Fixed-term marriage website a hit in Iran.

Fixed-term marriage website a hit in Iran.Iran practices strict rules on sex and relationships. Porn sites and Facebook are blocked and you’re advised not to show too much affection in public, let alone kiss your lover in the streets of Tehran. However, a website that promotes temporary marriage, accepted in the Shia Islam but frowned upon by many Iranians, has gained more than 22,000 members since it was set up less than five months ago. Hafezoon, with a homepage presented in a remarkably similar style and colour to Facebook, has fewer than 1,000 female members, while the rest are men. Only a very small number of them use profile pictures.The site is essentially a matchmaking service that gives users a platform to meet and then marry for a fixed period of time. While it is free to sign up, fully-fledged members must pay to send messages to each other or see and display contact details. One month’s membership costs 50,000 rials (about three euros) and an annual subscription sets users back 120,000 rials (around seven euros).In its ‘About us’ section, the site’s creators say they want to unite men and women for whom, for financial or other reasons, permanent marriage is not practical. It allows these people, the site claims, to enter into a relationship according to the Sharia instead of forming illicit street friendships or worse, being drawn into promiscuity.When registering for Hafezoon, members are asked to provide their height, weight, marital status, skin colour, ethnicity, religion, and education. They are also required to rate their degree of “beauty” and “handsomeness” on a scale of 1 to 5. Married people are not allowed to join and the site doesn’t permit “man-seeking-man” or “woman-seeking-woman.”“The website is a virtual community and its managers do not introduce anyone for temporary marriage,” according to an e-mail from the site’s support staff in response to questions. There are other websites active in the field, but Hafezoon has attracted attention because it offers “a new quality of service”, the e-mail said. Hafezoon is an Arabic word that means ‘those who protect or guard.’ The site’s homepage displays a line from the Koran that translates as “and those who guard their chastity except from their wives.” One page presents the Ayatollahs’ advice on temporary marriage, while another is a price list for various types of membership and how the payment process works.Hmmm..........Read the full story here.HT:TROP.

Israeli Foreign Minister Says Turkey Beginning to Look Like Iran on Eve of 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Israeli Foreign Minister Says Turkey Beginning to Look Like Iran on Eve of 1979 Islamic Revolution.JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has likened Turkey to Iran on the eve of its 1979 Islamic revolution, saying Ankara's policies were to blame for the breakdown of ties with the Jewish state.Writing in Thursday's edition of the Jerusalem Post under the headline "We will not be Turkey's punching bag," Lieberman offered to meet his Turkish counterpart as part of a "frank and honest dialogue" on how their alliance might be restored.But in the latest rhetorical broadside to follow Israel's deadly interception of a Turkish-sponsored aid flotilla that tried to breach its Gaza blockade in May, far-rightist Lieberman put the onus on the Islamist-rooted government in Ankara."The completely unilateral change in the relations is not reflective of our actions; rather it is the result of Turkey's internal politics," he said."Unfortunately, recent events in Turkey are reminiscent of Iran before the Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Like Turkey, Iran was among Israel's closest allies and the two nations held good relations between both governments and people."The Islamic Republic of Iran is Israel's arch-foe and routinely calls for its destruction. That has stoked Israeli and Western concerns over Iran's nuclear programme.To Israel's dismay, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan urged engagement with the Iranians, chafing at U.S.-led sanctions on Tehran as well a plan by NATO -- to which Ankara belongs -- for a regional missile shield that might help Israel.Hmmm...If it were not for a majority of the army generals who are staunch defenders of Ataturk’s secular principles ,Turkey would be already a second Iran with 'Imam' Erdogan ruling the country.But more and more Islamist are joining the army so it'sonly a matter of time.Read the full story here.

He's back: Fears of sectarian violence in Iraq as radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr returns from exile .

He's back: Fears of sectarian violence in Iraq as radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr returns from exile with eyes firmly fixed on grabbing political power.Hundreds of supporters mobbed the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as he returned home to Iraq after nearly four years in self-imposed exile in Iran.The sight of the firebrand, once dubbed the 'single biggest threat to the U.S. in Iraq', will be a depressing one for American troops and politicians.He left Iraq in 2007 an unpredictable leader of a street-fighting organisation with huge popular support but returns a legitimate political figure likely to play a key part in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's new government.A swarm of al-Sadr's bodyguards - dressed in black clothes and flak jackets and toting automatic rifles - deployed around his house in the al-Hanana neighborhood in central Najaf where followers were waiting to meet him.One of the youngest among those gathered outside al-Sadr's house was nine-year-old Mohammed Sadiq, who was accompanied by his uncle. 'I'd like to kiss his hands and tell him: I miss you and don't leave us again,' said Sadiq.Supporters hung banners on nearby buildings, one of which read: 'Yes, Yes to our leader. Here we are at your service our Master Muqtada.' Another banner said: 'We renew our allegiance to our leader Muqtada al-Sadr.'The cleric was believed to be meeting with Iraq's most revered Shiite figure, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, today.Al-Sadr's implementation of Sharia Law is also strict. In 2006 he banned the use of shorts and even executed the coach and two members of the national tennis team.He has tried to ban football, claiming sport is a Zionist plot to distract Arabs from religion, and two weeks ago banned Iraqis working with foreign companies.His fervour is likely to have been increased by his last few years studying Islam in Qom, Iran, the seat of Shiite education. The sojourn was a way for the 37-year-old cleric to burnish his theological credentials, but he also faced an arrest warrant for his alleged role in assassinating a rival Shiite cleric.Al-Sadr visited the holy shrine of Imam Ali, revered among the country's Shiite majority, wearing a black turban distinguishing him as one of the descendants of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.Hmmmm.....Obama "If We Work Hard, Afghanistan Could Be a Success...Like Iraq!" Yeah that's clear by now.Read the full story here.

Saudi parliament to debate allowing women to drive.

Saudi parliament to debate allowing women to drive.Saudi Arabia’s appointed parliament is set to debate a law to break a long-standing ban on women to drive cars after receiving a letter signed by more than 100 people, newspapers in the Gulf kingdom reported on Wednesday.The letter, signed by 128 men and women, was addressed to Shura Chairman Sheikh Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al Shaikh, asking him to open a debate on a law allowing women in the conservative Moslem nation to drive.“The Shura council agreed to discuss the issue of allowing women to drive in Saudi Arabia at its sessions in the next few weeks,” Kabar daily said.The letter noted that many Saudi women drive cars outside the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter, as they hold international driving licences. The signatories said the new law is needed to match the development of the Saudi society and save women from daily agonies of trying to find a taxi. “You and any Saudi national should not accept that the dignity of the Saudi woman is spilt on streets every day as she struggles to find a taxi cab to go shopping, or to go to work, hospital or school…we ask you to discuss allowing women to drive and enforce this law on a trial basis in the beginning.”The papers quoted a Shura member, Abdul Malik Khayal, as saying driving is “a natural right for women” on the grounds there are no “legal or security barriers.” Hmmmm.....Welcome to the "Normal" world where men curse women drivers?Read the full story here.

Obama Plans another Massive Land Grab

HT:RightWingNews.Obama Plans another Massive Land Grab.Nothing better sums up the Left's antidemocratic and antihuman agenda that the Obama Administration's policy of circumventing Congress to seal off our own land from use.An Obama administration directive designed to preserve more public lands as wilderness is stirring anger in the West, where ranchers, sportsmen and energy companies say they could lose access to acreage they count on for their recreation and livelihood.The regulatory change … directs the Bureau of Land Management to survey its vast holdings stretching between Alaska, Arizona, California and Colorado, in search of unspoiled back country. The agency can then designate these tracts — potentially millions of acres — as "wild lands.""Wild lands" are lands expropriated from the human race on behalf of the lizards and chipmunks. If we aren't allowed to use them, they may as well have fallen into the sea. Not only development, but drilling, mining, cattle grazing, and even recreational activities may be forbidden. Obama's latest power grab does not require legislative approval, but there is something Congress can do, in the unlikely event Republicans show some spine.House Republicans, who will hold the majority in the new Congress that arrives next week, say they plan hearings on the new policy and perhaps seek to cut funding to the BLM for identifying and managing wild lands.They had better. Like the nefarious EPA, the BLM exists to grow the government and shrink the economy.Given moonbats' disdain for cowboys and for eating the meat we require for proper nutrition, it's unsurprising that ranchers stand to take a beating.Some worry that American land is being used as collateral, and will end up being seized by the communist Chinese when it becomes clear that there is no way we can ever pay back the massive sums of money Obama has been borrowing and squandering. But if ChiComs owned the land, at least the resources wouldn't be completely wasted.Before the income tax, land sales to the private sector constituted a major source of revenue for the government. Now it works the other way; the government eats up land, growing ever larger as America grows smaller.Hmmmmm......Look at the Map "They are dividing America in two parts! WHY?Perhaps giving restitution to the Native Americans? Read and see the full story here.

Iran 'detains US woman on spying'

Iran 'detains US woman on spying'.State media says authorities arrest 55-year-old woman who entered the country without visa and with "spying equipment".An American woman has been arrested in Iran on charges of spying, the Associated Press news agency has reported.Authorities arrested the 55-year-old woman near the border town of Norduz, 600km northwest of the capital Tehran, after she entered the country without a visa, the news wire quoted the state-owned IRAN newspaper as saying on Thursday.The report said that the women was carrying hidden spying equipment, without elaborating on what that equipment was or when she was arrested.Customs police were reported to have made the arrest after the woman had travelled from neighbouring Armenia to Iran.There are already two Americans in detention in Iran for spying allegations and illegally crossing into the country from northern Iraq.Shane Bower and Josh Fattal were arrested in July 2009 with Sarah Shourd, who was released last September.They deny that they were spying and the US has cast doubt that they crossed into Iran at all.Hmmmm....Here we go again?Read the full story here.

Proposed bigger government cut of gas field revenue roils Israel.

Proposed bigger government cut of gas field revenue roils Israel.A panel reviewing Israel's policy on oil and gas resources has recommended more than doubling the government's take of profits. But Israeli and U.S. firms behind recent discoveries are fighting back.Big natural gas fields found recently off Israel's coast could be a game-changer for the small country, pumping billions of dollars into the economy. But the prospect of huge profits is igniting a battle to divide the spoils, long before drilling gets underway.A government committee appointed to review Israel's policy on oil and gas resources recommended late Monday more than doubling the government's take of production profits to as much as 62%.Committee Chairman Eytan Sheshinski, a retired Hebrew University economics professor, said the revised rate, which still must be approved by the parliament, would create a "balance between the companies' profitability and the public."But a consortium of Israeli and American companies behind the recent gas discoveries is fighting the move, warning that the higher rate could make the project unfeasible.The previous 30% rate, established in 1952, reflected a period when the young country had no funds for exploration and no known natural resources. The low rate was designed to encourage private companies to undertake risky investment.Read the full story here.

Video : Great news: TSA stealing stuff at checkpoints.

HT:IsraelMatzav. Video : Great news: TSA stealing stuff at checkpoints.Channel 7 news in New York reports that TSA employees have been stealing. No, not from your checked bags, at least according to this report. Rather, they are stealing things from people going through the checkpoints who remove jewelry, watches, laptop computers and other valuable items in order to go through the checkpoints.Hmmmm....Don't you feel safe?At least terrorists wont destroy your stuff?Read the full story here.

Wikileaks .The payroll dilemma:Who is actually receiving PA paychecks in Hamas controlled GAZA?

Wikileaks .The payroll dilemma:Who is actually receiving PA paychecks in Hamas controlled GAZA?The PA contends that Hamas, ability to pay its workers, salaries each month combined with the inability of the PA to do so causes further deterioration in support for PA/Fatah relative to Hamas . The GOI, on the other hand, believes that many of the estimated 77,000 wage earners on the PAs payroll may actually be Hamas members or affiliates. Israeli security analysts argue that a considerable portion of the civil service salaries that the PA attempts to pay each month to its Gazan employees actually find their way to Hamas or Hamas supporters.Observers speculate as to the amount of shekels circulating in Gaza. The BOI has established a history of routinely approving all requests from the Palestinian banks to exchange spoiled shekel notes from Gaza for new notes. This is not a security issue as it does not increase the total number of shekels in circulation.Unfortunately, since Gaza tends more and more towards a cash economy based upon movement of goods through its tunnels to the Sinai, it becomes increasingly difficult to estimate this amount with accuracy. Udi Levi (strictly protect), a high-ranking official in the Israeli security establishment, commented to Econcouns in October that at least 1.8 billion shekels are currently unaccounted for in Gaza.Hmmmm.....Someone is saving up in a piggybank?Read the full story here.

Could you pass a US citizenship test?

Could you pass a US citizenship test?In order to become a US citizen, immigrants must pass the Naturalization Test. American citizenship bestows the right to vote, improves the likelihood of family members living in other countries to come and live in the US, gives eligibility for federal jobs, and can be a way to demonstrate loyalty to the US. Applicants must get 6 answers out of 10 in an oral exam to pass the test. According to US Citizenship and Immigration services, 92 percent of applicants pass this test.You must get 58 or more of these test questions correct in order to pass.Read and take the test if you wish so here.

U.N. Data Notes Sharp Rise in World Food Prices.

U.N. Data Notes Sharp Rise in World Food Prices.World food prices continued to rise sharply in December, bringing them close to the crisis levels that provoked shortages and riots in poor countries three years ago, according to newly released United Nations data. Prices are expected to remain high this year, prompting concern that the world may be approaching another crisis, although economists cautioned that many factors, like adequate stockpiles of key grains, could prevent a serious problem. The United Nations data measures commodity prices on the world export market. Those are generally far removed from supermarket prices in wealthy countries like the United States. In this country, food price inflation has been relatively tame, and prices are forecast to rise only 2 to 3 percent this year. Joseph Glauber, the Agriculture Department’s chief economist, said that rising world commodity prices could be expected to have their greatest impact in this country on meat and dairy prices because they can push up the price of livestock feed. As feed prices go up, farmers often cut the size of herds, meaning less meat ultimately reaches the market. Beef, pork and dairy prices rose faster last year than overall food prices and are expected to continue that trend this year.Read the full story here.

Pakistan: Lawyers shower governor’s killer with hugs, kisses, roses.

HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Pakistan: Lawyers shower governor’s killer with hugs, kisses, roses.LAHORE: Lawyers showered the suspected killer of a prominent Pakistani governor with rose petals when he arrived at court Wednesday and an influential Muslim scholars group praised the assassination of the outspoken opponent of laws that order death for those who insult Islam.Mumtaz Qadri made his first appearance in an Islamabad court, where a judge remanded him in custody a day after he allegedly sprayed automatic gunfire at the back of Punjab province Gov. Salman Taseer while he was supposed to be protecting him as a bodyguard.A rowdy crowd slapped him on the back and kissed his cheek as he was escorted inside. The lawyers who tossed handfuls of rose petals over him were not involved in the case.As he left the court, a crowd of about 200 sympathizers chanted ”death is acceptable for Muhammad’s slave.” The suspect stood at the back door of an armored police van with a flower necklace given to him by an admirer and repeatedly yelled ”God is great.””The supporter is as equally guilty as one who committed blasphemy,” the group warned in a statement, adding politicians, the media and others should learn ”a lesson from the exemplary death.”Jamat leader Maulana Shah Turabul Haq Qadri paid ”glorious tribute to the murderer … for his courage, bravery and religious honor and integrity.”Mumtaz Qadri told interrogators Tuesday that he shot the liberal Taseer multiple times because of the politician’s vocal opposition to the harsh blasphemy laws.Hmmmmm......Perhaps the Obama administration could give another couple of Billion Dollars to this "Sick" society?Read the full story here.