Gesellschaft: Reiche Länder haben die niedrigsten Geburtenraten
Bild: Google Images
WELT ONLINE: Je besser es den Menschen geht, desto weniger Kinder bekommen sie. Das zeigen Wissenschaftler anhand von Daten aus den letzten 35 Jahren. Sie warnen: In vielen hoch entwickelten Ländern sei der Trend zur Überalterung nicht mehr umzukehren. Um ihn zu mildern, müsse die Politik familienfreundlicher werden.

Es ist paradox: Den Menschen in Industrieländern geht es immer besser – und die Geburtenrate sinkt. Dass mit zunehmendem Reichtum weniger Kinder geboren werden, ist ein weltweites Phänomen. Die Angst mancher Länder vor Überalterung oder gar dem Aussterben der eigenen Bevölkerung sei aber unbegründet, schreiben US-Forscher im Wissenschaftsmagazin „Nature“ (Bd. 460, S. 741). Werde ein bestimmter Grad ökonomischer Entwicklung erreicht, drehe sich der Trend um. In den USA und den Niederlanden steige die Geburtenrate bereits wieder leicht an.

Die Wissenschaftler um Hans-Peter Kohler von der Universität Pennsylvania in Philadelphia analysierten für ihre Studie Daten von 1975 und 2005 aus 24 Ländern. Sie erfassten jeweils die Geburtenrate und den zwischen 0 und 1 liegenden „Human Development Index“ (HDI), der Wirtschaftskraft, Lebenserwartung und Bildungsgrad der Menschen eines Landes berücksichtigt. >>> dpa/ks/cn | Donnerstag, 06. August 2009

Umfrage: Deutsche haben kein gutes Image in der Schweiz
WELT ONLINE: Sie wohnen Grenze an Grenze, sprechen dieselbe Sprache und fahren im selben Gebirge Ski – und doch trennen Schweizer und Deutsche manchmal Welten. Vorurteile sind dabei keine Seltenheit. Ein Hamburger Unternehmen hat Schweizer nun befragt, was sie sich unter einem typischen Deutschen vorstellen.

Deutschland ist als Urlaubsland eigentlich nicht unbeliebt bei den Schweizern. In einer Online-Umfrage des Hamburger Unternehmens für Werbewirkung MediaAnalyzer gaben 81 Prozent der Befragten an, schon einmal in Deutschland Urlaub gemacht zu haben. Doch es scheint nicht allen gefallen zu haben, denn 54 Prozent empfinden das Image des Nachbarlandes als schlecht (47 Prozent) oder sogar sehr schlecht (sieben Prozent). >>> | Mittwoch, 05. August 2009

La vérité selon Obama
leJDD.fr: Aux Etats-Unis, l’administration Obama est à la peine pour imposer sa réforme de l’assurance-maladie. A tel point que la Maison blanche en appelle désormais aux citoyens américains, afin qu’ils dénoncent toute information "douteuse" sur le sujet.

On ne change pas une technique qui marche. Durant la campagne présidentielle américaine, le camp Obama avait lancé un site anti-rumeurs, consistant à rétablir ‘la vérité’ sur le démocrate. L’équipe du candidat avait alors invité les citoyens américains à rapporter les rumeurs les plus folles. L'efficacité de la méthode s'est rappelée au bon souvenir du président Obama. Dans un message posté sur le blog officiel de la présidence, le directeur chargé des nouveaux médias, Macon Phillips, demande ainsi à ses concitoyens de rapporter toutes les informations entendues sur la réforme de l’assurance-maladie, projet phare de la mandature démocrate. "Il y a beaucoup de désinformation sur la réforme (…) ces rumeurs se répandent (...) par les chaînes de courrier électronique ou les conversations ordinaires", écrit-il. Et d’en appeler aux citoyens américains: "Nous vous demandons de nous aider. Si vous recevez un courriel ou voyez quelque chose sur internet qui vous semble douteux au sujet de la réforme de l’assurance-santé, envoyez-le à flag@whitehouse.gov."

Le message n’est pas passé inaperçu dans le camp républicain. En colère, le sénateur du Texas, John Cornyn, s’est fendu d’un courrier à la Maison blanche, rendu public sur son site internet. "Je n'ai pas connaissance d'un quelconque précédent dans lequel un président demande aux citoyens américains de rapporter (...) ce que disent leurs concitoyens lors de discussions publiques, et qui serait considéré comme douteux ou hostile aux intérêts politiques de la Maison Blanche", écrit-il. L’élu républicain demande désormais à l’administration Obama de s’expliquer sur la manière dont elle entend utiliser les informations rapportées par les internautes, disant craindre une quelconque action à l’encontre des personnes ainsi dénoncées. Et d’exhorter la Maison blanche à "cesser immédiatement de dresser une liste d’ennemis politiques". Washington n’a pas commenté ce courrier. >>> Jeudi 06 Août 2009

President Obama's VIP Healthcare
LOS ANGELES TIMES: The commander in chief and his family get free treatment from a staff of four doctors. White House physicians see their role as mirroring the Secret Service, to protect the chief executive.

Reporting from Washington -- When President Obama says he has the best healthcare in the world, he isn't kidding.

The White House medical unit, with a staff of four doctors plus nurses and physicians' assistants, is steps from his office. Treatment is free for Obama and his family (as well as for the vice president and his family).

During the president's travels, a doctor and nurse ride in a limousine in his motorcade. An emergency medical technician comes too, with an ambulance.

Air Force One is stocked with equipment for an on-board operating room. On overseas trips, two medical teams usually travel with the president, one on the plane and one pre-positioned on the ground so the president will always have a rested doctor and nurse at the ready.

The first family receives VIP treatment at military hospitals. And Obama has virtually instant access to medical specialists that few, if any, Americans could duplicate.

"If the president comes to us this morning with a mole on his cheek, a dermatologist will be seeing him today," said Dr. Rob Darling, a retired Navy captain who was a White House physician for President Clinton.

During the Clinton administration, a White House doctor and nurse typically traveled with the first lady when she went overseas separately from the president, but she did not have a medical team embedded in her everyday entourage, Darling said.

A White House spokesman declined to describe the arrangements for Michelle Obama.

The personal physicians and access to military hospitals come on top of a choice of 10 family health insurance options that Obama receives along with all other federal employees.

White House spokesman Reid Cherlin declined to say which health insurance plan the Obama family has. But under the federal Blue Cross Blue Shield plan -- the most popular among government employees -- a doctor visit costs $20 and generic drugs are $10. >>> Mike Dorning | Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Barack Obama - Dumber than Dumb


Hat tip: Avenging Apostate at Pedestrian Infidel >>>

Japan Remembers Hiroshima

Broader Issues on Table in Pyongyang
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: While Negotiating Journalists' Release, Clinton and Kim Widened Talks to Security, Regional Concerns

WASHINGTON -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in more than three hours of discussions with Bill Clinton in Pyongyang, drew the former U.S. president into a wide-ranging discussion of security and regional issues.

Former U.S. officials and diplomats say the meetings, attended by the top ranks of Pyongyang's security establishment, were part of a renewed campaign by Pyongyang to stimulate direct negotiations with Washington over the country's nuclear program.

President Barack Obama and his aides stressed Wednesday that they weren't viewing Mr. Clinton's trip as anything more than a humanitarian mission focused on securing the release of two detained American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling.

Mr. Clinton returned to California Wednesday morning on a private jet with Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling, who had been arrested in March at the Chinese border and later sentenced to 12 years hard labor for illegally entering North Korea. Mr. Clinton's one-day visit secured their release.

"We were very clear this was a humanitarian mission," Mr. Obama said in an interview with MSNBC Wednesday. "We have said to the North Koreans there is a path for improved relations, and it involves them no longer developing nuclear weapons."

Mr. Clinton and his delegation were tight-lipped Wednesday about what transpired during a 75-minute meeting with Mr. Kim on Tuesday. They also attended a two-hour banquet hosted by the North Korean leader and his country's pre-eminent national-security body, the National Defense Commission.

U.S. officials briefed on Mr. Clinton's mission, however, are already outlining a broad discussion with Mr. Kim that focused on significantly more than just the two imprisoned Americans.

These U.S. officials indicated that Mr. Clinton expressed to Mr. Kim the necessity that his regime end a nuclear program that's feared to be stoking a broader arms race across Asia and the Middle East. >>> Jay Solomon | Thursday, August 06, 2009

Tough Times: Mobile Homes for Pilots
Jobs with an airline used to be among the most respected and envied but now at Los Angeles International Airport about a hundred airline employees - ranging from mechanics to pilots - are living in mobile homes parked just yards from one of the busiest runways in the world. Watch BBC video here

In Denial

BarackObamaExperiment >>>

Reforma

Evangelical Christianity: It's Glastonbury for God
THE INDEPENDENT: Church of England pews may be empty, but the fields of Somerset are rocking with a series of evangelical festivals this summer. Jerome Taylor joined the faithful

Rich Nathan is just about to wrap up his evening sermon when a loud and piercing shriek erupts from the back of his congregation. A woman in the crowd of 3,000 worshippers is shaking uncontrollably and wailing. "Jesus!" she cries. "Jesus I feel you!" Nearer the front of the stage, a small and equally exuberant group of faithful is receiving the Holy Spirit in other ways. Some rock from side to side, others simply mutter in hushed tones or raise their hands skywards.

It could be a scene from the American Mid-West – Pastor Nathan is, after all, a prominent Jewish-born convert to Christianity who leads a church in Ohio. But today's energetic act of mass worship is taking place in the rolling countryside of Somerset, just to the south of the picturesque town of Shepton Mallet.

As the leaders of Britain's more mainstream denominations scratch their heads and debate how to revitalise their congregations, evangelical Christianity in Britain is going from strength to strength. The number of evangelical churches in Britain has risen from 2047 to 2,719 since 1998 and their followers now make up 34 per cent of Anglicans, figures show.

Nowhere is the strength of British evangelism more apparent than at the numerous summer festivals that have sprung up and attract tens of thousands of people every year. Britain's first atheist summer camp, attended by 24 children last week, made headlines around the world. But just down the road an estimated 60,000 Christians of many different but predominantly evangelical hues will pass through the gates of the Royal Bath and West Showground over the next five weeks for a succession of festivals that offers a heady mix of Glastonbury and God. >>> Jerome Taylor | Thursday, August 06, 2009

Blackwater Accused of Murder in 'Crusade to Eliminate Muslims'
TIMES ONLINE: A series of allegations including murder, weapons smuggling and the deliberate slaughter of civilians have been levelled against the founder of Blackwater, the security company being investigated for shooting deaths in Iraq.

The accusations, including a claim that the company founder Erik Prince either murdered or had killed former employees co-operating with federal investigators, are contained in sworn affidavits lodged at a Virginia court on Monday night.

The company was the most prominent of an army of private security companies employed by the Pentagon and State Department to protect military convoys and guard US diplomats in Iraq

The accusations against Mr Prince are being made by two former employees, including a former Marine, who have sworn them anonymously as John Doe No 1 and John Doe No 2, because they said they feared for their lives if their identities were revealed

In one of the statements, John Doe 2, who worked for Blackwater for four years, alleged that Mr Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe” and that his companies “encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life”.

They claimed that Mr Prince and other executives destroyed incriminating videos, e-mails and documents and hid their criminal behaviour from the US State Department. >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Thursday, August 06, 2009

When Being Gay Can Get You Murdered
HAARETZ: Israel has seen dozens of murders of homosexual men by sexual partners in recent decades. One prominent filmmaker believes that in a considerable proportion of these cases, the killer sought to "purify" himself of any suspicion that he was gay.

Ran Kotzer, today a senior producer at the Channel 2 television concessionaire Reshet, investigated the phenomenon while creating his 2003 documentary "Cause of Death: Homophobia." Kotzer said such murders have not received the attention they deserve, because the victims are often perceived as partly culpable in their own murders, simply by virtue of being homosexual.

Kotzer sees such crimes as homophobic murders, which usually stem from the perpetrator's feelings of guilt and the desire to "kill the homosexual within him." >>> Ofri Ilani | Thursday, August 06, 2009

Hebrew Anti-gay Facebook Page Hacked and Turned into Pro-gay Forum
HAARETZ: A user on social networking site Facebook managed on Wednesday to hack into an anti-gay group on the popular site, and change it into a pro-gay forum complete with homoerotic photos and videos.

The original group, "I also hate gays" had attracted over a 150 users and a spawn of copycat groups after it was started days after a shooting at a Tel Aviv gay center that left two dead and over a dozen wounded.

The group had featured a manifesto calling on people to join "if you don't care what happened on Saturday night, if you are tired of gay people talking about their sexual deviation" and saying its goal was to attract people looking to "shut-up Israel's homosexual community"

The group had featured a manifesto calling on people to join "if you don't care what happened on Saturday night, if you are tired of gay people talking about their sexual deviation" and saying its goal was to attract people looking to "shut-up Israel's homosexual community" >>> Benjamin L. Hartman, Haaretz Correspondent | Wednesday, August 05, 2009

US Journalists Return Home from North Korea with Bill Clinton
THE TELEGRAPH: Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the two US journalists freed after 140 days in captivity in North Korea, have returned home with Bill Clinton to a tearful reunion with their families in Los Angeles.



Euna Lee, 36, and Laura Ling, 32, were flanked by the former US president Bill Clinton, whose meeting with the reclusive Jong-il had secured their liberty during a surprise 20-hour visit to Pyongyang, as they gave their first account of their escape from a 12-year sentence of hard labour.

"Thirty hours ago, Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea," said Miss Ling, struggling to remain composed. "We feared that at any moment we could be prisoners in a hard labour camp. Then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting.

"We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us president Bill Clinton. We were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives [was over].

She added: "Euna and I would just like to express our deepest gratitude to president Clinton and his wonderful, amazing, not to mention super-cool team ... and the United States Secret Service who travelled half way around the world, and then some, to secure our release." >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Lubna Hussein: Justice Deferred
THE GUARDIAN: Lubna Hussein's trial for 'indecent dressing' has been postponed. But whatever the result she has struck a blow for women's rights

The trial of Lubna Hussein was postponed for the second time yesterday. Under the pretext of attempting to determine whether Hussein had truly revoked her immunity from prosecution when she resigned from her UN position, the authorities have bought more time to find a face-saving resolution to the debacle. This is looking more and more unlikely as Hussein's campaign gathers momentum both at home and abroad.

Initially, she was viewed as something of a loose cannon in Khartoum. So many before her had suffered the pot luck fate of flogging and retreated to lick their wounds in private for fear of attracting more shame and indignity. In a naturally demure and modest society, any suggestion of inappropriate behaviour leaves a woman with no option but to try and minimise the damage to her reputation and quell the "no smoke without fire" whispers.

But now that spell has been broken. Around 50 female protesters braved tear gas and baton beatings from police outside court yesterday, tying their fate to Lubna's. An ancillary case is brewing as another journalist faces an exorbitant fine for criticising the government's handling of the case. By breaking through the self-imposed barrier of fear of what others would think, Lubna has stripped her punishment of all its power and turned the tables spectacularly. If ultimately she is flogged her "martyrdom" will be complete – if she is found innocent the government will be humiliated and public order laws made a mockery of. >>> Nesrine Malik | Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Une cartouche de fusil de chasse dans le courrier de Sarkozy
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: MENACES | Les services de sécurité de la République française ont intercepté une lettre de menaces avec munition adressée au président Sarkozy.

Une lettre contenant une cartouche de fusil de chasse de gros calibre, adressée au président de la République Nicolas Sarkozy, a été interceptée mardi par les services de sécurité, a-t-on appris mercredi de sources proches du dossier. >>> AFP | Mercredi 05 Août 2009

Who Is Really Being Dishonest About Islam?
AINA: In his "The Faith Divide" blog at the Washington Post's website, Eboo Patel took umbrage Monday at two recent reviews in the New York Times Book Review charging "Dishonesty About Islam in the NYT Book Review." Patel was angry at favorable reviews of what he called "Bruce Bawer's alarmist book Surrender" (about which he huffed, "the subtitle says it all: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom") and Christopher Caldwell's Reflections on the Revolution in Europe (which was reviewed by Fouad Ajami). Yet while making the improbable claim that the New York Times printed material that was dishonest and negative about Islam, Patel showed himself to be not a little disingenuous -- suggesting that before he call these reviewers on their alleged dishonesty, he should look to his own.

"Ajami," complains Patel, "opens his piece by juxtaposing two disparate pieces of history: the departure of Spain's last Muslim ruler in 1492, and the terrorist attacks on Madrid in 2004. 'A circle was closed,' Ajami writes, 'and Islam was, once again, a matter of Western Europe.'" What is wrong with this? "The Muslim presence in medieval Spain," asserts Patel, "is widely regarded as a time of tolerance, good government and support for the arts and education. In fact, Ajami himself wrote a positive review of one of the many books on that era, Maria Rosa Menocal's The Ornament of the World. Placing Al-Andalus, as it was known, in the same breath as a ghastly terrorist attack - as if to say 'Here's what happens when Muslims are around' - is beyond questionable. A dead fish wouldn't want to be wrapped in a newspaper article with that level of intellectual dishonesty."

Funny that Patel should mention Menocal. Certainly her Ornament of the World is largely responsible for the contemporary myth of a tolerant, pluralistic, proto-multicultural Al-Andalus. But even Menocal, in that very book, admits that tolerance and pluralism went only so far in Muslim Spain, which institutionalized discrimination against Jewish and Christian dhimmis:

The dhimmi, as these covenanted peoples were called, were granted religious freedom, not forced to convert to Islam. They could continue to be Jews and Christians, and, as it turned out, they could share in much of Muslim social and economic life. In return for this freedom of religious conscience the Peoples of the Book (pagans had no such privilege) were required to pay a special tax -- no Muslims paid taxes and to observe a number of restrictive regulations: Christians and Jews were prohibited from attempting to proselytize Muslims, from building new places of worship, from displaying crosses or ringing bells. In sum, they were forbidden most public displays of their religious rituals. (Pp. 72-3)

So much for a paradise of tolerance and multiculturalism. Historian Kenneth Baxter Wolf observes that "much of this new legislation aimed at limiting those aspects of the Christian cult which seemed to compromise the dominant position of Islam." After enumerating a list of laws much like Menocal's, he adds: "Aside from such cultic restrictions most of the laws were simply designed to underscore the position of the dimmîs as second-class citizens." >>> Robert Spencer, FrontPageMagazine (JihadWatch)| Tuesday, August 04, 2009

The Islamic Mein Kampf
View ‘The Islamic Mein Kampf'* here
*Be advised that many of these images are disturbing, and will not be appropriate for minors. Viewer discretion is therefore advised.

Muslim Persecution of Christians
View ‘Muslim Persecution of Christians’* here
*Be advised that many of these images are disturbing, and will not be appropriate for minors. Viewer discretion is therefore advised.