How would you react if confronted with Anti-Semitism?

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

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

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

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

• State of the union live here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Terrorist Training Camp in New York !

MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• HT:Frontline. Flying Cheap is it safe? A decade ago aircraft repairs were mostly done by the airlines flying the planes. Today, carriers are outsourcing the bulk of heavy maintenance. Should we worry? A co-production with the Investigative Reporting Workshop.In a follow-up to the hard-hitting investigation of the regional airline industry, FRONTLINE sets its sights on another growing trend -- the outsourcing of major airline repair work to foreign-based maintenance operations, from China to El Salvador, and to U.S.-based contractors who keep costs low by using unlicensed mechanics. FRONTLINE correspondent Miles O'Brien investigates reports of undertrained mechanics, foreign workers who can't read the English language repair manuals, inadequate FAA oversight and the use of unauthorized airline parts.Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Uproar in Germany over Anti-Israeli, Anti-Semitic Turkish Film Due for Release on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.An uproar has erupted in Germany over the upcoming launching of the Turkish film "Valley of the Wolves: Palestine," about Turkish commando team which goes to Israel to track down the Israeli military commander responsible for the Gaza flotilla raid. The film's intended release date in Germany, January 27, coincides with International Holocaust Remembrance Day.German politicians have condemned both the film and the date chosen for its release. PM Kerstin Griese, of the Social Democratic Party, criticized the film for inciting to violence and fomenting anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic sentiment. MPs Philip Missfelder of the Christian Democratic Party and Jerzy Montag of the Green Party said its release on January 28 disrespected victims of the Holocaust. The latter added, however, that the film could not be banned unless it breached the law, because, unless illegal, "sickening things [could] be shown in Germany.A spokesman for the film's distributors, the Cologne-based Pera Film, said the company had been unaware of the sensitivity of the date.Hmmmmm.....The hatred of Israel by theTurks is even bigger than that of the Palestinians.Get Turkey out of NATO!Read the full story here.

• Developping!Egypt protesters clash with police. Police fire tear gas at anti-government demonstrators in Cairo as thousands call for ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.Unconfirmed sources(twitter) say police opend fire with live bullets,one person killed.Inspired by Tunisian demonstrators, thousands of Egyptian protesters on Tuesday gathered in Cairo and other major cities, calling for reforms and demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, Al Jazeera's correspondents have reported.The anti-government protesters, some hurling rocks and climbing atop an armoured police truck, were chanting slogans against Mubarak, who ruled the country for three decades.Downtown Cairo came to a standstill with protesters chanting slogans against the police, the interior minister and the government, in scenes that the capital has not seen since the 1970s.Demonstrators marched toward what Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh called the "symbols of their complaints and their agony," the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party, the foreign ministry and the state television.But police responded with blasts from a water cannon and set upon crowds with batons and acrid clouds of tear gas to clear demonstrators crying out "Down with Mubarak'' and demanding an end to the country's grinding poverty.Earlier on Tuesday, Rageh reported from the protests, calling them "unprecedented" in the leniency showed by security forces who allowed demonstrators to march through the capital.The Egyptian government had earlier warned activists hoping to emulate Tunisian pro-democracy protesters that they faced arrest if they went ahead with Tuesday's mass demonstrations, which some labelled the "Day of wrath".Black-clad riot police, backed by armoured vehicles and fire engines, have been deployed in a massive security operation in Cairo, with the biggest concentrations and likely flashpoints, including: the Cairo University campus, the central Tahrir Square and the courthouse where protesters are said to be gathering. Coinciding with a national holiday in honour of the police, a key force in keeping president Mubarak in power for 30 years, the outcome in Egypt on Tuesday is seen as a test on whether vibrant Web activism can translate into street action.Organisers have called for a "day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment"."Activists said they wanted to use this particular day to highlight the irony of celebrating Egypt's police at a time when police brutality is making headlines," reported Rawya Rageh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo."In fact, the call originated from a Facebook page initially set up to honour a 28-year-old man from Alexandria who activists say was tortured to death by police."Witnesses are telling us that there are hundreds on the streets. This is an indication that the protests seem so far to be larger than the usual protests that have taken place here in Egypt over the past few years."Read the full story here.Video here.

• UK - Film on dangers of Asian sex gangs commissioned by Government agency... then withheld for three years!A specially commissioned film warning young girls of the dangers posed by Asian sex gangs is yet to be seen in schools after almost three years, it was revealed today.My Dangerous Loverboy, a 20-minute drama ordered by UK Human Trafficking Centre in 2008, was intended to be seen by 13 and 14-year-old girls across Britain.It tells the story of an under-age girl whose older Asian boyfriend lures her into parties where drug and alcohol abuse are rife before selling her for sex with older men.Officials feared teenage girls were increasingly at risk of become victims of such crimes, concerns that have recently been backed by a string of convictions.However, after a series of delays blamed variously blamed on technical difficulties and budget problems, the film has only been seen by a small number of youngsters in test screenings.The screenings brought great acclaim for the drama which was hoped would make a real difference to the then almost unpublicised issue of Asian sex gangs.Sheila Taylor, chief executive of Safe & Sound Derby, told The Times newspaper that 'the bureaucracy and technical problems associated with this project have been deeply frustrating for all involved.'The UKHTC has denied the delay was due to fears about racial sensitivities.In the film, set in an unnamed northern town, 14-year-old Jade regularly bunks off school and is charmed by Raz, 27.He separates her from friends, giving her a mobile phone as she enjoys the parties and fast cars that he is involved with.At one such party he urges her to 'be nice' to a man he says is a record producer, and keen to oblige she does. The teenager then descends into being trafficked from town to town where she is sold to older men for sex.David Dillnutt, head of UKHTC said the film was being developed for use in schools soon.He added: 'Since 2009, My Dangerous Loverboy has been well used by frontline professional, including police officers and child support workers, who are in a position to spot warning signs and help prevent child exploitation taking place.'The UK Human Trafficking Centre and its partners, who commissioned the film, hope that in addition to encouraging early intervention, it will give victims confidence to come forward and help bring their abusers to justice.'The film has been shown at numerous national, regional and local conferences and seminars, film festivals and other events throughout the UK by a range of different organisations.'Further enhancements have now been made to develop it into an educational package for use in schools.' Read the full story here.video here.

• HT:What'sUpWithThat.Browner out at the White House – Hansen bites back.The plot thickens: White House aides Monday were mum about what would happen to the Office of Energy and Climate Change except to declare that Browner, a former Senate staffer to Al Gore, believed energy issues would remain front and center for the president.One wonders now if Obama will even mention climate during the State of the Union Address Tuesday night. With jobs and economy taking front and center and Browner’s announcement right before SOTUA, government climate initiatives may be relegated to the back-burner. We’ll have to wait and see.New York Times. Dot Earth. NASA’s Hansen Pushes Obama for a Carbon Cost and a Nuclear Push.Hansen also slammed President Obama for buckling to advocacy groups who impede progress on nuclear power, rather than being a “responsible leader” and authorizing a major new programme of building new nuclear power stations.Despite frequently proclaiming global warming to be an existential threat to humanity, Romm has hindered the move to low emissions energy by waging a campaign against nuclear power, which – as Hansen notes – has “the best safety record of any major industry”. Why is Romm ignoring the advice of the scientists he himself champions? Is it science, or is it politics?Read the full story here.

• HT:SultanKnish.In the Crosshairs of the Speech Police.In the weeks since the Arizona massacre, the media has revealed a preoccupation with language almost as intense as the one that motivated her shooter. Loughner's obsession with Congresswoman Giffords seems to have begun in 2007 when she mockingly replied to his question, "How do you know words mean anything?" And Loughner's killing spree has touched off the media's obsession with that same question, leading a CNN anchor to apologize for using the term "crosshairs".It was almost as if the media had come down with a lighter version of Loughner's fixation on grammar as a tool of mind control. If only they could properly censor the language, no one would have to die or go on shooting sprees. Somehow if we refuse to use the word 'crosshairs', no one will ever wind up in anyone else's crosshairs. It's as if the use of the word creates the idea, rather than the word being only another means of describing an idea.But controlling language is not the same thing as controlling minds. Orwell's 1984 depicted a totalitarian regime which controlled language in order to prevent forbidden ideas from finding expression. Since then (1948 not 1984) the left has obsessively tried to politicize language. There are entire seminars on the political uses of language. Newscasts are dotted with politically correct terminology, homeless, differently abled, custodial worker-- yet has changing language actually changed attitudes?Loughner and the media both agree that words can control men's minds. The media's descent into the madness of the speech police reflects a multichannel schizophrenia of their own. The belief that their words create reality. And in the crosshairs of the speech police, criminals become the victims of language, and language becomes the target.Read the full story here.

• Renewed Push to Give Obama an Internet "Kill Switch".A controversial bill handing President Obama power over privately owned computer systems during a "national cyberemergency," and prohibiting any review by the court system, will return this year. Internet companies should not be alarmed by the legislation, first introduced last summer by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), a Senate aide said last week. Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "We're not trying to mandate any requirements for the entire Internet, the entire Internet backbone," said Brandon Milhorn, Republican staff director and counsel for the committee. Instead, Milhorn said at a conference in Washington, D.C., the point of the proposal is to assert governmental control only over those "crucial components that form our nation's critical infrastructure." Portions of the Lieberman-Collins bill, which was not uniformly well-received when it became public in June 2010, became even more restrictive when a Senate committee approved a modified version on December 15. The full Senate did not act on the measure."Declaration of National Cyber Emergency"The revised Lieberman-Collins bill, dubbed the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, works this way: Homeland Security will "establish and maintain a list of systems or assets that constitute covered critical infrastructure" and that will be subject to emergency decrees. (The term "kill switch" does not appear in the legislation.) Under the revised legislation, the definition of critical infrastructure has been tightened. DHS is only supposed to place a computer system (including a server, Web site, router, and so on) on the list if it meets three requirements. First, the disruption of the system could cause "severe economic consequences" or worse. Second, that the system "is a component of the national information infrastructure." Third, that the "national information infrastructure is essential to the reliable operation of the system." At last week's event, Milhorn, the Senate aide, used the example of computers at a nuclear power plant or the Hoover Dam but acknowledged that "the legislation does not foreclose additional requirements, or additional additions to the list." A company that objects to being subject to the emergency regulations is permitted to appeal to DHS secretary Janet Napolitano. But her decision is final and courts are explicitly prohibited from reviewing it. President Obama would then have the power to "issue a declaration of a national cyberemergency." What that entails is a little unclear, including whether DHS could pry user information out of Internet companies that it would not normally be entitled to obtain without a court order. One section says they can disclose certain types of noncommunications data if "specifically authorized by law," but a presidential decree may suffice.For their part, Lieberman and Collins say the president already has "nearly unchecked authority" to control Internet companies. A 1934 law (PDF) creating the Federal Communications Commission says that in wartime, or if a "state of public peril or disaster or other national emergency" exists, the president may "authorize the use or control of any...station or device." In congressional testimony (PDF) last year, DHS Deputy Undersecretary Philip Reitinger stopped short of endorsing the Lieberman-Collins bill. The 1934 law already addresses "presidential emergency authorities, and Congress and the administration should work together to identify any needed adjustments to the act," he said, "as opposed to developing overlapping legislation." Hmmmm......Democracy or dictatorship?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.No Jobs, No Hope, No Future: 27 Signs That America’s Poverty Class Is Rapidly Becoming Larger Than America’s Middle Class.In the America that most of us grew up in, most Americans considered themselves to be part of the "upper middle class", the "middle class" or "the lower middle class". Yes, there have always been poor people and homeless people, but they were thought to be a very small sliver of the population. Well, today all of that is dramatically changing. America's emerging "poverty class" is exploding in size at the same time that America's middle class is rapidly disappearing. You won't hear it on the mainstream news, but the truth is that the United States has lost ten percent of its middle class jobs over the past decade. Only the top 5 percent of income earners in the U.S. has had their incomes increase enough to keep up with the rising cost of living over the past 40 years. The truth is that today there are a whole lot of people aggressively jostling for the small number of good jobs that are actually available and each year millions more Americans are being squeezed out of the middle class. The number of Americans that are financially dependent on the U.S. government continues to set new records month after month. The number of Americans that are participating in the labor force continues to go down. The sad reality is that the "American Dream" that so many Americans used to take for granted is being ripped away from us. If you still believe that the United States is guaranteed to always have a very large, very prosperous middle class then you really need to read the statistics listed below.If you told most Americans ten years ago that in 2011 over 43 million Americans would be on food stamps hardly anyone would have believed you.But yet here we are.Read the full "Change" story here.

• And the Debt Bomb Ticks On.With his approval rating moving up to 50 percent and higher in some polls, the pundits are all agreed. President Obama has turned the corner. He is now the winter-book favorite in 2012.How, two months after his "shellacking," did he do it?First, by taking the wheel from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, cutting a deal to extend the Bush tax cuts, bringing aboard Bill Daley, and separating himself from the demonizers of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck as moral accomplices in the Tucson massacre.Second, Obama has been the beneficiary of bullish news.Undeniably. Yet, consider. The federal deficit for the fiscal year 2011, which ends Sept. 30, is projected at between $1,200 billion and $1,500 billion.Thus, the $100 billion in cuts the firebrands are pushing, and few think they will get, add up at best to 8 percent of the deficit and 2.5 percent of the $3.87 trillion budget Obama proposed.Thus, at best, this Congress will only slightly reduce the rate of speed at which we are heading toward a debt default.The last few days have brought other news bearing on the debt bomb hanging over the Western world.Now, facing trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see, House Republicans are balking at agreeing to raise the debit limit of $14.3 trillion, though the national debt just crossed the $14 trillion mark.Are the happy days really here again?Hmmm......"Together we thrive" over the cliff?Read the full story here.

• HT:StrategyPage.Iraq Prepares For War With Iran.January 25, 2011: The Iraqi Army is hustling to get ready to deal with Iran, by the time the last 50,000 U.S. troops leave at the end of the year. Increased oil production, and oil prices, has made it possible to recruit more troops, and equip more combat divisions. Particularly noteworthy is the creation of Chemical Defense Regiments, with the goal of one of these units being assigned to each combat division over the next few years. The only neighbor known to have chemical weapons is Iran. Iraqi diplomats spend a lot of time trying to improve relationships with Iran, but just in case things go south, the Iraqi military is preparing for the worst. While Iraq has sought to obtain a lot of American weapons, particularly tanks, artillery and combat aircraft, it's been easier, and faster, to get Russian type gear from Russia or East European nations. A lot of this stuff is newly made, but most of it is Cold War surplus. These vehicles and artillery are cheap, a lot of older Iraqis are familiar with them, and they are as good as anything the Iranians have.By the end of the year, the army will have about 230,000 troops. They will not be as well as equipped as during Saddam Hussein's tenure (1960s-2003), but they are better trained. This is important, because Iraqi troops have long been the least effective in the Arab world, largely because of poor leadership. The war with Iran in the 1980s changed that, but Saddam purged most of the competent new leaders, soon after, as he feared they would lead a coup against his disastrous rule (he was probably right.)Read the full story here.

• HT:ElderOfZion.Hamas imam: "Please, Allah, kill all the Jews".Richard Millett watched a new two-hour anti-Israel documentary claiming that Israel targeted children in Gaza. The film is now being shown on college campuses. It included this lovely clip.Read and see the full story here.

• Obama won't endorse raising retirement age or reducing Social Security benefits.President Obama has decided not to endorse his deficit commission's recommendation to raise the retirement age, and otherwise reduce Social Security benefits, in Tuesday's State of the Union address, cheering liberals and drawing a stark line between the White House and key Republicans in Congress.Over the weekend, the White House informed Democratic lawmakers and advocates for seniors that Obama will emphasize the need to reduce record deficits in the speech, but that he will not call for reducing spending on Social Security - the single largest federal program - as part of that effort. Liberals, who have been alarmed by Obama's recent to shift to the center and his effort to court the nation's business community, applauded the decision, arguing that Social Security cuts are neither necessary to reduce current deficits nor a wise move politically. Polls show that large majorities of Americans in both parties - even in households that identify themselves as part of the tea party movement - oppose cuts to Social Security."The commission said nothing surprising about Social Security. The options they recommended are perfectly reasonable and balanced. If the president wasn't willing to embrace these sort of changes, he shouldn't have appointed a commission to find solutions. What did he expect?" Robert L. Bixby, executive director of the nonprofit Concord Coalition, which advocates for balanced budgets, said in an e-mail."I'm increasingly concerned that both parties are content to have a knock-down-drag-out fight over waste, fraud and abuse," Bixby said. "It's a fiscal sideshow, but very safe territory before a presidential election. Very depressing."Hmmmm....It seems there are politicians who would even kiss an Skunk's bottom if it would yield votes? Read the full story here.

• HT:SeeingRed.“Honor killing” trial begins in Phoenix.Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 49, an Iraqi immigrant intentionally drove his vehicle into his 20-year-old daughter, Noor Almaleki and Amal Khalaf her boyfriend’s mother, as the two walked through a parking lot. After running them over, he backed up and ran over them again. Noor was in a coma for two weeks before she died.This horrific, premeditated 2009 crime in which the Muslim father intentionally killed his own daughter and seriously injured another woman, was filed as a first degree murder case, but apparently not one worthy of the death penalty. Although Almaleki admitted his role in the murder, he pled not guilty. The Arizona Republic reported that a plea deal was considered earlier this month. Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugged writes: Honor killing should be a capital crime. Islamic honor killing is on the rise in the West. These barbaric crimes should be stamped out, not sanctioned. They should be dealt with in the harshest terms. Instead unemployed trucker Faleh Hassan Almaleki faces life in prison if a jury finds him guilty of this vicious “honor killing“and hit and run of two. No death penalty was sought.Why?Incredibly, Almaleki’s public defender, Billy Little, asked the judge to take special precautions to ensure the prosecution wouldn’t wrongly seek the death penalty because Almaleki is a Muslim. Little requested that the court “provide some level of assurance that there is no appearance that a Christian is seeking to execute a Muslim for racial, political, religious or cultural beliefs.”No American court should tolerate brutal and premeditated murder out of political, religious and cultural considerations. The message to Muslim girls who are threatened by honor killing is that American courts will offer them no refuge.Hmmmm....America must say NO TO SHARIA LAW and dishonor killings!Read the full story here.

• "Life Or Death in Iran's Prisons".Amnesty : Iran hangs two activists detained during the 2009 unrest.Amnesty International has condemned the executions of two political activists who were arrested in September 2009 during mass protests following Iran’s disputed presidential election..Ja’far Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei are reported to have been hanged this morning at Tehran’s Evin Prison. Both men had been convicted of moharebeh (enmity against God), “propaganda against the system” and having contacts with a banned opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).Their hangings are the latest in a wave of executions which has seen the Iranian authorities execute at least 71 prisoners since the beginning of this year – an average of more than 20 each week. Thousands more prisoners are on death row.“We are appalled by the executions of Ja’far Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei, as we are appalled by the continuing use in Iran of this most cruel and extreme penalty,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.“Like so many other victims, neither of these men received a fair trial.According to some reports, Ja’far Kazemi was tortured for months by his interrogators at Evin Prison to force him to make a televised “confession” but he refused to do so.He and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei were tried together. They are believed to have been sentenced to death in April 2010 and to have had their appeals rejected in July and September.Before they were arrested both men had visited members of their families who live in Camp Ashraf in Iraq, where some 3,400 members and supporters of the PMOI live in exile. Ja’far Kazemi’s son lives at the Camp, which is located some 60km north of Baghdad.Read the full story here.

• US awards $300,000 to four Turkish projects to empower women.Four Turkish projects aimed at increasing women’s and girls’ access to education and healthcare and combating all forms of violence against women and girls were awarded a total of $300,000 from the US Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues in the implementation of its first small grants initiative program. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer, appointed by US President Barrack Obama, spoke at a press conference yesterday in İstanbul. During the announcement of recipients of the grants, she said they had received many valuable project proposals.“I wish we could have funded even more projects because we had so many project proposals,” Verveer said, adding that 38 countries had been awarded funding for 57 projects.One of the four Turkish organizations is the Mother and Child Education Foundation (AÇEV), which received approximately $95,000 to implement its “Raising Young Girls” project to benefit 2,550 young girls in İstanbul and Diyarbakır over the next 16 months.Representing AÇEV, Çiğdem Kağıtçıbaşı said their programs in early education, family education and adult literacy have been exemplary since the organization was founded in 1993.The Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work (KEDV), established in 1986, was granted $100,000 for its “solar cooker” project. Şengül Akçar from KEDV said they will work with local women’s cooperatives to implement the solar cooker project, which is aimed at reducing dependency on fossil fuels, providing economic advantages to women and providing benefits for those implementing the solar cooking project.Two more projects received funding from donations to the US State Department by the Avon Foundation. One was the Hüseyin Özyeğin Foundation, which was awarded approximately $50,000 to implement its program “Empowering young women against violence.” Aslı Bekmen from the foundation said the funds will be utilized in the provinces of Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Bitlis and Muş for seminars at six dormitories for girls housing 1,148 students.The fourth grant was $50,000 for Anadolu University’s (AÜ) education projects for journalism students on the issue of gender. İncilal Cangöz from AÜ said their purpose will be to raise awareness of the language journalists use in their reporting of gender-related topics. She said they plan to educate 40 students from five universities and produce educational DVDs and books on the issue to be distributed at journalism schools.Verveer’s visit to İstanbul will also include the inauguration of the US State Department sponsored “Invest for the Future: Women Driving Economic Growth Conference” -- a three-year program geared towards improving the economic situation for women across Southern and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. The conference on Jan. 24-26 will bring together 125 women business owners from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece and Turkey in İstanbul to learn about innovative ways women entrepreneurs can grow their businesses. The program is being implemented in partnership with the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey.Hmmmmmm......KEDV  A "Solar cooker?AÇEV who works together with Harvard?Coincidence Mr president?Read the full story here.

• Russia - Two terrorists involved in Domodedovo blast, both killed.Two terrorists were involved in a suicide bomb attack at Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport that killed 35 and injured up to 180 on Monday, a law enforcement source said.Both died in the explosion that ripped through the international arrivals zone at 4:32 p.m. (13:32 GMT), as friends and taxi drivers were meeting arriving passengers.The blast was equivalent to 5 kilograms of TNT and the bomb was packed with metal objects to cause maximum damage. Earlier reports said that the bomb was equivalent to 7 kg of TNT."The blast occurred when a suspected female terrorist opened a bag. She was accompanied by a man whose head was ripped off by the explosion," the source told RIA Novosti."It cannot be ruled out that the terrorists wanted to leave the explosive device in the hall but the bomb was detonated inadvertently or by a remote control device," he said."The terror attack was done according to a scheme that is used by terrorists from the North Caucasus region," he said. "The [2004] blasts at the Rizhskaya subway station and other explosions in the Moscow metro [2010] were carried out similarly, when the terrorists were accompanied by militants."Reports suggest the terrorists were driven to the airport, Moscow's busiest, by an accomplice.The bombing was the worst terror attack since two female suicide bombers from the volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan blew themselves up at two of the capital's subway stations last March, killing 40.Police have hinted the latest outrage may be linked to the Islamist radicals in the North Caucasus.Three suspects are being sought over the bombing.Hmmmm....Makes me wonder...If female terrorists blow themselves up ,do they also get 72 virgins?Read the full story here.

• Sen. Sessions on Obama Initiatives: ‘Can’t See How We Could Possibly Spend More Money’.ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: President Obama is leavening his calls for fiscal restraint for targeted “investments” aimed at helping the economy – including new spending on areas such as education, infrastructure, and job creation.But the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, told us on ABC’s “Top Line” today that he doesn’t foresee supporting even limited expansions in government spending.“I can't see how we could possibly spend more money at this point,” said Sessions, R-Ala. “Start new programs perhaps -- if some were reduced or eliminated, you might reorder money, and I'd be open to that. But we'd really have to have at least, I think, this year, a 10 percent reduction in spending.”“Ryan has done a fabulous thing. He's developed a plan that goes 60 years, and he deals with Social Security and Medicare, a lot of those changes don't take place until in the distant years in the future,” Sessions said. “But his whole plan and approach is fabulous, we need to be listening to it. The president needs to be engaging it, just those kinds of serious discussions, and from what I'm hearing he's still talking about ‘investments’ which is a code word for spending. We've got to get off that road -- we can't go 30 miles an hour down the road just because we [were doing] 60. It’s the wrong road, so we get on the right road to a solvent America. This will be the best thing for our economic growth.”We also checked in with Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. Van Hollen said the president is pursuing “two paths” – one of fiscal discipline, and another with targeted investments “to get jobs moving again in this country.”Read the full story here.

• Pro-Palestinian groups plan largest Gaza flotilla ever.Convoy of ships is expected to arrive in Gaza on the anniversary of the Israeli raid on the "Mavi Marmara," in May.International pro-Palestinian groups are preparing a massive flotilla of ships to the Gaza Strip in the spring, to coincide with the first anniversary of the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara in late May, organizers said on Monday.The convoy will be named “Freedom Flotilla 2” and is expected to include delegations from close to a dozen countries including, for the first time, vessels from the US and Canada.According to the organizers, the various groups are in the process of raising money, buying vessels and recruiting volunteers.Dror Feiler, an Israeli- Swedish musician and artist who lives in Stockholm – and one of the organizers behind the new flotilla – said that the flotilla would try to reach Gaza on May 31, the same day that the Israel Navy stopped the Turkish flotilla last year.The coalition behind the new blockade-busting effort includes the Turkish IHH and the Free Gaza Movement, both of which were involved in the May flotilla. It is demanding “an immediate and complete lifting of the closure, including a lifting of the travel ban as well as the ban on exports from Gaza.”According to Feiler, the new flotilla will include activists from Norway, Spain, the US, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Indonesia and Malaysia.Read the full story here.

• New trends in Halal retailing in North America.The halal retail market in North America is brimming with opportunities and creative retailers are experimenting in numerous ways of capitalizing it. An often overlooked but growing trend is the emergence of large super-market style stores which are open until late night or for twenty four hours. Despite facing a slew of hurdles these businesses have grown and expanded.In Toronto Iqbal Foods has become a landmark and a hit not only with Muslims but also non-Muslim consumers. Open until midnight it attracts customers from throughout the Greater Toronto Area and beyond. Unlike the Queens case, Nayab and Iqbal Foods have faced little opposition because the areas in which they opened were already dominated by the immigrant population. Devon Avenue is a well known South Asian hub. Thorncliffe Park, where Iqbal is located, is a dense neighborhood with highrises populated mainly by Muslims.Hmmm......Merriam-Webster Dictionary "Dominate" Synonyms: conquer, overpower, pacify, subdue, subject, subjugate, subordinate, vanquish.Read the full story here.

• Top Senate Budget Republican not ruling out government shutdown.Washington (CNN) – Most Republicans demanding to slash federal spending won't entertain the idea of taking a possible standoff with President Obama so far that the government shuts down.But the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee told CNN Monday he's not ruling out that possibility "if the President just stonewalls – refuses to pass anything that will be responsible."In 1995, when Republicans controlled all of Congress and a spending stalemate resulted in a government shutdown, President Clinton went on to win re-election.Most Republicans remember that as a politically disastrous move they don't want to repeat. Sessions says there was an upside – the country's fiscal condition did get better."It worked out good for the country. We had three years of balanced budgets that would never have happened had they not fought that hard in Congress so I think that Congress does have to fight," said Sessions.Sessions said he is worried that the "gulf" between what Republicans want in spending cuts and what President Obama will tolerate may be too hard to bridge."It does appear that the president is a man of the left. He believes in government - he's still talking about it now – investments, which are spending programs," said Sessions.Hmmmmm.....If he really wanted to destroy America would he do anything different?Read the full story here.

• Russian Bear protects BP against a takeover.Almost three years ago, Bob Dudley fled Russia. Now he's going back in a big way. Dudley was the chief executive of TNK-BP, a joint venture between the British oil giant and a Russian company to produce oil from Siberia. Today, of course, Dudley runs BP itself.The company recently announced a stock swap in which BP will get a 9.5 percent stake in Russia's state-owned oil company, Rosneft, and Rosneft will get 5 percent of BP's common stock.The deal, which Russia's deputy prime minister valued at about $8 billion, gives BP access to the Russian Arctic, perhaps the world's greatest potential untapped oil reserves, and it gives Rosneft access to Western capital. For BP, though, the deal has an added benefit. For the past six months, the company has been working to shore up its finances in the wake of its disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.Back in the summer, BP faced the threat of a hostile takeover, because, as I wrote at the time, the value of its assets was greater than its market value.Now, nine months after the Deepwater Horizon accident, BP's U.S. shares are within striking distance of their pre-disaster level. Last week they traded more than 75 percent above their low of $27.02 in late June. Even so, takeover rumors have persisted. BP's weakened stock price, combined with rising oil prices, made it a cheap way for another major to bolster its reserves at a bargain price, the theory went.The Russian deal pretty much quashes any chance that another oil major would make a hostile offer for BP, because any buyer would have to deal with the Russian government.Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell have struggled with Russian investments because of that country's hostile business climate.For BP, though, the Rosneft stock swap is a devil-you-know sort of deal. In 2003, the company became the biggest foreign investor in Russia by setting up the 50-50 joint venture with TNK.The equal ownership stakes, though, meant neither side was really in charge, and the Russian oligarchs who control TNK accused Dudley of managing the venture to benefit BP at their expense. The oligarchs, for example, wanted to expand internationally, but BP's directors shot down the idea, presumably because the venture might compete with BP's own interests abroad.The Rosneft deal could indeed prove lucrative just on its merits. In the meantime, it's better than any poison pill takeover defense BP's board could cook up.Hmmmm.....Hiding behind the Russian bear?Read the full story here.

• HT:NewZeal.When Obama Talks like Reagan, Remember Mark Rudd's Warning Words.It is clear that President Barack Obama is going to move his rhetoric to the center, even to the right, as he positions himself for 2012. After all he can hardly talk further left can he?But as the beguiling one talks like Ronald Reagan, we should all keep an eye on his actions.We should also remember this analysis from former Weather Underground terrorist Mark Rudd, written just after the 2008 elections;Obama is a very strategic thinker. He knew precisely what it would take to get elected and didn't blow it. He used community organizing methods to mobilize a base consisting of many people who had never voted before or who regularly don't vote....But he also knew that what he said had to basically play to the center to not be run over by the press, the Republicans, scare centrist and cross-over voters away. He made it.So he has a narrow mandate for change, without any direction specified. What he's doing now is moving on the most popular issues -- the environment, health care, and the economy. He'll be progressive on the environment because that has broad popular support; health care will be extended to children, then made universal, but the medical, pharmaceutical, and insurance corporations will stay in place, perhaps yielding some power; the economic agenda will stress stimulation from the bottom sometimes and handouts to the top at other times. It will be pragmatic... Read Obama's first book, "Dreams from My Father." The second section is the story of his three years doing community organizing in Chicago. It's some of the best writing on organizing I've ever seen. That's all it's about, the core of the book. Obama learned many lessons of strategy and patience... This is no stupid guy... Had any of the stupid Republicans read his books, they never could have said, "We don't know who this guy is." You know every thought he's ever had.Hmmmmm......"They don't trust me because of my middle name"And a million other things?Read the full story here.

• Black Pro-Life Leaders: Santorum ‘Absolutely Right’ to Wonder How Obama Could Support Abortion. Black pro-life leaders say they agree with former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who in an interview with CNSNews.com last week, referred to President Obama's African-American heritage and said he found it “almost remarkable” that the president could be pro-abortion.The former senator touched off a media storm when he said that he agreed with the argument Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., made in his 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail” that a just law is a manmade law that comports with the natural law or the law of God, and that he finds it “almost remarkable” that a black man like President Barack Obama would want to deny legal recognition for the human rights of an unborn child.“I have to agree with him and say that I find it remarkable, also,” Day Gardner, president of the National Black Pro-Life Union in Washington, D.C., told CNSNews.com. “In light of the fact that coming out of slavery, we were not considered full human beings. We were treated as no better than pack mules, working in fields, without any rights at all.”During the one-hour-and-40 minute interview, Santorum said that, when asked during the 2008 campaign by Pastor Rick Warren "at what point" a baby "gets human rights," President Obama was wrong to answer “(T)hat is above my pay grade.”Santorum then said: "(T)he question is--and this is what Barack Obama didn't want to answer -- is that human life a person under the Constitution? And Barack Obama says no. Well, if that person, human life, is not a person, then I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say, no, we are going to decide who are people and who are not people."“It’s very interesting that the ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’ was referenced,” Childress said. “In that same letter, Martin Luther King references infanticide or child-killing as evil. So what Martin Luther King calls evil, Barack Obama and this administration calls good -- because all of their policies have more or less facilitated the growth or the intrusion of abortion in our community and our legislation a hundred fold.” "Unfortunately Barack Obama, undoubtedly, is a facilitator for black genocide. What’s the irony of that? Well, Barack Obama himself is black.”“We look at the conditions in which Barack Obama was born himself, his mother endured, and took on the challenges that were given her and did not choose to kill the child that was in her womb," said Childress. "She was abandoned by her father. She did not have any certain dwelling place. She was unquestionably unsure about her financial stability, and yet she chose to have Barack – and as, we can see, this has turned out to be something that became a historic decision to have him -- because this man is the first black president of the United States."“Just because I’m born in Bedford-Stuy or born in the projects and my mother is single and 16 and doesn’t have an education, you don’t have the right to cut off my pursuit of happiness," said the pastor. "You don’t have that right. The Declaration says you don’t have that right. The Constitution says that these rights are for ‘us and for our posterity’ – our future children."Hmmm.....Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal. Martin Luther King, Jr.Read the full story here.

• Charles Aznavour called on Israel to officially recognize Armenian 'genocide'.Turkey pursues “cave anti-Semitism”, Aznavour says.World renowned French chansionnier Charles Aznavour called on Israel to officially recognize Armenian 'genocide', perpetrated under Ottoman Empire in 1915, Kol Israel radio reports.Speaking at the ceremony of International Award of Jerusalem University on January 23, Aznavour said “cave anti-Semitism” has been observed in Turkey in recent years, which took obvious anti-Israeli positions on all Middle East problems, Nashe.orbita.co.il reports.Source.

• Turkey urges Canada not to adopt new 'genocide' resolution.Turkish Parliament Speaker meets Canadian counterpart.Turkish Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Shahin has urged Canada to change its policies recognizing Armenian genocide claims, requesting that the country’s Parliament not adopt more resolutions on the same issue in April.“Our wish is not [to see] new problems this April,” Shahin said during a joint press conference with his visiting Canadian counterpart, Noel Kinsella.The Canadian Parliament recognized the 1915 killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as genocide in 2004. The parliamentary recognition was later approved by the government as well, prompting severe reaction from Turkey. However, because the Canadian government later softened its comments on the issue, relations have improved between the two in recent years.Noting that nearly 50,000 Turkish citizens are living in Canada, Shahin said: “They are civilized humans who contribute to the stability and the development of Canada. I want to believe that the Canadian government and its officials will not make a move that could hurt Turkish citizens.”Hmmmmm......Keep silent .....or else what?Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.'Abbas: If We Fail in the U.N., We Will Take an "Inconceivable" Decision.PA President Mahmoud 'Abbas said that September 2011 was the deadline by which the U.N. must respond to Palestinian appeals regarding the peace process. If these appeals were rejected, he said, the Palestinian leadership would take a decision of which nobody could conceive.Hmmmm......They might leave and go and live in Iran?Read the full story here.