MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Iran Live Blog : 25 Bahman / 14 February. "The Bloody Valentine's Day Massacre "? Here .
• Opposition: Iran police arrest dozens of protesters.(Video) Security forces fire teargas to disperse thousands of opposition supporters chanting 'Death to the dictator' while marching toward Tehran square; dozens arrested during clashes with police in central Iran. Clinton slams 'hypocrisy' of Iranian government.VIDEO - Dozens of Iranian opposition supporters were arrested on Monday while taking part in a banned rally in Tehran to support popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, an Iranian opposition website said. "Witnesses say in some parts of Tehran security forces arrested dozens of protesters," opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi's Kaleme website reported.Security forces fired teargas to scatter thousands of opposition supporters marching toward a Tehran square, a witness said. There were also clashes between police and demonstrators, resulting in dozens of arrests, in Isfahan in central Iran, the country's third largest city, another witness told Reuters.The rallies amounted to a test of strength for the reformist opposition, which had not taken to the streets since Dec. 2009, when eight people were killed.The demonstrators marched towards Azadi (Freedom) Square, a traditional rallying point for protests in central Tehran dominated by a huge white marble arch. Hundreds of marchers also gathered in Isfahan and Shiraz, witnesses said.Turkish President Abdullah Gul, on a visit to Tehran, called on Middle Eastern governments to listen to the demands of their people, although he did not refer to Iran."We see that sometimes when the leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the nations' demands, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands," Gul told a news conference alongside Ahmadinejad.Speaking to reporters after meeting House Speaker John Boehner on Monday, Clinton said she and others in Barack Obama's administration "very clearly and directly support the aspirations of the people who are in the streets" of Tehran.Hmmmm......Obama silent.....The Islamic extremists are already in charge in Iran no need for "Change"?Read the full story here.

• Man charged in killing of Pakistani politician gets Valentine's gifts | CNN.Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Supporters of an accused assassin of a Pakistani politician brought him Valentine's flowers and cards Monday, the same day a judge charged him with murder and terrorism acts, his lawyer said.Pakistani police have said Mumtaz Hussain Qadri confessed to gunning down Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, outside an outdoor market in Islamabad last month.The suspect was serving as Taseer's security guard at the time of the shooting.Police said Qadri shot Taseer because of the liberal politician's campaign to amend Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws.The charges of murder and committing an act of terrorism each carry the possible death penalty in Pakistan.When the judge asked Qadri to enter a plea, he denied committing a crime, said Raja Shuja Ur Rehman, his lawyer."I acted against a blasphemer per the guidelines of the Quran and the teachings of the prophet Muhammad," Qadri told the judge, according to his lawyer. "I didn't kill an innocent person."Pakistani authorities held Monday's hearing inside the jail where Qadri is being kept for security reasons.Around 50 people stood outside the jail bearing flowers and Valentine's wishes for the accused assassin, his lawyer said.It wasn't clear whether jail officials delivered the flowers to Qadri.Since the shooting, Pakistan's hard-line religious groups have congratulated Qadri and held demonstrations calling him a hero, while condemning anyone who tries to change Pakistan's blasphemy laws.The next court date for Qadri is scheduled for February 26th when the prosecution is scheduled to present its evidence.Hmmmmm.......Come again?Isn't celebrating Valentine Haram for Islam?Read the full story here

• Muslim Brotherhood to form political party in Egypt. In a statement on Monday, Egypt’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would establish itself as a political party once the Constitution has been amended to allow it to do so.The group asserted its confidence that Egypt’s Supreme Council of Armed Forces would meet all its promises pledged in its fifth statement to the nation on Sunday.The group asked the armed forces to declare a timetable for amending the Constitution and holding new presidential elections. It also called for abolishing military tribunals and pardoning all political detainees.It also called for free and fair parliamentary elections under judicial supervision, for abolishing the Emergency Law and forming a new cabinet of ministers approved by the public.Hmmmm......What happened to last weeks "Muslim Brotherhood: 'We are not seeking power"?It's called Al-taqiyya Dhimmi !Read the full story here.

• Obama sends Congress $3.73 trillion budget.President Barack Obama sent Congress a $3.73 trillion budget Monday that holds out the prospect of eventually bringing deficits under control through spending cuts and tax increases. But the fiscal blueprint largely ignores his own deficit commission's view that the nation is imperiled unless huge entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare are slashed.Obama called his new budget one of "tough choices and sacrifices," but most of those cuts would be held off until after the end of his first term.Overall, Obama proposed trimming the deficits by $1.1 trillion over a decade. The administration is projecting that the deficit will hit an all-time high of $1.65 trillion this year and then drop sharply to $1.1 trillion in 2012, with an expected improvement in the economy and as reductions in Social Security withholding and business taxes expire."Presidents are elected to lead and address big challenges," said Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. "The big challenge facing our economy today and our country tomorrow is the debt crisis. He's making it worse, not better."Even some Democrats complained that Obama needed a more vigorous attack on future budget deficits."We need a much more robust package of deficit and debt reduction over the medium- and long-term. It is not enough to focus primarily on cutting the non-security discretionary part of the budget," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who called for a budget presentation matching the ambition of Obama's deficit commission.Hmmmm.....When will Congress stop this walking, talking and spending doomsday machine?Don't these politicians have any concience on what they're doing to their children ,grandchildren and the future Americans. Read the full story here.

• HT:TheDailyDish.Obama To The Next Generation: Screw You, Suckers.The logic behind president Obama's budget has one extremely sensible feature: it distinguishes between spending that simply adds to consumption, and spending that really does mean investment. His analogy over the weekend - that a family cutting a budget would rather not cut money for the kids' education - is a sound one. We do need more infrastructure, roads and broadband, non-carbon energy and basic science research, and some of that is something only government can do. In that sense, discretionary spending could be among the most important things government could do to help Americans create wealth themselves. And yet this is the only spending Obama wants to cut.To all those under 30 who worked so hard to get this man elected, know this: he just screwed you over. He thinks you're fools. Either the US will go into default because of Obama's cowardice, or you will be paying far far more for far far less because this president has no courage when it counts. He let you down. On the critical issue of America's fiscal crisis, he represents no hope and no change. Just the same old Washington politics he once promised to end.Hmmmm.....By now you could all start your own business in snake oil after the amount he sold to all of you.Read the full story here.

• Obama's drilling moratorium causes major company to go bankrupt.Seahawk Drilling Inc. said it has filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to sell its fleet of offshore drilling rigs to a competitor for $105 million.Seahawk, which announced the deal with Hercules Offshore Inc. Friday, has been hurt by a slowdown in Gulf of Mexico drilling after the BP oil spill last April. The government halted drilling in deep waters and imposed tough new rules that have curtained all energy exploration in U.S. waters.Seahawk owns a fleet of 20 jackup rigs for shallow water exploration, while Hercules owns 30 rigs, vessels and other equipment. It also provides drilling services. The deal creates a larger company with a more diverse fleet and greater operational flexibility, Seahawk said.Both companies are based in Houston.Hercules Offshore plans to buy Seahawk's assets using 22.3 million shares of its stock, $25 million in cash to retire Seahawk debt and additional cash for working capital. The Feb. 10 closing price of $3.62 per share for Hercules' stock brings the deal's value to $105 million.Hmmmm...."Change" you can see?Don't worry "together we thrive" over the cliff in to the abbys!Read the full story here.

• What did Davutoğlu mean?Evaluating recent developments in Egypt and the Middle East on CNN Türk on Saturday, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said “a common awareness that is outside the nation-state” was emerging in the region. Davutoğlu also characterized this as the “start of a historic turnover” in the Middle East which cannot be rolled back.At first glance this appears an innocent enough remark given that he went on to stress the importance of democracy and the will of the people as this process unfolded. However, a deeper look at this remark may merit a different assessment of what he is saying.It is clear that “a common awareness” is spreading across the Middle East which has the notion of “people power” at its heart. It is also clear that the driving force of this awareness is a demand for justice, equality and higher standards of living. From a secular perspective these are commendable views.However, if one is to take Davutoğlu’s remarks from the perspective of political Islam, it is clear that the hope is that this “awareness” will channel “the democratic will of the people” toward more Islamic regimes, which ultimately have less to do with the notion of a nation-state and more to do with the idea of international Islamic unity.This, at any rate, is Iran’s open desire judging by the statements of the highest echelons of the mullah regime in that country concerning developments in Egypt.If Davutoğlu is referring to the emergence of a common awareness which, while being above the notion of being a nation-state, has at its heart a call for justice and democracy in the universal sense, then there is no problem. If, on the other hand, he is talking of a common awareness that is emerging which has Islamic identity at its core, then there are problems in what he is saying.The notion of “Dar al-Islam” (“the House of Islam”), like the notion of “Christendom” throughout much of European history, is a universal concept as far as orthodox Muslims are concerned. Therefore, it can be debated whether an Islamic outlook on life is in the final analysis compatible with the “nation-state,” which ultimately divides the “House of Islam.”Assessing Davutoğlu’s remarks in this light, one cannot help but wonder if this is what he suggests when referring to an “emerging awareness above the concept of nation-state.” Given the closeness the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, feels toward Islamic regimes and groups, as well as some of its practices at home that upset Turkish nationalists and secularists alike, one is forced to ask this question.We will, as mentioned, give Davutoğlu the benefit of the doubt and assume that what he meant is that a common secular democratic awareness is on the rise in the region, and this is what cannot be rolled back.But he must understand in return that given the AKP’s political outlook, which is based on an Islamic worldview, any remark emanating from the government, such as his words to CNN Türk cited above, cannot be taken at face value.Hmmmmm.......Someone is dreaming of an Islamic Caliphat.And these are Obama's friends.Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Al-'Awlaki to Muslim Journalists: 'A Journalist Is Responsible to Allah for What He Presents to the People'.Keep Exposing the Crimes of the U.S. and Its Agents.Hmmmm.......Now read the next post!Why would he do this?Read the full story here.

• HT:AmericanThinker.Obama administration official urges cable companies to carry Al-Jazeera.AL Jazeera is filled with anti-American propaganda. It is also awash in anti-Semitism. The material broadcast stokes terror and violence.Why would the person who Barack Obama appointed to be the Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, Juliette Kayyem, advocate American cable companies carry the channel-a channel that cannot help but inflame tensions and anger and one that is not known for unbiased accuracy.From an op-ed by Kayyem in the Boston Globe: FOR THE past few weeks, a parallel plot line to the revolutions in the Arab world has been playing out in the media. With rare exceptions, the largest American cable and satellite providers simply do not provide viewers access to Al Jazeera English, the cousin to the powerful Qatar-based world news network.AJE has launched a full-fledged campaign - including advertisements quoting, of all people, major US news figures - to convince cable carriers to open their programming. But most have declined: Burlington, Vt., is the closest city to Boston where viewers can see the network on television.AJE's battle with the cable carriers is major news in the Middle East. Not carrying the network sends a message to the Arab world about America's willingness to accept information, unfiltered, from the very region we spend so much time talking about. These television wars began not in Tunisia or Egypt, but in Iraq.We have enough terror apologists in the media already without an entire station devoted to obscuring the truth being beamed in to America's homes.Hmmmm........"I will stand with my Muslim Brothers"?Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.A Looming Superpower Clash Triggered by Pakistan.The U.S.-led war against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan has deteriorated into a growing open conflict with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and threatens to rapidly fall into a full-blown war with Pakistan. Signs of such an upcoming clash between Pakistan and the U.S. can already be seen.In anticipation of such a full-scale clash with America, Pakistan is seeking an enhanced role for China on its side, thereby triggering a possible superpower clash, involving the U.S., China, Russia, NATO powers, and other regional players.The ongoing deterioration between the U.S. on the one hand and the ISI-led Pakistani government on the other is on the verge of falling into an open clash.Indeed a clash has begun, both on the battlefields and in the intelligence arena, as witnessed by the following:

The Military Level: Pakistan is Directly Involved in Afghanistan.

The Intelligence Level: ISI is Sabotaging American Intelligence Efforts.

Raymond Davis, an official of the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, was arrested for killing two Pakistani nationals. The Pakistani leaders have said that the two Pakistani nationals were innocent citizens. However, a report in a Pakistani daily has revealed that the two were members of Pakistani intelligence.Hmmmm.......Give them a few Billion Dollars more?Read the full story here.

• "If you want to live under sharia law, go back to the hellhole country you came from or go to another hellhole country that lives under sharia law," said Kanwar, who is a professor emeritus of sociology at Mount Royal University in Calgary.About one dozen families who recently immigrated to Canada are demanding that the Louis Riel School Division in Winnipeg excuse their children from music and coed physical education programs for religious reasons.The families believe that music is un-Islamic - just like the Taliban believe and then imposed on the entire population of Afghanistan - and that physical education classes should be segregated by gender even in the elementary years.The school division is facing the music in a typically Canadian way - that is, bending itself into a trombone to try to accommodate these demands, even though in Manitoba, and indeed the rest of the country, music and phys. ed are compulsory parts of the curriculum.Officials say they may try to have the Muslim children do a writing project on music to satisfy the curriculum's requirements. The school officials have apparently consulted the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, and they have also spoken to a member of the Islamic community suggested by those very same Muslim parents.In any event, the school district is trying to find a way to adapt the curriculum to fit the wishes of these families, rather than these families adapting to fit into the school and Canadian culture.Mahfooz Kanwar, a member of the Muslim Canadian Congress, says he has some better ideas."I'd tell them, this is Canada, and in Canada, we teach music and physical education in our schools. If you don't like it, leave. If you want to live under sharia law, go back to the hellhole country you came from or go to another hellhole country that lives under sharia law," said Kanwar, who is a professor emeritus of sociology at Mount Royal University in Calgary.That might be putting things a little more forcefully than most of us would be comfortable with, but Kanwar says he is tired of hearing about such out-of-tune demands from newcomers to our country. "Immigrants to Canada should adjust to Canada, not the other way around," he argues.He makes it clear, that like most Canadians, he is pleased and enjoys that Canada has citizens literally from every country and corner in the world, as it has enriched this country immensely. But it's official multiculturalism - the state policy "that entrenches the lie" that all cultures and beliefs are of equal value and of equal validity in Canada that he objects to."The fact is, Canada has an enviable culture based on Judeo-Christian values - not Muslim values - with British and French rule of law and traditions and that's why it's better than all of the other places in the world. We are heading down a dangerous path if we allow the idea that sharia law has a place in Canada. It does not. It is completely incompatible with the idea and reality of Canada," says Kanwar, who in the 1970s was the founder and president of the Pakistan-Canada Association and a big fan of official multiculturalism. Kanwar says his views changed when he started listening to the people who joined his group. They badmouthed Canada, weren't interested in knowing Canadians or even in learning one of our official languages. They created cultural ghettos and the Canadian government even helped fund it."One day it dawned on me that the reason all of us wanted to move here was going to disappear if we didn't start defending Canada and its fundamental values." That's when Kanwar started speaking out against the dangers of official multiculturalism.Kanwar says for years, some "non-whites like me" have felt comfortable pointing out the failings of official multiculturalism. What's encouraging is that now "whites" or the majority culture and its leaders are starting to sound the alarm.Cameron ended his speech by saying: "This terrorism is completely indiscriminate and has been thrust upon us. . . . We need to confront it with confidence."At stake are not just lives, it's our way of life. That's why this is a challenge we cannot avoid - and one we must meet."Hmmmm......If i would say this would it make me a bigot?Probably yes.....so am i being discriminated?Read the full story here.

• Jordan - 36 Jordanian tribal leaders break silence with unprecedented letter criticizing King Abdullah's wife accuse her of 'serving own interests, stealing money from treasury', warn of uprising similar to Egypt.Will Jordanian Queen Rania Al-Abdullah and her husband be next in line to flee their homeland, as was the case with the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt? In a letter published this week by 36 Jordanian tribal leaders, who represent nearly 40% of the population and play an important role in the kingdom's politics, the Queen was criticized relentlessly.In the letter, Rania was accused of "corruption, stealing money from the Treasury and manipulating in order to promote her public image – against the Jordanian people's will."The tribal leaders compared the queen to the wife of former Tunisian president Leila Ben Ali, who stole from her country's treasury for years, giving her family members vast sums of money and land at the expense of the Tunisian citizens."We call upon the King to return lands and farms given to the Yassin family (Rania's family). The land belongs to the Jordanian people," they wrote. Such a letter criticizing the royal family can lead to a three year jail sentence in Jordan.The tribal leaders warned that if the royal family fails to act quickly and implement the new financial and social reforms and move towards a democratic regime, they will suffer the same fate of Tunisia and Egypt'd leaders. It was also mentioned that Jordan is suffering from "an authority crisis" and from a growing influence of "corrupt businessmen who surround the decision makers, affect political decisions and ignore national interests." The tribal leaders called to "put these corrupt people who stole from the country on trial, regardless of their status.""Sooner or later Jordan will be a destination for a similar uprising like the ones in Tunisia and Egypt because of oppression of freedom and robbing from public funds," said the letter.The tribal leaders accused Rania of "building centers intended to strengthen her status and serve her interests."A Jordanian citizen and a member of a large tribe in the country said that the Jordanian authorities "pressured a few tribes in the past days and told them to be carful what they say to the global media. We're still loyal to the Hashemite crown, but we believe that King Abdullah has to stop his wife and her family from taking advantage of their power, otherwise the crown might be in danger."Last September, Rania celebrated her 40th birthday, and many criticized her for spending an "enormous" amount of money and having a very "ostentatious" party "at the expense of the treasury and the poor."Hmmmm.....Sounds like another "Let them eat cake" story.Read the full story here.

• Bankrupting Terrorism - One Lawsuit at a Time.Shurat HaDin—Israel Law Center is an Israeli based civil right organization and world leader in combating the terrorist organizations and the regimes that support them through lawsuits litigated in courtrooms around the world. Fighting for the rights of hundreds of terror victims, Shurat HaDin seeks to bankrupt the terror groups and grind their criminal activities to a halt - one lawsuit at a time.Hmmmm.....Injustice is relatively easy to bear; it is justice that hurts. ~H.L. Mencken.Read the full story here.

• Turkish comics magazine apologizes for anti-religious joke.Popular weekly satirical Turkish comic magazine Penguen has apologized for a caricature featuring what many called irreverently anti-religious content after reactions from Muslims.In the graphic panel in question, a member of the crowd praying at a mosque calls God from his cell phone and asks if he can leave early because he has an errand to run, while the rest of the crowd looks at him in shock. A sign on the mosque’s wall reads, “There is no Allah – Religion is a Lie.”The caricature was scanned and shared on the Internet on Sunday night by thousands of people on social platforms like Twitter and Facebook, raising a lot of criticism and anger. The magazine released an explanation Monday afternoon apologizing for the work. The explanation stated the work was not the cover caricature, the only caricature that reflects the consensus of the publication. The statement noted that artists are free to write or draw anything on their own pages: “We may or may not like a single caricature, but it is important to preserve this area of freedom in general. We are respectful toward the criticism, too. We are sorry about the reactions to this caricature. We apologize to those people who perceived [the caricature] as disrespectful.”Hmmmmm.......Not only the Danish cartoonists are in danger it seems.Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Egyptian Opposition Leader Ayman Nour Calls for Referendum on Camp David Accords.Ayman Nour: Much can be said about the Camp David accords. We believe that we should abide by our international commitments, but we should also make the others abide by our rights and by their own international commitments. With regard to the Camp David accords in particular, the situation is complicated. In practice, the Camp David accords have come to an end. More than 30 years have passed since this agreement was signed, and many things on the ground require amendments. These amendments must be conducted in keeping with the interests and decisions of the Egyptian people. We will not impose anything on the Egyptian people, but I personally believe that if it were up to me, I would ask to conduct a referendum among the people with regard to this agreement, and we would abide by the decision of the people. We want true participation of the people, and to gauge the people's position on all the significant issues, one of the most important of which is the Camp David accords. Some people believe that this agreement is a thing of the past, and that it must be developed in a correct manner. They believe that some of the terms are humiliating to the Egyptian side. I belong to this group of people. Other people believe that the Camp David accords give Egypt certain guarantees on the ground, and that these must not be jeopardized at present. I don't maintain this position, but at the end of the day, my opinion is not the only one that counts. We should hold a referendum.Hmmmm.......Wel done Mr President.Read the full story here.

• Saudi had 1,115 family violence cases in 2010.Saudi Arabia had nearly 1,115 family violence cases in 2010 and most of them were against females, according to official data.The capital Riyadh had the worst record, with nearly 425 officially registered cases, the ministry of social affairs said in a report.The report, published in local newspapers, showed 979 of the cases were against females and that bodily harm topped the list of family violence cases in the Gulf kingdom.“Other main cases involved psychological harm, sexual assault and verbal attacks,” the report said.Hmmmm.......these are the reported cases?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanThinker.A Tipping Point Is Nearing.We are facing a tipping point. There will soon be a crisis affecting US citizens beyond any experienced since the Great Depression. And it may happen within the year. This past week three awful developments put a dagger into the hope for a growth-led recovery, which held promise of possibly averting a debt and currency implosion crushing the American economy.The first was a little-noticed, but tragic, series of events in the newly elected House of Representatives. The speaker, Mr. Boehner, had given the task of fashioning the majority's spending cut agenda to Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), a rising conservative star representing the vocal wing of fiscal conservatives in the House. Promising to cut $100 billion of government spending, Mr. Boehner spoke before the elections of the urgency to produce immediately when Republicans took control.Unlike the Great Depression, however, we will enter such a shock in a weakened state, with few producers among us and record mountains of debt. More cataclysmic is the specter of inadequate food, as less than 4% of us farm, and those that do may cease to be as productive or may not accept devalued currency as payment, should the tipping point be crossed. Corn and wheat prices in the U.S. have nearly doubled in less than 12 months, using our rapidly evaporating currency as the medium of exchange.The time for action has passed, which may only become apparent as the "aid" of easy money becomes seen as the harm that it is. May we all be spared the worst, but I offer no such prayers for those responsible. The harm that comes will be swifter, and more severe, than most of them thought possible.Read the full the story here.