ESSAY:
Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom - ©Mark Alexander
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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Monday, February 04, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy spent his "honeymoon" at a steelworks, as the French President sought to show his mind was on the job after his marriage to Carla Bruni.
"As honeymoons go, there’s nothing better," declared the President at the grim ArcelorMittal factory in eastern France, after pledging to do everything in the state’s power to preserve 600 jobs at risk there.
He then flew off to Romania for an official visit.
The president woke up to the news that French support for him had fallen once again, down 13 points from last month to 41 per cent, according to an LH2 poll in Liberation newspaper.
"The divorce", headlined the paper, referring to the growing number of French apparently no longer charmed by the leader they elected only eight months ago.
Only Jacques Chirac has lost support so quickly, according to the pollster, when he launched an austerity drive in 1996 to heal a "social fracture" between the country’s haves and have-nots. Nicolas Sarkozy honeymoons at steelworks >>> By Henry Samuel in Paris
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
LE MONDE: Dans son roman Sybil, Benjamin Disraeli, premier ministre de la reine Victoria, avait condamné la coupure du royaume en "deux nations entre lesquelles il n'y a ni relation ni sympathie... les riches et les pauvres". Ce thème, récurrent sous le gouvernement Thatcher (1979-1990), est redevenu d'actualité.
"En trente-cinq années de métier dans la distribution, je n'ai jamais vu de disparités aussi grandes : à Londres et dans le Sud, les nantis s'enrichissent, dans le reste du pays, les gens s'appauvrissent. Je ne reconnais plus le Royaume-Uni" : directeur général des grands magasins Marks & Spencer, Stuart Rose a repris à son compte la remarque de Disraeli. Malgré la baisse du nombre de touristes américains et japonais ou le ralentissement économique, lors des fêtes de fin d'année, les ventes de M & S ont explosé à Londres et dans les comtés voisins. En revanche, le chiffre d'affaires de l'enseigne dans le nord de l'Angleterre et en Ecosse a fortement diminué.
Lacunes du système éducatif
Dans la foulée, un rapport de l'institut des études fiscales, Institute for Fiscal Studies, confirme le fossé grandissant entre les riches et le reste de la population depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir du Labour, en 1997. Les 47 000 contribuables gagnant plus de 350 000 livres brut par an vivent dans leur quasi-totalité à Londres.
A l'évidence, cet écart régional est fécondé par le formidable essor des services, en particulier financiers, dans la capitale britannique. A l'exception des multinationales, pharmacie, défense, aéronautique etc., l'industrie britannique installée dans le vieux Pays noir, a souffert des délocalisations et de la concurrence étrangère, sans parler de la fermeté jusqu'il y a peu de la livre sterling.
Le Nord est pénalisé par une infrastructure de transports inférieure et les lacunes du système éducatif d'Etat. Tandis que les rémunérations s'envolent dans le tertiaire, les ouvriers et employés voient leurs revenus amputés par la hausse de la fiscalité indirecte et l'inflation. Cette situation contrastée est aussi patente dans les régions rurales du Sud-Ouest. Le retour des deux "nations" britanniques : la riche et la pauvre >>>
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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THE TELEGRAPH: Muslim medical students are refusing to obey hygiene rules brought in to stop the spread of deadly superbugs, because they say it is against their religion.
Women training in several hospitals in England have raised objections to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands, because it is regarded as immodest in Islam.
Universities and NHS trusts fear many more will refuse to co-operate with new Department of Health guidance, introduced this month, which stipulates that all doctors must be "bare below the elbow".
The measure is deemed necessary to stop the spread of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, which have killed hundreds.
Minutes of a clinical academics' meeting at Liverpool University revealed that female Muslim students at Alder Hey children's hospital had objected to rolling up their sleeves to wear gowns.
Similar concerns have been raised at Leicester University. Minutes from a medical school committee said that "a number of Muslim females had difficulty in complying with the procedures to roll up sleeves to the elbow for appropriate handwashing".
Sheffield University also reported a case of a Muslim medic who refused to "scrub" as this left her forearms exposed.
Documents from Birmingham University reveal that some students would prefer to quit the course rather than expose their arms, and warn that it could leave trusts open to legal action.
Hygiene experts said last night that no exceptions should be made on religious grounds. Female Muslim medics 'disobey hygiene rules' >>> By Julie Henry and Laura Donnelly
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France, and his new wife, now known as Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, began their married life looking a shade gloomy after a two-month whirlwind romance.
In the first photographs since the pair married on Saturday in a discreet ceremony at the Elyseé [sic] Palace, they were shown strolling mournfully in long coats around the grounds of La Lanterne, an 18th century hunting lodge beside the Château de Versailles, which Mr Sarkozy uses at weekends.
Yesterday the two made their first public appearance as a married couple at a Versailles café, where they acted as one would expect of newly-weds.
Suspense over the wedding date had been mounting ever since Mr Sarkozy hinted early last month that the press would find out about their wedding after the event.
But there had been recent speculation that Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy, who once said that "monogamy bores me desperately", may have been having second thoughts. Quiet life for Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni >>> By Henry Samuel in Paris
THE TELEGRAPH:
Ten things to know about France's Mrs Sarkozy
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
A prime indicator of the downfall of Western civilization! How are we going to make men, men again?
DAILY EXPRESS: Record numbers of men are having cosmetic surgery, including operations to reduce their "breasts".
Some 224 paid thousands last year to shed the sort of man boobs - or "moobs" - shown off so brazenly by Jack Nicholson on a yachting holiday.
The 70-year-old actor, whose chest was photographed off the coast of France last July, may not care about the effect of gravity on his body.
But soaring numbers of British men do.
Last year, 2,881 had operations - up 17.5 per cent in 12 months and the highest figure recorded, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons said.
Moob-reduction surgery was up 27 per cent while the number of tummy tucks preformed on males was 61 per cent higher than in 2006.
Doctors say men are finding it more acceptable to pay to alter their appearance. Just a few years ago, most plastic surgeons would not have operated on men.
Nose jobs remain the top choice for men, with 716 last year - a 36 per cent increase on 2006.
Liposuction - commonly carried out on the stomach, thighs or "love handles" - is the second most popular, followed by eyelid surgery. More men go under the knife in quest for smaller 'moobs' >>> By Daniel Martin
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
THE GUARDIAN: Phrasebook designed to avoid blaming Muslims for extremism
A new counter-terrorism phrasebook has been drawn up within Whitehall to advise civil servants on how to talk to Muslim communities about the nature of the terror threat without implying they are specifically to blame.
Reflecting the government's decision to abandon the "aggressive rhetoric" of the so-called war on terror, the guide tells civil servants not to use terms such as Islamist extremism or jihadi-fundamentalist but instead to refer to violent extremism and criminal murderers or thugs to avoid any implication that there is an explicit link between Islam and terrorism.
It warns those engaged in counter-terrorist work that talk of a struggle for values or a battle of ideas is often heard as a "confrontation/clash between civilisations/cultures". Instead it suggests that talking about the idea of shared values works much more effectively. Whitehall draws up new rules on language of terror >>> By Alan Travis, home affairs editor
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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THE TELEGRAPH: Forgive me if I glaze over at the mention of British domestic politics. Given the stupendous drama of events across the pond, Westminster life seems to be played out on - how can I put this? - rather a small stage.
But this sense of being trapped in a Lilliputian landscape seems not to be confined to those of us who are American-born, to judge by the swathe of British commentators who have taken off to the US to pronounce on Super Tuesday, which they view, almost unfailingly, through the prism of their home-grown assumptions. In all the excitement of the coverage here, I fear there are some recurrent misconceptions.
Misunderstanding number one: Teddy Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama was an unambiguous coup which moves him several light years closer to the White House. To the British media (especially the Left-liberal contingent), Teddy is the last remaining link to the great lost leaders, John and Bobby Kennedy, as indeed he is to what is left of the American baby boomer generation which did not swing to the Right during the 1980s.
He certainly represents an important part of the Democratic establishment whose abandonment of the Clintons is significant.
But what Teddy represents to the vast majority of American voters is ultra-liberalism. (More scope for confusion here: Americans use the word "liberal" to mean fairly hardcore Left-wing, not, as we do, to suggest tolerance or middle-of-the-roadness.)
For Obama to be endorsed by Teddy Kennedy is a bit like a prospective Labour leader being endorsed by Tony Benn. Kennedy's kiss of death for Barack Obama >>> By Janet Daley
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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Sunday, February 03, 2008
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH, 3 February 2008 — Have you ever wondered why some advertisements in Jeddah show people’s faces while others have the faces marked out?
Well, you aren’t alone. Even the responsible authorities wonder why some advertising agencies still produce signs where the faces of the people in the advertisements are digitally blurred out.
The habit of defacing images stems from a traditional aversion in Saudi Arabia toward depicting the human face in images, such as advertising billboards. But Saudi authorities say there is no law against showing advertisements without the alterations.
“There is no rule or regulation that enforces the deformation of a human figure or face in any advertisement,” Ahmad Al-Zahrani, an official at the Ministry of Information and Culture, told Arab News yesterday.
Nevertheless, some advertising agencies appear averse toward depicting human faces. “What is happening is self-imposed censorship,” said Qaswara Al-Khateeb, head of the advertising committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Khateeb says ad agencies tend to deface their signs in order to avoid any complaints from people, especially authorities, who might use this as a pretext for having the ads removed, or for otherwise getting the agency in trouble.
He said that since most agencies are foreign owned, they tend to be extra cautious in matters that might be interpreted locally as a violation of religious or cultural mores. Is Defacing of Images in Outdoor Adverts Forced? >>> By Hasan Hatrash
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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BBC: Women in Saudi Arabia should be allowed more basic freedoms, according to a UN anti-discrimination committee.
It says the practice of needing a man's permission to marry, work, travel or be educated should end.
In a report, the committee also says there should be more laws offering protection to women.
But the Saudi government, in submissions before the report was published, said there was no discrimination against women.
Victims of crime
Overall the UN is very critical of Saudi Arabia's approach to women's rights. It even expresses concern about the Saudi state's understanding of the idea of equality - saying similar rights for men and women is not the same as equal rights.
The UN highlights the situation of women who have been victims of crime. In a recent case, a woman who was gang raped was initially sentenced to jail and lashes.
The court found she was wrong to have been with a man who was not her relative at the time of the attack.
The UN report says social attitudes and the system of male guardianship deter women from reporting crimes and lead to a patriarchal system. UN call for Saudi women's rights >>> By Frances Harrison, Religious affairs reporter
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: SENIOR American military officials have produced photographs that they said showed the bodies of two women suicide bombers who attacked two popular pet markets, causing Baghdad's deadliest blasts in months.
The photographs showed the lifeless faces of two dark-haired women with oblique eye fissures, a wide gap between the eyes and a flat nose bridge - characteristics consistent with Down syndrome.
The commander of US forces in Baghdad, Major-General Jeffery Hammond, said: "There are some indications that these two women were mentally handicapped.
"From what I see, it appears that the suicide bombers were not willing martyrs - they were used by al-Qaeda in Iraq for these horrific attacks.
"These two women were likely used because they didn't know what was happening and they were less likely to be searched." Suicide bombers had Down syndrome, photos show >>> By Garrett Therolf and Ned Parker in Baghdad
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
LE JOURNAL DU DIMANCHE: Nicolas Sarkozy et Carla Bruni-Tedeschi se sont mariés samedi matin à l'Elysée. Sans fastes, sans photographes, en petit comité. En perte de vitesse dans les sondages, selon lesquels les Français lui reprochent son côté "people", le chef de l'Etat a pour une fois fait dans la discrétion. La chanteuse, elle, doit désormais endosser le rôle de première dame.
Il n'aura pas enlevé son alliance longtemps. Trois mois et demi après avoir divorcé de Cécilia, Nicolas Sarkozy, 53 ans, a épousé hier, à 11 heures du matin, à l'Elysée Carla Bruni-Tedeschi, 40 ans. Troisième mariage pour le chef de l'Etat, premier pour l'ex-mannequin devenue chanteuse. La rumeur courait depuis la veille. Le communiqué officiel de la présidence de la République est tombé à 18 h 30: "Madame Carla Bruni-Tedeschi et Monsieur Nicolas Sarkozy annoncent qu'ils se sont mariés ce matin, en présence de leurs familles, dans la plus stricte intimité." Deux lignes et demie volontairement sobres qui viennent conclure le premier couplet d'une romance débutée en fanfare et sur papier glacé, début décembre.
Cette fois-ci, promis-juré, affirme l'entourage du nouveau marié: "Aucun photographe, ni officiel, ni people, n'était présent à la cérémonie civile." Pour tromper ceux qui étaient en planque depuis l'aube, la voiture du président est sortie de l'Elysée peu avant 10 heures par le faubourg Saint-Honoré, en direction de l'UMP. Pendant ce temps-là, les invités rentraient discrètement à l'arrière par la grille du Coq. La cérémonie qui s'est déroulée dans le salon vert, contigu au bureau présidentiel, situé au premier étage du palais, a duré dix minutes, montre en main.
Célébrée par le maire du 8e arrondissement de Paris, François Lebel, en présence d'une trentaine de proches dont la mère - Dadu -, et les fils du président, la mère de la désormais première dame de France, Marisa, et sa soeur, la comédienne et réalisatrice, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, ainsi que ses quatre témoins. Pour lui, Nicolas Bazire, l'ancien directeur de cabinet - et de campagne - d'Edouard Balladur, et Mathilde Agostinelli, responsable de la communication de Prada en France. Pour elle, les comédiennes Marine Delterme - compagne de l'écrivain Florian Zeller - et Farida Khelfa. Quelques rares collaborateurs assistaient aux épousailles. Certains avaient été prévenus le matin même...
Pour garder le secret, les bans n'avaient pas été publiés contrairement à la loi, Nicolas Sarkozy ayant obtenu une dispense du procureur de la République. Il est ainsi devenu le deuxième président français, après Gaston Doumergue en 1931, à se marier à l'Elysée. Le deuxième aussi à épouser une Italienne. Raymond Poincaré avait convolé civilement avec une transalpine, Henriette Adeline Benucci, le 17 août 1904. Les coulisses du mariage présidentiel >>> Par Florence Murraciole et Virginie Le Guay
WELT ONLINE:
In diesen Clan hat Sarkozy hineingeheiratet
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NZZ Online: Gegen 120'000 Menschen haben am Samstag in Ankara gegen Pläne der türkischen Regierung protestiert, das Kopftuchverbot zumindest an den Hochschulen des Landes abzuschaffen.
(sda/dpa) Unter den Demonstrierenden, die Schilder mit Aufschriften wie «Die Türkei ist nicht der Iran» trugen, waren auch zahlreiche Frauengruppen. Das Kopftuchverbot gilt der laizistischen Opposition als ein Symbol für die von Republikgründer Mustafa Kemal Atatürk verfügte Trennung von Staat und Religion in der Türkei.
Die islamisch-konservative türkische Regierungspartei AKP von Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan hatte am vergangenen Dienstag eine Vorlage zur Abschaffung des Kopftuchverbots im Parlament eingebracht. Über die dafür erforderlichen Verfassungsänderungen soll im Laufe der Woche abgestimmt werden. Gegen 120'000 Menschen demonstrieren in Ankara: Protest gegen Aufhebung des Kopftuchverbots >>>
BBC:
Turks protest over headscarf plan By Sarah Rainsford
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
THE SUNDAY EXPRESS: A SECRET network of Islamic divorce courts is ordering unofficial punishments for women in Britain.
Back street councils are meting out sharia justice at weekly gatherings to deal with troubled marriages and financial arguments.
Senior Muslims are demanding that the law should be officially recognised and imposed on British citizens.
In strict Islamic societies the law allows people to be stoned to death in public, be beheaded or have their limbs amputated, sometimes for minor crimes.
Even though the rulings are not recognised by British law, women face losing their children if they choose to remarry after a judgment is made.
We want to know what YOU think about Sharia law. Should this harsh justice system be used in Britain? Perhaps you feel is it completely barbaric or maybe you feel it is a warranted form of justice.
Have YOUR say NOW!
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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THE SUNDAY TIMES: The discreet marriage of Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni, the Italian model-singer, drew shrugs in much of France today but not in Neuilly, the opulent western Paris suburb where the President was mayor for 19 years.
In cold sunshine on the street market, Jean Sarkozy, the President's 21-year-old son, was congratulated by Sunday morning shoppers who wished their best for Sarko and his Italian third wife. Student Sarko, the second son from Mr Sarkozy's first marriage, was one of 20 present at the Saturday ceremony on the first floor of the Elysée Palace.
"I hope it will go better for my father now," Jean told The Times as he tasted olives from a market stall. "Things have been pretty difficult lately."
Mr Sarkozy was canvassing for David Martinon, 36, his father's spokesman, who is running for Mayor of Neully in council elections next month. The polls in all 36,000 French councils are the first electoral test of the presidency and Mr Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement fears that the "Carla effect" will add to their woes.
Jean Sarkozy's hopes for a turn in his father's fortunes are shared at the Elysée, which has felt the strain since November. That month, Mr Sarkozy, just divorced from Cécilia Ciganer, met Ms Bruni and threw himself into a very public courtship while his ratings plumetted. The UMP also hopes that the wedding will close a turbulent chapter and that France will soon forget a glitzy romance that tarnished the president's image. Sarko's son: I hope things will be better for dad now he's married >>> By Charles Bremner, of The Times, Paris
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
If the British eclectorate buy into this , then they deserve all they get!
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Husbands with multiple wives have been given the go-ahead to claim extra welfare benefits following a year-long Government review, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
Even though bigamy is a crime in Britain, the decision by ministers means that polygamous marriages can now be recognised formally by the state, so long as the weddings took place in countries where the arrangement is legal.
The outcome will chiefly benefit Muslim men with more than one wife, as is permitted under Islamic law. Ministers estimate that up to a thousand polygamous partnershipsexist in Britain, although they admit there is no exact record.
The decision has been condemned by the Tories, who accused the Government of offering preferential treatment to a particular group, and of setting a precedent that would lead to demands for further changes in British law.
New guidelines on income support from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) state: "Where there is a valid polygamous marriage the claimant and one spouse will be paid the couple rate ... The amount payable for each additional spouse is presently £33.65."
Income support for all of the wives may be paid directly into the husband's bank account, if the family so choose. Under the deal agreed by ministers, a husband with multiple wives may also be eligible for additional housing benefit and council tax benefit to reflect the larger property needed for his family.
The ruling could cost taxpayers millions of pounds. Ministers launched a review of the benefit rules for polygamous marriages in November 2006, after it emerged that some families had benefited financially. Multiple wives will mean multiple benefits >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH:
Have Your Say: Should Multiple Wives Get Recognition from the State?
MY COMMENT TO THE TELEGRAPH:
Only this week, it was reported that people on invalidity benefits were costing the government billions, and an (ex-)investment banker had been called in to advise on how significant savings could be made.MAIL ON SUNDAY:
Now the government announces this twaddle! And how much is this going to cost the taxpayer?
It appears that Gordon Brown hasn't learnt one basic lesson about government: Governments don't have ANY money; they have only the taxpayers'.
This is a Christian country - only just, perhaps, but still, nevertheless. Polygamy is outlawed; and so it should be. It is an unseemly practice.
Encouraging polygamy in this way is accelerating the Islamization of our country. Moreover, why should one group of people be entitled to more state benefits than another one? Is this what they call British fairplay? - ©Mark
Husbands with multiple wives to get extra benefits after Government go-ahead
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
The SUNDAY OBSERVER: President Nicolas Sarkozy and model Carla Bruni married yesterday following a whirlwind romance that has divided France, reports Jason Burke in Paris
And so, in the intimacy of his own home, Nicolas Sarkozy, 53, Co-Prince of Andorra, Commander of the Ordre de Léopold, Grand Master of the Legion d'Honneur, sixth President of the Fifth French Republic, divorced father of three, said 'I do'. And Carla Bruni, successful singer songwriter, former top model, heiress to the fortune of an Italian tyre manufacturer, 40-year-old single mother, said 'I do' too. And afterwards everyone stayed for a glass of orange squash.
'It was exceptional,' François Lebel, the mayor who conducted the ceremony, said with considerable understatement. 'I married two electors of the 8th arrondissement who live at 55, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré [the Elysée palace]. The bride wore white, she was ravishing, as usual... The groom wasn't bad either.'
Lebel said the ceremony, which took place at 11am on the first floor of the palace, lasted about 20 minutes and was 'a moment of family intimacy for the young newlyweds, of great simplicity and a lot of evident affection and emotion between the spouses'. Around 20 people were present.
Sarkozy, who was dressed in suit and tie for his marriage, could not devote the entire day to celebrations as he was distracted by a breaking crisis in Chad, the former French colony in central Africa. As rebels penetrated Chad's capital, Sarkozy called a meeting at the Elysée Palace and spoke by telephone with Chad's President.
Quite whether the well-wishers will include 63 million fellow French citizens - or even the 53 per cent of voters who elected Sarkozy president in a hard-fought election last year - remains to be seen. The frenetically energetic right-winger's approval ratings have plunged in recent weeks, partly due to his failure to boost the French economy as promised but equally because of widespread disapproval of his disregard for long-held traditions. 'The bride wore white; she was ravishing, as usual. The groom wasn't bad either' >>>
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
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