MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• The volatile Lybian situation live streams here.

Live blog Libya Al Yazeera here. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, one of the Libyan leader's sons, has reportedly told CNN-Turk that his family plans to live and die in Libya."Plan A is to live and die in Libya, Plan B is to live and die in Libya, Plan C is to live and die in Libya."

Hmmm....by the way it seems Al Yazeera is now available on cable in Canada?"If you live in Canada, contact the following cable and satellite providers to subscribe to Al Jazeera English" Bell TV: 516 - Cogeco: 182 - Rogers: 176 - Shaw: 513 - Videotron: 173

• HT:AmnonandJonathan.Gaddafi's "Massada Syndrome".Libya….14 Tons of Mustard Gas…U.S. military and intelligence officials are closely watching Libya‘s stockpiles of mustard gas and their precursor chemicals as the North African country descends further into civil war.Proliferation analysts generally assess that Libya has close to 14 tons of mustard gas that it has not destroyed despite the announcement in 2003 that it would dismantle its weapons of mass destruction program.‘Obviously, the security of the Libyan stockpile of chemical weapons is a concern,’ a U.S. intelligence official told The Washington Times.Hmmmm....."Iraq Saddam has Mass destruction weapons".Read the full story here.

• China dispatches warship to protect Libya evacuation mission: Marks the PRC’s first use of frontline military assets to protect an evacuation mission.The PLA Navy has just dispatched Xuzhou, a Type 054 Jiangkai-II class missile frigate, from the ongoing seventh PLAN anti-piracy task force deployment off Somalia to steam to Libyan coast to provide support and protection for the ongoing evacuation mission there. The escort mission has been approved by the Central Military Commission, according to Xinhua, and at least 6,300 of the roughly 30,000 PRC citizens in Libya have been evacuated. The news agency adds that the Chinese evacuation is also utilizing chartered aircraft, overland routes to Egypt and Tunisia, ships from China’s major state shipping firms, and Greek merchant vessels in the region, which are said to be closely coordinating their operations with the Chinese government and plan to evacuate up to 15,000 Chinese from Libya.Beijing’s speedy response shows nimbleness in handling a situation where descent into chaos has directly impacted Chinese citizens’ security. As of 23 February 2011, the Ministry of Commerce said at least 27 Chinese-run construction sites had been attacked by armed individuals and that there were numerous injuries. Commissioned in 2008, Xuzhou is a 4,000-ton frigate with a Vertical Launch System capable of launching HHQ-16 surface-to-air missiles to protect against air threats and a hangar with one Z-9 helicopter. It is a solid medium-sized warship, but cannot carry many people and thus would not be useful as a rescue vessel. Xuzhou’s escort mission is likely designed to serve several related immediate objectives, including avoiding a USS Cole-style terrorism or irregular attack scenario that could harm evacuees, and sending a clear message to various elements in Libya not to harm Chinese civilians or disrupt their evacuation. Hmmm....This is the kind of leadership an American President should display,sadly America has a "Community organiser"!Read the full story here.

• HT:ElliotAbrams.Who’s the Superpower?US gets Lessons from China.China is sending a warship, among other planes and ships, to evacuate its citizens from Libya. According to the report, “The PLA Navy has just dispatched Xuzhou, a Type 054 Jiangkai-II class missile frigate, from the ongoing seventh PLAN anti-piracy task force deployment off Somalia to steam to Libyan coast to provide support and protection for the ongoing evacuation mission there.”In recent days, the White House has been saying that the United States had to watch its words and actions because American citizens were at risk in Libya. So instead of acting, we are building a diplomatic coalition. China has taken a different tack: to use power. Instead of biting their tongue, the Chinese appear to be making it clear to the Qadhafi regime that no danger to Chinese workers will be tolerated.That’s the path the United States should follow as well. As I’ve said elsewhere, we should be making it clear to Qadhafi and his remaining henchmen that the safety of Americans in Libya is their safety; if Americans are attacked or held hostage, they will end up the way Saddam Hussein did. But the use of power will do more than ensure the safety of Americans; it will also help bring Libya’s civil war to a better end. Today there are no doubt many Libyan officials and military officers who are on the fence. They know that a victorious Qadhafi will take vengeance against those who opposed him, so they won’t jump until they are confident he will lose. American power can help them make that decision. We too should be moving ships and planes, and visibly taking the steps that show our own power. The message should be that we want Qadhafi to lose and will help ensure that he does. The sooner we do this, the fewer Libyans will lose their lives to Qadhafi’s murderous machine and the sooner the violence in Libya will end.Hmmmm....Tough guy against old people and allies,quick to organise revolution but a  mollusc when it comes to real action!Read the full story here.HT:IsraelMatzav.

• Libyan: Qaddafi forces shoot hospital patients.A resident of the increasingly violent Libyan capital of Tripoli told CBS Radio News Thursday that armed supporters of Muammar Qaddafi, the country's longtime leader, have stormed into hospitals to shoot wounded demonstrators and take dead bodies to an unknown location."They go in with guns into hospitals," said the resident, identified only as Adel to protect his safety. "They take the bodies that are dead. In some hospitals, they have shot the wounded. This is true. I know it's very strange for the States, but this is happening today in Tripoli."In one example of the violence in Libya, Adel said he saw 62 protesters killed and about 100 more wounded in Tripoli's Green Square Tuesday."They're putting the bodies on half pickup trucks, and they're taking them somewhere we don't know yet because they don't want these bodies to go into hospitals," Adel said.That's not the only action being taken to cover up what is happening in the capital, Adel said. Armed pro-government supporters Thursday were forcing people to help clean up parts of downtown Tripoli and paint buildings."There are some streets where he's using the people in the houses; if they don't go out, he will shoot them with gunpoint to do that," Adel said.What the protesters want most from the international community is the establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya, Adel said."The guys are using helicopter gun ships to shoot people, shooting not bombing," Adel said. "It is terrifying. It takes a lot of pushing your guts to go out, but you have to."The situation in Tripoli continues to deteriorate, Adel said. Because shops are running low on basic supplies, lines more than 1,000 yards long form outside bakeries that do have food to sell.Hmmmm......This is the leader who gave Erdogan the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights.Read the full story here.

• Obama recruits an army of community organizers to carry his 'movement forward for years to come'.The community organizer who became president has launched a massive pre-reelection year campaign to assemble and train an army of new community organizers to carry Obama's "movement forward for years to come."Strengthening "our democracy" presumably has something to do with reelecting the revered leader in 2012.However, the Organizing for America recruiting message says nothing about politics or election campaigns and strangely talks in military terms of "a grassroots program that aims to put boots on the ground and help foster a new generation of leaders -- not just to help win elections but to strengthen our democracy in communities across the country."The same Obama campaign group was reported involved in fomenting and facilitating the ongoing Wisconsin protests against Gov. Scott Walker's budget plans.The message about what it calls the "Summer Organizing Fellowship" adds: "Effective organizing doesn't happen in a vacuum. It takes commitment, time, and hard work to build a movement around a cause." It does not specify what the "cause" is, other than promoting Obama and his agenda.News of the community organizer drive went out in an e-mail to millions of supporters and past donors Tuesday night by the ongoing arm of the Obama campaign, Organizing for America.It appealed for workers of all ages to volunteer to undergo professional organizational training this summer for stationing in communities all over the nation to drive President Obama's social and political agenda.The cadres "will be assigned to a specific community," the message informs, "where they'll work to organize supporters street by street, neighborhood by neighbourhood."Their job will involve recruiting additional Obama workers, running Obama-related events, knocking on doors to talk of Obama "and lay new groundwork to carry this movement forward for years to come."Another community organizer, Paras Patel, tells of one unforgettable moment actually meeting the leader for whom they all labor, President Obama. "He shook my hand," Patel recounts, "and told me that he was proud of me."No mention of an Obama organizer flag, uniform -- or salute.Hmmmm......How long before he writes "Mein Community"?Or what will be used for starting the next "KristalNacht"?Read the full story here.
I'll just leave the readers with this one comment on this story:

"I met some of his army and in some cases they are almost cult-like in adoration. One in his mid-twenties recieved full mental disability $850 per mo (and a $10K check for time out of work) a year ago. He is young, healthy and a College Graduate. The Social Security Administration approved his first application for benefits. (This in itself is rare I understand) If you find that perplexing perhaps this will explain it. He is apparently able to "volunteer" 20 hours a week at the local Dem Headquarters. (coincidentally located at a local union office) He calls folks as part of Obama's "grassroots" efforts locally. When the marching orders come he will be rested and ready. And he won't be encumbered by little things like working for a living. This isn't your mom's Democratic Party. If you're willing to say, "I'm a Certified Mental Case," your honor, " please give me money every month," you too - provided your politics are left wing, might receive a monthly stipend. I guess it boils down to pride and work ethic. Obama's supporters have little so the Dem's developed a nationwide "Acorn" funded by the taxpayers. If it wasn't so pathetic it would be frightening." source.

• HT"AmericanThinker.The "Obama Connection".O what a web !Remember as a kid drawing connect-the-dots pictures? Simply follow the dots and a clear picture emerges. As an adult, connecting the dots of Obama's actions leads to an oxymoronic picture. A clear picture of a murky web. Obama's actions continually link him to people and causes that the majority of Americans do not support. The recent event of another aid ship sailing to Gaza is an example of to whom and what the strands of Obama's web link him, and unfortunately America.Last year, right around the time Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi called Obama "our son," Obama earmarked $400,000 for two Libyan charities. The money was divided between two foundations run by Gaddafi's children; Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, run by his son Saif, and Wa Attassimou, run by his daughter Aicha. What noble causes did our tax dollars potentially help support thanks to Obama's generosity? Funding of the ship Amalthea: The Amalthea sailed to Israel with the intent of breaking the Israeli blockade on Hamas. It carried aid for a pseudo humanitarian crisis and supporters who were said to be "keen on expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people in the plight amidst the siege imposed on Gaza." The ship was funded by Saif Gaddafi's charity, Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association. Obama's friend, Bill Ayers, joined attempt #1 against Israel's blockade on Hamas. Saif joined attempt #2. One has to wonder which of Obama's friends will step up to the plate at attempt #3.As long as we are connecting the dots between Obama and Libya, now seems a good time to remember that the state department issued an official apology to Libya after spokesman P.J. Crowley made disparaging comments about Gaddafi's call for jihad against Switzerland. Apparently Crowley spoke on instinct instead of running his reaction by Libya's "son" first. As an Obamian spinmeister, Crowley learned that one doesn't speak ill of "family." What a web Obama continues to spin. One can only hope he falls into it soon, before all of American is smothered by it.Hmmmm....."They don't trust me because of my middle Name" and a million other things!Right about now would be a good time to start the impeachment procedure.Read the full story here.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Obama buddy calls on 'Palestinians' to 'fire' the 'Palestinian Authority'.Some of you may recall that Barack Hussein Obama has a close friend named Ali Abunimah. Abunimah, like Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright, became a liability to him during the course of the Presidential campaign. So Obama doesn't talk to them much anymore. Abunimah became a liability because he runs a little website called Electronic Intifada, which is supported by European governments, which is virulently anti-Semitic and which seeks to destroy the Jewish state.Hmmmm....."They don't trust mebecause of my middle name"?Read the full story here.

• Good Grief! Obama Ambassador Rice Skips UN Meeting on Libya.It’s not the first time Obama Ambassador Susan Rice skipped an important UN meeting.She also was absent when the UN held an emergency Security Council meeting on Israel’s raid of a ship headed to Gaza, when Iran was elected to the UN Women’s Commission and failed to speak out when Libya was elected to the UN Human Rights Council in May 2010.We’re in the best of hands.The United States was represented by Foreign Service officer and Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo. The Obama administration’s appointed ambassador, Susan Rice, skipped the Libya meeting and instead flew to South Africa to attend a UN panel discussion on global sustainability.Missing the only Security Council meeting on the Middle East revolution was not Rice’s first absence from high profile UN business. Rice was absent when the UN held an emergency Security Council meeting on Israel’s raid of a ship headed to Gaza and when Iran was elected to the UN Women’s Commission. Rice also failed to speak out when Libya was elected to the UN Human Rights Council in May 2010. As the Middle East continues to implode the Obama Administration attends a Sustainability Meeting.Go figure.Hmmmm......."There more important things to be done"...Like organising my new world order?Read the full story here.

• HT:YIDWithLID.Even Using Obama's Bogus Standards Porkulus Spent Between $230 & $590,000 Per Job Created/Saved.When the unemployment rate hit 10% the administration became desperate to make the president look good since that number blew through the presidential promise that if his stimulus bill was passed, unemployment would not rise higher than 8%.The spike in unemployment was a black-eye to the president and additional proof that the President's plan... the government spending like a drunken sailor on shore leave, did very little to help the economy. The administration became so embarrassed about the bad numbers, they changed the playing field. Job Creation was no longer the bell weather statistic, it became something bogus, Jobs Created or Saved.Here's the sad part, even using the bogus "Jobs Created or Saved" the latest CBO numbers show that the the stimulus plan was a horrible waste of money. In CBO report released yesterday (embedded below), called “Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from October Through December 2010" the bi-partisan CBO reported that the porkuous plan now is projected to dump up to $821 billion into the progressives Keynesian black hole, up from the original projection of $787 billion.Even at the lower level of $228 thousand per job it show that the Porkulus plan was a waste. Think about it, they could have paid every unemployed person $100,000 and still have saved $461 billion. Not that I would recommend that particular approach, but imagine where our economy would be today if those funds were put into tax reductions--more jobs for less costs.Hmmmmm......It's high time that Congress stops this "Obamamination".Read the full story here.

• HT:YIDWithLID.What About Transparency? White House Staff Meets With Lobbyists Off Site To Avoid Disclosure.Transparency like you’ve never seen before October 30, 2009 at 04:31 PM EDT ..Today marks a major milestone in government transparency -- and an important lesson in the unintended consequences of such vigorous disclosure. We previously announced that the White House in December of this year would -- for the first time in history -- begin posting all White House visitor records under the terms of our new voluntary disclosure policy. As part of that initiative, we also offered to look back at the records created before the announcement of the policy and answer specific requests for visitor records created earlier in the year. Like much of what we were told about the Obama White House the statement above turns out to be not entirely true. First of all their disclosure policy was not exactly voluntary, it followed freedom of information requests from a host of organizations such as Judicial Watch.The other thing that is not quite truthful is that we will now be able to have transparency regarding who is having influence over the White House Staff. According a new report by Politico, White House Staffers are getting around having their visitors recorded by having their meetings outside the White House. It gets better, WH Staff who have met with lobbyists off premises have asked them to sign confidentiality agreements barring them from disclosing what was discussed at meetings with administration officials. According to the administration, this is done to “maintain the integrity of our decision-making process.” But to others it smells.Wooh, are they accusing the Obama administration of talking out of both sides of their mouths? Who'd have thought it?During last year’s push to move comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) legislation on Capitol Hill, the White House invited business lobbyists and executives from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Restaurant Association and others to a Jackson Place meeting with senior policy staffers.“We would like to convene a small meeting with White House staff on Friday at 12 noon (736 Jackson Place — see attached map), to discuss the current progress of CIR legislation,” a White House invitation obtained by POLITICO said.The email was sent on a Wednesday, two days before the meeting, which left time for background checks had staffers wanted to hold the meeting at the White House. Some lobbyists suspected they were being kept outside the gates for political, rather than logistical, reasons.Hmmmm......Tsars ..Shadow government...Muslim Brotherhood...etc..etc... IMPEACH him!Read the full story here.

• UAE - Man accused of raping maid.A Pakistani driving instructor allegedly raped a Filipina housemaid who stayed in his house upon the request of her recruitment agency for one day.According to the prosecution sheet, MK, 34, raped RZ, 31, who was asked by an Ajman-based company to serve in the house of the accused’s family for one day until her passport was renewed.The accused sneaked into the living room and threatened the maid with deportation if she refused to have sex with him. She submitted to him and he went back to his bedroom.The report said that the maid got pregnant."The recruitment company informed my Emirati sponsor that my passport needed to be renewed at the Philippines Consulate in Dubai. My sponsor took me to the company in Ajman. They asked me to spend one day at the accused’s house. I went along with him and his wife."At about 3:30am, while I was sleeping in the living room I felt MK coming into the room. He molested me and said he wanted to have sex with me otherwise he would deport me. He undressed and raped me. I remained silent as I was scared and could not push him away from me. He took a shower and went to his bedroom,” RZ testified before the Prosecution.“The accused’s wife took me to the Consulate and dropped me at the recruitment agency's office. My Emirati sponsor picked me from Ajman and after five days I told him about the incident,” she testified."Later my sponsor admitted me to a hospital for checkup and doctors told that I was pregnant and the pregnancy happened while I was in Dubai and not in my home country,” she told the prosecutors.The Emirati sponsor testified that the recruitment company was responsible for the housemaid on that day and hence he reported the rape incident to the police.Although MK admitted having sex with RZ in his house before the Police and the Prosecution, he denied the accusation before the Court.Read the full story here.

• Turkish TV crew snubbed by PM's Office.Polish channels hire Turkish TV team, but crew not allowed to enter Prime Minister's Office.No entrance to Turks? A Turkish television crew hired by the Polish media in order to cover Poland's prime minister's visit to Israel was not allowed to enter the Prime Minister's Office compound. Ynet learned that two Polish television stations, including the popular TVP news channel, hired the TV crew from a well-known Turkish firm that provides such services worldwide. The team, which was hired in order to air images from the joint Israeli-Polish government session, arrived at the PM's Office on time. The Polish channels protested to their country's embassy in Israel and to the Prime Minister's Office, but to no avail. The TV crew did not receive a permit and the Poles were forced to arrange the broadcast using an alternate solution. The PM's Office said that "there is no connection whatsoever between the TV crew's Turkish nationality and its delay." Officials blamed the Turkish company for the incident, claiming that it did not submit the required permits."There is a clear procedure for permitting the entry of TV crews into the Prime Minister's office…the TV crew arrived without any coordination and without the required permits," the Prime Minister's Office said. "Moreover, the team arrived without journalists IDs as required of any journalist arriving at the Office…the PM's Office has worked with Turkish media and will continue working with them in the future." Hmmmm......Heh.Read the full story here.

• Report: Iran hunts for uranium.Tehran expanding global search for nuke materials, says new intelligence report. Iranian engineers to map out uranium deposits in Africa, focuses on Zimbabwe, document says.Iran is expanding its covert global search for the uranium it needs for its nuclear activities and a key focus is Zimbabwe, says a new intelligence report acquired Tuesday by The Associated Press. The report is in line with international assessments that Iran's domestic supplies cannot sustain its nuclear program that could be turned toward making weapons.An intelligence report from a member country of the International Atomic Energy Agency - shared with the AP by an official from that nation - says Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi met secretly last month with senior Zimbabwean mining officials "to resume negotiations ... for the benefit of Iran's uranium procurement plan." "This follows work carried out by Iranian engineers to map out uranium deposits in Africa and assess the amount of uranium they contain," said the two-page intelligence summary. The report - confirmed independently by an official from another IAEA country - was shared as an Iranian delegation led by the head of the Cooperative Ministry Abbas Johari was meeting Thursday with "agriculture and mining interests" in the Zimbabwean capital Harare."Iran's known uranium ore reserves are limited and mostly of poor quality making them commercially unprofitable to mine," says former United States Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation Mark Fitzpatrick. With the completion date of any Iranian nuclear reactor network decades away, Tehran may have other pressing reasons to look for replenishable ore supplies, said Fitzpatrick, now head of nonproliferation for the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. Iran, he said, now has enough uranium gas to make 20 or 30 nuclear weapons, should it choose to turn what it says is a peaceful program into making such arms. If that supply were destroyed by a military attack or sabotage, "that could put a serious crimp into Iran's ability to reconstitute the program." "That's why for strategic reasons it's not surprising that Iran is continuing to try to acquire additional sources," he added.Hmmmm.....Anyone taking a bet for an Iranian nuclear weapon by the end of the year?Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.The bodyguard: A Turkish-Israeli love story.Turkish bodyguard, Israeli consulate employee in Istanbul meet at airport, fall in love. Now his mission doubles: Protect diplomat and wife.They met at the Istanbul airport, exchanging glances when she was an Israeli diplomat working at the Israeli Consulate, and he worked as a local security guard for El-Al. When flights to Turkey were suspended, the Turkish guard became her personal bodyguard, and a love story began to unfold. Just recently they got married and decided to move to Israel.R. is a longtime employee of the Foreign Ministry who previously worked for such former foreign ministers as Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu and Silvan Shalom. In the past few years she has been serving as an Israeli diplomat at the Israeli Consulate in Turkey. Along with her colleagues she faced harsh protests following Operation Cast Lead, which damaged the relations between the two countries. Not once did the diplomats receive death threats causing them to work from home or return to Israel. R. met V., a Turkish Jew, while flying to Israel. He was an El-Al security guard stationed in Istanbul and was hired by the Israeli consul. A few years ago, when El-Al stopped all flights to Turkey, V. became a guard for the colsulate, working closely with R. Just like the famous Hollywood film "The Bodyguard", which tells the tale of a romantic love story between bodyguard Kevin Costner and star Whitney Houston, R. and V. became romantically involved and the affair turned into a blossoming relationship.Initially they kept their love a secret, but when they decided to get married they faced a problem – according to Foreign Ministry policy couples cannot work together in the same delegation. R. filed a special request to allow V. to continue to work alongside her at the consulate in Turkey. A special Foreign Ministry committee looked into the matter and granted her unique request, seeing as the two had only a few more months to serve together. Recently the two arrived in Israel for a visit and exchanged vows in Jerusalem. They have been living together since then, and now V. plans to make aliyah and build their new home in Israel.Hmmmm.......Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less. Rabbi Julius Gordon. Read the full story here.