Konservative Christen: US-Asyl für deutsche Schulverweigerer in Gefahr
WELT ONLINE: Weil sie ihre Kinder nicht dem unchristlichen deutschen Schulsystem aussetzen wollte, zog die strenggläubige Familie Romeike von Bissingen in die USA. Dort gewährte ein Richter wegen religiöser Verfolgung Asyl. Doch die US-Einwanderungsbehörde legte Berufung ein. Der Familie droht die Ausweisung.

Die US-Einwanderungsbehörde geht in Berufung gegen ein Urteil, mit dem deutschen Schulpflichtverweigerern Asyl in den Vereinigten Staaten gewährt wurde. Das Berufungsverfahren werde sich wohl mehrere Monate hinziehen, sagte Rechtsanwalt Michael Donnelly. Donnelly ist Mitarbeiter der „Home School Legal Defense Association“, eines Rechtshilfeverbandes für Heimschülerfamilien. Außerdem vertritt er als Anwalt die aus Baden-Württemberg stammende Familie.

Das strenggläubige Ehepaar Hannelore und Uwe Romeike war im Sommer 2008 mit seinen fünf Kindern in die USA gekommen. Dort wollten sie ihre Kinder selber unterrichten, was in Deutschland untersagt ist. Die Romeikes stellten Antrag auf politisches Asyl. >>> EPD/ks | Dienstag, 09. März 2010

Religion und Sucht: Islamische Rechtsgelehrte streiten übers Rauchen
WELT ONLINE: Beim Barte des Propheten: In den muslimischen Ländern suchen Juristen in den prophetischen Textquellen des Koran nach Hinweisen auf ein Tabakverbot. In den Teestuben und Cafés verfolgen rauchende Muslime diesen Disput eher amüsiert. Niemand käme auf die Idee, die Wasserpfeife wegzulegen.

Beduine raucht Shisha: Einge Rechtsgelehrte halten Rauchen für Teufelszeug. Bild: Welt Online
Im gesamten Koran, dem heiligen Buch der Muslime, lässt sich kein Vers finden, der dem Propheten Mohammed zugeschrieben wird und der da hieße: „Rauchen ist verboten!“ Das mag daran liegen, dass der Genuss von Tabak zu Lebzeiten des Propheten, zu Anfang des 7. Jahrhunderts nach Christus also, auf der Arabischen Halbinsel unbekannt war.

Es gibt nicht wenige islamische Rechtsgelehrte, die das in muslimischen Ländern sehr stark verbreitete Rauchen für Teufelszeug halten und es per Fatwa (religiöses Rechtsgutachten) untersagen wollen. Sie suchen in Koran und überlieferten Sammlungen der Sprüche und Handlungen Mohammeds (Hadithe) nach Hinweisen, der Prophet könne in Sorge um das Wohl seiner Anhänger einen Satz gesagt haben, der es durch juristische Interpretation oder Analogieschluss rechtfertige, den Rauch aus den Teestuben und Cafés zu verbannen.

Ihr Erfolg ist bisher überschaubar. Die Gelehrten bemühen gern Sure 7, Verse 156/157 im Koran: „Allah sagt, meine Barmherzigkeit kennt keine Grenzen. Ich werde sie denen zukommen lassen, die dem Propheten folgen, der ihnen gebietet, was Recht ist, und verbietet, was verwerflich ist, der die guten Dinge für erlaubt und die schlechten für verboten erklärt.“ Die Textstelle lässt viel Raum für Deutung und Interpretation, aber da Rauchen schädlich sei, könne man mit dieser Sure ein Rauchverbot rechtfertigen, meinen die Autoren weit über 400 einschlägiger Fatwas. >>> Von Dietrich Alexander | Sonntag, 07. März 2010

Schutz für Oppositionelle: Iran hält deutsche Asyl-Politik für rechtswidrig
WELT ONLINE: Der Iran hat die deutschen Asylpläne für iranische Oppositionelle deutlich kritisiert. Der Vorstoß sei rechtswidrig und politisch motiviert, sagte ein Sprecher des Außenministeriums. Die Bundesrepublik hatte angekündigt, iranische Staatsangehörige aus dem Ausland aufzunehmen, die in Teheran als Dissidenten betrachtet würden.

Das Außenministerium von Mahmud Ahmadinedschad hat die deutsche Asylpolitik scharf angegriffen. Bild: Welt Online
Die deutschen Asylpläne für iranische Oppositionelle hat der Sprecher des iranischen Außenministeriums als rechtswidrig und politisch motiviert bezeichnet.

„Einige Menschen, die ohne Probleme in den Iran zurückkehren könnten, stellen die Situation so dar, als bestehe für sie Lebensgefahr und die europäischen Länder nutzen diese Tatsache, um zu sagen, dass Iraner massiv in westliche Länder strömen.“ Jene, die solche Geschichten erzählten, wollten einfach nur vom Asyl im Ausland profitieren. Deutschland hatte am Montag mitgeteilt, es sei bereit, iranische Staatsangehörige aus dem Ausland aufzunehmen, die vom Iran als Dissidenten betrachtet würden. >>> Reuters/AFP/fas | Dienstag, 09. März 2010

Taliban 'Ready to Unleash 3,000 Suicide Bombers in Pakistan'
THE TELEGRAPH: The Taliban has claimed it is ready to unleash 3,000 suicide bombers in Pakistan in protest at military operations and American drone attacks in its tribal areas.

In the last few weeks the Taliban's overall military commander for Afghanistan, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is Mullah Omar's deputy, was captured in a joint intelligence raid in Karachi by Pakistani and American agents.

Several members of the 'Quetta Shura', the movement's ruling council were later captured in the city, while the group's Pakistani leader Hakimullah Mehsud was believed to have been killed in a missile strike by an unmanned Predator drone. Earlier this week, Mullah Omar's son-in-law, a former minister in the last Taliban government was also arrested.

The threat was issued after one of its leaders claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb which killed 13 people outside an interrogation centre in Lahore where militant suspects are questioned. >>> Dean Nelson in New Delhi | Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Al-Qaeda Came Within Days of Terror Attack on Britain Last Year, Court Hears
THE TELEGRAPH: An alleged al-Qaeda terrorist cell arrested in the North West was within days of launching an attack on Britain a senior officer in MI5 has told a tribunal.

The men, who were arrested in Manchester and Liverpool in April last year, were said to be in direct contact with al-Qaeda in Pakistan, using coded email messages that talked about cars and girls.

They were said to be “operating in a similar manner” to those planning the mass casualty attacks of July 7 2005 and the trans-Atlantic airline plot of 2006.

Sources at the time said the gang was targeting Easter shoppers but police found no sign of bomb-making equipment and they were never charged.

The operation had to be brought forward after Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, then Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, was photographed entering Downing Street with details of the operation visible.

Four of the men, who had all arrived from Pakistan on student visas, are now appealing against a government decision to deport them on national security grounds.

An MI5 officer, referred to only as “ZR” gave evidence behind a curtain at the beginning of a three-week hearing at the Special Immigration and Appeals Commission.

The officer, who refused to answer a large number of questions in open court, told the commission that the plot centred on a man called Abid Naseer, 23, and his associates.

He said they were “planning a terrorist attack on the UK, directed and orchestrated by al-Qaeda and part of that direction was by coded email passages and the attack was most likely to take place between 15 and 20 April 2009 on which basis the arrests came days before the attacks were due to take place. >>> Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent | Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Mosab Hassan Yousef ['The Green Prince']: Islam Is a Lie


Hat tips: Pastorius and Always On Watch

Wilders to Take Council Seat in the Hague
DUTCHNEWS.nl: Geert Wilders is to take a seat on the Hague city council after winning 13,000 preference votes in last week's local elections.

Earlier Wilders, who is a sitting MP, said he would not take up a seat if he won. His anti-Islam party PVV emerged as the second biggest party in the political capital, with 17% of the vote.

'I am going to see if I can combine it. I will give it a go for a while,' Wilders was reported as saying.

The news means two of the eight PVV councillors in the Hague's new city council will combine their work with being members of parliament. [Source: DutchNews.nl] | Monday, March 08, 2010

Niederlande: Rechtspopulist Wilders wird Stadtrat
DIE PRESSE: Der niederländische Rechtspopulist und Parlamentarier Geert Wilders nimmt nun auch ein Mandat als Stadtrat in Den Haag an. "Ich werde es auf jeden Fall eine Zeit lang versuchen", kündigt Wilders an.

Nach dem Erfolg seiner Partei für die Freiheit (PVV) bei den niederländischen Kommunalwahlen wird der Rechtspopulist Geert Wilders künftig im Stadtrat von Den Haag sitzen. Eine Sprecherin der Stadt bestätigte am Montag, dass Wilders sein Mandat wahrnehmen werde. Der umstrittene Politiker sagte der niederländischen Nachrichtenagentur ANP, er habe sich nach anfänglichem Zögern für das Amt des Stadtrats entschieden. "Ich werde es auf jeden Fall eine Zeit lang versuchen", sagte er. Wilders ist auch Abgeordneter des niederländischen Parlaments. Platz zwei für Wilders in Den Haag >>> Ag. | Montag, 08. März 2010

Just for a Laugh: When Insults Had Class
These glorious insults are from a bygone era:

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison." He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."


A Member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."


"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr


"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill


"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow


"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the
 dictionary." – William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas


"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.." – Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second.... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." -
 Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." -Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyran

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.." Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." – Groucho Marx

The End of the Road for Barack Obama?
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama seems unable to face up to America's problems, writes Simon Heffer in New York.

The once mighty Detroit seems on the verge of being abandoned. Photo: The Telegraph
It is a universal political truth that administrations do not begin to fragment when things are going well: it only happens when they go badly, and those who think they know better begin to attack those who manifestly do not. The descent of Barack Obama's regime, characterised now by factionalism in the Democratic Party and talk of his being set to emulate Jimmy Carter as a one-term president, has been swift and precipitate. It was just 16 months ago that weeping men and women celebrated his victory over John McCain in the American presidential election. If they weep now, a year and six weeks into his rule, it is for different reasons.

Despite the efforts of some sections of opinion to talk the place up, America is mired in unhappiness, all the worse for the height from which Obamania has fallen. The economy remains troublesome. There is growth – a good last quarter suggested an annual rate of as high as six per cent, but that figure is probably not reliable – and the latest unemployment figures, last Friday, showed a levelling off. Yet 15 million Americans, or 9.7 per cent of the workforce, have no job. Many millions more are reduced to working part-time. Whole areas of the country, notably in the north and on the eastern seaboard, are industrial wastelands. The once mighty motor city of Detroit appears slowly to be being abandoned, becoming a Jurassic Park of the mid-20th century; unemployment among black people in Mr Obama's own city of Chicago is estimated at between 20 and 25 per cent. One senior black politician – a Democrat and a supporter of the President – told me of the wrath in his community that a black president appeared to be unable to solve the economic problem among his own people. Cities in the east such as Newark and Baltimore now have drug-dealing as their principal commercial activity: The Wire is only just fictional.

Last Thursday the House of Representatives passed a jobs Bill, costing $15 billion, which would give tax breaks to firms hiring new staff and, through state sponsorship of construction projects, create thousands of jobs too. The Senate is trying to approve a Bill that would provide a further $150 billion of tax incentives to employers. Yet there is a sense of desperation in the Administration, a sense that nothing can be as efficacious at the moment as a sticking plaster. Edward B Montgomery, deputy labour secretary in the Clinton administration, now spends his time on day trips to decaying towns that used to have a car industry, not so much advising them on how to do something else as facilitating those communities' access to federal funds. For a land without a welfare state, America starts to do an effective impersonation of a country with one. This massive state spending gives rise to accusations by Republicans, and people too angry even to be Republicans, that America is now controlled by "Leftists" and being turned into a socialist state. "Obama's big problem," a senior Democrat told me, "is that four times as many people watch Fox News as watch CNN." >>> Simon Heffer | Monday, March 08, 2010

California State Senator Who Opposed Gay Rights Announces He Is Homosexual
THE TELEGRAPH: Roy Ashburn, a California state senator who has staunchly opposed gay rights has announced that he is homosexual.

Senator Roy Ashburn has announced that he is homosexual. Photo: The Telegraph
Mr Ashburn, a conservative Republican, came out in an interview with KERN radio.

His pronouncement ends days of speculation following his arrest last week for driving under the influence of alchohol.

Mr Ashburn said he felt compelled to address rumours that he had visited a gay nightclub near the Capitol before his arrest.

"I am gay ... those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long," Ashburn told conservative talk show host Inga Barks.

The 55-year-old father of four said he had tried to keep his personal life separate from his professional life until his March 3 arrest.

"When I crossed the line and broke the law and put people at risk, that's different, and I do owe people an explanation," he said.

Ashburn was arrested after he was spotted driving erratically near the Capitol, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The next day, reports surfaced that he had left Faces, a gay nightclub, with an unidentified man in the passenger seat of his Senate-owned vehicle.

"The best way to handle that is to be truthful and to say to my constituents and all who care that I am gay," he said. "But I don't think it's something that has affected, nor will it affect, how I do my job."

Over 14 years in office, Ashburn has voted against a number of gay rights measures, including efforts to expand anti-discrimination laws and recognise out-of-state gay marriages. >>> | Monday, March 08, 2010

Activist Calls Obama a Fraudster

Father Hans Kung [sic] Blames Catholic Views on Sex for Clerical Child Abuse
TIMES ONLINE: A leading Roman Catholic theologian has linked clerical sex abuse with priestly celibacy, blaming the Church’s “uptight” views on sex for child abuse scandals in Germany, Ireland and the US.

Father Hans Kung [sic], President of the Global Ethic Foundation and professor emeritus at the University of Tübingen in Germany, said that the Church’s attitude was also revealed in its opposition to birth control.

The German church rejected any suggestion that abuse was linked to celibacy, homosexuality or church teaching.

Last week the Regensburg Diocese in Germany revealed that a former chorister claimed he was abused while a member of its choir, which was led for three decades by Father Georg Ratzinger, brother of Pope Benedict XVI. The Holy See said that it backed the diocese’s attempts to investigate the scandal by analysing “the painful question in a decisive and open way”. Also last week, in the Holy See, an adult chorister was sacked for allegedly procuring male prostitutes for a Papal usher.

Robert Zollitsch, Archbishop of Freiburg and head of the German bishops’ conference, branded clerical abuse “outrageous” and begged forgiveness from the victims but denied any link between abuse and celibacy.

Writing in The Tablet, Father Kung, who in 1979 was stripped of his licence to teach Catholic theology after he rejected the doctrine of Papal infallibility, welcomed the apology but described the denials of any link between abuse, celibacy and other teaching as “erroneous”. >>> Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | Monday, March 08, 2010

Iraqi Baathist Resentment Simmers in Syria
BBC: Saddam Hussein's Baath party is banned in Iraq, but the doors of its office in the heart of the Syrian capital, Damascus, are wide open.

"That's our hero," says Khudeir Rashidi, the party spokesman, pointing at Saddam Hussein who looks down from portraits on the walls.

Iraq's dictator may be dead, but his supporters in Damascus insist that his party lives on.

"We have millions of members in Iraq who are working for the cause," Mr Rashidi says.

The cause, he says, is the liberation of Iraq from the American occupiers through military resistance.

"We have many weapons, we manufacture bombs, we are working very effectively underground," he says.

Baath 'threat'

The true extent of the involvement of the Baath party in the armed insurgency back in Iraq is very difficult to measure.

There is little doubt that the party has a wide and powerful network of former members, if only because virtually everyone had to join its ranks under Saddam Hussein.

Sceptics argue that despite its outreach, the Baath party is politically decapitated, morally bankrupt and ideologically irrelevant - in other words very much a thing of the past.

But the Iraqi government says Baathists pose a real threat. >>> | Friday, March 05, 2010

Iranian Poet Simin Behbahani Handed 'Travel Ban'
BBC: Iran's leading female poet has told the BBC she has been barred from leaving the country by the government.

Simin Behbahani, 82, said she was about to fly to France when her passport was confiscated at Tehran airport.

The human rights activist has written poems in support of the opposition campaign against disputed elections in June last year.

Last week Iran detained international award winning film director Jafar Panahi and members of his family.

"The moment I was due to get on the plane, a man came and took my passport away from me and said that I was banned from going abroad," she told the BBC's Persian service.

They questioned her for hours asking questions and then ordered her to appear before a court, she said.

She was on her way to Paris to present a paper on feminism and read a poem at conference. Election challenge >>> | Monday, March 08, 2010

Colonel Tells of Lavish Shopping for N Korea Dictators
BBC: A former North Korean colonel, Kim Jong-ryul, has described how he spent two decades shopping in Europe for the dictatorship in Pyongyang.

His story is the subject of a new book published in Austria, where the colonel says he has lived under cover since his defection in 1994.

Colonel Kim Jong-ryul says he spent 20 years doing business in Europe for the North Korean regime.

His story is told in a new book, At the Dictator's Service. >>> Bethany Bell, BBC News, Vienna | Monday, March 08, 2010

The Mystery of Hitler's 'Spyclists'
Photo: BBC
BBC – Today Programme: Summer 1937. What could be more fitting in the cool afternoon of an English country lane than a group of cycling tourists steadily pedalling their way from one historic site to another, stopping to camp overnight in fields along the way.

The only problem was, that summer, some of those groups of teenage boys were Hitler Youth.

In an era without satellite photography, when detailed ordnance survey maps could be hard to come by and when tension in Europe was rising, MI5 were worried that this innocent cyclo-tourism was a cover for spying.

MI5 had been told that Hitler Youth groups visiting abroad were asked to complete a detailed questionnaire, including questions on terrain, population, and political views of the population.

They were asked to take photographs, especially of industry, and to get lists of names of all those taking part in anti-German movements. Read on (with audio) >>> Sanchia Berg | Monday, March 08, 2010

US Eases Cuba, Iran, Sudan Sanctions to Allow Freer Web
BBC: The US treasury department has eased sanctions on Iran, Cuba and Sudan to help further the use of web services and support opposition groups.

US technology firms will now be allowed to export online services such as instant messaging and social networks.

Companies had not offered such services for fear of violating sanctions.

Opposition supporters in Iran used social networking sites and services to organise protests after the country's disputed presidential poll last year.

The US Treasury said exports would be allowed of services related to web browsing, blogging, e-mail, instant messaging, chat, social networking and photo- and movie-sharing.

Low impact?

The move was intended to "ensure that individuals in these countries can exercise their universal right to free speech and information to the greatest extent possible", it said. >>> | Monday, March 08, 2010

Le chef de la diplomatie espagnole reçu par le colonel Kadhafi
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: AFFAIRE KADHAFI | Selon une source proche du dossier, le différend entre Berne et Tripoli a été évoqué.

Le ministre espagnol des Affaires étrangères Miguel Angel Moratinos a été reçu lundi par le numéro un libyen Mouammar Kadhafi, a rapporté l'agence libyenne Jana. Selon une source proche du dossier, les discussions ont porté sur la crise diplomatique entre Berne et Tripoli.

M. Moratinos a remis au colonel Kadhafi un message du roi Juan Carlos d'Espagne, portant sur «la coopération fructueuse et les relations d'amitié entre la Libye et l'Espagne, et entre l'Union européenne et la Grande Jamahiriya» libyenne, a indiqué l'agence.
Dans son message, le roi d'Espagne a «exprimé sa grande satisfaction pour le développement des relations de coopération entre les deux pays», a ajouté l'agence sans autre précision sur l'objet de la visite de M. Moritanos.

Selon une source diplomatique occidentale à Tripoli, le déplacement du chef de la diplomatie espagnole en Libye s'inscrit dans le cadre des négociations entre l'UE et la Libye au sujet de la crise diplomatique entre Tripoli et Berne, dans laquelle les capitales européennes s'étaient impliquées. >>> AFP | Lundi 08 Mars 2010

Milan et Paris, figures de style*
So this is what the decadent West calls fashion today, is it? Photo: Le Temps
One can only wonder how many years in fashion school designers must be spending – wasted years, one must add – to come up with crap like this. Designers like Coco Chanel and Christian Dior must be turning in their graves!

This would be laughable if it weren’t so sad. It is surely indicative of the West in decline. When a civilization dresses its women as scrubbers rather than ladies, then it can’t be long before it will fall.

For God’s sake, let’s get back to elegance. One could have dressed better from Woolworth’s than this! – © Mark

LE TEMPS: To the gallery (if you can bear it). Warning: Your eyes might be sore after viewing it! >>>

*That’s very questionable!

Le ténor Placido Domingo opéré d’un cancer du côlon
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: OPÉRA | Agé de 69 ans, le ténor espagnol est sorti dimanche de l'hôpital, où il a été opéré d'une tumeur maligne. Il devrait être de retour sur scène le 16 avril, à la Scala de Milan.

Le ténor Placido Domingo a subi une opération chirurgicale visant à ôter un polype cancéreux de son côlon. Il devrait se remettre totalement de l’intervention, a déclaré lundi sa porte-parole.

Agé de 69 ans, le ténor espagnol est sorti dimanche de l’hôpital Mount Sinai à New York où il a été opéré la semaine dernière d’une tumeur maligne que les médecins ont réussi à localiser, a précisé Nancy Seltszer. >>> AP | Lundi 08 Mars 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Placido Domingo has colon cancer surgery: Plácido Domingo has undergone surgery for colon cancer, a spokesman for the opera singer has said. >>> Stephen Adams, Arts Correspondent | Monday, March 08, 2010