MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• Obama Lied, Health Plans Died: 3M Retirees Lose Their Company Coverage, Get Shoved Into Medicare (Which, By the Way, Just Got Slashed by $500 Billion).Runner-up Headline: Dear 3M retirees: if you like your current health plan, too f***ing bad.Today's Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reports that 3M is dropping its health coverage for retirees thanks to ObamaCare.Aren't glad you voted for in favor of Obama care?Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:EmergingCorruption.Chicago’s ShoreBank morphs into Urban Partnership Bank to continue its progressive Green Agenda using FDIC funds.Chicago’s ShoreBank, known as the “Clintons’ favorite bank” and with close ties to the Obama Administration, which allegedly pushed Goldman Sachs and Citibank to underwrite it using $135 million of their TARP funds even as it reported losses, failed on August 20th but immediately reorganized itself as Urban Partnership Bank. Upon the reorganization, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) quickly handed over $367.7 million to keep the newly renamed bank’s doors open.Earlier in the year, the Illinois Financial Authority’s chairman, Bill Brandt, ignoring pressure from Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky to bail out ShoreBank and its toxic assets, literally passed the buck to the Feds when he hinted at potential political fallout and/or actual physical street violence if ShoreBank, whose executives were neighbors of the Obamas in Chicago, was not bailed out by the US Treasury.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Religious intolerance rising among Indonesian Muslims.About 57.8 per cent of Muslims oppose the construction of churches or other non-Muslim place of worship. Only 27.6 per cent accept that non-Muslim teachers teach Muslims. The absence of government policy and unrestrained schools and teachers are among the causes of the rising fundamentalism.The data shows that Muslim opposition to churches and non-Muslim religious buildings rose from 40.5 per cent to 57.8 per cent.In 2010, around 27.6 per cent of those surveyed said they did mind if a non-Muslim taught their children at school, a 6.2 per cent increase compared to 2008 (21.4 percent), but still lower than in 2007 (33.5 percent).According to PPIM executive director Burhanudin, greater intolerance is closely linked to Islamic fundamentalism, whose rise is directly related to the absence of policies to counter it in favour of a more moderate Islam.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Check-in areas at five major European airports among targets of terror plot as French arrest men with links to al Qaeda.A law enforcement official told ABC News that terror teams could have staged commando-style attacks on pre-security areas packed with travellers before they boarded flights.It comes after French police today arrested eleven men suspected of links to Islamic extremists, a police source said.The head of MI5, Jonathan Evans, spoke publicly last month about the continuing threat of terror attacks in the UK.In his speech he suggested that around 50 per cent of the plots identified had links to Pakistan – a decline on previous estimates that suggested the figure was nearer 75 per cent.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Americans explore, enjoy wonders of Turkey at Washington festival.The eighth edition of the festival was organized by the American Turkish Association of Washington, D.C, (ATA-DC) and took place at Freedom Plaza, near the White House. This year’s festival was titled “Explore the Wonders of Turkey in the Heart of D.C.”The festival’s visitors delighted in the Kolbastı, a regional folkloric dance known for its energetic steps and music, and other types of Turkish folk dances. Examples of traditional Turkish arts, including hat (calligraphy), ebru (paper marbling), çini (glazed ceramics), miniatures and carpet knotting that were on display in the culture and tourism tents also attracted many guests. Many visitors bought T-shirts featuring Turkish flags. A special section was opened to tell the story of the Ottoman Janissary soldiers. Visitors attentively listened to presentations about the clothes the Janissary soldiers wore, while some tried on the uniforms and took pictures.What they forgot to tell the spectators was :"The Janissaries comprised infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards. The force was created by the Sultan Murad I from Christian male children levied (every five years, Turkish administrators would scour their regions for the strongest sons of the sultan's Christian subjects. These boys, usually between the ages of 10 and 12, were then forcibly taken from their parents and enrolled in Janissary training. The recruit was immediately indoctrinated into the ways of Islam.)through the devşirme system from conquered countries in the 14th century."Ambassador Tan said the festival was getting bigger and better each year.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Kotler blasts 'Human Rights Council'.Human Rights lawyer (without the scare quotes) and former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Kotler rips the United Nations 'Human Rights Council' for its abuse of human rights.First, the council has turned a blind eye to the world's most serious human rights violators, failing to adopt any resolution or investigative mandate for such human rights violator countries as China, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Russia or Iran, to name but a few -- all being listed on Freedom House's list of the 20 worst human rights abusers. While the UN General Assembly calls for countries to be elected to the council based on their human rights records, 24 out of 47 present members (51 per cent) fail to meet fundamental standards of democracy and human rights. in an appalling breach of its own principles and procedures, the UN Human Rights Council has institutionalised a permanent agenda item indicting one member state -- agenda item No 7, which speaks of "Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories" -- while agenda item No 8 speaks of "human rights violations in the rest of the world". Here is an Alice in Wonderland situation where the conviction is secured before the hearing begins.What, then, can be done in light of these assaults on the UN charter and the mandate of the Human Rights Council?Kotler has a list of suggestions. Sadly, so long as the UN operates on the principle of one nation, one vote, I don't believe any of Kotler's suggestions will work. The good guys will always be outvoted.I wish to God that more people like him were around .I salute his honesty and courage.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Gay Saudi prince 'strangled his manservant to death at top London hotel in sexually-motivated killing'.A gay Saudi prince killed his servant in a ferocious murder which had a 'sexual element', a court heard today.Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud had previously subjected Bandar Abdulaziz to physical assaults and mistreatment, the Old Bailey was told.The 32-year-old victim was found beaten and strangled in bed at the London hotel room he was sharing with the prince on February 15.But CCTV footage from a lift at the Landmark hotel in Marylebone where they were staying showed the victim had been subjected to a 'really nasty assault' by the defendant himself on January 22, said Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting.It became clear to police that he had been killed 'in the privacy of the room he had shared with the defendant and when alone with him', the court heard.Further searches of CCTV footage revealed previous assaults on the victim by the defendant, Mr Laidlaw said.Mr Laidlaw told jurors the prince now admits carrying out the killing so it would be for them to decide if he were guilty of murder or only manslaughter.The 34-year-old denies murder and one count of grievous bodily harm with intent.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• MKs, rabbis rally against planned closure of West Bank synagogue.Some 200 rightists say government's decision to seal shul in El Matan but not mosque in nearby Palestinian village 'discriminatory.' MK Eldad: Selective enforcement of laws against Jews while ignoring Arab violations'."I am in favor of freedom of religion for Muslims and the construction of churches and mosques, but synagogue must be built in the Land of Israel first," Knesset Member Danny Danon (Likud) told the rally."It cannot be that there will be one law for Palestinians and another for Jews. I ask myself, if this is the situation at the onset of (Israeli-Palestinian) negotiations, what will be the dessert? I urge the prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) to intervene, because I have no expectations from the defense minister (Ehud Barak)."Yitzhar's rabbi, David Dudkevich wondered "how a Jewish state insists on sealing a synagogue under false pretenses, when that same state does not enforce the law at the Temple Mount, the most sacred Jewish site."Read and see the full story here.Click here for comments.

• The Iranian freedom movement and Israel.Animosity toward the Jewish state has always been a common denominator between so-called reformist and hard-line Islamists in Iran.THE VOICE of Israel has been present in Iran via the Persian service of Radio Israel even before the revolution of 1979. Under the dictatorship of the mullahs, it became one of the most important sources of information for ordinary Iranians.The turning point was the socalled Kuds day in September 2009, when Iranians massively protested against the regime’s hate show against Israel. They countered the regime’s slogans “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” with chants against the allies of the Islamic Republic, Russia and China, and tore down solidarity banners for Hamas and Hizbullah. The popular rallying cry “No to Gaza, no to Lebanon, my life is for Iran” clearly expressed the refusal of the jihadi expansionism of the regime.In Europe and other parts of the world, hatred of Israel is an intellectual resentment and a tool to gain influence in the Middle East. For democratic Iranians, it is a vital matter of self-interest to renounce the terrorist foreign policy of the regime, which at the end of the day is exerted against them. Iranian society today is questioning everything the Islamic Republic stands for.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:TheEndoftheAmericanDream.This Is Starting To Get Very Real: Agricultural Commodity Prices Have Exploded And Now The Price Of Food Is Beginning To Rise Substantially In The United States And All Over The World.Do you believe that you will always be able to run out to Wal-Mart or to the local supermarket and buy massive amounts of inexpensive food? If so, you might want to think again. During 2010, agricultural commodity prices have absolutely exploded. Nearly every single important agricultural commodity has seen a double digit percentage price increase.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• İSAM head: ‘Open Aya Sofya to Muslims on weekdays, to Christians on Sundays’.Aydın said that as a Muslim he is disturbed to see that Aya Sofya is still closed to worshippers. “I believe the continuation of the culture of coexistence at Aya Sofya, which I hope will improve in Turkey, is more important and acceptable than its remaining as a museum. I’d like it, as a Muslim, to become a mosque. But if Aya Sofya is supposed to be opened to Muslim worshippers on weekdays, then it should be opened to Christians on Sunday.Again the Discrimination of Christians is obvious in their view of "Freedom of Religion".Are Christians to them such an inferior race? Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Saudi authorities stop 'Satanist' trade mark.Say skull and crossbones design is shaped in line with Satanists logo.It quoted a statement by the court as saying:”After viewing that trade mark, which was to be placed in some garments and shoes brands, the Diwan decided to ban that logo because it will create a mood of non-confidence and non-tranquility.”It added:”A logo containing a skull and crossbones symbolises cruelty, ruthlessness and hostility……it is our right to protect our nation from such symbols which constitute a flagrant violation of the system and public conduct.”Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• The Anti-Obama for President.In short, Bolton represents the anti-Obama. As an ....its time we went as far right as we did to the left when we elected [Obama]. This country needs the strongest leader we can find to take us back to being a world leader...Now that I think about it, perhaps a Bolton-Palin ticket would be the best way to drive the leftwing crackpots wild.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Congressmen Introduces Bill to Force Obama to Deploy at Least 10,000 National Guardsmen at Mexican Border.Rep. Ted Poe (R.-Texas), who served for 30 years as a Texas prosecutor and judge before being elected to Congress, introduced legislation last week designed to force President Barack Obama to deploy a minimum of 10,000 National Guard troops at the U.S. Mexico border for the specific purpose of patrolling the border and intercepting aliens and smugglers attempting to cross illegally into the United States.The legislation would allow the president to deploy more than 10,000 National Guardsmen, but not fewer.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:Moonbattery.Art Censored at Penn State for Being Critical of Islamic Terrorism.Penn State art graduate Joshua Stulman can't say he didn't get any knowledge for his tuition dollar. He learned quite a bit about the difference between a free society and one run by progressives.Stulman is surprised that the same moonbats who would support the rights of Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois do not support the right to criticize the historical allies of Nazis. He still has some learning to do regarding liberalism.Read and see the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Senior Clerics' Websites Blocked In Iran.The websites of three senior Iranian clerics -- Ayatollah Yusef Sanei, Ayatollah Assadollah Bayat Zanjani, and Ayatollah Ali Mohammad Dastgheyb -- who have been critical of the Iranian establishment and the postelection crackdown have reportedly been blocked in Iran.All three have condemned the filtering of their websites inside the country in separate statements and comments. The websites include news related to the clerics, their views and statements, and also their rulings on different religious issues.Clerics who have criticized the human rights violations that followed last year's presidential election have come under increasing pressure in the Islamic republic.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:DanielGreenfield.Muslim Prayer Rugs and Jewish Orphans.On a late summer evening, Omar Rivera stumbled over to a local mosque, clutching a beer bottle in his hand and looking for a place to answer nature’s call. He chose the Al-Imam Mosque and proceeded to urinate around its exterior, where there were apparently some Muslim prayer rugs lying around. Omar had committed what was a fairly commonplace act of vandalism in the city, public urination. When suddenly he became the poster child for the rise of a “New Islamophobia”.Kill as many Jews as you want, but never piss on a Muslim’s sacred rug. Truly, Islamophilia has become the new Anti-Semitism.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:armedforcesjournal.Here are 10 things Americans don’t fathom about the Chinese navy.The U.S. maritime strategy charges the naval services to develop “cultural, historical, and linguistic expertise ... to nurture effective interaction with diverse international partners.” Unquestionably, no nation demands this expertise more than the People’s Republic of China. Its sheer size and pace of growth, coupled with a strategic stance that is often divergent from ours, demands attention, particularly in the maritime realm.It appears that both sides of the Chinese-U.S. relationship are still attempting to define each other in today’s post-Cold War world. Some people, such as retired Adm. James Lyons, former commander of the Pacific Fleet, see a “real and growing” Chinese threat in the Asia-Pacific region. Others, such as Thomas Barnett, argue that much deeper and broader military-to-military engagement is possible — even in areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The truth is somewhere between the two. Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Google's Bizarre Blacklist.Ever since Google unveiled its new search function, hackers have been compiling a list of banned words, including Latina and “meats.” Brian Ries talks to some of the blacklisted.Somewhere hidden deep within Google’s massive cache of servers, there is a blacklist unlike any other. For starters, it contains enough sexually suggestive terms to make any 15-year-old boy’s head explode. But there are also some unexpected words, like, say, Latina. And hidden from public view, the official version will never see the light of day.But over the past few weeks, a group of hackers in New York City has been trying to crack the code.The list started with Google’s new search function, Google Instant. Introduced in early September, it shows results as you type—as opposed to waiting for you to press enter. It works like a telepathic Internet concierge, hoping to send you along to the most relevant results on the Web.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:TheSmokingGun.Pants On Ground Prompts Bullet In Butt.Police: Suspect shot teen for saggy walking in Memphis.Incensed when two teenagers ignored his demands to pull up their saggy pants, a Memphis man allegedly shot one of the youths in the back, according to police.Bonds allegedly pulled out a pistol and fired a shot at the older boy. The shot missed, but as the boys fled, Bonds continued firing at them. One bullet hit the 17-year-old in the buttocks and exited through his thigh (the boy was treated for the wound at two different hospitals).God they should give the guy a paintball gun and let him patrol the city.Read the full story here ,especially the comments are worth while!Click here for comments.