MFS - The Other news

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Japan 6.5 - 5.3 ; Indonesia 5.2 !More info here.

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

• NASA Captures New Images of Large Asteroid Passing Earth.(NASA).Pasadena, Calif. -- NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif. has captured new radar images of Asteroid 2005 YU55 passing close to Earth. The asteroid safely will safely fly past our planet slightly closer than the moon's orbit on Nov. 8. The last time a space rock this large came as close to Earth was in 1976, although astronomers did not know about the flyby at the time. The next known approach of an asteroid this size will be in 2028. The image was taken on Nov. 7 at 11:45 a.m. PST (2:45 p.m. EST/1945 UTC), when the asteroid was approximately 860,000 miles (1.38 million kilometers) away from Earth. Tracking of the aircraft carrier-sized asteroid began at Goldstone at 9:30 a.m. PDT on Nov. 4 with the 230-foot-wide (70-meter) antenna and lasted about two hours, with an additional four hours of tracking planned each day from Nov. 6 - 10. Radar observations from the Arecibo Planetary Radar Facility in Puerto Rico will begin Nov. 8, the same day the asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth at 3:28 p.m. PST (6:28 p.m. EST/1128 UTC). The trajectory of asteroid 2005 YU55 is well understood. At the point of closest approach, it will be no closer than 201,700 miles (324,600 kilometers) as measured from the center of Earth, or about 0.85 times the distance from the moon to Earth. The gravitational influence of the asteroid will have no detectable effect on Earth, including tides and tectonic plates. Although the asteroid is in an orbit that regularly brings it to the vicinity of Earth, Venus and Mars, the 2011 encounter with Earth is the closest it has come for at least the last 200 years. NASA detects, tracks and characterizes asteroids and comets passing close to Earth using both ground- and space-based telescopes. The Near-Earth Object Observations Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., commonly called "Spaceguard," discovers these objects, characterizes some of them, and plots their orbits to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet. JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.Read and see the full story here.

• Rep. Darrell Issa Urges US Atty in New York to Investigate ACORN for OWS Involvement.(BarrackNow).News broke a couple of weeks ago that ACORN was involved in paying people to participate in the Occupy Wall Street protests. About a week later, another report alleged that the ACORN office in New York - which had been renamed 'New York Communities for Change (NYCC) - began shredding documents and firing people they thought were responsible for the leaks. These reports have prompted House Oversight committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to send a letter to the US Attorney in New York, Loretta Lynch, urging a probe into ACORN's activities.HERE is a copy of the letter.As if we needed it, this just serves as further evidence that ACORN simply changed its name, hoping to operate with greater obscurity. Changing the name on the front door is all they did.Via Fox News:

In an Oct. 26. report, FoxNews.com quoted sources within NYCC who said that the group -- run and staffed by nearly all former ACORN employees -- was asking for donations for specific charitable purposes, including for the teachers union and PCB toxin testing in New York City schools.However, those donations were being rerouted to pay for Occupy Wall Street protests, the sources said.Issa requests Lynch to "investigate these allegations to determine if they have merit and prosecute any wrongdoing accordingly."When asked to comment on Issa's letter, Lynch's spokesman Robert Nardoza would only say, "I have no comment as it is a matter of policy that we do not confirm/deny or discuss investigations."A spokesman for NYCC did not immediately return FoxNews.com's request for comment.Issa's letter quotes from the initial FoxNews.com report. In that report, sources described how staff members collected door-to-door for the PCB campaign but then pooled the money and sent it elsewhere.Issa can't be all that hopeful that Lynch is going to do much of anything. The 'no comment' line from her spokesman may seem standard but at some level, it just reinforces the notion that Obama is ACORN and ACORN is Obama. Once again, Eric Holder is at the head of the Department that oversees all US Attorneys.At some point, this administration exchanged corruption for wickedness.More on the ACORN / OWS mess HERE. Read the full story here.

• Commander in chief of Occupy Wall Street.(DocsTalk).By Richard Baehr.For three years after college, U.S. President Barack Obama was a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side. In September, his former green jobs czar, Van Jones, who left the White House after his radical background and views were exposed by Glenn Beck, promised that America would take to the streets in October, expanding Occupy Wall Street to a mass movement around the country. The president’s adviser, Elizabeth Warren, who helped form the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and is now a U.S. Senate candidate in Massachusetts, claimed she created the intellectual foundation for Occupy Wall Street, remarks she has since backed away from a bit as the movement has turned violent, and others have challenged her proclaimed role. Democratic members of the House and Senate, and the president himself, have shown some affection or sympathy for the growing movement, and certainly for its message of the 1 percent versus the 99%. Since the Republicans took back control of the U.S. House, the president has led the charge with the mantra of “us (the great majority of Americans, asked to make sacrifices due to reduced federal spending) versus them (the rich and the corporations, who need to contribute more through higher taxes).” The president’s message has been divisive and stark -- that the choice facing the country was whether to continue tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, corporate jet owners, oil companies and hedge funds, or to hire police, firefighters and teachers. Put simply, the president’s message was public need versus greed. The facts that the top 1% pays 38% of the income tax burden, and that its share of the tax burden has been rising faster than its share of national income, are not allowed to get in the way of the inequality demagoguery. The president’s proposals call for a top income tax rate of 45% on wages, interest and dividends, a top capital gains tax rate of 24%, a 2.5% Medicare tax, plus state and income taxes (as high as 10% in some states). The near 60% marginal tax rate would be almost double the top combined rate established 25 years ago by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s agreement with then New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley.With polls showing the Democratic base dispirited and upset with the president for concessions to the Republicans in the debt ceiling compromise on deficits and federal spending, it should have been no surprise that the Occupy Wall Street movement was created to energize the Left, and make sure that its message of rising inequality (and the need for higher taxes on the rich and more redistribution) drove the debt ceiling/ deficits/federal spending debate off the front pages and cable news shows. Not surprisingly, the national media reports on Occupy Wall Street have whitewashed the ugliness (the rapes, thefts, violence, bad hygiene and anti-Semitism), giving full throat to the cause that the rich are getting richer, and the masses are stuck in place, and it is all the fault of the evil Wall Street bankers and other corporate villains. The liberal op-ed columnists have been busy releasing studies that purportedly show that rising inequality is suppressing jobs growth (the issue on which the president’s clear lack of success for the past three years is his greatest campaign vulnerability), and bad for the nation’s collective psyche. Presumably, class warfare and taking it to the streets are an elixir for the national mood.When the Tea Party became a national phenomenon in 2009, largely in opposition to the healthcare reform effort and rapidly rising federal spending and deficits, the media focus was very different -- quick to spot any evidence of bigotry or threats of violence by the party, and to highlight the lack of racial diversity among its members. The Tea Party message was of course, viewed as unimportant, since it challenged the liberal/Keynesean consensus. It is also true that when older, white Americans rally to a cause, their group identity alone makes their cause less important than one with more colors among the membership.In recent weeks, it has become more difficult for the media to completely ignore some of what is going on at various Occupy Wall Street sites. The multiple attacks on women in Zuccotti Park has led to the creation of a women-only tent, with female security personnel, to stop the groping, harassment and rape that have been going on fairly routinely for weeks. The national media would probably prefer to blame Herman Cain for these attacks.The Occupy Boston group found time to occupy the Israeli Consulate to protest the latest failed flotilla effort. Occupy Oakland trashed a good part of downtown, as its protest turned violent. Occupy Atlanta may be in bed with the Nation of Islam. In Chicago and Washington, D.C., Occupy mobs interrupted conferences to spout their messages of class warfare.That a far-Left movement is hostile to Israel and prone to violence and disruption should not come as any great surprise. The Occupy Wall Street movement has become in a sense a tapestry of much of the Obama coalition: unions, college students and professors (the Marxist-spouting philosopher kings of the movement), racial minorities, the homeless, and other walking wounded on the street. This is Obama’s real army, a big part of the grand coalition that carried him to victory in 2008 and that he needs again next year. As the president prepares to withdraw from Iraq this year and possibly Afghanistan next year, one gets the sense that the former community organizer may be more comfortable serving as commander in chief of this “army” now occupying the streets of cities across America, an army broadcasting the same class warfare message he delivers in a suit and tie.Hmmmm......I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes. ~ Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776.Read the full story here.

• Hillary Clinton says U.S. ready to work with Islamists groups: “not all Islamists are alike.”(AlArabiya).Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday heralded the movements of Arab Spring and said the United States was prepared to work with rising Islamist groups in the region, such as those who enjoyed a recent election victory in Tunisia.The United States shares “their desire to see a Tunisian democracy emerge,” she told an audience National Democratic Institute in Washington, in an address that emphasized: “not all Islamists are alike.”What parties call themselves, she added, “is less important to us than what they actually do.”Tunisia’s main Islamist party Ennahda swept the polls in a landmark vote last month over their main challenger, the secular center-left PDP party.To govern, Clinton said, the party must “persuade secular parties to work with them... America will work with them, too,” and noted that the group’s leaders have “have promised to embrace freedom of religion and full rights for women.”The top U.S. diplomat listed key criteria any party must meet in a democracy, including the rejection of violence, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for the rights of women and minorities, and an acceptance of electoral defeats.“The suggestion that faithful Muslims cannot thrive in a democracy is insulting, dangerous, and wrong,” she said.Washington, embracing transitions of the Arab Spring where long-time strongmen fell across the region this year, rejects “the false choice between progress and stability,” she added.“Dictators told their people they had to accept the autocrats they knew to avoid the extremists they feared.“Too often,” Clinton admitted, “we accepted that narrative ourselves,” and said the United States pushed for reform “but often not hard enough, or publicly enough.”After the turbulent events in recent months, “we recognize that the real choice is between reform and unrest,” she said.Hmmm........Maybe this might explain a lot?Read the full story here.

• Name and Shame? Obama May Go Public with Lawmakers' Funding Requests.(NationalJournal).In a move that could escalate hostilities with Congress, President Obama may be planning to use his executive authority to publicize special funding requests that lawmakers make for pet projects.A memo that the White House has floated on Capitol Hill would require executive branch agencies to make public any letter from a member of Congress seeking special consideration for any project or organization vying for government funding. National Journal obtained a draft copy of the executive memo.A White House spokesman declined to comment, except to say he did not believe the document would be coming next week.The threat to name and shame would potentially cut off another avenue members of Congress have for influencing government spending in their own back yards. It comes at a time that Obama is ratcheting up his campaign rhetoric against Congress, which he blames for blocking his efforts to stimulate the economy, on the eve of his 2012 reelection effort.In the draft language, the administration couches the move as an extension of its efforts to eliminate congressional earmarks and promote government openness and accountability.Such a decision by the White House could cause embarrassment for members who say they do not request earmarks, but who have written to executive branch agencies seeking special consideration for funding in their districts.Other aides worried the new rules will represent a further consolidation of power within the executive branch. The ban on earmarks has already given executive branch departments more freedom to create their budgets; further limiting member influence on those budgets would only move power farther away from the Capitol.The proposed memo will build on an executive order that former President George W. Bush issued in January 2008, which banned federal agencies from accepting funding requests from members of Congress unless those requests were specifically included in legislative texts. That executive order drew fire from Capitol Hill and lobbying agencies, which said the White House was robbing Congress of its right to set spending priorities.Hmmm......The most 'transparant' administration evah, how about his records?Read the full story here.

• Is Obama Really Bari Shabazz, Fugitive from Justice Following An Auto Accident in Honolulu.(BR).Is Putative President Barack Hussein Obama II Really Bari Shabazz, Fugitive from Justice For 21 Years Following An Auto Accident in Honolulu County, Hawaii on March 12, 1982?By Mario Apuzzo, Esq.On November 2, 2011, I published an article entitled and asking the question, “Is Barack Hussein Obama II Really Bâri′ M. Shabazz, Born October 28, 1959 in New York City? ”, accessed at here. The basis of the question that I asked came from a November 2, 2011 breaking story published by Martha Trowbridge entitled, “Bâri′, Barry, Barack, accessed at here. In her article, Ms. Trowbridge’s contends that putative President Barack Hussein Obama II’s real name is Bâri′ M. Shabazz and that his date of birth is October 28, 1959, and his social security number is 084-54-5926. She says he was born in New York City. She adds that he was born with the name Bâri′ M. Shabazz. She also says that to be able to enter the political world, Bâri′ M. Shabazz had to change his birth identity and take on a new one which became Barack Hussein Obama II.Ms. Trowbridge says: “We know this: Bâri′ M. Shabazz was assigned social security number 084-54-5926, issued in New York, in 1974.”Ms. Trowbridge has found that the Social Security Death Index shows: “SHABAZZ, B M 28 Oct 1959 Aug 1994 (V) 34 (PE) (none specified) New York 084-54-5926.” From this, one would think that Bâri′ died in August 1994. But no, Ms. Trowbridge informs that only his identity was made “dead.” The real person continued to live and that person became “Barack Hussein Obama II.” Note how she explains that the “death” of Bâri′ was only reported by someone (“V” or “Verified”) and that the person did not present any valid death certificate (“P” or “Proof).What’s more Ms. Trowbridge explains that “[o]nce in the federal system, the [death] record was flagged as ‘PE’, meaning that an inconsistency exists between what was reported and what was recorded in the government’s files.”Finally, and the most shocking part of her report is that Ms. Trowbridge contends that Bâri′ M. Shabazz is the biological son of Malcolm X. Hence, if Barack Hussein Obama II is the same person as Bâri′ M. Shabazz, that would make putative President Obama the biological son of Malcolm X.On November 4, 2011, an anonymous source emailed me something very interesting. To substantiate the content of the email, the writer directed me to go to a web site of the Judiciary for the State of Hawaii and to do a search of cases that have been disposed of by that State’s traffic courts. The anonymous source had done just that and so the person provided me with the information which that traffic court shows on its web site.I did go to the Hawaii traffic court’s web site which is called eCourt Kokua and I was eventually able to confirm the information that the anonymous source sent me.

1. On April 9, 2003, the prosecutor filed a motion to recall the bench warrant, to terminate prosecution, and close the case. Why would this case come to the attention of some local prosecutor 21 years following the initial violation of March 12, 1982? A local prosecutor does not just go looking for cases that are 21 years old and file motions to dismiss those cases. Someone must have asked that local prosecutor to dismiss the case so that the arrest warrant was cleared from the court’s and nation’s computer system.
2. Ms. Trowbridge shows that Bâri′ M. Shabazz, according to the Social Security Death Index, died in August 1994. If Bâri′ M. Shabazz is the same person as is listed in this Hawaii auto accident as Bari Shabazz, why would someone care to recall his arrest warrant on April 9, 2003 or almost 9 years after his death? Surely, it could not be Bâri′ M. Shabazz who was interested since he had been dead since 1994. On the other hand, if he was not dead he would be interested.
3. On October 30, 2005, or 23 years following the date of the accident of March 12, 1982, the court again re-visits the case of Bari Shabazz, noting that he did not owe the court any money but to “Pls. check.” Why would the court again concern itself with this case on that date, especially if Bari Shabazz was dead since 1994?
4. Finally, when there is an auto accident, the police do a detailed accident report. That report includes the name, addresses, date of birth, and social security number of the person involved in the accident who is charged for that accident. The driver’s license number is also included if that license is produced or otherwise verified. A physical description of the defendant is also included. The make of auto, including the year made and VIN number are also included, along with statements of witnesses. There could be a photograph of the defendant in the police record. A thorough investigation of this matter would surely include searching the police record in Honolulu County for this report so that this information may be examined and evaluated.Read and see the full story here.

• Meet the Radical Group Handling ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Finances.(Heritage).A story in a communist group's newspaper, obtained by Heritage at Zuccotti Park, implores protesters to "smash" Wall Street.Shortly after the Occupy Wall Street protests gained national attention, donations from supporters began pouring in. Lacking the infrastructure to manage the hundreds of thousands of dollars reportedly donated, the protest group enlisted the services of a non-profit organization called the Alliance for Global Justice.The group takes a 7 percent commission of all donations it manages. According to its secretary, the Alliance for Global Justice is processing hundreds of times as many donations as it did prior to partnering with the Occupy protestors.The AFGJ provides “grassroots” support for organizations that pursue “a socially, ecologically and economically just world,” according to its website. Among its initiatives are efforts to encourage American soldiers to desert and an anti-George Bush organization founded by members of the Revolutionary Communist Party.The organization’s president, Katherine Hoyt, leads the Alliance’s Nicaragua Network program, which supports the country’s Marxist Sandinista political party – and was founded for the explicit purpose of overthrowing the country’s government. Hoyt previously worked for the Sandinista government, and has written numerous scholarly works lauding the group. The Sandinistas ruled from 1979 to 1990. Their leader, Daniel Ortega, was elected again in 2006.The Nicaragua Network is one of the Alliance’s four “core” projects, but it also funds a variety of extreme leftist organizations and efforts. Courage to Resist, for instance, encourages American soldiers to “resist illegal war” through tactics that include “going AWOL” and “publicly refusing to fight.”Another Alliance-backed project, The World Can’t Wait, was founded by members of the Revolutionary Communist Party to oppose the Bush administration. With Bush’s successor in office, its mission statement has shifted to “stop[ping] the fascist direction initiated by the Bush Regime.”Given the radical nature of many of its projects, it is perhaps unsurprising that the Alliance receives money from a host of progressive individuals and organizations. Chief among them is George Soros’s Open Society Institute, which has given the group $100,000.The AFGJ has also received tens of thousands of dollars from the Foundation for Deep Ecology, which holds “the emphasis upon economic growth as a panacea” to be “fundamentally incompatible with ecological or biological sustainability.” It is explicitly anti-economic growth, in other words.Much hay has been made over organizations and individuals that have endorsed the Occupy protests. They include the American Nazi Party, the government of North Korea, the Islamic terrorist group Hezbollah, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Kohmeini. But the Occupy folks have no control over who endorses or voices support for them.But in their decision to enlist the Alliance for Global Justice, the Occupy Wall Street leadership affirmed its support for the group and its principles. Those principles are radical, well outside the mainstream of American public opinion, and certainly not representative of the 99% of Americans for whom the protestors claim to speak.Heritage’s Brian Darling, who spent the day at Zuccotti Park on Friday, said the affirmative support for such a radical group didn’t surprise him. “The Occupy Wall Street movement has embraced the far left like the Alliance for Global Justice,” he said. “I witnessed a sign supporting the movement from the Workers’ World Party and other far left wing groups.”Critics note that the presence of radicals at a protest does not denote a protest movement’s endorsement. But the affirmative relationship between Occupy Wall Street and the Alliance for Global Justice does – it speaks directly to the political vision of the movement’s leaders.Read the full story here.

• Senate Poised to Vote on Resolution Blocking FCC’s Net Neutrality Rule.(Heritage).Congress could move a step closer to rejecting the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to regulate the Internet this week when the Senate considers a resolution targeting the agency’s net neutrality rule.Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) introduced the measure, S.J. Res. 6, to halt the FCC from implementing the regulation. The Congressional Review Act gives lawmakers the authority to overrule regulations from government agencies.Hutchison’s resolution simply states: “That Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to the matter of preserving the open Internet and broadband industry practices (Report and Order FCC 10–201, adopted by the Commission on December 21, 2010), and such rule shall have no force or effect.”Republicans will need to win at least four Democratic votes in order for the resolution to pass the Senate; it needs a simple majority. The U.S. House approved the resolution, H.J. Res. 37, on April 8 by a vote of 240-179.Speaking last week at Heritage’s Bloggers Briefing, Hutchison criticized federal bureaucrats for interfering with the Internet, an engine of economic growth. “There is no need for us to mess around with that kind of success,” she said. “It is a success, and it doesn’t need fixing.”Below is video of Hutchison’s appearance at The Bloggers Briefing on Nov. 1.Read and see the full story here.

• Shaykh al-Huwayni: The Penalty for Apostasy Is Death; Only "Boozers and Druggies" Say Otherwise.(TranslatingJihad).How many times have we heard Western so-called 'experts' on Islam as well as politicians cite the Qur'anic verse "there is no compulsion in religion" as an example of Islamic tolerance. According to Egyptian Shaykh Abu-Ishaq al-Huwayni, all of those people might be "boozers and druggies," because despite that verse, "Islam is a religion which has limitations and rulings." One of those, upon which all scholars are in agreement, is that any Muslim who leaves Islam must be killed.This is taken from a video clip posted on YouTube in May 2009. The subtitled video is above, and the English transcript is below (thanks to Nonie Darwish for her help on this one):"They say that freedom of conscience should be provided to every human being.... because Allah Almighty says, 'There is no compulsion in religion'." So it is like a druggie interpreting the Qur'an. "There is no compulsion in religion?" True. "Whoever will may believe, and whoever will may disbelieve?" True. However, this is on the condition that you do not enter the Islamic faith. You are free. No one is compelled to believe in, or convert to, Islam. You're Christian? Be a Christian. You're Jewish? Be a Jew. You're in any other religion? Be whatever you like. But you should know that Islam is a religion that has limitations and rulings. One of its established rulings, upon which all scholars unanimously agree, is that whoever enters Islam voluntarily, not forcibly--it is not permissible for him to apostatize from Islam. If he does that, the ruling upon him is death. You still want to enter the faith with this punishment? Fine. You don't want to enter? Fine? We don't need a curse. We don't want you either. This is the ruling in Islam. "There is no compulsion in religion"? Ah. If your Lord willed it, everyone on earth would believe. Then will you yet compel people to become believers? I don't know anyone who has been compelled to enter into Islam. The offer was left to the early Muslims. They were courageous peoples. They were distinguished by the strength of their hearts, of their will, and their firmness in making decisions. Islam was offered to them, and they believed. We don't know of anyone who has been killed simply for being an infidel. Nor is it permissible for anyone to kill someone simply because he is an infidel. Islam is a religion which was established on persuasion. No one is ever compelled to enter Islam. However, if he enters Islam, there are rulings. There are those who want to have freedom to reject Islam (kufr). If a Muslim disbelieves, there is a penalty. But some say "There is no compulsion in religion." He doesn't pray? "There is no compulsion in religion." He doesn't pay alms, or perform the hajj, or fast? "There is no compulsion in religion!" What Muslim scholar has ever approved this? No one ever has, and no one ever should speak this nonsense. The only ones who advocate this are druggies and boozers. At a time when people are reaffirming the Islamic doctrine in every corner on earth, such advocates want to get rid of Islam.Read the full story here.

• Alleged Turkish use of chemical weapons to land at Swedish parliament.(Firat).A demonstration was staged in Sweden’s capital city Stockholm to protest the murder of 35 guerrillas allegedly by chemical weapons used by the Turkish army. Left Party MP Amineh Kakabaveh remarked that he would carry the alleged use of chemical weapons onto the Swedish Parliament. Gathering at Sergel Square, around 350 people protested against the military operations and alleged use of chemical weapons. Demonstrators carried the photos of 35 guerrillas who lost their life between October 22-24. A candle was lit in front of each photograph and a black cloth was hanged in the area with 35 red carnations. Making the first speech on behalf of CDK after one minute's silence for 35 guerrillas and revolution martyrs, Mahir Dicle stated that chemical weapons can’t prevent the fair fight of the Kurdish people. Swedish Kurdish Council President Ayşe Göktepe reminded the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish army against Kurdish guerrillas in previous times and demanded an investigation of the attack by the United Nations and the Swedish Government. The Kurdish Council also made a press statement and reminded of the Human Rights Association (IHD) Diyarbakır Branch’s report which stated that 437 guerrillas had lost their lives in 39 separate military operations between 1994 and 2011 as a result of the chemical weapons used by the Turkish state. The statement demanded that the European Union and the Swedish Government step in the process against the use of chemicals by the Turkish state which accedes to the agreement that acknowledges the prohibition of chemical weapons. Left Party MP Amineh Kakabaveh who carried the subject onto the agenda of the Swedish Parliament earlier stated that he would once again bring the issue to the agenda since the use of chemical weapons is a war crime. Read the full story here.

• Russian police forcefully break up Occupy 'Kremlin' Protest.(Stratrisk).Moscow – Kremlin critics put an Occupy Wall Street twist on a protest in the Russian capital over next month’s parliamentary election on Monday, but the result was the same as usual: dispersal and detention.Police forcefully broke up a small rally by government opponents who donned the kind of mustachioed Guy Fawkes masks popular with anti-greed protesters in London, New York and other cities.About a dozen protesters gathered outside the Central Election Commission headquarters and announced plans to “Occupy Old Square” — a square nearby that houses presidential administration offices.There have been few major Occupy Wall Street-style rallies in Russia, and despite the spin on Monday’s protest, the protesters made clear their message was about the Dec. 4 parliamentary election. They chanted “Cancel the illegal elections!” and held placards with similar slogans.In an echo of other recent protests over the election — without the masks — the demonstrators were quickly seized by camouflage-clad police and shoved roughly into a waiting bus. Police said they violated the law by holding a rally without official permission.Kremlin critics say that the parliamentary election will not be democratic, saying vociferous opposition groups have been barred from the vote illegally. They also charge that Vladimir Putin’s dominant United Russia party will use its levers of power to skew the results in its favour.The parliamentary vote will be followed by a March 2012 presidential election in which Putin is expected to return to the Kremlin after four years as prime minister.The tiny protest outside the Central Election Commission headquarters was far smaller than a march and rally celebrating the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.Police said about 4,000 people took part in the state-sanctioned rally organized by the Communist Party, which polls indicate will come in a distant second to United Russia in the parliamentary vote, as in previous elections.Nov. 7 was a major holiday in the Soviet era, but it is no longer a day off and the Kremlin has replaced it with a Nov. 4 holiday that officially commemorates the 17th century expulsion of Polish invaders.Hmmmm......"Occupy Gulag ...Comrade?Read the full story here.

• North Korea gearing up for massive military exercise: sources.(Stratrisks).By Kang Hyun-kyung.The North Korean military is preparing for a massive military exercise involving its navy and air force, despite signs of renewed dialogue on its nuclear weapons program, according to sources here.A government official said Tuesday that the North was appearing to be readying for a military exercise from a naval base in Nampo and an airforce base in Onchon in South Pyeongan Province, northwest of the border.He said warships and fighters have been assembled there, prompting suspicion that North Korea may be setting up for a landing exercise.It is unusual for Pyongyang to launch such a large-scale exercise.The possible drill came amid growing expectations for the resumption of the stalled nuclear talks after the two Koreas held a series of talks in Bali, Indonesia on the sidelines of the Asian Regional Forum.Military experts said it could be a hostile response to an annual joint Korea-U.S. military drill.The Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command recently announced the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise will be held from Aug. 16 to 26.Gen. James D. Thurman, the Combined Forces Command commander, said the exercise will “present the Korea-U.S. alliance with tough and realistic training events focused on preparing, preventing and prevailing against the full range of current and future threats to South Korea and the region.”The annual joint exercise regularly annoys the North.On Sunday, North Korea’s Central News Agency called it “an intentional provocative act,” threatening to take countermeasures.Another state-controlled media outlet in the North described the exercise as “a plan for aggression toward the nation,” saying the country’s patience was wearing thin.North Korea has had stormy reactions to the South whenever it has announced plans to hold military exercises.Some analysts said South Korea’s setting up of the Northwest Islands Defense Command near the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea in June has also played a role in the massive military drill.The South established the command in the wake of North Korea’s artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island near the maritime border. The attack took the lives of four South Koreans.Read the full story here.

• Suspected Islamic extremists with Somalia’s al Shabaab Attack Church Compound in Kenya Kills Two, Wounds Three.(CompassDirect).GARISSA, Kenya, — Suspected Islamic extremists with Somalia’s al Shabaab militia threw a grenade into the home of the church guard of an East Africa Pentecostal Church (EAPC) congregation outside Garissa, Kenya on Saturday night (Nov. 5), killing an 8-year-old girl and another member of the church, sources said.Three other people were seriously injured in the 8 p.m. grenade attack on the house, which is near the gate of the church compound. Killed instantly were 8-year-old Winnie Mwenda Mutinda and 25-year-old church member John Kikavu. The child was the youngest daughter of church elder Patrick Mutinda, who also serves as the guard or watchman of the church building, sources said. The other three people in the house at the time of the blast were seriously wounded. The watchman’s son, Samuel Mutinda, 12, suffered burns on his chest and leg, and his 10-year-old brother, Peter Mutinda, sustained burns on his hand and leg; the injuries of both boys required doctors to remove portions of skin. Burns on their grandmother, Rachael Kandu, also required the removal of skin from her leg, sources said. The three wounded family members were first taken to the house of the church pastor within the compound before they were rushed to Garissa Provincial Hospital.“The three injured Christians are in stable condition in the hospital undergoing treatment,” the pastor told Compass. “I hope they will be discharged soon.” Al Shabaab activity near the Somali-Kenya border, including Garissa in northeast Kenya, has increased since Kenya began air strikes on al Shabaab-held territory in southern Somalia last month in retaliation for the rebel group’s kidnapping and murder of foreigners in Kenya. Even before Kenya’s military action, however, the Islamic extremist militia battling Somalia’s transitional government had threatened and attacked Christians in northeastern Kenya. The church pastor, the Rev. Ibrahim Makunyi Kamwaro, told Compass he was witness to the explosion.“I saw big blast coming out of the house, and immediately I rushed to the scene of the incident, and I heard the attackers saying, ‘You will have to stop taking of wine,’ as they fled away,” he said. Islam forbids consumption of alcohol, but Makunyi Kamwaro said he was not sure what the comment meant. “I think the church participation in the Holy Communion might have been taken to mean the church members taking wine,” he said. “This statement is quite unclear to me.”Also on Saturday (Nov. 5), in the morning hours a bomb in Garissa near the Heller gas station and close to an electrical transformer was removed before it exploded. Police who received reports of white sparks at the site were able to remove and defuse the bomb. Pastor Makunyi Kamwaro told Compass that, in spite of the al Shabaab activity in the area, he was not sure who was responsible for the deadly blast. “At the moment we cannot say exactly who the attackers are, but what we know is that they are the enemies of the church,” he said. Another area pastor said a fellowship of church leaders met on Thursday (Nov. 3) and wrote a letter to authorities requesting police security for churches in Garissa, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. The pastor said that he received a threatening message yesterday on his cell phone, reading, “Message from al Shabaab – You must migrate [from] Garissa town within 48 hours or you see bomb blast taking your life and we know your house, Christians will see war. Don’t take it so lightly. We are for your neck.” In Garissa, police today also found three bombs before they could be detonated: one on a mini-bus, one near a gas station and one at a new house under construction.In the attack on Saturday, in which one grenade missed its target before a second one hit, the parents of the children were not home; Patrick Mutinda was still in Garissa, about 1 kilometer from the EAPC building. His wife, known as “Mama Grace,” was helping the church pastor’s wife. EAPC Pastor Makunyi Kamwaro told Compass that the church’s worship service will continue as usual this Sunday.“Many of the church members have been with us here in the church building since the incident took place 10 hours ago,” he said yesterday, before Compass arrived at the scene today. “As I talk to you now over the phone, there are many people around or within the church compound: the church members, the police and people from the press. Thank you for keeping in touch with us and comforting us at this trying moment.”Garissa is the provincial headquarters of Kenya’s North Eastern Province, which is predominantly Muslim.Muslims restrict churches in Garissa in various ways. Christians are not allowed conduct prayers, sing or use musical instruments in rented homes owned by Muslims. No teaching of Christian Religious Education in schools is allowed; only Islamic Religious Knowledge is taught. Garissa has more than 15 Christian denominations, the main ones being the EAPC, the Redeemed Gospel Church, the Anglican Church, the Deliverance Church, the Full Gospel Churches of Kenya, the Africa Inland Church and the African Christian Churches and schools.Read the full story here.

• A 'different kind' of Russian Matrioskas, Russian man kept 29 mummified bodies in his flat.(Boston).Moscow — The Russian historian had always been open about his interest in the dead and eagerly described how he loved to rummage through cemeteries, studying grave stones to uncover the life stories behind them. What he failed to mention, according to police, was that he had dug up 29 bodies and taken them back to his apartment, where he dressed them in women's clothes scavenged from graves and then put them on display.A police video of the man's apartment in the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod released Monday shows his macabre collection of what look like dolls. Lifesize, they are dressed in bright dresses and headscarves, their hands and faces wrapped in what appears to be cloth. Police said they were mummified remains.Instructions for doll-making were found in the apartment, police said, and the video showed old-fashioned plastic dolls in frilly dresses lying about.Police refused to name the suspect arrested last week, but released photographs of him, gave his age as 45 and described him as a well-known specialist in the history of the city about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Moscow.Russian media reports identified the man as Anatoly Moskvin, a 45-year-old historian who was considered the ultimate expert on cemeteries in Nizhny Novgorod.Russian newspaper reports quoted police as saying that the man had only selected the remains of young women for his grisly collection.Police said he had photographs and nameplates from grave sites, which could help with the identification of the remains.The arrest followed a long-running investigation into the desecration of graves at several cemeteries in Nizhny Novgorod beginning in 2010, police spokeswoman Svetlana Kovylina said. She did not explain how they tracked him down.The national daily Moskovsky Komsomolets said Moskvin was detained at a cemetery while carrying a bag of bones. But Kriminalnaya Khronika, an online publication specializing in crime news from the Nizhny Novgorod region, said police investigators discovered the bodies when they visited Moskvin to consult with him about the desecration.Alexei Yesin, the editor of a local newspaper to which Moskvin contributed, told The Associated Press that he was shocked by the reports and couldn't understand how he could have squeezed all the bodies into his apartment, which he shared with his parents.He described Moskvin as a loner who had "certain quirks," but said he gave no indication that he was up to anything so strange. "I saw no signs of that while working with him," Yesin said in a telephone interview.Moskvin, who long had been known in the region for his interest in the dead, wrote several articles about cemeteries and historic sites in the region. A linguistic expert by training, he specialized in Celtic culture and studied 13 foreign languages.In a 2007 interview with the newspaper Nizhegorodsky Rabochy, or Nizhny Novgorod Worker, Moskvin said he had begun wandering through cemeteries when he was in the seventh grade. "I don't think anyone in the city knows them better than I do," he said.Moskvin claimed that from 2005 to 2007 he had inspected 752 cemeteries across the region, often traveling about 30 kilometers (20 miles) a day by foot.He said he drank from puddles, spent nights in haystacks or at abandoned farms and once even slept in a coffin readied for a funeral. He said he was repeatedly questioned by police, who then always let him go.Just last month, he wrote a piece for a publication on necrology to explain his interest in the dead. He said that when he was 12, he came across a funeral procession whose participants forced him to kiss the face of a dead 11-year-old girl."An adult pushed my face down to the waxy forehead of the girl in an embroidered cap, and there was nothing I could do but kiss her as ordered," Moskvin wrote in Nekrolog.He said he later grew interested in the occult.Hmmmm.......linguistic expert ...i wonder wich language he spoke to 'them'?Read and see the full story here.