Toronto Star: Canada should prioritize Muslim refugees over Christians, Yazidis and Jews.

MUSLIM Population has been increasing in all these regions.

Toronto Star: Canada should prioritize Muslim refugees over Christians, Yazidis and Jews. HT: TheRebel. By JONATHAN D. HALEVI .

While the election campaign heats up, the left-leaning Toronto Star keeps pounding the Conservative government and its Prime Minister Stephen Harper on a daily basis.

Yesterday the Muslim card was pulled out. Wednesday’s editorial harshly criticizes PM Harper’s pledge to increase the support for “persecuted religious minorities in the Middle East” and to bring to Canada additional 10,000 refugees from this area.

In his speech on the campaign trail in Markham, Ontario on August 10, Harper clarified that the term “persecuted religious minorities in the Middle East” refers to Alawites (Muslims,) Bedouins (Muslims,) Christians, Druze (offshoot of Islam,) Ismailis (Muslims,) Shi’a (Muslims,) Yazidis, and others who are under threat from the genocidal terrorist organization ISIS.”

The author of the editorial chose to interpret the aforementioned term differently. In contrast to Harper’s clarification, he argued that the statement made by Harper doesn’t implicitly refer to Muslims, but rather to “Christians, Yazidis, Jews and others.”

The Star failed to provide an explanation why the “Jews” were added to its list even though they were not mentioned by Harper, and where exactly are Jewish communities being threatened in ISIS-controlled areas?

Prioritizing the “persecuted religious minorities,” meaning (according to the Star) “Christians, Yazidis [and] Jews,” as refugees who deserve an urgent humanitarian support is wrong, asserts The Star. “The vast majority of people in dire need are Muslim,” the Star emphasized. “Cherry-picking non-Muslims may please constituencies that Harper is keen to woo but it would run afoul of UN guidelines.”

In stark contrast to the critical position towards Harper, his political opponents are being hailed by the Star, with Justin Trudeau's demand to open doors for additional 25,000 Syrian refugees and Thomas Mulcair's promise to significantly increase Canada’s humanitarian aid to Syria and Iraq. Hmmmm..........Antisemitism....comes in all kind of shapes and publications......especially from the left.

Related: France taking lead on protecting Iraqi and Syrian Christians

France has been re-establishing its historical role of protecting Christian minorities in the Middle East. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has been rallying support for persecuted Christians in Syria and Iraq, calling for action from the UN Security Council last week. Pope Francis evoked the plight of Eastern Christians in his annual Easter message on Sunday.

Video - IsraAID assisting displaced Christians and Yazidis in Iraq

Video - IsraAID assisting displaced Christians and Yazidis in Iraq.HT: IMRA.

IsraAID and its partners are distributing blankets, mattresses and other emergency supplies to thousands of Christian and Yazidi refugees.

IsraAID has joined the international relief effort to help the Yazidi, Christian and other refugees. Together with its partner organizations, among them ONEXONE, IsraAID has been operating in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI), supporting displaced Christians and Yazidis living in camps and temporary shelters. In the KRI there are now more than 1.4 million internally displaced people and 200,000 Syrian refugees fleeing ISIS. Most arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and with winter approaching the situation is increasingly desperate.

To respond to these pressing needs, IsraAID and its partners are distributing blankets, mattresses and other emergency supplies to thousands of refugees. To date, 2,000 blankets and mattresses as well as food for 1,000 babies have been distributed to over 1,000 families seeking refuge in the Kurdish Region of Iraq.

IsraAID, founded in 2001, is Israel’s leading humanitarian non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to providing life-saving disaster relief and long term support. For over a decade, its teams of professional medics, search & rescue squads, post-trauma experts and community mobilizers, have been first on the front lines of nearly every major humanitarian response in the 21st century, reaching over 1 million people in 25 countries. IsraAID offers training and support programs in both developed and developing countries using Israel's unique know-how in the fields of psychosocial support, education, agriculture and health. Today, IsraAID conducts on-going training programs in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Haiti, Kenya, Jordan and South Sudan.

Why Christians are fleeing Bethlehem.

Why Christians are fleeing Bethlehem.HT: IsraelMatzav.

Carl in Jerusalem has a great post on the reasons why Christians 'flee' Bethlehem.

Christmas has become an occasion to bash Israel because Christians are fleeing Bethlehem. Leaving aside the fact that Israel is the only country in the Middle East in which the Christian population has grown over the last 50 years, it's simply not Israel's fault that Christians are leaving Bethlehem or any other city (Ramallah used to have a large Christian population) in Judea and Samaria.
In a particularly vicious piece of this genre in al-Guardian, Harriet Sherwood tries to create the impression that Christians are leaving Bethlehem because Jews are setting up 'settlements' on abandoned plots of land across the city line in Jerusalem, thereby 'choking' Bethlehem.
Amid plastic bags snagged on gorse bushes, rusting hulks of cars in a breakers yard and a few shabby trailers, traces of a biblical landscape are still to be found on a hillside between the ancient cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. A couple of donkeys are tethered to a gnarled olive tree; nearby, sheep and goats bleat as they huddle against the chill December air. But this terrain will soon be covered in concrete after the authorisation last week of the construction of more than 2,600 homes in Givat Hamatos, the first new Israeli settlement to be built since 1997.
It lies between two existing settlements: Gilo, home to 40,000 people, sits atop one hill; to its east, on another hill, stands Har Homa, whose population is around 20,000, with further expansion in the pipeline. Both are largely built on Bethlehem land.
Givat Hamatos will form a strategic link between these twin towns, further impeding access between Bethlehem and the intended capital of Palestine, East Jerusalem, just six miles away.
Israel considers these and other settlements across the Green Line to be legitimate suburbs of Jerusalem, which it claims as the unified, indivisible capital of the Jewish state. Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and official bodies have announced a spate of expansion plans in recent weeks.
In the birthplace of Jesus, the impact of Israeli settlements and their growth has been devastating. In a Christmas message, the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said Bethlehem was enduring a "choking reality".
He added: "For the first time in 2,000 years of Christianity in our homeland, the Holy Cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem have been completely separated by Israeli settlements, racist walls and checkpoints." By the way, when Christianity started in this area, it started in Israel during the existence of the Jewish Temple which is denied by Abu Bluff.
But the most vicious libel here is the implicit one that Israel is somehow responsible for the declining Christian population. That's an out-and-out lie.
But it's not Israeli Jews who are causing Christians to leave.

Since assuming control in 1995, Arafat has Islamized Bethlehem by changing the municipal boundaries of Bethlehem and its twin towns Beit Jallah and Beit Sahour. Together, they used to constitute the Christian enclave in Judea and Samaria. Arafat transformed the demography there by incorporating into the town three neighboring refugee camps, Dehaisheh, El-Ayda and El-Azeh. Thus 30,000 Muslims were added to the 65,000 residents in Bethlehem's municipal boundaries. He intensified the Islamization of Bethlehem by adding to its population a few thousand Bedouins of the Ta'amrah tribe, located east of Bethlehem, encouraging Muslim immigration from Hebron to Bethlehem, and inducing Christian emigration/flight away from Bethlehem. The Christian population has been reduced from a 60% majority in 1990 to a 20% minority (23,000) in 2001.

As a result, more Beit Jallah Christians reside in Belize (Central America) than are left in Beit Jallah itself! A similar process has also afflicted the Christians of Ramallah, now down to 20,000.

Aware of what was likely to happen under Arafat, Christian leaders had sought to prevent the transfer of Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority. Between the 1993 signing of the Oslo Accords and the 1995 transfer of Bethlehem to the PA, Palestinian Christians lobbied Israel against the transfer. The late Christian mayor, Elias Freij, warned that it would result in Bethlehem becoming a town with churches but no Christians. He urged Israel to include Bethlehem in the boundaries of Greater Jerusalem, which had been the Jordanian practice until 1967. On July 17, 2000, upon realizing that then Prime Minister Barak recklessly proposed to repartition Jerusalem, the leaders of the Greek-Orthodox, Latin, and Armenian Churches sent a letter to Clinton, Barak, and Arafat, demanding to be consulted before such action was undertaken. Barak's proposal triggered a flood of requests for Israeli I.D. cards by East Jerusalem Arabs, who dreaded PA rule with its oppressive track record.

Setting out to "religiously cleanse" Bethlehem, in 1995 Arafat, defying tradition, slapped Christians in the face by appointing a Muslim from Hebron, Muhammed Rashad A-Jabari, as its governor. Arafat fired the Bethlehem city council (nine Christians and two Muslims) replacing them with a council equally balanced between Christians and Muslims. The entire top level of bureaucratic, security and political officials have been cleansed of Christians. The area is run by the local Muslim Fatah leader and his thugs, along with Tanzim gunmen, mostly Ta'amrah Bedouins. The PA has seized control of the Church of the Nativity, and has tightened the pressure on the Greek-Orthodox, Armenian, Latin,, and Franciscan Order in East Jerusalem. The Abraham's Oak Russian Holy Trinity Monastery in Hebron was seized by the PA on July 5, 1997, which then violently evicted its monks and nuns.

In addition, Arafat and the PA embarked on a campaign of physical and psychological intimidation of Christians. During anti-Israel PA rallies the chant is heard: "After we do away with the Saturday People, we shall take care of the Sunday People." Mosques have mushroomed adjacent to--and usually taller than--churches, implementing the tradition of Saladin, who constructed two taller mosques, Al Khanqa and Abdul Malek, contiguous to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The curriculum at church schools has been altered, adding Islamic--and reducing Christian--studies. Loudly magnified Muslim sermons have been aired during Christian services, including the April 2000 address by the Pope in Bethlehem, which had to be recessed until the purposely-loud Muslim sermon was concluded. 

Abusing Church tradition, the PA has transformed a Greek Orthodox monastery, located next to the Church of Nativity, into Arafat's official residence in Bethlehem....

There has been congressional testimony on Arafat's oppression of Christians. According to former Senator Connie Mack (R-FL), "[The Palestinian Christian] was arrested and detained [by the PA] on charges of selling land to Jews. He denied the charge, since he owned no land. He was beaten and hung from the ceiling by his hands for many hours. After two weeks, he was transferred to a larger prison where he was held for eight months without trial... These Christians conveyed to me a message of fear and desperation." (Senate speech, March 3, 2000, www.senate.gov/~mack/issue/statement.htm).

The PA has imported to Gaza, Judea and Samaria in general, and most especially to Bethlehem, its oppressive legacy of Lebanonization. The Christians of Bethlehem, Beit Jallah, Beit Sahour and Ramallah are now undergoing the experiences of Lebanese Christians from 1970 to 1982.
They are perceived by the PA--as were Lebanon's Christians--as a potential Fifth Column. Accused of wearing "permissive" Western clothing, Bethlehem Christian women have been intimidated by PA personnel.
Rape of Christian women has occurred frequently (especially in Beit Sahour) as was the case in Lebanon. Islamic hostility, disregard for civil liberties and economic jealousy have been harnessed by Arafat and his 20,000 terrorists imported from Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Tunisia, Jordan, and Lebanon in their campaign against the Christian infidel. Christians who dare oppose PLO oppression are accused of "collaboration" with Israel and face execution.I think those numbers speak for themselves.Read the full story here.

40 Palestinian Muslims stone Christians on Temple mount.....result: Freedom and Justice Party Demands Protection for Muslim, Christian Holy Sites in Jerusalem

                     Palestinian Muslims stone Christians on Temple Mount February 19 2012.


40 Palestinian Muslims stone Christians on Temple mount.....result: Freedom and Justice Party Demands Protection for Muslim, Christian Holy Sites in Jerusalem.(IW).The Freedom and Justice Party denounced continued injustice, siege and atrocities committed against the people of the Gaza Strip, despite the ousting of the oppressive previous regime, including the unjust blockade which tells the world that Egypt's foreign policies have not changed.The FJP urged competent authorities for immediate action to end the blockade and to provide the requirements for the return of electricity to the people of Gaza.
Further, the FJP expressed concern about international silence towards the continued Zionist attacks and attempts to deface Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the expansion of projects aimed at doubling settlements in the Holy City of Jerusalem with the purpose of Judaizing the city and obliterating its Arab and Islamic identity.The party also urged Arab and Muslim governments to work in earnest for the protection of Muslim and Christian holy places in the occupied territories.
It also called for the Arab peoples to support Al-Aqsa Mosque in all available ways, in defense of the first Qiblah and the third most important of Islam’s Holy Mosques.Hmmmm........Stop playing the victim card, facts are stubborn things as one can see from the video below.

Muslims stone Christians on Temple Mount .(IT).A mob of some 50 Palestinian Muslims stoned a group of Christian tourists atop Jerusalem's Temple Mount on Sunday morning. Three of the Israeli police officers who acted to protect the Christian group were wounded by the stone-throwers.
Police arrested 11 Palestinians, several of them minors, for their role in the attack.
The attack is believed to have been instigated by the former Muslim mufti of Jerusalem, Ekrama Sabri, who told Palestinian media over the weekend that Jewish groups were planning to break into the mosques that occupy the holy compound and desecrate them.Sabri urged all local Muslims to protect the mosques from "the Israeli conspiracy against the city and its holy places."
Muslim religious figures regularly claim that Israel is plotting to destroy the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque to pave the way for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple, which the Muslims now insist never previously existed.
Because of the constant threat of Muslim violence, and despite the fact that the Temple Mount is the most holy place on earth to Jews and many Christians, the Israeli police comply with Muslim demands for harsh restrictions on non-Muslim visitors to the site. For instance, Jews and Christians are forbidden to carry Bibles atop the Temple Mount or to utter even silent prayers within its walls. Jews and Christians are regularly detained for violating these conditions.Read the full story here.




Stone-throwers attacked a group of Christian tourists that were visiting the site. At least 40 officers entered the Temple Mount to deal with the situation, said Rosenfeld.Police arrested three suspects on the scene who were involved directly in the attacks. Police arrested ten additional suspects as they exited afternoon prayers at the Al Aksa mosque, and five more Sunday evening. They expected to make several further arrests.Police said no Jews were at the Temple Mount during the altercation. The site remained opened to tourists throughout the day.

“Boko-Haram” Terror: The slaughter Of 510 Igbo Christians Amounts To Systematic Ethnic Cleansing & Crimes Against Humanity.

“Boko-Haram” Terror: The Chilling Killing Of 510 Igbo Christians Out Of The 714 “Boko-Haram” Related Deaths In 12 Months (January 2011-January 2012) Amounts To Systematic Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity.(SaharaReporters).By Emeka Umeagbalasi.

The killing Of 510 Igbo Christians:

Other than the two reports particularly the chilling death of over 54,000 Nigerians outside the law since 1999, our further investigations show that up to 510 Igbo Christians may have been slaughtered by politically and ethnically backed “Boko-Haram” Terror Sect in different parts of the Northern Nigeria, from January 2011 to January 2012. This did not include the Jos killings of 2011, where it is believed that up to 400 Igbo Christian traders alone including 48 of them (killed on 8th day of January 2011 at Dilimi and Bauchi Road Markets in Jos) died, out of over 1000 people killed. According to the Associated Press account, at least, 510 people (most of them Igbo Christians) were killed by Boko-Haram Terror Sect in 2011. In the past three weeks that is to say between 22nd day of December 2011 and 13th day of January 2012, at least 300 innocent Nigerians have been killed. This includes about 60 people including Christmas returnees trapped and slaughtered on Enugu-Abakiliki Road on 31st day of December 2011 as well as 35 Nigerians (rights groups’ account) killed countrywide by over-zealous security forces during the national protests and strikes over “petroleum subsidy removal”. The Inspector General of Police claims that eleven people including two security operatives were killed during the protests.

Strictly speaking Your Excellency, in the past three weeks (22-12-2011-13-01-2012), according to respected local and international media, up to 204 innocent Nigerian Christians including, at least, 150 Igbo Christians have been murdered by “Boko-Haram” Islamist Sect. And out of at least 510 people murdered by the violent Islamist Sect in 2011 (Associated Press), at least 350 of them are Igbo Christians. The targeted and systematic killing of Igbo Christians stems from age-long ethnic hatred, disproportionate police protection, and gross insecurity in the Igbo residential and trading areas of the North as well as Igbo pastoralism (migration). Available statistics from the media concerning the 204 “Boko-Haram” Sect’s killings in the past three weeks show that on 22nd day of December 2011, at least six people (Igbo Christians) were slaughtered in Damaturu, Yobe State, Northeast Nigeria; on 23rd day of December 2011, at least 68 people including (many) Igbo Christians, police personnel and soldiers were killed in bomb blasts believed to have been detonated by violent “Boko-Haram” Sect in Damaturu, Yobe State.
On 25th day of December 2011, at least 35 parishioners including over 25 Igbo Christians and two passers-by (Muslims) were massacred at St Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla in Suleja, Niger State, North-central Nigeria. The chilling deaths resulted from bombs detonated by the violent “Boko-Haram” Islamist Sect. At least ten more people mainly Igbo Christians were killed in bomb blasts that hit churches in Jos, Plateau State, North-central Nigeria and Gadaka, in Yobe State, Northeast Nigeria.

Lastly Your Excellency, as a party to the Statute for International Criminal Court, which Nigeria ratified in 2001, we demand that Your Excellency writes and invites the new Chief Prosecutor for International Criminal Court, Madam Fatou Bensaida and her team to Nigeria to commence investigations into these chilling killings, particularly the slaughtering of Igbo Christians in the North, as well as the Jos killings, so as to truly unmask those involved, whether they are in government, ethnic or religious enclaves. This is in line with the recent public statement issued by Madam Navanethen Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. It is also in accordance with relevant provisions of the ICC Statute and the Charter of the United Nations. Read the full story here.

Related : Boko Haram And The Threat Of Political Islam.(SaharaReporters).By By Leo Igwe.
Nigeria’s most deadly islamic sect, Boko Haram, has just exploded mutiple bombs in the city of Kano. Curfew has been imposed and the city- the state and the entire nation is engulfed in tension, fear and uncertainty with some 80 corpses in a morgue and bodies in the streets on Saturday .This group appears unrelenting in its murderous campaign.
Kano has joined the ranks of northern states-Bornu, Yobe, Adamawa, Plateau, Niger where the terror of Boko Haram holds sway. Religious crisis orchestrated by muslim fundamentalists is not new to this northern city but these attacks have brought a frightening dimension to islamic militancy in the region.Unfortunately, most analysts continue to shy away from the truth- the bitter truth that Boko Haram is an islamist group with a political agenda. Boko Haram is a jihadist organization that has declared war against anybody that is really or imagined to be opposed to its cause. Even when the group has made it clear that they are opposed to western education and want sharia implemented in Nigeria. Boko Haram militants are not asking for jobs. They are not agitating for any finacial reward or compensation. Their cause is religious. Thier agenda is islamists.
They are just a bunch of islamic militants and nihilists who want to turn Nigeria into an islamic empire by force.We in Nigeria must stop decieving ourselves by saying that the Boko Haram attacks have nothing to do with religion. Or that they have nothing to do with Islam. This is not true. Though people can carry out such heinous attacks for other reasons, or be motivated by other secular causes. From the pattern of their attacks, the Boko Haram phenomenon has a lot to do with religion particularly islam. It is the Nigerian version of al Qaeda. The militants are not bombing police stations, UN building and churches for the sake of it. They are not agitating for sharia law for the fun of it. The Boko Haram militants are fighting a holy war. They are prosecuting a jihad for which they expect to be rewarded abundantly in the hereafter with some virgins. That is why the group has not run out of suicide bombers. That is why they have their operational base in the muslim majority states.
Boko Haram militants have been brainwashed by few islamic clerics to believe that they are 'Hezbollah'- the army of Allah. They have been deluded to think that these suicide bomb attacks and other murderous acts they carry out are religious duties in line with the will of Allah and in furtherance of Islam. Nigerian authorities must acknowledge and address the ‘islamic’ roots of the Boko Haram menace now, before it is too late. Read the full story here.

The western media continues to ignore the issues of Muslim persecution of minorities .It Is Not Just the Christians But Hindus Too

HT:ShoebatFoundation.

In Egypt, Christians endure their ‘Kristallnacht’

In Egypt, Christians endure their ‘Kristallnacht’.(BigPeace).By Charles Jacobs.

Recently Jews in synagogues around the world heard an ancient prophesy about a time of tribulation for the Christians. In the haftarah, the Prophet Obadiah hears G-d warning the Edomites (traditionally a Jewish term for the people who eventually made up the Christian world): “Behold on that day… Your mighty ones to the South will be broken… every man will be cut off by the slaughter…”

How eerily reflective of the moment: Within just the last couple of weeks, the Washington-based Christian Solidarity International (CSI) issued a “Genocide Warning” for Christians and other religious minorities across the Middle East, and launched a petition urging President Barack Obama to speak up.
The “Arab Spring” seems to be rapidly springing shut on Middle East Christians, most clearly in Egypt where Islamists scored a landslide victory in the first of a three-stage parliamentary election there. The Muslim Brotherhood – whose goals include world conquest in the name of Allah, and whose motto is “Jihad is our way; dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope” – gained 40 percent of the vote, and the Salafists – who are said to be even more radical – garnered 25 percent. And that’s just in the big cities. As Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick surmises, the results will only get worse as results trickle in from the more religious hinterland.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s yuppies – the grand hope of dreamy Westerners – Twittered and Facebooked themselves a pathetic 15 percent of the vote. They will likely fade away, be absorbed or be wiped out.

While Israel fears for its peace treaty with the Arab world’s biggest country, Egypt’s Copts face a more immediate crisis. This Christian minority, which numbers some 11 million, was established in the land of the pharaohs long before the Islamic conquests. For the Copts, the “Arab Spring” is already a deep, deep, cold winter – and Obadiah’s words might seem a contemporary foreboding.

On December 7, Cynthia Farahat, a Coptic writer and human rights activist, testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission about the plight of her people. Farahat’s colleague Michael Mosad was one of the Christian men crushed by a military vehicle during the October 9 Maspero massacre, triggered by Copts protesting the burning of their churches by Islamist thugs. Farahat told the commission:

His legs were nearly severed from his body. As [Michael’s fiancée] sat next to him …soldiers gathered … brutally beating and kicking his motionless body. Vivian threw her body over his to protect him … but military officers beat and cursed her; they called her an infidel, ‘Christian sons of dogs,’ and worse–

Bothaina Kamel, a Muslim TV personality who hid inside a television station during the protests, heard the soldiers and the policemen yelling “Allahu Akbar” as they brutally beat the protestors.

Kamel told the commission she was able to get out of the building only by claiming she was a believing Muslim. She said that she had been warned that the military was inspecting people’s hands, as many Copts had tattoos of crosses. She said to leave the building, she had to trudge through the blood of Christians whom the soldiers had beaten to death.

Gordon College is a Christian school between Salem and Rockport. A few weeks ago I spoke there at a commemoration of Kristallnacht, Germany’s night of broken glass, the first mass assault on Europe’s Jews and the harbinger of the Shoah. I told the Christian audience how good it was to feel Christian support for Jews in these times, and that even some of the most stubborn of my people were now appreciating Evangelical support for Israel. I also said that we felt this blessed support came from a spirit of Christian altruism. But given the news from the Middle East, concern for others is surely not the only reason Christians need to support Israel.

I asked how many in the audience of 250 knew of Anne Frank. Almost every hand shot up. Then I asked how many had heard of Ayman Labib. I got a mass blank stare. Ayman was a 17-year-old Egyptian Christian who just weeks ago was beaten to death by his Muslim classmates as teachers watched because he refused their demand to remove his cross necklace.

I asked how many knew about the Maspero massacre, which had left at least 24 Copts dead and 270 injured. And whether they knew that since January, there had been more than 70 attacks on Christian churches or institutions in Egypt.

While tonight you commemorate a Jewish pogrom, I told them, Christianity has just suffered its own “Kristallnacht” … and I have yet to see much of a Christian response.

Christian persecution is spread throughout the Middle East, I told them. Christians are under siege in Iraq. In Syria, they are clasping tight to Bashir al Assad as a sort of protector, and will be completely vulnerable if – or when – he falls. The Lebanese Christians are threatened by Hezbollah, and the Sudanese Christians lost millions to the Jihad over the last two decades. Christians (and Jews) have been thoroughly “cleansed” from Saudi Arabia already.

In discussions that followed at Gordon, the Christians lamented that they lacked the sense of family that the Jewish people have. “Look at what you did for one Jew, Gilad Shalit. We don’t feel that way about other Christians.” The global jihad, I said, might change that.

Meanwhile, the group Children of Holocaust Survivors, I’m proud to report, is ringing the alarm bells – on Facebook and Twitter – echoing the Christian Solidarity International genocide warning. And I am hearing rumblings of Christians coming awake.

I urge my readers to respond to this real, mounting humanitarian crisis by visiting www.csi-usa.org.   Source

MFS - The Other News

                      Morning Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - May 10. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - May 10. Here (Al-Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan  today 5.3 - 5.4 activity. More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 105.
  On 09.05.2011 at 14:42 GMT+2
  
  Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on Monday detected radiation levels in the building housing the faltering No. 1 reactor that far exceeded expected levels reaching as high as 700 millisieverts per hour, the utility firm said. The latest readings for the troubled reactor has lead Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to embark on new radiation shielding measures so that work to bring the crisis under control can go ahead with risks of massive doses of deadly radiation poisoning hopefully being lessened for the TEPCO workers and their affiliates as they attempt to embark on a massive project to install a nuclear fuel cooling system. TEPCO is currently mulling ideas to protect its workers -- some who have only had a single medical check since the March 11 triple disasters and many who have been exposed to levels of radiation far exceeded legal levels -- such as constructing a metal tunnel for people to walk through, or using lead sheeting to provide increased protection against radioactive substances and increase safer mobility for the workers moving around in high-radiation areas. An area with a double-digit millisievert level, let alone three-digit figures, is quite tough as a working environment. So we have to do the work by using some shielding,'' Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told a press conference.
  
  TEPCO during the press conference were unable to confirm whether the latest measures would be a success and could not say unequivocally whether Asia's largest utility's well-publicized schedule to stabilize the plant's troubled reactors by October would be met. TEPCO said that as 10 to 70 millisieverts per hour were detected in areas where workers would be expected to spend prolonged periods of time inside of the No. 1 reactor, restoration work is possible. But the utility firm opened the main access points to the reactor and in doing do freely released 500 million becquerels of radioactive substances into the atmosphere, where it had gathered in the upper part of the reactor following a massive hydrogen explosion on March 12. Seven TEPCO representatives and two from the nuclear agency entered the reactor in the early hours of Monday morning and measured radiation, working and safety conditions inside the reactor for roughly 30 minutes. Following the reconnaissance mission, the nine people involved were exposed to radiation ranging from between levels of 2.7 millisieverts and 10.56 millisieverts, according the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. The installation of such cooling equipment is likely to be hampered by high radiation, as the group found several radiation " hot spots," especially around pipes suspected to be clogged with highly radioactive material. The nuclear agency and the Environment Ministry on Monday also began taking readings from highly contaminated rubble from the vicinity of the stricken No. 1 nuclear plant and remove some of the debris and bring it back to laboratories in Tokyo for further tests. The radioactive rubble continues to emit radiation into the atmosphere, the ministry said. Source : Here .

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

• WTF?Terrorists in Iraqi Prisons Have Cellphones And Are Free To Phone Media And Direct Acts Of Terrorism.(Memri).The security and defense committee of the Iraqi parliament characterized the owning of cellular phones by terrorists held in Iraqi prisons as "a big scandal." A member of the committee who refused to give his name said that the absence of deterrent laws allow officers and prison guards to cooperate with the terrorists and to facilitate their obtaining cell phones at low cost. A number of major terrorist acts were carried out with the help of instructions provided from within the Iraqi prisons.Hmmmm.....Who needs enemies with the Obama regime in charge?Read the full story here.

• State Department Ignores Christian Slaughter.(Aina)."It's time to speak out against hate," declared Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a video introducing the State Department’s new "campaign to stop bigotry." Created by the Obama administration's Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith, and Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Hannah Rosenthal, 2011 Hours Against Hate will "promote respect across lines of culture, religion, tradition, class, and gender." (All 23 current classifications of gender? Just wondering.) The campaign was launched at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, February 17, 2011.

At the OSCE, Pandith raised legitimate concerns about the defacing of mosques and of Jewish tombs, schools, synagogues, and kosher shops. But she also said that the "latest trends show growing movements that target 'the other' -- be they immigrants, or religious and ethnic minorities, in the name of protecting the identity and 'purity' of their nation." By 2011 Hours Against Hate standards, British Prime Minister David Cameron's declaration that multiculturalism has failed is a dangerous targeting of "the other." Pandith also noted that "permissibility of anti-Muslim speech is growing." Really? A host of individuals facing charges, paying fines, and hiding from death threats would be surprised to hear this. But then it seems permissible to target "the other" of "the other."

"Hate is hate, no matter who the target is," 2011 Hours Against Hate intones. But some targets of hatred appear to be more equal than others. Perhaps because some leftist elites never got over their assumption that Christians are the persecutors, not the persecuted, they have difficulty speaking out against hatred aimed at those whom the mainstream media sees as hate-mongers.

On April 29, 2011, the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom (IRF) co-sponsored a 2011 Hours Against Hate event. Hosted by George Washington University, the event was billed as a "Town Hall Discussion on U.S. efforts to combat discrimination and hatred against Jews, Muslims, and others." Hopefully, the 100 million-plus Christians experiencing persecution around the world today, along with Hindus, Sikhs, Baha'i, etc., are included in "and others." The IRF office should be reminded that advocates for persecuted Christians played a major role in its creation, along with the creation of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom(USCIRF). Both were mandates of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).Though outspoken in their denouncement of hurtful language, the folks at Foggy Bottom have been silent about the massacre of hundreds of Christians in Kaduna State, and several other states in northern Nigeria that took place after Nigeria's federal elections last month. Angry that Christian President Goodluck Jonathan defeated Muslim candidate Muhammadu Buhari, Islamists in the Shariah-ruled north began rioting on Monday, April 18, 2011, after preliminary results of the April 16 election were announced. Soon newspapers featured grisly photos of charred bodies lining the streets. Hundreds of churches were burned and thousands of Christian-owned businesses destroyed, according to the Christian human rights group, Open Doors. And International Christian Concern reported that the Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress was still "discovering more details of massacres that have been carried out in the hinterland." Upwards of 40,000 Christians have been displaced in the past few weeks.In its comments about the situation in Nigeria, the U.S. State Department disregarded the religious aspect of the post-election mayhem. Secretary of State Clinton's April 19 statement on the elections (available in Arabic as well as English) "deplored violence," but ignored the targeting of Christians. Clinton congratulated Goodluck Jonathan for winning Nigeria’s presidential election, and applauded "the people of Nigeria for their enthusiastic and orderly participation." She did caution that the process was "far from perfect," though, and called on the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission “to transparently review and take appropriate and transparent action on all allegations of “under-age” voters, violence and intimidation, ballot stuffing, and inordinately high turnout in some areas of the country."Although some, including U.S. State Department officials, would paint the post-election violence as purely political, the head of the advocacy group Justice for Jos, attorney Emmanuel Ogebe, refutes this claim. While Muslims and Christians in southern Nigeria get along fine, on this particular occasion there is an intersect between religion and politics when it comes to the Shariah-compliant north. And besides that, Ogebe says that for the Islamists in northern Nigeria, "anything is used as an excuse to kill Christians — beauty pageants, lunar eclipses, school exams, political elections…." These are the sundry reasons in the last dozen years alone that have sparked violent, deadly attacks against Christians. He calls it their "default setting."Ogebe reported that strikes on Christians took place simultaneously in rural districts of a dozen Nigerian states (northern). Some initial attacks took place in the middle of the night, when the Christians were least able to defend themselves. And anti-Christian sentiment was inflamed in many of northern Nigeria's mosques, since in those areas Islamists emerged from mosques with the goal of killing anyone who is an "infidel" whether they voted for the Christian president or not. Victims were made to quote the Quran, not identify for whom they had voted. Nigerian church leaders agree with Ogebe. In a May 3, 2011 press briefing in Kaduna State, leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) called for a federal investigation into the violence that targeted Christians. "Islamic attacks on churches reflect [the] religious dimension of political conflict," said Compass Direct News Service.Pretending the jihad against Nigerian Christians is mere political division and remaining silent about the egregious persecution is about as sensible as pretending the terrorist threat against America is a criminal justice issue, or pretending that justified concerns about the spread of Shariah are Islamophobia that can be squelched by a campaign against hate.Hmmmm....A 'regime' that encourages the killing of Christians, Jews and Budhists!Selfconfessed 'Christian' indeed,beware of false prophets.Read the full story here.

• Brigitte Gabriel: Islamist Persecution of Muslims, Christians, Jews and Minorities.(BigPeace).“It’s of concern, of course, not because all Muslims are behaving this way but because those who are doing it in the name of Shariah are unmistakably seeking this kind of supremacist outcome and it won’t stop with Christian populations and it won’t stop with people in other parts of the world.” – Frank Gaffney concerning recent flash points in Salifist violence against minorities.Today on Frank GAffney’s Secure Freedom Radio, author of They Must Be Stopped, Brigitte Gabriel sets the record straight on the recent history of violent Islamist persecution of Christians, Jews, minorities and other Muslims from the vantage point of an American Arab woman. It has never been more timely to check the historical record against public stereo types. Listen to Brigitte and Frank hear the full story here.

• “Lula” and Barack’s Common Marxist Ties.(NewZeal).Brazil’s immediate past president Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, a former labor boss, built his Workers Party, an alliance of communists, Trotskyites, “liberation theologists”, black radicals, environmentalists and labor militants, into the most powerful political force in Latin America.Working with Cuba, “Lula” as he is commonly known, has had an huge influence in the revolutionary wave that has swept Latin America since the early 90s.Less widely known is that Lula has enjoyed support and advice from the US’s largest Marxist organization Democratic Socialists of America, since at least the year he founded his Party, 1981.Incidentally, this is around the same time that Barack Obama began his thirty year association with the organization.Obama became involved with D.S.A. when he attended their Socialist Scholars Conferences in New York in the early 1980s. the connection may have gone back even into the late 1970s when he associated with members of Occidental College’s Democratic Socialist Alliance.The Obama/D.S.A. relationship blossomed in Chicago and has never wavered since.D.S.A. member Stanley Gacek is a labor attorney and A.F.L.-C.I.O. and was a long time International Affairs Assistant Director, responsible for the Federation’s relations with Latin America and the Caribbean. He has spoken and written extensively on Brazilian labor and politics and has been a friend and adviser to President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva and the Workers Party since the early 1980s.In November 2010 Obama awarded John Sweeney the Presidential Medal of Freedom.Socialist revolution is international in scope.The same people who helped deliver Brazil to the socialists and communists, are working to do the same to the U.S.This may help explain why Barack Obama lets Brazil drill for Gulf oil, but denies American companies the same right.He is simply looking after his real friends.Hmmmm..........Democracy or Dictatorship?Read the full story here.

• New Phones being adapted to broadcast "Dear Leader" his messages.(DailyMail). New emergency alert SMS system set to launch (but you can’t block the President’s messages).It's easy to ignore a phone message from someone you don't know that well. But when Barack Obama sends you a text, you listen.A national emergency alert system that will send messages to mobile phones during disasters is set to launch in New York City and Washington by the end of year.The Commercial Mobile Alert System will direct emergency messages to mobile phones in case of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other serious emergencies.Citizens can opt out of receiving most of the messages, unless they are from the President himself.'If there’s a terrorist bomb set to off in Times Square, you’d be able to tell everyone in the vicinity to get out of there,' one New York official to the New York Post.The alert plan was approved by Congress in 2006 under the Warning Alert and Response Network Act.Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate said the new national system will be selective in what it sends out.'These are really focused on the highest levels of alerts, and those that require urgent action,' Fugate said.Genachowski added that officials expect the alerts 'to be very limited.There will be at least three levels of messages, ranging from a critical national alert from the president to warnings about impending or occurring national disasters to alerts about missing or abducted children. People will be able to opt out of receiving all but the presidential alerts, Genachowski said.A special chip is required to allow the phone to receive the messages, and starting next year all new phones will have the technology. Some smart phones already have the chip and software updates will be available when the network goes online later this year, Genachowski said.Fugate said cell phones turned on in the direct vicinity of a disaster - an evacuation zone, for instance - would receive a message warning them of the impending danger. The alert would show up on the phone's front screen, instead of the traditional text message inbox, and arrive with a distinct ring and likely a vibration.Messages are expected to get through even if traditional phone lines are swamped.Hmmmmm......Read the full story here.

• Iran Training “Sleeper” Terrorists in Venezuela?(NewZeal).Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is allegedly training a large number of Kuwaitis, Bahrainis and Saudis in a private training camp located in Waheera, a remote area near the borders of Venezuela and Colombia, and intends to use them to carry out terrorist activities within their respective countries and other areas across the world in case Iran is attacked militarily, Al-Seyassah daily quoted a reliable source as saying.The trainees are first sent to Venezuelan capital Caracas or Colombian capital Bogota via Damascus and from there, they are sent to the border region in cars, one of the militants who broke away from the Iranian group told the daily.Reportedly, the training camp is run by some Iranian intelligence officers and others affiliated to the Revolutionary Guard in cooperation with Hezbollah and Hamas. The trainees were given courses in making bombs, carrying out assassinations, kidnapping people and transporting the hostages to other locations.The trainees have been trained to act in case there is a war against Iran. As per the plan, all embassies of Gulf countries, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan in Latin American countries were to be targeted. These bombings, however, will not be carried out by Iranian Shiites, but mercenaries from poorer countries like Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador and Bolivia besides some other supporters from Hamas and other individuals so that Iranian involvement won’t even be suspected.Hmmmm......Any idea why Obama doesn't stand up to Iran?Because all his friends are allies of Iran !Read the full story here.

White House PC police fix the Bin Laden press release.(IsraelMatzav).The White House PC police have fixed up the press release announcing Osama Bin Laden's death no longer being a threat to the American people. I thought you would like to see it. I received it by email: Subject: Press Release of bin Laden Raid

Here's a re-write of the press release for the bin Laden raid, as approved by the PC police for publication: Dateline: The White House — Monday, May 2, 2011

Yesterday the President ordered a raid against an al Qaeda compound in Abbottabad, an affluent suburb of Islamabad, Pakistan. A small U.S. team found Osama bin Laden living in a large house in the center of a secured compound. The raid accomplished its objective, and 9/11 mastermind bin Laden no longer is a threat to America.

President Obama privately assured world leaders that although the U.S. finds some satisfaction in Mr. bin Laden’s demise, this does not mean that he thinks American culture is superior to any other. Nor should international leaders assume that military action was America’s first choice. We are all citizens of the world.It can now be revealed that Mr. Obama had extended the hand of friendship to Mr. bin Laden, and would have much preferred to arrange a “beer summit” in the back yard of the White House to discuss their differences. However, since Mr. bin Laden wanted to express his personhood by bringing a rusty knife to the summit, with the intent to saw off Mr. Obama’s head while shouting “Allahu Akbar,” Mr. Obama had no choice but to have Mr. bin Laden shot dead. Several bystanders were killed in the raid, but thankfully, no small animals were harmed.The president regrets that it was not possible to fuel the special operations helicopters with eco-friendly bio fuels, due to the requirements of secret equipment located in the Blackhawk’s tail. However, as part of Mr. Obama’s continuing commitment to a clean environment, the Administration purchased carbon footprint offsets for the aviation fuel used in the raid. The SEALs also took care to protect the environment by using ammunition that had been forged with lead extracted from enemy dead bodies and shots that had previously missed their targets. This prudent recycling reduced the amount of lead that would seep into Abbottabad’s wells and water tables.Read the full 'story' here.

• Boehner hands Obama a yellow card for Taking a “Victory Lap” After Bin Laden Killing.(The Hill) — President Obama is taking “somewhat of a victory lap” following the killing of Osama bin Laden, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Monday.Boehner largely praised Obama’s decision to execute the raid on the al Qaeda leader’s Pakistani compound and the president’s decision not to release photos of bin Laden’s body. But he said that Obama has gone to lengths to take credit for bin Laden’s slaying.“There’s no question that there is somewhat of a victory lap going on,” Boehner said on conservative talker Sean Hannity’s radio show.Some of Obama’s critics questioned his conduct following the bin Laden mission in lieu of his decision not to release the reportedly “gruesome” photos of bin Laden’s body.Critics say there is disparity between the president’s schedule last week, when he held several events with military members and retired veterans, and his comments on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” when he justified the decision to withhold the photos, saying “we don’t spike the football” and it “is not who we are.”Several members of the administration and lawmakers from both political parties pressured Obama to release the photos to prove bin Laden’s death to any doubters, especially those in the Muslim world. But ultimately, Obama disagreed, saying they could inflame radicals sentiments.Hmmmm.....My guess these pictures will surface shortly before the elections.Read the full story here.

• Obama's half-brother runs questionable charity.(NYPost).President Obama's half-brother runs an off-the-books American charity that claims to support poor Kenyans -- but it lies about its federal status and no one knows how it spends its money. The group, the Barack H. Obama Foundation, was named after the president's father and founded by his sibling Abon'go Malik "Roy" Obama, a 53-year-old polygamist who recently made headlines by adding a third wife -- who's still in her teens. Its Web site claims to have provided drinking water in Kenya's Siaya District, which includes the Obama clan's ancestral village. The organization also says it has completed a madrassa, or Muslim school, and is building an imam's residence. A photo of the tidy little school building is displayed on the site.That and other photos on the site are the only purported evidence that the nonprofit has accomplished any of its mission. A group of Missouri State college students who visited the Obama family village of Kogelo in 2009, and who met the president's half-brother, felt something was amiss. They sensed he was an "operator" and decided to give their donation of 400 pounds of medical supplies directly to a local clinic. "We didn't know what he was going to do with them," said Ken Rutherford, a former Missouri State professor who led the trip and who shared in the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for his work to ban landmines. Rutherford said the Obamas' relatives are the only Muslims in a village of 4,000 Christians and that Malik has a private mosque on his property. Malik started his charity the year his brother ran for president. The foundation claims to be a tax-exempt, federally recognized nonprofit. It is not.Nor are there any filings of its expenditures, which the IRS requires of larger charities. Alton Ray Baysden, a former State Department employee at whose Virginia home the charity was founded in 2008, admitted the organization has not even applied for tax-exempt status. "We haven't been able to find someone with the expertise to do this," he told The Post. "We are informally scouting for an executive director, someone who knows how to register the charity." The charity is not even registered in Virginia, a requirement for soliciting donations in that state. The foundation's Web site includes a donation form that says it has nonprofit status. Charity expert Marcus Owens said knowingly telling donors contributions are tax-deductible if they are not could amount to fraud. "If they haven't applied for exemption, they can't promise their donors that contributions are deductible," said Owens, a lawyer and former IRS official.Malik Obama, reached in Kenya, said the foundation has a budget of $250,000. When asked about why it wasn't a registered charity, Malik, an accountant by trade, said that he was "in process" of changing that. The White House did not return a message seeking comment.Hmmmmm......"Obamas' relatives are the only Muslims in a village of 4,000 Christians "?Read the full story here.

• Michelle Obama welcomes rapper to White House who called for burning of George Bush.(DailyMail).First Lady Michelle Obama has invited a rapper who called for the burning of George Bush to perform at the White House.Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr, who uses the stage name ‘Common’, will be welcomed at an event celebrating American poetry on Wednesday.He is expected to take part in rap workshops with schoolchildren in the afternoon before performing in the evening.In footage on YouTube he is seen calling for the burning of the former president.‘Burn a Bush cos for peace he no push no button,’ the hip-hop artist raps in one video, which has more than 800,000 views.Other song lyrics reportedly include threats to shoot the police.The controversial rapper hails from President Obama’s hometown Chicago and has also rapped about the former Illinois senator.Hmmmm.....Another 'proud of my country moment'?Read the full story here.

• 'Religion of peace' angered by Christians plan to introduce another official religion in Malaysia.(Al-Arabia).Malaysia’s government was seeking ways on Monday to defuse religious tensions following reports that church leaders were working toward making Christianity an official religion, reports The Associated Press. Muslim activists have filed police complaints demanding an investigation into what they believe is a threat to Islam in this Muslim-majority country.Christian leaders deny the allegations saying these accusations are intended to create suspicions and divisions between Malay Muslims and religious monitories.The allegation surfaced on the Internet in a post by two anonymous political bloggers and went largely unnoticed until on Saturday, when the Utusan Malaysia newspaper reported it on its front page under the headline “Malaysia a Christian nation?”The story said that at a recent meeting dozens of pastors reportedly pledged to make Christianity an official religion and ensure that the prime minister is Christian. Christians comprise 10 percent of Malaysia’s 28 million population.Opposition politician Lim Guan Eng said on Monday, “The government would have to bear full responsibility for any undesirable consequences on the Christian community in Malaysia because of Utusan’s report,” reported AP.Malaysia prides itself on its multiethnic peace between majority Malays, and minority Christians and Tamils. Nevertheless, there have been occasional communal disputes. Malys feel that the Chiense dominate the economy, and Chinese and Tamils both feel that the government’s affirmative action program favors unqualified Malays.Last January, 11 churches were attacked and vandalized after a court verdict that allowed minorities to use the word “Allah” as a translation for God. Nevertheless, observers said that it seemed unlikely that Malaysia, officially an Islamic state, would want to permit another official religion, even though the country is widely considered tolerant of all faith.Hmmmmm.........Total explosion of violence in 3...2....1?Read the full story here.

• Pakistan PM Warns of 'Full Force' Response to Future U.S. Raids.(FOX).Pakistan's prime minister warned the United States Monday that his country could respond to any future U.S. raids on its soil with "full force," in the latest escalation of rhetoric in the wake of Usama bin Laden's death. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, like other officials in Islamabad, said the killing of bin Laden in northern Pakistan was a positive step. But, reflecting concerns that the unilateral strike violated his country's sovereignty, Gilani sent a clear message to the United States. He warned any "overt or covert" attack would be met with a "matching response" in the future. "Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate with full force. No one should underestimate the resolve and capability of our nation and armed forces to defend our sacred homeland," Gilani said. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has said the president reserves the right to enter Pakistani territory to act against terror suspects if Pakistan will not, and reiterated that message when asked about Gilani's speech. He said Monday that while the U.S. takes Pakistanis' concerns seriously, the U.S. does "not apologize" for the raid."It's simply beyond doubt in his mind that he had the right and the imperative to do this," Carney said Monday. With analysts combing through the bin Laden files for clues on the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri or Taliban chief Mullah Omar, some are calling on Obama to strike again while Al Qaeda and its allies are staggering. "We have no right to keep our troops on the defense dying, when we know where some of the highest-ranking people in the Taliban are," Bing West, former assistant defense secretary, told Fox News on Monday. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said that if the U.S. gets bin Laden's deputy -- presumed to be al-Zawahiri -- in its sights, "the same calculus" that was used on bin Laden should apply. But the thought already has Pakistani leaders fuming. Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., told ABC's "This Week" that the Pakistani government wants to continue "joint operations," but is concerned about the nature of the raid last weekend.Obama, in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," confirmed that he did not inform Pakistani officials of the raid in advance, though he praised Pakistan's cooperation considering "we've been able to kill more terrorists on Pakistani soil than just about any place else."Read the full story here.

• Iran’s Leader Orders Murder of Protesters in Syria.(BigPeace).An official source within the Sadr movement, the Iraqi Islamist national movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr, is insisting that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran has declared the protesters in Syria to be “God’s enemies,” ordering the Revolutionary Guards and Lebanese Hezbollah to fiercely combat the protesters in Syria and enter into an armed battle with them.In an interview with Al Arabiya, the source, who wished to remain anonymous, revealed that Ayatollah Khamenei held a covert meeting in Tehran with commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, representatives of the Syrian embassy, members of Hezbollah, and leaders of the Sadr movement. There, he demanded that all operational and logistic forces be applied in order to stamp out the blaze of sedition in Syria and to destroy those who are enemies of God in that country.Experts have construed Ayatollah Khamenei’s comments regarding Syria as a form of religious fatwa, which has a direct effect in spreading terror and insecurity in Syria, increasing Iran’s role in destabilizing Arab countries.What’s more, according to the website Green Voice of Freedom, an informed source inside President Ahmadinejad’s administration revealed that the deputy chief of Iran’s National Police, Ahmad-Reza Radan, was part of a security delegation that visited the Syrian capital two weeks ago amidst the intensification of repressions against anti-government protesters in Syria.Radan was a key figure in the brutal suppression of the Iranian protesters following the June 2009 elections in Iran.Ever since the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Syria has proven a staunch ally to the radicals ruling Iran. It has also provided a passageway for the Revolutionary Guards into Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, arming Hezbollah and Hamas.The Revolutionary Guards also have several bases in Syria, where they train and arm militias in the expansion of their terrorist activities in the region and beyond.The Obama administration has substantiated charges of Iranian complicity in Syrian repression. On April 26, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice announced that the United States had evidence of active Iranian support for the Syrian government’s suppression of the peaceful demonstrators.For its part, the Syrian opposition has also claimed that members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have participated in the shooting and killing of the Syrian protesters. But the leaders of Iran know full well that they have the power to prevent the opposition from succeeding. The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria could be a devastating blow to the policies of the radicals in Iran and its proxies in the region, and the mullahs are determined not to let that happen.Hmmmmm.....Hillary ...."Assad is a reformer", save the people in Egypt and Tunesia but let them die in Syria?Read the full story here.

• Arizona Says It Will Ask Supreme Court to Overturn Decision Striking Down Enforcement of Immigration Law.(Yahoo).PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced Monday she will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that put the most controversial parts of the state’s immigration enforcement law on hold.The planned appeal to the high court comes after Brewer lost an initial appeal April 11, when a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reverse a lower court’s order that prevented key parts of the law from being enforced.Attorney General Tom Horne said going directly to the Supreme Court and skipping a possible second appeal to the 9th Circuit will save time in resolving the case, while Brewer said she is confident “Arizona will prevail in its fight to protect its citizens.”The state must file the appeal by a July 11 deadline, the officials said. The Supreme Court has discretion on whether to hear the appeal on the lower court’s order.“It seems like this is a big enough national issue that it will ultimately be determined by the United States Supreme Court,” Horne said.In its April ruling, the 9th Circuit panel said federal officials are likely to prove the law is unconstitutional and succeed in their argument that Congress has given the federal government sole authority to enforce immigration laws.The Arizona law isn't the only one that has challenged federal primacy in immigration.The U.S. Supreme Court is mulling arguments in an appeal by groups that are trying to overturn a 2007 Arizona law that prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.Civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit aimed at halting a new immigration law in Utah, saying it violates constitutional rights to due process and is too much like portions of Arizona's immigration law.Read the full story here.

• Council forbids pork and wine buffet outside Muslim prayer hall.(RFI).Authorities in the French city of Nice have forbidden a far-right group to hold a "porchetta and rosé apéritif" outside a Muslim prayer hall. The Nissa Rebela nationalist group says it has already submitted a second request for permission for the event after its first was rejected on Wednesday.The permit was denied on technical grounds, according to the Alpes-Maritimes regional council.Under French law, organisers must seek a licence for all public gatherings at least three days before the event takes place. Nissa Rebela applied after this deadline, the council said.The group's members could face six months in prison and a 7,500-euro fine if they go ahead with the event without permission.But Nissa Rebela insists that the event is still on. The group is calling its supporters to gather outside a Muslim prayer hall on Nice's rue de la Suisse on Friday evening, where it will be serving pork and wine.The worshippers at the hall have been conducting evening prayers in the street, since they say the building is too small to house them.Anti-racism groups and local politicians have strongly condemned Nissa Rebela's plans. The event is deliberately provocative and designed to stir up hatred, said the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi.Nissa Rebela courted controversy in 2005 with a stunt that saw them hand out pork soup to homeless people, thereby excluding Jews and Muslims.The group has 15 candidates in local elections this month.Hmmmm.....Ah ! ça ira?Read the full story here.

• Earthquake shifted Japan's land mass, leaving coastal areas under water at high tide.(Yahoo).ISHINOMAKI, Japan - When water begins to trickle down the streets of her coastal neighbourhood, Yoshiko Takahashi knows it is time to hurry home.Twice a day, the flow steadily increases until it is knee-deep, carrying fish and debris by her front door and trapping people in their homes. Those still on the streets slosh through the sea water in rubber boots or on bicycle."I look out the window, and it's like our houses are in the middle of the ocean," says Takahashi, who moved in three years ago.The March 11 earthquake that hit eastern Japan was so powerful it pulled the entire country out and down into the sea. The mostly devastated coastal communities now face regular flooding, because of their lower elevation and damage to sea walls from the massive tsunamis triggered by the quake.In port cities such as Onagawa and Kesennuma, the tide flows in and out among crumpled homes and warehouses along now uninhabited streets.A cluster of neighbourhoods in Ishinomaki city is rare in that it escaped tsunami damage through fortuitous geography. So, many residents still live in their homes, and they now face a daily trial: The area floods at high tide, and the normally sleepy streets turn frantic as residents rush home before the water rises too high."I just try to get all my shopping and chores done by 3 p.m.," says Takuya Kondo, 32, who lives with his family in his childhood home.Most houses sit above the water's reach, but travel by car becomes impossible and the sewage system swamps, rendering toilets unusable.Scientists say the new conditions are permanent. Japan's northern half sits on the North American tectonic plate. The Pacific plate, which is mostly undersea, normally slides under this plate, slowly nudging the country west. But in the earthquake, the fault line between the two plates ruptured, and the North American plate slid up and out along the Pacific plate.The rising edge of plate caused the sea floor off Japan's eastern coast to bulge up — one measuring station run by Tohoku University reported an underwater rise of 16 feet (5 metres) — creating the tsunami that devastated the coast. The portion of the plate under Japan was pulled lower as it slid toward the ocean, which caused a corresponding plunge in elevation under the country.Some areas in Ishinomaki moved southeast 17 feet (5.3 metres) and sank 4 feet (1.2 metres) lower."We thought this slippage would happen gradually, bit by bit. We didn't expect it to happen all at once," says Testuro Imakiire, a researcher at Japan's Geospatial Information Authority, the government body in charge of mapping and surveys.Imakiire says the quake was powerful enough to move the entire country, the first time this has been recorded since measurements began in the late 19th century. In Tokyo, 210 miles (340 kilometres) from Ishinomaki, parts of the city moved 9 inches (24 centimetres) seaward.The drop lower was most pronounced around Ishinomaki, the area closest to the epicenter. The effects are apparent: Manholes, supported by underground piping, jut out of streets that fell around them. Telephone poles sank even farther, leaving wires at head height.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• HT:Stratfor.The Threat of Civil Unrest in Pakistan and the Davis Case.On Feb. 13, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issued a statement demanding that the government of Pakistan execute U.S. government contractor Raymond Davis or turn him over to the TTP for judgment. Davis, a contract security officer for the CIA, has been in Pakistani custody since a Jan. 27 incident in which he shot two men who reportedly pointed a pistol at him in an apparent robbery attempt.Pakistani officials have corroborated Davis’ version of events and, according to their preliminary report, Davis appears to have acted in self-defense. From a tactical perspective, the incident appears to have been (in tactical security parlance) a “good shoot,” but the matter has been taken out of the tactical realm and has become mired in transnational politics and Pakistani public sentiment. Whether the shooting was justified or not, Davis has now become a pawn in a larger game being played out between the United States and Pakistan. When one considers the way similar periods of tension between the Pakistanis and Americans have unfolded in the past, it is not unreasonable to conclude that as this current period plays out, it could have larger consequences for Davis and for American diplomatic facilities and commercial interests in Pakistan. Unless the Pakistani government is willing and able to defuse the situation, the case could indeed provoke violent protests against the United States, and U.S. citizens and businesses in Pakistan should be prepared for this backlash.Hmmmm.......How long before pakistan turns against the US?Read the full story here.

• In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council.The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body "does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal. But the Palestinians rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesday of Arab representatives and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution on Friday, according to officials familar with the issue. The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospect that the Obama adminstration will cast its first ever veto in the U.N. Security Council. Still, the U.S. offer signaled a renewed willingness to seek a way out of the current impasse, even if it requires breaking with Israel and joining others in the council in sending a strong message to its key ally to stop its construction of new settlements. U.S. officials were not available for comment, but two Security Council diplomats confirmed the proposal. The Palestinian delegation, along with Lebanon, the Security Council's only Arab member state, asked the council's president late Wednesday to schedule a meeting for Friday. But it remained unclear whether the Palestinian move today to reject the U.S. offer is simply a negotiating tactic aimed at extracting a better deal from Washington.Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, outlined the new U.S. offer in a closed door meeting on Tuesday with the Arab Group, a bloc of Arab countries from North Africa and the Middle East. In exchange for scuttling the Palestinian resolution, the United States would support the council statement, consider supporting a U.N. Security Council visit to the Middle East, the first since 1979, and commit to supporting strong language criticizing Israel's settlement policies in a future statement by the Middle East Quartet. The U.S.-backed draft statement -- which was first reported by Al Hurra -- was obtained by Turtle Bay. In it, the Security Council "expresses its strong opposition to any unilateral actions by any party, which cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations and will not be recognized by the international community, and reaffirms, that it does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity, which is a serious obstacle to the peace process." The statement also condemns "all forms of violence, including rocket fire from Gaza, and stresses the need for calm and security for both peoples."Hmmmm......"Let me be clear"He did exactly what i have been saying for the last 10 months.When will Israel realise he is their enemy?Read the full story here.

• Poll: Most support House look at radical Islam in USA.Americans haven't heard much about upcoming congressional hearings on the radicalization of U.S. Muslims, yet more than half think it's a good idea, and nearly as many believe Muslims here haven't done enough to fight extremists in their midst, according to a new poll.At the same time, 62% say American Muslims are an important part of the religious community, and a clear majority (72%) say Congress should investigate religious extremism anywhere it exists, not just among Muslims, according to a new survey released today by The Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Service.The PPRI/RNS poll was released as House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., prepares to hold hearings on the threat of homegrown Islamic extremism during the week of March 7.The poll examined attitudes toward both the hearings and American Muslims, analyzing the responses by gender, age, most trusted news source, and religious and political affiliation.Overall, men, viewers who trust Fox News, white evangelicals and Republicans are more likely to think the hearings are a good idea and to believe Muslims want to establish Shariah law in the United States.Those groups are also among the most likely to say they feel "well informed" about Islam and the "religious beliefs and practices of Muslims."These groups aren't necessarily more knowledgeable, however -- just more confident in their beliefs, researchers explained. Researchers said a person's preferred news source is significantly correlated to how much they worry about American Muslim extremism."The Muslim community has been fairly successful at demonstrating themselves as neighbors, but the question becomes are they good neighbors?" said Gottschalk, chairman of the religion department at Wesleyan University."There's a double standard that Muslims are responsible for extremism by people who happen to be Muslim, but all Christians aren't responsible for abortion clinic bombers or the KKK."Key findings:

•Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Americans haven't heard anything about the upcoming hearings to investigate U.S. Muslim extremism.

• A majority (56%) believes that a hearing on American Muslim extremism is a good idea, including most Republicans (71%), people who trust Fox News (76%), and white evangelicals (70%). The hearings find less support among Democrats (45%), people who trust CNN (45%) or public television (28%), and white mainline Protestants (50%).

• Nearly half (49%) of Americans do not believe Muslims in the U.S. have been unfairly targeted by law enforcement; more than one-third (36%) believe Muslims have been targeted unfairly.•One in five (22%) Americans believes U.S. Muslims want to establish Shariah law here. This view is far more common among Republicans (31%) than Democrats (15%), people who trust Fox News (35%) than those who trust public television (9%), and white evangelicals (34%) than white mainline Protestants (20%) or white Catholics (22%).

•A plurality (46%) believes American Muslims have not done enough to oppose Muslim extremism, including most men, white evangelicals, Republicans and Fox News viewers. In contrast, only 42% of Democrats, 43% of people who trust CNN or network news (42%) or public television (30%) say American Muslims haven't done enough.

• Americans are split over whether they feel well informed about Muslims and Islam, but men (56%) and viewers who trust Fox News (52%) are more likely to report feeling well-informed than women (36%), and viewers who trust CNN (41%) and network news (31%).Hmmmmm......At least half of America is awake it seems.Read the full story here.

• HT:AmnonandJonathan.POLL will Israel be at war ?Read and vote here.

• HT:Redstate.Obama’s assault on our domestic energy now a 4-alarm fire.Make no mistake. It’s all. About. Control.I am talking about Sunstein, Obama, EPA, Steven Chu (Dept of Energy), Ken Salazar, Soros, Brasil, BOEMRE, Working Families Party, the whole nine yards. Did I leave anyone out? There is so much going on here, so as not to take up too much space I am going to bullet the more urgent and important items and the others will be in the scribd. document below.People are going to have to start paying attention and this has to get to the right people who can legislate, go to court, enforce contempt of court rulings, etc. or we’ll be living in caves with no wood, no matches. Only solar panels where there is no sun and windmills where there is no wind.And to Doc Hastings Chair of House Natural Resources: let me be perfectly CLEAR, I’m sure you are competent and a very nice man, but writing letters to Obama’s minions, doing op-eds in The Hill and issuing press releases is NOT going to get this fixed. Even if Obama does read these letters, which I highly doubt, I am sure he immediately tosses them in the huge trash can next to his desk which also contains wadded up copies of the Constitution. We are losing thousands of jobs. We are losing coal mines, natural gas and oil wells and exploration. Millions upon millions of dollars in revenue and taxes which should be keeping us energy independent from the Middle East especially now when things are so uncertain are going down the tubes.I am not normally an alarmist, but what I am seeing is truly alarming. A four-alarm fire with no fire hydrant in sight. Gonna lay it all out.Hmmmm........Dictatorship or Democracy?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheExaminer.Report--Obama quietly appoints Muslim Brotherhood to key posts.By Anthony Martin.An ex-CIA agent and counter-intelligence expert has revealed in a special report that Barack Obama has quietly appointed members of the Muslim Brotherhood to key posts within the Administration. Dr. Clare Lopez, professor at the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies, wrote a policy paper in December of 2009 which details the systematic appointment of Sharia-friendly advocates within the State Department and other government agencies.For example, the Tehran-born Dr. Vali Nasr was appointed to co-direct Obama foreign policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. Former Saudi Arabian supplicant Charles Freeman was appointed by Obama to chair the Administration's National Intelligence Council, but withdrew his name when it was revealed he issued a 2-page screed in which he postulated a conspiracy theory claiming he had been 'victimized' by American supporters of Israel. In addition, John Limbert was appointed to direct U.S. policy toward the Islamist regime in Iran. Limbert, who was taken hostage during the Iranian upheaval of the late 70s-early 80s, is an Iranian sympathizer who advocates negotiation with one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world.While it is true that some of the initial appointees have departed from the Administration, the fix was already in. The Obama Administration is manned by Sharia-friendly appointees who help steer American foreign policy in the Middle East.Why is this relevant to 2011?Events which are currently unfolding in the Middle East are a consequence of the behind-the-scenes work of Islamic advocates within the Administration.The goal was to push moderate Muslim dictators out the door in countries such as Egypt, while advocating so-called 'democracy' which would then insure the rise of Muslim Brotherhood-supported Islamists to fill the power-gap.How would such a grand scheme be accomplished?The reports expose a consortium of Leftwing organizations, Islamic groups, labor unions, and Obama-friendly corporations which would organize and fund a 'youth movement' in certain areas around the Middle East which would then take to the streets in protest against current governments.Some of the corporations involved are Google, YouTube, MSNBC, Facebook, National Geographic, M-TV, and Pepsi. In addition, the U.S. State Department, Columbia Law School, and various Islamic extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR, and others are central to the plot.Obama's top national security advisor declared that the Muslim Brotherhood is a 'secular' organization, non-extremist, and dedicated to 'peace.' Obama himself, in an interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, refused to refer to the Brotherhood as an Islamic extremist organization, in spite of the fact that the group's own charter, and recent statements made by its leadership, indicate exactly that.And a Muslim board member of CPAC, of all things, declared in a news conference that 'there is no Muslim Brotherhood in the United States,' despite the fact that the group issued a document in 1991 indicating its North American objectives.At the very least it is clear that things are not as they seem on the surface in Eqypt, Iran, nor within the Obama Administration and the American Muslim community. And, due to the fact that the mainstream media merely parrots the official Administration propaganda, the American people are being bamboozled.Hmmmmm......"The thruth nothing but the truth"?Read the full story here.

• Bahrain Police Use Force to Crack Down on Protests.MANAMA, Bahrain — Without warning, hundreds of heavily armed riot police officers rushed into Pearl Square here early Thursday, firing tear gas and concussion grenades at the thousands of demonstrators who were sleeping there as part of a widening protest against the nation’s absolute monarchy. Men, women and young children ran screaming, choking and collapsing. The square was filled with the crack of tear gas canisters and the wail of ambulances rushing people to the hospital. Teams of plainclothes police officers carrying shotguns swarmed through the area, but it was unclear if they used the weapons to subdue the crowd. “There was a fog of war,” said Mohammed Ibrahim as he took refuge in a nearby gas station. He was barefoot, had lost his wallet and had marks on his leg where he said he had been beaten. “There were children, forgive them.”At least two people were killed in the mayhem, according to witnesses at a nearby hospital and news agency reports. Many people were injured in the chaos — trampled, beaten or suffocated by the tear gas. Only hours earlier the square had been transformed from a symbol of the nation — anchored by a towering monument to its pearl-diving history — into a symbol of the fight for democracy and social justice that has been rocking autocratic governments all across the Middle East. Tens of thousands of people had poured into the square during the day, setting up tents, giving rousing speeches and pressing their demands for a constitutional democracy. By 11 p.m. Wednesday, the square had started to quiet down. Young men sat smoking water pipes, while young children slept on blankets or in tents. At 2:45 a.m. Thursday, the camp was quiet, those awake still reflecting on the remarkable events of the day. And then, the blue flashing lights of police vehicles began to appear, encircling the square. At first there were four vehicles, then dozens and then hundreds. Wearing white crash helmets, the police rushed the square. “Everybody was sleeping, they came from upside and down,” said Zeinab Ali, 22, as she and a group of women huddled, crying and angry, in small nearby market. Read the full story here.More here.

• Michelle Obama: First Lady of Junk Science.By Michelle Malkin.While her husband may have paid lip service to ending the abuse of science for "politics or ideology," First Lady Michelle Obama gave herself a super-sized waiver. Two of her showcase social engineering campaigns -- tax preferences for breast-pumping working mothers and expanded nutrition labels -- are based on distorting or dismissing the prevailing public health literature.Just as the White House costumed Obamacare activists in white lab coats, the fashionable Mrs. O has cloaked her meddling anti-obesity crusade in medical fakery.Over the past year, the first lady has marshaled a taxpayer-subsidized army of government lawyers, bureaucrats and consultants against the "national security threat" of childhood obesity. She has transformed the East Wing of the White House into Big Nanny's new Central Command headquarters. The biggest threats to Mrs. Obama's 70-point plan for national fitness: parental authority and sound science.As part of her "Let's Move!" anniversary celebration this week, Mrs. Obama rolled out a new breastfeeding initiative because "kids who are breastfed longer have a lower tendency to be obese." She made her assertion to an invitation-only group of handpicked reporters who were barred from asking questions about her scientific conclusions. It's not healthy to challenge Super Nanny, you see.After the Internal Revenue Service carefully studied and rejected an advocacy push to treat nursing equipment as a tax-deductible medical expense last fall, the tax agency suddenly reversed itself in time for the first lady's new public relations tour. The surgeon general has also issued a "Call to Action" to pressure private businesses to adopt more nursing-friendly environments to combat childhood obesity, all while denying that government is intruding on personal decisions. "No mother should be made to feel guilty if she cannot or chooses not to breastfeed," Surgeon General Regina Benjamin asserted, while laying an unmistakable guilt trip on moms and moms-to-be.So, what do studies on breastfeeding and babies' weight actually say? Rebecca Goldin, Ph.D., research director of George Mason University's Statistical Assessment Service, points out that the literature is inconclusive or demonstrates that the health advantages of bosom over bottle are short-lived. Despite weak evidence, there is a lingering conviction that formula causes obesity among pediatricians and the press; if anything, the study about infants should make us reflect more carefully on this conclusion."Alas, such nuance from Mrs. Obama and her unquestioning media water-carriers is scarcer than tofu at Taco Bell.But as I've noted many times over the past year, Mrs. O's real interest isn't in nurturing nursing moms or slimming down kids' waistlines. It's in boosting government and public union payrolls, along with beefing up FCC and FTC regulators' duties.Will the first lady and her food cops be chastened by the science that undermines their spin? Fat chance.Hmmmm....On the other hand the Cro Magnum did not eat fat and was for sure breastfed!Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Video - Muslim Brotherhood-Affiliated TV Clerics Launch Campaign to Replace Egypt's Religious Leadership.Read and see the full story here.

• Arctic communities choking on sky-high food prices.IQALUIT — Nunavut's MP and officials from the Northwest Company went into damage control mode Tuesday after photos of expensive food at a Northern Store in Arctic Bay caused outrage in the North and awe in the South.Among the items pictured were a $13 bag of spaghetti, a $29 jar of Cheez Whiz, a $77 bag of breaded chicken and a $38 bottle of cranberry juice.David Anderson, the manager of major market stores for the Northwest Co., told a meeting of Baffin mayors in Iqaluit that prices on those items went up when the supply shipped last summer by sealift ran out."When they reordered the product by air, the new rate kicked in, which resulted in a price increase," he said.Anderson said the Northwest Co. will try to ship larger quantities of items that aren't subsidized by Nutrition North Canada via sealift in an effort to control price increases.But he said the Northwest Co. backs Nutrition North and promised Nunavut customers will see a drop in prices of "healthy-living product" when the new program kicks in April 1.Leona Aglukkaq, Nunavut's MP and the federal health minister, said "misinformation that's out there" is to blame for people attacking Nutrition North for food price increases, when the program hasn't started yet.The Arctic Bay prices shown in the photos "have nothing to do with Nutrition North Canada," Aglukkaq said.Complaints about the price of foods not covered by Nutrition North should go directly to retailers, she said.Quttiktuq member of legislature Ron Elliott, who distributed the photos of Arctic Bay groceries through his email list, said he'll wait until the new program starts April 1 before he passes judgment."If the prices do go down, I'll be the first to stand up and applaud," he said.Aglukkaq said the government will step up efforts to communicate with northerners about how the new program works."The federal government needs to be a little bit more aggressive in their communications plan," Elliott said.In a technical briefing for reporters Wednesday, Terry Lloyd, the head of Nutrition North Canada, said the government will roll out a communications plan after the program starts April 1.Hmmmm.......One could call it "High North Robbery".Read the full story here.

• Iranian Govt. Calls for Friday Rally to Show 'Hatred' for Opposition.Iran's clerical establishment has called for a major rally in Tehran on Friday, to express what it calls its "hatred" of reformists who organized a day of major anti-government protests earlier this week. In a statement Wednesday, Iran's Islamic Propagation Coordination Council urged Tehran residents to join the rally after Friday prayers to show anger at what it calls the "crimes" of "seditionist" leaders and their rebel allies. Iranian conservative lawmakers have accused reformist leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi of sedition for organizing anti-governments protests that drew thousands of people to the streets of Tehran and other cities Monday. Sedition is a crime punishable by death in Iran.Iranian authorities say two people were killed in Tehran Monday as police dispersed the protesters. One of the dead was a Tehran University student whom authorities identified as a government-allied Basij militiaman. But opposition activists say the student, Sanee Zhaleh, came from their ranks. Iranian state television says a memorial ceremony for Zhaleh at Tehran University erupted into fighting between opposition activists and government loyalists. It says the government loyalists forced the opposition activists to leave Wednesday's ceremony by chanting slogans calling for the death of seditionists.Read the full story here.

• HT:InfidelBloggers. Female Genital Mutilation.Compiled by Laura Reymond, Asha Mohamud, and Nancy Ali. Funding was provided by the Wallace Global Fund.Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia. External genitals include the clitoris, labia, mons pubis (the fatty tissue over the pubic bone), and the urethral and vaginal openings. The practice of FGM is often called "female circumcision" (FC), implying that it is similar to male circumcision. However, the degree of cutting is much more extensive, often impairing a woman's sexual and reproductive functions. Newborns, Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults Are Affected.•Most girls undergo FGM when they are between 7 and 10 years old. However, FGM seems to be occurring at earlier ages in several countries because parents want to reduce the trauma to their children. They also want to avoid government interference and/or resistance from children as they get older and form their own opinions.

•Some women undergo FGM during early adulthood when marrying into a community that practices FGM or just before or after the birth of a first child (Mali and Nigeria).FGM is Practiced Globally

•FGM is practiced in at least 26 of 43 African countries7; the prevalence varies from 98 percent in Somalia to 5 percent in Zaire. A review of country-specific Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) shows FGM prevalence rates of 97 percent in Egypt8, 94.5 percent in Eritrea9, 93.7 percent in Mali 10, 89.2 percent in Sudan 11, and 43.4 percent in the Central African Republic.12

•FGM is also found among some ethnic groups in Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, as well as in parts of India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.13

•FGM has become an important issue in Australia, Canada, England, France, and the United States due to the continuation of the practice by immigrants from countries where FGM is common.Read the full story here.

• "The war on Christianity".University of California Davis Defines Christians as “Oppressors”.The University of California at Davis has backed away from a policy that defined religious discrimination as Christians oppressing non-Christians after more than two dozen Christian students filed a formal complaint.The definition is listed in a document called, “The Principles of Community.” It defines “Religious/Spiritual Discrimination” as “The loss of power and privilege to those who do not practice the dominant culture’s religion. In the United States, this is institutionalized oppressions toward those who are not Christian.”“This is radical political correctness run amok,” said David French, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. The conservative advocacy group had written a letter on behalf of more than 25 students who object to the policy. He said it’s absurd to single out Christians as oppressors and non-Christians as the only oppressed people on campus.Raheem Reed, an associate executive vice chancellor at UC-Davis, said he received the letter and removed the definition Wednesday afternoon.“I certainly can see how a Christian student reading that definition might feel and that’s why it was immediately disabled and taken down,” Reed told Fox News Radio. “This is not how we define religious discrimination.”However, one student said they complained to administrators last November about the policy and nothing was done.“Christians deserve the same protections against religious discrimination as any other students on a public university campus,” French told Fox News Radio. “The idea that a university would discriminate against Christians is a very old story, unfortunately, and one that we see played out every day.”One student, who asked not to be identified, said university officials asked her to reaffirm “The Principles of Community” last semester. She refused to do so when she realized that Christians were not protected under the policy.“To have a non-discrimination policy that excludes the Christian faith is a cause for action,” she said. “In higher academia, one would hope that a diversity of ideas and beliefs would be appreciated. But my experience has been that this has not always been the case. There is a real fear of academic bias against the Christian faith.”Hmmmm......Now just image if it were the other way around?Read the full story here.

• Russia Plans Food Fund to Regulate Prices.Russia may create a fund to buy and sell food to help regulate prices as inflation accelerates, Kommersant reported, citing government documents. First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov ordered the Agriculture, Finance and Economy ministries to formulate mechanisms to regulate food prices, the Moscow-based newspaper reported today. The government may start with buying and selling potatoes, which have jumped 25 percent in price since the start of the year, Kommersant reported. The government may fund the program from money received from selling stockpiled grain, the newspaper said.Read the full story here.

• HT:CrossroadsArabia.Saudi Reforms Need to Start Now.Sometimes, blindingly obvious problems have only complicated solutions. Those solutions must be sought, however difficult they may be. That’s the bottom line of this lengthy analysis of unemployment problems in Saudi Arabia by the Chief Economist of the Banque Saudi-Fransi (Saudi-French Bank).In its headline, Arab News suggests that the wave of reform sweeping the region will hit Saudi Arabia as well as Bahrain, Libya, and Yemen. Being unable to see a productive, personal future is definitely a motivator for protest and dissent. But fixing the multitude of problems that come together is not a job for the timid. With youth unemployment ranging toward the 40% mark, it’s clear that major changes need to be made. But with sub-standard education, rising food prices, and a housing crunch all piling up, it’s even clearer that reforms need to start now.Saudi youths’ struggle to find work raises urgency for reform.By John Sfakianakis.Education reform and job creation in Saudi Arabia and across Arab countries could come under the glare of publicity in the coming months as successful popular revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia renew the urgency to address these most-pressing social dilemmas. For years, improving the quality of education in a bid to engage youth in the Kingdom’s expanding economy has been a top state priority. Saudi Arabia’s budget dedicated to education spending has more than doubled in size since 2005. Allocations for education and training programs in 2011 amount to 26 percent of the country’s record SR580 billion budget, or SR150 billion ($40 billion).With unemployment among Saudis hovering around 10 percent according to the most recent Labor Ministry estimations – and youth unemployment as much as four times greater than that in some age brackets – education and labor market reform are the foremost challenges facing the country.Concern over whether the education system is arming students with relevant technical skills for the work force is paramount since only one out of every 10 employees working for a Saudi private sector company is a Saudi citizen. This scenario must be drastically reversed if the private sector can shoulder the burden of future job creation to meet the needs of the 66 percent of Saudis below the age of 30 in 2009. Of the country’s indigenous population of 18.5 million, 47 percent are 18 years old or younger.Read the full story here.

• Religious Intolerance Discussed in the European Parliament.BRUSSELS,PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, February 9, Member of the European Parliament Ana Gomes hosted a seminar titled "Religious Intolerance in Pakistan."Invited speakers of the event were Prof. Joel Kotek from the Free University of Brussels, Ruby Akhtar from the Christian Party, Amin ul Haq, who is the president of the Institute for Peace and Scheikh Majid, who is the chairman of the Pakistani, Belgian Friendship association.Ms. Gomes stressed she could not agree with the polarising comments of Ms. Akhtar, which "result in alienating Muslims" while what is needed is to "support pluralism and tolerance in all political areas."That means that she is just as opposed to the blasphemy laws in Pakistan that are creating hatred and are marginalising Christians and other minorities in Pakistan as she is to Islamophobia and the people in certain countries who use Islam as a scapegoat for the social and political problems.All speakers agreed that it is the radicals in Islam that hold the religion hostage in order to reach their own agenda and that the vast majority of Pakistanis are tolerant and moderate.Prof. Joel Kotek was able to give many examples of the way religious hatred has been misused in Europe before the WW II by political actors to increase their control over the population. "The Pakistani blasphemy laws are being used by radical groups inside the Pakistani establishment in order to disseminate fear amongst the Pakistani population and institute more control via this fear," Ana Gomes closed her remarks in agreement with Prof. Kotek that separation of Church from State was an essential factor to help distance ourselves from past religious wars and conflicts.Read the full story here.

• Roommate of Stingaree Muslim Cab Driver says He Feared for His Life.SAN DIEGO - Dan Rose says he has been living with [O]Sam[a] Hassan Daly for the last two months. Rose says, "he's a pretty solitary man kind of a recluse I guess you would call it." Rose says things have gotten progressively worse since he moved in. "It's been a very uncomfortable situation living here the last couple months."A photo shows Daly's cab parked in the garage before Saturday morning's crash. A crash and confrontation that injured 35 people in the Gaslamp district in front of Stingaree nightclub.Rose said he feared the 52-year-old Egyptian born cab driver. "Just very irrational behavior, um I don't know if it was necessarily a terroristic type thing or maybe he's just imbalanced."Rose said Daly called him names and confronted him for bringing a date home. The confrontation scared him so much, he began to carry a knife with him in the house.Rose says, "the reaction he had towards me kind of made me a little scared so I carry one with me even in my home when I'd go to the bathroom."Rose says Daly gave him his move out notice last Friday. That the home is in foreclosure and Daly was leaving the country and heading back to Egypt.The home is stark. Rose says, "he doesn't have any pictures or anything on the walls, pretty bare house pretty bare house pretty bare minimum."It's not clear if Daly had diabetes but it does appear he was on some kind of medication at the time of the crash.Hmmmmm.......Seems lately these kind of 'accidents' happen more often?Read the full story here.