MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• US embassy cables: Pakistan punishes US diplomats for 'siding with India'.While we have had major successes in our military and law enforcement cooperation with Pakistan, cooperation has frequently been hampered by suspicion in Pakistan's military and intelligence establishment about U.S. intentions and objectives. Among other things, the Pakistanis believe that we have favored India over Pakistan -- most notably, by approving civil-nuclear cooperation with India -- and that we aim to dismantle Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, which, in light of their conventional military disadvantage vis-a-vis India, they consider critical to their national security. The military and intelligence establishment is also concerned that we are working with Pakistan's civilian leadership to limit the military's prerogative in determining Pakistan's national security policies. As a result of these concerns, the military and intelligence establishment has taken steps since Spring 2009 to hamper the operations of the......Hmmmm.....perhaps give then another couple of $ Billion?Read the full story here.

• HT:NorthEastIntelligence.WikiLeaks: A “staged” crime scene. In the realm of criminal investigation, there are instances where a crime has been committed but the criminal, in an attempt to confuse investigators and redirect the investigation away from themselves or conceal their true intent, will alter the crime scene. That’s called “staging,” and is often indicated when investigators encounter details that initially appear baffling when viewed in the larger context of the crime scene.Based on my professional analysis of the available facts surrounding the WikiLeaks controversy, “staging” is exactly what has taken place.When all of the factors behind the WikiLeaks data dump are analyzed, I suspect that it this event will serve as a catalyst for this administration to advance their known objectives to regulate the internet. With Cass Sunstein as the head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs , the organized chaos created by WikiLeaks will certainly provide the requisite fodder to control the type of information available through the internet.Amid the controversy involving the data dump, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is also accused of rape and has made it onto Interpol’s wanted list. Considering the obvious staging of the data damp, it is of little surprise to also learn that Assange is the current globalists’ version of “six degrees of Kevin Bacon.” In this case, it is many degrees fewer, and it’s not actor Kevin Bacon, but George Soros who serves as the trivia link. Soros linked attorney Mark Stephens, who does pro bono work for the Open Society Institute, appears to be representing Assange as he remains in hiding in the UK.Indeed, a thorough forensic analysis of the digital DNA of this leak is in order.Hmmmm....being lead as cattle to the slaughter.Read the full story here.

• Is the U.S. set to be dragged into Europe's financial troubles? Euro soars amid claims America will support IMF bailout.The euro soared today after a report that the U.S. would support a larger aid package for Europe through the International Monetary Fund.In midday trading in New York, the euro traded at $1.3140 from $1.3011 late Tuesday. It popped by more than one cent immediately after the report came out.Reuters reported at midday that an unnamed U.S. official said the U.S. would be willing to have the International Monetary Fund give more money to the European Financial Stability Facility.The U.S. is the IMF's biggest stakeholder.The EFSF is a 440billion euro fund the Europeans put together as part of a broader 750billion euro rescue package in May during the Greek debt crisis. The IMF has already pledged up to 250billion euroThe Obama administration would not comment on the report.Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner did dispatch Treasury Undersecretary Lael Brainerd, Treasury's top official on international matters, for talks with European officials. Mr Brainerd had meetings in Madrid with economic officials on Wednesday and was scheduled to be in Berlin on Thursday and Paris on Friday.The U.S. 'can't afford to let Europe implode,' said David Gilmore of Foreign Exchange Analytics.Hmmmm...of course the US can't afford to let the Euro go down,cause it will drag them down with them.Read the full story here.

• HT:WeaselZippers.Top Sunni Cleric Yusuf al-Qardawi: No Relations Between Christian and Muslim World.During a recent Friday sermon, Sheikh Yusef al-Qaradawi, arguably the world’s leading scholar of Sunni Islam, uttered a few words that drew little notice internationally but could have big implications for future relations between Christians and Muslims.“I was for the possibility of bridging the gap between the east and the west but recently I have changed my mind on this issue, especially since the west wants to impose its values and traditions on us,” Mr Qaradawi told his congregation at Doha’s Omar bin Al Khattab Mosque in a televised sermon in October. “West is west and east is east. They do not recognise or follow our traditions and customs, so we should not follow theirs,” Mr Qaradawi said, echoing Rudyard Kipling, the British author.“He has never been one to build bridges with the west but this marks a great change,” says Bettina Gräf, author of Global Mufti, a 2009 book on Mr Qaradawi. “It is highly significant ... because it makes a difference if a very popular figure calls for divisions between Islam and the west and therefore manifests a dichotomy which is not there in reality. He considers himself a moderate in the many different meanings of the word, but being moderate would – in my opinion – include not to call for such divisions these days.”Yet if Qaradawi repeated his “west is west” statements on his weekly Al Jazeera show they would reach up to 40m people. Many millions more would get the message by word-of-mouth, online video and other means. Ms Gräf says Mr Qaradawi’s new perspective could have a significant impact on young Muslims in Europe. “The majority would be more reflective,” she says. “But, of course, there is a minority that may become more radical."Hmmm...to put it bluntly ...this is war!Read the full story here.

• 'We let in some crazies'... David Cameron claimed Labour went soft on radical Muslims.David Cameron told the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan that the Labour government 'let in some crazies', leaked diplomatic documents have revealed.The Conservative leader said that the government had got it wrong on immigration and let in the wrong sort of people before realising what was going wrong.Richard Holbrooke reported to Washington: 'On the radicalisation of British Pakistanis, Cameron said the UK had "gotten it wrong domestically"... he argued that PM Brown's policy had been too willing to engage with radicalised but non-violent Muslim groups... "We let in some crazies," Cameron said, "and didn't wake up soon enough. Hmmm.....no ...really,what made you think so?Read the full story here.

• HT:ElderOfZion.Video: The Schwartzenegger Chanukah Hora .Hmmm....it's a Zionist plot?Read and see the full thing here.

• HT:RollCall.House May Block Food Safety Bill Over Senate Error.A food safety bill that has burned up precious days of the Senate’s lame-duck session appears headed back to the chamber because Democrats violated a constitutional provision requiring that tax provisions originate in the House.By pre-empting the House’s tax-writing authority, Senate Democrats appear to have touched off a power struggle with members of their own party in the House. The Senate passed the bill Tuesday, sending it to the House, but House Democrats are expected to use a procedure known as “blue slipping” to block the bill, according to House and Senate GOP aides.The debacle could prove to be a major embarrassment for Senate Democrats, who sought Tuesday to make the relatively unknown bill a major political issue by sending out numerous news releases trumpeting its passage.“We understand there is a blue slip problem, and we expect the House to assert its rights under the Constitution to be the place where revenue bills begin,” the GOP aide said.The blue slip could lead to one of two likely outcomes. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could simply drop the issue and let the next session of Congress start from scratch, a strategy that would allow him time in the lame-duck session to tackle other last-minute priorities, such as the expiring 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, a long-term continuing resolution, an immigration bill and a repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay service members.Or he could try to force the issue in the Senate after the House passes a new version of the bill. But in order to do that and still tackle the other issues, he would need a unanimous consent agreement to limit debate.According to Senate GOP aides, a unanimous consent agreement is all but certain to be a nonstarter because the bill’s chief opponent, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), will not agree to such a deal.Coburn “will object and demand changes as [he has] from the get-go,” a GOP aide familiar with the situation said.Hmmmm....an early Christmas present?Read the full story here.

• Obama's pay freeze for federal workers only limits raises.Many federal workers would still get pay raises the next two years despite the limited salary freeze President Obama proposed this week for 2.2 million government employees.The president's proposal, if approved by Congress, would stop across-the-board pay hikes set for January 2011 and January 2012.But many federal workers will receive other pay hikes — longevity increases (called steps), promotions in grade, bonuses, overtime and other cash payments.Read the full story here.

• Revealed: How Himmler's 'Nazi princess' daughter is still the heroine of shadowy Nazi group fighting war criminal's extradition.The death of a former SS guard and an arrest warrant for another have pulled into sharp focus the workings of the world‘s only support group for mass murderers.Stille Hilfe - or Silent Aid - has 25 to 40 members including Gudrun Burwitz, the daughter of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS.It is quietly working behind the scenes to stop the extradition to The Hague of Klaas Carel Faber, 88, wanted by Dutch authorities to resume a life sentence for the wartime murders of 22 Jews and resistance fighters.And until his death a fortnight ago, Stille Hilfe was also bankrolling the legal bill for Samuel Kunz, 89, who was accused of taking part in the murders of 433,000 Jews in the Nazi extermination camp of Belzec in occupied Poland in World War II.The group met at the weekend in a secret location in Munich - the birthplace of Nazism - to plot strategies for helping other surviving war criminal suspects still living in Germany, a source told MailOnline.Its first president, Helene Elizabeth, Princess von Isenburg, was chosen because of her good contacts among the aristocracy and conservative upper middle-class circles as well as the Catholic Church.Within this secret world, Ms Burwitz is a revered figure. Carrying the blood of Himmler in her veins makes her almost a deity among the other members of Stille Hilfe.German journalists who write about Stille Hilfe and its clandestine activities remark on the extraordinary power Ms Burwitz wields in the organisation.Hmmmm.....the Devil takes care of it's own?Read  the full "Story" here.

• HT:BigGoverment.Congress Must Stop FCC’s Internet Regulations.It’s an eerie echo of last year’s health care debate, but without nearly as much public attention. Another Christmas Eve, another sixth of the economy taken over by Washington.This time it’s so-called “network neutrality” regulation. President Obama’s Federal Communications Commission is obsessed with regulating the Internet. They apparently won’t be stopped by common sense, courts of law, public opinion, or a resounding electoral defeat for big government policies. They made it official last night at midnight when they announced the agenda for their December 21 meeting: the FCC is going to regulate the Internet.Network neutrality (also known by the even more lovely sounding marketing term “open Internet”) is an outgrowth of the larger so-called media reform project of radical left-wing activists like Robert McChesney, the socialist founder of the misnamed group Free Press, which has enormous influence on the FCC, where its former communications director, Jen Howard, is FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s press secretary.With influencers like John Podesta, who chaired Obama’s transition team, openly calling for Obama to continue pushing his hard left agenda inside the executive branch, the FCC’s Internet regulations set up a perfect test-case for Congress to step in and stand up to the administration. (Despite FCC being officially “independent,” there are White House fingerprints all over this. Chairman Genachowski is a close friend of the president’s and one of the most frequent White House visitors.)Congress should act immediately next year to overturn the FCC’s network neutrality regulations with a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which the new Republican majority can pass in the House and which can then be forced onto the Senate floor with 30-senator petition. It cannot be filibustered and would need just 51 votes to pass.Obama could veto it, but to do so he would have to take full personal responsibility for ending the most remarkable driver of economic growth, innovation, and free expression we have in this country: the free-market, unregulated Internet.Congress must show the White House that the strategy of pushing hard left inside the executive branch won’t stand. Congress must do what the American people asked for in this election: stop Obama’s big government agenda.Hmmmm....Big Brother or..... Big Obama?It's having more and more the Hallmarks of a dictatorship.Read the full story here.

• Iran protests US Navy use of 'Arabian Gulf'.Iran on Wednesday summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran in protest after the US Navy used the term "Arabian Gulf" instead of "Persian Gulf" in a directive, ISNA news agency reported.The Islamic republic expressed "strong opposition and dismay" over the "unwise act" by the US forces in a protest note delivered to Ambassador Livia Leu Agosti in a meeting, the report said."It is surprising that the country which does not date back to more than a few hundred years attempts to forge the name of a waterway that is a several thousand years old because of animosity toward the Islamic Republic of Iran," read the note, according to ISNA.The US Navy's website obliges its personnel, in an undated directive, that the term "Arabian Gulf" should be used to refer to the stretch of water separating Iran from the Arabian Peninsula "instead of Persian Gulf."Tehran insists on calling the waterway the "Persian Gulf" while the Arab countries of the oil-rich region insist on the term "Arabian Gulf" or simply the "Gulf."Obama's responce.........not known ...perhaps.....I'm sorry won't happen again ?Read the full story here.

• WikiLeaks: Pakistan fastest producer of nuclear arms.The latest WikiLeaks expose clearly spells out the American and British fears over Pakistan's nuclear programme particularly with reference to India.The cables contain warnings that Pakistan is rapidly building its nuclear stockpile despite the country's growing instability and "pending economic catastrophe".US concern over Pakistan's bomb programme was spelled out in an intelligence briefing in 2008."Despite pending economic catastrophe, Pakistan is producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than any other country in the world," the secret cable said.The Russians shared concerns that Pakistan was "highly unstable".Yuri Korolev, from the Russian foreign ministry, told US officials: "Islamists are not only seeking power in Pakistan but are also trying to get their hands on nuclear materials."Seven months earlier, the US ambassador to Islamabad, Anne Patterson, cabled to Washington: "Our major concern is not having an Islamic militant steal an entire weapon but rather the chance someone working in government of Pakistan facilities could gradually smuggle enough material out to eventually make a weapon"."There are 120,000-130,000 people directly involved in Pakistan's nuclear and missile programmes... There is no way to guarantee that all are 100 per cent loyal and reliable," he said.A Chinese foreign minister, He Yafei, sought to explain to the Americans why Pakistan was blocking fissile material control talks.At a London meeting in 2009, he said: "The underlying problem...is that India and Pakistan view each other as enemies. Nuclear weapons are crucial to Pakistan. Indeed, a Pakistani military leader said his army was no match for the Indian army."Hmmmm.....the inmates are running the asylum?Read the full story here.

• WikiLeaks Reveals Turkey’s Efforts to Derail Genocide Affirmation, Force Pro-Azerbaijan Settlement.The public disclosure today by WikiLeaks of tens of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables included many of special interest to Armenian Americans, most notably a “smoking gun” revelation that Turkey has aggressively used the Turkey-Armenia protocols, particularly the prospect of its ratification, to pressure American leaders against U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide and in favor of a pro-Azerbaijani settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).“These files are a smoking-gun,” explained ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian. “They reveal the remarkable candor with which Ankara has, from day one, sought to pressure the United States to enforce it preconditions for the Turkey-Armenia protocols. It’s painfully clear from the words of Turkey’s own leaders that, rather than seeking peace, they instead sought to use the prospect of the ratification of these accords to block the Armenian Genocide recognition and to force a pro-Azerbaijani resolution of Nagorno-Karabagh.”Hmmmm...covering up the crimes of the past PM Erdogan?"We will not be silent and we will support justice by all means available to us."Only not when it comes to the Armenian Genocide? Read the full story here.

• GOP Rep. Steve Buyer Blasts Acting Dem Speaker: “This is why the People have Thrown You Out” .Here is video of Republican Rep. Steve Buyer reading acting House Speaker (Dem Rep. Laura Richardson) the riot act over the power games she was playing by refusing to recognize him to speak even though there was no one else even there to object to him being recognized. As she continued to deny him the right to speak, Buyer even said to her, “This is why the American People have thrown you out of power.”When Buyer returns to the microphone, Richardson changes course, yielding Buyer one minute to speak. He responds sarcastically, “wow.”“Was treating another member with dignity so hard, madam speaker? I don’t believe it was,” he says.Read and see the full story here.

• Source: No new drilling in Gulf for seven years.A senior administration official confirms that President Obama will not be allowing new drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico for at least seven years. This is a result of the BP oil spill.The official said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will hold a call on this news at 1:30pm today.source.Updated : Obama bans eastern Gulf drilling for 7 years.President Barack Obama will not be allowing new drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico for at least seven years, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Wednesday.The exploration of drilling possibilities in sensitive areas of the Arctic will proceed "with utmost caution," he said. Obama's decision effectively reverses White House plans announced at the end of March to open the Gulf region -- along with other large swaths of U.S. coastal waters -- to oil and natural gas drilling.
  Hmmm...protecting the UAE financial interests and the American unemployed i presume Mr president?Read the full story here.

• Russia creates world's first nuclear fuel bank.Russia has successfully completed the creation of the world's first international nuclear fuel bank under an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Rosatom state atomic energy corporation said on Wednesday.The fuel bank now stores 120 tonnes of Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) in the Siberian city of Angarsk, the Russian agency said in a statement. "This is enough to complete two refuels of the world's most commonly used light-water reactors with a capacity of 1,000 MW," the Rosatom statement said.The fuel has been enriched to between two and 4.95 percent and is being kept under the auspices of the IAEA. The IAEA approved the reserve's creation at a two-day meeting in November. It is meant to ensure stable fuel supplies to partner nations in case of disruptions of the international uranium enrichment services market.LEU is used by most of today's civilian nuclear power plants. The creation of the bank was first proposed in September 2007 by Russia, which fears nuclear fuel supply cutoffs being used by developed nations for political purposes.Read the full story here.

• "The War On Christmas".Catholics Fire Back in Christmas Billboard Battle.The latest salvo in the Christmas wars has landed, blocks from the New York entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel.The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has responded to a Christmas-debunking billboard sponsored by American Atheists just outside the New Jersey entrance of the tunnel by erecting one of their own at the other end.The new billboard reads “You Know It’s Real: This Season Celebrate Jesus.” It shows a warm nativity scene, with Joseph and Mary staring lovingly down at an infant Jesus lying in straw in a splash of light. “Merry Christmas from the Catholic League” appears in smaller type to the right of the image and above a Catholic League insignia.The billboard promoting atheism went up last week along I-495. It reads “You know it’s a myth. This season, celebrate reason!”“Jesus historically lived, there’s no doubt about that,” Mr. Zwilling added. “He was a real person in a real time, and for Catholics and Christians we believe he was the son of God.”Mr. Donohue said he thought American Atheists singled out Christianity over other religions, noting that their billboard was “not attacking Ramadan.”“They believe in nothing, they stand for nothing, and they think we came from nothing,” he said, “so they have to crib off Christians.”Read the full story here.

• Fresh scandal for Swedish royal family after Nazi past of Queen’s father is revealed by TV documentary.Sweden’s royal family - recovering from revelations of the secret affair the king enjoyed with a pop singer - has been thrown into fresh turmoil over the Nazi past of the queen’s father.Swedish TV4’s investigative programme Kalla fakta has broadcast the first of a two-part documentary detailing how Queen Silvia‘s late father grew rich producing armaments in a factory stolen from the Jews.When she married in 1976 the Queen’s German father Walter Sommerlath denied he had ever been a member of the Nazi party. That fiction was exposed some years later by a Swedish newspaper which proved he joined the movement in 1934.Earlier this year Queen Silvia spoke for the first time about it in a TV documentary in which she said he was not 'politically active' and that the factory he ran produced toy trains and hair dryers, as well as parts for gas masks for civilians. She said he did not take the factory over from Jewish owners.Now the revelations about Sommerlath, who was living in Brazil at the time he joined the Nazis and only returned to Germany on the eve of war, have plunged the royals into a new crisis.Documents found by Kalla fakta show that Sommerlath took over the firm from Efim Wechsler, a Jew, and that this was part of the so-called 'Ayranisation' of such enterprises according to the Nuremberg Laws which stripped Jews of their rights and property.He bought it at a knock-down price, as was common at the time. Jews needed the money to try to escape from Germany.The documents also show that his factory produced items which were used by the Luftwaffe - ack-ack guns - and also parts for tanks.Her brother Ralf told the newspaper Expressen that the Queen is 'terribly upset' and he calls the documentary 'lies and slanders'.The queen’s attempts earlier this year to play down the Nazi past of her father have led to fierce criticism of her in the media now, both in Germany and Sweden.Hmmmm.....Ghosts of the past do catch up.Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.ROVER’S DIARY: Much ado about blasphemy.A cursory view of the whole debate about the Blasphemy Law shows that there are many saner and more intellectually sound Muslims who do not support the existing draconian law. Except for a small extremist coterie of bigots, many politicians are all for removing Section 295-B and C.Gutsy MNA Sherry Rehman is moving a bill in the National Assembly suggesting some changes in the Blasphemy Law. Her approach is pragmatic as she is of the view that the bill, demanding the abolition of the law, would not be possible at this juncture. Several sections of Pakistan’s Criminal Code comprise blasphemy laws. Section 295 forbids damaging or defiling a place of worship or a sacred object. Section 295-A forbids outraging religious feelings. Section 295-B forbids defiling the Quran. Section 295-C forbids defaming Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Except for Section 295-C, the provisions of 295 require that an offence be a consequence of the accused person’s intent. Defiling the Quran merits imprisonment for life. Defaming Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) merits death with or without a fine.The issue is that even according to Islamic history and tradition, the Prophet (PBUH) himself did not give the death sentence to anybody who opposed and even harmed him. Then are these bigots, who have endorsed section 295-C, justified to fight for it? These additions were made in Section 295 by General Ziaul Haq without any parliamentary sanction and thus should be deleted. Sherry’s proposed change is too soft because the courts are intimidated by Islamic extremists to give a verdict against the accused on technical grounds, as it did in the Aasia Bibi case.Islamic teachings clearly say that Muslims should respect other people’s religions and should not hurt their feelings. This principle is precisely enunciated in 295-A, so the matter should rest there (unfortunately, all those Muslim invaders who destroyed temples and churches are revered in our Islamic history). So the problem is much more deep-rooted than the laws alone; there are psychological, historical, social and political reasons for the Muslims to be over-sensitive about the blasphemy issue. And, in this society where freedom of expression is limited, any intellectual discourse about these factors is risky.Hmmmm....this really makes a lot of sence.Read the full story here.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Turkey let nuclear weapons related material into Iran?Yet another Wikileaks document reports that Israel accused Turkey of allowing weapons and material for Iran's nuclear program to be shipped across Turkey long before anyone had ever heard of the Mavi Marmara. The materials were allowed through Turkey “with Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan's full knowledge,” wrote Frederic Bereyziat, a senior French Foreign Ministry official for Israel and the peace process, who took notes on the second annual Franco-Israeli Strategic Dialogue in October 2009.According to the leaked cable, the French replied that Israel would need to have clear and concrete proof of such activity before leveling accusations against Turkey. The Israelis replied that they were collecting evidence that they would eventually publicize.The French official said the Israelis explained that they would not take strong public positions condemning what they perceived as Turkey’s recent “strategic shift away from Western positions on the peace process, Iran and Israel’s nuclear program.”Erdoğan’s public comments about Israel’s nuclear weapons had particularly irked the Israelis, Bereyziat said, describing the prime minister’s remarks as unprecedented by a Turkish leader.Given that Turkey has announced that they support Hezbullah and that they do not want NATO to station missiles on their territory because they are afraid that those missiles will be used to defend Israel against Iran.Hmmm..... I don't doubt a second that two Islamists like Erdogan and Ahmadinejad wouldn't be cooperating on Iran's nuclear program.Read the full story here.

• Iraq is no country for women, UN report says.The improved political representation of women in Iraq is in sharp contrast to their broader disempowerment, as highlighted by the persistence of domestic violence and early marriage, according to a new report by the U.N. Inter-Agency Information and Analysis Unit.Women may hold 25 percent of seats in the Iraqi parliament, but one in five in the 15 to 49 age group has suffered physical violence at the hands of her husband, the IRIN information network reported on its website this week. Anecdotal evidence alleges that “many women are being kidnapped and sold into prostitution,” and female genital mutilation is still common in the north, according to the report.“The situation many Iraqi women and girls face is beyond words,” journalist Eman Khammas told IRIN in a telephone interview. “Before, I was a journalist, a professional; now, I am nothing.”Hmmm....Turkey 39 % of women suffer domestic violance but they want to join Europe?Read the full story here.

• Turkish PM threatens to sue US diplomats over leaked claims.In a harshly worded response to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday that he would file legal action again U.S. envoys he accused of making false claims against him.Speaking during a municipal ceremony in Ankara, Erdoğan called on the U.S. administration to take action to discipline the diplomats who “slandered” him in the leaked State Department documents.“This is the United States’ problem, not ours... Those who have slandered us will be crushed under these claims, will be finished and will disappear,” the prime minister said in his first comprehensive comments about the WikiLeaks release.“My friends are working [to take action] against these diplomats in terms of national and international law. We will continue this process there. Thereafter, they [the diplomats] have to think [about the consequences],” Erdoğan said. “We have discussed these issues with the U.S. administration. They have extended their apologies, but it’s not enough. They have to take all necessary measures against these diplomats.”One leaked cable that was signed by former U.S. envoy to Ankara Eric Edelman claimed that Erdoğan had eight secret accounts in Swiss banks, a claim the American diplomat said had been made to the U.S. Embassy by two contacts. He did not give further evidence. Other documents accused Erdoğan of reaping personal gain from a billion-dollar privatization.In addition to criticizing the U.S. administration and its envoys, Erdoğan also slammed the Turkish media and the head of the main opposition for publicizing the allegations.Saying he does not have a single penny in Swiss banks, Erdoğan said: “Now I tell the opposition leaders that the moment they prove otherwise, I will resign. But will they still sit in their places [if they cannot prove it]?”Hmmm....anyone in Israel willing to investigate and take him up on his words?Read the full story here.

• Turkish FM pokes fun at description of him as dangerous.Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu poked fun Tuesday at a leaked US memo's description of him as "exceptionally dangerous," saying he sees only a smiling face in the mirror.Speaking to reporters, Davutoğlu also denied suggestions in other cables leaked by the Internet whistle-blower WikiLeaks that his Islamist-rooted government is anti-Israeli with fantasies of reviving the Ottoman Empire.Davutoğlu "If by order they mean is Pax Ottomana, Pax in the meaning of order, we are trying to establish a order, it is not wrong to say such thing"Hmmm....we have seen innocent smiling faces before in history?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheBlogProf.Video: Canadians outraged as veiled Muslim women not required to lift veil, prove ID at airports. Canadian airport security personnel do not ask veiled Muslims women to lift their veils, show and ID, and prove their identity; the veiled women do not even interact with security personnel: rather, a man traveling with the women typically hands in all the passports and is the only one to communicate with airline staff while the veiled women simply walk through, unchecked and unidentified; a video showing two veiled women walking unchecked through security at Montreal's Trudeau International Airport causes outrage in Canada...The Toronto Sun’s Brian Lilley and Bryn Weese write that neither airlines nor security services are asking Muslim women to lift their veils and prove that the face beneath matches their photo ID.The issue came to light through a video taken by Mick Flynn of Bradford, England. Flynn was boarding a flight at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport when he witnessed two women with their faces covered board an Air Canada Heathrow-bound flight without being asked to remove their veils.Hmmmm...that's why 2.200 TSA officers had a course with the Muslim public affairs council to complete a quarterly training?Read the full story here.

• Indonesia's Islamic laws are 'abusive', report says.Two Islamic laws applied in the Indonesian province of Aceh violate people's rights and are implemented abusively, Human Rights Watch says.Encouraging the community to enforce Sharia laws resulted in arbitrary arrests, abuses and torture, HRW says.In one incident, an unmarried couple were dragged into the streets by a crowd and assaulted.The government is reviewing local laws that could be in conflict with constitutional rights, officials said. Aceh's unique autonomy status within Indonesia allows it to implement Sharia as a formal legal system.Sharia law was applied as part of the central government's attempts to appease the Islamic lobby in Aceh, where separatists have for years criticised unfairness in the distribution of wealth from Aceh's considerable oil and gas resources.Hmmmm.....Obama " Obama: Indonesia's religious tolerance is example to world"and "Islam is a great religion".Read the full "story" here.

• HT:BigPeace.Islamist Turkey vs. Secular Iran?Early in the sixteenth century, as the Ottoman and Safavid empires fought for control of the Middle East, Selim the Grim ruling from Istanbul indulged his artistic side by composing distinguished poetry in Persian, then the Middle East’s language of high culture. Simultaneously, Ismail I ruling from Isfahan wrote poetry in Turkish, his ancestral language.This juxtaposition comes to mind as the populations of Turkey and Iran now engage in another exchange. As the secular Turkey founded by Atatürk threatens to disappear under a wave of Islamism, the Islamist Iranian state founded by Khomeini apparently teeters, on the brink of secularism. Turks wish to live like Iranians, ironically, and Iranians like Turks.Turkey and Iran are large, influential, and relatively advanced Muslim-majority countries, historically central, strategically placed, and widely watched; as they cross paths, I predicted back in 1994, racing in opposite directions, their destinies will affect not just the future of the Middle East but potentially the entire Muslim world.That is now happening. Let’s review each country’s evolution.Thus may today’s most urgent Middle Eastern problem country become tomorrow’s leader of sanity and creativity while the West’s most stalwart Muslim ally over five decades turn into the greatest source of hostility and reaction. Extrapolation is a mug’s game, the wheel turns, and history springs surprises.Hmmm....still trying to decide who's worse Ahmadenejad or Erdogan?Read the full story here.

• HT:PajamasMedia.Holocaust Denial From U.S. Professors: Academic Freedom?Professor Kaukab Siddique of Lincoln University thinks the Jews have "taken over America" by "devious and immoral means."What are the limits to academic discourse? Are lies and calumnies from academics protected speech outside the classroom, as well as inside? Does “protected” mean immune from criticism or from direct consequences? Are there distinctions between statements made within one’s “field of expertise” and those made outside? When do such distinctions become hairsplitting rationalizations or mere defensiveness, as opposed to valuable exercises in reasoning and in defense of a noble enterprise?Israel and Jews are demonized in crude ways, and critics of this are accused of being infringers of academic freedom and Zionist propagandists. But the pairing of official diffidence and the disinhibition of anti-Semites in academia is ultimately opportune. The “higher education bubble” is already under scrutiny for grotesquely inflated costs and empty promises of useful skills. Closer examination of its localized cultures of hate, and attitudes of both entitlement and impunity, will not help its case. Such examinations are precisely required. What comes after that, however, is unknown.Hmmmmm....anyone remember when this increase in Jew hatred started?Do i hear anyone say, Yes we can?Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Extreme World: How to survive in temperatures of minus 60 degrees C.In Siberia, the winter temperature can drop to -60C, making it one of the coldest places to live in the world. In the first of our series on extremes, Adam Mynott finds out how the people of Oymyakon district cope with everyday life under such extraordinary conditions.Read and see the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Index finger length prostate cancer clue.The length of a man's fingers can provide clues to his risk of prostate cancer, according to new research. A British Journal of Cancer study found men whose index finger was longer than their ring finger were significantly less likely to develop the disease. Researchers made the discovery after comparing the hands of 1,500 prostate cancer patients with 3,000 healthy men. The length of the fingers is fixed before birth and is thought to relate to sex hormone levels in the womb. Being exposed to less testosterone before birth results in a longer index finger and may protect against prostate cancer later in life, say researchers at the University of Warwick and the Institute of Cancer Research.Read the full story here.