Carrie Nation Among the Muslims

Carrie NationAmericans of the Midwestern persuasion will need no introduction to Carrie Nation.

She was a member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in the late 19th century, and a zealous crusader against the evils of alcohol. Notorious for breaking up barrooms with a hatchet, she did battle fearlessly against the Demon Rum.

But modern Muslim purists put Carrie Nation to shame. The Halal Warriors are always alert to the slightest taint of pork or alcohol in the production of food. If you’re a food manufacturer, you’d better hope that none of your employees even thinks about beer while preparing your products.

The latest news comes from Britain, where the Halal Warriors are doing battle against crisps (known here in the colonies as “potato chips”) which may have been processed with a teeny-weeny bit of ethanol. According to The Daily Mail:

Muslims criticise Walkers after it is revealed that some crisp varieties contain alcohol

Furious Muslims have heavily criticised Walkers crisps after it emerged that certain varieties of the manufacturer’s products contain trace elements of alcohol.

Some crisp types use minute amounts of alcohol as a chemical agent to extract certain flavours.

The report in Asian newspaper Eastern Eye, highlights concerns raised by shopkeeper Besharat Rehman, who owns a halal supermarket in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Mr Rehman told the paper: “A customer informed us that Sensations Thai Sweet Chilli and Doritos Chilli Heat Wave are not on Walkers’ alcohol-free list. Our suppliers were unaware of this.

“Even if it is a trace amount of alcohol, Walkers should make it clear on the packaging so that the customer can make an informed choice.”

If there is a single molecule of ethanol in any crisp, then Muslims must be told!

Mr. Rehman then goes on to accuse Walkers of that most deadly of postmodern sins, “insensitivity to Muslims”:
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“I feel frustrated and angry. I have let my customers down simply because such a big company like Walkers is not sensitive to Muslim needs.

“Many of them were my daughter’s favourite crisps. As soon as I found out about the alcohol in them, I called home to ask my wife to throw out all the packets.”

Not only that, Muslims are offended:

Shuja Shafi, who chairs the food standards committee of the Muslim Council of Britain, said that he intended to investigate. “Certainly we would find it very offensive to have eaten food with alcohol.”

And there must be no compromise with the demon alcohol:

Masood Khawaja, of the Halal Food Authority, said that this was not the first time the issue had been raised with Walkers.

“They should have looked into the matter and solved it instead of hiding behind labelling regulations. It does not matter what percentage of alcohol is involved.

This is all a load of halal hooey, because even sharia experts among Muslims have ruled that trace amounts of alcohol are permissible for good Muslims to ingest. According to a spokesman for Walkers:

“In previous assessments by Muslim scholars, foods and drinks that contain trace amounts of ethyl alcohol have been confirmed as permissible for Muslim consumption because of both the fact that the ingredient does not bear its original qualities and does not change the taste, colour or smell of the product, and its very low level.”

But this isn’t about facts. It isn’t about science. It isn’t about being reasonable, and it isn’t even about alcohol.

It’s about who controls governance and commerce within the newest Islamic colonies in Europe.

Carrie NationIt’s about who’s boss. The British government have repeatedly shown that they are most emphatically not the boss, and the Archdhimmi of Canterbury agrees with them.

Islam is the boss. Carrie Nation of the Muslims is in the pub with her hatchet, and the old boss is cowering behind the bar, hoping that none of the glass splinters will ruin his coiffure.



Hat tip: HTP

If Kosovo Can, Why Can’t Palestine?

Palestinians are asking why can’t they do the Kosovo shuffle? Why is the world not behind their declaration of statehood? It’s not fair:

A day after talks between Mr Abbas and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert ended without visible progress, the PLO secretary general [Abd Rabbo] said that “Kosovo is not better than us. We deserve independence even before Kosovo, and we ask for the backing of the United States and the European Union for our independence.”

“If the situation does not progress [. . .] we must undertake steps similar to that in Kosovo and unilaterally declare independence,” he added.

President Abbas responded saying that Palestinians are committed to reaching a negotiated peace agreement this year, but if “we are unable to do that . . . we will return to our Arab [brothers] to take the appropriate decision,” he said.

The statement left itself open to interpretations and in Israel some looked at it in light of what others had to say; people like Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian negotiator, who voiced opposition to any unilateral declaration of independence, pointing out that the PLO had already declared independence in 1988.

Instead “we need real independence, not a declaration. We need real independence by ending the occupation,” Erekat stressed.

Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia said that “decisions should be taken and then declared, and not be declared and then be taken.”

Now that’s an interesting take on things. Decisions before declarations…we may be at this impasse forever, then. What would the world be like without Palestine and Israel negotiating?
– – – – – – – –
The Globe and Mail noted that the comparisons with Kosovo weren’t valid for a number of reasons:

The parallels between the Kosovars and the Palestinians are actually quite thin. Where Serbian troops were driven out of Kosovo by a NATO bombing campaign nine years ago, the Israeli military is still spread throughout the West Bank. Meanwhile, Palestinians themselves are divided between the warring Hamas and Fatah factions.

An independence declaration issued by Mr. Abbas in Ramallah would mean little in Gaza, where Hamas has ruled since seizing control last June. Hamas, which won legislative elections in 2006, claims to be the legitimate Palestinian government and a Hamas spokesman yesterday dismissed Mr. Abed Rabbo as someone not worth listening to.

In other words, Kosovo was united in its concerted push for sovereignty. Hamas and Fatah are deeply suspicious of one another and cannot reach any concord. They are playing an eternal win/lose game.

Maybe someone should quote the Christian scripture to them — i.e., how a house divided against itself cannot stand.

On the other hand, with the talk of peace-keeping troops coming to visit for awhile, Palestinians may begin to look more like their Muslim confreres in Kosovo.

The forces unleashed by the US and EU backing of Kosovo’s move to independence haven’t finished playing out yet. The only thing we know for sure is that there will be blood. Lots of blood.



Hat tip: Insubria

Box Cutter Found in Passenger’s Luggage

Another TryTampa International Airport intercepted a box cutter when it x-rayed a passenger’s backpack. The metal shaft was obvious and the trip was over for Benjamin Baines:

If convicted, Baines faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for a federal charge of attempting to board an airplane with a concealed dangerous weapon. He is currently serving a 30 day sentence after pleading guilty Monday to a state misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, airport security ran Benjamin Baines Jr.’s backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter, according to a report from the Transportation Security Administration.

When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled “Fear Itself.” The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside.

After Baines was read his rights, he said his cousin had cut away the pages to make the hollow section in the book. Later, reports state, he said he had hollowed it out himself to hide money and marijuana from his roommates.

Baines told officers he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book.

Oh, yes…and the dog ate his homework…

But what else did they find in the pack? you ask. I’ll tell you…
– – – – – – – –

Officers found books in the backpack titled “Muhammad in the Bible,” “The Prophet’s Prayer” and “The Noble Qur’an.” He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible.

Several sheets of paper in the backpack included rap lyrics that referred to police, narcotics, weapons and killing. Baines told officers he is a rapper who writes his own lyrics and that rap music writers need to “play the part,” the report states.

And prisoners need a rap sheet, too. Now Mr. Baines has one as he sits in the local jail on charges of carrying a concealed weapon. When he gets out for that crime, federal marshals will be waiting for him:

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also filed a federal charge of attempting to board an aircraft with a concealed dangerous weapon. The federal charge against Baines was filed Sunday but was not announced until today, said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa.

It’s a long way from where he sits now to any stage performances.

Lion Heart Talks to the Bedfordshire Police

It is clear from the recordings of the conversations between Lion Heart and members the Hate Crimes Unit of the Greyfriars Police that the warrant for his arrest is being issued.

It is also clear that the police do not have the standing to tell him he would be released on bail or his own recognizance. In fact, once the pertinent facts are out – i.e., that he went to the US in the interim between the notice (in early January) to report in on February 19th to be arrested – I doubt any Crown Prosecutor or judge would permit him to have bail.

If he returns to the UK, Lion Heart will be killed by the al-Qaeda-supported Pakistani group in Luton while he is serving his sentence. Or maybe before he makes it to trial.

It is as clear-cut and sad as that.

But, as he said, we have to do what we have to do.

Shall we weep for Lion Heart first, or for the failed state of England?

May God have mercy on them both.

[finished here]

Size Does Matter!

Like most people, I get dozens or hundreds of emails every day urging me to enlarge my manly equipment.

Add inches to your mojo! Make your significant other scream with delight! etc. etc.

Well, the Swedish lion doesn’t actually need any enlargement medication. After all, you can’t enlarge what you don’t have.

Remember this?

The Swedish lion


Back in December there was a big controversy over the unmanning of Sweden’s heraldic lion. The conflict resurfaced today when Sweden’s state heraldist (I wish we had one of those) went public with his anger over the busybodies at the Nordic Battlegroup.

Here’s the article from the Local. Warning to sensitive readers: the “p” word is used in this story! So read cautiously:
– – – – – – – –

Heraldists want penis reinstated on military badge

Sweden’s chief heraldists remain dissatisfied with a decision by the Nordic Battlegroup to remove a lion’s penis depicted on its coat of arms.

But staff at the National Archives are hopeful that the Nordic Battlegroup will reconsider its position and re-erect the lion’s member on its insignia.

“They stepped over the line when they made alterations to the badge without consulting us. It was a clear breach of copyright,” state heraldist Henrik Klackenberg told The Local.

Although the heraldry unit is unlikely to take any legal action, Klackenberg said he would appreciate an apology from the Armed Forces.

Here’s my favorite part: the original operation on the manly lion was purportedly carried out at the behest of disgruntled women in the Swedish armed forces. Now it appears that this was yet another piece of disinformation from the proponents of enforced gender neutrality:

After an initial flurry of media reports in December last year, the Commander of the Nordic Battlegroup, Karl Engelbrektsson, revealed that it was he who he had ordered the alteration. This ran contrary to initial reports suggesting that the emasculation occurred following pressure from female soldiers.

It also seems that the ever-vigilant leaders of Sweden’s finest are concerned that a fully-equipped lion would encourage the abuse of — ahem — lionesses:

In an interview with Sveriges Radio, the Commander said he decided to give the lion the snip having read UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.

With civilian women often falling victim to sexual abuse in the war zones of the world, the Commander said he did not consider the male appendage an appropriate symbol for his troops to wear into battle.

But what if the lion were gay? Would it be OK then?

Perhaps his lifestyle preference could be indicated on the heraldic design by, say, high-heels and eye shadow. Then everyone would be assured that his generative organ would never, ever harm any members of the weaker sex societally constructed female gender.

But heraldic artist Vladimir A Sagerlund was dismayed at what he viewed as an alarming lack of historical awareness. In former times, he said, coats of arms containing lions without genitalia were given to those who betrayed the Swedish Crown.

So what’s the problem here? Seems like the revised lion might be appropriate after all…

And as Sagerlund’s colleague points out, the heraldry unit would have no qualms about making alterations to the original image if requested to do so by the military.

“We could make the dimensions a bit smaller, for example. Once we were commissioned to create a similar symbol for Swedish Customs. When they thought it was a bit much they sent it back to us and we just shrank the organ,” said Klackenberg.

Ah, the poor lion. They shrank his organ!

Now he’ll have to answer one of those emails…



Hat tip: TB.

Serbia’s Reaction Continues…

Map of Kosovo


Serbian reaction to the West’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence sparked a huge demonstration:

Approximately 200,000 Serbs attended a rally today protesting Western recognition of Kosovo’s independence. Afterwards mobs surged through the streets attacking various embassies, including the American. The crowd briefly broke into the embassy and burned part of it.

There are numerous reports in the MSM and in the blogosphere. They disagree about the numbers – some say 150,000:

A protest of at least 150,000 Serbs in Belgrade turned violent on Thursday when protesters stormed the US embassy and set the building alight.

Several hundred protesters attacked and broke into the city’s US embassy and set the building on fire. The building is closed.

The protest was against Kosovo’s declaration of independence on Sunday and US support for the move.

The most complete report I’ve found is from a Swiss site, which links to Reuters. Among other things, it said that “Washington reacted with cluelessness anger.”

The embassy had already been stoned on Sunday, and some of the windows were boarded up. Does Washington think this kind of outrage will simply go away?

Needless to say, the UN mouthed the usual bromides. Sing along with me:

“I’m outraged by the mob attack,” said its ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, who added he would ask the U.N. Security Council to condemn it unanimously in the latest diplomatic shockwave from Kosovo’s secession on Sunday.

Is he really that cynical or merely a moronic bureaucrat earning his daily bread? I vote for #1.

US embassy in BelgradeThe violence — which spilled over to other embassies and included widespread vandalising of shops and banks — marred a mass state-backed rally by up to 200,000 Serbs refusing to accept the loss of their religious heartland Kosovo.

“As long as we live, Kosovo is Serbia,” Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told the crowd from a stage in front of the old Yugoslav parliament building in Belgrade.

“We’re not alone in our fight. President Putin is with us,” he said, paying tribute to the Russian leader who has opposed U.S. and European states’ recognition of Kosovo.

I’m curious as to which other nations’ embassies were attacked. No doubt, they’re all part of the EU. Serbia is feeling a mite betrayed:
– – – – – – – –

The “people’s rally” was Serbia’s biggest since protesters filled the streets in 1999 to protest at NATO bombing and then in October 2000, when they stormed the same parliament building to oust nationalist autocrat Slobodan Milosevic.

The atmosphere had been subdued as Serbs of all ages listened to speeches, melancholic patriotic songs and poems about Kosovo, seen as the birthplace of a glorious medieval kingdom but now home to an Albanian majority.

When the rioters – mostly the young – stormed the boarded-up American embassy, the police were nowhere to be seen. They didn’t move in for another half hour, which gave the rioters plenty of time to wreak havoc:

Police in armoured vans secured the streets and tried to cordon off the whole embassy district, just a few hundred metres (yards) from the official rally. People tried to flee clouds of painful teargas.

[…]

Rioters — many wearing balaclavas and scarves to hide their faces — had attacked the building with sticks and metal bars after destroying two guard boxes outside.

They ripped metal grilles from windows and tore a handrail off the entrance to use as a battering ram and gain entry.

One man climbed up to the first floor, ripped the Stars and Stripes off its pole and briefly put up a Serbian flag.

Other people jumped up and down on the balcony, holding up a Serbian flag as the crowd below of about 1,000 people cheered them on, shouting “Serbia, Serbia”.

Black smoke billowed out of the embassy. Papers and chairs were thrown out of the windows, with doors wedged in the window frames and burning.

Some 200 riot police arrived later, driving the crowd away. Some protesters sat on the ground, bleeding. Fire engines arrived to put out the flames, local media reported.

This was a minority of the crowd that turned out for the rally. The main contingent set off for prayers at the Cathedral:

Meanwhile, the main rally proceeded as planned with a march to the city’s biggest Orthodox cathedral for a prayer service.

State television switched between scenes of the rioting and the serenity of choral singing at the church service.

Small groups of looters, many drunk, broke into street kiosks and shops, taking cigarettes, chocolate and shoes.

News agencies said foreign banks and McDonalds fast-food stores were also attacked and eight city buses damaged.

In the crowds at the main rally were many hardline nationalist Radicals, from Serbia’s biggest party, who shouted anti-Albanian slogans.

“Today Kosovo is in all our hearts,” their leader Tomislav Nikolic told the rally.

In contrast to the violence by up to 5,000 mainly young rioters, the lack of passion in the main rally crowd appeared to support comments by Western analysts and some ordinary people here that most Serbs were bitter at but resigned to the loss of Kosovo and tired of years of conflict with neighbouring states.

There is also deep humiliation at the lack of world support, and fear for their countrymen, now blocked off from them:

“The politicians are trying to take advantage of the situation. This is not what people wanted. Not these empty words,” said one protester, Dejan Pavlovic.

“The loss of Kosovo is a huge humiliation. It’s awful what they are doing to us,” said Danica, a government employee who did not want to give her surname.

“I don’t think this protest might change anything, but I don’t see any other way to express my dissatisfaction.”

Obviously, we have not seen the last of Serbian dissatisfaction at what they consider a huge and criminal injustice. Meanwhile, the fate of their fellow Serbs in Kosovo will shortly become even more of a humanitarian crisis than it already is.

The EU Parliament: Behind Closed Doors

The Daily Telegraph has been following the latest EU corruption scandal break-out into the public arena. Already the spinning and side-stepping has started:

‘Criminal abuse’ of expenses by Euro-MPs

Burglar A secret European Parliament report has uncovered “extensive, widespread and criminal abuse” by Euro-MPs of staff allowances worth almost £100 million a year.

Senior Euro-MPs and European Union officials have tried to hush up an internal audit that found severe problems and endemic misuse of funds worth at least £98.4 million a year, more than £125,000 for each of the 785 Euro-MPs.

Such is the extent of the abuse found in a sample group of 167 Euro-MPs that “terrified” parliamentary authorities have shrouded the report in secrecy and security.

Harald Rømer, the secretary-general of the European Assembly, was asked late on Monday night by Hans-Gert Pöttering, its president, and a group of senior Euro-MPs, to take measures to ensure that there was no “collateral damage” from the report.

“We want reform but we cannot make this report available to the public if we want people to vote in the European elections next year,” said a source close to the decision.

The only members of the EU Parliament allowed to see the report are those who serve on the Budget Control Committee, and even they have limited access. In order to look at what should be public knowledge, the members of the committee must get permission to enter the “secret room” where the damning internal audit report is kept. Just to be on the safe side, there are biometric locks on the room and security guards in place.

However, there are two additional hoops to jump through:
– – – – – – – –
…the committee members must sign a “confidentiality agreement not to discuss what they learn, and they may not take notes. Hmm…I wish these safeguards had been in place in the US when Sandy Berger was stuffing archival notes from the Clinton administration into his underwear and socks.

The politician are getting right nervous about the sleuthing of the Daily Telegraph:

Last night, after an emergency meeting of senior officials including Mr Rømer and Mr Pöttering, triggered by The Daily Telegraph’s investigation, a spokesman for the parliament denied a cover-up.

“The document is not secret. It is confidential,” he said. “It can be read by Euro-MPs on the budget control committee, in the secret room but not generally. That is not the same as a secret document nobody can read.”

Parse that second sentence short paragraph if you can. It’s in English, but can you decipher its meaning? If so, please enlighten me.

The Daily Telegraph has learned that the report does not name specific individuals but has uncovered endemic abuse of staff allowances.

Many Euro-MPs are diverting the office payments, worth £125,000 a year, to “providers”, which are supposed to be accountants, professionals or companies delivering administrative services.

But in many cases the whole allowance is paid to a single individual or Euro MP’s member of staff, suspicious payments that are twice as large as the annual £61,820 salary paid to a British Euro MP.

One source who read the report said: “The abuse is extensive. I felt the police should be reading this. Public finances are being skimmed off and there is every indication this is more widespread than anticipated.”

In other words, they were expecting some “skimming” of public finances, they just didn’t think it would be this widespread. I agree with the “source”: this document doesn’t belong in a secret confidential room, it belongs in the hands of the police. Fat chance.

The internal auditor found that some Euro MPs claiming the allowance had no employees or just one member of staff.

Another source who had also read the report said: “Some service providers simply do not exist. Others are individuals that work for or are dependent on the Euro MP.”

And the longer the EU Parliament remains in existence, the more wide-spread and blatant the stealing will become. That is what a cookie jar is for, is it not? These people are the new nomenkaltura. A tough job, but someone has to do it.

Chris Davies, a British Liberal Democrat Euro MP on the budget control committee, has complained to the EU’s anti-fraud watchdog, OLAF, over the “disgraceful” handling of the report.

He wrote to Mr Rømer that the findings “most definitely fall within OLAF’s terms of reference”, adding: “They are so serious that it should be assumed that criminal proceedings may follow.”

OLAF anti-fraud officials have demanded a copy of the report and have warned that they expect the full co-operation of Euro MPs and the parliamentary authorities.

Jeffrey Titford, a UK Independence Party Euro MP also on the budget control committee, said: “We were elected to represent the interests of constituents, not to cover up the illegal activities of our colleagues.”

Well, that’s fine and dandy rhetoric, but we’ll see where it leads. After all, OLAF itself was in the hot seat only last July for “irregularities”:

The head of Olaf, Europe’s anti-fraud watchdog, is to be hauled before the European parliament to answer allegations of conflicts of interest and irregularities in the way it operates.

Franz-Hermann Brüner will face awkward questions on why applications for the job of director of investigations were screened by a panel including a eurocrat who was herself being probed by Olaf.

Paul van Buitenen, the Dutch whistleblower turned MEP, said an internal Olaf candidate for the job tried to halt any disciplinary follow-up against the female official, in spite of the “seriousness” of the case.

Mr van Buitenen also said Olaf’s supposedly independent investigations were influenced by pressure from national public prosecutors and argued that Olaf should not investigate allegations of fraud committed with funds which it manages.

Mr Brüner will give evidence behind closed doors [my emphasis] to members of the European parliament’s budgetary control committee on July 16.

Question: Is there anything of importance that the EU Parliament does not do behind “closed doors.” This organization has the transparency of marble.

Like father USSR, like EU son.



Hat tip: LN

Algeria Sentences First Christian Priest Under New Law

In March 2006, the Algerian legislature passed a bill confining non-Islamic religious practice. Here is some background and history leading up to the new legislation:

The vast majority of Christians and Jews fled the country following independence from France in 1962. Many of those who remained left in the 1990s due to violent acts of terrorism committed by Islamic extremists. As a result, the number of Christians and Jews in the country was significantly lower than the estimated total before 1992. According to Christian community leaders, Methodists and members of other Protestant denominations accounted for the largest numbers of non-Muslims, followed by Roman Catholics and Seventh-day Adventists. It was estimated that there were three thousand members of evangelical churches (mostly in the Kabylie region) and approximately three-hundred Catholics. A significant proportion of the country’s Christian residents were students and illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa en route to Europe; their numbers were difficult to estimate accurately.

For security reasons, due mainly to the civil conflict, Christians concentrated in the large cities of Algiers, Annaba, and Oran in the mid-1990s. During the period covered by this report, evangelical proselytizing has led to increases in the size of the Christian community in the eastern, Berber region of Kabylie. The number of “house churches,” where members meet secretly in the homes of fellow members for fear of exposure or because they cannot finance the construction of a church, has reportedly increased in the region. Reporting suggests that citizens themselves, not foreigners, make up the majority of those actively proselytizing in Kabylie.

Only one missionary group operated in the country on a full-time basis. Other evangelical groups traveled to and from the country, but they are not established. While most Christians did not proselytize actively, they reported that conversions took place.

There was no active Jewish community, although a very small number of Jews continue to live in Algiers. Since 1994, the size of the Jewish community has diminished to virtual nonexistence due to fears of terrorist violence, and the synagogue in Algiers was closed. A number of Jews of local origin living abroad have visited the country in the past two years. A group visited Oran in 2004, and their visit was well received by local authorities. In May 2005, another group of 130 visited Tlemcen for the first time in more than forty years and met with former Algerian President Ahmed Ben Bella.

[…]

During the reporting period, the Government increased requirements for religious organizations to register, increased punishments for individuals who proselytize Muslims, and made regulations on the importation of religious texts more stringent. On March 20, 2006, Parliament approved a controversial new law, Ordinance 06-03, which regulates non-Muslim worship and was scheduled to be implemented beginning in September 2006. The first four articles of the ordinance reiterate that the state religion is Islam and guarantee the freedom to exercise religious worship in the framework of the constitution, the laws and regulations in force, public order, good moral standards, and the fundamental rights and liberties “of third parties.” It also guarantees tolerance and respect “between various religions” and forbids the use of religious affiliation as a basis for discrimination against any individual or group. The ordinance confines non-Muslim worship to church buildings approved by the state, imposes penalties for proselytizing, and treats these as criminal rather than civil offenses. This law was passed without prior consultation with affected religious groups and, as a presidential decree, was subject to no debate or meaningful vote in Parliament. [my emphasis]

The Government recognizes the Islamic holy days of Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, Awal Moharem, Ashura, and the birth of the Prophet Muhammad as national holidays.

No Saint Patrick’s Day or Christmas on that list. And in Algeria, the Easter Bunny was decapitated and eaten a long, long time ago.

Now the state apparatus is beginning to step up its opposition to non-Muslim practices. The Independent Catholic News, a volunteer journalism group headquartered in the UK, has news of the first known case of dhimmitude enforcement in Algeria since the law in 2006 was passed:
– – – – – – – –

A Catholic priest in Algeria has been sentenced to a year in prison for praying with Christians in Cameroon.

Middle East Concern reports that Father Pierre Wallez is the first victim of legislation approved in March 2006, prohibiting anyone from leading a religious ceremony anywhere without permission from the government in Algeria.

It appears that the only thing the priest did was to visit the Cameroon slum after Christmas. When they asked for a prayer, he obliged. This is against the law that proscribes any non-Muslim religious practice to take place anywhere except in a state-approved church building. This prayer took place outdoors, in a slum that has no approved building:

Algerian Archbishop Henri Teissier told Vatican Radio: “the most surprising thing is that the conviction was issued simply because the priest visited a group of Christians in Cameroon. He had not celebrated Mass, but was only joining them in a prayer. It was December 29, a little after Christmas.”

A tribunal has now modified the sentence to parole. But Christians in Algeria are concerned that their religious freedom is under threat.

Freedom of worship is purportedly guaranteed by the constitution of Algeria, but in recent months Christians there have faced increasing harassment and a hostile campaign in the media. In the same trial that sentenced Fr Wallez, a Muslim doctor was sentenced to two years imprisonment for using medications supplied by the Catholic Church’s Caritas charity.

On 12 February three [Christian] believers accused of insulting Islam were due to appear in court for sentencing. The case has been postponed to a later date, but delays often happen in such cases. The group been told they will be sentenced to three years in prison and fined 5,000 Euros.

Recently the government cancelled residency permits for Latin American Catholic priests working with Portuguese speaking African Christians in Algeria as migrant workers. Further requests made by the Catholic Church for visas for priests and other staff to visit Algeria are being systematically refused.

Middle East Concern says that Algerian Christians have requested readers’ prayers.



Hat tip: Insubria

Making the Case for Temperate Speech

An altercationFrom time to time in this space we get into some… ahem… discussions about the necessity for what I call “temperate speech”.

It’s Rule #2 of our comments policy: your speech here must be temperate, which I define as containing “no exhortations to commit violence or foment insurrection, etc.”

I’ve taken a lot of flak for enforcing this rule, and have endured my share of reproach and ridicule for my namby-pamby sissified cowardly fear of frank and unrestrained argument. I’ve been accused of succumbing to the dictates of political correctness, and have even allegedly driven one blogger out of blogging through his disgust at my disgraceful example.

But there is a prudent and practical reason for my policy, as demonstrated today by the actions of the federal government towards two prominent blogs, Gateway Pundit and Little Green Footballs.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Mosque threatened, Muslim group says

A national Muslim civil rights organization has asked the FBI to investigate what it considers threats made on the Internet against a Bosnian mosque in St. Louis.

One blog post cited by the group made reference to vandalism and another to the use of dynamite.

Zachary Lowe, a special agent in the St. Louis office of the FBI, said Tuesday that while he could not confirm an investigation, the bureau “takes all threats against people very seriously, especially religious and ethnic groups.”

– – – – – – – –

The comments were made on at least two blogs and related to a posting about a minaret being built at the mosque. The mosque is the Islamic Community Center, or Madina Masjid, at 4666 Lansdowne Avenue. A minaret is a tower from which the Muslim call to prayer is traditionally sounded.

The author of a blog called “Gateway Pundit: Observations of the World from the heart of Jesusland,” posted three photos of the minaret covered with scaffolding. One of the photos included the caption: “Those calls to prayers ought to go over really well with the people of this South St. Louis neighborhood.”

The “Gateway Pundit” author also cited another blog, Republican Riot, saying the Muslim call to prayer “is to be broadcast several times a day.”

But Madina Masjid’s spiritual leader, Imam Muhamed Hasic, said the minaret is symbolic, not practical. There is no sound system or speakers on the minaret, which is scheduled to be completed next week. He said the minaret will not be used to call Muslims to prayer.

Another blog, called “Little Green Footballs,” linked to the “Gateway Pundit” post, and several comments on “Little Green Footballs,” caused the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations to contact the FBI, said Ibrahim Hooper, the council’s spokesman.

“We ourselves get these kinds of hate messages and threats frequently,” Hooper said. “But you never know who’s just talking and who’s going to carry out some these threats, so you have to check them out.”

On the “Gateway Pundit,” a blogger who identified herself as Kathi, wrote: “It is really hard on us white, non-muslims to have to live with these folks taking over our neighborhood and community. Our government helping these people relocate into America’s heartland is like inviting the enemy into your camp. It’s totally disgusting.”

On “Little Green Footballs,” blogger Amer1can wrote, “Would be a shame if it were to be vandalized or destroyed. Just a shame I tell you….wink wink STL youth.”

Blogger Arthur E. Hippler added: “I suppose dynamite would be considered an extreme response.”

The original post was by Julia Gorin at Republican Riot. Jim at Gateway Pundit picked it up yesterday, and then followed it up with a post today after the Post-Dispatch story hit the streets.

St. Louis minaretOne of the photos of the St. Louis minaret mentioned in the article is shown at right, and Jim’s dangerous, hateful, Islamophobic caption reads: Amazing! (GP Photo) Those calls to prayers ought to go over really well with the people of this South St. Louis neighborhood.

Alert readers will notice that all of the “threats” cited by the article were made by commenters on the blogs, not by the blogs’ owners and authors.

The FBI and the MSM evidently make no distinction between a blogger and a commenter. They’re really not familiar with our milieu — so a commenter is a blogger and a blogger is a commenter; what’s the difference?

However… when the excrement impacts the circulation device, it won’t be the commenters who are targeted for their incitement; it will be the blog owners.

They’re the ones who will be hauled down to the local FBI office, put into a hot little room under a set of bright lights, and talked to for six or eight hours.

It’s the blog owners’ blogs that will get shut down.

It’s the blog owners who will have to retain legal counsel — and drop a couple of large in the process.

It’s the blog owners who will have to pay the fines and do the time.

And maybe — just maybe — after the feds finish getting their jollies with the blog owners, they’ll go after a few commenters while they’re at it. Just a little dessert after the main course, you know.

You Americans think it can only happen in Finland (Tomashot), Britain (Lionheart), Sweden (Dahn Pettersson and Lennart Eriksson), Canada (Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn), Belgium (Paul Belien) , and other similar benighted backwaters.

But it can happen here, too.

The First Amendment is under continuous assault by the forces of Political Correctness, and it’s going to get worse once Hillary Rodham or Barack Hussein gets elected and starts pulling away at the levers of power.

So why not practice for the days of samizdat that are surely coming our way? What’s wrong with a little judicious indirection?

If the time should come when we are required to dissolve the political bands which have connected us with the existing system, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind will require us to state our case clearly.

When that happens, when the powers that be remain deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity, we may, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity for plain speech and forthright action.

But until then I’d like to keep this blog going. I want this forum to remain open.

I don’t want to spend my sunset years talking to polite and well-dressed federal agents in stuffy little rooms.

I don’t want to be driven into bankruptcy by legal expenses.

And, yes, I may well end up standing at the corner of Emmet and Hydraulic, beckoning to passing cars with a sign that reads, “WILL BLOG FOR FOOD”.

But I’d rather not.

So I vote for temperate speech instead.



Hat tip: Larwyn.

Spanish General Elections: The Pre-Campaign

This is the fourth in a series of letters from AMDG at La Yijad en Eurabia.



Even though I had planned to dedicate the current letter to a report on the immigration in Spain, I have decided to postpone that issue, because the next Spanish General Elections (i.e. national elections) are now topical and gaining momentum. It goes without saying that I will focus on immigration issues, which I understand are the most relevant to GoV readers.

The elections will take place on March 9th. The official campaign starts fifteen days before, on Friday February 22nd. We are now in the so-called pre-campaign, but there have been very relevant moves. I have made my position clear in my last two letters (first and second): I find no relevant anti-immigration party in Spain; the Popular Party is too moderate. On the other hand, any realistic conservative approach must count on the PP; therefore, the only feasible strategy is trying to influence it.

The last elections took place on March 13th after the terrorist attacks on March 11th, 2004, which changed the result of the elections due to the mismanagement of the crisis by the PP. This is the understanding of most political analysts and I find it correct, all in all. I would only like to add that there are still many open questions on the events around 11M.

The misdeeds of Mr. Zapatero in these last four years are well known. Regarding foreign policy: withdrawal from Iraq, proposal of an “Alliance of Civilizations”, embarrassing diplomatic support for Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and any country opposing the USA, etc. Regarding domestic policy: amnesty for aliens, negotiation with the terrorist group ETA, confrontation with the Catholic Church, extremely liberal cultural policy, and so on.

In the meantime the penetration of Spain by Muslim immigration has continued its course. Catalonia has become, after Londonistan, one of the hot spots of Jihad on EU soil. More than 70 people have been arrested since 2003 in Catalonia. The last fourteen ones, on January 19th this year. They had started to gather materials for a terrorist attack. Initially it was reported by the Spanish police that the attack would be imminent. But later reports seem to indicate that they were in the initial phases. In the skeptical opinion of some analysts, the arrests were timed by the government to buy an alibi in the case of another terrorist attack: “We have fought Islamic international terrorism, but…” On February 14th, three Islamists were arrested in Vitoria (Basque region), suspected of raising funds for jihad. Islamists seem to feel at ease in Spanish secessionist regions; in the case of Catalonia this is obvious.

Of course, the cultural and demographic jihad is as important as the violent one. The PP has made some proposals to counter it. With a 10% immigrant population, which has arrived mostly in the last eight years, immigration is a topic that no one can avoid. The PP put forward a proposal to ban the hijab in schools, and to enforce the attendance of girls at sports lessons, etc. The most relevant proposal was the introduction of an “Integration Contract” that all non-EU immigrants would be forced to sign. They would commit to respect Spanish law and customs, to learn the language, to pay taxes and to leave if unemployed for a long period.

The proposal is not clear to me. First of all, everyone should pay taxes and respect the law. How are the other commitments going to be implemented? How are they going to be enforced? The proposal is mild and ineffective (by the way, look at the subliminal message in the photo here). It is obvious that this is not the solution. The first priority is to stop immigration ASAP, and start repatriating illegal immigrants. Still, the PSOE criticized it as racist, xenophobic, etc. Zapatero answered by apologising to all women in the name of all the Spaniards. Well, a poll in El Pais (our NYT) showed that a majority supported the scheme. He went too far by doing it in the name of all Spaniards.

The leading online Spanish newspaper, El Mundo (culturally liberal, especially the online edition, but with readers from the center and, mostly, the right), has a section dedicated to the elections, with a page on the electoral promises. I do not think that it is a coincidence that the first point is immigration. Not the economy, not terrorism (which in Spain means Basque terrorism), not housing, but immigration. Here you have the promises:

By the PP:
– – – – – – – –

  • To establish an “integration contract” with juridical value for the immigrants who stay for more than one year in Spain.
  • To prohibit massive regularization of illegal immigrants.
  • To strengthen the control of the borders.
  • To create a new system of visas and permissions.
  • To create an Agency for Immigration and Employment.
  • To reinforce the policy of expulsions and repatriations.

They are a little bit generic, but they point in the right direction: limiting immigration.

Now these are the promises by PSOE:

  • To promote migratory policies from an integral approach, mixed with the tidy and legal management of the migratory flows, and relying on the co-responsibility and solidarity of all the implied countries.
  • To promote the public migratory bilateral and multilateral policies.
  • The immigrants who have committed crimes related to gender violence will be expelled.

Well…The first sentence cannot hide the newspeak style of professional politics. In any case, it means that the PSOE plans to continue fostering immigration. The last point is a sickening concession to feminism. Only gender violence? I leave it to you to judge both proposals.

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Now, the latest news of the pre-campaign.

The salt and pepper of the campaign has been added unintentionally by Zapatero. After a staged, partial interview with the most notorious progressive journalist, they had a short off-the-record exchange that got aired:

What about the opinion polls?

“No worries. Fine. But I think that a higher tension level is in our favor.”

Right, you need tension indeed.

“And then, as from this weekend, I will start dramatizing.”

This strategy is fully in line with the conclusions of the study mentioned in a previous letter: the result of Spanish national elections is determined by the vote of the “volatile left”, a group of two million voters who vote for the PSOE, but only when they want to avoid a government by the right. Zapatero needs therefore to stir up the hatred of his opponents. This is of course a well know fascist strategy.

It can be no coincidence that groups of radical students have organized violent pickets against three politicians from the PP and the UPyD who had been invited to a deliver a speech at the University. The latter is a new party from the left chaired by a prominent ex-PSOE leader who opposes any concessions to secessionists. You can find all three videos here. I am sure you will have no difficulty in understanding the Sturmabteilung of Mr. Zapatero and the Catalan and Galician secessionists shouting Fascista! By the way, all three are women; two of them, from the Basque region, are among the most courageous Spanish politicans. They have been living for many years under 24/7 hours personal protection. Still, Rosa Díez, from UPyD broke down during her speech after the intimidating attack.

The PP has been accused afterwards of trying to take advantage of irrelevant, marginal incidents. The PSOE claimed that: “these are the consequences of the high level of strain and radicalism the PP has brought about”. The coordinator of Zapatero’s campaign has assured that the harassment will finish after the elections… In a democracy, the opposition harasses the government; in fascism, the government harasses the opposition.

I want to finish with a reference to the Spanish economy. It had been performing in recent years as well as during the Aznar government, but the situation has reversed after the credit crisis. Spanish growth has been too dependent on building and housing, and has been badly affected by the credit crunch. You can find here the main figures of the Spanish economy (source):

Spain’s economic situation


Spain is column A, the USA column B. The rows show:

1.   Commercial debt/GNP;
2.   Growth in last quarter 2007;
3.   Building sector as percentage of GNP;
4.   Industrial production;
5.   Inflation;
6.   Unemployment.

The fat years are definitely over.

I will update during the next two weeks. I can recommend to you also an American blogger located in Spain.

Once More with Feeling: Pig Heads at a Mosque Site

Last year the Baron wrote about the planned building of a mosque in Gothenburg. The new mosque is being funded by a radical Wahhabist group from Saudi Arabia, with the approval of the Swedish authorities.

In the latest twist to this story, some unknown vandals have been making free with pigs’ heads to express their deep unhappiness with the upcoming mosque. I certainly hope they were from an abbatoir and already due for their turn on our tables. Otherwise, it’s a horrible waste of perfectly good pork…oh, dear — I hope I haven’t offended the part of our readership made up of PETA advocates.

Saudis are corrupt, but Saudi money corrupts absolutely…

Here’s the story from Göteborgs-Posten, as translated by our Danish correspondent TB.

Pigs’ heads in GothenburgTwo chopped-off pigs’ heads were found yesterday on the ground at Ramberget where a mosque is about to be built.

“One thing follows another. The development is going in the wrong direction,” Bachar Ghanoum comments.

He is a doctor and the vice-spokesman for the Swedish Muslim Foundation (Sveriges Muslimske Stiftelse), which is about to build the mosque at Myntgatan in the southern part of Ramberget.

He had not heard about the macabre discovery when GP called.

“Yeah… how are you supposed to react to such things? I see it as an action that follows the third publication of the Mohammed drawings. Everything in this climate encourages this kind of behavior. It is a way to insult Muslims and Islam as a religion.”

Hostile letters

This “climate”, according to Bachar Ghanoum, has recently been getting worse and worse, and has had the effect that people who previously kept their insulting perceptions to themselves are now letting it out into the open.

He receives hostile letters and phone calls himself on a regular basis.

– – – – – – – –

“There is maybe a letter every month and sometimes I receive anonymous phone calls. I get worried, but it is not something that makes me stop.”

The planning of the building continues

The same thing applies to the building of the mosque. Since the financing from Saudi Arabia was made available in April of last year, the planning goes on.

“We will be starting the project in maybe a few more months. We hope to start building during the summer.”

The chopped-off pig heads were lying fully visible twenty meters from the road, on the grass at Myntgatan where the mosque is about to be built.

“When I saw them I knew instantly that this was about someone who did not like the plans for building a mosque,” says Mario Curkovic, who made the discovery at noon yesterday.

He lives at Kvilletorget and usually passes by the place when he takes a walk with his dog.



Hat tip: LN

Prime Minister Dhimmifeldt

“We need a deepened dialogue with the Muslim world.”

Fröken Sverige is reporting on the latest dhimmi-speak from Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, as reported by Swedish public television.

She calls him “Dhimmifeldt”. Our Swedish correspondent LN has translated some excerpts:

“We need a deepened dialogue with the Muslim world. An important purpose should be to build increased confidence, respect, and understanding between what we call the West and the Muslim world,” said Fredrik Reinfeldt.

[…]

“We have demolished a wall in Europe, and we should not now build a wall against Turkey…”

[post ends here]

Let Denmark Be Denmark

Update from Jyllands-Posten — “Danish PM Backs Villy Søvndahl”, translation by TB:

“Villy has taken a long journey, but now he is where he should be. Let me put it this way: Had I not myself been the Prime Minister, I would have expressed myself in the exact same way,” [Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen] says.

[…]

Even Politiken is praised for reprinting the drawing of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban:

“Without interfering in Politiken’s editorial priorities, I think that it would have been beneath contempt if they had chosen not to reprint the drawing as documentation,” he says.



Henrik of Europe News left this report in our comments early this morning. Since I don’t know when I’ll get to any real blogging today (work pressures), I’ll let Henrik bring us up to date on the situation in Denmark:

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *


This is big in the newspapers today. Jyllands-Posten puts it this way, in large type on the front page:

Holger Danske Vågner

Go to Hell

That’s quite clear. “Hell” in this context would be countries where Islam rules. Bad places indeed.

Villy now has 500+ comments on his blog, most of them ecstatic, and he has a new post on about Hizb ut-Tahrir up today. This is a watershed event.

For those whining about your own politicians still not getting it, please grab the opportunity and tell them that even the left wing in Denmark has had enough and wants the Islamists to leave our nice countries, and that it is time for other democracies to follow the example.
– – – – – – – –
Writing letters and blogging is recommended. And it takes time. One doesn’t get a victory like this in one shot, it takes a bit of groundwork to get there. Since we’re the best educated about it, it’s our task.

For the Intifada in Denmark, it’s pretty much over. Apart from bombing a solarium 500 meters from my office, nothing of note happened today or yesterday.

And Kurt Westergaard, the artist behind the bomb-in-turban Motoon, said Monday that he had no place to stay. I offered to Flemming Rose that he could use my summer house, and lots of others came up with similar offers. He’s now safely housed again, and I got a warm “thank you” from Flemming Rose.

Islam sure makes life more challenging…

Danish Responses, Muslim Reactions

In response to the latest wave of Muslim violence, the Danish authorities are working intensively on ways to deal with the riots.

Meanwhile, “freedom fighters” in Gaza are calling for the prompt extermination of Danish cartoonists.

I’ve had these two articles since last night, and I’ve been so busy that I almost lost track of them. Thanks to Henrik of Europe News for translating them.

First, from Jyllands-Posten:

Rioters to be evicted

Housing administrators in most of Denmark are ready to act against the troublemakers behind the arson and destruction in Denmark during the past week.

The young troublemakers, who have caused destruction in most major cities, risk being evicted from their apartments.

Some administrators have already made up their minds to evict the rioters and their families, while others are seriously considering following this line.

Violent unrest

The reactions from the administrators follow several days of violent unrest which spread from central Copenhagen to other parts of the country, where garbage containers, cars and schools have been set ablaze. The total cost of the damage as yet to be accounted for, but the reaction from the housing administrators is clear: If it can be proven that a tenant is responsible for arson or other destructive behavior, he will be evicted for violations of the appropriate law.

“In this case, the administrators are prepared to court and have the persons evicted by legal means,” states CEO of Fællesorganisationens Boligforening in Slagelse, Jørgen Mejlgård, who administers some 3,500 apartments.

Politics of consequence

In Copenhagen, the statements from KAB and FSB, who administer some 63,000 apartments in the capital, are that inhabitants involved in destructive behavior will be evicted if it is deemed necessary. Arbejdernes Andelsboligforening (AAB) with 18,000 apartments are giving the approach serious consideration.

As is Kalundborg Almennyttige Boligselskab, though they are primarily requesting “dialogue”. “But if members of one family keeps wrecking everything, other measures will be considered,” states chairman Richard Poulsen.

Brabrand Boligforening, who owns Gellerupparken [large ghetto] near Århus, have conducted a politics of consequence in the area since 2003, and CEO Torben Overgaard states that this will continue. “We know that it is the same families causing trouble over and over. And if they cause considerable inconvenience to their surroundings, we will cancel their rental contracts,” says Torben Overgaard, who in Århus is supported by Boligselskabet Århus Omegn, who administers Rosenhøj, which had similar problems.

A broad set of initiatives.

– – – – – – – –

Chairman for Boligselskabernes Landsforening, Henning Kirk Christiansen, who is also CEO of Boligselskabet Højstrup, owner of the ghetto area Vollsmose, supports the tough stance. But he adds that evicting the rioters does not itself solve any problems. “Consideration for other inhabitants necessitates eviction of violent inhabitants. But we are still left with a core question: Why these brats behave like this at all, which demands a broad set of initiatives,” states Henning Kirk Christiansen.

Demands on parents

Minister of Welfare Karen Jespersen (Venstre) calls on the local governments to put demands on the parents of troublemaking kids. This can happen by means of a so-called “forældrepålæg”, where the parents risk the loss of child-related benefits if they fail to live up to certain demands. “We frequently see kids running about late at night without any adult keeping track of what they are doing. This is unsustainable,” says Karen Jespersen.

Also from Jyllands-Posten:

Calls for attacks on Danish embassies

A leading member of a militant organization in Gaza today called upon believing Muslims to attack Danish embassies and diplomats. This comes as an extension of the reprinting of a Muhammad cartoon in Danish newspapers.

“Blow up the Danish embassies and kill the ambassadors,”, says Abu Abir, spokesman for the Public Resistances Committees (PRC) in a speech in Hamas-controlled Gaza. During the speech Danish flags were incinerated.

Abir called upon all Islamists to “track down those who printed the caricatures, those who created them and those who published them, and slaughter them immediately.” The call comes three days after thousands of adherents of the Islamist Hamas movement demonstrated in Gaza against the new publication of a Muhammad cartoon in Danish media.