MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Mufti's descendents: Shepherd Hotel ours.After Jerusalem court rejects petition against construction of Jewish neighborhood on site of derelict hotel, Husseini family calls for 'international presence to protect Palestinian residents' property'.A day after the Shepherd Hotel in east Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood was razed to make room for some 20 housing units designated for Jews, members of the Husseini family, the descendants of the mufti of Jerusalem, tried to stop the construction work at the site.Haj Amin al-Husseini, who was known for his avid support of Adolf Hitler, lived at the structure which later became the Shepherd Hotel.His descendents filed a petition claiming the land was theirs, but it was rejected by the Jerusalem District Court on Monday. Judge Yigal Marzel said the appeal was filed late despite the fact that those who submitted it learned of the planned razing about a month ago. The mufti's son, Abd el-Khader, told a press conference in Sheikh Jarrah, "I want to make it clear that there never was and there never will be a deal between the Husseini family and the occupation's government for the sale of the Shepherd Hotel compound." The family's attorney, Sani Huri, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that the land had been purchase legally is unfounded. "Israel transferred the asset to Moskowitz without the family's consent. The property was given to the family when it was forced to leave Jerusalem for Jordan. There need to be documents and signatures, but here everything was done in secret. When we asked the Land Registration Office to see the documents, we were told the file had disappeared," he said.Hmmmmm.....Nazi collaborators should get the same deal as the rest got at Nuremberg.Read the full story here.

• PM: Must be military option against Iran.Netanyahu tells foreign correspondents Iranians will cancel nuclear program 'only if they believe they are facing a credible military option at the end of the tunnel.' On Jewish construction east Jerusalem: It's a free country.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Tuesday that Iran will not stop its nuclear program unless economic sanctions are backed with a "credible military option."Speaking to foreign correspondents in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said the only time the Iranians stopped their nuclear development was in 2003, when they thought they were threatened with a military strike.The PM said the Iranians would cancel their nuclear program only "if they thought they were facing a credible military option at the end of the tunnel." "If there is credible military option you won't need to use it," he said.The Israeli premier also told the foreign correspondents that only his government can ensure the support of the Israeli people for a peace deal with the Palestinians.Netanyahu appealed for direct negotiations with the Palestinians until an agreement is reached. He expressed pessimism, charging that the Palestinians have avoided peace talks. "You want to negotiate peace, sit down and negotiate," he said. "There is no other way to achieve peace."Hmmmmm....."Looking back now,they must wonder why did we not go ahead in 2003?Read the full story here.

• Al-Qaeda to target royal wedding? Sources in British PM's office say terror group plans to sabotage Prince William and Kate Middleton's April wedding with massive attack.LONDON - Al-Qaeda intends to carry out a massive terrorist attack during Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding, a senior official in British Prime Minister David Cameron's office told Yedioth Ahronoth Monday.According to the source, the British intelligence service has collected evidence showing that the terror organization plans to sabotage the royal wedding, perhaps staging the attack along the route the couple plans to take on their wedding day. Local police is set to close the route three days prior to the event in order to prevent such a disruption. According to the intelligence information, the attack would be carried out by al-Qaeda operatives already located in the UK.As per the tradition, the bride, Middleton, is expected to ride a car from Buckingham Palace, passing by key sites on her way to Westminster Abbey, where the ceremony will take place. Following the service, the couple will return to the palace along the same route, this time riding a horse-drawn carriage. Approximately a million people are estimated to line the sides of the road to watch the historic procession.Officials are concerned that should the terrorists carry out the attack while the couple is riding the carriage, it would harm not only hundreds of people but also the kingdom's most treasured asset – the royal family.Hmmmm....."Peacefull bystanders who only burn poppies"?Read the full story here.

• Pope's call for Middle East to protect Christians sparks Egypt fury.Cairo recalls ambassador to the Vatican after what it deems 'unacceptable interference' in foreign affairs.Pope Benedict was tonight at the centre of a new diplomatic storm after Egypt recalled its ambassador to the Vatican in protest at the pontiff's call for Middle Eastern governments to do more to protect their Christian minorities.Cairo's dramatic reaction came amid reports of a further attack in Egypt in which a Christian died. The interior ministry said an off-duty policeman boarded a train in southern Egypt and opened fire, killing a 71-year-old man and wounding five other Christians, including the dead man's wife. The attack raises fears of a new wave of rioting by Christians still mourning the deaths of at least 21 worshippers as they were leaving mass at a Coptic church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve.In a statement, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said Cairo's ambassador had been called back for consultations "after the Vatican's new statements that touch on Egyptian affairs and which Egypt considers an unacceptable interference in its internal affairs".In a speech to diplomats accredited to the Holy See on Monday, the pope said the Alexandria bombing, coming after a string of attacks in Iraq, showed "the urgent need for the governments of the region to adopt, in spite of difficulties and dangers, effective measures for the protection of religious minorities".In Rome, a senior Vatican official, said Egypt's reaction was "the proof that the things said by the pope have hit the mark". Monsignor Jean-Louis Bruguès, stressed he was speaking in a personal capacity.Hmmmmm...."The Truth is rarely accepted or apreciated".Read the full story here.

• Off-duty policeman shoots 71-year-old Christian dead on train in Egypt, sparking protests.The ministry statement identified the policeman as Amer Ashour Abdel-Zaher, a Muslim. It said he boarded the Cairo-bound train at the town of Samalout in Egypt's central Minya province and opened fire on the passengers with a handgun.It was not immediately clear if he was aware his victims were all Christian. But Christian women, who made up four of the five wounded, stand out in the conservative south because they do not wear headscarves as most Muslim women do.The statement added that Abdel-Zaher was on his way to work at a town near Samalout.The train originated in Assiut which, like Samalout, is home to a substantial Christian community.Police arrested Abdel-Zaher at his nearby home after he fled the scene and he was being questioned, according to the ministry statement.Hmmmm...It's pretty obvious he was targeting Christians.Read the full story here.
• YouTube - The Egyptian police attacking the church in Samalout after the train attack on Copts.See the full story here.

• Pope insults Muslims, say MPs.Pakistani politicians have accused the Pope of interfering in state matters after he called for controversial blasphemy laws to be scrapped.Benedict XVI urged the Islamic nation to repeal the legislation -- which carries the death penalty for insulting Islam -- a week after the shooting of the governor of Punjab, who had criticised the laws."I once more encourage the leaders of that country to take the necessary steps to abrogate that law," the Pope said."The tragic murder of the governor of Punjab shows the urgent need to make progress in this direction."He added that the legislation had been used as a pretext for violence against non-Muslims.The laws have come under scrutiny after the sentencing to death of Aasia Bibi, a Christian, for insulting Islam, in a case that has divided the country further.Islamic party leaders condemned the Pope's comments."Pakistan is an Islamic ideological state and the Pope cannot tell us to change our laws, which are in conformity to our belief," said Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior leader of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam, one of the country's largest Islamic groups supporting the blasphemy laws.Farid Paracha, the leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, the most powerful Islamic party in the nation, said: "The Pope's statement is an insult to Muslims across the world."Hmmmm...."Muslims can tell the whole word how to behave,but Christians must keep silent and be killed?"How many "Statements" have we heard in the name of Islam calling for the killing of non believers?Read the full story here.

• HT:TranslatingJihad.IslamOnline.net: "Offensive Jihad Is Permissible to Secure Islam's Borders, to Extend God's Religion, and...to Remove Every Religion but Islam from the Arabian Peninsula".IslamOnline.net is listed as the 6th most popular Islamic website in the world. And yet, Western apologists of Islam assure us that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are peaceful, and that Islam rejects offensive jihad.Fighting Against Non-Muslims -- Legitimacy and Rulings. islamonline.net, 8 Jan 2011

• Q: When is it permissible to fight against non-Muslims, and when is it not permissible? Please elaborate.
• Mufti: Dr. 'Imad Mustafa, Professor of Fiqh and Its Origins, at the Universities of al-Azhar and Umm al-Qary.In the name of God, praise be to God, and prayers and peace be upon the prophet of God, etc.:Fighting against non-Muslims is what is known in Islamic jurisprudence as Jihad in the path of God. Jihad is a prescribed duty in cases of aggression from the infidels against Muslims, for we must resist them, make jihad against them, and defend against them. This is according to the text of the Qur'an, for Almighty God has said: "Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors" (Qur'an 2:190). This type of jihad is known as defensive jihad, and it is a duty agreed to by all Islamic scholars and all who are wise, and is endorsed in our day by recognized international charters. However, the occupier and his associates have come to label this "terrorism."Then there is another type of fighting against the non-Muslims known as offensive jihad. Islamic scholars have differed on the issue of offensive jihad, which is to pursue the infidels into their own land without any aggression or assistance to him. Some scholars have gone as far to say that this jihad is illegitimate, while others have gone as far as to say that it is legitimate and even required.However there can be no disagreement that offensive jihad is not totally prohibited, for two schools [of Islamic jurisprudence] have ruled that offensive jihad is permissible in order to secure Islam's border, to extend God's religion to people in cases where the governments do not allow it, such as the Pharaoh did with the children of Israel, and to remove every religion but Islam from the Arabian peninsula, and to save the captive and weak. [...]Hmmmm......"However, the occupier and his associates have come to label this "terrorism."Could it be any clearer?No more "Misunderstanders of Islam but in the name of Islam!Read the full story here.

• Tucson should make Rep. King rethink Muslim probe.The shooting in Tucson offers Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) an opportunity to rethink his planned Homeland Security Committee hearings on Muslim “radicalization” in this country.King says he's worried about the “disconnect,” as he calls it, “between outstanding Muslims who contribute so much to the future of our country and those leaders who--for whatever reason--acquiesce in terror or ignore the threat.”By that standard, he should have hearings on the failure of Republican leaders to denounce Sarah Palin's "crosshairs" Web page and Sharron Angle's invocation of "Second Amendment remedies" to Big Government and her opponent in the Nevada U.S. Senate race, Harry Reid.Of course, that is no business for the Homeland Security Committee. Imagine the response if King's Democratic predecessor, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, had tried to summon Palin and Angle, not to mention Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, to testify at such hearings.King's announcement of hearings last month proved incendiary, with law-abiding U.S. Islamic groups and such prominent individuals as Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim elected to Congress, protesting that such an attention-getting forum will only further “vilify” them.Rep. King said he promised Ellison, “If you want, you can testify. You can have a panel of your own. And it's not going to be a setup. We're not going to be taking shots at you." But he hinted at just that when he said in his announcement that he would "do all I can to break down the wall of political correctness and drive the public debate on Islamic radicalization." And let's not be naive: There are Muslim bashers who will find in the hearings a platform, whether they’re testifying or just spouting off on the Internet, to connect Muslim organizations to terrorism.Hmmmmm....What in God's name has a mentally deranged shooter to see with Islamic Terrorists?Why even compare them in the first place?Is he trying to say thats all Islamic terrorists are mentally disturbed?Read the full story here.

•  HT:Aina.13 Christians Killed in Nigerian Village Attack.Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- An attack on a Christian village in central Nigeria early Tuesday morning left 13 people dead, an official said.At about midnight, the village of Kuru Station was attacked by unknown assailants, Riyom local government chairman Simon Mwadkon told CNN.Three houses were attacked and 12 people were killed at the scene, he said. Four others were taken to a hospital, where a thirteenth person died."The situation is very tense," but security forces are now on the ground, Mwadkon said.Nigeria has been rocked by recent religious violence, with the government blaming most of the it on Islamist extremists.Christmas Eve attacks in the volatile city of Jos claimed at least 31 lives.Jos is the capital of Plateau state, which lies on a faith-based fault line between Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria and the mainly Christian south.Hmmmm......"Offensive Jihad Is Permissible to Secure Islam's Borders, to Extend God's Religion".Read the full story here.

• Arianna Huffington in Airplane Blackberry Dispute.Media mogul Arianna Huffington experienced some pre-flight turbulence when she "defied" a United Airlines request for travelers to shut down all electronic devices, leading one incredulous male passenger "to get up from his seat in protest of her continued chatting and texting," the New York Post reported.A testy exchange of words ensued between Huffington and the passenger, who is identified as Plainview, Long Island, resident Ellis Belodoff, and both were "hauled off the plane for questioning," according to the Post. Police did not end up charging either Huffington or Belodoff.Huffington's representatives, however, didn't seem to be taking the matter quite as seriously as their boss.There was a passenger who seemed upset," said Mario Ruiz, a spokesman for Huffington told the Post. "Arianna thought he didn't like the snacks. Guess not. Maybe he was an iPhone fan. As you know, the battle between iPhone lovers and BlackBerry users can get pretty heated."Speaking with AOL News, Ruiz disputed the Post story, stating that there was "no altercation" and that Huffington spoke briefly with security personel after leaving the plane.
  Hmmmm...She seems to think that she can overide the pilot's orders,and endanger the passengers their life,isn't that a federal offence?Read the full story here.

• Transparency in the age of Obama.Barack Obama largely ran on the platform of transparency, but such views have been left behind on the campaign trail.So in January 2009, the nation turned to 'the great hope', Barack Obama, a man so familiar with the US Constitution one could imagine him being able to recite it backwards. As it turns out, it seems he interprets it backwards as well.The first major event on the political calendar was healthcare reform, Democrats (and the tens of millions without healthcare insurance) were hoping to succeed where the Clintons had previously failed. Progressives were optimistically exuding large swathes of hope, dreaming of a public option. The Beltway political landscape was about to undergo a facelift, with the healthcare insurance lobby - one of the biggest 'cartels' in town - about to receive a swift boot to the unmentionables, better yet we were all going to see it live on national TV - Obama promised at least eight times that a debate on the healthcare issue would be televised.We got screwed. We did get a televised debate, several Democrats went up against several Republicans spewing their respective talking points - no doubt written by political consultants and not by people in medical/public health field - an event watched by the 8 or 9 people constantly tuned into C-Span and the three others streaming it from the White House website. Don't worry if you missed the healthcare discussion, your in the company of the elected officials who allegedly took part in it.The real debate took place behind the closed doors of the Oval Office, with a strict guest list including insurance executives and none other than the lobbyists who were supposedly being ushered out of town and back to Dodge.Not only is Obama against rescinding the scope of presidential executive orders - extended via the various post 9/11 security Act amendments collectively referred to as the Patriot Act - he has added a few extras, one being what I like to refer to as his "Presidential Execution Program" (PEP), PEP talks in the Oval Office have a distinctly different outcome, to pep talks in the locker room.Obama has bestowed upon himself, the decision of which 'suspected' "evil doer" (we might as well use Bush rhetoric, since we are still very much beholden to his policies) gets to live or die. Very much reminiscent of the demented Robot Santa from Futurama, Obama maintains a list of 'naughty' individuals whose fate will undoubtedly involve a drone, some hellfires and ironically, little hope…According to attorney, Maria LaHood, of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, who represents the father of the only person we know for sure that is on the list, Anwar al Awlaki, the list is not only secretive, but a Federal Court recently barred any discussion of releasing even the standards for what puts one on Obama’s hit list. Who knows, Anwar al Awlaki may be guilty of some treasonable offense, but where in the name of our legal system does a mere president of the USA get to decide without due process in a court of law who must die?I can’t even begin to fathom the lack of moral outrage in this country against the PEP - no matter where any of us are on the political spectrum, such an affront to morality and legal procedure should be met with the most extreme rejection and hostility. Yet, I doubt if a majority of Americans even know that such a program exists.Transparency should, but doesn’t begin at the top of the power pyramid. The increasing surveillance and persecution of peace and social justice activists coupled with the escalating use of full body scanners in US airports tells me that the only 'transparency' Obama wanted was for our clothes and our lives, not his administration.What is the moral of the series of articles on Barack Obama? Do I believe that Obama is "evil incarnate?" No, but I believe the system that he is at the same time an advocate for, and tool of, is becoming increasingly evil, misguided and out of control with its wars abroad and oppressions at home.Hmmmmmm......Opinions may differ on the latter one!Read the full dictatorship story here.

• HT:TheDailyCaller.TheDC Exclusive: A secret $6 billion US taxpayer bailout for Puerto Rico?Read the full story here.

• Iraqi immigrant to stand trial in daughter's death.PHOENIX -- An Iraqi immigrant accused of killing his daughter because he believed she was too Westernized will go to trial in Phoenix after he failed to reach a plea deal with prosecutors. Prosecutors and attorneys for Faleh Hassan Almaleki had been in discussions about a plea deal for weeks ahead of a scheduled Jan. 18 trial date. Barring a last-minute deal that appears unlikely, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Roland Steinle said at a hearing Tuesday that he would call two large groups of potential jurors next week. Steinle noted a large pool was needed because of extensive pretrial publicity and the need for jurors to be available to serve on a lengthy case. Police allege Almaleki slammed his Jeep into his 20-year-old daughter, Noor Almaleki, and her boyfriend's mother in October 2009 in the parking lot of a state Department of Economic Security office in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria.The mother lived, but Noor was in a coma for two weeks before she died from her injuries. Almaleki has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and leaving the scene of a serious injury accident. His public defender and the prosecutor declined to comment after Tuesday's brief hearing. Almaleki, who turned 50 on Jan. 1, remains in custody. He attended the hearing in shackles in the jury box, wearing a back brace over his faded black and white striped county jail garb and pink undershirt. After the hearing ended, Almaleki interrupted through an interpreter, saying "I don't know what's going on so far." Steinle allowed him to confer with his lawyers for a few minutes, then cut off their discussion to move on to the next case. "You can discuss with him over the next few days what the rules of criminal procedure are in reference to a lawyer appearing," Steinle said. The case caused nationwide outrage after prosecutors deemed it an "honor killing" because Almaleki had said his daughter dishonored his family and became too Westernized.Hmmmm.....Now if there would be Sharia law in the US chances are he would be a free man.Read the full story here.

• HT:PiNews.Execution: Taliban style beheading in Kiel Germany.To such scenarios, you have to get used to it or not in Germany. A 30-year-old Kurd from Iraq on Friday literally executed in the backyard of a bakery in Kiel-Gaarden by a group of Lebanese Kurds. The victim had to kneel in front of his captors at first, before his throat was cut. The SPD-town council chairman Bruno Levtzow has found nothing better to do than "to guard against generalizations" warning, which would take "undue the vast majority of law-abiding immigrants," I am worried that now all the black haired ones are thrown into one pot."This was not a knife fight , that was a real execution." With these words, says an expert on migrant Kiel scene, it causes great unrest in immigrant circles, since on Friday they killed a man outside a shop in the district Gaarden. It's now all about the concern that the situation could escalate.What the police and the press learned from our Scout: Kiel-Gaarden was an Iraqi Kurd who worked at the Vinetaplatz as a hairdresser, of Lebanese Kurds, who's killers belong to the Kiel Miri clan,who executed him by cutting his throat as he was held by several. The victim had an extra-marital affair with the wife of one of the perpetrators!The victim was previously repeatedly asked to stop this. The wife was also the cousin of her husband.Hmmmm...."Taliban style justice in Germany"?Read the full story here.(Google Translate).

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Pakistan: No room for secularism as Islam is its sole identity - Jama'at-e-Islami.Lahore : Islam is Pakistan's sole identity, and there is no room for secularism and its believers in this country, Jama'at-e-Islami deputy Secretary General Hafiz Sajid Anwar has said.Addressing the congregation at Mansoora mosque, Anwar said that a Muslim could not tolerate blasphemy of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), The Nation reports.Even Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik had told media persons that if someone committed blasphemy in his presence, he would shoot him to death, he added.Anwar exhorted the rulers to learn a lesson from Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer's assassination, as none of the official Khatibs and Imams was ready to lead his funeral prayer.On Tuesday, Taseer was assassinated by Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, one of his own elite security force protectors, who opened fire on him because of the governor's support for the release of Pakistani-Christian woman Asia Bibi, who has been sentenced to death on blasphemy charges.There was consensus of the Ummah that blasphemy of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was punishable by death, said Anwar, adding that Taseer publicly sympathised with the blasphemer woman, expressed full support to her and promised her clemency, and all this was unbecoming of his high office.He said that Asia Bibi had been convicted by a law court and not by any mufti or cleric, and that Taseer had been issuing statements in violation of the country's constitution, the Quran and the Sunnah, which gave the impression of his anti-Islamic views and finally led to his assassination.He also demanded the immediate release of the relatives of Mumtaz Qadri, the bodyguard who shot Taseer at least 17 times before surrendering.Addressing another congregation at Syed Maudoodi Institute mosque, JI leader Hafiz Muhammad Idrees said that Taseer's murder should be an eye opener for the other rulers who were clamouring against the Blasphemy Law.Referring to Malik's statement that he would shoot down a blasphemer, Idrees asked what crime Mumtaz Qadri had committed.He advised the anti-Islam elements in the country to stop attacks on the religion, and study it thoroughly. The western powers could cow down the Muslim rulers but not the Muslim masses, he added.Hmmmm.....Perhaps the Obama administration should give them a couple of Billion Dollars more?Read the full story here.

• Iran presents: Equipment used by 'Mossad spies'.Intelligence minister showcases computer, weapons allegedly given to suspected spies by Mossad. 'We obtained good intelligence, managed to locate people linked to Zionist regime,' he says during press conference in Tehran.The Islamic Republic's Intelligence Ministry on Tuesday publicly exhibited computers, weapons and secret equipment allegedly used to carry out the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist last year.The Iranian government claimed that the computer used by the assassins were encrypted so they could contact their operators while staying outside of the country.Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi convened a special press conference on Tuesday to announce the discovery, and presented the reporters with equipment that Mossad allegedly gave the secret agents.Among the items was a laptop computer, which according to Irna news agency was confiscated during the arrest of the suspected spies.The reporters were also presented with several guns and ammunition, as well as the instrument in which the assassins allegedly hid the explosives that killed Prof. Mohammadi. The Iranian minister also displayed "spying equipment designed to make videos and pictures, a radio transmitter, a box with documents and equipment to forge documents." Read the full story here.

• US high court rejects Obama citizenship case.WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court refused Monday to take up the question of President Barack Obama's citizenship, which a core group of skeptics continues to challenge despite presentation of his US birth certificate.The high court, without comment, rejected the request by Orly Taitz, a California lawyer who has emerged as a leader of the "birther" movement of mainly rightwing protesters who question where Obama was born.She had asked the court to annul a federal judge's 20,000-dollar penalty for filing a "frivolous lawsuit" by her client, a US soldier who refused to deploy to Iraq because she viewed the commander in chief as illegitimate.Judge Clay Land in the southeast state of Georgia determined in October 2009 that Taitz's pursuit of the case was "breathtaking in its arrogance and borders on delusional," and scolded her for expressing "no contrition or regret regarding her misconduct."She had filed a stay of deployment request on behalf of Captain Connie Rhodes, a US Army medic who challenged Obama's legitimacy as president. When Land threw the case out, Taitz publicly branded it "an act of treason."In her petition before the Supreme Court, Taitz asked: "Is the whole nation de facto reduced to the level of slaves or serfs when one without valid vital records, without social security number of his own and without a valid long form of birth certificate is able to get in the position of president?"On Monday Taitz said she would not let the case rest."I will file a motion for reconsideration," she said on her website, adding that she has "evidence of highly suspicious activity in several federal courts.""If we don't clean up corruption in the judiciary, in the White House, citizens of this country will have no trust in the system and will take justice in their own hands. This is dangerous," she wrote.Hmmmm...."L'etat c'est moi!"?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.8 Conspiracy Theories About Health That The Mainstream Media Has Been Forced To Admit Are Actually True.Who knows more about health - the mainstream media or those that believe in "conspiracy theories"? Well, the truth is that time after time after time those in the "alternative media" and those who believe in "conspiracy theories" have been proven to be far ahead of those in the mainstream media when it comes to matters of health. Sadly, the mainstream media receives so much funding and so many advertising dollars from the pharmaceutical industry, the medical industry, the big chemical companies and the health insurance industry that they are extremely cautious to report any information that would be harmful to any of them. So for years, the mainstream media generally refused to talk about the dangers posed by things such as fluoride, aspartame, prescription drugs, genetically modified crops and cell phones. But now the alternative media has been making so much noise about many of these health issues for so long that the mainstream media has been forced to acknowledge that some of these "conspiracy theories" about health are actually true.Not that the mainstream media is all of a sudden turning their backs on the financial giants that are pumping billions of dollars into them. But the truth is that we are starting to see just a little bit more honest reporting about health issues from the mainstream media these days.The following are 8 conspiracy theories about health that the mainstream media has been forced to admit are actually true....Read the full story here.

• Turkey’s 'visionary' diplomats shape 'visionary' diplomacy,with sharp arrows flying around.Turkey’s “visionary diplomats” are in pursuit of “visionary diplomacy,” as stated in objectives set by the foreign minister, and met last week to discuss ways to explain the country’s evolving foreign policy to the countries where they are posted.In the opening address of the conference in Ankara last Monday, Davutoğlu set a target for Turkey, saying that Turkey would be at the top of the “wise” countries in the world. In his assertive address, the foreign minister said diplomats would not only be firefighters rushing to stop crises in any corner of the world but also city planners, which means the pursuit of a policy preventing crises from happening.The Greek leader’s messages of friendship in the stadium warmed the audience’s hearts, and his speech was often interrupted by applause. Erdoğan, accompanied by his wife Emine, asked his counterpart why he did not bring his spouse with him.Papandreou’s address to ambassadors, however, sent some unexpected shockwaves to many diplomats in the room as well. Papandreou called Turkey an occupier in northern Cyprus and criticized Ankara for violating Greek airspace.Davutoğlu, who accompanied the Greek prime minister to see him off at the airport, told Papandreou that he could have made a more visionary speech, instead of letting fly the arrows of criticism, one source involved in the talks told the Hürriyet Daily News.Diplomats said once the Greek leader resorted to criticism-laden rhetoric, Erdoğan occasionally left the context of his previously written speech and gave spontaneous responses, which received nods from the ambassadors in the room.“We had to applaud the Greek prime minister’s speech, but the Turkish prime minister’s applause was even louder of course,” said a source.Read the full story here.

• Fears grow for minorities in north Sudan if south votes to secede.President Omar al-Bashir's uncompromising stance on imposing sharia law and the Arabic language if south Sudan votes for independence in the referendum bodes ill for cultural diversity.As southern Sudanese prepare to vote for independence tomorrow, the jubilation at the prospective breakup of Sudan that is so widespread in the south is not shared by everyone in the north.Particularly concerned are people in the two "contested areas" – South Kordofan and Blue Nile – who fought alongside the southerners in the civil war but have been left in the north by Sudan's comprehensive peace agreement (CPA).With predominantly African populations of Nuba and Ingessana, who practise Christianity and traditional religions in addition to Islam, the people of the two areas are now being referred to as janubeen jadeed – the new southerners. This reflects their potential future status as marginalised Africans on the southern periphery of an integrated Arab-Islamist state. Precisely the same situation that led to the southerners calling for independence.To complicate matters, virtually all of north Sudan's current oil production is in South Kordofan. If Southerners vote to secede, Khartoum stands to lose the 80% of its oil supplies currently produced in the south, and is unlikely to countenance losing the rest.Under the CPA, the two areas are supposed to have "popular consultation" on their future status, but this process – like the referendum for Abyei district – is completely off-track and people are extremely nervous about their future should the south vote to secede and President Omar al-Bashir carry out his threat to amend the constitution to consolidate north Sudan as an Arab-Islamic state with no concessions for racial or religious minorities.Bashir recently declared: "If south Sudan secedes, we will change the constitution, and at that time there will be no time to speak of diversity of culture and ethnicity … sharia and Islam will be the main source for the constitution, Islam the official religion and Arabic the official language."This statement – coupled with his defiant stance on Islamic law after international condemnation of a YouTube video of a woman being flogged by laughing policemen – has caused massive unease among north Sudan's minorities. Bashir said those calling for an investigation into the ill-treatment misunderstood Islam, because "sharia law has always stipulated that one must whip, cut, or kill"."Bashir clearly doesn't recognise the rights of anyone other than Arabs and Muslims," Kambal says. "He allowed cultural and religious freedom for minorities while he wanted to keep the southerners on board, but what rights will Christians and minority people like the Nuba have after the south breaks away?"Hmmmm......How long before the massive killing of Christians will start in Sudan?Read the full story here.

• Iraq - Seats In Iraqi Parliament Sold To Highest Bidder.Under the Iraqi constitution, an MP appointed as minister must relinquish his or her seat in parliament, and party leaders are then free to fill the vacancy with candidates who ran for parliament but were not elected. An Iraqi MP earns more than $100,000 a year, and is also entitled to a generous package of benefits, including a housing allowance and salaries for personal guards, often recruited from among the MP's friends and relatives. After four years of service, an MP receives a pensioncandidates who ran for parliament but were not elected. An Iraqi MP earns more than $100,000 a year, and is also entitled to a generous package of benefits, including a housing allowance and salaries for personal guards, often recruited from among the MP's friends and relatives. After four years of service, an MP receives a pension for life; moreover, he and his family are entitled to diplomatic passports during his term and for 10 years after that. Hence, there is fierce competition over the vacated parliamentary seats, and candidates often pay large sums to be selected.Hmmmm......Obama ...." If We Work Hard, Afghanistan Could Be a SUCCES like Iraq".Read the full story here.

• HT:Imra.Hamas leader: We are only a few steps away from achieving a historic triumph which might cost us a large number of our children.Agencies- Gaza -Palestinians will achieve a historic triumph in any future confrontation with Israel, but the toll will be heavy on the Palestinian side, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar said Saturday."We are only a few steps away from achieving a historic triumph which might cost us a large number of our children. However, in the coming confrontation with the Zionist entity, we will realize our ancestors' dream and return history to the right track," Zahhar said.The Hamas official made the comments at a ceremony held to commemorate the second anniversary of a massacre at the UN-controlled Al-Fakhoura school in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.The school was bombarded by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead, a three-week offensive that began in December 2008.The Hamas leader was optimistic that justice would be achieved for Palestinians.Hmmmmm........Sounds like that peaceplan is really working great Mr President.Read the full story here.