The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Britain is the focal point for Islamic terrorism across Europe, and its controversial military campaigns overseas are putting the entire continent at risk, a disturbing new report has warned.
An analysis of the terrorist threat by Europol, the European Police Office, has concluded that the dangers posed by militant groups rose to unprecedented proportions in 2007, with steep increases in the number of arrests, plots and attacks.
But Islamic terrorism, particularly through a rejuvenated al-Qa'ida, was highlighted as the most significant security threat to the authorities in the UK. At least one person is arrested every day across Europe under suspicion of involvement in Islamic terror conspiracies or attacks. Europol warned that the UK was recognised as fertile ground for radical Islamists seeking recruits to their jihadist campaigns, with "young, radicalised British citizens" often used to mount attacks.
The bleak warning came as the Government prepared for a battle over its plans to allow the police to detain terror suspects for up to six weeks without charge. Britain Is Focal Point for Terrorism, Warns Europe's Police Force: Bleak report portrays EU under siege, with terror plots soaring and the UK fertile ground for jihadist recruiters >>> By Brian Brady, Whitehall Editor | May 18, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Two senior executives at Britain's biggest defence company were detained last week by American authorities investigating corruption allegations, the Telegraph has learnt.
Mike Turner, the chief executive of BAE Systems, was held with a senior colleague as they landed in America. Personal electronic equipment, including laptops and BlackBerries, was seized and examined before the pair were released.
The detentions are part of an investigation by the US Department of Justice into allegations surrounding the £43 billion al-Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia. BAE has been accused of making tens of millions of pounds in illegal payments to Saudi officials, although the company maintains it has always acted lawfully.
In December 2006 the Government announced that the Serious Fraud Office was dropping its investigation into the al-Yamamah deal, prompting political controversy. America is continuing its inquiries.
The detention of the BAE executives, understood to have been at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, has raised serious concerns at high levels of the Government about "heavy-handed" treatment.
The detentions follow the case of the "NatWest Three", British businessmen each sentenced to 37 months in prison in America this year, and threatens to harm US-UK relations in the run-up to the Group of Eight summit of leading industrial nations in Japan in July.
About the same time as Mr Turner and his unnamed colleague were being detained last week, a number of US-based BAE executives had their homes raided by authorities, The Telegraph understands. BAE Systems Inc, a subsidiary of British-based parent BAE Systems plc, has 43,000 employees in America.
A Foreign Office official expressed concern last night about the way Mr Turner and his colleague, who were on their way to a business meeting, had been treated. He said: "It was pretty heavy-handed. They had their laptops taken away and their documents photocopied."
British officials in Washington were informed of the incident on Monday when Mr Turner, a 59-year-old father of four, alerted military contacts at the embassy. He is also understood to have called contacts in the American government.
The Foreign Office official said it was clear that the American authorities were expecting the men's arrival. "They knew they were coming and they prepared the whole thing," he said. Mr Turner, who was back home in Britain this weekend, is expected to return to the US shortly in connection with the corruption investigation. BAE Bosses Detained by US Investigators over Saudi Case >>> By Patrick Hennessy and Tim Shipman | May 18, 2008
THE OBSERVER:
US Detains BAE Bosses over Saudi Contracts >>> By Gaby Hinsliff | May 18, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
WELT ONLINE: Es ist eine gigantische Summe: Nach einer Schätzung des DIHK werden die Golf-Staaten wie Saudi-Arabien und die Emirate bis 2020 rund sechs Billionen Dollar einnehmen – nur durch den Verkauf von Öl. Nun will Finanzminister Steinbrück das Geld zurück nach Deutschland holen.
Der Höhenflug des Ölpreises macht die Golf-Staaten zu Top-Adressen der internationalen Finanzwelt. Denn in den Wüstenstaaten türmen sich viele der Milliarden, die Industrie und Autofahrer weltweit mittlerweile für ihre Tankfüllungen ausgeben müssen. Bundes-finanzminister Peer Steinbrück reist von Montag bis Donnerstag erstmals in die Region. In Kuwait und Dubai will er ergründen, wo und wie die Scheichs ihren rasant wachsenden Reichtum anlegen wollen – und was davon für die deutsche Wirtschaft abfällt.
„Die Golf-Staaten verfügen mittlerweile über gigantische Liquidität“, rechnet der Nah- und Mittelostexperte des Deutschen Industrie- und Handelskammertages (DIHK), Felix Neugart, vor. Schätzungen zufolge könnten Saudi-Arabien und die Emirate am Persischen Golf bis 2020 mit Einnahmen in Höhe von sechs Billionen US-Dollar rechnen. Davon werde ein Teil in die Infrastruktur der Länder selbst investiert, der überwiegende Teil aber in Unternehmensbeteiligungen auf der ganzen Welt.
Dazu bedienen sich die dortigen Regierungen staatlicher Investitionsbehörden, in denen die Petrodollar gebündelt werden. Der größte Staatsfonds der Welt, ADIA, sitzt in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten, zu denen Dubai zählt. Schätzungsweise verfügt er schon jetzt über gut 850 Milliarden Dollar. Das Geld steckt in der US-Industrie, im europäischen Luftfahrtkonzern EADS, aber auch in der Deutschen Bank. In Kuwait residiert der älteste Staatsfonds KIA, gegründet vor 54 Jahren. Er hält einen Anteil von 7,2 Prozent an Daimler und hat sich auch in Krisen als verlässlich erwiesen.
Die Frage ist, ob es auf Dauer bei eher konservativen und passiven Investments bleibt, oder ob die Scheichs aktiver werden und mehr Mitsprache fordern, wenn die Billionen sprudeln. Die Finanzkrise haben arabische Staatsfonds bereits massiv genutzt, um sich Anteile an internationalen Großbanken zu kaufen – damit bekommen sie Zugriff aus das empfindliche Nervenzentren der Weltwirtschaft. Andererseits, das betont Steinbrück, haben sie Instituten wie der Citigroup oder UBS bei der notwendigen Rekapitalisierung geholfen und sie stabilisiert. Bi 2020 beschert Öl Golf Staaten sechs Billionen Dollar >>> | 18. Mai 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe)
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le sénateur démocrate Edward Kennedy, frère du président américain assassiné John Kennedy, a été transporté d'urgence samedi à l'hôpital, victime d'un accident cérébral, a indiqué son bureau du Congrès dans un communiqué.
"Il apparaît que le sénateur Kennedy a eu un accident cérébral ce matin. Il subit actuellement une batterie d'examens au Massachusetts General Hospital afin de déterminer la cause de cet accident cérébral", indique ce communiqué.
"Le sénateur Kennedy se repose confortablement, et il est peu probable que nous en sachions plus au cours des 48 prochaines heures", ajoute le texte.
Selon son médecin, les premiers tests ont montré que le sénateur Kennedy n'avait pas subi d'attaque et n'était pas en "danger immédiat", mais qu'il devrait néanmoins se soumettre à des examens complémentaires dans les deux prochains jours pour déterminer la cause de l'accident cérébral. Le sénateur américain Edward Kennedy hospitalisé pour un accident cérébral >>> | Dimanche 18 Mai, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché)
The Dawning of a new Dark Age (Relié)
Saturday, May 17, 2008
THE INDEPENDENT: The number of anti-Semitic attacks in Britain has reached its second-highest level ever, MPs have been told. Figures from a charity show 547 such incidents were recorded last year, of which a record 114 were violent assaults.
The Community Security Trust (CST), which works to protect the Jewish community from persecution, collated the figures by counting every recorded anti-Semitic assault, threat, act of abuse, mass-produced literature and damage and desecration of Jewish property across the country.
Just this week, anti-Semitic graffiti was daubed across the pavements and walls of the orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Stamford Hill in north London. CST say similar incidents happen in Britain every day.
Mark Gardner, a spokesman for CST, said: "We have over twice as many incidents being reported to us per annum now than in the 1990s. We're concerned that what we're seeing is not merely because of a difficult time internationally and in the Middle East, but that it's becoming more endemic and we're really, really concerned about that."
Mr Gardner said the usual allies of British Jews fear showing support would further the Zionist cause. "In the 1990s, when Jews faced attacks from the far right there was a lot of sympathy from the liberal left establishments, but today the same voices simply see anti-Semitism as something useful to Zionists. Anti-Semitic Violence Nears Record Level >>> By Emily Dugan | May 17, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
BBC: Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has made a direct appeal for the freedom of five British hostages who were abducted in Iraq last year.
In a video, released through the Times newspaper, he addressed the kidnappers as "honourable men" and "men of faith".
The four guards and a computer expert were seized from Baghdad's finance ministry by gunmen on 29 May.
Whitehall sources told the BBC Lord Carey did not speak for the government and it preferred discreet negotiation.
The former Archbishop, speaking in English and Arabic, recorded his appeal on Friday at the House of Lords, accompanied by Canon Andrew White, his former Middle East envoy and now Anglican chaplain to Iraq, the Times said.
"I greet you as honourable men. I greet you as men of faith. I believe, as you do, that faith is important in this broken world," Lord Carey said.
"I appeal to you, as good people, to release these men who long to be back home once more." Carey Makes New Iraq Hostage Plea >>> | May May 16, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
Friday, May 16, 2008
REUTERS: JERUSALEM - President George W. Bush told Israelis on Thursday they were a "chosen people" who can forever count on American support against enemies like Hamas and Iran.
On a day when Palestinians remembered homes and land lost as Israel was created in 1948, Bush made only fleeting reference to their aspirations for a state of their own in a speech marking Israel's 60th anniversary that was laced with references to God.
Basking in ovations on the second day of a farewell visit to a country where his presidency is hailed as a golden age, Bush again said little of the talks he has sponsored in recent months between Israel and the Palestinians, which he hopes can bring a deal on a Palestinian state before he leaves office in January.
Speaking of the "promise of God" for a "homeland for the chosen people" in Israel, Bush told the Israeli parliament after a visit to the Roman-era Jewish fortress at Masada: "Masada shall never fall again, and America will always stand with you."
He predicted the defeat of Islamist enemies Hamas, Hezbollah and al Qaeda in a "battle of good and evil".
Letting Iran have nuclear weapons would be an "unforgivable betrayal of future generations", he said. By comparing talking with such foes to appeasement of Hitler, he sparked a debate at home among those campaigning to succeed him as president.
Bush described the "bonds of the Book" -- faith in the Bible shared by Christians like himself and Jews -- as bolstering an "unbreakable" alliance between Israel and the United States. Bush Hails Israel's "Chosen People" as Arabs Lament >>> By Matt Spetalnick and Tabassum Zakaria | May 15, 2008
THE INDEPENDENT:
Bush: God told me to invade Iraq >>> By Rupert Cornwell | October 7, 2005
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
Bush, you should tell the Saudis: Raise oil production, or else! Then walk away. - ©Mark
BBC: Saudi Arabia has rejected an appeal by US President George W Bush to raise oil production, a US official has said.
Saudi officials said they were already meeting demand, and had increased production by 300,000 barrels per day earlier this month.
The news came after talks in Riyadh between Mr Bush and King Abdullah.
The US wants an increase in production to help curb record prices, currently $127 a barrel, but Saudi officials blame speculation not supply shortages.
"Supply and demand are in balance today... The fundamentals are sound," said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi.
"How much more can we do?" Saudis 'Resist Bush Oil Pressure' >>> | May 16, 2008
THE GUARDIAN:
Bush Rebuffed by Saudis >>> By Haroon Siddique and agencies | May 16, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
NZZ Online: Die neue italienische Regierung will ihren angekündigten harten Kurs gegen illegale Einwanderer in die Tat umsetzten. Der neue Verteidigungsminister Ignazio La Russa kündigte den Einsatz von gemischten Patrouillen aus Armee und Polizei an.
(sda/apa) Die Patrouillen sollen die Kriminalität in den Städten bekämpfen und die Sicherheit garantieren. Zudem sollen die Bürgermeister mehr Befugnisse in der öffentlichen Sicherheit erhalten.
Visa sollen streng überprüft werden
Im Kampf gegen die illegale Immigration plant die italienische Regierung scharfe Massnahmen. Die Anträge von Nicht-EU-Bürgern für ein Visum für einen touristischen Aufenthalt in Italien von über drei Monaten sollen streng überprüft werden. Armee soll in Italien gegen illegale Einwanderer vorgehen: Vorschlag des Verteidigungsministers La Russa >>>
LE MONDE:
En Italie, un climat de chasse à l'étranger >>> | Vendredi 16 mai 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe)
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Though most Muslims reject Islamism and its propaganda, anti-Semitic messages from satellite channels like the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa are helping to bring a message of hate and intolerance to Europe. The effects of such hate preaching can already be felt in Germany.
"Sanabel, what do you want to do to help the Al-Aqsa Mosque?" Farfur asks on the children's program of Hamas's Al-Aqsa television station. "We want to fight." "And what else?" "Wipe out the Jews." Now Farfur, the cartoon character on Hamas's children's television program, is satisfied. Farfur is a carbon copy of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, but the Hamas version does something that Mickey would never do: He entertains children while propagating the murder of Jews.
International protests forced Hamas to take its Disney clone out of circulation. Al-Aqsa complied, but promptly turned Farfur's departure into an anti-Semitic statement: Farfur was clubbed to death by an Israeli official. Then the girl hosting the program turned to the camera and said: "You've seen how the Jews killed Farfur as a martyr. What do you want to say to the Jews?" A three-year-old girl named Shaima called into the show to say: "We don't like Jews, because they are dogs! We will fight them!" "Oh, Shaima, you're right," the girl in the studio replied, "the Jews are criminals and our enemies."
Farfur's appearances are typical of Hamas's anti-Semitic propaganda, which the organization also exports to Germany via satellite, hoping to breed new generations of fanatical anti-Semites and suicide bombers.
The Hamas station, founded in 2006, is modeled on the Hezbollah station in neighboring Lebanon, al-Manar. Al-Manar's children's program shows children wearing explosive belts and images of dying Israeli soldiers, with triumphant chants as background music. Cartoons depict scenes like that of a child blowing himself up near Israeli soldiers, or of a smiling boy flying toward Israel on a missile. Adult viewers can enjoy video clips that use inspirational graphics and rousing music to glorify the act of committing a suicide bombing, while the evening lineup offers family entertainment with a series of films based on the classic anti-Semitic forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."
In late 2004, France banned the broadcasting of al-Manar through the European Eutelsat satellite system, citing the station's anti-Semitic content. Nevertheless, messages of hate were still being broadcast into the living rooms of Muslims in Germany via satellites controlled by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, ArabSat and NileSat. Exposure to this programming was apparently not without consequences.
Rabbi Zalman Gurevitch was wearing a traditional black robe when he left his synagogue in Frankfurt's Westend neighborhood on Sept. 7, 2007. It was the Sabbath. According to the police report, he encountered a 22-year-old German of Afghan descent "spontaneously and coincidentally" a short time later. It was early evening and the man, shouting "You shit Jew, I'm going to kill you," plunged a knife into the rabbi's abdomen. Gurevitch was recognizable as a Jew. He survived, thanks to luck and emergency surgery. Anti-Semitic Hate Speech in the Name of Islam >>> By Matthias Küntzel | May 16, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe)
TIMESONLINE: Osama bin Laden added his voice to the birthday messages accompanying Israel's 60th anniversary, vowing to fight on in the name of the Palestinian cause which he said was of primary concern to all Muslims.
As President Bush left Israel's anniversary celebrations with effusive pledges of US support for the Jewish state, the al-Qaeda leader chipped in with own analysis of the intractable conflict, saying it was one of the principle reasons he had turned to jihad as a young man.
“To Western nations ... this speech is to understand the core reason of the war between our civilisation and your civilisations. I mean the Palestinian cause,” said Bin Laden in a message that lasted almost ten minutes. “The Palestinian cause is the major issue for my nation. It was an important element in fuelling me from the beginning and the 19 others with a great motive to fight for those subjected to injustice and the oppressed,” he said, referring to the terrorists who hijacked four passenger aircraft in September 2001 to attack Washington and New York.
“Sixty years ago, the Israeli state didn't exist. Instead, it was established on the land of Palestine raped by force,” Bin Laden said. “Israelis are occupying invaders whom we should fight.” He is thought to be hiding out in tribal lands on the Pakistan-Afghan border. Osama bin Laden’s Message of Hate for Israel >>> By James Hider in Jerusalem | May 16, 2008
BBC:
’Bin Laden’ Call Targets Israel >>> | May 16, 2008
LE FIGARO:
Al-Qaida multiplie les menaces contre Israël >>> Par Laurent Suply | 16/05/2008
LE MONDE:
Un message audio de Ben Laden appelle au djihad "pour libérer la Palestine" >>> | Vendredi 16 mai 2008
CORRIERA DELLA SERA:
Bin Laden: «Jihad contro Israele per la liberazione della Palestina»: Messaggio audio del leader di Al Qaeda per il 60° anniversario della fondazione dello Stato ebraico >>> | VENERDÌ 16 maggio 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
As I have been saying all along, the Saudis need us every bit as much as we need their oil. It’s high time to remind them of this fact. Remember this: Arabs respect strong people, not wimps. By behaving in a weak manner with Arabs, you get nowhere. They’ll walk all over you. Our political leaders do just that: Behave in a weak manner, and fawn. Quit it!- ©Mark
THE SHREWD ECONOMIST:
”Let Them Eat Sand” >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Allowing Turkey to accede to the European Union will change the nature of Europe forever. If we value our Judeo-Christian heritage, we will NOT allow Turkey into the Union under any circumstances.
For some inexplicable reason, the British government and the Foreign Office are determined to support Turkey’s bid to join, regardless of public opinion, and regardless of the fact that many, many people are against such a destructive move.
In my view, Turkey should not be admiited into Europe, but at very least, we should never allow Turkey to join without first consulting with the people in the form of a referendum. Allowing Turkey in will change Europe’s destiny forever: It will Islamize the whole continent, and in a very short time. It will be life-changing for us all.
It is therefore wrong for politicians, who are, after all, only elected for relatively short periods of time, to make decisions on behalf of the people which will force us all to accept drastic and permanent changes long after those politicians will be out of office. - ©Mark
TODAY’S ZAMAN: While reaffirming London's support of Turkey's bid to join the European Union, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday expressed once again his government's concern over an ongoing closure case against Turkey's ruling party.
Miliband's strongly worded statements came at a joint press conference here following a meeting with Turkish counterpart Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. Miliband is part of the delegation accompanying Queen Elizabeth II, who is on a landmark visit to the EU candidate country 37 years after her previous visit.
"We adhere to the very strong principle that governments are chosen by the people and not chosen by lawyers," Miliband said in response to a question, while also underlining that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was re-elected last year.
Even as he praised reforms the Turkish government had carried out in its bid to join the EU, Miliband refused to speculate on what might happen to Turkey-EU relations if the AK Party was indeed closed down.
Late in March, Turkey's Constitutional Court decided to hear a closure case opened against the ruling party on charges of its having become a "focal point for anti-secular activities," leading the EU candidate country to an ongoing political crisis.
Miliband was the first foreign minister to visit Turkey in September of last year after the conclusion of a lengthy election process there. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan formed his new Cabinet after a sweeping victory in the July 22 elections, and former Foreign Minister and current President Abdullah Gül was then elected president. Miliband also said yesterday that proposals that fell short of full membership for Turkey were not an alternative.
"We want to be allies of Turkey inside the European Union and not just proponents of a better dialogue between the European Union and Turkey," he said, in apparent reference to the French and Austrian governments' reluctance to back full membership for Turkey.
Britain has been a vocal supporter of eventual Turkish EU membership, with Miliband describing the queen's visit as "a symbol of the deepening relationship" between the two countries. Miliband: People Choose Government, Not Lawyers >>> May 15, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
TIMESONLINE: Barack Obama today accused President Bush of launching a “false political attack” after he appeared to compare the Democratic presidential hopeful’s foreign policy to appeasement of the Nazis.
Mr Bush triggered a row when he implied during a speech in the Israeli Parliament that Mr Obama’s willingness to talk to radical regimes was a dangerous “delusion”.
Although he did not refer to Mr Obama by name, the Illinois senator condemned the President for using Israel’s 60th birthday to attack Democratic contenders for the White House.
“Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,” Mr Bush said.
“We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.'
“We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."
Mr Obama has said that as president he would personally negotiate with Iran and offer economic incentives and a chance for peaceful relations if Iranian leaders would forgo their pursuit of nuclear weapons and their support of terrorists. Obama Clashes with Bush in Nazi Appeasement Row >>> By Hannah Strange | May 5, 2008
BBC:
Obama Apologizes for ‘Sweetie’ Comment >>> | May 15, 2008
NZZ Online:
Bushs Vision für einen friedlichen Mittleren Osten: US-Präsident bekräftigt vor der Knesset Unterstützung für Israel >>> | 15. Mai 2008
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Bush Likens Obama to Nazi Appeaser >>> By Sheryl Gay Stolberg in Jerusalem | May 17, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
One has to ask why the British government and Foreign Office have to subject Her Majesty to this indignity. On this trip, the Queen has had to sit through quranic recitations, the lot. Do we make members of the Turkish government sit through a Christian service in St Paul’s Cathedral or Westminster Abbey when they come on a state visit to Britain? I think we all know the answer to that! - ©Mark
BBC:
In Pictures: The Queen’s Visit to Turkey >>>
BBC:
The Queen as Puppet to the Foreign Office! The Foreign Office Wants Turkey in Europe; but the People Don’t! Where Do We Go from Here? >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
YNET NEWS: Iranian president says anniversary celebrations won't save Jewish state from 'annihilation' by Middle Eastern nations
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that Israel is dying and that its 60th anniversary celebrations are an attempt to prevent its ''annihilation.''
His remarks coincided with the arrival of US President George W. Bush in the Middle East to celebrate Israel's 60th birthday and try to revitalize peace efforts.
''The Zionist (Israeli) regime is dying,'' said Ahmadinejad during a speech in the northern Iranian city of Gorgan. ''The criminals assume that by holding celebrations ... they can save the sinister Zionist regime from death and annihilation.''
The hardline Iranian president used an Arabic word, ismihlal, that can also be translated as destruction, death and collapse.
"They should know that regional nations hate this fake and criminal regime and if the smallest and briefest chance is given to regional nations they will destroy (it)," said Ahmadinejad, who often rails against Israel and the United States.
Iran doesn't recognize Israel, and Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction. The threatening exchanges between Iran and Israel have intensified since 2005, when Ahmadinejad said in a speech that Israel will one day be ''wiped off the map.'' The Iranian leader has also alleged that the Holocaust was a ''myth.'' Ahmadinejad: Israel Is ‘Dying’ >>> | May 14, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
THE TELEGRAPH:
Barack Obama Loses to Hillary Clinton in West Virginia Democratic Primary >>> By Alex Spillius in Charleston, West Virginia | May 14, 2008
DAILY MAIL:
Hillary Clinton Will 'Fight Until the Bitter End' After Landslide Win in West Virginia >>> By David Gardner | May 14, 2008
THE INDEPENDENT:
White Voters Shun Obama as Clinton Wins West Virginia >>> By Leonard Doyle in Washington | May 14, 2008
DIE PRESSE:
US-Vorwahlen: Clinton "entschlossener denn je": Hillary Clinton siegt bei den Vorwahlen in West Virginia deutlich. An einen vorzeitigen Ausstieg aus dem Rennen um die Präsidentschaft denkt sie nicht >>> | 14. Mai 2008
LE FIGARO:
Victoire symbolique de Clinton en Virginie: Hillary Clinton se dit «plus déterminée que jamais» à poursuivre la course après son résultat dans la primaire en Virginie. Mais elle reste loin derrière Obama >>> | 14. 05. 2008
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE:
Hillary Clinton revigorée par sa victoire en Virginie-Occidentale: La prétendante à la Maison Blanche Hillary Clinton a promis mardi à ses partisans en liesse que la course à l'investiture n'était pas terminée après sa large victoire dans la primaire démocrate de Virginie-Occidentale (est) >>> 14 Mai 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
BBC: It's a well-established fact that Queen Elizabeth doesn't do politics or diplomacy. Except, of course, that she does, most especially when she is on a state visit to a foreign country.
All such visits are chosen and controlled by the British Foreign Office. Their unashamed purpose is to further what British diplomats perceive to be Britain's interests abroad.
And there are few more potent message-bearers in the British diplomatic arsenal than its veteran head of state, widely recognised - by virtue of her 56 years on the throne - as the Western world's senior statesperson.
In coming to Turkey, the Queen is - at the behest of the Foreign Office - sending a very clear message in support of Turkey's aspiration to join the European Union and, by implication, to be Westward-facing.
But the underlying message of this state visit is both more subtle and more important than that.
Embracing democracy
It is a diplomatic cliche that Turkey stands at the crossroads between Europe and Asia - a country of 72 million people whose strategic significance is hard to overstate but which is sometimes overlooked.
So far as the West is concerned, Turkey can be said to be the most successful example of a Muslim country which has embraced democracy.
Potentially, as one Western diplomat put it, the country is an example to the rest of the Muslim world of how democracy can work. State Visit Sends Message to Turkey >>> By Nicholas Witchell, Royal correspondent, BBC News | May 13, 2008
My Essay on Islam and democracy:
Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
The Hague - Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders wants the Netherlands and Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of neighbouring Belgium, to merge. The Freedom Party leader says that Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende should approach his Belgian counterpart Yves Leterme about the idea.
Mr Wilders believes that Flanders has more in common with the Netherlands than with the Walloon provinces, and says that the Belgian Flemish-speakers are completely fed up with their French-speaking compatriots. The Netherlands would also benefit economically from a merger with Flanders on account of the port of Antwerp and Brussels' Zaventem international airport. The Freedom party leader also praised Belgium's educational system and lower tax rates. [Source: Dutch Freedom Party Wants Merger with Flanders] | May 12, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
MEMRI: Islamist Forum Member: Bush to Be Targeted During Visit to Saudi Arabia >>> | May 13, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
BBC: West Virginia voters are heading to the polls in their state's primary election to pick the Democratic Party's nominee for the US presidential ballot.
Sen Hillary Clinton went into the primary with a big lead in the opinion polls over rival Sen Barack Obama. West Virginia Voters Go to Polls >>>
THE TELEGRAPH:
US elections: Hillary Clinton Heading for Landslide Win in West Virginia >>> By Alex Spillius in Charleston, West Virginia and agencies | May 13, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
Monday, May 12, 2008
I should like to remind my visitors that all things relating to Islamic economics, Shari’ah-compliant finance, riba, etc, are not posted on this website; rather, they are posted on its sister website, The Shrewd Economist.
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Mark Alexander
CORRIERE DELLA SERA INTERNATIONAL: It was the best day of my life. Receiving the gift of the Christian faith on the day of Christ’s Resurrection from the hand of the Holy Father is a matchless privilege and inestimable blessing. For me, at the age of almost 56, it was a unique, unforgettable historic event that signalled a radical, definitive change with respect to the past. During the night of 22 March 2008, on the occasion of the Easter Vigil, at the solemn liturgy celebrated in the magnificence of the Basilica of St Peter’s, the cradle of Catholicism, I was reborn in Christ. At the end of a long, protracted struggle, lived out as a Muslim by reason of the legacy inherited from my parents and with a personal history of lacerating doubts and torments, there ignited within me, by divine will and responsible choice, the light of the true Christian faith. My spiritual metamorphosis unfolded from nine o’clock over three hours that seemed as if they would never end. I passed those hours in uncontrollable excitement, outwardly betrayed by my tingling nerves, over the radical nature of the life experience that was taking place inside me and, I admit, in part because of the cold that gripped me and stayed with me from the beginning of the imposing ceremony in the atrium of the Basilica, accompanied by rain and icy temperatures.
Inside the Basilica, the lights had been extinguished. I was outside with six other adult catachumens waiting to receive the sacraments of Christian initiation, seated on the part of the parvis most exposed to the wind. It was in that damp cold, which usually makes me a little agitated and means I have to concentrate more to listen, reflect, assess and elaborate concepts, that I began to relive the film of my inner life. Half a century was reviewed frame by frame and sliced up with the now uncompromising, now compassionate scalpel of religion, calm enough for one last unconscious confirmation of a decision already taken consciously yet at the same time with sufficient urgency to recompose the overall framework of my existence into a harmonious whole, joyfully to register the image of the long-awaited, soon to be accomplished, Event, as I reinterpreted my past while redefining and revolutionising my future. (...) From the atrium, Benedict XVI led the procession towards the altar after the deacon, chanting the Lumen Christi for the third time, had brought the splendour of light back to the Basilica.
Then began the crucial stage of my conversion to Christianity, to which evidently I was called by the grace of God that had accompanied me from my youngest days, bringing into my path a series of “coincidences” that were anything but fortuitous, concealing as they did the will of the Lord that discreetly comes to meet us without making its presence palpable. As I slowly walked down the nave at the rear of the procession, my mind at once went back to the key event that started me on the route of interior spirituality at the age of four, and would more than half a century later culminate in my conversion to Christ. It was September 1956. I still have clear in my mind the day on which my long travails began. I had burst into tears as my mother Safeya, aided and persuaded by the Caccias, the family of wealthy Italian textile magnates resident for generations in my native Cairo, handed me over to Sister Lavinia. She hid me under her habit so I would not see my mother entrusting me to the education and affection of the Combonian sisters and their devotion to St Joseph. Later on, from the last year of primary school to the last year of my scientific secondary school, I studied at the Salesian Don Bosco Institute. A Lifetime to Become a Christian: Journalist’s autobiographical book describes key moments that marked his passage to new faith >>> By Magdi Cristiano Allam (Translated by Giles Watson) | May 6, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Italy)
MIDDLE EAST FORUM: The debate over the trajectory of the Western sociopolitical system and its strained relations with Islam is the most pivotal of our time, as approaches decided upon today will impact billions not yet born. Two prelates in the ever more fractious Church of England provide a microcosm of this discourse.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali have emerged as central combatants in the dispute between two fundamentally opposed models of social organization: multiculturalism and universalism. The former bestows equal standing upon different cultures in the public square. The latter bestows equal standing upon individuals who wield a common set of rights and responsibilities. Which system prevails will ultimately determine the level of danger that homegrown Islamists pose to Britain, Europe, and the broader West.
Nazir-Ali believes that Britain's campaign to reconstitute itself as a multicultural society has failed, and he explained why in a January 6 op-ed. By emphasizing differences over common values, his country has promoted alienation among Muslims, many of whom are "living as separate communities, continuing to communicate in their own languages, and having minimum need for building healthy relationships with the majority." Since segregation breeds extremism, Islamist-dominated "no-go areas" now dot the map. A Schism over Shari'a in the Church of England >>> By David J Rusin, American Thinker | May 11, 2008
Hat tip: Always On Watch
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
MIDDLE EAST FORUM: As religious prescriptions for living lately have come to be infused into daily life in novel and provocative ways, the question is often posed: Has the presence of Islam changed the face of social relations in the West? The question has especially animated Canada's bilingual Quebec province - a political entity that seeks to apply the rule of law to all its residents, without exception. This is a debate we'd do well to consider, as voices raised to implement and to protest exceptions to the law become more frequent, more strident, and more divisive.
In the beginning was the town of Hérouxville (motto: Carpe Diem), whose municipal council unanimously adopted a code (in English and in French) of "societal norms" in January. These applied to the town's 1,300 residents, but concerned future resident immigrants, especially. Most noted was language condemning public stoning of women and genital excision.
The point? The fact that "men and women have the same value." And that from this derives
The town's normative code also remarks that Quebeckers are wont to decorate Christmas trees and patronize physicians of either gender, that cuts of pork and beef may very well mingle on the butcher's table, and that girls and boys do swim together.
This being, the charter continues,
It also requires residents to expose their faces, at all times, in public, for purposes of identification (All Hallow's Eve excepted). Will Quebec Decide to 'Reasonably Accommodate' Islam? >>> By R John Matthies, American Thinker | September 16, 2007
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Canada)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Canada)
KHALEEJ TIMES: RIYADH - Amnesty International has urged Saudi authorities to release a Saudi university professor who is facing flogging and imprisonment for meeting a woman to whom he is not related for coffee in the conservative Islamic kingdom.
Muhammad Ali Abu Raziza, a psychology lecturer at the university of Mecca, has been sentenced to 150 lashes and eight months in jail after the religious police caught him with a woman in a coffee shop, the rights group said in a statement.
Justice ministry officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Saudi Arabia applies an austere form of Islam which bans women from mixing with men to whom they are not related, voting and driving, and punishes men and women found guilty of illegal encounters, known as khilwa offences.
The statement did not say what happened to the woman who was meeting Abu Raziza.
‘Saudi Arabia should stop needlessly persecuting people like this -- we want to see a complete end to people in the kingdom being punished for 'khilwa' offences,’ Amnesty said.
The religious police, known as the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, have wide powers to search for alcohol, drugs and prostitution, ensure shops are closed during prayers in addition to maintaining a strict system of sexual segregation.
Criticism of the force has re-emerged after its members were involved in a series of incidents, which led to the deaths of six people in car chases. [Source: Amnesty Urges Release of Saudi Facing Flogging] (Reuters)
Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
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