "None of that, huh?""You're right," the officer replied.BP has previously been accused of burying oil-coated beaches with clean sand shipped in from other locations, but conclusive evidence proving the claim have yet to surface.Read the full sand castle story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:WeaselZippers.Academic at University of Illinois: The Students “Nativist Display” on 9/11 of Chanting “USA” at a Football Game is Offensive to Muslims.The observance at Saturday’s football game was no different. A moment of silence was followed by a military airplane flyover; in between, Block-I students chanted “USA, USA.” This was neither patriotism nor remembrance in any justifiable sense, but politicization, militarism, propaganda and bellicosity. Read the full anti-patriot story here.Click here for comments.

• Race relations: Blacks, Republicans see problems since '08, poll says.Blacks and Republicans are more likely than anyone else to say that the presidency of Barack Obama, America's first black chief executive, has impaired race relations in the United States and made race more difficult to discuss.Carol Swain, a law professor and race expert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., raises several examples, including the Gates affair and Sonia Sotomayor's appointment to the Supreme Court. In these examples, she says, "it seems like Obama has made race more salient in a negative sort of way that will make white people feel like they're not represented." Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• The Iron Ceiling: Sexism Still Strong In Russia.It's one of the most visible changes on Moscow's streets. Twenty years ago, you could go weeks without seeing a single woman driver. Now it seems there's a woman behind the wheel of every second car."Russians have much stricter limits in their perceptions about gender roles -- what's a man, what's a woman,” she says. “Society restricts its discussions to those limits."It’s those entrenched attitudes that are helping perpetuate one of Russia’s darkest secrets: domestic violence that's so pervasive many see it as a normal part of everyday life, in a country where an old saying advises, "If he beats you, he loves you."The government's own figures estimate 14,000 women die each year from domestic violence. That's the death of one woman at the hands of her husband or partner every hour. It's more than 10 times the number of deaths in the United States, which has twice Russia's population.If change does come, Mikhaylovskaya says, it will be very slow."We're so far away from the West," she says, "it's not a question of some years or even a generation."Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Islamic conference head in New York for UN general assembly.Secretary General Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu will participate in the 65th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.İhsanoğlu will hold bilateral talks with heads of state and foreign ministers of participating countries, and attend OIC-European Union (EU) Troika Meeting, and meetings concerning OIC member states.The secretary general will also participate in meetings on Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, Kashmir, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sierra Leone.İhsanoğlu will open the new building of OIC's Representation to the UN, and make speeches in many think-tank organizations.Proceeding to Chicago, İhsanoğlu is expected to discuss situation of Muslim minority in the region; and deliver opening remarks of a conference on situation of Muslim in the United States.Makes you wonder if there's anything but Muslim intrests at the UN?Read the full story here.Click here for comments.