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                          Morning Posting.

• Egypt - Al Jazeera English - Live Streams From Egypt ! Here .

• HT:TheBiBiReport.By Douglas E. Schoen. Muslim Brotherhood will win election in Egypt .Douglas E. Schoen adviser to four former Israeli Prime Ministers over the last 30 years, including Prime Minister Menachem, beginning in the aftermath of the signing of the Camp David Accords, writes in Op-Ed on Fox News website."While the Brotherhood now says that they don't plan to contest the presidential elections directly, that can always change. And the data suggests strongly that any candidate they back directly or indirectly would have a potentially decisive advantage. Moreover, there is every reason to believe they would win a decisive, if not dominant role, in Parliament and would be the key actors in selecting the next prime minister as well as setting the legislative agenda. The bottom line: there is at least a 50 percent chance, if not more, that a candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood or a party with a generally similar approach and orientation will win the next presidential election.Egyptians also support a more expansive role for Islam in Egyptian life. In Pew polling conducted last year, almost half (48 percent) say that Islam plays a large role in politics in Egypt, and an overwhelming majority – 85 percent – say Islam’s influence in politics is positive. Egyptians also support the central elements of Shariah Law. For example, 84 percent say that apostates, or those who forsake Islam, should face the death penalty and 77 percent say thieves should have their hands cut off. A majority (54 percent) says men and women should be segregated in the workplace.Further, the Egyptian people clearly support a political agenda that can only be described as radical. More than 7 in 10 said they were positive toward Iran getting nuclear weapons in a July 2010 Zogby Poll and close to 80 percent favor abrogating the Camp David accords with Israel.What does this mean for the United States? Almost certainly the next Egyptian government will be hostile to the United States and will pursue policies that are inimical to our interests. In the Zogby poll, 85 percent called themselves unfavorable to the United States and 92 percent described America as one of the two greatest threats to Egyptian interests in the world. The Pew polling bears this point out.Given the short period of time between now and the scheduled September election, it is frankly unlikely that any group will be able to organize an alternative force to the Brotherhood and its philosophical allies. The prospective candidacy of Mohamed ElBaradei has generated little broad-based support in the country, and the explicit rejection of his candidacy by the Muslim Brotherhood could be its death knell.Make no mistake, the Obama administration needs to face up to the reality of what is most likely coming in Egypt and recognize the direct threat to U.S. interests and stability in the Middle East, that a fundamentalist victory will mean for Egypt".Hmmmmm......Unless that President wants exactly the downfall of America?"I will stand with my Muslim brothers".Read the full story here.

• Seize Mubarak's money: watchdog.Governments and international banks should seize Hosni Mubarak's assets and hold them in escrow to be returned to the people of Egypt, an international corruption watchdog said Friday."What is happening in Egypt today shows there is a major problem with a lack of transparency," said Huguette Labelle, the chair of Transparency International, an influential international corruption watchdog with ties to the UN.After 18 days of protests, former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down on Friday, although his exact location remains unknown. His wife and sons are rumoured to have long since fled the North African nation.His financial assets are believed to be spread across the globe, and as the motions to replace him in a democratic Egypt lurch into action, so too has the international movement to retrieve any financial assets he may have absconded with."When there is a dictator who appears to have acquired much more wealth than he would warrant as a salary of a head of a corporation or country, they should investigate immediately because you don't know where those assets are parked," Labelle said.Labelle spent 19 years in deputy ministerial positions in the Canadian civil service across a variety of departments before chairing the international lobby group in 2005. She is also chancellor of the University of Ottawa and is a Companion to the Order of Canada.She spent seven years presiding over CIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency, and now calls for international governments and banking institutions to investigate Mubarak's assets and seize any illegitimate funds."If there is any evidence of illicit transfers, then you put this money in escrow," she told CBC News on Friday. "It's the people's money. It should return to the people assuming there is a government that will look after it."Reports this week estimated that Mubarak's family wealth could be in excess of $40 billion — a figure that would put him just behind Berkshire Hathaway head Warren Buffett, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Carlos Slim Helu, the world's richest man.Those figures were based on numerous estimates, as finding an exact figure of how many funds the deposed leader could even theoretically have access to is as yet unknown. But it's estimated that 40 per cent of Egypt's 80 million people live on less than $2 a day.A report by think tank Global Financial Integrity released in January found that Egypt is losing more than $6 billion US a year — more than $57.2 billion US between 2000 and 2008 — to illicit financial activities and official government corruption.On Friday, Switzerland froze any assets belonging to Mubarak or his family. "I can confirm that Switzerland has frozen possible assets of the former Egyptian president with immediate effect," a spokesman for the Swiss finance ministry said.In recent months, the country — which is shedding its reputation as a haven for hiding assets — has also frozen assets belonging to Tunisia's former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, as well as those of Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo.Hmmmm......They had 18 days to transfer the money.Read the full story here.

• Egypt moves to reassure allies.Egypt military 'committed to treaties'. Egypt's military authorities have reaffirmed the country's commitment to all its international treaties.The announcement, which was read by a senior officer on state TV, implicitly confirms that the country's peace treaty with Israel will remain intact.The military also vowed to oversee a peaceful transition to civilian rule.The statement comes as thousands remain in Cairo's central Tahrir Square, celebrating the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak on Friday."The Arab Republic of Egypt is committed to all regional and international obligations and treaties," the military officer said.The military also said it had asked the current government to stay on until a new one was formed, which would "pave the way for an elected civil authority to build a free democratic state".Read the full story here.More here.

• Ex-Egypt envoy: Israel in trouble.Zvi Mazel, former ambassador to Cairo, says Israel facing 'hostile situation' following Mubarak's downfall. 'The army will rule Egypt for years. It's a whole new world, with no one left to lead the pragmatic states'. Israel's former ambassador to Egypt was particularly pessimistic Friday after hearing of President Hosni Mubarak's dramatic resignation. "It's over, Egypt is no longer a superpower," former Israeli Ambassador to Cairo Zvi Mazel told Ynet. "Egypt has completely lost its status in the area, while Turkey and Iran are on the way up. It's a different world.""As long as we had Mubarak, there was no void in our relations with the region. Now we're in big trouble," he said."General Tantawi has been appointed chairman of the Higher Military Council, making him the 'de facto' temporary president. He is a well known person who never even thought about running for president. In any event, there is no longer a familiar legitimate governmental framework in Egypt."He did say, however, that the Muslim Brotherhood movement has no foothold in the new reality. "At this stage the army is anti-Muslim Brotherhood. They did some screening to let in as few (Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers) as possible, and they won't let them rise." Mazel believes Egypt is only part of a domino effect."We may see a series of upheavals in the region now. Mubarak's downfall supports revolutionaries everywhere, from Yemen to Algeria. The question is whether such Middle East will be manageable. What if there are coups in Jordan, Morocco or Saudi Arabia? Only God knows who will take power."Hmmmm........I believe the greatest danger for Israel's existence in the short run is Iran and Turkey,don't under estimate the hatred Erdogan has for Israel!Read the full story here.

• HT:BigPeace.Egypt’s Khomeini?If the Muslim Brotherhood gains prominence in a future Egyptian government, Imam Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a key spiritual guide, might return to his native land to help drive theological rule, writes Hudson Institute visiting fellow Lee Smith. Qaradawi, who now lives in Qatar, left Egypt and went into exile in 1961.While parallels between Iran’s 1979 revolution and Egypt’s in 2011 are sometimes overdone, they cannot be ignored. “Cairo doesn’t have to literally become a Sunni version of Tehran to do terrible damage to U.S. interests and prestige in the Middle East –and to the hopes and dreams of its own people,” Smith writes.There are a number of similarities between Qaradawi and Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini. Both operated as charismatic Islamists fighting against secular, autocratic regimes. Khomeini made broadcasts in exile from Paris; today, Qaradawi hosts a popular talk show on Al Jazeera called “Sharia and Life.” Like Khomeini, Qaradawi is a virulent anti-Semite. He has lauded Hitler for putting Jews in their place and expressed hope he would die a martyr trying to kill Jews.Qaradawi is “a media mogul who has risen to fame on the back of information technology” even though he holds views that are “essentially medieval” on subjects like wife-beating, which he supports, Smith observes.The prospect that Qaradawi and the Brotherhood could play significant roles in Egypt’s near-term future is an unhappy one for U.S. policymakers – torn between their support for democracy and the realization that in Egypt, the beneficiaries could well be enemies of liberal democracy and the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement. Washington needs to face the unpleasant reality that the more political power the Muslim Brotherhood wields, the more likely war becomes in the region, Smith writes.Hmmmm.....Welcome to A.D. 620 ....?Read the full story here.

• HT:PajamasMedia.After Mubarak ! by Richard Fernandez.One way to tell whether a regime has lost power is when its major symbols are overrun and no gatekeepers remain to stop it. Then the Berlin Wall is smashed down, Saddam’s statue is toppled, or Marcos’ palace is swarmed by crowds. In the case of Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, the singer is gone, but the song remains. The 82-year-old strongman is on the way out, but Egypt is still mostly under the control of the Army. This means that the story, far from having ended, is now moving into a second phase.What appears to be happening, as noted above, is that the head of the system is changing, but the system itself remains largely intact. Egypt is now in the post-Mubarak period. But whether it is in the post-Army period or moving there remains to be seen. Recent events may have convinced the Army officer corps that Mubarak had to go, but it probably still believes the Army has to remain in charge. The role of opposition groups in this context will be to take sides with factions in the Army. The BBC hypothesizes that this will change the ideology of the Army, but not the fact that the Army rules : It is still too soon to know for certain what made Mr Mubarak step down, but it seems a reasonable assumption that the army leadership could see the hairline cracks appearing among their own officer corps. The generals were inclined to side with the president, one of their own, and the more junior officers sympathised with the demonstrators.There was an historical echo to that.In 1952 many of the senior officers here preferred the monarchy, while the younger ones, including a young colonel called Gamal Abdel Nasser, favoured a successful coup against the old system.There have only been two presidents since Nasser: Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak, who took over when Sadat was murdered.What has happened today is that the old Nasserite system, a vaguely socialist, military dictatorship, heavily dependent on an unpleasant secret police, has collapsed.What the next days and weeks will show is what the factions look like. If the Army has split, even so slightly, then that fact should manifest itself in the appearance of a number of blocs. Which way the civilian opposition groups are drawn will serve as an indicator, in the way that dust is drawn to some giant unseen gravitational source, of what is going on beneath. Some opposition groups will tailor their programs to capture some of the “aid” money the Obama administration is putting together, but the fundamental character of these blocs may already be determined by prior events — where they fall within the new constellation.Lastly, the U.S. is not the only country which is probably preparing an “aid package” to the opposition. Iran, Saudi Arabia and maybe even Israel must be considering whom and what to support. One hopes the president knows what the shape of coming events in Egypt are likely to assume before announcing his satisfaction or dissatisfaction with them in public over the next few days.Hmmmmm......February 11 is the day that the Shah's regime fell in 1979 and Nelson Mandela walked free in 1990 on Februari 11 now Mubarak stepped down on February 11Th.....Weird or what?Read the full story here.

• Algeria: Thousands turn out for pro-reform protest.Organizers say 10,000 people chant 'No to the police state' in downtown Algiers, where they clashed with riot police; number of protestors, including four MPS, arrested.Thousands of people defied a government ban on demonstrations and poured into the Algerian capital for a pro-democracy rally Saturday, a day after weeks of mass protests toppled Egypt's authoritarian leader. Some 10,000 people flooded into downtown Algiers, organizers estimated, where they skirmished with riot police attempting to block off streets and disperse the crowd. According to reports, a number of people, including four members of parliament, were arrested.Protesters chanted slogans including "No to the police state" and "Bouteflika out," a reference to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been in power in this sprawling North African nation since 1999. Under Algeria's long-standing state of emergency - in place since 1992 - protests are banned in Algiers but the government's repeated warnings for people to stay out of the streets apparently fell on deaf ears.Saturday's march aimed to press for reforms to push Algeria toward democracy and did not include a specific call to oust Bouteflika. It was organized by the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, an umbrella group for human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others. Police beefed up their presence in Algiers ahead of Saturday's march. Buses and vans filled with armed police were posted at strategic points along the march route and around Algiers, including at the "Maison de la Presse," where newspapers have their headquarters. Friday's El Watan daily said roads leading into Algiers were barricaded, apparently to stop busloads of demonstrators from reaching the capital.Hmmmmm.........Obama ......"Let my people go"?Read the full story here.

• "Life or death in Iran's prisons".Iranian Students Issue Statements in Support of Calls for Demonstrations on February 14th.Iranian university students, activists, and political prisoners have issued statements in support for call to public demonstrations by opposition leaders on February 14th in solidarity with the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.Green Students of the Azad University of Qazvin (Central Iran) issued a statement in support for this call and invited the people to participate in this demonstration.Green Students of the Azad University of Khorramabaad (west of Iran) issued a statement in support for this call and invited the people of the city of Khorramabaad to participate in this demonstration.Green Students of the Azad University of Rodehen (Central Iran) issued a statement in support for this call and invited the people to participate in this demonstration.Islamic Association of Students of ShahreKord University (West of Iran) issued a statement in support for this call and invited people to participate in this demonstration.Green students of Azad University of Karaj (Central Iran) issued a statement in support for this call and invited people to participate in this demonstration.Green Students of the Azad and Mehregan Universities of Mahallat (Central Iran) issued a statement in support for this call and invited the people to participate in this demonstration.Green students of Ashrafi-Esfehani University (Tehran), Azad University (Tehran-East) and the RASA group in a statement supported the call by Mousavi and Karroubi to hold public demonstration on Feb 14 in solidarity with democratic uprisings in region and called Feb 14 “the day of people’s voice”. They invited their companions of the Green Movement to “call out their common pain” the nights before from rooftops.Green student organizations in Tehran, Garmsaar (Central Iran) and Shiraz (South of Iran) also announced their support for this call and invited their fellow companions to participate in this public demonstration.Green students and activists of the city of Mashhad (East of Iran) issued a statement in support for this call and invited the people to participate in this demonstration.Green activists of Babol (North Iran) issued a statement in support for this call and invited the people to participate in this demonstration.Political prisoners in Rajai Shahr prison published an open letter in support of February 14th demonstrations in solidarity with uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.Hmmmm.......Lets see if the great peacemaker Obama will say something now?Read and see the full story here.Solidarity video for February 14th protest: here.

• HT:Challah Hu Akbar.Venezuela & Hezbollah Starting Valentine's Day Early.Tarek Al-Aissami, the Venezuelan Minister of Interior and Justice, one of the key figures of the Chavez's government, is accused by the media of having used this position to issue passports to members of Hamas and Hezbollah.Born in Lebanon of Syrian descent in 1980; his father, Carlos Al-Aissami, was the head of the Venezuelan branch of the Iraqi Baath political party. According to reports, before the invasion of Iraq his father held a press conference in which he described himself as a Taliban and called Osama Bin Laden, "the great Mujahedeen, Sheik Osama bin Laden." The Minister's great-uncle Shibli Al-Aissami was a prominent ideologist and assistant to the secretary general of the Baath party in Baghdad during the Saddam Hussein regime.Al-Aissami started his political career as a student leader at the University of the Andes (ULA). He apparently had political control of the university dorms, which were allegedly used to hide stolen vehicles, make drug deals and smuggle in members of the guerrillas. He then headed Onidex, the Venezuelan passport and naturalization agency inside the Interior Ministry.Al-Aissami was appointed Minister in 2009, and designated to head Onidex by his close friend, Dante Rivas Quijada. The two attended the same university and is also reported to have ties to the Shiite movement Hezbollah.There are also allegations that Al-Aissami is one of the people responsible for recruiting young Venezuelan Arabs to be trained in Hezbollah camps in Southern Lebanon. Al-Aissami additionally seems to have helped establishing training caps inside Venezuela, complete with ammunition and explosives. Reports claim that he was working directly with most-wanted terrorist Ghazi Nasr-Din, a Venezuelan diplomat also born in Lebanon.Hmmmmm........Anyone wanted South American jihad?Read the full story here.

• US: NASA rocket to bear name of Egyptian woman killed in anti-govt protests. Cairo, 10 Feb. (AKI) - The United States space agency NASA has okayed the naming of one of its spaceships after a young Egyptian woman killed in late January during an anti-goverment protest, according to Egyptian daily Al-Masry-al-Youm.The paper quoted Essam Mohamed Haji, a young researcher at NASA as saying on Thursday he had received approval to put the young woman Sally Zahran's name on a spaceship heading for Mars.Zahran, a 23 English graduated and translator died after she was beaten about the head on 28 January with a truncheons during clashes with security forces in in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag. Anti-government protesters claim her killers were thugs in the pay of police.“This is the least we could provide to Egyptian youth and revolutionaries. This step represents transferring the dreams of Egyptian youth from a small stretch of earth to the enormous expanse of space,” said Haji was cited as telling Al-Masri Al-Youm by phone from California.Egypt on Thursday entered it 17th day of unrest, with many thousands of people taking to the streets in the capital, Cairo and filling its central Tahrir Square. Doctors, bus drivers, lawyers and textile workers were on strike in Cairo on Thursday, with trade unions reporting walkouts and protests across the country.The protesters have vowed to keep up their revolt against authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak, who they want to leave office immediately. Around 300 people have been killed in clashes with security forces and over 1,400 have been injured since the unrest began on 25 January against Mubarak, who took power in 1981 and whom they blame for widespread poverty, corruption and police brutality.Hmmmm......."I will stand with my Muslim Brothers"?Read the full story here.HT:BNI.

• Gül to visit Iran, nuke row not on agenda.President Abdullah Gül is to have talks with Iranian leaders during a state visit that will begin on Sunday, but he is not expected to discuss the country’s contentious nuclear program. Gül’s visit is rather ceremonial, meant to reciprocate a similar visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and he is not expected to go into difficult issues such as Tehran’s nuclear program, a Turkish official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said this week.Ankara says it is against nuclear weapons in the Middle East, but insists every country has the right to pursue a nuclear program for peaceful purposes and calls for a negotiated settlement to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. It also opposes sanctions backed by the West, saying they will further radicalize Iran.Gül, meanwhile, will be accompanied by a large delegation of businessmen, who will have talks with their Iranian counterparts not only in Tehran but also in Tabriz and Esfahan during his visit on Feb. 13-17. More than 100 businessmen will join Gül, according to a statement from the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) released on Thursday.Turkish-Iranian business ties are in their golden age because of sanctions imposed by the UN as well as unilateral sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union, Rıza Amuzgar, a member of DEİK’s Turkey-Iran Business Council was quoted as saying in the statement. “This could open the way to resolving problems that hinder the expansion of trade ties between the two countries,” Amuzgar said.The trade of goods not subject to the UN embargo continues between Iran and Turkey, according to Amuzgar, who also said about 150 Iranian companies facing increasing obstruction in Dubai are now planning to transfer their investments to Turkey. Similarly, Europe-based companies willing to do business with Iran but which face difficulties in doing so because of European sanctions against the country are also opening offices in Turkey to maintain their business ties with Iran.Turkey voted against UN sanctions on Iran last year but says it will implement them as they were approved by the UN Security Council despite its vote. Ankara refuses, however, to implement other sanctions imposed unilaterally by the US and the European Union.Hmmmm.....Erdogan ....Ahmadinejad's hencheman,Sanction that bite.....yeah whatever.Get Turkey out of NATO NOW !Before they nuke us with our own weapons!Read the full story here.

• Ankara, Brussels brace for showdown over Cyprus.Turkey's hardly moving European Union membership process may well come to a breaking point this year over the Cyprus dispute, according to both Turkish and European officials. As Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders appear to be nowhere near achieving progress in reuniting the island despite holding dozens of rounds of talks since 2008, policymakers in both Ankara and Brussels are coming to terms with the idea that the end of the road may now be in sight.The Cyprus dispute has been inextricably linked with Turkey's EU accession bid since Greek Cyprus was admitted into the union in 2004 as a representative of the whole island. In 2006, the EU suspended accession talks on eight of 35 chapters because of Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus. Ankara, for its part, resents that the EU has not kept its promise to the Turkish Cypriots to allow them to trade with member states, a promise the EU made after the Turkish Cypriots approved a UN plan to reunite the island in 2004.“A showdown is inevitable,” said one senior diplomat, speaking to a group of journalists in İstanbul this week. “We are now looking to see how this showdown will take place and what results will come out of it.”According to the official, what is at stake is the political dialogue between Turkey and the EU at a time when Turkey is becoming an increasingly key player not only in the volatile Middle East but also in the global arena. Defense cooperation between NATO and the EU, currently blocked because Turkey blocks Greek Cypriot access to NATO and Greek Cyprus blocks Turkish access to European defense apparatus, is also likely to be one of the victims of the Turkey-EU stalemate over Cyprus.A draft European Parliament report on Turkey, approved by the parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday, said Turkey’s refusal to open its ports and airports to Greek Cyprus continues to affect the negotiation process and urged Ankara to agree to concessions to “facilitate a suitable climate for negotiations by immediately starting to withdraw its forces from Cyprus.”Speaking to Today’s Zaman in an interview, Andrew Duff, a British member of the European Parliament, went further and said accession will no longer be a topic to discuss for the European Parliament this time next year if there is no “dramatic change” on Cyprus this year. If Turkey does not bring a solution, he said, “there is no chance of a settlement in this generation and there is no chance that Turkey can continue the formal accession process.”“The reason why I am so outspoken on this is that I’m getting tired of pretending that everything is fine, while we all know privately that it is not,” said Duff, who has been a strong supporter of Turkish accession.And as if the situation is not hopeless enough, a dispute growing between Ankara and the Turkish Cypriots on the island is casting further shadow on hopes to find a way out of the current stalemate. Many in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) are complaining now that appointment of an economy technocrat as the new Turkish ambassador in Lefkoşa amounts to the appointment of a “governor” as in colonial times.Ambassador Kaya Türkmen was replaced with Halil İbrahim Akça, who was responsible for monitoring Turkey’s financial aid to the KKTC, after Jan. 28 protests in the KKTC against the government’s austerity measures and Turkey created a diplomatic rift between Ankara and Lefkoşa. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed the protesters, who told Ankara to “take its troops and money back,” reminding them in non-diplomatic language that they rely on Turkey for their salaries.Hmmmm.....Turkey has chosen the side of Iran,one of the most repressive and bloodthirsty regimes in the world they executed already 143 people in Iran this year and Turkey has been recognised as the worst human rights violator this year !Europe does not need anything from these kind of people don't allow them in the EU and get them out of NATO !Read the full story here.

• HT:TheNationalReview.Texas Senate Praises Islamist Cult Leader.According to Today’s Zaman, a newspaper owned by followers of the Islamist cult leader Fethullah Gulen, the Texas Senate passed a resolution praising Gulen after Gulen and his followers sponsored several educational centers in Texas. Gulen lives in a militia compound in the Poconos in Pennsylvania and has a history of inciting violence. His organization also repeatedly publishes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Good job, Texas. Hope your dignity was worth the cash.Hmmmm......."The Turkish Rose of Texas"?read the full story here.

• Three high school district parents contend textbook ‘romanticizes’ history of Islam.Three North County residents contend a textbook used to teach seventh-graders about the Islamic religion in the San Dieguito Union High School District “romanticizes” the history of the religion, and they want the district to use supplemental information to provide what they say would be a more balanced view.Michael Hayutin and Linda Sax, both of Carmel Valley, and James Freedman of Rancho Peñasquitos presented their findings in a 21-page report to the school district’s board of trustees at a meeting last Thursday, Feb. 3. They have also met with school administrators and teachers, including  Rick Schmitt, associate superintendent of educational services.Hayutin, whose daughter is a senior at Torrey Pines High School and son is a college student who also attended district schools, said he, Sax and Freedman take issue with two chapters about Islam in a textbook called “World History: Medieval to Early Modern Times.” The chapters are used for a two-week unit of study about Islam.In a summary heading the report, the trio wrote: “The text romanticizes Islamic history with respect to religion, government, conquest and culture. The positive aspects or achievements attributable to Islam are exaggerated and the negative downplayed or ignored. The errors are of both inclusion and omission. Critical facts that demonstrate the less admirable religious and cultural episodes and practices in Islamic history are absent or understated.”“If we teach them a glossed over, pretty version of history that isn’t accurate, they won’t be able to evaluate what’s going on today,” Hayutin said after the meeting.As examples, the report cites references to the Prophet Mohammed, slavery, the spread of Islam, polygamy and other subjects contained in the two textbook chapters.Under the heading “The ‘Spread of Islam,’” the report cites numerous places in the text where the phrases “Islam spread” or “spread Islam” are used. “More accurate words to describe what occurred might include ‘conquer,’ ‘defeat,’ ‘invade,’ ‘capture,’ or ‘destroy,’” said the report.Tehseen Lazzouni, a parent in the San Dieguito district, member of the Muslim Community Center of Greater San Diego and director of the Islamic Speakers Bureau of San Diego, said the references in the report are taken out of context and “inflammatory.”“The sources that they used here are anti-Islamic books. It’s no surprise they came up with so much material against Islam. The authors of these books have made it their mission to defame Islam,” Lazzouni said.Hayutin said he, Sax and Freedman are Jewish, but their religion has no bearing on the findings of their report. The three did not conduct a similar analysis of the chapters on Christianity and Judaism, he said, because they didn’t find errors in those chapters. He said the negative aspects of Christianity such as the Crusades are treated in “clear and brutal terms.”Hayutin said it is important for students to have a balanced picture of the origins of Islam to understand the dynamics of today’s world, including acts of terrorism committed by Muslim extremists such as the Sept. 11 attacks.“They (the hijackers) were praising Allah as they vaporized themselves and 3,000 people. The vast majority of Muslims would never do anything like that or aren’t like that, but there is a cancer that is metastasizing in Islam. If Muslims don’t recognize that, it will consume them,” Hayutin said.Hmmmmm......And so History has been changed!Give it another 200 year or less and 9/11 will have been peace loving freedom fighters against the empire of Satan?Read the full scandal story here.

• HT:AmericanThinker.No Coal, No Power, No Gas !Let's see if I get this straight. During the early February cold spell in the southern plains, when wind chills in Dallas dipped to minus twenty degrees, Texans were going without power to heat their homes and businesses even as the state was sitting on massive surpluses of natural gas. Even hospitals were having to switch to emergency generating systems. And this in the state with the largest energy production capacity in the continental US.How was it that Texas suffered an extended period of rolling blackouts at a time when there's a glut of coal and natural gas waiting to be used?The answer may be quite simple. It seems that a great deal of natural gas got "stuck in the pipes" because there was not enough electricity to operate the pumps to move it along. And there was not enough electricity to operate the pumps because environmentalists had seen to it that plans for new coal-powered generating plants had been shuttered back in 2007. So without the coal, there was no electricity, and without the electricity, there was no natural gas. And since much of the natural gas was intended to supply electrical power generating plants, there was even less electricity to supply the pumps and everything else.It is ironic, considering the freezing temperatures that Texans endured during the first week of February, that an agreement to discontinue construction of coal-powered plants was predicated on the now discredited theory of man-made global warming. In order to lower global temperatures, as they imagined, environmentalists pressured TXU to accept a plan that made it impossible for the citizens of Texas to heat their homes.Ironically, the US is in danger of power blackouts at a time when it is exporting greater and greater amount of coal to China and other countries. Already, America is sending 80 million tons of coal overseas, but plans are underway to increase exports by 10% in 2011. Countries overseas understand that coal is the cheapest and most reliable form of energy available for producing electrical power. At a time when America is curtailing its coal generating capacity, China and India are building one new coal generating plant every week. And America is shipping its vital resources overseas even as its citizens are left, quite literally, out in the cold.Hmmmm.....Once in China this coal no longer creates a carbon footprint on the Planet?Read the full story here.

• HT:RightTruth.Crescent of Betrayal Groundbreaking.Ground broken for Terrorist memorial mosque groundbreaking.The desecration has begun. A ground-breaking ceremony was held at the Shanksville crash site on Saturday. Bulldozers will start reshaping the land this week. Never mind that the only rule for the Flight 93 memorial’s design competition was that the landscape had to be left as it was. In order to complete the full arc of the Crescent of Embrace (now called a broken circle, but still a giant Islamic-shaped crescent), an earthen causeway will have to be built across the wetlands that lie about 50 vertical feet below the crash site.A contractor posted recently about his decision to turn down work on the memorial, despite economic hard times. Our friend Jeff just could not stomach the idea of helping to build a tribute to the enemy, a sentiment that is easy to understand and much appreciated. To anyone else who might find themselves in this situation, just be aware that there are other options. Someone is going to do the work, and if the pay is lucrative, it could be better for our cause to have that money go to someone who is on our side.Blogburst author Alec Rawls has succeeded in driving driving quite a bit of Western Pennsylvania news coverage through the purchase of a half-dozen half-page full-color ads in the local Somerset paper. If anybody wants to fund another, Alec will gladly put the ad together. Call it anti-dhimmi jiu-jitsu. We can use the Park Service’s own money against them.If we don’t succeed, then you have to live with knowing that you helped to build an abomination. There is no simple answer.Hmmmm.......What are you waiting for?Sign the Petition here!Read the full story here.

• Hosni Mubarak resigns: how and when will the country transition to democracy?Even as tens of thousands of protesters in Egypt are celebrating their triumph over the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, hard questions have begun to surface about just how – and when – the country will make a transition to democracy.The Brotherhood has said it will not put up a candidate in future presidential elections, but it could emerge as the largest single political block. From having just one MP out of 444 in Egypt's national assembly in 1995, the Brotherhood won 17 seats in 2000 and 88 in 2005. It was humbled in the 2010 elections because of election rigging – one of the causes of the Tahrir Square protests. Experts say the Brotherhood's organisational resources give it an edge over secular parties. "The Wafd, Tagammu, and Arab Nasserist parties," Samer Shehata at Georgetown University observed, "lack large constituencies and the ability to build popular support. Unlike the banned Muslim Brotherhood, these parties lack the ability to mobilise tens of thousands of Egyptians." Muslim Brotherhood leaders have said they believe in parliamentary democracy and democratic institutions – much to the ire of al-Qaeda-linked jihadists, who had their roots in the organisation. But some fear the Brotherhood will use its influence to force Egypt's new president to adopt a hawkish line on Israel and implement religion-based laws that could erode civil liberties within the country. The organisation's draft 2007 platform calls for women and non-Muslims to be barred from running for president, the institution of a religion-based constitutional order, and the re-examination of the peace treaty with Israel. Muhammad Badi, the Brotherhood's leader in Egypt, has also voiced extreme anti-semitic views. Last year, he declared in a sermon that a day was approaching "when the stones or the trees will say: 'Oh Muslim! Oh servant of Allah! There is a Jew behind me, come and kill him'."Hmmmm......And these are the people Obama embraces as "partners"? Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Indonesia: Rights Watchdog Says Man Who Filmed Ahmadiyah Attack Under Protection.The Ahmadi who captured on film the deadly attack on an Ahmadiyah community in Banten is currently under protection because of fears his life may be in danger, the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Friday.One of the commissioners, Ridha Saleh, said in a press conference that the man, identified only as A, is both under the protection of the commission known as Komnas HAM and the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK)."He was one of the victims, because he is an Ahmadi. That is why we put him under protection. We also ask the media to blur his face in future documentations because we believe he is going to be targeted,” Ridha said.A is also being questioned by the National Police's crime unit as a witness.Yoseph Adi Suryo, another commission member, told the Jakarta Globe that A managed to save himself from being attacked by claiming to be a contributor for a media organization as he documented the event.Nurkholis Hidayat, chairman of Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), said that A came to their office seeking protection two days ago."He provided us with the video evidence and his testimony of the incident. We believe his life is in danger and so we took him to Komnas HAM," he said.In the 30-minute video, only about 30 police officers can be seen guarding the home of Ahmadiyah cleric Ismail Suparman. They offer little resistance to a mob of about 1,500 people carrying bamboo planks and machetes, and are quickly overwhelmed.The video shows police attempting to persuade the Ahmadi to leave the house, with one plain-clothed officer filmed warning the group that a mob was headed for the village.The mob subsequently stormed the village. There were no police barricades erected to prevent clashes.“Police get out. Burn these Ahmadiyah people!” one man shouted.The mob immediately attacked the house with rocks and the people inside were forced to flee.The footage also shows the mob swarming around two lifeless bodies covered in mud. The Ahmadiyah man said the pair were chased to a nearby rice field where they were killed with bamboo and stone strikes to their heads.The crowd then dragged the bodies along the road. Others were filmed attacking the corpses.Edited excerpts of the video have begun airing on local TV stations, but the most graphic violence has been left off the air, perhaps to avoid stirring up further religious hatred.Choirul Anam, deputy chairman of the Human Rights Working Group, said the video showed how the police were inadequately equipped to face the lynch mob."There were two trucks [of police officers] but they all ran away when the mob came. Furthermore, the video also showed that it was not the 17 Ahmadis who caused the conflict, as several media reported,” he said.Hmmmm.......Obama "Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance".Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Religious Affairs Minister Defends Govt Decree vs Ahmadiyah.The 2008 joint ministerial decree forbidding Ahmadiyah followers from promoting their activities is not to blame for the discrimination suffered by the minority sect's followers, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said on Wednesday evening."The decree was not made to discriminate against a certain group, it was aimed at maintaining religious harmony, including to protect Ahmadiyah," he said in a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission VIII, which oversees religious affairs.The minister, along with National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo, were summoned by lawmakers in response to the deadly attack on the Ahmadiyah community in Banten on Sunday, as well as to the violent rampage on Tuesday in Temanggung, Central Java, that left several buildings, including two churches, vandalized.Mainstream Muslim groups accuse Ahmadiyah members of heresy, saying that they profess their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, to be the final prophet of Islam — a tenet that runs directly against Islamic beliefs that reserve that claim for Muhammad.The accusation is disputed by the Ahmadiyah community, but this claim is largely behind the 2008 joint ministerial decree banning Ahmadiyah members from spreading its faith.Activists say this decree gave cover for extremists to act out their hatred.Suryadharma added that the government has exerted a lot of effort to prevent religious clashes, including establishing the interfaith religious forum (FKUB) in 33 provinces and 421 districts.He said the ministry has tried to promote the joint decree, but he admitted that not all FKUB were familiar with it.Imran Muchtar, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, said he agreed with the solution offered by the minister. "First, Ahmadiyah members should repent, recognize their mistake and come back to the mainstream Islam," he said."The second option they have is to leave Islam and declare a new religion. Otherwise the conflict will never end."Hazrul Azwar, a lawmaker from the Islam-based United Development Party (PPP), called for stronger action."The Ahmadiyah should be disbanded permanently, as long as the government is not strict enough the conflict is never going to end," he said. "The fake prophet is a disgrace to my religion. Clerics in the whole world have banned Ahmadiyah, why is the government not doing the same thing?"In response, the minister said it would be considered."The government hasn't made any decision on what to do with the Ahmadiyah yet, all options are being discussed. But the suggestion to disband the Ahmadiyah will be a very valuable input for us," Suryadharma said.Hmmmm.....Obama "Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance".Yup sounds very tolerant and freedom like?Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Jordan - Jordanian King Abdallah's Office Threatens To Sue AFP Over Article Containing False Claims About Queen Rania. A communiqué from the office of Jordan's King Abdallah rejects claims by tribes in Jordan that Queen Rania is helping 78,000 Palestinians obtain Jordanian citizenship and that she transferred lands belonging to the Jordanian people to her family. The communiqué stated that these statements published by the AFP are absolutely false, and that the 36 individuals who signed the tribes' announcement do not represent the tribes. The king's office sent the news agency a condemnation and threatened to sue it.Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Al-Quds Brigades In Large-Scale Military Maneuvers In Gaza.The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, has conducted a large-scale military maneuver in the southern Gaza Strip. The maneuvers included use of RPGs, explosive devices, 107mm rockets, as well as sniper training and attacks on fortified targets.Source.

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• HT:fredericknewspost.Mount St. Mary's fined $40,000 University by state department of environment.The Maryland Department of the Environment has fined Mount St. Mary's University $40,000 for alleged violations of air pollution requirements.A settlement agreement was reached between the two parties on Dec. 2.The Mount was fined for failing to comply with visible emissions requirements from a coal-fired boiler and failing to maintain records with regards to boiler emissions of nitrogen oxides. Visible emission observations were recorded six times between July 2008 and March 2009, and the emissions discharged from the Keeler boiler on campus had an opacity greater than 20 percent, which is the legal limit.The settlement agreement states that the Mount voluntarily and at its own expense decommissioned the Keeler boiler. The Mount has already paid the $40,000 fine, MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said.The Keeler boiler dates back to 1974, said Mount spokesman Christian Kendzierski.According to Kendzierski, once the college knew the boiler couldn't be brought back up to code, they shut it down in March 2009. The college used auxiliary systems until the new natural gas powered boiler was installed. The new system has been running since March 2010.The natural gas boiler is 65 percent more efficient, he said.The new boiler cost between $300,000 and $500,000, said Linda Sherman, director of Communications at Mount St. Mary's.To bring the old boiler back up to code would have cost about a million dollars, she said.The Mount denied liability in the settlement agreement, but agreed not to operate the Keeler boiler or any other coal-fired boiler without first obtaining the department's consent.The 22 recent major enforcement actions announced by MDE on Monday totaled more than $650,000 in penalties for alleged violations of state requirements for water, air and radiation management, and land. The department releases information on enforcement actions monthly.The Mount's infraction was the only infraction reported in Frederick County.Hmmmm.....Don't tell me the money was processed by the ex - Shorebank?The Golden Goose has been found?1 Billion Dollar is a lot of money for a re-election?Read the full story here.

• Egypt protests: Three killed in 'day of revolt'.At least three people are reported to have been killed during a day of rare anti-government protests in Egypt.In Cairo, where the biggest rallies were held, state TV said a policeman had died in clashes. Two protesters died in Suez, doctors there said.Thousands joined the protests after an internet campaign inspired by the uprising in Tunisia.In central Cairo, police starting using tear gas early on Wednesday in an attempt to disperse the crowds.Thousands of demonstrators remained in the city centre around Tahrir Square late into the night, vowing to camp out overnight and setting the stage for further confrontation.There were appeals on Facebook for food and blankets for those staying put.Activists had called for a "day of revolt" in a web message. Protests are uncommon in Egypt, which President Hosni Mubarak has ruled since 1981, tolerating little dissent.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her administration supported "the fundamental right of expression and assembly" and urged all parties "to exercise restraint".She added that Washington believed the Egyptian government was "stable" and "looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people".The events in Cairo were co-ordinated on a Facebook page - tens of thousands of supporters clicked on the page to say they would take part.Reports said the social networking site Twitter had been blocked in Egypt and that mobile phone networks in the Cairo area were down.The Swedish-based website Bambuser, which streams video from mobile phones, said it had been blocked in Egypt. On its blog, it accused Egyptian officials of trying to control the news agenda.In Cairo's Tahrir Square, demonstrators attacked a police water cannon vehicle, opening the driver's door and ordering the man out of the vehicle.Officers beat back protesters with batons as they tried to break the police cordons to join the main demonstration.Cairo resident Abd-Allah told the BBC that by Tuesday night some protesters were saying they wouldn't give up until President Mubarak had gone."People are behaving as if they are ready to die," he said."The atmosphere is very tense, it feels like a revolution. I see people who are determined, people who have nothing to lose, people who want a better future." Reports said protesters had earlier gathered outside the Supreme Court holding large signs that read: "Tunisia is the solution."Some chants referred to Mr Mubarak's son Gamal, who some analysts believe is being groomed as his father's successor. "Gamal, tell your father Egyptians hate you," they shouted.The organisers rallied support saying the protest would focus on torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment, calling it "the beginning of the end".While one opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, called on Egyptians to take part in these protests, the Muslim Brotherhood has been more ambivalent.Read the full story here.Eyewitness accounts here.

• German premiere of ‘Kurtlar Vadisi’(Valley of the Wolves: Palestine) cancelled over alleged anti-Israel propaganda.The premiere of a Turkish film, “Kurtlar Vadisi: Filistin” (Valley of the Wolves: Palestine), was cancelled when a well-respected German film association recommended theaters in the country not show the movie, allegedly for containing anti-Israel propaganda.The premiere was slated for Jan. 27, which also marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On that day in 1945, the largest Nazi death camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, was liberated by Soviet troops.A spokesperson from Cologne-based Pera Film, the company that distributes the movie, said the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft (FSK), or the Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Movie Industry, advised not showing the movie, and the company added that they would abide by the decision. The company also stated it would look into the reasons for the FSK’s statements and then make a final decision.Films do not require the approval of the FSK for release, but members of the Spitzenorganisation der deutschen Filmwirtschaft (SPIO), the Head Organization of the German Movie Industry, usually releases productions approved by the FSK. Movies not rated by the FSK may only be sold and rented to adults, independent of their content.The film was criticized by politicians, including Serkan Tören, a Turkish-born member of the German Bundestag from the Free Democratic Party (FDP).Hmmmmm..........Valley of the Wolves: Palestine....'Gone to the dogs' !ABGESCHOSSEN ! Read the full story here.

• State of the union live here.

• HT:EmergingCorruption.Obama’s Radical “Go To” Man Moves to the DNC.In a move clearly signaling that planning for the 2012 Presidential election is underway, President Barack Obama’s “go to” man Patrick Gaspard is leaving the White House to serve as Executive director of the Democratic National Committee.Gaspard’s move also signals the almost complete acceptance of hard-left and labor union influence in the upper reaches of the Democratic Party. In embracing Gaspard, the D.N.C. has surrendered its “commanding heights” to the Party’s almost completely dominant far left.While never a proven member of any of the several radical and Marxist organizations operating within and the Democratic Party, Gaspard has worked with several of the most influential.He is undoubtedly a servant of the far left.Barack Obama, as a young man, admired third world revolutionaries like Frantz Fanon. He went into community organizing and the DSA/Committees of Correspondence aligned Chicago left, before moving on to the White House.Patrick Gaspard, as a young man, admired third world revolutionaries like Aime Cesaire. He went into radical organizing and mixed with the DSA/Committees of Correspondence aligned New York left, before moving on to the White House.Patrick Gaspard was “made” by the same socialist “mafia” who made Barack Obama.Now these socialist “twin souls” face the struggle of their lives, the war for the White House 2012.Obama cannot succeed in 2012, without complete control of the Democratic Party machine. He’ll surely be sleeping a little easier now, knowing that Patrick Gaspard has back over at the DNC.Hmmmm......The "Lenin and Trotsky" of American politics?Read the full story here.

• HT:DanielPipes.ISNA Canada Lives High on Charitable Funds.The Islamic Society of North America's Canada branch, Jesse McLean of the Toronto Star reports in "Muslim charity squandered money for poor," has engaged in gross mismanagement. A 2010 audit of the prior four years carried out on behalf of the ISNA Canada board found that of C$810,777 collected in a special pool of Zakat and Fitrah money for "helping needy Muslims not only in Canada, but all over the World", less than one-quarter, or $196,460 actually went to the poor. The remaining $614,000 went for what the audit delicately calls "administration of the centre" by its 30-plus-year Secretary General Mohammad Ashraf, a 73-year-old microbiologist.The auditor, Fareed Sheik, discovered a long list of abuses.ISNA's management refused to give the auditor some documents. Consequently, Sheik noted, "I was not able to follow the trail of funds transferred from ISNA to other organizations. Hence I cannot conclude with certainty that there has been no misappropriation or embezzlement of funds or cash."The alleged crimes go back as far as 1999. The investigation began in 2008 after Citizenship and Immigration Canada noticed that 320 permanent residence applicants had given the same 29 home addresses in Canada,the Mississauga Islamic House said to be one of the adresses used.The RCMP traced 260 of the applications and found they were all linked to Mr. El-Akhal. None of those who secured citizenship and government benefits through Mr. El-Akhal actually lived in Canada.Read the full story here.

• Egypt anti-govt protests escalate!Thousands call for Tunisia-style ouster of president Hosni Mubarak as US, an ally, says government there is "stable".The United States believes "the Egyptian government is stable," despite stunning protests calling for the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.Clinton's comments on Tuesday came after thousands of Egyptians, inspired by Tunisian demonstrators, gathered in Cairo and towns across the country calling for reforms and demanding an end to Mubarak's presidency, which has now lasted for nearly three decades.Thousands of demonstrators attended the anti-government protests. Some in downtown Cairo hurled rocks and climbed atop an armoured police truck.In a statement issued Tuesday night, the Egyptian interior ministry blamed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's technically banned but largest opposition group, for fomenting the protests.Police responded to the demonstraters blasts from a water cannon, and set upon crowds with batons and acrid clouds of tear gas to clear them crying out "Down with Mubarak'' and demanding an end to the country's grinding poverty.Police have also used rubber bullets against protesters, with some injuries, reported Rawya Rageh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo.But at least 30 people are already reported to have been arrested in Cairo, official sources said.Egyptian blogger Hossam El Hamalawy said technology was important in facilitating "the domino effect" needed for demonstrations like this one to progress. Mamdouh Khayrat, 23, travelled from the governorate of Qalubiya to attend protests in Cairo. He spoke to Al Jazeera's Adam Makary. "We want a functioning government, we want Mubarak to step down, we don't want emergency law, we don't want to live under this kind of oppression anymore," he said."Enough is enough, things have to change and if Tunisia can do it, why can't we?" Khayrat added.El Hamalawy told Al Jazeera the protests were necessary "to send a message to the Egyptian regime that Mubarak is no different than Ben Ali and we want him to leave too".On Tuesday downtown Cairo came to a standstill with protesters chanting slogans and marching towards what Al Jazeera's Rageh called the "symbols of their complaints and their agony," the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party, the foreign ministry and the state television.Scenes such as these have not been seen in the capital since the 1970s.Activists have been relying heavily on social networks to organise the protests."Our protest on the 25th is the beginning of the end," wrote organisers of a Facebook group with 87,000 followers."People are fed up of Mubarak and of his dictatorship and of his torture chambers and of his failed economic policies. If Mubarak is not overthrown tomorrow then it will be the day after. If its not the day after its going to be next week," El Hamalawy told Al Jazeera.Hmmmmm......Remember the money being withdrawn by foreign investors last week from the Egyption stockmarket?Everything is stable and crows wear stilletto heels?Read the full story here.

• HT:WND.BORN IN THE USA?Hawaii official now swears: No Obama birth certificate.Former Hawaii elections clerk Tim Adams has now signed an affidavit swearing he was told by his supervisors in Hawaii that no long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate existed for Barack Obama Jr. in Hawaii and that neither Queens Medical Center nor Kapi'olani Medical Center in Honolulu had any record of Obama having been born in their medical facilities.Adams was employed at the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division from May 2008 through September 2008. His position was senior elections clerk, overseeing a group of 50 to 60 employees responsible for verifying the identity of voters at the Absentee Ballot Office. It was in this capacity that Adams became aware of the search for Obama's birth-certificate records."During the course of my employment," Adams swears in the affidavit (viewable in full as part 1 and part 2), "I became aware that many requests were being made to the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division, the Hawaii Office of Elections, and the Hawaii Department of Health from around the country to obtain a copy of then-Senator Barack Obama's long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate." As he inquired about the birth certificate, he says, his supervisors told him that the records were not on file at the Hawaii Department of Health. "Senior officers in the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division told me on multiple occasions that no Hawaii long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate existed for Senator Obama in the Hawaii Department of Health," Adams' affidavit reads, "and there was no record that any such document had ever been on file in the Hawaii Department of Health or any other branch or department of the Hawaii government.""My supervisor came and told me, 'Of course, there's no birth certificate. What? You stupid,'" Adams said. "She usually spoke well, but in saying this she reverted to a Hawaiian dialect. I really didn't know how to respond to that. She said it and just walked off. She was quite a powerful lady." Moreover, Adams was told that neither Queens Memorial Hospital nor Kapi'olani Medical Center had any records of Obama's birth at their medical facilities: "Senior officers in the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division further told me on multiple occasions that Hawaii State government officials had made inquires about Sen. Obama's birth records to officials at Queens Medical Center and Kapi'olani Medical Center in Honolulu and that neither hospital had any record of Senator Obama having been born there, even though Governor Abercrombie is now asserting and various Hawaii government officials continue to assert Barack Obama Jr. was born at Kapi'olani Medical Center on Aug. 4, 1961." "We called the two hospitals in Honolulu: Queens and Kapi'olani," Adams stressed. "Neither of them have any records that Barack Obama was born there." Read the full story here.

• HT:AsiaNews.Religious freedom threatened, by aggressive secularism in the West, says Bagnasco.Card Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), opened the latter’s assembly today. In the opening speech, he spoke about the threats to religious freedom and to the lives of Christians in various parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, mentioning the attacks in Baghdad and Alexandria. He also focused on the West, slamming “devious threats to real religious freedom in democratic nations, starting in Europe.” In his view, “We must guard against the subtle tricks of hypocrisy that lead to seek faraway what is instead nearby”. Card Bagnasco mentioned the controversy of the crucifix in schools or public places, saying that “religious freedom is an essential and very delicate linchpin. If it is compromised, society as a whole may actually have to pay the consequences. Annoyed, some make specious arguments about the neutrality of the state. A certain aggressive secularism betrays attitudes inspired by ideological obsessions that we left behind without regrets. In light of this, we are surprised by complaints made last month at an OSCE conference in Vienna that claimed that an abstract application of the principle of non-discrimination could paradoxically limit the rights of believers to express publicly their faith.For the CEI president, “A subtle evil afflicts Europe, causing a slow, unseen marginalisation of Christianity. Sometimes, this involves clear cases of discrimination, but also a silent stifling of fundamental freedoms. The case in point is the right to conscientious objection on ethical issues, a matter that is belittled in many nations. This constitutes a retreat for freedom. To marginalise symbols, isolate contents, and denigrate people is a weapon that leads to conformity. Unpopular views are sidelined and those who bear witness to values they freely believe in are mortified.”Speaking about the problem of Christianophobia, the prelate said he hoped that the “issue of basic religious minority rights in many countries would be addressed.” He added that the matter of “reciprocity must be dealt with but not with threats of retaliation or by weakening the guarantees given to people who come from nations where equal treatment is not provided.” Instead, what is necessary “is to raise the issue of religious freedom in international fora like the European Union, the United Nations [. . .], to open eyes and keep them open so that individual states may uphold minimum standards of freedom for all faiths.”Hmmmm......"I Will Not Submit"My ancestors took part in the Crusades they believed in their saviour,so do i !Read the full story here.

• More than 18,000 divorce cases in 2010.One divorce case in Saudi every 30 minutes.A surge in divorce rate in Saud Arabia has raised concerns over the role of domestic violence and prompted debate on means to reign in the social problem seen to have damaging effects on families and society.The number of registered cases of divorces in 2010 reached 18,765, which is one case every 30 minutes, and most divorces took place within the first year of marriage, the Saudi daily newspaper al-Hayat reported Sunday.On the other hand, the number of marriages in the 2010 reached 90,983, that is five marriages every 30 minutes. Cases of domestic violence have also been on the rise lately in the kingdom with 747 incidents reported to the Ministry of Social Affairs, wrote Dr. Ahmed al-Boali, secretary of the Educational Council in the eastern governorate of Al-Ahsa, in a paper he submitted to a workshop for workers in the field of social protection.According to Boali, the Saudi capital Riyadh is the highest in domestic violence with 454 cases, followed by Mecca with 159 cases, Asser 101 cases, and Medina 63 cases. The lowest rates were found in al-Ahsa with 13 cases and Abha with one case.Boali added that the cases of physical abuse reached 747, sexual abuse 18, and physiological abuse 7, while cases of combined physical and psychological abuses reached 273, combined sexual and psychological two cases, physical and sexual four cases, and physical and verbal one case.The paper explained that children are the most exposed to abuse and domestic violence, followed by women. Cases in which the perpetrator of abuse is male reached 1,057 while female cases did not exceed 75. Cases of violence because of gender are 104 in cases of male victims and 979 for female victims.Hmmmm......"The Religion Of Peace".Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Posts on Jordanian Queen Rania's Facebook Forum Question Veracity of Holocaust, Legitimacy of Israel's Existence.Queen Rania Al-'Abdallah of Jordan has been internationally acclaimed for defending the rights of women and children worldwide, and is the recipient of numerous international prizes. She has contributed to the empowerment of Jordanian women by founding the Jordan River Foundation, which helps women to start small businesses, and recently she launched the Madrasati Palestine project, aimed at "combat[ing] the deteriorating state of education in East Jerusalem by renovating its disadvantaged schools, under the auspices of the Jordanian Ministry of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs."She is also the author of The Sandwich Swap, a children's book promoting tolerance and acceptance of the other.In July 2010, she was criticized for allegedly refusing to allow the publication of her book in Hebrew,though official Jordanian sources denied this, saying Queen Rania had never received any offer from Israeli publishers.However, a look at Queen Rania's Facebook account – one of the most visited accounts on Facebook, with almost 600,000 "friends" – reveals some disturbing content. A thread titled "Is Holocaust a Reality or a Myth" features a lengthy discussion about the veracity of the Holocaust, as well as posts denying Israel's right to exist and presenting the 9/11 attacks as a Western conspiracy. Another thread opens with a post suggesting that peace with the Jews will only be possible after Israel ceases to exist.It is noteworthy that neither one of these threads, nor any of the posts within them, have been censored or removed. At the same time, a post titled "Palestine solution," which was posted several weeks ago and then deleted, suggests that the forum administers do occasionally remove posts. Furthermore, a forum member related that after she had posted a message about a case of child abuse in Jordan, the Queen had contacted her and addressed her concerns, which suggests that the Queen is aware of the content of the forum and occasionally responds to it."Is Holocaust a Reality or a Myth?"The title of each thread on Queen Rania's Facebook forum is accompanied by a small photo of her, as a reminder of the forum's affiliation. The English threads include many personal messages addressed to her, like birthday greetings, as well as numerous political discussions. The thread titled "Is Holocaust a Reality or a Myth?" was launched on October 7, 2010 by a member calling himself Raheem. While most of the responses reject Raheem's message of questioning the Holocaust, providing counterarguments and chiding him for his position, others support him, calling the Holocaust propaganda meant to justify Israel's existence and stating there is no proof that it happened. The following are excerpts from a sample of posts (some lightly editing for clarity):Raheem (Original Poster): "Did any one ever ask where are the graves of 6 million Jews killed by Nazis during World War II? Does anyone have all the names of 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust?..."Claudia: "People burnt in crematories do not need graves and mostly they happened to be burnt. The rest digged in 'mass tombs.'Mohammad: "Quite right claudia. An unfortunate problem with the Muslim world is the extreme paranoia that has developed, resulting in wild conspiracy theories born of resentment toward Israelis..."Samuel: "Holocaust Denial is a criminal offence in France and other countries. Queen Rania does not join in this, I am sure…"Raheem: "…Why did the Jews and other Western countries use this myth for the creation of Israel on Palestinian land?..."Saud: "[The Holocaust is] propaganda... no proof, a tourist spot, getting sympathies of people for being the victims…" Talia: "No proof. No one to testify, no testimony at all... Right, Saud?"Saud: "Sure."Hmmmm......"What's the use of a candle and glasses if the Owl doesn't want to see"?Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Video : US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a Saudi Women's TV Show, Warns of a Possible Mideast Nuclear Arms Race.Read and see the full story here.

• HT:AmnonAndJonathan.I'm a proud " ISLAMOPHOBE !"Terror groups exploit the weak for suicide bombings.The horrific suicide bombing at the Moscow airport's arrival area that killed 35 and wounded more than 150 is yet another gruesome reminder that the tactic of suicide terrorism shows no signs of diminishing. Suicide attacks, whether against civilian or military targets, persist in war zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia (including those by "lone wolves" such as December's failed bombing in Stockholm, Sweden, by an Iraqi-born Swedish citizen). Why do certain terrorist groups continue to use such a grisly tactic, and how are they able to recruit willing individuals to blow themselves up for their cause?What is suicide terrorism? It is a premeditated operation in which the attacker detonates an explosive intentionally to kill himself (or herself) to kill a lot of people, spread fear and panic, and coerce an adversary to concede to political or ideological demands. The crucial element is that no escape is possible for the attacker. This differs from conventional terrorism, where although the attacker is aware that his death is likely, he might be able to escape and resume warfare later.How can suicide bombings be stopped? The key could rest with religious leaders. As Berko has argued, they "have the moral responsibility to forcefully condemn suicide bombing attacks and to issue unequivocal (rulings) against them." Religious leaders must emphatically state that those who carry out such attacks "not only do not automatically go to paradise, but that they automatically go to hell."Read the full story here.

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Pakistan: Protest as the killer of Governor Taseer -Mumtaz Qadri appears in court for the murder.The self-confessed assassin of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer has appeared in court as dozens of his supporters demonstrated outside.Mumtaz Qadri, 26, was brought for a procedural hearing at an anti-terrorism court in a Rawalpindi city jail.He has admitted gunning down Mr Taseer earlier this month in Islamabad, after the governor backed reforms to controversial blasphemy laws.Qadri has been hailed as a hero by many in Pakistan.He says the demonstrators were mainly supporters of a Sunni Muslim cleric, Qari Hanif, whom police have been investigating on suspicion of inciting violence on Governor Taseer.It is understood that Qadri told police he had been inspired to attack Mr Taseer after attending a religious gathering held by Mr Hanif, who heads a little-known religious party, Shabab-e-Islami.The protesters were joined by students from a nearby agricultural institute.Our correspondent says the demonstration outside the jail was not big, compared with those at previous court appearances by Mr Qadri, when he was mobbed and showered with petals.But it was an attempt by his supporters to make their presence felt, he says.Outside the jail, Qadri's lawyer Tariq Dhamial said his client was being kept in solitary confinement, and his health was suffering.He said they had applied for Qadri's family to be allowed to visit him.Qadri is next due in court on 1 February, when an indictment is expected to be served.Read the full story here.

• China: A force for peace in Sudan? Beijing has invested billions in the oil-rich country and may now have to step up to ensure stability prevails.As the world anxiously watches the southern Sudanese vote on whether to secede, one country has more to lose than most if civil war returns to Sudan.With an estimated 24,000 of its citizens living there and billions of dollars worth of investments in the country, China is the key foreign player in Khartoum.When the US oil giant Chevron pulled out of Sudan - beginning in 1984 when three of its employees were killed and culminating in 1992 when it finally sold all of its Sudanese interests - the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) stepped in.It now has controlling stakes in the biggest energy consortiums operating in Sudan, giving China an estimated 60 per cent share of the 490,000 barrels of crude oil produced daily.It also constructed the 1,500km pipeline that connects the oil fields of the south with Port Sudan in the north - from where the oil is exported.But with oil accounting for more than 90 per cent of government revenues in the south, compared to just over 40 per cent in the north, there is a possibility that Khartoum could close the pipeline should the south vote for independence.This decision would not only be devastating for the underdeveloped and oil revenue-dependent south, but would also disrupt China's oil supply.To counter this and to secure access to the south's resources after secession, China has started to build closer ties with the south.Beijing, to the chagrin of the West, has supported the right of African nations to run their domestic affairs without outside interference, which partly explains the booming trade between the continent and the Asian power.But by communicating with the government of South Sudan while it is not an official sovereign entity, it is partially abandoning its 'non-interference policy' and its traditional reluctance to engage with separatist movements - motivated in part by its own experiences in Tibet and Taiwan.Richard Dowden, the director of the Royal African Society, says this is because the "Chinese priority is oil". "They openly opposed the independence option to start with, but then realised that it would happen and now say they are neutral," Dowden explains."They are beginning to realise that a strict 'non-interference' policy is political and diplomatic nonsense. The very relationship between China and an African state is a political act that has implications. The relationship creates a political dynamic that implies support for the ruling group.A Chinese consulate was established in Juba, the southern capital, in September 2008. In November 2010, it was upgraded to ambassadorial level, and Li Zhiguo, China's former envoy to Bahrain, was appointed consul general in Juba.In October 2010, a delegation of Chinese government leaders visited Juba, where they met with the secretariat of the south's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). Salva Kiir, the leader of the SPLM, and other southern Sudanese government ministers, have also visited Beijing and multiple projects have progressed in the region.He says China has already played a key role in "consolidating the smooth implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement [the 2005 agreement that brought the civil war to an end and which included the provision of a referendum on independence for the south]".Dowden suggests that China could be just as critical to ensuring that peace is maintained after the referendum as, should the south vote to secede, the two sides enter a six-month transition period during which thorny issues such as border demarcation and oil revenue sharing will be negotiated."They could be a force for peace if they play their cards right and understand what is going on," Dowden says. "One of their most important pools of oil lies under the border so they will be desperate to make sure a war does not break out."Hmmm.......China the "PeaceMaker"?Read the full story here.

• Obama wants Rahm Emanuel back on the Chicago mayor ballot.President Barack Obama wants former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to stay on the Chicago mayoral ballot, a top presidential confidante said Tuesday.“I think that [Obama] believes that [Emanuel] is eligible, and that he believes that Rahm will pursue his appeal in the courts,” said Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama and fellow Chicagoan, on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”As the president said when Emanuel left the White House last fall, Obama still “thinks Rahm will make a terrific mayor,” Jarrett said.An appellate court ordered Monday that Emanuel’s name be removed from the ballot because he did not meet the one-year residency requirement to be eligible for the Feb. 22 general election. The debate over Emanuel’s eligibility hinges on the nearly two years Emanuel spent working in the Obama White House and the fact that he rented out his Chicago house.“You know Rahm, he’s going to appeal vigorously,” Jarrett said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “And I’m sure that you’ll see that happen right away.”She added, on ABC: “Rahm is a fighter.”Hmmm.....The great one has spoken,We illegals must stick together"?WE need Rahm there for my re-election!Chicago.......Shorebank.........Valerie Jarret........Obama.Read the full story here.

• Supreme Court: Emanuel stays on ballot while his case is considered.The Illinois Supreme Court has ordered the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to put Rahm Emanuel’s name back on the mayoral ballot. The court has not decided whether to hear Emanuel’s appeal of Monday’s Illinois Appellate Court ruling that tossed him out of the race to replace Mayor Daley. But the Supreme Court granted Emanuel’s motion for a stay of the ruling.“The appellate court decision is stayed,’’ the Supreme Court’s order reads. “The Board of Elections is directed that if any ballots are printed while this Court is considering this case, the ballots should include the name of petitioner Rahm Emanuel as a candidate for Mayor of the City of Chicago.’’The state appellate court ruled Monday that Emanuel did not meet the one-year residency requirement to run for mayor of Chicago.Emanuel’s attorneys, heavily citing the dissenting opinion in that case, are hoping to convince the seven justices of the Supreme Court to allow Emanuel to run.Emanuel had been leading in the polls and in campaign fund-raising.Hmmmm........Democracy.........Transparancy?Read the full story here.

• Time - The Myth of Homegrown Islamic Terrorism.So why does the myth of homegrown terrorism persist? In part because, like every hardy political meme, it serves the interests of loudmouths on both ends of the ideological spectrum. To the right, the threat of homegrown terrorism helps to perpetuate the notion of a ceaseless, civilization-wide struggle against Islamic extremism. To the left, the prospect of American Muslims taking up jihad fits with the idea that the U.S.'s foreign policy is creating a new generation of terrorists.Hmmm....We don't call them Islamic terrorists ,therefore the problem doesn't exist?Go tell that to the dead at the Twin Towers!Who pays these guys anyway?Read the full "story" here.

• HT:CreepingSharia.Suhail ‘CPAC’ Khan’s mother an exec at CAIR chapter with anti-FBI poster.Remember this anti-FBI propaganda posted on terror-linked CAIR’s website a few days ago?It turns out that the mother of Suhail Khan – the so-called “conservative” Muslim being exposed for his terrorist ties – is an executive member of the CAIR chapter who produced the poster.Mr. Khan’s family mosque has hosted several Taliban supporters, while raising money — unwittingly or not — for Hamas through its U.S. charitable front, the Holy Land Foundation. The mosque happens to be held in trust by another unindicted Holy Land co-conspirator — the North American Islamic Trust. The government recently blacklisted Saudi-funded NAIT as part of the Hamas fundraising conspiracy. It also happens to be the banker to the Muslim Brotherhood network in America.And there's more!Hmmmmm.....No wonder they don't want King investigating?Read the full story here.