George W. Bush macht der Türkei EU-Hoffnungen
Um Gottes Willen, Herr Bush, hören Sie 'mal auf mit dem Blödsinn, die Türkei in die EU hereinzubringen! Sie dürfen schon “zutiefst der Meinung” sein, “dass die Türkei EU-Mitglied werden sollte”, aber vergessen sollten Sie nicht, dass es andere Leute gibt, die auch zufiest der Meinung sind, dass so ein Schritt eine Katastrophe für Europa sein wird.

Wir können uns erinnern, dass Sie auch "zutiefst der Meinung" waren, einen Krieg mit Irak zu starten richtig gewesen wäre, und zudem waren Sie auch der Überzeugung, dass es möglich wäre, den Arabern im Golf Demokratie einführen zu können; und doch sind diese zwei Ideen als dumme Ideen bewiesen worden.

Die Türkei in die EU hereinzubringen ist auch so eine dumme Idee. Scheinbar, Herr Bush, haben Sie die Fähigkeit nicht, einen Unterschied zwischen guten und schlechten Ideen zu erkennen.

Irak haben Sie schon kaputt gemacht; nun möchten Sie auch Europa kaputt machen! Ich bitte Sie sich in diese Sache nicht mehr einzumischen. Gehen Sie lieber nach Crawford, Ihre Pensionierung zu geniessen! - ©Mark

WELT ONLINE: Es ist George Bushs letzter offizieller Europa-Besuch. Beim EU-US-Gipfel in Slowenien gab es einen außenpolitischen Schulterschluss, aber keine Annäherung in Detailfragen. Der amerikanische Präsident schlug gegen den Iran harte Töne an – und machte der Türkei EU-Hoffnungen. Inzwischen ist er in Deutschland eingetroffen.

Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) hat US-Präsident George W. Bush am Dienstag am Schloss Meseberg zu seinem voraussichtlich letzten Deutschlandbesuch seiner Amtszeit willkommen geheißen. Begrüßt wurden Bush und seine Ehefrau Laura von Merkel und ihrem Ehemann Joachim Sauer am Gästehaus der Bundesregierung rund 60 Kilometer nördlich von Berlin. Bush war zuvor in Berlin-Tegel gelandet und sofort per Hubschrauber weitergeflogen.

Der Abend war einem privaten Treffen der beiden Ehepaare vorbehalten. Geplant war eine Grillparty im Schlosspark. Merkel war gut eine halbe Stunde vor Bush in Meseberg eingetroffen. Sie unterhielt sich über den Gartenzaun mit Einwohnern des Ortes. Während des Bush-Besuches müssen die rund 160 Einwohner des Ortes wegen der höchster Sicherheitsauflagen mit einer Reihe von Einschränkungen leben.

Zuvor hatte sich Bush bei seinem letzten EU-USA-Gipfel überzeugt gegeben, dass die Türkei in die Europäische Union aufgenommen werden sollte. „Wir sind zutiefst der Meinung, dass die Türkei EU-Mitglied werden sollte“, sagte Bush im slowenischen Brdo. Die EU hat Aufnahmeverhandlungen mit Ankara aufgenommen, die Frage spaltet jedoch die Europäer. Vor allem Frankreichs Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy, aber auch Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) werben für eine privilegierte Partnerschaft anstelle einer Vollmitgliedschaft.

Eine deutliche Warnung sandten Bush und die EU an den Iran. Sie wollen gemeinsam iranische Banken an der Finanzierung von Atomschmuggel und Terrorismus hindern. „Wir rufen die Regierung des Irans zur Zusammenarbeit im Kampf gegen den Terrorismus auf“, hieß es in der Erklärung. Sollte Teheran im Streit um die Urananreicherung nicht einlenken, könnten die Strafmaßnahmen der internationalen Gemeinschaft verschärft werden. EU-Chefdiplomat Javier Solana will demnächst nach Teheran reisen, um dort neue Verhandlungsmöglichkeiten auszuloten. Neben Jansa und Solana nahm auch EU-Kommissionspräsident José Manuel Barroso an den Beratungen teil. George W. Bush macht der Türkei EU-Hoffnungen >>> | 10. Juni 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe)

Pour Kadhafi, l'Union pour la Méditerranée est «humiliante»
«Nous ne sommes ni des affamés ni des chiens pour qu'ils nous jettent des os», a-t-il proclamé, vêtu d'une abaya traditionnelle et coiffé d'une chechia rouge. Photo grâce au Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le numéro un lybien a vivement dénoncé mardi ce projet de coopération entre les pays des deux rives de la Méditerranée initié par Nicolas Sarkozy.

Mouammar Kadhafi a rejeté avec virulence mardi le projet de l'Union pour la Méditerranée (UPM) inspiré par la France. Monopolisant la parole à l'ouverture du sommet arabe de Tripoli, le numéro un libyen s'est livré à une véritable diatribe contre l'UPM devant les présidents syrien, mauritanien, tunisien et algérien et le premier ministre marocain.

Selon Kadhafi, l'UPM pourrait mettre à mal l'unité africaine et arabe en concurrençant des organisations déjà existantes. «Nous sommes des pays membres de la Ligue arabe et aussi de l'Union africaine et nous ne prendrons en aucun cas le risque de disperser nos rangs. Il faut que nos partenaires (européens) comprennent bien cela», a prévenu le dirigeant libyen. Et de prévenir : «si l'Europe veut coopérer avec nous, qu'elle le fasse avec la Ligue arabe ou l'Union africaine (...) nous n'acceptons pas que l'Europe traite avec un seul groupe» de pays, c'est à dire uniquement avec ceux qui bordent la rive sud de la Méditerranée,comme le propose le projet de l'Union pour la Méditerranée.

«Nous ne sommes ni des affamés ni des chiens»

Le colonel Kadhafi a aussi qualifié l'UPM de «projet passager» voué à l'échec, affirmant : «l'UE veille sur son unité et refuse sa division et l'initiative de notre cher ami Sarkozy a été rejetée fermement par l'Europe». Au sommet européen de mars, la France avait dû accepter que son projet se contente essentiellement de redynamiser le processus de Barcelone, lancé en 1995 par l'UE avec les pays méditerranéens du sud. Renommé «Processus de Barcelone : Union pour la Méditerranée», cette version de l'UPM concerne les Vingt-Sept pays de l'UE et leurs dix-sept partenaires de la rive Sud. Alors que le concept initial de Nicolas Sarkozy faisait participer uniquement, côté européen, les pays riverains de la Méditerranée. Pour Kadhafi, l'Union pour la Méditerranée est «humiliante» >>> | 10. 06. 08

LE MONDE:
Union pour la Méditerranée : les hésitations arabes >>> | 11. 06. 08

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché)
The Dawning of a new Dark Age (Relié)

West Risks Obsession with Islam, Warns Vatican
What is particularly surprising in this newspaper article is the comment made by Cardinal Tauran that all religions are equal. Did you ever think you would hear a cardinal stating such a thing? If Christianity is no better than any other religion, then why should people convert to it? Shocking! Can’t the Vatican do better than that? Little wonder the churches are emptying! - ©Mark

TIMESONLINE: The Vatican has given warning that the West's efforts at inter-faith dialogue must not be “held hostage" by Islam and are in danger of becoming "obsessed" with it at the expense of other religions.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, said that the Church “has to have regard for all religions". He said that the council had this week discussed new guidelines for inter-faith dialogue.

“What was interesting about our discussions was that we did not concentrate on Islam because in a way we are being held hostage by Islam a little bit," he told the Catholic website Terrasanta.net. "Islam is very important, but there are also other great Asiatic religious traditions. Islam is one religion."

Pope Benedict XVI has convened an unprecedented Catholic-Muslim forum for October. He has also sought to make amends for his controversial speech at Regensburg University two years ago, when he appeared to suggest that Islam was irrational and inherently violent. He later visited Turkey and prayed at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul alongside the local imam. West Risks Obsession with Islam, Warns Vatican >>> By Richard Owen in Rome | June 10, 2008

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The Dawning of a New Dark Age –Paperback, direct from the publishers

Getting Tough: Obama Sets Up Internet ‘War Room’ to Fight Slurs Against Him
Obama’s campaign said that the cyber team would respond immediately to any inaccurate information about him
TIMESONLINE: A crack team of cybernauts will form a rapid response internet “war room” to track and respond aggressively to online rumours that Barack Obama is unpatriotic and a Muslim.

As he gears up for his general election fight against John McCain, Mr Obama and his chief advisers are aware of the danger of such rumours, amid polling data showing that a significant number of Americans believe he is a Muslim or are suspicious about his background. Such doubts were a factor in his poor showing with white, blue-collar voters during his primary battle with Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama Sets Up Internet 'War Room' to Fight Slurs: Internet ‘war room’ will rebuff false rumours >>> By Time Reid in Washington | June 9, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)

Muslims Will Rule America, Britain

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Al-Qaradhawi: Muslims Will Conquer Europe!

WATCH ANOTHER YOUTUBE VIDEO:
Only America Can Block Islamic Conquest

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Just for the Sheer Hell of It! Something to Make You Laugh

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)

Bar Owners in Germany Complain about Lost Income: Will Germany's Constitutional Court Overturn Smoking Ban?
’The Marlboro Man’ courtesy of Google Images
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Germany's Constitutional Court is due to consider this week three complaints put forward against the country's smoking ban by bar owners. The court may well rule that smoking should once again be allowed in small bars and discos.

The walls are covered with posters of Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Johnny Cash, the ads are for whisky, vodka and tequila, the music coming from the loudspeakers is by Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull and Blue Öyster Cult, and clouds of cigarette smoke float through the room.

Sylvia Thimm, 45, has been the owner of Doors, a bar in Berlin's fashionable Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood, for the past six years. She is proud of her dimly lit haven. "I'm not just selling beer here," she says. "I'm selling an attitude to life."

But Thimm fears that all of that could soon end. Seventy percent of her patrons are smokers, and in Berlin, smoking is banned (more...) in all bars that have no separate room for smokers. Thimm is still allowing smokers to enjoy their habit in her 34-square-meter (366-square-foot) bar, and fines are not yet being handed out to violators in Berlin. But all of that will change on July 1, when the grace period for enforcement of the city's new anti-smoking law comes to an end.

Many of her patrons have indicated that if they aren't even allowed to smoke at Doors, they'll stay at home or go someplace else. Thimm still doesn't know what she'll do when that happens. "Then I'll have to come up with a Plan B," she says. "I'll probably have to look for a different job."

But because she likes her current occupation, Thimm has taken it upon herself to challenge Berlin's smoking ban before Germany's Federal Constitutional Court. The court's decision could prove to be the salvation of Thimm's pub. This Wednesday, the justices in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe will hear three out of roughly 30 pending constitutional complaints regarding smoking bans. Silvia Thimm's is one of them. Will Germany's Constitutional Court Overturn Smoking Ban? >>> By Dietmar Hipp | June 10, 2008

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
The Irony of Holland’s Smoking Ban >>> By Frederik Hartig | June 11, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Canada)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Canada)

Mahmoud: From Islam to Jesus Christ

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)

Jordan Group Wants Geert Wilders Tried for Fitna
Photo of Geert Wilders courtesy of Google Images
AFP: AMMAN — Some 30 Jordanian media outlets filed an official complaint on Tuesday seeking court action against far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders over a film judged anti-Islamic.

The organisations, who have set up a group called "Campaign for the Prophet", said in a statement they had lodged their complaint with the Amman prosecutor.

One of the group's lawyers, Tarek Hawamdeh told AFP that the action was "based on the (film's) violation of publishing laws which ban insults against religions and attacks against Islam and the prophets", punishable by a jail term of three years.

The lawyer said the prosecutor "will hear on Wednesday the arguments of those who have started the judicial process and of witnesses". He said he hoped this would lead to a court "order for Wilders to appear".

Wilders's 17-minute film "Fitna" ("discord" in Arabic), which links the holy Koran with terror attacks, has sparked uproar in Muslim countries.

Jordan immediately condemned the film on its release and some Jordanian MPs called for Amman to break diplomatic relations with The Hague.

The media group has also called for a boycott of Dutch products. [Source: Jordan Group Wants Dutch MP Tried Over 'Anti-Islam' Film]

EXPATICA:
Wilders Disregards Jordanian Law >>> | June 11, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US)

Zamzam: From Islam to Jesus Christ

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers
The Dawning of a New Dark Age –Paperback, direct from the publishers

Dennis Prager: When I Was a Boy, America Was a Better Place
TOWNHALL.COM: The day the O.J. Simpson verdict was announced, I said to my then-teenage son, "David, please forgive me. I am handing over to you a worse America than my father handed over to me."

Unfortunately, I still feel this way.

With the important exception of racial discrimination -- which was already dying a natural death when I was young -- it is difficult to come up with an important area in which America is significantly better than when I was a boy. But I can think of many in which its quality of life has deteriorated.

When I was a boy, America was a freer society than it is today. If Americans had been told the extent and number of laws that would govern their speech and behavior within one generation, they would have been certain that they were being told about some dictatorship, not the Land of the Free. Today, people at work, to cite but one example, are far less free to speak naturally. Every word, gesture and look, even one's illustrated calendar, is now monitored lest a fellow employee feel offended and bring charges of sexual harassment or creating a "hostile work environment" or being racially, religiously or ethnically insensitive, or insensitive to another's sexual orientation.

Meanwhile, all employers in California are now prohibited by law from firing a man who has decided to cross-dress at work. And needless to say, no fellow worker can say to that man, "Hey, Jack, why not wear the dress at home and men's clothes to work?" An employer interviewing a prospective employee is not free to ask the most natural human questions: Are you married? Do you have a child? How old are you? Soon "How are you?" will be banned lest one discriminate on the basis of health.

When I was boy, what people did at home was not their employer's business. Today, companies and city governments refuse to hire, and may fire, workers no matter how competent or healthy, who smoke in their homes. Sarasota, Fla., the latest city to invade people's private lives, would not hire Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt or John F. Kennedy if they applied for a job. When I Was a Boy, America Was a Better Place >>> By Dennis Prager | June 10, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US)

Sweden's New Wiretapping Law 'Much Worse Than the Stasi'
THE LOCAL: With just a week to go before the Swedish parliament is expected to pass a controversial wiretapping law, Pirate Party leader Rickard Falkvinge urges people to do all they can to block the legislation.

On June 17th the Swedish parliament is set to vote on the introduction of a new "signal surveillance" law.

What the law means is that all telephone and internet operators will be forced to attach a large cable to the state's supercomputer, where the state will be able to keep a record of everything said in telephone conversations, surfed on the web or written on the internet.

The law can best be described by the more explanatory term "general surveillance". Instead of just criminal suspects having their phones tapped, now everyone will be tapped via their phones, emails, web surfing, faxes etc.

But the state won't keep a record of everything. First it will scan all phone calls, emails and so on, in real time. Anything that is "considered interesting" on the basis of 250,000 search criteria, will be saved for further investigation.

All our phone calls, emails and surfing habits will be observed by Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (Försvarets Radioanstalt - FRA), which is why the proposed legislation is known as the "FRA law". Sweden's New Wiretapping Law 'Much Worse Than the Stasi' >>> | June 10, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US)

US Presence Blamed for Iraq Woes
BBC: Iran's supreme leader has told the visiting prime minister of Iraq that the root cause of his country's woes is the presence of US troops there.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has been trying to reassure Iran about a proposed security pact between Baghdad and the US.

An agreement could lead to the setting up of permanent US bases in Iraq.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was reported by Iranian media as saying that America's dream in Iraq "will not come true".

Iraqi officials say a pact is needed with the US military after its UN mandate runs out on 31 December to ensure there is no security vacuum.

Intense pressure

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says that, according to Iranian media reports, Ayatollah Khamenei had a blunt message for his Iraqi guest.

"The occupation forces, who have employed all their military and security power to interfere in Iraq's internal affairs, are now the main obstacle in the way of the Iraqi government and nation," he reportedly told Mr Maliki. US Presence Blamed for Iraq Woes >>> | June 9, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US)

Nonie Darwish: How I Accepted Jesus as My Lord and Saviour

Part2
Muslims4Jesus >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US)

Brigitte Gabriel: Christian Persecution in the Middle East

Part 2
American Congress for Truth >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US)

Convert to Islam, or Die!

Christians in Pakistan in Danger >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers
The Dawning of a New Dark Age –Paperback, direct from the publishers

Have the Brits Gone Mad?

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers
The Dawning of a New Dark Age –Paperback, direct from the publishers

Women’s Rights in Islam: Having Sex with Infant Girls

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers
The Dawning of a New Dark Age –Paperback, direct from the publishers

’Yurp’ Says auf Wiedersehen to Dubya: ‘Bush Damaged America’s Image Around the World’
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German politicians from both the ruling coalition and the opposition are taking aim at outgoing US President George W. Bush ahead of his week-long farewell trip to Europe. The Iraq war, Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib have damaged America's reputation, they say.

Visits by US presidents to Germany are usually surrounded by an air of history. But the program for George W. Bush's visit on Tuesday and Wednesday reads as if he's already left office. There won't be any grand speeches or symbolic gestures at historic sites.

Instead he's being put up in an official residence in Brandenburg, about 70 kilometers north of the German capital. It's a clear sign that Bush is the lame duck of US politics in the remaining months of his deeply controversial eight-year presidency.

By inviting Bush to Schloss Meseberg palace, the official guest house of the German government, Merkel is officially returning the US president's invitation to his ranch in Crawford, Texas (more...) last November. It's a friendly gesture, but not an especially personal one. "She succeeds in playing this game between closeness and distance," Alexander Skiba, expert for trans-Atlantic relations at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), told the news agency AFP.

But senior politicians from Merkel's ruling grand coalition as well as from opposition parties have done away with diplomatic niceties, seizing on Bush's farewell visit to express their aversion to the president who remains vilified in Germany for launching the Iraq war. ’Yurp’ Says auf Wiedersehen to Dubya: ‘Bush Damaged America’s Image Around the World’ >>> June 9, 2008

BBC:
Bush, the Destroyer of the US Economy, Eyes the Economy on Trip to Europe: He talks about the need for a strong dollar; yet he has done everything in his power to weaken it. Funny that! >>> | June 9, 2008

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
The Faltering George Bush spoke of the work to be done in Afghanistan, ahead of his trip to Europe >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US)