MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• Egypt volatile situation - Al Jazeera English - Live Streams From Egypt ! Here .
• Egypt protests on Twitter!  here.
• Liveblog - Egypt's protests erupt. here.

• HT:WND.Muslim Brotherhood awakens terrorist wing.Look what Obama's support for Islamist group is doing.JERUSALEM – An Egyptian Islamist terrorist organization founded by the Muslim Brotherhood is re-establishing itself amid the political upheaval in Cairo, WND has learned. Both Egyptian and Israeli security officials said the group, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, is being reconstituted at the direction of the Muslim Brotherhood. The officials affirmed Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya serves as the de fact "military" wing of the Brotherhood, which originally founded Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is suspected of involvement in the 1981 assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and it took credit for the 1995 attempted killing of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. It has carried out scores of deadly terrorist attacks, some targeting foreign tourists. Yesterday, an Egyptian security official was quoted in the news media stating Egyptian troops had arrested two armed Palestinians from Hamas who entered the country illegally from the Gaza Strip. The security official told reporters the men had crossed from Gaza into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula using smuggling tunnels and that they were arrested in a stolen car in the town of el-Arish, near the border, along with three Egyptian smugglers. The official told the Associated Press the two Hamas men were caught with weapons, hand grenades, two RPGs and about $8,600 in cash. A senior Egyptian security official speaking to WND yesterday said an investigation found the two Hamas men were aiding in the reorganization of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, which, he said, is attempting to reconstitute itself under the direction of the Muslim Brotherhood.In November, the Brotherhood's new supreme guide, Muhammad Badi, delivered a sermon entitled, "How Islam Confronts the Oppression and Tyranny." "Resistance is the only solution," stated Badi. "The United States cannot impose an agreement upon the Palestinians, despite all the power at its disposal. [Today] it is withdrawing from Iraq, defeated and wounded, and is also on the verge of withdrawing from Afghanistan because it has been defeated by Islamist warriors." Badi went on to declare the U.S. is easy to defeat through violence, since it is "experiencing the beginning of its end and is heading toward its demise."The information comes after the U.S. tacitly approved the Muslim Brotherhood's involvement in political dialogue in Egypt. "Today we learned the Muslim Brotherhood decided to participate, which suggests they at least are now involved in the dialogue that we have encouraged," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an NPR interview this past weekend from Germany. "We're going to wait and see how this develops, but we've been very clear about what we expect."Obama yesterday told reporters that talks to resolve Egypt's crisis are making progress amid negotiations between Mubarak and the opposition, including the Muslim Brotherhood. "Obviously, Egypt has to negotiate a path and they're making progress," Obama told reporters.Hmmmmm......."They don't trust me because of my middle name".Read the full story here.

• HT:TheLondonTimes.Saudis told Obama to back Mubarak.Saudi Arabia has threatened to prop up President Mubarak if the White House tries to force a swift change of regime in Egypt. In a testy personal telephone call on January 29, King Abdullah told President Obama not to humiliate Mr Mubarak and warned that he would step in to bankroll Egypt if the US withdrew its aid programme, worth $1.5 billion annually. America’s closest ally in the Gulf made clear that the Egyptian President must be allowed to stay on to oversee the transition towards peaceful democracy and then leave with dignity. “Mubarak and King Abdullah are not just allies, they are close friends, and the King is not about to see his friend cast aside and humiliated,” a senior source in the Saudi capital told The Times. Two sources confirmed details of the King’s call.Hmmm....."His masters voice"?Read the full story here.

• Obama consults Saudi King Abdullah on Egypt.(Again?)Mubarak is known to be close to King Abdullah.President Barack Obama Wednesday stressed the need for a meaningful and lasting political transition in Egypt in a telephone call with key ally King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, officials said."The President spoke today with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia about the situation in Egypt," the White House said in a statement."The President emphasized the importance of taking immediate steps toward an orderly transition that is meaningful, lasting, legitimate, and responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people."The President also reaffirmed the long-term commitment of the United States to peace and security in the region."Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is under siege after days of raging street protest is known to be close to King Abdullah, who has condemned efforts by what he said were "intruders" to interfere with Egypt's stability.US reports have suggested that regional allies have expressed deep concerns to the United States about the impact of cascading protests in the Arab world on the vital strategic region's stability.US officials however refuse to divulge comments made by foreign leaders in calls to Obama, who has said Mubarak must make the "right decision" for the future of his nation and embrace a "orderly" transition to democratic rule.Hmmmmm.......You can't bully all the people all of the time?Read the full story here.

• HT:Debka.Egypt's economy close to meltdown. Military coup near.The biggest Arab country with a population of 82 million is on the verge of breakdown as large sections of is economic machinery are shut down by spreading strikes and workers' revolts against managements appointed by the Mubarak regime and Vice President Omar's Suleiman's leadership.debkafile's sources report there are no trains since railway workers declared a general strike; the main state highways are barricaded by protesters. Egypt's 1,000-kilometer long Cairo-Aswan lifeline along the Nile was shut to traffic all day Wednesday, Feb. 9 with no sign that the army or security forces are willing or able to reopen it to traffic.As protesters continue to pour into Cairo's Tahrir Square, blocked roads are preventing produce reaching shops and markets – or even the soldiers posted in the town centers. Men of the 2nd and 9th divisions on street duty in Cairo have had no food rations for 12 hours. The disruptions threaten Egyptian towns with dire food shortages.The work forces of the big industrial complexes have downed tools and customs officers have stopped levying toll fees from the approximately 50 ships transiting the Suez Canal every day and netting the Egyptian treasury $3 billion a year, its main source of revenue.Read the full story here.

• Suleiman Says Government Will Not Tolerate Prolonged Cairo Protests.Egypt's vice president says the government will not tolerate prolonged anti-government protests in Cairo's main square, where hundreds of thousands of people gathered Tuesday in the latest effort to force the ouster of long-serving President Hosni Mubarak. Egypt's state-run MENA news agency quotes Vice President Omar Suleiman as saying that a crisis triggered by 16 days of anti-Mubarak protests in Tahrir Square must end "as soon as possible." Suleiman was speaking late Tuesday to a group of Egyptian newspaper editors. MENA says Suleiman told the editors that the presence of anti-Mubarak activists and satellite television stations in the square was making Egyptian citizens "hesitant to go to work" and disrupting daily life. He accused the satellite television stations of "insulting" Egypt, without naming them. But, Suleiman also is quoted as saying the government does not want to deal with Egyptian society using "police tools" and prefers to use dialogue to try to address the protesters' demands.The Egyptian vice president held unprecedented talks with several opposition groups on Sunday, but representatives of the Cairo street protesters did not participate.Read the full story here.

• Egypt’s ‘Hot Wind’ Exposes US Dilemma.“There’s a hot wind blowing from the east,” Scottish author John Buchan wrote in his Middle East novel “Greenmantle,” “and the dry grasses wait the spark.” Those words, written almost a century ago, could apply to the US position in the region today. Turbulent winds are blowing through the Arab world and American-backed houses of cards may fall.It’s first, to be sure, a Middle East problem. In Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, and perhaps elsewhere, an opposition both young and old, secular, nationalist and extremist, wants better governance, accountability, economic justice and human rights. But the United States and its interests will not be untouched by the storm.Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak isn’t Saddam or Slobodan Milosevic; he’s not a mass murderer, sociopath or criminal. He has been a close friend and ally to the US ever since President Anwar Sadat’s assassination in 1981. The US built its Mideast policy around him. The 20 years I spent traveling with half a dozen US secretaries of State, Cairo was always our first stop to coordinate with Mubarak.The problem was that our interests and his method of governance were at odds.Iran: Mubarak detested the Iranians. He sat next to Sadat when Khalid Islambouli sprayed them both with machine-gun fire. The mullahs named a street in Tehran in the assassin’s honor. The new Egyptian government won’t be as allergic to closer ties with Iran and may be less willing to back our containment policies.Counter-terrorism: the Muslim Brotherhood will prevent the al-Qaeda from establishing itself in Egypt. But that doesn’t mean the new Egypt will be so supportive of our war on terror or participate in our efforts to combat radicalism politically.Gaza: Mubarak didn’t like Israeli practices there or much care for Hamas. The next Egyptian government, even though the military will want a big say, will be more supportive of Hamas, less caring about weapons smuggled into Gaza and more critical of Israeli policies.Peacemaking: Whatever or whoever follows Mubarak won’t repudiate the treaty with Israel. The military doesn’t want a war and US aid, which topped $1.5 billion last year, is too important.But, unlike Mubarak, who met with Israeli prime ministers regularly, worked to defuse crises, supported the more moderate Palestinian Authority and worked closely with US presidents, the new Egyptian government will be less forthcoming and willing to criticize US-Israeli relations. That in turn will have a negative effect on how flexible the Israelis are prepared to be in future Arab-Israeli peacemaking.“History, like nature,” US novelist Robert Penn Warren wrote, “knows no jumps. Except backward, maybe.”Hmmmm......History repeats itself WW I ...WW II.....WW III...unless you learn from it.Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Pakistan's Government Is In Disarray As The Cabinet Resign And America Threatens To Cut Aid.Things are turning south in Pakistan, which is saying a lot for an already notoriously-corrupt nation.First the entire Pakistant cabinet resigned today as part of a plan to reduce the number of ministers by a third and cut government spending, according to the BBC.Second the US threatened to cut off billions of dollars in foreign aid if Pakistan refuses to free an American detained for killing two Pakistanis, according to Al-Jazeera.All this comes after signs that the White House is starting to give up on the current regime in Pakistan.Hmmmm.....So much for "Outreach to Muslims"?Read the full story here.

• 27 killed during soldiers' parade by schoolboy suicide bomber aged just TWELVE.A 'schoolboy' suicide bomber killed at least 27 soldiers and injured 40 more in an attack on a inside a military base in Pakistan.The boy, who is understood to be 12, was wearing his school uniform when he apparently wandered into the secure base and hit the parading troops, police said. The incident happened in Mardan at a military recruitment centre in the north-west of the country which has been targeted by Islamist militants.Senior police official Abdullah Khan said 27 soldiers died and around 40 were wounded, some critically.It was believed the suicide bomber walked into the facility without being checked - even though it should have been heavily guarded. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.Read the full story here.

• Twitter in talks with facebook and google to sell for 10 Billion Dollar.Hmmmm.....damd bird just fell of it's branch?Read the full story here.

• HT:TerrorfreeSomalia.Two Super Tankers Pirated in Two Days by Somalian pirates.Somali Pirates Capture Supertanker, $150M Of Oil update : Giant oil tanker hijacked as piracy 'spins out of control'>Somali Pirates Hijack 2 Tankers in 2 Days Greek oil supership hijacked by pirates 24 hours after Italian ship is raided off Oman coast .Somali pirates hijack tanker carrying £93m of oil. An oil tanker flying under Greek flag was hijacked Wednesday in the North Arabian Sea, 350 nautical miles off the coast of Oman. The value of the cargo is estimated to be $150 to $200 million.Sailing from Kuwait, the tanker was bound for the Gulf of Mexico and is the second in as many days to be captured by Somali pirates who currently hold 29 ships and over 600 hostages for ransom.Hmmmm......How much longer before the international community puts some troops on the ground to wipe out these snakes?Read the full story here.

• Inhofe, EPA administrator tackle greenhouse gas regulation.WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe on Wednesday not only stood by his famous hoax declaration on global warming, but the Oklahoma Republican somewhat reluctantly tipped his hand on plans to publish a book.“I won’t tell you what it’s about, but the name of the book is ‘The Hoax,’?” he said during testimony before a House subcommittee. “I did finish it last week.’’ Inhofe was the lead-off witness at a somewhat contentious and lengthy hearing on a proposal that he and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, are pushing essentially to kill the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the other major attraction at the hearing, testified after Inhofe. Different sides were drawn years ago on the long-running debate over climate change, its causes and what governments should do or not do to address the issue.“In other words, all pain for no climate gain,’’ he said in prepared remarks that he ignored so he could “ramble’’ through his testimony. Even if one assumes the predictions of more droughts, floods, intense storms and cases of disease are true, Inhofe said, EPA’s expected regulations will not affect that.Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the full committee’s ranking member, said the underlying premise of the proposal is that climate change is a hoax, citing Inhofe’s long-held view. Jackson also urged lawmakers to think of their own role. “Politicians overruling scientists on a scientific question, that would become part of this committee’s legacy,’’ she said.Read the full story here.

• Egypt, US swap barbs as tension mounts.FM Abul Gheit says Obama administration 'imposing its will' on 'great friend.' White House: Process for regime change does not appear to be in line with people of Egypt. A top Egyptian minister accused the United States Wednesday of imposing its "will" on its Arab ally, even as the White House warned Cairo had fallen short of a "minimum threshold" for reform.Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit lashed out in a television interview on a day when Washington also stiffened its line towards Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman, who has opened a dialogue with opposition groups.Abul Gheit condemned US rhetoric on a crisis sparked by days of opposition protests in Egypt, in an interview with PBS television, complaining that Washington had called for a political transition "now" and "immediately." "When you speak about 'prompt,' 'immediate,' 'now,' as if you are imposing on a great country like Egypt, a great friend that has always maintained the best of relationship with the United States, you are imposing your will on him," Abul Gheit said."So for Americans to come and say 'Change is now,' but already we are changing. Or 'You start now,' we started last week," Abul Gheit said.The Obama administration has battled to retain a coherent line on the crisis, as it shows empathy with protestors, but tries to head off accusations, like Abul Gheit's, that it is orchestrating a wave of Middle Eastern unrest.With exchanges between President Hosni Mubarak's Egypt and Washington becoming more tense, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the nascent dialogue between Suleiman and some opposition groups was insufficient.Gheit added that at the beginning of the Cairo protests last month he was "often angry, infuriated," by what he saw as a confusing message being sent by the US administration as the crisis unfolded.Hmmmm.......And another ally is stabbed in the back by the great "Peacemaker"?Read the full story here.

• Jewel of the Nile.Yussuf al-Qaradawi, the world’s most popular and authoritative Sunni cleric, is a Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Egyptian based in Qatar. A return to his home country would be dangerous for Israel and the West.President Barack Obama believes that lending American prestige to the Muslim Brotherhood will not pave the way for an eventual Islamist takeover of Egypt. “There are a whole bunch of secular folks in Egypt, there are a whole bunch of educators and civil society in Egypt that wants to come to the fore as well,” the president told Bill O’Reilly in a Super Bowl Sunday interview.According to the president, the way to empower America’s friends is to “get all the groups together in Egypt for an orderly transition and the one that is a meaningful transition.” As if Egypt’s liberal current isn’t weak enough already, Obama believes that the best way to ensure the sharks don’t come out on top is to throw a whole bunch of liberal guppies into the tank as well.While the parallels between Iran in 1979 and Egypt in 2011 can be overdrawn, it is foolish to pretend that they are not there. Cairo doesn’t have to literally become a Sunni version of Tehran to do terrible damage to U.S. interests and prestige in the Middle East—and to the hopes and dreams of its own people. And the Egyptians already have their own prospective Khomeini: Yussuf al-Qaradawi, the Qatar-based Muslim Brotherhood preacher who exiled himself from Egypt in 1961.Here, for example, is Qaradawi speaking about the Holocaust to the audience of his popular Al Jazeera television show on January 30, 2009 : Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them—even though they exaggerated this issue—he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers. No one embodies this cultural schizophrenia better than Qaradawi, a media mogul who has risen to fame on the back of information technology and yet whose information is essentially medieval. Qaradawi approves of wife-beating, he defends female genital mutilation and signs off on female suicide bombers, and he attacks Shia for trying to subvert Sunni nations. To the Iranians, Qaradawi is perhaps not the ideal voice of Sunni Islamism, but insofar as he rises and the Americans suffer, Tehran will make its accommodations.However, the other argument is that it is not the job of the American president to promote the natural rights of others. Rather, it is his task to protect and preserve U.S. interests around the world, and peace in the Eastern Mediterranean is an important U.S. interest, as is preventing a larger regional war that might ensue from conflict between Egypt and its neighbor Israel. We might as well face the fact that the more political power that the Muslim Brotherhood wields will make that war much more likely—a war that would be not only bad for U.S. interests but also potentially catastrophic for our ally Israel, as well as to our ally Egypt.Hmmmmm........"Jewel of the Nile"Lets pray that God recalls him to the pawnshop.Read the full story here.

• HT:NorthEastIntelligence.Making Sense of Chaos.Unlike the Inept-in-Chief, his Ikhwan advisors and appointed incompetents in the U.S. State Department who have been attempting to micromanage the crisis in Egypt via remote control, there are other forces at work that have real boots on the ground in the former land of the Pharaohs.When Obama & Company declared that the transition from Hosni Mubarak’s rule to whatever is supposed to come next had to begin “now” with Mubarak’s immediate resignation, they utterly failed to account for specific provisions of the Egyptian Constitution.Not 24 hours later and still breathless from all of the overnight backpedalling, they realized the enormity of their sophomoric gaffe and then demanded that Mubarak sign all the documents necessary to transition the government to whatever it may be next and demand yet again the he get the heck out of Cairo “yesterday” Isn’t this the same kind of over-the-top, pompous American arrogance that Obama went on a world tour to apologize for? What is obvious here is that our king, The One, not only has no clothes on, but he has no alibi.Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government, are you paying attention to this? Do you really want these people working as a “good offices” intermediary on the issues of Israeli sovereignty and “Palestinian” statehood? I should hope not. I should hope that Israel answers to a Higher Authority than the current occupant of the Oval Office.These are the real issues that need to be addressed to make sense of the current chaotic scenario unfolding in Egypt. Jordan and the Saudi’s are also threatened by these same forces. And Lebanon, now firmly in Iranian orbit and guarded by Hezbollah and IRGC regulars, is a time bomb whose detonation will occur much sooner than expected. It is in America’s utmost national security interest to have these issues dealt with resolutely by experienced professionals. Keeping our B-Team on the job is a recipe for an unprecedented disaster of Biblical proportions. I’m sorry to say it may be unavoidable at this late stage; it is prophetic as seen in Director Hagmann’s report on Isaiah 19.Hmmm......Amen to that.Read the full story here.

• Iranian prosecutor warns opposition against holding rally.Iran’s chief prosecutor has warned opposition supporters not to hold a rally next week, saying they can expect a response from “vigilant” Iranians if they do, the semi-official Mehr news wire reported on Wednesday. Opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi have applied to stage a rally on Monday in support of revolts in Egypt and Tunisia, hoping the uprisings there can revive their “Green movement” which was stamped out in the months following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s June 2009 re-election.Although the government is unlikely to permit a rally organized by people it considers “seditionists,” many Iranians have said they may attend in any case. A Facebook page dedicated to the day has more than 20,000 followers.It would be the Green movement’s first demonstration since December 2009 when eight protesters were killed and more than 1,000 arrested, ending months of mass protests during which Iran witnessed the worst unrest since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.Hmmmm........Lets see if Pres Obama will say something now?Oh yes it's considered "Meddling" strange word for what i had in mind.Read the full story here.

• HT:TheStrategyPage.A Super-Weapon That Works !Three months after the first five XM-25 grenade launchers arrived in Afghanistan, and after only 55 25mm rounds were fired in combat, the troops don't want to give these new weapons up. The XM-25s work as advertised, firing "smart rounds" that explode over the heads of Taliban hiding behind rocks or walls, or hiding in a cave or room. Enemy machine-guns have been quickly knocked out of action and ambushes quickly disrupted with a few 25mm shells. Encounters that might go on for 15 minutes or longer, as U.S. troops exchange fire with hidden Taliban, end in minutes after a few 25mm, computer controlled, rounds are fired from the XM-25. While American infantry love gadgets, they are very eager about electronics that helps them in combat. The XM-25 is all that, and the troops want more. In response, the U.S. Army decided to let the paratroopers keep the five XM-25s, and to speed up construction of an additional 36. The word has gotten around in Afghanistan, and every combat units there is asking for XM-25s. Although warned to keep operational details off public Internet forums, XM-25 users are telling stories to other combat troops of a wonder-weapon that actually works.The XM25 is still a heavy weapon, with the final version coming in at 5.5 kg (12 pounds). The 25mm shells weigh over half a pound each (270 grams). On the plus side, there is already a 25mm armor piercing round (using a shaped charge capable of penetrating over 50mm of armor) available. This makes the XM-25 capable of knocking out light armored vehicles. Then there are the new versions of 25mm round, like fuel-air explosive (or "thermobaric"). Such a shell would cause greater blast effect in an enclosed space, and actually suck most of the oxygen out of a cave or closed room long enough to make surviving troops at least a bit groggy. This gives the attacking troops an opportunity to rush in and kill the enemy, or take prisoners. In combat, every little advantage helps. With the XM-25, hiding behind rocks, trees, walls or in caves will no longer protect you. There is also a flechette ("shotgun") round. The magazine holds four rounds (which cost, on average $35 each), while the XM-25, with its 4x thermal sight, costing $25,000.Hmmmm......Wouldn't you love to have one of these at home?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheBlaze.Understanding Egypt: The twelfth Imam, and the end of days.All eyes are on Egypt right now, but we best stay focused on the apocalyptic, genocidal, death cult running Iran as well. Their nuclear program and End Times theology pose a clear and present danger to U.S. national security, as well as that of our allies, especially Israel.The leaders in Tehran could not be more excited by the revolution now underway in Egypt and are praying the Mubarak regime collapses and the Muslim Brotherhood come to power. For them, such events would be dramatic new evidence that the End of Days has come, infidel Arab regimes are on the road to collapse, Western influence in the Mideast is declining, Israel is one step closer to being annihilated, and the Twelfth Imam is one step closer to arriving and establishing the worldwide Islamic kingdom known as the “caliphate.”Last Friday, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Iran’s so-called Supreme Leader – publicly praised Egypt’s uprising. Indeed, he called it part of the very same “Islamic awakening” that began with the Islamic Revolution in Iran in January and February of 1979. Khamenei is the same man who said last July that he had personally met with the Twelfth Imam. He is the same man who said last July that he was the personal representative of the Mahdi on earth and that all Muslims must “obey him.” He is also the same man who is working hand-in-glove with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his country’s military to develop nuclear warheads and the ballistic missiles to deliver them.Few leaders in the West truly understand how dangerous Khamenei or Ahmadinejad are because they have not carefully examined their eschatology or End Times theology. Let’s take a moment to do so.The Twelfth Imam XE “Mahdi, the (the Twelfth Imam, the Hidden Imam)” was a real, flesh-and-blood person who lived during the ninth century AD. Like the eleven Shia leaders who went before him, he was an Arab male who, as a direct descendent of the founder of Islam, was thought to have been divinely chosen to be the spiritual guide and ultimate human authority of the Muslim people.His actual name was Muhammad Ibn Hasan Ibn Ali, and it is generally believed by Shias that he was born in Samarra, Iraq, in AD 868. Before he could reach an age of maturity, when he could teach and counsel the Muslim world as was believed to be his destiny, Ali vanished from human society. Some say he was four years old, while others say five and some say six. Some believe he fell into a well in Samarra but his body was never recovered. Others believe the Mahdi’s mother placed him in the well to prevent the evil rulers of the time from finding him, capturing him, and killing him—and that little Ali subsequently became supernaturally invisible. This is where the term “Hidden Imam” is derived, as Shias believe that Ali is not dead but has simply been hidden from the sight of mankind—Shias refer to this as “occultation”—until the End of Days, when Allah will reveal him once again.Shias believe the Mahdi will return at the end of history—during a time of chaos, carnage, and confusion—to establish righteousness, justice, and peace. When he comes, they say, the Mahdi will bring Jesus with him XE “Jesus, role of in Shia eschatology” . Jesus will be a Muslim and will serve as his deputy, not as King of kings and Lord of lords as the Bible teaches, and he will force non-Muslims to choose between following the Mahdi or death.Hmmmm......Doesn't sound very Jesus like to me?Read the full story here.

• Cantor plans to give Obama a business lesson at White House lunch.When the House Republican leaders arrive at the White House to meet with President Obama for lunch Wednesday, Majority Leader Eric Cantor plans to tell the president that he may still not understand how business works in America.Cantor told reporters Tuesday that if given the opportunity, he will explain to the president that businesses do not have a “responsibility” to the nation or to the government in the way Obama explained in his speech to the Chamber of Commerce earlier this week.“If we’re going to correct the ailing economy, and put us back on the path to growth, we’re going to have to create an environment that businesses will want to come here. Will want to deploy capital here. Will want to invest in research and innovation here. That’s how we lead in America,” Cantor said. “It’s not because Washington says, ‘Go do that,’ and businesses then go and do that. That’s not who we are. So again, I’ll have hopefully this discussion with the president tomorrow.”“That’s not how it works,” Cantor said. “Because Washington says so — that business or anyone should respond as far as spending money — it’s just anathema to the way I think America works…Washington doesn’t just wave a magic wand and necessarily, business creates jobs.”Cantor will join House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy at the meeting. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the president is planning to have “a heavy discussion on the economy and on spending.”Hmmmmm......Democracy or Communist plan bureaucracy?Read the full story here.

• HT:DougRoss.Obama's "tough budget cuts" in pictures.President Obama's 2012 budget will be roughly $3,800,000 million ($3.8 trillion).The anticipated 2012 budget deficit will be $1,500,000 million ($1.5 trillion). This means we are borrowing that amount from our children to fund all of the Democrats' Utopian spending programs.Finally, the president has proposed "tough budget cuts" that total $775 million. No, that's not a joke.Let's illustrate the magnitude of Obama's cuts.Hmmm......"Change" yeah whatevah!Read and SEE the full story here.

• U.S.-Pakistan relations strained further with case of jailed diplomat.The Obama administration has suspended all high-level dialogue with Pakistan, a key U.S. partner in the Afghanistan war, over the case of an American diplomat the Pakistanis have detained on possible murder charges, U.S. and Pakistani officials said. The case of Raymond Allen Davis, who has admitted he fatally shot two Pakistanis he said threatened him from a motorcycle while he was driving in Lahore on Jan. 27, has severely strained relations between the two governments and threatens to scuttle a planned summit among U.S., Afghan and Pakistani leaders scheduled for the end of this month in Washington. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton canceled a meeting last weekend with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at an international security conference in Munich to protest Allen's detention, according to officials from both countries who were not authorized to discuss the situation on the record.The administration has twice summoned Pakistani Ambassador Husain Haqqani to the White House for formal complaints and demands that Pakistan recognize Davis's diplomatic immunity and release him immediately. The message was repeated in a meeting in Islamabad Monday between Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter.Although the administration has been unequivocal in its insistence that Davis has diplomatic status, it has been less than clear on the nature of his job in Pakistan over the last two years. An early embassy statement said it was "security" related, while officials in Washington have said that he vetted questionable visa applicants. The CIA has declined to comment on the case.On Thursday, the Lahore court extended Davis's detention for another eight days. The U.S. Embassy complained that it was given no notice of the hearing, that Davis had no attorney present, and that he was not provided with an interpreter. "He was denied due process and a fair hearing," the statement said. "His continued detention is a gross violation of international law."Hmmmm.....Lets give them another Ten Billion Dollars?Read the full story here.

• The New York Times Covers Up for Its Favorite Muslim Brother.New York Times’ “moderate” Tariq Ramadan caught on unearthed video calling down divine vengeance on those he considers Allah’s enemies.Ramadan is usually extremely guarded in his public speech. However, Americans for Peace and Tolerance has obtained – and Palestinian Media Watch has translated — a sermon delivered by Ramadan in Paris in 2008, where he strays from the usual talking points about peace and democracy.

Allah, we ask You because You are Allah. Allah, strengthen the faith of our brothers and sisters in Palestine. Allah, strengthen their faith in Palestine and make them triumphant over their enemy, Your enemy, the enemy of Islam with Your mercy, oh Generous One.Allah, strengthen their faith in Palestine, in Chechnya, Afghanistan, in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, in Egypt, Sudan, Kashmir, and in every land, and on every battlefield. Allah, strike our enemies, Your enemies, the enemies of Islam.

This prayer in Arabic belies Ramadan’s lip-service to peace and democracy. It also exposes his true feelings toward the Muslim Brotherhood’s political opponents – as well as what he would like to see happen to them. It is important to note here that in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, those considered enemies by the Islamists movements may well be dictatorial regimes. But in Kashmir, what Ramadan characterizes as the “enemy of Allah” is India – a vibrant, though infidel, democracy. In “Palestine,” it’s Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East. In the Sudan it’s the oppressed black African tribes in Darfur and in Southern Sudan, who have had to endure genocide and enslavement for decades at the hands of Omar Bashir’s Muslim Brotherhood-inspired regime. And in Afghanistan… – it’s us, the United States. This sermon doesn’t sound like a call for nonviolent democratic forces to bring about peace in the Middle East. It sounds like a call to arms against perceived enemies – the U.S. included – under the banner of Islam with the sanction of Allah. We’ll send it along to the New York Times, but somehow we don’t imagine they’ll judge it “news that’s fit to print.”Hmmmmm.........It's called Al-taqiyya !Read and see the full story here.

• Cantor: Continuing Resolution Will De-fund ObamaCare.House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told CNSNews.com today that “one way or the other” the upcoming continuing resolution necessary to keep the government funded through fiscal 2011 will deny funding to the ObamaCare law.At his weekly press briefing, CNSNews.com asked Cantor, "On the CR [continuing resolution], when that bill comes to the floor, will there be any funding for the health care reform law in it?"Cantor said, “I expect to see, one way or the other, the product coming out of the House to speak to that [ObamaCare funding] and to preclude any funding to be used for that."Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), told CNSNews.com in an e-mail that House Republicans were committed to denying funding for what he described as a “job destroying” law.“[M]ake no mistake, House Republicans are committed to repealing ObamaCare (which we have already voted to do) and--if the Senate fails to act on repeal--we will use every means at our disposal to stop this job-destroying law,” Steel said.Read the full story here.

• Obama to propose relief for states burdened by debt from unemployment benefits.States that have borrowed billions of dollars from the federal government to cover the soaring cost of unemployment benefits would get immediate relief from the Obama administration under a plan to suspend interest payments for the next two years.The proposal, which will be included in the budget request President Obama will send to Congress next week, would allow states to avoid raising taxes on employers to cover the payments - which are projected to total $3.6 billion through 2012, according to independent estimates. Obama also would suspend automatic hikes in the federal unemployment tax scheduled to hit employers in nearly half of the states by the end of next year. But starting in 2014, Obama would target companies for sharply higher payroll taxes to help states replenish their depleted unemployment funds and repay their debts to Washington.Republicans quickly blasted the proposal, calling it a tax increase that employers can ill afford. "I strongly urge the White House to reconsider this job-destroying proposal," Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement. "Either employers will have less money to hire or workers will face reduced wages. Neither makes any sense and runs counter to our shared goal of getting the American people back to work." Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the plan "isn't going anywhere in the House." He added, "We need to reform our unemployment programs, [but] employers are demanding reforms to the unemployment program, not higher taxes on job creation."Business groups, too, were skeptical. "What's being proposed by the White House would be very helpful and a big boost in the short term," said Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, whose members face higher taxes starting in April to repay the state's $2 billion loan. But the prospect of big tax increases after 2014, he said, "would be pretty devastating."Hmmmm...... Change you can see?Read the full story here.

• AP sources: Obama to propose cuts in heating aid. President Barack Obama wants to cut $2.5 billion from a $5 billion home heating aid program for the poor, two people familiar with his 2012 budget proposal said Wednesday, halving the popular fund as he looks for places to rein in federal spending.The proposal would cut the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to its 2008 level of about $2.5 billion.The individuals, including a congressional aide who was briefed on the proposal, discussed the details on condition of anonymity because Obama's spending plan has not been issued. It was being released on Monday, and covers the budget year beginning Oct. 1.Separately, House Republicans on Wednesday outlined a plan for $35 billion in immediate spending cuts that would practically eliminate the program's contingency fund, cutting it by $400 million. The fund totaled $490 million, according to the program's website.Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., urged Obama not to cut the funding. He said more than 3 million families would lose assistance."I've always supported serious efforts to restore fiscal sanity, but in the middle of a brutal, even historic, New England winter, home heating assistance is more critical than ever to the health and welfare of millions of Americans, especially senior citizens," Kerry said.Obama has said tough choices must be made about how to spend scarce federal dollars to rein in spending and reduce the budget deficit and the nation's mounting debt.Hmmmm......"We feel your pain"....while vacationing all over the world with 3000 friends?Read the full story here.

• 100 UC Irvine faculty members ask district attorney to drop charges against Muslim students.A group of 100 faculty members at UC Irvine signed a letter asking the Orange County district attorney to drop criminal charges against 11 Muslim students who disrupted a speech by the Israeli ambassador to the United States.The group, including five deans, said the Muslim Student Union was wrong to disrupt the speech last year by Ambassador Michael Oren but that the students and the group had already been disciplined by the university.Orange County prosecutors announced last week they were charging the students with two misdemeanor counts, including conspiracy to disrupt the speech. If convicted, each faces up to six months in jail.The decision to charge the students, the faculty letter says, “sets a dangerous precedent for the use of the criminal law against nonviolent protests on campus.”Hmmmmm........Painting Jewish stars on windows is non violent also ,so that's allowed also?It's Anti semitism and nothing else!Read the full story here.

• Susan Rice warns GOP against U.N. cuts.United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice said today that the success America has had in using sanctions against Iran should give pause to Republicans who want to weaken U.S. ties to the institution. The new House majority has renewed pressure on the United Nations, seeking to cut some U.S. funding for the body and to tie further funding to reform efforts.“A lot of the [GOP] members that are leading on this issue have had longstanding positions critical of the United Nations,” Rice told POLITICO in an interview Wednesday. “I think it’s important for them to recall the importance of this institution for our national security interests.” For conservatives who want to maintain pressure on Iran, she said, “it would be a lot harder to do it with any efficacy without the ability to do it multilaterally through the Security Council to get the tough sanctions that we did last year.” The U.N. process, she said, also was critical in keeping Russian anti-aircraft systems out of Iranian hands, as well as preventing Chinese investment in the country’s oil industry and European investment in its financial sector.In the interview, Rice called for Congress to vote against legislation being considered in the House today that would withdraw $179 million the U.S. has already paid into the U.N. Tax Equalization Fund. The funding compensates the U.N.’s American employees who pay U.S. taxes, because workers from other nations don’t. The U.S. has overpaid into the fund, but the Obama administration has agreed to let the body use the money for long-overdue upgrades to the dilapidated United Nations complex, security improvements that both the U.N. and the City of New York say are critical.Hmmmm.......And it would affect my jetset lifestyle?Where Has Susan Rice, our UN Ambassador, Been This Past Year?Read the full story here. Related :  House Rejects GOP Effort to Make UN Give Back $179 Million Overpayment of Fund. Here.

• HT:TranslatingJihad.Fatwa: "The People of the Book Disgraced (Themselves) and Their Dhimmi Covenant by Distorting What (Allah) Sent".This fatwa comes from Shaykh Faysal al-Mawlawi, the Deputy Chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, and is posted on IslamOnline.net. Here Shaykh al-Mawlawi explains that only the Qur'an has been preserved and protected by Allah, whereas the Bible has been corrupted and distorted by the Jews and Christians. He further argues that one reason for the Jews and Christians doing this was to wipe out all reference to Muhammad in the Bible, which Muslims often claim was originally in there.Question: I have a question, if you would be so kind as to answer it: the Most High said, "We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption)" [Qur'an 15:9]. Does this mean the Qur'an only, or does it also comprise the Torah and the Gospel? How is the preceding verse reconciled with the saying of the Almighty: "And before thee also the messengers We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration: if ye realize this not, ask of those who possess the Message" [Qur'an 16:43]?May Allah bless and benefit you.Answer: In the name of Allah, praise be to Allah, and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah.Allah Almighty sent down the Torah and the Gospel, and charged the Jews and Christians with guarding them. They (however) distorted and changed them. Then He sent down the Qur'an, and made it the eternal constitution for Muslims. Therefore Allah ensures its preservation (alone), excluding the rest of his books. The People of the Book disgraced (themselves) and their dhimmi covenant by distorting what (Allah) sent to them. The Almighty said, "...[those who] displace words from their (right) places..." [Qur'an 4:46], (and) "...they change the words from their (right) places..." [Qur'an 5:41]. There are many evidences in the Book of Allah Almighty and the Pure Sunnah to the distorting of the Torah and the Gospel. This indicates that Allah has preserved the Qur'an (alone), excluding the rest of his books.Read the full story here.

• Turkey to procure Chinook helicopters.Turkey has nearly completed the process to procure giant Chinook helicopters that can carry fighter jets in the air. The US Congress has approved the sale of the Chinooks to Turkey, which is considering buying six or 10 of these helicopters. The cost will be a minimum of $1 billion. These lift helicopters can seat 60 people on board and carry other aircraft, such as F-16 jets. These helicopters can also be used to lift and transport mechanized vehicles or heavy artillery systems. Many countries, including Greece, the UK, Italy and Egypt, employ these helicopters in their militaries. The helicopters Turkey is buying will be used in the Land Forces and the Special Forces Command. Until now, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has relied on Blackhawks and Cougars for transporting artillery and aircraft.Following approval in the US Congress, the defense industry undersecretary has been involved in talks with its American counterpart. Turkey demands, in addition to the payment it will make for the helicopter, that some Turkish defense industry companies be assigned a certain number of jobs.Hmmmm......Don't tell me they will take away some more American jobs?Read the full story here.

• Not again! Icelandic volcano set to erupt dwarfing last year's devastation, warn scientists.Scientists in Iceland are warning that another volcano on the island looks set to erupt, threatening to spew-out a blanket of dust that would dwarf last year's eruption.Geologists detected the high risk of a new eruption after noticing an increased swarm of earthquakes around the island's second largest volcano Bárdarbunga.Pall Einarsson, a professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, says the area around Bárdarbunga is showing signs of increased activity, which provides 'good reason to worry'. Last year's eruption of volcanos near Eyjafjallajokull, located in the south of the island, caused chaos around the world as hundreds of planes were grounding due to dust and ash filling the sky.Mr Einarsson told the country's national TV station 'RC:v' that a low number of seismometer measuring devices in the area is making it more difficult to determine the scale and likely outcome of the current shifts.The geologist complained that the lack of coverage from measuring devices means he cannot accurately detect the depth and exact location of the increased number of localised earth movements.'This is the most active areas of the country if we look at the whole country together,' he told Icelandic TV News. 'There is no doubt that lava there is slowly growing, and the seismicity of the last few days is a sign of it.The last recorded eruption of Bárdarbunga was in 1910, although vulcanologists believe its last major eruption occurred in 1477 when it produced a huge plume of ash and pumice and the largest known lava flow during the past 10,000 years on Earth.It is the second largest volcano on Iceland and is directly above the mantle of molten rock.Hmmm......The volcano has been showing increased activity since September 2010,to state that it might erupt soon is perhaps a bit exagerated,saying an eruption may occur within the following year might be  more accurate.Read the full story here,more on this story here ,here and here.