Tuesday, June 01, 2010
NRC HANDELSBLAD: As the Dutch election campaign centres on the economy, the populist Islam-basher Geert Wilders has lost momentum.
Geert Wilders makes clear choices about which media he talks to. He refuses to be interviewed by NRC Handelsblad, for example, and to give reasons for his refusal. Interviews with media that are, apparently, unacceptable to him don’t seem to fit into his campaign strategy. He also denied daily Trouw an interview and generally avoids public television, though he participates in their prime ministerial debates in the run-up to the June 9 election.
When he does appear in the media, Wilders tries to send a clear message: Islam is a huge danger, mass immigration costs billions, and the average Dutch voter is best served by the left socio-economic programme of his PVV. Wilders, who until 2004 sat in parliament for the right-wing liberal VVD, promises the state pension age will not be raised, tax benefits on mortgages will remain intact, and there will be no cuts in unemployment benefit. But he turns every political debate to his core business. “Other parties want to slash unemployment benefits while seven billion euros are spent each year on mass immigration,” was one of his first contributions to last Wednesday’s TV debate on the economy.
The remark was his attempt to regain lost ground in the final weeks of the election campaign. Six months ago, his party was leading some of the polls, but it has been overtaken by the right-wing liberals, Labour and the Christian democrats. When the government fell in February, Wilders proclaimed that the election battle would be between his party and Labour. But the real fight is now between the traditional left and right. Primary combatants are Job Cohen, the labour party leader, Mark Rutte, head of the right-wing liberal party VVD, and Jan Peter Balkenende of the Christian democrats. Wilders has been edged to the sidelines now the principal electoral issue is the economy rather than immigration. Changed his tone >>> Barbara Rijlaarsdam and Herman Staal | Monday, May 31, 2010
NRC HANDELSBLAD: Dissident breaks ranks with Wilders' party: For years, Geert Wilders' PVV party presented a remarkably unified front to the outside world. Now, for the first time, one of the PVV's members of parliament is openly breaking ranks. >>> Barbara Rijlaarsdam and Herman Staal | Published Wednesday, May 12, 2010; Updated Friday, May 14, 2010
SAUDI GAZETTE: JEDDAH – Saudi Arabia and US were cooperating closely on security, and both shared a deep concern about militant activities in Yemen, said US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano here Monday.
“The security coordination is very strong with Saudi Arabia,” she said after meetings with King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and senior officials.
“We all share a concern about terrorist activity emanating from Yemen,” Napolitano said.
Speaking at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) Napolitano said that she met Saudi officials to discuss security issues and US visas for Saudi students, but that she did not discuss terror financing. >>> Jassim Alghamdi | Tuesday, June 01, 2010
ARAB NEWS – Editorial: Israel has once again shown its true colors to the world with its murderous piracy in international waters.
What Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has so rightly called “a massacre” saw the death of at least 10 peace activists on board the lead ship of the six-vessel Freedom Flotilla and the injury of scores others, as heavily armed Israeli commandos seized the convoy and sailed it toward their port of Ashdod. Israeli sources put the toll at nine. The full details of this outrage are not yet clear since the Israeli authorities are censoring all reports and used sophisticated jamming technology to halt media broadcasts from the vessels as they were assaulted. The truth will only become known when 700 journalists and peace activists are released and can give their testimony. >>> | Monday, May 31, 2010
SAUDI GAZETTE: JEDDAH – The Cabinet condemned on Monday the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, describing it as an “act of aggression reflecting Israel’s inhumane practices and its evident challenge to the whole of the international community and international law and its persistence in starving the Palestinian people and depriving them of aid, as well as the killing of innocent people”.
The Cabinet appealed to the international community to “take action against the hostility and barbaric policy of the Israeli occupying forces”. >>> SPA | Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company Prince Alwaleed bin Talal with billionaire businessman Bill Gates at the 14th Microsoft CEO Summit in Washington, Seattle. The summit was attended by 100 top CEOs. Prince Alwaleed and Gates are co-owners of the Four Seasons group of hotels and resorts. [Source: Arab News]
THE SCOTSMAN: Israel is isolated by world condemnation after attack on aid flotilla: THE international community united in condemning Israel yesterday following an attack on an aid flotilla bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip that left at least ten people dead. >>> Claire Smith and Mark Smith | Tuesday, June 01, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: UN formally condemns Israel's deadly assault on Gaza aid flotilla: UN security council calls for impartial investigation after pro-Palestinian activists killed by Israelis in Mavi Marmara raid >>> Harriet Sherwood in Ashdod and Matthew Weaver | Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Guardian video here
THE INDEPENDENT: Al-Qa'ida's third-in-command, whose role spanned from operations to fundraising, is believed to have been killed last month in a US missile strike in Pakistan, dealing a serious blow to the embattled group.
Sheikh Sa'id al-Masri, also known as Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, was believed to be killed along with members of his family in a strike by a pilotless CIA-operated drone attack. al-Qa'ida confirmed his death in a statement on a Islamist website earlier on Monday.
"We have strong reason to believe ... that al-Masri was killed recently in Pakistan's tribal areas," a US official in Washington said on condition of anonymity. "In terms of counterterrorism, this would be a big victory." >>> Zeeshan Haider, Reuters | Tuesday, June 01, 2010
TRIBUNE MAGAZINE: Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right by Jennifer Burns Oxford University Press, £16.99
At last! A well balanced book about Ayn Rand (1905-82), the guru of selfishness. After all the attack memoirs and right-wing adulation, Jennifer Burns has finally given us an intellectual biography of the founder of objectivism that can truly be described as objective. Burns explains Rand’s integrated system of ideas in clear language, showing us how it developed out of her life experiences and personal relationships, both intellectual and emotional. To her credit, Burns resists the temptation to snipe at such an inviting target as the elitist and dogmatic Rand and, wherever possible, she presents negative criticism using the original words of Rand’s colleagues and contemporaries.
Goddess of the Market traces Rand’s irresistible rise from bourgeois Russian origins to fame and fortune in America and shows how the success of her two blockbuster novels – The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957) – which both glorified heroic individualism – allowed her to use her celebrity as a platform for her subsequent career as political ideologue and philosopher. She invented an abstract rational system called objectivism, which was designed to keep the world safe from communism by proving (mostly by assertion) that capitalism was the most rational and moral form of human society.
But even as an anti-communist in America, she discovered that she didn’t quite fit in. She was an atheist iconoclast, not a traditionalist reactionary, and was forced to create her own niche on the contrarian far right, promoting guilt-free wealth creation and denouncing the state, but viciously opposed to libertarians, anarcho-capitalists and religious conservatives. Thus she escaped from the tyranny of collectivism in Russia only to end up in a self-created dystopia of heightened rhetoric where she lived out a life of extreme alarmism, always imagining civilisation was crashing around her ears. >>> Roddy Matthews |Friday, May 28, 2010
HT: Guido Fawkes >>>
THE TELEGRAPH: Public sector rich list: salaries of civil servants who earn more than PM: The pay of more than 170 senior civil servants who earn more than the Prime Minister have been disclosed as the starting point of a radical move towards more open government. >>> Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor | Monday, May 31, 2010
Fat Cat Civil Servants >>>
Monday, May 31, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: A premier silenced a room full of press yesterday when he told them he’d had a vasectomy.
New Zealand prime minister John Key was answering questions about badly-needed funding for early childhood education centres.
‘I think if I sent my 15-year-old or 17-year-old to early childhood at the moment they’d have a meltdown,’ he told reporters.
Asked what would happen if his wife had another child, he said: ‘I’d be extremely worried – because I’ve had a vasectomy.’ New Zealand prime minister forced to admit: 'I've had the snip' >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Monday, May 31, 2010
John Key on Facebook >>>
NEW ZEALAND HERALD: Prime Minister John Key revealed yesterday that he has had a vasectomy, providing a new slant on questions about Budget cuts at his post-Cabinet meeting press conference.
Mr Key had been fielding questions on whether parents facing price increases at Early Childhood Education centres would still be better off from changes in the Budget.
The Government is dumping the subsidy to ECE centres that have 100 per cent of their staff trained as teachers but will still fully subsidise centres where teachers make up 80 per cent of the staff.
When asked if he would be happy for his own children to attend an 80 per cent ECE, Mr Key quipped: "I think if I sent my 15-year-old or 17-year-old to early childhood at the moment they'd have a meltdown."
But what if his wife Bronagh had another?
"I'd be extremely worried because I've had a vasectomy. If you're asking a hypothetical question, I would be happy with 80 per cent teacher-led. >>> Derek Cheng | Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Watch NZ Herald video: John Key on his vasectomy >>> | Tuesday, June 01, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Turkey has led international calls to isolate Israel after its army commandos shot dead as least 10 activists during a raid on a flotilla trying to deliver aid to the Gaza strip.
Government ministers defended the actions of its troops fiercely after the pre-dawn raid, alleging they had come under attack from violent forces allied to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda.
But as Israeli ambassadors were called into foreign ministries across Asia and Europe, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was forced to scrap a meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington, heading back home to deal with the crisis.
The deaths are likely to bring indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, only restarted earlier this month, to a crashing halt.
Israel's relations with Turkey, once its only friend in the Muslim world, were described as irreparably damaged. At least six of the dead were Turkish citizens.
The UN security council held an emergency session and were expected to pass an draft agreement calling for an international inquiry into the incident. >>> Richard Spencer, Adrian Blomfield and Matthew Kalman in Jerusalem | Monday, May 31, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Five women presenters have resigned from the Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera after being accused of not dressing modestly enough.
In a row which has split the channel, the five complained about harassment from a senior editor, whom they accused of making "offensive remarks" about their appearance.
After the channel refused to back them, the five women, some of the best-known faces in the Middle East thanks to the channel's popularity, quit. Three others have registered protests while staying with the station.
An internal inquiry has since cleared the official, the deputy editor-in-chief Ayman Jaballah, and asserted that the channel had the right to dictate how its presenters appeared.
The women concerned in the latest clash are Jumana Nammour, Lina Zahr al Deen Jullinar Mousa, Luna al-Shibl and Nawfar Afli, the first three from Lebanon, the other two from Syria and Tunisia res[p]ectively.
All are relatively liberal societies, and the five appeared with their hair uncovered, in contrast to some of Al-Jazeera's other women presenters, as well as heavily made up.
According to sources within the channel, there had been an escalating conflict between the two sides, with Mr Jaballah in particular making repeated comments about the women's "clothes and decency".
The issue is likely to refocus attention on the difficulties Al-Jazeera faces in trying to reconcile its mission to be the BBC of the Middle East with the conservativism of some of the societies in which it broadcasts. >>> Richard Spencer in Dubai | Monday, May 31, 2010
LA PRESSE: (Ottawa) Le premier ministre d'Israël, Benyamin Nétanyahou, a défendu ce matin l'assaut d'une flottille de militants pro-palestiniens dans les eaux internationales par des commandos israéliens dimanche, affirmant que les soldats israéliens avaient le mandat de chercher si l'un des navires transportaient des armes.
Cinq des six navires ont collaboré avec les soldats israéliens, mais le sixième, qui était le plus gros et transportait une centaine de passagers, a refusé d'obtempérer aux ordres et ont même ouvert le feu sur les troupes israéliennes, a affirmé M. Nétanyahou.
«Ils ont non seulement refusé de collaborer, ils ont délibérément attaqué nos soldats. (...) Nos soldats devaient se défendre pour protéger leur vie. Il y a eu des échanges de coups de feu. C'est regrettable mais durant ces échanges, au moins dix personnes sont mortes. Nous regrettons la perte de ces vies. Nous regrettons toute forme de violence qui s'est produite. Je souhaite prompt rétablissement aux blessés, y compris nos propres soldats», a affirmé le premier ministre israélien, en visite officielle à Ottawa.
Commentant pour la première fois la crise qui prévaut au Proche-Orient à la suite ces événements, Benyamin Nétanyahou a ajouté que la bande de Gaza est en train de devenir une base pour «des terroristes du Hamas soutenus par l'Iran». La politique d'Israël à cet égard est de tout faire pour empêcher que ces «terroristes» obtiennent des armes et mènent des attaques contre son territoire. >>> Joël-Denis Bellavance, La Presse | Lundi 31 Mai 2010
ZEIT ONLINE: "Das Recht wurde mit Füßen getreten": Türkeis Premier ist empört über Israels Angriff auf die Hilfs-Flottille. Der Sicherheitsrat kommt zu einer Sondersitzung zusammen.
Angesichts des israelischen Einsatzes gegen die internationale Hilfsflotte für den Gaza-Streifen hat der türkische Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Israel des Staatsterrorismus bezichtigt. "Es soll deutlich werden, dass wir nicht ruhig und teilnahmslos angesichts dieses inhumanen Staatsterrorismus bleiben werden", sagte er vor seiner Abreise aus Chile in die Türkei. "Internationales Recht wurde mit Füßen getreten." Die israelische Marine habe angegriffen, obwohl das Schiff die weiße Flagge gezeigt habe, sagte Erdoğan. Auf dem Schiff seien nur Hilfsgüter geladen gewesen und sei vorher kontrolliert worden. >>> Zeit Online, dpa, Reuters, AFP | Montag, 31. Mai 2010
LE TEMPS: La conférence du TNP a adopté un texte par consensus. Les Etats-Unis ainsi que la France émettent des réserves. L’UE, par la voix de Catherine Ashton se dit «enthousiaste» alors qu’Israël dénonce cette nouvelle «hypocrisie» de l’ONU.
La conférence de suivi du Traité de non-prolifération nucléaire (TNP) est parvenue vendredi à un accord, le premier depuis 10 ans, portant notamment sur le désarmement et sur la création d’une zone exempte d’armes nucléaires au Proche-Orient.
La conférence a adopté par consensus une déclaration finale de 28 pages qui prévoit quatre plans d’action sur chacun des trois piliers du Traité - désarmement, vérification des programmes nucléaires nationaux pour assurer qu’ils sont pacifiques et usage pacifique de l’énergie atomique- ainsi que sur le Proche-Orient dénucléarisé. >>> LT/AFP | Samedi 29 Mai 2010
LE TEMPS: Le premier ministre turc parle de terrorisme d’Etat, le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU se réunit dans l’urgence et les condamnations continuent de pleuvoir après l’assaut des forces israéliennes contre une flottille d’humanitaires en route vers Gaza tôt ce matin. On ne dispose toujours pas de bilan officiel des victimes, au moins 10 selon un bilan revu à la baisse par une chaîne de TV israélienne. Le premier ministre Netanyahou qui devait rencontrer demain Barack Obama rentre d’urgence en Israël
Le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU tiendra une réunion d’urgence lundi à 13H00 locales (19H00, heure suisse) sur le Proche-Orient après l’assaut israélien meurtrier contre une flottille humanitaire à destination de Gaza, a indiqué un diplomate occidental. La réunion donnera lieu à un débat public, a souligné ce diplomate.
Selon une chaîne de télévision israélienne, 19 passagers ont été tués et 36 autres blessés lors de l’assaut donné par des commandos israéliens contre la flottille internationale de militants pro-palestiniens qui tentait de forcer le blocus israélien de la bande de Gaza.
L’armée israélienne, elle, a fait état de 10 blessés dans ses rangs, dont deux grièvement.
Un peu plus tôt lundi, le secrétaire général des Nations unies Ban Ki-moon s’est dit «choqué» par l’assaut de l’armée israélienne. Depuis Kampala où il est actuellement en déplacement, M. Ban a également «condamné ces violences». «Il est vital qu’une enquête complète soit menée pour déterminer comment un tel bain de sang a pu avoir lieu», a souligné le chef de l’ONU. >>> AFP | Lundi 31 Mai 2010
TIMES ONLINE: Millions of dollars of Saudi Arabian money have flowed into Afghanistan over the past four years, the country’s intelligence officials say, with the sponsorship of terrorism its most likely use.
According to members of the Afghan financial intelligence unit, FinTraca, the funds, totalling more than £920 million, enter from Pakistan, where they are converted into rupees or dollars, the favoured currency for terrorist operations.
“We can trace it back as far as an entry point in Waziristan,” said Mohammed Mustafa Massoudi, the director-general of FinTraca in Kabul. “Why would anyone want to put such money into Waziristan? Only one reason — terrorism.”
The revelations illuminate the difficulties in dividing the Taleban from al-Qaeda influence and the continuing involvement of Saudi donors in sponsoring the insurgency. >>> Anthony Loyd, Kabul | Monday, May 31, 2010
Star comment:
Oil revenues have allowed the Saudis to spread Wahabbism, the fanatical, destructive form of Islam all over the Muslim world and among the Muslims in the West. One of the Five Pillars of Islam established in the Koran requires that all Muslims give 2.5% of their income to charity. These donations are known as zakat.The amount of zakat donated in Saudi Arabia has been estimated to be around $10 billion annually. Predictably, the Wahhabis have now co-opted this mainstream institution within Islam to promote jihadism.The Saudi government funds mosques, university chairs, Islamic study centres, and religious schools known as madrassas all over the world. The Saudi education system has played a central role in indoctrinating an entire generation of young men into a rabidly xenophobic ideology. – © Alec Paterson | [Source: Times Online Comments] | Monday, May 31, 2010
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