MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• "The War On Christmas"!'The Evils of Christmas': Muslim group launches poster campaign against festive period.Fanatics from a banned Islamic hate group have launched a nationwide poster campaign denouncing Christmas as evil.Organisers plan to put up thousands of placards around the UK claiming the season of goodwill is responsible for rape, teenage pregnancies, abortion, promiscuity, crime and paedophilia.They hope the campaign will help 'destroy Christmas' in this country and lead to Britons converting to Islam instead.Labour MP and anti racist campaigner Jim Fitzpatrick branded the posters 'extremely offensive' and demanded they were immediately ripped down.The placards, which have already appeared in parts of London, feature an apparently festive scene with an image of the Star of Bethlehem over a Christmas tree. But under a banner announcing 'the evils of Christmas' it features a message mocking the song the 12 Days of Christmas.It reads: 'On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me an STD (sexually transmitted disease).'On the second day debt, on the third rape, the fourth teenage pregnancies and then there was abortion.'According to the posters, Christmas is also to responsible for paganism, domestic violence, homelessness, vandalism, alcohol and drugs. Another offence of Christmas, it proclaims, is 'claiming God has a son'.The bottom of the poster declares: 'In Islam we are protected from all of these evils. We have marriage, family, honour, dignity, security, rights for man, woman and child.' The campaign's organiser is 27-year-old Abu Rumaysah, who once called for Sharia Law in Britain at a press conference held by hate preacher leader Anjem Choudary, the leader of militant group Islam4UK.Mr Rumaysah told the Mail that he was unconcerned about offending Christians.He said: 'Christmas is a lie and as Muslims it is our duty to attack it.Sister Christine Frost, founder of the East London Neighbours in Poplar charity, said: 'The more posters I saw, the more angry I got.'Someone is stirring hatred which leaves the road open to revenge attacks or petrol bombs through letter-boxes.'I told the Mayor we are all scared.'If we said such things about Muslims, we'd all be hanging from lamp-posts.Read the full story here.

• Erdoğan recalls Nobel spirit in genocide bill debate.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has expressed hope that US President Barack Obama would support Turkey’s stance concerning a vote by the US House of Representatives on a resolution declaring the World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide, suggesting that such support would comply with the Nobel spirit. Erdoğan, speaking to reporters late on Tuesday, was cautious as he said that last-minute developments could occur.“We are following this closely. However, we have always been told of the Nobel as peace and as love. I believe that those who argue for peace and love will stand behind this argument,” Erdoğan said at a joint press conference with visiting Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-Otri. In October 2009, the Nobel committee awarded Obama the Peace Prize, citing what it expected he would accomplish in reducing threats around the globe.
  Hmmmm....Read the full story here.

• Turkish man goes on trial for plot to kill rabbis.Suspect says he 'hates Jews' but denies murder allegations, faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. A Turkish news agency said that a court has released a man whom prosecutors accuse of plotting to murder Jewish rabbis and the Istanbul-based leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.The Anatolia agency says suspect Ismet Recber was freed pending the outcome of the trial following the first hearing Wednesday. Recber, a carpenter, resident of the eastern city of Kars, was arrested by the police's counter-terrorism forces last June. He told his investigators that he "hates Jews" but denied that he had planned to kill leaders of Turkey's 20,000-member Jewish community. He faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of plotting to kill Patriarch Bartholomew I. The arrest came on the backdrop of the serious diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey, which began during the Israeli operation in Gaza and peaked following the deadly Navy raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, which prompted Ankara to recall its ambassador in Tel Aviv and sever ties with Israel. However, Turkish leaders have stressed all along that their only problem was with the Israeli government, not with its citizens or with Jews.Anatolia says the man was arrested after an anonymous letter was sent to authorities claiming that a suspect in a separate trial had chosen Recber to carry out the killings.Hmmmm....Remember another case in June?: "Funeral of Turkish Bishop: Brutal Beheading. Muslim Confesses 'I killed the great Satan!'".Read the full story here.

• Obama’s Attny Gen. Says Americans More Dangerous Than Al Qaeda.U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told ABC News that he has “sleepless nights” over his worry about domestic terrorists. He thinks that Americans, natural born are far more dangerous than foreign terrorists. At some level he has a point, but the way he phrased the whole issue once again proves that neither he, nor his president by extension, really have any logical grasp of the evil we face in radical Islam. In fact, they are philosophically resistant to even see Islam as the enemy.“It is one of the things that keeps me up at night,” Holder told ABC News. “You didn’t worry about this even two years ago — about individuals, about Americans, to the extent that we now do. And — that is of — of great concern.”“The threat has changed from simply worrying about foreigners coming here, to worrying about people in the United States, American citizens — raised here, born here, and who for whatever reason, have decided that they are going to become radicalized and take up arms against the nation in which they were born,” he said. Notice the phrasing here? Look at the words he used: individuals; Americans; citizens; for whatever reason; decided to become radicalized.Did you notice what word or words are not present? You guessed it: Islam and/or Muslims.Apparently the Attny. Gen. thinks that Americans simply “become” terrorists “for whatever reason” and not because they’ve converted to Islam. You see, Mr. Holder, the “whatever reason” happens to be Islam. That is the common denominator for domestic terrorism today.Hmmmm....Stop listening to the voices,just keep taking the red and the blue pill?Read the full insanity story here.

• HT:EmergingCorruption.First Amendment Blues.“Congress shall make no law, respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” – First Amendment, U.S. ConstitutionWhat part of the First Amendment does the Federal Communication Commission, led by Chairman Julius Genachowski, and three of its five appointed commissioners, not understand?If the Internet is not about free speech, than nothing is.Need it be said that President Obama made it known that he supports “net neutrality” as “an important step in preventing abuses and continuing to advance the Internet as an engine of productivity growth and innovation.” Blah, blah, blah.Dictators hate any form of mass communication they cannot control. Consider the news in early December that Venezuelan dictator, Hugo Chavez, was defending plans for a law that would, according to the Washington Post, “impose broadcast-type regulations on the Internet, saying Sunday that his government should protect citizens against online crimes.”In Venezuela, criticizing Hugo Chavez, who has just been granted power to rule by decree, will no doubt be considered an Internet crime. Chavez thinks Obama is the best thing that ever happened to America and so does Cuba’s Fidel Castro.Even a small step toward the regulation of the Internet is a very big step toward curbing free speech and free access to information of all kinds, good, bad or just plain evil. In America citizens are expected to sort out lies and make their own judgments. That’s why a million of them showed up in Washington, D.C. in March to demand Obamacare be rejected.“The rules the FCC will impose are unenforceable without Congressional approval—as a federal court made clear in April,” notes Bruce Walker, managing editor of The Heartland Institute’s InfoTech & Telecom News. ”The FCC has now only prolonged the regulatory uncertainty its net neutrality threats originally created. This will negatively impact jobs and investment in the Internet industry.”This is not the end of this abomination, but it is a loud signal and indication of the way the leftist administration of President Obama has striven to harm the economy, imposing huge debt, grasping control of the healthcare sector, the financial sector, major auto manufacturers, the insurance industry, and now the power of the Internet to inform Americans against its tyranny.It is, however, the FCC’s attack on free speech and freedom of the press via the Internet that tells Americans everything they need to know about President Obama and his lackeys.Read the full story here.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.'Palestine' is big. It includes all of Israel.The official Palestinian Authority Television station is telling viewers that 'Palestine' is 27,000 square kilometers. To be that big, it would have to include the entire state of Israel.The official Palestinian Authority Television station is telling viewers that 'Palestine' shares a border with Syria. For that to happen, Israel would have to disappear.The official Palestinian Authority Television station is telling viewers that Tiberias and Rosh HaNikra are part of 'Palestine.' Both these locations are on the Israeli side of the 1949 armistice lines.Contrary to the repeated statements by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to foreign leaders that the PA recognizes Israel, the PA internally in Arabic continues to deny Israel's existence and to present a world without Israel.The PA transmits the message to its people that it does not recognize Israel's existence, describing all Israeli land, cities and regions as "Palestinian." Palestinian TV is one tool among many used by the PA to disseminate this message.Hmmm...It's pretty obviousPalestime will NEVER recognise Israel,and judging from the way Obama keeps hammering Jewish construction neighter will he.Read the full story here.

• All aboard the high-speed 'Gül Train' from Pakistan to Turkey.A train named after the Turkish president may soon transport cargo at high speeds between Turkey and Pakistan, opening both countries up to large European and Asian markets, the Pakistani president has said.“The upgrading of the existing rail link will cut the travel time between the two countries,” he added. “It will open up vast European and Asian markets to the benefit not only of Pakistan and Turkey but also of all people in the region.”Zardari, who is in Turkey to attend the Economic Cooperation Organization summit taking place in Istanbul from Wednesday to Friday, even has a name picked out for the planned train. “I would suggest that the train may be named after the Turkish president as the ‘Gül Train,’” he wrote.Despite its close ties and cooperation with the United States, however, Zardari said Pakistan feels uneasy about the U.S. military’s drone attacks in its territory.“Pakistan has asked that drone technology be given to it for use against militants. Drones operated by Pakistani security personnel under the Pakistani flag will be acceptable, but drones operated by foreign forces under a foreign flag are viewed as an intrusion of sovereignty and deeply resented by the people and therefore counter-productive,” he said.“While both the United States and NATO leadership apologized for recent incursions, drone attacks are still continuing,” Zardari added. “We consider this to be counter-productive and against our sovereignty. Such incidents negatively impact Pakistani public opinion.Religious education in Pakistan’s madrassas needs to be reformed and brought up to the same level as any other modern school in order to fight extremism, the country’s president has said.“We need international assistance in the education sector. Substantial financial support is needed to set up educational institutes that serve as alternatives to radical madrassas in parts of the country that promote a militant mindset and taught extremism,” Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said.Saying that these radical schools were created by very intelligent minds as an ideological “monster” for strategic military purposes, he said the schools needed to be countered with better schools and colleges.Hmmmmm....."Murder On The Islamabad....Ankara....Teheran Nuclear express"?Read the full story here.

• HT:KleinVerzet.Spitting in our food. In the ongoing case of 'stealth halal', featured earlier on KV here and here, there was some news last week: Almost all Dutch (Gouda and Edam) cheese in Dutch supermarkets is halal. And nobody knows or is being told.We learned all this form an item in the little viewed TV magazine 'Uitgelicht'. The broadcast in question can be found here (NL). The pertinent section starts at 11:30.The gist of it: Friesland Campina, arguably the largest supplier of supermarket cheese, produces halal cheese. In fact all but one of the brands of cheese is halal.To produce cheese, milk has to be coagulated. This can only be done by using rennet, which is extracted from the stomach of butchered calves. In the case of halal cheese (at this point you may already have guessed) the rennet comes from halal butchered calves.The goal is that all cheese whey will be halal certified by February 1st, 2009.The reason for this is as depressingly mundane as it is shocking:The demand for halal lactose for halal child food is far greater then the supply. The profit from halal lactose suitable for children's food is € 0,25 per kilo higher then lactose for regular food applications. Lactose is made from cheese whey from, amongst others, the Campina cheese factories. That is why we want to have our cheese whey certified.You may wonder why the fact that this ambition to become 'halal certified', or that all cheese from Friesland Campina factories is now halal, was never communicated.Or why Friesland Campina refused an interview on camera for the Uitgelicht item. Evidently Friesland Campina is quite reticent, embarrassed even, about letting us know in what manner their cheese has been produced. The reason is not hard to fathom. Halal is part of shariah law and as Afshin Ellian notes in the item: If a label "Conform Shariah" were to be put on a product it would instantly stop selling.In the same vain we learned that Nutrilon baby food is 100% halal (NL), or that Hollands largest supermarket chain, Albert Heijn, cannot guarantee its meat products are not halal. We learn this from De Dagelijkse Standaard (NL), who published en exchange of emails between ALbert Heijn and an inquisitive consumer. The main issue with halal butchering is not whether an animal was stunned or not before having its throat slit. Rather, the main issue seems to be invoking the name of Allah when the throat is slit, while the animals head is pointing towards Mecca. As Abdullah Ali-Salah, boss of the organisation Halal Correct, that provides halal certificates explains in the Uitgelicht item, it is a short prayer: "Bismallah, Allahu Akbar" (In the name of Allah, Allah is greatest).In fact the entire food industry is submitting us to sharia law, without even having the decency to tell us about it. And if you think I am exaggerating, I refer you to the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Halal food movement has the strength to lead Muslims to rule the global economy as the food is the basic need of every human beingAll of a sudden we are back on very familiar territory: Muslims trying to conquer the world, by waging economic jihad in this matter, in the name of the perversion they have for a god and those we entrust with an important aspect of our daily lives, betraying us for a few measly bucks. I don't think 'betrayal' is too strong a word in this matter. However else can call it when the industry is turning all of our food into halal food, but tries to hide this form their customers? Was this supposed to be an in-joke, a bitter prank at our expense, by Friesland Campina (or Albert Heijn) and the Ummah in Holland?Hmmmm....Read the full story here.

• HT:ElderOfZion.IHH and HRW: Two sides of the same coin.Israel's Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center has an important report showing that Turkey's IHH is not a "humanitarian organization" but is pushing a political, anti-Israel agenda.Some of the aid IHH gave the Palestinians was humanitarian, intended to ease the physical distress of the Palestinian population and improve its economic standing. However, some aspects of the aid, as described in the booklet, also clearly have political implications, such as the large amounts of money and equipment given to the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, donations of money to the families of shaheeds in the Gaza Strip and the construction of houses (possibly of terrorist operatives) to replace those destroyed by Israel in Judea and Samaria. The donations help Hamas' civilian network, which supports terrorism, and its educational system in the Gaza Strip, which indoctrinates the younger generation with radical Islam and sets them on the path of terrorism ("resistance"). In addition, IHH waged a propaganda campaign in Turkey during the years before Operation Cast Lead, contributing to Turkish hatred of Israel and sympathy for Hamas.This is not terribly surprising, but it is important for those who still consider IHH a "humanitarian aid" organization.Human Rights Watch, when dealing with Israel, is not following a human-rights agenda, but rather a political agenda to delegitimize and punish Israel for often-imaginary abuses, while allowing governments that have real human rights abuses to pass without any specific recommendations to punish them. Which means that HRW does not treat Israel as a violator of human rights but as a political target.Just like IHH.Read and see the full story here. More here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.USA: Southern California To Hear Ahmadiyya Muslim Peaceful message.The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the peaceful community that has accepted Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the second advent of the Messiah. We are in excess of 170 million living in 195 countries of the world. We are different from other Muslims in the following ideologies:

1. Terrorism in all forms, shapes or styles is totally un-Islamic.
2. Jihad with weapons and violence is not required or needed as we have full freedom of practicing our faith.
3. We denounce all forms of suicide bombings and do not subscribe to any form of violence as per Islamic teaching: If one kills a person it is as if he has killed a nation.
4. We do not believe that apostates should be given the death penalty as Islam teaches that there is no compulsion in religion.
5. We do not believe in the literal graphic picture of heaven and hell as other Muslims view these Quranic expressions; they are metaphorical, as we will not carry the same physical bodies of this world into the next.
6. We believe that God the Merciful is a living God with all His beautiful characteristics and traits, one of which is communicating with humans. He has not discontinued talking with His chosen ones. He continues to hear and speak as He always did.At this annual convention we are sharing our views of spreading the peaceful message of Islam throughout the world.We convey season's greetings to all our neighbors and all Californians and visitors to our great land. May God protect them and strengthen their families to live the teachings of Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Zorast, Krishna, Tao, and Holy Prophet Muhammad; all of these were noble Messengers of God.Hmmmm...The Ahmadiyya Muslims are being persecuted by other Branches of "The Religion of Peace".Read the full story here.

• Saudi Arabia girls' schools investigated over 'illegal' sports day. Private Saudi girls' high schools are being investigated by the education ministry for holding an "illegal" sports tournament.The Dec 8 event involving 200 females from six Jeddah private high schools broke ministry rules against girls' sports in schools, a ministry official said. "We don't have any regulations that say that it's OK for girls' schools to hold sports classes or training," said Ahmed Al-Zahrani, director of girls' education in Jeddah. "This tournament was held by these schools, something that has now led us to know about their illegal activities," he said. Women's access to sports overall is tightly constricted in Saudi Arabia, which is governed according to an ultra-strict version of Islam. Women cannot participate in the Saudi Olympics team, and are not allowed to attend public football matches. While a few women-only private clubs and private women's universities offer sporting possibilities, sports are prohibited at primary and secondary schools for girls.Hmmm...Read the full story here.

• Indonesia: West Java tops reports of religious intolerance.Nahdlatul Ulama’s affiliated non-governmental organization, Moderate Muslim Society (MMS), reports that West Java tops reports of religious intolerance.“From 81 cases reported on [religious] intolerance, 49 cases, or 61 percent, took place in this province,” MMS Chairman Zuhairi Misrawi said at the Tolerance and Intolerance Report 2010 in Jakarta on Tuesday.According to MMS data, cases of intolerance in West Java this year increased more than four times to 49 incidents, up from 11 in 2009.Most cases occurred in the areas of Bekasi, Bogor, Garut and Kuningan.“All of the victims of intolerance in Bekasi are Christians,” Zuhairi said.Christians were barred from performing masses, their houses of worship were sealed and some HKBP members were attacked, he added.Christians were also the victims in seven of the 10 incidents of intolerance documented in Bogor.“In Garut and Kuningan the victims of intolerance were members of Ahmadiyah,” Zuhairi said.Zuhairi attributed mounting intolerance to inaction of local authorities in West Java.“There are also increasing numbers of groups acting violently in West Java. They need to be brought to dialog to understand diversity,” Zuhairi said.Zuhairi called on the government to take stern actions toward the perpetrators of violence.“Otherwise people will suspect that the government has deliberately protected extremist groups,” he said.Hmmmm......Obama "Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance".Read the full story here.

• HT:Gallup.Americans See U.S. as Exceptional; 37% Doubt Obama Does.PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans widely agree that the United States has a unique character because of its history and Constitution that sets it apart from other nations as the greatest in the world. This view, commonly referred to as "U.S. exceptionalism," is shared by at least 73% of Americans in all party groups, including 91% of Republicans.At the same time that Americans believe the U.S. is exceptional, they also are inclined to believe that status is far from secure, according to the Dec. 10-12 USA Today/Gallup poll. Three-quarters of those who believe the U.S. is exceptional (62% of all Americans) also believe the U.S. is currently at risk of losing its unique character.The poll does not delve into possible reasons why Americans think the United States' stature is at risk. It is possible this viewpoint reflects Americans' tendency to see national conditions as getting worse rather than improving. Gallup has observed this pattern in a variety of areas, including the state of U.S. morals, the quality of the environment, the crime situation in the U.S., and the economy.Some Republican critics, however, imply that Barack Obama's policies, including his approach to foreign policy, are a threat to the United States' status as the world's greatest nation.On the whole, Americans, by 58% to 37%, believe Obama thinks the U.S. is exceptional, consistent with what he and his advisers maintain. But Americans are less likely to believe Obama holds this view than they are to think the same about Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.Hmmm.....Read the full story here.

• Yad Vashem: 4 million Shoah victims identified.Holocaust Remembrance Authority reinstates identity of some two-thirds of Jewish victims. Hall of Names director: Every name rescued is victory over Nazis.Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority announced Tuesday it has collected the names of 4 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust – some two-thirds of the total number of Jewish victims estimated to have been murdered by the Nazis. Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev said that during the last decade the museum's staff had tracked some 1.5 million names and added them to the databases."The Germans not only wanted to annihilate the Jews, but also to wipe them from memory," Shalev said. "One of Yad Vashem's central aims is to give a face and a name to each Holocaust victim, and give them back their identities. We have managed to use technology in the service of memory, and thus accelerated the collection of names and the accessibility of the information for people around the world."The names hardest to track are of those murdered in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In these regions, in contrast to Western Europe, Jews were murdered near their places of residence, and the Nazis made no deportation lists.During the last five years, there has been significant improvement in this field. According to Alexander Avraham, director of Yad Vashem's Hall of Names, there has been a huge increase in the known and documented names of victims in the Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Hungary and Greece.Hmmmm....4 Million victims recognised.Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Iran Transfers Deposits From Foreign To Domestic Banks.The governor of Iran's central bank, Mahmoud Bahmani, told the Iranian news agency IRNA that the central bank has decided to reduce its deposits in foreign banks by transferring them to domestic banks. He said, "An agreement has been reached to use these deposits to support the needs of local projects in foreign currency instead of in the riyal, to prevent the worsening of local domestic inflation."Bahmani did not elaborate. However, it was suggested that the move reflects Iran's fears regarding its capacity to maintain liquidity because of sanctions or because it needs to use foreign currency to cover the cost of projects that foreign companies have abandoned under the pressure of the U.N. and U.S. sanctions regime.Hmmmm.....Domestic?Are Turkish banks also domestic?Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Islamic Cleric Praised by Ground Zero Mosque Imam Reiterates Support For Palestinian Suicide Bombers.The martyrdom operations which I approve are the ones that target the occupiers. That is why I sanctioned martyrdom operations in Palestine. When I was asked, in London, how I could permit martyrdom operations in Palestine, I said that they are a necessity, because these people want to defend themselves, the things that are holy to them, and their land. I said to them: "You want them to stop the martyrdom operations? Then give them Apache helicopters, planes, tanks, and missiles, and then they will abandon martyrdom operations." They do not have bombs, so they turn themselves into human bombs. This is a necessity.I only sanction martyrdom operations in defense of a plundered and occupied land.GZM Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has held up Yusuf al-Qardawi as an example that Islam does not condone terrorism, yet here he is again doing just that. But don’t worry, Imam Rauf is still a “moderate".Read the full story here.See the clip here.

• HT:Memri.Video : Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi Joins Crowds In Jihad Chants At Rally In Mauritania, The Internet, October, 2010.Hmmm....Iman Rauf's "Moderate" friend?Read and see the full story here.

• HT:DenverPost.Harsanyi: Save the 'Net; abolish the FCC.Because there exists no area of human activity that couldn't benefit from more paternalistic attention . . . Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Federal Communications Commission to your Web browser.Congressional Democrats could not find the votes to pass "net neutrality." No problem. Three un-elected officials will impose rules on hundreds of millions of satisfied online consumers. A federal appeals court stops the FCC from employing authority over the Internet. Again, not a problem. Three out of five FCC commissioners can carve out some temporary wiggle room, because as any crusading technocrat knows, the most important thing is getting in the door.It's not that we don't need the FCC's meddling, it's that we don't need the FCC at all. Rather than expanding the powers — which always seem to grow — of this outdated bureaucracy, Congress should be finding ways to eliminate it.Read the full story here.

• EU to take farm, fish imports duty free from Gaza.The European Union said on Wednesday that it had agreed with the Palestinian Authority to import fruit, vegetables, oils and fish products from Gaza and West Bank duty free for up to 10 years.The deal affects relatively small volumes of trade. EU imports from Gaza and West Bank were worth €6.1 million ($8.02 million) in 2009 and were mostly early potatoes, oils and seeds such as soya and sunflower seeds, according to EU data.To protect EU farmers, fruit and vegetables will enter the EU at a minimum import price or face duties.The deal aims to benefit only Palestinian products, the Commission said -- a reference to the thorny issue of farm goods from Jewish settlements in the disputed territories, which previously benefitted from EU concessions to Palestine.Hmmm...What's the true reason for this?Read the full story here.

• HT:NewsFromBangladesh.Explanations of some questions raised by people and western media about Islam: Some critical comments.Islam is the super misogynistic religion on earth because Islam denigrated and degraded women more than any other religion. Because, Muslim women’s rights are still guided by the Islamis Sharia law, which makes them half of human, but all other religions have no say or control to the rights of women today.In the pure Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia—women are like domestic animals. On the contrary, women of all other religions are guided by the democratic and secular western laws (not by Papal laws) which treat women equal to men. This is not the case with Muslim women even today. Hence, it is immaterial or irrelevant what other religions said in their holy books about women today.Now, my humble questions to Dr. Sultan Ahmed are as follows: 

1. In your article you have mentioned Koranic verses (81: 8-9) which telling us that pre-islamic Pagans used to burry their girls alive. If that was the case then there should have been an obvious severe shortage of women in their society, don’t you think so? In that situation, how Prophet Muhammad had at least 11 wives and many slave girls and concubines in his harem; and also all his disciples had harem full of wives. How come prophet’s mother escaped the episode of ‘burial alive’ and how all those disciples of prophets had also their mothers alive? Don’t you think this story could be a simple myth only to bluff people after Islam?
2.  You have so proudly mentioned that—Islam brought so much rights and prestige which pre-islamic women could not even dream! Now, could you give me a list of five Islamic women who were established after Islam came because of the rights and opportunity given by islam (Koran) which would not be possible at the time of pre-islamic period? Please bring examples from the early period of Islam only; and do not please cite some names from the modern world.
3.  If pre-islamic period was so bad for women then how in the world Khadija (first wife of Prophet Muhammad) was an established big business women under whom many men including Islamic prophet were simple employees in her big business her?
4. Why women in Islamic nations are so much uneducated, backward, and utterly superstitious even today?
5. Why women in Islamic nations are the most oppressed, humiliated, and lead life as second class citizen in their own country?
6.  Why thousands of women die for the sake of honor-killings in many Arab and non-Arab Islamic nations?
7. How does your claim that “ Every Muslims should know that it was Islam that brought honor and dignity to women in many respects” can stand against what I just said in my above questions to you?
8. Why Koran orders husband to beat his unruly wife if you think Koran gave men and women equal rights?
9. Why child marriage (marrying girls as young as 8 or 9) in Muslim nations are so rampant even today? Is it because Prophet of Islam married Ayesha whn she was only a child of six year?
10. Finally, how your proud bragging about Koranic goodies for the Islamic women fits the reality of poor and inferior qualities of women in Muslim world today? I would highly appreciate if you please respond to my questions above. Thank you for your patience! I will be waiting for your kind response!By Syed Kamran Mirza.Hmmm....Anyone care to respond?Read the full story here.

• Related from the same author :My debate with Bangladeshi Mullah Scientist who considers Islam brought all the women’s rights on Earth!Dr. Sultan Ahmad has not responded to my questions to the point at all, and he was simply beating around the bush leaving my questions unaddressed. Like most fanatical Islamists (who usually will claim some untrue goodies in Islam to fool the readers) who do not have any clue to defend their non-existent claims/lies about Islam always jump on his critic and start personal attacks instead of answering the questions asked by the critic. Dr. Ahmad is not an exception and I am not surprised at all. When these Islamists hypocritically lie profusely about Islamic goodies but can not defend them when challenged, only thing they do is attack the critic personally with incoherent and ludicrous arguments. His tirades have been targeted on my person leaving my all queries totally unanswered. Hence, I will not respond to his unnecessary personal attacks which deserve no response from me because, I don’t need to stoop down so low like Dr. Ahmad.Read the full story here.

• HT:WZ.Mass Town Requires Students to Have Parents Sign Permission Slip to Recite Pledge of Allegiance.A Brookline public school is bringing back the Pledge of Allegiance next month — and the principal is asking parents to fill out permission slips before their children participate.“It’s uncomfortable. The pledge is a promise, and I’ve always taught my kids to think very carefully before making any promise. It’s not a decision I want to make for them,” said Judi Puritz Cook, who has two sons at the Devotion School.On Monday, Devotion Principal Gerardo J. Martinez sent a letter to parents telling them that the school would begin weekly recitations next month of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag that he’d lead over the public address system.He said teachers and students can’t be mandated to participate in the pledge under the Constitution, and called it a personal choice to participate.“I urge you to have a conversation as a family to help your children understand why I will be reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and to support them in feeling comfortable and confident in the decision on whether or not to participate,” Martinez said in the letter.But Sarah Wunsch, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union in Boston, said she hasn’t heard of another school using permission slips to handle the pledge.“It suggests that this is a decision for parents alone. Are they going to enforce that?” asked Wunsch, calling the use of permission slips “really strange.She said that the permission slip raises the issue of what would the schools do if a student’s wishes differ from his or her parents.“I think that’s really strange that they’d do that… even children don’t lose their right of expression simply by walking into a schoolhouse’s doors,” said Wunsch, herself a Brookline resident.In a follow-up e-mail, Lupini said the permission slips are intended to encourage discussion among parents and their children about the pledge.The Devotion School also sent home a copy of the pledge with definitions of several of its terms, including “under God,” which was defined as “there is one Supreme entity for every citizen.”But Lupini said that was a mistake: Martinez’ letter was reviewed by Lupini and Associate Town Counsel Joslin Ham Murphy, but neither reviewed the handout that included the reference to “under God.” Lupini wasn’t aware of it until a Brookline TAB reporter pointed it out.“It unfortunately didn’t get reviewed and ended up as part of the packet” sent to parents, said Lupini, who noted that school officials will meet on Wednesday to discuss how to contact parents regarding the mistake.Hmmmm...."Mistake"?Read the full story here.Click here to read the letter.

• Seven Belarusian Presidential Candidates Face 15 Years In Prison.A Belarusian human rights organization says seven presidential candidates who ran against the country's authoritarian leader could face up to 15 years in prison in the wake of postelection violence and massive arrests.The human rights center Vesna said the security service, which is still called KGB, has filed charges against 20 top opposition figures, including the seven presidential candidates, for organizing mass disturbances.They include 64-year-old Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu, who was beaten unconscious during the protest and subsequently snatched from his hospital bed by men in plainclothes.A KGB spokesman, Alyaksandr Antonovich, declined to comment.More than 600 people, including the candidates, were arrested during mass protests after the December 19 election that gave Alyaksandr Lukashenka a fourth term in office with some 80 percent of the vote. The Interior Ministry said the activists were given sentences from between five to 15 days. Two of the arrested candidates were later released, but both of them -- Ryhor Kastusyou and Dzmitry Vus -- were summoned to KGB offices today for further questioning.Earlier, Justice Minister Viktor Golovanov has warned that political parties associated with the protests in Minsk may be "liquidated."Lukashenka, a former collective farm manager, has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994.In comments broadcast on December 20 on national television, he said any attempt to stage a "revolution" would be thwarted, adding that there would be no more "senseless democracy" in his country."Kids, you are messing with the wrong guy," he warned demonstrators.
  Hmmmm....Lukachenko the Last Eastern European Dictator.Just look at his "friends" Ahmadinnejad , Kim Jong Il and Chavez.Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Did BP Break The North Atlantic Loop Current (And Are We Entering An Ice Age?).According to Dr. Gianluigi Zangari (theoretical physicist) of the Frascati National Laboratories in Italy, BP and millions of gallons of Corexit may be responsible for the breakdown of the North Atlantic Loop Current that brings warm water up from the equator and keeps Europe from being buried under ice.Abstract: BP Oil Spill may cause an irreparable damage to the Gulf Stream global climate thermoregulation activity.The Gulf Stream importance in the global climate thermoregulation processes is well assessed. The latest real time satellite (Jason, Topex/Poseidon, Geosat Follow-On, ERS-2, Envisat) data maps of May-June 2010 processed by CCAR1,2 (Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research), checked at Frascati Laboratories by the means of the SHT congruent calculus3 and compared with past years data, show for the first time a direct evidence of the rapid breaking of the Loop Current, a warm ocean current, crucial part of the Gulf Stream. As displayed both by the sea surface velocity maps and the sea surface height maps, the Loop Current broke down for the first time around May 18th and generated a clock wise eddy, which is still active.Hmmmm...Actually it's not the first time it happened the Gulf Stream’s flow turned south in early May 2007, and continued moving southward through May 15. By May 22 it was beginning to show signs of recovery, however what had been one of the hottest springs on record in the British Isles has been transformed into a cold and wet beginning of June.Read the full story here.