The Revolution That Wasn’t

Kannu

Here's an excellent overview of the train crash disaster that is Egypt. Let me lay my opinion up front. The brotherhood presidency was bad but overthrowing it has really made a bad situation worse. A liberal democracy does not happen overnight. Look at India. It took years. It made many mistakes. But it's a good country. Same with the uk and USA. Some common themes. Enlightened leaders. Rule of law. Freedom of speech. Army under control. Free media. Religion firmly kicked in the balls and controlled. Good institutions. Free judiciary. But egypt keeps on making mistakes and keeps on being stupid. What? 5 revolutions in the past century? 

The army is the biggest problem. Second problem is the religion and the religious leaders. Third is the judiciary. And and and. Thousands have now died and now it's back to what it was few years back. Disgruntled Islamists. Army in command. Economy fucked up. Population in distress. 

The solution is clear but the Egyptians don't have patience. Heck the Egyptians laughed at Pakistan and there's an Egyptian quote which said that they don't want to become Pakistan. But with the democratic transition in Pakistan, Egypt will do worse. They would be lucky to be like Pakistan. I do not have a good prognosis about Egypt. Another decade of decay beckons. 

Love

Baba

LRB · Hugh Roberts · The Revolution That Wasn’t
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n17/hugh-roberts/the-revolution-that-wasnt

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Hugh Roberts

• The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life by Roger Owen
  Harvard, 248 pp, £18.95, May 2012, ISBN 978 0 674 06583 3
• Adaptable Autocrats: Regime Power in Egypt and Syria by Joshua Stacher
  Stanford, 221 pp, £22.50, April 2012, ISBN 978 0 8047 8063 6
• Raging against the Machine: Political Opposition under Authoritarianism in Egypt by Holger Albrecht
  Syracuse, 248 pp, £25.00, October 2012, ISBN 978 0 8156 3320 4
• BuySoldiers, Spies and Statesmen: Egypt’s Road to Revolt byHazem Kandil
  Verso, 303 pp, £16.99, November 2012, ISBN 978 1 84467 961 4

Western opinion has had difficulty working out what to think, or at any rate what to say, about Egypt. It now seems that the pedlars of hallucinations have been cowed and it is no longer fashionable to describe the events of 3 July in Cairo as a ‘second revolution’. But to describe them as a counter-revolution, while indisputably more accurate, presupposes that there was a revolution in the first place. The bulk of Western media commentary seems still to be wedded to this notion. That what the media called ‘the Arab spring’ was a succession of revolutions became orthodoxy very quickly. Egypt was indispensable to the idea of an ‘Arab spring’ and so it had to have had a revolution too.

Why Tunisia's Islamist Party Agreed to Give Up Power

There are four fascinating political experiments going on son, in the Islamic governing political economic spheres. Like in Iran, turkey, Egypt and Tunisia. Mind you, pretty much all Muslim countries are constantly struggling with democracy, rule of law and the role of Islam. But these 4 are the furthest advanced. Iran has had the longest history of constitutionalism going back almost 100 years. Turkey started even earlier but stuttered. Egypt frankly started and has now gone back even further. Tunisia seems to be the most advanced and if I had to put money down, I would say that Tunisia will reach civilisation the earliest compared to the others. Despite the issues they are facing with assassinations and demonstrations. It's an urbanised society so the usual rural obscurantist structures are avoided. Mind you, the Bahrain example is the counter example for urbanism. Then again the gulf Arabs are particularly well noted to be a bunch of weirdass morons. There's a very good reason why Allah decided to emerge his religion in the gulf. Imagine what they would have been without it when you see what they have done up till now with it. 

But politics is this. The spirit of consensus and compromise. And religion usually doesn't allow you to do so hence the utmost importance of having a secular structure son. 

I'm hoping Tunisia can show the way to how a liberal consensus driven democratic society with some elements of Islam can be part of this modern world son. Turkey went a bit too far with the secularism so it's trying to get back into balance. Iran went totally the other way with religiously driven politics. And well you know the utter mess Egypt is in. 

So interesting days ahead to watch how Tunisia is going to play out.

Love

Baba

Rory McCarthy | Why Tunisia's Islamist Party Agreed to Give Up Power | Foreign Affairs
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/features/letters-from/lets-make-a-deal

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Three years after the popular uprising that brought down President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, demonstrations, sit-ins, and strikes have become part of daily life in Tunisia. Railway workers, customs officers, and doctors went on strike earlier this month over changes to their working conditions; next month, taxi drivers will begin an open-ended sit-in to protest rising fuel prices. Politics often seem hopelessly polarized, with Islamists led by the political party Ennahda pitted against their secular opponents in parliament in a manner not unlike Egypt’s bloody rivalries. And the assassinations of two prominent liberal politicians, Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi, by Islamist militants earlier this year brought public anger against Ennahda into the streets, as many Tunisians blamed the Islamists for a soft embrace of extremist groups. It appeared that Tunisia — whose largely functional democratic transition has set it apart from the other Arab Spring countries — would no longer avoid the violence that has undermined the other revolutions and uprisings across the Middle East.

But for the first time in a long time, the political class has reached an accord. On December 14, after weeks of broken promises and missed deadlines, Tunisia’s rival political parties finally agreed on a deal to dissolve the Ennahda-led government and create an interim administration led by a compromise prime minister. If all goes according to plan, Mehdi Jomaa, who had previously served as minister of industry, will lead a caretaker government of technocrats until elections can be held next year, most likely after the summer. It’s further confirmation that, despite their ideological differences, Tunisia’s Islamists and secularists are perfectly capable of cooperating. It’s also another sign of pragmatism from the Islamists, who in October 2011 swept the first elections after the fall of Ben Ali. Now Ennahda, an Islamist force that sees itself as both a grassroots movement and a political party, has agreed to bow to the demands of its critics and give up power.

Alawites in Syria and Alevis in Turkey: Crucial Differences

It's getting horribly dirty in Syria son. Very complicated. Syrian history, in some ways, is even more complicated than say Jerusalem and Israel. For a supposedly holy land, the land has been drenched with blood far too much. 

Anyway, one particular view on the two of many sects in Syria. 

Love

Baba

Alawites in Syria and Alevis in Turkey: Crucial Differences :: Center for Islamic Pluralism
http://www.islamicpluralism.org/2084/alawites-in-syria-and-alevis-in-turkey-crucial

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by Stephen Schwartz
Gatestone Institute
August 17, 2012http://www.islamicpluralism.org/2084/alawites-in-syria-and-alevis-in-turkey-crucial

Prophet Muhammad names Imam Ali as his successor, according to Shia tradition, depicted in a 14th c. CE manuscript -- Image Via Wikimedia Commons.

Sectarian differences, threatening to ensnare Muslims outside Syria's borders, have emerged as a key aspect of the horrific bloodshed there. Since February 2011 the Syrian protestors, mainly following Sunni Islam, have mobilized against the Baathist government of Bashar Al-Assad, as a further chapter in the "Arab Spring." As of the end of July 2012, fatalities in the Syrian fighting are estimated at more than 20,000.

In Syria, Al-Assad's state, military, and irregular militias draw significantly on a small – and, to the world, mysterious – variant of Shia Islam known as Alawites. Of Syria's population of 22 million, at least two million are Alawites; it is common to see them credited with 12 percent of the country's inhabitants. They mostly reside in the Syrian province of Latakia, from the northwest border with Turkey along the Mediterranean coast, and in southern Syria. Alawites are also found in Lebanon, and among Syrians and Lebanese abroad.

In Turkey, northward beyond the uneasy Syrian-Turkish frontier, and concentrated in eastern Anatolia, another Shia sect, the Alevis, comprise, according to many estimates, a quarter of the Turkish census, or 20 million out of 80 million. They include, in addition, a million in the Turkish diaspora in Germany, and still more in the ranks of emigrants from Turkey to the Netherlands and other Western European lands.

It is easy to conflate the Alawites and Alevis. Superficially the Alawites and the Alevis may seem related closely or even identical, especially because of their corresponding names; moreover, about a half million Arab Alawites also live on the Turkish side of the border with Syria.

Terror Group Recruits From Pakistan’s ‘Best and Brightest’

Kannu

I've written much about Pakistan before. It's a classic example of the worst that can happen when religion gets mixed up in state matters. Despite encouraging signs like the first democratic govt since independence able to complete its term of office, the state and religious nexus isn't broken and is actually getting stronger. 

For example some of my Pakistani friends on fb are showing an increased religiosity. One prayed to Allah to get Imran Khan elected. This fellow is a blithering nincompoop. He talks absolute rot but to listen to his supporters, the sun shines out of this backside. So to tease, I asked if other Pakistani religious minorities will also be praying to Jesus and Ram and Guru Gobind Singh to get him elected? No response but it was amusing. 

This is one of the reasons why I detest religion in politics and overwhelming state power. The combination is even worse.

These 200000 estimated jehadis in this group are with us, the group is growing and not only I but you will be dealing with this over the next 30-50 years minimum. Joy

Love

Baba

Terror Group Recruits From Pakistan’s ‘Best and Brightest’ - ProPublica
http://www.propublica.org/article/terror-group-recruits-from-pakistans-best-and-brightest/single#republish

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Terror Group Recruits From Pakistan’s ‘Best and Brightest’

Imagine a terrorist group that recruits tens of thousands of young men from the same neighborhoods and social networks as the Pakistani military. A group whose well-educated recruits defy the idea that poverty and ignorance breed extremism. A group whose fighters include relatives of a politician, a senior Army officer and a director of Pakistan’s Atomic Energy Commission.

That is the disconcerting reality of Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of the world’s most dangerous militant organizations, according to a study released today [1] by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. The report helps explain why Pakistan has resisted international pressure [2] to crack down on Lashkar after it killed 166 people in Mumbai — six U.S. citizens included — and came close to sparking conflict between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India.

What I Learned in Two Years at the Tea Party

You know kannu, I liked the tea party to come out. Just like I like the salafis and muslim brotherhood to come out in Egypt and across the Arab spring. As I preferred the BJP in India. There are two elements to it. First is that we should have freedom of speech and religion and association. So if people want to make a religious movement into a political movement, they should have the right to do it. That's what classical liberalism is all about. 

But more importantly, the second reason is that people are frequently morons. Organised religion almost always fucks up the well being of countries when it gets into power. But people down the ages have always relied on piety and god and religion to help pull them out when the situation demands basic human good behaviour. So they should be allowed to commit the stupendous mistake of letting religion rule their heads, countries and economics. The Indians the Pakistanis the Arab and Muslim countries and USA all need to elect and run their countries on fine old religious principles. It's Darwinian. If you are stupid enough to believe that some prophet / guru / priest somewhere sometime was so amazing that his works and his followers can lead their current citizens and followers to nirvana then well, as a libertarian I insist that you bear the fruits of your beliefs and end up towards the shallow end of the human intelligence pool. 

Over the coming 3 months, you will see the finest examples of self destructive behaviour in the USA. Think about Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or India or Egypt where religion based policy is enacted and laugh at these idiocy and short sell :) if you can't, then buy gold!

Beware of organised religion son. Anytime anybody says or professes admiration for organised religion, know you can sell a bridge to them. Having faith is good and needed. Not that being an atheist is bad either. But followers of organised religions are gullible sheep :)

Love

Baba

What I Learned in Two Years at the Tea Party | The Awl
http://www.theawl.com/2011/08/what-i-learned-in-two-years-at-the-tea-party

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When I started going to Tea Party meetings two years ago, I was sympathetic. Just after attending one in North Dakota in August of 2009, I wrote: “Most tea partiers are not bad people. They’re just mad. In many meaningful ways, today’s Tea Party attendees’ lives have gotten consistently worse for the last 20 years, regardless of which party was in power.” I concluded that trying to figure out what they wanted was a dead end because what they wanted was simply to complain—that the Tea Party “is not a group of listen and respond; this is a group of respond and respond.”

Two years of Tea Party functions later, and I finally know what the Tea Party wants: A Christian nation.

When S&P downgraded the United States debt, the political difficulties it underlined are embodied in Kim Simac, the candidate for Wisconsin state senate. A founder of Tea Party group Northwoods Patriots, Simac is challenging incumbent Democratic state senator Jim Holperin for the District 12 “Northwoods” seat. Holperin now has the indignity of being the only state legislator in history to face a recall twice—in 1990 for supporting a Republican governor, and in today’s election for opposing one.

Holperin, a “flaming moderate,” has the endorsement of the NRA, despite Simac having authored a pro-Second Amendment children’s book.

Another victim of freedom of speech

And we find another example of the idiocy of the Egyptians. I quote:

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In a rare exercise of its anti-blasphemy laws, an Egyptian court has decided to put on trial a radical Muslim blogger who tore pages of the New Testament Bible while attending protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo two weeks ago.

Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah, known as Abu Islam, was shown in two videos posted online desecrating the Christian Bible. In one video, Abdullah stood before a large crowd and ripped up the holy book. In the second video, he told the camera, "Next time I will urinate on it."

Abdullah, who is part owner of the ultra-conservative Islamic television channel Al Uma, told The Associated Press that he was not practicing "contempt for religion" when tearing up the Bible.

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I will wait with bated breath for the hordes of Christian Rage Boys who will riot and create havoc and sodomise the Egyptian Ambassador and kill Egyptian Embassy personnel and burn the Egyptian flag and and and.

Talking about Rage Boys…

Earth-shaking cleavage

An amusing story with loads of spinoffs but just one point that I will raise besides the issue of idiot religious leaders banging on about women. Pretty much all organised religions have an unhealthy respect for women and what they do, say, think, wear etc. so don't listen those idiots. 

But On the other hand, be mindful of over emphasis on physical attributes. Cleavage, tanned skin, long hair, etc etc on both males and females is a common sight. Which is fine. But use this fact, over emphasis on physical attributes over mental attributes is a signal that you must learn to identify and the make use of. Nothing wrong in this, don't get me wrong but it's a means of communication. He or she is telling you something and as with every communication, there is something said and unsaid about it. 

Till then laugh at these idiots

tabsir.net » Tabsir Redux: Earth-shaking cleavage
http://tabsir.net/?p=1570#more-1570

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Sun 16 Oct 2011

Tabsir Redux: Earth-shaking cleavage

Posted by tabsir under Gender and Sexuality , Iran , Journalism and Media

 

Violence, scandal and sex: the media feed us a daily diet and we lap it up like faithful mutts willing to chase any sensationalized bone thrown our way. So when an Iranian cleric says something ludicrous to our sectarian ears, it is all the more newsworthy because it is so entertaining. But after the recent loss of life in Haiti, Chile and China, is it really a laughing matter when a far-off cleric blames natural disasters on God’s wrath over human behavior? Consider an AP story which broke on April 19 and was submitted, ironically, by a reporter with the first name of Scheherezade (her namesake could spin a tale almost to death). Here is the bait:

Iranian cleric: Promiscuous women cause quakes

By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI (AP) – Apr 19, 2010

BEIRUT — A senior Iranian cleric says women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes.

Iran is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, and the cleric’s unusual explanation for why the earth shakes follows a prediction by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that a quake is certain to hit Tehran and that many of its 12 million inhabitants should relocate.

“Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes,” Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

Egypt post Mubarak

First the story which I got via email.

The media sold the Cairo riots as the birth pangs of
> "democracy" in the Mideast. Egyptians yearn for our style of "freedom,"
> we were told. But a new survey of their attitudes shreds that story
> line.
> According to the Pew Research Center, 89% of Egyptians say a
> post-Mubarak government "should follow the values and principles of
> Islam." And 62% want laws to enforce Shariah — the barbaric legal code
> practiced in much of the Mideast.
> This may come as quite a jolt to the romantics in the Western press who
> expected liberalism to flower from Tahrir Square. But we're not the
> least surprised.
> Pew's poll — based on 1,000 face-to-face interviews with Egyptian
> adults in April — merely confirms a similar one last spring. As we
> noted during the riots, Pew found that 84% favor the death penalty for
> people who leave the Muslim faith; 82% support stoning adulterers; and
> 77% think thieves should have their hands cut off.
> Pew didn't ask such questions this time around.
> But it did ask what Egyptians thought of the U.S. and Israel. Despite
> the Obama administration's support for their uprising and the media's
> glorification of it (while enduring beatings and even gang rapes),
> nearly 8 in 10 Egyptians still hate us.
> Egyptian views on Israel are starker: A solid majority wants to return
> to war footing against the Jewish nation. By 54% to 36%, Egyptians say
> a new government should tear up the peace treaty with Israel.
> So who do they like? Fully 75% of Egyptians expressed a favorable view
> of the radical Muslim Brotherhood.
> The well-organized Brotherhood, previously outlawed by Mubarak, is in
> the best position to take advantage of the prevailing sentiment
> recorded by Pew.
> Running under the newly formed "Freedom and Justice" party, the
> Brotherhood seeks to replace the old regime in this September's
> elections and instate Islamic law. Its platform bars women and
> Christians from the presidency. It also establishes a board of Muslim
> clerics (read: mullahs) to oversee the government.
> Earlier this month, Brotherhood officials called for the creation of a
> virtue police to crack down on "those who commit immoral acts." It's
> aimed largely at women who refuse to cover their heads in public.
> Pew found that gender equality and religious freedom aren't top
> priorities for Egyptians. Only a third think it's important for women
> to have the same rights as men or for Coptic Christians to practice
> their faith freely. Since Mubarak's ouster, churches in Egypt have been
> firebombed, and Christians slaughtered in the street.
> All those pundits and politicians who cheered on the rioters against
> the secular, pro-American Mubarak should have been more careful of what
> they wished for.
> The Pew poll confirms that Egyptians were revolting against
> Western-style democracy. If so, we may face another Mideast regime
> violently at odds with U.S. policy.

Second, these feelings and opinions are not just emerging, these were there all along, just that the Mubarak regime kept a lid on it. Guess what’s coming out of Egypt now?

Protests against Valentines Day

This is what passes for religion. These morons talk about removing all red items and heart shaped gifts during Valentine’s Day. Hey, I have seen morons like this as well, at this time, the Hindu morons come out to play as well, trashing card and florist shops. I personally dislike this entire concept of Valentine’s day – you are supposed to show your love only on one day? but if somebody wants to get flowers and pap, by all means, go for it.

But the idea that somebody can come and tell you to stop being loving or give your wife/daughter/sister/etc. etc. a loving gift is stupid. And the irony? These Hindu militants hate the fundamentalist Islamists, little understanding that they are both morons, they are the same. But then, they dont have any brains, do they? Literally morons. They are barbarians, bereft of any kind of intelligence and principles and morals and logic and comprehension and and and. Look what happens, they sell red roses under the counter?

Just what impression does that give to the world about the birthplace of Islam and the most holy sites? Why am I dragging Islam into this? Well, these muppets are speaking on behalf of Islam, no? and they take their justification, authority and actions from their reading of it. Welcome to Saudi Arabia, just dont wear red. Black is good. Stick to black. bah! I quote:

“I was so furious last year when I was having a romantic dinner at a restaurant in Jeddah. Haia men marched in and grabbed my husband by his arms and cornered him, while I was surrounded by a number of them asking both of us stupid questions,” said Sara Naseem, a 27-year-old college lecturer.

“I was horrified by how they ambushed us and treated us like we were doing something immoral and inappropriate in public.”

The ban on selling red flowers on Valentine’s Day could have a negative effect on profits, according to florist Alex.

“Our annual plan for Valentine’s Day to keep our profit stable is to sell red flowers and gifts from under the counter or behind closed doors,” he said.

“We don’t sell them to everyone, we only make secret deals with trustworthy people or tell open-minded people to keep ourselves safe. We raise the price from SR10 for a red rose to SR30 because it’s the high season for them.”

While those brilliant defenders of Hinduism, these paragons of Hindu Culture, example of Sri Ram Sene, are doing this this year.

Delhi, Feb 11: Yes, the Sri Ram Sene has reared its ugly head once again. What an apt time but the Valentine's Week to do so. The right-wing sensationalist group who went about doing its own moral policing earlier headed by Pramod Muthalik went on a rampage in Mangalore targetting pubs and youth who were into public display of affection (PDA) over Valentine's Day.

The Sri Ram Sene is also targetting youth but have mellowed down considerably still has frowning eyebrows over PDAs and Valentine's Day in general.

The Sene intends to educate youth and organize a three-day awareness campaign at the north campus of Delhi University and will carry their rhetoric to other colleges in Delhi. They will drill down the fact through their supporters in Delhi that Valentine's Day was against the Indian culture and youth need to shun such celebrations. They have also given an alternative ocassion to celebrate and suggested that they rejoice the festival Basant Panchami instead.
Even if the Sene has shunned violence they have issued a warning to couples who wants to celebrate Valentine's Day come what may. The Sene has stated that the couples who are out to celebrate will be videotaped and the videos telecast through YouTube. The idea behind it being that they would be shamed in front of the entire world. Sene members have armed themselves with many cameras and spycams to capture the 'culprits in action'.
Young, 23 year old Sunil Tyagi, who is also the national spokesperson of Sri Ram Sene and also the Delhi unit president said, "We are not against love. What we are protesting against is the vulgar display of love. We won't allow our culture to be hijacked by foreign multinationals who have introduced concepts like Valentine's Day just to sell cards. When we upload such videos on YouTube, the couples will learn their mistake."

Eight to ten teams will scan the city for violating the Sene values and will spread the message of 'love in a decent manner'. Tyagi added, "Make love, not war is also our slogan. Just do it in the privacy of your rooms and not in public."

None of your business, you dunderhead morons, just bugger off. Better still, go to Saudi Arabia where they seem to like this sort of thing. Quarantine all the religious crazies inside that place, lock the door and throw away the key. Hopefully they can foam and foul each other and leave civilised people alone.

btw, remember the Pink Chaddi Campaign? This was in reaction to these morons.

And over here in the UK, the National Trust is urging people to kiss more and plant mistletoe, how sweet and how green. Kiss and help the planet at the same time? Wonderful idea. See this, you muppets in Saudi and India? Learn.

Then again, a New York Zoo is offering the chance to name a cockroach after their loved ones. These are giant Madagascar Hissing Roaches. Here is a nice video of these little critters.

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Facts -- powered by eHow.com

Maybe we can let loose some valentine day named madagascar hissing cockroaches to the muttawa and the sri ram sene.

The Egyptian Gandhi?

I was reading about Mohamed El Baradei who seems to have gotten into bed with the Muslim Brotherhood.

And his visage reminded me of somebody else who got into bed with Islamists, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He even looked the same.

See? balding head, round specs, large sticky outie ears, mustache. Rebelling against an autocratic government and thus decides to get into bed with the Islamists via the Khilafat Movement. I hope El Baradei remembers his history, this is one thing (Moplah Rebellion) which happened right after the Khilafat Movement kicked off.

Mr. El Baradei, people who sup with the devil should have a long spoon, but I am really disappointed in you, shows you have some rather flexible principles, eh?

In an alternative universe in Egypt

I got this translation in my in-box. This was very sarcastic and just brilliant. But for religious meatheads, the sarcasm and brilliance will just pass over their heads. Its my firm belief that these muttheads are nuts and the fact that everybody and his dog is now getting on the in-your-face religiousity is really sad. But check it out.

The diary of Mister Abd Rabbo (slave to his god), the Muslim in Coptic Egypt
Try to imagine if these things would happen to you as a Muslim one day, how would you feel?

If you got woken up at dawn by the sounds of a very loud microphone that tears your sleep away and fills your ears with a program from CTV broadcast a mass service from church and national TV would be broadcasting it too, and you find a hoarse voice yelling "glory to god, glory to god, come to church to pray to your lord"
of course after that you would fail in sleeping again and would remain awake until you have to get up to go to work.
you wave to a cab and the driver is a Copt who has a tape playing at the loudest possible volume. The tape is a sermon by a fanatic priest saying those who believe in the Prophet Muhammad are infidels, they need to be killed, so you get scared and ask the driver to drop you off and you decide to take the underground
you find a place and sit down in the underground carriage and your are flanked from both sides by pious Copts reading from  their bibles loudly all the way till you get a headache
you are in the minority, almost everyone around you is a Copt so you cannot say anything because if you do the answer you get will be: are you objecting to God's words? and this will lead to a discussion, which will end up with a problem that will require the police, but then you know that most of the police force are Copts, which is another bigger problem, so you just shut up and keep quiet to avoid problems and get to work
So you reach your place of employment and by now you are very tense and nervous because you did not sleep enough, were awoken rudely and got aggravated by the taxi-driver and have a headache from the underground, so you are not feeling happy and still you wish your co-workers a good morning and peace, and they reply back to you, the Lord's morning and Jesus' peace, so you just shut up and get to your desk
you start to work and in a little while you find your colleagues telling you that they will go pray to the Lord and they gather in the corridor and pray together to secure more rewards and after prayer they take out their little booklets with "dua" (that's kind of personal prayers specially formulated using words from the holy book). You feel like using the restroom and you cannot because the corridor is blocked and you cannot interrupt their prayers, so you try very hard to keep it in till they finish
after that you resume your work and your colleague Girgis (George) comes and asks you why don't you convert to the true religion, it is the majority religion, so it is the right one, instead of remaining a heretic and ending up in hell. You are a good person, and we like you, so we want you to be with us on the right path. Because you want to avoid problems you will have to reply to him diplomatically and politely and say, I like my own religion and even if it is the wrong one, I would rather be in it but thank you for your concern about my wellbeing in the afterlife, so he will get very upset with you and a fight will start
so you appreciate that the working day is over and you can go home, so you remember the cab driver and the neighbours in the underground and you decide that your day has already had enough problems so you walk home.
After all that walking you reach home at sunset and that is the timing of the next prayer and you find your small street blocked by those praying. Even the small grocery store has been converted to a small church and you squeeze between the wall and those praying so you can reach your house and you cant help but hear the sermon given by the priest that true religion is Christianity, that the Copts will prevail, that all others are non-believers and need to be killed or repent and adopt the true religion and that those who believe in Muhammad the false prophet are doomed. SO you swallow your words and go home only to find your wife in a state
she tells you that she was walking in the street and your neighbour's son was telling her that the way she is dressed is all wrong because she is creating temptation and she will burn in hell for it and that she is doomed
so you bite your tongue because you do not want any problems because if you complained the Copts would come and torch your house or torch the Muslim shops in the street and the small old mosque, the only one in the neighbourhood, and the police will come and arrest you for inciting disobedience and you might get slapped with a court case for insulting the true religion and then you will go to jail, and if you keep silent your wife will no longer respect you for being a coward and a weakling so you just tell her, malesh, all will be good eventually and they are just misguided, Allah will help them see the light some day, and you hug your wife and you try to sleep only to find the microphones staring again ....

Veiling doesnt seem to stop harassment

One of the most frequent reasons given by Muslim women who are veiled or want to veil is that it allows them to affirm their faith, follow the strictures of Islam and basically stop themselves being looked as objects of lust. Dress modestly so to say, dont allow your hair to be seen and and and. So when I read this, I was a bit bewildered. I quote:

The Egyptian media reported that about 300 cases of sexual harassment against women occurred over the recent Adha holiday. The cases, which the Interior Ministry would not confirm or deny, varied from verbal taunts to assaults. Al Destour newspaper said the number of incidents was higher than what was reported during the Fitr feast in September.

Sexual harassment in Egyptian cities has become an disturbing phenomenon of late. It recently became associated with feast holidays, where thousands enjoy spending their free time outdoors. Younger generations face less-strict scrutiny from their parents, who tend to allow their daughters to go out without parental supervision during feasts. Police security is usually softer than it is throughout the rest of the year.

The biggest incident came during last year's Fitr, when 150 men and boys were arrested for going on a harassing spree in the streets of Mohandeseen in Cairo. A few of the defendants, who assaulted girls and cut their clothes, were taken to court and one was sentenced to a year in jail.

The number of harassment cases during the feasts echoes a study carried out by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR) last July, showing that 83% of Egyptian women and 98% of foreign females residing in the country reported being harassed.

Egypt's penal code sets imprisonment punishments for anyone who sexually assaults minors, but many assaulted women have seen their cases blocked as judges and prosecutors blamed similar incidents on the "provocative" way some girls are dressed. But the ECWR's study refutes such allegations, saying that 71.5% of women who reported sexual harassment were wearing veils (head scarves) and non-revealing clothes, and 19.6% of them were even wearing niqabs (face veils).

I am not really sure that veiling is really helping out here. And as usual, the problem is with the men. Without veils, you are accused of dressing provocatively and acting whorishly. Seriously, so many debates that i have followed in mailing lists or newspapers or elsewhere, the women who are veiled (and the men who support them) talk about bikini clad women, scantily clad women and how that doesnt give rise to dignity of the women. But seems like if you veil, you are in bigger danger of being groped and harassed. When I spoke to somebody who was Egyptian, their response was that the men think that veiled women are easy, they would not complain, they will simply take the harassment and walk on. Once a woman finds that her body is shameful and has to be hidden away, well, there you go, if you cover the meat, you will get handled, if you uncover the meat, you will be called as uncovered meat.

The problem is not going to be resolved by wearing burqa’s or the veil, the problem is that men are defining what women are and aren't. Look at what happened in New York. I quote:

Scantily clad hipster cyclists attracted to the Brooklyn neighborhood made it difficult, the Hasids said, to obey religious laws forbidding them from staring at members of the opposite sex in various states of undress. These riders also were disobeying the traffic laws, they complained

See? the men are the weak lot, they cannot control their lust and emotions. While I am fully in favour of what you wear and what not to wear, these internal contradictions need to be thought through a bit more. Given that Europe is moving towards banning the veil, does this mean that women’s harassment in Europe will be lessened?

The fight between two Islams

Now this is where one gets confused. On one hand, we have these students and defenders of Islam, aka Taliban, claiming that they defend Islam and have carried out this suicide attack on the Pakistani Army mosque. On the other hand, we have the Pakistani Head of the Army saying:

"The nation, including the army, stands united in sharing their grief. Pakistan is our motherland. It is the bastion of Islam and we live for the glory of Islam and Pakistan. Our faith, resolve and pride in our religion and in our country is an asset, which is further reinforced after each terrorist incident."

Here’s what the spokesperson of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan said before:

"These are religiously legitimate targets…the targets of the Tehrik-i-Taliban have always been clear: those state organizations who at the behest of the Americans target the Tehrik-i-Taliban and have the blood of our martyrs on their hands."

Sort of confusing, no? I know Al Queda isnt the Taliban, but its quite instructive to read this story: I quote:

Between 2004 and 2008, for example, al-Qaida claimed responsibility for 313 attacks, resulting in the deaths of 3,010 people. And even though these attacks include terrorist incidents in the West -- in Madrid in 2004 and in London in 2005 -- only 12 percent of those killed (371 deaths) were Westerners.

Fairly typical and as I have pointed out before, Muslims are at more danger from their compatriots rather than Non Muslims as proven by the fact (as I have referenced elsewhere on this blog) that more Muslims have been killed by their fellow religionists compared to all the rest of the Zionists, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus combined.

Perhaps the reason is that they are a tad confused like I am? Like two groups claiming the same religious justification for killing each other. Oh! Joy!. Then you have the Pakistani Interior Minister asking the mullah’s for a fatwa against these terrorist attacks.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday urged religious scholars to give a Fatwa against suicide attacks. Talking to the media at the Interior Ministry, Malik said no religion allowed suicide attacks and slaughter of innocent people, including children, elders and women. He said al-Qaeda, the TTP, the Sipah-i-Sahaba and some others were actively involved in incidents of terrorism in the country to make Pakistan a failed state.

Hmmm, even more confusing. So these Islamic terrorists who are using Islamic theology to justify their killing of Soldiers who are the bastion of Islam and then the head of the interior ministry is now asking Islamic scholars to release an Islamic ruling that the former be declared as Islamic persona-non-grata. BTW, what do you think are the chances of any Pakistani Scholar to go up against the taliban? This example or even this would be a nice little deterrent, no? On the other hand, what will happen if the Taliban ask Islamic Scholars to produce a fatwa saying that the army was doing wrong. Then?

Then again, if suicide attacks can happen in a mosque killing children, then I am sure we will see huge demonstrations around the world protesting against the Taliban’s desecration of a sacred place.

Hair hurting time.

The Forest Jihad

A very interesting paper indeed. I quote:

Recent Al Qaeda threats and related jihadi propaganda potentially herald a new weapon in the terrorist arsenal: the deliberate setting of forest fires and other conflagrations both to terrorize society and wreck untold economic damage. Beyond the immense, new burdens that would be placed on emergency response personnel, these fires could also create grave environmental crises causing severe pollution from gases escaping into the atmosphere. The strategy of “Forest Jihad,” now being championed by Al Qaeda strategists, is supported and justified theologically by radical Islamic scholars. With this new weapon, the terrorists believe, maximum physical and financial damage can be inflicted to targeted countries at comparatively little risk.

The paper was an eye opener for me. I didn't realise the sheer prevalence of using forest fires as a terrorist weapon. Over the 2 decades in Palestine/Israel, terrorism driven arson in the forest area was quite prevalent. Here’s the message posted as an example:

I quote

English translation of the statement:

“summer has begun so do not forget the Forest Jihad.”

“In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful.”

“We pray for God to aid us and heed our calls.”

“Summer has begun so do not forget the Forest Jihad.”

“I call on all Muslims in the United States, in Europe, in Russia,

and in Australia to start forest fires.”

“Praise God and praise God once more.”

“Peace and blessings upon his prophet.”

“The active intellectual scholar, the jihadist Abu Mus'ab Al-Suri, may God set him free, says: Jihad is an art just like poetry, music, and the fine arts. There are people that draw and there are others that are jihadists. They both act upon inspiration.”

“May God ease his calamity and set him free along with all of our imprisoned brothers. It is by the glory of God that his imprisonment has not prevented him from publishing his writings in the form of books and media. The idea of forest fires is attributed to him, may God set him free, as is in this short clip:”

“This call goes out to Muslims in Europe, in the United States, in Australia,

and in Russia to start forest fires.”

“Forest Fires.”

“The Jurisprudence of forest fires, as in 'an eye for an eye'; the amazing results;

and the operational instructions.”

“The Jurisprudence:

Is it permissible to burn trees?”

“Yes, under certain circumstance, such as when the prophet, PBUH

[peace be upon him], burned the Jews' palm trees in Al-Nadir.”

“Ibn Al-Qayyim narrated in [a book entitled] 'I'lam Al-Muwaqqa'in,' that: You should retaliate in the same manner as that in, which you were attacked. He goes on to say that: The punishment for a sin should be a similar sin. He also mentions that: If you should punish, punish as you were punished. This, in essence, justifies that. This suggests that the punishment should fit the crime, for instance in life, in matters of honor, and where assets are involved. Scholars have justified chopping down and burning the infidels' forests when they do the same to our lands.”

“God Almighty agreed to allow the companions to cut down the Jews' palm trees in order to dishonor them [Jews]. This was the Almighty's intention when He said: 'Whether ye cut down (O ye Muslim!) the tender palm-trees, or ye left them standing on their roots, it was by leave of Allah, and in order that He might cover with shame the rebellious transgressors. [Koranic Verse; Al-Hashr, 59:5].' This proves that God Almighty wishes to punish the unjust aggressor. The justification for burning their belongings is their aggression against Muslims and their deception. It is they who burn the Muslims' wealth.”

“This section was taken from a book by active and anonymous [as received] jihadi scholar Yusuf al-Ayiri²⁸ may God accept him, entitled: 'The Truth about the New Crusade.' This is particularly evident in the Chapter regarding the times when it is permissible to kill those among the infidels who would be otherwise protected. The first case in this chapter addresses this topic. This is in the event the book entitled 'I'lam Al-Muwaqa'in' Shaykh Yusuf, may God have mercy on his soul, is unavailable.”

“Ibn Qudamah Al-Maqdasy writes in [his book entitled] 'Al-Muqni' [The Convincer], in the chapter on killing infidels and shelling them with manganese, as well cutting off their water supplies and destroying their fortresses: Concerning the issue of uprooting or burning their trees and plants, there are two views. The first is that it is permissible to do so as long as it does not harm Muslims. The second is that it is not permissible to do so unless it is justified to do so to them, for instance when they have done the same to us. An eye for an eye.”

“Shaykh Sulayman Bin Abdallah Bin Muhammad Bin Abd-al-Wahhab narrates in 'Al-Muqni' that trees and plants can be divided into three groups. The first group comprises [those trees and plants] which need to be cleared for a particular purpose, and can thus be uprooted or burned. This, however, solely on the basis of an undeniable need, as the narrator explains. The second is that group whose uprooting will cause Muslims harm. In this case, it is totally forbidden to uproot or to burn them. The third encompasses all other cases, which can be further divided into two subgroups. The first is a group that it is considered permissible to uproot or burn in the Hanbali [Muslim scholar] school of thought, where the scholars Malik, Shafi'i, and Ibn Al-Muthir followed the Hadith of the Prophet, PBUH, in the case of the burning of the palm trees in Bani Nadir, where God sent down the following: 'Whether ye cut down (O ye Muslim!) the tender palm-trees, or ye left them standing on their roots, it was by leave of Allah, and in order that He might cover with shame the rebellious transgressors.' [Koranic Verse; Al-Hashr, 59:5].”

“This has been taken from page 486 of the book entitled 'Al-Muqn'i Ma'a Hashiyatihi,' published by the Al-Salafiyyah [Salafist] Publishing House in Cairo.”

Come back to blighty to see terror plots

I come back from Malaysia and then am faced with a man who wants to blow up a shopping center (was the shopping experience so bad?) and an explosion in Exeter carried out by a mentally disabled man (was the food really that bad?). I am sure this is somehow connected to Palestine :)

Technorati Tags: United Kingdom,Terrorism

School teachers killed in Somalia - future dimmed even more

The jihadi's know their weak point. It is education. More you educate your people, less are they able to be led like sheep. This is why liberal democratic nations have good strong opposition. And again, this is why autocratic countries generally tend not to invest that much in education. Also, let us not forget, for fanatics, education anything outside their narrow thoughts is useless. I am reminded of what the Taliban said, they do not need to know anything outside the Quran, and if there is anything outside the Quran, then if it was worth knowing, it would have been put inside the Quran. What can you do with a mentality like this? But look at what they did in Somalia...

I quote:

"We have discovered the dead bodies of three foreigners and the owner of the Hakab Private English School in the town this morning," said Ayanle Husein Abdi, a local resident.
Some locals said one of the slain Somalis had returned home to build a school and educate locals.

Well, what did I say about these neanderthals cannibalising their own?

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Martyrdom Video of a Brit

Here's the video and here' the text. I was eating dinner when I saw this on BBC news. And I was watching this man threatening me and my family with death. Nice going, mate. Perhaps avoidance of martyrdom videos (both making and broadcasting) would help in reduction of Islamophobia, just a thought...

Technorati Tags: Terrorism,United Kingdom,Islamists

A sign of decreasing terrorism - increase in alcohol consumption

Now this is a very interesting situation. As and how the Islamist terrorism in Kashmir is getting under control, the alcohol consumption is going up. Now that's an amusing way of getting a picture of the level of terrorism.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

More clownish behaviour on part of Yvonne Ridley

This post just cracked me up!!! But I would encourage Yvonne Ridley to keep on going, she is the best weapon that modern age has against the silly Islamists!

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Militants ask school to expel female students

I hate people who do this, education is hard enough and then you have these brain dead morons going about threatening people to stop their girls from being educated! I have moaned about it before, but here's it happening again.

Militants ask school to expel female students DARGAI: Militants here have threatened to bomb a co-education high school if the school administration does not drop all enrolled girl students. A letter from unidentified militants told the administration of Government High School Andar Gai Agra in Malakand Agency that if they did not drop girls from the school within one week, suicide bombers were ready to blow up the institution. Co-education is unacceptable, the letter said. The school is the only one in an 8-kilometer radius. Girls in the area have two options,attend this school or remain illiterate.

I am wondering if they realise that their children will turn out to be as moronic as they themselves are? But why harm the children?

dailyAll this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!