MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• Troubles within Muslim cultures.MECCA – The Kaabah, the holiest shrine of Islam, is a breathtaking place – even through secular eyes. Millions of Muslims flock here every year to venerate this ancient building, which they believe to be the world's first monotheist temple built by Abraham and his son Ishmael. The Kaabah is most crowded during the Hajj, with millions of pilgrims, but it is filled with thousands of worshippers at any given moment.It was crowded last Fiday night too, when I had a chance to see the very birthplace of my faith for the first time, thanks to a short trip to Saudi Arabia. Hundreds were doing the "tawaf," the circular walk around the Kaabah, which was covered by a beautiful black fabric decorated with golden verses from the Quran. There were Muslims from many different nations, following the same rites, murmuring the same words.Besides all the experience of the sacred, one mundane detail that struck me about the Kaabah was that there was no separation between the sexes. The crowd that rotated around the shrine was mixed with no barriers between men and women. Similarly, when I sat down on a carpet, next to a group of aged Arab ladies, they did not show the slightest reaction. Moreover, their faces were all open – something that I later learned is a must for Muslim women who visit the Kaabah: They are supposed to "face" the "House of God.". If you wonder why these are meaningful details, you must see the rest of Saudi Arabia. This is a country with strict rules for separation between the sexes. Many women cover their faces with burqa-type veils. Even then, you are not supposed to be in the same physical space with any of them, unless she is your wife or family. That's why when I left the Kaabah and headed to the nearest Burger King, to grab my usual "onion-free whopper menu," I had to order, pay and collect in the "male’s section," which was carefully separated from that of the females."It is ironic," I said to myself. "You can mingle with the opposite sex at the Kaabah, but not at the Burger King."It is not just ironic, but also thought provoking. Because the Kaabah, and rituals around it, are the most trustable relics of the earliest phase of Islam: the time of Prophet Muhammad. So, if there were an emphasis then to seclude women from men, the Kaabah rites would have been designed accordingly. (An example is the Western Wall in Jerusalem, which is divided into males and females' section, according to the rules of Orthodox Judaism.)But, apparently, such a separation of sexes was not a part of the earliest Muslim practice. Even more tellingly, the Quran has no such commandment either. That's why the thesis by some historians that the seclusion of women is a later development in Islam, reflecting not the will of God but the traditions of the medieval Middle East, makes a lot of sense.Which takes me to a larger problem that I see among many contemporary Muslim communities. Since they do not try to distinguish between what is religious and what is traditional, their admirable loyalty to their religion sometimes breeds a rigid adherence to medieval traditions, some of which are quite repressive and brutal. Horrible things such as "female circumcision," "honor killings" and various forms of misogyny are all examples of the latter. They reflect not Islam, but the doomed traditions of some societies that happen to be Muslim.The same thing is true for heavy-handed "Islamic teachers," such as the one at the Markazi Jamia mosque in Keighley, England, who was filmed recently hitting and kicking young boys at Quran reading classes. In fact, the Quran and the Prophet's life are full of messages of love and compassion, but there is also a bad tradition that says beating up children is for their own good. And the latter, apparently, still has some appeal.Muslim opinion leaders should not dismiss these problems as "isolated cases" and find an easy way out in accusing critical Westerners of Islamophobia. Islamophobia does exist, but so do troubles within Muslim cultures. The Muslim thing to do is to face the latter, and push for change.Hmmm.......You said it.Read the full story here.

• Breaking News.Israel Warns It Might Act on Iranian Warships Passing Through Suez Canal.Israel is monitoring two Iranian warships about to pass through the Suez Canal for Syria and warn they might act.Israeli's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says that "Israel cannot ignore these provocations," according toIsrael is monitoring two Iranian warships about to pass through the Suez Canal for Syria and warn they might act.Israeli's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says that "Israel cannot ignore these provocations," according to ynetnews.com.Lieberman added that the warships was "a provocation that proves Iran's nerve and self-esteem is growing from day to day."Iran announced plans to deploy warships near Israel and dock at a Syrian port for a year, IsraelNationalNews.com reports.A senior Israeli official tells the site that "Israel will know how to deal with it."Two Iranian warships will pass through the Suez Canal on their way to Syria via the Mediterranean Sea, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced during a Jerusalem conference. He added that sending the warships was "a provocation that proves Iran's nerve and self-esteem is growing from day to day". Lieberman called on the international community "to understand that Israel cannot ignore these provocations forever". (Ronen Medzini) Hmmmm.......This is the direct result of the weak Obama presidency!Read the full story here.More here.

• British man says he's marooned in Canada because of U.S. no-fly list.OTTAWA - A British man says he's stranded in Canada after being denied permission to fly home because he's on the U.S. no-fly list.Dawood Hepplewhite of Sheffield, England, turned up at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Sunday only to be told by an Air Transat official he couldn't board the plane."I got really upset at him — 'How can you tell me I'm not allowed to go to my own country?'" Hepplewhite said late Tuesday in an interview.An Air Transat spokesman did not immediately respond to an inquiry.Hepplewhite, 30, divides his time between Sheffield and Toronto, where his Canadian wife Farhia and their three children reside. All five were planning to head back to England for an extended stay.Hepplewhite says Air Canada and British Airways also refused to let him fly to England on Monday.Airlines that operate from Canada have been known to reject passengers whose names are on the U.S. no-fly list. That's because many flights pass over American airspace or may be forced to land at a U.S. airport in the event of an emergency.Hepplewhite says he's no security threat, but suspects he is on the no-fly list because he's a white Muslim and attended a job interview in Yemen — considered a hotbed of terrorism — for a position teaching English a few years ago.He was told this week to use the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's redress process to try to get his name removed from the U.S. no-fly roster — a process that can take between 45 to 60 days.Meantime, Hepplewhite's visa allowing him to stay in Canada expires on April 29.Calls to the British High Commission haven't been any help, he says, leaving him frustrated."You're supposed to help your citizens, you know?"In their eyes, I'm a nobody. That's why I've had to come to the media, because unfortunately my government's letting me down."His wife is equally bewildered."To tell somebody you can't go home, and you have to stay in a land where you have absolutely no authority, no rights, no status of any sort — it's unbelievable," she said."He can't leave Canada. He's literally imprisoned in Canada."A bill currently before Parliament would allow airlines to share passenger information required by the U.S. Secure Flight program.Secure Flight would permit the United States to collect name, gender and birth date from the approximately five million Canadians who fly through American airspace every year en route to destinations such as Mexico — even though their planes don't touch American soil.But both Canada and the U.S. say there is no statutory requirement — at least not yet — to provide passenger information for such flights, and Air Canada says it is not doing so.Still, the long-standing use of the U.S. no-fly list in Canada has created problems for many passengers over the years — even ones flying between Canadian cities.Hmmmm......Charter of the Universal Human rights - Article 13.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Read the full story here.

• CBS News' Lara Logan Assaulted During Egypt Protests.CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent Separated From Her Crew And Brutally Assaulted on Day Mubarak Stepped Down.On Friday, Feb. 11, the day Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a "60 Minutes" story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy.In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently in the hospital recovering.There will be no further comment from CBS News and correspondent Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time.Read the full story here.

• Kerry in Pakistan as Obama turns up the pressure in row over ex-Special Forces soldier accused of murder.John Kerry is in Pakistan working to free an ex-Special Forces soldier who has been accused of two murders, it has emerged.The Senator has promised Raymond Davis will be subject to a criminal trial in the U.S. if he is released by the Pakistan government.His efforts were revealed as President Barack Obama turned up the pressure in a diplomatic row over the detention of Davis.Questions have been raised about what he was doing in the country, and why the U.S. is willing to risk angering its ally in the war on terror to get him back. Mr Kerry has also expressed regret for the deaths of two Pakistani men in an apparent attempt to smooth over relations.U.S. officials have threatened to withhold billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan unless Davis is freed.A chorus of American officials have called for his release on the grounds of diplomatic immunity, including Mr Obama.'If it starts being fair game on our ambassadors around the world, including in dangerous places where we may have differences with those governments ... that's untenable,' Mr Obama said at a news conference, his first public remarks on the case.'It means they can't do their job. And that's why we respect these conventions and every country should as well.'The Davis case has become a flashpoint for Pakistani nationalism and anti-American suspicion, making it harder for Pakistani authorities to back down despite intense U.S. pressure.Thousands have rallied to demand that Davis be hanged and the Taliban have threatened attacks against Pakistani officials involved in freeing the Virginia native.The disagreement has risked spinning out of control in recent days amid dangerous anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and U.S. threats of stronger Pakistan sanctions.A Pakistani federal government official told The Associated Press yesterday that after reviewing the matter, most experts in Pakistan's legal and foreign offices believe Davis is immune from prosecution. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity.Pakistani government officials had avoided a definitive stand on Davis' legal status in the face of popular anger over the shootout. There has been controversy in Pakistan over the fact that Davis was armed. A senior U.S. official has told The Associated Press that Davis was authorised by the United States to carry a weapon, but that it was a 'grey area' whether Pakistani law permitted him to do so.Part of the confusion over Davis' status lies in his background. The administration insists that Davis was part of the embassy's 'administrative and technical staff'.But Pakistani media reports have focused on him being a former Special Forces soldier who runs an American 'protective services' company with his wife.The AP also obtained a photocopy of an ID and a salary document that Davis apparently gave Pakistani authorities, showing that he was scheduled to be paid $200,000 from September 21, 2010, until September 20, 2011.The money was to be for 'overseas protective sec. svcs.,' training, administration work and insurance and travel expenses.Davis is identified as a Defense Department contractor on the ID card.After the shootings in Lahore, Davis called for backup. The American car rushing to the scene hit a third Pakistani, a bystander, who later died.State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday the vehicle contained U.S. Embassy staff. Pakistani police want to question the car's driver and passengers as well, though it is highly unlikely those staffers - especially if U.S. citizens - are still in Pakistan.Hmmmm........My guess you all have the same idea about this case as i have.Read the full story here.

• HT:Aina.Islamist Judge to Head Egypt's New Constitution Committee.Tarek al-Bishry, the chairman of the constitutional panel, is a respected judge who criticised former president Hosni Mubarak and is regarded as moderate in his views. But he has been associated with Al-Wasat, an offshoot of the Brotherhood.He has selected a committee made up mainly of judges and politicians, including a judge who is a Coptic Christian, but also a former Muslim Brotherhood MP. There are no women.Wael Abbas, the best-known human rights blogger in Egypt, who was sentenced to prison by the Mubarak regime last year, said it was a "worrying" choice."There is no such thing as a moderate Islamist," he said. "We want a secular state that respects all religions and which belongs to all religions."The Brotherhood has said it does not intend to put forward a candidate at presidential elections, and does not want to institute Islamic rule, as in Iran. But it yesterday said it was in the process of forming a political party to represent its views in parliament.In another sign of increased freedoms for Islamists, the Gama'a Islamiya, the radical group responsible for a wave of terror attacks in the 1990s, held a public meeting in a town in southern Egypt on Monday night, according to a local newspaper, Al-Masry al-Youm.When the Supreme Military Council was formed to take over Mr Mubarak's duties last week, the role of Lt Gen Sami Enan, the chief of staff, was immediately welcomed by the Muslim Brotherhood -- as well as by the United States, which said it regarded him as very "professional".But the make-up of the new committee, and the fact it has been given just ten days to come up with a new constitution, has dashed hopes that it will remove Article 2, which makes Islam the state religion and says Shariah is the main source of law."Al-Bishry is a figure who is accepted by all Egyptians," said Aboul Ella al-Madi, leader of Al-Wasat. "He has criticised the Coptic Church but he has also criticised the Muslim Brotherhood and the former regime."The military council consulted widely before appointing him, and he had consensus support."But Bishop Markos, a member of the Coptic Church's Holy Syndicate, said no one from the Military Council had been in touch since it came to power.He said: "We do not know the result of this but we hope the committee will be wise enough to take into account the rights of all Egyptians.""Islamists being on the committee is not going to help that," he said. "We want equality for all Egyptians, including Christians, Jews, Bahais, and those who consider themselves atheists."The army seems to have made some sort of deal with the Muslim Brotherhood."Hmmmm........"There can be only one?Read the full story here,more here.

• Hundreds take to the streets in Yemen and Libya and as Middle East unrest continues.Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets of Libya and Yemen today in the first sign that the unrest which toppled governments in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt has spread to the North African nation.Yemen is the poorest county in the Middle East and anti-regime protesters and dagger-wielding supporters of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president, clashed in the capital Sanaa.At least four people have been wounded, according to reports, and Irish bookmakers Paddy Power believe that Yemeni government is the odds-on favourite (15/8) next to be toppled.Meanwhile the protests raged in Libya, especially in the eastern port city of Benghazi. Rather than venting their anger solely at the country's long-standing leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi, however, the disgruntled rioters directed their ire at Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, and demanded his resignation.Colonel Gaddafi is Africa's longest-serving leader, having ruled for 41 years. But Dubai-based television news service Al-Jazeera was reporting that sources said the demonstrators chanted slogans against the 'corrupt rulers of the country'.Al-Jazeera claimed that the protesters had called on citizens to observe tomorrow as a 'Day of Rage', hoping to emulate the popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and end Gadhafi's regime.As per the previous uprisings, Libyan activists were using social networking websites including Facebook to fuel their fire.Hmmmm....."Change"?Read the full story here.

• HT:Aina.Persecuted Iraqi Christians Reach Out to US.Christians in Washington, D.C., and Erbil, Iraq, joined hands through the Internet on Monday to celebrate the beginning of a three-day period of repentance and prayer known as the Rogation of the Ninevites."Since the beginning of November and Christmas, we have registered more than 2,300 Christian families who have fled to northern Iraq seeking safety," said William Warda, president of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, an aide group that works with Christians and other minorities who have been forced to flee their homes in Iraq because of the jihadi Muslim attacks."We checked every village in the Nineveh Plain and in the Kurdish region in the north," Warda told Newsmax by phone from Baghdad. "The flow of refugees has continued unabated since then."In Ainkawa, a Christian suburb of the Kurdish capital, Erbil, Christians have lived for centuries in relative peace. The Kurdish government has welcomed the latest wave of Christian refugees. But many Christians have been fleeing Kurdistan because they cannot find housing or jobs.The Rev. Rayan Atto, a 31-year old Chaldean priest at Mar Qarakh in Erbil, led prayers on Monday at his church to start the three-day fast and repentance period that commemorates the Prophet Jonah's summons to the people of Ninevah to repent or face destruction.He was joined via a Skype Internet connection from Washington by the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, who heads the Christian Defense Coalition.Mahoney had planned to travel to northern Iraq to celebrate the Rogation of the Ninevites with church leaders in the Nineveh Plain and Mosul, the current-day city that sits on the ruins of ancient Nineveh, but church leaders told him it was too dangerous for him to come because of the risk of jihadi Muslim attacks.Instead, he led a group of 50 church leaders and human rights leaders in prayers in front of the White House."There are Rogation ceremonies happening all across the United States in the next three days, as we pray for peace in Iraq and pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ," Mahoney told worshippers in northern Iraq via the Skype call."The need to protect Iraqi Christian minority from persecution is more urgent than the world knows.Hmmmm......Still no word from the "Christian" President Obama?Read the full story here.

• The day after Turkey becomes an Islamic state.by Orhan Kemal Cengiz.It was well before these so-called revolutions in the Middle East and Africa, more than six months ago, I guess. I received a message from an American friend of mine, accompanied by a link to an article. She is not particularly interested in politics or international relations, but I think she has a great deal of common sense. Referring to the link, she was saying something like, “If Turkey becomes an Islamic state this would create global consequences.” I read the article she sent. It was a typical, mind-boggling, Orientalist narrative about Turkey: Erdoğan is an Islamist, Turkey is slipping into an Islamic state, blah, blah, blah. There was nothing in the article to be taken seriously. But this does not change the value of my friend’s assessment. Basically, she was saying that, if this analysis is true, if Turkey really becomes an Islamic state it would have global consequences.When I received her message, I played with this idea of Turkey becoming an Islamist state and tried to think of the possible consequences of this process. What would happen? Turkey, all of a sudden, declares that it is, from now on, “an Islamic state” and does not recognize any of its international commitments that were made by successive “infidel” governments; it will withdraw its candidacy to become a member of the European Union; secede from NATO, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other organizations; introduce capital punishment once again; ban alcohol; impose dress codes and so on and so forth; and declare the US and Israel to be the number one enemies of the “Islamic Republic of Turkey.” This is an extreme scenario. Let us say it has not gone that far, but it does some of these things in combination with throwing away this current parliamentarian system, in which all kind of political parties can compete, and replaces it with an Iranian-like system, in which only political parties and candidates who are endorsed by mullahs can compete and be elected.Try to imagine the “day after” and the shockwaves this “Islamic revolution” would send to the every corner of the world. Just skip the details and try to see the big picture. This would prove once and for all to the world, with irrefutable evidence, that democracy is not possible in any country if there is a Muslim majority living there.Hmmmm.....Looking at the close cooperation between Turkey and Iran one could say it has happened already.Read the full story here.

• HT:IsraelSeen.Preconditions and Provocations of Iran.By Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall. The telling, if predictable, failure of the most recent talks with Iran concerning its nuclear ambitions highlights the country’s intransigence, which is not likely to soften anytime soon.

■For Iran, last month’s talks in Turkey offered an opportunity to show how the center of power has shifted from Western dominance to Islamic hegemony under Tehran’s leadership.

■Iran’s behavior during the talks in Istanbul once again demonstrated the limits of dialogue and engagement with the regime.

■In their current scope, international economic sanctions may damage the Iranian economy and may impede the nuclear program’s pace, but they do not suffice to restrain the Iranian leadership from attaining a nuclear bomb.American President Barack Obama has the opportunity to “correct” the line that he adopted at the start of his term vis-à-vis Iran, a line that allowed Iran to harden its position on the nuclear issue and intensify its influence in Middle Eastern affairs. Adopting a harder line towards Iran and creating a genuine military threat would not only pave the way for a more effective response to a state that harms American interests in the Middle East, but would also lay the groundwork for a better handling of the Palestinian issue and democratization in the region. The alternative is grim: a weakening of the moderate Arab camp, a strengthening of the “resistance camp” (Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, Hamas, and the other Palestinian terror organizations influenced by Iran), and a steep decline in American influence in the region. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, “We have time. But not a lot of time.”Hmmmm........There's a time to talk and a time to act.Read the full story here.

• HT:EmergingCorruption.Terrorism: How Much Trouble Are We In?…Quite a Bit.By Frank Salvato.Almost from the beginning there has been a debate on whether the Obama Administration was inexperienced and naïve or agenda driven and calculating. We watched Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, behind closed doors and using every tool of political coercion available, ramrod health insurance reform down the throats of an unwilling American public. At that point many thought the Progressive machine one of ruthless cunning; a contingent of callous ideologues willing to inflict grave political consequences upon the Democrat party in order to achieve a long sought goal. But, that illusion was shattered, and by an element of the administration that traditionally should have known better.As the Egyptian people swarmed Tahrir Square in anticipation of what they thought would be Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, as reports that Mr. Mubarak would be handing over control of the Egyptian government to either his vice president, Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian Military Council or a combination of both, the US National Intelligence Director, James Clapper, made one of the most unintelligent, uninformed and naïve observations since Neville Chamberlain returned from his meeting with Adolf Hitler declaring“…peace for our time.”The blame for the incompetence in the execution of national security at the highest levels – the blame for the infliction of James Clapper and Janet Napolitano on the American people – lies exclusively with President Barack Obama and his immediate inner circle, including his girl Friday, Valerie Jarrett. Should Mr. Obama decline to fire these two for dereliction of duty –immediately – the powers that be in the United States House of Representatives should look into qualifying high crimes and misdemeanors against Mr. Obama for not honoring his oath to, to the best of his ability, “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”So help me God! Read the full story here.

• HT:EmergingCorruption.Speaker Boehner: Honor Your Pledge or Resign, NOW!It is almost impossible to believe that a mere month into the new Congress, old guard Republicans led by House Speaker John Boehner are stampeding to violate key campaign pledges. We have seen the “resolute” House Republican leadership quail over the prospect of actually making a paltry $100 billion in promised spending cuts. We have seen tough talking Darrell Issa backing off desperately needed investigations of blatant Obama administration corruption and abuse of power. Now the leadership is putting up roadblocks to the only chance we may ever get to stop Obamacare.The House is currently considering a Continuing Resolution to fund government programs for the rest of the year. A temporary CR was passed in the waning days of the 111th Congress that expires March 4th. Without a new CR the government will then shut down.Representative Steve King (R-IA) offered an amendment to the CR that would entirely defund Obamacare. What better way to force Democrats to abide by the crystal clear will of the American people than to offer them the stark choice of passing the CR and defunding Obamacare in the process, or having the government shut down due to their arrogant stubbornness? And do most Americans care if the government shuts down for a while?NO! We’d be relieved!So, Republicans should be all for King’s amendment, right?Wrong.Last night, the House Rules Committee headed by David Dreier of California, blocked the amendment, claiming that it violated House rules. This is absolutely false. As King stated in a Washington Times editorial today:One of the tactics is to argue that my proposal violates the rules by legislating on an appropriations bill. It wasn’t a violation when Congress defunded the Vietnam War, and it’s not a violation now. The CR, the very bill that I seek to amend, has language in it that blocks the use of any funds to move detainees out of Guantanamo Bay. By their definition, they’ve set a precedent and all I ask is to use the same tool to debate and vote on blocking the use of any funds to implement or enforce Obamacare.The Rules Committee made the call, but my Hill sources tell me this action was initiated by the leadership. That is especially infuriating because Speaker Boehner promised just yesterday to allow a vote on King’s measure. Let me be clear, these are his exact words: “We’re going to do everything that we can in this bill to make sure there’s no money in Obamacare.”Hmmmm.......Is there anything worse then politicians?Read the full story here.

• Boehner: If some federal workers lose jobs because of GOP cuts, 'so be it'. House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday if some federal workers lose jobs because of Republican-proposed spending cuts, "so be it." But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was quick to say "not so be it." "Over the last two years since President Obama has taken office, the federal government has added 200,000 new federal jobs and if some of those jobs are lost in this, so be it," Boehner said during a news conference with reporters at the Republican National Committee. "We're broke! It's time for us to get serious about how we're spending the nation's money."Boehner, who was joined by other House Republican leaders, criticized the President's budget proposal for not cutting enough and said Republicans would address entitlement reform when they release their budget blueprint this spring. "Republicans will not punt," said Boehner. "Everything's on the table. We will put forward a budget that deals with the big challenges that face our country…I have no doubts that all of these issues [Social Security and Medicare] will be on the table." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi seized on Boehner's comments in a speech on the floor, saying Republicans' proposed cuts would leave many in the cold. "Democrats do not subscribe to Speaker Boehner's verdict that if jobs are lost in this continuing resolution, so be it," Pelosi said. "Maybe so be it for him. But not so be it for the people who are losing their jobs."Hmmmm.........Better then to put the poor and elderly in the cold.Read the full story here.

• Will revolution spread to Pakistan?The country is ripe for revolt, though it would mean ousting the army. As Hosni Mubarak reluctantly retired last Friday night, another revolt was reaching its climax in Pakistan. For four days the workers of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the national carrier, had been on strike. Some 25,000 passengers were stranded, including me. As the screen filled with ecstatic revolutionaries surging through Tahrir Square, a note of envy sounded among Pakistanis on Twitter. Could the glorious revolution spread to their country? "I wish, wish, wish Pakistan could be next," wrote the author Fatima Bhutto.Pakistan certainly seems ripe for revolt. It is perpetually on a knife edge – extremists plot and explode bombs, senior politicians are assassinated, society seethes with discontent. A slim upper crust floats in a bubble of wealth and privilege – the local version of Hello! offers coverage of upper-class toddler parties – while the poor grind along under soaring food inflation and 12-hour power cuts. Regional tensions threaten to pull the country asunder. In Quetta, residents were shivering in their homes because the rebels had blown up the gas pipelines four times over the previous week."We're in a bad way," one mournful lawyer told me before I left, glancing over his shoulder to see if intelligence officials were evesdropping.Some of this is warranted – his government disastrously bungled the recent blasphemy furore, and is struggling to deal with the case of Raymond Davis, an American official who shot two people dead on a Lahore street. Corruption is certainly rife, although many of the wilder stories are almost certainly exaggerated. But the hard truth is that power in Pakistan resides inside the gleaming halls of the army headquarters, where liveried generals hold the keys to the country's nuclear weapons – more than 100, according to one recent count – and control policy with India, Afghanistan and America.And so a true revolution in Pakistan would see the army being ousted from power– except that would be tricky, because it isn't officially in charge.The real danger, however, may lie in the dark clouds gathering over the economy. Ccompanies such as PIA are sucking the Treasury dry; last week's strike demonstrated scant political will to get them into shape. On the revenue side, the rich refuse to pay tax – the tax-to-GDP ratio is a disastrously low 9% and many politicians pay just a few hundred pounds tax per year. To plug this hole, the government has resorted to printing money at an alarming pace. Few doubt it is unsustainable. Over tea in his office, a senior western diplomat told me the economy was his "number one priority".Economists say the bubble could burst in a matter of months – rocketing inflation, a crashing currency, capital flight. If that happens, trouble could stir on the streets, notwithstanding Pakistanis' amazing tolerance for adversity. But it's unlikely to have the same clean lines as the Egyptian revolt. And its consequences could be just as unpredictable.Hmmm....."To plug this hole, the government has resorted to printing money at an alarming pace".Sounds familiar?Read the full story here.

• Anonymous Hackers Release Stuxnet Worm Online.The group of anonymous "hacktivists" that made headlines for online cyberattacks in December just released a bombshell online: a decrypted version of the same cyberworm that crippled Iran's nuclear power program.The ones and zeroes that make up the code called the Stuxnet worm -- described as the most sophisticated cyberweapon ever created -- were reportedly found when the faceless group hacked into the computers of HBGary, a U.S. security company that the anonymous collective viewed as an enemy. And the security experts FoxNews.com spoke with said the leaked code was serious cause for concern."There is the real potential that others will build on what is being released," Michael Gregg, chief operating officer of cybersecurity firm Superior Solutions, told FoxNews.com. Gregg was quick to clarify that the group hasn't released the Stuxnet worm itself, but rather a decrypted version of it HBGary had been studying -- which could act almost like a building block for cybercrooks."As an attacker you need to understand how something works. The better you understand how it works the easier it is to build something similar that servers the same purpose," Gregg explained. The "decompiled" code the group made available is in that sense akin to a recipe book for disaster, he said. "With the right tools -- and these guys have shown themselves more than once to be a fairly technical bunch of individuals -- then it gives others a cookbook to start modifying," he told FoxNews.com.Orla Cox, a security operations manager at Symantec, told The Guardian that it was "very difficult to tell" how dangerous Anonymous' copy of Stuxnet is."It would be possible [for Anonymous to use Stuxnet in an attack]," Cox said. "But it would require a lot of work; it's certainly not trivial." A hacker would need to repurpose the single-minded code and retarget it, a likely challenge, experts said. The Anonymous group released the Stuxnet code on February 13, after finding it in a database of e-mails it stole from HBGary. "First public Stuxnet decompile is to be found here," one representative of the group wrote over Twitter.Anonymous claims the hacking was a response to HBGary's purported efforts to penetrate the group and identify its members. But the reasons for releasing the Stuxnet code are unclear, be they malicious or merely anarchist. The ramifications, experts say, are far less obscure."Now that pieces of that code become available, it's not a far step to others developing their own attack kits, Gregg told FoxNews.com. "Just because they don’t have malicious intent with it doesn't mean others wouldn't.This won't lead to an immediate threat. But it could lead to something soon, Gregg said."Weeks wouldn't surprise me."Hmmmm.......Lets hope nobody uses this development to pass the internet kill switch.Read the full story here.

• HT:DougRoss.Most knowledgeable bond investor in the world dumped $120B in U.S. debt last month, coincidentally right before Obama voted 'present' on budget.Bill Gross heads up the world's most successful and powerful bond fund manager, PIMCO. He is so influential with the Obama administration that The New York Times once quipped that he's on Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's speed dial.Which makes the timing of this Reuters story so, eh, curious.PIMCO's Total Return Fund, the biggest bond fund, cut U.S. government-related debt holdings in January to its lowest in at least two years and added to cash and debt from other developed nations... Holdings in the U.S. government-related debt category, which includes U.S. Treasuries, declined to just 12 percent of the portfolio in January, from 22 percent in December...Pimco's apparent lack of confidence in U.S. government-related debt in January preceded Monday's budget presentation by President Barack Obama, who laid out plans to cut the deficit by $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years. Under the budget, the deficit would rose tp $1.645 trillion in fiscal 2011, and fall sharply to $1.101 trillion in 2012.In other words, Gross sold roughly $120 billion in U.S. debt just before President Obama made public one of the most reckless and disturbing budgets in history. And that's according to the liberals.If I were a more suspicious person, I'd suspect that Gross got the high sign from his buddies in the administration.Hmmmm.......Read the full story here.

• Israel says its nationals under threat in Turkey.Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it has temporarily closed diplomatic missions in four countries in response to heightened terror threats against Israeli targets in a number of countries, including Turkey. The threats appear to be tied to the anniversary of the killing of a former Hezbollah commander, Imad Mughniyeh, whose 2008 death in an explosion in Syria has been blamed on Israel. Hezbollah has repeatedly vowed revenge.Responding to the threats, Israel’s National Security Council warned Israeli and Jewish travelers that they could be targets in Turkey, Egypt, Georgia, Venezuela, Armenia, the Ivory Coast, Mali and Mauritania. Officials wouldn’t say which diplomatic missions were closed, but said they were among those listed in the travel warning. The spokesperson of the Israeli Embassy in Ankara, contacted by Today’s Zaman, said the embassy was functioning as usual.Read the full story here.

• FCC's Copps calls on agency to address decline of 'real journalism'.Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps made a case for a government hand in media policy in a speech to the FCBA on Tuesday. "The commission can act now. It should have acted on the media before now. I am disappointed that it has not," he said. The decline of "real journalism" justifies federal involvement, according to Copps. "The news is suffering from a bad case of substance abuse," he said.The Democratic commissioner pointed to Fox News' Bernie Goldberg and Bill O'Reilly as examples of the problem with today's media landscape, saying the pair has taken his own words out of context."What you and I are getting these days is too much opinion based on opinion and too little news based on fact," Copps said. The key going forward, according to Copps, is "making sure there is media about, and originating from, the local communities a station serves." Congress has given the FCC power to get involved in the Communications Acts, according to Copps. It may want to give the agency more power to promote media diversity and competition, he said.The commissioner also reiterated his call for a "Public Value Test" as part of the broadcasting license renewal, a process controlled by the FCC.Hmmmm......A good dictatorship needs to be in controll of the media.Read the full story here. 

• Egypt - Ex-judge to head Egypt reform panel. Military rulers pick head of committee entrusted with suggesting changes to the country's constitution.Egypt's new army rulers have appointed Tareq al-Bishry, a retired judge, to head a committee set up to suggest constitutional changes.Al-Bishry was a strong supporter of an independent judiciary during Hosni Mubarak's rule and is respected in legal circles for his independent views."I have been chosen by the Higher Military Council to head the committee for constitutional amendments," al-Bishry said on Tuesday.The Higher Military Council had earlier vowed to rewrite the constitution within 10 days and put it to a referendum within two months.The existing constitution, which the military council has suspended, had built-in guarantees to keep Mubarak and his allies in power.The amendments added during his rule strengthened the establishment's grip on power.The appointment of al-Bishry comes as the military rulers, in control of the country following the ouster of Mubarak, are attempting to restore normality after weeks of turmoil.As part of a continuing purge of Mubarak-era officials, Adly Fayed, the director of public security at the interior ministry, and Ismail El Shaer, Cairo's security chief, have been sacked for their involvement in the decision to open fire on pro-democracy demonstrators during the uprising.Their dismissals are aimed at placating public anger against the much-hated security forces that the Mubarak government apparently used to stifle dissent."Life is returning to some normality. However, many people have concerns, there is a great deal of uncertainty and that is why the army has decided that the stock market should remain closed."But most of the people here respect the military, and the miltary has said that they will come up with the first draft of constitutional reforms within 10 days so that is reassuring for the people."Ahmed Shafiq, the prime minister, has told foreign leaders that he is trying to reshuffle his cabinet, taking out some Mubarak appointees and replacing them with others."For its part, the long banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood said on Tuesday it intended to form a political party once democracy was established."The Muslim Brotherhood group believes in the freedom of the formation of political parties. They are eager to have a political party," Mohammed Mursi, a spokesman, said in a statement on the group's website.Essam el-Arian, a senior leader in the Brotherhood, said the movement would not run any candidate for planned presidential elections, acknowledging that such a move would be too controversial."We are not going to have a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections. It's time for solidarity, it's time for unity, in my opinion we need a national consensus," he said.But he confirmed the Brotherhood's leadership had decided on the creation of a party.In another development, Egypt has asked the US, Britain and France to freeze the assets of officials close to Mubarak. An EU diplomat said Egypt had made a similar request to the European Union.However, both Washington and Paris said that Mubarak was not on the list."The Europeans have been particularly receptive to this request ... George Osborne, British foreign minister, has advocated all 27 EU nations to get together in a pan-European effort to freeze the assets."A senior EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera that "the request covers the riches accumulated by six or seven close aides of Mubarak and he said that Mubarak's name was not even being discussed or debated.""There will be investigations and if no evidence of wrongdoing is found then those assets will be returned to the owners," Al Jazeera's Brennan said.Read the full story here.

• Saudi wife severs husband’s member for marrying again.A Saudi woman cut her husband’s penis off after he decided to have a second wife under Islamic law which allows a man to have four wives at a time, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.An ambulance rushed the unnamed man to the nearest medical centre in the capital Riyadh before he was flown by helicopter to a specialized hospital for treatment, 'Sharq' Arabic language daily said.“His wife begged him not to marry again but he did not listen to her….she then severed his penis with a big knife,” it said.“He was taken to hospital in a serious condition because of heavy bleeding,” it added without making clear if the man’s penis was restored.Hmmmm......"For better or worse"?Read the full story here.

• HT:Iranium.Help the women of Iran.Read and see the full story here.

• OJ Simpson 'beaten to a bloody pulp in racist prison attack'.Shamed football great OJ Simpson was beaten unconscious in a racially motivated prison attack, according to a report today.A skinhead inmate is said to have kicked and punched Simpson to ‘a bloody pulp’ after allegedly overhearing him bragging about his sexual conquests of white women.The 63-year-old disgraced athlete spent three weeks in hospital recovering from his injuries, said the National Enquirer.Prison authorities dismissed the claims of the assault at at Nevada’s Lovelock Correctional Centre, where Simpson is serving a nine-year sentence for his role in an armed confrontation with memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas.But the tabloid that won plaudits for its coverage of the Simpson murder trial that ended in his 1995 acquittal for murdering his wife, Nicole, stands by its story.Bruce Fromong, Simpson’s former business partner, told the magazine that ‘The Juice’ was boasting about his success with white girlfriends while behind bars.‘Unfortunately for OJ, a group of young skinhead punks were within earshot and they were enraged,’ Fromong said in an exclusive interview.‘They waited for a day when he would be in the exercise yard without his usual posse of black prisoners. OJ was completely unprotected when one of the toughest of the skinheads - who's in his mid-20s - jumped him.‘The skinhead rained blows on OJ’s head, shoulders and upper body - and continued to punch him savagely after he fell unconscious to the ground. He was covered in blood from deep cuts on his face,’ he added.Read the full story here.