Scientology: “Business, Cult, or Religion?”
Image courtesy of Google Images
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German suspicion of Scientology resurfaced in Hamburg this week after a security official said he would seek a nationwide ban against the organization. He's arguing that Scientology is an "unconstitutional" big business.

Germany and Scientology have never been the best of friends. German officials consider Scientology a business, not a religion, and tax the outfit accordingly. Scientology has responded by complaining about "religious discrimination." Yet Berlin has a Scientology center, and the famous Scientologist Tom Cruise came to Berlin this year to film a big-budget Hollywood film -- even, after some debate, in restricted Nazi-era buildings.

Now an official in Hamburg named Udo Nagel is pursuing a national ban against the US-based organization.

As the city-state's interior minister, Nagel is Hamburg's top security official. At a meeting this week of other interior ministers from other states around Germany he plans to argue that Scientology is not only a commercial enterprise but also an "anti-constitutional" group with "aggressively fierce" tactics. Hamburg Official Wants a Germany-Wide Ban on Scientology >>>

Mark Alexander

Are We Really Expected to Believe This? Are They as Sure About This as They Were About Saddam’s WMDs?
TIMESONLINE: Iran halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003 and has not restarted it since, a stunning new assessment released yesterday by intelligence agencies in the United States has found.

The findings contradict an assessment by US intelligence officials two years ago that Tehran was seeking nuclear weapons and appear to undercut President Bush’s repeated warnings about Iran becoming a nuclear power.

As recently as August Mr Bush warned that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear technology could lead to a holocaust and that the US “will confront this danger before it is too late”. In October he said that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to a third world war.

Last night, however, Mr Bush’s closest aides claimed that the finding was vindication for the White House’s muscular but diplomatic approach. Stephen Hadley, Mr Bush’s National Security Advisor, said that the White House was only told last week about the new assessment of Iran’s nuclear programme. Iran halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003, US agencies say >>>

Mark Alexander

Take Your Next Vacation in the "Fantastic" Sudan! Jail There is Like a Five-Star Hotel, According to Gillian Gibbons
It is to be hoped that this lady is still ‘in shock’ rather than being serious!

WATCH THIS TELEGRAPH VIDEO OF GILLIAN GIBBONS
Mark Alexander

Teddy Bear Teacher to Arrive Home Shortly
THE TELEGRAPH: The teacher imprisoned in Sudan for calling the classroom teddy bear Mohammed was said to be in "good spirits" after her release as she returned to Britain for an emotional reunion with her family.

Gillian Gibbons was granted a pardon from the President of Sudan following two days of intense negotiations between the Sudanese authorities and the British Muslim peers Baroness Warsi and Lord Ahmed.

Having served eight out of her 15 day prison sentence, the 54-year-old primary school teacher was given the news this morning that she was a free woman. Teddy bear teacher leaves Sudan after pardon >>> By Nick Britten and Nigel Bunyan

TIMESONLINE:
Freed teacher Gillian Gibbons: 'I just want to relax'

Mark Alexander

Pat Condell Tells Us What He Really Thinks About Belief


Mark Alexander

Muslims Council of Britain (MCB) to End Its Boycott of ‘Holocaust Day’
TIMESONLINE: Britain’s largest Muslim organisation is to end its boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) voted this weekend to halt its protest because of concerns that it made the organisation vulnerable to charges of antiSemitism. Representatives have controversially stayed away from Holocaust Memorial Day activities, which began in 2001.

The MCB has argued for a new title such as Genocide Memorial Day which, it has said, would give greater recognition to more recent events, such as those in Rwanda and Bosnia. But this weekend its working committee voted 18 to 8 in favour of ending the boycott.

Representatives of the MCB, an umbrella organisation with more than 500 member groups, are now expected to attend the main Holocaust commemoration, which will take place in Liverpool on January 27. Muslim Council to end its boycott of Holocaust Day >>> By Fran Yeoman

Hat tip: Little Green Footballs

Mark Alexander

Pat Condell at His Very Best: On Muhammad the Teddy Bear

Hat tip: Always On Watch

Mark Alexander

Shari’ah-Compliant Finance
If Islam won’t get us one way, it will get us another! >>>
Mark Alexander

A Refreshing Change
Photo courtesy of SpiegelOnline International
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
Sudanese President Pardons Gillian Gibbons

Mark Alexander

Great Book Review!
With many thanks to Ray Boyd of Common Sense Against Islam for this great review:

Read up on the subject [Islam], be informed, know your facts. The Dawning of a New Dark Age: A Collection of Essays on Islam is the place to start. It’s easy to read and covers everything you need to know in a hurry. It’s the sort of book you can pick up and put down and then go back to it again and again. No doubt about it, if you need to wise up fast you won’t do better. If you only read one book on the subject this is the one. – Ray Boyd of Common Sense Against Islam (December 3, 2007)

Mark Alexander

Now NuLabour Wants to Have a NuNational Anthem!
Can’t this meddlesome government leave anything alone? Is nothing ‘sacred’ to them? Our politicians don’t do what they should be doing; so they do what they shouldn’t be doing instead! This is a sure sign of incompetence at the top!

DAVID BATTY’S GUARDIAN NEWSBLOG: Last week the government confirmed it was open to redesigning the union flag, and now it's looking at overhauling the national anthem. Clearly nothing is sacred in Gordon Brown's ongoing quest to establish a vision.

Apparently the problem with God Save the Queen is that some of its lyrics are not "inclusive", says the former attorney general Lord Goldsmith, who is leading a citizenship review for the prime minister.
"Some people have suggested we might think about whether there are different words that might be put in place which would be more inclusive," he told Sky News today. Should we save God Save the Queen? >>>

Lyrics: God Save the Queen

Mark Alexander

Gillian Gibbons Is to Be Released After President Omar al-Bashir Grants Her a Full Pardon; She Says She Has “Great Respect” for Islam
You will respect our religion, or else! Ve av vays of making you respect it!

THE TELEGRAPH: The British teacher jailed in Sudan over a teddy bear is to be released immediately after being granted her a full pardon.

Gillian Gibbons said in a written statement that she was sorry if she had caused distress and that she has a "great respect" for Islam.

Mrs Gibbons was pardoned by President Omar al-Bashir after he held a meeting with two senior British Muslim peers, Baroness Warsi and Lord Ahmed, who had spent the weekend in negotiations with Sudanese officials in an effort to secure her release.
Gordon Brown welcomed the news, saying he was "delighted and relieved".

In a statement, the Prime Minister said: "Common sense has prevailed. She will be released into the care of our embassy in Khartoum after what must have been a difficult ordeal.

"Through the course of Ms Gibbons's detention I was glad to see Muslim groups across the UK express strong support for her case."

Mahzoub Faidul, the Sudanese presidential spokesman, said Mrs Gibbons would fly back to England today. Pardoned teddy teacher 'sorry' for distress >>> By Richard Holt and Caroline Gammell

BBC:
Teddy row teacher freed from jail

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Reaction to teacher’s pardon

Mark Alexander

Chávez Gets His Wings Clipped
BBC: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has narrowly lost a referendum on controversial constitutional changes.

Voters rejected the raft of reforms by a margin of 51% to 49%, the chief of the National Electoral Council said.

Mr Chavez described the defeat as a "photo finish", and urged followers not to turn it into a point of conflict.

Correspondents say the opposition could barely hide their delight and that the victory will put a brake on Mr Chavez's self-styled "Socialist revolution".

Celebrations by the opposition began almost immediately in the capital, Caracas, with activists cheering, beeping car horns and waving flags.

"Venezuela won today, democracy won today, and I am sure that this victory for the Venezuelan people will have a very important impact in the rest of Latin America," Leopoldo Lopez, opposition mayor of Caracas' Chaqua municipality, told the BBC. Chavez defeated over reform vote >>>

Mark Alexander

Welcome to Eurabia!


Mark Alexander

Question Time
Watch BBC’s ‘Question Time’
Mark Alexander

Many in the Sudan Want Gillian Gibbons Killed ‘by the Sword’
BBC: The protests may be over for now in Khartoum but the debate about Gillian Gibbons carries on unabated.

As efforts to get her released by the British foreign office and two Muslim peers continue, opinion is divided and both sides of the argument are trying to make their voices heard.

Clearly the Sudanese Government is coming under huge pressure internally about this case.

Some now want the government to send Mrs Gibbons back to court. They believe the 15-day sentence for insulting religion was too lenient and they would like her to be re-tried.

Pictures burned

As witnessed during Friday's protest, there is a minority who are baying for her blood.

Some chanted threats against the 54-year-old primary school teacher from Liverpool.

A group of men shouted: "She must be killed by the sword." Sudanese views differ in teddy row >>> By Amber Henshaw

Mark Alexander

The Islamic Republic of Absurdity: Tight Trousers Targeted in Iran
IRAN FOCUS: TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police will crack down on women in Tehran flouting Islamic dress codes with winter fashions deemed immodest, such as tight trousers tucked into long boots, an officer was quoted as saying on Saturday.



"Considering the start of the cold season and its special way of dressing, police will start early next week a drive against women who wear improper dress," Tehran police chief Ahmad Reza Radan was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.



"Tight trousers tucked inside long boots while wearing short overcoats are against Islamic codes," the police chief said.



"Wearing a hat or cap instead of scarves is also against Islamic dress codes." Tight trousers targeted in Iran clothing crackdown >>>

Hat tip: Marisol @ JihadWatch

Mark Alexander

The BBC Is ‘At It’ Again! Tell the People - Why Don’t You? - that the Elections Have Been Rigged!
BBC: Millions of Russians have voted in general elections expected to confirm President Vladimir Putin's popularity, but blighted by claims of fraud.

Polls have now closed across Russian region's spanning 11 time zones. Turnout is said to have been high.

Eleven parties are competing for places in the lower house, the Duma - though it is not clear how many will secure the 7% needed to qualify for seats.

Opposition parties have accused the government of stifling their campaigns.

President Vladimir Putin's party is predicted to win a landslide victory, boosting his bid to retain power after leaving the Kremlin next year. Russians vote in general election>Russians vote in general election >>>

Mark Alexander

Israel Urged to ’Withdraw from Arab Land’ by King Abdullah II of Jordan
Photo of King Abdullah II of Jordan courtesy of The Jerusalem Post
THE JERUSALEM POST: Jordan's King Abdullah II inaugurated a new parliament Sunday with a call on Israel to relinquish war-won Arab lands, saying that would help peace and security to prevail in the volatile Mideast.

The king also urged unity among feuding Palestinian factions, saying the time has come for statehood.

"We emphatically tell Israel that ending the occupation of Arab and Palestinian lands, withdrawing from there and implementing legitimate international resolutions are the only way to realize just, permanent and comprehensive peace," said the staunch US ally who maintains cordial relations with Israel under a 1994 peace treaty.

Abdullah said a peaceful Arab-Israeli settlement would "guarantee a safe future for the region's peoples and its coming generations."

"We also say to the Palestinians that strength is in unity and weakness in disunity; so, unite your ranks and seize the available opportunity to realize peace and establish your independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," he said. Jordan's king urges Israel to 'withdraw from Arab land' >>>

Mark Alexander

An Ex-Islamist’s Views on the Teddy Bear Incident
THE SUNDAY TIMES: I spent 14 years in the Middle East, so I’m quite accustomed to Arab culture and its easily offended sensibilities. But the decision to arrest and jail the English school teacher Gillian Gibbons is so far removed from even the remotest sense of logic, I wondered if the date on my Arabic calendar was April 1.

Sadly, this was no joke. The truth is, as we’re beginning to realise, we’re locked into a battle for hearts and minds at the core of which lies a battle for the essence of Islam itself. And we can’t expect anyone to fight this on our behalf.

A few weeks ago Rod Liddle participated in a debate about whether Islam is good for London. His message, in a nutshell: I don’t have a problem with Muslims, I have a problem with Islam. I don’t share his views, though many do – and I can see how they’ve got there.

We’re at the point where the naming of a cuddly toy by children has become a international incident with the Foreign Office summoning foreign emissaries to Whitehall.

Gibbons isn’t the first to suffer under Sudan’s Islamist government led by President Omar al-Bashir. His visceral hatred for the West, repugnant literalism and repudiation of all reason sealed her fate.

Since taking over in 1989, Bashir has waged war against the Christian south, hosted Osama Bin Laden as a national guest during the 1990s, and, more recently, has backed the Janjaweed militia during their murderous rampage in Darfur.

Anglo-French attempts to send UN peacekeepers into Darfur this autumn enraged Bashir who personally vowed to lead a jihad against them. To Bashir and his supporters who wanted Gibbons killed, the UN represents “western interference”.

And it’s this “insult” which lies behind the witless incarceration of Gibbons who went from London to Khartoum to help educate children. Had the Sudanese court really considered Gibbons to have offended Islam her fate would almost certainly have been far worse than 15 days’ imprisonment. A failure to confront radical Islam >>> By Shiraz Maher

”Hello! My name’s Mohammed. I’m so pleased to meet you. I’m looking for a good home for Christmas. Please buy me. I’m soft and cuddly and ever so loving." - ©Mark
Order your cute, cuddly little teddy today! A steal @ $17.99! (Please note: There's nothing in it for me!)

Mark Alexander

The Dark Side of Vlad
Photo of Vladimir Putin courtesy of The Times
THE SUNDAY TIMES: WHEN Anya Kaluyeva, a Russian primary school teacher, was summoned to her boss’s office last week, she expected to discuss a new set of textbooks. The conversation quickly took a more sinister turn.

The head teacher asked the 48-year-old whom she intended to vote for in today’s parliamentary elections. When she hesitated, he ordered her to support United Russia, the party backed by President Vladimir Putin. He then issued a warning.

“He made it clear that if I didn’t vote for United Russia I’d lose my job,” said Kaluyeva, a mother of two who lives in a small town south of Moscow.

“I was so shocked I was left speechless. He put me under pressure and hinted that he had ways of checking who I’d voted for. I felt I was back in the Soviet Union.”

As millions of Russians go to the polls to vote for a new Duma, the 450-seat lower house of parliament, the result is a foregone conclusion. United Russia will win by a landslide. The vote, however, is much more than an ordinary parliamentary election.

Putin, who is due to step down in the spring when his second and final term permitted by the constitution ends, has turned the poll into an unofficial referendum on his eight years in power.

The Kremlin and the Russian president are thought to believe that anything less than 65% in favour of United Russia would be regarded as a failure.

There has been mounting evidence that voters have come under intense pressure to vote for United Russia. State employees ranging from teachers to doctors and factory workers have been ordered to cast their ballot for Putin and United Russia or face reprisals, including dismissal or demotion. Russians told: vote for Putin’s party ... or else >>> By Mark Franchetti

Mark Alexander

Saeed Jalili Pushes Nuclear Talks Back to Square 1
Photo of Saeed Jalili courtesy of the New York Times
NEW YORK TIMES: PARIS, Dec. 1 — In a sign that Iran has hardened its position on its nuclear program, its new nuclear negotiator said in talks in London on Friday that all proposals made in past negotiations were irrelevant and that further discussion of a curb on Iran’s uranium enrichment was unnecessary, senior officials briefed on the meeting said.

The Iranian official, Saeed Jalili, also told Javier Solana, who represented the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany in the five-hour talks, that United Nations Security Council resolutions punishing Iran for not suspending its enriched uranium activities were illegal, the officials said.

Representatives of the six countries met in Paris on Saturday afternoon to discuss further punitive Security Council measures against Iran after the final talks in London failed to produce a breakthrough. Iranian Pushes Nuclear Talks Back to Square 1 >>> By Elaine Sciolino

Mark Alexander

’Who Is Sleeping With Whom?’ – The Real Story in Washington!
THE SUNDAY TIMES: IT SHOULD have been Condoleezza Rice’s finest hour as US secretary of state: at last President George W Bush was hosting a Middle East peace conference that she had been struggling to organise for months.

Yet when Rice’s photograph appeared on the front page of America’s bestselling weekly newspaper last week, it had nothing to do with her peacemaking efforts. She had been dragged into a National Enquirer article headlined “Who’s Gay and Who’s Not”.

The article revived long-standing Washington gossip about Rice’s sexuality and sparked off the usual flurry of internet chatter about her high-profile role in a Republican administration widely regarded as hostile to gays.

It also underlined the increasing friction in American politics between a high-minded media establishment disdainful of bedroom gossip and the no-holds-barred, consumer-driven world of instant internet scandal. A Google search of the words “Condoleezza” and “lesbian” last week yielded 146,000 hits. Gay rumours eclipse Condi’s glory moment >>> By Tony Allen-Mills

Mark Alexander

Watch Out! The American Government Might Be After YOU!
THE SUNDAY TIMES: AMERICA has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.

A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.

The admission will alarm the British business community after the case of the so-called NatWest Three, bankers who were extradited to America on fraud charges. More than a dozen other British executives, including senior managers at British Airways and BAE Systems, are under investigation by the US authorities and could face criminal charges in America.

Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping only in the “extraordinary rendition” of terrorist suspects.

The American government has for the first time made it clear in a British court that the law applies to anyone, British or otherwise, suspected of a crime by Washington. US says it has right to kidnap British citizens >>> By David Leppard

Mark Alexander

Belgium’s Survival in Question
THE OBSERVER: Divisions deepen in nation at the heart of Europe

Belgium's chances of surviving as a single country suffered a significant blow last night when the man tipped to be the next Prime Minister abandoned almost six months of bad-tempered wrangling over a new government and threw in the towel.

Yves Leterme, the Flemish Christian Democrat leader who emerged strongest from general elections in June, went to the royal palace in Brussels to tell King Albert he had had enough.

The King accepted Leterme's resignation, but left open the key question of what happens next in the effort to secure a consensus between the country's bitterly divided Dutch-speaking Flemish and francophone Walloon communities. Belgium's survival in question as 'next PM' quits the battle >>> By Ian Traynor in Brussels

Mark Alexander

So the Politicians Have Let It Come to This: The Royal Navy Can No Longer Fight a Major War!
"We have come all the way from Lord Nelson to a part-time defence secretary, with the consequence that the Royal Navy now finds itself in the most degenerated state in which it has ever been. Labour has done what none of this countries' enemies have been able to do: bring the Navy to its knees." - Liam Fox, the shadow Tory defence secretary

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The Royal Navy can no longer fight a major war because of years of under­funding and cutbacks, a leaked Whitehall report has revealed.

With an "under-resourced" fleet composed of "ageing and operationally defective ships", the Navy would struggle even to repeat its role in the Iraq war and is now "far more vulnerable to unexpected shocks", the top-level Ministry of Defence document says.

The report was ordered by Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, who had intended to use it to "counter criticism" on the state of the Navy in the media and from opposition parties.

But in a damning conclusion, the report states: "The current material state of the fleet is not good; the Royal Navy would be challenged to mount a medium-scale operation in accordance with current policy against a technologically capable adversary." A medium-scale operation is similar to the naval involvement in the Iraq War.

The document adds that the Navy is too "thinly stretched", its fighting capability is being "eroded" and the fleet's ability to influence events at the strategic level is "under threat". Navy would struggle to fight a war – report >>>

Mark Alexander

In Putins Rußland wird heute gewählt
NZZ: In Russland haben unter strengsten Sicherheitsvorkehrungen die Parlamentswahlen begonnen. Da sich das grösste Land der Erde über elf Zeitzonen erstreckt, öffneten die ersten Wahllokale im Fernen Osten am Samstagabend mitteleuropäischer Zeit (MEZ).

(sda/dpa) In Russland wird heute Sonntag ein neues Parlament gewählt. In dem flächenmässig grössten Land der Erde sind rund 107 Millionen Wahlberechtigte zur Stimmabgabe aufgerufen. Die ersten Ergebnisse werden in der Nacht auf Montag erwartet. Im Fernen Osten Russlands haben die ersten Wahllokale des Landes nach mitteleuropäischer Zeit (MEZ) bereits am Samstag um 21 Uhr geöffnet, da sich Russland über elf Zeitzonen erstreckt. Die Stimmabgabe endet am Sonntagabend in der Exklave Kaliningrad um 19 Uhr (MEZ). Ruhiger Auftakt zu den russischen Wahlen: Sieg von Putins Partei «Geeintes Russland» gilt als sicher >>>

NZZ:
Wahl mit vorgefertigtem Resultat: Wiktor Scheinis, einer der Schöpfer der russischen Verfassung, über Putins Herrschaft

NZZ:
Russisches Biedermeier: Statt Demokratisierung steht für die Mittelschicht der Konsum im Vordergrund

Mark Alexander

Muslim Peers Visit Gillian Gibbons
Photos of Baroness Warsi amd Lord Ahmed courtesy of the BBC
Whilst I appreciate the efforts made by these peers to bring about the release of Gillian Gibbons, I would like to ask the following question: What on earth could these two young peers have done to deserve the titles ‘baron’ and ‘baroness’? Mrs Thatcher had to work all her life to become ‘Baroness Thatcher’, and even spend years in No. 10, cleaning up Britain. How do these youngsters compare? Or is this political correctness talking again? I should lke to add that it seems infinitely easier these days to get a title if one is an immigrant than if one is a member of the indigenous population of centuries’ standing! Further, does being a ‘lord’, ‘lady’, ‘baron’ or ‘baroness’ mean anything anymore?

BBC: Two British Muslim peers have met the UK teacher jailed for 15 days in Sudan for insulting Islam by allowing her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Labour's Lord Ahmed and Tory Baroness Warsi reported that Gillian Gibbons, 54, of Liverpool, was comfortable and safe in a secret location in Khartoum.

Lord Ahmed said they had met Sudanese ministers and advisers and hope to meet the president in the next 24 hours.
Mrs Gibbons's defence team is confident she will be pardoned by the president. UK peers visit teddy row teacher >>>

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Peers attempt to free teacher

Mark Alexander

Christian Leaders Go A-Grovelling!
KHALEEJ TIMES ONLINE: ABU DHABI—Peaceful relations between Muslims and Christians stand as one of the central challenges of this century, according to leading Christian leaders.

Responding to an open letter in October signed by 138 leading Muslim scholars, clerics, and intellectuals from around the world, the Christian leaders also asked the Muslim world for forgiveness “We want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the “war on terror”) many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbours. Before we “shake your hand” in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world”, they said in the letter which was made available to the press here yesterday.

Following is the full text of the letter:

As members of the worldwide Christian community, we were deeply encouraged and challenged by the recent historic open letter signed by 138 leading Muslim scholars, clerics, and intellectuals from around the world. A Common Word Between Us and You identifies some core common ground between Christianity and Islam which lies at the heart of our respective faiths as well as at the heart of the most ancient Abrahamic faith, Judaism. Jesus Christ’s call to love God and neighbour was rooted in the divine revelation to the people of Israel embodied in the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18). We receive the open letter as a Muslim hand of conviviality and cooperation extended to Christians worldwide. In this response we extend our own Christian hand in return, so that together with all other human beings we may live in peace and justice as we seek to love God and our neighbours.

Muslims and Christians have not always shaken hands in friendship; their relations have sometimes been tense, even characterized by outright hostility. Since Jesus Christ says, “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye” (Matthew 7:5), we want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the “war on terror”) many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbours. Before we “shake your hand” in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world.
Christian leaders ask for Muslim forgiveness >>>

Hat tip: Robert Spencer

Mark Alexander

Inmates Studying al-Qaeda Manual
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: ISLAMIC extremists are using an al-Qaeda training manual to give them instructions for taking over the state's toughest jails, prison authorities have alleged.

Up to 40 inmates had established an internal organisational structure to maintain morale, resist interrogation and recruit members to Islam.

The prisoners had set up leadership groups in several maximum-security jails, with their activities governed by the code outlined in the al-Qaeda manual for incarcerated followers.

A number of Corrective Services staff have been targeted, some with violent threats by inmate groups. Other staff have been singled out for conversion to Islam. >>> By Heath Gilmore

Mark Alexander

Rejection for Islamic School
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: A SYDNEY council is set to reject a proposed Islamic college as tension about religious educational facilities escalates across the city.

Bankstown City Council will determine the development application for the 1200-student Al Amanah Islamic College at Bass Hill on Tuesday night.

Nearly 2500 submissions were received from residents - 1829 against, 649 in support. >>> By Heath Gilmore

Mark Alexander

Mohammed the Bear
”Hello! My name’s Mohammed. I’m so pleased to meet you. I’m looking for a good home for Christmas. Please buy me. I’m soft and cuddly and ever so loving." - ©Mark
Order your cute, cuddly little teddy today! A steal @ $17.99! (Please note: There's nothing in it for me!)

Mark Alexander

Mohammed, der Teddybär
DIE ZEIT: Eine britische Lehrerin wurde in Sudan zu Haft verurteilt, weil Schüler ein Plüschtier nach dem Propheten benannt haben. Das Ganze erinnert fatal an den Karikaturenstreit.

Stein des Anstoßes ist ein kleiner Teddy mit Knopfaugen. Weil eine britische Lehrerin ihren Schülern erlaubt hatte, dem Stofftier den Namen "Mohammed" zu geben, wurde sie am Donnerstag von einem Gericht im Sudan zu 15 Tagen Haft verurteilt. Die britische Regierung hatte zuvor noch den sudanesischen Botschafter einbestellt und dazu aufgerufen, "gesunden Menschenverstand" walten zu lassen.

Die Auseinandersetzung birgt eine explosive Mischung und ruft Erinnerungen an den Karikaturenstreit wach, der in der islamischen Welt vor knapp zwei Jahren zu Protesten mit Todesfolge geführt hatte. >>>

Mark Alexander

Kunstfreiheit: Muslim-Proteste: Autorin gibt auf
DIE ZEIT: Die Schriftstellerin Taslima Nasreen wird seit Jahren wegen islamkritischer Textpassagen verfolgt. Nun lässt sie kontroverse Zeilen aus ihrem Buch "Dwikhandita" streichen.

Nach Protesten aufgebrachter Muslime in ihrem indischen Exil will die aus Bangladesch stammende Autorin Taslima Nasreen umstrittene Passagen aus einem ihrer Bücher herausnehmen. "Ich ziehe bestimmte kontroverse Zeilen aus "Dwikhandita" (Zweigeteilt) zurück", zitierte die indische Nachrichtenagentur PTI die Schriftstellerin. "Ich hatte nicht die Absicht, Gefühle zu verletzten." In der nächsten Auflage des 2002 erschienenen Buches würden die entsprechenden Passagen entfernt. Sie hoffe, dass sie danach friedlich in Indien leben könne.

Bei gewalttätigen Demonstrationen in der vergangenen Woche hatten Muslime in Nasreens Wahlheimat Kalkutta gefordert, Nasreens Indien-Visum für ungültig zu erklären. Seitdem steht die Autorin unter dem Schutz der indischen Bundesregierung, die sie an einem unbekannten Ort nahe der indischen Hauptstadt Neu Delhi untergebracht hat. Die 45-Jährige hat mehrfach erklärt, sie würde gerne dauerhaft in der Kulturmetropole Kalkutta - der Hauptstadt des Bundesstaats West-Bengalens - leben. Sie hat die indische Regierung um Bleiberecht gebeten und bemüht sich um die indische Staatsbürgerschaft. Regierung verbietet Buch >>>

Mark Alexander

’The Religion of Perpetual Outrage’, the Sudan, 'Muhammad the Teddy Bear' and All That *%#@


Mark Alexander

”No One Lives Who Insults the Prophet!” More than 1,000 Demonstrating Barbarians Called for Gillian Gibbons to Be Shot or Stabbed!
If anyone has been fooled in the past by the nonsense ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ slogan, then let him be fooled no longer. Islam is anything but a ‘religion of love’. Islam is a cruel religion, a religion of killing and violence and hatred and vengeance. So what’s ‘godly’ about that?

Islam is a religion intent on imposing its will, and taking over the world by means of the Jihad. Many people must be rueing the fact that so many people with such barbaric views have been allowed to come and live in Western countries. Having so many people ready to fight and demonstrate in the cause of their religion bodes ill for the future of peace and security at home. How long will it be before we see such violent demonstrations on the streets of the West? Fie on the weak and snivelling politicians for endangering our own peaceful existence! - ©Mark

· Militants besiege British diplomatic compound
· Foreign Office believed she would be acquitted

THE GUARDIAN: Carrying swords and machetes and waving green Islamic flags, protesters marched through the streets of Khartoum yesterday demanding the execution of British teacher Gillian Gibbons. "No one lives who insults the prophet," read one of the banners outside the British embassy.

More than 1,000 Muslim demonstrators in the Sudanese capital called for her to be shot or stabbed for insulting Islam after her pupils called a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gibbons, 54, of Liverpool, was sentenced on Thursday night to 15 days in jail followed by deportation in a case that has attracted international condemnation.

Last night she was moved from the women's prison where she was being held to a secret location across the Nile for her own safety. Sword-waving protesters call for death of teacher who named a bear Muhammad >>> By Xan Rice in Nairobi and Andrew Heavens in Khartoum

DAILY MAIL:
'I still cannot believe this is happening,' says teddy bear teacher as mob bays for her blood By David Williams and Christian Gysin

Mark Alexander

Justice Shari’ah-Style
DAILY MAIL: When a teenage girl was gang raped in Saudi Arabia,a court sentenced HER to 90 lashes. After she complained,it was increased to 200. Now, the victim speaks for the first time...

She was only 19 and a new bride when it happened.

Seven men held her at knifepoint and, for a number of hours, she was subjected to a horrific gang rape.

But when she later went to the authorities, they sentenced her to 90 lashes.

She complained in the media, so the punishment was increased to 200 lashes and imprisonment.

Her lawyer has been suspended for speaking out against it.

Too outlandish to be true? Well, these are the bare facts of the so- called "Qatif girl" case, which has become a cause celebre among Western liberals and in Saudi Arabia, the West's most important Middle Eastern ally.

Earlier this week, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, declared that what had happened was, indeed, an "outrage".

But he did not mean that the rape victim had suffered a gross injustice.

No, only that criticism of his country was a foreign conspiracy.

The plight of the anonymous victim has served to cast an embarrassing light on one of the world's most authoritarian and oppressive regimes.

Specifically, it has exposed the power of a judicial system based on the Sharia law of the extreme Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam and its appalling treatment of women and persecution of religious minorities.

International pressure to clear the young woman is growing.

Now, as one Saudi judge who might well hear her latest appeal declares that she should have been sentenced to death, the victim's voice has been heard in public for the first time.

The pressure group Human Rights Watch has just released a transcript of an interview which the Qatif girl gave to one of its workers.

Her account reveals the horrific details of the original ordeal and how, having gone to the police, she was abused and demonised by the Saudi judicial system. My harrowing story, by the teenage girl who was sentenced to 200 lashes after being gang raped in Saudi Arabia >>> By Richard Pendlebury

Mark Alexander

Scrap ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Gay Policy, Say Retired US Generals
Photo of General Peter Pace courtesy of Google Images
"I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way." - General Peter Pace

What’s the message here? Discrimination is strictly off-limits for race, colour, or creed, but discrimination against someone with a different sexual orientation is just dandy? Doesn't it also say that some people are born “immoral”, regardless of how they conduct themselves? Isn't there a presumption here that all homosexuals are promiscuous and that all heterosexuals are paragons of moral rectitude? How unenlightened General Pace is. - ©Mark

THE GUARDIAN: Twenty-eight former military chiefs have collectively called for a repeal of the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy whereby gay and lesbian Americans are allowed to serve in the armed forces but only if they keep their sexuality secret.

A letter from the retired generals and admirals, timed for the 14th anniversary of the legislation, calls on Congress to throw out the restriction.

"Those of us signing this letter have dedicated our lives to defending the rights of our citizens to believe whatever they wish," the letter says.

The provision was introduced by the Clinton administration as a compromise. Bill Clinton came to office in 1992 promising to open up fully the military to gay and lesbian personnel but backtracked in the face of vociferous opposition.

Since 1993 about 10,000 men and women have been sacked from the military under the policy. In recent years the numbers have declined, to 612 in 2006. >>> By Ed Pilkington in New York

WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEO:
Gay Arabic Linguist Discharged from the US military for Being Gay

Mark Alexander

Pope Agrees to Talks with Muslim Leaders
THE GUARDIAN: Pope Benedict has invited leading Islamic authorities to discuss a letter they sent to Christian leaders last month urging a search for common moral ground.

The pontiff's formal reaction was made public yesterday as the Vatican published his latest encyclical, in which he said atheism had "led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice".

Replying to Prince Ghazi of Jordan, who arranged for the letter to be sent to the Pope, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said Benedict felt deep appreciation for the initiative, "for the positive spirit which inspired the text and for the call for a common commitment to promoting peace". >>> By John Hooper in Rome

Mark Alexander

Rudd Sets Date for Iraq Pull-Out
THE GUARDIAN: Australia's new leader, Kevin Rudd, has said he will pull his country's troops out of Iraq by mid-2008, fulfilling a promise he made during the election campaign.

Rudd said he would meet Robert McCallum, the US ambassador to Australia, soon to discuss the precise timing of the withdrawal.

The 50-year-old politician, who will be sworn in as prime minister on Monday, has said he believes the presence of troops in Iraq has made Australia more of a target for terrorism.

"The combat force in Iraq we would have home by around about the middle of next year," Rudd said in a radio interview in the southern city of Melbourne. >>> By Barbara McMahon

Mark Alexander

Why Doesn’t ‘New Labour’ Ban Breathing, and Have Done with It? Another Step Towards Total Control of the People, Another Step Towards a Police State
What they should ban is corruption in politics!

THE TELEGRAPH: Drivers could find themselves over the legal alcohol threshold after a single drink under plans being drawn up by the Government to lower the drink drive limit.

Police could also be given powers to stop and breathalyse drivers at random, even if their driving gives no cause for concern.

A Department for Transport consultation to be launched in the New Year is set to propose reducing the legal blood-alcohol limit for driving by almost half.

It is thought that the limit could be cut from 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood to 50mg. The 80mg limit allows a man of average height and weight to drink as many as four units of alcohol, or two pints of normal-strength beer, and still remain within the law. Women can drink three units, the equivalent of a large glass of average strength wine.

Cutting the limit to 50mg could put drivers over the limit after one strong pint of lager or a glass of wine.

A reduction would bring Britain into line with most other European countries. One drink may put you over the limit >>> By James Kirkup

Mark Alexander