Obama Sounds Historically LGBT-Inclusive Message in Inauguration Speech
THE ADVOCATE: The speech marked the first time a president used the term 'gay' as a reference to sexual orientation in an inauguration speech. Prayers and poems carried messages of inclusion as well.

President Obama’s speech for his second inauguration broke new ground in inclusiveness, with the first use of the word “gay” in reference to sexual orientation and a call for LGBT equality.

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law — for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” Obama said.

He also invoked the Stonewall riots of 1969, which marked the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, as a milestone in civil rights history. “We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths — that all of us are created equal — is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall,” the president said.

Gay CNN reporter Anderson Cooper commented on the historic nature of the speech. “For a president who only recently, to use his word, evolved on the issue of same-sex marriage, he made very forceful statements in this inaugural address, actually, historic statements on equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans,” Cooper said. » | Trudy Ring | Monday, January 21, 2012

Santorum Blames American Downfall on Gay Agenda in Colleges
THE ADVOCATE: According to Santorum, pop culture and colleges have ruined America.

Former senator and Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum blamed the decline of America on indoctrinating the gay agenda in colleges across the country and the media. » | Michelle Garcia | Saturday, January 19, 2013

'Old People Should Hurry Up and Die', Says Japan Deputy Leader

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Taro Aso, Japan's deputy prime minister, has been forced to pedal back from a suggestion that old people should "hurry up and die" to save the state the cost of providing them with medical care.

Mr Aso, who has a reputation for speaking indelicately, was commenting at a meeting of the National Council on Social Security Reforms on Monday on the heavy burden imposed on the nation's finances by prolonging patients' lives with treatment.

Describing patients with serious illnesses as "tube persons," Mr Aso, who is 72, said they should be "allowed to die quickly" if they want to, Kyodo News reported.

"Heaven forbid I should be kept alive if I want to die," he said. "You cannot sleep well when you think it's all paid by the government. This won't be solved unless you let them hurry up and die." » | Julian Ryall, Tokyo | Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Inside Story - Is Israel Leaning Further to the Right?
Talks of Israeli military action over Iran's nuclear programme, but an absence of it in peace efforts with the Palestinians. Will a new coalition be strong enough to form a stable government? Guests: Anshel Pfeffer, Graeme Bannerman, Roee Ruttenberg.

Has Terrorism Become Synonymous with Islam?
Tommy Robinson (EDL Leader) vs Abdullah al Andalusi

Iran Hangs Two for 'Waging War Against God'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iran has hanged two men for "waging war against God," over their role in an assault that was filmed and posted on YouTube.

A 37-second video posted on YouTube in December and later shown on Iranian state television showed four masked men approaching the victim on motorcycles, and then two of them assaulting him, taking his bag and jacket.

One of the attackers appeared to be wielding a long knife or machete.

The attack prompted public outrage, and officials vowed to punish those responsible. Alireza Mafiha and Mohammad Ali Sorouri were hanged early on Sunday in the Iranian capital, Tehran, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA). » | Source: Reuters | Monday, January 21, 2013

NBC Interview with Queen Farah Pahlavi

McDonald's Settles US Lawsuit Over Islamic Diet
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: McDonald's and one of its franchise owners agreed to pay $700,000 to members of the Muslim community to settle allegations a Detroit-area restaurant falsely advertised its food as being prepared according to Islamic dietary law.

McDonald's and Finley's Management Co. agreed Friday to the tentative settlement, with that money to be shared by Dearborn Heights resident Ahmed Ahmed, a Detroit health clinic, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and lawyers.

Ahmed's attorney, Kassem Daklallah, told The Associated Press on Monday that he's "thrilled" with the preliminary deal that's expected to be finalized March 1. McDonald's and Finley's Management deny any liability but say the settlement is in their best interests.

The lawsuit alleged that Ahmed bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 at a Dearborn McDonald's but found it wasn't halal - meaning it didn't meet Islamic requirements for preparing food. Islam forbids consumption of pork, and God's name must be invoked before an animal providing meat for consumption is slaughtered. » | Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Why Germans Distrust Islam
DEUTSCHE WELLE: Prejudice and the fear of too many foreigners is especially prevalent in Germany. With the growing number of Muslims, distrust of Islam is rising. Why are Germans afraid of the "foreign"?

The cashier at the supermarket wears a headscarf, copies of the Koran are handed out on the streets, and mosques have become part of some cities' landscapes. Islam appears to be encroaching on life in Germany and that bothers a lot of people.

"For decades, woman fought for equal rights, and we have attained something. And now, women are choosing to wear headscarves. I don't want that and it scares me," a unversity-educated woman from Cologne says.

Her attitude is not uncommon. In the long debate over the new Cologne Central Mosque, which will be one of Europe's largest, fear and distrust of Islam have come to light and are widespread. Islamism a "real threat" » | DW.DE | Monday, January 21, 2013

Barack Obama Inauguration: A Call for Unity That May Go Unheeded by Half the Country

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: It was billed as Barack Obama's 'Martin Luther King moment', when America's first black president would outline his own dream for a more united America, but all along the length of Washington's great Mall, it was apparent that only half of the nation had showed up to listen to his call.

Overwhelmingly, the crowd of 800,000 people was filled with the faces of the young, female, urban, African-American coalition that ensured Mr Obama's re-election for a second term last November. They were Obama's people, and they were there to celebrate their victory.

After being sworn in on the bibles of his political heroes Abraham Lincoln and Dr King – without any fumbling of the oath of office as happened in 2009 – Mr Obama acknowledged the "uncertain future" faced by America and asked his "fellow Americans" to unite in facing its challenges.

And yet Mr Obama's prescription was an uncompromising and urgent statement of the liberal agenda that leaves Conservative forces – predominantly white, rural and evangelically Christian – seething with anger and alienation.

On gay marriage and gun control, on immigration and inequality, on the global issues of war and climate change, Mr Obama unapologetically reiterated his commitment to his own brand of social and economic inclusiveness.

He quoted the Declaration of Independence – a document, ironically often used by the Tea Party and Republicans – but made very different deductions from its premises than those heard from the American Right. » | Peter Foster, Washington | Monday, January 21, 2013

The Brits Who Fought For Hitler

National Geographic – Apocalypse: The Rise of Hitler

En Iran, la potence fait fureur
LE POINT: Les autorités islamiques ont sensiblement augmenté le nombre de pendaisons publiques dans le pays pour mieux effrayer la population.

Tous les moyens sont bons en République islamique pour effrayer la population iranienne. Qui plus est à six mois de la prochaine élection présidentielle. Pour rappel, le dernier scrutin avait donné lieu à la plus grande vague de révolte populaire de l'histoire du régime. En juin 2009, des dizaines de milliers d'Iraniens étaient descendus dans la rue pour réclamer un nouveau vote, après la réélection à la présidence de Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, qu'ils estimaient entachée de vastes fraudes.

Mais la force de répression sanglante du régime couplée à l'arrestation des deux leaders du mouvement vert de contestation a fini d'étouffer les revendications démocratiques des Iraniens. Surtout que celles-ci ont été balayées par une crise économique sans précédent. La gestion catastrophique du budget de l'État par l'administration Ahmadinejad, aggravée par les sanctions internationales contre le programme nucléaire iranien, a transformé la vie des Iraniens en véritable enfer. » | Par Armin Arefi | lundi 21 janvier 2013

Melanie Phillips: Jihad Against the West (2007)

UK to Rule Forced Marriage a Criminal Offence
The British government plans to make it a criminal offence to force anyone into a marriage they do not want. But finding and prosecuting parents who break the law could be easier said than done. Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports from London

Prosecutor General Investigates 'Defamation of Islam' Charges Against Eissa
EGYPT INDEPENDENT: Prosecutor General Talat Abdallah will investigate a report accusing Al-Tahrir newspaper Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim Eissa of defaming Islam and ridiculing the Quran and Sharia.

The complaint was filed by a lawyer, who also handed over videos of [E]Issa allegedly mocking Islam and its rituals on his satellite show.

Another video allegedly shows Issa sarcastically saying that if someone pickpockets a wallet their hand will be cut according to Sharia, but if they steal LE2 billion from the bank their hand won’t be cut off, while the audience laughs and claps. The complaint claims that his comments ridicule Sharia. » | Saturday, January 19, 2013

Assad's Mother Leaves Syria
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Anisa Makhluf, the mother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has left the war-torn country and joined her daughter in Dubai, expatriates in the United Arab Emirates and an activist say.

Ms Makhluf has been living next to her daughter, Bushra, Dr Assad's only sister, in Dubai for about 10 days, Syrian expatriates said.

Bushra’s husband, General Assef Shawkat, an army deputy chief of staff, was killed along with three other high-ranking Syrian officials in a July 18 bombing at the National Security headquarters in Damascus.

In September, Syrian residents in the Gulf emirate said that Bushra had enrolled her five children at a private school in Dubai where she had moved.

Ms Makhluf’s ‘‘departure from Syria is another indication of Assad losing support even from within his family'', said Ayman Abdel Nour, head of the newly-formed group Syrian Christians for Democracy and editor-in-chief of opposition news website all4syria.com. » | Agence France-Presse | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Monday, January 21, 2013

Austrians Vote to Keep Compulsory Military Service

BBC: Austrians have voted overwhelmingly in favour of retaining compulsory military service.

With all votes in the referendum counted, except postal ballots, 59.8% voted to keep the draft with 40.2% against, the interior ministry said.

The issue has divided politicians in the coalition government.

Supporters of change said a professional army would be more effective - critics said it would put Austria's cherished neutrality at risk.

Austrian men must serve six months in the army or nine months in civilian service when they reach 18.

Increasingly few European countries demand compulsory military service. France abandoned conscription in 1996, and Germany in 2011.

Calls for an end to conscription are growing in Austria's neighbour, Switzerland, which is also neutral. » | Sunday, January 20, 2013

Sean Ali Stone - My Journey to Islam - UMAA [Universal Muslim Association of America] Convention 2012
Sean Ali Stone discusses his journey to Islam. Sean Ali Stone is renowned film maker and son of internationally acclaimed director Oliver Stone.

Pulverfaß Deutschland - Doku über Probleme zwischen Salafisten und Rechtsradikalen