Photo of David Cameron courtesy of The Mail on Sunday
Sunday, March 25, 2007
FIFTEEN British sailors and marines arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards off the coast of Iraq may be charged with spying.
A website run by associates of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, reported last night that the Britons would be put before a court and indicted.
Referring to them as “insurgents”, the site concluded: “If it is proven that they deliberately entered Iranian territory, they will be charged with espionage. If that is proven, they can expect a very serious penalty since according to Iranian law, espionage is one of the most serious offences.”
The warning followed claims by Iranian officials that the British navy personnel had been taken to Tehran, the capital, to explain their “aggressive action” in entering Iranian waters. British officials insist the servicemen were in Iraqi waters when they were held.
The penalty for espionage in Iran is death. Iran ‘to try Britons for espionage’ by Uzi Mahnaimi, Michael Smith and David Cracknell
Mark Alexander
Saturday, March 24, 2007
European Union leaders have joined a gala concert in Berlin celebrating the 50th anniversary of the bloc, which was founded by the 1957 Treaty of Rome.Photo of Cherie Blair courtesy of Google Images
The concert, conducted by Britain's Sir Simon Rattle, will be followed by dinner for the 27 leaders at German President Horst Koehler's residence.
Berliners will also join events at city clubs and museums throughout the night.
A leader's summit on Sunday will endorse a statement emphasising the EU's achievements and challenges ahead.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will use the event to relaunch the debate on the EU's stalled constitution, rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. EU celebrates its 50th birthday
Cherie! Ooh, Cherie! How daring! Haven't you learnt, yet, that less is not always more? By the way, is this a celebration of ever-increasing bureaucracy?
Mark Alexander
Friday, March 23, 2007
Haven't these Muslims got a nerve? They come to our country and talk disparagingly about us. We should kick such people OUT! Forthwith! We don't have to put up with this nonsense. They are in our country. We are not in theirs. It's high time that our politicians had the balls to point this out to them. By the way, it’s good to see, at last, some anti-dhimmitude from the BBC!:
©Mark Alexander
The chancellor has introduced legislation which will now treat these Sukuk transactions as being similar to conventional bond transactions, thereby removing the tax disadvantage for its use.
This change should lead to a sharp increase in the usage of these kinds of Islamic financing instruments - not only by businesses which want to be Shariah-compliant, but also by other businesses which want to diversify their investor base and tap into the immense pool of Islamic finance in the oil rich Middle East.
The chancellor has not only created the framework for London to emerge as the leader in the global Islamic finance industry but his changes are likely to be replicated in many other countries.
Islamic finance will move from being niche to the mainstream as a viable and valid financing option for all. - Darshan Bijur
BBC: Changes to the tax system unveiled in the Budget will potentially make the UK a key world centre in the development of Islamic finance - a market currently estimated to be worth $400bn globally.
Islamic finance is based on Islamic principles and jurisprudence (Shariah).
The basic Shariah prohibitions are on the earning (or payment) of interest, speculation, contractual uncertainly and transactions which are overly advantageous to one party at the expense of another.
The Shariah also prohibits any participation in weapons, pork, gambling, pornography and alcohol businesses.
Overcoming most of these prohibitions is very difficult in the conventional finance system.
The Islamic finance industry has thus developed various Shariah-compliant structures in order to provide investment opportunities and to meet the financing needs of businesses and investors who want to comply with the Shariah. Islamic finance: From niche to mainstream by Darshan Bijur
Mark Alexander
YAHOO NEWS: The Government is demanding the "immediate and safe return" of 15 British sailors and Marines who are being held by Iranian forces. They were taking part in a routine operation boarding merchant ships in Iraqi territorial waters when they were seized by Iranian naval vessels.
The sailors and Marines had completed a successful inspection of one ship, reportedly a dhow, when the group and their two boats were surrounded.
They were then escorted by Iranian vessels into its territorial waters. UK Sailors And Marines Seized By Iran
BBC: Fifteen British Navy personnel have been captured at gunpoint by Iranian forces, the Ministry of Defence says.
The men were seized at 1030 local time when they boarded a boat in the Gulf, off the coast of Iraq, which they suspected was smuggling cars.
The Royal Navy said it was doing everything it could to secure the release of its personnel, who are based on HMS Cornwall. UK sailors captured at gunpoint
WATCH BBC NEWS REPORT
TIMES COMMENT: Pawns in a deadly game of high stakes
Mark Alexander
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The editor of a satirical French magazine accused of insulting Muslims by reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad has been acquitted.
A French court has ruled in favour of weekly Charlie Hebdo, rejecting accusations by Islamic groups who said it incited hatred against Muslims.
The cartoons were covered by freedom of expression laws and were not an attack on Islam, but fundamentalists, it said.
The case was seen as an important test for freedom of expression in France. French cartoon editor acquitted
Mark Alexander
Länder wollen Ausnahmeregelungen für Bierzelte oder Eckkneipen
Ein einheitliches Rauchverbot in deutschen Gaststätten wird es vorerst nicht geben. Die Ministerpräsidenten der Bundesländer einigten sich darauf, dass Ausnahmen möglich sein sollten. So soll in kleinen Kneipen weiterhin gequalmt werden dürfen. Löchriges deutsches Rauchverbot
Mark Alexander
”We have taken the path of true Islam and our aim in defeating Saddam Hussein lies in the fact that we consider him the main obstacle to the advance of Islam in the region.” – Sadeq Khalkhali, Chief Judge of the Islamic Revolutionary Court [Source: The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis
- Alireza Jafarzadeh]In his excellent book, The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis
, Alireza Jafarzadeh, an Iranian resident in the United States, informs us about Iran’s goals for Iraq. “The Islamic Republic of Iran's number-one foreign policy agenda,” Jafarzadeh informs us, “is and always has been, exporting its extremist brand of Islamic rule to the rest of the Middle East and the world.” “Iraq, given its Shiite-majority population, important Shiite shrines, and long border with Iran, has been the most advantageous starting point for achieving this goal. Far from being simply a theory or a sensationalized viewpoint, the mullahs’ global ambitions are a fact written into Iran’s constitution. Article 11 spells out Iran’s “duty” to create a political “unity” of Muslims throughout the world.”“In accordance with the sacred verse of the Quran [“This your community is a single community, and I am your Lord, so worship Me” (21:92)] … the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran … must constantly strive to bring about the political, economic, and cultural unity of the Islamic world.”
Sobering facts!
According to Jafarzadeh, “Khameini and his mullahs greeted the 2003 Iraqi invasion as a golden opportunity to step in and remake Iraq in their own image.”
Ahmad Jannati, chairman of Iran’s Guardian Council said the following on December 30, 2005: We are happy with all that has happened in Iraq, including the elections and the victory of the encompassing and Islamic alliance. … A stable Islamic rule is being established in the country.”
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had said in a radio address in 1980 that Saddam Hussein was “Satan’s puppet”. How convenient it has been for the Iranians that America and Great Britain have done their dirty work for them and have ridden Iraq of Saddam Hussein, thus leaving the path clear for Iran to achieve its goals!
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread!
©Mark Alexander
"I was 18 years old when a democratic revolution came to my country [Portugal]. Before we could not read the books or listen to the music we wanted. I am radical on these matters. If there is an excess of freedom, it is better to have excess than less."
Europe's citizens must be on their guard against political correctness and moralising politicians, says the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.
The former Portuguese premier and centre-Right politician is concerned that freedom can be the loser in European culture wars over climate change, cheap air travel, Islam and free speech.
"We should be aware of people who, sometimes for good reasons, try to establish what I call private moral codes, for this or that, be it climate change, religious behaviour or any kind of social behaviour," he says. 'Political correctness is killing our freedoms' by Bruno Waterfield
Mark Alexander
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
I have never understood why Americans have allowed Spanish, as a language, to grow and grow in the States.
Having just returned from a vacation in the States, I couldn’t help but notice when I was there that Spanish is growing in importance. So many things one buys in the supermarket are labelled both in English and Spanish.
The lingua franca of the States is still English. Immigrants should be encouraged to learn the language of their host nation. That, of course, is English.
I have myself lived as a foreigner in a country which has a different tongue. In my case it was Switzerland, and the lingua franca was German. I did my utmost to learn that language.
Looking back on it, I wouldn’t have wished to have it any other way. I was ‘forced’ to learn the language of the country I lived in; and that, today, is to my benefit. It will be to the immigrants' benefit also if they are 'forced' to learn English. So the States should do the same: immigrants should be made to make the effort. In the long-run, it is kinder to them. It helps them not one jot to be mommy-coddled. If immigrants wish to become a part of the country in which they have chosen to live, and if they wish to be upwardly mobile, then it is imperative that they adopt the language of that country. It’s time to get tough!
Make English our official language
©Mark Alexander
BBC: Israel has cancelled a meeting with a visiting Norwegian minister after he held talks with the prime minister of the new Palestinian unity government.
Norway was the first Western country to recognise the new government which contains members of the militant group Hamas and its main rival, Fatah.
Israel says it will not deal with the new administration, and has called for a continued international boycott. Norway-Hamas link angers Israel
Mark Alexander
The British are famous for their tolerance. It should be noted that tolerance and cowardice are two sides of the same coin. In that case, are the British so tolerant that they won’t deal with the threat from Islam, or are they too cowardly to do so? Just a thought.
Mark Alexander
“Divine governments … set themselves the task of making man into what he should be. To juxtapose ‘democratic’ and ‘Islamic’ is an insult to Islam. Because [sic] … Islam is, in fact, superior to all forms of democracy.” - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini 1979 [Source: The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis
- Alireza JafarzadehMark Alexander
“They tie our hands behind our backs, bandage our eyes and make us kneel. … But I can see what is going on. I can’t help looking. Our driver, who disappeared for two days and was held in a separate cell, is taken to the middle. The commander announces his sentence, in the name of Islam. He says we are all spies, and that we must die. I see Ajmal weeping. I don’t understand, and I ask him what they said.” He replies sobbing, “They are going to kill us. …
I see the driver being held down by four young men. They press his face into the sand, they cut his throat then go on cutting, they cut his whole head off. He manages to make only a single sound, a long moan. They wipe the knife clean on a tunic, and tie the detached head back on the body, and take it to the river bank and let him go.
I wait, my legs trembling. I stutter something to the commander. I ask him what is happening. I feel myself being held. I imagine myself with my throat being cut, the blood spurting from my arteries, drying in the sand, my body entrusted to the flowing river.” - Mastrogiacomo
Journalist released by Taleban tells of moment he saw his driver beheaded
Mark Alexander
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
UK Undercover: Islam (Part 1):
UK Undercover: Islam (Part II):
Mark Alexander
BBC: While European elites have been preparing for the Treaty of Rome's birthday, two non-members of the European Union have in recent weeks done little to contribute to a party mood.
The Swiss have quarrelled with the EU over taxes - rejecting suggestions that theirs are too low - and Norwegian officials have got tough over plans to increase the country's fee for membership of the European Economic Area (EEA). Happy to be outside the EU club by Kjetil Wiedswang
Mark Alexander
THE TELEGRAPH: An astonishing and deeply damaging attack on Gordon Brown's "insulting" treatment of fellow cabinet ministers and his fitness to be Prime Minister is made today by the country's former top civil servant.
The day before the Chancellor delivers his 11th and almost certainly final Budget, Lord Turnbull accuses him of exhibiting a "Stalinist ruthlessness" in government, belittling his cabinet colleagues whom the Treasury treats with "more or less complete contempt".
In a newspaper interview, Lord Turnbull, permanent secretary to the Treasury for four years under Mr Brown before becoming cabinet secretary in 2002, accused the prime minister-in-waiting of a "very cynical view of mankind and his colleagues".
"He cannot allow them any serious discussion about priorities. His view is that it is just not worth it and 'they will get what I decide'. And that is a very insulting process," Lord Turnbull said.
"Do those ends justify the means? It has enhanced Treasury control, but at the expense of any government cohesion and any assessment of strategy. You can choose whether you are impressed or depressed by that, but you cannot help admire the sheer Stalinist ruthlessness of it all." Top civil servant attacks ‘Stalinist’ Brown’ by George Jones
Mark Alexander
Tony Blair is guilty of "seven mortal sins" that have degraded British politics, the country's outgoing guardian of standards in public life said yesterday. Blair ‘guilty of seven mortal sins
Mark Alexander
BBC: An Italian journalist freed after being kidnapped by the Taleban in Afghanistan says he saw his captors cut off the head of one of two Afghans with him. Captive speaks of Taleban horrorDaniele Mastrogiacomo (Photo courtesy of the BBC)
BBC: The father of missing BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has appealed for information, one week after his disappearance in the Gaza Strip. Father’s appeal for BBC reporterAlan Johnston (Photo courtesy of the BBC)
Mark Alexander
Monday, March 19, 2007
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on all government executive bodies to make efforts to strengthen ties with Iranian expatriates in foreign countries.
According to Presidential Office Media Department report, the president added Iranian expatriates should introduce Iran's rich civilization and honorable culture to the world.
Underscoring the importance of introducing Iran's culture, history, and plentiful capacities via films and educational and tourist networks, the president pointed out the ground should be provided for transferring national culture, teaching Farsi, maintaining and strengthening Iranian identity to the youth and teenagers living abroad and their presence in Iran should be facilitated.
He said defending rights of Iranians living abroad is necessary adding the related organizations should act to coordinate Iranian expatriates' organizations. President underlines strengthening ties with Iranian expatriates
Mark Alexander
This sounds like gobbledygook to me. What do you think? By the way, isn’t it about time this man concentrated on the main event? What’s he doing about the growth of Islam in the UK? Notice the body language and the affection!
Mark Alexander
Thursday, March 15, 2007
'We pledge loyalty to Sheikh Osama Bin Laden and we will carry out jihad,' online statement says
YNET NEWS: A group of Palestinians have sworn allegiance to Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, according to statement posted on a major internet jihad forum last month.
The message appeared on the al-Firdaws forum – a meeting point of jihadis from around the world – and declared: "We believe that God will walk on the path of Sheikh Osama, may God preserve him, and the path of the martyr Abu Musab al-Zarqawi…. We in the jihad in the land of Rabat (Islamic term for Israel – Y.L.) do not belong to any faction, and we declare loyalty to Sheikh Osama, may God preserve him. We pledge to go down the path of the martyrs and fighters in Mesopotamia (Iraq), Chechnya, Afghanistan, and all parts of the world." Palestinians swear allegiance to Bin Laden by Yaakov Lappin
Mark Alexander
"We are being challenged by Islam these years. Globally as well as locally. There is something impressive about people for whom religion imbues their existence, from dusk to dawn, from cradle to grave. There are also Christians who feel this way.Photo care of Google Images
There is something endearing about people who give themselves up completely to their faith. But there is likewise something frightening about such a totality, which also is a feature of Islam.
A counterbalance has to be found, and one has to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on you. For there are some things for which one should display no tolerance. And when we are tolerant, we must know whether it is because of convenience or conviction.
We should not be content with living next to each other. We should rather live together." - Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
Profile: Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
Mark Alexander
HERALD SUN: NSW Christian Democratic Party leader Reverend Fred Nile says he has received death threats over his call for a moratorium on Islamic immigration to Australia.
Mr Nile, who is recontesting his upper house seat at the March 24 state election, on Saturday called for a 10-year ban on Islamic immigration. He wants the immigration department to give preference to persecuted Christians while studies on the impact of Islamic immigration are carried out during the moratorium. Mr Nile has previously called for a ban on the wearing of full-face scarves in NSW. Nile reports death threats
Mark Alexander
"I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew Daniel Pearl ... For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the internet holding his head." - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
BBC: Alleged al-Qaeda mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has confessed to the killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in 2002, the Pentagon says. Key 9/11 figure ‘beheaded Pearl’
Al-Qaeda mastermind admits Pearl murder too by Elsa McLaren (THE TIMES)
Mark Alexander
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Some Muslim cashiers at Target refuse to handle pork, setting off another debate over the place of religion in society.
Beryl Dsouza was late and in no mood for delays when she stopped at a Target store after work two weeks ago for milk, bread and bacon.
So Dsouza was taken aback when the cashier -- who had on the traditional headscarf, or hijab, worn by many Muslim women -- refused to swipe the bacon through the checkout scanner.
"She made me scan the bacon. Then she opened the bag and made me put it in the bag," said Dsouza, 53, of Minneapolis. "It made me wonder why this person took a job as a cashier."
In the latest example of religious beliefs creating tension in the workplace, some Muslims in the Twin Cities are adhering to a strict interpretation of the Qur'an that prohibits the handling of pork products.
Instead of swiping the items themselves, they are asking non-Muslim employees or shoppers to do it for them.
It has set off a firestorm of comments -- more than 400, as of Tuesday evening -- on the Star Tribune's community blog, Buzz. People called the newspaper from as far as Tokyo to voice their opinion.
It remains unclear how many Muslim cashiers in the Twin Cities are declining to ring up pork sales. Customer service and faith clash at registers by Chris Serres and Matt McKinney
Hat tip: Jihad Watch
Mark Alexander
Britain's commitment to fighting bribery is to be investigated by a prominent anti-corruption group.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's move is prompted by the UK's decision to drop a probe into defence firm BAE Systems. Fresh criticism over BAE inquiry
Al-Yamamah Scandal
BAE System’s Dirty Dealings
Al Yamamah Bribery
’Government should be stripped of power to halt prosecutions’
Mark Alexander
BBC: Iran has put its determination to complete the nuclear fuel cycle on paper, with a bank note depicting an atomic symbol.Image courtesy of the BBC
The 50,000 rial note shows electrons in orbit around an atom on a map of Iran. Iran defiant with atomic banknote
Mark Alexander
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
THE GUARDIAN: A taxi driver was today jailed for life for bludgeoning his wife and three children to death with a rounders bat over her affair with a married man.
Rahan Arshad, 36, committed the murders and then fled on a pre-booked flight to Thailand, leaving the bodies to remain undiscovered in the family home at Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, for almost a month.
He beat his wife with the bat more than 23 times in their bedroom before attacking his children. Pathologists needed dental records to confirm the identities of the four victims.
Arshad, who worked as a driver for Tripps taxis, murdered Uzma Rahan, 32, their sons Adam, 11, eight-year-old Abbas and daughter Henna, six, because of his wife's affair with a married man named Nikki, Manchester crown court heard.
The jury took two hours and 15 minutes to find Arshad guilty of four counts of murder. He showed almost no reaction as the verdicts were read out. Taxi driver guilty of bludgeoning family to death
Mark Alexander
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