MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Papua New Guinea 7.3 ;  Tongs 5.3 - 5.1  !More info here.

• "The Most transparant Administration EVAH!" - Obama State Department Meets With Islamic Countries Behind Closed Doors, Aims To Denounce “Offensive Speech”.(CNSNews.com) — The State Department on Monday launched three days of closed-door talks with representatives of international organizations and several dozen countries with the stated aim of promoting religious freedom and tolerance while ensuring that freedom of expression is not harmed in the process.U.S. Ambassador at Large for international religious freedom Suzan Johnson Cook, said on Monday, “We must denounce offensive speech whenever we encounter it — but our commitment to universal principles makes clear that faith must never be a crime and religion must never be used as an excuse to stifle freedom of expression.”The Obama administration’s initiative, building on a resolution adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) last March, has drawn some criticism, in part because of the key role being played by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which has sought for years to stifle speech deemed to denigrate Islam.The OIC, a bloc of 56 Muslim states, has campaigned for more than a decade against “defamation of religion,” galvanized by actions such as the publications of newspaper cartoons satirizing Mohammed, anti-shari’a activism, and threats to damage copies of the Qur’an.Last week, Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) wrote to Clinton, voicing concern about the collaboration with the OIC, AFP reported“We are eager to work with you to preserve the universal right of all individuals to speak out freely regardless of their religious beliefs,” Poe was quoted as saying in the letter.“What we are seeing here is a direct assault with the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and our own U.S. State Department in an effort to chill and curb religious liberties and free speech in America,” Traditional Values Coalition president Andrea Lafferty said in a statement.“Americans are tired of being told that we are our own worst enemy. Terrorists attacked the United States, in the name of Islam, because they hate the freedoms that make us strong,” she said. “What will history say if we allowed the diplomats and bureaucrats of the United Nations and State Department to accomplish what terrorists and planes could not?”Hmmmm......Obama: “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”Read the full story here.

• Issa: Piracy bill would give Holder ‘broad new powers to police the Internet’.(DailyCaller).In a statement released Tuesday, House oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa criticized an amendment proposed by Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith to the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, saying it does not fix anything and would give “Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice broad new powers to police the Internet.”SOPA, which is Smith’s bill, would place authority over websites that facilitate copyright infringement under Justice Department jurisdiction.The bill — heavily criticized by politicians, social networking sites and political advocacy groups for its “broad reach” — is expected to see full committee markup before Smith’s House Judiciary Committee Thursday.“The manager’s amendment retains the fundamental flaws of its predecessor by blocking Americans’ ability to access websites, imposing costly regulation on web companies and giving Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice broad new powers to police the internet,” said Issa.Read the full story here.

• Sources: Iran may soon start nuclear work in bunker.(YNet).Iran could soon launch sensitive atomic activities in an underground facility deep inside a mountain, diplomatic sources said on Wednesday, a development likely to add to tension between Tehran and the West.Iranian experts have carried out the necessary preparations at Fordow near the holy city of Qom, paving the way for the Islamic state to begin higher-grade uranium enrichment at the site on a former military base.The machines, equipment and nuclear material needed have been transferred and installed at Fordow, the sources added, suggesting the work itself -- until now conducted above ground at another location -- could start when Iran takes the decision. It coincides with a period of escalating tension between Western powers and Iran after a UN nuclear watchdog report last month said Tehran appeared to have worked on designing a nuclear weapon, and that secret research may continue. The United States and its European allies have seized on the unprecedented document by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ratchet up the sanctions pressure on Iran, one of the world's largest oil producers. Enriched uranium can be used to fuel power plants, which is Iran's stated aim, or provide material for atomic bombs if processed much further, which the West suspects is the country's ultimate intention. Proliferation expert Shannon Kile noted that Iran earlier this year announced it would shift its most sensitive enrichment activity to Fordow but that the actual start would still be significant. "Obviously, for people who are concerned about Iran's ability to break out and to enrich to weapons-grade this is a pretty good step along that route," said Kile, of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Iran's decision last year to raise the level of some enrichment from the 3.5% purity needed for normal power plant fuel to 20% worried Western states that saw this as bringing it significantly closer to the 90 percent needed for a bomb. Iran says the material will help fuel a research reactor. A commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards was quoted by the semi-official Mehr News Agency on Wednesday as saying that Iran will move its uranium enrichment plants to safer sites if necessary, without elaborating. The United States and Israel, Iran's arch foes, have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the long-running nuclear dispute, which has the potential to spark a wider conflict in the Middle East. Last month's IAEA report said Iran had installed two cascades -- or interlocked networks -- of 174 centrifuges each at Fordow. Centrifuges spin at supersonic speeds to increase the fissile isotope ratio. A cylinder of uranium hexafluoride gas -- material that is fed into centrifuge machines to refine uranium -- had also been transferred there, the report said. Iran only disclosed the existence of Fordow to the IAEA in September 2009 after learning that Western intelligence agencies had detected it. Tehran says it will use 20%-enriched uranium to convert into fuel for a research reactor making isotopes to treat cancer patients, but Western officials say they doubt that the country has the technical capability to do that. Western experts say tightening sanctions, technical hurdles and possible cyber sabotage have slowed Iran's atomic advances. But it is still amassing low-enriched uranium and now has enough for 2-4 bombs, if refined much more, the experts say. Iran has also stepped up development work of more advanced centrifuge models that would enable it to enrich uranium faster than with the breakdown-prone IR-1 machines it is now using, the diplomatic sources said. At a research facility in Natanz, it has started feeding a network of some 160 so-called IR-2m centrifuges with uranium hexafluoride gas to test their performance. If Iran eventually succeeds in introducing the more modern machines for production, it could significantly shorten the time needed to stockpile enriched uranium.But it is unclear whether Tehran, subject to increasingly strict international sanctions, has the means and components to make the more sophisticated machines in bigger numbers. "We should not overestimate the progress," one source said, adding that Iran had tried to develop more modern centrifuges for several years. Hmmmm......"We should not underestimate the progress seems more likely"Read the full story here.

• Does the White House Remind Hillary Clinton of Iran?(Matzav).By Orthodox Pundit.Ezra Friedlander describes his experience at the White House Hanukkah event, where he was amazed of the attention and sensitivity exhibited towards our religion: “What I did not expect was what the Military Social Aide asked my wife and I, as we were approaching the receiving line: “are you shomer nigiah?” explaining that if so our photo takings would be handshaking with the President and First Lady respectively. To be honest, I did not expect this level of courtesy. This level of detail reflected something very unusual but very positive: that we as Orthodox Jews have not only the right to be fully observant but indeed are obligated to do so.”It’s really heartening, and we should all appreciate that gesture. At the same time, we should ask, why some in the administration call for the suppression of these very same rights to our fellow Jews in other countries?As reported and commented on last week, Secretary of State Clinton criticized the gender-segregation on some public busses in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Israel as some of the things that reminds her of Iran. A strong reason for this separation of the genders is to avoid touching each other. Can someone please explain me why that tradition, that the marines at the WH are trained to accommodate, should not be accommodated on Public Transportation provided in Orthodox neighborhoods and used by Orthodox communities (there are separate routes for those who want to ride mixed).Madam Secretary: While Mr. Fridlander had the choice to skip this event, the bus commuters in Israel have little choice and can’t afford private transportation. Can you please explain why catering to their customs a resemblance of Iran?Read the full story here.

• Killing spree Murderer in Liege - Police Discover Body of 45 -year old cleaning lady at Killer's Home.(Spiegel).One day after a man went on a shooting rampage in the Belgian city of Liege, police announced that they found the body of a woman at the assailant's home. The woman was in her 40s and was discovered during a search of attacker Nordine Amrani's property in Liege. "It was a cleaning lady," said Liege Prosecutor Daniele Reynders on Wednesday morning. "She died with a bullet in the head."The killing spree at Place Saint Lambert square in the Liege city center left an additional three people dead, including two teenage boys aged 15 and 17 and a 17-month-old toddler who succumbed on Tuesday evening to injuries sustained during the attack.Amrani's former attorney expressed shock over the killings. "I never would have believed that he was capable of something like this," said Brussels-based defense attorney Abdelhadi Amrani, who had represented the killer years ago on other charges and is unrelated to Nordine.During his attack, the perpetrator threw stun grenades and then fired into the crowd before committing suicide. The two teenage boys died on site. A 75-year-old woman who had been reported dead by many news agencies on Tuesday is actually in critical condition along with four others. The 75-year-old is not expected to survive.The massacre occurred during the lunch hour near the city's popular Christmas market, which attracts up to 1.5 million visitors per year. At least 125 people were injured and several remain in critical condition, including one 20-year-old man who sustained brain injuries. Many of the victims were struck by bullets or shards of glass. Liege had previously spent time in jail after his convictions on weapons and drugs charges. Police in Liege described the man as a "gun freak." He had been ordered to appear before the police for questioning on Tuesday, but failed to turn up. The Liege daily Le Meuse is reporting on its website that Amrani had made a transfer of money to his girlfriend on Monday prior to the killing spree. The wire also included the message: "I love you my dear. Good luck!"According to the English website of Belgian public broadcaster VRT, Amrani's current attorney, Jean-Francois Dister, stated: "It had been planned that Amrani would be questioned by the Liège police about fresh allegations relating to sexual offenses. He was very nervous. He felt he had nothing to do with this new case, but didn't know what would happen and feared that he would be sent back to prison." Instead, he made his way to the city center, armed with an FAL assault rifle, a handgun and numerous grenades that he carried in his backpack. He struck at 12:30 p.m. at Place Saint Lambert square, only a short distance from the Christmas market. He threw grenades at a bus shelter, which sent glass splinters flying, and then opened fire. Hundreds of people ran from the scene.But some have also asked critical questions, like how a man under police observation previously convicted on arms charges could have been allowed to build up a new cache of weapons unnoticed by law enforcement officials. In neighboring Germany, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also expressed his grief over the tragic development. "We are mourning together with Belgium the victims of this crime," he said. "Our sympathies go out to their families and friends. We also wish a swift recovery to the injured." Hmmm.....One more question:"Was he radicalised during his stay in prison"?Why shoose a Christmas market as location?Read the full story here.more here.

• Reaction to US Tax Law: European Banks Stop Serving American Customers.(Spiegel).European banks are dumping clients with US citizenship due to a new American law meant to curb tax evasion. The law would require finanicial institutions around the world to report on certain client activities. Compliance, say many banks, is way too expensive.The idea was to ensure that US citizens were paying their taxes on investments made through overseas banks. The result, however, has been that Americans in Europe may have difficulties finding banks who want their business.According to a report in the Wednesday edition of the Financial Times Deutschland, several European banks have elected to no longer serve American securities investors due to stricter reporting requirements pushed through last year by the administration of President Barack Obama. German financial institution HypoVereinsbank has informed its customers that it will no longer offer certain services to its US-based clients or to US citizens as of Jan. 1. Deutsche Bank told the paper that it already cancelled the accounts of American citizens in the middle of 2011. Germany's second largest bank, Commerzbank, is considering a similar move.British banking giant HSBC has also reported that it will no longer serve US investors as has the Swiss bank Credit Suisse.The reason for the sudden reticence to serve American clients is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which was passed in 2010 and will go into effect in January of 2013. The act requires all foreign banks to identify and report on US citizens with accounts greater than $50,000 in an effort to clamp down on tax evasion. If banks refuse to comply, they could face a punitive 30 percent withholding tax on all payments from the US. The law is expected to increase tax revenues by $8 billion over the next 10 years.The US introduced the law in response to numerous high-profile tax-evasion cases, including several involving secret accounts in Switzerland. But banks began lobbying against it almost as soon as it was passed. Several large banks, including Credit Suisse, Barclays and the Canadian bank TD Bank have spent millions fighting the law. European Union officials have also sought changes to reduce the burden on European banks. To no avail."The US interest is to have reporting on accounts to stem the tide of offshore tax evasion," senior Treasury Department official Manal Corwin told the Financial Times.And even banks that cease serving US customers may not be entirely safe. "Even if you have no US customers, you are not out of scope," Mark Naretti, managing director of auditing firm KPMG, told Reuters this week. "This would also require that the firm not have any US investments and not be part of an expanded affiliated group that includes entities that are participating foreign financial institutions."Read the full story here.

• Obama's Anti-Terror Plan Protects the Threat's Identity - The Obama administration unveiled a new anti-terror strategy on Thursday that for the first time in history aims to battle a foe without naming it, and while denying that foe's stated beliefs, identity and motivation.(HumanEvents).By Robert Spencer.This recipe for disaster is so profoundly ridiculous that even as they were unveiling their plan, administration officials found themselves tangled up in logical absurdities.Obama officials decided that the new strategy was necessary after a hard-Left reporter, Spencer Ackerman, published several articles detailing how FBI agents and other law enforcement officials were being taught about the Islamic texts and teachings that jihad terrorists use to justify violence and supremacism. That would never do in Obama's politically correct America: NPR reported with breathless horror that "Islamophobia had crept into both federal and local law enforcement training.""Islamophobia" is a term devised by a Muslim Brotherhood organization, the International Institute of Islamic Thought, in order to stigmatize any criticism of the global jihad or Islamic supremacism. Analysts who dare note that Islamic jihadists are, well, Islamic jihadists are branded with the label. The enemy freely says they're fighting us because of Islam, based on Islamic principles. But to notice that would be "Islamophobic," no matter how helpful such notice might be for understanding the motives and goals of the enemy and devising an effective way to defeat him.No one can call the new Obama strategy Islamophobic: When Rep. Dan Lungren (R.-Calif.) asked Paul Stockton, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, whether "we are at war with violent Islamist extremism," Stockton did his best to dodge the question and finally answered: "I don't believe it's helpful to frame our adversary as Islamic with any set of qualifiers that we might add, because we are not at war with Islam."What linguistic gymnastics will Stockton and his colleagues employ to avoid framing our adversary as Islamic when the adversary frames himself as Islamic? How will they refer to Palestinian Islamic Jihad? What about Hamas, which is an acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement? Or Hezbollah, the Party of Allah? What will Obama officials call the unfortunately acronymed Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)? Moros I'd Like to Frag?The new plan entails still more absurdities. Quintan Wiktorowicz of the National Security Council explained that "the new program will focus on behavior, not religion or appearances." What kind of behavior? "There are potential behavioral signals," he explained. "For example, has someone in the community seen them watching violent extremist videos? Are they publicly coming out in defense of Osama Bin Laden? Are they talking about the kuffar [unbelievers]?"Wait a minute. "Talking about the kuffar" is a "behavioral signal" for terrorism? But that's what Muslims do, Wiktorowicz! The Koran is full of imprecations against, appeals to, warnings about, and exhortations to warfare against the kuffar. Surely you don't mean to suggest that every Muslim who rails against the kuffar would be considered a potential terrorist? Wouldn't that be focusing on religion, which is exactly what you said you would not do?After gamely trying to keep the lion at bay during persistent questioning from Lungren, Stockton likewise finally admitted that jihad mass-murderer Maj. Nidal Hasan's "Soldier of Allah" business card would also be an indicator of possible terror activity. But who would have a "Soldier of Allah" card except a pious Muslim--a most inconvenient fact for those who insist that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism.The Obama administration is trying to do the impossible: fight against jihad terror without naming it as such, or saying anything about it that Muslims might find offensive. But Islamic supremacists in the U.S. claim to be offended by any mention of anything Islamic in connection with jihad terror. And so I'm sure that once Ibrahim Hooper of the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) gets wind of Wiktorowicz's or Stockton's remarks, he will get them on the phone and tell them to cut out all this talk about how railing against the kuffar or carrying a "Soldier of Allah" business card might be indicators of future jihad terror activity.They will doubtless meekly comply, and vacuum their own statements and even their minds of any remaining vestiges of truth or accuracy about the jihad terror threat--and further cripple law enforcement agents' ability to understand what they're dealing with in regard to jihad terrorism.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.

• Jet Fuel-Gate Is Obama's New Solyndra.(Investors).Ecofanaticism: SolyndraGate was no isolated case of corrupt government misspending. The U.S. Navy was just forced to buy 450,000 gallons of biofuels from an Obama-connected firm at an outrageous $16 per gallon.The massive Obama stimulus was supposed to generate millions of jobs, but the $535 million loan guarantee it gave to solar panel maker Solyndra on the eve of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy illustrated the fundamental incompetence of Obama's neo-Keynesian economic ideology.Now we find the Navy partnering with the Agriculture Department to purchase hundreds of thousands of gallons of alternative biofuel in place of standard JP-5 fuel for Navy aircraft — the biggest federal purchase of biofuel ever.It's part of the White House's "we can't wait for Congress" strategy as the 2012 election year looms. But JP-5 typically costs less than $4 a gallon. If a family on a budget started filling up with $16-a-gallon gas, it might want to adopt the motto, "we can't wait to go broke."A look at the lucky seller of this environmentalist version of the proverbial $600 Pentagon toilet seat indicates that the move is not just wasteful, but ethically suspect.What about the "very real threat" to the Navy of not having enough money for the ships, fighters and ammunition it needs to protect America? President Obama's assault on the Pentagon could scrap 60 of the Navy's ships, including two carrier groups.And this is only the beginning of this two-for-one bad deal — swindling taxpayers while ravaging national security. Obama's Agriculture and Energy departments and Navy plan to spend $510 million over three years buying biofuel for military and commercial purposes, bypassing Congress by "leveraging Defense Department procurement."Hmmmm.......Read the full story here.

• House GOP Defies Obama’s Veto Threat, Passes Payroll Tax Cut Bill That Includes Keystone Pipeline 234-193.(AP)WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled House has passed legislation sought by President Barack Obama to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts through 2012. But the bill also includes a requirement for construction of an oil pipeline that has drawn a veto threat.The vote was 234-193.The measure now goes to the Senate, where top Democrats strongly oppose the pipeline provision.The legislation would also renew jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. And it would head off a threatened 27 percent cut in fees to doctors who treat Medicare patients.With lawmakers expected to adjourn soon for the year, the partisan showdown is the last of a remarkably quarrelsome year of divided government.Hmmm......Presidential Christmas in Washington?Read the full story here.

• Good News: Indicted Terrorist Enabler Still Blogging from Behind Bars.(JawaReport).Former "emir" of the Revolution Muslim blog, Jesse Morton (aka, "Younus Abdullah Muhammad") is behind bars waiting trial for threatening the creators of South Park, continues to blog from jail.Since he's been indicted for his activities online, I'm not sure how it's wise that he's still able to communicate online. I won't bother to quote any of his second rate mimicking of warmed over neo-Marxist international relations theory, but I do want to note the tagline:

Younus Abdullah Muhammad is a Muslim American and Master of International Affairs presently residing in pretrial solitary confinement in Virginia. He is the founder of Islampolicy.com and can be contacted at islampolicy@gmail.com . He is currently looking for legal assistance in his case against the U.S. Government.You heard it, he wants you to email him.Hmmmm.........Read the full story here.

• Santorum Issues Call To Confront “Cancer” of Radical Islam.(Des Moines Register) — Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said Monday he doesn’t claim that all Muslims are radicals, and he believes that those who suffer the most from radical Islam are Muslims who suffer from persecution, such as people in Iran.However, Santorum said he does believe that radical Islam is a “very dangerous thing” and that the Islamic world must work with the United States “to confront this cancer within.” The Pennsylvania Republican made his remarks in an interview with Des Moines Register political columnist Kathie Obradovich, who is conducting a series of talks with GOP presidential candidates in Iowa.Read the full story here.

• Issa Investigating Preferential Treatment Given To Occupy DC Protesters Squatting on Public Land By Obama admin.(TheHill).Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Tuesday announced he wants answers on whether “political judgments played a role” in allowing Occupy DC protesters to remain camped in northwest Washington.Issa, chairman of the powerful Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter dated Monday to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar requesting any communication between the Department of Interior (DOI) and the White House regarding the Occupy DC protests.The letter also asks Salazar “to explain a series of agency decisions that allowed protestors to stay in tents at the park for extended periods of time despite a ban on ‘camping,’” according to a press release from Issa’s office.Occupy D.C. hunger strikers planned to visit Issa’s congressional office Tuesday morning to advocate for D.C. voting rights.The political response has been divided. Many Republicans voiced concern over the protests, which have become violent in some cities, while Democrats including President Obama initially seemed to embrace the movement. On Monday, Occupy D.C. protesters were barred from entering the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national committees to deliver a “declaration.” Last week, more than 60 protesters were arrested for blocking traffic on K Street in Northwest Washington, a street known for housing numerous lobbying firms. Members of Occupy D.C. have previously staged protests in the lobbies of Senate and House office buildings on Capitol Hill. “We support their right, of course, to exercise their First Amendment right. But at the same time we will not tolerate the breaking of the law,” Gray said last weekend, according to NBC Washington. “People are increasingly losing their patience because of the infringement on business, as they see it, here in the city.”Hmmmm....."Divider - in - Chief".Read the full story here.

• Why Would Obama Veto Job Creation?(Heritage).Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill that would, among other things, open the door for the creation of thousands of new jobs, prevent a tax hike on American workers, and help reduce the crippling deficit. However, President Barack Obama has promised that he would bring the legislation to a halt with a veto—all because of his opposition to the single measure in the bill that would create jobs.What’s so offensive that would cause the President to level a veto threat? A provision in H.R. 3630, the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011,” that would provide for the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project that would bring oil from Canada. Heritage’s Nicolas Loris explains that it would mean “access to easy imports from our northern neighbor, the creation of thousands of jobs, and the generation of revenue for the states where the pipeline passes. Montana, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas are collectively projected to collect $5.2 billion in property tax revenue as a result of building the pipeline.”The Keystone XL measure is just one piece of the bill introduced by Representative Dave Camp (R-MI), along with several cosponsors. Though not perfect, it includes some positive measures that could bring comfort to the millions of Americans who are struggling under the Obama economy and are looking for hope this holiday season. Camp said of the bill, “With its passage, Americans can be confident that these programs and provisions will be available next year, that they will not result in decades of debt and that they will be paid for with fiscally responsible reforms, not job-killing tax hikes.”Heritage Vice President David S. Addington has analyzed the legislation and explains that it would:
• Extend for a year the employee payroll tax reduction, which “prevents a tax hike, leaving more of the people’s hard-earned money in their own pockets, and therefore does not give rise to a budgetary need to ‘pay for’ money that is simply left where it originates”;
• Extend the unemployment compensation program, but with appropriate reforms to help the unemployed find jobs and to begin to tailor the overall program to changes in the economy;
• Extend for two years the forestalling of sudden automatic cuts in Medicare payments to physicians that would otherwise occur under the law (often called the “doc fix”);
• Extend for a year the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, one of the 70 federal welfare programs in need of integrated reform;
• Take some actions to reduce the increase in the federal deficit, with fees on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, additional means tests to Medicare, increasing the amount federal employees and Members of Congress must pay in to their retirement plans, and eliminating 2013 cost-of-living adjustments for federal employees and Members of Congress.

Last week, President Obama announced his intention to veto the bill when he warned, ”Any effort to try to tie Keystone to the payroll tax cut I will reject.” To be perfectly clear, the only part of this bill that will significantly create jobs is the only part President Obama is threatening to veto. And this at a time when 13.3 million Americans are out of work, the unemployment rate is hovering near 9 percent as it has throughout this Presidency, and job creation is at a record low.President Obama does not appear interested in taking real action to put Americans back to work. In an interview with 60 Minutes, the President revealed to CBS’s Steve Kroft what he believes his role to be:

It is my job to put forward a vision of the country that benefits the vast majority of Americans. It is my job to make sure that my party is behind those initiatives, even if sometimes it’s breaking some china and going against some of the dogmas of our party in the past. We’ve done that on things like education reform. And it’s my job to rally the American people around that vision.Americans, though, aren’t looking for a rally, and they’re not seeking out a vision—especially if it’s one where the economy continues its meandering path, job creation stays stagnant, and Washington keeps erecting walls to prosperity.Hmmmm....."CHANGE"...anyone wants more?Read the full story here.

• Sex, Lies and Hizbollah's Dirty Little Secrets.(FSM).In a recent story exposed to the press by the Lebanese website 14 March, which is affiliated with the current opposition headed by Sa'd Hariri. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbollah, ordered that two pages be excised from Leading Women in the Arab Muslim World, just hours before its scheduled book launch.The book’s author, Imad Shahin, complied. The author has been associated in the past with Hizbollah. The details of the story show that the news item is authentic. Obviously this is a blow to women's rights and freedom of the press. But what were those two pages about? They focused on none other than Wafa Mughniyeh, the second wife, of the assassinated Hizbollah activist, Imad Mughniyeh, whose head was blown off by a bomb placed in the head rest of his car, slightly reminiscent of the bomb laden cell phone which annihilated Hamas engineer Yahiya Ayash. Targeting the perverse mind makes sense as it is also a symbolic message as well. But here we digress.Who is Wafa Mughniyeh? Born in Qom, Iran she is mother of three children and said to have been pregnant and verified by DNA testing three months after her husband's assassination, that she was carrying his child. Like Khadija, the prophet Muhammad's first wife, Wafa is a wealthy business woman holding companies throughout the world, with Latin America specifically cited. Hizbollah claimed that the two pages were a security risk to its organization. Perhaps naming her companies would disclose the trail of terrorism defunding with a connection to an Iranian woman? Moreover she blamed Syria for responsibility for her husband's death.There is more to this story than meets the eye. We see here abuse and manipulation of women by Hizbollah and its opposition. Wafa is attractive (the above book was the first to publish her photo). Furthermore, her life style was supposed to have been modest as Hizbollah would expect the wife of their hero to be. It was stated that after Imad Mughniyeh’s assassination, Nasrallah demanded that Wafa leave the family residence in Damascus which was lavishly decorated at the estimated cost of a half million dollars. Like a divorce in a bad TV soap, corruption and money come into play and even fears that the wife of their Hizbollah hero could overshadow and outshine the image of Nasrallah and Hizbollah.While women may be leading the way in promoting change in the Arab Muslim world, it seems that they continue to be held hostage by intolerant controlling, impotent womanizing leaders and alleged heroes. What remains behind the scenes is hard to know. Mossad, for example, reported several years ago that Mughniyeh was a party animal, having many girlfriends. Another source claims that he used to rape Christian women in Beirut for fun. Nonetheless, this buried news item of pulling two pages of the book signals that cracks in the facade of Nasrallah's Shia purity and modesty are beginning to show.Read the full story here.

• Hezbollah Allegedly Helps Cartels Launder Coke Money.(Wired).According to federal prosecutors, Hezbollah has started to learn the lesson that took funk legend Rick James a lifetime to absorb: cocaine is a hell of a drug. The Lebanese terrorist group isn’t selling blow itself. It’s doing something more lucrative: getting a percentage of the drug trade, through money laundering. ProPublica’s Sebastian Rotella reports that U.S. federal prosecutors are putting together a case linking Hezbollah to a massive, multi-continent cocaine smuggling operation, one that worked with the bloody Zetas cartel to launder drug money. Ayman Joumaa, an accused Hezbollah financier, “allegedly coordinated the smuggling of at least 85 tons of Colombian cocaine through Central America and Mexico in partnership with the Zetas,” Rotella reports, citing an indictment released on Tuesday. About $85 million in cash got laundered through “money exchange houses, used car businesses and other companies” on four continents. Joumaa’s operation dates back to 1997. The cocaine ended up on American streets, by way of Mexico. It’s hard not to think of the bizarre story, also told by federal prosecutors recently, that Iranian operatives tried to work with the cartels to assassinate a Saudi ambassador in Washington. The Drug Enforcement Agency has long suspected that Mideastern terrorists were starting to collaborate with drug gangs, but the evidence thus far has been scant. It’s also unclear what the indictment really means for Hezbollah. The terrorist group and Iranian proxy is now ensconced in the Lebanese government. It recently rolled up several CIA informants trying to infiltrate the organization, thanks to the spies’ faulty codewords.Then again, if the Mexican-Hezbollah drug connection all seems a bit paranoid, well, you know, paranoia is a side effect of cocaine. Rick James could certainly tell you that.Hmmmm......Why does the name 'Holder' come up in my mind?Read the full story here.

• The top 10 anti-Semitic/anti-Israel slurs of 2011.(HT:IsraelMatzav).By SiemonWiesenthalCenter.Last on the list but not least comes President Obama's old friend, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.Quote:"“The state of Israel is an illegal, genocidal place… to equate Judaism with the state of Israel is to equate Christianity with [rapper] Flavor Flav.”– Rev. Jeremiah Wright in a speech to thousands of people, June 14, 2011, Baltimore, Maryland.Hmmmm........Obama's 'Church' for Twinty years......Me, moi... Anti Israel?Read the full story here.

• Senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader says Turkey’s secularism not suitable for Arab states.(AlArabiya).Turkey’s Western-like secular political structure is not suitable or compatible for Middle Eastern countries in the post-Arab Spring era, Ali-Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said at a news conference. Turkey’s model of “secular Islam” was a version of western liberal democracy and is unacceptable for countries that are going through what he said was an “Islamic awakening,” the Financial Times reported Velayati as saying on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, demanded an explanation from his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, about a threatening statement made by an Iranian lawmaker, state-run Anatolia news agency reported.“It is Iran’s natural right to target the missile defense shield system in Turkey in case of an attack, and we will definitely resort to that,” Hussein Ibrahim, the vice president of the Iranian parliamentary national security and foreign policy panel, reportedly said in an interview with the Iranian daily Shargh on Sunday.The U.S. and its NATO allies are building an anti-ballistic missile in the Black Sea region, including the installation of NATO radar systems in Turkey and Romania.But Salehi, who met with Davutoğlu in Jeddah on the sidelines of a gathering on Syria organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said he does not share these views and that they don’t reflect the official Iranian position.Meanwhile, an Istanbul-based newspaper, Today’s Zaman, reported that Iran’s foreign ministry had given insurance to Turkey that the Islamic republic does not back such threats and that the threats do not reflect the ministry’s policy. The Iranian officials also emphasized that Turkey should acknowledge statements only from officials in charge, including the Iranian president and the foreign ministry.Iran and Turkey have close trade and economic relations, as both countries are members of the Economic Cooperation Organization. It is thought that the bilateral relations between the nations are increasing. In 2005, their trade increased to $4 billion from $1 billion in 2000.But both countries, which have long enjoyed collegial relations, are now going through a rough patch, aggravated by the tightening of sanctions against Iran.During a visit to Turkey, the U.S. vice president, Joe Biden, called on Ankara to impose new sanctions against Iran. Biden also hailed Turkey’s role in pressuring Syria to stop the bloody crackdown against protesters. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Iran’s supreme leader told students at a Tehran military college that Iran “will respond with full force” to any attack − or even any threat of military action. “The enemies, especially America and its stooges and the Zionist regime, should know that it is not Iran’s custom to invade any country or nation. But it will respond with full force to any aggression or even threats in a way that will demolish the aggressors from within,” he said, according to a statement on his official website. Khamenei’s forceful language followed threats last week from Israel that air strikes could be in the offing against Iran’s nuclear sites. The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, said last weekend that such action was becoming “more and more likely.”Read the full story here.

• Sources: Plan to kill Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei thwarted.(StratRisks).According to informed sources inside Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has recently ordered the arrest of a number of prominent members of the Revolutionary Guards. He ordered to investigate them and others, who were not arrested, in a suspected plot to assassinate him. The sources said that among those arrested and interrogated so far are some of Khamenei’s bodyguards. The sources conveyed that those arrested tried to convince Khamenei to visit Mlard missile base in western Tehran on November 12th. It should be mentioned that on that day a huge blast took place in this military base, which killed among others the head of ballistic missiles production and development unit.Khamenei was assured that the base is safe when he was to attend a launching ceremony of a new missile.It is said also that Khamenei ordered to investigate his son, “Mojtaba Khamenei,” who is considered a leading businessman and close assossiate with many military leaders.Reports indicate that some of the leaders of the Revolutionary Guards were seeking a military coup against the Supreme Leader. Following his death, these officers planned to announce an interim ruling council and declare a state of extreme emergency in the country. This council was expected to be presided over by Mojtaba Khamenei.Read the full story here.More here.

• Anti-Turkey bill comes before US House of Representatives.(TodaysZaman).An anti-Turkey bill in Washington, D.C., which calls on Turkey “to safeguard its Christian heritage and to return confiscated church properties” was scheduled to be voted on in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday.The bill, titled House Resolution 306 and supported by Armenian lobbies in the US, was first introduced in June to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs as the “Return of Churches” resolution by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA). In addition to advocating for the return of confiscated churches, schools and hospitals and providing freedom of worship to Turkey's Christian communities, the resolution also blamed the Ottoman Empire for “intentional destruction” of its Christian population, tacitly approving the allegations of an Armenian genocide.The resolution was passed in the committee in July as part of an “omnibus” bill, although the statements concerning the destruction of the Ottoman Empire's Christian population were omitted from the text.Six months later, Armenian and Greek lobbies accelerated their efforts to get the bill brought before the House of Representatives. In order to be adopted, the resolution needs to be approved by both the House of Representatives and the US Senate.The bill sparked angry reactions from Turkish residents in the US and US-based Turkish community organizations. Günay Evinç, president of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), told the Anatolian news agency that the ATAA and the Federation of Turkish American Associations (TADF) had prepared a letter together and sent it to members of the Senate.Evinç claimed that the bill is nullified on the grounds that Turkey adopted a decree in August to return all confiscated properties of minority foundations, including Christians, claiming that this bill is “part of the Armenian lobby's ill-intentioned efforts seeking recognition of the Armenian genocide.”Hmmm.....I would call it a 'Christian defence bill'.Read the full story here.

• Turkish reaction piles up against Sarkozy ahead of genocide denial vote.(TodaysZaman).A mild rift between Turkey and France now runs the risk of evolving into a heated debate as Turkish officials exchange words with the French president in a dispute over Turkish membership in the EU.In the midst of this, Ankara repeated its warning to the French parliament to reconsider a resolution it will vote on next week that would penalize denying the alleged Armenian genocide. On Tuesday, Ankara issued a statement through the website of the Turkish Embassy in Paris ratcheting up the tone of Friday's warning. In Tuesday's note, Ankara indicated that “French administrators should leave history to historians,” and that the French parliament should refrain from deciding on historical events, the Anatolia news agency reported. The basis of Ankara's warning was tied to a report of a French parliamentary investigation commission which ruled in 2008 that parliaments should not write about historical incidents or effect penalties.If ratified, the resolution will institute a one-year prison term and a fine of 45,000 euros for anyone who fails to acknowledge as genocide the killing of Armenians in 1915 during the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The French parliament legally termed these events genocide in 2001, but several attempts to penalize denials of the alleged genocide failed before they reached the Senate.The French debate about penalizing denials was initially revived by French President Nicholas Sarkozy when he threatened Turkey during a visit to Yerevan in October. He said that he would initiate a move to pressure Turkey to recognize the killings as genocide. Turkey’s official reaction was to dismiss Sarkozy’s ultimatum as pre-election rhetoric and warned the president to back off from an issue highly sensitive for the peoples of both Armenia and Turkey.However, Sarkozy’s repeated assertions that Turkey does not belong in the EU because it is not a European country have drawn a more concerned reaction from Turkey. In response to Sarkozy’s comments that Turkey should be “a bridge between East and West instead of claiming a place on either side,” Turkish Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış responded on Tuesday, saying that Sarkozy was “falling deeper and deeper” as he tried to set his mistake right.“Certain politicians may have engaged in some rhetoric, worried about upcoming elections in their countries,” Bağış said in disregarding Sarkozy’s comments. He added that Turkey was concerned with its own improvements and they have not implemented reforms “to please Europeans but to increase the quality of life of the Turkish people.” Turkey has engaged in negotiations to become a part of the 27-nation bloc for years but very little progress has been made.Sarkozy remains a known opponent to Turkish membership in the EU, although he initially envisioned including the country eventually. Diplomatic sources quoted by the Anatolia news agency on Tuesday also see Sarkozy as responsible for the vote on the resolution on Dec. 19, aiming to strengthen his position with the Armenian diaspora in France ahead of presidential elections. Sarkozy’s Socialist Party rival, François Hollande, is also in favor of passing legislation to criminalize denials of the so-called genocide.Turkey and Armenia remain at odds in the genocide debate, an issue that goes back to the mass killings at the onset of World War I when the Ottoman Empire was about to collapse, leaving behind a large number of casualties, specifically in 1915. Modern-day Turkey claims the numbers are exaggerated by the Armenian side, which estimates the deaths at over 1 million people, and says that people from all ethnicities and religions lost their lives in the midst of a devastating civil war.Meanwhile, Turkish Parliament speaker Cemil Çiçek sent a letter to his French counterpart, Bernard Accoyer, conveying Turkey’s concern over the genocide-denial bill, state-run Anatolia news agency quoted Turkish diplomats on Tuesday.  Çiçek warned that the bill, once approved, may damage relations Turkish-French relations.Sources said Çiçek wrote in his letter that the duty of national parliaments is not to write history and that the issue must be left to historians and researchers.Hmmmm.......Erdogan ."If their historians have claims our historians also have claims,""a Muslim couldn't do such things. A Muslim could not commit genocide"Read the full story here.

• Indonesia - This won't make these punks' day: Rock fans have heads shaved and get 'cleansed' in river in Islamic law crackdown.(DailyMail).Dozens of young punk rock fans have had their heads shaved and body piercings confiscated after police in Indonesia said they were a threat to Islamic values.The 59 male and six female music lovers were also stripped of dog-collar necklaces and chains and then thrown in pools of water for 'spiritual' cleansing, police chief Iskandar Hasan said.After replacing their 'disgusting' clothes, he handed each a toothbrush and barked 'use it'.The 65 youths were then sent to a police school to receive mental and spiritual guidance for ten days. Only then are they are allowed to return home.It was the latest effort by authorities to promote strict moral values in Aceh, the only province in the secular but predominantly Muslim nation of 240million people to have imposed Islamic laws.Adultery is punishable by stoning to death; homosexuals have been thrown in jail or lashed in public with canes; women are told that wearing headscarves is a must, but tight trousers are banned.Punk rockers have complained for months about harassment, but Saturday's round-up was by far the most dramatic treatment they have yet been subjected to.Baton-wielding police broke up the concert, scattering young music lovers.Dozens were loaded into vans and taken to a police detention centre in the hills, 30miles from the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, for 're-education'.They will be held there for at least ten days, after which they will be returned to their parents.Fauzan, a 20-year-old punk, was mortified.'Why? Why my hair?!' he said, pointing to his cleanly shaven head. 'We didn't hurt anyone.'This is how we've chosen to express ourselves. Why are they treating us like criminals?'Chief Hasan insisted he had done nothing wrong.He said: 'We're not torturing anyone. We're not violating human rights. We're just trying to put them back on the right moral path.'Aceh was given semi-autonomy as part of a peace deal with Indonesia's central government after the province agreed to end a separatist struggle in 2005.Hmmmm......Obama :"Indonesia is an 'example'of religious tolerance".Read the full story here.

• Deciding What Women Want Muslim women want.(CA).By John Burgess.It reports on a speech given by the president of the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue, who is also the head of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs. These two hats, covering different ambits of life, seem to be causing some confusion.Saleh Al-Hussein argues that Muslim women have different expectation in life, different obligations and obligations owed them. Outside of religious practice itself, I’m not so sure. As women, they have rights that are deemed ‘universal’, not some separate set or subset conditioned by their faith. They may, in practicing their faith, choose to exercise or abstain from exercising those rights. Their rights are not limited by their faith, however.It is not a ‘Western view’ of human rights, but a view shared by all but the Islamic world. Even in the Islamic world, though, women have and exercise far more rights than they do in Saudi Arabia. What Mr Al-Hussein is arguing, in fact, is for a sort of Saudi exceptionalism, one in which it’s okay that women are second-class citizens because their menfolk will take good care of them.We know that is nonsense. Spousal abuse, domestic violence, instant divorces, child marriages… all of these prove that all is not well in Saudi society. Saudi women are not having their heads turned by pretty ideas from the West. They are becoming conscious of the fact that they are deprived rights that the rest of the world enjoys. They are not the victims of a country’s or a region’s propaganda, but by the free flow of information from all corners of the globe. They realize that they’re holding onto the short end of the stick and wonder why. The answer to that question is not for them to be told all is fine and dandy, that the multi-level patriarchy will take care of all their needs. That patriarchy has failed to do so; it fails to do so daily. Why wouldn’t women look for something better, something different? The same-old, same-old isn’t much of a deal.

Muslims cautioned against looking at women through Western prism
ABDUL HANNAN TAGO | ARAB NEWS
RIYADH: The head of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs argued in Riyadh on Saturday that general perceptions about Western lifestyle and culture have played a major role in influencing public opinion on women’s rights in a Muslim society.
Saleh Abdurahman Al-Hussein’s remarks came at a gathering of more than 1,000 participants attending a forum on the rights and duties of women in Islam.
Al-Hussein, who is also president of the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue, was addressing the first Saudi conference on women’s rights organized by the Researchers’ Center for Women Studies (RCWS).
A large number of prominent Saudi scholars, charitable organizations and human rights advocates participated in the event. The first session was presided over by Yousof Al-Aqeel.
… Pointing out that in Islam men are obliged to take care of their women’s financial needs, he said in this conference they are going to address the issue in line with Islamic teachings and the rights due to them under the existing system.
Al-Abdul Kareem said that imposing Western views on Saudi and Muslim women with regard to their rights amounts to interference.
He added every country has its own way of dealing with issues. “We deal with our Muslim women in our own way and provide for all their needs, including the right to education, health and other expenses within the framework of our religion.”
He said Muslim women in their countries should be left alone to carry out their religious obligations because of the prevalent values of democracy and freedom.
They should not be accused of being backward because of their religion, he added. He said if Westerners want to know the reality about Muslim women, they should read books available on this issue, he observed.Read the full story here.

• REPORT: Syrian president’s advisor threatens to release ‘sex tapes involving rulers from Gulf countries’.(KT).the Syrian President's advisor Buthaina Shaaban has allegedly threatened to expose sex tapes involving rulers from Gulf countries. Shaaban briefed a delegation from the Syrian community residing in region after a meeting was held with Bashar Al-Asad. The advisor reportedly said, "officials from Gulf countries will be shown what 'trump' cards we have after we release their sex tapes to internet websites".Read the full story here.