MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• Lavrov visits Turkey for talks on ‘joint strategic plans'.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to arrive in İstanbul on Wednesday for a two-day official visit during which the two Black Sea neighbors will take concrete steps to deepen their strategic bilateral relationship. During the two-day visit, Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoğlu, will co-chair the first meeting of the Joint Strategic Planning Group as part of preparations for upcoming meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council between Russia and Turkey -- an intergovernmental cooperation mechanism. Russia and Turkey agreed last year to launch the High-Level Cooperation Council, an intergovernmental body that is to be led by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and will meet annually to review ties.Following Lavrov’s visit, Ankara and Moscow will witness a flurry of mutual visits. In mid-February, Russia’s State Duma Interparliamentary Friendship Group with Turkey will visit Ankara. Also next month in Ankara, Turkish and Russian officials will hold a meeting of the Social Forum as part of exercises within the framework of the High-Level Cooperation Council.On March 2-3, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız will co-chair a meeting of the Joint Economic Commission between the two countries which will be held in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, a federal subject of Russia.In mid-March, Prime Minister Erdoğan is expected to pay an official visit to Moscow at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The first meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council was held in May during Medvedev’s visit to Ankara. The second one will be held during Erdoğan’s upcoming visit to Moscow.An exact date for an upcoming visit to Turkey by French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been set in Paris, the Anatolia news agency reported on Wednesday. Sarkozy will visit Turkey on Feb. 25, Anatolia said, citing anonymous sources without elaborating on whether it would be a one-day visit. Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan was in Paris in April, where he extended an invitation to Sarkozy to visit Turkey. Sarkozy accepted Erdoğan’s invitation and told him he would visit as soon as possible.Sarkozy insists that Turkey does not belong to Europe culturally and therefore opposes Turkey’s entry into the EU, calling for a “privileged partnership” instead. But the French leader also appears to be keen on improving ties with Ankara, given its growing influence in the Middle East, a region where France also wants to expand its clout.Hmmmmm.....Turkey the NATO ally that never really was an ally?Read the full story here.

• "The Daily Bomb Blast".Bombs Targeting Shiite Pilgrims In Iraq Kill 50,wounds hundreds.A pair of bombs blasted through security checkpoints ringing the Iraqi holy city of Karbala Thursday and killed at least 50 people, many of whom were Shiite pilgrims headed to observe yearly religious rituals.Authorities estimated as many as 175 people were injured in the afternoon blasts, which appeared to be caused by at least one of the  car bomb.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. But they bore the hallmark of al-Qaida and other Sunni-dominated extremist groups that frequently target Shiite pilgrimages in hopes of re-igniting sectarian violence that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war just a few years ago.Ali Khamas, a pilgrim from the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in Baghdad, said he saw a car speeding toward one of the checkpoints, its driver refusing to stop despite warnings screamed by Iraqi soldiers."He sped up and blew up his car near the checkpoint," said Khamas, a 42-year-old truck driver. "After the explosion, people started to run in all directions, while wounded people on the ground were screaming for help. I saw several dead bodies on the ground."Still, Khamas said, the pilgrims continued to head to Karbala: "It will not deter us from continuing our march to the holy shrine ... even if the explosions increase."Hmmm......"Islam the Religion of Peace".Read and see the full story here.

• Scientists Warn Iran Could Produce Enough Nuclear Material for Warhead in 5 Months.ISTANBUL -- The U.S. is joining five other world powers for talks with Iran this week publicly confident that international efforts have slowed Tehran's capacity to make nuclear arms and created more time to press Tehran to accept curbs on its atomic activities.But while diplomats and officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency -- the U.N. nuclear monitor -- agree that Iran's enrichment program has struggled over past years, the Federation of American Scientists warns against complacency.It notes impressive improvements in the performance of the Iranian machines that enrich uranium -- an activity that has provoked U.N. sanctions because it could be used to make nuclear weapons.Washington's message is essentially this: Iran is struggling with uranium enrichment, a process that can create both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead material. Significantly, that view is backed by Israel, Iran's implacable foe and considered to have the Mideast's best intelligence on Iran's nuclear strivings.If true, that leaves more time to negotiate in hopes Iran will come around and give up enrichment -- thereby removing the threat of an Israeli or U.S. military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.But in a study shared ahead of publication with The Associated Press the Washington-based FAS argues that Iran last year appears to have increased efficiency of the machines that produce enriched uranium by 60 percent, giving it the technical capacity to produce enough material for a simple nuclear warhead in 5 months.An IAEA official who read Barzashka's 14-page study described her conclusion of impressive progress in output of enriched uranium as "very solid," and "based on the best possible data." But that official and a senior diplomat based in Vienna and familiar with Iran's enrichment strivings said that -- overall -- the centrifuges continued to perform substantially below capacity."Contrary to statements by U.S. officials and many experts, Iran does not appear to be slowing down its nuclear drive," it says.Hmmmmm......Remember last week's warning from the FORMER DEPUTY HEAD OF MOSSAD ?Greatest threat in 2011...Iran getting Nuclear weapons.Read the full story here.

• ‘Community’ Has Nothing to Fear from ‘Radical’ Hearings.Politico features a story today headlined “Muslim groups nervous about King hearings.” It goes on to discuss Muslim apprehension regarding upcoming Congressional hearings led by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) “on the threat posed by radical Islam in America.”That phrase — “radical Islam” — is truly a marvel, a 14-ct., bullet-proof, titanium shield for Islam itself, which, sorry guys and gals, is the source of all things we deem “radical” in Islam. “Islam is Islam and that’s it,” as Turkey’s Erdogan so memorably put it. But since we don’t want Islam to be “it,” we pretend and operate and make policy and even war based on some mythic radicalism of “twisted” or “hijacked” or “perverted” Islam.If these King hearings turn out be about the threat posed by “radical Islam” — and not about the threat posed by what is radical about Islam — “nervous” Muslims have nothing to worry about.Hope I’m wrong, but it looks like any analysis of jihad of sharia is already off the table.In a move that will come as a relief to Muslim leaders, King told POLITICO that he’s not planning to call as witnesses such Muslim community critics as the Investigative Project on Terrorism’s Steve Emerson and Jihad Watch’s Robert Spencer, who have large followings among conservatives but are viewed as antagonists by many Muslims.“Community” — another shield-word. Imagine if the sentence read: “King told POLITICO that he’s not planning to call as witnesses any Muslim jihad critics or Muslim sharia critics….” Then everyone could see that this committee already has its blinkers on and is ready to go.Hmmmm....."his bark is worse than his bite"?A true politician.Read the full story here.

• HT:TundraTabloids.You got to be kidding?DOJ press release shows FBI's new "politically correct" Logo.“Have a look at the DOJ press release. The story, in itself, is most important. However, it might be worth while to focus on the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force logo that appears at the bottom of the release. The facial features represented on the logo’s character might suggest that authorities are no longer ravaged by political correctness – where ethnic Europeans are concerned. If my impression is right, this selective extension of respect and consideration is unacceptable.Hmmmm....Who in Gods name drew up this logo?Read and SEE the full story here.

• Report: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Killed Pearl.A new report on the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl reveals that U.S. officials used a forensic technique called vein analysis to corroborate the confession of the self-professed killer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who also is suspected of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.The report details problems in bringing to justice others suspected of involvement in the crime, including the recent release by Pakistan of a man thought to have been one of the main players.The report is the work of the Pearl Project, a three-year endeavor to answer lingering questions surrounding Mr. Pearl's death. The project was led by former Journal reporter Asra Q. Nomani, who worked with faculty and students from Georgetown University. It is being published Thursday by the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based investigative-journalism organization.Mr. Pearl, who was 38 at the time of his death, was abducted Jan. 23, 2002, by Islamist militants in the crowded and chaotic Arabian Sea port of Karachi, while reporting on terrorism.The report shows that, despite the widespread attention his case garnered, the precise story of Mr. Pearl's final days and the exact timing of his death remain shrouded in a fog of conflicting confessions and testimony by alleged perpetrators, their compatriots and Pakistani investigators.By most accounts, Mr. Mohammed wasn't part of the original plan to abduct Mr. Pearl. He told U.S. investigators that he was pulled in later by another senior al Qaeda operative.In October 2003, U.S. officials disclosed that Mr. Mohammed, while in American custody, had confessed to the killing.Read the full story here.

• HT:CompassDirect.Jailed Pakistani Mother Asia Bibi Living in Constant Fear, Husband Says.LAHORE, Pakistan, January 19 (CDN) — A mother of five sentenced to death on “blasphemy” charges has lived in constant fear since the killing of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, her husband told Compass as he came out of Sheikhupura District Jail after meeting with her last week.Ashiq Masih said his wife, Asia Noreen (alternatively spelled Aaysa, and also called Asia Bibi), is “very afraid.” Her conviction triggered a violent chain of events in Pakistan, including the Jan. 4 murder of Taseer by his bodyguard after the governor voiced support for her.“She knows the Muslims have announced a prize on her head and would go to any lengths to kill her,” a visibly nervous Masih told Compass. “The governor’s murder in broad daylight has put her in a state of paranoia.”He added that threats by Islamist extremists have dampened Noreen’s hope of getting justice from the Lahore High Court, where her appeal against the conviction has been filed but yet to be taken up. Wearing a dark cloak to hide his identity, Masih was visibly nervous after meeting with her on Jan. 11. “She was asking me about the situation outside,” he said. “I tried to console her, but she knows it’s really bad. She’s also worried about the children.” The mother of two children and stepmother to three others, Noreen asked him to appeal for more prayers for her, he said. “Please tell everyone to pray for her,” he said. Masih said prison authorities had improved Noreen’s security considerably after Taseer’s killing.“She’s being kept in a separate cell with a warden deployed 24 hours for her security,” he said. “Only I am allowed to meet her, but even I am searched completely before they bring her out for the meeting. I just hope and pray she keeps safe inside the prison.” Still, prison officials have reportedly said she will be transferred to another prison soon because of security concerns.The female warden tasked with Noreen’s security the day Taseer was killed told Compass of the Christian woman’s reaction to the news.“I was escorting her for her routine walk on the evening Governor Taseer was gunned down,” said the warden, who requested anonymity. “We were passing by a barrack when the news broke out on TV that the governor was dead … She stood there in shock for some time, and then she started screaming and crying.”The warden added that she helped Noreen back to her cell, “as she could barely walk and kept weeping.” “She cried all evening and also refused to have supper,” the warden said. “The governor’s killing shattered her. The governor’s visit had boosted her morale – she was very happy and every time I spoke to her, I could feel the joy in her heart. She shared with me how she had lost hope, and how God had sent Taseer to help her. A particular verse that she often repeats is from John 14:1, which says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.”“She is on the hit list of several extremist organizations,” he said, “and there are reports that she might be targeted inside the jail – moreover, she has a 30 million rupee [US$350,000] prize on her head. This is enough incentive for anyone to kill her.”Hmmmmm......."Islam the religion of Peace".Read the full story here.

• Israeli Government Responds to Time Mag article.A Response from the Office of Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.Dear Mr. Stengel, I wanted to bring to your attention a recent article in Time entitled "Israel's Rightward Lurch Scares Some Conservatives." I hope that you will agree that the article's obvious bias and numerous distortions are not worthy of the standards of your prestigious magazine. Israel is depicted in the article as essentially sliding towards fascism. Your correspondent refers to Israel's Shin Bet (the equivalent of the FBI) as a "secret police," claims that the Israeli government "increasingly equates dissent with disloyalty," and accuses the Prime Minister of "taking a page from neighboring authoritarian states." The evidence offered for these outrageous allegations includes a preliminary vote in our parliament that would require naturalized citizens to make a pledge of allegiance, a proposal to strip citizenship from Israelis convicted of espionage and terrorism, a motion to investigate foreign government funding of local NGOs, calls on Jews to not rent property to Arabs, and demonstrations demanding prohibitions of Arab boys from dating Jewish girls. But your correspondent did not find it necessary to inform your readers of a few facts.I can assure you that no matter how biased and unbalanced your correspondents' coverage of Israel, they will always be free here to write whatever they want. Of course, Time is also free not to print it.Ron Dermer ,Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister.Read the full letter here.

• New jobs in sight?Sorry guys no US jobs.Turkish automotive firm awaits New York taxis for growth.Karsan Otomotiv, the Turkish van and bus maker shortlisted to make New York taxis, will increase sales 10 percent to 20 percent in 2011 from last year’s 600 million liras ($390 million), Chief Executive Officer Murat Selek said.The company, based in Bursa, Turkey, expects the auction process for New York City taxis to end early next month, Selek said in an interview at Karsan’s factory on Wednesday. Talks to make buses and vans for Hyundai Motor will conclude by the middle of the year, he said.Ford Motor, Nissan Motor and Karsan were named as finalists in a competition to design a new model for New York’s 26,500 cabs in the next 10 years, including an initial 13,000 units. The city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission will decide whether to designate one company as the sole fleet supplier of the “Taxi of Tomorrow” for the city’s 600,000 riders.The taxi model, named Karsan V1, provides accessibility for the disabled, allows riders to watch the sky through a window on top and offers a multimedia “infotainment” platform, he said.It will have gasoline, compressed natural gas, hybrid and electric options, Selek said.The Taxi & Limousine Commission will probably announce its decision by early February, Selek said. Karsan’s forecast of a $150 million investment to develop the product may be revised, he said.Other large U.S. cities and other countries have also shown interest in Karsan’s taxi, Selek said. “There are no concrete demands yet. Our model can easily be adapted to the needs of other cities,” he said.Hmmmm.....The US President protecting US jobs?Where's Trumka now?Read the full story here.

• Canada - Accused terrorist arrested in Edmonton. U.S. authorities allege an Edmonton man helped kill five American soldiers and wanted to become a suicide bomber.The U.S. Department of Justice said Faruq Khalil Muhammad Isa, 38, also known as Faruk Khalil Muhammad Isa, Sayfildin Tahir Sharif and Tahir Sharif Sayfildin, was arrested Wednesday in Canada on a warrant charging him with conspiring to kill Americans abroad and providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy.Sgt. Patrick Webb of the Alberta RCMP confirmed Isa was arrested in Edmonton.The U.S. release said Isa "is charged in connection with his support for a multinational terrorist network that conducted multiple suicide bombings in Iraq and that is responsible for the deaths of five American soldiers." The soldiers died April 10, 2009, when a truck "laden with explosives" was driven into the gate of the U.S. Military's Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq, the release said."The jihadist exchanged fire with Iraqi police officers and then the American convoy that was exiting the base. The truck detonated approximately 50 yards from the gate, alongside the last vehicle in the U.S. convoy, leaving a 60-foot crater in the ground, " the release said.The five killed were Staff Sgt. Gary L. Woods, 24, of Kentucky; Sgt. First Class Bryan E. Hall, 32, of California; Sgt. Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of Mussori; Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Iowa; and Army Pte. 1st Class Bryce E. Gaultier, 22, from California.Court documents allege Isa had a conversation with another man within a terrorist network about the attack on the U.S. base.It's also alleged the network bombed a police station on March 31, 2009, killing seven Iraqis."According to the complaint, the defendant has ince the March and April 2009 attacks, to seek to further the network's attacks against Americans in Iraq, and to state his motive for doing so," the release said.It alleges in January, 2010, he told another person, "There is no more pressing duty after the declaration of faith than fighting the enemy. Fighting comes before the other four pillars of faith."In July, he allegedly said, "Islam came for the good of humanity. So if someone doesn't like good, we fight them, like those dog Americans." The release also said Isa instructed a family member in Iraq to, "Go learn about weapons and go attack the police and Americans. Let it be that you die." The U.S. said Isa allegedly wanted to conduct attacks himself and become a suicide bomber."He informed his mother in November, 2009, that his greatest wish was to die a martyr and be greeted by 70 virgins in paradise," the release said.Webb said Isa was arrested "without incident" on Wednesday. He is expected to appear in an Edmonton court Thursday for an extradition hearing. Webb said Isa is a Canadian citizen.Hmmmm.....Wel instead of virgins he was "greeted" by the Mounties.Read the full story here.

• HT:EmergingCorruption.Obama to Sue States to End Worker’s Right to Secret Ballot.Barack Obama has given more payoffs, sweetheart deals, and new favorable regulations to Big Labor than any president in history. They should love him for his incredible largess. Next, in his never ending quest to harm the business community, defy the will of the voters, and give his pals in Big Labor paybacks, Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) — a federal labor regulatory agency — is about to sue any state that dares attempt to protect the right of workers to have secret ballots in their workplace elections. The states have made the mistake of sponsoring worker’s ballot protection laws.Recently the NLRB announced its intentions to sue Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah because those states had the gal to implement constitutional amendments to their state constitutions guaranteeing that workers have a right to a secret ballot in union elections.With this the Obama administration is moving to deny workers their right to a secret ballot, a right that has been sacrosanct in democracies for hundreds if not thousands of years. Why does Barack Obama want to take away the right to a secret ballot? Because his union pals don’t want workers to feel safe voting against a union.How can the Obama administration justify its efforts to eliminate the centuries old right to a secret ballot election? Why, because Obama’s regulatory agency wrote a new “rule” that says so, of course. You see the problem as Obama sees it is that Congress has not passed the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that would take away by law the right to a secret ballot. The reason Congress won’t pass it is because our representatives and senators know that their voters don’t support this idea.So, because Congress won’t act, Obama used his power to simply write new regulations to just take away the secret ballot by presidential fiat. And now his NLRB is about to start suing states to push his anti-democratic ideas.Hmmmm.....Democracy or is it Dictatorship?Read the full story here.

• HT:ThomasMore.Sharia Law Gains Foothold in US—Federal Judge Upholds Government Funding of Islam.Last week, Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff, a federal district court judge in Michigan, dismissed a constitutional challenge to the U.S. Government’s bailout of AIG, which used over a hundred million dollars in federal tax money to support Islamic religious indoctrination through the funding and promotion of Sharia-compliant financing (SCF). SCF is financing that follows the dictates of Islamic law. The challenge was brought by the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and co-counsel David Yerushalmi, on behalf of Kevin Murray, a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraqi War. TMLC filed a notice of appeal immediately after the ruling and will be seeking review of the decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.With the aid of taxpayer funds provided by Congress, AIG also employs a “Shariah Supervisory Committee.” According to AIG, the role of its Sharia authority “is to review our operations, supervise its development of Islamic products, and determine Shariah compliance of these products and our investments.” Shortly after filing the complaint in 2008, attorneys for the Obama administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit on behalf of the named defendants. In a written opinion issued in May 2009, the judge denied the request, holding that the lawsuit properly alleged a federal constitutional challenge to the use of taxpayer money to fund AIG’s Islamic religious activities.On January 14, 2011, the court reversed its earlier position and ruled against Plaintiff Murray, claiming that there was no evidence presented of religious indoctrination, and if there were such evidence, the indoctrination could not be attributed to the federal government and besides, the amount of federal money that was used to support SCF—$153 million—was “de minimus” in light of the large sum of tax money the federal government actually gave to AIG—$47.5 billion.Robert Muise, Senior Trial Counsel for TMLC, commented: “Based on the incredible amount of evidence presented, much of which DOJ could not refute , and in light of the strength of the court’s prior ruling, we expected the court to ultimately rule in our favor and hold that the federal government violated the U.S. Constitution by using federal tax money to fund Islamic religious activities. As soon as we read the court’s adverse opinion, we filed an immediate appeal.”Muise concluded, “Apparently, the court does not believe that the federal government violates the U.S. Constitution when it provides $153 million in taxpayer money to support Islamic religious activities. This is certainly more than the ‘one pence’ James Madison warned about when he helped craft the First Amendment, and I am sure this decision is news for all of the Christian and Jewish organizations and businesses that are prevented from receiving a dime of federal tax money to support their religious activities.”In the court filings, however, TMLC presented overwhelming and un-rebutted evidence from experts and AIG itself to demonstrate that AIG, with the direct support of the U.S. Government, was engaging in religious indoctrination.The appeal is expected to take at least a year to complete.Hmmmm.......Obama "Islam is a great religion".Read the full story here.

• Heritage Minister orders Library and Archives Canada to show controversial film.The Harper government sent a diplomatic note to Iran Wednesday, as Heritage Minister James Moore lashed out at Tehran for its part in a campaign that cancelled the screening of a movie critical of the Iranian regime at Library and Archives Canada.On Wednesday morning, the Minister instructed Library and Archives Canada to show Iranium, a documentary critiquing Iran’s nuclear program, after it cowed to numerous threats of protest and an official request from the Iranian embassy in Canada to not present the film Tuesday night, as scheduled. In its diplomatic note to Tehran, the government said Canada is a free country and that freedom of expression is a core value that won’t be compromised. “This movie will be shown, the agreement will be kept and this movie Iranium will be shown at Library and Archives Canada. We will not be moving it to a different facility, we’re not bending to any pressure,” said Mr. Moore on the CBC’s Power and Politics. “People need to be kept safe, but we don’t back down to people who try to censor people by threats of violence.”The hour-long documentary by California filmmaker Raphael Shore takes aim at Iran’s policies, including its pursuit of nuclear weapons and support of terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas, eventually warning viewers that Iran could pose a nuclear threat to the world. The United Nations Security Council has already made four resolutions against Iran on their nuclear arms program, said Professor Houchang Hassan-Yari, who teaches at the Royal Military College of Canada.“They are extremely sensitive to this issue,” he said. “It’s much more than just a movie for them, especially if it’s the first and only movie on the subject.”Hmmmm.....Way to go PM Harper!Read the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.Are You Ready For The Universal Internet ID That Barack Obama Wants To Impose On All Of Us?The Obama administration is developing a "universal Internet ID" program that would watch, track, monitor and potentially control your activity on the Internet. These "trusted identities" are being touted as a way to increase safety and security on the Internet and as a way to eliminate the need for dozens of different usernames and passwords. But is a universal Internet ID that is issued and controlled by the U.S. government really a good idea? Right now, Obama administration officials are trying to make it seem as non-threatening as possible. They are insisting that it will not be mandatory. They are insisting that it would be impossible for hackers to steal the universal Internet identities. They are insisting that none of our personal information will be gathered or used by federal agencies. But in light of how regularly the government has abused our liberties and freedoms in recent years in the name of "security", should we really believe what they are saying about this new universal Internet ID?Perhaps to assuage concerns about "Big Brother", the Obama administration is proposing that the U.S. Commerce Department be the one to oversee these new universal Internet identities.But how long do you think it would take for the Department of Homeland Security (along with several dozen other government agencies) to get involved in "administering" these "trusted identities"?So now the Obama administration is ready to push even further. They want to put a chokehold on the last great bastion of free speech in America - the Internet.Someday if you have to get a license from the U.S. government to read articles like this or to write articles like this, don't say that you weren't warned.Hmmm.....Actually the idea of an Internet ID card was first raised by Bill Gates 7 years ago after seeing the New Belgian Chip ID card.Read the full story here.

• HT:SultanKnish.The Chinese Dragon and the American Eagle.Countries most often destroy themselves by refusing to gauge the consequences of their actions. That blind spot creates a weakness. The bigger it gets, the more vulnerable the country becomes. America's blind spot has been an unwillingness to recognize the economic cost of its social programs.To survive, America must dramatically reform. If it needs added incentive, all it has to do is look toward Europe to see the poverty and inertia that is headed its way. Within a generation, the American auto industry has gone the way of the British auto industry. Given another generation, we will have nothing but subsidized companies and a vast bureaucracy administering the dole lines. There will be free higher education, free health care, free everything-- and it will be worth about as much. And America will be nothing more than another market for Chinese products made and sold by Chinese companies that will not be cheap anymore. Products turned out in China's new African colonies by slave labor.Read the full story here.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Welcome Mr US Ambassador?Was this how the Syrians decided to greet the new United States ambassador, Robert Ford? Syrian sources close to RPS confirmed that four suicide car bombs exploded in Aleppo two days ago killing seven and injuring many more. The car bombs were detonated in the Ashrafieh area mostly populated by the Kurds. The Assad regime has successfully suppressed the information from reaching the outside world.No one has taken responsibility for this new violence inside Syria.Some experts claim it is the work of the regime itself as a warning shot across the bow against any uprising by the Kurds à la Tunisia. They fuel their argument with the fact that the regime in Damascus has always claimed that without Assad, Syria will become another Iraq. These explosions were intended to show the people in Syria willing to rise that such an outcome will bring death and destruction the way Assad administered against the innocent in Iraq.On the other hand, some analysts believe that the suicide car bombs, an Assad specialty, used with abandon in Iraq, may have come home to haunt the regime from the very same people Assad sent to Iraq to haunt others. They chose this moment and the Kurds to send two signals: The Assad regime is not acceptable nor are any separatist ideas often expressed by the oppressed Kurds.But there's more .Read the full story here.

• HT:BigGovernment.House passes health law repeal.House Republicans passed a bill to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care plan Wednesday, taking their first major step toward rolling back the massive overhaul that has dominated the American political landscape for almost two years.The vote was 245 to 189, and unanimous GOP support gave the vote the same partisan feel of the March vote to pass the law, underscoring once again the hardened political lines of the health care debate. Only three Democrats backed the repeal, a smaller number than Republicans had once predicted.The bill will head next to the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has promised to block it. If it did receive a vote, the repeal bill would be unlikely to draw support from even a majority of senators. Even so, House Republican leaders have challenged Reid to give the bill a vote since Democrats, who control the chamber, have little to fear.Republicans rejected a procedural maneuver by the Democratic minority to make repeal ineffective unless a majority of the House and Senate withdraw from the federal health benefits program within 30 days after passage by each chamber.House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said the effort was “an attempt to derail an appeal of the Obamacare bill.”House members flooded the floor throughout the day, delivering short but occasionally impassioned speeches that echoed their party’s talking points.Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) called the law “a trillion-dollar tragedy.”Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.) described it as “job-killing” and “socialistic.”Rep. Kevin Duncan (R-Texas) said “health care is too important to get it wrong, and Obamacare got it wrong.”Hmmmm.....The way to kill this "Hydra" is in the courts.Read the full story here.

• Tunisia, the Arab world and the 'Turkish model'.There is an allergy in Turkey, particularly among the secular-western oriented segments of the society, against the American-scissored “role model” this country is expected to play in the largely dictatorial geography of the Middle East and North Africa.The hypothetical “Muslim democracy” or cohabitation of democracy and a milder version of Islam as opposed to radical Islam holding development as hostage in the vast Muslim geography and such products of the global policymaking allusions of the United States have been creating nerves for a long time among secular sections of the Turkish society. Though, many secular Turks firmly believe that at least since the late 1990s – that is immediately after the Feb. 28 “post-modern coup” of 1997 against Necmettin Erbakan, the first Islamist prime minister of Turkey – “a new program” has started to be executed in Turkey: Helping to create a milder Islamist party and bring it into power.Anyone with some understanding and knowledge of Islamic theology would of course underline the impossibility of coexistence of Islam and democracy in any form as long as the state is firmly shielded with secularism as unlike for example Christianity, Islam could not undergo a renaissance or could not develop a sense of secularism within itself. It coordinates life in all aspects from birth to death.Naturally, a perfectly devoted practicing Muslim person may enjoy his/her religion to the maximum in a secular democratic state, but in a state governed by Sharia or Islamic law, freedoms are arranged according not only to the holy Quran, but also to the Islamic culture, which has been accumulated over centuries of conservative practice. Furthermore, if democracy is rule by the people, for the people and through man-made laws – which can be amended, scrapped all together or replaced with new ones – is it possible at all to place together the notion of sovereignty of the people with the notion of total surrender to the divine law, the orders of God?Furthermore, while Turkey is wanted to offer a role model to the Muslim neighborhood – as opposed to the Iranian role model, for example – unfortunately, over the past eight years it appears that Turkey has started to transform itself towards becoming “less different” than the rest of the Muslim geography.Hmmmmm......Less secular more Iranian.Read the full story here.

• Canada - Heritage Minister orders Library and Archives Canada to show controversial film "Iranium".OTTAWA — Heritage Minister James Moore has instructed Library and Archives Canada to show the documentary film Iranium after “threats of violence” caused a screening of the film Tuesday to be cancelled, the minister’s office has announced.Both Mr. Moore and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney had earlier criticized Library and Archives, a federal Crown agency, for cancelling the screening.“The principle of free speech is one of the cornerstones of our democracy,” MR. Moore’s office said in a prepared statement. “Minister Moore took action as soon as he heard that the film was cancelled. The minister has instructed the Library and Archives to honour their commitment to show the film, while taking all appropriate steps to ensure security. Canada does not accept attempts from the Iranian Embassy to dictate what films will, and will not be shown in Canada.”Pauline Portelance, a spokeswoman for Library and Archives Canada, said the Iranian embassy had sent a letter to the federal institution on the weekend asking that the film be cancelled. The request was denied.Fred Litwin, president of the society, said he believed the original cancellation was “ludicrous” but that he believed nevertheless the Library and Archives auditorium remains a good place to show the film.A website about the film, says:” Iranium powerfully reports on the many aspects of the threat America and the world now faces using rarely before seen footage of Iranian leaders, and interviews with 25 leading politicians, Iranian dissidents and experts on Middle East policy, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation.”Iranium has only had a few screenings so far in the United States. Its premiere was scheduled to take place Feb. 8 simultaneously at several American cities. The cancellation angered ministers Moore and Kenney who both twittered their concern.“I am disappointed that Library & Archives Canada chose not to show the film tonight due to threats of violence,” Mr. Moore said Tuesday. “The Iranian Embassy will not dictate to the Government of Canada which films will or will not be shown in Canada.Kenney tweeted similar remarks.“The cancellation of tonight’s screening of Iranium is outrageous,” Mr. Kenney said Tuesday. This is not the first time Library and Archives, Iran and freedom of speech have clashed.Hmmmm.....Ooooh Canada,perhaps it's time to start cleaning house?Read the full story here.

• HT:BigPeace.Islamists Say Be ‘Cutters of Necks’; Sex With Prepubescent Girls Okay.“You must strike the crowns of the heads,” explains Egyptian Shaykh Safwat Hejazi on his Arabic-language program “Age of Glory,” which airs on the Egyptian al-Nas satellite television network. “Strike and split the head, and cut it in half.” Hejazi further quotes a hadith from ‘Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad and the fourth caliph of Islam, in which he tells his sons: “Go, fight, and please your grandfather [i.e. Muhammad]. Let him be pleased with you. Fighting is what pleases the prophet (peace be upon him).” Also featured in this video are candid comments from Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the highly-popular Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated shaykh who hosts “Shari’a and Life” on al-Jazeera, lamenting the fact that Muslims are more eager to fight and die for Allah than they are to live and serve others.It is shocking to see these brazen calls for violent jihad in English. Yet those few of us here in the West who understand Arabic are sadly not surprised at this–it is actually quite common to hear this type of language coming out of the Middle East. The reason it is so shocking to hear these things in English is because Muslim spokesmen in the West are very adept at smoothing over the violent, intolerant, and otherwise shocking aspects of Islam in order to dupe their Western audience into believing that they have nothing to fear from Islam.I recently found a perfect example of this in an Arabic-language fatwa from the website IslamOnline.net, which was founded by Yusuf al-Qaradawi and is currently listed as the sixth-most popular Islam-related website. The fatwa frankly admits that Islam makes it “permissible to have sexual intercourse with a prepubescent girl”; because, the fatwa continues, “It is true that the prophet (peace be upon him) entered into a marriage contract with A’isha when she was six years old, however he did not have sex with her until she was nine years old”The best way to defend against Muslim deception is to get educated. You don’t need to know Arabic—read the Qur’an and find out for yourself what Islam really teaches. Don’t be duped.Read the full story here.

• "Preaching Revolution" - Remarks by AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka "America's Choices: Why the Conventional Wisdom Is Wrong" National Press Club.Last week in Tucson, President Obama called upon us to build a future that "lives up to our children's expectations." We cannot build such a future as isolated individuals—either morally or economically. Working people know we can build that future only if we act together to put America back to work—to educate our children, to build a clean energy future, to build a 21st century America. But here in Washington, we live in an Alice-in-Wonderland political climate. We have a jobs crisis that after three years is still raging, squeezing families, devastating our poorest communities and stunting the futures of young adults. Yet politicians of both parties tell us that we can – and should -- do nothing. That is giving up on America. And as we meet here today, the Republican leaders in the House, who campaigned on the promise of jobs, are instead using their first days in office to take away health care gains from 30 million families. We want to believe America is a generous and just country, willing to give everyone here a fair chance. How can that be squared with allowing intolerance and fear to slam shut the school house door on the DREAM Act students? I'm so glad that some of the DREAMers are here today.Next week the President of the United States will give his State of the Union address. The labor movement is ready for a call to action, a call to invest in our future, to create jobs, to be the country we can and must be. We are ready for vision, and we believe in the President's vision of a nation that is strong because we are just and true to our values. A vision for a national future founded on the profound truth that social justice and material prosperity are not competing values--they are necessary to each other. A truth that we have ignored as a country for a generation at a terrible cost. And what is that future? Just this: In a globalized, high-tech world, when it often seems that change is the one constant in our lives, the real American dream is that if we work hard and do our part for each other, each of us can enjoy the economic security that allows us to live our lives with dignity and have hope for our future and for our children's future. This dream must be a reality in our time, and in our children's and grandchildren's time.Hmmmm......"The American socialist workers party thanks you for your attention"?Thanks to President Obama the personal debt of everyone of you is now $45.000 a person, up from 32.780 in 2008!Change you can see in the "Workers paradise" of President Obama and Union Boss Trumka.Read the full story here.

• Saudi women should drive cars: Princess Rima.Princess Rima is granddaughter of the country’s crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.Saudi Arabia should end a long-standing ban and allow its women to drive cars following dramatic social developments brought about by the discovery of oil in the Gulf Kingdom, a Saudi princess has said.Princess Rima bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, granddaughter of the country’s crown prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, said Saudi women had been subject to many restrictions because of the conservative nature of its society.“But following the dramatic developments taking place in our society and the fact that women are now taking up new jobs and duties, it has become necessary to allow our women into new fields,” she told the Saudi Roaa magazine.“As we know, women drive cars in all other countries and this is normal and I think Saudi women, as our Monarch has said, will be able to drive cars once the Saudi society becomes ready to accept this.”Princess Rima said she believes a government trend to give more jobs to Saudi women represents what she described as a “new era for the Saudi women to play a greater role in many fields under the present leadership.”Hmmm....."Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" ?Read the full story here.

• CAIR Asks NYPD to Probe Use of Anti-Muslim Training Film.The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) today called on the New York Police Department (NYPD) to investigate how a notorious anti-Muslim propaganda film came to be used in mandatory counterterrorism training. CAIR-NY also called for new NYPD guidelines to ensure that officer training materials offer only unbiased information about any religious or minority community.An article in today's Village Voice newspaper said the film, titled "The Third Jihad," is "a spectacularly offensive smear of American Muslims." The article also states: "It is 72 minutes of gruesome footage of bombing carnage, frenzied crowds, burning American flags, flaming churches, and seething mullahs. All of this is sandwiched between a collection of somber talking heads informing us that, while we were sleeping, the international Islamist Jihad that wrought these horrors has set up shop here and is quietly going about its deadly business."Police officials now say the "wacky movie" should never have been shown to officers. "It was reviewed and found to be inappropriate," said an NYPD official. One officer who viewed the film called it "straight propaganda."Read the full story here.

• HT:NationalEnquirer.Why is Obama scary skinny?The real reason behind PRESIDENT OBAMA's shocking weight loss - he's secretly battling stomach parasites, say sources.The pencil-thin president caught the parasites on a trip last year to Hawaii, where he and his family also vacationed over Christmas, according to top political insiders."Barack has wanted to keep the stomach parasites under the radar," revealed a close source. "There had been a public health warning about them in Hawaii when he caught them."Concerned sources say extreme stress and a poor diet caused by his hectic schedule have contributed to the 6-foot-1 president's skeletal look."Michelle is fearful he's close to a physical collapse," revealed an insider. "He appears to be wasting away. "Hmmmmm.....Or else to much "Healthy" food that's why he jumps on the occasion to have something greasy?Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different....or not?George Lucas thinks world ending in 2012 "for real," Seth Rogen says.George Lucas has a Millennium Falcon in his garage, waiting to blast off to a galaxy far far away in 2012.At least that's what 'Green Hornet' star Seth Rogen thinks after sitting down with the 'Star Wars' creator recently.“George Lucas sits down and seriously proceeds to talk for around 25 minutes about how he thinks the world is gonna end in the year 2012, like, for real. He thinks it," Rogen told the Toronto Sun.Rogen was hanging out with both Lucas and Steven Spielberg, who Rogen said was slightly embarrassed by his friend's theories.“[Lucas is] going on about the tectonic plates and all the time Spielberg is, like, rolling his eyes, like, ’My nerdy friend won’t shut up, I’m sorry...’" Rogen said.Rogen said he assumed the multimillionaire would have built a spaceship and had it waiting if he truly believed the world would come to an end in 12-24 months.“He claimed he didn’t have a spaceship, but there’s no doubt there’s a Millennium Falcon in a garage somewhere with a pilot just waiting to go," Rogen said. "It’s gonna be him and Steven Spielberg and I’ll be blown up like the rest of us."Hmmmm.....bet you he has Kim Kardashian her number on his speed dial.Read the full story here.