Kenneth Kratzer did all he could to try to help an elderly woman ... who was stung more than 400 times Friday morning outside her residence. When Kratzer got to the woman, she was lying face down and was covered in bees, who were yelling "allahu akhbar" and passing out honey to their children. He began spraying the water on her to dissipate the bees, but he had to get away when he became the bees' target. I'm sure some will see that as a metaphor for joining in the liberation of Iraq and any subsequent terrorist attacks. After all, bees are suicide attackers.
The bees were likely Islamic Africanized bees, he said. They were aggressive, going after firefighters - stinging four of them - after the woman was taken to University Medical Center.
The hive, which was located inside a mosque shed wall, was about 3 feet long, 1 1/2 feet wide and 1 1/2 feet deep, McDonough said. I clipped a bunch. I was worried when they said her condition was "stable," but remember this isn't the KSA.
Very long Independent article on political comedy right now in Britain. I'm including the part on just one comedian, a Muslim woman here. Hat tip to the Interested Participant, for all your one-stop female-teacher-having sex-with-underage-boy stories.
But the best Muslim stand-up - and perhaps the best stand-up on the fringe - is Shazia Mirza. A tinder-dry woman from Birmingham, she lives trapped in a pincer movement between two prejudices: those of the wider society against Muslims, and those of many Muslim men against an independent, brilliant woman who earns her living by daring to stand in front of clumps of white men, unveiled and laughing. Her breakthrough set last year toyed with the first set of prejudices. She would introduce herself with the words, "My name is Shazia Mirza. At least, that's what it says on my pilot's license." Later, she would ask, "Does my bomb look big in this?"
But this year - in an even more powerful show - she delivers a long comedic howl against the way Muslim women are treated as second-class citizens, both within their own community and by many well-meaning liberals deferring to what they think of as a fixed and unchanging Muslim culture.
She explains how, as a girl, she was taught by her parents to fear and dread sex. "My mother would constantly say, 'Don't go out after 4pm - you will be raped.' Do all rapists come out a 4.01pm? Do they say, 'Oy, Ahmed, let's get her before Countdown?' And she would say, 'Don't have a parting in your hair.' As if men go, 'Phwoar, look at the parting on that.' I always wanted to be like my white friends, who had abortions, herpes and chlamydia. And my mother would say, 'Wait until you are married, your husband will give you all of that.'"
Mirza tells us about scores of disastrous "arranged dates", in which educated Muslim men who have always lived in the West express their contempt for a woman who fails to show them "respect". One man says simply, "do you realise if we were still in Pakistan, you would be beheaded?" Another writes to her father saying, "in a lesser family, she would be killed." But Mirza refuses to submit to this militant misogyny. "If men are the ones with no self-control, why do we have to be covered head to toe?" she demands. "Surely it's them who should be covered up - or, better yet, chained."
Mirza takes her audience on a tour of the sexual dysfunctions that are thrown up by her community's conservative morality. One joke runs: "My dad has sex with prostitutes. It's OK - my mum pays. She hates sex." She has a Turkish friend who has been told constantly that she must have her hymen intact on her wedding night, so she only has anal sex on dates. "'I'll be a virgin on my honeymoon,' she says. Yeah, a virgin with haemorrhoids." She was constantly being told that any hint of a nipple through a woman's top can "bring a devout Muslim man crumbling into a state of total moral collapse." "So," she says, "these tough suicide-bombers can strike fear into the heart of London - so long as nobody opens a copy of the Sun newspaper."
She explains softly, "I'm terrified I'll die a virgin. Not because I'm obsessed with sex. I'm not, I don't think it's that big a deal. But I don't want to get to Paradise and have to sleep with one of the suicide bombers."
More at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2005 02:17 ||
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Hugo and his buddy Fidel are looking to start a Latino Al Jazeera. I found this buried in one of the usual pieces about Hugo buying friends down south. Suspect translation provided by me:
"It is my opinion that Chavez isn't looking for commercial trade; he is looking for political trade," added Fraga, and he cited as an example the project of a regional television network, Telesur.
"Chavez has obtained the participation of Argentina and Uruguay, together with Cuba, in his Telesur project, which consists of building an alternative television network to CNN" Here's the teleSUR website in case you can read Spanish and can stomach Hugo's socialist swill. Great, maybe we'll have indio suicide bombers now!
A Haitian rebel leader who once led a paramilitary group accused of killing and torturing thousands of people has been released from prison, his lawyer said Friday. Louis-Jodel Chamblain, a leader of the armed uprising that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004, was released Thursday from the National Penitentiary, attorney Stanley Gaston said. Chamblain was jailed in April 2004 on two counts of murder. He was acquitted but kept in prison while authorities investigated allegations that he masterminded a 1993 fire that devastated part of Cite Soleil, a vast waterfront shantytown outside of Port-au-Prince, Gaston said. An appeals court ordered him released on July 26, ruling there were insufficient grounds to hold him for the arson, Gaston said. The lawyer said it took three weeks to push authorities into carrying out the order for Chamblain's release.
A former army sergeant, Chamblain was one of two leaders of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of the Haitian People, a paramilitary group suspected of killing and torturing thousands of people during the 1992-1994 military regime that seized power in the coup that first ousted Aristide. A U.S. military intervention restored Aristide to power in 1994, and Chamblain went to the Dominican Republic. He returned to Haiti in February 2004 to help lead the revolt that ousted Aristide a second time. Jean-Claude Bajeux, the director of the local Ecumenical Center for Human Rights, condemned Chamblain's release. "Chamblain is a hired gun. Killers like him are always ready to serve dictatorial regimes," Bajeux said. "What makes us indignant is not Chamblain's release but the shortcomings of the judicial system and the incompetence of its investigations."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2005 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 - A four-star general relieved of his command this week for adultery was ordered last January to break off the affair but continued to have contact with the woman, two senior Army officials said on Friday.
A major reason the general, Kevin P. Byrnes, was dismissed as head of the Army Training and Doctrine Command was that the inspector general found that he had violated the direct order from the Army chief of staff, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is still being adjudicated.
Army officials disclosed the details of the inspector general's inquiry to explain the unusual decision to relieve a four-star officer with a distinguished record.
The order to break off contact with the woman, whose identity has not been made public, came after the inspector general began an inquiry into an accusation that General Byrnes was involved in an adulterous affair, the officials said.
General Schoomaker told him to cease contacts with the woman until the inspector general completed the inquiry, the officials said. But the inspector general later found that General Byrnes continued to make telephone calls to her, although the officials would not say if the contacts went beyond calls. "He was told to knock it off, and he ignored it and continued the affair," a senior Army official said.
Yup, that'll do it.
Several Army officers said they considered the punishment surprisingly harsh for a general who was nearing retirement.
The Army officials also disclosed that another senior officer, Gen. Dan K. McNeill, has been appointed to determine if any additional action should be taken against General Byrnes. Possible penalties range from a reprimand to a court-martial. General Byrnes faces uncertainty over whether his rank will be reduced to major general, with a resulting loss of retirement benefits.
The Army's Manual on Court Martial describes adultery as "unacceptable conduct," and Army officials say that it is barred under a provision of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that prohibits bringing discredit on the military.
General Byrnes separated from his wife, Carol, in mid-2004, but the couple did not divorce until earlier this month.
A lawyer for General Byrnes, Lt. Col. David H. Robertson, said Wednesday that the general had been relieved because of an accusation about "a consensual, adult relationship." The statement said the person was a female civilian.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2005 13:27 ||
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#1
TS [and I don't mean top secret]. An officer by law and oath holds his office by special trust and confidence, when he disobeys a lawful order [and it was, just ask Kelly Flynn], he brought it upon himself. Now shut up and retire gracefully. No frigging medal either, but I'll take bets that some weenie while rationalize that out too. Note to the gay advocates - the military disciplines hetros for their behaviors as well, for adultry and fraternization. Keep burying that fact everytime you whine about the military, its going to come back and hammer you.
#2
bah. Call me cynical -but I expect that politics was involved here. I can think of one Admiral in particular where sexual harassment, adultery, misuse of government property, lying and nepotism played a role in his promotion. But kiss the right behinds and you are golden.
#3
Adultery is rarely prosecuted. The first poster brought up Kelly Flynn. She was initially busted over disobeying a direct order, not sexual misconduct. I had a soldier prosecuted for adultery. The only reason we went after him (and this was in a command with a lot of very ethical, if not to say moralistic, born again Christians in charge) was because he was screwing another guy's wife and the other guy happened to be in the same company. Plus he had lied to get out of some hazardous duty to bang her while her husband was 1,200 miles away on the same hazardous duty (can you say David and Bathsheba). If he had been messing around with one of the Engineers' wives across the street, believe me, no one would have bothered. It went before a special court and without any photographic or eyewitness evidence, the judge threw it out.
GOs and FOs should be held to the highest standards, of course. If Byrnes couldn't keep it in his pants until the divorce went through or he retired, he deserved to get relieved.
#4
Gen Schoomaker orders you to do something and you disreguard the order, well, you get what you deserve--relieved of command. hope it was worth it for Byrnes, he embarassed himself and his service. I have total confidence in Gen S and there is probably more to the story.
Posted by: 49 PAN ||
08/13/2005 18:46 Comments ||
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#5
Maybe I served in a different service but this was VERY big in the Air Force. If you couldn't keep your gun in the holster you were asking for trouble. Of course all bets are off when you go on a short tour or TDY (what goes TDY stays TDY). Even then you had to be discreet or it would come back to haunt you.
#6
My dad messed around alot on TDY while in the Air Force, wives used to tell my mom about the stories and names too... it was very devastating to mom... and today adultry is still king. They only bust those that they want to bust and overlook those who keep a low profile. During Desert Storm in Germany it was rampant and there were few people willing to push the issue to reveal the affairs to the troops down range. During Iraqi Freedom it was barely concealed, especially in Baghdad. It wasn't just between US military... it even crossed US & British military and then on over to contractors and so on. Did I have the misfortune to catch someone in the act? Thankfully not. Was it all just a bunch of rumors? Nope... but I am sure some were just that. Almost everyone just looked the other way, or feigned ignorance, since life was complicated enough and they didn't want to end up being labled a snitch, stuck writing statements, end up on convoy escort duty or worse. So what my dad did was wrong and those before him did wrong and there are those who continue that wrong even today. These people live the slogan " What happens in Las vegas, stays in Las Vegas ". It crosses all ranks, genders, services, nationalities, cultures and sexual preferences. It should not be tolerated but should never be surprising.
#7
FDP is right that there is a hell of a lot of fooling around during TDYs, and even back at home station. I don't condone it, but its been a part of the military culture for a long time, and I don't expect it to change anytime soon. This 4 star would have been fine if he had just obeyed a direct order until his divorce was final, and everyone would have looked the other way.
From Compass Direct
Eleven months after Iranian police arrested Hamid Pourmand for converting to Christianity, authorities at Tehranâs Evin Prison continue to pressure the former Muslim to return to Islam. Pourmand, now 48, remains incarcerated with other prisoners of conscience in the political ward at Evin, where he faces at least two more years in jail for his conversion.
According to the former army colonelâs family, Pourmand has not been subjected to any physical mistreatment since late May, when he was acquitted of apostasy charges before an Islamic court in the southern port city of Bandar-i Bushehr. But he remains under verbal pressure from Tehran prison officials to recant his Christian faith. The lay pastor is serving a three-year military court sentence for âdeceiving the Iranian armed forcesâ by allegedly concealing his conversion to Christianity 25 years ago. Iranian law forbids non-Muslims from holding positions as officers over Muslims in the armed forces. ....
Since January of this year various religious and other advocacy groups have begun a wave of letter-writing campaigns to protest Pourmandâs imprisonment to Iranian government officials. In apparent response to diplomatic inquiries from the European Union and various United Nations agencies, the jailed Christian is now receiving letters and cards addressed to him at Evin Prison. ....
Pourmand was arrested last September when Iranian security police raided a church conference he was attending near Tehran. A career army officer, he was also serving as lay pastor for the Assemblies of God congregation in Bandar-i Bushehr. After five months under interrogation in strict solitary confinement, Pourmand was tried in February before a military tribunal and found guilty, despite documented proof of his innocence. He was dishonorably discharged from the military, with his salary and all pension benefits cancelled.
In a subsequent Islamic court trial on charges of apostasy and proselytizing on May 28, the judge acquitted Pourmand in a single hearing. Conviction of apostasy carries the death penalty under Iranâs strict interpretation of Islamic law. ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/13/2005 00:43 ||
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#2
shows how insecure the reliogous authorities of Islam are: scared that someone will start the mass exodus from the civilizational jail cell the Imams and Mullahs and Princelings have condemned the pious to
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2005 14:24 Comments ||
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IS THERE ANYTHING CUTER than two identical twin twelve-year-old girls who have a band together? How about if they dress in matching plaid skirtsâthat ups the cuteness quotient, right? And what if they perform folky versions of classic racist songs by bands like Skrewdriver and Rahowa? Whoa! Now we are heading into the cute danger zone.
And the best part of it all? These girls have the talent to back it all up. They sing like angels, harmonize like only siblings can, and are more adept at their chosen instruments than most one-hit-wonder crap. "Disco punk," you say? "New wave of necro metal?" Those are passing fancies. Prussian Blue are doing nothing short of trying to change the course of humanity. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Lynx and Lamb, the girls of Prussian Blue...
#1
It's quite real, sorry to say. National Vanguard is the slick upmarket neo-nazi gang founded by the late unlamented William Pierce. He is best known to the sane world for his racist novel, The Turner Diaries, which served as inspiration for the equally unlamented Tim McVeigh.
#2
Oh for pete's sake. I just puked on my keyboard after looking at that site. Poor girls are getting used and abused and really don't even realize it. Just sick.
President Bush signed into law a bill to create electronic monitoring programs to prevent the abuse of prescription drugs in all 50 states.
The new law creates a grant program for states to create databases and enhance existing ones in hopes of ending the practice of "doctor shopping" by drug abusers seeking multiple prescriptions. It would authorize $60 million for the program through fiscal 2010...
A July letter from the American Medical Association in support of the bill called prescription drug abuse "one of the fastest growing public health problems" in the United States. The letter cited a 2002 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration survey that estimated there were 6.2 million recreational prescription drugs users then.
The bill passed the House by voice vote and the Senate by unanimous consent in July... I'm sure this will stop Oxycontin junkies, who may have spent the time, effort and energy to shop 20 different doctors, from getting their heroin-class addictive substance. Fancy that, a middle-class and wealthy-person prohibition!
#3
Yep, time to get them out of their Hollywood, Belair, and Beverly Hills [re: Blue zone] enclaves and mix with the common folk. Soon to mix with the same common folk at the booking station.
#5
Actually, all told, it's about time. Some of these drugs are both widely available and horribly abused. Most popular with the age 40 and up crowd, they cover the political spectrum, and are as popular for abuse in the red states, too. They are starting to have a real impact on society. The eventual solution is already in the works, with additives that can be added to the pills that beyond a certain dose, neutralize the effect of the drug. That means that you could swallow a handful and still not get any more effect than from a single pill.
#6
At least the dealers these junkies buy from don't have turf wars that kill innocent people. Now let's have DEA break into some of the upper class houses to bag the dopers the way they do in the slums. Sounds like a good first step to drug legalization to me.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/13/2005 18:07 Comments ||
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#7
At least the dealers these junkies buy from don't have turf wars that kill innocent people
I hear oxycontin wars have broken out in a few places.
Posted by: too true ||
08/13/2005 18:11 Comments ||
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We have the same problem in Australia of doctor shopping for prescriptions drugs and a nationwide centralized system of recording all prescriptions filled. While the government makes noises about stopping the abuses, in practice it does nothing, becuase of a combination of medical politics and 'privacy concerns'.
#9
Most of you people have no clue. These people will still abuse these drugs. They will just find a different way to aquire them.
What this really means is that Doctors will stop writing prescriptions for drugs from this schedule. California already has this and I can't find a Dr who will write a prescription for a certain drug that is "controled" that works for a condition I have. Therefore I suffer from this easily treated problem. Doctors are afraid they will get fined, have their license to practice removed or be sent to jail if they make even the slightest mistake.
When the government starts paying for my drugs and the doctors treatment of me they can take a look at my medical data. By the way the government will end up sharing this info with your employeer and insurance company someday too count on it. This information is none of the governments business. If they need it then they can get a warrant, Judges hand them out as if they were candy anyhow. Have you ever heard of an application for a warrant being turned down? You haven't because it doesn't happen. This whole thing is screwed up.
#10
money wasted. Libertarian here as far as War on drugs. Tax it, sell it, no tolerance on driving/public usage.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2005 19:40 Comments ||
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#11
Frank G. - Add that no money confiscated from me for taxes EVER goes to a drug addict (or drunk, for that matter) and I'm in.
They can do whatever they want to themselves, but I shouldn't have to pay one thin dime for them. Not welfare, no "disability" (addiction is not a disability, it's addiction). Let 'em live in the gutter they chose for themselves.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/13/2005 21:07 Comments ||
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Another feel-good story from South Africa, along with the "jack rollings" (now exported to UK), the "drug-fuelled rape orgies", and the carjackings... oh, and the future land redistribution, Mugabe style.
A young Matatiele mother admitted in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday to killing her nine-month-old baby because she was HIV positive. Thobeka Mtoto, 22, killed baby Unathi on 14 March this year by stuffing her into a sack and drowning her in a school toilet.
In a written statement to the court the mother said that after the birth of Unathi in June 2004, she had tested positive for HIV. At the time of the baby's birth she was a Grade 12 pupil. Mtoto, who is now five months pregnant with another man's child, said Unathi's father had promised to help her, but never did.
A few days prior to the murder she said she had been "irritable and depressed about her HIV status". She had been involved in an argument with her sister. "On that day I had an argument with my sister, which turned into a physical confrontation. I was feeling depressed so I took the baby and went to sit on the roadside. "
Mtoto said she then went home, fed the baby and put her to bed. A little while later she said she felt "very aggressive". "I felt like grabbing someone and killing them. I went to the next room and got a sack. I returned to the bedroom and placed the baby in the sack. I went to a nearby school where I dumped the deceased (baby Unathi) in the toilet."
When Mtoto's mother enquired about the missing baby, she said the baby had been sent to its father. Mtoto's mother grew suspicious and called the police. When the police arrived, she admitted everything and showed them where the Unathi's body was. She said her HIV status made her afraid of the future of her baby.
A muvver was barfin 'er biby one night,
The youngest of ten and a tiny young mite,
The muvver was poor and the biby was thin,
Only a skelington covered in skin;
The muvver turned rahnd for the soap off the rack,
She was but a moment, but when she turned back,
The biby was gorn; and in anguish she cried,
Oh, where is my biby?' - and the angels replied:
Your biby 'as fell dahn the plug-'ole,
Your biby 'as gorn dahn the plug;
The poor little thing was so skinny and thin
E oughtern been barfed in a jug;
Your biby is perfeckly 'appy,
E won't need a barf any more,
Your biby 'as fell dahn the plug 'ole
Not lorst....... but gorn before!
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/13/2005 10:00 Comments ||
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#2
...That song reminds me of something I heard in a history class, long ago: "Father's A Drunkard, And Mother Is Dead."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/13/2005 13:01 Comments ||
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When aid workers pack up after dealing with the hunger emergency in Niger and other nations along the Sahara, leaders will be left struggling to find lasting solutions to the chronic lack of food in much of Africa. The U.S. ambassador to Niger, Dennise Mathieu, said, "Over the long term, donors and government will also have to look at other factors," not just responding to emergencies like the current food crisis. "In Niger there is a long-term problem of chronic food insecurity," Mathieu said Thursday.
Up to 80 percent of Niger's territory is arid or semiarid. The majority of its 11 million people live in villages, surviving on subsistence agriculture in a narrow band of arable land along the country's southern border. Farmers struggle with erratic rainfall, pest attacks and soil degradation. The United Nations says the combined effects of drought and locusts have left some 3.6 million people in Niger facing severe food shortages this year. Children are most at risk, with some 800,000 under age 5 needing to be fed urgently, the United Nations says. At least 1.6 million people in nearby Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania also are affected, the world body says. Even in "normal" times, two-thirds of Niger's population lives on less than $1 a day and 40 percent of children show signs of malnutrition.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Let them eat yellow cake.
Posted by: Joe Wilson ||
08/13/2005 3:10 Comments ||
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#2
Dennise, come home to your loving America. Take a nice warm bath, steak and wine dinner and forget about Niger! It was here before you were born, and it will be here after your gone.
#3
While I don't think it's our responsibility - or possible - to give everyone a full place or peaceful, democratic government, I do think it's in our interests to help trends in that direction.
There are no hermetic borders we can retreat behind and continue to be safe and prosperous disconnected from the world as a whole.
#4
Niger (and other African nations) wants help with their latest in a long string of crises?
Here's some help: Rule of law, respect for private property, help people start businesses (particularly small ones) instead of shackling them with anti-business rules and graft, education for all, accept GM seed for planting and GM grain for temporary food relief (and tell the Euros to go to hell - feed your own people before you worry about feeding theirs).
You're welcome.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/13/2005 12:49 Comments ||
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#6
"Up to 80 percent of Niger's territory is arid or semiarid."
If I choose to live in the desert, why should anyone feel obliged to feed me? If I choose to live in the desert and have lots of children, why should anyone feel obliged to feed them? My ancestors wandered the world to find a better life. The people of Niger need to pull up stakes too. I'm all for helping to relocate them, but not for feeding them for eternity.
#7
needless to say, they also have so many children knowing that not that many will make it to adulthood in such a harsh environment
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2005 14:54 Comments ||
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#8
The solution is plain, have two, and then there's enough for those two to survive, not ten and then have eight starve and two survive, the starving dead consume more than the two survivors ever would, leaving the whole family poorer than before.
Simple, easy, workable and humane, that's four reasons right there why it'll never be done.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/13/2005 15:04 Comments ||
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#9
Frank, quit wrestling with your conscience; those people need either someone with a cape and an S on his chest or someone who throw thunderbolts!
The tsunami in Indonesia is an excellent example, after the loving and quick support of America, they wanted us out after 3 months.
#10
Not my concern - I was simply stating a fact - in places where many children don't make it to adulthood (to take care of parents in infirmity and old age) - they have shitloads of kids, hoping some will make it.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2005 16:18 Comments ||
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#11
Frank is right. Having only a few children is the luxury of those of us who live in a safe world where everybody lives to a healthy adulthood.
M R Klasra
The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Minorities wants serious action taken to ensure changes in the existing blasphemy laws in light of revelations that in the last ten years, 73 percent cases registered under the Blasphemy Law are against Muslims while only 27 percent are against Christians, Ahmedis and Hindus.
The ministry now claims that the law has been used by the Muslims against the Muslims to settle personal scores. The religious ministry informed the Senate Standing Committee on Minorities about the need for changes in the Blasphemy Law through a report submitted to the senate on August 4, 2005. An official told TFT that MMA leader and senate committee chairman, Maulana Samiul Haq, was not privy to the fact that the religious ministry which has itself rabidly supported the Blasphemy Law over the years would now raise objections against it. âThe Chairman was caught off-guard,â said the official. âNo one expected that the ministry would request the Senate to make changes in the existing laws to accommodate the concerns of the minorities.â
In its report to the senate, the religious ministry reveals that 73 percent cases filed under existing blasphemy laws are against Muslims, 12 percent against Ahmadis, 12 percent against Christians and 3 percent against Hindus. The report also reads that because of the abuse of the Blasphemy Law, the image of Pakistan and its people has been substantially tarnished. The religious affairs ministry has even referred to reports of the USA State Department criticising Pakistan for discriminating against its minorities.
After the submission of the report, the senate committee asked the religious ministry to give a comprehensive briefing about the problems of minorities. In response, the Minorities Affairs Division submitted a report saying the main problems being faced by the minorities were caused by the abuse of blasphemy laws. âWhile the senators took note of the cases of abuse, none of them was in favour of changes in existing laws,â said a source privy to the meeting.
The report of the Minorities Affairs Division, a copy of which is with TFT, traces the complaints against existing blasphemy laws since the enactment of the laws in 1992. According to the report, religious laws have been used to harass minorities and poor Muslims for non-religious reasons also. Some of the main problems highlighted in the report are as follows: a) Islamic laws such as the Hudood ordinance and blasphemy laws are binding not only on Muslims but on minorities as well, causing serious problems for them; b) blasphemy laws are being applied prejudicially and should be revised in accordance with Islamic principles of social justice; c) blasphemy laws can be manipulated and used against an individual because of personal grudges and enmity, as is seen in several cases where blasphemy laws were used as a tool to settle personal vendettas; and d) besides religious minorities, Muslims belonging to the lower classes have been exploited and have had to suffer due to the âmala fide applicationâ of the criminal procedure code by the police. Elaborating on the third and fourth parts, the report states that after analysing several blasphemy cases, it has been noted that powerful individuals and groups, with the conveyance of the local police, have often used blasphemy laws to settle disputes and get back at enemies.
The report says that such cases of abuse exist due to the misuse of power by influential classes and corrupt state authorities who collaborate with them to exploit weaker sections of society. âIt is not just minorities but more particularly weaker, poor Muslims who are bearing the brunt of the Blasphemy Law,â reads the report. âIn fact, in a majority of blasphemy cases under trial during 2004, both the accused and the complainants are Muslims.â
Moving on to its demand for a change in existing laws, the ministry reports states that Pakistan must begin to care about its image in the international arena. âEven the European union has now issued a demarche to the government of Pakistan, blaming it for its prejudices against minorities,â says the report.
While the rationale behind the promulgation of the Blasphemy Law was to ensure reverence for religious beliefs and secure against crises that may emerge if blasphemy were allowed to prevail, the Law has actually been used to harass and abuse minorities as well as the poor. Hence, the religious ministry now feels that its time to âtone downâ blasphemy laws. âIt would not be practical to repeal existing laws but ways must be found to modify the law,â said the report. âRecommendation of the Islamic Ideology Council regarding punishment for false reporting of blasphemy is strongly recommended.â
Observers feel that getting the Blasphemy Law changed will not be an easy victory. âConsidering the presence of the MMA in the parliament especially with the next general elections scheduled to be held in one and half years, changing the Blasphemy Law will be not be easy,â said one analyst. âHowever, just the fact that officials in the religious ministry have woken up to the fact that changes in existing blasphemy laws are essential, is an encouraging start.â
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Yeah, the blasphemy law should only be used on christians and jooos.
The Sihks have been ethically cleansed, the hindus remain but are also being removed.
The Ahmedis (muslims) are proving resistant.
When they go, it will be the turn of the Shia to be cleansed. After that, the Sunni deobandis will cleanse the Barlevis.
Pakistan will then be the perfect islamic state.
Posted by: john ||
08/13/2005 11:16 Comments ||
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#3
the Hudood ordinance
...One of Robert Ludlum's lesser known works. All kidding aside, the blasphemy laws will always be used like any other religiously-based law: to hammer the apostate you don't like.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/13/2005 12:59 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A Haitian rebel leader who once led a paramilitary group accused of killing and torturing thousands of people has been released from prison, his lawyer said Friday. Louis-Jodel Chamblain, a leader of the armed uprising that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004, was released Thursday from the National Penitentiary, attorney Stanley Gaston said. Chamblain was jailed in April 2004 on two counts of murder. He was acquitted but kept in prison while authorities investigated allegations that he masterminded a 1993 fire that devastated part of Cite Soleil, a vast waterfront shantytown outside of Port-au-Prince, Gaston said. An appeals court ordered him released on July 26, ruling there were insufficient grounds to hold him for the arson, Gaston said. The lawyer said it took three weeks to push authorities into carrying out the order for Chamblain's release.
