Thursday, September 08, 2011
In his first speech as the new President of the Worldwide Wildlife Fund (WWF) UK, Prince Charles suggested 'surviving ourselves' should be a priority.
Referring to himself as “an endangered species”, he warned that the world is already in the “sixth extinction event”, with species dying out at a much faster rate than at any time since the death of most of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
Despite campaigning for years on global warming, he said climate change was not the only problem but merely speeding up the “rapacious” destruction of natural resources like water, land and food that humans need to survive.
The Prince said if the world carries on “business as usual” then the human race itself could be in danger.
“We are, of course, witnessing what some people call the sixth great extinction event – the continued erosion of much of the Earth’s vital biodiversity caused by a whole host of pressures, from the rising demand for land to the corrosive effects of all kinds of pollution," he said. » | Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent | Thursday, September 08, 2011
What a joke! This man does himself no favours by uttering such nonsense. He just makes himself sound like a crackpot.
In any case, if he wants to save the planet – I'm not at all sure it ought to be saved! – then might I suggest that he, his family, and their entourages start saving and stop their conspicuous consumption? – Mark
My comment also appears here
WIKI: Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey »
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Living and Loving Underground in Iran » | Larry Rohter | Friday, August 19, 2011
METRO: Islamic extremists are planning to disrupt the minute’s silence for the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks outside the US Embassy in London.
Demonstrators from Muslims Against Crusades, whose website shows a graphic of a plane heading towards New York’s Twin Towers, say they will make as much noise as possible during the planned mark of respect for the dead.
The demonstration is an attempt to show that the US has lost the war on terror, said fundamentalist cleric Anjem Choudary.
He said Muslims Against Crusades would be joined by Shariah 4 America outside the embassy in Grosvenor Square on the tenth anniversary of the attacks. » | Fred Attewill | Sunday, September 04, 2011
MONTREAL GAZETTE: PARIS - A French court handed out a 6,000 euro ($8,421 [Can]) suspended fine to John Galliano on Thursday after finding him guilty of anti-Semitic behaviour, marking the end in a fall from grace for the former head designer of fashion house Dior.
For Galliano, whose worth is estimated in the millions of dollars, the penalty — suspended for several years — avoids any financial burden and is unlikely to constrain his liberty.
The fine, in line with what a prosecutor had recommended in June, falls short of the maximum sentence in such cases of a 22,000 euro fine and 6-month prison sentence.
"Despite the triple addiction from which he was suffering, he was lucid enough to be conscious of his acts," said the tribunal president, Anne-Marie Sauteraud, reading out the court's decision.
The court explained its relatively lenient decision by referring to Galliano's lack of criminal convictions, his previous regard for respect and tolerance and the treatment for drug and alcohol addiction he has sought since his arrest. » | Nick Vinocur and Thierry Leveque, Reuters | Thursday, September 08, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi sold more than 20 per cent of Libya's gold reserves, worth more than $1 billion, in the final days of his regime, the country's central bank governor said on Thursday.
Qassem Azzoz said 1.7 billion dinars worth of gold, or around 29 tonnes, were sold to local merchants as the regime ran short of cash.
"The gold was liquidated in order to pay salaries and to have liquidity, in Tripoli in particular," Azzoz said.
According to central bank officials the gold likely made its way out of the country to neighbouring Tunisia and beyond.
Azzoz added that the bank's total assets now stand at around $115 billion, of which $90 billion is abroad.
Meanwhile, Gaddafi's loyalists fired at least 10 rockets from inside one of his last strongholds on Thursday, hours after a TV station aired an audio message believed to be from the ousted Libyan leader urging his fighters on. Read on and comment » | Thursday, September 08, 2011
The most sacred of all Christian holidays, Barack Obama failed to send an Easter message to the American people.
Nor did they receive a message on Good Friday, a day that many Christians look upon as the most bittersweet of all the days on the Christian calendar.
But rest assured, Dear Leader found time during 2010 to release statements during the major Muslim holidays of Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj, and Eid-ul-Adha.
There was also an eight-paragraph press release celebrating Earth Day.
But in all fairness, Obama did release an Easter message last year. A message that figuratively scrubbed Jesus out of the historical moment he cited.
According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 78.5% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, whereas only 0.6% identify themselves as Muslims.
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We find it particularly interesting that President Awesome stated at the National Prayer Breakfast this past February; "My Christian faith has been sustaining for me over the last couple of years and even more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time."
Yeah... right.
We don't expect our president to be some kind of American Pope, but we do expect a modicum of fairness.
Oh... and it would be nice to knock off the blatant and purposeful insults and cold-shoulders to Christ and His Church.
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Der gestürzte libysche Machthaber hat in einer weiteren Audiobotschaft Gerüchte dementiert, er sei nach Niger geflüchtet. Seinen Gegnern bleibe „nichts mehr als psychologischer Krieg und Lügen“, sagte Gaddafi.
Der langjährige libysche Machthaber Muammar el Gaddafi hat in einer neuen Audiobotschaft Gerüchte über seine Flucht nach Niger dementiert. Seinen Gegnern bleibe „nichts mehr als psychologischer Krieg und Lügen“, sagte Gaddafi am Donnerstag in der vom syrischen Fernsehsender Arrai übertragenen Botschaft.
Gaddafi sagte in der Audiobotschaft, die nach mehreren Tagen Schweigen kam, er sei überzeugt, dass die Nato besiegt werde. Er versicherte, dass die Angriffe gegen die „Ratten und Söldner“ verstärkt würden. Gerüchte über seine Flucht nach Niger dementierte er. Am Dienstag hatte der libysche Nationale Übergangsrat gemeldet, dass ein Konvoi die Grenze zum Niger überquert habe. Es habe sich um einen Konvoi gehandelt, wie ihn Gaddafi und seine Söhne benutzten, hieß es. Sowohl der Niger als auch die Vereinigten Staaten dementierten aber, dass sich Gaddafi oder einer seiner Söhne in dem Konvoi befunden habe. » | FAZ.NET mit AFP/dpa | Donnerstag 08. September 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Gaddafi issues defiant message from hiding: Deposed former Libyan leader vows never to leave the country and denies claims he is in neighbouring Niger » | Shiv Malik and Lizzy Davies | Thursday, September 08, 2011
MAIL ONLINE: Downing Street’s e-petition plan to give the public the right to force Parliamentary debates on burning issues of the day was fast descending into a shambles last night.
When the scheme was launched earlier this year, people were given the impression that any petition gathering 100,000 signatures or more would automatically be discussed by MPs.
Two petitions – including one demanding the removal of benefits from thugs involved in last month’s riots – have already crossed the threshold.
But it has now emerged that a debate will take place only if, having gained 100,000 signatures, the subject is also suggested by an MP on the obscure Backbench Business Committee. » | James Slack | Wednesday, September 07, 2011
So much for British democracy! MPs, once elected into office, do just as they damn well like. They don’t care about the people, or what the people think. They are not in politics to help the people; they’re in politics to help themselves. – Mark
Mr Panetta said the Iranian reform movement was learning from revolts which have erupted across the Arab world this year.
Mr Panetta, who left the top job in the CIA to become defence secretary in July, said there was "absolutely" the chance that protests and demands for reform would reach Iran.
He said: "I think we saw in evidence of that in the last election in Iran that there was a movement within Iran that raised those very same concerns that we're seeing elsewhere," "And I think in many ways, it's a matter of time before that kind of change and reform and revolution occurs in Iran as well." Tehran crushed mass street protests in the wake of Iran's disputed June 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. » | Ben Farmer | Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Authorities in the left-leaning Berlin district of Kreuzberg had ordered the removal of the posters, one of which has as a slogan "Gas geben" (Step on It) or literally "give gas" in what some see as a reference to Nazi gas chambers.
Another provocative poster has a dark-skinned man, a woman with a headscarf and a man with what appears to be a turban sitting on a flying carpet with the slogan: "Have a good flight home."
But the administrative court in Berlin ruled the posters did not break German laws relating to the incitement to racial hatred or the publication of anti-constitutional material.
It could not be proven that the "gas" posters deliberately meant to raise associations with Nazi atrocities, the court added. » | Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Convicts were sentenced to death 'for acts against the Sharia law and bad deeds'
Three Iranian men have been executed after being found guilty of charges related to homosexuality, according to a semi-official news agency.
The men, only identified by their initials, were hanged on Sunday in the south-western city of Ahvaz, the capital of Iran's Khuzestan province.
"The three convicts were sentenced to death based on the articles 108 and 110 of Iran's Islamic penal code, for acts against the sharia law and bad deeds," the Isna agency quoted a judiciary official in Khuzestan as saying.
Iran Human Rights, an independent NGO based in Norway, said the men were charged with "lavat" – sexual intercourse between two men. It is not clear whether the three men were homosexuals or merely smeared with homosexuality accused of being gay. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Wednesday, September 07, 2011
ON ISLAM: A Young Canadian Hindu Reverts to Islam » | Reading Islam Staff | Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Despite appearances, the Arancibia’s are not your typical California Latino family. They’re Chilean, not Mexican, having fled Chile shortly after the fall of Allende. And they’re Christian, but not Catholic.
What sets them apart even more is one son - 38 year old Diego, a project coordinator with After School Assistance Provider (ASAP) - who converted to Islam 13 years ago.
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the U.S., with domestic conversion fueling that growth. California Latinos make up the bulk of the domestic conversions.
For Diego Arancibia, the move toward Islam was an evolving process. Read on (+ audio) » | Rebecca Romani | Wednesday, September 07, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The parents of murdered teenager Shafilea Ahmed have been charged with killing her, Cheshire Police said on Wednesday.
The 17-year-old's decomposed remains were discovered in Cumbria in February 2004 after she disappeared from her home in Warrington, Cheshire, in September 2003. She was the victim of a suspected honour killing.
South Cumbria coroner Ian Smith later recorded a verdict of unlawful killing, saying he believed the teenager was probably murdered.
Cheshire Police said today the teenager's father, Iftikhar, 51, and mother Farzana, 48, have been charged with murder and will appear at Halton Magistrates' Court, in Runcorn, later today.
The couple have always denied any involvement in their daughter's death. » | Wednesday, September 07, 2011
MAIL ONLINE: Muslim parents of 'honour killing victim' schoolgirl, 17, charged with her murder EIGHT years after she vanished » | Emily Allen | Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Der große Tag beginnt konspirativ, mit einer SMS am frühen Morgen: Geert Wilders, so heißt es dort, spreche an diesem Tag im Maritim-Hotel in Berlin. Wilders, die niederländische Ikone derRechtspopulisten, soll den Islam und Europa erklären – schließlich herrscht Wahlkampf in Berlin und die dümpelnde Partei "Die Freiheit" braucht, wie schon bei ihrer Gründung vor einem Jahr, dringend Schützenhilfe vom großen Bruder aus den Niederlanden.
Diese allerdings gestaltet sich nicht so leicht. Erst läuft der Ticketverkauf für die Wilders-Veranstaltung schleppend. Selbst die glühendsten Anhänger wollen kaum 100 Euro zahlen, zum Schluss werden die Eintrittskarten für 5 Euro verscherbelt und doch bleiben noch Stühle leer. Und auch mit der Geheimhaltung klappt es nicht ganz. Gegen Mittag drängen sich vor den Absperrungen der Polizei am Hotel nahe der ägyptischen Botschaft Dutzende Gegendemonstranten. Revolutionsfahnen schwenkend, skandieren sie: "Willkommen in Berlin, der Hauptstadt der Angst". » | von Gudula Hörr | Sonntag 04. September 2011
LE FIGARO: REPORTAGE - Le nouveau paysage politique libyen, à peine émergent, est fortement imprégné par les mouvements à orientation religieuse.
Ismaïl Salabi est un bon prêcheur. Le sourire facile, les yeux dorés qui pétillent, ce jeune costaud barbu de 34 ans en chemisette rayée assure avoir les larmes aux yeux quand il évoque en chaire les beautés de la religion. Mais en ce moment, il se consacre à la guerre. Posant un instant sa kalachnikov, Ismaïl Salabi se présente comme chef des opérations du Groupe des martyrs du 17 février, fort de 3000 hommes, l'une des principales unités du front de l'Est. Le supérieur direct d'Ismaïl Salabi, Fawzi Boukatif, commande également le Bataillon de la révolution, une unité plus importante dont le Groupe des martyrs est l'une des branches. » | Par Pierre Prier | Mardi 06 Septembre 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: LORRAINE | A Forbach, près de Metz, au nord-est de la France la "Nouvelle droite populaire" organise une manifestation "anti-islam" en dépit d’une interdiction réclamée par plusieurs organisations de gauche.
Une manifestation "anti-islam" de la "Nouvelle droite populaire" (NDP) pourra se dérouler dimanche à 20 heures à Forbach (Moselle) en dépit d’une interdiction réclamée par plusieurs organisations de gauche, a-t-on indiqué mercredi de source préfectorale à Metz.
Prenant prétexte de la victoire d’une coalition européenne - à laquelle participait le duc de Lorraine - contre les Turcs le 11 septembre 1683 à Vienne, la NDP a appelé à manifester contre "l’islamisation de la Lorraine et de l’Europe", le jour du 10è anniversaire des attentats du 11 septembre 2001 aux Etats-Unis. » | ATS | Mercredi 07 Septembre 2011
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Calmy-Rey tritt nicht zur Wiederwahl an » | sf/sda/godc/buet | Mittwoch 07. September 2011
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Thursday’s joint address to Congress will bring what could be perhaps a pivotal moment in his presidency, with the nation looking for his best proposals to help move the country out of the economic stall in which it has remained for months.
At the same time, Congress reconvenes to begin to shape a bipartisan plan for slashing the federal deficit. The so-called “supercommittee” meets for the first time Thursday as well. Whether lawmakers can deliver a meaningful, achievable solution could also have an effect on how voters view the president’s capacity to match words with results.
And if the nation needed any more of a reminder that we live in perilous times, the week will also feature incessant replays of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in advance of Sunday’s anniversary. » | James Oliphant | Tuesday, September 06, 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: APRÈS LA RÉVOLUTION | Les mouvements islamistes ont deux options après les soulèvements du printemps arabe: jouer sur le vide sécuritaire ou se muer en parti politique. La seconde option est la plus probable, selon les experts.
Les groupes islamistes pourraient tirer profit du vide sécuritaire créé par les soulèvements populaires dans des pays arabes. Mais il est plus probable qu’ils se lancent dans la conquête du pouvoir politique, a estimé l’institut de recherche IISS dans son rapport stratégique annuel, mardi à Londres.
«Je ne dis pas qu’il y aura nécessairement des activités terroristes, mais la chute d’Etats sécuritaires est certainement quelque chose qui crée pour ces groupes des occasions de passer à l’action», a estimé Emile Hokayem, expert à l’Institut international d’études stratégiques (IISS), au cours d’une conférence de presse.
Les révolutions, qui ont éclaté ces derniers mois dans plusieurs pays arabes, ont apporté la preuve que le changement était possible sans le jihad, a-t-il cependant ajouté.
Jusqu’à récemment, «le jihadisme international bénéficiait du fait que ces groupes pensaient qu’ils ne pourraient rien faire chez eux, donc ils (les jihadistes) ont combattu ailleurs (...). Maintenant, ils ont une occasion (de se faire entendre) plus près de chez eux», a estimé le chercheur installé à Bahreïn. » | ATS | Mardi 06 Septembre 2011
Offer your condolences here or here.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: 'Pavarotti's heir' dies after scooter crash aged 43: Italian opera star Salvatore Licitra has died from head injuries following a scooter accident last month. » | Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Dr Muhammed Daud Bakar (international scholar), a member of shariah Advisory council of Dow Jones Islamic Market INDEX, AAOIFI, of many financial institutions around the world including the Central Bank of Malaysia.
In my interview with him we will talk briefly about Islamic finance in Australia and some of the opportunities and challenges that are facing the industry.
In this interview:
a. What is Islamic finance?
b. Australia and Islamic finance
c. The Regulatory challenge
d. Risk management...
Interview by Almir Colan, Lecturer (Islamic Finance, Islamic Capital Markets), La Trobe University (School of Economics and Finance)
Monday, September 05, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Frenchman has been ordered to pay his ex-wife £8,500 in damages for failing to have enough sex with her during their marriage.
The 51-year-old man was fined under article 215 of France’s civil code, which states married couples must agree to a “shared communal life”.
A judge has now ruled that this law implies that “sexual relations must form part of a marriage”.
The rare legal decision came after the wife filed for divorce two years ago, blaming the break-up on her husband’s lack of activity in the bedroom. » | Telegraph Foreign Staff | Monday, September 05, 2011
Robert Lacey's website »
WIKI: Robert Lacey »
Dr. Mai Yamani »
WIKI: Dr. Mai Yamani's website »
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Historian Niall Ferguson on why broken Britain, celebrity culture and being called a pin-up make him angry.
I have not yet asked Niall Ferguson about him leaving his wife and three children, or his relationship with the Somalian feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, so when he launches in to a lengthy and verbose attack against the press during what I thought was a pretty innocuous chat about political correctness (he loathes it, naturally), it seems a little out of the blue.
“I really hate it,” he scowls.
"I can’t stand it. I find the prurience, the prying, the sneering… I find it utterly odious. But the problem isn’t just the amorality of editors and their minions, it is that the British public also has a nauseating prurience. And what I find disgusting is that people want to judge footballers – and professors for that matter – by an entirely anachronistic yardstick. It’s as if by reading this stuff we become Victorians, and we are scandalised, I mean scandalised, to discover that a professor of history is getting divorced, which is clearly outrageous in this day and age.
“I mean, how can this be news? How can this be ------- news? To me, it’s just a collective hypocrisy that attracts people to these stories. This desire to look into the BEDROOMS” – he is practically shouting now – “and pick up the sheets and have a gander. It disgusts me.”
I understand Ferguson’s anger. His new girlfriend, who was circumcised as a young girl in Somalia and is now pregnant with their first child, lived under a fatwa even before Theo Van Gogh – her friend and collaborator on a film about Muslim women – was murdered by extremists, a message affixed to his chest with a knife saying that she was next.
Both Ferguson and Ali are on an al-Qaeda list now and have security. “It’s not just that I can’t understand why the British press should want to write stories about the private life of an academic who has done a bit of telly [his series for Channel 4, Civilization, based on his book of the same name, about the fall of the West, proved incredibly popular]. More than anything else what makes me tremendously angry is that one consequence of the intrusion was to place Ayaan in danger. That is just contemptible.” Continue reading and comment » | Bryony Gordon | Monday, September 05, 2011
MAIL ON SUNDAY: TV historian is having a child with his Somali-born feminist partner » | Mail On Sunday Reporter | Sunday, June 05, 2011
Sunday, September 04, 2011
REUTERS.COM: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, his presidential hopes shattered by a sex assault scandal that rocked his homeland, returned on Sunday to Francefacing a frosty public reception and unease among his political allies. » | Pauline Mevel and Chine Labbe | PARIS | Sunday, September 04, 2011
Saturday, September 03, 2011
Dramatic plans to disband the Tories north of the border were unveiled by the front-runner for its leadership in a move one senior party figure warned could encourage the break-up of the United Kingdom.
The Prime Minister – who is spending the weekend in Scotland – faces the prospect of being the first British Prime Minister whose party has no Scottish MPs.
Murdo Fraser, who is favourite to become leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, will announce that he plans to wind up the party if he wins a ballot of members next month.
He would follow disbanding the party by launching a new Right-of-centre party that would contest all Scottish elections — council, Scottish Parliament and Westminster.
Mr Fraser, a member of the Scottish Parliament, believes the Conservatives have become a “toxic brand” in Scotland since losing all 11 of their Commons seats in the 1997 Labour landslide.
Mr Cameron, who is staying with the Queen at Balmoral this weekend, has been told of Mr Fraser’s plans, but has decided to remain neutral for fear of being accused of interfering in the Scottish Tories’ leadership election. Read on and comment » | Alan Cochrane, Scottish Editor | Saturday, September 03, 2011
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