U.N.-Sponsored Meeting Equates Israelis with Nazis.

U.N.-Sponsored Meeting Equates Israelis with Nazis.(NR).Every year at this time, on the occasion of Pesach, Jews around the world relive the exodus from Mitzrayim and their people’s journey from slavery to freedom. This year the endeavor to remember never to take freedom for granted got a gratuitous boost from the United Nations. On April 3 and April 4, 2012, at the behest of modern Arab nations, the U.N. convened a meeting in Geneva committed to turning back the hands of time and keeping alive those ancient prejudices. Over the past two days, the U.N. Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has sponsored a two-day conference on the topic of Palestinian “political” prisoners held in Israeli prisons. The Committee was created by the U.N. General Assembly back in 1975 to implement the infamous Zionism-is-racism resolution. While the resolution was rescinded 16 years later, the committee marches on, boasting 49 U.N. states and observers as members and unending funds courtesy of the General Assembly. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent Maxwell Gaylard, U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, to open the meeting on his behalf. Gaylard fawned: “I am pleased to send greetings to all participants at this International Meeting on the Question of Palestine.” He proceeded to “thank the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for organizing this important discussion.”
With a room full of European diplomats, professional Israel-bashers from “civil society,” Arab and Muslim state representatives, and avowed anti-Semites - not mutually exclusive categories - the “important discussion” took the following form. The “keynote” address was delivered by Issa Qaraqe, the Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs of the Palestinian Authority. He blithely asserted that “there was a call at the highest level of the Israeli state for concentration camps to be set up for the rounding up and extermination of Palestinian people.” 
To ensure his message was widely available the U.N. posted on their website his speech claiming that “the Chief Rabbi of Israel” has called “for the establishment of extermination camps for Palestinians,” that Israelis advocate “prisoners should be gassed and exterminated,” and that “Israel is waging a war of ethnic cleansing against all humanity.” As to why there are any Palestinian prisoners, “the prisoners only crime is to struggle for freedom and independence,” said Qaraqe. John Dugard, who served as U.N. “Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” from 2001 to 2008, openly embraced the destruction of the Jewish state by force, using the one-state-solution lexicon of “Palestine/Israel.” He referred to “Palestinian resistance fighters” as “freedom fighters.” He railed against Israel for using the term “terrorists” - which he put in quotation marks - to describe “those who engage in resistance activities as combatants” or who “take up arms in pursuance of the right of self-determination.”
The ambassador of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to the U.N. in Geneva, Slimane Chikh, claimed that “we see ethnic cleansing. . . . Jewish people have primacy and are being favored in all parts of life,” while he fumed about “Judaized holy sites.” Civil-society representative Shawqi Al Issa, director of the Ensan Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Bethlehem, lectured: “The League [of Nations] decided to give Palestine to European Jewish migrants instead of developing it for its people who lived on this land. In 1947 . . . more of the country was given to European Jewish migrants. . . . There are confessions by Israel that there are medical experiments done on prisoners. . . . Many are killed after leaving prisons as a result of torture, diseases and experiments done on them.” When the combination of U.N. experts and officials, diplomats and non-governmental participants, had finished analogizing Israelis to Nazis and Palestinians to Holocaust victims, claiming Jews have no historical ties to the land of Israel, and declaring open season on Israeli men, women, and children in the name of self-determination, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian’s lead U.N. representative, was given a final word: “We thank the U.N. for organizing this very important conference in this very important location of the U.N. . . . the capital and center of human rights.” In a world where human wrongs are called human rights, Mansour’s declaration makes perfect sense. Fortunately, we are offered us a way out of the U.N.’s moral morass: Teach your children that the threat of servitude continues, that freedom is an imperative for every human soul, and that good can triumph over evil.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                       Morning  Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - May 25. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - May 23. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Yemen Live Blog - May 27 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan  today 4.7  ! Lots of activity in Turkey.More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 120.On 27.05.2011 at 03:09 GMT+2
  
  The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant says they will investigate a possible radioactive water leak. The Tokyo Electric Power Company has been pumping enough water into the reactors at the plant every week. But it has created a new problem since the plant was not set up to store huge pools of water. About 60 tons of radioactive water is at risk of having leaked from the building. But TEPCO says there is no evidence showing leaks of radioactive water into the ground. Junichi Matsumoto, TEPCO General Manager, said, "As for the underground water supply we have been monitoring it for radiation and have not detected any iodine or cesium. So we don't believe at this point that there has been a leak into the ground.
  Source : Here .

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

• Sarah Palin’s All-American Road Trip !!!Restoring the Good in America!Our nation is at a critical turning point. As we look to the future, we are propelled by America's past. It's imperative that we connect with our founders, our patriots, our challenges and victories to clearly see our way forward. A good way to do this is to appreciate the significance of our nation's historic sites, patriotic events and diverse cultures, which we'll do in the coming weeks on our "One Nation" tour.We'll celebrate the good things that bring Americans together; those things that will give us the needed strength to meet the heady challenges ahead. I’ve said many times that America doesn’t need a "fundamental transformation," instead we need a restoration of all that is good and strong and free in America! So, together let’s prepare ourselves for the days ahead by reminding ourselves who we are and what Americans stand for.We'll celebrate the meaning of our nation's blueprints, our Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, which are the threads that weave our past into the fabric necessary for the survival of American exceptionalism. Our founders declared "we were born the heirs of freedom", and despite our difficulties and disagreements, we remain one nation under God in freedom, indivisible. Through visits to historical sites and patriotic events, we'll share the importance of America's foundation.We encourage you to support the pro-America events we'll be privileged to participate in during these coming weeks. Discover the ties that bind Americans, our history, our traditions, and the exceptional nature of our country!Follow the One Nation tour at www.SarahPAC.com-Sarah Palin.Read and see the full story here.

• TSA now the "Official US Groper in chief"?(Current)Saturday night, a certified TSA official will be at the Santa Fe High School prom to oversee student searches.This all comes after two Capital High School students, sisters, filed a lawsuit saying they were groped by a security agent at Capital High School's prom last month. On Friday, the court ordered Santa Fe Public Schools and the security company ASI to provide at least one TSA certified person at the Santa Fe High School prom and the Capital High School graduation.The restraining order also spells out the specific ways security can perform searches. It says a pat-down is only to be used if there are reasonable grounds and that pat-downs should not be used as a first approach for every student.KOB Eyewitness News 4 talked to one of the sisters suing the district earlier this week. Candice Herrera said, "She grabbed my breast and shook the inner part of my bra and shook it and then picked up the front of my dress to mid thigh and she was patting down my bare legs."Capital's Principal told us she was standing right there when students were searched and doesn't remember any students complaining about the pat downs.Meanwhile, Santa Fe Public Schools says it's happy to comply with the Federal Court's decision, saying, student safety is a priority.Hmmmm....When will they start at the 'kindergarten'?Read the full story here.

• ‘Successful’ Post-Surge Iraq?(BigPeace) Massive Baghdad Shiite Rally Chants “No, No America”.While the fierce bravery and fighting skill of our troops, combined with a massive infusion of cash hand-outs (“baksheesh”) to “tribal leaders,” throttled Iraq’s Sunni insurgency, it did nothing to alter the country’s transformation—certainly a large swath of it—into a Shiite client state of Iran. This is a disturbing phenomenon—rife with anti-Americanism and a general hatred of the infidel West, especially (of course) Jews and Israel—that I have warned about (see here) since 2006, within the larger failed policy context of “Making the World Safe for Sharia,” initiated under President Bush II. Perhaps the apotheosis of this geostrategical boondoggle in Iraq—a complete failure of will and imagination—is our negotiated “SOFA” (status of forces agreement) with our “Iraqi allies” which, as per Article 27, paragraph 3 (“Iraqi land, sea and air shall not be used as a launching or transit point for attacks against other countries.”) prohibits the US from attacking, for example, Iranian nuclear production facilities, from Iraqi bases and airspace.Today (5/26/11) an estimated 70,000 plus followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an Iranian proxy, and integral member of Prime Minister Maliki’s ruling coalition, rallied in Baghdad. Decrying the continued presence of American troops, they waved Iraqi flags, while shouting, “No, no America.” Marching protesters stomped on painted US, Israeli, and British flags, and the overall sentiments of those rallying were captured in these remarks by Mohammed Moyad:I am ready to fight the Americans whenever Sayyid (Muqtada) orders me to. According to U.S. officials, more than 300 busloads, carrying up to 70 passengers each, traveled from Iraq’s Shiite south, and were joined by Shiites who live in Baghdad’s northeast Sadr City neighborhood, where the rally was held. Some 24,000 militiamen from southern provinces donned matching T-shirts which bore the Iraqi flag, while spectators burned American and Israeli banners. Along the parade route, smaller bands of youths also struck Americans flags with twirling kickboxing moves, delighting onlookers.Top Sadr aide Salah al-Obeidi threatened that if the U.S. troops stay beyond the current December 31, 2011 “We will be obliged to fight and do our best to liberate our country.” Moreover, parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni, issued a statement claiming the march represented “clear proof to Iraq’s unity.”Adding bitter irony to geostrategical insult, as my colleague Diana West has observed astutely, President Obama now appears allied with foolhardy Bush era “making the world safe for Sharia” utopians to delay the scheduled US troop withdrawal from Iraq beyond December 31st of this year. As West notes, Obama’s cynical manipulation of former political foes could spare him and his re-election campaign from the following election-sabotaging images: How would/will it look while Obama and his teleprompter are out on the hustings in 2012 when, say, the Iranian mullahs make Karbala their summer White House, Hezbollah opens headquarters in Sadr City, and the Revolutionary Guard starts an amusement park in downtown Baghdad called “US Embassy” with a take-your-own-hostage ride?US troops should be removed from Iraq as scheduled, with attention only to their safe withdrawal. Then as matters unfold there, without our troops in (needless) harm’s way, we can begin a serious domestic debate on the merits to our security of expending vast quantities of precious US blood and treasure “democratizing” Muslim societies, and giving free reign to Sharia mores.Hmmmm.....Obama: If we work hard, Afghanistan could be a success…like Iraq!Read the full story here.

• Expanded Analysis: Forged Birth Certificate; Not Necessary to Prove Birthplace; Facing Forgery Charges and Conspiracy to Commit Forgery.(BirtherReport).It is no longer necessary to prove where President Obama was born. The provable crime is now FORGERY of a government document used for identification, which is a FELONY.

Dear Fellow Americans,

First of all I want to say that it does not matter if you are a Republican or Democrat. What Obama and company did was lie to all of us and was aided by companies in the media who looked the other way, in essence they covered up for him. What I have presented is irrefutably proof that the Certificate of Live Birth that President Obama presented to the world on April 27, 2011 is a fraudulently created document put together using the Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator programs and the creation of this forgery of a public document constitutes a class B felony in Hawaii and multiple violations under U.S. Code section Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 47, Sec.1028, and therefore an impeachable offense. When this comes to the public’s attention, it will be the greatest scandal in the country’s history—nothing comes even close. This will surpass the all previous scandals including the Watergate scandal of the Nixon administration.

Since I wrote the report, I have been contact by other graphic artists who had found more errors in the Certificate. I have put up addition facts that they have found.

The Laws that Have Been Broken

I am not an attorney but was an accountant and worked for three CPA firms before I went into business for myself. I have read and understood the Federal Tax code, so understanding Title 18 is no problem. I have listed in Appendix D of the full report, the entire section of the Federal Code that directly covers the seriousness of this fraud.Under Hawaii State code §708-851, it would be forgery in the first degree which is a Class B Felony (Appendix B).The Federal charges are much more extensive because of the nature of the crime, and who did it and the ramifications to the country. It would not surprise me that maximum prison sentences were given out but of course a judge and jury would have to determine that. The Federal law is covered under Title 18-Crimes and Criminal Procedures; Part 1-Crimes, Chapter 47- Fraud and False Statements, Section-1028-Fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents, authentication features, and information is the main section that the forgery of a Certificate of Live Birth would be covered under. 1. Forgery of a public document; 2. Conspiracy to commit forgery, because Obama had to have paid someone to create the forgery and it is evident others were involved; 3. Obstruction of Justice if this went to trial; 4 and 5. If the conspirators had bribed a County Clerk(s) to insert this PDF file into the county’s document imaging system, you would have bribery and tampering with government records. All of these are felonies and are impeachable offences. The penalty for committing the forgery is up to 15 years in prison and for just forging the unique Certificate number is another 5 years. At this point it doesn't matter if he was born in Kenya or Hawaii. He is now facing forgery charges and conspiracy to commit forgery.If Congress does not hold a hearing on this forgery, the vast majority of Americans will lose most of our faith in the country’s legal system and government institutions, and you don’t want to go there. As it is, the public poll numbers for Congress are in the low two digits. Congress and the ruling elite have to decide whether we are a country of laws or are the laws only enforced on the little people and those outside of the ruling political party.My Credentials

I have a unique background for analyzing this document. I owned a typesetting company for 11 years so I know type and form design very well. I currently own Archive Index Systems since 1993, which sells all types of document scanners worldwide and also developed document imaging software (TheRepository). I know how the scanners work. I have also sold other document imaging programs, such as Laser Fiche, Liberty and Alchemy. I have sold and installed document imaging systems in city and county governments, so I know their procedures with imaging systems and everything about the design of such programs. This will be important in understanding what has happened with Obama’s Certificate of Live Birth.(Source).Read the full story here.

• The Obama Administration’s ‘Sidam Touch’.(PajamasMedia).According to the Urban Dictionary, a person with “the Sidam Touch” has an ability that is “[t]he opposite of The Midas Touch, which turns everything to gold.” A person with the Sidam Touch “breaks and/or ruins everything.”To say that President Barack Obama and his administration, especially what’s left of his economic team, has the Sidam Touch is the understatement of the 21st century.In early February 2009, in the run-up to the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), known to most as “the stimulus,” the newly sworn-in Obama flexed his Sidam Touch muscles, repeatedly telling the nation: “Doing nothing is not an option.” Fittingly, Obama flew Ohio’s Sherrod Brown in on a government plane from the funeral of Brown’s mother so that the Buckeye State senator could cast the deciding vote.So how has it worked out? In December 2010, James Cogan and John Taylor at the Hoover Institution overestimated the impact of the stimulus plan by saying that it accomplished “zero.” On May 12, Professors Timothy Conley and Bill Dupor released more precise results demonstrating that ARRA really “created/saved 450 thousand government-sector jobs and destroyed/forestalled one million private sector jobs.” For the math-challenged, that’s a net loss of 550,000 jobs. A bit over two years later, it is abundantly clear that doing nothing would have been vastly preferable.It may be lip service, but the president and his advisers continually tell us that private sector growth is important. On May 10, White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee said: “You want the private sector to be the source of growth because that’s where the sustainable job creation is.” That’s interesting, because, as seen below, after almost three years, largely thanks to the Sidam Touch employment results just noted, the private sector’s inflation-adjusted size is barely back to where it was before the recession as normal people define it began, while the federal component of gross domestic product (GDP) has grown by 12%:The situation is much worse than it appears, because personal consumption expenditures, which are part of the private sector total above, include money spent by those who receive their “income” from government transfer payments. Such handouts have exploded, even after the recession’s end in June 2009. From that point until February of this year, the number of food stamp recipients ballooned to over 44 million, an increase of more than 9 million. Shoot, you can have over $80,000 in the bank or win a $2 million lottery prize and still receive food stamp benefits. Overall, government payments as a percentage of all income hit 18.3% in 2010, an all-time high.In the housing market, we see the administration’s Sidam Touch on steroids. Since President Obama and his brain trust surely know that the Sidam Touch actions being taken against Texas will hinder its economy and hurt job growth, one can only conclude that they don’t care. This leads to a broader and much more important question: do they really care if the economy recovers anywhere else, or are they on an entirely different mission?Read the full story here.

• $500 Million Obama Administration Program Will Help Kids 'Sit Still' in Kindergarten.(CNSNews).Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNSNews.com on Wednesday that the administration's new $500 million early learning initiative is designed to deal with children from birth onward to prevent such problems as 5-year olds who "can't sit still" in a kindergarten classroom.“You really need to look at the range of issues, because if a 5-year-old can’t sit still, it is unlikely that they can do well in a kindergarten class, and it has to be the whole range of issues that go into healthy child development,” Sebelius said during a telephone news conference on Wednesday to announce the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge.Sebelius, adding on to comments from Asst. Education Secretary Joan Lombardi, pointed to studies done in her home state of Kansas, where she served as governor. “When we looked at 5-year olds--and we tested about half the 5-year-olds in a relatively homogeneous state like Kansas -- and found that about half of them were not ready for kindergarten at age 5," Sebelius said."And some of those skills were missing: readiness for their math or reading," she said. "A number of children were missing the social and developmental skills which would allow them to sit in a classroom or play with others or listen to a teacher for any period of time. So I think it was an indicator that you couldn’t just test curriculum readiness.”According to the U.S. Department of Education, awards in Race to the Top will go to “states that are leading the way with ambitious yet achievable plans for implementing coherent, compelling, and comprehensive early learning education reform.”Hmmmm.....Reminds me of the Sovjets wrapping the Newborns in order to obtain more docile adults......creepy.Read the full story here.

• Is this the worst case of animal cruelty ever? Dog shot 40 times in head, tied up and buried alive... but survives.(Video)(DailyMail).The discovery of a dog that was buried alive up to its nose after being shot in the head 40 times has led to calls for Malta to reform its animal welfare laws. The crossbreed mongrel, which was named Star by his rescuers, was found near the city of Birzebbuga by animal welfare officers investigating an unrelated case. After hearing whimpering coming from beneath a wooden board with a tree stump placed on top of it to weigh it down, officers were confronted with the distressing sight of a dog's face buried in the dirt.But worse was to follow. When Star was dug out of the ground they discovered all four limbs had all been tied together and that she had been repeatedly shot with a pellet gun. Miraculously, after doctors removed 40 pellets from her skull during emergency surgery at the Ta' Qali hospital, Star survived. The case has caused outrage in Malta where, regardless of the nature of the act, the maximum sentence one can face for animal cruelty is a one-year jail sentence, or a maximum fine of 46,500 euros.A pending change in legislation will raise the maximum fine to 50,000 euros but the one-year jail maximum will remain. Animal lovers are holding a silent protest in Valetta next week to express their disgust. With the abuser still at large, people have expressed their support with dedicated Facebook pages, the largest of which has 7,000 followers.More than 1,000 people have also signed an online petition to help catch the perpetrator and to generate funds to meet Star's vet bills. A local jewellers has offered a 250 euro gift voucher as a reward to help catch the sick individual who abused Star.But her case has touched hearts much further afield and Star has received a personalised blanket from Canada as well as letters of concern from the Amsterdam Fire Brigade.Having gone through an appalling ordeal, Star is now spoilt for choice with 20 potential loving new owners offering to adopt her. However, due to the level of trauma through which she has been, Star is considered too withdrawn to be re-homed at the moment.  'We have another 110 dogs that also went through bad experiences and need a home, maybe people can help them,' Malta Animal Welfare Department spokesman Janice Chetcuti told The Times Of Malta.Hmmmm.......An eye for an eye suddenly sounds reasonable.Read the full story here.

• Egyptian Group Says It Will Form Nazi Party.(Memri).The Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Yawm reported that a group of Egyptians have announced their intent to establish a Nazi party with "a contemporary frame of reference," according to an independent Egyptian news website.The paper said that the leftist news portal Al-Badeel, in its posting yesterday, quoted founding member Emad Abdel Sattar as saying that the new party would bring together prominent figures from Egyptian society. The party’s founding deputy is a former military official.The party believes in vesting all powers in the president after selecting him or her carefully, Abdel Sattar said, adding that preparations are underway to choose the most competent person to represent the party, according to the report. The Nazi party operated secretly under former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, whose regime prevented party leaders from carrying out their activities freely, said the paper.Although Al-Masri Al-Yawm could not verify the news reported by Al-Badeel, two Facebook pages have appeared recently under the title of "the Egyptian Nazi Party," it said.Hmmmm......Let me guess they hate Jews?Read the full story here.

• Pow! Zam! Nyet! ‘Superputin’ Battles Terrorists, Protesters in Online Comic.(DangerRoom).Dictators are used to having their manliest poses carved into stone statues, or their most avuncular portrait printed on posters. But one Russian artist is bringing authoritarian iconography into the 21st century by drawing Russia’s boss-for-life Vladimir Putin as an ass-kicking character in an online comic book.Radio Free Europe reports that Russian writer, Sergei Kalenik has created a web comic that casts the Russian prime minister as a judo-chopping “Superputin.” Often portrayed in the west as a comically over-the-top villain, Putin is instead painted as a superhero fighting the twin evils of terrorism and public protest.It’s yet another addition to Russia’s weird and wonderful collection of personality-cult kitsch.Fresh from destroying a terrorist lair, Superputin is called into action to stop terrorists (inspired by the success of the action thriller Speed in Afghan cinemas) from detonating a bomb on a bus, designed to go off if the vehicle falls under 80 km per hour [50 mph].American diplomats once claimed that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev “plays Robin to Putin’s Batman,” acting as second fiddle in Russia’s ruling duo. In Superputin, Medvedev plays the sidekick yet again, placing him in the diminutive role of “nanoman.” His “League of Superheroes” file reveals Medvedev to be a “gnome raised by bears” — albeit one with the ability to morph into Russia’s national animal.It’s not just terrorists in Superputin’s crosshairs, but opposition groups as well. In the course of trying to keep a bomb-laden bus from detonating, Superputin is confronted by zombies with blue buckets on their heads. The bucket-hatted bad guys are an apparent nod to the real-life protesters against Russian officials’ allegedly promiscuous use of flashing blue lights to disregard traffic laws.It’s all part of a cult of personality that’s developed around Putin over the years. Pop starlets have put their yearning for a Putin-like mate into song.Like his spy pal Anna Chapman, Putin’s name gets stamped on all kinds of products to help them sell, with the Putin brand gracing everything from Vodka labels to canned food. He’s even got his own Kremlin-aligned pro-Putin youth group and a religious sect that believes he’s the reincarnation of Paul the Apostle.But it’s not purely grassroots imagination that conjures Putin into a comic book protagonist. Vlad’s adventures in public relations show that he’s deliberately cultivates the macho, take-charge superhero image. During Russia’s devastating wildfires last summer, he showed up on television hopping into a firefighting plane and co-piloting the aircraft to dump water on a raging inferno below.And who can forget his various manly man action-hero photo ops? Like a Russian GI Joe figure, he comes in many garbs — each sold separately. There’s Putin the Beastmaster, Putin the biker, Putin the rugged outdoorsman and, in the role most like his comic book alter ego, Putin the martial artist — complete with Kung-Fu grip.Photo: Superputin.ru, via RFERL.Hmmmm.......Why is he surrounded by Islamic Caucasus terrorists?Read the full story here.

• Video - On US Muslimmedianetwork: Ahmad Deedat :The Bible is not the Book of GOD!41:33  Mark:There are other things in  there that no decent man can telll his wife, mother,sister , or fiancee if she is a good woman.Hmmm........How about what's in the quran?For example:

"Slay them wherever you find them...Idolatry is worse than carnage...Fight against them until idolatry is no more and God's religion reigns supreme." (Surah 2:190-)

"Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it." (Surah 2:216) Read and see the full story here.

• Israel ranks 145 on Global Peace Index.(Ynet).Annual peace index crowns Iceland world's most peaceful nation, Somalia its most dangerous.The Global Peace Index issued its annual report Thursday, and according to its authors, its results reflect the dramatic changes sweeping through the Middle East.Published by the Institute for Economics and Peace and Vision of Humanity, the index noted an overall drop in world peace – for the third consecutive year. The report also highlights what it defined as "a continuing threat of terrorism." Global Peace Index data indicated that 29 countries are now under bigger threat of terror, and 33 countries found themselves prone to violent riots over the past year. The Global Peace Index crowned Iceland the world's most peaceful country, while the dubious honor of being named the world's most violent and chaotic country went to Somalia – which ranked at the bottom of the list – 153. New Zealand ranked second and Japan third. Denmark, Czech Republic, Austria, Finland, Canada, Norway and Slovenia rounded up the top 10, respectively the US is ranked at Nr 82.Israel did not fare so well and was ranked 145 – above Pakistan and Russia, but below Libya and Chad. Israel was ranked 144 in the 2010 GPI, and 119 in 2007. Israel's neighbors are apparently safer: Jordan was ranked 74, Syria came in at the 116th place, and Lebanon ranked 137. For the sake of comparison, a recent Gallup Happiness Index, ranked Israel seventh in the world.The Global Peace Index said that the Horn of Africa – which is home to over 40% of the world's most violent countries – is the least safe place in the world. Western Europe is the safest place in the world – for the fifth consecutive year. The unrest sweeping through the Arab world has shaken its nations' standing on the index: Libya dropped 83 places to 143, Bahrain tumbled 51 slots to 123 and Egypt lost 24 points and was ranked 73rd. The United States climbed to the 82nd place, the UK was ranked 26, France came in at the 36th place and China ranked 80.Read the full story here. 

• Mahmoud is shy?'Ahmadinejad wants friendship with Israel'.(Ynet).Muslim cleric claims Iranian president who threatened to wipe Jewish State off the map wants diplomatic relations, but is unable to publicly say so due to feud with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Unprecedented accusation against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: a Muslim cleric accused the Iranian president of wanting "friendship with Israel," an Iranian website associated with the opposition reported on Thursday. According to religious scholar Mahmoud Nubian, Ahmadinejad's top adviser Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei stated three years ago that Iran should have "friendly ties" with the Jewish State, but Ahmadinejad has refrained from reiterating this position in public because of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's fierce objection.Nubian further claimed that the Iranian president personally told him that he supported Mashaei's statement, but couldn’t say anything out of respect to the leader. According to the report, Nubian – who is associated with radical cleric Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi – said that since Mashaei entered the cabinet, "Khamenei has been forced to intervene," hinting at a split between the supreme leader and the president's top aide. The report came after several stormy weeks in the Iranian political apparatus over the unprecedented feud between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei. The latter, who is known as having the final say on all state matters, has been increasingly worried about Mashaei's influence over the president, which is reinforced by their family relations, as Ahmadinejad's daughter is married to Mashaei's son. Hmmmmm.....Next they're going to say that Mahmoud is from Jewish descent?Read the full story here. 

• Turkey: Israel should avoid flotilla face-off.(Ynet).Foreign minister says he hopes Israel 'has gained sufficient experience' from previous flotilla raid.Turkey's foreign minister says he hopes Israel will avoid confrontation as a new aid flotilla prepares to depart for the Gaza Strip.Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview aired on Ulke TV late Thursday that he believes Israel "has gained sufficient experience" after last year's raid on a flotilla that killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American and sparked international outrage. A coalition of pro-Palestinian groups say a flotilla will set sail in the third week of June. Israel has vowed to stop any attempt to breach its sea blockade of Gaza.A Turkish Islamic aid group said it expects the convoy to be at least twice as big as the one that attempted to reach Gaza last year.Read the full story here.

• Aegean drills canceled for military a.k.a. "Gaza Flotilla" reasons?(TodaysZaman).The cancellation of two major exercises in the Aegean Sea was a purely military decision, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was quoted as saying on Friday, apparently dismissing that it was linked to Turkish-Greek efforts to resolve their disputes in the Aegean.Erdoğan, speaking to a group of journalists during an election campaign trip to the central Anatolian province of Aksaray on Thursday, said he had discussed the issue with Chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner during a meeting earlier on Thursday.“I asked him, our chief of General Staff. He said it really was his initiative,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying by the Zaman daily on Friday. “I told him that his convictions are very important in exercises like these. I told him that we as the civilian government cannot force the commanders to carry on the maneuvers," he also said, complaining that the issue has unnecessarily turned into a public "mystery."On Thursday, a senior Turkish commander also insisted that the planned exercises were canceled for military reasons. “The exercises were canceled only for military reasons. There is no other reason,” Brig. Gen. Tayyar Süngü, head of the General Staff's department of communications, told reporters during a reception on Thursday evening marking the anniversary of independence of Azerbaijan in Ankara.He did not elaborate on the military reasons.Hmmmm.....What would be the odds now for Turkish warships showing up behind the Gaza Flotilla?Read the full story here.

• Abandon the knife. In the Pokot community in Kenya young girls are starting to fight against the brutal rite of female circumcision.(Al-Jazeera).The World Health Organisation estimates that between 100 to 140 million girls and women live with the consequences of circumcision or female genital mutilation, a right of passage and a prerequisite to marriage in many societies.Physically and psychologically painful it is without health benefits and mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and 15 years of age. In Africa alone it is estimated that 92 million girls from the age of 10 have undergone the practice.But in the Pokot community of highland Kenya, young girls are now fighting back against the process which they call "cutting". They are aided in their struggle by a grassroots movement know as "Abandon the Knife" which fights to change perceptions in a community where the practice of female circumcision has been entrenched for generations.The Pokot Community have been circumcising or cutting their girls for centuries. It is believed cutting began to stop women straying whilst men were away. Now it is just a way of life.It is early December and the cutting season has already begun."I saw the cutting. [...] They chop it, everything. And it was flat, it was flat and red you couldn't see anything. Somebody sat on our chest. Yeah, one sat on our chest. Somebody sat on our arms. And she was holding her leg, I mean her head, like this. Like you're cutting pieces of meat. And after then I ran. I just ran. I ran. I ran. I couldn't imagine how she was … Really, really painful. I don't want to talk about it anymore," Domtila Chesang, a Pokot girl, says.Rhoda Lodio, a midwife and member of the Pokot self-help group, says that due to severe bleeding some of the girls shock and at times they even die suddenly."The life of our own is decided by a man. Most of the work is done by the women … By undergoing FDM and withstanding the pain they can prove to the community that they can withstand the life here, the harsh life in this community," Rhoda says.Rhoda says that the practice of circumcising is mostly being done in the the very remote areas of the country."And these girls have not yet been empowered with somewhere to run to. The girls themselves see the way their mothers are suffering and that is why they are saying: marriage is like getting into slavery."Read the full story here.

• Protesters 'shot dead' by Syrian forces.(Al-Jazeera).  Reports of three people killed by security forces in southern village with fresh protests due after Friday prayers.At least three people are reported killed in the southern Syrian town of Dael after security forces opened fire to disperse a demonstration, according to activists.The three men were gunned down as they stood on rooftops chanting "Allahu Akbar" or "God is greatest", the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP news agency.The killings came with further demonstrations expected on Friday after midday prayers, with pro-democracy advocates reaching out to the army to join their 10-week uprising that has been met with a fierce military crackdown.As prayers ended, demonstrations were reported to be taking place in Idlib, in the country's north west, in Deir al-Zur in the north east, and in Qamishli, Amouda and Ras al Ain in the Kurdish areas in Syria's north.At the demonstration in Deir al-Zur, security forces fired live ammunition at protesters demanding the "overthrow of the regim", the Reuters news agency reported, citing witnesses.The fresh violence comes after human rights group Amnesty International accused Syrian security forces of deliberately killing hundreds of demonstrators in the city of Deraa.Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive video that activists say shows the funeral of a 13-year-old boy in Deraa. Activists say he was arrested on April 29 while protesting with family and friends. He was not seen again until Wednesday, when his body was returned to the village.Read the full story here.

• Report: Syrian protesters torch Nasrallah photos.(Ynet).Turkish foreign minister urges 'shock therapy' of reforms as Syrian forces fire on protest, killing four. Syrian protesters in the eastern city of Albu Kamal are torching photographs of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, activists said Friday after an opposition group reported security forces opened fire on a late-night protest, killing four people.Activists and a tribal leader in the province told Reuters by phone that Nasrallah's speech in Beirut this week in support of Assad infuriated demonstrators. Gunfire also sounded in the city of Homs, where thousands of protesters gathered despite heavy security, a resident told Reuters.Meanwhile Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Syria may yet still be able to achieve stability if it carries out a "shock therapy" of reforms.Davutoglu told Ulke TV late Thursday that Syrian President Bashar Assad can gain the trust of his people if he implements a package of reforms that are far-reaching and include significant political changes."What is needed now is a shock therapy," Davutoglu said. "If reforms are brought about now, this would open the way for peace and change."Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                  Morning   Posting.

• Live broadcast info from Japan directly ! Here.

• Libya Live Blog - April 03. Here .(Al-Jazeera)And  here (BBC).

• French forces take over Abidjan airport. Here . (Al -Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan between 4.4 and 5.2 today. More info here.

• Latest official Situation Update No. 71. On 03.04.2011 at 03:24 GMT+2.

Highly radioactive water was leaking into the sea Saturday from a crack discovered at a Japanese nuclear power plant destabilized by last month's earthquake and tsunami, Japanese nuclear safety officials say. The contaminated water will quickly dissipate into the sea and is not expected to cause any health hazard, they say. Nevertheless, the disturbing discovery points at the unexpected problems that have cropped up and continue to hamper technicians trying to control the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant about 220 kilometres north of Tokyo. The government had rushed to provide relief to the more than 165,000 people still living in shelters — and tens of thousands more who lack electricity or running water — after dozens of villages, towns and cities were slammed March 11 by a tsunami that followed a magnitude 9.0 earthquake.

But its attention has been divided by the efforts to stabilize the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which suffered heavy damage and has dragged the country to its worst nuclear crisis since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War. The plant's reactors overheated to dangerous levels after electrical pumps, deprived of electricity, failed to circulate water to keep the reactors cool. A series of almost daily problems have led to substantial amount of radiation leaking in the atmosphere, ground and sea. On Saturday, workers discovered a 20-centimetre long crack in a maintenance pit that was leaking highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, said Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama. He said the water, contaminated with radioactive iodine far above the legal limit found inside the pit, could be one of the sources of recent spikes in radioactivity in seawater.

"There could be other similar cracks in the area, and we must find them as quickly as possible," he told reporters. Soon after the discovery, the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., started filling the pit with cement to seal the crack and prevent more contaminated water from seeping into the ocean. Nuclear safety officials said the crack was likely caused by the quake and may be the source of radioactive iodine that started showing up in the ocean more than a week ago. People living within 20 kilometres of the plant have been evacuated from the area, and the radioactive water will quickly dissipate in the sea, but it was unclear if the leak posed any new danger to workers.The cracked pit houses cables for one of the six nuclear reactors, and the concentration of radioactive iodine was the same as in a puddle of contaminated water found outside the reactor earlier in the week. Because of that, officials believe the contaminated water is coming from the same place, though they are not sure where.Source.

• Japan confirms first two deaths at Fukushima as engineers fail to seal radioactive leak into ocean.Japanese engineers have admitted that they have failed to seal a crack from which highly radioactive water is spilling into the Pacific Ocean from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant.Officials said a concrete barrier that had been poured in to a maintenance pit at Unit 2 - to seal a recently discovered eight-inch crack in the wall of the reactor - had not successfully stemmed the flow of water.Officials say a renewed inspection of the plant had not uncovered any other leaks, but this was the only good news from a day where it was also revealed that two workers bodies had been found at the plant.The first deaths at the plant were confirmed today by the operator. A 21-year-old and a 24-year-old were believed to be conducting regular checks at the complex when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami hit on March 11.Tokyo Electric Power Company Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said in a statement: 'It pains me that these two young workers were trying to protect the power plant while being hit by the earthquake and tsunami.'It was unclear why the men did not evacuate when the quake hit.The bodies were not discovered until Wednesday and had to be decontaminated. The announcement was delayed out of respect for the victims' families, TEPCO spokesman Naoki Tsunoda said.The Fukushima plant has been spewing radioactivity since the quake and tsunami knocked out power, disabling cooling systems and allowing radiation to seep out of the overheating reactors.The water is seeping directly into the Pacific Ocean, although some experts say that it would be sufficiently diluted to not cause a major threat.Workers flooded the pit with concrete in an effort to seal the crack but couldn't get it to dry.Next, they plan to inject polymer into a pipe that connects the pit to the rest of the system. Polymer can absorb enormous amounts of water and expands 50 times its original size.Measurements showed the air immediately above it contained 1,000 millisieverts of radioactivity.Exposure to 500 millisieverts over a short period can increase the long-term risk of cancer.News of the failed bid to seal the leak came as Japan's prime minister Naoto Kan visited tsunami-ravaged coastal areas for the first time.Frustrated evacuees have complained that the government has been too focused on the nuclear crisis that followed the massive wave.Read the full story here.

• HT:DougRoss.Oops! New Black Panther Reveals Barack Obama dined with Louis Farrakhan and received counsel from the Nation of Islam leader.Race-baiter Malik Zulu Shabazz had some harsh words for Barack Obama last week. And while conservatives have focused mainly on the New Black Panther's hateful rhetoric, I focused instead on one particular snippet of his delightful soliloquy.Malik Zulu Shabazz, National Chairman of the New Black Panther, personal friend and admirer of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, unleashed his vitriol toward Obama, whom he lashes out at for representing “the ideology of the white man... policies of the white man..."..."represents the CIA set-up sabotage lie on an African leader and bomb [sic] that man like he’s George Bush ... And his wife should leave the n***er tonight. She should walk out, and his beautiful daughters should walk out on this bamboozling, buck-dancing Tom......Oh yeah, I said it. We’ve held back on this Negro for a long time... he caved in like a punk... You should have listened to Louis Farrakhan a long time ago when you were at his table....But you wanted to follow the white man and the white man's time is up! ...We pray that our Gaddafi survives... we see the same thing with the white man comin' after us all the time... [Obama] wanted to be the white man's n***er...We didn't know that Obama and Farrakhan were close enough to dine together -- perhaps more than once. And that the Nation of Islam's chief racist counseled Obama.So Farrakhan joins the collection of skeletons in Barack's closet, a veritable Star Wars cantina of freaks, Communists and anti-American kooks. From Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Jeremiah Wright, "Father" Pfleger, Van Jones, Imam Hassan Qazwini, Susan Power, Anita Dunn and a host of other crackpots we'll likely never know about.Now we discover that Obama received advice from the hateful nut Louis Farrakhan. Let me guess: legacy media will hush this story up too.Hmmmm....If ever a President needed impeachment it's here and now!Read the full story here.

• Gen. Petraeus Likely to Leave the Top US Command Post in Afghanistan This Summer.David Petraeus, perhaps the most celebrated American general of his generation, is likely to leave his job as the top US commander in Afghanistan this summer, multiple defence officials say.Petraeus, who stepped into the post last summer after President Barack Obama fired Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal for comments his aides made to Rolling Stone magazine, is likely to be succeeded by Deputy CENTCOM commander, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Allen, defense sources told The Envoy.Meantime, the deputy US commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez was nominated this week for a fourth star and to take charge of Army Force Command, moving to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. He is likely to be succeeded in Afghanistan by Lt. Gen. Curtis “Mike” Scaparrotti, currently commander of the I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington State, defense sources said.Both Scaparrotti — a former commander of the 82nd Airborne Division who is planning to bring several three-star advisors with him to Afghanistan — and Allen are extremely respected figures in Washington and in the field.John Allen is “a rock star, one of the brightest lights in the U.S. military,” one Defense official told The Envoy on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. As deputy commanding general for US Central Command (CENTCOM), Allen has been the point man for all things Iran. In Iraq, Allen was one of the authors of the “Anbar Awakening” — the largely successful Sunni reconciliation and reintegration effort, for the Marine Corps from late 2006 to 2007.“Few people in the military understand the on-the-ground inherently political nature of irregular war[counterinsurgency] as well as Allen,” the official said. “He also understands Washington and the interagency. He is exactly the right guy.”Where will Petraeus go? Military analysts who have worked with the commander say he has long been interested in commanding U.S. forces in Europe — the Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, SACEUR — a post currently held by Adm. John Stavridis. Some twenty-five years ago, Petraeus served as a speechwriter to then-SACEUR Gen. John Galvin, a defense analyst said, and Petraeus has been intrigued by the job since.Hmmmm.......Commander in chief of the "Mammoth coalition' to occupy Israel,after the September UN vote?Read the full story here.

• Alleged Saudi maid abuser acquitted!Judge finds no evidence that the defendant tortured the maid.A Saudi appeal court on Saturday acquitted a local woman who was sentenced in January to three years in prison for severely torturing her Indonesian housemaid, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom reported.The judge at the appeal court in the western town of Madina said there was no evidence the 53-year-old woman tortured her maid while her lawyer said he would seek damages for his client, Sabq Arabic language daily said.“The lawyer for the maid failed to produce concrete evidence during the trial, prompting the judge to acquit the defendant,” the paper said after the trial that was attended by Indonesian diplomats.In January, a court in Madina sentenced the woman to three years in prison for stabbing, beating and burning her 23-year-old Indonesian maid.The Saudi woman was arrested after allegedly beating Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa so severely as to break bones and cause internal bleeding, putting a hot iron to her head and stabbing and slashing her with scissors.Sumiati's case shocked and outraged human rights groups and labour activists as another example of the paucity of protection for millions of mostly Asian domestic workers, especially in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.Hmmmm.....Now why am i not surprised?They seem a lot quicker to jail foreigners?Read the full story here.

• U.S. pastor says he will put Mohammed 'on trial' next as Afghan president calls on U.S. to condemn Koran burnings.Despite clear evidence that his actions have led to multiple murders and widespread violence in the Middle East, controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones has vowed to step up his provocative campaign against Islam.The radical pastor said that he was considering putting Islamic prophet Mohammed 'on trial' for his next 'day of judgement' publicity stunt.His last, in which he oversaw the burning of a copy of the Koran after a six-hour mock trial, has been directly responsible for a wave of violence that began last night and has left 30 people dead and more than 150 injured.The defiance has led Afghan President Hamid Karzai to call on the U.S. Congress to condemn the burning of a Koran by the radical fundamentalist U.S. pastor.Karzai made the request at a meeting with U.S. ambassador Karl Eikenberry and General David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, the statement said.Eikenberry read to Karzai from U.S. President Barack Obama's earlier condemnation of the Koran burning, the statement said, but did not include any response from the Afghan leader.He told the New York Times: 'It was intended to stir the pot; if you don’t shake the boat, everyone will stay in their complacency.'Emotionally, it’s not all that easy. People have tried to make us responsible for the people who are killed. It’s unfair and somewhat damaging.Mr Jones told the Times that, in recent weeks, he had received more than 300 death threats via phone and email, and had been told by the FBI that there was a $2.4 million contract on his life. He said: 'I don’t right now feel personally afraid. But we are armed.' Mr Jones admitted that he knew the Koran-burning stunt could lead to violence, adding: 'We were worried. We knew it was possible.'But it clearly did not stop him.Yesterday Mr Jones, who ignored international warnings that his actions would undoubtedly lead to violent reprisals, said the blame laid at the feet of the attackers.He said: 'We must hold these countries and people accountable for what they have done as well as for any excuses they may use to promote their terrorist activities. The time has come to hold Islam accountable.'Our United States government and our President must take a close, realistic look at the radical element Islam. Islam is not a religion of peace.'We demand action from the United Nations. Muslim dominated countries can no longer be allowed to spread their hate against Christians and minorities.'Read the full story here.

• Operation Cast Lead: Binyamin Netanyahu and Israel Vindicated.Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyhau on Saturday called on the UN to “nullify the Goldstone Report.”Netanyahu delivered a short televised address to the media in both Hebrew and English in which he addressed Friday’s op-ed article in the Washington Post in which Goldstone said the findings of his investigation into Operation Cast Lead would have been different had he possessed all of the information.“Goldstone himself confirmed what we have already been saying,” Netanyahu stated.“I think our soldiers and army behaved according to the highest standards” during Operation Cast Lead, Netanyahu said.“We expect this farce to be rectified immediately,” he said of the report which charged Israel with committing war crimes by targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip.The prime minister added that the fact that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was part of the UN Human Rights Council, which commissioned the report, proves the absurdity of the findings. “It’s time to throw this report into the dustbin of history,” he concluded.Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Saturday praised Goldstone for the op-ed article, in which he stated that Israel did not intentionally target civilians during Operation Cast Lead.Lieberman said in an interview with Channel Two’s Dana Weiss on the program “Meet the Press,” that while he praised Goldstone’s comments he was not surprised that the judge came to the conclusions that he did.“We had no doubt that the truth would come out eventually,” said Lieberman.Lieberman also expressed satisfaction with the fact that Goldstone recognized the anti-Israel bias of the UN Human Rights Council.When asked if he believed, given Goldstone’s comments, that Israel should have been more cooperative with Goldstone’s fact-finding mission, Lieberman said that Israel did not want to set a precedent of international bodies interfering in the governments internal decision-making process.Defense Minister Ehud Barak also addressed Goldstone’s comments, saying that the IDF was “a moral army that operated according to international law.”Barak added that in order to repair the damage done by the Goldstone Report, the judge should present his current conclusions before all of the international bodies who were presented the original report and not merely give his opinion in a newspaper article.Read the full story here, more : Richard Goldstone Confirms He Was A Useful Idiot here from Amnon and Jonathan.

• Barak: Goldstone must face UN.Defense minister says South African judge's regret over Gaza war report is 'very important', but that Israel will 'make him' express regret in international forum as well. PM Netanyahu: We'll work to demand justice Israel deserves.Two days after Judge Richard Goldstone expressed his regret over his accusations against Israel in his Gaza war report, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that "Goldstone's article is very important, but it's too little and too late. We'll make him face an international United Nations forum and speak out."Although Goldstone also said Israel should have cooperated with the UN investigation into Operation Cast Lead, Barak does not regret the decision not to cooperate with the South African judge's team. "It's good that we rejected it," he told reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. Barak reiterated that the Goldstone report was distorted and called the committee's appointment a "blood libel". "Goldstone was asked to look into IDF war crimes, and only a senseless government could have accepted such a thing." The defense minister explained that "it's very important not to cooperate with a committee sent by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is a delusional forum of Israel's rivals." He stressed that Israel handed the UN a report of hundreds of pages on the independent investigations it conducted after the Gaza operation. "Goldstone knew everything he needed to know, all the facts on the Israeli side, but he ignored them." Goldstone wrote in a Washington Post article published Friday, "If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document." Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat called on Israel's left-wing organizations to apologize, as Goldstone did. "Elements like the New Israel Fund, which provided distorted material, should self-examine themselves. "I would like to see at least one of them say, 'I was wrong, I made a mistake,' at least like Goldstone did. I would like to see them work to distribute the truth worldwide."According to Kirsehnbaum, Goldstone "had the integrity to admit that his findings on the IDF's conduct were wrong, but those organizations are hiding behind his back and failing to admit their mistake and the fact that the information they transferred was distorted and false." Read the full story here.

• Britain to send 600 navy marines to Libya, says report.The United Kingdom will send a Royal Navy taskforce of 600 marines and at least six ships to Libya this week as part of a humanitarian mission to provide medical and food aid to rebel-held towns, the London-based Times reported on Sunday, without disclosing where it got the information.The marines, who are due to fly out to Gibraltar later this week, will be used to protect ports where supplies will be unloaded, the newspaper reported in its paper edition. The ships in the taskforce, which are due to leave in the next two days, will include the landing platform Albion, the type-42 destroyer Liverpool and four support ships, the Times said.Britain is also under pressure to double the number of Royal Air Force planes available to attack the Libyan army after Saturday’s withdrawal of U.S. combat aircraft, the newspaper reported, without citing anyone.The Times’ report came nearly two days after a Texas-based global intelligence company said that British commandos are already operational in the North African country. In an article on Libya war, George Friedman, founder of STRATFOR, said British SAS operators were already in Libya. According to Friedman, suspicion is growing that other countries’ special operations forces and intelligence services were also operating there.A Turkish ship carrying 250 wounded from Misrata is expected to dock in Benghazi on Sunday as well, according to the state-run Anatolia news agency.The boat, which is carrying medical supplies, is expected to pick up around 60 wounded people and 21 accompanying persons that are currently being treated in various hospitals in Benghazi as well as 30 Turks and 40 people from Greece, Ukraine, Britain, Uzbekistan, Germany and Finland.Read the full story here.

• Obama Says Florida Koran Burning “Is an Act of Extreme Intolerance and Bigotry”.President Barack Obama is extending his deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif by protesters enraged by the burning of a Quran in Florida.Obama says desecration of the Quran “is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry.”But he says that does not justify attacking and killing innocent people, calling it “outrageous and an affront to human decency and dignity.”Eleven were killed Friday, including seven foreign U.N. employees.And Afghans rioted for a second day Saturday, killing nine people in Kandahar and injuring more than 80.Obama said in a statement that no religion tolerates “the slaughter and beheading of innocent people.”Hmmmm...On the other hand B.Hussein Obama the "I pray every day" Christian has no problem with the 2003 Fatwa that ruled the Bible or Torah suitable for use by Muslims when cleaning after defecation Perhaps he doesn't consider the Bible and the Torah a Holy book?Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri. Video : TV Report on Training Camp for Libyan Rebels in Benghazi.Read and see the full story here.

• HT:IslamInEurope.Belgium: Mandate of Muslim Executive not extended.Belgian Justice Minister Stefaan De Clerck says that the mandate of the Muslim Executive will not be extended. The Executive will continue to receive some subsidies in order ensure continuity, but will not start off new initiatives.The body, which is supposed to represent Belgian Muslims, has not managed to get to an agreement on reforms. The discussions have been ongoing since 2008, when the Executive was tasked with developing a new structure. At a last-minute meeting with the minister on Thursday it seemed that there was no willingness to talk further, and it was decided not to extend the mandate.Future recognition of the Muslim Executive currently depends only on the Executive itself.Hmmmm.......Seems like Belgium is following Germany's way of thinking "Integration has failed"?Read the full story here.

• HT:Ross'sRightAngle.Indonesia Inquisition Ministry Turns Guns Against Buddhists – Statue Downed at Islamist Behest.Busily brow-beating one religious minority ( Ahmadiyah ) the Ministry of Religious Affairs has still found time to bully Buddhists too, with a new diktat ordering them to remove their statue in Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra, ‘after it raised the ire of Muslims in the area.’An odd report in the Jakarta Post today on how a Buddhist leader was ‘forced to sign an agreement under pressure’ just a week before he suffered a fatal accident.It seems the Mayor of Tanjung Balai, in North Sumatra, a certain Sutrisno Hadi, has ordered that a Buddhist statue be removed from a Buddhist temple, which is where you’d think it belonged. He claimed this sacrilegious act was motivated by ‘public pressures,’ but others say it was ‘permeated by political motives.’Mr.W. Lie. from the city’s ethnic Chinese community is ‘shocked’ and says that the so-called ‘agreement’ under which his Chinese colleagues agreed to let the statue be taken was ‘not their real wishes,’ and the temple leader, Suwanto Saima ‘was forced to sign.’“Unfortunately we did not have the opportunity to ask who intimidated him,” said Lie, because the man was dead within a week.Lie added that the Buddhist community were NOT willing to see the statue removed. “We won’t remove the statue,” adding that Buddhists were ‘afraid of provoking trouble’ if they opposed the plan. The majority of Buddhists in the city ‘opted to keep silent to avoid controversy.’So who’s behind this authorised sectarian vandalism? Naturally, we suspected the FPI, and sure enough, a report in Kompas 31/5 stated that they were involved. But it’s a complicated saga.Enter Veryanto Sitohang, of the North Sumatra Allliance.“The Mayor’s son, Eka, is currently vying for the city’s top position. Based on information, he is being pressuried by an Islamci organisation to remove the statue as a condition of their support.”Whatever the ins-and-outs of local electioneering up in Sumatra, we think the photograph of the Buddhists’ statue looks grand, and the Islamist demand for its de-thronement is a sleazy sectarian echo of the Taliban scum in Afghanistan who dynamited those magnificent statues in the face of worldwide outcry.Hmmmmm....Obama .."Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance" Yeah whatevah.. it's plain to see.Read the full story here.

• "The War on Christianity".Police Arrests Twelve Indians; Accuses Them of Illegally Converting to Christianity.Orissa Police on Tuesday arrested twelve tribals for allegedly undergoing religious conversion in an 'illegal' manner.According to sources, the tribals were arrested after a case was registered at Rasgobindpur police station in Mayurbhanj district for violating Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA).The arrested, including nine women, were booked under Section 4 of the Freedom of Religion Act . Police are now on the lookout for two Baptist pastors who also have been named by the complainant.Inspector In-Charge of Rasgobindpur police station, Santosh Das, told Press Trust of India that the twelve tribals arrested from Rasgobindpur area were produced before a court in Bairpada which sent them to jail.The Orissa Freedom of Religion Act prohibits religious conversions without the prior permission of the local police and a district magistrate. The order stipulates that a citizen wishing to convert must undergo a police inquiry to explain his or her reasons. Orissa is one of six states in India that has adopted an anti-conversion legislation which the Church has strongly opposed stating it is against the spirit of the Constitution. Meanwhile, a Bangalore-based advocacy group condemned Tuesday's arrest and demanded a probe against the police officials "involved in the intimidation of Christians from the tribal background”.The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) urged the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to drop the cases against the tribals and stop harassment of Christians in Orissa.Hmmmm.....India Another country Obama visited....The 'Obama curse'?Read the full story here.

• Machete thugs hack to death 1,000 in just one town as Ivory Coast battle rages.A thousand civilians have been found massacred in a small town in Ivory Coast amid worsening civil conflict in the West African state.The victims were discovered by aid agency workers in Duekoue. Some had been shot and others hacked to death with machetes.It was not clear last night who carried out the attacks, but the area is thought to be in the control of supporters of Alassane Ouattara, who won Ivory Coast's election late last year. President Laurent Gbagbo has refused to step down.Red Cross spokesman Dorothea Krimitsas warned: 'There is a risk this kind of event can happen again.Last night 10,000 refugees crowded into Duekoue's Catholic church, guarded by 1,000 United Nations peacekeepers.Heavy fighting has continued in the main city, Abidjan, as Ouattara's forces battle for the presidential palace.State TV came back on air after fighting took it down and they were showing pictures of Gbagbo looking relaxed and drinking tea, stating that the pictures were from his city residence.Gunfire and explosions were heard from heavy shelling close to the presidential palace throughout the morning, and clashes raged around the military bases and offices of state broadcaster, RTI, which is still in the Gbagbo's hands.Read the full story here.

• Soldier's harrowing letters home reveal how a secret truce allowed 35 British soldiers to liberate Belsen.The handwriting is still clear, even after all these years, and the words on the yellowing pages tell a terrible story. The writer describes tens of thousands of bodies lying strewn around, and skeletal figures searching desperately for food and water. It is one of the most remarkable documents of the Second World War because this letter, written by Lance Bombardier George Leonard to his wife Gwyn and six-month-old daughter Sandra, is one of the first eyewitness accounts of the horrors of Belsen concentration camp by a British soldier.Even before it had been officially liberated by the 11th Armoured Division on April 15, 1945, George Leonard was there behind enemy lines with a tiny force of just 200 soldiers under a flag of truce.

He reveals how two SS guards were shot dead by British soldiers and that when news of the Army's arrival spread, the camp was on the brink of anarchy as inmates went on the rampage. The British soldiers were forced to shoot above their heads to maintain a semblance of order. The disease had reached epidemic proportions in the concentration camps; it had killed Anne Frank in Belsen a few months before George Leonard arrived.'We got an order to take down all our camouflage and put on our best battle dress.

'We had no idea what was going on. Then we saw Major Ben Barnett, our commanding officer, raising a white sheet. 'We knew then that we must be going through the German lines under a flag of truce.' Mr Leonard drove forward in his Crusader tank, towing a limber full of ammunition and a 17-pounder anti-tank gun. It was one of a cumbersome and unwieldy chain of vehicles and once into no man's land there could be no turning back.'The Germans in front of us just parted,' he says. 'They stood to the side of the roads and just watched us going by. It was absolutely quiet, just the sound of our engines. 'They seemed sullen. No one spoke, but it was frightening: we were terribly vulnerable and outnumbered if they had attacked us.' Mr Leonard's column pushed on and eventually reached the camp of Bergen-Belsen at about nine in the evening.

The men drove on to a large parade ground, surrounded by smart, three-storey buildings. 'I remember thinking, "If this is a concentration camp, then it doesn't look too bad," ' Mr Leonard says. In fact they were in the barracks area, where the SS and regular army troops lived. The real camp was hidden among the trees, and Mr Leonard's A Troop was detailed to be the first British detachment into the camp itself. There were just 35 men and they had no idea of the horrors that awaited them. What they saw would stay with them for the rest of their lives. As they advanced through the trees, they saw hundreds of people lying on the ground.'There were bodies everywhere. At first, you didn't think they could all be dead, but they were.' He described the scene in his letter: 'Dead bodies - some of them burnt and horribly mutilated - just lie about all over the place. I'd say there were approx 50,000 dead.'

The camp was guarded by 700 Hungarian troops, about 300 Wehrmacht (regular army) men and a group of SS men and women, who were in charge. There were about 60,000 inmates and, in fact, 30,000 dead bodies.The truce allowed for the Hungarian and Wehrmacht troops to wait for the British front line to pass over the camp, then they would be allowed safe passage back to the German lines or could surrender. The deal made no mention of the SS and the British soldiers arrested them immediately. Mr Leonard wrote: 'We rounded up all the SS men and the SS girls, then we locked them up in cells. The next day we took them out and made them bury the dead.

'Some of them didn't seem to like the job very much, so we had to persuade them in our way. 'That night we locked them up again - and in the morning one of them had committed suicide, the next day two more thought that life wasn't worth living.' I ask him what that line in his letter meant. Had they killed themselves too? 'They were shot trying to escape,' he says. Were they really trying to escape? 'They were shot trying to escape,' he repeats and we move on. Mr Leonard's letter does not attempt to hide his own feelings. 'I've never felt so cruel or heartless as when we were making those swine clear up the dead,' he wrote 65 years ago.

'We had a huge grave - over 100 yards long and about 20 yards wide by 20 feet deep, the last time I was making them work we nearly filled it. I still feel sick when I think of it...'Dealing with the SS was one thing, dealing with the thousands of camp inmates who 'went mad' quite another. Mr Leonard wrote: 'Just try to imagine 60,000 people, who had been starved, beaten, kicked and tortured, who hadn't seen food or water for nearly a week, just think of all that crowd gone mad just smashing everything. 'Then imagine 35 men trying to push them all back without hurting or shooting anyone - and remember all this was happening in the dark.' A troop kept the crowds of jubilant inmates under control for the night before they were joined by another 35 men in the morning - but still the situation was on a knife-edge.Hmmmmm.......The stories the Palestinians don't want to hear or learn about.NEVER AGAIN!Read the full story here.

• Disease threatens some New England bats with extinction.Some species of bats will be wiped out in New England within 15 years by white nose syndrome, a fast-spreading disease steadily trekking westward, experts said on Thursday.A top predator of mosquitoes, beetles and other pests that hurt agriculture, bats are in steep decline, said Ann Froschauer, an expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Hadley, Mass. White nose syndrome has killed more than a million of the bats living in North America.Loss of bats in North America could cost agriculture at least $3.7 billion per year, according to a study slated for publication in the April 1 issue of Science and released to Reuters on Thursday."The disease is sort of outpacing us," Froschauer said.The syndrome gets its name from a white fungus that settles in tufts on infected bats' muzzles and invades their skin. It causes them to have low body-fat, retreat deeper into cold caves, and exhibit odd behavior, such as flying in daytime and in cold weather, when insects they feed on are not present.The cause of the disease is a mystery, though a newly-identified fungal pathogen, Geomyces destructans, is suspected.White nose is mainly spread by bat-to-bat transmission, but humans also can transport fungal spores via shoes, clothes and gear from contaminated sites to new sites.U.S. officials say people can help slow white nose's spread by staying out of caves and mines that are homes to bats.Since its discovery in an upstate New York State cave in early 2006, white nose has been confirmed in 15 states and two eastern Canadian provinces.Fish and Wildlife experts say Oklahoma is the furthest west the fungus itself has been detected, while full-blown white nose syndrome in bats has traveled as far west as Tennessee. This week alone, wildlife officials in Ohio detected that state's first case in an abandoned mine in Wayne National Forest, and it also turned up in New Brunswick, Canada. This year, Indiana and North Carolina also have made their first discoveries of the disease."Little brown bats tend to be the ones that are really getting hammered by the disease," said Froschauer, who said the species could become extinct in New England within 15 years.Other species that could potentially be most acutely affected by white nose are Indiana and Southeast-based Gray bats, which are listed as endangered species in the United States, Froschauer says.Eleven species out of a total 45 U.S. bat species already are affected by white nose, which is nearly half of the 26 bat species that are cave-hibernating bats. In some caves in the Northeast, 90 to 100 percent of populations have died. About 1,100 bat species exist worldwide.Hmmmmm....First the bees...now the bats..who's next?Read the full story here.