The news about the Knickerbomber (I just picked that word up from the Telegraph, and I really like it) keeps pouring in. Barack Obama and his aides are sidestepping and backtracking and dodging in an attempt to avoid political damage, but their chances of success grow slimmer every day. The bomber had accomplices. Obama was briefed about underwear bombs back in October. The government had been warned that there would be a Christmas attack. Yes, there was another suspect arrested and handcuffed in Detroit after the plane landed. And on and on and on.In other news, the Australian government has begun a national ad campaign promoting the idea that having a sexually transmitted infection (STI) is nothing to be ashamed of.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Diana West, findalis, Insubria, JD, Nilk, Sean O’Brian, TB, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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China is Facing a Rising Economic Crisis of Non-Emerging Consumers
BEIJING — Contrary to what many Chinese columnists say, the real challenge facing the economy is not how to make consumers spend more, but how to make consumers in the first place. With the government’s US$586-billion stimulus package gradually running out — it was announced more than one year ago — there will have to be new, alternative forces to drive the economy’s continuous growth, even though Beijing has promised to pump more funds into the economy next year.
The economy would have looked healthier had it depended more on consumer spending, or what economists call consumption, rather than on government-led investment in public projects. Even Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged this in his interview with the Xinhua News Agency last week.
But low consumption (low in terms of its share in total GDP) has been a chronic symptom of this economy. Recognizing it is easy. But treating it is hard. And until now, China hasn’t found the magic pill.
Economists say that from 2003 to 2008, as investment contributed an average 42-plus percent of GDP, consumption’s share was not more than 38 percent, with the rest of the economy being driven by exports. In contrast, in most developed economies, the share of consumption is usually about 70 percent, if not more.
This year’s figures, which are yet to be released, are likely to show an even smaller percentage of consumption, considering Beijing’s huge stimulus spending.
There are several reasons for the slow progress of consumption. The most salient one is the slow increase, if at all, in individual income. A rather stern fact is that despite the world record growth rate in GDP, the share of household income in the nation’s total has actually declined, from 62.1 percent in 2002 to 57.1 percent in 2006.
Economists say that over a longer span of time (1991-2006), when GDP grew at an average 10.2 percent a year, urban per capita disposable income grew only 7.9 percent, and rural per capita net income rose at a meager 4.9 percent.
Presumably, much of the newly generated wealth was collected by the government and used on — apart from paying staff salaries and erecting new office buildings — the many public projects that can be seen everywhere, from the longest cross-sea bridge and the fastest railway to the tallest building.
But just like it has been reported about the new Wuhan-Guangzhou fast trains, the low household income could be holding back many potential passengers from using the ultra-modern, (up to) 390 km/hour trains. How can we expect people to pay 700 yuan for traveling first class and 500 yuan for second class when their average income is still low?
One has reason to fear that China may end up as an emerging market economy without emerging consumers if no effective efforts are made to balance such a lop-sided development model and if the government keeps pouring in money into one expensive public project after another while consumers do not have enough money to pay for new products and services. That would be a truly deplorable situation.
Admittedly, there is nothing wrong with the government leading all the key civil projects and social programs, just like there is nothing wrong for it to tax people one way or the other to raise funds in order to modernize various public services.
But those things should not be done single-handedly by just one or a few government agencies. Planning officials will have to ask themselves who will be their future users and how will they be able to afford them. They had better make sure that all the new facilities match up with people’s spending power and the freedom for a great number of private companies to provide a variety of small but necessary value-added services.
Soon enough, but after trillions of yuan have been spent on domestic building projects, the government will come to face the real challenge: of making consumers out of its people instead of making the longest, fastest and tallest things.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Barack Obama is Vulnerable on Terror — And He Knows it
In his weekly radio address yesterday, President Barack Obama patted himself on the back for having “refocused the fight — bringing to a responsible end the war in Iraq, which had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks”.
He then told people to remember that “our adversaries are those who would attack our country, not our fellow Americans”, before decrying “fear and cynicism” and “partisanship and division” — the code phrases for horrid Republicans used during his 2008 election campaign.
Complacency, faux moralising and partisan shots at Republicans. It was a neat summary of where Obama is going wrong after the Christmas Day debacle when the Nigerian knicker bomber managed to waltz onto a Detroit-bound flight.
For a man who campaigned denouncing the politicisation of national security under President George W Bush, it is worth noting how intensely political Obama’s treatment of what might henceforth be known as Underpantsgate has been.
His White House recognised its political vulnerability more readily than it comprehended the level of danger faced by Americans.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Ben Nelson to Henry McMaster: ‘Call Off the Dogs’
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) reached out Thursday evening to South Carolina GOP Attorney General Henry McMaster, the leader of a group of 13 Republican state attorneys general who are threatening to file suit against the Senate health care bill, and urged him to forgo any legal action, POLITICO has learned.
According to a copy of a memo sent by McMaster’s chief of staff to other GOP state attorneys general detailing the call, Nelson asked McMaster to “call off the dogs,” a reference to recent threats by the state AGs to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Medicaid provision in the bill that benefits Nebraska at the expense of other states.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Clues Left by Fort Hood Suspect Raise Haunting Question: Should Army Have Seen it Coming?
Nidal Malik Hasan was causing a ruckus in his one-bedroom apartment during the early hours of Nov. 5, banging against the thin walls long after midnight, packing boxes and shredding papers until he woke up the tenants next door.
Maybe that was a clue.
He picked up the phone at 2:37 a.m. and dialed a neighbor. Nobody answered. Hasan called again three hours later, this time leaving a message. “Nice knowing you, friend,” he said. “I’m moving on from here.”
Maybe that was a clue, too.
He left Apartment 9 early that morning and stopped next door to see a woman named Patricia Villa, whom he had known less than a month. He gave her a bag of frozen vegetables, some broccoli, a clothing steamer and an air mattress, explaining that he was about to be deployed to a war zone. Then Hasan visited another neighbor, a devout Christian, who looked at him quizzically when he handed her a copy of the Quran and recommended passages for her to read. “In my religion,” Hasan told her, “we’ll do anything to be closer to God.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
He Knew. Obama Warned About Terror Threat to Homeland Before His Golf & Snorkeling Getaway …
Update: Obama Finally Links Bomber to Al-Qaeda
If he was a Republican this would be the headline for the next 10 weeks… Obama was warned about the threats to the homeland in a Christmas briefing before he flew off to his golfing and snorkeling Hawaii holiday vacation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Interpol, In Your Midst
In an earlier article on Interpol I said that this global organisation now has complete diplomatic immunity to act as it wishes on US soil. It will not be long before it gains similar concessions worldwide. The reason it gained US approval first is that Obama has already promised America to the UN. But, some have misconstrued the situation…
Interpol has no special officers of its own, apart from HQ managers. Interpol acts through local police departments, seconding local officers to do its work in that particular country. This is what will make Interpol’s interventions so secret! The police officer at your door will not be wearing an Interpol badge, but the badge of your own local police force. This is why I referred you to the activity of the SS, who similarly worked through local police officers in countries they invaded. Interpol, then, will be in your midst and you won’t know it! And they will be used to cover-up what Obama and government don’t want you to know about.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mayo Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients
The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare patients as of tomorrow at one of its primary-care clinics in Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little.
More than 3,000 patients eligible for Medicare, the government’s largest health-insurance program, will be forced to pay cash if they want to continue seeing their doctors at a Mayo family clinic in Glendale, northwest of Phoenix, said Michael Yardley, a Mayo spokesman. The decision, which Yardley called a two-year pilot project, won’t affect other Mayo facilities in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota.
[…]
“Many physicians have said, ‘I simply cannot afford to keep taking care of Medicare patients,’“ said Heim, a family doctor who practices in Laurinburg, North Carolina. “If you truly know your business costs and you are losing money, it doesn’t make sense to do more of it.”
Medicare Loss
The Mayo organization had 3,700 staff physicians and scientists and treated 526,000 patients in 2008. It lost $840 million last year on Medicare, the government’s health program for the disabled and those 65 and older, Mayo spokeswoman Lynn Closway said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi, Norway Gov’ts Give to Clinton
WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreign countries including Saudi Arabia and Norway gave millions of dollars to former President Bill Clinton’s charity as Hillary Rodham Clinton served her first year as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state.
A donor list released on New Year’s Day by the William J. Clinton Foundation shows that Saudi Arabia and Norway each donated somewhere between $10 million to $25 million to the former president’s charity.
The biggest donors included the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which gave more than $25 million.
The Clintons agreed to annually disclose the names of donors to the former president’s foundation to address concerns about potential conflicts of interest between his fundraising abroad and his wife’s role in helping direct administration foreign policy.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
White House Adviser Briefed in October on Underwear Bomb Technique
White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan was briefed in October on an assassination attempt by Al Qaeda that investigators now believe used the same underwear bombing technique as the Nigerian suspect who tried to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day, U.S. intelligence and administration officials tell NEWSWEEK.
The briefing to Brennan was delivered at the White House by Muhammad bin Nayef, Saudi Arabia’s chief counterterrorism official. In late August, Nayef had survived an assassination attempt by an operative dispatched by the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda who was pretending to turn himself in. The operative had tried to kill the Saudi prince by detonating a bomb on his body, but stumbled on his way into the prince’s palace and blew himself up.
Saudi officials initially thought the bomb had been secreted in the operative’s anal cavity. But after investigating the matter more thoroughly, they concluded it had likely been sewn into his underwear, thereby allowing the operative to bypass security checks before his meeting with the prince. A main purpose of Nayef’s briefing for Brennan was to alert U.S. officials to the use of the underwear technique.
U.S. officials now suspect that Nayef’s attempted assassin and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian suspect aboard the Northwest flight, had the same bomb maker in Yemen, intelligence experts tell NEWSWEEK. At the briefing for Brennan, Nayef was concerned because “he didn’t think [U.S. officials] were paying enough attention” to the growing threat from Al Qaeda in Yemen, said a former U.S. intelligence official familiar with the briefing. (A senior Saudi official told NEWSWEEK Saturday that “we don’t have any concerns that the U.S. government isn’t sufficiently concerned about Yemen. In the latter part of the Bush administration and in this administration, the U.S. has been very focused on the dangers emanating from Yemen.”)
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
“Youths” Torch 1,137 Cars in France This New Year’s Eve
French “youths”, mostly from poor Muslim suburbs, torched 1,137 cars in France this year, only 10 short from the record set last year. Reuters reported:
Youths burned 1,137 cars across France overnight as New Year’s Eve celebrations once again turned violent, the French Interior Ministry said on Friday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Axe-Wielding Man Charged With Attempted Murder After Breaking Into Home of Danish ‘Mohammed’ Cartoonist
A Somalian man was today charged with attempted murder after breaking into the house of a controversial cartoonist in Denmark.
The 28-year-old smashed a window to get into Kurt Westergaard’s home last night, forcing him to take refuge in a safe room.
Officers arrived at the property in Aarhus within minutes to find the man with ‘an axe and a knife in either hand’ and shot him in the knee and on his left arm.
The Somalian was carried into court on a stretcher where he was charged with two counts of attempted murder relating to Westergaard and a police officer.
[…]
Westergaard’s five-year-old granddaughter was staying in the house at the time of the attack.
They sought shelter in a panic room when they heard the suspect breaking in, Preben Nielsen from the Aarhus police said.
Jakob Scharf, head of Denmark’s intelligence agency, said the attack was ‘terror related’.
According to Danish intelligence, he has ‘close relations to the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab and al-Qaida leaders in eastern Africa,’ Scharf said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Diana West: Kurt Westergaard Can’t Stop Sharia Alone
When Kurt Westergaard came to the United States for a speaking tour on September 30, the fourth anniversary of the publication in Jyllands Posten of the Danish Mohammed cartoons, a number of reporters contacted me for information because Kurt’s trip was sponsored by the International Free Press Society. (Related stories here.)
Boiler plate, stuff, mainly — where’s he going, to whom is he speaking, a few basics about free speech. But I had a question for these reporters, too. Will you run the Westergaard Mohammed? Will you print the cartoon Kurt Westergaard drew, all in a day’s work, when Jyllands Posten editor Flemming Rose asked him for a Mohammed cartoon as part of a newspaper feature showcasing 12 Mohammed cartoons from 12 Danish artists commissioned to demonstrate that Denmark, free Denmark, was not under, beholden or intimidated by Islamic law?
First response from the ladies and gennemen of the Fourth Estate: nervous laughter.
Then: Oh, I’ll have to ask my editor about that….
Surprise, surprise, the Westergaard cartoon didn’t see media light of day during Kurt’s entire trip. American media disgraced themselves by covering Westergaard, his cartoon, the threats to his life, the barbarous Islamic reaction from the highest reaches of the Islamic diplomatic world to the Islamic street protests that resulted in loss of life, Kurt’s principles, free speech — all without ever showing readers and viewers the cartoon itself. (One exception — the Chicago Sun Times, which ran a photo of Kurt holding a laptop displaying the cartoon.)
Kurt Westergaard, 75, was almost murdered last night by an axe- knife- or hammer-wielding 27-year-old Muslim from Somalia who broke into his home. Kurt managed to get to his safe room and police arrived very quickly, shooting the would-be assassin in the course of a struggle. News reports tells us Kurt is safe.
Safe. Kurt isn’t safe. Nor will he be, nor any of us be, “safe” until Islamic law is stopped in the West, its deeply advanced tentacles eradicated. Because don’t think it isn’t here. Sharia is here and in force.
To measure the extent, just watch the “free press” cover Kurt’s latest (and closest) brush with sharia-sanctioned death, and count how many times that coverage is accompanied by a picture of Kurt’s cartoon. Any media outlet that runs the cartoon is not under Islamic law. Any media outlet that doesn’t is under Islamic law.
One old Dane, however courageous, however strong, can’t stop sharia alone.
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ex Lazio Governor to be Quizzed Again After New Transsexual Claims
Rome, 30 Dec. (AKI) — Prosecutors are expected early in the new year to re-examine former Lazio governor Piero Marrazzo, who is at the centre of an extortion and drugs scandal involving transsexual prostitutes. A third Brasilian sex worker has now claimed Marrazzo was one of her clients and to have had encounters with him in his car, home and even at his office.
“I saw Marrazzo a number of times, often at his home, and one or twice in his office at the Lazio Region,” transsexual prostitute Paloma told prosecutors on Tuesday in the Italian capital, Rome, where she was questioned for twelve hours.
Paloma also said that she and Marrazzo often took drugs together, which he paid her or their pusher for with wads of two hundred and five hundred euro bills he kept hidden in an large bookcase in his office.
“I was always amazed by the quantities of cash he had and have always been certain it came from the Lazio Region’s coffers,” Paloma told prosecutors.
However she denied having had “full sexual relations” with Marrazzo.
“He wanted cuddles, company, and someone to take cocaine with,” Paloma said.
Marrazzo in a statement issued by his lawyers denied Paloma’s claims as “utterly slanderous” and “absolutely false”.
He resigned from his post as Lazio governor in October as media published details of a video of a sexual encounter between him and transsexual Brasilian prostitute Natalie in which they were also apparently taking cocaine.
Four Italian policemen were arrested on suspicion of blackmailing Marrazzo over the video which they allegedly filmed on his mobile phone during a raid.
Marrazzo has admitted to prosecutors “sporadic and occasional” cocaine use in his sexual encounters with Brasilian transsexual prostitutes who included Natalie and Brenda.
Brenda was last month found dead in her tiny north Rome apartment, where a fire had apparently broken out.
Brenda had told prosecutors that she shot a video at a sex and drugs party she attended with Marrazzo and another transsexual escort, but claimed to have destroyed the video.
Police suspected foul play in the circumstances surrounding her death.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Child of African Immigrants Named ‘Mayor’ In North
Bergamo, 30 Dec. (AKI) — A 13-year-old boy whose parents come from the Ivory Coast has been elected ‘children’s mayor’ in a northern Italian town considered a stronghold of the anti-immigrant Northern League.
David N’Doua was elected mayor in an initiative at his local school in Stezzano near Bergamo. He was born in the nearby town of Seriate to Ivorian parents who have lived in Italy for many years.
Of the seven children elected in the children’s council election project, four of them were reportedly foreign born or the children of immigrants.
“The children’s council is a project designed to really compare different cultures, to help people understand that diversity is an asset,” school principal Giovan Battista Sertori told the Italian daily, Corriere della Sera.
“In these children I see a desire to appreciate and give a great deal of respect to their Italian colleagues.”
Elena Poma, Stezzano mayor who is aligned with the Northern League, welcomed the school project, while warning of the ongoing problems posed by illegal immigrants.
“The project undertaken by the school is really an excellent example of integration,” she said. “But unfortunately it doesn’t solve the problem: the difficult issue is the one regarding adults.
“It is difficult to speak about integration when we have to deal with the phenomenon of illegal immigration, with people who are not detected because they live in Italy illegally.”
David N’Doua, the young mayor, was adopting a low profile and declined to comment as he went skiing with his family.
“For now, I am enjoying my holidays,” he reportedly said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: No Suspects in Attack Against Malmö Mosque
As of New Year’s Eve evening, police had no suspects for an attack against a mosque in Malmö earlier in the day when shots had been fired through the window of the building.
Nobody was seriously injured during the incident. The imam was taken to hospital to treat minor cuts from glass splinters, but he was not struck by a bullet. He was allowed to leave the hospital after his cuts were bandaged.
Around five people, including the imam, were in an office following the evening prayers.
“The imam was sitting in front of the computer when (we heard) a bang. At first I thought there had been an explosion,” one of the witnesses told Sydsvenskan newspaper.
Bejzat Becirov, head of the Islamic Center, said that he doesn’t believe the shots were aimed at a particular individual but rather at the mosque.
“We receive threats all the time. Unfortunately, we have become immune to it. Despite all the incidents, the police have never arrested anyone,” he told TT news agency.
The incident is classifed as attempted murder or aggravated assault.
Police currently have little to go on in their investigation. “We are looking for information from witnesses,” police information officer Cindy Schönström-Larsson said.
“Knocking on doors doesn’t work. The mosque is located by itself and there are no other buildings around,” she added.
The Swedish Muslim Association (Sveriges Muslimska Förbund) said in a statement that they take the attack very seriously. The mosque in Malmö has reportedly been the target of several cases of attempted arson over the last ten years.
“These criminals are being driven by islamophobia. The police must protect (Sweden’s) mosques and their followers against racist threats,” Mahmoud Aldebe, head of the association, said.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Taking Naked Pictures of Sleeping Teen Not a Crime: Court
A court in Halmstad on the southwest coast of Sweden has dismissed charges against a man who reportedly took a photo of a 17-year-old girl’s genitals while she was sleeping. The court said that the incident was was not a punishable offense.
The girl had laid down to sleep on a sofa during a New Year’s party. The 49-year-old reportedly lifted up the girl’s skirt and photographed her genitals. The man, whose teenage son was hosting the party, was indicted on charges of sexual harassment, local newspaper Hallandsposten reports.
Citing several other cases, the Halmstad district court said that the man had not committed a crime. There is no general prohibition against photographing people without their consent. The same applies to people who are asleep.
The fact that other people have seen the photograph, as claimed by the prosecutor in this case, doesn’t make the incident a punishable offense either, according to the court.
[Comments from JD: This is an insane judgement. All the comments to the article show that many Swedes are outraged about this decision.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Army Could Miss Ammunition-Recall Target
The Swiss army says it is uncertain whether it will meet the end of year deadline for the return of all ammunition kept at home by men serving in the militia army.
According to latest figures, 80 per cent of the ammunition had been returned by November 30 but an army spokesman said it was unlikely all of the remaining 20 per cent would be recovered by December 31.
Spokesman Christoph Brunner told swissinfo.ch that 60,000 canisters of ammunition were still in circulation at the end of last month.
In 2007, parliament reacted to a number of fatalities involving army weapons, including domestic violence and a random shooting, by banning soldiers from storing ammunition at home.
Politicians stopped short of ending the tradition of allowing men to keep their army-issue rifles and pistols at home when not on active duty.
However, dozens of organisations including centre-left and leftwing political parties have collected enough signatures to force a nationwide vote on a ban.
A date for the vote has not yet been set.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Healthy’ Girl, 15, Died From Series of Heart Attacks After Being Sent Home From Hospital With ‘Flu’
A girl of 15 died on Christmas Eve from a series of heart attacks just days after begging doctors to keep her in hospital because she felt so ill.
Amy Carter lost a stone in weight over a week after initially falling sick with flu-like symptoms at the start of December.
However, she was discharged from hospital after tests showed she was suffering from glandular fever.
Richard and Jacqueline Carter said their daughter had asked a doctor at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester: ‘Am I going to die?’
They said the doctor replied: ‘Of course not, don’t be silly it’s a nasty illness but it’s certainly not life-threatening.’
She was discharged on December 21, two days after she was admitted, and told to take paracetamol and have plenty of rest.
But the next day, Amy was struggling to breathe and was taken to an out-of-hours care centre where a doctor sent her away with instructions to drink lots of fluid.
On the morning of Christmas Eve, her worried parents called their GP, who said Amy’s condition was ‘critical’ and called an ambulance. Despite being given five adrenalin shots into her heart — one for each cardiac arrest — she died just hours later in hospital.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: £15 Extra Tax on Car Fines: Now Drivers Face Hefty Surcharge to Compensate Victims of Violent Crime
Motorists guilty of minor ‘crimes’ such as parking misdemeanours are to be hit with a £15 surcharge to help victims of domestic violence or sex attacks.
The amount will be added to fixed penalty tickets given out by police for breaking parking regulations, contravening a stop sign, speeding and even having dirty windows.
Motorists will be forced by law to pay the charge — even though their offence has no ‘victim’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Islamic Group Plans Wootton March
An Islamic group said to have links to an extremist movement is planning to march through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett.
The town has become famous for honouring British war dead returning from Afghanistan.
Islam4UK pledged the protest would be peaceful with symbolic coffins representing Muslim victims.
Wootton’s former mayor Chris Wannell has called on the group’s leader not to hold the march.
‘Brutal crusade’
North Wiltshire MP James Gray said: “I’ve seen in the past assorted groups threaten to march, but they don’t actually do it.
“I wouldn’t think they’d get permission from the police.”
Islam4UK is said to call itself a “platform” for the extremist movement al-Muhajiroun.
Leader of Islam4UK, former lawyer Anjem Choudary, said the march would not coincide with a repatriation ceremony.
On its website the group said it was “totally unacceptable” to honour servicemen who had contributed “directly or indirectly” to the deaths of “well over 100,000 Muslims in Afghanistan in the last 8 years”.
“We at Islam4UK find this totally unacceptable and as a result have decided to launch the ‘Wootton Bassett March’ to highlight the real casualties of this brutal Crusade,” the website states.
Mr Wannell said the townsfolk did not come out to honour the soldiers “for any political reason at all” but to pay their respects to “those who have given their lives for our freedom”.
Wootton councillor, Jenny Stratton, said: “Everyone has the right to protest, but it’s not a very tactful place to do it.”
A spokeswoman for Wiltshire Police said: “Under the Public Order Act the organiser must inform the police of the date, time and route of the proposed procession, and the name and address of the organiser.
“If the march or procession is believed to be likely to result in serious disorder, disruption or damage, then the police can impose conditions upon the organiser.
“In exceptional circumstances, police may apply to the local authority for an order prohibiting such a march.”
To date there had been no contact from Islam4UK or any other group wishing to arrange such a march in Wootton Bassett,” the spokeswoman added.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lynda La Plante Attacks BBC, Saying Corporation Would Take a Muslim Boy’s Script Over Hers
Prime Suspect creator Linda La Plante has lambasted the BBC’s commissioning policy, claiming the Corporation would take a Muslim boy’s script over hers.
Her controversial comments in the same week that the writer PD James criticised the BBC over its ‘extraordinarily large’ salaries for managers.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Ms La Plante — the writer behind the hugely popular Trial and Retribution series — bemoaned the BBC’s drama commissioning, describing it as ‘very depressing’.
She told the newspaper: ‘If my name were Usafi Iqbadal and I was 19, then they’d probably bring me in and talk.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Outrage Over Controversial Islamic Group’s Plan to March Through Wootton Bassett
People in Wootton Bassett, the town famous for honouring dead British soldiers returning from Afghanistan, reacted defiantly on Saturday to news that a controversial Islamic group is to march through its streets.
Islam4UK — which calls itself a “platform” for extremist movement al-Muhajiroun — plans to parade through the Wiltshire town in the coming weeks.
The group’s website says the event is being held “not in memory of the occupying and merciless British military” but of the Muslims its says have been “murdered in the name of democracy and freedom”.
Leader Anjem Choudary said the protest, involving 500 people, would be peaceful one, with “symbolic coffins” being carried to honour Muslim victims of the conflict. He said he also planned to write to the parents of dead UK soldiers with his version of “the reality of what they died for”.
But the walk will not coincide with the return of a dead soldier’s body, added Mr Choudary, 42, a former lawyer from East London.
Hundreds of people line the market town’s High Street every week to watch servicemen’s bodies being driven through from RAF Lyneham.
Family and friends of the fallen, shopkeepers and British Legion members wait in all weathers to pay silent tribute to a cortege of Union flag-draped coffins.
Ex-mayor and councillor Chris Wannell said: “We don’t do what we do at Wootton Bassett for any political reason at all, but to pay our respects to those who have given their lives for our freedom.
“We are a Christian country and a traditional old English market town who honour very much our Queen and country. We obey the law and pay respects to our servicemen who protect our freedom.
“If this man has any decency about him he will not hold a march through Wootton Bassett.”
He also called on the media not to give the group any attention.
North Wiltshire MP James Gray said: “I’ve seen in the past assorted groups threaten to march, but they don’t actually do it. I wouldn’t think they’d get permission from the police.
“The people of Wootton Bassett are not interested in politics. They will say, these are foolish people making a silly point — we’ll get on with our ordinary lives thank you.
“This also misunderstands the nature of what the people of Wootton Bassett do. They are not bloodthirstily in favour of the war. Most people would say they were not qualified to comment on the rightness or wrongness.
“The people of Wootton Bassett are decent, quiet, pragmatic people and they’ll stay at home instead (of reacting to the march).”
Islam4UK describes the plans for the “momentous march” on its website.
It says: “Wootton Bassett, is currently famous for its public mourning processions held in memory of British soldiers killed whilst on military service in Afghanistan; coffins containing the dismembered bodies of these soldiers are usually draped in Union jack flags and driven through the town centre from RAF Lyneham, as a tribute to their ‘sacrifice’.
“The proposed march by members of Islam4UK is however of a very different venture, held not in memory of the occupying and merciless British military, but rather the real war dead who have been shunned by the Western media and general public as they were and continue to be horrifically murdered in the name of Democracy and Freedom — the innocent Muslim men, women and children.
“It is quite extraordinary, that with well over 100,000 Muslims killed in Afghanistan in the last 8 years that those military serviceman who have directly or indirectly contributed to their death are paraded as war heroes and moreover honoured for what is ultimately genocide.
“We at Islam4UK find this totally unacceptable and as a result have decided to launch the ‘Wootton Bassett March’ to highlight the real casualties of this brutal Crusade.”
Mr Choudary added: “The British public is blissfully unaware of what’s being done in their name. More than 10,000 innocent men women and children are being slaughtered.
“You may see one or two coffins being returned to the UK every other day but when you think about the people of Afghanistan it’s a huge number (being killed) in comparison.
“I intend to write a letter to the parents of British soldiers telling them the reality of what they died for.”
The march will call for the withdrawal of British troops who Mr Choudary believes are largely in Afghanistan to “prevent the rise of Islam in the area.”
He added that some families of the dead soldiers had even offered him their support.
Wiltshire Police said they were aware of the “significant community concern” caused by the proposal, adding that they would have to approve details before permitting the march.
A force spokesman said: “In exceptional circumstances, the police may apply to the local authority for an order prohibiting such a march.
“In these particular circumstances, Wiltshire Police will be liaising closely with the local community and our partner agencies.
“Furthermore, contact will be sought with the organisers at the earliest opportunity in order to determine the facts of the proposed march.
“To date there has been no contact from Islam4uk or any other group wishing to arrange such a march in Wootton Bassett.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Outrage as Muslim Extremists Hijack War Heroes’ Town Wootton Bassett
A town famed for honouring dead British solders returning from Afghanistan expressed its dismay yesterday at plans by an extremist Islamic group to march through its streets.
Islam4UK, which calls itself a ‘platform’ for the fanatical Al-Muhajiroun movement, said its supporters will parade through Wootton Bassett in the near future.
The group’s website said the event is being held ‘not in memory of the occupying and merciless British military’ but of the Muslims ‘murdered in the name of democracy and freedom’.
[…]
North Wiltshire MP James Gray said: ‘I’ve seen in the past assorted groups threaten to march, but they don’t actually do it. I wouldn’t think they’d get permission from the police.’
He added: ‘The people of Wootton Bassett are not interested in politics. They will say, ‘these are foolish people making a silly point — we’ll get on with our ordinary lives thank you’.
‘This also misunderstands the nature of what the people of Wootton Bassett do. They are not blood-thirstily in favour of the war. Most people would say they were not qualified to comment on the rightness or wrongness.
‘The people of Wootton Bassett are decent, quiet, pragmatic people and they’ll stay at home instead (of reacting to the march).’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fatah Claims US Promised to Force Israeli Surrender
(IsraelNN.com) Senior Fatah official Saeb Erekat claimed on Saturday that the American government gave the Palestinian Authority guarantees that it would force Israel to withdraw from Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.
| — Hat tip: findalis | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Social Workers Support Struggling Palestinians
In the West Bank, where many children are raised in poverty and medical care cannot be taken for granted, the Caritas Baby Hospital is helping alleviate suffering.
Set up by a Swiss priest in 1952 to care for sick babies in Bethlehem, the hospital has widened its provision to include social work in the Bethlehem-Hebron area. A chunk of the hospital’s funding comes from Swiss churches’ Christmas donations.
With unemployment high and 50 per cent of households living on the equivalent of SFr450 ($435) a month or less, many Palestinians struggle to raise their families.
“The need is palpable,” says head doctor Hiyam Marzouqa. “The pressure on families, and women in particular, is increasing; they have to try to get by on nothing…”
“I do home visits to know the family better and to give them more time to talk,” says social worker Lina Rahel, who as a mother herself understands this pressure.
One of three social workers with the hospital, she makes house visits twice a week to families in the Hebron area, following up on patients released from hospital or those with chronic illnesses, like asthma. swissinfo.ch accompanied her on a chilly day in December.
Inside the stone-built house on the outskirts of Hebron it felt colder than outside. A two-ring electric heater struggled to take the edge off the chill in the living room where plaster was peeling from the damp walls. Incongruously one complete wall was covered in a poster of tulip fields.
Sitting on his mother’s lap, Mohammed was crying ceaselessly and twisting his head from side to side. The youngest of seven children, he has diabetes and delayed development.
“The mother is very concerned and she wants to do the best for her baby. He’s two-and-a-half years old. He doesn’t sit and he doesn’t walk,” says Lena.
“ The pressure on women is increasing; they have to try to get by on nothing… “
Head doctor Hiyam Marzouqa
No work, no money
The little boy has been in and out of hospital around 20 times in his short life. His 37-year-old mother hates to impose on the hospital and has not sought treatment for Mohammed this time, although he has been vomiting for several days.
The cold weather and lack of money for transport also influenced his mother’s decision to keep Mohammed at home. Her husband, who does not have a regular job, has not been working for the past few days.
“Going from Hebron to Bethlehem is becoming difficult now, especially here where they live,” says Lena, alluding to the Israeli security barrier, which cuts many Palestinian towns off from one another. “It’s very far from the city centre. They have to take more than one means of transport to reach Bethlehem, so it costs.”
Mohammed’s mother makes ends meet by sewing shoes for a Hebron shoe manufacturer. Her hands are calloused by the effort of pulling the needle through the thick leather. Working with a female relative, she can manage just five pairs of shoes a day, earning 1.5 shekels (SFr0.41) a pair for shoes that will sell in the shops for ten times that amount.
At the end of the visit, Lena explains what will happen now. “We need to sit together, the doctor, me and the mother to discuss what we can do for this baby. It’s not a matter of diabetes, he has other problems. We have to do further investigations.”
Eight-year-old Basan has his dead brother’s charm (swissinfo)
Remembering Bashir
Near the town of Dura we paid a visit to the Jabary family, who were mourning the death of 18-year-old Bashir one month before.
Bashir had a terminal genetic illness, which also affected three siblings who died in infancy. Two younger brothers also have the disease, that affects growth, and are unlikely to live to adulthood.
The boys’ mother, who is just 41, is frequently close to tears as she talks about the son to whom she was so close and who was also greatly loved by the hospital staff. Her two sons, Bashar (15) and Basan (8) — who look half their age — sit quietly beside her. They have accepted that Bashir’s fate will be theirs too.
“The kids miss him because he was their eldest brother. Whenever we ask where is Bashir, they say, ‘he went to God’,” says Lena.
“The most painful thing for the mother is when she thinks she has to lose another two. She’s always asking God to give her the strength and the health to take care of them until the last moment of their lives.”
The next day, the boys’ mother turns up at the Outpatients Clinic in Bethlehem. Her elder son is sick again. For Bashar there may be no cure, but the care provided by the hospital staff at least provides some comfort for his mother.
Morven McLean in the West Bank, swissinfo.ch
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ayers, Dohrn Stir Chaos in Middle East
Obama’s friends join protesters attempting to enter Gaza
JERUSALEM — Weatherman terrorists Williams Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn — close associates for years of President Obama — were involved in provoking chaos on the streets of Egypt this week in an attempt to enter the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to join in solidarity with the territory’s population and leadership.
The protests were led in large part by Jodie Evans, co-founder of Code Pink, a far-left activist organization formed in 2002 to protest America’s war in Iraq. The group previously met with Hamas and with leaders of the Taliban. Evans was a fundraiser and financial bundler for Obama’s presidential campaign.
Also protesting in Egypt was Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the anti-Israel Electronic Intifada website. WND previously reported Obama spoke at pro-Palestinian events in the 1990s alongside Abunimah. In one such event, a 1999 fundraiser for Palestinian “refugees,” Abunimah recalls introducing Obama on stage.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Intel Forecast: Regime Change in Iran
Analysts say those who deposed shah now viewed as enemies of people
LONDON — Analysts for Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency are predicting the revolution which ended the shah’s regime 30 years ago in Iran is poised to launch a new change in the embattled country in the New Year, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
The successors of those who rose to depose the detested shah in the coup d’etat of 1979 now find themselves cast as the enemies of the people.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Gives West “Ultimatum” On Uranium Swap
Iran on Saturday gave the West a one-month “ultimatum” to accept a uranium swap, warning that if there is no deal it will produce its own nuclear fuel for a Tehran reactor, state television reported.
“The international community has just one month left to decide” whether or not it will accept Iran’s conditions, otherwise “Tehran will enrich uranium to a higher level,” Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying.
“This is an ultimatum,” he said.
Iran, which rejected a Dec. 31 deadline to accept a U.N.-brokered deal, said on Tuesday it is ready to swap abroad its low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, insisting however that the exchange should happen in stages.
Tehran has rejected a proposal by U.N. nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ship out most of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium for further processing by Russia and France into fuel for a research reactor.
Iran said it was ready for a fuel swap “in several stages,” and in late December Mottaki said Iran is open to exchanging uranium on Turkish soil. The IAEA has ruled out a swap taking place on Iranian territory.
World powers have been pushing for Iran to accept the U.N.-brokered deal and are also mulling plans to impose fresh U.N. sanctions against Tehran after the Islamic republic dismissed the year-end deadline.
Iran is already under three sets of U.N. sanctions for refusing to abandon its sensitive program of uranium enrichment, the process which produces nuclear fuel or, in highly extended form, the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Interferes With German News Satellite
The German state foreign broadcasting network Deutsche Welle (DW) was the target of a deliberate jamming signal originating in Iran, according to a report in news magazine Der Spiegel.
According to the report, the French national radio regulatory agency Agence Nationale des Fréquences wrote to the Iranian Ministry of Communication saying that on December 7 and December 8 signals had been detected that looked like “deliberate interference” with the DW satellite.
The affected satellite was the Hot-Bird satellite belonging to Eutelsat. The satellite operators apparently reacted to the disturbance by increasing the broadcasting power, whereupon the disturbance signal was also strengthened, cutting out an Arabian language TV broadcast from DW.
The origin of the disturbance was traced to the area of Tehran. Similar disturbances coming from Iran were already detected by the French authority in May and June 2009.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: More Attacks Against Christians in Mosul
A deacon seriously hurt. A Christian killed before his house on Christmas Eve. The impotence of the government and avoidance of responsibilities. Nearly 2 thousand Christians killed in 6 years.
Mosul (AsiaNews) — Attacks continue against Christians to push them to flee from Iraq. Yesterday afternoon Zhaki Homo Bashir, a Christian deacon, was hit by gunfire from a group of unknown criminals. The man had just entered his shop located in the district of al Jadida. Seriously injured, he was transported to hospital. AsiaNews published the news yesterday of the kidnapping a college student from an Islamic group. News has also reached the agency in recent days that another Christian was killed on Christmas Eve; Basil Isho Youhanna was hit by gunfire in front of his house in the neighbourhood of Tahrir, in northern Mosul. In recent weeks there has been an increase of killings of Christians and attacks on churches and convents. All the violence is part of a project of “ethnic cleansing” against the Iraqi Christians, reported to AsiaNews by Msgr. Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk. The national government and the local governorate are powerless before these attacks, while the different ethnic groups Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen — with the possible infiltration of extremist cells — are all blaming each other.
According to local sources, since 2003, the year of the fall of Saddam Hussein, at least 1960 Christians have been killed in Iraq. Their presence has been reduced by at least half because of the exodus to other quieter areas of the country (Kurdistan) or abroad.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudis Warned Top Obama Officials About Underwear Bombs in October
The briefing to Brennan was delivered at the White House by Muhammad bin Nayef, Saudi Arabia’s chief counterterrorism official. In late August, Nayef had survived an assassination attempt by an operative dispatched by the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda who was pretending to turn himself in. The operative had tried to kill the Saudi prince by detonating a bomb on his body, but stumbled on his way into the prince’s palace and blew himself up.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CIA Resolved to Avenge Agents’ Deaths
Retired CIA Officers Take Swing at Obama Over CIA Torture Prosecutions
The CIA, reeling from the assassination of seven of its operatives in Afghanistan earlier this week, said today that its resolve to find and attack Taliban and al Qaeda leaders is “greater than ever.”
CIA spokesman George Little would not discuss specifics of the Wednesday attack, the deadliest assault on the CIA since the 1983 bombing of the Beirut embassy. Little did suggest, however, that the loss would be avenged.
“There is much about the attack that isn’t yet known, but this much is clear: The CIA’s resolve to pursue aggressive counterterrorism operations is greater than ever,” Little told The Associated Press.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia’s Religious Police on Hemline Frontline
The 20-year-old lowers her eyes and doesn’t argue with the khaki-clad male officers who summon her to the side of the road.
“I promise to buy a more Muslim outfit,” she says, showing enough contrition for the police to wave her on her way.
In one hour, 18 women are pulled over because the guardians of morality decide their slacks are too tight or their shirts reveal too much of their feminine curves.
Only three men receive the same treatment, for wearing shorts.
“We have to respect sharia (Islamic) law, which has been adopted by the provincial government and which stipulates that women can only show their faces and their hands,” sharia police commander Hali Marzuki told AFP.
Perched at the end of Sumatra island about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) northwest of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, Aceh is one of the most conservative regions in the mainly Muslim archipelago.
Most Muslims in the country of 234 million people are modern and moderate, and Indonesia’s constitution recognizes five official religions including Buddhism and Christianity.
But Aceh has special autonomy, and one of the ways it has defined itself as different from the rest of the country is through the implementation of sharia law and the advent of the religious police.
The force has more than 1,500 officers, including 60 women. However, they do not seem to cause too much concern among citizens.
Punishment
Officers are relatively cheerful, they carry no weapons and they almost always let wrongdoers off with a warning.
“Punishment is not the objective of the law. We must convince and explain,” says Iskander, the sharia police chief in Banda Aceh, who goes by only one name.
He has the power to order floggings but has found no need to do so since he was promoted to his current position a year ago.
Less than a dozen people have been publicly caned since 2005, for drinking alcohol, gambling or having illicit sexual relations.
Advocates say the force is having a good effect on society.
“The message is getting around and there are less and less violations,” says senior officer Syarifuddin, adding that most of the people arrested under sharia law had been denounced to the police by fellow citizens.
It was thanks to one such tipoff that police busted a group of men gambling over dominoes in a cafe earlier this month.
Another preoccupation for the sharia police is the “sin of khalwat”, when a man and woman are found alone in an isolated place, such as a beach.
Young Acehnese lovers, or any man and woman for that matter, need to watch their backs if they want to sit together with the sand between their toes and take in one of Aceh’s beautiful seaside sunsets.
“You have to learn quickly with these police around,” said 17-year-old student Fira, who says she likes to “have fun”.
“We know how to take precautions to avoid the checks. And anyway, if you’re caught you only risk being reprimanded.”
But this game of cat-and-mouse could take an ugly turn if a new regulations allowing the stoning to death of adulterers and the flogging of homosexuals is signed into law by the provincial government.
The law was enacted by the outgoing Aceh Legislative Council on September 14, but it has been under review by the newly elected assembly and has not been signed into effect by Governor Irwandi Yusuf.
Lawmakers in jakarta have expressed their opposition to such draconian punishments, which could be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and re-open old wounds about Aceh’s hard-won autonomy.
“We have to be very careful in the face of such radical pressures,” said Khairani Arifin, an activist for Acehnese women’s rights.
“Aceh could look like Pakistan one day,” she warned.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Death Toll From Suicide Attack Against Volleyball Match Rises to 105
Hundreds of people are wounded. A building collapses. Search for dead and wounded continues. Military says attack is retaliation against local residents who back army in its fight against Taliban. In one year, thousands of civilians have been killed by the Taliban.
Peshawar (AsiaNews/Agencies) — At least 105 people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a volleyball tournament in a town in north-western Pakistan yesterday, police said as it updated earlier figures which had put the death toll at 88 with more than 100 injured.
The blast was so powerful that it demolished a building near the volleyball court. Police is still searching for more dead and wounded under the rubbles.
The suicide bomber detonated a vehicle as fans gathered to watch two teams face off in the town of Shah Hasan Khan, not far from the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan.
According to police, the town was targeted because its residents have been supporting the Pakistani government’s efforts to suppress Taliban militants.
For several months, Pakistan’s military has been battling the Taliban who use certain regions of the country as safe havens for their fight in Afghanistan and where they enforce Sharia.
In 2009, the Taliban have been responsible for several attacks that killed thousands of civilians.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Nepal — China: Nepal Changes Position: Tibet is Part of China, An End to Protests
The new prime minister arrives in Beijing and Kathmandu guarantees Chinese President Hu Jintao secessionist activities in the territory of Nepal will not be permitted. In exchange, trade and development.
Beijing (AsiaNews) — Nepal “will do everything to stop anti-Chinese activities on its territory, and recognizes Tibet and Taiwan as an inalienable part of the territory ruled by Beijing. For this, no-one will be allowed to use Nepal territory to harm Chinese interests”, said the Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar of Kathmandu yesterday to Chinese President Hu Jintao, during his first official visit to Beijing. The visiting premier also met with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Wu Bangguo, member of the Politburo.
The Nepalese delegation also included the Minister of Water Resources, Prakash Sharan Mahat, who added: “In less than half an hour of talks, the two leaders recognized the great cooperation that has formed between the two countries since bilateral diplomatic relations were born 54 years ago. The Chinese president has assured his full support”. The political adviser Raghuji Panta said that Hu Jintao “described Nepal as a very important friend for China”.
The visit of the Nepalese lasted six days and started in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Arriving in Beijing on 28 December, the Nepali leader met Wen Jiabao. The two have signed an agreement for the exchange of students between the two nations and several agreements on economic cooperation. In a separate meeting, the Nepalese Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi signed two separate memoranda of economic cooperation to a value of 1.5 billion rupees.
Over the past six months, China has doubled its economic aid to Nepal. Under the new agreements, Beijing is committed to enhancing the export of Nepalese products in its territory, and encourages Chinese companies to participate in projects of infrastructure construction in the mountainous region. According to Wen Jiabao, also, “China respects and supports the social system and development chosen by Kathmandu, and will do everything possible to ensure stability.”
The new official position of Nepal marks a blow to the Tibetan diaspora, who had found political refuge in the territory governed from Kathmandu. The exile began in 1959 when the Dalai Lama was forced to flee from Lhasa to find refuge in India. Since then, approximately 20 thousand Tibetans have settled in Nepal, and therein often demonstarte against Chinese repression of Tibet. The political agreement between the two countries put a stop to all this.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines — Islam: Filipino Migrant in Saudi Arabia: Exploited and Mocked for Her Faith
A Filipino domestic worker describes as “a prison” her experience in Saudi Arabia. For seven months she was not allowed to leave or have a bed to sleep on. Because of her Christian faith her salary was reduced. Forced to fast during Ramadan.
Manila (AsiaNews) — “My Life in Saudi Arabia was like a prison and the anguish of those moments was unbearable.” This is the story of Norma Caldera, a Filipina domestic worker who emigrated to work in Saudi Arabia and escaped after seven months of constant harassment due to her Catholic faith. “Every day I got up early to pray — she tells — and every time my colleagues and employers saw me they began to insult and mock me for my Christian faith.”
Like 10 million other Filipinos, Norma was forced to leave her country to seek work abroad. For 17 years she worked in Hong Kong, but the crisis has forced her again to leave to go to Saudi Arabia to work as a maid in a family. The Arabian country employs around 200 thousand Filipinos. These as well as being exploited and poorly paid, are subject to verbal and physical violence because of their Christian faith. The last case concerns a girl, Sylviane Hugilon Baser, who died in mysterious circumstances. So far, Saudi authorities have refused to provide explanations about her death and to return the body to the family which has been lying in a morgue for months.
“When I told my employers that I was Catholic and wanted to die a Catholic, the first thing they did was lower my salary from $ 1,000 to 700,” says Norma. “During Ramadan — she continues — they forced me to fast with them. For me it was difficult to work with the same pace without being able to eat. But unfortunately I had no choice. “ The woman adds that in the seven months of work she was not allowed to leave, even to go to Mass on Sunday. She also did not have her own room or a bed to sleep. The only place to rest was the kitchen floor or a tent pitched in the backyard.
“I lived this occasion, praying and having faith in God — she continues — I was willing to make this sacrifice to be able to pay for my two daughters education.”
On 29 December, the woman returned to the Philippines, five months before the expiry of the contract. Norma says that he will try to find work at home or in another non-Islamic country.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
STIs Nothing to be Ashamed of: Campaign
Young people who have contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI) should not be ashamed, urges a new government campaign encouraging Australians to get tested.
The national campaign, which begins on Sunday using radio, magazines, internet and billboards, comes after a worrying rise in chlamydia, HIV/AIDS and syphilis infections, the federal government says.
Conveying the message, “STIs are spreading fast — always use a condom”, it targets young people and encourages those who have had unprotected sex to see a doctor to discuss getting tested.
“The new year and holiday period is the season of parties and celebration — it’s important to be aware of the risks of unprotected sex,” Health Minister Nicola Roxon said in a statement.
Research conducted before phase one of the campaign in May and June 2009 revealed that Australians are not well informed about the benefits of condom use, Ms Roxon said.
It found heterosexuals mainly use condoms to prevent pregnancy, while gay men are becoming complacent about the risk of HIV.
The campaign, which will also target Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths living in outer regional and remote communities, urges people not to be ashamed if they have an STI.
“This can prevent them seeking help and treatment,” Ms Roxon said, adding that early detection and treatment is important.
“If left untreated, STIs can have serious, lasting health implications.”
| — Hat tip: Nilk | [Return to headlines] |
Pirates Seize Second UK-Flagged Vessel in Days
A UK-flagged cargo ship with 25 crew has been seized by pirates off Somalia, media reports say.
The Asian Glory was taken 620 miles (1,000km) off the Horn of Africa nation’s coast, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said.
The vessel, which has a multi-national crew, is the second UK-flagged ship hijacked in days, after chemical tanker the St James Park was seized on Monday.
The waters around Somalia are among the most dangerous in the world.
As well as eight Bulgarians, the other nationalities making up the Asian Glory’s crew are said to include Ukrainians, Romanians and Indians.
British officials said there were no UK nationals on board the vessel.
The exact time and location of the hijacking are not yet clear.
The 13,000-tonne ship was reportedly transporting cars from Singapore to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
It is estimated the ship could take up to three days to reach the Somali coast, from where pirates usually hold ransom talks.
The St James Park, which has 26 crew from nine different countries, is currently anchored off the Somali coast, where negotiations for its release are expected to start.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Somali Pirates Seize Indonesian Chemical Tanker
Somali pirates have hijacked a chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden — the third vessel seized in waters around Somalia this week.
Maritime officials said the Pramoni — a 20,000-tonne Indonesian-owned vessel — was seized en route to India and was now heading towards Somalia.
The ship has a crew of 24, most of whom are Indonesian.
Last Monday Somali pirates captured two other ships with 45 crew off the East African coast.
A UK-flagged chemical tanker, the St James Park, was captured in the Gulf of Aden while on its way to Thailand from Spain.
The Navios Apollon, a Panamanian-flagged Greek cargo ship with 19 crew, was hijacked north of the Seychelles.
In the latest incident, the captain of the Singapore-flagged Pramoni reported by radio that the ship had been hijacked but all the crew were well, the EU counter-piracy force Navfor said.
The ship’s crew consists of 17 Indonesians, five Chinese, one Nigerian and one Vietnamese, it added.
Pirate attacks are common off the Somali coast and international navies have been deployed to counter them.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Number of Illegal Migrants Arriving in Spain Falls
MADRID — The number of illegal immigrants risking their lives in rickety boats to reach Spain’s Canary Islands from northwest Africa has descended to levels last seen a decade ago, officials said Saturday.
In 2009, a total of 2,041 adults — and 201 children — arrived in the islands or were rescued as they sailed toward them, an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said.
Levels this low were last recorded a decade ago, when 2,165 people made landfall on the archipelago, made up of seven main islands — and two tiny ones — 1,380 kilometers (858 miles) off Spain’s southwestern tip.
The number of immigrants began to shoot up in 2002, when 9,929 arrived, and peaked in 2006 when 31,859 had to be housed, the spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity in keeping with government rules.
More than 96,116 people have sought shelter and a chance of a better, European-style life on the islands since 1994.
The recession, which has caused unemployment in Spain to ascend to nearly 18 percent, along with coastal patrols, have helped slow immigration.
The European Union agreed in 2006 to beef up Frontex, the bloc’s external borders agency, after Spain lobbied for years for more funding. In May of that year, it agreed to deploy planes, boats and rapid reaction aid teams from its member states to deal with the flood of African illegal migrants trying to reach the Canary Islands.
It is not known how many people have died trying to make the perilous ocean crossing against prevailing trade winds. However, 45 died in 2008 compared to 32 in 2009.
In February a ramshackle boat with 32 migrants aboard overturned just 20 meters (22 yards) from the northeast coast of Lanzarote and 25 of its dazed and exhausted passengers, including four children, drowned.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Manslaughter With a Twist
A manslaughter trial begins next week in Portland, Maine, that should be of interest to the entire nation.
The story begins last year on April 22, when Malcolm Bruce LaVallee-Davidson made a widely reported and emotional plea at the civic center for a statewide same-sex marriage initiative as he stood with his homosexual partner — maintaining that they “were already married in the eyes of God.”
What few in the civic center forum knew then was that just four days earlier, LaVallee-Davidson had shot dead with a .44-caliber handgun Fred Homer Wilson, in a South Portland basement after wild night of drug taking and drinking. Wilson was a member of a local homosexual sadomasochistic leather club. Lavellee-Davidson’s faux spouse was not in attendance that evening.
It took the work of the Christian Civic League of Maine and Maine’s Family Policy Council to bring the details to light. Somehow, LaVallee-Davidson’s heartfelt plea for same-sex marriage was bigger news than the fact that he killed a sadomasochist acquaintance four nights earlier.
But it gets worse…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
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UK: Outrage Over Controversial Islamic Group’s Plan to March Through Wootton Bassett
People in Wootton Bassett, the town famous for honouring dead British soldiers returning from Afghanistan, reacted defiantly on Saturday to news that a controversial Islamic group is to march through its streets.
Far be it from me to suggest anything untoward but a few words readily spring to mind, as in:
VIOLENT RIOTS
Ayers, Dohrn Stir Chaos in Middle East
Obama’s friends join protesters attempting to enter Gaza
JERUSALEM — Weatherman terrorists Williams Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn — close associates for years of President Obama — were involved in provoking chaos on the streets of Egypt this week in an attempt to enter the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to join in solidarity with the territory’s population and leadership.
Paging Mossad to the red courtesy telephone.
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