MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Russia 5.0 !More info here.

• Video - Why We Hate The Jews - Can it be any Clearer?(Memri).Quote"OUR HATRED OF THE JEWS IS BASED UPON OUR FAITH!The Koran tells us to hate them not to love them!They are ennemies not because they occupied palestine,They would have been ennemies even if they did not occupy a thing.See the full story here.

• Canada - Should veils be banned during oaths of citizenship?(YV).Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has announced a ban on face coverings, such as niqabs, for people swearing their oath of citizenship.The ban, announced Monday, is effective immediately. As a result, Muslim women will have to remove their niqabs or any other face-covering garments, such as burkas, before they can recite the oath of citizenship to become Canadians.Kenney said he's had complaints from MPs and citizenship court judges that it's hard to tell whether people with their faces covered are actually reciting the oath of citizenship, which he says is a requirement to become Canadian."We cannot have two classes of citizenship ceremonies. Canadian citizenship is not just about the right to carry a passport and to vote," Kenney said.Do you agree with the ban on veils for citizenship oaths? Let us know in the comments.Read the full story and Vote here .

• Iran to practice Strait of Hormuz closure while unlocking US drone secrets.(Debka).Bigheaded from capturing the US stealth RQ-170 Sentinel drone, Tehran Monday, Dec. 12 announced plans to conduct a navy drill soon for practicing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the most important oil transit channel in the world for 40 percent of its fuel. Iranian lawmaker Parviz Sorouri, member of the Majlis national security committee, who announced the drill said, "Iran will make the world unsafe if the world attacks Iran."On Dec. 12, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called Iran "a very grave threat to all of us" and warned that any Iranian disruption of the free flow of commerce through the Persian Gulf "is a red line" for the United Sates.Tehran's announcement of a navy drill in Hormuz augments the Syrian ruler Bashar Assad's mantra since his people rose up against him nine months ago, that an attack on his regime would start a regional blaze.The Iranian lawmaker spoke at length about how his government planned to use the military and intelligence software mined from the top-secret US UAV on Dec. 4.He said Iranian engineers and technicians were "in the final stages of "cracking" the drone's secret technology, although he did not say when this research would be complete. "Our next action will be to reverse-engineer the aircraft," he said and boasted: "In the near future will be able to mass produce it. Iranian engineers will soon build an aircraft superior to the American one."This data would also be used, the Iranian lawmaker said, in a lawsuit against the United State for the "invasion" by the unmanned aircraft. Sorouri did not say where the lawsuit would be filed but Tehran is thought to be preparing an complaint to the international war crimes court at the Hague.debkafile's Iranian and military sources note that the linkage Sorouri made between the capture of the RQ-170 and the naval drill in the Strait of Hormuz was intended to inform Washington that Tehran in possession of the drone no longer fears the ability of the naval air carriers the US has deployed in the Persian Gulf to prevent its closure of the strategic waterway.In the last six months, Adm. Habibollah Sayyari has emphasized more than once that the Iranian Navy which he commands is master of the Persian Gulf and dominates the Strait of Hormuz.Mere verbal protest will not serve. It will just leave Tehran crowing over its possession of the US drone as the key to the military and intelligence mastery of the Persian Gulf waters and the ability to make US back down. However a real threat by the US and Gulf oil powers to stop the drill by force will send regional tensions shooting up.In the meantime, Saeed Jalili, head of Iran's National Security Council has arrived in Moscow to clinch a deal for the transfer of drone secrets to Russia in return for nuclear technology and sophisticated military hardware.Hmmm......"May you live in interesting times"?Read the full story here.

• Iran must chose between a bomb or survival: Israel.(DailyStar).JERUSALEM: A senior Israeli cabinet minister on Monday said Iran must be forced to face an existential question over its nuclear drive: choose between getting an atomic bomb, or survival."We believe that in order to stop the Iranian military nuclear project, the regime in Tehran should face a dilemma -- whether to have a bomb or to survive," Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon told reporters in Jerusalem.Yaalon said however it was for the international community, rather than Israel, to apply what he called an "achievable" policy."We prefer that the international community led by the United States will bring about this dilemma in order to convince the regime to give up its military nuclear programme," he said, stressing the need for political isolation and economic sanctions aimed at the banking and oil sectors.Israel and much of the international community fear that Iran's nuclear programme masks a drive for a weapons capability.Tehran denies any such ambition and says the programme is for peaceful civilian energy and medical purposes only."Our policy is very clear -- by one way or another, the military nuclear project in Iran should be stopped," Yaalon said, indicating it "might be 12 months, might be 24 months" until Iran was able to reach a military nuclear capability.Israel has pushed Washington and the European Union for tough sanctions against Tehran, but has repeatedly warned it would not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.Yaalon, a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner circle of eight ministers, also reiterated the line that while a military option was still on the table, as "the last resort."He declined to comment on what was behind a deadly explosion at a Iranian military base near Tehran last month, which a top Israeli intelligence official reportedly said was a site where ground-to-ground missiles were being developed."They had some blow to the missiles project in the last incident in which a missile site absorbed a significant blow -- especially regarding long-range missiles," Yaalon said.Media reports have suggested the blast was part of a covert effort by the United States, Israel and other states to disable Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.Last month, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said it had "credible" information Iran was carrying out "activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device."Read the full story here.

• Liberal Legal Expert: Kagan must recuse herself or "the integrity of the Supreme Court as at stake".(DougRoss).By Eric Segall.Professor Eric Segal is a widely published constitutional attorney who is a self-professed liberal. Therefore, when the subject of Elena Kagan's recusal is seen by most Democrats as a partisan issue -- rather than simply an issue of obvious, judicial integrity -- his Slate opinion piece ("A Liberal’s Lament on Kagan and Health Care") represents a breath of fresh air....Elena Kagan is a loyal Democrat who owes her Supreme Court appointment to President Obama. She is poised to review the constitutionality of Obama’s health care statute, which, if invalidated, might do serious damage to his re-election campaign as well as the Democratic Party. Even though it would be a hard decision to make, Elena Kagan should recuse herself from hearing challenges to the act.So far it appears that only Republicans and conservatives want Kagan to recuse herself from hearing the case, while liberals and Democrats take the opposing view. I have been a liberal constitutional law professor for more than 20 years, and a loyal Democrat. I believe the Affordable Care Act is constitutional... That said, I believe that as a matter of both principle and law, Kagan should not hear the case....As many have pointed out, there are legitimate arguments that these rules point to recusal. Was Kagan a “counsel” or “adviser” on this issue? We know that she was on an e-mail exchange between her top deputy, Neal Katyal, and Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, about a meeting to discuss the litigation strategy for the ACA litigation, and lawyers in her office would be present. We also know she attended at least one meeting where the litigation was discussed... We don’t know how fully Kagan was involved because the White House (perhaps for legitimate reasons unrelated to this controversy) has not released all of the relevant emails about the matter...We also know that Kagan wrote an e-mail to Laurence Tribe, a famous Harvard constitutional law professor who was also working for the administration at the time the law passed, in which she said, “I hear they have the votes, Larry!! Simply amazing.” The email's subject line was "fingers and toes crossed today!"...She served as the solicitor general of the United States during the time that the ACA was furiously debated in Congress, discussed in town halls across the country, and enacted... [and] We know she celebrated the passage of the law....The Supreme Court is increasingly seen as a partisan political institution making political decisions instead of a true court deciding cases under the law. Justice Kagan has a golden moment to display that at least one Supreme Court justice has integrity and character that exceed her party loyalty and political past. If she sees herself as a political official who, because of the office she occupies, gets to cast an important vote on an issue that may decide an election, she should stay on the case. But, if she views herself as a judge of law who is obligated to approach legal issues objectively and open-mindedly without regard to partisan political outcomes, she ought to step aside. Nothing less than the integrity of the Supreme Court is at stake.Thank you, professor, for demonstrating that at least one Democrat is capable of publicly advocating an ethical and intellectually honest course of action for Justice Kagan.Hmmmm......The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out. ~Thomas Babington Macaulay.My guess the same go's for women.Read the full story here.

• Joe Biden Drafted the Core of the Patriot Act in 1995 … Before the Oklahoma City Bombing.(WashingtonsBlog).Everyone knows that the Patriot Act was drafted before 9/11.But few know that it was Joe Biden who drafted the core provisions which were included in that bill … in1995. CNET reported in 2008:

Months before the Oklahoma City bombing took place, Biden introduced another bill called the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995. It previewed the 2001 Patriot Act by allowing secret evidence to be used in prosecutions, expanding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and wiretap laws, creating a new federal crime of “terrorism” that could be invoked based on political beliefs, permitting the U.S. military to be used in civilian law enforcement, and allowing permanent detention of non-U.S. citizens without judicial review.* The Center for National Security Studies said the bill would erode“constitutional and statutory due process protections” and would “authorize the Justice Department to pick and choose crimes to investigate and prosecute based on political beliefs and associations.”
Biden himself draws parallels between his 1995 bill and its 2001 cousin. “I drafted a terrorism bill after the Oklahoma City bombing. And the bill John Ashcroft sent up was my bill,” he said when the Patriot Act was being debated, according to the New Republic, which described him as “the Democratic Party’s de facto spokesman on the war against terrorism.”
***
Biden’s proposal probably helped to lay the groundwork for the Bush administration’s Patriot Act.

The Center for National Securities reported in 1995:

On February 10, 1995, a counterterrorism bill drafted by the Clinton
Administration was introduced in the Senate as S. 390 and in the House of
Representatives as H.R. 896.
The Clinton bill is a mixture of: provisions eroding constitutional and
statutory due process protections, selective federalization — on political
grounds — of state crimes (minus state due process rules), discredited
ideas from the Reagan and Bush Administrations, and the extension of some of
the worst elements of crime bills of the recent past.
The legislation would:
1. authorize the Justice Department to pick and choose crimes to
investigate and prosecute based on political beliefs and associations;
2. repeal the ancient provision barring the U.S. military from civilian
law enforcement;
3. expand a pre-trial detention scheme that puts the burden of proof on
the accused;
4. loosen the carefully-crafted rules governing federal wiretaps, in
violation of the Fourth Amendment;
5. establish special courts that would use secret evidence to order the
deportation of persons convicted of no crimes, in violation of basic
principles of due process;
6. permit permanent detention by the Attorney General of aliens convicted
of no crimes, with no judicial review;
7. give the President unreviewable power to criminalize fund-raising for
lawful activities associated with unpopular causes;
8. renege on the Administration’s approval in the last Congress of a
provision to insure that the FBI would not investigate based on First
Amendment activities; and
9. resurrect the discredited ideological visa denial provisions of the
McCarran Walter Act to bar foreign speakers.

* Note: The CNET article contains a typographical error, using the word “detection” instead of “detention” in the sentence: “allowing permanent detection of non-U.S. citizens without judicial review”. Not only does this make no sense, but a review of the bill confirms that it provided for permanent detention.Read the full story here.

• McConnell: Keystone is ‘shovel ready,’ pushes for linking payroll tax, pipeline.(TheHill).Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) continued Sunday to press for legislation that links extending a payroll tax break with the Keystone Pipeline project.

McConnell predicted Congress will pass legislation this month that extends the payroll tax holiday and extends jobless benefits — but he offered few clues about the path to gaining consensus on a final package.

During an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” McConnell made clear he wants that package linked to a measure that would force the administration to fast-track a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline project.

“We’d … like to create some jobs” via the project, which needs the president’s approval, McConnell said, contending it would create “20,000 jobs.”

“It’s shovel ready” and would not cost the government “one penny,” he added.

The minority leader predicted a payroll tax cut-Keystone package would win the support of many Senate Democrats and big labor. President Obama has said he would “reject” any payroll tax cut extension measure that is linked to the pipeline project. 

“I’m on the same side as Jimmy Hoffa,” McConnell said, referring to the president of the powerful Teamsters Union. “The Teamsters want this.”Hmmm.....'Reelection or giving Americans jobs'?Read the full story here.

• Is Obama Enlisting Jesus in his Campaign?(WHD).By KeithKoffler.President Obama has been invoking Jesus Christ a lot lately, and it’s hard to see another reason for this new behavior other than it appeals to a certain large group of voters who tend to be believers.In his Christmas-related remarks this year, Obama has been much more personal about his own belief and for the first time invoked the name of Jesus Christ, departing from the more secular, universal messages of previous years.In the 2010 Midterm elections, white middle class voters abandoned the Democrats en masse. In order to achieve reelection, Obama will need to keep as many as possible of these often church-going voters from straying to the Republicans. His ability to hold white middle class voters will determine whether or not he wins in key states like Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Florida and elsewhere.In recent weeks, we’ve found Michelle Obama awkwardly in attendance at that other white middle class church – a NASCAR track, where she was booed – as well as shopping at Target and, along with her husband, hosting country music night at the White House. Meanwhile, he’s been taking campaign-style bus trips through the Midwest and North Carolina and Virginia, everywhere rolling through must win states filled with the demographic.Obama’s increasingly overt religious message seems consistent with this.Sunday, after attending church, Obama made his annual appearance on the “Christmas in Washington” special, taped for broadcast December 16.So it seems The One has signed up The Messiah. I can only hope for Jesus’s sake that He is not on the email list too.But don’t fret, Republicans. Moses may still be available.Hmmmm.....I saw the number of undecided Christian voters?Read the full story here.

• Israeli officials: Obama too soft on Iran.(Ynet).Senior Israeli officials expressed their disappointment with US President Barack Obama's policy on Iran. "The administration is still not acting in full force to impose significant sanctions against Tehran," one of the officials told Ynet Sunday night.On the other hand, officials in Jerusalem lauded French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron. "France and the UK have begun to act determinedly, while Obama's administration has yet to formulate a policy that is sufficiently severe," another official said."While the House of Representatives and the Senate are promoting (anti-Iran) legislation, the White House is operating according to an ideology which could be defined as 'hesitant.' The Iranian issue calls for a clear stance, but the administration has yet to take the necessary measures to significantly hurt the ayatollahs' regime." US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told reporters Thursday Israel and the US enjoy close bilateral cooperation on the threat of a nuclear Iran."There is no issue that we coordinate more closely on than Iran," Shapiro told reporters in Tel Aviv."A nuclear Iran, he added, is "a real threat to Israeli security, ours and our allies', and that is why we are determined to prevent this from happening."But officials in Jerusalem are not satisfied with Obama's policy on Iran. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said during a recent interview that the international community must impose harsher sanctions against the Islamic Republic in order to incapacitate the Iranian regime and force it to suspend its nuclear program.Hmmmm......Moi...soft?....No...but....I need the Muslim votes for my second term so i can bash Israel.Read the full story here.

• Anti-missile system  - Clinton “It’s not directed at Russia, it’s not about Russia, it’s frankly about Iran,”.(OUTITW).As if US-Russian relations were not strained enough over NATO’s incipient anti-missile system in Europe, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks concerning Russia’s “flawed” parliamentary election this past Sunday have only added fuel to the fire.Today, following talks in Brussels between NATO foreign ministers and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, the alliance’s secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, reported “no progress” toward a deal on the rancorous issue. “We listen, and we have listened today,” Fogh Rasmussen told journalists after meeting Lavrov at NATO headquarters. Lavrov, who speaks perfect English, resorted to clipped Russian immediately after Rasmussen’s comments. “Unfortunately our partners are not yet ready for cooperation on missile defense,” Lavrov huffed, but he left the door open for more talks, “provided that legitimate concerns of all parties are taken into consideration.”“No ally within NATO is going to give any other country outside the alliance a veto over whether NATO protects itself by building a missile defense system against threats we perceive are the most salient,” Clinton said tersely at the time. “It’s not directed at Russia, it’s not about Russia, it’s frankly about Iran,” she said, adding it was “certainly not a cause for military countermeasures” by Russia.The talks in Brussels came as Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Clinton on Thursday of encouraging and supporting the election protesters and warned of a wider Russian crackdown on unrest. By describing Russia’s parliamentary election as rigged in favour of Putin’s potemkin party, United Russia, the KGB-communist dictator alleged Clinton “gave a signal” to his opponents. “They heard this signal and with the support of the U.S. State Department began their active work,” Putin said in televised remarks.“I looked at the first reaction of our U.S. colleagues,” Putin said during a meeting with representatives of his All-Russia People’s Front movement in Moscow. “The [U.S.] secretary of state was quick to evaluate the elections, saying that they are unfair and unjust, even before she received materials from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) observers.”As if US-Russian relations were not strained enough over NATO’s incipient anti-missile system in Europe, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks concerning Russia’s “flawed” parliamentary election this past Sunday have only added fuel to the fire.“What is there to say? We are a big nuclear power and remain so,” Putin growled. “This raises certain concerns with our partners. They try to shake us up so that we don’t forget who is boss on our planet [meaning the USA].”When asked about Putin’s comments, Clinton said Washington valued amicable relations with Moscow, which currently facilitates NATO’s military supply route across Russia to Afghanistan. “At same time the U.S. and many others around the world have strong commitments to democracy and human rights,” she said. “We expressed concerns we thought were well founded about the conduct of the elections.”Russian officials have said Medvedev also wants to discuss NATO’s missile defense plan, which under the George W. Bush administration entailed the placement of anti-missile batteries and a radar installation in the Czech Republic. Modified by President Barack Hussein Obama, the missile defense system now includes batteries in Poland and Romania.Hmmm......Clinton “It’s not directed at Russia, it’s not about Russia, it’s frankly about Iran,”.Did you hear PM Erdogan?Read the full story here.

• IDF ponders how to handle mass burial scenario.(YNet).Home Front Command and IDF Rabbinate officials have asked Israel's Chief Rabbinate for instruction on how to act in the extreme scenario that hundreds or even thousands of soldiers and citizens should be killed all at once. Chief Rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar were approached with this predicament after the IDF evaluated possible outcomes of a rocket attack on Israel causing a mass causality event.Now the Chief Rabbinate must reexamine this sensitive issue and decide whether to recommend transient burial or the transfer of the bodies to cooling facilities until the final burial in civilian cemeteries. According to the halacha, taking the dead out of their graves is considered "desecration of the dead," however transferring the bodies to cooling facilities might be considered delaying the burial." Therefore this controversial issue has been brought forth before the chief rabbis, for their consideration. Today any mass casualty event falls under the responsibility of the Interior Ministry. However if, for instance, Israel is attacked by rockets, killing hundreds or even thousands of civilians and soldiers – the IDF will also assist in evacuating and handling the bodies. Israel National Planning and Construction Council approved a plan for temporary burial over six months ago, in the event that thousands might be killed. This plan was part of the State's preparations for a possible earthquake in Israel. The planning committee assigned eight designated zones from which to collect the bodies, where at least 3,000 people might be buried in. An IDF spokesman explained that the issue of burying civilians is not within the army's jurisdiction. "This issue is being discussed as part of a broader approach taken by the IDF when it comes to preparing the civilian front for emergencies." The Chief Rabbinate has confirmed they received the Home Front Command's appeal on the matter. "These are sensitive issues which should not be discussed in the media. The rabbis are dealing with these issues seriously and with the proper caution," a Chief Rabbinate official stated.Hmmm.....Someone preparing for the fallout from attacking Iran?Read the full story here.

• Rise of Islamic Jihad in Gaza now funded by Iran challenges Hamas rule.(JPost).Analysis: With Hamas out of its orbit, Iran has upped its support of Islamic Jihad.Since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007, killing and expelling Fatah militiamen, it never faced a real challenge to its rule.Until now.In recent months though, Islamic Jihad has made an impressive leap in its capabilities and military infrastructure.This is a direct result of Iran’s decision to divert funds traditionally allocated to Hamas to Islamic Jihad instead.The main cause for the Iran-Hamas rift was the Palestinian terrorist group’s decision to abandon Syrian President Bashar Assad and begin the process of moving its political-military bureau out of Damascus, 13 years after moving there from Jordan. According to recent reports, most of the senior Hamas command has already left Syria and a headquarters that once numbered hundreds of operatives now has just a few dozen left.Western intelligence agencies are tracking where the Hamas men are traveling to and where the new headquarters will be established. Leading candidates appear to be Egypt, Sudan and Jordan. Qatar is also a possibility but Khaled Mashaal, head of the bureau, appears to want to be close to the Gaza Strip, the organization’s main base of operations.The departure from Damascus might have a positive outcome for Israel in the short term. Without a clear base and a patron like Assad, Mashaal and the overseas branch of Hamas will be slightly weakened and might have difficulty continuing the logistical support they had been providing for the group’s Gaza-based activities.Iran’s decision to slash its funding of Hamas is also affecting the group and Hamas is looking for new sources of income, such as its decision last month to fine the Bank of Palestine $150 million on bogus charges.As a result, Hamas is not interested – at the moment – in a major confrontation with the IDF, since attacking Israel would make its fund-raising efforts in Europe and throughout the Middle East more difficult.This is believed to be one of the reasons why Hamas preferred to not get involved in the attacks against Israel over the weekend – even though it publicly condemned Israel for the targeted killing of a senior Aksa Martyrs Brigades operative on Thursday who was believed to be plotting an attack against Israel from the Sinai Peninsula.With Hamas out of its orbit, Iran has upped its support of Islamic Jihad, which, according to some estimates, has a rocket arsenal that competes in its quantity and quality with that in Hamas’s warehouses. Islamic Jihad’s rise to power has created a new intelligence challenge for Israel, which now needs to track with almost equal emphasis both organizations and their capabilities inside Gaza.Islamic Jihad’s reasons for not participating in the recent rocket attacks against Israel are similar. It is at the stage of building up its capabilities. It did not want to risk all it has created for a conflict that was destined to only last a few days and preferred to retain its capabilities for the larger and longer round that is looming on the horizon.Iran might also be telling Islamic Jihad to wait.The Iranian objective is to establish a force on Israel’s southern border that will have capabilities and quantities like those of Hezbollah in Lebanon and that together both fronts will deter the Israeli government from launching unilateral military action against its nuclear facilities.Read the full story here.

• Did Iran blast target steel needed for nuke program?(YNet).Does the mysterious blast in Iran's steel factory have any connection to attempts to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program? Foreign reports suggesting Iran received North Korean steel used for uranium enrichment and the production of exhaust systems of missile engines may indicate that there is such a connection. Initially, the Iranians claimed that the cause for Sunday's blast was the penetration of water into the steel's melting pot but later said that ammunition brought to the factory had exploded.Less than a month ago, Germany's Die Welt newspaper reported that North Korea had provided Iran and Syria with special maraging steel which serves for the production of facilities required to withstand high speed and heavy heat. The paper claimed that both the Iranians and the Syrians are in need of such steel for the production of new centrifuges for uranium enrichment and the manufacturing of exhaust systems for missile engines. Iran and Syria have thus far not succeeded in manufacturing maraging steel on their own and have therefore purchased it from North Korea in order to accommodate their nuclear and missile programs, Die Welt claims. The report is based on western intelligence sources.It is very likely that this report may be linked to Sunday's blast at the steel factory in the city of Yazd. Though privately owned, the factory is considered a modern facility. The local governor noted that the blast occurred after 7 pm and that a number of foreign nationals had died in the explosion. These may be North Koreans training Iranians on maraging steel. According to foreign reports, the Iranians intend to install the new high-speed centrifuges from the IR2 and IR3 models at the new Fordu uranium enrichment site buried deep in the mountainside near the city of Qom but in order to manufacture the modern centrifuges, the Iranians need large quantities of maraging steel.Moreover, the Iranians need maraging steel to manufacture the ballistic missile engines they are constructing. It is possible that they acquired the knowledge needed to create the steel from North Korea as well as assistance in the first manufacturing stages because of their need of massive quantities of the steel. Therefore, it is extremely plausible that there is a connection between the blast that occurred at the steel plant in Yazd, at an hour not usually considered a work hour. It is also possible that this is the reason that there were "foreign civilians" among the casualties. The possibility that an accident caused the blast should still be taken into consideration yet the coincidence in which facilities connected to the Iranian missile and nuclear programs makes it hard to reject the possibility that this was intentional sabotage or as the media likes to call it – "a mysterious blast." The blasts in Isfahan and Yazd may seem like accidents but the frequency with which the "accidents" have been occurring recently points to a new method of sabotage in the Iranian nuclear program. It is being carried out by "western factors", Iranians operated by those factors, or maybe through "tools" that cause blasts though the tools themselves and their armament aren't visible on the scene of the blast. Recently, experts raised some assumptions in the global media claiming the US was using its elusive UAVs to follow and maybe even sabotage the Iranian nuclear program. Read the full story here.

• Barak: What did We Get for Disengagement? 10,000 Missile Strikes.(INN).Defense Minister Ehud Barak alluded to the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza Sunday as he warned that Israel would strike back at terrorists there."Since Friday, about 36 missiles have been fired from Gaza at Israeli communities," he said in a speech at the World Policy Conference in Vienna. "Israel will know how to defend itself and will not let this situation continue. [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon evacuated the Gaza Strip and took out every last soldier and civilian, gave instructions to tear down all buildings, even synagogues, so as not to supply any excuse to the Palestinians. And what happened? Hamas fired over 10,000 rockets at Israel."Regarding the peace treaty with Egypt, Barak said: "The geopolitical tumult throughout the Arab world is dramatic and its end is difficult to forecast. We hope that despite the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in the first round [of the elections in Egypt], reason will triumph along with the economic needs and peace between the two countries will be preserved."Regarding Iran, Barak called for worldwide "devastating sanctions" to stop the Islamic republic's nuclear weapons program.Read the full story here.

• Developing Story: Hundreds of US-NATO Soldiers Arrive & Begin Operations on the Jordan-Syria Border.(BF).According to first-hand accounts and reports provided to Boiling Frogs Post by several sources in Jordan, during the last few hours foreign military groups, estimated at hundreds of individuals, began to spread near the villages of the north-Jordan city of “Al-Mafraq”, which is adjacent to the Jordanian and Syrian border. Read the full story here.

• Website offers rare glimpse of North Korean TV.(France.24).AFP - From his office in Seoul, former North Korean soldier Lim Young-Sun runs a website offering a rare glimpse of state television in the North to show what the country he fled two decades ago is really like.Lim's Unification Broadcasting (SPTV) streams Korean Central Television, a risky business in Seoul where disseminating North Korean propaganda could see him fall foul of South Korea's tough National Security Law.While the site (sptv.co.kr), the only one of its kind in the South, so far has an audience just in the thousands, Lim has a dream of attracting millions of viewers curious about life on the other side of the last Cold War frontier."I started live streaming three years ago mainly to let people here witness what North Korea is really like," Lim, 47, told AFP.North Korean television is relayed by satellite to most of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. But its terrestrial signal south of the tense border is jammed by Seoul.While some South Koreans have been arrested for posting North Korean news, SPTV appears to be tolerated, though under close surveillance by the security authorities."It's not like we've been approved by the government, but they simply turn a blind eye to us in order to create a favorable atmosphere for unification," he said.South Korean government officials admit the authorities appear to be tolerating Lim's business."It's matter of judgement by security authorities, but SPTV is alive so far," said a spokesman at the unification ministry which handles cross-border affairs.Lim, a former North Korean army first lieutenant, said he fled to China after being involved in anti-government activities in the North and arrived in South Korea in 1993."When the two Koreas are unified, the South will have to embrace the North and to do that, people here must be familiar with the culture and lifestyle of North Koreans," he said.SPTV streams North Korean television for seven hours a day from 0800 GMT and edited footage is also posted online the next day.The content is largely propaganda eulogising North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il or extolling his leadership and reports of military affairs in the secretive communist state.News and other programmes are heavy with detailed accounts of Kim's field trips to various factories, farms and military units, stinging commentary attacking Seoul and Washington, or praising the virtue of hard work and blind allegiance and patriotism.Though little publicised, daily viewership of SPTV's live streaming service and other content on its website can reach up to 15,000, sometimes jamming its relatively small-capacity server, Lim said.The audience for SPTV seems to be mainly defectors and researchers on North Korean studies, and sometimes South Korean college students."At first, the government was worried that some South Korean supporters of the Kim Jong-Il regime would abuse my service, but ironically, many of them become anti-Kim after watching," Lim said."They said the scenes of North Korean residents so frantically worshipping Kim seemed ridiculous, to the point it became impossible to agree with the ideology."Lim relies on small monthly donations of between 1,000 and 10,000 won (90 cents to $9) from a few hundred supporters to help fund his shoestring operation."Now, I only have individual sponsors, so I fund the service with the money I earn by lecturing and running my clothing firm," Lim said.He said he was busy and tired but vowed to continue his service until the peninsula split at the end of World War II is re-unified."I'll try harder to increase the number of receivers to four million and to provide more interesting and meaningful content."The SPTV website has drawn a mixed response."How can this site relay broadcasting by commies so dauntlessly? I will report to security authorities," one visitor nicknamed "Viewer" said in a comment posted on the website."I don't agree with the philosophy of your company, but I'm visiting here just because I'm interested in North Korea's broadcasts," another visitor going by the name "Clean Dong" wrote.Read the full story here.

• Obama 'stimulus' working , now creating new jobs in Turkey!Turkey, US home to new T-Series Ford.(Hurriyetdaily).The Ford Motor Company will inject $1.7 billion into producing the new Ford Transit T-Series light commercial vehicle in Kansas U.S. and Gölcük in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, Turkey. The new Transit model is expected to hit global markets in 2013 and will be sold across all major continents. The current model, manufactured in Gölcük, is based on the one Ford has been producing since 1950. It has already been sold almost everywhere in the world except for the U.S., according to daily Hürriyet. Ford is now getting ready to launch the new T-Series model in the U.S. and is currently test driving the vehicle to prepare it for U.S. consumers and U.S. road conditions. The present U.S. favorite is the Econoline E-Series van. The Transit is expected to be 25 percent more fuel efficient. Read the full story here.

• Saudi Arabia to spend $100bn on 16 nuclear plants.(ArabNews).JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia will spend more than $100 billion to establish 16 nuclear energy plants in different parts of the country within the next few years, Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza told a Saudi-US business forum in Atlanta.He made this comment while talking about the Kingdom’s efforts to develop solar and other renewable energy technologies to reduce dependence on oil and gas.“We have allocated $3 billion to produce solar energy panels in Jubail and Yanbu,” he added.Alireza said Saudi imports from the US are expected to cross $95 billion or 23 percent of the total US exports to Arab countries by 2012.“This amount is expected to double by 2015,” the minister said while highlighting the significance of Saudi Arabia as a big market in the Middle East".This goes in line with President Barack Obama's initiative for increasing US exports and creating 2 million new jobs for the Americans," he added.Hmmm.....Nuclear plants build with Pakistani aid?Read the full story here.

• Belgium - Brussels: Center for Equal Opportunities Turkish lecturer expressed antisemitic views during lecture on multiculturalism.(IIE).Via Joods Actueel (Dutch):Members of the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition of Racism (CGKR) expressed racist views during a 'multicultural communications' course for high-level police officials. The course was given by two female lecturers. David Vroome (43), a police commissioner for the federal police, attended the course with twenty colleagues. He told Jewish news-site Joods Actueel that a Turkish lecturer made several questionable comments about gays, and then came down on the Jewish community.The lecturer spoke of several ethno-cultural communities in Brussels who live in their own neighborhoods, have their own shops and restaurants, but also have their own way of life: such as the Chines, Japanese and Eurocrats. Then she turned to the Jewish community. She said those people allow themselves everything because they have money and financial power, but also because Jews continuously bring up the past - a reference to the Holocaust, which, according to the lecturer, Belgium had nothing to do with.Other agents confirmed the story. One police commissioner who preferred to remain anonymous said that the audience were surprised by the statements. The other lecturer said nothing and continued as usual.Joods Actueel contacted Jozef De Witte, director of CGKR, who is currently in Washington. After some discussion De Witte finally conceded that such statements were antisemitic, but that he would have to check the context to see if it's a legal offense.Vroome intends to lodge a complaint against CGKR for racism, and says that whether those statements were legal or not, the center shouldn't employ such workers.Read the full story here.

• Kalashnikov found on member of Belgian extremist movement 'Sharia4Belgium'.(TWFI).(Googletranslate).The courts and the police want to move now to keep a closer eye, reports the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. Earlier this month upset potential supporters (video) of a motion debate on Islam in De Balie in Amsterdam. In that debate,including Green MP Tofik Dibi present.Weapons for sale on website : The search of Deurne was done after the member Sharia4Belgium the weapon had been offered for sale on a website. The man needed money and would have to sell the gun because he had a lack of funds.Evolution of jihadists group:According to Belgian newspaper the Sharia4Belgium movement turns around AbuImran leader of a group of extremist jihadis to faithful group that actively supports terrorist organizations.Discrimination and hate:Abu Imran must be on January 13 in court to answer for inciting discrimination andhatred.Read the full story here.

• The Netherlands - Secret Service Worried about Radical “Sharia4Holland” Muslim Group.(BNFTN).(Parool).The Dutch Intelligence Service, AIVD is worried about the rapid radicalization of the Muslim group “Sharia4Holland.” The AIVD remarked that the group appears increasingly in public and hands out flyers on the street. This group is held responsible for the disturbance in an Amsterdam meeting where Parliamentarian Tofik Dibi, (Green Left) had eggs thrown at him. Radical slogans were also shouted. Various parliamentarians of the Labor Party, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals have criticized the group. The Freedom Party wants the group to be prohibited.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• HT:BigGovernment.Video : Obama: Wisconsin is Launching an ‘Assault on Unions’.Shortly after the state of Arizona began cracking down on illegal immigration, President Obama and company went on the offensive against the state.Now, with the Gov. Scott Walker taking on unions in Wisconsin, it was only a matter of time before Obama gave his two cents. He has taken the side of the state government unions against Walker’s plan that would force state workers to cover half of their pension contributions and 13 percent of their own health insurance cuts. The plan would also strip government workers of the power to collectively bargain for higher wages unless the public approved it through a vote.When asked about the public employee benefits cuts in Wisconsin and the resulting union protests President Obama said he saw the cuts as an “assault on unions”.After these comments it seems that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is going to become the next conservative sweetheartHmmmmm......."Don't touch my Socialist troops"?Read the full story here.

• US pledges $150 million to help Egypt's transition.The United States will spend $150 million to assist Egypt's democratic transformation after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday."It's very clear that there's a great deal of work ahead to ensure an orderly, democratic transition. It's also clear that Egypt will be grappling with immediate and long-term economic challenges," Clinton told reporters after briefing lawmakers on Capitol Hill."I'm pleased to announce today we will be reprogramming $150 million for Egypt to put ourselves in a position to support the transition there and assist with their economic recovery," Clinton said.The United States has urged Egypt's military rulers to push ahead with plans for democratic reforms that can ultimately lead to free and fair elections in the country, which under Mubarak was a longtime U.S. ally.Clinton said Bill Burns, the under-secretary of State for political affairs, and David Lipton, a White House adviser on international economic affairs, would travel to Egypt next week to consult with various stakeholders on how too use the funds.Hmmmmm......Don't tell me he's giving the Muslim Brotherhood 150 Million Dollar US taxpayer money?Read the full story here.

• HT:ForeignPolicy.Ros-Lehtinen: Obama proposed “major concession to enemies of the Jewish state”.The chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee lashed out at the Obama administration on Thursday over reports the United States offered to support a U.N. Security Council statement critical of Israeli settlements.The Obama administration's policy has long been to oppose much of Israel's ongoing settlement activity. But the revelation that the administration contemplated criticizing Israel at the U.N. has many members of Congress incensed, especially Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). "Support for this anti-Israel statement is a major concession to enemies of the Jewish State and other free democracies. It telegraphs that the U.S. can be bullied into abandoning critical democratic allies and core U.S. principles," she said in a statement on Thursday. "Pretending that criticism of Israel is OK if it comes in a ‘Presidential Statement' instead of a resolution isn't leadership, it's unacceptable. Twisting and turning and tying yourself in knots to avoid using our veto to defend our allies and interests isn't leadership, it's unacceptable. The administration should change course, stand unequivocally with Israel, and publicly pledge to block any anti-Israel UN Security Council action," she said.Quick congressional criticism of the administration based on the report isn't limited to Republicans. "This is too clever by half," said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). "Instead of doing the correct and principled thing and vetoing an inappropriate and wrong resolution, they now have opened the door to more and more anti-Israeli efforts coming to the floor of the U.N. The correct venue for discussions about settlements and the other aspects of a peace plan is at the negotiating table. Period." Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), the House Appropriations State and Foreign Ops subcommittee ranking Democrat, agreed. "Compromising our support for Israel at the U.N. is not an option. The United States must veto the U.N. resolution on settlements to make clear we will not support such a blatant attempt to derail the peace process," she said.Hmmmm........"They don't trust me because of my middle name"?Read the full story here.

• Big Brother going NANO? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the army's latest $4million spy drone disguised as a hummingbird, measuring just 16 centimetres.A pocket-sized spy drone disguised as a hummingbird has been unveiled by a major Pentagon contractor measuring just 16 centimetres and weighing less than an AA battery.The mini spy plane can fly up to 11 miles an hour and took five years to develop at a cost of $4million.Army chiefs hope to use the drone’s tiny camera to spy on enemy positions in war zones without arousing detection and eventually deploy it into both rural and urban environments.Around 86 per cent of its orders come from the Government, meaning last year it was paid a whopping $215million from the Department of Defense.The company, based in California with 732 full-time employees, expects to sell even more drones to the Government once rules are relaxed to allow spying within America.The unveiling of the Hummingbird comes just weeks after the same company launched its $30million Global Observer with a wingspan similar to a Boeing 747 which can survey an area as large as Afghanistan.Chris Fisher, project manager at AeroVironment explained: ‘It gives the guy on the ground the opportunity to see what’s on the other side of the hill. There’s only so much you can see with binoculars. A small [drone] can get up and go over the hill. That gives the ground soldier a capability that is huge.He added: ‘One of the things we benefit from is the average young person in the military has hours and hours of video games experience. They are attuned to holding these things in their hands; moving the joysticks around with their thumbs and that’s how our planes are flown. To an 18-year-old it’s extremely simple.Hmmmm.....Why the sudden increase of spying capabilities on American civilians?Is the police state near?Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Mavi Marmara Delegation Leader Nurettin Sirin Writes From Tehran: “ALLAHUAKBAR! Now Is The Time To Eliminate Israel..!”In an article titled “ALLAHUAKBAR! Now Is The Time To Eliminate Israel..! sent from Tehran, the radical Islamist activist Nureddin Sirin wrote, “As guests of the International Islamic Radio and Television Union, we are here in Tehran, together with the Mavi Marmara freedom fleet’s mujahedeen, ghazis and families of the shahids, to participate in the anniversary ceremonies of the (Iranian) Islamic Revolution, and to celebrate with unparalleled joy and pride, the ousting of the Pharoah Mubarak through the holy intifada of freedom-loving Egyptian people. We are sending (to Turkey) our proud salutations from this land of revolution.“We are delivering to you the promising words of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that ‘only a short time is left for the building of a Middle East without Israel or America in it’ and we are praying for the quick arrival of that bright day, when all of us will meet in a free al Quds (Jerusalem). We are sending our salutations to the people of Palestine – that feels the utmost joy for the demise of Egypt’s pharoah Mubarak – and the defiant Muslim heroes of Gaza.”Sirin ends his article with the following lines:“(…) Salutations to the shimmering dawn of revolution, that’s upon the world of Islam!“Salutations to the Free Quds!“Salutations to a Middle East, without Israel!“WAIT FOR US ISRAEL, EVERYWHERE YOU’RE WAITING,“WAIT FOR US ISRAEL, EVERYWHERE WHERE YOU ARE NOT WAITING..!”Hmmmm.....Yup real peacefull humanitarian group.Read the full story here.

• Human Rights Watch Appoints ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ to MidEast Advisory Board.Jerusalem – Signaling the continuing decline of the organization, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has appointed Shawan Jabarin, an alleged senior activist in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization, to its Middle East Advisory Board. This appointment, as first reported in the Daily Beast, is further evidence of the moral collapse and corruption in HRW, says Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor, a research institution that tracks NGOs.“This appointment ends any façade that Human Rights Watch is a moral ‘watchdog’ organization,” says Prof. Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. “Mr. Jabarin has ties to the PFLP terror group, which specialized in aircraft hijackings and carries out suicide bombings and political assassinations. He also heads an organization, Al Haq, which is among the leaders of delegitimization campaigns targeting Israel. This appointment is a slap in the face from HRW Executive Director Ken Roth and Chairman James Hoge to terror victims, Israelis, Jews, and others who seek to uphold universal human rights.”With this appointment, HRW blatantly disregards decisions by the Israeli Supreme Court and other countries that have affirmed Jabarin’s terror links. Jordan also has denied him exit visas because of his alleged ties to the PFLP.As reported by NGO Monitor, the Israeli Supreme Court in June 2007 referred to Jabarin as a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” a human rights worker by day and a terrorist by night. In 2008, the Supreme Court upheld a visa denial because of his terror connections.“By appointing Jabarin, HRW has contemptuously dismissed the widely respected Israeli Supreme Court” Steinberg adds. “The assault on the courts is a key component of the strategy of demonizing Israel, as developed at the NGO Forum of the 2001 Durban Conference. HRW played a central role in Durban, and this is another step in the organization’s implementation of this strategy.”“Unfortunately, Jabarin’s appointment is the latest and most egregious immoral act for an organization that already lost its moral compass,” adds Steinberg. “HRW founder Robert Bernstein has denounced the biases and failures of his own organization, lamenting the organization’s failure to hold accountable closed societies and oppressive regimes. The appointment of an individual with ties to terror reinforces Mr. Bernstein’s assessment of HRW.”As donations decreased amid the scandals, George Soros rescued HRW with a 10-year, $100 million donation. Mr. Soros also funds Al Haq.“Perhaps Mr. Soros and his cohorts should reevaluate their contributions, particularly as these groups strengthen ties with individuals linked to terror,” Steinberg adds. “This is the antithesis of advancing universal human rights.”Hmmmmm.....When will this "travesty of justice" end?Read the full scandal story here.

• Bahrain military locks down capital.Following deadly pre-dawn raid on Manama's central square, army says it has 'key parts' of city under control. Protesters, banned from gathering, chant 'regime must go'.Army patrols and tanks locked down the capital of Bahrain after riot police swinging clubs and firing tear gas smashed into demonstrators, many of them sleeping, in a pre-dawn assault Thursday that uprooted their protest camp demanding political change. Medical officials said four people were killed.Hours after the attack on Manama's main Pearl Square, the military announced a ban on gatherings, saying on state TV that it had "key parts" of the capital under its control. After several days of holding back, the island nation's Sunni rulers unleashed a heavy crackdown, trying to stamp out the first anti-government upheaval to reach the Arab states of the Gulf since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The move was a sign of how deeply the Sunni monarchy - and other Arab regimes in the Gulf - fear the repercussions of a prolonged wave of protests, led by members of the country's Shiite majority. Tiny Bahrain is a pillar of Washington's military framework in the region. It hosts the US Navy's 5th Fleet, which is a critical counterbalance to Iran. Bahrain's rulers and their Arab allies depict any sign of unrest among their Shiite populations as a move by neighboring Shiite-majority Iran to expand its clout in the region.But the assault may only further enflame protesters. In the wake of the bloodshed, angry demonstrators chanted "the regime must go" and burned pictures of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa outside the emergency ward at Salmaniyah hospital, the main state medical facility. The hospital was thrown into chaos by a stream of dozens of wounded from Pearl Square with gaping wounds, broken bones and respiratory problems from tear gas. Men and women lay in shock on stretchers, heads bleeding, arms in casts, faces bruised as they were shuttled around by nurses. At the entrance, women wrapped in black robes embraced each other and wept.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned her Bahraini counterpart on Thursday to express deep concern after the violent raid, the State Department said. "She expressed deep concern about recent events and urged restraint moving forward. They discussed political and economic reform efforts to respond to the citizens of Bahrain," a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.Hmmmm........How much damage has Obama done with his "Outreach to Muslims"?Read the full story here.Tanks in Bahrain streetsVideo footage here.

• Wind Power FAIL!Northern New Brunswick wind turbines frozen solid.FREDERICTON — A $200-million wind farm in northern New Brunswick is frozen solid, cutting off a potential supply of renewable energy for NB Power.The 25-kilometre stretch of wind turbines, located 70 kilometres northwest of Bathurst, N.B. has been completely shutdown for several weeks due to heavy ice covering the blades.GDF SUEZ Energy, the company that owns and operates the site, is working to return the windmills to working order, a spokeswoman says."We can't control the weather," Julie Vitek said in an interview from company headquarters in Houston, Texas. "We're looking to see if we can cope with it more effectively, through the testing of a couple of techniques."She says the conditions in northern New Brunswick have wreaked havoc on the wind farm this winter."For us, cold and dry weather is good and that's what's typical in the region. Cold and wet weather can be a problem without any warmer days to prompt thawing, which has been the case this year."This weather pattern has been particularly challenging."Wintery conditions also temporarily shutdown the site last winter, just months after its completion. Some or all of the turbines were offline for several days, with "particularly severe icing" blamed.The accumulated ice alters the aerodynamics of the blades, rendering them ineffective as airfoils. The added weight further immobilizes the structures.Vitek says workers are trying to find a way to prevent ice buildup from occurring again in the future. The shutdown has not had any effect on employment at the site, which provides 12 permanent jobs.Hmmmm......No word if they use electric cars by chance?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.Betrayed! Tea Party Politicians Vote To Renew The Patriot Act As America Is Slowly Transformed Into A Big Brother Police State Worse Than George Orwell’s 1984.For a moment, imagine that you are awakened one night by a heavily-armed team of federal agents dressed in all black breaking into your home. As you confront them, they hand you a piece of paper that says that your son has been identified as a "terrorist" and that they are there to take him away. They pull your son out of bed, they throw him on the floor and the use a taser on him repeatedly. Then they handcuff him and haul him away without telling you a thing about where they are taking him. Your son suddenly has no rights because the Patriot Act supersedes the U.S. Constitution. That's right - because your son has been identified as a "terrorist" because of something that he has said on the Internet he no longer has any constitutional rights. Your underage son is held indefinitely and is subjected to "enhanced interrogation" because he has been identified as a "threat". You are not able to get your son back for years even though it turns out that he is completely and totally innocent. If you think that such a thing cannot happen to you then you are a fool, because this kind of thing is happening over and over across the United States and it is all legal because of the Patriot Act.America is rapidly turning into a horrible Big Brother police state and most of our politicians are fully supporting this transformation. In fact, the U.S. House of Representatives gave us quite a Valentine's Day gift the other day when it voted to once again extend provisions of the Patriot Act that allow for domestic surveillance of American citizens, wire tapping of American citizens and warrantless searches of the homes of American citizens.What was perhaps most disappointing was that a large number of "Tea Party politicians" cast votes in favor of renewing the Patriot Act provisions.The majority of Americans were absolutely disgusted when the Bush administration instituted the Patriot Act and many other police state measures and they voted for Barack Obama hoping for something different.Well, it turns out that Barack Obama has been even worse.Many of us had hoped that Tea Party politicians would be different and would stand up for our liberties and freedoms, but now we can clearly see that many of them will not.In the past, Americans would ready George Orwell's 1984 and would think that nothing like that could ever happen in the United States of America.Well, it is happening in the United States of America.Are you going to stand up and say anything about it?Read the full story here.

• Egypt: Iran naval vessels submit request to transit Suez.Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirms that authorities received request; Suez Canal official says Defense Ministry to process application.In Tehran, Iran's official English-language Press TV cited an Iranian naval official saying the two warships are to pass through the canal. The official said Tehran was in contact with Egypt about the ships.Earlier, a canal official had said the Iranians had withdrawn a request to transit the waterway, without giving an explanation for the application's withdrawal. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.Ahmed al-Manakhly, a senior Suez Canal official, said international agreements regulate the traffic through the canal. He said that only in the case of war with Egypt may vessels be denied transit through the waterway.Al-Manakhly noted that Iran and Egypt are not at war, and said the final decision on whether to grant the vessels' passage lies with the Defense Ministry.He said he will not allow any warships to transit the canal without approval from the Defense Ministry.The Suez Canal official identified the two vessels as the Alvand, a frigate, and the Kharq, a supply ship, and said they were en route to Syria. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday that Iran was about to send two naval vessels through the Suez Canal for the first time in years, calling it a "provocation."Hmmmmm........Read the full story here.More here.

• Pakistan Delays Decision on U.S. Murder Suspect.A Pakistani court on Thursday delayed a hearing to decide whether a U.S. man charged with murdering two locals should be granted diplomatic immunity, triggering fresh tension among officials over the Asian country's ties to the United States.Raymond Davis, who the American government insists is a diplomat immune to local prosecution and should be immediately repatriated to the U.S., was arrested in Pakistan for last month's murder of two Pakistani nationals in Lahore. Thursday's decision by a Lahore court to put off hearing the case until March 14 means the Davis case will inevitably drag on, dashing hopes among senior officials in both Islamabad and Washington for a quick resolution."I leave here with confidence that if people act with both conviction and courage and vision, we will be able to move forward, said Kerry before leaving Pakistan on Wednesday. "I look forward to the next few days hopefully to finding ways that we all agreed on, that we can find in order to resolve this issue that's in front of us," he added, referring to the Davis case. Ahead of the Senator's departure, a senior Pakistani official told CBS News that President Asif Ali Zardari's government had decided to officially grant Davis immunity -- a crucial step to ultimately enable his exit from the country and avoid prosecution in Lahore.Hmmmmm.........How long before Pakistan explodes?Read the full story here.

• Report: Mubarak refused to talk to Obama.Al-Quds al-Arabi says former Egyptian leader felt 'humiliated' by US president's call to resign.Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused to accept a phone call from US President Barack Obama, the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi reported Thursday.The report says Mubarak feels "humiliated and embittered at Obama's most recent statement about the need for him to resign immediately", so he rejected the call. The report adds that the former president is residing at his palace in Sharm el-Sheikh and maintaining a similar lifestyle, though he has hired additional guards. Israel has also approved the entry of two Egyptian army battalions into the southernmost Sinai city in order to help guard the palace. Mubarak's health is deteriorating rapidly, the report says, and has been since he was forced to leave his Cairo residence. Saudi King Abdullah has offered him asylum in his country, but the former leader refused, saying he would like to die on Egyptian land.In addition, Mubarak continues to employ the aides who worked under him during his term as president, the report says, adding that the military has apparently "decided to grant Mubarak an honorable resignation" as no one has threatened him with charges of unlawful activity, though other officials have been accused of corruption. Meanwhile, CBS has broadcast footage of Mubarak leaving Cairo by chopper, apparently on his way to Sharm el-Sheikh. The footage was apparently filmed last week, immediately after Mubarak relayed power to his deputy, Omar Suleiman.Hmmmm......When will Israeli leaders grow enough spine to refuse to answer the call also?Read the full story here.

• Republican congressmen sign on to Israel aid letter.GOP newcomers to US House of Representatives call on party leadership to maintain current level of defense assistance to Israel.Among the 87 freshmen, 65 have signed the letter initiated by Reps. Robert Dold (R-Ill.) and Austin Scott (R-Ga.) to the party's House leadership. "As Israel faces threats from escalating instability in Egypt, Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, Hamas terrorists in Gaza and the existential danger posed by Iran's nuclear program, full US security assistance to Israel, including supporting Israel's acquisition of the Iron Dome defense system, has never been more important for our own national security interests," said the letter asking fellow freshmen to sign, which was still accruing signatures as of Tuesday.The appeal -- and the support it garnered -- is significant because it answers questions pro-Israel groups had about the 2011 class of GOP freshmen, many of them spurred to office by the Tea Party movement, which has cost cutting as its central focus.The letter is a sign that US President Barack Obama's proposal this week to maintain levels of funding for Israel, currently at about $3 billion annually, will be untouched.Dold joined Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who is not a freshman lawmaker, in sending a similar letter last week to House appropriators.Hmmmm......Lets first see what "They don't trust me because of my middle name does"before celebrating.Read the full story here.

• All Free Speech Systems are Works in Progress: Prof. Craig LaMay.Kourosh Ziabari: Dear Craig; there’s a belief with regards to the mass media in the Western countries in general, and the United States in particular, which is undisputedly accepted by the international community: the widely-accepted belief is that the Western media are unrestrictedly free to publish whatever they want, to publish the viewpoints of the opponents of the government, the political dissidents and anti-governmental activists, without being harassed. Is it true that the mass media in the West are absolutely free to publish whatever they want? Isn’t there any implicit pressure on the media to publish the news and analysis in a way which is favorable to the interests of the government?

Craig LaMay: That belief is overstated. In the United States, for example, it has always been the law that restraints on publication, gag orders, are facially unconstitutional, and where they occur they get an immediate judicial review. Nonetheless, it is also the law that some materials are subject to what we call prior restraints, or injunctions against publication. Those materials fall into three broad categories: obscenity (which is subject to community standards, and thus what is ‘obscene’ in Alabama might not be so in New York); incitements to violence, but only when violence is likely and imminent, not when speech is mere advocacy, even advocacy that the government be overthrown by force; and risks to national security. The last of these is the most contentious for journalists, since even benign governments are apt to see national security threats where there are none. In Western Europe, there is no rule against prior restraints even if the principle against them is generally accepted. So information that is libelous or invasive of privacy can be enjoined before publication. Particularly notable is the high regard that EU law, and many national laws, have for personal privacy, not only for private citizens but also for celebrities and public officials.

In the majority of European countries, there are laws which restrict the publication of materials, articles, news and op-eds about Holocaust. Much of the journalists and academicians who publish materials which dispute the veracity of Holocaust get incarcerated immediately and have their respective media outlets banned or penalized with punitive measures. Isn’t this a violation of freedom of press and information on behalf of those who introduce themselves as the pioneers of freedom of speech?

CL: Interesting question. From the American point of view, the answer would be yes. But law is never abstract; it is always born of experience. The natural state of Europe for the last thousand years has been war, under Charlemagne, then Napoleon, then Hitler. The core purpose of the EU is to prevent future conflict, and in that system, and given the European experience with hate speech, it is hardly surprising that nation states from France to Austria would ban speech directed at certain minority populations. I get that. BUT, this does not explain the virulent anti-immigrant and racist speech you find all over Europe at any football game, for example, but also in public discourse. Sarkozy’s expulsion of the Roma last fall was the largest mass expulsion in Europe since the Holocaust, and yet it seemed to trouble few Europeans. The rise of anti-immigrant parties all over Europe is also a concern. So the problem the Europeans have, it seems to me, is that they have chosen to ban some hate speech directed at some minorities, but not all. I would say, however, that ALL free speech systems, including the United States’, are works in progress. The ideal of Europe regarding speech is contained in Article 10 of the EDHR, but it is far from realized.

What’s in your view, the main difference between the local newspapers and magazines, with the national/international media outlets? Aside from the extent and area of their coverage which varies from the local media to the national and international media, what are the major differences in the mechanisms of performance, distribution of facilities and approaches to the current affairs in these media?

CL: The main difference I think is economic and have to do with audiences. Local media are often hyper-local, since that’s what people want to know about — their own neighborhoods, not the goings on in Washington or Tehran. And people consume much more local than national media. Our national media run the gamut from very good (eg, the NYTimes) to very bad (FOX News), but the difference there is, to me, economic. Each of those two media serve a small but well-paying audience. That market is only so big, and at the local level it is often too small to sustain anything of quality.Read the full story here.

• Turkish religious head criticizes remarks blaming women for sex crimes.A professor’s controversial remarks on sex crimes have drawn strong criticism, including from the head of Turkey’s top religious body.Religious Affairs Director Professor Mehmet Görmez said Thursday criticisms and bans in Islam preventing women from exposing their sexuality cannot be used as an excuse for harassment or rape.His comments came after a professor from Konya’s Selçuk University Faculty of Theology claimed women wearing clothes that reveal their cleavage were provoking harassment.“Who is the focus of the problem? Women,” said Professor Orhan Çeker. “If you wear clothes that reveal your cleavage, it would not be a surprise for you to encounter such ugliness. It would not be reasonable for you to complain about the result after your provocation.”Görmez, speaking to reporters following a meeting with Chinese Islam Association Chairman Hilalunddin Chen Guangyan, said sexual harassment and rape were a crime committed against all humanity.Çeker’s remarks drew criticism from several female deputies of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, as well as Higher Education Board, or YÖK, chair Professor Yusuf Ziya Özcan, who ordered an investigation into the comments.Selçuk University Rector Süleyman Okudan has ordered a probe into Çeker’s remarks, the Anatolia news agency reported Thursday.Zafer Üskül, head of Parliament's Human Rights Commission, said Çeker’s remarks were unacceptable and women were not the only target of rape and sexual harassment.“This is a sick mentality that perceives women as sex objects,” Üskül told Anatolia news agency.Emphasizing that Çeker’s comments violated women’s rights and human rights in general, Üskül said every kind of rape and harassment was a crime and no situation could make the victim responsible for a crime. Such comments are humiliating and they should be severely protested, he added.Hmmmmm......Perhaps he should look at the sexual harrasment numbers in countries where women wear the burka?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.47 Statistics That Indicate That Economic Stress Points In 2011 Could Be Setting The Stage For A Global Economic Meltdown In 2012.Is the world approaching a devastating global economic meltdown? Right now there are a large number of factors that are creating economic stress points all over the globe. All of the crazy money printing that the Federal Reserve and other central banks have been doing is putting inflationary pressure on agricultural commodities, oil and precious metals. Massive floods, horrific droughts and extreme weather patterns all over the globe are ruining crops and creating food shortages. Some nations are now actually hoarding food, and in other nations rising prices have sparked food riots. The price of oil has been moving back towards $100 a barrel, and if it stays at a high level for an extended period of time that is going to have very serious consequences for the global economy. In addition, the growing sovereign debt crisis could erupt again at any time. Half a dozen nations in Europe are on the verge of insolvency, Japan's national debt is now well over 200 percent of GDP, and the global financial system is growing increasingly concerned about the exploding national debt of the United States. The truth is that the entire world financial system is a house of cards balanced on a razor's edge and it could come down at any time.Sadly, very little has changed since the world financial system experienced almost a complete meltdown back in 2008. Global financial markets are still a whirlpool of debt and speculation. One really bad week could put us right back where we were prior to the infamous Wall Street bailouts. Very little in our world is truly stable anymore. As we have seen recently in Egypt, the globe can literally change almost overnight. All it would take is for one really bad event to happen and world financial markets would instantly start imploding. So when will the coming economic collapse happen? Nobody knows for sure, but the fact that the global economy is increasingly becoming less stable as we approach the year 2012 is making a lot of people very nervous.The following are 47 statistics that indicate that economic stress points in 2011 could be setting the stage for a global economic meltdown in 2012....Hmmmm.....If it even takes that long?Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.'Holy dove' drives yeshiva wild. Jerusalem yeshiva students view new classmate as 'a sign from God'."It's a real wonder," one of the students at the haredi Kamenitz Yeshiva says about his new classmate – a white dove. "This holy bird just listens to full lessons." Several weeks ago, during a Torah lesson in the Jerusalem yeshiva, a white dove entered the house of study, sat on the window sill and flew out at the end of the lesson. The following days, the bird would arrive at the yeshiva and stand in the corner for the entire lesson – prompting the excited yeshiva students to view it as a sign from God. They created a "studying circle" around the bird and began reading Talmud verses and begging forgiveness from the soul which they believed "wandered" into the dove. Surprisingly, these actions did not help send the mysterious bird away. Rumors about the righteous bird became the talk of the day in Jerusalem, and students watching the dove with binoculars discovered that it would visit the rooftop of the nearby Vizhnitz yeshiva as well. The yeshiva students tried to test the bird once again and sealed all the entrances to the yeshiva, but it "miraculously" managed to get in and attend its regular class on time."A few days ago," haredi newspaper Bakehila reported, "one of the yeshiva students, who could not bear the great waste of time that could be spent on studying Torah, went over and kindly took (the bird) to his home, where he fed it." The yeshiva student even took the dove to a slaughterer, but it turned out that the magnificent bird does not meet the rules of kashrut and the yeshiva is now contemplating what to do with it.Read the full story here.