Putin: "Moscow is ready to return to South stream project, but only if "guarantees" are provided."

Putin: "Moscow is ready to return to South stream project, but only if "guarantees" are provided." (novinite).

Russian President Putin said on Thursday his country didn't feel offended about Bulgaria and other countries' decision not to carry through the South Stream gas pipeline project due to their lack of "manliness".

Meeting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest, he said Moscow was ready to return to the project - abandoned in December 2014 - but only if "guarantees" were provided.

What several countries failed to show courage about was defying the European Commission, TASS news agency quotes Putin as saying.

The Russian President chose Hungary for his first state visit for 2017 and who on Thursday arrived to Budapest for the second time in two years, said projects such as South Stream should be completely "depoliticized".

Before departing for the visit, he had suggested the options to join either Turkish Stream or Nord Stream would remain open to Hungary.

The Bulgarian Black Sea port of Varna was the landfall of South Stream, once designed to carry 63 billion cubic meters of gas to Central Europe via Bulgaria and Serbia.

But Sofia froze the construction of the pipeline in the summer of 2014, after a warning from Brussels, and for months refused to issue construction permits for the offshore section that enters Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. Putin then announced the project was considered to be over, pitching an alternative "Turkish Stream" instead.

The European Commission deemed South Stream incompatible with its Third Energy Package of liberalization, which unbundles gas supply from the ownership of the infrastructure, meaning Russia would have to allow other suppliers into the pipes.

Last week, a Russian official revived the issue of a "pipeline to Varna", as a second route of Turkish Stream, could be considered by Moscow if Sofia wanted to go for it.

His words followed months-long negotiations with Turkey over the Turkish Stream pipeline, which substantially reduced the project in scope compared to the initial idea, with Ankara being offered limited options to serve as transit destination.

Luxembourg foreign minister calls for Hungary to be booted from EU.

Luxembourg foreign minister calls for Hungary to be booted from EU. (SofiaGlobe).

Tuesday’s edition of Die Welt newspaper carried an interview with the foreign minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, in which he called for Hungary to be “temporarily, or in the worst case, permanently” excluded from the European Union.

“We cannot accept that the basic values of the European Union are being massively violated,” Asselborn said in the article.

 “Anyone, such as Hungary, who builds fences against war refugees, or who infringes on the freedom of the press or the independence of the justice system” should be excluded.


Hungary has been one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of taking in refugees from conflict areas such as Syria. The nation, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has taken several steps to keep refugees out, including building fences along its borders. Hmmm.....So it's OK To violate human rights for 'Islamist' Turkey, and Iran, but not for Hungary? More here at DieWelt

Hungarian PM Orban says EU-Turkey migrant deal an ‘illusion’.

Hungarian PM Orban says EU-Turkey migrant deal an ‘illusion’. (HD).

"We are begging Mr (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan submissively for security on our borders, in exchange for money and promises, because we can't protect them ourselves," Orban told Thursday's mass-selling German daily Bild.

"This is making Europe's future and security dependent on the goodwill of Turkey."

"Brussels is making promises to the Turks that we can't keep - or don't want to keep. The plan to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees from Turkey and distribute them across Europe is an illusion," he said.

If Hungary agreed to this, he said, "they would tie me up on the flagpole here in Budapest". Read the full story here.

EU: Of 600,000 refugees, only 20% are Syrian, 72% men.

EU[Rabia]: Of 600,000 refugees, only 20% are Syrian, 72% men. (WaEx).

The refugee wave sweeping over the European Union has nearly reached last year's total of 662,000, but despite reports that many are families from Syria just 20 percent are from that war-torn nation and most are younger men.

Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, said that by August, 600,000 had arrived at the union's border seeking asylum, but just 121,500 were from Syria. The rest came from a collection of other countries including Kosovo, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Pew Research Center reviewed the Eurostat data and found that Germany is the overwhelming choice of those fleeing home nations, with 40 percent applying for asylum in Germany.

Pew noted that while the number of Syrians fleeing was lower than the impression given by the media coverage, many from other countries are claiming to be Syrian because people from that nation appear to be on the fast-track for asylum. Read the full story here.

Video - “Anti-migration sentiment in Europe is unnecessarily endangering the lives of migrants,”

“Anti-migration sentiment in Europe is unnecessarily endangering the lives of migrants,” William Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has warned the United Nations General Assembly.

With winter fast approaching, many undertaking the journey face further complications.

In recent days, temperatures have dropped significantly and many migrants have caught colds or the flu following days on the road in the rain and mud.

Croatia

Officials say more than 70,000 migrants have arrived in Croatia over the past few days.

A transit camp has been set up near the eastern border for the bus loads of people arriving from Serbia.

Austria

Some 10,500 people are waiting in Austria to enter Germany. However, with the country preparing to accept as many as 80,000 arrivals in 2015 alone, the German president has warned there are limits to the numbers Germany is able to receive.

But the amount of people making the journey doesn’t seem to be slowing down. According to the IOM, a record half a million migrants have crossed the Mediterranean between January and September 2015.

Between Sunday and Monday (September 27-28), 17 people lost their lives making the crossing

Video - PM Orban of Hungary has given a simple, earth-shattering and historic speech.

@MFS001 Golda to Hungary- We refuse to be the one people in the world which consents to having its fate decided by others

— ☇ Ann Atkins☇ (@Flash_History) September 26, 2015

Hungarian law makers approves army use of non lethal force: 'rubber bullets and tear gas' against refugees

Hungarian law makers approves army use of non lethal force: 'rubber bullets and tear gas' against refugees. (IBTimes).

Hungary's parliament has approved a controversial law that authorizes the wider use of the military to fence off migrants gathering on its borders. The legislation allows the army to use non-lethal weapons such as rubber bullets, pyrotechnical devices, tear gas grenades and net guns, according to a statement published on the Hungarian parliament's website.

Predictably, the far-right Jobbik party voted with the right-wing Fidesz party of prime minister Viktor Orban in the ballot. The law passed with 151 votes to 12 against and 27 abstains in the 199-strong parliament.

Defending the measure, Orban said Eastern European nations have to protect themselves from the "brutal threat" of mass migration into their countries, until the EU organises a communitarian response to the refugee crisis.

"The migrants are not just banging on our door: they're breaking it down," he said. "It is our historical and moral obligation to defend Europe. Europe is rich but weak."

On Monday, Hungary took out a full-page ad in a Lebanese newspaper to deter refugees from setting off for Europe. "Hungarians are hospitable but the strongest possible action is taken against those who attempt to enter Hungary illegally," the message read. "Do not listen to the people smugglers. Hungary will not allow illegal immigrants to cross its territory."

More than 430,000 migrants have arrived in Europe since January, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Most have crossed from Turkey to Greece and then proceeded north through the Balkans. Hmmm.....Turkey opened the flood gates send them back.Read the full story here.

Video - Hungarian gov spokesperson "Migrants are not peaceful, they carry a very clear danger"

Video - Hungarian Imam Ahmed Miklós Kovács: Homosexuals Are the Filthiest Creatures

During a Friday sermon on July 10, 2015, Imam Ahmed Miklós Kovács, Vice President of the Hungarian Muslim Community, stated that homosexuals are "the filthiest of Allah's creatures," and that Muslims "must never accept this disease."He instructed followers not to paint their Facebook image with rainbow colors.

Video - Thousands of Hungarians protest against compiling lists of Jews posing ‘security risk’.

Video - Thousands of Hungarians protest against compiling lists of Jews posing ‘security risk’.(RT).Over 10,000 have come out to an anti-Nazi rally in Budapest to demonstrate against a proposal of a far-right leader to draft lists of Hungarian Jews who may represent a “security risk”. The government and opposition parties both joined the protest. It all started when Marton Gyongyosi of the of the Hungarian Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), the country's largest far-right party, stated that it was time to determine “how many people of Jewish origin there are here, especially in the Hungarian parliament and the Hungarian government, who represent a certain national security risk.” Gyongyosi argued that this was needed because of the tensions after an eight-day attack on Gaza. He also said that Hungary's Foreign Ministry had "rushed to make an oath of allegiance to Israel." After the statement, Gyongyosi issued an apology, but still reaffirmed that Hungary needs to be cautious of “Zionist Israel and those serving it also from here.” The comments outraged much of the Hungarian population and led to the rally, organized by Jewish and civic groups. Over 10,000 attended the protest outside the parliament building and crowds chanted “Jobbik go away!” according to Hungarian media. Other protesters were seen holding billboard-size portraits of Gyongyosi with a Hitler mustache and “Heil Marci” wording underneath, referring to WWII-era German greeting. The rally was led by politicians from both the government and opposition parties. Parliamentary faction leader of the governing Fidesz party Antal Rogan addressed the crowd. “I came because in this situation I cannot stay quiet,” Rogan said. “Hungary defends its citizens.” Rogan said he is planning to take his two sons to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where it is estimated that one-third of the Nazis’ victims were Hungarian. He added that “genocide is always preceded by lists,” arguing that it was unacceptable that “people should fail to learn the lessons of the past 100 years.”Hmmmm......"Er Kommt". Read the full story here.

The Sun finds the world’s most wanted Nazi war criminal in Hungary, Csizsik-Csatary Sent 15,700 To Die.

The Sun finds the world’s most wanted Nazi war criminal in Hungary, Csizsik-Csatary Sent 15,700 To Die.(TheSun).The world’s most wanted Nazi war criminal - who helped send 15,700 Jews to their deaths at Auschwitz - has been tracked down by The Sun. Sadist Ladislaus Csizsik-Csatary, 97, was a police commander in charge of a Jewish ghetto in Kassa, Hungary, during World War Two. He took pleasure in beating women with a whip he carried on his belt, according to devastating documents uncovered by the Nazi-hunters at the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem.
Csizsik-Csatary also forced them to dig ditches in frozen ground with their bare hands, made dissenting Jews take up stress positions for hours, hit them with a dog lead and oversaw a shoot-on-sight policy if they tried to escape. He fled Kassa - now renamed Kosice in Slovakia - after the Allied victory and was sentenced to death for war crimes in his absence in Czechoslovakia in 1948. But Csizsik-Csatary created a new identity, turning up as an art dealer in Canada. When his cover was blown there - in 1997 - his citizenship was revoked and the government began to build a case against him. He fled before deportation papers could be served. For 15 years his whereabouts have been a mystery. But a Sun team tracked him down to a two-bedroom apartment in a smart district of Budapest, Hungary. Our investigators were given details of where he might be by the Holocaust campaigners at the Wiesenthal Centre. The human rights organisation had been given a tip-off after launching Operation Last Chance, aimed at bringing World War Two Nazis to justice before they die. Once our team found Csizsik-Csatary they were able to establish he was the Nazi collaborator - Number One on the Wiesenthal Centre’s most wanted list. We confronted him at the flat where he had been living quietly among families unaware of his chilling past. Csizsik-Csatary, who speaks English with a Canadian accent after decades living in Montreal and Toronto, answered the door in just socks and underpants. When we asked if he could justify his past, he looked shocked and stammered “No, no. Go away.” Questioned about his deportation case in Canada he answered angrily in English: “No, no. I don’t want to discuss it.” Our reporter asked: “Do you deny doing it? A lot of people died as a result of your actions.”Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Live broadcast info from Japan directly ! Here.

• Libya Live Blog - April 29. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Syria Live Blog - April 29. Here (Al-Jazeera).

• Live feed and highlights of the Royal wedding from :

"The Royal Channel"  here.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world low seismic activity in Japan  today between 4.9 and 5.0! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 100.Source : Here .

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

• Obama’s Economic Policies Create Misery.(Cato)The public has finally started to give President Obama’s economic policies a big “thumbs down”. This shouldn’t surprise anyone who is familiar with the Misery Index.While President Obama sings the glories of big government, it is ironic that he has been marked by the curse of government failure. One metric that measures how this curse will affect the President’s performance is the Misery Index.Read and see the full story here.

• What is it about twin girls born day after Obama?(WND).(See previous post wednesday).Today, Barack Obama blinked – releasing birth records he has hired lawyers to prevent the public from seeing, even at the expense of allowing U.S. Army Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin to be court-martialed and sent to prison for having dared ask questions the White House until now has resolutely dismissed with ridicule and disdain. A key problem for Obama is that birth certificates issued to twin girls born one day later at Kapi'olani hospital, the Nordykes, are the Rosetta Stone of deciphering both Obama's previously released short-form Certification of Live Birth and the newly released purported copy of his long-form birth certificate.The problem since the short-form certificate was released during the 2008 presidential campaign has always been this:

As WND reported, the long-form birth certificates issued by Kapi'olani to the Nordyke twins have certificate numbers lower than the number given Obama, even though the president purportedly was born at the same hospital a day earlier than the Nordykes.

Note, Susan Nordyke, the first twin, was born at 2:12 p.m. Hawaii time Aug. 5, 1961, and was given certificate No. 151 – 61 – 10637, which was filed with the Hawaii registrar Aug. 11, 1961.

Gretchen Nordyke, the second twin, was born at 2:17 p.m. Hawaii time Aug. 5, 1961, and was given certificate No. 151 – 61 – 10638, which was also filed with the Hawaii registrar Aug. 11, 1961.

Yet, according to the Certification of Live Birth displayed by FactCheck.org during the 2008 presidential campaign – and now according to the long-form birth certificate the White House released today – Barack Obama was given a higher certificate number than the Nordykes.

Note, Obama was given certificate No. 151 – 1961 – 10641, even though he was born Aug. 4, 1961, the day before the Nordyke twins, and his birth was registered with the Hawaii Department of Health registrar three days earlier, Aug. 8, 1961.In 1961, the birth certificate numbers were not assigned by the hospitals. Instead, the numbers were stamped to the birth record by the Hawaii Department of Health at the main office in Honolulu. This is the only place birth certificate numbers were assigned. At the last step of the process, the documents were accepted by the registrar general, with the date of registration inserted in box No. 22 on the lower right hand corner of the long-form birth certificate. The date the birth document was accepted by the registrar general was the date the birth certificate number was stamped on the birth record. The birth certificate number was stamped on the form by a rubber stamp that automatically increased by one each time a birth certificate was stamped. The question, therefore, is how was it possible that the Nordyke twins had their birth certificates accepted by the registrar general in Hawaii three days later than the registrar general accepted Obama's birth certificate, when the twins' numbers are lower than Obama's number?Now that President Obama has personally vouched for the authenticity of the birth certificate the White House released today, he can reasonably be asked to authorize Kapi'olani Medical Center to release any and all medical records the hospital may hold for his mother and Barack Obama Sr., his listed father. The debate over Obama's eligibility to be president has truly only just begun, with Obama's status having changed overnight from a bemused observer to a full-contact participant. Two weeks before the publication of my book "Where's the Birth Certificate?" the effort to document Obama's past has begun in earnest. Fundamentally, the world changed for Barack Obama this morning, not just in increasing pressure for the release of the many hidden documents about his past, but in the inescapable reality that the White House must defend this newly released birth certificate as authentic. Before today, Obama may have attempted to explain away problems with the short-form Certification of Live Birth as the work of his supporters. Before today, the president largely remained above the fray. Now, he has fully engaged in the presentation and defense of his birth records and his status as a "natural born citizen" under Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. Obama's presidency now depends upon the White House being able to support the veracity of all the information contained in the birth document released yesterday morning. In the final analysis, proof that the document is an authentic Obama birth record will await forensic examination.Read the full story here.

• Barack Obama’s Birth Certificate. So Fake It Had To Be Done On Purpose.(LogisticsMonster). The only curiosity questions I have left is ‘why obviously forged’ and ‘why now?’ Who gains and how?Now for the forgery. First up; Karl Denninger of MarketTicker.org showing that the AP’s scan of the document the White House gave them is just that; a scan. He then shows the document that was posted on the White House website as a manufactured photoshop document that has layers, overlays, no ‘scan landmarks’, color blurring, etc.Next up, Alex Jones and one of his photoshop experts explaining the layering, original print and added print, and wondering why the White House would release an obviously assembled document.Hmmm........In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way. – Franklin D. Roosevelt.Read the full story here.

• Obama regime punishes reporter for using multimedia.(SfGate).The hip, transparent and social media-loving Obama administration is showing its analog roots. And maybe even some hypocrisy highlights. White House officials have banished one of the best political reporters in the country from the approved pool of journalists covering presidential visits to the Bay Area for using now-standard multimedia tools to gather the news.The Chronicle's Carla Marinucci - who, like many contemporary reporters, has a phone with video capabilities on her at all times - pulled out a small video camera last week and shot some protesters interrupting an Obama fundraiser at the St. Regis Hotel. She was part of a "print pool" - a limited number of journalists at an event who represent their bigger hoard colleagues - which White House press officials still refer to quaintly as "pen and pad" reporting.But that's a pretty Flintstones concept of journalism for an administration that presents itself as the Jetsons. Video is every bit a part of any journalist's tool kit these days as a functioning pen that doesn't leak through your pocket.The President and his staffers deftly used social media like Twitter and Facebook in his election campaign and continue to extol the virtues and value. Except, apparently, when it comes to the press.So what's up with the White House? We can't say because neither Press Secretary Jay Carney nor anyone from his staff would speak on the record.Other sources confirmed that Carla was vanquished, including Chronicle editor Ward Bushee, who said he was "informed that Carla was removed as a pool reporter." Which shouldn't be a secret in any case because it's a fact that affects the newsgathering of our largest regional paper (and sfgate)and how local citizens get their information.What's worse: more than a few journalists familiar with this story are aware of some implied threats from the White House of additional and wider punishment if Carla's spanking became public. Really? That's a heavy hand usually reserved for places other than the land of the free.Mason referred to the San Francisco St. Regis protest as "a highly newsworthy event" where "reporters had to rely on written pool reports..."Except, thanks to Carla's quick action with her camera, they didn't. I get that all powerful people and institutions want to control their image and their message. That's part of their job, to create a mythology that allows them to continue being powerful. But part of the press' job is to do the opposite, to strip away the cloaks and veneers. By banning her, and by not acknowledging how contemporary media works, the White House did not just put Carla in a cage but more like one of those stifling pens reserved for calves on their way to being veal.Carla cannot do her job to the best of her ability if she can't use all the tools available to her as a journalist. The public still sees the videos posted by protesters and other St. Regis attendees, because the technology is ubiquitous. But the Obama Administration apparently wants to give the distinct advantage to citizen witnesses at the expense of professionals.Why? Well, they won't tell us.The White House Press Correspondents' Association pool reporting guidelines warn about "no hoarding" of information and also say, "pool reports must be filed before any online story or blog." While uploading her video probably was the best way to file her report, Carla may have technically busted the letter of that law.But the guidelines also say, "Print poolers can snap pictures or take video. They are not obliged to share these pictures...but can make them available if they so choose."Then what guidelines is the White House applying here? Again, we don't know."We've come full circle here," Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Pew Foundation's Project for Excellence in Journalism told me today. "A newspaper reporter is being punished because she took pictures with a moving camera. We live in a world where there are no longer distinctions. The White House is trying to live by 20th century distinctions."Hmmmm.....Dictatorship or Democracy?Don't 'soil' dear leader.Read the full story here.

• Mexican drug gangs being armed with U.S. weapons.(DailyMail).Mexican drug cartels are being armed with weapons supplied by the U.S., leaked documents show.The WikiLeaks files, written by U.S. military chiefs, reveal that grenades and light anti-tank weapons seized from drug traffickers in Mexico and Colombia were from the U.S.A cable entitled ‘Honduras: Military weapons fuel black market in arms’ states that the serial numbers of arms taken from drug gangs coincide with those supplied by the U.S. to the Honduran Armed Forces.According to the Defense Intelligence Agency file, the brands and serial numbers seized equipment are the same as a shipment sent to the Second Infantry Battallion in Honduras.‘The [U.S. Government] has become aware that light anti-tank weapons (LAWs) and grenades supplied to Honduras under the Foreign Military Sales program were recovered in Mexico and Colombia,’ the cable said.‘According to the [Defense Intelligence Agency] report, three light anti-tank weapons (LAWs) were recovered in Mexico City in January 2008, and one was recovered in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in April 2008.’‘Over 50 per cent of the military-type weapons that are flowing throughout the region have a large source between Central American stockpiles, if you will, left over from wars and conflicts in the past,’ said General Douglas Fraser, the head of the U.S. Southern Command in the memo.According to the report, in April 2008, an investigation by the Honduran Armed Forces showed that the battalion did not know the whereabouts of 26 pieces of military equipment supplied by the U.S. for training.The weapons had been sent in 1992 as a part of U.S. military sales to foreign armies.The leaked cable comes as Mexico explores lawsuits against U.S. gun makers to stem flow of illegal arms.Gun stores on the border between the U.S. have Mexico have been criticised for their firearms ending up in the hands of drug cartels.Spreading drug gang violence has claimed more than 34,600 lives in Mexico over the past four years with more than 15,000 deaths last year.The drug wars have prompted foreign governments, including the U.S., to issue a number of travel warnings for parts of Mexico.Hmmmm........Read the full story here.

• Bill Fletcher, Jr. – Leading Socialist Calls for Mass Actions, Law Breaking, to Re-Elect Obama in 2012.(NewZeal).Bill Fletcher, Jr., is a Senior Scholar with the far left Institute for Policy Studies, and a member of both Democratic Socialists of America and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.In 2008, Fletcher co-founded Progressives for Obama, with veteran activist Tom Hayden, leftist actor Danny Glover and fellow DSAer Barbara Ehrenreich.Writing in The Rag Blog, Fletcher explains what “progressives” must do, to secure a victory for Barack Obama in 2008.It is a grass roots vision, taking focus off the President and instead using mass action and the people’s movements to unseat to defeat Republicans and centrist Democrats.It is a revolutionary vision, in that it calls for law breaking, and “masses of people making a situation untenable”.It is an internationalist vision, looking to revolutions abroad, both for inspiration and solidarity.This is a “people’s power” strategy, owing not a little to recent events in the Middle East.Comrade Fletcher says “progressives” must :

We desperately need mass action. Wisconsin was wonderful for many reasons but one important one was the sustained presence in the capitol. A protest movement focused on power needs to be prepared to break the law, not through the actions of a few individuals, but much as happened in Wisconsin, as well as in the Civil Rights movement, with masses of people making a situation untenable.But we also have to develop key strategic targets for our actions where we are clear on what we want them to do. This will largely happen at the local level at first, but it can also happen at the national level, such as through selective boycotts.

While many on the US left express disappointment with Obama, when push comes to shove, they will back their man to the hilt,

The US left understands that 2012 is decisive.If a conservative Republican wins, they know that many of the US left’s hard fought gains will be rolled back.If Obama wins, they know the socialist juggernaut will be virtually unstoppable.Consequently the US left, from Democrats to socialists, to Marxist-Leninists, will throw every thing into this election. Look for mass protests, street violence, intimidation and mass law breaking, as the US left mounts a do or die, last gasp “Thet Offensive” against Middle America and its values.Hmmmm.......The 'ShutszStaffels' are forming?Read the full story here.

• DHS Insider: White House Silencing Reports That Border Patrol Has Caught Iranians, Syrians and Yemenese on Mexico-Arizona Border.(DougRoss)."Vinnie", a caller from Long Beach, California on last night's Mark Levin radio program, told a brief, chilling tale of border insecurity.You need to get this out to the people. I became aware about OTMs [Other Than Mexicans] coming over the border.I work for Homeland [Security] and in our prisons right now, we have, Iranians, Afghanis, Pakistanis, Yemenese, Syrians... and our Border Patrol has found... the drug cartels are going to smuggle terrorists and terrorist weapons across our porous borders... especially in Arizona [Ed: would that be the same Arizona that the Obama administration's Justice Department has sued for enforcing immigration law? Why, yes, it would be]......So, we need to secure the borders -- and I don't know why this administration has not done anything... previous administrations have not done anything... this is a major issue. We are going to be hit from within. It's not going to come from outside, it's going to come from within......The [American] people are in the dark. They don't know what's going on. We apprehended more than a quarter-of-a-million illegals last year. Hundreds -- hundreds -- of those were OTMs. So this is a big concern and we need to get this [news] out in the open.But rather than protect the border, the cynical Obama administration and its Democrat sycophants are suing states like Arizona for enforcing the nation's immigration laws.Hmmmm......"The 'Ennemy' within our borders?Read the full story here.

• Turkey - Obama's best ally and Friend helped landmark Palestinian reconciliation.(TodaysZaman).Turkish officials on Thursday confirmed that they played a crucial role in efforts to end a more than three-year split between rival Palestinian governments in the West Bank and Gaza; however, they stressed that they do not intend to cast a shadow over Egypt's role and efforts in achieving Palestinian reconciliation. Rival Palestinian groups on Wednesday announced they had reached an agreement on reuniting their governments in the West Bank and Gaza after years of bitter infighting, which had weakened them politically and caused the deaths of hundreds in violent clashes and crackdowns.The plan brokered by Egypt calls for the formation of a single caretaker government over coming days. The government will administer day-to-day business until new presidential and legislative elections are held in a year’s time.Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu became intensely involved in the issue after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas initiated a telephone conversation with him on March 31 and informed him of his call to Hamas on March 16. At the time Davutoğlu conveyed his support for Abbas’s announcement, in which he said he intended to visit the Gaza Strip in a bid to end the bitter split with the Hamas movement that governs the territory.Davutoğlu initiated a telephone conversation with Abbas late on Wednesday night and the two assessed developments regarding the deal between the two Palestinian factions, diplomatic sources told Today’s Zaman on Thursday. Davutoğlu expressed his pleasure over the fact that an agreement had been finally reached, sources said.Hmmmm.....Wednesday night.....right... that was just after Panetta left Turkey from that five day 'working visit',no wonder Obama calls Erdogan weekly"The enemy of my enemy is my friend"? Read the full story here.

• Should You Buy A Home In 2011? Check Out These 29 Absolutely Crazy Statistics About The Housing Crisis.(TheAmericanDream).Has the U.S. housing market reached a "bottom" yet? Are home prices going to start recovering? Is the housing crisis going to end at some point? Today there are millions of American families that would like to buy homes but they are not sure what to do. After all, nobody wants to end up like all the suckers that bought at the top of the market and now owe far more on their mortgages then their homes are worth. A lot of people are really afraid to take out home loans right now. So should you buy a home in 2011? That is a very good question. The reality is that there are a lot of reasons why home prices could continue to fall. Unemployment is still rampant, and American families simply cannot afford to buy homes without good jobs. Also, lending institutions have really, really tightened lending standards. That is really restricting the number of buyers in the marketplace. The number of foreclosures set another record high last year so there are a ton of homes that need to be sold and not a lot of demand for them. So with all of these factors working against the real estate market, are there any reasons why anyone would actually want to buy a home in 2011?Well, yes there are. The truth is that all of the reckless money printing that the Federal Reserve has been doing and all of the insane borrowing that the U.S. government has been doing have flooded our financial system with new dollars. At some point all of these new dollars are going to cause a tremendous amount of inflation.Right now we are seeing the price of gas go up and the price of food go up, but eventually the price of everything (including housing) will go up.When the U.S. economy totally collapses, you are going to want to have your housing expenses locked in. In a highly inflationary environment you may find that your wages do not keep up with inflation and at some point you may be unable to afford to buy any kind of a decent house at all. If you are renting, you may have to deal with rent increase after rent increase.The best way to avoid housing inflation when it comes will be to own your own home and have a mortgage with a fixed interest rate. But the timing is key. You don't want to buy that home too early and you don't want to buy that home too late.So when will the exact "right" time be?That is very hard to say.However, to give us all some numbers to think about, the following are 29 absolutely crazy statistics about the housing crisis that show just how nightmarish the U.S. housing market is right now....I'll give you One:

Deutsche Bank is projecting that 48 percent of all U.S. mortgages could have negative equity by the end of 2011.Hmmmm......."Change"?Read the full story here.

• Wal-Mart CEO: Consumers feeling the crunch more and more. (MarketWatch) — Consumers’ spending power has been affected In the face of rising fuel prices and other inflationary pressures.The world’s largest retailer /quotes/comstock/13*!wmt/quotes/nls/wmt WMT +0.50% , which gets 140 million customers in its U.S. Walmart stores alone every week, has seen more shoppers spending more on the first day of the month when they receive their paychecks, Duke said at The Wall Street Journal Viewpoints executive breakfast presentation in New York. “Our customers are running out of money, buying smaller pack sizes and less discretionary items near the end of the month,” Duke said. “It shows greater pressure on consumers. Rising fuel price has been one of the factors that affect consumer spending. The end of paycheck cycle is pronounced among our core customers.” Consumers, still facing a near 9% unemployment rate, also is bracing for other inflationary cost pressures in areas such as fresh foods even as categories such as consumer electronics continue to see price declines, Duke said. “Inflation and fuel price have come into place” along with other economic pressures to hurt consumer spending, he said.With the rising fuel pressures, Duke said one-stop shopping has “become even more important.” Consumers also have become more focused on “value and price” and use technology such as smart phones to compare prices while in stores, he said.Hmmmm......."Change"?Read the full story here.

• Oklahoma Senate Passes Illegal Immigration Bill, Bans Illegals From Working in State, Allows Police Officers to Check Immigration Status.(Reuters).The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would create criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants who work in Oklahoma and those who smuggle them into the state.It would also give police officers more authority to question citizenship status of suspects.The bill, approved by a 37-8 vote, originated in the Oklahoma House and underwent revisions in the Senate. The two chambers must reconcile differences in the bill before it can go to Governor Mary Fallin. Senators faced a deadline on Thursday to pass bills that originate in the House.Oklahoma is one of several states — including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah — where Republicans are pushing immigration measures reminiscent of the one that became law in Arizona a year ago. The Arizona law required police to investigate the immigration status of anyone they detained and suspected of being in the country illegally.Under the Oklahoma measure, local police officers trained through a federal program would be authorized to ask about immigration status.The bill would also make it a misdemeanor for undocumented immigrants to work, apply for work or solicit work in a public place. Convictions could result in up to a year in jail and/or a $500 fine.

In addition, the measure:

- Targets the common practice of employers hiring day workers who gather along roadways by making it a misdemeanor to stop a vehicle in a roadway and impede traffic while picking up workers. In addition, it prohibits undocumented workers from entering vehicles stopped in a roadway.

- Prohibits employers from hiring workers who do not have proper identification issued by state or federal authorities, but it does not call for any specific punishment for violations.

- Makes human smuggling for profit a felony offense punishable by no less than a year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine; it also allows for the forfeiture of vehicles used to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country.

- Repeals a section of Oklahoma law that enables undocumented immigrants in the state to pay in-state tuition for college.Hmmm....How long before Holder comes charging on his white horse?Read the full story here.

• Grocers prepare for anti-Walker stickering thugs.(JsOnline). The Wisconsin Grocers Association has alerted members to an anti-Walker product sticker campaign planned for May 1.Opponents of Gov. Scott Walker for months have been urging people to boycott companies linked to donations to Walker's campaign. Now there is an effort under way to expand the boycott nationally to encourage people to go into stores and place stickers on products.Among products targeted for stickers are Johnsonville brats, AngelSoft toilet paper, Sargento cheese and Coors beer.The grocers group has produced a sign that stores can post alerting people that placing stickers on products in stores is illegal. But the trade group's chief executive officer, Brandon Scholz, said he didn't expect the proponents of the sticker campaign to be successful."I would be astounded if this happened to a single store in the state," Scholz said. Aside from the fact that anyone engaged in defacing products risks arrest, there is a logistical challenge, he said."Unless they're going to label thousands of products, it's going to have zero effect," Scholz said.The identity of the backers of the sticker effort is unknown, although many assume it is being orchestrated by public employee unions. This latest effort follows boycotts organized by members of the Wisconsin State Employees Union AFSCME 24.In March, members of the union circulated a letter to businesses in southeast Wisconsin, asking them to support workers' rights by putting up a sign in their windows. The letter said the businesses would be boycotted if they didn't comply with the request.Hmmm....Reminds me so much of 1936 Germany and the "brownshirts' their tactics.Read the full story here.

• Assad to Erdogan: Reforms Will Continue. Turkey (Obama regime) Worried.(Memri).According to the pro-AKP Turkish daily Sabah, Turkey's warnings to Damascus forced Bashar al-Assad to take steps. Al-Assad phoned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said that he was standing behind his earlier promises. "Reforms in Syria will continue," al-Assad told Erdogan. During their conversation Assad and Erdogan discussed the reasons behind the delay in implementing the necessary reforms. According to Assad the fact that the police force was not strong enough necessitated the involvement of the military, which caused further escalation. Turkey reiterated its readiness to help and the answer was, “We expect Turkey’s support for the establishment of security and stability and for implementation of the reforms”.Turkey’s Ambasador to Damascus Omer Onhon, who was called back for consultations, participated at a high level evaluation meeting at the Turkish Foreign Ministry. It was decided that Turkey will dispatch a special delegation to Damascus today – and not just an envoy. According to sources that participated in the meeting, which preceeds today’s special meeting of Turkey’s National Security Council, following evaluations were made:

- It is difficult to say that Assad has full control of his security forces. There are anti-Turkey elements within the Syrian intelligence.

- Syria is not Libya. There is no civil war yet. The events in Syria are in the realm of street fights.

- Turkey is very worried about the possibility of growth of the turmoil. Instability in Syria would affect Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and Israel.

- The international community has not yet demanded the ousting of Assad.

- Assad was late in taking the steps towards reform. It is difficult for him now to suppress the rebels without use of force.

- There are differences of view between Assad and the military. Police is not strong.

- The U.S. (Obama) differs from the EU in its attitude towards Damascus and it does not target Assad.Hmmmm.....Very Strange how Obama and Turkey always favor the Anti Israel countries?Read the full story here.

• Syrian, Iranian Officials: U.S. Will Be Harmed If It Acts Against Assad.(Memri).Syrian and Iranian officials have told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai that the Middle East will be ablaze if there is any attempt to change the balance of power within it, and threatened that harming the regime in Syria will have grave ramifications for Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan, and for the U.S. forces in the region. They said that the Syrian regime can allow mujahideen to infiltrate into Iraq to harm American interests there, and that it will be possible to harm Americans in the regions under Taliban control if they act against the Syrian regime.Read the full story here.

• Threatening and Murdering Muslim porn stars.Sexual liberation is proving to be no match for jihad.(WashingtonTimes).Islamists are targeting Western Muslim porn stars. This is how far the West has fallen: The porn star versus the Koran. Sila Sahin, a daytime TV soap-opera star, has sparked a public firestorm in Germany. The 25-year-old actress appears topless on the current cover of the German edition of Playboy. By Western standards, Ms. Sahin’s behavior is typical, even tame. She is an amoral celebrity hoping to cash in on her fame by baring it all. Been there, done that. Marilyn Monroe, Drew Barrymore, Daryl Hannah - the list goes on of celebrities who have posed for Playboy.Yet Ms. Sahin is Muslim. Raised in Germany by conservative Turkish parents, she is casting her actions as a form of personal liberation, a brave rebellion against the strict moral standards and repressive sexual norms of her traditional religious upbringing.“For years I subordinated myself to various societal constraints,” Ms. Sahin said in Britain’s Sun newspaper. “The Playboy photo shoot was a total act of liberation.”She added: “What I want to say with these photos is, ‘Girls, we don’t have to live according to the rules imposed upon us.’ “I am woman, watch me pose. Ms. Sahin is the new darling of European feminism, while she is despised by Germany’s burgeoning Islamic community. It is calling upon the country’s 3 million Muslims to boycott Ms. Sahin. She has been branded a “Western slut” and “whore.” Her father reportedly is ashamed and shocked by her behavior. Her mother is no longer speaking to her. Many Europeans are simply baffled: Why would any self-respecting parent object to their daughter being in Playboy? Isn’t that the goal of every young woman?Ms. Sahin is its latest victim and a symbol of the West’s decadence. Yet Germans are now waking up to another horror - that many of their fellow Muslims want the actress to be killed.Islamic websites have posted threats. “She must pay,” one said. “She needs to be very careful,” another warned. German TV crews then asked some ordinary Muslims on the street what they thought of Ms. Sahin’s actions. To their shock, some openly espoused the right to honor killing. A kebab shop owner vowed that if she were his daughter, “I would kill her. I really mean that. That doesn’t fit with my culture.”Hmmmm......."The religion of Peace".Read the full story here.

• Turkey where Domestic violence flourishes unchallenged.(Hurriyetdaily).She is neither a celebrity nor a prominent politician, but a bodyguard escorts Nahide Opuz at every step, even at the supermarket, to fend off a menace that has proved lethal: herprominent politician, but a bodyguard escorts Nahide Opuz at every step, even at the supermarket, to fend off a menace that has proved lethal: her ex-husband.The 39-year-old mother of two is the first Turkish woman to have a government-funded bodyguard after the European Court of Human Rights condemned Turkey in 2009 for failing to protect her and her slain mother.Before the landmark case reached the judges in Strasbourg, Opuz was repeatedly beaten and survived both a stabbing and an attempt to run her over with a car.After Turkish authorities repeatedly failed to act on her complaints, her ex-husband killed her mother.Opuz, from the mainly Kurdish southeast, now lives a secluded life."For her, it is impossible to talk about and have a normal life. She has been haunted by violence and death threats all throughout her marriage and afterward," lawyer Meral Danış Beştaş told AFP.Activists say violence against women in the EU-candidate country has reached an alarming level and point the finger at the judicial authorities and the ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, or AKP.In February and March, 52 women were killed by men, according to a tally by BIAnet, a news site focusing on human rights abuses.The figure was at least 217 for last year, and 27 percent of them were killed after asking for a divorce.In another major shortcoming, Turkey, a country of some 74 million, has only 49 women's shelters even though the law obliges each city with a population over 50,000 to have one.From 2002 to 2009, the number of women killed in pre-meditated murders rose 14-fold, according to Justice Ministry statistics that do not provide details on the perpetrators and circumstances."The problem in Turkey has reached the level of ‘gendercide,’" said Hülya Gülbahar, a leading women's rights activist.Women have long been victims of violence, including honor killings, in a country where patriarchal traditions persist.But critics argue the problem has been compounded in recent years by the AKP's advocacy of conservative values."The AKP's conservatism and Islam target the woman's body and sexuality," said Pınar İlkkaracan, a rights campaigner.Gülbahar also blamed mounting violence on "an intense propaganda that women and men are not equal by creation, and women are therefore responsible for housework and motherhood."Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – who once called women activists "marginals" – came under fire last year when he said, "men and women cannot be equal" but only "complementary to each other."Hmmmm....."Islam the religion of peace",Keep Turkey out of the European Union!Read the full story here.

• "Life and Death in Iran's Prisons".Mostafa Tajzadeh’s Condition Deteriorating, 11 Months Solitary Confinement, Evidence of Torture.(Persian2English).According to the latest reports from Evin prison, Mostafa Tajzadeh’s physical condition has become increasingly worrisome.Mostafah Tajzadeh, a senior member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization [a reformist organization, not to be confused with banned opposition group MKO], who returned to Evin prison 9 months ago after seven reformists complained about Commander Moshfegh*, is reportedly in terrible physical condition. When Tajzadeh was summoned back to Evin prison to complete his 6 year prison sentence, due to interference by the IRGC’s Intelligence Unit, he was transferred to a cell under supervision of the Intelligence Ministry rather than the general ward reserved for most political prisoners.For a while, Tajzadeh, who was the Political Vice Minister of the Ministry of Interior of Iran in during the administration of Mohammad Khatami, shared a cell with Mohammad Nourizad at Evin’s Ward 2A. However, after Ashura, Nourizad’s hunger strike and being transferred to a hospital, Tajzadeh was once again held in solitary confinement for long periods of time.According to reports from anonymous Green sources at Evin prison, Tajzadeh also shared a cell for several months with an inmate with psychological problems, which was designed to be more difficult to endure than solitary confinement and increase the level of torture and inflict more pressure on him.These sources also report that prisoners who accidentally witnessed Tajzadeh being transferred in recent days expressed grave concern for his well being.In the past two years, Tajzadeh has endured a minimum 15 months in solitary confinement and in cells holding two inmates, 11 months of which show clear evidence of torture while in solitary confinement.According to experts and political activists, Tajzadeh has been treated very poorly by IRGC agents in Evin prison. It appears that IRGC agents are determined to take revenge against this well-known political figure.Read the full story here.

• Hungary's Rising Right.Roma Defenseless against Extremist Vigilantes.(Spiegel).Right-wing extremists have been on the rise for years in Hungary, and the country's Roma population lives in increasing terror. The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has preferred to look the other way as vigilante groups have supplanted the rule of law.It was one year ago that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's national-conservative Fidesz party rose to power behind populist calls for law, order and more police. Soon after he was sworn in, he promised a "noticeable increase in public security within two weeks." But now, his government is losing its grip. The police and the judiciary have lost control over the growing right-extremist citizen groups and paramilitary-style gangs. In recent months, extremists have repeatedly staged marches, primarily in eastern Hungary, against "Gypsy criminality." And police in the villages which have been targeted have shown a preference for standing aside. Roma activist Aladár Horváth says that the country has been gripped by a "civil war-like atmosphere" and "rampant racism."

The situation is particularly grim in the village of Gyöngyöspata. On Tuesday, right-wing radicals entered the town and three people were injured in the resulting brawls. Dozens more extremists marched in on Wednesday morning. Fully 100 Roma left the village as a result, according to news agency MTI.As early as the beginning of March, the right-extremist group Szeb Jövöért ("better future") -- the name comes from an old fascist greeting -- showed up in the village. Last week, it was Véderö, likewise a group of right-wing vigilantes, which arrived in Gyöngyöspata to take part in training exercises over Easter weekend. Police banned the event, but two-thirds of the 450 Roma who live in the village left anyway, out of fear of right-wing violence. They spent Easter in a recreation center near Budapest. The exodus was organized by a foundation run by an American businessman in Hungary together with the Red Cross. The government, including State Secretary Zoltán Balog, referred to the trip as a "weekend excursion."

Roma activist Aladár Horváth says the case of Gyöngyöspata is a sign that the Hungarian state has retreated from certain regions and left them to the right-wing vigilantes. "For the Roma there, the rule of law, the police and the judiciary simply don't exist anymore," he says. "They are defenseless."The Hungarian Guard, clad in black uniforms, made a habit of frequently marching through towns and villages to call attention to so-called "Gypsy criminality," often with the raucous approval of non-Roma residents. Consequences for Roma, however, were often grim. In 2008, for example, the Hungarian Guard repeatedly turned up in the village of Tatárszentgyörgy, south of Budapest. In February 2009, a right-wing group set alight a house belonging to a Roma family on the edge of the village. A man and his son were shot to death as they tried to escape from the flames; his wife and daughter were seriously injured by gunfire.The perpetrators, who ultimately murdered a total of six randomly chosen Roma and injured 55 in arson and firearm attacks, were arrested in the summer of 2009. They are currently being tried in Budapest. But horror at their crimes was far from widespread and right-extremist marches continued.Jobbik was able to build on their general election success last April by securing up to 30 percent of the vote in eastern Hungary in municipal elections last autumn. In the small town of Tiszavasvári, population 13,000, the right-extremist mayoral candidate Erik Fülöp received 53 percent of the vote. Party head Gábor Vona has since referred to the town as the "capital of our movement" -- a reference to Munich's Third Reich nickname as "capital of the movement."Hmmmm......1939 Germany ...The Jews .,The gypsies ,the gay and the mentally ill.Read the full story here.

• Iranian Daily: The Saudis' War In Bahrain Is Against God.(Memri).The Iranian daily Jomhouri-e Eslami stated that the war waged by the Saudi royal family in Bahrain is a crime against Islam and a war against God, because during it the Saudis burned copies of the Koran and desecrated mosques and places of worship in Bahrain. The paper added that the Saudi Al-Saud and Bahraini Al-Khalifa royal families' roar of victory over the demonstrators in Bahrain would not last long, because "divine retribution" was imminent. Source.

• Police brace for PA's declaration of state.(Ynet).Police Chief Dudi Cohen says major disruptions of order are expected once Palestinians declare statehood in September. 'We are preparing for worst-case scenario,' he says.As part of the defense establishment's preparation for the Palestinian Authority's projected declaration of independence in September, outgoing Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen said Thursday that the police is expecting the worst."The police's orders for September are to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which we are working on right now," he said. "We are conducting a repeat inspection of all of the headquarters. The scenario includes large-scale disruptions of order. "What is certain for September is the place and the date, but I suppose that until then some actions will take place both in the international and political arenas."In light of the recent wave of international recognition for the Palestinian state, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned recently of what might happen once the PA makes the unilateral move."We are facing a political tsunami of which most of the public is unaware," he said. "There is an international movement to recognize a Palestinian state within 1967 borders. It would be a mistake not to take notice of this." Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki said that 150 nations are expected recognize a Palestinian state by September. He claimed that 10 Caribbean countries are to declare recognition of the state over the coming month. Hmmmmm......I'm pretty sure you'll need a lot more then police,thank you verry much HUSSEIN!Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Turkey's hopes run high for Hungary's EU term presidency.Turkish officials have expressed optimism about moving ahead with the country’s EU accession negotiations during the Hungarian term presidency despite a lack of progress under previous EU president Belgium.“Hungary has already taken its first step to support Turkey’s EU membership,” State Minister Egemen Bağış, Turkey’s chief EU negotiator, told daily Sabah on Sunday. “It will organize a ministerial summit for the candidate countries Jan. 13 in Hungary. Candidate countries, including Turkey, will come together for the first time since 2005.When asked about his expectations from the Hungarian term presidency, Bağış recalled a meeting he held last year with Hungarian President Pal Schmitt. “He told me: ‘Normally I do not meet with ministers. You are the first one in this category. There is a reason for this,’” Bağış said. “‘Your ancestors who ruled our country in the past did not intervene in either our religion or our language. They approached us with tolerance.’”According to Bağış, the Hungarian president promised to back Turkey’s EU bid just as Turkey supported Hungary’s NATO membership.Hmmmm.....Meanwhile some of the EU doubts if Hungary is even qualified to lead the EU.The European Union’s charter calls for respect for the rule of law, human rights, economic progress and media freedom. Some in Brussels are wondering whether Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country takes over the rotating EU presidency on Jan. 1, has read it. I guess the choice of your friends says a lot about one?Read the full story here.

• HT:AINA.Egyptian Security Guards Withdrew One Hour Before Church Blast, Say Eyewitnesses.The car explosion that went off in front of Saints Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria killed 21 and injured 96 parishioners who were attending a New Year's Eve Mass. According to church officials and eyewitnesses, there are many more victims that are still unidentified and whose body parts were strewn all over the street outside the church. The body parts were covered with newspapers until they were brought inside the church after some Muslims started stepping on them and chanting Jihadi chants (video showing dead bodies and limbs covered with newspapers in the street).According to eyewitnesses, a green Skoda car pull up outside the church shortly after midnight. Two men got out , one of them talked shortly on his mobile phone, and the explosion occurred almost immediately after they left the scene. On the back of the Skoda was a sticker with the words "the rest is coming" (video of car explosion and Muslims shouting "Allah Akbar").It was reported that the bomb, locally made, had 100KG of explosives in addition to having nails, glass and iron balls inside. The strength of it not only caused glass panes to be shattered in all the neighborhood, but also made body parts fly into the building's fourth floor, and to the mosque facing the church.There was no immediate claim of responsibility but officials hastily blamed either Al-Qaida or the Israeli Mousad of being behind the blast, but none of them mentioned the Egyptian state security which is viewed by Copts as the real culprit."Security should know that those who demonstrated are the hand of Al-Qaida in Egypt," said Hany el-Gezeiry, head of Copts4Egypt. "They should have arrested them to investigate who was behind them. They want to destroy Egypt from inside and the government kept quiet, giving them a free hand to do what they wanted. I believe Al-Qaida achieved what it wanted."El-Gezeiry asks why this Skoda vehicle was allowed to park in front of the church in an area cordoned off by security, when it was known that Al-Qaeda had already announced its intention of carrying out criminal acts against churches.Eyewitnesses confirmed that security forces guarding the church withdrew nearly one hour before the blast, leaving only four policemen and an officer to guard such a big church and nearly 2000 people attending the midnight mass. "Normally they would have waited until the mass was over," said el-Gezeiry. He also commented on the Muslim's schadenfreude at the massacre at the church, who were heard chanting "Allah Akbar."Nakhla said that he was preparing a complaint to be presented to President Mubarak asking for the resignation of Interior Minister Habib el Adly for failing in his duty of protecting the Copts, and for not telling the truth by saying that it was a suicide attack by one individual, when everyone could see the detonated car, just to clear his security personnel of the responsibility of letting the Skoda park in front of the church. "This 100KG bomb could not have been transported by one individual as the Interior Minister wants us to believe.""Is this a victory?" He asks. "Whoever saw this fire and people dying and body parts all over the place and could still chant 'Allah Akbar' is a terrorist.."On January 1, the funeral of the 21 people killed in the church massacre took place at St. Mina's Monastery in King Mariout, 50 km from Alexandria. It was attended by representatives of the President, Minsters, the governor of Alexandria, as well as nearly 10,000 Copts who traveled from Alexandria. After the funeral, the Copts, angry with the governor of Alexandria, shouted "resign" and "we do not want you.""Anyone who says that it was a foreign or Israeli plot is trying to play down the crime and is trying to clear those murderers of this massacre, and I consider them their accomplices," said Nakhla.Hmmmm.....He makes a very good case about the attack.Read the full story here.

• Healthcare repeal bill coming before Obama's annual address.The incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said Sunday that Republicans will bring up a healthcare repeal measure before President Obama even delivers his annual address to Congress this month."As part of our pledge, we said that we would bring up a vote to repeal healthcare early," Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said on "Fox News Sunday." "That will happen before the president's State of the Union address.""We have 242 Republicans," he said. "There will be a significant number of Democrats, I think, that will join us. You will remember when that vote passed in the House last March, it only passed by seven votes."Upton said that leaders are counting on Democrats who voted against the massive healthcare reform package to do so again, along with greater GOP numbers and polling showing unpopularity of the bill among as many as 60 percent of Americans."I don't think we're going to be that far off from having the votes to actually override a veto," he said.Hmmmm....Oh what a beautiful day it will be!Read the full story here.

• Issa says Obama administration is 'one of most corrupt'administrations ever.The Republican congressman who is taking over responsibility for congressional oversight called President Obama's administration "one of the most corrupt administrations" on Sunday and predicted that the investigations he is planning over the next two years could result in about $200 billion in savings for U.S. taxpayers.Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was bullish in laying out his agenda for the new Congress under GOP control of the House. Issa, who as chairman will have subpoena power, said he would seek to ferret out waste across the federal bureaucracy. While he used fiery rhetoric in describing the Obama administration in a series of television interviews Sunday, he said he would focus on wasteful spending over political persecutions.Asked on "Fox News Sunday" about reports that the White House is staffing up on lawyers to prepare for his oversight hearings, Issa said: "They're going to need more accountants.""It's more of an accounting function than legal function," Issa said. "It's more about the inspector generals than it is about lawyers in the White House. And the sooner the administration figures out that the enemy is the bureaucracy and the wasteful spending, not the other party, the better off we'll be." "I think [Holder] needs to realize that, for example, WikiLeaks, if the president says, 'I can't deal with this guy as a terrorist,' then he has to be able to deal with him as a criminal," Issa said on "Fox News Sunday." "Otherwise, the world is laughing at this paper tiger we've become. "He's hurting this administration," Issa said of Holder. "If you're hurting the administration, either stop hurting the administration or leave."Issa said he plans to lead bipartisan investigations on food and drug safety, as well as Medicare fraud."I couldn't help but think about the fact he has called this president the most corrupt in history," Cummings said.Hmmmm....Go get them Tiger!Read the full story here.

• 'Nostradamus' of Middle East predicts unprecedented crisis for Obama in 2011.The Middle East's answer to Nostradamus said that President Obama will be confronted with situations "never faced by previous presidents" in 2011.Michel Hayek, who delivered his predictions live on New Year's Eve from the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International channel for the 26th year, drew millions of viewers throughout the Arab world. For his region, he predicted "there will be an assassination that will be hailed as the crime of the century, but the world will recover" and a "major disturbance or shake up in the waters at the Strait of Hormuz."Along with Obama unprecedented difficulties, Hayek predicted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be "caught on camera broken and devastated."In a tip to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, he predicted U.S. airports will also be targeted again by terrorists "due to unknown weak points." And he also predicted that Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates will jump into politics in 2011.Hmmmm....Hindu astrologers predict that somewhere between March 25Th and 05 May an event will influence the whole world.So now you have an approximate date of the events?Read the full story here.HT:HIDF.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Exploding misconceptions: Alleviating poverty may not reduce terrorism but could make it less effective.“EXTREMELY poor societies…provide optimal breeding grounds for disease, terrorism and conflict.” So said Barack Obama, arguing in favour of more development aid to poor countries. Mr Obama is not alone in regarding economic development as a weapon against terrorism. Hillary Clinton, America’s secretary of state, has called development “an integral part of America’s national security policy”. The idea that poverty could be associated with terrorism is not implausible. If acts of terror are committed by people with little to lose, then it is reasonable to expect them to be carried out disproportionately by poor, ill-educated people with dismal economic prospects.Some terrorists certainly fit this profile. Yet the ranks of high-profile terrorism suspects also boast plenty of middle-class, well-educated people. The would-be Times Square bomber, Faisal Shehzad, boasts an MBA and is the son of a senior Pakistani air-force officer.Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who stands accused of lighting a makeshift bomb on a transatlantic flight in the so-called “underwear plot”, had a degree from University College, London, and is the son of a rich Nigerian banker. The suspected suicide-bomber in this week’s attacks in Stockholm had a degree from a British university. Are well-heeled terrorists representative or are they exceptions to the rule?Social scientists have collected a large amount of data on the socioeconomic background of terrorists. According to a 2008 survey of such studies by Alan Krueger of Princeton University, they have found little evidence that the typical terrorist is unusually poor or badly schooled. Claude Berrebi of the RAND Corporation compared the characteristics of suicide-bombers recruited by Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the West Bank and Gaza with those of the general adult male Palestinian population. Nearly 60% of suicide-bombers had more than a high-school education, compared with less than 15% of the general population. They were less than half as likely to come from an impoverished family as an average adult man from the general population. Mr Krueger carried out a similar exercise in Lebanon by collecting biographical information for Hizbullah militants. They too proved to be better educated and less likely to be from poor families than the general population of the Shia-dominated southern areas of Lebanon from which most came.The finding that more educated terrorists are deadlier may mean, however, that economic conditions can influence terrorism’s effectiveness. Using data on all Palestinian suicide-attackers between 2000 and 2006, Esteban Klor of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Messrs Benmelech and Berrebi show in a new paper that the skill level of the average terrorist rises when economic conditions are poor. They reckon that high unemployment enables terror organisations in Palestine to recruit more educated, mature terrorists. So better economic conditions could blunt the effectiveness of terror attacks by reducing the average quality of the talent that terrorist organisations are able to recruit.Hmmmm....So much for the Obama "Wisdom" on Terrorisme.Read the full story here.

• HT:IMRA.Obama team launches regime change project on pages of Haaretz? U.S. furious at Barak for exaggerating his role in peace process.The U.S. administration is furious with Defense Minister Ehud Barak over the stalled peace talks, sources have told Haaretz. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama's senior advisers say that for more than a year and a half Barak misled them about his persuasive powers with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the peace process.The Americans will continue working with Barak on security issues, but he will no longer receive special treatment.A senior Israeli official, who requested anonymity, told Haaretz about his recent hour-long meeting with a senior U.S. official who detailed the reasons Clinton and the White House are so disappointed with Barak.The accusations were confirmed over the past few days by four other sources close to the situation, all of whom requested anonymity.The Israeli official said his U.S. interlocutor stressed that the infuriation with Barak reached as high as Obama and Clinton.This came after Barak reached an understanding with Washington over extending the settlement construction freeze by three months in exchange for a written pledge of diplomatic and military guarantees in September.Barak promised that Netanyahu would approve the deal, but did not deliver the goods."We put all our money on him a year and a half ago," the Israeli official quoted his U.S. colleague as saying. "The entire administration bet on Barak because he said he could nudge Netanyahu toward an agreement with the Palestinians, but he deceived us and led us down the garden path."According to the U.S. official, as soon as Netanyahu formed his government, the White House decided to open all its doors to Barak, and Obama took the unusual step of meeting with him there."He charmed us with his intelligent analyses; the president listened to Barak like a student with his teacher and trusted him, but he didn't meet any of his promises over the peace process and the building freeze," the official told the Israeli.The latter said he left the meeting "in shock .... I almost burst into tears." Barak's last visit to Washington, two weeks ago, was depicted as the watershed in Barak-Washington ties. The brevity of Clinton's meeting with him at the Saban Forum last month - 15 minutes - was intended to signal Barak's loss in status.The U.S. official said Barak's disappointing behavior evoked a sense of deja vu in Washington, especially at the State Department, recalling his failures as prime minister in the peace talks at Shepherdstown and Camp David.Barak's office said in a statement on Saturday that he maintains continuous ties at the top of the U.S. administration, detailing Barak's meetings with Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates."We lost our hope in this coalition," the U.S. official told the Israeli. "We simply have no more expectations."Hmmmm......On the other hand a lot of Americans have lost faith in this administration.Read the full story here.

• CNN Arabic readers choose Turkish PM as 'Man of Year'.Turkey's prime minister has been named "Man of the Year" by readers of CNN Arabic's website.According to the Dubai-based, Arabic-language news portal, 74 percent of readers voted for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, carrying him to the top position in the ranking.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad followed Erdoğan on the list, getting 20 percent of the vote.The CNN Arabic website said Erdoğan had been given the "Man of the Year" title thanks to his recent success in diplomacy.Hmmmm......"The Mosques are our barracks, minarets our bayonets, domes our helmets, the believers our soldiers." will be more likely the reason.Read the full Ottoman Empire revival story here.

• HT:JawaReport.Pallywood Lives!A Palestinian woman dies under questionable circumstances and, of course, the Joos are the blame...The Israeli military said Sunday it was investigating the death of a Palestinian woman overcome by tear gas fired by soldiers at a West Bank protest. ...Contradictory accounts were given of the circumstances surrounding the death Saturday of the 36-year-old protester, Jawaher Abu Rahmeh, a day after she inhaled the gas at the weekly demonstration against Israel's West Bank separation barrier in the village of Bilin.Tear gas is meant to be a non-lethal crowd control method and is used routinely by Israeli troops at protests. But doctors say the gas can kill on rare occasions if a victim has a pre-existing condition.Mohammed Abu Rahmeh, a relative of the woman, said she had suffered from asthma since she was a child. Rateb Abu Rahmeh, a doctor and a spokesman for the Bilin protesters, said she had a "weak immune system." Her parents said she was healthy and did not have asthma.Dr. Mohammed Eideh, who treated Abu Rahmeh in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, said she died of "respiratory failure and then cardiac arrest" caused by tear-gas inhalation. He said he did not know if she had a pre-existing condition.Did this woman die from the tear gas? It's possible. People do inadvertently die from non-lethal means of defense. Or was her 'respiratory failure' due to a more nefarious act?Hmmm....According to unknown source"The dead woman was pregnant. She died at home hours after leaving the hospital ! She was stabbed in the back.Bleeding to death from the Bertrofritonaum ! Ruptured renal artery of left kidney.No gas or shit! Apparently "family honor" killing.Read the full story here.

• HT:IDFSpokesperson.Photos Document Violence During Bilin Riot This Weekend.Contrary to Palestinian claims that yesterday’s riot in Bil’in was non-violent, the following photographs taken by security forces prove that it was in fact a violent riot similar to the other riots that occurred this weekend.Approximately 250 rioters had gathered in Bil’in, hurling rocks at security forces, who responded with riot dispersal means. The village area was declared a closed military zone in order to prevent the violent riot from escalating and the entry and exit of the village for residents continued as usual.Similar violent riots occurred this weekend in Dir Nizam, Ni’lin, Beit Ummar, Budrus, and Arak Burin in which rioters hurled rocks at security forces, and in Umm Salamuna where rioters attempted to block a main road. An IDF soldier was lightly wounded from a rock that was hurled at his face during the Ni’lin riot.Read and see the full story here.

• HT:HIDF.Forcibly conversion of Meghwal Hindu family in Chachro district Pakistan.This family was induced and pressurized for conversion otherwise they will lose their lives. The family converted forcibly by Mufti Adam Samejo who is the Muhtmam of Madrasa Chhachro. This is clarified that except two the remaining family members are minor age and they don’t know about the Islam. In Tharparker the majority is of the non-muslims and the Taliban’s are actively playing role of inducement.The Muhtamam and other influential are giving them to meet with their relatives. They kept this family in room of madrasa.Read and see the full story here.

• And now for something completely different!More than 1,000 dead birds fall from sky.It was raining birds over an Arkansas town.The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Saturday that it began receiving reports about the dead birds about 11:30 p.m. the previous night. The birds fell over a 1-mile area of Beebe, and an aerial survey indicated that no other dead birds were found outside of that area.Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said the he birds showed physical trauma, and she speculated that "the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail."The commission said that New Year's Eve revelers shooting off fireworks in the area could have startled the birds from their roost and caused them to die from stress.Robby King, a wildlife officer for the agency, collected about 65 dead birds, which will be sent for testing to the state Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wis.Rowe said that similar events have occurred elsewhere and that test results "usually were inconclusive." She said she doubted the birds were poisoned.Hmmmm...."The Truth is Out There"?Read the full story here.