MFS - The Other News

                   Afternoon  Posting.

• Live broadcast info from Japan directly ! Here.

• Libya Live Blog - March 29. Here .(Al-Jazeera)And  here (BBC).

• Sirya live blog - March 29  here.(Al -Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan between 4.6 and 5.4 today. More info here.

• Latest official Situation Update No. 66.On 29.03.2011 at 14:19 GMT+2.

Japan's prime minister says the country is on "maximum alert" over its nuclear crisis as radiation continues to seep out of the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant and traces of plutonium have been found in the soil. Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Tuesday also warned that the situation remains "unpredictable" at the earthquake-damaged plant. He said his government is giving its complete attention to halting the radiation leaks. Officials announced earlier that dangerous plutonium has been detected in the soil in five locations around the plant, more than two weeks after a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant's cooling systems.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the levels did not exceed normal background levels, but that the composition of the plutonium indicates at least some of it came from the nuclear plant. Japan's top government spokesman Yukio Edano said Tuesday the government is doing everything it can to bring the situation under control. He said the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and US Armed Forces were providing support and know-how.

Japanese officials have said the presence of plutonium in the soil is evidence of a meltdown in the core of the number 3 reactor, the only one of six at the plant that uses plutonium in its fuel. The discovery is the latest setback in the effort to shut down the reactors, whose cooling systems were knocked out when a 9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11. More bodies are discovered daily as search crews make their way through the rubble of Japan's northeast coast, bringing the toll by Tuesday to more than 11,000 dead and 17,000 missing. Almost 200,000 more are still living in poorly equipped shelters. Edano said Tuesday the government had set up a special task force dedicated to supporting the livelihood of those affected by the triple disaster.

On Monday, officials announced that water being used to keep the reactors' fuel rods from overheating has leaked into maintenance tunnels that run alongside three of the reactors and lead within 55 meters of the open ocean. Radiation in the water outside the number two reactor was measured at levels that can cause sickness within an hour. Workers were already grappling with water at similar radiation levels inside the reactor building, where two workers suffered radiation burns after stepping in the water last week. Authorities say the water must be safely removed from the buildings before workers can resume the crucial work of restoring electrical power to the pumps that run the plant's cooling systems.

At a news conference Tuesday, Edano described the situation as "very grave." He said the workers have no choice but to continue pumping water into the reactors to keep the fuel rods from overheating, even as they confront the challenge of disposing with the contaminated runoff. Radiation escaping from the plant has made its way into milk and vegetables in the surrounding province and into ocean areas near the facility. It has also infected tap water in Tokyo, 220 kilometers to the south, and has been detected at trace levels as far away as China and South Korea.Hmmm......Why was Japan using  plutonium?Where they making their own nuclear weapons program? Source .

• HT:NYPost.Reactors now leaking plutonium into soil.Weapons-grade plutonium was found in the soil surrounding Japan's crisis-stricken power plant yesterday, heightening fears at the facility, where workers have struggled for weeks to keep the nuclear lid from blowing off its damaged, leaky reactors. The world's most serious atomic crisis in 25 years went from bad to worse after crews discovered traces of the material -- a key ingredient in nuclear weapons. "The situation is very grave," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said today. "We are doing our utmost efforts to contain the damage." Still, plant managers downplayed the discovery of the plutonium 238, 239 and 240.

The table lists 9 isotopes of Plutonium.

Isotope of Pu Curies/gram (radioactivity)

Pu 236……….54

Pu 237…..12,000

Pu 238…………17

Pu 239…………..0.063 Pu 239 is the weapon grade isotope.

Pu 240…………..0.23

Pu 241……….100

Pu 242…………..0.0040

Pu 243…………. 2.6 x 10 to the 6 power

Pu 244…………..1.8 x 10 to the -5 power

There is a great variety of rates of radioactivity between the isotopes of Plutonium.To find the number of disintegrations per second (ie number of alpha tracks per second) multiply the “curies per gram” figure by 37,000,000,000. Interesting to work out the weight, in fractions of a gram, of Pu 243 required to produce 1 curie. It’s a bank of gattling guns at the scale of the cells it may be embedded within.

1 gram of radium = 1 curie. ie 1 gram of radium emits 37,000,000,000 alpha tracks per second. (HT:PaulLangley)

The Tokyo Electric Power Co., which owns the plant, said only two of the plutonium samples taken yesterday were from the leaking reactors. The other three were from earlier nuclear tests, executives said. "Plutonium found this time is at a similar level seen in soil in a regular environment, and it's not at the level that's harmful to human health," insisted Sakae Muto, vice president of TEPCO. Meanwhile, minuscule levels of radiation from the nuclear-plant incident have been detected in air and water in at least 15 US states, but the Environmental Protection Agency reaffirmed that the levels represent no threat to public health. Samples were collected by monitors in Alaska, Alabama, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada and Washington state over the past week and sent to EPA scientists for analysis.Read the full cleaned 'story' here.

• HT:TheGuardian.Japan may have lost race to save nuclear reactor.Fukushima meltdown fears rise after radioactive core melts through vessel – but 'no danger of Chernobyl-style catastrophe'.The radioactive core in a reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant appears to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel and on to a concrete floor, experts say, raising fears of a major release of radiation at the site.

The warning follows an analysis by a leading US expert of radiation levels at the plant. Readings from reactor two at the site have been made public by the Japanese authorities and Tepco, the utility that operates it.Richard Lahey, who was head of safety research for boiling-water reactors at General Electric when the company installed the units at Fukushima, told the Guardian workers at the site appeared to have "lost the race" to save the reactor, but said there was no danger of a Chernobyl-style catastrophe.

Workers have been pumping water into three reactors at the stricken plant in a desperate bid to keep the fuel rods from melting down, but the fuel is at least partially exposed in all the reactors.At least part of the molten core, which includes melted fuel rods and zirconium alloy cladding, seemed to have sunk through the steel "lower head" of the pressure vessel around reactor two, Lahey said."The indications we have, from the reactor to radiation readings and the materials they are seeing, suggest that the core has melted through the bottom of the pressure vessel in unit two, and at least some of it is down on the floor of the drywell," Lahey said. "I hope I am wrong, but that is certainly what the evidence is pointing towards."The major concern when molten fuel breaches a containment vessel is that it reacts with the concrete floor of the drywell underneath, releasing radioactive gases into the surrounding area. At Fukushima, the drywell has been flooded with seawater, which will cool any molten fuel that escapes from the reactor and reduce the amount of radioactive gas released.Lahey said: "It won't come out as one big glob ; it'll come out like lava (Pic Chernobyl),and that is good because it's easier to cool."The drywell is surrounded by a secondary steel-and-concrete structure designed to keep radioactive material from escaping into the environment. But an earlier hydrogen explosion at the reactor may have damaged this."The reason we are concerned is that they are detecting water outside the containment area that is highly radioactive and it can only have come from the reactor core," Lahey added. "It's not going to be anything like Chernobyl, where it went up with a big fire and steam explosion, but it's not going to be good news for the environment."The radiation level at a pool of water in the turbine room of reactor two was measured recently at 1,000 millisieverts per hour. At that level, workers could remain in the area for just 15 minutes, under current exposure guidelines.Read the full story here.

• Poison particles from nuke plant found in AT LEAST 12 U.S. states as Japan is put on 'maximum' radiation alert.Radiation from the Fukushima leak has been detected in at least 12 U.S. states and is believed it will reach more in the coming days as Japan is put on 'maximum' alert.The Environment Protection Agency confirmed that radiation was found in air filters in Alabama and in rainwater in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.Though the trace levels are very low and not hazardous to health, residents have been warned not to use rainwater which has been collected in cisterns.Higher than usual levels of radiation were detected by monitoring stations in Alaska, Alabama, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, and Washington State over the past week and sent to Environmental Protection Agency scientists for detailed laboratory analysis, the agency said in a release on Monday.Unusual, yet still very low trace amounts of radiation were also reported in Massachusetts rain water and by state officials and nuclear power plant radiation sensors in Colorado, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania.Levels have also been detected on the coast of British Columbia.The EPA said in their statement: 'Some of the filter results show levels slightly higher than those found by our monitors last week and a Department of Energy monitor the week before.'These types of findings are to be expected in the coming days and are still far below levels of public health concern.'The Center for Disease Control said: 'The levels being seen now are 25 times below the level that would be of concern for use as a sole source of water over a short period of time, even for infants, pregnant women or breastfeeding women, who are the most sensitive to radiation.The revelation came as Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan told his parliament that the country was grappling with its worst problems since the Second World War.'This quake, tsunami and the nuclear accident are the biggest crises for Japan' in decades, Mr Kan said.He warned the crises remained unpredictable, but added: 'From now on, we will continue to handle it in a state of maximum alert.'Hundreds of pregnant women are fleeing at-risk areas over fears that radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant will harm their unborn babies.It comes as radioactive water and plutonium-contaminated soil were found outside the plant on Japan's tsunami-hit north-east coast, where brave workers are battling to stop a meltdown.Crews have also found traces of plutonium in soil outside of the complex.Hiro Hasegawa, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co which owns the shattered Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, told The Daily Telegraph: 'The trench is located outside the building and the water contains radioactive materials.'There is normally no water found in this area.'It comes after thousands of furious demonstrators gathered outside the head office of TEPCO after officials mistakenly said radiation in leaking water in the Unit 2 reactor was ten million times above normal.Since then, three of the complex's six units are believed to have partially melted down, and emergency crews have struggled with everything from malfunctioning pumps to dangerous spikes in radiation that have forced temporary evacuations.Mr Hasegawa added: 'We do not believe (the radioactive water) is leaking into the ocean.'We are now working out where the cause of the leak is and finding ways to remove the water as soon as possible.'Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Sha'th: Palestinian State Will Become U.N. Member In September.Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Sha'th has said that the Palestinian constitutional committee will convene immediately, following a call by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud 'Abbas to finish the drafting of the constitution of the Palestinian state by the end of September 2011. He said that the Palestinians will need the votes of 15 countries in the U.N. General Assembly, which meets at that time, to obtain the two-thirds majority demanded for the State of Palestine to be accepted as a full U.N. member, but that he was certain of Palestinian success in this venture and in the declaration of the establishment of the state.Hmmm.....And what's Hussein's role in this? Source.

• 'AKP handcuffing thoughts,' says chief of main Turkish opposition.Turkey’s ruling administration is “handcuffing thoughts” through recent police raids targeting the manuscripts of an unpublished book, main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said during parliamentary group meetings Tuesday.“An unpublished book has become an element of crime. After [the Sept. 12 military coup] they brought people on TV as terror subjects and presented books as evidence. Isn’t that the same as what’s happening today?” asked the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader.“You destroyed a manuscript! You do not destroy evidence of a crime, you document it. Isn’t destroying evidence a crime?” he asked.“Go ahead, criticize the government and we will all see what happens to you,” added Kılıçdaroğlu, who claimed that the ruling party was behind the manuscript confiscation, not the judiciary or police.“I don’t know if there are any other countries that punish thoughts. How can a person be afraid to think? But the prime minister is the enemy of thoughts,” said Kılıçdaoğlu.“The West is surprised about the incidents, too,” said Kılıçdaroğlu. “The [ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP] is using pressure tactics that even Hitler or Mussolini could not think of. Do you still not see it?” the CHP chief said, addressing Europe.“A European Union official referring to the manuscript incident stated that if Turkey continues down this path, they could put an end to Turkey’s membership negotiations. They finally see what democracy in Turkey has become,” he said.Hmmmm.......Welcome to Turkey,Iranian style where thought has become a crime?GET TURKEY OUT OF NATO!Read the full story here.

• HT:HonestNewsReporting.Breaking News: Facebook Shuts Down Third Intifada Group.Despite previous statements saying they would monitor but not remove the controversial Facebook group calling for a Third Intifada, Facebook administrators shut down the group early Tuesday morning in response to enormous pressure from pro-Israel activists. All links to the group now go to users personal Facebook profile.The group had been calling for a march on Israel to “liberate” Palestine beginning on May 15. It remains to be seen how Facebook will respond if similar groups emerge with similar message of a Third Intifada.New media expert Andre Oboler, one of the first to discover the group was down, told HonestReporting that Facebook made the correct decision shutting down the group. “It’s about time,” he said. “Facebook needs to learn to distinguish between the right to ‘attack’ conceptual ideas, and the ‘wrong’ of attacking people be it because of their race, religion, nationality or political view. When they start to understand that, perhaps they will stop making so many mistakes.”Hmmmm......How long before 'Facebook' allows a new page?Read the full story here.

• HT:WestForTheWestwing.Soros’ America-wrecking conference slated for April 8.The most important developments seldom make it onto the front page of the newspaper. A prime example is the conference George Soros is convening on April 8 to reorganize the world’s financial structure. It is getting zero “mainstream media” publicity, of course. Media-watchdog group Media Resource Center is on top of it, though:Two years ago, George Soros said he wanted to reorganize the entire global economic system. In two short weeks, he is going to start – and no one seems to have noticed.On April 8, a group he’s funded with $50 million is holding a major economic conference and Soros’s goal for such an event is to “establish new international rules” and “reform the currency system.” It’s all according to a plan laid out in a Nov. 4, 2009, Soros op-ed calling for “a grand bargain that rearranges the entire financial order.”The event is bringing together “more than 200 academic, business and government policy thought leaders” to repeat the famed 1944 Bretton Woods gathering that helped create the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Soros wants a new “multilateral system,” or an economic system where America isn’t so dominant.That last is no surprise coming from Soros, who infamously said, “The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.” Soros has also talked openly of his plans to take down the United States through the “managed decline” of the U.S. dollar.Altogether, Soros funds more than 1,200 organizations worldwide, including MoveOn.org, the powerful Center for American Progress, and opinion-shapers MediaMatters and ThinkProgress. With all those media outlets in Soros’ hands, the INET conference could be getting non-stop media coverage if Soros wished. So why haven’t we heard more about it?The Soros empire is silent about this new Bretton Woods conference because it isn’t just designed to change global economic rules. It also is designed to put America in its place – part of a multilateral world the way Soros wants it. He wrote that the U.S. “could lead a cooperative effort to involve both the developed and the developing world, thereby reestablishing American leadership in an acceptable form.”That’s what this conference is all about – changing the global economy and the United States to make them “acceptable” to George Soros.I’m grateful that despite the “mainstream media” blackout on Soros, Glenn Beck has done so much to make Americans aware of Soros’ agenda and activities.Hmmmm....Obama....Soros....New world order .....The fourth Reich?Read the full story here.

• HT:Wired.NATO Chief Opens The Door to Libya Ground Troops.The mantra, from President Obama on down, is that ground forces are totally ruled out for Libya. After all, the United Nations Security Council Resolution authorizing the war explicitly rules out any “occupation” forces. But leave it to the top military officer of NATO, which takes over the war on Wednesday, to add an asterisk to that ban.During a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island asked Adm. James Stavridis about NATO putting forces into “post-Gadhafi” Libya to make sure the country doesn’t fall apart. Stavridis said he “wouldn’t say NATO’s considering it yet.” But because of NATO’s history of putting peacekeepers in the Balkans — as pictured above — “the possibility of a stabilization regime exists.”So welcome to a new possible “endgame” for Libya. Western troops patrolling Libya’s cities during a a shaky transition after Moammar Gadhafi’s regime has fallen, however that’s supposed to happen. Thousands of NATO troops patrolled Bosnia and Kosovo’s tense streets for years. And Iraq and Afghanistan taught the U.S. and NATO very dearly that fierce insurgent conflict can follow the end of a brutal regime. In fact, it’s the moments after the regime falls that can be the most dangerous of all — especially if well-intentioned foreign troops become an object of local resentment.Hmmm....Once more he proves what he says and what he does are two completely different thing,he doesn't speak with "forked tongue" he was born with it!Read the full story here.

• Susan Rice: Obama Administration Has Not Ruled Out Military Support for Libyan Rebels.U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice says the Obama administration has not ruled out military support for the Libyan rebels.“We have not made that decision, George, but we’ve not certainly ruled that out,” Rice told “Good Morning America” anchor George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday morning. She did not answer a question about whether military support would include arming the rebels.Rice told CBS’s “The Early Show” there are "non-military means at our disposal" to force Gaddafi out.Those non-military means include cutting off Gaddafi’s resources (money, mercenaries, weapons); “providing assistance to the rebels and the opposition”; and engaging in a diplomatic process, with U.S. allies, “to chart a post-Gaddafi Libya.”Hmmmm.......The Obama regime arming Al-Qaida rebels,can we start the impeachment now?Read the full story here.

• 4 Palestinians suspected of raping 11-year-old boy.Police arrest illegal Palestinian aliens for allegedly raping, molesting boy in Bnei Brak.Four Palestinians residing in Israel illegally have been arrested for allegedly raping an 11-year-old boy from Bnei Brak several times. The four, aged 23-27, are also suspected of indecent acts. Police launched an investigation after the boy told his older brother he had been abused. The suspects were swiftly apprehended for fear they would flee to the territories. Heading the probe is police Superintendent Ronen ShimriPolice suspect that the four, who were working at an event hall in the city, promised the boy candy and lured him into accompanying them to the building where they live.It is also suspected the Palestinians raped, beat and humiliated the boy several times over the past few weeks. Police suspect they also emotionally abused the boy. Hmmmm.....What no facebook page to glorify these Palestinian heros?Read the full story here.

• NATO delays Libya takeover for another day, talks on Gadhafi endgame.As World powers meet in London, seeking to plot out an endgame for Moammar Gadhafi's tottering regime and to strike agreement on plans for Libya's future, NATO delays its takeover of all military operations in Libya. Turkey says the talks would gauge international support for scenarios under which Gadhafi could retreat into exile.NATO delayed its takeover of all military operations in Libya by 24 hours to Thursday at 0600 GMT, as top diplomats met Tuesday in London to plot out an endgame for Moammar Gadhafi's tottering regime and to strike a deal with the Libyan opposition over plans for the country's future.

The 28-nation military alliance agreed Sunday to take command of the U.S.-led campaign, and U.S. President Barack Obama said the transfer would be completed on Wednesday. But an alliance diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said an extra day was needed for a smooth transition from U.S. to NATO command.

The delay is also necessary because contributions from some allies could depend on the outcome of an international conference on Libya taking place in London on Tuesday, the diplomat said. "Given the small political uncertainty linked to the London meeting on Tuesday, which the engagement of some allies may depend on, we found it reasonable to delay the effective transfer of responsibility by one day," the diplomat said. "NATO will effectively take over command of Libyan operations on Thursday at 0600 GMT."Britain and the United States signaled ahead of the summit that they could accept a plan under which Gadhafi quickly leaves Libya and in return escapes a war crimes trial, despite a previous insistence that he must face the International Criminal Court."Of course where he goes, if he goes, is up to him and the people of Libya to determine and we will not necessarily be in control of that," Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said ahead of the summit. Frattini said several African counties could offer Gadhafi a haven. "I hope that the African Union can come up with a valid proposal," he said. But international allies are "not going to choose Col. Gadhafi's retirement home," Hague said.African Union chairman Jean Ping was not attending the talks as had been expected. "We already had our own meeting last Friday and agreed on a way forward there," said El Ghassim Wane, director of the AU Peace and Security Council. However, delegates did include Qatar's emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and dozens of foreign ministers from across Europe and the Middle East.

Russia's envoy to NATO, meanwhile, urged the alliance not to bomb Libyan ground targets when it assumes command of the military campaign from the U.S.-led international coalition. NATO should restrict itself only to enforcing the arms embargo and the no-fly zone, Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin said. "NATO should not go beyond those two principles," Rogozin said.Hmmm....Twitter.Ambassador Rogozin"We have reports of air strikes against convoys far from the front line. This is a far cry from the UN SC resolution".Read the full story here.

• Muslim Brotherhood Demands Egyptian Military Break Israel’s “Siege of Gaza”.Buoyed by its new-found legal status under Egypt’s provisional military leadership, the Muslim Brotherhood wants the Supreme Council of the Egyptian armed forces to “break the siege which is suffocating the lives of the people of Gaza.”The Brotherhood also is demanding that the “Arab peoples must take a decisive stand on this issue.”In what appears to be a response to the Brotherhood’s appeal, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby issued a warning to Israel against rushing into military operations in Gaza.At the same time, he called on Palestinian groups not to give Israel any excuse to use violence, saying that Egypt condemned any violence against civilians.The Muslim Brotherhood’s statement, which appeared on its “Ikhwanweb,” said that the revolutions sweeping the Middle East and North Africa reflect “the winds of change that have uprooted the Mubaraks and other U.S.-backed Arab regimes.”The Brotherhood also is known as the Ikhwan in Arabic.The statement went on to say that protesters will not be dissuaded from their “fundamental cause of Palestine and other Islamic and Christian sanctities,” explaining that it is time for the “Zionists to review their accounts, after the ouster of their dog, who saw him as the strategic ally and a treasure for Israel that promotes the latter’s policies, and supports their malicious scheme and strikes with its sword.”Hmmmmm.....Thank you Barack Hussein Obama?Putting the Muslim Brotherhood in power in Egypt,Arming Al -Qaida in libya,keeping a low profile when it comes to Iran and bashing Israel on every occasion a real 'Christian' lifestyle!Read the full story here.

• Department of Injustice.One of the requirements to become a Dayton, Ohio police officer is to successfully pass the city's two-part written examination. Applicants must correctly answer 57 of 86 questions on the first part (66 percent) and 73 of 102 (72 percent) on the second part.Dayton's Civil Service Board reported that 490 candidates passed the November 2010 written test, 57 of whom were black. About 231 of the roughly 1,100 test takers were black.The U.S. Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Eric Holder, rejected the results of Dayton's Civil Service examination because not enough blacks passed. The DOJ has ordered the city to lower the passing score.The lowered passing grade requires candidates to answer 50 of 86 (58 percent) questions correctly on the first part and 64 of 102 (63 percent) of questions on the second. The DOJ-approved scoring policy requires potential police officers to earn the equivalent of an "F" on the first part and a "D" on the second. Based on the DOJ-imposed passing scores, a total of 748 people, 258 more than before, were reported passing the exam. Unreported was just how many of the 258 are black.Keith Lander, chairman of the Dayton chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Dayton NAACP President Derrick Foward condemned the DOJ actions.Mr. Lander said, "Lowering the test score is insulting to black people," adding, "The DOJ is creating the perception that black people are dumb by lowering the score. It's not accomplishing anything."Mr. Foward agreed and said, "The NAACP does not support individuals failing a test and then having the opportunity to be gainfully employed," adding, "If you lower the score for any group of people, you're not getting the best qualified people for the job."Hmmmm......In light of Obama's latest statement"Obama Says Too Much Testing Makes Education Boring, Sees Tests As Punishment."i can only conclude he wants brainless morons in charge,they are so much easier to manipulate i presume?Read the full story here.

• GOP Rep. Peter King Slams Dick Durbin’s Islamophobia Hearings, “This Perpetuates the Myth That Muslims Are the Victims of 9/11”…Sen. Dick Durbin prepared to convene a hearing Tuesday morning on the civil rights of Muslims, a move decried as nonsensical by the Republican congressman who held a high-profile hearing earlier in the month on Islamic radicalization.

“This just perpetuates the myth that somehow Muslims are the victim of September 11,” Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., told Fox News.

But Durbin, D-Ill., said he called the hearing so that Congress could examine potential civil rights violations particular to Muslims, like Koran burnings and restrictions on mosque construction, as well as hate speech and other forms of discrimination.Among the witnesses, Durbin plans to call Muslim Advocates President Farhana Khera and Thomas Perez, a top official in the Justice Department’s civil rights division.Durbin announced the hearing shortly after King finished hosting a panel on the House Homeland Security Committee that examined domestic extremism. Amid claims that his hearing unfairly singled out Muslims, King at the time called on American Muslims to do more to speak out against radicals in their community and work with law enforcement.While critics of King’s hearing questioned why he didn’t examine other domestic threats like the KKK, King likewise questioned why Durbin wouldn’t examine civil rights violations of other religious groups.“The best they can do is come back with these hearings by Senator Durbin, which is somehow trying to create the illusion that there’s a violation of civil rights of Muslims in this country. It’s absolutely untrue, and to me it makes no sense,” King said.Read the full story here.

• Pakistan - Third church attacked as Pakistani extremists declare war over Florida Koran burning.Islamabad (AsiaNews) - An armed group of seven people attacked the Catholic Church of St. Thomas in the military district of Wah, about 45 km from Islamabad. The attack took place at 6.30 pm yesterday, while the security guard was absent. The extremists hurled stones, damaged the building and tried to set fire to it, but they did not shoot. Yesterday's was the third attack against a church in Pakistan less than a week. The escalation of violence is a result of the mad act - repeatedly condemned by Christians in Pakistan and India – of pastor Wayne Sapp, who last March 20, in Florida burned a copy of the Koran under the supervision of the evangelical preacher Terry Jones. The caretaker of the church of St. Thomas confirmed that the attack occurred yesterday, at about 6.30 pm, taking advantage of the absence of the security guard. A group of six or seven armed men broke through a small door and started throwing stones at the windows, smashing the small lamps and tried to break the door. The caretaker called the priest and the police, he is currently still in shock and does not intend to make statements. The extremists were armed, but did not open fire. Unable to break down the door, they tried to set it on fire. The parish priest, Fr Yousaf, rushed to the scene of the attack and tried to reassure the small Christian community. "It's a reaction - the priest told AsiaNews - to the desecration of the Koran in Florida, although the Catholic community has condemned the act. We pointed out clearly that we have no link with the Americans. At the time of the attack there were no guards, the police are present only on Sundays. "Pastor Tariq Emmanuel, who lives near the church, added that the assailants did not open fire "because it is a high security area" and the military would have reacted immediately in the event of gunfire. "The forces of order – he adds - have asked to install closed circuit security cameras and private guards of the Christian faith", the only available. Christians now "no longer believe the promises of protection" of the police, especially after the murder of Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti.The bishop of Islamabad points the finger at what he calls the "most troubling" part of the story. "The church of St. Thomas – he points out - is located near a high security zone, which is the only ammunition dump located in Pakistan, and as a result reinforced area. In addition, there are 4 barriers at the entrances of the military district of Wah, which means the assailants did not come from outside. " Hmmmm.....The 'people' the Obama regime donates tens of Billions of Dollars.Read the full story here.

• Woman, 29, sues United Arab Emirates five-star hotel after she was raped... then JAILED for having sex outside of marriage.An Australian woman is suing a five-star UAE hotel after she was drugged and raped by co-workers - but ended up in jail for eight months for having sex outside marriage.Alicia Gali, 29, had her drink spiked and was raped by four co-workers at the luxury Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort in the United Arab Emirates in June 2008.She is seeking compensation from her former employer for breaching its workplace duty of care after she reported the assault to authorities, only to be jailed for eight months on an adultery charge.Ms Gali spent eight months in prison as it is illegal as having sex outside marriage in the UAE is illegal.Australian embassy staff advised Ms Gali and her family not to go to the media during her time in custody, when she was locked in a cell with 30 other women.She has since been pardoned and was released in March 2009.'Alicia is very concerned there are other women who might find themselves in similar situations.'She now feels brave enough to speak out.'Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Pakistan’s Sherry Rehman stands alone after colleagues’ assassinations.KARACHI, Pakistan — In the past two months, Sherry Rehman’s rambling, art-filled house in this southern city has become a self-imposed prison. The liberal lawmaker knows that for her to move about freely in Pakistan now would be to step into the crosshairs of religious radicals who have assassinated two of her like-minded colleagues this year.Rehman’s offense, in the extremists’ view, is proposing reform of laws that make blasphemy a capital crime and that are often used to persecute religious minorities or personal enemies. To Pakistan’s violent fundamentalists, the mere idea of such reform is poison, a point they made clear with the killings of Punjab governor Salman Taseer and federal minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti.The deaths of her ruling-party peers left Rehman, 50, the country’s only vocal advocate for amending the anti-blasphemy laws — a cause she backs now mostly from home, and more quietly. Armed guards and police stand watch outside. Inside, the former journalist receives friends and colleagues, fending off pleas that she flee the country.“I don’t want to leave,” she said in a recent interview. “I want to be able to stay here as long as possible, and if it means I’m not going to go to the shops or go to the Sunday bazaar, okay.”At massive rallies, clerics have named Rehman an apostate. In Multan, a city in the eastern province of Punjab, a local politician filed a blasphemy complaint against her after she said on television, citing the Koran, that radical mullahs were wrong to defend the blasphemy laws. She and her attorneys spent weeks on the case before police decided not to to bring charges.Rehman, a former editor of the leading Pakistani newsmagazine the Herald, joined the National Assembly in 2002. She became information minister in 2008 but resigned a year later to protest the government’s curbs on TV stations that had criticized it.But Rehman has remained in Parliament, and she says it is there that the battle for ideas can be fought. While pushing for bills against domestic violence and sexual harassment in the workplace, she said, she has seen politicians from religious parties compromise. The main task now should be righting the faltering economy, which fuels extremism, she said.“Tolerance is the big issue,” Rehman said. “But the government will have to deal with how people are facing the next day and getting the next meal.”Rehman said she sees hope amid the frenzy. Clerics call with words of support. The Pakistani media, which fanned public outrage against Taseer before his assassination, have largely left her alone.And after allegedly calling Rehman a “non-Muslim” in January, an imam who preaches minutes from her house retracted his words after a journalist filed a complaint that could have led to incitement charges. That shows “the removal of impunity does work,” Rehman said.Still, the imam was not punished, and clerics in other parts of the country continue to say Rehman deserves death.“This is a sobering moment,” she said. “It may get worse before it gets better. But it has to.”Read the full story here.

• NUGENT: Obamacare is crony-care.Vocal reform supporters are now demanding waivers.The biggest problem President Obama has is a serious lack of trust among the American people.From energy mismanagement to refusal to be fiscally accountable to blatant job-destroying policies, the president has gone off in a gung-ho leftist direction that leaves many Americans shaking their heads in confusion. A recent poll found that more than 60 percent of Americans believe the country is heading off a cliff.The president’s trust meter will take another hit now that more and more Americans are finding out he’s giving out waivers to his Fedzillacare law. The president has handed out exemptions to more than 1,000 unions, companies and organizations and five states.Any way you slice or spin it, this is pure Chicago-style political payback, blatant Al Capone corruption at its finest. The president clearly learned his political lessons well when he was a community rabble-rouser in Chicago. It’s good to be his political buddy.If Obamacare is so good, will save so much money and rescue America from health care disaster as the president stated so emphatically, why grant waivers of such benevolence to anyone, much less your close friends? Shouldn’t his union buddies be pounding on the door of the White House demanding to be the first in line to gobble up the entire gigantic Fedzillacare law?Hmmm......Once again....What do the waiver receivers pledge to the Obama regime?Read the full story here.

• HT:WestforTheWestwing.Will the Middle East soon be “Christenrein”?“Judenrein” was the ghastly word used by the Nazis to describe areas “cleansed” of all Jews.It appears that there is a large and active contingent of people in the Middle East who would like to make it “Christenrein” — rid of all Christians. Catholic News Service describes the ongoing nightmare:

An Iraqi archbishop spoke of “near-genocide conditions” for Christians in his country and said those fleeing violence were straining resources in other parts of the country.Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq, said part of the problem was the country’s “weak constitution, which tries to please two masters.”“We are living in a region which cannot decide if it is for democracy or Islamic law,” he said March 16 at news conference sponsored by the Catholic charitable agency Aid to the Church in Need.Archbishop Warda criticized “neighboring governments feeding insurgents with money and weapons to destabilize the Iraqi government” and said the rest of world’s governments had “turned their backs on us, as if the human rights abuses and near-genocide conditions Iraqi Christians experience are temporary.”Archbishop Warda said that since the U.S.-led occupation of his country began in 2003, more than 500 Christians had been killed in religious and politically motivated violence.Between 2006 and 2010, 17 Iraqi priests and two bishops were kidnapped and beaten or tortured. One bishop, four priests and three subdeacons were killed.“In most cases, those responsible for the crimes stated they wanted Christians out of Iraq,” the archbishop said.

The Chaldean Christians of Iraq are one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world, having common roots with the Assyrian Church of the East, which dates back to the 1st century A.D.

The Christian community in Egypt also dates back to the 1st century A.D. Tradition has it that St. Mark the evangelist was the first to preach the Gospel in Alexandria and founded the church there during the reign of Roman emperor Claudius, around 42 A.D. This ancient Christian community has been persecuted ever since Muslim armies swept through North Africa in the seventh century — but persecution has worsened since the downfall of Mubarak.

Since shariah requires violence against women, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. What did surprise me was how quickly the Egyptian Army has moved to appoint itself the enforcer of shariah law.And since shariah also requires persecution of non-Muslims, it was only a matter of time (but how short a time!) before we started seeing stories such as this one, from International Christian Concern’s blog Persecution.org : Christian protestors who staged a nine-day sit-in calling for the rebuilding of a church torched by Islamists have come under attack by the Egyptian army.

According to a news release from Barnabas Aid, the demonstrators were reportedly shot at and struck with electric batons outside the state television headquarters in Maspero, downtown Cairo. Fifteen suffered injuries, including broken limbs, head wounds and burns.The assault happened in the early hours of March 14 – two hours before an agreed suspension of the sit-in. Representatives of the demonstrators had met with Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and members of the military council the previous afternoon to discuss their demands.Barnabas Aid reported the army has said it will rebuild the church in Soul, which was destroyed on March 5. The demonstrators agreed to suspend the sit-in until March 25 to give the government time to fulfill its pledges.Around 500 people were still at the site when military forces smashed the demonstration in the early morning hours. Barnabas Aid reported one of the organizers said the soldiers cut the wire fences and started running towards the people, shouting the Islamic war cry “Allahu Akhbar” (“god is great.”)Every day that goes by demonstrates a little more how mistaken we were to think that the Egyptian Army would be independent of the Muslim Brotherhood, much less a restraining influence on them.Hmmmm......Obama "Islam is a great religion".Noticed how much he go's to church lately?Read the full story here.

• And now for something ompletely Different.On top of the world: French daredevil dubbed 'Spiderman' climbs 2,717ft in six hours to scale world's tallest tower in Dubai.A French skyscraper climber who calls himself 'Spiderman' has scrambled his way to the top of the world's tallest tower in Dubai.Alain Robert began his ascent of the 2,717ft-tall Burj Khalifa just before sunset, at 6pm last night, and he reached the top just after midnight - it took him about six hours, as he had expected.As night fell, a row of powerful spotlights shone on the side of the tower to light the way.Unlike his many previous climbs, the 48-year-old daredevil used a rope and harness to comply with organisers' requirements in the Gulf sheikdom.An ambulance, with a stretcher at the ready, was parked alongside other emergency vehicles at the Burj's base.Robert has climbed more than 70 skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building, Chicago's Willis Tower and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, according to his website. He conquered Taiwan's Taipei 101, which before the Burj was the world's tallest building, in 2004.The tower's owner, Emaar Properties, said the half-mile-high Burj Khalifa has 160 habitable storeys. Strapped to a safety harness tethered more than 100 stories up, Robert began his climb up the silvery, glass-covered Burj at around 6pm. He hoisted himself up along a central column, mostly free of decorative rows of pipes that could have slowed his ascent.He did not appear to use the rope to pull himself up, but instead gripped the glass and narrow metal ridges like a rock climber with his feet and bare hands.Hundreds of spectators crowded plazas outside shopping centres and restaurants at the tower's sprawling base.Robert stayed in a Dubai hotel before the climb, doing push-ups, pull-ups and stretches, and loading up on carbohydrate-heavy foods such as pasta in a room overlooking the target of his latest adventure.The Frenchman's climb was designed to inspire over 2,000 students who had descended on Dubai yesterday for the three-day Education Without Borders' conference, which was being hosted by the Higher Colleges of Technology.Read and see the full story here.