MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity New Zealand 5.5 and Northern Mariana Islands 5.2  ! More info here.

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

• Will This Post Stop The Wall St. Protest in Its Tracks?(BigPeace).ByDanFriedman.

To: Republican candidates and strategists

Re: “Occupy Wall St. movement,” a blessing in disguise

The “Occupy Wall St. movement” and the people behind it face an irreconcilable internal contradiction. The centrist American people know it’s plainly a leftist enterprise with some union muscle imported for laughs. So the longer the protests last and the more disruptive they get, the greater the opportunity to remind the country it’s all unnecessary turmoil spawned by Obama’s regime. Republicans, the election is approaching. When it comes to the “Occupy Wall St. movement” your mission – and you must not refuse it – is to connect the dots and make certain every American understands that Obama owns it.Read the full story here.

• Unofficial confirmation that the White House is behind #OccupyWallStreet.(DougRoss).Via Matt Drudge, we get a little bit more confirmation that the Community-Organizer-In-Chief seems content to align himself with Communists threatening violence against 'the rich', anarchists, Jew-haters, wealthy union bosses like Hoffa and Trumka, and cop-bashers.
  I regret to tell you this, but we're creeping ever closer to civil unrest. Which appears to be the president's aim.Read and see the full story here.

• Canada - There's a word for what the OHRC allows: Bigotry.(Sun).By EzraLevant.The Ontario Human Rights Commission says it’s illegal to advertise an apartment for “students” or “seniors” only — that’s age discrimination.But when the OHRC was asked about dozens of “Muslims-only” apartment-for-rent ads in the Toronto area, they said it’s out of their hands.Earlier this summer, the OHRC was clearly short of real work to do, so it started creeping through apartment rental ads online — cyberstalking is what some people might call it. It was appalled by severely normal things landlords were saying.They came up with an official list of illegal words to use in apartment ads. “Perfect apartment for a student” is illegal. Seriously — that’s one of the examples from the OHRC website. It said that’s age discrimination. Calling your apartment an “adult building?” Illegal. “Perfect for female student”. Illegal.This summer, the OHRC threatened landlords and even the websites that advertised these “discriminatory” words. But reporter Sarah Boesveld was poking around the website Kijiji.ca and found 32 apartments that say “only Muslims need apply.” She called up the human rights commission … which said it’s out of its hands.Now, a part of private property is the right to choose who gets to come on it — no matter what your reason is. Think of the middle-aged male who wants to move into a sorority house. But that right goes further — including the right to exclude people for any reason at all. If you don’t like their personality, their annoying laugh, the colour of their eyes. And even the colour of their skin. That’s the point about private property: You have the right to be wrong — you even have the right to be racist.We don’t like the idea of people being racist. “Muslims only” is another way of saying “no Jews allowed” or “no Christians allowed.”But it’s their property, not ours. If people don’t like it, they can have a little picket outside the property, on the street. A restaurant that discriminated that way might soon lose the business of fair-minded customers. But there is a market for some kinds of discrimination.Take women-only fitness clubs. Surely they have the right to discriminate against men. Surely the Black Students Society can only allow blacks in. Surely a movie theatre can charge kids less than adults.Discrimination is something we do every day — it’s really another word for choosing. Sometimes people make choices for odious reasons. That’s the price of freedom — and it’s a far lower price to pay than the costs of having a government so invasive that it can barge its way into every wrinkle of our lives, including our own homes.I’m not for prosecuting these 32 Muslims-only landlords. If they want someone who follows their religion — for example, who won’t bring pork or alcohol into the house, and who will respect their religious traditions — that’s fine.But the Ontario Human Rights Commission doesn’t believe in property rights or freedom of association. They believe in counterfeit rights — like the right not to be offended. Except, of course, if the person doing the offending is Muslim, and the people being offended are Jews and Christians and Sikhs and Hindus and atheists.There’s a word for people like those at the OHRC who have different standards for different religions: Bigots.Hmmmm.......On this Canadian Thanksgiving day....lets say "Only in Canada"?Read the full story here.

• Obama’s War On America’s Domestic Aircraft Industry jobs.(BigPeace).Two companies, one a Kansas-based airplane manufacturer and the other its Brazilian competitor, are competing for an Air Force contract to build a new aircraft to perform light air support (LAS) and light attack and armed reconnaissance (LAAR) roles.There are several reasons why the Obama administration ought to reward the contract to Hawker Beechcraft, in my view. As former-Rep. Todd Tiahrt has pointed out, awarding the contract to Hawker Beechcraft would create and sustain over 1,400 jobs here at home, while Embraer would build virtually its entire plane in Brazil and then import pieces to the U.S. for final assembly, creating only about 50 jobs here. Elsewhere, I have also pointed out the potential pitfalls of awarding a U.S. defense contract to Brazil, a country with a “golden share” rule that essentially grants the government full authority over the means of production with regard to military programs.Now we must consider a new wrinkle in the contest over the contract. It appears as though the Obama administration is targeting the U.S. airplane manufacturing industry with a highly negative rhetorical assault at around the same time the Federative Republic of Brazil is providing deep tax cuts for its defense-related industries. In fact, Brazil’s President Dilma Rouseff just signed a bill exempting Brazilian defense contracts from paying taxes for five years. “We don’t want to produce only for Brazil. We know our competitiveness resides in our ability to export,” Rousseff said.I’m a free trader. And tax cuts are good. But how is an American company supposed to compete for an American defense contact while at the same time the Obama administration is floating tax increases on the exact same industry here at home? “Corporate jet owners” have become synonymous with “millionaires and billionaires” and “fat cats” in the president’s speeches in recent months. “You’ll still be able to ride on your corporate jet. You’re just going to have to pay a little more,” Obama mocked U.S. businessmen and women last June.Hawker Beechcraft doesn’t just manufacture warplanes. A substantial portion of its business is in manufacturing those same corporate jets President Obama wants to hike taxes on. So the Obama administration is asking a U.S. company to compete with a foreign company for a U.S. defense contract while he is raising prices through tax increases on the U.S. company’s products and the foreign country is exempting their companies from paying any taxes at all.We are becoming less competitive in large part because our tax, regulatory and procurement policies stack the decks against American companies and American workers.It is no wonder every one of Obama’s economic advisers is scratching his head trying to figure out how to get the economy moving again and create jobs.Hmmmm......If he really wanted to destroy America as a superpower .....would he do anything different?Read the full story here.

• White House feeds off protest anger.(FT).By Richard McGregor.. Mr Obama said people were angry because Wall Street had not been “following the rules”. His vice-president even compared the movement on Thursday to the Tea Party, the conservative movement which has upended national politics in the past two years.“The core [of the protest] is: the bargain has been breached. The American people do not think the system is fair, or on the level,” Mr Biden said.Underlying the protests, and the administration’s response, is the stubbornly stagnant economy that continues to sap voter confidence and challenge politicians.Read the full story here.Here.

• Canada: Man With Ties to Blacklisted Iranian Bank, Lives the ‘High Life’.(Vinienco).An Iranian banker who resigned and fled to Toronto amid a multi-billion dollar embezzlement scandal also has ties to a bank blacklisted by the UN Security Council, which alleges the bank has financed Iran’s nuclear missile activities.Iranian-Canadian Mahmoud Reza Khavari is a former top official and board member at Bank Sepah, according to his resume. The Iranian bank was blacklisted by the UN in 2007 for allegedly providing support to the country’s Aerospace Industries Organization and other firms known to help spread weapons of mass destruction.If Khavari were on American soil, he could, under that country’s domestic law, be arrested and questioned about his leadership role at the bank, according to a former U.S. Treasury Department official.Here in Canada, the scandal-plagued banker has owned property for at least a decade and is now believed to be staying at his $3 million home in the affluent Bridle Path neighborhood.Bank Sepah is not named on Canada’s domestic blacklist, but Bank Melli — the state-owned financial institution Khavari was managing director of until last week — is listed as an organization that could or does contribute to Iran’s nuclear activities.Canadian officials are not commenting on the issue.Khavari resigned from his post at Bank Melli and fled Iran amid allegations by Iranian officials that he played a key role in what is described as the largest embezzlement in the country’s history. No charges have been laid against Khavari, but prosecutors are seeking to question him about his involvement.Bank Sepah was blacklisted by the U.S. government in 2007 for allegedly being the “financial linchpin” of Iran’s missile procurement network. The bank’s U.S. assets were frozen and the American government made it illegal for its citizens to do business with Bank Sepah.“Under U.S. law, doing business with Banks Sepah and Melli is akin to doing business with Osama bin Laden, or any other recognized terrorist organization,” said Avi Jorisch, a former policy adviser with the U.S. Treasury Department’s office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.“If he was here in the United States, the government would have full authority to arrest Mr. Khavari for his leadership role at two financial institutions that have been blacklisted for proliferating weapons of mass destruction and facilitating terrorism,” said Jorisch, who founded the Red Cell Intelligence Group, a consulting and training firm that specializes in national security issues.U.S. officials have said that since at least 2000, Bank Sepah had been providing a variety of critical financial services to Iran’s missile industry.Khavari was chairman of Bank Sepah’s board of directors from December 2003 until at least March 2005 and held a variety of other roles prior to that, according to the bank’s annual reports and his resume.Payam Akhavan, professor of law at McGill University and an expert on his native Iran, said it is a security concern when people with ties to blacklisted banks want to come to Canada.“For several years we have expressed concerns to the government about the presence and influence of Iranian officials, many of whom like to make Canada their home,” Akhavan said.“My fear is that this discovery is only the tip of the iceberg. Do we want Canada to become known as the investment destination of corrupt and abusive regimes like Iran?”Khavari flew to Canada last week after resigning from his post at Bank Melli, Iran’s largest state-owned bank.In his resignation letter, Khavari, who had been with the bank since 2009, blamed another bank as the source of the fraud and said he resigned “to respect public opinion,” according to the state-run Mehr News Agency.A statement released by Bank Melli said Khavari would be in Canada for one day on business and was expected back in Iran last Thursday. Mehr reported that he did not arrive on his scheduled flight.Toronto property records in Khavari’s name date back to 2001, when he took out a mortgage for a $615,000 property on Elmwood Ave., in North York, with his spouse. At one time, Khavari owned a Toronto-based company called Soaring Properties, formerly known as Soaring Travel.A Bridle Path house on Suncrest Dr. is still registered in Khavari’s name and was bought for $2.93 million in 2007.A man wearing a tie and jacket sat in a car parked outside the house on Wednesday, blocking the entrance to the driveway. He said Khavari was unlikely to speak about the embezzlement allegations or his involvement with Bank Sepah. The banker did not respond to repeated messages left at the house.The Canadian government has no extradition treaty with Iran and cannot legally extradite people who are likely to face the death penalty or torture.“If he goes back to Iran, his life will be in danger,” said Morteza Abdolalian, an Iranian-Canadian blogger and journalist who lives in Oakville.“Whether he was involved in this great embezzlement is in question. He has to come out and speak about the situation. If he doesn’t speak out, it will remain a secret and people will point fingers at him.”Read the full story here.

• Iran tells Turkey to change foreign policy or face trouble.(AlArabiya).A key aide to Iran’s supreme leader said on Saturday Turkey must radically rethink its policies on Syria, the NATO missile shield and promoting Muslim secularism in the Arab world ─ or face trouble from its own people and neighbors.In an interview with the semi-official Mehr news agency, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s military adviser described Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s invitation to Arab countries to adopt Turkish-style democracy as “unexpected and unimaginable”.Turkey and Iran, the Middle East’s two major non-Arab Muslim states, are vying for influence in the Arab world as it goes through the biggest shake-up since the Ottoman Empire fell, a rivalry that has strained their previously close relations.While cheering crowds greeted Erdogan on his recent tour of North Africa, Tehran accused him of serving U.S. interests by opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on street protests and agreeing to NATO’s missile defense.“The behavior of Turkish statesmen towards Syria and Iran is wrong and, I believe, they are acting in line with the goals of America,” Major-General Yahya Rahim-Safavi told Mehr.“If Turkey does not distance itself from this unconventional political behavior it will have both the Turkish people turning away from it domestically and the neighboring countries of Syria, Iraq and Iran (reassessing) their political ties.”Khamenei has dubbed the Arab uprisings an “Islamic awakening”, predicting peoples in the Middle East that have overthrown dictatorial, Western-backed regimes will follow the path Iran took after its 1979 Islamic revolution.The uprisings have been generally secular in nature, analysts say.Erdogan’s advocacy of secular Muslim democracy ─ which he extolled during his tour of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya last month ─ is far from the message the Islamic Republic of Iran wants spread in the region.“I think the Turks are treading a wrong path. It might very well be that the path was set for them by the Americans,” said Rahim-Safavi.“The Turks have so far committed a few strategic wrongs. One was Erdogan’s trip to Egypt and his presentation of the secular model there. This fact was unexpected and unimaginable since the Egyptian people are Muslims.”While Tehran has publicly urged its close ally Syria to listen to people’s legitimate demands, Erdogan has predicted Assad will be ousted “sooner or later” and is set to impose sanctions on Damascus despite a veto on U.N. action by Russia and China.But it is Turkey’s decision to deploy a NATO missile early warning system that has most angered Tehran, which sees this as a U.S. ploy to protect Israel from any counter-attack should the Jewish state target Iran’s nuclear facilities.Rahim-Safavi said trade ties with Turkey ─ which is an importer of Iranian gas and exporter of an array of manufactured goods ─ would be in jeopardy if Ankara does not change tack.“If Turkish political leaders fail to make their foreign policy and ties with Iran clear, they will run into problems. If, as they claim, they intend to raise the volume of contracts with Iran to the $20 billion mark, they will ultimately have to accommodate Iran.”Hmmmm......."Also sprach Khamenei"? Read the full story here.

• Turkey - One transsexual, one woman killed by family in 'DisHonor killing' cases.(NewsAZ).A transexual man and a woman were killed in separate attacks by their relatives on Oct. 7 in the eastern province of Gaziantep and the western province of Manisa, respectively.Ramazan Chetin, 24, was being treated at Gaziantep hospital following injuries he sustained after falling from a high place on Oct. 4 when the murder occurred.Fevzi Chetin, Ramazan’s brother, turned himself in to hospital police after firing three rounds at his brother with a pistol at about 6:45 p.m. Two bullets went through his body, while another bullet went through his head, according to reports.“My brother was engaged in travestism. I killed him,” said Fevzi Chetin, 27. “I cleansed my honor.”Fevzi Chetin was taking special care to stay away from his family, who disapproved of his sexual preference. Chetin left his family home two years ago and had been living alone ever since.Meanwhile, a woman returning from a women’s shelter back to her husband’s home was lethally stabbed by him in Manisa province, according to allegations, while her husband was also wounded in a fire he started.Locals in the area informed fire fighters when they heard a blast and noticed the fumes coming from the house of Ibrahim E., 45, on the ground floor of a three-story building in the Hafsa Sultan neighborhood.When fire fighters and police broke into the house, they found Ibrahim E.’s wife, Shefika E., lying unconscious in the bathtub with a knife in her back.Ibrahim E. was found in another room with burns on his body, as he was reportedly wounded in the fire that officials say he started. The injured husband and wife were taken to the Merkez Efendi State Hospital while the fire in the house was being put out. Shefika E. died on the way to the hospital.Read the full story here.

• Turkey wants Egypt’s gas to bypass Israel.(BikyaMasr).CAIRO: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing Egypt to ship natural gas to Europe through the Nabucca Pipeline, a “gas bridge,” via Asia. This access line will directly cut out Israel and Cyprus.Current relations between Turkey and Israel are continuing to worsen, and this change of route of Egypt’s natural gas is seen as another political ploy to disturb the relations between the two countries. Since the overthrow of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Turkey continues to work closely with Egypt.Current negotiations have led to acts of outrage and violence such as the attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo by Egyptian demonstrators.Changing the shipping method of the natural gas is pressuring Israel to focus on developing it’s own natural gas resources.There is speculation that these talks between Egypt and Turkey is Ankara’s way of influencing in favor of the Nabucco Pipeline agreement that was signed in 2009 in Ankara.The Nabucco Pipeline agreement favors Turkey and several other European countries (Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria) in which the countries will receive natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan, Iraq, Turkmenistan and possibly Iran.According to Israel’s Globes financial news site, Erdogan wants to build an energy coalition against natural gas production agreements between Israel and Southern Cyprus.Israel’s Globes article also claims that Egypt has a natural gas pipeline with both Jordan and Syria. This makes extending the Nabucco pipeline network through Turkey, from northern Iraq, and into Europe ending in Vienna Austria.Erdogan states this plan for the Nabucco pipeline will give Turkey more control over a natural gas system putting Turkey in direct competition with Russia’s natural gas business. This agreement is also an answer to Israel’s natural Leviathan gas reserves and those also in Greek Cyprus.At the end of the deal, this will further promote Turkey’s goal of being a connecting, influential power in the region which will potentially now include the energy sector.If Erdogan’s natural gas route through Turkey does not pan out with the Egyptians, Cairo officials may start looking into solar energy projects that potentially have been Plan B for quite some time.Hmmmm......Will Erdogan compensate the financial loss for Egypt?Read the full story here.

• Jaffa synagogue firebombed.(Ynet).A Molotov cocktail was hurled at a Jaffa synagogue Saturday evening, as tensions were rising in the central Israel town after two Arab cemeteries were vandalized over the weekend. The firebomb hit the roof of the synagogue and did not cause significant damage. No injuries were reported in the incident. Police officials arrived at the site and launched an investigation into the attack. Meanwhile, some 150 Jewish and Arab Jaffa residents held an anti-racism rally Saturday night, where speakers issued harsh charges against Israel's government and top leaders. Speaking at the event, Knesset Member Jamal Zahalka (Balad) said: "We accuse the government of Israel."The Arab MK called for imprisoning Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on charges of incitement. "These little racists who come and spray paint a few slogans are much less dangerous than this dangerous government," he said. "The distance between racist words and acts is horrifically short," Zahalka said, while slamming Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the settlers, and Lieberman."The little racists who burned the mosque in Tuba Zangaria and attacked the cemeteries in Jaffa have spiritual fathers in the government." Referring to the string of recent attacks on Arab targets, the Balad MK charged that "a Jewish underground" is behind the vandalism spree. Chants at the rally included "Settler, stop now, you already crossed the line" and "Arabs against racism." Earlier, some 25 tombstones were vandalized at two Jaffa cemeteries belonging to Muslims and Christians. The messages “Death to Arabs” and “Price tag” were spray painted on the graves. Police later said that "Death to Russians" was another message painted at the site.President Shimon Peres condemned the vandalism acts at Jaffa’s Christian and Muslim cemeteries, referring to them as “despicable acts that disgrace us and contradict the moral values of Israeli society.”The president urged law enforcement officials to undertake the utmost efforts in order to nab the vandals. Read the full story here.

• Iran to build new advanced fighter jet.(NewsAZ).Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi says the country has launched a new project, intended to design and build a new advanced fighter jet.Brigadier General Vahidi said that Iran has gained considerable experience through the design and mass production of its first home-made Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) and Azarakhsh (Lightening) fighter jets.He made the remarks in Nojeh air base in the city of Hamedan, located 400 kilometers (248 miles) southwest of the Iranian capital Tehran.The Iranian defense minister noted that the design and production of advanced home-made fighter jets reveal the competence of Iran's defense industries and prove the futility of the US-led UN sanctions and additional unilateral sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic by the US and its European allies.Brigadier General Mohammadreza Karshki said last February that the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force has begun an extensive project to design and build the country's most advanced fighter jet.He added that the Iranian Air Force is cooperating with the nation's Defense Ministry in the project.The Iranian fighter jet is similar to the US-built F/A-18, although its appearance looks similar to F-5E/F Tiger II.The new single-seat bomber has the ability to track down enemy aircraft, engage in combat, target locations on the ground, and carry a load of assorted weapons and ammunition.Iran unveiled its first squadron of Saeqeh fighter-bombers in an air show in September 2010.Read the full story here.

• More than 100,000 protest against Assad during funeral of Kurdish opposition figure.(AlArabiya).More than 100,000 thousand Syrians rallied against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday during the funeral of Mishaal Tammo, a Kurdish opposition figure slain the previous day, Abdessalam Othman, of the Kurdish Future Movement in Syria, told Al Arabiya.Othman said security forces in civilian clothing randomly opened fire on demonstrators, killing five and wounding dozens.Earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that more 50,000 people were participating in the Tammo’s funeral.Protesters also took on the streets in the northern eastern cities of Amouda and al-Dirbasiya. In the central city of Homs, roads were blocked to prevent protesters from demonstrating and communication was cut. Gunmen shot dead Tammo on Friday in his home in the east of the country, activists said.Rami Abdel-Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said four gunmen entered the house in Qamishli, shooting Tammo dead and wounding his brother, Reuters reported.The opposition Local Coordination Committees said Tammo “was killed on Friday at his home by unidentified men. His son as well as female activist Zahida Rashkilo were wounded.”The official SANA news agency reported “the assassination,” but gave a different account of Tammo’s death. It said he was killed “by gunmen in a black car who fired at his car.”Tammo founded the liberal Kurdish Future Party, which considers the Kurds to be an integral part of Syria.He was a member of the newly formed opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) and had been released recently after spending three and a half years in prison.Tammo’s killing sparked indignation at home and abroad.The United States said Assad’s regime is escalating its tactics against the opposition with bold, daylight attacks on its leaders, while France said it was “shocked” by the news of the murder.“This is a clear escalation of regime tactics,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters, referring to reports of Tammo’s murder, as well as the beating on Friday of former MP Riad Seif.Nuland said both opposition leaders were attacked in broad daylight.France condemned the regime’s “brutal violence” in its crackdown on the opposition.“We are shocked by the assassination of opposition figure Mishaal Tammo... and by the attack on opposition figure Riad Seif,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.Seif, a former lawmaker, had to be given hospital treatment after being beaten outside a mosque in the capital's commercial neighborhood of Medan.Before the news of Tammo’s killing, a prominent Sheikh from the opposition was killed.Hmmmmm......"Reforming"?Read the full story here.