New House Watchdog Lets Obama Slide On “Criminal Event”.

HT:Judicialwatch.New House Watchdog Lets Obama Slide On “Criminal Event”.During a public relations campaign touting upcoming probes of the Obama Administration, the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said the president won’t be investigated for a bribery scandal because his party is guilty of the same crime. This astounding example of bipartisan corruption was actually delivered on national television over the weekend. California Republican Darrell Issa, the federal lawmaker responsible for scrutinizing presidential misconduct, did the Sunday talk-show rounds to promote a wasteful spending inquiry of “one of the most corrupt administrations,” and assure Americans that his committee will identify $200 billion in waste. In the process, Issa confirmed that he’ll let President Obama slide on one of his most serious offenses so far.Issa didn’t buy it and over the weekend confirmed it “was a criminal event under the law” yet he won’t pursue it, though he’s obligated as the head of the congressional watchdog that investigates all matters with federal policy implications. The reason is because Republicans have in the past committed the same crime, according to Issa, who openly acknowledged the Sestak scandal “is in fact an example of misconduct.”Hmmmm......"His bark is worse then his bite"comes to mind.Read the full story here.

.Times Helps Muslim Rep. Ellison Obstruct Terror Probe

HT:Aim.Times Helps Muslim Rep. Ellison Obstruct Terror Probe.In an editorial titled “Homeland Blather,” The New York Times said that it agrees with Rep. Keith Ellison that it is “very scary” that the incoming chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, wants to investigate the “radicalization of the American Muslim community.” The editorial, however, failed to note that Ellison, “the nation’s first Muslim elected to the House,” comes from a district that includes young Muslims recruited to go to Somalia to participate in plots to kill Americans.The problem of radicalization, as we pointed out in another column about Ellison’s resistance to the probe, has been examined by the Senate Homeland Security Committee. The topic was addressed by Andrew Liepman, Deputy Director of Intelligence of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). “FBI Watching Somali Muslims In Minneapolis” was the headline over a CBS News story about the danger.Investigations into this continuing problem are clearly warranted, especially in relation to the Muslim problem in Minneapolis—Ellison’s district. But perhaps Ellison, the newly elected co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, fears being probed as well. After all, the radicalization of American Muslims is personified in his own transformation from radical leftist to advocate of Muslim causes.An Ellison speech on behalf of Olson, in which he called the terrorist a freedom fighter, has been eliminated from most websites, including one devoted to her legal defense, but a Minneapolis blogger who followed the case saved and posted it. One notices the lavish praise that Ellison bestows not only on Olson, also known as Katherine Soliah, but to Bernardine Dohrn, the former leader of the communist terrorist Weather Underground. Ellison also praised cop-killers Mumia Abu-Jamal, on death row in Pennsylvania, and Joanne Chesimard (aka Assata Shakur), who escaped the U.S. and is now living under the protection of the Castro dictatorship.In an article for The Weekly Standard, entitled, “Louis Farrakhan’s First Congressman,” Scott Johnson of PowerLine blog examined Ellison’s radical record, including his involvement with the Nation of Islam, and how the local paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, tried to keep this information from the voters.Now we know why Rep. Ellison wants to obstruct a probe into radical Islam. But why would The New York Times want to conceal this information?Hmmmm....As i said before you would think they have something to hide?Read the full story here.

Five Things We Should Worry about in 2011.

HT:BigGoverment.Five Things We Should Worry about in 2011.The mid-term elections were a rejection of President Obama’s big-government agenda, but those results don’t necessarily mean better policy. We should not forget, after all, that Democrats rammed through Obamacare even after losing the special election to replace Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts (much to my dismay, my prediction from last January was correct).Similarly, GOP control of the House of Representatives does not automatically mean less government and more freedom. Heck, it doesn’t even guarantee that things won’t continue to move in the wrong direction. Here are five possible bad policies for 2011, most of which the Obama White House can implement by using executive power.Hmmmm.....Which all of them he will implimentb by using executive power?Read the full story here.

And now for something completely different ! What's next to die in Arkansas?

And now for something completely different ! What's next to die in Arkansas? Now 100,000 dead FISH are found washed up... after 1,000 blackbirds fell from the sky.Residents of Arkansas must be wondering what they are going to find next.More than 100,000 fish have been found washed up on the banks of the Arkansas River - as 1,000 blackbirds fell from the sky in the nearby town of Beebe.The bizarre incidents appear to be unrelated but many locals will be contemplating whether the piles of animal corpses provide an eerie omen for the New Year.Environmental experts believe disease killed the fish while the violent storms that swept that state over the weekend may account for the fallen birds.The dead drum fish were discovered by a tug boat operator on the river banks on a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River, near Ozark. on Thursday.David Price, who spotted the fish from his parents' Roseville house, located on the banks of the river, pointed and said: 'Over from down here at the bottom of the rocks, out maybe 40 or 50 feet, there were just thousands of fish along the shorebanks all the way around the river here. 'This is kind of amazing because the the fish were about a pound and a half a piece.'Travis Harmon of the Department of Environmental Quality said: 'Barges reported passing up river and churning up dead fish from the bottom of the river. 'A single species is killed, and we don't know the cause. If it was toxic, other species would be affected.'Hmmmm.....Flying....Swimming ....What's next in line?Note to secretary cancel that Arkansas trip !Read the full story here.

Egypt on high alert ahead of Coptic Christmas

Egypt on high alert ahead of Coptic Christmas.Egypt was on high alert on Monday ahead of the Coptic Christmas holiday following a New Year's Day church bombing that killed 21 people as investigators raced to identify those behind the attack.Police cancelled leave for top officers and were tightening surveillance of airports and ports to prevent suspects from leaving the country, as new checkpoints were set up across the nation. Security was also to be beefed up at churches for Christmas which Copts celebrate on Jan. 7.The clampdown comes amid fears of new protests by Copts following overnight clashes at Cairo's St. Mark's Cathedral - headquarters of Coptic leader Pope Shenouda III - during which 45 policemen were wounded.The protesters pelted with rocks a minister who had come to visit the pope and heckled other government officials while other demonstrators blocked off four main streets in Cairo before police dispersed them.Coptic Christmas will fall on Friday - the weekly Muslim day of prayer and rest - and Shenouda said he intended to say mass as usual on Christmas Eve. "Not praying would mean that terrorism has deprived us of celebrating the birth of Christ," the official Al-Ahram newspaper quoted him as saying.Hmmmm.....Can't wait to hear Obama talk again about Muslim victims.Read the full story here.More here.

Turkey asked US to take astronaut in return for Boeing sale

Turkey asked US to take astronaut in return for Boeing sale.Turkey’s aspirations are not limited to its region, or even the globe, according to a recently released document that says the Turkish president sought to cut a deal to put a Turkish astronaut into outer space.President Abdullah Gül asked his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama to let a Turkish astronaut participate in a NASA space flight in return for buying Boeing jets, said a U.S. diplomatic cable obtained by the New York Times from the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.Commenting on how the meeting went, Jeffrey said in the cable that assisting Turkey’s aviation and aerospace agencies could be mutually beneficial in and of itself and merits further study. “We probably cannot put a Turkish astronaut in orbit, but there are programs we could undertake to strengthen Turkey’s capacity in this area that would meet our own goals for improved aviation safety in the region,” he wrote. “In any case, we must show some response to the minister’s vague requests if we want to maximize chances for the sale.”Hmmmm.....One might think they heard of "NASA's outreach to Muslims"?Read the full story here.

The War on Christianity".Russia: Church set on fire in Caucasus

"The War on Christianity".Russia: Church set on fire in Caucasus.Unidentified attackers set a church ablaze with a grenade in Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus late on Sunday, media reported, in the latest act of violence in a region where Moscow is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency.No one was hurt in the attack on the Russian Orthodox Church, state-run RIA news agency reported, which took place at 9.30 p.m. in the town of Ordzhonikidze, in the impoverished Ingushetia region which borders Chechnya.Though rare, vandalism of churches belonging to the small Christian communities in the North Caucasus has increased over the past year.Read the full story here.HT:IslamInEurope.

States Will Push Tough Immigration Laws In 2011

HT:JudicialWatch.States Will Push Tough Immigration Laws In 2011.Fed up with the federal government’s perpetual failure to secure the southern border, state legislators across the country will begin the New Year with aggressive efforts to curb illegal immigration.Dozens of state lawmakers throughout the nation have already started drafting measures designed to contain the devastating impact of illegal immigration, according to several news reports. Local governments are so desperate for relief that the possibility of a costly legal challenge is not deterring them from their campaign to crack down on illegal immigration.Elected officials in at least six states have already confirmed plans to introduce bills similar to Arizona’s, which bans “sanctuary city” policies, makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. without proper documentation and requires police to check the immigration status of people stopped for questioning. Others have announced measures to limit access to public benefits for illegal aliens and to punish employers who hire them.Oklahoma may enact a measure that allows authorities to seize and keep the vehicle of anyone who harbors an illegal immigrant and Missouri, Mississippi and Nebraska are among states where legislators will offer bills similar to Arizona. In several other states, lawmakers plan to push for laws that require employers to verify the immigration status of their workers.Hmmmm.....The "Dream" is turning in to a "Nightmare" for illegals?Read the full story here.

Darrell Issa reveals list of investigations

Darrell Issa reveals list of investigations.Rep. Darrell Issa is aiming to launch investigations on everything from WikiLeaks to Fannie Mae to corruption in Afghanistan in the first few months of what promises to be a high profile chairmanship of the top oversight committee in Congress. According to an outline of the committee’s hearing topics obtained by POLITICO, the House Oversight and Government Reform is also planning to investigate how regulation impacts job creation, the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the foreclosure crisis; recalls at the Food and Drug Administration and the failure of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to agree on the causes of the market meltdown.Hmmmm....."Barking dogs don't bite"?Lets meet again in a year and look back.Read the full "story" here.

America needs a new national debate on the Constitution

America needs a new national debate on the Constitution.It might seem unlikely that a lone law professor could spark a national discussion about the kind of government Americans want in the 21st century, but that's exactly what Georgetown Law School's Randy E. Barnett hopes to do with his modest proposal known as the Repeal Amendment. You can read Barnett's description of the plan and his response to critics of it like the New York Times here.Under the plan, measures approved by Washington could be repealed if both houses in two-thirds of the state legislatures vote to do so. Incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., is among the proposal's most significant supporters, which means it will receive serious attention during the 112th Congress convening this week. Whatever one's view of the propriety of amending the U.S. Constitution in the manner proposed by Barnett -- and for the record, we think the Repeal Amendment is a dandy way to restore the proper balance to our federal system -- the professor's idea could not be more appropriately timed.Comparing the words of the Constitution to the actions of our leaders in recent years will surely make clear the enduring wisdom of James Madison's warning that "there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." Talking seriously about this condition is the first step to remedying it, just as Madison and the rest of the Founders intended.Read the full story here.

Russian Duma to link missile defense to START limitations

HT:HotAir.Russian Duma to link missile defense to START limitations.The Russian Duma delivered two embarrassing blows to the Obama administration over the holidays on the START treaty, one of which may end up scotching the deal altogether. First, the Russian legislature refused to do what Barack Obama insisted of the US Senate, which was a quick ratification. More importantly, however, the Duma will do what Senate Republicans wanted, which was to amend the treaty to clarify the relationship between START and missile defense. However, the Duma’s changes will link the two and recast START into a de facto anti-missile defense pact.The Duma might in fact reinvigorate START opposition in the Senate, and at the worst possible time. Any alteration to the treaty will force a new ratification vote, and clearly Obama would have lacked the signatures in the last session of Congress for missile-defense restrictions. With his 18-seat majority reduced to six seats, the new session of the Senate won’t approve it either, and it won’t even be close. If the Duma follows through on this threat, then Obama will suffer an embarrassing defeat on foreign policy, essentially conducting a rerun on more substantial grounds of the “reset button” embarrassment from two years ago.Even if the Duma doesn’t formally alter the treaty, though, Obama’s credibility will be shot. They will have been publicly caught arguing one thing to the Senate while apparently agreeing to its opposite with Russia. The next time Obama brings a treaty of any consequence and controversy to the Senate, don’t expect the Senate to just accept Obama’s word ….and don’t expect it to pass ratification, either.
Hmmm......Obama ....Transparancy....Hahahahaha!Another Obamination.Read the full story here.

Demise of Iraqi water park illustrates limitations, abuse of U.S. funding program

Demise of Iraqi water park illustrates limitations, abuse of U.S. funding program.BAGHDAD - In the spring of 2008, Gen. David H. Petraeus decided he had spent enough time gazing from his helicopter at an empty and desolate lake on the banks of the Tigris River. He ordered the lake refilled and turned into a water park for all of Baghdad to enjoy.The military doctrine behind the project holds that cash can be as effective as bullets. Under Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq at the time, that principle gained unprecedented emphasis, and it has become a cornerstone of the war effort in Afghanistan, now under Petraeus's command. But today the Baghdad park is nearly waterless, more than two years after a U.S. military inauguration ceremony that included a marching band and water-scooter rides. Much of the compound is in ruins, swing sets have become piles of twisted steel, and the personal watercraft's engines have been gutted for spare parts. The troubled history of the venture speaks to the limitations and mishandling of a program that has provided U.S. military commanders with $5 billion for projects in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past six years. The program has given officers enormous flexibility to address urgent needs with few bureaucratic hassles. But in many cases, such as that of the Jadriyah Lake park, the investments under the plan, known as the Commander's Emergency Response Program, have created no more than a temporary illusion of progress. They have also shown a lack of U.S. foresight and highlighted the shortcomings of an Iraqi government the Americans were trying to boost.Hmmmm.....Another "Obamination"?Read the full story here.

We Should Attack David Cameron, Attack the Law and Order, and Make the Entire System Bow Down to Allah

HT:Memri.Video : British Salafi "Abu Mounisa": We Should Attack David Cameron, Attack the Law and Order, and Make the Entire System Bow Down to Allah.Hmmmm....."We do not want to take over your country"?Read the full story here.

United Arab Emirates, Etihad offering Canadians visas at under $70

United Arab Emirates, Etihad offering Canadians visas at under $70.Travellers can bypass embassy route where visa charges have been increased substantially.Canadians travelling through Dubai can obtain a short-term visa of four days for $61.5 (Dh225.9), provided they are travelling with Emirates airline.Similarly, Canadian citizens, holding a valid residency in the UAE and wanting to bring their parents and immediate relatives on a visit, can do so by booking tickets on Emirates airlines.The visa charges are now $74.5 (Dh273.6) for a 30-day visa extendable by another 30 days.A 90-day visa only for parents or in-laws travelling by Emirates is available for for Dh1155.The facility is only available to passengers of Emirates airline irrespective of the nationality,” said an Emirates official at the Dnata office on Sheikh Zayed Road."Canadian travellers can now apply for and purchase UAE visas online via www.emirates.com. All ticketed Emirates customers, regardless of whether their ticket was purchased via a travel agent, online via www.emirates.com, or directly from an Emirates call centre or retail shop, may log-in to ‘Manage a Booking’ on www.emirates.com and access the application tool. Both 96 hour and 30 day visas are available and these will be issued via email within 3-4 working days," said a statement isued by Emirates airline.Meanwhile, Etihad airways is offering visas for Canadian citizens at $68 (Dh249.7) for 96 hours, $83 (Dh304.7) for 30 days and $365 (dh1340) for 90 days.Passengers can also apply for a 14 days entry permit for $103 (Dh378.2) . However the passenger has to enter UAE within ten days of the issuance of the visa.Effective from 02nd January 2011, “Visa on arrival” facility has been withdrawn for Canadian Nationals and are thereby requested to apply for visa in advance.Hmmmm........Why do i get the feeling that landing rights have something to do with this?Read the full story here.

French police probe Copt churches threat

French police probe Copt churches threat.French police are investigating threats made against Coptic churches in France in the wake of a deadly attack on one in Egypt, a security source said Monday.The Paris anti-terrorism squad launched a probe on terrorism-related charges after a church leader filed a complaint, the source said.A priest at the Coptic church of Saint Mary and Saint Mark in the Paris suburb of Chatenay-Malabry told AFP on Monday that he had made a complaint to police.The priest, Girguis Lucas, said a worshipper at his church had seen "threats made on the Internet by Islamic mujahedeens who announced other attacks in Europe and in France in particular, and who mention our church.""These threats are not a fantasy," said Lucas, who estimated there are 250,000 Coptic Christians in France. "Here people are free. We cannot accept these threats."Germany's Coptic Christians have also received threats of attack by radical Muslims and asked for protection, a bishop said in comments published by a newspaper on Sunday."The Internet is full of threats of this kind against us. The police have alerted us several times against attacks by radical Muslims," Coptic Bishop Anba Damian said in a report on the Bild's online edition.Hmmmm......"The War on Christianity" First they came for the Copts?Read the full story here.

Did you know that Islam approves of men who dress in women's clothes?

HT:StrategyPage.Did you know that Islam approves of men who dress in women's clothes? Sort of. Islamic scripture details several incidents where the prophet Mohammed protected men who preferred to dress as women. Thus it should be no surprise that, in Saudi Arabia, major clerics been conspicuous in not condemning the use of women’s clothing by terrorists. There have been several publicized (and many more unpublicized) incidents where terrorists were caught in drag.The Saudis regularly catch terrorist suspects using this kind of disguise in an attempt to get past police checkpoints. Most of these incidents end in an arrest, not gunfire.This type of disguise is frequently used by terrorists and criminals. While most Islamic clerics do not condemn such cross-dressing, the Koran comes right out and says this should not be done. Despite Mohammed's lenient attitudes in this area, he was not condoning such practices, but simply trying to help these men to mend their ways and dress right. Pro-terrorist clerics take the position that, while on a Mission From God, anything is permissible.Hmmmm......"The devil wears .....Burkas"?Read the full story here.

The Muslim Elephant in the Room of Tolerance

HT:SultanKnish.The Muslim Elephant in the Room of Tolerance.Headlines in New York papers are blaring once again that Islamophobia is up. Up and rising. Statistics released by the state's Division of Criminal Justice Services reveals that Islamophobic bias attacks are up by a whopping 15 percent.15 percent that does sound like a lot. And by a lot, I mean that they've gone up from 8 incidents in 2008 to 11 in 2009. That's right, that whopping "15 percent" is actually an increase of 3 incidents. To put this into context, in 2008 there were 219 attacks targeting Jews. And in 2009, that number went up to 251. And here's some more context. That same report shows that Anti-Multi-Religious Groups attacks went up from 3 to 11 incidents in that same year. That's a much steeper spike which brings us to the same number as the so-called Islamophobic attacks. And yet you don't see the media trumpeting those numbers. But when there are more bias attacks by people who can't figure out which religion they hate more, than anti-Muslim attacks, it's safe to say that there is no Islamophobia crisis.News reports typically misrepresent Muslim attacks on synagogues as hostility to Israel spilling over into Anti-Semitism. But in reality it was always Anti-Semitism. Muslim hostility to Israel springs out of a hatred for Jews. An attitude that goes back to the days of the Koran and the founding of Islam. If this was really about Israel, then why attack synagogues? Particularly synagogues that are often non-political. Sometimes downright liberal. So too Muslim violence against Americans is supremacism spilling out. It's not really about the War in Iraq, or any war, those are only excuses for Muslim violence against people they consider to be subhuman. There's over a thousand years of history for this sort of thing. And it isn't going away any time soon.Targeting synagogues and churches is a clear example of a religious war. A religious war has political components, but it is religious first and political second. Muslim violence is part of a religious war. It's not a mistake or a misunderstanding. There's no confusion on the subject. It's a religious war guided by the scriptural verses and tenets of the Koran. Yet while we frantically collect scraps of Islamophobic crimes, we have never defined the sheer body of hate crimes by Muslims.And our leaders take to the air to urge us to be more tolerant. Because while tolerance may not stop bombs or bullets, it does stop you from thinking. And to our leaders who promote Tolerance Uber Alles, thinking is a thousand times more dangerous than bombs or bullets. Bombs and bullets kill, but thoughts bring change.Read the full story here.

30 Reasons Why 2011 Is Going To Be Another Crappy Year For America’s Middle Class.

HT:TheAmericanDream.30 Reasons Why 2011 Is Going To Be Another Crappy Year For America’s Middle Class.Do you think that 2011 will be a good year for America's middle class? Well, you might not be so optimistic after you read the 30 statistics posted below. The truth is that 2011 is going to be another crappy year for America's middle class, and there is not a whole lot that you or I can do about it. Sadly, what we are facing as a nation is not just a short-term economic downturn. Rather, there are some very serious long-term economic trends that are absolutely ripping apart the U.S. middle class. For example, did you know that even though our population has been growing at a brisk pace we have lost about ten percent of our middle class jobs over the past decade? The vast majority of jobs that have been created have been low paying service jobs. We now have hordes of highly educated young people that are waiting tables and that are welcoming customers to Wal-Mart. Without good paying jobs there is no middle class, but today American corporations are actually creating more jobs overseas than they are inside the United States. This has helped pad the profits of the big corporate fatcats, but it has been devastating for middle class communities across the United States. Every time a factory gets closed down in America and gets set up in some other country instead, it means that the U.S. middle class is shrinking just a little bit more. The new "global economy" has been good for the bottom line of the largest U.S. corporations, it has been great for countries like China and India, but it is absolutely wiping out the U.S. middle class.If you still have a good paying middle class job you should be very thankful. The total number of those jobs is rapidly decreasing. Millions of those that have lost their jobs over the last several years have been forced to take lower paying jobs or even part-time jobs in an attempt to fill the void. Millions of others have not been able to find a job at all.Meanwhile, the price of everything is going up. Have you been to the supermarket lately? The price of food is going up substantially. Many analysts are already talking about $5 a gallon gasoline in 2010. Utility bills are going through the roof. Health care premiums are soaring. Many state and local governments are seriously hiking up taxes and fees.The following are 30 reasons why 2011 is going to be another crappy year for America's middle class....Read the full story here.

George Soros Openly Discusses the coming New World Order

Obama to increase engagement with Africa in 2011

HT:DailyCaller.Obama to increase engagement with Africa in 2011.President Barack Obama is quietly but strategically stepping up his outreach to Africa, using this year to increase his engagement with a continent that is personally meaningful to him and important to U.S. interests.Expectations in Africa spiked after the election of an American president with a Kenyan father. But midway through his term, Obama’s agenda for Africa has taken a backseat to other foreign policy goals, such as winding down the Iraq war, fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and resetting relations with Russia.Obama aides believe those issues are now on more solid footing, allowing the president to expand his international agenda. He will focus in Africa on good governance and supporting nations with strong democratic institutions.The White House says Obama will travel to Africa again and the political calendar means the trip will almost certainly happen this year, before Obama has to spend more time on his re-election bid. No decision has been made on which countries Obama will visit, but deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said stops will reflect positive democratic models.Rhodes said the White House understands that U.S. involvement in African politics can be viewed as meddling. But he said Obama can speak to African leaders with a unique level of candor, reflecting his personal connection to Africa and that his father and other family members have been affected by the corruption that plagues many countries there.Hmmmmm......Another trip and as soon he's there his first words will be "Islam is a great religion"?Read the full story here.

Drilling Is Stalled Even After Ban Is Lifted

Drilling Is Stalled Even After Ban Is Lifted .More than two months after the Obama administration lifted its ban on drilling in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico, oil companies are still waiting for approval to drill the first new oil well there. Experts now expect the wait to continue until the second half of 2011, and perhaps into 2012.The administration says it is simply trying to enforce new safety rules adopted in the wake of the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 workers and set off the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Environmental groups say the administration is right to take its time because the Gulf disaster exposed the risks of offshore drilling.But the delay is hurting big oil companies such as Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which have billions of dollars in investments tied up in Gulf projects that are on hold and are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a day for rigs that aren't allowed to drill. Smaller operators such as ATP Oil & Gas Corp., which have less flexibility to focus on projects in other regions, have been even harder hit.The impact of the delays goes beyond the oil industry. The Gulf coast economy has been hit hard by the slowdown in drilling activity, especially because the oil spill also hurt the region's fishing and tourism industries. The Obama administration in September estimated that 8,000 to 12,000 workers could lose their jobs temporarily as a result of the moratorium; some independent estimates have been much higher.The slowdown also has long-term implications for U.S. oil production. The Energy Information Administration, the research arm of the Department of Energy, last month predicted that domestic offshore oil production will fall 13% this year from 2010 due to the moratorium and the slow return to drilling; a year ago, the agency predicted offshore production would rise 6% in 2011. The difference: a loss of about 220,000 barrels of oil a day. Hmmmmm....Is the Obama administration restricting on purpose  the US oil companies?If so what's Obama's goal?Read the full story here.More here.

Christian Persecution in Iraq

HT:Aina.Christian Persecution in Iraq.When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, 1.4 million Christians lived there. Now there are about half a million, and that number is falling as persecution of them increases.Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Christians kept their heads down but basically lived in peace. Mostly members of sects that had been in the Middle East since the time of Christ, they were a minority among a largely Muslim population.Although Saddam's government was secular, the dictator maintained an aura of Islamic piety. But for the most part, that did not express itself in persecution of Iraq's Christians.The situation changed after the U.S. invasion. Intra-Muslim conflict between Shiites and Sunnis has often turned into anti-Christian violence.Iraq's Christians have not consciously allied with U.S. forces, but anti-American sentiment in Iraq has focused to some degree on the fact that most American troops consider themselves Christian. From there it is a small step for Muslim extremists to attack Iraq's indigenous Christians.The attacks have been intense in recent months. They made Iraqi Christians' observance of Christmas dangerous and thus restrained. With U.S. withdrawal from Iraq scheduled for this year, it might be time for President Obama to consider a program that would admit Iraqi Christians to the United States.
Hmmmm....Don't they know that Obama doesn't care about Christian suffering?He even invents Muslim victims when they bomb christians.Read the full story here.

Angry Copts Attack Vehicle Carrying Egypt's Top Muslim Clerics

HT:Aina.Angry Copts Attack Vehicle Carrying Egypt's Top Muslim Clerics.Angry Coptic Christians pelted a vehicle carrying Egypt's top Muslim religious leaders shortly after they met with Coptic leader Pope Shenouda III. Mourners also gathered for mass inside the Saints Coptic Church in Alexandria to grieve for the victims of an explosion outside the church early Saturday.Egypt's top religious leaders met in a frantic attempt to prevent further sectarian violence, following an explosion Saturday outside a church in the port city of Alexandria.Eyewitnesses say tempers flared after the meeting when an angry crowd of Coptic men pelted a vehicle carrying top Muslim leaders. Reports say Egypt's grand mufti and the Sheikh of al Azhar were not hurt. A spokesman for the mufti indicated that he "understood the anger" of the crowd.A group of old women in black wailed and cried as they left a mass to mourn loved ones killed in the blast outside Saints Coptic Church. Egyptian TV showed workers cleaning blood stains and sandblasting the church to remove traces of Saturday's explosion.After the mass, a priest at the church, Father Maqar Fawzy, tried to put a damper on the angry pulse of worshipers and those outside the church.Read the full story here.

Iran Primer: Take a Look

HT:BigPeace.Iran Primer: Take a Look.Very few Americans actually have been to Iran in the past three decades, since The 1979 Revolution. Within our diplomatic, military, and political bureaucracy there is little incentive to become an Iranian expert because that is an area in which the promotions will not be rapid. Our general public is relatively ignorant on issues related to Iran. Yet Iran is a key foreign policy issue. What is the best way to inform the US public on Iranian issues? It is an experiment now, but Robin Wright is editing an internet comprehensive data source on Iran. Something comparable in a restricted access internet data base has been done for years for the US academic community. Robin Wright envisions this open access Iran Primer to help inform the general public on Iran. The purpose of the Iran Primer is to provide context and analysis of what lies ahead regarding Iran.The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in early December announced the publishing of the Iran Primer, with Robin Wright as the editor. In addition to being a 300 page paperback text book, $16.00, it can be downloaded online. The Iran Primer deals with 62 subjects in10 categories. There is a PDF attachment available at the bottom of each chapter. Most important there is a weekly update author talk. Go to http://www.iranprimer.com/ or http://www.usip.org/ for the details.Hmmmm......Take a closer look at the "Evil" Djinn in the bottle?Read the full story here.

Iran shops banned from selling Valentine gifts

Iran shops banned from selling Valentine gifts.TEHRAN - Shops in Iran have been banned from selling Valentine cards and gifts as the traditional lovers' day gains increasing popularity in the Islamic republic, the ILNA news agency reported on Sunday."In the run-up to Valentine's Day on February 14 the printing works owners' union issued a directive banning the printing and distribution of any goods promoting this day," ILNA news agency reported."Printing and producing any goods related to this day including posters, boxes and cards emblazoned with hearts or half-hearts, red roses and any activities promoting this day are banned," the union said in the directive."Outlets that violate this will be legally dealt with," it warned.But Valentine's Day has become very popular in Iran over the past decade, with young men and women exchanging chocolate, flowers, perfume, teddy bears and other gifts on February 14.Every year gift shops in large cities are festooned with Valentine's Day paraphernalia and restaurants in Tehran are packed with young men and women out on a date.However, the trend has been harshly criticised by conservatives who see no room in Islamic culture for such celebrations.Some nationalist Iranians have also suggested replacing Valentine's Day with Mehregan -- a pre-Islamic but obsolete festival in early October -- marking the autumn equinox and honouring the ancient Persian angel of love, Mithra.Hmmmmm...... Typical Men ,another reason not to buy a present!Read the full story here.

Interview with Dr. Phares.

HT:Gadiadelman.Interview with Dr. Phares. Exclusive interview with Dr. Walid Phares from 'America Akbar' on 12-30-10. Dr Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a professor of Global Strategies in Washington DC, he also advises theAnti-Terrorism Caucus at the US House of Representatives as well as members of the European Parliament. Dr. Phares discussed his new book “The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East”, he stayed for over an hour and answered questions from me and my co-hosts as well as callers and those from the chat room. This is A MUST listen!Read and hear the full story here.

Trial begins for Iraqi immigrant accused of killing his daughter in hit-run attack because she was 'too westernised'

"DisHonor Killing" - Trial begins for Iraqi immigrant accused of killing his daughter in hit-run attack because she was 'too westernised'.Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, faces life in jail if convicted of so-called 'honour killing'.Prosecutors claim a history of violence and threats against pretty 20-year-old. An Iraqi immigrant accused of killing his daughter because he believed she was too Westernised goes on trial this month in Arizona in a case that raised awareness about incidents of so-called 'honour killings' in the U.S.Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, faces life in prison if convicted. In October 2009, he slammed his Jeep into his daughter, Noor Almaleki, 20, prosecutors said. The woman, who longed to live a normal American life, was in a coma for two weeks before succumbing to her injuries - in a case that caused outrage from people nationwide.Faleh Almaleki moved his family from Iraq to the Phoenix suburb of Glendale in the mid-1990s. He and Noor had a tumultuous relationship, according to police and court records and her close friends. At 17, she refused to enter into an arranged marriage in Iraq, enraging her father, according to a court document filed by prosecutors. At 19, Noor moved into her own apartment and began working at a fast food restaurant but quit and left her new place after her parents kept showing up at her work, insisting that she return home, the document said. Later in 2009, she moved into the home of her boyfriend and his parents, Reikan and Amal Khalaf.They say that she claimed her parents had beaten her.Almaleki is accused of regularly harassing his daughter and the Khalafs.Mr Khalaf said Almaleki told him that if Noor didn't move out of the Khalaf home 'something bad was going to happen'. On October 20, 2009, Noor spotted her father when she and Mrs Khalaf visited a Department of Economic Security office in Peoria. She is alleged to have sent text messages to friends, telling them that her father was at the office and expressing her fear.When the two women left the office, Faleh Almaleki allegedly hit them with his Jeep before speeding off and fleeing the country, prosecutors said. Law enforcement soon caught up with him and returned him to Phoenix. Noor underwent spinal surgery but died on November 2, 2009. Amal Khalaf survived.Hmmmmm......There's no honor in murder.Read the full story here.

India and Israel: Diverse in a homogeneous world

HT:Hindufocus.India and Israel: Diverse in a homogeneous world.In a recent book entitled The Hindus: Alternative History, Wendy Doniger claims that Hinduism was invented by the British. Doniger is a scholar of Indian religions at the University of Chicago. She argues that Hinduism’s unity and its holy Vedas are primarily a myth created by Protestants who sought a “unified Hinduism.”She further argues that upper-caste Brahmins and other elites in India collaborated with the British and invented a “British-Brahmin version of Hinduism – one of the many invented traditions born around the world in the 18th and 19th centuries.” These “bad Hindus” are accused of having an inferiority complex. She claims that the Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) of today thus uses a fake Hinduism for its own historiography and that she seeks to tell an “alternative to the narrative of Hindu history that they [the nationalists] tell.”When it comes to classic Hindu texts such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, she condemns them for their violence. The Mughal Muslim emperors who colonized India for Islam for 300 years were, according to a reviewer, “motivated by realpolitik rather than religious fundamentalism” when they destroyed thousands of Hindu temples and sold hundreds of thousands of Hindus into slavery.Hindu nationalism, like Zionism, is condemned for having a “nationalist archeology.” Critiquing Israeli archeology Nachman Ben-Yehuda has described the myth of Masada and Nadia Abu el-Haj has written on “reflections on archeology and Israeli settler-nationhood.” Ramachandra Guha in his India After Gandhi writes that the Hindu temple at Ayodha that was destroyed in the 16th century by the Mughal Emperor Babur to build the Babri Mosque was merely the site of “Hindu sentiment and myth” and not the historical birthplace of the Hindu god Ram.Hindu nationalism is not a result of a British imperialism anymore than Zionism is; both grew out of a long suppressed and colonized peoples’ dreams for their own country free from foreign rule.Read the full story here. HT:HIDF

Five Israeli naval ships tracking Asian aid ship

HT:The Hindu.Five Israeli naval ships tracking Asian aid ship.Five Israeli naval vessels are tailing the ship carrying humanitarian supplies from Asia to the besieged residents of Gaza.Speaking via satellite phone, Shaheen Moidunny, who is on board the ship Salam, told The Hindu that Israeli ships had been tracking the movements of their vessel for the last six hours. Radio contact had been established with the Israeli navy. “We are only one hour away from the Egyptian port of Al-Arish, where the ship would be docked,” Mr. Moidunny said. He clarified that there were no plans to take the ship to Gaza. “All the humanitarian supplies would be taken overland from Al-Arish to the Rafa crossing on the Egyptian Gaza border,” he said. Mr. Moidunny said only eight persons were on board the aid ship, while the rest of the activists, from several Asian countries had been flown into Egypt from Syria.According to the Egyptian website Ahram Online, the “Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan” had remained stuck for nearly a week at the Syrian port of Latakia, before Egyptian authorities granted it permission to enter Al-Arish port. Activists from more than 15 countries, the majority of whom are Indians ,but also include nationals from Iran, Japan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Kuwait are participating in this initiative.Earlier, Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper quoted Palestinian sources as saying that the Egyptian embassy in Damascus had issued visas to 120 activists, but had denied entry to another 46 hailing from Jordan and Iran. Some of the aid material, including 10 generators donated by Iran, were not allowed on the ship, and the size of the cargo was kept below 300 tonnes.Hmmm......Feeding an extra 120 people won't be a problem with all this "aid"?Read the full story here.

Top American Islamic Cleric says, I Like Khamenei!

HT:IslaminOregon.Top American Islamic Cleric says, I Like Khamenei!Cognative dissonance on a grand scale from an American cleric. His stance should be a warning sign that there is something wrong within the American-Muslim community, yet there will be more yawning from those charged with our protection. Again I point out, when I say this man is dangerous and should be watched, I am called Islamophobe, bigot, racist(what race is Islam again?), anti-Muslim...well you know the drill.It does not matter what names are slung my way, when American-Muslim leaders say publically that they support the spiritual leader of the Islamic revolution, I will not remain the silent dhimmi. Neither should you.Famous American Muslim leader hails the measures taken by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenie as the best in unifying world Muslims.Sheykh Abdul alim Musa, a Muslim American activist and the prayer leader of Al-Islam mosque in Washington DC hailed the measures by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and said," Ideas and fatwas issued by Ayatollah Khamenei play a major role in proximity of the Islamic Schools of Thought".The ayatollah also said "In Islam there is no humor".Sheykh Abdul alim Musa also said "...(the) Islamic Republic of Iran is a role model for many countries and the Iranian nation has played a major role in introducing the Islamic Revolution...to the world." Hmmmm....Is he one of the Muslims who leads the prayers at Capitol Hill?Read the full story here.

Ashkenazi I'm preparing the Israeli army in a major war

Ashkenazi I'm preparing the Israeli army in a major war.However, Ashkenazi says, Hamas and Hizbullah are the biggest threat, with over 40,000 rockets and an ability to attack any point in Israel. IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said that Iran has over 300 missiles that could reach Israel within 10-12 minutes, according to cables released by WikiLeaks on Sunday."I'm preparing the Israeli army in a major war, since it is easier to scale down to a smaller operation than to do the opposite," he said.Ashkenazi told the delegation that "rocket threat against Israel is more serious than ever. Therefore, Israel has a strong emphasis on missile defense.He added that although the Iranian threat is serious, the threat from Hamas and Hizbullah, which are funded by Iran, is most acute. Their rockets are more accurate than Iran's, due to their proximity to Israel."We therefore believe," Ashkenazi said, "that the next war will take place in the same areas where the previous wars occurred," Lebanon and Gaza.According to the cables, Ashkenazi said that Hizbullah has over 40,000 rockets, most of which can reach any point within Israel, and Hamas has the ability to strike Tel Aviv.Disruption of daily life in Tel Aviv is a major goal of Hizbullah and Hamas, and their weapons stockpiles indicated to the IDF that they are aiming for a lengthy conflict with Israel in which they plan to send a "massive number" of rockets into Israel daily.Ashkenazi said that during Operation Cast Lead the IDF made mistakes, but never deliberately attacked civilians. He added that in the next war, Israel can not be restricted in urban battles. In a related cable, from September 2009, Maj.- Gen. Yoav Galant told Senator Kirsten Gilibrand (D-NY) that had the IDF enterted main urban areas in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead would have lasted three days, not three weeks.Read the full story here.

The Muslim Brotherhood In their Own Words !

The Moslem Brotherhood from Geir Olsen on Vimeo.    HT: NewZeal.

Top 10 Reasons to Hate Sarah Palin

HT:NewsRealBlog.Top 10 Reasons to Hate Sarah Palin.Hatin’ Palin – Why Palin Provokes the Left’s Fury.When Sarah Palin first stepped onto the national stage (in the hottest red high heels anyone ever saw) this country was changed forever. It will be remembered in history as the moment conservative women stepped onto the grid in a meaningful way. In the same instant, the Left froze in terror and a seething hatred began to build until it could no longer be contained and was unleashed in the most brutal assault on a woman in politics this nation has ever seen. The most vile and disgusting remarks were made about her family, her baby’s paternity, her marriage and her motherhood. Late night comics made rape jokes about her minor daughter and degraded her by calling her a “stewardess” and “sexy secretary.”Leftist website the Daily Kos started the rumors about Trig not being Sarah’s child, but if you look for the story today you will find this message on the Kos, “I’m sorry, I can’t seem to find that story.” Typical. It went down the memory hole. But here’s one that didn’t go down the memory hole thanks to screen grabs and smart bloggers: Alan Colmes, creepy Ichabod Crane look-a-like, had the audacity to suggest Palin didn’t seek proper pre-natal care during her pregnancy. This is rich coming from a guy for whom “pre-natal care” includes visits to Planned Parenthood butchers. Colmes tried to delete the story when he realized what a jerk he was for posting it. That’s what leftists call “courage.”MSNBC used faked, highly sexualized photos of Sarah in a news broadcast which they later had to grovel over. But it didn’t stop them from flippantly arguing they were just having some “fun.” I’m curious as to what Newsweek‘s excuse was for allowing a Sarah Palin doll dressed up in a sexy school-girl outfit, shirt unbuttoned to show off a red bra to be featured in one of their stories about Palin. The hatred was (and still is) palpable. But why? The following are the top ten reasons leftist moonbats hate Sarah Palin.Hmmmm.....Why would i hate Palin?Read the full story here.

Greece to build wall on Turkey border to stop immigrants.

Greece to build wall on Turkey border to stop immigrants.Greece is planning to build a 206-kilometer-long fence on its border with Turkey to keep out illegal immigrants trying to cross into Greek territory, a minister has said. “Greek society has reached its limits in taking in illegal immigrants,” Greece’s minister in charge of immigration affairs, Christos Papoutsis, told the Athens news agency on Saturday. “Greece can’t take it anymore. We plan to build a barrier on the land border to block unauthorized immigration.” Papoutsis did not give details as to when fence construction will begin. He said it will be similar to the wall between the US and the Mexico.The Turkish-Greek border is one of the most popular destinations for illegal immigrants from countries such as Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan who are trying to reach Europe. Nine out of 10 illegal immigrants now use Greece as their springboard into the EU, and the debt-choked country is struggling to cope with swelling numbers at its northern border. In November, the European Union’s border agency, Frontex, said arrivals of illegal migrants jumped by 369 percent to over 31,000 at Greece’s land border with Turkey in the nine months of 2010 through September. On all other European borders, illegal immigration dropped in the same period.In October Greece became the first country to request intervention by Frontex, which was created in 2007. Greece received 200 Frontex agents in November, driving the number of illegal immigrant arrests down from 250 to 140 daily.Greek officials say Turkey is not doing enough to stop people from crossing illegally to Greece, and Turkey’s refusal to take back immigrants who have crossed from its territory encourages would-be migrants to use that route.Hmmmm...Of course for Turkey it's easyer to let them "Flee" to Greece then to take care of the illegal immigrants.Perhaps Israel can give then some advice and expertise in the frame of mutual cooperation?Read the full story here.

Turkey - Legal personality problem persists for some non-Muslim groups

Turkey - Legal personality problem persists for some non-Muslim groups.Obtaining a legal personality for some non-Muslim groups, including Roman Catholics, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, various evangelical free churches and the Baha'I, still remains a problem in Turkey. The lack of legal personality, these groups claim, is preventing these sects and religious groups from accessing rights and protections afforded to minorities, particularly in the fields of education, charitable organizations and property ownership. Although there are ways to circumvent restrictions, such as organizing themselves as associations, they demand recognition in accordance with EU norms.Turkish authorities say that the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the main agreement regulating minorities in Turkey, recognized only Jews, Armenians and Greek Orthodox communities as minorities, meaning many others, including Roman Catholics, Syriacs and Protestants, were left out. The European Union Progress Report for Turkey this year also underlined the problem of the legal personalities and recalled that “in March, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe concluded that the fundamental right to freedom of religion, as protected by Article 9 read in conjunction with Article 11 of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), includes the possibility for religious communities to obtain a legal personality.”The progress report, while explaining the problems that religious minorities are facing due to their lack of legal personalities, mentioned that protestant and some other churches have not been able to obtain permission for places of worship.Hmmm...Enough Turkish shools present in America."Jehovah's Witnesses have had similar problems, as the courts found that their place of worship in Mersin violated the zoning law. This case has been taken to the ECtHR. They also have a similar case related to a worship place in İzmir,” the progress report pointed out.While receiving Kenan Gürsoy, the ambassador of Turkey to the Holy See, at the beginning of last year, Pope Benedict XVI said that the Catholic Church in Turkey is waiting for civil judicial recognition. Although diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Ankara were established more than 50 years ago, the Catholic community was not given an official status.“Due to fundamental changes in the laws governing associations and foundations, in accordance with efforts to harmonize these laws with European Commission guidelines, religious communities now have the option of establishing themselves as associations or foundations. Individual evangelical free churches have taken advantage of this possibility,” he wrote.But according to him, this problem can only be solved if Turkey continues to develop its understanding of what it means to be a secular state in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights.Hmmmmmm.....Complete Freedom of religion is still far away in "Man of the Year" Erdogan his Turkey.And in my opinion he's heading now in the other direction,joining more radical Islamic countries.Read the full story here.

Prominent Germans Appeal To Iran To Free Journalists.

Prominent Germans Appeal To Iran To Free Journalists.More than 100 high-profile figures in Germany, including Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, have signed an open letter to the Iranian government calling for the release of two German journalists involved in the case of an Iranian woman sentenced to death.The letter came one day after the woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, complained at a press conference assisted by Iranian authorities that the two Germans had "worsened her situation."Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, has been sentenced to death on charges of adultery, triggering an outcry in the West.The two German journalists were arrested October 10 after allegedly interviewing Ashtiani's son, Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, who was arrested and released last month. Iran says the two Germans broke the law by not getting the proper visa to work in the country as journalists.Germany's finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, Defence Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg, tennis player Boris Becker, footballer Franz Beckenbauer, and Nobel literary laureate Herta Muller also signed the letter.Hmmmm....Ashtiani is being used as a pawn in this media war and we all know what happens to paws in the game.Read the full story here.

Obama adviser: Critics of raising debt ceiling ruled by 'insanity'

Obama adviser: Critics of raising debt ceiling ruled by 'insanity'.Top White House economic advisor Austan Goolsbee warned Sunday that a congressional failure to rise the nation's debt limit early this year would be "catastrophic.""It pains me that we would even be talking about this," Goolsbee told ABC's "This Week." "This is not a game. You know, the debt ceiling is not something to toy with. … If we hit the debt ceiling, that's essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprecedented in American history. The impact on the economy would be catastrophic. I mean, that would be a worse financial economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008."The current debt limit is $14.3 trillion, which Washington is expected to hit in February. A failure to raise the ceiling would prevent Congress from borrowing funds to pay the country's obligations. Some conservatives — notably many in the incoming class of Tea Party-backed Republicans — are threatening to vote against raising the cap, arguing that the U.S. simply can't afford to rely so heavily on borrowing.Goolsbee argued Sunday the country can't afford not to."If we get to the point where you've damaged the full faith and credit of the United States, that would be the first default in history caused purely by insanity," he said."We shouldn't even be discussing that. People will get the wrong idea. The United States is not in danger of default. … This would be lumping us in with a series of countries through history that I don't think we would want to be lumped in with."Hmmmm.....If you're practicing Third World policies then you can as well join the club?The US is broke and the sooner you accept it and start dealing with it the better!Read the full story here.

Pope: The attacks in Egypt and Iraq are an offense against God and humanity

Pope: The attacks in Egypt and Iraq are an offense against God and humanity.“An offense to God and humanity " is how Benedict XVI described the" serious attack against the Coptic Christian community in Alexandria and bombs against the homes of Christians in Iraq”."This cowardly act of death, - continued the Pope – like that of planting bombs close to the homes of Christians in Iraq to force them to leave, offends God and all humanity, who only yesterday prayed for peace and began the New Year with hope. "The Pope speaks of a real "strategy of violence that has targeted Christians." In fact in Iraq, after the massacre in the Syrian Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad, groups linked to al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack and declared that Christians in the Middle East are a "legitimate target" because "they pollute " the Arab world. Since then, armed groups have killed Christians, by breaking into their homes or, as happened last December 30, by putting bombs in front of their homes.This strategy, says Benedict XVI "has consequences for the whole population." In fact, the violence against Christians takes place in a climate of total insecurity and barbarism of coexistence.Hmmmmm.....It's about time that the Pope realises that a "War strategy " is being waged against Christianity.Read the full story here.

Eye on common sense: The true blasphemers

HT:Ahmadiyyatimes.Eye on common sense: The true blasphemers.It is not Aasia Bibi who deserves to die or Dr Valiyani who merits persecution; not only should there be a repeal of the blasphemy laws, Pakistan needs an ultra-rapid detoxification from its rabid mullahs that have hijacked Islam and misrepresented the Prophet (PBUH). They are the true blasphemersOne wonders what Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) would have thought of the clamour in the Muslim world to force respect for him, especially when it involves killing and brazen persecution of minorities. Muslims believe that Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was sent “as a mercy to all mankind” (Quran, 21:07), and we are enjoined to study his life and model our character after him for he is described as such: “You, O Mohammad, are of most sublime and exalted character” (Quran, 68:4).Would Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) have looked kindly at the blasphemy laws enacted during the tenure of Pakistani dictator Ziaul Haq? The infamous blasphemy laws have been used to advance political agendas, continually endanger minorities, and even make Muslims more Muslim.Lower court judges, frequently fearful for their own safety, have pronounced death sentences on alleged blasphemers but higher courts have revoked them. Hopefully, this will be the case for Aasia Bibi, a 45-year old Christian mother of five, whose situation now represents the madness that has become Pakistan. While working in her village, she allegedly offered water to her Muslim co-workers who refused to accept it on the basis of her being ‘unclean’. Reports vary but the one used to pronounce her death sentence claims sworn statements by the other women that Aasia Bibi was disrespectful to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). She was arrested the next day and is in jail awaiting a decision by the Lahore High Court.The flames of fanaticism have put out a reward of $5,000 for anyone who is able to kill her while she is in jail! A few years ago, two Christian men charged with blasphemy were acquitted by a higher court but killed as they left the court. The disconnect between the spirit of Islam and this insanity leaves non-rabid Muslims incredulous and pained. “Let there be no compulsion in religion,” says the Quran (2:256). So why do Muslims feel they can force conversion or pressurise the observance of respect when none is felt?Islam literally means submission to the will of God and the Quran states clearly that He directs those to the light that He wills (26:35). Not only have Pakistanis become the judge and the jury, they have taken on the mantle of being God and the Prophet (PBUH)!Another current day ludicrous event is the arrest of Dr Naushad Valiyani, again on charges of blasphemy, this time for throwing the business card of a pharmaceutical representative named Muhammad Faizan in the trashcan. Dr Valiyani is an Ismaili, another minority Shia community in Pakistan. If this perverse logic is to be extrapolated, no one with the name of Muhammad, which happens to be the most common in the world, should be punished, reprimanded or questioned for it would activate the blasphemy laws.During the rule of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Ahmedis, a small community in Pakistan, were classified as being non-Muslim, with mention of this status on their passports. As though this travesty were not enough, Ahmedis are killed on a regular basis at the instigation of well-known, so-called ‘scholars’ of Islam.Pakistan is 96 percent Muslim, unlike secular Turkey, which is 99 percent so. Pakistan’s constitution protects minorities and the white strip at the edge of its flag represents minorities while the larger green area represents Muslims.In Pakistan’s educational system, the best and the brightest become doctors and lawyers. The orphaned and the disinterested become imams, mullahs and sheikhs. And they get captive audiences during the Friday sermon and prayer. There is a personal, national and international agenda at work with these blinkered mullahs and giving out of context hate-filled sermons is now national fare.It is not Aasia Bibi who deserves to die or Dr Valiyani who merits persecution; not only should there be a repeal of the blasphemy laws, Pakistan needs an ultra-rapid detoxification from its rabid mullahs that have hijacked Islam and misrepresented the Prophet (PBUH). They are the true blasphemers.
Hmmmm......."With mention of this status on their passports"?Read the full story here.