Belgischer Erzbischof bekommt Torte ins Gesicht
WELT ONLINE: Erzbischof André Léonards Ansichten über Pädophilie, Homosexuelle und Aids sind umstritten. Dafür bekam er jetzt die Quittung.

Der umstrittene Erzbischof André Léonard. Bild: Welt Online
In Belgien ist Medienberichten zufolge Erzbischof André Léonard eine kleine Torte ins Gesicht geschlagen worden. Der Vorfall ereignete sich bereits am Montag. Ein am Samstag im Internet veröffentlichtes Video zeigt, wie ein junger Mann sich dem Kleriker während einer Messe zu Allerheiligen nähert und ihm die Torte ins Gesicht schlägt.

Einem Kirchenvertreter zufolge will Léonard keine Anzeige gegen unbekannt erstatten. Léonard steht in Belgien in der Kritik, nachdem er Verständnis für Priester geäußert hatte, die der Pädophilie beschuldigt wurden, und gesagt hatte, dass Aids die gerechte Strafe für Homosexuelle sei. >>> dapd/fp | Samstag, 06. November 2010

Monseigneur entarté!

Un Saoudien se convertit au Christianisme en direct TV

Ruba Qewar, revenue au Christ, enlève son hijab: رُبى قعوار

Top Charities Give £200,000 to Group Which Supported al-Qaeda Cleric
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The radical cleric accused of inspiring the cargo bomb plot has been backed by a prominent British campaign group which has financial support from leading charities.

Cageprisoners, a self-styled human rights organisation, has a long association with Anwar al-Awlaki, who was last week accused of being one of the figures behind the terrorist plot to blow up cargo planes which saw a powerful device defused at East Midlands Airport.

The Islamic preacher, based in Yemen, was invited to address two Cageprisoners' fundraising dinners via video link, one last year and one in 2008.

The group has now told its backers that it no longer supports the cleric and that it "disagreed" with him over "the killing of civilians".

But an examination of the Cageprisoners website last week suggested that its support for the cleric was as strong as ever.

Cageprisoners was set up to lobby on behalf of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay and those monitored under control orders in the UK.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that it is being funded by the Joseph Rowntree Trust, a Quaker-run fund set up by the chocolate-maker and philanthropist a century ago, and The Roddick Foundation, a charity set up by the family of Anita Roddick, the Body Shop founder, after her death three years ago.

The Joseph Rowntree Trust is giving Cageprisoners £170,000 in donations over three years - with the latest payment due this month - and The Roddick Foundation another £25,000.

In its website, recently re-branded with some of the charities' cash, Cageprisoners carries more than 20 articles about al-Awlaki, describing him as an 'inspiration' and casting doubt on the evidence he is involved in terrorism. >>> Jason Lewis, Investigations Editor | Saturday, November 06, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Inside Yemen's al Qaeda heartland: In a special despatch, The Sunday Telegraph looks at the lawless Yemeni region that is the haunt of Anwar al Awlaki and other leaders of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. >>> Tom Finn in Sana'a, Bill Lowther in Washington, Philip Sherwell and Colin Freeman | Saturday, November 06, 2010

Grösster Christus der Welt in Polen errichtet: Überdimensionierte Statue misst rund 40 Meter
Gross: Die Christus-Stuatue [sic] in Polen misst über 40 Meter. Bild: NZZ Online
NZZ ONLINE: Mit einem Tag Verspätung ist am Samstag in einer polnischen Kleinstadt eine gigantische Christus-Statue errichtet worden. Sie soll noch ein paar Meter höher sein als das berühmte Vorbild in Rio de Janeiro in Brasilien. >>> sda/afp | Samstag, 06. November 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: La construction de la plus haute statue du Christ est achevée: POLOGNE | Le «Cristo» de Rio de Janeiro est battu de trois mètres: érigé à Swiebodzin, dans l'ouest de la Pologne, le plus haut Christ du monde mesure 36 mètres. >>> ATS | Samedi 06 Novembre 2010

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Giant Jesus statue completed in Polish town: Workers in a small Polish town lifted the shoulders and arms onto a giant statue of Jesus Christ that its creators say will be the biggest in the world. >>> | Sunday, November 07, 2010

The West Is Turning Against Big Government - But What Comes Next?
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The struggle to curtail the social democratic state could have ugly consequences, says Janet Daley.

There seems to be only one political argument of interest left in the Western democracies: how “big” should the state be, and what are the proper limits of its responsibilities? Abstract as it may sound, this question has had a quite startling impact on the everyday experience – and voting habits – of people in the most advanced countries of the world.

In the United States, the electorate’s considered answer to it has humiliated a president and swept an extraordinary number of neophytes – whose primary attraction was their loathing of government power – into the most powerful legislature in history. In Britain, it has become the dominant theme (in fact, the raison d’être) of a coalition between a Left-of-centre party and a Right-of-centre one, which has managed to achieve a remarkable degree of agreement on the need to reduce – or, at least, to examine rigorously – the role of government intervention in all areas of social life.

The dominant economies of Europe, too, are going through quite momentous re-examinations of the post-war philosophy which accepted the state as an unquestionable source of benevolence and all-pervasive social justice. And this massive reassessment of the role of government has not come about simply because of the economic crisis, and the terrifying degree of sovereign debt which it produced. The governments of what were the richest countries in the world may be broke, but what is interesting is their response to this: the plan is not to make themselves rich enough once again to do all the things that they used to do, but to rethink the whole enterprise so that government never again finds itself so extravagantly overextended.

On this side of the Atlantic, there is now a broad understanding that the social democratic project itself is unsustainable: that it has grown wildly beyond the principles of its inception and that the consequences of this are not only unaffordable, but positively damaging to national life and character. The US, bizarrely, is running at least 10 years behind in this process, having elected a government which chose to embark on the social democratic experiment at precisely the moment when its Western European inventors were despairing of it, and desperately trying to find politically palatable ways of winding it down.

The American people – being made of rather different stuff and having historical roots which incline them to be distrustful of government in any form – immediately rejected the whole idea. But in Britain, too, among real people (as opposed to ideological androids) there is a general sense that governments – even when they are elected by a mass franchise – become out of touch and out of control, and that something essential to human dignity and potential is under threat from their overweening interference. Read on and comment >>> Janet Daley | Saturday, November 06, 2010

Ron Paul: No Weapons for Saudi Arabia!


RONPAUL.COM: This month the US Administration notified Congress that it intends to complete one of the largest arms sales in US history to one of the most repressive regimes on earth. Saudi Arabia has been given the green light by the administration to spend $60 billion on some 84 new F-15 aircraft, dozens of the latest helicopters, and other missiles, bombs, and high-tech military products from the US weapons industry.

Saudi Arabia, from where 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers came, is a family-run dictatorship, where there are no political parties, no independent press, and where any form of political dissent is met with the most severe punishment. We are told that we must occupy Afghanistan to encourage more rights for women, an issue on which the Saudi regime makes the Taliban look rather liberal by comparison. We are told that our increasingly aggressive policies toward Iran are justified by that country’s rigid Islamic laws and human-rights violations, while the even more repressive Islamic rule in Saudi Arabia is never mentioned.

So why would the US government, which spends hundreds of billions of dollars yearly and maintains hundreds of bases overseas to push global democracy, approve a deal like this with such a regime? As Stockholm Institute scholar Pieter Wezeman told the Washington Post, “Of course it’s against Iran. Of course it’s against Yemen. You can read between the lines … but there are not any official statements about it.” Although the deal must be approved by Congress, there is little chance of any significant Congressional opposition for the above reason. >>>Ron Paul | Monday, November 01, 2010

Ron Paul >>>

HT: Individual >>>

Swedes in Shock at King Carl Gustaf Sex Scandal
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Sweden has been shocked by revelations about their quietly dignified King.

Five months ago, the Swedish royal family was the toast of Europe. All eyes were trained on Stockholm as the glamorous Crown Princess Victoria wed her long-time boyfriend in a fairy-tale ceremony, and the world's press clamoured for a glimpse of the elegant Swedish royals and their regal guests.

Now the international media is again camped outside the gates of Stockholm's Drottningholm Palace – but this time for far less congratulatory reason.

Revelations last week that the King of Sweden once enjoyed romps in seedy nightclubs owned by shadowy underworld figures have eclipsed the sparkle of July's wedding. King Carl XVI Gustaf, the stern-looking, bespectacled monarch who is honorary chairman of the World Scout Foundation, has found himself thrust uncomfortably in the spotlight following the publication of an unflinching book, Carl XVI Gustaf – Den motvillige monarken (Carl XVI Gustaf – The reluctant monarch) which catalogues his past predilection for wild, alcohol-fuelled orgies and naked jacuzzi parties with models.

The book has caused uproar and dominated the country's media, leading to nationwide soul-searching about the 64-year-old King's role, reputation and right to privacy.

"Strip clubs, illegal clubs, rented ladies who are naked under their fur coats. Women were simply desserts, used as sweets to be served with the coffee," wrote Katrine Kielos in the daily Aftonbladet newspaper.

"The royal family has always been viewed as an august, fabulous family. But these allegations are so grave that our trust in them is seriously damaged," said Jenny Madestam, a political analyst. "The King is not even denying it."

Indeed, the King's bizarre press conference on Thursday – held in a forest after an elk hunt – only served to fan the flames of interest.

"I have spoken with my family and the Queen and we choose to turn the page and move forward because, as I understand, these are things that happened a long time ago," he said – standing in a field, still dressed in his wax jacket and hunting clothes, among a sea of camera crews and reporters.

His handling of the book's publication has shocked some observers.

"Now is the time for the King to be quiet and give no comments. Instead, he says yes to a press conference in the middle of the forest where anything can happen. It is like playing Russian roulette," said Paul Ronge, a PR expert, in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.

"His statement can be interpreted as a confession. It is beneath his dignity to even comment a gossip book about his private life. Now the plug is gone and the papers can print page after page with material from the book.

"For the royal court to handle the issue like kindergarten behaviour, without responsibility is very serious". >>> Harriet Alexander | Saturday, November 06, 2010

Walid Shoebat: Learn Islam in 10 Minutes

Deutschland steht in Gefahr! Warum sind Sie zum Islam konvertiert?

Eulogy to Reagan by Thatcher

Ronald Reagan’s Funeral

Europarat: Muslime werden stigmatisiert
DIE PRESSE: Der Menschenrechts-Experte des Europarats, Thomas Hammarberg, erkennt eine "wachsende Intoleranz" gegenüber Muslimen in Europa. Ursache dafür seien populistische Debatten in europäischen Ländern.

Der Menschenrechts-Beauftragte des Europarats hat die wachsende Intoleranz gegenüber Muslimen in Europa und die Stigmatisierung des Islam durch populistische Debatten in einigen europäischen Ländern verurteilt. Umfragen zeigten, dass Muslime und die islamische Kultur ein "schlechtes Bild" hätten und dieses zu Angst und Misstrauen führe, erklärte Thomas Hammarberg am Donnerstag in Straßburg. >>> APA | Freitag, 29. Oktober 2010

Pope Reflects on Life Under Nazi Rule As a Youth

Iran: And Not a Chador in Sight!

Ex-President George W. Bush Rips Wisdom of Barack Obama, Sarah Palin and John McCain to Friends
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: WASHINGTON - Two years of retirement haven't dulled George W. Bush's political zest - and President Obama and Sarah Palin are among his under-the-radar targets.

The 43rd President has told friends the ex-Alaska governor isn't qualified to be President and criticizes Arizona Sen. John McCain for putting Palin on the 2008 GOP ticket and handing her a national platform.

"Naming Palin makes Bush think less of McCain as a man," a Republican official familiar with Bush's thinking told the Daily News.

"He thinks McCain ran a lousy campaign with an unqualified running mate and destroyed any chance of winning by picking Palin."

As he prepares for the Tuesday launch of his memoir, "Decision Points," Bush scrupulously gives his successor a public pass - a statesmanlike stance urged by his father, President George H. W. Bush.

"I want my President to succeed because if my President succeeds my country succeeds, and I want my country to succeed," Bush typically says when asked about Obama.

"He won't call Obama by name but he won't trash him," a confidant noted, referring to Bush's comments in post-presidency speaking appearances, which have netted him millions, often at $100,000 or more a pop.

Still, he thinks Obama has failed as a President - a judgment supported by this week's robust Republican gains. >>> Thomas M. Defrank, Daily News Washington Bureau Chief | Friday, November 05, 2010

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Reiterates 9/11 Conspiracy, Accuses the West of Al-Hariri Assassination

Hamas In Their Own Voices

Benoît XVI appelle à revigorer les «racines chrétiennes» en Espagne
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: VISITE PAPALE | Le Pape a prononcé son discours devant le prince Felipe et son épouse Letizia, à Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle. Il n'a pas fait allusion au mariage gay ni à l'assouplissement de la loi sur l'avortement, réformes adoptées par le gouvernement Zapatero.

Benoît reçu par le prince Felipe et son épouse Letizia. Photo : Tribune de Genève
Le pape Benoît XVI a appelé samedi à «donner une nouvelle vigueur aux racines chrétiennes» de l’Espagne, fortement laïcisée, et de l’Europe. Il s’exprimait à son arrivée à Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, dans le nord-ouest de l’Espagne, ville de pèlerinage mondialement connue.

«J’appelle l’Espagne et l’Europe à édifier leur présent et à projeter leur avenir à partir de la vérité authentique de l’homme», a déclaré Benoît XVI dans un discours prononcé devant le prince des Asturies Felipe et son épouse Letizia.

Il a cité les paroles prononcées en 1982 par son prédécesseur Jean Paul II lors d’un long périple en Espagne qui avait «exhorté le Vieux Continent à donner une nouvelle vigueur à ses racines chrétiennes». L’Espagne et l’Europe «ne doivent pas se préoccuper seulement des nécessités matérielles des hommes mais aussi de leurs besoins moraux et sociaux, spirituels et religieux», a indiqué le pape. >>> AFP | Samedi 06 Novembre 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Les pèlerins se pressent à Compostelle pour accueillir le pape: ESPAGNE | Les pèlerins se pressaient vendredi dans la ville sainte espagnole de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, pour accueillir samedi Benoît XVI. Le pape pourrait aussi être accueilli par un "french kiss" géant d'homosexuels. >>> AFP | Vendredi 05 Novembre 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Espagne: le pape poursuivra sa campagne contre l’avortement et le mariage gay: VISITE | Le pape Benoît XVI sera en visite samedi et dimanche en Espagne. Il compte y poursuivre sa campagne contre l’avortement et le mariage homosexuel, dans un pays à la pointe des réformes de la société. >>> AFP | Vendredi 05 Novembre 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Der Papst zu Besuch in Spanien eingetroffen: Katholoisches Kirchenoberhaupt spricht von antiklerikaler Haltung im Land >>> ddp | Samstag, 06. November 2010

BBC: Pope Benedict XVI sees 'aggressive secularism' in Spain: Pope Benedict XVI has warned of an "aggressive anti-clericalism" in Spain which he said was akin to that experienced during the 1930s. (With video) >>> | Saturday, November 06, 2010

Stakelbeck on Terror: ‘Eurabia’ Rising

FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS: Stakelbeck on Terror: Eurabia Rising >>> | Thursday, November 04, 2010

Barack Obama Is Doomed – Enter Mrs Clinton
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Despite the efforts of the US media to support St Barack, the Americans are having none of it, writes Simon Heffer.

Four days after the elections, the rage continues. If giving the Democrats a hiding was supposed to soothe the electorate, something has gone wrong. It – or rather the Democrat reaction to it – appears simply to have made things worse.

To the rest of the world, it might have seemed that President Obama’s press conference after the defeat was an admission of personal failure. But it wasn’t: what went wrong was the economy’s fault, he argued – and, by extension, it was the fault of the electorate for not seeing that. Despite the best efforts of the Leftist-dominated media here to support St Barack, the people are having none of it. The result is that his failure to go down on his knees and repent of his big-state, high-spending, pro-bureaucracy, unemployment-boosting policies has left the punters even more choleric than they were already. If he really does want to be a one-term president, he’s going exactly the right way about it.

The anger was further stoked by the President’s decision to leave yesterday on a long trip to India and the Far East. Although it is being sold here as some sort of trade mission – though he is likely to find that whatever America might want to sell in that region, the locals can make it just as well and at a small fraction of the cost – his departure is viewed as an escape from the line of fire.

He is also being heavily criticised for going to a country with a recent history of terrorist outrages, necessitating a security operation that is adding a further large chunk to his country’s national debt. As well as his taking 500 staff, 13 aircraft and four helicopters have already flown in a fleet of cars and communications equipment, and no fewer than 34 US warships are said to be hovering off the coast. Some of his critics here were already drawing comparisons with the court of Louis XVI just before the French Revolution, and this hasn’t helped. Read on and comment >>> Simon Heffer | Friday, November 05, 2010