MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• Arab League to Convene Emergency Meeting on Libya. The Arab League (AL) announced that it will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday afternoon to discuss the violent clashes in Libya. The meeting of the permanent representatives of AL's 22 members will convene at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) in its headquarters in Cairo, about the same time when the UN Security Council is due to meet over Libya in New York. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa called on Monday for an end to the violence in Libya, noting that "the demands of the Arab peoples for reform, development and change are legitimate, and the Arab nations' feelings are joined together in this decisive moment in the history of the region."Read the full story here.

• BreakingNews.4 Americans on hijacked yacht dead off Somalia.Killed by Somali Muslim pirates!U.S. Navy warship shadowing seized vessel takes action after gunshots are heard; 4 hostages apparently killed by captors, some pirates dead.The four Americans aboard a yacht hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia are dead. Hijacked by Somali last Friday off Oman, the Quest was being piloted toward the Somali coast - and was being shadowed by a U.S. Navy warship.CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports that gunshots aboard the yacht were heard, and the warship took action. All four Americans were dead, killed apparently by their captors. There were more than a dozen pirates on board, some dead and others captured, Martin reports. The yacht passengers were Scott Adam and his wife, Jean, of Marina del Rey, Calif.; and Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, both of Seattle. The U.S. Central Command says negotiations had been under way to try to win the couples' release."He decided he could take his pension, and he wanted to serve God and humankind," he said.Johnston and Adam worked together to start a film and theology institute. Adam also taught a class on church and media at the school.Since 2004, the Adams lived on their yacht in Marina Del Rey for about half the year and the rest of the year they sailed around the world, often distributing Bibles in remote parts of the Fiji Islands, Alaska, New Zealand, Central America and French Polynesia, Johnston said.Scott and Jane Adam documented their maritime missionary work on their website, S/V Quest Adventure Log. Johnston said that despite an adventurous spirit, the Adams were meticulous planners who knew the dangers they faced. The couple had sailed with a large flotilla to stay safe from pirates near Thailand earlier in the trip."They knew and we knew they still had to go by the Somalia coast," he said. "We're asking people to pray for them."Hmmmm....."Kill the infidels" comes to mind!Read the full story here.

• Iran naval ships enter Suez Canal, says official. Egyptian official says frigate, supply ship entered canal en route to Syria at 5:45 am.Two Iranian ships entered the Suez Canal on Tuesday and were heading towards the Mediterranean, a canal official said, a move certain to anger Israel.Iran appears to be testing the state of affairs in the Middle East after the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. A longstanding peace treaty with Egypt is crucial to Israel's regional security. "They entered the canal at 5:45 am," the official told Reuters. No other details were immediately available. Israel is anxious about political upheaval in Egypt and other Arab states aligned with its ally the United States.Polls in Egypt suggest most of the main political forces will be less compliant with Israel and its ally the United States, though no group has called for the abrogation of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Israel had said it takes a "grave view" of the passage of the ships - the first Iranian naval vessels to go through the canal since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. "We can see what an unstable region we live in, an area in which Iran is trying to take advantage of the situation that has arisen and broaden its influence by transferring two warships via the Suez Canal," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in public remarks to his cabinet last week. "Israel takes a grave view of this Iranian step," he said, adding the Jewish state would need to boost defense spending as a result of Tehran's move and recent regional upheaval. Hmmmm......What if the vessels head to Gaza instead of to Syria?Read the full story here.

• At least 65 people killed as strong quake collapses buildings in New Zealand city.WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A powerful earthquake struck New Zealand’s already-bruised city of Christchurch today, collapsing buildings, burying vehicles under debris, and sending rescuers scrambling to help trapped people amid reports of multiple deaths.The 6.3-magnitude quake struck the country’s second-largest city on a busy weekday afternoon, in contrast to a major quake that damaged Christchurch last September but caused no deaths when it struck before dawn on a weekend. Police said there were reports of multiple fatalities from the latest temblor, while Prime Minister John Key told Parliament that details of the deaths still were too shaky to confirm.Witnesses said the quake destroyed the iconic stone Christchurch Cathedral, its spire toppled into a central city square, and police said there was a report of two buses crushed under falling buildings.Live video footage showed sections of buildings collapsed into the streets, strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, and thousands of dazed, screaming, and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared.Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city center.“Make no mistake — this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city,’’ he said.“The details we have are extremely sketchy,’’ the prime minister told Parliament. “The worrying fear, of course, is that this earthquake has taken place at a time when people were going about their business — it is a very populated time, with people at work, children at school. Sadly, I cannot rule out that there have been fatalities.’’Read the full story here.Video of earthquake here.

• Related - New Zealand's Currency Tumbles After Christchurch Earthquake.New Zealand’s dollar slid to the lowest this year against the U.S. currency and yen after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused multiple deaths and toppled buildings in Christchurch, the Pacific nation’s second-largest city. The so-called kiwi slid versus all 16 of its major counterparts as buildings around the city were damaged by the temblor, which followed a quake in September that was the worst in 80 years. The New Zealand and Australian dollars also declined as investors sold higher-yielding assets on concern over escalating tensions in the Middle East as Libyan soldiers deserted in protest over a government crackdown.Read the full story here.

• Revealed: what CIA agent was really doing in Lahore as it emerges even Pakistan officials are 'worried for his safety'.The CIA spy being held in Pakistan for murder was working as a security contractor and living in a Lahore safe house, according to former and current U.S. officials.Raymond Davis, 36, was attached to the CIA's Global Response Staff, whose duties included protecting case officers when they met with sources. He was familiarising himself with a sensitive area of Lahore on the day he shot dead two Pakistanis, it emerged.Previously the U.S. had said Davis was a member of the 'technical and administrative staff' at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, who was entitled to full diplomatic immunity.Despite the revelations they still maintain that Davis is a 'protective officer, someone who provides security to U.S. officials in Pakistan,' adding 'Rumours to the contrary are simply wrong.'It also emerged tonight that Davis could be helpless to attacks from angry protesters despite increased levels of security at a prison in Lahore where he is being held.A senior Pakistani intelligence official said the government had taken measures to ensure the safety of Davis, stepping up security at the prison, removing certain inmates and sending a contingent of well-trained paramilitaries known as the Rangers.But there are serious doubts over his safety from both U.S. and Pakistani officials.'We are very mindful of the difficulty that the government of Pakistan faces with public opinion in this case,' department spokesman P J Crowley said. 'We remain concerned about him and our message to Pakistan remains that he should be released as soon as possible.'It was revealed that Davis had previously worked for private security contractor Xe, formerly Blackwater, which has become a byword for covert American operations targeting the country's nuclear capability for many Pakistanis.The news has given new life to conspiracy theories in Pakistan about armed American mercenaries roaming the country's streets at will.Thousands have rallied to demand that Davis be hanged and the Taliban had threatened attacks against Pakistani officials involved in freeing the Virginia native.The disagreement has already risked spinning out of control in recent days amid dangerous anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and U.S. threats of stronger Pakistan sanctions.It also threatens the relationship between the two spy agencies, the CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Some reports quoted Pakistan intelligence officers as saying the men Davis killed - 21-year-old Faizan Haider and 19-year-old Muhammad Faheem - were ISI agents ordered to shadow him.However a senior ISI agent claimed the episode had damaged its relationship with the 'arrogant and demanding' CIA.'We are a sovereign country and if they want to work with us, they need to develop a trusting relationship on the basis of equality,' he said.Hmmmm.....Just trust Obama's "transparency"to never know the truth?Read the full story here. 

• Gaddafi: I am in Tripoli, not Venezuela.State TV shows Libyan president entering car, denying rumors he fled country. 'Don't believe misleading dog stations,' he says as protests spread to military, diplomats. "I am here to show that I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Don't believe those misleading dog stations" – said Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi on state TV early Tuesday referring to the media reports that he had left the country. The video clip and comments lasted less than a minute showing the Arab leader, in his first televised appearance since protests to topple him started last week, holding an umbrella in the rain and leaning out of a van of what appeared to be his residence.Prior to Gaddafi's statement Libyan state TV promised the leader will refute "malicious rumors that have been broadcast against him", but in the video clip Gaddafi only referred to rumors saying he fled the country to Venezuela. His statement was released within a day of bloodshed in his country. The Arab media reported that over 250 people were killed on Monday night in a violent clash between protesters and the Libyan army. According to reports, air force warplanes and helicopters bombed and fired at residential areas where citizens gathered to demonstrate.Meanwhile, several military units and Gaddafi's own diplomats have spoken out against him, including Libya's ambassador in Washington, Ali Adjali. Deputy UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi accused the longest-serving Arab leader of committing genocide against his own people in the current crisis.Diplomats at Libya's mission to the United Nations sided on Monday with the revolt against their country's leader and called on the Libyan army to help overthrow "the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi."Earlier on Monday, Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi issued a fatwa on that any Libyan soldier who can shoot and kill embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi should do so “to rid Libya of him”. “Whoever in the Libyan army is able to shoot a bullet at Mr Gaddafi should do so,” Al-Qaradawi told Al-Jazeera television.Read the full story here.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.You won't believe this... Gadhafi's mother was Jewish.During a discussion on Israel Radio they just dropped this little tidbit. There is a Jew left in Libya. His name is Muammar Gadhafi. At first, I found it hard to believe, but when I Googled "Gadhafi's mother was Jewish" (without the quotes), the first three results all confirmed it. Gadhafi's mother was a Jewish woman who converted to Islam at the age of 9 or the daughter of a Jewish woman who left her husband for an Arab Sheikh. Those two narratives are not mutually exclusive. I kid you not.A year and a half ago, two Israeli women who claimed to be relatives of Gadhafi's were interviewed on Israel's Channel 2 television. The older of the two interviewees, Guita Brown, claimed that she is Gaddafi’s second cousin: her grandmother was the sister of Gaddafi’s grandmother. The younger of the two women, Rachel Saada, Brown's granddaughter , explained in more detail: “The story goes that Gaddafi’s grandmother, a Jewess, was married to a Jewish man at first. But he treated her badly, so she ran away and married a Muslim sheikh. Their child was the mother of Gaddafi.” While Gaddafi’s grandmother converted to Islam when she married the sheikh, according to Jewish religious law (and common sense), she was ethnically still Jewish. And that makes Gaddafi's mother a Jewess. And if Gaddafi's mother is a Jewess, what does that make Gaddafi?That means Gadhafi is Jewish - he can even be counted in a minyan (quorum of Jews for prayer).Hmmmm......Now i'm pretty sure what has been happening and will happen in the coming days in Lybia will be blamed in the Muslim world on his Jewish ancestry!Read the full story here.

• Allen West Confronted by Koran-Wielding CAIR Executive.At a townhall meeting hosted by Congressman Allen West on Monday evening in Pompano Beach, the Q&A segment of the meeting featured a Koran wielding Nezar Hamze, Executive Director of the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR). Hamze confronted Congressman West and asked him to point out where in the Koran does it give marching orders to Muslims “to carry out attacks against Americans and innocent people”. West quickly pointed out that the Koran was written long before America even existed and that it does indeed tell believers to kill infidels, and then proceeded to chronicle a lengthy list of historical Muslim acts of aggression. Congressman West closed his retort by referencing the Fort Hood shootings and 9-11 attacks, saying that his first hand experiences on the battlefield has given him insight into the tactics that Islamists use before telling Hamze not to “try to blow sunshine up my butt” with his criticism of him. West took offense to Hamze’s amateurish criticism of his stance on radical Islam and concluded by telling Mr. Hamze to “put the microphone down and go home.”Hmmmm.....Now this man would make a great American President if you ask me.Read and see the full story here.

• Daily Presidential Tracking Poll.The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -18.Yesterday and today mark the president’s lowest ratings since mid-December. It remains to be seen whether this is merely the result of statistical noise or a change in perceptions of President Obama. For most of 2010, more than 40% of voters voiced Strong Disapproval of the president. However, following his December agreement with Senate Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts, the level of Strong Disapproval had declined. It’s President’s Day, and 93% have a favorable opinion about Abraham Lincoln. Ninety-one percent (91%) say the same about George Washington. Most voters continue to favor repeal of the health care law. The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve.Hmmmm.....Time to start Egypt like "Down with the dictator protests"?Read the full story here.

• HT:Docstalk."The war on Christianity".Christian Community-You have been targeted.A well organized and significantly funded disinformation and intentional misrepresentation campaign has identified the American and Canadian Christian communities for intrusion. The campaign is in full swing now and will be amped up during the coming months and years. The message is quite simple: delegitimize Israel by means of revisionist history, lies and out right fabrication of facts. The purpose is to continue the isolation of Israel among the international community. The end game is the elimination of Israel. As a resident of Israel and pro-Israel supporter I am no longer willing to sugar coat the events and circumstances that have become the Arab-Israeli narrative. I choose to write and speak to you as adults. My intention is to alert you to the truth and I have faith in you to determine for yourselves the requisite actions in which you will engage. Unlike our enemies I will not misrepresent the facts nor share revisionist history talking points for purposes of indoctrination. Let us begin by acknowledging our shared values: Judeo-Christian beliefs and actions. Peoples in Israel and America created two nations grounded in these values. Legal systems, social behavior practices and ethical practices have been fomented in these shared values. We are intrinsically linked yet have unique differences that enrich both our countries. These values have generated principles of behavior specific to each of our social-political standings in the world community of nations.Bethleham, birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth, in 1947 had a Christian population that comprised 75% of its citizens. Today, that population has declined to 20-22% of the population. The city is in walking distance of Jerusalem, about 3-4 USA miles away. Jordan illegally annexed the city in late 1948 and was under its control until 1967. In 1995 Bethleham has been governed by the Palestinian National Authority. Their narrative that “explains” the dramatic decrease in Christian population is emigration of Christians and birth rate advantage to the ruling Islamic populace. This sounds “innocent” does it not? Conveniently our enemy has lied to you about the nature of the Christian emigration. Facts: Christians have been “driven out” by way of force, injury, assault, coercion, and blatant mismanagement. Do you remember how Islamists nearly destroyed the Church of the Nativity a few years ago? Do you know how many Christians have been assaulted and raped in the last 15 years by our enemy? I challenge you to learn the truth. Now, who is practicing apartheid?Our enemy expects you to be ignorant of the facts and then uses your deep sense of compassion to suggest that it is the Israelis who are the dastardly evil ones and they make the quantum leap to lie how the Arab tribes in Judea and Samaria are treated so poorly by the “occupiers’; oh, yes this is yet another intentional misrepresentation of fact. With carefully scripted lectures, “word-smithed” interviews and carefully staged photos and videos you are presented with a view of events, situations and circumstances that do not even pass the rigor of a good 6th grade science project in the states. They play on your passion and compassion and you have become a useful tool in their determination to eliminate Israel and much worse. Do not believe me, yet how can anyone forget the staged videos of “corpses” falling off a gurney only to rise from the dead and hop back on in order to suggest that death and destruction had been imposed upon them. Who can forget the videos of our enemies using Red Cross Ambulances to transport weapons, munitions and terrorists? Who does not remember the videos and the photos of “dead civilians” rising too early before the camera was turned off?Now tell me, who is really trying to fool whom? They are coming soon to one of your churches-what will you do?Read the full story here.

• Turkish PM Erdogan refuses to return Gaddafi award in face of calls from civil society.In response to growing calls from Turkish society on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to return the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights he received last year, the Prime Ministry said yesterday that “returning the award is out of the question.” As the growing anti-government unrest in Libya is met by the brutal response of security forces, Turkish civil society has begun calling on Erdoğan to give back the award in protest of the Gaddafi violence in Libya, a demand that was rejected by the Prime Ministry in a statement released yesterday. The refusal to return the award may be linked to the safety of thousands of Turks in Libya who still expect to be evacuated.The Young Civilians -- a civil society group known for its creative demonstrations in support of democracy -- made an open call to Erdoğan yesterday to return the award. “You showed sensitivity to what happened in Egypt. Take the side of the oppressed against the oppressive Gaddafi as well. Fix this evil act, which you cannot fix with your hand, with your tongue. Immediately give back the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights that you recently received. As long as this award exists on the shelves of the Republic of Turkey’s Prime Ministry, the responsibility for the ongoing massacres in Libya will remain on us,” the Young Civilians said.The group made a reference to a hadith (saying) of the Prophet Muhammad in their call to the prime minister to speak against Gaddafi’s cruelty that says: “When you see an evil act you have to stop it with your hand. If you can’t, then at least speak out against it with your tongue. If you can’t, then at least you have to hate it with all your heart. And this is the weakest of faith.”Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER) President Ahmet Faruk Ünsal also called on Erdoğan to return the award he received. Stating that it is tragicomic for a person [Gaddafi] who treats his people cruelly to give such human rights awards is as if he is ridiculing humanity, Ünsal said: “We hope Erdoğan adopts a kind of stance that is similar to his approach with regards to Egypt. This is what befits Turkey as well.”Hmmmm.......Somehow i think Erdogan's rule  isn't far away from Gaddafis rule ,just give him time.Read the full story here.

• Video : Pat Boone: Christians Must Mobilize Now to Defeat Obama in 2012.Christians must mobilize now if they are to have any hope in generating the momentum to turn President Barack Obama out of office in 2012, says legendary singer and conservative activist Pat Boone.See the full story here. Exodus by Pat Boone.

• Group of 90 Muslim Clerics Issue Statement in Support of Uprisings, Slam Democracy as “un-Islamic”…A group of Muslim preachers issued a statement supporting the revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt while slamming democracy and “un-Islamic” political parties.A statement issued by 90 preachers and religious scholars from all over the Muslim world praised the revolutions that ousted the dictatorships of Tunisia and Egypt for defeating oppression and ushering in a new era of justice and freedom.The statement, of which AlArabiya.net obtained a copy, criticized Zein El Abedin Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, the former presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, respectively, for humiliating and dragging them to a state of abject poverty.The statement, however, criticized the revolution’s call for the installation of full democracies. Democracy, Muslim clerics argued, allows the people have the final say in their countries’ affairs, which leads to the prevalence of several un-Islamic practices.“In democracies, people might vote for things that are prohibited in Islam like establishing brothels, allowing homosexuality, drinking alcohol, and usury, and prohibiting the call for prayers or the veil.”The alternative, they argue, is to apply the concept of “shura,” or consultation, only in matters that are sanctioned in Islam while prohibited matters should be out of the question.The statement also warned of the involvement of “un-Islamic” parties in the countries’ political scene and cited the example of political parties with communist or secular ideologies.Hmmmm.......Arriving on platform one the "Caliphate express"?Read the full story here.

• Dutch Move to Ban Sharia Law…Christian Union Senator Roel Kuiper wants to amend the constitution to include a ban on Sharia, Islamic law. Senator Kuiper made his statement in an interview with newspaper Trouw.The Christian Union politician wants to ban Islamic law because it is "not rooted in principles which form part of Dutch culture. Our rights, the way we treat eachoter, our norms of good and evil have all been molded by Christianity."Mr Kuiper argues that Islamic law is still grounded in retaliation, while the laws of a democratic constitutional state are geared toward forgiveness, correction and reconciliation."Our laws are not based in 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Our legal system applies the law, but knows reconciliation must follow."Senator Kuiper also wants to regulate the flow of money from Arab countries to Dutch mosques. The Christian Union politician says these measures are necessary "to take the Islam debate in the Netherlands a step forward". Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders has enthusiastically welcomed Senator Kuiper's proposal. "Sharia is based on the Qur'an. So this means an end to head scarves, halal food, the Qur'an etc."Hmmmm.....Finally human rights are recognised to be superior to Sharia.Read the full story here.

• So much for the diet: Anti-obesity crusader Michelle Obama feasts on ribs during pricey family vacation.Michelle Obama feasted on ribs while on her skiing holiday, it has emerged.The First Lady, who has spearheaded a campaign to change American eating habits, ate ancho-chile short ribs from a restaurant next to her luxury ski hotel in Vail, Colorado. The Obamas have already come under fire for the vacation, with the President accused of double standards after appealing for Americans to sacrifice their holidays just days before his wife and children went on the costly skiing trip.First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha are on the ‘private family trip’ for Presidents' Day Weekend.The first lady went to Restaurant Kelly Liken in Vail Village on Saturday night, dining on a braised ancho-chile short rib with hominy wild mushrooms, the Vail Daily reported.Chef and owner Kelly Liken said: 'Yes, it's true, the first lady dined at our restaurant tonight and seemed to really enjoy it.'Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh hit out at the First Lady for her choice of food on Monday.Speaking on his radio show he said: 'The problem is, and dare I say this, it doesn't look like Michelle Obama follows her own nutritional, dietary advice.'And then we hear that she's out eating ribs at 1,500 calories a serving with 141 grams of fat per serving ... I'm trying to say that our First Lady does not project the image of women that you might see on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue or of a woman Alex Rodriguez might date every six months or what have you.'She's a hypocrite. Leaders are supposed to be leaders. If we're supposed to go out and eat nothing, if we're supposed to eat roots and berries and tree bark, show us how.The trip came just days after the President tried to sell his cost-cutting budget to the American people by asking them to stay at home.‘If you’re a family trying to cut back, you might skip going out to dinner, or you might put off a vacation,’ he said.While Mr Obama is staying put at the White House, the rest of his family headed to Colorado – rather than visiting slopes closer to Washington in Virginia or Pennsylvania.Their trip came despite previous criticisms over the family's extravagant vacations, including a trip last summer to Spain.Mrs Obama also raised eyebrows when she left earlier than her husband for their annual Christmas holiday in Hawaii, incurring additional expenses estimated to be more than $97,000.‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,’ said one of the president’s most outspoken critics, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. ‘He’s got the single largest deficit in the history of the country and he’s trying to tell us that we really cut back here.’Hmmmm.....Somehow she reminds me of Imelda Marcos and i'm not talking seize wise alone. Read the full story here.

• Libyan air force pilots seek asylum in Malta. Pilots tell Maltese authorities they had been ordered to bomb anti-government protesters in Tripoli.Two Libyan air force jets landed in Malta on Monday and their pilots asked for political asylum amid a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters in Libya, a military source said. The defecting pilots told Maltese authorities they had been ordered to bomb protesters.But State TV quoted Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, as saying the military conducted airstrikes on remote areas, away from residential neighborhoods, on munitions warehouses, denying reports that warplanes attacked Tripoli and Benghazi.Al-Jazeera reported earlier that military aircraft had fired live ammunition at crowds of anti-government protesters in Tripoli. The network quoted witnesses for its information. "What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," Adel Mohamed Saleh said in a live broadcast. "Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car they will hit you."Warplanes swooped low over Tripoli in the evening and snipers took up position on roofs, apparently to stop people outside the capital from joining protests, according to Mohammed Abdul-Malek, a London-based opposition activist in touch with residents.Communications to the capital appeared to have been cut, and residents could not be reached by phone from outside the country.An analyst for London-based consultancy Control Risks said the reported air attacks indicated the end was near for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi."These really seem to be last, desperate acts. If you're bombing your own capital, it's really hard to see how you can survive, " its Middle East anaylst Julien Barnes-Dacey said.Libya's ambassadors at the United Nations also called Monday for Gaddafi to step down as the country's ruler. Deputy Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi said that if Gaddafi does not reliqniquish power, "the Libyan people will get rid of him." Dabbashi accused Gaddafi of committing genocide against his own people and urged the international community to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent mercenaries, weapons and other supplies from reaching the leaders and his security forces. The diplomat added that the Libyan delegation is also urging the International Criminal Court to investigate possible crimes against humanity committed against the Libyan people during the current protests.There were other reports of ambassadors abroad defecting. Libya's former ambassador to the Arab League in Cairo, Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who resigned his post Sunday to side with protesters, demanded Gaddafi and his commanders and aides be put on trial for "the mass killings in Libya.""Gaddafi's regime is now in the trash of history because he betrayed his nation and his people," al-Houni said in a statement.A Libyan diplomat in China, Hussein el-Sadek el-Mesrati, told Al-Jazeera, "I resigned from representing the government of Mussolini and Hitler."The Libyan government has a responsibility to respect the universal rights of its people, including the right to free expression and assembly, Clinton said.The US State Department also warned Embassy family members to leave the embattled country, saying protests, violence and looting were possible during the next several days. "Demonstrations have degenerated on several occasions into violent clashes between security forces and protesters, resulting in injuries and deaths," the State Department said in its warning. The move comes amid conflicting reports in the region, including one that Gaddafi was en route to Venezuela, a claim that government in Caracas denied. Hmmmm......So far for the Barbary pirate who demanded 5 Billion Euro to stop the Illegal Muslim immigration to Europe.Read the full story here.

• Wisconsin State Senator Smacks Down Chris Matthews: 'You're Completely Uninformed'.MSNBC's Chris Matthews tried Monday to push the liberal media meme that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker exempted police and firefighters from his budget repair plan because their unions endorsed him in last November's election."Well one more time you're completely uninformed," replied Republican State Senator Glenn Grothman who then proceeded to tell the facts to the obviously clueless "Hardball" host (video follows with transcript and commentary).Read and see the full story here.

• UK - Four men slashed teacher's face and left him with fractured skull 'for teaching other religions to Muslim girls'.Four men launched a horrific attack on a teacher in which they slashed his face and left him with a fractured skull because they did not approve of him teaching religion to Muslim girls.Akmol Hussein, 26, Sheikh Rashid, 27, Azad Hussain, 25, and Simon Alam, 19, attacked Gary Smith with a Stanley knife, an iron rod and a block of cement.Mr Smith, who is head of religious education at Central Foundation Girls' School in Bow, east London, also suffered a fractured skull. The four now face a jail sentence.Detectives made secret recordings of the gang's plot to attack Mr Smith prior to the brutal assault.The covert audio probe captured the gang condemning Mr Smith for 'teaching other religions to our sisters', the court heard.The RE teacher was targeted as he made his way on foot along Burdett Road in nearby Mile End on July 12 last year, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told. Prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse told the court: 'The evidence from what was said on the probe points overwhelmingly to a religious motive for this attack.' It is believed the gang had made two earlier attempts to get at the teacher.Hmmmm......"Interfaith dialog" in it's natural habitat?Read the full story here.

• California Mosque Distributes Literature Accusing Zionists of Working With Nazis to Deport Jews to Death Camps…California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has condemned literature distributed at an event at a local Muslim group’s center last week that suggests Jewish leaders in World War II Germany worked with Nazis to get permission to settle in Palestine.A flier distributed by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network — an event co-sponsor — said: “As part of this collaboration, Zionists . . . even kept silent about impending plans to deport Jews into Nazi death camps.“Zionism both exploited and hinged upon the rise of Nazism, and later, the Holocaust, to transform what had been a small nationalist movement with little support . . . into one capable of achieving statehood, based on support from the U.S. and other imperial powers.”Steinberg said that “in essence, they are saying the Jews orchestrated the Holocaust. Talk about blaming the victims.”About 500 people attended Wednesday’s address at the SALAM Islamic Center by Auschwitz survivor Hajo Meyer, 86, who compared what happened to him and other Jews in Nazi Germany in the 1930s to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Mona Alfi of Congregation B'nai Israel – one of 13 rabbis who had asked SALAM to cancel or boycott the event – said Sunday that "there is no comparison" between the ways Jews in pre-war Germany and Palestinians have been treated. "There are Palestinians in the Israeli government, there are universities with full participation," Alfi said. "There are real political problems between Palestinians and Israelis, but it's not what happened in Germany in the 1930s."Hmmmm......I guess they forgot to include this in their flyers?Read the full story here.

• Iran Has Largest Inventory of Ballistic Missiles in the Middle East.DNI: Iran has 'largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East' .WASHINGTON - The U.S. intelligence community has determined that Iran has acquired the largest missile inventory in the Middle East. Officials said Iran was developing a range of missiles, including those that could carry a nuclear warhead. They said Iranian missiles could target the entire Gulf and Levant areas of the Middle East. "Iran already has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East," National Intelligence Director James Clapper said. In testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, Clapper did not detail Iran's missile inventory. But the intelligence chief asserted that Iran was expected to produce nuclear warheads for some of its intermediate-range ballistic missiles. "We judge Iran would likely choose missile delivery as its preferred methodof delivering a nuclear weapon," Clapper said. "It continues to expand the scale, reach and sophistication of its ballistic missile forces, many of which are inherently capable of carrying a nuclear payload." At the Feb. 10 hearing, Clapper said Iran's missile inventory included. indigenous production of anti-ship cruise missiles. He also cited the development of a new rocket engine design meant for Iran's Simorgh space-launch vehicle. "This technology could be used for an ICBM-class vehicle," Clapper said. "We are watching developments in this area very closely". Hmmmm.....Anyone taking a bet for an Iranian Nuclear weapon by the end of the year?Read the full story here.

• Turkey in minefield as popular uprisings engulf Arab world.For any foreign policy maker in any country, the Arab world looks like nothing but a minefield these days as massive protests erupt one after another, bringing down not only oppressive but stable administrations of the past decades but also any sense of predictability as to what a post-turmoil order will look like. For a smaller group of a few countries that also includes Turkey, the situation is even more complicated as the wave of unrest hit Libya, a country home to 25,000 Turkish citizens, some of whom run business projects worth $15 billion.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan openly backed protesters demanding now-former President Hosni Mubarak's resignation and repeatedly urged the long-time leader of Egypt to do as the protesters say during an 18-day protest campaign that began in late January. Less than two weeks after Mubarak's resignation, massive protests are now being held in Libya against Col. Muammar Gaddafi and, in Turkey, many have already begun to call on Erdoğan to speak out against Gaddafi as he did against Mubarak in the name of consistency in foreign policy.But as thousands of Turks flock to Libyan airports to be evacuated, confronting the Libyan administration may not be the most wise policy option. Mindful of dangers facing Turks in Libya, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu declared the safety of 25,000 Turkish nationals on Monday the government's top priority. Turkey, an emerging regional leader, has long favored stability in its dealings with Middle Eastern governments and dramatically expanded political and business ties with its southern neighbors. For Özel, the turmoil in the Middle East is also a wake-up call for the Turkish government, which at times appeared excessively confident about Turkey's capacity to establish an order in its region. The lack of an established opposition in any of these Arab countries means predicting what the future holds for these countries and their relations with Turkey is highly difficult. Modesty as to limits of Turkey's capacity to influence events is key given the fact that there are too many things about these countries that neither Turkey nor another country sufficiently understands.Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi also made an unpleasant reference to Turkey when he vowed to fight the popular revolt to "the last man standing,” saying “we will not leave Libya to the Italians or the Turks."Hmmmmm.......Better the Italians than the Turks or their friend Iran.Read the full story here.

• British gay Muslims seek Islamic weddings.British gay Muslims are joining the global fight for equality and seeking gay Islamic marriage. The BBC's 5 live Investigates speaks to one couple about their 'nikah' - a Muslim matrimonial contract - and asks how they balance their sexuality with the Islamic faith. "We met about three years ago, at an iftar - a breaking of fast during Ramadan. "I think a lot of Muslims find that time of year very spiritual and very enlightening, and so I think that's why our relationship developed, because we spoke about our faith.""Eventually we went on a date."Asra recalls the first time she met her partner, Sarah, three years ago. The gay couple, who are also Muslim, are one of a growing number of gay, British Muslims who have cemented their relationship with marriage - Islamic marriage. Asra fondly remembers the moment Sarah proposed to her."After the first date, which was about an hour, Sarah casually asked me to marry her.""I think it was more like four hours, after dinner, coffee and walking. I didn't really plan it, but it just really seemed like the way it was between us, I should try and keep it as pure as possible."That may sound strange being lesbians, but it felt like we should do it the most honourable way we could."Asra and Sarah decided upon a 'nikah' - a Muslim matrimonial contract. Whilst nikahs have traditionally been the reserve of heterosexual Muslims, Asra and Sarah were aware that other gay Muslims had followed this route and the couple decided to investigate further."A few friends said you don't really have to have an official Imam, but you need someone who is knowledgeable enough about the Qur'an to do it. Fortunately, one of our friends was, and she offered to do it. She's a lesbian herself, and she said we could do it in her home."But the Islamic faith vehemently rejects homosexuality, and the fact this nikah was for a gay couple is highly offensive to the majority of Muslims - including Asra's own parents."It's still very difficult for me to tell my family about my life being a lesbian. They know I am a believer, they know I am religious, but going as far as saying I am a lesbian is quite hard," Asra says.Ministers have pledged greater equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, but said no religious group would be forced to host the ceremonies.The Church of England has said it will not do so. Quakers have welcomed the plans, with support also expected from Unitarians and Liberal Jews. But what about the Muslim community? "Homosexuality is not considered a halal way of living at the moment, so of course there's going to be an extreme reaction to a gay nikah. So, as a community we have to get tolerance before we can even attempt acceptance of marriage," says Asra.But she is hopeful for the future.Hmmmmm.....I wouldn't advice to go on a honeymoon to Afghanistan if i were them.Read the full story here.

• HT:PakistanChristianPost.Another Christian woman arrested on Blasphemy accusation in Pakistan.Faisalabad: February 21, 2011. The dispute on a residential plot among communities ended up in arrest of Christian woman under accusation of Blasphemy charges by Muslims on February 16, 2011, in city of Faisalabad in Punjab province of Pakistan.Agnes Nuggo wife of Bashir Masih resident of Ibnne-e-Marriam Colony, Faisalabad, had a dispute on plot of land on which Muslims had also an eye and wanted to grab that valuable piece of land.When Muslims failed to acquire plot from Agnes Bibi, they filed a complaint against her on defiling Islam in Saddar Police Station, Faisalabad.Agnes Bibi was arrested under Section 295 A PPC under FIR No. 136/11, on complain of Mohammad Adress Gujjar son of Mohammad Yousaf, resident of Chak No. 225?RB, Nazir Colony, Faisalabad.The millions of Pakistani Christians are under constant fear on death sentence to Asia Bibi on accusation of blasphemy and widespread protests by Islamic extremists and Fatwa by Islamic Cleric to put reward on her killing.Faisalabad is same city where Two Christian Brothers were gunned downed by Islamic elements in July 2010, in broad day light in District Courts when escorted for hearing in a blasphemy case. The culprits involved in killing of Emmanuel and Rashid are still at large.Mr. Khalid Gill, Chairman of Christian Lawyers Foundation CLF, have strongly condemned arrests of Agnes Bibi and misuse of Blasphemy law.Dr.Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC, have also condemned arrest of Agnes Bibi and demanded to repeal of blasphemy law.Hmmmm.........The country the 'Christian' President Obama gave tens of Billions of Dollars!Read the full story here.

• Afghanistan will not control all women's shelters.KABUL (AFP) – President Hamid Karzai said Saturday his government did not plan to take control of all shelters for abused women in Afghanistan, in an apparent contradiction of a previous announcement.Women's affairs minister Husun Bano Ghazanfar said Tuesday that the government had proposed authorising officials to take over "all existing women's shelters in Afghanistan."That prompted concerns from the United States and human rights groups, who said the move could put women in the shelters, currently run by rights groups and charities, at risk.The safe houses are run by foreign and Afghan groups to protect women from domestic violence but some conservatives and clerics accuse them of being fronts for prostitution or set up to remove women from their families.Karzai told a press conference Saturday that the problem was only with "one or two" shelters which he accused of corruption and "wastage"a.ka. Prostitution"."Those shelters which have conducted themselves well, which are in accordance with the procedures established and who have good transparency with what they are doing will not only be kept but supported by the Afghan government," he said."Those who are found in violation of the established standards and the rules and regulations will be taken over by the Afghan government."The US said Thursday it was "concerned" by the proposed changes and urged Afghanistan to support the work of women's shelters."While we recognize that the government needs to monitor shelters, it is important that civil society be allowed to operate these facilities independently," said Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state for public affairs.US-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said this week that it feared government-run shelters were more likely to yield to pressure from disgruntled families to hand back abused women to their families than independent ones.And on Friday, the Afghan Women's Network group issued an open letter and plea for the government plans to be reversed."On many occasions, government officials, pressured by influential people in society or political circles, have exposed the location of women seeking refuge or forced them to return to their families who punish them for trying to escape," it said.Hmmmm........Obama's policy first give hope then crush it again?Read the full story here.

• The New Normal In Canada: Politicians Attend Mosque That Condones Death To Apostates, Beating Your Wife.Politicians will do anything for a vote, that isn't news. However when our politicos attend events at institutions that openly preach hate then we have really crossed the point of no return. Any politican who lends legitimacy to Islamist hate mongers should be turfed from office.Case in point: Masjid Ibrahim, which also operates as the Peel Islamic Cultural Centre in Brampton. On Feb 19 Masjid Ibrahim hosted the "Muslim Professional Networking Event".The keynote speaker was none other than Munir El-Kassem, an Islamist who has openly praised the racist Louis Farrakhan and wrote this stunning apologia for the Taliban. Sadly El-Kassem is just a distraction in this story. In its "About Islam" section Masjid Ibrahim preaches that apostates may be either beaten or killed in answer to Question no. Q36. What is the Islamic judgment of a Muslim who does not observe daily prayers or the one who neglects some prayers? "As far the worldly verdict that should be established by the leader of Muslims against the abandoner of prayer due to laziness, jurists have three different opinions:

1. That he is out of the fold of Islam and should be killed due to apostasy.
2. That he does not leave Islam, but he should be killed according to the prescribed punishment if he does not repent and refuses to pray like the killer of an innocent victim.
3. He does not leave Islam, nor should be killed, but should be punished by beating and imprisonment until he prays. This is important to note as Masjid Ibrahim also preaches that the Ahmadiyah and Ismaeli sects are apostates and hence subject to beatings, imprisonment and death. If a Christian were to write this you may rest assured they would, at minimum, be hauled before the CHRC.Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.In Egypt, Reports Of Upcoming Release Of Leaders Of Egyptian Jihad Organization.Nagah Ibrahim, a leader of the Egyptian Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya organization, told the London daily Al-Hayat that the Egyptian Interior Ministry has begun preparations to release About Al-Zumar and his cousil Tareq Al-Zumar, leaders of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization, for health reasons. In the past, their requests for pardons have been rejected but their release is now being reconsidered because they did not escape from prison during the recent unrest. Aboud Al-Zumar, the organization's first leader, is serving a 40-year sentence for involvement in the assassination of Sadat, and for planning a coup in Egypt during the 1970s. Hmmmm.....These are the people the Obama administration is planning to give $ 1,57 Billion Dolar in 2012 ?Impeachment sounds like a good answer to this action.Read the full story here.

• The shocking images that prove the bottom of the Gulf is STILL dead and coated in oil - despite BP claims all will be well.Oil from the BP spill remains stuck on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a top scientist.Samantha Joye has video and slides that she says demonstrate the oil isn't degrading as hoped and has decimated life on parts of the sea floor.That report is at odds with a recent report by the BP spill compensation czar that said nearly all will be well by 2012.At a science conference in Washington today, Joye, a professor at the University of Georgia aired early results of her December submarine dives around the BP spill site.She went to places she had visited in the summer and expected the oil and residue from oil-munching microbes would be gone by then. It wasn't.'There's some sort of a bottleneck we have yet to identify for why this stuff doesn't seem to be degrading,' Joye told the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in Washington. Her research and those of her colleagues contrasts with other studies that show a more optimistic outlook about the health of the gulf, saying microbes did great work munching the oil.'Magic microbes consumed maybe 10 per cent of the total discharge, the rest of it we don't know,' Joye said, later adding: 'there's a lot of it out there'.The head of the agency in charge of the health of the Gulf said today that she thought that 'most of the oil is gone'.'This is Macondo oil on the bottom,' Joye said as she showed slides. 'This is dead organisms because of oil being deposited on their heads.'Joye said her research shows that the burning of oil left soot on the sea floor, which still had petroleum products.And even more troublesome was the tremendous amount of methane from the BP well that mixed into the Gulf and was mostly ignored by other researchers.Joye and three colleagues last week published a study in Nature Geoscience that said the amount of gas injected into the Gulf was the equivalent of between 1.5 and three million barrels of oil.'I've been to the bottom. I've seen what it looks like with my own eyes. It's not going to be fine by 2012,' Joye told The Associated Press.'You see what the bottom looks like, you have a different opinion.'Hmmmm......BP...."Beyond Prosecution"?Read the full story here.

• 'He IS a spy': Ex-Special Forces soldier held for murder in Pakistan confirmed as CIA agent.The ex-Special Forces soldier being held in Pakistan for murder is a CIA spy.President Barack Obama has claimed Raymond Davis has full diplomatic immunity as an embassy staffer. However, it has now been confirmed by unnamed U.S. officials that the 36-year-old had been working as a CIA security contractor for the U.S. consulate in Lahore.Davis, a former Special Forces soldier who left the military in 2003, shot the men in what he described as an attempted armed robbery in the eastern city of Lahore.A number of U.S. media outlets knew the truth about Davis but had suppressed the news at the request of the Obama administration.Davis is being held in Pakistan over claims he shot dead two men on January 27 in the city where he worked.His detention has sparked a diplomatic firestorm, with the U.S. seemingly willing to risk relations with its closest ally in the war on terror to get Davis, 36, back. Mystery had swirled around who Davis is and what exactly he was doing in Pakistan.Colorado television station 9NEWS initially reported Davis' status as a CIA agent after speaking to his wife.She had referred the station to a Washington phone number that turned out to be the CIA. The station had posted the story, but removed it at the request of the government. 'Because of the safety concerns, we decided to amend the story,' executive producer Nicole Vap was quoted as saying. She added: 'But it remains accurate.The decision was a blow to the efforts of Senator John Kerry, who was in Lahore lobbying for Davis' release. He had promised that Davis would be the subject of a criminal murder trial. Pakistani police officials had said they plan to try him for murder, arguing that while the Pakistanis did have a loaded gun, there was no round in the chamber. They also claim Davis shot one man as he was trying to flee.It has also emerged that a third Pakistani, a bystander named Ibadur Rehman, died when he was struck by an American car rushing to help Mr Davis.It also threatens the relationship between the two spy agencies, the CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Some reports quoted Pakistan intelligence officers as saying the men Davis killed - 21-year-old Faizan Haider and 19-year-old Muhammad Faheem - were ISI agents ordered to shadow him.They had been told to do so because he had crossed a 'red line', the rumours claimed. None of that has been confirmed.However a senior ISI agent claimed the episode had damaged its relationship with the 'arrogant and demanding' CIA.Hmmmm......What did i say a week ago about Davis killing two Pakistani intelligence officers ?Read the full story here.

• HT:GeorgeDemosForCongress.Rebuild the Church at Ground Zero, Not a Mosque.Brookhaven, NY-George Demos, the Conservative Republican Candidate for Congress in New York's First Congressional District issued the following statement on the proposed mosque amid the sacred ruins of Ground Zero and expressed outrage at our own government's refusal to rebuild the only house of worship that was actually destroyed on September 11th- the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.George Demos said:"On September 11, 2001, over 3,000 Americans, including 168 residents of our community in Suffolk County, were taken from us by the evil acts of Islamic extremists bent on destroying our freedoms. Amid the thick smoke and choking ashes of that fateful day, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was reduced to dust.Since 1922, St. Nicholas Church had stood as a quiet sanctuary of prayer and reflection amidst the tumultuous and bustling crossroads of commerce. For nine years the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey has used bureaucratic obstacles and false promises to hinder the rebuilding of the St. Nicholas Church. This must end and it must end now.What an outrage that our government has put roadblocks in the path of its own citizens trying rebuild their beloved Church destroyed by Islamic extremists, while Saudi Arabia, a nation that prohibits people from even wearing a Cross or the Star of David, now provokes the families of those who lost loved ones by apparently funneling money to build a mosque at the same location.As our Congressman, I will always remember that our Constitutional freedom of religion starts with respecting our own sacred Judeo-Christian heritage. Now is the time for the Port Authority to stop hiding behind its bureaucracy and to facilitate the rebuilding of the St. Nicholas Church that was taken from us on that quiet September morning nearly a decade ago."Hmmmm...........Read and see the full story here.