MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• HT:RightTruth.Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis to speak at the United Nations.Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, founder and president of Hineni, the internationally renowned Torah outreach organization will be addressing audiences at the United Nations in New York City on Thursday, January 27th on the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Remembrance Day. This most special event is being sponsored by the International B'nai Brith organization to commemorate to the legacy of those who perished during the Holocaust and as a forum to address escalating global anti-Semitism and racism.In an interview granted to the Jewish media, Rebbetzin Jungreis disclosed the salient points of her upcoming address by saying, "The scourge of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial is growing at an alarming rate. The real tragedy is evidenced by the "screaming silence" of the international community, just as we heard during the nightmarish years of the Holocaust.Rebbetzin Jungreis said that she'll be speaking about her own personal experiences as a young child and that of her family during the Holocaust, when they were expelled from their home in Szeged, Hungary by the Nazis and deported to the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. "We often ask ourselves, how could a mass genocide of such monumental proportions take place during the 20th century in a place like Europe which epitomized the zenith of civilization; including the arts, culture and education. How could a scenario arise in which human beings could sink to a level of moral depravity that was lower than a ghastly beast. The world turned its collective back on the Jews and today we are witnessing the very same ominous signs once again," she intoned."Hitler's goal was the total annihilation of the Jewish people and he was quite open about it. Today we confront such maniacal despots as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose message of Holocaust denial is being embraced by purportedly civilized people. He, too, openly states his intentions of obliterating the State of Israel and all of its inhabitants, as his uranium enrichment programs aimed at building a formidable nuclear arsenal continue unabated", the Rebbetzin ruefully observed.NOTICE: This article has been updated and corrected, the date Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, founder and president of Hineni, the internationally renowned Torah outreach organization will be addressing audiences at the United Nations in New York City on Thursday, January 27th on the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Remembrance Day.Hmmmm.....But how many are willing to listen,at the Islamic Nations?Read the full story here.

• The story of what started the revolution in Tunesia!Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia: Mohamed Bouazizi spent his whole life on a dusty, narrow street here, in a tiny, three-room house with a concrete patio where his mother hung the laundry and the red chilis to dry. By the time Mr. Bouazizi was 26, his work as a fruit vendor had earned him just enough money to feed his mother, uncle and five brothers and sisters at home. He dreamed about owning a van.Faida Hamdy, a 45-year-old municipal inspector in Sidi Bouzid, a police officer's daughter, was single, had a "strong personality" and an unblemished record, her supervisor said. She inspected buildings, investigated noise complaints and fined vendors like Mr. Bouazizi, whose itinerant trade may or may not have been legal; no one seems to know.On the morning of Dec. 17, when other vendors say Ms. Hamdy tried to confiscate Mr. Bouazizi's fruit, and then slapped him in the face for trying to yank back his apples, he became the hero -- now the martyred hero -- and she became the villain in a remarkable swirl of events in which Tunisians have risen up to topple a 23-year dictatorship and march on, demanding radical change in their government.The revolution has rippled beyond Tunisia, shaking other authoritarian Arab states, whose frustrated young people are often written off as complacent when faced with stifling bureaucracy and an impenetrable and intimidating security apparatus. That assumption was badly shaken with Mr. Bouazizi's reaction to his slap, and now a picture of him, in a black jacket with a wry smile, has become the revolution's icon.In a series of interviews, the other fruit vendors, officials and family members described the seemingly routine confrontation that had set off a revolution. They said that Mr. Bouazizi, embarrassed and angry, had wrestled with Ms. Hamdy and was beaten by two of her colleagues, who also took his electronic scale. He walked a few blocks to the municipal building, demanded his property, and was beaten again, they said. Then he walked to the governor's office, demanded an audience and was refused."She humiliated him," said his sister, Samia Bouazizi. "Everyone was watching."Sometime around noon, in the two-lane street in front of the governor's high gate, the vendor drenched himself in paint thinner then lit himself on fire. A doctor at the hospital where he was treated said the burns covered 90 percent of his body. By the time he died on Jan. 4, protests that started over Mr. Bouazizi's treatment in Sidi Bouzid had spread to cities throughout the country.On Jan. 14, the president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, fled the country.Hmmm.....Action leads to reaction?read the full story here.

• HT:HotAir.Breaking: Olbermann announces the end of “Countdown”; Update: Settled contract with MSNBC “late this week”; Update: “Stealth move”; Update: Real reason revealed?Why? No idea. There was no inkling of it on Google News earlier today. It sounds from the clip like he was let go, but he signed a four-year contract extension in 2008 so I’m not sure how the mechanics of firing him would work. Could be that he resigned, but there’s been no indication of which I’m aware that he was considering that. Unhappiness with Olby among MSNBC employees has been rumored for ages, and some speculated last year that Comcast might want to “rein in” MSNBC, but as I say, this is all just theorizing at the moment. In fact, even Mediaite, which should have access to insiders at MSNBC via Dan Abrams, only has the company’s vague official statement at the moment:“MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”Stand by for updates galore, no doubt.Read the full story here.

• New Twitter worm redirects to Fake AV!A new Twitter worm is spreading fast, using the “goo.gl” URL shortening service to distribute malicious links.The malicious links go through a number of redirections which are described below. The redirection chain may push Twitter users to a fake anti-virus (scareware) serving the “Security Shield” Rogue AV. The webpage is using exactly the same obfuscation techniques as a previous version (Security Tool), which is an implementation of RSA cryptography in JavaScript to obfuscate the page code.Our users are protected from this worm and all the URLS are being blacklisted in our products.Here are some of the technical details.Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Eye on Extremism: Palestinian Islamic court forcibly divorces West Bank Ahmadi Muslim couple after declaring them 'apostates'.TULKAREM, West Bank -- For more than a year, a Palestinian couple belonging to an Islamic sect rejected by many mainstream Muslims endured insults from some of their neighbors and even death threats while struggling to maintain a quiet existence in this West Bank town.As word spread about them, things got worse. A local Islamic court branded them apostates and dissolved their marriage. The couple, Mohammed and Samah Alawneh, now live in legal limbo.Their plight demonstrates the tensions between a still largely conservative Palestinian society and a Western-backed government expected by the international community to ensure democratic freedoms.The government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is dominated by secular elites and frequently cracks down on hard-line Muslims connected to its militant Islamic rival, Hamas. The seat of Abbas' government, the vibrant West Bank city of Ramallah, is dotted with bars, liquor stores and night clubs frequented by secular Muslims, although consuming alcohol is strictly forbidden in Islam.At the same time, the Palestinian Authority - trying to build toward a state that would include the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip - has shown there are limits to its religious tolerance.Late last year, Palestinian police arrested a self-proclaimed atheist blogger for insulting Islam in his posts, and the man is still in custody. The Alawnehs are members of the Ahmadi sect, an Islamic offshoot whose members are often branded traitors and face persecution in the Muslim world. Another couple - the husband is Ahmadi, the wife is not - is facing the same proceedings."It's like we are still living in the Middle Ages," said Mohammed Alawneh, 35. "They are deciding whether you are a believer or not. Whether you'll go to heaven or hell - and whether you are an apostate."Followers of the Islamic Ahmadi Community are shunned by many mainstream Muslims because they recognize a 19th-century cleric as their prophet. A central tenet of Islam is that the Muhammad was the last prophet sent by God.There are believed to be more than 4 million [Updated estimates: 160MM] Ahmadis worldwide, most of them in South Asia but also with large communities in Africa and Europe. They frequently face isolation and persecution, particularly in Pakistan, where last year two of their mosques were bombed and 97 people were killed.A few dozen Ahmadi converts live in the West Bank, whose 2.5 million-strong Palestinian population is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, said the local Ahmadi leader, Sheik Mohammed Sharif.Cases involving Ahmadis, who have lived in the West Bank in small numbers for decades, have rarely been pursued - until now, lawyers said.The Alawnehs converted to the Ahmadi sect separately six years ago, marrying in 2009. Both faced insults and death threats from Muslim preachers when news of their conversions filtered out, they said. Mohammed's family renounced them. Some of Samah's colleagues at the university where she works shun her, though others do not.Then last year, a prosecutor in the local Islamic court, which regulates Muslim marriages, filed a complaint against them, accusing them of apostasy. They were found guilty in August, according to documents the couple showed The Associated Press.The court forcibly divorced the couple by canceling their marriage registration, because they were no longer considered Muslims.The Alawnehs say the complaint against them was initiated by Mohammed Alawneh's first wife, who was upset by his decision to take another wife. Islamic law permits a man to have up to four wives.The Palestinian Authority does not authorize civil marriage. All marriages must be registered with the government-funded Islamic courts or a Christian church.That means that the couple have no chance of ever legalizing their marriage in the West Bank, said their lawyer, Gandi Rabai. The couple may go abroad to marry, but so far, they have chosen to try to battle the issue in Palestinian courts, believing it is their right to marry freely in the West Bank, Rabai said.Expecting their first child later this year, they will not be able to register the baby with the Palestinian Interior Ministry - meaning the child cannot go to public school or qualify for medical care. The child will be scorned as illegitimate if they remain unmarried.The Islamic courts are also pursuing a case against Maher Salahat, a 34-year-old married father of five who belongs to the Ahmadi sect. They accuse him of apostasy and seek to divorce him from his wife, who is a Sunni Muslim. The case is still being investigated, Salahat said.Reem Shanti, the prosecutor who pressed charges against the Alawnehs, and other Islamic courts officials refused to comment.Mahmoud Habbash, the Palestinian Authority's Religious Affairs Minister, who oversees the courts, said he could not interfere in judicial affairs. Habbash said he had no solution to the couple's legal dead-end over registering their marriage in the West Bank.Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib said the Palestinian basic law, a forerunner to a constitution, guarantees freedom of expression and religious belief, but that the Islamic courts rule over civil issues such as marriage and divorce. There is no criminal punishment for being declared an apostate, he said.The Alawnehs said they would take their case all the way to the Palestinian Supreme Court. They said they feared a dangerous precedent has been set that could engulf not only people with unconventional religious views, but also the many non-practicing Muslims in the West Bank."If they open the door to declaring people apostates, anybody could accuse anybody," said the young woman, her hair covered with a Muslim headscarf, her eyes widening in fear. "But I believe I follow the real Islam. They can't break open my heart to see if I believe or not."Hmmmm....."Islam the Religion of Peace".Read the full story here.

• HT:IHateTheMedia.Top 10 places Hawaiian governor should look for Obama’s birth certificate.Hawaii’s new Democrat Governor Neil Abercrombie promised to find President Barack Obama’s birth certificate so that we, as a nation, could put to rest, once and for all, rumors that that he is not a U.S. citizen and therefore, fit – and “fit,” to be sure, is to be taken very loosely in any case – to serve as the Commander in Chief.But now comes the shocking – totally shocking – news that Governor has been unable to locate that pesky original birth certificate.Wherever could it be?There has to be a logical explanation, right?Well, IHateTheMedia.com to the rescue.We’re offering Governor Abercrombie the top ten places he should look for the document.Read the full story here.

• HT:AmnonAndJonathan.Is Israel becoming Iran's southern border ?An agreement was reportedly made between the March 8 forces backed by Syria and Democratic Gathering leader MP Walid Jumblat for his bloc to give seven votes for the opposition's nominee for the premier's post, Omar Karami, amid efforts to guarantee a eighth MP.An Nahar daily quoted March 14 forces as saying Saturday that Democratic Gathering MPs who are not members of Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party have informed him that they would nominate caretaker Premier Saad Hariri. They are: Mohammed al-Hajjar, Fouad al-Saad, Henri Helou, Marwan Hamadeh and Antoine Saad.An Nahar said that Jumblat guaranteed that only five party members -- in addition to a sixth who could be MP Elie Aoun -- would vote for Karami.The remaining six ministers stand by Hariri, the daily said.Read the full story here. More here.

• Tony Blair: West must prepare to confront Iran.Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged the west to confront Iran with force in order to face the "looming and coming challenge" from Iran, reported French news agency AFP on Saturday."It [Iran] has to be confronted and changed. Iran is a looming challenge. It is negative and destabilizing. It supports terrorists," said Blair on Friday during his remarks at the Chilcot inquiry, the British inquiry into the war in Iraq."I say this to you with all of the passion I possibly can -- at some point the West has to get out of what I think is a wretched policy or posture of apology for believing that we are causing what the Iranians are doing, or what these extremists are doing," said Blair who serves as the Quartet representative to the Middle East.Blair stated that he could see the "impact and the influence of Iran everywhere." His comments came as Iran began a second round of talks on Saturday in Istanbul with six world powers over its nuclear program.During a press briefing in Washington, Crowley stated that the US is pursuing a "two-track strategy" toward Iran:"We are putting pressure on Iran. We think that pressure is having an impact. Iran is not in full compliance with international obligations. Iran remains arguably the leading international state sponsor of terrorism. Iran is undermining the international community’s efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East. These are all true. And we are willing to engage Iran to begin to address all of these issues," Crowley said.He added, "We’re in Istanbul, engaged with Iran to try to see if we can’t resolve the nuclear file. We are perfectly willing to move into other areas. And if we have the opportunity to engage Iran, we’ll continue to express our concerns about other things. But we’re not putting all of our eggs in one basket. We are willing to engage Iran, but we’re realistic." Hmmmm........What's the role and position of Turkey in all this?Get Turkey out of NATO!Read the full story here.

• HT:InfidelBloggers(Epaminondas).The Ghadir Iranian Domestic Sub? Iran paying North Korea for development of midget submarines.Western intelligence sources said Iran and North Korea have exchanged technology and expertise on the development and assembly of so-called midget submarines. They said Iran has provided financing for North Korean development as well as tested several prototypes since 2008. “The arrangement is simple: Iran pays for North Korean development and gets the first platforms off the production line,” an intelligence source said.The sources said Iran has been testing North Korean-developed midget submarines with attack capabilities. They said Pyongyang has produced the Daedong-B, which measures 17 meters and designed to contain torpedos. Daedong-B, with a width of four meters and height of two 2.2 meters, was tested in North Korea in 2010. The sources said North Korea invited Iranian Navy and defense officials for briefings on the submarine trials.“As has been amply demonstrated by the navies of North Korea and Iran, these small vessels make good platforms for ambushes even at submerged depths of 150 feet, enough room for the midget submersible to maneuver,” the U.S. consultant, Forecast International, said.“These submarines cannot travel too far on their own, and depend on support vessels to extend their range. However, in their shallow water element where sonar returns are cluttered, they can prove quiet and deadly. Their capabilities include the ability to lay mines or insert commandos on beaches.”Hmmmm.....A really peace full nation,only for self defence and stealth purposes?Read the full story here,video here.

• Jordanian protests gather pace.AMMAN: Jordan's opposition has vowed continual protests over price increases and inflation until resignation of the prime minister and his government.More than 5,000 people from across the political spectrum, including the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, the left wing groups and the trade unions staged Friday what they called a “Day of Rage” in the Jordanian capital of Amman and in the northern town of Irbid.They demanded Prime Minister Samir Rifai step down and for Jordanians to be able to elect their prime minister and other ministers rather than having them appointed by King Abdallah.Streets protests have mounted over the past week, spurred on by Tunisia's example, and despite government moves to lower the prices on basic goods and fuel. “(Prime Minister Samir) Rifai, out, out! People of Jordan will not bow,” protesters chanted as they marched from Al-Hussein Mosque in central Amman to the nearby municipality building. “Our demands are legitimate. We want bread and freedom.”Police handed out bottles of water and juice to the demonstrators, who carried banners reading, “We demand social justice and freedom,” “No to oppression, yes to change” and, “We need a national salvation government.”Police spokesman Mohammad Khatib said about 4,000 people took part in the capital's peaceful protest, organized by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm the Islamic Action Front.Hmmmm......Who's next?Read the full story here.

• Afghan national would be terrorist denied bail in explosive Ontario trial.PEMBROKE, Ont . -- A Pembroke man charged with attempting to possess explosive substances -- in what police allege was his intention to detonate an improvised explosive device at CFB Petawawa -- has been refused bail.Matin Abdul Stanikzy, 24, will remain in custody at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, a superior court judge ruled this week.Stanikzy, an Afghan national, faces charges of assault, attempting to possess an explosive substance, counselling to commit theft, uttering a threat to cause death and threatening to burn, destroy or damage personal property.On Nov. 17, city police arrested Stanikzy after investigating an assault allegation.The RCMP's anti-terrorism squad subsequently laid the other charges.Stanikzy was denied bail on Dec. 3.Earlier this week, a bail review sought by his lawyer, Stuart Konyer, was heard in Pembroke Superior Court.On Thursday, Justice Timothy Ray upheld the earlier decision of Justice of the Peace Richard Sculthorpe to deny bail. Ray ruled that the defendant poses a flight risk and that a refusal of bail is necessary to protect the public's safety.In the decision, Ray considered the allegations, which have not be proven in court.Ray referred to information presented by Crown attorney Jason Nicol during the Dec. 3 bail hearing, where court heard that police were called to a Pembroke, Ont., women's shelter on Nov. 17 to investigate an assault complaint. Officers spoke to a woman who told them she had been assaulted the night before.The woman advised police she was an employee of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited at Chalk River Laboratories. She recounted that Mr. Stanikzy arrived in Canada in November, 2009 and lived with his brother and sister-in-law in Toronto for six months. She moved with him to Pembroke when she was hired by AECL.She alleged the defendant asked her to obtain explosive materials so he could detonate an explosive device at CFB Petawawa. According to the allegation, he told her he wanted to wound or kill 30 to 100 people at CFB Petawawa.The woman said she recorded the conversation which she alleged took place in July 2010.According to the allegations laid out by the Crown, the woman told police Stanikzy had made comments about becoming a suicide bomber in Canada or becoming an interpreter in Afghanistan and leading Canadian troops into a Taliban or al-Qaida ambush.She told police he described himself as a supporter of the Taliban and al-Qaida and he perceived Canadians as his enemies. She alleged he specifically mentioned his desire to kill people at CFB Petawawa since "people there are getting ready to fight in his country of Afghanistan."The complainant told police Stanikzy said he does not care if he dies and that if he killed a non-Muslim he would be considered a martyr.In his decision to deny bail on Dec. 3, Sculthorpe said he found the Crown's case to be strong and noted the seriousness of the charges. He noted that the defendant had stated his intent to cause harm to a number of individuals, that the risk to the public was strong and could not be abated by conditions.Hmmmm.....How many more like him are running freely in Canada?Read the full story here.

• "Life or Death in Iran's Prisons".European Parliament Issues Resolution for Release of Nasrin Sotoudeh and Others.European Parliament resolution of 20 January 2011 on Iran – the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh.– having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran, notably those concerning human rights, and in particular those of 10 February 2010(1) and 8 September 2010(2) ,

1. – having regard to the declaration made by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navy Pillay, on 23 November 2010, expressing concern about the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh and stating that this was part of a much broader crackdown and that the situation of human rights defenders in Iran was growing more and more difficult,
2. – having regard to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus in 1998, stipulating that states ‘shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of human rights defenders against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary actions’ as a consequence of their legitimate efforts to promote human rights,
3. – having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a party,
4. – having regard to the United Nations General Assembly resolution of 21 December 2010 on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran,
5. – having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,Read the full resolution here.

• Saudi Wahhabis accused of removing relics from the time of Prophet Mohammad.Saudi Arabia has been accused of an unprecedented onslaught on historic structures in the heart of Mecca and Medina -- the cradle of Islam, revered by the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. During a meeting at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, world heritage experts called on Saudi authorities to halt the destruction of sites linked with Islamic history. The experts also voiced concerns over the future of Mecca and Medina due to the rising destruction of historic structures. They say it's feared that a number of historic sites will be lost permanently if the current course of destruction is allowed to continue. “I call it cultural vandalism, of course we lost foreigner historical sites over the past sixty years, which will never be replaced again,” said Irfan al-Alawi, from Islamic Heritage Research Foundation.Saudi authorities, however, argue that they are trying to prevent idolatry.Hmmmm......That new Mecca clock wasn't appreciated by everyone it seems?Read the full story here. HT:TundraTabloids.

• Hawaii law bars release of Obama birth info. HONOLULU -- A privacy law that shields birth certificates has prompted Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie to abandon efforts to dispel claims that President Barack Obama was born outside Hawaii, his office says.State Attorney General David Louie told the governor that privacy laws bar him from disclosing an individual's birth documentation without the person's consent, Abercrombie spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said Friday."There is nothing more that Gov. Abercrombie can do within the law to produce a document," said Dela Cruz. "Unfortunately, there are conspirators who will continue to question the citizenship of our president."Hmmmm.....No ....Really,did anyone even expect to see the full birth certificate?Read the full story here.

• Just as things were looking up, Obama's annual job approval average puts him near the postwar bottom.As if the poll showing improved approval of Congress under partial Republican leadership wasn't discouraging enough, now comes a new survey showing President Obama's second-year job approval near the bottom of presidents elected in the last six decades or so.Heading into the president's crucial 2011 State of the Union address next Tuesday evening, Gallup finds that Obama's second-year job approval averaged only 46.7%.That really looks pathetic when compared to his predecessor, George W. Bush's second-year average job approval of 71.3%. Or to the next highest second-year postwar job approval of 66.8% held by -- oh, look! -- another president named Bush. Of course, both of them were Republicans.Even Richard "I Am Not a Crook" Nixon had a majority 56.2% approval after two years.But don't forget that fellow Democrat Jimmy Carter also had a miserable second-year job approval of 45.3%. And he fought back from that basement approval to win a resounding second term. Oh, no. wait. He didn't. He got crushed in 1980, even with a third-party candidate.Anyway, despite Congress, the current Democrat in the Oval Office still has 655 days to right the SS Job Approval.
  Hmmmm......Memo ...Must keep manipulating those job numbers?Read the full story here.

• Congress to Press Obama on Religious Persecution of Christians.Members of Congress from a bipartisan human rights panel on Thursday challenged the Obama administration to get serious about putting pressure on the governments of Egypt and Iraq to halt violent attacks on Christian minorities."Human rights has been significantly demoted in the past two years, and it's appalling," said Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J. "This administration gets an F for its response to human rights abuses."For Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., the granddaughter of Assyrian and Armenian Christians who fled the genocide carried out by the Ottoman Turks and their Kurdish allies at the end of World War I, the dramatic upsurge in attacks against Christians in Iraq and Egypt was reminiscent of stories she had learned from childhood."Going to the market and riding the bus, Iraqi Christians face death every day," she said. "There is no question that Christians are being targeted" in Iraq.Rep. Eshoo called on the Obama administration to "move this up in the set of priorities of the State Department" by elaborating a "comprehensive strategy" for dealing with the persecution of Christians in Iraq."A crisis calls for more than good intentions," she said.Although tens of billions of U.S. taxpayer funds have gone to reconstruction programs in Iraq, a scant $20 million has been allocated to projects in the predominantly Christian Nineveh Plain in northern Iraq, the ancestral homeland of many Iraqi Christians and a relative safe haven to which thousands of families have fled in recent years.Worse, the way U.S. aid money has been spent is "not transparent," Rep. Eshoo said.So she and other members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate recently asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a far-reaching audit of U.S. reconstruction assistance to Iraq, in particular as it touches on projects for Christian areas.Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who chaired Thursday's hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Capitol Hill, slammed the Obama White House for its tepid response to the violence.After the Oct. 31 attack on Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church in Baghdad by Muslim jihadists that killed 58 Christians attending mass, the White House "failed to even mention the word 'Christian' or 'church,' suggesting that this attack was simply part of a broader pattern of generalized violence in Iraq and not a targeted attack against an indigenous faith community," Rep. Wolf said.Wolf said he was exploring legislation that would require the State Department to designate special representatives in the embassies in Baghdad and Cairo whose sole job will be to monitor human rights and religious persecution.In tandem with that move, Wolf said he wants President Obama to appoint a "special envoy" to persecuted minorities in the Middle East, who will report back to the president, the secretary of state, and Congress.Hmmmm....Problem is does Obama want to help his "Fellow" Christians?Read the full story here.

• HT:RightSideNews.Obama's Plan to Admit Mexican Trucks.Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, explained what this means: "U.S. truckers would be forced to forfeit their own economic opportunities while companies and drivers from Mexico, free from equivalent regulatory burdens, take over their traffic lanes." We wonder if Mexico has any regulatory standards at all.Mexican trucks are known to be overweight and lacking in safety regulations we consider essential, such as anti-lock brakes. Mexico doesn't have national databases that track drivers' records, background checks, drug usage, and arrests, and it's known to be easy to get a commercial driver's license with a bribe.Nevertheless, Obama's Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, has announced he wants to admit Mexican trucks, and he thinks he can appease Congress by presenting on January 6 what he calls a "concept document." It is two pages of bureaucratic pablum that does nothing to assure the safety of Americans on our highways and roads.The concept document calls for a "review" of the Mexican carriers' safety program, the driving records of Mexican drivers admitted to the program, and inspection of Mexican trucks for safety and emissions. But the document says nothing about what the standard of review and inspection will be, and whether trucks and drivers who don't pass inspection will be rejected.Under the concept document, Mexican trucks would be subject to border inspections at the "normal border inspection rate," and subject to inspections within the U.S. "at the same rate as U.S. companies." That doesn't reassure us; the "normal" border inspection rate means that only a few violators will get caught, which the Mexicans will consider just a cost of doing business, and the notion that Mexican drivers need inspection only at the 50 percent U.S. rate is ridiculous.U.S. law requires truck drivers to speak and understand the English language. The concept document says it will "conduct an English Language Proficiency" test of each Mexican driver, but it doesn't say the Mexican drivers must speak English or pass the test.We know from the House testimony of the previous Transportation Secretary, Mary Peters, that the Department's policy is to approve Mexican drivers as "English proficient" even when they respond to an examiner's questions in Spanish. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who was conducting the hearing, was so astounded at this answer that he asked Secretary Peters to repeat it.With the drug war in full battle array along our southern border, this is no time to start admitting Mexican trucks. It's a safe bet that many of the trucks will be carrying illegal aliens and illegal drugs.Another safety problem exists for U.S. trucks that would get access to Mexican roads under this misguided proposal. Trade is supposed to be two-way street, but U.S. drivers don't want to drive into northern Mexico, the most dangerous area in the world because of the ongoing war between drug cartels.Hmmmm.....If you wanted to destroy the American economy would you do anything different?Read the full story here.

• HT:Rferl.'Putin Palace' Pics: It's Good To Be The PM.A new website billing itself the "Russian WikiLeaks" has posted photographs of a lavish Black Sea mansion believed to have been commissioned for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.RuLeaks.net says it has no proof the mansion, still under construction and being built for a reported $1 billion, is Putin's.Although the website's authors are anonymous, it's believed to be backed by the Pirate Party of Russia, which advocates opposition to copyright laws.The mansion was first brought to public attention in December by a former business partner of Putin associates, who published an open letter to President Dmitry Medvedev decrying corruption in Russia.Pirate Party leader Pavel Rassudov, who denies connections to RuLeaks.ru, nevertheless told RFE/RL's Russian Service that the number of visitors to the site have spiked since it was launched a month ago."We have to confirm the mansion [is Putin's]," he said. "Then there has to be action, an appeal to the president asking whether there's corruption involved."Hmmmm.....Wow...The New Tsar his "Summer Palace"?This is not the residence of a PM this is the residence of the "Ruler" of all Russia?Read and SEE the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.22 Facts About California That Make You Wonder Why Anyone Would Still Want To Live In That Hellhole Of A State.Why in the world would anyone still want to live in the state of California at this point? Residents of California have been forced to endure a brutally oppressive level of taxation for many years, and yet the state of California has still managed to find itself on the verge of bankruptcy. California Governor Jerry Brown declared a "fiscal emergency" in his state on Thursday, but nobody is even pretending that such a declaration is actually going to help matters. Brown wants to cut even deeper into the state budget (even after tens of billions have already been slashed out of it in recent years) and he wants to explore ways to raise even more revenue. Meanwhile, the standard of living in California is going right into the toilet. Housing values are plummeting. Unemployment has risen above 20 percent in many areas of the state. Crime and gang activity is on the rise even as police budgets are being hacked to the bone. The health care system is an absolute disaster. At this point California has the fewest emergency rooms per million people out of all 50 states. While all of this has been going on, the state legislature in Sacramento has been very busy passing hundreds of new laws that are mostly about promoting one radical agenda or another. The state government has become so radically anti-business that it is a wonder that any businesses have remained in the state. It seems like the moving vans never stop as an endless parade of businesses and families leave California as quickly as they can.One of the only things keeping the population of California relatively stable at this point are the massive hordes of illegal immigrants that are constantly pouring into California cities. There are certain areas of major California cities that you simply do not ever want to go into anymore. In fact, there are rumors that the police will not even venture into certain areas anymore.Traffic in California is a bigger nightmare than it ever has been before and the state cannot even keep up with repairing the roads and infrastructure that it already has. There are a few areas of California where you can still see the promise of greatness and the amazing natural beauty that once attracted tens of millions of Americans to the state, but they are few and far between now. At this point, most of the state is turning into one gigantic hellhole.Perhaps the state could have some hope of turning things around if they had some solid leadership, but at this point the vast majority of the politicians in the state are pushing agendas that are so "radical" (not in a good way) and so "anti-American" that it is absolutely frightening.Yes, things really are that bad in California.The following are 22 facts about California that make you wonder why anyone would still want to live in that hellhole of a state....Read the full story here.

• Stunner: Gold Standard Fully Supported By... Alan Greenspan!?You read that right. After such establishment "luminaries" as World Bank president Robert Zoellick, Warren Buffett's father Howard, Jim Grant, and, most recently, Kansas Fed president Thomas Hoenig, all voiced their support for a return to a gold standard, the most recent addition to the motley group of contrite voodoo shamans is none othe than the man who is singlehandedly responsible for America's addiction to cheap toxic credit, who spawned such destroyers of the middle class as the current Chaircreature, and who currently is the chief advisor in John Paulson's crusade to gobble up every ounce of deliverable physical in the world: former Fed Chairman - Alan Greenspan! In an interview with Fox Business, the man who refuses to go away into that good night: "We have at this particular stage a fiat money which is essentially money printed by a government and it's usually a central bank which is authorized to do so. Some mechanism has got to be in place that restricts the amount of money which is produced, either a gold standard or a currency board, because unless you do that all of history suggest that inflation will take hold with very deleterious effects on economic activity... There are numbers of us, myself included, who strongly believe that we did very well in the 1870 to 1914 period with an international gold standard." And a further stunner: Greenspan himself wonders if we really need a central bank.Read the full story here.