Thursday, October 09, 2008

Gates of Vienna News Feed 10/9/2008

I’m going to try something a little different tonight.

Based on reader responses, both by email and in the comments, people would like to see the news feed continue. A fair number of you would like to see fewer articles, and several people mentioned that they would prefer that the articles chosen be restricted to the main topic of this blog, the Great Islamic Jihad.

I’m going to continue to post stories on immigration, political correctness, and other subjects that are closely associated with Islamization and jihad. But I’ll cut back on the more extraneous articles.

Someone also suggested that all the headlines as well as the articles be left below the fold, so that’s what I’m trying tonight. Let me know if this suits; if I get too many complaints, I’ll change it back to the way it was.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, Skjoldungen, Steen, Tuan Jim, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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USA
Public Schools Teach the ABCs of Islam
 
Europe and the EU
Council Workers Sacked Over Jobless Afghan Mother of Seven Who Got £1.2million Council House
Germany: Muhammad Look-Alike Competition
Iran Embassy Terrorist Goes Free… to Live in UK on Benefits
Italy: Foreign Students Increasing in Schools, Research Says
One in Five Danes Wants EU Pullout: Poll
Sharia Courts Set to Bring Muslim Law to Bear in Scottish Cities
 
Mediterranean Union
Italy-Libya: Libya Should Not be Criticised, Frattini
 
North Africa
Algeria: 6 Absolved After Appeal for Eating During Ramadan
Algeria: Al-Qaeda Mufti ‘Sacked for Opposing Suicide Attacks’
 
Middle East
Islamic Fundamentalists: “Expel Christians From Mosul”
Jordan: Torture and Abuse in Prisons Are Routine, Hrw Says
Lebanon: Fatah Militiaman Killed in Sidon Refugee Camp
Lebanon: Hezbollah Still Thinks of Revenging Mughniye
Lebanon: Missing US Journalists; Al-Jazeera, in Syria
Tourism: Arabs Discover Turkey, 630,000 From January to July
Yemen: Six Suspected Islamist Militants Arrested
 
South Asia
Army Responds to Pakistani Parliament Today About “War on Terror”
India: Man Arrested in Nun Rape Case in Orissa
 
Immigration
Immigration: Spain, Over 100 Illegals Landed in 24 Hours
Immigration: Lampedusa Centre Breakdown, Transfers Begin
Immigration: Cardinal Martino, Fair That Mosques Open in EU
 
General
Lebanon: Next Week Military Delegation in USA
Terrorism: Focus — Taliban Money Trail From Pakistan to United Arab Emirates

USA

Public Schools Teach the ABCs of Islam

By Erick Stakelbeck

[includes video]

CBNNews.com — Several recent studies have shown that American students are alarmingly ignorant about U.S. history and world events.

Experts have contributed the problem to everything from failing schools to substandard teachers.

But what about content?

For instance, did you know that Muslims discovered America? Or that Jerusalem is an Arab city? That’s just some of the “history” that students in America’s K-12 classrooms have been taught in recent years—with the help of taxpayer money.

A new report by the non-profit Institute for Jewish and Community Research finds that American high school and elementary textbooks contain countless inaccuracies about Christianity, Judaism, Israel and the Middle East.

The Institute examined 28 of the most widely-used history, geography and social studies textbooks in America. It found at least 500 errors.

One book ignored the Jewish roots of Christianity, saying the faith was founded by a “young Palestinian” named Jesus.

Another stated as fact that the Koran was revealed to Mohammed from God.

Yet another said ancient Jewish civilization contributed “very little” to to the arts and sciences.

Textbooks like these are used by millions of schoolchildren in all 50 states. Sandra Stotsky—now an endowed chair at the University of Arkansas—has seen some of them firsthand…

[Return to headlines]

Europe and the EU

Council Workers Sacked Over Jobless Afghan Mother of Seven Who Got £1.2million Council House

A council has sacked three officers after it was revealed an Afghan family was living in a £1.2million home paid for by the taxpayer.

Mother-of-seven Toorpakai Saiedi, 35, receives £170,000 a year in benefits — a staggering £150,000 of which is paid to a private landlord for the rent of their seven-bedroom house in West London.

The detached property in Acton has two large reception rooms, two kitchens, a dining room and a 100ft garden.

Ealing Council is picking up the £12,458 a month bill — which is nearly five times the rent for a similar property in the same road.

Lottery: Single mother Toorpakai Saiedi and son Jawad at their £1.2m home

There was anger from the sacked housing officers, David Lewis, Gemma Calliste and Salma Khan, who accuse Ealing of making them scapegoats.

Mr Lewis, 37, said: ‘We are shocked and stunned that we’ve lost our jobs as we were just doing what we were told.

‘We were just doing our job, but it’s a stupid system. I thought £12,000 a month was a lot but it was agreed by Rent Services so it was OK.

‘We have basically been sacked with no notice. We were about to get permanent contracts and all of that has been taken away from us.

‘But we haven’t done anything wrong. All we’ve done is apply the rules and find a property for a family in need.’

           — Hat tip: JD[Return to headlines]


Germany: Muhammad Look-Alike Competition

German Satire Magazine Shocks with ‘Unbelievable Competition’

Titanic, the German satire magazine, is never far from polemics, but its latest action takes its reputation for controversy to new heights: It is staging a Muhammad look-a-like competition — and has invited the Turkish President Abdullah Gül to take part.

A drawing submitted to “Titanic” as part of its Muhammad look-alike contest.

Turkish newspapers were quick to react to the “unbelievable competition,” which is to be held parallel to the Frankfurt Book Fair, where Turkey will be the guest country this year. The popular Turkish daily Sabah drew parallels with the infamous Muhammad cartoons published in Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten newspaper in 2005, which sparked death threats and protests across the Muslim world, with some escalating into violence.

According to its Web site, however, Titanic is going ahead with its look-alike contest: “Come along to the most dangerous event of the Frankfurt Book Fair … It will be a blast,” it wrote. The competition, to be held on Oct. 18, is set to take place on a specially built stage at the state-funded Caricatura Museum in Frankfurt. Achim Frenz, head of the museum, said it was designed to test of the boundaries of “jokes and fun.” The museum’s Web site comments: “Of course it is a sin to represent the prophet. For this reason, we are trying to do something exceptional.”

Nine participants are expected to take part, including Osman Engin, a Turkish-German satirist, and Hans Zippert, a prominent columnist for the conservative daily Die Welt. During the competition there will be readings from the Koran and participants will be encouraged to mimic the Muslim prophet. “Of course you can never create a picture of the prophet,” the magazine claims in a flyer advertising the event, “but you can try to emulate him.”

Titanic, the German equivalent of Britain’s Private Eye, has a track record of inflamatory stunts, including hoax bribery faxes sent in 2000 to delegates of the FIFA soccer world championship committee, urging them to support the German bid for the 2006 World Cup. In return for their votes, Titanic offered gifts of a cuckoo clock and Black Forest ham. Titanic also founded its own political party, Die Partei (the party), which lists the rebuilding of the Berlin Wall as one of its goals.

           — Hat tip: Skjoldungen[Return to headlines]


Iran Embassy Terrorist Goes Free… to Live in UK on Benefits

THE only terrorist to survive the Iranian Embassy siege will be freed from jail this month — and is expected to stay in Britain on benefits.

Fowzi Nejad, 51 — captured after SAS troopers famously stormed the building in 1980 — will not be sent back to Iran because of fears over his safety.

Last night a Whitehall source confirmed Nejad had been granted parole — and admitted: “It is difficult to see how there won’t be a cost to the public purse.”

Fury erupted over the decision yesterday. Mark Wallace, campaign director of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “It is bad enough this man has been a burden on law-abiding British citizens for almost three decades.

“But it is a kick in the teeth for British people to have to pay his way for the foreseeable future.”

Take no prisoners … one of the terrorists’ hostages escapes as the SAS storm London embassy

Former docker Nejad was one of six terrorists who seized 26 hostages and took over the building in Kensington, central London, for six days in May 1980.

Two were murdered by the gang — demanding independence for a petrol-rich area in southern Iran.

The SAS operation to end the siege was seen by millions on live TV. Nejad survived by blending in with hostages — until a real hostage pointed him out.

He was convicted of conspiracy to murder, manslaughter, false imprisonment and possessing a firearm.

Hero cop Trevor Lock, who was taken hostage while guarding the embassy, has branded the decision to free Nejad “madness”.

           — Hat tip: Tuan Jim[Return to headlines]


Italy: Foreign Students Increasing in Schools, Research Says

(ANSAmed) — NAPLES, OCTOBER 8 — According to data made public by the Ministry of University and Research, the number of foreign students that are attending Italian schools are increasing. The nationalities that are most represented are Romanian (93 thousand) , Albanian (85 thousand), and Moroccan (76 thousand). Compared to last school year, 2006-2007, non Italian students who have enrolled have increased by 0.8%. The 2007-2008 school year registered 574 thousand enrolled (equal to 6.4% of the total scholastic population) compared to the 501 thousand students the previous year (5.6%). Of these, 111 thousand attend pre-school, 218 thousand are enrolled in primary school, 126 thousand and 119 thousand are enrolled in first and second degree secondary school (the majority choose professional and technical institutes, with an average incidence of 12% of foreign students in their first year). Lombardy is the region with the most foreign students (more than 137 thousand). Following are the Veneto (70 thousand), Emilia Romagna (66 thousand), and Lazio (58 thousand). Among the provinces, Mantova is in first place for the highest percentage of foreign students in pre-schools (17% ahead of Piacenza, Prato, and Brescia with 15%) and in primary schools (18% ahead of Piacenza and Prato with 17%). In the first degree secondary schools, the highest percentage of foreign students are in Prato (18%), followed by Mantova (17%). While for second degree schools, at the top of the list is Rimini (with 13%), followed by Piacenza and Reggio Emilia (with 11%). Finally, students left back a grade (not necessarily due to failures) regard one foreigner out of every eight at 7 years of age, one out of six at 8 years, one out of five at 9 years, one out of four at 10 years; and then: one out of three at 11, one out of two at 12 and 13 years, two out of three at 14, three out of four at 15-16, and four out of five at 17-18 years. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


One in Five Danes Wants EU Pullout: Poll

(COPENHAGEN) — The number of people wanting Denmark to pull out of the European Union is at a record high with nearly one in five Danes now favouring withdrawal, according to a poll published on Thursday.

While 78 percent of those questioned in the survey published by the financial daily Boersen said Denmark should remain in the 27-nation bloc, 18 percent said the country should withdraw and a further four percent was undecided.

The paper said the percentage of those opposed was the highest since Denmark joined the EU in January 1973.

Analysts ascribed the growing hostility partly to a ruling by the European Court of Justice in July that may sound the death knell for Denmark’s restrictive immigration policy by forcing it to ease family reunification rules.

A total of 1,050 people were questioned for the survey by the Greens Institute which was conducted between September 29 and October 1.

           — Hat tip: Steen[Return to headlines]


Sharia Courts Set to Bring Muslim Law to Bear in Scottish Cities

SECRET talks are under way to bring Islamic sharia law courts to Scotland, The Scotsman has learned.

Qamar Bhatti, director of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT), which runs the courts, admitted discussions were taking place with lawyers and Muslim community groups in Scotland.

The group is believed to be aiming to set up courts in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

In September it emerged that five sharia courts, ruling on civil cases from divorce to domestic violence and financial disputes, had been operating for more than a year in London, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester and at MAT headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

The courts have legal powers, with their decisions enforceable through the county courts or high courts.

However, concerns have been raised about the establishment of a “dual legal system”.

Women’s domestic violence groups have also voiced fears, saying traditional sharia law arbitration is “dangerous and inappropriate” in cases of abuse…

           — Hat tip: Tuan Jim[Return to headlines]


Yes/No Debate for Sharia Courts in Scotland

Would Sharia law courts create a divisive and two-tier legal system?

Yes

Shakti Women’s Aid, for black, minority ethnic women, based in Edinburgh


A MAJORITY of our clients are Muslim and currently seek justice in the Scottish court system for the physical, emotional and sexual abuse that they have endured from their partners and husbands.

If these women will have the alternative of seeking final and binding judgment on their domestic abuse cases from a Sharia court then, as newspaper reports have reported, they stand to receive little or no justice.

They will be disadvantaged, disfavoured and possibly forced to stay in abusive relationships as it is extremely likely that they would be presenting themselves for judgment to a room full of men who may have little or no understanding of domestic abuse and are most likely to be prejudiced against women…

No

MUFTI ABDUL BARKATULLA

member of sharia panel of judges, Islamic Sharia Council, London


SHARIA is voluntarily practised as governing law throughout the Muslim world in many aspects of personal and social life. Increasingly, Sharia is emerging as choice of law in business and commercial practices as well.

The UK Treasury, Financial Services Authority and English High Courts have shown accommodation to Sharia law in business and finance over the last few years and, as a result, the UK is seen as a model by the rest of the secular world…

           — Hat tip: Tuan Jim[Return to headlines]

Mediterranean Union

Italy-Libya: Libya Should Not be Criticised, Frattini

(ANSAmed) — ROME, OCTOBER 8 — Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said today that Libya should not be criticised for failing to honour an agreement with Italy addressing illegal immigration because a friendship and cooperation accord between the two countries has not yet been put into motion. “Before pointing the finger at Libya we must both do what is needed to apply the accord,” Frattini said. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni on Tuesday condemned Libya for failing to keep its end of a bilateral deal, as more than a thousand migrants arrived by sea from north Africa and landed on Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa. The friendship accord signed by Libya and Italy on August 30 foresees collaboration to protect Libyàs desert borders and joint patrols of its northern coast. But the deal, which includes a compensation package to resolve issues related to Italy’s colonial occupation of Libya, has not yet been ratified by Italian parliament. Frattini said Wednesday that the deal would be presented in parliament later this week and that the ratification process would begin soon afterwards. The minister added that he hoped Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi would visit Italy. “We would be honoured to have Colonel Gaddafi in Italy. It would be a historic visit just as the friendship accord has been historic,” he said. “But obviously it depends on him,” he added. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]

North Africa

Algeria: 6 Absolved After Appeal for Eating During Ramadan

(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, OCTOBER 8 — The six people who were condemned at first to four years in prison for “not respecting Ramadan” were absolved yesterday during an appeals process at the court of Bsikra, 400 km south west of Algiers. This was reported today by El Watan. “Setting an appeal only nine days after the first sentence” said Boudjeema Ghechir, one of the defence lawyers, “demonstrates an admission of guilt in the justice system”. The arrest of the six accused of having eaten during the day during the month of fasting of Ramadan created bitter controversy in the Algerian press that compared the sentence to that of Habiba K., the young convert to Christianity, accused by a tribunal in Tiaret of “practicing a non Muslim cult”. “The liberty of cult is clearly sustained by the Koran which asks the prophets to not obligate anyone and to leave everyone to their convictions”, added Ghechir, “the panic possessed some heads; the issue of evangelical proselytism and the safeguarding of Islam does not have to bring on acts that damage Islam itself”. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Algeria: Al-Qaeda Mufti ‘Sacked for Opposing Suicide Attacks’

Algiers, 8 Oct. (AKI) — The leader of Al-Qaeda’s North African branch has sacked its Islamic scholar or mufti, Rashid Zerami, for opposing suicide bombings in Algeria, local daily Ennahar reports.

Zerami clashed over the issue with the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb’s leader, Abdel Malik Droukedel, Ennahar said.

The paper cited the testimony of an unnamed Al-Qaeda turncoat who is now in police custody.

Besides the use of suicide bombers, Droukedel and Zerami also clashed over Al-Qaeda’s recent strategy of kidnapping Algerian businessmen or their relatives to obtain a ransom, especially in the northern coastal Kabylia area.

Droukedel has replaced Zerami with Abu Asim, a former leader of the hardline Algerian Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which in 2006 joined the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb.

Zerami, also known as Abu al-Hasan al-Rashid headed Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb’s religious committee and was in charge of armed combat.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni[Return to headlines]

Middle East

Iraq: ‘Three Christians Killed in 24 Hours’

Mosul, 8 Oct. (AKI) — Three Christians have been killed in the past 24 hours in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the Voices of Iraq news agency reported on Wednesday, quoting police sources.

A Christian man and his father were both shot dead on Tuesday at their workplace in a northern district of Mosul.

Also on Tuesday, unknown gunmen forced their way into a pharmacy in an eastern neighbourhood of Mosul and killed a Christian who worked there, VOI said.

Extremists killed a man and his father in September in Mosul, which is the capital of the Nineveh Governorate, located some 400 kilometres to the north of the capital, Baghdad.

The city is home to the second-largest community of Christians in Iraq after Baghdad. Iraq’s Christian minority is persecuted by Al-Qaeda in Iraq and by Shia militias.

Iraq is home to the Chaldean Catholic Church, one of the oldest Christian churches in the world, but hundreds of thousands of Christians have been forced to flee Iraq to escape the violence and the economic crisis caused by the war.

There are now around 700,000 Christians in Iraq, compared with over a million before the US invasion in 2003, according to censuses carried out by the country’s dioceses.

The Chaldean Church, European churches and aid organisations have been pushing for European Union countries to accept Christian refugees from Iraq.

Christian communities within Iraq are divided over the issue of immigration, which has severely reduced their numbers amid fears one of the world’s oldest Christian communities could disappear.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni[Return to headlines]


Islamic Fundamentalists: “Expel Christians From Mosul”

Mosul (AsiaNews) — Jalal Moussa, 38, is the latest victim in the campaign of hatred launched by Islamic fundamentalists against Christians in Mosul, the theater of an “endless martyrdom,” to the silence of the media and the international community. Jalal, a Christian of the Chaldean rite, was shot to death in front of his home in the neighborhood of Noor, the same neighborhood where Fr. Ragheed Gani and three deacons were killed in 2007, and where Archbishop Paulo Farj Rahho was kidnapped. The kidnapping of the archbishop of Mosul at the end of February ended tragically two weeks later, when the archbishop’s body was found in an abandoned lot outside of the city.

AsiaNews sources reveal that “there could be two more victims,” but at the moment there are no further details on their identity or the manner in which they were ambushed.

There is no end to the bloodshed in Mosul: in less than a week, nine people have died because they were Christians. From the town in the province of Nineveh come dramatic appeals, pleading “that silence not fall” over the continuing slaughter. “A campaign is underway to drive the Christians out of the area,” a source reveals to AsiaNews, “and yesterday, a car with a loudspeaker went around the streets in the neighborhood of Sukkar, ordering the Christians to leave.” “Christians out of the city,” the people on board were shouting, “otherwise you will be victims of more attacks.”

The persecution against the Christians could conceal political and economic motives, woven together with the confessional element at the basis of the violence committed on the part of the fundamentalist and jihadist Islamic world. Some of the victims in recent days were owners of stores and commercial activities in Mosul, a clear signal that the terrorists intend to wipe out the economic activity of Christians, forcing the population to leave. According to some witnesses, before shooting the terrorists accused the Christians of “wanting to create an enclave in Nineveh,” and then proceeded with the execution in cold blood. Confirmation of how dangerous the city is, where gangs of terrorists connected to al Qaeda operate, also comes from the American military command: “Al Qaeda is trying to get a foothold in Iraq,” reveals General Mark Hertling, commander of US troops in northern Iraq, “and Mosul is the base of operations that they have chosen for launching their attacks,” with the infiltration of foreign militants from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, and Pakistan, through the Syrian border.

Most soul is also the place excluded from elections scheduled for January, and will hold a separate referendum that should determine destiny of the entire region, at the center of a struggle between the Kurdish and Arab communities. This is not an insignificant factor, if one considers the huge quantities of oil waiting to be tapped; the vote of the Christians could be decisive in tipping the balance to one side or the other.

The project inherent to the “plain of Nineveh” — where the intention is allegedly to create an enclave in which the Christians of Iraq could find refuge — has been at the center of exploitation and polemics, and is opposed by the majority of the Iraqi Church; the enclave, in fact, could be transformed into a sort of ghetto for shutting up refugees fleeing from Baghdad, Mosul, Kirkuk, and Basra. The danger is that this could become “a ghetto for Christians,” as Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, described the project in 2007, “and a breeding ground for revolts, clashes, and social tensions, as is taking place today in Palestine.” For this reason, the Church has always promoted “coexistence under the banner of peace and mutual respect,” among populations that are “rooted by history and tradition in the Iraqi homeland.”

The violence in Mosul in recent weeks has driven an increasing number of people to leave the city. According to estimates by local Christians, “every week more than 20 families decide to flee.” This exodus has “emptied entire neighborhoods” of Christians, “to the indifference of the media and of Western governments.” (DS)

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni[Return to headlines]


Jordan: Torture and Abuse in Prisons Are Routine, Hrw Says

(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, OCTOBER 8 — The New York-based Human Rights Watch said torture and abuse in Jordanian prison is routine, particularly among political inmates and called on authorities to implement prison reforms. The group said political prisoners were particularly targeted by systematic torture in three of the kingdom’s eight prisons. “Human Rights Watch found evidence that at times Islamists accused or convicted of crimes against national security (Tanzimat) were punished en masse,” said the report released during a press conference. The group called on the government to overhaul mechanisms for investigating, disciplining and prosecuting abusers, and in particular to transfer prosecutor’s investigations into prison abuse from police to civilian prosecutors. “The most common forms of torture include beatings with cables and sticks and the suspension by the wrists from metal grates for hours at a time, during which guards flog a defenceless prisoner,” said. In a detailed report titled ‘Torture and Impunity in Jordan’s Prisons: Reforms Fail to Tackle Widespread Abuse,’ the group found out that at least five prison directors personally participated in torturing detainees. The group called on international donors to link annual aid to the kingdom’s record on human rights.

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Lebanon: Fatah Militiaman Killed in Sidon Refugee Camp

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, OCTOBER 8 — A Palestinian militiaman of Fatah, the party of the Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was killed in a Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Helweh in the south of Lebanon. This was reported by the press in Beirut. According to daily an-Nahar, Muhammad Ismail (30 years old) last night was shot in the head by three armed men in Ain el-Helweh in the suburb of the Sidon port city, 40 kilometres south of Beirut. The camp, the largest and fullest of the 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, has been for the last three months a theatre of sporadic clashes and murders between the Islamic lay and intergralist factions that control it. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Lebanon: Hezbollah Still Thinks of Revenging Mughniye

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, OCTOBER 8 — The Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah has not yet given up the idea of “revenging the assassination” of Imad Mughniye, military head of the Party of God killed “by Israel” in Damascus in February. This was reported this morning in the Beirut daily paper al-Akhbar, which has connections with the Shia movement and which quoted Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah. According to the newspaper, “during a recent internal Party meeting,” Nasrallah said that “we still intend to revenge the assassination of Hajj Mughniye, as we intend to give a big surprise to the enemy if we are attacked.” On several occasions over the past few months, the Hezbollah leader has said that the armed wing of the Shia movement is able to “give a big surprise” to Israel if it were to be attacked by the latter. Mughniye, considered one of Hezbollah’s military heads, was killed in February in a car bomb blast in Damascus. From the Syrian investigation still underway, no certainty has emerged, but Hezbollah and its ally Iran have since the beginning blamed the incident on Israel. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Lebanon: US Embassy, Two American Journalists Disappear

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, OCTOBER 9 — The families of two young American journalists from the Jordanian English newspaper, Jordan Times, requested the assistance of the US Embassy in Beirut to track down their loved ones in Lebanon who haven’t been heard from in nine days. “The families of Holli Chmela (27 years old) and Taylor Luck (23) requested public assistance in order to receive information about the two American citizens”, reads a statement from the US Embassy in Beirut. The statement adds that “there has been no trace of them since October 1st, when it seems they left Beirut for Byblos and Tripoli”, two coastal cities 40 and 90 km from the capital respectively. According to the US Embassy, the two journalists were in Lebanon “on holiday” and were headed north “before directing themselves towards Syria via land, to then return to Jordan”. The US Embassy affirmed that it would follow the case with the Lebanese authorities. Approached by ANSA, sources of the Jordan Times in Amman said that they lost contact with Luck and Chmela, he a freelance and she an intern, on September 30. According to the daily edition of the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, Taylor Luck withdrew money for the last time from a cash machine on October 1. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Lebanon: Missing US Journalists; Al-Jazeera, in Syria

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT OCTOBER 9 — The two American journalists missing in Lebanon for ten days are “being held” in Syria, according to Al-Jazeera. The statement said that the two, Taylor Luck and Holli Chmela, were “held in Syria for illegal entry into the country”. Sources quoted by Al-Jazeera added that the two “are in good condition”. News of their presence in Syria was also confirmed by “diplomatic sources” quoted by Lebanese TV station LBC. The alleged illegal entry into Syria was confirmed by Lebanese security forces, quoted this morning in the Beirut press, who said that the journalists’ entry into Syria was not registered at any border point. All traces of the two journalists was lost on 1 October when, according to a statement yesterday by the US Embassy in Beirut, they left the Lebanese capital to travel north to Syria. Taylor Luck, a contributer on the English-language Jordan Times, and Holli Chmela, a trainee, 23 and 27 respectively, had arrived on 29 September in Beirut via plane from Amman. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Mosul, Martyrdom of Iraqi Christians Continues

Mosul (AsiaNews) — More Christian blood in Mosul: yesterday, October 7, a father and son were killed in the neighborhood of Sukkar while they were working. Amjad Hadi Petros and his son were killed because “they were guilty of being Christian” in a place where a “systematic persecution” is being seen. In a second attack, recorded in another of the city’s neighborhoods, a fundamentalist group broke into a pharmacy and killed an assistant, also of the Christian religion.

Yesterday we recounted the execution, on Monday, October 6, of Ziad Kamal, a 25-year-old disabled shop owner in the city. The young man owned a store in the neighborhood of Karama: he was taken by an armed group from inside his store and brought to a nearby spot, where he was shot to death. Also, on Saturday, October 4, two more men were barbarously assassinated in two other areas of Mosul: Hazim Thomaso Youssif, 40, was killed in front of the clothing store he owned, while 15-year-old Ivan Nuwya was shot to death in the neighborhood of Tahrir, outside of his house in front of the local mosque of Alzhara…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni[Return to headlines]


Tourism: Arabs Discover Turkey, 630,000 From January to July

(ANSAmed) — ROME, OCTOBER 8 — Arab tourists have discovered Turkey. This is the new tendency described in Terrasanta.net, considering that after September 11, for tourism, many Arabs feel a certain aversion towards them by western countries and prefer to go elsewhere, towards more friendly destinations. Turkey is among these. The gateway between Europe and Asia offers sun, beaches, and places to shop, and is becoming more popular, thanks to some successful soap operas, which are followed in large numbers in many homes in the Middle East. The ease of obtaining a tourist visa and the intensification of economic and political relations of Ankara with other governments of the area are leading to growing influxes. Between January and July, Arab tourists destined for Turkey were 630 thousand. A number that should bring, by the end of the year, to the more the 918 thousand. Both in 2005 and 2006 the numbers were around 750 thousand. The preferred destinations are Istanbul, Bursa, and Konya. Turkish tourist operators are asking for greater investments and promotional activity towards the Arab public. Ahmet Barut, president of the hotelier federation observed, also on Terrasanta.net, that the Middle East is “a very populous region and characterized by well-off tourists”, compared to those who do not make enough. “Until flights are insufficient, we will not be able to truly attract Arab tourists. Investments in the transport sector are necessary”, he said. All of the airport connections with Arab countries pass through Istanbul, if the other Turkish airports had direct connections, the arrivals would drastically increased, affirmed Barut. Also according to Kerem Kofteoglu, president of the Association of Turkish journalists, there is no doubt that the Arab market has been left aside up until now. If it had moved, with opportune measures immediately after September 11 — he explained — today we would have 2 million arrivals. According to Kofteoglu among Arab tourists, there is a growing request to stay in five star hotels and Istanbul is becoming a destination for meetings and conferences for work between businessmen and high level managers. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Yemen: Six Suspected Islamist Militants Arrested

Sanaa, 8 Oct. (AKI) — Yemeni security forces have arrested six suspected Islamist militants who are allegedly responsible for issuing threats against embassies, the official SABA news agency said on Wednesday.

The suspects belong to a local militant group called Islamic Jihad and were arrested on Monday, SABA reported.

Islamic Jihad has sent several threatening letters to Arab and foreign embassies in Yemen including those of Britain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the news agency said.

Investigations of Islamic Jihad uncovered an alleged link to Israeli intelligence, according to an unnamed Yemeni security source quoted by SABA.

Nineteen people died in a twin car bomb attack against the US embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on 19 September.

Those killed in the attack included seven soldiers guarding the embassy, four civilians and six attackers.

The civilians who died included two Yemenis, an Indian woman and a US citizen of Yemeni origin.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni[Return to headlines]

South Asia

Army Responds to Pakistani Parliament Today About “War on Terror”

Islamabad (AsiaNews) — This evening, a joint session of the Pakistani national assembly and senate (it is only the third joint session in the parliament’s history) will hear from leaders of the Pakistani army on the current situation and the operations underway in tribal areas, in the war against Islamic extremism.

Extraordinary security measures are in place around the chamber of the national assembly, with roadblocks and controls on all vehicles in the surrounding streets. The media are not admitted to the discussion, which will also address national security.

Fr. Bonnie Mendes, director of the center for human development, explains to AsiaNews that Pakistan is at a crucial juncture, because the war underway is also directed against part of its population, and the people are divided between the majority, which supports the government, and a strong component of Islamic extremists who are challenging it. “Whatever the parliament decides in today’s joint session,” he explains, “the government seems to continue to fight against the militants who are spreading terrorism on the name of Islam.” Fr. Medes is critical of the United States, which does not understand the geopolitical situation of the country and interferes in its domestic affairs, with continual statements that put it in difficulty. While former president Pervez Musharraf has acted prudently toward the extremists, especially in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the current government is committed to wiping out this militant extremism.

In confirmation of this, today the government ordered the repatriation of about 50,000 Afghan refugees, who fled their country because of the war between the Taliban and the army, threatening the use of force. They are believed to have relationships with Taliban fighters, and to support them. The government wants to resume control of these territories, which for years have been open territory for the extremists. At least 45 Afghans have been arrested, and many of their shops have been closed.

Meanwhile, in the Swat region the local Taliban have blown up to private schools for girls, including the Sangota Public Girls school run by Carmelite sisters from Sri Lanka. The building was destroyed, but there were no victims, because the school had been closed for days following threats. In the NWFP, the Taliban have attempted to blow up more than 150 girl schools over two years.

Meanwhile, Afghan sources say that in September, during Ramadan in Mecca (Saudi Arabia), representatives of Afghan president Hamid Karzai, led by member of parliament Arif Noorzai, met with a Taliban delegation including Mullah Mohamed Tayeb Agha, a spokesman of Mullah OMar, and Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, a leading member of the Taliban council of ministers, for “negotiations” lasting three days. It appears that Taliban groups want to “distance themselves” from al Qaeda.

Both sides flatly deny this report. But one week ago, Karzai invited Mullah Omar to “peace talks,” and asked Saudi Arabia to act as a mediator to conclude a war that has lasted for seven years, with at least 3,800 deaths in 2008 alone, one third of them among civilians. Saudi Arabia is one of only three countries that recognized the Taliban regime prior to the invasion of international troops in 2001.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni[Return to headlines]


India: Man Arrested in Nun Rape Case in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, 8 Oct. (AKI/Asian Age) — A man has been arrested in the troubled Indian state of Orissa in relation to the gang rape of a nun that is alleged to have occurred during sectarian violence in the region.

Santosh Pradhan was arrested in the town of Baliguda in the Kandhamal district on Tuesday and appeared in a local court, a police officer said.

Police previously arrested four men for their alleged roles in the crime, he said.

Communal clashes between Hindus and Christians in the eastern Indian state since late August have left at least 35 dead and thousands of others homeless.

The violence began days after a Hindu spiritual leader was killed in August. The nun filed a formal complaint about the alleged rape days later.

Though the report was filed many weeks ago, police collected the medical examination report only last week after the media reported the issue.

Sister Nirmala, superior general of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, also wrote to the state authorities seeking justice for the nun.

According to media reports, the medical examination report confirmed that she was raped. The state government suspended the inspector in charge of the Baliguda police station, where the nun had filed her complaint.

According to the nun’s written complaint, a mob of about 40 to 50 armed men attacked a house where she and a local priest, Thomas Chellantharayil, had taken refuge.

She claims she was dragged from the building, and allegedly stripped and raped before being paraded naked in the streets. The priest was reportedly doused with petrol and beaten up.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni[Return to headlines]

Immigration

Immigration: Spain, Over 100 Illegals Landed in 24 Hours

(ANSAmed) — MADRID, OCTOBER 8 — Poor weather conditions did not stop the landing of illegal immigrants on the Spanish coast. A boat with 38 people of Moroccan origin on board, among which are five minors, was intercepted last night off the coast of Canos de Meca in the province of Cadice, informed sources of Maritime Rescue. At the moment of the landing, the migrants, all in good physical condition, were aided by Red Cross personnel and transferred to a temporary detention centre, waiting to be identified and repatriated. The minors were entrusted to a welcome centre in Barbate. The new arrivals are added to 63 immigrants, all of Algerian origin, that were travelling on board seven boats that landed yesterday at dawn on the coast of Murcia. According to sources of the delegation of the central government, among the illegal immigrants are three women and seven minors. Intercepted by agents of the civil guard, maritime rescue, and the customs police, the immigrants were arrested, and in anticipation of being repatriated to Algeria. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Immigration: Lampedusa Centre Breakdown, Transfers Begin

(ANSAmed) — LAMPEDUSA (AGRIGENTO) OCTOBER 8 — More than 1000 immigrants arrived yesterday in Lampedusa in 12 consecutive landings. The Welcome Centre, which hosts in this moment more than 1,400 people, double its expected maximum capacity, is at a breakdown. The head of the co-op “Lampedusa Welcome Centre” that manages the structure, Cono Galipò announced that today an air bridge will be instituted towards other temporary stay centres to transfer the non EU citizens. Among the migrants who landed yesterday in Lampedusa, among which are numerous women and children, there are also 5 shipwrecks aided by a Tunisian fishing boat after their small wooden boat sunk. In the meantime, this morning a dinghy with 40 migrants on board (among which are 7 women) was stopped 7 miles south of the island by a Customs Police patrol boat. The illegal immigrants will be transferred to the Italian craft and brought to the island. The arrivals of illegal immigrants from northern Africa, then, continue also in Sardinia. During the night, shortly after 2:00, several landings of illegal immigrants were seen, from small crafts, in the territory of the town of Domus de Maria, in particular in the Chia zone. The Carabinieri of the Domus de Maria station, S. Margherita di Pula and Teulada are involved in the location and checking of Algerian and Tunisian non EU citizens. Until now 37 foreigners have been stopped, all in good physical condition. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Immigration: Cardinal Martino, Fair That Mosques Open in EU

(ANSAmed) — VATICAN CITY, OCTOBER 8 — Immigrants have to be welcomed in the European countries, “with respect to all of their rights” and it is therefore fair that this provides for their “religious needs”: this was stated by Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerants, during a press conference. The Cardinal was responding to questions from journalists that asked him if the Catholic church was favourable to the opening of new mosques in Europe. “The church — added the Cardinal — cannot do anything other than hope that human dignity be respected, because residents, refugees, and immigrants all have the same rights, because we are all part of the human race. Rights — he warned — are not conceded by any authority”. Monsignor Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the same Vatican office, specified that the work of the Catholic church has to be that of “helping our immigrant brothers to conserve the transcendent dimension of life”. “Europe — observe Cardinal Martino again — is living in a phase of zero growth; if European countries want to maintain their development, they need a hand: however — he warned — behind that hand there is a person, a family, an all”. “Europe — he added — has to accept this, it cannot see immigrants as invaders, but as collaborators”. “Certainly — he observed — it is necessary to require that all immigrants accept the culture and the laws of the country where they arrive. It is however, important that there is cultural collaboration, and naturally, if there are persons of different religions and cultures, it is necessary to provide for all of their needs”. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Immigration: Mauritania, Thousands Dreaming of Spain

(ANSAmed) — MADRID, OCTOBER 8 — Thousands of sub-Saharans are waiting in Mauritania to embark on voyages of hope organised by the local mafia, to the Canaries. Sources from the Mauritanian authorities quoted in the daily ABC said that at Nuadibù, where the boat left with 229 migrants on board which arrived in the last few days on Tenerife, there are around 4,000 illegal immigrants in the city, mainly from Mali and Senegal, who are waiting to make the crossing to Europe. The Director General of Security and chief of the local police, Ahmed Ould Eleya, confirmed the news. The city of 60,000 inhabitants has become a crossroads for the new route taken by the mafia who deal in human trafficking, after Morocco reinforced its checks on the borders in a coordinated action with the Spanish Guardia Civile. “There are no exact figures, but thousands of people are coming to Nuadibù to try their fortune in Europe” explained the ‘wali’, Governor Abdy Ould Horma. “We can confirm that two-thirds arrive with the intention of boarding the caiques illegally,” the fragile wooden boats used by Mauritanian fishermen. The on-average 300 arrests per month do not serve as a deterrent but rather a game on the sea. The police authorities admit that it is difficult to stop the exodus of the migrants: “In line with the agreements which Mauritania has made with neighbouring countries we cannot make arrests until the moment when the illegal immigrants are caught in the act of boarding and leaving Mauritania to go to an unrecognised border. But at the moment we cannot stop them from staying in Nuadibù”. There are many reasons why the African country has been chosen as the base for human trafficking. Above all the fact that Mauritania hasn’t updated its immigration rules since the 1970s. Secondly, the fact that the country has minimal resources and infrastructure dedicated to security, in a generally unstable situation, after the coup two months ago and under pressure from Islamic extremists inspired by Al Qaida. “We can only stop them as illegal immigrants if they try to leave Mauritania illegally”. According to the Spanish branch of Amnesty International, the arrests are “preventive and arbitrary and mass expulsions” and have become the policy of Europe and Spain. At the presentation of the report handed to the director of AI Spagna, Esteban Beltran, the would-be immigrants are arrested “without any information or help and are sent to a detention center in Nuadibù, known as Guantanamito, due to its conditions”. From there the immigrants are sent back to Senegal or Mali. The report condemns “the total impunity of the Mauritanian police and the singular cooperation which exists with Spain in the battle against illegal immigration, which is unacceptable for a European country”. The cooperation is based on a bi-lateral agreement signed in 2003, which allows Mauritania to arrest any Sub-Saharan trying to arrive in the Canaries and any expelled from Spain. According to AI, “even wearing a t-shirt with the Barcellona colours has become evidence that a person is planning to leave for the Spanish coast, and is enough reason for the police to arrest him, rob him or extort money from him”. While Amnesty is requesting “guarantees” from the Spanish Government over human rights, the streets of Nuadibù are swarming with young, desperate Africans waiting to reach Europe. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]

General

Lebanon: Next Week Military Delegation in USA

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, OCTOBER 8 — A high level Lebanese military delegation is expected next week in Washington to meet with the heads of the Pentagon with whom they will discuss American military help to the Lebanese Army. This was reported today the Pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat, out of London. The newspaper did not specify the exact date of the mission, which will be the first since the two counties gave life, last Monday, to a joint military commission. During a visit over the previous days to Beirut by David Hale, vice undersecretary of state for the Middle East, and by Mary Beth Long, undersecretary of Security for International Affairs of the US Defence, the United States promised the Lebanese Army supplies and assistance of USD 63 million. These military agreements signed in Beirut follow a recent visit to Washington by Lebanese president Michel Suleiman. (ANSAmed)

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Terrorism: Focus — Taliban Money Trail From Pakistan to United Arab Emirates

Karachi, 9 Oct. (AKI) — Since the Pakistani border city of Chaman and the Afghan city of Kandahar play a pivotal role in financing the Taliban’s operations in southeastern Afghanistan, there is growing speculation that the Taliban is funnelling money through hawalas or money brokers in the United Arab Emirates where Chaman and Kandhari businessmen trade.

Many Chaman businesses have offices in Dubai and the port city and free trade zone of Jebel Ali, and insiders say that the Taliban have convinced local businessmen to move their money through hawalas to Taliban leaders including Mullah Abdul Razaq, Mullah Abdul Rahim and Mullah Rozi, and several others.

Mullah Abdul Razaq, a resident of the Pakistani town of Chaman and former minister of interior affairs in the deposed Taliban regime, is considered a key player in the suspected money trail from the region to the Middle East.

After the fall of the Taliban in December 2001, Mullah Abdul Razaq was arrested by the Americans. Insiders say he was given conditional immunity when he agreed to play a role in talks between the CIA, Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service and the Taliban.

The talks were reportedly over a truce and a proposal for the Taliban’s participation in the political process in Afghanistan.

The Taliban, however, rejected the US offer which aimed to remove Mullah Omar from the Taliban leadership and Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan.

After the collapse of the talks in 2003, Mullah Abdul Razaq left for Dubai where the tribes of Chaman and neighbouring Kandahar in southern Afghanistan maintain offices.

Within the Afghan tribal system, the pro-Taliban Noorzai and Achakzai tribes dominate trade in the Pashtun regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The tribes’ region spans the southwest of Pakistan and the southern areas of Afghanistan. On the Pakistani side of the border, they control the Chaman markets and on the Afghan side, the Spin Boldak markets.

Both tribes dominate the business of salvaging and reconditioning cars and the distribution of the 555-brand of cigarettes throughout Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan through the markets of Dubai and Chaman.

Since Afghanistan does not have a properly functional banking system, the payments are often handled through various hawala agencies based in the UAE.

In 2005, the FBI investigated a prominent Pakistani hawala and his offices were closed across the country because his network was found to have been involved in money laundering for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

But since the money trail is so difficult to trace through the undocumented hawala transactions, the money changer was eventually cleared.

When Mullah Abdul Razaq returned to the Taliban’s fold in 2005, he convinced businesses in Chaman to support the Taliban financially in order to spare their businesses from attacks when they transported goods through Afghanistan.

Over 3,500 importers and exporters in the Chaman market who transport their goods to the UAE were threatened with a wave of violence.

The Chaman businesses had faced the same problem from warlords in the mid-1990s and supported the Taliban to drive them out.

After 2005, the stakes were higher as the Noorzai and Ackzai tribes became involved in the construction of expensive hotels in Kandahar and needed protection from the Taliban.

The Taliban had struck a similar deal in 1993 when the student militia emerged from Kandahar’s Islamic school as a reformist movement against the warlords and vandalism in Afghan society. Chaman businessmen financed the Taliban at that time in exchange for protection.

Mullah Abdul Razaq, once again convinced the businessmen of Chaman to support the Taliban financially so that their transport and hotel businesses would be spared from attacks.

The mullah’s move also aimed to ensure that local warlords from the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak through Turkmenistan to Herat on the Iranian border, would not trouble them in any way.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni[Return to headlines]

8 comments:

Afonso Henriques said...

Yeah I have to complain.

"A fair number of you would like to see fewer articles, and several people mentioned that they would prefer that the articles chosen be restricted to the main topic of this blog, the Great Islamic Jihad."

Baron, listen. In this case, quantity is quality. Me - and I think the gross majority - will continue to read 5 news stories or something. The thing is, if you have 300 stories or if you have 20, people will continue to read only five. But the top of the 300 would be better than the top of the 20.

I think our complains weren't really complains. We prefer a great number of stories AS LONG as it does not interfere with your other posts and its quality.

Concerning jihad. I think that you shouldn't focus too much and that the News feed are/were originally fine.

I prefer the news feed above the "read more" button.

I also think more. Some of the news feeds could become great normal articles.

Conservative Swede said...

Baron,

Hmmm...

A fair number of you would like to see fewer articles, and several people mentioned that they would prefer that the articles chosen be restricted to the main topic of this blog, the Great Islamic Jihad.

First of all I didn't interpret that to be the majority view among those comments.

Secondly, restricting reporting to Jihad will effectively mainly miss the target. Since we all know that the main problem after all is the deranged ways of the West. This makes this reporting equally important as the one about Islam, together with reporting on geopolitical affairs and changes.

GoV is interesting exactly because of its broader approach, which makes it be exactly on target. If I want a list of the explosions of the day, there are already many other places to go, e.g. Jihadwatch. But I rarely do so since this is to narrow to become interesting.

So these places already exist for the people. Why airbrush away much of GoV's uniqueness and mold it more into such a common profile?

I’m going to continue to post stories on immigration, political correctness, and other subjects that are closely associated with Islamization and jihad. But I’ll cut back on the more extraneous articles.

This will make the news section substantially less interesting to people like me. The broader perspective, of importance for our future, e.g. including also Russia and China, is what has been good. On the topic of Islam (and even immigration) I do not really need to hear more. I already know everything I need to know (it's just repeating itself).

I cannot see how the number of articles can be a problem. I support however putting the list under the fold (I was even the first to suggest so!). But once it has been opened, since the list of articles are so nicely grouped, the amount (as it has been) is not a problem. For those who focus on reading a handful of articles on Islam, they find them instantaneously. And for people like me, who read about other things, I also find it quickly.

Baron Bodissey said...

OK, we now have one for and one against the idea of all-below-the-fold.

CS --

I won't be excluding the Russia and China stories. I consider them pertinent to our larger mission, even if they aren't about the jihad.

What I'm leaving out are entertaining but relatively less important stories, like that one from the other night about the little boy who fed all the animals to the crocodile in the Australian zoo. Sure, it was fun, but did it support our mission? Leaving such things out saves me a bit of time, which I sorely need.

I'll also leave out some of the culture war stories. The excesses of PC are worth covering, but the fight over abortion is not so central, and can be omitted most of the time.

I can also cut the Obama stories by 80%, and most people won't mind. We only need a few of them to keep people informed.

If I can cut back on then news feed by 10 items a day, that's 20 minutes saved. Believe me, I really need those 20 minutes.

Conservative Swede said...

Baron,

Excellent!

I agree completely with these priorities. Abortion and Obama can be left out. After all, we are not partisan right-wingers here. We are kafircons (which is rather beyond left and right).

Anyone who wants to read about Obama (and McCain and Palin) to their hearts content can go to VFR. The Astrologist from New York is covering that up and down, day in and day out, and hardly anything else, unless it's about Darwinism. And not a single word about e.g. Georgia and Russia. VFR used to be interesting, but I hardly read it anymore. I read GoV.

If I can cut back on then news feed by 10 items a day, that's 20 minutes saved. Believe me, I really need those 20 minutes.

Of course. I agree with this priority too.

OK, we now have one for and one against the idea of all-below-the-fold.

Try it like this for a while, and see how it works out. Then do an evaluation.

There is an advantage of below-the-fold that nobody has mentioned. After reading a specific article I want to go back (by clicking "Back") to the list of articles. But going back and forth to the main page is slow, while going back and forth between anchors at the same page is quick.

Of course with the old way, one could click on the link looking like this "10/06/2008 10:41:00 PM" to get to a starting point giving the same (quicker) effect. But who would think of that? Even I do not do it -- when I see a link I click it! And then I'm into the slower routine. And "read further" does not help, since it gets you below the list. (Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling is another way, but hey!, also slow).

So I definitely consider below-the-fold more user friendly. Both for those interested in the news, and those who are not, actually. Win-win.

Conservative Swede said...

Baron,

I wanted to add that I stated my opinion just for the record. I fully understand that it is virtually impossible to please everybody. But I was lucky this time :-)

Zenster said...

Germany: Muhammad Look-Alike Competition

Achim Frenz, head of the museum, said it was designed to test of the boundaries of “jokes and fun.” The museum’s Web site comments: “Of course it is a sin to represent the prophet. For this reason, we are trying to do something exceptional.”

Mohammad, as the perfect man, is emulated by untold millions of Muslim men. Further millions of Muslim children are given the prophet's name at birth, but try and find someone who looks like him and all Hell breaks loose.

It is this sort of constant outrage and perpetual aggrievement that makes Islam so ridiculous. Muslims, one and all, are simply unable to relinquish their precious eternal victimhood long enough to laugh at themselves and it is more than a little tiresome.

All of this continues to point up how utterly incompatible Islam remains with nearly the whole of modern civilization. Muslim expectations that the world will somehow dance to their tune need to be slapped out of Islam's collective head.

Afonso Henriques said...

Oh Con Swede,

We cannot really please Greeks and Troyans:

"There is an advantage of below-the-fold that nobody has mentioned. After reading a specific article I want to go back (by clicking "Back") to the list of articles. But going back and forth to the main page is slow, while going back and forth between anchors at the same page is quick."

Above the fold is optimal because I can scroll it easily, and then, when a title catch my eye, I only have to click in the central button of the mouse and voilá, a new internet explorer conection opens in the same window...

Much more practical.

Conservative Swede said...

And when you want to pick the next article form the list...?