Oh Those Placards?

The controversy over placards which were offensive and incited violence some weeks ago in London are now followed up by demonstrations in Pakistan, reported in the German media.

Zen, and the Art of Trade Unions

After generations of earnest middle-class trendies sought enlightenment in Buddhism, so now Buddhist monks are seeking solace in trade union, according to a report in the Times:

“AN AGGRIEVED monk and his band of truculent acolytes have brought Bolshevism to Buddhism and formed the first Japanese trade union for temple workers.
…

Toshio Sugata, the chairman of the Nagano Zenroren, said: “This is the first time that monks have been unionised. We learnt that they were employed by Daikanjin, the main temple of the Tendai sect, under labour regulations in which their payment and working hours were formally laid out. In that sense, monks have the same employment status as salarymen.”

The monk’s flying pickets must be a spectacle to behold!

Gone Forever

I tend to read more blogs than I comment on, and BannedByElf was one of my favourites. “Maven” covered a lot of ground from an interesting perspective.

Sadly, he is hanging up the blog for a while:

"Whilst "Maven" is disappearing and "banned by elf" is stopping, blogging is somewhat addictive and no doubt I will appear again under another alias writing in the comments boxes of other peoples blogs."


I hope he considers joining the team at SimplyJews, should the Elders have any vacancies? As someone needs to keep an eye on these wacked out “anti-Zionists” and he’s proven his wit and worth in this area, many times over.

Modern Protocols

This piece from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee caught my eye:

“As suspected, and claimed on this blog over the weekend, the inflammatory anti-Muslim cartoons published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten were a deliberate provocation designed to outrage and incite Muslims and thus engender support in Europe and America for the manufactured "clash of civilizations" engineered by the Straussian neocons.

As Christopher Bollyn writes for the American Free Press, the neocon operative behind the cartoon scheme is Flemming Rose, cultural editor of Jyllands-Posten, who has "has clear ties to the Zionist Neo-Cons." Rose "traveled to Philadelphia in October 2004 to visit Daniel Pipes, the Neo-Con ideologue who says the only path to Middle East peace will come through a total Israeli military victory. Rose then penned a positive article about Pipes, who compares 'militant Islam’ with fascism and communism," Bollyn reveals.”

The tone of article reminded me of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Cunning eh? If we were to believe this nonsense, then the Danes are merely pawns of some wider conspiracy of Zionists [codeword for: Jews], Straussian neocons, Freemasons and who knows what else?

No matter the event, this paranoid style of politics invariability sees the hand of the ‘Elders’ behind it, and we know where that leads to ?

Tit for Tat

Iranian government's 'tit for tat' over the Danish cartoons, with the 'theme' of the Holocaust, only seeks to confirm many people's attitudes about the current regime in Tehran.

The work by Michael Leunig is very tasteless

Godly Darwinism?

Charles Darwin would probably enjoy the celebration of his 197th birthday, as reported:

"NEW YORK, NY, United States (UPI) -- Nearly 450 Christian churches in the United States are celebrating the 197th birthday of Charles Darwin Sunday.The churches say Darwin`s theory of biological evolution is compatible with faith and that Christians have no need to choose between religion and science, the Chicago Tribune reported."

Googled Privacy

Following on from Google's kowtowing to China, there are concerns over the Google's Desktop.

The EFF is recommending that people avoid using it, see Google Copies Your Hard Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation

Sites for Sore Eyes

With all of the fuss about Danish bacon, etc I've been reading more blogs and a few caught my eye:

I like Engage and their recent article on Sue Blackwell brings up some interesting points.

A new blog, bannedbyelf, is monitoring the goings-on amongst the 'Anti-Zionists'.

AEL's Motives?

People often question why would the AEL try to escalate the tempo over the Danish cartoons?

The AEL's thinking, in publishing anti-Semitic cartoons as ‘provocation’, is all too transparent.

AEL probably think that “Jews” control the mass media, including Danish and German newspapers. So, in their minds, retaliation should be aimed back at the “Jews”.

This line of thinking is all too common to those believing in “protocols”, as wikipedia shows:

“Saudi Arabian schoolbooks contain explicit summaries of the Protocols as factual:

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: These are secret resolutions, most probably of the aforementioned Basel congress. They were discovered in the nineteenth century. The Jews tried to deny them, but there was ample evidence proving their authenticity and that they were issued by the elders of Zion. The Protocols can be summarized in the following points:

1. Upsetting the foundations of the world's present society and its systems, in order to enable Zionism to have a monopoly of world government.
2. Eliminating nationalities and religions, especially the Christian nations.
3. Striving to increase corruption among the present regimes in Europe, as Zionism believes in their corruption and [eventual] collapse.
4. Controlling the media of publication, propaganda and the press, using gold for stirring up disturbances, seducing people by means of lust and spreading wantonness.”

Cranks and others that accept the “Protocols” will invariably blame Jews for most of the world’s ill, so we should not be entirely surprised by the turn of events.

Cartoon Escalation?

Leaving aside the issue of freedom of speech and the right to insult people, the fuss over the cartoons is escalating unnecessarily.

The Arab European league is now proposing to publish anti-Semitic cartoons.

Bacon coming home?

The boycott of Danish products seems to be part of a power play by elements within the Saudi regime, and only aimed at increasing tension.

Therefore, I would suggest BUYING Danish.

Parents' Circle

It is all too easy to see the conflicts in the Middle-east as polarised and beyond comprehension, yet victims of the violence are coming together to as the Parents' Circle - The Families Forum

Boycott Hypocrisy

As the Danish bacon sizzles on, the Zionist Organization of America's news release hits the spot:

"New York - The ZOA has highlighted the gross hypocrisy exhibited by much of the Arab and Muslim worlds in demanding an apology from a Danish newspaper, Jylland-Posten, which published cartoons of Mohammed that offended Muslims, while they routinely demonize Jews, Judaism and the Jewish state of Israel in newspaper cartoons in their societies."

If a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words?

The fuss over the representation of Mohammed and Danish Bacon is continuing at a pace.

This situation which is sad and ridiculous in the 21st century, some 200+ years after the age of enlightenment.

Nevertheless, my contribution is Depictions of Mohammed Throughout History

So boycott me!

What Burkha?

Burkhas get a lot of criticism but as Mike Jackson shows they are a uni-sex garment:

"Pop star Michael Jackson was spotted out shopping in Bahrain wearing traditional women's attire."

Will the REAL Hamas Please Stand Up?

The current agonising over Hamas is easy to cure!

Take a look at the Hamas Covenant and do a Ctrl-F then search for the word 'Jew'

Or the Hamas Profile:

" HAMAS is a Palestinian Islamic organization established in 1987 during the first Intifada, and is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hamas was formed in 1987 with the objective of destroying the Zionist entity that occupies Palestine, and establishing Palestine from the sea to the river based on Islamic principles."

Then sit and think about it, for a while

Bush on Global Warming

Never have I seen a better summary of George W Bush's views on Global Warming than articulated here

Enjoy!

Galloway’s demise

I am not a fan of voyeuristic TV, such as Channel 4’s Big Brother, but ridiculous spectacle of George Galloway in the House made me laugh. His nasty character was open for all to see, and we didn’t have to wait too long for that to appear.

As a public service, I present some amusing links on Galloway’s time in the Big Brother House

HangGalloway

Mreugenides’ Galloway Watch

Harry’s Place

Update: The Scotsman, newspaper, now has a whole section on Galloway's antics:

Ugly times on way for Gorgeous George

Lazy Guide to Net Culture: Go away Galloway

Change of Date

The UN designated 27 January as the annual Holocaust Memorial Day, however, it falls on a Friday this year, many events will be held on the 26 January 2006.

See Holocaust Memorial Day Trust for more information.

David Got Him Sussed

David Aaronovitch’s comments on Galloway's appearance in the Big Bro House are very amusing:

"
Watching him, you realise that Mr Galloway is what the American playwright Heathcote Williams called a “psychic imperialist”. He wants to be inside our heads, to colonise our minds. “A billion and a half Muslims,” he told Rula, “know who I am.” So, fishermen in the remote south of the Philippines speak about Mr George? It’s a fantasy, but a revealing one. He was the one who advised Saddam Hussein to give up WMD — “Look, I told him . . .”
"

Videos for Free

Google's latest feature is video and very hand it is too!

Simply go to http://video.google.com/

and type in a theme and view them

the help files are here

for free videos try the command line 'is: free'

BBC Gives Out

The BBC has released video and media from its archive

You to sign up first

Best read the Creative Archive Licence

and get those clips

I liked the Anniversary of the 1969 moon landing, enjoy!

Partisan Bill has Gone

It is reported that "ROME - Urbano Lazzaro, a resistance fighter credited with arresting fascist dictator Benito Mussolini at the end of World War II, has died at age 81, officials said Wednesday."

Site of the Year

The festive season gets to us all and blogging loses out!

My present to you is the site of the year: jibjab

They were notorious for “This Land”, but I think “Bush Dance” is good, “Good to be in DC” is a nice parody and my favourite is “Second Term”.

Enjoy!

Site of the Week 15

As the weeks tend to slow towards Xmas, so do the postings!

Anyways, after a along hard slog cross the Internet, Site of the Week goes to:

www.movinghere.org.uk

Cranky about the ME or Not?

If we were to believe the cranks and pessimists then peace in the Middle East is unlikely but I have believed, for some time, that there was a political imperative in Israel for peace. The latest report on poverty in Israel confirms my feeling that, in the long-term, Israelis have everything to gain and little to lose from the demilitarisation of the conflict.


But we shall see, as much depends onif the Arab states stop the fermenting violence, and how the Palestinian leadership reconciles the years of misleadership and corruption.

Hot and Foxy

The Mozilla Foundation has released version 1.5 of Firefox, and when combined with some nifty extensions it is a real alternative to M$'s Internet Explorer.

Repressive Sexual Attititudes

Iran is in the news again after the shocking hanging of two gays, now Human Rights Watch reports:

" On Sunday, November 13, the semi-official Tehran daily Kayhan reported that the Iranian government publicly hung two men, Mokhtar N. (24 years old) and Ali A. (25 years old), in the Shahid Bahonar Square of the northern town of Gorgan.

The government reportedly executed the two men for the crime of "lavat." Iran's sharia-based penal code defines lavat as penetrative and non-penetrative sexual acts between men. Iranian law punishes all penetrative sexual acts between adult men with the death penalty. Non-penetrative sexual acts between men are punished with lashes until the fourth offense, when they are punished with death. Sexual acts between women, which are defined differently, are punished with lashes until the fourth offense, when they are also punished with death."

Too Much Sex?

What we had all expected has been revealed, Jihad and sex are connected:

" In a November 15, 2005 article in the Saudi daily Al-Iqtisadiyya, Sa'ad
Al-Sowayan, a reformist Saudi researcher and columnist, argued that
religious cassettes, which are widely available in Saudi Arabia, advocate
Jihad by emphasizing the sexual reward awaiting the martyr in Paradise. This
is aimed at tempting teenagers who can find no sexual release in
conservative Arab society. "

Heart Warming News

The nights are dark and it is turning colder, so any heart warming news is welcome: David Irving has been arrested in Austria for Holocaust denial

I feel warm and cheerful already! I wonder what the maximum sentence is?

Richard Evans exposed David Irving, for the nasty little Neo-Nazi that he is, in the book "Lying About Hitler".

New Guys on the Block

I appreciate wit, even my own half-wit but some blogs are better than others are, and these new bloggers caught my eye: simplyjews

They are sarcastic, unapologetic, clever and remind me of Norm’s recent point.

A Book A Day

The web and freely available books are a great combination, therefore I was pleased to see Google's Print Project restart after some initial problems.

Search books on-line and have a read. It is not yet fully operational but a boon if you like knowledge and books. Enjoy!

Soaps are Good for You?

The Torygraph reports that a new film in the Middle East "has broken new ground by daring to question the motives of terrorism committed in the name of Allah."

"In the Ghazali family household in Wadi Kadum, East Jerusalem, the finale of Beautiful Maidens, to be broadcast on the last night of Ramadan, is eagerly awaited.

Amani Ghazali, 20, has watched all 29 previous instalments, which focus on life inside a compound in Saudi Arabia filled with families from other Arab nations.
...

For her mother, Sana, 37, the story line was particularly powerful as she spent her childhood living in a compound as an expat Arab in Saudi Arabia. "I believe the programme has shown two sides of Islam," she said.

"One is a normal Muslim, who has a normal life. And one is an abnormal Muslim who wants to fight the Americans, to make jihad. But in practice, he is not fighting Americans, he is fighting his own people.

"She said the programme brought home how different she feels from those Muslims who commit terrorist acts in the name of religion. "I am a Muslim," she said. "I pray five times a day, I fast during Ramadan. But I do not like the radicals who grow beards and wear flowing gowns.

"They claim they represent Islam. Their image was ugly in the series and in life. They recruit disenchanted people, who have social problems, and they are stupid."

Site of the Week 14

The Religious Policeman is a must read, his recent comments on Charles and Islam are funny.

He has many interesting insights into Saudi society.

So Site of the Week award goes to: The Religious Policeman

Drinking to Microsoft's demise

The release of WINE to beta marks the first of many nails in Micro$oft's coffin.

Drink up and enjoy, it works: run Win32 apps under Linux without the hassle.

Misunderstanding?

Lisa is always refreshing to read and her latest tale is no different:

"..We Jews and Arabs, we live side-by-side and we watch each other and we interact (sometimes) but we don't really know each other. We think we do, but we don't. Ignorance leads to fear, and too often fear does lead to loathing."

Stolen Money?

The Union of Democratic Mineworkers and the claims handling of coal miner's injuries were the subject of Radio 4's You and Yours today.

Basically, money was set aside by HMG to pay the claims for the coal miner's injuries and the solicitor's fee, separately.

However, many miners were charged for the claim services, effectively paying twice and they have started a High Court action against those profiteering from their injuries: solicitors and the UDM's claims company.

The history of the UDM and their role in the mid-1980s miner’s strike, speaks volumes and their current activity should come as no surprise to anyone.

7 July bomber on Radio

Radio 4's File on 4 had an interesting piece on Mohammed Sidique Khan:

"Viewers and listeners to Tuesday night's programmes will also hear criticism from experts and academics about how radical clerics have "recruited openly" in Britain.

Academic researcher Dr Gunaratna said: "The radical clerics have radicalised young British and European Muslims and have done al-Qaeda's work for them."

And Sir Paul Lever, the former head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, which advises the prime minister on intelligence threats, said there had been a "failure to understand the significance of allowing these clerics to recruit openly"."

Shot Workers

The sad news of another shooting in Iraq has brought into view the response of many western-based nihilists and the pro-insurgence crowd.

The pro-insurgence crowd seem to function on the discredited notion "that my enemies enemy is my friend", and as they posture people in Iraq are killed by quasi-fascist murderers.

Britney's Neo-Nazi clones?

Britney Spears has competition from Lamb and Lynx Gaede. According to ABC News, the sisters who have been indoctrinated, by their mother, to believe in neo-Nazi/white nationalism:

"Known as "Prussian Blue" — a nod to their German heritage and bright blue eyes — the girls from Bakersfield, Calif., have been performing songs about white nationalism before all-white crowds since they were nine."

"We're proud of being white, we want to keep being white," said Lynx. "We want our people to stay white … we don't want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race."

Songs like "Sacrifice" — a tribute to Nazi Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy Fuhrer — clearly show the effect of the girls' upbringing. The lyrics praise Hess as a "man of peace who wouldn't give up."

Their views on Hitler, etc are equally repugnant.

Banning Jokes

The Scotman reports on Rowen Atkinson's opposition to the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. Atkinson writes:

"My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen

Those of us who have opposed this measure since its introduction in 2001 have never had a problem with its alleged intent, viz. to counter the expression of racial hatred under the disguise of religious hatred. Rather, our problem was always the legislation’s breathtaking scope and reach far beyond that intent.

The prime motivating energy for the Bill seemed to come not from communities seeking protection from bullying by the British National Party but from individuals with a more aggressive, fundamentalist agenda.

Those who have sought, from the very day of the publication in 1989 of Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses, to immunise religions against criticism and ridicule – or at least to promote legislation that is so sinister and intimidating, it can provide that immunity without even the need to prosecute anyone. In other words, to impose self-censorship."

Out of the Office?

Tired of MS's bloated Office products? then try OpenOffice
OpenOffice.org 2.0 has been released, enjoy!

Site of the Week 13

I take an interest in the Middle East and am concerned at the bias, shabby reporting that passes for informed coverage.

Therefore, I welcome sites that provide a counter balance to the stream of anti-Israel rubbish.

So with great pleasure that I present the site of the week:
Snapshots, a CAMERA blog

Agitated at Nick

Some people have got fairly agitated at Nick Cohen for his recent article on anti-semitism in the New Statesman

He said what needed to be said.

Anti-imperialism of fools

Some articles still have relevance, even years after they were first published, so it is with “Anti-imperialism of fools” by Steve Silver at Searchlight.

Rehab with Judge Hitar?

BBC reported on a scheme in Yemen to "convert extremist prisoners to more moderate views" and listen to it here

Advertising Executives Lead the Charge?

See Judeosphere for his considered comments on www.standup4israel.org.

I would tend to agree that passivity, and in particular at the moment, does not help at all. I think there needs to be a concerted effort against anti-Semitism, nihilism and the notion that all problems in the world and Middle East are caused by Jews.

Site of the week 12

Engage was started to campaign against the ludicrous AUT blacklist of Israel and has metamorphised to Engage Online

"Engage challenges left and liberal antisemitism in the labour movement, in our universities and in public life more generally. Antisemitism here, manifests itself mainly as anti-Zionism."

Great place!

Claptrap

Claptrap is consuming our lives, so enjoy this post-modernist delight.

Changes are a Comin

The news that the Zimbabwe’s army can not feed it sown troops is death knell of Robert Mugabe. He won’t be around for long eitherway.

SUSE ten?

SUSE 10.0 is out shortly, the product highlights show a fairly nice range of goodies.

German Elections

The media was full of speculation on the recent German elections, whether Schroeder or Merkel will be the next Chancellor. In the breakdown of the election results there is little coverage given to the 'other' section of voters.

Whilst we can see clearly the SPD or CDU totals, etc it is less clear who are makes up the 'others' in the breakdown of the votes, or at least unclear in English-language media.

Upon investigation the NPD (one of Germany's neo-Nazis parties) acquired some 1.6% of the vote, which might be considered small until we ponder that 1.6% translates into over 900,000 votes, and if they could recruit only one in 10 of their voters then that would leave the organisation potentially with 90,000 members.

A frightening prospect nowadays and if major changes were made to the German economy resulting in higher unemployment (greater than the current official 11.6%) the consequences are not bear thinking about.

Awaken al-Qaeda Agents?

The news of several Gulf states lifting their boycott of Israel in exchange for a trading agreement with the US highlighted to points: Saudi exceptionalism and the Saudi's failure at tackling their local Al Qaeda

Saudi exceptionalism is a product of US dependency on oil and American unwillingness to pressurise the Saudis into change.

The Saudi excuse for continuing their boycott otherwise “[it] could provoke the local Islamic organizations and awaken al-Qaeda agents” is indicative of the failure to stem local extremism and their use of Wahhabism is coming back to haunt them. The continued presence and activity of “al-Qaeda agents” results from years of indoctrination into Wahhabism, and not the other way around.

New Blog in Town

I know I am fairly predictable, but perhaps that is not so bad as you get older, but I welcome the advent of a new interesting blog: judeosphere

The comments on the aftermath of Katrina are informative, most of us missed that angle.

A Nicer Fox?

Firefox 1.0.7 is out and is a security and stability release. The release notes are here.

A Hunter Dies

The news of the death of Simon Wiesenthal is a sad, but his excellent work in hunting down Nazis will be remembered.

Simon Wiesenthal’s fine educational work continues on the web and at the Museum of Tolerance.

Women in Afghanistan

How we treat minorities, people without power or those who have traditionally been neglected or placed in a subservient role tells us a lot about our societies and attitudes. Therefore, the inclusion of Afghan women in the forthcoming election must be welcomed. Their courage in these circumstances is remarkable.

Afghanistan has been ravaged by civil war, dictatorships, warlords, famine and world neglect. Throughout these terrible events to position of women in Afghan society has diminished and become intolerable. The nihilist beliefs of the Taliban are still prevalent but until Afghan women can exert their presence and obtain their just rights then social reform, peace and stability may not be possible in Afghanistan.

The position of women in Afghanistan will be an indicator of its progress.

Lock on Intolerance

Brett Lock and the people at Outrage have kept the heat on Ken Livingstone over his support for Dr al-Qaradawi, and rightly so.

Brett Lock’s blog can be found here, he makes many pertinent comments, well worth a read.

Galloway's words

I have to admit I can not stand George Galloway, so with a degree of bias I present Galloway in his own words from Christopher Hitchens' site.

If you're in any doubt, previous video footage of Galloway's disgusting conduct can be seen here.

Beta on Down

Firefox 1.5 beta 1 has been released and contains many nice features, but a warning: many older extensions don't work with it.

I am sure they'll be fixed within a week or two.

A Black Pope

I ran across the notion of a 'black Pope' some months back and I thought it was just the rantings of complete fruitcakes, but to the rescue is www.illuminati-news.com

Best ignore if you're easy offended but it does offer an insight into the minds of some of these people. There appears to be a cross over from the ranting about the 'black Pope', Son of Satan, conspiracy freaks, UFOers and extreme right, which is very troubling.

Site of the Week 11

I like strong opinions and a different view on the world, so adloyada appeals to me. Norm is on the ball again.

Warm Storms Ahead?

Global warming and the increased destructive power in many hurricanes is tied together, according to the recent comments in the New Scientist:

"Global warming is pumping up the destructive power of hurricanes and typhoons, a new study suggests.

An analysis of data on storm winds and duration shows that potential wind-caused damage has roughly doubled over the past 30 years, although tropical sea-surface temperatures have increased by only half a degree over that time, says Kerry Emanuel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US.

The frequency of hurricanes seems unaffected by global warming. Regional totals vary periodically, but the number of tropical cyclones around the world averages a steady 90 per year"

Spoof or Not

I can not work out if Michael Shore's ranting about the Illuminati and the 7/7 bombings in London is a spoof, or he's off his rockers. You decide.

"Today is 7/ 7 2005 {2+5} or 777, a "perfect" day for the insane Illuminati to do one of their dirty deeds. One thing the Illuminati are into is rituals and numbers. The Illuminati like to leave their secret markings on their crimes. Remember 911?"

Middle-East and Democracy

There was an informative programme on Radio 4's Analysis "Goodbye Autocratic Allies", with the transcript here.

New Orleans 1

The sad events in New Orleans were entirely predictable as National Geographic Magazine in October 2004 showed:


“When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City. Even the Red Cross no longer opens hurricane shelters in the city, claiming the risk to its workers is too great.

"The killer for Louisiana is a Category Three storm at 72 hours before landfall that becomes a Category Four at 48 hours and a Category Five at 24 hours—coming from the worst direction," says Joe Suhayda, a retired coastal engineer at Louisiana State University who has spent 30 years studying the coast. Suhayda is sitting in a lakefront restaurant on an actual August afternoon sipping lemonade and talking about the chinks in the city's hurricane armor. "I don't think people realize how precarious we are,"Suhayda says, watching sailboats glide by. "Our technology is great when it works. But when it fails, it's going to make things much worse."

Banking on Fatwas

Banks get everywhere, so it should not come as a shock to see that there is a "Fatwa Bank"!

Are you confused by the controversy over Ken Livingstone’s friend, Dr.Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a renowned ‘moderate’?

Do you wonder what Dr.Yusuf Al-Qaradawi’s views are?

Solution – check the Fatwa Bank


Take a look at his views on Gays:

“I should stress here that Muslim jurists have held differing opinions concerning the punishment for this abominable practice.”

Moderate?

The Doctor and 9/11

Dr Mohammed Naseem on Radio 4, makes some very weird comments
about 9/11 (implying it was some conspiracy or didn't happen, via video manipulation, e.g. "cows can be made as [to] dance"), and on 7/7 - denying the authenticity of Mohammed Sidique Kahn's recent video statement.

Maybe he is a regular on Rense?

Katrina and the Wackos

I occasionally look into weirdo conspiracy theories (no, I don’t believe them) but I think they do say something about modern day society and how seemingly rational people will articulate such nonsense.

A major crisis can bring the worst out in some people and the events in New Orleans is no different.

Rense is a fruitcake’s delight and their latest offering is on hurricane Katrina:

“The Illuminati and their government agents, Bush, Blair,Cheney, Rice, Putin, Sharon etc. etc. all play their roles in the Illuminati's hideous agenda of total control of Planet Earth. They do not care or have any compassion for the millions and possibly billions of humans who will have to be killed for the Illuminati to achieve their SICK agenda. Hurricane Katrina and the destruction and suffering it has caused is just one example of the SICK Illuminati minds who are behind the scenes manipulating these catastrophic wars and events on their way to achieve what they call their "Great Work of Ages".”

Wacky?

Fundies

The BBC's World Tonight had a piece on religious fundies, and if there was a common theme between them (07:30 into playback)

BBC Battles

Ziauddin Sardar has made some points on reforming Islam in the Guardian, and earlier on BBC radio.
He will be presenting Battle for Islam on Monday, 5th September 2005, 21:00-22:30 BBC2

Panorama of Views

Panorama's recent programme on the MCB and their lack of leadership skills brought to my attention the existence of MCB watch, which makes some reasonable points.

A transcript of the programme is here.

John Ware's response to attacks on the BBC.

The later reaction to the programme is telling

Time to make your own mind up.

Salman Knows

Salman Rushdie has intimate knowledge of extremism and its consequence, and has called for a Muslim reformation.

Rushdie was today on Radio 4 he comments on MCB and their alleged moderation.

SuSE again

SUSE Linux 10.0 OSS Beta 3 has been released!

They are very busy at www.opensuse.org

Able Danger

A strange story has come out of the US concerning Able Danger:

"A US army intelligence officer went public yesterday with claims that a secret military unit had identified Mohammed Atta and three other al-Qaida members as a potential threat a year before they carried out the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer said the secret intelligence unit, codenamed Able Danger, had been prevented from passing on its information to the FBI by Pentagon lawyers concerned that the military should not be involved in surveillance of suspects inside the US."

A Humane Future

Thanks to Harry's Place and a recent petition the work of Fareena Alam, the editor of Q-News has come to my attention and her essay on "A humane Muslim future", which makes some interesting points:

"As Fuad Nahdi points out, contemporary political Islam offers a religion to die for; classical Islam offers a religion to live for. Without the latter the great achievements of Muslim civilisation (so celebrated and extolled by Islamists) would not have been possible."

"Wahhabi Islam that takes as its starting-point a literal, static interpretation of the sacred texts. It is a movement that tore down the four mihrabs in Mecca. During the last four decades, funded by petrodollars and mass-produced literature, it has hijacked much of the popular theological debates within Islam, particularly in the west and the Arab world."

"The whole problem with Bin Ladenism and its related perversions is that while they use the language of Islam and appeal to community, they neglect its moral and ethical tenets. Emotion and outrage is no basis for a solution to the current malaise."

"We need to revive those musical and artistic traditions that have begun to vanish. A people without a cultural agenda, that particularises and localises religious expression, present no hope for their young people. "

Real Audio, Firefox and Codecs

So you've got Firefox ready and even K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 1.36 installed but you get the message "Additional plugins are required to play all the media on this page"

Yuck!

A solution:

Firefox->Tools->Options->Download->RAM Real Media File->Change Action ->[browse to K-Lite Codec Pack directory and find the Real directory which leads to the program:mpclauncher]

Open and it should show something like "D:\Program Files\K-Lite Codec Pack\Real\mpclauncher.exe" in the 'Open them in this application:' field

Now you should be able to watch those Real Audio files with Media Player Classic!

Beware Internet Greeks?

Trojans are an increasing problem on the Internet and dealing with them can be difficult.

I am evaluating two packages: TrojanHunter and ewido, which work on 2000 and XP only, but they look promising.

Site of the Week 10

Forgetting the techie sites for the moment, or even political or historical ones.

This week's site of the week goes to Gendergeek

I would recommend the article on Terrorism, pride, and gender

Trade Unionist and the New Iraqi Constitution

The IFTU has produced a very sensible list of concerns with new Iraqi Constitution:

"The IFTU drew the UN Support Team’s attention to four discrete areas within the draft Constitution, which has changed frequently in recent weeks and which according to the IFTU in its current draft fails to adequately address the justified concerns of its members. These are;

1. Rights of Children: IFTU wishes to insist on the rights of Children aged younger than 16 years of age, not to be allowed to work and to have a full education. IFTU expressed its concern that the draft Constitution made general references to the rights of children without defining at what age these rights apply. In IFTU’s estimation this is a serious weakness, which would have the effect of undermining future attempts to improve the terrible situation for Iraqi children.

2. Right to Strike: IFTU expressed its strong dismay that an explicit Constitutional right of workers to take strike action has been removed from the draft version of the Constitution, although such a right exists in the current Transitional Administrative Law. The draft Constitution refers only to the right of workers to representation, without defining the right of workers to join or form the trade union representation of their choice, or as mentioned the right to withdraw their labour.

3. Rights of Women: IFTU made clear the complete opposition of the trade union to any attempt to revive the notorious Decree 137, which sought to remove the fundamental human rights of women in the name of imposing sharia law. Womens’ rights to marriage, divorce, to own property, inherit and pass on property to their children and others, to access education at all levels, to work and to play a full part in all aspects of civil society and political life must be guaranteed in the Constitution of a modern democratic, federal Iraq.

4. Separation of Politics and Religion: IFTU insists on the complete separation of the powers and authority of ‘the mosque’ from the constitutional state law. Freedom to practice religion must be guaranteed by the Constitution. The Constitution should not take Islam as its sole source of legitimacy. "

An Education?

The Daily Times relays an article on education in Pakistan:

"LAT quoted the education minister of a nation with Asia’s highest illiteracy rates as saying that he was determined to have specialists rewrite course guidelines and textbooks, from the first grade to the college level, so that the curriculum would be in line with that of any other advanced country.

He told LAT, “We don’t want to condemn any religion, which we will not.”

“A study of the public school curriculum and textbooks by 29 Pakistani academics in 2002 concluded that public school ‘textbooks tell lies, create hatred, inculcate militancy and much more’,” the paper said.

“The study by the independent Sustainable Development Policy Institute angered religious conservatives, and even a few liberals, who saw it as an attack on the country’s Islamic values, or even a plot by Western governments and rival India to subvert the Islamic state,” it added."

The report by the SDPI is here

A Panorama of Leadership

I am not much of a TV person but will be interested to see Panorama on Sunday, 21 August 2005 22:15 on the topic of 'A question of leadership':

"For a sixty minute Panorama special, John Ware has spent the weeks since the London bombs traveling to Britain's Muslim communities, to discover whether their leaders can tackle the growth of extremism in their midst.

The programme contains strong, frank interviews with British Muslims on attitudes to integration, sectarianism, supremacy and suicide bombings in Britain and abroad. "

Of Roots and Pretexts

I don't have too much time to write at the moment, but found this article made many points that coincided with my preliminary thoughts on the 'root causes' of 7/7 in London:

“Al Qaeda is a revanchist organisation, which holds the West in general and the US in particular responsible for all the evils afflicting the Islamic world and for the decline of the political power of Islam since the end of the Ottoman Empire. It wants to avenge the wrongs allegedly committed against the Muslims since the end of the Ottoman Empire, re-write history and restore an Islamic Caliphate from which Western influence would be totally excluded.

It is comparable to the Nazis of Germany in its revanchist ideas and actions. The Nazis blamed the rest of the Western world for the decline of Germany since the First World War and for all the evils afflicting Germany. They wanted to restore the pre-eminent position of Germany in the world.If the world leaders of that time had said "Let us address the root causes of Nazism first, before we fight the Nazis and Adolf Hitler", where will the world be today?

The call to address the root causes of the Al Qaeda today is as short-sighted as a call to first address the root causes of Nazism would have been in the early 1940s”

This Day in 1945

VJ day was celebrated on 15th August 1945, 60 years ago.

It has been called the forgotten war:

"To the many veterans who fought in it and for those who survived the brutal conditions in the prisoner of war and labour camps, the war against the Japanese in the Far East will always be the forgotten war."

Nuts

I was interested to read Africa's miracle food: plumpy'nut:
"

Plumpy’nut — a fortified peanut butter stuffed with milk and vitamins — is just the sort of food that overweight Western children are advised to avoid. But for malnourished children it has an amazing effect, making it the undisputed hero of the current crisis in Niger, where 3.6 million people — 800,000 of them children — face severe food shortages.

Within two days, Hilinki’s weight has climbed from 4.6kg to 5kg (10lb to 11lb). She will stay at the clinic for a further three days and receive six meals a day. Nearly all of it will be plumpy’nut — a merging of the words peanut and plump — which can add as much as 1kg (2.2lb) a week to a hungry child’s weight.

...

Plumpy’nut was created by André Briend, who spent years working in humanitarian crises. He realised that a ready-to-eat supplement that needs no cooking or added water, and is cheap to produce, could help to save millions of lives in remote and under-developed areas. Plumpy’nut is now produced in Normandy by a company that specialises in food relief, in partnership with Unicef, the United Nation’s children’s organisation.

...

The success of plumpy’nut, which is normally given for four weeks at a cost of £12, in treating that problem is raising some awkward questions, particularly for the governments whose children stand to benefit.

“It is cheap to produce and deliver, so why is it not being manufactured locally and given to children all over Africa?” asks Adrian Hartley, a white Kenyan author and commentator on Africa. “These governments always have money to buy their Mercedes cars and guns — so why not some plumpy’nut?"

Site of the Week 9

Ever been stuck with a 'new' non-legacy laptop and need to re-install from scratch, but can not connect ANYTHING under DOS?

If so, try The Universal TCP/IP Network Bootdisk from www.netbootdisk.com and it is described here

Just download the Zip, extract, create a boot floppy and go.

One damn fine piece of software and not a M$ in sight: recommended!

Cheerful News?

This less than cheeful piece of news was recently reported by Iran Focus:

"Tehran, Iran, Jul. 22 – A military garrison has been opened in Iran to recruit and train volunteers for “martyrdom-seeking operations”, according to the garrison’s commander, Mohammad-Reza Jaafari.

...

The weekly carried a report in its July 13 issue on a meeting between Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi and the commander of Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison. Jaafari was quoted by the weekly as saying that the organisation of "martyrdom-seeking popular forces" was being implemented on the basis of instructions from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces"

Goodies

Just as you thought it was safe to relax that installation-thumb, more goodies appear!

Novell is releasing beta copies of SUSE Linux 10.0 OSS, downloaded from here

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack is now up to version 1.35

Enjoy!

Well, He Would, Wouldn't He?

As Mandy Rice-Davies said, Tariq Aziz 's help to Saddam Hussein continues, as reported by Reuters:

"I would like to make clear ... that I will not testify against anyone and, in particular, I will not testify against Saddam Hussein," attorney Badia Aref quoted Aziz saying in a note he passed the lawyer during a meeting earlier in the day."

I hope George Galloway will prevail upon his good friend, Tariq, to testify against the Iraqi mass murderer, but I some how doubt he will.

A Legal Move

Saddam Hussein, Iraq's murdering dictator has fired most of his legal team, according to an ABC report:

“Saddam Hussein's family said Monday it has dissolved his Jordan-based legal team, canceling the power of attorney it had given to international lawyers in a move seen as reorganizing the ousted leader's legal counsel ahead of his upcoming trial.

…

But Saddam's former chief lawyer Jordanian Ziad al-Khasawneh, who resigned on July 7, claimed members of the legal team, especially Americans, had criticized him for rebuking the American occupation of Iraq and declaring the resistance as "legitimate."

He claimed former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark advised Raghad and other members of Saddam's family that such statements hurt Saddam's defense.”

Ramsey Clark has some funny connections, first Slobodan Milosevic and now Saddam Hussein.

Cuban Soul

The Times yesterday reported the passing away of Ibrahim Ferrer.

The past years have seen that demise of Ruben Gonzalez and Compay Segundo, from the original Buena Vista Social Club

The Depravity Scale

Following on from Norms and Evil, the work of Dr. Michael Welner at Depravity Scale does provide some insights which may help people when reflecting on the 7/7 bombings.

From Indexing Evil Michael Welner, M.D., talks to Psychology Today News Editor Kaja Perina about The Depravity Scale.

"KP: How does September 11 factor into the Depravity Scale?

MW: People look at the hijackers and readily attach this spectrum of depravity. But they’re overlooking the very real possibility that these people were brainwashed, much the way destructive cult followers are. So are we dealing with depravity, or with an act of war? Is bin Laden psychopathic and depraved in his actions, or is he simply an Islamic populist?"

More Storms in Teapots

Following on from the Satanistic Teapot, Human Rights Watch reports that:

"The Malaysian government is targeting this religious community simply for their beliefs. The government is violating international standards by destroying the Sky Kingdom’s religious structures and now threatening to throw the members in jail without a fair trial. "

and earlier on:

"On July 18, a mob composed of 30 to 35 individuals, who were masked and dressed in robes, launched a pre-dawn attack on the Sky Kingdom. The mob reportedly tossed Molotov cocktails, slashed car tires with machetes, broke the windows of several homes, and partially scorched religious structures. Malaysian police have failed to arrest anyone involved in the attack. Instead, 58 members of the religious group, including 30 women and five children, were arrested on July 20 by the state religious affairs department and the local police."

Norms and Evil

Too often people try to ascribe some rational motivation or lopsided justification to the actions of murders, bombers or terrorists, and Norm's recent articles on evil and humanity make grim but necessary reading.

The reference to Dr. Michael Stone has revealed comments which related to the recent 7/7 bombings:

“Dr. Michael Stone of Columbia University also showed slides of nearly three dozen killers and others whom he considers evil.

A woman who burned one of her three daughters alive and starved another to death was "at the extreme edge of evil ... one of the most clearly evil persons" of more than 400 whose biographies he has read, Stone said.

However, he added that "the bulk of evil on a world scale is committed by ideologues and their followers." Wars and persecutions, from the Spanish Inquisition to the fighting in Bosnia, show people are capable of "bottomless cruelty to those outside the tribe, especially in times of hardship and hunger," he said.”

Satan's Teapots

The recent destruction of teapot in Malaysia caught my eye:

"Members and visitors to the commune believe that water from the teapot, which poured into the giant vase, held purifying powers. They follow the teaching of Ariffin Mohammed, 65, better known as Ayah ("Master") Pin, who holds that every religion is equally valid and that anyone can find his or her own path to God. ...

Religious police raided the compound twice last month and nearly 50 of its members are due in an Islamic court this week, charged with deviation.

But the religious authorities fully approve of the state's actions. Haji Mohammed bin Junoh, the imam of the largest mosque in the area, said: "Pin is a deviationist. It is possible that he is dealing with Satan."

Now we know: Tea drinking is part of some weird Satanistic cult...humm

No Veil

The rise of religious fundamentalism in Iraq has led to increasing attacks on women, and in particular, acid throwing as reported by Feminist Daily News:

"Several Iraqi women have been burned by acid attacks during recent weeks in Baghdad and the western province of Anbar. Acid attacks are a form of violence against women where acid is thrown at or sprayed on women’s faces, legs, or other exposed body parts, in order to punish women in this case for not wearing the ‘abaya,’ a long black cloak that only reveals the nose, mouth, eyes, and hands."

Also, reported by UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs :

"BAGDAD, 4 Jul 2005 (IRIN) - For Sumeya Abdullah, a 34-year-old primary school teacher in the capital Baghdad, life will never be the same again. In late June she had her legs burned by corrosive acid in a street attack because, she believes, she was not wearing her veil and the traditional 'abaya' covering common in many Middle Eastern countries.

"I was shopping in one of the most crowded districts in Baghdad when I felt my skin burning by something corrosive. It was horrible, a terrible pain, then I found myself in hospital," Abdullah said.

Witnesses in the district where the attack happened, said that for more than two weeks, women have been targeted by acid attackers for dressing immodestly. Sometimes the assailants spray or throw the acid on foot, or on occasion, from a moving car. Other attacks have been even more shocking."

Site of the Week 8

Most of us are concerned with the situation in the Middle East and Bitter Lemons provides many useful insights which tend to get missed in the main stream media or the polarised debates on the Internet

Bitter Lemon's sister site Bitter Lemons International is worth a visit as well.

Looking for Backhanders

George Galloway's tour of the Middle East and his meeting with the Syrian Foreign Minister only seek to confirm our worst opinions of this moneygrubbing charlatan.

Having lost his meal ticket from Saddam Hussein, George Galloway is predictably touring the Middle East and looking for a sponsor.

The Inspector Calls

Verifying video files is a pain and trying to determine what CoDecs are required is a thankless task, but to the rescue comes VideoInspector

KC Softwares summerise it as:

"VideoInspector is a tools designed to provide you with as much information as possible about your video files. With VideoInspector you'll know why your video files has no sound or refuses to play correctly. VideoInspector will help you installing the required CoDecs (coder/decoder software) for an optimal performance. VideoInspector can also inspect your system to find which codecs are available, and it can also process multiple video files and export its result in HTML or plain text files."


Me? I'd just say "very handy!" Downloaded from here

Get the Bug

I have finally succumb to SuDoku, with legitimate reasons which I won't go into.

But SuDoku is fairly addictive and could be costly if you need to buy puzzle books or daily newspapers to satisfy your cravings, therefore below are links to free puzzles:

Let’s Play Japan

Daily SuDoku

SuDoku in Oz

USAToday’s SuDoku

Enjoy!