MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• HT:TheRubinReport.U.S.Intelligence at Work: Iranian Warships? Yeah, I Heard Something about That.By Barry Rubin. Following on the theme that the Muslim Brotherhood is a secular organization and that U.S. intelligence gets its breaking information from CNN, we have this remarkable statement in the State Department briefing by Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley:"I believe there are two Iranian warships or, I mean, I don't know what kind of ships they are. There are two ships in the Red Sea. What their intention is, what their destination is, I don’t – I can’t say. Look, there are reports that there are a couple of ships in the Red Sea. What they do, where they go, we’ll follow this with some curiosity."Curiosity indeed! I'm sure you readers understand the strategic significance of this move by Iran to file a claim as the region's leading power. Yet it was not the United States but Israel that told the Egyptian government (that is, the army) that letting these warships through the Suez Canal would be deemed to be an unfriendly act. The Egyptians refused passage. That's the military government. What would an elected Egyptian government do a year from now?So here we have a major move by Iran that the United States ignores, not even understanding the significance of this flotilla. On the wider stage, the U.S. government is largely ignoring the advances of the Iran-Syria-Hamas-Hizballah-Turkish government-Lebanese government-Iraqi insurgent alliance. Notice how the list of those on the other side keeps getting longer and the list of allies on the U.S. side in the Middle East keeps getting shorter. Perhaps the U.S. government will follow the loss of its whole position in the Middle East "with some curiosity."It is hard to believe the kinds of things being said by U.S. government officials nowadays. So much of it reads like satire. Of course, it is not only funny but scary. Very very scary. If the Obama Administration played the Ahmadinejad team in the international affairs Superbowl, I'd put my money on Iran by two touchdowns. Hmmmm......."I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."?Read the full story here.

• Egypt Agrees to Let Two Iranian Ships Through Suez Canal.CAIRO-- State media say Egypt has agreed to let two Iranian naval vessels transit the Suez Canal, a move that comes despite expressions of concern by Israeli officials.State-run news agency MENA said Friday that authorities approved a request from Iranian diplomats who offered assurances that the two ships won't have weapons or nuclear or chemical material.The move had been widely expected and Iranian officials have insisted the request is in line with international regulations. They say the two vessels are headed to Syria for training.Read the full story here.

• Jews in Turkey fear attacks.After Hezbollah's threats shut down missions, Jewish residents of Istanbul afraid to leave homes. Turkish Jews expressed fear Thursday of a retaliation scheme by Hezbollah, which has threatened to avenge the death of one of its commanders, Imad Mughniyeh, on the third anniversary of his death.Earlier this week Israel temporarily shut down a number of its diplomatic missions in the world due to fears of an attack, and a local Turkish paper revealed Thursday that these included the Israeli consulate in Istanbul and the embassy in Ankara. But local Jews still harbor anxiety, especially since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rise to power. "As we speak now, we are being heard because there is wire-tapping here," a Jewish merchant from Istanbul told Ynet over the phone, asking to remain anonymous."In Turkey there is no knowing what will happen tomorrow. So much goes on here. What guaranteed the separation between religion and state was the army, but unfortunately the generals who maintained this in the past are no longer around.""Turkey is a dictatorship. They attack newspapers and there are raids against anyone who dares speak out against the government. Those who talk too much find themselves under investigation," he said. "Friendships are being developed here with states hostile to Israel. This concerns us, because we don't know if we will be protected as before. Though police guard all Jewish institutions, we still don’t really feel safe." "It's better to keep a low profile. Anything I say can make me a target, so I prefer to stay silent. There has always been a threat here, but apparently it has gotten worse because of the lack of cooperation between Israel and Turkey," he said. Hmmmmm........Turkey....Erdogan.....Obama's friend.Read the full story here.

• London insurers' private fleet to fight Somali pirates.Insurers in the City of London are finalising plans to set up a private fleet of armed patrol boats in the Gulf of Aden, in a new drive to stamp out Somali piracy. The naval protection force was conceived by leading figures in the Lloyd's of London market. They have been working with ship owners, freight operators and governments for months, marshalling support for their plan.The goal of the Convoy Escort Programme is to provide protection for tankers trying to navigate the seas off war-torn Somalia while also reducing the soaring costs of insuring vessels, cargo and crews against increasingly vicious attacks by pirates.Key representatives of the shipping industry, including the Baltic and International Maritime Council (Bimco) have agreed to explore the idea further. Giles Noakes, the chief maritime security officer of Bimco, said that he would be briefing American politicians in Washington on the plan next week.It is understood that the industry-led project is being monitored by the Royal Navy and its counterparts. The Times understands that the Navy would regard the escorts as a trial which, if successful, would allow naval vessels to hunt pirates in other areas. If the fleet can secure funding and win the support of the shipping community, it could be up and running within six months. There are also plans to explore using former Nimrod maritime patrol air crews to provide aerial surveillance.Under the plan, which has been developed over two years, a non-profit association involving private and public sector members would be set up. It would control a fleet of 18 vessels, each with a fixed gun position and an armed crew authorised to engage the pirates in battle.Each vessel would carry eight armed security personnel and four additional crew as well as inflatable speedboats, known as "Ribs", which could be dispatched into combat if the tankers they were protecting came under attack.Although it would be managed separately, the fleet would be under the operational control of the relevant national navy and the crew would have to conform to international rules on combat and engagement.One of the key architects of the CEP is Sean Woollerson, a partner in the marine, oil and gas division at Jardine Lloyd Thompson, a leading Lloyd's broker for companies seeking insurance protection, particularly for war risks and kidnap and ransom. KLT is organising the fleet through BGN Risk, a global security consultancy.Mr Woollerson estimates that the programme would need about $US27.5 million to pay for 18 second-hand vessels, believed to be Swedish patrol boats. It is understood that the plan is to try to tap a $US200 million anti-piracy fund managed by the EU.Hmmmmm........Arrr!"Time t' blow them t' kin'dom come?"Read the full story here.

• HT:TheHeritage.Lead Lawyer Challenging Obamacare Under Cyber Attack.While politicians are still talking about restoring civility, liberal thugs are waging an all out attack on the website of David Rivkin, lead counsel in the multi-state lawsuit against Obamacare, rather than engage in a civilized debate that they can’t win. And what do the ACLU and other left-leaning civil rights groups have to say about these attempts to silence a leading voice for freedom and liberty? Not a thing.Rivkin represents 26 States, the National Federation of Independent Business, and two individuals in the most prominent and successful challenge to Obamacare. He’s been a prominent critic of the law’s individual mandate from the beginning, and is used to engaging in intellectual battle—it comes with the territory. But this is something far different.One week after federal district judge Roger Vinson held that the mandate was unconstitutional and struck down the entire law, Rivkin’s website came under attack by a highly organized group of cyber-terrorists seeking to silence him and knock his views off the Internet.Just like the recent attacks by Wikileaks supporters on Amazon.com, MasterCard, and PayPal—attacks that have led to international investigations that remain ongoing and several arrests—unknown hacktivists from IP addresses located overseas took aim at Rivkin’s website, bombarding it with fake traffic and intrusion attempts. They managed to destroy entire sections of the site dedicated to his advocacy on behalf of the states in the health care law suit.The ongoing criminal attacks have been reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is charged with investigating denial of service cyber attacks.Perhaps the most amazing aspect of this episode is the complete disregard of this attack by the mainstream media and left-wing civil liberties groups. Imagine, for example, a similar attack on the website of the plaintiffs in the challenge to California’s Proposition 8, which struck down same-sex marriage in the state. Imagine the outrage, finger-pointing, and howls of indignation that would follow. The media, as well as the ACLU and others, would be quick to condemn conservatives, and many prominent conservatives, no doubt, would disassociate themselves from the cyber-attack. And rightly so—conservatives don’t need to cheat or break the law to win the war of ideas.Rivkin’s sober and scholarly advocacy in favor of Americans’ fundamental rights is clearly a threat to someone, and they have decided to attack him for it. Even on the Internet, thugs shouldn’t get a “heckler’s veto” over speech with which they disagree. One would think that’s a point on which conservatives and left-leaning civil libertarians could agree. But all we’ve heard so far from the left is silence.Hmmmm......Democracy or Dictatorship?Read the full story here.

• Alaska: Governor Refusing to Implement ObamaCare After Judge Ruled it Unconstitutional…Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said Thursday that he will not implement the federal health care overhaul passed by Congress last year after a judge in Florida struck down the law as unconstitutional.It’s not immediately clear what practical impact the unusual, rather bold move would have on Alaskans, an estimated 14 percent of whom are uninsured year-round.A major expansion of the federal law is still pending, and a legal expert and health care consumer advocate say any refusal by the states to participate in the law is an invitation to the federal government to step in and implement it for them — a point Parnell disputes.The Republican governor, who sought the advice of his attorney general amid concerns implementing the law would violate his oath of office, told the Juneau Chamber of Commerce the state would pursue lawful, market-based solutions to making insurance affordable and accessible to Alaskans.He said the Florida judge’s ruling is the law of the land, as it pertains to Alaska, barring implementation of the federal law here. He said the state will not pursue “unlawful activity” to implement a regime deemed unconstitutional.He said the state, instead, will pursue options of its own.Alaska was one of 26 states that were party to the Florida lawsuit; however, in other cases, two federal judges have upheld the law and one judge ruled a provision requiring citizens to buy health insurance or face penalties — a major point of contention in the Florida case — is unconstitutional but did not strike down the rest of the law.Hmmmm.....No Mama bear...but a Papa bear,Palin must be having a great day.Read the full story here.

• Military to secure Qaradawi’s access to Tahrir Square. Banned Qaradawi returns to lead Friday prayers in Egypt.For the first time since he was banned from leading weekly friday prayers in Egypt 30 years ago, prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi will lead thousands in the weekly prayers from Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday.Sources told Al Arabiya that a military force will accompany the head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars from his home to Tahrir Square, provide security for the prayers and accompany him back to his residence.Al-Qaradawi last delivered a Friday prayer sermon in Egypt in 1981 after the assassination of former President Anwar el-Sadat.Sheikh Qaradawi confirmed in a telephone call with the German Press Agency that he would lead tomorrow's prayers in Tahrir, with hundreds of thousands expected to attend. Some of Qaradawi's sons and daughters took part the Tahrir demonstrations leading up to the overthrow of the Mubarak.Hmmmm........Thank you Mr president?Read the full story here.

• Pakistan judge orders arrest of US car's driver.A judge on Friday ordered the arrest of the driver of a U.S. vehicle that struck and killed a Pakistani while rushing to help an American detained in a pair of fatal shootings, a lawyer for the victim's family said.The arrest warrant could add to the tensions surrounding the case of the shooter, Raymond Allen Davis. The U.S. insists he was acting in self-defense against robbers and qualifies for diplomatic immunity because he worked for the embassy.The odds of Pakistani police detaining the people in the U.S. car are low. Authorities say they do not know who was in the vehicle, and the Americans have said little on the matter, other than admitting the car was driven by U.S. Embassy staff.The judge's order could be a means of pressuring the U.S. to produce the driver, who has not been identified. But it's highly unlikely that any Americans involved in the traffic accident are still in Pakistan. Employees of the U.S. mission who get into trouble are typically on the first plane out of the country.It's also possible the driver was a Pakistani. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Courtney Beale on Friday declined to comment on the order other than saying the vehicular incident "is under investigation."Lawyer Asad Manzoor Butt said the family of the struck bystander, Ibadur Rehman, filed a petition with the Lahore High Court seeking to bring attention to his death, which has received far less scrutiny than the deaths of the two men shot earlier Jan. 27 in Lahore.The court's chief justice, Ijaz Chaudhry issued the arrest order, Butt said. On Thursday, the same court gave Pakistan's government three more weeks to determine if Davis has diplomatic immunity as America claims.Hmmmm......Yup senator Kerry's visit solved everything.Read the full story here.

• HT:Rightspeak.Geithner Admits: Obligations in President's Budget "Unsustainable".Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today admitted under questioning from Sen. Jeff Sessions that the president's own budget, submitted Monday, calls for interest payments and obligations that are "excessively high" and "unsustainable." The president's plan accumulates $13 trillion in new gross debt, with interest payments on the debt rising to $844 billion a year by 2021. Additionally, the president's budget ignores the recommendations of his own fiscal commission, causing the Democrat Co-Chair of the Commission, Erskin Bowles, to remark that the budget "goes nowhere near where they will have to go to resolve our fiscal nightmare."Hmmmmm.......Next he'll say "It's a Zionist plan,because they don't trust me"?Read the full story here.

• ‘Maddie is in America’: Club security man says he has been tracking paedophile ring with links to the UK.Madeleine McCann was kidnapped by a paedophile ring with connections in Britain and could now be in America, a club security man has claimed.Marcelino Italiano believes Maddie may have been kidnapped by the gang and smuggled out of Portugal, where the three-year-old went missing during a family holiday in 2007.The bouncer who worked in the Algarve has reportedly spoken to police and named two suspects. He told the Sun: ‘I know these people were involved and I have been told that Madeleine may now be in America. ‘I can't say how, but I have known these people and believe they can get away with anything.'He also claims to have been attacked by members of the paedophile gang, after he threatened to reveal their identity. Mr Italiano, originally from Angola, is said to have named a London-based associate of the paedophile ring's leader and claimed the ring also targeted orphanages. ‘I think there have been over a dozen children kidnapped. They prey on the weak and vulnerable,’ he told the Sun.'They are ruthless. I have been attacked twice twice for trying to investigate it and even lost my front tooth in one attack.'Mr Italiano, a 6ft 4in bouncer, recently fled Portugal and handed his dossier of claims about Madeleine's disappearance to police in Huelva, Spain, on Monday. He has vowed to stop at nothing to expose the ring.Sightings of Maddie have been reported in North America, Tasmania and Dubai since her disappearance and now Portuguese police and private investigators are looking into his claims.Mr Italiano said the ring was based in the Algarve and his claims have similarities to the Casa Pia ring, six members were jailed for sexually abusing more than 30 children living in Portugese state-run orphanages.A Spanish police source told the Daily Mirror: 'He says he believes the believes Madeleine was taken to the U.S. some time ago that the gang has the capacity to do this.'He is positive they have taken many more children from the area and is convinced they are behind Madeleine's abduction.'The Spanish police has passed the evidence to officers in Portugal.Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007 as her parents dined with friends nearby.Read the full story here.

• Judge Rules Against Obama Administration on Off-Shore Oil Drilling...Again.While President Obama's focus of late has settled on clean energy, his past actions on off-shore oil drilling continue to be debated in both legal and political circles.The latest snag came when a federal judge ruled that the administration has to decide within thirty days whether or not it will grant five deepwater drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman of the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled "the government is under a duty to act by either granting or denying a permit application within a reasonable time. Not acting at all is not a lawful option," he said.After the infamous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year, the Obama administration took an on-again, off-again approach to drilling and has put new off-shore drilling permits on hold due to increased scrutiny over safety. The government's approval process typically takes weeks, but it has amounted to months of waiting for the five applicants in the Louisiana case.Administration lawyers have not yet decided what action to take. "Our attorneys are reviewing the ruling," Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle told Fox.The political blowback from Gulf Coast politicians was swift, "I applaud this ruling today. It confirms what [Democratic Louisiana Senator] Landrieu and I have been saying along with virtually every other Louisianian: President Obama's continuing de facto moratorium in the Gulf is inexcusable," said Republican Louisiana Senator David Vitter. "This ruling says it's not only inexcusable but that it violates the law."Earlier this month, the same federal judge held the Interior Department in contempt of court for instituting what many say has amounted to an off-shore drilling moratorium despite his previous ruling against such a moratorium.The delicate drilling issue continues to surface for Mr. Obama and it is now complicated by the fact that the clock is ticking.Hmmmm........Democracy versus Dictatorship?Read the full story here.

• Ahmadinejad: Obama can't spell his own name.Ahead of pro-government rally, Iranian leader says US president 'can't control his emotions'. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacked Barack Obama on Friday, saying the American president "doesn't even know how to spell his own name properly."During a visit to Bushehr ahead of a scheduled rally in support of his regime, the Iranian leader said, "Obama wants to rule the world, but he can't even control his own emotions."Thousands of Iranians are expected to take to the streets after Friday prayers to show their support for the regime in Tehran and protest against opposition leaders Mir Hussein Moussavi Mehdi Karroubi.A statement issued by the regime in Tehran said, "The public will unite and express hatred toward the barbaric crimes of the incitement leaders and their hypocritical allies." Iranian lawmakers called for opposition leaders to be tried and executed as punishment for the protests that took place in Tehran on Monday and after the disputed 2009 presidential elections.Read the full story here.

• HT:WindsofJihad.Turkish “Council of Europe” Tells Euro Dhimmies Not to Expel Mohammedan Invaders.Who the hell is Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to tell Europeans “there must be no mass expulsion….?” How come Turkey refuses to accept fellow Muslims from Africa?Europe’s top rights body said Italy must not expel thousands of illegal migrants who arrived in recent days, mainly from Tunisia, but should take responsibility for them.The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on Italy to involve UN and other aid agencies in dealing with the migrants, about 5,000 of whom have arrived on its small island of Lampedusa in the past week.“Notwithstanding the need for action, there must be no mass expulsion,” assembly president Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a statement, adding that “those in need of protection must receive it”.“It is necessary to understand why these persons are leaving and to tackle the causes, including the criminal networks which are exploiting the uncertainties in Tunisia,” he said.The migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean from Tunisia are seeking employment in Europe, with their own country unstable a month after the fall of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.Cavusoglu said it was also “absolutely necessary that Europe share the responsibility for these people”.Hmmmm......How about Muslim countries accepting them?Like for example Turkey's friend Iran?Get Turkey out of Europe and  NATO!Read the full story here.

• HT:BigPeace.With Friends Like These…If you’ve been a longtime, stalwart ally of the United States, you’d better run for your life.Since Barack Obama has been president, he has managed to diss each one of our allies, in varying degrees of seriousness from merely insulting to full-on betrayal.Most recently, Obama threw our ally of three decades, now-former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, under the bus in record time. Crowds of indeterminate nature in the streets? See ya, Mubarak! Nice knowin’ ya. Now scram.When he first entered the White House, Obama dissed our greatest ally, the British, by returning a bust of Winston Churchill, the savior of Western civilization. The bust was a gift from the British, but the Bama needed to make room for all of those photos of Michelle with her buff arms, so something had to go. He also dissed the British by giving the Prime Minister DVDs that he was unable to watch on European players, and to the Queen, an iPod….loaded with his own speeches. Her Majesty was all, “WTF?”Not to mention handing over to Russia British nuclear secrets that the British begged Obama not to divulge. Yo, Vlad: the Brits have 6 nuclear subs fitted with 30 nuclear warheads each. Liz: don’t sweat it. it’s just your top secret national security stuff.He dissed the French by arriving in Paris only to turn down a dinner invitation from French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Seriously: no one does that. Not only is that a breach of presidential protocol, but it’s stupid. Have the Obamas ever tasted French food??And he has royally dissed our great Israeli allies, by publicly and relentlessly demanding an end to settlement construction—without demanding reciprocal concessions from the Palestinian side. Now we hear that Team Obama is taking the diss a step further and will support a U.N. Security Council statement rebuking Israel over the settlements issue. The Middle East is aflame, Israel’s enemies are on the march, there may not be an Israeli-Egyptian peace much longer, Iran is now on all sides of Israel in the form of Hamas and Hezbollah, and Iran itself is working feverishly on a nuclear weapon with which to destroy Israel, and Obama thinks now would be a good time to turn our back on her.This is how he treats our friends. But if you’re an enemy of the United States, no problem! Let’s talk, Iran! Let’s negotiate, Russia! Let’s deal, North Korea! Sit down for a splashy state dinner, China! What up, Hugo Chavez!You can’t treat allies like this and expect them to be allies for long. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe the point is to poison our strongest and best relationships and reward our enemies. Maybe the point is to weaken the United States and our place in the world in order to create….a new world order….in which we have been taken down and the bad guys have been elevated. The actions of the American president have followed enough of a pattern for enough time that it’s clear he’s more comfortable in bed with the bad guys than with our friends.Obama has taken us into the years of living dangerously.Hmmmm.....If you wanted to destroy America would you do anything different?Read the full story here.

• House GOP Passes Budget Amendment Blocking Funding for Obama’s Army of “Czars”…The House GOP approved an amendment to a government-spending bill that would block funding for the Obama administration’s so-called policy “czars,” appointed advisers to the president that have been much-criticized by Republicans.The amendment, offered by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), specifically targets Obama’s “climate czar” by blocking funding for the assistant to the president for energy and climate change, the position’s official title. The amendment would block funding for the ‘czars’ through the end of the fiscal year, when the spending bill would run out. The underlying bill also includes a provision to block funding for the position.“I think this sends a strong signal to the president that we are tired of him running this shadow government, where they have got these czars that are literally circumventing the accountability and scrutiny that goes with Senate confirmation,” Scalise said after the vote.Carol Browner, who currently holds the position, announced last month that she will resign, leaving the future of the office is very much in doubt.Hmmmm......What would be the chances that he mobilises his Oprichniki now and sends us all to the Gulag?Read the full story here.

• HT:EmergingCorruption.Teachers Union Thugs Comparing People to Hitler, Shutting Down Schools, Losing Their Argument.One cannot be a leftist without being a hypocrite. It really is just that simple. The last several days in Wisconsin has again born that truism out, too, as teachers union thugs in the Badger State have indulged every manner of behavior that they have constantly condemned the right for engaging in — even as no one on the right has actually done the things the left charges them with doing. With the protests that swept down upon the State Capitol in Madison we are seeing the sort of behavior that is the antithesis of democracy. These teacher thugs are flooding into the capitol disrupting the state senate chambers, these teacher thugs are sporting signs with Governor Walker depicted as Hitler, these teacher thugs are attempting to thwart the will of the voters that put a Republican Governor into office to do exactly what he is trying to do, these teacher thugs are even making a pig sty out of the capitol grounds with piles and piles of garbage.So what is all this about? Simply that the State of Wisconsin is out of money and can no longer afford to pay public employees more in wages, benefits, and pensions than anyone in the private sector can make. Newly elected Governor Scott Walker ran on a platform of reigning in the greedy, overpaid unions and he is now making good on that campaign issue.Worse, these teacher thugs have shut down the schools and taken the kids from the schools to the state capitol to whine for the union agenda. Imagine how up in arms the left would be if conservatives had taken kids out of school to take them to a political rally!In fact, Walker’s goal, he has said, is to avoid laying off public employees. He hopes that by asking union members to pay a tiny bit more into their own pensions and healthcare will take pressure off the bankrupt state’s coffers. He hopes that the hike in premiums will help keep the employees at work. If he cannot get these concessions, though, he’ll be forced to begin massive layoffs.Sadly, instead of seeing reality writing on the wall, unions are doubling down on their anti-democratic, greedy, unsustainable demands. They realize that they are fast losing the complete lock on power they once had and instead of making logical concessions they are making it war to the hilt.The American people are about sick of these union thugs. Prepare for the teachers to lose all sympathy from the voters.Read the full story here.More here from Michelle Malkin.

• HT:Familysecuritymatters.The Gypper And The Gipper.Identity Theft and the Obama Presidency.In one of the most bizarre political gambits in our history, President Obama and his dwindling band of cheerleaders—nervously eyeing the big game in 2012—have been trying to cast an over-inflated community organizer as the reincarnation of the Gipper.It ain’t working.No matter how often Obama drops President Reagan’s name or how shamelessly his flaks attempt to link this shrinking, spineless president to the bold, visionary giant who turned a broken nation around, nobody’s buying this preposterous propaganda.Comparing Barack Obama to Ronald Reagan is like comparing Bernie Madoff to Warren Buffett: Hustling your clients isn’t heroism, and fraud’s not a formula for enduring success.At a press conference last Tuesday, Obama couldn’t restrain himself from invoking Reagan’s name yet again, associating him with Tip O’Neill (another disgraceful linkage). But you only had to listen to that presser or read the transcript to grasp the immense distance between Obama/Hamlet, forever wringing his hands and wondering, “To be, or not to be?” and Reagan/Henry V embracing a battle the Washington court heralds insisted he could not win.Obama isn’t another Ronald Reagan. He’s Jimmy Carter Lite, a deer in the headlights of history, overwhelmed by international crises he doesn’t understand and that don’t make any sense in the politically correct world-view he brought to the Oval Office. This is a president who can’t even stand up to Pakistan, let alone lead the free world through the present Valley of the Shadow.And he still blames George W. Bush for everything from excessive spending to the Black Death.Reagan understood that our nation’s borders stood for something. Obama thinks we should be ashamed of them. Reagan fought illegal drugs. Obama enjoyed them. Reagan took a bullet and shrugged it off as part of the job. Obama can’t take hard questions from reporters.Nonetheless, get ready for Obama on horseback, wearing a ten-gallon hat and popping jelly beans.It’s “Mourning In America.”Hmmmmm........Amen.Read the full story here.

• HT:RedState.The Battle is in Front of You: What are YOU going to do about it?Get Connected. Get Engaged. Get Activated...Or Get Crushed.At this very moment, the battle for America’s future is happening in states all around the country as newly-elected governors try to wrest control from tax-eating unions. Today’s battle is just the beginning of what America will be facing through 2012 and beyond. It is a battle that, if lost, will likely have catastrophic consequences on the fiscal well being of many of the states and, as a result, the nation as a whole.Nowhere is the fight the loudest than in Wisconsin, where over 10,000 union supporters protested Madison’s Capitol Square on Tuesday and about 1,000 protesters demonstrated outside Governor Scott Walker’s private home Tuesday night. Hundreds of union protesters also packed Ohio’s statehouse on Tuesday to condemn Governor Kasich’s efforts to stem the union bosses’ power and reign in out of control spending. In Indiana, hundreds of Steelworkers descended on the Hoosier’ statehouse to protest unemployment reform as well. Even in New York, with a Democrat governor, unions are spending millions on fighting reform.Make no mistake, this is a battle for America’s economic future. It is one that will ultimately decide whether Americans will be enslaved by debt created by a government beholden to public-sector union bosses, or whether some sort of fiscal sanity can be restored before the system collapses due to the weight from years of cronyism.Read the full story here.

• HT:WindsOfJihad."The war on Christianity".Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: “We don’t need the Torah, or Gospels, or any other book. … their role has ended, and there is no longer any place for them. The Qur’an has become dominant over them, and a substitute for all of them…”.The mask comes off. The Islamic replacement theology reveals its ugly face:[see Qur’an 3:62; 11:49; and 12:1-3].

The philosopher Maimonides, a Jew who lived for a time in Muslim Spain and then fled that supposedly tolerant and pluralistic land, remarked, “You know, my brethren, that on account of our sins God has cast us into the midst of this people, the nation of Ishmael, who persecute us severely, and who devise ways to harm us and to debase us.…No nation has ever done more harm to Israel. None has matched it in debasing and humiliating us. None has been able to reduce us as they have.…We have borne their imposed degradation, their lies, and absurdities, which are beyond human power to bear.”

Notably, Maimonides directed that Jews could teach rabbinic law to Christians, but not to Muslims. For Muslims, he said, will interpret what they are taught “according to their erroneous principles and they will oppress us. [F]or this reason … they hate all [non-Muslims] who live among them.” But the Christians, he said, “admit that the text of the Torah, such as we have it, is intact”—as opposed to the Islamic view that the Jews and Christians have corrupted their scriptures. Christians, continued Maimonides, “do not find in their religious law any contradiction with ours.” Source.Read the full story here.

• House Passes Amendment to Block Funds for Net Neutrality Order.The House passed an amendment Thursday that would bar the Federal Communications Commission from using any funding to implement the network-neutrality order it approved in December.The amendment, approved on a 244-181 vote, was offered by Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., to legislation that would fund government agencies for the rest of fiscal year 2011.Walden and other critics of the FCC's net-neutrality order argue it will stifle innovation and investment in broadband. The order aims to bar broadband providers from discriminating against Internet content, services, or applications."If left unchallenged, this claim of authority would allow the FCC to regulate any matter it discussed in the national broadband plan," Walden said.If the defunding effort fails, Republicans are pursuing a second route to try to block the FCC's open-Internet order. Walden and other Republicans in both the House and the Senate introduced on Wednesday a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which would give lawmakers a limited amount of time to try to block the FCC's net-neutrality rules.President Obama, who supports the FCC's net neutrality order, has threatened to veto the spending measure if it cuts government programs too deeply.Hmmmm......Of course we can't have democracy in my world.Read the full story here.

• Iran accuses opposition chiefs of treason.TEHRAN — Iran on Thursday accused opposition leaders of treason and vowed to block their ability to communicate with their supporters on the eve of a pro-regime "hatred" rally against them in Tehran.But in a defiant move, opposition websites posted calls for fresh nationwide rallies on Sunday to mourn the deaths of two people slain in Monday's anti-government protests, while opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi reportedly reiterated he was ready to face a public trial.Karroubi and fellow opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi are under de facto house arrest but have regularly issued messages to their supporters through their websites, including one which led to anti-government protests on Monday that left two people dead and several wounded.The protests angered regime-backers and prompted furious MPs to demand the execution of the pair, who were once pillars of the Islamic establishment."The treason committed by the movement of sedition leaders is not hidden from anyone," Iran's chief of judiciary Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA."This group which has rebelled against the religious government should know that while maintaining Islamic compassion we will not tolerate the establishment being compromised."Larijani said steps were being taken by the judiciary against the two and that the authorities were targeting their communication networks.Despite the angry outbursts from regime backers, Karroubi issued an Internet statement on Wednesday saying he was "ready to pay any price," while Mousavi in a similar way stated that Monday's protests were a "glorious achievement."And on Thursday, Mojtaba Vahidi, an aide to Karroubi, said that the cleric had reiterated to him that he was "ready for a public trial", according to Karroubi's website, Sahamnews.org.Prior to Karroubi's latest remark, an opposition group vowing allegiance to the two leaders, used the Internet again to issue a call for new nationwide rallies on Sunday to mourn the deaths of the two people at Monday's protests."We invite the noble Iranian nation to attend gatherings in Tehran and other cities on Sunday ... to commemorate the seventh day of martyrdom of the beloved," the Council for Coordination of the Green Movement Hope said in a statement on Kaleme.com, website of Mousavi and on Sahamnews.org.It said the Sunday rallies were also intended to show "decisive support" to the stance taken by Mousavi and Karroubi in "continuing on the difficult path of freedom and human dignity."It will "also show solidarity with our Kurdish countrymen in honouring the blood of these two dear Sunni and Shiite Iranians which was spilled while fighting religious tyranny."Sane'e Zhale, a Sunni Kurd, and Mohammad Mokhtari, a Shiite, were killed in Monday's protest.With regime-backers baying for blood, the Islamic Propagation Coordination Council, the body organising regime-backed programmes, has called for a rally against the opposition on Friday.Those joining the rally, the council said, will "scream out their hatred, wrath and disgust against the savage crimes and evil movements of sedition leaders, their Monafeghin (hypocrites) and their monarchist allies."Read the full story here.

• Iran 'hatred' rally demands opposition chiefs be hanged.Tens of thousands of regime loyalists poured into the streets of Tehran on Friday to demand that opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi be hanged for their “rebellion.”“Death to Mousavi! Death to Karroubi! Mousavi, Karroubi should be hanged!” worshippers chanted as they emerged from Friday prayers at Tehran University to join crowds of loyalists marching toward the prominent Enghelab (Revolution) Square.Many among the vast crowds were carrying posters of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and chanting “Allahu Akbar!” or “God is great” as they railed against Mousavi and Karroubi, both former pillars of the Islamic regime.In his Friday prayer sermon, the hard-line cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, the head of the powerful Guardians Council, demanded the total isolation of Mousavi and Karroubi as worshippers chanted “American servants, shame on you!”Janati said the judiciary must “cut access [of Mousavi and Karroubi] with the people completely, the doors of their homes must be shut... so that they can’t receive and give messages, their phones... Internet must be cut and they [must] be imprisoned in their homes.The supporters of Mousavi and Karroubi remain defiant and have mobilized supporters through the Internet, calling for nationwide rallies Sunday to mourn the deaths of the two slain in Monday’s protests.The Sunday rallies are also intended to show “decisive support” to Mousavi and Karroubi for “continuing on the difficult path of freedom and human dignity,” the Council for Coordination of the Green Movement Hope said in a statement on Kaleme.com and Sahamnews.org, the websites of Mousavi and Karroubi.Hmmmm.......No word from Pres Obama probably too busy organising his Motown party?Read the full story here.

• Big Brother going NANO? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the army's latest $4million spy drone disguised as a hummingbird, measuring just 16 centimetres.A pocket-sized spy drone disguised as a hummingbird has been unveiled by a major Pentagon contractor measuring just 16 centimetres and weighing less than an AA battery.The mini spy plane can fly up to 11 miles an hour and took five years to develop at a cost of $4million.Army chiefs hope to use the drone’s tiny camera to spy on enemy positions in war zones without arousing detection and eventually deploy it into both rural and urban environments.Around 86 per cent of its orders come from the Government, meaning last year it was paid a whopping $215million from the Department of Defense.The company, based in California with 732 full-time employees, expects to sell even more drones to the Government once rules are relaxed to allow spying within America.The unveiling of the Hummingbird comes just weeks after the same company launched its $30million Global Observer with a wingspan similar to a Boeing 747 which can survey an area as large as Afghanistan.Chris Fisher, project manager at AeroVironment explained: ‘It gives the guy on the ground the opportunity to see what’s on the other side of the hill. There’s only so much you can see with binoculars. A small [drone] can get up and go over the hill. That gives the ground soldier a capability that is huge.He added: ‘One of the things we benefit from is the average young person in the military has hours and hours of video games experience. They are attuned to holding these things in their hands; moving the joysticks around with their thumbs and that’s how our planes are flown. To an 18-year-old it’s extremely simple.Hmmmm.....Hummingbirds are restricted to the Americas from southern Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, including the Caribbean. The majority of species occur in tropical and subtropical Central and South America."To spy on enemy positions in war zones"?Read the full story here.