"My Jihad" - Palestinian American Muslim teen gets one month prison term for throwing rocks at Israeli Forces.

Rocks can Kill !

"My Jihad" - Palestinian American Muslim teen gets One Month prison term for throwing rocks at Israeli Forces.HT:AstuteBlogger.(Haaretz).

New Orleans-born Khalek has been held in military lockup since he was arrested on April 5 in a night-time military raid on his home.
IDF soldiers wielding assault rifles burst into his family home and arrested him for allegedly hurling rocks at Israeli motorists in the West Bank, his father said.

Israel's military said a juvenile military court convicted Mohammad Khalek, 14, of throwing stones, along with other Palestinians, at Israeli security forces April 2.

It said Khalek confessed to the stone-throwing and reached a plea bargain for a fine of about $830 and a total of 31 days in jail, including the time he was held awaiting sentencing. The military said the youth threw rocks at vehicles on a highway and at Israeli forces on several occasions.Hmmm...... Jihad tourism?Read the full story here

MFS - The Other News

                       Morning Posting.

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

• Volcanic Activity : Mount Hekla -Situation Update No. 6  - Source.

• Japan - Nuclear disaster - Situation Update No. 141 - .Source .

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

• Obama: Job Losses Prove Stimulus Worked.(CNSNews).By Fred Lucas. Three days after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the national unemployment rate had ticked up from 9.1 percent in May to 9.2 percent in June, President Barack Obama said that the loss of jobs in the public sector is “evidence” that his $830-billion economic stimulus legislation worked.“Now, without relitigating the past, I’m absolutely convinced, and the vast majority of economists are convinced, that the steps we took in the Recovery Act saved millions of people their jobs or created a whole bunch of jobs,” Obama said at his Monday press conference.“And part of the evidence of that is as you see what happens with the Recovery Act phasing out,” he said. “When I came into office and budgets were hemorrhaging at the state level, part of the Recovery Act was giving states help so they wouldn’t have to lay off teachers, police officers, firefighters. As we’ve seen that federal support for states diminish, you’ve seen the biggest job losses in the public sector--teachers, police officers, firefighters losing their jobs.”President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Feb. 17 2009. His top economic adviser, Christina Romer, had reported that the act would prevent the national unemployment rate from reaching 8 percent. Initially, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the act would cost $787 billion. CBO now estimates it cost $830 billion.Hmmmm......You are now entering...the Obama Zone!There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man.There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture!Read the full story here.

• Video - Project Gun Runner (Fast and Furious) was launched under the orders of President Barack Obama with the knowledge of Attorney General Eric Holder. Deputy Attorney General David Ogden announced the Obama Administration's new and aggressive 'comprehensive plan' on March, 24, 2009. The plan was aimed at disrupting gun trafficking between the United States and Mexico.Here.

• Obama’s Watergate.(NorthEastintelligence).By Douglas J. Hagmann.

11 July 2011: Just after 10:00 a.m. on March 23rd, 1973, John Dean, White House counsel to former President Richard M. Nixon advised Nixon of a “a cancer within-close to the presidency, that’s growing. It’s growing daily.” Within the same breath, he advised Nixon that “people are going to start perjuring themselves very quickly that have not had to perjure themselves to protect other people and the like.” That cancer became known as “Watergate,” and eventually led to Nixon’s resignation.

Nearly forty years later, another “scandal,” exponentially larger than Watergate, has the potential to bring down the occupant of the oval office along with other high ranking officials. While no one was murdered as a result of Watergate, two law enforcement officers are dead because of the current “scandal” that is leading closer and closer to the highest levels of the Obama administration, including the Department of Justice and the U.S. State Department.Unfortunately, the arguably illegal and certainly ill advised methodology implemented by the BATFE is not limited to the Project Gunrunner offshoot of “Operation Fast and Furious.” Other similar operations, each with the apparent knowledge and approval of the U.S. Justice Department, began to spring up elsewhere. There was also Operation Castaway in Tampa, which mirrored the methods of lack of interdiction as Operation Fast and Furious.According to several agents who are now ready to offer testimony, each operation where weapons were allowed to “walk” into Mexico from the U.S. was approved at the highest levels of the United States Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of State. Some believe that operations of this magnitude could not have been possible without the knowledge and approval of Obama himself.Almost 40 years after the biggest scandal to rock the nation, it is again time to ask the question to Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama under oath and in front of congress: What did you know and when did you know it?Read the full story here.

• Guess What?: It Turns Out Obama Gave ACORN $541K This Year, Not $80K.(BigGovernment).Remember that story from a few days ago, the one about the Obama administration giving ACORN a $79,819 grant in March despite a federal law that prohibits the government from giving money to ACORN?It turns out that sum is a lowball figure.I discovered Obama’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave ACORN another $461,086 in January. The funds were earmarked for ACORN Housing Corp. in January under HUD’s Self-help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP), according to the government website USAspending.gov.In order words, the Obama administration gave fraud-ridden ACORN nearly a half million dollars to be used on housing development.The administration isn’t even trying to conceal the fact that it gave this money to ACORN.USAspending.gov identifies the recipient as “ACORN Housing Corporation Inc.” even though that nonprofit entity filed papers last year legally changing its name to Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA).The website also provides the address of record for ACORN Housing as 1024 Elysian Fields Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana. That’s the renovated funeral home that until recently served as headquarters for ACORN’s 370-plus shady affiliates.This means the Obama administration has given at least $540,905 in taxpayer money to ACORN this calendar year alone.The money was given to ACORN apparently in defiance of Public Law 111-117 which spells out in pretty clear terms that ACORN shouldn’t be getting any government funding.This is just the tip of the iceberg. More grants to ACORN are bound to surface.As I warn in my new book, Subversion Inc.: How Obama’s ACORN Red Shirts are Still Terrorizing and Ripping Off American Taxpayers, ACORN is still with us, doing its best to destroy American capitalism and democracy.The group is gearing up right now to make sure President Obama, who worked for ACORN as an employee and as its lawyer, gets reelected in 2012. Its state chapters have adopted assumed names and remain active. Project Vote, ACORN’s vote manufacturing factory, continues to operate unmolested in ACORN’s Washington, D.C. office. ACORN International (a.k.a. Community Organizations International) has spreadwide worldwide and is now operating in many countries, including Canada, Peru, Kenya, Dominican Republic, and India.Hmmmm........Thugocracy in motion.Read the full story here.

• Canada To Boycott UN Conference On Disarmament Over Appointment Of North Korea To Chair.(NationalPost).OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is set to announce Monday that Canada is boycotting the United Nations Conference on Disarmament over North Korea’s involvement, a senior government source told Postmedia News.So Se Pyong, North Korea’s ambassador, was last week named chair of the Geneva-based group dedicated to promoting global nuclear disarmament.“North Korea is simply not a credible chair of this UN body as its leaders are working in the exact opposite direction,” the source told Postmedia News on Sunday evening.“Our government feels this undermines not only the Conference on Disarmament, but the UN itself. And Canada will not be party to that . . . Our government received a strong mandate to advance Canada’s values — freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law — on the world stage.”During North Korea’s term as chair, Canada will not “engage” in the conference, the source said Baird will announce Monday.Baird was among the many critics who slammed North Korea’s appointment last week, urging the country to pass the opportunity on to a country with policies more in line with the conference’s stated mission.“The fact that it gets a turn chairing a United Nations committee focused on disarmament is unacceptable,” Baird said in a statement last week.“We call on North Korea to pass the chair on to a credible country that will advance the disarmament agenda within the UN.”The UN accused North Korea of sharing nuclear information with Iran as recently as May.The country pulled out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 and went on to conduct its first nuclear bomb test three years later. North Korea is believed to have stockpiled up to eight nuclear warheads.Baird’s Monday announcement comes in contrast to the warm words Canada’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva had for his North Korean counterpart after his appointment last week.Delivering his farewell address to the disarmament conference on Tuesday, Marius Grinius not only followed protocol by “welcoming” his North Korean counterpart’s appointment, but spoke fondly of his recollections of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.“It is appropriate that my last statement in open plenary take place under your presidency,” Grinius said.Hmmmm......Thank God for Canada.Read the full story here.

• House Passes Bipartisan Bill Threatening US Sanctions Against Palestinians If They Attempt UN Statehood Bid.(Algemeiner).With talk of a Palestinian attempt to bring its case for statehood directly to the United Nations, questions about such an attempt have been raised in the halls of governments around the globe. The PA’s statement that it would unilaterally declare itself an independent state has challenged international diplomacy.Key to the success or failure of this effort is the response of the United States. Any question about that position should be clearly answered by the directives contained in the recently passed H.R.268. Introduced May 13, 2011, the bill states that U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) will be restricted “should (PA) leaders continue to evade direct negotiations with Israel and seek statehood at the United Nations.” The House resolution calls on the President to “consider suspending American financial assistance to the PA as a result of its reconciliation with Hamas.Introduced by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the Bill had 320 cosponsors upon its arrival to the floor. The final vote was close to unanimous: H. Res. 268 passed by an extraordinary vote of 407-6. The legislation now goes to Committee” where it will be integrated with the parallel Senate (S. Res. 185), introduced by Sens. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Susan Collins (R-ME), Robert Casey (D-PA), John Thune (R-SD), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Jim Risch (R-ID), and passed by unanimous consent.The passage of these paired bills indicates a strong congressional affirmation of American support for direct negotiations aimed at developing a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Rep. Eric Cantor, Republican Majority Leader, called “upon the Palestinian Authority to return to the negotiating table and join the Israelis in direct discussions to end this conflict,: and said “Furthermore, we call on the leadership of the Palestinian Authority to renounce the violence Hamas condones and teaches to its followers.”Hmmmmmm.........Obama might not like this.Read the full story here.

• Feds ask to cut sentence of convicted al Qaeda financier and Hamas supporter,who was convicted of financing a plot to kill the king of Saudi Arabia.(CreepingSharia).ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to cut the 23-year prison term being served by an American Muslim activist who admitted participating in a Libyan plot to assassinate King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.Abdurahman Alamoudi, 59, of Falls Church has been in jail since his arrest in September 2003. He pleaded guilty to illegal business dealings with Libya and admitted receiving more than $500,000 in cash from Libyan officials as part of an assassination plot. According to court records, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi wanted then-Prince Abdullah killed after a 2003 Arab League summit where Gadhafi felt he had been insulted. At one point in the summit, Abdullah wagged a finger at Gadhafi and said, “Your lies precede you, while the grave is ahead of you.”The documents explaining why prosecutors want to cut Alamoudi’s sentence are under seal, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria declined to say how many years they are seeking to cut from Alamoudi’s term.But such reductions are allowed only when a defendant provides substantial assistance to the government. It is rare for the government to seek a reduction so many years after the initial sentence was imposed.It is not entirely clear whether Alamoudi’s cooperation is related to the current upheaval in Libya, but it is clear that Alamoudi had extensive connections with Libyan officials in the years before his arrest. Alamoudi made at least 10 trips to Libya between 2000 and 2003, according to court records, frequently meeting with government officials there.Alamoudi was a well-known activist in the U.S. Muslim community. He founded the American Muslim Council and visited the White House during the Clinton administration. He also participated in a group discussion with George W. Bush in 2000, during Bush’s presidential campaign, in a meeting of Muslim activists in Texas.Alamoudi’s lawyer, Henry St. John Fitzgerald, did not respond a request for comment Friday.The Saudi embassy also did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.The government’s request for a reduced sentence must be approved by U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton. A hearing on the issue had been scheduled for Friday but Hilton canceled the hearing and said he will issue a written ruling based on the papers that have been submitted to him.It is not unusual for the government to request sentence reductions of 35 to 50 percent, or even more, as a reward for substantial assistance.Alamoudi was indicted not only for his illegal dealings with Libya, but also for tax evasion and immigration fraud. He ultimately pled guilty to, and was convicted of, being a senior al Qaeda financier who had funneled at least $1 million into the coffers of that terrorist organization. He also acknowledged that he had pocketed almost $1 million for himself in the process. In October 2004, Alamoudi was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison.Did terrorist-friendly Eric Holder or Obama request this? Or was it Hillary Clinton? Is it related to Libya or Obama’s new and official outreach to the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood?Read and see (Video) the full story here.

• Obama's response to attack on US embassy in Damascus: He's going to file a lawsuit.(IsraelMatzav).In an earlier post, Carl reported on attacks on the American and French embassies in Damascus by pro-Assad 'demonstrators.' Carl has now have some updates on that post. The US State Department on Monday formally condemned Syria for failing to protect the US embassy complex in Damascus from a violent assault it said was encouraged by a pro-government Syrian television station."A television station that is heavily influenced by Syrian authorities encouraged this violent demonstration," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement."So what does the world's only superpower do? Send in the Marines to get the ambassador out and protect the embassy grounds? Not in the age of Obama. In the age of Obama the US threatens... to file a lawsuit."We strongly condemn the Syrian government's refusal to protect our embassy, and demand compensation for damages. We call on the Syrian government to fulfill its obligations to its own citizens as well," the statement said."We are calling in the Syrian charge [d'affaires] to complain," said the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity."We feel they failed [in their responsibility to protect US diplomats]. We are going to condemn their slow response."Spoke on condition of anonymity? The Secretary of State hasn't got the junk to stand up there and say we're withdrawing our ambassador and instead a low-level functionary speaking on condition of anonymity is trotted out to threaten to summon the Syrian Charge d'Affaires?!?What happened to Teddy Roosevelt's 'speak softly and carry a big stick'? It looks like it's been replaced by Jimmy Carter's helicopter crash in the desert. Is this how Reagan would have responded? Is this how Bush II would have responded? Of course not. We would have seen Shock and Awe on all of Assad's palaces. Instead, Obama is going to file a lawsuit demanding compensation. What could go wrong?Hmmmm......And they want to compare him to Reagan?......hahahaha.Read the full story here.More here.

• Remember Saterday's story? "Cleveland airport suddenly very,very popular.Unruly passenger caused a flight from Chicago to Germany to be diverted to Cleveland:, well it turns out the 'unruly passenger' is an Arab: Saleh Alramakh of Akron.CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - The unruly passenger that caused a plane to have an emergency landing at Hopkins is expected to appear in municipal court Tuesday.The incident happened Friday on a United Flight from Chicago to Frankfort.The FBI has charged the man, identified as 21-year-old Saleh Alramakh of Akron, with seven counts of aggravated menacing -- which is a misdemeanor. So far, no Federal charges. He remains in jail.On Friday, a flight attendant pushing the beverage cart says Alramakh started yelling and swearing. He also made several trips to the bathroom, and stayed inside for long periods of time. Flight attendants considered taping the bathroom door shut so he couldn't go back inside.In the end, passengers tied Alramakh up and taped his mouth with duct tape. "Kind of just ran up to me and grabbed me, literally, by the shirt and said you need to come with me now," said passenger Joseph Shulfer. "And I ran back there to see that there were basically three guys wrestling on top of the guy who I later learned had been inside the restroom for, like, 20, 30 minutes and he wouldn't come out. So we duct taped his mouth shut. He was able to get that off himself and almost choked by swallowing the duct tape.Hmmmm.........ATA's Castelveter said. "If any passenger is interfering with the duties of the flight crew member, it's a federal crime."Why were there NO federal charges laid?Read and see (Video) the full story here.HT: BNI.

• Government of Sociopaths.(SultanKnish).It's politically risky to raise taxes. It's politically risky to cut spending. The one thing that isn't politically risky to do is go deeper and deeper into debt. Whatever agreement evolves or devolves out of congress it will likely allow Republicans to satisfy their base by cutting spending a little, allow Democrats to satisfy their base by raising taxes a little, and kick the ball down the road by going deeper into debt.The real subject of this is not Medicare or the Stimulus plan-- it's long term thinking.We did not suddenly go to sleep and then wake up the next day with a political class that acted this way. Or with CEO's that act this way. The erosion of long term thinking is progressive. It begins slowly before becoming pervasive.Lack of long term thinking manifests itself as a lack of responsibility. The difference is not in intelligence. Very intelligent people show no grasp of responsibility and no understanding of consequences. 'Stupid' behavior by intelligent people is often a symptom of that. Sociopaths, who often have very high IQ's, yet a poor understanding of consequences, are at the farthest limit of that category.What explains this behavior? Socialization and empathy. Sociopaths are often quite bright, but it is the company of other people that makes us fully human. Sociopaths are too detached from other people to be able to rationally calculate long term consequences in a social context. They understand rules in an abstract fashion, but they don't internalize them. Because rules are socially internalized and given priority as higher truths over personal feelings only by an ego that has learned it is not master of the universe. A sociopath may be a physics professor, but if an impulse pushes him into a situation where the laws of physics are in his way, then they will be less valid to him than that impulse. The same goes for mathematics. The sociopath is irresponsibility taken to the extreme, but there is a long gradation on the way there.What does a country run by sociopaths look like? It looks a lot like our own actually. Lots of short term fixes. Lots of 'keep this thing running' pragmatism. Short attention spans. No sense of responsibility. And no thought for the future.Read the full story here.

• Checklist: America Meets 90% of Karl Marx’s Demands.(NewZeal).By: Kirk Elliott, Ph.D.Article by Kirk Elliott, Ph.D., originally appearing at WorldNetDaily.

I recently re-read “The Communist Manifesto” written by Karl Marx in 1848.

What I read was a bit shocking. Marx had “10 planks” that this evil manifesto was based upon and he advocated the use of any means to accomplish these socialist goals including violent revolutions. The planks are listed bellow, followed by my comment on how it applies to America today:   10 planks of communism by Karl Marx

1. Abolition of private property in land and application of all rents of land to public purpose.

Author’s Comment: This is where eminent domain comes into the picture, and even property taxes. Once you own your property outright by paying off your mortgage, you still don’t technically own it because the government could jack up property taxes so high that it makes it unaffordable to remain.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

Comment: Marginal tax rates increasing as income goes up IS a graduated income tax. This is in opposition to a more fair tax like a national sales tax or flat tax where a person is not taxed at a higher rate the more income they earn.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

Comment: In the U.S. these can be seen as estate taxes (i.e. the death tax).

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

Comment: This is nothing more than government seizures, IRS property confiscation and the 1997 Crime/Terrorist bill which calls for the imprisonment of terrorists (not such a bad thing), but also for those who speak out against the government. Your life is the most valuable property you have, but the government has the right to take it away because of things that you may say. Consider Senate Bill 3081, the “Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010,” co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman.

The following is actual text from the bill that explains what a belligerent may be and the reasons they can be detained without due process: “(A) The potential threat the individual poses for an attack on civilians or civilian facilities within the United States or upon United States citizens or United States civilian facilities abroad at the time of capture or when coming under the custody or control of the United States… (B) The potential threat the individual poses to United States military personnel or United States military facilities at the time of capture or when coming under the custody or control of the United States…. (C) The potential intelligence value of the individual… (D) Membership in al-Qaida or in a terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaida… (E) Such other matters as the president considers appropriate. . .”This is where there is a major, major problem. This is very subjective and could include a multitude of things – even just disagreements on policy!

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

Comment: This is an easy one. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 created the Federal Reserve, and now the government owns many of the country’s largest banks via bailout money. Government control of private industry is just a polite way of saying fascism!!!!

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transportation in the hands of the state.

Comment: The FAA, FCC, and the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) are all government entities that propose to regulate how we travel and what is said. There is nothing particularly disturbing about this now, but what about in the future? Could the government shut down communication or transportation for various people groups? Yes, they could pretty much do whatever they want. There is no competition here. There is no free market private entity as a choice. I thought the government made monopolies illegal? Oh, that’s right they did, except for where they have a monopoly.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

Comment: Recent events have made this one very disturbing. On June 9, 2011 President Obama signed into law Executive Order 13575 in which the intent is to seize greater power over “food, fiber, and energy.” A great article explaining this was written by Raven Clabough and posted on the New American website here.

8. Equal obligation of all to work and the establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

Comment: Because of high inflation and higher taxes our society has been thrust into a dual income family at the minimum. In many instances both husband and wife have multiple jobs.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.

Comment: I am not qualified to answer this question, as I don’t really know of any combination of the two industries. In fact it seems what we have in this country is opposite as there seems to be a corralling of people into the urban areas. However, Executive Order 13575 mentioned in Plank 7 may be related to this.

10. Free education for all children in government schools and abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form – combination of education with industrial production, etc.

Comment: The public school system and the department of education indoctrinate our kids into the agenda that the federal government wants for our children. Both the national department of education and the state level departments of education adhere to an outcome based education model where excellence in not rewarded and lackluster performance is not dealt with in the proper manner so kids don’t get their feelings hurt. The whole standard of “equalization” is drilled into our kids’ heads through the public school system so by the time they graduate they are “socialized.”

Analyzing where America is now

In the United States we fulfill Marx’s 10 planks of a complete communist state on 1-8, and 10, kind of on 7 and maybe on 9. So, according to Marx’s vision of communism we are about 90 percent there. Good grief! It’s time to wake up and take action now before it is too late and the freedoms that we have come to expect in our beloved country are stripped away from us.Read the full story here.

• Poverty rate in Washington DC ,Greece and Spain worse than in Arab Judea and Samaria.(Israelmatzav).With the 'Palestinians' looking for more handouts, this ought to give American and European lawmakers some pause: The Arab-occupied areas of Judea and Samaria, which are under the control of the 'Palestinian Authority,' have a lower poverty rate than Washington DC.But do “Palestinian People” really need billions more in aid? The World Bank report for 2011 found that only 16 percent of the West Bank under PA control was living below the poverty line.How serious is a 16 percent poverty rate? It’s better than the poverty rate in Washington D.C. which hit 18.9 percent. That means that politicians in Washington D.C. are diverting money that could have been used to help needy Americans a few miles from their offices, to help the comparatively better off terrorist populations in the West Bank. Contrary to the barrage of news stories on the suffering of the Palestinians, the poverty rate for America and the West Bank aren’t that far apart. The California poverty rate is at 15.3 percent. And the national average at 14.3 percent is hardly that much better.If a 16 percent poverty rate requires billions in international aid– then where is Washington D.C.’s international aid. Why isn’t there a UN aid facility distributing food near Foggy Bottom? And if being a failed state with no budget discipline requires international aid, then where are California’s aid pledges?Many of the PA’s chief donors have poverty rates in the same range. Some are even worse off. Greece’s poverty rate is at 20 percent. Spain’s is nearly as high. And 17 percent of the EU population is considered to be at risk of poverty. Even Germany’s strong economy still has a 15.5 percent poverty rate. A few percentage points away from the West Bank.But most damningly Israel’s poverty rate is nearly 24 percent. Worse than in the Palestinian Authority. About half those numbers come from its Arab population, which unlike their cousins in the Palestinian Authority, aren’t the beneficiaries of vast amounts of aid.What’s the West Bank’s economic secret? 16.9 percent unemployment, a better number than among many of its international donors, funded by those same donor countries.Read the full story here.

• Lebanon 'ready to defend maritime borders'.(Ynet).Beirut's anger with Israel's decision to ratify maritime borders growing as President Suleiman says will defend Lebanon's borders using every 'available and legal' measure.The controversy over Israel's decision to ratify its maritime borders is growing: Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said Monday that his country is ready and has the right to defend its borders and resources using every "available and legal" means.On Sunday, Israel ratified an agreement with Cyprus regarding its naval territory. The borders delineate an area thought to contain natural gas as well as oil reserves.Lebanon rejected the borders set by the two countries, claiming they infringe on its naval territory; and Beirut's Minister of Energy Gebran Bassil warned that Lebanon will not give up its maritime rights. Lebanon called Israel's proposed maritime boundary between the two nations "an act of aggression," adding it will take the matter up with the UN.Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour addressed the conflict Monday, saying that his country relies on the UN to prove its legal rights.In an interview with al Jazeera Television, Mansour said that "Israel claims that it defined its maritime border based on international law, but it acted in an invalid manner that is an affront to Lebanon." Read the full story here.

• Erdogan - Ahmadinejad and Assad are "family members"?(Memri) Iranian, Turkish Foreign Ministers: Solve Syrian Crisis Without Foreign Intervention. In a press conference in Tehran, the foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey called to solve the Syrian crisis via trilateral cooperation with their two countries, and without Western intervention.Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that Iran, Syria, and Turkey are family members that help each other in times of crisis; Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Syria is a sister-country and warned that the Syrian unrest could spill over into other countries if the legitimate demands of the Syrian people are not met.The London daily Al-Hayat reported that the Turkish foreign minister asked Iran to pressure Assad to enact reforms, while his Iranian counterpart expressed concern that Turkey is leaning towards the Western position on the Syrian matter.Hmmmm.....No wonder Obama calls Erdogan weekly.Read the full story here.

• "The Bosnian Vampire".Bosnian Muslim woman made Serbs drink blood of Serbs she killed.(Serbianna).Azra Basic has been described as a “Croatian woman” and a “Lovely’ Ky. woman” but she slayed Serbs, collected their blood and made other Serb prisoners she was yet to kill drink the blood she so carefully collected.American media considers Bosnian Muslims “heroes” and the American President Clinton bombed Serbs so Bosnian Muslims like Basic can drain Serbian blood and make other Serbs that America bombed drink it.Of course, the accusations against her are just the tip of the iceberg of Bosnian Muslim atrocities but she's beeing discribed as the typical 'victim':“She’s a pretty nice person. If I was standing here right now and … she drove by, she would throw her hand up and if the window was down, she would speak and say ‘hi’ by my name.”“She’s a lovely person, very diligent in her work,” another said. Azra Basic was born Azra Alesevic on June 22, 1959 in Rijeka, Croatia, so that is why this Bosnian Muslim is called a “Croatian”.She married another Muslim, Nedzad Basic in 1994 in Bosnia. She holds Croatian and US citizenship.She lived in Rochester, NY but moved in 2006 elsewhere.US accuses Serbs of “genociding” Bosnian Muslims like Basic and are persecuting the Serbian General Ratko Mladic for Srebrenica although many of the Bosnian Muslims that are listed as massacred in Srebrenica are living in the US. Investigators have found that numerous Bosnian Muslim names that are listed at the Srebrenica memorial as allegedly murdered by Mladic’s forces are actually living in the US, especially in Minnesota.Hmmmm.......Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                       Morning  Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - June 11. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - June 12. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Yemen Live Blog - June 12 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).

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

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 129.Source : Here .

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

• Europe - Latest official Situation Update on E-Coli epidemic - 52 - On 12.06.2011 at 03:44 GMT+2
  
  The worst of the E. coli outbreak may be over, says Germany's health minister. But despite confirming the source of the bacteria, the woes continue for many sick patients - and especially for European vegetable farmers.German Health Minister Daniel Bahr warned Saturday that the number of deaths from an E. coli outbreak may increase. His statement came even as German authorities lifted their warnings on fresh vegetables. Bahr cautioned that "further deaths are not ruled out, as painful as that is." He said, however, that he was hopeful the worst of the outbreak, which has claimed at least 31 lives in Germany and caused over 3,000 illnesses, was now over. "The wave is gradually abating," Bahr was quoted Saturday as telling the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "There is reason to hope the worst is now over." German authorities announced Saturday that they located the source of the bacteria. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) confirmed test results announced on Friday that identified bean sprouts in the northern village of Bienenbüttel as carrying the virulent E. coli strain EHEC-0104. "These results are an important step in the chain of evidence," said BfR director Andreas Hensel. Officials investigating an organic farm in northern Germany said on Saturday they do not expect to take legal action against it for causing an E.coli outbreak. "Everything we have looked into until now shows the farm was flawless," said Gert Hahne, spokesman for the consumer protection office of Lower Saxony state, where Bienenbüttel is located. "It is hygienic and followed all the regulations."Source.

• "Guess who's coming to dinner? A dictator.(Mediamatters).During the opening of Fox Business' Follow the Money on Friday, Eric Bolling teased a segment about the White House hosting the president of Gabon by saying, "Guess who's coming to dinner? A dictator. Mr. Obama shares a laugh with one of Africa's kleptocrats. It's not first time he's had a hoodlum in the hizzouse."During the tease, an image appeared of Obama meeting with the Gabonese president, Ali Bongo, at the White House:As Bolling said that Obama had previously hosted "a hoodlum in the hizzouse," footage of the rapper Common aired.The inclusion of Common may not make much sense to people who aren't regular viewers of Fox News -- it's a reference to the right-wing media's ginned-up smear of him as a "'cop killer' rapper" in the days before his recent performance at the White House. Later in the show, Bolling teased the segment again: "Smile for the birdie. Our president's sitting with one of Africa's most wanted. It's not the first time he's had a hood in the big crib."This time, an image of Bongo with a flashing tooth showed up as Bolling said, "Smile for the birdie":Bolling began the segment itself by saying, in part, "So what's with all the hoods in the hizzy? A month after the White House hosted the rapper Common, who glorifies violence on cops, the president opened his doors to one of Africa's most evil dictators. Here's Ali Bongo, the Gabonese president, who's been accused of human rights violations and plundering billions of his country's dollars."During the segment, Human Events editor Jason Mattera declared that "Barack Obama likes to defecate on American allies,"Hmmmm......Inge Bongo:"[Ali] got very violent," she says. Inge claims that witch doctors convinced her husband that something was wrong with her. "he had me kidnapped several times, he had me mutilated, he beat me beyond recognition."Read the full story here.

• White House Insider: Obama’s Rage Over Netanyahu Meeting: "What the F-ck was that?"(Newsflovor).Shortly after the photo-op meeting and “working lunch” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the one that saw President Obama openly chastised by the Prime Minister for Obama’s earlier public comments regarding wanting to see Israel return to its 1967 borders, the president verbally “went off” on Richard Daley in the private study area that adjoins the Oval Office. President Obama’s verbal attack was clearly heard by numerous staff up and down the West Wing hallways. The essence of the president’s rage and embarrassment can best be summed up with him yelling out very loudly, “What the f-ck was that!?” That phrase was apparently repeated a number of times in the span of about five minutes, a time period in which Obama’s voice became “louder and louder” and culminating in Obama exclaiming, “Never again! Do you understand me? Never again!” Any response by Bill Daley back to the president, if given, was not overheard.Daley was soon after seen walking slowly down the hallway back toward his own office. He appeared “unconcerned” and was walking alone. His mood was apparently good enough that he took the time to speak briefly with some junior staffers before continuing down the hall. There was no sign of the president, though Valerie Jarrett did make an appearance on her way into the Oval Office. This was viewed as somewhat of a rare thing as Jarrett has apparently not been seen much on the lower levels of the West Wing for the last month or so. Neither she nor the president was seen for some time after that. The president did not emerge until it was time to make another brief speech at a nearby location later that afternoon. I did not receive information on whether or not Daley accompanied the president on that short trip, but the president’s mood was described as “much improved” when he returned.Oh, and another little FYI in case you missed it. Obama had a recent “meeting” with some of his former top advisers very recently. In my line of work that means only one thing. This administration is absolutely sh-tting itself right now. The cover is being blown off, the fingers of blame are being pointed, and discussions over who is going to take the fall are happening this very moment. Things are going rather well for us. Not too bad for an old news almost out to pasture relic huh? Much work remains to be done though.Hmmmm.......How long before he delivers the final blow to Israel? Read the full story here.

• The Obama way?“…the more illegals that vote, the better the Obama administration thinks it will do…”(RossRightAngle).Attorney General Tom Horne accused the Obama administration Tuesday of trying to thwart Arizona’s voter-ID laws in a bid to get more illegal immigrants to the polls — presumably to cast ballots for the president and Democrats.Horne acknowledged that a brief filed by the Department of Justice in a case to be heard next month by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals centers around the agency’s argument that Arizona’s law requiring proof of citizenship to register is pre-empted by federal law. But Horne, a Republican, told Capitol Media Services he sees something more sinister.“I think the motive is that the more illegals that vote, the better the Obama administration thinks it will do,’’ he said.Horne, however, said that in one year there were about 200 incidents reported of people who were not citizens having registered to vote. “And about 10 were prosecuted,’’ he said….Horne said the problem is not so much caused by those not in the country illegally but by organizations like ACORN that have registration drives and pay people to sign people up to vote. “Those people fool people into registering,’’ he said.Horne linked the Department of Justice legal brief to other ongoing battles between Arizona and federal government.He said the Obama administration, after failing to secure the border itself, went to court to block the state from enacting its own laws aimed at illegal immigration. And Horne cited recent comments by the president arguing that the border is safe, saying he is trying to “create a false sense of complacency.’’ And he said the latest court filing amounts to arguing that people should be able to register without providing information to prove citizenship, “thus enabling illegal aliens to register to vote.’’Horne said there is no reason for the Obama administration to insert itself into the fight, other than for political reasons….Hmmmm......Thugocracy or Democracy?Read the full story here.

• YES students say NO to going home to Muslim countries; seek asylum in Canada.(RefugeeResettlement).How many of you have ever heard of this program—Youth Exchange and Study? I hadn’t until I saw this story from the The Star (Toronto) yesterday about Muslim high school students invited to the US to help bring about “improved understanding” between cultures and instead many just hopped on over to Canada and asked for asylum—so much for taking their new found understanding back to their Muslim homelands! And, so much for the US sending our brave soldiers to Afghanistan to secure THEIR country.Indeed, so many students left for Canada that the US State Department has suspended the program.Before I get into the story from St. Catherine’s that brought my attention to YES, check out the description of the Kennedy-Lugar YES program* for students from Muslim countries.And for more, have a look at this US State Department AFS-USA Cluster Coordinator Manual (I kid you not that is the title of some d*** bureaucrat manual—no wonder we are sick of too much government!). Here is what the USDOS AFS-USA CCM tells us about YES (September 11th made them do it!):

The September 11th terrorist attacks of 2001 and the apparent negative view of Americans held in some regions, as well as the anti-Islamic or anti-Arab sentiment that gripped some places in the United States, brought renewed focus to the need for improved understanding across our cultures. Having long known that the benefits of high school exchange programs extend beyond the student into the community at large, the international education community responded to this call with an initiative to increase exchanges between the United States and countries with significant Muslim populations. 2003-2004 marked the inaugural year of the Youth Exchange Study (YES) Program. [emphasis is mine---ed]Great huh!Now here is the reality of what they created. From The Star (Last stop on the Afghan railway?)Read the full story here.

• 'Charming' Saudi threatens US over Israel.(IsraelMatzav).And to think that Maureen Dowd of the New York Times once referred to him as 'charming.' He's anything but charming in this distortion-filled op-ed in the Washington Post. As the main political and financial supporter of the Palestinian quest for self-determination, Saudi Arabia holds an especially strong position. The kingdom’s wealth, steady growth and stability have made it the bulwark of the Middle East. As the cradle of Islam, it is able to symbolically unite most Muslims worldwide. In September, the kingdom will use its considerable diplomatic might to support the Palestinians in their quest for international recognition. American leaders have long called Israel an “indispensable” ally. They will soon learn that there are other players in the region — not least the Arab street — who are as, if not more, “indispensable.” The game of favoritism toward Israel has not proven wise for Washington, and soon it will be shown to be an even greater folly.This lecture about the 'human rights' of 'Palestinians' might not have been quite so annoying had the government that Tooki represents not arrested five women in Riyadh on Thursday... for the crime of driving. That's not a crime for women in Israel - the only country in the Middle East that shares values with the United States. The only thing the Saudis share with the United States is oil. For now.Read the full story here.

• Muslim slash attack in NY supermarket meat aisle.(NYPost).A crazed man made a Pathmark meat aisle extra bloody this morning when he plunged a knife into an elderly shopper’s neck, allegedly after the perpetrator stepped on the victim's foot, police and store employees said.Abdullah Mohammed, 51, of 125th Street, was at the Harlem supermarket yesterday morning when he started arguing loudly at the customer service desk with William Perry, 70, a former truck driver. Perry was at the desk buying Lotto tickets when Mohammed stepped on his foot, irking the older man, according to his older brother, Charles Perry.Mohammed, who was clad in a peach linen suit, was booted out of the store, but stormed back in minutes later and cornered Perry in the meat aisle, two employees said. He then allegedly whipped out a razor and slashed Perry across the neck."People ran out of the store. One guy was screaming, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never seen anything like this,’" said Rafael Feliciano, a repairman who witnessed the melee.A heroic store employee tackled Mohammed and subdued him until the police responded to the meat aisle melee, cops said. Mohammed was dragged out of the supermarket screaming "at everyone around him," Feliciano said.Mohammed was arrested and charged with assault in the first degree. Perry was taken to Harlem Hospital and was likely to survive his injuries, police said.Hmmmm.......Who walks around with a razor in his pockets?Read the full story here.

• Iran: Israel nuclear threat to Mideast.(Ynet). Tehran convenes NPT summit, urges international community to pressure Israel into joining Non-Proliferation Treaty.Iran convened its second nuclear summit Sunday and urged the international community to pressure Israel into subjecting its nuclear program to international oversight, as well as join the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The convention was held under the banner of "Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapons for None." Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, who was first to address the conference, blamed Israel and the United States for being an obstacle en route to a nuclear weapon-free Middle East. Salehi called the Israeli nuclear arsenal "the main threat to the Middle East," and rebuked the United States: "Being Israel's main sponsor… It has the responsibility to halt its nuclear threat to the region." The two-day Tehran conference is set to focus mainly on Israel's policy of nuclear ambiguity and its refusal to neither confirm nor deny its possession of nuclear weapons. He also argued that instead of depriving Iran from civil nuclear energy, world powers should focus on Israel's "underhanded secrecy." Hmmmm.....Obama probably nodding in approval?read the full story here.

• UK Police 'covered up' violent campaign to turn London area 'Sharia compliant'.(Telegraph).Police have been accused of “covering up” a campaign of abuse, threats and violence aimed at “Islamicising” an area of London.Victims say that officers in the borough of Tower Hamlets have ignored or downplayed outbreaks of hate crime, and suppressed evidence implicating Muslims in them, because they fear being accused of racism.The claims come as four Tower Hamlets Muslims were jailed for at least 19 years for attacking a local white teacher who gave religious studies lessons to Muslim girls.The Sunday Telegraph has uncovered more than a dozen other cases in Tower Hamlets where both Muslims and non-Muslims have been threatened or beaten for behaviour deemed to breach fundamentalist “Islamic norms.”One victim, Mohammed Monzur Rahman, said he was left partially blind and with a dislocated shoulder after being attacked by a mob in Cannon Street Road, Shadwell, for smoking during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan last year."“Two guys stopped me in the street and asked me why I was smoking,” he said. “I just carried on, and before I knew another dozen guys came and jumped me. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in hospital“He reported it to the police and they just said they couldn’t track anyone down and there were no witnesses,” said Ansar Ahmed Ullah, a local anti-extremism campaigner who has advised Mr Rahman. “But there is CCTV in that street and it is lined with shops and people.”Teachers in several local schools have told The Sunday Telegraph that they feel “under pressure” from local Muslim extremists, who have mounted campaigns through both parents and pupils – and, in one case, through another teacher - to enforce the compulsory wearing of the veil for Muslim girls. “It was totally orchestrated,” said one teacher. “The atmosphere became extremely unpleasant for a while, with constant verbal aggression from both the children and some parents against the head over this issue.”One teacher at the Bigland Green primary school, Nicholas Kafouris, last year took the council to an employment tribunal, saying he was forced out of his job for complaining that Muslim pupils were engaging in racist and anti-Semitic bullying and saying they supported terrorism. Mr Kafouris lost his case, though the school did admit that insufficient action had been taken against the behaviour of some pupils. The number of assaults on teachers in Tower Hamlets resulting in exclusions has more than doubled from 190 in 2007/8 to 383 in 2008/9, the latest available year, though not all are necessarily race-related.Tower Hamlets’ gay community has become a particular target of extremists. Homophobic crimes in the borough have risen by 80 per cent since 2007/8, and by 21 per cent over the last year, a period when there was a slight drop in London as a whole.Last year, a mob of 30 young Muslims stormed a local gay pub, the George and Dragon, beating and abusing patrons. Many customers of the pub told The Sunday Telegraph that they have been attacked and harassed by local Muslim youths. In 2008 a 20-year-old student, Oli Hemsley, was left permanently paralysed after an attack by a group of young Muslims outside the pub. Only one of his assailants has been caught and jailed.Even during meetings of the local council, prominent supporters of Tower Hamlets’ controversial directly-elected mayor, Lutfur Rahman – dropped by the Labour Party for his links to Islamic fundamentalism - have persistently targeted gay councillors with homophobic abuse and intimidation from the public gallery.Mr Golds said: “If that happened in a football stadium, arrests would have taken place. I have complained, twice, to the police, and have heard nothing. A Labour colleague waited three hours at the police station before being told that nothing would be done. The police are afraid of being accused of Islamophobia. Another Labour councillor said that the Met is now the reverse of what it must have been like in the 1970s, with a complete lack of interest when white people make complaints of harassment and hatred.”In February this year, dozens of stickers appeared across Tower Hamlets quoting the Koran, declaring the borough a “gay-free zone” and stating that “verily Allah is severe in punishment.”The Sunday Telegraph has learned that during a routine stop-and-search at the time police found a young Muslim man with a number of the stickers in his possession. He was released without charge on the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service. Police also had CCTV images of a second unidentified Muslim youth posting the stickers at a local railway station, but refused to release the pictures for several weeks.Hasnath’s “interests” on his Facebook page include Khalid Yasin, a hate preacher who describes Jews as “filth” and teaches that homosexuals must be killed. Yasin has spoken at least four times since 2007 at the East London Mosque, Tower Hamlets’ most prominent Muslim institution. Although the mosque claims to be against extremism, discrimination, and violence, it has hosted dozens of hate, extremist or terrorist preachers and also hosted a “Spot The Fag” contest.In the same week that it issued a press release condemning the anti-gay stickers, the mosque was also due to host a “gala dinner” with Uthman Lateef, a homophobic hate preacher.The mosque is controlled by a fundamentalist group, the Islamic Forum of Europe, which says that it is dedicated to changing the “very infrastructure of society, its institutions, its culture, its political order and its creed ... from ignorance to Islam.”There is no suggestion that any mosque official has been personally involved in any act of violence or intimidation. However, in an email obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, one IFE activist, Abu Talha, used the name of the group to threaten a local Muslim woman who ran a dating agency.“I am asking you kindly to stop these activities as it goes against the teachings of Islam,” he wrote. “Let me remind you that I have a huge network of brothers and sisters who would be willing to help me take this further…If by tomorrow you haven’t changed your mind … then the campaign will begin.” The dating agency has now closed and the woman has left the area.Mr Ahmed Ullah said: “There has been a gradual increase in these kinds of attacks, that’s for sure.” A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “When any allegation of crime is made to us, we investigate appropriately. We will always take action against hate crime in accordance with, and within the confines of, the law.”Hmmmmm......."The Religion of Peace'.Read the full story here.

• Turkey sometimes NATO 'ally' offered Gaddafi "guarantee" to quit Libya.(TodaysZaman). Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday his country had offered a "guarantee" to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi if he left Libya, but said Ankara had received no answer."Gaddafi has no way out but to leave Libya, through the guarantees given to him, it seems," Erdoğan told NTV broadcaster in an interview. "We ourselves have offered him this guarantee, via the representatives we've sent. We told him we would help him to be sent wherever he wanted to be sent. We would discuss the issue with our allies, according to the response we receive. Unfortunately we still haven't got a response from Gaddafi." Erdoğan, whose country is a member of NATO, did not specify what kind of guarantee his country had offered to Gaddafi. Muslim Turkey had sizeable trade and commercial ties with Gaddafi's Libya, and evacuated more than 20,000 citizens working there as violence engulfed the North African desert nation. Since the uprising against Gaddafi's rule began in February, Erdoğan has distanced himself from the Libyan leader. Ankara has called on Gaddafi several times to order a cease-fire and to quit in order to allow a transition of power. In the interview, Erdoğan expressed frustration at what he called Gaddafi's stalling tactics."I have contacted him six or seven times. I sent our special representatives, but we always faced stalling tactics. They tell us they want a cease fire, we tell them to take a step, but the next day you find out that some places were bombed." "We're asking them 'what are you doing' and they tell us they fired back because they were fired at. There's nothing like that. We were closely watching at that time."Hmmmmm.....Get Turkey out of NATO before they act the same way in case of conflict with Iran.Read the full story here.

• "The War on Christianity".Pakistan: Christians are forbidden to eat in restaurants.(PCP).Lahore: June 8, 2011. “The Muslim dominated society of Pakistan forbids Christian to eat in any restaurant in Pakistan, a Christian student is forbidden to drink water in a glass in schools in which Muslim student drinks water, a roadside Vendor will beat you and charge you for cup in which you drink tea when he recognize you as Christian, it is Pakistan where Muslim members of National Assembly of Pakistan can block a move to offer prayers for slain Christian member of parliament, so, its not surprising if Muslim members of ruling party in Punjab Assembly are resisting on presentation of annual budget by a Christian Minister Michael Kamran on June 10, 2011” said Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC, here today.Dr. Nazir Bhatti said that hate among religious communities in Islamic Republic of Pakistan is created by Sharia legislation and Pakistan Assembly and Muslim parliamentarians are responsible for it weather they are moderate, liberal or Islamic.The Sharia laws imposed by General Zia-Ul- Haq turned religious minorities in Pakistan to be infidel citizens who must pay Islamic Tax to live in Islamic Republic of Pakistan and present regime kept status- quo to prevail hate among religious communities.“The Islamic Republic of Pakistan constitutionally empowers Muslims to abduct a Christian woman, her enforced conversion and marriage to a Muslim and protects violence against Christians” said Nazir Bhatti.Hmmmm....the 'people' the Obama regime gives Billions of taxpayer Dollars.Read the full story here.

• "Only In Belgium?"365 days without a government,Who needs government? Miss Belgium asks.(Emirates247).As the country marks a year of political mess Monday, a whole 12 months without an official government, even Miss Belgium is joining exasperated calls to politicians to break the impasse."Belgium is beautiful! We have so much, the sea in Flanders, the forest in Wallonia," said 19-year-old beauty queen Justine de Jonckheere. "But I must admit the country has problems."Ministers hold endless meetings to reach an understanding, but never do," she told the daily Le Soir. "They need to put a little water in their wine!"The country of 11 million people that hosts global powerhouses, the EU and NATO, on Monday becomes the first nation in recent history to remain without a government for an entire year -- a feat due to a festering language divide splitting the Dutch-speaking north and French-speaking south.While a caretaker government that lost last year's June 13 elections has reduced the deficit and even sent warplanes to join the NATO-led campaign in Libya, the impasse is feeding fears of a looming carve-up of the country.An opinion survey Friday showed two-thirds of Belgians continue to believe the country can survive its fiercest crisis to date -- though the proportion was highest in French-speaking Wallonia, at 79 percent, followed by 74 percent in bilingual Brussels and 62 percent in Dutch-speaking Flanders.But as feuding politicians repeatedly fail to bridge the divide by forming a workable coalition, the flak in Belgium's language battle continues to fly.The Brussels transport minister a few weeks back ordered songs in both Dutch and French to be aired again on the city subway system after it transpired that rail authorities were broadcasting solely in English, Italian or Spanish to avoid recrimination from the different communities.And last month a fierce linguistic row spattered the political arena when Dutch separatists complained of the poor Dutch or little Dutch spoken by French-language politicians."Even today, negotiations to form a government take place in French. That, after all, is not normal," said Belgian Flemish leader Bart De Wever.De Wever's separatist N-VA party led the June 2010 polls in Flanders, while French-speaking Socialists headed by Elio Di Rupo led the field in Wallonia.But with no outright majority, efforts to bridge both the language divide and the wide political chasm between Di Rupo's leftwingers and De Wever's liberal-leaning separatists have floundered time after time.Representing the wealthier 6.2 million Dutch speakers, the N-VA refuses to foot the bill for the 4.5 million francophones living in the rust belt of Wallonia.De Wever played down fears of a deepening crisis, saying it was not the first in a country whose efforts in grappling with its different communities have long made it a case-study in compromise for political scientists."I can only hope that after the many difficulties we have faced, that we can get to a new stage and find a consensus, which would be a confederal system."At issue in heated talks during almost 12 months has been a deadlock over Flemish demands for greater autonomy, notably in fiscal and social policy.Belgium's already largely devolved system, where the central government runs defence, diplomacy, finance, justice and social security, has enabled the caretaker government to lurch more easily than would a more highly centralised system."We face a complex situation," Di Rupo told AFP."There are different political goals, and this is a country of coalition, not a country of bipartisan politics and parliamentary majorities. This is a country where we speak three languages, so it's a complex multicultural, multilingual laboratory."To resolve our problems this time, we will need a little further time."Hmmmmm........????Read the full story here.