American Capitalism Gone with a Whimper
Image: Google Images
PRAVDA: It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists.

Those lessons were taken and used to properly prepare the American populace for the surrender of their freedoms and souls, to the whims of their elites and betters.

First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then [sic] the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than [sic] for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blind the foolish.

Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America.

The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.

These past two weeks have been the most breath taking of all. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look little more then ordinary street thugs, in comparison. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in the shear volumes. Should we congratulate them? >>> Stanislav Mishin | Monday, April 27, 2009

Hat tip: Always On Watch >>>

Radical Iraq Cleric Orders 'Depraved' Homosexuality to Be Eradicated
Moqtada Sadr urged for the eradication of homosexuality. Photo courtesy of Pink News
PINK NEWS: Moqtada Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric in Iraq, has ordered that the "depravity" of homosexuality must be eradicated, yet urged an end to violence against gays and lesbians.

His spokesman Sheikh Wadea al-Atab said today that a series of meetings are being held with clerics, tribal leaders and police to tackle the "phenomenon".

According to AFP, Atabi said: "The purpose of the meetings is to fight the depravity and to urge the community to reject this phenomenon. The only remedy to stop it is through preaching and guidance. There is no other way to put an end to it."

Regarding the recent killings of six gay men in Sadr city, on the outskirts of Baghdad, Atabi said: "Al-Sadr rejects this type of violence … and anyone who commits violence [against gays] will not be considered as being one of us."

Homosexuality is not illegal in Iraq but religious leaders condemn it.

Two gay men were found dead in the Baghdad Shiite slum of Sadr City In April following condemnations of homosexuality by a leading local cleric.

A further four were murdered in March after the Shiite cleric Sattar al-Battat allegedly repeatedly condemned homosexuality in Friday prayers. >>> By Jessica Green | Friday, May 29, 2009

YOUTUBE: Gay Life, Gay Death in Iraq


YOUTUBE: Gay in Iraq

Changing of the Rosenguard

For an explanation and to read further, click here >>>

Hat tip: Elisabeth of Austria >>>

Pakistan : «les talibans vaincus dans 2 ou 3 jours»
LE FIGARO: Après l'étape clé de la reprise de Mingora samedi, chef-lieu du district de Swat, l'armée pakistanaise espère venir à bout des talibans rapidement.

L'armée pakistanaise, qui a repris samedi aux talibans le contrôle de Mingora, chef-lieu du district de Swat (nord-ouest), espère venir à bout des talibans dans la région d'ici deux à trois jours, a déclaré dimanche le secrétaire pakistanais à la Défense.

«Les opérations à Swat, Buner et dans les zones voisines sont presque totalement achevées», a déclaré Syed Athar Ali, secrétaire pakistanais à la Défense, lors d'une conférence régionale sur la sécurité à Singapour. «Il ne reste que 5 à 10% du travail à terminer et nous espérons que les poches de résistance seront vaincues d'ici deux à trois jours», a-t-il ajouté.

L'armée pakistanaise a indiqué samedi avoir repris aux talibans le contrôle de Mingora, chef-lieu du district de Swat, et étape essentielle dans son offensive contre les islamistes, après des combats violents.

Les autorités pakistanaises ont annoncé que quinze mille soldats y faisaient face à quelque 2.000 talibans. Quelque 15.000 soldats sont engagés dans cette offensive dans la région de Swat face à 2.000 combattants talibans, a précisé l'armée.

«Les forces de sécurité contrôlent la ville. La bataille de Mingora est terminée», a déclaré samedi dans une conférence de presse le porte-parole de l'armée, le général Athar Abbas, selon lequel «Mingora est maintenant sous le contrôle total de l'armée.» L'information n'a pu être confirmée de source indépendante, les zones des combats étant interdites d'accès. >>> LeFigaro.fr | Dimanche 31 Mai 2009

North Korea, the Dead Land
THE TELEGRAPH: Hyok Kang, who escaped from his oppressive homeland in 1998, provides a unique and harrowing insight into Kim Jong-il's dictatorship, which can build nuclear weapons - but not feed its people

I was nine when I saw my first execution. The man had been condemned to death for stealing copper wire to sell in China, crossing the border under the cover of darkness. He was dragged to the foot of the mountain near a railway track. A train that happened to pass stopped to let passengers watch the scene.

Executions were a frequent occurrence in our small city, but the inhabitants never tired of them. Primary and secondary school pupils skipped classes to join the audience, which always consisted of hundreds, even thousands, of people. Posters went up in the city several days before. When the time came, the condemned man was displayed in the streets before being led to the place of execution, where he was made to sit on the ground, head bowed, so everyone could get a good look at him. He was dressed in a garment designed by army scientists for public executions, a greyish one-piece suit made of very thick, fleece-lined cotton. That way, when the bullets are fired, the blood doesn't spurt out but is absorbed by this fabric, which turns red. The body is thrown on a cart and then abandoned in the mountains for the dogs to eat.

was born on April 20 1986 in a village not far from Onsong, a city of 300,000 inhabitants in the north-east of the People's Democratic Republic of Korea, close to the Chinese border and Siberia. The city is divided into ku (districts) and ban (classifications) of 20 families. My parents lived in ban number three, in a semi-rural zone. The house was like dozens of others built on the same model and lined up in rows. There was a door, a single window, and a roof of curved orange tiles. The walls were white, but they had been painted blue to a height that I must have passed about the age of eight or nine. Each time the district officials came to check the hygiene of the houses, as they regularly did, they ordered us to change the colour of this lower part: to green, now blue, now light brown, but all the houses in our ban had to be the same colour; perhaps because dwellings, like everything else in North Korea, are the property of the people. That means that nothing belongs to anyone.

Inside were two rooms separated by a sliding door. The floors were covered with pale brown varnished floor-paper, and in the main room hung portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. That was compulsory. You had to call the father: "Dear respected comrade head of state Great Leader Kim Il-sung", or, more simply, "Comrade Great Leader". For his son, the formula was "Dear Leader Kim Jong-il", until Kim Il-sung's death in 1994; then we had to call him "Great Leader Kim Jong-il". >>> By Hyok Kang | Sunday, May 31, 2009

*This Is Paradise!: My North Korean Childhood by Hyok Kang, is available from Telegraph Books from £7.99 + 99p P&P. To order, call 0844 871 1516 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk

VIDEO:
Welcome to North Korea! >>>

"Pour une Europe qui protège"
leJDD.fr: Le 7 juin, 500 millions de citoyens vont s'exprimer. A cette occasion, le président français et la chancelière allemande affichent une ambition commune: changer les règles de l'Europe. Dans une tribune publiée dans le Journal du Dimanche, Nicolas Sarkozy et Angela Merkel dévoilent leur vision de l'Union européenne. Les deux chefs d'Etat disent vouloir une "Europe forte et unie".

Aujourd'hui, plus que jamais, l'heure est à l'action. Le monde connaît une crise financière et économique internationale sans précédent depuis des décennies. Nous avons besoin de nouvelles règles financières, économiques et sociales. Les Européens doivent s'engager résolument s'ils veulent que le monde qui se construit corresponde à leurs valeurs de liberté, de solidarité et de justice. C'est ce que nous voulons. C'est ce que nous proposons à nos partenaires. >>> Par Angela MERKEL et Nicolas SARKOZY | Dimanche 31 Mai 2009

'Obama's Settlement Freeze Decrees Are Like Pharaoh's'
THE JERUSALEM POST: "The American demand to prevent natural growth is unreasonable, and brings to mind Pharaoh who said: Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river," Habayit Hayehudi head Daniel Herschkowitz said Sunday, referring to US President Barack Obama's demand to freeze all settlement activity, even that ensuing from natural growth.

Speaking ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, mathematician Herschkowitz furthered his point with a simple equation. "If there is a family that expands from one child to four or five, what should we tell them - to ship the children off to Petah Tikva? This is an unacceptable demand, even if it comes from the Americans, and Israel should reject it decisively," he affirmed.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai said, "The American demand to freeze construction means expulsion for young people living in large locales. I hope the US administration understands that. If not, I don't want to be an apocalyptic prophet saying we're facing struggle and confrontation. The concessions they're demanding of us are a security impediment we cannot withstand." >>> By JPost.com Staff | Sunday, May 31, 2009

FOX NEWS: Israel: We Won't Bow to U.S. Settlement Requests

An official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not agree to U.S. demands to freeze settlement activity in the West Bank.

Israel will not agree to U.S. demands to freeze all settlement activity in the West Bank, the AFP reported an official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying.

"I want to say in a crystal clear manner that the current Israeli government will not accept in any fashion that legal settlement activity in Judea and Samaria be frozen," Transport Minister Yisrael Katz said, using the Israeli term for the West Bank. "The government will defend the vital interests of the state of Israel."

It was the first high-level reaction to President Obama's call Thursday during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Israel stop settlement activity, a key hurdle in Mideast peace talks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said last Sunday Israel will continue to build homes in existing West Bank settlements, but would not allow any new settlements to be created.

"We will not build new settlements," he said, according to remarks released by his office. "But it is not fair not to provide a solution to natural growth." >>> FoxNews.com | Sunday, May 31, 2009

Anti-Dhimmitude! Fears of Muslim Anger over Religious Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES: 'Does God Hate Women' by Jeremy Stangroom and Ophelia Benson cites attitudes to women and criticises Mohammed's marriage

Muslimatoon at prayer. Photo courtesy of TimesOnline
An academic book about religious attitudes to women is to be published this week despite concerns it could cause a backlash among Muslims because it criticises the prophet Muhammad for taking a nine-year-old girl as his third wife.

The book, entitled Does God Hate Women?, suggests that Muhammad's marriage to a child called Aisha is "not entirely compatible with the idea that he had the best interests of women at heart".

It also says that Cherie Blair, wife of the former prime minister, was "incorrect" when she defended Islam in a lecture by claiming "it is not laid down in the Koran that women can be beaten by their husbands and their evidence should be devalued as it is in some Islamic courts".

This weekend, the publisher, Continuum, said it had received "outside opinion" on the book's cultural and religious content following suggestions that it might cause offence. "We sought some advice and paused for thought before deciding to go ahead with publication," said Oliver Gadsby, the firm's chief executive. The book will be released on Thursday.

A recent novel that also dealt with Muhammad's relationship with Aisha provoked an outcry. The Jewel of Medina caused such anger that a Muslim extremist was convicted earlier this month of trying to firebomb the office of its publisher.

Continuum's book may cause a backlash because it sets out to be a factual examination of religious attitudes to women. British writer Jeremy Stangroom and his American co-author Ophelia Benson, whose previous books on philosophy and science have received favourable reviews, cite ancient Islamic scholars to support their case. They roundly attack previous attempts to "soft-soap" the controversial episode in Muhammad's life. In the aftermath of 9/11, the authors argue, a wave of political correctness aimed at building bridges with the Muslim world has meant accusations of "Islamophobia" have been used to silence debate about the morality of social conduct, past and present.

Through a gruesome catalogue of abuses carried out against women in the name of Islam as well as other major religions, including Hinduism and Catholicism, Stangroom and Benson conclude that most of the world's great faiths are essentially misogynistic.

Among the many tragedies they cite are the deaths of 14 young girls in a fire at a school in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in March 2002. The girls died after being herded back into a blazing classroom by the country's religious police because they had neglected to don black head-to-toe robes in their rush to flee to safety.

However, the most contentious section of their book is likely to be their conclusions concerning the age at which Muhammad first slept with Aisha. >>> Christine Toomey | Sunday, May 31, 2009

Is There ONE Honest Politician to Be Found ANYWHERE?
MAIL Online: David Cameron has now been dragged personally into the expenses row as it was revealed that he paid off a loan on his London home shortly after taking out a £350,000 taxpayer-funded mortgage on his constituency house.

The disclosure followed a powerful call by the Tory leader for the 'full force of the law' to be deployed against MPs who have abused allowances.

Following a Mail on Sunday investigation Mr Cameron could now face searching questions about his own expense claims.

He took out the £350,000 mortgage - close to the maximum amount that can be claimed for - to buy a large house in Oxfordshire in August 2001, two months after winning his Witney seat in the General Election.

By nominating it as his second home, he was able to claim for the mortgage interest payments under the now-infamous Commons' Additional Costs Allowance (ACA). David Cameron Took Out Maximum Taxpayer-funded Mortgage - Then Paid Off Own £75k Loan Four Months Later >>> Glen Owen | Saturday, May 30, 2009

Come and Kill Us! We Love You All!
THE SUNDAY TIMES: PRESIDENT Barack Obama will offer his personal commitment to “change the conversation” with the Muslim world in a long-awaited speech in Cairo this week.

White House advisers vowed that Obama would “take on the tough issues”, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and offer to bridge differences with Muslims based on “mutual interests and mutual respect” - the same words used in his address to the Turkish parliament last month.

Administration officials say privately that Obama has given himself two years for a diplomatic breakthough on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, despite the opposition of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to America’s minimum demand for a freeze on all settlement building in disputed territory.

Expectations are high for Obama’s Middle East visit, which begins with a meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss the Arab peace initiative and relations with Iran before he arrives in Egypt the next day. Obama Offers Olive Branch of ‘Respect’ to Middle East >>> Sarah Baxter and Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv | Sunday, May 31, 2009

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates Warns North Korea
THE TELEGRAPH: Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, delivered a stark warning to North Korea on Saturday, declaring that America would not "stand idly by" while the regime threatened to "wreak destruction" with nuclear weapons.

Instead, Mr Gates urged "tough sanctions" against North Korea and pledged that Washington would not accept its possession of a nuclear arsenal. Kim Jong-il's regime was, he said, starving its own people in order to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Gates's unequivocal message came during a conference of Asian defence ministers in Singapore. In his audience were representatives of the countries most threatened by Mr Kim – South Korea and Japan – and a delegation from China, North Korea's only ally.

"Dependent on the charity of the international community to alleviate the hunger and suffering of its people, North Korea's leadership has chosen to focus the North's limited energies and resources on a reckless and ultimately self-destructive quest for nuclear weapons," said Mr Gates.

"The policy of the United States has not changed: our goal is complete and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, and we will not accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state." >>> By David Blair in Singapore | Saturday, May 300, 2009

David Cameron's European Policies Criticised by Tory Grandees
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron's policies on Europe have come under fire from a group of Tory grandees, less than a week before the European elections

David Cameron has come under fire from Tory grandees. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
The Conservative leader, who is currently on a tour of the Czech Republic and Poland, is preparing to remove his MEPs from the European People's Party after Thursday's elections. He is also planning to reopen the Lisbon Treaty debate and stage a referendum on it in Britain if he wins power.

Several retired senior diplomats and two former Tory cabinet ministers have strongly criticised his policies however.

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, a former head of the Foreign Office who was Britain's ambassador to the EU at the time of the Maastricht treaty negotiations in 1991, told The Guardian: "I do not understand a rigid commitment to impotence.

"I do not understand why (the Czech and Polish parties who will form a new group with the Tories) are preferable to Angela Merkel or Nicolas Sarkozy, or why they think the route to influence lies that way."

Lord Tugendhat and Lord Patten, former Conservative European commissioners, called the move "unwise", while Lord Brittan, another former Commissioner and ex-Home Secretary said: "There is no doubt that the attempt to leave the EPP has annoyed a lot of the European leaders who are members of the EPP and are in government.

"It will make it more difficult to establish relations with them." >>> By Chris Irvine | Saturday, May 30, 2009

Poll Reveals Labour Heading for Election Humiliation
Under Gordon Brown's leadership, Labour's poll rating has slid to its lowest mark in history. Photo courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMES ONLINE: The expenses scandal has had a devastating impact on Labour and Gordon Brown, a Populus poll for The Times finds today.

Labour’s overall position has slid to 21 per cent, its lowest in polling history. When asked how they would vote in next week’s European election, those polled have put Labour in third place behind UKIP and the Tories, for the first time.

All the minority parties, including the Greens and the British National Party, have made striking advances in the past three weeks as the row over MPs’ allowances has engulfed all the main parties.

Surprisingly the Liberal Democrats have been hit almost as badly as Labour in both the general election and European voting standings. >>> Philip Webster, Political Editor | Saturday, May 30, 2009

Allah! Allah! Allah! Allah! O Beneficent Allah!
Investigation: Alison Phillips was sacked after parents claimed their children were made to pray to Allah during an RE lesson. Photo courtesy of MailOnline
MAIL Online: A teacher has been sacked after parents claimed that their children were forced to pray to Allah during a religious education lesson.

Alison Phillips was accused of giving two pupils detention after they refused to kneel down and 'pray to Allah' during the class. Teacher Sacked After 'Making Pupils Kneel and Pray to Allah' During RE Lesson >>> | Friday, May 29, 2009

Ilan Halimi: un pote


YNET NEWS: France: 'Gang of Barbarians' Leader Confesses to Killing Halimi

Youssouf Fofana tells Paris court 'you know very well it was me' during presentation of forensic evidence; says he set young Jew alight

Youssouf Fofana, the presumed leader of the "gang of barbarians", confessed on Friday to killing French Jew Ilan Halimi in 2006 after detaining and torturing him for three weeks, said a source familiar with the case.

The trial is being held behind closed doors at a juvenile court in Paris because two of the remaining 26 defendants were minors at the time of the murder.

According to the source, who was present at the hearing, Fofana said "Yes, I did it; you know very well that it was me" during the presentation of the findings of two forensic experts who had examined Halimi's body.

AFP further quoted the source as saying that Fofana admitted to pouring a flammable liquid on Halimi and then setting him alight.

The prosecution described 28-year-old Fofana, whose parents came to France from Ivory Coast, as a "perverted megalomaniac" who instructed accomplices to target Jews for ransom kidnappings "because they are loaded with dough (money)".

French authorities found 23-year-old Halimi naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks near railroad tracks in the Essonne region south of Paris on Feb. 13, 2006.

He died on the way to the hospital and was later buried in Israel. >>> AFP | Friday, May 29, 2009

THE FROZEN NORTH: Ilan Halimi – A Murder in France

In January 2006, a young man named Ilan Halimi arranged a date with a woman he’d met in the shop where he worked. She was a member of “The Barbarians,” a gang who lay in wait for Halimi that night and kidnapped him.

Over the next three weeks, Halimi was held in a basement and tortured to death. Beaten, stabbed and burned over four fifths of his body, Halimi was eventually found handcuffed and abandoned in a field. Halimi died on the way to hospital.

Now, over three years later, Youssouf Fofana, the leader of “The Barbarians,” is being tried in Paris for the role he played in those crimes. Fofana “swaggered into court” and shouted out the takbir (Allahu Akbar). He has also stated that he has “friends” in court who can take photographs and identify jurors. Fofana had previously tried to escape justice by fleeing to the Ivory Coast, but he was quickly tracked down and extradited back to France.

Twenty six other members of Fofana’s “Barbarians” are facing charges as well; one of the most disturbing aspects of this crime is the way so many people participated in it. Several of the accused have admitted that Halimi was targeted because he was Jewish, and they believed that their victim’s family would be able to meet their ransom demands.

In 2008, in the same Parisian suburb of Bagneux where Ilan Halimi was held captive, six youths abducted Mathieu Roumi. They handcuffed and beat him, wrote “dirty jew” on his forehead, and told him that he would die the same way Ilan Halimi did before finally releasing him. The American writer Nidra Poller has also compared Halimi’s murder with the killing of Sebastien Selam, a twenty three year old who worked as a DJ in a Parisian nightclub, by one of his Muslim neighbours. Selam’s murderer not only “smote his victim above the neck,” he mutilated his face and eyes. The murderer then returned to his family home, where he told his mother that he would go to paradise because he had killed a jew.

After Ilan Halimi was murdered, the Simon Wiesenthal Center sent a message to Nicolas Sarkozy, at that time the interior minister, saying, “These acts are a test for Europe. Jihadi violence, hatred and anti-Semitism must be prevented from taking root in French soil.” Sarkozy replied that antisemitic violence is “not inevitable” in France, and he considers combating it to be “a moral imperative.”

Ilan’s mother, Ruth Halimi, has said that she wants the public to know what happened to her son, so that this kind of story never has to be told in France again. [Source: The Frozen North] Written by niccolo65 | Monday, May 6, 2009

Zeitungsanzeige rief zur Ermordung Obamas auf
DIE PRESSE: Ein Blatt in Pennsylvania musste sich für eine Kleinanzeige entschuldigen, in der indirekt die Tötung des US-Präsidenten gefordert wurde. Der Secret Service ermittelt jetzt gegen den Auftraggeber der Anzeige.

Präsident Barack Obama. Bild dank der Presse
Eine Zeitung im US-Staat Pennsylvania hat sich für eine Kleinanzeige entschuldigt, in der indirekt zur Ermordung von Präsident Barack Obama aufgerufen wurde. In der Anzeige, die am Donnerstag im "Warren Times Observer" erschien, hieß es: "Möge Obama den Spuren von Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley und Kennedy folgen." Alle vier genannten US-Präsidenten fielen einem Attentat zum Opfer. >>> Ag. | Freitag, 29. Mai 2009

THE TIMES OBSERVER (WARREN): Classified Ad Draws Law Enforcement

An errant classified "personal" ad which appeared in Thursday's Times Observer has drawn the attention of law enforcement officials.

A person from Warren placed the ad, which apparently alludes to the wish that President Obama meet an untimely end by linking him with four assassinated presidents. The ad representative didn't make the connection among the four other presidents mentioned and mistakenly allowed the ad to run.

Upon realizing the mistake early Thursday morning, the ad was immediately discontinued and the identity of the person who placed the ad was turned over to Warren City Police as per newspaper policy. The local police department forwarded the information to federal authorities, as per department policy.

The Times Observer apologizes for the oversight. [Source: Warren Times Observer] Friday, May 29, 2009

Das Kreuz mit dem Kreuz in Österreich
Heinz-Christian Strache, der an einer Zigarette einen guten langen Zug genießt! Bild dank Google Images
WELT ONLINE: FPÖ-Chef Strache schwingt sich zum Retter des Christentums auf und bezeichnet rechtsradikale Jugendliche als Lausbuben

Wien - Bisher ist den Österreichern noch nicht ganz klar, bei wem sich Heinz-Christian Strache das mit dem hölzernen Kruzifix abgeschaut hat. Bei den Kreuzfahrern, vermuten die einen, bei den Mönchen der Gegenreformation, die anderen, bei Hollywoods Vampirjägern, die Dritten. Fest steht nur, dass der Chef der rechtsgerichteten Freiheitlichen Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) sich im EU-Wahlkampf gern als Christ gibt. Und das entsetzt viele Österreicher.

"Abendland in Christenhand" fordert die Partei derzeit auf Plakaten und in Zeitungsinseraten. Vertreter aller großen Glaubensgemeinschaften protestierten schon zum Wahlkampfauftakt gegen den Brachialreim, aber Strache legte nach. Bei einer Demonstration gegen den Ausbau eines islamischen Kulturzentrums in Wien reckte er in Exorzistenmanier ein Kreuz gen Publikum. Seine Anhänger johlten, der Rest des Landes ist sich seitdem ungewohnt einig in seiner Empörung über den Kulturkämpfer.

Bundespräsident Heinz Fischer sprach von einem "Verstoß gegen unseren Konsens, dass wir Religion und Politik im gegenseitigen Respekt, aber fein säuberlich getrennt halten". Der Erzbischof von Wien, Kardinal Christoph Schönborn, mahnte zu Christi Himmelfahrt im Stephansdom, das Kreuz als "Zeichen der Versöhnung, der Sühne, der Feindesliebe" dürfe nicht "als Kampfsymbol gegen andere" missbraucht werden. Strache hat Fischer und Schönborn nun um Aussprache gebeten - per Inserat in der boulevardesken "Kronen Zeitung". >>> Von Elisalex Henckel | Samstag, 30. Mai 2009

Austria’s Far-right Shows Its Strength
Youths make an illegal Nazi salute at a Freedom Party demonstration in Graz, Austria, May 2009. Photo courtesy of Global Post
GLOBAL POST: GRAZ, Austria — Flushed with recent electoral success, the Austrian far-right's bid for seats in the European Parliament has come with a level of xenophobic, pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim antics not seen for years — and in many cases against the law.

This is where "where the path of open doors takes you" said Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of the Freedom Party (FP), the largest far-right party in Austria, surveying the hall in which rival Sikh sects clashed May 24. The incident left Sant Rama Anand, a 57-year-old preacher, shot dead, 16 others injured and triggered rioting in India. According to Ewald Stadler, the main candidate for the FP's smaller breakaway rival, Alliance for the Future (AF), it was time for a travel ban on "problem gurus."

The week before, the FP's Martin Graf, deputy president of parliament, had said Jewish community leader Ariel Muzicant was the "instigator of anti-fascist left-wing terrorism." His comments even went too far for the AF, which is now keen to be seen as the more sober face of the far-right. The governing coalition has called for Graf's resignation. >>> By Phil Cain | Saturday, May 30, 2009

Rushdie’s Knighthood: Christopher Hitchens on Rushdie and Tony Blair
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«Little Istanbul», symbole berlinois des ratés de l'intégration turque
Un marché situé dans le quartier de Kreuzbeurg, à Berlin-Ouest,où les Turcs luttent pour sauvegarder leurs mœurs et leur identité. Photo grâce au Figaro
LE FIGARO: REPORTAGE - Ils sont 200 000 dans la capitale et quelque 2,5 millions à vivre en Allemagne. Les diplômés sont de plus en plus tentés de retourner dans leur pays où les perspectives d'emploi sont meilleures.

Les marchands de kebabs ont remplacé les stands à saucisses et à bretzels. Tous les commerces portent des inscriptions bilingues, en allemand et en turc. Les chaînes de supermarchés allemandes Lidl et Aldi vendent des produits importés de Turquie. Les femmes voilées n'attirent plus les regards curieux. Sur un plan, ce microquartier de Kreuzberg situé à Berlin-Ouest, à quelques pas de l'ancien mur, s'appelle «Kottbusser Tor». Mais pour les Berlinois c'est «Little Istanbul». Ses habitants peuvent y mener une vie parallèle, sans parler un mot d'allemand.

Au-delà de ses attraits folkloriques et de sa légendaire tolérance «multiculturelle», «Little Istanbul» est aussi l'un des symboles des ratés de l'intégration des immigrés turcs en Allemagne. La chancelière allemande et Nicolas Sarkozy, qui se sont tous deux prononcés contre l'adhésion de la Turquie à l'UE, y atteignent des sommets d'impopularité. Angela Merkel a réitéré sa proposition d'un partenariat privilégié avec la Turquie, sans que ce pays devienne membre à part entière de l'Union. Une telle position accentue le malentendu avec les immigrés d'origine turque, qui la considèrent comme une marque de mépris et le signe que l'Allemagne ne souhaite pas vraiment les intégrer. >>> De correspondant du Figaro à Berlin, Patrick Saint-Paul | Vendredi 29 Mai 2009