For the Love of Islam: A Second American Woman Is Arrested in Cartoonist Case
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Last Easter, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, a 31-year-old mom with a $30,000-a-year job as a medical assistant, announced to her family that she had converted to Islam. A few months later, she began posting to Facebook forums whose headings included "STOP caLLing MUSLIMS TERRORISTS!"

On Sept. 11, she suddenly left Leadville, Colo., a small town in the Rocky Mountains, for Denver, then for New York, to meet and marry a Muslim man she connected with online, her family says. Ms. Paulin-Ramirez, who is 5-foot-11 and blonde, phoned her mother and stepfather in Leadville, providing them with an address in Waterford, Ireland, they say.

Now, she is in the custody of the Irish police, along with six other individuals, arrested as part of an investigation into a conspiracy to commit murder, according to officials familiar with the case. The nature of the authorities' suspicions about Ms. Paulin-Ramirez couldn't be determined on Friday.

Ms. Paulin-Ramirez's interest in Islam "came out of left field," said her mother, Christine Holcomb-Mott, in an interview at her home Friday, wearing a blue sweatsuit with a silver cross around her neck.

"I'm angry with her right now," Ms. Holcomb-Mott said. "I'd like to just choke her. But I'm worried about her, too. I love my daughter."

Nearby was a stack of photos of Ms. Paulin-Ramirez, with a sparkling smile, and her son, who has brown hair and eyes. Her mother looked at the images over and over, as college basketball played on the TV.

Ms. Paulin-Ramirez had been in contact by phone and email with her mother, stepfather and an aunt, her relatives said. But none of them has heard from Ms. Paulin-Ramirez in recent days, they said.

Ms. Paulin-Ramirez is the second American woman to be linked to an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who made fun of the Prophet Mohammed. An indictment was unsealed this week against Colleen R. LaRose, 46, a suburban Philadelphia woman who authorities said used the Web alias "JihadJane." >>> Vanessa O’Connell in New York, Stephanie Simon in Colorado and Evan Perez in Washington | Friday, March 12, 2010

Muslim Child Brides on Rise
TORONTO SUN: Federal immigration officials say there’s little they can do to stop “child brides” from being sponsored into Canada by much older husbands who wed them in arranged marriages abroad.

Top immigration officials in Canada and Pakistan say all they can do is reject the sponsorships of husbands trying to bring their child-brides to Canada. The men have to reapply when the bride turns 16. The marriages are permitted under Sharia Law.

Muslim men, who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents return to their homeland to wed a “child bride” in an arranged marriage in which a dowry is given to the girl’s parents. Officials said some of the brides can be 14 years old or younger and are “forced” to marry. The practice occurs in a host of countries including: Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Lebanon. Not valid in Canada >>> Tom Godfrey, Toronto Sun | Thursday, March 11, 2010

A Pakistani Member of the English Defence League Speaks Out
JIHAD WATCH: The English Defence League (EDL), a group standing up against the spread of Sharia and Islamic supremacism in England, is often stigmatized as racist and fascist -- but here again this common tactic of the Left is without substance. Sajid Khan, a Pakistani member of the EDL, kindly sent me this message:

I am an ex-Muslim and a proud EDL member. I have been to many of their demos, including London. The information about the EDL in the mainstream media has been quite biased and just stupid. For instance, they say that the EDL is "right wing" and "racist". This is wrong, as I am a liberal who supports equal rights for different races, colours, sexualities and religions. This is primarily why I support the EDL.

As an ex-Muslim, who still has to hide this fact from many (if not all) my fellow Muslims including my family, I believe that your average White English Christian pub-going non-halal meat-eating and pork-eating Infidel living in the West is the only liberal voice out there opposing the hordes of violence-supporting backward "right-wing" religious foreigners who come into the West and think that homoseuxals should be tortured and killed, and who think that women must gain their husband's or father's permission to go out for the most basic of things like seeing a doctor for treatment.

These people believe that women who show their faces are "whores" and are "asking for it," and that this justifies rape. They think that "offensive" cartoons drawn of a supposed "prophet" of a certain religion (I'll let you guess that one) should be condemned by all, and that the freedom to draw such cartoons should not be available. These are the same people of the same religion who will not condemn with the same tenacity the heartless and cruel practice of the "honor killing" of women and girls.

>>> Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch | Friday, March 12, 2010

Douglas Murray - Muslim Immigration into Europe

Douglas Murray: Instead of Facing Reality, Many Young British Muslims Take Refuge in Delusion and Self-pity
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: I debated Tariq Ramadan last night in London for Intelligence Squared, the British Council and the BBC. I’ll link to the video here once the BBC put it out. The motion was “Europe is failing its Muslims”. I argued of course that it was not Europe that was failing its Muslims, but Islam that was failing Europe, indeed Islam that is failing Muslims.

Ramadan was seconded by the former Dutch diplomat Petra Stienen. I was seconded by Flemming Rose, the Danish Jyllands-Posten editor who commissioned the famous Danish cartoons.

The fact that Flemming was my number two wasn’t publicised in the run-up to the debate because of the security threat around him. Just last October two men were arrested in Chicago for another alleged plot to murder him. And on the first day of this year an axe-wielding Somali Muslim broke into one of the cartoonist’s houses and attempted to decapitate him. So there were more police than usual and Flemming and I had more burly security men than we usually would for a discussion.

In a way this proved a lot of the argument that Flemming and I were making. I’ve been told not to pre-empt the results until the BBC screens the debate. But one of the most striking aspects of the evening was that the Muslims who turned out en masse, rallied by certain organisations, let themselves down appallingly. Continually cat-calling, jeering and hissing. They made a very bad impression.

What was most striking of all however was the level of complete denial. I pointed out that the reason Europeans often associate Islam with violence (as Ramadan complained) is that Islam is often associated with violence. I pointed out that it wasn’t Sikhs or Buddhists who flew the planes into the twin towers. This was welcomed by an extraordinary level of anger. I don’t know, maybe some of them thought it was Jews who did it. Read on and comment >>> Douglas Murray | Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Douglas Murray >>>

WIKI: Douglas Murray >>>

IQ2 Debate: "Europe Is Failing Its Muslims" - Intro, Tariq Ramadan and Douglas Murray (Part 1)


IQ2 Debate: "Europe Is Failing Its Muslims" - First Audience Questions (Part 2)


IQ2 Debate: "Europe Is Failing Its Muslims" - Petra Stienen and Flemming Rose (Part 3)


IQ2 Debate: "Europe Is Failing Its Muslims" - Audience Q&A1 (Part 4)


IQ2 Debate: "Europe Is Failing Its Muslims" - Audience Q&A2 (Part 5)


IQ2 Debate: "Europe Is Failing Its Muslims" - Summing Up and Results (Part 6)

Britons Arrested Abroad Will Lose the Right to a Translator
THE TELEGRAPH: Britons arrested in Europe will not have the right to demand a full translation of the charges they are facing, under proposals supported by the government.

Britons arrested in Europe will not have the right to demand a full translation of the charges they face. Photograph: The Telegraph
Britain has backed plans to "dilute" the rights of its citizens when extradited or caught up in criminal proceedings in other European countries.

Justice campaigners say anyone facing criminal allegations abroad under a European Arrest Warrant will be hit by the plan.

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe has accused Britain of pushing for procedures that do not provide proper protection for suspects.

The CCBE, which represents one million European lawyers, is concerned because the right to translation has been limited to only "essential" documents – a "formula which is too vague and open to abuse".

Under EU legislation, British courts must allow a European Arrest Warrant extradition to take place even if there are concerns about the standards of justice in the country that they are being sent to.

Fair trial campaigners say people will be deported to countries such as Portugal, Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria where charges are made and trials held without an English translation allowing them to follow proceedings. >>> Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Friday, March 12, 2010

Les églises catholiques de plus en plus vandalisées
La chapelle Saint-Guen de Saint-Tugdual a été recouverte d'inscriptions satanistes en 2006. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Vingt-quatre lieux de cultes ont été profanés depuis le 1er janvier et les responsables religieux se mobilisent.

Vandalisées, cambriolées et profanées… Les églises catholiques sont les cibles d'attaques répétées. Ainsi, dans la nuit du 5 au 6 mars dernier, la porte de la basilique Saint-Donatien de Nantes et les murs d'enceinte du lycée catholique éponyme ont été maculés de slogans anarchistes. On pouvait y lire «Brûle ton église», «Les curés au bûcher, les sorcières en liberté» ou «Ni Dieu ni maître». >>> Par Christophe Cornevin | Vendredi 12 Mars 2010

Gay Love: Two US Gay Military Men (Avec sous-titres français)

Douglas Murray: Why Are Islamic Nutters in Nightdresses So Obsessed with Gays?
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: If anyone missed Channel 4’s Dispatches the other night, can I very much recommend it? “Britain’s Islamic Republic” is available here and is vital viewing. Andrew Gilligan’s programme will be shocking even for those of you who, like me, thought they couldn’t be shocked by this sort of thing any more.

One interesting addition, if I may, which Brett at Harry’s Place also points out here. Though there has been a lot of press coverage of the documentary, there has been far too little outrage about the opening sequences showing the East London Mosque (yes, that one, favoured by Boris Johnson and Prince Charles) as the venue for events at which the most virulent anti-gay and anti-women perverts preach. I know that’s no surprise, but stay with me a moment.

One preacher, an evidently lunatic semi-literate called Abdul Karim Hattin, is shown playing what he calls “a game” called “spot the fag”. For this tittersome “game” he uses a slide to show a picture of Elton John beside one of the dead rapper “2-pac” (Tupac Shakur).

This confuses me a lot. I think the point this unfunny bigot is trying to make is that you can somehow recognise Elton John as gay because of the way he looks. But surely there is some mistake.

In the photo Elton John is wearing a respectable casual red top. Tupac on the other hand is topless, rather conspicuously ripped, and his naked torso glistening with sweat. Now I don’t want to spoil this “game”, but to my, not untrained, eyes I’d have identified “2-pac” as gay in this gay identity-parade.

But as it turns out, Mr Hattin also thinks (though for baffling reasons) that Tupac’s image was somehow gay. I’m not sure I go along with this. In any case, Mad-as-a-Hattin is saying all this whilst wearing what looks to me distinctly like an elderly lady’s nightdress. >>>

Dispatch: Britain’s Islamic Republic
Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 4:



Part 5:

Sarkozy Braced for Poll Defeat as Angry French Voters Look to the Left
THE GUARDIAN: Socialists and Greens expect significant gains in regional elections as ruling party blamed for poor economic situation

The leader of the French Socialist party, Martine Aubry, speaks at a rally in Paris. Photograph: The Guardian
Nicolas Sarkozy faces an embarrassing setback at the polls over the next week as France votes in elections that look likely to hand a significant victory to the opposition Socialist party.

Although not officially on the ballot for the regional elections, whose first of two rounds will be held on Sunday, the embattled leader is expected to be punished indirectly as voters shun his rightwing UMP party in favour of leftwing and green alternatives.

With opinion polls showing the Socialists – who won control of 20 of the 22 mainland regions at the last vote in 2004 – will consolidate their "pink tide" or even increase it, commentators say the predicted defeat will reflect voters' dissatisfaction with Sarkozy.

Today, Sarkozy attempted today to distance himself from his party's impending drubbing, insisting local elections had little to do with national politics. He told Le Figaro Magazine: "The vote … is a regional vote: its consequences will therefore be regional."

However, because the significance of the poll – which elects regional presidents and assemblies – is limited, many are predicting it will be seen as an unofficial referendum on Sarkozy's leadership. The president is more than halfway through his five-year term, and this is the last major electoral exercise France will see before his mandate expires in 2012. >>> Lizzy Davies in Paris | Friday, March 12, 2010

Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown Hail 'entente formidable'
THE GUARDIAN: Two leaders stress need for close co-operation to stay 'bang in the middle' of Europe

Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street today. Photograph: The Guardian
Gordon Brown today described Britain's alliance with France as an "entente formidable" as he and Nicolas Sarkozy stressed the need for close co-operation and to stay "bang in the middle" of Europe.

Speaking at a press conference after a working lunch at Downing Street today, the two leaders highlighted close political alignment on a number of policy fronts as the prime minister described relations between the two countries as "greater now than at any time since the second world war".

Brown said he and Sarkozy were in "harmony" over the need to introduce a tax on banking transactions as he revealed that a report on the levy is due "in the next few weeks".

As well as on the economy, the two countries were working "more closely than ever" on environmental, energy and security matters, he said.

This included putting nuclear power at the heart of tackling climate change.

In his first visit to Downing Street since 2008, Sarkozy echoed the view that it was essential Britain remain "bang in the middle" of Europe amid concerns that a Tory government may engage less enthusiastically with Europe under David Cameron.

Sarkozy insisted he was not in Britain to "play politics" ahead of the forthcoming general election but nevertheless made comments that appeared to be aimed squarely at the Tory leader, who he is meeting this afternoon.

"I remain convinced that the position of our British friends is bang in the middle of Europe. We need you," the French president said.

Sarkozy said he "regretted" Cameron's decision to pull the Tories out of the centre-right European People's party grouping in the European parliament. >>> Hélène Mulholland, political reporter | Friday, March 12, 2010

Greece Debt: EU Agrees Bailout Deal
THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Germany plays pivotal role in potential eurozone rescue package for Greek debts

The eurozone has agreed a multibillion-euro bailout for Greece as part of a package to shore up the single currency after weeks of crisis, the Guardian has learnt.

Senior sources in Brussels said that Berlin had bowed to the bailout agreement despite huge resistance in Germany and that the finance ministers of the "eurozone" – the 16 member states including Greece who use the euro – are to finalise the rescue package on Monday. The single currency's rulebook will also be rewritten to enforce greater fiscal discipline among members.

The member states have agreed on "co-ordinated bilateral contributions" in the form of loans or loan guarantees to Greece if Athens finds itself unable to refinance its soaring debt and requests help from the EU, a senior European commission official said.

Other sources said the aid could rise to €25bn (£22.6bn), although it is estimated in European capitals that Greece could need up to €55bn by the end of the year.

Germany, the EU's traditional paymaster, but the most reluctant to come to the rescue of a fiscal delinquent in the current crisis, has played the pivotal role in organising the rescue package, the sources added. >>> Ian Traynor in Brussels | Friday, March 12, 2010

Detroit Family Homes Sell for Just $10
THE TELEGRAPH: Family homes in Detroit are selling for as little as $10 (£6) in the wake of America's financial meltdown.


The once thriving industrial city has suffered a dramatic decline following the global economic crisis.

According to Tim Prophit, a real estate agent, the crisis has led to a unprecedented portfolio of homes, but they are failing to sell.

He said there were homes on the market for $100 (£61), but an offer of just $10 (£6) would be likely to be accepted.

Speaking on a BBC 2 documentary, Requiem for Detroit, to be screened on Saturday, Mr Prophit said: "The property is listed by the city of Detroit as being worth $35,000 (£22,000), but the bank know that is impossible to ask.

"This part of town has got a lot of bad press in the media because it featured in Eminem's film 'Eight Mile', but that particular road is fifteen minutes up the road and that is a long way in Detroit."

Homes offered in viewing brochures as early 1920s example of colonial architecture would once have made handsome homes but are no longer sought after. >>> | Friday, March 13, 2010

Nazi Victims' Mass Graves Found in Austria Under Football Pitch
THE TELEGRAPH: Two mass graves containing scores of people murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War have been found underneath an army football pitch in Austria, government officials said on Friday.

Some of the remains may be the bodies of US pilots shot down and imprisoned during the war.

Police Col. Rudolf Gollia, an interior ministry spokesman, said his ministry plans talks with the owners of the site to discuss exhumation.

The mass graves are located in bomb craters underneath the army sports field in the southern city of Graz. Officials said they contain about 70 bodies of victims killed by the SS to eliminate witnesses to Nazi atrocities shortly before Soviet troops arrived. >>> | Friday, March 12, 2010

Barack Obama's Approval Rating Drops to 46 Per Cent
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama yesterday delayed a trip to Asia amid falling approval ratings and grave doubts that his 11th hour attempt to push health care reform through Congress will succeed.

A new poll by Gallup showed Mr Obama's approval rating at a record low of 46 per cent since taking office. In the optimistic early days of his presidency 69 per cent approved of the job he was doing.

Doubts about his ability to pass his flagship domestic policy have affected his popularity among Democratic supporters, while independents and Republicans have grown wary of health care reform as an expensive government venture.

Mr Obama had set Democratic leaders in Congress a deadline of March 18 to coral the votes necessary to pass health care without any support from Republicans, by using a procedure known as budget reconciliation. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Friday, March 12, 2010

On Air: The Gathering Storm Radio Show
I’ll be on air today at 12 noon PST, 3pm EST, 8pm GMT, and 9pm CET. Always On Watch, WC, and I will be discussing growing anti-Semitism in Europe, JihadJane, and much else besides. I'll be on for the full hour. We do hope you can join us. ALL are welcome. The number to call is (646) 915-9870. Click HERE for the show.

Fury as German Ex-football Boss Says: 'There's No Place in Football for Gays'
MAIL ONLINE: A former soccer boss today sparked fury by declaring: ‘There is no place in football for gays.’

Rudi Assauer, who formerly headed up Schalke 04 in Germany's Bundesliga, went on to say: ‘Perhaps they are OK in other sports but not in football.

‘If a player came to me and said he was gay I would say to him: “You have shown courage.” But then I would tell him to find something else to do.

‘That's because those who out themselves always end up busted by it, ridiculed by their fellow players and by people in the stands. We should spare them these witch-hunts.’

His outburst is set to enrage world footballing authorities who are making concerted efforts to rid the game of homophobia.

Asked whether he had ever met a gay footballer during his many years as both player and manager, 65-year-old Assauer replied: ‘No, never.

‘When I was in Bremen, I heard that our masseur was gay. So I went up to him and said: 'Look, son, do me a favour - look for another job.’

Assauer's comments come in a week when homosexuality has been in Germany's spotlight for other reasons.

Guido Westerwelle, the country's openly gay foreign minister, was criticised for taking his lover on an official government trip to South America. >>> Allan Hall | Friday, March 12, 2010

Germany Fights to Keep Holocaust Organiser's Files Sealed
THE TELEGRAPH: Germany is fighting to keep sealed the Eichmann files detailing the years the Holocaust's chief logistics organiser spent on the run before he was captured by Mossad agents.

Adolph Eichmann during his trial in 1961. Photograph: The Telegraph
Those hoping to have a 50-year secrecy order overturned believe the government is embarrassed by details within that may prove German and Vatican officials colluded in his escape and freedom.

The secrecy order is being challenged in a benchmark court case against the BND, Germany's domestic intelligence service, which wants the 4,500 pages of documents on Adolf Eichmann to remain out of the public domain. The service claims that intelligence agencies in other countries will be "frightened off" in future data-sharing if they are disclosed, Der Spiegel reported.

Critics believe this is a smokescreen designed to avoid official embarrassment both in Berlin and the Vatican. It is well documented that German Bishop Alois Hudal in Rome operated postwar "Ratlines," getting passports for wanted Nazis to allow them to escape justice.

Franz Stangl, commandant of the Treblinka extermination camp, admitted to British Nazi expert Gitta Sereny that Hudal helped him get away after the Nazi defeat in 1945.

Eichmann also escaped. He was the ultimate "desk murderer" of the Third Reich who, as head of department IVB4 of the SS in Berlin, was responsible for the trains that carried millions to their deaths at extermination centres in Nazi occupied Poland. >>> Allan Hall in Berlin | Friday, March 12, 2010

DER SPIEGEL: Adolph Eichmann: Alle Artikel, Hintergründe und Fakten >>>

Prada Ordered Manager to Get Rid of 'Old, Fat and Ugly' Staff
THE TELEGRAPH: A senior manager at Prada is suing the fashion label claiming that she was ordered to get rid of "old, fat and ugly" staff in its Japanese stores.

A spokeswoman at Prada's Tokyo headquarters told The Daily Telegraph that the company was currently unable to comment. Photo: The Telegraph
Rina Bovrisse, a senior retail manager at Prada Japan, also alleges that the chief executive wanted her to change her hairstyle and lose weight in order to fit into the company.

Ms Bovrisse, who oversaw 500 staff in 40 stores across Japan, has launched a discrimination and harassment case against the Italian fashion label in Tokyo's industrial tribunal courts.

Her allegations focus on an incident in May last year when she claims that Davide Sesia, the CEO of Prada Japan, allegedly asked her to "eliminate" around 15 managerial staff he described as "old, fat, ugly, disgusting or not having the Prada look," following a tour of 40 stores. >>> Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo | Friday, March 12, 2010