MFS - The Other News

                      Afternoon Posting.

• Libya Live Blog - May 02. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Syria Live Blog - May 02. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in philippines  today  5.1! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 101.
  Source : Here .

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

• Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has denied the reports that Osama Bin Laden was killed, Geo News reported.Source.

• Chopper crashes, three blasts heard near PMA Kakul.(thenewspk).ABBOTTABAD: Three loud blasts were heard near the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul Road late Sunday night and a military helicopter also crashed. Sources told Geo News that heavy firing was heard in the area before the chopper crashed.Windowpanes of the nearby buildings and houses were smashed due to the intensity of the blasts, the sources said. Eyewitnesses said first sound of heavy firing was heard and then there was a huge blast. Fire erupted at the scene of the occurrence and according to latest reports police and fire brigade teams were rushing towards the blast scene. Security forces cordoned off the entire area and military helicopters were also hovering over the area.Hmmmm......Very strange a Pakistani paper and...NOT A WORD ABOUT OSAMA BIN LADEN?Read the full story here.

• Raw Video: Inside Bin Laden Compound After Special Forces Raid.Via WeaselZippers here.

• Live blog: Osama bin Laden killed by US forces.(Al-Jazeera).1:57pm The death of bin Laden was greeted with near-silence on Monday from Gulf Arab states, including his birthplace Saudi Arabia.By mid-afternoon, the only official comment from the Arabian Peninsula came from Yemen, bin Laden's ancestral homeland, where an official speaking on condition of anonymity hoped the killing would "root out terrorism throughout the world".Saudi Arabia's official news agency merely noted that the United States and Pakistan had announced bin Laden had been killed in a US military operation in Pakistan but gave no clue to Riyadh's thinking.The foreign ministers of Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, attending a meeting of Gulf foreign ministers in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, all declined to comment on bin Laden's death.

10:22am Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said that US soldiers should be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq after the killing of Osama bin Laden. Essam al-Erian, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's governing body, told Reuters:With Bin Laden's death, one of the reasons for which violence has been practised in the world has been removed. It is time for Obama to pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq and end the occupation of U.S. and Western forces around the world that have for so long harmed Muslim countries.For continious updates click here.

• Reactions on the Death of Osama Bin Laden.(Al-Jazeera).Ismail Haniyeh - head of Hamas in the Gaza strip.We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs.We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood.

P. Chidambaram - Indian home minister

We take note with grave concern that part of the statement in which (US) President Obama said that the firefight in which Osama bin Laden was killed took place in Abbottabad 'deep inside Pakistan'.This fact underlines our concern that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan.Read more reactions here.

• Iran - 'Bin Laden was killed years ago'.(PressTV).A 2007 Benazir Bhutto interview in which she says the al-Qaeda leader was 'murdered' years ago contributes to the uncertainty surrounding US claims about Osama bin Laden's death. On Monday, US President Barack Obama announced that the al-Qaeda leader was killed by US forces after he was found hiding in a compound in Pakistan. This is while in an interview following a failed assassination attempt on Pakistan's former premier in October 2007, Bhutto says bin Laden has already been killed. In the interview, she identifies the man who killed the notorious al-Qaeda leader as one Omar Sheikh , excerpts of which was sent to Press TV's UReport. In response to a question whether any of the assassins had links with the government, Bhutto said, "Yes but one of them is a very key figure in security, he is a former military officer … and had dealings with Omar Sheikh, the man who murdered Osama Bin Laden." Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007 in a bomb attack as she was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi when a gunman shot her in the neck and set off a bomb. The announcement of bin Laden's death comes almost ten years after the September 11 attacks on the United States. Meanwhile, a US official says bin Laden's body has been buried at sea, alleging that his hasty burial was in accordance with Islamic law, which requires burial within 24 hours of death. This is while burial at sea is not an Islamic practice and Islam does not determine a timeframe for burial. The official added that finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted man was difficult, so the US decided to bury him at sea. Read and see the full story here.

• WHILE YOU ARE ALL DISTRACTED!Obamination: The Birth Certificate That Ain't.(BloggerBase).Both documents purported by the White House to certify that he was born in Hawaii have one indisputable fatal flaw: neither one bears the seal of the Hawaii Department of Health required to authenticate them. They lack probative value. Observe that I have annotated the image to point out three defects.

1.The Certificate # has been obliterated. Why would Obama obliterate it? It discloses nothing, it serves only as confirmation. A forgery could be discovered by revelation of a real certificate bearing the same number. Also, if the real certification of Obama's birth was revealed, and the numbers did not match, the forgery would be exposed.

2.The embossed seal of the State Health Department is not present. Only a few indecipherable characters, which appear to be inverted numbers, appear where it should be.

3.The document declares that it is invalidated by any alteration. That includes obliterating the serial number.Obama's purported certificates are defective: they lack the state seal with which the real certificates are embossed. Both have been altered, which would invalidate the genuine document. This is my third post on this subject, because one of my Muslim critics needs a good slapping down. This one's for you, Ema. Diversion, distraction, obfuscation & Tu-quoque do not cut the mustard. Try to come up with some relevant, verifiable facts to support your fantasy.Hmmmm.....Diversion, distraction, obfuscation...nobody even thinks about the birthcertificate anymore?Read the full story here.

• Display Bin Laden’s Body At Ground Zero. Then Destroy The Al Qaeda Legacy.(BigGovernment).Just as Islamist extremists sought to use Ground Zero as a triumphal place to build their mosque, the United States should use the site to display Osama bin Laden’s naked body for all Americans to see. We have a right to view our nation’s tormentor face to face, to make sure he is dead, and to spit on him if we choose.Then the U.S. should unceremoniously destroy the carcass, flush it into the Manhattan sewer, and start grinding up bin Laden’s legacy among his followers.Here are some immediate thoughts of what the U.S. must do.

1. Display the body. The free world, particularly the United States, has a right to make sure Osama bin Laden is really dead. Every American has a right to walk right up to bin Laden’s corpse and view it. We are entitled to know for a fact that the witch is dead. No shroud for dignity’s sake, please – bin Laden’s naked, bullet-riddled corpse should be put on display in lower Manhattan for all the world to see. The entire body should be digitally scanned, inside and out – and made available for everyone to take his or her own picture.This isn’t as morbid a thought as it might seem. Bodies are routinely scanned and photographed during autopsies, their digital images preserved. And across most of the world’s cultures they are placed on display prior to burial or cremation. For us Doubting Thomases out there – we need to see in order to believe.No future Elvis sightings, please. Leave no room for conspiracy theories that the CIA faked bin Laden’s death, that bin Laden is living in comfortable exile somewhere, or that 20 years from now he’ll still be out there, calling the shots. All of us is entitled to see that the beast has indeed been killed.

2. Make the body disappear. The US made mistakes in the past by returning the bodies of dead terrorists to their families or hometowns for burial. This is a nice and sentimental gesture, but it had the net effect of spawning more extremism and terrorism. The graves that contained the physical bodies became shrines for extremist pilgrims, educational tools to propagandize young people, and models to inspire future terrorists.Even though they were atheists, the Soviets understood the propagandistic importance of bodies. That’s why they mummified Lenin, put the remains in a mausoleum, and turned the corpse into the core of a personality cult. That’s why, too, the Soviets ordered the physical destruction of Adolf Hitler’s corpse, burning it and burying it and re-burying it before ultimately dumping the ashes in a river. There would be no pilgrimage point for future Nazis.And so, after a thorough public examination, bin Laden’s body should be burned, its ashes flushed into the New York City sewer system.

• 3. Describe how bin Laden spent his last days and died. In what type of luxury did the al Qaeda leader live as his fanatical devotees crawled around their rabbit holes and scratched out a miserable existence? What did he surround himself with in that mansion outside Islamabad? Was he Spartan-like? Or did he live, perhaps, like the Tunisian and Egyptian strong men overthrown by their own people?Was bin Laden, the puritanical Islamist, really just another religious phony? A total hypocrite whom it would prove shameful to follow? Did the CIA find the types of disgusting double lives that our military discovered among the many suicide bombers who murdered in his name – the liquor, the cyber porn, the pederasty? What about his body? Did the autopsy reveal symptoms of the anal gonorrhea so prevalent among his totally un-gay followers in rural Afghanistan?Did he go down fighting, or did he cower and plead for his life?No need to give bin Laden a clean bill of health here – we’re looking at destroying his legacy, not being fair and balanced. If there’s anything truthful that can be used to discredit him, let’s use it.If there isn’t, then it isn’t important to know. This is political warfare, not public relations.Bin Laden may be dead (I’ll believe it when I see it), but al Qaeda is still alive.I’m going to raise a mug of beer and munch a Hebrew National pork sausage to celebrate the brave CIA men who took bin Laden down.Then it’s back to work to destroy what the al Qaeda leader left behind. That means piling dirt on bin Laden’s legacy, destroying his appeal, and providing the world with all the necessary facts to heap humiliation on anyone who insists on continuing to follow his cause.Read the full story here.

• Sen. Graham questions decision to dispose of bin Laden's body.(TheHill).A leading Republican senator on Monday questioned the U.S. government's decision to dispose of Osama bin Laden's body within 24 hours. Bin Laden, the former al Qaeda leader killed by U.S. forces on Sunday, was buried at sea within 24 hours of his death in accordance with Islamic law. Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), a top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, is skeptical of the decision."To me, that didn't make a lot of sense," Graham said during an interview with conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham.U.S. forces were able to capture bin Laden's body after killing him at a compound outside Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, but he was buried at sea soon afterward, reportedly not to leave a shrine to him. The Obama administration is debating whether to release photos of bin Laden's body after some have expressed concern that the U.S. needs to do so to prove his death. But others in the administration have been hesitant due to the graphic nature of the photos. Michael Scheuer, a former CIA official, said Monday morning that the U.S. will likely release the photos to eliminate any doubt that he is dead.Hmmm....During the live White house briefing the question was asked if a recording was made of the burial at sea?NO ANSWER WAS GIVEN TO THE PRESS!Is it all a giant FAIRYTALE for election purposes?Read the full story here.

• After Osama: Extracts from Anwer Sher’s forthcoming book, Arabia Besieged: A Muslim Insider Looks at Islam’s Deepening Crisis.(Al-Arabia).Osama Bin Laden, like all mortals, was to eventually die, but as much as moderate Muslims would have hoped he would die of natural causes, the sensational nature of his demise—in a US Navy Seals raid on a house he occupied near Islamabad—afforded Osama the one way he wanted to die: under gunfire. While the form of his death would not erode his stature within the radical elements of the Muslim world, the fact he died, and how he did, will in a sense heighten his standing. However, Osama bin Laden, leaves behind an unaccomplished task, of establishing his form of rule in the Muslim Ummah, (community), a task for which violence, as a means of achieving the objective, was considered normal.The question now will be how the movement of change he inspired and often called Al Qaeda will transform in the post Osama bin Laden era. In the first instance the command and control structure of Al Qaeda was never strictly hierarchical and in the aftermath of the Taliban’s ouster from Afghanistan, where Osama headquartered his movement, an element of flexibility within the rank and file of the Al Qaeda appeared. Osama Bin Laden’s hiding place was not, after all, a cave in the mountains of Pakistan, but a large villa in an area near the military garrison in Abbottabad, less than 60 kilometers from Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad. It is possible that his hiding place was well chosen as no one would suspect the world’s most wanted man would be so close to the very military that might be used to hunt him down. It is clear that such an operation to kill or capture Osama bin Laden could not have happened without the help and support of the Pakistan military, which was all the more visible in minutes after the US raid.Osama’s presence near Pakistani military establishments seems to suggest similarities with the modus operandi of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s preference for a safe house; Khalid was captured by Pakistani military intelligence near the military headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2003. It seems that being close to the military garrisons would afford less suspicion than being in the more obvious tribal areas of Pakistan.The question is more now centered, over the next few years, on the shape and direction of the leadership that will emerge in the aftermath of Osama bin Laden’s death.On the one hand Ayman Zawahiri will assert the spiritual leadership, and operational leadership will be of more interest. Currently the suspected operational leadership is in the hands of Adnan Gulshair al Shukrijummah, commonly known as Abu Arif, but it has always remain unclear as to how much control he has over the operational elements in different regions. It would seem more likely that Al Qaeda would offer more leadership to its commanders in the field, which would well be a dangerous development, as impulsive attacks will increase.Osama bin Laden’s failing health and the fact he was in hiding for almost decade did mean that his leadership was perhaps more symbolic and one could argue that in terms of leadership Al Qaeda’s will remain unaffected. It is also quite possible that Al Qaeda’s leadership will mould various militant closer, showing a greater sense of cohesiveness than before.Read the full story here.

• Letter from Cairo: Down goes the terrorist, hail to the martyr.(Al-Arabia).Osama bin Laden is dead. Since the crack of dawn, this has become Cairo’s new “good morning” and “how are you doing?” and “any plans for tonight?” All those I’ve met or talked to since the fate of the much-hyped militant was made known to the whole world seem to have been connected to Osama bin Laden in one way or another and his death suddenly seemed like the piece of news that is bound to change their lives. Which, really, is quite interesting since as far as I know, very few Egyptians cared about bin Laden if not because he does not have a direct impact on Egypt then maybe because his destructive powers were believed to have been blown out of proportion by the US administration to justify its war on terror. For several others, bin Laden is just this crazy man who every now and then makes a TV appearance threatening to wipe the United States off the map or blow up the whole world or, of course, he’s this cartoon character who gets highest viewer rates on YouTube.While average Egyptians may focus on bin Laden the man, intellectuals are preoccupied with bin Laden the tool. For them, bin Laden was just a pretext for a neo-colonial approach adopted by the United States under the pseudonym of “the war on terror.” Hunting down the reported perpetrator of the Twin Towers attack and several other terrorist operations, they argue, was the excuse the American Administration used to pose as the world’s promoter of democracy and the rescuer of “backward” nations from the quagmire of autocratic/ extremist regimes—the same rationale used in Iraq, only with Islamic fundamentalism replaced by weapons of mass destruction. Double standards are also not hard to detect here, for the same bin Laden of whom the United States made a hero owning to his ability to crush the Soviets had suddenly become the most menacing threat to the world’s security and wellbeing, and his elimination had become as necessary as destroying Nazi Germany… or may be even bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki!For both categories of folks, bin Laden’s death was definitely not good news. For the first, the United States has become the new “infidel” enemy of Islam—remember Bush’s remark about “crusades”—and Osama’s death signals an unmatched victory of a country whose influence on the Muslim world has so far been nothing but destructive. This sentiment is becoming more overtly highlighted with the increasing influence wielded by the Islamist trend in Egypt and with the way it portrays the United States as the promoter of Western ideals that violate the principles of Islam. Some of them might realize that bin Laden is no angel, yet they do not want to see America emerge victorious from what they perceived as its war on Islam, and they do not want to see the repercussions of this victory echoing in their homeland. “If Americans rule the Muslim world, they will ban the veil, allow gay marriages, and spread vice all over the place,” goes the most common answer to “Why don’t you like America?”While realizing that bin Laden is indeed a criminal, the other group is categorically opposed to the way his end was orchestrated—same reservations being voiced about the trial and execution of Saddam Hussein. The fact that the United States is now posing as the superhero that saved the world is absolutely unacceptable for Egyptian intellectuals who are very well aware of the “fine line” between imperialism and benevolence. Their realization of how the bin Laden card will be flashed for decades to come in the face of anyone who dares question America’s sincere wish to see justice prevail and might even serve as a pretext for more “wars on terror” in the futures makes them extremely apprehensive. The anticipated rise of US hegemony in the region following the “heroic” taking out of the “villain” is, according to them, a prelude to another occupation… not one with tanks and warplanes, but the more dangerous type—that which makes you fully and totally under the mercy of a Big Brother who for the sake of protecting you keeps threatening to kill you!Between this and that, there remains one fact: terrorist or martyr, dead or alive, bin Laden has indeed managed to baffle the world. How he managed to do that does not really matter. Who enabled him to do is what really matters… and that will be enough food for thought until we manage to solve the conundrum… if we ever do! Hmmmm......."The fact that the United States is now posing as the superhero that saved the world is absolutely unacceptable for Egyptian intellectuals".Read the full story here.

• Obama 'honors' Bin Laden while Islamic scholars criticize bin Laden's sea burial.(AP).CAIRO — Muslim clerics said Monday that Osama bin Laden's burial at sea was a violation of Islamic tradition that may further provoke militant calls for revenge attacks against American targets.Although there appears to be some room for debate over the burial — as with many issues within the faith — a wide range of senior Islamic scholars interpreted it as a humiliating disregard for the standard Muslim practice of placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca.Sea burials can be allowed, they said, but only in special cases where the death occurred aboard a ship.Bin Laden's burial at sea "runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs," said Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning.A radical cleric in Lebanon, Omar Bakri Mohammed, said, "The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don't think this is in the interest of the U.S. administration."A U.S. official said the burial decision was made after concluding that it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains. There was also speculation about worry that a grave site could have become a rallying point for militants.The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters.President Barack Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial, and the Pentagon later said the body was placed into the waters of the northern Arabian Sea after adhering to traditional Islamic procedures — including washing the corpse — aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.According to Islamic teachings, the highest honor to be bestowed on the dead is giving the deceased a swift burial, preferably before sunset. Those who die while traveling at sea can have their bodies committed to the bottom of the ocean if they are far off the coast, according to Islamic tradition."They can say they buried him at sea, but they cannot say they did it according to Islam," Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai's grand mufti, said about bin Laden's burial. "If the family does not want him, it's really simple in Islam: You dig up a grave anywhere, even on a remote island, you say the prayers and that's it.""Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances," he added. "This is not one of them."But Mohammed Qudah, a professor of Islamic law at the University of Jordan, said burying the Saudi-born bin Laden at sea was not forbidden if there was nobody to receive the body and provide a Muslim burial."The land and the sea belong to God, who is able to protect and raise the dead at the end of times for Judgment Day," he said. "It's neither true nor correct to claim that there was nobody in the Muslim world ready to receive bin Laden's body."Clerics in Iraq, where an offshoot of al-Qaida is blamed for the death of thousands of people since 2003, also criticized the U.S. action. One said it only benefited fish."If a man dies on a ship that is a long distance from land, then the dead man should be buried at the sea," said Shiite cleric Ibrahim al-Jabari. "But if he dies on land, then he should be buried in the ground, not to be thrown into the sea. Otherwise, this would be only inviting fish to a banquet.""What was done by the Americans is forbidden by Islam and might provoke some Muslims," said another Islamic scholar from Iraq, Abdul-Sattar al-Janabi, who preaches at Baghdad's famous Abu Hanifa mosque. "It is not acceptable and it is almost a crime to throw the body of a Muslim man into the sea. The body of bin Laden should have been handed over to his family to look for a country or land to bury him."Prominent Egyptian Islamic analyst and lawyer Montasser el-Zayat said bin Laden's sea burial was designed to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine. But an option was an unmarked grave."They don't want to see him become a symbol, but he is already a symbol in people's hearts."Hmmmmm.......President Barack Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial,According to Islamic teachings, the highest honor to be bestowed on the dead is giving the deceased a swift burial, preferably before sunset.So once again he honors ISLAM.Read the full story here.

• Confirmed: Bin Laden Given Religious Funeral Prior to Sea Burial.(FOX).Osama bin Laden was given a religious funeral prior to his burial at sea, senior military officials told Fox News.Religious rites were conducted on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier at about 1:10 a.m. Monday in the Persian Gulf. In accordance with Islamic practice, bin Laden was washed and wrapped in a white sheet before buried at sea at 2 a.m. local time, senior U.S. military and intelligence officials said.Bin Laden, who resisted capture, was “living rather comfortably” in the compound, an official told Fox News.Senior administration officials said the DNA testing alone offered near 100 percent certainty that bin Laden was among those shot dead. Photo analysis by the CIA, confirmation by a woman believed to be bin Laden’s wife on site, and matching physical features like bin Laden’s height all helped confirmed the identification.Still, it was unclear if the world would ever get visual proof.Senior U.S. officials said bin Laden was killed toward the end of the firefight, which took place in a building at a compound north of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. An official familiar with the operation said bin Laden fired on U.S. forces and was hit by a barrage of carefully aimed return fire.The official spoke on condition of anonymity because aspects of the operation remain classified.The official says two dozen SEALs in night-vision goggles dropped into the high-walled compound in Pakistan by sliding down ropes from Chinook helicopters in the overnight raid.The SEALs retrieved bin Laden’s body and turned the remaining detainees over to Pakistani authorities.Hmmmm.....In other news Elvis was seen leaving the White House?Read the full story here.

• The FCC is Again Being ‘DC Disingenuous’ About the Internet.(BigGovernment).the looming annual broadband deployment report from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (called the 706 Report).In which they are going to again give U.S. broadband deployment a failing grade – just as they did last year.Which is completely “DC Disingenuous.” In other words, the FCC is lying through its bureaucratic teeth.The FCC is doing this because of the desired ends – the complete eradication of all private sector broadband – so as to replace it with government monopoly broadband.Accordingly (to them), any spoken means are thusly justified.Think I may be overstating?Ever since the November elections – in which the American people in historic fashion exhibited a passionate desire for smaller, more accountable government – the FCC has been on a big government Internet regulatory rampage. Again and again going WAY outside its legal limits to ram through huge new Web power grabs.The Obama-era Commission has all along wanted to impose the terrible idea that is Network Neutrality, but didn’t (and still doesn’t) have any legal authority over broadband – as Julius Genachowski, the FCC’s Chairman, readily admits.But why let the law stop them? In fact, they didn’t – voting themselves wired Internet Overlords on December 21 so as to then impose Net Neutrality.Not having placed a sufficient stranglehold on the wireless Internet, the FCC went back and did so with their just-as-illegal April 7 data roaming power grab.These incessant government assaults on the broadband industry are intended, again, to effect an ideological outcome – the end of all private broadband providers, and the birth of the government broadband monopoly.But don’t take my word for it – take Robert McChesney’s. He’s the godfather of the Media “Reform” Movement – the Media Marxists who have been pushing this anti-free market agenda from the very beginning.“At the moment, the battle over network neutrality is not to completely eliminate the telephone and cable companies. We are not at that point yet. But the ultimate goal is to get rid of the media capitalists in the phone and cable companies and to divest them from control.” Any questions?McChesney co-founded the lead Media Marxist outfit – the very ridiculous Free Press. Whom the FCC very ridiculously cited fifty-three times in their illegal December Internet power grab order.In many, many ways, the Media Marxists are driving the FCC train.Which again brings us to the impending FCC broadband report.For the FCC to allegedly “justify” their ever-increasing, illegal encroachments on private sector broadband, they have to say that private sector broadband is failing. Which is a flat-out lie.Let us do what the FCC did not – consider some facts. Facts that in fact come from – the FCC.Last year, the FCC’s National Broadband Plan reported : 290 million Americans—95% of the U.S. population—live in housing units with access to terrestrial, fixed broadband infrastructure capable of supporting actual download speeds of at least 4 Mbps.Last year, remember, the FCC gave this impressive private sector effort – an F.When I was in school, 95% got you a slightly higher grade than that.I got Fs, and did so with numbers FAR lower than this.So let us move to this year. Where we find that the FCC’s most recent broadband report says that 98% of U.S. Census tracts have at least one broadband provider, and 85% of U.S. Census tracts have access to at least two (including wireless). The FCC gives this an F?Yes, because again the Commission wishes to “get rid of the media capitalists in the phone and cable companies and to divest them from control.”So they must pretend that what is undoubtedly the most successful portion of the private sector – possibly ever – is failing. To “warrant” their more illegal actions to come.Their desired ends justify ANY – even these most absurd – means.Please keep all of this in mind when the FCC issues this year’s broadband Internet report.And the Media Marxists – on cue – go nuts(er), demanding even more government action to rectify yet another completely and obviously non-existent “problem.”Hmmmm.......And no doubt the Government provider WILL BE GOOGLE?Hmmmm......Pcs without Harddiscs, everything stored on online server(s) .....cloud computing.Big Brother is really going in overdrive now!Read the full story here.

• US Government Begins Its Move To The Cloud.(Itproportal).The US government has decided that it will begin moving services to the cloud, some in the near future, intensifying competition in this growing field.Google, Microsoft and Amazon are working to establish themselves as major cloud service providers but analysts believe that the market for cloud computing will continue to expand, providing more room for all three companies, as well as currently unknown start-ups, to thrive.According to an article in the Washington Post, the US government’s recent decision to make cloud computing the first choice for new IT projects has sparked off a race amongst companies to be first to provide cloud computing services to the government. The US government has even mandated that some agencies migrate services to a cloud platform in the next 18 months.This competition is obvious in recent spats such as whether or not Google's cloud services meet a standard called FISMA.Microsoft and Google are looking to offer cloud based platforms and applications to public and private sector organisations while Amazon Web Services is thought to have an early advantage developing the infrastructure necessary for a cloud computing platform, despite its recent outages.Read the full story here.

• Secure applications to meet the needs of government Google Apps for Government, now with FISMA certification.(Google).With Google Apps for Government, agencies can benefit from the scale and redundancy of one of the most robust networks of distributed datacenters in the world. The protection of the data and intellectual property on these servers is our top priority, with extensive resources dedicated to maintaining data security. Google is committed to providing the best security in the industry on an ongoing basis.Obtaining Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) certification & accreditation for Google Apps is critical to our US federal government customers, who must comply with FISMA by law. All customers – both public and private sector – benefit from this governmental review and certification of our security controls.

•Google is the first in the industry to complete FISMA certification for a multi-tenant cloud application.

•Google Apps has received an authority to operate at the FISMA-Moderate level; an independent auditor assessed the level of operational risk as Low.

•Google's FISMA documentation is available for review by interested agencies.This enables agencies to compare the security of Google Apps to that of existing systems.Hmmmm.......The only thing is when you go to the FISMA website you get "FISMA IS TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE"?What is going on here?Read the full story here.

• Google's FISMA certification: A technicality, misunderstanding or outright lie?(ZDNet).Google has suddenly found itself in hot water, exposed - by Microsoft, no less - for being a “liar, liar” when it comes to the security certification it has been touting for its Google Apps for Government offering.After all, the revelation that Google’s product, in fact, was not certified to be compliant under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) is pretty major. In part, that’s because it’s the Apps suite that was tailor-made for government agencies and security - extra security, actually - was one of its biggest selling points.Now, before anyone gets into some panic over government data no longer being secure, there’s little concern that Apps for Government isn’t secure or that it won’t eventually get its FISMA certification. Apps for Government, as Google explains it, is a more secure subset of Google Apps Premier, a product that obtained FISMA certification well before Government was announced last summer. With that rationale, it’s no wonder that Google thought it was OK to go around and start touting Apps for Government as being FISMA-certified.Unfortunately, the truth got in the way.Google might have been naive about the way the government’s FISMA certification process works and just assumed that since Premier was already certified, then Government must be certified, as well. But as we now know - thanks to Microsoft’s discovery of a court document that tells otherwise - that’s not how the certification process works.Google says it has not applied for FISMA certification for Apps for Government, but instead is “updating the existing authorization.” At a hearing in Washington earlier today, an official with the General Services Administration said that a product has to be re-certified if it changes - and, in essence, Government is a altered version of Premier. That official said Google’s products are going through a re-certification based on the changes, according to a report on the Business Insider blog.Google can spin this any way it wants but, at the end of the day, it has been deceptive in marketing Google Apps for Government as being FISMA-certified. Ignorance of the process is no excuse.Simply said, Google - a company that has spent millions of dollars and countless hours developing this suite of applications specifically for government agencies - shouldn’t be making assumptions about something as significant as FISMA-certification, especially when that’s one of the biggest selling points over the competition. (Microsoft is currently awaiting FISMA-certification for its cloud apps offering, as well.) The only thing Google had to do was ask. Plain and simple.Instead, Google has done itself a world of harm by making assumptions about government process. It’s not only created a feeling of uncertainty around the security of its product but also created a perception of itself as a company that flirts with the truth for the sake of scoring a government contract. Does it really need to give its critics even more reason to argue that its motives are evil?Sure, when all is said and done, Google will likely be granted FISMA certification for Apps for Government - but the damage will have already been done. Google says its product is FISMA-certified - but how do we really know? Google needs government agencies to take them on their word - but, for the moment, there’s not much value behind that word.Maybe we’re splitting hairs here. Maybe this was just a technicality. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. But as long as Google continues to stick by that lame argument about a certification for Premier also applying to Government, the company won’t be able to shake the “Liar, Liar” image that it now has.And the longer it waits to take its lumps, the harder it will be to shake that image.Hmmmm......Meanwhile FISMA is not 'reachable'?Why do i feel The Obama regime is behind this?Read the full story here.

• Bin Laden killing prompts Arab - Palestinian anger, relief.(Reuters).Some Arabs mourned him as a holy warrior and martyr, while others saw him as a "pillar of evil" whose deadly attacks on the United States unleashed a backlash against Muslims across the world.The U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority welcomed bin Laden's killing as "good for the cause of peace." Its rival and prospective power-sharing partner, Islamist Hamas, deplored his death."We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior," said Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in Gaza, which faces a challenge from al Qaeda-inspired groups that consider it too moderate."We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood."Those who revered bin Laden were still in denial about his death but many in the Arab world felt it was long overdue.Some said the killing of bin Laden in a raid by U.S. forces in Pakistan was scarcely relevant in an Arab world fired by popular revolt against oppressive leaders who had resisted violent Islamist efforts to weaken their grip on power.Some see bin Laden as the only Muslim leader to take the fight against Western dominance to the heart of the enemy -- in the form of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001."Bin Laden defended the dignity of Muslims and now the U.S. and the West will answer for their occupation," said Egyptian Abdullah Ali, a Salafist taxi driver in his 60s.Abdel-Qader Abu Shaaban, a 53-year-old Palestinian from Gaza, described bin Laden's killing as "a very criminal act."Tareq al-Zumar of Egypt's Islamist group al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, which took up arms against the state in the 1990s said: "Bin Laden will become a symbol of resistance to occupation... The U.S. killing of bin Laden will undoubtedly galvanize reaction and retaliation attempts."But there was disbelief and sorrow among many Saudis."He would be a loss to all Muslims because he had good qualities. He portrayed Muslims in a good and strong way... He is the person that left the worldly riches for jihad," said one man taking a cigarette break outside his office in Riyadh."Omar Bakri, a Lebanese Sunni cleric, mourned bin Laden as a martyr: "His martyrdom will give momentum to a large generation of believers and jihadists. Al Qaeda is not a political party, it is a jihadist movement. Al Qaeda does not end with the death of a leader."Egypt's influential Muslim Brotherhood said U.S. troops should now quit Iraq and Afghanistan."With bin Laden's death, one of the reasons for which violence has been practiced in the world has been removed," said Essam al-Erian, a senior member of the Brotherhood which renounced violence to achieve change in Egypt decades ago.Other Islamists in Egypt, whose thinkers have inspired Islamic movements and activists around the world, said bin Laden's followers should review their methods because their actions had only made the "enemy" more aggressive.Hmmmmm.......Overall opinion"We still hate the infidels and hope they are all killed"?Read the full story here.

• Iran says no excuse for US in region after bin Laden death.AFP - Iran said on Monday the death of Osama bin Laden has removed "any excuse" for the United States and its allies to deploy forces in the Middle East under the pretext of fighting terrorism."US and their allies have no more excuse to deploy forces in the Middle East under pretext of fighting terrorism," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying on the website of Iran's English-language Press TV channel.He said Iran hopes this development will help to "establish peace and security in the region," adding that it is Iran's policy to "strongly condemn terrorism all over the world."Shiite Iran has always considered Al-Qaeda as a Sunni ultra-radical and anti-Shiite threat to its security.Tehran even cooperated with Western forces when they invaded Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks to hunt bin Laden and the Taliban religious regime which had given him refuge.But Iran quickly criticised the presence of the Western forces in Afghanistan, saying it prevented any negotiated settlement of the Afghan conflict.Several senior Al-Qaeda members had taken refuge in Iran during the international intervention in Afghanistan, and some were detained, according to media reports which Iranian authorities never confirmed.But the British daily The Times reported in December that several of them were released by Tehran in order to rebuild the extremist Islamic organisation in Afghanistan, where it supports the Taliban in their fight against the Western military presence.Some bin Laden family members continue to live under house arrest in Tehran, according to several members who managed to escape in 2010.Read the full story here.

• Israeli Jets Prepare For Imminent Strike Against Iran.(PressTV).Israeli jet fighters have reportedly conducted drills at a military base in Iraq in order to strike targets inside Iran. A considerable number of Israeli warplanes were seen at al-Asad base in Iraq, reported a source close to prominent Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sader's group.

The aircraft reportedly included F-15, F-16, F-18, F-22, and KC-10 jet fighters. The warplanes carried out their week-long exercises at nights, the same source added. The drills were reportedly aimed at preparing to strike Iran's air defense systems, disrupt Iran's radars and attack targets deep inside Iran. Iraqi officials had not been notified of the exercises, which were conducted in collaboration with the US military. The United States maintains numerous bases in Iraq, and the Baghdad government is not involved in any of the military deployments taking place there.Read the full story here.