Monday, March 15, 2010
THE ADVOCATE: Changing attitudes and increased visibility of LGBT Americans are prompting more and more seniors to come out later in life, a process that is a new subject of study.
The Associated Press reports that people who work with older adults note the trend of seniors coming out, even if no definitive numbers are available. Outings by older stars such as Meredith Baxter, who came out last year at 62, and Richard Chamberlain, who came out in 2003 at 69, inspire some. Seniors Reborn, Coming Out Later in Life >>> Julie Bolcer | Monday, March 15, 2010
abcNEWS: Gray and gay: As acceptance grows, seniors step out of the closet and into a new identity
Those who work with seniors say they're seeing growth in the number of people in their 60s, 70s and 80s coming out of the closet as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
Social scientists have long noted that people are coming out younger and younger. They say there's a similar trend at the other end of the age spectrum.
Growing awareness and acceptance of varied sexualities and gender identities in the U.S. helps explain the shift.
Support groups and services have cropped up to help such seniors. >>> Matt Sedensky, Associated Press Writer, Miami | Monday, March 15, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Iranian youths can attend courtship classes and earn a diploma before tying the knot as part of a newly introduced government scheme to cut the divorce rate.
The National Youth Organisation has unveiled an online course to educate the Islamic republic's overwhelmingly young population on how to find Mr or Mrs Right, pop the question and live happily ever after.
Interactive and lasting three months, the course designed by academics and clerics requires pupils seeking the diploma to sit for weekly tests.
Iran's hardline leaders condemn dating and relationships out of wedlock and like to see men and women married off ideally in their early 20s in a country where traditionalists frown upon singles in their 30s.
But according to official estimates, the average age of marriage has risen to 29, mainly due to economic hardship and a change in priorities and values, especially for women who outnumber men at college.
Since rising to power five years ago, conservatives in the parliament and the government have made a mantra of "facilitating marriage for young people" in Iran, where about 60 per cent of the 70 million population is under 30.
The concept of a "marriage diploma" has already unleashed a torrent of jokes on the internet, but officials insist that Iranians need awareness without revealing much about the content of the course.
"Marriage needs hundreds of hours of education," said Mehrdad Bazrpash, a deputy to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and head of the National Youth Organisation, as he inaugurated the programme in Tehran on Saturday.
Ahmad Borjali, a psychologist and adviser to the initiative, said that the divorce rate has gone up steadily since 2006, rising by 15.7 per cent in 2009 compared with the previous year, against a 2.1 per cent increase in marriages.
One in every four marriages ends in divorce in Tehran alone, he said, citing research by social workers as blaming "sexual" and "communication troubles" among main reasons for the problem nationwide. >>> Hiedeh Farmani, in Tehran for AFP | Monday, March 15, 2010
ZEIT ONLINE: Selten stand ein deutscher Außenminister derart in der Kritik wie Guido Westerwelle in diesen Tagen. Beinahe täglich gehen neue Vorwürfe auf den FDP-Vorsitzenden und Vizekanzler nieder. Was ist dran an den Anschuldigungen? ZEIT ONLINE klärt die wichtigsten Fragen
Was wird Westerwelle konkret vorgeworfen?
Der Hauptvorwurf lautet, der Außenminister und Vizekanzler habe auf seinen bisherigen Reisen ins Ausland Dienstliches und Privates miteinander vermischt. Außerdem hält man ihm vor, dass er sich während seiner Südamerika-Reise und seiner Asien-Reise im Januar von FDP-nahen Unternehmern, Parteispendern und persönlichen Freunden begleiten ließ. Im Raum steht auch der Vorwurf, Westerwelles Bruder Kai profitiere indirekt vom Amt des Außenministers. Ebenso wie Westerwelles Lebenspartner, der Eventmanager Michael Mronz, der mit nach Südamerika gereist ist. >>> Von Michael Schlieben | Philip Faigle | Steffen Dobbert | Freitag, 12. März 2010
ZEIT ONLINE: Josef Joffe: Gedankenverwirrung im Streit der Islamversteher und -verächter
Jeder Religion kann Schreckliches nachgesagt werden. Die Juden haben die Kanaaniter beim Einfall ins Gelobte Land gemeuchelt; ihr »Jahwe« ist sowieso ein »rächender Gott«. Den Christen darf man die Kreuzzüge und Torquemada anhängen, den Muslimen Ehrenmord, Steinigung und Terror im Namen Allahs. Anderseits haben die Juden nicht nur den einen und einzigen Gott erfunden, sondern auch »Liebe deinen Nächsten«. Das Christentum hat die Würde des Individuums und die Trennung von Kirche und Staat vorgezeichnet. Dem Islam verdankt der Westen Schätze, die von A wie Algebra bis Z wie Zimt reichen.
Vergessen wir also die wohlfeile Aufrechnung. Im Streit zwischen Islamverächtern und -verstehern lautet die eigentliche Frage nicht: »Wie halten wir es mit dem Islam?«, sondern: »Wie halten wir’s mit uns, dem Westen?« Zwei Antworten, die durch die Debatte geistern, zeugen von Gedankenverwirrung. Eine fordert Toleranz auch dann, »wenn ein anderer nicht tolerant sein will«. Die zweite handelt vom »Fundamentalismus der Aufklärung«, die der islamischen Variante gleiche (und oft mit »Islamophobie« einhergehe). Islamkritiker seien also die geistigen Zwillinge ihrer Feinde. >>> Josef Joffe, Herausgeber der Zeit | Freitag, 12. März 2010
ZEIT ONLINE: Kanzlerin Merkel hat Israels Siedlungspolitik ungewöhnlich deutlich kritisiert und mehr Konstruktivität eingefordert. Ansonsten blockiere Israel die Friedensgespräche.
Merkel nannte den Beschluss zum Bau von 1600 neuen Wohnungen in Ost-Jerusalem einen "schweren Rückschlag" für den Friedensprozess im Nahen Osten. "Ich hoffe, dass auch die Signale aus Israel in Zukunft konstruktiv sind und nicht weiter so negativ, dass sie das Zustandekommen von solchen Gesprächen verhindern", sagte Merkel nach einem Treffen mit dem libanesischen Ministerpräsidenten Saad Rafiq Hariri.
Jetzt müsse "alle Kraft" darauf gesetzt werden, dass die geplanten indirekten Friedensgespräche zwischen Israelis und Palästinensern tatsächlich stattfinden, sagte die Kanzlerin. "Wir sind der Meinung, dass es ein Zeitfenster gibt, das nicht unendlich groß ist." >>> Zeit Online, dpa, AFP | Montag, 15. März 2010
LE TEMPS: L’état de santé du Suisse retenu à Tripoli s’est détérioré depuis qu’il a été transféré dans une prison libyenne il y a trois semaines, a indiqué lundi Amnesty International. L’incertitude sur la durée de sa détention est un des facteurs qui pèse sur la santé du Suisse
Max Göldi a des problèmes de santé, selon le porte-parole de l’ONG Daniel Graf, qui est en contact avec la famille de l’otage. Le fait qu’il ait dû quitter l’ambassade de Suisse à Tripoli, où il était réfugié, et qu’il soit maintenant détenu dans une prison près de Tripoli ne facilite pas la situation.
Il y a trois semaines, M. Göldi considérait son transfert en prison comme une étape intermédiaire et comptait sur un retour rapide en Suisse. Son compagnon d’infortune, avec qui il avait retenu un an et demi en Libye, avait d’ailleurs pu quitter le pays pour retrouver sa famille sur les bords du lac Léman. >>> ATS | Lundi 15 Mars 2010
ASSOCIATED PRESS: LONDON — With the West locked in conflicts across the Muslim world, why would anyone throw fuel on the fire?
A small group of Europeans have been doing just that — provoking death plots and at least one murder by turning out art that derides the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran in the name of Western values.
Behind the scenes is something bigger: a rising European unease with a rapidly growing Muslim minority, and the spreading sense that the continent has become a front in a clash of civilizations.
Recent events — including surprising electoral success by an anti-Islamic Dutch party, moves to ban veils in France and minarets in Switzerland, and arrests in Ireland and the U.S. this week in an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist — are signs of the rising tensions.
Swedish artist Lars Vilks says he was defending freedom of speech when he produced a crude black-and-white drawing of Muhammad with a dog's body in 2007. Authorities say that set him in the crosshairs of an assassination plot by extremists including Colleen LaRose, a 46-year-old Muslim convert from Pennsylvania who dubbed herself "Jihad Jane."
Vilks said in a recent interview with The Associated Press that he wasn't interested in offending Muslims as an end in itself, but wanted to show that he could make provocative art about any topic he chose. "There is nothing so holy you can't offend it," he said.
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten also said it was defending free speech in 2005 when it printed 12 cartoons of Muhammad, one in a bomb-shaped turban, setting off protests and the torching of Western embassies in several Muslim countries. And bottle-blond Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders said he was promoting European values by producing Fitna, a 15-minute film that lays images of the Sept. 11 attacks alongside verses from the Quran. The film was shown in Britain's House of Lords this month.
The cases are extreme, but millions of moderate Europeans also are re-examining the meaning of the liberal values widely cherished across the continent. How, many are asking, should a liberal society respectfully deal with immigrants who often espouse illiberal values? Should the immigrants adopt the values of their adoptive land — or, to the contrary, should society change to accommodate the newcomers who now form part of it?* >>> Michael Weissenstein | Sunday, March 14, 2010
Associated Press Writers Karl Ritter in Stockholm and Art Max and Mike Corder in Amsterdam contributed to this report.
*This is an absurd question to ask! It is clearly incumbent upon the immigrant to adapt to the host country, not the other way around. Many of these immigrants, after all, are here in Europe ILLEGALLY. And even when they aren’t, they came here for a better life. They came here to get away from backwardness and poverty. We should stop engaging in such banal and useless belly-aching! Were I to have house-guests refusing to abide by the rules of the house, I would show them the door. So it should be with a country. Abide by the laws of the country, or get out! – © Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: Once every 10 years Oberammergau, in Bavaria, crucifies Jesus all over again and local hairdressers nearly go out of business.
That's because nearly half the 5,300-strong village lets hair and beards grow for over a year to better resemble the Jews they will interpret in the Passion play that has been running here for nearly 375 years.
The tradition goes back to 1633 when the plague struck the alpine village and locals vowed, if they were spared, to put on a play about the crucifixion and reincarnation of Jesus once every 10 years - for ever.
"A lot of people, including some 600 children stop having their hair cut from Ash Wednesday (February 25) 2009 to October 3 2010" when the play packs up for nine years, says Doris Renner, 51, who runs one of the village's three hairdressing shops.
"That means a tremendous loss of business and shorter working hours for some employees," she adds.
But "Jesus", for his part, is working over time.
Frederik Mayet, 30, a marketing student, is both "Jesus" and spokesman for the play.
To take part in the Passion, "you have to be born in the village, have lived here for 20 years, or be married to someone from the village for over 10 years", he says.
The Passion is the "social event of the decade", says play director Christian Stueckl.
"Some want to take part because it's a tradition. Others for religious reasons. Still others, who aren't at all religious, just don't want to miss out," according to Stueckl, a village native who usually runs the Munich Volkstheater.
Villagers give up a lot of time to take part. >>> Francis Curta, in Oberammergau for AFP | Monday, March 15, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The United States thwarted an Israeli attempt to play down a diplomatic rift between the two countries on Sunday by renewing its condemnation of plans to build new settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
After days of uncharacteristically caustic criticism from Washington, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, suggested that claims of a crisis between the Jewish state and its superpower patron were overblown.
“I suggest not to get carried away and to calm down,” Mr Netanyahu told his cabinet.
“We look at this morning’s newspapers and read all kinds of comments and analysis,” he said. “First of all, I suggest that we don’t get carried away. We know how to deal with these situations.”
Yet the prime minister's display of confidence rapidly began to appear misplaced. Within hours, a senior aide to President Barack Obama indicated that displeasure over Israel's actions during last week's visit to the Holy Land by Joe Biden, the US vice president, had far from dissipated.
"This was an affront, it was an insult but most importantly it undermined this very fragile effort to bring peace to that region," David Axelrod, Mr Obama's most senior political adviser, told NBC news. "This was not the right way to behave." >>> Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem | Sunday, March 14, 2010
BBC: Ties between Israel and US 'worst in 35 years': Israel's ambassador to the US has said that relations between the two countries face their worst crisis for 35 years, Israeli media have reported. >>> | Monday, March 15, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama must pull American troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq if he wants to fulfil his dream of reconciling the Muslim world and the West, according to his Indonesian cousin.
Haryo Soetendro, 55, grew up with Mr Obama – whom he knew as "Barry" – when the future American president lived in Indonesia for four years from the late 1960s.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Soetendro said that his illustrious cousin must start delivering on his promise to build bridges with the Islamic world as the President prepares to leave for a visit to his childhood home next weekend.
"The Iraq and Afghanistan problems should be solved peacefully and that is what Barry is trying to do. Indonesian Muslims are generally tolerant. But there is a common opinion that one country should not occupy another. No one would want their house occupied by someone else.
"You cannot force other countries to accept your idea of what is right just because you are stronger. I think the mothers in America would agree with this when they see their soldier sons being killed in Afghanistan."
Mr Obama is due to fly to Indonesia next week but postponed his trip to help hammer out a health care reform bill that he hoped will be passed before his departure.
After criticism that he was taking a "vacation" to the country that had been timed to coincide with his daughters' school holidays, the White House announced that Mr Obama's wife Michelle and their children would not be accompanying him. >>> Barney Henderson in Jakarta | Monday, March 15, 2010
WELT ONLINE: Denkzettel für Frankreichs Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy: Sein bürgerlich-rechtes Regierungslager hat bei einem wichtigen Stimmungstest eine bittere Niederlage erlitten. In der ersten Runde der Regionalwahlen kam die konservative UMP nach ersten Prognosen nur auf 26,7 Prozent der Stimmen.
Das bürgerlich-rechte Regierungslager von Frankreichs Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy hat bei einem der wichtigsten Stimmungstests seiner Amtszeit eine bittere Niederlage erlitten. In der ersten Runde der Regionalwahlen am Sonntag kam die konservative UMP nach ersten Prognosen nur auf 26,7 Prozent der Stimmen. Sie geht damit nahezu chancenlos in die zweite Runde in einer Woche. >>> dpa/fp | Sonntag, 14. März 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy votes with Carla Bruni in regional polls in show of unity: President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, put on a show of unity on Sunday following rumours of infidelities, arriving together to vote in regional elections in which the French president faces a drubbing. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Sunday, March 14, 2010
TIMESONLINE: President Sarkozy faces poll wipeout: France signalls its displeasure with its President in the first round of regional elections with Socialists taking 53.6 per cent of the vote >>> Charles Bremner, Paris | Monday, March 15, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Far-Right National Front performs well in French regional elections: France's far-Right National Front (FN) has re-emerged on the French political scene after enjoying a surprisingly strong showing in regional elections on Sunday. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, March 15, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: French voters scarred by the economic crisis have dealt President Nicolas Sarkozy and his conservative leadership a stern blow by coming out in support of leftist candidates in regional elections.
Some voters took their worries about immigration and France's growing Muslim population to the ballot box - helping the far right National Front party upset predictions and perform strongly in first-round voting to choose regional governments.
With more than 96 per cent of votes counted, candidates from the Socialist and other leftist parties won 53.6 per cent of the overall vote, according to the Interior Ministry. Mr Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party and others on the right won 39.8 per cent.
The UMP's poor showing combined with an unusually low turnout of 47 per cent, highlights widespread discontent with the increasingly unpopular Mr Sarkozy. >>> | Monday, March 15, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: An American woman who converted to Islam last year and was lured to Europe by online extremists was arrested in Ireland in connection with a suspected plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist, her mother said on Saturday.
Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, the second American woman to be linked to the plot, had vowed to "strap a bomb" for the jihad cause, said Christine Mott.
Miss Paulin-Ramirez was a troubled single mother who taught her six-year-old son to hate Christians, said Mrs Mott. The 31-year-old had the "mentality of an abused woman" and had fallen in with extremists to escape her loneliness, according to her mother.
"She doesn't have the sense God gave a goose. She's book-smart and common-sense-dumb," said Mrs Mott.
Miss Paulin-Ramirez, a former trainee nurse from Leadville, Colorado, was one of seven people arrested in Ireland last week over an alleged conspiracy to murder Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist who had depicted the prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog.
In a development that has caused alarm in the United States, she was the second American woman to be linked with the plot. >>> Tom Leonard in New York | Sunday, March 14, 2010
*Yet another American dumb blonde taken in by the false teachings of the prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! Where and when will it all end, if indeed it ever will? By allowing Islam to put down roots in the West, we have given ourselves a right headache: a headache that no simple Tylenol or Beechams will eradicate. – © Mark
Related:
For the Love of Islam: A Second American Woman Is Arrested in Cartoonist Case >>> Vanessa O’Connell in New York, Stephanie Simon in Colorado and Evan Perez in Washington | Friday, March 12, 2010
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Two Britons have been sentenced to a month's imprisonment for indecency after a local woman took objection to them kissing in a restaurant.
Ayman Najafi, 24, a marketing consultant who lives in Dubai, and Charlotte Adams, 25, an estate agent from North London, were said to have been touching each other and kissing passionately as they dined with friends in a beachfront restaurant.
They were arrested and sentenced to a month in prison after which they were told they would be deported.
But the pair told a hearing at the Dubai Appeal Court yesterday that they were the victims of a "huge misunderstanding" and had simply exchanged a friendly greeting.
"We kissed each other on the cheek as a greeting, nothing more,” Mr Najafi told Judge Aysar Fouad. Miss Adams pointed at her cheek to show where contact had taken place.
The two are not the first Britons to fall foul of the strict laws in the conservative Muslim state. Last year Michelle Palmer, 36, and Vince Acors, 34, were sentenced to three months imprisonment for having sex on a beach.
The latest incident took place when Miss Adams and Mr Najafi met along with four other friends for dinner at Bob's Easy Diner on the beachfront at the Jumeirah Beach Residence complex on November 27.
The police were called at around 2am by an Emirati woman sitting at a nearby table with her children and claimed her daughter had been upset by the display of affection. >>> Richard Spencer in Dubai, and Aislinn Laing | Sunday, March 14, 2010
*There was a time when a British government would have sent out the warships to put this upstart Emirate, Dubai, in its place. These days we just suck up, and say: ‘Yes Sir, No Sir, three bags full, Sir!’ It’s pathetic! When will this damn government grow a backbone? If Brown had anything in him, he’d get on that telephone and tell the leader of Dubai that these innocent people should be released forthwith, or else. But that won’t happen because all our politicians understand these days is arsehole-scraping. How ashamed one has to be to be British nowadays! – © Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: Dubai: strict morality laws behind Western appearance: With its skyrise buildings, slick bars and glitzy shopping malls, Dubai might seem like any other Western capital but when it comes to its laws, it could not be more different. >>> | March 14, 2010
WELT ONLINE: Der holländische Rechtspopulist Geert Wilders hat einem Medienbericht zufolge bei einem Aufenthalt in Deutschland einen Schwächeanfall erlitten. Der 46-Jährige soll übermüdet gewesen sein. Mit einer SMS reagierte der islamfeindliche Politiker auf die plötzlichen Gerüchte um seine Person.
Gerüchte um Geert Wilders: Bei einem Aufenthalt in Deutschland soll der holländische Rechtspopulist einen Schwächeanfall erlitten haben. Für den 46-Jährigen sei Samstagabend in einem Hotel des Luftkurortes Monschau in der Eifel ein Notarzt gerufen worden, berichtete die Online-Ausgabe der Zeitung „de Volkskrant“. Das Blatt berief sich auf „diverse Quellen“, die aber nicht konkret benannt wurden. Sie hätten erklärt, Wilders sei „übermüdet“ gewesen. >>> dpa/fas | Sonntag, 14. März 2010
LE FIGARO – BLOG – CHRONIQUES ORIENTALES: C'était il y a presque deux ans. Par un matin d'hiver, une enfant de 10 ans, à peine, allait briser l'un des plus grands tabous du Yémen : le mariage précoce des jeunes filles. Mariée de force à un homme trois fois plus âgé qu'elle, Nojoud Ali, eut l'audace de s'enfuir au tribunal et de demander le divorce. A l'époque, ses mésaventures firent la une des journaux, de Sanaa à New York, en passant par Paris... >>> Par Delphine Minoui | Mercredi 10 Mars 2010
WELT ONLINE: Mehrere Bischöfe haben dazu aufgerufen, parallel zur zölibatären Lebensform auch verheiratete Priester zu akzeptieren. Papst Benedikt XVI. erteilte dieser Anregung eine strikte Absage. Die Ehelosigkeit der Priester sei ein Geschenk Gottes, das nicht dem Zeitgeist geopfert werden solle.
Die Serie von Missbrauchsfällen in der Katholischen Kirche hat die Debatte um die verpflichtende Ehelosigkeit der Priester neu entfacht. Am Wochenende riefen mehrere Bischöfe dazu auf, über den Zölibat nachzudenken und zum Beispiel parallel zur zölibatären Lebensform auch verheiratete Priester zu akzeptieren.
Sie schlossen sich damit einer Forderung an, die reformorientierte Theologen und katholische Laienverbände schon seit Jahren vorbringen. Gleichzeitig betonten die Geistlichen, der Zölibat sei keine hinreichende Erklärung für die pädophilen Auswüchse in der Kirche. Papst Benedikt XVI. will dagegen an der Ehelosigkeit der Priester festhalten. >>> Von Lucas Wiegelmann | Sonntag, 14. März 2010
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