Video - Syria - Insurgents claim they have captured Hussam Hussam witness in Hariri case.

Syria. Insurgents claim they have captured Hussam Hussam, who gave testimony to the United Nations enquiry into the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Hussam, a Syrian intelligence agent, incriminated Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the murder. Some have alleged that Assef Shawkat --- the Deputy Minister of Defense and brother-in-law of President Assad, killed on Wednesday by a bomb in Damascus --- was involved in the operation to assassinate Hariri. In the aftermath of the murder, there were mass protests in Lebanon and Syria withdrew armed forces who had occupied the country for almost 30 years.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• Egypt volatile situation : President Mobarak appoints vice President Omar suleiman  - Al Jazeera English - Live Streams From Egypt ! Here .
• Egypt protests on Twitter!  here.
• Liveblog - Egypt's protests erupt. here.

• MFS :In Iran we saw women participating in riots i wonder why not in Egypt?It's about Islam not about democracy!What Do the Egyptian Crowds Want? Caliphate Dreams and Strict Sharia.This is the kind of democracy Egypt wants?Women having no rights or freedom?Good luck with your future Mullahs!Soon the hangover will come and you'll realise things are a lot worse then before!"Change you can see"?ElBaradei :"The Muslim Brotherhood is a Conservative party"El Baradei on CNN now "The Muslim Brotherhood has nothing to do with the Iranian model. They have a lot of credibility in Egypt".Yup and crows wear stiletto shoes?

• HT:IsraelMatzav.Video: John Bolton on Egypt.I have two videos featuring former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton discussing events in Egypt. The first is from Fox News' regular Friday newscast.The second video is from Greta van Sustern's Friday night show On the Record.Read and see the full story here.

• ElBaradei:I am looking forward to making contacts with the army.ElBaradei says Mubarak must leave office "today".Egypt Judges and Azhar scholars join mass protests.ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came back to Egypt on Thursday night, just in time for the "Day of Anger" protests which have left President Hosni Mubarak clinging to power with the army in the streets.Thirty-four Muslim Brothers, including leaders of the banned Islamist group, left a prison near Cairo unhindered Sunday after guards abandoned their posts amid anti-regime protests, one of their lawyers told AFP.The Islamists who escaped from Wadi Natrun prison north of Cairo had been arrested on Thursday either at their homes or during protests against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak that have been raging for five days, leaving over 100 dead.A security source told AFP that several thousand inmates had during the night overwhelmed guards at Wadi Natrun prison -- which holds many Islamist political prisoners -- and spilled out into nearby towns and villages."Their lives would have been in danger if they'd stayed," lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud told AFP.Hmmmm.....El Baradei the spokesperson of The Muslim Brotherhood,prepare for all out war in the Middle East witin two months.Read the full story here.

• HT:STRATFOR.Red Alert: Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.The following is a report from a STRATFOR source in Hamas. Hamas, which formed in Gaza as an outgrowth of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB), has an interest in exaggerating its role and coordination with the MB in this crisis. The following information has not been confirmed. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of concern building in Israel and the United States in particular over the role of the MB in the demonstrations and whether a political opening will be made for the Islamist organization in Egypt.The Egyptian police are no longer patrolling the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. Hamas armed men are entering into Egypt and are closely collaborating with the MB. The MB has fully engaged itself in the demonstrations, and they are unsatisfied with the dismissal of the Cabinet. They are insisting on a new Cabinet that does not include members of the ruling National Democratic Party.Security forces in plainclothes are engaged in destroying public property in order to give the impression that many protesters represent a public menace. The MB is meanwhile forming people’s committees to protect public property and also to coordinate demonstrators’ activities, including supplying them with food, beverages and first aid.Read the full report here.

• Egyptian mummies destroyed, say officials!Looters broke into the Egyptian Museum during anti-government protests late Friday and destroyed two Pharaonic mummies, Egypt's top archaeologist told state television.The museum in central Cairo, which has the world's biggest collection of Pharaonic antiquities, is adjacent to the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party that protesters had earlier set ablaze. Flames were seen still pouring out of the party headquarters early Saturday."I felt deeply sorry today when I came this morning to the Egyptian Museum and found that some had tried to raid the museum by force last night," Zahi Hawass, chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said Saturday."Egyptian citizens tried to prevent them and were joined by the tourism police, but some (looters) managed to enter from above and they destroyed two of the mummies," he said.Hmmmm......Remember the Bamiyan's Buddhas?"Islam the Religion of Peace"? Read the full story here.

• Jordan's opposition: Arabs will topple tyrants.AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - The leader of Jordan's powerful Muslim Brotherhood warned Saturday that unrest in Egypt will spread across the Mideast and Arabs will topple leaders allied with the United States.Hammam Saeed's comments were made at a protest outside the Egyptian Embassy in Amman, inspired by massive rallies in neighboring Egypt demanding the downfall of the country's longtime president, Hosni Mubarak.About 100 members of the fundamentalist group and activists from other leftist organizations and trade unions chanted "Mubarak, step down" and "the decision is made, the people's revolt will remain."Elsewhere, a separate group of 300 protesters gathered in front of the office of Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai, demanding his ouster. "Rifai, it's time for you to go," chanted the group.Jordan's protests have been relatively small in size, but they underline a rising tension with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a key U.S. ally who has been making promises of reform in recent days in an apparent attempt to quell domestic discontent over economic degradation and lack of political freedoms.But as a monarch with deep support from the Bedouin-dominated military, Jordan's ruler is not seen as vulnerable as Mubarak or Tunisia's deposed leader. Even the Brotherhood - a fiery critic of Jordan's moderate government - has remained largely loyal to the king, who claims ancestry to Islam's Prophet Muhammad.Many believe it's unlikely King Abdullah will bow to demands for popular election of the prime minister and Cabinet officials, traditionally appointed by the king.Saeed said Arabs have grown disgruntled with U.S. domination of their oil wealth, military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and its support for "totalitarian" leaders in the region.Saeed did not specifically name King Abdullah. But he said Jordan's prime minister "must draw lessons from Tunisia and Egypt and must swiftly implement political reforms.""We tell the Americans 'enough is enough'," he said.Hmmmm.....The Muslim world has much improved since Obama's "Outreach" policy.Read the full story here.

• Report: US backed Egypt uprising planners!While Telegraph reports that US has secretly supported figures that planned regime change, Obama administration gives Egyptian President Mubarak cold shoulder.According to the report, the US-backed figures have been planning a regime change for the past three years. Moreover, the American embassy in Cairo has helped a dissident travel to New York to attend a conference on the matter, while keeping his identity secret from Egyptian authorities.The Daily Telegraph chose not to disclose the name of the young protestor, but noted that he was arrested by Egyptian security forces for allegedly taking part in planning the uprising that aims to replace the current government with a democratic one. Whether the British newspaper's report is true or not, the situation in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez has played a part in convincing the US government to distance itself from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and side with the Egyptian protestors who demand change.The tone from Washington has made a 180-degree turn in recent days, going from a balanced approach on Friday morning to stern criticism of Mubarak on Saturday.Hmmmmm......They don't trust me because of my middle name"?With such "Friends" who needs ennemies?Read the full story here.

• HT:AtlasShrugs.Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas Closely Collaborating in Egypt, CAIR and CODE PINK Also in Egypt.The Egyptian police are no longer patrolling the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. Hamas armed men are entering into Egypt and are closely collaborating with the MB. The MB has fully engaged itself in the demonstrations, and they are unsatisfied with the dismissal of the Cabinet. They are insisting on a new Cabinet that does not include members of the ruling National Democratic Party.Security forces in plainclothes are engaged in destroying public property in order to give the impression that many protesters represent a public menace. The MB is meanwhile forming people’s committees to protect public property and also to coordinate demonstrators’ activities, including supplying them with food, beverages and first aid.As the media goes about its business of dhimmi dog, the whitewashing of the Muslim Brotherhood which I predicted here: whitewashing the Brotherhood.Check out Reuters. The Muslim supremacists know the left will do anything and align with anyone against America. Here is a member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, on Saturday. "Islamic rule in Egypt would pose no threat to the West because it would be more democratic and broad-based than President Hosni Mubarak's 'dictatorship.'" The taqiya is spinning faster than Iraq's infected centrifuges:"That's more important than declaring that a 'new Islamist era is dawning', because I know Islamists would not be able to rule Egypt alone. We should and would cooperate -- Muslims, leftists, communists, socialists, secularists."Further, expect the America-hating, Israel-hating left to take to the streets in the USA, demanding the US assist the Brotherhood in ousting Mubarak. Check this out from the warlike "anti-war" groups here. And the subversive anti-American Jew haters at Code Pink in Egypt right now? There are no coincidences, folks.I just phoned Tighe Barry, a great US activist with Code Pink, who has been in Cairo, Egypt, all week.With the release of the Wiki docments that showed the Obama adminstration secretly backed leading figures behind the Egyptian uprising who have been planning “regime change."CODE PINK has been a frequent White House visitor.Hmmm....."They don't trust me because of my middle name"?"Peacemaker"Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."Read and see the full story here.

• Egypt riots: MKs fear more infiltrators. As uprising reaches Sinai near Gaza Strip, Knesset House Committee chairman fearful of flow of infiltrators from fenceless border.Is the spreading anarchy in Egypt going to cause a heavy price to Israeli demographic? Knesset House Committee Chairman David Azoulay (Shas) expressed his concerns on Sunday that the uprising against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would lead to a massive flow of infiltrates into Israel.During a committee visit to Eilat, Azoulay demanded that the government instruct the IDF to survey the entire Egyptian border. As part of a discussion on the worrying increase in infiltrators entering Israel illegally, the meeting's participants raised the need to establish a Border Guard unit to handle the fenceless border situation.Read the full story here.

• HT:ChallahHuAkhbar.@Joel Rosenberg.Is the Next Revolution in Jordan?Is Egypt about to erupt in a full-blown revolution that could lead to the fall of President Hosni Mubarak’s regime? Might Jordan’s government be next?One thing’s for certain: No one predicted the demonstrations in Egypt would grow so big so fast.Momentum for the protests is growing. A Facebook page promoting the democracy protests grew from 20,000 members on Wednesday to 80,000 on Thursday. The government then reportedly shut down Facebook, and disrupted Internet service in parts of the country. Twitter has been blocked. Police are beating protesters. As of Friday, more than 1,000 Egyptians have been arrested for demonstrating. Now an overnight curfew has been imposed and the Egyptian army has been deployed to urban centers.One key factor fueling events: economics. Egyptians have been suffering double-digit inflation — averaging between 10 percent and 14 percent — and soaring food prices in recent years. Reports Reuters: “The Food and Agriculture Organization, a body of the United Nations, said on January 5 that food prices hit a ‘record high’ in December 2010, topping 2008 levels when riots shook Egypt as well as other countries.”....In Jordan, there is a very high risk that Islamic radicals would take over the regime. As I write inInside The Revolution, “It is precisely because the Jordanians have made such progress [with positive political and economic reforms in the past two decades] that I am worried by the Radicals’ determination to launch a jihad there, seize the capital, and create a new anti-Israel, anti-Western base for Iran and al Qaeda. Therefore, I often pray for Jordan’s peace, prosperity and continued progress. I pray for King Abdullah’s health and safety, and I pray that the Lord would grant him the wisdom to know how best to move forward in such challenging times.”Hmmmmm....."May you live in interesting times"?Read the full story here.

• HT:intellicept3.Victim List of Rising Food Prices.Economic experts in Davos has been sounding the alarm on rising food prices around the world. But how much of an impact is it really doing right now? Sometimes it would be appropriate to take this warning piece by piece and see what food prices are now doing to different countries which are being largely affected. The following news stories shows how serious food inflation can be and most of them are just beginning to feel the pinch of this problem.Hmmmm........Food Shortages coming to a neighbourhood near you?Read the full story here.

• Cry Baby Turkey playing the Islamophobia card! EU becoming 'Christian club,' Turkish minister says at Davos forum.Turkey's deputy prime minister complained Saturday that the European Union was becoming an inward-looking "Christian club," slamming a lack of progress in his country's bid to join.Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos that included EU President Herman Van Rompuy, Ali Babacan said: "We always thought the EU is a big peace project ... but then the enlargement process literally stalled."And one of the big themes about why Turkey cannot become a member of the European Union is because it is a Christian club. This is in our view very, very dangerous," he said.Ankara began accession negotiations with the EU in 2005, but the process has stalled amid opposition from some member states, lack of reform in Turkey and a trade row over the divided island of Cyprus.Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt denied Europe is a "Christian club," saying: "In Sweden a couple of decades ago we abolished the idea of a state church. We are not in the conception that we are all of one religion."We have 400,000 Muslims in Sweden. For me it's not a religious cooperation the European Union; it's a set of values that is open for all world religions. We are very much in favor of a reformed Turkey's entry into the EU," he said.Hmmmm.....Perhaps Turkey should do something about respecting Human Rights ,so it wont be recognised as the worst human rights violator!Read the full "story" here.

• HT:ANSAmed.Turkey Has No Plans To Adopt Measures To Protect Christian Minorities. Turkey wants to accede to the European Union, although it has turned down special measures to protect Christians. Ankara has agreed to the notion of an agreement over the return of illegal migrants who make it into Greece across its borders, tempted by the prospect of a future accession to the visa-free Schengen area. Nonetheless, a vote in the Council of Europe on a resolution condemning violence against Christians has met with a thumbs down from Turkish MEPs.Today has been a difficult day for relations between Turkey and Europe. It all began with the announcement in Brussels of a deal between the European Commission and the Turkish government over the 're-admission' of migrants. Ankara accepted that it would take back those who had been expelled, irrespective of their nationality. According to Greek estimates 80% of illegal entries into the European Union pass through Turkey. Greece wants to erect a 12.5 km wall along the River Evros on its border.In exchange the Turkish government is pushing for visa liberalisation. But while it is true that is a strategic partner for Europe's leaders when it comes to energy policy - taking as it does the gas pipelines of South Stream, it is also the case that Europe's governments are thinking in party political terms on the question of Turkey's application to join the European club, which has been stranded for five years. Starting with the government under Sarkozy, who received a message from President Gul via an interview in the Figaro today to the effect that for him ''the world does not stop at the European Union''.Meanwhile, a straight 'No' arrived in the parliament of the Council of Europe in Strasburg on a report prepared by Italy's Luca Volonte' (UDC), calling for a condemnation of the violence suffered by Christians in the Middle East, which also observed how ''the disappearance of the Christian communities in the Near and Middle East would be catastrophic for Islam, as it would mark the triumph of fundamentalism''.The eleven Turkish parliamentarians present had no hesitation in voting against the motion. Aslan Cabeci, a figure in the party of Premier Erdogan, justified their choice stating that the 'No' came in reference to interruptions to Christmas masses in two villages in northern Cyprus occupied by the Turks. ''You have put the massacres in Alexandria and in Baghdad on the same level'' Cabeci said, adding that he would vote for greater respect for the minorities in Turkey ''once France stops supporting despots in North Africa and when Italy stops cashing in on Libya''. Hmmmm......"Muslims don't commit genocide"Erdogan.Read the full story here.

• HT:TheWorstPoliticalBlog.12 Reasons Obama Could Lose in 2012!Supporters are as exhausted as Velma Hart, the Tea Party has momentum, and Republicans are now more trusted. Mark McKinnon on why those issues, plus nine others, spell doom for the president’s reelection hopes.President Obama’s State of the Union was strongly bipartisan and made smart moves to the center, although it missed a chance to really tackle tough fiscal issues like meaningful entitlement reforms. His Arizona speechwas terrific, his favorable ratings are climbing over 50, the economy is showing steady signs of improvement, and the stock market is up. So, how could he possibly lose his reelection bid? Just ask George H.W. Bush, who had an approval rating of nearly 90 percent two years out from his reelection! happens when you are at the helm of the free world. What could happen? Let us count the ways...Hmmmmm......Number 13. "They don't trust me because of my middle name".Read the full story here.

• The 10 families who are costing us an astonishing £1m a year between them just in housing benefits.Ten families in England are sharing an astonishing £1million a year in housing benefits, it emerged last night.The huge sums being lavished on the families by the taxpayer are allowing them to live in streets normally reserved for millionaires.Five of the families are receiving the maximum payment of £2,000 per week.It is the first proof that George Osborne was correct when he claimed some households were receiving sums in excess of £100,000 a year.Last night, the Chancellor told the Daily Mail: ‘It is precisely this kind of shocking waste of public money under the previous Labour government that led to Britain’s debt problems. ‘We are bringing an end to this by putting a cap on the total amount of benefit that a family can receive so the days of £100,000 housing benefit claims are gone.’All are being housed in Westminster, Kensington or Chelsea – the wealthiest parts of the country.Five families are receiving the maximum of £2,000 a week, the equivalent to a working family’s mortgage on a £1.5million house. It will re-ignite the row over the housing benefit bill, which has spiralled from £14billion ten years ago to £21billion. It is more than the country spends on policing and universities combined.The identity of the ten families is being kept secret because of privacy rules.Some previous cases, when the claimaints have been identified, involved even larger sums.Read the full story here.

• HT:Aina.Before the Silence: the Turkish Genocide of Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians.Ms. Sofia Kontogeorge Kostos, first of all congratulations on publishing your new book Before the Silence. We, at the Seyfo Center are very pleased and delighted about the publication of your new book. There are many books that have been published about the Genocide that was perpetrated against the Armenians, Assyrians and the Greeks by the Ottoman Empire commencing in 1914, but rarely the Assyrians and the Greeks are mentioned in these books. There was no discrimination when the Armenians, Assyrians and the Greeks were being slaughtered, so it is important to include all the 3 nations when we talk about the Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire. We are very pleased to see that your book mentions all of the 3 nations that were persecuted and slaughtered in the hands of the Ottoman Empire, and of the Young Turks Regime.Before the Silence is not a new title. It was the title of one of your poems from the "Forgotten Genocides of the 20th Century" published in 2005. Why did you choose the same name for your book? Was the poem the motivation for writing the book?Can an unknown tragedy be forgotten?Lost in a maze of unknowing; Mistaken in the realm of forgot and forgotten ;I hungered for answers ; From books but they were stolen ;I summoned Cleo, the muse of history ;She fed me rare books and vintage news; Revealing truths impossible to forget. What is the message you are trying to convey to your readers in your book?My book should cut through Turkey's lies and deceptions. The very nature of the so-called "deportations" in reality were "death marches." Death marches were part of the hidden agenda to exterminate all of the Christians and to make "Turkey for the Turks Only." Turkey now boasts that they are 99% Moslem ---- one need ask how did that happen?Hmmmmmm......Erdogan"Muslims don't commit genocide".Read the full story here.

• HT:Persian2English.Dutch Government Froze Contacts with Iran after Death of Zahra Bahrami.The Dutch government froze official contacts with Iran on Saturday to protest the hanging of a Dutch-Iranian woman, the Foreign Ministry said.Iranian Ambassador Gharib Abadi was informed of the sanctions after he confirmed reports that Zahra Bahrami, 45, was executed in Tehran Saturday.His embassy later said the hanging was “an internal issue” that should have no impact on diplomatic relations.Iranian state television reported Bahrami was hanged for possessing and selling drugs. The report said that initially Bahrami was arrested for committing “security crimes,” but it did not say what became of that case.Bahrami had been jailed in Iran since December 2009 after protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election. Protesters took to the streets, saying the vote was marred by fraud and that opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was the rightful winner.The Iranian Embassy in a statement late Saturday described Bahrami as a member of an international drug trafficking ring, who traveled on Dutch, Iranian and Spanish passports with different personal information.It said Bahrami — who was born in Iran, but gained Dutch citizenship after moving to the Netherlands — was accorded the legal rights of an Iranian citizen, but that Tehran does not recognize dual nationality.Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Bengt van Loosdrecht said Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal was “shocked, shattered by this act by a barbaric regime.”He added the hanging was especially shocking as Abadi had assured the Dutch minister on Friday that Bahrami’s legal avenues had not yet been exhausted.Dutch diplomats had been denied access to Bahrami while she was in prison because Iran refused to recognize her Dutch nationality. The Dutch government reportedly hired lawyers to defend her.The diplomatic freeze means Iranian embassy staff are forbidden from meeting or having contact with Dutch officials without prior written approval, Van Loosdrecht said.The Foreign Ministry also advised other dual citizens against traveling to Iran, as Dutch consular officials would now have no access to them if they are arrested.Van Loosdrecht said Rosenthal would raise the issue next week when European Union foreign ministers meet in Brussels. The Netherlands will seek unspecified “collective measures” against Iran, Van Loosdrecht said.Hmmmmm......Hoooray for Geert Wilders!Read the full story here.

• Karachi, women on streets in support of the blasphemy law. Karachi (AsiaNews) - The women's wing of the Islamic movement Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has demonstrated on the streets of Karachi against possible amendments to the blasphemy law. The protest took place yesterday after Friday prayers: the crowd gathered in Mazar-e-Quaid - the National Mausoleum, better known as the tomb that houses the remains of the founder Ali Jinnah - and marched to the area of Numaish Chowrangi. The young women students - from different schools and institutions of the city - shouted slogans and brandished placards against those who want to change the "black law".Members of the fundamentalist movement also demanded the expulsion of all Vatican officials in Pakistan, for what they call "interference" in internal affairs by Benedict XVI. On 10 January, the Pope, during his meeting with the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, had claimed the right to religious freedom and called for the repeal of the blasphemy law. On January 30, Islamic fundamentalists have launched a national demonstration in support of the "black law" and promised a "long march" to Islamabad if Asia Bibi, the 45 year old Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy and pending appeal, is not executed. Also on January 30, however, the bishop of Islamabad / Rawalpini, Mgr. Anthony Rufin, proclaimed a day of fasting and prayer for Asia and for peace and harmony all over Pakistan.Hmmmmm.......A Real battle of good versus evil,Black law indeed.Read the full story here.

• HT:Stratfor.Video:Agenda: With George Friedman on Egypt.For more than 30 years, the geopolitics of the Middle East has been built on the American-Egyptian-Israeli relationship. STRATFOR founder Dr. George Friedman contemplates current events in Egypt and the prospect of the end of an era.Well, certainly, Mubarak is coming to the end of his days. And it’s not yet clear what, if anything, it is going to do to the Middle East. It really depends on what the successor’s regime is going to look like. He was hoping that his son Gamal was going to replace him; that’s increasingly unlikely. There are demonstrations going on in Egypt. How widespread is hard to tell, and of course the Western media is immediately assuming that these are democratic reformers out there because they talk to the ones who speak English and they tend to be democratic reformers. We don’t know what the Muslim Brotherhood is doing, or capable of doing. So we don’t know if we’re going to get a military coup to replace Mubarak, we don’t know if we’re going to get a Islamic government, or if we’re simply going to have a succession, fairly orderly, when he passes on or even before then. But whatever happens can have enormous significance, depending on which way it goes.Now, is it about to become a jihadist government in Cairo? I don’t think so but that’s really what the question is: what’s going to happen. And the least likely thing to happen is a long-term reformist democratic government.Read the full story here.

• 19 private jets of top businessmen leave Cairo: DPA.Flight disruptions threaten Egypt’s tourism sector.Nineteen private jets have left Cairo international airport carrying top Egyptian and Arab business tycoons and their families toward Germany, German Press Agency DPA reported later on Saturday.The identities of the businessmen and their families were not immediately announced.Hundreds of people crowded the capital's main international airport hoping for a flight out on Saturday but Western carriers were canceling, delaying or suspending service after days of violent unrest.A British airline turned around its Cairo-bound jet in mid-flight.Between 1,500 and 2,000 people flocked to Cairo Intentional Airport, many without reservations. Officials said that about half were tourists and half Egyptians.British Midlands International said its flight from London Heathrow to Cairo turned around because a shift in the start of a nighttime curfew from 6 p.m. to 4 p.m. had made it impossible to land in time for passengers to make it out of the airport.The United States, France and Germany issued warnings to their respective citizens, urging them to cancel nonessential travel to Cairo and to remain indoors and away from flashpoint areas if they were already in the country.Israeli carrier El Al was trying to arrange a special flight Saturday to take roughly 200 Israeli tourists out of the country, a Cairo International Airport official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. Israel's embassy in Egypt declined to comment.Read the full story on air travel out of Egypt here.

• HT:RightTruth.You have options if government shuts down internet.The unrest continues in the Middle East and specifically in Egypt where internet and cell phone communication was cut off by the government. Should something like that happen here, you have options. From Wired.com "Communicate if Your Government Shuts Off Your Internet". Note: The article is a WIKI article and can be updated by readers.Scenario: Your government is displeased with the communication going on in your location and pulls the plug on your internet access, most likely by telling the major ISPs to turn off service.This is what happened in Egypt January 25 prompted by citizen protests, with sources estimating that the Egyptian government has cut off approximately 88 percent of the country's internet access. What do you do without Internet? Step 1: Stop crying in the corner. Then start taking steps to reconnect with your network. Here’s a list of things you can do to keep the communication flowing.Hmmmmm.........Start preparing!Read the full story here.

• HT:AlArabya.Over 1,000 people await Ghannouchi at Tunis airport.Leading Tunisian Islamists returns rom exile.Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia's Islamist movement Ennahda, returned home aftre living in exile in London for 22 years.Following the ousting of authoritarian ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Ghannouchi is returning to Tunis intent on fielding candidates from his movement if free and fair elections are held.He checked in at London Gatwick Airport accompanied by a 30-strong group of supporters and journalists.Wearing an open-necked shirt and overcoat, a smiling Ghannouchi posed with the Tunisian flag and embraced relatives at Gatwick airport before boarding the plane."I feel very happy today," the 69-year-old said."When I return home today I am returning to the Arab world as a whole."I am still the leader of my party. I want to organize a conference."If there are free and fair elections Ennahda will take part -- in the legislative elections, not the presidential elections."Ghannouchi's return comes as the new government installed after Ben Ali's downfall unveiled unprecedented democratic freedoms including lifting media controls, releasing political prisoners and registering banned parties."It's not clear who it is accountable to because the current parliament is still the one-party parliament. It's not clear how long it will be there for."We do not believe that one party can rule on their own. A national unity government is what is appropriate at the moment.He said all Tunisia's opposition parties "were severely repressed; all of them need time to reconstruct."Asked whether he supported Sharia law, Ghannouchi told reporters: "All of these have no place in Tunisia."For many years we have agreed alongside the opposition parties common ground, including approving freedom of conscience, political pluralism... and we have agreed on a paper on gender equality."Supporters of his Ennahda movement, which had been banned for two decades, crowded into the arrivals area of the airport and held up banners reading: "No to extremism, yes to moderate Islam!" and "No fear of Islam!"A group of about a dozen secularists were holding up banners reading: "No Islamism, no theocracy, no Sharia and no stupidity!"Ghannouchi founded Ennahda in 1981 inspired by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood but says it is now more like Turkey's governing Justice and Development Party (AKP)."My books were translated into Turkish and had a great impact on the Turkish Islamist movement," Ghannouchi said. at day before leaving London."Our movement is a national independence movement. It believes in democracy: that Tunisia must be governed by real, complete democracy, with no exceptions, no oppression, no restrictions on freedom of expression and real judicial independence."Hmmmm.....Lets see how long they remain"Moderate"?Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Faith and practice: Silence from Muslim- Americans.Amid the uproar earlier this month over the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, the secularist governor of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Muslim-American organizations have been largely silent. At a time when mainstream Muslim leaders have been trying to demonstrate their embrace of religious tolerance and pluralism to their fellow Americans, few have had a word to say about this People’s Party leader whose denunciation of Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy law led to his death at the hands of a Muslim zealot — a zealot who has since been celebrated by fundamentalists around the globe.The most notable silence is on the part of the Islamic Circle of North America. Operating in this country for about 40 years, this organization has ideological ties to the Jamaat-e-Islami, one of Pakistan’s main Islamist political parties. The Jamaat explained away the assassination of Taseer on the grounds that it could have been avoided if the government had simply removed him from office. Though the Islamic Circle of North America does not necessarily take orders from its Pakistani parent, it appears unwilling to challenge the views of its overwhelmingly immigrant membership from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh — many of whom seem to have little sympathy for the slain politician’s secularist views.Nor is this the first instance of such silence. Last May, when the Pakistani Taliban slaughtered 93 members of a persecuted Muslim sect, the Ahmadiyya, the Islamic Circle of North America held its annual convention in Hartford. Speakers continually reminded the several thousand attendees that “Islam is a religion of peace,’’ yet one of us in attendance heard not a word about the killings all weekend. Other Muslim-American organizations, none of which has such direct and exclusive ties to Pakistan and the region, had even less excuse for their silence.In the name of Muslim unity, many Muslim-American leaders and organizations have been less than coherent when it comes to violent extremism. As a result, they have confused their members as to what true religious toleration and pluralism require, and consequently feed the very suspicions of those inclined to doubt the possibility of Muslims fully assimilating to the American way of life. This is a profound disservice to the many Muslim-Americans who are doing just that.Hmmmm......"The Religion of Peace".Read the full story here.

• HT:CreepingSharia.CAIR’s Ahmed Rehab goes to Egypt to participate in protests.Is CAIR’s Rehab in Egypt merely to join the Muslim Brotherhood fomented protests or on a recruiting mission? His first visit was to a mosque known for its “activists” according to his own report. Connecting the dots – CAIR is directly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood’s military wing Hamas.Ahmed Rehab called Wolrdview from Cairo. He’s the executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. He flew to Cairo to participate in the protests. He’s representing himself, not CAIR Chicago. Ahmed’s also been blogging about his experiences on the Huffington Post and his own blog, Mindful of Dreams.Hmmmm......Don't talk to the FBI ,talk to the Muslim BrotherHood?Read and see the full story here.

• HT:ChallahHuAkhbar.Wikileaks: Suspect in Hariri Assasination Arrested in Brazil.Sao Paulo State Civil Police arrested Rana Abdel Rahim Koleilat (PDOB Lebanon 23 JAN 1976) on March 12 based on an Interpol warrant for her involvement in the mid-2003 collapse of the Lebanese-based Al-Madina Bank. She is the main suspect in the USD one billion fraud that allegedly involved money laundering for various Islamic extremist groups. Koleilat was arrested in the Parthenon Accor Hotel in the Santana district of Sao Paulo based on an anonymous tip. She had a British passport (suspected to be fake) with her real name, as well an Egyptian passport with the name Fakhriya Mhanna. Read the full story here.

• Pakistan - Student booked in blasphemy case in Karachi.KARACHI: Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan police station has registered a blasphemy case against a student.The police said Muhammad Samiullah, an intermediate student, was arrested on January 28, 2011 on the complaint of chief controller intermediate board, who alleged him for writing derogatory remarks in his answer sheets against Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).He said that Samiullah, who was the resident of Mujtaba Colony Malir Halt, violated the blasphemy laws of the country as he expressed unacceptable remarks against Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in his three answer sheets (Urdu, Islamiat and Physics).When contacted, Qudrat Sher Lodhi, an investigation officer of this case, said that the accused told that he was brainwashed by his cousins, who came from Norway. He said that Samiullah had no any physical or mental illness. He said that further investigation was underway.Hmmmmm.....Welcome to AD 620.Read the full story here.

• California man jailed in alleged attempt to blow up Dearborn mosque.A California man is in jail on a terrorism charge after he was arrested in Dearborn for allegedly trying to blow up the biggest mosque in metro Detroit, Dearborn officials said today.The suspect was arrested in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn on Monday, while hundreds were inside the mosque that sits along Ford Road, police said. He came to the city because of its large Arab-American and Muslim population, police said.Stockham, in jail on a $500,000 bond, drove from California to Dearborn and was caught with a car packed with high-end fireworks. The FBI has been notified about the incident, Haddad said.Roger Stockham, 63, was arraigned Wednesday on one count on a threat of terrorism or false report and one count of explosive-possession of bombs with unlawful intent for possession of Class C fireworks, Dearborn Police said."He's very dangerous," Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad told the Free Press. "We took his threat to be very serious."Haddad said the man was previously known to law enforcement officials in other parts of the country."He's had a long history of being angry with the United States government," Haddad said.An employee at a local bar called police after overhearing violent threats allegedly made by the man, Islamic Center of America Executive Administrator Kassem Allie said. The employee was afraid that Stockham was going to target Muslims or Arabs in the area, he said.Hmmmm....Possession of illegal fireworks?Class C fireworks : a.k.a. Common fireworks !Fireworks in shows are the Class B fireworks!Making a mountain out of a molehill?Read the full story here

• Rome: Protest against Pakistan's blasphemy law.Italian lawmakers and religious associations protested in Rome Wednesday against Pakistan's blasphemy law, calling for the release of a Christian woman sentenced to death under the legislation.Catholic and Jewish associations joined human rights group Amnesty International and representatives of the Pakistani community in Italy in a 100-strong demonstration in front of the Italian parliament."We want this law to be abolished," Pakistani-born Joseph Philip told AFP, explaining that his uncle, a Catholic Bishop, had been killed for his religious beliefs. He said he had come to the protest along with 15 compatriots.Umberto Bossi, head of Italy's anti-immigrant and populist Northern League Party and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's partner in the centre-right coalition, attended Wednesday's protest here."We want to express our solidarity," he told journalists.A delegation from the protest also met Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.Last Thursday the European parliament urged Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to pardon and release Bibi following calls from several countries, international organisations and an appeal by Pope Benedict XVI.Read the full story here.

• Iranian-Dutch woman held after protests hanged for drug smuggling.Netherlands freezes ties with Iran after hanging.The Netherlands has frozen contacts with Iran after Tehran hanged an Iranian-Dutch woman for drug smuggling, having initially arrested her for taking part in anti-government protests."A drug trafficker named Zahra Bahrami, daughter of Ali, was hanged early on Saturday morning after she was convicted of selling and possessing drugs," the Tehran prosecutor's office said.Dutch foreign affairs minister Uri Rosenthal received official confirmation of the execution on Saturday after summoning the Iranian ambassador at The Hague following news reports, a Dutch foreign affairs ministry spokesman said."The minister was deeply shocked, this was an act committed by a barbaric regime. The fact that Iranian diplomats had told us just on Friday that not all legal avenues had run their course made this even more shocking.""The Netherlands has decided to freeze all contacts with Iran" after obtaining confirmation of Bahrami's execution from Iran's ambassador to the Netherlands Kazem Gharib Abadi, the Dutch spokesman said."This concerns all official contacts between diplomats and civil servants," he added.The Netherlands would raise the issue at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday and would seek measures to be taken against Iran, the spokesman added, without specifying what these measures would be.Read the full story here.

• HT:RefugeeSettlementWatch.So how much does all this cost us?You are probably aware that the last Congress never did pass an Appropriations bill for the fiscal year (FY 2011) that we began on October 1st, 2010 and is about to take up the matter with votes expected in mid February. Although the Constitution says that all money bills must originate in the House of Representatives, at the end of the 111th Congress the US Senate was actually driving the appropriations debate with a draft Appropriations bill.According to the blog McEvHill the following is a summary of the spending that was proposed in the last Congress for Refugee and Asylee programs (McEvHill doesn’t seem to have links for the individual posts which makes finding things very difficult, you need to go here and scroll down to the story on January 5th). The new House of Representatives is proposing an appropriations cut which takes the spending back to 2008 levels.The grand total cost of the Refugee program as proposed by the Senate is just over $2,500,000,000 (that is billions!), while 2008 levels would take it down a half billion to around $2 billion.Granted, some of this funding gets sent abroad—like that ERMA money ($20 million) that Obama sent to the Palestinians in 2009, here, but this means that with about 100,000 combined refugees and asylees we admit each year the cost of this program could be more than $20,000 per refugee ($100,000 for a family of 4?). You know the refugees aren’t getting much so you can see why this is such a cash cow for the immigration industry (including the UN, by the way).And, that number does not include the cost to cities and states for health care, education, public housing, public safety and so on.Who benefits the most? Volags like the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (which lobbies for more legal immigration and for amnesty for illegal immigrants) and big companies who need cheap labor like Tyson Foods benefit.What is that expression again? Doing well by doing good?Hmmmmm......."I will not rest before every American is unemployed"?Read the full story here.

• Children’s Theater Adds ‘Decapitating Sarah Palin’ To Kids Play.Ah, there we have it. That little flourish added by this nice, new tone lefty children’s theater director in Missoula was a joke about beheading Sarah Palin. It’s hilarious, no? A scream, no doubt.Of course, what a reference to beheading Sarah Palin is doing in a play written in 1885 featuring a story set in medieval Japan is anybody’s guess. But, hey, we have that wonderful new tone and everything going for us still, right?Hmmmm......."Together We Thrive"?Read the full story here.

• Brooklyn College Revokes Instructor’s Appointment to Teach Mideast Politics.Last fall, it was an assigned book that brought the Israeli-Palestinian conflict home to Brooklyn College. A wealthy alumnus said he was cutting the college out of his will because all incoming freshmen had been asked to read “How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America,” by Moustafa Bayoumi, a professor there.This week, it was a course — a graduate seminar on Middle East politics scheduled for the spring semester. The focus of the dispute was the adjunct professor who had been appointed to teach it, a doctoral student whose writings raised hackles even before he set foot in the classroom. On Thursday, the professor, Kristofer Petersen-Overton, said he had learned a day earlier that the college was rescinding his appointment, saying he lacked the academic qualifications to teach such a high-level course. But the timing of that decision has led Mr. Petersen-Overton and others to question whether the decisive factor might have been politics. Earlier in the week, Dov Hikind, a Democratic state assemblyman from Brooklyn, wrote to the college president and to the chancellor of the City University of New York, which includes Brooklyn College, to express alarm about the “slanted nature” of the professor’s works. In an interview, Mr. Hikind, who himself has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in political science from Brooklyn College, said he had spent 20 hours reading Mr. Petersen-Overton’s work and studying his Web site and syllabus. “Everything I read was incredibly one-sided,” Mr. Hikind said. “It was all about Israel being the bad guys in every way. He’s entitled to anything he wants to say, but if he’s going to go into a graduate course in my neighborhood, I just want a guy who’s going to be fair.”Hmmmm......"It was all about Israel being the bad guys in every way".Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• HT:RightTruth.Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis to speak at the United Nations.Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, founder and president of Hineni, the internationally renowned Torah outreach organization will be addressing audiences at the United Nations in New York City on Thursday, January 27th on the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Remembrance Day. This most special event is being sponsored by the International B'nai Brith organization to commemorate to the legacy of those who perished during the Holocaust and as a forum to address escalating global anti-Semitism and racism.In an interview granted to the Jewish media, Rebbetzin Jungreis disclosed the salient points of her upcoming address by saying, "The scourge of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial is growing at an alarming rate. The real tragedy is evidenced by the "screaming silence" of the international community, just as we heard during the nightmarish years of the Holocaust.Rebbetzin Jungreis said that she'll be speaking about her own personal experiences as a young child and that of her family during the Holocaust, when they were expelled from their home in Szeged, Hungary by the Nazis and deported to the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. "We often ask ourselves, how could a mass genocide of such monumental proportions take place during the 20th century in a place like Europe which epitomized the zenith of civilization; including the arts, culture and education. How could a scenario arise in which human beings could sink to a level of moral depravity that was lower than a ghastly beast. The world turned its collective back on the Jews and today we are witnessing the very same ominous signs once again," she intoned."Hitler's goal was the total annihilation of the Jewish people and he was quite open about it. Today we confront such maniacal despots as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose message of Holocaust denial is being embraced by purportedly civilized people. He, too, openly states his intentions of obliterating the State of Israel and all of its inhabitants, as his uranium enrichment programs aimed at building a formidable nuclear arsenal continue unabated", the Rebbetzin ruefully observed.NOTICE: This article has been updated and corrected, the date Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, founder and president of Hineni, the internationally renowned Torah outreach organization will be addressing audiences at the United Nations in New York City on Thursday, January 27th on the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Remembrance Day.Hmmmm.....But how many are willing to listen,at the Islamic Nations?Read the full story here.

• The story of what started the revolution in Tunesia!Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia: Mohamed Bouazizi spent his whole life on a dusty, narrow street here, in a tiny, three-room house with a concrete patio where his mother hung the laundry and the red chilis to dry. By the time Mr. Bouazizi was 26, his work as a fruit vendor had earned him just enough money to feed his mother, uncle and five brothers and sisters at home. He dreamed about owning a van.Faida Hamdy, a 45-year-old municipal inspector in Sidi Bouzid, a police officer's daughter, was single, had a "strong personality" and an unblemished record, her supervisor said. She inspected buildings, investigated noise complaints and fined vendors like Mr. Bouazizi, whose itinerant trade may or may not have been legal; no one seems to know.On the morning of Dec. 17, when other vendors say Ms. Hamdy tried to confiscate Mr. Bouazizi's fruit, and then slapped him in the face for trying to yank back his apples, he became the hero -- now the martyred hero -- and she became the villain in a remarkable swirl of events in which Tunisians have risen up to topple a 23-year dictatorship and march on, demanding radical change in their government.The revolution has rippled beyond Tunisia, shaking other authoritarian Arab states, whose frustrated young people are often written off as complacent when faced with stifling bureaucracy and an impenetrable and intimidating security apparatus. That assumption was badly shaken with Mr. Bouazizi's reaction to his slap, and now a picture of him, in a black jacket with a wry smile, has become the revolution's icon.In a series of interviews, the other fruit vendors, officials and family members described the seemingly routine confrontation that had set off a revolution. They said that Mr. Bouazizi, embarrassed and angry, had wrestled with Ms. Hamdy and was beaten by two of her colleagues, who also took his electronic scale. He walked a few blocks to the municipal building, demanded his property, and was beaten again, they said. Then he walked to the governor's office, demanded an audience and was refused."She humiliated him," said his sister, Samia Bouazizi. "Everyone was watching."Sometime around noon, in the two-lane street in front of the governor's high gate, the vendor drenched himself in paint thinner then lit himself on fire. A doctor at the hospital where he was treated said the burns covered 90 percent of his body. By the time he died on Jan. 4, protests that started over Mr. Bouazizi's treatment in Sidi Bouzid had spread to cities throughout the country.On Jan. 14, the president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, fled the country.Hmmm.....Action leads to reaction?read the full story here.

• HT:HotAir.Breaking: Olbermann announces the end of “Countdown”; Update: Settled contract with MSNBC “late this week”; Update: “Stealth move”; Update: Real reason revealed?Why? No idea. There was no inkling of it on Google News earlier today. It sounds from the clip like he was let go, but he signed a four-year contract extension in 2008 so I’m not sure how the mechanics of firing him would work. Could be that he resigned, but there’s been no indication of which I’m aware that he was considering that. Unhappiness with Olby among MSNBC employees has been rumored for ages, and some speculated last year that Comcast might want to “rein in” MSNBC, but as I say, this is all just theorizing at the moment. In fact, even Mediaite, which should have access to insiders at MSNBC via Dan Abrams, only has the company’s vague official statement at the moment:“MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”Stand by for updates galore, no doubt.Read the full story here.

• New Twitter worm redirects to Fake AV!A new Twitter worm is spreading fast, using the “goo.gl” URL shortening service to distribute malicious links.The malicious links go through a number of redirections which are described below. The redirection chain may push Twitter users to a fake anti-virus (scareware) serving the “Security Shield” Rogue AV. The webpage is using exactly the same obfuscation techniques as a previous version (Security Tool), which is an implementation of RSA cryptography in JavaScript to obfuscate the page code.Our users are protected from this worm and all the URLS are being blacklisted in our products.Here are some of the technical details.Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Eye on Extremism: Palestinian Islamic court forcibly divorces West Bank Ahmadi Muslim couple after declaring them 'apostates'.TULKAREM, West Bank -- For more than a year, a Palestinian couple belonging to an Islamic sect rejected by many mainstream Muslims endured insults from some of their neighbors and even death threats while struggling to maintain a quiet existence in this West Bank town.As word spread about them, things got worse. A local Islamic court branded them apostates and dissolved their marriage. The couple, Mohammed and Samah Alawneh, now live in legal limbo.Their plight demonstrates the tensions between a still largely conservative Palestinian society and a Western-backed government expected by the international community to ensure democratic freedoms.The government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is dominated by secular elites and frequently cracks down on hard-line Muslims connected to its militant Islamic rival, Hamas. The seat of Abbas' government, the vibrant West Bank city of Ramallah, is dotted with bars, liquor stores and night clubs frequented by secular Muslims, although consuming alcohol is strictly forbidden in Islam.At the same time, the Palestinian Authority - trying to build toward a state that would include the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip - has shown there are limits to its religious tolerance.Late last year, Palestinian police arrested a self-proclaimed atheist blogger for insulting Islam in his posts, and the man is still in custody. The Alawnehs are members of the Ahmadi sect, an Islamic offshoot whose members are often branded traitors and face persecution in the Muslim world. Another couple - the husband is Ahmadi, the wife is not - is facing the same proceedings."It's like we are still living in the Middle Ages," said Mohammed Alawneh, 35. "They are deciding whether you are a believer or not. Whether you'll go to heaven or hell - and whether you are an apostate."Followers of the Islamic Ahmadi Community are shunned by many mainstream Muslims because they recognize a 19th-century cleric as their prophet. A central tenet of Islam is that the Muhammad was the last prophet sent by God.There are believed to be more than 4 million [Updated estimates: 160MM] Ahmadis worldwide, most of them in South Asia but also with large communities in Africa and Europe. They frequently face isolation and persecution, particularly in Pakistan, where last year two of their mosques were bombed and 97 people were killed.A few dozen Ahmadi converts live in the West Bank, whose 2.5 million-strong Palestinian population is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, said the local Ahmadi leader, Sheik Mohammed Sharif.Cases involving Ahmadis, who have lived in the West Bank in small numbers for decades, have rarely been pursued - until now, lawyers said.The Alawnehs converted to the Ahmadi sect separately six years ago, marrying in 2009. Both faced insults and death threats from Muslim preachers when news of their conversions filtered out, they said. Mohammed's family renounced them. Some of Samah's colleagues at the university where she works shun her, though others do not.Then last year, a prosecutor in the local Islamic court, which regulates Muslim marriages, filed a complaint against them, accusing them of apostasy. They were found guilty in August, according to documents the couple showed The Associated Press.The court forcibly divorced the couple by canceling their marriage registration, because they were no longer considered Muslims.The Alawnehs say the complaint against them was initiated by Mohammed Alawneh's first wife, who was upset by his decision to take another wife. Islamic law permits a man to have up to four wives.The Palestinian Authority does not authorize civil marriage. All marriages must be registered with the government-funded Islamic courts or a Christian church.That means that the couple have no chance of ever legalizing their marriage in the West Bank, said their lawyer, Gandi Rabai. The couple may go abroad to marry, but so far, they have chosen to try to battle the issue in Palestinian courts, believing it is their right to marry freely in the West Bank, Rabai said.Expecting their first child later this year, they will not be able to register the baby with the Palestinian Interior Ministry - meaning the child cannot go to public school or qualify for medical care. The child will be scorned as illegitimate if they remain unmarried.The Islamic courts are also pursuing a case against Maher Salahat, a 34-year-old married father of five who belongs to the Ahmadi sect. They accuse him of apostasy and seek to divorce him from his wife, who is a Sunni Muslim. The case is still being investigated, Salahat said.Reem Shanti, the prosecutor who pressed charges against the Alawnehs, and other Islamic courts officials refused to comment.Mahmoud Habbash, the Palestinian Authority's Religious Affairs Minister, who oversees the courts, said he could not interfere in judicial affairs. Habbash said he had no solution to the couple's legal dead-end over registering their marriage in the West Bank.Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib said the Palestinian basic law, a forerunner to a constitution, guarantees freedom of expression and religious belief, but that the Islamic courts rule over civil issues such as marriage and divorce. There is no criminal punishment for being declared an apostate, he said.The Alawnehs said they would take their case all the way to the Palestinian Supreme Court. They said they feared a dangerous precedent has been set that could engulf not only people with unconventional religious views, but also the many non-practicing Muslims in the West Bank."If they open the door to declaring people apostates, anybody could accuse anybody," said the young woman, her hair covered with a Muslim headscarf, her eyes widening in fear. "But I believe I follow the real Islam. They can't break open my heart to see if I believe or not."Hmmmm....."Islam the Religion of Peace".Read the full story here.

• HT:IHateTheMedia.Top 10 places Hawaiian governor should look for Obama’s birth certificate.Hawaii’s new Democrat Governor Neil Abercrombie promised to find President Barack Obama’s birth certificate so that we, as a nation, could put to rest, once and for all, rumors that that he is not a U.S. citizen and therefore, fit – and “fit,” to be sure, is to be taken very loosely in any case – to serve as the Commander in Chief.But now comes the shocking – totally shocking – news that Governor has been unable to locate that pesky original birth certificate.Wherever could it be?There has to be a logical explanation, right?Well, IHateTheMedia.com to the rescue.We’re offering Governor Abercrombie the top ten places he should look for the document.Read the full story here.

• HT:AmnonAndJonathan.Is Israel becoming Iran's southern border ?An agreement was reportedly made between the March 8 forces backed by Syria and Democratic Gathering leader MP Walid Jumblat for his bloc to give seven votes for the opposition's nominee for the premier's post, Omar Karami, amid efforts to guarantee a eighth MP.An Nahar daily quoted March 14 forces as saying Saturday that Democratic Gathering MPs who are not members of Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party have informed him that they would nominate caretaker Premier Saad Hariri. They are: Mohammed al-Hajjar, Fouad al-Saad, Henri Helou, Marwan Hamadeh and Antoine Saad.An Nahar said that Jumblat guaranteed that only five party members -- in addition to a sixth who could be MP Elie Aoun -- would vote for Karami.The remaining six ministers stand by Hariri, the daily said.Read the full story here. More here.

• Tony Blair: West must prepare to confront Iran.Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged the west to confront Iran with force in order to face the "looming and coming challenge" from Iran, reported French news agency AFP on Saturday."It [Iran] has to be confronted and changed. Iran is a looming challenge. It is negative and destabilizing. It supports terrorists," said Blair on Friday during his remarks at the Chilcot inquiry, the British inquiry into the war in Iraq."I say this to you with all of the passion I possibly can -- at some point the West has to get out of what I think is a wretched policy or posture of apology for believing that we are causing what the Iranians are doing, or what these extremists are doing," said Blair who serves as the Quartet representative to the Middle East.Blair stated that he could see the "impact and the influence of Iran everywhere." His comments came as Iran began a second round of talks on Saturday in Istanbul with six world powers over its nuclear program.During a press briefing in Washington, Crowley stated that the US is pursuing a "two-track strategy" toward Iran:"We are putting pressure on Iran. We think that pressure is having an impact. Iran is not in full compliance with international obligations. Iran remains arguably the leading international state sponsor of terrorism. Iran is undermining the international community’s efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East. These are all true. And we are willing to engage Iran to begin to address all of these issues," Crowley said.He added, "We’re in Istanbul, engaged with Iran to try to see if we can’t resolve the nuclear file. We are perfectly willing to move into other areas. And if we have the opportunity to engage Iran, we’ll continue to express our concerns about other things. But we’re not putting all of our eggs in one basket. We are willing to engage Iran, but we’re realistic." Hmmmm........What's the role and position of Turkey in all this?Get Turkey out of NATO!Read the full story here.

• HT:InfidelBloggers(Epaminondas).The Ghadir Iranian Domestic Sub? Iran paying North Korea for development of midget submarines.Western intelligence sources said Iran and North Korea have exchanged technology and expertise on the development and assembly of so-called midget submarines. They said Iran has provided financing for North Korean development as well as tested several prototypes since 2008. “The arrangement is simple: Iran pays for North Korean development and gets the first platforms off the production line,” an intelligence source said.The sources said Iran has been testing North Korean-developed midget submarines with attack capabilities. They said Pyongyang has produced the Daedong-B, which measures 17 meters and designed to contain torpedos. Daedong-B, with a width of four meters and height of two 2.2 meters, was tested in North Korea in 2010. The sources said North Korea invited Iranian Navy and defense officials for briefings on the submarine trials.“As has been amply demonstrated by the navies of North Korea and Iran, these small vessels make good platforms for ambushes even at submerged depths of 150 feet, enough room for the midget submersible to maneuver,” the U.S. consultant, Forecast International, said.“These submarines cannot travel too far on their own, and depend on support vessels to extend their range. However, in their shallow water element where sonar returns are cluttered, they can prove quiet and deadly. Their capabilities include the ability to lay mines or insert commandos on beaches.”Hmmmm.....A really peace full nation,only for self defence and stealth purposes?Read the full story here,video here.

• Jordanian protests gather pace.AMMAN: Jordan's opposition has vowed continual protests over price increases and inflation until resignation of the prime minister and his government.More than 5,000 people from across the political spectrum, including the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, the left wing groups and the trade unions staged Friday what they called a “Day of Rage” in the Jordanian capital of Amman and in the northern town of Irbid.They demanded Prime Minister Samir Rifai step down and for Jordanians to be able to elect their prime minister and other ministers rather than having them appointed by King Abdallah.Streets protests have mounted over the past week, spurred on by Tunisia's example, and despite government moves to lower the prices on basic goods and fuel. “(Prime Minister Samir) Rifai, out, out! People of Jordan will not bow,” protesters chanted as they marched from Al-Hussein Mosque in central Amman to the nearby municipality building. “Our demands are legitimate. We want bread and freedom.”Police handed out bottles of water and juice to the demonstrators, who carried banners reading, “We demand social justice and freedom,” “No to oppression, yes to change” and, “We need a national salvation government.”Police spokesman Mohammad Khatib said about 4,000 people took part in the capital's peaceful protest, organized by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm the Islamic Action Front.Hmmmm......Who's next?Read the full story here.

• Afghan national would be terrorist denied bail in explosive Ontario trial.PEMBROKE, Ont . -- A Pembroke man charged with attempting to possess explosive substances -- in what police allege was his intention to detonate an improvised explosive device at CFB Petawawa -- has been refused bail.Matin Abdul Stanikzy, 24, will remain in custody at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, a superior court judge ruled this week.Stanikzy, an Afghan national, faces charges of assault, attempting to possess an explosive substance, counselling to commit theft, uttering a threat to cause death and threatening to burn, destroy or damage personal property.On Nov. 17, city police arrested Stanikzy after investigating an assault allegation.The RCMP's anti-terrorism squad subsequently laid the other charges.Stanikzy was denied bail on Dec. 3.Earlier this week, a bail review sought by his lawyer, Stuart Konyer, was heard in Pembroke Superior Court.On Thursday, Justice Timothy Ray upheld the earlier decision of Justice of the Peace Richard Sculthorpe to deny bail. Ray ruled that the defendant poses a flight risk and that a refusal of bail is necessary to protect the public's safety.In the decision, Ray considered the allegations, which have not be proven in court.Ray referred to information presented by Crown attorney Jason Nicol during the Dec. 3 bail hearing, where court heard that police were called to a Pembroke, Ont., women's shelter on Nov. 17 to investigate an assault complaint. Officers spoke to a woman who told them she had been assaulted the night before.The woman advised police she was an employee of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited at Chalk River Laboratories. She recounted that Mr. Stanikzy arrived in Canada in November, 2009 and lived with his brother and sister-in-law in Toronto for six months. She moved with him to Pembroke when she was hired by AECL.She alleged the defendant asked her to obtain explosive materials so he could detonate an explosive device at CFB Petawawa. According to the allegation, he told her he wanted to wound or kill 30 to 100 people at CFB Petawawa.The woman said she recorded the conversation which she alleged took place in July 2010.According to the allegations laid out by the Crown, the woman told police Stanikzy had made comments about becoming a suicide bomber in Canada or becoming an interpreter in Afghanistan and leading Canadian troops into a Taliban or al-Qaida ambush.She told police he described himself as a supporter of the Taliban and al-Qaida and he perceived Canadians as his enemies. She alleged he specifically mentioned his desire to kill people at CFB Petawawa since "people there are getting ready to fight in his country of Afghanistan."The complainant told police Stanikzy said he does not care if he dies and that if he killed a non-Muslim he would be considered a martyr.In his decision to deny bail on Dec. 3, Sculthorpe said he found the Crown's case to be strong and noted the seriousness of the charges. He noted that the defendant had stated his intent to cause harm to a number of individuals, that the risk to the public was strong and could not be abated by conditions.Hmmmm.....How many more like him are running freely in Canada?Read the full story here.

• "Life or Death in Iran's Prisons".European Parliament Issues Resolution for Release of Nasrin Sotoudeh and Others.European Parliament resolution of 20 January 2011 on Iran – the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh.– having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran, notably those concerning human rights, and in particular those of 10 February 2010(1) and 8 September 2010(2) ,

1. – having regard to the declaration made by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navy Pillay, on 23 November 2010, expressing concern about the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh and stating that this was part of a much broader crackdown and that the situation of human rights defenders in Iran was growing more and more difficult,
2. – having regard to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus in 1998, stipulating that states ‘shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of human rights defenders against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary actions’ as a consequence of their legitimate efforts to promote human rights,
3. – having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a party,
4. – having regard to the United Nations General Assembly resolution of 21 December 2010 on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran,
5. – having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,Read the full resolution here.

• Saudi Wahhabis accused of removing relics from the time of Prophet Mohammad.Saudi Arabia has been accused of an unprecedented onslaught on historic structures in the heart of Mecca and Medina -- the cradle of Islam, revered by the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. During a meeting at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, world heritage experts called on Saudi authorities to halt the destruction of sites linked with Islamic history. The experts also voiced concerns over the future of Mecca and Medina due to the rising destruction of historic structures. They say it's feared that a number of historic sites will be lost permanently if the current course of destruction is allowed to continue. “I call it cultural vandalism, of course we lost foreigner historical sites over the past sixty years, which will never be replaced again,” said Irfan al-Alawi, from Islamic Heritage Research Foundation.Saudi authorities, however, argue that they are trying to prevent idolatry.Hmmmm......That new Mecca clock wasn't appreciated by everyone it seems?Read the full story here. HT:TundraTabloids.

• Hawaii law bars release of Obama birth info. HONOLULU -- A privacy law that shields birth certificates has prompted Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie to abandon efforts to dispel claims that President Barack Obama was born outside Hawaii, his office says.State Attorney General David Louie told the governor that privacy laws bar him from disclosing an individual's birth documentation without the person's consent, Abercrombie spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said Friday."There is nothing more that Gov. Abercrombie can do within the law to produce a document," said Dela Cruz. "Unfortunately, there are conspirators who will continue to question the citizenship of our president."Hmmmm.....No ....Really,did anyone even expect to see the full birth certificate?Read the full story here.

• Just as things were looking up, Obama's annual job approval average puts him near the postwar bottom.As if the poll showing improved approval of Congress under partial Republican leadership wasn't discouraging enough, now comes a new survey showing President Obama's second-year job approval near the bottom of presidents elected in the last six decades or so.Heading into the president's crucial 2011 State of the Union address next Tuesday evening, Gallup finds that Obama's second-year job approval averaged only 46.7%.That really looks pathetic when compared to his predecessor, George W. Bush's second-year average job approval of 71.3%. Or to the next highest second-year postwar job approval of 66.8% held by -- oh, look! -- another president named Bush. Of course, both of them were Republicans.Even Richard "I Am Not a Crook" Nixon had a majority 56.2% approval after two years.But don't forget that fellow Democrat Jimmy Carter also had a miserable second-year job approval of 45.3%. And he fought back from that basement approval to win a resounding second term. Oh, no. wait. He didn't. He got crushed in 1980, even with a third-party candidate.Anyway, despite Congress, the current Democrat in the Oval Office still has 655 days to right the SS Job Approval.
  Hmmmm......Memo ...Must keep manipulating those job numbers?Read the full story here.

• Congress to Press Obama on Religious Persecution of Christians.Members of Congress from a bipartisan human rights panel on Thursday challenged the Obama administration to get serious about putting pressure on the governments of Egypt and Iraq to halt violent attacks on Christian minorities."Human rights has been significantly demoted in the past two years, and it's appalling," said Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J. "This administration gets an F for its response to human rights abuses."For Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., the granddaughter of Assyrian and Armenian Christians who fled the genocide carried out by the Ottoman Turks and their Kurdish allies at the end of World War I, the dramatic upsurge in attacks against Christians in Iraq and Egypt was reminiscent of stories she had learned from childhood."Going to the market and riding the bus, Iraqi Christians face death every day," she said. "There is no question that Christians are being targeted" in Iraq.Rep. Eshoo called on the Obama administration to "move this up in the set of priorities of the State Department" by elaborating a "comprehensive strategy" for dealing with the persecution of Christians in Iraq."A crisis calls for more than good intentions," she said.Although tens of billions of U.S. taxpayer funds have gone to reconstruction programs in Iraq, a scant $20 million has been allocated to projects in the predominantly Christian Nineveh Plain in northern Iraq, the ancestral homeland of many Iraqi Christians and a relative safe haven to which thousands of families have fled in recent years.Worse, the way U.S. aid money has been spent is "not transparent," Rep. Eshoo said.So she and other members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate recently asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a far-reaching audit of U.S. reconstruction assistance to Iraq, in particular as it touches on projects for Christian areas.Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who chaired Thursday's hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Capitol Hill, slammed the Obama White House for its tepid response to the violence.After the Oct. 31 attack on Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church in Baghdad by Muslim jihadists that killed 58 Christians attending mass, the White House "failed to even mention the word 'Christian' or 'church,' suggesting that this attack was simply part of a broader pattern of generalized violence in Iraq and not a targeted attack against an indigenous faith community," Rep. Wolf said.Wolf said he was exploring legislation that would require the State Department to designate special representatives in the embassies in Baghdad and Cairo whose sole job will be to monitor human rights and religious persecution.In tandem with that move, Wolf said he wants President Obama to appoint a "special envoy" to persecuted minorities in the Middle East, who will report back to the president, the secretary of state, and Congress.Hmmmm....Problem is does Obama want to help his "Fellow" Christians?Read the full story here.

• HT:RightSideNews.Obama's Plan to Admit Mexican Trucks.Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, explained what this means: "U.S. truckers would be forced to forfeit their own economic opportunities while companies and drivers from Mexico, free from equivalent regulatory burdens, take over their traffic lanes." We wonder if Mexico has any regulatory standards at all.Mexican trucks are known to be overweight and lacking in safety regulations we consider essential, such as anti-lock brakes. Mexico doesn't have national databases that track drivers' records, background checks, drug usage, and arrests, and it's known to be easy to get a commercial driver's license with a bribe.Nevertheless, Obama's Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, has announced he wants to admit Mexican trucks, and he thinks he can appease Congress by presenting on January 6 what he calls a "concept document." It is two pages of bureaucratic pablum that does nothing to assure the safety of Americans on our highways and roads.The concept document calls for a "review" of the Mexican carriers' safety program, the driving records of Mexican drivers admitted to the program, and inspection of Mexican trucks for safety and emissions. But the document says nothing about what the standard of review and inspection will be, and whether trucks and drivers who don't pass inspection will be rejected.Under the concept document, Mexican trucks would be subject to border inspections at the "normal border inspection rate," and subject to inspections within the U.S. "at the same rate as U.S. companies." That doesn't reassure us; the "normal" border inspection rate means that only a few violators will get caught, which the Mexicans will consider just a cost of doing business, and the notion that Mexican drivers need inspection only at the 50 percent U.S. rate is ridiculous.U.S. law requires truck drivers to speak and understand the English language. The concept document says it will "conduct an English Language Proficiency" test of each Mexican driver, but it doesn't say the Mexican drivers must speak English or pass the test.We know from the House testimony of the previous Transportation Secretary, Mary Peters, that the Department's policy is to approve Mexican drivers as "English proficient" even when they respond to an examiner's questions in Spanish. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who was conducting the hearing, was so astounded at this answer that he asked Secretary Peters to repeat it.With the drug war in full battle array along our southern border, this is no time to start admitting Mexican trucks. It's a safe bet that many of the trucks will be carrying illegal aliens and illegal drugs.Another safety problem exists for U.S. trucks that would get access to Mexican roads under this misguided proposal. Trade is supposed to be two-way street, but U.S. drivers don't want to drive into northern Mexico, the most dangerous area in the world because of the ongoing war between drug cartels.Hmmmm.....If you wanted to destroy the American economy would you do anything different?Read the full story here.

• HT:Rferl.'Putin Palace' Pics: It's Good To Be The PM.A new website billing itself the "Russian WikiLeaks" has posted photographs of a lavish Black Sea mansion believed to have been commissioned for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.RuLeaks.net says it has no proof the mansion, still under construction and being built for a reported $1 billion, is Putin's.Although the website's authors are anonymous, it's believed to be backed by the Pirate Party of Russia, which advocates opposition to copyright laws.The mansion was first brought to public attention in December by a former business partner of Putin associates, who published an open letter to President Dmitry Medvedev decrying corruption in Russia.Pirate Party leader Pavel Rassudov, who denies connections to RuLeaks.ru, nevertheless told RFE/RL's Russian Service that the number of visitors to the site have spiked since it was launched a month ago."We have to confirm the mansion [is Putin's]," he said. "Then there has to be action, an appeal to the president asking whether there's corruption involved."Hmmmm.....Wow...The New Tsar his "Summer Palace"?This is not the residence of a PM this is the residence of the "Ruler" of all Russia?Read and SEE the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.22 Facts About California That Make You Wonder Why Anyone Would Still Want To Live In That Hellhole Of A State.Why in the world would anyone still want to live in the state of California at this point? Residents of California have been forced to endure a brutally oppressive level of taxation for many years, and yet the state of California has still managed to find itself on the verge of bankruptcy. California Governor Jerry Brown declared a "fiscal emergency" in his state on Thursday, but nobody is even pretending that such a declaration is actually going to help matters. Brown wants to cut even deeper into the state budget (even after tens of billions have already been slashed out of it in recent years) and he wants to explore ways to raise even more revenue. Meanwhile, the standard of living in California is going right into the toilet. Housing values are plummeting. Unemployment has risen above 20 percent in many areas of the state. Crime and gang activity is on the rise even as police budgets are being hacked to the bone. The health care system is an absolute disaster. At this point California has the fewest emergency rooms per million people out of all 50 states. While all of this has been going on, the state legislature in Sacramento has been very busy passing hundreds of new laws that are mostly about promoting one radical agenda or another. The state government has become so radically anti-business that it is a wonder that any businesses have remained in the state. It seems like the moving vans never stop as an endless parade of businesses and families leave California as quickly as they can.One of the only things keeping the population of California relatively stable at this point are the massive hordes of illegal immigrants that are constantly pouring into California cities. There are certain areas of major California cities that you simply do not ever want to go into anymore. In fact, there are rumors that the police will not even venture into certain areas anymore.Traffic in California is a bigger nightmare than it ever has been before and the state cannot even keep up with repairing the roads and infrastructure that it already has. There are a few areas of California where you can still see the promise of greatness and the amazing natural beauty that once attracted tens of millions of Americans to the state, but they are few and far between now. At this point, most of the state is turning into one gigantic hellhole.Perhaps the state could have some hope of turning things around if they had some solid leadership, but at this point the vast majority of the politicians in the state are pushing agendas that are so "radical" (not in a good way) and so "anti-American" that it is absolutely frightening.Yes, things really are that bad in California.The following are 22 facts about California that make you wonder why anyone would still want to live in that hellhole of a state....Read the full story here.

• Stunner: Gold Standard Fully Supported By... Alan Greenspan!?You read that right. After such establishment "luminaries" as World Bank president Robert Zoellick, Warren Buffett's father Howard, Jim Grant, and, most recently, Kansas Fed president Thomas Hoenig, all voiced their support for a return to a gold standard, the most recent addition to the motley group of contrite voodoo shamans is none othe than the man who is singlehandedly responsible for America's addiction to cheap toxic credit, who spawned such destroyers of the middle class as the current Chaircreature, and who currently is the chief advisor in John Paulson's crusade to gobble up every ounce of deliverable physical in the world: former Fed Chairman - Alan Greenspan! In an interview with Fox Business, the man who refuses to go away into that good night: "We have at this particular stage a fiat money which is essentially money printed by a government and it's usually a central bank which is authorized to do so. Some mechanism has got to be in place that restricts the amount of money which is produced, either a gold standard or a currency board, because unless you do that all of history suggest that inflation will take hold with very deleterious effects on economic activity... There are numbers of us, myself included, who strongly believe that we did very well in the 1870 to 1914 period with an international gold standard." And a further stunner: Greenspan himself wonders if we really need a central bank.Read the full story here.