MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan 4.6 ! More info here.

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

• Hurricane Katia : Latest Updates here.

• No clergy at Ground Zero Sunday? Yes, DrTerryDJones will be there and PRAY.PRESS RELEASE UPDATE: DR. TERRY JONES in New York City, Sept 10, 11.(StandupAmerica).Dr Terry Jones and Pastor Wayne Sapp will appear in Times Square, at the Red Steps at 47th Street and Broadway Saturday, September 10th at 4pm and at Ground Zero, Sunday, September 11th at 11am,  at Dey Street near Church Street by the Century 21 Building,(Point A on Maps) to respond to Mayor Bloomberg's exclusion from the official ceremony of First Responders, the real heroes of the 9/11 tragedy, and the clergy. This is an un-American outrage, and we invite First Responders and clergy to stand with us. WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED!We will be joined by the 911 Ground Zero Truck, owned by Mark Anthony Niemczyk.Read and see the full story here.

• Stocks edge lower after unemployment claims spike.(Breitbart).NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks edged lower in early trading Thursday after the government reported that claims for unemployment rose last week, a sign that layoffs are increasing. First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to 414,000. Economists had expected a slight fall to 405,000. The prior week's estimate of new claims was also revised higher. Thirty minutes after the market opened, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 42 points, or 0.41 percent, to 11,373. The Dow jumped 275 points Wednesday after a German court cleared the way for that country's participation in the bailout of Greece and other European countries. The Standard and Poor's 500 index was down 8, or 0.7 percent, to 1,190. The Nasdaq composite fell 12, or 0.5 percent, to 2,536. The Nasdaq had been up in the first few minutes of trading. Weekly applications for unemployment benefits are a closely-watched figure on Wall Street. Rising claims can add to concerns that the job market is stalled and the U.S. economy is headed for another recession. Applications need to fall below 375,000 to indicate sustainable job growth. Last week the government reported there was zero job growth in the U.S. economy in August. Not all of the economic news Thursday was negative. American exports of cars, airplanes and other goods reached an all-time high in July, the Commerce Department reported. Economists said the jump in exports suggest future growth in the U.S. economy. Investors are waiting for two-closely watched speeches Thursday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will give a speech in the afternoon detailing his outlook for the U.S. economy. President Barack Obama will appear before Congress tonight and lay out his jobs plan. Hmmmm.......Read the full story here.

• Israeli Airliners to Get Missile Protection Systems.(TIP).Concerns that terrorists may be planning to attack passenger airplanes are prompting Israeli officials to expedite a plan to arm their airplanes with a system to divert missile fire.It's an idea first debated after an attempted 2002 attack in which missiles were fired at a chartered Israeli airplane flying from Kenya. It has been held up, though, by budget issues.The system is similar to that already used on fighter planes, releasing flares to divert any missiles fired at a plane. It reportedly has been installed on some El Al aircraft already.There has been a spike in attempted terrorist attacks against Israel in recent months, and officials believe there may be plans to use shoulder-fired rockets to target commercial aviation.CNN reports that a cache of Grinch SA-24 shoulder-launched missiles have gone missing in Libya. "They can shoot down a plane flying as high as 11,000 feet and can travel 19,000 feet straight out," the report said.While other weapons smuggled out of Libya are believed to be heading to al-Qaida operatives, Israeli officials last week indicated some Libyan arms have been smuggled into Gaza.Read the full story here.

• Union Violence: Longshoremen Storm Port, Damage Railroad.(BigGovernment).Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested. Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that’s staffing a workforce of other union laborers.Thursday’s violence was first reported by Kelso radio station KLOG.Police from several agencies in southwest Washington, the Washington State Patrol and Burlington Northern Santa Fe responded to the violence to secure the scene that followed a demonstration Wednesday.“We’re not surprised,” Duscha said. “A lot of the protesters were telling us this in only the start.”One sergeant was threatened with baseball bats and retreated, Duscha said. “One officer with hundreds of Longshoremen? He used the better part of discretion.”This is why we take notice when union leaders, like Jimmy the Lesser, say they have an “army” and are going to “take people out.”Read the full story here.

• Republicans Remind Obama: Democrats Are Blocking House-Passed Jobs Bills.(CNSNews).Republican leaders are reminding President Obama that the House of Representatives has passed more than a dozen "pro-growth" measures to spur job creation, but with one exception, Senate Democrats have refused to consider any of those bills.In a letter to the president on Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) listed all the House-passed "jobs" bills that are now languishing in the Senate. They include a bill to reduce the regulatory burdens on farmers and small business owners; a bill to block a "job-destroying national energy tax," and a bill to boost offshore energy production. Boehner and Cantor also outlined "potential opportunities for Congress and the White House to work together" on job-creation.An infrastructure initiative is one of those areas: "We are not opposed to initiatives to repair and improve infrastructure," the Republican leaders said, but instead of new spending, they’re calling for spending “reforms,” as follows:

"Current law requires that states set-aside 10 percent of their surface transportation funds for transportation enhancements, which must be used for items such as establishment of transportation museums, education activities for pedestrians and bicyclists, acquisition of scenic easements, historic preservation, operation of historic transportation facilities, etc.," Boehner and Cantor noted."While many of the initiatives funded by this mandatory set-aside may be worthy projects, eliminating this required set-aside would allow states to devote more money to the types of infrastructure programs you are advocating without adding to the deficit. We believe such a reform would be consistent with your statement last week that we should 'reform the way transportation money is invested, to eliminate waste, to give states more control over the projects that are right for them.'"

Other areas of possible cooperation, according to Republican leaders, include a proposal to speed up the permitting process for construction projects; reforms to the unemployment system; and completing free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea."These reforms alone are not a substitute for a comprehensive pro-growth jobs agenda, such as the one House Republicans have put forth and continue to implement. But they are potential areas for common ground," Boehner and Cantor told the president.Because Democrats and Republicans “sincerely believe” that their own policies are the right way to get the economy growing, it’s unlikely that either side will completely give in to the other. But, Boehner and Cantor added, it is “critical” that both sides focus on areas of common agreement: “We should not approach this as an all or nothing situation,” they said.The Republican leaders said they would like to meet with President Obama before he gives his “jobs” address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday. Such a meeting – including leaders from both parties -- would give lawmakers “the opportunity to constructively discuss your proposals.”Boehner and Cantor said they are specifically interested in learning the cost estimates for 212 new regulatory actions planned by the Obama administration.Read the full story here.

• Gibson CEO to attend Obama's jobs speech, will be guest of Speaker Boehner.(TheHill).The guitar company has tried to tap into anti-government sentiment following a raid on its factories by federal agents.Henry Juszkiewicz, the CEO of Gibson Guitar, will attend President Obama's address to Congress on Thursday as a guest of Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced in a tweet that he will host the Gibson CEO in the Speaker's box.Federal agents raided Gibson factories in Tennessee last month as part an investigation into whether its wood was illegally imported from India. The company has sought to tap into anti-government sentiment as it tries to rally public support to its side.On Twitter, the company uses the hashtag "ThisWillNotStand" for posts about the investigation, and Juszkiewicz has appeared on several conservative radio shows to discuss what he describes as bullying by the federal government.“Gibson Guitar is at the heart of this jobs debate, and is an example of exactly why President Obama has it wrong when it comes to getting our economy back on track," Blackburn said in a statement. "Big government doesn’t create jobs, small businesses like Gibson Guitar do.”Read the full story here.

• 10 Years After 9/11, “Weaknesses, Gaps” In Homeland Security.(JW). As the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches the U.S. government still lacks a system to adequately protect the nation, despite investing hundreds of billions of dollars and huge amounts of manpower to fulfill the mission.  This may seem unbelievable to most Americans considering that a monstrous federal agency (the Department of Homeland Security—DHS) with more than 200,000 employees and a $50 billion annual budget was created after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Never the less, typical of government, the investment has not quite paid off for U.S. taxpayers.A new congressional audit released this week reveals that DHS must still address “weaknesses” and “gaps.” Over the years a number of probes, conducted by the same investigative arm of congress (Government Accountability Office—GAO) have reached similar conclusions. You’d think that DHS would have ironed out most of the kinks, considering the nation’s safety is at stake and all.Among this probe’s findings is that DHS still lacks an effective system to detect foreigners who overstay their visas like some of the 9/11 hijackers did or a reliable tool to detect explosives in luggage at airports. Despite investing huge sums of money, the agency has failed miserably to develop enhanced explosive detection technology that could help prevent another terrorist attack.DHS has also failed to ensue that air cargo screening is being properly conducted, the GAO found. This is nothing new and in fact has been documented in various audits over the years. As early as 2007, federal investigators found that only a small percentage of air cargo bound for the U.S. from foreign countries is inspected.Separate probes have exposed shameful lapses in security at many of the nation’s busiest airports. During covert exercises, guns and bombs regularly got past inept airport screeners from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Homeland Security agency created after 9/11 to secure mainly aviation. The agency also came under fire for approving background checks for a dozen illegal immigrants working in sensitive areas of a busy U.S. airport.These are all serious lapses that have occurred over the years and continue to take place. That’s why this latest tenth anniversary GAO report doesn’t bother making recommendations. In fact the GAO points out that it has made “about 1,500 recommendations to DHS” and the agency has “addressed about half of them.” Hmmmm.....It's not so much about security as it is about 'controll of the population'.Read the full story here.

• Solyndra Gate - Solyndra officials made numerous trips to the White House, logs show.(Dailycaller).Not only does the now-bankrupt solar energy firm Solyndra have a cozy financial relationship with the Obama administration, company representatives also made numerous visits to the White House to meet with administration officials, The Daily Caller has learned.According to White House visitor logs, between March 12, 2009, and April 14, 2011, Solyndra officials and investors made no fewer than 20 trips to the West Wing. In the week before the administration awarded Solyndra with the first-ever alternative energy loan guarantee on March 20, four separate visits were logged.George Kaiser, who has in the past been labeled a major Solyndra investor as well as a Obama donor, made three visits to the White House on March 12, 2009, and one on March 13. Kaiser has denied any direct involvement in the Solyndra deal and through a statement from his foundation said he “did not participate in any discussions with the U.S. government regarding the loan.”But the countless meetings at the White House seem hardly coincidental. Kaiser, in fact, is responsible for 16 of the 20 meetings that showed up on the White House logs.In the meetings on March 12, Kaiser met with former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Austan Goolsbee at 11 a.m., Senior Advisor Pete Rouse at 3 p.m., and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council Heather Higginbottom at 6:30 p.m. On the 13th, Kaiser met with Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Jason Furman at 9 a.m.Other Solyndra officials that made the trek over to the White House include Chairman and Founder Christian Gronet on September 22, 2009, at 9:30 a.m.; and Board Members Thomas Baruch and David Prend.Baruch went to the White House May 7, 2010, and September 20, 2010, at 8:40 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. Prend visited on September 21, 2010, at 9:15 p.m. The visitor logs also show that a number of members of the administration a loan guarantee for Solyndra pressing enough to take meetings. Former Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel and Adviser Valerie Jarrett even took meetings with Kaiser.As TheDC previously reported, Solyndra officials, including Kaiser himself, donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Barack Obama.Hmmmm......Thugocracy in it's natural habitat?Read the full story here.

• Up To 20K Advanced Surface-To-Air Missiles Looted In Libya,could turn US Airlines in to a “turkey shoot”.(CNN).A potent stash of Russian-made surface-to-air missiles is missing from a huge Tripoli weapons warehouse amid reports of weapons looting across war-torn Libya.They are Grinch SA-24 shoulder-launched missiles, also known as Igla-S missiles, the equivalent of U.S.-made Stinger missiles.A CNN team and Human Rights Watch found dozens of empty crates marked with packing lists and inventory numbers that identified the items as Igla-S surface-to-air missiles.The list for one box, for example, written in English and Russian, said it had contained two missiles, with inventory number “Missile 9M342,” and a power source, inventory number “Article 9B238.”Grinch SA-24s are designed to target front-line aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles and drones. They can shoot down a plane flying as high as 11,000 feet and can travel 19,000 feet straight out.Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch emergencies director, told CNN he has seen the same pattern in armories looted elsewhere in Libya, noting that “in every city we arrive, the first thing to disappear are the surface-to-air missiles.”He said such missiles can fetch many thousands of dollars on the black market.“We are talking about some 20,000 surface-to-air missiles in all of Libya, and I’ve seen cars packed with them.” he said. “They could turn all of North Africa into a no-fly zone.”Hmmmm.......Not to mention US Airlines in to a 'turkey shoot'.Read the full story here.

• Pelosi Peeved Republicans Opt Out of Rebuttal to Obama Speech.(FOX).Republicans have decided they're not going to give a rebuttal to President Obama's jobs speech later this week, a decision House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi took as a high affront to the White House. At least three GOP lawmakers also have announced they're not going to show up for the presidential address. House Speaker John Boehner's office then confirmed Tuesday evening that nobody from the party would deliver an official televised response. Pelosi said the party's "silence" would "speak volumes about their lack of commitment to creating jobs.""The Republicans' refusal to respond to the president's proposal on jobs is not only disrespectful to him, but to the American people," Pelosi said. But Boehner spokesman Mike Steel said Obama's proposals on Thursday "will rise or fall on their own merits," suggesting a GOP response was not needed. "Republicans are, and have been, entirely focused on job creation. Every member of Congress, and -- more importantly -- the American people, will provide a reaction to the president's address," Steel said. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that Republicans will have "ample opportunity to express their opinions about the package" and hopefully will provide positive reactions since he insisted without getting into specifics that the proposals have garnered bipartisan support in the past. "We are focused on the main event, not on the sideshows, there's an inordinate amount of attention here in Washington paid to the stuff that doesn't matter, the stuff that Americans don't care about, the stuff that when forced to listen to it drives them crazy," Carney told reporters.Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said there will be "plenty" of response to the president's speech on Friday, but told Fox News he suspects the reason there's no formal response is "the speaker doesn't expect to hear much to respond to." Some members of Congress, though, won't be there when Obama delivers his address to a Joint Session of Congress.Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has said he doesn't think he'll attend -- he told Fox News he's "sick and tired of speeches." Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill., also said he'd skip, writing on his Twitter page that he has no interest in being a "prop" for Obama's speech. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., will not attend either, opting instead to hold a Twitter town hall while the president speaks. Dana Perino, former press secretary for George W. Bush, said the lawmakers should attend the session because "you're an elected leader, and it's quite a privilege to be able to be there."Hmmmmm...Pres Obama increased the debt by nearly $4 trillion, he created how many jobs again?........My guess that's saying ENOUGH.Read the full story here.

• Report: Increased Energy Production Would Boost Jobs, Federal Revenue.(Heritage).Energy research firm Wood Mackenzie released a report on Wednesday that lends weight to arguments for greater energy exploration and production in the United States. The economic effects of such a policy, the report asserts, would be uniformly positive.The report summarizes its findings thusly:

Wood Mackenzie’s analysis found that U.S. policies which encourage the development of new and existing resources could, by 2030, increase domestic oil and natural gas production by over 10 million boed [barrels of oil equivalent per day], support an additional 1.4 million jobs, and raise over $800 billion of cumulative additional government revenue. Whereas increasing regulatory burdens on the oil and gas upstream sector will result in higher development, costs which can potentially hinder the growth of production tax revenues and job creation.Continuing the current path of policies which slow down the issuance of leases and drilling permits, increase the cost of hydraulic fracturing through duplicative water or air quality regulations, or delay the construction of oil sands export pipelines such as Keystone XL, will have a detrimental effect on production, jobs and government revenues.An energy policy that stresses increased exploration and production of existing resources, in other words, would not only address the immediate national security and energy cost issues, it would also help mitigate arguably the two largest challenges the country currently faces: persistently high unemployment, and a massive federal budget deficit.Continuing on the current path would exacerbate all of those problems, the report notes.

The report was released at a summit held by the American Petroleum Institute and The Hill newspaper. Speaking at the summit, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), chairman of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he would push for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, commonly known as the Super Committee, to incorporate proposals that advance energy policies that spur domestic production of oil and natural gas.Hastings estimated that one proposal to expand oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could generate between $150 and $300 billion in new federal revenues and create between 55,000 and 130,000 new jobs. Further, the increase in ANWR exploration could be done “safely, responsibly, [and] with minimal environmental impact” by utilizing only 500,000 of the 19 million square acres of land in ANWR.Hastings spoke out against what he characterized as an overly restrictive and economically damaging approach to energy policy undertaken by the current White House. The Heritage Foundation has extensively documented President Obama’s “war on Gulf drilling” and other punitive energy policies that have stunted production in some of the country’s most oil-rich regions. Heritage has also spoken with some of the businesses hardest hit by the administration’s energy policies.John Watson, president and CEO of Chevron, who also spoke at the summit, underscored the potential damage of those policies in his discussion of the company’s recent discovery of oil at the Moccasin prospect in the Gulf of Mexico. While significant, the oil rig that made the discovery received its drilling permit before the moratorium and subsequent permatorium on new Gulf drilling permits.The discovery is an apt demonstration both of the potential for greater oil production in the Gulf, and the losses in potential production that the administration’s approach to energy policy will yield.Hmmmm......If it were your intention to destroy the American Economy why would you approve this?Read the full story here

• NASA: 6.5-ton defunct satellite headed for Earth.(CBS).(Space.com)  Heads up! That's the word from NASA today given the impending re-entry of a 6.5-ton satellite through Earth's atmosphere.The huge Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in an uncontrolled fall in late September or early October. Much of the spacecraft is expected to burn up during re-entry, but some pieces are expected to make it intact to the ground, NASA officials said.The U.S. space agency will be taking measures to inform the public about the pieces of the spacecraft that are expected to survive re-entry."It is too early to say exactly when UARS will re-enter and what geographic area may be affected, but NASA is watching the satellite closely and will keep you informed," NASA said in a statement released Sept. 7. The satellite launched to Earth orbit in 1991 aboard NASA's space shuttle Discovery and was decommissioned on Dec. 14, 2005. It is 35 feet (10.7 meters) long and 15 feet (4.5 m) wide.One analysis of re-entry survivability for UARS components was performed several years ago with a software program called Object Re-entry Survival Analysis Tool, or ORSAT for short.That computer analysis showed that about 150 component types, including the parent body of the satellite, will demise during re-entry, and 12 types (26 counting multiple components) would endure the fiery fall to Earth.That appraisal indicated a surviving mass of 1,170 pounds (532 kilograms) falling within a debris footprint length of some 500 miles (800 kilometers)."The risk to public safety or property is extremely small, and safety is NASA's top priority," noted a NASA website dedicated to the re-entry. "Since the beginning of the Space Age in the late-1950s, there have been no confirmed reports of an injury resulting from re-entering space objects. Nor is there a record of significant property damage resulting from a satellite re-entry."Nonetheless, there is a chance that pieces of debris from the satellite will crash in areas accessible to the public.According to NASA, on UARS re-entry day, "if you find something you think may be a piece of UARS, do not touch it. Contact a local law enforcement official for assistance."NASA will host a press conference on Friday (Sept. 9) to discuss the anticipated re-entry.Hmmmm......Can't i call Wallmart?Read the full story here.

• An open Israeli letter to Turks.Counterpoint to: An open Turkish letter to Israelis.(AM).Contrary to you, Mustafa, I have had severe doubts about resolving the rift between our two countries. Not that I entirely discounted a tactical ‘apology’ from Israel, but like many analysts here (and even a few in your country) I doubted that it would have made much difference.Anyone who has been following the rhetoric and behavior of Recep Erdoğan towards Israel over the past several years (since well before the Gaza flotilla affair) can’t have seriously expected an apology to end the rising flames of hostility towards us that Erdoğan has been fanning. Quite the opposite; an apology, where none is justified, would have at best achieved nothing, and at worst made any possibility for future reconciliation even more remote.Here’s how your colleague, Ömer Taşpinar, from Turkey’s largest circulation Turkish daily, Zaman, recently put it.Read the full story here.

• Turkey’s NATO membership was a mistake.(FresnoZionisme).Israel’s enemies often characterize her as warlike, or a ‘bully’. In fact, Israel’s diplomacy is often excessively conciliatory — especially in the Middle East, where attempts at compromise and conciliation are often seen as weakness or surrender, and where the goal of Israel’s enemies is not to solve problems but to create them.However, the award for the most childish display of belligerence in the region has to go to Turkey. After the publication of the Palmer Report, in which the UN (for once) had the audacity to admit that Israel was actually justified in blockading Gaza and boarding the Mavi Marmara, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador, ended military and trade cooperation and announced that it would support Palestinian statehood in the UN.All very nice, but the icing on the cake was Turkey’s threat to escort future flotillas to Gaza:

“The eastern Mediterranean Sea is not a region unfamiliar to us,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday in his first public comments on measures that Turkey was taking over Israel’s failure to apologize for killing nine Turks on a Gaza-bound aid ship last year.Turkish forces stationed at naval bases in Aksaz and İskenderun are capable of patrolling regional waters and escorting civilian ships in the Mediterranean, Erdoğan told reporters.“Certainly, our ships will show up more frequently in these waters. We will see them [there] very frequently,” he said. “So far, Israel has always played the role of a spoiled boy in the face of U.N. resolutions concerning Israel, thinking that it would carry on with this role.”On Friday Ankara last said it would take action to ensure the safety of maritime navigation in the East Mediterranean as part of measures against Israel that included also the downgrading of diplomatic ties to the second-secretary level. — Hürriet Daily News (Turkey)Emanuele Ottolenghi has pointed out that Erdoğan ought to read some of the details of the legal case found in the report (which he demanded that the UN produce in the first place):

Because the Palmer Report has recognized an on-going state of war exists between Israel and Hamas; that Israel has a right to self-defense in this context; that the blockade is a legitimate instrument to meet Israel’s security requirements; and that therefore Israel’s blockade is legal; any attempt by Turkish ships to breach the blockade would be an act of aggression. Israel, provided it follows the rules of engagement (prior warning, ascertainment of the vessels’ intentions, non-violent means, proportionality etc.) laid out in the Palmer Report, is entitled to board, capture or otherwise use force to prevent Turkish ships from getting to Gaza.

This is more than childish — it’s extremely dangerous. Does Turkey really want war with Israel?

One of the requirements for a blockade in international law is that it be ‘effective’. You can’t make exceptions and still have a legal blockade. Israel simply can’t afford to have ships carrying tons of arms and ‘volunteers’ or who knows what landing in Gaza. So Israel will enforce the blockade, even if it means using force against a Turkish warship.

Turkey is a member of NATO. Article One of the NATO charter reads as follows:

The Parties undertake, as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.

Turkey’s warlike threats obviously contradict the NATO charter. Since the Islamist AKP’s ascendance to power in 2002, Erdoğan has pushed Turkey away from the West and closer to those dark forces which NATO, from its activation in 2001 as a result of the 9/11 attack on the US, has fought against.Turkey opposed sanctions on Iran, courted Hamas (which Erdoğan does not consider a terrorist group), and is presently trying to ensure that the replacement for Assad’s terror-supporting regime in Syria will be a Sunni Islamist terror-supporting regime that he controls.It’s clear that Turkey’s NATO membership and the amount of military hardware it has received as a result was a mistake.Hmmmm.......After more than a year saying the same thing, here we go again "Get Turkey out of Nato".Read the full story here.

• In Historic Post-9/11 Speech, Gen. Musharraf Defends Collaboration with U.S. Against Taliban, Saying He's Following Example Of Prophet Muhammad: When the Jews Saw Islam Becoming Stronger, They Conspired Against the Muslims; When Muhammad Saw This, He Signed 'Hudaybiyya' Agreement With Enemies in Mecca.(Memri)."It's not a question of bravery or cowardice. But bravery without thinking is stupidity. Allah has said that he who has hikmat [pragmatic wisdom] has a huge blessing. We have to save our interests. Pakistan comes first, everything else is secondary."Some ulema [Islamic scholars] are trying to react on pure emotions. I want to remind them of Islam's early history. The move [by the Prophet Muhammad] from Mecca to Medina (hijrat) – was this (God forbid) cowardice? This was wisdom to save Islam."Then when the Jews saw that Islam was getting stronger, they started to conspire against the Muslims. When the Prophet (PBUH) [i.e. peace be upon him] saw this happening, he signed a no-war pact [Hudaybiyya agreement] with his enemies in Mecca. I want to remind you of that pact. At the end of the pact, where his signature was required, the Meccans demanded that he cannot sign it as 'Prophet Mohammad.' The Prophet (PBUH) agreed."The Prophet explained later that it's best for Islam, and it's the right thing to do. And time proved him right. Six months later, there was a war with the Jews, and the Meccans did not support the Jews, and the Muslim forces won. And some time after that Mecca also fell to Islamic mujahideen."Hmmmm....."The 628 Hudaybiyya agreement, between the Prophet and the Meccan tribe of Quraish, was signed for a period of 10 years, which became, in Islamic tradition, the time limit for any agreement with non-Muslims. The Hudaybiyya agreement was broken after 18 months; Muhammad's army then conquered Mecca." So much for 'trust'.Read the full story here.