Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Fidel Castro Takes Blame for Persecution of Cuban Gays

BBC: Fidel Castro has said that he is ultimately responsible for the persecution suffered by homosexuals in Cuba after the revolution of 1959.

The former president told the Mexican newspaper La Jornada that there were moments of great injustice against the gay community.

"If someone is responsible, it's me," he said.

In the 1960s and 70s, many homosexuals in Cuba were fired, imprisoned or sent to "re-education camps".

Mr Castro said homosexuals had traditionally been discriminated in Cuba, just as black people and women.

But, nevertheless, he admits he didn't pay enough attention to what was going on against the gay community.

"At the time we were being sabotaged systematically, there were armed attacks against us, we had too many problems," said the 84-year-old Communist leader.

"Keeping one step ahead of the CIA, which was paying so many traitors, was not easy."

In 1979, homosexuality was decriminalised and, more recently, there have been efforts to legalise same-sex unions. >>> | Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani Subjected to Mock Execution

THE GUARDIAN: Her son Sajad says she was told she would be hanged at dawn on Sunday and visits by her family and lawyer have been denied

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning, was told on Saturday that she was to be hanged at dawn on Sunday, but the sentence was not carried out, it emerged tonight.

Mohammadi Ashtiani wrote her will and embraced her cellmates in Tabriz prison just before the call to morning prayer, when she expected to be led to the gallows, her son Sajad told the Guardian.

"Pressure from the international community has so far stopped them from carrying out the sentence but they're killing her every day by any means possible," he said.

The mock execution came days after prison authorities denied family and legal visits to Mohammadi Ashtiani. Her children were told she was unwilling to meet them while she was told, also falsely, that no one had come to visit her. >>> Saeed Kamali Dehghan and Ian Black | Tuesday, August 31, 2010
How Do We Convince Iran That Stoning Is Barbaric?

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Tehran’s legal codes are studded with inconsistencies and vagaries that make due process virtually impossible

The harrowing case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani – a mother of two sentenced to stoning by an Iranian court for adultery – has rightfully drawn the world’s attention to Iran’s draconian penal code, which reserves its cruellest punishments for women. The practice of stoning in particular is so abhorrent that even political allies such as Brazil have been roused to action. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has offered Ms. Ashtiani asylum, but a foreign leader can have no direct bearing on a domestic legal proceeding. The Brazilian intervention, however, sends a powerful message to the Islamic Republic: Its human-rights record can never be divorced from its nuclear diplomacy.

Before the 1979 Islamic revolution, back in the years when I worked as a judge in Iran, consensual sexual relations between adults did not figure in the country’s criminal code. The revolution enacted a version of Islamic law extraordinarily harsh even by the standards of the Islamic world, making extramarital sex a crime. The punishment for a single man or woman guilty of sex outside marriage became 100 lashes; under Article 86, the punishment for a married person became death by stoning.

On the face of things, stoning is not a gendered punishment, for the law stipulates that adulterous men face the same brutal end. But because Iranian law permits polygamy, it effectively offers men an escape route: They are able to claim that their adulterous relationship was, in fact, a temporary marriage (Iranian law recognizes “marriages” of even a few hours duration between men and single women). Men typically exploit this escape clause, and are rarely sentenced to stoning. But married women accused of adultery have no access to such reprieve.

The barbarity of stoning aside, Iran’s legal codes are studded with inconsistencies and vagaries that make due process virtually impossible. The penal code notes that, if a man or woman is denied sexual access to a spouse due to travel or other prolonged separation, 100 lashes suffice as punishment for adultery, but it does not specify the duration of acceptable separation. Stoning can also be reduced to lashes when a married woman has sex with a minor (Iranian law considers the age of maturation for girls 9, and for boys 15). Read on and comment >>> Shirin Ebadi | Thursday, August 05, 2010

Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian human-rights activist and Nobel laureate.
Iran Seeks Distance from Paper's Insult of France's Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Foreign Ministry in Tehran says insulting dignitaries like French first lady is incorrect, not sanctioned

Iran on Tuesday sought to distance itself from harsh remarks by a hard-line newspaper, which called France's first lady a “prostitute” for condemning the stoning sentence against an Iranian woman convicted of adultery.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said insulting foreign dignitaries like Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is incorrect and not sanctioned by the government.

The Kayhan daily first called Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy a “prostitute” Saturday, repeating its criticism Tuesday with the addition that the French first lady also deserved to die.

In its first public comments on the affair, the French Foreign Ministry said it found the comments unacceptable and had brought the matter up with the Iranians.

“We are making known to Iranian authorities that the insults made by the Kayhan paper and picked up by several Iranian Internet sites regarding several French public personalities including Mrs. Sarkozy are unacceptable. We are passing that message through the normal diplomatic channels,” said spokesman Bernard Valero at a briefing Tuesday. >>> The Associated Press | Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Related articles here, here, and here

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Iranian media label Carla Bruni a ‘prostitute’ for stand against stoning: France’s first lady among those speaking out against woman’s death sentence >>> The associated Press | Monday, August 30, 2010
Controversial plans: Sharif el-Gamal is the developer behind the £65m Park51 centre near the site of the September 11 attacks, which will include a mosque. Photograph: Mail Online

Revealed: The criminal past behind developer who wants to build mosque at Ground Zero

MAIL ONLINE: The developer behind the planned Ground Zero mosque and Islamic cultural centre said it never occurred to him that building it near the site of the September 11 attacks would heighten tension.

Sharif El-Gamal, a muslim, told CBS News that it hadn't crossed his mind because 'I did not hold myself or my faith accountable for the tragedy' *.

He said the centre, which would include a health club, exhibition space and a September 11 memorial, should be 'universally known as a hub of culture, a hub of coexistence, a hub of bringing people together'.

El-Gamal leads a property investment firm that owns the lower Manhattan building where the $100 million (£65m) centre, known as Park51, would open.

The plans have led to a national discussion over freedom of religion and the sensitivities of the relatives of September 11 victims, with everyone from President Barack Obama to Miss USA weighing in. Read on and comment >>> Mail Foreign Service | Tuesday, August 31, 2010

* Who is this joker trying to kid? – Mark
Saudi Cleric Slammed Over Fatwa On Women Cashiers

THE TRIPOLI POST: A conservative Saudi cleric was told to stop giving unauthorized edicts after he called for a boycott of a supermarket chain that employs women as cashiers, the office of the kingdom's most senior religious leader said Thursday.

The move is the first public reprimand of a prominent cleric following a royal decree that limits the issuance of fatwas to the country's most senior group of clerics. Fatwas are religious edicts that provide guidance in matters of everyday life to pious Muslims.

Sheik Youssef al-Ahmed had urged people not to shop at Panda Supermarket because women there work in jobs that allow for the mingling of the sexes, which the cleric said was a violation of Islamic law.

Saudi media reported that al-Ahmed's fatwa forced the supermarket management to reassign 11 of its women employees to other positions on Wednesday. The chain could not be reached for comment.

Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheik's office said Thursday he had summoned al-Ahmed and ordered the cleric to refrain from issuing unauthorized fatwas.

The office said it "received a pledge from al-Ahmed not to issue any fatwas" without approval. >>> | Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Gaddafi: Europe Will 'Turn Black' Unless EU Pays Libya £4bn a Year

THE TELEGRAPH: Col Muammar Gaddafi has warned that Europe runs the risk of turning "black" unless the EU pays Libya at least €5 billion (£4.1 billion) a year to block the arrival of illegal immigrants from Africa.

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Muammar Gaddafi returns to Tripoli after his controversial visit to Italy. Photo: The Telegraph

His remarks, made during a controversial three day visit to Italy, were condemned as "unacceptable blackmail" by Italian MPs, who likened the demand to the protection money that mafia gangs demand from businesses.

Speaking at a ceremony in Rome while standing next to Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, Col Gaddafi, 67, said that unless his request for money was met, Europe would otherwise become "another Africa" as a result of the "advance of millions of immigrants".

"Tomorrow Europe might no longer be European and even black as there are millions who want to come in," he said.

"We don't know if Europe will remain an advanced and united continent or if it will be destroyed, as happened with the barbarian invasions". >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Related here

Republicans Take Largest Ever Midterm Lead

THE TELEGRAPH: Republicans have taken an unprecedented 10-point lead over the Democrats ahead of November’s midterm polls.

A poll by Gallup gave the current minority party its largest lead of the year and its largest midterm advantage since the company started such polling in 1942, with 51 per cent of US voters saying they would vote Republican and 41 per cent saying they would vote for the Democratic Party.

Gallup, whose poll has previously served as an accurate guide to voter intentions, said the result “suggests the potential for a major 'wave’ election in which the Republicans gain a large number of seats and in the process take back control of the House”. >>> Alex Spillius, Washington | Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Barack Obama Has Bowed Before the UN Over Arizona Immigration Law

THE TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – NILE GARDINER: There can be few sights more humiliating for the American people than that of a US president kowtowing to a foreign leader or to supranational institutions. Continental Europeans are used to this sort of thing after decades of dominance by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, and have grudgingly accepted over time the gradual and undemocratic erosion of their freedoms. But most Americans fiercely defend their national sovereignty, and find the idea of giving international organisations a say over their laws and lives completely unacceptable.

The Obama administration however has submitted a report to the UN Commissioner on Human Rights, South African judge Navanethem Pillay, which makes direct reference to a popular Arizona immigration law aimed at tackling illegal immigration, which is fiercely opposed by the White House, and is the subject of legal action by the Justice Department. The report references
A recent Arizona law, S.B. 1070, (which) has generated significant attention and debate at home and around the world. The issue is being addressed in a court action that argues that the federal government has the authority to set and enforce immigration law. That action is ongoing; parts of the law are currently enjoined.
The highly controversial reference to the Arizona law serves only one purpose – to gain UN and international support for the Obama administration’s position in the face of mounting opposition from Arizona legislators and a majority of the American people. A recent Rasmussen poll showed 61 percent of Americans backing Arizona-style laws for their own states, and just 28 percent supporting a Justice Department challenge.

By doing so, Obama officials undoubtedly hope to stir up international condemnation of the Arizona policy in advance of the UN General Assembly meetings in September, which they believe will increase pressure on Arizona to back down. It is a highly cynical move that speaks volumes about the Obama team’s willingness to undercut American sovereignty and popular will on the world stage. Continue reading and comment >>> Nile Gardiner | Tuesday, August 31, 2010

State Department Defends Human Rights Report

FOX NEWS: P.J. Crowley on why Arizona immigration law was singled out in new report to U.N. commission singles out

Provokatives Buch

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: «Deutschland schafft sich ab» lautet der Titel des umstrittenen Werks von Autor und ehemaligem SPD-Politiker Thilo Sarrazin. Viele bezeichnen das Buch als rassistisch, weil es stossende Thesen gegen Immigranten propagiert.

10vor10 vom 30.08.2010
Gaddafi Causes Storm in Italy After Trying to Convert Young Women to Islam

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Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, left, shakes hands with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Photograph: The Sydney Morning Herald

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's invitation to hundreds of young women to convert to Islam overshadowed a two-day visit to Italy intended to cement the growing ties between Tripoli and Rome.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hailed Italy's relationship with Libya at an evening ceremony on Monday attended by some of the biggest names in Italian business, many hoping to pick up lucrative contracts in the energy-rich North African state.

Gaddafi called on the European Union to provide five billion euro ($7.1 billion) a year to help fight illegal immigration.

However, the mercurial leader attracted most attention earlier in the day by summoning busloads of young women hired by a hostessing agency to a meeting at a Libyan cultural centre near the Vatican and urging them to convert to Islam.

Media reports said three women had converted, although it was not possible to verify if that was true.

"It was very interesting, the role of the woman in Libya was very interesting," Barbara Persichetti, one of the women who attended, told Reuters Television.

The event, which repeated a similar operation on a previous visit to Rome last year, led to criticism from the media and opposition and embarrassment from many in Berlusconi's own centre-right camp.

"What would happen if a European head of state went to Libya or another Islamic country and invited everyone to convert to Christianity?" asked the newspaper Il Messagero. "We believe it would provoke very strong reactions across the Islamic world."

Several commentators accused Berlusconi of sacrificing principles and dignity for the sake of trade and investment ties with Libya, whose huge sovereign wealth fund has invested heavily in Italy in recent years.

"Ever since Gaddafi arrived here, he's been taking this country for a ride, like buying women," said Stefano Pedica, a senator from the opposition Italy of Values party. ”Outdated Ideas” >>> Reuters | Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Related material here, here, here, and here
November to Blame for 'Ground Zero Mosque' Controversy?

FOX NEWS: Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf blames election season for opposition

President Obama Dismisses Rumors About Religion

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L’hiver est arrivé tôt en Suisse! La neige est tombée à 1500 mètres

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: MÉTÉO | D’importantes quantités de pluie sont tombées depuis dimanche sur la Suisse centrale et orientale. La neige est descendue jusqu’à 1500 mètres. >>> ATS | Mardi 31 Août 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Schnee in den Alpen bis auf 1500 Meter >>> sda | Dienstag, 31. August 2010
Insultes envers Carla Bruni-Sarkozy: Téhéran «n'approuve pas»

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: MISE AU POINT | Le gouvernement iranien «n'approuve pas» les insultes de certains medias iraniens contre l'épouse du président français Nicolas Sarkozy, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a déclaré mardi le porte-parole du ministère des Affaires étrangères.

Le quotidien ultra-conservateur Kayhan avait assimilé samedi Carla Bruni-Sarkozy à une "prostituée" en raison de sa vie privée jugée "immorale", après que l'épouse de Nicolas Sarkozy a pris la défense d'une Iranienne condamnée à mort par lapidation dans une affaire d'adultères et de meurtre.

Le journal, coutumier de propos insultants à l'égard de responsables iraniens ou étrangers, est revenu à la charge mardi dans un article évoquant "l'indignation de cette prostituée italienne" après l'article du journal samedi.

"La République islamique n'approuve pas l'insulte contre les responsables des autres pays", a déclaré M. Mehmanparast interrogé sur ces commentaires lors de son briefing hebdomadaire. >>> AFP | Mardi 31 Août 2010
Ghadhafi rettet Europa und verlangt dafür Geld: Fünf Milliarden Euro für Eindämmung des Migrantenstroms

NZZ ONLINE: Der libysche Revolutionsführer Ghadhafi stellt Rechnung für die Unterbindung des Migrantenstroms von Afrika nach Europa. Ohne seine Hilfe könne Europa «schon morgen zu einem zweiten Afrika werden», sagte er in Rom.

Der libysche Staatschef Muammar Gaddafi hat von der Europäischen Union «jährlich mindestens fünf Milliarden Euro» für den Kampf gegen illegale Einwanderer aus Afrika gefordert.

Libyen sei das Eingangstor der «unerwünschten Immigration»; diese könne nur an den Grenzen seines Landes gestoppt werden, sagte Ghadhafi am Montagabend in Rom, an einer gemeinsamen Pressekonferenz mit Italiens Regierungschef Silvio Berlusconi. Es liege deshalb ganz im Interesse Europas, auf seine Forderungen einzugehen. «Sonst kann Europa schon morgen zu einem zweiten Afrika werden», sagte Ghadhafi. Er versicherte, seine Forderung werde auch von Italien unterstützt. Berlusconi ging auf die Äusserungen seines Gastes nicht ein. Lesen Sie weiter und schreiben Sie einen Kommentar >>> sda/afp | Dienstag, 31. August 2010
Empörung über Thilo Sarrazin

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Mit seinem Buch "Deutschland schafft sich ab" sorgt Thilo Sarrazin, Vorstandsmitglied der Bundesbank und SPD-Mitglied, für Aufruhr. Einschätzungen von Stefan Reinhart, SF-Korrespondent, in Berlin.

Tagesschau vom 30.08.2010
Gaddafi will italienische Frauen zum Islam bekehren

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Die Konvertierungsversuche fanden in Rom statt, wo der libysche Staatschef Gaddafi und der italienische Ministerpräsident Berlusconi ihr zweijähriges Freundschaftsabkommen feierten.

Tagesschau vom 30.08.2010

Monday, August 30, 2010

Italians Attack Muammar Gaddafi Over Islam Comments

THE TELEGRAPH: Italians have reacted with indignation after Muammar Gaddafi lectured 200 young actresses and models on the superiority of Islam, a day after saying that Europeans should all become Muslim.

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Young women for a meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Rome. Photograph: The Telegraph

Silvio Berlusconi’s increasingly close relationship with Col Gaddafi is becoming a source of embarrassment for the Italian prime minister, according to opposition MPs and even members of the government.

On Monday, the Libyan leader recruited the women through a modelling agency to join him and Mr Berlusconi, in viewing a photography exhibition at a Rome cultural institute which traced historical links between the two countries.

Telling them that Islam was the “ultimate religion”, Gaddafi insisted that “if you want to believe in a single faith then it must be that of Mohammed,” according to one of the women who sat through the lecture. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Monday, August 30, 2010

LE FIGARO: Colère en Italie après un nouveau show de Kadhafi: En visite officielle à Rome, le dirigeant libyen a plaidé pour que l'Islam devienne «la religion de toute l'Europe». >>> Par Olfa Khamira | Lundi 30 Août 2010

About Gaddafi’s conversion party >>>

“Italy has become the Disneyland of Gaddafi and his senile vanities.” – Gianfranco Fini [Source: Mail Online]

I guess that the Italians have finally woken up, as the rest of the West needs to do, and have told Gaddafi to stick his benighted religion – Islam – where the sun don’t shine. We sane Westerners are getting sick to death of listening to the crap espoused about that bloody awful faith by its adherents. It’s a faith for mentally challenged people. Witness the possible stoning to death of that poor woman in Iran, Sakineh. Who, in his right mind, could worship a god who calls for such an innocent woman to be stoned to death? Even if she had committed adultery, which is very questionable, so bloody what? She wouldn’t be the only woman in the world to have done so. Let her Maker be her judge! Who gave these bloody idiots the right to judge others?

And by the way, if Obama really is a Muslim, as I suspect he is, then he is mentally challenged too.
– © Mark
Kampf gegen Steinigung: Iranische Sittenwächter beleidigen Carla Bruni

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Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Foto: Spiegel Online

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Geht es nach einigen iranischen Berichterstattern, ist die Gattin des französischen Präsidenten Nicolas Sarkozy nichts als eine Hure, ein unmoralisches Wesen. Carla Brunis Vergehen: Sie will eine zum Tode verurteilte Iranerin vor der Steinigung bewahren.

Teheran - Weil sie eine angeblich untreue Frau vor der Todesstrafe retten will, sieht sich die französische Präsidentengattin Carla Bruni-Sarkozy derzeit ebenso heftiger wie unsachlicher Kritik aus den Reihen konservativer iranischer Meinungsmacher ausgesetzt.

Erst nannte die staatliche Zeitung "Kajhan" das ehemalige Model in einem Artikel vom Samstag eine Prostituierte. Am Montag dann legte die regierungsnahe iranische Website www.inn.ir nach und bezeichnete die Première Dame als "unmoralisch". "Die Vorgeschichte zeigt klar, warum diese unmoralische Frau eine wegen Ehebruchs verurteilte Frau unterstützt", hieß es auf der Website. Bruni hatte sich wie Hunderte ihrer Landsleute gegen die Steinigung von Sakineh Mohammadi Aschtiani ausgesprochen. In einem offenen Brief forderte sie in der vergangenen Woche eine Aussetzung des Todesurteils. "Frankreich wird Sie nicht aufgeben", schrieb das ehemalige Model. >>> ala/AP/AFP | Montag, 30. August 2010

Verbunden >>>

La presse iranienne s'en prend à Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

lePARISIEN.fr: Le soutien de Carla Bruni-Sarkozy à Sakineh, cette Iranienne condamnée à mort par lapidation, vaut à la Première dame de France des attaques virulentes de la presse iranienne. Le site internet du groupe de presse gouvernemental Iran, dénonce ce lundi «l'immoralité» de l'épouse du président de la République.

Le site www.inn.ir estime que «les médias occidentaux, en détaillant ses nombreux antécédents d'immoralité, ont implicitement confirmé qu'elle méritait ce titre».

Mais c'est le journal Kayhan, proche du pouvoir, qui est allé le plus loin. Dans le quotidien ultra-conservateur, cité par le Telegraph et le Dailymail, on peut lire : «Les prostituées françaises se joignent aux protestations pour les droits de l'Homme.» Carla Bruni-Sarkozy y est qualifiée d'«épouse infâme», «d'actrice et chanteuse dépravée, qui a réussi a briser la famille de Sarkozy et à épouser le président français». Kayhan s'en prend également à Isabelle Adjani, taxée d'actrice «à la morale corrompue». >>> Leparisien.fr avec l’AFP | Lundi 30 Août 2010

BILD.de: Iraner beschimpfen Carla Bruni als „Hure“: Böse Beschimpfung für Carla Bruni (41), eine iranische Zeitung nennt die Frau des französischen Präsidenten eine „Hure“! >>> | Montag, 30. August 2010
Thilo Sarrazin. Photo: Google Images

Angela Merkel Calls for Banker's Sacking Over Remarks on Jews and Muslims

THE GUARDIAN: German chancellor calls on Bundesbank to sack board member Thilo Sarrazin

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, today called on Germany's central bank to dismiss one of its board members over comments he made on Jews and immigrants.

Thilo Sarrazin said that "all Jews share the same gene" and Muslim immigrants in Europe were unwilling to integrate or incapable of integrating into western societies.

Jewish and Muslim communities have condemned the 65-year-old's remarks, which were made before the launch of his book, Deutschland Schafft Sich Ab – or Germany Abolishes Itself – today.

Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, reiterated the chancellor's call for the Bundesbank to consider Sarrazin's future.

"These are comments that only damage and don't help integration in this country, which is a national duty," Seibert said at a government news conference.

Last year, Sarrazin – who previously served as the regional finance minister for Berlin – told a magazine: "I do not need to accept anyone who lives on handouts from a state that it rejects, is not adequately concerned about the education of their children and constantly produces new little headscarf-clad girls." >>> Mark Tran and agencies | Monday, August 30, 2010

Related articles here

Angela Merkel and others can kid themselves as much as they like, but the fact is that Muslims will not integrate into Western societies. It is expressly demanded of them NOT TO DO SO by their 'religion'. That means to say that their prophet told them to keep themselves apart from the infidels by not taking them as friends or helpers, and by dressing differently from them. That way they can tell themselves apart, and that way they won't become "corrupted". So Angela Merkel had better go and do her homework. Islam is a hard nut to crack. Silencing its critics only makes our task that much harder. – © Mark

BILD.de: Die Sarrazin-Debatte >>> | Donnerstag, 26. August 2010

Thilo Sarrazin schreibt über den Islam: „Bei keiner anderen Religion ist der Übergang zu Gewalt und Terrorismus so fließend“

BILD.de: Über seine harten Aussagen streitet Deutschland: Thilo Sarrazin (65, SPD) beschreibt in seinem neuen Buch „Deutschland schafft sich ab“, weshalb er glaubt, dass unser Land seine Zukunft aufs Spiel setzt. 
BILD veröffentlicht exklusive Auszüge. HEUTE: Warum die Integration vieler muslimischer Migranten am Islam scheitert.

Es reicht aus, dass Muslime unsere Gesetze beachten, ihre Frauen nicht unterdrücken, Zwangsheiraten abschaffen, ihre Jugendlichen an Gewalttätigkeiten hindern und für ihren Lebensunterhalt selbst aufkommen. Darum geht es.

Wer diese Forderungen als Zwang zur Assimilation kritisiert, hat in der Tat ein Integrationsproblem. Vielleicht sollte er einmal einen Gedanken daran verschwenden, weshalb es in ganz Europa Vorbehalte gegen Muslime gibt – mit guten Gründen:

• Keine andere Religion in Europa tritt so fordernd auf.

• Keine andere Immigration ist so stark wie die muslimische mit Inanspruchnahme des Sozialstaats und Kriminalität verbunden.

• Keine Gruppe betont in der Öffentlichkeit so sehr ihre Andersartigkeit, insbesondere durch die Kleidung der Frauen.

• Bei keiner anderen Religion ist der Übergang zu Gewalt, Diktatur und Terrorismus so fließend. >>> Von Thilo Sarrazin | Donnerstag, 26. August 2010
Obama, a 'Strategic Catastrophe'

ISRAEL TODAY: Israeli officials say it's not Iran that is Israel's greatest threat

Although Israeli officials publicly play down the crisis in relations between Jerusalem and Washington, privately the language is much different. Sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describe Obama as a "strategic catastrophe" for Israel.

Officials in the Prime Minister's Office, speaking on condition of anonymity to the nation's top newspapers, see the Obama administration as a serious threat to the future of the State of Israel. On the record, Israel and the US have a "strategic partnership that is unbreakable"; off the record, the terminology is blunt to say the least.

"President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have drawn a clear line, supporting the Palestinian position at the expense of Israel," said one Netanyahu confidant. "It is insane, it is sick. Relations between Jerusalem and Washington are simply disastrous; the situation has never been so dangerous. This US President wants to establish a Palestinian state at any price and hand them Jerusalem on a silver platter."

Netanyahu has repeatedly distanced himself from such statements, but commentators say the government speaks with a forked tongue. "Israel's relations with the US are at a low point, and Obama poses a danger to Israel," wrote Nahum Barnea in the nation's biggest newspaper Yediot Ahronot.

The feeling among the Israeli public is that Obama is appeasing the Muslim world at the expense of Israel.

"The American President told me in confidence that he is a Muslim," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Nile TV. That could explain why Obama has instructed that the term "Islamic extremism" no longer be used in official government documents and statements.

Furthermore, the US is now accusing Israel of harming American interests in the Middle East. General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, said Israel's intransigence on resolving the conflict with the Palestinians is endangering US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even the US Congress considers Obama's behavior toward Netanyahu humiliating. Three-quarters of the House of Representatives, 337 of 435 members, signed a bipartisan letter to Clinton expressing "deep concern over recent tension" between the two countries, and demanding that it be smoothed over quickly and in private.

"Obama is a real problem for Israel," a senior official told told Yediot. "He is Israel's biggest strategic catastrophe." >>> Aviel Schneider | Thursday, April 29, 2010
Limbaugh: "Imam Hussein Obama" Is Probably the "Best Anti-American President the Country's Ever Had"

Obama nimmt es gelassen: Kein Kummer wegen Gerüchte über Religionszugehörigkeit

NZZ ONLINE: Der amerikanische Präsident Obama nimmt die falsch verbreiteten Angaben über seine Religionszugehörigkeit gelassen hin. Im Zeitalter neuer Medien würden solche Meldungen rasch verbreitet und hielten sich dann hartnäckig, sagte er in einem Interview.

Fast ein Fünftel der Amerikaner halten ihren Präsidenten für einen Muslim – doch Barack Obama bereitet das kein Kopfzerbrechen. «Fakten sind Fakten», sagte Obama am Sonntag in einem Interview des Fernsehsenders NBC. >>> sda/afp/ddp | Montag, 30. August 2010

On Obama’s Muslim Faith



THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama hits back at birthers and rumour mongers: Barack Obama has publicly displayed his personal frustration for the first time with conservative opponents who have persistently questioned both his Christianity and his eligibility to be president. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, August 30, 2010
Kadhafi: «L’Islam doit devenir la religion de l’Europe»

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: VISITE À ROME | Le dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi a plaidé pour que l’Islam devienne «la religion de toute l’Europe». Il s’exprimait devant un parterre de 500 jeunes femmes rassemblées à Rome où il effectue une visite officielle.

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Le dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi à son arrivée à Rome. Photo: Tribune de Genève

A l’issue d’une conférence du dirigeant libyen pour laquelle elles avaient été rémunérées autour de 80 euros, les jeunes femmes ont reçu chacune un exemplaire du Coran.

Mouammar Kadhafi leur a expliqué que «l’Islam devrait devenir la religion de toute l’Europe et que Mohammed était le dernier prophète», a indiqué l’une des participantes, citée par la Stampa. «Ennuyeux[.]»

«Pour nous c’était vraiment ennuyeux. Kadhafi ne savait pas que nous étions payées, sinon il n’aurait pas accepté de nous rencontrer», a ajouté, sous couvert de l’anonymat, une participante de 25 ans à la Repubblica.

L’agence qui a recruté ces hôtesses et leur avait demandé de s’habiller de façon sobre a indiqué que les jeunes femmes qui parleraient à la presse ne seraient pas rémunérées. Traité d’amitié[.] >>> ATS / AFP | Lundi 30 Août 2010

Gaddafi in Rome: Glamorous Gals for Allah!

MAIL ONLINE: And he's the only man allowed in the room with them

Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi hosted another Islam conversion party attended by 500 glamorous women during the first day of an official visit to Italy.

Gaddafi was the only man at the event - apart from security officers who were kept outside - while the women who were invited to take part were all asked to 'dress demurely'.

Three women were said to have undergone 'spontaneous conversions', while others walked out in disgust saying they could 'not stand to hear such rubbish'.

The event, at the Libyan Academy in Rome, comes nine months after Gaddafi hosted two similar evenings at the official residence of the Libyan ambassador in Rome Abdulhafad Gaddur.

At those events the women were paid 50 euros, but for last night's party and another planned for later this evening the women were given 70 euros - on condition that they did not speak to the media.

A fleet of coaches with the curtains drawn had pulled up outside the Academy just hours after Gaddafi had flown in from Tripoli.

Student Sara Perugini, 19, who was at the event, said: 'Colonel Gaddafi was very pleasant and charming. He spoke to us about Islam and the Koran and he gave all of us a copy.

'He told us that we should convert to Islam and that Mohammad was the last of the prophets. Three women did go through what he described as a spontaneous conversion.

'They left wearing the traditional chador. We were paid 70 euros although I haven't actually seen the money yet, but we were told not to talk to the media so I probably won't see anything.

'I know some women did walk out saying they were not prepared to hear such rubbish but as far as I know there were only a couple.

'They said they didn't agree with Gaddafi coming to Italy and telling them to convert and marry Muslims. Colonel Gaddafi scores a three in 500 success rate after holding another Islam conversion party in Rome for glamorous models >>> Nick Pisa | Monday, August 30, 2010

Related:

TIMES ONLINE: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi Invites 500 Italian Women to Villa and Lectures Them on Islam >>> Richard Owen in Rome | Monday, November 16, 2009

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Prince Charles Is Strange and Prince Philip a Radio Star Claims NZ Politician

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A former deputy prime minister of New Zealand has reignited the country's republican movement by demanding an end to the monarchy on the death of The Queen and castigating The Prince of Wales as "strange".

In addition to mocking the Prince of Wales views, Michael Cullen, who was deputy Prime Minister in Helen Clark's Labour government, accused the Duke of Edinburgh of being "insensitive and prejudiced".

The comments are contained in a speech that Mr Cullen, who stepped down from parliament when Labour lost power in 2008, is expected to deliver to an influential conference reviewing the country's constitution in Wellington, the capital, later this week.

The London-born politician will tell the Institute of Policy Studies think-thank conference that New Zealand should set in place legislation enabling it to abandon the monarchy when the Queen dies.

The Herald on Sunday newspaper reported that Dr Cullen's speech notes, in which he says The Prince of Wales and his father the Duke of Edinburgh "evince some strange characteristics".

He goes on: "But talking to plants and extremely conservative views on architecture are scarcely confined to Prince Charles.

"As for the old Duke, his insensitivity and prejudices would in our nation make him highly suitable material for a breakfast television or talkback radio host."

The reference is to a breakfast presenter on New Zealand television who is notorious for making controversial comments.

Although the issue of a republic has been raised in the past, with both Ms Clark and John Key, the current Prime Minister, describing it as "inevitable", Dr Cullen's speech will be the first to contain such personal remarks about members of the royal family.

Dr Cullen said criteria for appointing a head of state which include preferment of male heirs and Anglicans are inconsistent with modern New Zealand values. >>> Paul Chapman in Wellington | Sunday, August 29, 2010
NYC Mosque Debate Will Shape American Islam

ASSOCIATED PRESS: NEW YORK — Adnan Zulfiqar, a graduate student, former U.S. Senate aide and American-born son of Pakistani immigrants, will soon give the first khutbah, or sermon, of the fall semester at the University of Pennsylvania. His topic has presented itself in the daily headlines and blog posts over the disputed mosque near ground zero.

What else could he choose, he says, after a summer remembered not for its reasoned debate, but for epithets, smears, even violence? >>> Rachel Zoll | Sunday, August 29, 2010
L'Iran n'a pas pris de "décision finale" sur la lapidation de Sakineh

LE POINT: Aucune décision finale n'a été prise sur la lapidation de Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani pour adultère et meurtre, a réaffirmé samedi le ministère iranien des Affaires étrangères, notant que l'application de la peine avait été "suspendue" et que le verdict était "en cours d'examen". "Pour les peines très lourdes, il y a une procédure particulière et longue. Ce verdict est en cours d'examen et, lorsque la justice arrivera à une conclusion finale, elle l'annoncera", a indiqué à l'AFP ce porte-parole, Ramin Mahmanparast. >>> Source AFP | Samedi 28 Août 2010
Ken Wyatt was elected as the Liberal representative for the seat of Hasluck. Photograph: BBC

First Australian Aboriginal in House of Representatives

BBC: An Aboriginal man has won a seat in Australia's House of Representatives, becoming the first indigenous person to do so in the country's history.

Ken Wyatt, 57, took the seat of Hasluck in Western Australia for the centre-right Liberal Party.

Neither the Liberals nor the governing Labor Party gained enough seats at last week's election for a majority.

Mr Wyatt has dismissed racist hate mail he has received, saying it was time for Australia to move forward. >>> | Sunday, August 29, 2010

Aboriginal MP 'Disappointed' by Slurs

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: INDIGENOUS Australians must take matters into their own hands if they want to see more Aborigines in Parliament, according to the first Aborigine to win a seat in the House of Representatives.

Ken Wyatt claimed victory in the marginal West Australian seat of Hasluck yesterday, amid revelations he was subjected to racist taunts during the election campaign.

Mr Wyatt said the taunts had come in the form of phone calls to his campaign office, as verbal taunts on the streets and as messages on news websites.

He said they had come from both white and Aboriginal people, some accusing him of selling out his cultural heritage by joining the Liberal Party.

Mr Wyatt, who has Aboriginal, Indian and English blood, said he was disappointed by the taunts but not deterred. >>> Peter Ker | Monday, August 30, 2010

Obamas Gegner rühmen Martin Luther King

WELT ONLINE: In Washington demonstrierten 300.000 konservative Amerikaner für die nationale Ehre, die politischen Ziele aber blieben vage.

Zwanzig Stunden saß Ron im Bus. Zwanzig schlauchende Stunden auf dem Weg von Iowa im mittleren Westen nach Washington DC an der Ostküste. „Glenn Beck hat Recht“, begründet der Endfünfziger seine strapaziöse Reise: „Wir müssen selbst etwas tun, damit unser Land wieder in die Spur kommt.“

Glenn Beck, das ist der konservative Talkshow-Star des Fernsehsenders Fox, und während der auf einer Parkband nahe dem Lincoln-Memorial verschnaufende Ron mit unaufgeregter Stimme Probleme der USA erläutert, zerstreut sich um uns eine gewaltige Menschenmenge in Richtung Innenstadt. Von 300.000 Protestlern, gar von einer halben Million, die hier mit dem Ziel einer „Wiederherstellung der Ehre“ zusammenkamen, sprach Beck. Damit mag er recht gehabt haben. Unklar blieb dafür, wodurch die amerikanische Ehre abhanden gekommen sein soll. >>> Von Ansgar Graw | Sonntag, 29. August 2010
[Ground Zero] Mosque Really About Pushing Sharia Law

TORONTO SUN: The swirling controversy over the Ground Zero mosque obscures what should be obvious, at least since 9/11, about the behavioural pattern of radical Islamists engaged in stealth jihad, or “lawfare,” to advance their strategic interest of securing concessions by Western governments for Sharia.

In generating this controversy, and then pushing hard on it by insisting on the constitutionally protected right of freedom of religion to build this mosque in the vicinity of Ground Zero in New York City, Islamists behind the project have masterfully succeeded in greatly dividing Americans as the ninth anniversary of 9/11 approaches.

What we are witnessing here is radical Islamists once again, as in the Danish cartoon controversy — or the controversy surrounding the wearing by some Muslim women of niqabs or full-face coverings, or the push for censorship on grounds of hate speech — taking hold of the legal-political framework of liberal democracy to secure grounds for their anti-liberal agenda of advancing acceptance of Sharia in the West.

Through indiscriminate violence, radical Islamists have succeeded to define Islam in terms of Sharia — Islamic law constructed more than a millennium ago by legal scholars that is, putting it mildly, entirely obsolete in the context of modern philosophy, science, democracy, gender equity and individual rights and freedom — and jihad, or sanctioning of violence, in the name of religion.

Mosques for radical Islamists are centres for preaching, recruiting, fundraising, networking and engaging in the political work of advancing their strategic interests.

Once it becomes clear who the people are behind the Ground Zero mosque — variously known as the Cordoba House or Park51, which Stephen Schwartz of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington, D.C., among others, has been painstakingly assembling for Americans to judge for themselves — then there should be no mistaking about its political nature disguised as religion.

Feisal Rauf, wearing the title of Imam or a Muslim religious leader, is deeply embedded in the global Islamist network of activists and organizations. >>> Salim Mansur, Agence QMI | Saturday, August 28, 2010
Carla Bruni écrit à Sakineh

leJDD.fr: Carla-Bruni Sarkozy a écrit une lettre à Sakineh, cette Iranienne de 43 ans condamnée à la lapidation dans son pays. "Mon mari plaidera votre cause sans relâche", promet la locataire de l'Elysée dans une missive publiée lundi par plusieurs médias.

BHL, Isabelle Adjani, Martine Aubry, Frédéric Mitterrand, Bertrand Delanoë… Ils sont nombreux à avoir signé la pétition de soutien à Sakineh, cette Iranienne condamnée à la lapidation, pour avoir eu, selon la justice de son pays, deux relations amoureuses hors mariage et participé au meurtre de son amant. Cette fois, c'est Carla Bruni-Sarkozy qui a écrit une lettre à cette femme de 43 ans, écrouée depuis cinq ans dans la prison de Tabriz. Une missive relayée dans les médias, via La Régle du jeu, le site de Bernard-Henry Lévy - auteur de la pétition, Elle, Libération, et le journal américain Huffington Post. >>> Caroline Vigoureux - leJDD.fr | Mardi 24 Août 2010
Mobilisation contre la lapidation de Sakineh

Glenn Beck: 'I Have A Problem With My Eyes'



HT: Always On Watch >>>
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who became President Nicolas Sarkozy’s third wife two years ago, has signed a petition calling for Sakineh’s release. Photograph: Mail On Sunday

Carla Bruni Branded 'Prostitute' by Iran after She Campaigns for Woman Threatened with Stoning

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been branded a ‘prostitute’ by Iran after she publicly attacked the country for threatening to stone a woman to death.

France’s First Lady is part of a campaign to save the life of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two.

She is accused of cheating on her husband and then helping to kill him, and is now facing capital punishment for her crimes.

Ms Bruni-Sarkozy, who became President Nicolas Sarkozy’s third wife two years ago, has signed a petition calling for Sakineh’s release.

Last week the former supermodel said: ‘I just can’t see what good could
come out of this macabre ceremony, whatever the judicial reasons put
forward to justify it.’

Addressing Sakineh directly in an open letter, Ms Bruni-Sarkozy wrote: ‘Why shed your blood and deprive your children of their mother? Because you have lived, because you have loved, because you’re a woman, and because you’re an Iranian? Everything within me refuses to accept this.’

But Kayhan (which means ‘Universe’ in English), the Iranian daily newspaper which acts as a mouthpiece for the country’s ultra conservative Islamic regime, has now accused 42-year-old Ms Bruni-Sarkozy of being a hypocrite. >>> Peter Allen | Sunday, August 29, 2010

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Iran calls Carla Bruni a 'prostitute’: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the French First Lady, has been called a “prostitute” by Iran after she criticised the country’s decision to stone a woman to death. >>> | Sunday, August 29, 2010

Related articles here
Lapidation en Iran : Une centaine de villes se mobilisent

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A Paris, 300 personnes se sont rassemblées sur le parvis des droits de l'Homme au Trocadéro. Photo : 20 Minutes (Suisse)

20 MINUTES: Plusieurs manifestations de soutien se sont tenues samedi dans toute la France pour Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, l'Iranienne condamnée à mort par lapidation pour adultère et meurtre.

Plusieurs manifestations de soutien à Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, l'Iranienne condamnée à mort par lapidation pour adultère et meurtre et dont le sort suscite une vague d'émotion en Occident, se sont tenues samedi dans toute la France.

A Paris, 300 personnes se sont rassemblées sur le parvis des droits de l'Homme au Trocadéro, aux côtés de plusieurs personnalités comme l'écrivain Marek Halter ou la réalisatrice et élue parisienne Yamina Benguigui, a constaté l'AFP.

"Sakineh est au courant de cette mobilisation. Ce qui est important, c'est que nos voix puissent résonner, car nos renoncements en France peuvent être catastrophiques pour elle", a lancé Sihem Habchi, présidente de l'association Ni Putes Ni Soumises (NPNS), co-organisatrice du rassemblement avec la Ligue du droit international des femmes et le Mouvement pour la paix et contre le terrorisme.

Mme Benguigui, adjointe au maire de Paris chargée des droits de l'Homme, s'est directement adressée à cette Iranienne de 43 ans, "pour vous affirmer avec amour, détermination et sans réserve que nous ne vous abandonnerons jamais". >>> afp | Samedi 28 Août 2010
Thousands Turn Out for Beck Rally

FOX NEWS: Glenn Beck holds 'Restoring Honor' Rally in Washington, D.C.

Bestselling Tony Blair Goes House-hunting in Barbados

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: He may be donating his multi-million pound earnings from his new biography to a good cause – but it seems Tony Blair and his wife Cherie still have enough money to buy a new home in the Caribbean.

The couple are house-hunting in Barbados for a villa to add to their already formidable property empire, The Sunday Telegraph understands. They have viewed properties on the island with the intention of buying a holiday home to which they could eventually retire.

The Blairs are believed to have been looking in earnest for a house on the former British colony, which has long been their favoured holiday destination, for at least three months. According to sources, hundreds of digital photographs of for-sale properties have been emailed to the couple.

A senior representative from one of the main estate agents on Barbados said: "Tony has a lot of friends on the island and has looked at property but he has not purchased anything yet to the best of our knowledge."

A leading solicitor on the island, which has a population of 280,000, said that she expects the Blairs to buy a property through a company – rather than in their own names – in an attempt to disguise the purchase for security and privacy reasons.

A new villa on the island would be the Blairs' eighth property: it was revealed this weekend that the former Prime Minister and his wife have spent £975,000 for a maisonette in west London for their only daughter, Kathryn, 22, a student, bringing the family's portfolio to some seven homes worth up to £15 million.

The couple are said to be open minded about whether they buy an existing house in Barbados or whether they buy a plot with planning permission for a new build.

A spacious and secluded six-bedroom villa with a swimming pool would cost around $6.2 million (£4 million), although Mr Blair is also believed to be keen to have a tennis court so he can play his favourite sport on his own land.

One of the locations the couple are said to favour is Apes Hill, where some 200 upmarket homes are being built on prime location land about 1,000 feet above sea level.

Plots alone range in cost from $400,000 (£258,000) to $10 million (£6,445,000) – before a brick has been laid. >>> Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter | Sunday, August 29, 2010
Islamic College Opens in California

ARAB NEWS: WASHINGTON: The long history of Islamic scholarship has just gotten a novel addition: a college in California that seeks to educate Muslim leaders.

Zaytuna College held its inaugural classes Aug. 24 and aims to become America's first four-year, accredited, Islamic institution of higher learning.

Founded by three Muslim-American scholars, Zaytuna focuses on renewing Islam's intellectual tradition while placing it in the context of American society.

"As the years pass, the founding of Zaytuna College will prove to be a milestone in bringing about both a sounder understanding of Islam and better relations between Muslims and members of other faith communities here in the United States - God willing," founder Zaid Shakir said in a news release marking the college's opening.

Dustin Craun, a student from Colorado in Zaytuna's first class, said the college will help Muslims navigate their role in the United States.

"I think that we, as Muslims in America, have to figure out how to learn what Islam is for us as Americans, and that is part of what this institution is about," Craun said. The college is "about being standard-bearers for the Muslims in this country."

Craun and the 14 other students in Zaytuna's initial class can choose from two majors: Islamic law and theology or Arabic. The school's founders expect some of them to become leaders of their communities as imams or in other capacities. Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that would be an important achievement because some foreign-born imams do not understand American culture and society.

"Importing works great for carpets. It doesn't work particularly great for imams in an American context, where they might need to know just as much about marital counseling," Safi said. Future Muslim religious leaders in America "are going to have to be completely up on the world of Facebook and [teenage singer] Justin Bieber, just as they are on the classical aspects of Islamic law."

Other U.S. colleges offer courses in Islamic studies, but Hatem Bazian, the academic affairs chair and a co-founder of Zaytuna, said the fledgling college takes another approach.

"At institutions that teach about Islam, it is teaching from the outside looking in, and often it is from a deconstructing approach," Bazian said. "We will be looking at Islam from within and with a sense of not to seek to deconstruct, but how to take that valuable core of the tradition and build upon it." >>> M. Scott Bortot | Saturday, August 28, 2010

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES: America's first Muslim College opens in Berkeley >>> IB Times Staff Reporter | August 26, 2010

Zaytuna College: An Idea Whose Time Has Come *



* One would have to be naïve to believe this!
Bad Faith at Ground Zero

Saturday, August 28, 2010

David Cameron In a Sarong, Smoking

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Photo: Mail Online
Cameron Quiet on Dope

MIRROR: DAVID Cameron faced damaging questions about his honesty last night [February 11, 2007] after refusing to comment on revelations that he DID smoke cannabis at Eton and Oxford.

A new biography discloses that the Tory leader narrowly avoided being expelled from Eton aged 15 for smoking "spliffs".

It also refers to his "infrequent and moderate" consumption of cannabis during his three years at university. >>> Oonagh Blackman Political Editor | Monday, February 12, 2007
David Cameron Exposed

Glenn Beck: America Is Turning "Back to God"



NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Glenn Beck says America is wandering in the darkness because of 'divisive politics': WASHINGTON - Glenn Beck held a huge rally Saturday to "celebrate America" - and himself - at the Lincoln Memorial, drawing scores of Tea Party faithful into a swirling debate on race and politics. >>> Richard Sisk, Daily News Washington Bureau | Saturday, August 28, 2010
Liliane Bettencourt, L’Oréal heiress and France’s richest woman. Photo: Google Images

L'Oréal Heiress Liliane Bettencourt Writes Photographer Out of Her Will

THE TELEGRAPH: The celebrity photographer accused of abusing the trust of L'Oreal [sic] heiress Liliane Bettencourt, France's richest woman, has been written out of her will - depriving him of an estimated 1.25 billion euros.

Mrs Bettencourt's lawyer, Georges Kiejman, said that the 87-year-old billionairess has decided "enough was enough" and that Francois-Marie Banier should no longer be named in the will.

"Liliane Bettencourt feels she had already given a lot to Mr Banier, so she ended the arrangement which made him her sole named heir," he said.

Mr Kiejman said the change had been made in France in mid July, and no one else had been added to the will in his place.

Mr Banier, 63, was Mrs Bettencourt's sole legatee in the will drawn up in December 2007.

He was set to receive around eight percent of Mrs Bettencourt's fortune, or an estimated 1.25 billion euros, a member of Bettencourt's entourage said in July.

Mrs Bettencourt's estranged daughter Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers and grandchildren would have received the rest of her fortune. >>> | Saturday, August 28, 2010

Banier n'est plus le légataire universel de Bettencourt

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Liliane Bettencourt et Francois-Marie Banier. Photos : Le Point

LE POINT: Le photographe François-Marie Banier n'est plus le légataire universel de Liliane Bettencourt, a affirmé samedi à l'AFP l'avocat de la milliardaire, Me Georges Kiejman, confirmant ce qu'il a déclaré au journal Le Monde daté de dimanche-lundi. C'est à la mi-juillet que Mme Bettencourt a mis fin à cette disposition, prévue dans son testament daté du 11 décembre 2007, a ajouté l'avocat. Elle a rédigé cette révocation sur une simple feuille, sans choisir de nouveau légataire, et ce document papier a été remis fin juillet à son notaire, Jean-Michel Normand. >>> Source AFP | Samedi 28 Août 2010
Bradford: Smoke Bombs Thrown at English Defence League Protest

THE GUARDIAN: More than 1,600 officers on horseback and in riot gear pen in 700 activists, including BNP members and soccer thugs

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EDL supporters and police clash in Bradford. Photograph: The Guardian

Far-right activists threw smoke bombs and missiles and fought with the police as trouble flared in a protest organised by the English Defence League.

Bricks and bottles and smoke bombs were thrown at anti-racist supporters and police as around 700 EDL activists – including known football hooligans and BNP members – held a "static protest" in Bradford city centre. Mounted officers and others in riot gear were attacked as they pushed the EDL into a penned area. Skirmishes continued as EDL speakers addressed the crowd and there was more violence as its supporters were put back on coaches.

More than 1,600 officers from 13 forces were involved in the police operation amid fears the demonstration would descend into violence. Police said there had been five arrests.

The EDL, which has held demonstrations in towns and cities across the country over the past 12 months, had predicted that thousands of its supporters would turn out in Bradford for what was dubbed "the big one", but police said there were around 700 people.

Earlier in the afternoon coachloads of EDL activists had chanted "Allah, Allah who the fuck is Allah?" and "Muslim bombers off our streets". >>> Matthew Taylor and Martin Wainwright | Saturday, August 28, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: English Defence League demonstration in Bradford sees minor clashes: Bottles and stones thrown as police separate EDL from anti-fascist groups in Yorkshire city >>> Amy Fallon | Saturday, September 28, 2010

Bradford Braces for English Defence League Protest

GUARDIAN VIDEO: Filmmaker Navdeep Singh Kandola speaks to members of the Muslim and Sikh communities in advance of an English Defence League demonstration this weekend

Watch video here

EDL Bradford

Obama's Muslim Faith