MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• HT:CreepingSharia.New Ground Zero imam homophobic, gays not happy.New imam same as the old imam. It’s just a matter of time before the new Ground Zero imam’s sharia-compliant views are exposed. Yesterday we learned his “moderate” views include only jail time for Muslims who leave Islam, not necessarily death. Today we learn he believes homosexuality is caused by violent abuse although he says a small percentage, like animals, are born gay. Someone should ask him what the punishment for being gay is under Islamic sharia law.Schindler says that unless Imam Adhami is willing to clarify or change his views, Park51′s ability to welcome everyone will be compromised beyond repair.“It’s a hostile message and one that I think attacks the dignity of gay people,” Schindler said.Some prominent gay New Yorkers say even though they find the remarks made by the Park51 imam offensive, it’s nothing they haven’t heard before.Will gays protest the Ground Zero mosque or just cry homophobia?Hmmmm......Obama...."Islam is a great religion".Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri. Source: Bin Laden Seriously ill ! Al-Qaeda Admits Defeat in Iraq.The Iraqi government daily al-Sabah quotes "a reliable source" as saying that Osama bin Laden has been seriously ill for months and that he has been moving between Afghanistan, Pakistan and eastern Iran adjacent to Afghanistan. The same source said that bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is the de facto leader of Al-Qaeda, and that he receives occasional guidance from bin Laden through written and coded messages. Al-Qaeda has now concluded that it was defeated in Iraq and has urged its fighters to operate in 10 countries: Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Somalia and Jordan. Iraq has recently killed two successive leaders of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub al-Masri.Read the full story here.

• HT:Aina.Losing Egypt?"An earthquake has shaken the region."The above headline from an Israeli newspaper describes with unfailing accuracy the pivotal events now taking place in the Middle East. In Egypt, the Arab world's largest and most populous country of more than 80 million, massive demonstrations involving tens of thousands of people began on Tuesday in what was billed as a "Day of Anger" and are continuing despite a ban by a very rattled government. Smaller protests are likewise occurring in Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Algeria. The domino effect so feared by Middle Eastern strongmen after Tunisian protesters chased their president from power earlier this month after a 24-year rule may soon become reality in Egypt.Ali A. Alawi, an Iraqi Muslim, goes even further, stating in his book The Crisis Of Islamic Civilization, that Islamic civilization is a dying civilization, which has not created much of importance in centuries. And Alawi states there is no returning to its greatness since Muslims have distanced themselves so much from their Islamic roots. Overall, Alawi maintains, "[T]he Muslim innovative capacity has degraded in a fundamental sense.""In science and technology the statistics are truly daunting," Alawi writes.And things are not much better for Arab countries on the economic front. Except for a few oil and gas companies, the Arab world has no large corporations that could provide jobs for its 25 million unemployed young men (Unemployment runs at 20 to 30 percent in most Arab states). In total, when oil and gas are subtracted, the exports of the whole Arab world with its 350 million people equal in value those of Finland with five million.The disappearance of Arab strongmen like Tunisia's ruler, and now possibly Mubarak, opens up the ominous and dangerous potential for a Khomeini-style 1979 Islamist victory befalling Egypt -- which would be a catastrophic development not only for American and Israeli security interests, but for the Egyptian people themselves. One need only recall Khomeini's killing fields and his Islamic Republic's vicious history, continued to this day, to understand the horrifying consequences of Islamists succeeding in exploiting the current strife in Egypt to their benefit.However corrupt Egypt's regime may have been or continues to be, Mubarak succeeded in keeping the Islamists and the religious radicals in check. The Muslim Brotherhood, a major fundamentalist Egyptian opposition group that Mubarak had banned, will definitely try to take advantage of any further economic frustration or breakdown to set up the longed-for Islamic state, probably by promising those who have nothing that they will create a Muslim utopia of social justice, patterned after the Prophet Mohammad's rule. That is the bait to hijack the revolution, like the Bolsheviks promised "peace, land and bread" to the uneducated, downtrodden Russian masses to get their support, only to bring in the Red Terror in return.As history warns, the Islamists, if successful in seizing power, will internally perpetrate a Khmer Rouge/Khomeini-type bloodbath the likes of which Egypt has never seen before. The first victims will most likely be the country's religious minorities. Externally, they will involve Egypt in a jihad/war against Israel, Europe or the Shiites and, like Iran, strive to build nuclear weapons.Thus, Western countries and Israel are, naturally, viewing the events in Egypt with grave concern. The West must be prepared to confront the fact that it may be faced in Egypt with an approaching hostile, failed state, similar to Pakistan and Somalia, where terrorists will be welcome. If Obama fails to play this precarious situation right, and drops the ball like Carter disastrously did in 1979 by pulling the rug from under the Shah's feet in Iran, then this dire situation could coalesce into Islamists capturing Egypt. Sometimes, as with Mubarak, the devil you know is better than the one you don't.Does Obama grasp the gravity of the situation and does he have the geopolitical know-how to deal with it?The ensuing days of crisis will tell.Hmmmm....The past has shown that Obama doesn't care about minorities and he will follow the orders that the Saudi king will give him.Read the full story here.

• HT:SultanKnish.Obama's State of the Soviet Union.When the applause had died down and the softly glowing screen of the teleprompter faded to black, the echoes of the Leninist cadences of Obama's State of the Union address, "We must out-educate, out-compete, and out-innovate the rest of the world", "We have broken the back of the recession" and "We can't win the future with a government of the past" suggest that we are now living in a land without history.The thrust of Obama's agenda follows Lenin's. The old jobs are gone. We must prepare for the future by educating our youth. The sturm und drang of the "We Musts" quickly becomes an argument for pandering to the teacher's unions. Only by empowering the teacher's union will we be able to compete with China. But China isn't strong because of its teachers, but because it has no independent unions, no minimum wage, no pollution laws and nothing to get in the way of the terrible machine of its industry. The People's Republic of China is not beating us in science or math, but in manufacturing cheap products with an undervalued national currency. Handing out free educations to beat China is like going to college to fight a bear. Not only will it not improve your bear fighting skills, it actually gives the bear the upper hand. American math and science degrees are used to do research whose practical applications take the form of products manufactured in China. Even if all 300 million Americans all go to work as researchers, we are not going to "out-compete" and "out-innovate" by "out-educating" Americans. Russia has the highest percentage of college degrees by population in the world. China has the lowest. These figures have little to do with their economic success.But what future has Obama actually laid out? There is the Khrushchevian "We will overtake you" directed at China. Calls for a Stakhanovitesque commitment by the masses. And a promise to win the future. But what future is that? We haven't been told. It's an unknown future with high speed rail, green jobs, college educations for everyone, but no flying cars unless they're electric or solar flying cars. This isn't a future. It's more mouthwash. Soviet mouthwash.There's a 5 year plan to give broadband access to the masses. How did Khrushchev never think of that. More subsidies for solar and wind, at the expense of oil. Because 4 dollar a barrel oil isn't expensive enough. A 25 year plan to give 80 percent of Americans access to high speed rail. Except there's no actual plan either. It's all mouthwash. Soviet leaders rinsed their mouths with talk like this to assure their citizens that the future was moving forward on schedule. Now Obama is spitting their mouthwash out all over the country. But don't worry, comrades. We're winning the future. History is on our side.. This is not a State of the Union address. It's a State of the Soviet Union address.Hmmmmm......While Millions were dying of hunger in the Ukraine,they were applauding Stalin's 5 year plan!Read the full story here.

• Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert.A book celebrating suicide bombers has been found in the Arizona desert just north of the U.S.- Mexican border, authorities tell Fox News.The book, "In Memory of Our Martyrs," was spotted Tuesday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent out of the Casa Grande substation who was patrolling a route known for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs.Published in Iran, it consists of short biographies of Islamic suicide bombers and other Islamic militants who died carrying out attacks.According to internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents, "The book also includes letters from suicide attackers to their families, as well as some of their last wills and testaments." Each biographical page contains "the terrorist's name, date of death, and how they died."Agents also say that the book appears to have been exposed to weather in the desert "for at least several days or weeks."Statements from U.S. officials, including FBI director Robert Mueller, have raised serious concerns in recent years over "OTMs" -- or illegal immigrants other than Mexicans -- who have crossed the southwest border at alarming rates.Mueller testified before the House Appropriations Committee in March 2005 that "there are individuals from countries with known Al Qaeda connections who are changing their Islamic surnames to Hispanic-sounding names and obtaining false Hispanic identities, learning to speak Spanish and pretending to be Hispanic."Just last year, the Department of Homeland Security had in custody thousands of detainees from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. U.S. Border Patrol statistics indicate that there were 108,025 OTMs detained in 2006, compared to 165,178 in 2005 and 44,614 in 2004.Authorities would not release a picture of the book to Fox News, or reveal how long they believe it was lying in the desert. Immigration officials have previously discovered items along the U.S.-Mexico border from Middle Eastern origin, including Iranian currency in Zapata, Texas, and a jacket found in Jim Hogg County, Texas, that was covered in patches including an Arabic military badge that illustrates an airplane flying into a tower.Hmmmmm.......We don't want stricter border patrols do we Mr President?Read and see the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Writer: 'Iraq: Toward Religious Despotism'!The above is the title of an article by writer Rashid al-Khayoun, in which he warns that Iraq is marching toward Islamization [aslamah].
  He writes that the promoters of political Islam do not distinguish between government offices and mosques and, as a result, the corridors of ministry buildings, in religious events, turn into places for religious rites and for mourning [Shi'a Islam mourns the murder of Hussein, the grandson of Mohammad with breast-beating, and sometimes worshipers flagellate themselves with chains]. When some individuals object to the practice of using government offices for religious rites, they are quickly branded as "heretics" or "tails of Ba'th [party]."Also, he stated, in the name of religion, the emirs of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq massacres people; the higher the number of victims, the greater the "rewards" [in heaven] for the suicide bomber. He noted that the militias [mainly Shi'a-oriented and generally supported by Iran] raise the photograph of Imam Ali [the fourth Muslim Khalif and the father of Hussein] and his children on their banners, and added that if we examine the banners of political Islam, we would discover a demand for power, not religion, and for despotism over people in the name of Islam.Hmmmm.....Obama "Islam is a great religion."Source.

• HT:Christian.ORG.Anti-Christian bias is OK at the BBC, says former presenter.Christians are “fair game” for insults at the BBC whilst Muslims must not be offended, one of the broadcaster’s veteran news anchors has warned. Peter Sissons, whose memoirs are being serialised in the Daily Mail, slammed the BBC for its bias. Mr Sissons said: “Islam must not be offended at any price, although Christians are fair game because they do nothing about it if they are offended.”His comments are unlikely to surprise many Christians who have become increasingly concerned about a perceived anti-Christian bias at the public broadcaster.The veteran presenter, who fronted news and current affairs programmes at the BBC, also said that staff damage their careers if they don’t follow the BBC’s mindest.He said: “In my view, ‘bias’ is too blunt a word to describe the subtleties of the pervading culture. The better word is a ‘mindset’.”Also in 2009, the Bishop of Manchester accused the Corporation of treating people of faith like an “increasingly rare species".And former Radio 2 presenter Don Maclean claimed that the BBC is keen on programmes which attack churches, and that there was a wider secularist campaign “to get rid of Christianity”.In 2008 Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC, said that Islam should be treated more sensitively than Christianity because Muslims are less integrated and more of a minority group.Hmmmm.....Anyone still doubting Christianity is under assault?Read the full story here.

• HT:KathyPundit.Hotair: Surprise: Last Night’s SOTU Lowest-Rated of Obama’s Presidency.The inevitable conclusion to days of hype from the media about how this might be the most important speech of his presidency. To put this in perspective, roughly 130 million people voted in the 2008 presidential election and even more will turn out at the polls two years from now. Maybe a quarter of that number watched last night (not everyone who tuned in will end up voting, after all) and only a teeny tiny percentage of them will remember so much as a single line.His first SOTU (which technically wasn’t a SOTU) in 2009 drew 52 million viewers and a combined network rating of 32.5. Last year’s got 48 million and a 29.8. Now he’s down to 26.6 via not quite 43 million viewers.Hmmmm......It's a zionist plot?Read the full story here.

• Bishop Chane: Gülen one of the greatest scholars.Eighth Bishop of Washington in the Episcopal Church John Bryson Chane has said Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen is probably one of the greatest scholars and religious people in today’s world. Speaking at a Jan. 20 meeting of the Rumi Forum, a think tank established by Turks living in Washington, D.C., to foster intercultural dialogue, the bishop praised Gülen and the Gülen movement inspired by him. During his speech, titled “Interfaith/Intercultural dialogue: a First Priority in the 21st Century,” Chane referred to Gülen as a “magnificent man”:“In the 50 books he has written he has probably been one of our greatest voices. He is a scholar and communicator who has really addressed -- not only the role of religion -- but the place of religion as an antidote to violence throughout the world, stressing the importance of the need to come to the table for dialogue and conversation.”Bishop Chane serves a diverse diocese of 91 congregations, 23 church-related schools and 45,000 members in the District of Columbia and the counties of Prince George’s, Montgomery, Charles and Saint Mary’s in the state of Maryland.Noting that Gülen has contributed much to the life and stability of the global community already, Chane said, “I really want to make a point in recognizing him and honoring him for the work he continues to do for global peace among all of God’s children.”Hmmmmm.....Where are you leading your flock?"Do not have any other gods before me.You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earthYou shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me."Read the full story here.

• HT:WZ.Pelosi’s Office Requested the U.S. Air Force Bring Her Chocolate Covered Strawberries.Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained new documents from the United States Air Force detailing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s use of United States Air Force aircraft in 2010. According to the documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Pelosi used Air Force aircraft for 43 flights from January 1 to October 1, 2010. According to documents previously uncovered by Judicial Watch, by comparison, Nancy Pelosi logged 47 flights in the prior nine-month period, April 1, 2009, to January 1, 2010.The most recent documents uncovered by Judicial Watch include a Passenger Mission Activity chart detailing all of former Speaker Pelosi’s flights January 1 to October 1, 2010, as well as detailed shopping lists for some flights, flight authorization forms, Mission Expense Records and internal Air Force correspondence related to the flights. Among the highlights from the documents, obtained pursuant to a FOIA request filed on September 10, 2010:Pelosi used the Air Force aircraft for a total of 43 trips, covering 90,155 miles, from January 1 through October 1, 2010. The Air Force documented in-flight expenses for 22 of these flights totaling $1,821.33. The Air Force did not provide expense information for the remaining 21 flights.Former Speaker Pelosi received chocolate covered strawberries as a birthday surprise on a March 26, 2010 flight. According to one internal Air Force email sent on March 25, 2010: “The speaker’s office is requesting egg salad sandwiches on wheat toast with fruit (watermelon, etc) for desert [sic]. It’s the speaker’s B-Day tomorrow so we’re also asking for something like chocolate covered strawberries (dark chocolate preferred)…” The immediate response to the email from another member of the Air Force staff: “Copy all. We’ll plan something for the birthday and take care of the meal.”.According to previous documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the former Speaker’s military travel cost the United States Air Force $2,100,744.59 over one two-year period — $101,429.14 of which was for in-flight expenses, including food and alcohol. For example, purchases for one Pelosi-led congressional delegation traveling from Washington, DC, through Tel Aviv, Israel to Baghdad, Iraq May 15-20, 2008, included: Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Baileys Irish Cream, Maker’s Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewar’s scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniel’s whiskey, Corona beer and several bottles of wine.Hmmmm....Well the first cuts in spending have been done!How about the "Big Spender in Chief "his spending?Read the full story here.

• HT:NumbersUSA.On State of Union 2011 -- If JOBS Are Priority, Will Anybody Connect Immigration Policy?Pres. Obama spent most of the speech talking about preventing U.S. jobs from going overseas to be done by foreign workers there, and then incongruously argued for increasing the number of foreign workers to take the scarce jobs we keep in the U.S. Though mostly ambiguous, his statements on immigration seemed to put illegal foreign workers and foreign students first while keeping unemployed Americans in the shadows. On trade, he said he would "only sign deals that keep faith with American workers, and promote American jobs" and yet on immigration policy he failed American workers, declining to ask for reductions in immigration even though 24 million American and legal immigrants can't find a full-time job. And he declined to ask for mandatory E-Verify to put millions of them back to work by opening up 7 million jobs held by illegal foreign workers. Instead, he vaguely asked for work permits for illegal aliens and an increase in foreign workers.The disappointment over his comments was tempered by the lukewarm response from Members of Congress who seemed in no mood to follow his unpopular suggestions. The most recent annual Report to Congress from the Office of Refugee Resettlement we resettled 16,074 Burmese from 1983-2007 (just the refugee program). And, let me say AGAIN, the ORR is now nearly 3 years behind in releasing these LEGALLY REQUIRED documents to Congress.Hmmmm.....Life in the "Make believe" country of Obamination? Read the full story here.

• Judge to resentence man convicted of aiding Hezbollah.His lawyers say current 150-year sentence is 'a miscarriage of justice.'Bassam Hammoud waited in federal court Wednesday to learn if his brother, Mohamad, will soon be getting out of prison.Mohamad Hammoud was sentenced in 2002 to 155 years in prison for conspiring to aid Middle Eastern terrorists. Attorneys for the suspected head of a Hezbollah cell in Charlotte are trying to convince U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen to slash the sentence."My brother is innocent," Bassam Hammoud told reporters outside the federal courthouse. "He did not send any money to a terrorist organization."During Wednesday court proceedings, James McLoughlin, one of Mohamad Hammoud's attorneys, told the judge there never was a Hezbollah cell in Charlotte.Hammoud's attorneys have called the sentence "a miscarriage of justice." They say Hammoud should get no more than 15 years in prison.Mullen said Wednesday he will resentence Hammoud today after hearing arguments from defense lawyers and prosecutors. Hammoud may also address the judge.On Wednesday, Hammoud's lawyers called Robert Baer, a former CIA agent, to the stand to talk about Hezbollah's military operations and social programs. Hezbollah helps run hospitals and orphanages.Baer called Hezbollah "the most effective terrorist group in the world.""They are somebody you don't want to play around with...," he said. "If they come to get us, it'll come as a surprise."Hmmmmm....."More outreach to Muslims"?Read the full story here.

• HT:99express.Annual Islamic Holiday In Bangladesh.These photos were taken in Bangladesh. People come for the annual Islamic holiday, where three days will be spent in prayer. Every year there is going to more than 4 million people. Let's see how they get to your destination.Read and see the full story here.

• Global Muslim birth rate drops.Muslim population growing at slower rate, but will still be 26.4% of world by 2030, study says.Falling birth rates will slow the world's Muslim population growth over the next two decades, reducing it on average from 2.2 percent a year in 1990-2010 to 1.5% a year from now until 2030, a new study says.Muslims will number 2.2 billion by 2030 compared to 1.6 billion in 2010, making up 26.4% of the world population compared to 23.4% now, according to estimates by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.Continued migration will swell the ranks of Europe's Muslim minorities by one-third by 2030, to 8 percent of the region's inhabitants from 6 percent, the study says. Muslims in France will rise to 6.9 million, or 10.3% of the population, from 4.7 million (7.5%), in Britain to 5.6 million (8.2%) from 2.9 million and in Germany to 5.5 million (7.1%) from 4.1 million (5%).By 2030, Muslims will number 2.1 million or 23.2% of the population in Israel – including Jerusalem but not the West Bank and Gaza – after 1.3 million (17.7%) in 2010.The report did not publish figures for worldwide populations of other major religions, but said the United States-based Pew Forum planned similar reports on growth prospects for worldwide Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Judaism."The declining growth rate is due primarily to falling fertility rates in many Muslim-majority countries," it said, noting the birth rate is falling as more Muslim women are educated, living standards rise and rural people move to cities.Read the full story here.

• Number of States Developing Laws Requiring Presidential Candidates to Show Proof of Natural Born Citizenship Status Now up to 10.Arizona may have the most advanced plan, but 10 of the United States – controlling 107 Electoral College votes – are now considering some type of legislation that would plug the hole in federal election procedures that in 2008 allowed Barack Obama to be nominated, elected and inaugurated without providing proof of his qualifications under the U.S. Constitution.And they aren’t all the simple legislation such as that adopted in New Hampshire a year ago that requires an affidavit from a candidate stating that the qualifications – age, residency and being a “natural born citizen” – have been met.In Georgia, for example, HB37 by Rep. Bobby Franklin not only demands original birth-certificate documentation, it provides a procedure for and declares that citizens have “standing” to challenge the documentation.According to officials with the National Conference of State Legislatures, 10 states already have some sort of eligibility-proof requirement plan.There is Arizona’s HB2544, Connecticut’s SB391, Georgia’s HB37, Indiana’s SB114, Maine’s LD34, Missouri’s HB283, Montana’s HB205, Nebraska’s LB654, Oklahoma’s SB91, SB384 and SB540, and Texas; HB295 and HB529.Led by Texas with 34, the states control 107 Electoral College votes.Hmmmm.....Result.....No elections and he grabs power?Read the full story here.

• HT:umn.edu.SmartPolitics.Keeping It Simple: Obama Records 2nd Lowest Flesch-Kincaid SOTU Grade Level Score Since FDR.President's 2011 SOTU speech was written at more than a half a grade level lower than 2010's score, which was the 4th lowest in 75+ years.Although praised by many for the tone he struck in delivering his 2011 State of the Union address, many conservatives criticized Barack Obama's speech for being high on rhetoric and short on substance. As it turns out, Obama's speech was historically short - both in sentence structure and the words he used.President Obama now has the lowest average Flesch-Kincaid score for State of the Union addresses of any modern president - with his 8.5 grade level falling just below the 8.6 score recorded by George H.W. Bush during his presidency.Kennedy (12.0) and Eisenhower (11.9) delivered speeches that had a reading difficulty of three and a half grade levels higher than Obama.Hmmmm....."We have to build new things and invent stuff"?"I screwed up" (from his interview with A. Cooper on the Daschle appointment).Read the full story here.

• HHS grants ANOTHER 500 new healthcare waivers.A week after Republicans announced plans to investigate waivers granted to organizations for healthcare reform provisions, President Obama’s health department made public new waivers for more than 500 groups. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is granting temporary waivers to organizations that would not be able to meet the reform law’s new requirement for annual coverage limits.As of last week, HHS had granted waivers to 222 organizations covering 1.5 million individuals. Though the number of groups receiving waivers has now more than tripled, the number of individuals covered by the waivers increased just 600,000 to 2.1 million. The law gives HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius the flexibility to grant waivers to avoid disruption in the insurance market, but Republicans say the waivers are either gifts to Democratic allies or proof that the reform law isn’t working. However, a large number of businesses, in addition to unions, have received waivers.The waivers have been granted to hundreds of so-called "mini-med" plans that offer limited health coverage to employees. The waivers are designed to preserve stability in the insurance market until new state-run insurance exchanges open in 2014. The House Energy and Commerce Committee asked HHS last week for details on the waiver process. HHS said Wednesday night that it wants to make the waiver process transparent.Hmmmm.....Lets start calling it the waiver careplan?Read the full story here.

• Gingrich, Bush support bankruptcy for states.A split between prominent Republicans emerged Thursday over whether Congress should allow states to declare bankruptcy.Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Congress should authorize a new law allowing states to declare bankruptcy, a move that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has derided as a "bailout of the states." Gingrich, who is mulling a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, wrote the op-ed with another prominent Republican, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush."The new Congress has the opportunity to prepare a fair, orderly, predictable and lawful approach to help struggling state governments address their financial challenges without resorting to wasteful bailouts," Gingrich and Bush wrote. "This approach begins with a new chapter in the federal Bankruptcy Code that provides for voluntary bankruptcy by states, a proven option already available to all cities and towns across America."Gingrich has previously floated the idea of state bankruptcy, but publicly pushed the option again after Cantor all but ruled it out earlier this week. That Bush signed onto the article could add significant heft to the option among conservatives."Federal bailouts must come to an end. Federal taxpayers in states that balance their budgets should not have to bail out the irresponsible, pandering politicians who cannot balance their budgets," Gingrich and Bush wrote. "Congress must allow a safe, orderly way under federal bankruptcy law for states to reorganize their finances."Republican governors like Chris Christie in New Jersey have scored political points for taking on local unions and seeking concessions in the state's pension liabilities. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, also a Republican, has sought similar reforms, as have some new Democratic governors. These moves have been met with stiff resistance by labor unions that represent state and municipal employees, who worry their workers will be shortchanged by state budget crunches.Hmmmm....Why do you think they are passing legislation to use other means of legal tender?Read the full story here.

• Graphic Video of Fatal Stoning Shows Taliban's Strength.Afghan Man and Woman Executed for Adultry Despite Wishes of Villagers.About 200 people listen to a Taliban mullah describe why a man and woman deserve to be killed. A few dozen spectators – people from the local community -- start throwing rocks at the woman, who had already been placed in a 4-foot-deep hole. They throw with relish and yell, "Allah akbar." At one point a large rock strikes her head and she falls down, her burqa red with blood. After the rock throwing ends, a few people debate whether she should be shot. Eventually one of the spectators shoots her with an AK-47. She falls into the hole, out of sight. There is a short period of absolute silence, and then the spectators turn to each other and start talking.Then the man is brought into the crowd and blindfolded with his own tunic. The same scene proceeds, but with larger rocks and more abandon. He cries as he is killed.Hmmmm...."The religion of peace".Read the full story here.

• HT:Aina.Islamic Terrorists Kill More Buddhists in Southern Thailand.The ongoing Islamic insurgency in southern Thailand continues and another nine Buddhists were killed by Islamic jihadists who desire an Islamic state. It is clear that while the insurgency ebbs and flows from many Islamic terrorist attacks to a decrease in activity, that the underlying insurgency remains and just waits to gather pace at any moment. Therefore, Islamic fanatics randomly kill Buddhists, school teachers, Buddhist priests, Muslims who work for institutions in southern Thailand, and members of the armed forces.The level of hatred is clear by the wanton violence and brutality because the Islamic insurgents desire to spread fear in order to reach their Islamic goal. This goal applies to the complete Islamization of southern Thailand and the eradication of all Buddhists and Buddhist temples from the region of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani.In the past you had nationalistic sentiments to the insurgency because Thailand annexed the three Muslim provinces in 1902. However, while you had radical Islamic elements prior to 2001 it is clear that the insurgency had mainly nationalistic tones and the insurgents focused on the government and military of Thailand.In the first few weeks of January in 2011 you have had nine Buddhists being killed by Islamic terrorists and in a separate attack four members of the armed forces of Thailand were killed. Therefore, the Islamic insurgency continues to kill and spread fear in southern Thailand and many Buddhists have left in order to escape the ongoing Islamic insurgency.It is clear that Islamists in southern Thailand desire a homeland whereby all Buddhists will be cleansed and then Islamic Sharia law will hold sway. At the same time it is abundantly clear that Islamic indoctrination from outside of Thailand is a serious issue and the same applies to the international nature of the global Islamic jihad. Therefore, the government of Thailand faces both an internal threat and the reality that external networks are fueling the fire.Read the full story here.

• HT:BarracudaBrigade.Obama-Care Waivers Skyrocket to 729 + 4 States.By Michelle Malkin.While the Democrats continued to extol Obamacare and the president defended the behemoth law during the Date of the Union, HHS was quietly presiding over a massive Obamacare Waiver-mania explosion.When last we examined the growing list, privileged escapees topped 222.Now: The list now at 729 — plus 4 states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee).There was no specific hold-up that she could identify, they were simply running behind in getting the information on the website.Well today, the day after the President’s State of the Union, the new waivers are up. You may recall that there were 222 such waivers approved in November. That number has now jumped to 729 through the end of December. The total number of people covered by the waivers has gone from 1.5M to just under 2.2M. The list includes the usual assortment of union locals and businesses.I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to suggest that OCIIO was asked to hold this development until after the SOTU. Indeed the latest waiver approved in the list is from December 30th. There is an addendum at the bottom of the page noting that four states–Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee–have applied for waivers covering another 93,000 people. The addendum is dated 1/21/11, but I can assure you it was not there on 1/21 or even Monday…Hmmmm......If you wanted to start a powergrab first you need the support of the unions?Read the full story here.

• Video : Mom Jailed For Sending Kids to Better School Some say an Ohio woman's quest for a better school for daughters went too far.Hmmmm......Read the full story here.