Hillary Clinton’s Relentless Decline Continues
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOGS: Fresh from her seven nation tour of Africa – highlighted by an immensely embarrassing boogie dance in Kenya and an alligator–like snap at a defenceless Congolese student – the almost invisible secretary of state has been given a demotion in the Forbes Magazine annual list of the 100 most powerful women in the world.

Hillary Clinton has slipped eight places from 28 to 36, despite being elevated to the second most powerful position in the US government in January. How she actually achieved that drop in these circumstances would confuse even Sir Isaac Newton, but can be explained by a less than stellar performance in Foggy Bottom.

Hillary has been increasingly marginalized by the Obama team with its array of special envoys jetting across the world as well as by her own hubby who appeared like a rabbit out of a hat in Pyongyang on his own diplomatic mission two weeks ago. She looks more and more like a stern but easily flustered school teacher who’s losing control of her own class. American foreign policy under Obama is increasingly decided in the White House, not in the State Department, and has so many different tracks that it lacks any real coherence. It resembles a poorly stitched patchwork quilt rather than a carefully crafted global strategy. >>> Nile Gardiner | Thursday, August 20, 2009

World's First Muslim Superheroes, the 99, Are Headed for British Television Screens
The assault on Western values by Islam grows apace! Now we have the Jihad to instill Islamic values in our children! What next? – Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: The world's first Muslim cartoon superheroes have taken the Arab world by storm, and now they are headed for British television screens.

Jabbar, is one of The 99, the world's first Muslim cartoon superheroes. Photo: The Telegraph
Named the 99, as each possesses one of Allah's 99 attributes, the characters include a burka-clad woman named Batina the Hidden and a Saudi Arabian Hulk-type man named Jabbar the Powerful.

They have proved a hit from Morocco to Indonesia and were recently named as one of the top 20 trends sweeping the world by Forbes magazine.

Now they are being brought to British television by Endemol, the production company behind Big Brother, with a mission to instill Islamic values in children across all faiths. >>> | Thursday, August 20, 2009

World’s First Muslim Superheroes, the 99, Out to Conquer the West
TIMES ONLINE: Comic creator aims to counter jihadist role models

They are fighting for truth, justice and the Islamic way and are heading for your living room — prepare to say salaam to the world’s first Muslim superheroes.

Despite the ample wrongs waiting to be righted across the Middle East, Superman, Spider-Man and Batman mainly fight evil in America. When the East has featured as a setting for superhero antics — as in the recent film Iron Man — it has tended to be as a source of villainy.

That is about to change, courtesy of The 99, a Sharia-compliant version of the X-Men that has taken the Arab world by storm and has its sights set on the West.

The franchise, which was created as a cartoon strip three years ago to counter the effects of jihadist agitprop on Muslim minds, is poised to make its debut on British television this year. An animated series is being produced by Endemol, the Dutch company that made Big Brother internationally ubiquitous. Its mission: to instil old-fashioned Islamic values in Christian, Jewish and atheist children. >>> Rhys Blakely in Mumbai | Thursday, August 20, 2009

Lockerbie Bomber’s Private Jet to Freedom Courtesy of Gaddafi
TIMES ONLINE: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi will send his private jet to collect the Lockerbie bomber and take him home to Libya if, as expected, he is released from jail today on compassionate grounds.

Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary, said that he would announce at 1pm his decision on whether Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi should be freed, but he gave no indication last night as to what that decision would be.

A luxury aircraft was scheduled to collect the bomber at Glasgow airport yesterday for his triumphant return to Tripoli, but the flight was cancelled at lunchtime because Mr MacAskill’s advisers were still locked in talks after intense diplomatic pressure from America to keep al-Megrahi in jail.

The prisoner, who is terminally ill with prostate cancer, called his wife, Aisha, from Greenock prison, saying that he was still uncertain about his fate. “He didn’t know when he will be released,” the mother of five told The Times. “He is happy [about the news] but he is very ill and waiting to find out what will happen to him.”

His mother said that he had called her and said that he hoped to be with her by Ramadan. Hajja Fatma, 95, told the Tripoli Post that she didn’t dare to close her front door: “I am expecting him to enter at any moment.” >>> David Brown, Charlene Sweeney and Richard Kerbaj | Thursday, August 20, 2009

Burqini Banned in Italian Town
If this Labour government could find its balls, it, too, would ban this symbol of subservience and darkness. Women haven’t fought for their rights over all these years only to be taken back into the Dark Ages by a people who are totally unenlightened and benighted. Emmeline Pankhurst: Eat your heart out! – ©Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Muslim women have been banned from wearing the body-concealing swimming costume known as a burqini in the northern Italian town of Varallo Sesia, according to a report.

Women wearing the garment, made up of a veil, a tunic and loose leggings, face a fine of €500 (£430) if they are spotted at swimming pools or rivers, the ANSA news agency reported.

The anti-immigration mayor of the northern Piedmont town said: "The sight of a 'masked woman' could disturb small children, not to mention problems of hygiene.

"We don't have to be tolerant all the time," Gianluca Buonanno said.

Justifying the move, Mr Buonanno added: "Imagine a western woman bathing in a bikini in a Muslim country. The consequences could be decapitation, prison or deportation. We are merely prohibiting the use of the burqini." >>> | Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Lest We Forget – Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution
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Democrat Rift Threatens to Doom Barack Obama's Healthcare Reforms
TIMES ONLINE: After weeks of fierce protests against his plans to reform the US healthcare system, President Obama faced revolt inside his own party yesterday amid accusations that he was surrendering to its vociferous opponents.

The powerful liberal wing on Capitol Hill threatened to withdraw support for Mr Obama’s healthcare legislation if it did not include a government-run insurance programme — something he has appeared willing to abandon in recent days to try to garner Republican support.

However, fiscally conservative Democrats appeared increasingly opposed to the “public option”, leaving Mr Obama with the potential for a dangerous split in the Democratic Party that could doom the legislation.

The eruption of such a fight among Democrats underscored the huge challenge Mr Obama faces in getting legislation passed. It is the centrepiece of his domestic agenda and an issue on which he has spent enormous political capital.

Yet despite his efforts, voters are increasingly opposed to the idea of reform amid concerns about its huge cost.

For months Mr Obama has insisted that a government-run programme must be included in his effort to reform the health industry because it was the only way to give private insurance companies the competition needed to reduce soaring costs.

The scheme is opposed fiercely by Republicans, who claim it is too costly and will eventually lead to a solely government-run healthcare system. The conservative “Blue Dog” Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives is also unconvinced by the idea, and without its support the legislation could fail to pass the lower chamber.

In an effort to peel away more Republicans and assuage Blue Dog concerns, Mr Obama appeared to suggest at the weekend that a public option was not essential, describing it as only a “sliver” of his reform plans. His Health Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, also hinted that the White House was open to dropping the idea.

The reaction from liberals was furious, with one Democratic congressman, Anthony Weiner, saying that without the option Mr Obama could lose 100 votes in the lower chamber, a reaction that would kill any Bill. Yesterday 60 House Democrats sent a letter to Ms Sebelius warning that without a government-run option the legislation would fail. >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Uncommon Knowledge: Daniel Pipes (June 01, 2008)

Model Who Drank Beer to Be First Woman Caned in Malaysia
THE TELEGRAPH: Muslim model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno has become the first woman in Malaysia to be sentenced to a caning after being caught drinking beer in a beach resort.

The 32-year-old will receive six lashes at a woman's prison next week in what is being viewed as an example of the growing influence of Islamic hardliners on the country.

The mother-of-two who lives in Singapore with her husband, paid a fine of £860, but declined to lodge an appeal so she could get the punishment over with and put the episode behind her.

The harsh sentence has provoked anger among women's rights groups who fear it is another sign of the creeping influence of conservative Islam on Malaysian society.

In the northern backwater state of Kalentan ruled by the hardline Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, authorities have decreed that supermarkets must have separate checkout queues for men and women and beaches be segregated.

Young couples caught sitting too close together on park benches in the state capital, Kota Baru, are hunted down by the city's moral enforcers and fined up to £285 in Sharia courts.

The Islamic alcohol prohibition laws in Malaysia's eastern Pahang state date back more than two decades. But Malaysian-born Kartika, who now has Singaporean citizenship, is the first woman to fall foul of them.

She was arrested in July last year in a hotel nightclub in the beach resort of Cherating during a raid by the state's religious department and admitted drinking beer.

An Islamic court fined her and ordered her to be caned at Kajang women's prison next week, but spared her a jail term of up to three years.

She received word of the sentence from her father and said she would be returning to Malaysia from Singapore.

"I accept the punishment," she said. "I am not afraid because I was ready to be punished from day one. [The authorities] hope to use my case as a way to educate Muslims. So go ahead. I want to move on with my life." >>> Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok | Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Explosions Rock Baghdad

Obama plaide pour la patience en Afghanistan
À Phoenix (Arizona), lundi, lors d'une convention de vétérans, Barack Obama a rappelé que la mission américaine serait longue et difficile. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le président américain veut injecter plus de moyens civils et militaires pour gagner «les cœurs et les esprits» de la population afghane.

Il faut avoir écouté l'ambassadeur américain Richard Holbrooke présenter jeudi dernier sa «stratégie civile » pour l'Afghanistan et le Pakistan pour mesurer l'ambition - et les risques - de la nouvelle politique afghane de l'Amérique. Flanqué d'une armée d'éminents stratèges et autres techniciens agricoles et financiers, l'«émissaire spécial » de Barack Obama a exposé pendant deux heures comment l'Amérique entendait compléter sa stratégie strictement militaire en œuvrant à la reconstruction de l'Afghanistan. Relance d'une agriculture qui emploie près de 80 % de la population afin de la détourner de la culture omniprésente du pavot ; construction d'écoles ; lutte contre la corruption des ministères ; sécurisation de réseaux de téléphones portables pour que la population puisse échapper aux «discours de haine » des talibans, présents sur les radios locales ; contre-propagande… La liste des missions projetées par l'oncle d'Amérique avec l'aide de ses militaires et de quelque 4000 agents civils est colossale.

Bien éloigné des promesses de la nouvelle équipe de «revoir à la baisse » la mission pharaonique de l'Administration Bush de créer un «Afghanistan démocratique », le projet suscite une nervosité croissante. La peur d'un «nouveau Vietnam » affleure. Le président lui-même l'a reconnu, dans un discours prononcé lundi : «L'insurrection en Afghanistan n'a pas commencé du jour au lendemain. Nous ne pourrons pas la vaincre du jour au lendemain. Ce ne sera pas rapide. Ce ne sera pas facile. » Offensive de charme >>> Laure Mandeville, correspondante du Figaro à Washington | Mardi 18 Août 2009

«Mit Demokratie haben diese Wahlen wenig zu tun» : Präsident Karzai setzt in Afghanistan alle Mittel ein, um an der Macht zu bleiben
NZZ ONLINE: Am Donnerstag wird in Afghanistan ein neuer Präsident gewählt. Die prekäre Sicherheitslage dürfte viele Afghanen im Süden vom Wählen abhalten. Die Tatsache, dass der Amtsinhaber Karzai Wahlbetrug im grossen Stil betreibt, sorgt ebenfalls für Unlust bei den Wahlberechtigten und wirft Fragen nach der Legitimität des Urnengangs auf.

In Afghanistan finden am Donnerstag zum zweiten Mal seit dem Sturz der Taliban im Jahr 2001 Präsidentenwahlen statt. Gleichzeitig werden auch die Räte der 34 Provinzen des Landes neu bestellt. Für das höchste Amt im Staat haben sich 37 Kandidaten beworben, für die Provinzwahlen über 3000. Die 17 Millionen registrierten Wähler können ihre Stimme in rund 8000 Wahlzentren abgeben. Im Gegensatz zur letzten Präsidentschaftswahl im Jahr 2004, die von der Uno organisiert wurde, ist diesmal eine afghanische Wahlkommission für die Durchführung verantwortlich.

Prekäre Sicherheitslage

Die Abhaltung des Urnengangs in einem Land, dessen Infrastruktur nach 30 Jahren Krieg weitgehend zerstört ist, stellt organisatorisch eine Herausforderung dar. Ein noch viel grösseres Problem ist jedoch die prekäre Sicherheitslage. Weite Teile des Landes befinden sich nicht unter Kontrolle der Regierung. Vor allem im umkämpften Süden und Osten Afghanistans, aber auch in gewissen Distrikten im Westen und Norden haben die Taliban das Sagen. Die islamistischen Extremisten haben zum Wahlboykott aufgerufen und angekündigt, den Urnengang mit Strassenblockaden und Anschlägen zu stören. Taliban-Gruppen haben auch gedroht, mit Tinte geschwärzte Finger abzuhacken. Mit der Tinten-Markierung soll sichergestellt werden, dass ein Wähler seine Stimme nicht mehrfach abgeben kann.

Die USA haben in den letzten Monaten ihre Truppen im Süden Afghanistans deutlich aufgestockt. Auch die von der Nato angeführte Isaf hat ihre Militäraktionen verstärkt, um den Wahlprozess zu sichern. Momentan sind rund 100 000 ausländische Militärangehörige am Hindukusch im Einsatz, zwei Drittel von ihnen sind Amerikaner. Da die Aufständischen auf die erhöhte Truppenpräsenz mit mehr Angriffen und Anschlägen reagierten, hat sich die Sicherheitslage in den letzten Monaten jedoch eher noch verschärft. Viele Wahlberechtigte in umkämpften Gebieten dürften aus Angst vor Gewalt den Urnen fernbleiben. Nach Angaben der Wahlkommission werden mindestens 700 Wahllokale im Süden und Osten aus Sicherheitsgründen erst gar nicht geöffnet. In vielen anderen Regionen wird mit einer sehr geringen Beteiligung gerechnet. Das stellt die Legitimität der Wahlen ernsthaft in Frage. Manipulation im grossen Stil >>> spl. Kabul | Dienstag, 18. August 2009

Muslimischer Antisemitismus in Deutschland

The Holocaust: A Survivor Speaks
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Dozens Dead as Baghdad Rocked by Series of Massive Explosions
TIMES ONLINE: Scores of people have been killed and hundreds injured by a series of co-ordinated bomb attacks in Baghdad today.

In the deadliest attack in Iraq this year, and the most audacious one in the capital for several more, truck and car bombs and mortar fire were directed against the main centres of power. The targets included the ministries of finance, foreign affairs, health and housing, as well as the Parliament and Cabinet buildings. Also hit was a checkpoint on the approach roads to the fortified Green Zone.

The largest explosion was a truck bomb across the street from the Foreign Ministry, just outside the Green Zone, which is reported to have killed up to 59 people and injured 250. The force of the blast flattened the compound wall and blew concrete slabs off the front of the 10-storey block, killing people working inside the building and devastating cars and bystanders for hundreds of metres around.

It left a crater in the road 3 metres deep and 10 metres wide, full of dozens of burned and twisted cars and a few charred bodies. Other nearby buildings were also damaged, including the Parliament which lies inside the Green Zone. Water tanks collapsed on nearby houses, sending water gushing through people's homes. >>> Oliver August in Baghdad | Wednesday, August 19, 2009

53% of Saudi Men Lazy: Study
SAUDI GAZETTE: JEDDAH – Saudi males are lazy, eat too much junk food and spend excessive time in front of the television, all which means they are only likely to get fatter, an Arab health and nutrition expert has said.

Dr. Abdullah Musaiqir, head of the Arab Center for Nutrition, has warned of increasing obesity in the Gulf states and particularly Saudi Arabia, and cites a Saudi study showing that over 53 percent of Saudi males live a “lethargic lifestyle”, with only 20 percent described as leading a healthy lifestyle and engaging in activities that help keep them in good physical shape. Twenty seven percent were described by the study as having a “partially active” lifestyle.

Parents, Dr. Musaiqir said, are advised to cut down on television watching time for both themselves and their children, and to remove television sets from dining rooms and bedrooms. According to Musaiqir, watching television encourages further unhealthy eating practices as the activity is popularly accompanied by the consumption of snack foods.

Musaiqir said the first steps toward promoting a healthier lifestyle should come with awareness programs conducted throughout the Gulf with media involvement, and that school and university curricula should be improved to address issues of nutrition and public health.

Schools, Muqaisir said, should make greater efforts to support and encourage sporting activities both inside and outside the confines of their campuses. [Source: Saudi Gazette] Okaz/SG | Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Kondolenz: Nordkoreas Diktator bedauert Kim Dae-jungs Tod
WELT ONLINE: Der nordkoreanische Machthaber Kim Jong-il hat sein Beileid zum Tod des am Dienstag verstorbenen Ex-Präsidenten Kim Dae-jung ausgesprochen. TV-Berichten zufolge will er sogar eine Delegation zu dessen Beerdingung entsenden. Experten spekulieren über eine Wiederannäherung der beiden verfeindeten Staaten.

Nordkorea wird einem Bericht zufolge eine Delegation zum Begräbnis des früheren südkoreanischen Präsidenten Kim Dae-jung entsenden. Der südkoreanische Sender YTN nannte am Mittwoch keine Quelle für seine Informationen.

Nordkoreas Machthaber Kim Jong-il hatte zuvor nach offiziellen Angaben sein Beileid zum Tod des ehemaligen südkoreanischen Präsidenten Kim Dae-jung übermittelt. Die amtliche nordkoreanische Nachrichtenagentur KCNA zitierte am Mittwoch aus dem Kondolenzschreiben Kim Jong-ils: „Obgleich er zu unserem Bedauern verstorben ist, werden seine Leistungen für eine nationale Aussöhnung und für die Verwirklichung des Wunsches nach einer Wiedervereinigung dem Land noch lange bleiben.“ >>> | Mittwoch, 19. August 2009

Liban: Un islamiste repris après évasion
leJDD.fr: Un militant islamiste de nationalité syrienne, Taha Hadjj Souleïmane, évadé mardi de la prison libanaise de Roumeih, à l'est de Beyrouth, a été repris, a-t-on appris auprès des forces de sécurité. Celles-ci ont ratissé de nombreux quartiers de la capitale libanaise pour retrouver le membre du Fatah al Islam, un groupe proche d'Al Qaïda, qui était incarcéré pour son implication dans des actes de terrorisme, notamment des attentats à la bombe. L'évadé a finalement été retrouvé dans les bois près de la prison. Selon la presse libanaise, sept détenus ont préparé l'évasion du Syrien pendant deux semaines, sciant notamment les barreaux de leurs cellules. [Source: leJDD.fr] | Mercredi 19 Août 2009

New Book Reveals Horror of Nazi Camp Brothels
REUTERS: BERLIN - In 1942, the Nazis decided that forced labourers in concentration camps would work harder if they were promised sex -- so they made female prisoners work in brothels for them.

The brothels form the subject of "Das KZ Bordell" (The Concentration Camp Brothel) by Robert Sommer, a book that has been hailed as the first comprehensive account of a little known chapter of Nazi oppression in World War Two.

Sommer's 460-page work, due to be presented at the Berlin state parliament on Wednesday, explores the origins, structure and impact of the "Sonderbauten" (special buildings) run by Heinrich Himmler's SS in Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe.

"In the collective memory and written history of World War Two, the camp brothels were for a long time taboo," the 35-year-old Berliner told Reuters. "The former prisoners didn't want to talk about it: it was a difficult subject to handle.

"It didn't fit so easily into the postwar image of the concentration camps as monuments to suffering."

Beginning with the Austrian camp at Mauthausen in 1942, the SS opened 10 brothels, the biggest of which was in Auschwitz, in modern Poland, where as many as 21 women prisoners once worked. The last opened in early 1945, the year the war ended.

The chapter is separate from the annals of the Holocaust of European Jews. Jewish women were not recruited as prostitutes, and Jewish men were not admitted to the brothels.

Sommer estimates around 200 women inmates in total were forced to work in the brothels -- initially offered the prospect of escaping the brutality of the concentration camps.

"They were promised release after half a year if they served in the brothel. But the promises were never honoured," he said. "Later, the SS just selected women they felt were suitable."

"Jews were not allowed in. Neither were Soviet prisoners of war," he added. "Jewish women did not serve as sex workers."

Tens of thousands of captured soldiers, political prisoners and people branded socially undesirable by the Nazis, including Roma and homosexuals, were held in camps alongside the millions of Jews who died in the Holocaust.

"The idea behind the brothels was to raise productivity by providing forced labourers with added incentive," said Sommer. "Yet from what I found, it didn't work at all. Only a few people were actually in a physical condition to go to them."

According to Sommer, the use of prisoners to provide sex to other prisoners was purely a Nazi phenomenon in the war. >>> Dave Graham, Editing by Kevin Liffey | Monday, August 17, 2009

Fat, Unfit NHS Staff Top the Sick League
TIMES ONLINE: More than 45,000 NHS workers call in sick each day — one and a half times the rate of absence seen in the private sector.

The first national audit of staff habits has found that high rates of obesity, smoking, absenteeism and poor mental health are having a direct impact on the quality of patient care.

Dr Steve Boorman, a leading occupational health expert, was asked by the Government to assess links between staff habits and NHS productivity. He will present his interim review today. His findings are drawn from six months of staff surveys, workshops, data reviews and responses from trusts and experts.

— More than 45,000 NHS workers are calling in sick every day, one and a half times the rate of absence in the private sector. Reducing the 10.3 million working days lost per year by a third would save the NHS £555 million annually.

— More than one in five staff smoke, the same proportion as in the adult population. About 40,000 NHS workers smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day.

— More than a third of the workforce are in moderate to very poor mental health, with many expressing concern about intimidation from patients and their relatives[.]

— Hospitals with worse staff health are less productive and have higher rates of superbug infection, unnecessary use of agency workers and higher patient mortality rates. More than three-quarters of staff believe that the state of their health affects patient care.

— About 40 per cent undertake exercise less than the Government’s three recommended occasions a week. >>> Sam Lister, Health Editor | Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Hillary Clinton in Last-ditch Intervention in Lockerbie Case
TIMES ONLINE: Hillary Clinton has made a last-minute attempt to intervene in the Lockerbie bomber case, warning the Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill that it would be "absolutely wrong" to release him from jail.

Spurning diplomatic channels, the US Secretary of State gave a public statement to reporters in Washington saying that Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Libyan spy who was jailed in 2001 for blowing up Pan Am flight 103 with the loss of 270 lives, should not be released on compassionate grounds or granted a transfer to a Libyan jail but should die in prison.

The statement comes after Mrs Clinton's private phone call to Mr MacAskill last week to warn him against agreeing to either of the requests lodged by al-Megrahi, who is terminally ill with prostate cancer.

Mrs Clinton was spurred to intervene again after the High Court in Edinburgh ruled yesterday that al-Megrahi could withdraw his legal attempt to clear his name, removing one procedural hurdle to his return to his homeland.

“I just think it is absolutely wrong to release someone who has been imprisoned based on the evidence about his involvement in such a horrendous crime,” said Mrs Clinton, a former Senator for New York State from where many of the Lockerbie victims were drawn.

“We are still encouraging the Scottish authorities not to do so and we hope that they will not.” >>> Jenny Booth | Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Hillary Clinton Reaffirms US Stance on Lockerbie Bomber

People & Power - Iran: Inside the Protests – July 10, 2009

You’ve Just Gotta Chill Out with Chris Brown Singing 'Forever' – The Official Music Video
Watch here

Obama Joker Artist Unmasked: A Fellow Chicagoan
Firas Alkhateeb. Photo: Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES TIMES: When cryptic posters portraying President Obama as the Joker from "Batman" began popping up around Los Angeles and other cities, the question many asked was, Who is behind the image?

Was it an ultra-conservative grassroots group or a disgruntled street artist going against the grain?

Nope, it turns out, just a 20-year-old college student from Chicago.

Bored during his winter school break, Firas Alkhateeb, a senior history major at the University of Illinois, crafted the picture of Obama with the recognizable clown makeup using Adobe's Photoshop software.

Alkhateeb had been tinkering with the program to improve the looks of photos he had taken on his clunky Kodak camera. The Joker project was his grandest undertaking yet. Using a tutorial he'd found online about how to "Jokerize" portraits, he downloaded the October 23 Time Magazine cover of Obama and began digitally painting over it.

Four or five hours later, he happily had his product.

On Jan. 18, Alkhateeb uploaded the image to photo-sharing site Flickr (shown at right). Over the next two months, he amassed just a couple thousand hits, he said.

Then the counter exploded after a still-anonymous rogue famously found his image, digitally removed the references to Time Magazine, captioned the picture with the word "socialism" and hung printed copies around L.A., making headlines.

Alkhateeb's original Flickr page surpassed 20,000 views. The Times found his Flickr site last week thanks to a tip left by a loyal reader of The Ticket. By Friday, the page had been taken down.

On Alkhateeb's page, a manipulated image condemning fellow Chicagoan and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (captioned "epic fail") was mixed in with parodies of the "Guitar Hero" game franchises -- dubbed Quran Hero -- and of Napoleon riding a motorcycle (pictured after the jump).

Flickr had removed the Joker image due to copyright-infringement concerns, Alkhateeb says the company told him in an e-mail. A Flickr spokeswoman declined to comment due to a company policy that bars discussing inquiries about individual users.

Alkhateeb says he wasn't actively trying to cover his tracks, but he did want to lay low. He initially had concerns about ... ... connecting his name with anything critical of the president -- especially living in Chicago, where people are "very, very liberal," he said.

"After Obama was elected, you had all of these people who basically saw him as the second coming of Christ," Alkhateeb said. "From my perspective, there wasn't much substance to him."

"I abstained from voting in November," he wrote in an e-mail. "Living in Illinois, my vote means close to nothing as there was no chance Obama would not win the state." If he had to choose a politician to support, Alkhateeb said, it would be Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich. >>> Mark Milian | Monday, August 17, 2009

Obama the Joker. Photo: Los Angeles Times

Liechtenstein Prince Criticized for Jewish Comments
Vaduz castle, Liechtenstein. Photo: Google Images
YNET NEWS: Germany's Central Council of Jews accuses Prince Hans-Adam II of making a 'mockery' of Holocaust by saying bank secrecy in his principality helped save many Jews during WWII

Germany's Central Council of Jews has accused Liechtenstein's Prince Hans-Adam II of making a "mockery" of the Holocaust by saying bank secrecy in his principality had helped save many Jews during World War II.

The prince made the comments in an interview with the Liechtensteiner Volksblatt newspaper, saying Liechtenstein and Switzerland had "saved the lives of many people, especially Jews" thanks to their bank secrecy laws.

He added Germany "should think about its own past" before attacking Liechtenstein and other countries for banking policies that Berlin says encourage tax dodging.

Germany's Central Council of Jews sharply criticized the comments on Monday, describing them as a misrepresentation of the historical record.

"The comments make a mockery of the Holocaust and those that survived it," Stephan Kramer, general secretary of the Council, told the Bild daily.

"It is an attempt to use the Holocaust as a defense for the prince's political failures. Portraying Liechtenstein as a merciful helper of the Jews does not chime with the historical facts."

Liechtenstein remained neutral during World War II. >>> Reuters | Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Liechtensteiner Volksblatt >>>

Iran: Khatami et Karoubi rejoignent un mouvement lancé par Moussavi
LE POINT: L'ancien président réformateur Mohammad Khatami et l'ex-candidat réformateur à la présidentielle Mehdi Karoubi, ont rejoint le "Chemin vert de l'espoir", mouvement récemment lancé par l'un des chefs de file de l'opposition, Mir Hossein Moussavi, selon l'agence Ilna. "Le conseil central du Chemin vert de l'espoir sera formé par un petit groupe de personnes, de cinq à six, parmi lesquelles MM. Khatami et Karoubi", a expliqué Alireza Beheshti, un collaborateur de M. Moussavi, cité par Ilna.

Ce mouvement a été lancé pour poursuivre la contestation de la réélection du président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a rapporté dimanche le quotidien réformateur Etemad Melli. "Le Chemin vert de l'espoir est constitué pour défendre les demandes légitimes du peuple et l'obtention de ses droits", a expliqué Mir Hossein Moussavi lors d'une réunion, à une date non précisée, avec des membres de l'Association des médecins islamiques, selon le journal. >>> AFP | Mardi 18 Août 2009

Afghanistan: Der Präsident zeigt im Wahlkampf keine Skrupel
Wahlkampfauftritt von Karzai: Der Präsident zieht alle Register. Photo: FAZ
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Noch stehen die grauen Holzbänke im Klassenzimmer, und an der Tafel sind die Mathe-Formeln der vergangenen Unterrichtsstunde zu erkennen. Wenig deutet daraufhin, dass in diesem Gymnasium im Herzen Kabuls am Donnerstag 15.000 Hauptstädter ihre Stimmen abgeben sollen. Aber der Schuldirektor ist sicher, dass alles rechtzeitig am Platz sein wird: „Wir werden hier für einen fairen und transparenten Ablauf sorgen“, versichert er - und wagt dann eine Einschränkung: „Was danach mit den Stimmen geschieht, darauf haben wir keinen Einfluss.“

Eine freie und faire Wahl wurde den Afghanen versprochen, aber genau daran wachsen die Zweifel. Seit Wochen häufen sich Vorwürfe und Verdachtsmomente gegen Amtsinhaber Hamid Karzai. Der Präsident ziehe alle Register, um als Sieger aus den Wahlen hervorzugehen, heißt es unter Beobachtern. Von „zu erwartenden Manipulationen“ ist die Rede. Manche gehen sogar soweit, die zweite Präsidentenwahl seit dem Sturz der Taliban als „Farce“ zu bezeichnen.

Ohne Betrug werde Karzai die Wahlen verlieren, sagte sein ernsthaftester Herausforderer, Abdullah Abdullah, Ende vergangener Woche in Kandahar. Am Montag wiederholte der frühere Außenminister seine Vorwürfe, als er in einem Kabuler Stadium seine letzte Wahlkampfrede hielt. „Wenn es keinen Wahlbetrug gibt, dann wird das Volk gewinnen“, „Wenn Eure Stimmen nicht gestohlen werden, werdet Ihr dieser korrupten Regierung ein Ende machen.“

Im Präsidentenpalast werden derartige Vorwürfe zurückgewiesen, und tatsächlich sind bislang nur unbewiesene Meldungen im Umlauf. Wie es heißt, werden derzeit Stimmzettel zu Tausenden verkauft. Im paschtunischen Süden sollen Männer festgenommen worden sein, die ganze Stapel von Stimmkarten im Gepäck hatten. Dorfältesten seien von den örtlichen Wahlbehörden Sammelkarten ohne Identitätsnachweise ausgehändigt worden, heißt es. >>> Von Jochen Buchsteiner, Kabul | Dienstag, 18. August 2009

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG:
Afghanistan: Wieder Tote bei Selbstmordanschlag in Kabul >>> | Dienstag, 18. August 2009

Les secrets posthumes de la reine mère bientôt publiés
«Queen Mum» en avril 1960 pour ses 60 ans. Derrière le sourire légendaire, le vrai personnage de­meurait encore largement méconnu. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Un an avant sa mort, la reine Élisabeth avait livré sa vision sur la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Margaret Thatcher et l'affaire Diana. Sortie du livre le 17 septembre.

La reine mère parle. Et la Grande-Bretagne tout entière attend avec impatience le livre à paraître dans un mois. Un an avant sa mort en 2002, à l'âge de 101 ans, la reine consort Élisabeth, qui fut l'épouse du roi George VI, avait enregistré des heures de conversation avec un vieil ami, sir Eric Anderson, l'ancien professeur du prince Charles. Une démarche tout à fait inhabituelle dans une famille régnante dont les membres s'expriment le moins possible. Élisabeth n'avait donné qu'une interview dans sa vie, avant son mariage avec George VI. L'entourage et le gouvernement furent horrifiés, et elle ne parla plus jamais à la presse. Ce qui rend encore plus surprenant le choix, par la famille royale, du journaliste chargé d'écrire la biographie officielle de la reine mère. William Shawcross, professionnel réputé, est connu pour ses livres riches en révélations sur Kissinger et la guerre secrète de Nixon au Cambodge.

Élevée par une gouvernante française

Non seulement Shawcross a eu accès aux enregistrements, mais son livre est aussi fondé sur des entretiens avec la reine Élisabeth II et le prince Charles. L'occasion d'éclairer un mystère. Personnage adoré de ses sujets, la reine mère, la «Queen Mum» comme on la surnommait, régnait sur les cœurs sans rien faire d'autre que sourire (une innovation qu'elle apporta à sa nouvelle famille, où ne l'on desserrait pas les dents sur les photos), de porter des chapeaux géants sur des robes pastel à froufrous, et de tenir l'alcool comme un matelot, qualité toujours appréciée outre-manche. >>> Pierre Prier | Jeudi 06 Août 2009

The Turing Enigma: Campaigners Demand Pardon for Mathematics Genius
THE INDEPENDENT: He should have been hailed a hero for his wartime codebreaking. Instead he was prosecuted for his homosexuality and took his own life. So why has Britain never said sorry? Jonathan Brown reports

He may have played a pivotal role in securing victory in the Second World War for his country six years earlier, but few outside the academic community would have recognised Alan Turing as he made his way down Manchester's Oxford Street shortly before Christmas in 1951. Someone who did notice the athletically-built scientist, however, was a young working class gay man called Arnold Murray.

Homosexuality was still illegal under the same repressive laws which had sent Oscar Wilde to jail half a century earlier. But regardless of the risk, the chance encounter was to develop into something more substantial and Murray spent a number of nights at the older man's modest home in suburban Wilmslow.

A month later, after Turing, a veteran of the then still secret Bletchley Park code-cracking team, had been giving a talk to the BBC on his pioneering work on artificial intelligence, he returned home to find his house burgled.

The culprit was an acquaintance of Murray's, who would prey on Murray's lovers, thinking they would be so afraid of being outed that they would not report the thefts to the police.

But Turing defied this convention and went straight to the police, where he admitted his affair – a "crime" for which he was spared the normal two-year jail term in favour of a hormonal treatment designed to beef up his masculine urges and suppress his homosexuality. The resulting publicity was to prove too much to bear and in June 1954, the 41-year-old was found dead in bed by his housekeeper. He had eaten an apple he had laced with poison.

The consequences which unfolded were not only a tragedy for Turing, his friends and family, it also robbed the world of one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. Now campaigners are demanding an official apology from the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, recognising the "consequences of prejudice that ended his career". More than 700 people have signed a petition started by the leading computer scientist John Graham-Cumming on the Downing Street website, including gay rights campaigners, politicians and scientists.

"What really annoyed me about this was here was a man who died in his early 40s because he was a homosexual. He was a war hero but here was a part of our history that we were turning a blind eye to when we should be celebrating it. There were a lot of homosexual people during the war doing incredible work – if it was not for Turing we would most likely be having this conversation in German," Mr Graham-Cumming said. >>> Jonathan Brown | Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Gotteskrieger in Bosnien auf dem Vormarsch
TAGES ANZEIGER: In Bosnien leben seit dem Krieg Hunderte muslimische Eiferer. Liberale Muslime befürchten deshalb, dass die Fanatiker das Zusammenleben gefährden.

Konservative bosnische Muslime beten vor einer Moschee in Sarajevo. Bild: Tages Anzeiger
Architektonisch wirkt die bosnische Stadt Mostar, als könnten die Religionen hier zusammenleben. Am Ufer der Neretva stehen Moscheen und Kirchen, die im Krieg zerstörte weltberühmte Alte Brücke strahlt in neuer alter Schönheit. Doch politisch bleibt Mostar geteilt: Seit dem Bosnien-Krieg leben die Muslime im östlichen Stadtteil, die katholischen Kroaten im Westen. Nun droht in Mostar eine weitere Spaltung, diesmal in der muslimischen Religionsgemeinschaft. Die Spannungen zwischen islamistischen Fanatikern, die sich als Rechtgläubige bezeichnen, und liberalen Muslimen nehmen zu. Jüngst brach der Streit offen aus: Bei einer Massenschlägerei zwischen einer Gruppe ultrareligiöser Wahhabiten und vermutlich ehemaligen Kämpfern der bosnischen Armee wurde der 34-jährige Magdi Dizdarevic getötet.

Die islamische Gemeinschaft Bosniens bezeichnete den strenggläubigen Dizdarevic als Opfer der Vorurteile und des Hasses gegen die Muslime. Bei der Beerdigung ehrten ihn Glaubensbrüder als islamischen Märtyrer. Einige Wahhabiten sollen laut bosnischen Medien sogar mit Selbstjustiz gedroht haben. Inzwischen bemühen sich angesehene Bürger Mostars um die Beruhigung der Gemüter. 2000 arabische Kämpfer kamen >>> Von Enver Robelli, Zagreb | Dienstag, 18. August 2009

Yale University Press Accused of Cowardice over Muhammad Cartoons
Cartoons of prophet Muhammad: Google Images
Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me the pleasure of bringing to you the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, cartoons which the ***** at Yale University Press were too cowardly to bring you. Enjoy! – ©Mark

TIMES ONLINE: Yale University Press was accused of cowardice and censorship yesterday after deciding not to reproduce cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in an academic book for fear of violent reprisals.

This year Yale will publish a scholarly work about reactions to the cartoons printed in a Danish newspaper in 2005, which sparked protests around the world.

But readers will not see the 12 cartoons that are the subject of the book, including one showing Muhammad with a turban like a bomb. In fact, they will not get to see any images of the prophet at all, not even a 19th-century sketch by Gustave Doré.

Yale has decided to publish The Cartoons that Shook the World, by Jytte Klausen, without any likenesses of the Prophet but the howls of protest are all the louder for the fact that there have not been any threats of violence related to the book.

"‘We do not negotiate with terrorists. We just accede to their anticipated demands’. That is effectively the new policy position at Yale University Press,” Cary Nelson, the president of the American Association of University Professors, wrote in an open letter.

Yale took its decision to self-censor after consulting two dozen experts, including counter-terrorism specialists and the highest-ranking Muslim official at the UN.

Yale says that the experts concluded that the book should omit the 12 Danish cartoons but also all illustrations of the Prophet. [sic] including an Ottoman print, a children’s book illustration and the Dore sketch, which portrays Muhammad being tormented in hell in a scene from Dante’s Inferno that has also inspired Botticelli, Blake, Rodin and Dali. >>> James Bone in New York | Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Bomb Blast Rocks Ingushetia – August 17, 2009

Cairo Protests at Swine Flu Bans
BBC: Angry scenes have been reported at Cairo airport as security forces barred Muslim pilgrims from travelling to Mecca because of fears over swine flu.

Hundreds staged a sit-in on Sunday when the Egyptian authorities implemented a plan to prevent anyone over 65 and under 25 from travelling to Mecca.

Another 180-200 belonging to the banned age groups were held back on Monday.

The curbs could affect large numbers of old people, some of whom expend great efforts to visit Mecca before dying.

An airport official said about 15% of would-be passengers to the Muslim holy city had been turned back on Monday.

"The people banned from leaving are those over 65 and those under 25 because they are the most at risk of being contaminated by swine flu," the official added. >>> | Monday, August 17, 2009

Gay Men Attacked, Executed in Iraq, Rights Group Says

L'Algérie décale son week-end pour faire face à la crise
LE FIGARO: Fini les jeudis et vendredis chômés en Algérie. A partir de cette semaine, le repos hebdomadaire sera respecté le vendredi et le samedi. Une mesure visant à s'adapter à l'économie des pays occidentaux.

Marche arrière. Plus de trente ans après avoir fixé au jeudi et vendredi le repos hebdomadaire obligatoire pour se démarquer des pays occidentaux, l'Algérie décale son week-end. A partir de cette semaine, le repos obligatoire devra être observé le vendredi et le samedi. Une mesure décrétée en Conseil des ministres le mois dernier pour adapter l'économie du pays à celles des pays occidentaux, et en particulier de l'Union européenne, avec qui l'Algérie a réalisé plus de la moitié de ses échanges en 2008.

En pleine crise mondiale, la Banque mondiale estimait que le manque à gagner représenté par ce décalage de week-end s'élevait à 1,2 point de croissance annuelle du PIB. Une étude de la Société financière internationale (SFI) chiffrait même à 600 millions de dollars le manque à gagner annuel. Sans remettre en question le repos du vendredi - jour de grand prière chez les musulmans -, le gouvernement algérien espère que ce nouveau week-end «semi-universel» concourra à relancer son économie. >>> Bastien Hugues (lefigaro.fr) | Jeudi 13 Août 2009

Barack Obama, Talking Crap
Watch Pajamas TV here

White House Backs Off Public Healthcare Option
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Obama and officials say it is not 'essential' to the overhaul. Insurance exchanges or cooperatives would be likely to replace it.

Reporting from Washington - The Obama administration signaled Sunday that it was on the verge of abandoning a government-run insurance option in its healthcare overhaul -- a bow to political reality and a big win for insurers.

But some experts said that may not completely relieve pressure on insurers to deliver cost savings.

Both Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said on Sunday talk shows that a government insurance option was not essential -- one day after President Obama himself said as much.

Private-sector options, such as insurance exchanges or cooperatives, would be likely to replace it. Obama already has proposed forming exchanges -- virtual marketplaces where private insurers would compete for consumers' business. And co-ops would allow consumers to band together to negotiate coverage.

Sebelius told CNN's "State of the Union" that a public option is "not the essential element" of healthcare overhaul, but that lowering insurance costs and preventing insurers from dumping customers for preexisting conditions or for exceeding coverage caps are must-haves.

"I think there will be a competitor to private insurers," she said. "That's really the essential part, is you don't turn over the whole new marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing."

Gibbs agreed, describing the "bottom line" for the president: "What we have to have is choice and competition in the insurance market."

Obama continues to believe that "the option of a government plan is the best way to provide choice and competition," Gibbs said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

But if there are other means to achieve that, Gibbs said, "the president will be satisfied." >>> Andrew Zajac | Monday, August 17, 2009

Dawkins and Oreilly: Do you believe in God?

Milizen töten Homosexuelle im Irak
NZZ ONLINE: Milizen haben im Irak laut einem Bericht der Menschenrechtsorganisation Human Rights Watch ungestraft Homosexuelle gefoltert und getötet. Die systematischen Angriffe hätten zu Beginn des Jahres in der Hauptstadt Bagdad begonnen und sich auf andere Städte wie Kirkuk, Nadschaf und Basra ausgeweitet, wie Human Rights Watch erklärte. Die Organisation forderte die irakische Regierung auf, sofort gegen diese Übergriffe einzuschreiten. >>> ap | Montag, 17. August 2009

Anti-gay Attacks on Rise in Iraq
BBC: Gay Iraqi men are being murdered in what appears to be a co-ordinated campaign involving militia forces, the group Human Rights Watch says.

It says hundreds of gay men have been targeted and killed in Iraq since 2004.

So-called honour killings also account for deaths where families punish their own kin in order to avoid public shame.

The report says members of the Mehdi Army militia group are spearheading the campaign, but police are also accused - even though homosexuality is legal.

Witnesses say vigilante groups break into homes and pick people up in the street, interrogating them to extract the names of other potential victims, before murdering them.

"Murder and torture are no way to enforce morality," said HRW researcher Rasha Moumneh, quoted in the report.

"These killings point to the continuing and lethal failure of Iraq's post-occupation authorities to establish the rule of law and protect their citizens."

In some cases, Human Rights Watch says it was told, Iraqi security forces had actually "colluded and joined in the killing".

Witch-hunt

Recently, posters appeared in Sadr City - a conservative, Shia area of Baghdad - calling on people to watch out for gay men and listing not only their names but also their addresses.

One gay man in Baghdad described the killing campaign as a witch-hunt.
Nearly 90 gay men have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of January and many more are missing, local gay rights campaigners say.

The report, called They want us exterminated: Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation and Gender in Iraq, says horrifically mutilated bodies of gay men have been left on rubbish tips.

Sometimes their bodies are daubed with offensive terms such as "pervert", or "puppy" which is a hate word for gay men in Iraq.

The report contains detailed testimonies of a range of brutal treatment of gay Iraqi men.

"We've heard stories confirmed by doctors of men having their anuses glued and then being force-fed laxatives which leads to a very painful death," says Ms Moumneh told the BBC. >>>

Listen to BBC audio: Iraqi gay rights campaigner Ali Hili says there was more sexual freedom under Saddam Hussein >>>

Irak: les violences contre les homosexuels en augmentation, selon HRW
lePARISIEN.fr: Les actes de torture et les exécutions sommaires visant des hommes soupçonnés d'homosexualité s'intensifient en Irak, et les autorités ne font rien pour mettre fin à ces violences, a affirmé lundi l'organisation de défense de droits de l'Homme, Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Selon un rapport de 67 pages présenté lors d'une conférence de presse à Beyrouth, des centaines d'hommes ont été enlevés, torturés et tués cette année dans le quartier chiite de Sadr City, à Bagdad, un bastion de l'Armée du Mahdi, la milice du chef radical chiite Moqtada Sadr.

Le rapport, intitulé "Ils veulent nous exterminer: meurtre, torture, orientation sexuelle et genres en Irak", affirme qu'il est impossible de connaître le nombre exact de morts, mais les estimations font état de centaines de victimes.

Selon ce rapport, des porte-parole de l'armée du Mahdi avaient suggéré que l'action militaire était un remède contre la transformation des hommes irakiens en personnes "efféminées".

"Il faut des preuves pour accuser. Il y a d'autres entités religieuses, politiques ou sociales qui partagent notre rejet de ce phénomène. Il n'y a donc aucune raison pour nous accuser sans preuve", a réagi auprès de l'AFP cheikh Salah al-Obeidi, porte-parole du mouvement Sadr dans la ville sainte irakienne de Najaf.

"Il est exact que nous sommes opposés à ce que phénomène se développe en Irak. Nous le considérons comme mauvais et étranger à la société irakienne. Nous organisons des séminaires et des réunions pour régler cela de manière civilisée", a-t-il ajouté.

Le HWR cite des blessés, qui affirment que les miliciens faisaient irruption dans les maisons et interrogeaient les victimes sur l'identité d'autres cibles potentiels, avant de les tuer.

Des médecins irakiens et des employés à la morgue ont également remarqué des marques de mutilation.

Les meurtres étaient justifiés, selon leurs auteurs, par "la menace pour la virilité des Irakiens", affirme l'organisation.

Certaines exécutions sont par ailleurs assimilables à des "crimes d'honneur", commis par des membres des familles des victimes. >>> AFP | Lundi 17 Août 2009

Related:

Investigating reports of the murder and torture of gay men in Iraq, Ashley Byrne found that some gays found Saddam Hussein's dictatorship preferable to the threat of violence they face today. Some readers will find parts of his report disturbing. Saddam’s Rule Better for Gay Iraqis >>> Ashley Byrne | Monday, July 06, 2009

Grainy footage taken on a mobile phone and widely distributed around Baghdad shows a terrified young Iraqi boy cowering and whimpering as men with a stick force him to strip, revealing women's underwear beneath his dishdasha (Arab robe). Iraqi Gay Men Face ‘Lives of Hell’ >>> Jim Muir | Saturday, April 18, 2009

Iraq: Queer Fear – Gay Life, Gay Death >>> | Friday, November 14, 2008

Afghanistan: Taliban wollen den Wählern "Finger abschneiden"
WELT ONLINE: Mit brutalen Einschüchterungen versuchen die Taliban, potentielle Wähler von der Stimmabgabe bei der Präsidentenwahl am Donnerstag fernzuhalten. Auf Flugblättern warnen sie vor dem Gang zu den Urnen: "Jeden Finger, der bei der Stimmabgabe mit Tinte markiert wurde, werden wir abschneiden."

Wahlplakate in Herat. Bild: Welt Online
Westliche Geheimdienste befürchten am Donnerstag bei der Präsidentenwahl in Afghanistan einen Gewaltausbruch der islamistischen Taliban. Auch Vertreter des afghanischen Geheimdienstes NDS äußerten in der afghanischen Hauptstadt Kabul die Befürchtung, dass besonders im Süden des Landes die Wähler beim Gang an die Urnen „in Lebensgefahr sein könnten“.

Ein NDS-Angehöriger wies auf Flugblätter hin, auf denen die Taliban „direkte Angriffe“ auf Wahllokale ankündigten. Sie drohten unverhohlen: „Jeden Finger, der bei der Stimmabgabe mit Tinte markiert wurde, werden wir abschneiden“. Mit der Markierung sollen Wahlfälschungen verhindert werden.

Auf den am Sonntag aufgetauchten Flugblättern heißt es, dass die „geachteten Einwohner“ darüber informiert sein sollten, „dass sie nicht an den Wahlen teilnehmen dürfen, weil sie sonst Opfer unserer Operationen werden“. Besonders sind die Geheimdienstler über die Drohung der Taliban, „neue Taktiken“ gegen Wahllokale anzuwenden, besorgt. Es sei den afghanischen Sicherheitskräften jetzt so gut wie unmöglich, sich auf neue Angriffsmodalitäten einzustellen, sagte ein Experte. Zynisch erklärten die Taliban, falls Bürger vor oder in den Wahllokalen verletzt würden, seien sie selbst dafür verantwortlich, „denn die Taliban haben sie vorher informiert“. >>> Von Friedrich Kuhn | Montag, 17. August 2009

La France obtient la libération de Clotilde Reiss
Clotilde Reiss (ici lors de sa comparution devant le tribunal de Téhéran, le 8 août) ne peut pas, pour l'instant, quitter l'Iran. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: La jeune universitaire française est sortie de prison dimanche soir après le versement d'une caution d'un «peu plus de 200.000 euros», selon une source diplomatique à Paris. Toujours sous contrôle judiciaire, elle est hébergée à l'ambassade de France à Téhéran.

«Soulagée.» C'est par ces mots que la Française Clotilde Reiss, détenue en Iran depuis le 1er juillet pour avoir participé à des manifestations postélectorales, a commenté dimanche soir sa sortie de prison lors d'une conversation téléphonique avec le président de la République, Nicolas Sarkozy, ainsi qu'avec son épouse, Carla Bruni. «Elle est en bonne santé et garde un bon moral», a commenté la présidence. Nicolas Sarkozy «lui a exprimé sa joie et son plein soutien ainsi que celui de tous les Français, qui ont suivi avec inquiétude son arrestation et la procédure judiciaire à laquelle elle est soumise. Il a relevé la dignité et le courage avec lesquels Clotilde Reiss a affronté cette épreuve», indiquait dimanche soir un communiqué de l'Élysée. Le chef de l'État s'est également entretenu avec Rémi Reiss, le père de la jeune femme de 24 ans. Le retour en France en suspens >>> Valérie Samson avec Bruno Jeudy et Delphine Minoui | Lundi 17 Août 2009

Victor Davis Hanson: What Went Wrong
NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Piling up debt, gaffes, and hypocrisy, Obama & Co. are sinking.

We are witnessing one of the more rapid turnabouts in recent American political history. President Obama’s popularity has plummeted to 50 percent and lower in some polls, while the public expresses even less confidence in the Democratic-led Congress and the direction of the country at large. Yet, just eight months ago, liberals were talking in Rovian style about a new generation to come of progressive politics — and the end of both the Republican party and the legacy of Reaganism itself. Barack Obama was to be the new FDR and his radical agenda an even better New Deal.



What happened, other than the usual hubris of the party in power?

First, voters had legitimate worries about health care, global warming, immigration, energy, and inefficient government. But it turns out that they are more anxious about the new radical remedies than the old nagging problems. They wanted federal support for wind and solar, but not at the expense of neglecting new sources of gas, oil, coal, and nuclear power. They were worried about high-cost health care, the uninsured, redundant procedures, and tort reform, but not ready for socialized medicine. They wanted better government, not bigger, DMV-style government. There is a growing realization that Obama enticed voters last summer with the flashy lure of discontent. But now that they are hooked, he is reeling them in to an entirely different — and, for many a frightening — agenda. Nothing is worse for a president than a growing belief among the public that it has been had.

Second, Americans were at first merely scared about the growing collective debt. But by June they became outraged that Obama has quadrupled the annual deficit in proposing all sorts of new federal programs at a time when most finally had acknowledged that the U.S. has lived beyond its means for years. They elected Obama, in part, out of anger at George W. Bush for multi-billion dollar shortfalls — and yet as a remedy for that red ink got Obama’s novel multi-trillion-dollar deficits.

Third, many voters really believed in the “no more red/blue state America” healing rhetoric. Instead, polls show they got the most polarizing president in recent history — both in his radical programs and in the manner in which he has demonized the opposition to ram them through without bipartisan support. “Punch back harder” has replaced “Yes, we can.” Fourth... >>> Vitor Davis Hanson | Monday, August 17, 2009

How the West Was Lost: The Burkini
THE TELEGRAPH: The Burkini. You’d think it was a joke invention: a bit like the grotesque “Mankini” so hilariously sported by Sacha Baron Cohen on all those posters for Borat. What, after all, could be more absurd than melding the not-notably-sexy Muslim dress - the Burka - with the kind of achingly seductive kit worn by Brigitte Bardot in And God Created Woman?

But no, the Burkini is for real. It was designed by an [sic] Lebanese Australian Aheda Zanetti to enable women in thrall to extreme Saudi-style dress codes to go swimming on beaches and in public baths without incurring a beating or instant divorce from their characteristically tolerant and cosmopolitan menfolk.

“Practical and stylish,” is how they’re described on a BBC website. Hmm, up to a point. Practical if your primary goal is to protect yourself from box jellyfish stings; stylish, maybe, if your points of comparison are a gorilla outfit, or a Barbara Cartland pink dress, or a tent. But I do think we should be wary of viewing the burkini in terms of a fashion story or an amusing novelty, when it also represents something more sinister. I’m sure the designer didn’t intend this, but the Burkini has become yet another weapon in the Islamist assault on Western cultural values.

When most of us think of militant Islam, we tend to think in terms of suicide bombs on London buses, planes flying into Twin Towers and 19-year olds getting their limbs blown off by Taliban IEDs. But as any extremist Imam could tell you, there are at least two ways in which a good Muslim can further the ongoing struggle to convert the whole world from the House of War (that’s the non-Muslim world) to the House of Islam (ie global submission to the will of Allah): one (see above) is by poison or the sword; the other is by honey.

So the Burkini is part of the honey campaign: all those parts of the Islamist war on the West that have nothing to do with killing people. This campaign includes everything from schoolgirls fighting legal battles (with the help of one Cherie Blair) to fight for their inalienable right to go to school dressed like a sack, to Muslim supermarket workers trying to dictate the terms of their employment (refusing to sell alcohol), to the ongoing campaign (apparently endorsed by our own Archbishop of Canterbury) for certain civil decisions in the Muslim “community” to be made under Sharia law. The goal is to establish the view that Islam is a religion [that] should be allowed to trump everything, including the cultural norms of any non-Muslim society in which its adherents find themselves living.

Why should we care if women want to dress up in burkinis? Well we shouldn’t. It’s a free country. Where we should worry very much is when, in the name of weasel concepts like “tolerance”, “respect” and Multiculturalism, the wider society is bullied into adopting similar “Muslim” (ie Saudi-style, Wahhabist) dress codes too. >>> James Delingpole | Sunday, August 16, 2009

Burkinis Give Me a Sinking Feeling
THE TELEGRAPH: The freedom to wear a small, practical swimsuit without feeling self-conscious is hard-won, and fragile, says Jemima Lewis.

The Burkini is such a ludicrous garment that it is hard to take seriously. Designed to enable veiled Muslims to go swimming without compromising their modesty, it covers every inch of flesh except the feet, hands and face. It makes the wearer look like a cross between a Teletubby and an enormous condom.

In France it is banned from public pools, on the grounds that its copious material carries more germs than conventional swimsuits. In England, incredible though it may seem, it is becoming required wearing at some pools, during "Muslim-only" sessions.

It was not so very long ago that women were unable to take a dip in public without first donning an enormous mohair crinoline and being dragged out to sea in a bathing machine. The freedom to wear a small, practical swimsuit without feeling self-conscious is hard-won, and fragile. All it takes is for one burkini to appear at the poolside, and everyone else feels underdressed.

Wearing a burkini is not merely a personal choice, but a judgment on others. It says: I am modest, you are not. It is, in its own way, no less oppressive than a mohair crinoline. [Source: The Telegraph Jemima Lewis | Saturday, August 15, 2009

Pope Pius XII, the wartime pope. Photo: Google Images
Britain Knew about Extermination of Jews, Vatican Claims
THE TELEGRAPH: The Vatican's official newspaper has accused Britain and the United States of having detailed knowledge of Hitler's plans to exterminate the Jews but of failing to do anything to halt the Final Solution.

L'Osservatore Romano said the British and American governments ignored, downplayed or even suppressed intelligence reports about the Nazis' extermination plans.

They could have bombed Nazi concentration camps and the railways that supplied them but instead chose not to, the newspaper claimed.

It quoted from the diary of Henry Morgenthau Jr., the wartime US secretary of the treasury, who described London's alleged indifference to the plight of the Jews as "a Satanic combination of British chill and diplomatic double talk, cold and correct and adding up to a sentence of death".

British and American inaction was in contrast to the efforts made by the wartime Pope, Pius XII, who tried to save as many Jews as he could through clandestine means, L'Osservatore claimed in a lengthy article titled "Silence and omissions at the time of the Shoah (Holocaust)".

The editorial is the Vatican's latest effort to rehabilitate the reputation of Pope Pius, whose reluctance to denounce the Nazis publicly prompted accusations of anti-Semitism and earned him the title "Hitler's Pope".

L'Osservatore dismissed such claims as a "radically false" characterisation of the pontiff's wartime record.

It quoted Morgenthau as saying that as early as Aug 1942, the US government "knew that the Nazis were planning to exterminate all the Jews of Europe".

In his diary, Morgenthau cited a telegram dated Aug 24, 1942, and passed on to the US State Department, that relayed a report of Hitler's plan to kill between 3.5 million and four million Jews, possibly using cyanide poison.

L'Osservatore, which is regarded as the semi-official mouthpiece of the Holy See, reproduced a copy of the telegram.

American officials had "dodged their grim responsibility, procrastinated when concrete rescue schemes were placed before them, and even suppressed information about atrocities," Morgenthau wrote.

When the US government was finally convinced to try to rescue European Jews who had not already been sent to concentration camps, the British baulked, the editorial said.

It cited a British Foreign Office cable that warned of "the difficulties of disposing of any considerable number of Jews should they be rescued from enemy occupied territory" and advised against allocating money for the project.

While the British and Americans prevaricated, Pius was engaged in "the only plausible and practical form of defence of the Jews and other persecuted people" by arranging for them to be hidden in monasteries, convents and other Catholic Church institutions, the newspaper claimed.

L'Osservatore said that although the Nazis rounded up and deported from Rome more than 2,000 Jews, another 10,000 were saved.

Marking the 50th anniversary of Pius' death last year, Pope Benedict XVI described him as a great pontiff who worked "secretly and silently" during the war to "save the greatest number of Jews possible". >>> Simon Caldwell and Nick Squires in Rome | Monday, August 17, 2009

Ex-wife 'Admits Starting' Kuwait Wedding Party Blaze that Killed 43
TIMES ONLINE: A fire in a wedding party tent that killed 43 women and children in Kuwait was started deliberately by the ex-wife of the bridegroom, a Kuwaiti newspaper said today.

Al-Qabbas said that the 23-year-old former wife had admitted pouring petrol on the cotton tent and setting it on fire, furious at what she called her “bad treatment” by her former partner before their divorce. There was no official confirmation of the alleged confession.

Firefighters said that the blaze took less than three minutes to rip through the marquee, in which as many as 180 women and children were celebrating the wedding party. Many of those who died were killed in the stampede for the sole exit.

The men at the party celebrated in a separate tent, in line with the tradition of the conservative state. >>> James Hider, Middle East Correspondent | Monday, August 17, 2009

New Dark Age Alert! Row over Afghan Wife-starving Law
This is truly disgusting! Imagine treating women in this despicable way! – Mark

BBC: An Afghan bill allowing a husband to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex has been published in the official gazette and become law.

The original bill caused outrage earlier this year, forcing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to withdraw it.

But critics say the amended version of the law remains highly repressive.

They accuse Mr Karzai of selling out Afghan women for the sake of conservative Shia support at next week's presidential election.

The law governs family life for Afghanistan's Shia minority.

Sexual demands

The original version obliged Shia women to have sex with their husbands every four days at a minimum, and it effectively condoned rape by removing the need for consent to sex within marriage.

Western leaders and Afghan women's groups were united in condemning an apparent reversal of key freedoms won by women after the fall of the Taliban.

Now an amended version of the same bill has passed quietly into law with the apparent approval of President Karzai. >>> Sarah Rainsford, BBC News | Sunday, August 16, 2009

Why Is the Violence Most Intense in Northern Iraq?
Watch LA Times video here | Thursday, August 13, 2009

Miliband under Fire for Saying Terrorism Can Be 'Justified' in Some Circumstances
MAIL ONLINE: The Foreign Office leapt to David Miliband's defence last night after he triggered outrage by saying terrorism is justified in some circumstances.

The Foreign Secretary also said in an interview that there were circumstances where terror was 'effective'.

The remarks were condemned by Tories, who said they risked giving succour to the Taliban as the number of UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan passed the 200 mark.

Mr Miliband was speaking on a BBC Radio 4 Great Lives programme about anti-apartheid activist Joe Slovo.

Mr Slovo, a friend of Mr Miliband's academic-father Ralph, was one of the leaders of the armed wing of the ANC which carried out a series of fatal bombings in South Africa which killed civilians.

Asked by presenter Matthew Parris whether such terrorism was ever justified, Mr Miliband said: 'Yes, there are circumstances in which it is justifiable, and yes, there are circumstances in which it is effective.'

He added: 'The importance for me is that the South African example proved something remarkable: the apartheid regime looked like a regime that would last for ever and it was blown down. It is hard to argue that, on its own, a political struggle would have delivered. >>> Daniel Martin | Monday, August 17, 2009