MFS - The Other News

                       Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan today 7.1  ! More info here.

• Volcanic Activity : Mount Hekla -Situation Update No. 5  - On 09.07.2011 at 19:05 GMT+2

A glacial flood affected South Iceland last night, likely caused by draining of geothermal melt water from underneath the east side of the Myrdalsjokull glacier. Scientists have been speculating that the glacial outburst may have been caused by a very small volcanic eruption; but no visual or seismic evidence to confirm that theory has yet come to light. The flood peaked last night and engineers are already working on repairing damage to local roads. The sudden outburst knocked out a bridge on the Route 1 highway, leaving the road closed. Icelandic interior minister, Ogmundur Jonasson told reporters that fixing the road is his top priority and the Icelandic Roads Administration is already working to build a temporary replacement bridge. It is hoped the road will open again in two to three days’ time. A spate of small earthquakes under the glacier is now subsiding and seismic activity was not recorded in mainland Scandinavia; unlike the three most recent eruptions in Fimmvorduhals, Eyjafjallajokull and Grimsvotn. This indicates that the eruption under the Myrdalsjokull glacier is either extremely small or not actually happening at all. Glacial outbursts caused by geothermal melt water are common in South Iceland. As the Katla volcano lies partly under Myrdalsjokull, all activity in the area is closely monitored and naturally generates international attention. “This is a very similar occurrence to June 1955. Then glacial outbursts came from two craters in the 1918 volcano site and lasted for ten hours. That was a very intense flood,” says seismologist Bryndis Brandsdottir. She told RUV that last night’s earthquakes were not particularly unusual. “We would expect large-scale seismic activity before a Katla eruption and this activity the Met Office was tracking last night was small; it was not unusual in any way,” Brandsdottir said. Residents of a small area near the glacier have been evacuated to the town of Kirkjubaejarklaustur. Nobody was hurt in the flood.Source.

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

• Think Tank To Obama: The Military’s Budget Is Not Your Fucking Welfare ATM.(TheHill).The conservative Heritage Foundation is taking umbrage with President Obama’s statement that Defense dollars can be used to finance domestic programs.At issue is a comment the president made in response to a question during his Wednesday Twitter town hall about Defense cuts.“The nice thing about the defense budget is it’s so big, it’s so huge, that a 1 percent reduction is the equivalent of the education budget,” Obama said, immediately noting he was “exaggerating” the exact numbers.“But it’s so big that you can make relatively modest changes to defense that end up giving you a lot of head room to fund things like basic research or student loans or things like that,” the president said. But pro-defense conservatives like the military analysts at Heritage are fearing even bigger national security spending cuts in a debt-ceiling deal than Obama’s already ordered $400 billion by 2023.And they did not like Obama’s comment one bit.“Think again, Mr. President,” Mike Brownfield, Heritage’s assistant director of strategic communications, wrote on the think tank’s The Foundry blog. “Contrary to Obama’s belief, the defense budget is not an ATM from which he can pull cash to pay for other projects. And he certainly can’t do it without causing ... damage to U.S. military readiness.“Contrary to his wildly exaggerated statement, a 1 percent reduction to the Pentagon’s proposed fiscal year 2012 base budget would be $5.5 billion—or 7 percent of the Department of Education’s proposed FY 2012 budget,” wrote Brownfield.The Heritage writer faults Obama for wanting to “take those dollars and apply them to pay for his pet projects at home,” adding that it appears “the President is proposing those cuts irrespective of the military’s needs.”Read the full story here.

• John Boehner Rejects Obama's Grand Bargain On Debt Ceiling.(HuffingtonPost).House Speaker John Boehner is rejecting President Obama's offer to make historic cuts to the federal government and the social safety net, saying in a statement Saturday evening that he can not agree to the tax increases Democrats insisted on as part of the bargain. Boehner made his decision after speaking with the president by phone on Saturday afternoon, a day ahead of a major White House meeting with Democratic and GOP leadership, a Republican source familiar with situation said. Obama had proposed to Republicans a "grand bargain" that accomplished a host of individual things that are unpopular on their own, but that just might pass as a huge package jammed through Congress with default looming. Obama offered to put Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid cuts on the table in exchange for a tax hike of roughly $100 billion per year over 10 years. Meanwhile, government spending would be cut by roughly three times that amount. It's no small irony that the party's dogmatic opposition to tax increases is costing the GOP its best opportunity to roll back social programs it has long targeted. Republicans are now banking on a smaller deficit reduction deal that would still make major cuts, somewhere in the range of $2 trillion. "Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes," Boehner said in a statement. "I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure, based on the cuts identified in the Biden-led negotiations, that still meets our call for spending reforms and cuts greater than the amount of any debt limit increase."While taxes are being put forward as a major cause of the collapse of the grand bargain, a Republican familiar with the discussions said that the two parties couldn't come to an agreement on cuts to entitlements. "The White House would not agree with the core elements of tax reform proposed by the Speaker," said the official. "A gulf also remains between the Speaker and the White House on the issue of medium and long-term structural reforms." When word leaked out this past week that Obama was proposing cuts to entitlements, Democrats in Congress and outside advocates kicked their opposition into high gear, making it clear that no bargain would win their support if it contained any cuts to Social Security or Medicare beneficiaries. That opposition may have broken the back of the bargain.

UPDATE: White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer issued the following statement:

"The President believes that solving our fiscal problems is an economic imperative. But in order to do that, we cannot ask the middle-class and seniors to bear all the burden of higher costs and budget cuts. We need a balanced approach that asks the very wealthiest and special interests to pay their fair share as well, and we believe the American people agree."Both parties have made real progress thus far, and to back off now will not only fail to solve our fiscal challenge, it will confirm the cynicism people have about politics in Washington. The President believes that now is the moment to rise above that cynicism and show the American people that we can still do big things. And so tomorrow, he will make the case to congressional leaders that we must reject the politics of least resistance and take on this critical challenge." Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) released the following statement:This decision to reject the President's offer means as much as a trillion-dollar gulf remains between the two sides on a debt limit deal, and Republicans should be put on notice that no matter how hard they try, their plan to end Medicare as we know it will never fill in that gap. Hmmmm........There go's the Sunday Golf.Read the full story here.More here from Politico.

Related - Statement by Speaker Boehner on Debt Limit Discussions

Washington (Jul 9)

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) released the following statement today regarding ongoing debt limit discussions with the White House:

"Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes. I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure, based on the cuts identified in the Biden-led negotiations, that still meets our call for spending reforms and cuts greater than the amount of any debt limit increase."Source.

• Obama's Animus Toward Israel and Jews.(DocsTalk).By Eileen F. Toplansky.Lists have a way of coalescing important ideas into a clear and easy-to-remember format. What then is the track record of Barack Hussein Obama with regard to Israel and Jews? Listing the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel, as a terror sponsor. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency maintains a list of countries that "have shown a tendency to promote, produce or protect terrorist organizations of their members." Recently Israel has been placed on this list. This equivalence with such nations as Syria and Iran is breathtaking. Nothing like blaming the victim of unrelenting terrorism and including her with the world's "leading perpetrators of terrorism."Pursuing a policy of "limited contacts" with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona, a member of the House Committee on Armed Services, denounced this policy and stated that it was "unfathomable that this Administration is reaching out to an extremely violent Islamic fundamentalist group...which has declared holy war on the U.S. and Israel." This calculated move by Obama emboldens the jihadists. Stating that the Israeli action to stop the flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip in June of 2010 was "tragic." In essence, Obama did not decry Hamas' actions to attack Israel; instead Obama refused to recognize Israel's right to protect herself. In 2009 directing the expenditure of $20.3 million of U.S. taxpayer money for "the urgent refugee and migration needs...related to humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza." These are the same Palestinian residents in Gaza who celebrated the brutal murder of an Israeli Jewish family by handing out "candy and sweets" while rejoicing at the massacre of yet another Jewish family.Abetting the United Nations in its desire to carve out and eventually destroy Israel all under the guise of the euphemistic gibberish known as "even-handedness." When Obama stated that "America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements" former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton called "it the most radical anti-Israel speech [he recalled] any president making."Demanding that Israel withdraw to 1967 borders which would put Israel at the mercy of terrorists bent on wiping out every Israeli man, woman, and child which would include Arab Israeli citizens as well.Coercing Israel to join a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which would, again, weaken Israel's retaliatory powers against her enemies.Continually blaming Israel as an obstacle to peace and scapegoating Israel for the region's ills.Appointing people who have deep ties with the enemies of America and Israel and who publicly show their disdain for Israel. They include:

o Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations who targets Israel.

o Lee Hamilton who wants to pressure Israel to surrender the Golan Heights and leave the West Bank.

o Samantha Power who advocates ending all U.S. military aid to Israel.

o Robert Malley, a Hezbollah and Hamas sympathizer and supporter of jihadists.

o Hannah Rosenthal who served on the board of J Street which is harshly critical of Israeli anti-terror military actions.

o Dalia Mogahed and Azizah al-Hibri who believe that sharia law is superior to the American Constitution.

Obama's mentors are well-known for their implacable loathing for Jews and Israel. They revile the U.S. Constitution and embrace a mindset of Israel and America as colonial occupiers. Despite the typographical errors in this YouTube video, the genesis of Obama's anti-Jewish attitudes becomes clear. Rashid Khalidi, an important influence on Obama, has called Israel a "racist state" and affirms that the founding of Israel is a "catastrophe." Obama is a clever, manipulative individual. Unlike Hitler who wildly screamed his antisemitic screed, Obama is far more genteel. He constantly speaks with forked tongue. Thus, "while outwardly courting Jews, [Obama's] people have been "quietly shoving Jewish organizations into a corner." For those readers who have accessed this article's hyperlinks, it is striking how prescient the writers have been. What becomes even more frightening is the speed with which their deep concerns have actually come to fruition. From such prophets as Pamela Geller to Aaron Klein, Robert Spencer, Steven Emerson, and Ed Lasky, we see that Obama deliberately keeps moving in the direction of those who hate America, Israel, and Jews in general. The noose keeps tightening.Yet, there are still those Americans, particularly Jews, who do not comprehend the depth of Obama's revulsion of Israel. They continue to shield themselves from the reality of an American president actually pursuing actions that could affect the very existence of an ally and ultimately the United States as well.The destructive forces that seem an integral part of Obama's makeup must be highlighted. As Brigitte Gabriel has written, "[w]e are summoned to wake up the apathetic and inspire the despaired, to silence the liars and educate the patriots. For if we fail to inform the ignorant, we will fail to save the informed." Read the full story here.

• Supreme Court Justice–Elena Kagan–is Pro Sharia Law!(DocsTalk).Just when you thought all the talk about Barack Obama usurping the Constitution to bring the United States into compliance with the UN and the Sharia-dominated New International Order was little more than right-wing conspiratorial propaganda—Think Again! The “Appointed One,” in cunning Islamic style, is covering all the bases by laying the foundation, including placing an ally in the United States Supreme Court! Why is it always after the fact, after the elections and after critical appointments that the real vetting of candidates finally takes place? Simple. When you have a clueless, apathetic and disengaged American populace, coupled with a leftist liberal media that’s already in the tank for the “Messharia,” you take the fast track to confirmation and worry about the repercussions later. After all, it’s a lot easier to select than it is to eject a political appointee.Elena Kagan’s views render her the first Supreme Court Justice who actively favors the introduction of Sharia law into national Constitutions and legal systems. It’s unprecedented in American history. We now have a liberal, pro-Sharia justice sitting on the highest court in the land. And is it any wonder? After all, as Obama’s Solicitor General, it was Kagan who blocked as many as nine lawsuits from being heard by the Supreme Court. Although the nine cases listed on the high court’s docket had nothing to do with Obama’s eligibility issues, there is no arguing Kagan’s advocacy for Islamic rule and Sharia Law as evidenced below. What do you want to bet that she refuses to recuse herself on any Sharia-related decision and instead leads the charge to legitimize Sharia law in America?

Christine Brim of the Center for Security Policy summarized Kagans’ 2003-2009 career as Dean of Harvard Law School in the following five points. They tell the story of Elena Kagans’ “deep appreciation” of Sharia law.

1. PRO-SHARIA MISSION:

With Kagan’s direction, Harvard’s Islamic Legal Studies Program developed a mission statement dedicated “to promote a deep appreciation of Islamic law as one of the world’s major legal systems.” That mission statement guided her actions and those whom she directed as Dean.

Under Kagan’s direction, her chief of staff at the Islamic Legal Studies Program aggressively expanded non-critical studies of Sharia law – fulfilling her mission “to promote a deep appreciation of Islamic law.” In 2003, the year Kagan became Harvard Law School Dean, Islamic Legal Studies Program Founding Director Frank Vogel and Associate Director Peri Bearman founded the Massachusetts-based International Society for Islamic Legal Studies. In 2007, Bearman and Vogel founded the Islamic Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools.

2. PRO-SHARIA MONEY:

When Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal offered $10 million to New York City’s Rudy Guiliani on October 11, 2001, Guiliani refused to accept it, because the prince insisted that U.S. policies in the Middle East were responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Guiliani stated, “There is no moral equivalent for this act.” But, when Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal offered $20 million to the Islamic Legal Studies Program in December 2005 – Kagan accepted it; after all, the Saudi royal family had funded the program since its inception to establish the moral and legal equivalency between Sharia law and U.S. Constitutional law. As presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, has noted, Harvard Law School currently has three chairs endowed by Saudi Arabia, including one dedicated to the study of Islamic sharia law.In 2001 Guiliani made a decision not to accept Talal’s blood money. But in 2005, Kagan made a decision not just to accept it, but to implement Talal’s policies at Harvard.Not only there, but as reported earlier this year, “Kagan is the main reason why the Supreme Court ruled against the 9/11 families” in a suit filed by thousands of 9/11 family members that traced funding for the 19 hijackers to certain Saudi royals, along with banks, corporations and Islamic charities. Kagan, as Obama’s Solicitor General, said in her brief “that the princes are immune from petitioners’ claims” and that the families’ claims that the Saudis helped to finance the plots fell “outside the scope” of the legal parameters for suing foreign governments or leaders.So Kagan actively solicited Saudi financing to promote Sharia law in the U.S., and she actively protected Saudi financial backers for terrorism against the U.S., as being immune from claims by 9/11 families.

3. PROMOTING THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND SHARIA CONSTITUTIONS:

In December, 2006, Kagan hired Noah Feldman, architect of Iraq’s Constitution requiring Shariah, as a star faculty member at Harvard Law School. On March 16, 2008, Feldman published his controversial article “Why Sharia” in the New York Times Magazine, which promoted “Islamists” – the Muslim Brotherhood – as a progressive democratic party, and promoted Sharia as a model not just for Muslim-majority countries but for all: “In fact, for most of its history, Islamic law offered the most liberal and humane legal principles available anywhere in the world…” The article was adapted from his book The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, which was published in late March, 2008.On September 16, 2008, Kagan whole-heartedly endorsed Feldman’s promotion of the Muslim Brotherhood and Sharia Law by honoring him with the endowed “Bemis Chair” in International Law. Feldman’s speech on receiving the award was revealing: he advocated for an international, “outward interpretation” of the Constitution that could “require the U.S. to confer rights on citizens of other nations,” and allow for an “experimental Constitution.”As to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist worldwide political organization that Feldman and Kagan support? Their motto is as revealing as Feldman’s speech: “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”Given that slogan, you could well ask if Feldman really meant the Muslim Brotherhood when he wrote about “Islamists” in the book Kagan so admired that she gave him an endowed chair. And he anticipated that question; in the second footnote in his book he states,“Throughout this book, when I refer to Islamists or Islamism, I have in mind mainstream Sunni Muslim activists loosely aligned with the ideology of the transnational Muslim Brotherhood (MB)…the Brotherhood broadly embraces electoral politics, but without eschewing the use of violence in some circumstances, notably against those whom it defines as invaders in Iraq and Palestine.”In summary, Kagan made the decision to honor Feldman, author of “big-lie” forms of pro-Sharia propaganda, supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, with an endowed chair. Feldman states flatly that the Muslim Brotherhood, whom he admires, does not “eschew the use of violence against those whom it defines as invaders in Iraq and Palestine.” Kagan’s financial backer, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, insisted that the U.S. policies in the Middle East (specifically in Israel and Palestine) were a cause of the 9/11 attacks. Like the Muslim Brotherhood, the prince did not “eschew the use of violence” against the U.S. And when 9/11 families sued the Saudi royals who funded the September 11, 2001 “use of violence” against the U.S., Kagan used her power as Solicitor General to protect the group that had been her financial backers at Harvard.It gets better . . .

4. PROMOTING SHARIA IN CONSTITUTIONS WORLDWIDE:

On May 1, 2007, Kagan initiated a lecture series on Sharia Law, named for Abd al-Razzaq al-Sanhuri, a legal scholar who had drafted constitutions throughout the Middle East between the 1930s and 1960s. There are literally dozens of legal reformers throughout the Muslim world that she could have chosen; but she chose al-Sanhuri. Sanhuri’s career consisted primarily of making sure that the civil and criminal legal codes throughout the Middle East were Sharia-compliant. He drafted the laws that ensured Sharia law took precedence over secular laws. As much as any single individual, he was responsible for the legal drafting for the “Constitutionalization” of Sharia in previously secular Muslim-majority nations in the 20th century, in concert with the political pressure for Sharia by the Muslim Brotherhood, and the financial pressure for Sharia by the Saudi Royal Family.As legal scholar Enid Hill wrote in her biography of al-Sanhuri,

“The outlines of the future dialectic are thus able to be detected if al-Sanhuri’s specifications are followed: Islamic legal theory versus Western legal rules, and when the Western rules reflect a different underlying theory they are to be eliminated and new rules put in their place, rules that are reflective of Islamic legal theory.”

Or as al-Sanhuri states himself in his book The Arab Civil Code,“The goal towards which I am striving is that there will be an Arab civil code derived primarily from the Islamic Shari’a.”Kagan presided over four of the al-Sanhuri lectures before her departure to become Obama’s Solicitor General

5. PROMOTING SHARIA IN THE JUDICIAL COUP IN PAKISTAN

Kagan consistently used her position at Harvard to promote and legitimate the introduction of Shariah provisions into national constitutions, and indeed into Supreme Courts of other nations. In Pakistan however, her influence is having dire consequences . . .On November 19, 2008, Elena Kagan presented the Harvard Law School Medal of Freedom to Iftikhar Chaudhry, the controversial Chief Justice of Pakistan. Chaudry had been deposed from his post in 2007 by President General Pervez Musharraf in a complex dispute that included the issue of independence of the judiciary. Musharraf later resigned, and on March 16, 2009, the Prime Minister Gilani re-appointed Chaudhry as Chief Justice.As noted by Department of Defense attorneys from the Clinton and Reagan eras, Kagan’s honoree has mounted a Sharia judicial coup:

“Contrary to the constitution of Pakistan, Chaudhry usurped the right of appointment of vacancies in the court from the elected prime minister and president…In a previous ruling, Chaudhry reaffirmed the right of the court to disqualify members of Parliament, the president and all ministers of the cabinet from serving if they violate “Islamic injunctions,” or do not engage in ‘teaching and practices, obligatory duties prescribed by Islam. “

Given the fact that Elena Kagan is only fifty years old, she could easily serve on the Supreme Court until she’s eighty or beyond. Coupled with Obama’s Muslim upbringing, his anemic support for Israel, his lack of desire to secure the southern border, the ramrodding of Obamacare against the peoples will, joining an international lawsuit against the state of Arizona, his allegiance to Saudi oil magnates, his support of the UN’s Small Arms Treaty, his cosponsoring of a UN bill with Egypt to restrict free speech, the recent corrupt— Operation Fast & Furious, the appointment of his personal minions (czars) and rash of executive orders to circumvent the Constitution, and his latest gaff—resuming talks with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Taliban terrorist organization, is it even a question that the “appointed” one, the “Messharia” to America is laying the groundwork for gradual socialist reform and a syncretism of the Constitution of the United States with the Constitution of Sharia Law? I rest my case!Until next time . . . Wake Up America!Hmmmm......"I Will stand with My muslim Brothers"?Anyone keeping track when he went to church the last time?Kevin A. Lehmann. Source.

• Mexico sends extra 1,800 agents for drugs war.(Al-Jazeera). Reinforcements in Michoacan state backed by Black Hawk helicopters, as officers battle Knights Templars drug cartel.Mexican authorities have deployed an extra 1,800 federal agents in their battle with drug cartels, as at least 41 people were killed over the weekend, including ten who were beheaded.The agents were sent to Michoacan state to take part in a battle there mainly with the Knights Templars, a splinter group of the La Familia cartel.The reinforcements were backed by 170 vehicles, 15 ambulances and 4 MI and Black Hawk helicopters, the Public Safety office announced.Alejandro Poire, a national security council spokesman, called it a "reinforcement operation faced with the possibility of greater mobilisation by organised crime groups"."They are waging an absurd war, to the death, for control of criminal turf and drug trafficking routes to the United States," he said.The federal government already has about 50,000 army troops and thousands of federal police in its fight against drug cartels.It blames the groups for most of the 37,000 people killed since it started a military offensive against the cartels in December 2006.Many of the dead have been killed by the cartels as a form of intimidation or for refusing to co-operate with drug traffickers.Officers in the northern city of Torreon said on Saturday that they had found the headless bodies of seven men and three women in the back of an abandoned pick-up truck.Police chief Guillermo Flores told the AFP news agency that only one head, belonging to a woman, was found on site, and that the killers had placed it on the truck's hood.The vehicle was parked on a road that goes around Torreon, a city of about 650,000, where two major roads heading north to the United States converge.The victims had apparently been executed "several days ago" in disparate locations, and their bodies were piled up in the abandoned pick-up truck "in an attempt to sow terror among the citizens of Torreon," the city municipal police said in a statement.Police have not said if they have suspects.Coahuila state, where Torreon is located, is a battleground for two powerful Mexican drug cartels: the Zetas, founded by former Mexican special forces soldiers, and the Pacific cartel, headed by Joaquin "Chapo" [Shorty] Guzman.The decapitated bodies were discovered hours after 20 people were killed late on Friday when gunmen attacked a local bar in Monterrey, located in the north and the country's second richest city.The attackers, who arrived in two pick-up trucks and a car, stormed into a bar in Monterrey's busy nightlife district and opened fire on the patrons.Separately, 11 people were shot dead on Friday afternoon in Chalco, a town on the outskirts of Mexico City.Hmmmmm.........Now why would you reinforce the US border?Read the full story here.

• "Tirez les premiers, Messieurs les Taliban"? A.k.a.‘courageous restraint’ got this British Soldier killed.(Dailymail).A widow revealed how her soldier husband was blown up in Afghanistan days after senior officers had apparently ‘laughed off’ his complaints that insurgents were being allowed to plant explosive devices unchallenged.Sergeant Peter Rayner, 34, phoned his wife in a ‘highly stressed’ state four days before his death and was upset that his fears were not taken seriously.She said he and his men had watched the enemy, using night-vision goggles, plant improvised explosive devices and were not allowed to attack them. He was allegedly told by one officer: ‘I am an Army Captain and you will do your job.’Sergeant Rayner was serving with the 2nd Battalion Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment and was leading a ten-man patrol in Helmand when he was killed in an explosion last October. The father-of-one received ‘catastrophic’ head injuries.Yesterday Sergeant Rayner’s widow Wendy told an inquest in Bradford that the Army had promised that her concerns would be dealt with, but she said: ‘I have been fobbed off.’Mrs Rayner told Bradford Coroner's Court her husband, who joined the Army at 17, had feared his own death. She said: ‘He was concerned about the number of explosive devices being planted in the area they were patrolling and had told higher ranks because he feared one of them would be killed.‘He said they could see people planting these devices but could do nothing about it.‘I feel that maybe if a bit more had been taken on board about what he had said then things might have been different.’ Mrs Rayner said her husband was ‘highly stressed’ when he called her, claiming that officers had ‘laughed off’ his concerns and he had been told to do his job.‘He loved his job and I believe he deserved more respect,’ she said.‘I know it was a routine patrol, but I believe that if he had been given a bit more respect and not just laughed off maybe they could have done something about it, we are losing too many men out there.’ Sergeant Rayner told his wife that officers told him that he and his men could not open fire on insurgents planting bombs or make contact with them.His complaints were rejected by a Sergeant Major and a Captain, the inquest heard.‘I think that if more notice had been taken of him, then he might not have died,’ she said. ‘Peter loved his men and would have done anything to stop them being killed.’ Outside Bradford Coroner’s Court Mrs Rayner fired a further broadside at the Ministry of Defence, calling for rules of engagement to be changed to protect soldiers.‘They are not allowed to return fire unless they are fired upon. But all the lads have expressed concern because the patrol area was filled with IEDs. ‘They can shoot at us and take us out but the lads can’t do that to them.These terrorists and Taliban can do what they want yet our soldiers try to do their job and get persecuted by the law.A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘The whole point of a counter insurgency operation is to protect the civilian population.’ He said soldiers had to go through a series of stages before opening fire and were sometimes asked to exercise ‘courageous restraint’ even when shots had been fired.‘It is all about winning hearts and minds and using the least force possible,’ the spokesman said.Hmmmm......Using the Marquis of Queensberry rules in a back alley fight will get you killed each time.Read the full story here.

• Son of Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, who was recently assassinated Sues American Airlines.(Ndtv).San Francisco: A Pakistani couple is suing American Airlines after they were escorted off a plane in handcuffs based on a telephone hijacking threat that turned out to be a hoax.The lawsuit, transferred to federal court on Tuesday, also names the San Francisco Police department.Maheen and Shahbaz Taseer say they were held for several hours after being pulled from the flight on August 19, 2010. Shahbaz is the son of Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, who was recently assassinated by an Islamic extremist.Authorities had been notified of a telephone threat that the plane would be hijacked. The threat was later determined to be a hoax.The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.A call to American Airlines was not immediately returned. San Francisco police declined to comment.Read the full story here.

• Israel sets maritime borders.(Ynet).Cabinet ratifies agreement with Cyprus setting borders around area thought to contain natural gas, oil reserves. Lieberman slams Lebanese rejection of borders: 'Hezbollah looking for friction, but we won't give up what is rightfully ours'.The Cabinet on Sunday ratified an agreement with Cyprus which sets Israel's maritime borders. Lebanon has rejected the borders set by the two countries, claiming the state is impinging on its naval territory, but Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel would not cede "one centimeter". Lieberman also denied reports that the US supports Lebanon's claims, calling them "nonsense". "We have already concluded an agreement on this issue with Cyprus... Lebanon, under pressure from Hezbollah, is looking for friction, but we will not give up any part of what is rightfully ours," he said in a radio interview. The borders delineate an area thought to contain natural gas as well as oil reserves. Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau said the Lebanese government was being petty. "If they have complaints with nothing but goodwill and neighborly desire for coexistence they must take steps just like any other civilized country – and hold clarifications and negotiations with us," he said. Landau added that Israel had constructed a professional agreement by working with "international law experts and experts from the Cypriot government"."The border between us and them has been unequivocally set – this is our legally and professionally-based opinion that will be placed on the table of the UN," he said.Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the economic benefits that could come from setting the borders. "The border delimits the state's economic rights, including the right to make use of natural resources at sea. The border Lebanon achieved in the UN is set significantly southward of the one offered by Israel, it conflicts with the borders set by Israel and Cyprus and, surprisingly, the borders Lebanon itself has set with Cyprus. Our goal is to set the lines in keeping with the principles of international law," he said.Hmmmmm......How long before Obama slams Israel on these borders?Read the full story here.

• Assad the "Reformer" - Activist: Syrian regime has arrested 60,000 people.(Ynet).Human rights activist decries 'revolving door' arrest policy, says prisons severely overcrowded.Syrian security forces have arrested some 60,000 people since the anti-government protests began in the country, a human rights activist told the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat.The report published Sunday quotes Yassin al-Haj Saleh, a political dissident who was himself imprisoned between 1980-1996, as saying that 11,000 people – most of whom were arrested at random – are still in jail as part of a "message of fear to the people"."If we gather up all the people who were arrested in Syria over the past four months, who were detained by one of the intelligence branches, their number will assumedly reach more than 60,000," Saleh said. Most were detained for just a few days, he said, and then released to make room for others detained at random. "The Syrian regime is using a 'revolving door' policy in order to arrest civilians. It is releasing dozens in order to arrest hundreds, and then releasing hundreds to make room for thousands," he told the paper. Saleh added that the prisons had become so severely overpopulated that the regime was "using warehouses belonging to loyalist businessmen as camps for thousands of detainees" and turning athletic facilities into detainment cells.Read the full story here.

• Afghan Guard kills 2 NATO Troops.(Fox).An Afghan guard opened fire and shot dead two NATO troops accompanying a reconstruction convoy traveling in a northern province on Saturday, the Afghan police said.The shooting took place in the Darah district of Panjshir province, about 62 miles (99 kilometers) north of the capital, Kabul, according to provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh.The police chief said the guard, who goes by the name Amanullah, was standing outside his home when the convoy passed by. He stopped the convoy, started arguing with the NATO troops and then opened fire, Jangalbagh said. A third coalition service member was wounded in the shooting.Jangalbagh said another NATO service member fired back and killed Amanullah.NATO said it was investigating the incident and did not confirm any casualties from the Panjshir shooting.NATO has earlier said that 283 service members died in Afghanistan this year and 12 this month.Shootings of NATO personnel by Afghan security forces have plagued the war effort for years.The causes of the shootings have ranged from suspected infiltration by insurgent sleeper agents to spontaneous arguments between Afghan security personnel and NATO troops that turned violent.According to Jangalbagh, the police chief, Amanullah worked as the bodyguard of the second-ranking official in Afghanistan's intelligence service -- Gen. Assam Din Assam, the deputy director for National Directorate for Security.Assam was not at the scene of the shooting.Hmmmm.......Afghanistan another 'succes story'.Read the full story here.

• 50 Turkish users of a discussion forum arrested for insulting the'Prophet'.(HurriyetDaily).Turkey’s Ekşi Sözlük (“Sour Dictionary”) has been one of the country’s favorite web repositories of frequently witty, occasionally irreverent user-generated knowledge for the past 12 years. But the country’s largest collaborative discussion platform and hypertext dictionary made headlines last week when 50 of its members were taken in by the police and charged with insulting religion.“The police found my IP address and I was suddenly taken in from my home. I was charged for my comments on religion,” said one of the writers who wanted to remain anonymous.A discussion topic last week on the prophet Muhammad caused some tension among the writers of the Ekşi Sözlük; according to reports, somebody filed a complaint to the police accusing some writers of insulting the Prophet.“Everyone on the site has a nickname and we all write anonymously. Therefore, I might have written casually but I didn’t write anything insulting,” said the anonymous source.The detention sparked varied reactions among the website’s writers and administrators. While some criticized the site “admins” for giving the police the users’ IP addresses, site officials said not doing so would have been against the law.“Some of the writers are furious and have accused us of giving the police their IP address,” Ekşi Sözlük’s founder and owner, Sedat Kapanoğlu, told the Hürriyet Daily News this week. “Yet, according to the laws, if we don’t give their IP addresses, it is a crime.”“Our writers write their opinions on the web site anonymously, but by taking them in, the police exposed their identity,” the website’s lawyer Başak Purut told the Daily News.This is not the first time that Ekşi Sözlük writers have been taken in by the police – Kapanoğlu said he has to testify at least four times a year. But, according to Yaman Akdeniz, a professor who specializes in Internet law, more stringent legal measures must take place before people are taken from their homes on such charges.“This could have been done through a notice from the police. The strange thing here is that the police come and take people from their homes as if they are guilty. There needs to be a court decision to take people in like that,” Akdeniz told the Daily News.But such a process is already commonplace, says lawyer Gökhan Ahi who runs Bilişim Hukuk, an online journal of Cyber Law.“Whenever there is a complaint, the prosecutors have to investigate it and then work with the police,” Ahi told the Daily News. “Yet we might question whether we need the same procedure for every case.”Akdeniz said the nature of the procedures created fear among the people.“We are talking about a crime realized by thought or writing, and this is a right of freedom,” Akdeniz said. “There are no guns here. Therefore, they should have been more cautious in interfering with people’s private lives. The current procedures only make people more scared.“It is like a witch hunt,” he added.Currently there are about 1 million banned websites in Turkey. Among the previously blocked and re-opened sites are YouTube, Google Groups, WordPress, and Dailymotion.“According to Turkish Law, if a person disrupts the public peace, then it constitutes a crime,” said Purut. “In the Ekşi Sözlük case, there was nothing like that.”Still, the case may affect the behavior of Ekşi Sözlük’s contributors. “Some people have quit writing for Ekşi Sözlük because they don’t want their names in the police files,” Kapanoğlu said. “We won’t apply any censorship but we will try and be more cautious for what may happen again.”Begun as a small community in 1999, Ekşi Sözlük (www.eksisozluk.com) has gained substantial popularity, hosting 34,000 registered and anonymous writers who aim to present their material wittily and creatively. The dictionary also prizes entertainment over accuracy.Topics covered in the dictionary range from sex to politics to specific people, from the mundane (why mosquitoes never get full) to the profound and personal (what it means to be a black Turk). The mix of user-generated content attracts 8 million hits a month.Hmmmmm......Welcome to Turkey .....Iranian style?Read the full story here.HT:IslamVersusEurope.

• Erdogan's "My way or the Highway"?'Israel-Turkey talks to resume in NY'.(Ynet).Turkish diplomat tells Hürriyet daily that despite failure to resolve differences, countries' representatives will hold another round of negotiations in late July.After failing to resolve their differences during three-day talks this week, Israel and Turkey will resume negotiations later this month in New York, Özdem Sanberk, the Turkish member of the UN panel investigating the Israeli raid on the aid ship Mavi Marmara, told the Hürriyet daily on Friday. Jerusalem and Ankara have been trying to solve the crisis in the past few months ahead of the publication of the UN report, but to no avail. The report's release has been postponed to July 27.The next round of talks between Israel and Turkey is also expected to be held in New York, although an exact timetable has yet to be set. Turkey is demanding that Israel apologize for the death of nine activists onboard the Marmara ship during the IDF raid, a demand Israel has refused to accept. But this isn't the only problem. Sources in Turkey say Ankara won't have the report authorize the blockade on the Gaza Strip and insists on the siege being defined as "illegal", as determined by the UN Human Rights Council.Israeli sources said the report would include the conclusion that Israel acted prematurely against the flotilla activists last year and used excessive power, but that its actions were legal and that the blockade on Gaza was legal. The report will also criticize Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan said on Friday it was "unthinkable" to normalize ties with Israel unless the Jewish state apologized for the killing of nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists aboard the Gaza-bound Turkish ship.Hmmmmm........There is nothing more 'revolting' than the naked truth.Read the full story here.

• Madame Rage - Marine Le Pen's Populism for the Masses.(Spiegel).French politician Marine Le Pen is attracting new voters to the National Front, the right-wing populist party founded by her father, by railing against immigration and globalization. With France's elections a year away, Le Pen is already polling ahead of President Nicolas Sarkozy.When Marine Le Pen walks into a room, she dominates it physically. She is slim, wears tight jeans and blazers and has dyed blonde hair, and yet she seems as if she were walking into a ring, tense and ready to lash out.The 42-year-old French politician has inherited her father's broad shoulders and wide face. She is unmistakably the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, but she is also very much her own person. She fascinates people because she both resembles and contrasts with the man who was the bête noire of French politics for decades.She also has her father to thank for a powerful voice that booms even when she is speaking normally. It sounds deep and hoarse. It is the voice of a woman who has been smoking for years, but most of all it is the voice of a fighter. There is aggression in her voice, and even a hint of vulgarity. Marine Le Pen bills herself as someone who comes from the bottom and is determined to stick it to those whom she calls "the caste" -- France's political elite.On a sunny afternoon in Metz, a city in the Lorraine region of eastern France, Le Pen is speaking in a tiny, jam-packed conference room at the Hotel Technopole, a shabby concrete box of a building in an industrial area. The venue seems at odds with the larger-than-life image Le Pen has acquired through countless cover stories and television appearances. But despite the surroundings, her words are full of raw energy, and it quickly becomes clear that she is an extremely talented politician.Using her notes instead of a prepared speech, she speaks in short, hard-hitting sentences. She talks about issues like the loss of buying power, and about people who have no more than €50 or €100 ($71.50 or $143) left over at the end of each month. She warns against refugees from Tunisia, and against immigrants in general. She demands social welfare systems for the French instead of for immigrants. And then she finally gets to her central issue: the fight against globalization, which Le Pen says is destroying France.She wants to leave the euro, reintroduce customs borders and nationalize banks. Her vision is the antithesis of a Europe that hardly anyone, even in France, believes in anymore. "What are the others, the conservatives and the socialists, proposing? Nothing! They are busy fighting the National Front!" She rants and she is audacious, unlike the well-trained spin doctors normally seen on television, and she appeals to many people."Elections are sexual affairs," the author Christine Angot wrote recently in the daily newspaper Libération. "Marine Le Pen appeals to 20 percent of us and fascinates 80 percent. A mannish woman, phallic, we like that. A woman who dominates her father and gets better results."Hmmmmm......And we know from French History what happens when a woman leads in France.Read the full story here.

• The German parliament has granted its approval for testing carbon capture and storage technology.(Spiegel).The German parliament has granted its approval for testing carbon capture and storage technology, which enables coal-fired power plants to liquify their pollutants and store them underground. Critics claim the potential dangers of the technology have been inadequately addressed.It may be akin to the Earth wrapping its lips around a tail pipe and inhaling deeply, but it also viewed as one of the most promising technologies for curbing emissions of climate-killing gases. On Thursday, the German parliament voted to approve testing of controversial carbon capture and storage technology in Germany, which allows power plants that emit environmentally unfriendly carbon dioxide into the air to instead liquefy the pollutant and pump it into underground cavities. The Bundestag voted 306-266 on the issue. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been heralded by many politicians and researchers as one of the most promising technologies available today for eliminating carbon dioxide emissions. Many see it as one of the best means available to buy time while also emitting less pollution into the environment until renewable energy sources become more affordable and feasible. The decision to test CCS in Germany is highly controversial, with many residents contesting the technology, which they believe is dangerous. Leaders of local citizens' initiatives who fear it will present a threat to humans, animals and the environment have been conducting a not-in-my-backyard campaign against the technology for several years now. Jens Koeppen, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats in parliament, complained of an environment of scaremongering and "German angst" against CCS. In Germany, more than 40 percent of electricity is derived from fossil fuels, and without CCS, Koeppen warned, the goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius would be unachievable. "There are few risks associated with this technology," he added. Matthias Miersche, a prominent member of the opposition center-left Social Democrats, however, warned that potential dangers posed by CCS, such as the risk that carbon dioxide could contaminate ground water, had not been adequately addressed.The legislation, which is the German implementation of a European Union regulation, still requires the approval the Bundesrat, Germany's second legislative chamber, which represents the interests of the states. Most of the testing is expected to take place in the eastern state of Brandenburg, where Swedish utility giant Vattenfall plans to construct a 250-megawatt demonstration power plant. The plant is expected to cost €1.5 billion, with €180 million of that price tag coming from the European Union subsidies. A few weeks ago, the company also began a pilot test of CCS at a plant in Ketzin. The German government plans to test CCS through 2017. Berlin is hoping the technology will not only help to reduce emissions, but will also prove to be an export hit.Hmmmmm.......Read the full story here.

• Iran 'fired two long-range missiles into the Indian Ocean'... right under the noses of the U.S.(DailyMail).A senior Revolutionary Guard commander has revealed Iran secretly conducted missile tests earlier this year as 'American spy planes' turned a blind eye.Speaking on state TV Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Guard's aerospace force, claimed Iranian rockets hit targets at the 'mouth of the Indian Ocean'.It was an apparent reference to areas near the Strait of Hormouz at the southern end of the Gulf.Hajizadeh said two missiles with ranges of 1,140m were fired from Semnan province in northern Iran during the Iranian month of Bahman, which runs from January 21 to February 19.He added: 'This took place with the Americans present in the area ... We allowed the American spy planes to be in the area but so far they have not said anything about it.'The commander gave no further details, but at maximum range the missiles could have reached deep into the Arabian Sea.Hajizadeh also threatened U.S. aircraft carriers saying the 'moving targets' would be fired at if Iran came under attack.In April, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard said Iran's arsenal is capable of striking 'remote regions outside the Persian Gulf'.Iran says its longest-range missiles, Shahab-3 and Sajjil-2, can travel up to 1,240m - putting Israel, U.S. bases in the Gulf region and parts Europe within reach.Meanwhile, Iran has tried to project its military might outside the Gulf, where the U.S. has several air bases and the home port of the Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain.Iran has said its missiles can reach Israel and U.S. military bases in the region.Hmmmmm..........Why is Obama giving Iran 'carte blanche'?Read the full story here.

• Slaughter of the lambs: Thugs use hunting rifles to wipe out farmer's entire flock.(Dailymail).A farmer’s flock of sheep has been wiped out after armed thugs gunned down a field full of lambs. Barbaric thieves used hunting rifles to kill Vernon Phipps' animals, before throwing 26 of the lambs' lifeless bodies into a van.The gang raided Mr Phipps’ field near Chipping Warden, in Northamptonshire overnight on 29 June, armed with hunting rifles.They blasted the terrified animals with execution-style shots to their necks after storming the isolated field.Following their brutal killing spree they piled up the bloody carcasses into a van, leaving ten sheep mutilated. One lamb was found dead in the field and another seven had to be put down due to their serious injuries.Only three sheep survived the bloody slaughter, just two lambs and a ewe who are currently being cared for by a vet.The motive for the killings is unknown although police believe the gang targeted the animals for their meat.It was Mr Phipps and his partner Jayne Kingdon who discovered the carnage after spotting just one dead sheep. The 53-year-old farmer, who has kept sheep for 20 years, went to investigate further and was met with horrific scenes.Lambs were hobbling around with gunshot wounds surrounded by bloody carcasses scattered across the field. Speaking of their ordeal, Ms Kingdon said: ‘As Vernon started driving across the field it was like a horror movie because there were injured lambs walking around with gunshot wounds.‘It is horrific and heart breaking because we brought these lambs into the world and we care so much about our sheep.’ Following the attack, a local gamekeeper inspected the gunshot wounds and claimed rustlers had used a rifle powerful enough to hunt deer.A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said there were no witnesses but are appealing for information.Officers are liaising with other forces to see if there have been any similar thefts in the surrounding areas.Hmmmmm.......Read the full story here,more here.

• And now for something completely different ! They call him The Moose': 16 lb 1oz = 7.32 Kg boy could be biggest ever born in Texas.(DailyMail).For the Brown family his arrival was big news...really big news.But the birth of JaMichael Brown, who weighed a whopping 16lbs 1oz - just over a stone - may also be big news for Texas.He's certainly the biggest baby to have been born in Longview hospital, but officials now believe he may be the largest in the state too.His father, Michael Brown, looked rather shell-shocked as revealed his son was now known around the hospital as 'The Moose.''(The Dr) told us he was going be about 12lbs, but when he pulled him out it was as different story,' Mr Brown said.His exhausted mother, Janet Johnson, had been booked in for a Caesarean section on Friday morning.She knew JaMichael was going to be a big baby, but had never imagined he would weigh four pounds more than doctors had predicted.He was also 24" long, his head measured 15" and chest 17" - those are measurements of the average three to six-month-old.'We’re just amazed,' Ms Johnson told the News-Journal. 'I can’t believe he’s that big. A lot of the baby clothes we bought for him will have to be returned. They’re already too small for him to wear.'Not-so-little JaMichael also came out with a full head of hair and the hospital did not have diapers big enough to fit him.Mr Brown said he had high hopes his son would become a footballer.Read the full story here.