Video - Another Horrific case of Animal abuse in Egypt, Dog dragged to death behind car.

Video - Another case of Animal abuse in Egypt, Dog dragged to death behind car. (ES).

A helpless dog is tied to the car and dragged along the rough gravel of a Cairo road by an unidentified person.

Captured on film, the dog’s lifeless body is seen dragged at high speeds by the individual in an old Mercedes. 

This is the second brutal incident of animal abuse captured on film within just two weeks.

Last week, Max was the latest of many other victims of the utter ruthlessness of many in Egypt’s society against animals. While people on the street watched and some cheered on, Max was stabbed, slaughtered and then bludgeoned to death with a metal pole by three men.

However, according to article 357 in the Penal Code, a person responsible for the death of animal with no “just” cause could face up to six months in prison or a 200 LE ($US 25) fine. That’s it. That’s what an animal’s life is worth in Egypt. Let that sink in for a minute. 

Activists and non-activists joined hands in a stand of solidarity during a protest addressing violence towards animals. The protest was not only aimed to shed light into the severity of animal abuse in Egypt but the inevitable ending it leads to.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, animal cruelty is a guaranteed pathway to violence towards people – which is not a surprise to anyone living in this country, especially women.Read the full story here.

Who let the dogs out? Walking a pooch in Iran is ‘symbol of resistance’, exercising “moral depravity.”

Who let the dogs out? Walking a pooch in Iran is ‘symbol of resistance’, exercising “moral depravity.”(AA).

Iranians taking their dogs for “walkies” on the streets of the Islamic Republic has been increasingly seen as a way to defy the government, Britain’s the Guardian reported this week.

Owning dogs has become an growingr trend in Iran’s urban upper class over the past 15 years, despite the practice technically being prohibited by Islamic law.


Ordinances created three years ago have allowed authorities to seize dogs being walked outside in addition to imposing heavy fines from $100 to $500 for the “seditionist” or “un-Islamic” act.

Now, dog owners are reportedly using the walks in protest of the ordinances. As the legislation is unevenly enforced, according to the newspaper, walking dogs in public has become a de facto symbol of defiance against authority.

While dogs are considered unclean by Islamic law, a conservative Iranian cleric went as far to denounce the activity as exercising “moral depravity,” the newspaper reported.

The act has become something Iranians are testing more and more under its new, seemingly more moderate administration.

Owning a dog is also largely seen as conforming to Western norms, something frowned upon to say the least by conservatives. The bill states that dog ownership “poses a cultural problem, a blind imitation of the vulgar culture of the West.”


In June 2010, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirzi labeled dog companionship as a blind imitation of Western culture, warning that such behavior would lead to family corruption and damage societal values.Hmmm....The Country is going to the Dogs it seems?

MFS - The Other News

                       Morning Posting.

• Live broadcast info from Japan directly ! Here.

• Libya Live Blog - April 14. Here .(Al-Jazeera).
• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world increased seismic activity in Japan  today between 4.5 and 5.4! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 86.On 14.04.2011 at 09:19 GMT+2
  
  Operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant faced a uphill battle in removing harmful radioactive water at the facility Thursday, since the level of contaminated water in its underground trench turned out to be rising again. Tokyo Electric Power Co. removed some 660 tons of highly contaminated water in the past two days from one of the trenches to a "condenser" inside the No.2 reactor turbine building. The condenser has a capacity to store 3,000 tons of liquid. But the country's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that the water level at the vertical part of the trench as of 07: 00 a.m. local time Thursday had increased by about 3.5 centimeters from the level observed at 6 p.m. local time Wednesday, according to Kyodo News report. The agency's official said that the rise is likely linked to the continued water injection into the No. 2 reactor core. Thursday's reading is about 2.5 centimeters lower than the figure before the removing started. Radioactive water was found in the basements of the No.1 to No.3 reactor turbine buildings, and the nearby trenches connected to them. The water totaled about 60,000 tons. Removing the water to nearby tanks and other storage places is considered vital to the attempt of restoring the key cooling functions at the reactors.
  
  Situation Update No. 85 - On 13.04.2011 at 17:51 GMT+2
  
  For the first time since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country, Japanese authorities have reported that they have discovered minute amounts of radioactive strontium in areas of the country. The tiny amounts of radioactive strontium were detected in both soil and plants in Fukushima Prefecture, and beyond the 30-kilometer zone that Japan has established around the struggling Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which has a total of six reactors. The plant is owned by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The 30-kilometer zone consists of an evacuation zone of 20-kilometers, along with a further 10-kilometer zone where residents are told to remain indoors. Earlier, this Monday, the government announced an expansion of the evacuation zone for some municipalities. Those would be evacuated if tests show high levels of accumulated radiation. The evacuation zone might extend as far as the 30-km radius.
  
  Radioactive strontium-90 has a half-life of 28.90 years. The amounts discovered are minute, for now, but the human body absorbs strontium as though it were calcium, because of their chemical similarities. Thus, strontium-90 can lead to various bone disorders and diseases, including leukemia. Earlier, radioactive cesium and iodine had been discovered. For some, the government encouraged potassium iodide pills. However, experts, including the CDC, noted that those pills only protect against radioactive iodine and in addition, only protects the thyroid gland against radiation. Any other part of the human body exposed to radioactive iodine, such as the lungs, is not protected. Additionally, other experts warned against taking potassium iodide unnecessarily. The CDC noted that potassium iodide can be harmful to people who are allergic to the substance or who have the skin disorders dermatitis herpetiformis or urticaria vasculitis. In addition, those with thyroid conditions could worsen them.
  
  Despite the negative news, on Tuesday Sendai airport launched its first flights since March 11 after a major repair operation. The airport had been seriously damaged by the tsunami, with hundreds of cars and even houses washed across the runway. Additionally, after the tsunami, fires also broke out in some of the aircraft hangars.Here .

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

• Serfhood - Obama’s Tax Increase Trigger: Punishing Taxpayers with Automatic Tax Hikes When Politicians Overspend.Responding to widespread criticism of his AWOL status on the budget fight, President Obama today unveiled a fiscal plan. It already is being criticized for its class warfare approach to tax policy, but the most disturbing feature may be a provision that punishes the American people with higher taxes if politicians overspend.Called a “debt failsafe trigger,” Obama’s scheme would automatically raise taxes if politicians spend too much. According to the talking points distributed by the White House, the automatic tax increase would take effect “if, by 2014, the projected ratio of debt-to-GDP is not stabilized and declining toward the end of the decade.”Let’s ponder what this means. If politicians in Washington spend too much and cause more red ink, which happens on a routine basis, Obama wants a provision that automatically would raise taxes on the American people.In other words, they play and we pay. The last thing we need is a perverse incentive for even more reckless spending from Washington.Hmmmm.....Your 'majesty' we the people had enough.Read the full story here.

• IMF: World Banks Face $3.6 Trillion “Wall” of Maturing Debt.The world’s banks face a $3.6 trillion “wall of maturing debt” in the next two years and must compete with debt-laden governments to secure financing, the IMF (has) warned.Japan and the United States face the largest public debt rollovers of any advanced economy at 56 percent and 29 percent of gross domestic product, respectively. . . .So between the World’s banks, USA and Japan, we’re looking at a staggering figure of $10.533 Trillion or $10,533,000,000,000 to refinance.Too get an idea just how big a number that really is, instead of cash owed think of the number in seconds. 10.533 Trillion Seconds = 333,999.24 years or 3,339.99 Centuries.It will probably take them that long to pay it off. Like I said, it is a staggering amount of cash owed.Hmmmm......Don't worry 'Dear leader'will give then a few speeches as collateral.Read the full story here.

• HT:BigGovernment.Obama Administration Ignores Federal Law to Regulate Internet.We have repeatedly written about our having to endure between now and November 2012 the intentional policy and political schizophrenia of the Barack Obama Administration.For public consumption – with the perpetual assistance of his servile media – there will be the “new” President Barack Obama. The “shellacked,” humbled man who claims to get that his Party’s policies were historically rejected by the American people. Whose now moderated, bipartisan, Triangulated work with the Republicans will make former President and 1994 “shellackee” Bill Clinton look recalcitrant and amateur….Going forward, in real terms, President Obama is incapable of a (President Bill) Clinton-esque move to the Middle. He will do his best to put on a public show, but his Big-Government-At-All-Costs agenda will continue unabated. It will just be done behind the scenes via rampant, abusive expansion of the vast regulatory authority at his disposal.Every Commission, every Agency, every Board in the federal pantheon will ratchet up their orders, rules and directives. To impose via executive branch regulatory fiat what President Obama can no longer get done in Congress. In other words, bypass the obviously expressed will of the American people for smaller, more accountable government – so as to continue jamming through his on-all-fronts Titanic Government plan. And do so without the People’s representatives at all involved in the process.The Administration’s first post-election, venomous bite at this secret apple was the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s December 21st under-cover-of-Christmas vote to illegally commandeer control of the wired Internet – so as to then impose Network Neutrality.Which puts a regulatory hammer lock on the Internet free market.About which former Obama Deputy Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Susan Crawford just said : “(R)egulating these guys into an inch of their life is exactly what needs to happen.”Mission accomplished. And how very reassuring for our foundering economy – and the job providers who are the key to the recovery.Hmmmm.....Democracy or dictatorship?Read the full story here.

• Obama: My Vision Is An America “Where We Live Within Our Means”.This is my vision for America: A vision where we live within our means while still investing in our future, where everyone makes sacrifices, but no one bears all the burden, where we provide a basic measure of security for our citizens and we provide rising opportunity for our children. There will be those who vigorously disagree with my approach. I can guarantee that as well. Some will argue, we should not even consider ever, ever raising taxes even if only on the wealthiest Americans. It’s just an article of faith to them,” President Obama said in his address on the deficit and debt.Hmmmm.....Surely this man is overdue for a medical checkup?Read the full story here

• Obama Ripped For Allowing $600 Million Cut To Health Centers For Needy That Don’t Provide Abortions While Protecting Planned Parenthood Funding.(Daily Caller) – The American Principles Project (APP) Wednesday criticized the Obama administration for allowing the elimination of $600 million for Community Health Centers while protecting funding for Planned Parenthood as part of last week’s budget deal agreed to by Congress and the White House.Touting Planned Parenthood as a key women’s health-care provider, Democrats held firm to their promise not to allow cuts to the nation’s largest abortion provider.Community Health Centers, which do not perform abortions, provide health services to the needy — including mammograms and pre- and post-natal care.According to the American Principles Project last year Community Health Centers performed 320,000 mammograms while Planned Parenthood did none.“Coating its ideology in flowery language about women’s health and alleged Republican mean-spiritedness, liberal Democrats refused to cut one dime out of Planned Parenthood’s plump federal purse during the budget debate,” said the president of APP, Frank Cannon. “All the while a sharp knife was being taken to community health centers that actually perform full-scale exams for the needy. These health centers offer prenatal care to women and their babies – 480,000 times in 2009 alone. Planned Parenthood? Their 850 clinics average less than one prenatal visit a month, in other words, it’s not their line of work.”Hmmmm......The true BigBrother Society no expences for the needy and limit the future expences (birthrate).Read the full story here.

• Arizona passes 'birther' bill after Donald Trump questions Obama's birth certificate.Days after its main sponsor met with Donald Trump, Arizona's 'birther bill' has passed the state Senate.The bill requires presidential candidates to prove they are U.S. citizens before they can be included on Arizona's ballot and receive any votes from the state.Candidates who don't have a long form of their birth certificate are also given the option to show two alternative documents, including a baptismal or circumcision certificate, a hospital birth record or a post-partum medical record.The bill approved would make Arizona the first state to pass such legislation. Democrats say it exceeds the state's authority.It now goes to the House for a final vote.The bill was approved only by Republicans at 20-9.Senate President Russell Pearce told reporters: 'This is an obligation the state has. Verification is not only legitimate, it’s appropriate.'The proposal is prompted by Donald trump's on-going crusade to prove that President Obama was not actually born in Hawaii but in Kenya.In an interview with CNN he pointed out that there are no photos of President Obama from when he was younger, only in his teenage years. He also claims that no one remembers him from school.He said: 'If you go back to my first grade, my kindergarten, people remember me. Nobody from those early years remembers him. 'If you're going to be president of the United States, it says very profoundly you have to be born in this country.Sarah Palin has now jumped on the Trump bandwagon, despite saying in February that the 'birther' issue was a distraction from more important issues.Perhaps fuelled by Trump's recent rise in the polls, she came out over the weekend to defend his attempts saying: 'I appreciate that the Donald wants to spend his resources on something that so interests him and so many Americans, you know more power to him.'Obviously there is something that the president doesn't want people to see, that he sees going to great lengths to make sure it isn't shown. And I think that's perplexing for a lot of people.'Hmmm......I for one would love to see a baptismal certificate.Read the full story here.

• HT:DougRoss.The Obama Legacy: 8 Charts That Will Blow Your Mind.It's one thing to review the raw data, but it's another thing altogether to see the numbers represented in graphical form.Hmmmm......Behold the state of the 'Obamanation"!Read and SEE the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.25 Shocking Facts That Prove That The Entire U.S. Health Care Industry Has Become One Giant Money Making Scam.What is the appropriate word to use when you find out that the top executive at the third largest health insurance company in America raked in 68.7 million dollars in 2010? How is one supposed to respond when one learns that more than two dozen pharmaceutical companies make over a billion dollars in profits each year? Is it okay to get angry when you discover that over 90 percent of all hospital bills contain "gross overcharges"? Once upon a time, going into the medical profession was seen as a "noble" thing to do. But now the health care industry in the United States has become one giant money making scam and it is completely dominated by health insurance companies, pharmaceutical corporations, lawyers and corporate fatcats. In America today, just one trip to the hospital can cost you tens of thousands of dollars even if you do not stay for a single night. The sad thing is that the vast majority of the money that you pay out for medical care does not even go to your doctor. In fact, large numbers of doctors across the United States are going broke. Rather, it is the "system" that is soaking up almost all of the profits. We have a health care industry in the United States that is fundamentally broken and it needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

But wasn't that what Obamacare was supposed to do? No, in fact Obamacare was largely written by representatives from the health insurance industry and the pharmaceutical industry. Once it was signed into law the stocks of most health insurance companies went way up.The truth is that Obamacare was one of the worst pieces of legislation in modern American history. It did nothing to fix our health care problems. Rather, it just made all of our health care problems much worse.

In case you haven't noticed, health insurance companies all over the United States have announced that they are going to raise premiums significantly due to the new law. Of course they are just using it as an excuse. They have been sticking it to us good for the last several decades and they just grab hold of whatever excuse they can find to justify the latest rate hike.If you are looking for a legal way to drain massive amounts of money out of average Americans just become a health care company executive. Health care has become perhaps the greatest money making scam in the United States. When Americans are sick and have to go to the hospital most of them aren't really thinking about how much it will cost. At that point they are super vulnerable and ready to be exploited.The system is broken.Everyone knows it.But it never gets fixed.The following are 25 shocking facts that prove that the entire U.S. health care industry is one giant money making scam....Read the full story here.

• Pakistan: Christian Girls Forced to Convert to Islam; Rapes, Coersion, Abuse.In Pakistan forced conversions to Islam, rapes and forced marriages are on the rise. The victims are mostly Hindu and Christian girls, belonging to religious minorities. A report sent to Fides by the Centre for Legal Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), which takes care of legal assistance for Christians who are discriminated against and persecuted in Pakistan.LAHORE, Pakistan (Agenzia Fides) - In Pakistan forced conversions to Islam, rapes and forced marriages are on the rise. The victims are mostly Hindu and Christian girls, belonging to religious minorities, complain Fides local sources. This has been a worrying phenomenon for the Church in Pakistan for some time and that the Church is trying to address, looking for the cooperation of institutions but it is an uphill battle. "The Christian girls are the weakest and most vulnerable, because their communities are poor, defenceless and marginalized, therefore easily exposed to harassment and threats. Often they do not even have the courage to denounce the violence," says a sister to Fides. The sister hides and assists the girls who have managed to escape. "But the trend is worrying: There are hundreds of cases a year registered and those that come to light are only a fraction," she says. In a society that tolerates discrimination of religious minorities, especially of women, the dominant religion and related social position are used to impose tyranny.A report sent to Fides by the Centre for Legal Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), which takes care of legal assistance for Christians who are discriminated against and persecuted in Pakistan, confirms this issue, reporting some terrible cases that occur mainly in province of Punjab. Sidra Bibi, 14 year old Christian in the district of Sheikhupura in Punjab, is the daughter of a worker in the cotton industry. A Muslim from the village had his eye on her and began to molest her, and eventually abducted and raped her before threatening her with death. Physically and psychologically abused, the girl became pregnant. She managed to escape from her tormentor and is now back, in a state of exhaustion, with her family. Police have refused to accept her complaint and now the CLAAS lawyers are handling the case.Hmmmm.......The 'people' the Obama administration is supporting.Read the full story here.

• Turkey protests anti-immigrant party’s poster in Belgium.The Turkish Embassy in Brussels has condemned a far-right party after it used posters depicting Turkish and Moroccan immigrants as a sheep being kicked out of Europe. The poster was presented at a conference of the anti-immigrant Flaman Vlaams Belang party over the weekend. It features a white sheep that symbolizes European states exiling a red sheep with printed flags of Turkey and Morocco. It reportedly is based on a similar poster used earlier in another European country, Switzerland.Turkish Ambassador to Belgium Murat Ersavcı said in a statement that Turkey condemned the poster, saying it was racist and xenophobic and that it stirs ethnic hatred. “It thus constitutes a crime under Belgian law,” the ambassador said, underlining that Turkey was in contact with the Belgian Foreign Ministry and other authorities to express its objections over and seek action against the poster.Speaking at the weekend conference, Vlaams Belang leader Bruno Valkeniers said Flemish cities have begun to look like Moroccan cities, with mosques mushrooming all over the region, and called on the Belgian government to shut the country’s doors to immigrants. Valkeniers also proposed the establishment of an anti-immigration network bringing together other like-minded parties across Europe.Vlaams Belang is only one of the far-right parties denouncing immigration that has been witnessing a surge in their electoral support in the past years in Europe. In liberal Sweden, the far-right Sweden Democrats, a party with a neo-Nazi history, won 20 seats in the parliamentary elections in September. In the Netherlands, the country’s center-right minority government depends on support from anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom, and polls show the party is second only to the Liberals.Source .

• HT:Sweasel.Millionaires’n'billionaires! Cut together all the times Obama mentioned the wealthy in his “budget” speech tonight .Wow. I thought this would be funny. Actually, it makes me want to start slapping and then slap some more and then give him a big ol’ slap. Slappity-slappity-slappity, mister class warrior man.Two observations — he frequently made references to “as long as I’m president” and things that will happen in 2014, as though his next term is in the bag. And he repeatedly used the brain-hurty expression “spending reductions in the tax code” which, apparently, means new taxes (update: Joe Collins tells me this means elimination of some deductions and shelters).Did he think that would fly?Hmmm......Does anyone still believe his BS?Read and see the full story here.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Dubai police beat British tourist to death... for cursing.I hope that reader will now consider avoiding Dubai for the sake of his own safety. These people are nuts. A British tourist was beaten to death by officers in a Dubai police station after being arrested for swearing, it was claimed yesterday.Lee Bradley Brown, 39, was on holiday at a £1,000-a-night hotel in the Arab state when he was thrown into a filthy cell.Police sources say he was ‘badly beaten up’ by a group of police officers, leaving him unconscious on the floor.Inmates told how they watched officers bundle him into a body-bag and drag him out of the building.During Mr Brown’s six days in Bur Dubai police station, guards refused to give him enough food and water and did not let him see a lawyer, it is alleged.His sister learned about the attack when she received a phone call from an inmate on Sunday, claiming her brother had been beaten.The prisoner found her phone number on a photocopy of her brother’s passport which had been left behind in the cell.She contacted the British Embassy in Dubai, and on Monday an official was sent to visit Mr Brown at the police station.But the official was turned away by an officer who claimed Mr Brown did not want to see him and had ‘declined consular assistance’.His sister, who did not want to be named, received another phone call from the inmate saying he had seen her brother’s body being taken out in a body-bag.A source told the Daily Mail last night: ‘He suffered a really bad beating which must have caused some terrible internal injuries.‘The poor bloke stood no chance at all. At one stage he was thrown against the concrete wall of a cell and landed badly.‘Then the guards tried to hush it up and pretend nothing had happened.’Hmmmm......"See Dubai and die?"Read the full story here.More here .

• From the Bosphorus: Straight - The need to avert a new flotilla crisis.We reported in our Wednesday paper that Gaby Levy, Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, has called on Turkey not to allow the human rights organization İHH to send another aid convoy to Gaza in the form of a flotilla, noting that the move would be a “provocation.”The ambassador emphasized that Israel has no problem with transporting humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip through legal means, praising the work that Türk Kızılay, the Turkish Red Crescent, is doing there. We hope that the aid flotilla, which is scheduled to depart in June, probably after the elections in Turkey, does not fall victim to political “provocations” from any of the parties who hold a stake in what is a tricky situation with multiple layers.We believe that Israel should give up on its illegal blockade of Gaza and allow materials like concrete to reach Gazans who want to rebuild their shattered infrastructure. However, we are also weary of the political motivations behind the sending of the flotilla.The fiasco that became of last year’s Gaza aid flotilla came as a shock even to some top diplomats in Turkey and Israel who were in close contact prior to the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara ship that left eight Turks and one Turkish-American dead. As we have over a month to go before the proposed aid flotilla sets out, we hope that all the actors involved have learned valuable lessons from last year’s disaster and that cooler heads can prevail. Given the political turmoil and uncertainty racking the region, revisiting a “Turkish-Israeli” crisis now would be the last thing any responsible person would seek. As people throughout the region demonstrate their yearning for a say in the political process, Turkey and Israel, both with well-established democratic traditions, should set a good example for the region by narrowing their differences through dialogue.One possible solution that has been proposed is that Israel allow a flotilla to deliver materials to Gaza so long as İHH submits the ships to international inspectors who can verify that the ships pose no national security threat to Israel, politics excluded. We believe this may be an elegant solution, and one that will benefit Gazans the most.Hmmmmmm......"Elegance" like in 'Tirez les premiers Messieurs les Israéliens'?Read the full story here.

• Iran: Bill banning dogs from public places introduced in parliament.Tehran, 13 April (AKI) - Members of Iran's parliament have sponsored a bill barring dogs from public places because they are "unclean" and keeping pets is an "un-Islamic" custom, according to Iran's state news agency Irna.Under the bill, dog owners will be banned from taking their pets out into public spaces and in vehicles. First-time offenders will be fined five million riyals (around 4,800 dollars) and will be given 10 days to dispose of their dog.If the dog owner fails to comply with these rules, health authorities will be called in to remove the dog from its owner. It is unclear what would be done to the dog.The health ministry has been asked to enforce the rules, as have city councils and the 280-member parliament’s culture committee, Irna reported.Besides being “unclean,” keeping dogs as pets goes against Iranian values, as it is a pratice which indicates the influence of Western culture, according the 39 MPs who tabled the bill.Hardliners have moved to crack down on dog ownership, which has been on the rise in recent years in Iran, especially among citizens in the affluent neighborhoods of the capital, Tehran.In June 2010, Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi issued a fatwa or religious edict against keeping dogs as pets, and police have fined dog owners and confiscated pets from streets and parks.An exception has been made for working canines such as guard dogs and sheep dogs.Hmmmm......Next it will be the NY cabbies who will refuse 'unclean' dogs?Read the full story here.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Assad playing Saudis and Iran off against each other? Syrian President Bashar al-Assad headed for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for a meeting with Saudi King Abdullah. The embattled Syrian President Bashar al Assad, is heading to Riyadh on Wednesday to meet with Saudi King Abdallah bin Abdel Aziz, according Okaz newspaper.The meeting, according to the Saudi paper will highlight bilateral relations at the political, economic and trade levels; in addition, to discussing the Palestinian peace process and dialogue and the developments in the Arab world.Note what apparently was not on the agenda: What is going on in Syria itself.Ah, but you thought that Assad was in Iran's court and that Iran and Saudi Arabia are rivals. Well, that's true too.Iran is secretly helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad put down pro-democracy demonstrations, according to U.S. officials, who say Tehran is providing gear to suppress crowds and assistance blocking and monitoring protesters' use of the Internet, cellphones and text-messaging.Secretly?Hmmmmm......Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• The volatile Lybian situation live streams here.

Live Blog Libya - Al Jazeera. here.

Hmmm....by the way it seems Al Yazeera is now available on cable in Canada?"If you live in Canada, contact the following cable and satellite providers to subscribe to Al Jazeera English" Bell TV: 516 - Cogeco: 182 - Rogers: 176 - Shaw: 513 - Videotron: 173

• HT:IsraelMatzav.A glimpse into one of Gadhafi's palaces.Here's a video from al-Jazeera which takes us on a tour of one of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi's palaces. This one is just outside Benghazi.Hmmm.......Swiss and American knowhow.Read and see the full story here.

• Revolution one on one!Saudi King Abdullah orders to buy Facebook for $150 billion to end the revolt.In what is being termed as pure Wall street Gordon Gecko tactics, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has decided to make an offer of $150 billion to buy out Facebook. Inside sources within the kingdom suggest that he is very upset with Mark Zukerberg for allowing the revolt to get out of control. In a personal meeting between Mark Zuckerberg and King Abdullah on Jan 25, 2011, Zuckerberg had promised that he would not allow any revolt pages to be formed on Facebook even while he allowed Egypt and Libya revolt pages to be formed. But little did King Abdullah know Zuckerberg. Had he seen the movie “Social Network”, he would have been better advised than to trust Zuckerberg.Left with no option, Abdullah advised by Goldman Sachs has decided to buy out Facebook and “clean out the weeds”. The offer on the table is $150 billion. Facebook balance sheet was shown to King Abdullah and his kingdom advisors had mentioned that it is not even worth $1 billion given that it generates no profit. But the King threw the report into the dustbin and fired his advisors and decided to hand over the investment banking mandate to Goldman Sachs who put the value at $150 billion. The deal will be all cash. It is worthwhile to remind our readers that Goldman Sachs had invested into Facebook at an unimaginable $50 billion valuation.According Goldman report, the many advantages of buying out Facebook far outweighs the cost of the transaction. Goldman Sachs made a presentation to King Abdullah of how the facebook could be used to cement his position for ever. Never again will his kingdom see another revolt. The presentation also involved some Facebook pages of bikini clad models profile among other profiles. Sources reveal that King Abdullah had made up his mind immediately and spoke to Lloyd Blankfein to complete the transaction as soon as possible.We are yet to hear back from Mark Zuckerberg on the offer though. But most analysts believe that Zuckerberg will not take the offer and will wait for King Abdullah to up the offer to at least $500billion. In the meanwhile king Abdullah has now logged on the Facebook and was buzy profiling some of the models in the Goldman Sachs presentation.Hmmmm......Good move your majesty.Read the full story here.HT:TundraTabloids.

• Obama anti-smog legislation will cost 7.3m jobs, warn industry officials.Industry officials warn 7.3million American jobs will disappear if U.S. President Barack Obama's administration tightens regulations in a bid to reduce smog.The industry-sponsored researcher who came up with the number cautioned, however, that there was uncertainty surrounding that number.Although economist Don Norman pointed out: 'Even if the numbers are half of that, the number is huge.'Last week, President Obama told his panel of external economic advisers that even though the recovery is considered to be well under way, the U.S. must deal with stubbornly high unemployment. And Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to give testimony before Congress this week. He is expected to reiterate that he is dissatisfied with the pace of the expansion of the economy and the amount of time it’s taking to bring down unemployment.Hmmmm......What if Obama is only interested in the money it will bring in from fines paid by companies who fail to adopt the new standards? Read the full story here?

• Your parents should have been gassed: Fresh video emerges of designer John Galliano’s racist ranting at Jewish women in Parisian bar.An explosive new video emerged today of British fashion designer John Galliano telling two young women he believed to be Jews: ‘Your parents should have been gassed’, and ‘I love Hitler’.The devastating film was shot in La Perle – the same Paris bar where the 50-year-old is said to have called another woman a ‘dirty Jew face’ and ‘ugly, disgusting whore’ with no dress sense, while threatening to kill her and her boyfriend last Thursday.Mr Galliano attended a Paris police station to meet his accusers, who have launched a criminal complaint of ‘causing injury of an anti-Semitic and racist nature.’Mr Galliano, who has been suspended from his job as chief designer at Christian Dior pending an enquiry, has in turn accused the couple of defamation.But the emergence of the video – which has been seen by journalists in Paris – will be a severe blow to Mr Galliano’s legal fight to clear his name.It was shot in La Perle in December, with Mr Galliano clearly the worse for drink as he launched his tirade. Nursing a glass while sitting alone at a table, Mr Galliano refers to the Nazi Holocaust ordered by Adolf Hitler during the Second World War, in which six million Jews were murdered. Galliano says to the women: ‘People like you would be dead, your mothers, your forefathers would all be fucking gassed. I love Hitler.’When one of the women asks ‘Do you have a problem?’, Mr Galliano replies: ‘With you, you’re ugly.’The same woman says: ‘Where are you from ?’, and Mr Galliano replies: ‘Your arsehole’.Neither of the two women shouted at by Mr Galliano were, in fact, Jewish. One of their male companions started videoing the incident because he was so shocked by what Mr Galliano was saying.Hmmmm......That "outreach to Muslims" brought about an enormous increase of Anti semitisme.Read the full story here.

• Boehner rips bid to regulate Internet.Mark A. Kellner.The Washington Times.NASHVILLE, Tenn. | House Speaker John A. Boehner lashed out against efforts to regulate Internet traffic before an audience of evangelical Christian media leaders and pointedly responded to President Obama by comparing the challenge of the burgeoning national debt to the Sputnik-era space race.In a speech to religious broadcasters that received a sustained ovation at his conclusion, he said free expression is under attack by a power structure in Washington populated with regulators who have never set foot inside a radio station or a television studio.“We see this threat in how the FCC is creeping further into the free market by trying to regulate the Internet,” Mr. Boehner said.“The last thing we need, in my view, is the FCC serving as Internet traffic controller, and potentially running roughshod over local broadcasters who have been serving their communities with free content for decades,” he said to loud applause from members of the National Religious Broadcasters, a trade group holding its annual convention here.Hmmmm.....Take away all tools from the Obama regime.Read the full story here.HT: PrisonPlanet.

• HT:Pajama'sMedia.Iran Has Several Military Bases in Libya.According to an inside source, the military collaborations between Iran's Revolutionary Guards and the Gaddafi government date back to 2006.In an interview today on the Al Arabyia news network, an informed source within the Revolutionary Guards Corps revealed that Iran has several military bases in Libya.The source, who requested anonymity due to his sensitive position within the Guards, elaborated further that the Iranian military bases are located mostly along Libya’s borders with the African countries of Chad and Niger. From there, he said, the Guards actively smuggle arms and supply logistical assistance to rebellious groups in the African countries.According to this source, Guards enter Libya under the guise of oil company employees. Most of these companies are under the control of the Revolutionary Guards.The source, who is a colonel in the Guards, added that Gaddafi and his government are quite aware of these activities and have even signed joint contracts with those Iranian oil companies so that the the Guards can enter Libya without any trouble.The colonel stated that with the current unrest in Libya, over 500 Guards have been unable to evacuate and are under orders to destroy all documents.According to this source, the military collaborations between the Revolutionary Guards and the Gaddafi government date back to 2006.Hmmmm.....Ahmadinejad's 'reich'?Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Indonesia: 'Best to disband Ahmadiyah,' Religious Minister up to old tricks.Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali told a gathering of Islamic leaders on Sunday that the Ahmadiyah sect should be outlawed, but that the government did not have the power to make the decision.To shouts of “Disband Ahmadiyah” from an audience that included the heads of about 500 Islamic boarding schools and the leaders of at least nine Islamic organizations, the minister seemed to urge religious leaders to take the lead in pushing for the minority Islamic sect to be disbanded.“We [the government] do not have the right to disband Ahmadiyah,” he said. “That right lies in the hands of you esteemed ulema. We, the government, only have the right to regulate and control, not to disband or excommunicate.”Suryadharma told the audience in Mataram, Lombok, which included leaders from the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Muhammadiyah and Hizbut Tahrir, that MUI branches across the country had declared Ahmadiyah a deviant sect.On those grounds, he said, any request by religious leaders to have the sect disbanded was reasonable and had his approval.The minister’s statement came on the same day that Habib Rizieq, leader of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), called on Muslims nationwide to attend a march on Tuesday demanding the banning of Ahmadiyah.“If we leave them the way the are, the problem will only become much bigger. Ahmadiyah deserves to be disbanded".“Once they are disbanded, harmony will be guaranteed. I have pushed members of Ahmadiyah to form a new sect that is devoid of any and all attributes of Islam, not to ever use the word or symbol of the mosque in any of their prayer halls, and never to accept the Koran as their holy book if they call themselves Ahmadiyah. My preference would be that they all leave Ahmadiyah and follow the right path by entering into Islam.”“ The problem now is that those who oppose Ahmadiyah are fighting against those campaigning for religious freedom,” he said. “If we work toward disbanding [Ahmadiyah], those fighting for religious freedom will accuse the government of getting in the way of religious freedom.“So my question is, does religious freedom mean the freedom to insult someone else’s religion and rewrite the teachings of someone’s religion?”Hmmmmm.......Obama :"Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance" Spoken from the Muslim point of view?Read the full story here.

• ACLU Leaders Are Supporting Censorship of Israeli Speakers.The international campaign to prevent speakers from delivering pro-Israel talks at universities has been assisted by leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union—an organization that is supposed to protect freedom of speech for all. The method used to silence these speakers and preclude their audiences from hearing their message is exemplified by a now infamous event at the University of California at Irvine.Michael Oren—a distinguished scholar and writer, a moderate supporter of the two-state solution, and now Israel's Ambassador to the United States—was invited to speak. The Muslim Student Union set out to prevent him from delivering his talk Here is the way Erwin Chemerinksy, Dean of the law school, described what the students did : "The Muslim Student Union orchestrated a concerted effort to disrupt the speech. One student after another stood and shouted so that the ambassador could not be heard. Each student was taken away only to be replaced by another doing the same thing."Chemerinsky understates what happened, as anyone can see by watching a video of the event, available online (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfLs_ptJzQA). This was more than a "concerted effort to disrupt the speech." It was a concerted effort to stop it completely—to censor Oren's right to speak and his audience's right to hear him. The efforts to disrupt succeeded; the effort to stop ultimately failed. Moreover, Chemerinsky fails to mention what happened both before and after the concerted effort. There is undisputed evidence that there was a well-planned conspiracy to censor Oren's talk, and then to lie about it, which the students did after the event.The fact that radical anti-Israel zealots would support censorship of a pro-Israel speaker comes as no surprise. But the fact that the letter of support was signed by two ACLU leaders should shock all civil libertarians and supporters of the ACLU. I have been a supporter of the ACLU for half a century and was a national board member. I supported the right of Nazis to march through Skokie and I defend the right of the most virulent anti-Israel speakers to participate in the marketplace of ideas. The ACLU policy has always been to oppose concerted efforts to prevent speakers from delivering their remarks. While supporting sporadic heckling and jeering that merely demonstrates opposition to the content of the remarks, the ACLU has always condemned concerted efforts to silence invited speakers.Yet signatories of the letter—which never once criticizes the censoring Muslim Union students while condemning those who wanted to hear the speaker—include "Chuck Anderson," who identifies himself as President ACLU Chapter, Orange County and Chair, The Peace and Freedom Party, Orange County;" (a hard left anti-Israel group), and "Hector Villagro," who identifies himself as "Incoming Executive Director, ACLU of Southern California."Dean Chemerinsky, while also opposing criminal prosecution, made a point to condemn the censoring students:"The students' behavior was wrong and deserves punishment. There is no basis for the claim that the disruptive students were just exercising their First Amendment rights. There is no constitutional right to disrupt an event and keep a speaker from being heard. Otherwise, any speaker could be silenced by a heckler's veto. The Muslim students could have expressed their message in many other ways: picketing or handing out leaflets outside the auditorium where Ambassador Oren was speaking, making statements during the question and answer period, holding their own events on campus."Unless the ACLU explicitly renounces its' leaders support for students who seek to censor pro-Israel speakers, that organization will lose the backing of many who believe that all speech should be protected—not only speech approved of by its leaders.Hmmmmm.....Welcome to Obama's new "World order"?Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Egypt: Al-Azhar Imam Offended, Orders Niqab off, Wants Ban.Azhar Imam Orders Niqab off, Wants Ban: “The niqab is a tradition and has nothing to do with Islam,” said Sheikh Tantawi, vowing to ban it in Al-Azhar schools.CAIRO – The head of Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni world, has ordered a school girl to remove her niqab during a visit to an Al-Azhar school, saying he would seek an official ban for the face veil in schools, Al-Masri Al-Youm newspaper reported on Monday, October 5. “Why are you wearing the niqab while sitting in the class with your female colleagues?” Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi asked the 8th grader.The young girl was shocked with the question coming from the country’s top scholar.A teacher intervened to explain.“She takes off her niqab inside the class, but she only put it on when you and your entourage came in.”But Sheikh Tantawi was not satisfied and insisted that the young girl takes off the face cover. “The niqab is a tradition and has nothing to do with Islam.”After the girl complied he insisted she should not wear it any more.“I tell you again that the niqab has nothing to do with Islam and it is only a mere custom. I understand the religion better than you and your parents.”Most Muslim women in Egypt wear the hijab, which is an obligatory code of dress in Islam, but an increase in women putting on the niqab has apparently alarmed the government.The ministry of religious endowments has recently distributed booklets in mosques against the practice.The majority of Muslim scholars believe that a woman is not obliged to cover her face or hands.They believe that it is up to every woman to decide whether to take on the face-cover or not.Ban. The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar imam vowed to issue a ban against the face-veil in all schools linked to Al-Azhar.“I intend to issue a regulation to ban the niqab in Al-Azhar schools,” he said.“No student or teacher will be allowed into the school wearing the niqab.”Established in 359 AH (971 CE), Al-Azhar mosque drew scholars from across the Muslim world and grew into a university, predating similar developments at Oxford University in London by more than a century.Al-Azhar, which means the "most flourishing and resplendent," was named after Fatima Al-Zahraa, daughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).The first courses at Al-Azhar were given in 975 CE and the first college was built 13 years later.Al-Azhar first admitted women students in 1961, albeit in separate classes.Also in 1961, subjects in engineering and medicine were added to classes on Shari`ah, the Noble Qur’an and the intricacies of Arabic language.Sheikh Tantawi’s remarks coincided with those of Higher Education Minister Hani Hilal who has banned the face-veil in student hostels.“Face-veiled students are free to do what they want outside the hostels but there is no room for the niqab inside the women-only hostels,” he said earlier this week.Many students demonstrated against the minister’s statements and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights plans to take him to court.“The minister’s decision violates the principles of privacy, personal freedom and freedom of faith, which are guaranteed by the constitution.”Hmmmm.....The West should engrave this 'Fatwa' and show it to each Muslima who claims she must wear the niqab for her faith!Read the full story here.

• Turkish PM blames archaeological 'stuff' for Marmaray Tunnel delay.The discovery of “archaeological stuff” on the Bosphorus seabed kept the Marmaray Tunnel from being completed by the end of 2010, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Saturday during his visit to the underground project site.“Actually, the Marmaray [project] did not have to be postponed to October 2013,” Erdoğan said, adding that the tunnel could have been finalized in 2010 but was hindered by many barriers.“First [they said] there was archaeological stuff, then it was clay pots, then this, then that. Is any of this stuff more important than people?” the prime minister asked, comments that were criticized by archaeology experts.Countless artifacts pertaining to prehistoric eras, the first agricultural societies and an ancient Bosphorus village have been extracted from Yenikapı’s seabed, making it “one of the world’s most precious underwater collections,” said Necmi Karul, a professor at Istanbul University’s Prehistory Department, according to a report by daily Radikal on Sunday. Karul said the findings were unique in the world and indicated how important Istanbul and Anatolia had been since prehistoric times.“The extracted works are so important that they changed Istanbul’s history,” said the chair of the Marmaray excavations, İsmail Karamut.“They are very important for the history of humanity and the world’s archaeology. They brought Istanbul’s history back 8,000 years,” said Istanbul Archaeological Director Zynep Kızıltan.Two female students meanwhile protested Erdoğan during his speech at the “1st Turkey Children’s Rights Congress” organized at the Haliç Congress Center in Istanbul on Sunday. The two students stood up during Erdoğan’s speech to protest the country’s education system. They were escorted out of the hall by security forces.“It is impossible to understand how they were raised that they think they can be so provocative during these kinds of meetings,” Erdoğan said afterward.Hmmmm.....Probably raised in the same 'place' where they call archeologial treasures "STUFF"?Read the full story here.

• Pictured: The horrific world of dog fighting tournaments in Pakistan as baying mob urges animals to fight to the death.These horrific images show a baying mob forming a human ring for a dog fighting tournament outside a Pakistan village.Covered in blood and limping from their injuries, the specially-trained dogs tear into each other as their owners urge them on.The animals are pulled apart from each other and then thrown back together as spectators goad them into a frenzy, before one eventually emerges the winner.The gathering took place outside the village of Lora in Abbottabad District, north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province yesterday afternoon.Dog fighting and other forms of animal fighting are common in rural areas of Pakistan, where some 70 per cent of the population of 167million reside.The tournament took place on the same day ten people were killed when two bombs exploded among a crowd of villagers watching a dog fight in Afghanistan.The explosions went off in the Arghandab district, on the outskirts of Kandahar city, where Nato and Afghan forces have been working to push out Taliban and establish order.Though dog fights are against the law in Afghanistan, they are still common and often ignored by the authorities.In this case, however, police had heard about the fight and had just arrived to break it up when a bomb exploded. Another blast went off as security forces got out of their vehicle.Hmmmmm........Islam "Dogs are unclean" but that doesn't stop them from betting on their sadistic habits,welcome to A.D. 620?Read the full 'story' here.

• HT:Memri.Iranian Draft Bill Prohibits Walking Dogs in Public.A group of 39 Majlis members have submitted a draft bill that prohibits walking dogs in public, and imposes a sentence of imprisonment on offenders. The draft bill explains that the dog is an unclean animal in Islam, and that keeping dogs is an act of imitating the West.Hmmmm......How long before Bo gets the same treatment?Read the full story here.

• HT:IslamInEurope.Wilders: 'The anti-Islam wave is unstoppable'.From an interview with Geert Wilders, translated from NU.nl:

Q: But do other countries also want those far-reaching measures in the field of immigration?

A: If it's not because they want it, it's because they fear they themselves will get a PVV party. Look at Germany. Or at Cameron in England. People are waking up there too. People don't take it any more."

The times when CDU and CDA could ignore problems are definitely over. It's not a passing comet or something similar. The genie is out of the bottle and will never go back. Never.

We're having here our own little revolution.

Q: What's happening in Germany and England, do you also see that as a sort of fear of the PVV?

A: Merkel lost half of her electorate in Hamburg. and that is yet one of the richest cities in Germany. I hope that Stadtkewitz will do well with his freedom party in the next elections.

And look at what the book "Germany Does Away With Itself" by SPD member Thilo Sarrazin has released there. He's not a charismatic man, otherwise he could have gotten 20% of the votes.

And if in England somebody would establish a party between the racist BNP and the conservatives, they'll also get 20% of the votes.

I would love to establish a party in all those countries. The people want it. A sort of anti-Islam wave which, I apologize if it sounds too fanatical, is unstoppable.

Q: The de-pillarisation [ie, breaking down the old religious and socio-political barriers] already changed a lot. How will the landscape here and in Europe look in a few years?

A: In my view we're in an intermediate stage. People aren't listened to anymore. Especially when it comes to the multicultural society, but also other things. Look at the referendum on the European constitution. Two thirds of Parliament said 'yes', two thirds of the Dutch said 'no'.

This will happen more often if we have referendums more often. Many politicians are afraid of it. It affects their existence, their power, their job, subsidy, world image, illusion. Those times are over.It's also about political culture. Politicians think they can change the contents with small steps. The times when people followed the politicians is over. Politicians are waking up frightened and are seeing that they must follow the people. That's not always up their alley.Read the full story here.

• Israeli ambassador warns of anti-Semitism in Serbia after incident in reality show.BELGRADE, Serbia - Israel's ambassador in Serbia has warned of growing anti-Semitism after a popular singer publicly blasted Jews in a reality show.Singer Maja Nikolic was expelled last week from the Dvor (Court) reality show on Serbia's Pink television after she said she "disliked Jews."Nikolic also faces possible criminal charges for spreading racial hatred.Ambassador Arthur Koll said Monday he is "appalled" by the incident. "Lately an increase of anti-Semitic incidents has been recorded in Serbia, this being the latest and most visible one," he said.Koll urged the "full attention of relevant state and civic organs."Serbia recently has seen a rise in right-wing extremism, including violence against foreigners and anti-Semitic incidents.Hmmmm.......Obama "Islam is a great religion",come to think of it when was the last time he went to church?With all these parties i'm loosing track of the expression of his 'Christian' faith.Read the full story here.

• It seems Google's email service wipes entire email accounts of tens of thousands of Gmail users.About 150,000 Gmail users have had their accounts deleted, including every email, application, contact and calendar information, Google confirmed today.The problem first arose late yesterday when thousands logged onto their accounts, only to find all their personal information had been erased.Many found that their accounts had been effectively reset, as they were greeted by the message Google welcomes new users with.Their frustration swiftly found its way onto online message boards where they complained that everything had been lost.One frustrated user wrote: ‘I have lost ALL on my emails/folders etc from Gmail. Why would this happen? How can I restore everything?’ Earlier today a Google spokesman told the Huffington Post: ‘We’ve already fixed the problem for some individuals.'Our engineers are working as quickly as possible and we hope to have everything back to normal soon. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience to our customers.’Initial estimates were that 0.23 per cent of all users were affected, but this was revised down by Google to 0.08 per cent, or around 150,000 users.Hmmmm......Obama having a meeting with Google does yield results it seems?Read  the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• The volatile Lybian situation live streams here.

Hmmm....by the way it seems Al Yazeera is now available on cable in Canada?"If you live in Canada, contact the following cable and satellite providers to subscribe to Al Jazeera English" Bell TV: 516 - Cogeco: 182 - Rogers: 176 - Shaw: 513 - Videotron: 173

• Breaking !HT:IsraelMatzav.Pigs fly: US threatens Gadhafi.Israel Radio has just reported (9:00 am Thursday) that the United States has sent a message to Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi that if he does not stop using planes to attack his own people, he will be the subject of a NATO attack that will target him and not the civilian population. The source for the report is an article in the London-based Arabic daily al-Quds al-Arabi whose source is an unnamed European diplomat.Source.

• Al-Qaeda sets up "Islamic Emirate", Libya deputy FM says.Meanwhile Libya’s deputy foreign minister told E.U. ambassadors in Tripoli al-Qaeda has set up an Islamic emirate in Derna, in eastern Libya, headed by a former U.S. prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, However, residents in the city have told reporters there is no substance to these rumors, which they claim the Libyan government is sowing to "scare Europe.""Al-Qaeda has established an emirate in Derna led by Abdelkarim al-Hasadi, a former Guantanamo detainee," Khaled Khaim said."They have an FM radio station and have begun to impose the burqa" (head-to-toe covering for women) and have "executed people who refuse to cooperate with them."Khaim said Hasadi has a lieutenant, "also a member of al-Qaeda and named Kheirallah Baraassi" in al-Baida.Derna is the capital of a province by the same name in the region of Cyrenaica, some 1,250 kilometers (775 miles) east of Libya's capital Tripoli. Al-Baida lies about 100 kilometers west of Derna.Earlier, Italian Foreign Minister Francesco Franco Frattini said embattled Libyan leader Gaddafi had lost control of Cyrenaica and shared reports that an Islamic emirate had been declared there.Speaking at a meeting in Rome organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Christian organisation, Frattini said here had been recent proclamations in Cyrenaica that it was now an Islamic emirate and calls to break with the West."It is a worrying development if radical Islam is only a few hundred kilometers away from the European Union's front door, but nothing can justify the violent death of hundreds of innocent civilians," he added.Hmmmmm......Thank you for releasing us President Barrack HUSSEIN Obama?Read the full story here.

• Mid-East Expert De Borchgrave: $400 a Barrel for Oil Imminent a.k.a. $15 a Gallon !Award-winning journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave tells Newsmax that the increasingly volatile situation in the Middle East could push the price of oil quickly to $300 or even $400 a barrel.De Borchgrave, who has interviewed Moammar Gadhafi six times, also says the Libyan leader is manic-depressive who is going through a manic phrase where he is “taking on the world.”A 30-year veteran of Newsweek magazine, de Borchgrave now is director of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, editor-at-large at United Press International and The Washington Times, and a Newsmax correspondent.In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, de Borchgrave discussed the impact that the uprisings in Libya, Iran, and other Middle Eastern nations could have on the price of oil. Some economists also have speculated that, if oil surged to $400, the pump price for gasoline could hit $15 a gallon.Oil was selling at more than $95 a barrel on Wednesday, and there’s no telling where prices at the pump — currently around $3.17 a gallon — could rise to if per-barrel oil prices soared to those levels, according to de Borchgrave.“This could get pretty bad because of what’s going on in Libya,” he says. “Libya pumps about 1.8 million barrels a day,” some of which is pumped out of the eastern region around Benghazi “which has now in effect seceded.“Libya supplies around 74 percent of Europe’s oil and if that is cut, which it could very well be in the next few days, oil will be spiking again.Reports out of Libya say hundreds of people have been killed in the Libyan government’s crackdown on protesters, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called on Moammar Gadhafi to stop the bloodshed. Asked whether Gadhafi cares what the rest of the world says about him, de Borchgrave responds: “Not really. The man is not normal mentally.“I’ve interviewed him six times and have no hesitation in calling him a manic-depressive. I’ve seen him through his manic phases and his depressive phases. What he’s going through today would seem to be a manic phase, where he’s taking on the world. He’s talking about thousands of casualties, and his son is on television talking about fighting until the last drop of blood. It’s to be taken seriously.“The man is now in a manic phase and he thinks he’s going to take on the giant, the United States.”De Borchgrave warns about the danger the Muslim Brotherhood poses in the Middle East.“A lot of people are going around saying the Muslim Brotherhood has changed its colors, they’re a totally different political animal, they’re willing to work through the democratic process and fight fairly in elections. I would say, don’t believe that for a second.“We’ve just seen in the past few days some very extreme Muslim Brotherhood leaders showing up in Cairo for the first time in 50 years, in the case of one of them, and speaking about how much they hate the Jews and their American protectors.”Hmmm.....Obama is supporting these "Moderate" Muslimbrotherhood members.Read the full story here.

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Planes carrying Gadhafi's daughter, daughter-in-law denied landing rights.Two Libyan planes carrying members of dictator Muammar Ghadafi's family have been denied landing rights in the region.On Tuesday, a private plane carrying ten passengers was denied landing rights at Beirut International Airport. One of the passengers on the plane was Ghadafi's Lebanese daughter-in-law.Al-Jazeera TV correspondent Cal Perry reports that Gadhafi's only daughter, Ayesha, was aboard the plane that sought to land at Malta. Perry, quoting Maltese government sources, reports from Valletta, the capital, that at one point the Libyan ambassador to Malta was brought in to take part in negotiations with the pilot of the plane, who claimed he was running low on fuel. When Maltese authorities declared it an unscheduled flight that would not be allowed to land, the pilot said it was actually the scheduled flight from the previous day that was delayed. Perry says the plane circled for about 45 minutes before turning back.Hmmmm........I agree with Carl that unless the international community sends in troops a much bigger bloodbath is in laying ahead in the future.Read the full story here.

• Video : Navigating Libya's tribal maze.Intricate tribal structure plays a crucial role in both Libyan politics and the current pro-democracy opposition.Libya's complex tribal structure plays a crucial role in its politics and now in the pro-democracy opposition movement.Muammar Gaddafi has, for four decades, been at the helm of a country that is described as one of the most intricate tribal nations in the Middle East.Analysts say most of the major tribes are represented in the military, but Gaddafi has long relied on his own tribe, the Qathafa, to staff elite security brigades.Read and see the full story here.

• HT:WND.Obama's mystery links to Gadhafi uncovered.Gadhafi has been tied to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's spiritual adviser for more than 23 years. Prez fails to call for dictator's removal despite reports of attacks on citizens.JERUSALEM – As pressure mounts on the White House to intervene to stop Moammar Gadhafi's bloody crackdown in Libya, many commentators have been wondering why Barack Obama has been cautious in his criticism of the dictator after the U.S. president so fervently supported the removal from office of U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. But Gadhafi has been tied to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's spiritual adviser for more than 23 years. The Libyan dictator also has financed and strongly supported the Nation of Islam and its leader, Louis Farrakhan. Obama has ties to Farrakhan and his controversial group.Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of Obama's longtime Chicago church, went with Farrakhan to visit Gadhafi in 1984.During the 2008 presidential campaign, Wright himself noted the trip could cause problems for Obama. "When [Obama's] enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli to visit [Gadhafi] with Farrakhan, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell." Farrakhan, a close friend and associate of Wright, has been financed by Gadhafi, including with a $5 million interest-free loan in 1985. Later that year, Gadhafi spoke by satellite to Farrakhan's Saviour's Day Convention in Chicago, and reportedly told Farrakhan supporters he was prepared to provide weapons to a black army in the U.S. to destroy "white America." In October 1995, Gadhafi reportedly called Farrakhan with congratulations on the success of the Million Man March. Gadhafi was said to have assured Farrakhan that together "we will unite our capabilities and efforts to achieve this." According to reports in 1996 from Libya's news agency, JANA, Farrakhan and Gadhafi agreed to work together to mobilize "oppressed blacks, Arabs, Muslims and Red Indians" to help reshape U.S. foreign policy. Gadhafi said that until his alliance with the Nation of Islam, "our confrontation with America was like a fight against a fortress from outside." He asserted his alliance with Farrakhan provides him with "a breach to enter into this fortress and confront it." Farrakhan went to Libya for multiple other events. He was the recipient in 1996 of the Gadhafi Human Rights Award, which came with a $250,000 prize. Farrakhan accepted the prize despite U.S. sanctions on Libya.Wright and Obama reportedly attended the Million Man March on Washington, which was led by Farrakhan and other prominent black leaders such as Al Sharpton. Rev. Willie Barrow, a member of the Obama campaign's official Faith Outreach Team and an Obama superdelegate, is a close friend of Farrakhan's and a staunch Nation of Islam supporter. Farrakhan stated in a 2002 interview he met with Barrow to devise his Nation of Islam platforms. Marxist activist Cornel West, an adviser to Farrakhan, also had been an adviser to Obama’s 2008 campaign and is a close Obama associate and personal friend. During the period of Obama's attendance at Wright's Trinity United Church, which practices controversial Black Liberation Theology ideology, the Chicago church was openly allied with Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.Obama has appeared at least three times on the cover of Trumpet magazine, founded by Wright. The magazine, to which Obama last year granted a lengthy, exclusive interview, regularly hails Farrakhan. Obama's face was featured on the cover of a 2006 issue of Trumpet alongside Farrakhan's image. Another Obama connection to supporters of Farrakhan comes from David Axelrod, Obama's chief political strategist. Although he is Jewish, Axelrod sits on the finance committee of St. Sabina, the Chicago Catholic parish that was led by controversial pastor Michael Pfleger, an outspoken Farrakhan supporter who hosted the Nation of Islam chief at his parish several times. The Archdiocese of Chicago temporarily removed Pfleger from his duties at St. Sabina in 2008 following a well-publicized guest sermon at Trinity church in which Pfleger claimed Hillary Clinton cried in public because she thought being white entitled her to the Democratic presidential nomination.Hmmmm.....Impeachment is the only possible action to take with this Presidents conduct.Read the full treason story here.

• HT:MichelleMalkin.Video: CWA union thug strikes young female FreedomWorks activist.This is Tabitha Hale, a young conservative activist/original Tea Party organizer/blogger who works for Washington, D.C.-based FreedomWorks. I know her from her great grass-roots work with Smart Girl Politics when the Tea Party movement was just emerging.Today, Big Labor groups took their Grievance March to the offices of FreedomWorks.Among the groups protesting: the Communications Workers of America. They’re one of the heavyweight labor biggies that have received a coveted Obamacare Waiver for Favors. CWA facts here.This is one of the CWA t-shirt-wearing goons who showed up at the protest at FreedomWorks today:Thankfully, Hale tells me she wasn’t hurt. But there is no doubt from this video that the CWA t-shirt-wearing goon should be prosecuted for assault.They said it: “Get a little bloody.” It’s the union way.Civility police, where are you now?Hmmmm.....Obama"Get in their faces"Sounds familiar?Reminds me of 1934 brownshirts "Sieg Heil" und der Führer.Read the full story here.

• HT:Newstime.(Extremely Graphic photo) Journalist Michael Mannheimer “The hidden reality: Global Persecution of Christians by Islam!Google translate The left photo shows the incredible suffering faced by the victims subjected by the hatred of Islam against all non-Islamic, before they are redeemed from their suffering by death are.“The picture expresses exactly the brutality and the perverse and cynical and inhuman hate on Christians.This hatred reigns today in the minds of many Muslims to be whispers and suggests legitimacy of so-called Islamic scholars and imams. In view of such violence against Christians should slowly begin to wake up the Christian flock, which ill virus ideology. That should give food for thought.Hmmm......This could come straight out of a horror movie ,only this is reality !Is this what awaits Christians all over the world thanks to "Outreach to Muslims"?Read and Witness the full story here.

• HT:EuropeNews.Psychologist: Western Quran schools are "terrorist factories".How to turn normal human beings into murderous and hateful psychopaths who blindly obey their totalitarian systems and its authorities suppressing and killing innocent people? In short: How to create a terrorist?Violent and murderous political, ethnic and religious regimes have used the same effective methods throughout history all over the world. The procedure consists of two simple steps that are repeated again and again:

1. You force a person to repeat the system's doctrine again and again for months and years until he or she knows every word by heart and it pervades his or her whole way of thinking and it is the only truth they believe in.
2. You beat and scare the person (best if this is done randomly and severely), thus forcing him or her to become insensitive and unempathic in order to be able to bare the physical and psychological suffering and in order to increase feelings of anger, frustration and fear - feelings that are then directed against the system's enemies.In this way you will create a person whose whole being is pervaded by the system's doctrine and who has lost the ability to feel both his own and others’ pain. You will have an emotionally cold person that blindly follows his authorities and their political or religious doctrine. If you use this method on a child who is in the process of developing its personality, the learned doctrine will simply become a part of the child's personality. The psychological impact of the physical abuse will also be deeper. As children and youth are dependent on acceptance from adults, they are easier to influence.Being a child psychologist I was shocked to realise that this is exactly what is done to millions of Muslim children in both the Muslim world and the West. Tens of thousand of madrassas and Quranic schools all over the world are making their students repeat the Quran and the Hadiths again and again, until they know them by heart. They are told to believe every word and never to question neither the way nor the goal.It is normal in these schools that the defenceless and innocent children are randomly beaten and humiliated by the teachers and older students - who themselves are emotionally destroyed beings who have been abused the same way as they now use against their pupils. They personify the goal: The abused becomes the abuser.This also includes changing a central pattern of the Muslim culture - child raising - and the Muslim cultures massive failing of integration into non-Islamic cultures has proven that changing basic cultural values and behavior within the Muslim communities are almost impossible. Should we in spite of the emmense challenges be able to remove the wide spread abuse, the children are still learning the Quran by heart and are taught to take every word at face value, which is exactly what Islamic terrorists do. Millions of children attend the madrassas and when they and their subsequent generations grow up, the consequences will be big.Hmmmm...."Telling the truth after proper investigation is the height of courage." - Wafa Sultan.Read the full story here.

• Lawyer: US faces moral test over Furkan’s death in Israeli raid.The lawyer of the youngest Mavi Marmara victim, Furkan Doğan, who was shot dead by Israeli commandos on May 31 last year, said Doğan’s death will be a moral test for the US and show whether the country’s perception of law changes based on the ethnic roots and beliefs of citizens.Lawyer Ramazan Arıtürk, who is in the US with Furkan’s father, Ahmet Doğan, to observe first-hand the ongoing investigations regarding Furkan’s death, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that he had talks with the advisers of Senator John Kerry and Representative Barbara Lee and that he will also talk to officials at the White House and the justice and state departments. Arıtürk said he would request that US officials appeal to the International Criminal Court for this “crime against humanity.”Hmmmm.....Obama and Erdogan have now something extra to talk about."Your enemy is my enemy"?Read the full story here.

• Emine Erdoğan carries tragedy of women to UN session and blames Israel.Emine Erdoğan, wife of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, addressed a session at the United Nations on Tuesday, largely focusing on the tragedy of women in Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Gaza Strip, Iraq and Pakistan. Mrs. Erdoğan addressed the 55th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women as an honorary guest. She appealed to participants’ consciences, drawing attention to the economic injustices between rich and poor countries. “We can watch the incidents occurring in all parts of the country through our hearts, and not our eyes,” she stated.Mrs. Erdoğan traveled to New York earlier this week with State Minister for Women and Family Affairs Selma Aliye Kavaf to participate in the session, which took place at the UN headquarters.“In Bangladesh I saw mothers looking for pieces of bread in dumpsters in the middle of the night for their disabled children. I witnessed the loneliness of poor women who lost all of their family members after the disastrous floods in Pakistan. I saw women whose honor had been cruelly stained in Sarajevo. And in Iraq, I saw women who had lost their husbands, children and future. In Gaza, Jerusalem and Ramallah, I saw women whose hope, voice, breath and rights were stolen and whose children were killed by phosphorus bombs. I am sure that you all saw those women, too,” she stated.Hmmmm......How about the women and childeren slaughtered by the Turks during the Armenian Genocide?We saw them also !Read the full story here.

• Ahmadinejad outraged by Libyan repression.Mideast unrest will reach US, Europe: Iran president.Iran's president said Wednesday he is certain the wave of unrest in the Middle East will spread to Europe and North America, bringing an end to governments he accused of oppressing and humiliating people."The world is on the verge of big developments. Changes will be forthcoming and will engulf the whole world from Asia to Africa and from Europe to North America," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a news conference Wednesday.The tone of the remarks seemed to draw on the belief by Shiite Muslims that a revered ninth century saint known as the Hidden Imam, will reappear before judgment day to end tyranny and promote justice in the world.Ahmadinejad, whose own country resorted to violence to disperse an opposition rally earlier this month where two protesters were killed, also condemned Libya's use of force against demonstrators, calling the repression "unimaginable." "It is unimaginable that someone is killing his citizens, bombarding his citizens," Ahmadinejad said on state television when asked about the situation in Libya."How can officers be ordered to use bullets from machine guns, tanks and guns against their own citizens?"Hmmm.....The pot blaming the kettle"?Read the full story here.

• Guess who is suing Coca Cola? As if it wasn't bad enough for The Coca-Cola Co that the closely-guarded secret recipe for its flagship brand was revealed last week, the company is now being sued over the discovery that the soft drink purportedly contains alcohol.According to Israel Business Arena, an Israeli Muslim has filed a NIS1.2bn (US$332.8m) class action suit against Israeli Coca-Cola franchisee The Central Bottling Co for compensation for "mental anguish and infringing the independent choices of the individual".The recipe, it seems, contains 8oz or "1 qtr" of alcohol, and given that alcohol is forbidden by Islam law, the claimant believes he has been "unwittingly drinking alcohol for years". Subsequently, the class action suit is seeking NIS1,000 for each of the 1.2m Muslims living in Israel.Given that The Coca-Cola Co has denied the recipe is the same as the one for its cola beverage, which is kept in an Atlanta bank vault, the claimant might want to try cracking that one first.Hmmmm...Could coca Cola get compensation for having to put up with jokers like that?Read the full story here.HT:AlwaysOnWatch.

• HT:InfidelBloggers.Spain: Muslims Don't Want Dogs In The Streets.Islamic associations have called on the Lleida City Council to enact local legislation to prohibit the presence of dogs in city buses and in some areas frequented mostly by Muslims, to be considered "unclean" in Islam.Hmmmm......Obama "Islam is a great religion".Read the full story here.

• HT:BarracudaBrigade.Obama/Holder Refuse to Enforce/Defend, "Defense of Marriage Act." Impeach Now !!!WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration says it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law that bans recognition of same-sex marriage. In a statement Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder says President Obama has concluded that the administration can no longer defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. The Justice Department had defended the Defense of Marriage Act in court until now.Megyn Kelly Rips Holder/Obama. Points out, "It's Federal Law."WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said Wednesday it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.Attorney General Eric Holder said President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. He noted that the congressional debate during passage of the Defense of Marriage Act “contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships – precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (Constitution’s)Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against.”The Justice Department had defended the act in court until now.The move quickly drew praise from some Democrats in Congress but a sharp response from the spokesman for Republican John Boehner, the House Speaker.“While Americans want Washington to focus on creating jobs and cutting spending, the president will have to explain why he thinks now is the appropriate time to stir up a controversial issue that sharply divides the nation,” said Boehner’s spokesman Michael Steel.Holder’s statement said, “Much of the legal landscape has changed in the 15 years since Congress passed” the Defense of Marriage Act. He noted that the Supreme Court has ruled that laws criminalizing homosexual conduct are unconstitutional and that Congress has repealed the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said Obama himself is still “grappling” with his personal view of gay marriage but has always personally opposed the Defense of Marriage Act as “unnecessary and unfair.”Hmmm....Anything go's to push America towards civil war so that the great leader can become ruler for life?Read the full story here.

• Mass Dem Rep. Mike Capuano: Hey, Sorry I Called on My Union Goons to Draw “Blood”…[While pointing to Tea Party activists]!U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano expressed regret Wednesday for his choice of words at a Tuesday rally to support Wisconsin workers, after national and local Republicans pounced on him for “over-the-top and inflammatory rhetoric.”“Congressman Mike Capuano must have lost the memo from President Obama and Democratic leaders who were demanding more civility in our political discourse and a toning down of incendiary rhetoric after the massacre in Tucson on January 8,” the Massachusetts Republican Party wrote in a Wednesday statement. “Yesterday, at a rally on Beacon Hill, Capuano couldn’t resist the urge to stir up a crowd of union members with a call for blood in the pursuit and protection of their political agenda.”During the Tuesday rally — a gathering of more than 1,000 union supporters protesting a proposal by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to diminish the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers in that state — Capuano, speaking in front of the State House, fired up the crowd by saying, “I’m proud to be here with people who understand that it’s more than just sending an email to get you going. Every once and awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary.”After Republicans took aim at his rhetoric, Capuano issued a statement expressing regret for his language, although at the time it drew wild applause and cheers from the throngs of union supporters.Capuano also referred to a vastly outnumbered throng of Tea Party counter-protesters as “a couple of nuts in the background who want to take it all away from you,” waving his hand dismissively in their direction. Throughout the three-hour rally, rank-and-file union members traded heated barbs with the Tea Party backers. Some clashes nearly escalated into violence and resulted in police intervention. In one case, a pro-union rallier spit in the face of one of the counter-protesters, who set up camp near the rally.Capuano’s comments quickly drew contrasts with the call for a more civil tone in national political rhetoric by President Barack Obama and politicians across the country after a mass shooting in Tucson that injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Capuano was reportedly among those who agreed with Obama’s call, telling the Boston Globe in January, “Everybody knows the last couple of years there’s been an intentional increase in the degree of heat in political discourse . . . If nothing else good comes out of this, I’m hoping it causes people to reconsider how they deal with things.’’Hmmmm.......The new 'civil' way of politics.Read the full story here.

• Saudi king back home, orders $37 bln in handouts. Saudi King Abdullah returned home on Wednesday after a three-month medical absence and unveiled benefits for Saudis worth some $37 billion (23 billion pounds) in an apparent bid to insulate the world's top oil exporter from an Arab protest wave.The king, who had been convalescing in Morocco after back surgery in New York in November, stood as he descended from the plane in a special lift. He then took to a wheelchair.Hundreds of men in white robes performed a traditional Bedouin sword dance on carpets laid out at Riyadh airport for the return of the monarch, thought to be 87.Abdullah left his ailing octogenarian half-brother, Crown Prince Sultan, in charge during his absence.Before Abdullah arrived, state media announced an action plan to help lower- and middle-income people among the 18 million Saudi nationals. It includes pay rises to offset inflation, unemployment benefits and affordable family housing.Saudi Arabia has so far escaped popular protests against poverty, corruption and oppression that have raged across the Arab world, toppling entrenched leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and even spreading to Bahrain, linked to the kingdom by a causeway.Significantly, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa was among the princes thronging the tarmac when Abdullah flew in.King Hamad freed about 250 political prisoners on Wednesday and has offered dialogue with protesters, mostly from Bahrain's Shi'ite majority, who demand more say in the Sunni-ruled island.Riyadh would be worried if unrest in Bahrain, where seven people were killed and hundreds wounded last week, spread to its own disgruntled Shi'ite minority in the oil-rich east.Hundreds of people have backed a Facebook call for a Saudi "day of rage" on March 11 to demand an elected ruler, greater freedom for women and the release of political prisoners.Saudi analysts said the king might soon reshuffle his cabinet to inject fresh blood and revive stalled reforms.Saudi stability is of global concern. A key U.S. ally, the top OPEC producer holds more than a fifth of world oil reserves.The king announced no political reforms such as municipal council polls demanded by opposition groups. Saudi Arabia has no elected parliament or parties and allows little public dissent.Jeddah-based Saudi analyst Turad al-Amri welcomed what he called "a nice gesture" from the king, saying the measures were not unprecedented or prompted by Arab protests elsewhere.But other Saudis were critical. "We want rights, not gifts," said Fahad Aldhafeeri in one typical message on Twitter."They are under pressure. They have to do something. We know Saudi Arabia is surrounded by revolutions of various types, and not just in poor countries, but in some such as Libya which are rich," said Mai Yamani, at London's Chatham House think tank. "Basically what the king is doing is good, but it's an old message of using oil money to buy the silence, subservience and submission of the people," she said. "The new generation of revolution is surrounding them from everywhere."Read the full story here.

• High oil prices risk for global economic recovery: IEAOil producers, users sign charter as prices spike.Energy producer and consumer states signed a charter in Riyadh on Tuesday aimed at limiting price volatility and stabilizing the market, even as Middle East turmoil propelled prices to two-year highs.The non-binding charter was signed by 87 countries, representing 90 percent of global oil production and consumption, said Saudi Arabia's deputy oil minister, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman."We are here today to formally and officially confirm the approval of the IEF (International Energy Forum) charter," Prince Abdul Aziz said at the opening meeting of the IEF extraordinary ministerial meeting.The host country's oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, said the charter aims to create a "global energy market characterized by transparency and stability" and to "strengthen cooperation for the benefit of future generations."On the eve of the forum, Prince Abdul Aziz said the one-day meeting would also tackle the key issues of short-term price volatility and long-term demand and supply of crude oil and gas.IEF's secretary general, Noe van Hulst, has said the group's ministers agreed that sharp fluctuations in the market were harmful.Oil prices soared to near $93 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi struggled to maintain his grip on power in the OPEC nation amid violent protests calling for his resignation.Concern among traders is growing that some of Libya's crude exports of 1.0 million barrels a day could be affected as foreign oil companies evacuate staff from the country. Traders are also eyeing protests in Iran, the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries."Unlike Egypt, Libya is a significant producer of crude and we may be seeing the largest disruptions since the start of the second Gulf War," energy consultant The Schork Report said.Analysts are also worried the jump in energy costs could hurt consumer spending and stymie a fragile recovery in developed countries. The crisis in the Middle East and North Africa - which has brought down governments in Tunisia and Egypt and sparked protests in Yemen, Bahrain, Iran, and Jordan - has added about $10 to the price of crude, according to Capital Economics."An additional $10 on the price of oil is not insignificant, particularly for weaker economies in Europe facing a major fiscal squeeze," Capital Economics said in a report. "Given the pace at which events are unfolding it would be daft to rule out a spike to $140 or beyond in the coming weeks if the unrest disrupts output from the larger oil producers."Oil companies, including Italy's Eni, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, U.K.-based BP and Germany's Wintershall, a subsidiary of BASF, were evacuating their expat workers or their families or both. BP and Wintershall said they were temporarily suspending operations; Eni said production continued normally.Libya is one of the world's biggest oil producers and has the largest proven oil reserves in the whole of Africa. Eni, Italy's largest natural gas and oil company, has operated there for more than 50 years and is the biggest foreign player in Libya.Hmmmmmm......Dammed that "Outreach to Muslims" policy has yielded great rewards Mr President.Read the full story here.

• Turkey - Syriac  4Th century Christian monastery to be included in Muslim Faith Park.The thousands-of-years-old Syriac Mor Yakup Monastery complex in Mardin’s Nusaybin district is being restored. The historic monastery and a nearby tomb of a 13th-generation grandchild of the Prophet Mohammed will be united and opened to tourism as a Culture and Faith Park Complex. Mardin Gov. Hasan Duruer says the project will emphasize the beauty of living together.The Mor Yakup complex, which dates back to the year 326 and belongs to a Syriac community foundation, will be united with the 12th-century Zeynel Abidin complex and open to tourism as a “Culture and Faith Park” in the coming months.“We hope to contribute to the economy by reviving faith and culture tourism in Nusaybin,” Mardin Gov. Hasan Duruer told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. He said their aim was to strengthen the dialogue between cultures. “Polarization between cultures and faiths increases in our daily lives. This project to build a culture and faith park aims to emphasize the beauty of brotherhood and living next to one another.”The thousands-of-years-old church has recently come up due to the increasing number of attacks on it.The governor said the monastery complex was abandoned prior to the restoration. “A place for a metropolitan bishop, which was constructed in 1872, was used as a house by a Muslim family. The part of the monastery that was underground was forested; that’s why no obvious trace of the monastery was visible.”Duruer said the works in Nusaybin would not be limited to the Mor Yakup Church and the Zeynel Abidin complex. The restoration of the fourth-century Mor Evgin Monastery, which still lies within the borders of Nusaybin, will also start in the near future. “Nusaybin will have an important tourism potential once these historic renovations are done.”Hmmmm....."You shall have no other Gods before me".Read the full story here.

• Michelle Obama has Personal Shopper.Wearing black and a beaded headband, Goldman, 43, cheerily accepted double-cheek Fashion Week salutations, posed for a few pictures and gabbed with Linda Fargo, fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman. The music began to thump, and the acclaimed stylist went to work, eyeballing each geometric print that sailed down the catwalk.Having Michelle Obama as a mega-client earned Goldman this spotlight, but according to several people with knowledge of her White House arrangement, she is no longer the shopper in chief.That coveted role is now played by Goldman's former protegee and current White House employee, Meredith Koop. The ascent of the 29-year-old personal assistant has caught the imagination of Fashion Week gossips, East Wing obsessives and "All About Eve" fans for weeks. A former Vanderbilt University sorority sister, Koop learned fashion gospel at the altar of Ikram, Goldman's eponymous Chicago boutique. Two years ago, when Michelle Obama left for Washington, Goldman dispatched Koop as an emissary, attending to the first lady's dressing needs inside the family residence. Koop has taken full advantage of proximity to power. Her portfolio has expanded, at the expense of her mentor. This season Koop is in, and Goldman is out.Hmmmm....."We all have to make sacrifices"?Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Video : Cancer and Cell Phones: Study Finds No Link.Hmmm... at the end of the clip he says"As long as we don't know longterm effects"........It can't hurt????Read and see the full story here.