MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• Ht:IsraelMatzav.Christian Tomuschat, Head of the Goldstone Implementation Committee, Resigns. Christian Tomuschat, who was heading the committee appointed by the United Nations 'Human Rights Council' to implement the Goldstone Report, has resigned. This is a press release I received by email from Eye on the UN's Anne Bayefsky.Christian Tomuschat, who headed a UN committee charged with implementing the Goldstone Report, has reportedly resigned. He had been appointed by UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay. Tomuschat’s credentials were questioned earlier this year, in a July 14th, 2010 article by Anne Bayefsky.Tomuschat’s resignation is the second blow to the credibility of the UN’s efforts to implement the Goldstone report. Following Bayefsky’s July article, the UN secretariat official whom Pillay had assigned to coordinate the Tomuschat committee’s activities, Ahmed Motala, was removed from the case.Unfortunately, many other UN authority figures, selected precisely because of their history of anti-Israel and anti-Western bias, remain. For further information see EYEontheUN’s list of current UN authorities.Unfortunately, the continual discrediting of the 'Human Rights Council' doesn't stop it from acting and doesn't discredit it in the eyes of the majority of the 'international community.'Hmmm...an early Christmas present to the Jewish people.Read the full story here.

• BreakingNews.Israel.At least 40 prison wardens dead as bus engulfed in North. Fire-fighting crews, planes attempt to control fire in brush-covered Carmel area amidst heavy winds; over 6,000 dunams burned; Damon Prison, University of Haifa evacuated. The majority of the 40 people burned to death in a bus caught up in the Carmel forest fires were prison wardens en route to the Damon prison.The wardens were meant to assist in the evacuation of some 500 prisoners from the facility, situated near Kibbutz Beit Oren, when their vehicle became engulfed in fast moving flames which had spread to the narrow mountain road linking Atlit to Kibbutz Bet Oren.A firefighter spokesman said the fire had traveled 1500 meters in less than three minutes adding, "the bus had no chance. They tried to escape but were burned alive. It was a horrific scene."Read the full story here.

• US Federal agency proposes 'Do Not Track' option for Web users.The Federal Trade Commission advocated a plan on Wednesday that lets consumers on the Internet choose whether they want information about their browsing habits to be collected, an option known as "do not track."The FTC's proposal, a framework for commercial use of consumer data, would make consumer privacy the default position and would let Web users decide whether Internet sites and advertisers can build profiles of their browsing and buying habits as well as collect other personal information.The recommendations, in a report released by the commission that solicits public comment over the next two months, are based on the commission's belief that current practices regarding privacy protection have not kept pace with the rapid growth of technology and new business models.Industry self-regulation, the preferred model among advertising companies and many online retailers, has "failed to provide adequate and meaningful protection" for consumers, the report said.Now, the trade commission hopes to adopt an approach that it calls "privacy by design," where companies are required to build privacy protections into their everyday business practices. That approach would include retaining data on consumer preferences and online browsing activity only as long as needed and deleting data on a regular basis.Christopher Soghoian, a privacy and security researcher, said at the Consumer Watchdog conference that most consumers do not have privacy software and that the use of privacy options in most Internet browsers "doesn't do much."Hmmmm....sounds way tooo good to be true,what's the catch?Read the full story here.

• Mgr Franceschini: The Turkish Church "can not intervene" against falsehoods on Mgr. Padovese.The Archbishop of Izmir, Ruggero Franceschini, confirms to AsiaNews that a group of “professors and lawyers” have ruled that Murat Altun, who assassinated Mgr. Luigi Padovese is insane. This conclusion is in direct opposition to a report by several doctors who - before the murder - had found Murat Altun to be perfectly sane. The bishop of Izmir, who after the death of Mgr. Padovese, succeeded him as vicar of Anatolia, sadly comments that "Unfortunately I can not speak in court. The Vatican can, through the nuncio, the Italian ambassador can, because Padovese was an Italian citizen, and family members of Padovese, they may intervene. The bishops of the Latin Church may intervene, but no one is obliged to listen to them. "On 3 June last, Mgr. Luigi Padovese, 63, was stabbed to death in the garden of his home in Iskenderun, on the southern coast of the country. The killing, which took place according to a kind of Islamic ritual, was carried out by Altun, who had worked for years as the bishop’s driver. The same Altun, before the murder, had sought to be declared insane, visiting several doctors, who instead had ruled out any instability. Altun had also confessed to "sexual" motivations for the murder, seen by many as an attempt to manipulate public opinion. the Bishop says today. He adds: "I have not been questioned, no one has ever asked me anything. We don’t even have the possibility to shout or protest. We are even criticized by people who should not criticize us, people who instead should loves us".Hmmm....the truth ...but..nobody wants to hear the oposite side?Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Pakistan: Christian mother denied presidential pardon for 'insulting Islam'.Pakistan mother denied presidential pardon for 'insulting Islam'.Asia Bibi, a Christian, has been sentenced to death after falling foul of the country's blasphemy law.A Pakistani court has barred President Asif Ali Zardari from pardoning a Christian woman sentenced to death on charges of insulting Islam, in a case that has prompted criticism over the country's blasphemy law.Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old mother of four, requested a pardon from the president after a lower court sentenced her to death on 8 November in a case stemming from a village dispute.The Lahore high court today barred Zardari from pardoning Bibi in a petition filed by Shahid Iqbal, a Pakistani citizen. Iqbal's lawyer Allah Bux Laghari told Reuters a pardon was illegal as the court was already hearing an appeal against her sentence."We believe it is the court's duty to evaluate the evidence against her, not individuals, and if she is found innocent, she should be freed," he said.Human rights groups have demanded the repeal of the law, which they say discriminates against religious minorities who make up roughly 4% of Pakistan's 170 million-strong population.Hmmmm....welcome to A.D. 620?Read the full story here.

• Fatah: No to Israel as Jewish state, no land swaps.Israeli official asks: What sort of peace are you offering us; Revolutionary Council urges PA to foil J'lem-Golan Heights referendum law.The Fatah Revolutionary Council concluded its fifth convention in Ramallah over the weekend by declaring its refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.The council also urged the Palestinian Authority leadership to work toward foiling a new Israeli law requiring a referendum before any withdrawal from Jerusalem and the Golan Heights that has not been passed by two thirds of the Knesset.The Palestinians are opposed to any understandings between Israel and the US that could harm their interests, the council said.“The council affirms its rejection of the so-called Jewish state or any other formula that could achieve this goal,” said a statement issued by the council.“The council also renews its refusal for the establishment of any racist state based on religion in accordance with international law and human rights conventions.”Hmmm....it's just hopeless with these people,do they even realise what they are saying?I bet Stalin would have found a solution for Fatah,just round them all up and ship them to Iran let the Iranians deal with them?Read the full story here.

• House GOP scuttles nutrition bill at center of first lady's anti-obesity drive.House Republicans on Wednesday scuttled a Democratic bid to pass a child nutrition bill that’s at the center of first lady Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity agenda.The $4.5 billion legislation, which has already been approved unanimously by the Senate, expands eligibility and funding for school lunch programs. Democrats had expected it to pass on Wednesday and be sent to President Obama for his signature, but Republicans used their last chance to amend the bill to offer a motion that would require criminal background checks for childcare workers and would have removed the federal mandate for paid meals in schools.When Democrats saw that the poison-pill amendment was headed for passage, they pulled the bill off the floor, a Democratic aide said.Before the vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hailed the anti-obesity legislation as a “moral issue” and a measure that would help U.S. competitiveness and military readiness. She cited statistics showing that more than one-quarter of young Americans are unable to serve in the military because they are overweight.Hmmm.....yeah...whatevah.Read the full story here.

• HT:EmergingCorruption.Oil Drilling Moratorium is an Act of Treason.If you had any doubt that Barack Obama’s agenda is to destroy the United States of America, but still want more proof, I offer you the announcement that his administration will not provide any offshore oil leases in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, or Atlantic coasts…for at least seven years!In October, a study by the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University concluded that the reduction of shallow water oil drilling permits that followed the BP oil spill would put as many as 40,000 jobs at risk and cost the region $4.3 billion in lost wages and revenues.At the same time, a consortium of foreign oil companies led by the Spanish firm, Repsol, working with India’s state-run Oil & Natural Gas Company and Norway’s StatoilHydro are exploring for oil off the coast of Cuba where drilling in its waters will proceed even while American and other oil companies will be denied access to vast reserves off the coasts of all of the Gulf States. From Alaska to Florida, offshore of California or any of the East Coast States, Obama is destroying America’s energy future in the same fashion his administration has done everything in its power to shut down the nation’s coal mining industry.Here are the statistics that demonstrate how dependent we are on fossil fuels: In total they provide 84.9% of the energy Americans use. Of that, coal provides 22.4% and oil represents 39.2%, while natural gas accounts for 23.2%. Other energy sources include nuclear power at 8.3%, hydroelectric at 2.4% and the least efficient and dependable, wind at 0.3% and solar at 0.08%. (Data source: the Institute for Energy Research)In March, Gov. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a Democrat, said, “President Obama has made his intentions to bankrupt the coal industry clear. EPA’s actions this week demonstrate that he will wage a war against the energy source that generates half of America’s electricity and is our nation’s most abundant, reliable, and affordable energy sources.”This agenda of economic destruction has been carried out since Obama took office in 2009. It is the reason Obamacare was inflicted on the nation, asserting control over one sixth of the nation’s economy. It is the reason the government took over General Motors and Chrysler. It is the reason Obama failed to come back from South Korea with a trade treaty and has stalled others in the pipeline. In countless ways, the engine of the federal government is being used to betray and impoverish Americans.Cry treason! For that is what it is.Hmmm.....Is he preparing the groundplan for the remake of the Russian Revolution?Read the full treason story here.

• HT:CNet.Twenty highest-radiation cell phones.We do a lot of top products lists here at CNET, and manufacturers are usually pretty excited to see their products on those lists. But this is one "top" list that manufacturers probably aren't too thrilled to find their products on. As we note in our intro to the list, for a phone to pass FCC certification and be sold in the United States, its maximum SAR level must be less than 1.6 watts per kilogram. In Europe, the level is capped at 2 watts per kilogram, whereas Canada allows a maximum of 1.6 watts per kilogram, just like we do. The SAR level listed in our charts represents the highest SAR level measured with the phone next to the ear as tested by the FCC. It's possible for the SAR level to vary among different transmission bands (the same phone can use multiple bands during a call), and different testing bodies can obtain different results.What a "Radiant" idea for the Christmas period? Read and see the full story here.

• HT:RightSideNews.Obama Socialist Regime Moves For Control of the Internet.It’s called “Net Neutrality.” Sounds fair, right? I mean -- that’s what the liberal-socialist democrats are all about, right? Fairness is their utmost priority, right? Why, they’d never do anything to limit the freedom of Americans … riiiiight?If you believe all that, then prepare yourself for a rude awakening.When a political movement intends to takeover a nation’s government, one of the very first things it absolutely MUST DO … is take control of that nation’s communications networks. It must be able to control access to communications if it expects its efforts to be successful.I began warning readers that the Obama Regime would make an effort to take over the Internet from the early days of the Obama reign. It was as plain as the nose on my face that to make the fundamental change in America that Obama swore he would make, then he would have to gain control of the nations communications. There have been very few successful revolutions in modern history in which the broadcasting stations, networks, and newspapers were not first compromised, or taken over completely by the revolutionaries -- or just shut down.The Internet is a “thorn in the flesh” of the liberal-socialists in the current American government. It gives them NIGHTMARES!
  Conservative bloggers have been the cause of great consternation in the White House and the West Wing and even to those liberal-socialist senators and congresspersons on The Hill. They have been seething with anger at the ability of conservatives to get disseminate their message of Obama’s shadow government and his sub-rosa strategy to convert America to a European style socialist state, not only to Americans, but around the globe -- at the click of a mouse.Their embarrassment when confronted by fellow socialist leaders in countries they favor, such as Venezuela and Cuba, is overwhelming. And they can bear it no longer!So, they have decided they must make the initial step to grab control of the Internet and bring it to heel as a servant of the socialist regime of Obama.Never mind that the courts have already told them the Federal Communications Commission has no authority to regulate the Internet. They are going to do it anyway. This is typical of the socialist Obama Regime. They have been ruling against the will of the American people since day one.Hmmmm....another step closer to dictatorship?Read the full story here.

• HT:Reason.You Are No Longer Free To Move About the Country.Janet Napolitano said last month that we should expect to soon see tighter restrictions at bus, train, and marine transportation centers, too. Here's a report about TSA, Border Patrol, and local police setting up a checkpoint at a Greyhound station in Tampa. Note how quickly preventing a possible terrorist attack expands to include catching illegal immigrants, and preventing drug and what sounds like "cash smuggling." (It's hard to tell from the audio.) Note also the complete and utter reverence the local news report bestows on these government agencies, who after all are merely "teaming up to keep your family safe." It's not difficult to envision the day where anyone wishing to take mass transportation in this country will have to first submit to a government checkpoint, show ID, and answer questions about any excess cash, prescription medication, or any other items in his possession the government deems suspicious. If and when that happens, freedom of movement will essentially be dead. But it won't happen overnight. It'll happen incrementally. And each increment will, when taken in isolation, appear to some to be perfectly reasonable.Hmmmm......dictatorship coming to a neighbourhood near you?Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.In Lebanon, Coordination Meeting With Opposition In Advance Of Release Of Al-Hariri Assassination Indictment.The London daily Al-Hayat reports that opposition elements in Lebanon held two coordination meetings in the country for preparations for dealing with the ramifications of the indictment in the Al-Hariri assassination case soon to be released by the international tribunal. One meeting was in Tripoli, where there is a Sunni majority, and the second was in the Shouf region, which is Druze and Christian. Hizbullah, Amal, and Free Patriotic representatives attended the second meeting; they decided not to take specific measures before the contacts between Syria and Saudi Arabia on the matter have played out. Source.

• HT:Memri.Video : Egyptian TV Host Tamer Amin: I Support Iran and Egypt Obtaining Nuclear Weapons Because "There Must Be Some Scarecrow to Frighten" Israel.Read and see the full story here.

• First Round of Voting Ousts Islamists From Egypt’s Parliament.CAIRO — As the results of Egypt’s parliamentary elections trickled in Tuesday, no one was surprised that the governing party of President Hosni Mubarak won a huge victory. Nor were they surprised that the candidates of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s only sizable opposition, took a beating. What did surprise some was the Brotherhood’s share of seats in the new Parliament: zero. The Brotherhood, an Islamist movement with 88 seats in the current body and a vast following among Egypt’s 83 million people, was reduced to political nonexistence, at least for the first round of voting. The handful of other opposition parties won only a sprinkling of seats. “At least get creative in how you rig the elections,” said Hisham Kassem, a newspaper publisher and human rights advocate. “I was expecting a few more seats for the opposition.”He added: “Nothing can stun me now.”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:Memri.Leading Saudi Cleric: Woman May Drive, Work, And Reveal Their Faces.Mecca religious police director-general Dr. Ahmad Al-Ghamadi said at a conference of women yesterday in Jeddah that woman are permitted to drive, to work, and to reveal their faces, and attacked the positions of those opposed to women working. He said that women's participation in national development had been grounded in shari'a for hundreds of years, and that there is no shame in going out to work for a living.Read the full story here.

• Stolen menorah lights up student fundraising drive.Jewish students at the University of Ottawa have rallied to build a new menorah after one was stolen from the university grounds on the weekend. A three-metre menorah set up last week outside the UniCentre went missing on Saturday just days before the Jewish holiday of Hannukah, which is today. The menorah was later found in front of the Father & Sons restaurant on Osgoode Street, near the university campus. The metal and wire religious structure was too badly damaged and could not be returned. "It's all smashed up, it was part of a student prank," said Rabbi Chaim Boyarsky, the university's rabbi.Hmmmmm? Two unidentified individuals were captured on security cameras carting away the religious symbol.He said the eight-branched candelabra is normally shipped from Brooklyn, New York and Jewish students at the university volunteer to assemble it. But there was no time to get a new one from the U.S. prior to the Jewish holiday, he said. "The students are building a new one, it will be two feet bigger than the other menorah," said Boyarsky, adding the students purchased the building materials. "The irony of this is that students came out in big numbers to help and some of them were not even involved before."Hmmmm....The darkness of racism can not survive in the light.Read the full  story here.

• City to Deploy Ambulances to Save Organs.Some 911 calls in Manhattan will now bring out two ambulances, one hurrying to the scene and one lagging slightly behind. The first one will try to save the patient’s life. The second one will try to save the patient’s kidneys, in case the first ambulance fails. After months of grappling with the ethical and legal implications, New York City medical officials are beginning to test a system that they hope will one day greatly increase the number of organs collected for transplant. For five months starting Wednesday, the city will deploy a specially trained team that will monitor 911 calls for people who may be in danger of dying, like those having a heart attack. If efforts to resuscitate the patient fail, the team will quickly move in and try to save the kidneys; normally, patients who die outside hospitals cannot be donors because if too much time passes after the heart stops beating, the organs are unusable. Dr. Goldfrank said that he hoped there would be at least one case during the December-to-May trial period that would end with a transplant. But he and other officials said that even if no organs were transplanted, what they really wanted to test was the protocol, which required a delicate balance of treatment and consent.Hmmmm.....Obama Care.."I'll make you an offer you can't refuse?"Read the full story here

• Former Defense IG Raises Concerns About Military Chaplain Vetting.A former inspector general for the Defense Department is calling on Congress to investigate and oversee the vetting process for Muslim clerics who are nominated to serve as U.S. military chaplains.In a letter sent earlier this month to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, former Inspector General Joseph Schmitz outlined what he believes is the potential risk to national security posed by the military’s current chaplain vetting system. “The main concern is that the body consulted by the U.S. government to select the chaplains is made of NGOs linked to the Jihadists or to Islamist movements. This alone compromises national security,” he said.“It would be placing — without knowledge — religious advisers to military personnel who promote Islamist ideologies and doctrines. This would be the single most dangerous penetration self inflicted by the bureaucracy.”Hmmmm....talk about "the enenemy within"?Read the full VC operation 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.

• Larry king lost for words at Putin’s question.Vladimir Putin has perplexed CNN’s Larry King, who announced last summer this would be the last season for his show. It was Putin’s second interview with King, recorded Tuesday and posted on the CNN website Wednesday.Read and see the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Oldest salt mine known to date located in Azerbaijan.French archeologists have recently provided proof that the Duzdagi salt deposits, situated in the Araz Valley in Azerbaijan, were already being exploited from the second half of the 5th millennium BC.Another remarkable fact is that the abundance of artifacts dating from the early Bronze Age suggests that the Duzdagi mine was intensively exploited from as early as the 4th millennium BC. Hundreds of stone picks and hammers have in fact been found near the entrances of collapsed tunnels. The frequent presence nearby of ceramic pottery fragments specific to the culture known as “Kuro-Araz” has made it possible to date these archeological artifacts. This work raises a lot of questions. Who and what was the salt intended for in the 5th and 4th millennia BC. How were the communities that exploited these deposits organized? What were the political and economic links between the different regional sites (villages, workshops and mines), etc.Read the full story here.

• HT:Israel21c.And now for something completely different.Diagnose heart disease with a fingertip test [video].Israel's Itamar Medical has developed a breakthrough device to diagnose sleep apnea, and a test for early onset of arteriosclerosis and heart disease.Read and see the full story here.