MFS - The Other News

                   Morning  Posting.

• Live broadcast info from Japan directly ! Here.

• Libya Live Blog - March 26. Here .(Al-Jazeera)And here (BBC). Latest here.

• Sirya live blog - here.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world lots of seismic activity in Japan between 5.1 and 5.6 today. More info here.

• Latest official Situation Update No. 62.On 26.03.2011 at 08:23 GMT+2.

Tests showed a sharp spike in levels of radioactive iodine in seawater just offshore of the embattled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are more than 1,250 times higher than normal, Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency said Saturday. In samples taken Friday morning from a monitoring station 330 meters off the coast, the levels were 50 becquerels of radioactive iodine per cubic centimeters of water. This compares to 4 becquerels -- which is 104 times above normal -- in samples taken from the same spot the previous morning. These high levels suggest there may have been some sort of leakage directly into the ocean -- unlikely to be because of atmosphere emissions or rain alone, said an official with the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the nuclear plant. A Tokyo Electric official told CNN that authorities are not sure why the levels spiked. The official speculated that the radioactive iodine may have been swept off the coast recently into the Pacific Ocean or the tainted water may have seeped from turbine buildings for two nuclear reactors that have shown the presence of radiation 10,000 times the normal amount.

Still, an official with Japan's nuclear safety agency told reporters Saturday that -- while drinking such tainted seawater would be dangerous, given the radiation's potential to cause cancer -- the effect on aquatic life imay be relatively minimal. That's because the radiation tends to dilute, the farther one moves away from the nuclear plant. Data posted on the Japan's education and science ministry website showed relatively small amounts of radioactive particles several kilometers offshore. The International Atomic Agency reported online Saturday that radioactive iodine and cesium was detected 30 kilometers (19 miles) offshore, but it said that these levels differed only slightly from the previous day. That said, its potential effect on Japan's fishing industry -- even if consumers stay away, for simple fear of contamination -- remains a major concern. So, too, is the fact that authorities have yet to pinpoint the exact source of the radiation, and thus to determine if it's stopped.

The latest data, from Friday, posted online by Japan's education, science and technology ministry show continuing evidence of airborne radiation in prefectures around the nation. Still, in no cases is the exposure considered harmful to human health -- and, in fact, in many cases, radiation readings have gone down. In the Fukushima prefecture where the plant is located, officials had screened 87,813 people for radiation exposure as of Thursday, Japan's nuclear safety agency said a day later in a news release. Of those 98 people had tested above limits for exposure, but once their clothes were removed and other measures taken, the exposure levels dropped and there was no effect on health. The agency also said screeners have examined thyroid glands of 66 children ranging in age from 1 to 15 and found that the "level of exposure of no problem." The thyroid gland, particularly in children, can readily absorb radiation, health experts say. Meanwhile, authorities continue to monitor radiation levels in tap water around Japan.

Information from Japan's education, science and technology ministry indicate the presence of radioactive iodine in the tap water of 12 prefectures. This does not include Fukushima and Miyagi, where measurements aren't being taken because of damage from the March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The government of Ibaraki prefecture reported Saturday that radiation levels had fallen considerably in the past 24 hours -- to levels that now would be considered safe enough even for babies to drink. Levels of radioactive iodine, taken Friday from water treatment facilities that serve the cities of Tokaimura and Hitachi, range from 31 to 97 bequerels per kilogram of water. This is below the 100 becquerel threshold at which authorities advise it not be drinken by infants under 1 year old -- and well under the 300-becquerel threshold for adults. A day earlier, water samples from four sites in Ibaraki had levels between 119 becquerels of radioactive iodine to a high of 230 becquerels, all above the recommendations for babies. A second batch of data released Friday from Tokyo's waterworks bureau showed levels remaining steady at 51 becquerels of radioactive iodine per kilogram of tap water.

There were 76 becquerels from samples from Asaka purification plant, which serves Saitama prefecture, according to data on the Tokyo government site. The previous day, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara lifted the previously announced recommendation that babies not drink tap water after tests from Tuesday night showed levels of radiation more than twice the limit for babies. There was also good news Friday's in the Chiba prefecture, where all five water treatment facilities had levels of radioactive iodine less than 100 becquerels per kilogram of tap water. The previous day, two plants in Chiba had reported high levels.

Situation Update No. 61. On 26.03.2011 at 03:42 GMT+2.

Radioactive contamination from a heavily damaged Japanese nuclear plant is of "grave and serious" concern, the country's prime minister said Friday. Naoto Kan said there is a suspected breach in the core of one reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, located in northeastern Japan. Contaminated water may have seeped from the core and three plant workers may have been exposed to a level of radiation 10,000 times higher than normal. "We must remain vigilant. We are trying to prevent a deterioration of the situation and we are still not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must treat every development with utmost care," Kan said. The U.S. military is supplying water for a cool down operation and repair work at the six-reactor nuclear plant has been stopped so officials can monitor the radiation levels. People who live within 30 kilometres of the plant have been advised to leave. Japan was hard-hit by a 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11. The disaster left nearly 26,000 people dead or missing. Meanwhile, fears of contamination have hit the capital city. Tokyo experienced a run on bottled water on Thursday after tap water was declared unsafe for babies. Many stores had sold out of bottled water, and shortages of milk, noodles, and rice were also reported. Source .

• High radiation levels found in Japan seawater. Tests of seawater outside Fukushima plant show radiation levels 1,250 times higher than normal. US rushes freshwater to help remove contaminated water from plant. Government official: Situation not getting worse, but vigilance is needed.US naval barges loaded with freshwater sped toward Japan's overheated nuclear plant to help workers who scrambled Saturday to stem a worrying rise in radioactivity and remove dangerously contaminated water from the facility. Workers at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have been pumping seawater in a frantic bid to stabilize reactors overheating since a tsunami knocked out the complex's crucial cooling system March 11.Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. is rushing to use freshwater instead because of the corrosive potential of the salt in seawater, Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency said at a briefing Saturday. The switch was the latest tactic in attempts to regain control of the nuclear power plant near the coast, 140 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. On Friday, nuclear safety officials revealed that they suspected a breach in one or more of the plant's units, possibly a crack or hole in the stainless steel chamber around a reactor core containing fuel rods or the concrete wall surrounding a pool where spent fuel rods are stored.Following the announcement, government officials urged families in a voluntary evacuation zone between 12 and 19 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) from the plant to leave on their own. Radioactivity was rising in some units due to contaminated water, Nishiyama said Saturday. "It is crucial to figure out how to remove contaminated water while allowing work to continue," he said, acknowledging that the discovery would set back delicate efforts to get the plant's cooling system operating again. Workers have begun pumping radioactive water from one of the units, Masateru Araki, a TEPCO spokesman, said Saturday.Plant officials and government regulators say they don't know the source of the radioactive water. It could have come from a leaking reactor core, connecting pipes or a spent fuel pool. Or it may be the result of overfilling the pools with emergency cooling water. But a breach in the chamber surrounding the core reactor seemed "more likely," Nishiyama said. Tests of seawater just outside one unit tested some 1,250 times higher than normal, probably from both airborne radiation released from the reactors and contaminated water leaking into the sea, he said, adding that there was no immediate health risk. Such levels are unlikely to pose a direct health risk to humans because they would not be expected to drink seawater or swim near the plant in these circumstances. This can affect the immediate marine environment, but the vast expanse of the sea will help dilute high levels of radiation. More than 700 engineers have been working in shifts to stabilise the facility and work has been advancing to restart water pumps to cool their fuel rods. Two of the six reactors are now seen as safe but the other four are volatile, occasionally emitting steam and smoke. However, the nuclear safety agency said on Saturday that temperature and pressure in all reactors had stabilised.Read the full story here.

• Napolitano Warns Police Chiefs About Evolving Terrorism and Domestic Extremism – Lauds DHS ‘Fusion Centers’.America faces a "constantly changing" terrorism threat that includes expanding partnerships among al Qaeda-inspired terrorist groups, said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano."More and more, we are seeing a homegrown extremism being an issue,” she said."The terrorist threat to our nation is as busy as it has been since anytime prior 911. The difference is that instead of one al Qaeda group, we now have many al Qaeda groups or al Qaeda-inspired groups, including for example AQAP [al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula], which has been centered in Yemen, which has been one the busiest ones in terms of attempts on the United States since I have been secretary.”In a speech to members of the International Association of Chiefs of Police's (IACP), Napolitano said law enforcement agencies in the United States “have to change and evolve” along with the terrorism threat that the country now faces.She also called for a new type of “security architecture” that includes the proper resources and information sharing “to make sure that we are minimizing the risk that one of these attacks or attempted attacks will succeed,” and “maximizing our ability to cut something off before it has a chance to succeed and we are involving more people in that process.”The DHS secretary highlighted her department’s “If You See Something, Say Something” initiative as an effective program to involve private citizens to report terrorism signs and other threats to law enforcement officials.She also underscored DHS’s ongoing collaboration with federal agencies such as the FBI in countering violent extremism through the federal government’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.According to the DHS Web site, “State and major urban fusion centers serve as focal points within the state and local environment for the receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat-related information between the federal government and state, local, tribal, territorial (SLTT) and private sector partners.”“Located in states and major urban areas throughout the country, fusion centers are uniquely situated to empower front-line law enforcement, public safety, fire service, emergency response, public health, CIKR protection, and private sector security personnel to understand local implications of national intelligence, thus enabling local officials to better protect their communities,” according to DHS.“We have now established baseline criteria for all fusion centers,” Napolitano told the IACP. “We have now surveyed all fusion centers to see whether they meet that baseline criterion.”“What they are designed to do is to facilitate the information gathering and sharing process back and forth as I described for terrorism, tactics, techniques, [and] behaviors,” she said, “but also other crimes, trans-national crime in particular. And we also have found that you can use them for other hazards as well,” such as pandemics and industrial accidents, she added.Napolitano did not mention border security despite the DHS’s ongoing 287 (g) program that delegates federal immigration law enforcement authority to sate and local law agents in over 70 U.S. jurisdictions.Hmmmmm.....No doubt that the full Tea party membership is under close scrutiny?Read the full story here.

• Libyan Woman Struggles to Tell Media of Her Rape.TRIPOLI, Libya — A Libyan woman burst into the hotel housing the foreign press in Tripoli on Saturday morning and fought off security forces as she told journalists that she had been raped and beaten by members of the Qaddafi militia. After nearly an hour, she was dragged away from the hotel screaming. “They say that we are all Libyans and we are one people,” said the woman, who gave her name as Eman al-Obeidy. “But look at what the Qaddafi men did to me.” She displayed a broad bruise on her face, a large scar on her upper thigh, several narrow and deep scratch marks lower on her leg, and marks that seemed to come from binding around her hands and feet. She said she had been raped by 15 men. “I was tied up, and they defecated and urinated on me,” she said. “They violated my honor.” She pleaded for friends she said were still in custody. “They are still there, they are still there,” she said. “As soon as I leave here, they are going to take me to jail.”For the members of the foreign news media here as guests of the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi — and largely confined to the Rixos Hotel except for official outings — the episode was a reminder of the brutality of the Libyan government and the presence of its security forces even among the hotel staff. People in hotel uniforms, who just hours before had been serving coffee and clearing plates, grabbed table knives and rushed to physically restrain both the woman and the journalists. Ms. Obeidy said she was a native of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi who had been stopped by Qaddafi militia on the outskirts of the city.After being held for about two days, she said, she had managed to escape. Wearing a black robe, a veil and slippers, she ran into the Rixos Hotel here, asking specifically to speak to the news service Reuters and The New York Times. “There is no media coverage outside,” she yelled at one point. “They swore at me and they filmed me. I was alone. There was whiskey. I was tied up,” she told Michael Georgy of Reuters, the only journalist who was able to speak with her at length. “I am not scared of anything. I will be locked up immediately after this.” She added: “Look at my face. Look at my back.” Her other comments were captured by television cameras.A wild scuffle ensued as journalists tried to interview, photograph and protect her. Several journalists were punched, kicked and knocked on the floor. A television camera belonging to CNN was destroyed in the struggle, and security forces seized a device that a Financial Times reporter had used to record her testimony. A plainclothes security officer pulled out a revolver. Two members of the hotel staff grabbed table knives to threaten both Ms. Obeidy and the journalists. “Turn them around, turn them around,” a waiter shouted, trying to block the foreign news media from having access to Ms. Obeidy. A woman on the staff shouted: “Why are you doing this? You are a traitor!” and briefly put a coat over Ms. Obeidy’s head.There was a prolonged standoff behind the hotel as the security officials apparently restrained themselves because of the presence of so many journalists, but Ms. Obeidy was ultimately forced into a white car and taken away. “Leave me alone,” she shouted from the garden as one man tried to cover her mouth with his hand. “They are taking me to jail,” she yelled, trying to resist the security guards, according to Reuters. ”They are taking me to jail.” Questioned about her treatment, Khalid Kaim, the deputy foreign minister, promised that she would be treated in accordance with the law. Musa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, said that she appeared to be drunk and mentally ill. “Her safety of course is guaranteed,” he said, adding that the authorities were investigating the case, including the possibility that her reports of abuse were “fantasies.”Charles Clover of The Financial Times, who had put himself in the way of the security forces trying to apprehend her, was put into a van and driven to the border shortly afterward. He said that that the night before he had been told to leave because of what Libyan government officials said were inaccuracies in his reports.Hmmmm.........Read the full story here.

• Gingrich: “Obama And The Secular Elites Will Do Everything They Can To Prove They’re Not Anti-Muslim”.Newt Gingrich on Friday blasted the Obama administration for what he labels a refusal to confront radical Islam.“Until you replace this president and until you have the Congress and the new president replace large parts of our bureaucracies, we’re going to continue to be dominated by a secular, anti-Christian and anti-Jewish elite, which is seeking to impose on us rules that make zero sense,” he told religious conservatives at the American Family Association’s pastors’ policy briefing in Iowa.Gingrich, answering a question about challenging Sharia law on U.S. soil, said the country’s leadership was “so afraid to tell the truth” and “timid” that it didn’t swiftly prosecute the Pakistani immigrant who was sentenced to life in prison last year for planting a bomb in Times Square. And he pointed out that the federal government has sued a school district for denying a Muslim middle school teacher unpaid leave to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.“I simply suggest that every church in the country announce there is a new principle that visiting Bethlehem every year for three weeks is an important part of your devotion,” he said to applause.“The whole thing collapses,” he added. “It’s an absurdity. It’s part of this desperation of our secular elites to do everything they can to prove they are not anti-Muslim.”Gingrich insisted that he’s not anti-Muslim himself, but that he is “deeply opposed” to the religion’s radical wing that represses women, homosexuals and Christians.“I think it’s time to have the courage to stand up and say that we represent an insistence on modernity,” he said. “And we represent a decisive opposition to those who would kill us for the purpose of imposing our beliefs on the rest of us. And we are prepared to say an act of terrorism is an act of jihadism.”Hmmmm......"They don't trust me because of my middle name"?Read the full story here.

• Error! Glitches in U.S. radiation alert network leaves stretch of West Coast with no real-time warning system.Flaws in the government’s radiation alert network have left a stretch of coastline between Los Angeles and San Francisco without a key real-time warning system in the event of a nuclear emergency.A time lag of between 30 minutes and several hours could leave West Coast residents at risk from deadly radiation.Six of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 12 California sensors are sending data with ‘anomalies’ to the laboratory in Montgomery, Alabama, that tests radiation levels, said Mike Bandrowski, manager of the EPA’s radiation programme.The problem is some of the suspect information arriving at the lab via satellite has to be manually reviewed, a process that can take up to several hours.The delay in updating a database to trigger the alarm could mean it could sound too late to give anyone any time to react to the potential danger, environmentalists said today.The sensors are part of the RadNet system that is supposed to alert scientists immediately if worryingly high levels of radiation are wafting towards the U.S. mainland from a foreign country or from a leak at an American nuclear reactor.Three of the problematic sensors are close to the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant near San Luis Obispo in California.When the Japanese earthquake struck on March 11, U.S. environmentalists claimed that a map on the EPA’s website showed that only about half of the nation’s sensors were ‘running.’ Most of the others were ‘undergoing quality review,’ said the Times.The EPA later explained that while the sensors were being reviewed, they were still collecting and sending data.Hmmmm......."Change" you can measure?Read  the full story here.

• The Speech Obama Hasn't Given What are we doing in Libya? Americans deserve an explanation.It all seems rather mad, doesn't it? The decision to become involved militarily in the Libyan civil war couldn't take place within a less hospitable context. The U.S. is reeling from spending and deficits, we're already in two wars, our military has been stretched to the limit, we're restive at home, and no one, really, sees President Obama as the kind of leader you'd follow over the top. "This way, men!" "No, I think I'll stay in my trench." People didn't hire him to start battles but to end them. They didn't expect him to open new fronts. Did he not know this? He has no happy experience as a rallier of public opinion and a leader of great endeavors; the central initiative of his presidency, the one that gave shape to his leadership, health care, is still unpopular and the cause of continued agitation. When he devoted his entire first year to it, he seemed off point and out of touch. This was followed by the BP oil spill, which made him look snakebit. Now he seems incompetent and out of his depth in foreign and military affairs. He is more observed than followed, or perhaps I should say you follow him with your eyes and not your heart. So it's funny he'd feel free to launch and lead a war, which is what this confused and uncertain military action may become.What was he thinking? What is he thinking?Which gets me to Mr. Obama's speech, the one he hasn't given. I cannot for the life of me see how an American president can launch a serious military action without a full and formal national address in which he explains to the American people why he is doing what he is doing, why it is right, and why it is very much in the national interest. He referred to his aims in parts of speeches and appearances when he was in South America, but now he's home. More is needed, more is warranted, and more is deserved. He has to sit at that big desk and explain his thinking, put forward the facts as he sees them, and try to garner public support. He has to make a case for his own actions. It's what presidents do! And this is particularly important now, because there are reasons to fear the current involvement will either escalate and produce a lengthy conflict or collapse and produce humiliation.Without a formal and extended statement, the air of weirdness, uncertainty and confusion that surrounds this endeavor will only deepen.And what, finally, about Congress? Putting aside the past half-century's argument about declarations of war, doesn't Congress, as representative of the people, have the obvious authority and responsibility to support the Libyan endeavor, or not, and to authorize funds, or not? These are all big questions, and there are many other obvious ones. If the Libya endeavor is motivated solely by humanitarian concerns, then why haven't we acted on those concerns recently in other suffering nations? It's a rough old world out there, and there's a lot of suffering. What is our thinking going forward? What are the new rules of the road, if there are new rules? Were we, in Libya, making a preemptive strike against extraordinary suffering—suffering beyond what is inevitable in a civil war? America has been through a difficult 10 years, and the burden of proof on the need for U.S. action would be with those who supported intervention. Chief among them, of course, is the president, who made the decision as commander in chief. He needs to sit down and tell the American people how this thing can possibly turn out well. He needs to tell them why it isn't mad.Hmmmmm.......Dictators usually don't explain themselves to 'the people'.Read the full story here.

• KUHNER: Obama’s impeachable war.President Obama has lost his legitimacy to remain in office. The Libyan war has exposed the administration’s lawlessness and rampant criminality. If Republicans and conservatives are serious about restoring constitutional government, they will demand that Mr. Obama be impeached.

The war is going badly. The coalition is cracking; the strategic aims of the military intervention are not clear; Russia, China, India and Brazil oppose it; the Arab League is condemning the deaths of innocent Libyans caused by Operation Odyssey Dawn; and it appears that Moammar Gadhafi will succeed in clinging to power - defying the international community and humiliating the United States. Mr. Obama has called for Col. Gadhafi to step down. He has staked American prestige and power on helping bring about that end. The failure to achieve this will render America a paper tiger on the world stage. We will no longer be feared or respected.NATO forces launched air strikes in order to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. The goal: to prevent Col. Gadhafi’s forces from slaughtering civilians. As Gadhafi loyalists marched toward the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, Mr. Obama decided to implement an American rescue mission. This mission, however, differs from previous ones in Kuwait, Bosnia and Kosovo. The United States is not taking the lead; rather, it is following the French and British. America is no longer acting like a superpower but a poodle of Paris and London.

Mr. Obama has engaged U.S. forces - risking precious blood and treasure - without a clear strategy for victory. He recklessly has allowed his country to be sucked into a conflict without a real national debate or consensus. His policy is shoddy, half-baked and irresponsible. It is amateur hour at the White House.The most disturbing aspect, however, is the intervention’s lack of constitutional and legal authority. It is an illegal war. The Constitution clearly stipulates that only Congress can authorize the use of military force. Unless American territory has been invaded or U.S. citizens have been directly attacked, the president must first ask for congressional approval before ordering any kind of military action. To do otherwise is to behave like a despot.Mr. Obama claims he does not need congressional authority. His behavior reflects contempt for the rule of law and American democracy. His arbitrary will trumps legal restraints. Unless he is stopped and removed from office, we are a constitutional republic in name only.Mr. Obama has less legal and moral justification for his Libyan campaign than Mr. Bush did in Iraq. Mr. Bush received congressional authorization for the use of force; Mr. Obama has not. Mr. Bush forged a broad coalition of nearly three-dozen countries to topple Saddam Hussein; Mr. Obama’s coalition is much narrower, with fewer countries. Mr. Bush’s goal was regime change; Mr. Obama’s is to protect some civilians from Col. Gadhafi’s airplanes but not from his tanks or artillery - which makes no sense.Also, Mr. Obama further insults the nation by asking for a resolution from the United Nations Security Council instead of seeking the approval of the American people. His actions demonstrate that he thinks a supranational institution, such as the United Nations, supersedes Congress. He also is tacitly relegating the Constitution to second-class status, especially compared to the U.N. charter. His actions undermine America’s national sovereignty and make our foreign policy hostage to a virulently anti-American international body. Mr. Obama has betrayed his country, his constitutional oath of office and his duty as commander in chief.The Libyan war is part of a pattern of Mr. Obama’s unethical and criminal behavior. He passed Obamacare against the express will of the American people, systematically abusing the political process even though the federal government has no constitutional authority to take over health care. He has appointed countless policy “czars” possessing sweeping Cabinet-level powers without Senate consent or oversight. His cronies have directly sought to manipulate or interfere in Democratic primary campaigns on behalf of pro-Obama candidates - a flagrant violation of the law.

Mr. Obama is a socialist thug. Since entering office, he has engaged in a massive, almost unprecedented power grab. He thinks he is above the law, that he can cavalierly circumvent the limits imposed by the Constitution. Only one remedy will teach him that he cannot do so: impeachment.Hmmmm.....Finally !And why wait till monday to adress the people,does he need to get his orders from someone?Read the full story here.

• Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links. Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr al-Hasidi admitted that he had recruited "around 25" men from the Derna area in eastern Libya to fight against coalition troops in Iraq. Some of them, he said, are "today are on the front lines in Adjabiya".Mr al-Hasidi insisted his fighters "are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists," but added that the "members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader". His revelations came even as Idriss Deby Itno, Chad's president, said al-Qaeda had managed to pillage military arsenals in the Libyan rebel zone and acquired arms, "including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries".Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought against "the foreign invasion" in Afghanistan, before being "captured in 2002 in Peshwar, in Pakistan". He was later handed over to the US, and then held in Libya before being released in 2008.US and British government sources said Mr al-Hasidi was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which killed dozens of Libyan troops in guerrilla attacks around Derna and Benghazi in 1995 and 1996.Hmmmm......"They don't trust me because of my Middle name"?American troops helping Al-Qaida.Read the full story here.

• HT:WhiteHouseDossier.Obama Will Speak to the Nation on Libya Monday Night.Obama will finally make a formal address to the country. It will be nearly two weeks too late, but it’s still welcome news. From the White House:On Monday, March 28 at 7:30PM ET, the President will deliver an address at the National Defense University in Washington, DC to update the American people on the situation in Libya, including the actions we’ve taken with allies and partners to protect the Libyan people from the brutality of Moammar Qaddafi, the transition to NATO command and control, and our policy going forward.As several of my readers have noted to this East Coaster, Obama will be speaking at 4:30 Pacific Time, while they’ll be at work. And the Mountain Timers who are either not on the 9-5 clock or have a commute won’t be tuning in either.I don’t know, perhaps they figure they have California locked up, so they don’t care if the West Coast tunes in or not. Or maybe the same people who sent the president to Brazil instead of giving this speech a week ago are in charge of the timing . . Hmmmm......."The most 'transparant' administration evah!"Read the full story here.

• HT:TheBlaze.400 Rounds, 17 Grenades, & 30 Enemies: Soldier Single-Handedly Beats Back Taliban Barrage.It took him 400 rounds, 17 grenades, and a machine gun tripod used as a weapon, but one British Gurkha soldier single-handedly beat back an attack by 30 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan last summer. And now he‘s getting one of his military’s highest honors:Sergeant Dipprasad Pun, a 31-year-old from Bima in western Nepa and part of the Gurkha regiment serving the British Military, is receiving the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for bravery. It’s well deserved. According to his superiors, Pun’s fearsom fighting is responsible for saving the lives of at least three other soldiers.Yesterday, he explained his unbelievable battle (via the London Telegraph). Not only is he brave, but he’s also ingenious. At one point during the fighting, after running out of bullets, he fought off an attacker using a pole from a machine gun tripod.A brief history of the Gurkha regiment, known for its fierce fighters, can be seen here.“The Brigade of Gurkhas is one of the most decorated British Army Regiments and 13 of its soldiers have been awarded the Victoria Cross,” the Telegraph says. “The Gurkha motto is ‘Better to die than be a coward.’”Read the full story here.

• HT:WesternRifleshooters.The Problem Is Islam.By Ann Barnhardt.It’s time again for me to lay down in writing a simple, obvious truth that everyone else is just too terrified to state. This is another one of those essays that will serve to permanently disqualify me from any vocation except self-employment for the duration of my life. So hold on to your pantyhose and put out the cat, because you know this is going to be a good read.

The issue is the muslim world. Libya. Was it right for Obama to FINALLY make a decision and move our military assets into the Libyan theater? Should we be intervening in Yemen? Should we lend tangible support to the Iranian opposition? What should have been done differently in Egypt? Was Mubarak better than a “democratically” installed Sharia theocracy? What are we supposed to be doing in all of this? Who are we supposed to be rooting for? There has to be a “right answer”, and there has to be a correct course of action in all of this.

The reason why no one can come to anything that remotely approaches a definitive “right answer” to this problem is because no one has the balls to acknowledge what the problem is. The problem is not a lack of democracy. As we are clearly seeing now, and as history repeatedly confirms, the most evil political systems ever seen on earth have ascended to power with the support of more than 50% of the populace. Therefore, democracy, or any form of representative government can not, in and of itself, be the “right answer”. The only way we are ever going to arrive at the right answer is if we first ask and honestly answer the following question: What exactly is the problem?The problem is islam.Given this reality, there are exactly two tactical options for the civilized world to choose from.

1. Completely isolate the muslim world. Let them have their caliphate but in a state of total quarantine.
2. Fight a Final Crusade and exterminate islam from the face of the earth once and for all.

Yep. I said it, and I mean it.There is going to be a war. A big one. Probably the biggest ever. But it has to be fought, because the stakes are no less than the fate of the entire human race. The problem is islam. There is no such thing as a "healthy muslim society" because islam is a cancer upon human civilization. The solution is nothing less than the complete extermination of the muslim political system in order to save the people inside of it. If you have a cancerous tumor, you cut it out - you don't try to fix the person while simultaneously protecting the tumor. We have done this before. We did this just seventy short years ago. We CAN do it again. All we need is the courage to face the truth, and the fortitude to do what we know we must.Read the full story here.

• Muslims Attack Christian in Egypt, Cut Off His Ear.A group of Muslims attacked Ayman Anwar Mitri, a 45 year old Christian Coptic man in the Upper Egyptian town of Qena, cutting off his ear. The Muslims claimed they were applying Sharia law because Mr. Mitri allegedly had an illicit affair with a Muslim woman. The Muslims called the police and told them "We have applied the law of Allah, now come and apply your law," according to Mr. Mitri in an interview for the Egyptian Human Rights Organization.Mr. Mitri, a low grade administrator at a secondary school, from elHasweya, in Qena, 492 KM from Cairo, had rented his flat to two Muslim sisters, Abeer and Sabrin Saif Al-Nasr, through an agent. After nine months he learned the sisters had been indicted for prostitution, so he asked them to leave and they did.On Sunday, March 20 Mr. Mitri was informed by a friend via a phone call at 4 AM that the flat where the Muslim sisters lived was on fire; he went to the flat. While waiting in the torched flat a Muslim named Alaa el Sunni came and berated him for renting his flat to prostitutes. "I tried to calm him down," said Mr. Mitri, "and told him I knew nothing about the two women since they came through an agent." Alaa suggested they would go somewhere quiet to clear the misunderstanding. They went to the flat of Mr. Mitri's friend Khaled, a policeman, where 12 Muslims were waiting for him. They started beating him and saying "We will teach you a lesson, Christian" and "This serves your right for renting your property to prostitutes."Believing this was the end of the episode, they asked him to call the Muslim woman, so that they would send her to her father. When the woman refused to come, they asked a female Muslim neighbor to call her, saying that her belongings are with her. The woman, Sabrin, came and was told to say that she had a relationship with Mr. Mitri. "At first the woman refused, but after being beaten, she agreed," said Mr. Mitri.Remembering his ordeal, he said that they sat him on a chair and a Muslim named elHusseiny cut his right ear off. "I felt so shocked that I do not even know what tool he used." They also made a a 10cm cut at the back of his neck, cut his other ear, his face and his arm (video showing wounds). Mr. Mitri said they wanted to throw him off the fifth floor but Khaled objected, saying he would get into trouble for just being there, since he is a policeman.Mr. Mitri said that the Muslims tried to convert him to Islam, but he refused. The Muslims then called the police and told them to come and get the Copt saying "We have applied the law of Allah, now come and apply your civil law.""I feel humiliated and broken," said Mr. Mitri. "I have lost the income from the torched flat, my car, and have become disfigured. Who is going to restore my honor?"His wife said in an interview that she is ashamed to go to work and feels very unsafe. She is afraid to let the children go to school and is hoping to leave the area.At first Mr. Mitri said he wanted full compensation for his losses and even wanted revenge by cutting off the ear of the Muslim who cut his ear off. However, it was reported that a "reconciliation" meeting was made in the presence of Colonel Ahmed Masood, Vice military ruler of Qena, whereby Ayman Mitri and the Muslims came to an "agreement." Mr. Mitri had to withdraw the police report he filed against the Muslims.Mr. Mitri appeared on the Coptic TV channel CTV, where he was asked about the reason he agreed to reconcile and forfeit his rights. Mitri said while sobbing "I was threatened, they threatened to kidnap the female children in our family."Anba Kirollos, Bishop of Nag Hammadi, called on the armed forces to intervene and put an end to this "thuggery in the name of religion" so that this "infection" does not spread to other areas. He said if thuggery is put above the law the dignity and prestige of the State would be lost.Hmmmmm.....These are the people the selfconfessed 'Christian' President pledges 1,57 Billion Dollar to in 2012!Read the full story here.

• Resurrection of the Holy Thorn Tree: Glastonbury's vandalised shrine comes back to life.As a Christian symbol, it seems appropriate that its resurrection took place in time for Easter.Glastonbury's Holy Thorn tree began to show new buds this week, three months after it was savagely cut down by vandals.According to legend, Joseph of Arimathea – who some say was Jesus's great-uncle – travelled to Wearyall Hill after the Crucifixion and stuck a wooden staff belonging to Jesus into the ground before he went to sleep.When he awoke, the tale goes, the staff had sprouted into a thorn tree, which became a shrine for Christians across Europe. Every year, the sacred tree flowered once at Christmas and once at Easter, until just before Christmas last year when it was vandalised, leaving the community of the small Somerset town fearing it was dead.But that was before the council enlisted the help of Peter Frearson, a self-titled pagan wizard who happens to run his own horticultural business.Mr Frearson said: 'Well-meaning but uninformed people were putting things like marmalade on the wounds. 'Mead, an alcoholic drink made from honey, was also popular, as well as various ales and Guinness on one occasion. 'There's also been a few ribbons tied round it, as well as lots of people holding hands around it, and circles of people projecting positive energy.'But Mr Frearson, nicknamed the Garden Wizard, had other ideas to ensure the tree's revival. He said: 'We applied a dressing of pine resin and beeswax to stop further moisture and rain getting in, keep out bacteria and fungus, and applied nutrients. 'We covered it in horticultural fleece, then bubble wrap, then more fleece. 'Soon after we replaced the bubble wrap with hessian.'We mulched around the base of the tree with well-rotted wood chips to keep the moisture off the ground, and we've also driven spikes into the ground and filled the holes with compost and bonemeal, and we'll do it again soon.' Glastonbury's mayor John Coles said the display of new buds on the tree was 'wonderful news for the town'.Read and see the full story here.