MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Russia mobilises 240,000 to fight deadly wildfires.Almost 240,000 people have been mobilised across Russia to tackle wildfires that have killed at least 30, officials say.The military has pooled resources with firefighters; the emergencies ministry said 25,000 engines were being used.Hundreds of people have drowned over the past two months in an attempt to cool off in the record heat, with 170 such deaths recorded in Moscow alone, medical sources told Interfax news agency.The high toll has been partly blamed on drunkenness and the use of poorly equipped beaches.

• Debate Heating Up on Plans for Mosque Near Ground Zero.An influential Jewish organization on Friday announced its opposition to a proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks north of ground zero in Lower Manhattan, intensifying a fierce national debate about the limits of religious freedom and the meaning of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.But the unexpected move by the ADL, a mainstream group that has denounced what it saw as bigoted attacks on plans for the Muslim center, could well be a turning point in the battle over the project.

• PLO official says Obama sent warning to Abbas.President Barack Obama warned Mahmoud Abbas in a letter that U.S.-Palestinian relations might suffer if the Palestinian leader refuses to resume direct peace talks with Israel, a senior PLO official said Saturday.

• Where In The World Is Imam Feisal?Questions multiply about $100 million Islamic center planned near Ground Zero.When will Rauf be back in the country? Maybe "the end of August, or early September," said his assistant. It seems that Rauf, having chafed old wounds and touched off quite a debate in the U.S., has checked out of the country for the rest of the summer.

• Video:Giant South Dakota hailstone breaks US record.A hailstone weighing almost a kilo that fell in the state of South Dakota has been confirmed as the largest ever recovered in the USA.

• Iran stoning sentence woman asks to be reunited with her children.Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's supporters call for support to free her from prison, after sentence was changed to hanging.It's high time the Mullahs got also a "Necktie"?

• 'Assad wants Hariri tribunal closed'.Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad told Saudi King Abdullah during their meeting in Damascus Friday that the UN tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri must be closed to protect Lebanon's stability.There's nothing as shocking as the naked truth!

• Will Washington's Failures Lead To Second American Revolution? Barack Obama, however, has pulled off the ultimate switcheroo: He's diminishing America from within — so far, successfully.He may soon bankrupt us and replace our big merit-based capitalist economy with a small government-directed one of his own design.

• Obama pal filing rash of media lawsuits?Group launches 80 copyright infringement claims against websites, bloggers.A company working on behalf of a Las Vegas newspaper has filed a spate of copyright-infringement lawsuits against as many as 80 individuals and publications since March, and now bloggers reveal the CEO may have crossed paths with Barack and Michelle Obama during their stints at a Chicago law firm.

• BP: RELIEF WELL COLLAPSE: 40 feet of “side walls kind of feel in on itself”; BP to take 24-36 hours removing debris from wellbore (VIDEO).

• HT:TheBlogprof.Irony: Obama in Detroit (30% unemployement rate): "we are moving in the right direction!" Shows his evil Humane side again!

• Civil Rights Groups Argue ‘Race to the Top’ Leaves the Poor at the Bottom.The dynamic duo from Harvard, President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, are running into some tough talk from groups that are feeling pretty darn unappreciated right now.

• Report: Israel aiding plot for bloodless coup in Gulf emirate.Britain's Guardian newspaper reports that Israel's ambassador to the U.K.met with the exiled crown prince of the Ras al-Khaimeh in March; Ras al-Khaimeh is strategically located directly across the Persian Gulf from Iran.

• Video:Woman to Sell Baby for Medical Bill.A woman in India says she has to sell her 6-month-old baby in order to pay her husband's medical expenses.

• The Web's New Gold Mine: Your Secrets. A Journal investigation finds that one of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet is the business of spying on consumers.A must read!

• Euro nears level not seen since European bailout package.Doubts about U.S. credit rating seen as catalyst for buying in single currency.Great policy Mr President !Real genius!

• HT:WeaselZippers.Video:Forced eviction of tent dwellers shock French.I especially liked how the Droit au Logement community organizers put all the women and children at the front, while the men lounged around at the back. Nice touch! And is that ululating I hear?

• Naked woman plunges through roof after 'rolling around' on top of four-storey building.The "barenaked "truth is you can't make up this sh...!

Another Brick In The Wall (Hey Ayatollah, Leave Those Kids Alone!)

MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• The top ten indications America is in decline - #10: Dependence on oil.The United States of America is in decline. Like the citizens of so many nations and empires before us we can chose to live in denial or we can face up to reality and attempt to alter it. One key factor in America’s decline is its dependence on oil.

• Arab League Tries to Score Points for Abbas, 'Endorses' Talks."I will never allow a single Israeli to live among us on Palestinian land,” Abbas declared."Der heimat muß Judenrein sein?"

• State Workers Who Identified Illegal Aliens Face Criminal Charges."We live in a topsy-turvey nation and this story should anger all Americans. Suddenly our nation is prosecuting patriots while protecting lawbreakers," said a former NYPD police officer and private security firm owner.

• HT:WeaselZippers.Hamas TV: Muslims Should Wage Jihad to Liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Filth of the Jews, the Brothers of Apes and Pigs.Islam a religion of peace?

• Pelosi Blocks Investigation of Gulf Oil Spill.

• Al Arabiya News Channel viewers express mixed reaction toward European veil bans.The Dubai-based Al Arabiya News Channel announced the results of a surprising E-poll yesterday in which 43 percent of its viewers expressed support for European nations imposing full-faced veil bans.

• Iran: Cigarettes tainted with pig blood.Official from Islamic Republic's anti-smoking society says company 'led by Zionists' deliberately exports contaminated Marlboros.

• Border Crossing Gives Visitors Quite a Kick.India, Pakistan Clash About Toning Down Cherished Ceremony. WAGAH BORDER, India and Pakistan—At sunset every day here, India's hostile relationship with Pakistan is acted out in a bizarre military tradition known as the "Beating Retreat Ceremony."Now recently expanded with female staff.

• Battles Looming Over First Amendment Rights.With all of the takeovers of various aspects of society by the Obama administration, none are as perilous as the one takeover we could be on the brink of - namely the First Amendment. It is under assault in so many very real ways, and the media are largely silent about it. That is because they are aware of the goals, and they share them. The goal is to silence conservative and Republican voices, to regulate the Internet, to favor certain news organizations - in essence to pick winners and losers when it comes to First Amendment rights and freedom of speech.

• HT:WeaselZippers.Pakistan: Islamists Ambush Christians Leaving Church, Five Men Shot.On the flip side, if someone so much as looks cross-eyed at a Muslim in America, CAIR goes ape-shit releasing press releases accusing everyone of being an Islamophobe.

• Republican Senators Demand Explanation of DHS Draft Memo on Non-Legislative Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants.

• HT:WeaselZippers.Poll: 56% Believe U.S. Heading Towards Socialism, Only 18% Think It’s a Good Thing.It doesn’t say much for the average American voter who got swept on to the Hope and Change bandwagon and are only now realizing what the hell they voted for.

• In Rare Summit, Arab Rivals Try To Ease Tension.The Saudi and Syrian flags fluttered alongside Lebanon's state symbol in Beirut on Friday — an unusual sight that served as a welcome for the key players gathering for a landmark Arab summit.

• Obama urges Iran to release three U.S. hikers.Obama, in a statement marking the Americans' 12 months in captivity, said Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal had committed no crimes and their continued imprisonment violated international human rights conventions.

• CAIR – Suspected and Supported by the Federal Government.The FBI severed its relationship with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in 2008, saying until it determines "whether there continues to be a connection between" CAIR leadership and Hamas terrorists, the organization is not an appropriate liaison partner.

• Ayaan Hirsi Ali 2, CBC, a truly brave woman. People still talk about the time freedom fighter Ayaan Hirsi Ali crushed insufferable leftist TV host Avi Lewis on a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) broadcast.

• From Germany to Radicalism for Young Muslims.A Turkish-language Web site announced that in recent days nine foreign fighters were killed as they traveled to carry out operations with the Taliban. Two of them were identified as Germans, from Bonn and Berlin.Others have been arrested on a variety of charges. In one case, several people were convicted of planning attacks against American military facilities in Germany.Islam a religion of peace?

• Arab journalist confirms that the problem in Gaza is not Israel.A journalist with the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram confirmed what a handful of Western reporters have full and recently reported: that Gaza is not really locked in a siege and that any oppression experienced by Palestinians sites is caused by other Arabs, and not by Israel.

• Is Obama a Facist?Ok -- so what is a fascist? According to The Urban Dictionary a fascist is "someone who believes in a totalitarian state rule by a supreme leader (dictator) who controls everything possible and treats people harshly -- to gain the leader's own success....".Sound familiar? In a piece by John Griffing, published at American Thinker, Mr. Griffing says the following: "At its core, fascism is really just a system where government, through agreements with the private sector, controls virtually all property and income indirectly and Obama has embraced this template."

• Another Memorial To Jihad?Not content with making Ground Zero a symbol of Islamic triumphalism with a 13-15 story Cordoba House mosque, plans are in the works to memorialize the sacred ground of the crash site of Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA.For a memorial, I can imagine something with park benches, maybe a reflecting pool, the names of the victims carved in shiny stone. Too mundane? Well, the Heinz Foundation–yes that Heinz–funded the design competition to come up with something that would reflect the grief and pride of Americans: A red Islamic crescent design symbolizing the features of a mosque.Huh?

• Obamacare and a national service draft, the connection will surprise you.The draft ended in 1973, but it appears that the Obama administration would like to bring it back on a couple of different levels.then there is bill H.R. 5741 introduced by Rep. Charles Rangel, of New York, currently being debated in the House of Representatives. The purpose of this bill is "To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, and for other purposes."If American's wish to maintain their freedom status, contact your representative regarding this legislation.

• The US fails to agree with the UN that access to clean water is a human right.“Let them drink Coke.” Those four words form a respectable summary of the nearly 500 words John F. Sammis, U.S. Minister Counselor to the Economic and Social Council, used to explain to the UN why the United States abstained in the vote on the UN’s “Water as a Human Right” resolution.

• Phytoplankton Panic.Phytoplankton, the tiny little ocean creatures that generate a massive amount of the world's oxygen, form the base of the ocean food chain, and otherwise deserve to be nominated Hero of the World Economy, First Class, are apparently dying off. The theory is that global warming is probably doing them in.

• Russia Fights Fires, Looks Ahead To Long-Term Costs Of Heat Wave.Pulling one from the parched ground, he looks dejectedly at its stunted roots and says this summer's record-breaking heatwave will have dire consequences for his farm and livestock."There's nothing here. Rain wouldn't even help at this point. There won't be any food to feed the animals," says Valitov, who tends more than 800 cows and 1,700 other animals on his farm. "We're trying to find as much hay for them as we can. As of today, we're about 60 percent short on feed, so we'll have to cull almost half our livestock. It's going to be a hard winter. Our farm has already lost 41 million rubles."

• HT:WeaselZippers.Israeli Rabbis: Burkas represent sexual fetish.That is as promiscuous as wearing too little.

• HT:WeaselZippers.Saudi Arabia: Town Realizes They’ve Been Praying in Wrong Direction for 10 Years.Bonus: Mecca is only 12.5 miles away.

• Scientists Find Evidence That Oil And Dispersant Mix Is Making Its Way Into The Foodchain.Marine biologists started finding orange blobs under the translucent shells of crab larvae in May, and have continued to find them "in almost all" of the larvae they collect, all the way from Grand Isle, Louisiana, to Pensacola, Fla. -- more than 300 miles of coastline .

• 'A Woman Without Hijab Is Like A Chair With Three Legs'."A woman without hijab is like a chair with three legs," says an Iranian government poster in support of the compulsory hijab for women.