MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan 4.7 and 4.8 in Chili and Guam  ! More info here.

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

• Breaking - Blast rocks nuclear plant in France.(RT).At least one person has been killed and three more wounded in an explosion which rocked on Monday a nuclear power plant in Marcoule, southern France.According to emergency services, there is a risk of a radioactive leak after the blast. Meanwhile French nuclear authorities say there is no leak “at this time”.All of the plant's reactors have been shut down following the incident. There is no clear information immediately available as to how much risk the incident poses.The site is involved in the decommissioning of nuclear facilities, and operates a pressurized water reactor used to produce tritium.Sources say the blast happened in one of the workshops where nuclear waste is disposed of.Le Figaro newspaper reports that there was also a fire in the storage site where explosion set off.Read full story here.

• The Secret Blue State Plan To Steal The 2012 Elections.(JosuahPundit).The deep Blue states above all have something in common. They're all ruled by solid Democrat majorities in their State Legislatures and they've all passed legislation designed to favor Democrat urban strongholds, disenfranchise less populated Red States and have a decisive effect on the 2012 election.And very few people know about it.The legislation is known as The National Popular Vote bill, and there's an ongoing attempt to get it passed in as many states as possible. It's mainly being championed by Democrats, with a sprinkling of Republicans to give it the aura of 'bi-partisanship'.The states above control 138 electoral votes. Because they've all signed on to The National Popular Vote Act, those electoral votes will automatically go to the candidate who gets the most popular votes nationally - regardless of how the citizens of these states actually vote.For instance, let's say that in 2012 the largely Republican voters in downstate Illinois and some of the suburbs manage to outvote the Democrats, corpses, illegal aliens and vagrants put together by the ward bosses and the machine in Chicago and Cook County. Because the Democrats in the Illinois Legislature have managed to push the National Popular Vote Act through, Illinois' 20 electoral votes would go not necessarily to the Republican candidate the majority of voters in the state chose but to whichever candidate got the majority of votes nationally. If Barack Obama were to win the popular vote nationally by even as little as 100 votes, Illinois' 20 electoral votes will automatically go him.This scenario is also known as Al Gore's wet dream.

None of these states held a referendum on this. It was all done by legislative fiat.It's also interesting to look at some of the people behind this.The Chairman, Dr. John Kozas of Los Altos California is a wealthy lefty who made his money from co-inventing the scratch-off lottery ticket and then lobbying state governments to sell them. Among many other far Left and socialist groups and candidates he's supported as a donor and/or bundled for is Howard Dean's Democracy For America ( DFA) political organization, Berkeley nut case Rep. Barbara Lee, Senator Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Keith Ellison, The Democratic Farmer/Labor Party, the DNC, Senator Boxer's PAC for a Change, and of course, Barack Obama. The list is a long one.Tom Golisano is a prominent business man with deep pockets who was the co-counder of the Independence Party of New York, a party split between Perotistas and a strong Marxist element. He was also a Kerry donor. Forbes estimates his personal wealth at $1.2 billion.Barry Fadem, the president, is a long-time Democrat operative in California, who worked for Governor Jerry Brown and Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally arguably one of the most incompetent and perhaps racist public officials in state history. He's another Boxer donor, as well as to ActBlue, an organization that seeks to organize boycotts to penalize businesses thought to be too 'Republican'.Jason Roe was a Republican operative in the northeast with all that implies until he got a little too close to Jack Abramoff.National Popular Vote Secretary Chris Pearson is another long time far Left Democrat operative who worked with admitted socialist Bernie Sanders and the Progressive Party.Larry Sokol is a longtime Democrat legislative staffer and lobbyist in California. His connections were instrumental in shepherding the Nation Popular Vote Bill through the California Legislature.Former Minnesota GOP Representative Laura Brod is something of the odd person out here.While the cast of the group is overwhelmingly Left- leaning, Brod says there is a conservative argument for NPV.She claims that this is a state's rights prerogative according to Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, that the current system means that national candidates spend their time and resources and craft policy based on the needs of battleground states while ignoring states with little electoral clout and states they feel they have no chance of carrying. Brod's argument is that NPV will make every vote count and force National candidates to campaign in every state. These arguments all have some validity. Democrat nominees usually give Utah and Texas a pass and Republicans do the same to Connecticut and Massachusetts.Where she's mistaken, in my opinion is the ultimate outcome. Widespread adoption of the NPV would simply give the Democrats an opportunity and the incentive to build up huge vote tallies in the corrupt urban strongholds they control by means fair or foul in an attempt to simply overwhelm voters in smaller Red states.Voting illegal aliens, dead people, 'activists' being carted from state to state taking advantage of same day registration and felons in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York City and similar areas wouldn't just affect those states anymore...it would infect the voting process throughout the country and ultimately make the Electoral college irrelevant.This is a Trojan Horse. And that's exactly why this group is mainly led by Left wing Democrats and why legislatures dominated by Democrats in Blue states are in love with it.Make no mistake about it. This is a well-funded, highly organized group and could have a major impact in 2012. And hardly anyone knows about it.Hmmmm....Democracy or Dictatorship?Read the full story here.

• Crowd Cheers Bush at Ground Zero… Silence For Obama Video.(BarracudaBrigade).During the ceremonies today at Ground Zero on the 10 year anniversary of the attacks, the crowd was noticeably silent when Obama walked to the microphone. But the reaction was entirely different for Bush.Read and see the full story here.

• How Harvard Remembered 9/11.Hint: their Middle East program is funded by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.(PajamasMedia).While most of the nation was commemorating the fallen of 9/11 with sadness and resolve to understand the ongoing threat of Islamic extremism, arguably the nation’s foremost institution of higher learning approached the tenth anniversary from a very different perspective.At Harvard, the theme was — you guessed it — “Islamophobia.” From Harvard’s introductory declaration for its “campus-wide panel”:Today marks the anniversary of the horrific attacks of September 11th, 2001. As Americans reflect and mourn the loss of nearly 3000 people, Muslim Americans not only share their grief, but also express their own challenges amidst stereotyping, discrimination, racial profiling and hate crimes.Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the event’s producer, declined to invite a single representative from any victims’ groups. There were no speakers from the September 11th Families Association, 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America, Uniformed Firefighters of Greater New York, or Tuesday’s Children (a support group for those who lost relatives on that day).Thanks in great measure to Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Islamic Studies Program, there were — in abundance — plenty of academics obviously recruited to remind students of their take on the real tragedy surrounding 9/11: the racism, bigotry, and, of course, Islamophobia inherent in American society.It was the deep-pocketed prince whose $10 million “donation” to the Twin Towers Fund was summarily refused by then Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Having been rebuffed, the prince quickly dropped $20 million into the laps of Harvard and Georgetown shortly thereafter — no refusals there.And what a bounty those riyals have yielded. The prince knew precisely where to monetize Saudi influence at the two most prestigious academic factories supplying the State Department. At Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the prince’s suggestion that the United States “re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestinians” has produced results. For a decade, Harvard has presented a wildly skewed lineup of jihadist apologists and anti-Israel academics, from discredited charlatans like Ilan Pappe to spokesmen like Mustafa Abu Sway — who likes to remind us that “terror is the weapon of the weak.”The session’s components were designed not to commemorate the dead and to discover the role played by al-Qaeda and its jihadist antecedents, but to examine the ingrained bigotry of non-Muslim white Americans. The CMES sought to reduce the murders to a PC lesson plan for high school teachers:What role do you think Muslim artists and authors might play in dispelling stereotypes about Islam?In keeping with banishing the victims to the shadows, educational gobbledygook reigned supreme, again highlighting the nastiness of America and its fundamental bias against Muslims:How do the notions of uniforms and the flags inform our idea of identity? Of “other?”Is there/who is the implied “other” in both of these images?Other PowerPoint slides revealed a distinct absence of attention to human suffering, focusing more on the mechanics of destruction:The Facade Falls: The latticework facing of the south tower came tumbling to earth upon impact of the hijacked plane.Were the authors cleverly trying to insinuate their views of America’s “facade” of tolerance?Overseeing the apologist gala was Professor Jocelyne Cesari, the French Algerian-born political scientist, recently of — where else? — Columbia University, and director of Harvard’s “Islam in the West” and “Islamopedia” programs. Among other brilliant observations, Professor Cesari has dubbed the misogynistic, Jew-hating, homophobic (to the point of extermination) Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi “not a radical.”Other faculty advisers included Duncan Kennedy, Carter professor of General Jurisprudence at Harvard Law School, whose attention for many years has been focused less on general jurisprudence and more on the delegitimization of Israel. Following Operation Cast Lead in 2008, Kennedy convened a discussion/tribunal declaring Israel guilty of violating basic tenets of international humanitarian law. They barely mentioned Hamas.The historical reality of the theory and practice of jihad was not a welcome concept at this event. The word was virtually unutterable. In a brief glossary, however — apparently provided by another happy recipient of Prince bin Talal’s largesse, John Esposito of Georgetown’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding — jihad is described this way:Jihad may refer to a defensive military action undertaken to protect a Muslim community from an armed aggressor, generally understood to be non-Muslim
Aggressive jihad, it would seem, does not exist and has never existed. Were the 19 terrorists performing a “defensive military action” on 9/11?Hmmmmm......The Institution who 'produced' Barack HUSSEIN Obama.Read the full story here.

• Saudi  Prince Turki Al Faisal threatens the United States on Palestinian veto exactly ten years after 9/11.(NYT).The United States must support the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations this month or risk losing the little credibility it has in the Arab world. If it does not, American influence will decline further, Israeli security will be undermined and Iran will be empowered, increasing the chances of another war in the region. Moreover, Saudi Arabia would no longer be able to cooperate with America in the same way it historically has. With most of the Arab world in upheaval, the “special relationship” between Saudi Arabia and the United States would increasingly be seen as toxic by the vast majority of Arabs and Muslims, who demand justice for the Palestinian people. Saudi leaders would be forced by domestic and regional pressures to adopt a far more independent and assertive foreign policy. Like our recent military support for Bahrain’s monarchy, which America opposed, Saudi Arabia would pursue other policies at odds with those of the United States, including opposing the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Iraq and refusing to open an embassy there despite American pressure to do so. The Saudi government might part ways with Washington in Afghanistan and Yemen as well. The Palestinian people deserve statehood and all that it entails: official recognition, endorsement by international organizations, the ability to deal with Israel on more equal footing and the opportunity to live in peace and security. Israel should see the Palestinian bid for statehood not as a threat, but as a chance to return to the negotiating table and prevent further conflict. Recent polls show that up to 70 percent of Palestinians say they believe there will be a new intifada if the deadlock is not broken shortly; this should encourage Israel to seek peace with the moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. The Obama administration has had ample opportunities to lead Israelis and Palestinians into bilateral peace talks, but American policy makers have unfortunately been more preoccupied with a deteriorating domestic economy and a paralyzed political scene than with finding a workable solution to this epic injustice. Because Washington has offered no viable new proposals, the least it can do is step aside and not hinder Saudi, European and moderate Arab efforts to advance Palestinian rights at the United Nations.Today, there is a chance for the United States and Saudi Arabia to contain Iran and prevent it from destabilizing the region. But this opportunity will be squandered if the Obama administration’s actions at the United Nations force a deepening split between our two countries. Although Saudi Arabia is willing and able to chart a new and divergent course if America fails to act justly with regard to Palestine, the Middle East would be far better served by continuing cooperation and good will between these longstanding allies. American support for Palestinian statehood is therefore crucial, and a veto will have profound negative consequences. In addition to causing substantial damage to American-Saudi relations and provoking uproar among Muslims worldwide, the United States would further undermine its relations with the Muslim world, empower Iran and threaten regional stability. Let us hope that the United States chooses the path of justice and peace.Hmmmm.......Obey......or else.Hmmmm……Is this the same Prince Turki al-Faisal that met with Osama Bin laden in in June 2001 in a hospital in Dubai?Prince Turki Al Faisal had confirmed meetings with the Bin Laden Group and Osama bin Laden himself, several times in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan before he was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in 1994. In July 1998, as the lawsuit said, Al Faisal met Taliban leaders in Kandahar, Afghanistan and reached agreement on fresh aid from Riyad. “Prince Turki also promised to provide oil and generous financial assistance to both the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. After the meeting, 400 new pick-up trucks arrived in Kandahar for the Taliban, still bearing Saudi Arabia license plates.Read the full story here.

• GOP Rep. Peter King To Testify Before British Parliament On Muslim Radicalization.(AFP)Washington - Republican Representative Peter King will become the first member of the US Congress to testify before a British Parliamentary hearing this week when he talks to MPs in London about Muslim radicalization, his office said.King, who chairs the key House Committee on Homeland Security, will testify in London on Tuesday about the radicalization of Muslims in US communities and the west, his office said Monday.The House of Commons Select Committee on Home Affairs has launched an inquiry entitled the “Roots of Violent Radicalisation,” similar to a line of inquiry King has taken in US House hearings.According to researchers from both the US Congress and the House of Commons, King will be the first member of Congress to testify before a parliamentary hearing, his office said.“While I have consistently stated the overwhelming majority of Muslim-Americans are outstanding people, the reality is that radicalization within the Muslim-American community by Al-Qaeda and its affiliates is a real threat to the security of our homeland,” King said in a statement.“I am honored to have been invited” to the parliamentary hearing, he said, noting that “as our vital ally, the United Kingdom, struggles with this same threat within its own borders.”In a statement, British MP Keith Vaz, who launched the Home Affairs Committee inquiry, said he was “delighted” King had accepted the invitation to testify.Read the full story here.

• Report: Turkey to defuse Israeli Navy weapons.(Ynet).While Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to arrive in Egypt for a historic visit, daily newspaper Sabah on Monday reported that the Turkish Navy is preparing to deploy three warships in the Mediterranean Sea, in order to "safeguard the freedom of navigation." According to a report, Turkish navy echelons decided that if one of its ships crosses paths with an Israeli vessel outside of the latter's territorial waters, it will be instructed to come within 100 meters of the ship and neutralize its weapons system.Over the weekend, Erdogan ruffled feathers in Israel after he was quoted as saying that Turkish warships will protect boats carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza moving forward. "Turkish warships, in the first place, are authorized to protect our ships that carry humanitarian aid to Gaza," Erdogan was quoted as saying. "From now on, we will not let these ships to be attacked by Israel, as what happened with the Freedom Flotilla.The next day, Ankara issued a clarification, claiming the published quotes failed to correctly interpret Erdogan's intention."It appeared as if we were offering to have warships escort every aid vessel. This is not true. Turkey will defend the rights of its citizens only when Israel chooses to intervene and prevent free movement in international waters," an official source said.Hmmmm.....Does all this happen with Obama's and Clinton's their approval in view of the frequent contacts with Turkey?Read the full story here.

• Egypt threatens to use live rounds in security crackdown.(Guardian).Egyptian authorities have detained a further 92 people and vowed to use live ammunition to protect key buildings following the storming of the Israeli embassy last week, which left three protesters dead and provoked the worst crisis in Israel-Egypt relations for a generation."We won't allow anyone to attack the interior ministry or any police station," the interior minister, Mansour al-Essawy, told state TV. "According to the law, we will resist … If there is a danger to a building or those present inside the building, we will confront with bullets."The latest crackdown brings the total number of arrests from Friday's protests to 130, and comes as Turkey's prime minister prepares to fly into the Egyptian capital on Monday night, to begin a four-day tour of north Africa.Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is embroiled in his own diplomatic row with Israel over the killing of pro-Palestinian Turkish activists by Israeli soldiers on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara aid flotilla ship last year, will address the Arab League on Tuesday. He is expected to outline Turkey's new "regional foreign policy vision", promoting closer ties with revolutionary Arab countries and sidelining their one-time ally Israel.The trip will involve high-level talks with the de facto Egyptian leader, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, and the interim prime minister, Essam Sharaf, with discussions focused on the forthcoming Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN, which both countries support, and the development of closer business links between the two nations. Turkey's trade with the Arab world has increased six-fold under Erdogan's rule – an indication of the country's shifting diplomatic and economic priorities in the Middle East.Erdogan's rhetoric is likely to resonate strongly in post-Mubarak Egypt, where anger has been mounting in recent weeks over Israel's blockade of Gaza and a recent border incident that left six Egyptian soldiers dead at the hands of Israeli military forces.The latest developments have left Egypt's military junta in a tricky position, as it seeks to appease public anger while reassuring foreign allies that it will carry on meeting its international obligations under the Camp David peace treaty with Israel.Friday's clashes in and around the Israeli embassy come at a critical time for Egypt, as the trial of the former president Hosni Mubarak gathers pace and preparations continue for the country's first democratic elections in November. On Sunday, Tantawi rejected a summons to give evidence at Mubarak's court case, claiming he was too busy dealing with the ongoing security situation in the capital.Tantawi is now scheduled to attend the trial in late September, along with several other key witnesses including Mubarak's former spy chief and vice-president, Omar Suleiman, the army's chief of staff, Sami Anan, and the current and former interior ministers. The judge has declared that testimony will be given in private, with television cameras barred from the courtroom.Hmmmm.....Erdogan escalating the situation in the Middle East ,looking for war with Israel, all actions against the UN Charter.Read the full story here.

• Saadi Qaddafi flees to Niger; Libyans prepare to form transitional government.(AlArabiya).One of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s sons, Saadi Qaddafi, arrived Sunday in Niger, a government spokesman said, as the National Transitional Council says a transition government will be formed within 10 days.“Today, September 11, a patrol of the Nigerien armed forces intercepted a convoy in which was found one of Qaddafi’s sons,” Marou Amadou said.It was Saadi Qaddafi, “the footballer,” said Amadou, who is also Niger’s justice minister. “At this moment the convoy is en route to Agadez (northern Niger). The convoy could arrive in Niamey between now and tomorrow,” he added.Saadi, 38, the third of Qaddafi’s seven sons, is known as a playboy who renounced a football career in 2004 to join the army, where he led an elite unit.Niger vowed Friday to respect international commitments if wanted Libyans entered its territory, and confirmed that three Qaddafi-era generals, including his air force chief, al-Rifi Ali Al-Sharif, had arrived in Agadez.Niamey has confirmed allowing in a dozen Qaddafi aides, including his internal security chief Mansour Daw, for “humanitarian reasons”.They are being held under house arrest in Niamey, in a tightly guarded state-owned villa on the banks of the Niger river.Sources said more Qaddafi loyalists in a dozen vehicles arrived in Agadez Friday, escorted by Nigerien troops.Niamey has denied that Qaddafi himself was on its soil.Saadi Qaddafi said on August 21 he was ready to give himself up “if my surrender stops the spilling of blood.”Officials of Libya's new ruling council gave assurances at the time that his life would be safe if he gave himself up.The whereabouts of Muammar Qaddafi and his pre-revolution heir apparent Seif al-Islam remain unknown since the fall of Tripoli last month.The International Criminal Court has issued warrants for the two men and other Qaddafi loyalists for alleged crimes against humanity.Meanwhile, the deputy chief of the National Transitional Council told reporters that a new transitional government will be formed in Libya within 10 days.“A new government will be formed within one week to ten days,” said Mahmud Jibril, who serves as the “prime minister” of the NTC, the political wing of the rebellion that overthrew strongman Qaddafi.“This new government will include representatives from different regions in Libya,” Jibril said.Rebel forces are still “in the process of liberating Libya, and revolutionary combatant are still on the fronts,” Jibril added, referring in particular to Bani Walid and Sirte, where regime loyalists are still holding out.He said that another government will be formed once “Libya is liberated.”Jibril also hailed the “liberation of Tripoli without bloodshed” last month.“We were expecting a bloodbath, but this was prevented by the maturity of the revolutionaries who were able to secure the capital,” he said.Read the full story here.

• Gay Iranians launch online campaign.(Ynet).Video - The gay community in Iran has launched a Facebook campaign against the Iranian regime that views their sexual identity a crime punishable by death. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Iranians have posted videos of themselves online in an attempt to tell the world about the discrimination they suffer from, the Guardian has reported.Despite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim in 2007 by which there are no gays in Iran, so far, over 1,600 have joined the page, titled 'We are everywhere'. Iranians who posted their stories online made efforts to hide their identity fearing they would be exposed, while some Iranian expatriates spoke freely of their sexual preferences."As a gay person, my biggest problem in Iran is that I cannot be my real self," said an Iranian gay man, only identified as Mehdi, who has posted a video online from inside Iran. "I always have to play a role. I always have to suppress my own existence and part of my identity and hide myself in fear from the society and potential problems that I might face." In the video, Mehdi's face was only shown from the mouth down. "Like this video, I always have to hide a part of myself from others in my life," he said.In another video of a gay Iranian living outside of Iran, a man is seen filmed at chest level with his message written on paper towel. "I am an Iranian gay. I fear to show my real face, I fled Iran, I escaped from my own family, I was driven away from my country. Now, I am a gay refugee in Turkey and count the days, we are everywhere."As a neighboring country, Turkey serves as a refuge for many gay Iranians who escape from Iran through the mountains. However, they complain that they experience homophobic treatment in Turkey as well.Read and see the full story here.

• Iran - Dr. Maleki’s letter to Ahmed Shaheed: I testify to 32 years of crime.(Persian2English).In a letter to Ahmad Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, Dr. Mohammad Maleki, the first president of Tehran University after the Islamic revolution, declared that he is ready to reveal the crimes he has witnessed over the past 32 years in Iran. Maleki was recently summoned to appear before the court.“I am ready to reveal the facts I have witnessed in the Velayat-e Faghih prisons and pay the price for it.”An excerpt of the letter: “I am one of tens of thousands of Iranians whose human rights have been frequently violated by the authoritarian and despotic rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the past 32 years, and I have witnessed many crimes in Iranian prisons.”The retired university professor added, “I shall testify how, during the 1980s, each night after being severely tortured, young prisoners and students, both male and female, were taken for execution by tens or hundreds. They walked toward their destiny while singing chants along the way.”Dr. Maleki mentioned instances of torture in the Islamic Republic prisons and said: “During this period I was treated in the cruelest ways possible, including: being lashed with a cable wire on the soles of my feet and other parts of my body; being hung from the ceiling; my head being smashed against the wall; and being punched and kicked, which led to my blindness in the left eye and my right wrist to break…and all other kinds of torture. The signs of some of these tortures are still evident on my body.”Read the full story here.

• Relations with Israel and the Kurdish question.(HurriyetDaily).The rising tension between Turkey and Israel is not the only a problem of confrontational regional relations, but it may also have serious implications on domestic politics. All countries in the region used to manipulate anti-Israeli feelings as a useful tool to hide their authoritarian politics. Anti-Israeli rhetoric is not only the official discourse in Iran and Syria, but in all Arab countries, all sorts of regimes use this rhetoric to fill the gap of oppositionist energies. Moreover, it is also useful to suppress criticism by labeling it as an “Israeli conspiracy.” Now, as tension with Israel rises, Turkey seems to undergo a similar process. Many times, pro-government writers hint that any opposition to the present government may be related to the “Israeli lobby” since the new Turkish government policy dares to challenge Israel bravely.Recently, the conservative media started to portray the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, as an “Israeli pawn.” In the dark days of the 1990s, the PKK was portrayed as collaborating with Armenian ASALA and PKK members were often presented not as Kurds but as Armenians. In fact, it is an old and major problem to avoid recognizing the Kurdish problem in all its aspects. In the past, the main problem was not to differentiate Kurds and the PKK and justify suppression of Kurds as fighting with PKK. Now it is the opposite, now the PKK has considerable social support, but this time the Turkish state and government want to differentiate the PKK to justify suppression and avoid any chance of negotiation for a peaceful solution.Those who portray the PKK as an Israeli pawn either must be seriously deluded concerning the Kurdish problem or must be thinking about killing two birds with one stone by despising Israel and the PKK at the same time. Nevertheless, such rhetoric risks the democracy in Turkey in two ways. Firstly, it further hinders chances of political negotiations for a democratic solution and social peace, by “evilizing” the Kurdish enemy. Secondly, the anti-Israeli feeling and its anti-Semitic implications are being enforced with the rhetoric of “war on terror” against the PKK.Anti-Semitism is not as popular in Turkey as it is in many Muslim countries, yet the danger exists. Unfortunately, most Turkish intellectuals are not concerned, but there is a tradition of anti-Semitism especially among conservative circles (and now among secular nationalist circles) in Turkey. Many intellectuals define anti-Semitism only as “hostility toward Jews” and underestimate the fact that anti-Semitism is also a kind of “reaction toward modernity,” so therefore an essential aspect of almost all authoritarian politics.When anti-Kurdish feelings meet anti-Semitism, one must say farewell to democracy. I hope we do not come to this point.Hmmmm......Farewell.Read the full story here.

• US is considering Turkey’s request to base a fleet of Predator drones on Turkish soil to use in the fight against terror.(HurriyetDaily).Turkish officials said Sunday that they were in talks with the United States over deployment of a fleet of Predator drones on its soil, an unmanned aircraft system seen crucially important in Turkey’s fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, confirming a Washington Post report.“Our interest in acquiring Predator drones is known,” a Turkish diplomatic source told the Hürriyet Daily News on Sunday, without giving details of the content of the negotiations between the two allies.According to the Washington Post, Washington is still considering Turkey’s request to base a fleet of drones on Turkish soil. Citing an unnamed senior military official, the Post said the Obama administration has not made a decision on the Turkish request.Turkey officially requested acquisition of six MQ-1 and MQ-6 Predator drones from the U.S. in mid-2009 but the request faced opposition from the U.S. Congress over Ankara’s policies regarding Iran and Israel. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan raised the issue during a meeting with U.S. President Barak Obama during a meeting in Canada in 2010 but what he heard about was congress’s negative attitude toward Turkey.The U.S. military has flown the unarmed Predators from Iraqi bases since 2007 and shared the planes’ surveillance video with Turkey as part of a secretive joint crackdown on the PKK. Unless a new home for the Predators is found, however, the counterterrorism partnership could cease by Dec. 31, when all U.S. forces are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq.Turkey asked the Obama administration this year to relocate the Predators to Incirlik Air Base, a joint U.S.-Turkish military installation, according to a senior U.S. military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks have not been made public. “They want to base them in Turkey and allow us to fly them across the border into Iraq,” the official said.It’s unclear whether U.S. or Turkish officials are seeking formal permission from Iraq to continue the drone flights, or whether Baghdad would simply turn a blind eye to the Predators when they cross into northern Iraq.If Iraq objected to the drone flights as a violation of its sovereignty, the unmanned aircraft could hover in Turkish airspace and use cameras to peer miles across the border. There is little to prevent the Predators from making incursions, however; Iraq has only a fledgling air force to patrol its skies.U.S. military officials favor the drone agreement with Turkey as a way to prevent conflict with the PKK from spiraling out of control. They say U.S. cooperation has restrained Turkey from launching bigger offensives into northern Iraq to try to wipe out the PKK.Hmmmm.....Goodbye Geneva convention....Judge, Jury and executioner?Would be usefull against Israel as well?Read the full story here.

• ‘Palestinians wait for Turkish PM’.(HurriyetDaily).The head of the Palestinian administration in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, said they were making preparations for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s possible visit to Gaza and that the people of Palestine want the chance to show how much they love Turkey.In an interview in Gaza, Haniyeh defined the U.N. report on Israel’s deadly raid on the Mavi Marmara aid ship that killed nine Turks, as “terrible.”“The report has legitimized massacring Palestinians and the piracy staged on the Mavi Marmara aid ship. As the Palestinian people and their government, we do not accept the report and support Turkey’s position in not accepting it either,” said Haniyeh calling on the U.N. to bring certain Israeli generals to court for war crimes.“With efforts made in the region, Turkey tried to show that the superior power in the region is the Arabs and the Islamic world,” Haniyeh said. “As the people of Palestine, we support every step Ankara takes to end the embargo on Gaza.”Turkey’s downgrading of diplomatic relations and suspension of all military relations with Israel was a great support to the Palestinian people, Haniyeh added.Hmmmm....Anyone taking a bet Erdogan will show up in Gaza?Read the full story here.

• Related - Gaza is no ‘national cause’.(HurriyetDaily).By Kadri Gürsel.We, in fact, are discussing neither about Israel nor about Gaza but about Turkey. Israel and Gaza constitute not the subject but the object of the discussion.The subject of the discussion is Turkey’s torn identity and her tattered spirit.If we are looking for a national cause, we could hardly find one that is truer and more urgently in need of a solution. After all, the cause is about who defines what constitutes “national.” This cause is about our future. This cause is related to whether Turkey will emerge with a new social contract through a period marked by a clash of values and whether it will be able to move ahead without being physically fragmented.Will Turkey succeed in advancing its secular democracy and spread it to the masses while repairing its democratic roof? Or, in the end, will it be a country that is neither secular nor democratic? Personal rights and liberties, the rule of law, the freedom of faith, the liberty of expression, press freedoms and pluralism...These constitute our true national cause; our cause lies within ourselves.Now, let’s look at this issue from the point of view of how Turkey is defined by whether Gaza constitutes a national cause or not...If you define Turkey and her foreign policy within the parameters of the values of either classical or neo – Islamist ideology...And if you happen to be looking at Gaza through the prism of the “Sunni Islamic Ummah,” then it is natural for you to see a “national cause” or even the subject of a “jihad” here.In that case, it is also natural for your foreign enemy number one to be none other than Israel.Your despotic and anti-democratic political culture would also easily allow you to see as the “enemy within” those who criticize you for the true meaning of your perspective on Gaza. In other words, those people represent for you “the advocates of the archenemy Israel,” “those who fill the vacuum left behind by Israel’s ambassador.” That is how a vital debate that needs to be conducted within the framework of fairness and mutual respect for our democracy’s future gets drowned by means of such fascistic style. It is also because you look at your own citizens through the prism of the Sunni Islamic Ummah that you see “sectarian solidarity” behind dissident and contradictory views over Syria that require democratic tolerance. Those who are not of your own sect, on the other hand, or those whom you do not count from among the ummah are also equal citizens of this country whose rights are constitutionally ensured.Do you not end up dividing your own countrymen and countrywomen, and sow discord among them by throwing sectarian discrimination into the whole affair?Speaking of countrymen and countrywomen... They live on this “country.”Had you looked at Gaza not through the prism of the ummah, but through the prism of the country, you were not going to see any “national causes.”And you were not going to attempt moves that could incur great economic, political and military costs that also include the potential for armed conflict with another country’s army.For those who see Gaza through the prism of the “country,” no direct, vital, clear or present threat exists toward the country’s soil, borders and the security and well being of the people who live on it.Seeing the problem of Gaza not as a “national cause” but as a humanitarian tragedy experienced by a people living under embargoes and blockades, and who are close to us both geographically and historically, as well as culturally, would not require Turkey to get involved in this matter anyway.If you ask about the cause of the nine activists massacred by Israel...It is the obligation of the Turkish Republic to settle the account of her citizens killed in international waters by the security forces of another state by utilizing to the full all rights and authority granted upon her by international laws.“Nine martyrs”... Agreed.But I would also remind you of our armed citizens who roam the mountains of this country wearing a different uniform than that of the state and martyr more than nine people every week, as well as the cause of our citizens wearing official uniforms who kill just as many of these citizens of ours as a “requisite for being a state.” And that a certain section of our society sees those killed by the state as “martyrs”.I also believe that far greater causes could befall upon this country as you consume this nation’s energies and resources on causes that are, in fact, nonexistent, without solving this real cause through this country’s prism.Kadri Gürsel is a columnist for daily Milliyet in which this piece was originally published Sunday.Hmmm.....Hear,hear.Read the full story here.

• Video - Zaid Hamid’s “Final Call” to Hindus – Convert Or Get Killed!(Guppu).In the latest video series of self proclaimed defence analyst Zaid Hamid, he is seen giving a final call to Hindus to convert to Islam. He also tells Hindus not to blame him for the consequences. So what’s claimed to be a peaceful call to Islam, seems more like a threat.He says this is the message to be conveyed to all the Hindus and “Hindu Pandits” who deliberately hide the true message of Islam from the masses. He also equates Hindus with the Jews. Zaid Hamid openly threats the Hindus that if they don’t convert and accept Islam, they will be responsible for their ill-fate themselves.He pretended to be speaking on behalf of all the Muslims and acted as the supreme leader of the Muslim ummah.Hmmmm....."The religion of peace".Read the full story here.

• Turkey - PM Erdogan says flotilla raid was 'cause for war'.(HurriyetDaily).Turkey's prime minister has said Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last year was "cause for war" but that his country showed "patience" and refrained from taking any action. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Al-Jazeera television in a recent interview that the Israeli attack that killed nine activists occurred in international waters and was therefore "unlawful." His comments were carried by Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency late Sunday. Erdoğan said "It is a cause for war, but we decided to act in line with Turkey's grandeur and showed patience." Israel insists its naval commandos acted in self-defense after being attacked by some of the activists. A U.N. report into the raid said Israel's naval blockade was legitimate but that it used "excessive and unreasonable" force.Hmmmmm.....Now that i control the Army lets go to war?"Get Turkey out of NATO now!Read the full story here.