President of the Global Council of Indian Christians: 'Not only Trump, India does not welcome Muslims either'.

President of the Global Council of Indian Christians: 'Not only Trump, India does not welcome Muslims either'. (AsiaNews).

"Those shocked by Trump’s executive order prohibiting entry to refugees and citizens from seven countries with an Islamic majority, should look to similar laws in India”, says Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). Commenting on the decision of the newly elected American president that has shocked world public opinion, the Christian leader also reports that the Indian government is launching similar policies. An amendment of the Citizenship Act provides that it can only be accorded to minority Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Therefore Muslims are excluded altogether. Even those who are suffering "horrific forms of persecution" such as the Rohingya in Myanmar, the Buddhist Tibetans and Uighurs in China. Below his comment.

President Donald Trump's executive order suspending the country's refugee entry programme for 120 days, and banning the entry of citizens from seven primarily Muslim countries – Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and Sudan – for 90 days was passed with the apparent objective of protecting US national security.

While many in India have recoiled at the manner in which the Trump administration has made its refugee and immigration policy, Indians should also turn to look at similar legislative provisions being proposed in our own country.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill of 2016 is a short, three-page document that seeks to amend Section 2(b) of the Citizenship Act. The Citizenship Act deals with the acquisition and termination of Indian citizenship. Section 2(b) of the Citizenship Act defines the term "illegal immigrant".
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill proposes to amend the definition of this term by adding this provision:

"Provided that persons belonging to minority communities, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who have been exempted by the Central Government by or under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any order made thereunder, shall not be treated as illegal migrants for the purposes of this Act.".

Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to qualify for naturalization as a citizen of India if they are resident in India

The Preamble to the Bill, which seeks to explain the aims and objectives of the act, states:
The phrase "Many persons of India origin including persons belonging to the aforesaid minority communities..." is telling. It is clear that that this proposed amendment is not aimed at all persons of Indian origin but only some, namely non-Muslim ones.

What is even more interesting is that the bill is not aimed at all religious minorities in all neighbouring countries, and it clearly excludes many communities that may be experiencing horrific forms of persecution, such as the Muslim Rohingyas in Buddhist-majority Myanmar or Buddhist Tibetans and Muslim Uighurs in China.

legislation on refugees, or be a signatory to the 1951 Convention, treating the decision to grant refugee status as a matter of political expediency. Even if it does not want to sign the 1951 convention, nothing prevents it from enacting a domestic law that incorporates its principal features. The fact that the government is not interested in doing so means granting protection to victims of persecution is not its primary objective.

What does that leave us with, then? The Bharatiya Janata Party's 2014 election manifesto gives us the answer.

Page 37 of the manifesto states that "India shall remain a natural home for persecuted Hindus and they shall be welcome to seek refuge here". Why should India be a natural home for persecuted Hindus, as opposed to persecuted Muslims or Christians? Invoking the image of the "persecuted Hindu" is a masterful way of pushing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's notion of India as a 'Hindu nation', and an embattled one at that. Just as the claim of a threat to national security
,
If the Narendra Modi government wants to provide protection to religious minorities in neighbouring countries from persecution – a laudable objective – then it need not have looked further than the existing international frameworks of refugee law.

Central to the definition of a refugee in the 1951 Refugee Convention is a well-founded fear of being persecuted on the grounds of religion, race, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion by the country of one's nationality. Till now, India has consistently refused to promulgate a central order

Video - Hidden camera experiment in the Shiite holy city Karbala. A Christian man asks another about a church.

Watch to find out.
Absolutely amazing Hidden camera experiment in the Shia holy city #Karbala. A Christian man asks another way to a church. pic.twitter.com/6mPPpnFpnt

— Iraqi Day 🇮🇶 (@iraqi_day) December 30, 2016

Hidden camera experiment in the Shia holy city #Karbala. Part 2 pic.twitter.com/tQIZrwP88b

— Iraqi Day 🇮🇶 (@iraqi_day) December 30, 2016

I leave it up to the reader to decide if these 'experiments' are staged or not?

'Steve Maman's List' - Interview With Moroccan Jew Who Rescued 128 Girls Enslaved by ISIS.

'Steve Maman's List' - Interview With Moroccan Jew Who Rescued 128 Girls Enslaved by ISIS. (Morocco World News).

Meknes – Steve Maman has rescued more than 100 children from danger in Iraq in the past few months with the support of Canon Andrew White, a world-renowned humanitarian figure. In order to grow support for his mission, he registered on June 26, in Canada “The liberation of Christian and Yazidi children of Iraq (CYCI)” organization.

“We can act now or we can remain spectators,” announced its President, Steven Mamn, a Moroccan-Canadian. “Take part in this humanitarian cause: Donate & Share!” he asks.

Could you tell us about your foundation in few words and the choice of Yazidis and Christians?

Steve Maman: On June 26, 2015 I created a nonprofit organization called “The liberation of Christian and Yazidi children of Iraq (CYCI)” to support my mission. Its goal is to negotiate the liberation of children held hostage and used a sex slaves in Mosul. We chose Christians and Yazidi because they are the ones held hostage after a fatwa authorized them to be used and sold as sex slaves for the benefit of ISIS (Daesh) combatants. I would have definitely added the Muslim children to my mission if they were part of this horror.

Does your foundation have other objectives?

Steve Maman: Our unique objective is to liberate as many children as possible. The project has been going on for 8 months now, and the role of this organization is to provide us, in our work, with donations. Until now, I had carried the project on my own and have moved multiple families out of harm’s way.

What made you come up with the idea for this project?

Steve Maman: Well, I as a Moroccan Jew, I found this cause to engage in a true world responsibility. The Torah talks about two things: “Tikkun Olam,” repairing the world, and “Kiddouch Hashem,” to make God’s presence respected. As a Jew, it was a way to make this world better through actions of goodness and kindness. The goal here is for children to come out alive from this horrible war.

There is no question of religion, race, or nationality being discussed here. There are innocent children that are powerless, caught in the crossfire. But worse, they are being exploited in the crossfire, as if that alone were not enough pain to endure. The exploitations are beyond understanding. Children beheaded, raped, beat, underfed, left to live in cages! Why? Because they are Christian or Yazidi, and therefore this does not constitute a sin in the eyes of Islamic law in the way ISIS interprets it. This is not Islam. I refuse to accept, as a Jew, that this is Islam. This is a deformation, a distortion of Islam. This has to be decried and it has to be fixed. The fixing starts with giving them a chance at life.

I need support. One year has gone by and it has been long enough for world leaders to react and plan a solution, yet we see little being done for those left behind at the mercy of ISIS.

The heroic Government of Canada, with its Prime Minister Stephen Harper,who has gone to Iraq and pledged nearly 140 million dollars in aid to the humanitarian cause, as well as sending Canadian troops, is sending a message to the world. I wish to see more world leaders unite forces in order to find a solution to end this.

May god bless my mission with world leaders being aware of what I do and of what can be done. My mission is centered on the ones who are held hostage. I refer tothe ones kept in cages being hurt, abused molested and raped. The ones I truly wish to help are praying to God after every rape that he ends their pain and humiliation. It is reported they wish they be killed rather than live with such a fate.

God give them the strength to hold on to life for a bit longer until I get to them, God willing. Hmmm.....Thank God for Canadian PM Stephen Harper and Steve Maman. Read the full story here.

24 Yazidi women and children break out of ISIS prison in Iraq, safely reach Kurds.

Yazidi women

24 Yazidi women and children break out of ISIS prison in Iraq, safely reach Kurds.(AQ).[Googletranslate].

Iraq - Anatolia - arrived 24 Yazidi of detainees held by the organization Daash to a safe area in Sinjar in northern Iraq,

A source in the Peshmerga (northern region of Iraq's army), "The 24 people from Yazidis, all of them women and children, who were languishing in jails one organization Daash, arrived in a safe place under the control of the Peshmerga."

He added that they "were in detention Daash more than 6 months, were transported from one place to another during this period."

The source declined to clarify whether the survivors had fled or been released in accordance with the deal, saying only that "the most important thing they have come in peace."

The organization Daash has swept Sinjar (124 km west of Mosul), which is inhabited by a majority of Kurds, Yazidis in August 3 / August last, before the Peshmerga enhanced forces could aerial cover of the International Alliance of editing the northern part of the district of Sinjar, lifting the siege on thousands of families The fighters who were trapped in Jebel Sinjar in mid-December last year.

And talking to press reports and activists Aesidein for the organization of committing heinous crimes, from murder, kidnapping and captivity of thousands of civilians Yazidis.

The Yazidis are the religious group most of its members live near Mosul and the Sinjar Mountains in Iraq, and an estimated 600 thousand people, and smaller groups living in Turkey, Syria, Iran, Georgia, Armenia.

According to the researchers, the Yazidi religion of the ancient Kurdish religion, and all texts are recited in religious rituals and rites in the Kurdish language.

On the other hand, announced an official source in Anbar police leadership preferred not to be named, said security forces were able Tuesday to foil the biggest storm the government compound in Ramadi by organizing Daash terrorists.

The source explained that the organization Daash was digging a tunnel adjacent to the start of the government complex and controlled by the organization for more than 6 months and managed to drill 700 meters long to target government complex Haouz region.

"The security forces were able to find out what the organization is why we have to immediately intervene and address the situation and we blew the entire tunnel.""The explosion led to the deaths and injuries of elements Daash still under the rubble"

Video ISIS tunnel found.

Reports ISIL took a Khabour village full of a religious minority hostage.

Latest Update on the Dire Situation of our People in Khabour from AssyriaTV on Vimeo.

More video's on this developing situation can be seen here.

Reports ISIL took a Khabour village full of a religious minority hostage.HT: Elijah J. Magnier.

George Kasten from Sweden:

At 5.00 clock this morning, the 23rd of February 2015, IS members entered the Assyrian villages around Tell Tamr in Syria by force and kidnapped all of the villagers.

The men were later brought to a mountain called Abd al Aziz to be held as hostages. The women and children were left in the village with IS guards controlling them.

A witness left behind due to his poor health was able to raise the alarm and informed his family member in Canada who then spread the word about the latest atrocities of IS.

This information is from a primary source and roughly 70% of those kidnapped belong to the same family. We have called their cellphones; whereupon IS soldiers have answered and told us that we should not call any longer since we cannot do anything about their situation.

IS members have been very clear with their demands. They want the Kurds to release the IS hostages they are currently holding. IS members say that if they do not release the hostages, all innocent men from the village will die. Reports talk of several hundreds of people. More can be found on Facebook here. And here

Richard Spencer of the Telegraph reports on Khabur: "Christian groups said they were checking a report that up to 200 civilians had been kidnapped by Isil jihadists in the fighting and were being held as hostages. 

A number of fighters from the militia, the Syriac Military Council, were also said to be missing.

The council, known by the initials MFS from its title in Aramaic, the ancient language of the Christian church, was founded in 2013 as jihadists began to dominate more of northern Syria.

It is allied to the YPG, the Syrian Kurdish militia involved in the defence of the town of Kobane, and on Sunday joined it in a drive against Isil in the north-eastern province of Hassakeh.

On Sunday night, it claimed to have driven the jihadists out of 22 villages, including a string of settlements occupied by the Assyrian Catholic minority* between Hassakeh town and the Turkish border.

The attack was backed by bombing raids from the US-led coalition against Isil, which said it had carried out 11 air strikes in Hassakeh on Sunday, hitting 10 Isil tactical units and destroying two Isil vehicles, a bunker and a “fighting position”. *The vast majority of Khabur Assyrians are not Catholic.

Confirmed #IS has gathered all #Assyrians in school building in village of Tel Shamiran in #Syria. Most are women, children and old ppl.
— Afram Yakoub (@AframYakoub) February 23, 2015

Filipinos belonging to Christian organizations rally for Israel.

Filipinos belonging to Christian organizations rally for Israel.(AA).More than 300 Filipinos held festive peace rally in Manila on Friday to express their solidarity with Israel despite their government being among the 138 countries recognizing Palestine as a non-member state in the United Nations. Hebrew songs and shofar echoed through loudspeaker as pro-Israel Filipinos marched in a busy Manila business district followed by a convoy of over 50 cars in a rally that was organized by a handful of Christian organizations, Israel-based Ynet News reported Sunday. The marchers waved Israeli flags, while others held banners in support of Israel that read “standing with Israel, now and then,” in reference to 1947 when the Philippines was the first Asian country to vote in support of the formation of the Jewish nation. The march’s final destination, the national park, which is located some 10 kilometers from the starting point, saw more Israeli supporters joining. All sung a rendition of “Hatikva” (Israel’s national anthem) and blew the shofars to conclude the rally. Christian organizations in the Philippines support Israel throughout the year by performing weekly mass prayer sessions for the Jewish state as well as fundraising and making similar marches on an annual basis, according to Ynet News. There are other Christians in the world who also support Israel and for religious purposes. In the United States, pastors and priests have dedicated their Sunday services to teaching worshipers on the importance of Christians supporting Israel. However, Filipino Muslims showed pro-Palestine sentiments when they marched toward the Israeli Embassy in Manila to denounce the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in November. Read the full story here.

Pakistan - President Zardari takes notice of minor ‘Down Syndrome’ Christian girl jailed for blasphemy.

Pakistan - President Zardari takes notice of minor ‘Down Syndrome’ Christian girl jailed for blasphemy.(T).ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has taken notice of the report stating that a minor Christian girl in Islamabad was arrested on the charges of blasphemy and asked the Interior Ministry to present a report to him. It was earlier reported that 11-year-old Christian girl Ramsha was arrested and sent to jail for allegedly desecrating pages from the Holy Quran. Some reports, however, also said that the girl was burning used papers collected from garbage for cooking when someone entered her house and accused her family of burning the pages of Holy Quran.
After the incident, people of the area gathered together and beat the mother and sister of Ramsha and also burnt few houses of other Christians. The Christian population is reported to have fled the area, while the police arrested Ramsha’s mother and sister. Spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the president has taken serious note of the incident and called for report from the Interior Ministry. Zardari said that blasphemy by anyone cannot be condoned but no one will be allowed to misuse the blasphemy law for settling personal scores. Farhatullah Babar said that the president called for a report within 24 hours and directed the authorities to protect the life and property of everyone and that no one should be allowed to take the law into his hands. The president also called for protecting every one particularly the vulnerable sections of society from any misuse of the blasphemy law.Read the full story here.

American Olympic Team, Christian, Jewish and Hindu Athletes to be Fed with Halal Meat?

American Olympic Team, Christian, Jewish and Hindu Athletes to be Fed with Halal Meat?(AT).By Glen Jenvey.The 2012 Olympics is leaving a bad taste in many Athletes mouths since they found out the British assured food standard meat is 100% Halal! This is the deceit and hypocrisy of UK supermarket chains and slaughter houses which, whilst trumpeting the ‘Britishness’ of their products, surreptitiously purvey Halal meat to the general public and the Olympic teams. Halal is the Islamic method of religious slaughter whereby a live animal has its throat slit whilst being blessed in the name of Allah and it can take up to six minutes to die. In a investigation it was revealed that supermarkets, butchers and other retailers, restaurants, cafes and the food production and catering industry as a whole, all source from suppliers who serve Muslim as well as non-Muslim customers. Some of these suppliers process all their meat to Halal standards. For example, all New Zealand lamb meet’s Halal standards. And all British lamb and chicken is Halal. In these cases all processes still meet the same stringent animal welfare requirements it is claimed and some animals are stunned prior to slaughter whether the meat is sold as Halal or non-Halal but all is Islamically blessed so it can be used for both the Muslim and non-Muslim market. India whose Olympic team might also object under religious grounds being Hindus and Spain, Denmark and Russia are just a few who could ask London 2012 organizers what are we eating as British Red Tractor meat according to all major supermarkets is in fact now slaughtered islamically to save packaging costs.Hmmmm......Doesn't sound 'kosher' to me.Read the full story here.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir says Sudan to teach South "final lesson by force".

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir says Sudan to teach South "final lesson by force".(Yahoo).Khartoum (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir threatened war against his newly-independent neighbour on Thursday, vowing to teach South Sudan a "final lesson by force" after it occupied a disputed oil field. Appearing in medal-spangled general's uniform at a large rally in the border province of North Kordofan, the burly military ruler danced side-to-side, waved his walking stick in the air and made blistering threats against the leadership of the South, which broke off last year after decades of civil war. "These people don't understand, and we will give them the final lesson by force," Bashir told the rally in El-Obeid, North Kordofan's capital. "We will not give them an inch of our country, and whoever extends his hand on Sudan, we will cut it."
South Sudan separated from the rest of Sudan with Bashir's blessing last July under the terms of a 2005 peace deal. But since then violence has steadily escalated, fuelled by territorial disputes, ethnic animosity and quarrels over oil. Last week, South Sudan seized Heglig, a disputed oil field near the border between the two countries, claiming it as its rightful territory and saying it would only withdraw if the United Nations deployed a neutral force there.
Bashir vowed to retake the oil field, which he said was part of Sudan's Kordofan province. That alone would not resolve the conflict, he added. "Heglig is not the end, but the beginning." Global powers have voiced alarm at the escalation of violence and urged the two to stop fighting and return to talks. In a dramatic escalation of rhetoric on Wednesday, Bashir said he would "liberate" South Sudan from its rulers, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, which fought the guerrilla civil war against Khartoum. There was no immediate comment from the South to Thursday's speech.
China, a major investor in both countries, expressed "serious concern" about the increase of tensions and called on both sides to stop fighting, "maintain calm and exercise maximum restraint". "China has worked hard to ameliorate the problems between the two Sudans, and we will continue to work with the international community at mediation efforts," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a daily news briefing. Some 2 million people died in Sudan's civil war, fought for all but a few years from 1955 to 2005 over disputes of ideology, ethnicity and religion. The countries remain at odds over the position of their border, how much the landlocked South should pay to transport its oil through Sudan and the division of national debt, among other issues. Both countries accuse each other of waging proxy war through militia operating on each other's territory. Sudan's military - with an air force, tanks and artillery - is far better equipped than the former guerrilla fighters who make up the South Sudan army. In addition to the civil war in the south, Sudan has also fought long-simmering rebellions in Kordofan and Darfur. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague for war crimes in connection with the Darfur conflict, charges he rejects as political. The south has tens of thousands of fighters under arms, with decades of experience in guerrilla conflict. Hmmmm.....9 July 2011, South Sudan became independent, i predicted 6 months later it would be at war, i was wrong it's 9 months.Read the full story here.

Obama: "Son of Islam"?........Or Not?

Obama: "Son of Islam"?......Or Not?(SG).By Raymond Ibrahim.

According to Sharia law, if one's father is Muslim, one automatically becomes Muslim. "Most of the Muslims I know (me included) can't seem to accept that Obama is not a Muslim."

Many in the media are indignant with Reverend Franklin Graham, head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Invited on "Morning Joe" last Tuesday to discuss Christian persecution, Graham was asked whether he thought President Barack Obama was Christian or not.
Although Graham concluded that Obama "has said he is a Christian, so I just have to assume that he is," he appeared skeptical, suggesting Obama's policies disagreed with Christian principles, thus earning the full ire of much of the fourth estate.
Graham, however, was absolutely right to say that, "under Islamic law, the Muslim world sees Barack Obama as a Muslim, as a son of Islam": according to Sharia law [Islamic religious law, which regulates all parts of a Muslim's life], if one's father is Muslim, one automatically becomes Muslim. The reason behind last week's church attack in Egypt, when thousands of Muslims tried to torch a church and kill its pastor, is that a Christian girl fled from her father after he converted to Islam: she did not want to be Muslim, and was rumored to be hiding in the church. This is not the first time in recent months that churches have been attacked on similar rumors.
In short, Sharia law's position is that anyone born to a Muslim father is a Muslim—with the death penalty should they seek to apostatize: the 34-year-old Iranian pastor sentenced to death simply for converting to Christianity is just the most visible example.
Because of this automatic passage of religion from father to son, and because Obama attended a madrassa (Muslim religious school during his youth in Indonesia), many Muslims are convinced that Obama is a "secret" Muslim. In a Forbes article, "My Muslim President Obama: Why members of the faith see him as one of the flock ," writer Asma Gull Hasan elaborates:

[S]ince Election Day, I have been part of more and more conversations with Muslims in which it was either offhandedly agreed that Obama is Muslim or enthusiastically blurted out. In commenting on our new president, "I have to support my fellow Muslim brother," would slip out of my mouth before I had a chance to think twice. "Well, I know he's not really Muslim," I would quickly add. But if the person I was talking to was Muslim, they would say, "yes he is." …. Most of the Muslims I know (me included) can't seem to accept that Obama is not Muslim. Of the few Muslims I polled who said that Obama is not Muslim, even they conceded that he had ties to Islam…. The rationalistic, Western side of me knows that Obama has denied being Muslim, that his father was non-practicing, that he doesn't attend a mosque. Many Muslims simply say back, "my father's not a strict Muslim either, and I haven't been to a mosque in years." Obama even told The New York Times he could recite the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, which the vast majority of Muslims, I would guess, do not know well enough to recite.

Read the entire article, which is more eye-opening than the author probably intended.Read the full story here.

Hmmm.......Was President Obama Baptised or not ? Is he a Christian ?

Anyway Obama himself writes that he was only baptised in his mid 20's !
Nobody, except Obama knows if his conversion to Christianity is real or not. Although some reports and even Obama have referred to a "baptism", there doesn't appear to be any record of a baptism.
Chicago-based journalist, broadcaster and critic Andy Martin, when asked about Obama's baptism, wrote, "I have never been able to obtain any evidence that he was baptized, although I asked for those records."

It seems that Obama's conversion occurred when he answered one of Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright's altar calls by walking down the aisle of Trinity Church to make a formal commitment of his faith.

Cathleen Falsani, religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, writes, "He (Obama) described his conversion experience in his mid-20s, how he walked the aisle at Trinity United Church of Christ one Sunday in a public affirmation of his private change of heart."I came to Christianity through the black church tradition where the line between evangelical and non-evangelical is completely blurred. Nobody knows exactly what it means."
Falsani warns us that Obama’s walking the aisle at Trinity is poles apart from what Christians commonly refer to as being "saved, transformed or washed in the blood."
In other words, it’s not to be confused with what Jesus called being "born again." As Mr. Obama himself explains, "It wasn’t an epiphany … but just a moment to certify or publicly affirm a growing faith in me."
Unlike traditional Christianity, which Mr. Obama bemoans for its "call to evangelize and proselytize," the good senator’s faith is strictly a personal and private affair. Although he has no qualms about parading it in public in hopes of bolstering his political career, he would never dream of preaching it to others in hopes of converting them to Christ.
At the core of Obama's faith -- whether lapsed Muslim, new Christian or some mixture of the two -- is African nativism and Obama's having pledged allegiance to the Black Value System raises political issues of its own.
The phrase, “having been baptized,” is apparently based on Obama’s claim about being baptized. Our major media haven’t questioned the claim.

Miller went on to say, “His baptism presents its own problems. The senior pastor at Trinity at the time of Obama’s baptism was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., the preacher who was seen damning America on cable TV…”

Notice the formulation, “at the time of Obama’s baptism.” She carefully does not say that Wright performed the baptism. In fact, there’s no evidence it was a baptism in the traditional sense that it was performed by Wright or anybody else. It looks like Obama walked down the aisle and made a profession of faith. That is not a Christian baptism.

The Canada Free Press published a very interesting article in February by Madeline Brooks, who asked, “Where is the baptism certificate? We do not see one because there was no baptism. That central part of Christianity was not required at Obama’s former church, the Trinity United Church of Christ, during the years Obama attended…”
She cites the research of a pastor, Usama Dakdok, who had called Obama’s church to ask about membership:
“Do I have to be baptized to join the church?” asked Pastor Dakdok. “No, you don’t,” was the answer. “You can be a member without being baptized.”
“And what exactly is required to become a member?” The answer: “You attend two Sunday school classes in a row about membership, and then you walk the aisle.”
The phrase, “having been baptized,” is apparently based on Obama’s claim about being baptized. Our major media haven’t questioned the claim.I'm sure any Islamic scholar will agree that "attending two Sunday school classes in a row about membership, and then you walking the aisle" doesn't mean renouncing your Islamic Faith!
Instead of concentrating on his so called Islamic past we should concentrate on his so called Christian past !Read the full story here

Hamas Terrorism against Christians in Gaza

The US State Department led by Hillary Clinton is refusing to rule out continued American aid to a Fatah - Hamas government.Hmmmm......The selfconfessed Christian President is silent.

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Egypt volatile situation deteriorating very quickly !Civil war might become reality. Mubarak wont step down immediately.MFS: What if Mubarak would tell Obama keep your 1,5 Billion -i'll close the Suez canal?   - Al Jazeera English - Live Streams From Egypt ! Here .
• Egypt protests on Twitter!  here.
• Liveblog - Egypt's protests erupt. here.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Christiane Amanpour interviews Hosni Mubarak.Son Gamal is in Egypt.Read and see the full story here.

• Tony Blair: Mubarak is 'immensely courageous and a force for good'.Former PM praises Egyptian president over role in peace negotiations and warns against a rush to elections that could bring Muslim Brotherhood to power.Tony Blair has described Hosni Mubarak, the beleaguered Egyptian leader, as "immensely courageous and a force for good" and warned against a rush to elections that could bring the Muslim Brotherhood to power.The former prime minister, now an envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, praised Mubarak over his role in the negotiations and said the west was right to back him despite his authoritarian regime because he had maintained peace with Israel.But that view is likely to anger many Egyptians who believe they have had to endure decades of dictatorship because the US put Israel's interests ahead of their freedom.Speaking to Piers Morgan on CNN, Blair defended his backing for Mubarak."Where you stand on him depends on whether you've worked with him from the outside or on the inside. I've worked with him on the Middle East peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians so this is somebody I'm constantly in contact with and working with and on that issue, I have to say, he's been immensely courageous and a force for good," he said."Inside Egypt, and I have many Egyptian friends, it's clear that there's been a huge desire for change."Asked if the west had not been an obstacle to change, Blair defended the policies of his and other governments."I don't think the west should be the slightest bit embarrassed about the fact that it's been working with Mubarak over the peace process but at the same time it's been urging change in Egypt," he said.Read the full story here.

• Egypt's Mubarak says resigning would bring chaos. In ABC interview, embattled president says he is 'fed up' after 62 years in public service; claims he told Obama 'you don't understand Egyptian culture and what would happen if I step down now.' Protestors prepare to defy curfew, sleep at Tahrir Square ahead of mass Friday demonstrations; Doctors say at least 10 dead, 800 injured in Cairo clashes.President Hosni Mubarak said on Thursday he wanted to quit but that he feared his resignation would bring chaos to Egypt, as protesters demanding an end to his 30-year rule confronted his supporters on Cairo streets."I am fed up. After 62 years in public service, I have had enough. I want to go," Mubarak said in an interview with ABC."If I resign today, there will be chaos," he added.In a move to try to calm the disorder, Vice President Omar Suleiman said on Thursday the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most organized opposition movement, had been invited to meet with the new government as part of a national dialogue with all parties.An offer to talk to the banned group would have been unthinkable before protests erupted on Jan. 25, indicating the giant strides made by the reformist movement. But scenting victory, they have refused negotiations until Mubarak goes.Oil prices have climbed on fears the unrest could spread to affect oil giant Saudi Arabia or interfere with oil supplies from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.Hmmm......He is right complete chaos will follow and the West and the US will pay the price for electing Obama!Read the full story here.

• HT:Aina.Muslim Brotherhood wants end to Egypt-Israeli peace deal.Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood movement has unveiled its plans to scrap a peace treaty with Israel if it comes to power, a deputy leader said in an interview with NHK TV.Rashad al-Bayoumi said the peace treaty with Israel will be abolished after a provisional government is formed by the movement and other Egypt's opposition parties."After President Mubarak steps down and a provisional government is formed, there is a need to dissolve the peace treaty with Israel," al-Bayoumi said.Egypt was the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel and sign a peace agreement with the Israeli government in 1979. It is also a major mediator of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The Muslim Brotherhood has recently come to light amid mass anti-government protests in Egypt. Some media voiced concerns that the banned Islamic movement could eventually take power in the riot-hit Arab country.Hmmm.....Thanks to Obama the world is another step closer to WW III.Read the full story here.

• HT:MyWay......."They don't trust me because of my middle name"?President Barack Obama's response to the crisis in Egypt is drawing fierce criticism in Israel, where many view the U.S. leader as a political naif whose pressure on a stalwart ally to hand over power is liable to backfire.Critics - including senior Israeli officials who have shied from saying so publicly - say Obama is repeating the same mistakes of predecessors whose calls for human rights and democracy in the Middle East have often backfired by bringing anti-West regimes to power.Israeli officials, while refraining from open criticism of Obama, have made no secret of their view that shunning Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and pushing for swift elections in Egypt could bring unintended results."I don't think the Americans understand yet the disaster they have pushed the Middle East into," said lawmaker Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who until recently was a Cabinet minister and who is a longtime friend of Mubarak."If there are elections like the Americans want, I wouldn't be surprised if the Muslim Brotherhood didn't win a majority, it would win half of the seats in parliament," he told Army Radio. "It will be a new Middle East, extremist radical Islam."Three decades ago, President Jimmy Carter urged another staunch American ally - the shah of Iran - to loosen his grip on power, only to see his autocratic regime replaced by the Islamic Republic. More recently, U.S.-supported elections have strengthened such groups as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories and anti-American radicals in Iran."Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as 'the president who lost Iran,'" the analyst Aluf Benn wrote in the daily Haaretz this week. "Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who 'lost' Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America's alliances in the Middle East crumbled," Benn wrote.In Israel, critics say the U.S. has suffered a credibility loss by shaking off Mubarak when his regime started crumbling."The Israeli concept is that the U.S. rushed to stab Mubarak in the back," said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on the U.S. at Bar-Ilan University."If Obama were genuinely concerned with what is going on in Egypt, he should have made the same demands two years ago (when he addressed the Muslim world in Cairo) and eight years and 20 years ago. Mubarak didn't come to power yesterday.""As long as there are no problems, the oppression works," Israeli said. "If the oppression doesn't work, suddenly it becomes urgent. That's unacceptable."Hmmmm......"They don't trust me because of my middle name"?Read the full story here.

• Muslims Attack Two Christian Families in Egypt, 11 Killed.News of a massacre of two Christian Coptic families by Islamists just emerged from Upper Egypt with the return of the Internet connections after a week of Internet blackout by the Egyptian regime. The massacre took place on Sunday, January 30 at 3 PM in the village of Sharona near Maghagha, Minya province. Two Islamists groups, aided by the Muslim neighbors, descended on the roof of houses owned by Copts, killing eleven Copts, including children, and seriously injuring four others.Anba Agathon, Bishop of Maghagha, told Coptic activist Dr. Mona Roman in a televised interview on Al-Karma TV that the killers are their neighbors, who seized the opportunity of the mayhem prevailing in Egypt and the absence of police protection to slaughter the Copts. He said that he visited today the four injured Copts, who escaped death despite being shot, at Maghagha General Hospital and they told him that they recognized the main attackers as they come from the same village of Sharona. They gave the Bishop details of what happened."The two families were staying in their homes with their doors locked when suddenly the Islamists descended on them," said Bishop Agathon, "killing eleven and leaving for dead four other family members. In addition, they looted everything that was in the two Coptic houses, including money, furniture and electrical equipment. They also looted livestock and grain.".According to the Bishop the first group was led by Islamist Ibrahim Hamdy Ibrahim, who was joined by a gang of masked assailants. They accessed the roof of the house of Copt Joseph Waheeb Massoud through the roof of his Muslim neighbor Mahgoub el Khawaled. The armed men killed Joseph, his wife Samah, his 15-year old daughter Christine and 8-year-old son Fady Youssef.Another Islamist group led by Yasser Essam Khaled and several masked men simultaneously accessed the house of Copt Saleeb Ayad Mayez through the roof of his Muslim neighbor Mohamad Hussein el Khawaed. The Islamist shot dead Saleeb, his wife Zakia, his 4-year-old son Joseph, 3-year-old daughter Justina, his 23-year-old sister Amgad, mother Zakia and Ms. Saniora Fahim.Coptic activist Dr. Hanna Hanna views the Mubarak era with its policy of impunity to be the cause of why Copts are targeted. "Why have those Islamists chosen those two Coptic families and not Muslim ones to slaughter and rob? I believe it is because they know that with Copts they can literally get away with murder."Hmmm.....These are the Islamists that the Obama regime supports and want to talk with?Read the full story here.

• Egyptian MP Tawfiq Okasha, Owner of Faraeen TV, Calls upon President Mubarak to Be Steadfast.Read and see the full story here. .

• HT:InfidelBloggers.PS ‘Peaceful’ China NOW Supplying virtually every nuke component Iran needs.Gertz:WASHINGTON — The U.S. intelligence community has deemed China the leading supplier to Iran’s nuclear weapons program.Officials said the intelligence community has determined that state-owned and other Chinese companies were exporting virtually every component required for Iran to maintain and advance its nuclear weapons program. They said China has also supplied components, systems and technology for Teheran’s ballistic missile program, a key element in the delivery of nuclear weapons.“We’ve asked China repeatedly to stop the flow of technology and components to Iran, and they haven’t done anything about it,” an official said.Officials said Western and United Nations sanctions have failed to stop China’s aid to Iran’s nuclear program. They said Beijing and Teheran appear to have formed a strategic alliance based on Iranian energy in exchange for Chinese strategic weapons technology.Hmmmm......China needs an awfull lot of oil.Read the full story here.

• Obama calls his Christian faith a 'sustaining force'.President Obama on Thursday called his Christian faith a "sustaining force," especially in the face of those who have publicly doubted it. The president said he feels strengthened in his religious convictions when his detractors question them — a nod to those who incorrectly assert that Obama is Muslim.Hmmmmm.....And so started the 2012 campaign?Is Barrack Hussein Obama a christian was he even Baptised?What proof is there if any?Read the full story here.

• Judge Holds Obama Administration in Contempt Over Deepwater Drilling Ban.U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman chided the department for its "dismissive conduct" after he overturned the agency's decision to halt any new permits for deepwater projects and suspend drilling on 33 exploratory wells after the Deepwater Horizon blast, which killed 11 workers and triggered the massive spill.After Feldman overturned the government's moratorium in June, the agency issued a second nearly identical suspension."Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the reimposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium and in light of the national importance of this case, provide this court with clear and convincing evidence of the government's contempt of this court's preliminary injunction order," he wrote.U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman chided the department for its “dismissive conduct” after he overturned the agency’s decision to halt any new permits for deepwater projects and suspend drilling on 33 exploratory wells after the Deepwater Horizon blast, which killed 11 workers and triggered the massive spill.On Wednesday, he ordered the federal agency to pay attorneys’ fees for several offshore oil companies.After Feldman overturned the government’s moratorium in June, the agency issued a second nearly identical suspension. That moratorium was lifted in October.Hmmmm....Obama's dictatorial regime and contempt for laws again exposed?Read the full story here.

• Obama delivers major speech on personal faith.President Barack Obama gave an unusually personal speech about his religious faith on Thursday, saying that "it is the biblical injunction to serve the least of these that keeps me going and keeps me from being overwhelmed," in address to a prayer breakfast in Washington.The speech, delivered at the National Prayer Breakfast, comes on the heels of public opinion surveys that show only a minority of Americans know that Obama is a Christian and that a growing number believe he's a Muslim."My Christian faith has been sustaining for me over the last couple of years and even more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time," the president said Thursday, referring to his wife. "We are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us but that we are true to our conscience and true to our God."On Thursday, Obama spoke at length about his prayer life, saying his prayers fall into three categories: for those who are struggling, for personal humility, and to be closer to God."Under the radar there are of course those who would not tell the truth about him," said the White House official, who would not speak for attribution. "There are folks who have a misunderstanding of the president's faith and who repeat that misunderstanding."Hmmmmm......Where's the proof of his Baptism?Laying next to his birth certificate?Is Obama Baptised?Read the full story here.

• HT:BarracudaBrigade.Video: Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli wants to fast track case directly to Supreme Court.Read and see the full story here.

• Turkish customs control on Iran border 'from Ottoman era,' cable says.Conditions at Turkish custom checkpoints on the Iranian border are from back in the time of Ottoman border crossings, a former U.S. ambassador is quoted as saying in a diplomatic cable recently released by WikiLeaks. The ambassador said the checkpoints lack any of the tools necessary to carry out modern customs work and leave the border open to anyone when their operational capabilities are not running optimally.The U.S. diplomatic cable dated September 2009 described former Ambassador to Ankara James Jeffrey’s visit to Van “to do research on potential development projects in eastern Turkey.” In addition to the meetings with local officials, Jeffrey and the U.S. officials visited the Gürbulak and Kapıköy border checkpoints with Iran.Jeffrey said the conditions at the border posts “varied starkly.” Jeffrey said in the cable, “Gürbulak had more modern conveniences and scanning equipment, while Kapıköy had no scanning equipment at all, and even the living arrangements seemed to be substandard.“Visiting Kapıköy, on the other hand, is like traveling back in time to an Ottoman border crossing, lacking any of the tools necessary to carry out modern customs work. In both posts, however, there is a sense that when operational capabilities are not running optimally – either because the power is out or because the capacity never existed in the first place – the border is left open to anyone who is not overtly suspicious,” according to Jeffrey.“Kapıköy is located due east from Van on the Iranian border in what could charitably be described as the middle of nowhere,” the cable said. It is the only train crossing from Iran for both goods and people.“The customs officers have two official vehicles at the checkpoint, but one was inoperable and there was no fuel for the other. When asked about smuggling in the railcars, as opposed to an individual trying to smuggle things in his baggage or on his person, the customs officials expressed surprise and asked why anyone would smuggle things in railcars.” Jeffrey also said the officials reported the lack of heavy lift equipment and manpower made checking the railcars for smuggled goods nearly impossible.Hmmmm.......Erdogan is Ahmadinejad handyman.....Open borders and banks ,get Turkey out of NATO NOW !Read the full treason story here.

• Ford stabbing the American Auto workers in the back,Goodbye North American jobs?Turkish firm's NY taxi bid marks a brilliant decade.The position of Karsan Otomotiv, a Turkish carmaker that serves Ford Motors, as a finalist for the bid to produce New York taxi cabs, caps a decade in which the country’s once little-known car industry has emerged as a regional powerhouse.With Ford planning to close its St. Thomas, Ontario, assembly plant that makes its large, rear-wheel-drive cars, New York is looking at other options for its taxis. Ford offers customers a version of the Transit Connect minivan built with Turkey’s Koç Holding at a seaside plant 100 kilometers from Istanbul. The Dearborn(istan), Michigan-based company began exporting the model from Turkey to the U.S. last year, selling the taxi version in 10 U.S. cities.New York’s taxi commission is evaluating “best and final offers” from the three finalists, said David Yassky, who chairs a committee of the New York mayor’s office tasked with selecting the winning bid. “The country of manufacture is not now, and has never been a criteria for taxi cabs. The now-predominant Crown Victoria is not American-made and none of the responses propose an American-made vehicle.”Hmmmm....Knowing Mayor Bloomberg's love for Islam and the Obama administrations love for Erdogan,i would say it's a given who will get the contract!Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different!Shining white ball over Dome of the Rock sparks UFO debate.Pulsating orb descends swiftly and hovers before shooting up into the night sky at unbelievable speed.A shining ball of light has been filmed hovering above the Dome of the Rock, in footage which UFO enthusiasts say could finally prove aliens exist.The clips show the pulsating orb descend and hover above the Dome of the Rock, before shooting up into the night sky. It then descends again and disappears. Unusually, the sighting has been filmed from different viewpoints, meaning it has been more difficult to dismiss than most, the Daily Mail reported.The footage was taken in Jerusalem at 1am on Saturday morning and has spread like wildfire on the internet.It has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people and prompted fierce debate among UFO enthusiasts and sceptics.Former Ministry of Defence UFO investigator Nick Pope told The Sun: "If these are real, they are some of the most incredible videos ever shot."If they are not, then this is a very well-planned and co-ordinated hoax designed to eliminate elements of doubt."He said the way the object shoots up suggests it is unmanned: 'We know the Israeli army has some very high-tech drones at its disposal."If this is one, it is one of the most advanced pieces of technology created by man.Hmmmm.....You know some Islamic fanatics are going to use this as a signal.Read the full story here.More here.

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• HT:defencetalk.China :We Will Nuke You First If We're Loosing!China shifting nuclear rules of engagement: report.The Chinese military would consider a pre-emptive nuclear strike if it had no other way to defend itself in a war against another nuclear-armed state, Kyodo News said Wednesday, citing Chinese documents.The policy, called "Lowering the threshold of nuclear threats" may indicate a shift from China's pledge not to first fire nuclear weapons under any circumstances, the report said.It may also fan concern in the United States, Japan and other regional powers, according to the Japanese news agency which obtained the internal documents.The Chinese military's strategic missile forces, the Second Artillery Corps, would "adjust" its policy if another nuclear state conducts air strikes against Chinese targets "with absolutely superior conventional weapons," the document says, according to Kyodo.China would first warn an adversary about a nuclear strike, but if the enemy attacks China with conventional forces, the Chinese military "must carefully consider" a pre-emptive nuclear strike, Kyodo said.The documents suggest that the Second Artillery Corps educate its personnel in worst-case scenarios, Kyodo said, adding that it is rare for information on China's nuclear policy to come to light.US military experts have argued since around 2007 that Beijing may have shown signs of altering its pledge of no first use of nuclear weapons, Kyodo said.Hmmmm.....Obama :"Lets get rid of Nuclear weapons"Sigh.Read the full story here.

• Terror alert as two 'incendiary devices' release smoke and sulphur in Maryland government buildings.Mailrooms quarantined across the state in hunt for other packages.Two people received minor injuries after two packages about the size of small books ignited and released a sulphur-like smell when they were opened at government buildings in Maryland.The fiery devices, one found in Hanover, another in Annapolis, caused the evacuation of mailrooms at government offices across the state. One of the packages was address to Governor Martin O'Malley and concerned officials intercepted two other suspicious deliveries amid the distress, though one was found to be a toner cartridge; the other laptop batteries.The opening of the dangerous packages caused the incendiary device inside to activate, according to State Fire Marshal William Barnard.Explosive material wasn't found in either package that ignited, Barnard said. When one was opened, it produced a 'puff of smoke and a sulphur-type smell, like if you would strike a match'. State police spokesman Greg Shipley added: 'When both packages were opened there was a reaction that caused a flash of fire, a brief flash of fire, smoke and a smell.'This is not to be compared with a significant explosion that you think of when you say that word.'The Annapolis package, addressed in typeface to the recently re-elected governor adorned with holiday stamps, was opened first around 12:30 p.m. local time at the Jeffrey Building, where mail for Mr O'Malley's office is routinely checked. The building is just blocks from the governor's office, which is inside the State House in downtown.That package contained a message from a disgruntled person, a government official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press.It had a zipper feature and when ripped open, a 'flame popped out'.Hmmm...A disgruntled person,who might bring terrorists to new ideas?Or the TSA installing scanners at every post office?Read the full story here.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Iran buying Lebanese Christian properties.Last spring, there were rumors of an attempt by Syria and Hezbullah to wall off the Bekaa Valley and use it as a weapons zone.And in August 2007, I reported that Hezbullah was buying land north of the Litani River and turning it into a no-go zone. At the time, I cited a report from Charles Levinson that Hezbullah was attempting to connect its stronghold in southern Lebanon with the Bekaa Valley. There are, however, more sinister accusations. Jumblatt and other Druze leaders have been most vocal with accusations that Hezbollah has a grand plan to Shiitize what was heretofore a mixed Christian-Druze area in an attempt to create a contiguous swath of land connecting the south with Hezbollah’s other stronghold in Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley.Getting rid of this irksome band of Christian and Druze villages would not only split the Druze off from their ancestral home in the Chouf Mountains, but would also mean weapons from Syria would have unfettered access to Hezbollah in the south without passing through potentially unfriendly territory. See the map below which has been floating around various anti-Hezbollah circles and claims, rather dubiously I think, to depict Hezbollah’s secret plans for a Shiite state inside Lebanon.So is this an attempt to expel Christians from Lebanon? (Where are the people who are selling the land going?) Is it an attempt to clear militarily strategic areas of non-Muslims in preparation for war (as the attempt to link the south to the Bekaa clearly was)?Hmmmm.....That peaceplan and outreach to Muslims really works Mr President,you can smell the peace preparations in the air.Read the full story here.

• Federal Agency's Claims of Jobs Saved by Stimulus Were 'Unclear and Misleading,' Says Inspector General.The Small Business Administration, which received $730 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to increase the availability of credit to small businesses, is making claims about the number of "jobs saved" that are “unclear” and “misleading” and which cannot be verified, according to a report issued by the agency’s inspector general.“The lack of a definition for ‘jobs retained’ and the discrepancy in the forms used to collect job statistics from 7(a) borrowers and lenders has resulted in a performance metric with questionable clarity and transparency,” the inspector general said.Under the Recovery Act, the SBA is required to report job creation and retention statistics in its monthly Recovery Act Program Performance Report, which is published on its Web site.Neither of SBA’s two major loan programs, known as the 7(a) program and the 504 loan program, require loan recipients to tell the government whether those loans helped them to create or save jobs, the IG noted. But the banks and financial institutions that loan out the money do require small businesses to state on their loan applications how many employees they have.From this data, lenders determine the number of jobs created and retained and send the information to SBA. According to the inspector general, however, only one of the programs asks on its application about how many job are to be saved -- the 504 program.Read the full story here.

• British links to Mumbai-style machinegun plot.Suspected terrorists arrested on their way to launch a Mumbai-style machinegun attack on a Danish newspaper had links with a network in Britain it can be disclosed.Three men were arrested last week with a submachine gun, silencer and ammunition in the boot of their car after traveling from Sweden to Denmark to launch attacks in which they apparently planned to raid the offices of the newspaper and kill as many people as possible. A security source said the network was still being investigated but it was not thought the men had received “operational” help from Britain. However CagePrisoners, a British group campaigning for Muslim prisoners, used one of the figures arrested in the alleged Danish plot, Munir Awad, as a case-study for unjust imprisonment after he was arrested on separate trips to Somalia and Pakistan.CagePrisoners, which is supported by the Joseph Rowntree trust and Amnesty International, has previously helped publicise the work of Anwar al-Awlaki, a senior figure with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular.The Kashmiri network in Derby was uncovered by MI5 when David Coleman Headley, an American working with Kashmiri, travelled to Britain in August 2009 to meet two men who were to help him with an attack on the Danish newspaper.They, in turn, sent him to meet a contact called “Farid” in Sweden, a businessman of North African origin living in an apartment in central Stockholm.Farid apparently told Headley he could not help because he was being “continuously watched,” according to a later interrogation of Headley.Headley was arrested in October 2009 after a tip off to the Americans from MI5 and has pleaded guilty to planning the attacks on the Jyllands-Posten newspaper. The plan was called the “Micky Mouse Project” because the attack was in revenge for cartoons portraying the Prophet Mohammed.Read the full story here.

• Israel - Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon :"Who Is Afraid of Transparency'?There has been a lot of commotion and misunderstanding about a proposed parliamentary panel of inquiry that would investigate the funding of Israeli NGO’s. Tired epithets such as ‘McCarthyism’ have predictably been thrown around as a result.Lately this term has taken on an ironic twist when groups or individuals increasingly use to it to defend themselves from any democratic process that they decide to stand against. These groups turn ‘McCarthyism’ on its head by bandying it around in an attempt to silence all dissenting opinions.Israeli society was awakened to the idea of NGO’s as tools of foreign political agendas, by the episode concerning Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) fundraising attempts in Saudi Arabia. According to the Wall Street Journal, an HRW spokesperson, Sarah Leah Whitson, attempted to open the pockets of the Saudi elite by highlighting HRW’s battles with pro-Israel groups. That an organization ostensibly concerned with human rights would choose to fundraise in perhaps one of the worst human-rights abusing nations in the world, and use Israel as bait, should disturb us all.This may or may not be an extreme or isolated example, but it is evidence that NGO’s can become hostage to foreign interference through the funding it receives.The Knesset panel of inquiry is simply about transparency. If there are groups who receive funds from foreign nations then the Israeli public deserves the right to know. Some voices have mistakenly declared that this type of inquiry is reminiscent of undemocratic regimes. Perhaps they should take a look at America’s Foreign Agents Registration Act which is, according to the U.S. Department of Justice website, a “disclosure statute that requires persons acting as agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities.”It is understandable to want to identify those citizens or organizations that are being paid to act at the behest of a foreign government or organization.Furthermore, a cornerstone of the European Transparency Initiative (ETI), adopted by the European Commission in 2005, remains to provide public information on the recipients of EU funds. In reaction to this initiative, the EU Civil Society Contact Group that brings together eight large rights and value based NGO sectors, called for “better publicity and accountability regarding EU funding, enhanced ethical rules for EU institutions and more transparent lobbying”.The concepts of accountability and transparency in funding have been endorsed by the U.S. and the European Union, including by its civil society representatives. So why do some Israeli NGO’s cry foul? Simply put, if they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear.In Israel’s democracy, we welcome and are proud of those who serve as civil society’s checks and balances. After all, the Knesset is the reflection of the will of the Israeli people, who can choose to become active in a myriad of social or political causes. However, when the will of the Israeli people is superseded because of the deep pockets of a foreign nation or organization then this is plainly undemocratic.Hmmmmm....Spoken like a true statesman.Read the full story here.

• HT:Aim.Church Bomb Attack Foiled in Iraq.Mosul (DPA) -- Iraqi police said Thursday they foiled an attempt to bomb a church in Mosul, located some 400 km north of Baghdad.A security source said they found six improvised explosive devices and belts ladened with explosives near the church.The Chaldean Orthodox church, where the suspected attack was to take place, celebrates Christmas Jan 7 with evening mass Thursday night.Police stopped short of saying who might be responsible for the planned attack.Also in Mosul, a bystander was killed Thursday by security forces who were firing at unknown gunmen.'The Iraqi civilian was killed when clashes erupted between Iraqi army forces and unknown gunmen in eastern Mosul,' a security source told DPA.Mosul is among the most ethnically diverse and dangerous cities in Iraq, where insurgents mount near-daily attacks.Just last week, two separate attacks on security killed nine policemen and a military commander.Hmmmm....Makes you wonder who would do this?Read the full story here.

• HT:JudicialWatch.Obamacare Waivers Go To Allies.In the latest of many scandals to rock the administration that promised change and a new level of transparency, a disproportionately high number of Obamacare waivers are being granted to the president’s allies in a secretive process.Essentially, the administration is exempting its financial supporters from some of the more burdensome provisions of the healthcare reform law, which President Obama touts as a “new set of rules that treats everybody honestly and treats everybody fairly.” Political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services decide which companies are off the hook and Americans are being kept in the dark.In early October Judicial Watch filed a public records request to obtain information on the shady deals, but the Obama Health Department flipped the finger and Judicial Watch was forced to sue a few weeks ago. The agency blew off its legally required deadline to produce the records without providing any sort of justification for withholding them, a common occurrence when the government wants to keep damaging information from the public. A senior White House adviser under George W. Bush sheds light on what that could be in this particular case. In a story (“ObamaCare Rewards Friends, Punishes Enemies”) published this week by a mainstream newspaper, Karl Rove reveals that most of the 222 waivers granted so far have gone to administration allies.Over a third of the more than 1.5 million employees covered by the waivers are union members even though unionized workers make up only 7% of the private workforce, Rove points out. So far 43 union organizations have been granted Obamacare waivers and the number could easily keep growing, although the true extent won’t be known until the process becomes transparent.Obama is also shamelessly helping those who supported his hostile takeover of the nation’s healthcare system. For instance, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), a key player in passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is exempt from many of the law’s most costly provisions. Among them are mandates and rate reviews on its lucrative health plans and hefty new taxes on insurance companies. AARP will also be exempt from a $500,000 cap on executive compensation for insurance executives.It’s the president’s way of thanking the influential and politically-connected national group for spending tens of millions of dollars on ads and lobbying on behalf of his healthcare overahaul.Hmmmm....As i said long ago.what did they pledge in return for the waiver?Read the full story here.

• Questions Multiply in Death of Former Pentagon Official.WILMINGTON, Del. -- Questions about the death of an ex-Pentagon official multiplied Wednesday as police reported he had been wandering downtown Wilmington disoriented in the days before his body was found at a nearby landfill.Two days before John P. Wheeler III's body was found, parking garage videos showed him in a black suit with no tie, wearing only one shoe even though there was snow outside. He was carrying his other ripped, tasseled burgundy loafer.He told a parking attendant he wanted to get warm before he paid for parking, but police said his car wasn't there. He also said his briefcase was stolen and repeatedly said he wasn't drunk.The last time he was seen alive on video, he was wandering an office building and had refused help from several people who approached him, police said.About 14 hours later, he was found in the landfill.Investigators consider Wheeler's death a homicide but have been mum about who killed him or how he died. Police also have refused to say what injuries, if any, were on Wheeler's body when it was found Friday morning at the Cherry Island Landfill in a truckload of trash collected from 10 bins in Newark, 15 miles away."We believe it was a homicide because it was ruled a homicide by the state medical examiners," said Newark Police Lt. Mark A. Farrall.Late on Dec. 28, several smoke bombs of the type used for rodent control were tossed into the Marini house, scorching the floors, Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Alan Brown said.Farrall said the dispute remains one facet of the investigation.Read the full story here.

• Israeli Foreign Minister Says Turkey Beginning to Look Like Iran on Eve of 1979 Islamic Revolution.JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has likened Turkey to Iran on the eve of its 1979 Islamic revolution, saying Ankara's policies were to blame for the breakdown of ties with the Jewish state.Writing in Thursday's edition of the Jerusalem Post under the headline "We will not be Turkey's punching bag," Lieberman offered to meet his Turkish counterpart as part of a "frank and honest dialogue" on how their alliance might be restored.But in the latest rhetorical broadside to follow Israel's deadly interception of a Turkish-sponsored aid flotilla that tried to breach its Gaza blockade in May, far-rightist Lieberman put the onus on the Islamist-rooted government in Ankara."The completely unilateral change in the relations is not reflective of our actions; rather it is the result of Turkey's internal politics," he said."Unfortunately, recent events in Turkey are reminiscent of Iran before the Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Like Turkey, Iran was among Israel's closest allies and the two nations held good relations between both governments and people."The Islamic Republic of Iran is Israel's arch-foe and routinely calls for its destruction. That has stoked Israeli and Western concerns over Iran's nuclear programme.To Israel's dismay, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan urged engagement with the Iranians, chafing at U.S.-led sanctions on Tehran as well a plan by NATO -- to which Ankara belongs -- for a regional missile shield that might help Israel.Hmmm...If it were not for a majority of the army generals who are staunch defenders of Ataturk’s secular principles ,Turkey would be already a second Iran with 'Imam' Erdogan ruling the country.But more and more Islamist are joining the army so it's only a matter of time.Read the full story here.

• Turkish investigators unearth mass (PKK?)grave at military post.Bones belonging to at least 12 different people have been unearthed in the eastern province of Bitlis in an area used as a landfill for a gendarmerie station, news agencies reported Wednesday.Excavations began Wednesday in the Mutki district after repeated calls for investigations in the area by relatives of people missing since 1999.Relatives said nine people were killed by soldiers as they traveled to join the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The additional bones are believed to be those of PKK members.A Bitlis public prosecutor, Bitlis Bar Association head Enis Gül and Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, Bitlis provincial head Mehmet Can Demir were present at the scene along with members of the Human Rights Association, or İHD.Serdar Çelebi, a member of the İHD’s central board, called on those responsible for the deaths to be brought to trial.Several hooks were also found beside the bones, but their purpose remains unknown.The excavations centered on four locations in a vacant lot near the Mutki-Kavakbaşı road next to the local gendarmerie station.The families of missing people have pointed to other suspected burial locations, Çelebi said, adding that they would follow developments closely.It is claimed that at least 36 people were killed and dumped in similar mass graves in the area between 1993 and 2003.Read the full story here.

• U.S. teenager tortured in Kuwait and barred re-entry into the U.S.Gulet Mohamed is an 18-year-old American citizen whose family is Somalian. His parents moved with him to the U.S. when he was 2 or 3 years old, and he has lived in the U.S. ever since. In March, 2009, he went to study Arabic and Islam in Yemen (in Sana'a, the nation's capital), and, after several weeks, left (at his mother's urging) and went to visit his mother's family in Somalia, staying with his uncle there for several months. Roughly one year ago, he left Somalia and traveled to Kuwait to stay with other family members who live there. Like many teenagers who reach early adulthood, he was motivated in his travels by a desire to see the world, to study, and to get to know his family's ancestral homeland and his faraway relatives.At all times, Mohamed traveled on an American passport and had valid visas for all the countries he visited. He has never been arrested nor -- until two weeks ago -- was he ever involved with law enforcement in any way, including the entire time he lived in the U.S.Approximately two weeks ago (on December 20), Mohamed went to the airport in Kuwait to have his visa renewed, as he had done every three months without incident for the last year. This time, however, he was told by the visa officer that his name had been marked in the computer, and after waiting five hours, he was taken into a room and interrogated by officials who refused to identify themselves. They then handcuffed and blindfolded him and drove him to some other locale. That was the start of a two-week-long, still ongoing nightmare during which he was imprisoned for a week in an unknown location by unknown captors, relentlessly interrogated, and severely beaten and threatened with even worse forms of torture.All of this underscores the rapidly expanding powers the U.S. Government and law enforcement agents within the country are seizing without a shred of due process. For the government to put an American citizen on the no-fly list while he's traveling outside the U.S. is tantamount to barring him from entering his own country -- a draconian punishment, involuntary exile, meted out with any due process. In June, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of several citizens and legal residents who -- like Gulet Mohammed -- have been literally stranded abroad and barred from returning with no hearing, simply by being placed secretly on the no-fly list. Add to that the growing seizures of the laptops and other electronic equipment of American citizens re-entering the country without any warrants -- or even yesterday's ruling from the California Supreme Court that police officers can search and seize someone's cell phone without a warrant when arresting them -- and (even leaving aside the administration's ongoing due-process-free prison camps and assassination programs) these are pure police state tactics.Hmmmm.....Memories of the East German stasi and the KGB are surfacing?Read the full story here.

• HT:Debka.Iran builds new Eastern Front in Iraq against Israel, Jordan.The urgent phone call Jordan's King Abdullah II put in to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday Jan. 5 dealt only marginally with stalled diplomacy with the Palestinians. The king pressed for answers on what Jerusalem and Amman can do to curb Iran's advancing domination of Iraq in the face of America's inaction.Referring to Hizballah's role, Abdullah commented to Netanyahu: First Iran's missiles had you jammed from the north and the south, now Iran and Hizballah are cornering you from the east. The Americans are not lifting a finger to stop this happening."The call, which came through the day before the Israeli prime minister met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for lunch at Sharm al Sheikh, elicited no real practical replies. Netanyahu confirmed that Israel still stood by the guarantee of support its armed forces and security services had granted the Hashemite Kingdom and its ruler for the past 60 years.Both the king and the prime minister appreciated that words are not enough. Since both their military and strategic policies are synchronized with Washington, the total disintegration of American strategic positions in Baghdad Wednesday, Jan 5, was an alarming setback to both Jerusalem and Amman.On that day, the anti-US radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, a close friend and ally of Hizballah's leader Hassan Nasrallah, came marching home from self-imposed exile in Iran, and the new Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi paid his first visit to Baghdad – both in full sight of 50,000 US troops.Sadr was greeted by thousands of supporters on his return to his old stronghold in the holy city of Najef south of Baghdad three years after his armed militia was defeated in bloody revolts against US forces.The two arrivals from Iran, the cleric and the diplomat, made it plain that Tehran has Iraq by the throat and plans to impose on Baghdad its regime structure, which rests on two focii, the political capital and the clergy. Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is already in Iran's pocket; he is beholden to the radical Sadr's support for his appointment. The same cleric – and therefore Iran - will control his fate - both by means of the 40-member Sadrist faction in parliament and the authority he wields from his seat in the religious city of Najef.Tehran has also not neglected to carve out a position of influence in Baghdad for its Lebanese protégé, Hizballah, whose officers and instructors have been training the commanders of Sadr's powerful militia, the Mahdi Army, alongside Iranian instructors.The two ultra-radical Shiite leaders, Sadr and Nasrallah, are now bound closer together than ever before in an adventure for bringing Iraq under pro-Iranian Shiite domination. Iraq's neighbors, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, could only shudder at the sight of the two black-turbaned Shiite extremists taking charge of Iraq on behalf of Revolutionary Iran against no opposition.This pair and Maliki have taken out of the hands of Washington and Baghdad the decision on whether a reduced US force stays on in Iraq after the main force departs in 11 months' time. Moqtada Sadr has vowed to remove every last American from Iraqi soil and no one shows any sign of stopping him. US troops will be replaced by Shiite-dominated Iraqi forces, the Shiite militias commanded and funded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Al Qods Brigades and Hizballah militia detachments transferred from Lebanon.Iran will in the coming months consolidate the Shiite takeover over Iraq. Hizballah will win a place in the sun and strategic depth after being squeezed between Syria, Israel and the sea.After US troops exit Iraq, the Iranians will be able to deploy their missiles and Hizballah's rockets in the bases the Americans leave behind in Iraq and point them at Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.Hmmmmm....As i said before operation "New Dawn",but a new dawn for whom?This is the result of the weak Obama administration.Obama: "If We Work Hard, Afghanistan Could Be a Success...Like Iraq!"Yeah whatevah!Sometimes you really wonder on who's side he really is?Source.

• Echoes of the 30s as rabbi warns German Jews not to wear identifiable religious symbols after spate of neo-Nazi attacks.Jews living near the German capital Berlin are being warned not to wear items of clothing that identify their religion as fears of neo-Nazi attacks rise.Sixty five years after the end of World War Two and the Holocaust, a leading rabbi in the state of Brandenburg is urging Jews not to wear yarmulkes (skullcaps), traditional long coats, hats or other 'identifying symbols'.Brandenburg, the state which surrounds Berlin, is a hotbed of neo-Nazi activity and its new chief rabbi Shaul Nekrich said its streets are no longer safe for Jews.'As a Jew it is dangerous to wear things that identify you as such unless you are well versed in martial arts.'The rabbi said he had not reported the incident because 'it makes no sense'.In the six areas where he is responsible for teaching there are some 1,300 Jews.After reunification Brandenburg became the fulcrum of neo-Nazi activity in Germany.Skinheads invaded campsites, chased black people to their deaths, firebombed refugee asylums and marched in menacing groups flying the imperial battle flags of the Kaiser.Towns like Bernau or Schwedt gained a reputation as 'brown towns' - after the brown shirts that the original Nazis wore during their rise to power - and tourist guides declared whole sections of the state 'no-go areas' for foreigners.Hmmmm....History repeats itself ,all the elements are there,only to lit the fuse remains.Read the full story here.

• Hitler mania: First postwar exhibition so popular it has been extended three weeks.So many people have been flocking to Germany's first postwar exhibition devoted to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler that it has been extended by three weeks.Over the past three months, 'Hitler and the Germans' has attracted more than 170,000 visitors.The Berlin exhibition, which will now run until February 27, explores explores the links between German society and Hitler's rise to power in 1933, and how he managed not only to win power but to cling on to it it even as total defeat loomed.It features a hoard of bizarre Nazi artefacts including propaganda posters, busts of Hitler, a card game helping players to learn the names of top Nazis, SS cufflinks, toy soldiers and a red swastika lampshade.'There has been great interest among Germans and also international tourists,' said German Historical Museum spokesman Rudolf Trabold. 'They have come from all over Europe.'The museum was especially pleased with the numbers given that the exhibit probes Germany's legacy under the Nazis, including World War II and the Holocaust.'Hitler, Nazis, war and their relationship with German society is not a nice Christmas theme,' Trabold added.'In no way do I consider it a glorification,' Stephan Kramer, secretary general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said.Hmmmmm.....Opinions may differ ,i doubt that this will bring forth anything positive.Read the full story here.

• Fixed-term marriage website a hit in Iran.Iran practices strict rules on sex and relationships. Porn sites and Facebook are blocked and you’re advised not to show too much affection in public, let alone kiss your lover in the streets of Tehran. However, a website that promotes temporary marriage, accepted in the Shia Islam but frowned upon by many Iranians, has gained more than 22,000 members since it was set up less than five months ago. Hafezoon, with a homepage presented in a remarkably similar style and colour to Facebook, has fewer than 1,000 female members, while the rest are men. Only a very small number of them use profile pictures.The site is essentially a matchmaking service that gives users a platform to meet and then marry for a fixed period of time. While it is free to sign up, fully-fledged members must pay to send messages to each other or see and display contact details. One month’s membership costs 50,000 rials (about three euros) and an annual subscription sets users back 120,000 rials (around seven euros).In its ‘About us’ section, the site’s creators say they want to unite men and women for whom, for financial or other reasons, permanent marriage is not practical. It allows these people, the site claims, to enter into a relationship according to the Sharia instead of forming illicit street friendships or worse, being drawn into promiscuity.When registering for Hafezoon, members are asked to provide their height, weight, marital status, skin colour, ethnicity, religion, and education. They are also required to rate their degree of “beauty” and “handsomeness” on a scale of 1 to 5. Married people are not allowed to join and the site doesn’t permit “man-seeking-man” or “woman-seeking-woman.”“The website is a virtual community and its managers do not introduce anyone for temporary marriage,” according to an e-mail from the site’s support staff in response to questions. There are other websites active in the field, but Hafezoon has attracted attention because it offers “a new quality of service”, the e-mail said. Hafezoon is an Arabic word that means ‘those who protect or guard.’ The site’s homepage displays a line from the Koran that translates as “and those who guard their chastity except from their wives.” One page presents the Ayatollahs’ advice on temporary marriage, while another is a price list for various types of membership and how the payment process works.Hmmm..........Read the full story here.HT:TROP.

• Obama Resubmits Judicial Nominations to Senate. President Barack Obama on Wednesday resubmitted a batch of federal judicial nominations that didn't clear the Senate last year, including four that provoked strong objections from some Republican lawmakers.Obama sent 42 names to the Senate. They include 35 nominees for federal district courts and seven for the appellate courts.The most controversial of the four is Goodwin Liu, a dean at the University of California, Berkeley, law school. Liu was renominated for a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. He also is seen as a potential Supreme Court pick by a Democratic president.Republicans have criticized Liu for negative comments about then-Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, now a justice on the Supreme Court.The others contentious nominees are Edward Chen, Louis B. Butler Jr. and John J. McConnell Jr., all nominated to become U.S. District Court judges.Republicans now control six more seats in the rearranged Senate, making it less likely that lawmakers will approve the most controversial of Obama's picks this time around.In fact, Sen. Orrin Hatch, a former chairman and still a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pledged immediately to vigorously oppose Obama's "most extreme judiciary nominees." Hatch, R-Utah, said their "activist approach would control rather than follow the Constitution."Republicans criticized Liu's nomination from the start.At the dean's Senate confirmation hearing, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., noted Liu's criticism of Alito after President George W. Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court.Liu said at the time that Alito's vision of America is one "where police may shoot and kill an unarmed boy.where federal agents may point guns at ordinary citizens during a raid, even after no sign of resistance.where the FBI may install a camera where you sleep.where a black man may be sentenced to death by an all-white jury for killing a white man absent. analysis showing discrimination."Kyl called the comments vicious, and emotionally and racially charged."With Congress out of session last week, Obama bypassed the Senate and gave Cole what is known as a recess appointment. That means Cole, who is a close friend of Attorney General Eric Holder, can serve in the post until the end of 2011. Republican lawmakers had blocked his confirmation partly because of questions about his role as an independent consultant for American International Group before the insurer's near-collapse led to a government bailout in 2008.Hmmmm......Nothing but America's "Finests" indeed your "friends" tell a lot about a person.Read the full story here.

• HT:IslamTodayOregon.Pictures of Muhammad,Islamic Group Declares War on Religious Films.A new ruling reiterates ban on religious character depiction in film and televison.An international Islamic organization has declared war on cinematic depictions of the prophet Muhammad and his companions, arguing they denigrate Islam's most revered characters.Yes, we all know how the camera denigrates someone by adding 20 pounds.The Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) Council, a body of the Muslim World League, said in a statement issued Sunday that the images not of the prophet himself but of his companions were creeping into films and television series and prompted the new ruling, which was adopted during the 20th conference of the Council in late December."The council reiterates its previous decision banning the production, promotion … and viewing of these films and series," the statement read. "These [portrayals] may cause the denigration and devaluation of the figures and be used as an excuse to ridicule them."It's OK to denigrate Jesus, or the Pope, or even the President, but watch out if you devalue Muhammad and his companions. A sick double-standard which ultimately shuts down critical conversation.Hmmmm.....Better order that copy of "El Cid" with Charlton Heston now,while you still can?Read the full story here.

• Israel urges 800 Turkish workers to leave country.A total of 800 Turkish workers employed in Israel by a Turkish firm are having tough days as Israel urged them to leave the country by the end of this month. Israeli call came after a disagreement between Turkish and Israeli governments who have not renewed a part of an offset agreement for modernization of Turkish tanks. This part involves Turkish construction firm Yılmazlar.Israeli authorities sent a notice to Yılmazlar on January 4 and urged its 800 workers, who have been working in Israel since 2002, to leave the country by January 31.Yılmazlar, operating in Israel for more than 15 years, said it informed Turkish government about their ordeal and called on Turkish government to deal with the problem."Thousands of Israeli firms are operating in Turkey without facing any problems. We expect Turkish government to step in," Yılmazlar said in a statement on Thursday.Ahmet Arik, top executive of Yılmazlar in Israel, said the company could face multi-million compensation in case of a suspension of projects when its workers are forced to leave Israel.Yılmazlar is one of the top three construction firms in Israel. Total size of its operations in Israel over the past 15 years is worth more than 1.5 billion USD.Hmmmmm.....Things are not improving it seems.This is going to escalate and be blown out of proportions !  Mark my words !Read the full story here.More here.

• TranslatingJihad.Son of Imam Blames Islam for Backwardness of Muslim World; Receives Death Threats.A Muslim author living in Germany, the son of an Egyptian Imam, dares to criticize Islam, and other Muslims issue death threats. This on the heels of the governor of Punjab being killed for denouncing Pakistan's blasphemy law, the same law that would probably be used against this author if he were unfortunate enough to live in Pakistan. It's a wonder we don't hear more people in the Islamic world speak critically of Islam...Hamad 'Abd-al-Samad: I Consider Islam Part of the Problem in the Islamic World.What would the world lose if the Islamic nations disappeared from the map? Almost nothing, says Hamad 'Abd-al-Samad, and he adds that the Islamic world has stopped innovating, and become a burden on the civilized nations. Indeed it has become a breeding ground for intolerance and violence. The researcher at the University of Munich says in his book, which was published in German and Arabic under the title "The Fall of the Islamic World," that the Muslims are fixed on the past, and are unable to answer the difficult questions of the future. Therefore they flee to the successes of a glorious past."The book has caused serious controversy since its release in Germany, between those who accuse 'Abd-al-Samad of disseminating and establishing stereotypes, and those who consider him a "brave writer" who has placed his finger on the problem for many people, calling on Muslims to take charge of the reform of their own societies. In this book, 'Abd-al-Samad considers Islam a part of the problem in the Islamic world, and he looks at the Qur'an as a stumbling block in the way of Muslim development, due to the enormous influence the text of the Qur'an has over Muslims. The author has received a number of death threats, and also received accusations that he--the son of an imam of a mosque in the Egyptian countryside--is swimming in the current of hostility to Islam and Muslims.Hmmm....."Islam the religion of peace".Read the full story here.

• HT:Hapblog.Lawrence O'Donnell To Allen West: Do You Want to Retract Saying The President Should Put Himself In Harm's Way?West answer : NO !Read and see the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Sex bomb: Jilted lover arrested for 'making exploding sex toy to send to ex-lover for Christmas'.A jilted lover has been arrested after he allegedly wedged gunpowder, buck shot and BB shot into a sex toy to make it explosive.Police claim that Terry Allen Lester planned to hand the device, found in a container labelled ‘Christmas Gifts’, to one of three ex-girlfriends over Yuletide.The 37-year-old from Waseca, Minnesota, has been charged with felony creation, possession of an explosive or incendiary device and felony terroristic threats. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a £13,000 fine if convicted.On New Year’s Day police officer Kari Kalow responded to a call about a civil matter and went to a residence in Waseca.Mr Lester was evicted from the apartment on New Year’s Eve, but he left behind some bags – and he had told one of the women what was in the luggage.The contents of the bags made the women uncomfortable so they contacted the police and took them to Mrs Kalow.One of the bags included a container with the words ‘Christmas Gifts’ written in black marker – and in there were some sex toys.According to the criminal complaint, Mr Lester had made some modifications to a sex toy.He allegedly put gun powder, BB shot and buck shot from shotgun shells into one with black and red wires that connected to a trigger with a battery port. However there was no battery inside the device.The complaint went on to say that Mr Lester planned on giving it to one of three women – in each of those cases, the relationship had ended badly.The Bloomington Bomb Squad was contacted by Waseca Police Sergeant Scott Girtler. The squad arrived two hours later and X-rayed the devices after first inspecting them.
  Hmmmm......"Sexbomb" suddenly got a whole different meaning.Read the full story here.