Mark Alexander
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
"How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children. Why don't they respect the values of families in the West?" - Ahmadinejad
DAILY MAIL: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he has pardoned the 15 British sailors and marines detained in the Gulf last month.
He has also publicly decorated the coastguards he said had captured the sailors who "trespassed" into Iranian waters.
He presented them with the medal of honour at a press conference in Tehran, broadcast live around the world and eagerly watched both in Whitehall and in the homes of the sailors' and marines' families.
Mr Ahmadinejad said he wanted to "honour" the coastguards and added he valued their work and he declared the Iranian people would 'steadfastly' oppose aggression.
In a reference to one of the captives, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children. Why don't they respect the values of families in the West?" Iranian president says he will free captured British soldiers
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran to release sailors as ‘gift to Britain’
Mark Alexander
It is difficult to imagine a ‘Speaker of the House’ making a move more ill-advised than Pelosi’s trip to Syria. She has surely overstepped the mark; and President Bush, in my opinion, is rightfully annoyed by Pelosi’s move into presidential territory. Frankly, I am amazed that she can get away with it.
BBC: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a visit to Syria that has angered the White House.©Mark Alexander
President George W Bush has said her visit undermines US foreign policy.
Ms Pelosi brushed off criticism, saying dialogue with Syria was key to solving the Iraq and Lebanon crises. US Democrat Pelosi in Syria talks
WATCH BBC VIDEO: Pelosi causes a stir in Syria
"There was a feeling of colossal pride, of relief, that we could still do the things for which we were renowned. And that feeling will stay with us for a very long time." - Baroness Thatcher
Photo of the reverent and ever elegant Baroness Thatcher courtesy of THE TELEGRAPH
The former Conservative Prime Minister laid a wreath of yellow and white roses, lilies and orchids at the foot of the Falklands Memorial in the Crypt of London's St Paul's Cathedral in honour of the 255 British service personnel who died.
Lady Thatcher, sombre in a long black coat and black shoes, stood back for a few moments in silent contemplation after laying the wreath which bore the words on a card: "In memory of those who have given their lives for Britain and for the Falklands Islands - Margaret Thatcher." Thatcher's tribute to the Fallen of the Falklands by Ben Fenton
Mark Alexander
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Nancy Pelosi, Vorsitzende des amerikanischen Repräsentantenhauses, ist am Dienstag in Syrien eingetroffen. Ihr Besuch bei Asad stösst in der Administration Bush auf Ablehnung und Kritik. Der amerikanische Präsident versucht, Asad zu isolieren. Bush kritisiert Pelosis Besuch in Damaskus scharf
Die US-Speakerin Pelosi plant einen Besuch in Syrien (Gegen den Willen der Regierung Bush)
Bush rival breaks Syria boycott
WATCH BBC VIDEO: Bush rival visits Syria
Pelosi: Israel bietet Syrien Friedensgespräche an
Bush verurteilt Pelosis Syrien-Besuch
Mark Alexander
Last Friday, I received word from my good friend Mustang at SocialSense that he had very kindly nominated my weblog for the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’.
First of all, I should like to thank him for nominating my weblog, and me. I appreciate it very much. It is an honour indeed.
There are many good blogs on the blogosphere, so it has been difficult for me to choose between them. After much hard thinking, however, I have come up with the following blogspots which, in my opinion, deserve this award. I have tried to span the spectrum. These are the ones I have chosen, in alphabetical order:
Gates of Vienna
Judah’s Journal
Michelle Malkin
Pedestrian Infidel
Wolfgang Bruno
If you accept the award, please follow these guidelines:
The rules of participation include:
For those nominees who wish to participate, pass the rules to the blogs you are tagging They include:
1. Write a post with links to five (5) blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that others can locate the origin of the meme – the blogger who holds you in high regard.
3. Optional: Display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.
Sincerely
Mark Alexander
With thanks to the Director of Transactions Magazine for alerting me to the following story several days ago:
The United States will be ready to launch a missile attack on Iran's nuclear facilities as soon as early this month, perhaps "from 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. on April 6," according to reports in the Russian media on Saturday.Mark Alexander
According to Russian intelligence sources, the reports said, the US has devised a plan to attack several targets in Iran, and an assault could be carried out by launching missiles from fighter jets and warships stationed in the Persian Gulf.
Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted a security official as saying, "Russian intelligence has information that the US Armed Forces stationed in the Persian Gulf have nearly completed preparations for a missile strike against Iranian territory." ’US ready to strike Iran on Good Friday’
Monday, April 02, 2007
Foto dank der WELT
Ali Larijani, of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told Channel 4 News he favoured diplomacy.
The Foreign Office said it was still studying his remarks but shared his preference for bilateral discussions. UK ‘shares Iran diplomacy desire’
Bush ‘will only make situation worse by meddling’ by James Bone
Iran schlägt versöhnliche Töne an
Mark Alexander
Im SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL ist am 29. März 2007 ein Artikel unter der Titel Evil Americans, Poor Mullahs erschienen worden. Scheinbar ist den Deutschen eine Meinungs-Umfrage gestellt worden: Wer ist gefährlicher? Amerika oder Iran?
Das Resultat dieser Umfrage ist dies: Achtundvierzig Prozent der Deutschen glauben, daß Amerika gefährlicher als Iran ist! Nur einunddreißig Prozent der Deutschen glauben das Gegenteil!
Was fällt den Deutschen eigentlich ein so zu denken? So ein Resultat einer Umfrage ist nichts aber lauter Wahnsinn!
Wenn die Europäer im Ganzen so eine dumme Meinung haben als die Deutschen, dann kann man nur Schwarz für die Zukunft Europas sehen!
Welch eine Verrücktheit!
©Mark Alexander
Sie sind verrückt nach Sex - pflanzen sich aber nicht gerne fort. Die Deutschen bekommen so wenig Kinder, weil Babys einfach ein schlechtes Image haben. Das muss sich ändern!
Die Deutschen sind verrückt nach Sex, aber sie pflanzen sich nicht gerne fort. Das zeigt schon ein schneller Blick auf die Zeitschriftentitel am Kiosk. Für mich zum Beispiel wäre es unabdingbar, gesund zu essen, mein Workout zu forcieren und mit frischem Waschbrettbauch attraktiven Ladys nachzustellen. Dank hervorragender Orgasmustipps würde ich sie alle glücklich machen. Nur schwängern soll ich sie nicht. Denn das Ergebnis wären Kinder, und Kinder sind die Problemzone des modernen Menschen. Sie kosten Geld, kosten die Karriere, kosten Nerven, weil sie krank werden und sich im Restaurant daneben benehmen. Kinder sind so furchtbar, dass Vermieter das Recht haben, Familien mit Nachwuchs abzulehnen - was sie sich gegenüber Schwulen oder Schwarzen nicht erlauben dürften, jedenfalls nicht offen. Macht Liebe!
Mark Alexander
NEW YORK TIMES: CLITHEROE, England — On a chilly night this winter, this pristine town in some of Britain’s most untouched countryside voted to allow a former Christian church to become a mosque.
The narrow vote by the municipal authorities marked the end of a bitter struggle by the tiny Muslim population to establish a place of worship, one that will put a mosque in an imposing stone Methodist church that had been used as a factory since its congregation dwindled away 40 years ago.
The battle underscored Britain’s unease with its Muslim minority, and particularly the infiltration of terrorist cells among the faithful, whose devotion has challenged an increasingly secular Britain’s sense of itself.
Britain may continue to regard itself as a Christian nation. But practicing Muslims are likely to outnumber church-attending Christians in several decades, according to a recent survey by Christian Research, a group that specializes in documenting the status of Christianity in Britain. Old Church Becomes Mosque in Uneasy Britain by Jane Perlez
Mark Alexander
’One must unfortunately note that Europe seems to be going down the road which could lead it to take its leave from history.’ – Pope Benedict XVI, warning that Europe appears to be losing faith in its own future, calling some Europeans’ desire to have fewer children “dangerous individualism”. [Source: TIME, April 9, 2007]
It was refreshing indeed to read Eleanor's blog this morning. It was like a breath of fresh air! It brought some sanity into a world that is increasingly looking insane!
I am so tired of mothers trying to reinvent the wheel. Let's face it: so many women don't really want to be proper mothers anymore. They choose, instead, a career path; and if they have children at all, they have one as an afterthought and, as in the case of Faye Turney, abandon that one baby for others to raise. This, of course, is the height of selfishness! Women like Faye put their own needs and fulfilment above the needs of their babies. This is so wrong!
The fact of the matter is that babies cannot bring themselves up. They need nurturing, they need love and affection, and they need to be educated in the home (informal education), as well as in school.
Small wonder that we have so many young people going off the rails these days! They aren’t raised properly. They aren't given a proper start in life.
Faye, in a short interview on the BBC website, said that she had always wanted to be in the Navy from the age of ten. Really! Many boys and girls have fantasies about what they want to be when they grow up. Many boys at the age of ten wish to become astronauts. Only the fortunate few ever eventually manage to achieve their aims!
When we mature, we realise that life doesn't always offer us what we have always wanted for ourselves. So we have to adapt our lives to answer the needs of the day. This is called maturation and responsibility.
When a woman becomes a mother, she should put the child's needs above her own. This is normal and healthy. It is abnormal and unhealthy to put one's own needs above the needs of the child.
One cannot help but feel a little sympathy for Faye in the circumstances in which she now finds herself; but it has to be said that she would have been aware of the dangers she might place herself in before going out to sea with the Navy. One therefore has to feel far more sorry for her baby than for her. It is the baby who is the real victim in all of this, not Faye. One can only wonder about the emptiness that her child must be feeling, having to live its life with an absent mother.
Faye can say as much as she likes about being able to give the baby more material things when it grows up because she does what she does; but to say that is to miss the point completely. Children need love and warmth far more than they need material goods, as nice as it is to have those things.
Mothers can kid themselves as much as they like, but the fact remains that there is no substitute for a stable home, especially one where the mother is present. Anyone who has been fortunate enough to be able to remember coming home from school to mother after a hard day at school will understand exactly what I mean. There is no substitute for a proper, stable home, a home with a mother and a father.
©Mark Alexander
The following photo of the violent demonstrations in Tehran yesterday published on the FOX NEWS website, says it all about the religion of Islam! This photo shows an Iranian clergyman throwing a stone at the embassy. Is this really what Muslims understand by the term 'religion'? Is this what religion means to them? Is this how they expect a 'man of the cloth' to behave? Can you imagine a Roman Catholic priest or one from the Anglican/Episcopalian Church behaving in such a debauched, barbaric manner? Whatever one's views on religion, whether one is a believer in any faith, or not, one thing I think we can all agree on: This is no way for a clergyman to behave!
©Mark AlexanderPhoto courtesy of FOX NEWS
THE TELEGRAPH: The fanatical madness of Osama bin Laden is chillingly revealed in a final interview the Saudi terrorist gave to the al-Jazeera Arab television channel in 1998. Although brief excerpts have been seen in the West, this is the first time the interview has been published at length ’Ever since I can recall, I despised and felt hatred towards Americans’
Mark Alexander
The surprising thing is that we’re surprised by Tehran’s actions
TIMESONLINE: Oscar Wilde insisted that “life imitates art far more than art imitates art”. What would he have made of the present hostage crisis? Twenty-four hours before Iran seized 15 Britons its mission to the UN issued a statement expressing outrage at 300, a movie based on the Battle of Thermopylae in 480BC. In this epic struggle between a small band of Spartans and a massive army of Persians, the ancestors of modern Iran have been painted, the protest ran, as the “embodiment of evil, moral corruption”. They have a point. According to Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek History at Cambridge University, Persia was “not a one-dimensional barbaric despotism” but, then again, it was “by no means well disposed to Greek-style democracy” either. Bullying, manipulative Iran? No change there, then by Tim Hames
Mark Alexander
Sunday, April 01, 2007
THE DAILY MAIL: Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed.
It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.
There is also resistance to tackling the 11th century Crusades - where Christians fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem - because lessons often contradict what is taught in local mosques. Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims by Laura Clark
Mark Alexander
BBC: Iranian state television has aired new footage of two of the 15 Royal Navy personnel captured nine days ago. Iran TV shows captured UK crew
WATCH BBC VIDEO: UK crew shown on Iranian TV
WATCH BBC VIDEO: UK crew 'all admit trespass'
A weak Britain becomes a target for tyrants
Mark Alexander
BBC: Iranian students have thrown firecrackers and rocks into the British embassy compound during a protest in the capital Tehran.
About 200 people demonstrated against what they say was the illegal entry into Iranian waters of 15 UK Royal Navy personnel captured nine days ago.
BBC correspondent Frances Harrison said the students were hardliners who were urging Iran not to compromise. Protests at UK's Tehran embassy
WATCH BBC VIDEO: Protests at UK embassy in Iran
All 15 UK personnel ‘confess’, claims Iran
Britain Asks EU for Help in Iran Stand-Off
Randalierer werfen Brandsätze auf britische Botschaft
Psychologische Kriegsführung mit Gefangenen-Videos
Evil Americans, Poor Mullahs
Mark Alexander
Head of military intelligence says Iran, Syria and Hizbullah preparing for possible confrontation with US this summer
YNETNEWS: Iran, Syria and Hizbullah are preparing for a possible military confrontation with the United States in the summer, the head of the IDF's Military Intelligence said Sunday.
"Their preparation is defensive ahead of war … They fear a war initiated by the Americans because they understand that there might be an attack against Iran over the summer, but not by Israel," Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Cabinet. IDF intelligence: Iran, Hizbullah preparing for possible US strike by Ronny Sofer
Mark Alexander
Mayor's office in northern city of Lille says it is 'shocked' and 'disgusted' by weekend attack, which it describes as a 'hateful anti-Semitic act'
YNETNEWS: More than 50 tombstones were damaged in an attack at the weekend on a Jewish cemetery in the northern French city of Lille that the mayor's office described as a "hateful anti-Semitic act".
The Lille mayor's office said it was "shocked" and "disgusted" by the desecration of 53 tombstones overnight Saturday to Sunday in the Lille-Sud cemetery. 53 Jewish tombstones damaged in France
Mark Alexander
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