MFS - The Other News

                       Morning Posting.

• Live broadcast info from Japan directly ! Here.

• Libya Live Blog - April 15. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Live Blog: Middle East protests April 15 Here. (Al-Jazeera)

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world low seismic activity in Japan  today between 4.7 and 4.9! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 86.Here .

• Japan  : For the most accurate info on the nuclear disaster go to : Paul Langley's Nuclear History Blog

• HT:JudicialWatch.Clinton Hosts Islamic World Forum For Obama In D.C. In the Obama Administration’s continuing effort to befriend Muslims, the United States will for the first time host an international Islamic forum held annually in the Middle East and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will headline the three-day event.Created to address issues critical to Arabs and Muslims, the U.S.-Islamic World Forum will come to Washington D.C. this week after eight years in Qatar. Clinton will be America’s friendly host for the duration of the event, which begins Tuesday, and will deliver the keynote address at a gala dinner on the first day.Last year Clinton was the first senior member of a U.S. administration to participate in the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, which was held in February in Doha. At the event she announced President Obama’s “new era of diplomatic engagement” with nations that have been “hostile to the United States” and promised to close the military prison at Guantanamo because it had “become a symbol of the wrong way to make America more secure.”President Obama also participated via a video message that called for a “new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world.” The commander-in-chief outlined a “government-wide approach” to improve the daily lives of Muslims and a commitment from senior administration officials—such as Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano—to engage Muslim communities in the U.S.Obama pledged to seek new partnerships in Muslim communities around the world and touted his efforts to engage with “faith leaders” and “civil society groups” to improve the nation’s relationship with Muslims. The efforts are necessary, according to Obama, because the “United States and Muslims around the world have often slipped into a cycle of misunderstanding and mistrust that can lead to conflict rather than cooperation.”Bringing the Islamic forum to the U.S. is simply the latest of many Muslim outreach efforts for the administration. In the last year alone Napolitano discussed national security matters with a group of extremist Muslim organizations, the nation’s space agency (NASA) was ordered to focus on Muslim diplomacy and Clinton signed a special order to allow the reentry of two radical Islamic academics whose terrorist ties long banned them from the U.S. The Obama Administration also sent an America-bashing mosque leader (Feisal Abdul Rauf) who blames U.S. foreign policy for the 9/11 attacks on a Middle Eastern outreach mission and ordered a government-funded meal program for home-bound seniors to offer halal cuisine prepared according to Islamic law. The Justice Department also created a special Arab-American and Muslim Engagement Advisory Group to foster greater communication, collaboration and a new level of respect between law enforcement and Muslim and Arab-American communities.Hmmmm....."To protect the US Constitution"?Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. Read the full story here.

• HT:LegalInsurrection.Obama Is Temperamentally Unfit For Office.I was right in my anticipation that Obama would play the blame Bush game, and that he would demonize the "Top 2%," and he did. With gusto.But even I could not have expected the coarse tone of the speech. More than anything, it reminded me of Alan Grayson's speech about how Republicans want people "to die quickly."Barack Obama is temperamentally unfit to be President, someone who is incapable of getting out of campaign mode even on issues of great national importance. (added) This was a moment when Obama could have proven that he was the uniter he claimed to be not a divider, when he could have set forth an alternative plan without demeaning Republicans. No one could have expected Obama to stand there and say that he would agree to the Ryan plan, but no one should have expected a full frontal assault on the motives and humanity of those with whom he has policy disagreements. If Obama had signaled a readiness to reach across the aisle, to seek common ground without guaranteeing an outcome, he would have been presidential. Instead, there were just a few throw away lines about compromise at the end of a long screed.If ever there were a time we needed someone able to act presidential, this was the moment, when everyone agrees we face a debt crisis. Yet instead of hearing a President, we heard a candidate.Obama did what he did on health care; he not only closed the door to serious compromise, he slammed it shut and double-locked the door.Hmmm....When will America understand that they have a ruthless dictator in their WhiteHouse?Read the full story here.

• HT:RightwingNation.5 Things That Will Happen To You When America Goes Bankrupt.“Madness is rare in individuals – but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the rule.” — Friedrich Nietzsche.Does it seem too strong to call the way America deals with its debt “madness?” If not madness, then what? Denial? An addiction? However you phrase it, we’re a country that’s in deep trouble, but so many of us seem unable to deal with it.Liberals in this country, for the most part, will admit that we’re running up “unsustainable” deficits. Yet, these same liberals adamantly oppose any and all serious efforts to do anything about it. If you move out from liberals to the general public, once again you’ll find plenty of people who admit that this nation has a huge problem. Yet, when you leave generalities, get down to specifics, and start looking for programs to cut, then suddenly everyone gets nervous and says, “never mind.” It’s like the old saying, “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”Sadly, this is a natural outgrowth of ladling out public funds to special interests. There is so much collective money that few people feel or appreciate it even when billions are saved. Yet, if we yank even a few million away from special interest groups like PBS, Planned Parenthood, or the unions, they squeal like pigs that are about to accidentally be put in the wolves’ pen at the zoo.In the face of that, people have to realize that this country is on pace to go bankrupt — and it could happen relatively soon if we don’t start taking serious steps to control our spending. Mike Pence thinks we could be just ten to fifteen years away. Tom Coburn is less optimistic and thinks it could happen in as little as five years. If that happens, we’re not a tiny country like Greece — we’re the biggest economy in the world. That means there’s no cavalry coming to pay our bills for us because we ARE the cavalry. What happens then? Well, we don’t know for sure, but we can make some educated guesses about what COULD happen and how it will impact YOUR life.

1) Your life savings could be reduced to nothing almost overnight. Inflation is a fact of life. Thomas Sowell has noted, “As of 1998, a $100 bill would not buy as much as a $20 bill would buy in the 1960′s.” That’s under normal circumstances.Now read the rest here.

• Bringing the outside in at Eric Holder's INJustice Department.Attorney General Eric Holder tours the country proclaiming that he has "reinvigorated" the Civil Rights Division, compared to the Bush years. Reporters never ask precisely what he means. The American people might not like answer. Holder really means adopting outside activist agendas far beyond the American legal mainstream. It also includes hiring a swarm of activist lawyers to advance an outside agenda from inside the federal government.In December, the Justice Department filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against the Berkeley School District in Illinois. The school district had refused to allow a new teacher to take three weeks off during final exams so she could go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, an unreasonable demand far beyond what federal law requires. The lead Justice Department lawyer on the case says a great deal about why this case was filed. The senior career trial attorney who signed the complaint, and therefore was in charge of the investigation, is Varda Hussain.Hussain used to be a lawyer at the Venable law firm in Virginia. In 2006, she received the firm's Benjamin R. Civiletti Pro Bono award for spending "over 500 hours in the past year fighting to bring due process to our clients." Who were the particular clients Hussain spent so much time helping? Three Egyptian terrorists held in Guantanamo Bay. Although when the Venable firm wrote its internal newsletter that reported on this award, it called them merely "Egyptian clients," here's what they are: terrorists.That sort of euphemism for murderous thugs who want to destroy America is needed at a law firm that doesn't want to upset its business clients about the work Hussain was doing to help America's deadliest enemies get away with murder and mayhem. She received an award for the work no less!Other bizarre cases have come out of the Holder Civil Rights Division. DOJ stopped the debut of the Amazon Kindle because it was not in Braille. It attacked South Carolina for providing special treatment to inmates infected with AIDS. It demanded that Dayton, Ohio, hire black police officers who failed the competency examination. The attorney hires have also been bizarre. Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez hired Aaron Schuham from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of the most hostile organizations in the United States toward organized religion.Founded as a rabidly anti-Catholic organization in 1947, the group has taken the lead in stopping public expressions of faith. Schuham's new job in Holder's Justice Department? Protecting religious liberty. Attorney hires like Schuham's lead to reasonable questions about the administration's motivation.Who did Holder pick to head the unit inside civil rights to bring civil rights lawsuits against police departments and prisons? Why none other than Jonathan Smith, formerly of the Prisoners Legal Services Project and the D.C. Legal Aid Society, two anti-police and anti-prison guard antagonist groups. Hopefully America's police unions will take note of Smith's hiring when deciding presidential endorsements next year.These attorneys are just the tip of the iceberg, but the DOJ is concealing the full scope of the problem. Pajamas Media submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the DOJ in the summer of 2010 seeking the resumes of all the new Obama hires inside the Civil Rights Division.The Bush DOJ complied with an identical request from the Boston Globe after three weeks in 2007. Pajamas Media had to sue Holder in January, and the resumes still have not been provided. Phony transparency is worse than none at all.When Holder speaks of "reopening and reinvigorating" the Civil Rights Division, what he is really saying is giving lawyers like Hussain, Schuham and Smith high-paying government jobs where they can use taxpayer money to push an agenda shared by outside activist groups.Attorneys in the Civil Rights Division should be legal technicians, not activists. The division is the only division of the Justice Department where cases are initiated and brought by low-level line attorneys.Every other division is reactive, not proactive. If adopting the agenda of outside activist groups constitutes "reinvigorating" the Civil Rights Division, the next Republican president needs to deinvigorate it soon after taking office.Hmmmmm......When can we talk about High treason Mr AG?Read the full story here.

• HT:PajamasMedia.Did Obama and Holder Scuttle Terror Finance Prosecutions?During the House Homeland Security hearing last month on the topic of radicalization in the American Muslim community, one exchange between L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca and Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN) concerned the relationship between the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and Hamas terrorist front the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Sheriff Baca told the congressman:We don’t play around with criminals in my world. If CAIR is an organization that is a quote “criminal organization,” prosecute them. Hold them accountable and bring them to trial.But according to a high-ranking source within the Department of Justice, who spoke exclusively to Pajamas Media on the condition of anonymity, Sheriff Baca, a long-time supporter of CAIR, was probably already in on the joke.The joke is that a number of leaders of Islamic organizations (all of whom publicly opposed the King hearings on Muslim radicalization) were about to be indicted on terror finance support charges by the U.S. attorney’s office in Dallas, which had been investigating the case for most of the past decade.But those indictments were scuttled last year at the direction of top-level political appointees within the Department of Justice (DOJ) — and possibly even the White House.According to my source, the chief reason outlined in the DOJ memo declining to prosecute CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad was the issue of potential jury nullification. The first Holy Land Foundation trial in 2007 ended in a hung jury. When the case was retried in 2008, all five defendants, former executives of the Holy Land Foundation, were convicted on all 108 counts.But, according to our DOJ source, possible jury nullification was hardly the primary issue in the DOJ’s scuttling of the terror finance prosecutions. “This was a political decision from the get-go,” the source said.It was always the plan to initially go after the [Holy Land Foundation] leaders first and then go after the rest of the accomplices in a second round of prosecutions. From a purely legal point of view, the case was solid. Jim Jacks [the U.S. attorney in Dallas who prosecuted the Holy Land Foundation executives] and his team were ready to go. There’s a mountain of evidence against all of these groups that was never introduced during the Holy Land trial and it is damning. We’ve got them on wiretaps. That’s exactly why many of these leaders and groups were named unindicted co-conspirators in the first round of prosecutions.But from a political perspective there was absolutely no way that they could move forward. That’s why this decision came from the top down. These individuals who were going to be prosecuted are still the administration’s interfaith allies. Not only would these Muslim groups and their friends in the media be screaming “Islamophobia” at the top of their lungs and that this is a war against Islam, but the administration would look like absolute fools. It’s kind of hard to prosecute someone on material support for terrorism when you have pictures of them getting handed awards from DOJ and FBI leaders for their supposed counter-terror efforts. How would Holder explain that when we’re carting off these prominent Islamic leaders in handcuffs for their role in a terror finance conspiracy we’ve been investigating for years? This is how bad the problem is. Why are we continuing to have anything to do with these groups knowing what we know?“By closing down these prosecutions,” the source added, “the evidence we’ve collected over the past decade that implicates most of the major Islamic organizations will never see the light of day.”As I reported here at Pajamas Media, FBI Director Robert Mueller reiterated these reasons for cutting ties with CAIR before a recent House Judiciary Committee meeting — just two days before The Daily Caller reported that White House officials had publicly praised CAIR.Adding to the hypocrisy, after the Obama administration scuttled the next round of prosecutions in the Hamas terror financing investigation last March, Attorney General Eric Holder gave the prosecutors and FBI investigators in the Holy Land Foundation case the AG’s Award for Distinguished Service last October for their work in the case.To say things are different under Obama and Holder would be an understatement. Many of the people I work with at Justice now see CAIR not just as political allies, but ideological allies. They believe they are fighting the same revolution. It’s scary. And Congress and the American people need to know this is going on.It remains to be seen how Congress, the American people, and the establishment media — who always seem eager to rise to the defense of CAIR and the other terror-tied Islamic groups — will proceed.Hmmmmm......"We don't want to take over your country"?Read the full story here.

• HT:HotAir.More Ryan on Obama: “He’s basically a pyromaniac in a field of straw men”.From the Mark Levin show. If you enjoyed this afternoon’s appetizer, wait until you dig into the main course. It’s 15 minutes long but every second is enjoyable, I promise. One thing neither Ryan nor I can figure out: Why on earth would The One invite him to attend a speech that was designed to demagogue Ryan for electoral purposes? Was that some sort of “if I’m going to kneecap this guy, I ought to at least look him in the eye” concession on Obama’s part? Or did he just think it’d be funny to see the look on Ryan’s face while he was accusing him of rifling through the pockets of handicapped children? The ways of The One are mysterious to mere mortals, my friends.As further reading, dive into this short but effective Mark Knoller piece at CBS gently reminding Obama that our national debt is projected to reach $26 trillion by 2021, which makes $4 trillion in cuts over the next 12 years seem … not so serious. Oh well: Next president’s problem, I guess.Hmmmm.....Unless Emperor Obama II is still in 'control'?Read the full story here.

• HT:JudicialWatch.Pentagon: Mexican Drug Cartels Threaten Entire U.S.Should Americans believe Janet Napolitano’s rosy picture of a U.S.-Mexico border that’s “as secure as it has ever been” or a Pentagon assessment that it’s actually a gateway for Mexican criminal organizations that have infiltrated the entire country and joined forces with terrorist groups?For months the nation’s Homeland Security Secretary has repeatedly insisted that everything is hunky dory on the southwest border, even as violence escalates and overwhelmed federal agents are increasingly attacked by heavily armed drug smugglers. Just last month Napolitano declared that violence along the Mexican border is merely a mistaken “perception” because the area is safe and “open for business.” Furthermore, Madame Secretary assured that “some of America’s safest communities are in the Southwest border region….”A top Pentagon official contradicts that fairytale assessment, pointing out that Mexican criminal organizations extend well beyond the southwest border to cities across the country, including big ones like Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit. Addressing a U.S. Senate hearing this week, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics and Global Threats William Wechsler warned lawmakers that all their constituencies are confronted by the threat of Mexican drug cartels.Even more alarming is that, once in the United States, Wechsler says the Mexican criminal groups are becoming more dangerous by forming networks with each other and insurgent or terrorist groups. In some regions the “threat networking” not only engages in drug trafficking but kidnapping, armed robbery, extortion and other serious crimes.The threat is so great that the assistant Defense Secretary offered federal legislators military assistance in the name of protecting national security. “Many of the global and regional terrorists who threaten interests of the United States finance their activities with proceeds from narcotics trafficking,” Wechsler reminded, adding that “extremist and international criminal networks frequently exploit local geographical, political or social conditions to establish safe havens from which they can operate with impunity.” Hmmmm......To protect the borders and the Constitution?Read the full story here.

• African Refugees Stuck in Limbo on the French-Italian Border.The coastal Italian town of Ventimiglia has long attracted vacationers to its gorgeous beaches and charming streets. But now that France has tightened its controls, the border town is quickly swelling with hundreds of North African refugees trying to make their way into France.The Italian government had promised to give the refugees temporary residence permits that they could use to legally travel to other EU member states. But now France, Germany and other countries have said they will not recognize the papers. Here, in the border town of Ventimiglia, the pan-European spirit behind the EU has reached its limits.Rome is now using the migrants as a tool to put pressure on neighboring states, and Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has even called European Union solidarity into question. Other EU governments are intensifying not only the war of words but also their border controls. There is suddenly little trace of a united Europe. The sense of disappointment is palpable among the migrants stuck in Ventimiglia. The deputy head of the Italian border police in the town crosses his arms and says that the matter should be solved by "the governments rather than the Italian or French police." Stefano Zerbone, who oversees a temporary refugee center set up here by the Red Cross, says the European Union "is always there when it comes to the euro, to business. But this is a European problem, not just an Italian one."Some of the Tunisians here say that "Europe is beautiful." But they're outnumbered by the many others who say it was a "mistake".Many more immigrants are likely to come, particularly from North Africa. New boats full of immigrants arrive in Lampedusa almost every day. On Wednesday, two would-be immigrants drowned after their ship ran aground off the island of Pantelleria. Just last week, an entire boat full of refugees capsized. Most of the Tunisians say that they know what to expect. They know that the road to France will be dangerous and exhausting. Since the Italian residency permits give them some degree of hope, they are waiting things out in Ventimiglia.There are now already 300 of them waiting here for the controversial papers that often take two weeks to process, and every day brings more. Indeed, the Red Cross fears that the number of migrants in Ventimiglia could significantly increase. "We are very worried," says Tommaso Della Longa, a spokesman for the organization.Hmmmmm.......Read the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.35 Statistics That Show The Average American Family Has Been Broke Down, Tore Down, Beat Down, Busted And Disgusted By This Economy.The economic statistics that you are about to read are incredibly shocking, but they are also very, very real. Tonight there are going to be millions of men and women all across America that cannot sleep because they are consumed with anxiety about their financial problems. Even as you read this, there are a lot of parents out there that are trying to figure out how to explain to their children why their homes are being taken away. There are also hordes of very hard working Americans that are incredibly frustrated because they have sent out thousands of resumes and yet they can't seem to get a job interview. Have you ever been at a point where you couldn't pay the mortgage or put food on the table for your family? It can be an absolutely soul-crushing experience. In fact, there are some cities in the U.S. that have been so utterly devastated by this economy that it seems as though virtually everyone has had the hope sucked right out of them. The mainstream media is trying to convince all of us that we are in an economic recovery, but that is a lie. The truth is that we are in the middle of a long-term economic decline and the greatest economy in the history of the world is dying right in front of our eyes.The average American family is under more economic stress right now than at any other time since the Great Depression. Just check out the following statistics.....Read the full story here.

• “We’re Being Screwed By Democrats”: Union Bosses Rip Into Obama And Harry Reid During Closed Door Meeting.Top labor leaders excoriated President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a closed session of the AFL-CIO’s executive board meeting in Washington Wednesday, three labor sources said.Furious union presidents complained about budget cuts, a new trade agreement and what some view as their abandonment, even by their typically reliable allies among Senate Democrats.“Now, not only are we getting screwed by the Republicans but the Democrats are doing it too,” said one union official, characterizing the mood at a summit of labor leaders who are worried that Democrats seem unlikely to go to the mat for them as an election year approaches.Presidents of several unions and an AFL-CIO spokesman declined to repeat their private criticism to a reporter Tuesday, a sign that labor feels it must still try to maintain a relationship with the Democratic Party, even if it’s deeply troubled . With Republicans increasingly shifting from private antagonism toward open war with organized labor, unreliable Democratic allies are the only allies the movement has, and it remains unclear whether disappointments will dampen enthusiasm among union acvists and voters in the 2012 elections.A case in point: The AFL released yesterday a deliberately measured statementon the budget.“President Obama does not yet have the balance right between spending cuts and new revenue,” said President Richard Trumka calling for “significant new revenues.” Last week, the federation released a stronger, “deeply disappointed”statement on the free trade pact with Colombia.But even the semblance of a polite tone was missing at Wednesday’s board’s meeting, which a labor official described as “raw.”Hmmmm.......The story of the dogs fighting over a bone comes to mind?Rea the full story here.

• Hamas: Kidnapped Italian activist found dead in Gaza. Body of Vittorio Arigoni found in abandoned house, group had threatened to execute man.GAZA - Security officials found the body of an Italian man who had been abducted in the Gaza Strip in an abandoned house overnight Thursday, a Hamas security official said.Two men were arrested and others were being sought.In a You Tube clip the group posted online earlier Thursday, a Jihadist Salafi group in Gaza aligned with al Qaida had threatened to execute Italian rights activist Vittorio Arigoni by 17:00 local time (1400 GMT) unless their leader Hesham al-Sa'eedni, whom it detained last month, was freed.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the kidnapping and called for Arigoni's "immediate release without conditions," in a statement overnight Thursday."The move does not serve the justification of the Palestinian nation, but harms it," Abbas added."If our demands are not met within 30 hours the captive will be executed when the period is over," a text on the video clip said.Hmmmm.....The Crocodile decided it wanted a 'Change' of diet?Read the full story here.

• HT:AmnonAndJonathan.Vittorio Arrigoni - Dead !Famed Activist Vittorio Arrigoni Kidnapped in Gaza - Feared Dead."Who benefits? This is the question we must ask first when something like Vik Arrigoni being kidnapped happens. The answer is, Israel; nobody benefits more than Israel" - Ken O'Keefe.(SALEM / GAZA) - UPDATE: Media sources are reporting that Vittorio Arrigoni was found dead and that the Salafist faction was responsible. His body was reportedly located by Hamas police officers. They said he had been kidnapped, beaten and killed. The video at the bottom of this story shows 'Vik' as he was known to his friends, in captivity. Possibly the strongest voice in the years-long struggle to free Palestine, 36-year old Vittorio Arrigoni, a journalist and activist with the International Solidarity Movement, was kidnapped in Gaza.From what we understand, a Salafi Group in Gaza claims responsibility for the kidnapping. Later in the day, a youtube video surfaced showing Vittotio blind folded and beaten up. Salafi Jehadis say they are asking Hamas government in Gaza to release Abu Al Waleed Al Maqdisi in 30 hours starting from 11:00 a.m. today or else they would kill him. One person who knows the steadfast dedication of Vittorio 'Vik' Arrigoni is our writer Ken O'Keefe, also in Gaza, who stated the bottom line on this sad day."Who benefits? This is the question we must ask first when something like Vik Arrigoni being kidnapped happens. The answer is, Israel; nobody benefits more than Israel.""So whether they are false-Muslims or agents of Israel, those that have Vik are serving Israel."All journalists in Gaza, Vittorios friends here and his friends everywhere are asking Hamas to immediately intervene and release Vittiorio who worked hard to help Gaza for a long time. Arrigoni recently penned two stories for Salem-News.com about Gaza. He has shown the world who he is, now the world needs to show Vik that they are with him. According to PalToday Magazine, Italian Foreign Affairs Office declared the loss of communication with one of their citizens in Gaza without mentioning names of confirming that its Vittorio, but its obvious in the Youtube Video shared earlier that its him.Ansar Al Sunah "Salafi" Group in Gaza, declared their responsibility of Vittorio's abduction and said they will release a press release soon. Around 4:30 p.m. west coast time, it was tweeted that Vittorio was reportedly in the al-Dughmoush family block in Gaza, and the Hamas police were surrounding the area. Several members of the al-Dughmoush family are said to be associated with Salafist. This is a group that reportedly looks down on Hamas for not being sufficiently religious and they are known for a rejection of western influence.Hmmmm.....Read the full story here.

• Related - HT:IsraelMatzav.Jihadi group to execute useful idiot in Gaza.An al-Qaeda-linked 'Palestinian' group in Gaza has kidnapped an Italian 'human rights' worker and is threatening to execute him at 5:00 pm on Friday unless Hamas releases the group's leader. [Vittorio] Arrigoni, an Italian pacifist and blogger, has lived in the Gaza Strip for some time. He was shown blindfolded with blood around his right eye and a hand can be seen pulling his head up by his hair to face the camera.A spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry in Gaza City said it was investigating the abduction.It was unclear when Arrigoni was kidnapped or where he was being held, but an Italian diplomat who serves in the region confirmed to Reuters he had been abducted.The Arabic text that accompanied the footage of Arrigoni also said "the Italian hostage entered our land only to spread corruption" and it described Italy as "the infidel state".Israel Radio reports that Arrigoni - who is pro-'Palestinian' - entered Gaza with the first blockade-running flotilla and has lived in Gaza ever since. Useful idiot.Hmmmm.......The 'people' who demand to be a'state' what has happened to 'We do not negociate with terrorists'?Read the full story here.Update  from Israel Matzav after the killing : More than a useful idiot. Here

• Fear and Loathing in the Revolutionary Guards.Will Muslim unrest shake the Iranian regime at its core?In an act of open insubordination, during the March 10th demonstrations in Tehran, seven members of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) security forces refused to shoot at protesters on the streets. Arrested and jailed in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison for interrogation, they are still being interrogated as the Iranian regime’s authorities debate how to deal with them.During the interrogations the regime’s intelligence sources have repeatedly warned the seven — identities still unknown — that they must reveal the names of the “leaders” of the organization(s) they are taking orders from, as well as disclose the names of any other member of the IRGC and Basij forces working undercover.To that end, the commanders of the Basij have joined the interrogators and are absolutely determined to make the connection between the insubordinate guards and the authors of a recent letter written to Mohammad-Ali Jafari, the chief commander of the Revolutionary Guards. The open letter, published at various sites, was penned by a number of top-ranking but anonymous members of the IRGC. In it, they announce their defiance of their orders and their refusal to treat protesters with violence.The accused reject all knowledge of such a letter.The commanders of the IRGC are said to be debating the proper form of disciplinary action. Where a few have suggested that firing them would be just punishment, the majority are reluctant to consider letting it go at that, certain that any and all those who refuse to follow orders must be severely punished.But execution does not seem to be an effective deterrent. Back in August 2010, a number of the IRGC members who were arrested and detained for insubordination were drugged and then buried alive. But, of course, the news didn’t stay under wraps for very long. Soon enough, it was widely reported by blogs and human rights organizations.It is said that in a private meeting with Khamenei, Jafari expressed his fear of a domino effect within the region given the influence of recent events throughout the Middle East and North Africa upon his ranks. Jafari stressed that news of the Libyan pilots who fled Libya in a fighter jet for Malta and the defections of other Libyan military personnel could reverberate throughout the Iranian military and trigger similar actions.Hmmmmm......It seems not everyone is 'awaiting' the 12Th Imam after all?Read the full story here.

• Afghans Shocked to Learn They Burned More Korans Protesting The Florida Koran Burning Than Terry Jones Did.(Christian Science Monitor) — As the dust settles in Afghanistan after sustained protest over a Florida pastor’s Quran burning, many residents in Kandahar are facing an unpleasant truth: More Qurans were burned in the course of their protests than by Terry Jones.The demonstrations, which started peacefully, quickly turned violent, killing at least nine people and injuring scores in Kandahar City alone. And as protesters vandalized a girls’ school and set fire to shops, Qurans also inadvertently went up in flames.“If they burn a shop, there is a Quran in every shop, so this is a big problem,” says Azizullah Aziz, a perfume and soap salesman in Kandahar City. “People don’t know how to protest.”On Wednesday, the province’s top spiritual leaders moved to address the irony – and promote restraint at a time when passions are running high over the US war effort. They called a shura, or meeting, and told the crowd of several hundred people that gathered in a tent at Kandahar University how to protest in an Islamic manner.Islam does not discourage protests, said the mullahs. But, they said, when something happens that causes concern, citizens must seek the advice of their religious leaders before taking action. They added that any protest should also have clear goals.“You have to respect what the mullahs say. If they say protest, you have to protest. If they say don’t protest, you can’t protest. They know the Islamic law for when to protest,” said Haji Rahmudeen, head of the Kandahar Business Association, in his address to the crowd.The mullahs spoke with Afghan government officials before the meeting, but independently organized the event.In addition to imploring citizens to maintain order during protests, the mullahs called on the government to better prepare the police to deal with protesters, ensure that government and international forces respect Islamic and Afghan culture, and stop international forces from conducting night raids, among other demands.There was much speculation that Wednesday’s event could end in yet another protest. Indeed, all the ingredients were there to stoke the ever-present well of anger over the ongoing foreign presence. During Mr. Omar’s speech, he reminded the crowd that America was still the enemy and its soldiers are “killing our 2-year-old children in our homes.”Hmmmm.....Read the full story here.

• Mohammedan fanatics burned sacred Hindu scripture “Srimad Bhagabad Gita” after destroying 555 years old Hindu temple complex in Islamic Republic of Bangladesh.Srimad Bhagavad Gita burned, Srivas Angan destructed and partially grabbed by Islamists in Bangladesh.In the series attack upon the Hindu Temples in Bangladesh in recent months, aiming to frighten the minority Hindus there and to grab the Hindu temple properties within a so called secular regime of Awami League Govt. headed by Sheikh Hasina, latest feed back came to us about a total resentment of the retaliating Hindus in the nefarious design of burning of “Srimad Bhagabad Gita” in the temple complex of Sribas Angan in the vicinity of Beyani Bazar of Sylhet district. Before this culpable act the Islamist perpetrators destroyed the ancestral deities of this “Sree Sree Lakshmi Narayan”, “Lord Shiva” and “Radha Madhav Jiu” of Achray Sribas Swami, a great Sanskrit scholar ever and the champion companion of Sree Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu(1486–1534), a great spiritual leader in India for his Bhakti Movement.

On 02.04.11, morning at about 10.00 am in broad day light, local influential perpetrators and land grabbers backed by ruling parties burned at least ten copies of Sreemad Bhagbad Gita with many religious books in front of local people after rampaging the whole pilgrimage complex to ensure a Islamic capture over a Hindu rights upon a temple property(Devottar sampatti). The fanatic Mohammedans successfully tried to destroy the relics of famous library building of Srivas Swami where a good collection of Hindu classic literatures and scriptures were the main attraction for the erudite students of the Master Srivas, across eastern India. It is believed that Srivas Swami started here an indigenous block print method (printing press) to copy old Sanskrit Texts. For a very unfortunate fate of the Hindus in Bangladesh all these historical and religious monuments have almost been perished into the Islamic aggression and the Government negligence.Hmmmmm.......If there are no Jews or Christiand then go for the Hindus?Read the full story here.

• Pakistan would back Taliban office in Turkey, official says.Pakistan would back Taliban office in Turkey, official says.Pakistan would back a plan to allow the Taliban to open a political office in Turkey to help with talks to end the war in Afghanistan, a Pakistani official said on Thursday during a visit by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to Ankara. Turkey has hosted talks aimed at building trust between Pakistan and Afghanistan and has said it is open to allowing the establishment of a diplomatic presence for the Taliban on its soil, but that there is no formal request yet. Analysts say that any solution to the Afghan conflict would likely require the support of Pakistan.“As Pakistan we have no reservations for such an office to be opened,” the official said, on condition of anonymity. “We are not against it. As long as there’s ownership from the Afghan people and the Afghan government we will not oppose it,” the official told Reuters.The proposal first surfaced during a trilateral summit in December between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan in İstanbul, in which Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Kabul would welcome any offer by Turkey to facilitate talks with the Taliban.Zardari, who is in Turkey for a state visit, declined to comment during a news conference on Wednesday with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gül when asked if there had been any progress on letting the Taliban open such an office in Turkey.Gül, who was asked the same question, also declined to comment but said, “Our contribution to Afghanistan will always be within the context of cooperation with Afghan authorities.”A Turkish Foreign Ministry official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters on Thursday: “There is no application [for opening a Taliban office] yet and no decision has been taken yet. We will evaluate it when there is such a demand.”Hmmmm.......Get Turkey out of NATO!Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Syrian Human Rights Activist in 'Al-Sharq Al-Awsat' Interview: 'Whenever We Ask For Freedom and Democracy – They Tell Us That Our Confrontation With Israel is More Important Than Narrow Domestic Issues'.In an interview published April 4, 2011 in the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, which was headlined "Al-Assad Should Step Down and Return To Dentistry," Syrian human rights activist Muntaha Al-Atrash states: "Whenever we ask for freedom and democracy they tell us that our confrontation with Israel is more important than narrow domestic issues. They excuse themselves with this confrontation with Israel, and now they are saying that the Syrian regime is nationalist and does not bow to the West.Source.

• HT:Memri.Saudi Religious Police Warn Romanian Soccer Player Not To Kiss Crucifix.The Saudi religious police have warned Romanian soccer player Mirel Rădoi, of the Saudi Al-Hilal team, not to kiss his crucifix during games, saying that it violates shari'a. The Al-Hilal soccer club chairman said in response that the religious police's interference in sports is dangerous, and that there should be tolerance for the religions of the foreign players.Source.

• You got to be kidding!Iranian Ambassador Calls For Probe Into Reports Of Saudi Torture Of Bahraini Prisoners.Iranian Ambassador to Syrian Ahmad Mousavi has called for the establishment of a fact-finding committee to investigate reports of torture of prisoners and killing of protestors in Bahrain by Saudi troops. Mousavi told the Iranian news agency Mehr that such a move could shed light on the activity of human rights organizations. Commenting on efforts to trigger sectarian conflict in the region and to accuse Iran in the midst of incidents taking place in the region, Mousavi said that it appears that a plot is being hatched in order to drive a wedge between tribes in "Islamic-Arab" countries, and to serve the interests of the Zionist regime. He went on to say that that popular protests that have swept the countries of the region must be resolved by the countries themselves. He added that Iran is opposed to foreign interference in the internal affairs of Libya and Bahrain.Hmmmm.....Because It's a well know fact that Iran treats his prisoners with the utmost 'courtesy'.Read the full story here.