Illegal Migrants and the Aztlan Movement: Obama’s Public Health Option and Amnesty
CANADA FREE PRESS: Settle in for a long read… There is NO way to do this topic justice in a column length article. But there is NO more important topic to cover today!

South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson became Democrats’ public enemy #1 when he recently shouted out “YOU LIE!” at Mr. Obama during his internationally televised special address to a joint session of congress. Joe Wilson was the ONLY individual in that joint session who was telling the truth that day!

Obama was indeed lying, as he has been consistently since the moment he arrived on the political scene.

Joe Wilson was the ONLY individual in both houses of congress with the guts to say so. He has since been reprimanded by his fellow members of the House, and the Obama lies have been buried with rushed alterations to the public health bill which will indeed offer free (taxpayer funded) health care to illegal immigrants. But that’s just the beginning of the story!

We are in a very dangerous place in history and if American citizens don’t wake up, take note and take action immediately, we will soon find themselves the only people living in America, without any Constitutional rights.

The administration of “hope and change” represents hope and change for everyone in the world except legal United States citizens. Their domestic policies are very popular with groups that stand opposed to all things American, and their foreign policies serve only America’s enemies abroad.

The Obama administration hasn’t only abandoned the “war on terror,” they are extending US Constitutional rights to known terrorists here and abroad. Our soldiers are forced to Mirandize enemy combatants on foreign soil, in an insane attempt to turn a real war into some police matter in which the terrorists have civil rights under US law.

As American citizens are stripped of their individual constitutional rights daily, those rights are being offered to terrorists, illegal migrants and third world thugs. It doesn’t take a constitutional scholar to recognize that legal US citizens are under attack from within. But it does take some effort to understand why, how, and what to do about it.

Let this stand as a warning to all legal US citizens. The terms “American” and “Americans” have been rewritten to include everyone sympathetic to the international leftist agenda of destroying the United States of America. Legal US citizens—taxpayers!—are the target of people who plan to dismantle the United States, reducing our nation to a third world socio-economic status.

The United States faces three very formidable enemies today, all of which are represented by the new US administration.

Extreme Islam
The Aztlan Movement
International Secular Socialism

All three of these enemies are moving as one within the new administration. All three movements are anti-US, anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist movements.

Much has been written and reported on Extreme Islam and the international socialist movements in the US. But very little has been reported about the Aztlan movement, which is the third front in the war on the USA.

In recent years, US citizens have taken note of the federal push for a public health option aimed at providing free health care to illegal aliens. They have also taken note of the constant federal effort to pass some form of amnesty for more than 20 million illegal immigrants. This number will become an estimated 60 million, if allowed to pass into law.

US citizens need to understand why the federal government is pushing these two anti-American initiatives and why they will do everything in their power to pass both into law, no matter how many US citizens stand opposed. Learning about Aztlan >>> JB Williams | Monday, September 21, 2009

How Close Is Obama to Complete Destruction of USA?
CANADA FREE PRESS: One thing that seems to be fairly consistent about viewpoints on Obama is that people cannot seem to understand what he is doing…and why. Obama’s new huge slap in the face to US allies in Eastern Europe—via Obama’s dropping the US missile shield project—seems to have left many of the talking heads stupefied; not to mention further angering the US’ soon-to-be-former friends whilst drawing smiles from her enemies.

These same pundits—both liberal and conservative—are also ruminating and scratching their heads in reference to Obama’s seemingly scattered mind as he pursues his Afghanistan project. “Does he want to win?,” they ask, followed up with “What’s wrong with him and why isn’t he listening to the generals running his war?” A newly leaked report-to-Obama indicates that without more troops Obama’s war in Afghanistan will be lost.

Obama, who now heads up the UN Security Council—no doubt in direct opposition to the US Constitution that he hates—, told an audience in Troy, NY on Monday that he plans to take over the US economy almost entirely. and transform it from free market-based to Obama’s chaotic Alinsky-Marxist totalitarian power grab. Obama advises that he will “improve” the US economy with massive and apparently unbridled spending on education and some nebulous “innovation” that will further gut and bankrupt the country. Note: This is, of course, patently insane. But, Obama thinks that the majority of We-the-People are equally as stupid as his adherents and most of Congress. >>> Sher Zieve | Monday, September 21, 2009

Birth Rate Rising in Canada
Figures from 2007 show fastest annual increase since 1989, with particular boost from mothers aged 30 to 34. Photo: The Globe and Mail
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Canadian women gave birth to 367,864 babies in 2007, 13,247 or 3.7-per-cent more than in 2006.

That's the fastest annual increase since 1989.

Statistics Canada reports the number of births rose in all age groups, particularly among mothers aged 30 to 34, and in every province and territory except Prince Edward Island and Yukon.

The agency says the total fertility rate, or the average number of children per woman, increased to 1.66 in 2007 from 1.59 in 2006.

While this was the highest total fertility rate since 1992, Statscan says it remained well below replacement level of 2.1 children per woman: That's the fertility rate that must be maintained to replace the population in the absence of migration. >>> Canadian Press, Ottawa | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Greed Is God Again, and We Have Learned Nothing
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: New Zealand's conservative Prime Minister, John Key, a former investment banker, summed up the state of the world financial system brilliantly during a recent visit to Sydney: "Six months ago, The Wall Street Journal came to interview me and asked me if capitalism was dead. Now Goldman Sachs is paying record bonuses."

After a near-death experience, the world financial system is returning to business as usual - only worse.

The Group of 20 countries, meeting at the end of this week in Pittsburgh, is supposed to be restructuring the system so that it "never happens again". Or, as Barack Obama put it last week: "We will not go back to the days of reckless behaviour and unchecked excess that was at the heart of this crisis."

But we already are. Even if the G20 succeeds in every aspect of its well-intentioned agenda this week, the two greatest systemic problems stand unchanged and uncorrected.

The big investment banks, and Goldman Sachs is the biggest of them, have feasted on public money and, now, restored to strength, are throwing themselves back into the markets as recklessly as ever - only more so.

The big US investment banks are not just symbolic of the greed and excess of the pre-crisis craze. They were instrumental. They created, sold and traded the derivatives the world later came to know as "toxic assets''. But now, after restoring themselves with emergency government loans, they have repaid the US Treasury and rushed back into the markets. Goldman reported a record profit for the three months to the end of June of $US3.4 billion ($3.9 billion).

And the company - where average employee pay is $US700,000 - set aside a record $US11.4 billion for staff bonuses for the first half of the year alone. Guess where the firm made its biggest profit? From trading all the Treasury bonds the US Government issued to pay for the $US787 billion stimulus it injected into the economy to save it from the financial crisis.

Criticism of its bonuses sent Goldman's chief, Lloyd Blankfein (2007 salary plus bonus: $US70 million), out to give a contrite speech. But behind the facade, his firm was betting the bank once again. >>> Peter Hartcher* | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

*Peter Hartcher is the Herald's international editor and author of Bubble Man: Alan Greenspan and the Missing Seven Trillion Dollars

Q & A: Islamic Scholar Tariq Ramadan Defends His Views
LOS ANGELES TIMES: The Swiss-born thinker, who was denied a visa to teach in the U.S., says he is a reformist interested in a 'post-integration discourse' to explore the ways Muslims in the West can contribute.

Reporting from London - Liberal Muslim or closet fundamentalist? Peaceful intellectual or militant in sheep's clothing?

Tariq Ramadan has been called all these things -- and more -- by his friends and foes. Whatever the truth, the Swiss-born Oxford University professor ranks among the most influential thinkers in the Muslim world.

The grandson of the man who founded the radical Muslim Brotherhood, Ramadan drew attention in the United States in 2004 when he was denied a visa to take up a post at the University of Notre Dame because he had given money to a Swiss-based charity that the U.S. later alleged had linked to the militant group Hamas. (In July, a federal appeals court ordered that Ramadan's case be revisited.)

Another controversy erupted last month when Ramadan was fired as an integration advisor to the Dutch city of Rotterdam, which said that his hosting of a show on an Iranian state television network could be seen as an endorsement of the Tehran government. Ramadan calls his dismissal a politically motivated decision to appease Rotterdam's anti-Muslim populist party.

Ramadan, 47, recently gave an interview in London, where he lives with his wife and their four children. His comments have been edited for conciseness and clarity. >>> Henry Chu | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

French Police Raze Migrant Camp
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: CALAIS, France -- French police bulldozed a squalid, sprawling forest camp known as the "jungle" near the northern city of Calais on Tuesday, detaining hundreds of illegal migrants who had hoped to slip across the English Channel into Britain.

French Immigration Minister Eric Besson, who visited the site Tuesday, called it a "base camp for human traffickers" and said he would return the rule of law to the northern French coast.

The people camped there -- mainly migrants from Afghanistan -- have strained relations between Britain and France and become a symbol of Europe's struggle with illegal migration.

A total of 278 people -- nearly half of them minors – were detained in the first part of the operation, said Pierre deBousquet de Florian, the top official for the Pas-de-Calais region.

"This operation is not targeting the migrants themselves, it is targeting the logistics of the human traffickers ... who exploit them," he said.

Refugees in jeans and sweatshirts, many appearing to be in their teens, carried knapsacks and blankets as they were led away in single lines by police. Activists yelled at the police with bullhorns, forming a human chain around some refugees, and briefly scuffled with police as they took the men and boys one by one.

Several refugees appeared despondent about their fate, sobbing quietly as they squatted in the sand or stood in police lines.

Mr. Besson said there was no violence in the operation and all personal belongings were collected and were being sorted out in the Calais mosque. Thirty interpreters and a medical team were helping authorities with the operation and 200 temporary beds were arranged for the migrants, the regional administration said.

After the people were cleared out, authorities brought in bulldozers to raze the maze of makeshift tents built from sticks and sheets of plastic amid the sand and brush. Workers with chain saws cut down the trees and scrub brush that had supported the tents. >>> Associated Press | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

View slide show here

Schwere Kämpfe im Süden der Philippinen
NZZ ONLINE: Hauptquartier von Abu Sayyaf erobert

Die Armee der Philippinen ist seit Sonntag in heftige Gefechte mit der islamistischen Terrorgruppe Abu Sayyaf im äussersten Südwesten des Archipels verwickelt. Nahe der Ortschaft Indanan im Westen der Insel Jolo, der Hochburg von Abu Sayyaf, verfolgten die Streitkräfte einen hochrangigen Kommandanten von Abu Sayyaf, als sie auf einen stark befestigten Stützpunkt auf einem Hügel stiessen. Mehrere hundert Soldaten versuchten daraufhin, die schätzungsweise 200 Abu-Sayyaf-Kämpfer aus den Bunkern und Gräben zu vertreiben. Dies gelang aber erst nach sechsstündigen zähen Kämpfen und nachdem die Luftwaffe zweimal Angriffe auf die Stellungen geflogen hatte. Laut dem Armeegeneral Ben Dolorfino handelte es sich dabei um das Hauptquartier der Terrorgruppe auf Jolo. >>> K P, Bangkok | Montag, 21. September 2009

«Wir werden die Hand jedes Angreifers abhacken» : Ahmadinejad warnt Ausland vor Angriff auf Iran
NZZ ONLINE: Bei der jährlichen Militärparade in Teheran hat der iranische Staatschef Mahmud Ahmadinejad das Ausland vor Angriffen auf sein Land gewarnt.

«Unsere Streitkräfte werden überall in der Welt die Hand eines jeden abhacken, der eine Kugel in Richtung Iran abschiessen will, noch bevor er den Abzug betätigt», sagte Ahmadinejad am Dienstag in einer Rede während der Parade. Es werde daher keinen Angriff auf die Islamische Republik geben. «Keine Macht wird sich trauen, in ihrem Geiste die Vorstellung zu entwickeln, den Iran anzugreifen», sagte der Präsident. Die israelische Regierung hatte noch am Montag einen Angriff auf iranische Atomanlagen nicht ausgeschlossen. >>> sda/afp | Dienstag, 22. September 2009

No Room at the Inn, Colonel!
TIMES ONLINE: Libyan officials posed as Dutch diplomats to try to find Colonel Gaddafi a place to stay this week on his first visit to the US.

The envoys, including one calling himself Ronald, approached a property agent on the Upper East Side of New York to inquire about renting the Barclay Mansion, a six-storey townhouse on East 78th Street.

Jason Haber, who has a master’s degree from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, realised the ruse and the deal did not go through.

“When someone says they are representing the Dutch, you accept that at face value,” Mr Haber told The Times. “After a few conversations, the accents did not match. When the e-mails started it became quite clear. The e-mails had a Libyan Embassy address.”

Colonel Gaddafi, the world’s longest-serving leader, was due to arrive in New York last night for his first visit to the annual UN General Assembly.

After 11 years of UN sanctions, Libya now holds a seat on the 15-nation Security Council and the presidency of the 192-nation General Assembly. Colonel Gaddafi is also the head of the African Union.

His rehabilitation on the international scene has been dented by Britain’s release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi. The outcry with which the release was met in America has made it difficult for Colonel Gaddafi to find a place to stay. Libyans pose as Dutch diplomats to get Gaddafi a room in New York >>> James Bone in New York | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Dominique de Villepin Hits Out at Nicolas Sarkozy at Start of Clearwater Trial
TIMES ONLINE: The enmity between President Sarkozy and Dominique de Villepin, the former French Prime Minister, flared into public view at the start of a politically loaded trial over dirty tricks in the last presidential campaign.

Mr Villepin, 55, who is accused of conspiring to smear Mr Sarkozy when both were ministers under President Chirac, delivered a broadside against his former colleague as he arrived with his wife and children at the packed law courts by the Seine.

“I am here because of the decision of one man and the dogged determination of one man — Nicolas Sarkozy,” Mr Villepin said. “I will come out of this a free man and exonerated in the name of the French people. I know that truth will prevail.”

Mr Villepin’s theatrical speech contained allusions to the French Revolution and the ideals of Gaullism. The eloquent former diplomat is seeking to portray Mr Sarkozy as the instigator of the prosecution in the so-called Clearstream affair. >>> Charles Bremner in Paris | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Interview mit Ihrer kaiserlichen Majestät Farah Pahlavi, Shahbanu des Iran 2009
Teil 1:



Teil 2:



Teil 3:



Teil 4:



Teil 5:

Virginie : une école islamique déchaîne les passions
Mosquée Dar al-Hijrah, à Alexandria. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: REPORTAGE - Créée en 1984 à l'initiative du roi Fahd d'Arabie saoudite, cette école a notamment été mise en cause en raison du caractère haineux de certains de ses manuels.

Il est un peu plus de 14 heures, et une foule bigarrée s'écoule lentement hors de la mosquée Dar al-Hijrah, sur la route 7, à Alexandria. Des femmes sont couvertes d'un long hidjab noir qui ne laisse apparaître que leur visage. D'autres sont parées de voiles turquoise élégants. Des hommes en costume tapotent sur leur portable. Il y a aussi des Somaliens aux courtes barbes noires, qui s'égaient vers les parkings bondés flanqués de grappes d'enfants rieurs et d'épouses discrètes. «Chacun fait comme il veut, prie comme il veut. Ici, c'est l'Amérique. Nous sommes libres !» s'exclame Hassan Raja, un entrepreneur marocain qui a traversé l'atlantique il y a dix-sept ans. «Il n'y a pas un endroit au monde où le sort des musulmans soit plus enviable , insiste-t-il. Partout ailleurs, après le 11 Septembre, les musulmans auraient été étripés. En Europe, on aurait rendu notre vie misérable si une tragédie pareille s'était produite. Ici, il n'en a rien été !»

Pour illustrer son propos, cet ancien joueur de football raconte son propre chemin. Son départ du Maroc, où tout était si compliqué. Puis Bordeaux en France, qui n'a pas l'air d'être un si bon souvenir, car «on y est discriminé». Et enfin, l'Amérique, qui lui a permis de créer son entreprise et de faire carrière.

À moins de 3 kilomètres de là, James Lafferty, un ex-journaliste à la moustache poivre et sel, chrétien et conservateur, exprime un avis plus mitigé sur les succès de l'intégration des musulmans dans cet ancien État confédéré. Ce n'est pas vraiment la burqa qui l'inquiète, contrairement à ce qui se passe en France. Jim Lafferty, a même jadis défendu ardemment le droit des musulmans de porter le voile intégral, au sein d'une commission de lutte contre les discriminations religieuses. «Amputer les infidèles» >>> Laure Mandeville, envoyée spéciale du Figaro à Alexandria (Virginie) | Lundi 21 Septembre 2009

Diana et Giscard : l'Angleterre incrédule
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing et la princesse Diana au début des années 1980, soit au moment où l'idylle aurait eu lieu. Crédits photos : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Les spécialistes de la royauté ont réagi lundi avec la plus grande prudence à l'histoire romancée de la «princesse» et du «président», mais les plus grands journaux britanniques enquêtent.

L'annonce de la possible histoire d'amour entre la princesse Diana et l'ancien président de la République française Valéry Giscard d'Estaing a provoqué la surprise totale des Britanniques. Malgré les dizaines de rumeurs qui continuent d'entourer la princesse de Galles et sa disparition tragique, personne n'avait jamais envisagé un rapprochement franco-anglais aussi étroit.

Malgré la barrière de la langue, notre édition de lundi n'a pas manqué de provoquer une certaine agitation au sein des rédactions des grands journaux et des télévisions. Refusant d'être cité sur le fond de l'histoire, l'un des correspondants royaux de la BBC était en revanche très intéressé par toutes les informations qu'il pouvait recueillir. Lundi matin, le Daily Mail fut le premier à réagir, en publiant un long article sur son site Internet. Un peu plus tard et aussi en ligne, le Sun, tabloïd avec le plus fort tirage du pays, qualifiait l'affaire de «sensationnelle !» Les journaux dits «de qualité» ont pour leur part demandé à leurs correspondants à Paris d'enquêter sur l'histoire. Moins célèbre en Angleterre que ses successeurs Chirac ou Sarkozy, Giscard d'Estaing est tout de même connu comme l'auteur du premier texte de la Constitution européenne, un document peu apprécié dans un pays toujours très eurosceptique. À Londres, les spécialistes de la royauté ont pris les révélations de La Princesse et le Président avec la plus grande prudence, et une bonne dose d'incrédulité. … >>> Cyrille Vanlerberghe, correspondant du Figaro à Londres | Lundi 21 Septembre 2009

Quelle mouche a piqué VGE pour conter cette romance, si elle est fantasmée ?
LE FIGARO: En publiant sous une forme romanesque La Princesse et le Président, le récit d'une passion amoureuse avec une princesse de Cardiff, prénommée Patricia, dont la ressemblance avec la défunte princesse de Galles est troublante, l'ancien président de la République Valéry Giscard d'Es­taing se doutait bien qu'il allait susciter l'émoi des deux côtés de la Manche. Les premiers extraits publiés lundi dans Le Figaro ont été accueillis à Londres par des réactions incrédules, voire des rires moqueurs.

La presse britannique, en effet, a toujours préféré les révélations croustillantes concernant les membres de sa famille royale aux licences des romanciers - fussent-ils académiciens -, que, dans ce cas précis, elle prend pour «des fantasmes de satire sénile». Le doute n'est pas permis : le coup de foudre, au milieu des années 1980, d'un président français veuf, Jacques-Henri Lambertye, pour une princesse de Cardiff très mé­diatique et malheureuse en mé­nage fait assurément penser au président Giscard d'Estaing en proie aux feux de l'amour pour la princesse de Galles, désespérée de voir son époux, le prince Charles, renouer avec sa maîtresse, Camilla Parker-Bowles, lorsqu'il constata que leur union était un échec. La question mérite pourtant d'être posée : Giscard d'Estaing a-t-il exprimé dans ce roman un rêve, un fantasme amoureux ? Ou relève-t-il le défi d'une «promesse tenue» - étrange épigraphe du livre - en faisant là une con­fession sincère d'une relation amoureuse partagée ? >>> Stéphane Bern | Lundi 21 Septembre 2009

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing Novel Hints at Affair with Diana, Princess of Wales
TIMES ONLINE: A new actor has joined the diverse cast of characters who claim to have played a role in Diana, Princess of Wales’s turbulent love life. He is a French statesman, known for his charm and fondness for women.

No, not Nicolas Sarkozy. The late Princess’s Latin lover, it appears, could be Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the former President of France, who at the age of 83, has written a steamy bodice-ripper. The book, revealed yesterday by Le Figaro, tells of the “violent passion” between a 1980s French president and “Patricia, Princess of Cardiff”.

Princess Pat is unhappily married to an unfaithful heir to the throne. The narrator of this semi-fictional kiss-and-tell is a French president in the 1980s. Mr Giscard left office in 1981.

The author, deliberately coy about how much of his oeuvre is fiction, makes no attempt to conceal the identity of the heroine. President Jacques-Henri Lambertye, the narrator, meets “Princess Pat” at Buckingham Palace. He holds her hand on the train back from the 1984 D-Day landing anniversary in Normandy. >>> Charles Bremner in Paris | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

L'euro au plus haut face au dollar
LE FIGARO: La monnaie unique européenne a touché un nouveau plus haut d'un an face au billet vert, ce matin vers 08H00 GMT, se rapprochant de 1,48 dollar, niveau plus atteint depuis le 23 septembre 2008, profitant de l'optimisme persistant des cambistes sur la reprise. [Source: LeFigaro.fr] AFP | Mardi 22 Septembre 2009

La lune de miel d'Obama et des musulmans d'Amérique
Des membres du Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) écoutent le dscours prononcé par Obama au Caire. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Huit ans après le 11 Septembre, les musulmans ont le sentiment qu'un nouveau chapitre s'ouvre.

Le 25 septembre prochain, entre 4 heures du matin et 7 heures du soir, près de 50 000 musulmans devraient converger vers la colline du Capitole pour y «prier pour l'Amérique». Du jamais vu. C'est à l'initiative de la mosquée Dar-ul-Islam, dans le New Jersey, que cet événement sans précédent dans l'histoire du pays a été imaginé en juillet par un groupe d'imams. «Jamais la communauté islamique n'a encore prié au Capitole pour l'âme de l'Amérique. Nous sommes américains. Nous voulons changer le visage de l'islam de telle sorte que les gens ne pensent plus que chaque musulman voit l'Amérique comme le grand Satan. Parce que nous aimons l'Amérique», a expliqué le président de Dar-ul-Islam, Hassen Abdellah.

C'est le fameux discours du Caire au monde musulman d'Obama qui a donné à cet imam l'idée de la prière au Capitole. «Pour la première fois de ma vie, j'ai entendu quelqu'un de sa stature parler des musulmans non pas comme d'adversaires, mais comme de citoyens à part entière, poursuit Abdellah. Il a dit qu'il avait la main tendue vers le monde islamique. Le monde islamique veut la saisir.»

Son enthousiasme en dit long sur la lune de miel qui s'est amorcée entre Barack Obama et les musulmans américains. Huit ans après la tragédie du 11 Septembre, qui avait fait d'eux des suspects potentiels, voire parfois des parias, ces derniers ont le sentiment qu'un nouveau chapitre va enfin s'écrire. «Hier, j'étais vu comme un terroriste, et aujourd'hui je suis autorisé à aller prier au Capitole», se réjouit Aly Aziz, de la Société islamique du New Jersey. Lors du dîner de l'Iftar organisé à la Maison-Blanche à l'occasion du ramadan, selon une tradition qui remonte à ses prédécesseurs, Barack Obama a d'ailleurs répété que «l'islam fait partie de l'Amérique». «Nous célébrons le mois sacré du ramadan, mais aussi la manière dont les musulmans, cette communauté d'un dynamisme extraordinaire, ont enrichi l'Amérique et sa culture», a-t-il dit. De nombreux intellectuels, sportifs, artistes et entrepreneurs étaient présents au banquet, preuves vivantes des succès du modèle d'intégration américain. Le président a rendu hommage - fait loin d'être anodin - au sacrifice de Kareem Khan, jeune musulman américain mort au combat en Irak. «Un croissant est sculpté sur sa tombe, comme d'autres sont ornées de la croix chrétienne ou de l'étoile juive. Ces braves Américains sont liés dans la mort comme ils l'étaient dans la vie. Par le même engagement envers leur pays», a dit Obama. >>> Laure Mandeville, correspondante du Figaro à Washington | Lundi 21 Septembre 2009

A German Jihad Colony: Islamists in Pakistan Recruit Entire Families from Europe
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The German government is trying to secure the release of a group of suspected German Islamists who were arrested by Pakistani authorities while making their way to a jihadist colony in the Waziristan region along the Afghan-Pakistani border. Entire families from Germany are moving to the region to join the jihad.

The young speaker, who calls himself "Abu Adam," praises the stay in the mountains -- almost as if he were shooting an ad for a family holiday camp. "Doesn't it appeal to you? We warmly invite you to join us!" Abu Adam says, raising his index finger. He lists all the things this earthly paradise has to offer: hospitals, doctors, pharmacies as well as a daycare center and school -- all, of course, "a long way from the front." After all, they don't want the children to be woken up by the roar of guns.


The latest recruitment video from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is a half-hour in length and is addressed to our "beloved" brothers and sisters back in Germany. The video is presented by, among others, Mounir Chouka, alias "Abu Adam," who grew up in the western German city of Bonn.

The video shows shacks erected against a backdrop of lush greenery and craggy rock formations. Women wearing blue burqas are seen surrounded by their children. One small girl is holding an artillery gun.

Welcome to the wild world of Waziristan, the region along the Afghan-Pakistani border controlled by Pashtun tribes, al-Qaida and other splinter groups which has become a regular target of US drones and their remote-controlled missiles.

Islamists Recruiting Entire Families

The ad for Waziristan appears to be finding fertile ground in Germany. Security officials here believe the IMU is currently the largest and most active Islamic group recruiting in the country. But there's an unusual development here, too -- militants don't normally recruit women and children as the IMU appears to be doing. The families move to mujahedeen villages in the rough terrain which are used as bases for supporting the battle against the US troops and the Afghan army.

The German government in Berlin is also examining the propaganda offensive. For several weeks, diplomats in the German Foreign Ministry have been negotiating with Islamabad over the fate of a group of suspected Islamists from Germany's Rhineland region who have been held in custody in Pakistan for several months now. The group includes a young Tunisian and six Germans, including Andreas M. of Bonn, a Muslim convert, and his Eritrean wife Kerya. A Child in Custody >>> By Yassin Musharbash and Holger Stark | Monday, September 21, 2009

Eidgenossen: Das verlorene Paradies
ZEIT ONLINE: Libyens Diktator Gadhafi will die Schweiz unter den Nachbarn aufteilen. Das weckt Urängste der Eidgenossen.

Zwei berühmte Schweizer Berge: Der Eiger (L) und der Mönch (R), zusammen bilden sie das Gebirgsmassiv Jungfrau. Bild: Zeit Online
Auch diesen Sommer gab sich die Elite der Schweiz bei der Eröffnung des Luzerner Klassikfestivals wieder die Ehre. Doch bevor Maestro Claudio Abbado den Taktstock hob, sprang der klein gewachsene Bundespräsident und Finanzminister der Schweiz, Hans-Rudolf Merz, auf die Bühne und sprach ein Grußwort. Die Musik, hob er mit fester Stimme an, spiele heute in Washington, London und Paris. Und da würden nicht etwa Die vier Jahreszeiten und auch nicht Peter und der Wolf gegeben. Dann rief er mit Zornesstimme ins Publikum: »Nein. Heute wird den kleinen Ländern der Marsch geblasen!« Der eruptive Applaus, der diesen Worten folgte, klang, als habe hier einer den Anwesenden aus dem Herzen gesprochen.

Die Schweizer fühlen sich umzingelt von einer Welt, die ihnen nicht nur Gutes will. Aus dem Kleinod im Herzen Europas ist eine Insel der Unglückseligen geworden. Die andern da draußen rütteln an den Grundfesten ihrer Identität, sie wollen dem Finanzplatz an den Kragen. Der deutsche Finanzminister Peer Steinbrück und die amerikanischen Steuerbehörden sind zu Feinden der Schweiz geworden. Auch Kanada, die Türkei und Indien forderten Einzelheiten über die Vermögen, die ihre Landsleute im Alpenstaat angelegt haben. Und der französische Finanzminister behauptete frech, er habe die Daten von 3000 Franzosen, die Kunden bei Schweizer Banken seien.

Das Leben erscheint dem Schweizer heute wie eine Kaskade von Niederlagen.

Und jetzt auch noch Oberst Muammar al-Gadhafi, Libyens Diktator und wütender Vater. Was war geschehen? Die Genfer Kantonspolizei hatte im vergangenen Jahr Gadhafis Sohn Hannibal und dessen Frau Aline im Luxushotel Président Wilson verhaftet. Zwei seiner libyschen Bediensteten hatten den Auslandsaufenthalt genutzt, um gegen ihre Arbeitgeber Anzeige zu erstatten wegen wiederholter körperlicher Misshandlungen. Gadhafi senior reagierte auf die Verhaftung umgehend. Er setzte zwei Schweizer Geschäftsmänner in Libyen fest, drosselte die Erdöllieferungen, zog Milliarden aus der Schweiz ab und stellte den Flugverkehr zwischen den beiden Ländern ein. Dann lieferte er den finalen, den tödlichen Vorstoß.

Am Rande des vergangenen G-8-Gipfels im italienischen LAquila verlangte er, die Schweiz aufzulösen und die einzelnen Landesteile den jeweiligen Nachbarländern zuzuschlagen: die Westschweiz den Franzosen, das Tessin den Italienern und die deutsche Schweiz den Deutschen. Das hatten schon Napoleons Generäle vorgeschlagen. Am 23. September wird Gadhafi vor der Vollversammlung der Vereinten Nationen in New York sprechen. Die Schweiz zittert schon – und hat drei Bundesräte nach New York beordert, um die drohenden Angriffe zu parieren. Aber das Land fürchtet eine neuerliche Blamage. … >>> Peer Teuwsen | Samstag, 19. September 2009

Folle semaine pour Obama
leJDD.fr: Proche-Orient, Iran, Afghanistan, réchauffement climatique et régulation financière mondiale… Barack Obama s'apprête à vivre une semaine à forts risques diplomatiques.

Fragilisé sur le plan intérieur – en grande partie en raison de l'opposition à sa réforme de l'assurance-maladie – Barack Obama entame une semaine diplomatique cruciale. Le programme est chargé: assemblée générale des Nations unies, rencontres bilatérales, sommet exceptionnel du Conseil de sécurité et G20 de Pittsburgh. Près d'un an après sa victoire du 4 novembre – et après ses nombreux discours marquants sur la politique étrangère des Etats-Unis, dont celui prononcé au Caire le 4 juin dernier -, le démocrate est attendu au tournant. S'il a, semble-t-il, réussi à restaurer l'image des Etats-Unis dans le monde, plutôt désastreuse après les deux mandatures de George W. Bush, il peine à concrétiser ses efforts.

Outre-Atlantique, les médias ne l'ont d'ailleurs pas épargné. Dans son édition dominicale, le New York Times estime ainsi que la "bonne volonté" du président américain n'a, pour l'heure, donné que "peu de résultats en politique étrangère". Et de dresser la (longue) liste des déconvenues: les pays européens n'ont pas cédé à la demande du président d'envoyer davantage de troupes en Afghanistan, Israël a refusé un compromis sur les colonies, la Corée du Nord a défié Washington en procédant à un essai nucléaire, le Japon a élu un parti "moins ami" des Etats-Unis, Cuba a peu libéralisé son système au regard des concessions faites ces dernières semaines par l'administration Obama, l'Inde et la Chine résistent toujours sur le plan climatique et enfin, la Russie rejette de nouvelles sanctions contre l'Iran.

Dans les travées des Nations unies à New York, puis à Pittsburgh à l'occasion du sommet du G20, Barack Obama va donc tenter de renverser la tendance. Il compte pour cela sur la première bonne nouvelle: Mahmoud Abbas et Benjamin Netanyahou ont accepté de se rencontrer, en sa présence, mardi, à New York. L'administration Obama veut y voir une occasion de relancer le dialogue au Proche-Orient, objectif central de la mandature démocrate. Reste que les observateurs attendent peu de cette rencontre, alors même que l'émissaire américain dans la région, George Mitchell, n'a pas réussi à obtenir un gel durable de la colonisation israélienne. Convaincre lors d'entretiens bilatéraux >>> Marianne Enault, leJDD.fr | Lundi 21 Septembre 2009

L'Iran abandonne le dollar au profit de l'euro
leJDD.fr: L'Iran a abandonné le dollar et est passé à l'euro pour estimer la valeur de son Fonds de stabilisation pétrolière (OSF), rapportent lundi les médias iraniens. La décision, prise par le président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, vise à protéger la république islamique de la fragilité de l'économie américaine et de la faiblesse du dollar, précise la radio publique. [Source: leJDD.fr] | Lundi 21 Septembre 2009

18 Year Multi-decorated War Hero Ousted Cause He's Gay

A former U.S. military chief of staff cited Israel’s experience in recommending allowing gays to openly join the military.

Gen. John Shalikashvili, who was chief of staff under President Clinton when the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was introduced, said it was time to move on to the next phase: open acceptance of gays in the military.

“I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces,” Shalikashvili wrote on Tuesday’s New York Times’ opinion page.

“Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job.

Shalikashvili cited “Israel, Britain and other allies in the fight against terrorism” as having militaries that have successfully integrated gays. [Source: The World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews]

What makes the US so special that it will not allow gays to serve openly in its military? The argument that allowing homosexuals to serve will have a deleterious effect on order, discipline, and morale is hooey! And military officers and the powers-that-be know it.

Gays are allowed to serve openly in many countries. To quote a few examples, they are allowed to serve openly in Australia, Canada, Israel, France, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, to name but a few countries. These countries certainly do not seem to have any problems or issues with allowing gays to serve openly. So what makes the US military so damn special and precious?

Would it be acceptable for the US military to stop blacks serving? No, I thought not. So what makes it acceptable to ban openly gay soldiers? And what makes it acceptable for such military personnel to be discharged for “homosexual conduct”?

This is all Dark Age stuff. The American military is showing itself to be little better than the Saudi military. Bigotry rules supreme there, too!

Bartleby asks the following question: Given that practically all of our major European allies - the EU countries with whom we normally align ourselves - openly allow gays in the military, why are we so reluctant to take that same step forward?

Please allow me to answer it.

The answer is simple: The powers-that-be in the American military are reactionary, ill-informed, backward-looking, bigotted, and just plain unfair. Many are religious conservatives; others are just plain self-righteous. It has little or nothing to do with either order, discipline, morale, or cohesion. Experience in the military in countries which allow gays to serve openly will attest to this.

Obama came to power promising to change this absurd Clintonian policy of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ – a cop-out of a policy if ever there was one. Let’s see now if Obama has the balls to follow through on his election promise. – © Mark

Gays in the Military: What About the UK, France, and Other EU Countries? >>> Bartleby | Sunday, March 19, 2006

HSBC Bids Farewell to Dollar Supremacy
THE TELEGRAPH: The sun is setting on the US dollar as the ultra-loose monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve forces China and the vibrant economies of the emerging world to forge a new global currency order, according to a new report by HSBC.

"The dollar looks awfully like sterling after the First World War," said David Bloom, the bank's currency chief.

"The whole picture of risk-reward for emerging market currencies has changed. It is not so much that they have risen to our standards, it is that we have fallen to theirs. It used to be that sovereign risk was mainly an emerging market issue but the events of the last year have shown that this is no longer the case. Look at the UK – debt is racing up to 100pc of GDP," he said[.]

Crucially, China and rising Asia have reached the point where they can no longer keep holding down their currencies to boost exports because this is causing mayhem to their own economies, stoking asset bubbles. Asia's "mercantilist mindset" of recent decades is about to be broken by the spectre of an inflation spiral.

The policy headache was already becoming clear in the final phase of the global credit boom but the financial crisis temporarily masked the effect. The pressures will return with a vengeance as these countries roar back to life, leaving the US and other laggards of the old world far behind.

A monetary policy of near zero rates – further juiced by quantitative easing – is completely incompatible with circumstances in most of Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. Divorce is inevitable. The US is expected to hold rates near zero through 2010 to tackle its own crisis. >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Sunday, September 20, 2009

'Millionnaire Policemen' Claim Gold-plated Pensions
THE TELEGRAPH: Three former policemen are benefiting from pension packages worth more than £3m each, creating a new breed of “millionaire police officer.”

The three officers Sir Hugh Orde, Sir Ronnie Flanagan and Sir Ian Johnston are receiving payments of up to £100,000 a year despite each taking up another lucrative job, either in the public or private sector.

Calculations by financial experts show the officers’ pension pots are worth between £3.3m and £4.7m as a result of payments based on two thirds of their final salary.

They are also entitled to a tax-free lump sum worth up to three times their final year’s salary and amounting to as much as £560,000.

The payments can be taken after 30 years of service, meaning that some officers can claim their retirement package at the age of 48.

Steve Webb, the Liberal Democrats’ work and pensions spokesman, said: “At the top of the public sector is an early retirement culture that belongs to a bygone age.”

The three officers are receiving up to £100,000 a year each in pension payments on top of an average £200,000 salary in their new jobs. >>> Duncan Gardham | Sunday, September 20, 2009

Barack Obama Ready to Slash US Nuclear Arsenal
THE GUARDIAN: Pentagon told to map out radical cuts as president prepares to chair UN talks

Photo: The Guardian
The finger-wagging President Barack Hussein ‘Now-You-Listen-To-Big-Daddé-And-Do-What-Big-Daddé-Says’ Obama, the one-time communiy organizer who shows a great desire to organize the international community along Obama lines wants to weaken America still further by slashing its nuclear arsenal. – © Mark

Barack Obama has demanded the Pentagon conduct a radical review of US nuclear weapons doctrine to prepare the way for deep cuts in the country's arsenal, the Guardian can reveal.

Obama has rejected the Pentagon's first draft of the "nuclear posture review" as being too timid, and has called for a range of more far-reaching options consistent with his goal of eventually abolishing nuclear weapons altogether, according to European officials.

Those options include:

• Reconfiguring the US nuclear force to allow for an arsenal measured in hundreds rather than thousands of deployed strategic warheads.

• Redrafting nuclear doctrine to narrow the range of conditions under which the US would use nuclear weapons.

• Exploring ways of guaranteeing the future reliability of nuclear weapons without testing or producing a new generation of warheads.

The review is due to be completed by the end of this year, and European officials say the outcome is not yet clear. But one official said: "Obama is now driving this process. He is saying these are the president's weapons, and he wants to look again at the doctrine and their role."

The move comes as Obama prepares to take the rare step of chairing a watershed session of the UN security council on Thursday. It is aimed at winning consensus on a new grand bargain: exchanging more radical disarmament by nuclear powers in return for wider global efforts to prevent further proliferation.

That bargain is at the heart of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which is up for review next year amid signs it is unravelling in the face of Iranian and North Korean nuclear ambitions. >>> Julian Borger | Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sarkozy and de Villepin Enter Court Battle Over Alleged Smear Campaign
THE GUARDIAN: Smear campaign charges centre on kickback claims / Clearstream trial threatens to damage country's elite

It has been billed as France's political trial of the decade, a saga worthy of the darkest spy thriller that threatens to expose poisonous machinations and backstabbing at the highest reaches of the French state.

Tomorrow morning, in the courtroom where Marie-Antoinette was ordered to be beheaded in 1793, a legal battle will begin that is unprecedented in modern French history. France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is the key plaintiff in a trial accusing the former prime minister Dominique de Villepin of running an elaborate smear campaign to damage Sarkozy's chances in the 2007 presidential election campaign. If De Villepin is found guilty of a plot to torpedo Sarkozy's political career, he could face five years in prison.

But the so-called "Clearstream" trial involves not just the all-consuming hatred and rivalry between two of France's most prominent politicians. It also threatens to damage the standing of the French intelligence services and business world. Scores of plaintiffs and witness from the highest levels of French politics, senior spies and businessmen, will take part in the trial which former president Jacques Chirac once warned would damage the entire French political class.

Sarkozy is so bent on justice that he has vowed to hang those responsible for the alleged plot "on a butcher's hook". De Villepin, who privately refers to Sarkozy as "the dwarf", denies wrongdoing, saying the president is "obsessed" and "meddling" in the justice system by forcing the case to trial.

The saga dates back to 2004, when Sarkozy and De Villepin were rival ministers under Chirac and both possible runners for the 2007 presidency. Sarkozy, the young, ambitious finance minister who had turned against Chirac, his one-time mentor, was the favourite to lead the country. De Villepin, who served as foreign and interior minister before becoming prime minister, was an aristocratic career diplomat, a Napoleon fan who Chirac called his "commando-in-chief".

In the summer of 2004, an anonymous source wrote to one of France's investigating judges, accusing a string of politicians and businessmen of holding secret bank accounts at the Luxembourg bank Clearstream. The accounts were said to have been used for laundering kickbacks from the £1.5bn sale of French frigates to Taiwan in 1991. On the lists of supposedly crooked account holders were scores of politicians from the right and left, top businessmen, leading journalists, even a famous female actor. … >>> Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Sunday, September 20, 2009

’Britain-obsessed’ Asylum Seekers Should Be Let Into UK at Earliest Convenience, Says Europe’s Justice Commissioner
DAILY MAIL: Europe's Justice Commissioner will today demand a change in the law to allow 'Britain-obsessed' asylum seekers into the UK at their earliest convenience.

Jacques Barrot, a former French minister, believes the reform would assist migrants who are sleeping rough in Calais, waiting for a chance to enter Britain.

This includes hundreds who will be evicted this week from the notorious 'Jungle' squat in the town, which riot police plan to destroy.

Under current law the asylum seekers should be sent back to the country where they entered the EU.

But, referring to a proposal which would allow foreigners to claim asylum in any EU country they want, Mr Barrot said: 'In order for the closure of the Jungle to make sense, it is necessary to share the burden between France and Great Britain.

'There should be a solidarity within the EU over asylum.

'National solutions to the problem are not viable.

'The people who are in Calais have crossed Europe and have one obsession - to get to Great Britain. >>> Peter Allen | Monday, September 21, 2009

Muslims Mass-producing Children to Take Over Africa, Says Archbishop
Spot on, Bish! If you hadn’t noticed, this is what Muslims have been doing in the West for years, but the tossers that are said to lead us won’t acknowledge it. – © Mark

TIMES ONLINE: One of the most powerful figures in the Anglican Church believes that Africa is under attack from Islam and that Muslims are “mass-producing” children to take over communities on the continent.

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, 56, was elected Primate of Nigeria last week and his elevation could exacerbate tensions at a time when Anglicans are working to build bridges with Muslims. Dr Michael Nazir-Ali resigned as Bishop of Rochester earlier this year to work in countries where Islam is the majority religion.

Nigeria is split almost half and half between Christianity and Islam. There are about 17 million practising Anglicans in the country, but they face persecution in the north, while the two faiths vie with local religions for supremacy in the rest of the country.

Archbishop Okoh made his controversial comments about Islam in a sermon in Beckenham, Kent, in July. He said that there was a determined Islamic attack in African countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.

“They spend a lot of money, even in places where they don’t have congregations, they build mosques, they build hospitals, they build anything.

“They come to Africans and say, ‘Christianity is asking you to marry only one wife. We will give you four!’ ” Archbishop Okoh described this as “evangelism by mass-production”. >>> Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | Monday, September 21, 2009

Proche-Orient : Barack Obama relance les négociations
LE TEMPS: Le président américain rencontrera le Premier ministre israélien, Benjamin Netanyahu, et le dirigeant palestinien, Mahmoud Abbas, mardi à New York pour «préparer le terrain à une relance des négociations» au Proche-Orient. La rencontre suit de près l’échec d’une mission de l’emissaire américain dans la région

Le président américain, Barack Obama, rencontrera le Premier ministre israélien, Benjamin Netanyahu, et le dirigeant palestinien, Mahmoud Abbas, mardi à New York pour «préparer le terrain à une relance des négociations» au Proche-Orient, a annoncé samedi la Maison Blanche.

Ce sommet tripartite sera «immédiatement précédé» de rencontres bilatérales entre M. Obama et chacun des deux responsables avant l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies, a précisé la présidence américaine dans un communiqué.

Les trois dirigeants tenteront de «préparer le terrain pour une reprise des négociations et créer un contexte favorable qui permette le succès de ces négociations», indique le communiqué, alors que l’émissaire spécial américain pour le Proche-Orient, George Mitchell, est rentré bredouille vendredi d’une mission de quatre jours dans la région. >>> AFP | Dimanche 20 Septembre 2009

Le monde musulman célèbre la fin du ramadan
EN IMAGES: De l'Irak à l'Indonésie, en passant par Jérusalem, les musulmans fêtent l'Aïd al Fitr qui marque la fin du mois sacré de jeune du ramadan. >>>

President Barack Obama Is Beginning to Look Out of His Depth
THE TELEGRAPH: It is lovely to feature in other people's dreams. The problem comes when they wake up. Barack Obama is an eloquent, brainy and likeable man with a fascinating biography. He is not George Bush. Those are great qualities. But they are not enough to lead America, let alone the world.

Admittedly, the presidential to-do list is terrifying. The economy requires his full-time attention. So does health-care reform. And climate change. Indeed, he deserves praise for spending so much time on thankless foreign policy issues. He is tackling all the big problems: restarting Middle East peace talks, defanging Iran and North Korea and a "reset" of relations with Russia. But none of them are working.

Regimes in Moscow, Pyongyang and Tehran simply pocket his concessions and carry on as before. The picture emerging from the White House is a disturbing one, of timidity, clumsiness and short-term calculation. Some say he is the weakest president since Jimmy Carter.

The grizzled veterans of the Democratic leadership in Congress have found Mr Obama and his team of bright young advisers a pushover. That has gravely weakened his flagship domestic campaign, for health-care reform, which fails to address the greatest weakness of the American system: its inflated costs. His free trade credentials are increasingly tarnished too. His latest blunder is imposing tariffs on tyre imports from China, in the hope of gaining a little more union support for health care. But at a time when America's leadership in global economic matters has never been more vital, that is a dreadful move, hugely undermining its ability to stop other countries engaging in a ruinous spiral of protectionism. Even good moves are ruined by bad presentation. … >>> Edward Lucas* | Sunday, September 20, 2009

*Edward Lucas writes for The Economist and is the author of The New Cold War (Bloomsbury, £8.99)

Obama und Sarkozy uneins vor G-20-Gipfel: Wie sollen künftige Finanzkrisen verhindert werden?
NZZ am SONNTAG: Die Meinungen, wie künftige Finanzkrisen verhindert werden können, differieren. Doch die US-Banken werden immer grösser.

Im Vorfeld des Weltfinanzgipfels in Pittsburgh übertreffen sich die teilnehmenden Regierungen gegenseitig mit Reformvorschlägen. Dabei wird immer deutlicher, dass die Ansichten, was zur Vermeidung künftiger Finanzkrisen getan werden soll, weit auseinanderliegen. Während die USA vor allem schärfere Kapitalvorschriften für Banken durchsetzen wollen, steht für Europa die Begrenzung der Boni im Mittelpunkt. Damit sind bei dem Treffen am 24. und 25. September hitzige Debatten absehbar.

Der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama war Anfang der Woche an die Wall Street gekommen, um mit einer Rede am Ursprungsort der Krise den Druck zu erhöhen. Dabei erwähnte er die seit Monaten schwelende Boni-Debatte nur in einem Nebensatz. Dafür machte er sich dafür stark, die geplanten strengeren Eigenkapitalvorschriften für US-Banken auch weltweit einzuführen. «Während die USA ihr Regulierungssystem aggressiv reformieren, werden wir daran arbeiten, dass der Rest der Welt dasselbe tut», sagte Obama. Dahinter steht die Sorge, dass US-Banken einen Wettbewerbsnachteil haben könnten, falls sie in Zukunft höhere Eigenkapitalquoten einhalten müssten als ihre europäischen Rivalen. Institute wie die Deutsche Bank und die UBS hatten vor der Eskalation der Finanzkrise vor einem Jahr einen besonders hohen Verschuldungsgrad. Gegen Exzesse bei den Boni >>> Von Sebastian Bräuer, New York | Sonntag, 20. September 2009

It’s a Hoot!

Hat tip: Porky the Crusader >>>

Three Afghans Held over US 'Plot'
BBC: Three men have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to launch an attack in the United States, the US Justice Department says.

Two Afghan-born men, a father and son, were arrested in Denver, Colorado.

A third man, also from Afghanistan, was later detained in New York, the department said.

The men are accused of making false statements related to "a matter involving international and domestic terrorism", the statement said.

The FBI was investigating several people "in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere, relating to a plot to detonate improvised explosive devices in the United States", the Justice Department said in court documents related to the arrests.

US media have reported that the investigation was focusing on a possible plan to attack a public area in New York.

David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security, said the arrests were part of "an ongoing and fast-paced investigation".

"It is important to note that we have no specific information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack," AFP news agency quoted him as saying. >>> | Sunday, September 20, 2009

Watch BBC video: Father and son are detained in Denver, Colorado >>>

Amnesty Calls for Repeal of New Anti-gay Laws in Indonesia
PINK NEWS: Amnesty International has demanded that a new Indonesian bylaw that endorses stoning to death for adultery and caning of up to 100 lashes for homosexuality should be repealed immediately.

The local Islamic Criminal Code was passed by the Aceh Provincial House of Representatives on Monday. 
It forbids a number of acts including alcohol consumption, gambling, intimacy between unmarried couples, adultery and fornication, and homosexuality.

In a statement released today Amnesty International said:

"We are concerned by provisions that criminalize adultery and homosexuality.

"Indonesian authorities must ensure that such provisions are repealed in conformity with international law and standards relating to physical and mental integrity and equality before the law."

The bill caused outcry from human rights groups when it was revealed on Monday.

"The new criminal bylaw flies in the face of international human rights law as well as provisions of the Indonesian constitution," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director.

"Stoning to death is particularly cruel and constitutes torture, which is absolutely forbidden under all circumstances in international law." >>> Staff Writer, Pink News | Friday, September 18, 2009

Muslim Lovers to Be Caned for Trying to Have Sex in a Car
MAIL ONLINE: An engaged Muslim couple who tried to have sex in a car have been sentenced to be caned by a Sharia court in Malaysia.

Islamic religious police caught Mohamad Shahrin Abdul Majid, 29, and Nadiah Najat Hussin, 24, wearing only their underwear in a car at an office parking area in May.

They pleaded guilty to trying to have sex out of wedlock and were sentenced to six strokes of the cane. They were also fined £1,000 each.

The couple, who plan to marry soon, are appealing against the caning but they have paid the fines.

The maximum sentence for the offence under Islamic law is three years in jail. >>> | Friday, September 18, 2009

Dhimmitude Alert! Don’t Eat Near Ramadan Fasters, Home Office Staff Told
MAIL ONLINE: Home Office staff were officially warned not to eat in front of their fasting Muslim colleagues during Ramadan – in case it made them feel hungry.

The advice came in a taxpayer-funded internal document listing do’s and don’ts during the Muslim holy month, which ends this weekend.

But the guide is now at the centre of a row with Islamic groups who said it was more likely to incite hatred of Muslims than promote understanding.

The Home Office Islamic Network produced the five-page information sheet which says: ‘In practical terms, please be sensitive when eating lunch near a Muslim colleague who is fasting.

This can make an individual feel hungrier and make it more challenging to observe the fast. >>> Jason Lewis | Saturday, September 19, 2009

Christian Nurse Removed from Frontline Duty for Wearing Cross Necklace
MAIL ONLINE: A Christian nurse was taken off frontline duties after she refused to take off a necklace bearing a cross.

Shirley Chaplin said she believed The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust Hospital was trying to prevent her from expressing religious beliefs.

But the trust said the policy had nothing to do with the crucifix specifically, and was motivated by health and safety concerns about patients grabbing necklaces.

Mrs Chaplin, 54, from Exeter, said: 'For about 30 years I have worked in the NHS and nursed patients day and night and on no occasion has my cross caused me or anyone else any injury - and to my knowledge, no patient has ever complained about me wearing it.

'The Trust even refused to test the 'breaking strain' on the necklace.'

Mrs Chaplin, who is due to retire in eight months, added: 'Everyone I have ever worked with has clearly known I am a Christian: it is what motivates me to care for others.'

She claimed other members of staff have been allowed to wear necklaces.

The Trust said necklaces of all kinds were banned but admitted there may have been 'lapses'. >>> | Sunday, September 20, 2009

UK Gives Libyans Bomb Lessons
THE SUNDAY TIMES: BRITAIN has been secretly training Libyan security officers in the methods used by terrorists to make bombs.

At least 20 Libyan police officers have attended explosives training courses at a specialist counter-terrorism school in Wiltshire.

They were taught how terrorists obtain, handle and use explosives and the electronic components of bomb-making, and how they construct improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The training was approved in advance by the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. >>> David Leppard | Sunday, September 20, 2009

Islamic Search Engine ImHalal Hailed a Success
TIMES ONLINE: The world’s first "Islamic orientated" internet search engine, which flags content that might be considered "haraam" – or forbidden – by Muslims, has been hailed a success by its creators after it attracted more than 500,000 users in its first two weeks on the web.

ImHalal.com has been designed to "help Muslims explore the internet in a safe and clean environment", according to Reza Sardeha, the 20-year-old business management student who runs it.

Mr Sardeha, who is based in Amsterdam, told The Times: "We already have received quite a number of positive feedback from Non-Muslims saying they have set ImHalal.com as their homepage so that their children can explore the internet without coming across ‘filth’ as well."

The site works by assigning the search terms that are plugged in by users a "haraam level", which indicates the likelihood of the results they bring up touching upon things forbidden under Islam.

If a term is deemed completely safe, the results pop up immediately.

By contrast, tapping in the search term "pig", an animal that Muslims are not allowed to eat, prompts a warning that the word has been assigned a "haraam level" of "1", and the user is alerted that the results may be offensive. The user is then given the choice of viewing the results regardless, or of abandoning his search.

The Satanic Verses, the Salman Rushdie novel that led to a fatwa being put on the author’s head, gets a haraam rating of two - suggesting there is a higher chance of running into dangerous content.

"Pornography" triggers a haraam rating of three – the highest score, which indicates the highest likelihood of finding forbidden material. >>> Rhys Blakely | Thursday, September 17, 2009

'Castrated Vikings' Row Hits Sweden
THE SUNDAY TIMES: FURIOUS debate has erupted in Sweden about a former beauty queen’s attack on the country’s drive for a genderless society, which she claims has turned men into “nappy-changing” sissies and women into frumps who “neglect their husbands’ needs”.

Comments posted on the internet by Anna Anka, a former Miss Sweden living in California with her husband Paul Anka, the singer and songwriter, provoked howls of outrage from women. There were also cheers from men who agreed that the Scandinavian push for gender equality had gone too far with the recent emergence of males wishing to breastfeed their babies.

“Swedish dads are tragic with all their nappy-changing and equality,” wrote Anka, 38, the star of a television reality show about Swedish women married to wealthy Americans. “American dads do not prepare dinner and do not iron, they work and provide for their families.” In America, “men are men and women are women”.


She added that it was the woman’s role to keep the man sexually satisfied. “If she does not, then she only has herself to blame if he is unfaithful,” said Anka, whose husband is 29 years her senior.

This was a red rag to a bull for feminists. One called her “an insult to women”. Another saw her as proof that “there is something seriously wrong with the Swedish gene pool”.

Not everyone was hostile, however. “Bravo! Finally a sensible Swedish woman,” wrote “Jack Sprat”. Swedish men had allowed themselves to be “castrated . . . The Vikings must be turning in their graves”. >>> | Sunday, September 20, 2009

Christian Hotel Owners Hauled Before Court After Defending Their Beliefs in Discussion with Muslim Guest
MAIL ONLINE: A Christian couple have been charged with a criminal offence after taking part in what they regarded as a reasonable discussion about religion with guests at their hotel.

Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang were arrested after a Muslim woman complained to police that she had been offended by their comments.

They have been charged under public order laws with using ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words’ that were ‘religiously aggravated’.

The couple, whose trial has been set for December, face a fine of up to £5,000 and a criminal record if they are convicted.

Although the facts are disputed, it is thought that during the conversation the couple were challenged over their Christian beliefs.

It is understood that they suggested that Mohammed, the founder of Islam, was a warlord and that traditional Muslim dress for women was a form of bondage.

They deny, however, that their comments were threatening and argue that they had every right to defend and explain their beliefs.

Mrs Vogelenzang, 54, who has run the Bounty House Hotel near Aintree racecourse in Liverpool with her husband Ben, 53, for six years, said: ‘Nothing like this has happened to us before. We are completely shocked.’

She added that the episode had damaged their business and they had been forced to lay off staff and run the nine-bedroom hotel by themselves, leaving them exhausted. >>> Jonathan Petre | Sunday, September 20, 2009

Rise of the Nazis
Watch Discovery Channel video here

Un Français remporte 100 millions d'euros à l'Euro Millions
LE MONDE: C'est l'équivalent de 83 siècles de Smic, du prix de deux Airbus A-320 ou le montant du transfert du footballeur portugais Cristiano Ronaldo au 
Real de Madrid... Un Français des Bouches-du-Rhône a gagné vendredi la somme record de 100 millions d'euros lors du tirage de l'Euro Millions. Le chanceux été le seul a cocher les sept bons numéros – 6, 16, 30, 38, 41 et les deux bonnes étoiles 2, 4 – de cette loterie européenne qui réunit neuf pays : la France, le Royaume-Uni, l'Irlande, l'Espagne, le Portugal, la Belgique, la Suisse, le Luxembourg et l'Autriche.

Le gagnant partait de loin : chaque joueur a une chance sur 76 millions de cocher ces sept bons numéros du premier rang. Selon les statistiques de la Française Des Jeux (FDJ), 199 gagnants ont trouvé les 5 bons numéros et les deux étoiles du premier rang dans les neuf pays, dont 54 en France depuis le lancement du jeu en 2004. Un énorme coup de chance donc, même si le gain reste encore assez loin du record historique de l'Euro Millions. Le 8 mai, une espagnole avait empoché plus de 126 millions d'euros. >>> LeMonde.fr avec AFP | Samedi 19 Septembre 2009

Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in 
the Middle East
AL BAB.com: Homosexuality is still taboo in the Arab countries. While clerics denounce it as a heinous sin, newspapers, reluctant to address it directly, talk cryptically of ‘shameful acts’ and ‘deviant behaviour’. Despite growing acceptance of sexual diversity in many parts of the world, attitudes in the Middle East have been hardening against it.

In this absorbing account, Guardian journalist Brian Whitaker paints a disturbing picture of people who live secretive, often fearful lives; of daughters and sons beaten and ostracised by their families or sent to be ‘cured’ by psychiatrists; of men imprisoned and flogged for ‘behaving like women’; of others who have been jailed simply for trying to find love on the Internet.

Amid all the talk of reform in the Middle East, homosexuality is one issue that almost everyone in the region would prefer to ignore, and yet there are pockets of change and tolerance. Deeply informed and engagingly written, Unspeakable Love draws long overdue attention to this crucial subject. >>> Brian Whitaker | Sunday, June 07, 2009 (Last revision)

Amazon.co.uk >>>
Saqi Books >>>
University of California Press >>>
Amazon.com >>>
Arabic translation >>>

Statement by Barack Hussein Obama , the President of the United States of America, on the Occasion of Eid ul-Fitr
This administration is consumed by dhimmitude and appeasement! – © Mark
THE WHITE HOUSE: As Muslims in the United States and around the world complete the month of Ramadan and celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, Michelle and I would like to extend our personal greetings on this joyous occasion. Eid is a time to celebrate the completion of 30 days and nights of devotion. But even on this festive occasion, Muslims remember those less fortunate, including those impacted by poverty, hunger, conflict, and disease. Throughout the month, Muslim communities collect and distribute zakat-ul-fitr so that all Muslims are able to participate in this day of celebration. As I said in Cairo, my Administration is working to ensure that Muslims are able to fulfill their charitable obligations not just during Ramadan, but throughout the year. On behalf of the American people, we congratulate Muslims in the United States and around the world on this blessed day. Eid Mubarak. [Source: The White House] | Saturday, September 19, 2009

THE WHITE HOUSE:
Eid Mubarak >>> Posted by D. Paul Monteiro* | Saturday, September 19, 2009

*Paul Monteiro is Deputy Associate Director, White House Office of Public Engagement

Dhimmitude at The White House! Secretary Clinton’s Eid-ul-Fitr Message

La fin du Ramadan célébrée dimanche dans la plupart des pays arabes
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: RYAD | La fête du Fitr, marquant la fin du mois de jeûne sacré musulman du ramadan, sera célébrée dimanche dans la plupart des pays arabes, ont annoncé samedi les autorités.

Un musulman sunnite cherche la présence de la nouvelle lune, qui annonce la fin du Ramadan, le 19 septembre 2009 à Bagdad. Crédits photo : Tribune de Genève
Dans un communiqué, le cabinet royal en Arabie saoudite a précisé que le premier croissant du mois lunaire de chawal avait été observé par plusieurs témoins et confirmé par la Cour suprême du royaume.

Le début comme la fin du mois du ramadan sont déterminés par l'observation du croissant de lune. >>> AFP | Dimanche 20 Septembre 2009

Artist David Hockney Slams Smoking Ban
YAHOO! NEWS: Artist David Hockney has said he loathes the Labour Government for interfering in his life by introducing the smoking ban.

The 72-year-old lifelong smoker is backing a cross-party group of MPs who want the ban to be relaxed, so people can light up in designated rooms in pubs.

Hockney told the BBC's Politics Show that he was appalled to find that his local cafe in east Yorkshire no longer allowed people to smoke at tables outside, because they were frightened that smoke would waft inside and breach the law.

He said Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his predecessor Tony Blair were responsible and added: "I loathe them for it."

Hockney also took a swipe at the Government's "nanny state attitude", saying that if ministers had told the late TV chef Keith Floyd to give up rich food, alcohol and cigarettes in order to live longer, "he would have said to them that's not what I call living. Up yours! >>> ITN | Sunday, September 20, 2009