The Ramadan Rush
It would appear from The Times, that rich shoppers from the Middle East are getting their shopping in before Ramadan starts on July 20th. They also claim that France’s burqa ban, means that shoppers now prefer London.
The French really know how to create laws that help their business sector, especially as they are bringing in a financial transaction tax.
Ben Macintyre on the Alawites
If you wonder what’s going on in Syria, an article in The Times today, by Ben MacIntyre gives a very sound and fearful insight into the world and history of the Alawites. One quote from the article follows.
Many fear the fall of Assad will give rise to wholesale retribution.
Everybody who wants to make a statement about Syria, should read this article. If you can’t get hold of a copy, at least read the Wikipedia article.
I doubt that we’ll ever get anywhere with Assad and this bunch.
Government To Ban Forced Marriages
Both The Times and The Guardian are saying that the Government is to ban forced marriage. The report in the latter is here. This is the first paragraph.
PM to announce whether forcing someone to marry should be outlawed amid speculation it could carry jail term.
We should have had this law in place several years ago.
Some might thing that The Times is particularly anti-Muslim today, as in addition, it has a leader very critical of Rotherham Council about covering up a report about the grooming of young girls by men of Pakistani origin and a report about Muslim thuggery in Whitemoor Prison.
I don’t.
All of these abuses must be removed from this country and I support those devout Muslims, who are working to that end.
Beware of Bulls
I’ve not heard of this quote before.
Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person, is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.
It is from the American writer, Dennis Wholey, and is used in a leader in today’s Times, about Khalil Rasjed Dale. The leader says that the Red Cross were right to not pay a ransome.
The paper has two other stories of ransoms in Islamic-controlled territory.
One concerns a holidaymaker, Steven McGowan, held with others in Mali and reported being ransomed in exchange for allowing Abu Qatata to go anywhere he wants.
The other concerns a British mine clearing expert, Chris Fielding, on a UN mission, held with others in Khartoum.
Islam is losing all respect among many people for not imposing Islamic values on thugs, who see Westerners as easy money.
There is also another story about Lloyds of London backing a private force that will act against Somali pirates.
And politicians in the UK and Europe, wonder why people vote for the far-right like the BNP in the UK and the Front Nationale in France.
What Right Do The Taliban Have to Call Themselves Islamic?
We received the news yesterday of the cruel murder of Khalil Dale in Pakistan, supposedly by the Taliban. It is not the first time, they have killed people, who are trying to help the poorest of the poor where they operate. But then that was one of Khalil’s crimes in their eyes.
This sort of behaviuor disgusts me and contrasts so strongly with the guy called, Mohammed, late last night in Marks and Spencer. We talked about the rain and I said that I’d seen the aftermath of the bad accident in the Essex Road the day before. He asked if I was alright. I said yes, but thought the guy wasn’t. That is true compassion and should go with us all. And in fact, does go with most of us. Except obviously groups, like the Nazis and the Taliban.
I for one, hope that like bad fruit, the Taliban and their ilk, just wither and die! But I’m not totally hopeful it will happen!
Ken Livingstone Won’t Like It
The second leader in The Times today, asks about Ken Livingstone’s attitude to London’s Jews.
It also questions his puzzling comments about homosexuality, claiming that the Tory party is riddled with it.
It finishes with this paragraph.
This turns what would otherwise be a nasty squabble into an issue of importance to all London citizens and, indeed, beyond. A divisive politics that seeks to exploit tensions between religious groups for electoral gain would be a disaster, not just for the city but for the country. And it is to be hoped that Mr Livingstone will find it a disaster for him as well. Muslims value a united London, too.
Until now, I hadn’t really been too bothered about who was Mayor of London. Now, I’m certainly on an ABK ticket.
The Bailing of Abu Qatada
In some ways this might be the best thing, as I suspect that it will be easier to monitor him outside of jail than inside it. I also think inside of jail, it will be easier to convert people to his stupid views. Various reports have shown that jails are a fertile recruiting ground for extremists of all kinds. And not just Islamic!
If we can’t pick up all conversations and communications, we aren’t as bright as we think we are. But he’s made some powerful enemies, who don’t have any qualms about killing who they want to.
And I don’t mean the US! They could get him to a US court very easily if they wanted to, because of Blair’s one-sided deal over extradition.
Our biggest problem, will probably be stopping someone killing him. After all, every right wing nutter might think, they could have their five minutes of fame. But then most of them aren’t that brave and don’t like the thought of life in jail. Indiscriminate car and parcel bombs are more their style rather than targeted assassinations.
The Iranian Schindler
I wonder what the leaders of modern Iran will make of this story.
An Iranian diplomat saves fellow Iranians, who just happen to be Jews from the Nazi death camps. So to both Jews and Iranians he should be a hero. It also is a good story about Iran and a Muslim, who showed the civilised humanitarian values we expect from everyone.
More Than One Wife
There has been a discussion on polygamy this morning on BBC Radio 5, after reports that it is increasing amongst Muslims in the UK.
As someone, who was with my late wife for over forty years and married for all but about two years, and know how hard work it is at times to sustain and keep reinventing a relationship to make it an undoubted success, anybody who wants more than one wife, is either insane or so weak that they can’t be bothered to make one marriage work.
As a taxpayer, who pays for all the mess, when it goes wrong?
I’m not saying polygamy and polyandry should be banned, but those that practice it, should pay directly for the consequences when it goes wrong.
I also think too, that the marrying of first cousins should be looked at. Two of my mother’s brothers married first cousins and although both marriages were successful and lasted until one partner died, my mother didn’t think it was a good idea.
My uncles didn’t have problems, but a doctor has told me, that in certain Muslim families it has happened so often, there are severe genetic problems.
On a practical side, surely finding a partner is a lot about the joy of the search. Marrying a cousin is just a cop-out that doesn’t challenge or stretch either partner.
I always remember a family in the 1950s, where two boys effectively grew up with the girl of a similar age next door. It was always expected that she might settle down with one of the brothers. In the end, she didn’t, as she felt it would be like marrying her brother.
The Second Tragedy of September 11, 2011
The attacks on this day were awful and no words can express the damage done to individual and collective lives.
The second tragedy of this event, is that Bush and Blair pursued such a misguided strategy afterwards that they made a second serious attack more likely to happen.
To show how badly they performed, you just have to look at how many people think the attacks didn’t happen and were an event staged by the CIA and the Israelis to get at Muslims. Or something else equally false and bizarre!
We should probably have gone into Afghanistan, but Iraq now looks in the eyes of nearly everybody to be a colossal mistake. Although saying that, Saddam was a cruel tyrant and had to go, if only to protect his own people. But the Arab world seems to specialise in people like him. Just look at Syria, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Egypt. And don’t get me going on places like Saudi Arabia and a few others. How many women would like to live in those countries?
The attacks gave us a chance to deal with the real problems of the world. But we just made it worse, by our vengeful actions and our complete disregard for human rights at Guantanamo and other places we are just starting to know about.
The Anonymous Widower 