The EU should be stronger and more united. Great Britain should belong to the Union.
Die EU sollte stärker und geeinter sein. Großbritannien sollte der Union angehören.
L'UE devrait être plus forte et plus unie. La Grande-Bretagne devrait appartenir à l'Union.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Obamas Gegner rühmen Martin Luther King
WELT ONLINE: In Washington demonstrierten 300.000 konservative Amerikaner für die nationale Ehre, die politischen Ziele aber blieben vage.
Zwanzig Stunden saß Ron im Bus. Zwanzig schlauchende Stunden auf dem Weg von Iowa im mittleren Westen nach Washington DC an der Ostküste. „Glenn Beck hat Recht“, begründet der Endfünfziger seine strapaziöse Reise: „Wir müssen selbst etwas tun, damit unser Land wieder in die Spur kommt.“
Glenn Beck, das ist der konservative Talkshow-Star des Fernsehsenders Fox, und während der auf einer Parkband nahe dem Lincoln-Memorial verschnaufende Ron mit unaufgeregter Stimme Probleme der USA erläutert, zerstreut sich um uns eine gewaltige Menschenmenge in Richtung Innenstadt. Von 300.000 Protestlern, gar von einer halben Million, die hier mit dem Ziel einer „Wiederherstellung der Ehre“ zusammenkamen, sprach Beck. Damit mag er recht gehabt haben. Unklar blieb dafür, wodurch die amerikanische Ehre abhanden gekommen sein soll. >>> Von Ansgar Graw | Sonntag, 29. August 2010
[Ground Zero] Mosque Really About Pushing Sharia Law
TORONTO SUN: The swirling controversy over the Ground Zero mosque obscures what should be obvious, at least since 9/11, about the behavioural pattern of radical Islamists engaged in stealth jihad, or “lawfare,” to advance their strategic interest of securing concessions by Western governments for Sharia.
In generating this controversy, and then pushing hard on it by insisting on the constitutionally protected right of freedom of religion to build this mosque in the vicinity of Ground Zero in New York City, Islamists behind the project have masterfully succeeded in greatly dividing Americans as the ninth anniversary of 9/11 approaches.
What we are witnessing here is radical Islamists once again, as in the Danish cartoon controversy — or the controversy surrounding the wearing by some Muslim women of niqabs or full-face coverings, or the push for censorship on grounds of hate speech — taking hold of the legal-political framework of liberal democracy to secure grounds for their anti-liberal agenda of advancing acceptance of Sharia in the West.
Through indiscriminate violence, radical Islamists have succeeded to define Islam in terms of Sharia — Islamic law constructed more than a millennium ago by legal scholars that is, putting it mildly, entirely obsolete in the context of modern philosophy, science, democracy, gender equity and individual rights and freedom — and jihad, or sanctioning of violence, in the name of religion.
Mosques for radical Islamists are centres for preaching, recruiting, fundraising, networking and engaging in the political work of advancing their strategic interests.
Once it becomes clear who the people are behind the Ground Zero mosque — variously known as the Cordoba House or Park51, which Stephen Schwartz of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington, D.C., among others, has been painstakingly assembling for Americans to judge for themselves — then there should be no mistaking about its political nature disguised as religion.
Feisal Rauf, wearing the title of Imam or a Muslim religious leader, is deeply embedded in the global Islamist network of activists and organizations. >>> Salim Mansur, Agence QMI | Saturday, August 28, 2010
Carla Bruni écrit à Sakineh
leJDD.fr: Carla-Bruni Sarkozy a écrit une lettre à Sakineh, cette Iranienne de 43 ans condamnée à la lapidation dans son pays. "Mon mari plaidera votre cause sans relâche", promet la locataire de l'Elysée dans une missive publiée lundi par plusieurs médias.
BHL, Isabelle Adjani, Martine Aubry, Frédéric Mitterrand, Bertrand Delanoë… Ils sont nombreux à avoir signé la pétition de soutien à Sakineh, cette Iranienne condamnée à la lapidation, pour avoir eu, selon la justice de son pays, deux relations amoureuses hors mariage et participé au meurtre de son amant. Cette fois, c'est Carla Bruni-Sarkozy qui a écrit une lettre à cette femme de 43 ans, écrouée depuis cinq ans dans la prison de Tabriz. Une missive relayée dans les médias, via La Régle du jeu, le site de Bernard-Henry Lévy - auteur de la pétition, Elle, Libération, et le journal américain Huffington Post. >>> Caroline Vigoureux - leJDD.fr | Mardi 24 Août 2010
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who became President Nicolas Sarkozy’s third wife two years ago, has signed a petition calling for Sakineh’s release. Photograph: Mail On Sunday
Carla Bruni Branded 'Prostitute' by Iran after She Campaigns for Woman Threatened with Stoning
MAIL ON SUNDAY: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been branded a ‘prostitute’ by Iran after she publicly attacked the country for threatening to stone a woman to death.
France’s First Lady is part of a campaign to save the life of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two.
She is accused of cheating on her husband and then helping to kill him, and is now facing capital punishment for her crimes.
Ms Bruni-Sarkozy, who became President Nicolas Sarkozy’s third wife two years ago, has signed a petition calling for Sakineh’s release.
Last week the former supermodel said: ‘I just can’t see what good could come out of this macabre ceremony, whatever the judicial reasons put forward to justify it.’
Addressing Sakineh directly in an open letter, Ms Bruni-Sarkozy wrote: ‘Why shed your blood and deprive your children of their mother? Because you have lived, because you have loved, because you’re a woman, and because you’re an Iranian? Everything within me refuses to accept this.’
But Kayhan (which means ‘Universe’ in English), the Iranian daily newspaper which acts as a mouthpiece for the country’s ultra conservative Islamic regime, has now accused 42-year-old Ms Bruni-Sarkozy of being a hypocrite. >>> Peter Allen | Sunday, August 29, 2010
Lapidation en Iran : Une centaine de villes se mobilisent
A Paris, 300 personnes se sont rassemblées sur le parvis des droits de l'Homme au Trocadéro. Photo : 20 Minutes (Suisse)
20 MINUTES: Plusieurs manifestations de soutien se sont tenues samedi dans toute la France pour Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, l'Iranienne condamnée à mort par lapidation pour adultère et meurtre.
Plusieurs manifestations de soutien à Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, l'Iranienne condamnée à mort par lapidation pour adultère et meurtre et dont le sort suscite une vague d'émotion en Occident, se sont tenues samedi dans toute la France.
A Paris, 300 personnes se sont rassemblées sur le parvis des droits de l'Homme au Trocadéro, aux côtés de plusieurs personnalités comme l'écrivain Marek Halter ou la réalisatrice et élue parisienne Yamina Benguigui, a constaté l'AFP.
"Sakineh est au courant de cette mobilisation. Ce qui est important, c'est que nos voix puissent résonner, car nos renoncements en France peuvent être catastrophiques pour elle", a lancé Sihem Habchi, présidente de l'association Ni Putes Ni Soumises (NPNS), co-organisatrice du rassemblement avec la Ligue du droit international des femmes et le Mouvement pour la paix et contre le terrorisme.
Mme Benguigui, adjointe au maire de Paris chargée des droits de l'Homme, s'est directement adressée à cette Iranienne de 43 ans, "pour vous affirmer avec amour, détermination et sans réserve que nous ne vous abandonnerons jamais". >>> afp | Samedi 28 Août 2010
Thousands Turn Out for Beck Rally
FOX NEWS: Glenn Beck holds 'Restoring Honor' Rally in Washington, D.C.
Bestselling Tony Blair Goes House-hunting in Barbados
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: He may be donating his multi-million pound earnings from his new biography to a good cause – but it seems Tony Blair and his wife Cherie still have enough money to buy a new home in the Caribbean.
The couple are house-hunting in Barbados for a villa to add to their already formidable property empire, The Sunday Telegraph understands. They have viewed properties on the island with the intention of buying a holiday home to which they could eventually retire.
The Blairs are believed to have been looking in earnest for a house on the former British colony, which has long been their favoured holiday destination, for at least three months. According to sources, hundreds of digital photographs of for-sale properties have been emailed to the couple.
A senior representative from one of the main estate agents on Barbados said: "Tony has a lot of friends on the island and has looked at property but he has not purchased anything yet to the best of our knowledge."
A leading solicitor on the island, which has a population of 280,000, said that she expects the Blairs to buy a property through a company – rather than in their own names – in an attempt to disguise the purchase for security and privacy reasons.
A new villa on the island would be the Blairs' eighth property: it was revealed this weekend that the former Prime Minister and his wife have spent £975,000 for a maisonette in west London for their only daughter, Kathryn, 22, a student, bringing the family's portfolio to some seven homes worth up to £15 million.
The couple are said to be open minded about whether they buy an existing house in Barbados or whether they buy a plot with planning permission for a new build.
A spacious and secluded six-bedroom villa with a swimming pool would cost around $6.2 million (£4 million), although Mr Blair is also believed to be keen to have a tennis court so he can play his favourite sport on his own land.
One of the locations the couple are said to favour is Apes Hill, where some 200 upmarket homes are being built on prime location land about 1,000 feet above sea level.
Plots alone range in cost from $400,000 (£258,000) to $10 million (£6,445,000) – before a brick has been laid. >>> Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter | Sunday, August 29, 2010
Islamic College Opens in California
ARAB NEWS: WASHINGTON: The long history of Islamic scholarship has just gotten a novel addition: a college in California that seeks to educate Muslim leaders.
Zaytuna College held its inaugural classes Aug. 24 and aims to become America's first four-year, accredited, Islamic institution of higher learning.
Founded by three Muslim-American scholars, Zaytuna focuses on renewing Islam's intellectual tradition while placing it in the context of American society.
"As the years pass, the founding of Zaytuna College will prove to be a milestone in bringing about both a sounder understanding of Islam and better relations between Muslims and members of other faith communities here in the United States - God willing," founder Zaid Shakir said in a news release marking the college's opening.
Dustin Craun, a student from Colorado in Zaytuna's first class, said the college will help Muslims navigate their role in the United States.
"I think that we, as Muslims in America, have to figure out how to learn what Islam is for us as Americans, and that is part of what this institution is about," Craun said. The college is "about being standard-bearers for the Muslims in this country."
Craun and the 14 other students in Zaytuna's initial class can choose from two majors: Islamic law and theology or Arabic. The school's founders expect some of them to become leaders of their communities as imams or in other capacities. Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that would be an important achievement because some foreign-born imams do not understand American culture and society.
"Importing works great for carpets. It doesn't work particularly great for imams in an American context, where they might need to know just as much about marital counseling," Safi said. Future Muslim religious leaders in America "are going to have to be completely up on the world of Facebook and [teenage singer] Justin Bieber, just as they are on the classical aspects of Islamic law."
Other U.S. colleges offer courses in Islamic studies, but Hatem Bazian, the academic affairs chair and a co-founder of Zaytuna, said the fledgling college takes another approach.
"At institutions that teach about Islam, it is teaching from the outside looking in, and often it is from a deconstructing approach," Bazian said. "We will be looking at Islam from within and with a sense of not to seek to deconstruct, but how to take that valuable core of the tradition and build upon it." >>> M. Scott Bortot | Saturday, August 28, 2010
MIRROR: DAVID Cameron faced damaging questions about his honesty last night [February 11, 2007] after refusing to comment on revelations that he DID smoke cannabis at Eton and Oxford.
A new biography discloses that the Tory leader narrowly avoided being expelled from Eton aged 15 for smoking "spliffs".
It also refers to his "infrequent and moderate" consumption of cannabis during his three years at university. >>> Oonagh Blackman Political Editor | Monday, February 12, 2007
Liliane Bettencourt, L’Oréal heiress and France’s richest woman. Photo: Google Images
L'Oréal Heiress Liliane Bettencourt Writes Photographer Out of Her Will
THE TELEGRAPH: The celebrity photographer accused of abusing the trust of L'Oreal [sic] heiress Liliane Bettencourt, France's richest woman, has been written out of her will - depriving him of an estimated 1.25 billion euros.
Mrs Bettencourt's lawyer, Georges Kiejman, said that the 87-year-old billionairess has decided "enough was enough" and that Francois-Marie Banier should no longer be named in the will.
"Liliane Bettencourt feels she had already given a lot to Mr Banier, so she ended the arrangement which made him her sole named heir," he said.
Mr Kiejman said the change had been made in France in mid July, and no one else had been added to the will in his place.
Mr Banier, 63, was Mrs Bettencourt's sole legatee in the will drawn up in December 2007.
He was set to receive around eight percent of Mrs Bettencourt's fortune, or an estimated 1.25 billion euros, a member of Bettencourt's entourage said in July.
Mrs Bettencourt's estranged daughter Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers and grandchildren would have received the rest of her fortune. >>> | Saturday, August 28, 2010
Banier n'est plus le légataire universel de Bettencourt
Liliane Bettencourt et Francois-Marie Banier. Photos : Le Point
LE POINT: Le photographe François-Marie Banier n'est plus le légataire universel de Liliane Bettencourt, a affirmé samedi à l'AFP l'avocat de la milliardaire, Me Georges Kiejman, confirmant ce qu'il a déclaré au journal Le Monde daté de dimanche-lundi. C'est à la mi-juillet que Mme Bettencourt a mis fin à cette disposition, prévue dans son testament daté du 11 décembre 2007, a ajouté l'avocat. Elle a rédigé cette révocation sur une simple feuille, sans choisir de nouveau légataire, et ce document papier a été remis fin juillet à son notaire, Jean-Michel Normand. >>> Source AFP | Samedi 28 Août 2010
Bradford: Smoke Bombs Thrown at English Defence League Protest
THE GUARDIAN: More than 1,600 officers on horseback and in riot gear pen in 700 activists, including BNP members and soccer thugs
EDL supporters and police clash in Bradford. Photograph: The Guardian
Far-right activists threw smoke bombs and missiles and fought with the police as trouble flared in a protest organised by the English Defence League.
Bricks and bottles and smoke bombs were thrown at anti-racist supporters and police as around 700 EDL activists – including known football hooligans and BNP members – held a "static protest" in Bradford city centre. Mounted officers and others in riot gear were attacked as they pushed the EDL into a penned area. Skirmishes continued as EDL speakers addressed the crowd and there was more violence as its supporters were put back on coaches.
More than 1,600 officers from 13 forces were involved in the police operation amid fears the demonstration would descend into violence. Police said there had been five arrests.
The EDL, which has held demonstrations in towns and cities across the country over the past 12 months, had predicted that thousands of its supporters would turn out in Bradford for what was dubbed "the big one", but police said there were around 700 people.
Earlier in the afternoon coachloads of EDL activists had chanted "Allah, Allah who the fuck is Allah?" and "Muslim bombers off our streets". >>> Matthew Taylor and Martin Wainwright | Saturday, August 28, 2010
Bradford Braces for English Defence League Protest
GUARDIAN VIDEO: Filmmaker Navdeep Singh Kandola speaks to members of the Muslim and Sikh communities in advance of an English Defence League demonstration this weekend
DIE PRESSE: Die Brüder David und Ed kämpfen immer verbissener um die Labour-Führung. Beide arbeiteten für Tony Blair und Gordon Brown. David hält bis heute an „New Labour“ fest, Ed sieht das anders.
LONDON. David und Ed Miliband sind auf dem Weg, die beiden Brüder mit dem schlechtesten öffentlichen Verhältnis seit Kain und Abel zu werden. Beide bewerben sich um die Führung der britischen Labour Party und je näher die Entscheidung rückt, desto erbitterter wird die Auseinandersetzung. Ex-Außenminister David, mit 45 Jahren der ältere der beiden Brüder, warf Bruder Ed, 40 Jahre jung und zuletzt Energieminister, vor, naiv zu sein und die Partei „in der Wohlfühlzone“ einzulullen.
Ed wies das umgehend zurück und warf David umgekehrt nicht nur „schlechtes Benehmen“ vor, sondern ein „Verharren in der Wohlfühlzone von New Labour“. Bei soviel Vorwürfen des Wohlfühlens ist es kein Wunder, dass sich mittlerweile keiner der beiden mehr richtig wohlfühlen kann. Der Bruderkampf der Milibands schadet nämlich dem Image beider Protagonisten und verhindert eine Auseinandersetzung mit ihren inhaltlichen Anliegen. >>> Axel Reiserer | Freitag, 27. August 2010
Why Can't Barack Obama Tell The World About American Tolerance?
Barack Hussein Obama. Photo: The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH – EXTRACTS: The controversy over the 'Ground Zero mosque' has portrayed the United States as a land of bigots. Toby Harnden wonders why the US President has helped fuel this myth.
Obama's ill-judged intervention, and the shrill outrage of his allies in the intelligentsia, has damaged America's standing in the world by fuelling anti-American stereotypes.
…
Many Americans are incensed by the way that legitimate protest and questioning of Obama's policies is routinely branded as racist or ignorant. They are tired of being told what to think and when to think it.
During the 2008 campaign, for instance, you were a bigot if you mentioned Obama's middle name or his Muslim background. Yet once he was elected, he went to Ankara and Cairo to proclaim that his full name was "Barack Hussein Obama".
Ahmed Sharif, a victim of real anti-Muslim bigotry, stated that the attack on him was an aberration and that America is a land of tolerance and opportunity. What a shame that Obama, despite his much-vaunted gift with words, appears unable to speak about such things with similar eloquence. Read the whole article >>> Toby Harnden's American Way | Saturday, August 28, 2010
