Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Islam: Prophet Bride Novel Published in US

AKI: New York - A controversial novel about the Muslim Prophet Mohammed's child bride was released in the US this week , despite a firebomb attack against its British publisher.

Beaufort Books published The Jewel of Medina by American journalist Sherry Jones after Random House dropped it amid fears its publication could incite violence.

The novel has been denounced by Muslim fundamentalists as an "insult" to Islam. It traces the life of the Prophet Mohammed's child bride Aisha from the age of six until his death.

Denise Spellberg, professor of History and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas, criticised the novel as a disrespectful misrepresentation of history, warning Random House its publication would be "a national security issue."

It's uncertain if the book will be published in Britain after the firebomb attack last month on the London home of Martin Rynja, the novel's UK publisher.

Three male Muslims aged between 22 and 40 were last Friday charged over the attack on Rynja's house in Islington, in north London.

Beaufort Books said it had decided to bring forward The Jewel of Medina's release date so it could be assessed on its merits as literature.

"We felt that ... it was better for everybody ...to let the conversation switch from a conversation about terrorists and fearful publishers, to a conversation about the merits of the book itself," said Beaufort Books president Eric Kampmann. Islam: Prophet Bride Novel Published in US >>> | October 7, 2008

Beaufort Books >>>

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Barack Hussein Obama: “My Muslim Faith”


Obama Muslim Gaffe >>>

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Austrian Right-wing Politician Found Guilty of Insulting Muslims

THE EARTH TIMES: Vienna - A youth leader of the Austrian right-wing Freedom Party was found guilty Monday of inciting religious hatred against Muslims, and received a suspended prison sentence. As the leader of the Freedom Party's youth organization in Graz, Michael Winter, 20, had suggested in a newsletter last year that that Turkish Muslims were in the habit of committing bestiality.

The defendant's mother Susanne Winter is also set to stand trial this autumn for stating earlier this year that Islam's prophet Mohammed was a paedophile. Austrian Right-wing Politician Found Guilty of Insulting Muslims >>> DPA | October 6, 2008

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Anti-Obama Author Questioned by Kenyan Officials

CNN: NAIROBI, Kenya -- Kenyan immigration officials on Tuesday questioned the author of a book that is highly critical of Sen. Barack Obama, Kenyan police said.

Jerome Corsi, who wrote "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality," left the immigration building in Nairobi several hours later and went to the airport, according to a Corsi assistant who spoke to CNN.

The assistant, who did not give his full name, said Corsi had been picked up before he was able to hold a news conference about the release of his book in Kenya. He said Corsi was not detained, but that Kenyan authorities said one of his immigration forms was missing. Anti-Obama Author Questioned by Kenyan Officials >>> | October 7, 2008

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Human Evolution Grinds to a Halt

YAHOO! (UK & IRELAND): Human evolution is grinding to a halt, according to a leading genetics expert.

The gloomy message from Professor Steve Jones is: this is as good as it gets.

Prof Jones, from the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London, believes the mechanisms of evolution are winding down in the human race.

At least in the developed world, humans are now as close to utopia as they are ever likely to be, he argues. Speaking at a UCL Lunch Hour Lecture in London, Prof Jones said there were three components to evolution - natural selection, mutation and random change.

He said: "In ancient times half our children would have died by the age of twenty. Now, in the Western world, 98% of them are surviving to the age of 21. Our life expectancy is now so good that eliminating all accidents and infectious diseases would only raise it by a further two years. Natural selection no longer has death as a handy tool."

Mutation rate was also slowing down, he said. Although chemicals and radioactive pollution could cause genetic changes, one of the most important mutation triggers was advanced age in men. "Perhaps surprisingly, the age of reproduction has gone down - the mean age of male reproduction means that most conceive no children after the age of 35," said Prof Jones. "Fewer older fathers means that if anything, mutation is going down."

Random alterations to the human genetic blueprint were also less likely in a world that had become an ethnic melting pot, according to Prof Jones. Human Evolution Coming to a Halt >>> Press Association | October 7, 2008

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Paxo Attacks the BBC Again. This Time over Its ‘Fawning’ Royal Coverage

THE GUARDIAN: Jeremy Paxman has accused the BBC of "fawning" over the royal family, claiming that in the past the corporation has seen itself as "a courtier".

Speaking on an edition of Radio 4's The Archive Hour which will air on Saturday October 11, the Newsnight presenter said the BBC did not know whether to "report" or "celebrate" events such as the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations and the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker-Bowles.

"While the BBC does report royal matters pretty straightforwardly, as it should, there is still a fawning taste, a fawning sense to the tone of voice it adopts when dealing with the heir to throne and his family," Paxman said.



"They do not treat them in the way they would treat other members of the public, to which it might equally reply that they are not other members of the public." Jeremy Paxman Attacks BBC’s Royal Coverage >>> Ben Dowell | October 7, 2008

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So Allah Didn’t Ban Women Drivers After All! In Gender-sensitive Iran, a Car Designed Specifically for Women

THE GUARDIAN: Iran's biggest motor manufacturer is to take the country's gender sensitivity to new levels by producing a car specially for women.

It will be fitted with features common on the international market but seen as female-specific in Iran's male-dominated culture. These include an automatic gearbox, electronic parking aids, a navigation system and a jack designed to make it easier to change a wheel, suggesting that women drivers lack the mechanical competence of their male counterparts. Alarms may also be installed to warn of flat tyres. The vehicle will be painted in soft "feminine" colours and include interior designs tailored to women's tastes. There will also be audiovisual entertainment systems for child passengers.

Iran Khodro, the state-backed manufacturer, said it would put the first models on sale next June to coincide with Iranian women's day. The car will be part of the Samand range, which has been exported to allied countries such as Syria and Venezuela. However, the women's car will initially be aimed solely at the Iranian domestic market. In Gender-sensitive Iran, a Car Designed Specifically for Women >>> Robert Tait and Noushin Hoseiny | October 7, 2008

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How Ridiculous! What Next? Now a Boot Camp for Gays in the US! The Camp that ‘Cures’ Homosexuals!

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Image courtesy of TimesOnline

TIMESONLINE: At a Christian 'boot camp' in the US, those struggling to reconcile faith and sexuality are taught to overcome gayness

"How many of you are in need of some hope here tonight?” A murmur passes through the dark auditorium, pleasing the man with the microphone. Heads nod. “How many of you are at the end of your rope?” he continues. “How many are ready for an encounter with the Lord?” The man on stage, dressed in chinos and a crisp white shirt, is Alan Chambers. The clean-cut, married father of two is the leader of Exodus International, an organisation that believes it can help people to “find freedom from homosexuality through the love of Jesus Christ”.

Exodus is one of the ministries of the so-called “ex-gay” movement, a controversial fundamentalist Christian campaign that encourages gay people to renounce their sexuality. This, its annual conference, promises “an amazing week of breakthroughs, transformations and healings”. A Christian rock band begins to play and the 800 men and women who moments earlier seemed to have only awkwardness in common begin singing and clapping in unison. Eyes closed, they raise their hands above their heads, uplifted by the hope of being reborn.

Chambers later returns to the stage and stands before them, triumphantly heterosexual. He tells the crowd that he won't judge homosexuals, even if their own churches have, because he used to be one himself. In the hushed auditorium, he describes his first experience of a gay bar. “It was almost as if I'd grown up handicapped and everyone else was handicapped, too. But it was a counterfeit. I was fooled.”

“Am I in denial?” he asks. “Absolutely. I live a life of denial and I love it. I didn't choose my same-sex feelings but I do choose how I'm going to steward them. Freedom is possible.” At Exodus people are not gay; they “struggle with same-sex attraction” (SSA).

“The opposite of homosexuality is not heterosexuality,” says Chambers, sagely. “It's holiness.” Speech over, he asks people to come forward to be prayed for. A boy of no more than 16 steps up, hanging his head. When he returns from the stage to the sound of applause, his stony-faced father nods in approval. His mother weeps.

Welcome to ex-gay boot camp. The Camp that 'Cures' Homosexuality >>> Lucy Bannerman | October 7, 2008

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The Rev Dr Peter Mullen*: Beware the Dark Side of the New Moral Consensus

TIMESONLINE: Far worse than the threat from international terrorism is the aggressive process of secularisation that has gripped our country, and most of Europe, and which is becoming ever more frenzied. For example, I guess not many people are aware that it is against the law for state schools to teach the Christian faith as true. Teachers are allowed only to teach about religions. This is atheism by decree, for the only perspective from which one can teach about all religions is the secular perspective. So our children are not brought to a sense of holiness and awe, but are merely taught the meanings of religious terms as sociological descriptions. This deprivation of the spiritual is a form of child abuse.

And then there are the Sexual Orientation Regulations which make it illegal to discriminate on moral grounds between forms of sexual coupling. One might put this epigrammatically: what was once a mortal sin is now only a lifestyle choice. I supported the Homosexual Reform Act back in the 1960s on the grounds that it is not right to criminalise people on the grounds of their sexual orientation.

But the many people who believed that homosexuality should be decriminalised never intended that this should create the proselytising Gay Liberation Movement. The Act decreed that homosexual acts should be “between consenting adults in private” Between means involving two; adult meant 21; and private means behind locked doors. But now the love which once dare not speak its name, shrieks at us in high camp from decorated floats along the high street.

Similarly with abortion law reform, the public was told by its supporters that legalised abortion would abolish the damage to women's health at the hands of the back street abortions. No one at the time thought that a humane Act designed to remove an identifiable evil would lead to abortion on demand, abortion in fact as merely another form of contraception. So now 200,000 embryos every year are ripped, untimely, from the womb just because people fear that a child would interfere with their lifestyle. Beware the Dark Side of the New Moral Consensus >>> Peter Mullen* | January 18, 2008

*The Rev Dr Peter Mullen is the chaplain to the Stock Exchange and rector of St Michael’s, Cornhill. He is the man who has got himself into hot water over these comments

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Bess Twiston Davies: Is the Bible Sexist?

TIMESONLINE: New research claims Bible's negative stance on women is a myth

Delilah is dangerous, Jezebel, wicked, and as for Eve... Whether they are temptresses, harlots or simply Old Testament chattels, women (it is often argued) get a raw deal in Scripture, with the odd saintly exception (the virgin Mary).

But new research into Biblical women shows that the majority receive positive or matter-of-fact write-ups. Words such as "blessed", "righteous" "outstanding" and - of course - "beautiful" crop up in descriptions of 60 of the Bible's 175 female characters, according to research from The Bible Society.

"Some people have the impression that the Bible is very negative about women," says David Ashford, the Society's Media and Development Officer.

Ashford's research, based on analysing the words used to describe Biblical females, found that "there are four times as many saints as there are sinners," and that "individual women are often described in the Bible in glowing terms."

"Wisdom is described as a female attribute in many texts. And some scholars believe that the Song of Deborah, which was probably composed by a woman, is one of the oldest pieces of literature within the Bible (Judges 5)." Jesus, he adds, had a liberated attitude to women, unusual for his era: "John 4.27, for example, shows that Jesus broke social conventions that discouraged conversations with women. Similarly, the gospel of Luke has long been referred to as the 'gospel of women' for its strong positive portrayal of women in the life of Jesus."

Hang on, what about the Jezebels, and Biblical harlots? Where do they fit the narrative? "Only 13 women are described negatively with terms such as 'nagging, intimidating lustful or provocative'" asserts Ashford, whose list of Bible heroines includes Sarah, Ruth and Mary, while Jezebel, Delilah fall into the villain camp.

As for the rest, those women who fall somewhere in between "the sinner" and "the saint" are described in "neutral" matter-of-fact terms - mother of, sister of, neighbour of etc. Those who do not receive both positive and negative descriptions, for example Miriam in the Old Testament who in Exodus is described as "Prophetess" but by the book of Numbers is marked down as a sinner for questioning, along with Aaron, the authority of Moses. Is the Bible Sexist? >>> Bess Twiston Davies | October 6, 2008

Top Ten Biblical Women >>> | October 6, 2008

The Biblical Male and Housework >>> | October 6, 2008

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Monday, October 06, 2008

Birmingham Firebrand Muslim Preacher of Hate Exposed

SUNDAY MERCURY: A ranting hate preacher is touring the Midlands in an attempt to radicalise young Muslims and promote extremism.

Abu Waleed - a disciple of hook-handed fanatic Abu Hamza - told audiences in Birmingham, Derby and Leicester that they should rise up against Britain.

And the bile-filled lecturer even joked about Al-Qaida handing out suicide-bomber backpacks in youth centres and snooker halls.

In video clips posted on popular website Youtube, Waleed mocks the British intelligence services and warns they have underestimated the strength of the violent jihad movement in the UK.

“MI5 got it wrong when they said there is 2,000 so-called radicals within Britain and they all got trained in Afghanistan,” he told his followers.

“Really? And you’re supposed to be intelligence and you saw them all go there and come back. What are you going to do about it now?

“They say Muslim groups will be given £70 million to help tackle extremism in ungoverned places. What are ‘ungoverned places’?

“Internet chatrooms, snooker halls, youth centres? As if there’s going to be someone there from Al-Qaida saying, ‘I’ve got a couple of rucksacks there in the back, do you want one, what size are you?’. Obviously not.”

More than 140 extremist speeches organised by the Islam4TheUK group are currently being aired on YouTube, including Waleed’s series of lectures called Youth Sparks of Fire.

Islam4TheUK is an off-shoot of the banned Al Muhajiroun sect, headed by crazed cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, who was exiled to Lebannon for supporting terrorism.

Waleed talks about the “war on Islam” being waged by Britain and urges his followers to reject the laws of the UK. Sunday Mercury Exposes Birmingham Preacher of Hate >>> By Ben Goldby | October 4, 2008

NB: Be sure to watch the accompanying video (which, unfortunately, I cannot embed).

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Vicar Could Be Disciplined for Blog Slurs against Gays and Muslims

THE GUARDIAN: Rev Peter Mullen joked about homosexuals and Islam on an internet blog

A Church of England vicar could face disciplinary action for saying gay men should have "sodomy" warnings tattooed on their bodies.

The Rev Peter Mullen, the chaplain to the London Stock Exchange, made the remarks on his blog, which has since been removed from the web under an agreement with diocesan officials.

Mullen, 66, wrote it was time for religious believers to recommend the discouragement of homosexual practices in the style of cigarette packet warnings.

"Let us make it obligatory for homosexuals to have their backsides tattooed with the slogan sodomy can seriously damage your health and their chins with fellatio kills."

In a previous posting Mullen anticipated an "agreeable carnage" at the start of the annual Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

"They usually manage to stampede and slaughter quite a few hundred of their co-religionists. Just imagine for a moment what a field day the BBC and the leftwing press in England would have if anything even remotely as bad as that happened in Vatican Square at Christmas or Easter."

Mullen criticised the lack of jokes about Islam in the media, remarking that adherents "certainly lend themselves to ridicule: sticking their arses in the air five times a day. How about a few little choruses, 'Randy Muslims when they die/Find 70 virgins in the sky'?" Vicar Could Be Disciplined for Blog Slurs against Gays and Muslims >>> Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent | October 6, 2008

THEINDEPENDENT:
Clergyman Apologises over Call to Tattoo Gay People: A Church of England clergyman who wrote that gay men should be forced to have "sodomy" warnings tattooed on their bodies issued a "full and complete" apology for his remarks today.

The Rev Peter Mullen said his remarks were "injudicious" and had caused offence.

"I did not intend to cause any upset but I realise that the remarks were injudicious and I have caused offence. I want to issue an apology," he said.

In a statement, he said: "I did not intend to cause offence when I made some joking remarks about homosexuals.

"I was not actually meaning to criticise individual homosexual persons, but the promoters of gay culture.

"However, my remarks have caused offence and for this I am sorry and make a full and complete apology."
>>>
PA | October 7, 2008

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Strache trifft Pröll und ortet "Bereitschaft des Miteinander"

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Foto of Josef Pröll dank Google Images

DIE PRESSE: ÖVP-Chef Pröll hat bei FPÖ-Obmann Strache einen "Antrittsbesuch" absolviert. Über eine mögliche Koalition soll nicht gesprochen worden sein. Strache sieht jedoch ein Abgehen von der "Ausgrenzung" seiner Partei.

ÖVP-Obmann Josef Pröll hat sich am Montag mit FPÖ-Chef Heinz-Christian Strache getroffen. Eine mögliche Regierungszusammenarbeit sei dabei jedoch kein Thema gewesen, betonten danach beide Seiten: "Es gab weder Vereinbarungen noch Zusagen, auch nicht über weitere Termine".

Über den Inhalt des 45-minütigen Gesprächs sei "ansonsten Stillschweigen vereinbart" worden, hieß es aus ÖVP-Seite. Immerhin: Man habe sich "mit der Analyse der nach dm Wahlergebnis eingetretenen Situation befasst" und habe "weiters festgestellt, dass die Regierungsbildung unter diesen Voraussetzungen nicht einfach wird". Es sei ein "interessantes Gespräch" gewesen.

Strache erklärte, er habe den Eindruck, dass die ÖVP von ihrer "Ausgrenzung" der FPÖ abgehe und eine "atmosphärische Normalität" einkehre. Der FP-Chef ortet ein "neues Politkapitel" und eine "Bereitschaft des Miteinander". Der "Antrittsbesuch" Prölls als neuer ÖVP-Obmann sei "politische Normalität". Strache trifft Pröll und ortet "Bereitschaft des Miteinander" >>> | 6. Oktober 2008

Foto Galerie:
Josef Pröll: Der neue starke Mann der ÖVP >>>

WIENER ZEITUNG:
Pröll/Strache: "Interessantes" Gespräch >>> | Montag, 06. Oktober 2008

WELT ONLINE:
Die neue Hoffnung der Konservativen in Österreich: Josef Pröll, der neue Obmann der ÖVP, kommt zwar vom Bauernbund, gilt aber als liberal - Und er ist ein Verfechter der großen Koalition >>> Von Reinhard Engel | 1. Oktober 2008

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United Kingdom: Migrants Arriving from Overseas Will Be Brought 'Under Control' Hints New Immigration Minister

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Photo of Phil Woolas, the new, outspoken Immigration Minister, courtesy of the Mail Online

MAIL Online: Within hours of his appointment, the new Immigration Minister indicated that the influx of arrivals from overseas will finally be brought 'under control'.

Phil Woolas dropped broad hints that he supports a policy of 'balanced migration', and an upper limit on migrant numbers.

The outspoken MP added: 'Community cohesion is crucial. After the economy, this is probably the biggest concern facing the population.'

Campaigners gave Mr Woolas's remarks a cautious welcome as a sign that Labour is at last preparing to abandon its controversial 'open door' policy.

They have also been heartened by his strong track record as a politician willing to confront uncomfortable subjects.

In the past, he has warned that first-cousin marriages in the Pakistani community are increasing the risk of birth defects, and that Muslim women wearing the veil could spark 'fear and resentment' among non-Muslims.

The Oldham East and Saddleworth MP, who has faced down BNP activists in his own constituency, told the Sunday Times on Sunday that it was vital to 'provide confidence to the indigenous population that migration is under control'. Migrants Arriving from Overseas Will Be Brought 'Under Control' Hints New Immigration Minister >>> By James Slack | October 6, 2008

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Supna Zaidi: “Sharia Is Hate”

FRONTPAGEMAG.COM: Imagine Dodger Stadium full of loud and whooping fans cheering on, not baseball, but your weekly stoning and flogging of adulterers, thieves and other errant citizens of southern California.

This is America under Islamic law, or Shari’a, a system that everyone should fear. Or so, Alan Kornman, director of the United American Committee (UAC) thinks. He continues to fundraise for a freeway billboard in Florida stating, “Shari’a Is Hate,” to educate America before it’s too late.

As Kornman argues, "under Shari’a law if you are accused of stealing, a hand and foot from opposite sides are amputated. If you are caught having an affair, the woman is stoned to death and the man is given 80 lashes. If you change religions, you can be charged under apostasy laws and given the death sentence by a legal Sharia court.”

The implementation of Shari’a is much more subtle than the quotation from Kornman suggests, however.

Through Shari’a, Islamists govern the private lives of individuals as well as regulate the social, political, and economic aspects of society. Islamism crosses national borders, with the final goal of asserting the Muslim ummah globally, with all non-Muslims as second class citizens. It is a totalitarian ideology, and Islamists do want to make Europe and the US Islamist states.

Don’t wait for floggings in your local neighborhood. "Sharia Is Hate" >>> By Supna Zaidi | October 6, 2008

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A Wise Warning from Europe about America’s Future

FAITH FREEDOM INTERNATIONAL: Geert Wilders: I come to America with a mission. All is not well in the old world. There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic. We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe. This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West. The danger I see looming is the scenario of America as the last man standing. The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe. In a generation or two, the US will ask itself: who lost Europe? Patriots from around Europe risk their lives every day to prevent precisely this scenario from becoming a reality.

My short lecture consists of four parts.

First, I will describe the situation on the ground in Europe. Then, I will say a few things about Islam. Thirdly, if you are still here, I will talk a little bit about the movie you just saw. To close, I will tell you about a meeting in Jerusalem.

The Europe you know is changing. You have probably seen the landmarks. The Eiffel Tower and Trafalgar Square and Rome’s ancient buildings and maybe the canals of Amsterdam. They are still there. And they still look very much the same as they did a hundred years ago.

But in all of these cities, sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination, there is another world, a world very few visitors see – and one that does not appear in your tourist guidebook. It is the world of the parallel society created by Muslim mass-migration. All throughout Europe a new reality is rising: entire Muslim neighbourhoods where very few indigenous people reside or are even seen. And if they are, they might regret it. This goes for the police as well. It’s the world of head scarves, where women walk around in figureless tents, with baby strollers and a group of children. Their husbands, or slaveholders if you prefer,walk threesteps ahead. With mosques on many street corners. The shops have signs you and I cannot read. You will be hard-pressed to find any economic activity. These are Muslim ghettos controlled by religious fanatics. These are Muslim neighbourhoods, and they are mushrooming in every city across Europe. These are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, city by city.

There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe. With larger congregations than there are in churches. And in every European city there are plans to build super-mosques that will dwarf every church in the region. Clearly, the signal is: we rule.

Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam, Marseille and Malmo in Sweden. In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighbourhoods. Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many cities. In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims. Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark serve only halal food to all pupils. In once-tolerant Amsterdam, gays are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims. Non-Muslim women routinely hear “whore, whore.” Satellite dishes are not pointed to local TV stations, but to stations in the country of origin. In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin. The history of the Holocaust can in many cases no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity. In England, Sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighbourhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves. Last week a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels, because he was drinking during the Ramadan. Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II. French is now commonly spoken on the streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya, Israel. I could go on forever with stories like this. Stories about Islamization.

A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe. San Diego University recently calculated that a staggering 25% of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now. Bernhard Lewis has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.

Now these are just numbers. And the numbers would not be threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate. But there are few signs of that. The Pew Research Center reported that half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France. One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks. The British Centre for Social Cohesion reported that one-third of British Muslim students are in favour of a worldwide caliphate. A Dutch study reported that half of Dutch Muslims admit they “understand” the 9/11 attacks.

Muslims demand what they call “respect.” And this is how we give them respect. Our elites are willing to give in. To give up. In my own country we have gone from calls by one cabinet member to turn Muslim holidays into official state holidays, to statements by another cabinet member that Islam is part of Dutch culture, to an affirmation by the Christian-Democratic attorney general that he is willing to accept Sharia in the Netherlands if there is a Muslim majority. We have cabinet members with passports from Morocco and Turkey.

Muslim demands are supported by unlawful behaviour, ranging from petty crimes and random violence, for example against ambulance workers and bus drivers, to small-scale riots. Paris has seen its uprising in the low-income suburbs, the banlieus. Some prefer to see these as isolated incidents, but I call it a Muslim intifada. I call the perpetrators “settlers.” Because that is what they are. They do not come to integrate into our societies; they come to integrate our society into their Dar-al-Islam. Therefore, they are settlers.

Much of this street violence I mentioned is directed exclusively against non-Muslims, forcing many native people to leave their neighbourhoods, their cities, their countries.

Politicians shy away from taking a stand against this creeping sharia. They believe in the equality of all cultures. Moreover, on a mundane level, Muslims are now a swing vote not to be ignored.

Our many problems with Islam cannot be explained by poverty, repression or the European colonial past, as the Left claims. Nor does it have anything to do with Palestinians or American troops in Iraq. The problem is Islam itself. Geert Wilders: A Wise Warning from Europe about America’s Future >>> By Geert Wilders | October 6, 2008

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Adam Gadahn Is Alive and Kicking


ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS (ARUTZ SHEVA): After much speculation that he was killed in an American airstrike, al-Qaeda's American-born spokesman Adam Gadahn (AKA "Azzam the American") has shown up in a new video released this past weekend. While focusing on Pakistan, he makes several references to the "Zio-Crusader" enemy and calls on Muslims to set aside their temporal national, ethnic or tribal differences for the sake of unity in the jihad for Islam.

The convert to Islam, born Adam Pearlman, is wanted by the FBI for his alleged role in developing al-Qaeda propaganda in Pakistan. In addition to Gadahn, the new recording also contains video of Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the chief al-Qaeda terrorist responsible for coordinating with the Taliban, as well as audio of Osama Bin-Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.



In the video, filmed by al-Qaeda's media arm al-Sahab, Gadahn ridicules the new Pakistani government as a puppet of the Crusaders and Jews. He and others appearing in the video call on Pakistan's soldiers and people to refuse to aid in the fight against the jihadists and to attack caravans belonging to Western forces traveling through Pakistan. The soldiers are called upon to disrupt anti-jihad operations and to work for the imposition of Islamic law in Pakistan. 



Gadahn states that jihadist victory in Indian Kashmir and in Afghanistan has been prevented thus far by Pakistani "hypocrites" fighting against the jihad. Kashmir is mentioned several times, with calls to liberate the jihad in Kashmir from the control of the ISI, the Pakistani intelligence agency. In addition, he says, the West's main concern is that nuclear-armed Pakistan not fall to the jihadists - an outcome al-Qaeda is seeking to foment with the help of local cells. Al-Qaeda’s American Spokesman Is Alive and Kicking >>> By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz | October 6, 2008

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Pope Laments Decline of Scripture

BBC: Pope Benedict XVI has opened a synod of more than 200 cardinals and bishops from around the world to examine the modern lack of interest in the Bible.

The Pope lamented what he called the harmful and destructive influence of some forms of modern culture.

This, he said, had decided that God was dead, and man was the sole architect of his destiny and master of creation.

The synod is an advisory body of the Roman Catholic Church, which meets once every three years.

The three-week long proceedings opened with a solemn Mass celebrated by the Pope at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls.

French trip

Growing indifference to religion, particularly in Europe, is a source of concern to the Pope.

He visited France last month, and was clearly referring to that country when he pointed out in his homily that nations once rich in the Christian faith and in vocations for the priesthood seem to be losing their Christian identity.

To mark the opening of the synod, Italian state television will be broadcasting a marathon reading of the whole Bible for the next six days and nights.

The Pope himself will start off the reading with the Book of Genesis.

He will be followed by hundreds of other readers, including Italian politicians, celebrities from the world of entertainment and sport, as well as ordinary Italians - who have never been such enthusiastic readers of the Bible as Christians in Protestant countries. [Source: BBC] By David Willey, BBC News, Rome | October 5, 2008

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Pope Says Financial Crisis Shows Money an Illusion

REUTERS: VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict said on Monday that the global financial crisis showed that faith in God trumped a lifetime spent pursuing material wealth.

"We see it now in the collapse of the great banks that money disappears, it's nothing," the Pontiff said.

The global financial turmoil, the worst since the Great Depression, has wiped away hundreds of billions of euros (dollars) in shareholder wealth and felled banking institutions that just months ago seemed untouchable.

The pontiff, using a biblical metaphor, said people who ignored the word of God to pursue wealth had effectively built their homes on sand instead of on a solid foundation of faith.

It was a possible reference to the collapse of the U.S. housing market, which triggered the financial crisis.

"Whoever builds his life on this reality, on material things, on success ... builds (his house) on sand. Only the word of God is the foundation of all reality," he said. [Source: Reuters] Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Sami Aboudi | October 6, 2008

ASSOCIATED PRESS:
Pope: Financial Crisis Shows Futility of Money >>> | October 6, 2008

THE ECONOMIC TIMES (INDIA):
Financial Crisis Shows Need for Religion in Politics: Vatican: VATICAN CITY: The financial crisis sweeping the world economy proves the need for religion in politics, Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said on Tuesday.

"Politics needs religion," Cardinal Bertone said in a speech published by the Vatican mouthpiece L'Osservatore Romano. "When instead God is ignored, the ability to respect rights and recognise the common good begins to disappear."

Bertone, the Vatican's top diplomat and Pope Benedict XVI's right-hand man, told a conference sponsored by the US-based Aspen Institute: "Where people look solely for short-term profit, identifying it with good, they end up erasing the benefit itself."

The prelate said the "current financial crisis" and the "tragic outcomes of all political ideologies" were symptomatic of this lack.

He added: "To manage globalisation, politics not only needs an ethic inspired by religion, but also it needs for this religion to be rational. For that too, politics needs Christianity."
>>>
IST, Agencies | September 30, 2008

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Dark Age Alert! Jewish 'Modesty Patrols' Sow Fear in Israel

YNET NEWS: Zealots accused of beating Jerusalem woman for allegedly consorting with men, torching store selling MP4 players, fearing devout Jews would use them to download pornography. 'It's very similar to what you hear about in countries like Iran,' says novelist Naomi Ragen

In Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where the rule of law sometimes takes a back seat to the rule of God, zealots are on a campaign to stamp out behavior they consider unchaste. They hurl stones at women for such "sins" as wearing a red blouse, and attack stores selling devices that can access the internet.

In recent weeks, self-styled "modesty patrols" have been accused of breaking into the apartment of a Jerusalem woman and beating her for allegedly consorting with men. They have torched a store that sells MP4 players, fearing devout Jews would use them to download pornography.

"These breaches of purity and modesty endanger our community," said 38-year-old Elchanan Blau, defending the bearded, black-robed zealots. "If it takes fire to get them to stop, then so be it."

Many ultra-Orthodox Jews are dismayed by the violence, but the enforcers often enjoy quiet approval from rabbis eager to protect their own reputations as guardians of the faith, community members say. And while some welcome anything that keeps secular culture out of their cloistered world, others feel terrorized, knowing that the mere perception of impropriety could ruin their lives.

"There are eyes and ears all over the place, very similar to what you hear about in countries like Iran," says Israeli-American novelist Naomi Ragen, an observant Jew who has chronicled the troubles that confront some women living in the ultra-Orthodox world.

The violence has already deepened the antagonism between the 600,000 haredim, or God-fearing, and the secular majority, which resents having religious rules dictated to them. Jewish 'Modesty Patrols' Sow Fear in Israel >>> AP | October 6, 2008

YNET NEWS:
Wrong Kind of Modesty: Growing Modesty Requirements in Religious World Have Nothing to Do with religious Law >>> Uri Orbach | January 14, 2008

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Lebanon: Israel Stole Our Falafel

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Photo of fattoush, or bread salad, courtesy of Google Images

YNET NEWS: Country's Industrialists Association says Jewish state trying to claim ownership of traditional Lebanese delicacies like tabouleh and hummus, plans international food-related suit

Lebanon is planning on filing an international law suit against Israel for violating a food copyright, Fadi Abboud, president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, told the al-Arabiya network.

The Lebanese claim is that Israel markets original Lebanese food like tabouleh, kubbeh, hummus, falafel and fattoush which the Lebanese considered their trademarks prior to the establishment of the Jewish state.

Abboud explained that the fact that Israel has been marketing Lebanese delicacies under the same names and ingredients around the world has caused great losses to Lebanon, and that while, “the full extent is unknown, it is estimated at tens of millions of dollars annually.” Lebanon: Israel Stole Our Falafel >>> Roee Nahmias | October 6, 2008

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New Dark Age Alert!: In UK, Spies Will Tap in to ALL Emails and Telephone Calls

DAILY EXPRESS: ALL telephone calls, emails and text messages in Britain will be monitored under new Government snooping plans.

A £12billion identity database at the GCHQ spy centre could even log every website visited by computer users nationwide.

Hundreds of bugging probes will be installed in the telephone system and computer networks to monitor communications traffic.

GCHQ has already been handed £1billion of taxpayers’ cash to begin developing the database.

After the top-secret plans were leaked yesterday critics accused the Government of stalking the public. Michael Parker of anti-identity card group No2ID said: “It is a shocking intrusion into privacy. This is stalking. If an individual carried out this sort of snooping, it would be a crime.”

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said the proposal marked “a substantial shift in the powers of the state to obtain information on individuals”. And after a series of embarrassing security blunders including the loss of child benefit records for every family in the country, he questioned Whitehall’s competence to keep such data. He said: “Given the Government’s poor record on protecting data and seeing how significant an increase in power this would be, we need to have a national debate and the Government would have to justify its need.”

The plan for the biggest surveillance system in British history is being spearheaded by GCHQ director Sir David Pepper. Spies Will Tap in to ALL Emails and Calls >>> By Macer Hall, Political Editor | October 6, 2008

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Nobody Is Safe from the Long Arm of EU Law

THE TELEGRAPH: Here is something the Government told us would never happen. When Britain signed up to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) six years ago, critics pointed out that an individual could be extradited to another EU state to face prosecution for something that is not a crime in Britain and had not even been committed in the requesting country. Ministers dismissed such concerns as fanciful, but it has come to pass.

An Australian teacher is currently in jail in London, following his arrest at Heathrow airport by British police acting on a warrant issued by the German authorities.

Gerald Töben, 64, is wanted in Germany for the offence of "Holocaust denial". It used to be a fundamental protection in British law that no one would be sent for trial in another jurisdiction for something that is not an offence here. It was called the principle of dual criminality. However, when the EAW was drawn up this principle was removed for a list of 32 offences, which include the crimes of "racism and xenophobia".

These offences have no equivalent in this country; but it is now clear that denying the Holocaust, or "defaming the dead", falls into the category. Moreover, Töben did not physically commit the alleged offences in Germany or even within the EU.

The arrest warrant, issued in 2004, alleges that he had carried out from Australia (where it isn't a crime either) "worldwide internet publication" of material that denied, approved or played down the mass murder of Jews perpetrated by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Nobody Is Safe from the Long Arm of EU Law >>> By Philip Johnston | October 5, 2008

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Protests in Italy against Escalating Racism

THE TELEGRAPH: Thousands of people took to the streets of Rome at the weekend to protest against a spate of attacks on immigrants and recent ugly displays of anti-Semitism.

Protesters marched amid fears that intolerance is on the rise in Italy as the country's president told the Pope he was concerned about "new manifestations of racism" domestically and across Europe.

The demonstration followed a poll taken by the centre-left La Repubblica newspaper which found that 86 per cent of readers agreed with the proposition that Italy faces "a racism emergency".

Last week a gang of teenage thugs beat up a 36-year-old Chinese immigrant in Rome.

The teenagers shouted racial abuse as they attacked Tong Hong-Shen, breaking his nose and leaving him bloodied and bruised.

Police said the same group was responsible for an earlier, similarly unprovoked attack on two immigrants from Ivory Coast.

In the northern city of Parma, a young Ghanaian student was allegedly assaulted by traffic police who mistook him for a drug dealer while in Milan a 19-year-old immigrant from Burkina Faso was allegedly beaten to death by the father and son owners of a bar who suspected him of stealing a packet of biscuits last month.

Six African immigrants were gunned down in a suspected mafia hit in Castel Volturno, near Naples, on Sept 18, in what police say may have been part of a drug trade turf war.

Attacks on foreigners have been accompanied by anti-Semitic graffiti appearing in Rome and other cities, including insults aimed at the Speaker of the Senate, Renato Schifani, after he paid a visit to Auschwitz last month. Protests in Italy against Escalating Racism >>> By Nick Squires in Rome | October 5, 2008

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Anything You Can Build, We Can Build Higher! Dubai to Build Kilometre-high ‘Islamic’ Skyscraper

THE TELEGRAPH: Plans to construct what could become the world's tallest building, at more than a kilometre high, have been unveiled.

The Dubai developer Nakheel – the company that created man-made islands in the shapes of a palm tree and the world – said the structure would be the centre-piece of an inner-city harbour planned as the emirate's unofficial capital.

It would not comment on the exact height or cost of the Islamic design-inspired Nakheel Tower. The building will have "more than 200 floors" and be part of "a multi-billion pound development", the company said. New Plans for World’s Tallest Building Unveiled >>> | October 6, 2008

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Sunday, October 05, 2008

New ‘Radical Islam in Bulgaria’ Claims

SOFIA ECHO: Just days after Sofia hosted a forum on how teaching at schools could be used to forestall radical Islam, a researcher gave an interview alleging that extremist Islamic sects were operating in eastern Bulgaria.

In an interview with Bulgarian news agency Focus, associate professor Tatyana Dronzina – described as an expert on conflict and terrorism research – was quoted as saying that Turkish-linked radical sects Nurju, Suleymandj and Miligurush were believed to be active in the eastern part of the country.

There were some grounds for believing that people linked to these sects were trying to make contact with pupils in Muslim religious schools in Shoumen, Rousse, Momchilgrad and in the Islamic Institute in Sofia as well, Focus quoted Dronzina as saying

While several intelligence and media reports have highlighted the rise of radical Islam in the former Yugoslavia and especially in Bosnia, earlier in 2008 US journalist Christopher Deliso said in his book The Coming Balkan Caliphate: Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West that Bulgaria was among Balkan countries where radical Islam activists were present.

Most intelligence reports have suggested that any such activity in Bulgaria is on a small scale. New ‘Radical Islam in Bulgaria’ Claims >>> By Clive Leviev-Sawyer | October 5, 2008

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Islamists Slap Sharia Law on Somalia Town

AFP: MOGADISHU — Islamists in a town in southern Somalia have imposed Sharia law in line with their vow to bring back Islamic theocracy to areas where they were ousted two years ago, a spokesman said Friday.

The Mujahideens of Southern Somalia, a group allied to the radical Shebab movement on Thursday named a 23-member board to enforce the law in Celwaq, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) southwest of Mogadishu.

"This administration will govern the town using laws of the Holy Koran," its spokeman Mohamed Osmail Indhobur told AFP.

Celwaq, near the border with Kenya, is home to tens of thousands of people, boosted by refugees who have fled fighting in the rest of Somalia.

It has escaped much of the civil war, but local militia allied to Islamists have moved in to plug a power vacuum in recent weeks. Islamists Slap Sharia Law on Somalia Town >>> | October 3, 2008

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Fusillade raciste en Corse?

leJDD.fr: Un groupe d'adolescents d'origine maghrébine qui fêtait la fin du ramadan a été pris pour cible par trois hommes armés de fusils de chasse vendredi soir à Ajaccio. Trois jeunes âgés de 16 à 18 ans ont été blessés, dont un grièvement à la tête. Deux suspects ont été interpellés. Il s'agirait ou d'un acte raciste, ou de mauvaises relations de voisinage, fermement condamné par Rachida Dati.

Aux dires de Mourad, l'un des jeunes qui a été visé par l'attaque, les adolescents étaient simplement "en train de discuter" quand soudain, quatre coups de feu ont été tirés depuis une voiture. Interrogé sur la radio Europe 1, il n'en revient toujours pas. Blessé à l'oeil, au visage et au bras, il ne comprend ce qui a pu pousser les tireurs à ouvrir le feu sur eux avec des plombs de chasse. Il ajoute ne pas savoir s'il retrouvera l'usage de son oeil, duquel un plomb de chasse a été extrait. Fusillade raciste en Corse? >>> Par Claire Angot | Samedi 04 Octobre 2008

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Saturday, October 04, 2008

Trust a Stupid Saudi Cleric to Come Up with This One!: The Cyclops’ Veil

BBC: A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.

The question of how much of her face a woman should cover is a controversial topic in many Muslim societies.

The niqab is more common in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, but women in much of the Muslim Middle East wear a headscarf which covers only their hair.

Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric who is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis, was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd. [Source: BBC] | October 3, 2008

Cyclops >>>

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A Note to The Telegraph: There Is Nothing Inherently ‘Racist’ or ‘Nazi’ about Wanting to Protect One’s Own Country and Culture from the Onslaught of Islam!

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Photo of Heinz Christian Strache courtesy of Google Images

Watch Telegraph video: Austria’s Heinz Christian Strache >>>

THE TELEGRAPH: If ever there was an acceptable face of the Far Right in Europe, Mario Miksch is it.

Clad in a grey blazer, white shirt and tie, the bespectacled 60-year-old estate agent looks the picture of respectability as he sips white wine in a smart Vienna watering hole.

Last week, though, he helped reveal a new, darker side to Viennese cafe society as he joined millions of other well-to-do Austrians in voting for the Freedom Party of Heinz-Christian Strache - the rising star of Austria's extreme Right.

"I voted for him to stop immigrants taking over the social welfare system that serves this country so well," said Mr Miksch, until now a supporter of Austria's centre-left Social Democrats.

"Many other middle class people did too, although most don't admit. It's not that he's a Nazi though, and nor am I. I have no problems with people who integrate well."

When it comes to voting for Mr Strache, however, the phrase "I'm not a racist but..." becomes a much more heavily qualified than normal.

The perma-tanned former dental technician has run one of the unabashedly xenophobic and anti-Islamic campaigns ever seen in a European election, based mainly on dire warnings that the land of the Sound of Music is becoming the land of the sound of mosques.

He has demanded new restrictions on Austria's predominantly Turkish immigrant community, described women in Islamic dress as "female ninjas", and urged a ban on the building of minarets to prevent Muslims turning "Vienna into Istanbul."

Mr Strache insists he is nothing but a patriot and claims some of his best friends are Turkish; but his critics claim that some of his other friends have been neo-fascists, including three Neo-Nazis with whom he was allegedly photographed with in the late 1980s.

Yet while opponents say he is little more than a bovver-boy in a suit, Mr Strache's party polled 18 per cent in last Sunday's parliamentary elections, mainly at the expense of the mainstream Social Democrats and Conservatives, whose ruling coalition is seen to have ignored rising concerns about immigration. What Is It about Austria? Why the Birthplace of Hitler Has Just Voted for the Far-Right >>> By Colin Freeman in Vienna | October 4, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
I'm Not a Nazi, and I Like Kebabs, Says Far Right Leader Heinz-Christian Strache: Ever since last week's Austrian parliamentary elections, it has been a subject of fierce debate in the country's beerkellers and cafes. When does raising three fingers in the air make you a fascist - and when does it just mean "three beers please?" >>> By Colin Freeman in Vienna | October 4, 2008

In Pictures:
The Rise of Austria’s Far Right >>>

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Non-Muslims Turn to Islamic Bank as a Safe Option

THE BIRMINGHAM POST: Growing numbers of non-Muslims are turning to Islamic banking as customers spooked by turmoil in the Western banking system increasingly see the sector as a safe haven.

The Birmingham-headquartered Islamic Bank of Britain said it had seen significant growth in non-Muslim customers since the onset of turbulence on financial markets as Islamic banks, bound by strict religious principles, are largely seen as insulated from the credit crisis.

Islam’s prohibition on the charging or paying of interest - riba - as well as rules on the kinds of investments they can make are among the reasons Islamic banks are coming through the crisis unscathed.

Islamic Bank of Britain head of marketing Steven Amos said: “Our core business will always be Muslims but the numbers of non-Muslims are really picking up.

“We’ve had massive interest and it’s down to the number of reasons why we’re insulated from the credit crunch.

“There were two reasons for the credit crunch. The first is liquidity - banks lending to each other on the money markets - but Islamic banks do not borrow or lend on money markets because interest is not allowed.

“The second reason Islamic banks are insulated is to do with assets - everything has to involve an underlying asset or service and if you are going to trade in an asset you have to own it first.”

The explosion in complex derivative products over the last few years has left Western banks reeling from exposure to toxic assets often far-removed from their everyday activities.

In contrast the more risk-averse Islamic finance system did not embrace this kind of deal.

“Conventional banks didn’t know what they were buying in these derivatives but we have no exposure to subprime as we just don’t deal in it full stop.

“That is one of the fundamental reasons we are insulated.”

Stipulations that you must own the asset you are trading in also mean practices such as short-selling are not a feature of Islamic banking. Non-Muslims Turn to Islamic Bank as a Safe Option >>> By Anna Blackaby, Business Staff | October 3, 2008

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Divisions within French Islam Deepen at Ramadan

FRANCE 24: As the month of Ramadan came to an end, FRANCE 24 went behind the scenes at French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) and witnessed the divisions within French Islam.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan has just ended and our reporter, James André, has been breaking the fast with Muslims around the country. What he found was a fight for influence among preachers sent to France by rival countries. In 2002, French President Nicolas Sarkozy - interior minister at the time - created a governing body for Islam in France, the CFCM. It was intended to be the face and voice of the country's Muslim community. But who should run it? Moroccan-born Muslims? Algerian-born Muslims? Both countries are widely represented within the French Muslim community. They've been vying for the top spot and, six years on, there is an ongoing turf war.

The town of Evry, on the outskirts of Paris, is home to France's biggest mosque. Every evening during the month of Ramadan, thousands of faithful gather here to pray before breaking the fast. The crowds are so large the mosque had to call in two extra imams from Morocco. The rector of the mosque explains that an agreement was signed with France's Interior Ministry to allow Morocco to officially send imams to meet France's mosques' needs. One hundred and fifty preachers have been sent to France for Ramadan. One of them was hand-picked by the Religious Affairs Ministry. A graduate of one of Morocco's top Koranic schools, he belongs to the elite of his country's religious establishment. His mission is clear: to ward off extremist influences. 



After his sermon, the faithful have differing opinions. One of them approves: "It's a very good idea. Even the Imams who come from the Gulf are very well versed in religion. We'd like to see more initiatives like this one." But another had trouble understanding the speech: "Some of the faithful here come from Asia, or from Africa, and they have a hard time understanding Arabic, or don't understand it at all. So we'd like to have imams who speak French." Divisions within French Islam Deepen at Ramadan >>> | October 3, 2008

Please don’t forget to watch the video, which, unfortunately, I cannot embed.

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UN Anti-Blasphemy Resolution Curtails Free Speech

FOX NEWS: Religious groups and free-speech advocates are banding together to fight a United Nations resolution they say is being used to spread Sharia law to the Western world and to intimidate anyone who criticizes Islam.

The non-binding resolution on “Combating the Defamation of Religion” is intended to curtail speech that offends religion -- particularly Islam.

Pakistan and the Organization of the Islamic Conference introduced the measure to the U.N. Human Rights Council in 1999. It was amended to include religions other than Islam, and it has passed every year since.

In 2005, Yemen successfully brought a similar resolution before the General Assembly. Now the 192-nation Assembly is set to vote on it again.

The non-binding Resolution 62/145, which was adopted in 2007, says it “notes with deep concern the intensification of the campaign of defamation of religions and the ethnic and religious profiling of Muslim minorities in the aftermath of 11 September 2001.”

It “stresses the need to effectively combat defamation of all religions and incitement to religious hatred, against Islam and Muslims in particular.”

But some critics believe the resolution is a dangerous threat to freedom of speech everywhere.

The U.S. government mission in Geneva, in a statement, told the U.N. Human Rights Council in July that “defamation-related laws have been abused by governments and used to restrict human rights” around the world, and sometimes Westerners have been caught in the web.

Critics give some recent news events as examples of how the U.N. "blasphemy resolution" has emboldened Islamic authorities and threatened Westerners:

-- On Oct. 3 in Great Britain, three men were charged for plotting to kill the publisher of the novel "The Jewel of Medina," which gives a fictional account of the Prophet Muhammad and his child bride. FOXNews.com reported U.S. publisher Random House Inc., was going to release the book but stopped it from hitting shelves after it claimed that “credible and unrelated sources” said the book could incite violence by a “small, radical segment.”

-- An Afghan student is on death row for downloading an article about the role of women in Islam, FOXNews.com also reported.

-- In December 2007 “a court reportedly sentenced two foreigners to six months in prison for allegedly marketing a book deemed offensive to Aisha, one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives,” the U.S. government said.

-- A British teacher was sentenced to 15 days in jail in Sudan for offending Islam by allowing students to name the class teddy bear Muhammad in November 2007.

-- In February 2007 in Egypt an Internet blogger was sentenced to four years in prison for writing a post that critiqued Islam.

-- In 2004, Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was murdered after the release of his documentary highlighting the abuse of Muslim women. U.N. Anti-Blasphemy Resolution Curtails Free Speech, Critics Say >>> By Jennifer Lawinski | October 3, 2008

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Google Censors Pat Condell Video

THE TELEGRAPH: A comedian has been censored by YouTube for making a film in which he condemned the existence of Sharia courts in Britain.

Pat Condell, an outspoken atheist and veteran stand-up comic, uploaded the clip called "Welcome to Saudi Britain" to the popular video-sharing website following claims that judgements made under Islamic law are now legally binding.

In the four-minute clip he denounces the "patriarchal bigotry" of Muslim men and the "corrupt" regime of Saudi Arabia.

He refers to women wearing burqas as "letterbox ladies" and ridicules a Muslim warehouse worker who is suing Tesco for making him carry crates of alcohol.

Condell also pours scorn on the "social engineering" and "doublethink" of the Labour Government and urges viewers to sign a Downing Street petition against the adoption of Sharia in Britain, which has received more than 4,000 signatures.

However YouTube, which is owned by the internet search engine giant Google, has removed the video from its site because of "terms of use violation".

It had been watched more than 40,000 times in the 24 hours after Condell uploaded it.

YouTube has also threatened to disable his entire account if he commits "additional violations".

A spokesman for the website said: "YouTube has clear policies that prohibit inappropriate content on the site, such as pornography, gratuitous violence or hate speech. Our community understands the rules and polices the site for inappropriate material. When users feel content is inappropriate they can flag it and our staff then review it as quickly as possible to see if it violates our Terms of Use. If users repeatedly break these rules we disable their accounts."

But fans of Condell, a veteran of Britain's alternative comedy circuit who has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and who regularly appeared on the BBC Radio 1 show Loose Talk in the 1990s, are now putting copies of the video elsewhere on YouTube.

Visitors to the website have condemned YouTube for censoring the film, while the National Secular Society has written to it in protest.

The NSS said: "As usual, he does not mince his words, but he is not saying anything that is untrue. His main thrust is one of outrage on behalf of those Muslim women who will suffer because they are forced to have their marital problems solved in a male-dominated Sharia court."

Condell made the video after it was reported that ministers had "quietly sanctioned" Sharia courts to make legally binding rulings on cases such as those involving divorce. YouTube Censors Comedian's Anti-Sharia Video Called 'Welcome to Saudi Britain' >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | October 3, 2008

I placed this video up on this website here, and still seems to be up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

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Friday, October 03, 2008

Strache Trivialises Hitler Again

Photobucket
Photo of Heinz Christian Strache courtesy of the Austrian Times

AUSTRIAN TIMES: FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache is courting controversy again after trivialising the Nazi crimes of Hitler's Third Reich.



Asked in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph what he thought about Hitler and his evil deeds and the accusations that he (Strache) still had Nazi ties, Strache said: "I am just not interested in that guy."



Politics' rising star Strache, described as kind of a "political pop star" by pundits and analysts, has often been forced to dissociate himself from the Nazi mindset due to his xenophobic views. Strache Trivialises Hitler Again >>> | October 3, 2008

WIENER ZEITUNG:
Strache Fears Cold Shoulder Coalition >>> | October 3, 2008

WIENER ZEITUNG:
Austrian Election: Far-right Surge or Breath of Fresh Air >>> | October 3, 2008

THE NEW REPUBLIC:
The Dismaying Close-Mindedness of a Country I Love >>> By Clay Risen | October 2, 2008

SPECTATOR:
The Distant Sound Of Breaking Glass >>> By Melanie Phillips | Septemebr 29, 2008

THE EARTH TIMES:
Austria Opens First Muslim Cemetery after Delays: Vienna - Austria's first Islamic cemetery opened Friday in Vienna, ending years of delay due partly to financing gaps and an arson attack while the complex was under construction. Funding by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was crucial to completing the site, which has space for 4,000 graves and was originally slated to open in 2003, Austrian media reported.

City authorities donated the land and part of the construction costs to the Islamic Community of Austria, which built the 3-million- euro (4.2-million-dollar) complex on a former industrial site on the capital's outskirts. It includes a mausoleum and offices.
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DPA | October 3, 3008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
Europe’s Far-Right Revival Isn’t Nazism

LA TIMES: Much of the support for the right-wing parties springs from a resentment of long-ruling political elites.

Two far-right parties, the Austrian Freedom Party and the Movement for Austria's Future, managed to win 29% of the vote in Sunday's general elections in Austria. This is double what they got in the elections of 2006.

Both parties share the same attitudes toward immigrants, especially Muslims, and the European Union: a mixture of fear and loathing. Because the leaders of the two parties, Heinz-Christian Strache and Jorg Haider, can't stand each other, there is little chance of a far-right coalition actually taking power. Nonetheless, this is Adolf Hitler's native land, where Jews were once forced to scrub the streets of Vienna with toothbrushes before being deported and killed, so the result is disturbing. The question is: How disturbing?

Twenty-nine percent is about 15% more than populist right-wing parties usually get even in very good (for them) years in other European countries. Strache, leader of the Freedom Party, wants the government to create a new ministry to manage the deportation of immigrants. Muslims are openly disparaged by leaders of both parties. Haider once praised the employment practices of Hitler's Third Reich. Inevitably, the new rightists bring back memories of storm troopers and race laws.

Yet to see the rise of the Austrian right as a revival of Nazism would be a mistake. For one thing, neither party is advocating violence, even if some of their rhetoric might inspire it. For another, it seems to me that voters backing these far-right parties may be motivated less by ideology than by anxieties and resentments that are felt in many European countries, including ones with no Nazi tradition, such as the Netherlands and Denmark.

In Denmark, the hard-right Danish People's Party is the third-largest party in the country, with 25 parliamentary seats. Dutch populists such as Rita Verdonk, or Geert Wilders, who is driven by a paranoid fear of "Islamization," are putting the traditional political elites -- a combination of liberals, social democrats and Christian democrats -- under severe pressure.

And this is precisely the point. The biggest resentment among supporters of the right-wing parties in Europe these days is reserved not so much for immigrants as for political elites that, in the opinion of many, have been governing for too long in cozy coalitions, which appear to exist chiefly to protect vested interests. In Austria, even liberals admit that an endless succession of social democrat and Christian democrat governments has clogged the arteries of the political system. It has been difficult for smaller parties to penetrate what is seen as a bastion of political privilege. The same is true in the Netherlands, which has been governed for decades by the same middle-of-the-road parties, led by benevolent but rather paternalistic figures whose views about multiculturalism, tolerance and Europe were, until recently, rarely challenged. Europe’s Far-Right Revival Isn’t Nazism >>> By Ian Buruma | October 3, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>