Wednesday, February 09, 2011
CNN: America should listen to David Cameron right now.This past weekend, the British prime minister spoke to the issue of radical Islam and the cultural-political concessions to it in Great Britain. His major theme, at a speech delivered in Munich, Germany, can be summed up by what he said to many young Muslims who "find it hard to identify with Britain ... because we have allowed the weakening of our collective identity."
"Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream," failing to provide those cultures with "a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong," he said.
Cameron also said his nation has tolerated these segregated communities "behaving in ways that run counter" to British values.
Cameron was quite right in what he said about Britain, and it is equally true here in America. "(W)hen a white person holds objectionable views, racism, for example, we rightly condemn them. But when equally unacceptable views or practices have come from someone who isn't white, we've been too cautious, frankly even fearful, to stand up to them," he said. >>> William J. Bennett, CNN Contributor | Wednesday, February 08, 2011
LE MONDE: La branche irakienne d'Al-Qaida appelle les manifestants égyptiens à la guerre sainte et à instaurer un gouvernement basé sur la loi coranique, a indiqué mardi le centre américain de surveillance de sites islamistes (SITE). Le communiqué de l'Etat islamique d'Irak (ISI), qui semble être la première réaction d'un groupe lié à Al-Qaida sur les événements en cours en Egypte, a été posté mardi sur des forums djihadistes, selon SITE. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP et Reuters | Mercredi 09 Février 2011
WELT ONLINE: Al-Qaida ruft Ägypter zum Heiligen Krieg auf: Ein Al-Qaida-Ableger hat Ägyptens Demonstranten zum Dschihad aufgefordert. Aus ägyptischen Gefängnissen kamen offenbar auch Terroristen frei. >>> AFP/Reuters/cc | Mittwoch, 09. Februar 2011
20 MINUTES ONLINE: Le parti voulait interdire tous les costumes religieux sur la voie publique genevoise. Le projet est balayé par les autres formations.
Le dépôt du projet de loi sur le culte extérieur visant à bannir tous les habits religieux de la voie publique était, pour ses adversaires, une manière voilée de prohiber les burqas et autres niqabs des rues genevoises. >>> Par Didier Tischler | Mardi 08 Février 2011
NIS NEWS BULLETIN: THE HAGUE - Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal, in a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan, has requested clarification on the court case that hangs over Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders' head in that country.
A court case against the PVV leader for incitement to hatred and insulting the prophet Mohammed in his short anti-Islam film Fitna has already been underway for months in Jordan. The case was brought by radical Muslims. >>> | Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Michelle Obama says husband has not had a cigarette in 12 months, though US president has yet to corroborate claimsPresident Barack Obama finally has kicked the smoking habit, Michelle Obama has revealed.
"Yes, he has," the first lady told reporters at the White House when asked whether her husband had finally done what millions of Americans cannot seem to do and quit smoking. "It's been almost a year."
She said she did not know exactly when he quit "because he never smoked a lot" and she never saw him light up. >>> Associated Press in Washington | Tuesday, February 08, 2011
My comment on this story:
First of all, what’s the big deal whether Obama still smokes or has given up? Personally, I couldn’t care less. I am no fan of Obama, but one thing I wouldn’t begrudge him is a few ciggies. If the president of a major country can’t enjoy a few puffs, then where are we?
I write as an ex-smoker, one who thinks that whilst smoking is not a healthy, good habit, there are far worse habits out there than puffing on a fag now and then. The world has gone slightly mad in its obsession with the evils of smoking. Smoking can be a very enjoyable habit, especially if one keeps it under control. I had years of pleasure from it, I willingly confess. And yes, as someone else has already stated, it can be cool, and it can be sexy too. (Sorry to all the health nuts and fascists out there. These are undeniable facts, I’m sorry.)
In my opinion, the world was a far better-run place when politicians puffed away, without paying any heed to the health freaks. In those days, politicians weren’t so obsessed by looks and image. They were far more interested in doing a damn good job in politics. As ex-Bundeskanzler Schmidt said recently, he wasn’t in politics to be a good rôle model for the young, but to do a fine job! I concur with the man’s assessment.
Obama is said to have struggled with his smoking habit for thirty years. This is mere hype. To start with, in the early years of his smoking habit, he is highly unlikely to have bothered about the habit itself or its effects. Then it has been stated that he only ever smoked three to five cigarettes a day. Oh yeh? Who is he trying to kid? If he only ever smoked so few cigarettes, he is highly unlikely ever to have “struggled” with his habit. Giving up for him would probably have been a cinch.
I have seen photos of Obama smoking in the early days (they now appear to have been expunged from the Web – were they from Der Spiegel, I wonder?), and I can assure you that a ‘chuffa train’ wouldn’t have belched out more smoke than Obama did in those photos. Hardly the mark of a light smoker!
Michelle obviously has a bee in her bonnet about smoking. And Obama is obviously under the thumb, if only ever so slightly. I can’t help but feel that this story is riddled with Michelle’s wishful thinking. If she isn’t trying to kid us, she’s certainly trying to kid herself and her two daughters.
My advice to Obama: If you want a few puffs now and then, don’t torture yourself, go for it! But be man enough and bold enough to admit it. You might even go up in my estimation (and others’?) for having the balls to tell everyone to go sit on it. – © Mark
This comment also appears here
THE GUARDIAN: Donations from the financial sector have risen steeply since David Cameron became leader of the Conservative partyFinanciers in the City of London provided more than 50% of the funding for the Tories last year, new research revealed last night, prompting claims that the party is in thrall to the banks.
A study by the Bureau for Investigative Journalism has found that the City accounted for £11.4m of Tory funding – 50.79% of its total haul – in 2010, a general election year. This compared with £2.7m, or 25% of its funding, in 2005, when David Cameron became party leader.
The research also shows that nearly 60 donors gave more than £50,000 to the Tories last year, entitling each of them to a face-to-face meeting with leading members of the party up to and including Cameron.
The study shows the impact that Michael Spencer has had on party funding. He was appointed by Cameron as Tory treasurer in an attempt to reduce the influence of Lord Ashcroft, the party's former deputy chairman. Spencer was asked by Cameron to increase the number of relatively small donations of £50,000 to curb the influence of large donors such as Ashcroft, and for these smaller donations the City was place to look.
But there were still big City donations last year. David "Spotty" Rowland gave more than £4m. Stanley Fink, a hedge fund manager who was appointed the Tory treasurer last year in succession to Spencer, gave £1.9m while George Magan gave £485,000. Magan was also given a peerage.
The research comes at an awkward time for the coalition. Yesterday, George Osborne put an extra £800m tax on bank balance sheets for this year, increasing the bank levy from £1.7bn to £2.5bn. The move was immediately denounced by unions as being politically motivated, coming as it did just hours before Osborne's first encounter with the new shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, in the Commons. >>> Nicholas Watt and Jill Treanor | Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Little wonder that David Cameron has no stomach to tackle the absurd and undeserved bonuses in the City! – © Mark
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: François Fillon, the French prime minister inflamed a row over the government's links to Arab dictators by admitting he enjoyed a free holiday on the Nile over the New Year paid for by Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.The admission comes amid calls that Michèle Alliot-Marie, France's foreign minister, resign over a New Year holiday in Tunisia during which she twice used a private jet owned by a tycoon allegedly close to the country's deposed president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Mr Fillon claims he admitted to the trip "in the interests of transparency" although appeared to be designed as a damage limitation exercise, as the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaîné was due to break the story on Wednesday.
In a statement, Mr Fillon's office said his family were treated to a free holiday from December 26 to January 2 in the Nile resort of Aswan, then went on a Nile boat ride and a flight on an Egyptian government plane to go sightseeing, all courtesy of Mr Mubarak.
"The prime minister was lodged during this visit by the Egyptian authorities," the statement said.
Unlike Mrs Alliot-Marie, however, Mr Fillon's trip took place before there was any hint of anti-government unrest and there was an official side to it, as he met Mr Mubarak in Aswan for 90 minutes on December 30. >>> Henry Samuel, Paris | Tuesday, February 08, 2011
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: SPIEGEL's longtime Cairo correspondent has spent more than five decades living in the city. He describes Egypt's decline under a leader obsessed with discipline, calm and stability who lost touch with his people and allowed the Arab world's most vibrant country to stagnate.
Volkhard Windfuhr, 74, has been living in Cairo since 1955. He joined SPIEGEL as its Middle East correspondent in 1974. Since then, he has reported on the major crises in the region and met as well as interviewed nearly all Arab leaders, including the three Egyptian presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak. In an essay for SPIEGEL, he describes the changes that have taken shape in the Egypt in the decades he has spent in the country.
I am among the oldest in the crowd to cross the Nile Bridge and enter Tahrir Square this Wednesday morning. I have lived in Cairo longer than nearly everyone else who strolls along peacefully beside me: women, men, young people, old people, educated and less educated, workers, preachers and engineers. We talk about this and that. I know their language. I know their jokes. It is also my language, and they are my jokes, too.
But what befell us three hours later, seemingly out of nowhere, shattered my image of this country in which I have lived for the past 56 years. This was not the country I know and love.
"Al-Maut lil-Kilab!" shouted two young men who suddenly appeared in front of the Sudan Air offices on Talat Harb Street, with their fists flying: "Death to the dogs!" One wielded a butcher knife, the other started beating up a demonstrator. "Down with the regime" it said on the cardboard sign that he tore from the man's hands. At first, I didn't understand what was happening. What did these people want? Where did this aggression come from?
But then people started to scream, horses and camels galloped across the square, and it slowly dawned on me: This was a gang of thugs sent to break up a peaceful demonstration. They tore off women's blouses and headscarves, knocked over people in wheelchairs, and even kicked children aside.
I fled to an archway and took a closer look at them: They were, without a doubt, men who belonged to the regime -- some had even sewn onto their jackets the emblem of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). I know that this government doesn't tread lightly when it breaks up demonstrations -- but having such a mob rush a crowd like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? I have never experienced anything like it. An older man, a law professor who had been hit on the back of his head, fled with me into a small side street and said: "I don't understand my people anymore." They were my thoughts precisely.
I feel ashamed of this country, which I see as my second homeland. How could the government allow something like this to happen? How does the tank commander feel who is not allowed to prevent the massacre? What higher standard allows soldiers to look away who only one day before were hailed as the people's protectors? >>> An Essay By Volkhard Windfuhr | Tuesday, February 08, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Church of England has backed draft legislation paving the way for a ban on clergy membership of the BNP - in spite of warnings about creating ''martyrs'' to free speech.Members of the General Synod voted to press ahead with an amendment to discipline procedures making it ''unbecoming'' or ''inappropriate'' conduct for clergy to be members of a political party with policies and activities declared ''incompatible'' with Church teaching on race equality.
Under the proposals, Church of England bishops would make a declaration on parties or organisations deemed incompatible with Christian teaching.
Vasantha Gnanadoss, a Metropolitan Police civilian worker, and General Synod member who first won backing for the ban two years ago, welcomed the amendment and a new statement on race equality from the bishops.
This put the Church's mission to ''resist racism'' on a firm footing, she told the Synod.
''It is very important when the English Defence League and others are posing a fresh threat to the well-being of our diverse society. I hope that this statement will be used widely,'' she said. >>> | Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Des catholiques se forment pour mieux comprendre l'islam
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DUTCHNEWS.nl: The new judges sent out a clear message on day one of the trial against PVV leader Geert Wilders: we are in charge here, not the lawyer, not the accused and certainly not the cameras, writes Nico de Fijter in Trouw [Wiki].
‘Your answer please’ the senior judge urged Wilders’ lawyer Bram Moszkowicz who apparently took too long to react. And moments later, when he made an unsolicited comment on something his opposite number said, the judge reacted with a terse: ‘You are speaking out of turn, Mr. Moszkowicz.’
The new judges, lead by Marcel van Oosten (64) have opted for a strict, businesslike and above all decisive tone.
Tongues had been wagging about how the new judges were going to handle Wilders II. The judiciary came out of the first round with quite a lot of egg on its face. Impolitic comments and downright blunders marked the first trial and lead to the dismissal of the judges.
The judiciary administration did not fare much better: the judges lacked support and were insufficiently prepared. The question of whether or not Wilders was guilty of discrimination and inciting hatred all but disappeared in the judiciary melee.
This is why the judges, the court and the whole judiciary want to see a flawless trial that is not so much about them but about the accused. And that can only happen if the judge takes charge.
And he did. It showed in the way he ticked off Moszkowicz. The camera registration of the trial has been adapted, too. It is still transmitted live but recording will start when the judges have entered the court, not before. And when they leave, the camera’s are no longer allowed to linger either. It’s as if the judges are saying: nothing of importance is going to happen until we are here. >>> | Tuesday, February 08, 2011
BBC: Dutch MP Geert Wilders back in court over 'hate speech': Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders has returned to court in Amsterdam to face trial for inciting hatred, before a new set of judges. >>> | Monday, February 07, 2011
NZZ ONLINE: Rechtspopulist Wilders erneut vor Gericht: Verteidiger will Van-Gogh-Mörder als Zeugen >>> sda | Montag, 07. Februar 2011
LA-CROIX: LA HAYE - Pays-Bas : Geert Wilders se dit "persécuté" pour ses opinions anti-islam
Le député néerlandais d'extrême droite Geert Wilders, poursuivi pour incitation à la haine raciale et à la discrimination envers les musulmans, a affirmé lundi devant le tribunal d'Amsterdam être "persécuté" pour ses opinions anti-islam.
"Les citoyens qui critiquent l'islam paient un lourd tribut. Ils sont menacés, persécutés, criminalisés", a soutenu le député, lors d'une audience de procédure retransmise sur internet.
"Celui qui dit la vérité est en danger", a ajouté le chef du Parti pour la liberté (PVV), poursuivi pour avoir qualifié l'islam de "fasciste" et réclamé l'interdiction du Coran, comparé au livre "Mein Kampf" d'Adolf Hitler. >>> AFP | Lundi 07 Février 2011
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