Obama’s “Dirty Little Secret”: He Enjoys a Cigarette! Well, Well! How Shocking!
Photo of Obama smoking a cigarette courtesy of Google Images
Get real, America! The fact that Obama smokes cigarettes is totally irrelevant. Its his inexperience that troubles me most, not his smoking habit. I couldn't care less whether he enjoys smoking tobacco.

Have we in the West become so prissy and precious that it is important that our leaders mustn’t smoke and enjoy a cigarette? We have so many far bigger issues to worry about. This is truly pathetic, Fox News!

Smoking tip for Obama: There are more elegant ways of smoking than letting a fag dangle from one's mouth in such an ungainly manner.

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Saudi University Professor Sentenced to 180 Lashes and Eight Months in Prison for Being in a State of Khulwa with an Unrelated Woman
Photo courtesy of Reuters and The Times
TIMESONLINE: A university professor allegedly caught in a Saudi-style honey trap has been sentenced to 180 lashes and eight months in jail – for having coffee with a girl.

The man, a prominent and well-respected Saudi teacher of psychology at Umm al-Qra University in the holy city of Mecca, was framed by the religious police after he angered some of their members at a training course, his lawyer said.

The academic has not been named by the local media, which have given his case wide coverage, but one senior Saudi journalist told The Times he was Dr Abu Ruzaiz, a married man in his late 50s with children.

“He is highly respected and above-board. Nobody believes the religious police’s version of what happened. The whole of Jeddah (the main city near Mecca) is in uproar about this. Everyone believes he is innocent and was set up,” the journalist said.

Contact between unrelated men and women is strictly prohibited in the austere desert Kingdom where religious police, commonly known as mutaween, patrol public places in teams to enforce the Kingdom’s brand of ultra-conservative Islam.

Usually bearded and often wielding canes, they ensure women are not harassed, sexes do not mix and shops close for prayers. They are under the command of the Kingdom’s Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

Abdullah Al-Sanousi, the academic’s lawyer, told local newspapers that his client had drawn the ire of some of the Commission’s staffers for speaking at length during a training session about how important it was for them to be polite to the public. Some of the trainees also wanted revenge because they had failed the course while others were not happy with their examination results.

Mr Ruzaiz is said to have received a call from a girl purporting to be one of his students who asked to meet to discuss a problem that she did not want to talk about over the phone. The professor agreed to meet at a family café provided she brought along her brother as a chaperone.

When he arrived, he was surprised to find the girl alone, and was promptly surrounded by religious policemen who handcuffed him and hauled him into custody. He was accused of being in a state of khulwa – seclusion – with an unrelated woman. Saudi professor faces lashes for having coffee with female 'student': Psychology academic says he was framed by religious police who had grudge against him >>> By Michael Theodoulou

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’Osama bin London’: Terrorist Recruiter Found Guilty

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Supreme Leader of Iran: Nation’s Steadfastness Accounts for Its Glory, Success
Photo of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei courtesy of IRNA
IRNA: Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei here on Tuesday said the Iranian nation's courage, steadfastness and constant presence on the scene accounted for the glory of the system, the country's progress in various spheres and its great success in the nuclear field.

Addressing members of the Assembly of Experts, the Supreme Leader said the upcoming 8th parliamentary election is an important issue which requires people's massive turnout and their correct choices that will bring prosperity, dignity and glory to the nation.

Referring to significant achievements of the Islamic system of government over the past 29 years, Ayatollah Khamenei cited Iran's peaceful nuclear activities in which the Iranian nation has scored great success and made remarkable progress.

"Those who used to call for suspension of Iran's nuclear activities now say they are ready to accept our progress provided that it will not continue indefinitely," said the Supreme Leader.

Ayatollah Khamenei also praised the role of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to this end, adding that the seventh Majlis, unlike efforts by certain people in the previous term, insisted on the country's nuclear stand.

Vigilant presence of people and solidarity of officials in all issues would strengthen the Islamic system, said the Supreme Leader. Supreme Leader: Nation’s Steadfastness Accounts for Its Glory, Success >>>

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Foreign Ministry Reacts to EU’s Statements on Iran
IRNA: Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on Tuesday that the statement issued by the rotating EU chairman on Iran's righteous stands on Zionist regime is a source of surprise and regret.

According to the Information and Press Bureau of Iran's Foreign Ministry, Hosseini said the rotating chairman of the EU has issued its statement while Iran is the target of blatant threats by various Zionist regime officials, their acts of terrorism, daily massacre of innocent Palestinians in occupied territories, bombardment of residential units by Zionist fighter planes to which the EU has failed to react. Foreign Ministry Reacts to EU’s Statements on Iran >>>

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Obama Must Beware of Turning Into a Cult
… the frenzy he [Obama] has engendered contains within it the seeds of bitter disappointment, or even tragedy. There is the question of his own physical safety. Less morbidly, what will be the reaction of his supporters if he should fail to be elected President? Perhaps most troubling of all, what will be their reaction if he is elected, but the celestial choirs fail to appear and the world refuses to be perfect? - Dominic Lawson

THE INDEPENDENT: At this stage, it must be desperation rather than strategy: Hillary Clinton has unleashed the potentially deadly weapon of ridicule against Barack Obama. The almost hoarse Senator from New York told supporters in Rhode Island yesterday: "I could just stand up here and say [that] the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect."

Mrs Clinton did not mention her rival in this peroration but it was a very pertinent caricature of Mr Obama as the new Messiah. In fairness to Obama, the greatest claims for his near-divinity come not from his own lips but from his supporters. One of them is his own wife Michelle, who announced: "Our souls are broken in this nation. Barack Obama is the only person who understands that ... before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls." Even such a political veteran as the eighth-term Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush says Obama's political career has been "divinely ordered". His language is moderate compared to that used by some of Obama's youthful supporters, who talk openly of being members of "a cult" and of their rallies as being "religious experiences".

More surprisingly, seen-it-all reporters seem to have undergone a similar epiphany. MSNBC's Chris Matthews – somewhat to the consternation of his co-hosts – declared that Obama "comes along and he has the answers. This is the New Testament". The experienced Washington correspondent for The Australian, Geoff Elliott, reported: "You know something special is going on. The atmosphere at his events is such that one wonders if Obama is about to walk out with a basket with some loaves and fishes to feed the thousands." Obama must beware of turning into a cult: His speeches are studded with religious rhetoric. A chapter in his book is entitled 'Faith' >>> By Dominic Lawson

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Obama’s “Boneheaded Mistake”
Photo of Obama courtesy of The Times
TIMESONLINE: A British-Iraqi billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama's fundraiser just weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times discloses.

The money transfer raises the question of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain’s wealthiest men, helped Mr Obama buy his mock Georgian mansion in Chicago.

A company related to Mr Auchi, who has a conviction for corruption in France, registered the loan to Mr Obama's bagman Antoin "Tony" Rezko on May 23 2005. Mr Auchi says the loan, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA, was for $3.5 million.

Three weeks later, Mr Obama bought a house on the city's South Side while Mr Rezko's wife bought the garden plot next door from the same seller on the same day, June 15.

Mr Obama says he never used Mrs Rezko's still-empty lot, which could only be accessed through his property. But he admits he paid his gardener to mow the lawn.

Mrs Rezko, whose husband was widely known to be under investigation at the time, went on to sell a 10-foot strip of her property to Mr Obama seven months later so he could enjoy a bigger garden.

Mr Obama now admits his involvement in this land deal was a “boneheaded mistake”. Mansion 'mistake' piles the pressure on Barack Obama >>>

TIMESONLINE:
How to beat Obama - a British answer By Daniel Finkelstein

TIMESONLINE:
Can Obama be beaten? Twofer with Sarah Baxter

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Muslim Terror Recruiter Jailed
Photo of Mohammed Hamid courtesy of the Daily Express
DAILY EXPRESS: A MUSLIM who recruited Islamic extremists and trained five of the July 21 failed bombers has today been convicted after a major trial.

Mohammed Hamid, 50, was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of organizing secret terrorist training camps in the New Forest and the Lake District. 



He was also found guilty of encouraging Muslims to murder non-believers.

Three of his followers, Kibley da Costa, 25, Mohammed Al-Figari, 45, and Kader Ahmed, 20, were convicted of attending terror camps in the New Forest and at a Berkshire paintballing centre.

It can also now be revealed that two other members of the gang, Mohammed Kyriacou, 19, and Yassin Mutegombwa, 23, admitted to attending these terrorist camps.



The court heard Hamid led an AL Qaeda-style terrorist cell and aspired to send his recruits to join camps in Afghanistan and East Africa. Muslim Terror Recruiter Jailed >>> By Nicola McCafferty

WATCH GUARDIAN VIDEO:
The evidence that convicted Hamid: Video and audio recordings from Mohammed Hamid's terror training camps, including footage of him showing his followers how to behead, using a watermelon

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The Most Provocative Movie You’ve Never Seen

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Obama Blows His Nose. Now What Do You Think of That? Are You Still Alive?

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The Deceit of the “Treaty of Lisbon”: “Too Chicken to Hold a Referendum”

Hat tip: Brussels Journal

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Iran Gets Into “Nation-Building”
IRNA: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Monday night in a meeting with representatives of Leadership Experts Assembly, "Building a model society and introducing Islamic Revolution are our nation's missions." 


According to IRNA's Presidential Office reporter, Ahmadinejad added in his brief address, "The Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran are both great divine gifts, not only awarded to the Iranian nation, but to the entire mankind." 


The IRI President added, "Yet, we had better say that the Islamic Revolution of Iran and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran were the greatest events of the contemporary history, since they marked the continuation of the path laid before the mankind by divine Prophets (P), next to the appointment of Prophet Muhammad (P) as messenger of Allah (SWT), and the martyrdom of the Prophet's grandson Imam Hussain (P)." 


He said, "Like those great events, the Islamic Revolution, too, was a long leap towards mankind's reaching the peak of perfection." The President added, "The Iranian nation, the practicing Alims, and the followers of the idea of leadership of the blessed (Wilayah) are shouldering the responsibility of keeping on hoisting the flag of a movement whose nature is the same as the revolutions of divine Prophets (P).

President Ahmadinejad reiterated, "The Iranian nation also has two heavy responsibilities, one of which is constructing Iran, since the message of a revolution would be heard and welcomed when it would be accompanied by practical models.
He added, "Such model making would lead to leading the mankind towards the peak of perfection, and assist the world nations in embracing eternal salvation in the Hereafter, by convincing them that Islam is capable of presenting an ideal model for social life."

The head of our country's Supreme Cultural Revolution Council said, "Our culture and our administrative structure must be reshaped rapidly so that their basis would be the divine laws of Islam so that we would be able to claim that we have reached the status of a model society that can be the witness for the entire mankind." 
He added, "By grace of God such a movement began as of the victory of the Islamic Revolution despite the entire heavy obstacles and hindrances on its way, which have been removed one after the other, and the movement of the Islamic Revolution aimed at constructing a model society has kept on accelerating ever since then." 


Ahmadinejad reiterated, "Our nation's second important mission is introducing the Islamic Revolution to the entire mankind. Today the mankind has reached a point of dissatisfaction with the status quo of the social life and is so desperately in pursuit of better lives that the nations' minds are quite ripe for grasping such truths." The President said, "Based on such presuppositions, the only perfect school of thought that can lead the human society towards blessed life in this world and salvation in the other world is Mohamedan Islam." 


He noted, "We need to elaborate the divine rules of this school of thought and present to the world nations a model of social life based on it, while atop those who shoulder this responsibility there are the Alims who gain the divine thoughts from the origin of divine revelations, or from the Prophet (P) and the Infallible Imams (P)." After the President's address a number of Leadership Experts Assembly presented their viewpoints on various issues.

The prominent officials present at the meeting included the Speaker of the IRI Parliament, the Government spokesman, and a senior advisor of the President. [Source: Nation's missions, building model society, introducing Revolution – Ahmadinejad]

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Obama? A Mere “Novice”!
Photo of Hillary Clinton courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: Hillary Clinton has dismissed Barack Obama, the Democratic frontrunner, as a novice, as she sought to press her claims to be the next US commander-in-chief.

She said that he would need a "foreign policy instruction manual" as president.

Flanked by senior retired military officials, including Gen Wesley Clark, the former Nato commander, Mrs Clinton said that she was best qualified to lead the nation in troubled times, when the US was facing two wars, the threat of terrorism and the challenges of dealing with Cuba, Kosovo, Iran and North Korea. Hillary Clinton attacks Obama's 'naivety' >>> By Alex Spillius in Washington

THE TELEGRAPH:
Is Barack Obama getting too cocky?

THE TELEGRAPH:
Barack Obama tribal photo…

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Motoon Crisis Version 2
EUROPE NEWS: Being based in Denmark, EuropeNews has a natural interest in the resurgent Muhammad cartoon crisis. It evokes a clear feeling "We've been here before", and it shows also that we'll end up here again. The Danish press stands tight in solidarity this time.

Islamists find the sancticity of Muhammad challenged, and in true Islamic fashion responds with anger. Religions differ, and we see here Muslims express their religious feelings in accordance with their tradition.

Now, to a Christian or Western mind, it is strange that Muslims react with such fury. Is it because we have the audacity to indicate that Muhammad had a criminal mind? We would never do that, would we? Accuse Muhammad of instigating a regime of terror, emulated by Jihadists today? Would we come across the notion that perhaps Muhammad would assassinate critics just like Jihadist assassinate critics today? Why would we do that?

Actually, there's no need for us to do anything like this. It would constitute an insult to Islam, and we all know what the punishment is for doing that. The Religion of Peace would never resort to violence, except in the direst need. Or would it? Motoon crisis Version 2 >>> By Henrik R Clausen

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Crazy Is as Crazy Does
EUROPE NEWS: The decision by Britain, America and certain other European countries to recognise Kosovo as an independent state is mind-blowingly stupid and suicidal and of a piece with their obvious determination to capitulate in the war for civilisation. It is a rotten decision for the following reasons:

1. It endorses a breach of a country's right to maintain its own integrity. Serbia is a properly constituted democratic country. To recognise the validity of such a secession is to undermine the principle of a country's right to determine its own composition. It puts up two fingers to international law, which explicitly recognises Serbian authority over Kosovo and upholds a state’s right to its own sovereignty. It opens the way for any other breakaway movement to do the same, both in the Balkans and around the world. So Tamils can now claim a precedent for seceding from Sri Lanka, Corsicans from France, Basques from Spain. And after Kosovo, can Scotland be far behind? Is this crazy, or is this crazy? >>>

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Sharia Storm Grows
DAILY STAR: MUSLIM radicals have demanded Sharia law across Britain “without compromise”.

Extreme Islamics said the hardline system – where people are punished by stoning and beheading – is the future.



Speaking at a meeting in Birmingham, Abu Ibraheem said: “Let us make this absolutely clear. Islam is not subject to dilution, compromise or relegation. Sharia storm grows >>> By Tom Hutchison

Hat tip: Europe News

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Iran Introduces Law that Imposes Death Penalty on Converts
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE: LEGISLATION has been brought by the government of President Mahmoud Amadinejad before the Iranian Majlis that would mandate the death penalty for apostates from Islam. The law’s reach would be worldwide, the legislation says.

The Washington think tank, the Institute on Religion and Public Policy reported on Feb 5 the proposed “Bill for Islamic Penal” law will be the first time that Iran has by statute mandated the death penalty for conversion from Islam.


The legislation used the word “Hadd -- meaning that it explicitly sets death as a fixed punishment that cannot be changed, reduced or annulled. In the past, the death penalty has been handed down, and also carried out, in apostasy cases, but it has never before been set down in law,” the Institute’s president, Joseph Grieboski said. Iran introduces law that imposes death penalty on converts >>> By George Conger

Hat tip: Jim Ball

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The Sexual Abuse of Children in Islam

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Pakistan: Convert to Islam or Die!

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Coptic Priest – Zakariya Boutrus: Islam and Christianity

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