My favorite story of the evening concerns the Muslim catering manager who sued the London police because he might have to handle bacon and sausage as a part of his job.Thanks to Abu Elvis, Cimmerian, Diana West, Insubria, JD, Lexington, Michael Freund, TB, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
- - - - - - - - -
Bill Ayers Worked With Cuba Says FBI Report
Unrepentant terrorist former leading Weather Underground Organization (WUO) member William Ayers was aided by Fidel Castro’s Cuba in the 1970s, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report.
The 400-page report, a copy of which was obtained by the New York Times, revealed that Cuban intelligence officers in the General Directorate of Intelligence (known by its initials in Spanish as the DGI, Cuba’s equivalent of the CIA) set up the Venceremos Brigades in which WUO members participated.
“The ultimate objective of the DGI’s participation in the setting up of the Venceremos Brigades was “the recruitment of individuals who are politically oriented and who someday may obtain a position, elective or appointive, somewhere in the U.S. Government, which would provide the Cuban Government with access to political, economic and military intelligence.” (Italics CFP’s).
“Three years before militant members of the students for a Democratic Society split off to form the Weather Underground Organization in 1970, North Vietnamese and Cuban officials were influencing radical antiwar strategy through foreign meetings. Many of those meetings were held in Communist countries, including Hungary, Czechoslovakia and North Vietnam,” said the report.
“After the Weathermen went “underground” in 1970 when many of them were being sought by the FBI on criminal charges, Cuban intelligence officers were in touch with them from both the Cuban Mission to the United Nations in New York and the Cuban Embassy in Canada.”
In fact according to the report, Ayers played a primary role in the Venceremos Brigades, a role revealed courtesy of Larry Grathwohl, a man publicly described as the “most effective informer the FBI ever placed among the Weathermen.”
| [Return to headlines] |
Ellison and Obama, Part 1
by Diana West
Scott Johnson of Powerline flipped on the neon “AHA!” sign today in noting parrallels between the respective political trajectories of Keith Ellison, our country’s first Muslim congressman, and Barack Hussein Obama, our country’s first Muslim-descended presidential candidate. He began by discussing how political correctness—fear of discussing race, Islam, and Nation of Islam—became the key weapon that gave both men the edge over their rival, establishment Democrats. Scott writes:
Watching the emergence of Barack Obama this year I have experienced at least a slight sense of déjà vu. With modifications and variations, the Obama phenomenon was anticipated by the rise of Keith Ellison in 2006. …
Scott did ground-breaking reporting throughout that Ellison campaign, some of it assisted, he explains, by political players in Minnesota who were disgusted and frustrated by the media’s failure to report on Ellison’s past and ideology. Sound familiar? He writes:
Given Ellison’s status as the first black congressional nominee in Minnesota and first Muslim congressional nominee in the United States, the constraints of political correctness drastically inhibited the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s coverage of Ellison.
As Yogi Berra would say, It’s deja vu all over again. When it comes to Obama’s political rise, the “constraints of political correctness” have not only drastically inhibited the MSM—who, of course, want to be inhibited to boost their Messiah—but also the McCain campaign, whose fear of being labeled “racist” for bringing up Jeremiah Wright and Frank Marshal Davis, for starters, practically shut down the campaign’s offensive game…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
Ellison and Obama, Part 2
by Diana West
[…]
But as recently as September 20 Ellison was rallying Muslim voters at an election event co-sponsored by the Islamic Center at New York University and MPAC. There, he described Obama as someone “who upholds our values, reflects our aspirations…I believe you should support Barack Obama.” He went on to rail against “watchlists” and America’s “relationship with the rest of the world, particularly the Muslim world.” He also urged Muslims to advance themselves as specifically Muslim voting blocs in every state—”You … need to develop some agenda, three or four items. One [item] should be an explicitly Muslim thing….”
Why? Muslim political power, of course. “I believe if we play the cards properly, in only a few short years, ensha’alla, the Muslim community will be a force to be reckoned with.” He cited the effectiveness of the mainly Somali Muslim population in Minnesota who, he said, put him over the top in his own House race in 2006, and Muslim voters in Virginia, nearly all of whom voted for Sen. James Webb over then-Sen. George Allen ( a strong supporter of Israel, I would add), also in 2006.
“Why,” Ellison asked, “are we trying to get power?” His answer about the importance of “sharing” Islamic “values” sounded very much like a coded pitch for Islamic law (sharia)…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
Look Who’s Rooting for Obama
By Michael Freund
What do Iran’s ayatollahs, Hamas terrorists, Louis Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson and Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi have in common?
They are all pulling for Barack Obama to win the US presidential election.
When Israel’s disparate foes manage to rally behind a single candidate, it should set off alarm bells for anyone who cares about the Jewish state.
If you think this is just Republican scaremongering, consider the following.
Last week, Ali Larijani, the hard-line speaker of the Iranian parliament, told a press conference in Bahrain that “we are leaning more in favor of Barack Obama because he is more flexible and rational” (Agence France Presse, October 22).
And then there is the October 19 endorsement that Obama received from Hamas spokesman Ahmed Yousef, who told WABC radio host John Batchelor and World Net Daily’s Aaron Klein that “we as Palestinians are thinking that we might have better luck with a new administration, maybe, if Obama wins the election… I do believe he will change the American foreign policy in the way they are handling the Middle East.”
There you have it. Two clear expressions of preference for Obama from two of the leading anti-Israel and anti-Western forces in the Middle East. Both the Iranian regime and the Hamas terrorist organization view Obama in a positive light and hope he will be elected.
Their enthusiasm for the senator from Illinois is shared by a number of other long-time enemies of the Jewish state on both sides of the Atlantic.
On June 11, Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, in a speech broadcast on Al-Jazeera, spoke glowingly of the Democratic nominee. According to a translation provided by MEMRI, Gaddafi said, “His name is Obama. All the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa applauded this man. They welcomed him and prayed for him and for his success, and they may have even been involved in legitimate contribution campaigns to enable him to win the American presidency.”
Back in the US, anti-Semitic firebrand Louis Farrakhan earlier this year labeled Obama “the hope of the entire world” and compared him to the founder of the Nation of Islam, the group Farrakhan heads (Associated Press, February 25).
Normally, one would expect that such a motley collection of rogues would be enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most spineless of voters. In the end, who wants to be cheering for the same outcome as Gaddafi and Farrakhan?
Nonetheless, if two recent polls are to be believed, Obama seems poised to capture a significant majority of the Jewish vote.
A SURVEY released last week by Quinnipiac University found that Jews in the battleground state of Florida are backing Obama by a margin of 77 percent to 20%, while a Gallup survey revealed that nationwide, Jews favor him over Sen. John McCain by 74% to 22%.
While that is less than the 80% that Democrats Al Gore and Joe Lieberman garnered in the 2000 election, it is similar to the 75% that John Kerry captured four years ago.
One can only shake one’s head in bewilderment at such a predilection, particularly in light of Obama’s flip-flop on Jerusalem back in June, when he told the annual AIPAC policy conference that he supports the city remaining Israel’s united capital, only to back-track from that position the following day.
If Obama can’t stand firm on the campaign trail on such a basic issue of fundamental importance to Israel and its supporters, how can he be counted on to do so if given the keys to the White House?
Any pro-Israel Jews and Christians still sitting on the fence, wondering how to cast their ballot on November 4, would therefore do well to bear in mind the revealing comments made recently by Jesse Jackson.
Speaking at the World Policy Forum in Evian, France two weeks ago, Jackson promised that the “Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades” will lose influence once Obama is in charge, as he will stop “putting Israel’s interests first.”
“Obama is about change,” Jackson observed, “and the change that Obama promises is not limited to what we do in America itself. It is a change of the way America looks at the world and its place in it” (New York Post, October 14).
If that type of change scares the daylights out of you, and it darn well should, then think long and hard about whether you want to throw your support behind such a person.
The bottom line is that Obama makes Teheran, Tripoli and Gaza convulse with excitement, and that alone should make the rest of us shudder with fear.
| — Hat tip: Michael Freund | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Obama: Spike Energy Costs to Make People Go ‘Green’
When Des Moines Register reporter David Yepsen asked Obama what part of his campaign Americans may not like to hear, the candidate returned to the theme of price signals.
“Number one, we’re going to have to start doing a better job of conserving on energy,” Obama said. “Americans like to drive their big SUVs. They like to leave all the lights on in their house. We’re going to have to change our habits.”
He then clarified how the government could implement the kind price signals that change consumer habits.
“We’re going to have to cap the emission of greenhouse gases,” Obama said. “That means that power plants are going to have to adjust how they generate power. They will pass on those costs to consumers…. A lot of us who can afford it are going to have to pay more per unit of electricity, and that means we’re going to have to change our light bulbs, we’re going to have to shut the lights off in our houses.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Blasphemy Law Ditched by the Dutch
A controversial anti-blasphemy law is being scrapped by the Dutch government. The move is remarkable as two of the current three members of the ruling coalition are Christian parties and they had originally wanted to maintain the ban.
In scrapping the law the cabinet is meeting the demand of parliament where a majority of parties argued that offering religious groups an extra layer of legal protection is outdated.
As an alternative the cabinet is now seeking to strengthen anti-discrimination laws against groups whatever their background, thus taking the religious component out of the equation.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Climate: Italy to EU, Unsustainable Costs
(AGI) — Rome, 28 Oct — The climate package has ‘‘unsustainable’’ costs for our production. The costs for Italy would be ‘‘40 pct more than the average of the other countries’’. The Italian Government stated its line on the climate package being discussed by the EU.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Education: Protests Against Gelmini Law in Madrid
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, OCTOBER 30 — Around one hundred students, some teachers from the ‘Enrico Fermi’ Italian school in Madrid and Italian students on Erasmus exchange in Madrid, have today protested against the Gelmini law on education reform. The group gathered in front of the Italian Embassy in the Spanish capital under a slogan that read: “from Madrid we join the fight against the destruction of our public schooling system”. The protest, which took place at 11.00, was preceded by a sit-in in front of the Enrico Fermi school in via Augustin de Betancourt. “No to the Gelmini Law, yes to the referendum” was another of the slogans being chanted, referring to the initiative spearheaded by Walter Veltroni, the leader of the Democratic Party, to gather signatures to force a referendum to cancel the reform. This evening, Veltroni will be at the Italian Institute of Culture in Madrid for the launch of the Spanish translation of his book ‘Cuando Amanece’ (Italian title: ‘La scoperta dell’albà, or ‘The Discovery of Dawn’), edited in Spain by MR. The launch will be introduced by Aurora Conde, director of the Department of Italian Philology at the Complutense University of Madrid, and will also feature the participation of Fernando Savater, a philospher and writer. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Says Satisfied With Turkey’s Economic Performance
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 30 — The European Union is expected to announce its satisfaction with Turkey’s economic performance in line with guidelines set forth by the EU in Copenhagen in 1993, as daily Today’s Zaman reports. In an annual progress report due to be released on November 5, the European Commission notes that Turkey implemented economic policies in line with the commission’s recommendations and successfully completed a stand-by agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF) in May 2008. It says, however, that Turkey needs to make further reforms in its economic programs. The report singles out the domestic political crisis as hampering the decision-making process with regard to reforms. The EU seems to be satisfied with Turkey’s overall performance, noting that “consensus on economic policy essentials has been maintained, and coordination has improved.” The report blames the economic slowdown in Turkey in the first half of 2008 on global financial turbulence and domestic political uncertainty. GDP growth in Turkey slowed to 1.9% in the second quarter, from 6.7% in the first. Despite the slowdown, the EU acknowledges that the Turkish economy is more resilient and its foundations stronger than ever before. The report states that the current account balance in Turkey presents a challenge to the Turkish economy and notes that a sharp rise in oil prices has been putting pressure on Turkey’s current account deficit. The commission states, however, that Turkey’s external position remained solid throughout 2007 and in the first half of 2008 thanks to the continuation of long-term capital inflows to Turkey. The commission expresses its concern about unemployment, which is hovering around 10 or 11%, and says labor market conditions remain challenging. As for inflation, the report mentions increasing food and energy prices as the main factor in the rise of inflation to 10.6% by mid-2008, up from 8.4% at the end of 2007. The commission is pleased with Turkey’s financial performance, saying it was satisfactory despite the government falling short of its 2007 targets. It cautions, however, that Turkey remains vulnerable to external shock and requires stronger anchors in the face of heightened uncertainty and an ongoing financial crisis. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
George Wassouf Held in Sweden on Drug Charges
Syrian-Lebanese singer George Wassouf was arrested in Sweden on drug charges just hours before he was due to perform a concert, Al Arabiya TV reported on Sunday.
Wassouf “has been held in police custody since Saturday on drugs charges,” a police officer in the western Stockholm district, Martin Holm, told AFP.
He was arrested after a police raid at the Sheraton hotel in the Swedish capital, Holm said.
According to the online version of daily Aftonbladet, Wassouf, 46, was in possession of 30 grams of cocaine when he was arrested.
No formal charges have been pressed against Wassouf yet, and a prosecutor was to ask a Stockholm court to remand him in custody on Monday pending an investigation, Holm said.
According to Aftonbladet, thousands of people had bought tickets to see the singer perform at a newly opened venue in the Stockholm suburb of Solna.
Wassouf, who moved to Lebanon as a child, is a star in the Arab world with more than 30 albums to his name. He is nicknamed as the ‘Sultan al-Tarab’ (Master of Arabic music) across the Arab world.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands Concerned About Moroccan Influence on Imams
Forty Dutch imams and spiritual councillors recently travelled to Morocco at that country’s expense to attend a conference on radicalisation. Dutch-Moroccan organisations and MPs have reacted irritably to what they perceive as the umpteenth attempt by the Moroccan government to interfere with Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands. Parliament took a dim view of the affair.
An umbrella organisation for Moroccans in the Netherlands, the SMN, last week raised the alarm about the clergymen’s trip to Morocco. The conference, organised and paid for by the Moroccan government, was reportedly intended to give the spiritual leaders religious instruction. The imams in the group allegedly left on the quiet, without asking their employers, the mosque councils, for permission.
‘Unacceptable’
Habib Khaddouri of the SMN feels it is unacceptable that the Moroccan government should interfere in the religious affairs of Moroccans in the Netherlands.
“Mosque communities in the Netherlands should be able to decide for themselves how to interpret their faith. As is only appropriate in a democratic constitutional state.”
Driss al-Boujoufi of the CMO, an organisation which serves as a conduit between the Muslim community and the government, does not understand what the fuss is all about.
“We are talking about a conference at which imams and spiritual councillors exchange ideas on problems involving young people and radicalisation.”
Mr Boujoufi, who said he was not sure whether the conference was organised by the Moroccan government, said that spiritual councillors who work in prisons were invited because young inmates are often susceptible to radical ideas.
Hiding its real intentions
Mr Khaddouri of the SMN believes the Moroccan government uses the argument of fighting terrorism to hide its real intentions, namely tightening its grip on Dutch Moroccans…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Caterer Sues Police Over Sausages
A Muslim catering manager has accused the Metropolitan Police of religious discrimination as he was told he may have to handle sausages and bacon.
Hasanali Khoja was told he would be expected to handle pork products at his new job at the Empress State Building in Earls Court, west London.
His lawyer said Mr Khoja was excused from pork meat in his previous job at Hendon Police College in north London.
An informal agreement was reached with the force but he wants it formalised.
An employment tribunal in Watford will consider his claim in May 2009.
A Metropolitan Police (Met) spokesman said it was defending a claim of religious discrimination brought against it at an employment tribunal.
Islam forbids the consumption of pork meat or products containing pork.
Mr Khoja, a senior catering manager, has been working with the Met since 2005 and filed the claim in the tribunal last year.
He said: “Obviously nobody in my situation would be happy. Pork handling is the issue.”
Religious beliefs
His lawyer Khalid Sofi said: “The claim is about his religious beliefs. They failed to accommodate him as they had a duty to do under the law.
“He would have had to do certain things and bacon would have been involved.”
| — Hat tip: Cimmerian | [Return to headlines] |
Italy-Albania: Berisha to Frattini, Biometric Passport Here
(ANSAmed) — TIRANA, OCTOBER 27 — The first Albanian passport and the first biometric identity card were presented today by Premier Sali Berisha to Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on his visit to Tirana. “Berisha has kept his promise — this opens the way to an acceleration in tangible and visible results for European citizens apart from the liberalisation of visas, which with the introduction of the biometric passport brings us closer to our objectives” said Frattini. The Italian chief of diplomacy was visibly pleased with this first result on the road toward a single system for the identification of people which Frattini himself urged as Vice President of the European Commission. “Every Albanian citizen has the right to take the ferry from Durazzo to Bari without an individual visa, but Albania must move forward with reforms”, he said. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia-Turkey: Cooperation Between Military Academies
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, OCTOBER 31 — A delegation of the students of Turkey’s Military Academy today ended a four-day visit to the Military Academy in Belgrade, organized with the aim of enabling the exchange of experiences, Tanjug learned by sources in the Serbian Military Academy. During their first visit to Serbia from October 27-31, four students and officers from the Turkish Military Academy were able to see all the daily activities of their Serbian counterparts. The visit was agreed in early October at a meeting between the head of the Serbian Military Academy, Major- General Vidosav Kovacevic, and the military attache at Turkey’s Belgrade-based embassy, Colonel Yucel Keles. Kovacevic and Keles concluded that this visit would mark the start of cooperation between the two military academies with the aim of promoting military education and exchanging experiences. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy-Libya: Tremiti Mayor, Tests Show No Libyan Descendents
(ANSAmed) — TREMITI ISLANDS (FOGGIA), OCTOBER 27 — “About thirty islanders underwent DNA testing at my request to see if there are any of Libyan descent amongst them” and none was found. Mayor of the Tremiti islands Giuseppe Calabrese told ANSA that the citizens underwent the DNA testing to see if anyone was a descendent of Libyan citizens sent in exile to the island when Libya was an Italian colony. “The results of the tests were negative, there are no Libyan descendents amongst the islanders” said the Mayor, saying that “the Libyans deported during the Second World War died soon after from typhus, which they had contracted before reaching the islands. “These people were then buried in a mass grave and I built a memorial to them to restore their dignity in 2004. The following year the monument was unveiled by representatives of the Libyan government, with which we have strong ties”. The tests which the islanders underwent were taken by Libyan specialists on the Diomede islands. “I believe that this was a necessary act. It is essential that the relationship between Libya and Italy is a good one and that friendship and cooperation prevail. I believe I can say that the initial acts of friendship were taken by the people of the Tremiti.” A few days ago the Mayor, like Andreotti, Pisanu, Dini, Letta and Berlusconi before him, was honoured with the title ‘Al Fatha’’ as a mark of esteem and friendship for bringing the two peoples together in friendship. Calabrese expressed his hope that soon the Libyan leader would visit the island, given the friendship with the Libyan ambassador in Rome. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy-Turkey: Fini, Preferential Relationship With Ankara
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 31 — “The preferential relationship with Turkey is for Italy a vital reference to a country that represents a fundamental bastion of stability and democracy in a complex and difficult international setting”. So stated Gianfranco Fini, Speaker of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, attending the closing ceremony of the European twinning ceremony with the Turkish Great National Assembly. “The fight against terrorism and the commitment for the sake of peace and development at the bilateral level and in multilateral bodies represent the fundamental objectives that inspire a common view of international politics”. Fini, who spoke with Koksal Toptan, the Speaker of the Turkish Great National Assembly, at his side, noted “bilateral relations between the (Italian) Chamber and the Turkish Parliament had never been so intense and fruitful before”. This parliamentary cooperation, he said, reflected the relationship between “two great Nations linked by centuries of history and very intense political, cultural and economic relations”. Both belong to the Mediterranean region and moreover they share a call to be a ‘bridge’ between different cultures, “relevant more than ever today”. Referring to the project of setting up an Italian-Turkish Unversity in Istanbul, the Italian House Speaker strssed that “economic relations with Turkey represent a strategic option for Italy”. These relations ranged from the manufacturing industry to energy and services and included the level of small and medium size enterprises. Therefore, they do represent “a very solid reality”. “The Italian Parliament and the Turkish Parliament — Fini said — have a lot to say to each other since they both play a major role in guaranteeing in any circumstance national unity by menas of the dialogue among their different components.” “They do, therefore — he concluded — a smimilar ability to act as a bridge between the different institutions also at a critical time for political life. We will walk side by side along the road taking Turkey, engaged in the necessary reforms, toward the European Union, to finish the historical design which Atatruk started by founding the Republic right here in Ankara 85 years ago”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Azhar Professors Refuse to Enroll Coptic Students
Professors at the Cairo-based al-Azhar University said that they were against the enrollment of Christian students, while professors from other Egyptian universities called for more flexibility after the matter was taken to court.
Coptic lawyer Mamdouh Nakhla has filed a lawsuit against al-Azhar University, highest seat of learning in the Muslim Sunni world, for its refusal to accept Christian students and called it an “unconstitutional university” because it discriminates between Muslims and Christians.
Hussein Eweida, chairman of the al-Azhar University Teaching Staff Club, said the professors will hold a meeting, together with scholars from inside and outside Egypt, then will all present their resolutions to President Hosni Mubarak.
The rejection is attributed to preserving the Islamic identity of the oldest theological university in the world and maintaining the rules upon which it was founded, Eweida told AlArabiya.net.
Eweida argued that law no. 103 for the year 1961, which sets the requirements of enrolling at al-Azhar University, stated that only Muslim graduates of al-Azhar high schools or those with university degrees can be enrolled in the Sunni university. Muslim students from other universities can also enroll after passing the required exams…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Suez Canal Revenues Sky-High, Authority Chairman
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, OCT 29 — Revenues from the Suez Canal have reached an all-time high bringing in 4.101 billion dollars in the first nine months of 2008, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority announced. This is a 22.4 percent rise on last year’s 3.49 billion dollars, Ahmed Ali Fadel said in statements. As many as 16,155 ships and ferryboats crossed the waterway over the past nine months, Fadel said. This is a 7.6 percent Increase, he added. A little over 62 ships entered the Suez Canal daily from July to September, according to SCA statistics. In 2007, about 57 ships had sailed through the canal every day during the same period.(ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Journalist Working on Police Success Story Has Car Vandalized Near Ramallah Police Station
Bethlehem — Ma’an — Unidentified vandals smashed the windshields of Ma’an’s Ramallah correspondent Muhammad Al-Lahham in the central West Bank while he was preparing a report on the Palestinian police units in the city.
According to Al-Lahham, he parked his car near Ramallah Park and left the area with another journalist in order to prepare a report about the success of the Ramallah police. When he returned one hour later, the windshield of his car was smashed and the car door open. He also reported that personal items were stolen from the car.
| — Hat tip: Abu Elvis | [Return to headlines] |
Battered Husband Begs Iran Court for Help: Report
An Iranian man has filed for divorce and asked a court to protect him from his hefty wife, saying she lays into him every night when he gets home from work, the Etemad newspaper reported on Saturday.
“Every night when I get home my wife, who is tall and strong, hits me,” the paper quoted the man, identified only by his first name Behrouz, as telling the family court in Tehran.
“I am a cleaner at a hotel and get home late at night. But my wife thinks I do other things after work.”
Behrouz, who is slightly built, said he no longer wanted to go home and pleaded for the court to save him from his wife, Etemad said.
The judge has now summoned the wife to appear before the court before he gives a final ruling in the case.
Rights activists have long campaigned for changes to Iran’s family law which is deemed discriminatory against women in matters of divorce and child custody.
Men’s refusal to pay maintenance, drug addiction and physical abuse are among the more common reasons for divorce in the Islamic republic.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Kurdish Leader Welcomes US Bases in North Iraq
A top Iraqi Kurdish leader has said the U.S. military could have bases in northern Iraq if Washington and Baghdad fail to sign the controversial security deal, a local newspaper reported Sunday.
Massud Barzani, the president of northern Iraq’s regional Kurdish administration, said that his government would “welcome” such a move, the Khabat, the newspaper run by Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party, quoted him as saying.
“All the attempts are going right now to sign the pact, but if the pact is not signed and if U.S. asked to keep their troops in Kurdistan, I think the parliament, the people and government of Kurdistan will welcome this warmly,” he said at the Centre of Strategy and International Study in Washington.
Baghdad and Washington are currently engaged in drawn out negotiations over an arrangement that will determine the presence of American forces in Iraq beyond 2008 when the current U.N. mandate expires.
Barzani has strongly backed the controversial security deal but the signing of the pact was delayed after the Iraqi cabinet decided to seek changes in the latest draft of the agreement.
The Kurdish leader is currently in Washington for a series of talks with President George W. Bush and other American officials.
Iraq expects a reply from the United States within days to its proposal for changes to the pact requiring U.S. troops to leave by the end of 2011, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Saturday.
“We expect by Tuesday or Wednesday next week to receive answers from the American side about the suggestions of amendments proposed by the Iraqi cabinet,” Zebari said in a TV interview.
“We are talking about a small space of time. It is not open ended, and every side is coming nearer to the moment of truth.”
U.S. embassy spokeswoman Susan Ziadeh said Washington was considering the Iraqi proposals and would respond shortly.
Both countries appear to be moving quickly in a last-ditch scramble to save the pact, which was hammered out over months of intensive negotiations but hit a snag in October when Baghdad demanded changes just days after announcing a final text.
Iraqi officials have said their proposed amendments would tighten the language demanding a pullout in three years, clarify circumstances under which U.S. troops could be tried in Iraqi courts, and ban U.S. attacks on Iraq’s neighbors from its soil.
Barzani and other Iraqi Kurdish leaders have been strong U.S. allies since the 1991 Gulf War that pushed former dictator Saddam Hussein’s troops out of Kuwait and established a no-fly zone over the country’s northern Kurdish region.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Mideast: Israel-Turkey Discuss Military Cooperation
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, OCTOBER 29 — Military cooperation between Israel and Turkey has been at the centre of the meeting between Defence Minister Ehud Barak with his Turkish counterpart Vacdi Gonul, today in Tel Aviv. The Israeli Defence Ministry announced this in a note, specifying that during the meeting “bilateral military cooperation, especially in military industry, and bilateral relations on a level of regional security have been discussed”. The relation between the two countries has been consolidated on all levels, starting from the early ‘90s. The close relation between the defence system of both countries has been sanctioned in a military cooperation agreement, criticised by Arab countries, signed in 1996. Turkey is mediating between Israel and Syria to facilitate the re-launch of the peace process between these two States. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Saddam’s Body ‘Stabbed Six Times After Execution’- the Times
The body of the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had six stab wounds, The Times newspaper reported the head guard at the tomb north of Baghdad as saying.
He was one of the people who attended the former Iraqi president’s burial after his execution.
The claim is denied by the head of Hussein’s tribe. The Iraqi government also denies that any mutilation took place after the president was hanged on December 30, 2006.
Talal Misrab (45) is the chief guard at Hussein’s tomb. He said: “There were six stab wounds on his body.”
Misrab said that four of the wounds were in the late President’s front and two in his back. The guard added that 300 other people witnessed the injuries when the body was buried in the early hours of the morning, the day after Hussein was hanged.
Another tribesman said that he had been told by Sheikh Ali al-Neda, the former head of Hussein’s tribe, who has since died, that the body had stab wounds.
Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq’s security adviser, denied the allegation. “I oversaw the whole process from A to Z and Saddam Hussein’s body was not stabbed or mutilated and he was not humiliated before execution,” he said.
Sheikh Hasan al-Neda, the leader of Hussein’s tribe, also dismissed the suggestion that anyone had interfered with the body.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey on Shaky Ground Without External Anchors, Economist
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 27 — Turkey’s present economic outlook might not be as bright as it is often portrayed to be, according to an article published in The Economist magazine and reported by daily Today’s Zaman. Despite the fundamentally sound economic indicators, the lack of external political and economic anchors may be the country’s Achilles heel. While praising Economy Minister Mehmet Simsek’s good work in developing medium-term policies and keeping the country’s economy firmly on the straight and narrow, the article warns that his passing up the opportunity for a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) stand-by agreement in May 2008 highlights a technocratic understanding of the Turkish economy and a lack of political sensitivity in a country that has historically suffered from populist cycles and has required external anchors to prevent excessive populist spending. The article writes, “The biggest problem is not finding the right policies but, in a fractious political arena, securing consent for them.” Indeed, the article is quick to point out that the financial industry looks to be in top health with high levels of capital adequacy ratios in banks (17.5%), diversifying export markets and, according to official estimates, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows that will total over $15 billion in 2008. But, with an export sector which is more than 50% dependent on recession-stricken European markets and which faces increasing competition from such countries as China, Turkey requires confidence in its economy now more than ever. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Japanese Man Petitions to Marry Comic Book Wife
A JAPANESE man has enlisted hundreds of people in a campaign to allow marriages between humans and cartoon characters, saying he feels more at ease in the “two-dimensional world”.
Comic books are immensely popular in Japan, with some fictional characters becoming celebrities or even sex symbols.
Marriage is meanwhile on the decline as many young Japanese find it difficult to find life partners.
Taichi Takashita launched an online petition aiming for one million signatures to present to the government to establish a law on marriages with cartoon characters.
Within a week he has gathered more than 1000 signatures through.
“I am no longer interested in three dimensions. I would even like to become a resident of the two-dimensional world,” he wrote.
“However, that seems impossible with present-day technology. Therefore, at the very least, would it be possible to legally authorise marriage with a two-dimensional character?”
But some people signing the petition are true believers.
“For a long time I have only been able to fall in love with two-dimensional people and currently I have someone I really love,” one person wrote.
“Even if she is fictional, it is still loving someone. I would like to have legal approval for this system at any cost,” the person wrote.
Japan only permits marriage between human men and women and gives no legal recognition to same-sex relationships.
Japan’s fans of comic books, or “manga,” sometimes go to extremes.
Earlier this month, a woman addicted to manga put out an online message seeking to kill her parents for asking her to throw away comic books that filled up three rooms.
| — Hat tip: Abu Elvis | [Return to headlines] |
Court Rules Niger Failed by Allowing Girl’s Slavery
By LYDIA POLGREEN
DAKAR, Senegal — A West African regional court ruled Monday that the government of Niger had failed to protect a young woman sold into slavery at the age of 12.
The landmark ruling, the first of its kind by a regional tribunal now sitting in Niamey, Niger’s capital, ordered the government to pay about $19,000 in damages to the woman, Hadijatou Mani, who is now 24.
Slavery is outlawed throughout Africa, but it persists in pockets of Niger, Mali, Mauritania and amid conflicts like the one in northern Uganda. Antislavery organizations estimate that 43,000 people are enslaved in Niger alone, where nomadic tribes like the Tuareg and Toubou have for centuries held members of other ethnic groups as slaves.
Ms. Mani’s experience was typical of the practice. She was born into a traditional slave class and sold to Souleymane Naroua when she was 12 for about $500.
Ms. Mani told court officials that Mr. Naroua had forced her to work his fields for a decade. She also claimed that he raped her repeatedly over the years.
“I was beaten so many times I would run back to my family,” she told the BBC. “Then after a day or two I would be brought back.”
Ms. Mani brought her case to the court this year, arguing that the Niger government had failed to enforce its antislavery laws.
She had initially sought protection under Niger’s laws. In 2005, Mr. Naroua gave her a certificate freeing her, but when she tried to get married he claimed that she was already married to him.
A local court ruled for Ms. Mani, but a higher court reversed the judgment. In an absurd twist, Ms. Mani, who had gone ahead and married the other man, was sentenced to six months in jail for bigamy. She was released after serving two months.
“Nobody deserves to be enslaved,” Ms. Mani said in a statement. “We are all equal and deserve to be treated the same. I hope that everybody in slavery today can find their freedom. No woman should suffer the way I did.”
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
School Clams Up on ‘Gay’ Pledge Cards Given to Kindergartners
A California school system refuses to say what action, if any, it will take after it received complaints about a kindergarten teacher who encouraged her students to sign “pledge cards” in support of gays.
During a celebration of National Ally Week, Tara Miller, a teacher at the Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science in Hayward, Calif., passed out cards produced by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network to her class of kindergartners.
The cards asked signers to be “an ally” and to pledge to “not use anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) language or slurs; intervene, when I feel I can, in situations where others are using anti-LGBT language or harassing other students and actively support safer schools efforts.”
| [Return to headlines] |
The Third Jihad Will Make Cultural Islamists Squirm
But if Obsession gave CAIR heartburn, a new documentary by the same director, The Third Jihad: Radical Islam’s Vision for America, will undoubtedly give them kidney stones.
There are two cardinal reasons why CAIR and other Islamic extremist groups will find The Third Jihad even more deplorable than its predecessor.
The first is that the film directly challenges their claim to speak on behalf of all American Muslims. In fact, the film is narrated by Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a devout American-born Muslim physician, a former U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. Jasser has been one of the most outspoken American Muslim leaders against the agenda of radical Islam in the U.S. and the organizations that actively work to advance the jihadist cause against our country. And he has done this through numerous television appearances on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and many other outlets, in print through articles and editorials, and speaking regularly on the national lecture circuit.
To have a mainstream Muslim leader — who is unashamedly pro-American and anti-jihadist; who cites his military induction oath to protect the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, as a personal fundamental commitment; who is not tainted with multiple ties to foreign jihadist groups and Islamic terrorist organizations; whose parents came to the U.S. from Syria fleeing the very oppression and religious extremism that typifies the Muslim world; who rejects the constant grievance-mongering and endless claims of victimization of Islamic extremists; and who is willing to publicly call out groups like CAIR for their extremist agenda to undermine the very liberties that make us Americans — leading this charge might be one of the most serious challenges that these groups have ever faced.
| [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Muslim Missionaries Plan to Take America
Fethullah Gülen’s Missionaries in America
After the Soviet Union collapsed, the super powers began to fight over Central Asia’s oil and gas wealth, as well as the geopolitics of the region. The U.S. did not want Iran to have control over the Central Asian republics. The U.S. knew that it could not easily have access to the region; therefore, it used the movement of a Turkish Islamic imam, Fethullah Gülen as a perfect proxy to gain control quickly and effectively because Turkey shared the same history, culture and religion with Central Asians. However, this odd but fortuitous relationship made it easy for Gülen later to have entry into America. The U.S. used Gulen’s movement by comparing what it perceived to be a bigger threat to a lesser threat. Rather than standing by for a radical Islamic group to infiltrate Central Asia in the vacuum left by the Soviets, the U.S. choose to support Gulen’s missionaries who were armed with Turkish Sufism. Similarly, the U.S. reasoned that allowing the CIA to support Osama Bin Laden to defeat the Soviet troops in Afghanistan in1979, would ensure the defeat of the Russians.
Central Asia is a key strategic prize in the Great Game as Russia, the U.S., and China battle to obtain energy supplies…
| — Hat tip: Lexington | [Return to headlines] |
3 comments:
My favorite story of the evening concerns the Muslim catering manager who sued the London police because he might have to handle bacon and sausage as a part of his job.
Man: Well, what've you got?
Waitress: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam;
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam...
Waitress: ...spam spam spam egg and spam; spam spam spam spam spam spam baked beans spam spam spam...
Vikings: Spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam!
Waitress: ...or Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and spam.
Wife: Have you got anything without spam?
Waitress: Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Wife: I don't want ANY spam!
Man: Why can't she have egg bacon spam and sausage?
Wife: THAT'S got spam in it!
Man: Hasn't got as much spam in it as spam egg sausage and spam, has it?
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam... (Crescendo through next few lines...)
Wife: Could you do the egg bacon spam and sausage without the spam then?
Waitress: Urgghh!
Wife: What do you mean 'Urgghh'? I don't like spam!
Vikings: Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
Waitress: Shut up!
Vikings: Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
Waitress: Shut up! (Vikings stop) Bloody Vikings! You can't have egg bacon spam and sausage without the spam.
Wife: I don't like spam!
Man: Sshh, dear, don't cause a fuss. I'll have your spam. I love it. I'm having spam spam spam spam spam spam spam beaked beans spam spam spam and spam!
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam. Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
Waitress: Shut up!! Baked beans are off.
Man: Well could I have her spam instead of the baked beans then?
Waitress: You mean spam spam spam spam spam spam...
The dormant blaspemy-law in Holland had not been ditched - it is being replaced by an even more hidious law: now everybody gets the right to sue whenever they feel insulted, aggrieved, ridiculed or disrespected. Imagine the hilarious lawsuits and complaints, the petty atmosphere and the waste of money.
I don't understand why this happened anyway: in two months my country will cease to exist, and EU-laws already curtail free speech, so why the rush?
Paardestraat is aboslutely right.
Basically this move means 2 things:
1 it will be easier to convict people for blasphemy;
2 longer sentences are possible (the hate law that blasphemy is now under, carries a higher maximum penalty than the blasphemy-law did.)
Post a Comment