Audax- Suggestions for your homework.

The Ignorance of International Adoptions
Saturday, September 6, 2008

Adoptions are not a novelty. Jesus was adopted by Joseph, Mohammad himself was fed by an adoptive mother during the first two years of his life.

Hokusai's first few years are a mystery, but he was born near Tokyo, and when he was four or five he was adopted by a mirror-polisher named Nakajima Ise.
Aristotle was the son of Nicomachus, physician to King Amyntas II. His parents died when he was still a very young boy and he was brought up by a guardian, Proxenus, who sent him to Plato's academy in Athens about 367.
At the age of six Capote's parents abandoned him to the care of four elderly, unmarried maternal cousins, three sisters and a brother, living together.
Poe's actor parents died before he was three years old (his father had disappeared before he was born and his mother died in 1811) and he was fostered (never formally adopted) by a merchant named John Allan and his wife, Frances, who had been a friend of his mother. His older brother was raised by their grandfather and his younger sister was adopted by a different family, the Mackenzies, but he remained in contact with them.
Rousseau's mother died a few days after he was born (in Switzerland) and he was then raised by an aunt and uncle.
Langston Hughes was also fostered for two years by James and Mary Reed. Ella Fitzgerald, known as “Lady Ella", was also fostered by different people. The list could easily continue.

A domestic adoption is the placement of a child for adoption within the country in which he or she was born and normally resides.
International adoption is the placing of a child for adoption outside that child’s country of birth. The laws of different countries vary in their willingness to allow international adoptions. Some countries, such as China and Vietnam, have relatively well-established rules and procedures for foreign adopters to follow, while others, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for example, expressly forbid it. Some countries, notably many African nations, have extended residency requirements that in effect rule out most international adoptions. And some countries such as Romania are closed to international adoption altogether, with the exception of adoptions by close relatives (such as grandparents) or the case when the child can not find a family within Romania.
What are the reasons for these rich people to adopt from this part of the world? Media coverage? Lack of common sense? Extreme ego? Stupidity? Probably all of them.
Can a “star” be a good parent, responsible, capable to offer a child true motherly affection, a happy childhood and beautiful memories between shootings and travel?
Many children born to extremely rich and famous parents have complaint not once during their lifetime that they felt neglected, abandoned, because “My father was always gone, doing business”…
Can we assume that these actors and actresses from Hollywood can offer their child happiness and a true family?
How many of the actors and actresses coming from a Hollywoodian background can say that they had loving, caring parents, that they spent unforgettable holidays with their grandparents, that they remember decorating Christmas trees, going out for skating with their parents?
Almost all they remember is their parents divorcing and having sisters and brothers of different mothers and father.
And now, they are not only satisfied with their own born children, but they even adopt. From poor countries. To show the world their deep care.
As actors and actresses, do they have time to experience what parenthood is?
Can they offer love, besides expensive toys, clothing and trips? can they offer true affection? Or exotic maids are hired for that?
Do these children have grandparents? Is there a place in their adult memories for the image of grandparents?
What is hidden beyond these adoptions? Are these “stars” true Samaritans?
Usually, traditionally, people adopt orphans from their own culture and race, for various obvious reasons.
This offers the chance to give that child a home, a world without conflicts, visible truths and visible differences.

It is well known that the relation between Jolie and her father, actor Jon Voigh, is not to be envied.
In 2002, he was talking abut her “mental illness”, without giving details, probably thinking of her teenage habit of cutting herself. (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/03/1028157858647.html).

In 2006, Jolie was finally able to have a child of her own and she gave birth to a daughter named Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, at night at the Cottage Medi-Clinic Hospital in Swakopmund, Namibia. People paid more than $4.1 million for the North American rights, while British magazine Hello! obtained the international rights for roughly $3.5 million; the total rights sale earned up to $10 million worldwide – the most expensive celebrity image of all time. All profits were donated to an undisclosed charity by Jolie and Pitt. Why undisclosed? On July 26, 2006 Madame Tussauds in New York unveiled a wax figure of two-month-old Shiloh; it was the first infant re-created in wax by Madame Tussauds.
Having already three children, Jolie can not stop from adopting and she put her eye on a little boy from Vietnam: Pham Quang Sang, who became… Pax Thien.
Hollywood has not only created a fashion in adopting exotic faces, but in inventing ridiculous names as well, “names” parents are happy to put on these children’s shoulders.

Meg Ryan couldn’t resist this trend either, so she joined the club in 2006 adopting a girl from, of course, China and, of course, renaming the girl as Daisy.

Michelle Pfeiffer (Catwoman in Batman Returns) has adopted a daughter, Claudia Rose, who was then adopted by Kelley following their marriage. The adopted baby was the daughter of an African-American nurse living in New York, who already had four children. At the time of the adoption, there were rumours that money was exchanged for the baby, but Michelle has vigorously denied these claims stating that the adoption was private (no money involved?!).
But Mia Farrow is definitely the champion with her 14 bunch of kids, 6 adopted and 4 of her own.

Cross cultural adoptions might be that popular because of the low cost, compared to indigenous ones and probably there is another factor: the spectrum of the living natural parents within your country is hard to deal with, especially that some natural parents might turn to extortions.
With children from the third world, people feel more comfortable.
But are those children happy?
Having an adopted child with dark skin or flat nose is an accessory for these women who believe that adopted parents develop deeper relationships with their children than natural parents, as actress Sharon Stone has declared.
Well, from the little puddle, dressed in pink and carried in expensive bags, buying an exotic child is all what these questionable people were able to think of.
If your image was a bit damaged or is in shadow, join the UN, adopt a baby, start fighting for Africa. Tibet is no longer on the celebrities’ list. Why not?
Because if they start messing around with the Chinese authorities, there are no more babies from China…


It is not known yet what is the future mental, emotional and ideological development of children coming form Africa or Asia, adopted by western “stars”.
Are they happy? Do they really feel that they have parents? Are they happy to grow up in a completely foreign environment, sometimes with natural born children to their “parents “as siblings, dispossessed even of their original names?
One day, they might feel the difference: my brother is the natural son, but I am adopted and I am from Africa. They go to school, but they know that their siblings are the natural children, while they are only the adoptees.
What is the future like for a child from Cambodia named”Maddox”? Or that one of an Ethiopian with a Swahili name?
What if these children would one day go back to their place of birth? And live among those people?
What drives these rich people to adopt from this part of the world? Fashion? Media coverage? Lack of common sense? Extreme ego? Stupidity?
Can a “star” be a good parent, responsible, capable to offer a child true motherly affection, a happy childhood and beautiful memories? Probably there are examples. But the overwhelming cases prove the opposite. Children of actors are not happy themselves, experiencing a troubled youth, blaming the separation of their parents for everything … Well, it is Hollywood, even if very far from anything connected with “holiness”.
How many of the actors and actresses coming from a hollywoodian background can say that they had loving, caring parents, that they spent unforgettable holidays with their grandparents, that they remember decorating Christmas trees, going out for skating with their parents?
Almost everything they can remember is their parents’ divorce and having sisters and brothers of different mothers and fathers…
And now, they are not only satisfied with their own born children, but they even adopt. From poor countries. To expose the world their profound “care”.
As actors and actresses, do they have time to experience what parenthood is?
Can they offer, beyond expensive toys, clothing and trips, love? Affection?
Or the exotic maids are made and hired for that?
Do these children have grandparents? Is there a place in their adult memories for the image of grandparents?

It is well known that the relation between Jolie and her father, actor Jon Voigh, is not to be envied.
In 2002, he was talking abut her “mental illness”, without giving details. He was probably referring to Jolie’s habit of cutting herself when he was as young as 12 at 14 she was already living with a boy. Her personal life is punctuated by bisexual love stories, written in her own blood on the back of some t-shirt, stories that ended in less than 3 years. Her tatooos also come and go, according to her benefit. Among those which had to go is the name of her former husband Billy Bob.
(http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/03/1028157858647.html).
Beyond their adoptions resides a colossal hunger for publicity. Selling the image of their born daughter for 10 mil dollars advocates it.
Pitt comes from a normal family, where his parents did not divorce and he has two siblings, Doug and Julie. He is one of the lucky actors who had a real family, with real siblings. After his marriage with Jennifer Aniston, he became trapped in Joliemania, adopting her style and “her” children as well.
Changing the names of their adopted children is not only the sign of their bottomless ignorance and lack of cultural sensitivity, but also the inability to foreseen the destiny of these unfortunate souls. Or should we call them instruments to gain public affection?
Adopting children from exotic areas gives them a phony sense of accomplishment, in truth no more than blatant selfishness and ignorance.
Changing their adoptees ‘names into some hybrid ones, is also the proof of their disrespect of the cultural background of these children.
Pham Quang Sang had an identity. (Quang: clear, brilliant; good reputation Sa'ng: bright)
What is… Pax Thien? Beyond the brilliant explanation given by Jolie?
Rath Vibol, who became… Maddox Chivan, might ask, one day: why did you change my name?
Tena Adam, adopted from Ethiopia, became…. Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt! Tena means health. Zahara is a Swahili name, Swahili not being even among the languages spoken in Ethiopia.
… and… why Marley and not simply… Bob? When it comes to inheritance… well, that’s going to be another juicy story for the media.
Until then… maybe, in a few years, Brad Pitt marries… Marley.
Woody Allen had no problems in making Soon-Yi Previn his legal wife.

What is hidden beyond these adoptions? Are these “stars” true Samaritans?
What lies beyond these adoptions made outside your own culture and race? A sense of safety? That that child will love you more than one adopted from your own social area? That that child will never want to find his/her natural parents?
One day, they might feel the difference: my brother is the natural son, but I am adopted and I am from Africa. Or China.”I am Chinese, but I don’t speak Chinese”, they might say one day.
A Canadian documentary about the life of a Korean adopted by a Canadian couple gave a bitter glimpse in the pink painted world of international adoptions. That young boy felt alienated in “his family” in Canada and he never felt he had “parents”. He eventually went to find his natural parents. But his father had another life and this adopted teen had no place there, even if they tried to integrate him.
He committed suicide.
He was less than 20 years old.
Where is the place for such children? How much loneliness is hidden in their eyes?

Recently, Jolie and Pitt showed the world their own twins, a boy named Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt, and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt (notice the French names as the babies were born in France; Marcheline was Jolie's mother name, an actress of French-Canadian descent on her father's side). They again sold the first photos of their newly born kids for… 14 million and this time there was no secrecy to where the money went: the Jolie-Pitt foundation.
Lucky Shiloh! Now the forces are equal in the Jolie-Pitt international team: three natural and three adopted, three blond and three other than blond.
Not long ago I was looking at a “family” photo with this little blond girl, Shiloh, surrounded by her “siblings” and I felt sorry for her. I saw her lonely.
I must admit that Jolie-Pitt’s decision to have more natural offspring was a brilliant choice, probably triggered by the idea that the little blond girl was in a … visibly minority position.
Three more and you have got yourselves a baseball team!

OBAMA, A STOOGE?
Friday, September 5, 2008


”Go into any inner-city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.”
Barack Obama, Keynote Address, Democratic National Convention, 2004

First of all, we should say that his white mother from Kansas had a constant fascination with interracial Muslim maleness. What has this to do with the presidential elections? It has, since Obama, half white and Christian, half black and Muslim might be one of the biggest political cons in the American history.
Obama is not a simple candidate, Obama is a case.
Kenyan citizens are already dreaming about Osama helping them by pouring money into the country simply because Obama’s father was a Kenyan. Obama, the half black, half white, young and ambitious, is projecting the image of a New Order. The question is whose order?
Should we ignore his race? Not at all. Does Obama have a crushing black support, as expected?
Well, since Obama is not a full blooded black, but a biracial, his opinions are not expected to side any side 100%.
For some, he is not a black, for others, he is not a white. It depends on which side you are.
His ancestors were not slaves in the USA, so he can’t impress the audience with heartbreaking stories about some distant relative who was lynched or had to run, maybe to Canada. Obama’s original given name is Baraka Hussein and it comes out of the Koran and Arabic, not Africa.
For those who imagine that being black in the USA is simple, since "all black are black", things are not that easy. It is not only white people who talk about the rights and the legitimacy of the first arriving, but blacks too. There is a tendency in the American black community of making differences: You were not born here, you don’t have ancestors who were killed, persecuted, who suffered and fought for what we have achieved today. Thus, you are not a true-born Afro-American.

Is Obama black enough for them?
Is Obama truly the first Afro-American candidate in the American history? It depends. Both sides are entitled to embrace him as their “first”: black people and biracial.
I don’t see the black community giving him the overwhelming support he wants. At this point, I believe that his voters are mostly white. If elected, he must play a hazardous game, to please both sides and to get what he wants from them, not stepping over his electoral promises.
More than others, black and Muslim (black or non-black) voters see Obama as their flange.
During his rallies, cameras are always taking their time to show some black people, smiling and almost in ecstasy, as if they were watching a minister on the Sunday preaches.
Maybe for the whites, Democratic presidential candidate Obama is what Saddam Hussein was thought to be for the Americans: an easy to control puppet. Once the puppet broke the strings, the puppet had to go.


Is Obama a little communist himself?
With a communist activist wife, in an ex-communist country Obama would get only a few votes from nostalgic of the named regime. As for today’s American electorate, communism is not a scarecrow anymore. Today, a sympathizer to the cause is not a break in the social advancement of an American.
Is Obama a sympathizer? Well, he married Michelle Obama and she might become the first communist first lady. He can not oppose her ideas that strongly. It is as if one would be married to a Nazi and pretend that the Nazi ideology is somewhere in the neighbour’s yard.
So, how many of his wife's marxist ideas have been embraced by Obama, the presidential candidate?

Is he “acting too white”?
Some say reading is “acting white”
Barack Obama is openly critiquing the African American community saying that many of his generation are disenfranchising themselves because they don't vote, taking rappers to task for their language, and decrying "anti-intellectualism" in the black community, including black children telling peers who get good grades that they are "acting white."
Can we draw the conclusion that according to some black people blacks should be poor, uneducated, singing rap, barking hip-hop, wearing gilded jewelry and sagging?
I don’t think that the question is whether America is ready to have a black president, but whether the black community is mature enough for this.
Studying has become an insulting act and the studious student is slandered and excluded by the rest. It is a trend to be “popular” and stupid, and this can be traced back to American teen-age movies.
Obama has a burden no other candidate has: he must be what some call “a true black”.
While Obama is just a man, who doesn’t seem to think too much of his own racial specificity.
But others do. And there is nothing wrong about it.
When Obama took a bold step in criticizing the core of “blackness”, he might have done an electoral mistake.
If Obama wants to be a leader, he knows that he must deliver the speech, even if it might offend someone. Is critiquing the core of “blackness” situating him in the “acting white” label too much?
If such a criticism were posted by a white, that candidate would have been forced to abandon his dreams of becoming a president. Since, still, Obama is “black” he can criticize and point out the faults of the black community without being labeled a racist. And this is an immense gain.
Could Obama be called a racist, suggesting that the criticism comes from his white blood streams?
On the other hand, he was never explicit on his madrasa years he spent in Indonesia. He was enrolled in this type of Muslim school for two years.
Was it a wahhabist school? (Wahhabi is a member of a strictly orthodox Sunni Muslim sect from Saudi Arabia; he strives to purify Islamic beliefs and rejects any innovation occurring after the 3rd century of Islam.)
His studies at Occidental College in Los Angeles are mentioned in every single biographical note, as well as his Columbia University years in New York. He graduated with a degree in political science in 1983, and in 1991 graduated from Harvard Law School.
Baraka (Barakah) Hussein Obama is silent and not willing to clarify his views on his Muslim heritage. Obama is not being upfront about it and it makes me wonder why. Is there anything to hide, is he ashamed of this heritage?
Obama's parents -- Barack Sr. and mother -- separated when he was two. His father, his grandmothers and most of his family members in Kenya are Muslims. His father, Barrack Hussein Obama Senior, was member of the Luo tribe and a Muslim (he converted from African Christianity).

Obama and Odinga
When Obama visited Kenya in 2006, he was hosted by Raila Odinga and Obama showed his full support to him.
Raila Odinga is the one responsible for the actual crisis in Kenya since his ego didn’t let him keep his pants on and leave Mwai Kibaki do his work as elected president. Raila Odinga was upset that Kibaki (from Kikuyu, the opposite tribe) didn’t offer him the expected positions in the government, so Odinga formed an opposition party (ODM-Orange Democratic Movement, orange the symbol color of opposition).
In December 2007, Odinga lost the presidential election to Kibaki and he claimed the vote was manipulated. His fans began thus their vicious, murderous riots; on New Year’s Day, at least 37 people were burned to death in a church deliberately set on fire. African fight for personal power, using tribal vindication, is the locomotive of African political unrest and economic handicap.
Odinga’s father was a communist, supported by the Soviets.
Raila Odinga made a deal with fundamentalist Muslims as he signed a Memorandum with Sheik Abdullah Abdi, chairman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum of Kenya.
The Evangelical Alliance of Kenya has posted on its website a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding, dated and signed on August 29, 2007.
This Forum wants to implement the Sharia law in Kenya. In return to the Muslim support, Odinga Jr. agrees to 14 humiliating actions.
Raila Odinga claims to be a practicing Anglican. Kenya on the whole is Christian, with 80% of Kenyans either Protestant or Roman Catholic, while only 10% are Muslim. Though, read the requirements of those 10%. They simply want to control the Coast (with a population of 2,487,264) and the North Eastern regions (with a population of 962,143). Thus, the Kenyan Indian Ocean shoreline with the three islands would be under their administration and the Sharia law.
The prominent ethnic group in the North Eastern regions is Somali people. Bordering Somalia (the Somalis are almost entirely Sunni Muslims) and Ethiopia, the Kenyan Muslim state would control more than Odinga ignorantly agreed to sign.
Raila Odinga has, in his own words, a "close personal friendship" with Barrack/Baraka Hussein Obama Junior.
When Obama went to Kenya, he spoke in praise of Odinga at rallies in Nairobi. Obama's bias for Odinga was so obvious that a Kenya government spokesman called him Raila's "stooge."
In the end, whose stooge is Obama?

Wind of change from east?
On August 22, 2008, Barack Obama announced that Biden would be his running mate.
Biden officially accepted the nomination on August 27, 2008 at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
Joe Biden serves as chairman in the Committee on Foreign Relations.
This CFR has been the subject of many controversies, partially due to the number of high-ranking government officials in its membership, its secrecy clauses, and the numerous aspects of American foreign policy that its members have been involved with.
The CFR wants to create “one world” and David Rockefeller admitted it proudly. The CFR would like to secure the borders on the entire North America, asking for full mobility of labor among the three countries within five years. In their internationalist fervor, they try to impose a new concept of sovereignty, cataloging the actual one as “outdated”.
During Biden’s speech, the audience would chant slogans, in a very old fashioned communist style. I also saw a few stars on a red background as part of an image on his platform.
I quickly put these elements together: CFR internationalism, Michelle Obama, staged chants and stars on a red background and I came up with one word: communism.
Is the United States slowly taking the curve eastwards?
Is this the change Obama keeps talking about?

Funny fact:
Obama- change a letter and we have Osama.
Biden-add three and we have Binladen.
What a coincidence!

February 18, 2008

The world is divided and it’s time for everyone to admit it. It was never “one world” and it can’t be.

I’ll never enjoy sharing a table with a Chinese or Korean who engulfs pieces of dog in front of my eyes. It is their table, not mine.

On February the 15th, Muslims from Denmark are re-enacting the riots of the Muslims from France in 2005. The 2005 civil unrest in France of October and November was a series of riots and violent clashes, involving mainly the burning of cars and public buildings at night starting on October 27th, 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois. A state of emergency was declared on November 8, 2005, extended for three months a few days later. The riots were triggered by the accidental death of two teenagers, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traore, in Clichy-sous-Bois, who were chased by the police as the two refused to stop. The two later ran into a power substation where they died, electrocuted. And the police was held responsible.

February 16, 2008 - Gangs of Muslims in Denmark set fire to cars and garbage trucks in northern Copenhagen, the sixth night of rioting and vandalism, angry at the reprinting of the cartoon of Mohammad in 15 Danish newspapers. Five youths (called “Danes” by the media) were arrested in the capital on Friday after 28 cars and 35 garbage trucks were burned. Cars and several schools have been vandalized or burned in the past week. Soft weather, schools closed, what else can the “Danes” do than burning or vandalizing schools? Anyway, they don’t need them.

I thought that their parents have left their archaic homes for Denmark to “give my children a better education”.
Several hundred Muslims (or “Danes”?) gathered in central Copenhagen on Friday to protest against re-publication of the cartoon.

“I AM NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT”

October 18, 2007

CECILIA AND NICHOLAS SARKOZY: DIVORCE IN FRENCH STYLE
This is what Cecilia Sarkozy said. And we know that a non PC declaration coming from a first lady could cost a president’s destiny. She didn’t take any risks. Cecilia Sarkozy simply couldn’t accept the standard expected behaviour of a first lady. Accompanying her husband to all sorts of events was not for her. She is the woman who can’t submit her life to anything she doesn’t believe in. Politics is not her passion. In fact, it is a boring matter she found herself whirlpooled into.

She is the type of woman to lounge on a golden beach, sipping from a refreshing fruit cocktail, decorated with a pink miniature umbrella. She was a model and she keeps behaving like a model. And she made the rules from the very beginning, showing that she doesn’t want to dance according to the tune.

She left for a holiday in Florida directly before the Election Day, and also left Sarkozy alone at the G8 dinner table, heading for Paris. How else can someone display in a more direct manner a message? Today, she and her husband, President Sarkozy, separate by mutual consent. How is this going to affect the President’s political decisions, consequently France’s internal and external politics? We shall see. Nicholas Sarkozy , elected president this year, must face immense publicity and media scrutiny. Who is the next wife, if any? Is Anne Fulda, the Le Figaro journalist, who was Sarkozy’s girlfriend during his brief separation from his wife, Cecilia, in 2005? Maybe not.

On the other hand, Cecilia Sarkozy, born to a Romanian father and a Spanish mother, also had an affair in 2005 in New York with Richard Attias, a Moroccan-born French. Is there a reunion floating in the air?

Her mission to Libya and her chatting with Muammar Gadaffi left room for endless comments, suggesting that Sarkozy used her as a weapon of seduction. Hopefully, we won’t witness a Cecilia converted to Islam, advocating the “religion of peace”.

However, you never know.

November 8, 2007

One of these days, while looking for Toronto Hindu community websites, I found one where “our successesful campaigns”(sic!) are reason for community pride. These campaigns deal with a list of issues which bothered the Hindu community in 2003. The incriminated apologized so the community became at ease. Among the offenders, there was a Seattle based toilet seat manufacturer; this came up with a design depicting Lord Ganesh and Goddess Kali on the toilet inside cover.

February 2001: FoxNews Withdraws India map without Jammu and Kashmir http://www.ivarta.com/Cause/C1_Fox_Map.htm

31 January, 2003: Maxim Magazine Apology for Gandhi Bashing http://www.ivarta.com/Cause/C17_Maxim_Gandhi.htm

27 April, 2003: American Eagle Apologize for Lord Ganesha flip-flops http://www.ivarta.com/cause/C18_AE_Ganesha.htm

11 July, 2003: ‘OM’ Socks, Apology from the President, Gold Medal Hosiery http://www.ivarta.com/Cause/C21_OM_Socks.htm

9 October, 2003: Apology by Toronto Star for Insulting Durga Image http://www.ivarta.com/Cause/C23_TheStar_Durga.htm Toilet Seats with Ganesha & Kali Pictures withdrawn http://www.ivarta.com/Cause/C2_Sittin_Pretty.htm

I understand that, for a Hindu, it is an offensive gesture. Imagine the illustration of Jesus, Virgin Mary or, if you are an atheist, the image of a cherished writer, composer or painter in such a posture.

Not that our reaction would be similar to that of some Muslims.

Not that the Hindus reacted like the Muslims did when the Danish newspaper published the “offensive “caricatures.

The Hindus didn’t rush out in the streets, in strident crowds, burning flags, shouting “peaceful” slogans (see the Muslims’ slogans during their rallies), offering rewards for killing those incriminated or attacking churches and priests. Hindus proved to know better than the Muslims themselves a Muslim saying:”The ink of the scholar is closer to god/ more valuable than the blood of the martyr”.

After Sweden has taken a bold step in publishing Lars Vilks drawings, rewards were offered by two Islamic leaders for killing the artist and the newspaper editor. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, has offered 50,000 in an audiotape posted on an Islamist Web site to anyone who killed the editor of the newspaper that published the drawing .

Driven by the religion of peace, he even suggests an increased reward if the body is … slaughtered.

The head of an al Qaeda-led group in Iraq has offered a 100,000 reward for killing the Swedish cartoonist whose sin of drawing Islam’s prophet Mohammad triggers fueled reactions. He even threatened to attack major Swedish companies.

What we should acknowledge is that Islam and Mohammad are given unmerited absolute attention. This interest made Muslims believe that their presence in our societies is without equal, extremely important or even… vital.

They should be remembered that they are only one of the numerous religious communities in the western societies and that we do not owe them anything. On the contrary, they owe us a lot.

They should be remembered that their presence in our world bears nothing exceptional, with one notable exception: the terrorist fear instilled in the mainstream society. They are not more hardworking, educated or intelligent than other cultural or religious communities.

They should not be the exception to create the rule.

Weak voices say that not all Muslims are terrorists and that these fundamentalists are only an undersized group and they do not represent Muslims.

Very well, this is obvious, only that since a fundamentalist imam represents Muslims and the imam declares war on west, I believe that the Muslim community, if disagrees with such a position, must amend him. Instead, “moderate” Muslims (what exactly is the meaning of “moderate” when applied to them?) come in front and try to tell us that Islam is peace.

What about those imams who deliver daily speeches of hatred? Whom are they representing?

It has become a question of ultimate courage and symbol of “expression of our freedoms” to caricature/draw, with or without any aesthetic value, their prophet. I believe that it is an immature method to state and prove western values, our freedoms. There are by far much more imperative issues to deal with, to open and discuss, topics like teacher’s lack of authority, global warming, GMO, human-animal embryos, lenient laws in rape, pedophilia, first degree murder and the list could go on.

Our society must reconsider certain “values”, examples of “emancipation” like teenage pregnancy and parenting or encouraged trendy interracial adoptions. Instead, the western mind is obsessed with drawing Mohammad.

Be more serious, gentlemen.

November 30, 2007

WHY NOT AN ABORIGINAL, JEWISH, SOUTH AMERICAN OR EUROPEAN HISTORY MONTH TOO?

Canada did it. Canada opened a practice nobody ever thought about: to celebrate the Islamic presence in Canada under the form of the world’s first Islamic History Month (why not called Muslim History Month?). Why such a gift, you might ask? To me it doesn’t seem to be anything but a gift of fear. Our government knows very well what is happening in Europe and is hoping that Muslims in Canada might be bought with such gestures.


Such a gesture is simply questioning its timing, as it comes in the context of “offended”� Muslims by the reasonable accommodation hearings held in Quebec. I see a connection. The raising of Islam in Europe is not a distant theory or a page taken out of the history books. Such a reality, with all aspects included, can not remain unknown to our government and politicians.

Silently, with an Islamic History Month, Canada is hoping to keep the Muslims in a range of comfort given by such official events.

As some began to question the Quebec hearings, as they might trigger similar hearings in the rest of the country, this gift comes as a high level of assurance coming from the government that no matter what those people say in Quebec, Muslims are loved, wanted and their presence highly valued.

Now, a logical question comes: Is there a similar month for other religions or ethnic communities? Not quite. Official recognition of each ethic, cultural, religious or linguistic community’s contribution to Canada is undoubtedly a nice gesture. In this respect, Canada, besides the already well-established Black History Month (celebrated in February in Canada and the USA and October in the UK), has also a South Asian Heritage Month in Canada, celebrated in May. And this comes as, according to the 2001 Census, almost 10 % of Canadians are of Asian descent.

Significant Muslim population begins to move to Canada in the 1970s through emigration. The first census year in which Muslims in Canada were specially included was 1981 and they then numbered 100,000. By 1991 the number had grown to more than 250,000; in 2001, there were almost 600,000.

The Muslim community in Canada has its foundation in the West, where Al-Rashid, the first mosque in North America, was built in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1938. The Canadian Muslims come from all over the Muslim world. Many held or still hold key positions in the Canadian media.

Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a former Ottawa Citizen editorial writer. He retired recently after 10 years as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, deciding refugee asylum cases including dozens from Somalia.

Tarek Fatah (born November 20th, 1949) is a secular Muslim Canadian political activist, writer and TV host. Founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress. Fatah’s advocacy for a separation of religion and state, opposition to Sharia law, and what he calls a “progressive” form of Islam has met with considerable controversy from other Canadian Muslim groups, such as the Canadian Islamic Congress.

Haroon Siddiqui, newspaper journalist, columnist and editorial page editor for Toronto Star, considered by many a Third World apologist. Referring to a Siddiqui column that appeared in March 2001, Robert Fulford wrote, “He found a way to look with a degree of tolerance even on the Taliban’s destruction of ancient Buddhist sculptures in Afghanistan.” Haroon Siddiqui also greets Turkey’s returning to an Islamic country.

So, if some speak about a Zionist media conspiracy, others might be entitled to speak of a Muslim one.

On the Canadian Islamic Congress site, in an article praising Ottawa’s decision to install the Islamic History Month in Canada, Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, says: “ Muslim identity in Canada has been influenced in two major ways; first, there is the country itself — a nation with a comparatively young history (140 years in 2007), occupying a huge and ruggedly diverse land-mass — and secondly, by the self-perceptions of its Muslim immigrants.”
140 years only?! According to this person’s broad knowledge, Canada came into being in 1867! Yes, indeed, Canada became a self-governing country on July 1st, 1867. But this doesn’t mean that Canada’s history as a nation began 140 years ago! According to his judgment, the history of a nation begins with its independence. Thus, Iran’s history as a nation began 1979 (the day the country became a theocratic Islamic Republic state), Norway’s in 1814, and Egypt’s, to end the examples, in 1922, when the country was declared independent from the British rule and it acquired full sovereignty following World War II. So, according to Mr. Elmasry, Canada is older than his native Egypt by 55 years!

Mr. Elmasry, French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and QuebecCity in 1608. The Act of Union merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada in 1840. Do the math. This doesn’t seem to exist in the history books Elmasry has read.

The same Dr. Mohamed Elmasry of the Canadian Islamic Council has declared in a televised interview in 2004 that Israelis over age 18 are a legitimate target for suicide bombers because adult Israelis are required to do military service, thus everyone is a soldier. “They are part of the Israeli army, even if they have civilian clothes,” Elmasry said on The Michael Coren Show. (See http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/10/25/muslimleaders_041025.html )

Elmasry apologized for his remarks as he considered being “misunderstood”, and kept his post as council president, as his letter of resignation was rejected by the board of directors. This was a very clear message of backing up his remarks from the part of the board. What was so multifaceted in his statement to lead to “misunderstandings”?

Certain Muslims believe that their sentences are so sophisticated that they make room to “misunderstandings”, especially when it comes to “non-believers”.

Now, back to 2007, when Ottawa officially proclaimed October to be Islamic History Month in Canada. Since the Muslim community has only a few decades presence in Canada, I was wondering if other older cultural/religious communities have anything similar: for instance, a European History Month in Canada would be a sign of recognition of the centuries old contributions made by European immigrants to the development of this country, culturally, socially and economically.

I am also thinking of the First Nations. After contacting The Assembly of First Nations, I was informed that there is no such thing as First Nations History Month in Canada. Tracy Lavallee, a First Nations woman stated, ”There is no month dedicated to the First Nations in Canada - we do have “National Aboriginal Day”, June 21st, that has been proclaimed by government. It would be nice if Canada would declare some month First Nations history month - this might prompt the various provincial governments to look seriously at having “proper” history taught which ought to include First Nations’ history, contributions, etc.”

What Canada gave the aboriginal people is one day, June 21st, as recognition of their historical presence and contribution to our society. Is it, perhaps, enough?

I have also contacted the Jewish community, and I received a prompt answer from Enza E. Martuccelli, Director of Community Relations for Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec Region , who stated: ”We have had Yom Hashoah recognized by Parliament and from October through November the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre runs a series of programs on the holocaust. The Sephardic community also runs a month long cultural program focusing on their community in Quebec and elsewhere. However no proclamations of the kind that are found on the Muslim History Month website exist for the Jewish community.”

There has been a Jewish population in Canada since the 1700s. The 2001 census lists 370,505 Jews in Canada. In the USA, May was proclaimed in 2006 as Jewish American Heritage Month. Another significant community in Canada is the Christian Orthodox community which numbers 479,620 (2001), counting as 1.6% of the population (the Muslim community 579,640, counting2.0%).

I believe that the Orthodox community is also entitled to be honoured with a History Month. The first Orthodox Church in Canada was erected in 1898, 40 years earlier than the first mosque.

What about the Hispanic community in Canada?

During the Islamic Month, of 31 days, 10 days were without events. As for the events, they were basically a handful, shuffled during 21 days: - Free Public Performances on Qanoun By Dr. George Sawa “- Film: Damascus and the Umayyads, people of the 9th and 10th centuries “- Film: Istanbul, capital of the Ottomans in the 15th and 16th centuries “- Film: Glories of Islamic Art, Part 2; Cairo, the cockpit of the early Islamic struggles between Sunni and Shiia faiths “- Islamic History Month Canada (IHMC): Its Goals, Its Methods, Its Themes “- Cairo, traces of the 12th and 14th centuries “- Eid-ul-Fitr- Canadian Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr across Canada, ending the Islamic month of Ramadan “- Expo Islamia- Displays from around the Muslim World, books, CDs, DVDs, films on Islamic History, Arts, Architecture, Heritage, Games and Prizes “- The Ottawa Muslim Women’s Organization- Multicultural Show, Dinner & Entertainment “- A Mystical Journey - Sufi Music and other Expression of Devoton from the Muslim World- “- Islamic Civilization - A Very Short History- A presentation by Dr. Jamal Badawi, delivered by Dr. Safaa Fouda “- The Canadian Muslim Artist Ibrahim Shalaby in a Special Solo Show: Longing for the divine - an artistic tapestry “- Islamic Architecture, Science, Art and Spirituality: A Lecture in Celebration of Islamic History Month Canada- By Prof. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies, George Washington University, Washington DC in his first Canadian Lecture Tour “- Friday October 26th- “National Pink Hijab Day”- to raise funds for breast cancer research “- The Canadian Islamic Congress Annual Ottawa Gala Dinner- with the speech: “Creativity in the Medical Sciences during Medieval Islamic Times”�- by Dr. Ingrid Hehmeyer, MSc, PhD.

Even cancer is opportunity for Dawah
As about the “National Pink Hijab Day”, this is not only an initiative to raise funds for breast cancer, but also a method of advertizing the religion itself. The organizers of this specific are hoping to also raise awareness about Islam and hijab. They have used it as an opportunity for Dawah, considered to be an obligation on Muslims to invite others to Islam. Dawah is often referred to as the act of “preaching Islam”.

It is, undoubtedly, an activity of proselytizing. In some cases, Dawah can also be seen as preaching to non-Muslims to convert to Islam. (The Encyclopeadia of Islam, BRILL)

The Canadian Islamic Congress has announced it was giving away pink hijabs to 200 Canadian women across the country who would volunteer to wear them on October 26th, to raise funds for breast cancer research. To request a free pink hijab, those interested were supposed to send a message to an e-mail address before October 22nd and include name, phone number, postal address and “a short personal biographical statement”. Why this ”biographical statement”?

And this is how the Muslims have decided to enlighten us about their history.

Call for a Canadian year

If the Canadian government decides to offer one month to every single ethnic, religious, linguistic group, there is only one tiny problem: the length of the year. Since there are only 12 months and more than 20 large ethnic groups and over 100 of “smaller” groups, I suggest the creation of the Canadian year, so that every single community gets a celebration! The Canadian week would become 3, 04 days long. Thus, the 120 ethnic groups could each get an equitable representation in the Canadian calendar of official events.

February 10, 2008

As anyone can read on the "apartheidweek website", Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is an international series of events held in cities and campuses across the globe. “It has become imperative for people around the world to isolate the Israeli apartheid regime, especially in the face of governments’ failure to ensure respect for human rights and to hold Israel accountable before international law and countless U.N. resolutions” said Ahmad Shokr, an organizer of IAW in New York City. Shokr adds that “by supporting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign the international community can bring an end to Israeli apartheid and work toward a future of justice, equality and peace.” When I ran into a shabby person in downtown Montreal holding a sign saying “Boycott Israeli Apartheid”, I took the required photos and then I asked about the rights of Christians in Islamic countries. The man, looking very much homeless, holding a pathetic sign, mumbled something like: “It’s your opinion”. As for “my opinion”, it is the brutal reality avoided by spineless mainstream media. It is a subject the bribed media is not willing to discuss. It is the scare-crow subject, “hate speech” type and the rest of PC bla-bla-bla.


Christians in Islamic countries
Christians from Palestine, Nigeria and Somalia to Indonesia, Iraq, Algeria, Jordan are under open attack from the Muslims. Respect for other religions is not what Islamic countries are prominent for. They are far from being a model of reverence and tolerance, the two values so much used when it comes to Muslims’ demand for special rights (and no responsibilities) in non-Muslim countries. Christians are usually persecuted for “preaching Christianity in a Muslim country”.

This is a tricky offence, since “preaching” means even a private religious discussion between a Christian and a Muslim. Very few western Christian preachers would street-preach, as allegedly some did, knowing the dangers and consequences of such a gesture in an Islamic country. Paradoxically, Muslims who move to western countries erect numberless mosques with tall minaretes and are granted all their demands. Even so, Muslims find place to blatantly criticize our society for not being “tolerant”, giving themselves as examples of “tolerance”.
In 2001, in Indonesia “Holy War Warriors” with help from the government went on a campaign to eradicate Christians from the town of Tentena. A group called Laskar Jihad (responsible for hard to describe atrocities) has burnt 600 homes and six churches during the November 26-29 attacks. Laskar Jihad’s leader, Ja’far Umar Thalib, wants to make Indonesia an Islamic state.

In neighboring Maluku province, at least 9,000 people have been killed since 1999.

The criminal group aims to exterminate Christians from the Moluccas and Sulawesi Island. Its mission is “to defend” Muslims against Christians. It is ridiculous, knowing that Christians (Protestant 5.7%, Roman Catholic 3%) in Indonesia are a tiny minority while 86.1% of the population is Muslim (according to CIA based on 2000 census).

In 2005, three Christian school girls in Central Sulawesi were beheaded by masked attackers of the religion of “peace”. Police in the region commented that one head was placed by the attackers in front of a new Christian church, and the other two placed outside the police station. Let’s take a look at only a few news about Christians living in Muslim countries in 2008.
Iraq-Iraqi Christians are leaving the country or moving to Kurdistan for safety reasons. About 1 mil. Christians live in Iraq, with 50 churches in Baghdad.
Jordan- foreign long-term Christians living in the kingdom are being expelled, showing the direction of the kingdom towards a radical Islam.
Palestine- Christians live in constant fear. Recently, gunmen have blown up the YMCA library in Gaza Strip. 8000 books were destroyed. Christians in West Bank and Gaza Strip have been reduced to less than 2%. Their exodus is continuous. Bethlehem, once preponderant Christian, is today Muslim.
Pakistan- after a Christian man had requested a raise, his family (wife and children) was beaten, tortured humiliated and physically abused by his Muslim employer and his stooges.

The list is lengthy and it is just the beginning of 2008.

As some pockets might be jam-packed with a few golden dinars, probably IAW is blind and deaf at such news. Looking at the international situation, with the minority Orthodox population expecting violence in Kosovo and with Turkey lifting the ban on head scarves , it is easy to deduce following religious disputes and shameful compromises made by the western world to accommodate those who would fire in the skies, celebrating the joy of our extinction.

February 16, 2008


TFL (Transport for London) officials have come under fire for banning a poster showing a poster of a classic nude painting of Venus on the Underground train system because it might offend travelers. What type of travelers, you might ask?

The incriminated poster was part of an advertising campaign for the Royal Academy for a forthcoming show on the 16th century German painter and printmaker, Lucas Cranach the Elder. But TFL said the classic painting breached guidelines against advertising which “depict men, women or children in a sexual manner, or display nude or semi-nude figures in an overtly sexual context.”
The importance of this exhibition was highlighted in the press release from the Royal Academy.
“In March 2008 the Royal Academy of Arts will present the first major exhibition in Britain devoted to Lucas Cranach the Elder (c. 1472-1553). Collaboration between the Staedel Museum, Frankfurt am Main and the Royal Academy, the exhibition will bring together some 70 works chosen to represent the quality and range of this important master of the German Renaissance. The Staedel has generously made available to the Academy major works from its collection of paintings, drawings and prints by Cranach; foremost among them is The Altarpiece of the Holy Kinship, dated 1509.”
The exhibition was open to public and there was no age limit.
Children under seven years old could visit the exhibition free. Now what do we do? There are two options: either cover the “overly sexual” images (Water Nymph resting is another painting in the exhibition) or simply rate the exhibition as improper for visitors under a certain age.

What about the plentiful fashion, cosmetics and perfume-related ads displaying if not as much
flesh as a Venus, definitely a more provocative, sensual and sexual content? They seem to be more acceptable than a 500 year old nude.
Would a prostitute be considered more virtuous than a naked model, posing for an art class, only because one is clothed and the other one naked?
For some minds, exposed body is automatically “inviting”, “asking to be raped” , while covered women are models of virtue, even if their exposed eyes are fully loaded with mascara and kohl, in a desperate attempt to emphasize this part of their anatomy and bring attention upon it. Few ask why a “virtuous covered woman” use make up if she is indeed that “modest”.
If you go on a beach with nudists, that nudity is not more provocative than a pair of underwear on the cloth line.
Nudity can be elegant and refined or cheap and vulgar. A fully dressed woman can be as provocative or earthy as a naked one if this is her intention or she was just simply born with no taste at all. Cranach’s intention was obviously far from our modern concept of sexuality. Five hundred years ago, Venus was simply Venus: an important Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty and fertility.
Is Cranach’s Venus “overtly sexual”?
The TFL officials behave and think like a bunch of men who see sexual promises and provocations in anyone who has exposed more than her nose. Some seem incapable of noticing that modern men have conquered the battle against their senses and they can control their desires even if they see more than an ankle, a wrist, an ear lob, or a nostril. No matter how “sexy” they are!

Public nudity
In many countries public nudity is forbidden, e.g. in many states of the USA and may be fined as indecent exposure. In Scandinavia, Spain and Germany, public nudity per se is not forbidden, but when other people feel harassed by public nudity, it may be fined. In Barcelona public nudity is a civil right. In the Netherlands public nudity is allowed on sites that have been assigned by the local authorities and other suitable places. In 2004, a Japanese restaurant which serves sushi on the body of nearly naked women caused a storm of controversy in the conservative southwest Chinese city of Kunming. The practice of nyotai mori - eating sushi and sashimi off the body of a naked woman “dates back to the times of the ancient Japanese courts. In 2007, a piece of news was making the headlines for many newspapers: a tall, naked tattooed woman, wearing nothing but golden stilettos, stopped by the petrol station in the town of Doemitz (Germany) to buy cigarettes.

Back in business
In the early 1800’s, Goya’s Nude Maja was declared “obscene”. After outrage in Spanish society he painted “La maja vestida”, The Clothed Maja. But the Inquisition found both paintings unacceptable and thus they were confiscated in 1813, demonstrating that “obscenity” is not strictly related to nakedness. Why didn’t the Inquisition simply burn them? We’ll never know. In 2008, in the UK, the poster of a 500 year old painting is banned from the public sight.
The Inquisition is back.

February 23, 2008

February 23, 2008 -The horrific news doesn’t seem to be run by any newspaper in the UK. I found it on Hindustan Times, DNA and NRI World. IN.
Major Singh was living illegally in the UK since 1994. He was charged with sexually assaulting a 9-year old girl. Singh was sentenced to 6-years in prison by the Leicester Crown Court for assaulting the girl on September 24, 2007, and will hopefully be deported immediately after ending his jail sentence. After his arrest, Singh admitted that while drunk, he forced the child to sexual act against her wish. During this dishonorable act he was caught by local youths who took the matter in their hands and beat him. Singh was able to flee from the crime scene only to be arrested by the police shortly after. No details about the girl’s ethnicity were revealed.
BBC news is dead silent about Singh’s crime, but it’s running the story of John Ruth (”safe” name) who has admitted raping a girl aged 10 in a house in Shettleston November 18, 2007.

What I found about Major Singh is simply outrageous: according to the JUDICIAL REVIEW OF A DECISION OF A SPECIAL ADJUDICATOR AND A CHAIRMAN OF THE IMMIGRATION APPEAL TRIBUNAL, and the OPINION OF LORD NIMMO SMITH in the petition of MAJOR SINGH, Petitioner dated 7 March 2000, Singh entered the United Kingdom illegally in October 1994. On November10, 1994 he applied for political asylum, claiming to be a supporter of the Khalistan Liberation Front and a member of the Sikh Student Federation. In the above mentioned review we can read: ”The appellant was born on 21 March 1965 and is of Indian nationality. According to the appellant, he left India in August 1994 and travelled by air via the United Arab Emirates to the Czech Republic where he remained for approximately 9 weeks. From there he entered the United Kingdom clandestinely by lorry in October 1994. He made an application for asylum on 10 November 1994. This application was refused by the Secretary of State in a letter of June 1996. On 16 August 1996 the appellant was served with directions for his removal from the United Kingdom to India.”

At interview the appellant said he joined the latter organisation in 1989 but the documents at annex E of the main Home Office bundle said that he joined in 1990. The letter of 23 March 1996 at Annex E was written in English, although the appellant claimed to have needed an interpreter for the purposes of his appeal. If the appellant was part of any organisation it was at a very low level. He said at interview that he had not attended rallies or demonstrations but just put up posters and gave food to members of the party. He claimed to have been detained once for four hours on suspicion of hiding guns and sheltering terrorists but he said he was not ill-treated and said he was never tried or sentenced. His family were not harassed or detained. AISSF was not a banned organisation but a mainstream political party. It did contain the Bittu Faction which was banned because of involvement in terrorism. If the appellant was part of this faction the police might want to question him in their role of maintaining law and order. The appellant did not leave India until nearly a year after he claimed to have been detained. It was unlikely that the police had any interest in him, if they did he would have a fair trial. His passport was issued in 1993 and he said he had waited one year for his passport to be issued which suggested that he had applied for it in July 1992. This suggested that he intended to leave India before his alleged difficulty started. At interview he said he had no trouble leaving India. This was despite the evidence of the US State Department report which said that the government of India might deny a passport or prevent travel by those advocating Sikh Independence. The appellant claimed to have spent 10 weeks in the Czech Republic but had made no application for asylum there. His actions were not consistent with someone fleeing for his life as in Manga Singh (11175). If he was concerned that he could not remain in Punjab he could move elsewhere in India, as in Mohan Singh (9151) and Dupovac (11846).”

This is the man who raped a 9 year old girl, destroying her innocence.
This is the man protected by media and an irresponsible PC policy.
This is the man who was not supposed to be in the UK.
Someone should get the balance right.

February 27, 2008

Muslim students, mainly from Saudi Arabia, want lectures to be rescheduled to fit in with prayer timetables and separate male and female eating and recreational areas established on Australian campuses. What is wrong in this picture? Obviously, it’s the country.The “students” who made their choice to study there should keep their prayers quiet and private and if living in a non-Islamic country is that demanding, there is always a solution: learn in one of their universities. They could choose one in Saudi Arabia where men and women study in separate buildings and have prayer breaks to cool off from intense studying.

When you start appeasing 7th century Muslims, it will never end.
Or it will end with us living under Sharia law.
How long will it take for the fundamentalist or less fundamentalist, moderate or semi-moderate Muslims to require their host-countries to change flags, national anthems, history books, national holidays, dress code and ask for women and men to work and study in separate buildings? Why not create a sector for females and one for males in every city where there is a mosque? Would such a decision make these backward fundamentalists finally declare their contentment? I never understood why isn’t Saudi Arabia building more schools in Islamic countries, instead of sending money overseas and open Wahhabist schools?
Why do Muslims choose to humiliate themselves, recognizing the superiority of the “infidels” educational system and schools? If they have decided to come here, than face the music!
Under the concept of Al-Takeyya if under the threat of force, it is justifiable for Muslims to lie and act contrary to their faith. The following actions are tolerable: Drink wine, abandon prayers, and skip fasting during Ramadan. Renounce belief in Allah. Kneel in homage to a deity other than Allah. Utter insincere oaths.
When dealing with Muslims, what they say is not the issue. The real issue is what they actually mean in their hearts. Lying is also acceptable amongst spouses, to keep “peace” in the family.
Governments and all kind of “integration” organisms and associations chant a slogan: cultural exchange, better understanding of other cultures etc. It seems clear to me that this is a one way policy: we must learn about them, we must introduce new curricula in our schools to meet their needs, we must be “open” and make compromises and we must “create the proper environment for a dialogue”. This intention is very polite and noble.
But what do they do? All they desire is to live according to their religious necessities and ideas. They are not willing to learn from us or “experience other cultures”. They despise our culture, considering it rotten and vicious. They are not here to eat and taste our food, listen to our music, watch our movies, visit our museums or read our literature.
While they keep ignoring that it is them who have applied for a visa, refugee status or political asylum, leaving “their countries”, we keep forgetting that this is our world we have created and we have managed to craft it so eye-catching that the whole planet would like to relocate here.
We are suggested to educate ourselves and our children to “embrace, appreciate and accept” their culture, while they teach their children to reject what is labeled “infidel” and remain “Muslims”.
Where on Earth is the cultural exchange when it comes to Muslims and non-Muslims?
I have recently seen a sad scene, in a public eating space. It was this numerous Muslim family (4 generations) sitting and chatting. All men were crowded around one table, while the single woman in the group was sitting lonely with the toddler at a table across the aisle. There is some backbone left here and there like La Trobe University International College , the institution that has rejected such abusive accommodations. Director Martin Van Run said that those Saudi students were fully aware that the university is secular before coming to study there. Here we are. Someone has finally the courage to say it. Is it “hate speech”?

Muslims in Australia
In 2006, Australia rolled out a pilot program in 16 schools in Muslim areas of western Sydney on the compatibility of Islamic and Australian values and the wearing of religious attire, including headscarves. The federally 1 million funded three-year program was looking “to improve understanding of other faiths and cultures.”
What about those “other cultures” to improve their respect and knowledge of our cultures?
Australia is under their heel. In 2007, Islamic Friendship Association of Australia president Keysar Trad admitted hearing young Muslims asking their cleric for advice on going to fight jihad overseas. These young Muslims are predominantly university students. Willing to become perhaps “doctors” and save our lives?

In 2007, an “Australian”, Ahmed Ali, died fighting alongside Islamists in Somalia, his country of birth. Ali (who married what else than an Australian convert!) migrated to Australia with his parents in the late 1990s. He went to Somalia with his wife and children, to expose them to an integration lesson. With the jihadist funds and the Australian social welfare, his wife will be living off the fat of the land. Even if under the Crimes Act 1978 (Foreign Incursion and Recruitment) Australian citizens who engaged in hostile activity in a foreign country face up to 20 years in jail, there is nothing stipulated on family members who were aware of the respective activities.

Australia should add this: “and their dependants who knew about their activities get no social welfare”
Keysar Trad is the one who said on the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia website about Sharia: “Sharia refers to the system of guidance in Islam. There are penal provisions within Sharia, these are referred to as Hudood. The Hudood are a very small part of Sharia. The following is a reasonable summation: 95% of Sharia protects the life, safety and freedom of individuals and of society, especially women, 5% are provisions to deter those who would threaten the freedom of society.Keysar Trad”

Unsatisfied Muslims in west had fallen on their sword, making the west fed up to the back teeth. Under false colours, fundamentalist Muslims work and live among us, waiting for the right moment to harm us. The case of the so-called “doctors” in Glasgow and the school bus driver in the Toronto case are only two examples of their chameleonic behaviour. They greet you, they are your neighbours, they mow the lawn, water the plants, complain about the weather. They are “friendly” and “normal”. Until the day they decide to act against the “infidels”.

We are fiddling while Rome burns.

KATOUCHA NIANE DEAD: ACCIDENT OR MURDER?

February 28, 2008

Some tradition-minded families have their daughters undergo FGC whilst on vacation in their home countries.
Some women take the hard road and speak out against the abuse and humiliation dictated by what some call “tradition”. Katoucha Niane was one of them. Born in Guinea, she was one of the world’s first models to have come from Africa. In the 1980s she modeled for Thierry Mugler, Paco Rabanne and Christian Lacroix and was described as Yves Saint Laurent’s “muse.”

Even if she was born to educated parents (Djibril Tamsir Niane, her father, is an author, playwright and historian, specialized in the history of the Mali Empire. In spite of his studies made in France, he has remained deeply anchored in the primitivism of the rituals dictated by his religion and agreed on his daughter to undergo the repellant procedure)at the age of nine, she had to experience one of the most barbaric rituals still practiced on Earth: female genital mutilation or cutting.

As Western governments become more aware of FGC, legislation has come into effect in many countries to make the practice of FGC a criminal offense. In the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, it is practiced mainly among foreign workers from East Africa and the Nile Valley.

In Indonesia, the practice is fairly common among the country’s Muslim women. Due to immigration, the practice has also spread to Europe, Australia and the United States. Some tradition-minded families have their daughters undergo FGC whilst on vacation in their home countries.

In 2006, Ethiopian Khalid Adem became the first man in the United States to be prosecuted for mutilating his daughter. He had personally excised his 2-year-old daughter’s clitoris with a pair of scissors, in order to preserve “her virginity”. Katoucha Niane stopped modeling in 1994 to focus on activism and has become an outspoken activist against female circumcision, a rite constantly performed in Mali, Senegal, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Tanzania and some groups in the Arabian Peninsula.

In the Arabian peninsula, Sunna circumcision is usually performed, especially among Arabs (ethnic groups of African descent are more likely to prefer infibulation). The practice occurs particularly in northern Saudi Arabia, southern Jordan, and Iraq. Egypt recently passed a law banning FGC. She created the organization KPLCE - Katoucha pour la lutte contre l’excision (Katoucha for the battle against female circumcision).

In 2007 she published a book about her mutilation experience,”Dans ma chair,” in France. On February 1st, 2008, she returned to her houseboat from a party. This was the last time she was reportedly seen alive. Police believed that she was likely intoxicated and fell into the Seine. Her body was found in the Seine on February 28th, 2008.

While some customs and traditions must be protected and preserved, others are only remains of obsolete social realities or simply symbols of ignorance. Foot binding was a custom practiced on young girls or females for approximately one thousand years in China. In Chinese foot binding, young girls’ feet, usually at age 6 but often earlier, were wrapped in tight bandages so that they could not grow and develop normally; they would, instead, break and become highly deformed, not growing past 4-6 inches (10-15 cm). As the girl reached adulthood, her feet would remain small and dysfunctional, subject to infection, paralysis, and muscular atrophy. This mutilation requested by social status ended in the early 20th century.

FGC is the next on the list.
http://www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/FGM/netscapeindex.htm

July 4, 2007

Proclaiming our roots: Notre culture-notre langue

People like parades. They provide joy, amusement and colour to young and old alike. Some parades are more interesting than others. Some parades get worldwide recognition or on the contrary, remain of local fame. When attending a parade, it is expected to see the colour of the place and its culture. One does not go to China to see some Halloween outfits during their New Year festival, but to see their famous dragon dance. And, vice versa, Chinese tourists in the west are not ecstatic to see a dragon during our Santa Claus/Father Christmas parade. It makes sense.

The St. Jean Baptiste parade is one of the most loved in Quebec. It is connected with the roots of its people, with its history, language, feelings and hopes. This parade is not a simple parade, but an occasion to parade a sense of identity, of belonging to a culture. In the heart of the multiculturalism, Montreal gives the whole world the image of a cosmopolitan city, with no specific distinction. The 2006 St. Jean Baptiste parade made place for almost every possible culture, but lost the significance of the day. This year’s edition got its vengeance. It simply put the foot in the door without fearing proclaiming its roots and linguistic heritage. The marching characters, in the shape of giant dolls, gave the viewer a very strong sense of cultural identity: watching this parade, you sense the feeling of living in a European environment. Whether some like it or not, the truth proclaimed in the streets during the St.Jean Baptiste parade in Montreal is that those who had created this country are the French , the English and the Irish. They built it; they died working the land, discovering and making roads, farming and harvesting. They built schools and factories, they survived or died in the heart of the six months winter. Some of the new arrivals like to place themselves on the same historical ladder with the French and the English, saying that “We are all immigrants”. Well, yes, we are, only that there is a 400 years gap between.

Les Geants de la Fete nationale

Giant dolls are a European tradition and France has plenty of events where these characters take the leading role. On St. Jean Baptiste, June 24th, Le Journal de Montreal published a list of the most popular surnames in Quebec, and Montreal served a shocking reality: it is not Tremblay, but Nguyen. Well, people reading the article put on faces, sighed, raised their eyebrows and re-read the large print. The typed letters were there, black on white. Sick and tired of multicultural parades (see the Parade du Noel 2006 in Montreal, where among others, the Chinese came with their dragon) I was hoping and expecting that the 2007 St. Jean Baptiste parade in Montreal would be different. And it was. Probably as a result of the “accomodement raisonnable” issue, the organizers came with the idea of having the courage to show our roots. This year’s parade brought some of us back in time and gave others a history lesson: the roots of the French who came here, the English and the aboriginals who were already here. The parade projected a short glimpse of history, with the first arrivals, Champlain, Marguerite Bourgeoys and les Filles du Roi, the first peasants of this land. Marguerite Bourgeoys, one of the giant dolls, left Troyes in February 1653 and she arrived in Montreal nine months later, on the 16th of November. She is considered co-foundress of Montreal, with the nurse, Jeanne Mance, and the master designer, Monsieur de Maisonneuve. Five huge figures, each nearly six meters high, in the European tradition, marched in front of the public. Among those being recognized were Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec City, and Ludger Duvernay, a journalist of the 1800s who founded the Association St. Jean Baptiste, now known as the Societe St. Jean Baptiste, in 1834. The Union des producteurs agricoles, Quebec’s farmers federation, sponsored a third figure, based on fictional character Marie Moisson, the nourishing mother; The fourth giant was a fictional woman, this one paying homage to the aboriginal people of Quebec. The surprise came when the most recognizable giant doll appeared: Rene Levesque, the founder of the Parti Quebecois political party. The dolls were made by the Au Pays des Geants company, with a 25 year old experience in this field. Jean Dorion (president of the Fete nationale in Montreal committee and president of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montreal organization) has promised a special parade. And he kept his word. Proclaiming our roots and bringing into public attention our culture and our language could be seen as brave in a present where any heritage pride shown by the majority, i. e. the host society, is labeled as “nationalism”, thus “anti-multiculturalism”, “anti-”, “anti-”.

It was refreshing to see such a parade where one can easily trace back our past. And one can easily recognize and enjoy the imagery of a common cultural heritage. It was refreshing to see something European when every event tends to overwhelmingly show the visible minorities’ cultural background, while ignoring our own.

September 26, 2007


Article 16(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State”. Canada is receptive and wants to satisfy diverse cultural sensitivities. The kirpan in schools, the turban replacing motorcycle helmets, and even the hijab in the army are only a few examples to prove Canada’s cultural responsiveness and tolerance. Like any other democratic country, the Canadian society values individual and collective freedoms and rights. As one fundament of such societies stays the declaration of equality between women and man. But this equality wasn’t here from the very beginning. This equality was achieved through long fight.

As part of the new world, Canada had to put the first bricks of future democratic institutions, shield for human rights and liberty. The path was long and bumpy. Women had no rights, following the historical situation of women in every society. The pioneers for women’s rights had a long way to go. Nellie McClung fought for women’s rights to vote, mothers’ allowances, public health nursing, free medical and dental care for children, liberalized birth control, divorce laws, and improved property rights for married women. She fought for women to be considered “persons” and have the right to be appointed to the Canadian Senate. In October 1929 the Judicial Committee ruled that Canadian women were, in fact, persons and could be appointed to the Senate. 1912 is the year when the first woman in the Canadian history was appointed as full professor at McGill University in Montreal. As for voting, Canadian women got this right in each province before 1940. Quebec was the one before the last (Northwest Territories) to recognize women’s right to express their political choice. This happened April, 1940. When it comes to Quebec, many things are different. Nothing was gained easily, nothing came fast. Women had to wait long years until their rights were accorded in this province. One of such discrepancy is the situation of married women. According to Quebec law, a woman can never use her married name in any official document and is to maintain her maiden name for the rest of her life. I judge that Quebec’s civil law denies women’s freedom of choice, and disregards cultural tradition and choice regarding marriage. If in the rest of Canada, women are given the choice of officially using their married name, Quebec is anchored in a phony law that denies freedom of choice in the name of “women’s freedom”. The origins of the law go back to the creation of the Quebec Charter of Rights, which clearly defined equality between men and women. And this equality was proclaimed by forcing women to stay “maidens”. It is interesting how a woman is forbidden from taking her husband’s surname after marriage, but a pardoned criminal has the right to change his/her name, in order to “protect” himself/herself. This outdated law must be abolished, since the “historical “reasons which determined its creation do not exist anymore. Women’s equality in our society doesn’t have to be proved anymore. It is a gained fight. The war is over. Not changing surnames is frequent for celebrities, but even so, many simply choose to add their married name next to their maiden one. The latest famous example is actress Demi Moore who has decided to change her surname and take her husband’s name: Kutcher. If keeping your maiden name is perfectly acceptable for Chinese, Korean, Iranian or Arab women, which are cultures where women usually do not change their name after marriage, as a European, I request to be given the choice of choosing my name and the right to use my married name in all official documents. Many Arab and Indonesian societies commonly do not have family names in the English sense of the term. French women do not legally change names when they marry. However, it is customary that they take their husband’s name as a “usage name”. This is not a legal obligation and not all women decide to do so. In Hungary both the bride and the bridegroom have to declare before the wedding which name they will use, a family sharing a common surname. In Brazil, until the recent reform of the Civil Law, women had to take their husbands’ surnames; not doing so was seen as evidence of concubinage. Also in Dutch tradition, marriage requires the female to drop her maiden name and take on the husband’s name. The current Dutch law gives people more freedom: upon marriage, both partners keep their own surname, but are given the choice to use their partner’s surname, or a combination of both. In Germany the name law is ruled by sexual equality since 1994: the woman can adopt her husband’s name or the man may adopt his wife’s surname. In Japan, marriage law requires that legally married couples share a surname. In Romania, when you marry, your name is automatically changed to that of your husband and all your documents are emitted with your acquired married name. But, a woman has the choice to request to keep her maiden name after marriage. As a social convention, in many cultures married women are called “Mrs. X” (their husband’s name) and unmarried women, or divorced (sometimes even after divorce some women choose to keep their “married”� name) are automatically called “Miss”, no matter their age. It is a change of status and a change of emotional character. It is a new position in the community and everybody knows that you are married because you have your husband’s name. Taking a married name might serve as daily and public markers of the marital union and the rights afforded thereto. Let’s not forget the emotional factor. Name change is a basic legal act that is recognized in practically all legal systems to allow an individual the opportunity to adopt a name other than the name given at birth, marriage, or adoption. In Quebec, any immigrant wishing to change his/her name is given this right. But married women are denied a fundamental freedom, that of choosing their surnames.This rule applies to all women domiciled in Quebec, even if they married outside Quebec or outside Canada, except women married before April 2, 1981 already using their husband’s last name to exercise their civil rights. (Source: Justice.gouv.qc.ca) Marriage is an institution which joins together people’s lives in emotional and economic ways. Even if in our modern times, there are many contemporary critiques of the institution of marriage, developed from a feminist viewpoint, suggesting that marriage can be particularly disadvantageous to women economically and socially, I believe that imposing any directions in this respect is infringement upon our human rights. I am not a Lucy Stone and there are many other women who are not. Though some feminists have asserted that taking a marital name detracts from the individual worth of the spouses, I request to have the choice of officially and legally using my husband’s surname. I do not believe that any of these feminists is being forced to anything against her will. Since they have the choice of not getting married, of not having a father for their child and the right of keeping their “maiden” surnames, their mission is accomplished. I consider that those women who, on the contrary, want to legalize a relationship by marriage, have a father for their child and use their husband’s surnames should be given equal understanding, respect, juridical and social support. Lesbians and gay couples have received the right to marry, to adopt children. Religious, sexual minorities turned the world upside down and the world decided to grant their more or less queer requirements. In this whirlpool of requests and approvals, married women in Quebec were completely ignored. In many cultures, if a woman lives with a man and doesn’t use his surname, it signifies that they are not married, thus it is a relation of concubinage. No matter how widely such relationships are socially accepted, some women are uncomfortable in presenting themselves in the above named type of relation. When you book a hotel room under different names, it is as if you are not a couple, but some people having an affair. This is humiliating. In many cultures, a couple who is married has the same surname. This is the social sign of a family, the sign of a couple legally married, who took joint responsibilities. Marriage is not a simple event. Marriage is a change of status; marriage is a new life, with a new name. Some women practice their new signature with emotion. The first document a woman signed with her husband’s name is regarded as a precious memory. Some women simply like to be called “Mrs. X”. A letter received on two different names is not addressed to a “family”. If some women do not wish to change their names and want to stay for the rest of their lives under their name of birth, it is their choice. But other women think that it is an honour to use their husband’s name. We must have the choice to choose our name after marriage. If the law is sensitive to human rights, than we must change its compulsory nature and enable women to make a choice. This means respect for human rights. I request the law to be changed and permit women to choose. I believe that the mentality according to which taking your husbands name is submission and you become his “propriety” belongs to the pioneering years of our fight for our freedoms and emancipation. We don’t have to wear trousers or smoke with ostentation in public anymore to prove that we are “free”. Sexual revolution and a tolerant society made everything possible: teenage mothers, fatherless children, fashion that shows nudity etc. What was long ago a gesture of rebellion against social taboos has become in our days as common as eating an apple. I believe that even feminists would agree that the Quebec law acts exactly against our freedoms, thus it must be abolished. I have contacted the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, but they do not consider that the case of a woman who wants to use her married name in all official documents is an issue of human rights. Since their answer was not satisfactory, I decided to send a letter to Prime Minister Jean Charest. The answer I have received from France Lessard, Director of Administration and Correspondance, is as follows: “Dear Mrs. Lussier, On behalf of the Premier of Quebec, Mr. Jean Charest, I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated August 12, 2007. Your query falls under the mandate of Mr. Jacques P. Dupuis, ministre de la Justice, and will be passed on to him for consideration.”

It is time to move on and put an end to a dictatorial law and give us nothing else but Freedom of Choice.

July 3, 2007

Who is the new French president? Not a Frenchman, says Le Pen, expressing his total lack of confidence in the newly elected president. More than half of the French trust him to save the values of the country, say others. Labeled like no other modern European politician, Sarkozy gave hope to all those who believe that the national values are in danger, that the national identity is being swallowed by the refusal of the numerous ethnic communities to be integrated in the mainstream society.
Today, when the “ cultural globalization” crusade is PC and mandatory, while any phrase using the word “national” creates tsunamis of anger, Sarkozy made French think of their identity without embarrassment or culpability, and he opened the path for their voices to be heard and listened. He is the one who gave them hope that the Gallic rooster will continue its march in history in its traditional shape and colour. French or non-French, Nicolas Sarkozy was elected with 53.5% of votes ahead of Segolene Royal with 46.5%. That the Royal supporters were calling for re-elections is not something much of surprise, democratic values not being exactly what the socialist-communist ideologies are famous for.

Not a surprise indeed if you pay attention to her crowds of supporters. The great majority comes from certain parts of the globe, thus they can be easily spotted in the mob, parts of the globe where democratic values have no meaning, presidents being changed like socks or shoes, overnight, by a murder or coup d’etat. A president elected by the nation, through free voting, has no meaning for their mindset. Thus, translated to the French land, carriers of their traditions and values, these supporters keep thinking that their simple presence could change what a European nation has built for hundreds of years: a society based on democratic values. They believe that, if they do not agree with the elected president, they can riot in the streets and oust him in order to enthrone whoever they want. Well, unfortunately for them, they have chosen a wrong country to do so. Citizens or not, legal immigrants or not, Royal’s supporters exhibit a gregarious mentality, so much present and contagiously spread throughout Europe in the last decades. Why so much ado? Why the fear of rioting and violence since France is (still) a European, democratic country, where elections are not subject to frauds? Let’s take a closer look at the demographic profile of today’s French voter: there are more than 5 million Muslims who beyond doubt overwhelmingly voted for Royal. Take a look at the democratic values in the Muslim countries. Take a look at their “elections”. Besides Muslims there are south Asians, Chinese etc. ; take a closer look at their countries, at their elections, at their political assassinations. “Candidate for brutality” Royal says, apparently with her eyes closed at the French banlieues residents’ comments, since she got strong support there. Determined to crack down on crime, Sarkozy is not welcomed by those who grew up in families on social welfare, drug transactions, they themselves living gang lives on hard working people’s money. Sarkozy talks about children not respecting their parents and teachers. It is not only a problem specific to the French society, but the entire industrialized world feels the results of the “children’s freedom”. Children should run the world, say some. But children are already running the schools, the cases where teachers are threatened by violent pupils and overcrowded classrooms not being breaking news anymore. Sarkozy wants to change not only one minor thing, but many major ones. If you want to change you must be prepared not to be liked. And you must be prepared for labels and hatred coming from those you are pointing your finger at. Sluggish, violent youths, wandering the French suburbs, selling drugs, with earsplitting tunes emitted by the speakers of their cars, wearing ill-fitting trousers, gigantic chains and gilded plates around their necks? The image is familiar. They are those who started the violent riots in 2006. They feel “excluded”. Well, is it so? They are among those who are hot and bothered by the new president. Sarkozy can not be liked by such groups since Sarkozy doesn’t respect them and he had the courage to imply it, openly. They are what the communist societies called “parasites”. Quite accurate, isn’t it? What is the contribution these rioters brought to the French society? Do they pay taxes? Do they have a job or”¦ profession? “Job? Profession?” blasphemy! would scream the street. What is that sh–t? Instead of playing the slogan of “poor victimized youths” Sarkozy called them what they are, pointing out the reality: a bunch of people who are not interested in working, since working is considered degrading among their gangs. You work if you are stupid, they say. You don’t work and you make money if you are smart, they say. “Smart”? You can figure it out what the meaning of “making money” is for a “smart” one. Sarkozy’s victory has been marked by violent protests in Paris and other French cities. Police said that on the first Tuesday after the final result 20 people were still being held after a second night of violence in the capital. Police used tear gas to disperse around 400 protesters in the western town of Nantes late on Monday, while several hundred protesters gathered in other towns. Police made almost 600 arrests on Sunday. Protesters?! Protesting against WHAT?! Protesters protesting against the democratic results of democratic elections. Is this Europe? Is this a European mindset? The other discontented with the presidential result are the trade unionists, anxious that Sarkozy might take decisions without consulting them, thus, some began to wag their tails. Union workers have impressive amounts of immigrant members, and are, by definition, leftists. If union membership is almost forcibly for each worker in a factory, the demonstrations can also be seen as actions where presence in not compulsory, but required. This reminds us of the communist parades and peace rallies where each factory and institution had to be present, carrying and shouting slogans mastered by the “writers of the regime”. The French unions suggest social unrest if the Sarkozy policy is going to step on their toes.” Racist, nationalist, violent”- what else can be added on the list of labels Sarkozy was crowned with? He won, whether some like it or not. He won as a result of a democratic vote. Vox populi has spoken. In a lax society, where the PC ideologies and the “care” for the “cultural minorities” have given the majority the sentiment of being drastically neglected and discriminated, the voice of common sense has spoken. Half of the French are determined to put an order in a society mined by a crass lack of authority. Policemen are afraid to patrol in certain suburbs; youth attack policemen without penalty. Everything, in the name of “tolerance”. Everything in the name of “multiculturalism”. It has come the time to show an iron hand and the message is clear. Sarkozy might soften his image, but, if he softens his pre-electoral opinions and promises, the same vox populi who wanted him will give him the red card. And, no matter how good you are, once you got it, you must leave the playing field.