MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• HT:DaledAmos.Letter From A Coptic Christian To Obama.Mike, a Coptic Christian who has immigrated to the United States, has asked Restrain the Blade to publish this letter to President Barack Obama. Out of concern for his safety, only the author's first name is made public.Dear President Obama,I am writing to you as Coptic Christian who immigrated to the United States in the late 1970s.I am an American citizen.I have grave concerns about what is going in Egypt regarding the Copts.To put it bluntly, I fear that something very bad is going to happen to this community in the very near future.[Note: this letter was written on Christmas Eve]Coptic Christians have been the victims of systematic abuse and oppression in Egypt for a long time. On November 17, 2010, the U.S. Department of State recently issued a report on religious freedom in Egypt that details the abuses they suffer on a daily basis. January of this year, six Coptic Christians were murdered outside their church after celebrating Christmas.Sadly, I fear another attack will happen again sometime in the near future.The tendency of blaming the State of Israel for every problem in Egypt, and linking it to the Copts, is on the rise, especially in the past a few months. By associating the Copts with the Jewish state, extremists and government officials are inciting hostility toward a beleaguered, defenseless minority.Mr. President, in light of numerous acts of incitement and previous acts of violence, I fear that Coptic Christians in Egypt are going to have a very tough Christmas season. I implore you to use your good offices to insist that the Egyptian government protect the rights of its Christian citizens.For reasons of my own safety, I can only sign my first name, but nevertheless, I offer wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.I ask that you use your influence to make sure Christians in Egypt can celebrate their holidays in safety.Michael . Dec. 24, 2010. Hmmmm.........Read the full story here.

• New Speaker Vows to Share Power—a Tricky Proposition.When John Boehner takes over one of the most powerful jobs in Washington this week, he says his first order of business is to make himself less powerful.On Wednesday the new speaker of the House of Representatives plans to offer a package of rule changes that, he says, will give minority-party members more of a say and decentralize power. In short, Ohio Republican Mr. Boehner is promising he'll be a different figure from many speakers throughout history—from Republican Joseph Cannon a century ago to his immediate predecessor, Democrat Nancy Pelosi—who kept a tighter leash.But there's a reason so many speakers try to keep close control: It works."New speakers always say they want to have a more open process," says Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat. "Then the sheer demands of making the trains run on time and getting things passed requires that you change your mind."How this tension is resolved—between Mr. Boehner's promises and the need to get things done—will help determine the success of the new Republican majority. The GOP is in a hurry to show that it's different, not just from Democrats but from its old self. Mr. Boehner himself was catapulted into a GOP leadership role in 2006 after a fund-raising scandal deposed then-majority leader Tom DeLay.Mr. Boehner now finds himself master of a Republican majority created by a group of newcomers whose hallmark is a restless cry for action. On issues from cutting spending to raising the government's debt ceiling, Mr. Boehner's burden will be letting his freshmen members vent while keeping the House on track.One of Wednesday's first votes could be Mr. Boehner's package of rule changes. Among them:

1.  Lawmakers will be required to vote on whether or not to raise the federal debt ceiling, a move sought by tea-party representatives. Current rules let the House automatically raise the limit when they pass a budget.
2. All legislation must be posted online 72 hours before going to the House floor to prevent party leaders from changing bills the night before House votes, as has been the practice over the years.Read the full story here.

• Netanyahu asks Obama to pardon Pollard.Prime minister addresses Knesset plenum, reads out letter sent to US President Obama asking him to pardon spy. White House says will review letter. The prime minister addressed the Knesset plenum Tuesday in a debate titled "The failure of the Netanyahu administration in the political, economic and social realms." A total of 40 Knesset members signed an appeal to hold the debate thus forcing Netanyahu to attend. In his speech, Netanyahu detailed efforts that have been made along the years to free Pollard. He noted that he received a letter from Pollard two weeks ago pleading him to publicly approach the US president and ask for his release."After 25 years that Jonathan has spent in jail and after 15 years of failed efforts to release him, I have decided to grant this request and I do this openly, here, from the Knesset podium in a step that represents and unites all the people of Israel," he said.Netanyahu read the letter he sent to Obama in which he noted that despite the fact that Israel had not directed any intelligence efforts against the US, it was wrong in doing what it did and had acted in an unacceptable manner. The letter further noted that both Pollard and Israel's governments have regretted these acts and that Israel continues to pledge never to repeat such acts in the future. Netanyahu wrote to Obama that he had raised the matter of Pollard's release many times in meetings with US officials, past and present. He noted that many former senior US officials as well as congressmen who are familiar with the issue share his view and support releasing the spy.The prime minister closed his letter by saying that as far as Israel is aware Pollard has served more time in jail than any other person convicted of similar charges. He noted that Pollard's health has deteriorated considerably and stressed that the Jewish people will forever be thankful to Obama should he choose to free the spy. Meanwhile, the French news agency reported Tuesday that a senior official with the US administration announced the letter will be reviewed by the White House.Hmmmm.....Most killers serving life would have been paroled by now after serving this long.Read the full story here

• Obama and Air Force One: It's good to have a 747.President Obama will spend Monday night flying across the Pacific and United States after his latest vacation, 11 days in Hawaii. It will be his first trip of 2011 aboard Air Force One.Last year Obama flew in Air Force One 172 times, almost every other day.White House officials have been telling reporters in recent days that the Democrat doesn't intend to hang around the White House quite so much in 2011.They explain he wants to get out more around the country because, as everyone knows, that midterm election shellacking on Nov. 2 had nothing to do with his healthcare bill, over-spending or other policies, and everything to do with Obama's not adequately explaining himself to his countrymen and women.And with only 673 days remaining in the neverending presidential campaign, the incumbent's travel pace will not likely slacken.At an Air Force-estimated cost of $181,757 per flight hour (not to mention the additional travel costs of Marine One, Secret Service, logistics and local police overtime), that's a lot of frequent flier dollars going into the president's carbon footprint. According to Knoller's copious notes, during the last year Obama made 65 domestic trips over 104 days and six trips to eight countries over 22 days. Not counting six vacation trips over 32 days.He took 196 helicopter trips, signed 203 pieces of legislation and squeezed in 29 rounds of left-handed golf.Hmmmm....."The Democrat doesn't intend to hang around the White House quite so much in 2011" 172 Airforce One TRIPS in 2010!Read the full travelodge brochure story here.

• HT:Aim.Imam Rauf's Extremist Speaking Engagement.Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the Ground Zero mosque, is kicking off his nationwide speaking tour at the Islamic Society of North America's Diversity Forum Banquet in Detroit on January 15. He will be speaking alongside extremists like Siraj Wahhaj and Zaid Shakir, contradicting the moderate image he's trying to put forth on his tour.The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) denies being an extremist organization, saying it "rejects all acts of terrorism, including those perpetrated by Hamas, Hizbullah and any other group that claims Islam as their inspiration." This statement, however, does not necessarily mean they oppose the Islamist political agenda. In fact, ISNA has been listed by the federal government as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the Holy Land Foundation trial that found the charity to be guilty of financing Hamas. ISNA has tried to have this designation removed, but a judge ruled on July 1, 2009 that the government "produced ample evidence" to justify it.Also speaking at ISNA's Diversity Forum Banquet is Zaid Shakir, one of the founders of Zaytuna University in California. Shakir opposes attacks on civilians, such as the hijacking of airliners, but then says, "If you hijack an airplane filled with the 82nd Airborne, that's something else." The New York Times wrote in June 2006 that "he said he still hoped that one day the United States would be a Muslim country ruled by Islamic law" and he voices 9/11 conspiracy theories.Shakir has also condemned the United States's "demonization" of people like Saddam Hussein, Hugo Chavez, Manuel Noriega, Muammar Qaddafi and most shockingly, the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. He also depicts terrorist groups as nationalists fighting against Western imperialism."Hamas calls for the liberation of Palestinian lands, not the physical elimination of the Jews. Al-Qaeda calls for the end of America's strategic presence in the Middle East and not the destruction of America. The Iraqi resistance calls for the end of the American occupation of Iraq and not the end of America," he wrote.If Imam Rauf is as moderate as he says he is, he should be speaking out against people like Shakir and Wahhaj and groups like the Muslim Brotherhood. Instead, he's launching his speaking tour at a conference that exalts them. With friends like these, Imam Rauf's tour may end up hurting Park51's prospects instead of helping.Hmmmm...."We do not want to take over your country"?Read the full story here.

• HT:BigGoverment.Rep. Darrell Issa: We’ll Investigate Pigford.Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who will become chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee when the 112th Congress is sworn in this week, announced tonight that the Pigford Scandal will be investigated though not by his committee.Representative Issa also said that there are 600 investigations perhaps he could hold on the previous Congress and administration but he does not have the time or resources.Here’s the transcript:Rep. Issa: “We’ve been asked for quite a while to begin to talk about the order to which we will take on important hearings so we released the first six. We could have released sixty. We could have released 600 perhaps. At the end of the day there is so much in government that in the next two years even if we did a hearing every single day on every single sub committee, we couldn’t do all the areas of waste, fraud and abuse…”Jim Hoft: Another item that I don’t think is getting a lot of attention but has been out on the internet some and that is the Pigford Scandal. That is not one of the items you have listed. Is it because it is so, it’s a billion dollars. Is it just chump change compared to some of these other items?Rep Issa: As you know the Pigford Scandal is really one that falls under two other committees. One of the things that I have to know in my committee is I have to leverage my resources.I have to use every asset I can get including all the other committees to do what they can. So, Pigford, we’ll participate but we’ll make sure other committees do their work. Just like the New Black Panthers Party. That’s a civil rights violation in addition to being a voting violation. We’re going to make sure judiciary does most of the work on that and Chairman Lamar Smith intends to.Read the full story here.

• Here's what one second of national debt looks like.If you're like most people not involved with drug trafficking, you don't often actually see U.S. money with more than one or two zeroes on it, as in $50 or $100.Thus, Monday's news that the national debt was approaching the legal limit of $14.294 trillion creates a Clint Eastwood-style political showdown in the soggy streets of Washington.On one side is Obama and his Democratic gang, who'd like the limit raised so their government can keep operating. On the other end of Main Street is the newly enlarged posse of Republicans, who are feeling their enhanced leverage and want spending-cut commitments before going along with the usually pro forma limit-raising.The national debt flew past $14 trillion last Friday. That's a galactic sum that's difficult for any average American to imagine or even grasp. But let's try:Fourteen trillion is 14-thousand billions. A billion is a thousand millions. A million is a thousand thousands.A trillion has so many zeroes it won't fit in your checkbook -- 12 zeros, to be exact.Last June 1 doesn't really seem all that long ago. The Gulf oil disaster was barely half-spilled. President Obama and Pancho Biden were still promising....Read the full story here.

• Aircraft Carrier Commander Relieved of Duty After Airing Explicit Videos.Capt. Owen Honors was to be relieved of duty Tuesday as commander of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise after he broadcast sexually charged videos taken aboard the ship, a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News.The videos, distributed on closed-circuit television during 2006 and 2007 deployments of the USS Enterprise, the Navy's oldest nuclear-powered Aircraft carrier, showed simulated masturbation, suggestive shower scenes with multiple women and gay slurs. The Virginia-Pilot newspaper first broke the story, publishing edited versions the lewd videos on its website."Contrary to assurances that standards of conduct will remain high, and that 'leadership' and sensitivity training can 'mitigate' the consequences of human failings, this embarrassing episode demonstrates how discipline can be incrementally redefined downward, lowering standards for all," Donnelly said. "Adm. Mullen and like-minded allies in the White House, Pentagon and Congress are inviting trouble that cannot be 'mitigated' by wishful thinking alone."It was a bad year for commanding officers in 2010. The Navy Times reported that 17 COs were fired last year for conduct unbecoming of an officer -- the second highest number of firings in a decade.Read the full story here.More here.

• HT:AmericanSolutions.Top Five Things Obama Has Done to Raise Gasoline Prices.With gasoline currently above $3 per gallon nationwide and economists expecting that price to rise even further in 2011, America should be getting serious about producing more of its own resources. But instead of focusing on how to bring more relief to American motorists, President Obama has imposed massive new regulations, restrictions, and even threatened higher taxes on American energy, all of which negatively impact domestic production.What follows is a list of the five most egregious actions on the part of the Obama administration that have contributed to higher gasoline prices and greater dependence on foreign dictators for our energy.Hmmmm....If he really wanted to destroy America would he do anything different?Read the full story here.

• Afghan women speak out on abuse from behind mask.Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- "I had so many dreams for my life, but when I saw him, they just disappeared." Saraya spoke softly, her hunched-over body and nervously twisting hands testimony to all she says she has had to endure."I told my father I didn't want to marry him: 'why are you doing this to me?'" She continued: "My father said 'you are of an age to be married and this is my decision, not yours.'"Saraya says it only took three days for her to realize she had been married off to a madman.Emotions and turmoil she never dared publicly speak of tumble out freely -- concealed, along with her face, behind a mask.Half the mask is pale blue, the color of the "chaudari" or burka, symbolizing the oppression of women; the other half white, representing innocence.This is Afghanistan's new revolutionary TV show called "Niqab," meaning "The Mask."Behind the concept is 28-year-old Sami Mahdi."I was always desiring to have something like the mask, like this show in our media," Mahdi said. "I was not very sure about the concept and the format, but I was very sure about the mask, you know. Because in Afghanistan, it's very difficult for women to talk about their difficulties and their problems, and the violence they are facing in their home."Her identity safely concealed behind the mask, Saraya said she was forcibly married off to a known rapist, a man with an existing criminal record when she was 15 years old. He was 58."When my youngest was just four years old, my husband brought women to the house and raped them."My child asked me: 'who are these women?' I could not say anything to my child -- my husband would just beat me."She said she eventually ran away, fearing that he would harm their daughter. She said she firmly believes that if her husband ever found her and their three children he would murder them all."During the second episode, the victim, the guest, was a lady who was 12 years old when she got married," Mahdi said, noting this was a "badal" marriage. Her brother had murdered a man. She was given to the family of the victim.As she spoke of the abuse and torture she endured, Mahdi says everyone in the control room broke down."They were crying ... they were crying," he recalled. "There are a lot of realities in Afghanistan, but when you talk about realities publicly, I am sure it will shock people. I was shocked."Hmmmm.....Welcome to A.D. 620?Read the full story here.

• Obama May Bypass Guantánamo Rules, Aides Say.WASHINGTON — President Obama’s legal advisers, confronting the prospect of new restrictions on the transfer of Guantánamo detainees, are debating whether to recommend that he issue a signing statement asserting that his executive powers would allow him to bypass the restrictions, according to several officials.If Mr. Obama were to issue such a statement, it could represent a more aggressive use of unilateral executive powers than what he exerted in his first two years in office. The issue has arisen as the Republican Party takes control of the House.But the administration is also considering whether he should go further by issuing a signing statement — a formal document recording a president’s interpretation of a new law for the rest of the executive branch to follow — asserting that he has the constitutional power to disregard the restrictions. Under the latter approach, the president would assert that as the head of the executive branch and commander in chief, his prosecutorial discretion and wartime powers would allow him to lawfully bring detainees into the United States for trial or to transfer them to other countries as he sees fit. It remained unclear whether the administration would actually carry out a detainee transfer despite the restrictions, or whether it would merely assert, as an abstract matter, that Mr. Obama had the authority to do so.Hmmmm....More totalitarian rule?Read the full story here. 

• HT:TheWeeklyStandard.Obamacare Ends Construction of Doctor-Owned Hospitals.Under the headline, "Construction Stops at Physician Hospitals," Politico reports today that "Physician Hospitals of America says that construction had to stop at 45 hospitals nationwide or they would not be able to bill Medicare for treatments." Stopping construction at doctor-owned hospitals might not seem like the best way to boost the economy or to promote greater access and choice in health care, but that exactly what Obamacare is doing.Hmmmmm..."We have to pass the bill to know what's in it"?Read the full story here.

• HT:LogisticsMonster.UFC Champ Jacob Volkmann Calls Out Obama.The Year of the Awakening has started when UFC Champ (and doctor) Jacob Volkmann looks forward to a match with Barry and states that ‘someone has to knock some sense into that idiot‘.Read and see the full story here.

• HT:LogisticsMonster.Glenn Beck, 1.3.2011: America’s Crushing Debt.The Judge is filling in for Glenn as he stocks up on chalk for tomorrow’s show. The Judge interviews Sens. Rand Paul (Kentucky) and Mike Lee (Utah) about the $14.3 trillion dollar debt ceiling that is imminently facing our nation and congress. He also interviews our favorite economist, David Buckner, and Steve Moore about the debt that is crushing our nation and the planned co-opting of the tea party elects.Read and see the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.Is The New Madrid Fault Earthquake Zone Coming To Life?What in the world is happening in the middle of the United States right now? Thousands of birds are falling dead from the skies, tens of thousands of fish are washing up on shore dead, earthquakes are popping up in weird and unexpected places and people are starting to get really freaked out about all of this. Well, one theory is that the New Madrid fault zone is coming to life. The New Madrid fault zone is six times bigger than the San Andreas fault zone in California and it covers portions of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. The biggest earthquakes in the history of the United States were caused by the New Madrid fault. Now there are fears that the New Madrid fault zone could be coming to life again, and if a "killer earthquake" does strike it could change all of our lives forever.So exactly what events have happened recently that are causing people to take a close look at the New Madrid fault zone? According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than 500 measurable earthquakes have been recorded in central Arkansas just since September.But the fact that they all happened in or around the New Madrid fault zone is starting to raise some eyebrows.About 200 years ago, in 1811 and 1812, there were four earthquakes that were so powerful in the area of the New Madrid fault zone that they are still talked about today. All four of the quakes were estimated to have been magnitude-7.0 or greater. It is said that those earthquakes opened deep fissures in the ground, caused the Mississippi River to run backwards and that they were felt as far away as Boston.The last major earthquake to hit the region was a 5.4-magnitude quake that struck the town of Dale, Illinois in 1968. Things have been strangely quiet in the region since then until recently.If a true "killer earthquake" struck along the New Madrid fault zone today, cities such as St. Louis, Missouri and Memphis, Tennessee could potentially be completely destroyed.Unfortunately, this is not an exaggeration.The following video describes just how incredibly powerful the earthquakes along the New Madrid fault in 1811 and 1812 actually were....Read and see the full story here.

• Iran Offer of Nuclear Site Tour Irks U.S.Iran has invited representatives of several nations to visit its nuclear installations this month, including Russia, China and the European Union, but has excluded the U.S. from the proposed trip, according to diplomats briefed on Tehran's correspondence.The Obama administration and a number of European and Arab governments quickly dismissed Tehran's overture, saying they viewed it as an attemptEuropean and Arab governments quickly dismissed Tehran's overture, saying they viewed it as an attempt by Iran to reduce mounting economic pressure aimed at curbing its nuclear program."A tour for some countries is not a substitute for sustained and transparent cooperation," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday. "Iran continues to be in violation of its international obligations and the international community won't be distracted by this ploy."Two diplomats from EU countries said Monday their governments were unlikely to accept Tehran's invitation specifically because it is seen as an attempt to divide the international community. Rather, they said Tehran should be prepared to engage in serious discussions with the West and allow greater access to international inspectors from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency."Let's make sure nobody gives a hand to this…attempt at disguising opacity as transparency," said one of the European diplomats working on Iran.Hmmmm......Divide et impera.Read the full story here.

• Trump Says He'll Run for President.Billionaire Donald Trump is telling friends he has decided he will definitely run for president as a Republican.Trump will make the announcement when his NBC show "The Apprentice" finishes the season in the spring, he is confiding. He has been soliciting recommendations on political advisers, focusing initially on the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary. Trump declined to comment.Hmmmm....Lets see...Palin as VP  Looks and Money combined?They could go on "Dancing with the stars"?Read the full story here.

• Another Bird death this time L.A. puzzle investigators.LABARRE — Hundreds of dead and dying birds littered a quarter-mile stretch of highway in Pointe Coupee Parish on Monday as motorists drove over and around them.State biologists are trying to determine what led to the deaths of the estimated 500 red-winged blackbirds and starlings on La. 1 just down the road from Pointe Coupee Central High School.The discovery of the dead birds — some of which were lying face down, clumped in groups, while others were face up with their wings outstretched and rigid legs pointing upward — comes just three days after more than 3,000 blackbirds rained down from the sky in Beebe, Ark.Necropsies performed Monday on the birds in Arkansas showed the birds suffered internal injuries that formed blood clots leading to their deaths, The Associated Press reported.Hmmmm....."The Truth is out there"?Read the full story here. More here.

• Russians’ Large Stake in Facebook Grows Larger.MOSCOW — What do the Russians want from Facebook?And what, for that matter do they want from other hot, and currently private, American companies like Zynga, Groupon and Twitter?For people with money in the Russian investment company DST Global, the focus is social networking.The private company, which is generally known here as DST, may seem but a footnote in the move by Goldman Sachs to invest $450 million in Facebook.But DST’s additional $50 million now raises it and its sister company’s combined investment in Facebook to more than $500 million. As a result of their earlier investments, they now own about 10 percent of the company, making the DST siblings among Facebook’s biggest owners.Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Introducing the crazy sport of 'noodling' which sees anglers use themselves as human bait to lure catfish from their lairs.A dangerous sport in which anglers use their arms as bait to lure enormous catfish has become an internet sensation.The bizarre pastime of noodling takes the gentle practice of trout tickling to new heights with the fish biting on the human flesh.The noodlers find catfish in the holes where they live and insert their arms, which the fish latch on to with their teeth.It is then an often violent battle to bring the fish, which can weigh up to 60lbs, to the surface.The fight often leaves noodlers with injuries when their arms are cut, and can be fatal if they take on a fish that is too big.It happens during the spawning season in the U.S. and other parts of the world and has been banned in some places.Pictures and videos of the spectacle are big hits on the internet and proud noodlers are keen to pose with their catches that are usually flathead catfish.Hmmmm.....Nothing new here ,every poacher knows this.Read and see the full story here.