StatCounter

Saturday, 23 May 2009

Anti-Semitism update

Two stories from the UK and one from France to show how Jews are under increasing attack in Western Europe, while Governments and the media worry about Islamophobia.

A local London paper reports that:
" Security around Jewish schools remains on high alert after specific threats were made towards children during the height of the conflict in the Middle East.

Parents are continuing to pay for private security firms to guard schools amidst fears they may be targeted by extremists as a reaction to the tensions in Gaza.

From January 1 to March 9 this year, there were 36 anti-semitic attacks reported to Barnet Police, compared to just 11 during the same period last year, which included pro-Palestinian groups daubing graffiti and targeting Jewish businesses across the borough.

...

A security guard outside another Jewish school in Hendon, who did not want to be named, said the wall outside had been painted with the words “The black man rules now” in recent weeks and claimed he had been told to remain on “high alert”.

He said: “It is a shame, but in the current environment, there is a need for the security to be in place.”

“We provide a physical presence to stop something going on. If someone was hanging around thinking about doing something, they may think twice. "



The Liverpool Echo reports that:
"LIVERPOOL’S Jewish schools have drafted in extra security guards over fears pupils could be targeted.

The move at King David high school and neighbouring King David primary in Childwall comes after Hamas said Jewish children were now “legitimate targets” as part of the conflict with Israel.

Today both schools – who have around 1,000 pupils between them – confirmed they had each drafted in an extra security guard.

Since last week the guards’ brief has included accompanying children into school at the start of the day and following them out at home time.

The guards are also keeping an eye on visitors to the school, patrolling the schools’ perimeters and even monitoring traffic."



But for more a more hardcore incident Haaretz reports that:
"Jewish teen tortured in French town where Ilan Halimi was killed

The incident of brutal abuse began at 10 A.M. on February 22. Mathieu Roumi, 19, whose father is Jewish, was strolling through his neighborhood in the Paris suburb of Bagneux, which has been the site of violent riots by immigrants in the past two years. The suburb became notorious as the scene of Ilan Halimi's 2006 murder, which horrified France.

Roumi ran into two youths he knew. They discussed a sum of money that he supposedly owed them. An argument ensued, after which they beat him and, with the help of a third friend, dragged him to a dark basement. The three assailants were joined by three other youths, all neighborhood residents and neighbors of Roumi.

For two hours the attackers tortured the young man. One shoved cigarette butts into his mouth, another took issue with Roumi's Jewish origin, grabbed correction fluid and scrawled "dirty Jew" on his forehead. The six men proceeded to scream at him and threaten that he would die the way Halimi did.

They identified themselves as members of the "Barbarians," the same gang that kidnapped Halimi from his store, demanded ransom for his release, and when that was not forthcoming, tortured the 23-year-old over the course of three weeks. Moments after he was dumped on the street, Halimi died.

Roumi told police investigators that throughout his ordeal, his assailants employed measures with sexual and sadistic connotations. When the issue of his sexual orientation arose, one of them placed a condom on the tip of a stick and shoved it in Roumi's mouth.

"We admire Youssouf Fofana!" they shouted at him, referring to the leader of the gang that murdered Halimi. Fofana and 29 other suspects are on trial for abduction, torture and murder. If convicted, they can expect a life sentence.

Roumi's life was spared because one of the assailants, who owned the basement space, had to leave and take the key with him. Roumi was set free and returned home, battered and broken. When he got to his parent's home, they sent him immediately for a medical examination.

The next day Roumi went to the police. In a matter of hours, the six assailants were arrested. Most are in their 20s, two come from Muslim homes, two are "fully" French, and another two are African and Portuguese immigrants. They told interrogators that they had not meant to hurt Roumi.

Sami Gozlan, a former police investigator appointed by the Jewish community to monitor anti-Semitic incidents, visited the Roumi family the day after the incident.

"The family was in a terrible state," he told Haaretz Wednesday. "The father was weeping like a baby and couldn't believe that such a thing could happen to his son in France. The mother was also deeply upset. They told me that their younger children were forced to stay with relatives outside the neighborhood. Mathieu himself is still in shock."

"Sadly the lesson of Halimi's murder has not been learned," Gozlan added. "The fact that angry immigrant youth can kidnap a Jew in broad daylight and abuse him proves that the lesson has yet to be learned."

Jewish organizations condemned the attack and urged the authorities to increase police vigilance in mixed immigrant neighborhoods, where fear of attacks against Jews runs especially high. "



Remember these stories the next time you see demonstrators, faces contorted by hatred, screaming "We are all Hamas now". Remember it...

A Very British Dude at the hands of the NHS

A Very British Dude suffers at the hands of the NHS...

"And that, ladies and Gentlemen is why the NHS is useless. Nurses can't do what nurses do. Doctors ' time is wasted. The Bureaucracy, 'elf & Safety and petty credentialism mean that only certain types of nurse are qualified to do the simple running repairs that the majority of walking wounded in A&E needed for their sprianed ankles, cuts and bruises. No-one took responsibility, and no-one cared that the majority of people were enduring quite unessesary waits. Doctors' valuable time was being wasted too.

And as the patients grumbled away in the waiting room. I couldn't help comparing the A&E systems I've seen in France, Austria, Germany and Canada where the minor wounds are patched up and sent home with no fuss and little bureaucracy by whoever is nearest without having to wait the government mandated four hours. It's no longer money. We spend what others spend on healthcare. It is about the organisation, the culture. The NHS is the world's third largest employer with over a million people (after the PLA and the Indian Railroad). No organisation that big works. The public sector producer interest was visible in force: nothing in the waiting room worked, it was stuffy, uncomfortable an and no effort was made to indicate how long you would be waiting. Queue up and take your stalinist service. Be thankful for what you get. Don't criticise the sainted nurses 'n doctors. It's your health service."

French pop muisc isn't all bad


There's something about this that I quite like...

"Baby Baby Baby"

Some Saturday morning Beyonce


Beyonce - "Ego"

Another verbal slip from Barack Obama and not a word on the BBC

Yet again Barack Obama misspeaks and the BBC choose not to ruin the image of their hero. Breitbart report that Barack Obama doesn't seem to know that his Secretary of Defence is Robert Gates, whilst the founder of Microsoft is Bill Gates. Easy to mistak one Gates for another, let's hope Barack Obama knows the difference between Iraq and Iran.

It's always the fault of Israel or the Jews!

A Guardian "Comment is Free" article by Gideon Spiro explains why
"Obama needs to spell it out to the Israeli government: your weapons of mass destruction are just as dangerous as Iran's"
Do read the whole piece and the comments that follow it, there are some seriously out of touch with reality people out there...

Another "Comment is Free piece explaining why: a book in Greece should be banned.
"Jews – The Whole Truth is an extremely lengthy book (1,400 pages) written by Greek author Kostas Plevris. Plevris's plain declaration that he is "a Nazi and a fascist, racist, anti-democratic and an antisemite" sets the tone of the book, but he goes further. While justifying the actions of Hitler and the Nazis, Plevris claims that "ridding Europe of the Jews is necessary because Judaism poses a threat to the freedom of nation". To this he adds, "the history of humankind will hold Adolf Hitler responsible for the following: he did not rid Europe of the Jews while he could"."
Do read the whole piece to see what levels of anti-Semitism exist in Greece.


It is, as I have said before, no time to be a Jew in Europe.

Make Government Poverty History





Thanks to Beau Bo D'Or for the video and Guido Fawkes for the spot.

Friday, 22 May 2009

Happy Birthday Morrissey



The song is of course The Smiths' most excellent "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"

"Why do I give valuable time to people who don't care if I live or die?"
Damn good question and one that I ask myself quite regularly...



The Smiths' almost as excellent "This Charming Man"



And finally some birthday advice to for the Pope of Mope from the Mael Brothers (Sparks)- "Lighten Up Morrissey"

Why is the Treasury being so secretive?

I read that:
" May 22 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. refused to release the results of stress tests conducted on British banks, two weeks after the Federal Reserve said similar reviews showed 10 U.S. lenders needed to raise a total of $74.6 billion.

Publishing the information may increase instability and force the government to take further action to shore up the U.K. financial system, the Treasury said in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Bloomberg News that sought the test results and criteria used to evaluate banks. U.S regulators said publishing their findings would ease concerns about lenders. "
So I think we can assume that the stress testing did not result in good news... Read the rest of the Bloomberg article and debate whether panicking is the correct response...

A difference in reporting

When the BBC report that Israel had been omitted from an airline map the story is told briefly and with no emotion. However when the story concerns a map of Israel without the Palestinian Territories correctly denoted... then the key phrases are all there:
"Hugh Lanning of the London-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign said the adverts were a "disingenuous attempt to remove the Palestinians from the public mind, and create a false impression about what constitutes Israel".

The posters were "selling a lie" by suggesting tourists could visit Gaza when the Hamas-run strip is subject to a strict Israeli blockade under which even some doctors and humanitarian workers have been denied entry, PSC said.

The map shows Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights in the same striking yellow colour; the faintest of white lines mark out the Palestinian territories - though not the Syrian one which Israel annexed in 1981.

Israel occupied the three Arab territories, including East Jerusalem, during the 1967 war. It has since cemented its hold by settling hundreds of thousands of its citizens there."
The BBC ever ready to "remind" readers of Israel's "crimes".

Stephen Pound watch

Part of an occasional series keeping an eye on the antics of one of the most unpleasant of the current Labour MPs.

Phil Taylor reports on Stephen Pound's excusing of Hamas rocket attacks on Israel.

Howard Denton reports on Stephen Pound's "rubbishing of the blogs"

The Lone Voice reports on Stephen Pound's fun and games in the Commons chamber.

Planet Jamie issues a challenge to Stephen Pound - take a read.


Stephen Pound, not worth what he is paid as an MP but then with a bit of luck he will be out of that job within just over a year.

Wind power

Wind power (in the UK) is a waste of time, the wind isn't reliable enough so we will still need the ability to generate 100% of our power needs from more tangible power sources, they despoil the countryside, expend more CO2 in building than they save in use and now I discover THEY KILL GOATS.
"Late-night noise from spinning wind turbines on an outlying island of Taiwan may have killed 400 goats over the past three years by depriving them of sleep, an agricultural inspection official said on Thursday. "
Is there no end to the suffering my brethren around the world must suffer?

Denis MacShane

I have been doing a little bit of research on some of the Labour MPs who trot around the media doing their best to shore up Gordon Brown's government and attack the opposition or bloggers or whoever dares to oppose the Great Clunking Twit. Two of these MPs are Denis MacShane and Stephen Pound; I will return to Stephen Pound in due course but here wish to just say one thing about Denis MacShane. One of Denis MacShane's favourite tricks is the ad-hominem attack, ignore the policy go for the man, so in tribute here's something to remember the next time Denis MacShane attacks the man and not the policy (it's from Wikipiedia -
"After the 2005 general election, he was dropped from the government. MacShane's failure to remain in government is believed by some to have been his falling between the two stools of being neither overtly a Blairite nor a Brownite, and thus, in his own words, having "no hand to push [him] up the greasy pole". However, his position was considered to be untenable after comments he made to a meeting of Durham Labour Students [6] in which he described Gordon Brown's five economic tests as, "a bit of a giant red herring." When contacted by The Scotsman newspaper about whether or not he made the comments he responded: "Jesus Christ, no. I mean, ‘red herring’ is not one of my favourite metaphors. If you think any Labour MP saying the Prime Minister’s most important policy is a red herring, then they would not survive long in the job." However, he had been recorded on a dictaphone, with the tape played on both the Today Programme and BBC News 24. MacShane himself wrote in Tribune "I have no idea why I was removed as a minister and it does not worry me in the slightest." [7]"

Jon Stewart and the Daily Show's view of 'Scamalot'

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
Scamalot
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Economic CrisisPolitical Humor

An odd example of dhimmitude

I am a voracious reader and generally have several books on the go at any one time. One I started to read today is Churchill's Wizard's - The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945 which covers a subject area that I find fascinating. I started to read the Preface and was surprised by this passage of prose:
"The hadith or proverb - 'al-harb khuda', attributed to the Prophet Muhammad - peace be upon him - also means 'war is deception'."
I was struck by the use of two phrases. The first was calling Muhammad/Mohammed/Muhammed "The Prophet" not "the Islamic Prophet" or "the Muslim Prophet" or "the person Muslims consider to be the Prophet" but "The Prophet" - as if there could be no doubt. The second was the use of the phrase "peace be upon him", this is the phrase that practising Muslims often say after saying (or hearing) the name of a prophet of Islam, most usually Muhammed (1). Why is a non-Muslim using such a phrase, I wondered, would he similarly describe Jesus as "The Messiah"? Somehow I doubted that Nicholas Rankin would (but I will report back when I finish his book should he mention Jesus at all).

Maybe part of the explanation for this curious choice of wording can be gleaned from the start of Nicholas Rankin's potted biography at the start of the book:
"Nicholas Rankin spent twenty years broadcasting and feature-making for the BBC World Service, where he was Chief Producer and won two UN awards."




(1) Wikipedia informs me that:
"* (Arabic: عليه السلام ʿAlayhis salaam - A.S.) "Peace be upon him": This expression follows after naming any prophet other than Muhammed, or one of the noble Angels (i.e. Jibreel, Mikaeel, etc.)

* (Arabic: صلى الله عليه وسلم ṣall Allahu ʿalayhi wa sallam - S.A.W. or SAAW) "May Allah bless him and grant him peace." : This expression follows specifically after saying the name of the last prophet of Islam, Muhammed."

which is interesting and not previously known to me.

George Best

George Best would have been 63 today.


George Best's goal for Manchester United in the 1968 European Cup Final



George Best's goal in the NASL for the San Jose Earthquakes in 1981




The best goal that never was - George Best Disallowed Goal v Gordon Banks

If it's about Israel then no story is too small to be used to denigrate that Country

The BBC are pleased to report that:
"The Edinburgh International Film Festival has returned a £300 grant to the Israeli government after Ken Loach called for the event to be boycotted.

The money was to be used to fund an Israeli film maker's travel expenses to Scotland to exhibit her short film.

Loach said the grant was "unacceptable" and urged pro-Palestinian supporters to "stay away" from the festival. "
Remember this the next time Ken Loach bangs on about freedom of speech or a film festival showcases films from such freedom loving countries as China.

Thursday, 21 May 2009

Gordon Brown and the flying mobile telephones

The stories of Gordon Brown throwing mobile telephones around the Number 10 bunker have become legion, but today I read some proof in The Register:
"Back in February, Tory Grandee Francis Maude asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many mobile phones had been replaced.

At the time, Kevin Brennan replied: "The Cabinet Office has recorded that of the mobile phones procured for official use under the Vodafone contracts, 11 have been reported lost, two stolen and 14 damaged during the past 18 months."

An innocent enough question, surely; but one that became more interesting when Bloomberg reported the Prime Minister's alleged propensity for taking out his frustration at the deepening economic crisis on office equipment, with cowering Downing St aides warning new recruits to watch out for "flying Nokias".

Cue another question from Francis Maude, who asked:

* (1) whether any of the 14 damaged mobile telephones had been allocated to individuals who work in 10 Downing Street; [269953]
* (2) what the cost to the public purse was of replacing the 14 damaged mobile telephones; [270170]
* (3) what the (a) make and (b) model of each of the 14 damaged mobile telephones was. [270171]

Yesterday, it was Tom Watson who had to step up, and reveal that the toll included two Sony Ericssons, one Motorola RAZR, four BlackBerrys and yes, six Nokias.

But, he added, none of the 14 phones was actually issued to "individuals who work in Downing Street". And just in case anyone was wondering how much the taxpayer was having to shell out to keep government workers in shiny new mobes, the answer is nothing at all.

...

Of course, the fact that none of the borked handsets were issued to Downing Street staffers doesn't mean a thing. After all, no one said that it was the PM throwing his own phones. "
Go on Gordon throw a Nokia, it doesn't cost the taxpayer a thing and may even keep your blood pressure down.

UK is downgraded (update)

I note that Standard & Poor's say that in the past, revised outlooks lead to downgrades in around 37% of cases. A 37% chance of the UK's credit rating being downgraded - should you sell Sterling, I have...

UK is downgraded

Standard and Poors have just revised their outlook rating of the UK. The UK is now had its outlook revised from stable to negative:
"-- The 'AAA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit ratings were
affirmed.
-- The outlook revision is based on our view that, even factoring in further
fiscal tightening, the U.K.'s net general government debt burden may approach
100% of GDP and remain near that level in the medium term.
The only aspect that I take issue with is the 100% of GDP figure; if you include all of the off balance sheet elements it is much much higher than that.

The UK's "rating" has not been lowered but Standard and Poors point out that:
""The rating could be lowered if we conclude that, following the election, the next government's fiscal consolidation plans are unlikely to put the U.K. debt burden on a secure downward trajectory over the medium term," Mr. Beers
said. "Conversely, the outlook could be revised back to stable if comprehensive measures are implemented to place the public finances on a sustainable footing, or if fiscal outturns are more benign than we currently anticipate.""


Sterling looks remarkably stable after the expected initial shock, but will that last once the dealers have had a chance to really think about the real level of debt?


And here is Gordon's explanation of UK Debt levels from last year, looks well doesn't he?


Thanks to Guido Fawkes for reminding me of that video.



An odd blogging experience this one, I spotted the S&P outllok change whilst working and blogged it before seeing that I was not by any means the first... Oh well.