MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Pakistan Christian Congress to file petition in UN to release Asia Bibi on December 2.Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC said that statement of Federal Minister for Minorities Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti to make procedural amendments in blasphemy law is to divert attention from death sentence handed over to Asia Bibi under blasphemy.Nazir Bhatti clarified that military ruler Parvez Musharraf announced procedural amendment to block misuse of blasphemy law which were approved and legislated under 17th Amendment in constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and 8 year imprisonment was set for those who complain or lodge false blasphemy charges but non was convicted under this law of evidence when courts acquitted blasphemy accused.Nazir Bhatti said that after death sentence to Asia Bibi, Christian leaders and common Christians are under fear and not speaking against government of Punjab and government of Pakistan on providing free hand to extremists Muslims because in every blasphemy case only Muslim clerics (Mosque Imams) are complainants when they were never eye witness of any blamed incident while complain filed in Asia Bibi was by an Imam who was also not present in Farm where religious dialogues erupted among Asia Bibi and Muslim co-workers.Nazir Bhatti said that Pakistani Christian Diaspora in USA will play its positive role to repeal blasphemy law and urged International Forums to raise voice in favor of Pakistani Christians who are being persecuted due to their faith in Pakistan.Nazir Bhatti announced that legal team of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC is preparing a petition to present to Mr. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of United Nation to release Asia Bibi and to repeal blasphemy law on December 2, 2010, after protest procession by PCC and PCA in front of United Nation offices in New York.Hmmmm.....Good luck with that before the Islamic United Nations.Read the full story here.

• Website launched for July 4 One Million Muslim March on Washington DC.The new website for One Million Muslims.org has been launched.Head :Anisa Abd el Fattah.Anisa Abd El Fattah, National Association of Muslim American Women (NAMAW). Anisa Abd El Fattah made headlines just before the 9th anniversary of 9/11: US Muslim women's Association says Muslims have been unjustly scapegoated and calls for new independent investigation of 9/11.Hmmmm....perhaps Glen Beck can organise also a march on the 4 Th of July?Source.

• ZOA: It's Troubling To See Jewish Leaders Defend Israel/U.S. Basher George Soros Against Glenn Beck's Criticism.The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has expressed its concern over the strong criticism that a number of American Jewish leaders and other prominent Jews in recent days have directed at Fox broadcaster, Glenn Beck, for his criticism of Israel/U.S.-basher, financier George Soros, regarding his behavior in Nazi-occupied Budapest in 1944.In that year, George Soros’ father obtained forged papers and bribed a government official to save his son, George, then 14 years old, by taking him in as his alleged godson under a falsified Christian identity. In this capacity, George Soros accompanied his fake godfather on his appointed rounds as a government official, confiscating property from Jews who were to be deported to their deaths in Auschwitz. George Soros later said that he felt no guilt, remorse or difficulty whatsoever for being in this situation. In fact, he wrote in a forward to his father’s book, “these ten months [of the Nazi occupation] were the happiest times of my life ... We led an adventurous life and we had fun together.”“It is also readily apparent that George Soros shows a callous, indeed, chilling lack of human empathy for the unspeakable fate of his Jewish brethren in Hungary which he witnessed first-hand. This is noteworthy, because this lack of empathy is also remarkably rare among those who witnessed the Holocaust but were lucky enough to have survived it. “I, myself, am the son of Holocaust survivors who met in a German Displaced Persons camp, where I was born. I know from personal knowledge that my father, whose parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and all eight siblings were murdered by the Nazis, felt constant pangs of guilt about having survived while his family, friends, Jewish neighbors and Jewish brethren were murdered by the millions. Obviously, he bore no moral responsibility at all but, like other survivors, could not escape feelings of guilt, for being the sole survivor, which haunted and plagued my father till the end of his life. As attested to, many times, by clinicians who have studied Holocaust survivors, it is a normal, understandable reaction of those in such situations. It is deeply chilling that Mr. Soros never felt any grief, horror, or guilt over the loss of so much of his Jewish brethren and comfortably proclaims such.“In light of Soros’ hatred of Israel and the United States; his continuous efforts to harm them; the absence of any subsequent remorse and feeling as an adult over the events he witnesses in Nazi-occupied Hungary as a 14-year old; as well as the fact that Glenn Beck’s comments were essentially accurate, George Soros merits no defense or sympathy from Jewish leaders. We are truly puzzled that some Jewish leaders have chosen to defend this and other Israel-bashers from their critics.”Read the full story here. HT:BarenakedIslam.

• HT:DanielGreenfield.Obama’s Jerusalem Apartheid.When Obama attacked Israel for building housing on Jewish owned land in Jerusalem, he was doing more than just pandering to his Muslim hosts with an obligatory dose of Israel bashing. He was diving once again into the ugly pool of bigotry, that first surfaced when he used Joe Biden as a proxy to launch a hate campaign against Israel over the same issue back in March.And what it comes down to is Apartheid. Plain and simple.Obama does not object to Arab Muslims living in Jerusalem. He objects only to Jews living in Jerusalem. The issue is not about “Israelis”, as the media likes to present it, because Jerusalem Arabs and Jews are all citizens of Israel. What distinguishes them is race and religion.What does one call a situation in which one race is permitted to build houses, but another is not? What else but Apartheid. Obama and the EU are not making this distinction based on citizenship. They are making it based on race and religion. While accusing Israel of doing the same.We exist now in a land beyond history. A state of being adrift from fact and reason, governed not by historical events or realities, but hate and fear. By the Muslim hatred of the Jews. And civilization’s fear of Islam. In the face of that hate and fear, words have lost their meanings and laws have lost their force. There is only the panicked imperative to appease the murderers of one’s own country, with the land and freedom of others. To satiate the crocodile with another’s flesh.This is not about peace. It is not about fair negotiations. It is not about being an equal partner. It is about the same thing as in the UK or Australia or Canada or India. It is about giving Muslims what they want, at the expense of non-Muslims in the hopes of preventing Muslim violence. It’s about Apartheid.What's the next step reinstate Jewish ghetto's?Read the full story here.

• Sanford Airport to opt out of TSA screening.The backlash continues over those new TSA screening measures, and now one Central Florida airport has decided to go with a private security screening firm.Orlando Sanford International Airport has decided to opt out from TSA screening."All of our due diligence shows it's the way to go," said Larry Dale, the director of the Sanford Airport Authority. "You're going to get better service at a better price and more accountability and better customer service."Dale says he will be sending a letter requesting to opt out from TSA screening, and instead the airport will choose one of the five approved private screening companies to take over.Congressman John Mica, who's expected to lead the powerful Transportation Committee next year, says the TSA is crying out for reform."I think TSA is overstepping its bounds," said Mica.Dale says, if all goes as planned, the private security firm could take over in about 12 months.Hmmm...someone please give the man a cigar!Read the full story here.

• Most Americans say Obama's religious beliefs different than their own.A majority of Americans say that President Barack Obama's religious beliefs are either somewhat different or very different than their own, a poll on religion and the recent elections found.The poll report, by the Public Religion Research Institute, identified Obama's religion "dilemma," as the institute called it, as one of three significant emerging religious issues to watch toward the 2012 election cycle.Another trend identified by the survey was that overall, Americans are almost evenly split on whether the values of Islam are compatible with American values. A majority of Republicans and Tea Party supporters said that Islam is at odds with American values. A majority of Democrats and Independents disagreed.Hmmmm...."They don't trust me because of my middle name or because i keep repeating that Islam is a great religion"?Read the full story here.

• Napolitano considering allowing Muslim women to pat themselves down at Airports!With the holidays fast approaching, the Transportation Safety Agency has announced new security procedures requiring passengers selected for secondary screening to go through a machine that produces a full body scan producing a nude but grainy, black and white image. Passengers choosing to opt out of the scan will face a full body pat.The head of Homeland Security has indicated the government is considering the request of an Islamic organization that has suggested Muslim women be allowed to pat themselves down during a full body search that is part of new enhanced procedures at airports.John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, said the regulations came straight from the President himself.In a recent commentary Whitehead said “legislation has been proposed to mandate full-body scanners and make them the primary screening method in all U.S. airports by 2013, but Congress has yet to act on it. So we can thank Barack Obama for this frontal assault on our Fourth Amendment rights.” He went on to say “Yet in the wake of the bumbling underwear bomber’s botched Christmas Day attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound plane, Obama directed the Homeland Security Department to acquire $1 billion in advanced-technology equipment, including body scanners, for screening passengers at airports.”The machines have been purchased from California based Rapiscan Systems. The company is a client of the Chertoff Group, a security consulting agency headed by former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff who has lobbied for the need for installing the machines in airports.Hmmm...if they allow exemptions for Muslims ,then all other religions are being profiled !Read the full story here.

• America's Third War: Texas Strikes Back.“I never thought that we’d be in this paramilitary type of engagement. It's a war on the border," said Captain Stacy Holland with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Holland leads a fleet of 16 state-of-the-art helicopters that make up the aviation assets used by the Texas DPS to fight Mexican drug cartels.In recent years, the cartels have become bolder and more ruthless.They cross the border with AK-47s on their backs, wearing military camouflage. They recruit in prisons and schools on the American side. Spotters sit in duck blinds along the Rio Grande and call out the positions of the U.S. Border Patrol.To combat the cartels, the Texas Department of Public Safety is launching a counterinsurgency.President Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have recently said the Mexican border is more secure now than it has been in 20 years, but some along this border strongly disagree."To suggest the southwest border is secure is ridiculous," said Holland.Hmmm....understatement of the year!Read the full story here.

• HT:HotAir.Time for Holder to go.Let’s face it. Barack Obama and Eric Holder gambled their entire national-security credibility on the Ahmed “Foopie” Ghailani trial, arguing that they could get convictions of detainees captured abroad by military and intelligence assets while using federal courts as a venue rather than the military commissions that Congress repeatedly authorized for that purpose. Holder scolded critics who pointed out all of the reasons that such a strategy was much more likely to fail for “politicizing” the process, especially in regard to the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, whose case is more problematic than Ghailani’s, where the FBI did a large part of the investigation before intelligence assets were used to seize and interrogate Ghailani.There could be no greater failure by the DoJ in this war on terror than to get these decisions wrong, especially in light of the avalanche of criticism over those decisions and the administration’s reaction to it. Holder should hand in his resignation before he makes the same mistake with the other terrorists our military and intelligence assets risked their lives to keep off the battlefield forever. His continued presence insults their work, insults Congress, and insults our desire for justice for 9/11, the USS Cole bombing, the two embassy bombings, and the other terrorist attacks and plots we’ve managed to stop through a forward strategy on the war on terror. If a resignation is not forthcoming, the Senate and House Judiciary committees should start hearings to determine why Holder remains in this position.Update: The minimum sentence is 20 years, not the maximum.Read the full story here.

• Hatch: Truncated First-Ever Senate Hearing for Obama's Never-Confirmed Medicare Director Was 'Pathetic'.Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told CNSNews.com that members of the Senate Finance Committee did not have enough time Wednesday to fully question Dr. Donald Berwick, the never-confirmed, recess-appointed director of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), during his first appearance before the committee.Hatch called the hearing “pathetic” and said Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) had limited senators to five minutes each to question Berwick, who never appeared before the committee in the customary setting of a confirmation hearing in which his record would be fully vetted and examined by the senators.Hatch was equally critical at the hearing: "It's like asking us to drain the Pacific Ocean with a thimble. This cannot simply be a check-the-box enterprise. This is pathetic. My gosh, we ought to have time to ask the most important man in America on health care some important questions."He later told CNSNews.com that Democrats are “deathly afraid” that some of Berwick’s controversial ideas will come out during a full-length hearing.“Something involving this kind of money and this type of importance and they just completely bypass it--and I’m sure part of the reason was that they didn’t want to have to put up with questions about some of the outrageous statements that the good doctor has made,” Hatch told CNSNews.com.Hmmmm....what is the Obama administration hiding?Read the full story here.

• Girls, girls, girls: Cheerleaders' bikinis blamed for putting off team at Asian Games.The cheerleaders at the beach volleyball might have proved a welcome distraction to spectators at the Asian Games - but not all the competitors are so thrilled.The Yemen team's Adeeb Mahfoudh has blamed the girls' skimpy outfits for putting off her team during a defeat by a more focused Indonesia at the event in China.She said: 'They had an effect on how we played. I think they had something to do with our losing the match.'Hmmm....talk about blindsided ..Hahahahahaha !Read the full story here.

• Al-Qaida threatens Israel: Jews not protected from attacks."Army of Islam" group linked to global terror organization releases statement in Hebrew for first time; threatens to avenge the killing of two senior members in Gaza."Army of Islam," a group linked to Al Qaida, released Thursday for the first time a statement in Hebrew threatening to avenge the killing of two senior members of the organization in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. In a half-minute long statement that was broadcast on a website associated with the organization, a voice was heard saying that the "Jewish aggressors" would not be protected from missile attacks and other threats until they withdraw from "Palestinian land." The speaker identified himself as a member of Ansar al Sunna which has a presence in Gaza.Read the full story here.

• Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman freed .A prominent Egyptian blogger who was imprisoned for four years for insulting Islam and defaming President Hosni Mubarak has been released. The case of Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman, often known as Kareem Amer, highlighted early government restrictions on political bloggers. He was the first Egyptian convicted specifically for his writing online. Human rights groups and opposition figures had campaigned for him to be freed.The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), which represented the blogger in court, said he was in bad health and was beaten by security officers in Alexandria before his release on Tuesday.Read the full story here.

• Attacked by a mob, Indian Protestant clergyman is arrested by police. The increasing number of attacks against Christians are undermining India’s secular credentials, this according to George Sajan, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), who spoke to AsiaNews about the problem. His statement was prompted by the recent arrest of Rev Peter Paul Muthyalan, in Islampura, not far from central Bangalore (Karnataka). Police acted after Muslim fanatics accused the Protestant clergyman of “forced conversions”. The latter also barged into his home, damaged some household items and tore up a number of Bibles.Rev Muthyalan is an English teacher at the Sunshine English School, Mr Sajan said. Most students at the school are Muslim. The Protestant minister has also led worship services for about 30 people over the past five years at a local church.One day, a colleague from Bible College gave him a few Urdu-language Bibles and gospel material. Some students saw this material and asked to see it. The pastor obliged and gave some brochures to students who asked for them.On 26 October, a mob of some 300 Muslims descended upon his house. They accused him of converting Muslims. They physically assaulted him, broke into his house where they damaged furniture and other household items.Hmmm....interfaith dialog at it's best.Read the full story here.

• Islamic websites distort true meaning of Quran.Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov called on to protect the youth from the influence of radical Islamist websites recruiting illegal armed groups. Paradoxically, these days even the representatives of religious denominations who believe that the "global net" is a sin, preach on the Internet."The main danger comes from numerous sites, most of which are registered in Europe. On these sites Pseudo-Islamist scientists are recruiting young people into the ranks of the Wahhabis. We need to do everything possible to protect the young from the virtual influence of extremists," the leader of Chechnya said at a meeting in Grozny, as reported by RIA Novosti referring to the press service of Kadyrov."Islam forbids random people to interpret the Quran. Their interpretations become available to a wider audience of users through the Internet and can cause considerable damage to the Islamic religion. Young people should know this to avoid becoming a victim of someone else's manipulation," continued the head of the republic.Read the full story here.

• HT:MidasLetter.U.S. Municipal Bond Market Nears Collapse.Has the reckoning arrived for municipal bonds?That is the question investors are asking after munis — those old faithfuls of investing — took their biggest hit since the financial collapse of 2008.Concern over the increasingly strained finances of states and cities and a growing backlog of new bonds for sale overwhelmed the market last week. After performing so well for so long, munis and funds that invest in them fell hard. One big muni fund, the Pimco Municipal Income Fund II, for instance, lost 7.5 percent. The fund is still up 6.75 percent so far this year.While the declines were relatively small given the remarkable gains in these bonds over the last two years, the slump was swift enough to leave investors wondering if this was a brief setback or the start of something worse. For months, some on Wall Street have warned that indebted states and cities might face a crisis akin to the one that brought Greece to its knees.“I think it’s too early to say that it’s more than a correction,” said Richard ACiccarone, the chief research officer of McDonnell Investment Management.“The facts just don’t support a serious conclusion that the whole market’s going downhill,” he said. “They could. We’ve got some serious liabilities out there.”The causes of the week’s big decline are clouded by unusual factors like the looming end of the Build America Bonds program, which has prompted local governments to race new bonds to market before an attractive federal subsidy is reduced.California, for example, will have to sell nearly $14 billion of debt into the falling market this month, because of its record delay in getting a budget signed this year. The warnings keep coming. On Friday, Fitch, the credit ratings agency, issued a report saying that ratings downgrades for municipal bonds outnumbered upgrades for the seventh consecutive quarter.Read the full story here.

• Man accused of blasphemy killed in Pakistan.A man accused of blasphemy was shot and killed near his home in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore shortly after being granted bail by a court, according to a media report. Imran Latif, 22, was accused of burning pages of the Quran in a case registered at Sherakot police station in Lahore and spent five months in jail. He was released on bail on November 3 after the man who filed the complaint of blasphemy told the court he was not sure that Latif was guilty. Latif was shot by armed men near his home on November 11 but police learnt only later that he had been accused of blasphemy, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.Inspector Rafique Ahmed, who is investigating the murder, said Latif's killing was likely linked to the blasphemy case. "No Muslim tolerates a man who commits blasphemous acts," he said. Latif's family had not mentioned the blasphemy case when they reported the murder, he said.Hmmm....Obama "Islam is a great religion".Read the full story here.

• Kryptos Artist to Reveal Rare Clue to Baffling CIA Sculpture.Kryptos sleuths may finally get some help cracking the CIA sculpture that has confounded amateur and professional cryptographers for two decades.Artist Jim Sanborn, who created the cypher sculpture in 1990 for CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, plans to release a new clue to help puzzle detectives solve the last 97 characters of his masterpiece. The new clue is to be revealed in a New York Times article this weekend, to mark the 20th anniversary of the sculpture, which was dedicated Nov. 3, 1990.It will be the first clue Sanborn has revealed in four years, after he corrected a typo in his sculpture in 2006 to keep crypto detectives from being derailed in their search for solutions.Sanborn wouldn’t disclose the clue to Threat Level but said only cryptically that it will “globalize” the sculpture. Asked if this meant it would take the sculpture off the CIA grounds and out of the United States, he conceded it would.“I personally think it’s a significant clue,” he said. “I’m throwing it out there. It just makes that many fewer characters people have to figure out.”Read the full story here.