Video - Don Lemon Debates Debbie Wasserman Schultz Over God, Jerusalem, Israel Changes.

Kenyan muslim clerics fault Obama on gay marriage.

Kenyan muslim clerics fault Obama on gay marriage.(Nation).Kenyan Muslim leaders from the coast region have condemned President Barack Obama’s support of same sex marriages. Speaking to the Nation in Mombasa, Council of Imams and Preachers Organising Secretary Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa accused President Obama of playing god by legalizing what "God Himself objects". “Simply because he has risen to be the President of a super power does not mean he can now start acting as God. He is nothing in the eyes of God and his plans will not succeed just like those who preceded him in such plans,” said Sheikh Khalifa. He further accused the Kenya Human Rights Commission of propagating western values at the expense of religion by propagating for same sex marriages and abortion. “God created man and woman so that we can procreate. How come we now want to behave worse than dogs who do not go for their own gender but know the difference between the two?” asked Sheikh Khalifa.Hmmmm........Hellooooo: Obama:“We will hold sacred the beliefs held sacred by others.”Read the full story here.

Why is Israel so happy?What's Israel's secret, which allowed Jewish state to rank 14th on global Happiness Report?

Why is Israel so happy?What's Israel's secret, which allowed Jewish state to rank 14th on global Happiness Report?(YNet).By Giulio Meotti.Israel ranked 14th in the United Nations’ first World Happiness Report. The list is headed by Denmark, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands, the paradises of political correctness, welfare, anti-war, ultra-liberal and anti-nationalistic feelings, beacons which, according to the Global Peace Index, topped the list of the most “peaceful” places in the world. So how can we explain the happiness of Israel, the only civilized country under mortal danger, the only nation without recognized borders and globally selected to be an emblem of evil? To people who don’t live in Israel, this is a mystery. Many Israelis probably can’t figure it out, either. How is it possible that a population living under a perpetual emotional strain and ghettoizing itself behind new Maginot lines is so happy? How can the Jews be happy when Iran is going nuclear and threatening to wipe them off the map? How can they be happy when the Arabs are firing rockets every day at civilians in Ashkelon, Beersheba, Ashdod and Sderot? What are the sources of the happiness of the only UN member condemned to death and boycotted all over the world?
Israel is much happier than all the European countries that experienced their last war six decades ago. The Jewish state’s population exceeds 7.5 million, nine times that of 1948, the year of the state’s creation. Israelis are happy because they succeeded demographically; considering the Diaspora’s low birth rates and high assimilation rates, it may not be long before most of the world’s Jews will be Israelis. Despite Jewish heroism and Israeli collectivism giving way to Western individualism, self-criticism and frivolous hedonism, Israeli happiness is much more than the American dream of a large house and a nice car. It lies at the intersection between pleasure and meaning, “a nation like all other nations” but also “a light unto the nations.” Israelis, which have one of the longest life expectancies of any nation in the world, are happy because their country has a history of scintillating enlightenment, with the highest production of scientific publications per capita in the world, more museums per capita and the highest worldwide publication of new books. In a war-ravaged country like Israel, the past few years saw five Israeli Nobel Prize winners. 
Another reason is economic success. No other industrialized country does it better, especially for a nation that doesn’t have natural resources and has a population roughly half of Belgium’s. Israel’s high-tech industry is flourishing, making the country known as “start-up nation.”
While Israel’s social fabric is deeply divided between ultra-Orthodox Jews and “Hellenistic” Israelis, nationalists and leftists, two-thirds of Israelis believe in God, therefore maintaining the hope and feeling that there is higher meaning and purpose to their lives. There is also the attachment to the Jewish land, while love for one’s land is a nationalistic taboo in the West. Overall, Israel’s population is very resilient. A new governmental study just found that Intifada-era violence did nothing to affect Israel’s national morale. Israelis are also happy because they know that Dimona and the IDF are there to protect them, even if the army lost some of its famous deterrence.
Finally, there is the most important reason why Israeli happiness is an enchanting and heartening mystery for all free men. When comparing the fertility rate to the suicide rate, one can see the proportion of people who choose to create new life against the proportion who choose to destroy their own. This is why the Jews will ultimately win a centennial war against an enemy ready to sacrifice all of its children in order to throw all Israelis into the sea. In Israel, the celebrations of life are far more numerous than the memories of death. That's Israel’s secret for happiness: it's a lighthouse of life on the border between survival and destruction. Ultimately, life will prevail over death.Read the full story here.Full World  Happiness report here.

God Waiting for Pussy Riot ‘Repentance’ – Russian Church Official.

God Waiting for Pussy Riot ‘Repentance’ – Russian Church Official.(RaiNovosti).God expects the all-female group Pussy Riot to repent for their anti-Putin “punk prayer” in Moscow’s largest cathedral, a leading Russian Orthodox official has said.
“They are no longer Orthodox Christians,” Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said during a talk show on the website of the Snob magazine. “God has already judged them and is now waiting for their repentance.”
Five members of Pussy Riot, clad in brightly-colored balaclavas, performed an acapella version of what they said was a “punk prayer” entitled “Holy Sh*t at the altar of the Christ the Savior Cathedral in downtown Moscow on February 21. The lyrics included lines such as “Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin, chase Putin out!”
The group said the performance was a protest against powerful Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill’s support for Vladimir Putin in the run-up to the March 4 presidential elections. The performance came amid the biggest demonstrations against Putin’s rule since he first came to power in 2000.
Three alleged members of the group have since been detained and could face up to seven years behind bars if found guilty of hooliganism charges. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina have been remanded in custody until April 24.
A third suspected member, Irina Lokteva, was arrested last week and a judge will decide on Friday if she will also remain in custody until her trial. All the women have small children.Chaplin, who oversees relations between Russia’s influential Orthodox Church and society, also said that he was ready to visit the group in custody.“The Church does not want to destroy its enemies, but change the sinners for the better,” added Chaplin.A number of religious figures, including Chaplain, have said the women should not be imprisoned.“Putin is behind the repression of Pussy Riot, not believers or the Orthodox Church,” an at-liberty masked member of Pussy Riot said on the Snob show, which was hosted by socialite turned opposition activist Ksenia Sobchak. “He was scared by the Russian uprising.”Another group member denied the performance was of an anti-religious nature. “We respect all religions, including Orthodox Christianity,” she said.Read the full story here.

PA to submit Israeli sites to World Heritage List

PA to submit Israeli sites to World Heritage List.(YNet).Failure to make progress during the latest round of talks between the Palestinians and Israel led the Palestinian leadership to examine new ways in which to gain recognition in the international arena.
One such effort is focused on submitting nominations of heritage sites – both on Palestinian and Israeli territory – for inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The Palestinian Authority was admitted as a full member of UNESCO in October 2011, which enables it to make bids for historic monuments and locations to be classified as World Heritage Sites. The list of sites submitted to the organization includes the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Old City of Nablus, Sebastiya, the ancient port of Gaza, Hisham's Palace and Tel al Sultan in Jericho, Mount Grizim, the monasteries in Judea Dessert and Rehan Forest.
In addition, the Palestinians considered adding Jerusalem to the list, but Jordan beat them to the punch, and east Jerusalem has already been declared as a World Heritage Site.
Along with the list of sites under the PA's control, the Palestinians are also considering submitting heritage sites that are under Israeli control such as Qumran Caves and the Dead Sea.
Officials in Ramallah told Ynet they see nothing wrong with the PA proposing to recognize these sites on behalf of Palestine "It's very simple – according to the international law, the entire West Bank is occupied territory and therefore all of the countries who recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders will support this." Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Tonga 5.2 !More info here.

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

• Canary Islands - El Hierro earthquake and volcano eruption – Update 21.  here , Live webcams here and here.

• Egypt Updated : Ten dead as military continues attack on protesters in Cairo.(BikyaMasr).CAIRO: The army and police have waged a coordinated offensive on protesters in Tahrir Square, attempting to forcibly remove demonstrators who have occupied square in the largest anti-government protest witnessed in Egypt since the January 25 uprisings that toppled the government of former president Hosni Mubarak earlier this year.Five have been reported dead so far by the Egyptian Ministry of Health, and over a thousand have sustained injuries as the police and military fire tear gas canisters and use live ammunition.The army has entered the square in armed personnel carriers (APCs) from the nearby Qasr al-Ainey Street. Police and military set fire to protester tents in the middle of square, as well as an abandoned motorcycle.“Injuries have just continued to flood in. Its hard to count how many we have here,” a worker at a field hospital told Bikyamasr.com.Cairo: Egypt’s Minister of Culture Emad Abu Ghazi has filed for resignation in protest of the military and police offensive waged on protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.The Egyptian Ministry of Health has reported that five are dead, and over a thousand have sustained injuries in the violence.Cabinet Ministers are currently holding an emergency meeting at the Military Council headquarters, set to discuss the situation.They published a statement saying that they are still committed to holding elections as scheduled.Protests have spread throughout cities in the rest of the nation, as demonstrations in Cairo intensify.Read the full story here.

• Violence continues in Syria as Condoleezza Rice promotes unilateral U.S. action.(BlacklistedNews).By Madison Ruppert.As clashes continue in Homs with opposition forces and pro-Assad forces engaging in what the New York Times calls, “A harrowing sectarian war,” Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice advocates unilateral U.S. action on CNN’s “State of the Union.”Rice says that Bashar al-Assad is bringing his country to the brink of a civil war, although it is arguable that civil war is already exactly what is going on with heavily armed opposition clashing with government forces and attacks on government compounds and vehicles.She also said that ousting Assad would be a “great thing” for the people of Syria, along with U.S. interests and according to the Associated Press, “anyone seeking a more peaceful Middle East.”Her statements are far from groundbreaking except in that she called for the “toughest” possible penalties against the Syrian government while saying that if Russia and China block sanctions in the United Nations, the United States should either apply pressure with allies or act unilaterally.She also promoted more assistance to the Syrian opposition, which has already become a bloody insurgent force that has attacked government compounds and vehicles along with a rocket attack on the Baath Party’s headquarters in the Syrian capital of Damascus.Eyewitnesses reported that the headquarters appeared intact and no large security force deployment was reported after activists said the building was hit with several rocket-propelled grenades.This comes as the Assad government rejected the Arab League’s planned mission to send so-called “monitoring” forces, which would likely do a lot more than just monitoring like Qatar did in Libya.The Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said today that the proposed Arab League mission has “pervasive jurisidcation that reaches the level of violating Syrian sovereignty” and added that the Arab League would receive a letter from him questioning their role.Previously the Arab League declared that Assad’s forces must withdraw from cities in which clashes are occurring by November 19^th, along with starting dialogue with the opposition.However, the opposition flatly rejected the notion of talking with Assad, just like the al Qaeda-affiliated and Western-backed rebels did in Libya.The League outright rejected the Syrian request to modify the proposal which would send more than 500 monitors into the country, which Syria had tentatively agreed to on Friday.Read the full story here.

• Arab League rejects proposed Syrian amendments to peace plan.(AlArabiya).The Arab League on Sunday rejected amendments proposed by Damascus to its proposal to send a 500-strong delegation to monitor the violence in Syria, saying they would radically alter the mission. “It was agreed that the amendments and appendices proposed by the Syrian side affect the core of the document and would radically change the nature of the mission which is to oversee the implementation of the Arab plan to end the crisis in Syria and protect Syrian civilians,” the Arab League said in a statement.The League on Nov. 16 had given Damascus three days to abide by a plan aimed at ending the violence and starting talks between the government and opposition. The plan included sending a monitoring team to Syria.In related news, the opposition Syrian National Council announced Sunday a political program aimed at bringing down President Bashar al-Assad followed by a parliamentary election after a year’s transition.In a statement received by AFP, the SNC said its goal was to “build a democratic, pluralistic, and civil state by ... breaking down the existing regime, including all of its operatives and symbols.”The SNC, the country’s largest and most representative opposition group, said another objective was “preserving, protecting, and enhancing the peaceful nature of the popular revolution.”The SNC said that after the fall of the Assad regime, it would “take responsibility, with the military apparatus, to manage the transitional period and guarantee the security and unity of the country” during the transition. It would try to forge a “pluralistic ... parliamentary republic ... based on the principles of equal citizenship with separation of powers ... the rule of law, and the protection and guarantee of the rights of minorities. “Within one year at most, the interim government will organise free elections with Arab and international observers to elect a Constitutional Assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution for the country that is then voted on by the people in a referendum,” said the statement.“Free parliamentary elections shall be held within six months, in accordance with the new constitution.”The SNC, which was formally founded in Istanbul on October 2, is made up of Assad’s opponents, including the committees organizing protests on the ground, the Muslim Brotherhood as well as various Kurdish and Assyrian parties.So far it has only been recognized by Libya, where the National Transitional Council is now in power following a revolt that ousted dictator Muammar Qaddafi.France said Thursday that the Syrian opposition’s umbrella group needs to be better organized before it can win its recognition.“We have contacts with them, I saw Burhan Ghaliun in Paris, who’s the president. We help them, we have contact and we encourage them to get organized,” Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said, referring to the head of the SNC.The Assad regime is under mounting international pressure to halt its eight-month crackdown on pro-reform turned anti-regime protests, which the United Nations says has killed more than 3,500 people.In comments published Sunday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said there was “no place for authoritarian regimes” in the Mediterranean region“I strongly believe that there is no place any more for authoritarian regimes – single party systems that do not have accountability or transparency – on the shores of the Mediterranean,” he told Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper.“As someone who has studied in the United Kingdom, lived in the United Kingdom, has this world view, President Assad should be able to understand this.”His comments, made before the expiry of the Arab League deadline at midnight Saturday (2200 GMT), was the latest criticism of Assad’s regime by Turkey.Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has already announced a halt to joint oil exploration with Syria and has threatened to cut electricity exports to its neighbor.But despite Ankara’s protests and the Arab League ultimatum, violence in Syria has shown no sign of abating and Assad has defiantly vowed to fight and die for his country if faced with foreign intervention.In Sunday’s interview, Gul said he had been encouraging his Syrian counterpart to embark on democratic reforms before the uprising.“We strongly advised him to hurry up and accelerate the pace of reforms,” he said.“Otherwise, if he was not the leader of the change himself, then things would turn out to be too bad, we said to him.”Read the full story here.

• Syria accuses U.S. and Turkey of inciting civil war.(AlArabiya).Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem on Sunday accused U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Dawood Oglu of pushing Syrians into a civil war.“I say this with all due honesty, whoever reads with details the announcements by all of Hillary Clinton, Ahmed Oglu and others, will feel that they are trying to push for a civil war, and this is what I call a wishful thinking," Moualem told reporters in Damascus.On Saturday, Clinton told the NBC network, “I think there could be a civil war with a very determined and well-armed and eventually well-financed opposition that is, if not directed by, certainly influenced by defectors from the army.” “We’re already seeing that, something that we hate to see because we are in favor of a peaceful protest and non-violent opposition,” she said, blaming Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for provoking the opposition into “taking up arms.”Former U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice had also accused Syrian President Assad of taking his country to the brink of civil war.Rice told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Assad’s crackdown on peaceful protesters is creating a very dangerous situation. She said Assad “is no friend of the United States” and that his overthrow would be a “great thing” for the Syrian people, U.S. interests and anyone seeking a more peaceful Middle East.Moualem also described an Arab League plan to send a monitoring mission to Syria as compromising the country’s sovereignty despite Damascus not rejecting the mission.He said that the proposed mission has “pervasive jurisdiction that reaches the level of violating Syrian sovereignty” and said he would send the Arab League a letter with questions about its role.“We will reply to the Arab League secretary general by responsibly presenting a number of queries,” he added. “The protocol is three pages that completely ignores the role of the Syrian state. On one hand the Syrian state is responsible for the security of this mission and on the other hand they ignore even coordinating with it.”The Arab League had previously given Syria three days from Nov. 16 to abide by a deal to withdraw its forces from restive cities, start talks with the opposition and pave the way for a League observer team. But Syria was not responsive to the Arab League’s three-day ultimatum and continued with its crackdown. The foreign minister also accused some Arab countries of complicity with the U.S. in pressuring Syria, but added: “This cheek is used to this slapping.”In addition to that, he also denied reports that the Damascus headquarters of the ruling Baath Party was hit by rocket-propelled grenades Sunday, calling them “absolutely false.”But he later thanked a Syrian journalist for clarifying that the explosions heard in the area were the result of a sound bomb, indirectly acknowledging that some kind of attack had taken place.Read the full story here.

• Newly Released Emails Prove Elena Kagan Was Not Walled Off From Obamacare's Legal Strategy and Must Recuse Herself.(DougRoss).During her confirmation hearings, Elena Kagan -- then solicitor-general for the United States -- stated that she had virtually no role in crafting the PPACA (Obamacare) Act nor in advising the Democrat Party on a legal strategy for it.

COBURN: Thank you. And my — I have two final questions. One, was there at any time — and I’m not asking what you expressed or anything else — was there at any time you were asked in your present position to express an opinion on the merits of the health care bill?

KAGAN: There was not.

 Newly released emails prove that this was untrue. From cheerleading the passage of the bill, to helping to coordinate the response, to shushing those who had begun to leave a paper trail of her involvement, Kagan was intimately involved in every aspect of the legal strategy.

Thanks to Judicial Watch, we now have more evidence that Kagan fibbed during her sworn testimony.

1. An October 13, 2009, exchange between Kagan and former Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal. Katyal informs Kagan, “We just got Snowe on health care,” referring to Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME). (The bulk of the email exchange reflects a discussion about Kagan, and also provides instructions regarding a hiring decision within the agency, although the nature of the position is unclear. When Katyal asks if Kagan wants to handle the hire via email or in person meeting, Kagan responds, “In person. I’ll call a meeting when I return.”)
2. A March 21, 2010, email from Kagan to then-Senior Counselor for Access to Justice Laurence Tribe: “I hear they have the votes Larry!! Simply amazing...” Tribe responds, “So healthcare is basically done! Remarkable.”
3. A March 16, 2010, email from Kagan to David Barron, then-acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, asked if he had seen an article by Michael McConnell published in the Wall Street Journal that discussed a strategy by Democrats to “‘deem’ ObamaCare into Law without voting.” “Did you seee [sic] Michael McConnell’s piece in the wsj?” Kagan writes in an email with the subject line “Health care q.” “YES, HE IS GETTING THIS GOING,” replied Barron.

Furthermore, these recently released documents had been stonewalled by the Holder Justice Department prior to the Kagan confirmation hearings. Upon receiving the documents, just days after the Obamacare case was accepted for review by the Supreme Court, Sen. Jeff Sessions -- who was the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Kagan confirmation -- said the following: I am deeply disturbed by these developments and believe that the Justice Department should have provided these documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee during Justice Kagan's confirmation hearing. The Department’s failure to provide this information to Congress and to comply with FOIA requests, as well as your apparent inattention to these matters, is unacceptable.” There is only one reason that Justice withheld the Kagan documents. What's been revealed thus far is proof positive that Kagan was not walled off from the legal strategy behind Obamacare and was therefore not truthful during her sworn testimony in front of Congress.Justice Kagan must recuse herself from the Obamacare case immediately -- or she should be impeached.Read the full story here.

• Assault on the Truth, Part 1: A PC Military vs. an Absolutist Enemy.(BigPeace).By John Guandolo.How the U.S. National Security Apparatus is Imposing the Islamic Law of Slander on American Citizens and Aiding and Abetting the Enemy. U.S. War fighting doctrine requires we analyze an enemy beginning with (1) who the enemy says he is, and (2) why he states he is fighting us. From there, the enemy’s threat doctrine is identified, studied and taught to those who have national security and war fighting responsibilities so the enemy can be defeated.The United States has been engaged in a war since 9/11/2001 in which 100% of the enemy states they are “Muslims fighting Jihad in the Cause of Allah in order to impose Shariah (Islamic Law) on the entire world.” Violent Jihadi organizations such as Al Qaeda, Hamas, and others make clear their strategic objective is to re-establish the Global Islamic State (Caliphate) under which Shariah (Islamic Law) is the law of the land. All Islamic nations (Head of State level), via the Organization of the Islamic Conference’s (OIC’s) Cairo Declaration define human rights as the imposition of Shariah. The Cairo Declaration was served as an official document to the United Nations in 1993.Hence, when OIC nations say they seek to spread human rights throughout the world, they are stating their objective is a world governed by Shariah. It is a matter of fact the most prominent Islamic organizations in North America are controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) whose stated goals (in their By-Law, Strategic documents, etc) are (1) the re-establishment of the Caliphate (by force when needed); (2) under which Shariah is the law of the land. Therefore, our enemy is fighting a Total War in which Shariah (Islamic Law) serves as the basis of their stated threat doctrine, which they seek to impose on the entire world.Even if Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the leaders of Islamic nations are wrong about the requirements of Islamic Law, they continue to use it to wage war against us and, therefore, by our own war fighting doctrine, it constitutes a key element of the enemy threat doctrine.100% of all published Islamic Law – and yes, it is published and authoritative – makes Jihad a permanent obligation on all Muslims until the entire world is subordinated to Islamic Law. All published Islamic Law only defines Jihad as warfare against non-Muslim. No bona fide published Islamic Law differs from this. Our enemy knows this to be true.

Those are the facts.

Had the professional standard inside the U.S. National Security apparatus been maintained regarding the identification of the threat from the Islamic Movement after 9/11, it would be standard protocol inside the bureaucracy of the U.S. government to teach the basics of Islamic Law, as it relates to terrorism, to all new military officers, federal agencies, U.S. Attorneys Offices, and the like. However, that, sadly, is not the case.In fact, those who teach these facts are being systematically purged from the government sector by the very agencies whose reason for existence is to pursue facts to find the truth in order to enforce the Constitutional laws of these United States. The Muslim Brotherhood calls this “Civilization Jihad” by our hands – getting our leadership to do the Muslim Brotherhood’s bidding for them – in this case, silencing those presenting facts about the enemy threat doctrine.

The Islamic Law of Slander

In 14th century Islamic Sacred Law (Shariah) – Umdat al Salik – published today in English in Beltsville, Maryland (“Reliance of the Traveller”), “Slander” is defined as follows: “Slander means to mention anything concerning a person (Muslim) that he would dislike.” A truthful statement about Shariah which a Muslim does not want you to know or teach others is considered “Slander” in Islamic Law, and can be punishable by death. The international campaign launched by the OIC to have “Islamophobia” criminalized through official international channels, including the United Nations, is having a direct impact on local, state and federal law enforcement in the United States as the truthful, yet “offensive” information about Shariah is being kept from many of them – not by the Muslim Brotherhood, but by U.S. government officials acting on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Should We Understand Shariah? Is it a Threat?

Is Shariah (Islamic Law) really an imminent threat here in America? We know it is the very reason the enemy acts, and it is what the enemy uses to drive what he does. So let’s look at some evidence (read: “Facts”).In June 2009, Carlos Bledsoe, who previously converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, drove to the Army Recruiting Center in Little Rock, Arkansas and shot and killed Private William A. (“Andy”) Long, and wounded Private Quinton Ezeagwula. The U.S. government did not pursue this as a “Terrorism” matter, but let the local police and prosecutors handle it as a drive-by shooting. Abdulhakim Muhammad was “radicalized” at the Islamic Center of Nashville, a Muslim Brotherhood front organization, and trained for jihad in Yemen. The FBI was aware of his arrest in Yemen, and sent an agent from the Nashville Field Office to interview him.The police report from the shooting revealed Muhammad “stated that he was a practicing Muslim … that he was mad at the U.S. military because of what they had done to Muslims in the past.” Muhammad called the circuit court judge a “tyrant” and said he had no jurisdiction over him – which is true under Islamic Law. In a letter to the judge he said, “This was a Jihadi attack on infidel forces.” It doesn’t get clearer than that. Asked why this case was being prosecuted in the Pulaski County Circuit Court, a Justice Department spokesman stated: “Given that the capital murder case against Carlos Bledsoe, aka Abdulhakim Muhammad, is a matter of pending litigation in Arkansas, we refer you to the prosecutors handing the case in Arkansas for any comments on this matter.” Private Andy Long was killed by a Jihadi on the streets of America by the same enemy we are fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and elsewhere. He is deserving of a Purple Heart and should be remembered as a warrior.

Facts in Evidence

The largest terrorism finance and Hamas trial successfully prosecuted in U.S. history was United States v Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (hereafter “HLF”). The case was adjudicated in the Northern District of Texas (Dallas) in 2008, and HLF and its leadership were convicted of sending over 12 million dollars to Hamas overseas. HLF was created by the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. to be one of three front organizations for Hamas. Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine, and is a designated terrorist organization by the U.S. government. At the time it was indicted, HLF was the largest Islamic charity in the United States.The massive evidence in this trial reveals nearly all major Islamic organizations in the United States are controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood. These include the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), and many others. In fact, the Federal Judge overseeing this trial stated the “Government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA, and NAIT with HLF, the Islamic Association of Palestine (“IAP”), and with Hamas.” Evidence in this trial reveals ISNA was created to be the ‘nucleus’ for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Movement in North America.Evidence also reveals CAIR was established in 1994 by the Muslim Brotherhood’s U.S. Palestine Committee (Hamas) as the fourth front organization for Hamas in the United States. The leaders of CAIR, Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad, led the IAP (Hamas), were surveilled by the FBI at a 1993 meeting of Hamas leaders in Philadelphia, and their names were on a list of Palestine Section (Hamas) members in the United States. CAIR is Hamas. CAIR’s headquarters office is two blocks from the U.S. Capitol Building.Additionally, the leadership of the Muslim American Society (MAS), another leading Islamic organization in the U.S., has openly stated they were founded by and are a Muslim Brotherhood entity.If these facts hold true, and they do, it begs the following questions: Why is the White House, the State Department, and the National Security Council relying on the leadership of ISNA for counsel and input with regards to the American Muslim community? Why is the DHS Secretary working closely with MAS? Why is TSA allowing its security officers to be trained by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), originally formed out of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamic Center of Southern California? Why is Nihad Awad continually allowed on Capitol Hill? Why is the government working with the enemy instead of prosecuting them?Hmmm.....I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes. ~ Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776.Read the full story here.

• President Barack Obama’s Pro-Abortion Record: A Pro-Life Compilation.by Steven Ertelt.Hmmm.....perhaps time to contact the Guiness record book?Read and see the full 'record' here.

• US mulls new financial sanctions against Iran.(YNet).Washington is planning to impose fresh sanctions against Iran's petrochemical industry, in wake of the recent IAEA report on Tehran's atom endeavors and its adamant refusal to suspend its nuclear efforts, CNN reported Saturday.Current US sanctions prohibit American companies from doing business with Iran and according to the news network's sources, the new measures aim to bar foreign companies from doing business with the Islamic Republic's petrochemical industry "by threatening them with being banned from US markets."European nations are expected to announce similar measures next week, but not all of the euro-zone members are in agreement: While Switzerland and France, for example, support tightening the financial vise on Iran, Russia is adamantly against it, and has warned further sanctions would be "a serious mistake."US President Barack Obama defended his efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions recently, saying the economic sanctions proposed against Tehran have an "enormous bite." The latest round of proposed measures will build on existing sanctions on Iran's oil and gas industry.The US' plans for additional sanctions come on the heels of the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which suggested that Iran was making serious progress towards developing and constructing a nuclear weapon.Hmmmm....More sanctions that 'bite' ask Turkey how that 'biting' works out for them, the bilateral trade volume between Iran and Turkey has grown remarkably over the last decade. It has boomed from about $1 billion in 2000 up to $10.7 billion in 2010. Beyond that, earlier this year the Iranians and Turks signed a joint economic commission accord and declared that they aim to increase their bilateral trade volume to $30 billion in the future.Read the full story here.

• Europe’s new fascists are closet liberals.(DocsTalk).By Timothy Stanley.The spectre of neo-fascism is haunting Europe. But is it fascism or is it something else?The Economist, which prefers to call it “populism”, writes: “Anti-Muslim, anti-elite, anti-globalisation and increasingly anti-Brussels, populists now count for something in the Nordic countries, among the Dutch and Flemish, in France, Italy and Austria, and in parts of eastern Europe. They come in many varieties, but all claim to represent... the ripped-off, lied-to little people”. Harvard professor Dani Rodrik (who is happy to call them “fascists”) explains in National Magazine how these parties gained popularity: “Mounting concerns about the erosion of economic security, social stability and cultural identity could not be handled through mainstream political channels. National political structures became too constrained to offer effective remedies, while European institutions still remain too weak to command allegiance.” The result was an explosion of populist Far Right movements that have played “kingmaker” in Holland and Finland, while the Italian “post-fascist” Gianfranco Fini is now President of his country’s Chamber of Deputies. Outside the Eurozone, even the Neo-Nazi Sweden Democrats won 6 percent of the vote in last year’s parliamentary elections. Frightening stuff. But the temptation to lump all these movements together under the banner of “revived fascism” should be resisted. Although all these groups are anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim, they do have profound differences.Those with a long history (the French National Front) tend to have genetic links with 1930s fascism. But figures who have come to prominence in the last decade, such as Holland’s Geert Wilders, do not (Wilders has Indonesian blood and his father fled the Nazis).Some parties have fluctuating electoral success that suggests they are purely a protest vote (Britain’s BNP), while others have long-term regional or demographic support (Italy’s Lega Nord).Certainly, there is no single fascist movement in Europe, rather a patchwork of different nationalist reactions to domestic problems.If you extract the outright crazy (the BNP) from the serious attempt at mainstream politicking (Finnland’s True Finns), you’ll actually find a set of parties that don’t easily fit the fascist label.The fascism of the 1930s was illiberal, anti-free speech, anti-feminist and homophobic. In contrast, contemporary nationalists wear their cultural liberalism as a badge of political legitimacy. Holland’s Wilders, for example, attacks Islam as an agent of intolerance, highlighting what he perceives as the Koran’s prejudices against women and gays.Even the ruffians of the English Defence League have a Facebook page devoted to its “Gay Division”.Perhaps this is part of a strategy to dress up racial bigotry as social liberalism. But the new movements are consistently secular in their rhetoric: rarely do they invoke Christianity as the bedrock of Europe, preferring instead to quote the Enlightenment as its genesis.Nor do they express that most constant theme of traditionalist Christianity: anti-Semitism. On the contrary, the True Finns are big fans of Israel and have received favourable write ups in the Jeruslam Post (although the Hungarian Jobbik movement is truly, awfully anti-Semitic).Most importantly, none of these groups present a threat to established democratic institutions. The fascists of the 1930s saw democracy as a Trojan horse for communism, legitimising popular socialism. They campaigned openly for a one party state and won power in countries where democracy had only been practised for one generation.In contrast, no nationalist party in Europe is promising a dictatorship. On the contrary, most see themselves as a bulwark against a perceived Islamic conspiracy to pervert democracy.Many wish to extend democratic participation either by reintegrating the working-class into politics, leaving the EU or (as in the case of the separatist Vlaams Belang of Belgium) replacing the bureaucratic nation state with ethnic self-determination.Mussolini, Hitler or Franco would have recognised little of themselves in the modern Far Right. That’s not to suggest that it is a benign phenomenon, but it’s important that critics understand what they’re writing about when critiquing it.And the Left must not be allowed to use it as a bogeyman to scare the Right out of talking about immigration or the future of the EU. Indeed, in its secularism and embrace of postmodern cultural values, the new nationalism actually has little in common with traditionalist conservatism.Its mix of social liberalism and economic populism makes it more empathetic to the demands of the old fashioned Left. It is infused with the values of the 1960s and regards itself as the protector of the contemporary European social contract against the more religiously conservative threat of Islam.Europe’s fascists aren’t fascists at all: they’re liberals on steroids.Read the full story here.

• Holland takes tough stance against Iran.(JPost).‘The Iranian threat to annihilate 6 million Jews is an Auschwitz in the making,’ Party of Freedom official says.BERLIN – A parliamentary resolution last week against Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons contributed to the Dutch Foreign Ministry embracing what appears to be the strongest European position toward ratcheting up the pressure on Tehran’s leaders.Wim Kortenoeven, a deputy from the Party for Freedom, told The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview from The Hague on Friday that his party had worked to pass a potent measure.“Now for the practical execution of our resolution, which was unanimously supported in parliament. The foreign minister should be in the forefront of demanding the most forceful sanctions. And he is doing that. There is still a window of opportunity. There seems to be a willingness in Europe to go far in the sanctions and even to follow the initiatives of the US Congress.But at the same time there seems to be a reluctance on the part of the US government where it concerns targeting the Iranian Central Bank. And boycotting that entity is probably the key for our success,” Kortenoeven said. Kortenoeven, 56, one of Europe’s most prominent advocates for Israel’s security, spearheaded the passage of the parliamentary resolution.According to the text, “the Islamic Republic of Iran violates the NPT and the IAEA suspects Iran of illegally developing nuclear weapons and illegal ballistic delivery systems.”The resolution urges that “fast-working and effective sanctions must be imposed in order to force Iran to abandon the illegal nuclear program and open up completely to the IAEA,” and, “ultimate means should be used, if necessary, so as to prevent the need for military intervention.”The resolution states that “measures should hurt the Iranian regime in its heart in order to compel them to compliance,” and, “calls on the [Dutch] government to take the lead with European and American allies in order to impose swift and effective sanctions.”The Dutch resolution appears to be the only European legislative motion to slam Iran after the International Atomic Energy Agency report confirmed that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons designs.The Party for Freedom plays the role of kingmaker in the Dutch coalition government, with the governing parties needing its support.Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal, from the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), issued the strongest statement at EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday.When asked about military intervention, Rosenthal said, “I don’t exclude anything.Now is not the moment to say anything else.”The Dutch resolution, a product of political compromise in the parliament, did not meet all of Kortenoeven’s goals.“Our proposal to cut the diplomatic ties with Tehran, however, was rejected by all other parties. We reasoned that the regime in Tehran is for all practical purposes a terrorist organization and that their threat to annihilate the Jewish state is in fact an ultimate terrorist act.And since we do not have contact with Hamas and with Hezbollah, them being terrorist organizations, we should also cut ties with the ayatollahs,” he said.Kortenoeven is a leading expert on the Middle East and has garnered an international reputation for his analysis on the region.His party’s leader, Geert Wilders, advocates a tough approach to radical Islam in the Netherlands, including restrictions on immigration.The Party for Freedom has prioritized Israel’s security interests and sees combating extremist Islam as integral to defending Israel and Western liberal values.Kortenoeven told the Post, “My party, the Party for Freedom, will never let Israel down. We will never let down the Jewish State of Israel. We will also support Israel when they exercise their legitimate right to self-defense.In the debate I repeated it three times: My party will never abandon Israel. We support it unconditionally and with whatever it takes. The Iranian threat to annihilate six million Jews is a moral call to us. It is an Auschwitz in the making. We take this threat seriously. History forces us to do that. It happened before and the West did nothing to stop it.”He continued, “In the debate, I referred to the ships that were crossing oceans and seas, filled with Jews trying to escape the Nazis, but ending up in Hamburg or being torpedoed in the Black See. The St. Louis and the Struma. Perhaps I also should have referred to the Evian Conference of 1938.There the free West effectively turned its back on the Jews, making nice statements but offering nothing substantial to save them, and bluntly refusing to go to the hilt in stopping the Nazi menace.The similarity is very disturbing and very real.”According to Kortenoeven, “Supporting Israel now is a moral obligation. But it is also in our own best interest, as the Iranian threat is also extending to the rest of the free and liberal West.“These terrible things may start with the Jews, but they never end with the Jews. The Jewish people and the State of Israel are the canary in the coal mine. That is also a lesson of history.”Kortenoeven twice worked in a kibbutz: in 1976 in Nahshon and in 1981 in Matzuva.In an e-mail to the Post on Friday, Yochanan Visser, an expert on Dutch-Israeli relations – who made aliya from the Netherlands in 2000 – wrote, “Now, it is good that Dutch FM Rosenthal said that the military option is still on the table, during the EU meeting last Monday.”Visser, the head of the Missing Peace NGO, said “the Dutch government should take the lead in the EU. That can be done by pushing for a military buildup in the Persian Gulf by EU NATO countries and by giving the example in the sanctions regime by cutting all ties with Iran.”Read the full story here.

• Why Do Western Elites Minimize Radical Threats in the Middle East?(DocsTalk).By Barry Rubin.A leading journalist heard my analysis on the rise of the radical Islamists in the Middle East, how U.S. policy is helping them, and why this is a disaster. His response? How could I say that Hamas was radical and wanted to wipe out Israel since it had not continually attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip?Although this remark was about a very specific issue, I understood the general concept underlying it. To be a radical or extremist, many Westerners seem to believe, means you are a drooling loony, a caricature of a bomb-throwing revolutionary, like a rabid dog unable to stop himself from biting anyone within reach. If you wear a tie and jacket, or just a jacket, or speak patiently and protest your moderation, or have patience you cannot be a radical. Oh, yes, you are also not a radical if you claim not to be one, even if that’s only done in English while you are calling for Islamist revolution, Sharia law, genocide against the Jews, and anti-Western hate in Arabic. Yet radicals have used strategy for many decades. Lenin wrote a short book, Left-Wing Communism, an Infantile Malady, to ridicule the mindless extremists in his movement. The Muslim Brotherhood took a similar view of al-Qaida as being a one-note terrorist group. The whole Turkish model of revolutionary Islamism is based on a patient strategy of hiding their true objectives and maneuvering into total control.Why cannot Western elites see this kind of lightly camoflauged extremism, used by thoroughly by the Communists and also, though this has been largely forgotten, by Nazi and fascist movements. Here are two examples among hundreds. First, an official Palestinian Authority (PA)—the moderates, remember—cleric gives a Friday sermon broadcast on PA television, November 11, 2011 (thanks to MEMRI):. “This racist entity [Israel] will also come to an end, because it too contradicts the natural disposition of the prophets, the righteous, the martyrs, and humanity as a whole….Oh Allah, destroy our enemies. They are no match for you. Oh Allah, count them one by one, and disperse them all. Don’t leave a single one. Oh Allah, drive them out of Palestine in humiliation and disgrace. Oh Allah, drive them out of Jerusalem and its environs, just as you drove them out of Mecca and Medina. Oh Allah, drive them out of the Levant, just as you drove them out of the Arabian Peninsula.”Remember that the Jewish tribes were not exactly driven out of the Arabian Peninsula. The men were murdered; the women and children enslaved. For some reason I don’t quite understand, the Western media does not report on literally hundreds of this type of sermon, broadcast, or article. Somehow they are considered not important even though they drive people into a killing frenzy and make a compromise peace impossible.I do recall, however, a spate of articles a few months ago giving credit for the PA for getting rid of radical preachers. Not at all. It merely eliminated Hamas supporters. Can we ever hope for honest coverage that would thus show people that the PA is not moderate, keeps its people hysterical with hatred, incites them to kill, glorifies terrorists, and thus makes peace impossible?Then there are the moderate Islamists. There is a large collection of statements by Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leaders, Libyan warlords, and Tunisian Islamist politicians that show they are definitely not moderate. Here’s one.Tunisia’s prime minister-designate Hamadi Jebeli speaking at a rally:“My brothers, you are at a historic moment in a new cycle of civilization, God willing. We are in [the] sixth caliphate, God willing.” So durable is the mandatory myth of moderation that the article in the Daily Telegraph (a conservative newspaper) reporting this tells us that Jebeli is a moderate. However, it points out that a leftist party, Ettakatol, was so upset at this statement that it suspended coalition talks with Jebeli’s party. The two liberal parties have already denounced those who are called moderate Islamists in Washington as being radical Islamists.“We thought we were going to build a second republic with our partner–not a sixth caliphate,” Khemais Ksila, a senior member of the leftist party, said.The article explains that the caliphate idea is controversial because of its association with al-Qaida. Well, actually there are a few other problems. When people like Jebeli speak of a caliph they are talking about a divinely-guided individual who must be obeyed, will unite all Muslims into a single state, will certainly impose Sharia law on all Muslim-majority countries, and can legally declare Jihad.There isn’t going to be a caliphate for a very long time if ever because Muslims will never agree on who should be caliph, where his capital city should be, whether he should be a Sunni or Shia, and lots of other stuff. Thus, Jebeli’s statement isn’t important because he talks about a caliphate as such but because it tells us his true politics and goals.So this is just a small sample: the “moderate” Palestinians preaching genocide; the “moderate” Islamists preaching a universal Islamic dictatorship. Why oh why cannot Western leaders speak about such things, Western “experts” talk of them, and Western media publish or broadcast this very real news? There is no “racial” stereotyping or Islamophobia or any such things here. The guilty are those who hold these political and theological stances, not those who reject them. The heroes are Muslims and other Middle Easterners who fight against genocidal extremism and radical Islamism. Most of the victims of these movements are also Arabs, Muslims, or both.Even in their own ideology there is no excuse for these Western officials, politicians, journalists, and academics to conceal the nature of the threat. It is almost the end of 2012, years too late to please ignorance.Reflecting on this point, a Turkish friend in the anti-Islamist regime opposition said to me: “We can no longer regard these people as fools. We can only consider them to be enemies.”Read the full story here.

• 'It's all i, i, i nowadays': Chief Rabbi blasts late Apple boss Steve Jobs for helping to create a selfish consumer society.(DailyMail).The Chief Rabbi today launched an eyebrow-raising attack on late Apple founder Steve Jobs - who he says helped create a selfish consumer culture that has only brought unhappiness. Lord Sacks, who represents Britain's 300,000 Jews, singled out Jobs for blame likening his iPad tablets to the tablets of stone bearing the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses.He said advertising only made shoppers aware of what they did not have - rather than feeling grateful for what they did - and warned a culture where people only worried about themselves could not last long.Faith and spending time with family, he said, were the only way to true happiness.Religious leaders have condemned banks and politicians in recent years to criticise the growing gap between the rich and poor. But this is one of the first times a private individual has been blamed.Speaking at an interfaith reception attended by the Queen this week, he said: 'People are looking for values other than the values of a consumer society. The values of a consumer society really aren’t ones you can live by for terribly long.'The consumer society was laid down by the late Steve Jobs coming down the mountain with two tablets, iPad one and iPad two, and the result is that we now have a culture of iPod, iPhone, iTune, i, i, i. 'When you're an individualist, egocentric culture and you only care about 'i’, you don’t do terribly well.'Jobs died aged 56 in October, prompting an outpouring of grief from across the world.Sacks added: 'What does a consumer ethic do? It makes you aware all the time of the things you don't have instead of thanking God for all the things you do have.The Chief Rabbi, who is due to step down from his post in 2013, added: 'Therefore the answer to the consumer society is the world of faith, which the Jews call the world of Shabbat, where you can't shop and you can't spend and you spend your time with things that matter, with family.'Unless we get back to these values we will succeed in making our children and grandchildren ever unhappier,' the Telegraph reported him as saying. Hmmm......"Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness". ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.Read the full story here.

• Video - Syria’s Assad will not ‘bow down’ to foreign pressure, vows to continue crackdown.(AlArabiya).President Bashar al-Assad said Syria would not bow down in the face of mounting international pressure over his lethal crackdown on dissent, in an interview with The Sunday Times.Assad told the British weekly newspaper he was “definitely” prepared to fight and die for Syria if faced with foreign intervention.“This goes without saying and is an absolute,” he said.The president said he felt sorrow for each drop of Syrian blood spilt but insisted Damascus must go after armed rebel gangs and enforce law and order.“The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue,” he said. “I assure you that Syria will not bow down.”In video footage on the newspaper’s website, Assad said there would be elections in February or March when Syrians would vote for a parliament to create a new constitution and that would include provision for a presidential ballot.“That constitution will set the basis of how to elect a president, if they need a president or don’t need him,” he said. “They have the elections, they can participate in it. The ballot boxes will decide who should be president.”Assad accused the Arab League, whose deadline for Syria to stop its clampdown has expired, of creating a pretext for Western military intervention, which would trigger an “earthquake” across the Middle East.“If they are logical, rational and realistic, they shouldn’t do it because the repercussions are very dire. Military intervention will destabilize the region as a whole, and all countries will be affected,” he said.In an interview at the Tishreen Palace in Damascus, the 46-year-old said the solution to the violence was not to pull back his troops.“Like any other Syrian, when I see my country’s sons bleeding, of course I feel pain and sorrow,” he said. “Each spilt drop of blood concerns me personally.“But my role as president is in deeds, not words and sorrow. My role is to think about the steps I should take to prevent more bloodshed.”The Arab League’s deadline expired at 2200 GMT Saturday, but Assad dismissed their move.“It’s been done to show that there’s a problem between the Arabs, thus providing Western countries with a pretext to conduct a military intervention against Syria,” he said.Activists from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 civilians were killed in raids by government forces on Saturday while two army defectors died when they clashed with the army in Homs, which has become a centre of armed revolt against more than 40 years of Assad family rule.Asked if his forces had been too aggressive, Assad told the newspaper mistakes had been made but these were the fault of individuals, not the state.“We, as a state, do not have a policy to be cruel with citizens,” he said.The United Nations says 3,500 people have been killed during the crackdown on the protests which began in March, but Assad disputed this and put the number killed at 619. He told the paper that 800 government forces had been killed.Syria has come under growing international pressure to stop the crackdown. Britain, a strong critic of Damascus, said on Friday senior figures including Foreign Secretary William Hague would meet Syrian opposition representatives in London next week.U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed fear that Syria could be slipping into civil war but said the international community was reluctant to intervene as it had in Libya.Assad also vowed to prevent further attacks by the Free Syrian Army, which opposition sources said had killed or wounded at least 20 security police in an assault on an Air Force Intelligence Complex near Damascus two days ago.“The only way is to search for the armed people, chase the armed gangs, prevent the entry of arms and weapons from neighboring countries, prevent sabotage and enforce law and order,” he told the paper.However early Sunday morning at least two rocket-propelled grenades hit a main ruling Baath Party building in Damascus, residents said, in the first insurgent attack reported inside the Syrian capital since uprising began against Assad.Read and see the full story here.

• Saudis to Increase Diplomatic Security.(SaudiGazette).After the plot to assassinate Saudi Ambassador to the US Nail Adel Jubeir, and attacks on the Saudi Embassy in Damascus, the Saudi government is going to establish its own bureau of Diplomatic Security, Saudi Gazette reports. The move seems to be setting up an office somewhat similar in its mission to that of the US State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) in that it will protect missions and diplomats abroad as well as foreign missions within the Kingdom. This latter job is currently being done by both police and the Saudi Arabian National Guard.JEDDAH — The government is setting up a special security unit to protect Saudi ambassadors and diplomatic missions abroad. The unit will also be responsible for providing protection to foreign diplomatic missions in the Kingdom.Teams of commandos, officers and non-commissionedspecial security unit to protect Saudi ambassadors and diplomatic missions abroad. The unit will also be responsible for providing protection to foreign diplomatic missions in the Kingdom.Teams of commandos, officers and non-commissioned officers will be trained specifically for the unit known as the “Special Forces for Diplomatic Security”.
  It will fall under the Ministry of Interior, said Al-Hayat Arabic daily, quoting informed sources.
  It is believed that the authorities were working on the idea long before the revelation of the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi Ambassador in Washington.
  Members of the unit will be armed with the latest sophisticated weapons.
  They will be trained to protect diplomatic facilities and residences, and escort ambassadors on official business. They will also have special training in anti-terrorism methods and air-borne exercises and drive special armored vehicles used to guard diplomats and missions.Read the full story here.

• Dozens of Israeli women strip in support of Egypt blogger.(YNet).Dozens of Israeli women stripped off their clothes Saturday in a show of solidarity with the 20-year-old Egyptian blogger who caused a stir in the Arab world last week when she posted a naked photo of herself in protest against the limits on free expression in her country. Touched by the spirited protest measure, some 40 Israelis posed for a nude group shot in support of the Egyptian activist, Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, who received threats and harsh criticism for her actions. Unlike Elmahdy, however, the Israeli women did not fully display their intimate parts for the camera.The brains behind the operation is Or Tepler, 28, who opened a Facebook event inviting women "to show support in a non-violent and legitimate way for a woman who is just like us – young, ambitious, full of dreams and evidently has a developed sense of humor.""Girls, let's give the world a good reason to see the unique beauty of Israeli women," Tepler wrote. "Regardless of whether they are Jewish, Arab, straight or Lesbian – because here, as of now, it doesn't matter. (…) Let us show the doubters that our international discourse doesn't depend on governments."  More than 100 women said they would attend. The participants were photographed holding a sign saying "Love without Limits," and "Homage to Aliaa Elmahdi. Sisters in Israel." "I got the idea the day that the blogger's photo was posted," Tepler told Ynet. "I didn't expect that she would get the response that she got. It got on my nerves that she received a quarter of a million abusive comments and death threats. (…) I felt that when a liberal, enlightened woman in Cairo cannot express herself and gets threats from her state, I should show solidarity. "Of course there's the nationalistic aspect, and I won't deny being a leftist and a seeker of peace," she added. "I feel like the governments don't represent the enlightened, simple people who want peace."  Tepler, who was active in the social protest movement over the summer, made efforts to get in touch with Elmahdy, but was unsuccessful. "She's as popular as Daphni Leef on the 14th of July," she explained. "I sent her an e-mail, but I saw that her Twitter and Facebook account have been closed. People really want to take her down, while we want to show her that there are many groups that support her."Read the full story here.

• Somalia’s Shabaab vow to defeat Ethiopian forces.(AlArabiya).Somalia’s Islamist Shabaab rebels warned Ethiopia on Sunday they would “break the necks” of their troops inside Somalia, a day after several hundred soldiers crossed into the war-torn country.“Soldiers of our enemy, the black colonialists of Ethiopia, made some movements into our region on Saturday, but they do not scare us,” said Sheikh Yusuf Ali Ugas, the insurgent group’s commander for the Hiran region.“We will break the necks of the invaders. ... Our troops are ready for anything, if the Ethiopian enemy try to attack us,” Ugas added, speaking on the group’s radio Al Andalus.Ethiopian troops in lorries and armored vehicles entered southern and central Somali regions, local elders said on Saturday, although Addis Ababa has denied all reports. No fighting has so far been reported, and the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab militia said their positions were secure.“We shall defeat them and fight them any way we can,” Ugas said. “The Ethiopian attack is a plan to oppose the implementation of Sharia law in Somalia by the enemies of our Muslim nation. Small numbers of Ethiopian forces have been reported operating in Somali border regions in the recent past, but witnesses said the scale of troop movements was far larger this time.The numbers of troops reported suggest that Addis Ababa could be making its first large-scale incursion since it invaded Somalia in 2006 with US backing.It pulled out three years later after a sparking bloody uprising against its forces and failing to restore order in its lawless neighbor, which has lacked a functioning government for two decades.Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Dina Mufti on Saturday dismissed the reports outright, saying there were “absolutely no troops in Somalia.”Hardline Shabaab insurgents control much of southern Somalia, but are battling both the Western-backed government in Mogadishu and Kenyan troops in the far south, who crossed the border last month to attack rebel strongholds.Hmmm.....Why is the guy in the picture showing off a crucifix, got it of a 'slayed' Christian?Read the full story here.

• From Greece : Greece-EU 2011: Parents Give Up Their Children Because They Can’t Feed Them.(KTG).The newspaper reports of a case of a 30-year-old woman from a suburb of western Athens. She asked the prosecutor to ‘keep her baby so that it won’t die of cold’. The woman had no money to pay for the rent, while the electricity was cut off. The prosecutors’ office staff made a fundraising, gave her money to pay the rent so she won’t be separated form her child. They also informed the municipality to support the woman as much as possible.Read the full story here.
• Related:School Closes Due to Lack of Heating Oil.(KTG).The Association of Parents at the 2. Elementary School on the island of Skiathos, Sporades, decided to close the school due to lack of heating oil. The parents decided to do so because the municipality delayed the creation of the school committee with the effect that no heating oil can be supplied.There is a total of 143 pupils attending the school.Read the full story here.

• What secrets will he reveal? Gaddafi's playboy son Saif cowers after capture by rebels and will be quizzed about Blair, Mandelson and Prince Andrew friendships.(Dailymail).Looking haggard and fearful, Saif Al Islam Gaddafi cowers in terror after his capture by Libyan fighters yesterday.His old swagger gone, the British-educated son of Colonel Gaddafi was clearly terrified that he might encounter the same fate as his father, who was killed a month ago.Saif could yet face the death penalty for his crimes, but Libyan officials promised he would, at least, receive a fair trial. That trial could prove highly embarrassing for influential British figures – including Prince Andrew and Tony Blair – if Saif reveals details of the close links he enjoyed with them.The 39-year-old former playboy and womaniser was captured trying to flee across the border into Niger. A mob of angry protesters tried to storm the plane but were beaten back by soldiers under orders to keep their prisoner alive so he could face justice.Only three weeks ago Saif had vowed to avenge his father’s death, declaring defiantly: ‘I am alive and free and willing to fight to the end.’But last night he was facing the likelihood of trial in his own country – or extradition to the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity. Thousands of Libyans celebrated in the streets after hearing that the fugitive, who remained loyal to his father’s murderous regime to the end, had been captured without a struggle.The dictator’s heir was intercepted near the oil town of Obari as he tried to reach the frontier in a 4x4 vehicle, accompanied by three bodyguards. Desert fighters acting on a tip-off fired into the air and ground to bring the car to a halt.As they checked the identity of those inside, Saif told them his name was Abdelsalam – which means ‘servant of peace’ – but he was immediately recognised and taken away by the fighters.One of those involved in the capture, Ahmed Ammar, said: ‘At the beginning he was very scared. He thought we would kill him.’ Saif’s captors said they found only a few thousand dollars and a cache of rifles in the seized vehicles.Saif is thought to have been hiding in the southern desert since fleeing the tribal bastion of Bani Walid, near the capital, Tripoli, last month.After his capture, he was photographed lying on a bed in a prison cell, his fingers wrapped in bandages and his legs covered with a blanket. Officials said the injury had been sustained in a Nato air raid a month ago.There was jubilation across the country as car horns and flag-waving marked the seizure of Saif, who had close connections with some of the most powerful figures in Britain, including Tony Blair and Lord Mandelson. The London School of Economics graduate, who threw wild parties in the South of France and owned a £10 million mansion in Hampstead, will now face the judgment of his own people and of the international community.If he decides to reveal all he knows about the UK’s relations with Libya during his father’s rule, his evidence could prove highly embarrassing.Saif was indicted by the International Criminal Court during the brutal fighting that preceded the tyrant’s overthrow. Last night prosecutors said they would travel to Libya for talks.Under international laws, Libya has the right to put Saif on trial. The ICC will only act if a country is unable or unwilling to prosecute. Many Libyans want him tried in his own country because they believe he knows the location of billions of dollars of public money amassed by the Gaddafi family.‘The good news is that Saif Al Islam is arrested, he is alive, and now he will face justice,’ said ICC lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo.Speaking on the plane which took him to an army base, Saif denied reports that he had been in contact with the ICC while on the run, insisting: ‘It’s all lies. I’ve never been in touch with them.’Libya’s justice minister said Saif would now be put on trial in his homeland for crimes that carry the death penalty, including instigating others to kill and misusing public funds.Mohammed Al Alagy said: ‘We are ready to prosecute him. We have adopted enough legal and judicial procedures to ensure a fair trial for him.’Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib celebrated Saif’s capture as the ‘crowning’ of the rebel uprising and said: ‘Saif Al Islam will receive a fair trial under fair legal processes which our own people have been deprived of for the last 40 years.’ David Cameron said the arrest was ‘a great achievement for the Libyan people and must now become a victory for international justice too’. Once seen as a reformer who could end Libya’s isolation, Saif had cultivated relationships with those at the heart of the British Establishment.Prince Andrew was a regular visitor to Tripoli as a trade ambassador and is reported to have played host to Saif at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Lord Powell, the former adviser to Margaret Thatcher and John Major, chaired a company that agreed construction deals in Libya.Another person linked to Saif is Nat Rothschild, of the banking dynasty, who has business interests in Libya. In 2008 Saif was a guest at a party thrown by Mr Rothschild at his New York home. He was later a guest at a shooting party at Mr Rothschild’s British country home and also stayed at the family’s villa in Corfu.Lord Mandelson, then Labour’s Business Secretary, was also a guest at the villa and has admitted discussing with Saif the fate of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, who was later released from prison in Scotland because of failing health.But the main effort to forge closer links with Gaddafi’s Libya was led by Mr Blair. In August 2003, Tripoli agreed to compensate the Lockerbie victims and accepted responsibility for its involvement in the atrocity. Five days later, Mr Blair introduced a UN resolution to lift sanctions against the pariah state. The following year, he embraced Colonel Gaddafi when they met in the Colonel’s tent near Tripoli to discuss bilateral relations.Saif knows Britain well since studying for a PhD at the London School of Economics. Britain’s former Ambassador to America, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, has been forced to deny claims he helped him with his thesis.But Sir Howard Davies resigned as LSE director after it emerged that Saif’s charitable foundation had given the college a grant of £1.5 million.Last year, Saif was invited to give a speech at the university, at which Professor David Held described him as ‘someone who looks to democracy, civil society and deep liberal values for the core of his inspiration’.While Saif al-Islam looked for now to have avoided the brutal fate of his father - killed shortly after his capture - it is far from clear what will happen next. Western states in particular are keen that he be handed over to the International Criminal Court, which indicted him earlier this year for crimes against humanity during the crackdown on protesters.'This is an acid test of the NTC's authority,' said Henry Smith, Libya analyst for London-based consultancy Control Risks. 'The capture presents a challenge... if they want to try Saif then what can they do to make Zintan hand him over.  'They do not have the capacity to use coercive means so do they offer the town the coveted security portfolios in the forthcoming cabinet? If so, then to which of the Zintan militias? They may leave his fate to the Zintanis, but then where does that leave Libya's embryonic justice system?' Western human rights groups were critical of the mob justice handed out to Gaddafi senior and to at least one of his sons, and, along with many foreign governments, are demanding Saif al-Islam be better treated. 'The authorities will send an important message that there's a new era in Libya, marked by the rule of law, by treating Saif al-Islam humanely and surrendering him to the ICC,' said Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.    'His fair prosecution at the ICC will afford Libyans a chance to see justice served in a trial that the international community stands behind.'Human Rights Watch said there was far too much evidence of extrajudicial killings of former Gaddafi loyalists by opposition fighters as well as mistreatment in custody. Rights group Amnesty International said an immediate transfer to the ICC was the best option for Saif al-Islam.'He must be handed over to the ICC, and his safety and rights must be guaranteed," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director. Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• HT:RadicalTruth.Who is Allah: Is he the God of the Bible?I wrote this initially as a message for the Jr. High School students at my local church. In California, students in the public school system begin learning about Islam as part of their history curriculum. The textbooks used most frequently in public schools tend to cast Islam in glowing terms, often glossing over intentionally some of the more unfavorable aspects of it. For a good analysis, read the report by the American Textbook Council on Islam in the Classroom.One frequent opinion voiced by educators and politicians alike is the idea that the God that Muslims worship is the same as the God of the Bible. Even former President George Bush said so. But is this so? The answer to this question is the subject of the following.The Description of God.We can learn about the difference between the God of Christianity and Allah of Islam by examining the description given each in the Bible and The Qur'an respectively.Trinity or Absolute Unity?The views of God in Islam and Christianity differ in how they describe God. This is our first clue that the God of Christianity and Islam are not the same God.Read the full story here.

• ‘Khamenei ordered Hariri killing, Hizbullah takeover'. Lebanese minister says UN findings will be released next week; Saad Hariri calls for dialogue after government’s forced disintegration .A UN tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri is expected to accuse Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei of ordering the killing, while Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister said that dialogue is the only way out of the country’s political crisis after a Hizbullah-led coalition toppled his Western-backed government.According to the US-based Newsmax website, the investigative body will lay out evidence showing that the 2005 murder was committed by Iran’s Quds force, along with Hizbullah.The order to murder Hariri was transmitted to Hizbullah’s military leader, Imad Mughniyeh, by Quds force chief Qassem Suleymani, sources told Newsmax.Mughniyeh was killed in a car bombing in Damascus on February 12, 2008. According to Saturday’s report, Mughniyeh put together the hit team that carried out the attack at the behest of Iran, with the help of his brotherin- law.“The Iranians considered Hariri to be an agent of Saudi Arabia, and felt that killing him would pave the way for a Hizbullah takeover of Lebanon,” a source told Newsmax.Iran was not the only country involved in the assassination plot, they said. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and his brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, the head of Syrian intelligence, also played key roles in the plan to murder Hariri, a source was reported as saying.The UN team intended to submit a draft indictment later Saturday, according to a report by the Lebanese daily A-Nahar. According to the report, the tribunal is set to hand in a preliminary copy to pre-trial Judge Daniel Fransen.In Washington, President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Tom Donilon, strongly condemned Hizbullah for quitting the coalition, and the White House promised to help Lebanon peacefully reconstitute a government.Hariri stopped in France and Turkey on his way back to Lebanon as part of his efforts to rally international support.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday after meeting with Hariri that he would consult authorities in Iran, Syria and Qatar on Friday to try to find a solution to the crisis, the Anatolia news agency reported.Oussama Saad, a Sunni politician who is a Hizbullah ally and potential candidate, called for a new prime minister who would “defend the resistance.”“We cannot accept Hariri’s return to the post of prime minister,” he said Friday.“We call for a new prime minister who does not draw strength from the outside against the people of his country, and one who doesn’t conspire against the resistance.”Besides finding a Sunni candidate, Hizbullah would need the backing of Walid Jumblatt, the influential leader of the Druse sect who broke with his former allies in Hariri’s camp in 2009. Jumblatt has been a shrewd politician, known for shifting loyalties.He met with Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday night, but did not comment on the talks.Meanwhile, Nasrallah is expected to make a public statement on the political turmoil in Lebanon on Sunday on Hizbullah’s Al-Manar Television at 8.30 p.m., Hizbullah sources said.Hmmmm.....Expect the same thing in Iraq.Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Al-Siyassa: Iran Will Have Three Nuclear Bombs by 2013; One Will Go to Hizbullah.The Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, known for its anti-Iranian and anti-Syrian orientation, reported, citing a senior source in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, that Iran would complete the production of three small nuclear bombs by 2013, one of which would go to Hizbullah, while the other two would serve as deterrence against the Gulf states, especially those hosting foreign military forces.Source.

• Hassan Nasrallah : Hezbollah 'will not back Hariri'.Hassan Nasrallah makes first public comments since the group's ministers brought down the Lebanese government.Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, has said his party will refuse to back Saad Hariri, Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, in forming a new government.Nasrallah's comments, broadcast on Al-Manar television on Sunday, were his first public comments since Hezbollah ministers and their allies pulled out of Lebanon's government causing it to collapse.Hezbollah, which has a political bloc in parliament as well as a powerful military wing, commands strong support in Lebanon's Shia Muslim community."The opposition unanimously will not name Hariri tomorrow," Nasrallah said, calling his party's move to bring down the government "constitutional, legal and democratic".Lebanon's crisis is the result of long-simmering tensions over the UN tribunal that is investigating the 2005 assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister and the father of Saad Hariri.The tribunal is widely expected to indict members of Hezbollah, which many fear could rekindle violence in Lebanon."Despite the fact we reject the indictment simply for being politicised, Lebanon is our homeland and we are keen on its safety and stability," Nasrallah said in his speech."The tribunal is an independent, international judicial process whose work is not subject to political influence, either from inside Lebanon or from outside," Maura Connelly, the US ambassador to Lebanon, said on Sunday."The efforts by the Hezbollah-led coalition to collapse the Lebanese government only demonstrate their own fear and determination to undermine Lebanon's sovereignty and independence."Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Beirut, said that a new government might be formed relatively quickly."It could be a very quick process, that's what the opposition want - they want a new government that will do what Mr Hariri was not willing to do, which is to end Lebanon's co-operation with the tribunal," she said."However, they are still not sure if they will have enough members of parliament who would support such a move."Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Qatari emir, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, are due to meet Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, in Damascus on Monday to discuss the situation.Hmmmm....Nice to see that Ahmadinnejad Erdogan will be there.Read the full story here,more here at AmnonAndJonathan.

• Imam Rauf Wants Us To See Islam As An American Religion “Not An Alien Religion”.The cleric who became the public face of efforts to build an Islamic center near ground zero in New York began a national speaking tour Saturday night by urging Muslims to help "depoliticize" their faith and play a role in shaping relationships with America.Feisal Abdul Rauf began his tour to inspire "interfaith understanding" in Detroit, saying Islam should be seen as an American religion "not an alien religion." The Detroit area is home to the largest Muslim population in North America.The imam told about 400 people at a diversity forum sponsored by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan and the Islamic Society of North America that the backlash against Islam that arose from the New York City mosque plan was "triggered by a mix of race, religion and politics in America.""Our role now is to depoliticize our faith," he said, adding that Islam must not be used as a wedge between Democrats and Republicans or political ideals anywhere in the world.Saturday's forum was part of a celebration of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The event, titled "Realizing the Dream: Finding Strength Through Diversity," focused on the importance of respect within the Muslim community.Hmmmm.....Now those to are "using" Dr Martin Luther King as a platform for their goals?"depoliticize our faith" talk about Al-taqiyya .Read the full story here.

• Ht:Althouse"Before We are Democrats or Republicans, We are Americans," said Obama in his weekly address this morning.And what's the first thing you notice — the difference between today and the speech he gave at the memorial? Right. Different color hair. Gray for the memorial, signifying the wise elder, the father figure. Back to dark hair to signify the vigorous young man, ready to forge ahead, solving problems, and restoring his party's electoral fortunes. Hmmmm.....Is Everything "Make believe" with this Man?Read the full story here.

• HT:AmericanThinker.Rev. Obama's Revival Meeting.Although a committed Christian, I've never appreciated whipped up revival meetings complete with dancing, falling backwards, or crippled people being yanked out of wheelchairs. After three decades of voyeuristic research, I possess a heightened ability to spot a snake oil salesman a mile away. Oftentimes, under bouffant hairstyles, oversized pinky rings, and weepy confessions, one finds self-absorbed individuals who exploit the Gospel for gain while living contrary to the message they preach.Yet, year after year, gullible sheeple continue to support ministries, submit to fleecing, and attend events where flesh and blood are exalted and where the credulous place unquestioning faith in fraud.It was that kind of finely honed discernment of mine that spotted a similar dynamic at work at the memorial service, where Barack Obama spoke in honor of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, thirteen severely wounded bystanders, and six individuals, including a nine-year-old girl, all mortally wounded by a madman on a mission.To the untrained eye, the University of Arizona ceremony appeared to be a well-meaning memorial service visited by a somber president attempting to heal the nation. However, to an educated onlooker, the event closely resembled a tent revival run by a hypster whose pious pontificating was more about furthering a political agenda than consoling the aggrieved. Was I the only one who recognized that when Obama entered the packed stadium, all that was missing was a donkey and palm branches?"In an electrifying moment, the president revealed that Giffords, who ... was shot point-blank in the head, opened her eyes for the first time shortly after his hospital visit[.]" Obama's comment was obliquely suggestive of Jesus saying, "Talitha koum!" (That means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!")Like a faith healer working the crowd with stirring images, Obama painted a picture of his presence in a room stimulating a response from a woman in a coma. The crowd and the nation was so taken by the whole affair that in one sentence, Obama went up in the polls, sent tingles up the leg of pundits on both the right and the left, probably settled the Arizona lawsuit, and quelled any further opposition to health care reform.Nevertheless, as a person who prides herself on recognizing the genuine from the counterfeit, it appeared to me as if Vicar of Veracity Barack Obama, in Christina's stead, was attempting to "jump in rain puddles" by quoting from Job. Unknowingly, Obama revealed the underlying spirit of the service with words from Job 30:26 that, when spoken in context, say, "Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness."Hmmmm.....AMEN To that!Read the full story here.

• HT:TheMuqata.Israeli Arab Leader Demands: Remove Old City Mezuzot.The Israeli Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, led by Sheikh Raed Salah, is now demanding the removal of all "Mezuzot"** on the gates of Jerusalem's Old City.According to the movement, the mezuzot are an attempt to Judaize the "Arab heritage" of the Old City.In a statement issued by the movement, it stated that during a patrol in the Old City, they saw mezuzot on the various gates, and Jews touching the mezuzot as they passed through the gates."This is a disgusting attempt to Judaize the Arab and Islamic heritage of the Old City," the statement said, "and all the relevant Islamic institution are called up to to act quickly to remove the mezuzot."Mahmoud Abu Atta, spokesman for the institution "Mossad Al-Aqsa" said that he sees these mezuzahs "as continued attempts to Judaize the Old City. A Mezuzah is put on the door of a Jewish home yet this [the Old City of Jerusalem] is an Arab city."**A mezuzah (Hebrew: מְזוּזָה‎ "doorpost") (plural: mezuzot (מְזוּזוֹת)) is a piece of parchment (often contained in a decorative case) inscribed with specified Hebrew verses from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21). These verses comprise the Jewish prayer "Shema Yisrael", beginning with the phrase: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One"Hmmmm......How much "Change" we have seen in Jerusalem since Obama became President?Read the full story here.

• Five Palestinian workers suspected of raping teenage girl.Five illegal Palestinian aliens working in Israeli construction site arrested on suspicion they gang raped 18-year-old girl from Rehovot area.Five Palestinian construction workers, who were residing in Israel illegally, are suspected of gang raping an 18-year-old girl from Rehovot. The victim's family filed a complaint against the five claiming that last Friday, as she was walking home, she encountered one of the suspects near the construction site. He allegedly convinced her to accompany him, only to rape her followed by his friends. The suspects deny the allegations. The victim testified that after she agreed to accompany the suspect, he led her to the construction site where he worked. There she was met by several of his co-workers, all illegal Palestinian aliens, who she claimed raped her under threats.The following day she told her parents of what had happened and they filed a complaint with the Rehovot police station. A special investigation unit was tasked with probing the case and was directed to the construction site by the victim. Police forces later arrested the suspects.The five all denied any involvement and claimed they had never met the girl. However, the investigation revealed some discrepancies in their testimonies. The five now face a remand hearing at the Rishon Lezion Magistrate's Court to be held later on Sunday. Read the full story here.

• HT:TundraTabloids.English Defence League: Mission Statement.

1. Human Rights: Protecting And Promoting Human Rights.
2. Democracy and the Rule of Law: Promoting Democracy And The Rule Of Law By Opposing Sharia.
3. Public Education: Ensuring That The Public Get A Balanced Picture Of Islam.
4. Respecting Tradition: Promoting The Traditions And Culture Of England While At The Same Time Being Open To Embrace The Best That Other Cultures Can Offer.
5. International Outlook: Working In Solidarity With Others Around The World.Read the full Mission statement here.

• Zardari’s mysterious meetings with Obama, CIA chief.ISLAMABAD: The meeting between President Barack Obama and President Asif Ali Zardari has taken place without a formal agenda and no official brief account of the bilateral ties was readily available to the visiting president that could help him in the talks.The Foreign Office was kept in dark about the meeting. President Zardari spoke to the four political leaders on phone about his trip just before his departure for the United States, but without dropping any hint about the one-to-one scheduled encounter with the US president. This he did because he could claim that he took the political leadership into confidence about the meetings.The meeting followed by Asif Ali Zardari’s all-important get-together with the CIA chief has made it further convoluted. The subjects, which have reportedly taken up for discussion, are strategic cooperation, economic relations and terrorism.At the same time it has been speculated that an assurance had also been sought from the US president for further endorsement of the incumbent political set-up back in the country. It could not be ascertained that either of the two had brought the performance of the administration in Pakistan under discussion and its image among the masses.Asif Ali Zardari, who left with three personnel of his staff, did not take any official from the Foreign Office for the trip declared ‘private’.Nobody can challenge that what did he discuss in Washington and why did he opt this course. The people who are known for their proximity with the presidency are portraying the meetings as big achievement and calling it success of the presidential tricks. It is understood that Asif Ali Zardari while reviewing the regional situation must have briefed the US president about the Chinese premier’s historic trip to Pakistan last month. Yet another intriguing aspect of the meetings is that President Zardari who had extensive meeting with the US Vice President in Islamabad two days back had a meeting with the US president without discussing follow-up of the earlier meeting with the relevant people in Islamabad.The friends of Asif Zardari always have been claiming that he was brought to the office by the Americans and they are the biggest guarantor of his power. As long blessings from Washington are available to him nothing could harm his government. He establishes yet another point by such meetings back home to his friends and foes that he is alone fountain of power in Islamabad as the US umbrella is available to him alone. The Foreign Office spokesman was not available for his comments regarding the developments.Hmmmm......Is this worth tens of Billions of US Dollars?Read the full story here.

• Israel Tested stuxnet worm at Dimona?The Dimona complex in the Negev desert is famous as the heavily guarded heart of Israel’s never-acknowledged nuclear arms program, where neat rows of factories make atomic fuel for the arsenal. Over the past two years, according to intelligence and military experts familiar with its operations, Dimona has taken on a new, equally secret role — as a critical testing ground in a joint American and Israeli effort to undermine Iran’s efforts to make a bomb of its own. Behind Dimona’s barbed wire, the experts say, Israel has spun nuclear centrifuges virtually identical to Iran’s at Natanz, where Iranian scientists are struggling to enrich uranium. They say Dimona tested the effectiveness of the Stuxnet computer worm, a destructive program that appears to have wiped out roughly a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges and helped delay, though not destroy, Tehran’s ability to make its first nuclear arms. “To check out the worm, you have to know the machines,” said an American expert on nuclear intelligence. “The reason the worm has been effective is that the Israelis tried it out.” Read the full story here.

• Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and his family's 'Mafia rule'.As Tunisia's President Ben Ali is granted leave to remain in Saudi Arabia, the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by the president and his family is coming into the spotlight. Their preferred title was "Tunisia's First Family". To the people they ruled over, though, president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and his clan were known as "The Mafia" - a ruling clique whose greed and nepotism ultimately caused their downfall. Following in the footsteps of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and numerous other deposed dictators, Mr Ben Ali was granted refuge in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, starting what will likely be a comfortable, if less than dignified, political retirement. But as millions of Tunisians celebrated the end of his 23-year-long authoritarian rule, it was not just the 74-year-old president they were glad to see the back of. Far more reviled, it seems, was his second wife Laila, a feisty brunette more than 20 years his junior, who was dubbed "The Regent of Carthage" for her power behind the throne. A former hairdresser from a humble background, she stands accused of using her marriage to Mr Ben Ali to turn her family, the Trabelsis, into the desert nation's most powerful business clique.Read the full story here.

• HT:PJM.How Much of Your Money Wasted on ‘Climate Change’? Try $10.6 Million a Day.Seems everyone is talking about the massive United States federal deficit and how it has now reached an unfathomable $14 trillion. Is there any way to comprehend such a bloated number? Try this: the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. At that speed a photon of light starts at the surface of the Sun and reaches the Earth in 8 minutes. On Star Trek, the speed of light is warp one — at that speed the Enterprise would travel about 6 trillion miles in one year. If each dollar of the deficit is represented by one mile, it would take the Enterprise more than two years traveling the speed of light to go 14 trillion miles.So what can we cut out of the federal budget to make any kind of dent in this enormous pile of borrowed money? We could start with the vast sums of cash being wasted on climate change research.This year, your government will spend in the neighborhood of $4 billion on global warming research, despite the fact that there has been no global warming since 1998, and despite all of the billions that have been spent so far yielding no conclusive evidence that using fossil fuels to make energy has any significant effect on Earth’s temperature.The human component of carbon dioxide that is injected into the air each year is very small, on the order of 3%. Half the carbon dioxide emitted into the air by human activity each year is immediately absorbed into nature. Carbon dioxide is 8% of the greenhouse effect; water in the air is 90% of the greenhouse effect. By volume, carbon dioxide is currently at about 390 parts per million in the atmosphere, increasing at about 2 parts per million annually. In other words, carbon dioxide is increasing at a rate of .5% per year. Since human activity adds 3% of the carbon dioxide that gets into the air each year, the human component of the increase in carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year is 3 % of .5%, or just .015%.If you’re looking to cut the budget, climate change is a good place to start. If we don’t get a handle on Washington’s spending soon, and I mean very soon, climate change will be the least of our problems.Hmmmmm.......You have no idea how profetic these words are!Read the full story here.

• Confirmed: We’re Literally On the Brink of Catastrophic Collapse.We’ve been told a lot of things since the global economic crisis first became apparent in 2007. In March of that year Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said, “the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the sub-prime markets seems likely to be contained.” Clearly, Mr. Bernanke’s assessment was incorrect and the sub-prime real estate issues were only part of a broader, systemic issue.The fundamental problems within our economy became mainstream news in the latter part of 2008 when stock markets around the world were in free fall and most major financial institutions were on the cusp of insolvency. In response, our government, with the full support and confidence of Congress, took unprecedented steps to save the system by injecting, first billions, and then trillions of dollars to bailout failed companies, stabilize deflationary price collapses and stimulate the economy.Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson eventually wrote a book about the crisis, aptly titled On the Brink. But how close to the brink were we? If Representative Brad Sherman is to be believed, we were close. So close, in fact, that according to Sherman, Congressional members were told that if the bailout was not authorized by Congress the collapse would be so severe that martial law may have to be declared - basically, tanks in the streets.It’s a Catch 22 and there’s no way out.Defaulting on or inflating away our debt are the only viable solutions. Both of these will lead to the same end - a complete and total collapse of the way of life Americans have become used to.Just as Henry Paulson, President Bush, et. al. warned of economic collapse and depression in 2008, Mr. Geithner warns of the very same today. All of the trillions spent, all of the laws passed, and all of the manipulations of global asset markets, have done absolutely nothing to resolve the fundamental systemic problems we faced prior to the onset of the crisis.It is, quite literally, going to be the end of the world as we know it - and it cannot be stopped.It’s time for each individual to take steps to prepare for a national debt default and a complete debasement of the US dollar. It won’t be long before we either can’t meet our debt obligations or our creditors finally put a stop to our out of control borrowing. And when they do, the chances are high that we will experience a hyperinflationary monetary collapse, complete with disruptions to the normal flow of commerce, food shortages and out of control prices. The only refuge will be to understand what is money when the system collapses and start preparing now. The government is getting ready for it, so should you.Hmmmm....The clock is ticking,better prepare now!Read the full story here.

• HT:BigPeace.How the Syria/Iran Terror Axis Targets Israel.Several new reports illustrate how Iran and Syria continue to aid terrorist groups that target Israeli civilians by providing weapons and terrorist training to jihadist organizations on Israel’s borders.In Gaza, Hamas and other terror groups have fired thousands of rockets and missiles into neighboring Israeli communities since Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005. They continue to be re-supplied by Iran and Syria. In Lebanon, Hizballah has received massive supplies of weapons from Tehran and Damascus, including large quantities of missiles and rockets, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles and attack aircraft.Both organizations are committed to Israel’s destruction and have gone to war with Israel in recent years: Hamas in 2008/2009 and Hizballah in 2006. And with Iranian and Syrian help, both terror groups are making substantial improvements in their weaponry.Hmmmm....Nice country where the new Ground Zero Immam was living?Read the full story here.

• 20 Israelis rescued from Tunisia.Thousands scramble to escape riots as Arab world hopes uprising will be lesson to other leaders. A group of 20 Israelis was rescued Saturday evening from Tunisia, where a violent uprising has succeeded in overturning the government.The complicated mission was orchestrated by a number of Israeli authorities, including the Foreign Ministry. The tourists were first transferred to a third country, from where are to continue to Israel by plane.Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy said of the affair, "It is a story that ends well, but demanded life-saving efforts by the Foreign Ministry and other agents." European travel companies were also rushing Saturday to retrieve thousands of tourists on package tours to Tunisia after widespread protests toppled the North African nation's longtime president and brought chaos to some cities. Tour companies in Britain and Germany started the airlift process, sending planes to Tunisia to bring back tourists anxious to return home. The French national travel agency association, CETO, said French tour operators planned to evacuate tourists shortly and urged people planning trips to Tunisia in the next few days to cancel their plans and change their tickets.Egyptian activists opposed to President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade regime danced outside the Tunisian Embassy in Cairo as the news broke on Friday, chanting "Ben Ali, tell Mubarak a plane is waiting for him too!"The Arab League appealed for calm in Tunisia as mass chaos broke out following Ben Ali's ouster.Arab League chief Amr Moussa urged Tunisians Saturday to look to the future and resolve the crisis by national consensus "in a way that guarantees respect for the will of the Tunisian people." He called the events "dangerous and historic," saying they mark "the beginning of one era and the end of another.Hmmmm......Egypt next?read the full story here.

• HT:DougRoss.Liberals: Democrat Party will split if Obama tries to prevent the collapse of the entitlement Ponzi schemes.The Soros-controlled, far left wing of the Democrat Party is warning President Obama against trying to save Social Security.The battle lines are forming within the Democratic Party over the charged question of reforming Social Security in the days leading up to President Obama’s State of the Union address.Liberals, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and labor unions, such as the AFL-CIO, AFSCME and SEIU, have taken a firm stand against cutting Social Security benefits... They are still reeling over the deal Obama struck with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in December to extend almost all of the Bush tax cuts and chop the Social Security payroll tax for one year by 2 percentage points.Back in the little land we like to call Reality, a Mish reader created several sobering graphs that represent the impending collapse of the Social Democrat schemes that would make Bernard Madoff blush.Read and see the full story here.

• Record $14 trillion-plus debt weighs on Congress.WASHINGTON – The United States just passed a dubious milestone: Government debt surged to an all-time high, topping $14 trillion — $45,300 for each and everyone in the country.That means Congress soon will have to lift the legal debt limit to give the nearly maxed-out government an even higher credit limit or dramatically cut spending to stay within the current cap. Either way, a fight is ahead on Capitol Hill, inflamed by the passions of tea party activists and deficit hawks.Already, both sides are blaming each other for an approaching economic train wreck as Washington wrestles over how to keep the government in business and avoid default on global financial obligations.Bills increasing the debt limit are among the most unpopular to come before Congress, serving as pawns for decades in high-stakes bargaining games. Every time until now, the ending has been the same: We go to the brink before raising the ceiling.All bets may be off, however, in this charged political environment, despite some signs the partisan rhetoric is softening after the Arizona shootings.With a $1.7 trillion deficit in budget year 2010 alone, and the government on track to spend $1.3 trillion more this year than it takes in, annual budget deficits are adding roughly $4 billion a day to the national debt. Put another way, the government is borrowing 41 cents for every dollar it spends.
  Hmmmm....Understand now,why Virginia and other states are introducing Bills to re introduce Gold and Silver as legal tender.Read the full story here.

• Catholic Doctor Explains Native American Prayer He Delivered at Arizona Memorial. Wednesday night’s memorial service for the shooting victims in Tucson did not open with a prayer from a Jewish rabbi, a Protestant minister or a Catholic priest--it began with a Native American “blessing” that left many puzzled about what it meant and why it was performed.The prayer, which did not use the word "God" and did not make the traditional request for God’s comfort for the bereaved that many might have expected, did mention the Creator and called for "honoring" the Seven Directions, including “Father Sky” and "Mother Earth”--and remembering our "fellow creatures" who "crawl on the earth” and “slither on the earth.”The blessing was presented by Dr. Carlos Gonzales, an associate professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.“I was asked by the university to give a traditional Native American blessing,” Gonzales told CNSNews.com late Thursday. “This is the type of blessing that we give at memorial services to open up a ceremony. A medicine man will do a variation of it to open up a pow-wow. It’s basically a recognition of the powers of the seven directions and how they influence human beings--and how each direction has a certain characteristic; that when you pray to that direction, you ask for the inspiration that comes from that direction.”It would be a mistake, however, to call the Native American beliefs he was expressing a religion, Gonzales said.“It’s not truly a religion, it’s more of a way of appreciating spirituality,” Gonzales told CNSNews.com. “I’m Yaqui and Yaquis have been Roman Catholics since 1650. We were one of the first tribes in Mexico to actually peacefully absorb Catholicism; however we have always practiced Catholicism in our own unique manner, incorporating traditional beliefs, and so I grew up as a Roman Catholic with a Yaqui variation.”“In reality, I’m Catholic, but the spirituality I’ve come across with traditional healers is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen, and it’s a way of approaching people and it’s an additional way of healing that has actually helped me to be a better family doc.”None of the victims of the Tucson massacre were known to be Yaqui. Moreover, no rabbi, Catholic priest or Protestant minister, the known religions of the victims, was included in the memorial program.Gonzales said the idea for a Native American blessing came from University of Arizona President Robert Shelton.Gonzales, meanwhile, said his invocation was simply a way “to bring positive energy into a gathering of that type.”“I wasn’t trying to give a lecture to anybody,” he said. “It was a prayer. It was simply a prayer.”Hmmmm.......A memorial without religion?"Together we thrive" on What?Or Who ?Read the full story here .

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Pakistan:No adequate security for Aasia Bibi: Report.Lahore: The government of Pakistan's Punjab province has not taken any extra security measure to protect Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death on blasphemy charges, despite increasing threat to her life, an intelligence report said. No extra security measures have been taken to protect the life of Aasia Bibi whose life is constantly being threatened by militants and extremist religious elements, the Express Tribune reported citing a report compiled by a provincial intelligence agency.The severity of threat to the life of Aasia Bibi spiked after the assassination of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who was killed by his body guard Jan 4.The Pakistani interior ministry has asked the Punjab government to increase security for Aasia Bibi in Sheikhupura Jail where she has been incarcerated in the women's barrack along with 15-16 other detainees.The provincial intelligence agency report said just one lady warden has been assigned to her inside the jail and five police constables were deputed to secure the jail's perimeter, along with two motorcycle squads assigned to patrol the jail periphery.The report said that the guards assigned to her "are not vigilant and most of the times they are absent, especially the motorcycle riders".Referring to many loopholes in Aasia Bibi's security, the intelligence agency pointed out that her husband, Ashiq Masih, is allowed to visit her like "a normal visitor in an ordinary/casual shed, and there are no special security precautions" on ground.The report also suggested that Aasia Bibi should be sent to women's jail in Multan. It said that there were "better security arrangements which preempts the chance of an attack or any untoward incident".Hmmmm....How long before she is killed as well?Read the full story here.

• Taliban torch 16 NATO tankers in Pakistan.Quetta: Taliban militants in southwestern Pakistan set ablaze 16 vehicles carrying fuel supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan today, officials said.The convoy was attacked before dawn outside the town of Dera Murad Jamali, some 400 kilometres southeast of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province, local administration chief Abdul Fatah Khajjak said."The attackers, riding in a car, opened fire on oil tankers parked at a petrol pump waiting for daybreak to resume their journey to Afghanistan," Khajjak said.Some 16 oil tankers caught fire, but two more parked a distance away were undamaged, he said. A driver's assistant was wounded by the gunfire.Militants fled after the attack, Khajjak said. A security official confirmed the incident.Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq in a phone call to AFP claimed responsibility for the attack."It is in retaliation to drone attacks in tribal areas," Tariq said from an undisclosed location in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region."We will continue to attack NATO supply vehicles and warn those operating them to immediately stop doing it otherwise they may also be targeted," he said.Read the full story here.

• Power Again Changes Hands in Tunisia as Chaos Remains.TUNIS — Police officers and gangs of newly deputized young men with guns held the streets of Tunis on Saturday night after a day of renewed clashes with protesters and the second change of political power in 24 hours. The continued instability raised new questions about what kind of government might emerge from the chaos engulfing Tunisia.The latest shift in leadership came as throngs of protesters made it clear that they were not satisfied with their success toppling President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who fled the country on Friday, but were determined to chase his allies from power as well. Bursts of gunfire rang out through the capital all day Saturday, and a patient discharged from a major hospital here reported that the emergency room was packed with people who had gunshot wounds. Rooftop snipers were visible on the Interior Ministry, aiming down at pedestrians around Bourguiba Boulevard below. Human rights groups said they had confirmed dozens of deaths at the hands of security forces even before the biggest street battle began Friday, and on Saturday residents huddled in their homes for fear of the police. The political shakeup started Friday with the announcement by the prime minister that the president was gone and that he was taking charge. But the prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, a close ally of the former president, abruptly surrendered temporary leadership Saturday, handing the reins of government to the 77-year-old speaker of Parliament, complying with the succession rules spelled out in the Tunisian Constitution. The speaker, Fouad Mebazaa, is expected to hold elections to form a new government within 60 days.Read the full story here.