MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan 5.1 , Iran  5.0 , Philipines 5.1 ! More info here.

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

• Debunking 6 Myths About Anders Breivik.(DanielGreenfield).

1. Anders Behring Breivik was a Fundamentalist Christian.

2. Anders Behring Breivik Hated Muslims.

3. Anders Behring Breivik was Inspired by Counterjihad Bloggers.

4. Anders Behring Breivik was Pro-Israel.

5. Anders Behring Breivik was a Moderate.

6. Anders Behring Breivik was a Political Terrorist.

Breivik did have a plan, but it is detached enough from reality that it can hardly be called a serious political program. He did succeed in killing a large number of people, but so have many other lunatics. Nothing that Breivik did was the work of a sound mind.Comparisons have been made to the Unabomber, but the Columbine killers and numerous others also come to mind. Including Charles Manson. Breivik's program was just as grandiose as Manson's, and just as deluded. Both hoped that a serious of violent acts would touch off a larger war that would enable them to take over.Breivik is as much a political terrorist as Manson, and can no more be considered part of any larger cause, beyond the malformed chemicals in his own brain.Read the full story here.

• Atheists sue to stop Christian cross from being placed at the 9/11 World Trade Center memorial.(DailyMail).An atheist organisation has filed a lawsuit to prevent the World Trade Center cross from going on display at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City.American Atheists filed the lawsuit this week in the state court of New York and posted a copy on its website. Some of the defendants listed include the state of New Jersey, the city of New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Governor Chris Christie.The cross, which was found standing upright in the rubble of the World Trade Center, is comprised of steel girders that were closely welded together, resembling a Christian Roman Cross. This symbol became a source of comfort for some of the workers involved in the disaster clean-up.However, several atheist groups have strongly criticised the decision to display the cross at the museum, citing that no other religions or philosophies will be honoured in the same fashion.The cross, which was moved on Saturday to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, underwent a ceremonial blessing in a service led by Father Brian Jordan, a Franciscan monk who ministered to workers involved in the 9/11 clean-up. Joe Daniels, 9/11 Memorial president, said the cross is 'an important part of our commitment to bring back the authentic physical reminders that tell the history of 9/11 in a way nothing else could'.The 9/ll Memorial and Museum is due to open in September, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.A statement on the American Atheists website said: 'This was an attack against America, not Christianity, and Christianity does not deserve special placement just because the girders look like their religious symbol.'American Atheists also stated on their website that either they would pay for a memorial of equal size inside the museum, or the museum will not include the cross.'Equality is an all-or-nothing deal,' the statement said.Hmmmm........Read the full story here.

• A 'giant' on clay legs?New polls confirm Obama's Democratic base crumbles.(LATimes).With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said:"I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition."This is political treason 469 days before a presidential election. Yes, yes, this is just a crusty old New England independent for now, albeit one who caucuses loyally with Harry Reid's Democratic posse.Using political forensics, notice any clues, perhaps telltale code words that reveal to whom he was really addressing his Monday message? Clearly, it wasn't congressional Republicans -- or Democrats, for that matter.The nation's top talker uttered 4,526 words in those remarks. He said "balanced approach" seven times, three times in a single paragraph.That's the giveaway. Obviously, David Plouffe and the incumbent's strategists have been polling phrases for use in this ongoing debt duel, which is more about 2012 now than 2011. "Balanced approach" is no sweet talk for old Bernie or tea sippers on the other side.Obama is running for the center already, aiming for the independents who played such a crucial role in his victorious coalition in 2008. They were the first to start abandoning the good ship Obama back in 2009 when all the ex-state senator could do was talk about healthcare, when jobs and the economy were the peoples' priority.Democrats lost the New Jersey and Virginia governor's offices largely as a result of that and Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts. And then came last November's midterms when voters chose the approach of that historic pack of House-bound Republicans.Republicans have their own poll problems in some areas. But even without an identified GOP presidential alternative, we've had a plethora of recent polls showing Obama's fading job approval, especially on the economy.Now, comes a new ABC News/Washington Post poll with a whole harvest of revelations, among them, strong indications that Obama's liberal base is starting to crumble.Read the full story here.

• Leftist 'fifth column' groups plan noon Hill protest.(WashingtonExaminer).A coaltion of leftist groups, including the Campaign for America’s Future, MoveOn.Org (which claims as “fact” that “the GOP will hurt America just to undermine Obama”), Rebuild the Dream, and the AFL-CIO are urging their members to attend a noon protest on Capitol Hill for a “Don’t Destroy the American Dream” rally. The groups will be protesting what they characterize as “a disastrous debt deal” that calls for deep spending cuts to offset an increase in the national debt.The deal hammered out over the weekend by Republicans and Democrats was rejected by President Obama as the clock keeps ticking toward the August 2 deadline.Protestors plan to show up at various House offices to demand an “immediate” extension of the debt ceiling “with no conditions” in an attempt to stiffen the resolve of any wavering members.Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, blamed Republicans for “driving us closer to economic catastrophe.”None of the groups oppose adding to the $14.3 trillion national debt, which is mostly held by foreign investors even though the sea of red ink threatens the viability of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – the same entitlement programs they claim to champion.The very real fact is that the mountain of debt already racked up by the federal government threatens to destroy any semblance of the American Dream.Hmmmm......The Obama 'brownshirts' move in?Read the full story here.

• Speaker Boehner’s remarks, as prepared for delivery.(Politico).Before I served in Congress, I ran a small business in Ohio. I was amazed at how different Washington DC operated than every business in America. Where most American business make the hard choices to pay their bills and live within their means, in Washington more spending and more debt is business as usual.I’ve got news for Washington – those days are over.President Obama came to Congress in January and requested business as usual — yet another routine increase in the national debt limit — we in the House said ‘not so fast.’ Here was the president, asking for the largest debt increase in American history, on the heels of the largest spending binge in American history.Here’s what we got for that spending binge: a massive health care bill that most Americans never asked for. A ‘stimulus’ bill that was more effective in producing material for late-night comedians than it was in producing jobs. And a national debt that has gotten so out of hand it has sparked a crisis without precedent in my lifetime or yours.The United States cannot default on its debt obligations. The jobs and savings of too many Americans are at stake. What we told the president in January was this: the American people will not accept an increase in the debt limit without significant spending cuts and reforms. And over the last six months, we’ve done our best to convince the president to partner with us to do something dramatic to change the fiscal trajectory of our country…something that will boost confidence in our economy, renew a measure of faith in our government, and help small businesses get back on track.The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen. You see, there is no stalemate in Congress. The House has passed a bill to raise the debt limit with bipartisan support. And this week, while the Senate is struggling to pass a bill filled with phony accounting and Washington gimmicks, we will pass another bill – one that was developed with the support of the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Senate.Obviously, I expect that bill can and will pass the Senate, and be sent to the President for his signature. If the President signs it, the ‘crisis’ atmosphere he has created will simply disappear. The debt limit will be raised. Spending will be cut by more than one trillion dollars, and a serious, bipartisan committee of the Congress will begin the hard but necessary work of dealing with the tough challenges our nation faces.This debate isn’t about President Obama and House Republicans … it isn’t about Congress and the White House … it’s about what’s standing between the American people and the future we seek for ourselves and our families. You know, I’ve always believed, the bigger government, the smaller the people. And right now, we have a government so big and so expensive it’s sapping the drive of our people and keeping our economy from running at full capacity.The solution to this crisis is not complicated: if you’re spending more money than you’re taking in, you need to spend less of it.There is no symptom of big government more menacing than our debt. Break its grip, and we begin to liberate our economy and our future. We are up to the task, and I hope President Obama will join us in this work. God bless you and your families, and God bless America.Read the full statement here.

• Congress Reminds Obama He's President, Not King.(Investors).Between 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday, the nation began a constitutional course-correction. The current occupant's vanity and naivete — a dangerous amalgam — are causing the modern presidency to buckle beneath the weight of its pretenses. And Congress is reasserting its responsibilities.At his Friday news conference-cum-tantrum, Barack Obama imperiously summoned congressional leaders to his presence: "I've told" them "I want them here at 11 a.m."By Saturday, his administration seemed to be cultivating chaos by suddenly postulating a new deadline: The debt-ceiling impasse must end before Asian markets opened Sunday evening Eastern time, lest the heavens fall.Those markets opened; the heavens held. The faux deadline, reportedly invoked at a Saturday White House meeting by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who should resign, inevitably seeped into the media and invited overseas panic, thereby risking the nation's currency, for brief tactical advantage.Amid these tawdry episodes, House Speaker John Boehner signaled constitutional sanity regained: "Congress will forge a responsible path forward." Congress. Obama has marginalized himself.Inordinate self-regard is an occupational hazard of politics and part of the job description of the rhetorical presidency, this incessant tutor. Still, upon what meat doth this our current Caesar feed that he has grown so great that he presumes to command leaders of a coequal branch of government?He once boasted (June 3, 2008) that he could influence the oceans' rise; he must be disabused of comparable delusions about controlling Congress. When he was a lecturer on constitutional law, he evidently skipped the separation of powers doctrine.But, then, because this doctrine impedes the progressives' goal of unleashing untrammeled government, they have long loathed it: Woodrow Wilson, the first president to criticize the American founding, considered the separation of powers the Constitution's "radical defect."It has, however, rescued the nation from Obama's preference for a "clean" debt-ceiling increase that would ignore the onrushing debt tsunami. There are 87 reasons for Obama's temporary conversion of convenience to the cause of spending restraint — the 87 House Republican freshmen.Read the full story here.

• Obama and NATO Turn Libya, and a $30B Check, Over to Jihadists.(Aina).By Tara Servatius.How would Americans feel if they knew the Obama administration just agreed to hand people affiliated with a designated terrorist group a $30 billion dollar check and recognize them as the legitimate rulers of Libya?Things weren't looking so good for the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group back in 2004 when they were designated a foreign terrorist group by the State Department. In chilling testimony, then-CIA Director George Tenet warned the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 that even if Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda was completely destroyed, "a global network of Islamic extremists bent on killing Americans had emerged." Tenet listed the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) as one of those groups.In 2007, the LIFG formally joined al-Qaeda, an event so well documented that even Reuters covered it. Its goals, which it is now close to achieving thanks to airpower help from President Obama and NATO, include killing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, setting up an Islamic caliphate in Libya and waging international jihad.The known leaders of the Libyan rebel forces on the ground are all former LIFG fighters, some with documented personal connections to al-Qaeda. The Transitional National Council, which the Obama administration recognized last week as the official government of Libya, is packed with pro-LIFG activists, lawyers who have advocated for imprisoned LIFG fighters, and Islamic scholars from LIFG strongholds.Something smells strongly of jihad here.Oddly though, one of the first things the U.S.-led coalition did when it invaded Libya in March was to help the rebels capture the oil fields. If Libya's radical Islamists can get their hands on that oil revenue, they will control oil fields capable of generating $34 billion worth of black gold a year. You can sure fund a lot of jihad with that.Earlier this year, a debate broke out over whether there were al-Qaeda fighters in the rebel ranks. The answer the Washington establishment settled on was that there were "flickers" here and there.But everyone was asking the wrong question.A better question would have been about the extent to which LIFG fighters were leading the ground battle.It is well-documented that a handful of former Gaddafi military leaders oversaw the rebellion in Libya. But the actual training of troops and fighting on the ground was largely led by LIFG veteran fighters fresh from battling U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Among them were LIFG veteran fighters such as Abdul-Hakim al-Hasadi, who has admitted to fighting allied forces in Afghanistan and was turned over to Libya by the U.S. after his capture in 2002.His field commander on the front lines, Salah al-Barrani, is also a well-known LIFG fighter. Before serving as a Libyan rebel commander, former Guantanamo inmate Sufyan Ben Qumu, who was transferred to Libya in 2007, was named to the military committee of the LIFG in between stints training with al-Qaeda and fighting alongside the Taliban.Fewer than half of the 33 members of the Transitional National Council (TNC), which the LIFG-led rebels now say they answer to, are even publicly known. The rest have gone unnamed, supposedly to protect their families. Several of those who are known have ties to or were supporters of the LIFG, did legal work for LFG fighters or advocated on their behalf when they were repressed by Gaddafi.A graduate student at the Monterey Institute of International Studies who did an extensive technical analysis of the new Libyan leadership warned that the radical Islamists are now one of three groups vying for power among the Obama-recognized Libyan leadership, and that TNC members already sympathetic to them might ally themselves with the radical jihadists to grow their power.At stake? Again, $30 billion in Gaddafi-frozen assets that the U.S. promised to turn over to the TNC, and Libya's oil.Senior militants in online chat rooms monitored by the West seem to know the score, and are urging a patient, long-term approach rather than a quick revolution, The Australian reports: "One forum leader warns that declaring an Islamic emirate in Libya would prompt a Western invasion, and stresses instead that they should build up their military forces, 'educate the people' on the need for an Islamic state, 'and then declare the emirate, with weapons, economy and a people ready to fight for Allah.'"That should be no problem with the billions provided by Obama and NATO to fund it all.Hmmmm.........."I will stand with my Muslim Brothers"?Read the full story here.

• Saudi female students storm Mecca’s Umm Al Qura university campus.(AlArabiya).Hundreds of Saudi female students stormed the campus of Umm Al Qura University in Mecca last Saturday to protest what they charged was the lack of fairness in the admissions process. Their protests were shown widely on a video they posted on YouTube after the incident. In a bid to calm the situation, university vice president Badr Bin Ahmad Habib Allah said the students would be admitted to College of Community Service ‎and Continuing Education without charging them the required tuition fees, which will be paid by the government.Mr. Habib Allah added that the registration had started on Sunday.The women had accused the university of having admitted students who did not met the admission requirements. They claimed the existence of favoritism and reservation of academic places for relatives and friends.Suhaila Zainal Abidin, of the National Society for Human Rights, told AlArabiya.net that favoritism was rampant in Saudi universities without exception, which has prompted the students to storm the university building, a move Ms. Zainal Abidin opposed. “They (female students) have a right and they did not need to do this because such actions could weaken their position. They could have used official channels to gain their rights instead of the violence.”She demanded the intervention of the national anti-corruption agency to put an end to all practices of favoritism and unlawful practices in the admissions process.Read the full story here.

• Belarusian dictatorship and Red Chinese paratroopers conduct 10-day exercise in former Soviet republic.(Onceuponatimeinthewest).Since the beginning of the year, the former Soviet republic of Belarus has been in a considerable state of political and economic turmoil related in part to its large trade deficit and the devaluation of the Belarusian ruble. “Ex”-communist dictator Alexander Lukashenko (The man who once threatened to use Nuclear arms against the West)desperately requires outside cash infusions and cheap natural gas from Russia, Belarus’ only reliable ally, to prop up his country’s ailing Soviet-style command economy.In order to deflect domestic anger away from his mismanagement of the country and the fraudulent results of last year’s presidential election, which handed a fourth term to Lukashenko, Comrade Alex has unleashed the Belarusian KGB in a string of vicious crackdowns on the opposition.In the wake of the Arab Spring, which has toppled dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt and threatens to overthrow those in Libya and Yemen, democrats in Europe are once again urging Belarusians to rise up and overthrow Lukashenko. In the midst of this unrest, Comrade Alex has invited Red China to participate in joint “anti-terrorism” drills with the Belarusian armed forces. Belarus shares a border with Poland, a former Warsaw Pact state that is now part of NATO.On July 5, an 83-strong special task force of paratroopers of the People’s Liberation Army arrived in Baranovichi, where they held a 10-day exercise with Belarusian counterparts, overcoming “challenges of language, geography and climate to accomplish the planned task with close cooperation and coordination.” On or around July 15, the PLA airborne troops flew back to Urumqi, capital city of Red China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.“It was not only the first drills conducted jointly by soldiers from the Chinese and Belorussian armed forces, but also the first occasion for Chinese paratroopers to leave the country for joint training with foreign soldiers,” reports Red China’s state media, adding:The two armed forces trained together in counterterrorism, and the two-phased drills included training in mixed units and comprehensive exercises . . . The first phase of the drills included an obstacle course, hand-to-hand combat, parachuting, combat firing and anti-terrorism tactics. During the second phase, paratroopers encircled and eliminated “terrorists” by combining parachuting and tactical air landing operations.According to Red China’s defense ministry, “the joint-training exercise serves to consolidate the traditional friendship between China and Belarus and enrich cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries . . .” The PLA contingent in Belarus was relatively small, but raises the spectre of future military drills involving Red Chinese troops in Europe.Hmmmm.....The same guys who held drills with Turkey?Read the full story here.

• Hamas hangs two 'Israeli collaborators' in Gaza.(HurriyetDaily).Gaza's Hamas rulers on Tuesday hanged two Palestinians who were convicted of collaborating with Israel, an interior ministry statement said.It was the second time this year that the Islamist movement had carried out an execution of someone accused of 'collaborating' with the Israelis."The sentence was carried out after all appeals were exhausted," it said. "The execution came after the government approved the decision to implement the penalty imposed on agents who collaborate with the Israeli occupation."The Hamas-run interior ministry identified the two men only as M.A.Q. and R.A.Q, and a security source, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the pair were brothers."The Gaza Court of First Instance sentenced the defendants on November 29, 2004 to death by hanging and the Court of Cassation rejected their appeal and upheld the sentence on July 14, 2011," the ministry said.The statement said the charges against them included murder, attempted murder and "communicating with hostile foreign security elements to the detriment of national interests" and "weakening morale and the strength of the resistance."In May, a man referred to as A.S. was executed by firing squad after being convicted of collaboration a month earlier.Under Palestinian law, collaboration with Israel, murder, and drug trafficking are all punishable by death.By law, all execution orders must be approved by the Palestinian president before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognizes the legitimacy of Mahmud Abbas, whose four-year term ended in 2009.In recent months, Hamas has arrested several alleged collaborators, and warned it would prosecute any "traitor" working for the Jewish state.Hmmmmm........Obama's 'peacepartners'.Read the full story here.

• Khamenei Establishes Council to Arbitrate Between Majlis and Ahmadinejad.(Memri).Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has appointed Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi – former head of the judiciary branch – to head a new council that will engage in "supreme arbitration and coordination between the three branches of government" and will answer to Khamenei.The council includes conservative clerics loyal to Khamenei, including: Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi; Expediency Council member Morteza Nabavi; and Guardian Council Spokesman Ali Kadkhodaei.It seems that Khamenei appointed the council in order to put an end to the conflict between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Majlis. It should be mentioned that the Expediency Council, headed by Hashemi Rafsanjani (Ahmadinejad's rival), serves as a supreme arbitration body. However, it seems that Khamenei sought an arbitrator who is not associated with either of the rivals, and as part of his plan to supplant Rafsanjani, who was once associated with the Green Movement.Read the full story here.

• UNHRC: "Womens' rights problems? Not so loud, please!".(EuropeNews).In this speech in the UN Human Rights Council, David G. Littman points out discrimination against women directly and documentably sanctioned by Islamic law. President Phuangketkeow responds by requesting more 'sensitivity' in matters where religion is involved, womens' rights has distinctly lower priority than showing 'understanding' for religion.In his follow-up speech on June 10th, Littman reminds the assembly that such demands constitute an undermining of the universality of human rights, that The idea of "Cultural relativism" is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights, and demonstrates his precise and well-documented understanding of Islamic doctrine by quoting current Islamic scholars endorsing the practice of trading sex slaves in the free market.

In 2008, in her 60th anniversary UDHR lecture, Noble Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi declared: “The idea of cultural relativism is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights.” [She condemned the fact that in Iran a girl is considered an adult and liable to punishment, even execution, at 9 and a boy at 15.]Only last week, a popular Egyptian preacher, Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini, confirmed on Egyptian TV [Hikma] what he had said 18 years ago that: Jihad still justifies plundering, enslaving and raping the infidels – for which he provided quotations from sacred texts in justification. He even boasted that Islam allows Muslims to buy and sell conquered infidel women, adding: "When I want a sex-slave, I go to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her." (3).And last weekend, a political activist and former parliamentary candidate for Kuwait's government, Salwa al-Mutairi, expressed her religious opinion to "revive the institution of sex-slavery.”(4) It is 3 years since a 1½ hour landmark event [also known as the ‘Sharia-gate Shipwreck’] occurred at the Council in reaction to our joint statement on ‘violence against women’ [item 8]. (5) We had begun by once again condemning FGM [– the barbaric female genital mutilation of @ 3 million young girls every year in 32 countries, 29 of which are members of the OIC; the stoning of women; honour killing and the marriage-sale of 9 year-old-girls – all carried out in the name either of ‘traditional practices’ or ‘cultural relativism’, but with irrefutable religious connections.]And we remain convinced that such crimes, carried out ‘traditionally’, but also with official religious sanction (6), should not be treated as taboo subjects at the Council. The growing phenomenon of ‘cultural relativism’ should not be supported by self-censorship at the UN, [especially not under the guise of ‘complementary standards’ or ‘sensitivity and understanding’.] It is surely time for more States, especially OIC countries, and NGOs to condemn here all such barbaric practices against women – for whatever reason. We appeal to both the Council and the High Commissioner to reconsider this matter seriously and put an end to the silence. In the words of Shakespeare’s Othello: Silence that dreadful bell [Act ii, scene 3]Thank you, Mr President.Read and see the full story here.

• Human Rights Watch lauds law banning female genital mutilation in Iraqi Kurdistan.(AlArabiya).Human Rights Watch on Tuesday welcomed a draft law banning female genital mutilation by the regional government in Iraqi Kurdistan.The Family Violence Bill approved June 21 by the autonomous government includes several provisions criminalizing the practice in Kurdistan, HRW, said, adding that prevalence of FGM among girls and women in Kurdistan “is at least 40 percent.”“By passing this law, the Kurdistan regional government has shown its resolve to end female genital mutilation and to protect the rights of women and girls,” said Nadya Khalife, Middle East women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.“But the government needs a long-term strategy to deal with this harmful practice because criminalizing it is not enough,” she said in a statement.The bill has to be ratified by the regional president, Massud Barzani.The draft law criminalizes FGM, penalizing medical professionals and midwives who “instigate, assist, or carry out” the procedure. Criminal penalties include prison terms ranging from six months to three years, in addition to fines of up to $8,500.Shortly after HRW issued a June 2010 report about FGM, the Kurdistan Health Ministry surveyed 5,000 women and girls and found that 41 percent had undergone the procedure, and that the practice is more prevalent in some regions than others in Kurdistan, the statement said.It quoted a 2010 finding by the Association for Crisis Assistance and Development Co-operation, a German-Iraqi human rights non-governmental organization, that out of the 1,408 girls and women aged 14 and over interviewed, 72.7 percent had undergone FGM.For the 12 to 24 age group, the prevalence was slightly over 40 percent, the report found.Read the full story here.