How far we've come in 32 years... From no pictures in 1981 to what seems like pretty much just pictures of semi naked women in the Daily Mail today.
Sopel Tweets Ten Times Since X Departure
1 hour ago
I am not a sheep, I have my own mind
I have had enough of being told what and how to think
Whilst we are still allowed the remnants of free speech,
I will speak out.
I also reserve the right to discuss less controversial matters should I feel the urge.
' Two nurses who failed to spot a patient who died at Stafford Hospital was diabetic have been found guilty of misconduct.
On Monday the Nursing and Midwifery Council panel found Ann King and Jeannette Coulson had failed to look at or update Gillian Astbury's records.
They also failed to carry out blood tests.
Ms Astbury, 66, died in April 2007 at the hospital after after she was not given insulin.
The panel is now deciding what sanctions to take against the two nurses, who have both since retired from the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust.
King was also found to have lied about having changing patients' dressings and giving them medication, while Coulson admitted swearing at staff.
Both have expressed regret for their actions and said they had learnt lessons.
However, the panel said the nurses' ability to practise had been impaired.
Sanctions that can be imposed against the nurses include striking them off the medical register.'
'The EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who met with Egypt's former president Mohammed Morsi, has been speaking to the BBC.Any common ground between Mohammed Morsi and Cathy Ashton? Let's see, Mohammed Morsi was elected and then deposed whilst Cathy Ashton has never been elected but with a little luck will also be deposed.
Baroness Ashton is the first foreign diplomat to meet with the former President since he was ousted from power in early July.
The BBC's Jim Muir asked the Baroness if she shared any common ground with Mr Morsi: "There has to be a way of getting to the other side," she said.
The unelected and unaccountable Lady Ashton, did she maybe lecture Mohammed Morsi on the benefits of democracy? From a purely theoretical point of view of course.'EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi is "well", but that she does not know where he is being held.Baroness Ashton said she had two hours of "frank, in-depth" discussions with Mr Morsi on Monday, without giving further details of the conversation.'
'Women with attractive eyes may be forced to cover them up under Saudi Arabia's latest repressive measure, it was reported yesterday.
The ultra-conservative Islamic state has said it has the right to stop women revealing 'tempting' eyes in public.
...
Women in Saudi Arabia already have to wear a long black cloak, called an abaya, cover their hair and, in some regions, conceal their faces while in public.
If they do not, they face punishments including fines and public floggings.
One report on the Bikya Masr news website suggested the proposal was made after a member of the committee was attracted by a woman's eyes as he walked along a street, provoking a fight.'
'Stones have been thrown at a coach carrying Jewish boys before they were egged in a sickening attack in Sheerness.
Witnesses saw around seven teenage boys and girls hurling missiles at the vehicle and shouting "go back to where you came from". Moments later, the group of 10 to 14-year-olds were set upon again with eggs.'
'An elderly woman was left on the floor at a care home for up to ten minutes because a nurse was praying, an inquest heard.
Alzheimer's sufferer Dorothy Griffiths, 87, was found sitting down after staff heard a bang and a carer went to the office for help to lift her.
But agency nurse Abdul Bhutto, who was in charge, said they would have to wait.
Carer Zoe Shaw told the Sheffield hearing: "It took between five and ten minutes because he was praying upstairs in the office on his prayer mat. A staff member told me we had to wait for him to finish."'
'The soundtrack to Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, which receives its world premiere in Norwich on Wednesday, will deliver an unexpected sales boost to a collection of one-hit wonders, 70s novelty hits and soft rock obscurities hand-picked by the spoof DJ, created by Steve Coogan.'
Philip Glass – KoyaanisquatsiForgotten pop classics?
The Police - Roxanne
Roachford - Cuddly Toy
Climax Blues Band – Couldn’t Get it Right
Chicago - Hard to Say I’m sorry
Calvin Harris (Feat. Kelis) - Bounce
Jakob Liedholm - Swede Love
Andy Fairweather Low - Wide Eyed And Legless
Sam Fonteyn - Pop Looks Bach (Theme from Ski Sunday)
Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman
The Outlaws - Swingin’ Low
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Enola Gay
Bryan Ferry – Let’s Stick Together
John Farnham - You're The Voice
Sparks - Number 1 Song In Heaven
Steeleye Span - Gaudete
The Human League - Don’t You Want Me
Shirley Bassey – Goldfinger
Carly Simon - Nobody Does It Better
Hot Chocolate - It Started With a Kiss
Andrew Gold - Never Let Her Slip Away
Denis King & the South Bank Orchestra - Galloping Home (The New Adventures of Black Beauty)
'A man caught with a prostitute in his car told police she was there to show him where to buy tomatoes.'More here http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-23449261
'Today's figures tell a simple story. This is growth but - as they used to say on Star Trek - not as we know it.'I presume that Nick Robinson is grasping for the line "It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.". However this, to the best of my knowledge, was never said in the original Star Trek series.
“The hostility between us and the Jews still exists. The hatred is ingrained. Neither Egyptians nor Arabs need this show to justify their hatred of Zionism. The existing struggles between us provide the simplest proof of this,”Another actor, Ahmad Abd al-Halim, said:
“I play one of the Jewish characters, who demonstrates the behavior of the Jewish human being. All he thinks about is accumulating money.”The show’s screenwriter, Yusri al-Gindi, said in an interview with Al Jazeera about the series:
“The Jews are the Jews. They still act according to their nature, despite the passing generations. They corrupt any society in which they live, and therefore no regime can protect them with any contract or agreement.Here's some video of the actors and others associated with the series discussing the Jews.
The crisis in the Arab world offers the best proof of this, and this is where the show gets its current relevance.”
"This is a city that's been to heck and back," Obama said. "And while there are still a lot of challenges here, I see a city that's coming back."
'This narrow-angle color image of the Earth, dubbed 'Pale Blue Dot', is a part of the first ever 'portrait' of the solar system taken by Voyager 1. The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth and about 32 degrees above the ecliptic. From Voyager's great distance Earth is a mere point of light, less than the size of a picture element even in the narrow-angle camera. Earth was a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size. Coincidentally, Earth lies right in the center of one of the scattered light rays resulting from taking the image so close to the sun. This blown-up image of the Earth was taken through three color filters -- violet, blue and green -- and recombined to produce the color image. The background features in the image are artifacts resulting from the magnification.'
'Guess who graduated first in this year's medical school class at the Technion, Israel's version of M.I.T.? The answer will surprise you. It's a 27-year-old stereotype-buster: a charming, feminist, smart, open-minded and observant Islamic woman named Mais Ali-Saleh who grew up in a small village outside of Nazareth, in Israel's Galilee.
Ali-Selah's academic excellence not only marks her own personal achievement but also proves that contrary to propaganda spouted by proponents of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Movement -- whose latest convert is Stephen Hawking -- an academic boycott of Israel is the wrong approach to solving the Israel-Arab conflict. Moreover, it ultimately hurts the very people it claims to help. Ali-Selah put it best when she said, "An academic boycott of Israel is a passive move, and it doesn't achieve any of its purported objectives."'
'On the eve of the renewed peace talks with Israel, PA Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash said in his Friday sermon that when PA leaders signed agreements with Israel, they knew how to walk "the right path, which leads to achievement, exactly like the Prophet [Muhammad] did in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah." Al-Habbash's sermon was delivered in the presence of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and was broadcast on official Palestinian Authority TV.
The Hudaybiyyah peace treaty was a 10-year truce that Muhammad, Islam's Prophet, made with the Quraish Tribe of Mecca. However, two years into the truce, Muhammad attacked and conquered Mecca. The PA Minister of Religious Affairs stressed in his Friday sermon that Muhammad's agreeing to the Hudaybiyyah treaty was not "disobedience" to Allah, but was "politics" and "crisis management." The minister emphasized that in spite of the peace treaty, two years later Muhammad "conquered Mecca." He ended his comparison by expressing the view that the Hudaybiyyah agreement is not just past history, but that "this is the example and this is the model."
Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, there have been senior PA officials who have presented the peace process with Israel as a deceptive tactic that both facilitated the PA's five-year terror campaign against Israel (the Intifada), and which will weaken Israel through territorial compromise that will eventually lead to Israel's destruction. '
'A camp for Palestinian refugees has been bombed by chemical weapons, a Syrian opposition group based in Turkey said.More here http://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=605868
The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces said Sunday that the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus had been gassed by regime forces amid heavy fighting. '
'Expressing his opinion on the issue this morning, Dokubo, who converted to Islam as an adult, insisted that it is the right of Muslims to marry or give out their daughters at any age they wish, adding that this is not the business of non-Muslims.Now why would this Muslim leader be slo certain that 'it is the right of Muslims to marry or give out their daughters at any age they wish'?
Said the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) leader through Facebook:
“People should learn to respect other people’s sensibilities…We Muslims have the right to marry when we want or give out our daughters at any age we want. It is not your business and the law must respect our right to do so. Anything short of that is an infringement on our rights. We did not ask you to marry ladies of that age or give your daughters out in marriage at that age. Plzzzzzzzz respect our sensibilities.”
The Nigerian Senate has come under fire from outraged Nigerians and the international community after being convinced by Senator Ahmad Yarima to drop a constitutional amendment outlawing marriage to girls under 18. The former Zamfara State governor who once came under fire for marrying a girl believed to be aged 13 had argued that Islam recognises under-age marriage.'
'Islamic tradition records that Muhammad’s favorite wife, Aisha, was six when Muhammad wedded her and nine when he consummated the marriage: “The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old a
Marrying young girls was not all that unusual for its time, but because in Islam Muhammad is the supreme example of conduct (cf. Qur’an 33:21), he is considered exemplary in this unto today. And so in April 2011, the Bangladesh Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini declared that those trying to pass a law banning child marriage in that country were putting Muhammad in a bad light: “Banning child marriage will cause challenging the marriage of the holy prophet of Islam… [putting] the moral character of the prophet into controversy and challenge.” He added a threat: “Islam permits child marriage and it will not be tolerated if any ruler will ever try to touch this issue in the name of giving more rights to women.” The Mufti said that 200,000 jihadists were ready to sacrifice their lives for any law restricting child marriage. '
'Bill Whittle examines the death of Trayvon Martin and trial of George Zimmerman. Is the acquittal of Zimmerman one of the great civil rights injustices of our time?'
'The Armistice Demarcation Lines defined in articles V and VI of this Agreement are agreed upon by the Parties without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto.'More here http://israeljewsjudaism.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-1949-armistice-agreement.html
'Dubai has undergone a rapid transformation in recent years, emerging as a five-star trade and tourism destination with its tax-free salaries and year-round sunshine.
It is now one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities with foreign workers and visitors greatly outnumbering the local population.
But it remains a deeply conservative region, and its strict laws have caught out foreigners in the past. Public displays of affection and drunkenness are frowned upon.'
'Nonetheless, three months into the fiscal year, the government remains on course to reduce the budget deficit in line with its forecasts.'
'... in all too many mosques, schools and television programs across the Arab and Muslim world, the public is indoctrinated with the most vile anti-Jewish bigotry. Hatred is idealized to a degree that the average American, and the average Israeli, cannot comprehend or imagine.'
'Chinese villagers have defended their tradition of hanging a live bull from a tree until it dies as part of a ritual to bring them luck and a bumper harvest.
The 'cow-hanging ceremony' has been carried out by the minority Dong people of southern China for almost 500 years and now attracts hundreds of tourists. '
We wish to reiterate that this is not about telling you what your views should be. Indeed, we have all visited the occupied territories and we have all experienced an instinctive and liberal reaction to the humanitarian suffering we have witnessed. You will know that Nick, Simon and I have a consistent track record of being outspoken about illegal settlement activities of Israeli governments and the threat this poses to the two-state solution for which the party has long argued.Yes because the Israelis are entirely responsible for the humanitarian situation in the 'occupied territories'. As for the 'illegal settlement activities of Israeli governments' and how they pose a threat to the two-state solution, I wonder if the Lib Dems are so stupid that they believe that the Palestinian Authority, let alone Hamas, want a two-state solution.
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Police closed the Temple Mount to Muslim and Christian visitors in an effort to prevent clashes between different religious groups.
The closure order came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when many Muslims pray at the Dome of the Rock on the site.
Muslim and Christian MKs attempted to enter the compound Tuesday morning, but police prevented them from doing so.
The Jerusalem Police closed the Temple Mount to Jewish and Christian visitors Tuesday in an effort to prevent clashes between different religious groups.
The closure order came on Tisha B’Av, a Jewish day of mourning that marks the destruction of the Jewish temples that stood on the site, which this year falls during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when many Muslims pray at the Dome of the Rock on the site.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin attempted to enter the compound Tuesday morning, together with MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli (Jewish Home), but police prevented them from doing so.
“Security assessments were made this morning, and the decision was made by the Israel Police to close the Temple Mount to all visitors, in order to prevent disturbances,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told The Times of Israel Tuesday morning.
Thousands of Jews visited the Western Wall Tuesday in the plaza below the Temple Mount, and Muslims made a pilgrimage to the Dome of the Rock at the top of the mount.
Asked if Elkin and Moalem-Refaeli didn’t enjoy parliamentary immunity to the police decision, Rosenfeld said, “No visits whatsoever are allowed to the Temple Mount.”
Israel announced on Tuesday new rules to grant some rights to foreign domestic workers, but stressed they must "respect" Judaism and "obey" their employers.
Labor Minister David Finkelstein said that the maids must respect "Judaism and its teachings... and obey the orders of the employers and their family members concerning getting the agreed work done."
A domestic worker "does not have the right to reject a work, or leave a job, without a valid reason," he added in remarks carried by the official JNA news agency.How despicable is that? Why are the United Nations and the OIC not up in arms about this new act of racial hatred by the apartheid state of Israel. Aren't all religions equal? What gives the apartheid state of Israel the right to foist it's religion on foreign workers? Also doesn't that last line sound a little like modern day slavery? Why aren't the Philipine and Sri Lankan governments protesting to the Israelis?
Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday new rules to grant some rights to foreign domestic workers, but stressed they must "respect" Islam and "obey" their employers.
Labor Minister Adel Faqih said that the maids must respect "Islam and its teachings... and obey the orders of the employers and their family members concerning getting the agreed work done."
A domestic worker "does not have the right to reject a work, or leave a job, without a valid reason," he added in remarks carried by the official SPA news agency....
Saudi Arabia gained international notoriety earlier this year over its treatment of foreign domestic workers after the US-backed kingdom beheaded a Sri Lankan maid convicted of killing her employer's baby.
Human Rights Watch said that Saudi authorities put the maid "under duress" to force a confession. Sri Lanka recalled its ambassador to Saudi Arabia after the brutal killing of the maid.
Foreign domestic workers employed in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries sometimes face slave-like conditions under the sponsorship system which ties the maid to her employer.
Around eight million foreign workers are employed in Saudi Arabia, with most of them coming from South Asia and earning low wages.As it's Saudi Arabia not Israel involved, I think we can expect no reaction from the United Nations, nothing from the OIC and a complete lack of interest from the anti-Israel protest groups. Calling Israel an 'apartheid state' is fun, even if it's not true. Where's the fun in doing the same for Saudi Arabia, even if it is an apartheid state. Never confuse the majority anti-Israel protesters for having principles, well unless you count unreasoning hatred of the only Jewish state as a principle.
The current capacity of wind power connected to the transmission system that we forecast for is 5.5GW (Jan 2013). This capacity is expected to continue to increase during 2013/14 and could reach 32GW of wind generation capacity by 2020.5.5GW, is that a lot?
'Way back on March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview with Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here’s what he said:
The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct “Palestinian people” to oppose Zionism.That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? It’s even more specific than Golda Meir’s statement. It reaffirms what I have written on this subject. And it is hardly the only such statement of its kind. Arafat himself made a very definitive and unequivocal statement along these lines as late as 1993. It demonstrates conclusively that the Palestinian nationhood argument is the real strategic deception – one geared to set up the destruction of Israel.
For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.
In fact, on the same day Arafat signed the Declaration of Principles on the White House lawn in 1993, he explained his actions on Jordan TV. Here’s what he said: “Since we cannot defeat Israel in war, we do this in stages. We take any and every territory that we can of Palestine, and establish a sovereignty there, and we use it as a springboard to take more. When the time comes, we can get the Arab nations to join us for the final blow against Israel.”
No matter how many people convince themselves that the aspirations for Palestinian statehood are genuine and the key to peace in the Middle East, they are still deceiving themselves.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, in the history of the world, Palestine has never existed as a nation. The region known as Palestine was ruled alternately by Rome, by Islamic and Christian crusaders, by the Ottoman Empire and, briefly, by the British after World War I. The British agreed to restore at least part of the land to the Jewish people as their ancestral homeland. It was never ruled by Arabs as a separate nation.'
The hot weather has prompted Rabbi Alan Kimche, one of London's leading orthodox rabbis, to warn his congregation about dehydration during a fast, which is due to begin on Monday night for 25 hoursNo background to the fast? I wonder why, oh yes because yesterday was Tisha B'Av: an annual Jewish fast day which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the Jews from the Land of Israel.
'Islam, on the other-hand, is still going through its 'dark ages'. Thought-competition is being brutally suppressed in many Muslim-majority countries as Saudi-funded brands of ultra-austere Islam proliferate. The Saudi state continues to spend a large portion of its petrodollars building mosques around the world yet, ironically, according to Sharia law, non-Muslim religious structures are not allowed to be built inside its own lands. It takes years of red tape for existing churches in other Arab Nations such as Egypt to be even allowed to be repaired and this puts the houses of worship of any competing memeplex in a state of permanent decline.'A fascinating article, have a read at The Commentator
'Despite irrefutable evidence that the girls were being sexually abused, no one — according to a report published by the House of Commons on June 5 — acted to draw all the facts together, apparently due to fears by police and social workers that they would be accused of racism against Muslims.
...
Evidence presented to us suggests that there is a model of localized grooming of Pakistani-heritage men targeting young White girls. This must be acknowledged by official agencies, who we were concerned to hear in some areas of particular community tension, had reportedly been slow to draw attention to the issue for fear of affecting community cohesion. The condemnation from those communities of this vile crime should demonstrate that there is no excuse for tip-toeing around this issue. It is important that police, social workers and others be able to raise their concerns freely, without fear of being labelled racist."
These allegations have been confirmed by the imam of the Oxford Islamic Congregation, Taj Hargey, who says race and religion are inextricably linked to the spate of grooming rings in which Muslim men are targeting under-age white girls.
Writing in the Daily Mail on May 15, Hargey states: "Apart from its sheer depravity, what also depresses me about this case is the widespread refusal to face up to its hard realities. The fact is that the vicious activities of the Oxford ring are bound up with religion and race: religion, because all the perpetrators, though they had different nationalities, were Muslim; and race, because they deliberately targeted vulnerable white girls, whom they appeared to regard as 'easy meat', to use one of their revealing, racist phrases."
"But as so often in fearful, politically correct modern Britain," Hargey continues, "there is a craven unwillingness to face up to this reality. Commentators and politicians tip-toe around it, hiding behind weasel words. … Part of the reason this scandal happened at all is precisely because of such politically correct thinking. All the agencies of the state, including the police, the social services and the care system, seemed eager to ignore the sickening exploitation that was happening before their eyes. Terrified of accusations of racism, desperate not to undermine the official creed of cultural diversity, they took no action against obvious abuse."
According to Hargey, "Another sign of the cowardly approach to these horrors is the constant reference to the criminals as 'Asians' rather than as 'Muslims.' In this context, Asian is a completely meaningless term. The men were not from China, or India or Sri Lanka or even Bangladesh. They were all from either Pakistan or Eritrea, which is, in fact, in East Africa rather than Asia."
He also says the grooming rings in Britain are actually being promoted by imams who encourage followers to believe that white women deserve to be "punished." He writes that Muslims in Britain "have been drip-fed for years [with] a far less uplifting doctrine, one that denigrates all women, but treats whites with particular contempt. In the misguided orthodoxy that now prevails in many mosques, including several of those in Oxford, men are unfortunately taught that women are second-class citizens, little more than chattels or possessions over whom they have absolute authority."
Hargey points to a telling incident in the trial when it was revealed that Mohammed Karrar branded one of the girls with an "M," as if she were a cow. He writes, "'Now, if you have sex with someone else, he'll know that you belong to me,' said this criminal, highlighting an attitude where women are seen as nothing more than personal property. The view of some Islamic preachers towards white women can be appalling. They encourage their followers to believe that these women are habitually promiscuous, decadent and sleazy — sins which are made all the worse by the fact that they arekaffurs or non-believers. Their dress code, from mini-skirts to sleeveless tops, is deemed to reflect their impure and immoral outlook. According to this mentality, these white women deserve to be punished for their behavior by being exploited and degraded."'
'It doesn't matter that the multi-billion pound behemoth that is the BBC wastes our money left right and centre; it is the right kind of broadcaster. It is not Sky. Sky is evil you see. The BBC isn't.
And it is perfectly fine for the BBC to spend a fortune on presenters like Jeremy Paxman but not so good when it comes to Jeremy Clarkson because he's, well, the wrong type of presenter.
And it is perfectly fine for a footballer to be on £250,000 a week. That's good. That's working class.
Football is working class isn't it? I'm sure I read in the Guardian that it was.
In reality of course, mates of mine who grew up supporting their teams can hardly afford to attend nowadays as prices take the sport away from them.
But £250,000 a week is fine for Rooney. It's the right kind of wage unlike those evil bankers with their £1m wages and £250,000 a year bonuses. That's the wrong kind of pay.
And of course Microsoft is evil but Apple isn't. Starbucks is a tax-cheating filthy company until you need wi-fi and your double, skinny, mocha-peasant flat.
Now, hypocrisy isn't, unfortunately, the sole preserve of the left, but they just do a damn good job at it. Whether sending their kids to private school while condemning everyone else to the sink estate comp or flying to Tuscany as air-fares go up -- all to protect the planet you know -- the left see things in absolutes. '
True dat!'
'Headteacher Craig Duncan said: "We do everything that we can to ensure the welfare of all of our children and we would never prevent them from having access to water.
"In this case, water was available and pupils were just reminded to be respectful to their classmates who were unable to drink in this hot weather."'
Welcome to 21st century multi cultural Britain. Except often it's less multi cultural and more scared of offending Islam.
'The international FIFA soccer association totally ignored a government presentation Tuesday of Hamas’ using soccer fields to camouflage underground missile launchers and instead delivered a threat that Israel faces expulsion from FIFA if it does not allow free travel to Palestinian Authority soccer players.
Hamas bragged last year about its missiles hidden underneath a Gaza soccer field during Israel’s Pillar of Defense offensive to stop missile attacks that reached as far north as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hosted FIFA president Joseph Blatter on Tuesday after the soccer official attended the opening of the new offices of the Palestine Football Association in Ramallah.
If Netanyahu thought his visual presentation of missile launchers underneath a soccer field would convince Blatter that perhaps soccer fields are not always what they seem to be, he was sorely mistaken.
The exhibit impressed Blatter about as much as Netanyahu impressed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with his “red line” exhibition on Iran’s nuclear program in the United Nations last year.
The Prime Minister showed Blatter aerial photographs of Fajr-5 missile launchers in the Gaza soccer stadium.
Blatter did not utter a word.
“This is a double war crime,” Netanyahu said. “You’re firing on civilians and you’re hiding behind civilians.”
Blatter did not utter a word.
“We ask FIFA to allow Israel to play fair and not to let the organization and football to be exploited to spread lies,” Netanyahu said.
Blatter did not utter a word.
Netanyahu reminded his visitor that the head of the PA soccer association is Jibril Rajoub, who said earlier this year that, “Gee, I sure wish the Palestinian Authority had a nuclear weapon, because if we did, I would have used it.”
Blatter did not utter a word..
When he did open his mouth, he had this to say: “I will go to defend not only the Palestine Football Association but I will defend the basic principles of FIFA, (which are) to connect people and not to separate people.”
Blatter praised soccer as a way to peace. FIFA’a values are “to recognize each other through football and to live not only in peace but in harmony,” he stated.'
'This article will discuss the way the word 'Islamophobia' has been used as a political weapon rather than as an honest way of communicating an idea. The main problem arises from the fact that by combining the words 'Islam' and 'phobia' the resulting term is itself contradictory given current usage. It ignores rational fears that people may have and in the best Stalinist tradition labels those with such fears as being mentally ill.And the title of the first section:
We will start by showing how the term 'Islamophobia' as it is currently used is merely a political tool to shut people up. We will then demonstrate how a word that combines 'Islam' and 'phobia' could be more appropriately defined. The inclusion of a linguistic component used regularly by psychiatrists will of course be justified in our more logical definition. We will then look at the case of the recent Boston bombing as an example of what happens when Islamophobia as the irrational fear of questioning Islam is not taken into consideration by policymakers who often appear to be its most acute sufferers.
This article will argue that if the world 'phobia' is to be used in combination with Islam then it is more appropriate for describing the people who currently wield the term rather than those who are victimised by such people. Islamophobia therefore then defined as 'the irrational fear of questioning Islam'.'
''Islamophobia' As A Tool To Shut People Up! 'Do read the whole article here http://www.libertiesalliance.org/2013/05/15/islamophobia-the-irrational-fear-of-questioning-islam/
'Britons urged to boycott Maldives over sexist lawsMore here http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/britons-urged-to-boycott-maldives-over-sexist-laws-8692603.html
As 15-year-old rape victim faces 100 lashes, women's rights groups have urged David Cameron to intervene
...
The Maldivian government's own figures show that 90 per cent of people sentenced to flogging are female, while one in three women between the ages of 15 and 49 have suffered physical or sexual abuse over the past five years.'
'Senior Pastor/Bishop Umar Mulinde of Gospel Life Church International outside Kampala has begun facial reconstruction after assailants who shouted "Allahu Akbar [God is greater]" cast acid on him on Christmas Eve 2011, while Christian school founder Hassan Muwanguzi of eastern Uganda is homeless and facing death threats from Islamic extremists who burned down his house.Even in Christian majority countries, large Muslim minorities are flexing their muscles and implementing sharia law.
"Acid damaged my face beyond what we had initially thought," Mulinde recently wrote to Morning Star News from Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer (near Tel Aviv), Israel, "causing a very terrible wound, nearly cutting off my head, right eye, ear, nose and causing serious deforming scars, but praise God that He helped me to get good medication and prayers of the saints worldwide, otherwise I almost died."'