MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• HT:AmericanThinker.The Palestinians' brilliant ''peace' strategy -- Drive a big wedge between the U.S. and Israel.You've got to give credit to the diplomatic and political savvy of the Palestinian Authority and its Fatah leaders, now only left with rule in the West Bank, while Hamas holds sway in Gaza.Not wishing to be outdone by Hamas in taking a hard line against Israel, PA President Mahmoud Abbas seized an opportunity, when President Obama took his turn at U.S. mediation last year, by insisting that, even before negotiations were resumed, Israel had to freeze all Jewish construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.And this is but Abbas's first Security Council gambit. How Obama handles it is bound to be interpreted as a signal of whether he would -- or would not.

1. veto a resolution endorsing Palestinians statehood along the 1967 lines.
2. another current Abbas priority in lieu of real negotiations.Either way, Abbas will have put Obama behind the eight ball and saved himself from having to make concessions that Hamas immediately would denounce as high treason -- a threat he's determined to avoid at all costs.When it comes to political/diplomatic tactics, the Palestinians are in a class by themselves. Israel doesn't even come close. Neither does Obama.Hmmmm....Only if you believe that Obama is not behind the whole idea in the first place?Read the full story here.

• Pakistan bomb attack kills dozens. At least 42 people killed and dozens injured after 'female suicide bomber' attacks town in northwest of the country.At least 42 people have been killed and some 60 others injured after a suspected suicide bomber attacked a crowd of people receiving food aid in northwest Pakistan.Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said that the incident took place on Saturday morning at a World Food Programme (WFP) distribution centre in the area of Bajaur."A lone suicide bomber penetrated into the crowd and then detonated his device and according to reports from the area there are high casualties."Fazal-e-Rabbi, a local police official, said that the bomber, dressed in a traditional women's burqa, first lobbed two hand grenades into the crowd.Rabbi said that the attacker, believed to be a woman, then detonated an explosive vest.No group has yet claimed responsibility for this attack.Our correspondent said that Bajaur is not equipped to deal with such incidents even in the best of times and hospitals are struggling to cope."It is a public holiday, both being Christmas and also the birthday of the founder of Pakistan, so doctors were called back to the hospital on loud speakers."Hmmm.....Merry Christmas.Read the full story here ,more here.

• HT:AmnonAndJonathan.Reminder.What Happened at the Church of the Nativity in April 2002?On April 2, 2002 armed Palestinian Arab terrorists forced their way into the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, one of Christianity's most sacred sites, the birthplace of Christ. In the midst of over 200 nuns and priests, they sought refuge from Operation Defensive Shield, the Israel Defense Forces action against suicide bombing activity originating from West Bank locations. For 38 days, until May 10, 2002, the world watched as the gunmen refused to surrender their positions inside the Church. Only Israeli restraint and respect for the Christian shrine prevented the Palestinian desecration from turning into its destruction.Why was the IDF in Bethlehem at the time? In December, 1995, Israel had turned over control of Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority, but the PA failed to quell terrorist activities. Quite the contrary; terrorism never stopped and after September 2000, increased dramatically with the al-Aqsa Intifada. In February and March, 2002, more than two dozen Israelis had died in five separate incidents of murder, bombings and gunfire within Israel and the territories, with over six dozen injured. In each case, the Fatah in Bethlehem claimed responsibility for the deaths.In the first days of April 2002, an IDF Paratroop Brigade moved into the area to seek out and destroy explosives, arms factories and related terrorist infrastructure. A heavily armed band of terrorist gunmen, trying to evade the IDF, moved into Manger Square but found IDF troops and tanks ready for them. That triggered a planned and premediated Palestinian Arab operation to take over the Church of the Nativity.IDF forces began negotiations to end the takeover. The Palestinian Arabs inside the church included many who were known terrorists and Israel demanded that they surrender. They were members of Palestinian groups on the U.S. Department of State Foreign Terrorist Organizations list, including several Hamas operatives who had killed innocent civilians. Also taking cover in the Church were Tanzim militia leaders from Yasir Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) who were involved in recent suicide bombings, plus members of the Al Aqsa Brigade.Israel identified the terrorist individuals by name and sought to take them into custody; the Palestinian Authority refused to transfer them into Israeli hands. Nor were representatives of other governments helpful in concluding the matter. An early agreement to end the standoff failed when Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi declined to accept the gunmen, saying that no one nation could be asked to take that responsibility, and the European Union needed to find an EU solution.Israeli negotiating initiatives for humanitarian services during the siege were also rejected. Several efforts to remove injured persons and bodies of the dead were stymied by Palestinian Arab refusal to cooperate, and when International Red Cross representatives, recruited for the task by Israel, adamantly refused to enter the Church.As IDF operations continued in the area, a nearby explosives laboratory was found and destroyed, and a large pipe bomb in an adjacent mosque was retrieved. Several Hamas and Tanzim operatives were arrested. Eventually some of the Palestinians inside begin surrendering, while occasional exchanges of gunfire occurred. Gradually, various church staff and trapped civilians were evacuated. One by one over time, 95 persons were released during the siege.Finally, on May 10, after 38 days, the crisis concluded with a negotiated plan. Thirteen "senior terrorists" departed for Cyprus by British aircraft, to be dispersed among various EU nations. Twenty-six more were transported to the Gaza Strip where they were to be put on trial for terrorism. But their arrival in Gaza was greeted with a celebration and they were treated as heroes. One hundred twenty-four other Palestinian Arabs inside the Church were set free.After the Palestinians' departure, the IDF was invited inside by Church officials to look for explosives or booby traps. An IDF spokesman said that 40 "explosive devices" were found in the Church compound. The IDF reported that seven Palestinians and no Israelis died in the confrontation at the Church.The Church was not seriously damaged, but cooking utensils, trash, and clothing were strewn around. The debris of the occupation, and the smells of the unsanitary conditions, lingered.Subsequent to release of the terrorists into European exile, more than fifty Congressmen wrote to United States Attorney-General Ashcroft, demanding that extradition be sought for two of them. Tanzim members Ibrahim Mussa Abayat and Jihad Yusef Halil Ja'ara had murdered an American citizen in Israel before fleeing to the Church of the Nativity. Under US law, individuals who commit acts of terrorism against American nationals may be prosecuted for such acts in the United States, regardless of where the acts took place. Congress has prodded the Executive Branch for enforcement of the law.Hmmmm.....Now Eight years later the Cross is being banned in Bethlehem in souvenir shops,thanks to the Palestinians their "Protection",how long before Christianitty is banned?Read the full story here.

• Indonesia: Radical Islamic Groups Gain Strength on the Sly: Setara.While the antics of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front frequently make headlines, other radical groups are working quietly behind the scenes to build a wide base of support, a nonprofit has said.The Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace on Wednesday released a report detailing how radical Muslim groups were shoring up their support by forging political alliances and embracing more liberal groups and moderate clerics.Another tactic highlighted in the report was for the groups to get their members appointed to the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), the country’s highest Islamic authority, in an effort to steer Shariah jurisprudence.The seven groups identified in the Setara report included the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), headed by Rizieq Shihab; Islamic Reform Movement (Garis), led by Chep Hermawan; and the Islamic People’s Forum (FUI), helmed by Muhammad Al Khaththath.NU and Muhammadiyah are the nation’s two biggest Islamic organizations and are considered moderate. The conservative PKS is the fourth-biggest political party in the country.“In 2005, Al Khaththath and the HTI’s Ismail Yusanto made it onto the MUI board,” the report said. “By the end of that year, he had been appointed to the counterterrorism team formed by Religious Affairs Ministry and the MUI.”The report also said that during the MUI’s national caucus in 2005, Al Khaththath was among those who “actively lobbied the MUI to issue an edict forbidding the practice of liberal Islam.”The council would go on to issue an edict “forbidding religious pluralism, liberalism and secularism.” It also outlawed the minority Ahmadiyah sect, branding it “outside Islam, false and misleading, and the followers can no longer be called Muslims.”Hmmmm.....Obama "Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance".Read the full story here.

• HT:Wachington'sBlog.The Oil BP Tried To Hide Has Been Discovered, In Thick Layers On the Sea Floor Over An Area of Several Thousand Square Miles.BP and the government famously declared that most of the oil had disappeared.But as I've noted, as much as 98% of the oil is still in the ocean.I have repeatedly pointed out that BP and the government applied massive amounts of dispersant to the Gulf Oil Spill in an effort to sink and hide the oil. Many others said the same thing.BP and the government denied this, of course.But the oil is not remaining hidden.Under federal direction, about 1.8 million gallons of dispersants were sprayed on the spilled oil in an effort to break it up into tiny droplets that natural ocean microbes could eat up. At the time, officials said the dispersants shouldn't cause oil from the spill to sink to the seafloor. However, more recently, a federal report said dispersants may have helped some spilled oil sink to the sediment.Scientific teams have reported in recent months finding a strange substance on the Gulf floor, in some cases as far as about 80 miles from BP's ill-fated Macondo well, which blew out in April and spilled an estimated 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf before it was capped."The chemical signatures are identical," said Mr. Hollander, who found the contaminated samples in an area of the Gulf floor off the Florida Panhandle. Although it's conceivable the tests could show a false match with the BP oil, "the statistical probability of something like that is unimaginable," Mr. Hollander said.The Journal noted on December 18th : Oil from BP PLC's blown-out well has lodged in the sediment of the Gulf of Mexico at levels that may threaten marine life, according to a federal report released Friday.There is no practical way to clean up the spilled oil that has settled deep in the Gulf, officials said, adding that microbes in the water could eventually eat it up.Hmmmm....Merry Christmas?Read the full story here.

• HT:SultanKnish.Hijacking the Internet.There has been a good deal of talk about Net Neutrality, but the Clinton Administration's internationalization of ICANN means that there's a much more serious threat to freedom of speech on the internet than even the FCC. A threat that hardly anyone is talking about.Here's a brief excerpt of a much longer piece :

1. 10) Further alterations to the geographical makeup of ICANN's Board of Directors would mean a considerable shift in power towards the Arab League, which would presumably vote as a bloc far more than preexisting Geographic Regions.
2. 12) Should the League of Arab States gain bloc voting power at ICANN, there is every indication that it will seek to replicate its effective takeover of the United Nations General Assembly, likely in conjunction with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
3. 15) On October 28, 2010, at OIC-CERT's Second Annual General Meeting, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu noted the following as a core mission of OIC-CERT: "In view of the phenomena of discrimination, stereotyping and defamation targeting Muslims and their religion known as 'Islamophobia,' we invite the OIC-CERT to use its available professional and technical resources (in line with its objectives stated in terms of reference) in order to cooperate with the 'OIC Islamophobia Observatory' to identify the best ways and means including technical, administrative and legal tools to combat anti-Islamic contents on the internet."The OIC has already effectively used the UN to push its censorship agenda. But the UN is virtually toothless when it comes to the United States. However if the Muslim world can dominate ICANN the way it dominates the UN General Assembly, then free speech on the internet is dead.Read the full story here.

• HT:BloggerBase.Defamation of Religions 2010.The General Assembly vote on the Defamation of Religions resolution [Word Document] was not unexpected, nor was the slight decline in support for the resolution.The resolution has no enforcement mechanism, it is an exhortation, not law. Unfortunately, it affords undeserved legitimacy to national blasphemy laws which are used to persecute minorities in Islamic dictatorships. To make matters worse, there is a parallel process whose outcome will be a binding protocol to ICERD which will be legally enforcible. The information I have gathered is reported in these blog posts:

1. Ad Hoc Cmte: They aim to add a protocol to ICERD to criminalize these blog posts.
2. Ad Hoc Cmte: Pakistan's Submission
3. U.S.A.'s Submission
4. African Submission
5. The Ad Hoc Cmte. Non-Paper Paper; crucial to comprehending the other documents!
6. Letter from OIC to Ad Hoc Cmte; This is about the drive to criminalize criticism of Islam.
7.  Our freedom of expression is almost safe until their next session.
8.  Competing Nigerian & American drafts in pursuit of a binding protocol to ICERD for the purpose of outlawing these blog posts..Human rights belong to humans, not to institutions. There is no human right to be shielded from criticism of evil actions or intentions which are propagated in the name of religion.Read the full story here.

• HT:BigGoverment.The Pigford Report !The Pigford Shakedown: How the Black Farmers’ Cause Was Hijacked by Politicians, Trial Lawyers & Community Organizers — Leaving Us With a Billion Dollar Tab.Hmmmm....Something smells awfully bad Ten miles against the wind and it aint the manure!Read the full scandal story here.

• HT:BloggerBase.How underfunded are the public pension plans in your state? The numbers are staggering! (Interactive chart).The crisis of grossly underfunded public pension plans.How badly underfunded are the public pension plans in your state? The interactive map below will give you an idea and the picture is not a pretty one. This is from a follow-on article from Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis in which he is specifically examining the looming crisis in New Jersey.The estimate of the unfundedpublic pension liability in the United States is an astounding $3 trillion as calculated by the American Enterprise Institute. This represents yet another ticking economic time bomb that will only be addressed when the situation grows dire and the states assumptions for returns on their portfolios prove impossible to achieve (i.e. New Jersey estimates are for an annual 8.25% portfolio return).Read and see the full story here.

• Saudi police shoot dead Al Qaeda suspect disguised as woman after he opened fire on troops at checkpoint.Saudi police have shot and killed a man dressed as a woman after he opened fire at the troops at a checkpoint southwest of the capital, Riyadh.The kingdom's Saudi Press Agency carried a police statement saying the shooter was traveling with another man in a vehicle in the Wadi al-Dawasir area on Friday.It says the man, believed to be an Al Qaeda militant, stepped out of the car and started shooting at security officials who had asked for ID papers.The police returned fire, killing the man. His companion was arrested.The police said the case was under investigation.Mansour al-Turki, the ministry's security spokesman, said: 'We have a strong suspicion it is Al Qaeda, but we are still trying to identify the dead man and questioning the detained suspect.'Read the full story here.

• FM: Iran with nuclear bomb will seek occupation of Gulf.Lieberman tells 'Newsweek' that best approach to conflict is "exchanging territory and populations," says biggest threat to PA is Hamas, not Israel.Speaking on Iran, Lieberman compared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Hitler, saying that the situation is "Exactly like in the ’30s. Everyone knew that Hitler was a problem, and the Western world sacrificed Czechoslovakia. Not enough sanctions [have been imposed] to prevent them [Iran] from acquiring nuclear capability."Lieberman said that is Iran acquires a nuclear bomb than "It’s clear that the first step will be occupation, de facto or de jure, of the Gulf countries," adding that Iran will seek to overthrow the Saudi dynasty.Asked where Israel fits in within this scenario, Lieberman said, "We’re next, you know. It’s like Hitler. First there was Czechoslovakia and afterwards Poland. But after that the Jews paid the heaviest price."Returning to peace with the Palestinians, the foreign minister commented that, "The Palestinians, when they speak in a closed meeting with you, they understand we’re not the enemy. The only one they can trust at the end of the day is Israel. What you have in the Middle East is tension not between Jews and Arabs, not between Israelis and Palestinians, but between the radical wing and the moderate people. The biggest threat for [Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam] Fayyad and [PA President] Abu Mazen is not Israel, it’s Hamas and [Islamic] Jihad."The foreign minister concluded by saying that if the Palestinians turn to the UN Security Council to ask for recognition of a state in 1967 borders, all the agreements signed since Oslo will be nullified, and that "they have have much more to lose than Israel from this step." Read the full story here.