Monday, October 06, 2008

Protests in Italy against Escalating Racism

THE TELEGRAPH: Thousands of people took to the streets of Rome at the weekend to protest against a spate of attacks on immigrants and recent ugly displays of anti-Semitism.

Protesters marched amid fears that intolerance is on the rise in Italy as the country's president told the Pope he was concerned about "new manifestations of racism" domestically and across Europe.

The demonstration followed a poll taken by the centre-left La Repubblica newspaper which found that 86 per cent of readers agreed with the proposition that Italy faces "a racism emergency".

Last week a gang of teenage thugs beat up a 36-year-old Chinese immigrant in Rome.

The teenagers shouted racial abuse as they attacked Tong Hong-Shen, breaking his nose and leaving him bloodied and bruised.

Police said the same group was responsible for an earlier, similarly unprovoked attack on two immigrants from Ivory Coast.

In the northern city of Parma, a young Ghanaian student was allegedly assaulted by traffic police who mistook him for a drug dealer while in Milan a 19-year-old immigrant from Burkina Faso was allegedly beaten to death by the father and son owners of a bar who suspected him of stealing a packet of biscuits last month.

Six African immigrants were gunned down in a suspected mafia hit in Castel Volturno, near Naples, on Sept 18, in what police say may have been part of a drug trade turf war.

Attacks on foreigners have been accompanied by anti-Semitic graffiti appearing in Rome and other cities, including insults aimed at the Speaker of the Senate, Renato Schifani, after he paid a visit to Auschwitz last month. Protests in Italy against Escalating Racism >>> By Nick Squires in Rome | October 5, 2008

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Anything You Can Build, We Can Build Higher! Dubai to Build Kilometre-high ‘Islamic’ Skyscraper

THE TELEGRAPH: Plans to construct what could become the world's tallest building, at more than a kilometre high, have been unveiled.

The Dubai developer Nakheel – the company that created man-made islands in the shapes of a palm tree and the world – said the structure would be the centre-piece of an inner-city harbour planned as the emirate's unofficial capital.

It would not comment on the exact height or cost of the Islamic design-inspired Nakheel Tower. The building will have "more than 200 floors" and be part of "a multi-billion pound development", the company said. New Plans for World’s Tallest Building Unveiled >>> | October 6, 2008

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Sunday, October 05, 2008

New ‘Radical Islam in Bulgaria’ Claims

SOFIA ECHO: Just days after Sofia hosted a forum on how teaching at schools could be used to forestall radical Islam, a researcher gave an interview alleging that extremist Islamic sects were operating in eastern Bulgaria.

In an interview with Bulgarian news agency Focus, associate professor Tatyana Dronzina – described as an expert on conflict and terrorism research – was quoted as saying that Turkish-linked radical sects Nurju, Suleymandj and Miligurush were believed to be active in the eastern part of the country.

There were some grounds for believing that people linked to these sects were trying to make contact with pupils in Muslim religious schools in Shoumen, Rousse, Momchilgrad and in the Islamic Institute in Sofia as well, Focus quoted Dronzina as saying

While several intelligence and media reports have highlighted the rise of radical Islam in the former Yugoslavia and especially in Bosnia, earlier in 2008 US journalist Christopher Deliso said in his book The Coming Balkan Caliphate: Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West that Bulgaria was among Balkan countries where radical Islam activists were present.

Most intelligence reports have suggested that any such activity in Bulgaria is on a small scale. New ‘Radical Islam in Bulgaria’ Claims >>> By Clive Leviev-Sawyer | October 5, 2008

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Islamists Slap Sharia Law on Somalia Town

AFP: MOGADISHU — Islamists in a town in southern Somalia have imposed Sharia law in line with their vow to bring back Islamic theocracy to areas where they were ousted two years ago, a spokesman said Friday.

The Mujahideens of Southern Somalia, a group allied to the radical Shebab movement on Thursday named a 23-member board to enforce the law in Celwaq, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) southwest of Mogadishu.

"This administration will govern the town using laws of the Holy Koran," its spokeman Mohamed Osmail Indhobur told AFP.

Celwaq, near the border with Kenya, is home to tens of thousands of people, boosted by refugees who have fled fighting in the rest of Somalia.

It has escaped much of the civil war, but local militia allied to Islamists have moved in to plug a power vacuum in recent weeks. Islamists Slap Sharia Law on Somalia Town >>> | October 3, 2008

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Fusillade raciste en Corse?

leJDD.fr: Un groupe d'adolescents d'origine maghrébine qui fêtait la fin du ramadan a été pris pour cible par trois hommes armés de fusils de chasse vendredi soir à Ajaccio. Trois jeunes âgés de 16 à 18 ans ont été blessés, dont un grièvement à la tête. Deux suspects ont été interpellés. Il s'agirait ou d'un acte raciste, ou de mauvaises relations de voisinage, fermement condamné par Rachida Dati.

Aux dires de Mourad, l'un des jeunes qui a été visé par l'attaque, les adolescents étaient simplement "en train de discuter" quand soudain, quatre coups de feu ont été tirés depuis une voiture. Interrogé sur la radio Europe 1, il n'en revient toujours pas. Blessé à l'oeil, au visage et au bras, il ne comprend ce qui a pu pousser les tireurs à ouvrir le feu sur eux avec des plombs de chasse. Il ajoute ne pas savoir s'il retrouvera l'usage de son oeil, duquel un plomb de chasse a été extrait. Fusillade raciste en Corse? >>> Par Claire Angot | Samedi 04 Octobre 2008

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Saturday, October 04, 2008

Trust a Stupid Saudi Cleric to Come Up with This One!: The Cyclops’ Veil

BBC: A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.

The question of how much of her face a woman should cover is a controversial topic in many Muslim societies.

The niqab is more common in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, but women in much of the Muslim Middle East wear a headscarf which covers only their hair.

Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric who is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis, was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd. [Source: BBC] | October 3, 2008

Cyclops >>>

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A Note to The Telegraph: There Is Nothing Inherently ‘Racist’ or ‘Nazi’ about Wanting to Protect One’s Own Country and Culture from the Onslaught of Islam!

Photobucket
Photo of Heinz Christian Strache courtesy of Google Images

Watch Telegraph video: Austria’s Heinz Christian Strache >>>

THE TELEGRAPH: If ever there was an acceptable face of the Far Right in Europe, Mario Miksch is it.

Clad in a grey blazer, white shirt and tie, the bespectacled 60-year-old estate agent looks the picture of respectability as he sips white wine in a smart Vienna watering hole.

Last week, though, he helped reveal a new, darker side to Viennese cafe society as he joined millions of other well-to-do Austrians in voting for the Freedom Party of Heinz-Christian Strache - the rising star of Austria's extreme Right.

"I voted for him to stop immigrants taking over the social welfare system that serves this country so well," said Mr Miksch, until now a supporter of Austria's centre-left Social Democrats.

"Many other middle class people did too, although most don't admit. It's not that he's a Nazi though, and nor am I. I have no problems with people who integrate well."

When it comes to voting for Mr Strache, however, the phrase "I'm not a racist but..." becomes a much more heavily qualified than normal.

The perma-tanned former dental technician has run one of the unabashedly xenophobic and anti-Islamic campaigns ever seen in a European election, based mainly on dire warnings that the land of the Sound of Music is becoming the land of the sound of mosques.

He has demanded new restrictions on Austria's predominantly Turkish immigrant community, described women in Islamic dress as "female ninjas", and urged a ban on the building of minarets to prevent Muslims turning "Vienna into Istanbul."

Mr Strache insists he is nothing but a patriot and claims some of his best friends are Turkish; but his critics claim that some of his other friends have been neo-fascists, including three Neo-Nazis with whom he was allegedly photographed with in the late 1980s.

Yet while opponents say he is little more than a bovver-boy in a suit, Mr Strache's party polled 18 per cent in last Sunday's parliamentary elections, mainly at the expense of the mainstream Social Democrats and Conservatives, whose ruling coalition is seen to have ignored rising concerns about immigration. What Is It about Austria? Why the Birthplace of Hitler Has Just Voted for the Far-Right >>> By Colin Freeman in Vienna | October 4, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
I'm Not a Nazi, and I Like Kebabs, Says Far Right Leader Heinz-Christian Strache: Ever since last week's Austrian parliamentary elections, it has been a subject of fierce debate in the country's beerkellers and cafes. When does raising three fingers in the air make you a fascist - and when does it just mean "three beers please?" >>> By Colin Freeman in Vienna | October 4, 2008

In Pictures:
The Rise of Austria’s Far Right >>>

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Non-Muslims Turn to Islamic Bank as a Safe Option

THE BIRMINGHAM POST: Growing numbers of non-Muslims are turning to Islamic banking as customers spooked by turmoil in the Western banking system increasingly see the sector as a safe haven.

The Birmingham-headquartered Islamic Bank of Britain said it had seen significant growth in non-Muslim customers since the onset of turbulence on financial markets as Islamic banks, bound by strict religious principles, are largely seen as insulated from the credit crisis.

Islam’s prohibition on the charging or paying of interest - riba - as well as rules on the kinds of investments they can make are among the reasons Islamic banks are coming through the crisis unscathed.

Islamic Bank of Britain head of marketing Steven Amos said: “Our core business will always be Muslims but the numbers of non-Muslims are really picking up.

“We’ve had massive interest and it’s down to the number of reasons why we’re insulated from the credit crunch.

“There were two reasons for the credit crunch. The first is liquidity - banks lending to each other on the money markets - but Islamic banks do not borrow or lend on money markets because interest is not allowed.

“The second reason Islamic banks are insulated is to do with assets - everything has to involve an underlying asset or service and if you are going to trade in an asset you have to own it first.”

The explosion in complex derivative products over the last few years has left Western banks reeling from exposure to toxic assets often far-removed from their everyday activities.

In contrast the more risk-averse Islamic finance system did not embrace this kind of deal.

“Conventional banks didn’t know what they were buying in these derivatives but we have no exposure to subprime as we just don’t deal in it full stop.

“That is one of the fundamental reasons we are insulated.”

Stipulations that you must own the asset you are trading in also mean practices such as short-selling are not a feature of Islamic banking. Non-Muslims Turn to Islamic Bank as a Safe Option >>> By Anna Blackaby, Business Staff | October 3, 2008

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Divisions within French Islam Deepen at Ramadan

FRANCE 24: As the month of Ramadan came to an end, FRANCE 24 went behind the scenes at French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) and witnessed the divisions within French Islam.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan has just ended and our reporter, James André, has been breaking the fast with Muslims around the country. What he found was a fight for influence among preachers sent to France by rival countries. In 2002, French President Nicolas Sarkozy - interior minister at the time - created a governing body for Islam in France, the CFCM. It was intended to be the face and voice of the country's Muslim community. But who should run it? Moroccan-born Muslims? Algerian-born Muslims? Both countries are widely represented within the French Muslim community. They've been vying for the top spot and, six years on, there is an ongoing turf war.

The town of Evry, on the outskirts of Paris, is home to France's biggest mosque. Every evening during the month of Ramadan, thousands of faithful gather here to pray before breaking the fast. The crowds are so large the mosque had to call in two extra imams from Morocco. The rector of the mosque explains that an agreement was signed with France's Interior Ministry to allow Morocco to officially send imams to meet France's mosques' needs. One hundred and fifty preachers have been sent to France for Ramadan. One of them was hand-picked by the Religious Affairs Ministry. A graduate of one of Morocco's top Koranic schools, he belongs to the elite of his country's religious establishment. His mission is clear: to ward off extremist influences. 



After his sermon, the faithful have differing opinions. One of them approves: "It's a very good idea. Even the Imams who come from the Gulf are very well versed in religion. We'd like to see more initiatives like this one." But another had trouble understanding the speech: "Some of the faithful here come from Asia, or from Africa, and they have a hard time understanding Arabic, or don't understand it at all. So we'd like to have imams who speak French." Divisions within French Islam Deepen at Ramadan >>> | October 3, 2008

Please don’t forget to watch the video, which, unfortunately, I cannot embed.

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché) >>>
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UN Anti-Blasphemy Resolution Curtails Free Speech

FOX NEWS: Religious groups and free-speech advocates are banding together to fight a United Nations resolution they say is being used to spread Sharia law to the Western world and to intimidate anyone who criticizes Islam.

The non-binding resolution on “Combating the Defamation of Religion” is intended to curtail speech that offends religion -- particularly Islam.

Pakistan and the Organization of the Islamic Conference introduced the measure to the U.N. Human Rights Council in 1999. It was amended to include religions other than Islam, and it has passed every year since.

In 2005, Yemen successfully brought a similar resolution before the General Assembly. Now the 192-nation Assembly is set to vote on it again.

The non-binding Resolution 62/145, which was adopted in 2007, says it “notes with deep concern the intensification of the campaign of defamation of religions and the ethnic and religious profiling of Muslim minorities in the aftermath of 11 September 2001.”

It “stresses the need to effectively combat defamation of all religions and incitement to religious hatred, against Islam and Muslims in particular.”

But some critics believe the resolution is a dangerous threat to freedom of speech everywhere.

The U.S. government mission in Geneva, in a statement, told the U.N. Human Rights Council in July that “defamation-related laws have been abused by governments and used to restrict human rights” around the world, and sometimes Westerners have been caught in the web.

Critics give some recent news events as examples of how the U.N. "blasphemy resolution" has emboldened Islamic authorities and threatened Westerners:

-- On Oct. 3 in Great Britain, three men were charged for plotting to kill the publisher of the novel "The Jewel of Medina," which gives a fictional account of the Prophet Muhammad and his child bride. FOXNews.com reported U.S. publisher Random House Inc., was going to release the book but stopped it from hitting shelves after it claimed that “credible and unrelated sources” said the book could incite violence by a “small, radical segment.”

-- An Afghan student is on death row for downloading an article about the role of women in Islam, FOXNews.com also reported.

-- In December 2007 “a court reportedly sentenced two foreigners to six months in prison for allegedly marketing a book deemed offensive to Aisha, one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives,” the U.S. government said.

-- A British teacher was sentenced to 15 days in jail in Sudan for offending Islam by allowing students to name the class teddy bear Muhammad in November 2007.

-- In February 2007 in Egypt an Internet blogger was sentenced to four years in prison for writing a post that critiqued Islam.

-- In 2004, Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was murdered after the release of his documentary highlighting the abuse of Muslim women. U.N. Anti-Blasphemy Resolution Curtails Free Speech, Critics Say >>> By Jennifer Lawinski | October 3, 2008

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Google Censors Pat Condell Video

THE TELEGRAPH: A comedian has been censored by YouTube for making a film in which he condemned the existence of Sharia courts in Britain.

Pat Condell, an outspoken atheist and veteran stand-up comic, uploaded the clip called "Welcome to Saudi Britain" to the popular video-sharing website following claims that judgements made under Islamic law are now legally binding.

In the four-minute clip he denounces the "patriarchal bigotry" of Muslim men and the "corrupt" regime of Saudi Arabia.

He refers to women wearing burqas as "letterbox ladies" and ridicules a Muslim warehouse worker who is suing Tesco for making him carry crates of alcohol.

Condell also pours scorn on the "social engineering" and "doublethink" of the Labour Government and urges viewers to sign a Downing Street petition against the adoption of Sharia in Britain, which has received more than 4,000 signatures.

However YouTube, which is owned by the internet search engine giant Google, has removed the video from its site because of "terms of use violation".

It had been watched more than 40,000 times in the 24 hours after Condell uploaded it.

YouTube has also threatened to disable his entire account if he commits "additional violations".

A spokesman for the website said: "YouTube has clear policies that prohibit inappropriate content on the site, such as pornography, gratuitous violence or hate speech. Our community understands the rules and polices the site for inappropriate material. When users feel content is inappropriate they can flag it and our staff then review it as quickly as possible to see if it violates our Terms of Use. If users repeatedly break these rules we disable their accounts."

But fans of Condell, a veteran of Britain's alternative comedy circuit who has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and who regularly appeared on the BBC Radio 1 show Loose Talk in the 1990s, are now putting copies of the video elsewhere on YouTube.

Visitors to the website have condemned YouTube for censoring the film, while the National Secular Society has written to it in protest.

The NSS said: "As usual, he does not mince his words, but he is not saying anything that is untrue. His main thrust is one of outrage on behalf of those Muslim women who will suffer because they are forced to have their marital problems solved in a male-dominated Sharia court."

Condell made the video after it was reported that ministers had "quietly sanctioned" Sharia courts to make legally binding rulings on cases such as those involving divorce. YouTube Censors Comedian's Anti-Sharia Video Called 'Welcome to Saudi Britain' >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | October 3, 2008

I placed this video up on this website here, and still seems to be up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

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Friday, October 03, 2008

Strache Trivialises Hitler Again

Photobucket
Photo of Heinz Christian Strache courtesy of the Austrian Times

AUSTRIAN TIMES: FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache is courting controversy again after trivialising the Nazi crimes of Hitler's Third Reich.



Asked in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph what he thought about Hitler and his evil deeds and the accusations that he (Strache) still had Nazi ties, Strache said: "I am just not interested in that guy."



Politics' rising star Strache, described as kind of a "political pop star" by pundits and analysts, has often been forced to dissociate himself from the Nazi mindset due to his xenophobic views. Strache Trivialises Hitler Again >>> | October 3, 2008

WIENER ZEITUNG:
Strache Fears Cold Shoulder Coalition >>> | October 3, 2008

WIENER ZEITUNG:
Austrian Election: Far-right Surge or Breath of Fresh Air >>> | October 3, 2008

THE NEW REPUBLIC:
The Dismaying Close-Mindedness of a Country I Love >>> By Clay Risen | October 2, 2008

SPECTATOR:
The Distant Sound Of Breaking Glass >>> By Melanie Phillips | Septemebr 29, 2008

THE EARTH TIMES:
Austria Opens First Muslim Cemetery after Delays: Vienna - Austria's first Islamic cemetery opened Friday in Vienna, ending years of delay due partly to financing gaps and an arson attack while the complex was under construction. Funding by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was crucial to completing the site, which has space for 4,000 graves and was originally slated to open in 2003, Austrian media reported.

City authorities donated the land and part of the construction costs to the Islamic Community of Austria, which built the 3-million- euro (4.2-million-dollar) complex on a former industrial site on the capital's outskirts. It includes a mausoleum and offices.
>>>
DPA | October 3, 3008

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Europe’s Far-Right Revival Isn’t Nazism

LA TIMES: Much of the support for the right-wing parties springs from a resentment of long-ruling political elites.

Two far-right parties, the Austrian Freedom Party and the Movement for Austria's Future, managed to win 29% of the vote in Sunday's general elections in Austria. This is double what they got in the elections of 2006.

Both parties share the same attitudes toward immigrants, especially Muslims, and the European Union: a mixture of fear and loathing. Because the leaders of the two parties, Heinz-Christian Strache and Jorg Haider, can't stand each other, there is little chance of a far-right coalition actually taking power. Nonetheless, this is Adolf Hitler's native land, where Jews were once forced to scrub the streets of Vienna with toothbrushes before being deported and killed, so the result is disturbing. The question is: How disturbing?

Twenty-nine percent is about 15% more than populist right-wing parties usually get even in very good (for them) years in other European countries. Strache, leader of the Freedom Party, wants the government to create a new ministry to manage the deportation of immigrants. Muslims are openly disparaged by leaders of both parties. Haider once praised the employment practices of Hitler's Third Reich. Inevitably, the new rightists bring back memories of storm troopers and race laws.

Yet to see the rise of the Austrian right as a revival of Nazism would be a mistake. For one thing, neither party is advocating violence, even if some of their rhetoric might inspire it. For another, it seems to me that voters backing these far-right parties may be motivated less by ideology than by anxieties and resentments that are felt in many European countries, including ones with no Nazi tradition, such as the Netherlands and Denmark.

In Denmark, the hard-right Danish People's Party is the third-largest party in the country, with 25 parliamentary seats. Dutch populists such as Rita Verdonk, or Geert Wilders, who is driven by a paranoid fear of "Islamization," are putting the traditional political elites -- a combination of liberals, social democrats and Christian democrats -- under severe pressure.

And this is precisely the point. The biggest resentment among supporters of the right-wing parties in Europe these days is reserved not so much for immigrants as for political elites that, in the opinion of many, have been governing for too long in cozy coalitions, which appear to exist chiefly to protect vested interests. In Austria, even liberals admit that an endless succession of social democrat and Christian democrat governments has clogged the arteries of the political system. It has been difficult for smaller parties to penetrate what is seen as a bastion of political privilege. The same is true in the Netherlands, which has been governed for decades by the same middle-of-the-road parties, led by benevolent but rather paternalistic figures whose views about multiculturalism, tolerance and Europe were, until recently, rarely challenged. Europe’s Far-Right Revival Isn’t Nazism >>> By Ian Buruma | October 3, 2008

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If the Light Goes Out Stateside, the Light Goes Out for Us All!

There is no doubt that the USA is going through tough times; indeed, its very foundations are being rocked – financial and economic. Indeed, it could be argued that capitalism, the US’s raison d’être is being challenged profoundly. The current president, George W Bush, has only added to America’s problems. He has been a disaster for America. It is time for him to retire. And retire he will – shortly.

The recent débâcle with the USA’s most prestigious financial institutions either going to the wall, or having to be all but nationalized has only added to America’s woes.

It is a national disgrace that this profligate president has brought the once proud nation almost to its knees. America’s national debt is at an all time high: more than three trillion dollars, and still counting. Since 2001, a spurious war on terrorism has been fought, mostly in vain, since terrorism is not the ailment; rather it is a symptom of a far greater malady, namely Islam itself. It is rather like a medical consultant trying to treat the symptoms of cancer without excising the underlying cause: the tumour itself!

The US economy, totally deregulated as it has been since the era of Reagan, has succumbed to the worst of man’s faults and weaknesses: Greed. The people working on Wall Street, as in the City of London, have been paying themselves bonuses in Monopoly figures: Millions here, and tens of millions there. The result is there for all to see: The economic system has all but collapsed; and the American taxpayer is now being asked to pick up the tab.

It’s a disgrace. Nothing short of a national disgrace. There is simply no reason why the American taxpayer should bail out the bankers and financiers of Wall Street, with all their greediness and excesses. They certainly should not be expected to pay for the bonuses of these greedy and unprincipled people. They should be allowed to perish, as should the institutions they worked for.

The bail-out is flawed to its very core. When people in America are going hungry, and when more than forty million people there cannot afford healthcare, there is something very flawed in a bail-out plan which cossets the very people who have caused the near collapse of the capitalist system.

Yet, for all the flaws of the capitalist system, we have nothing better with which to replace it. It is an imperfect system to be sure; but it’s the very best system man has ever been able to come up with. We must nurture it; and we must certainly be careful that we do not lose it.

America is no paradise on earth; America’s sidewalks are not paved with gold. America is as flawed as anywhere else on earth. Yet America has given the world something which the rest of the world has been unable to give people. It has given them hope and freedom – the hope to aspire to a better life; and the freedom to live without fear. How many other countries can say the same?

America has been a beacon of freedom for a couple of centuries. People have for centuries flocked there in their droves, in search of a better life. As a result, America has become a hub of creativity, for nothing fosters creativity more than freedom of thought and freedom of expression.

Yet, we are living through very difficult times. So many, worldwide, are gloating in the difficulties that America is now experiencing. When the US was attacked on September 11, 2001, few could have imagined the success that OBL would have had by flying planes into the Twin Towers in New York. Indeed, OBL couldn’t have dreamed of a better outcome from this attack. He wanted to bring the USA to its knees; and to its knees it has just about brought it.

But if anyone out there is happy about this, then his happiness is totally misplaced; and for one simple reason: If America is no longer to be the world’s superpower, then the world will fall into darkness.

Why? Because the US has guaranteed freedom not only for itself, but also for much of the rest of the world. Which other country in the world could do this? Russia certainly couldn’t. In Russia, one goes against the political system at one’s own peril. Ask the once richest man of Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky! He’ll tell you the price he has had to pay for perceived criticism of the system, and for political activity in a country which understands neither democracy nor freedom.

In a silly article asking who else would be up to replacing America’s hegemony, SpiegelOnline International posed the question who could take over from America’s pole position. The answer is no-one! Which other country could guarantee us all such freedoms? Which other country would be so generous with its resources? Which other country would come to aid all in time of need?

Where would Germany be today without the aid of America after the Second World War? And where would Britain be today without America’s help in that very same war? Indeed, how free would Europe be today without the the help of the generous, oh so generous Americans?

America, and the rest of the West, is under threat from the Islamic world; indeed, our great Judeo-Christian civilization could go under because of the threat of Islam. Islam is not only knocking at our door, it is already within, and is out to destroy everything we in the West stand for: Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, or the freedom to choose none, freedom of sexual expression, and freedom in so may other ways, too. Yet only the few are listening! Only the few are taking these threats to our liberties seriously.

For most people, these threats are but abstract, distant possibilities; yet they are not. They are anything but. They are very real. Muslims are here in the West; and many of them – though certainly not all – are out to destroy everything Western. They must NEVER be allowed to achieve their goals. We must this resist attack with every fibre of our beings. We must OVERCOME!

If we do not, the West will be taken into a New Dark Age. The way of life that will ensue will be one which will be quite unlike the way of life we have come to know, understand, appreciate, and love. It will be a repressive way of life – repressive for women, repressive for infidels, repressive for Christians, repressive for Jews, repressive for homosexuals, repressive, indeed, for all except Muslims.

If we are to fight this darkness, it is imperative that the United States be kept strong, and buoyed up. The United States needs to be strong militarily, financially, and economically, for without a strong United States, there is little hope for a free world. Little hope for liberty. If the light goes out Stateside, the light goes out for us all!

©Mark Alexander

All Rights reserved

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Intervista a Magdi Cristiano Allam


The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Italy)
Saudi Arabia: Under the Veil*: المملكة العربية السعودية : تحت الحجاب


List of the Kings of Saudi Arabia: Wikipedia >>>

*This video is slightly dated; however, it is still well worth watching.

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Pat Condell: Why Are We Friends with Saudi Arabia?


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Pink Planet: Gay Islam

Watch YouTube video: Special Report >>>

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Muslim Anger Alert! BBC Inundated with Complaints after EastEnders Shows Muslim Snacking During Ramadan

MAIL Online: The BBC has received more than 100 complaints after EastEnders showed a Muslim breaking their Ramadan fast by eating a snack on the soap opera.

It is believed that a large number of Muslims were angered by the recent storyline involving character Masood Ahmed claiming it insulted their religion.

The married Asian postman, played by Nitin Ganatra, was spotted by wheel-chair bound character Ian Beale having a bite to eat during the holy month.

During Ramadan, which ended earlier this week, Muslims are not meant to eat or drink between the hours of dawn and sunset.

The plot was meant to show the character's 'fallibility' according to bosses, but it seems to have backfired with a number of the soap's loyal viewers.

As a result of the short scene, aired earlier this month, the corporation received about 110 complaints amid claims it had been wrong and offensive.

Some complained that it had trivialised a very serious religious experience while others are understood to have said it was not realistic.

Now the BBC has been forced to issue a statement saying it did not mean to cause any offence by the storyline.

A BBC spokesman said: 'Although Masood is a practising Muslim he is not intended to be representative of the British Muslim experience.

'He's a fictional character with flaws who realises he has let himself down in a moment of weakness.'

The soap showed the character being repentant for what he had done. … [Source: Mail Online] By Paul Revoir | October 2, 2008

Comment and read the rest of the story (which is not related to Islam) here.

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Lifestyle & Culture: Beyond the Bagel: Modern Jewish Dishes Are an Amazing Mix of Flavours and Cultures

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THE INDEPENDENT: Britons have a reputation for their cosmopolitan culinary tastes, and rightly so. Many Indian dishes, albeit anglicised versions, have been assimilated into the national cuisine. Going for a Chinese or an Italian has long since passed from the exotic into the quotidian. Even supermarkets sell sushi. Yet Jewish cuisine, possibly the most varied in the world, has taken its time to catch on here in the UK with non-Jews. Chicken soup is seen as too simple for gastronomes, and dumplings and chopped liver are too stodgy or rich for the health-conscious. Now, though, its moment may have come.

As Jewish and Middle Eastern food writer Claudia Roden points out, Jewish cuisine has been influenced by every nook and cranny in which the Jewish diaspora has found itself. Her guide, The Book of Jewish Food, contains more than 1,000 recipes. "So many people who aren't Jewish tell me they cook all the time out of my book," she says this week, while preparing a New Year's dinner for 30. "It has everything from Italian to Indian and a huge variety of vegetable dishes."

Denise Phillips runs a Jewish cookery school in north London, and specialises in combining the kosher traditions of her 5,000-year-old religion with modern cooking techniques and trends. "Jewish cooking is the ultimate in fusion cooking," she says. "Jews have travelled all over the world fleeing persecution. What they've taken with them are their classic dishes, and they have merged them with whatever is indigenous to produce a cuisine that adheres to kosher."

The standard dishes often thought of as Jewish food, though narrow in their interpretation, are the favourites of the Ashkenazi communities who originated in the German Rhineland and have been migrating eastwards over the past thousand years, to settle in Hungary, Poland and Russia, and spreading as far afield as the United States, South Africa and Australia. Eighty per cent of the international Jewish community is Ashkenazi. New York, more than anywhere else, is thought of as home to the salt beef sandwich. Beyond the Bagel: Modern Jewish Dishes Are an Amazing Mix of Flavours and Cultures >>> By Sophie Morris | October 2, 2008

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Kuwait Human Rights Society: YouTube Must Erase Anti-Islam Material

“Uttering profanities against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the worst form of human rights violation in the world” – Dr Adel Al-Damkhi, Chairman of KHRS

ARAB TIMES | KUWAIT CITY : Kuwait Human Rights Society (KHRS) Chairman Dr Adel Al-Damkhi has asked the government to put pressure on the officials of ‘YouTube’ — a video sharing website — to delete all derogatory statements about Islam and Muslims from the site, reports Al-Seyassah.
Urging the authorities to take the necessary legal action in case the website fails to erase the statements, Al-Damkhi stressed “uttering profanities against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the worst form of human rights violation in the world. Attacks on the values and tenets of Islam are extremely dangerous and unacceptable.”


Al-Damkhi pointed out the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) strongly condemns attacks on the holy prophets and religions. He confirmed KHRS recognizes the importance of freedom of conducting scientific research, exchange of information, and significance of the latest technologies and media on human lives, but it is against how ‘YouTube’ depicts Islam. He said this is an outright violation of the human rights of millions of Muslims all over the world. [Source: Kuwait Crime News: Arab Times]

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Kuwait City: Gays Caught in the Act in Salmiya Mall

ARAB TIMES: Kuwait : Securitymen have arrested two homosexuals, who were engaged in immoral acts inside a commercial complex in Salmiya.
 According to sources, a team of securitymen on routine duty in the area arrested the suspects after noticing their ‘unusual’ behavior in the complex. A case was registered and the homosexuals were referred to the authorities for the necessary legal action. [Source: Kuwait Crime News: Arab News] |No Date or Journalist’s Name Available (NDJNA)

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Manual Outlines Muslim Radicalization in Prisons

ASSOCIATED PRESS: PARIS (AP) — Security officials from several European countries have developed a manual to help prison authorities prevent their jailhouses from becoming incubators for Muslim extremists.

The manual, developed by France, Germany and Austria, includes signs that may indicate that a prisoner was becoming radicalized, including the presence of a growing beard. A prison group feared the manual could stigmatize Muslim inmates.

The document was distributed at a two-day closed-door conference of European security experts that ended Wednesday. It will be given to prison personnel.

Prisons "can be a facilitator and an accelerator" of radicalization and inmates are often "strongly destabilized" and therefore malleable, said Christophe Chaboud, head of France's Anti-Terrorist Coordination Unit.

"It is not a question of religion but of confrontation with the West," Chaboud said in a telephone interview.

Islam is the second-largest religion in France and, while there are no official figures available, Muslims make up a large part of the inmate population — the majority in some prisons.

A disproportionate number of Muslims can be found in prisons in other European Union countries.

France, working with EU partners, found they shared problems of Muslim radicalization in prisons, Chaboud said. U.S. officials are also concerned about the potential for radicalization in their prisons.

The manual contains sensitive information drawn from experiences from European and other security officials, including New York City police, Chaboud said. For security reasons, there are no plans to make its contents public.

Experts say radicalization can range from an interest in religious books to hostility toward non-Muslims seen in a refusal to shower with them. Several top officials said new beards were one warning sign. Manual Outlines Muslim Radicalization in Prisons >>> By Elaine Ganley | October 1, 2008

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Fraud Investigators Raid BAE Agent's Austria Home

THE GUARDIAN: Serious Fraud Office investigating allegations of bribery and money laundering

British investigations into BAE, Britain's biggest arms company, appear to have revived today after it was disclosed that a key BAE agent has been raided.

Investigators from the Serious Fraud Office arranged for the agent, Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, to be raided in Austria.

Austrian prosecutors said the raids were carried out at the request of the SFO investigating allegations of bribery and money laundering.

The Austrian police seized a quantity of documents from the home and office of Mensdorff-Pouilly, who has been accused of receiving millions of pounds from BAE for promoting deals. He is the Viennese laird of a Scottish castle.

The SFO's investigations into BAE have been controversial as the government stopped its inquiry into Saudi arms deals. Critics have alleged that the government is soft on BAE and has placed the company above the law and effectively made it immune from prosecution - an accusation denied by ministers. Fraud Investigators Raid BAE Agent's Austria Home >>> Rob Evans | September 30, 2008

REUTERS:
RPT-Austria Raids Lobbyists in Jetfighter Bribery Probe >>> | September 30, 2008

WALL STREET JOURNAL:
Police Look for Bribery Evidence in Case Against BAE >>> By David Crawford and Daniel Michaels | October 1, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Austrian Addresses Visited in BAE Serious Fraud Office Probe: Police in Austria have visited a number of addresses as part of a UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into claims that defence company BAE Systems was involved in bribery to secure aircraft contracts in the Czech Republic and Hungary.

The police visited the Austrian home and office of Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, a lobbyist who owns a castle in Perthshire.

The SFO is thought to have asked the Austrian authorities for help with its continuing probe into the defence company. The lobbyist's lawyer, Harald Schuster, said any allegations of wrongdoing were groundless.

Despite abandoning its investigation into BAE's dealing with Saudi Arabia, the SFO has continued to look at the company's defence contracts in other countries, including South Africa and Tanzania.
>>>
By Russell Hotten | October 1, 2008

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The Jewel of Medina: Publication Postponed Indefinitely in the UK

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Images courtesy of The Telegraph

THE TELEGRAPH: The controversial novel The Jewel of Medina may not be published in Britain after the firebombing of her publisher’s London home.

Author Sherry Jones had called on the British public to ensure that her book is published here, but Mandrake learns that the publication of The Jewel of Medina in this country has been postponed indefinitely.
The book concerns one of the prophet Mohammed’s wives.

Alan Jessop, the managing director of Compass, the external sales team of Jones’s publisher Gibson Square, says the publication is now in “suspended animation” after the attack on Martin Rynja’s house in London.

“He is in good spirits, but he is reflecting and taking advice on what the best way forward is,” says Jessop. “Everyone is going to have to be patient. This requires some careful thinking.”

The historical novel, in which Jones tells a fictionalised version of the life of Aisha, one of Mohammed’s wives, was due out in Britain on Oct 15. Its American publisher, Beaufort Books, said it intends to publish on that day.

Gibson Square’s London office remains closed. Jessop says Rynja will be talking to security forces, whose intelligence alerted them to the attack before it took place, and “people who might have an interest in the content of the book”. [Source: The Telegraph] By Tim Walker, Mandrake Editor | October 1, 2008

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Financial Crisis: Call for All Savers' Deposits to Be Guaranteed to End 'Panic'

THE TELEGRAPH: Panicked savers are moving billions of pounds from high street banks into accounts that guarantee their deposits amid fears that another financial institution could collapse.

The few banks that guarantee 100 per cent of their customers' savings have seen a significant surge in the number of people opening accounts in recent days.

In the wake of the enforced nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock, the emergency takeover of HBOS and a series of banking failures in Europe and America, consumers are seeking security for their money.

Currently, only the first £35,000 of a saver's deposits are protected. Gordon Brown has promised to increase this to £50,000, but this new limit is unlikely to come in for several weeks.

The Irish government meanwhile, has moved to guarantee, for the next two years, all customers' money deposited into one of the six big Irish banks – including those with branches in Britain.

Currently, only the Post Office - whose savings accounts are run by the Bank of Ireland, the taxpayer-backed Northern Rock and National Savings & Investments - the Government's savings scheme - offer a similar guarantee.

As a result, they have seen a surge in interest from consumers, while the high street banking industry warns it is suffering as a result.

The volume of interest was so great yesterday that Northern Rock was forced to pull its most popular account, and Anglo Irish Bank was not able to answer any more customer calls.

This is despite Anglo Irish Bank, for instance, offering some of the highest rates in the UK, with some fixed-term savings accounts offering more than 7 per cent.

According to analysts, billions of pounds has left British banks and entered either one of the Irish banks directly or the Post Office. Financial Crisis: Call for All Savers' Deposits to Be Guaranteed to End 'Panic' >>> By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor | October 2, 2008

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Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Pat Condell: Welcome to Saudi Britain!


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Pat Condell: Islam’s War on Freedom


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UK Judge Recognizes Grave Threat Posed to Converts from Islam to Christianity

BELIEFNET: We recently received word of a landmark victory for religious freedom in a case we're handling in the United Kingdom. We represent a Syrian married couple who are both former Muslims who became evangelical Christians. The husband was training to be a radical Muslim imam, but in 2003, he became a Christian and informed his family of his conversion. His family members told him that, if he did not return to Islam, they would "wash their shame," meaning that he would be put to death. He left Syria for the United Arab Emirates and hid from his family out of fear that he might be found and harmed.

The couple received threats after beginning to share their Christian faith with Muslims on the Internet, including receiving a video of a beheading. The husband learned that his father and other people upset over his conversion to Christianity were looking for him and that his father had obtained a Syrian court order to the police to locate him. Due to the risk of death they both faced, the couple traveled to the United Kingdom, with the support of their local church, and sought asylum. They have continued to share their Christian faith during their time in the U.K.

If they were to be deported to Syria, they would face a clear risk of death under Sharia law due to their conversion to Christianity. Many converts from Islam to Christianity face great risk to their well being, including death, for accepting Christ and sharing their faith because apostasy--changing one's religion from Islam to another faith--is a crime punishable by death under Sharia law. In addition, the United States Department of State has documented the Syrian government's long and uninterrupted history of engaging in gross human rights violations including arbitrary arrest, forced disappearance, incommunicado detention, torture, and death. UK Judge Recognizes Grave Threat Posed to Converts from Islam to Christianity >>> By Jay Sekulow | October 1, 2008

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Dhimmitude Alert! Presidential Message: Eid al-Fitr

THE WHITE HOUSE: I send greetings to Muslims everywhere celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the Festival of Breaking the Fast.
During the three-day festival of Eid al-Fitr, Muslims celebrate the completion of their fast and the blessings of a renewed faith.

On this special occasion, families and friends around the globe gather to share traditional foods and congratulate each other on meeting the test of Ramadan.

Our Nation has millions of citizens who practice Islam, and our country benefits from their many contributions. This holiday is also an opportunity for Muslims to reflect on Islam's vibrant culture, which has enriched civilization for centuries.
Laura and I send our best wishes. Eid Mubarak.

GEORGE W. BUSH [Source: The White House] | September 30, 2008

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Dhimmitude Alert! Archbishop of Canterbury Eid message for 2008

THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION OFFICIAL WEBSITE: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has sent his greetings to Muslim communities for the festival of Eid ul Fitr, marking the end of Ramadhan. The Archbishop’s greeting celebrates the many positive examples of Christian Muslim encounter and engagement with the wider common good in the past year. He looks forward in the year ahead to further opportunities for ”opening doors into a renewed future which is the constant task for all people of faith".

The full text of the greeting is below:

To Muslim friends and co workers [sic] in the Common Good

It is a great pleasure once again to be able to send my warm greetings to friends and colleagues of the Muslim communities on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr and to wish you the joy of celebrating the breaking of the fast.

The celebration of Eid provides opportunities for putting the past behind and for opening doors into a renewed future which is a constant task for all people of faith. There are aspects of our society’s attitude to religious faith and practice which need to be addressed; and there are matters relating to religious freedom in some countries of Islamic governance that need to be challenged. Christianity and Islam can do much, together with other religions, to encourage an openness to a better future for all in these and many other respects.

A strong sign of such future possibilities was the prominent public witness in London this July of the Muslim and other communities of faith in support of the Millennium Development Goals; the growing collaboration of Muslim Aid, Muslim Relief and Christian Aid is another.

Furthermore, the co-operative working of our faithful, and of our scholars and religious leaders in the past year has also been notable in the work of the Christian Muslim Forum in this country; in the international discussions prompted by the Common Word initiative; in the dialogue meetings sponsored by the King of Saudi Arabia; in the continuing study and friendship within the Building Bridges Seminars; and in our ongoing encounters with the leadership of Al Azhar al Sharif. I rejoice in these signs of hope.

I look forward in the year ahead to pursuing together the many opportunities that are open to us to change for the better some of the perceptions that have clouded the understanding of religion in general and of Christianity and Islam in particular.
In the meantime I send you my congratulations on a faithful completion of Ramadhan, my wishes for a joyful celebration of Eid and my hopes for a just and peaceful year ahead. [Source: ACOW] Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Palace, Posted By : Admin ACO | October 1, 2008

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La ministre de la Justice se rhabille...

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Adieu glamour !

GALA.fr: Son statut de fashion victime, la garde des Sceaux a mis un trait (de rouge à lèvre) dessus. Séduire, faire tourner les têtes ou tomber les chemises, voilà bien le cadet de ses soucis. Rayonnante, resplendissante même, depuis qu’elle attend cet enfant qu’elle désirait tant, la future maman n’a plus besoin des artifices de la mode. Non, son bonheur suffit à Rachida Dati…

Certaines ont des envies de fraises, d’autres de bâtons de craie… La grossesse de notre ministre de la Justice lui donne des ailes et la conduit derrière les barreaux. Son planning des deux dernières semaines donnerait le tournis à n’importe qui: voyages en Bulgarie, en Israël et en Cisjordanie, permanences à Bruxelles et à La Haye, dîners officiels à Lille puis à Cannes, participation sportive au Famillathlon dimanche... Puis, dans la nuit de lundi, la célibattante doit quitter son lit pour se rendre à la Prison de Grenoble où l'on vient de commettre un meurtre sanglant. Mais pensez-vous que cet excès de zèle donne la nausée à notre future maman? (Bon)point du tout. Rachida Dati, 42 ans, a gagné en tonus, en maturité et en rusticité! Fini les essayages à rallonges dans les salons privés des grands couturiers. Les heures perdues pour dégoter une tenue en exclusivité. Seul compte aujourd’hui l’épanouissement de son ventre rebondi. Loin des diktats de la mode, la belle métamorphosée prend à cœur ses deux priorités: sa mission gouvernementale et plus encore, son bébé à venir, son trésor. La ministre de la Justice se rhabille... >>> Justine Boivin | Mercredi 1er octobre 2008

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Bonjour maman ! Je suis un petit cadeau pour le ramadan ! Qui est mon père ?

GALA.fr:
C’est officel: Bernard Laporte dément être le père de l’enfant de Rachida Dati: Après José Maria Aznar, c’est au tour du secrétaire d'Etat aux Sports de nier tout rapport avec la grossesse de la Ministre… >>> | Lundi 6 octobre 2008

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Nach Georgien-Krise: Medwedjew will neue Weltordnung

DIE PRESSE: Die EU hat in Georgien mit der Überwachung der Waffenruhe begonnen. Russlands Präsident erwartet unterdessen eine "neue Weltordnung". Die bisherige sei zusammengebrochen und eine neue Gerechtere müsse entstehen.

In Georgien hat die Europäische Union eineinhalb Monate nach dem Südkaukasus-Krieg mit der Überwachung der Waffenruhe begonnen. Nach Verhandlungen mit den im Land stationierten russischen Truppen durften die EU-Beobachter am Mittwoch in die sogenannte Pufferzone um das abtrünnige Gebiet Südossetien fahren. Der russische Präsident Dmitrij Medwedjew erklärte unterdessen, dass er nach den jüngsten Ereignissen im Kaukasus eine neue Weltordnung erwarte. Nach Georgien-Krise: Medwedjew will neue Weltordnung >>> | 1. Oktober 2008

My Essay:
A New World Order >>> Mark Alexander | June 27, 2007

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USA wollen bis zu 80.000 Flüchtlinge aufnehmen

DIE PRESSE: Im Budgetjahr 2008/2009 sollen 80.000 Flüchtlinge aus aller Welt in den USA aufgenommen werden. Präsident Bush kündigte an, woher wie viele Flüchtlinge kommen werden. USA wollen bis zu 80.000 Flüchtlinge aufnehmen >>> | 1. Oktober 2008

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Gorbatschow und Milliardär gründen Partei

TAGES ANZEIGER: Der letzte sowjetische Staatschef Michail Gorbatschow und der russische Milliardär Alexander Lebedew steigen in Russland zusammen in die Politik ein.

Die Unabhängige Demokratische Partei welche die Beiden zu gründen planen, werde für «weniger Staatskapitalismus» und die Entstehung von unabhängigen Medien eintreten, teilte Lebedew mit. Die Initiative sei von Gorbatschow ausgegangen. «Er hat unserem Volk die Freiheit gegeben, aber wir lernen einfach nicht, wie man damit umgeht.»

Der 77-jährige Gorbatschow lehnte auf Anfrage einen Kommentar ab. Der Nobelpreisträger ist in Russland äusserst unbeliebt, weil ihm die Auflösung der Sowjetunion 1991 angelastet wird. Bei der Präsidentenwahl 1996 erhielt er nur ein halbes Prozent der Stimmen.

Aeroflot- und Zeitungsanteile

Lebedew kontrolliert mehr als 30 Prozent der Fluggesellschaft Aeroflot. Er und Gorbatschow halten Anteile an der Zeitung «Nowaja Gaseta», bei der die ermordete regierungskritische Journalistin Anna Politkowskaja arbeitete. [Quelle: Tages Anzeiger] (cpm/sda) | 30. September 2008

THE GUARDIAN:
Gorbachev Launches Political Party with Russian Billionaire: Former Soviet leader joins forces with businessman to campaign for legal and economic reform >>> Sadie Gray and agencies | September 30, 2008

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Saudi Blogging Round-up

BBC: Blogging in Saudia Arabia can carry risks. The Saudi authorities detained one blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, for four months this year after he called for political reform.

But people are still speaking their minds online. Topics in this selection of posts include a fatwa, repressive Arab regimes, religion as empowerment, and menswear with a twist. Saudi Blogging Round-up >>> | October 1, 2008

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Government Has Neglected Threat of Radicalisation, Says Grieve

THE GUARDIAN: Shadow home secretary says government has been 'lax on fanatical preachers, silent on sharia courts'

The government was accused today by the Conservatives of being "silent" on sharia courts, which must be given no authority over criminal and family law matters in Britain.

Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, made the criticism as he warned that the government has neglected the threat of radicalisation.

"For all its tough talk on terrorism, the government is dropping the ball on security and radicalisation," Grieve said.

"Lax on fanatical preachers. Silent on sharia courts. Let me make our position clear. Sharia courts can be given no authority over criminal and family law matters in Britain. Our law must reign supreme. The next Conservative government will make sure it does."

Grieve, who told the Guardian last week that multiculturalism has downplayed the identity of "long-term inhabitants" and failed to provide a coherent identity for second and third generation immigrants, believes that sharia courts can have a role. He likens them to the Jewish Beth Din, which are acceptable because their rulings do not conflict with English law.

The shadow home secretary said that Jewish people are entitled to have "arbitration under Jewish customary law".

He added: "The same can perfectly properly comply to sharia law as long as the consequences are also not repugnant to English justice. That's very different from saying that you should allow sharia law to be applied to Muslims in Britain on say crime or domestic violence or anything else ... Somebody has been trying to suggest that they have that sort of imprimatur of respectability. And we have to be quite clear that we all live under one legal system." Government Has Neglected Threat of Radicalisation, Says Grieve >>> Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | September 30, 2008

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HC Strache: 'Turkey Should Not Be a Member of EU'

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Photo of Heinz Christian Strache courtesy of Google Images

PRESS TV (IR): Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, says Turkey should not be allowed to join the European Union.

“Not now, not in 100 and not in 200 years” can Turkey become a member of the EU, said Strache Tuesday in his first news conference since his Freedom Party finished third in Sunday's parliamentary elections.

Freedom Party got 18.2 percent of votes - a higher showing than the previous elections when it acquired 11 percent, AP reported.

No party received a majority in elections. The Social Democrats and the Conservative People's Party finished first and second but scored their lowest results in history in the general elections.

He added that non-EU members should not be allowed access to Austria's social service system. 'Turkey Should Not Be a Member of EU' >>> | October 1, 2008

My Essays & Writing on Turkey in the EU:
Turkey in the EU >>> Mark Alexander | September 30, 2005

More Reasons Why Turkey and the EU Should Not Join in Union! >>> Mark Alexander | October 1, 2005

Keep Turkey Out of Europe! >>> Mark Alexander | December 3, 2005

LE MONDE:
"Les extrême droites en Europe se sont diversifiées" : Le succès de l'extrême droite en Autriche, où les deux partis qui s'en réclament ont totalisé 28 % des voix, a-t-il valeur d'exemple en Europe ?

C'est difficile de déterminer une tendance visible dans toute l'Europe. Au début des années 1980, la vague des partis d'extrême droite formait un ensemble assez cohérent autour des partis populistes xénophobes scandinaves, du FN français, de la Ligue du Nord italienne, du FPÖ autrichien, du Vlams Beelang en Flandres. On a davantage aujourd'hui des situations nationales éclatées. Il s'agit de partis de nature différentes et si certains d'entre eux ont le vent en poupe, ils butent sur l'obstacle du pouvoir.

L'extrême droite autrichienne a toujours existé. Après la guerre, elle s'est reconstituée à la fois en prenant des électeurs chez ceux qui ont toujours formé la famille "deutschenationale", mais aussi à travers les transferts d'électeurs, voire de militants venus de la gauche.

Le phénomène politique n'est pas le même ailleurs. On a vu apparaître des partis politiques issus de la droite classique qui se radicalisent pour devenir des formations d'extrême droite sans avoir de racines à l'extrême droite. En Suisse, l'UDC est un parti de gouvernement qui, à un moment donné, prend un autre positionnement politique sous la direction de Blocher. Le Parti du peuple danois et le Parti du progrès norvégien sont des droites populistes xénophobes radicalisées, mais qui sont partie intégrante de la scène politique traditionnelle. Les pays scandinaves ne les considèrent pas comme étant d'extrême droite. Ils les appellent des nouvelles droites.
>>>
Jean-Yves Camus, chercheur à l'Institut des relations internationales et stratégiques (IRIS) | 30.09.2008

THE SCOTSMAN:
A Scathing (and Unfair?) Attack on the Austrians from Scotland! >>> By Alan Hall in Austria | October 1, 2008

ZEIT ONLINE:
Wunsch nach Führung >>> Von Martin Gantner | 1. Oktober 2008

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TV Ad Banned for Mocking Islam

FILMMAKER SOUTH AFRICA: A television commercial for an "Ahmed the dead terrorist" ringtone mocks Islam and must be withdrawn, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled. Its ruling followed a complaint by a Moegamat Khan against the GloMobile commercial, flighted on SABC and DStv.

The commercial shows American stand-up comedian Jeff Durham holding a skeleton puppet with a white cloth around its head, which demands that the audience keeps quiet and says: "Silence! I kill you!"

The ASA said it appeared to be common cause that the puppet was meant to represent a terrorist who was a suicide bomber.

While it was debatable whether the puppet was wearing any particular headgear, or a bandage as GloMobile claimed, the name Ahmed appeared to be of Arab origin and was one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. [Source: FSA]

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All to Be Found on Capitol Hill: Lame Ducks, Dead Ducks, Crap Sandwiches, and Bums!

THE GUARDIAN: The controversy over the failure of the Bush administration's unpopular financial bail-out is infecting every aspect of government and the presidential election campaign.

Eminent reputations lie in ruins; the august institutions of Congress, the treasury, the Federal Reserve tremble; the presidency itself is shaken. In America's year of living dangerously, few will emerge unscathed.

The consensus view, if there is one in so divided a nation, is that the US has suffered a calamitous, across-the-board failure of leadership. The bankruptcy is political as well as economic. This conclusion is widely held among both supporters and opponents of the bail-out.

"Monday's crash and burn of the Paulson plan on Capitol Hill reveals a Washington elite that has earned every bit of the disdain that Americans have for it. This crowd can't even make sausage," snarled a Wall Street Journal editorial yesterday. Black Monday's shambles marked a "historic abdication".

Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives were excoriated for political cowardice, childish disputatiousness, and a selfish desire to get re-elected next month at any cost. It's clear, whatever they do next, the public simply does not trust them to do it right.

"A political establishment held in higher regard may have been able to hold together some kind of coalition of the willing," wrote Joel Achenbach in the Washington Post. "But distrust of the nation's leaders, from the leaders of Congress to the president, foreclosed that possibility." Congress Approval Rating Just 10% as Bush Goes from 'Lame to Dead Duck' >>> Simon Tisdall in Washington | October 1, 2008

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Canada: Campaigner Causes Embarrassment for PM Stephen Harper by Plagiarizing John Howard’s Speech


TIMESONLINE:
Five Years Late, Canadian PM Stephen Harper Caught Copying: On March 20, 2003, the then Canadian Opposition leader Stephen Harper got up in Parliament and put the case for supporting the US-led invasion of Iraq. It was considered a good speech, good enough, indeed, to be printed up as a pamphlet and mailed out to supporters.

Five years later, and with Mr Harper now battling for re-election as Prime Minister, it has emerged that it was not really his speech at all: nearly half of it was lifted word for word from a speech given by John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, two days earlier.
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Philippe Naughton | October 1, 2008

THE INEPENDENT:
Canada Opposition Party Accuses PM of Plagiarism: A senior campaign worker for Canada's governing Conservative Party has resigned after admitting writing a pro-Iraq war speech for prime minister Stephen Harper that plagiarised another world leader's address.

The opposition Liberals released transcripts and video of speeches delivered by then-Australian prime minister John Howard on 18 March, 2003, and one by Mr Harper two days later in the Canadian parliament when Mr Harper was the opposition leader.

Liberal foreign affairs spokesman Bob Rae said nearly half of Mr Harper's speech was a word-for-word recitation of Mr Howard's comments.
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AP | October 1, 2008

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