Pakistani Government Minister: Obama For Caliph!
HUMAN EVENTS: The caliph in Sunni Islam is the symbol of the supranational unity of the Muslims, and is the successor of Muhammad as the military, political, and spiritual leader of the Islamic community. There hasn’t been a caliph for nearly 90 years, but now Pakistan’s Minister of State for Industries, Ayatullah Durrani, has a novel idea for just the right man for the job: Barack Obama!



The caliphate was abolished in 1924 by the secular Turkish government; foremost on the agenda of Islamic supremacists worldwide is its restoration. Hamstringing that effort, however, has been the lack of a candidate who would be acceptable to everyone concerned. The elusive one-eyed Islamic cleric who leads the Taliban in Afghanistan, Mullah Omar, was declared caliph—Emir al-Momineen, or Leader of the Believers—by his followers in 1994.

Omar went to the Shrine of the Respectable Cloak of Muhammad in Kandahar, climbed up onto its roof, and wrapped himself in the Muslim prophet’s cloak, to the jubilation of his followers below. But Omar's claim to the caliphate has been complicated by a number of matters since then—notably the toppling of the Taliban from state power by American forces—and his claim to the caliphate has been acknowledged by only one group outside Afghanistan: Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a group formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat—a name that shares none of the U.S. government’s delicacy about identifying Islamic preaching as a not infrequent source of jihad violence.

The restoration of the caliphate is foremost on the agenda of the global mujahedin because, according to Islamic law, the caliph alone can declare offensive jihad against infidel nations—which is why Osama bin Laden and other jihad theorists cast all the present actions of Islamic jihadists as defensive.

Islamic supremacists also see the abolition of the caliphate as the loss of the unity of the umma, the Islamic community worldwide; they see a divided Islamic umma as a weakened one, subject to buffeting and humiliation from colonialist and neo-colonialist powers. >>> Robert Spencer | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Related >>>

Belgique : les Wallons lèvent le tabou de la scission
LE FIGARO: Après l'échec des négociations entre Flamands et francophones, les politiques wallons évoquent pour la première fois une éventuelle scission.

L'hypothèse d'une scission du pays commence à faire son chemin dans le monde politique belge francophone. Plusieurs représentants de premier plan ont ouvertement évoqué cette éventualité dimanche après l'échec des négociations entre Wallons et indépendantistes Flamands qui auraient dû aboutir vendredi à la formation d'un gouvernement. Les déclarations sont toutes venues du parti socialiste, vainqueur des récentes élections législatives du 13 juin en Wallonie. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010

Prince Charles Embarks on Lavish Train Trip to Spread Green Message
THE GUARDIAN: Eight carriages for a core party of 14 people to preach a message of sustainability on week-long tour of Britain

Prince Charles boards the royal train at Glasgow Central station. Photograph: The Guardian
As a mode of transport, the royal train suits Prince Charles down to his hand-made brogues: resolutely old-fashioned, rather costly for the taxpayer, but just possibly ahead of its time.

The locomotive this afternoon hauled the prince out of Glasgow station, furnished with the prince's bespoke study, a grand dining room and bedroom suite, complete with bath and his and hers beds, on the start of a four-day tour of Britain that will cost the taxpayer at least £50,000.

The contrast between the train's opulence, which seemed worthy of an oligarch, and the purpose of its journey was, to some, jarring. Charles has begun a week-long trip to persuade his "subjects" to go green, and the train from which he has chosen to assert his voice in the climate debate has been converted to run on cooking fat, which, its suppliers estimate, creates just one-eighth of the carbon dioxide of oil-based diesel.

Until Friday the prince will criss-cross Scotland, England and Wales to "extol the virtues of a sustainability revolution", preaching the benefits of towelling nappies, cycling, and European city breaks by train. The "Start" campaign, as he is badging the initiative, "doesn't lecture or hector anyone, nor does it attempt to frighten", he insisted today. To run the campaign, which could cost £2m a year, he has hired a leading marketing executive from B&Q, Jo Kenrick, and signed up major sponsors including Asda, BT and EDF.

"What I hope to get across to as many people as possible is that, however awful the predicament we face with climate change and the unsustainable use of resources that keep us all alive, we aren't going to get anywhere by telling everyone they need to stop doing things," he said on the platform. "There has been quite enough of that in recent years."

But even before his train set off to the sound of a lone piper, the prince was facing perhaps inevitable accusations of double standards for using lavish transport – eight carriages for a core party of just 14 people – to preach a message of sustainability.

"I'm not sure he'll get that many people jumping on his bandwagon," said Nicky Coles, 38, a child carer who watched Charles roll up to the launch in a motorcade of petrol-guzzling cars. "He's a royal. He has the money to go green while Joe Bloggs hasn't. He can get his gardener to grow organic vegetables while the rest of us go to the supermarket and pay more." Read on and comment >>> Robert Booth | Monday, September 06, 2010

Anniversary of the Blitz: 'I Thought, I Cannot Be Alive'


THE TELEGRAPH: On the 70th anniversary of the start of the aerial bombing that devastated British cities, Juliet Gardiner recalls eight months of terror and hardship, and the rise of the 'Blitz spirit'.

Len Jones spent the night of Saturday September 7 1940 in a brick-built public shelter in Poplar, east London, which "lifted and moved, almost as if it was a ship in a rough sea. And the suction and the blasts were coming in and out of the steel door, smashing backwards and forwards, bashing us against the walls…

"The worst part was the poor little kids, they were screaming and crying and clutching their parents. The heat was colossal; the steel door was so hot you couldn't touch it. And everybody was being sick, and people were having to carry on their normal bodily needs, and the smell was terrible."

It was the first night of the Blitz that would last for eight exhausting and perilous months, with German bombs pounding the towns, cities, ports and industrial sites of Britain. The Battle of Britain, in which the Luftwaffe targeted British airfields and aircraft in an attempt to gain air supremacy, had clearly not succeeded in persuading the British to surrender as Hitler had hoped. Although he had no particular wish to fight Britain, since his ambitions lay east, towards Russia, the Führer needed British acquiescence and it was clear that this was not forthcoming. Britain would "fight on, if necessary alone", said Churchill after the fall of France. "We will never surrender."

So German tactics changed: although the dogfights in the air over southern England continued, the Luftwaffe switched its bomber force to attack London in an attempt to destroy Britain's capacity to wage war. London would be bombed without cessation for 57 consecutive nights. And, although in November the aerial attacks fanned out to the provinces, starting with Coventry and extending to Merseyside, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Clydeside, Hull, Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Portsmouth, Plymouth and many other places, it was as if London was a magnet attracting the bombers back to devastate the capital.

That first terrible night set the pattern for the Blitz. First, the bombers would drop incendiary bombs; if left unattended, these would start fires that would absorb the resources of the Civil Defence workers and act as a beacon for the next wave of bombers, which would drop deadly high explosive bombs, ranging in weight from 112lb to the "Max" at 5,500lb. Although the targets were munitions factories, docks and administrative centres, the notion of precision bombing was a chimera and, in any case, in the 1940s industrial and residential areas lay cheek by jowl in Britain's towns and cities. "Collateral damage" invariably included a grim tally of homes and lives. >>> Juliet Gardiner* | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

* Juliet Gardiner is the author of 'The Blitz: The British Under Attack' published this week (Harper Press, £25)

Picture Gallery: Wartime propaganda >>>

Picture Gallery: Vintage Ministry of Food posters >>>

Related >>>

Australia Election: Labour's Julia Gillard Retains Power after Securing Support of Independents
THE TELEGRAPH: Julia Gillard, the Australia's Labour Prime Minister, has clung onto power after forming a fragile coalition government with a majority of one seat in the country's parliament.



The country's first woman leader, who came to office after a Labour revolt just 10 weeks ago, scraped over the line to form a government with support from the "kingmakers" after 17 days of frantic post-election talks.

After two weeks of negotiations following inconclusive election results, the country's first woman leader scraped over the line to form a government ahead of conservative rival Tony Abbott.

"Labour is prepared to govern," she said. "I believe the Australian people, given the closeness of this vote, want us to find more common ground in the national interest."

"I will work tirelessly to do what we said we would do, and that is to forge a new paradigm of modern government in this country," We are prepared to go forward to serve the Australian people. I begin this task more optimistic and more confident than ever before in the Australian people and our hopes and aspirations." >>> | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

China to Build $2bn Railway for Iran
THE TELEGRAPH: China is poised to sign a $2bn (£1.3bn) deal to build a railway line in Iran in the first step of a wider plan to tie the Middle East and Central Asia to Beijing.

The Chinese have already built a railway line serving Tibet, above, and now plan a modern variant on the old 'Silk Road' through Central Asia. Photo: The Telegraph
China's railways minister, Liu Zhijun, is expected to visit Tehran this week to seal the deal, according to his Iranian counterpart, Hamid Behbahani.

"The final document of the contract has already been signed with a Chinese company and the Chinese minister will visit Iran on September 12 to ink the agreement," said Mr Behbahani.

The new line will run from Tehran to the town of Khosravi on the border with Iraq, around 360 miles as the crow flies, passing through Arak, Hamedan and Kermanshah.

Eventually, the Iranian government said, the route could link Iran with Iraq and even Syria as part of a Middle-Eastern corridor. That could also benefit the 5,000 Iranians who make pilgrimages each day to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq.

Nicklas Swanstrom, the executive director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said the contract to build the line was the first step for China to build an entire rail infrastructure for central Asia.

"It makes sense that if you build railways in Iran, you then get deals to stretch the lines into central Asia," he said, referring to a "very concrete plan" to run a railway from Iran through the landlocked countries of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and eventually to Kashgar in China, in a modern "silk route". >>> Malcolm Moore in Shanghai | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

China’s GDP >>>

Western profits wilt on China's surging wages: Rising wage and production costs in China are eating into the profits of Western companies and may soon set off an exodus of multinational companies to cheaper locations. >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Turkey Joins Europe, Electrically Speaking
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Turkey may be frustrated in its bid to become part of the European Union, but by the end of September, it will join Europe’s electric grid.

Most electric systems in continental Europe — including those in countries like Poland and Romania — have synchronized currents, allowing electricity to flow easily from country to country. But other nations, including Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Finland and until now, Turkey, have remained separate.

Turkey has been trying to connect for 10 years. Like Europe, it uses an alternating current, with the electrons dancing back and forth 50 times a second, but its system has been out of phase with the European grid.

Now, after extensive work by General Electric to enable Turkey’s system to connect, the country will join up for a one-year trial, according to the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity. >>> Matthew L. Wald | Monday, September 06, 2010

Bilal Assad
If you think this man is an Arab, you’ll be mistaken. He’s an Australian! A convert to Islam.

"Bilal was born in Williamstown, Melbourne, Australia. He started his Islamic studies at a very early age and acquired his Shariah knowledge in Lebanon; and continued tertiary education in Bio-Medical Science in Australia. Bilal has been offering his service to the community for many years and has been working with the Islamic Society of Victoria for over ten years. idca.org.au " [Source: Kallamullah.com]

Valentina Matviyenko: Meet Russia's Thatcher, the Chemist Who Could End Up in the Kremlim
Valentina Matviyenko. Photo: The Independent
THE INDEPENDENT: Russia's next presidential election is not until 2012, but speculation is already rife about whether Dmitry Medvedev will try for a second term or whether his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, will want to reclaim his old job. The one thing almost everyone can agree on is that they will not stand against each other. But there might just be a third way, and that third way could give Russia its very own Margaret Thatcher or Angela Merkel.

Even to mention the possibility risks crushing Valentina Matviyenko's prospects well before nominations open. But if anyone can do it, the 61-year-old Governor of St Petersburg may be the one. In the past seven years, during which she has been essentially the city's chief executive, the city has changed conspicuously for the better.

Vast investment by the central government improved the city's dilapidated fabric in time for the 300th anniversary in 2003. But the bigger changes have happened since, with huge new housing and commercial building projects and, most conspicuously, a transformation of the public mood. For the first time in my more than 30 years of visiting, people on the streets of St Petersburg seem confident and content with themselves. >>> Mary Dejevsky in St Petersburg | Monday, September 06, 2010

Väterchen Staat als Unternehmer
NZZ am SONNTAG: Washington greift so stark in die US-Wirtschaft ein wie nie zuvor. Kaum ein Sektor, in dem das Weisse Haus nicht mitmischt. Damit will der Staat den Abstieg Amerikas verhindern. Von Felix Wadewitz, New York

Offiziell strebt General Motors (GM) an die Börse, um sich aus der Umarmung des Staats zu lösen. Kein Kritiker soll mehr über «Government Motors» spotten können. Seit Präsident Obama GM mit 50 Mrd. $ vor dem Untergang bewahrte, gehören 61% dem Staat. Für viele Amerikaner ist das ein Unding. Die Hälfte der Bevölkerung lehnt laut Umfragen die Rettung ab. Der schnelle Börsengang soll deshalb zeigen: Die Intervention des Weissen Hauses war erfolgreich; der Konzern steht nun wieder auf eigenen Beinen.

Staatskapitalismus pur

Ohne Einfluss wird das Weisse Haus aber auch in Zukunft nicht sein: Nach dem geplanten Börsengang bleibt Uncle Sam der grösste Anteilseigner. Und der neue Mann an der Spitze, Daniel Akenson, geniesst ohnehin das Vertrauen der Regierung. Das Finanzministerium entsandte ihn vor einem Jahr in den GM-Verwaltungsrat, um die Interessen der Steuerzahler zu wahren.

Das Klischee vom Kapitalismus in Reinform stimmt längst nicht mehr. Die Autoindustrie ist nur das prominenteste Beispiel in einer langen Reihe von staatlichen Eingriffen in die US-Wirtschaft. Die Rettung der Banken, die Ausweitung der Gesundheitsfürsorge, die Förderung von Exporten und neuen Technologien, Konjunkturspritzen und die Stabilisierung des Immobilienmarkts – all das resultiert in einer dramatisch steigenden Staatsquote. >>> Von Felix Wadewitz | Sonntag, 05. September 2010

Verbunden >>>

Iran on Brink of Nuclear Weapon, Warns Watchdog
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran has passed a crucial nuclear threshold, weapons inspectors have warned, and could now go on to arm an atomic missile with relative ease.

Hillary Clinton during the imposition of sanctions. The may be hurting the economy but Iran's weapons programme is continuing. Photo: The Telegraph
A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iranian nuclear scientists had made at least 22 kilograms of enriched uranium at least 20 per cent purity, a technical hurdle that is the hardest to overcome on the way to weapons-grade uranium.

Experts estimate that 20 kgs of uranium is the minimum required to arm a warhead. The uranium would still need to have its purity raised to 90 per cent, but that is a relatively easy process.

The agency's report comes in spite of the recent imposition at the United Nations of a fresh round of sanctions against Iran and will heighten fears of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear plants. The prospect of an attack had receded only recently with American assurances that Tehran was more than a year away from acquiring a bomb.

The Vienna-based nuclear watchdog said Tehran had maintained its absolute defiance of international pressure to curb its programme despite the imposition of harsh sanctions in May. The IAEA has grown increasingly alarmed at Iran's behaviour and the latest report, which will be presented to the agency's governors at a meeting next week, lambasted Tehran on a series of fronts. >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Monday, September 06, 2010

While the West dilly-dorks and faffs around with sanctions which will never have the desired effect, Iran continues with its nuclear programme. When the Iranians will have the bomb, and will be able to threaten Israel and Europe, it will be too late. And all this is taking place on Hussein Obama's watch. Sanctions won't work against the mullahs of Iran, no more than they'd have worked against Hitler and Nazi Germany. Find your backbone and deal with the matter. Get with the story! – © Mark

TV Evangelist Vows to Build Christian Centre at Ground Zero to Counter 'the Lies of Islam'
MAIL ONLINE: An evangelical preacher has vowed to build a Christian centre at New York’s ground zero in protest at the mosque proposed to be built there.

Bill Keller said he is raising funds to build a house of worship within a few blocks of where terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

As tension mounted ahead of the ninth anniversary of the attack this Saturday, Keller said Muslims were ‘going to hell’ and he had to intervene to counter ‘the lies of Islam’.

Keller, a TV evangelist, has ratcheted up the ill-feeling directed towards Muslims and his inflammatory language sparked renewed fears of Islamophobic responses.

His first sermon was on Sunday at the New York Marriott Downtown Hotel, his temporary headquarters, and he plans to open his Christian centre on January 1 next year.

The mosque, called Park 51, is scheduled to begin construction next year and will be a 13-storey community centre with enough space for 500 worshippers.

'When they decided to build a mosque and decided to preach what I consider a 1,400-year-old lie from Hell, I decided that somebody should be down there preaching the truth of God's word,’ Keller told the crowd.

‘All these people will die and burn in hell. Islam is not and has never been a religion of peace.

‘How could you build bridges with people who ask their Muslim brothers to fly a plane into the Twin Towers and killed thousands of innocent people?’ >>> Daniel Bates | Moonday, September 06, 2010

Bill Keller Ministries >>>

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani va être fouettée, selon son fils
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: TEHERAN | Le fils de Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, une Iranienne condamnée à la lapidation pour adultère, a annoncé lundi que les autorités iraniennes lui avaient infligé une nouvelle peine, 99 coups de fouet, après la publication dans un journal britannique d’une femme non voilée et présentée par erreur comme sa mère. >>> AP | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010

La lapidation de Sakineh pourrait avoir lieu après le Ramadan
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: IRAN | Le fils de l'Iranienne Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, condamnée à mort par lapidation, a déclaré lundi craindre l'exécution de la sentence après la fin du Ramadan.

Cette possibilité a été évoquée lors d'une conversation téléphonique devant la presse avec l'écrivain français Bernard-Henri Lévy. Le Ramadan doit s'achever cette année autour du 10 septembre.

Sajjad Mohammadi Ashtiani, 22 ans, a déclaré ne plus avoir de nouvelles de sa mère depuis que ses "aveux", que sa famille et ses avocats considèrent comme forcés, avaient été diffusés par la télévision iranienne le 11 août. "Les visites hebdomadaires sont interdites", a-t-il dit. >>> AFP | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Iranian woman could be executed after Ramadan, lawyer says: Confirmed Iranian woman sentenced to stoning was lashed 99 times last week for photo in British Newspaper mistakenly identified as her >>> Nasser Karimi, Tehran, Iran, The Associated Press | Monday, September 06, 2010

Hussein Obama Goes On Another Spending Spree On Taxpayers’ Dollars
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama yesterday unveiled a $50 billion plan to expand and renew roads, railways and airports in a late bid to boost confidence in the economy and prevent the Democratic Party from suffering a landslide defeat in forthcoming polls.

The plan was one of several economic initiatives Mr Obama was due to unveil this week, when campaigning begins in earnest for the Nov 2 midterm elections.

Speaking in Wisconsin on the Labour Day holiday, which marks the end of summer in the United States, President Obama proposed building 150,000 miles of roads, constructing and maintaining 4,000 miles of rail and rehabilitating 150 miles of runway, as well as modernising the air traffic control system.

He also proposed setting up an infrastructure bank to coordinate private, state and local capital to invest in projects.

A senior administration official said the American President's goal was to "create a substantial number of jobs in the short turn [sic] and lay the foundation for jobs growth in the long run".

The plan, which needs the approval of Congress, would spend $50 billion (£32 billion) in the first of its six years, and would be paid for by ending tax breaks for oil companies, the official said. Obama unveils $50 billion roads, rail and air plan to win votes >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, September 06, 2010

ZEIT ONLINE: Obama will mit weiteren Milliarden Aufschwung sichern: Die US-Wirtschaft kommt nicht auf die Beine. Präsident Obama plant daher erneut ein gigantisches Konjunkturprogramm – zumal seine Demokraten ein Wahldebakel fürchten. >>> Zeit Online, Reuters, AFP | Montag, 06. September 2010

Stone Mason Sparks Cathedral Row with 'Muslim' Gargoyle
THE TELEGRAPH: A Lyons stone mason has provoked a row after creating a gargoyle for the city's cathedral in the image of his Muslim foreman with a sign saying "Allahu Akbar" (God is great[er]) in both Arabic and French.

A new gargoyle on Lyon cathedral, which looks like Benzizine Ahmed (R), the Muslim foreman who led the restoration of the tower and worked on the cathedral for 30 years. Photo: The Telegraph
The 12th century Saint-Jean cathedral of Lyons, southeastern France, has hundreds of gargoyles around its roof whose traditional role has been to ward off evil spirits.

Since August, this seat of the Archbishop of Lyons has a new addition – a face remarkably similar to Ahmed Benzizine, a Muslim foreman who has been restoring churches and cathedrals in France for the past 37 years.

Emmanuel Fourchet, a local stone mason decided to immortalise his friend according to an age-old tradition of carving gargoyles resembling associates that stretches right back to the cathedral's construction.

"It could have been the face of a Portuguese man or anyone else but it happens to be an Algerian Muslim Arab – my friend Ahmed," he said.

However, while some have praised the initiative as a unifying "ecumenical gesture", the move has sparked cries of blasphemy among the more conservative elements of the churchgoing community who have sent angry letters of complaint. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, September 06, 2010

Berühmte Moslems finden Jesus

Ein Moslem tritt vom Islam zum Christentum über

Ahmadinejad met en doute la version des attentats du 11 septembre 2001
LE POINT: Le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a de nouveau mis en doute, dans une rencontre avec la presse, dimanche soir, au Qatar, la version officielle des attentats du 11 septembre 2001 aux États-Unis, qu'il accuse de s'en être servis comme prétexte pour intervenir en Afghanistan. "Quelque chose s'est produit à New York et personne ne sait encore quels en étaient les principaux (bien principaux) auteurs. Aucune partie indépendante n'a été autorisée à essayer d'en identifier les auteurs", a déclaré M. Ahmadinejad. Après les attentats contre les tours jumelles du World Trade Center (WTC) qui ont fait près de 3.000 victimes, "ils (les Américains) ont dit que des terroristes se cachaient en Afghanistan, et l'Otan a mobilisé tous ses moyens et attaqué ce pays", a-t-il ajouté. Ahmadinejad avait déjà qualifié de "mensonge" la version américaine des attentats du 11-Septembre, … >>> Source AFP | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010

Poll: Majority Of GOP Said Obama Wants Sharia Law
CBS4: MIAMI – A new Newsweek poll of registered voters highlights the divide between Republicans, Democrats, and Independents over the issue of Islam and President Barack Obama.

According to the poll, 51 percent of Republicans think it's definitely or probably true that President Obama "sympathizes with the goals of Islamic fundamentalists who want to impose Islamic law around the world."

In addition, 59 percent of Republicans and 28 percent of political independents think "Obama favors the interests of Muslim Americans over other groups of Americans."

The poll results come as conservative circles have exploded in furor over a proposed Muslim community center that would be built a few blocks away from the former home of the World Trade Center. However, the poll found that 72 percent said it would be okay if a Muslim group wanted to build a mosque in their community.

The poll also found that despite all of the evidence to the contrary and the repeated statements from President Obama, nearly one-quarter of those surveyed believe President Obama is a Muslim while 34 percent say he is something else or simply don't know. >>> Tim Kephart | Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Netanyahu: Peace Needs New Approach
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a peace deal with the Palestinians will require a creative, new approach. Deborah Lutterbeck reports. Video Courtesy of Reuters.

A Tale of Two European Remarks: De Gucht and Sarrazin
CANADA FREE PRESS: In August, Thilo Sarrazin a member of the board of the German Central Bank, and a critic of Islamic immigration, mentioned that Jews and Basque and some other ethnic groups have a common gene. What followed was a storm of protests and accusations that Sarrazin was anti-Semitic. Sarrazin was dismissed from his position on the board, and newspaper articles explained that it was for remarks that he had made about Muslims and Jews.

Last week, Karel De Gucht, the European Commissioner for Trade, gave a radio show his considered opinion of Jews. Naturally De Gucht put on his best jackboots, and explained that there will be no peace because the Jews run America, that Jews believe they are always right, and that it’s impossible to have a conversation with even a “moderate Jew”. While a few Jewish groups have protested, the European Commission has shrugged, and the media has shrugged too. The odds that De Gucht will be forced out of his job, the way that Sarrazin was are minimal.

But the difference between Sarrazin and De Gucht, was that Sarrazin said something truly unacceptable about an untouchable group. Muslims. While De Gucht mainly expressed a popular view among European elites about the Jews. The ferocious charges of Anti-Semitism against Sarrazin hinged only on him stating a casual fact that Jews are genetically related to one another. It isn’t Anti-Semitism, it’s Science. Sarrazin was not charged with Anti-Semitism because of what he had said about Jews, but because of what he had said about Muslims.


The media did not bother to report that Sarrazin had said that he would prefer immigration “if it was by eastern European Jews with a 15-percent-higher IQ than the German population.” An odd remark for an “Anti-Semite” to make. It would indeed seem that Thilo Sarrazin has a more positive view of Jews, than Karel De Gucht does. But it’s not really about the Jews. It’s about Muslims.

The Jews were used as cover by the advocates of multiculturalism to charge Sarrazin with bigotry. And there was a reason for that. Sarrazin had described himself as a mongrel, with French, Italian and Polish ancestry. His criticism of Muslim immigration was not genetic, but based on their refusal to integrate into Germany. Sarrazin had pointed out that other immigrants from Eastern Europe and Vietnam were productive members of society. Muslims however were not.

Muslims are not a genetic group, but a cultural and ideological one. The media couldn’t charge him with racial hatred for pointing out the cultural problems of Muslim immigrants. And discussing his remarks too much, would raise the danger that people might agree. And so the media was forced to treat Sarrazin’s offhand remark about Jews and Basque sharing genes as some sort of Third Reich throwback in order to charge him with racism. Except that there are Basque and Jewish genetic markers. But again this wasn’t about Jews or the Basque—it was about Muslims. >>> Daniel Greenfield | Saturday, September 04, 2010

Is the Dead Sea Dying?
TIME: The Dead Sea has long attracted tourists for its mineral-rich waters. But now man-made problems are causing the sea to shrink

Outside Ground Zero Mosque: Opinions Pro & Con (September 5, 2010)

Why President Obama Is Mr. Unpopular
TIME: TIME White House correspondent Michael Scherer analyzes President Obama's dwindling public support and its effect on the midterm elections

Burqa Barbie: News Anchor
TIME: After fans decided to make Barbie's new career a TV journalist in an online vote, Mona Eltahawy wonders why an Italian designer recently chose to outfit a "Muslim" Barbie in a burqa

Rare Colour Footage of Blitz Unearthed
THE TELEGRAPH: Rare colour footage of London during the Blitz has been unearthed after lying undiscovered in an attic for almost 70 years.



The amateur cine film, shot by an air raid warden, includes striking images of bombed-out landmarks such as the John Lewis department store on Oxford Street.

Sir Winston Churchill also makes a brief appearance in the footage as he reviews a parade of civil defence workers in Hyde Park.

The 20 minutes of film, covering the period of Sep 7, 1940 to May 10, 1941, was shot by the wartime mayor of Marylebone in west London, Alfred Coucher, who was also the area’s chief air raid warden.

After the war he stored the films in his attic where they were recently discovered by his family and passed on to the St Marylebone Society, an architectural preservation group of which he was founder.

The films have now been digitised with the help of Westminster Council, which is making them available to view on a dedicated website to mark the 70th anniversary of the Blitz. >>> Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Monday, September 06, 2010

West End at War >>>

TELEGRAPH VIDEO: Winston Churchill and King in rare colour footage of London during Blitz >>> | Monday, September 06, 2010

Bahrain Implicates Iran in Plot to Overthrow Government
THE TELEGRAPH: Bahrain has indicated Iran was implicated in an alleged plot to overthrow its government after 23 prominent opposition leaders were charged with terrorism offences in the US-backed Gulf kingdom.

Bahrain's capital Manama - the island state has claimed Iran was involved in the plot. Photo: The Telegraph
Authorities in the island state, which serves as a US naval base, made the arrests during weeks of unrest in the run-up to a parliamentary election next month.

Officials said activists were members of "a terrorist network with international support" and were planning a campaign of "violence, intimidation and subversion".

"This sophisticated terrorist network with operations inside and outside Bahrain has undertaken and planned a systematic and layered campaign of violence and subversion," said Abdulrahman al Sayed, a government prosecutor.

"The leaders of the network have been accused of several crimes including the planning and instigation of violence, conducting a wide ranging propaganda campaign against the Kingdom and seeking to overthrow the regime by force."

Although the foreign state behind the purported plot was not named, it was widely understood that Iran was the focus of official suspicion. The Bahraini government, which is dominated by the country's Sunni minority, has frequently accused its Shia Muslim dissidents of collaborating with co-religionists in Tehran. >>> Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Monday, September 06, 2010

White House Blunder Over Oval Office Carpet Quote
THE TELEGRAPH: White House planners have mistakenly attributed a quotation to Martin Luther King in the new Oval Office carpet but the original author was in fact a now-forgotten 19th century activist.

Though President Barack Obama would no doubt admire the record of Theodore Parker, a Boston preacher and campaigner against slavery, his aides included the quote in the carpet to honour Dr King.

Among a series of quotes woven into the edge of the new beige carpet are the words: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." >>> | Sunday, September 05, 2010

German Banker, Sacked for Making 'Jewish Gene' Remark, Threatens Litigation
HAARETZ: Thilo Sarrazin contends that the law is on his side; legal challenge could weigh on the German government.

A member of the German central bank's board is threatening to go to court to prevent his dismissal for controversial remarks on Jews and Muslim immigrants that led the board to vote to fire him.

In extracts from an interview with the German news weekly Focus released on Saturday ahead of publication, Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin likened a wave of criticism of him to a "political show trial."

He said if German President Christian Wulff approved his sacking in the next few days, the decision would be overturned by the justice system.

The president will have to consider carefully whether he "wants to see this political show trial to its end, and then see (his decision) thrown out by the courts," Sarrazin said.

Sarrazin has previously courted controversy with remarks about Germany's Muslim population, and the latest furor erupted in the run-up to the publication of his new book "Deutschland schafft sich ab" (Germany does away with itself).

Sarrazin argues in the book that Muslims undermine German society, sponge off the state and threaten to change its character and culture with their higher birth rate.

Almost 3 million people of Turkish origin and an estimated 280,000 of Arab extraction live in Germany - in total about 4 percent of the population. >>> Reuters | Saturday, September 04, 2010

Catholic Church Accuses BBC of 'Anti-Christian' Bias
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Britain’s most senior Catholic has accused the BBC of harbouring an institutional bias against “Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular”.

Cardinal Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien of Scotland with other Cardinals during a Consistory in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. Photo: The Sunday Telegraph
Cardinal Keith O’Brien said the BBC’s news coverage is contaminated by “a radically secular and socially liberal mindset”.

The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh said the corporation’s intolerance of religion is equivalent to its “massive” political bias against the Conservatives in the 1980s.

He also accused the corporation of plotting a “hatchet job” on the Vatican in a documentary about clerical sex abuse on the eve of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain.

Cardinal O’Brien believes that atheists like Professor Richard Dawkins are given a disproportionate amount of airtime while mainstream Christian views are marginalised.

He is also angered by a 15 per cent slump in religious programming over the past 20 years and believes the broadcaster should appoint a religion editor to address the decline.

He said: “This week the BBC’s director general [Mark Thompson] admitted that the corporation had displayed ‘massive bias’ in its political coverage throughout the 1980s, acknowledging the existence of an institutional political bias.”

“Our detailed research into BBC news coverage of Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular, together with a systematic analysis of output by the Catholic church, has revealed a consistent anti-Christian institutional bias.”

He added that insiders at the BBC had privately admitted that there is a cultural intolerance of Christianity at the corporation. >>> Heidi Blake | Sunday, September 05, 2010

Catherine Deneuve Critical of Carla Bruni's Support for Iranian Woman
THE TELEGRAPH: An appeal by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on behalf of an Iranian woman facing death by stoning for alleged adultery was counterproductive, according to Catherine Deneuve.

The spat between one of France's most famous actresses and its first lady came as the Vatican announced it was interceding with Tehran for the life of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two.

Miss Deneuve, 66, star of Belle de Jour, a film about a housewife secretly working as a prostitute, said the first lady's intervention allowed Iranian hardliners to seize on her past to taint the world campaign for Mrs Ashtiani's release.

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy signed an open letter in support of Mrs Ashtiani.

That prompted an Iranian newspaper to label her a "marriage wrecking prostitute" last week because of her previous affairs with high-profile celebrities who already had partners.

"When you are a famous person you need to be more cautious when you lend your support to causes – with her past she should have been more careful. It can be a double-edged sword," Miss Deneuve said. >>> Nick Pisa in Rome | Sunday, September 05, 2010

New Dark Age Alert! Geert Wilders’ Islam Rising


Islam Rising >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age >>>

Geert Wilders: ”Our Culture Is Better Than the Retarded Islamic Culture”
Watch Dateline video here | Mark Davis

Vatican: Stoning in Iran Adultery Case 'Brutal'
THE NEW YORK TIMES: VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican on Sunday raised the possibility of using behind-the-scenes diplomacy to try to spare the life of an Iranian widow sentenced to be stoned for adultery.

In its first public statement on the case, which has attracted worldwide attention, the Vatican also decried stoning as a particularly ''brutal'' form of capital punishment.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the Catholic church opposes the death penalty in general.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted in 2006 of adultery. In July, Iranian authorities said they would not carry out the stoning sentence for the time being, but the mother of two could still face execution by hanging for adultery and other offenses.

Her son, Sajad, told the Italian news agency Adnkronos that he was appealing to Pope Benedict XVI and to Italy to work to stop the execution.

Lombardi told The Associated Press that no formal appeal had reached the Vatican, but hinted that Vatican's diplomacy might be employed to try to save Ashtiani. >>> The Associated Press | Sunday, September 05, 2010

Einwandererdebatte: Merkel will mehr Offenheit in Integrationsdebatte
ZEIT ONLINE: Im Streit um die Äußerungen von Bundesbank-vorstand Sarrazin plädiert Merkel dafür, Probleme mit Migranten offen anzusprechen. Unterstützung kommt von SPD-Chef Gabriel.

In der Debatte um die Äußerungen von Bundesbank-vorstand Thilo Sarrazin über die Integrationsfähigkeit von Muslimen hat Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) dafür plädiert, Probleme im Zusammenleben mit Migranten offen anzusprechen. Sie sprach sich in der Bild am Sonntag dafür aus, die statistisch erhöhte Gewaltbereitschaft strenggläubiger muslimischer Jugendlicher nicht zu tabuisieren: "Das ist ein großes Problem und wir können offen darüber sprechen, ohne dass der Verdacht der Fremdenfeindlichkeit aufkommt."

Ausgelöst hatte die Diskussion der umstrittene Bundesbank-Vorstand Thilo Sarrazin, dem aufgrund seiner Thesen nun der Job-Verlust und der Ausschluss aus der SPD drohen. Über Sarrazins Abberufung aus dem Vorstand der Notenbank muss Bundespräsident Christian Wulff entscheiden.

Der SPD-Vorsitzende Sigmar Gabriel rief seine Partei dazu auf, sich "intensiver und offensiver" der Integration zu widmen. Der Ärger der Menschen dürfe nicht verschwiegen oder nur in den Kneipen besprochen werden, sagte Gabriel der Neuen Ruhr Zeitung: "Es gibt die Hassprediger, die Sarrazin beschreibt." >>> Zeit Online, dpa | Freitag, 04. September 2010

ZEIT ONLINE: Sarrazin ist nicht der deutsche Wilders >>> Von Werner A. Perger | Freitag, 03. September 2010

BILD: Die Sarrazin Debatte >>>

Straßenfest: Verletzte und Festnahmen bei Krawallen in Hamburg

DER WESTEN: Hamburg. Bei Fest im Schanzenviertel ist es zu Ausschreitungen zwischen Randalierern und der Polizei gekommen. Insgesamt 42 Menschen wurden vorläufig festgenommen. Elf Polizisten und mehrere Zivilpersonen seien verletzt worden.

Im Anschluss an ein Straßenfest im Hamburger Schanzenviertel hat es in der Nacht zu Sonntag gewalttätige Ausschreitungen gegeben. Randalierer hätten Polizeibeamte mit Steinen, Flaschen und Böllern beworfen, sagte eine Polizeisprecherin. Elf Beamte und drei „Zivilpersonen“ wurden demnach leicht verletzt, insgesamt habe es 42 Festnahmen gegeben.

Hunderte Randalierer waren den Angaben zufolge in Gruppen im Schanzenviertel unterwegs. Sie bewarfen die Scheibe einer Bankfiliale und schlugen die Scheiben von zwei Supermärkten und einem Modegeschäft ein. Auch eine Telefonzelle wurde zerstört und ein Auto in Brand gesteckt. Die Randalierer, unter ihnen zahlreiche Mitglieder der linksautonomen Szene, hätten die Bankfiliale mit Molotow-Cocktails angegriffen, ohne sie jedoch zu beschädigen.

Die Polizei ging mit einem Wasserwerfer gegen die Randalierer vor und räumte eine Straße. Der S-Bahn-Verkehr im Schanzenviertel musste zwischenzeitlich ausgesetzt werden, weil immer wieder Menschen auf die Gleise geklettert seien. Der Einsatz dauerte bis gegen 03.20 Uhr, sagte eine andere Polizeisprecherin. Zusätzlich zu den Festnahmen gab es demnach drei Ingewahrsamnahmen. Bei den verletzten Zivilisten handele es sich vermutlich um Unbeteiligte. >>> Panorama, Der Westen, Samstag, 05. September 2010

Nazi Demo in Dortmund
DER WESTEN: Den ganzen Tag lang hielt die Nazi-Demo Dortmund in Atem - ebenso wie die vielen Gegendemos.

Den ganzen Tag lang hielt die Nazi-Demo Dortmund in Atem - ebenso wie die vielen Gegendemos. Hier die Chronologie im Video - zumindest in kleinen Auszügen aus Hauptbahnhof und Nordstadt. Den ganzen Tag über gab es verschiedene Veranstaltungen, beendet mit dem Friedensfest in Dorstfeld.

Blair in "Radical Islam" Warning
PRESS TV: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said radical Islamists are the greatest threat for the world since they justify whatever they did - including the use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons - under the name of Islam.

Mr Blair fell short of mentioning his role in the occupation of Chechenya, Kashmir, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan and denied his policies had fueled radicalism . He claimed Western policies were designed to confront people who were "regressive, wicked and backward-looking".

The Islamic Human Rights Commission expressed outrage at remarks made by prime-minister Tony Blair “insensitive and provocative statements.” The BBC reported “Mr Blair said no democratic regime would spend billions of pounds on chemical and biological weapons.” >>> SEF/HE | Saturday, September 04, 2010

After His Hand Was Chopped Off, Kerala College Sacks Lecturer
THE TIMES OF INDIA: KOCHI – Adding insult to injury, a Kerala college has sacked its lecturer whose right hand was chopped off by activists of radical outfit PFI for preparing a controversial Malayalam question paper with alleged derogatory references to Prophet Muhammad.

The management of the Christian-run New Man College has informed T J Joseph that he had been removed from September 1 on the grounds that he had hurt religious sentiments, college sources said on Saturday.

Joseph reacted with shock to his dismissal saying it was an "unexpected blow" to him and his family while Education Minister M A Baby regretted the management action calling it an "extreme and irrationally negative" step.

The Popular Front of India activists had hacked the right hand of Joseph on July 4 when he was returning home with his family from a Church. 30 persons have been arrested so far in connection with the gruesome attack which shocked the country. >>> PTI | Saturday, September 04, 2010

HERALD SUN: Indian teacher's hand cut off for alleged Muhammad slight: TWO Indian men have been arrested over an attack on a college teacher who had his hand cut off for setting an exam question that allegedly insulted Muslims. >>> NewsCore | Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Indonesians Protest Fla. Church's Quran-Burning Day
NPR: About 3,000 Muslims marched Saturday through Indonesia's capital to the U.S. Embassy to protest plans by a Florida church to burn the Quran on Sept. 11.

Protesters from the hard-line Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir marched with banners and placards denouncing the burning set for Wednesday. Similar rallies were held in five other cities across Indonesia. >>> NPR Staff and Wires | Saturday, September 04, 2010

Venezuela Introduces Cuba-like Food Card
MIAMI HERALD: Presented by President Hugo Chávez as an instrument to make shopping for groceries easier, the “Good Life Card'' is making various segments of the population wary because they see it as a furtive attempt to introduce a rationing card similar to the one in Cuba.

The measure could easily become a mechanism to control the population, according to civil society groups.

“We see that in short-term this could become a rationing card probably similar to the one used in Cuba,'' Roberto León Parilli, president of the National Association of Users and Consumers, told El Nuevo Herald. “It would use more advanced technological means [than those used in Cuba], but when they tell you where to buy and what the limits of what you can buy are, they are conditioning your purchases.''

Chávez said Tuesday that the card could be used to buy groceries at the government chain of markets and supplies.

“I have called it a Good Life Card so far,'' Chávez said in a brief statement made on the government television channel. “It's a card for you to purchase what you are going to take and they keep deducting. It's to buy what you need, not to promote communism, but to buy what just what you need.'' Read on and comment >>> Antonio Maria Delgado | Friday, September 03, 2010

Top Iran Cleric Rejects Holocaust as 'Superstition'
BREITBART: A senior Iranian cleric, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, dismissed the Nazi Holocaust of Jews during World War II as a new "superstition" for the West, media reported on Saturday.

"The Holocaust is nothing but superstition, but Zionists say that people of the world should be forced to accept this," he was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

"Americans and Westerners are affected by newly appeared superstitions such as the Holocaust," he said according to ISNA news agency.

"The truth about the Holocaust is not clear, and when the researchers want to examine whether it is true or the Jews have created it to pose as victims, they jail the researchers," said Makarem Shirazi, who is a "marja," or among the highest authorities in Shiite Islam.

Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly branded the Holocaust a "myth" in his frequent anti-Israel diatribes drawing international condemnation, but Iran's prominent clergy have rarely echoed such comments. >>> AFP |Saturday, September 04, 2010

Poor Jobs Report in August; Obama Blames Republicans

Barack Hussein Obama – Weekly Address: Honoring the American Worker

Imam: Mosque Dispute Is About Muslim Relations in America


Bloomberg is not be trusted. Islam has no place in America. The Ground Zero mosque SHOULD NOT go ahead. – Mark

You Trust This Guy If You Want To; This Guy’s Not For Trusting! Blair Heckled At Book Promotion

Obama Says Stimulus Healed Economy (And If You Believe That, You'll Believe Anything!)
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: President Barack Obama said his economic stimulus plan help stop the economic "bleeding." Deborah Lutterbeck reports. Video Courtesy of Reuters.