MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity New Zealand 5.9 and 5.6 ;  United States 5.8 ;  Asia- Myamar 5.4 - 5.2 and Philipines 5.2! More info here.

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

• Emails show Operation Fast and Furious was shared with Obama counterterrorism adviser John Brennan -- and perhaps beyond.(DougRoss).It's no longer a question of whether Eric Holder knew; it's whether President Obama knew and approved of Operation Fast and Furious. The rogue ATF operation sent thousands of military-grade weapons to Mexican drug cartels. And at least two of the weapons were discovered at the scene of last December's killing of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.Sharyl Attkisson's quest for the Pulitzer continues apace with new revelations that trace knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious to the White House and the pinnacle of the nation's security apparatus. New revelations in the case include:

 • The ATF was communicating Gunwalker status to then-White House National Security Staffer Kevin O'Reilly, who was assembling information for Obama counterterrorism adviser John Brennan. O'Reilly can't be interviewed by investigators because he "is on assignment for the State Department in Iraq and unavailable"

The White House is still withholding some records of Gunwalker communications because of "significant confidentiality interests"Can you say "cover up", boys and girls?

Notice the photos of .50-cal Barrett sniper rifles found at the scenes of killings in Mexico and shared with Brennan. These are the same types of military-grade weapons that the ATF allowed to "walk" into Mexico.A reasonably intelligent counterterrorism adviser would have asked the ATF: "How are the cartels getting these weapons?"But after all, Brennan is the same man who didn't know about a massive terror plot in London that was headline news around the world; who said that a 20 percent terrorist recidivism rate was 'not bad'; and who made a series of bizarre misstatements regarding the killing of Bin Laden.House Republicans should hold press conferences on the Capitol steps day after day demanding a special prosecutor for this case, to say nothing of Solargate.Read and see the full story here.

• Exclusive: The Inside Story Behind the Awlaki Assassination.(IPT).By Steven Emerson.Note: This story is based on reporting with sources knowledgeable about the Awlaki operation, including three law enforcement and intelligence officials.Anwar Al Awlaki, killed Friday morning in an American strike in Yemen, has been on the U.S. radar for several years, ever since, as one U.S. official stated, he turned from "inspirational to operational." He was believed to be behind the Nigerian "underwear" bomber who tried to ignite his explosives planted on his body as his airplane was landing in Detroit. And he was believed responsible for the cargo bomb plot targeting the United States last fall.U.S. intelligence officials, aware of other planned attacks, had arrested several Muslim American converts who returned here after "studying" in the Sudan. Most of their time was spent on terrorist training and learning from Awlaki and his advisors about the precepts of jihad and Islam. Intelligence officials believe that "hundreds" of American and European converts to Islam, along with other indigenous Muslims from Islamic countries, have trained with Awlaki, making many of them "ticking time bombs."The president was notified on Thursday about Awlaki's expected travel via convoy and that drone operators likely would have a clear shot at him. The president authorized the strike and was joined overnight by aides to monitor the video that was beamed from the drones. At one point, believed to be around 4 a.m. in Washington, the drones broadcast images of Awlaki's convoy traveling openly and without any cloud cover. Several missiles were fired. At least two of the vehicles were destroyed. Within hours, Yemen's military has secured the area and taken DNA samples from several of the remains of the bodies in the decimated vehicles. The samples were flown to Washington this morning and matched with Awlaki's relatives living here.One source offered a slightly different version of events, saying that the relatives' DNA samples were within the U.S. Embassy in Yemen. In either case, forensic scientists compared the DNA samples and confirmed the match.In addition, two other top lieutenants to Awlaki were also killed. One was Samir Khan, also an American, but the name of the other top assistant could not be obtained.Khan edited the slick Western-style Internet publication “Inspire Magazine” that attracted many readers.Read the full story here.

• US gov't approves 4 more solar energy loan guarantees worth nearly $5B on Friday.(Hurriyet)The U.S. Energy Department approved four more solar energy loan guarantees worth nearly $5 billion on Friday just hours before a controversial loan program was set to expire.Meanwhile, the Justice Department moved to take away control of a failed solar panel maker from its management and transfer it to a court-appointed trustee.Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the department completed deals on four projects, including two that were sold late this week by Arizona-based First Solar Inc., a major solar manufacturer that had been seeking three federal loan guarantees for projects in California. The sales were announced Friday along with the loan guarantees.The loans were approved under the same program that paid for a $528 million loan to Solyndra LLC, a now-bankrupt solar panel maker that has become a symbol for critics of the Barack Obama administration’s green energy program.Two other solar loan guarantees worth about $1.1 billion were announced earlier this week, as the Obama administration pushed forward with the loan program despite pleas from Republican critics to halt it to avoid another Solyndra-like debacle. Hmmm......How much flows back to the 'reelect Obama 2012' fund?Read the full scam story here.

• Obama to Congress: Get your act together and pass jobs bill.(TheHill)President Obama used his weekly radio address to urge Congress “to get its act together” and pass his jobs bill."It’s been almost three weeks since I sent the American Jobs Act to Congress – three weeks since I sent them a bill that would put people back to work and put money in people’s pockets," Obama said. "And now I want it back. It is time for Congress to get its act together and pass this jobs bill so I can sign it into law."Obama’s nearly $450 billion jobs bill – known as the American Jobs Act – would raise taxes on the wealthy, invest in infrastructure, extend the employee payroll-tax cut and fund unemployment insurance benefits, among other things.The legislation faces opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Thursday that Democrats don’t currently have the votes to pass the bill, although Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in charge of messaging, said it was too "premature" right now to say whether there were enough votes.Obama's radio address is the latest in a series of appearances and speeches the administration has used to gin up support for the legislation, arguing that average people all over the country support the bill."This isn’t just about what I think is right. It’s not just about what a group of economists think is right. This is about what the American people want," Obama said.Hmmmm......Give me my way or else i'll let my 'army' loose?Read the full story here.More here.

• Republican Sponsored H.R. 1505 Would give DHS Police State Powers over 80% of the U.S.(Shenandoah).By John Galt.

If you live within 100 miles of any ocean, you’re in the “zone.”

If you live within 100 miles of the United Nations in New York City, you’re in the “zone.”

If you live within 100 miles of the Canadian or Mexican border, you’re in the “zone.”

If you live within 100 miles of a foreign embassy, consulate, or declared international trade zone with foreign ownership, you’re in the “zone.”

What zone is this that I speak of?

And does an Indian Reservation border count as an “International Border?”

A zone of special security exemptions giving the United States Department of Homeland Security unlimited powers to usurp local and Federal regulations and authority to “ensure” total security and oversight of activities which may harm the United States via acts of terrorism or other means. Is this bill some radically sponsored idea from an extreme leftist wishing to spread Obama’s power base?

No.

It was sponsored and entered into the record by Republican Rob Bishop of Utah which means odds of it passing with broad support in the “cram the crap” portion of the Congressional session before Christmas are pretty high.

The Summary from the U.S. government website:

4/13/2011–Introduced.

Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) from taking action on public lands which impede the border security activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) (Secretary). States that the Secretary shall have immediate access to any public land managed by the federal government in order to conduct activities that assist in securing the border (including access to maintain and construct roads, construct a fence, use patrol vehicles, and set up monitoring equipment). States that a specified waiver by the Secretary of certain laws regarding sections of the international border between the United States and Mexico and between the United States and Canada shall apply to all sections of the international land and maritime borders of the United States within 100 miles of such borders with respect to the Secretary’s activities under this Act.

Let that sink in. Embassies and Consulates are “foreign borders” and many International Trade Zones are considered such by law also. Then review the law in full below, look at all the acts that this seeks to usurp within the Interior Department and Department of Agriculture and start to think about the vast amount of territory this would cover. Read the act in full and think about what this could mean where a Federal police force could usurp first Federal regulations and probably due to the structure and ambiguity of this bill, state and local jurisdiction.

View this document on Scribd

Remember the key phrase of ambiguity:

“shall be considered to apply to all sections of the international land and maritime borders of the United States within 100 miles of the international land and maritime borders of the United States for the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security described in subsection (b), including the construction of infrastructure, to achieve the operational control described in subsection (a).”

This means the entire state of Florida is subject to this law and the deliberate ambiguity of the authority(ies) granted by this proposed law essentially gives the Federal government police state rights over our entire population.

The question to be asked: Why such a nefarious bill at this moment in history when our society is facing a financial collapse equal to or greater than 2008 and zero terrorist attacks of any substance since 2001?

Hmmmm......."Police State" materialising before your eyes?Read the full story here.

• White House sends Hill Fast and Furious docs, but withholds some.(Politico).The White House sent another installment of documents to Congress on Friday detailing White House staffers' knowledge about the controversial "Operation Fast and Furious" gunrunning probe run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.However, the chief counsel to President Barack Obama, Kathryn Ruemmler, indicated that the White House was withholding an unspecified number of internal e-mails exchanged among three National Security Staff aides."These internal NSS emails are not included in the enclosed documents because the [Executive Office of the President] has significant confidentiality interests in its internal communications," Ruemmler wrote in a letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The letter, posted here, was obtained Friday by POLITICO.The latest batch of 102 pages of records partially duplicated information previously sent to Congress and didn't appear to include any smoking guns showing that White House officials were aware that the operation involved allowing hundreds or thousands of guns to flow essentially unimpeded from the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels."As today's production makes clear, none of the communications between ATF and the White House revealed the investigative law enforcement tactics at issue in your inquiry, let alone any decision to let guns 'walk,'" Ruemmler wrote in response to a letter Issa and Grassley sent to National Security Adviser Tom Donilon earlier this month.Read the full story here.

• 'US Congress puts block on transfer of $200m. aid to Palestinians'.(JPost).The United States Congress reportedly blocked the transfer of $200 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority in what a Palestinian official called "collective punishment" for the PA's bid for membership in the United Nations, UK daily The Independent reported on Saturday.The unconfirmed report says that an unpublicized block on the transfer of funds, less than one third of the aid sent to the PA annually, has been in place since August.The United States is opposed to the Palestinian bid to seek full UN membership and has vowed to veto such a move in the Security Council. PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib told The Independent that cutting aid to the PA is "unjustified. These are mainly humanitarian and development projects - it is another kind of collective punishment which is going to harm the needs of the public without making any positive contribution."In mid September, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee began debating cutting off US aid to the Palestinian Authority for breaking ranks with the American-brokered peace process. In her opening statement, Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), credited former President George H.W. Bush in 1989 with “stop[ping] dead in its tracks” attempts by former Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat to seek recognition from various UN agencies after statehood was declared a year before. Ros-Lehtinen called upon President Obama to do the same in 2011 “to stop Abu Mazen’s [PA President Abbas] dangerous unilateral scheme” by suspending funds to any UN agency “that granted membership or any upgraded status to the PA.” In July, a key Congressional committee considered a foreign aid bill that threatened funding to the Palestinian Authority and Lebanon, and would codify in law the George W. Bush letter to Ariel Sharon.The bill, drawn up by Ros-Lehtinen, would also end by 2014 the president’s ability to waive the law that requires him to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as well as mandate that official American documents list Jerusalem as part of Israel. The State Department would also have to report on its diplomatic activities on behalf of Israel to end efforts at isolating it.Furthermore, it conditions aid to the PA on its recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and ending all anti-Israel incitement in state-owned media, among other measures; while aid to Lebanon includes a stipulation that no member of Hezbollah serve in the government.Read the full story here.

• US to provide Turkey with attack helicopters.(YNet).US Ambassador to Ankara Francis Ricciardone announced Friday that the US will provide Turkey with three new attack helicopters, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported. According to the report, which quotes Turkey's TGRT news network, Ankara asked Washington for SuperCobra attack helicopters to replace those it lost in the campaign against Kurdish rebels. On Friday, one person was killed and two others were injured in an explosion in the city of Antalya. Earlier, it was reported that two soldiers were killed and three others were wounded in southeast Turkey after Kurdish rebels ambushed a military force.Consequently, 26 people were arrested in Istanbul and Bitlis on suspicion of being involved in terrorist activity. The detainees included officials in the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party. Turkey's agriculture minister condemned the attacks. Also Friday, a crew onboard a Turkish exploration ship searching for gas reservoirs near Cyprus claimed that two Israeli aircraft and a helicopter circled above them on Thursday night, According to a report published in the Turkish newspaper Watan Daily, two F-15 jets passed through Cyprus' Greek and Turkish airspace and approached the Turkish coastline, while ignoring air controllers' warnings in north Cyprus, which is considered a Turkish territory. Hmmmm......Helicopters.....Predator drones....Obama becoming the 'personal' arms dealer for Erdogan?Read the full story here.

• Manchester, NH seeks to solve its poor school test scores by not testing the immigrant kids!(RRW).Many states that are overloaded with new “Americans” are suffering with the same problem—-how can their kids possibly do well under the federal ‘No Child Left Behind’ testing requirements when many get here from their home countries with little or no schooling. Manchester, NH is going to buck the feds and not test those kids.

From the Union Leader(hat tip: Jay):

MANCHESTER — The Board of School Committee voted on Monday to end the federally mandated standardized testing of newly arrived immigrants with poor English skills.

The proposal passed unanimously and without debate. It is a policy board members have said in the past they support.

Students enrolled in Manchester schools who have recently arrived from another country will not be required for two years to take the annual standardized tests required under the No Child Left Behind law. If those same students had never been to school before — in the United States or their native country— then they would not have to take the test for five years.

It is still uncertain what consequences Manchester will face for not following federal guidelines mandating testing of all students, said Brennan, but he hopes working with the state Department of Education will ease the path toward a compromise.

Manchester has already been labeled a district “in need of improvement” under the NCLB law because of standardized test scores.

Next thing you know we will be paying for separate but equal school systems for immigrant kids. Oh, yes! Dekalb County, Georgia is already doing that, here. What a coincidence, that county is the setting for the novel “Outcasts United.”As is so often the case, the comments to this story at the Union Leader are more interesting than the story! Check them out!Read the full story here.

• National Organization for Marriage Announces New Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance.(Heritage).The National Organization for Marriage recently announced the launch of a new project called the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance. This vital project responds to growing concerns about the reprisals directed against many people who support marriage as one man and one woman.The Heritage Foundation has documented, for example, how people who supported Proposition 8, the California marriage amendment, were “subjected to harassment, intimidation, vandalism, racial scapegoating, blacklisting, loss of employment, economic hardships, angry protests, violence, at least one death threat, and gross expressions of anti-religious bigotry.”

The goals of the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance include:

• To create a supportive community for those who have been threatened for standing for marriage,
• To nip in the bud the climate of fear being created by many advocates of same-sex marriage,
• To expose to fair-minded Americans the threats being made by these activists,
• To conduct high-quality qualitative and quantitative research documenting the extent of the harm, and
• To develop legislative and community proposals to protect Americans’ right to engage in the core civil rights to organize, vote, speak, donate, and write for marriage.

More information about the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance is available here.Hmmmm......It is official"We live in a 'upside-Down' World.Read the full story here.

• French Police Stoned and Driven Off While Trying to arrest Burka-Wearing Woman.(IVE).Delicate situation on Friday evening for the police in Vaulx-en-Velin [suburb of Lyon]. Around 7.30 pm, on Corbusier Way, they see a woman wearing a burka, accompanied by her children. The team heads towards her to record the offence, and asks for her papers. Problem: the woman has to take her veil off for her identity to be confirmed. Not necessarily simple to do in the open street in districts where the police are not well regarded by certain people. The woman, aged 34, lives close by and refuses all proposals: identification by a police woman in the street or in the police station, located just a bit further away. She makes hostile remarks, declares firmly that she doesn't give a damn about the law on burka-wearing, adopted last April. In situations like that, time is against the police. Bit by bit, the inhabitants encircle the small group. There are soon several dozen of them. The woman harangues them, demanding that they help her. Tension mounts rapidly, and the first stones, or other projectiles, start to fly. Before the check turns definitively into a riot, the police prefer to withdraw. While handing the woman a summons to appear at the police station. During the incident, fortunately, no public official was injured. The woman should have presented herself at the police station this morning. She didn't come. The prosecutor has now decided to send her directly in front of the police tribunal. Read the full story here.

• Muslim Mob Torches Coptic Church in Egypt.(Aina).By Mary Abdelmassih.After Friday prayers today, a mob of several thousand Muslims from the village of Elmarinab in Edfu, Aswan province, demolished and torched St. George's church, which was being renovated. The mob demolished the dome, walls and columns, then went to the church depot where the lumber to be used for construction was stored and torched it. The fire lasted 2 hours but the attack continued until 7 PM.In an interview on Coptic TV channel, Father Salib of St. George's Church said "the Imam of one of the village mosques called on the people to take matter in their own hands, he added. Other witnesses named the Imam as Sheikh Sabry.According to eyewitnesses the Muslims also torched a large depot of electrical goods owned by a Copt, a supermarket and four Coptic homes. Muslims prevented the fire brigade from entering the village. Security forces, which were present, "stood there watching," said Mr.Michael Ramzy, a social worker at the church.Dr. Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Union of Human rights Organizations send an urgent message to field Marchall Tantawi to save the Copts in Egypt. "The Copts, their lives and their churches are in danger," he said.Attorney Mamdouh Nakhla, head of Al-Kalema human rights organization condemned Muslims taking the law in their own hands. He said "if the Egyptian Government is unable to protect its citizens, then the civilized international society should step in immediately to stop this human tragedy."The Media denied the incident. Mostafa el Sayed, Governor of Aswan, appeared on State TV tonight and denied any church being torched. He said it was a "guest home" and not a church. El Sayed said he gave his permission for the building to be 9 meters high, but the church contractor made it 13 meters high. "The contractor was slow in removing the 4 meters, so the Muslim youths took the matter into their hand." He said the fire was in a depot of the church which had the construction lumber.He said that both parties are at fault, the Christians for exceeding the height and the Muslims for taking matters into their own hands. He added that he arranged for a "reconciliation" meeting to be held in the next two hours.Father Salib refuted the governor of Aswan allegations that the torched construction was a guest home. He said St. George's church was been built 100 years ago and as it was dilapidated, the diocese was given permission to renovate it completely. He said that the Governor of Aswan himself signed the license for the renovation in 2010.The renovation, although having all the necessary licenses from the government, prompted a crisis in Elmarinab village in the beginning of September. Islamists objected to the presence of a cross, bell and dome and prevented Copts from leaving their homes (AINA 9-9-2011).Outspoken Coptic activist Wagih Jacob said what happened in Elmarinab is a scandal. The mob went out today, knowing that they have the support of Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). "I accuse SCAF to be in collusion with these people as well as the Governor of Aswan and the head of prosecution."Yacoub said that Coptic activists including himself are going to Aswan on Saturday to see what is happening there, even if they are killed. "I call on all Coptic men and Muslim liberals to join us to go to Aswan," He accused the Governor of Aswan of not telling the truth "because he knows very well that no media will go to the village to take photos there."Georges Bouchra of Copts United NGO reported the Copts are staying indoors as it was rumored that Muslims have threatened to torch their homes tonight.The Maspero Coptic Youth organization held a rally in the densely Coptic-populated district of Shubra in Cairo to protest the attack of Elmarinab church. It was attended by thousands (video).On October 1 several Coptic organizations, together with other liberal movements, will hold a rally under the motto "No to attacks on Coptic Churches" to start at 5 pm from Shubra and end in Tahrir Square.Hmmmm....."Interfaith dialog in it's natural habitat?Read the full story here.

• NATO spokesman Damien Arnaud ‘No data sharing to Israel’.(HurriyetDaily).NATO has announced that there is no agreement in place to share radar images obtained from the alliance’s missile defense radar system with Israel, countering Turkish fears that data from a station to be placed on its soil would be shared with Tel Aviv.“We do not have an agreement on data sharing with Israel in missile defense radar system,” NATO spokesman Damien Arnaud said Friday. Stating that NATO has an agreement on “keeping confidential data” with Mediterranean Dialogue members that include Israel, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Mauritania and Jordan, Arnaud said, “This means we can share confidential documents and data with these countries.”Responding to a question on the topic, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: “I cannot make any comments on this type of operational details. However, I can assure you that we are sharing intelligence to protect our people as far as we can. This is the core of being an alliance.” On Sept. 9, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the early warning radar will be deployed in Kurecik near Malatya in the southeast.Read the full story here.