New Canadian movie sheds light on horror of Stalinist Holodomor famine.

New Canadian movie sheds light on horror of Stalinist Holodomor famine. (Kievpost).

“Bitter Harvest,” the first major movie about the genocidal artificial famine engineered by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in the 1930s, comes to cinemas in Ukraine and the U.S. in February 2017.

“Bitter Harvest” tells the story of two villagers, Yuri and Natalka – lovers, whose peaceful life is destroyed by the Soviet authorities, and who battle to survive the artificial famine, known in Ukraine as the Holodomor.


In times when a person could go to jail just for stealing a single ear of corn, Yuri becomes a key figure in the resistance against the Soviet oppressors.

The film shows how Ukrainian villagers were forced to give their whole harvest to the Soviet authorities, being left with no food at all. Those who kept any food were imprisoned or exiled to Siberia. People were also banned from leaving the rural areas so they couldn’t escape the famine.

The estimated number of people in Ukraine who starved to death in 1932-1933 varies from 2 million to 10 million.

Most Ukrainian historians believe that the Holodomor was Stalin’s attempt to strangle Ukraine’s nationalist movement and anti-Soviet protests by villagers.

Despite taking the lives of millions of people, the famine was kept secret by the Soviet authorities and only came to light after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

“This would mean the death of millions,” a Soviet official says in the movie trailer, planning the starvation.“Who in the world will know?” Stalin replies.

The Ukrainian parliament declared the Holodomor an act of genocide in 2003. The same year, the United Nations issued a declaration that the Holodomor was a Ukrainian national tragedy caused by the totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union. Read the full story here.

Kremlin reportedly planning to 'resurrect' KGB-style security behemoth.

Kremlin reportedly planning to 'resurrect' KGB-style security behemoth. (SG).

The Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing unnamed sources, reported this week that before the next presidential election, scheduled for March 2018, the Kremlin plans to create a gigantic new ministry that will absorb most of Russia’s existing security agencies.

According to Kommersant’s sources, this new security behemoth will be called the Ministry of State Security, with its Russian acronym MGB. That is the same name Soviet dictator Josef Stalin gave to his repressive apparatus which operated from 1946 until his death in 1953. After Stalin’s death, the MGB was reformatted as the KGB, the Committee for State Security.

The new MGB, the newspaper reported, will merge the existing Federal Security Service (FSB), currently Russia’s principal security agency, with the Federal Guard Service (FSO), which protects high-level officials and includes the Presidential Security Service (SPB), which guards the president.


The MGB will also absorb the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Russia’s external spy agency. The investigative arm of the MGB will deal with the country’s most important criminal cases, and MGB staff will oversee the work of many of Russia’s remaining law-enforcement bodies, including the Interior Ministry and the Investigative Committee.

If the rumored restructuring plan indeed comes to pass, it would be just the latest major change that President Vladimir Putin has made to Russia’s security system. Earlier this year, he created the National Guard, which is charged with securing Russia’s borders, combating terrorism and organized crime, ensuring public order and guarding key state facilities.

The National Guard is directly subordinated to the president and headed by Viktor Zolotov, who served as Putin’s bodyguard in Saint Petersburg in the early 1990s. Zolotov headed the Presidential Security Service from 2000 to 2013, after which he served as commander of the Internal Troops, the Interior Ministry’s paramilitary force, from 2014 to earlier this year, when he was picked to head the National Guard.

Is the Russian government really planning to revive a Stalin-era security behemoth? VOA’s Russian Service spoke with several experts.

Boris Volodarsky, a former officer with the Russian military’s intelligence agency, the GRU, and an expert on Soviet and Russian intelligence agencies, said he believes there really is a plan to create such a state security structure. He also said the proposed use of the name “Ministry of State Security” is not coincidental.

“Because the Kremlin has a clear tendency to refer to the good old Stalinist and post-Stalinist days, it is clear that they intend to create a ministry that will unite all the security structures under its own roof,” he said. “They have already created the National Guard, and are now recreating a ministry which earlier, under Stalin, consolidated foreign intelligence and internal security.”

Volodarsky said he does not think that the FSB or its current top officials will play the dominant role in the new security ministry, adding that even now, the FSB is not the main player in Russia’s security system.

“The main structure was and is the Federal Guard Service – and, within it, the Presidential Security Service,” he said. “In fact, people from the Presidential Security Service dominate all the other security bodies.

Viktor Zolotov, who heads the National Guard, was Putin’s personal bodyguard, and he was made head of the Presidential Security Service. And, from that post, Putin sent him first to the Interior Ministry to get everything there under control, and then put practically all of the power structures under his control,” Volodarsky said.

Reflection of Kremlin’s ‘fear’

Andrei Soldatov, an expert on Russia’s security services and chief editor of the Agentura.ru website, said Russia’s current main security body, the Federal Security Service, has already acquired the characteristics of the Soviet KGB.

“The FSB has been involved in a lot of things over the last 16 years (time since Putin assumed power), but it has been obvious since last year that two functions, two directions, have intensified – the hunt for spies and targeted repression,” he said.

“These are functions of the KGB, if you think about it: it was precisely through these [functions] that the system of KGB control over Soviet society was maintained: keeping the population in the grip of spy mania, and gathering material on the elite and using [that material] if so ordered. Putin is changing the functions of the FSB closer to what the KGB did. From that point of view, the new name [MGB], is quite logical,” said Soldatov.

Still, Soldatov said the FSB no longer has the same influence it had 10 years ago. “The FSB suddenly stopped being ‘the new nobility’ – it is no longer the supplier of personnel [for other government and state bodies]; cadres are now chosen from among the Federal Guard Service and technocrats.”

Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said the desire to create a single powerful national security ministry is a sign of the Kremlin’s fear of the future.

“It’s a reflection of the power elite’s fear of what can happen with the country in the coming years,” he said. “Moreover, this fear has various characteristics – foreign policy and domestic policy [fears]; fear of the people; economic fear, that the crisis could drag on and… cause some social turbulence, and this turbulence will have to be extinguished somehow.” Hmmm......Well Belarus never abolished the KGB shouldn't be to difficult to resurrect the whole apparatus. 

Source: VOANews.com

Saudi Arabia Sent Death Row Inmates to Fight in Syria in Lieu of Execution.

Saudi Arabia Sent Death Row Inmates to Fight in Syria in Lieu of Execution.HT: Aina.A top secret memo sent by the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia reveals the Saudi Kingdom sent death-row inmates, sentenced to execution by decapitation, to Syria to fight Jihad against the Syrian government in exchange for commuting their sentences.

According to the memo, dated April 17, 2012, the Saudi Kingdom negotiated with a total of 1239 inmates, offering them a full pardon and a monthly salary for their families, who were to remain in the Kingdom, in exchange for "...training for the sake of sending to the Jihad in Syria."

The memo was signed by Abdullah bin Ali al-Rmezan, the "Director of follow up in Ministry of Interior."

According to the memo, prisoners were of the following nationalities: Yemenis, Palestinians, Saudis, Sudanese, Syrians, Jordanians, Somalis, Afghanis, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Iraqis, and Kuwaitis.

There were 23 Iraqi prisoners.

A former member of the Iraqi parliament, who spoke to AINA on condition of anonymity, confirmed the authenticity of the document and said most of the Iraqi prisoners Saudi Arabia sent to Syria returned to Iraq and admitted that they had agreed to the deal offered by the Saudi Kingdom, and requested the Iraqi government to petition the Saudi government to release their families, who were being held hostage in Saudi Arabia.

Yemeni nationals who were sent to Syria also returned to Yemen and asked their government to secure the release of their families, according to the former Iraqi MP, who said there are many more documents, like the one shown below, about Iraq, Libya and Syria.

Initially Saudi Arabia denied the existence of this program. But the testimony of the released prisoners forced the Saudi government to admit, in private circles, its existence.

According to the former Iraqi MP, the Russians threatened to bring this issue to the United Nations if the Saudis continued working against President Bashar al-Assad. The Saudis agreed to stop their clandestine activities and work towards finding a political solution on condition that knowledge of this program would not be made public.

Here is the translation of the memo:

This is a document issued by

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ministry of Interior
Follow-up LOGO Number: 71466/J/H
Attachments:
Date: 25/5/1433 H. [April /17/2012 AD]

(Top Secret)

His Excellency General Suood Al-Thnayyan

The Classified [Secret] Office at the Ministry of Interior May Allah protect him

Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

In reference to the Royal Court telegram No. 112, dated on 04/19/1433 H [March 3, 2012], referring to those held in the Kingdom jails accused with crimes to which Islamic Sharia law of execution by sword [decapitation] applies, we inform you that we are in dialogue with the accused criminals who have been convicted with smuggling drugs, murder, rape, from the following nationalities: 110 Yemenis, 21 Palestinians, 212 Saudis, 96 Sudanese, 254 Syrians, 82 Jordanians, 68 Somalis, 32 Afghanis, 94 Egyptians, 203 Pakistanis, 23 Iraqis, and 44 Kuwaitis.

We have reached an agreement with them that they will be granted pardon from the death sentence in return for a monthly salary for their families that are going to be held in Saudi Arabia, versus rehabilitation and training for the sake of sending to the Jihad in Syria.

Please accept my greetings.

[Signed]
Director of follow up in Ministry of Interior
Abdullah bin Ali al-Rmezan

CC:

Authority of enforcement of the common good and prevention of forbidden Copy for general intelligence
The memo was translated for AINA by Dr. Samir Johna.
Hmmmm.......Hitler and Stalin used the same 'tactics' during WWII.

St. Lucie County, Florida also in Allen West's district Had 141.1% Turnout; Obama Won County

St. Lucie County, Florida also in Allen West's district Had 141.1% Turnout; Obama Won County.(PP).Out of 175,554 registered voters, 247,713 vote cards were cast in St. Lucie County, Florida on Tuesday. Barack Obama won the county.
When faced with the astronomical figures, Gertrude Walker, Supervisor of Elections for St. Lucie County, said she had no idea why turnout was so incredibly high. She was flabbergasted, saying, "We've never seen that here."

Coincidentally (or not), St. Lucie County is also in Allen West's district, where 6,000 votes mysteriously "shifted" from Mr. West to his challenger. Out of the 247,713 cards cast, somehow election machines counted 123,591 total votes.
Along with this questionable result, Mr. Obama also received over 99% of the vote in numerous districts in Broward County. In various districts in Cleveland, he received 100% of the vote. In Florida, Mr. Obama received over 99% of the vote in precincts where GOP inspectors had been removed.
As for the Presidential race, there's no connection between Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida, right?Read the full story here.

"Lost And Found" - 'Belarusian List' of Katyn Victims Found.

"Lost And Found" - 'Belarusian List' of Katyn Victims Found.(RN).The long-sought "Belarusian list" of Polish officers executed in 1940 by the Soviet secret police, the NKVD, has been found in Russia’s state military archives, Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported. Natalia Lebedeva, a leading Russian historian on Katyn and a senior researcher at the Institute of General History (Russian Academy of Sciences), found the document in the archive of the Soviet 15th military escort brigade stationed in Belarus in 1940, which was engaged in transporting NKVD prisoners to Minsk. The Belarusian list contains 1,996 names of prisoners taken from cities in what is now western Belarus: Brest, Pinsk, Baranovichi, Grodno, Bialystok and others. They were apparently shot along with some 20,000 other Polish officers at prison camps in Russia (Kozelsk and Ostashkov) and Ukraine (Starobelsk). Lebedeva, who said all the families of the shot officers were deported to Kazakhstan, plans to compare the list of the dead with the list of those deported.According to archival documents, 21,857 Poles, mostly captured Polish army officers, were executed in the spring of 1940 by the NKVD. Despite the fact the killings occurred at a number of NKVD prison camps, the mass executions are called the Katyn Massacre, after the Katyn forest in Smolensk region where many of the executions were carried out. In Soviet times, the massacre was attributed to the Nazis, but in 1990 Moscow acknowledged that the Soviet authorities were responsible. Russia provided a list with the names of 14,552 soldiers who were shot and buried in Katyn, Kalinin, Mednoe and in Kharkov (Ukraine). In 1994, Kiev gave Warsaw the so-called Ukrainian list, which included the names of 3,435 victims. In the ensuing years, researchers began to doubt they would ever find the Belarusian list. On December 23, 2011 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that not a single citizen of Poland was shot in 1940 on the territory of Belarus. According to Lukashenko, Belarus was only a "transit point." On May 22, 2012 Vladimir Adamushko, director at the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Republic of Belarus, said there was not and could not be any such list.Hmmmm........Communism in all her glory.Read the full story here.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky: "President Obama seems intent on following a similar path of Hitler and Stalin".

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky: "President Obama seems intent on following a similar path of Hitler and Stalin".(WE).In a homily delivered Saturday, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois challenged President Obama's HHS mandate, suggesting that the president was following the same path as Hitler and Stalin. "Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care," Jenky said. "In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path." Jenky added. Jenky reminded the men of the Catholic Church's history of surviving threats from Jihadi, Nazism and Communism and called them to stand up for their faith. Denouncing the "entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence" of the Illinois state government, Jenky also criticized Catholic politicians who "pretend to be Catholic." "May God have mercy on the souls of those politicians who pretend to be Catholic in church, but in their public lives, rather like Judas Iscariot, betray Jesus Christ by how they vote and how they willingly cooperate with intrinsic evil,""This is not a battle in which any believing Catholic can remain neutral" he said.Read the full story here.


 

Beck :"This is how the republic known as America dies !"Americans Cheer As Obama Declares He Wants to Bypass Congress.

MFS - The Other News

                        Afternoon Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Chile 4.8 and 4.5 India ! More info here.

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

• Egypt's Youths Vow to Raid US Embassy if Palestine Bid at UN Vetoed.(FNA).A group of Egyptian youths in a call via an internet social network called for demonstrations in front of the US Embassy in Cairo to take over the US compound if Washington vetoes the Palestinian bid for UN membership.According to a report by Palestine al-Yawm (Palestine Today) news network, the young Egyptians have posted a request on their Facebook webpage and blasted Barack Obama's speech after his presidency in Cairo in which the US President pledged a new approach towards Muslims. They said that the threat by the Obama administration to veto the Palestinian bid for UN membership revealed the realities about Obama and the fact they "he is a liar and is no different with his predecessors in supporting Israel and blatant violation of the Arab nations' rights". The Egyptian youths said the attack on the US embassy would serve as a strong message in response to the US hegemonic policies. They further warned the US to refrain from vetoing the Palestinian bid, saying that such a move by the US would encourage violence in the world. Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmud Abbas has brought a Palestinian request for UN membership to New York, where top officials of all the member states of the world body have convened to attend an annual General Assembly sessions. The future Palestinian state would include the West Bank and Gaza, with East al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital. The PA says it believes that more than 130 countries would recognize the state of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders. Israel and the US strongly oppose the Palestinian move. Washington, which supports Tel Aviv's position, claims that a Palestinian state can only be achieved through talks with Israel. Palestinians stress that they have never gained anything through talks with the Zionist regime, mentioning that negotiation with the racist regime is a waste of time and gives the Zionists the chance to push their settlement construction plans ahead and come along with their international and internal problems.Hmmmm....."The Audacity of the Arab Spring?"Read the full story here.

• Obama’s opportunism.(IsraelHayom).By Abraham Ben-Zvi.Ladies and gentlemen, a stunning turnaround has taken place. The U.S. president, who began his term in office with a policy that was confrontational toward Israel, is shifting direction. This is directly linked to the upcoming election season. Still, it is Obama’s elasticity that should worry us.Two decades ago, on Sept. 12, 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush convened a news conference during which he broke one of the most firmly established laws in American politics. In an extraordinary display, he bitterly attacked the pro-Israel lobby in Washington. Bush’s statements condemning the lobby’s narrow-minded and sectorial-driven views, which he claimed came at the expense of the wider national interests of the U.S., brought back memories of previous confrontational remarks made by aides to President Dwight Eisenhower during the rocky days of U.S.-Israel relations in the 1950s.As a result of his verbal assault, the first President Bush’s Jewish support dropped from 35 percent (which helped him win election in 1988) to just 11% four years later, which contributed to his defeat to the Democratic challenger, Bill Clinton.In his adoring and highly effusive speech before the U.N. General Assembly two days ago, U.S. President Barack Obama proved that the lesson of Bush’s defeat is etched deep in his psyche. There is also the possibility that the president, who routinely boasts of the deep knowledge that he has amassed regarding key moments in American history, has resurrected the “reassessment” option of American policy toward Israel, as was done by President Gerald Ford. That episode cast a pall over U.S.-Israel relations in 1975, and the fallout even contributed to Ford’s defeat at the hands of Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter some 18 months later.After a chill lasting more than two years in the White House’s attitude toward Israel, there has certainly been an about-face in Obama’s conduct. This is due to the fact that the U.S. of 2011 is almost entirely ensconced in election season, one in which the Republicans, who hope to unseat Obama, have come out with sweeping statements of support for Israel while at the same time voicing strident criticism of the president’s policy on the peace process.The fact that both houses of Congress have initiated legislation against the Palestinian Authority and U.N. institutions over the attempt to attain unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state; and the fact that these actions have garnered bipartisan support contributed mightily to the dramatic turnaround exhibited by the president in his attitude toward the special relationship.Although a pragmatic course of action that is adjusted according to new political and strategic circumstances often speaks to a willingness to embrace new thought processes and an admirable ability to disengage from the errors of the past, the case before us is starkly one of clear-cut opportunism.Let us consider that just four months ago, an entirely different set of winds was blowing in from Washington. In a span of three days, Obama redefined his concept of “the 1967 borders” after the blunt, confrontational speech that he gave at the State Department on May 19.Still, Obama’s decision to exclude any specific mention of this formula in his speech before the U.N. General Assembly brings him back to the days of the election campaign in 2008, when his strong statements of support for Israel smelled strongly of politicking.From this standpoint, despite the heartwarming gesture and the warm meeting of the leaders in New York, this presidential opportunism should be quite disconcerting to Israel in the long term. Of course, that is contingent on whether Obama will regain the faith of the American public and win another four-year term.Indeed, a president who is so sensitive to pressures from home could just as easily flip-flop in the other direction when the circumstances change and a window of opportunity opens up, allowing him to make diplomatic moves at Israel’s expense.Given that Obama’s fundamental worldview is not an outgrowth of the special relationship and does not dovetail with the American narrative, which posits that Washington’s ties with Israel are based on shared moral, religious, cultural and historic values, it would be a mistake to develop far-reaching expectations of this White House despite the warm, affectionate words uttered by the president at the U.N.Obama is not cut from the same cloth as Lyndon Johnson, the Democrat who completely identified with the Israeli ethos; or George W. Bush, who possessed a deep, unshakeable understanding of Israel’s security needs and dilemmas.In contrast with these two gentlemen, whose basic policy toward Jerusalem was anchored in affection, an acknowledgment of Israel's strategic utility, and an ideological, social and cultural symmetry that connects the two peoples, Obama’s conduct toward Israel is based solely on cold, calculated analyses of cost-benefit that is devoid of sentiment.As such, just as he began his term in office by applying pressure on Israel in the initial belief that concessions (particularly the freezing of settlement construction) would give him the leverage he needed to build a strategic and diplomatic coalition of Sunni states, Obama could just as easily return to that forceful, aggressive and adversarial path if he feels that the domestic and international circumstances allow him room to maneuver.In summary, there is no place for complacency or euphoria despite the warm words of friendship that have been heard lately from the White House. In addition, the base of support that Israel enjoys among American public opinion and Congress continues to be extensive and rock-solid, so much so that it grants Jerusalem a security net. Still, one cannot come to the conclusion that the administration has changed its attitude entirely. Thus, one should prepare for any scenario from this president, and do so in a sober-minded manner that is devoid of illusions.After all, this is a marriage of convenience from Obama’s standpoint, and not the start of a long-term special relationship.Hmmm........."I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction," Read the full story here.

• You Got To Be Kidding!Obama Administration Set to Ban Asthma Inhalers Over Environmental Concerns.(WeeklyStandard).Remember how Obama recently waived new ozone regulations at the EPA because they were too costly? Well, it seems that the Obama administration would rather make people with Asthma cough up money than let them make a surely inconsequential contribution to depleting the ozone layer:

Asthma patients who rely on over-the-counter inhalers will need to switch to prescription-only alternatives as part of the federal government's latest attempt to protect the Earth's atmosphere.The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday patients who use the epinephrine inhalers to treat mild asthma will need to switch by Dec. 31 to other types that do not contain chlorofluorocarbons, an aerosol substance once found in a variety of spray products.

The action is part of an agreement signed by the U.S. and other nations to stop using substances that deplete the ozone layer, a region in the atmosphere that helps block harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun.But the switch to a greener inhaler will cost consumers more. Epinephrine inhalers are available via online retailers for around $20, whereas the alternatives, which contain the drug albuterol, range from $30 to $60.The Atlantic's Megan McArdle, an asthma sufferer, noted a while back that when consumers are forced to use environmentally friendly products they are almost always worse:

Er, industry also knew how to make low-flow toilets, which is why every toilet in my recently renovated rental house clogs at least once a week. They knew how to make more energy efficient dryers, which is why even on high, I have to run every load through the dryer in said house twice. And they knew how to make inexpensive compact flourescent bulbs, which is why my head hurts from the glare emitting from my bedroom lamp. They also knew how to make asthma inhalers without CFCs, which is why I am hoarding old albuterol inhalers that, unlike the new ones, a) significantly improve my breathing and b) do not make me gag. Etc.Well, tough cookies asthma sufferers! You should have written bigger checks to the Democratic party while you had the chance.Hmmmm.....it's called "CHANGE"!Read the full story here.

• UK Muslims gather for rally against extremism, to promote moderate Islam.(AlArabiya).Thousands of Muslims are gathering at a rally in London Saturday to fight extremism and promote a moderate, inclusive version of Islam.The event’s organizers Minhaj-ul-Quran International say some 12,000 Muslims are expected at Wembley Arena. The event will be broadcast live to dozens of countries around the world.The group’s founder, the Pakistan-born Islamic scholar Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, says killing innocents is forbidden in Islam and Muslims must integrate into the societies in which they’re living.Some Islamic scholars like Tahir-ul-Qadri have warned that a power vacuum in North Africa and the Middle East could lead to militant and extremist groups gaining ground in upcoming elections caused by the so-called Arab Spring.“If these elements come into power, it will be a big disaster,” Tahir-ul-Qadri told The Associated Press.Minhaj-ul-Quran International says it represents a moderate vision of Islam that works for peace and integration. Later Saturday, the rally will feature what it calls a collective peace prayer, led by religious leaders of Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and other major faiths.Britain has been involved in some of the largest international terror plots. On July 7, 2005, four suicide bombers killed 52 people in synchronized attacks on London’s subway system.The men behind the 2006 trans-Atlantic liquid bomb plot began their plan in Britain. A Nigerian man who tried to smuggle explosives onto a plane in his underwear studied in London.Read the full story here.

• Erdogan "hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been killed.".(Ynet).Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's aggressive rhetoric towards Israel continued Saturday, this time in an interview given to CNN. Erdogan spoke about severing ties with Israel in the wake on the UN's Palmer Report – which probed the 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla – and said that "for the time being I can clearly state that the relations between Israel and Turkey have been broken on the basis of an issue… which began when a flotilla bearing humanitarian aid was trying to get to Gaza. "It has passengers from 33 countries and was attacked both from the sea and from the air. At the end of these attacks, nine Turkish citizens died… Still to this day no serious attitude has been adopted against Israel for the lives lost there. We are very upset about this. "It this situation, no matter who we are talking about, democracy, rights, freedom, should be defended," he continued. "If liberty is in question in should be defended. We gave our warning to Israel – this is reason for war. This is something you cannot do in international waters. But as a great state we have been very forgiving. "That's why we have been very patient. We demanded that they apologize, pay compensation and eliminate the embargo on Gaza once and for all. If these demands are not met relations between Israel and Turkey will never become normal again. "We have nothing against the people of Israel (only) against the attitude adopted by the administration in Israel. If you are insistent on creating a source of unrest you are bound to become lonelier and lonelier. They used to be great friends of ours. This solitude is Israel's fate under these circumstances. Israel is going to be alone in the region."As for the possibility of Turkish escorts for future flotillas to Gaza, Erdogan said: "It might be Gaza it might be Egypt… but after such an incident took place there's lack of confidence in security, so these flotillas might be dispatched to wherever they are going with the escort of the navy. Because Israel cannot be trusted.""Israel was on the brink of admitting to withdrawing to the 1967 borders, a few remarks (in the draft) needed to be corrected and we were working on the documents, but not even a week later Gaza was attacked – Israel did that."Here's what being said and this is upsetting to hear: (Israel) says that Palestine is bombing Israel and many Israelis have been killed. I would like to see accurate statistics on how many Israelis have been killed by the bombs thrown by Palestinians or by the rockets that were launched by them. Ten? 20? 100? 200? How many? Please document it and let us know! "But on the other hand we know that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Thousands have been killed by the Gaza attack alone. These are very clear numbers. Hmmmm.....I guess Erdogan mixed up Palestine With the Armenian Genocide by the Turks what concerns numbers of the Armenian Genocide: "There is general agreement among western scholars that over 500,000 Armenians died between 1914 and 1918. Estimates vary between 600,000 (per the modern Turkish state) to 1,500,000 (per Western scholars)."Read the full fairytale story here.

• Will Turkey succeed where Iran failed?(AlArabiya).By Huda al Husseini.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is following in the footsteps of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The latter attempted to “hijack” the Arab street prior to the “Arab revolutions,” and when these revolutions broke out he claimed that they were inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran. As for Erdogan, he is trying to seize the opportunity and “harvest” the enthusiasm of the Arab street at the height of the Arab Spring, before the onset of the revolutions’ winter, particularly as nobody knows how long the Arab Spring will bloom.The Arab street is bestowing power upon these leaders, who are playing on their dreams and speaking about the region’s prosperous future. However the Arab street is like mercury; it is impossible for any leader to grasp it firmly. The Arab street is fickle, and so it turns its back on leaders as quickly as it [previously] rushed to adore them. What happened to the power or influence that Ahmadinejad believed the Arab street had granted him? He used this to quell the demonstrations staged to protest the allegedly rigged presidential elections that brought about his re-election. As a result of this, he lost the Iranian street, whilst the Arab street turned its back on him.The power that Erdogan obtained from his recent tour [of the Middle East] prompted him to threaten Greek Cyprus, and begin to proceed with exploring oil and natural gas surveys in the waters off northern Cyprus. Erdogan continued issuing threats, but at the same time he told the United Nations [U.N.] and the [Greek] Cypriot leadership that his country is no longer prepared to accept the concessions previously accepted by Ankara with regards to the reunification of Cyprus, in accordance with the U.N.’s 2004 plan. Turkey has said that it will not accept anything less than the recognition of two states in Cyprus. Turkey has also warned the European Union that it will not accept any solutions after [Greek] Cyprus takes over the EU presidency early next year.Erdogan is now seeking to place Turkey as a leading supporter of the Palestinian cause, and he wants the “Arab Spring” to view Ankara as a supporter and role model, stressing the need for firm Turkish – Arab unity. He is also planning to establish strategic cooperation between Turkey and Egypt.The preparation for such cooperation was clear in the size of the delegation that accompanied Erdogan during his tour of the Middle East. The Turkish delegation was made up of 6 ministers, and around 200 Turkish businessmen, which represents a clear signal that Turkey is determined to investing heavily in the region. In 2010, the Turkish trade with the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] amounted to 30 billion dollars, and constituted 27 percent of Turkish exports, whilst more than 250 Turkish companies have invested a figure totaling $1.5 billion in Egypt.We must acknowledge that despite Ahmadinejad’s attempts to win over the Egyptian street by waging a war of words with Mubarak’s regime; he failed to tempt Egyptian public opinion to support Iran. Despite this, Tehran did establish strong relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and other Egyptian Islamists, and there is an Iranian street named after Khaled Islambouli [the Islamist Egyptian army officer who assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981]. As for Erdogan, the Turkish state model has been extremely popular in Egypt, namely an Islamist party in power (Erdogan’s Justice and Development party), under a secular constitution. Although the army does enjoy a strong presence in Turkey, it has returned to its barracks, and this is not to mention the economic boom being witnessed by the country.Yet the problem with Erdogan is that he is not pursuing fixed foreign policies, and a quick review of his recent policies casts doubts on his commitment to these.Erdogan warned of the consequences of invading Libya, insisting that if there was going to be regime change; this must happen from within, not through foreign intervention. Turkey had billions of dollars invested in Libya, whilst more than 20,000 Turkish laborers were evacuated within days [following the outbreak of protests]. Although Turkey is a member of NATO, it strongly condemned UN resolution 1973 [which formed the legal basis for military intervention in the Libyan civil war]. However after all of this, when the Gaddafi regime was overthrown, Erdogan welcomed the rebels with open arms.Last Sunday, in an interview with CNN, Davutoglu stressed that Turkey’s “zero problems” foreign policy had only failed in Syria, meaning that relations with Iran are good.In his book “Strategic Depth” Davutoglu stressed that Turkey is now a key player in the Middle East, saying that “this is our homeland.” To put this into context, Davutoglu drew up a new equation, namely that neo-Ottomanism plus Turkish nationalism plus Islam equals the New Turkey.This neo-Ottomanism has brought Turkish influence into the Arab world and the Balkans, whilst Turkish nationalist ties extend to Central Asia. As for Turkey’s Islamic links, this extends from Morocco to Indonesia. Therefore, and this is more significant for Davutoglu, he sees the partnership between Turkey and Iran as something equal to that between France and Germany [in Europe]. In light of Davutoglu’s conception of this alliance [with Iran], we can understand the relationship between Turkey and Brazil, and the position that Brazil adopted in the UN Security Council last year against Washington, London and Paris with regards to the Iranian nuclear program.So far, Erdogan has lost two battles, the first when Syria declined to listen to his advice, and the second when Israel declined to offer Turkey an apology [for the deaths of Turkish citizens killed by Israeli forces on the Freedom Flotilla].There are those in Turkey who have begun to warn [against Turkey’s new policies], noting that there are more Azerbaijani expatriates in Turkey than there are Azerbaijani’s at home, as is the case with Turkey’s Armenian Albanian, Bosnian, and Kurdish communities. These all represent potential powder-kegs.Read the full story here.

• Putin to return as Russian president.(AlArabiya).Vladimir Putin declared on Saturday he was ready to return to the Russian presidency after current head of state Dmitry Medvedev announced he would bow to his mentor at March’s election.Ending months of speculation over which of them will be president, Medvedev proposed Putin, now prime minister, at a congress of the ruling United Russia party. Putin, widely regarded as the driving force in the country for the last 11 years, invited Medvedev to take his place as prime minister.“It is a great honor for me,” Putin said to loud cheers and applause from thousands of party members gathered in a Moscow sports stadium. “Thank you, I hope for your support.”Opinion polls show Putin is sure to be elected for a six-year term in the March presidential election, ushering in what critics say could be an era of stagnation in the world’s biggest country.His party also hopes to hold on to its two-thirds majority in the State Duma lower house in a parliamentary election on Dec. 4 with Medvedev as the top candidate on its list.Putin, 58, is widely seen as more conservative than Medvedev and some economists have said his return to the Kremlin could herald an era of economic stagnation in the world’s biggest energy producer.Others have said that although Medvedev, 46, is widely portrayed as more liberal, there is more difference in their style than in their policies.Putin was president from 2000 to 2008 but steered Medvedev into the Kremlin in 2008 because he was barred from a third successive term by the constitution.Medvedev agreed at the United Russia congress that he would head its list of candidates in the parliamentary election and Putin then invited him to take over the government.The next government is expected to face many economic challenges and calls for tough economic and political reforms, which critics say could provoke unrest.It also faces difficult relations with the United States, despite calls for a “reset’ in relations, and foreign policy uncertainties following the upheaval in the Arab world.“Medvedev is leaving the presidency but stays on the scene as a reformist prime minister to implement unpopular and painful modernizing reforms,” said Vladimir Frolov, president of LEFF Group, a government relations and PR firm.Andrei Piontkovsky, a political analyst at the Russian Academy of Science, said: “The danger is that it (the decision) deprives the establishment of any illusions for liberalization and modernization.“For today the country must face a very gloomy outlook ─ this is stagnation and decay for another 12 years, this is the Brezhnev era revisited,” he said, referring to the 1970s and 1980s under Communist chief Leonid Brezhnev when a boom in natural resource extraction masked a steep industrial decline in the Soviet economy.Hmmmm......"The Good Old Days Are Back?"Aren't you glad Obama gave them the British their nuclear secrets?Read the full story here.

• Stalin's style revived?Turkey - 355 military officers may face coup plot charges.(TodaysZaman).The ongoing trial of a clandestine gang comprising mostly military officers who allegedly plotted to overthrow the government might see the indictment of 355 more officers who attended suspected anti-government seminars to discuss coup plans.The İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court, which is hearing the trial of the coup plotting Ergenekon gang as well as several related trials, had earlier requested the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) provide information on the identity of the officers who attended six coup seminars in 2008 and 2009. The court's query about the officers came after an unnamed witness in the trial testified that a total of six suspicious seminars had been organized in two army corps in the years 2008 and 2009. Earlier, the prosecution believed that only one seminar had been held in 2009 for discussing the coup plot its creators purportedly dubbed Sledgehammer. One of the coup-related trials being heard by the İstanbul 13th Criminal Courts is about an alleged online smear campaign the military launched against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).This trial was merged with another one -- which commenced in 2009 -- that centers on a document titled the Action Plan to Combat Reactionaryism, which the prosecutors say was also a coup plot. The testimony that revealed that more officers than the prosecution initially thought might have attended coup seminars came during a hearing in this trial.The General Staff, as per the request of the court, sent information on the identity of 355 officers of the 8th and 9th Army Corps who attended similar seminars in 2008 and in 2009. The court is likely to hear testimony from each of them. Whether they will be suspects or not remains unclear, but it is a possibility that they will be tried in one of the Ergenekon-related trials, which already have nearly 200 suspects in total.The witness (referred to as Efe for security reasons) who testified about the previously unknown seminars delivered his statement earlier this year during a closed hearing considering allegations against former Erzincan Public Prosecutor İlhan Chaner and 8th Army Corps Commander retired Gen. Saldıray Berk, saying that they had plans to plant weapons at student homes associated with the Fethullah Gülen movement and frame these individuals. Efe’s revelations about the other seminars were confirmed by Ethem, another secret witness. Hmmmm....."OutBreak WWII - The Red Army had been crippled by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of 1937.With over 30,000 of its army officers executed or imprisoned, including most of those of the highest ranks."Read the full story here.

• Piri Reis: Turkey’s Boogeyman Set Sail to Eastern Mediterranean Sea.(KeeptalkingGreece).Turkey’s hydrocarbon research ship Piri Reis has been Greeks’ nightmare for years. As Piri Reis has the bad habits to perform its research near Greece’s territorial waters, Athens expects another Turkish provocation near the island of Kastelorizo. Friday morning Piri Reis set sail from the port of Izmir for the Eastern Mediterranean waters to start oil and gas exploration, near the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Cyprus and with the aim to challenge the drilling of Noble, offshore and in the southeast of Cyprus.Ankara became very upset against Cyprus and Israel for drilling in the so-called common project for hydrocarbon. Cyrpus’s drilling for oil and gas is been carried out by the US firm Noble Energy near Israel’s recently discovered offshore gas fields of Leviathan that contains more than 450 billion cubic meters (15.9 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas. Deposits are also believed to lie inside Cypriot waters near the Israeli finds, which Cyprus is now exploring by licensing Noble Energy.In a unilateral move and ignoring the International Law of the Sea, Turkey marked its marine borders with … Northern Cyprus, the part of the divided island which not international recognized. An offshore area that according to the ILS belongs to Cyprus Republic EEZ. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been foaming for quite some time over the Cyprus offshore drilling and has repeatedly ask the halt of the drilling. He has even threatened Israel with actions and sanctions. Read the full story here.

• Baghdad alters oil law draft to erode Kurdish powers.(ArabNews).Baghdad: Iraq’s leadership has changed the draft of a long awaited oil and gas law in a way that would give central government more control over the country’s vast crude reserves and provoke a clash with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.The law, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, would give Baghdad more power to manage and develop the OPEC member’s petroleum resources, the world’s fourth largest.It alters a 2007 version agreed among political blocs that gave regional powers partial authority over their reserves.The amendments are set to provoke a political fight between Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s government and the Kurds, who are part of his ruling coalition and wield considerable clout in the Iraqi legislature.Iraq’s Arab-dominated central government, led by Al-Maliki, and the Kurdish region have for years disputed control of Kurdish fields. The row shut down exports from Iraqi Kurdistan from October 2009 to February of this year.“We’re still giving space to discussions to resolve this issue. We have not reached the moment of opening fire on Al-Maliki’s government,” a senior Kurdish lawmaker told Reuters.The amended law, approved by the Cabinet in late August, has been sent to Parliament for final passage, but the legislature’s speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi said talks to resolve the dispute could take a long time.The amended law would give the oil ministry authority to hold bidding rounds for most oil and gas fields, leaving currently producing fields and discovered but undeveloped fields close to them in the hands of a newly created Iraqi National Oil Company (INOC).The 2007 draft version restricted the ministry to auctions for discovered, undeveloped fields. The changes could result in the inclusion of Kurdish fields in future auctions, which the Kurds say they will not accept.Kurdish and central government officials are discussing the amended law at high levels, and the Kurds have made clear they could review their support for Al-Maliki’s government if a resolution is not found, officials said.The new oil law has long been considered vital to securing foreign investment to boost Iraq’s oil output, now at around 2.75 million barrels a day, and rebuild its shattered economy. International energy companies want a stable legal framework for oil and gas deals.Iraqi officials have said petroleum resources belong to all sects and ethnicities in Iraq, and logically the central government should manage them. The Kurdish region and the provinces, particularly oil-rich Basra and Sunni-dominated Anbar, have argued for more local control.The new draft calls for INOC to control coveted, already-producing oilfields — Kirkuk’s 2.3-billion-barrel Bai Hassan, and the 6-billion-barrel Nahr Bin Umar field in the south, for example.The law would create a federal oil and gas council as the ultimate policy-setter. It would give the council power to approve policies proposed by the oil ministry, agree procedures for negotiating and contracting during bid rounds, and ratify drilling, development and production contracts.The new law eliminates a clause that required the council to have Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish representation, and adds a clause reserving a council seat for the deputy prime minister for energy.The Kurdistan Regional Government adopted its own oil and gas law in 2007 and signed more than 40 production-sharing contracts with foreign firms, which Baghdad deems illegal.Hmmmm.......Why do i see the hand of Turkey and Iran in this?Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• HT:CreepingSharia.New Ground Zero imam homophobic, gays not happy.New imam same as the old imam. It’s just a matter of time before the new Ground Zero imam’s sharia-compliant views are exposed. Yesterday we learned his “moderate” views include only jail time for Muslims who leave Islam, not necessarily death. Today we learn he believes homosexuality is caused by violent abuse although he says a small percentage, like animals, are born gay. Someone should ask him what the punishment for being gay is under Islamic sharia law.Schindler says that unless Imam Adhami is willing to clarify or change his views, Park51′s ability to welcome everyone will be compromised beyond repair.“It’s a hostile message and one that I think attacks the dignity of gay people,” Schindler said.Some prominent gay New Yorkers say even though they find the remarks made by the Park51 imam offensive, it’s nothing they haven’t heard before.Will gays protest the Ground Zero mosque or just cry homophobia?Hmmmm......Obama...."Islam is a great religion".Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri. Source: Bin Laden Seriously ill ! Al-Qaeda Admits Defeat in Iraq.The Iraqi government daily al-Sabah quotes "a reliable source" as saying that Osama bin Laden has been seriously ill for months and that he has been moving between Afghanistan, Pakistan and eastern Iran adjacent to Afghanistan. The same source said that bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is the de facto leader of Al-Qaeda, and that he receives occasional guidance from bin Laden through written and coded messages. Al-Qaeda has now concluded that it was defeated in Iraq and has urged its fighters to operate in 10 countries: Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Somalia and Jordan. Iraq has recently killed two successive leaders of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub al-Masri.Read the full story here.

• HT:Aina.Losing Egypt?"An earthquake has shaken the region."The above headline from an Israeli newspaper describes with unfailing accuracy the pivotal events now taking place in the Middle East. In Egypt, the Arab world's largest and most populous country of more than 80 million, massive demonstrations involving tens of thousands of people began on Tuesday in what was billed as a "Day of Anger" and are continuing despite a ban by a very rattled government. Smaller protests are likewise occurring in Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Algeria. The domino effect so feared by Middle Eastern strongmen after Tunisian protesters chased their president from power earlier this month after a 24-year rule may soon become reality in Egypt.Ali A. Alawi, an Iraqi Muslim, goes even further, stating in his book The Crisis Of Islamic Civilization, that Islamic civilization is a dying civilization, which has not created much of importance in centuries. And Alawi states there is no returning to its greatness since Muslims have distanced themselves so much from their Islamic roots. Overall, Alawi maintains, "[T]he Muslim innovative capacity has degraded in a fundamental sense.""In science and technology the statistics are truly daunting," Alawi writes.And things are not much better for Arab countries on the economic front. Except for a few oil and gas companies, the Arab world has no large corporations that could provide jobs for its 25 million unemployed young men (Unemployment runs at 20 to 30 percent in most Arab states). In total, when oil and gas are subtracted, the exports of the whole Arab world with its 350 million people equal in value those of Finland with five million.The disappearance of Arab strongmen like Tunisia's ruler, and now possibly Mubarak, opens up the ominous and dangerous potential for a Khomeini-style 1979 Islamist victory befalling Egypt -- which would be a catastrophic development not only for American and Israeli security interests, but for the Egyptian people themselves. One need only recall Khomeini's killing fields and his Islamic Republic's vicious history, continued to this day, to understand the horrifying consequences of Islamists succeeding in exploiting the current strife in Egypt to their benefit.However corrupt Egypt's regime may have been or continues to be, Mubarak succeeded in keeping the Islamists and the religious radicals in check. The Muslim Brotherhood, a major fundamentalist Egyptian opposition group that Mubarak had banned, will definitely try to take advantage of any further economic frustration or breakdown to set up the longed-for Islamic state, probably by promising those who have nothing that they will create a Muslim utopia of social justice, patterned after the Prophet Mohammad's rule. That is the bait to hijack the revolution, like the Bolsheviks promised "peace, land and bread" to the uneducated, downtrodden Russian masses to get their support, only to bring in the Red Terror in return.As history warns, the Islamists, if successful in seizing power, will internally perpetrate a Khmer Rouge/Khomeini-type bloodbath the likes of which Egypt has never seen before. The first victims will most likely be the country's religious minorities. Externally, they will involve Egypt in a jihad/war against Israel, Europe or the Shiites and, like Iran, strive to build nuclear weapons.Thus, Western countries and Israel are, naturally, viewing the events in Egypt with grave concern. The West must be prepared to confront the fact that it may be faced in Egypt with an approaching hostile, failed state, similar to Pakistan and Somalia, where terrorists will be welcome. If Obama fails to play this precarious situation right, and drops the ball like Carter disastrously did in 1979 by pulling the rug from under the Shah's feet in Iran, then this dire situation could coalesce into Islamists capturing Egypt. Sometimes, as with Mubarak, the devil you know is better than the one you don't.Does Obama grasp the gravity of the situation and does he have the geopolitical know-how to deal with it?The ensuing days of crisis will tell.Hmmmm....The past has shown that Obama doesn't care about minorities and he will follow the orders that the Saudi king will give him.Read the full story here.

• HT:SultanKnish.Obama's State of the Soviet Union.When the applause had died down and the softly glowing screen of the teleprompter faded to black, the echoes of the Leninist cadences of Obama's State of the Union address, "We must out-educate, out-compete, and out-innovate the rest of the world", "We have broken the back of the recession" and "We can't win the future with a government of the past" suggest that we are now living in a land without history.The thrust of Obama's agenda follows Lenin's. The old jobs are gone. We must prepare for the future by educating our youth. The sturm und drang of the "We Musts" quickly becomes an argument for pandering to the teacher's unions. Only by empowering the teacher's union will we be able to compete with China. But China isn't strong because of its teachers, but because it has no independent unions, no minimum wage, no pollution laws and nothing to get in the way of the terrible machine of its industry. The People's Republic of China is not beating us in science or math, but in manufacturing cheap products with an undervalued national currency. Handing out free educations to beat China is like going to college to fight a bear. Not only will it not improve your bear fighting skills, it actually gives the bear the upper hand. American math and science degrees are used to do research whose practical applications take the form of products manufactured in China. Even if all 300 million Americans all go to work as researchers, we are not going to "out-compete" and "out-innovate" by "out-educating" Americans. Russia has the highest percentage of college degrees by population in the world. China has the lowest. These figures have little to do with their economic success.But what future has Obama actually laid out? There is the Khrushchevian "We will overtake you" directed at China. Calls for a Stakhanovitesque commitment by the masses. And a promise to win the future. But what future is that? We haven't been told. It's an unknown future with high speed rail, green jobs, college educations for everyone, but no flying cars unless they're electric or solar flying cars. This isn't a future. It's more mouthwash. Soviet mouthwash.There's a 5 year plan to give broadband access to the masses. How did Khrushchev never think of that. More subsidies for solar and wind, at the expense of oil. Because 4 dollar a barrel oil isn't expensive enough. A 25 year plan to give 80 percent of Americans access to high speed rail. Except there's no actual plan either. It's all mouthwash. Soviet leaders rinsed their mouths with talk like this to assure their citizens that the future was moving forward on schedule. Now Obama is spitting their mouthwash out all over the country. But don't worry, comrades. We're winning the future. History is on our side.. This is not a State of the Union address. It's a State of the Soviet Union address.Hmmmmm......While Millions were dying of hunger in the Ukraine,they were applauding Stalin's 5 year plan!Read the full story here.

• Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert.A book celebrating suicide bombers has been found in the Arizona desert just north of the U.S.- Mexican border, authorities tell Fox News.The book, "In Memory of Our Martyrs," was spotted Tuesday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent out of the Casa Grande substation who was patrolling a route known for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs.Published in Iran, it consists of short biographies of Islamic suicide bombers and other Islamic militants who died carrying out attacks.According to internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents, "The book also includes letters from suicide attackers to their families, as well as some of their last wills and testaments." Each biographical page contains "the terrorist's name, date of death, and how they died."Agents also say that the book appears to have been exposed to weather in the desert "for at least several days or weeks."Statements from U.S. officials, including FBI director Robert Mueller, have raised serious concerns in recent years over "OTMs" -- or illegal immigrants other than Mexicans -- who have crossed the southwest border at alarming rates.Mueller testified before the House Appropriations Committee in March 2005 that "there are individuals from countries with known Al Qaeda connections who are changing their Islamic surnames to Hispanic-sounding names and obtaining false Hispanic identities, learning to speak Spanish and pretending to be Hispanic."Just last year, the Department of Homeland Security had in custody thousands of detainees from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. U.S. Border Patrol statistics indicate that there were 108,025 OTMs detained in 2006, compared to 165,178 in 2005 and 44,614 in 2004.Authorities would not release a picture of the book to Fox News, or reveal how long they believe it was lying in the desert. Immigration officials have previously discovered items along the U.S.-Mexico border from Middle Eastern origin, including Iranian currency in Zapata, Texas, and a jacket found in Jim Hogg County, Texas, that was covered in patches including an Arabic military badge that illustrates an airplane flying into a tower.Hmmmmm.......We don't want stricter border patrols do we Mr President?Read and see the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Writer: 'Iraq: Toward Religious Despotism'!The above is the title of an article by writer Rashid al-Khayoun, in which he warns that Iraq is marching toward Islamization [aslamah].
  He writes that the promoters of political Islam do not distinguish between government offices and mosques and, as a result, the corridors of ministry buildings, in religious events, turn into places for religious rites and for mourning [Shi'a Islam mourns the murder of Hussein, the grandson of Mohammad with breast-beating, and sometimes worshipers flagellate themselves with chains]. When some individuals object to the practice of using government offices for religious rites, they are quickly branded as "heretics" or "tails of Ba'th [party]."Also, he stated, in the name of religion, the emirs of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq massacres people; the higher the number of victims, the greater the "rewards" [in heaven] for the suicide bomber. He noted that the militias [mainly Shi'a-oriented and generally supported by Iran] raise the photograph of Imam Ali [the fourth Muslim Khalif and the father of Hussein] and his children on their banners, and added that if we examine the banners of political Islam, we would discover a demand for power, not religion, and for despotism over people in the name of Islam.Hmmmm.....Obama "Islam is a great religion."Source.

• HT:Christian.ORG.Anti-Christian bias is OK at the BBC, says former presenter.Christians are “fair game” for insults at the BBC whilst Muslims must not be offended, one of the broadcaster’s veteran news anchors has warned. Peter Sissons, whose memoirs are being serialised in the Daily Mail, slammed the BBC for its bias. Mr Sissons said: “Islam must not be offended at any price, although Christians are fair game because they do nothing about it if they are offended.”His comments are unlikely to surprise many Christians who have become increasingly concerned about a perceived anti-Christian bias at the public broadcaster.The veteran presenter, who fronted news and current affairs programmes at the BBC, also said that staff damage their careers if they don’t follow the BBC’s mindest.He said: “In my view, ‘bias’ is too blunt a word to describe the subtleties of the pervading culture. The better word is a ‘mindset’.”Also in 2009, the Bishop of Manchester accused the Corporation of treating people of faith like an “increasingly rare species".And former Radio 2 presenter Don Maclean claimed that the BBC is keen on programmes which attack churches, and that there was a wider secularist campaign “to get rid of Christianity”.In 2008 Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC, said that Islam should be treated more sensitively than Christianity because Muslims are less integrated and more of a minority group.Hmmmm.....Anyone still doubting Christianity is under assault?Read the full story here.

• HT:KathyPundit.Hotair: Surprise: Last Night’s SOTU Lowest-Rated of Obama’s Presidency.The inevitable conclusion to days of hype from the media about how this might be the most important speech of his presidency. To put this in perspective, roughly 130 million people voted in the 2008 presidential election and even more will turn out at the polls two years from now. Maybe a quarter of that number watched last night (not everyone who tuned in will end up voting, after all) and only a teeny tiny percentage of them will remember so much as a single line.His first SOTU (which technically wasn’t a SOTU) in 2009 drew 52 million viewers and a combined network rating of 32.5. Last year’s got 48 million and a 29.8. Now he’s down to 26.6 via not quite 43 million viewers.Hmmmm......It's a zionist plot?Read the full story here.

• Bishop Chane: Gülen one of the greatest scholars.Eighth Bishop of Washington in the Episcopal Church John Bryson Chane has said Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen is probably one of the greatest scholars and religious people in today’s world. Speaking at a Jan. 20 meeting of the Rumi Forum, a think tank established by Turks living in Washington, D.C., to foster intercultural dialogue, the bishop praised Gülen and the Gülen movement inspired by him. During his speech, titled “Interfaith/Intercultural dialogue: a First Priority in the 21st Century,” Chane referred to Gülen as a “magnificent man”:“In the 50 books he has written he has probably been one of our greatest voices. He is a scholar and communicator who has really addressed -- not only the role of religion -- but the place of religion as an antidote to violence throughout the world, stressing the importance of the need to come to the table for dialogue and conversation.”Bishop Chane serves a diverse diocese of 91 congregations, 23 church-related schools and 45,000 members in the District of Columbia and the counties of Prince George’s, Montgomery, Charles and Saint Mary’s in the state of Maryland.Noting that Gülen has contributed much to the life and stability of the global community already, Chane said, “I really want to make a point in recognizing him and honoring him for the work he continues to do for global peace among all of God’s children.”Hmmmmm.....Where are you leading your flock?"Do not have any other gods before me.You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earthYou shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me."Read the full story here.

• HT:WZ.Pelosi’s Office Requested the U.S. Air Force Bring Her Chocolate Covered Strawberries.Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained new documents from the United States Air Force detailing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s use of United States Air Force aircraft in 2010. According to the documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Pelosi used Air Force aircraft for 43 flights from January 1 to October 1, 2010. According to documents previously uncovered by Judicial Watch, by comparison, Nancy Pelosi logged 47 flights in the prior nine-month period, April 1, 2009, to January 1, 2010.The most recent documents uncovered by Judicial Watch include a Passenger Mission Activity chart detailing all of former Speaker Pelosi’s flights January 1 to October 1, 2010, as well as detailed shopping lists for some flights, flight authorization forms, Mission Expense Records and internal Air Force correspondence related to the flights. Among the highlights from the documents, obtained pursuant to a FOIA request filed on September 10, 2010:Pelosi used the Air Force aircraft for a total of 43 trips, covering 90,155 miles, from January 1 through October 1, 2010. The Air Force documented in-flight expenses for 22 of these flights totaling $1,821.33. The Air Force did not provide expense information for the remaining 21 flights.Former Speaker Pelosi received chocolate covered strawberries as a birthday surprise on a March 26, 2010 flight. According to one internal Air Force email sent on March 25, 2010: “The speaker’s office is requesting egg salad sandwiches on wheat toast with fruit (watermelon, etc) for desert [sic]. It’s the speaker’s B-Day tomorrow so we’re also asking for something like chocolate covered strawberries (dark chocolate preferred)…” The immediate response to the email from another member of the Air Force staff: “Copy all. We’ll plan something for the birthday and take care of the meal.”.According to previous documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the former Speaker’s military travel cost the United States Air Force $2,100,744.59 over one two-year period — $101,429.14 of which was for in-flight expenses, including food and alcohol. For example, purchases for one Pelosi-led congressional delegation traveling from Washington, DC, through Tel Aviv, Israel to Baghdad, Iraq May 15-20, 2008, included: Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Baileys Irish Cream, Maker’s Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewar’s scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniel’s whiskey, Corona beer and several bottles of wine.Hmmmm....Well the first cuts in spending have been done!How about the "Big Spender in Chief "his spending?Read the full story here.

• HT:NumbersUSA.On State of Union 2011 -- If JOBS Are Priority, Will Anybody Connect Immigration Policy?Pres. Obama spent most of the speech talking about preventing U.S. jobs from going overseas to be done by foreign workers there, and then incongruously argued for increasing the number of foreign workers to take the scarce jobs we keep in the U.S. Though mostly ambiguous, his statements on immigration seemed to put illegal foreign workers and foreign students first while keeping unemployed Americans in the shadows. On trade, he said he would "only sign deals that keep faith with American workers, and promote American jobs" and yet on immigration policy he failed American workers, declining to ask for reductions in immigration even though 24 million American and legal immigrants can't find a full-time job. And he declined to ask for mandatory E-Verify to put millions of them back to work by opening up 7 million jobs held by illegal foreign workers. Instead, he vaguely asked for work permits for illegal aliens and an increase in foreign workers.The disappointment over his comments was tempered by the lukewarm response from Members of Congress who seemed in no mood to follow his unpopular suggestions. The most recent annual Report to Congress from the Office of Refugee Resettlement we resettled 16,074 Burmese from 1983-2007 (just the refugee program). And, let me say AGAIN, the ORR is now nearly 3 years behind in releasing these LEGALLY REQUIRED documents to Congress.Hmmmm.....Life in the "Make believe" country of Obamination? Read the full story here.

• Judge to resentence man convicted of aiding Hezbollah.His lawyers say current 150-year sentence is 'a miscarriage of justice.'Bassam Hammoud waited in federal court Wednesday to learn if his brother, Mohamad, will soon be getting out of prison.Mohamad Hammoud was sentenced in 2002 to 155 years in prison for conspiring to aid Middle Eastern terrorists. Attorneys for the suspected head of a Hezbollah cell in Charlotte are trying to convince U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen to slash the sentence."My brother is innocent," Bassam Hammoud told reporters outside the federal courthouse. "He did not send any money to a terrorist organization."During Wednesday court proceedings, James McLoughlin, one of Mohamad Hammoud's attorneys, told the judge there never was a Hezbollah cell in Charlotte.Hammoud's attorneys have called the sentence "a miscarriage of justice." They say Hammoud should get no more than 15 years in prison.Mullen said Wednesday he will resentence Hammoud today after hearing arguments from defense lawyers and prosecutors. Hammoud may also address the judge.On Wednesday, Hammoud's lawyers called Robert Baer, a former CIA agent, to the stand to talk about Hezbollah's military operations and social programs. Hezbollah helps run hospitals and orphanages.Baer called Hezbollah "the most effective terrorist group in the world.""They are somebody you don't want to play around with...," he said. "If they come to get us, it'll come as a surprise."Hmmmmm....."More outreach to Muslims"?Read the full story here.

• HT:99express.Annual Islamic Holiday In Bangladesh.These photos were taken in Bangladesh. People come for the annual Islamic holiday, where three days will be spent in prayer. Every year there is going to more than 4 million people. Let's see how they get to your destination.Read and see the full story here.

• Global Muslim birth rate drops.Muslim population growing at slower rate, but will still be 26.4% of world by 2030, study says.Falling birth rates will slow the world's Muslim population growth over the next two decades, reducing it on average from 2.2 percent a year in 1990-2010 to 1.5% a year from now until 2030, a new study says.Muslims will number 2.2 billion by 2030 compared to 1.6 billion in 2010, making up 26.4% of the world population compared to 23.4% now, according to estimates by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.Continued migration will swell the ranks of Europe's Muslim minorities by one-third by 2030, to 8 percent of the region's inhabitants from 6 percent, the study says. Muslims in France will rise to 6.9 million, or 10.3% of the population, from 4.7 million (7.5%), in Britain to 5.6 million (8.2%) from 2.9 million and in Germany to 5.5 million (7.1%) from 4.1 million (5%).By 2030, Muslims will number 2.1 million or 23.2% of the population in Israel – including Jerusalem but not the West Bank and Gaza – after 1.3 million (17.7%) in 2010.The report did not publish figures for worldwide populations of other major religions, but said the United States-based Pew Forum planned similar reports on growth prospects for worldwide Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Judaism."The declining growth rate is due primarily to falling fertility rates in many Muslim-majority countries," it said, noting the birth rate is falling as more Muslim women are educated, living standards rise and rural people move to cities.Read the full story here.

• Number of States Developing Laws Requiring Presidential Candidates to Show Proof of Natural Born Citizenship Status Now up to 10.Arizona may have the most advanced plan, but 10 of the United States – controlling 107 Electoral College votes – are now considering some type of legislation that would plug the hole in federal election procedures that in 2008 allowed Barack Obama to be nominated, elected and inaugurated without providing proof of his qualifications under the U.S. Constitution.And they aren’t all the simple legislation such as that adopted in New Hampshire a year ago that requires an affidavit from a candidate stating that the qualifications – age, residency and being a “natural born citizen” – have been met.In Georgia, for example, HB37 by Rep. Bobby Franklin not only demands original birth-certificate documentation, it provides a procedure for and declares that citizens have “standing” to challenge the documentation.According to officials with the National Conference of State Legislatures, 10 states already have some sort of eligibility-proof requirement plan.There is Arizona’s HB2544, Connecticut’s SB391, Georgia’s HB37, Indiana’s SB114, Maine’s LD34, Missouri’s HB283, Montana’s HB205, Nebraska’s LB654, Oklahoma’s SB91, SB384 and SB540, and Texas; HB295 and HB529.Led by Texas with 34, the states control 107 Electoral College votes.Hmmmm.....Result.....No elections and he grabs power?Read the full story here.

• HT:umn.edu.SmartPolitics.Keeping It Simple: Obama Records 2nd Lowest Flesch-Kincaid SOTU Grade Level Score Since FDR.President's 2011 SOTU speech was written at more than a half a grade level lower than 2010's score, which was the 4th lowest in 75+ years.Although praised by many for the tone he struck in delivering his 2011 State of the Union address, many conservatives criticized Barack Obama's speech for being high on rhetoric and short on substance. As it turns out, Obama's speech was historically short - both in sentence structure and the words he used.President Obama now has the lowest average Flesch-Kincaid score for State of the Union addresses of any modern president - with his 8.5 grade level falling just below the 8.6 score recorded by George H.W. Bush during his presidency.Kennedy (12.0) and Eisenhower (11.9) delivered speeches that had a reading difficulty of three and a half grade levels higher than Obama.Hmmmm....."We have to build new things and invent stuff"?"I screwed up" (from his interview with A. Cooper on the Daschle appointment).Read the full story here.

• HHS grants ANOTHER 500 new healthcare waivers.A week after Republicans announced plans to investigate waivers granted to organizations for healthcare reform provisions, President Obama’s health department made public new waivers for more than 500 groups. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is granting temporary waivers to organizations that would not be able to meet the reform law’s new requirement for annual coverage limits.As of last week, HHS had granted waivers to 222 organizations covering 1.5 million individuals. Though the number of groups receiving waivers has now more than tripled, the number of individuals covered by the waivers increased just 600,000 to 2.1 million. The law gives HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius the flexibility to grant waivers to avoid disruption in the insurance market, but Republicans say the waivers are either gifts to Democratic allies or proof that the reform law isn’t working. However, a large number of businesses, in addition to unions, have received waivers.The waivers have been granted to hundreds of so-called "mini-med" plans that offer limited health coverage to employees. The waivers are designed to preserve stability in the insurance market until new state-run insurance exchanges open in 2014. The House Energy and Commerce Committee asked HHS last week for details on the waiver process. HHS said Wednesday night that it wants to make the waiver process transparent.Hmmmm.....Lets start calling it the waiver careplan?Read the full story here.

• Gingrich, Bush support bankruptcy for states.A split between prominent Republicans emerged Thursday over whether Congress should allow states to declare bankruptcy.Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Congress should authorize a new law allowing states to declare bankruptcy, a move that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has derided as a "bailout of the states." Gingrich, who is mulling a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, wrote the op-ed with another prominent Republican, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush."The new Congress has the opportunity to prepare a fair, orderly, predictable and lawful approach to help struggling state governments address their financial challenges without resorting to wasteful bailouts," Gingrich and Bush wrote. "This approach begins with a new chapter in the federal Bankruptcy Code that provides for voluntary bankruptcy by states, a proven option already available to all cities and towns across America."Gingrich has previously floated the idea of state bankruptcy, but publicly pushed the option again after Cantor all but ruled it out earlier this week. That Bush signed onto the article could add significant heft to the option among conservatives."Federal bailouts must come to an end. Federal taxpayers in states that balance their budgets should not have to bail out the irresponsible, pandering politicians who cannot balance their budgets," Gingrich and Bush wrote. "Congress must allow a safe, orderly way under federal bankruptcy law for states to reorganize their finances."Republican governors like Chris Christie in New Jersey have scored political points for taking on local unions and seeking concessions in the state's pension liabilities. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, also a Republican, has sought similar reforms, as have some new Democratic governors. These moves have been met with stiff resistance by labor unions that represent state and municipal employees, who worry their workers will be shortchanged by state budget crunches.Hmmmm....Why do you think they are passing legislation to use other means of legal tender?Read the full story here.

• Graphic Video of Fatal Stoning Shows Taliban's Strength.Afghan Man and Woman Executed for Adultry Despite Wishes of Villagers.About 200 people listen to a Taliban mullah describe why a man and woman deserve to be killed. A few dozen spectators – people from the local community -- start throwing rocks at the woman, who had already been placed in a 4-foot-deep hole. They throw with relish and yell, "Allah akbar." At one point a large rock strikes her head and she falls down, her burqa red with blood. After the rock throwing ends, a few people debate whether she should be shot. Eventually one of the spectators shoots her with an AK-47. She falls into the hole, out of sight. There is a short period of absolute silence, and then the spectators turn to each other and start talking.Then the man is brought into the crowd and blindfolded with his own tunic. The same scene proceeds, but with larger rocks and more abandon. He cries as he is killed.Hmmmm...."The religion of peace".Read the full story here.

• HT:Aina.Islamic Terrorists Kill More Buddhists in Southern Thailand.The ongoing Islamic insurgency in southern Thailand continues and another nine Buddhists were killed by Islamic jihadists who desire an Islamic state. It is clear that while the insurgency ebbs and flows from many Islamic terrorist attacks to a decrease in activity, that the underlying insurgency remains and just waits to gather pace at any moment. Therefore, Islamic fanatics randomly kill Buddhists, school teachers, Buddhist priests, Muslims who work for institutions in southern Thailand, and members of the armed forces.The level of hatred is clear by the wanton violence and brutality because the Islamic insurgents desire to spread fear in order to reach their Islamic goal. This goal applies to the complete Islamization of southern Thailand and the eradication of all Buddhists and Buddhist temples from the region of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani.In the past you had nationalistic sentiments to the insurgency because Thailand annexed the three Muslim provinces in 1902. However, while you had radical Islamic elements prior to 2001 it is clear that the insurgency had mainly nationalistic tones and the insurgents focused on the government and military of Thailand.In the first few weeks of January in 2011 you have had nine Buddhists being killed by Islamic terrorists and in a separate attack four members of the armed forces of Thailand were killed. Therefore, the Islamic insurgency continues to kill and spread fear in southern Thailand and many Buddhists have left in order to escape the ongoing Islamic insurgency.It is clear that Islamists in southern Thailand desire a homeland whereby all Buddhists will be cleansed and then Islamic Sharia law will hold sway. At the same time it is abundantly clear that Islamic indoctrination from outside of Thailand is a serious issue and the same applies to the international nature of the global Islamic jihad. Therefore, the government of Thailand faces both an internal threat and the reality that external networks are fueling the fire.Read the full story here.

• HT:BarracudaBrigade.Obama-Care Waivers Skyrocket to 729 + 4 States.By Michelle Malkin.While the Democrats continued to extol Obamacare and the president defended the behemoth law during the Date of the Union, HHS was quietly presiding over a massive Obamacare Waiver-mania explosion.When last we examined the growing list, privileged escapees topped 222.Now: The list now at 729 — plus 4 states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee).There was no specific hold-up that she could identify, they were simply running behind in getting the information on the website.Well today, the day after the President’s State of the Union, the new waivers are up. You may recall that there were 222 such waivers approved in November. That number has now jumped to 729 through the end of December. The total number of people covered by the waivers has gone from 1.5M to just under 2.2M. The list includes the usual assortment of union locals and businesses.I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to suggest that OCIIO was asked to hold this development until after the SOTU. Indeed the latest waiver approved in the list is from December 30th. There is an addendum at the bottom of the page noting that four states–Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee–have applied for waivers covering another 93,000 people. The addendum is dated 1/21/11, but I can assure you it was not there on 1/21 or even Monday…Hmmmm......If you wanted to start a powergrab first you need the support of the unions?Read the full story here.

• Video : Mom Jailed For Sending Kids to Better School Some say an Ohio woman's quest for a better school for daughters went too far.Hmmmm......Read the full story here.