MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• HT:RefugeeResettlementWatch.San Diego Somalis don’t believe Obama administration’s case.SAN DIEGO — Despite scores of FBI intercepts, many local Somalis think the government’s case against four area San Diegans is fabricated and believe their community remains caught in the crosshairs of 9/11.“There’s no Somali that I know today who supports al-Shabab,” said Mohamed Mohamed, a local Somali college student.But in court papers, federal prosecutors say at least one of the accused men — Basaaly Moalin — had ties with top-ranking al-Shabab figures including Ayden Hashi Ayrow, the founder of al-Shabab which is trying to topple the weak central government in Somalia.International Rescue Committee spokesman says undue pressure put on Somali “community” by authorities.College student Yusuf Ali questions how the Imam, who counseled the community’s youth on the importance of education and Islam, could support al-Shabaab — a brutal group infamous for cutting off people’s hands and beheadings.“He was my mentor. He used to tell me, `stay in school, stay away from drugs, study.’ He was teaching me my religion. He never taught me any violence. I was with him for 10 years. I never saw him doing that stuff.”When asked if he thought the government was lying, Ali said, “Yeah, I do.”Edgar Hopida of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says past terrorism cases have fostered that perception. He says the government has accused other American Muslims of having ties to violent Islamist groups but ends up with minor immigration violation convictions.“So when they saw this come about with one of their local leaders, they saw it as `oh no, here we go again,’” Hopida said.Hmmmm....the FBI profiling Somalians,while giving the Arabs free guided tours of the FBI facilities?Neh?No Way!Read the full story here.

• "The War On Christmas"O CHRISTMAS TREE: Ames High School takes down holiday decorations.School Officals say they got calls calling the tree "offensive".A Christmas tree in Ames High School's cafeteria was taken down just two days after it was donated to the school for its winter dance. School officials say they removed the decoration after several phone calls stating it was "offensive."Ames school district officials call it a "winter tree," but students say the tree was clearly a Christmas tree. Both described it as a pine tree decorated with cardinal and gold lights and ornaments."You can't stop the world from celebrating. You shouldn't be offended by the tree it was donated and we had to take it down. It was kind of heartbreaking. People liked tree in the lunch room," says student Jay Hoskins."I didn't find it offensive but I guess I could see why people would but I don't think people did. I bet someone told their parents and they didn't think it was a good idea in case someone did get offended," says student Eric Jones."I think its' them being oversensitive and overly politically correct. They did call it non-denominational so don't see why it could offend someone when they're trying so hard to make it not offensive," says student Megan Streit.The district's policy on religion says, "The district is required by law to keep the practice of religion out of the school curriculum. Preferential or derogatory treatment of any religion shall not take place." Hmmmmm....who declared war on Christmas?Human Rights Article 18 - "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. "Read the full story here.

• Pakistan: Lahore High Court overstepped in barring Zardari from pardoning blasphemy-accused Christian: HRW.The Lahore High Court's order to bar President Asif Ali Zardari from pardoning Aasia Bibi, the Christian woman sentenced to death on charges of blasphemy, contravenes Pakistan's constitution and should be withdrawn immediately, an international human rights organisation Watch has said."The Lahore high court has overstepped its constitutional authority by preventing President Zardari from pardoning Aasia Bibi, who was unjustly convicted under a discriminatory law," said Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch."The court has blocked Zardari from promptly correcting a cruel wrong and instead has disgraced Pakistan's judiciary," he added.Read the full story here.

• Moscow: Russian jet makes emergency landing, 2 killed,40 injured.Russian news agencies say a passenger jet with 155 people on board has made an emergency landing in Moscow after all three engines cut out, skidding off the runway. At least two people have been killed and forty injured in the incident.According to ITAR-TASS, the Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft of the Daghestan Airlines was on a flight to Makhachkala - the capital of Caucasus Republic of Daghestan from Moscow's Vnukovo airport.Shortly after takeover from Vnukovo airport south-west of Moscow, two of the three engines of the aircraft failed and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing at the nearest Domodedovo airport south-east of the Russian capital.The authorities have launched a high-level probe into the air incident.Source.

• HT:UnDhimmi.Teenage Girl Tortured and Shot Dead for Leaving Islam – by Her Parents. A 17-year-old girl in Somalia who converted to Christianity from Islam was shot to death last week in an apparent “honor killing,” area sources said.Nurta Mohamed Farah, who had fled her village of Bardher, Gedo Region to Galgadud Region to live with relatives after her parents tortured her for leaving Islam, died on Nov. 25. Area sources said they strongly suspected that the two unidentified men in Galgadud Region who shot her in the chest and head with a pistol were relatives or acting on their behest.“Reports reached the relatives in Galgadud that Nurta Farah had converted to Christianity,” one source said. “The suspicion that the family is responsible is a solid one. The sister was killed in Abudwaq, a district in Galgadud Region, and the place where the incident took place is about 200 meters from where the sister was staying with relatives.”Relatives buried Farah, sources said. Her parents had severely beaten her for leaving Islam and regularly shackled her to a tree at their home, Christian sources said. She had been confined to her home in Gedo region in southern Somalia since May 10, when her family found out that she had embraced Christianity, said a Christian leader who visited the area.Hmmmm....Obama "Islam is a great religion"Read the full story here.

• HT:AntiWar.State Dept Warning Students Not to Read, Share WikiLeaks.Spokeswoman Says Commenting on WikiLeaks Not a Good Move for Any Citizen.Columbia University’s Office of Career Service is said to have passed around an email warning students that if they read WikiLeaks or make comments related to the releases it would render them ineligible for any government jobs in the future, based on a warning sent by a former student working at the State Department.State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson insisted the warning wasn’t an official Department directive but added that making public comments or posting links to WikiLeaks content wasn’t “a good move for any US citizen.Beyond the State Department, the US military is also said to be trying to curb access to the content among active duty personnel, with attempts to visit any media website from the military’s open network resulting in a warning message not to read anything related to the WikiLeaks release. The Social Security Administration has also sent an alert to all its employees warning them that reading anything related to the WikiLeaks release could subject them to “federal criminal statutes for unlawful access to or transmission of classified information.”Even the Library of Congress is getting into the game, with attempts to visit the website at the Library resulting in a warning that the site is “malicious content” and has been blocked.Hmmm.....Transparancy....Obama?Yeah whatevah.Read the full story here.

• HT:BloggerBase.Warning:Two Devout Muslims Appointed to Homeland Security Posts.Well, boys and girls, the fox is guarding the hen house. The wolves will be herding the sheep! President Obama appointed two devout Muslims (Must Watch Video: "3 Things Everyone Should Know About Islam") to homeland security posts. Obama and Janet Napolitano appointed Arif Alikhan, a devout Muslim, as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano swore-in Kareem Shora, a devout Muslim, who was born in Damascus, Syria, as ADC National Executive Director as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC). NOTE: Has anyone ever heard a new government official being identified as a devout Catholic, a devout Jew or a devout Protestant...? Just wondering. Devout Muslims being appointed to critical Homeland Security positions? Doesn't this make you feel safer already?? That should make our home land much safer, huh!? Was it not "Devout Muslim men" that flew planes into U.S. buildings 8 1/2 years ago? Was it not a Devout Muslim who killed 13 at Fort Hood ? Please forward this important information to any who cares about the future of our Country.Hmmm......You got to be kidding me!Talk about the ennemy within?Read the full story here. Related : Obama appoints Muslim whose son was killed waging jihad against Russians.Source.

• Hold the Brownies! Bill Could Limit Bake Sales. Don't touch my brownies! A child nutrition bill on its way to President Barack Obama - and championed by the first lady - gives the government power to limit school bake sales and other fundraisers that health advocates say sometimes replace wholesome meals in the lunchroom.Republicans, notably Sarah Palin, and public school organizations decry the bill as an unnecessary intrusion on a common practice often used to raise money."This could be a real train wreck for school districts," Lucy Gettman of the National School Boards Association said Friday, a day after the House cleared the bill. "The federal government should not be in the business of regulating this kind of activity at the local level."It wouldn't apply to after-hours events or concession stands at sports events.Public health groups pushed for the language on fundraisers, which encourages the secretary of Agriculture to allow them only if they are infrequent. The language is broad enough that a president's administration could even ban bake sales, but Secretary Tom Vilsack signaled in a letter to House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., this week that he does not intend to do that. The USDA has a year to write rules that decide how frequent is infrequent.Palin mocked the efforts last month by bringing a plate of cookies to a school speech in Pennsylvania. Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, the senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, said the federal government "has really gone too far" when it is deciding when to hold bake sales.Some parents say they are perplexed by what the new rules might allow."Limiting bake sales is so narrow-minded," said Laura Shortway, whose 17-year-old daughter, Mallory, is a drummer in the band. "Having bake sales keeps these fundraisers community based, which is very appealing to the person making the purchase."One loophole in Connecticut: The nutritional standards apply if the food is being sold at a bake sale, but not if it's being given away free, such as by a parent for a child's birthday."If a mom wants to send in cupcakes to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, that would not be subject to the state guidelines," said Thomas Murphy, a spokesman for the state's education department.Hmmmmm.....no more"Let them eat cakes"the "Queen" has spoken?Read the full story here.

• U.S. May Appeal Sugar Beet Crop Destruction Order.The U.S. may appeal a court order requiring the destruction of sugar beet crops engineered to be resistant to Monsanto Co.’s herbicide Roundup, according to a court filing. The U.S. Justice Department said it is seeking the Solicitor General’s permission to appeal a Dec. 1 order by a San Francisco federal judge in a lawsuit brought by organic farmers and a food safety group. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White found that “plaintiffs have made a strong showing that they and the environment are likely to suffer irreparable harm if this court does not issue an injunction.” He put his order on hold to allow an appeal to be filed by Dec. 7. The use of seeds engineered to resist St. Louis-based Monsanto’s weed killer was deregulated by the Bush administration’s U.S. Agriculture Department five years ago, according to court filings. Today more than 90 percent of the U.S. sugar beet crop comes from the genetically engineered seeds.Hmmm....don't you feel safe taking that extra spoon of sugar in your cup?Read the full story here.

• How Islam Creates Terrorists, and How to Defeat Them.There are three myths about terrorists that must be corrected if we are to battle terrorism effectively, according to Col. Matt Venhaus: that Muslim youth become terrorists for economic reasons; that they become terrorists primarily for religious reasons; and that they are recruited by al-Qaeda.Contrary to conventional wisdom, terrorists are not motivated by poverty; they do not turn to violence in a fit of religious fervor; and al-Qaeda does not actively recruit them–they go looking for al-Qaeda, according to Venhaus.“If you understand the phenomenon incorrectly then your solution’s going to be wrong,” Venhaus said at panel Dec. 2 at the Heritage Foundation on the role of psychological operations (PSYOP) in strategic communication in warfare. Venhaus, currently at the Department of Defense, spent a year interviewing more than 2,000 “foreign fighters” to determine the reasons young Muslim men were turning to terrorism in such large numbers. In his words, if putting a bomb in your underwear and getting on a plane is the answer, “then what in the heck is the question?”Venhaus found that Muslim youth were primarily acting out a need to control their environment–their strict Muslim lifestyles gave them few options to vent the pent-up energy bred by such structured, in many cases suffocating, lives.Read the full story here.

• UPDATE: “Police State” episode of hit Ventura show covering FEMA camps pulled from air. This is an update on the now-confirmed bizarre cancellation of the “Police State” FEMA camp episode from TruTV’s schedule, which is we now know is due to background pressure.Alex Jones, a consultant to the show who appears in “Police State”, noticed three weeks ago that the episode was scheduled to air before the then-newest episode on Fridays at 10 PM EST / 9 PM CST. Alex knew that encore episodes were consistently replayed over-and-over prior to brand new Friday premiere episodes, so red flags went up when it did not re-air like all the others. Now that more inconsistencies have been documented, Alex made some phone calls to get to the bottom of the matter.This morning, Alex spoke with Gov. Jesse Ventura and discovered that he was fully aware of the fact that “Police State” had been pulled due to pressure from within the government. The former Minnesota governor and star of the show indicated that he’s not ready to make a full statement yet as he’s still investigating the details and talking with network execs. However, Ventura urged that people have a right as citizens to contact TruTV and let them know that they want to see it back on air.Whatever the full cause of the behind-the-scenes pressure, it is clear that the government does not want audiences discussing FEMA camps and Fusion Centers or looking up H.R. 645, the bill named and read in the episode that authorizes FEMA emergency centers. Alex has done all he can to make sure the TruTV series is packed with hard-hitting facts and full of real, substantial issues. Though the show employs the dramatic techniques used throughout TV land, this is not the typical fluff. People had better understand that these are truly groundbreaking shows that are discussing damning evidence that the establishment doesn’t want sinking into the minds of a mainstream audience. Who knows if tonight’s water episode investigating lithium, uranium and fluoride being added to drinking water as a means of population control will itself even air or be replayed after the fact.Lovers of liberty and supporters of Conspiracy Theory had better cue their DVRs and other recorders and save the episode for good, because with the censorship we’ve already seen, it is difficult to know how long this program will remain on air, or which episodes will be allowed to repeat.Alex Jones, a consultant to TruTV’s Conspiracy Theory, can confirm that the controversial episode “Police State,” which dealt with FEMA camps and fusion centers, has been pulled from air and essentially “memory-holed” due to behind the scenes pressure.Hmmm....resistance is useless?Read the full story here.

• HT:BacktoBasics.President runs to Afghanistan to escape U.S. economic woes, say critics.In the immediate aftermath of hearing the new and disappointing Labor Department jobs numbers — unemployment rose to 9.8 percent for the month of November and 15.2 million Americans are unemployed — President Barack Obama took an unscheduled trip to the Afghan front of the Global War on Terrorism.Seeking to maintain his posture as a wartime president in the face of domestic turmoil and economic uncertainty, Obama told U.S. servicemembers at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan today that their bravery, resolve, expertise and commitment proves that America’s best days lie ahead.Obama thanked American military and civilian personnel for their sacrifices during a visit to the headquarters of Regional Command East, as well. That command, built around the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, is responsible for some of the most dangerous and deadly territories in Afghanistan.Critics of both Obama’s terror war strategy and his in ability to stimulate a dragging economy at home claim Obama’s Afghan trip was unnecessary and calculated to make him look presidential in spite of the many failures endured by his administration.“If the President really cared about our warfighters and not his own image, he would have visited the troops closer to Christmas or at least New Year’s Eve. This wasn’t anything more than a ‘get outa town’ visit so the simpleminded within the news media would help Obama to salvage some credibility,” said former military intelligence officer and police detective Mike Snopes.“This is a cynical and cunning administration more concerned with its own survival than the welfare and liberty of the American people,” said Snopes.”When in political trouble, you can always count on leftist presidents to suddenly become warriors.”Hmmmm....He even doesn't have time to play golf anymore ...poor guy.Read the full story here.

• HT:AmnonandJonathan.They want to burn ME alive !Fire broke out at noon (Saturday) in an open area between the settlements of Kiryat Tivon and Nofit. Local residents were able to control the flames. Fire investigator arrived on the scene to check whether arson is suspected.A fire erupted near the northern Bedouin village of Basmat Tab'un. No injuries or damage were reported. Police suspect arson. (Ahiya Raved)Read the full story here.

• Arrest Warrant for "Sex Crimes" Against Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Is for "Sex Without a Condom", NOT Non-Consensual Rape Using Force.Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for "sex crimes".Everyone assumed it was for rape.But it turns out it was for violating an obscure Swedish law against having sex without a condom.Today, a former attorney for Assange - James D. Catlin - has confirmed that the charges are for having sex without using a condom. He notes that:The consent of both women to sex with Assange has been confirmed by prosecutors.He also accuses the prosecutors of "making it up as they go along", and said that Sweden's justice system is destined to become "the laughingstock of the world" for pursuing the case against Assange.And Assange's current London attorney - Mark Stephens - told AOL news that he doesn't even know what the charges against Assange are, but that they are not rape:Stephens, told AOL News today that Swedish prosecutors told him that Assange is wanted not for allegations of rape, as previously reported, but for something called "sex by surprise," which he said involves a fine of 5,000 kronor or about $715.Hmmmm...."to wear or not to wear,that is the question"?Read the full story here.

• HT:Wired.Feds Warrantlessly Tracking Americans’ Credit Cards in Real Time.Federal law enforcement agencies have been tracking Americans in real-time using credit cards, loyalty cards and travel reservations without getting a court order, a new document released under a government sunshine request shows.The document, obtained by security researcher Christopher Soghoian, explains how so-called “Hotwatch” orders allow for real-time tracking of individuals in a criminal investigation via credit card companies, rental car agencies, calling cards, and even grocery store loyalty programs. The revelation sheds a little more light on the Justice Department’s increasing power and willingness to surveil Americans with little to no judicial or Congressional oversight.Hmmm.....big Obama at work?Read the full story here.

• Is An Apocalyptic Vision Driving Al-Qaeda's Quest For The Bomb?Do we "get" Al-Qaeda and its goals? Nearly a decade after the 9/11 attacks, a succession of less spectacular but nonetheless traumatic subsequent outrages, and a bloody and expensive "war on terror" that has extracted a fearful price in life and treasure in Iraq and Afghanistan, it seems hard to accept that there could be any misunderstanding or underestimation of the threat posed. Yet Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, who headed the Central Intelligence Agency's counterterrorism weapons of mass destruction (WMD) department during President George W. Bush's administration, thinks that may be happening. Now a senior fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Mowatt-Larssen has become increasingly pre-occupied by a recurring nightmare -- of a nuclear-armed Al-Qaeda.A year of close study of the pronouncements of Al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, and particularly those of his deputy, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, has convinced him that acquiring an atomic bomb, or a device of comparable destructiveness, is definitely the group's mission. The purpose, he says, is not that of deterrence, defense, or even straightforward military attack. The Islamist group seeks nothing less than the apocalyptic goal of transforming the planet to usher in a new dawn of Islamic-ruled social justice in place of the "American-Zionist conspiracy," which, according to Al-Qaeda, currently prevails. At the core of Mowatt-Larssen's conviction -- set out in a recent article in "Foreign Policy" magazine and a longer piece for the Belfer Center -- are arguments advanced by Zawahiri in a 2008 book, "Exoneration." In it, Zawahiri repeated approvingly the words of a fatwa pronounced in 2003 by a radical Muslim cleric, Nasir al-Fahd, which is widely seen as a trail-blazing religious treatise endorsing the use of WMD.Fahd's fatwa, which Mowatt-Larssen says was originally commissioned by Zawahiri, makes three leading arguments for using the weapons, including the particularly callous one that women and children "may be killed as collateral" if "one cannot distinguish them [from the main fighters]."Even more chillingly, Zawahiri quotes Fahd in writing: "If a bomb were dropped on them, destroying 10 million of them and burning as much of their land as they have burned of Muslim land, that would be permissible without any need to mention any other proof." There could be no more explicit evidence, in Mowatt-Larssen's view, of Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda's determination to get their hands on a nuclear bomb.Read the full story here.

• Now my life is at risk, says WikiLeaks chief ... and he promises to publish files on UFOs and aliens.He first sparked fury by publishing U.S. army logs from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that suggested soldiers were complicit in murder and torture.Then this week he disclosed around 250,000 cables from U.S. embassies, many containing sensitive information and embarrassing verdicts on leaders including David Cameron.One senior American politician, Mike Huckabee, called for whoever leaked the documents to be executed.The leading suspect is Bradley Manning, a 23-year-old U.S. Army intelligence analyst who is now in military custody.During an online question and answer session on The Guardian’s website, Mr Assange said: ‘The threats against our lives are a matter of public record, however, we are taking the appropriate precautions to the degree that we are able when dealing with a superpower.’In a clear warning to the authorities, he said the leaked American diplomatic cables, along with ‘significant material from the U.S. and other countries’, had been copied to more than 100,000 people in code.If something happens to us, the key parts will be released automatically,’ he said.In a fresh twist, Mr Assange, who is in hiding somewhere near London, pledged to publish leaked diplomat cables relating to flying saucers.Read the full story here.

• HT:NewsRealBlog.Soccer World Cup 2022: FIFA Embraces Qatar’s Polygamy and Anti-Semitism.The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) decided on December 2, 2010, to give the 2022 soccer World Cup to Qatar. Qatar is not known for soccer. Rather it is known for supporting, spreading, printing, airing and distributing hatred, bigotry, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, and Islamism in all its forms. Giving a regime like that in Qatar the second most important international event worldwide (after the Olympic Games) is a tremendously important decision. A good decision for anti-Semites and women’s rights abusers: spreading anti-Semitism and Islamism counts!The octopus has long been an anti-Semitic symbol. It is widely used as a metaphor for organizations and governments with wide control. This association has been particularly assigned to the idea of a global Jewish conspiracy, most notable with the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. The false notion is that Jews, in an organized manner, extend their tentacles, or control, around the world.A country which allows such cartoons to be printed in their dailies has no right to host any international event. A country like Qatar should be isolated until its current leaders are gone and democracy, human rights and universalism is on its way.Qatar is world-infamous for hosting one of the most influential Sunni Islamists, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, too. Qaradawi has resided in Qatar since the early 1960s.Anti-Semitism on Arab media: the popular Qatari TV channel Al-Jazeera is still used as a venue for blatant anti-Semitism. The reputable cleric Sheikh Yussuf al-Qardawi presents the conflict with Israel as a campaign between Islam and the Jews and says that Jews should be killed, citing a well-known Islamic tradition.Hmmmm....why choose Qatar in gods name?Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Norway’s coldest November in living memory.Yesterday we saw the satellite image of the UK, buried under snow for the second time in 2010, see UK Covered in snow, for the second winter. And we’ve seen and heard the reports about the impact snow is having in the UK and in Europe. Now let’s have alook at some cold records.Norway got over a hundred new records in November.Cold, colder, coldest. Unless you remember back to the year 1919, November 2010 is definitely the “coldest.” It is not uncommon for parts of the country to stand out when meteorologists summarize the weather of the past. This time the whole of Norway that stands out.“It is so special that large areas are cold at once. It has simply been an unusual situation that has pumped cold air into the country, “said Hygen.On the whole, Norway has therefore experienced the coldest month of November since 1919, with the full 3.57 degrees below the normal level. Because the norm is regarded as cold , this is a very big difference!Read the full story here.