The EU should be stronger and more united. Great Britain should belong to the Union.
Die EU sollte stärker und geeinter sein. Großbritannien sollte der Union angehören.
L'UE devrait être plus forte et plus unie. La Grande-Bretagne devrait appartenir à l'Union.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Muslim Girl in Baptism Row Was Fleeing an Arranged Marriage
MAIL Online: The foster mother struck off for allowing a Muslim girl to convert to Christianity took the child in after she was threatened with an arranged marriage.
The woman, a devout Christian, was asked to care for the teenager after the authorities learned of her abusive family background.
Her father beat her just for chatting to boys and warned he would haul her off to Pakistan to marry against her will, a friend claimed.
But council officials were angered when the girl chose to be baptised. They insist the foster mother failed in her duty to preserve the girl's original religion.
As a result, the girl was removed and the foster mother struck off the register last November, despite having worked with children for ten years with a perfect record. >>> By Tom Kelly | Saturday, February 14, 2009
DIE PRESSE: Nura al-Fajes wird stellvertretende Bildungsministerin. Per Dekret wurden außerdem die Spitzen der Ressorts Bildung, Justiz, Information und Gesundheit neu besetzt. >>> DiePresse.com | Samstag, 14. Februar 2009
CORRIERE DELLA SERA: Arabia Saudita, la prima donna al governo
Nominata dal re Abdullah, ha l'incarico di vice-ministro per l'Educazione femminile, figura inedita nel regno
RIAD - A Riad qualcosa di nuovo. Il re saudita Abdullah ha nominato una donna alla carica di vice ministro dell'Educazione, secondo quanto ha riportato la tv di Stato. È la prima volta: mai in passato una donna aveva fatto parte di un governo in Arabia Saudita, Paese retto da una monarchia ultraconservatrice ispirata al wahabismo. >>> | 14 febbraio 2009
ASSOCIATED PRESS: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Just days before Valentine's Day, a young Saudi woman desperately searched for a red teddy bear to buy for her boyfriend. But all Nof Faisal could find were blue and white ones, minus the "I love you" she wanted hers to declare.
It's not because the store couldn't keep up with demand. It is because fear of the religious police forced the store's owner to strip the shelves of all red items, including the hottest-selling item: heart-festooned red plastic handcuffs inscribed, "Take me, I'm yours."
As Feb. 14 approaches, the police begin inspecting gift shops for items that are red or are intended as gifts to mark the holiday — a celebration of St. Valentine, a 3rd century Christian martyr — which is banned in Saudi Arabia. Such items are legal at other times of the year, but as Valentine's Day nears they become contraband.
At best, shops caught selling Valentine's gifts are ordered to get rid of them. Some salesmen have been detained for days.
The Valentine's Day prohibition is in line with the ascetic Wahhabi school of Islam that the kingdom follows. Marking Christian holidays is banned in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and a country where non-Muslims are banned from openly practicing their religion.
Celebrating any holidays but the two most important for Muslims — Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr_ is taboo because they are considered "religious innovations" that Islam does not sanction. Even birthdays and Mother's Day are frowned on by the religious establishment.
As Feb. 14 approaches, newspapers reprint a fatwa or religious edict issued by scholars a few years ago, declaring "eid al-hob," Arabic for the feast of love, a "Christian, pagan feast" that Muslims should not celebrate. Teachers remind students they must not mark the festival, and girls are warned against wearing anything red. >>> AP | Friday, February 13, 2009
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Saint Valentin: distribution gratuite de "sex toys" à Paris
INSOLITE | Célibataires, jeunes couples, groupes de promeneurs: une distribution gratuite de "sex toys" organisée samedi dans le centre de Paris pour la Saint Valentin, a suscité une vive curiosité, quelques sourires gênés et beaucoup de rires.
"J'ai eu un vibromasseur et des boules de geisha" raconte, ravie, Leila, étudiante de 21 ans. "Je suis super contente. Je suis célibataire, ça me console... Et puis ça coûte super cher ces petits trucs en plastique !" >>> AFP | Samedi 14 Février 2009
Geert Wilders Banned from the UK - Shameless Censorship
For God’s sake, the British government is so YELLOW! Appeasement of Islam is the name of the game! Gordon Brown, Jacqui Smith (Jackboot Jacqui), and David Miliband are all part of the ‘axis of cowardice’!
By disallowing Geert Wilders into the United Kingdom to show his film, Fitna, to the House of Lords, the UK has shown that it is well on the road to dhimmitude, well on the path which will lead to Eurabia.
Not since Neville Chamberlain has any British government shown such readiness to appease its enemies. And let’s make no mistake about it, Islam is the enemy, for it is the enemy of democracy and freedom, but nobody in the MSM or in politics wants to admit that this is so. But it is so. What else can an ideology be when it doesn’t recognize the separation of religion and politics? Whichever way anyone slices it, any ideology that does not regognize this separation, the sine qua non of democracy, can only be one thing: the enemy of democracy.
If you are aware of what is going on, then you must be, as am I, absolutely fed up with reading articles in the press which make excuses for the excesses of Islam and its adherents. You must also be sick to death of listening to, or reading about, politicians stating that Islam is not the problem. These people insist that some radical Muslims who espouse an extremist version of Islam are the problem. This is HS! Islam is the problem; and Islam pure and simple. There is, anyway, but one Islam. Any Muslim will tell you that. The moderate Muslims that politicians tell you about are non-existent, for moderate Islam doesn’t exist. There is but one Islam, and that’s Islam! The real deal!
A so-called ‘moderate Muslim’ is a Muslim who doesn’t follow his religion; and that’s no real Muslim at all!
What are we to do? Are we to wait until the crocodile devours us? Or are we to find our spunk and backbone, and confront this problem NOW, head on?
Our politicians and the people you watch on TV and listen to on your radio are spinning yarns, they’re peddling lies. They will go on doing so until YOU stop them! Tell them you’ll have no more of this crap, no more of this nonsense, no more of this poppycock! Tell them you want the truth. Insist on the truth; it’s your right.
That’s why banning Geert Wilders from the shores of the United Kingdom is such a nonsense. If what he has to say is false, then it will soon be seen as such. Nothing exposes the truth like the light of day. And if it is true, then we will have to confront the reality that faces us. But isn’t that the problem? Isn’t that what people like Jacqui Smith, David Miliband, and Gordon Brown do not want: the truth?
Our Thoughts and Prayers for Beverly Eckert, 9/11 Widow
Her husband died in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre after phoning to say that he loved her. As she flew to commemorate his 58th birthday and to establish a scholarship in his name at the high school where they met, Beverly Eckert also met her death in a fiery plane crash.
Ms Eckert was among 50 people who died when a Continental Connection commuter plane nosedived into a house in New York State, killing everyone on board and one person on the ground.
Last week Ms Eckert had met President Obama at the White House when he briefed the families of terrorism victims on the new Administration’s approach to terror suspects. 9/11 Widow Beverly Eckert among 50 Dead as Plane Lands on House >>> James Bone in New York | Saturday, February 14, 2009
Charles Moore Is Way Off the Mark in His Assesment of Islam! But Right about Jacqui Smith’s Decision
The Home Secretary should instead stop the advocates of violence from entering Britain, argues Charles Moore
'The Secretary of State is satisfied" would be a good title for a satirical television drama. It is the favourite bureaucratic phrase used to convey a ministerial decision.
This week, the office of the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith wrote to Geert Wilders, the Dutch MP who had been invited to the House of Lords to present his anti-Muslim film Fitna to MPs and peers there.
Miss Smith, said the letter, was "satisfied" that what Mr Wilders said "about Muslims and their beliefs… would threaten community harmony and therefore public security in the UK".
So the Flying Dutchman reached Heathrow on Thursday, but was put on a plane back to Holland straightaway.
It is extremely unusual that an elected member of a European legislature is banned from this country when invited by members of our own Parliament. It contravenes a key democratic principle about the power of legislators to talk to one another, whether governments like it or not.
The Dutch authorities – though they greatly dislike Mr Wilders – saw this point at once, and protested to the British Government. Out of his respect for the rights of the elected, the Dutch ambassador went to Heathrow to meet Mr Wilders. It is typical of the collapse of our Parliament's self-belief that this aspect of the case has been ignored.
Anyway, the Secretary of State was satisfied. What satisfied her? I do not believe that it was the intrinsic nature of Mr Wilders's film or words. I have watched Fitna on YouTube. It takes the view that Islam is irredeemably evil. Mr Wilders has said elsewhere that "Islam is not another leaf on the tree of religion", but a totalitarian political ideology. Banning Wilders Plays into the Hands of Our Islamist Enemies >>> By Charles Moore | Friday, February 13, 2009
Founder of Network Promoting Positive Muslim Image Arrested -- For Beheading Wife
NEWS BUSTERS: The Muslim founder of BridgesTV, a cable network whose slogan is “connecting people through understanding” and which tried to “improve the image of Muslims in the United States,” was arrested on Thursday, for allegedly killing his estranged wife in a manner normally associated with Islamist terrorists -- chopping off her head.
Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher, reported on Friday that Muzzammil Hassan, “a prominent Buffalo area businessman who founded the BridgesTV network to improve the image of Muslims in the U.S.,” had been charged with second-degree murder in the beheading death of his wife Aasiya Z. Hassan. Mitchell quoted from the network’s website, which described Mrs. Hassan’s “instrumental role in the creation of BridgesTV since she came up with the idea for the network.” The picture of the couple is still up on the website. [Source: News Busters] By Matthew Balan | Friday, February 13, 2009
*This week on the nearly famous Gathering Storm Radio Show the guests are Ilana Freedman from the Gerard Group and Ayaan Hirsi Ali (author of 'Infidel' and 'The Caged Virgin')
Time: US: 3pm (EST); UK: 8pm
Women's Rights under Iran's Revolution
Women were active in the events surrounding the Islamic revolution in Iran 30 years ago, but the Islamic Republic has been criticised for reversing many of the rights women won under the Shah's regime that was overthrown by the revolution.
Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2003 for her work on human rights in Iran.
She tells the BBC World Service how women have responded to changes in their legal status over the past 30 years and how her hopes for Iran's future lie with women and the young.
The slogan of the revolution was 'Independence and Freedom' and they said that the Islamic Revolution would bring this. Back then people were really hopeful because they really wanted independence and freedom.
Unfortunately after the revolution, while the country was more independent than before, the freedom that people were expecting did not come about.
Only five months had passed since the revolution when the Revolutionary Council took away all the rights that women had won over the previous years even though the new constitution had yet to be passed and the new president had not been elected.
It was in 1979 that a law was passed allowing men to take up to four wives, another law was passed stating that after a divorce the father would have custody of the children and women lost the rights they had gained. >>> | Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Left-wing Operatives in Ecclesiastical Drag Are Meddling Again!
More than 300,000 asylum seekers should be allowed to stay in Britain indefinitely, the Church of England General Synod has said.
The Synod, the governing body of the state religion, voted overwhelmingly in favour of an amnesty for those whose cases are still being decided on, and said all those who want to live here should be allowed to work.
It also said that a solution must be found to the "intolerable" situation of people who are refused leave to remain but cannot return to their home countries, and that children and families must no longer be detained in Immigration Removal Centres.
The Rev Ruth Worsley, a priest in the diocese of Southwell & Nottingham who tabled the motion on the subject, said: "The financial cost to our country, as well as the human cost which leaves people in limbo for years, not knowing what their future might hold, seems unconscionable.
"With the arrival of the credit crunch, the subsequent loss of jobs, the recent call for British jobs for British people, there is a danger that we become inward-looking and even xenophobic.
Rachida Dati 'to Run for Paris Mayor' Against Nicolas Sarkozy's Wishes
Photo of the glamorous Rachida Dati courtesy of Gala.fr
Rachida Dati, the embattled French justice minister, has sparked consternation in her own camp by letting it be known she intends to run for mayor of Paris, against President Nicolas Sarkozy's wishes.
The move suggests that Miss Dati, 43, whom Mr Sarkozy demoted by squeezing her out of the cabinet in exchange for a near-certain seat in the European parliament, intends to rebuild her flagging career with or without the president's support.
The glamorous single mother plans to use her hands-off post as mayor of the chic seventh arrondissement, as well as her seat on the Paris city council, as a springboard to run for mayor of the capital in 2014 – when the second mandate of Socialist Bertrand Delanoë expires.
Last month, the president gave his estranged protégée no choice but to leave her prestigious post as justice minister to take the low-profile position of No 2 on his centre-right UMP party's list for the greater Paris area in the European elections. Although she put a brave face on it, the move was widely seen as an elegant dismissal for the first person of North African descent to hold a top government post. >>> By Henry Samuel in Paris | Friday, February 13, 2009
LE PARISIEN: Rachida Dati rêve d’être maire de Paris
Pour ses collaborateurs, ce n’est plus un secret : Rachida Dati veut être maire de Paris. « La capitale en 2014, c’est un vrai objectif pour elle, confie un de ses proches. Elle a l’idée de conquérir l’Hôtel de Ville. » L’une des plus fidèles de la ministre de la Justice, sa conseillère Emmanuelle Dauvergne, confirme ce projet : « Elle veut s’investir à Paris, c’est ce qu’elle fait déjà dans le VII e arrondissement. En effet, elle m’a confié que la mairie de Paris en 2014 l’intéresse vraiment. » >>> Azzeddine Ahmed-Chaouch avec Martine Chevalet | Jeude 12 Février 2009
Représentant lui-même la famille moderne et recomposée, Nicolas Sarkozy a livré vendredi aux associations sa vision de la politique familiale. Un "statut du beau-parent ou du tiers", intiment lié à l'homoparentalité, une augmentation massive des places en crèches, un projet de loi sur l'adoption en mars... Le président a tenté d'apporter ses réponses aux "évolutions de la société française".
Lors de sa tournée des voeux, début janvier, Nicolas Sarkozy avait annoncé des mesures dans quasiment tous les domaines, à l'exception, notable, de sa politique familiale. Très attendu sur des sujets sensibles comme l'adoption ou l'homoparentalité, le président a présenté vendredi sa vision du foyer à l'occasion de la remise annuelle de la Médaille de la Famille. Objectif affiché: aider la sphère privée à "s'adapter aux évolutions de la société française". Au programme, une hausse des prestations pour les familles et des mesures fiscales avantageuses font partie des pistes abordées par le gouvernement lors d'une grande réunion sur la crise, prévue mercredi prochain à l'Elysée.
Une annonce qui pose des problèmes de financement. Aujourd'hui, les pouvoirs publics consacrent chaque année 80 milliards d'euros pour les familles, dont 30 milliards sont financés par les cotisations patronales des entreprises. Nicolas Sarkozy, qui veut diminuer ces prélèvements - "pénalisantes pour la croissance économique"selon lui -, veut mener "une réflexion sans tabou sur l'évolution de ce financement de la politique familiale". Le député UMP Yves Bur sera en charge de cette mission... "impossible" selon plusieurs associations. >>> Par G.V.(avec Reuters), leJDD.fr | Vendredi 13 Février 2009
Barack Obamas Streben nach Überparteilichkeit erhält einen Dämpfer nach dem anderen: Beim Konjunkturpaket wollten die Republikaner nicht mitspielen, der designierte – republikanische – Handelsminister sprang ab. Es sind Manöver der politischen Konkurrenz. Doch auch Obama hat Fehler gemacht.
Barack Obamas Werben um überparteilichen Konsens für das kolossale Konjunkturpaket wie für sein „Kabinett der Rivalen“ erweist sich zunehmend als vergebliche Liebesmüh. Die jüngste Zurückweisung erlebte der US-Präsident, als Judd Gregg, republikanischer Senator für New Hampshire und designierter Handelsminister, wegen „unlösbarer Konflikte“ auf das Amt verzichtete. Gregg wäre der dritte Republikaner in Obamas Ministerrunde gewesen; er hatte die Nominierung vor Tagen akzeptiert, nachdem Obamas erste Wahl, der Gouverneur von New Mexico Bill Richardson, wegen einer laufenden Untersuchung wegen seiner Wahlkampfspenden aufgegeben hatte. >>> Von Uwe Schmitt | Freitag, 13. Februar 2009
Afghanistan: Taliban haben 2008 enorm an Stärke gewonnen
Die Taliban haben in Afghanistan ihre Einflusssphäre vergrößert. Das geht aus Erkenntnissen der US-Geheimdienste hervor. Viele Gebiete, die einst friedlich waren, wurden inzwischen zum Schauplatz des Aufstandes. Peinlich für die USA: Sie verloren in Afghanistan zahlreiche Waffen – möglicherweise auch an die Taliban.
Der Aufstand der radikalislamischen Taliban in Afghanistan hat sich nach Erkenntnissen der US-Geheimdienste im vergangenen Jahr deutlich ausgeweitet. Inzwischen seien auch ehemals friedliche Gebiete rund um die Hauptstadt Kabul und andernorts betroffen, heißt es in dem Jahresbericht, den US-Geheimdienstkoordinator Dennis Blair dem Kongress vorgelegt hat. Trotz eines verstärkten Einsatzes der US- und Nato-geführten Streitkräfte im Land am Hindukusch gingen die Aufständischen aggressiver vor als früher. Auch die Zahl der Anschläge mit Todesopfern sei gestiegen. >>> AFP/dpa/cn | Freitag, 13. Februar 2009
Gb-Olanda/ Borghezio: Londra si è inginocchiata all'Islam: Eurodeputato leghista critica fermo del regista Wilders
VIRGILIO NOTIZIE: Bruxelles - Il fermo all'aeroporto di Heathrow del deputato olandese del Partito per la Libertà (PVV) Geert Wilders, regista di 'Fitna', film fortemente critico del Corano, dimostra che "la Gran Bretagna è inginocchiata all'Islam". Ad affermarlo, in una nota, è il capodelegazione della Lega Nord al Parlamento europeo, Mario Borghezio.
"E' ormai vietata ogni critica all'Islam, con tanti saluti ai roboanti principi di libertà sancita dalla Carta delle Nazioni Unite e dai Trattati dell'Unione Europea" accusa Borghezio, secondo cui l'Occidente è ormai "sotto ricatto islamista". Oggi la Commissione europea ha sottolineato che in base alla direttiva sulla libera circolazione delle persone nell'Ue "gli Stati membri possono rifiutare l'ingresso ai cittadini europei per ragioni di pubblica sicurezza, di ordine pubblico o di salute pubblica", ma le vittime di questa decisione possono appellarsi e devono essere informate dei motivi.
"Il silenzio omertoso delle istituzioni europee, di fronte a un caso come questo, ci fa ben capire quanto ragione avesse Oriana Fallaci a profetizzare un'Europa tremebonda e vile, inginocchiata di fronte alle minacce dei musulmani estremisti e intolleranti", commenta Borghezio. "Come una Super-Mafia, l'Islam impone con il terrore la sua volontà persino a Paesi di grande tradizione democratica", conclude l'esponente del Carroccio.
Wilders - che la prossima settimana dovrebbe recarsi a Roma - era stato invitato a Londra dal partito euroscettico Ukip. Al suo arrivo a Heathrow è stato fermato dalla polizia e imbarcato su un volo per Amsterdam. [Fonte: Virgilio Notizie] APCOM | 12 febbraio 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Controvery [sic] and wrong decisions have plagued the Home Secretary.
It is a measure of the tribulation attached to the job of home secretary that so few of its holders have subsequently gone on to become prime minister. Jim Callaghan managed it, by appointment rather than election, and it took Winston Churchill the best part of 30 years and the threat of Nazi invasion to complete his ascent of the greasy pole. Prediction is an ugly business, but it can probably be safely said that the present incumbent of the post, Jacqui Smith, will not be troubling the scorers either.
Miss Smith has had a terrible week. First, she is widely and rightly condemned for engaging in an expenses-garnering operation that breaks no law, but certainly breaks its spirit. Then she manages to make quite the wrong decision about the admittance to Britain of the Dutch anti-Islamist Geert Wilders. It has rightly been pointed out that many other people with unsavoury points of view have been allowed into this country to peddle their ideas; not least Islamists who are profoundly anti-Christian. We are, or should be, a land that believes in freedom of speech. No one was expecting Miss Smith to ask Mr Wilders to have cocktails with her; but she should have allowed him in to say his piece, and to have the rest of us judge him on his own merits. Her action is a self-inflicted and entirely unnecessary blow to our tradition of liberty. Read on and comment >>> Telegraph View | Friday, February 13, 2009
Dutch politicians are indignant about the treatment of member of parliament Geert Wilders but want to avoid a diplomatic conflict. Relations between Britain and the Netherlands are too important.
The Wilders affair was not worth a new war with Britain, said parliamentary chairman Gerdi Verbeet mockingly earlier this week. But she completely disagreed with the British government's decision to refuse entry to Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders.
Indignation and resignation characterise most political reactions to the British ban on Wilders, which can be traced back to a tightening of laws since the suicide attacks in London in 2005. Since then entry to Britain can be refused for people with such extreme ideas that they threaten national security. This has already happened 270 times since July 2005.
But whether or not it is legal, just about every Dutch politician is at odds with the British decision. "Churchill would turn in his grave," according to right-wing liberal (VVD) member of parliament Hans van Baalen. Muted Protest from the Dutch in Latest Wilders Affair >>> By Mark Kranenburg | Friday, February 13, 2009
Andrew C. McCarthy: Preserving ‘Harmony’ for Islamic Radicals: Geert Wilders is barred from entering the United Kingdom
NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: It has come to this: If you are an Islamic radical, trained to carry out terrorist atrocities in al-Qaeda’s jihad against the United Kingdom, the British will welcome you with open arms. Not content with that, Great Britain will lobby insistently for your release from custody so that you may freely roam British streets—and the halls of Westminster.
If, by contrast, you are a duly elected representative in the democratic government of a country to which England is bound in the European Union, and you speak about the undeniable—though mulishly denied—nexus between Islamic doctrine and jihadist terror, Great Britain will slam her door in your face.
That is the lesson in the appalling saga of Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch parliament and Exhibit Umpty-Umpth illustrating the depths of capitulation to which the West has sunk in its half-hearted bid for cultural survival.
On Tuesday, British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith took time out of her busy schedule of protecting from extradition Britain’s expanding roster of resident terrorists to warn Wilders that he was not welcome in the country—notwithstanding that the vision of Europe as a “union” is supposed to mean that Europeans may travel freely within it. Quite apart from the fact that Wilders is a government official of the Netherlands, he was not visiting the U.K. on a lark. He was the invited guest of Malcolm Pearson, a member of the House of Lords. Lord Pearson and Baroness Caroline Cox (a human-rights activist who has worked tirelessly on behalf of enslaved and oppressed Christians and Muslims in Sudan) had asked Wilders to screen his short, controversial film, Fitna.
Wilders is a lightning rod. In the great tradition of the Enlightenment, and to the consternation of post-sovereign Europe, he faithfully reports what his senses perceive. When he studies the Koran, he finds exhortations to violence. When he reads Allah’s command in Sura 9:5 that “when the sacred months have passed,” Muslims must “slay the idolaters wherever ye find them,” he entertains the outlandish idea that this means what it plainly says, and is understood by many Muslims as doing so. He has noticed, after all, that this passage is not singular, that its injunction is a recurrent theme in the Koran, and that the sentiment is even more pronounced in the Hadith and other Islamic scriptures, which elevate jihad—in its original, accurate, military sense: waging war against unbelievers—to the highest form of worship. He has noticed, moreover, that Muslim militants seem to slay the idolaters and other unbelievers with some regularity.
So Wilders is not making this up. It is, in fact, a view of Muslim doctrine he shares with some of the world’s most renowned authorities on the subject. There is, for instance, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the inspiration for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and also, according to Osama bin Laden, for the 9/11 attacks. Rahman’s leadership position in the global jihad stems solely from his scholarship—he is a doctor of Islamic jurisprudence and a graduate of Egypt’s al-Azhar University, the seat of Sunni learning. Or, to cite another example (and I could cite many others), there is Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, who fomented international rioting over cartoons of Mohammed and who urges jihadists to continue the fight “in Palestine, in Iraq, in Lebanon, and in every country that has been conquered by foreigners.” Our own State Department describes Qaradawi as an “intelligent and thoughtful voice” from the Middle East who “deserves our attention.” >>> By Andrew C. McCarthy* | Friday, February 13, 2009
*— National Review’s Andrew C. McCarthy is the author of Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad (Encounter Books, 2008).
House of Lords Apathetic about the Islamization of the United Kingdom and Europe!
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: The film Fitna was shown in the British upper house of parliament on Thursday despite the British authorities' refusal to allow its maker, Dutch rightwing populist MP Geert Wilders, into the United Kingdom.
Only around 30 people attended the screening, five of them members of the upper house.
All 743 members of the upper house were invited, as were the 646 members of the lower house, none of whom attended. Few Attend UK Screening of Wilders' Film >>> RNW | Friday, February 13, 2009
Des islamistes en cure de «dé-radicalisation» au Canada
Une mosquée de Toronto a développé un programme en douze points pour remettre dans le droit chemin des jeunes tentés par l'islam radical.
C'est une «cure de désintoxication» d'un nouveau genre. Un programme «en douze étapes», pour se débarrasser, progressivement, de son addiction… à l'islam radical. Pour la première fois au Canada, une mosquée de Toronto propose un programme de «dé-radicalisation», destiné à «traiter et conseiller» de jeunes musulmans attirés par l'idéologie d'al-Qaida.
«En tant que Canadiens de religion musulmane, notre ardent désir est de devenir les champions des valeurs antiterroristes», indiquent les responsables de la «cure». Selon eux, l'extrémisme peut être combattu théologiquement, en proposant au «patient» emmuré dans ses idées noires une autre interprétation de l'islam. >>> Stéphane Kovacs, envoyée spéciale au Canada | Vendredi 13 Février 2009
SUISSE-LIBYE | Le fils du colonel Kadhafi qui a rencontré Micheline Calmy-Rey à Davos aurait demandé de créer une Fondation sur la démocratie à Genève, croit savoir ce matin Le Courrier/La Liberté.
"Qui est ce fils Kadhafi avec qui la Suisse tente de négocier une détente en marge du Forum de Davos? Un diplomate, oui. Toujours en cour? Pas sûr," écrivait Olivier Bot dans la Tribune du 30 janvier.
Saif al-Islam Kadhafi a-t-il demandé l'asile à la Suisse? C'est ainsi que le jounaliste Sid Ahmed Hammouche de La Liberté de Fribourg commence son long article paru ce matin. La question serait sur toutes les lèvres à Tripoli où le fils n'a pas remis les pieds depuis sa médiation au Forum de Davos. >>> JFM | Vendredi 13 Février 2009
Einreise verweigert: Den Haag und London streiten über Wilders
Das Einreiseverbot für den niederländischen Rechtspopulisten sorgt für diplomatische Verstimmungen zwischen den Niederlanden und Großbritannien. Den Haag ortet eine Verletzung der Bewegungsfreiheit.
Nachdem dem niederländischen Rechtspopulisten und Islam-Kritiker Geert Wilders die Einreise nach Großbritannien verweigert worden ist, herrscht diplomatische Verstimmung zwischen beiden Ländern. Der Botschafter der Niederlande in London, Pim Waldeck, habe das "Missfallen" seiner Regierung zum Ausdruck gebracht, berichteten Zeitungen am Freitag. Der christdemokratische Außenminister Maxime Verhagen sah sich gezwungen, dem Rechtspopulisten Wilders Unterstützung bei einer möglichen gerichtlichen Beschwerde gegen die britischen Behörden anzubieten.
Zugleich machte Verhagen deutlich, dass Den Haag kein Interesse an einer Eskalation des Streits mit einem seiner engsten Verbündeten habe. Mit dem Versuch, Druck auszuüben, sei eine Einreise Wilders in Großbritannien nicht zu erreichen, sagte er.
Nach Angaben der niederländischen Zeitung "Trouw" reagierte London auf diplomatischem Wege "gereizt" auf die Kritik. In Kommentaren hieß es, das Vorgehen der Briten gegen ein gewähltes Mitglied des niederländischen Parlaments sei ungeachtet der Ansichten von Wilders eine klare Verletzung des Rechts auf Bewegungs- und Meinungsfreiheit in der EU. >>> Ag, DiePresee.com | Freitag, 13, Februar 2009
TAGES ANZEIGER: Holländischer Politiker am Flughafen London festgenommen
Der niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders darf wegen seiner islamkritischen Äusserungen nicht mehr nach England einreisen. Jetzt tat er es doch – und wurde in Heathrow abgefangen.
Die britische Regierung hatte Wilders mitgeteilt, er sei nicht willkommen, weil er eine Bedrohung für «die Harmonie der Gemeinschaft und damit die öffentlichen Sicherheit» darstelle. Seine Abschiebung zurück in die Niederlande stehe unmittelbar bevor, sagte Wilders heute.
Die britische Botschaft in den Niederlanden informierte Wilders in dieser Woche darüber, dass er nicht ins Vereinigte Königreich einreisen dürfe. Der Abgeordnete kritisierte das Verbot als Versuch, die Redefreiheit zu unterdrücken, und reiste dennoch nach Grossbritannien. Dem britischen Premierminister Gordon Brown warf er vor, eine servile Haltung gegenüber dem Islam einzunehmen. Der britische Aussenminister David Miliband sagte dem Sender BBC, Wilders habe sich eines «extremen anti-muslimischen Hasses» schuldig gemacht. >>> oku/ap | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Briten verbieten Wilders die Einreise
Der niederländische Islamkritiker Geert Wilders sorgte erneut für Furore: Wegen seiner radikalen Ansichten durfte er nicht nach Großbritannien reisen. In seiner Heimat spricht man von einem Affront - Wilders ist immerhin Parlamentarier.
Hamburg - Eigentlich wollte er Mitgliedern des britischen Oberhauses seinen islamkritischen Film "Fitna" zeigen und mit ihnen über Meinungsfreiheit diskutieren. Doch Geert Wilders kam lediglich bis zum Londoner Flughafen Heathrow. Dort nahmen ihn Zollbeamte in Gewahrsam und teilten ihm mit, dass er nicht willkommen sei und abgeschoben werde. Unverrichteter Dinge musste Wilders zurück in die Niederlande.
Das britische Innenministerium hatte ihm zuvor die Einreise verboten. Begründung: Der niederländische Rechtspopulist sei eine Gefahr für die öffentliche Sicherheit. Wilders war am Donnerstagnachmittag mit den Worten "wir werden ja sehen, was passiert" trotzdem losgeflogen.
Insgeheim hatte er wohl auf ein Einknicken der britischen Behörden gehofft. Großbritanniens Premierminister Gordon Brown bezeichnete er als "größten Feigling in Europa". >>> Von Christian Wiesel | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009
Misery Is It in This Dawn to Be Alive, and to Be Young Is Very Hell!
The decision of the British government – an excuse for a government in my opinion – to exclude this wonderful, enlightened, and very erudite Dutch politician from the shores of the United Kingdom marks a turning point – a sad turning point – in the history of these isles.
The United Kingdom has for centuries been known throughout the world as a refuge for people with all kinds of opinions which would have got them into trouble at home. We have welcomed all sorts of people to this country, knowing that their opinions were unsavoury to many. Now, after twelve years of Labour government (should that be NuLabour government?) we have reneged on our wonderful past and our traditions; and all in the name of political correctness in general, and in the name of Islam in particular. We have abandoned our principles.
Tens of thousands of people have gone to war to ensure that freedom of speech was enshrined in our way of life, enshrined in our ‘constitution'; yet this fact means nothing to the people that now rule us. Our politicians are as infantile as they are spineless, spunkless, and craven!
The prime minister – the overweight, pudgy specimen that he is – could have intervened; but he didn’t feel it was necessary to do so. Consequently, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, better known as Jackboot Jacqui (alas, not my name for her – wish it were!) has shown that she is unfit to hold the office she does. She should be jackbooted out of that office – forthwith! She is unfit for purpose!
As for Lord Ahmed, he has got far, far too much to say for himself. He should be silenced. He is, if I am not greatly mistaken, one of the ones who is, behind the scenes, pulling the strings.
That we, now, in Great Britain (that’s a minsnomer if ever I heard one!) are allowing Muslims to call the shots is not only a disgrace, it is a harbinger of the dark days that lie ahead of us. Islam is not famous for its forward, enlightened thinking; from now on, unless this ludicrous decision is reversed, and soon, neither will be the United Kingdom’s. The UK has just taken a turn down the road of darkness, down the road of dhimmitude, down the road of benightedness.
Is Obama’s Magic Unravelling? Running the Most Powerful Country on Earth Calls for More Than Sweet Words!
Photo of President Barack Hussein Obama courtesy of The Times
TIMES ONLINE: President Obama suffered a severe blow last night when his second nominee for Commerce Secretary abruptly withdrew from consideration, this time citing insurmountable conflict over the new Administration’s massive economic stimulus plan.
Judd Gregg, a Republican who was picked by Mr Obama after his first choice for Commerce Secretary withdrew because of an ethics investigation, further dashed hopes of a new era of bipartisanship when he declared that he no longer wanted to serve the new Aadministration.
“It has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package . . . there are irresolvable conflicts for me,” Mr Gregg said. Later, at a press conference, he expressed what appeared to be sincere admiration for Mr Obama, but said that joining his Administration was “a bridge too far for me”. President Barack Obama Loses Commerce Secretary Judd Gregg >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Friday, February 13, 2009
Bit by Bit, Gordon Brown's Fantasy Is Being Pulled Apart by the Facts
THE TELEGRAPH: The scale of our problems is at last being recognised by the Bank of England, says Jeff Randall.
In China, they have show trials. The Communist Party's disciplinary inspection group doesn't mess about. Those it suspects of involvement in bribery and corruption are ritually humiliated, forced to confess and shot.
The process is often put on video tape. Alleged culprits can be seen crying on cue, apologising to the people and reciting an ancient saying, the rough translation of which is: "One mistake and sorrow for a thousand years."
In Britain, we do things differently. Which is just as well for the nine bankers (seven Britons, one American and a Spaniard) who this week appeared before the Treasury Select Committee, accused of wrecking the economy. Had the inquiry occurred in Beijing, it is likely that firing-squad rifles would have been loaded even before the chairman's opening remarks.
For, in addition to destroying shareholder value and causing mayhem in the markets, bankers have embarrassed the Government. By their folly, they have helped expose, albeit unwittingly, the ignorance of ministers, flaws in the Financial Services Authority and impotence at the Bank of England. This will never do. What's more, they have established beyond dispute the Prime Minister's inability to pick a winner. Or, put another way, the Curse of Brown. >>> Jeff Randall | Thursday, February 12, 2009
Six mille néonazis attendus dans l'est Allemagne samedi
LE MONDE: Quelque six mille manifestants néonazis et d'extrême droite sont attendus samedi 14 février par plus de trois mille trois cents policiers allemands pour leur rassemblement annuel traditionnel à Dresde, dans l'est du pays. La "Trauermarsch" ou "marche funèbre" qui a lieu tous les ans à Dresde est une manifestation traditionnelle des néonazis allemands, qui commémorent ainsi le bombardement de la ville en 1945 par les forces alliées.
La police affirme ne pas être en mesure de confirmer le chiffre de six mille manifestants avancé dans la presse allemande, mais déclare "que c'est un chiffre assez réaliste". Une contre-manifestation est également organisée samedi. Selon les organisateurs, elle doit réunir de nombreuses personnalités politiques de gauche, dont le chef du parti social-démocrate, Franz Müntefering. [Source: Le Monde] | LeMonde.fr avec AFP | Mercredi 11 Février 2009
Es waren seine deutlichsten Worte seit dem Fall des Holocaust-Leugners Richard Williamson: Papst Benedikt XVI. hat bei einem Treffen mit jüdischen Spitzenvertretern die Leugnung des Holocausts als untragbar und inakzeptabel bezeichnet. Er kündigte an, selber nach Israel zu reisen.
Bei einem Treffen mit jüdischen Spitzenvertretern hat Papst Benedikt XVI. jeder Leugnung des Holocaust eine klare Absage erteilt. Zugleich wiederholte er wörtlich die Vergebungsbitte, die sein Vorgänger Johannes Paul II. im Jahr 2000 an der Klagemauer in Jerusalem formuliert hatte.
Die Schoah sei ein "Verbrechen gegen Gott und die Menschheit“, sagte der Papst bei einer Begegnung mit den Leitern der „Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations“ im Vatikan. Das müsse „jedem klar sein, besonders denen, die in der Tradition der Heiligen Schriften stehen“. (Hier können Sie die Ansprache des Papstes im Wortlaut nachlesen.)>>> KNA/AP/dpa/ab | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009
La Turquie sera prête à entrer dans l'UE d'ici 2013
RIGA | La Turquie sera prête à adhérer à l'Union européenne d'ici 2013, a déclaré jeudi à Riga son ministre des Affaires étrangères Ali Babacan.
"Nous sommes pleinement déterminés à entrer dans l'Union européenne. D'ici 2013, la Turquie se déclarera prête mais nous ne savons pas si l'UE y sera de son côté préparée", a déclaré le chef de la diplomatie turque à la presse.
"Nous ne sommes pas extrêmement pressés", a-t-il ajouté au cours d'une visite officielle en Lettonie, pays balte membre de l'Union depuis 2004. "Dans deux ou trois ans, la Turquie sera différente de ce qu'elle est maintenant", a poursuivi le ministre. >>> AFP | Jeudi 12 Février 2009
Österreich – Staat greift ein: Islamlehrer suspendiert
Foto von jungen Musliminnen in einem Klassenzimmer in Österreich dank der Presse
DIE PRESSE: Nach antisemitischen Äußerungen darf ein Religionslehrer nicht mehr unterrichten. Die Rechtsauslegung des Ministeriums ist ein Bruch mit Nicht-Einmischung in Religionsunterricht.
WIEN. Erstmals wurde ein islamischer Religionslehrer mit einem Unterrichtsverbot belegt, nachdem er Mitte Jänner [Januar] in einer Ottakringer Schule antisemitische Flugblätter verteilt haben soll („Die Presse“ berichtete). Dass er nicht weiter unterrichten darf, geht auf einen Paradigmenwechsel im Unterrichtsministerium zurück. Bisher hatte die Rechtsauslegung gegolten, dass der Staat keine Religionslehrer absetzen kann. >>> Erich Kocina, Die Presse | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009
Wilders, who is the leader of the Freedom Party, flew into the UK in the face of a ban from the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith just after 2pm to show an anti-Muslim film at the House of Lords.
He was seized by two border guards who boarded the BMI aircraft as it sat on the tarmac and was marched into a side room in the main Terminal One building.
The politician, who was invited by the UKIP peer Lord Pearson and cross-bencher Baroness Cox, had earlier been warned that Miss Smith viewed his presence in the country as a threat to the “fundamental interests of society”.
The Home Office refused to confirm the flight on which the politician would be placed.
But Mr Wilders’s spokesman in Amsterdam said that he understood that he would sent back to the Dutch capital within two hours.
Der wegen islamfeindlicher Äusserungen in Grossbritannien mit einem Einreiseverbot belegte niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders ist auf dem Londoner Flughafen Heathrow in Gewahrsam genommen worden. In den Niederlanden wird gegen Wilders wegen Volksverhetzung ermittelt.
Der wegen islamfeindlicher Äusserungen in Grossbritannien mit einem Einreiseverbot belegte niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders ist auf dem Londoner Flughafen Heathrow in Gewahrsam genommen worden. Seine Abschiebung in die Niederlande stehe unmittelbar bevor, sagte Wilders am Donnerstag der Nachrichtenagentur AP. Die britische Regierung hatte Wilders mitgeteilt, er sei nicht willkommen, weil er eine Bedrohung für «die Harmonie der Gemeinschaft und damit die öffentlichen Sicherheit» darstelle. >>> ap | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009
POLITIKEN: Denmark: Governing Liberal Party Spokesman Lambasts UK
Denmark’s governing Liberal Party Foreign Policy Spokesman Søren Pind has entered the debate concerning a decision by Britain to ban the entry of the populist Dutch politician Geert Wilders because of his extreme views about Islam.
“Unless you’re a terrorist or something like that, you of course should be able to travel freely within the European Union. That’s the whole idea behind European rights and freedoms,” says Pind.
Geert Wilders, who is the leader of the populist Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, is best-known abroad for his film ‘Fitna’ which compares Islam with terrorism and which has caused indignation across the world. The European Parliament has banned the film being shown in the EP.
Wilders was originally invited to the United Kingdom by a peer of the House of Lords to show his film Fitna and take part in a discussion afterwards.
EU rules
Under EU rules, Britain is entitled to deny Wilders entry into the country if he is considered to be a danger to public order.
But Pind says that while it is acceptable to deny large groups of Nazis, squatters and hooligans entry into a country – banning an elected politician from another EU country endangers basic freedoms.
“This case sounds all the alarm bells. When you subject an unimportant Dutch MP to this sort of treatment it shows just how far the authorities are willing to go to put the brakes on his freedoms. That is not gratifying,” Pind says.
Freedoms
“This is an elected politician who has a certain view about an ideology. Some see him as being drastic, but he doesn’t affect the groups that are a danger to public order. This case infringes on our view of freedom,” Pind says. >>> Edited by Julian Isherwood | Thursday, February 12, 2009
PINK NEWS: Gay Humanists Back Dutch MP's Right to Criticise Islam
A gay humanist group has said the Home Secretary was wrong to ban a Dutch MP who is critical of Islam.
Jaqui [sic] Smith said that Geert Wilders, a leading rightwing politician and a fierce critic of Muslims, has been denied permission to enter Britain on the grounds that his presence would damage community relations and threaten public order.
The Pink Triangle Trust (PTT) had declared its opposition to the ban.
"We maintain that in a free society anyone should have the right to criticise religion without being banned, dubbed racist or, even worse, threatened with death as the humanist author Saman Rushdie was over his book The Satanic Verses," said PTT secretary George Broadhead.
"There can be no doubt from reading its holy books, the Qur'an and the Hadith, that Islam is a homophobic religion, which at worst has lead to the barbaric torture and murder of LGBT people in Islamic theocracies like Iran and Saudi Arabia.
"But it is also deeply mysoginist and hostile to apostates and unbelievers like humanists. >>> Staff Writer, Pink News | Thursday, February 12, 2009
Britain was once renowned around the world for defending people's right to speak out. Not any more, says Philip Johnston.
The refusal to admit the oddball Dutch MP Geert Wilders to Britain yesterday marks a further retreat from this country's traditions of free speech. It stands in stark contrast to what happened exactly 20 years ago tomorrow, when Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman Rushdie for insulting the Prophet Mohammed in his book The Satanic Verses.
In retrospect, that was a turning point in the country's history of free speech, an event that appeared to demonstrate indomitability, yet turned out to be a defeat. An unambiguous stand was taken on Rushdie's behalf by the government of the day, which denounced the threat to his life and broke off diplomatic relations with Iran. Sir Geoffrey Howe, then foreign secretary, told the Commons: "This action is taken in plain defence of the right within the law of freedom of speech and the right within the law of freedom of protest."
Despite mass book burnings, protests around the world, including in Bolton and Bradford, and threats of violence, the work continued to be published and sold. How could it be otherwise? This was Britain, after all, the citadel of free speech. We would not be brow beaten into denying the rights of one of our citizens, or anyone else for that matter, from having their say, however controversial or offensive their opinion might be.
Sadly, the past two decades have seen a pusillanimous flight into cowering capitulation. We seem to have forgotten what free speech entails, how hard it was fought for and how important it is to defend. It is the value with which this country is most associated throughout the world. It is why Britain has been home, over the centuries, to so many political dissidents who would have been persecuted elsewhere, and why those who live in autocracies that brook no criticism tune into the BBC World Service.
They see this as a place able to accommodate opinions that are obviously crazy, offensive or even seditious, a country where a view can be held and expressed, provided – and this has always been true – that it does not foment violence.
Geert Wilders is an anti-Islamist who regards the Koran as inherently inflammatory and believes he is justified in saying so. He has made a 17-minute film, Fitna – an Arabic word meaning test of faith – setting out this thesis and was invited to show it at a private screening in the House of Lords. The film can be seen on the internet, so there is no question of stopping its dissemination. It contains some unpleasant images of bomb explosions, of captured hostages facing death and of chanting mobs interlaced with passages from the Koran.
Wilders claims that these verses from the holy book of Islam are being used today to incite modern Muslims to behave violently and anti-democratically. You may think he is wrong to say this; you may agree with him; you might, like the lords who invited him to Britain, think it is something worthy of discussion, given the obvious problems caused around the world by radical Islamism and the violence perpetrated in the name of the religion. It is hard, in a free country, to understand why it is a view that must be suppressed.
What, then, possessed the Home Office to ban Wilders – an unprecedented action against a democratically-elected politician from a European state, who is entitled to free movement within the EU? By any measure, it was an extraordinary decision; yet it was not even raised in parliament, the supposed guardian of our freedoms, though some MPs have commented on the ban, largely to support it. >>> Philip Johnston | Thursday, February 12, 2009
BBC: Geert Wilders Ban: Your Comments
A Dutch MP who described the Koran as a "fascist book" has been banned by the Home Office from entering the UK amid fears his presence would endanger public security.
Freedom Party MP Geert Wilders was due to show his controversial film - which links the Islamic holy book to terrorism - in the UK's House of Lords.
BBC News website readers have been getting in touch with their views on the decision.
Below is a selection [censored, maybe?] of your comments: >>> | Thursday, February 12, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Anti-Islamist Politician Geert Wilders Refused Entry to Britain
The far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders was turned away from Heathrow today after testing the Home Secretary’s ban on him entering the country.
Immigration officials denied the Dutch MP entry to the country after the Government decided he should not be allowed to attend a screening of his controversial anti-Islamist film tonight.
Mr Wilders said: "I am in a detention centre at Heathrow ... I am detained. They took my passport. I will not be allowed to enter the country. They will send me back within a few hours.”
On his flight to London, he told The Times that the British Government was “the biggest bunch of cowards in Europe”.
”It is easy to invite people you agree with, it is more difficult to invite people you disagree with and this is the proof of the pudding," he said. >>> David Charter, Heathrow, and Nico Hines | Thursday, February 12, 2009
NRC HANDELSBLAD: The Dutch ambassador to Great Britain, Pieter Willem Waldeck, will meet the leader of the populist Party for Freedom (PVV), Geert Wilders, when he arrives in London on Thursday.
Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen said the ambassador will be at the airport to assist the politician who is travelling to Great Britain in spite of a decision by the British government to refuse him entry. The British authorities say Wilders is not welcome because his outspoken views on the Muslim faith could lead to unrest.
Wilders had been invited by a member of the House of Lords to show his short film Fitna. The British refusal to deny entry to a Dutch member of parliament has been condemned by Dutch political parties. Maxime Verhagen appealed to the British government to reconsider its decision. >>> News Staff, NRC Handelsblad | Thursday, February 12, 2009
NRC HANDELSBLAD: Wilders’ Right to Speak
EDITORIAL: The United Kingdom does not want to admit anyone to its territory that would threaten “ Target=_blank>community harmony and therefore public security.” This argument was used to deny member of parliament Geert Wilders of the populist party PVV entry to the country on Tuesday. Too high a barrier to the free movement of people and the freedom of expression has thus been erected. Besides the fact that the law of both the European Union and the Council of Europe seems to be violated by this, the political concept of a free European space has also been damaged.
Ironically, striving for freedom often entails the prospect of confinement. That has now occurred. The fact that the ban affects a member of parliament makes the decision political, in addition to symbolic. The British are concerned about a well-defined political program that is democratically legitimised in the Netherlands. Voltaire is often credited with pointing out that freedom of expression means defending someone’s right to assert that with which one disagrees. That certainly applies to Wilders, who gives plenty of occasion for disagreement. But his freedom to express such disagreeable sentiments should prevail all the more. As should the duty to defend that freedom. Moreover what is at stake here is political freedom, without which other freedoms are all but unthinkable. >>> Editorial | Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Read the letter to Geert Wilders from the Home Office here
FOX NEWS: Despite Ban, Dutch Lawmaker Vows to Visit 'Cowardly' Britain
Dutch politician Geert Wilders says he's flying to Great Britain despite a government order banning him from entering the country, and he's daring the "weak and cowardly" British government to arrest him when he gets there.
"I'll see what happens at the border. Let them put me in handcuffs," Wilders told Radio Netherlands in an interview Wednesday. The right-wing lawmaker was invited by a member of Parliament to show his anti-Islam movie "Fitna," which calls the Koran a "fascist" book and accuses Islam of being a violent religion. He was told by the British Embassy in a letter Tuesday that he could not set foot in the country.
Britain's Home Office would not comment specifically on the ban, but it said it "opposes extremism in all its forms" and would work to "stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country." >>> Fox News | Wednesday, February 11, 2009
YAHOO! NEWS: Prince Harry is being sent on an equality and diversity course after a series of race gaffes.
Army chiefs agreed the move after revelations that the 24-year-old called fellow officer Ahmed Raza Khan a "Paki". The decision to send the young prince on the course comes after news that he and the Prince of Wales refer to an Indian polo friend as "Sooty".
Harry aimed the offensive term at his military colleague while waiting at an airport for a flight to Cyprus in 2006. It was caught on video, as was his use of the jibe "raghead" at another officer cadet wearing a camouflage veil.
And this week black stand-up comic Stephen K Amos told a TV audience the prince said to him: "You don't sound like a black chap." >>> ITN | Thursday, February 12, 2009
A four-volume encyclopedia gets pulped in the name of political correctness.
NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Wiley-Blackwell, a major academic press, was set to release its four-volume Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization this month. According to the encyclopedia’s editor, George Thomas Kurian, the set had been copy-edited, fact-checked, proofread, publisher-approved, printed, bound, and formally launched (to high praise) at the recent American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature conference. But protests from a small group of scholars associated with the project have led the press to postpone publication, recall all copies already distributed, and destroy the existing print run. The scholars’ complaint? The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization, they have reportedly argued, is “too Christian.” “They also object to historical references to the persecution and massacres of Christians by Muslims,” Kurian says, “but at the same time want references favorable to Islam.”
Political correctness in academic publishing is nothing new, but it would be unusual, to say the least, for ideological pressure to lead a publisher to reverse itself so late in the process, especially given the significant financial losses involved in pulping a print run of a gigantic four-volume encyclopedia. As Kurian puts it, “This is probably the first instance of mass book-burning in the 21st century.” >>> By Edward Feser | Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A primary school receptionist, Jennie Cain, whose five-year-old daughter was told off for talking about Jesus in class is now facing the sack for seeking support from her church.
Mrs Cain sent a private email to close friends to ask for prayers for her daughter after she was called into the school where she worked in Crediton, Devon, to be reprimanded.
Her daughter Jasmine had been overheard by a teacher discussing heaven and God with a friend and had been pulled to one side and told off.
Mrs Cain contacted 10 close friends from her church by email but the message fell into the hands of Gary Read, the headmaster of Landscore Primary School where she works.
The 38-year-old mother of two is now being investigated for professional misconduct for allegedly making claims against the school and its staff.
Mrs Cain has been told she may be disciplined and was warned she could face dismissal.
Her case is being supported by the Christian Institute who said Mrs Cain was the latest example of a Christian being persecuted by society. >>> By Caroline Gammell | February 11, 2009
Eight Wall Street bankers were force fed large slices of humble pie on Capitol Hill as congressmen lined up to vent populist outrage over high living, lavish bonuses and gross incompetence on Wall Street.
The heads of Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of New York Mellon and State Street all wisely took the train or drove to Washington rather than boarding private jets.
But that did not quell the demands for them to show the contrition expressed publicly by their British counterparts.
Barney Frank, chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, addressed them and said: "I urge you strongly to cooperate," and respond to questions "not with mumbo jumbo but with reality".
The eight men behind the witness table did their best to placate him.
"It is abundantly clear that we are here amidst broad public anger at our industry," said Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs. "In my 26 years at Goldman Sachs, I have never seen a wider gulf between the financial services industry and the public." >>> By Toby Harnden in Washington | Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Michelle Obama Makes Vogue Cover: The First Lady the World’s Been Waiting for
Photo of Michelle Obama on Vogue Magazine courtesy of the BBC
President Barack Obama's wife Michelle is the cover girl for the March edition of fashion magazine Vogue.
t is only the second time an American First Lady has taken the place of a model on a Vogue cover - the other was Hillary Clinton in 1998.
Mrs Obama, who was photographed wearing outfits she chose herself, says she is aware her wardrobe is under scrutiny.
"I'm not going to pretend that I don't care about it. But I also have to be practical," she told Vogue magazine.
Annie Leibovitz photographed Mrs Obama wearing a magenta silk dress designed by Jason Wu for the cover portrait.
It is the second time she has chosen to wear one of his creations for a high-profile public appearance. She wore a long white gown by Wu for the inauguration balls on 20 January.
Mrs Obama's sense of style has proved influential. >>> | Wednesday, February 11, 2009
