MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• HT:RedState.The Morning Briefing: The Tsunami.This is an unusual Morning Briefing because you need to understand what happened while you’ve been sleeping.Republican gains are massive. And when I say Republican gains are massive, I mean tsunami.No, the GOP did not take the Senate and some races are still outstanding, but the Senate GOP has moved to the right. More so, the Republicans picking up, in the worst case, seven seats is historically strong.But consider that as you wake up this morning the Republican Party has picked up more seats in the House of Representatives than at any time since 1948 — that is more than sixty seats. Ike Skelton, Class of 1976, is gone. Many, many other Democrats are gone.That, in and of itself, is significant. But that’s not the half of it. The real story is the underreported story of the night — the Republican pick ups at the state level.There will be 18 states subject to reapportionment. The Republicans will control a majority of those — at least ten and maybe a dozen or more. More significantly, a minimum of seventeen state legislative houses have flipped to the Republican Party.Read the full Tsunami story here.Click here for comments.

• YouTube Drops Radical Cleric Awlaki's Videos.Popular video-sharing site YouTube has removed videos featuring calls to holy war by an Al Qaeda-linked Muslim cleric after pressure from British and U.S. officials.YouTube spokeswoman Victoria Grand said the videos by Anwar al-Awlaki violated the site's guidelines prohibiting "incitement to commit violent acts," The New York Times reported Wednesday. American and British officials had been pressuring the Google-owned company to take down the videos, fearing that Awlaki's Internet preaching would radicalize Muslims.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Ban YouTube hate videos: Ministers call for crackdown on U.S. websites hosting jihadi sermons after student tries to kill MP.Britain's security minister has urged the U.S. to shut down websites hosting Al Qaeda videos after a student inspired by an online sermon tried to kill an MP.Baroness Neville-Jones said websites which try to radicalise members of the public would 'categorically not be allowed in the UK' and would be torn down.The move comes as it emerged Roshonara Choudhry, who was yesterday convicted of attempting to murder Labour MP Stephen Timms, had been watching online jihadi sermons by US-born Anwar al-Awlaki before the attack.In private comments to the Brookings Institute in Washington, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, Lady Neville-Jones said: 'When you have incitement to murder, when you have people actively calling for the killing of fellow citizens and when you have the means to stop that person doing so, then I believe we should act.'Those websites would categorically not be allowed in the UK.'They incite cold-blooded murder and as such are surely contrary to the public good.'If they were hosted in the UK then we would take them down but this is a global problem.'Good luck with that considering the track record of this U.S. President.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:MichelleMalkin.Take Your Olive Branch and Shove It, Democrats! On the eve of a historic midterm election upheaval, President Barack Obama tried to walk back his gratuitous slap at Americans who oppose his radical progressive agenda. “I probably should have used the word ‘opponents’ instead of ‘enemies’ to describe political adversaries,” Obama admitted Monday. “Probably”?Here is an ironclad certainty: It’s too little too late for the antagonist-in-chief to paper over two years of relentless Democratic incivility and hate toward his domestic “enemies.” Voters have spoken: They’ve had enough. Enough of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner’s rhetorical abuse. Enough of his feints at bipartisanship. Whatever the final tally, this week’s turnover in Congress is a GOP mandate for legislative pugilism, not peace. Voters have had enough of big government meddlers “getting things done.” They are sending fresh blood to the nation’s Capitol to get things undone.Just two short years ago, Obama campaigned as the transcendent unifier. “Young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled, Americans have sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of red states and blue states,” he proclaimed. “We have been and always will be the United States of America.” It’s been an Us vs. Them freefall ever since.Let us be clear, in case it hasn’t fully sunk into the minds of Obama and the trash-talking Democrats yet: You can take your faux olive branch and shove it. Thank you.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Sakineh’s execution may be imminent, sets off alarm bells.The International Committee Against Stoning announces that Iranian authorities have authorised the execution of the woman accused of adultery and of murdering her husband. Two Italian ministers appeal to Tehran for clemency.The International Committee Against Stoning announced that Iranian authorities have given the green light for Sakineh Ashtiani’s execution, tomorrow. In a press release, “the ‘Human Rights Commission’ of the regime has announced that: ‘according to the existing evidence, her guilt has been confirmed.” For the committee, the regime “ created a new scenario in order to expedite her execution.” It noted that “the case file regarding the murder case of Ms Ashtiani’s husband” was “seized from her lawyer’s office [. . .] and found missing from the prosecutor’s Oskoo branch office”. Thus, Ms Ashtiani’s case was likely based on “trumped up murder charges.”Significantly, for the first time since 11 October, a news agency close to the Iranian regime has reported the arrest of Ms Ashtiani’s son, Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, and her lawyer, Houtan Kian. In an article published on the website of French daily Le Monde, an Iranian journalist said that Raja News, which is close to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported the arrest 20 days ago of Sakineh’s son Sajjad and her lawyer Hutan Kian during an interview with two German nationals, who were also detained.Read the full story here.Update :Saudi newspaper says she will be hanged on Wednesday!Source.Click here for comments.

• Former Iranian Revolutionary Guard: Iran Will Bomb Israel.Speaking from an undisclosed location, with his voice digitally altered to protect his true identity, former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Reza Kahlili told Israel National Radio's Yishai Fleisher that Iran would not hesitate to use nuclear bombs against Israel."[Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government] will use the nuclear bomb against Israel, they will use it against Persian Gulf countries, and they will use it against Europe to bring about that last hadith (Islamic commentaries on sayings and activities of Mohammed and his companions) that calls for total chaos, lawlessness, and havoc in the world, which creates the circumstance for Imam Mahdi (the Islamic messianic figure) to appear." Kahlili also noted that despite Ahmadinejad's fierce anti-Semitism and personal desire to eradicate Israel, the average Iranian does not hate Jews. "Before the Revolution, we had many Iranians who were Jews, and there were many marriages between Muslims and Jews. The Iranians do not look at Jews, the Iranians do not look at Israelis the same way as the Iranian government." Kahlili said. "[The Iranian people] would welcome anybody – they would welcome Israel – to help them get rid of this regime." Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Israel: Iran Can Build 1 Bomb, Soon Can Build 2.Israel's military intelligence chief says Iran possesses enough enriched uranium to build one nuclear bomb and soon will have enough to produce a second.Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin's statement coincides with previous assessments from both the CIA and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.But any Israeli commentary on Tehran's nuclear program is significant because Israel has not ruled out a military strike to try to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.Israel, like the West, does not believe Tehran's claims that it is developing nuclear technology to produce energy.Yadlin spoke to parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee Tuesday. His remarks were reported by meeting participants who spoke on condition of anonymity because the testimony was delivered behind closed doors.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon uses Facebook to present Israel’s case.The live, half-hour question- and-answer session he held with worldwide users was the latest in a series of steps the Foreign Ministry has taken to defend Israel on the Internet and to educate supporters all around the world to do the same.“We have to create Israel defenders,” Ayalon told the Internet audience.Earlier in the day, he told pro-Israel activists at the Foreign Ministry that the Internet was a critical tool in the new Israeli-Palestinian public relations war.“We have to understand that we are facing a very dedicated enemy,” he added, saying it was making use of the Internet and non-government human rights organizations in a very sophisticated way.To fight this dangerous delegitimization, Israel also needs a network that goes well beyond governmental institutions, he continued, declaring that in the 21st century, an entire community had to band together to tackle its problems.The ministry, he said, was seeking other Web ideas for spreading Israel’s message.“Today we need to deal with globalized information and globalized spokesmanship. It happens fast. You need to be permanently on the alert if you want to be there [and to be heard],” said Palmor.Journalism, he said, was more global than he could ever have dreamed.“When a Spanish newspaper carries an interview with a renowned Holocaust denier, I will get a phone call from a Polish journalist in Warsaw who wants me to make comments,” said Palmor.The truth is Israel seems to be loosing this fight.So "Ask not what your pc can do for you,but what your pc can do for Israel."Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Al Qaeda threat: Christians are legitimate targets.The authors of the terrorist massacre in the Baghdad church publish a message on the internet that is a threat to all Christians, and make explicit reference to the Vatican.“The ultimatum made two days ago to the church of Egypt for the release of two Muslim women held prisoner, has expired. We have had no response and now you are all involved in the war on Islam , so be careful of the souls of your followers. " The so-called 'War Department' of the 'Islamic State of Iraq' (ISI) al-Qaeda in Iraq issued a statement on the Web to announce that the passing of the deadline of its "ultimatum" to the Egyptian Coptic Church to release two Egyptian women, Camilia Cheh and Wafa Constantine, wives of Coptic priests, whom according to the terrorists are detained against their will in a convent after converting to Islam.Al-Qaeda, however, confirms that all Christians and their churches have become "legitimate targets" of the terrorist group and are therefore are in danger. The message issued today by the Iraqi cell of al-Qaeda also makes explicit reference to the Vatican.Islam a religion of peace?Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:BigPeace.Radical Islamist ‘Thinkers’ Now Moving to Violent Action.Followers of the outspoken groups Revolution Muslim and the Islamic Thinkers Society are moving from ideology to violent action, a review of recent terror indictments by the Investigative Project on Terrorism shows.Revolution Muslim has also been a stopover point for identification with larger terrorist groups like Hamas and al-Qaida, or an ideological breeding ground for homegrown jihadist sentiment. By giving would-be warriors a centralized place to review and discuss violent speeches by clerics such as Abdullah al-Faisal, RM gathers isolated individuals on varying levels of the radicalization process. It gives them “a push” to identify with the most violent extremes of Islamist theology and feeds the narrative that Muslims everywhere are the victim of a “War on Islam.”Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:DanielGreenfield.Christians and Jews Once Again in the Muslim Line of Fire.With the attack on an Iraqi church and the mailbombs addressed to an American synagogue, while the media worry about Islamophobia– Christians and Jews once again find themselves in the Muslim line of fire.Just last week we were witness to the spectacle of a black NPR liberal being dragged through the muck, accused of being insane or racist, for even conceding that he was worried by Muslim terrorism. The indictment of Islamophobia is that it is somehow an irrational or unreasoning fear. But if a group is actively trying to kill you, then how can fear of it possibly be unreasonable?The New York Times has published a piece by Robert Wright claiming that Islamophobia and Homophobia have a lot in common. The most obvious thing they have in common, is that Muslims don’t like gay people either. Or women. Or Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Hindus, atheists… and well let’s face it, pretty much everyone else. Muslims are still killing each other over religion, at a time when members of other religions settle their differences with sternly worded editorials.The recent synod to address the decline of Christianity in the Middle East took place in a strange vacuum, like a conference to discuss the reason why there’s no more space in the living room and the couch has been crushed– without ever mentioning the elephant in the room. The elephant in the Middle East is Islam. But no one dares mention it. Or draw cartoons of it. Instead the synod concluded that the blame rested somewhere between Israel and economics. Not the people who are machine gunning churches.The reason for their silence was all too plain. Islamophobia.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:IMRA.UN Watch Exposes Failed Reform in U.N. Testimony: Say No to Iran & Saudi on U.N. Womens Rights Agency.Iran and Saudi Arabia, countries that hang, lash and stone women to death, are on track to join the board of a new U.N. agency devoted to women's rights. No joke. The elections are next week, on November 10th.In response, UN Watch today launched a worldwide protest campaign, urging member states and U.N. officials to speak out immediately against this cruel and cynical manipulation of international institutions. If you have a Facebook account, stand up against this outrage: visit this webpage and click "Like." (http://www.facebook.com/stopiran). U.N. Watch Testifies to U.N. Human Rights Councilon its Betrayal of Kofi Annan's Promised Reforms.The question before us today is this: What about the millions upon millions of victims worldwide who continue to go ignored? Is there anything that Secretary-General Annan said in 2005 about the old, discredited commission, that does not apply today to this new and reformed council?Read the full story here .Click here for comments.

• HT:RightTruth.Oorthodox Rabbi in California state Senate race - A conversation with Rabbi Nachum Shifren.So, what's a nice Orthodox rabbi doing in California politics? According to TEA Party candidate, Rabbi Nachum Shifren (R), "I've thrown my hat in the political ring and am running for the California State Senate in the 26th district because like many others, I'm outraged by the far reaching tentacles of big government and it's destructive effect on our individual rights and liberties."This Southern California native is not only an Orthodox rabbi but is also a disciplined athlete and a big wave surfer. His 2001 autobiography, "Surfing Rabbi: A Kabbalistic Quest for Soul" describes his circuitous journey from rebellious teenage surfer to a life committed to Torah and mitzvos.Turning to foreign affairs, Rabbi Shifren offered his views on the Obama administration's position on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process by saying, "For Obama to say that settlements are an obstacle to peace in the Middle East is beyond absurd. Just remember, there were no settlements in 1948, or 1956 or in 1967, and there was no peace. The current administration is playing with fire in its attempts to pressure Israel to make even more territorial concessions to her sworn enemies, because a weakened and indefensible Israel is tantamount to an America that will be more vulnerable to terrorist attacks and enemy onslaught. What the president doesn't understand is the mentality of the Arab nations. If you appear strong you will be respected but if you appear weak you will be despised and now America appears weak, in large part due to Obama's obsequious stance as it pertains to US relations with Islamic countries."Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Report: YouTube faces new ban in Turkey. Turkey's telecommunications authority will again block access to YouTube unless the video-sharing site removes a sex video of a former opposition party leader, the state-run news agency reported Tuesday.Turkey began blocking access to websites in 2007, after parliament adopted a law against cyber crime in an effort to curb child porn, prevent the dissemination of terrorist propaganda and stamp out illegal gambling. More than 6,000 sites have been banned in Turkey according to Engelli Web, a site that monitors blocked pages. Former opposition leader Baykal resigned in May after the video showing him having an affair with his aide appeared on the Internet.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• In Unusual Move, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Slam Ahmadinejad Over Comments.In an unprecedented move, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has directly blasted President Mahmud Ahmadinejad over controversial comments he made recently, including saying that parliament is not on top of the country's affairs. Ahmadinejad was also criticized for promoting an "Iranian school of thought" instead of an Islamic one. Ahmadinejad has in recent weeks come under fire by his hard-line allies and conservatives over his new nationalistic rhetoric. So far, the IRGC, whose power and influence has grown since Ahmadinejad came to power, had not publicly criticized the Iranian president.The unusual attack by the IRGC, coming in one of its main publications, is seen by analysts as a warning issued to Ahmadinejad from Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with the intention of trying to tame the Iranian president.In Germany, researcher Reza Khaligh, who has written extensively about the IRGC, says Khamenei is concerned about Ahmadinejad's growing power. "Ahmadinejad has the country's government and budget under control, through which he has appealed to the lower segments of the society. Recently, by promoting an Iranian Islam and an Iranian school of thought, he's been trying to get the backing of the middle class," says Khaligh.He added that it appears Ahmadinejad is turning into “a real power” within the structure, a power opposing the supreme leader. “That is not acceptable to Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards," Khaligh says. Khaligh says Khamenei has been publicly supporting Ahmadinejad, but behind the scenes he's been trying to counter the "unruly" president and weaken his position.The criticism by the Revolutionary Guards, Khaligh believes, could make Ahmadinejad retreat in the short run. In the long run, he believes the combatant president will push for his own agenda.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• US-born preacher tried in Yemen.The trial begins in absentia of a US-born radical preacher linked to the bombing of a US-bound plane in December 2009.Read and see the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Celebrating the 10th anniversary of 9/11, UN style. The United Nations is planning a very special celebration for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. They are going to hold a third Durban conference to incite against Israel... in New York City. Timing Durban III for the annual opening of the General Assembly is meant to guarantee the extensive involvement of presidents and prime ministers, most of whom eluded organizers of Durban I and II.The U.N. will now be marking the 10th anniversary of Durban I at the same time and place as the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001. Durban I, the platform for violent, pro-terrorist, and anti-Semitic rhetoric that included such speakers as Yasser Arafat and Fidel Castro, ended just three days before 9/11.Will the Obama administration go along with Durban III?Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Mumbai neutralises falling coconut threat to Obama.The municipal authorities in Mumbai have removed coconuts from trees around the city's Gandhi museum in case any of them fall on US President Barack Obama when he visits, an official said Wednesday."The coconuts were falling off, so we requested the local authorities here to remove the remainder,".Obama has often cited Gandhi as a major inspiration. Hmmm.....On the other hand such a coconut might give him some common sense?Read the full idiocy story here.Click here for comments.

• US to spend $200 mn a day on Obama's Mumbai visit.The US would be spending a whopping $200 million (Rs. 900 crore approx) per day on President Barack Obama's visit to the city."The huge amount of around $200 million would be spent on security, stay and other aspects of the Presidential visit," a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit said.About 3,000 people including Secret Service agents, US government officials and journalists would accompany the President. Several officials from the White House and US security agencies are already here for the past one week with helicopters, a ship and high-end security instruments."Except for personnel providing immediate security to the President, the US officials may not be allowed to carry weapons. The state police is competent to take care of the security measures and they would be piloting the Presidential convoy," the official said on condition of anonymity.Hmmm.....the "Emperor and his Pretorian guard"?Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• More on the subject from 'LogisticsMonster'.The Sultan Travels To India With A $200 Million Dollar a Day Tab.Read and see the whole story here.Click here for comments.

• Pakistan Ahmadi man forcibly exhumed in Lahore.Police in Pakistan have forced a family of the Ahmadi sect to exhume the body of a relative because it was buried in a Muslim graveyard.Officials in the Sargodha district of Punjab province say they took the unusual move after anti-Ahmadi Muslim groups threatened peace in the area.Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims but a 1984 law barred them from identifying themselves as followers of the faith.The law also put restrictions on their religious practices.Mr Islam said that he was not concerned about the moral aspect of the exhumation of Mr Waraich's body - his job was to enforce the law.Ahmadis in Pakistan are often mobbed and lynched by extremist elements who critics say are encouraged by favourable laws.The Ahmadi spokesman, Salimuddin, said it was the 30th incident since 1984 in which an Ahmadi body has been forcefully exhumed by the administration to satisfy the opponents of the community."The administration always sides with our opponents, and has a convenient argument that they are trying to maintain peace," he said.The Ahmadi are a peacefull branch of Islam,they do not believe in violant Jihad.Read the full story here .Click here for comments.

• HT:Memri.Eye-Witness Accounts of Massacre in Baghdad Church.Iraqi newspapers have published eye-witness accounts of the October 31, 2010 attack on the church in Baghdad by terrorists from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated organization Islamic State of Iraq.Three terrorist then blew themselves up among the hostages, while two others were killed and five were arrested, and were later found to be carrying non-Iraqi identity cards.The attack ended with at least 45 parishioners dead and 75 wounded, in addition to casualties among the Iraqi troops whose number has not been disclosed. The church sustained heavy damage.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• Israeli Dancing with the Stars features same-sex couple.The Israeli version of Dancing With The Stars has become the first to feature a same-sex couple, with the inclusion of a female-only pair in the new series.Sports presenter Gili Shem Tov, who is raising a little boy with her female partner in real life, said dancing with another woman felt "natural" to her.She and professional dancer Dorit Milman, who will alternate the traditional male role of leading the dances, performed the cha-cha for the media ahead of the show's premiere.Read and see the full story here.Click here for comments.

• 80-year-old man marries 14-year-old.A Saudi old man aged above 80 years has married a 14-year-old girl and is refusing to divorce her unless she pays him back his wedding money, the Saudi Ajel Arabic language online paper reported on Wednesday.The bride’s father, Showan Ateen, said his daughter had been forced to marry that man from the southwestern town of Sabya but that she has not moved in with him yet. He did not say who forced her to marry him.“The father and the bride now want a divorce but the husband is refusing to divorce her before they pay him back his SR-17,000 dowry,” Ajel said.“Her father said he does not have the money and is appealing for all benevolent people to help him so he will regain his daughter…the old man has threatened that they either pay him or he will take her by force.”The report comes amidst furor in the Gulf Kingdom over widespread teen age marriage and calls for enacting laws to curb such practices.Source.Click here for comments.

• And now for something completely different.Saudi millionaire seeks “caring” husband.A Saudi businesswoman who describes herself as a millionaire has invited applicants for an exciting vacancy and her key condition is that he must be a man. For the job is to be her husband.The woman did not identify herself but said she had been married twice and is now looking for a “caring husband who is full of affection,” according to the Saudi Arabic language online paper Alhiyad.Anther key qualification for the job is that the would-be husband must be aged 50-60 years and should not marry her for money.“She says the new husband should not necessarily be a rich man….she just wants an educated and mature man who will respect her and make her feel secure, loved and warm….she says she will be willing to hand him over her businesses while she dedicates herself to managing her house and providing him with love, comfort, and good life.”she is convinced that money is not everything in life,” the paper added.Well ...Amen to that any person who comes this conclusion is worthy of true happiness.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• 10-year-old girl gives birth in Spain.A 10-year-old Romanian girl has given birth in Spain, according to news accounts. The father is also a minor. Authorities don't consider it a case of rape, and officials are deciding whether the girl and her family can keep the child.The baby, born last week in the southern city of Jerez de la Frontera, weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces. Micaela Navarro, the Andalusia region's social affairs minister, said mother and child, whose gender was not revealed, are doing fine.An official with the Spanish Justice Ministry in Madrid told the Associated Press that, under Spanish law, having consensual sex with someone under age 13 is classified as child abuse. But no criminal investigation is underway; it's not clear the underage father could be charged.Time says the young mother is not the youngest on record.Read the full story here and vid here.Click here for comments.