MFS - The Other News

                       Afternoon  Posting.

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

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

• Yemen Live Blog - June 02 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan  today 5.1  ! Lots of activity in Turkey.More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 127.Source : Here .

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

• What Writing A Book Taught Me About Obama and Those Who Followed Him In 2008.(BigPeace).My novel Hummel’s Cross takes place in pre-war (and wartime) Nazi Germany. In the course of my research I became fascinated by how a nation of such highly sophisticated and astute people as the Germans—who gave us Bach, Beethoven, Luther, Goethe, Schweitzer, Handel, Nietzsche, Kant, Wagner, (and thrown in a few Austrians like Mozart. Strauss, and Haydn) etc. could be so easily led to their own destruction – taking much of the Western World with them – by a charismatic if empty man. I remember in the film Gladiator the observation is made that the Roman mob is fickle and easily led. Well, we have seen that in the case of this country in these times the mob is the intelligentsia in the media, academia, entertainment and some corners of high finance. In 2008, they looked to Barack Obama and like past societies feeling the need for guidance from on high projected upon him their own needs, desires and (let’s be honest here) obsession with exorcising the self-flagellating white guilt they continue to carry over a perceived national racism that is now more a topic of media round-tables than a fact in day-to-day American life.What gets me nervous is that they could project on him because this man Obama was and remains a mirage. An illusion. Someone whose greatness exists only in the minds of those who adore him for reasons they cannot even articulate.By referencing Hummel’s Cross am I somehow calling Obama Hitler? Absolutely not, although this message will be twisted into just that by those completely missing my point. It’s the lesson about mob influence I’m talking about here. What I am saying is in that my research of Germany in the 1930-40s I could not help but come to a dark revelation: That a nation’s collective intelligence and level of sophistication is by no means a stop-gap to demagogues of all political stripes when the times are right for ‘hope and change.’ In the America of 2008, the times were right.I know a lot of bright, successful people whose opinions on so many matters I deeply respect who were solidly, even passionately, in the Obama tank—yet I noticed that they could never quite explain to me why, beyond uttering vague touchy-feely slogans or stating the obvious that he ‘isn’t Bush.’ As an independent-minded voter who grew up in Chicago and thus am aware of just what kind of ruthless ambition it takes to ascend the political ladder there as did Obama, I needed more than a cool campaign “O” emblem and Dave Matthews’ endorsement to earn my vote. Yet I found nothing but a paper thin image as the talking points. This vacuum of reasoning left me scratching my head. And the more I did my own research on this smooth-talking Cook County machine politician (as I would eventually conclude he was) the more anxious for my country I became. I realized that, for all too many, Barack Obama’s appeal was emotional. Nothing more. An exercise in collective self-actualization that may have had its place in a 1930’s München brauhaus, a plaza in 1940’s Buenos Aires or 1960’s Havana, but certainly no place in what I thought was the most developed and wary of Republics.We are a nation that must be skeptical of leaders. It has been a part of the American character for over two centuries. The Constitution codifies this suspicion of those who seek power with checks and balances that reveal a deeper distrust in human nature…one that is justified if the history of our species is any guide. As an American, it fills me with dread when I see throngs of my countrymen searching for answers to life not from within themselves but from a mere politician about whose biography they know far less than their favorite sports hero’s.In a way, having little enthusiasm for the McCain ticket, I found myself in 2008 observing in fascination from the sidelines as the two campaigns developed. And although he had his faults, no one doubted who John McCain was, or whether he had had served his country with honor – or that Sarah Palin had actually been at the helm of a real state which is an organization of size and complexity. Obama, however, was a mystery…and in many ways still is. One who I saw protected by a praetorian guard in the mainstream media unable or unwilling to ask even the most fundamental questions about who he was or what made him tick. That frightened me to no end. It still does.In writing Hummel’s Cross I threw myself into the mindset of an intelligent if detached German watching almost like a spectator as his country slowly comes under the spell of a politician who says the right things at the right time and thus is given a pass on everything else. A man upon whom the hopes and dreams of a people are mass-projected to the point where they lose themselves. And if it taught me one thing, it is that a good people can follow the wrong leader to their own destruction—either through fiery cataclysm or, more insidious, slow economic and social decay too subtle for a populace to even realize what has befallen them until it is too late to turn back.In November, 2012 we will find out if this lesson has been duly learned by the rest of us.Hmmmm.......Sounds like my thoughts.Read the full story here.

• NGO Monitor to U.S. Government: Dont turn to HRW for Consultations.(IMRA).Watchdog group says HRW's activities are inconsistent with moral principles. JERUSALEM - In response to recent statements that reflect racial animus by senior officials at Human Rights Watch (HRW), Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor has sent letters to President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and other U.S. officials calling on the U.S. government to reject further consultations with the organization until it implements reforms.

"Clearly, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has morphed into a political advocacy organization characterized by double standards and bias - this is now widely understood," says Professor Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. "But the recent racially-charged Huffington Post article, which exploited the American Civil Rights movement to incite racial hatred in the Middle East, crosses new red lines even for HRW and falls far outside any definition of 'legitimate criticism.' Action must be taken because this type of language contributes to animosity and hate."Steinberg adds, "Our letter demonstrates that 'the inclusion of HRW in official United States government policymaking and consultation is entirely inconsistent with the moral principles of human rights.'"

The inflammatory op-ed, authored by HRW's Middle East and North Africa (MENA) division head Sarah Leah Whitson, falsely accused Israel of "racial discrimination." Whitson employed racial stereotyping in race baiting American Jews and Israelis. NGO Monitor noted that the words "segregate," "race/racist," "discrimination" and "equal/unequal" are repeated 23 times in this short piece, as Whitson sought to justify her support for discriminatory boycotts against Israel. (The BDS strategy was adopted in the antisemitic NGO Forum of the UN's 2001 Durban Conference, in which HRW also played a central role.)Whitson's article also stated: "In a week when the U.S. paused to recall the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, President Peres might have considered King's message -- an end to segregation -- and why such a system of racial inequality remains in place in the Occupied Palestinian Territories...""This oped and other HRW statements recall efforts to pit Jews vs. African Americans, making a complete mockery of Dr. King's legacy," Steinberg notes. "Similarly, HRW's unjustifiable framing of the Arab-Israeli conflict as motivated by 'Israeli racism' is a total distortion of the national and religious dimensions, and erases central peace and security issues from the agenda."Ms. Whitson's op-ed followed her 2009 fundraising trip to Saudi Arabia, in which she raised the specter of the pro-Israel lobby in order to solicit donations from Saudi elites, including members of the governing Shura Council. Whitson also embraced and helped market the Gaddafi regime, and in particular, Moammar Qaddafi's son Seif Islam. In May 2011, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requested an arrest warrant for Seif Islam on charges of crimes against humanity.In November 2010, Whitson praised "the Lebanese sophistication for human rights" and in May 2010, she visited with Hamas officials in Gaza to reassure them of HRW's "impartial" reporting and promised that HRW's next report would allege Israeli violations of international law. Such ideological bias is clearly inconsistent with the universality of human rights.Ken Roth, HRW's Executive Director, has similarly displayed racial hostility, such as the offensive religious slur during the 2006 Lebanon War where he referred to the Jewish Bible as the "morality of some more primitive moment."Other failures show HRW's lack of moral clarity - in 2009, Marc Garlasco, HRW's "senior military analyst" and author of many publications accusing Israel of war crimes, was exposed as an obsessive collector of Nazi memorabilia. And in January 2011, Shawan Jabarin, an alleged "senior activist" from the PFLP terror group (as pronounced by the Israeli High Court), was appointed to HRW's Mid-East advisory board."The U.S. government should look to other organizations for policy recommendations," says Steinberg. "Race baiting is the antithesis of human rights values.
NGO Monitor Letter to U.S Officials President Barack Obama The White House.

NGO Monitor: HRW's Whitson Race-baits Jewish Community; Exploits US Civil
Rights Movement

JERUSALEM - The leaders of Human Rights Watch, and the Middle East and North
Africa (MENA) division, in particular, frequently employ highly offensive
and racially charged language regarding Israel, to accompany numerous false
"fact finding" claims, notes Jerusalem-based research institute NGO Monitor.

In an op-ed "A Matter of Civil Rights", (Huffington Post, 15 April) Sarah
Leah Whitson, director of MENA, manipulates and distorts the moral framework
of the US civil rights movement in order to incite racial hatred. Whitson
writes: "In a week when the U.S. paused to recall the assassination of Dr.
Martin Luther King, President Peres might have considered King's message --
an end to segregation -- and why such a system of racial inequality remains
in place in the Occupied Palestinian Territories..." The words "segregate,"
"race/racist," "discrimination" and "equal/unequal" are repeated 23 times in
this short piece, as Whitson seeks to justify her support for discriminatory
boycotts against Israel. (The BDS strategy was adopted in the infamous NGO
Forum of the UN's 2001 Durban Conference, in which HRW also played a central
role.) Whitson's article also employs racial stereotyping and
generalization in making crude references about American Jews.

"HRW has consistently exploited human rights principles to promote a
campaign of discrimination against Israel, and now, officials such as
Whitson are using race baiting against American Jews," noted Professor
Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. "Abusing Dr. King's
assassination for this purpose is particularly offensive, erasing both the
Jewish community's leadership in the civil rights struggle and Dr. King's
support for Israel. In contrast, Whitson takes a racist position denying the
right of the Jewish people to sovereign equality. The appropriation of these
images and the comparison of the complex Arab-Israel conflict to the dark
history of American racial inequality marks a new low in HRW's history of
immorality in relation to Israel."

Such vulgar anti-Israel campaigning was recently condemned by a group of
African-American student leaders who called it "as transparent as it is
base." Similarly, Dr. King decried discriminatory attacks on Israel,
declaring, "When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews."

HRW's campaign rests on manufactured allegations in order to falsely portray
the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict as one allegedly motivated by Jewish
race-hatred of Arabs, erasing Palestinian violence and ignoring competing
national and territorial claims. Much of HRW's rhetoric simply repeats
crude propaganda developed by the PLO's Negotiation Affairs Department,
promoting the myth of "Israel's plan to segregate the Palestinian People
while continuing the colonization of Palestinian land."

Whitson's op-ed follows HRW's December 2010, unsourced "report" targeting
Israel, under the title of "Separate and Unequal", also abusing the legacy
of the US civil rights movement. Whitson, who has abused the term
"apartheid" to further the discriminatory assault on Jewish self
determination rights, equates Israeli policies to "Jim Crow laws of the
American south."

Whitson's campaigning includes a 2009 fundraising trip to Saudi Arabia, in
which she ignored the daily violations of the regime. Instead, she referred
to HRW's leading role in promoting the discredited Goldstone report "which
depleted HRW's budget for the region," and the canard of "pro-Israel
pressure groups." Whitson also embraced and helped market the Gaddafi
regime. Marc Garlasco, HRW's "senior military analyst" and author of many
publications accusing Israel of war crimes, was exposed as an obsessive
collector of Nazi memorabilia. And in January 2011, Shawan Jabarin, an
alleged "senior activist" from the PFLP terror group, was appointed to HRW's
Mid-East advisory board. In 2006, HRW Director Kenneth Roth displayed his
deep-seated religious prejudice, referring to Israeli policy as "an eye for
an eye" which he described as the product of a "more primitive moment."

Steinberg adds, "HRW and Whitson cynically use double standards and race
baiting against Jews to attack Israel, while ignoring the universal basis of
human rights norms. This abuse of moral standards to promote hatred has
grave consequences for the human rights movement that go far beyond the
anti-Israel racism in this agenda."

HRW's obsessive assault on Israel, and close cooperation with Arab and
Islamic dictators, was cited by HRW founder Robert Bernstein, who condemned
his NGO for turning "Israel into a pariah state." In a 2010 speech at the
University of Nebraska, Bernstein documented HRW's targeting of Israel as
one of the "principal offenders" of human rights. In a 2010 article in The
New Republic, Ben Birnbaum quotes Whitson's praise for Norman Finkelstein --
"making Israeli abuses the focus of one's life work is a thankless but
courageous task".

Whitson, who was hired by HRW after having worked as an anti-Israel activist
(as is the case of Joe Stork, the MENA deputy director), also makes security
and legal claims without any evidence or knowledge: "Israel's security
justifications fall far short of the strict and narrow limits on
differential treatment permitted under international law between people of
different ethnicities or national origins." For over a decade, HRW officials
have minimized Palestinian terror and rocket attacks that kill and injure
Israeli civilians, as well as numerous instances of incitement to genocide.
Whitson's op-ed is the latest in a continued effort to erase of the wider
context of legitimate self-defense against Palestinian attacks.

On this basis, NGO Monitor demands the resignation of Whitson, Stork and HRW
Executive Director Kenneth Roth. We also call on HRW funders, including the
Ford Foundation and the Open Society Institute (George Soros), to
reconsider the implications of their support for this immoral agenda."Read the full story here.

• Why Barack Obama may be heading for electoral disaster in 2012.(Telegraph).On a recent visit to London I was struck by how much faith many British politicians, journalists and political advisers have in Barack Obama being re-elected in 2012. In the aftermath of the hugely successful Special Forces operation that took out Osama Bin Laden and a modest spike in the polls for the president, the conventional wisdom among political elites in Britain is overwhelmingly that Obama will win another four years in the Oval Office. Add to this a widespread perception of continuing disarray in the Republican race, as well as a State Visit to London that had the chattering classes worshipping at the feet of the US president, and you can easily see why Obama’s prospects look a lot rosier from across the Atlantic.But back in the United States, the reality looks a lot different. Many political leaders in Britain fail to understand the degree to which the American people are deeply unhappy with their president’s poor handling of the economy. Nor have they grasped the epic scale of the defeat suffered by the president in the November mid-terms, and the emphatic rejection by a clear majority of Americans of the Big Government Obama agenda.Just seven months ago, the United States was swept by a conservative revolution that fundamentally transformed the political landscape on Capitol Hill, and gravely weakened the ability of the president to pass legislation. This revolution is not in retreat but gaining ground, led by charismatic figures such as Paul Ryan, the Reaganite chairman of the House Budget Committee, entrusted with reining in out of control government spending. And as a Gallup poll showed, America is unquestionably a conservative country ideologically, but one that is ironically led by the most left-wing president in the nation’s history.Ultimately, the 2012 presidential election will be decided by the state of the economy, and new data released this week makes grim reading for the White House. In fact you cannot watch a US financial news network at the moment, from Bloomberg to CNBC to Fox Business, without a great deal of pessimism about the dire condition of the world’s biggest economy. 66 percent of Americans now worry the federal government will run out of money in the face of towering public debts.Unsurprisingly, the polls are again looking problematic for the president. The latest Rasmussen Presidential Tracking Poll shows just 25 percent of Americans strongly approving of Obama’s performance, with 36 percent strongly disapproving, for a Presidential Approval Index rating of minus 11 points. In a projected match up between Obama and a Republican opponent, the president now trails by two points according to Rasmussen – 43 to 45. The RealClear Politics poll of polls shows just over a third of Americans (34.5 percent) agreeing that the country is heading in the right direction, with nearly three fifths (56.8 percent) believing it is heading down the wrong track. That negative figure rises to a staggering 66 percent of likely voters in a new Rasmussen survey, including 41 percent of Democrats. Even though we don’t know yet who he will be up against, Barack Obama could well go into 2012 as the underdog rather than the favourite he is frequently portrayed as. On balance we’re likely to see a very close race 17 months from now. But there is also the distinct possibility of an electoral rout of the president if the economy goes further south. “Hope and change” might have played well in 2008, but it is a message that will likely ring hollow in November 2012, with an American public that is deeply disillusioned with the direction Obama is taking the country.Hmmmmm......Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.......Their's not to make reply,Their's not to reason why,Their's but to do and die.Read the full story here.

• After Obama Declares Gay Pride Month, White House Launches Site Touting LGBT Efforts.(OntopMag).The White House on Wednesday launched a new website trumpeting its LGBT achievements.A quote from President Barack Obama welcomes visitors: “We've got a lot of hard work that we still have to do, but we can already point to extraordinary progress that we've made … on behalf of Americans who are gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender.”The site, titled Winning the Future: President Obama And The LGBT Community, is a subdomain located off the White House's official website and features a fact sheet of the administration's accomplishments on gay rights, a page to sign-up for a newsletter, and the White House's video for the It Gets Better Project.Many of the administrations accomplishments listed on the website were also mentioned in the declaration Obama signed on Tuesday declaring June Gay Pride month.Those achievements include repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the 1993 law that bars gay and bisexual troops from serving openly, efforts to wipe out discrimination in federal housing programs, and passage of a gay-inclusive hate crimes law.Briefly mentioned are relationship recognition, including the administration decision to stop defending in court the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bars federal agencies from recognizing the marriages of gay and lesbian couples.It states "President Obama has called for the Congressional repeal of the discriminatory “Defense of Marriage Act” and has announced that in his view, Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional". Strange i remember it being formulated this way"“The president and I have concluded that classifications based on sexual orientation” should be subjected to a strict legal test intended to block unfair discrimination, Mr. Holder wrote."Hmmmm....No mention of asking congress?Read the full story here.

• FCC Colluded with Leftist Organization Free Press to Push Government Regulation of Internet, Documents Show.(JudicialWatch).Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has uncovered documents from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that indicate officials at the FCC colluded with the leftist Free Press organization to publicly push a new plan to regulate the Internet under the FCC’s so-called “net neutrality” program. Judicial Watch obtained the documents pursuant to a December 27, 2010, Freedom of Information Act request. In December 2010, the FCC voted 3-2 to advance its “net neutrality program.” This decision seems to fly in the face of an April, 2010 federal appeals court ruling that the FCC had exceeded its authority in seeking to regulate the Internet and enforce “net neutrality” rules. The supporters of “net neutrality,” including Free Press, argue that high-speed Internet access is a “civil right,” and are recommending new government regulations to provide taxpayer-funded broadband Internet access to all populations, especially those deemed “underserved.” Opponents of “net neutrality” argue the program is designed to impose greater government control over the Internet and will result in less access, not more. Moreover, opponents of “net neutrality,” also dispute the claim that Internet access is a basic civil right protected by the U.S. Constitution. Judicial Watch uncovered internal correspondence showing unusual coordination by some officials at the FCC and Free Press in pushing the “net neutrality” agenda in the run up to the controversial FCC vote in December.Gandy, the Chairman of the Free Press Board of Directors, served as the President of the National Organization for Women from 2001-2009. Craig Aaron, Free Press’s President and CEO, formerly worked as managing editor of the socialist tabloid In These Times. Free Press is financially supported by George Soros’s Open Society Institute and other hard-left groups such as the Ford Foundation and Democracy Alliance. “Net neutrality is just another Obama power grab. This is nothing less than the Obama administration’s attempt to stage a government takeover of the Internet under the guise of ‘net neutrality.’ So it should come as no surprise that Free Press, the hard left organization with socialist ties, is improperly driving the so-called net neutrality agenda from inside the Obama administration. The FCC is supposed to be an independent agency that follows the law,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The American people should be deeply troubled by the fact that the Obama administration, on issue after issue, seems to be run by shadowy leftist organizations. Our government is supposed to be ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’, not ‘of the Left, by the Left, and for the Left.’” .Hmmmmm.....Dictatorship or Democracy?Read the full story here.

• You got to be kidding?Gov. Christie Thinks A Family Making $6,000 A Year Is Too Rich To Qualify For Medicaid.(Thinkprogress).Despite recent polls that show Americans are just as protective of Medicaid as they are of Medicare, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is trying to gut the popular program in his state and prevent 23,000 people from receiving benefits. Christie has proposed cutting Medicaid eligibility to absurdly low levels: from the current maximum income of $24,645 to $5,317 a year for a family of three. Apparently, the governor believes a family of three making $6,000 a year is simply too rich to receive Medicaid.The New Jersey press has reported that the main effect of his proposal would be to slash help for the working poor, tearing a huge hole in the state’s social safety net: Adults in a family of three that makes as little as $103 a week would earn too much to qualify for health care provided by Medicaid under a sharply curtailed program Gov. Chris Christie wants the federal government to approve this year, according to state officials and advocates briefed on the proposal.[...]The Christie administration is expected to propose cutting the maximum income level of Medicaid from $24,645 to $5,317 a year for a family of three [...]“That is about a third of the poverty level,” Castro said. “That means that an uninsured parent working full time at a minimum-wage job wouldn’t be eligible. … A parent who works half-time for minimum wage wouldn’t even qualify.“Unfortunately, the only way these parents can become eligible for health coverage in the future is if the parent applies for and is eligible for welfare,” Castro added. “That sends the wrong message.”Democratic lawmakers are furious that Christie is insisting on making $300 million in cuts on the backs of poor and disabled residents. They point out that apart from the morally bankrupt idea of denying care to the neediest population, having more people uninsured will ultimately be more costly for New Jersey.“Those 23,000 people are going to get sick this year,” said Louis Greenwald (D), a committee chairman. “Where are you suggesting they’re going to go?”State Sen. Joseph Vitale (D), who sponsored the legislation creating FamilyCare in 1998, explained, “This completely dismantles the progress made over the last 12 years, and then some…I can’t imagine how it could be any worse.”Since Medicaid — which provides health care services to at-risk populations including the indigent, blind and disabled — is jointly funded by the federal government, states must apply for a waiver before making major changes. That means Obama administration officials can still block Christie’s radical attempts to curtail enrollment.Read the full story here.

• Hero Gurkha receives bravery medal from the Queen,'I thought I was going to die... so I tried to kill as many Taliban as I could'.(DailyMail).A Gurkha soldier who single-handedly defeated more than 30 Taliban fighters has been awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross by the Queen.Corporal Dipprasad Pun, 31, described how he was spurred on by the belief that he was going to die and so had nothing to lose in taking on the attackers who overran his checkpoint in Afghanistan.His gallantry award is second only to the Victoria Cross - the highest honour for bravery in the face of the enemy.Speaking after receiving the honour from the Queen, the Gurkha said: 'I'm very excited and happy to here in the Palace to receive the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. This will be a great memory for the future.'The soldier fired more than 400 rounds, launched 17 grenades and detonated a mine to thwart the Taliban assault on his checkpoint near Babaji in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, last September.At one point, after exhausting all his ammunition, he had to use the tripod of his machine gun to beat away a militant who was climbing the walls of the compound.In total he fired off 250 general purpose machine gun rounds, 180 SA80 rounds, six phosphorous grenades, six normal grenades, five underslung grenade launcher rounds and one Claymore mine.The only weapon he did not use was the traditional Kukri knife carried by Gurkhas because he did not have his with him at the time.The married soldier, whose father and grandfather were also Gurkhas, is originally from the village of Bima in western Nepal but now lives in Ashford, Kent.His medal citation said he saved the lives of three comrades at the checkpoint at that time and prevented the position being overrun.It read: 'Pun could never know how many enemies were attempting to overcome his position, but he sought them out from all angles despite the danger, consistently moving towards them to reach the best position of attack.'Hmmmm.....As the Gurkha motto tells:"It's better to die than tolive as a coward".Read the full story here.

• Video - Egyptian Cleric Mazen Al-Sarsawi: We Ask a Person Nicely to Convert, But If He Refuses and Does Not Pay the Jizya Tax, We Fight Him.Hmmmm....The religion of peace".Read and see the full story here.

• Hamas Disappointed At Egyptian Restrictions At Rafah Crossing.(Memri).The Gaza crossings and borders authority has confirmed that Egypt has restricted the number of Palestinians passing from Gaze into Egypt via the Rafah crossing to 400 per day. Hamas said that Egypt is raising difficulties on security pretexts. The Palestinian Embassy in Egypt is trying to resolve the "crisis of preventing departure from Gaza." Read the full story here.