MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Halal Britain: Schools and institutions serving up ritually slaughtered meat.Halal meat is being routinely served at some of Britain’s most popular sporting venues, pubs, schools and hospitals without the public’s knowledge, it has emerged.All beef, chicken and lamb sold to fans at Wembley Stadium has been secretly prepared in accordance with strict Islamic law.And hundreds of pubs and restaurants in Britain, as well as top racecourses, schools and hospitals, now only serve chicken that has been ritually slaughtered according to Sharia Law.Under Muslim laws, animals are slaughtered by having their throat slit to allow all the blood to drain out. Research suggests that animals can die a slow painful death because religious slaughter houses are exempt from laws that require animals to be stunned before killing.Last night there were growing concerns that members of public were unwittingly supporting a cruel form of butchery.A RSPCA spokesman said: 'The public has a right to know how their meat is produced.'Many people are extremely worried about animal welfare.'Lots of food products have not got any form of information on them.'It is similar to battery eggs which used to be the norm but now consumers prefer to buy free range ones because they are concerned about the welfare of chickens.'The key to a more humane death for these animals is that they are stunned before slaughter.'Animal rights group Viva! said: 'Other practices which may be undertaken for religious reasons – such as polygamy or the stoning of adulterers – are not permitted in the UK.'Religious freedom does not override other moral considerations and the suffering caused by this form of slaughter is so severe that it cannot be allowed to prevent action being taken.A spokesman was unable to give details of what percentage of the meat was ritually slaughtered.Last night a Football Association spokeswoman said she was investigating the decision to ensure all meat sold at Wembley is halal.She added: 'All beef, chicken and lamb sold at Wembley Stadium is halal.'Hmmmm......"We don't want to take over your country"?Read the full story here.

• U.S. states must be allowed to declare bankruptcy to reduce pension bills, say Republicans.Republican politicians are fighting to win U.S. states the right to declare bankruptcy in a bid to free them crippling pension bills and other punishing debts.Currently states such as Illinois and California, which are struggling to pay back loans, are forbidden from claiming federal protection from insolvency.But advocates, including Senator John Cornyn and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, say states are so burdened by debt that bankruptcy may be the only feasible way out.For example, bankruptcy would allow allow governors to reduce contractual pension payments, which are often protected by state constitutions.It could also provide an alternative to bailouts, which Republicans have shown themselves determined to oppose since Barack Obama’s election as president.But there are also fears in Congress that states’ bonds could be reduced to junk and it would put investors off buying U.S. debt.Paul Maco, a former head of the Office of Municipal Securities at America’s financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, told the New York Times that fear of the words “state bankruptcy” has proponents in Congress going about their work on tiptoe. So policy makers have been forced to work behind the scenes to change the rules, which could require a difficult constitutional amendment as states are considered sovereign by Washington.No draft bill is in circulation yet, and no member of Congress has come forward as a sponsor, although Senator Cornyn, of Texas, asked Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the central bank, the Federal Reserve, about the possibility in a hearing this month. Discussion of a new bankruptcy option appears to have begun in November following a speech by Mr Gingrich about soaring debts.Hmmmm......"Together we thrive" over the cliff off bankruptcy?Read the full story here .

• 'Marry a Muslim or die' threat to Harry Potter actress revealed as brother is jailed for beating her up.The full horror of a three-hour attack on one of the stars of the Harry Potter films was revealed in court for the first time as her brother was jailed for beating her up.Ashraf Azad has been locked up for six months after setting upon his sister Afshan having discovered she was involved in a relationship with a non-Muslim man.Manchester Crown Court heard he left his younger sister bruised and swollen after grabbing her by the hair, throwing her across a room and punching her in the head and back as she cowered on the floor of the family home.Her married brother Ashraf Azad, 28, pleaded guilty in December to assaulting her at the family home.Azad was handed the six-month sentence at Manchester Crown Court despite a plea from his sister for leniency.The actress wrote a letter to Judge Roger Thomas QC asking for her brother not to be locked up and saying that she had forgiven him.The court heard that Ms Azad has never supported the prosecution despite giving police an initial statement.But Judge Thomas said it was a 'prolonged and nasty attack', adding that domestic violence in the home could not be tolerated.He called Azad's assault an 'ill-tempered attempt to dissuade her from continuing the relationship'.The court heard Azad heard his sister talking as he was in the bathroom then swore at her, saying: 'Watch what I will do.'He burst into her bedroom as she ended the call and attempted to hide the mobile phone and its sim card. Azad began to shout at her then grabbed her by the hair and threw her across the bedroom. The court heard Ms Azad was crying and begging him to stop.Azad, the court heard, then punched her in the back and to the head as she cowered in a ball on the floor. He punched her several times more before his wife came in and told him to stop.Mr Vardon said: 'He told his wife to stay out of it because he would do what he wanted to do with his little sister.'The court heard Azad pulled her up by the hair and dragged her downstairs to his father Abul Azad's room.Azad then told his father to 'sort your daughter out' and called her a 'slag'.Ms Azad, the court heard, was then pushed head-first onto her father's bed, where she heard the words 'just kill her'.Azad, who had been drinking, then attempted to strangle her, Mr Vardon said.He added: 'She was struggling to breathe and was scared for her life.'The court heard Ms Azad's mother and Azad's wife then entered the bedroom and she was told that she would have to be sent to Bangladesh to marry.Mr Vardon added: 'Her mother called her a prostitute and asked why she was obsessed with sex.'Azad then ran downstairs, where the court was told Ms Azad heard knives rattling in a drawer after threats were made to kill her.Mr Vardon said: 'She was told that she had to marry a Muslim or die. She was feeling very scared.'Hmmmm....."The religion of Peace".Read the full story here.

• HT:CreepingSharia.Muslim tries to kill Kurt Westergaard, judge censures Westergaard.A Danish judge has had to call the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard to order after an outburst against the man who is accused of trying to kill him.“He’s just a cowardly liar, a terrorist!” exclaimed the 75-year-old, who has drawn the wrath of the Muslim world for his caricature of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban that resembled a bomb.The accused man, a care worker of Somali origin, broke into the cartoonist’s home a year ago, wielding an axe. On Wednesday, at the outset of the trial, Mohammed Geele, 29, said that he had used the axe to enter the house and that his aim was to frighten Mr Westergaard and express his anger about the cartoon.Mr Westergaard rejected his version. “He was like a religious insane young man,” he told the court in Aarhus yesterday. “I believe he entered the house as a holy warrior who wanted to kill an infidel.” He turned to look at his assailant – the first time that they had actually seen each other.The judge reprimanded Mr Westergaard for prejudging him by calling Mr Geele a terrorist. The prosecution has so far failed to establish a clear terrorist motive.Hmmmm....Talk about an upside down world?Read the full story here.

• HT:ForeignPolicy. New Iran nuclear talks kick off in Istanbul. Iran and six major world powers began a new round of nuclear talks in Istanbul today. As with last month's talks in Geneva, Iran is refusing to discuss any suspension of its nuclear enrichment program, which it says is peaceful. Nonetheless, an Iranian delegate sounded a positive note at the outset of talks. "Compared to the Geneva talks, the negotiations in Istanbul are being held in a more positive way," negotiator Abolfazl Zohrevand said. The six powers may return to earlier proposals including a nuclear fuel swap to keep Tehran's research reactor running, and a package of economic incentives to entice the Iranians to suspend enrichment. The Iranian side is looking for somewhat wider ranging discussions. "We want to discuss the fundamental problems of global politics at Istanbul talks," said Iranian chief negotiator Saeed Jalili. This would include global disarmament, Israel's clandestine nuclear program, and the U.S. military presence in Iraq.Hmmmm.....Looking at Turkey's scorecard this last year the result of the talks will be a bashing of Israel and a bashing of the the US in Iraq and a gloryfication of their business partner Iran.Read the full story here.

• HT:BigPeace.US Domestic Oil Production Reduced ‘To A Trickle’ Thanks to Obama.Kiplinger’s sees huge problems with declining US domestic oil production, thanks to new strict guidelines from the Obama Administration. No doubt producers around the world are enjoying this. An excerpt:“Domestic oil production faces a long-term decline in the wake of curtailed offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, stemming from the BP oil spill last year. In four to five years, a loss of several hundred thousand barrels a day from the Gulf is likely, enough to significantly boost U.S. reliance on imported oil.It’s no surprise, really. New deepwater drilling has largely come to a standstill in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite the October end of the White House moratorium on deepwater drilling, not a single new permit has been issued for drilling in waters more than 500 feet deep. And even permits for shallow-water drilling are currently taking twice as long to complete — roughly 60 days — as before. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement — the federal agency responsible for approving new drilling permits — notes that, in the aftermath of the BP spill, new applications require increased scrutiny from regulators and can’t be rushed.Hmmm....No wonder the Saudi King loves "They don't trust me because of my middle name"?Read the full story here.

• Pictured: The women charged with murder, conspiracy and theft for assisting 'House of Horrors' abortion doctor the philadelphia "Mengele".These are the first pictures of the employees charged alongside abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell for their part in his ‘House of Horrors’ clinic murder investigation.Gosnell, 69, has been charged with murdering seven newborn babies and a 41-year-old mother in botched operations that resulted in ‘barbaric’ killings at his Philadelphia practice.He was assisted by nine under-trained - sometimes untrained - people at the Women’s Medical Society and they have also been charged with various crimes; four with murder.Lynda Williams, 42, who allegedly performed operations and gave anesthesia without a license, faces with multiple murder charges.

1. Unlicensed Adrienne Moten, 33, is charged with the murder of a baby.
2. Sherry West, 54, is charged with third-degree murder.
3. Gosnell's 49-year-old wife Pearl is charged with illegal abortion and conspiracy.
4. Elizabeth Hampton, the doctor's sister-in-law, is charged perjury and obstruction of justice.The other clinic employees facing charges are unlicensed medical school graduate Eileen O'Neil, 54, who is charged with theft by deception, conspiracy and perjury, while clinic manager Maddline Joe, 53, faces accusations of conspiracy. Tina Baldwin, 45, is charged with racketeering, conspiracy and corruption of a minor, having allegedly allowed her 15-year-old daughter to administer anesthesia.A ninth defendant, Steven Masoof, 48, is yet to be arraigned but is expected to face baby murder charges.Hmmm.....punishment"To the maximum extend of the law"No parole!Read and see the full story here.

• Islamist movement at forefront of Tunisia's protests.Tunisia's underground Islamic movement has emerged at the forefront of nationwide protests against its leadership and appears set to emerge as the strongest political force in elections.Al-Nadha is lead by the London-based exile Rachid Ghannouchi who has said that he will return to the country as soon as the threat of life in prison is lifted. Mr Ghannouchi has the best claims to an electoral following in Tunisia after the disintegration of the ruling party. He has wide core support at the country's universities and his followers secured 17 per cent in 1989's election – an unrivalled following in Tunisia's rigged electoral system. Senior lieutenants of the fundamentalist leader were yesterday prominent in the thousands strong crowd that demanded the resignation of all ministers – including Prime Minister Mohammed Ghanouchi – tainted by service to ousted dictator, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Sadouk Chourou, a Tunis lawyer, has been seen organising groups within the protest. Ali Laraiedh, the Al-Nadha vice president, said that party activists of the banned movement had been mobilised.While repeating the group's message, he gives only guarded signals about the agenda the group would pursue if it tastes power. Mr met with the prime minister during the week to set out Al-Nadha's demands. "The people have not yet achieved everything they could have done. We want a government that is able to make a democracy and that means the prime minister must go," he told The Daily Telegraph. "It is too early to talk about what happens after the election but we will move like other Islamic parties, just that we will be a little more emancipated." Tunisia's strong record of promoting women's rights and liberal stance on social issues such as the sale of alcohol is vulnerable as its political system is torn apart by the popular uprising. Sana Bel Mkaddem, a Tunis resident, said she was fearful her rights would be eroded after elections. "We need to know what the parties represent. Most Tunisians are open-minded and view religion as a private issue but because of the past of this country, I'm worried that we could see the Islamisation that we've seen in other countries."While the party leaders have refused to outline specific plans Ennadha supporters have expectations of change. "I want my fiancé to wear a veil but she says she can't because the university rules don't allow covered women in the classrooms," said one unemployed Tunis man. "I think women can work but must follow the family's wishes."Hmmmmm.....Just what the word needed another Islamic extremist country?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheDailyBail.Tim Geithner Says The United States Is Insolvent.The U.S. government is insolvent. Who says so? Timothy F. Geithner, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Geithner sent a letter to Congress on Jan. 6, 2011 asking for the debt limit to be raised. If it is not raised, he warned, the U.S. will default on its debt.In his words:

1. Geithner's debt limit letter to Congress.
2. "Never in our history has Congress failed to increase the debt limit when necessary. Failure to raise the limit would precipitate a default by the United States."He didn’t say that the government will be inconvenienced. He didn’t say that the government would be forced to muddle through by delaying payments, raising taxes, and cutting non-obligatory programs and services. He said the government will default. This means that the government doesn’t have enough cash to pay its obligations to the many and sundry persons to whom it owes cash unless Congress authorizes an issue of even more debt.Hmmm....Understand now why states are passing legislation to use other means of legal tender?Read the full story here.

• "Life or Death in Iran's prisons".More Women Political Prisoners Transferred to Methadone Ward of Evin Prison.Iranian-Dutch citizen Zahra Bahrami and political activist Fatemeh Khorramjoo who were held in the General ward of Evin prison have been transferred to the Methadone ward.According to RAHANA, this ward is normally reserved for dangerous criminals and drug addicts. The ward is a closed hall that measures no more than 30 to 35 meters in length. The prisoners in this ward are allowed to step outside for fresh air less than one hour per day. Additionally, the prisoners are excluded from some facilities like the library, deprived of their right to use the phone, only allowed cabin visits, and are prohibited from face-to-face meetings.Zahra Bahrami was transferred to the Methadone ward on December 7th along with Mahdieh Golroo and Bahareh Hedayat, but she was returned to the General ward before her transfer back to the Methadone ward. Mahdieh Golroo and Bahareh Hedayat remain in the Methadone ward and are deprived of face-to-face visits.Zahra Bahrami was detained in December 2009 and was sentenced to death. Fatemeh Khorramjoo was detained in January 2010 and is held in the Methadone ward of Evin prison for allegedly having contacts with foreigners.Read the full story here.

• ‘Islamophobia’.What kind of dinner parties do you go to, Baroness?Baroness Warsi has always struck me as a thoroughly modern Muslim. She wears her faith lightly and has no truck with militant Islam. She has been commendably forthright in her stand against religious extremism and her willingness to face down the Toytown jihadists earned her a ­fusillade of rotten eggs in the martyrs’ paradise of Luton.So why has she chosen now to claim that prejudice and bigotry against Muslims is widespread in Britain?In politics, as in comedy, timing is everything. With the inquiry into the London Transport terrorist attack reminding us daily of the atrocities committed in the name of Allah, not to mention the recent revelations about gangs of Muslim men targeting and raping filthy infidel whores on the streets of British cities, Sayeeda Warsi has hardly picked the most opportune moment to accuse the rest of us of raging ‘Islamophobia’.She alleges that anti-Muslim bigotry has crossed the dinner party threshold and is socially acceptable.I don’t know what kind of dinner parties Sayeeda goes to. The last time we had a few friends round for a meal was over Christmas. And although my recollection of the ­conversation dims after the sixth bottle, I’m certain we talked about the new Springsteen box set; why Spurs needed David Beckham like a hole in the head; the extortionate price of ­petrol; and what precisely have ­Cameron’s ­Conservatives actually done for the millions who voted for them?I can’t remember any breath being wasted on attitudes to ­Muslims in British society.But Sayeeda sees ‘Islamophobia’ round every dinner table, on every street corner and in every school playground and workplace.‘In the factory, where they’ve just hired a Muslim worker, the boss says to his employees: “Not to worry, he’s only fairly Muslim.” ’Really?‘In the school, the kids say: “The family next door are Muslims, but they’re not too bad.” Do they‘And in the road, as a woman walks past wearing a burka, the passers-by think: “That woman is either oppressed or is making a political statement.” Are you sure?Most of us just think anyone who wears a burka in Britain is barking mad and wonder why someone who so utterly rejects our society and our liberal values would want to live here. Surely they would be much happier in Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan.It’s instructive that in all the TV footage of the unrest in devoutly Muslim Tunisia, there hasn’t been a burka in sight.Sayeeda even has a pop at the media, accusing us of dividing ­Muslims into ‘moderates’ and ‘extremists’. In a sense, she’s right. It is impossible to write about Islamic terrorism without including prominently a caveat about ‘the vast majority of peace-loving Muslims’.Newspapers bend over backwards to distance the headbangers from mainstream British Muslims. It’s good manners, as well as good business.So sensitive are the authorities to accusations of ‘Islamophobia’ that even when Muslim gangsters of Pakistani origin are found guilty of raping white teenage girls, the police go out of their way to insist ludicrously that there was ‘no ­cultural, racial or religious’ motive — despite all the ­evidence to the contrary.After 9/11 and 7/7, we were urged to ‘reach out’ to Muslims. Some people thought maybe the ‘reaching out’ should come from the other direction. After all, these attacks were committed in the name of Islam, whoever was responsible.We’re also told that thousands of young Muslim men became radicalised after 9/11. You might have thought that any sane individual would have been horrified by one of the worst acts of mass murder ever witnessed in peacetime — not seen it as a call to arms.But many people are now genuinely concerned about the past decade of Islamic expansionism. Rightly or wrongly, they fear the transformation of British society in some areas, from the intrusive call to prayer in the inner cities to the ubiquity of halal meat in supermarkets.That doesn’t make them racists or guilty of the lazy, catch-all smear ‘Islamophobia’.I’m sure that Baroness Warsi is genuinely concerned with improving race relations in Britain. ­Traducing her fellow citizens isn’t the best way to go about it.Hmmm......Ever heard about Al - Taqiyya?Read the full story here.

• "Life or Death in Iran's prisons".Two Young Kurdish Men Face Death by Public Stoning.Based on unofficial reports, two young Kurdish men from the city of Piranshahr (in Iran Kurdistan) have been sentenced to death by public stoning. The sentence was determined after two court sessions and issued to Ayoub and Mosleh for what appears to be the crime of engaging in an illicit sexual relationship with a teenager who was between the age of 15 to 17 at the time. It is understood that the two young men did not have any legal representation at any stage from the time of their arrest. According to Iran’s Islamic law, the age of criminal responsibility for boys is set at 15 lunar years. Ayoub and Mosleh were reportedly 18 and 19 years old.The two young men are accused of filming the sexual act to extort the alleged victim. While in custody, the teenager confessed against Ayoub and Mosleh, claiming that he was repeatedly raped and blackmailed for money. Human rights defenders state that the teenager’s claims are unlikely since, normally, youth in small towns do not have access to much money, and having reached fifteen years of age, he too would have been charged if he was a willing partner in the sexual act.Various sources and human rights activists have reported that Ayoub and Mosleh were taken into custody after the video of the sexual act was discovered on one of their cellphones. A credible source has indicated that the sexual act in question was consensual.It is difficult to determine the real facts since authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have not made public the official charges against Ayoub and Mosleh or the details surrounding the case. Additionally, no lawyers are assigned to defend the two young men and the families are unwilling to publicize the matter, most likely for reasons pertaining to upholding their honour, as other similar cases have suggested.Reports circulating by various news sources and human rights websites indicate that there is a high possibility that Ayoub and Mosleh who are held in Orumiyeh prison will be transferred to Piranshahr to be stoned on January 21st. Although, no official date has been announced by authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran.One of the human rights groups, The Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO), issued a statement urging the Iranian people to intervene and prevent another tragedy that will wound the soul of the people in the country.It is evident that regardless of the charge against Ayoub and Mosleh, stoning is an unacceptable and inhumane punishment. The reality is that two people are set to be stoned to death by the Islamic Republic of Iran, a regime that has executed at least 69 people since the beginning of 2011.Since public pressure has proved effective in the past, international communities are urged to raise their voices louder against the barbaric acts of stoning and execution before more lives are snatched away.Read the full story here.

• Potential Lebanon kingmaker supports Hezbollah.Support of Walid Jumblatt crucial for any candidate trying to form new Lebanon government.A potential kingmaker in Lebanese politics threw his support Friday behind Hezbollah, a major boost to the Shiite group that brought down the country's Western-backed government last week.Walid Jumblatt, the influential leader of the Druze sect, refused to say exactly how many lawmakers are with him, but his support is key for any candidate trying to form a government.In recent days, Jumblatt has gone to Damascus for meetings with Hezbollah's patron, Syria."The party will stand firm in support of Syria and the resistance," Jumblatt told reporters, referring to Hezbollah by the popular term. Ministers from Hezbollah and its allies walked out of the government, forcing its collapse, last week when Prime Minister Saad refused to renounce the tribunal investigating the assassination of his father, former PM Rafik Hariri. Once one of the most ardent supporters of the tribunal, Jumblatt on Friday launched a scathing attack on the court, saying it poses a "threat to national unity and national security."The support of at least 65 lawmakers is required to form a government in Lebanon's 128-seat Parliament. Hezbollah and its allies already claim 57 seats. Saad Hariri - who has stayed on as caretaker prime minister and will seek the post again - has 60. Jumblatt refused to say whether he had secured the support of enough lawmakers to allow Hezbollah and its allies to form their own government. But he is known to have at least five from his 11-member bloc, which means he needed to get just three more to tip the balance. President Michel Suleiman will launch formal talks Monday on creating a new government, polling lawmakers on their choices before nominating a prime minister. According to Lebanon's power-sharing system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the parliament speaker a Shiite Muslim.Read the full story here.

• FEMA To Use Social Media For Emergency Response.Administrator Craig Fugate discusses the agency's plans to employ text messaging, GPS, and other tools for improved 'situational awareness' and disaster relief.The Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to engage the public more in disaster response by sharing data and leveraging reports from mobile phones and social media, FEMA administrator Craig Fugate said today. People are increasingly connected in disaster areas, and FEMA needs to factor that into its disaster planning, Fugate said in a keynote speech at ESRI's government user conference in Washington, D.C. As an example, Fugate pointed to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, where rescue workers and survivors used text messages, e-mail, and social media to communicate amid chaotic and dangerous conditions."One of our assumptions has been that when there's a big disaster, we lose all communications, we lose all wireless," Fugate said in a follow-up interview. "Haiti was sort of a validation that that's no longer the case. We can adjust much quicker if we can figure out how to have this two-way conversation and if we can look at the public as a resource. The public is putting out better situational awareness than many of our own agencies can." Fugate, who regularly posts on Twitter himself, said FEMA is building applications for popular mobile platforms and that he is pushing to establish more open data feeds. "These are the baby steps," he said. "Government has to change the mentality that, love it or hate it, you have to adapt to us. We need to adapt to them."Read the full story here.

• HT:ViciousBabuschka.Jewish Virginians Shun Gun Video.While a rabbi prayed in a Richmond synagogue, a group of Orthodox Jews passed around an AK-47 before a ceremony celebrating the end of the Sabbath.Asher Meza, a 32-year-old Orthodox Jew, made a video of himself showing guns to a group of young men at a private synagogue in his friend's home and then posted the video on YouTube and Facebook.The whole thing doesn't sit well with the Richmond Jewish community."I wasn't trying to make a statement, but a statement was made," said Meza, a former Baptist preacher who converted to Judaism and studied to be a rabbi."I'm not advocating for everyone to walk around with an AK-47, but I walk around with a handgun on the Sabbath, and I think it would be better if most Jews did. It's better to have the gun and not need it than need it and not have it, especially in a religious environment."But Tommy Baer, a Richmond attorney who was president of B'nai B'rith International, a Jewish service organization, called that statement "vigilante nonsense." He said he viewed the video with "complete revulsion" and found it offensive.Hmmm....If they bring a knife....I'll bring an AK-47?Read and see the full story here.

• Turkish authorities arrest two suspected organ traffickers.Two of 12 suspected members of an organ trafficking ring taken into custody during a recent 12-province operation have been arrested, Doğan news agency, or DHA, reported Friday.Among the 12 people questioned over two days on allegations of “forming a gang” and “trading organs,” Osman Kökyıldırım and Savaş Günay were arrested while the rest were released on their own recognizance to await trial.During the operation, code-named “Hunting Season,” 33 people were taken into custody, including the 12. The simultaneous operation took place at 46 different addresses in Adana, Istanbul, Batman, Ankara, Şırnak, Kocaeli, Bursa, Mersin, Hatay and Bingöl provinces.Hmmmm....Not the Jews but the Turks are organ dealers?Read the full story here.

• HT:IslamTodayOregon.Obama, Islam and Kenya.How can we make sense of the utterly incoherent foreign policy of the Obama administration ?This policy may seem rational to the BHO White House but it is nonsense to everyone else. Barrack Hussein's relationship with Raila Odinga of Kenya makes this as clear.as anyone could want.Mark Hyman's Washington Times article for October 12, 2008, "Obama's Kenya ghosts,"describes matters in memorable terms. The gist of the essay is a strait forward observation.What does it mean when someone pretending to be a moral exemplar for all of the United States associates with a violent criminal ?Not that Odinga is known to have personally taken part in massacres or other bloodshed,but he certainly is guilty of incitement and of indifference to the violence of Muslims who have acted on his behalf. Yet you would think that even this possibility deserves attention since, as a younger man, he played some role in the coup attempt of 1982 which killed an unknown number and nearly toppled the government of Daniel Arap Moi, who espoused openly pro-American policies. But we can leave that matter aside...As everyone knows, Odinga lost a disputed election in late 2007 despite Obamacampaigning for him. Then came the reaction of Odinga's followers. After a temporary lull, the backlash began in earnest on January 1, 2008. On that day, in the town of Eldoret, some "50 parishioners were locked into the Assemblies of God church before it was set ablaze. They were mostly women and children. Those who tried to flee werehacked to death by machete-wielding members of a mob numbering 2,000."This was only the opening act.Within two months large parts of Kenya were in ruins as 500,000 people, mostlyChristians, were forced to flee for their lives, their homes and businesses trashed.While it was also the case that some Christians defended themselves with all meansat their disposal, the weight of the attacks were carried out by Luo Muslims. By the some time in February approximately 1,500 people were dead, mostly Christians,and mostly hacked into pieces with machetes by angry Muslims Obama, in Kenya in 2006, could plausibly make the case that Odinga was unaffiliated with Muslim interests. This was his for-public-consumption position. There was no proof to another effect even though his support from Muslims was an open secret which was known to one and all, including Obama.And Barrack Hussein knew he could count on the ignorance of the American press and its disinterest in things African to get away with any claims he chose to make.As well, Obama was well aware that far more than 3/4ths of the press corps venerated him as if he was a messiah, incapable of wrong, someone to worship.He had few worries about anyone in the news media breaking a story about politics in Kenya.Things got so bad that the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, as the article continued,"released a statement in which church leaders said Raila [ Odinga ]...‘comes across as a presumptive Muslim president bent on forcingt which was known to one and all, including Obama.And Barrack Hussein knew he could count on the ignorance of the American press and its disinterest in things African to get away with any claims he chose to make.As well, Obama was well aware that far more than 3/4ths of the press corps venerated him as if he was a messiah, incapable of wrong, someone to worship.He had few worries about anyone in the news media breaking a story about politics in Kenya.Things got so bad that the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, as the article continued,"released a statement in which church leaders said Raila [ Odinga ]...‘comes across as a presumptive Muslim president bent on forcing Islamic law, religion and culture down the throats of the Kenyan people in total disregard of the Constitutionall guaranteed rights of freedom of worship and equal protection of the law’”This , of course, should have given Obama, a self-professed "Christian," all the excuse he might have needed to have spoken out in favor of his ( presumed ) fellow believers.But he did no such thing, just as he has yet to do any such thing during his presidencyto actually make the least difference on behalf of Christians in Muslim countries beyond decrying the most conspicuous attacks on churches and the worst cases of carnage,essentially rhetorical responses. He didn't even do that much when Muslims in Kenya killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands.For a self-professed "Christian" Obama is remarkable for his indifference to the suffering of millions of Christians in the Muslim world. Outrages are perpetrated literally every day and, while the State Department may make noises a couple of times a year, that is the extent of it. What other conclusion can be drawn than that Obama simply doesn't care what happens to Christians ?Here are two propositions worth thinking about :

         ( 1 ) He doesn't care because he isn't really a Christian himself.
         ( 2 ) He doesn't really care because he is a crypto-Muslim.Hmmm......Which one you think is  
                the correct answer?Read the full story here.

• HT:MiddleEastForum.What Palestinians Are Saying Online.Despite the fact that their Internet access is free of outside manipulation, most Palestinian activists do not reveal their names online. Indeed, few Palestinians maintain personal Facebook or Twitter accounts, presumably to ensure that their viewpoints or posts cannot be attributed to them directly. Rather, the majority of Palestinian web users engage in political debate on impersonal discussion boards. Writing under pseudonyms, they maintain anonymity while discussing the most heated issues of the day without fear of retribution.The bulk of Palestinian political discussion online takes place on these web forums, which typically provide space for like-minded people to express their views. For example, some are pro-Hamas (paldf.net) whereas others are pro-Fatah (palvoice.com). And while some sites feature adversarial posts, such as pro-Hamas users posting on Fatah sites, most are dominated by sympathizers of the owner faction.In a sense, the tribalism and factionalism that traditionally dominate Palestinian society can be observed in the form of similar groupings online. Groups allow individuals to break with their thinking, but only to a point.This examination of the Palestinian Internet social media environment found the following trends:Many Palestinians do not support the efforts to achieve peace. Despite the Obama administration's recent push to bring an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and perhaps even help the Palestinians declare a state, not to mention its online efforts through a State Department initiative to win Palestinian hearts and minds, Palestinian web users show a distinct lack of interest in peace. The language of rejectionism remains prevalent, commentary on peace talks is overwhelmingly negative, and potentially positive diplomatic steps are generally ignored.Palestinian Salafism is on the rise. There is a small but distinct Salafist influence in the Palestinian online environment. Whether this translates to growing popularity on the ground in either the West Bank or the Gaza Strip remains a subject of debate. Yet Washington cannot discount the potential for cooperation between Salafists and Hamas.Fatah, which currently represents Palestinians in the U.S.-led peace talks, is in disarray. Fatah's online supporters typically vilified Israel, and few expressed positive sentiments about peace. They break down into two factions of roughly equal strength: one that supports nonviolence, and one that seeks armed conflict and terrorism against Israel.The Islamist Hamas shows little desire for a negotiated peace with Israel. While Hamas is not monolithic, nearly all of its supporters on the Internet continue to support violence against Israel. On this issue, Hamas showed no apparent disagreement with Salafists. On the contrary, Hamas's online supporters often seek common ground with these radical groups.The three-year conflict between Hamas and Fatah is not likely to end soon. The two sides regularly trade barbs online, and the study found little evidence of rapprochement. Indeed, Hamas members appeared to be more interested in reconciling with Salafists than with Fatah members. Social media suggests that the Palestinian internecine conflict stemming from Hamas's violent 2007 takeover of Gaza remains a challenge to the Obama administration's peace plan.Palestinian reform factions are weak. These groups have little influence online, raising red flags about institution building and liberalization. The lack of positive sentiment, or even mentions of Palestinian political reform, is striking. This raises troubling questions about the Obama administration's lack of emphasis on Palestinian political institutions as well as concerns about the viability of a Palestinian state if one is to be created.Apparently displeased with the findings of this study, Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki has reportedly dismissed "the idea of having a representative sample by looking at the Internet" as "absolutely ridiculous."Yet it is precisely because Palestinian polling data (including Shikaki's own) has been so wildly inaccurate that the need to gauge Palestinian public opinion by alternative means has become so urgent. Indeed, while it remains unclear how accurate social media is as a bellwether of Palestinian political beliefs, the administration should consider the extent to which these findings represent the broader Palestinian population, perhaps through additional long-term studies, preferably before Washington suffers more humiliating setbacks in its efforts to promote Middle East peace.Hmmm...Peace perhaps....when crows wear stilleto heels?Read the full story here.

• Cyber attack strikes as pictures of 'Putin's palace' go online.A Russian website in the WikiLeaks mould suffered what it claims was a cyber-attack this morning – possibly in connection to a story about Vladimir Putin.Ruleaks.net posted exclusive pictures of a luxury building which it described as “Putin’s Palace”, and within a few hours was forced offline by a wave of cyber attacks.According to site stats at one point there were 25,500 simultaneously open connections, forcing the server out of action and blocking access to the site.By Wednesday afternoon the site was back in operation, but Pavel Rassudov told RIA Novosti: “We assume the cause was a DDoS-attack.”RuleaksThe site was set up by members of Russia’s “Pirate Party” and opened on Jan. 14.Taking inspiration from Wikileaks, which is supporting the project, it aims to uncover and publicise evidence of corruption and wrong-doing in Russia, technology website digit.ru reported.The images in question claimed to show a lavish palace owned by Russia’s Prime Minister on the Black Sea.Reports of a luxury residence first surfaced late last year in the Washington Post, and were denied by Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov, RIA Novosti reported.It had been claimed that the seaside home had been built using donations from Russian entrepreneurs.Read the full story here.

• Birmingham muslim cleric calls Queen "disgusting".A BIRMINGHAM imam has sparked controversy by branding the Queen a “disgusting woman”.Shaykh Asrar Rashid criticised the monarch for knighting author Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses outraged muslims and left him under a “fatwah” death threat.His comments came during a BBC WM interview in which he also said Muslims should not fight for Britain in the Armed Forces.He said they should refuse to serve on conscientious grounds due to British troops’ presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.Mr Rashid, who lives in Sparkbrook, makes his living as a visiting cleric, preaching at mosques around Birmingham.He said: “If a foreign government invaded England tomorrow we, as Muslims, would defend these areas and our way of life.“It’s not that I hate English people, or English soldiers who have gone abroad, or that I don’t feel for the mothers of these soldiers.“But the fact is they should make conscientious decisions as well. We must only fight wars which are in our interest, and invading Iraq and then oppressing the Iraqi people and Afghani people, is not the English way.”The Muslim Council of Britain distanced itself from the imam’s views. A spokesman said they were not representative.He said that disrespecting the Queen, as the British head of state, was a “disgusting” thing for a Muslim to do. “As Muslims we are ready to show respect to leaders. We may disagree with some of the things she might do and say but that does not give us the right to be insulting to her,” the spokesman said.Hmmmm....Now just try to imagine if an EDL spokes person would have said this outrageous statement?Every newspaper in Britain would be headlining it!Read the full story here.

• With praise from Michelle Obama, Wal-Mart announces healthy food campaign.First lady Michelle Obama joined Wal-Mart executives at a Southeast Washington community center Thursday morning to announce a campaign by the low-priced retail giant to offer more healthful foods and push its suppliers to do the same. In a glowing endorsement of the type that first ladies have rarely, if ever, made of major corporations, Obama called Wal-Mart's effort "a huge victory for folks all across this country" and said it has the "potential to transform the marketplace." "When I see a company like Wal-Mart launch an initiative like this, I feel more hopeful than ever before," said Obama, who has made fighting childhood obesity and increasing nutritious food options in poor neighborhoods a top priority. "We can improve how we make and sell food in this country." Obama said Wal-Mart's announcement was a sign that her signature "Let's Move" campaign is gaining traction among businesses, families and governments. "When healthier options are finally affordable, that can affect every meal a child eats," she said, standing before a mock produce counter on the stage of the community center's auditorium. "All these small changes can start to make a big difference in our children's health." Wal-Mart has drawn criticism from advocacy groups in the District and elsewhere because of its anti-union policies. Obama resigned from the board of a Wal-Mart vendor in 2007, days after her husband - then vying for the Democratic presidential nomination - said he would not shop at the store.Hmmmmm......If you see or hear something suspicious call Wall-Mart?Read the full story here.

• HT:BeforeItIsNews.Volcanology: “Yellowstone Supervolcano Bulges as Magma Pocket Swells”."Yellowstone National Park's supervolcano just took a deep "breath," causing miles of ground to rise dramatically, scientists report. The simmering volcano has produced major eruptions - each a thousand times more powerful than Mount St. Helens's 1980 eruption - three times in the past 2.1 million years. Yellowstone's caldera, which covers a 25- by 37-mile (40- by 60-kilometer) swath of Wyoming, is an ancient crater formed after the last big blast, some 640,000 years ago. (See "When Yellowstone Explodes" in National Geographic magazine.) But beginning in 2004, scientists saw the ground above the caldera rise upward at rates as high as 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) a year. (Related: "Yellowstone Is Rising on Swollen 'Supervolcano.'") The rate slowed between 2007 and 2010 to a centimeter a year or less. Still, since the start of the swelling, ground levels over the volcano have been raised by as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) in places. "It's an extraordinary uplift, because it covers such a large area and the rates are so high," said the University of Utah's Bob Smith, a longtime expert in Yellowstone's volcanism. Scientists think a swelling magma reservoir four to six miles (seven to ten kilometers) below the surface is driving the uplift. Fortunately, the surge doesn't seem to herald an imminent catastrophe, Smith said.Hmmmm......Don't exhale?Read the full story here.

• HT:HotAir.Verizon files challenge to FCC’s “Open Internet” order.It didn’t take long for one of the telecoms to challenge the FCC on its latest arrogation of regulatory jurisdiction over the Internet. Verizon went to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, the same venue that rebuked the FCC and its chair Julius Genachowski for attempting to regulate the Internet without authority from Congress.House Republicans cheered Verizon’s challenge, which rests on four arguments. The two that will probably carry the most weight with the court will be that the FCC has abused its regulatory discretion, and that the FCC has exceeded its statutory authority. Congress made the latter argument last year — with large Democratic majorities — as Genachowsko’s first attempt at treating the Internet as a public utility foundered. The same court ruled in favor of Comcast that Congress had not granted the FCC the authority to regulate the Internet, and that without a Congressional mandate, their actions were invalid.The FCC claims that they have tailored the new rules to fit within their authority, but that may change anyway. A statement from the new leadership in the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a warning to Genachowski:“Equally important is putting a check on an FCC that is acting beyond the authority granted to it by Congress. Between our legislative efforts and this court action, we will put the FCC back on firmer ground,” they said.The message is as clear as one can make it: Stop your regulatory adventurism, or we’ll stop it for you. It may not take a court to settle this question in the short run, especially with the remainder of the FY2011 budget in Republican hands.Hmmmm.....Step away from the Internet and keep your hands where we can see them?Read the full story here.

• World 'running out of Internet addresses'.The world will run out of Internet addresses "within weeks", according to one of the founding fathers of the web, a report said Friday.Vint Cerf, who helped create the web by connecting computers using Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, said it was his "fault" that the 4.3 billion addresses created were running out, the Sydney Morning Herald reported."I thought it was an experiment and I thought that 4.3 billion would be enough to do an experiment," Cerf, who is Google's vice president and "Chief Internet Evangelist", was quoted as saying in an interview."Who the hell knew how much address space we needed?"In 1977, Cerf created the web protocol IPv4, which connects computers globally, as part of an experiment while working with the US Department of Defense. He said he never expected his experiment "wouldn't end"."It doesn't mean the network stops, it just means you can't build it very well," Cerf said.IP addresses are the unique sequence of numbers assigned to each computer, website or other internet-connected devices. They are not the same as website domain names.The overwhelming number of devices now accessing the internet means the addresses are running out fast.To resolve the crisis, an updated protocol for the Internet, IPv6, currently being planned by the industry, will create trillions of addresses.As Google vice president Cerf, who was in Australia to address a conference, said he thought the new chief executive of the California-based giant, Larry Page, was ready to lead the company into the future.Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Woman Partially Paralyzed by Hickey.A New Zealand woman was temporarily partially paralyzed by a hickey on her neck from her amorous partner, AFP reported Friday.The 44-year-old woman went to the emergency department of Middlemore Hospital in Auckland last year after experiencing loss of movement in her left arm while watching television, doctors reported in the New Zealand Medical Journal.Doctors concluded the woman had suffered a mild stroke but were puzzled about its cause until they found a small vertical bruise on her neck near a major artery, a hickey, she received a few days earlier."Because of the physical trauma it had made a bit of bruising inside the vessel. There was a clot in the artery underneath where the hickey was."Wu said the clot dislodged and traveled to the woman's heart, where it caused a minor stroke that led to the loss of movement."We looked around the medical literature and that example of having a love bite causing something like that hasn't been described before," he said.The medic said the woman recovered after being treated with an anti-coagulant.Hmmmm.....Warning....Hickeys can seriously damage your health?Read the full story here.