MFS - The Other News

                       Morning  Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - June 15. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

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

• Yemen Live Blog - June 15 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan  today 5.6 ,increased activity in Turkey! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 130.On 14.06.2011 at 17:21 GMT+2
  
  Excessive levels of highly toxic strontium have been detected in seawater and groundwater at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, the plant operator said Monday, a development that suggests an increased risk of radioactive contamination further entering the food chain. Also underscoring the difficulties of trying to stabilize the stricken facility, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said six more workers have received more than the permitted annual emergency levels of radiation exposure. The Strontium-89 and Strontium-90 isotopes are believed to have been released from the damaged reactors when the fuel cores overheated and melted after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, Tokyo Electric, also known Tepco, said at a briefing. In all, the amount of contaminated water now flooding the basements and the connected trenches of the plant's reactor buildings is estimated at more than 100,000 tons. Environmental experts said the discovery of the strontium heightens the risk of contaminated seafood in the area, now complicated by the arrival of seasonally heavy rains.
  
  "With the arrival of the rainy season, more and more radioactive fallout is being washed into groundwater and the sea, raising the levels of strontium contamination," said Ikuro Anzai, professor emeritus at Ritsumeikan University. Strontium acts like calcium and accumulates in bones. Unlike other radioactive materials, such as cesium and iodine, strontium doesn't emit powerful gamma rays, and therefore, its harmful effects are limited unless it is ingested or inhaled. But once inside the body, it can cause bone cancer or leukemia. "Japanese people often eat small fish, such as sardines, whole, including the bones and head. There is therefore a risk of consumers taking in strontium from contaminated small fish," Prof. Anzai said. The government already has undertaken a program of testing of seafood in the nearby area and didn't announce any additional measures because of the latest disclosure. Prof. Anzai said there should be close monitoring for potential contamination because there is a risk of the radiation spreading through the food chain.
  
  The six workers were found to have been exposed to more than the annual limit of 250 millisieverts now set for an emergency situation, during continuing check-ups on an estimated 3,700 staff who have worked at the plant during the crisis. Tepco said the six are likely to have been exposed to radiation from 265 to 498 millisieverts, according to preliminary results. Two male workers were previously confirmed to have exceeded the annual limit, according to Tepco, while two women workers were found to have exceeded the limit of 5 millisieverts set for females in any three-month period. The discoveries come from the testing of all workers at the site. Of the staff, 2,400 have so far gone through check-ups for internal radiation. Tepco continues to struggle with ways to reduce the amount of radiation at the site. It announced separately on Monday that it now expects a newly developed system for treating highly radioactive water to start full operation by the end of this week, to filter the rising amount of radioactive water produced by the continuous cooling of the reactor cores.
  
  The decontamination system was originally scheduled to start operating Wednesday and delays add to concerns that the plant will run out of storage space for the contaminated water. The system is made up mainly of zeolite-containing cartridges, developed by Kurion Inc. of the U.S., to absorb radioactive cesium and iodine, and of equipment built by French energy company Areva SA to remove radioactive materials. It can treat up to 1,200 metric tons of water daily. After the water is decontaminated, it will be either used as coolant for the reactors or released into the ocean, according to Tepco. Tepco said a separate device, set up near the coastline, started operating Monday to remove radioactive materials from seawater. Water is being pumped through the zeolite-filled device to collect cesium and other radioactive materials. But Tepco said it was not clear if it would remove strontium as well.Source : Here .

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

• Europe - Latest official Situation Update on E-Coli epidemic - 55 Source.

• U.S. Faces Legal Challenge to Internet-Domain Seizures.(Wired) - One of Spain’s most popular websites, whose American domains were seized as part of a crackdown on internet piracy, asked a U.S. judge Monday to return its property that it claims was wrongly taken.The Rojadirecta .com and .org domains were seized in January along with eight others connected to broadcasting pirated streams of professional sports.The legal filing in New York federal court by site owner Puerto 80 Projects represents what is believed to be the first courthouse challenge to “Operation in Our Sites.” Commenced last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has seized as many as 208 domains the authorities claim are linked to intellectual-property fraud.Puerto 80, which claims the Rojadirecta site sports 865,000 registered users, said it has committed no copyright infringement. The site is a discussion board where members can talks sports, politics and other topics, and it additionally links to sports streams — some of which is pirated.“The government has not shown and cannot show that the site ever was used to commit a criminal act, much less that it will be in the future. By hosting discussion forums and linking to existing material on the internet, Puerto 80 is not committing copyright infringement, let alone criminal copyright infringement,” (.pdf) according to the site’s legal filing, first reported by TechDirt.The lawsuit added that “the government effectively shut down an entire website, suppressing all of the speech hosted on it, based on an assertion that there was probable cause to believe that some of the material linked to the website (though not found on the website itself) might be infringing.”The Firefox browser supports an add-on that redirects seized domains. The browser’s maker, Mozilla, declined the government’s request to remove it.Read the full story here.

• Obama 'administration' creates Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR). (Doi.Gov).The Obama Administration today announced the creation of a new federal interagency council to coordinate and promote outdoor recreation opportunities on public lands in partnership with federal, state, and tribal agencies. As part of President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, the Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, Department of the Army, Department of Commerce, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR). The FICOR Memorandum was announced today at a White House event with the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council, the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, and other wildlife conservation and outdoor recreation organizations.“With the outdoor industry contributing an estimated $730 billion to the U.S. economy, outdoor recreation is a vital part of growing our nation’s economy and creating jobs,” Salazar said. “The Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation will help achieve the goals of the America’s Great Outdoors initiative to reconnect Americans – especially our young people - to the natural world. By ensuring the federal government is coordinating its policies and programs with our state, local and tribal partners, we can better fuel our nation’s spirit of adventure and economy.”“Through community-led 21st century conservation, President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative aims to reconnect American families with the outdoors that are vital to the health of our communities and economy,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “The Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation will ensure that the Federal Government is a smarter, better partner for Americans, making it easier to access opportunities to explore and enjoy the outdoors.”“America’s Great Outdoors initiative provides a great opportunity for Americans to reconnect with our country's amazing forests and grasslands," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Together with the rest of the Obama administration, USDA is working to revitalize our rural economies and communities, many of which neighbor the 193 million acres of forests and grasslands managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The Forest Service offers a huge array of programs to help families and individuals connect with their natural environment and learn about how to conserve our vital natural resources. AGO is also important in our efforts to offset childhood obesity through outdoor activities and healthier lifestyles, led by the Let’s Move! Outside campaign launched by First Lady Michelle Obama.”“Americans are fortunate to have diverse opportunities to recreate on our federal lands and waters,” said Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army, Civil Works. “The Corps of Engineers manages 12 million acres of lands, hosts 370 million recreation visits a year, generates $18 billion per year for our nation’s economy, and supports 350,000 jobs. The Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation will provide a framework wherein our agencies will work together to improve the quality and access of the public's recreation experiences. The Corps and the staff at our 422 recreation sites are pleased to be able to work with the other federal partners to make this happen.”“The America’s Great Outdoors Initiative encourages our citizens to get outdoors and rediscover adventures in our own backyard. From coasts and mountains to farmlands and forests, our country is rich in cultural and natural treasures. We must continue to do all we can to make sure we have healthy and accessible lands and waters to enjoy for generations to come,” said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.The new council will work closely with the existing Federal Advisory Committee Act bodies and will work to strengthen the relationship between health and the outdoors through the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative and the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition “Outdoor recreation and tourism related businesses have become powerful elements of rural and urban economic development. Hunters, anglers, bird watchers, boaters, and others who enjoy outdoor recreation spend billions of dollars on their activities.”Hmmmm.....Why do i hear the scream "GUN CONTROL" in the distance?Read the full story here.

• Obama Gets History Wrong Again !!! It's the Statue of Liberty, Not the Statue of Immigration !!!(BarracudaBrigade).During his speech on immigration reform at American University, President Obama trotted out Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus,” which is engraved on a plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

The poem is fitting when talking about immigration — “give me your tired, and your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” — but he got the history of the poem and of Lady Liberty all wrong.Here’s what Obama said:

It was at this time that a young woman named Emma Lazarus, whose own family fled persecution from Europe generations earlier, took up the cause of these new immigrants. Although she was a poet, she spent much of her time advocating for better health care and housing for the newcomers. And inspired by what she saw and heard, she wrote down her thoughts and donated a piece of work to help pay for the construction of a new statue — the Statue of Liberty — which actually was funded in part by small donations from people across America

Years before the statue was built — years before it would be seen by throngs of immigrants craning their necks skyward at the end of long and brutal voyage, years before it would come to symbolize everything that we cherish — she imagined what it could mean. She imagined the sight of a giant statue at the entry point of a great nation -– but unlike the great monuments of the past, this would not signal an empire. Instead, it would signal one’s arrival to a place of opportunity and refuge and freedom.

He then quoted the poem, leaving out parts and restating others.More than misquoting the poem, though, the president’s history is wrong.Rush Limbaugh teed off on this during his show !!! Video here.Read and see the full story here.

• House Passes Amendment To Prohibit Funding For Obama’s War In Libya. (AFP)Washington — The US House of Representatives voted to prohibit the use of funds for American military operations in Libya.Lawmakers adopted the amendment to a military appropriations bill by a vote of 248 to 163.A number of members of Congress have recently expressed their dissatisfaction at President Barack Obama’s decision to go ahead with operations in Libya in March and to continue without congressional authorization.The amendment, introduced by Democratic representative Brad Sherman from California, invokes the War Powers Resolution, a 1973 law that limits presidential powers on sending troops abroad into combat zones without the consent of Congress.Sherman’s text states that “none of the funds made available by this act may be used in contravention of the War Powers Act.”According to the War Powers Resolution, the president must seek congressional authorization to send US troops into combat and must withdraw American forces within 60 days if Congress has not authorized the military action.The same measure was presented in another bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security but failed to pass on June 2.Hmmmmmm......Meet Democracy in motion.Read the full story here.

• LAPD Dep Chief: ‘We Should Not Demonize the Muslim Brotherhood’.(PajamasMedia).Tomorrow the House Homeland Security Committee will be holding a hearing on “The Threat of Muslim-American Radicalization in U.S. Prisons,” chaired by Rep. Peter King. One of those testifying is LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing, the commander of the LAPD’s Counterterrorism and Special Operations Bureau.This is an odd choice for the committee in light of a video we are making exclusive here at the PJ Tatler of Chief Downing speaking at a town hall event co-sponsored by his department at the Islamic Center of Southern California on May 15th. Here’s the video of Chief Downing’s comments.Downing’s claims that “we should not demonize the Muslim Brotherhood” are particularly curious since the leader of the international Muslim Brotherhood declared war on the United States during a press conference last October (a transcript of his comments is available at MEMRI). It seems the Muslim Brotherhood does a good job of demonizing itself.Read and see the full story here.

• Pakistan Arrests C.I.A. Informants in Bin Laden Raid.(NYTimes).Pakistan’s top military spy agency has arrested some of the Pakistani informants who fed information to the Central Intelligence Agency in the months leading up to the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, according to American officials. Pakistan’s detention of five C.I.A. informants, including a Pakistani Army major who officials said copied the license plates of cars visiting Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the weeks before the raid, is the latest evidence of the fractured relationship between the United States and Pakistan. It comes at a time when the Obama administration is seeking Pakistan’s support in brokering an endgame in the war in neighboring Afghanistan. At a closed briefing last week, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked Michael J. Morell, the deputy C.I.A. director, to rate Pakistan’s cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism operations, on a scale of 1 to 10.  “Three,” Mr. Morell replied, according to officials familiar with the exchange.   The fate of the C.I.A. informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear, but American officials said that the C.I.A. director, Leon E. Panetta, raised the issue when he travelled to Islamabad last week to meet with Pakistani military and intelligence officers.Another casualty of the recent tension is an ambitious Pentagon program to train Pakistani paramilitary troops to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban in those same tribal areas. That program has ended, both American and Pakistani officials acknowledge, and the last of about 120 American military advisers have left the country. American officials are now scrambling to find temporary jobs for about 50 Special Forces support personnel who had been helping the trainers with logistics and communications. Their visas were difficult to obtain and officials fear if these troops are sent home, Pakistan will not allow them to return. In a sign of the growing anger on Capitol Hill, Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who leads the House Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that he believed elements of the ISI and the military had helped protect Bin Laden.Hmmmm......Perhaps give them another 10 Billion Dollars?Read the full story here.

• Belgium - Flemish 'Vlaams Belang' declare independence,state police promptly arrest them.(VladTepes).This article is from Svenska Dagbladet. Many thanks to Reinhard of ICLA for the translation:The entire party leadership and about twenty elected politicians belonging to the Flemish right wing extremist and separatist party Vlaams Belang were arrested by Belgian police Tuesday, when they declared Flemish independence and renamed the street outside the Parliament Building “Flemish Independence Street”.The stunt had been announced on the first anniversary of Belgium’s last national election. Since the 13th of June last year the country has been without a government, since the parties have been unable to decide on who would form a government or what direction should be taken by a coalition government consisting of the winners in the different parts of the country.Two road signs on the street Rue de la Loi (“Street of the Law”) outside the building where the caretaker prime minister Yves Leterme has his offices, Leterme himself being Flemish, were covered and replaced by the sign “Vlaamse onhanfhankelijkheidsstraat” (“Flemish Independence Street”) and “Republiek Vlaanderenstraat” (Flemish Republic Street”).Police allowed the well-known party member Filip Dewinter to uncover the first sign and hold a speech in which he declared that Belgium is more bankrupt than ever, and that the only solution is an independent Flanders. When the group tried to move down the street the police got between them. In the chaos that followed about twenty party members and three persons on the party board were arrested, including Dewinter.The party board member Tanguy Veys eluded the police with an impressive sprint, and had time to unveil another sign on a side street before he was engulfed by the crowds in the street. Those arrested were later released.Read and see the full story here.

• Afghanistan 'most dangerous place for women'.(Al-Yazeera).  Survey says war-torn nation worst place for women while Congo, which has "horrific levels of rape", is ranked second.Afghanistan has been ranked as the world's most dangerous country for women, with Congo taking a close second position, a Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll has said.Violence, dismal healthcare and brutal poverty afflicts women in Afghanistan, while in Congo there are horrific levels of rape, the survey conducted by TrustLaw, an arm of Thomson Reuters, said on Wednesday.Pakistan, India and Somalia ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively in the global survey of perceptions of threats ranging from domestic abuse and economic discrimination to female foeticide, genital mutilation and acid attacks."Ongoing conflict, NATO airstrikes and cultural practices combined make Afghanistan a very dangerous place for women," Antonella Notari, head of women change makers, a group that supports women social entrepreneurs around the world, said.The survey asked 213 gender experts from five continents to rank countries by overall perceptions of danger as well as by six risks. The risks were health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural or religious factors, lack of access to resources and trafficking.Some experts said the poll showed that subtle dangers such as discrimination that don't grab headlines are sometimes just as significant risks for women as bombs, bullets, stonings and systematic rape in conflict zones."I think you have to look at all the dangers to women, all the risks women and girls face," Elisabeth Roesch, who works on gender-based violence for the International Rescue Committee in Washington, said."If a woman can't access healthcare because her healthcare isn't prioritised, that can be a very dangerous situation as well."Afghanistan emerged as the most dangerous country for women overall and worst in three of the six risk categories: health, non-sexual violence and lack of access to economic resources.Respondents cited sky-high maternal mortality rates, limited access to doctors and a near total lack of economic rights.Afghan women have a one in 11 chance of dying in childbirth, according to UNICEF.Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), still reeling from a 1998-2003 war and accompanying humanitarian disaster that killed 5.4m people, came second mainly due to staggering levels of sexual violence in the lawless east.More than 400,000 women are raped in the country each year, according to a recent study by US researchers. The United Nations has called Congo the rape capital of the world."Statistics from DRC are very revealing on this: ongoing war, use of rape as a weapon, recruitment of females as soldiers who are also used as sex slaves," Clementina Cantoni, a Pakistan-based aid worker with ECHO, the European Commission's humanitarian aid department, said."The fact that the government is corrupt and that female rights are very low on the agenda means that there is little or no recourse to justice."Rights activists say militia groups and soldiers target all ages, including girls as young as three and elderly women. They are gang-raped, raped with bayonets and have guns shot into their vaginas.Pakistan ranked third largely on the basis of cultural, tribal and religious practices harmful to women. These include acid attacks, child and forced marriage and punishment or retribution by stoning or other physical abuse."Pakistan has some of the highest rates of dowry murder, so-called honour killings and early marriage," Divya Bajpai, reproductive health advisor at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, said.Some 1,000 women and girls die in honour killings annually, according to Pakistan's Human Rights Commission.India ranked fourth primarily due to female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking.In 2009, India's then-Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta estimated that 100m people, mostly women and girls, were involved in trafficking in India that year."The practice is common but lucrative so it goes untouched by government and police," Cristi Hegranes, founder of the Global Press institute, which trains women in developing countries to be journalists, said.India's Central Bureau of Investigation estimated that in 2009 about 90 per cent of trafficking took place within the country and that there were some 3m prostitutes, of which about 40 per cent were children.In addition to sex slavery, other forms of trafficking include forced labour and forced marriage, according to a US state department report on trafficking in 2010. The report also found slow progress in criminal prosecutions of traffickers.Up to 50m girls are thought to be "missing" over the past century due to female infanticide and foeticide, the UN Population Fund said.Some experts said the world's largest democracy was relatively forthcoming about describing its problems, possibly casting it in a darker light than if other countries were equally transparent about trafficking.Somalia ranked fifth due to a catalogue of dangers including high maternal mortality, rape and female genital mutilation, along with limited access to education, healthcare and economic resources."I'm completely surprised because I thought Somalia would be first on the list, not fifth," Maryan Qasim, the Somali women's minister said.Hmmmmmm.......The one thing all have in common:Islam.Read the full story here.

• Pakistan: Muslim Clerics Beg Government For Right To Kill Homosexuals. (DailyNation).A section of Muslim clerics on Monday called on the government to allow them apply Shariah laws to deal with rising cases of homosexuality.If allowed, Shariah laws would enable the clerics to punish offenders as stipulated by the Quran, said Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya organising secretary Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa.“We are asking Kenyans to shun businesses owned by such people and further show them open discrimination as a way of stopping the beastly act."He said a madrassa teacher from Pakistan at Mlango wa Papa mosque recently charged with sexually abusing boys had been banned from leading any religious functions.“Death is the only punishment prescribed by Islam for such people as done in China and Iran."“We urge our government to consider allowing us to use such methods to deal with the dehumanising acts,” Sheikh Khalifa told reporters on the sidelines of an anti-homosexuality workshop.He said if the government was not ready to allow them use Shariah to deal with culprits, then it should consider introducing death and life sentences for the offenders.The workshop attended by more than 150 madrassa teachers at Madrasatul Munawarra Al-Islamiyya in Majengo estate, Mombasa, was called to address rising cases of boys being sexually abused in Coast Province.Kisauni Islamic College principal Sheikh Majid Obeid blamed the drought in the country on illicit activities by some Kenyans.“The rising cost of living and drought are due to the behaviour of these Kenyans who are not ready to change,” said Sheikh Obeid.Hmmmmm......Dammed it's the drought?......Oh my God ....it never rains in California!Read the full story here.

• Meeting the unknown Sheikh Erdogan.(Al-Arabia).When I met Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 1994 in his office, he was the mayor of Istanbul. Along one whole hour during which I stayed with him, in the presence of the Turkish Islamist Sheikh Saleh Uzgan—who was at the time the president of Faisal Ismalic Bank in Turkey—, I haven’t felt that he might one day become the founder of a political party that would later become the “forbidden love” dreamt of by the Arabs in the aftermath of their Spring revolutions.The editor-in-chief of the newspaper that I worked in at the time did not like the big area that I had dedicated for the interview. He thought that it was too large for him—as an unknown person—despite his post at that time. I had to shorten it. Neither I nor he had the slightest idea that he would turn out to become Turkey’s star, who will become the winner—for the third time—of the latest legislative elections.Erdogan became the beloved star of the Arabs, especially the Islamists eyeing authority. He has become a good model for the Islamist movements that started to give up—or already gave up—their strictness and stands towards democracy and ballot boxes.At that time, Sheikh Saleh Uzgan told me that Mr. “Erdodan will excel over his own mentor—the late leader of Al Rafah Party Najm Al Din Arabakan,” and that it was best for me “to get acquainted with his thoughts.” However, I never imagined that his prophesy would be accomplished that much.Mr. Erdogan was born on February 26, 1954, in Qassim Pasha Neighborhood—the poorest in Istanbul—and he was nicknamed ‘Sheikh Recep’ during his elementary education because he refused to lead his colleagues in the prayers over a newspaper that contained photos of women.He graduated at the “Imam Khatib” school, which was the most famous Islamic education school in Turkey. After his successful graduation from high school, he joined the Ministry of Economics in Marmara University. He also spent around 10 years playing football at a sporting club.When the Islamist Fadeela (Virtue) Party was dissolved and divided into two parts: a conservative part and a youthful part led by Mr. Erdogan and the current Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who later founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001.He is married to Mrs. Ameena, who is of Arab origin, and who was a member of the National Islamist Salamat Party. Both of them formed a marvelous Islamist “duet.”He named his son Najm Al Din, after the name of his mentor Najm Al Din Arbakan. As for his daughter Sumaya, she got her education in the United States because she was not permitted to study in Turkey due to her Islamic hijab (veil.)Hmmmm......Obama's and Ahmadinejad's 'best buddy'.Read the full story here.

• Kuwaiti Lawmaker Proposes $15,000 Reward for Men Who Marry a Second Wife.(TranalatingJihad).Interesting that this is coming out at the same time that a former Kuwaiti candidate for parliament is calling for a revival of the old Qur'anic system of taking sex slaves from infidel raids, and selling them in Kuwaiti markets to help satisfy the Kuwaiti man's sexual appetite (stay tuned here for more on that story.) This is translated from Khaberni, 11 June 2011:

Faysal al-Duwaysan intends to offer a proposal in the Representative Legislative Institution in the Umma's Council (Parliament), which would grant a reward of up to $15,000 to the Kuwaiti man who marries a second wife. This would carry with it the stipulation that the women be over 40, widowed, or divorced.The Public Council for Citizens' Information in Kuwait revealed the existence of more than 30,000 Kuwaiti women who have not married, and have entered into the segment of society in which they're known as "old maids." According to these statistics, this includes women from age 25 through 65 and older, considering that women finish their college education around age 23.Al-Duwaysan confirmed to the Emirati (UAE) paper "al-Bayan" on Saturday his intention to push for adoption of the proposal, saying: "This is the best solution to curb the "old maid" problem, and eliminate many of the societal problems which began to appear in society as a result of the aggravation of this phenomenon."The deputy said: "The high rates (of "old maids") make it imperative on everybody--including governmental and even non-governmental institutions--to move to confront the phenomenon which has become a threat. Especially since the numbers indicate there are tens of thousands of unmarried women, alongside a comparable number of men who resort to taking a non-Kuwaiti woman as a second wife. This indicates that marriage to foreign women is the most serious factor in the spread of the "old maid" phenomenon."Al-Duwaysan stated that the aim of the proposal is to contribute, from the side of the Legislative Institution, to solving the society's problems. He stressed that this continues his serious efforts to put forth appropriate solutions which are compatible with the religion, customs, and traditions of Kuwaiti society.Hmmmm.......Try the local adds in the paper?Read the full story here.

• Necklace ban for men as Tehran's 'moral police' enforce dress code.(Guardian).More than 70,000 trained forces sent out to streets as part of effort to combat 'western cultural invasion'.Iranian men have been banned from wearing necklaces in the latest crackdown by the Islamic regime on "un-Islamic" clothing and haircuts.Thousands of special forces have been deployed in Tehran's streets, participating in the regime's "moral security plan" in which loose-fitting headscarves, tight overcoats and shortened trousers that expose skin will not be tolerated for women, while men are warned against glamorous hairstyles and wearing a necklace.The new plan comes shortly after the Iranian parliament proposed a bill to criminalise dog ownership, on the grounds that it "poses a cultural problem, a blind imitation of the vulgar culture of the west".The Irna state news agency said the trend was aimed at combating "the western cultural invasion" with help from more than 70,000 trained forces, known as "moral police", who are sent out to the streets in the capital and other cities.With the summer heat sweeping across the country, many people, especially the young, push the boundaries and run the risk of being fined, or even arrested, for wearing "bad hijab" clothing.Women in particular are under more pressure because of the restriction on them to cover themselves from head to toe. Men are allowed to wear short-sleeved shirts, but not shorts.Speaking by phone, a Tehran resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "It's not only about clamping down on clothing, but they are spreading panic and fear by sending out this much of police into the streets under the name of this plan, to control the society. It's unbelievable to see a regime that is not only concerned about its own survival but it goes into your personal life and interferes in that."Under Islamic customs, dogs are deemed to be "unclean". Iranians, in general, avoid keeping them at home, but still a minority, especially in north Tehran's upper-class districts, enjoy keeping pets. Last year Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, a prominent hardline cleric, issued a fatwa against keeping dogs and said the trend must stop.Last summer authorities in Tehran also released a list of approved hairstyles in an attempt to offer Islamic substitutes to "decadent" western cuts, such as the ponytail and the mullet.Read the full story here.

• Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood: “Allah has warned us the tricks of the Jews, and their role in igniting the fire of wars."(VinIenco).Anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism go hand-in-hand in the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology, as demonstrated in a recent speech by the group’s leader Mohamed Badie. To Badie, the current problems in the Middle East have historical roots in a Jewish conspiracy, coupled with Masonic and American/Western elements.“Allah has warned us the tricks of the Jews, and their role in igniting the fire of wars,” Badie said in a speech posted to the Brotherhood’s Arabic-language website on June 2 and translated by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. “The Almighty said: ‘Every time they light the fires of war, Allah extinguishes them; and they labor hard to spread corruption on earth: and Allah does not love the spreaders of corruption.”According to Badie, “such was their [the Jewish] plot by night and by day to divide the Muslims, old and new.” Their intentions could be traced from Napoleon to the founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, and on to the strife in Arab nations like Sudan. “We will only gain their land by feeding the fire of animosity between them, to facilitate their destruction by our hands,” Badie claimed that Herzl said at a 1903 Masonic Conference.As a part of this conspiracy, Badie argues that the West is in collaboration with the Jews. “O Muslims: I do not think that the West wants well for Muslims good,” Badie said. “I do not imagine the Americo-Zionist alliance wants our blessed revolution to reach its objectives, in the forefront of which are: that we enjoy freedom in our land, that we be independent in our decision and that we have sovereignty over our homelands.”The speech underlines assertions that the Brotherhood has not reformed its ideology, despite public pronouncements on their website and in English-language comments to the media. The organization recently generated controversy by condemning the killing of Osama bin Laden, and for its support for terrorism and a shaky commitment to democratic principles.Hmmmm....The people the Obama regime gives money to,recognises and deals with.Read the full story here.

• Palestinian Authority Adopts Harsher Penalties for Honor Killings.(Memri).On May 15, 2011, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed a presidential decree amending the penal law for "family honor" murders. The murder of women under circumstances of family honor violations will henceforth be considered a murder like any other.Abbas's signing of the decree amending the law comes against the backdrop of the murder of Aya Al-Baradh'iya, a student from Surif village in the Hebron Governorate, by her uncle and his friends, on suspicion that she was having forbidden contact with a young man who had proposed marriage. Aya's body, blindfolded and with hands and feet bound, was discovered in a well on May 7, 2011, about a year after her disappearance; her uncle confessed to murdering her.The discovery of Aya's body sparked outrage across the Hebron region. Many openly condemned the murder and called for the perpetrators to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and given the harshest possible sentence, with some even demandeing that they be sentenced to death. Rami Mahadawi, columnist for the PA daily Al-Ayyam, wrote: "The blood of your daughter Aya is precious, and there is no compensation for it but blood [vengeance]. We must demand the death penalty for the murderers, as a lesson for all to see."

In his column in the Jerusalem daily Al-Quds, Hamdi Faraj described previous family-honor murders in which the perpetrators went unpunished: "We saw the covered body of a woman; her head was severed from her body. She had been murdered by her brother, who claimed [that she had violated the family's] honor. He was detained for several months, and then released...

"Several months ago, a teenage girl was murdered by her uncle, after he had sexual relations with her..."There is a long history of murders that are justified by claims of [violation of] family honor. The murderers receive light sentences, and perhaps even win admiring glances from the sheikhs...

"The demands that [Aya's] bestial murderer be sentenced to death, and that the family receive a bereavement visit from the Legislative Council chairman are a positive development, but an insufficient one."

Also on the Maan website, Osama Abu 'Awwad criticized the victimization of women, writing: "In our times, the woman is beaten, humiliated, and murdered without trial. She is married off against her will, imprisoned at home, and prevented from objecting [to any of this] – all under the cover of backward traditions and customs handed down from generation to generation."Suha Arafat, widow of Yasser Arafat, wrote in Al-Quds: "We must doff our hats to President Abu Mazen [Abbas], in esteem and respect. He has done what is necessary, [showing] resolve and an ability to make decisions when there is a [national] interest and when he believes in something."I know that Abu Mazen is the sort of person who dared to say 'no' to the late great Abu 'Ammar [Yasser Arafat], while others said 'yes'... I appreciate Abu Mazen's courage, and his [willingness] to confront the social legacy, honored tradition, and tribal considerations."Hmmmm.....One swallow in the sky  doesn't represent Summer.Read the full story here.

• Belarus unrest will be suppressed, says Lukashenko.(TodaysZaman).Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko declared on Tuesday he would "strike hard" to suppress any further protests against policies aimed at pulling the ex-Soviet country out of economic crisis.Lukashenko spoke after fresh signs of unrest by Belarussians over the crisis which has led to a 36 percent devaluation of the rouble, devouring the value of savings, and soaring inflation. Calls are multiplying on social networking sites for public protests and motorists last week rallied in the centre of Minsk in protest at a sharp rise in the price of gasoline -- unusual for Belarus where people normally show little appetite for street demonstrations. In the latest protest this weekend, scores of people rallied on the border with Poland, blocking a crossing point, before being dispersed forcibly by police. They were protesting against restrictions on the quantity of gasoline and other goods they could take out. Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for 16 years but whose authority is being hurt by the crisis, warned he was ready to crack down hard on any more unrest. "They are organising strikes because we do not allow them to take fuel, cigarettes and other goods out of the country without charge," he said, in comments reported by the state news agency BelTA. "These people used to be called speculators. And they are speculators. And I am supposed to just look at that ?," he said during a district tour outside the capital. Referring to calls on the Internet for public protests, Lukashenko went on: "We have the opposition in Minsk on social networks. They use the Internet to call for strikes .. I will look, watch and then I will strike hard so that they will not get a chance to defect abroad." Though Lukashenko's re-election for a fourth term in power last December sparked huge street protests, public dissent is relatively rare in Belarus. Lukashenko has not shrunk from cracking down hard on opponents and several of the presidential candidates who ran against him last December have received jail terms. On Tuesday, the trial opened against the Belarus correspondent of a Polish newspaper on charges of slandering and insulting Lukashenko in articles he wrote. Andrzej Poczobut, who wrote for the daily Gazeta Wyborcza, could face four years in jail if convicted. One opposition video placed on the Internet under the slogan "Conquer your fear: become a hero" is urging opponents of Lukashenko to demonstrate in the capital and launch a national strike from July 3. Belarussian trade unions, which have traditionally been loyal to Lukashenko, have warned that rising prices are leading to a greater mood of protest in the country. The Minsk government is looking for bail-out loans from big neighbour Russia and from the International Monetary Fund to help it through a crisis which many analysts attribute to public over-spending ahead of the December election.. Struggling to plug a yawning balance-of-payments deficit, the government devalued the national currency, the rouble, by 36 percent. It has also imposed a freeze on the price of core foodstuffs, but people are still buying what staples they can to hoard. The weekend protest on the border involved people who sought to drive consignments of goods, including gasoline, out of the country to sell them at a profit in Poland. Minsk can expect to receive $1.2 billion in loans from a Russia-led bailout fund this year but it also needs IMF support of between $3-8 billion dollars. The IMF, ending a two-week mission to Minsk on Monday, gave only lukewarm support for government anti-crisis policies and urged it to let the rouble float freely, freeze wages and raise interest rates to hold more money within the banking system. Delivery of IMF aid is complicated by Lukashenko's poor image in the West since his December re-election. Police rounded up hundreds of people, including several presidential candidates, who denounced the vote as fraudulent. Western monitors also criticised the ballot and the United States and the European Union have since introduced travel bans against Lukashenko and his inner circle of associates.Hmmmm........Lukashenka the last ex Sovjet dictator,from kolkhoznik to President for life.Read the full story here