China, Russia, new Mohammed’s cartoon, Islamism in US, Sarko & Merkel, France regarding Turkey in EU and other items

From Financial Times h/t China Daily:

China criticised Taiwan’s ruling party on Sunday for mobilising its supporters in a rally demanding United Nations membership for the island.

A day after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in two rival marches in support of UN membership, the Taiwan Affairs Office – the Chinese government’s policy body – said that the Beijing authorities were “preparing for a serious situation” without giving any further detail.

China has a standing threat to take military action against Taiwan if the island were to declare formal independence.

Chinese don’t like democracy:

Chinese values exist in a parallel universe, one in which our white is their black and their black our white. The United States and China can form a symbiotic relationship, one that benefits mankind and stabilizes the rest of the century, but only if the U.S. rejects cultural absolutism. When we open our eyes to how they perceive things, we will not like what we see. But we have no choice, unless we prefer conflict to co-existence.

China is not evolving towards democracy in the Western sense (i.e., one-man-one vote, not merely distaste for corruption). Even more unsettling to Americans is that “new generation” Chinese, in some ways so much “like us,” do not want democracy. Advertising folk fancy themselves as quasi-anthropologists, perched at the intersection of Commerce and Culture. During my nine years in Shanghai, I have learned how to sell Nikes to mainland teenagers (avoid brash, U.S.-style rebellion) and HSBC Premier accounts to the nouveau riche (alchemize superior service into life advancement). By probing minds for “insight” – i.e., deep motivations that explain behavior – we can sell more Kellogg’s cold cereal and Lipton milk tea. But we can also, almost inadvertently, uncover riddles that lie at heart of China’s surging, irrepressibly dynamic economy.

Hmm, interesting defense of relativism. If we consider that our values are the best, why on earth are we not going to defend them?

If we assume that we have no choice but to recognise our values are not universal, that our values are not natural to human beings, that they are not given by birth to each and all human beings just because they are such, then we are recognising that we consider that not all human beings are equal. And that we can divide them between 1st class ones and second class ones.

And that would be against human dignity and, as such, totally unjust.

Whatever this professor says about China -and knowing that the reality is that Chinese are both very nationalistic and have a culture of more than 3000 years-, Western countries must stick to our values, and defend them wherever they can be defended. The rest of the world is not going to do it. If we value our civilization and its values and consider that they are worth the effort, that is.

At the same time, China does not want an open conflict with the Vatican and is going to install the new Vatican-approved Catholic Bishop.

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From Russia: after Putin, is going to be another ex-KGB in the Kremlin?

The Russian wanted by Britain on suspicion of killing Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko said on Monday he would stand for election to parliament and would like to become president of Russia.

Andrei Lugovoy, a former KGB security service officer, said he would represent the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), which is headed by ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky. (that moron who wanted to oblige single Russian women to marry in polygamy with Russian men, because that way Russian blood was not mixed with foreign people and Russian single women would marry at last... and supported Chechen #@€#@€ Kadyrov in polygamy. I repeat: WHAT A MORON! -un badulaque total – ).

He denied seeking immunity from prosecution that election to parliament would give him. Russian prosecutors have said there was no basis for a criminal case against him, he said.

When asked by a reporter what other political aspirations he had beyond being a member of parliament, Lugovoy said with a smile: “Like any other citizen of the Russian Federation, I would like to be president.”

😯

You get the picture. 😡

American Thinker Blog compares Lugovoy with Catherine de Médici. 😆

Interview (very interesting) to Rostislav Vylegzhanin, the founder of Real.info news, the first Russian citizen journal in the internet:

Can you tell me about your Citizen Journalism activities? How did it get started? How is it doing? How does traditional media view what you are doing?

If it is ok, I will quote my report for OhmyNews International Forum 2007. [Shel note: I did some extracting and condensing to the following portion-SI]

Practically all Russian TV is state-owned and “censored” (I use quote marks because censorship is Constitutionally prohibited but exists de facto). Most Russian national newspapers are also controlled by authorities. Most regional media is controlled by regional governments.

There are only a few independent national radio stations, as well as a few national independent newspapers. Some regions have independent media, but practically all of them are under pressure.

Freedom of press has been gradually worsening since 2000, when Vladimir Putin took office.

I have to state that we have no freedom of expression and freedom of press in today’s Russia. It means that mass media doesn’t play a watchdog role for democracy and doesn’t serve public interest as they must.

Only the Internet still remains as an absolutely free mediasphere in Russia where all viewpoints can be expressed, where all political leanings are represented. [well, this is familiar to me… in Spain happens more or less the same… ).

I don’t know why authorities haven’t tried to control the Internet yet. Maybe because only one-third of Russians use it, so the Internet is less influential than TV.

Thus, it’s not surprising that blogs became popular for hosting public discussions on topics the traditional mass media ignore and for spreading information that cannot be published or broadcast by Big Media.

The American blog-hosting service LiveJournal.com has become especially popular in Russia. Today it hosts about one million Russian blogs who come form intellectual elite, journalists, politicians, active citizens and so on. LiveJournal represents Russian civic society as it is. That’s why the roots of citizen journalism and citizen reporting in Russia are in LiveJournal.

Until last November, there were no citizen journalism sites in the Russian part of the Web, ones like OhmyNews and many other sites that attract user-created news stories just weren’t here.

I graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations in summer of last year. My diploma work was about blogs and citizen journalism. Being inspired by successful examples of citizen journalism sites in the US and, of course, by OhmyNews, I had strong desire to launch the first Russian site that would attract citizen reporting and become a mass-medium without any kind of censorship that affects traditional media.

[…] 3. So, is there a future for citizen journalism in Russia?

What makes me optimistic is the speed of growth in the Russian blogosphere.

But still, there is a long way to go before we can bring the culture of citizen journalism to Russia. Because citizen journalism isn’t only blogging.

Realno.info will continue work in this sphere. Now we’re preparing the second Moscow conference on citizen media, which will take place in Moscow next spring. I hope, we’ll be able to invite some of you to this conference to speak about your own experiences in citizen journalism.

Real.info news (in Russian).

And both China and Russia are spying heavily on US:

– China and Russia are spying on the United States nearly as much as they did during the Cold War, according to the top U.S. intelligence official.

Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, says in testimony prepared for a Tuesday congressional hearing that a law passed last month expanding the U.S. government’s eavesdropping power is needed to protect not just against terrorists but also against more traditional potential adversaries, such as those two Cold War foes.

“China and Russia’s foreign intelligence services are among the most aggressive in collecting against sensitive and protected U.S. systems, facilities and development projects, and their efforts are approaching Cold War levels,” McConnell says in his testimony. “Foreign intelligence information concerning the plans, activities and intentions of foreign powers and their agents is critical to protect the nation and preserve our security.”

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I have written about the new Mohammed cartoons, Muslims have protested about. Al-Qaeda has menaced the cartoonist “with slaughtering him like a lamb“, peaceful and merciful and … way of expressing dissent. Now the cartoonist has been obliged to go into hiding.

The Swedish cartoonist at the centre of a row over drawings of the Prophet Muhammad says police have taken him to a secret location for his own safety.

Lars Vilks said he was only able to pick up a few things when he returned from Germany at the weekend before police escorted him from his home.

The purported head of al-Qaeda in Iraq has offered $100,000 (£49,310) to anyone who kills Mr Vilks.

Muslims regard visual representation of the Prophet as blasphemous.

Several Muslim countries have protested against the cartoon.

Mr Vilks said the Swedish secret services considered the threat against him as “very serious”.

“The police guard was non-existent before this. It’s 100% now,” Mr Vilks said in a telephone interview with Associated Press agency.

“I can’t live in my home, I’ve only been allowed to pick up some things.”

Makes me feel wonderful…. 😡 Mr Fundamentalist/Muslim/ whatever you want to call yourself, look quietly and directly into my eyes: It is only a cartoon. Don’t you think that Allah, if he was really angry, would not kill him immediately, without any of you meddling in the affair?

From Counterterrorism Blog: there are some questions to make about this affair:

1. Why would al Qaeda Iraq and not another branch offer such a bounty? The Cartoonist is Swedish and the al Qaeda Iraq fights against the US in Iraq. Where is the link here? Many voices in the debate on the War on Terror have been saying that al Qaeda came to Iraq just because the US invaded the country. What about Sweden? (No, Sweden is not in Iraq 🙄 ).
2. Why is al Qaeda-Iraq offering a bounty for the killing of an editor in Scandinavia? Why offering money for Jihad? Well, when a Jihadi group begins to offer financial rewards, it means that the ideological reward isn’t enough. Hmmm….
3. Will such a call be heeded in Sweden? Does al Qaeda have cells -dormant or not- that far north? Reports tells us that the Salafists are propagating this ideology across Scandinavia. Very few realized that an assassination of a film maker in Amsterdam was imaginable before Theo Van Gogh was killed.

4. Will al Qaeda or other Jihadists attack Swedish companies or individuals worldwide? In fact orders were given but it depends on whom would consider themselves the “infantry” and actually take action. It will also depend on what the Swedish Government and Multinational Corporations would state in public or do in private. Sweden has had decades of neutrality regarding many challenges in international relations, and its foreign policy wasn’t comparable at all to NATO countries in their struggle against Terror. However, this is the greatest litmus test yet to be addressed.

We will see how this evolves.

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American Thinker blog writes about US swifting slowly into the Umma (my goodness):

One small step at a time, America is joining the umma, the global community of nations dominated by Islam. The latest example comes from Indianapolis, where the new billion dollar-plus airport terminal will include foot bath facilities designed specifically for the use of Muslim cab drivers performing ritual ablutions.
The blog Advance Indiana raises the right questions about this misguided enterprise:

If the foot baths are for everybody’s use, as [airport spokesman] Dawson contends, why aren’t they being installed in all of the bathrooms at the new airport? And if they are being installed to accommodate Muslim taxi cab drivers as is obviously the case, then why aren’t similar accommodations being provided for Muslim airline passengers who patronize the airport? It looks like a slippery slope to me. What do you think?

[…] While it may seem harmless to some to enable Muslim cab drivers to perform this ritual, the fact is that similar accommodations would never be tolerated for other religious groups (how about Holy Water founts for Catholic passengers praying for safety prior to boarding flights?). This is evidence that will be understood by Muslims seeking to establish the Global Caliphate that America lacks the will to oppose their domination, so long as it takes one step at a time. Treating Islam more favorably than other religions is demanded by Muslims and accommodated whenever they attain a critical mass. It is a sure indicator of Dhimmitude.

As Dumb OX says “We’re surrounded by idiots. Defend yourself“.

Jihad against schools: Jihad Boom Postcards with threatening cartoons sent to nine schools h/t Pamela:

Investigators in Marion County, Fla., are searching for the author of nine postcards sent to different schools on the same day with the words Jihad-Boom and handwritten cartoons of a building apparently exploding with people inside.

Investigators released the postcards with the threatening drawings on them Monday in hopes of generating leads in the case. Officials said that the postcards are made up of various and traditional themes, and each one has a distinctive hand-drawn cartoon on it. Several of the threats arrived on postcards featuring Walt Disney World. Detectives said the threat-maker crossed his or her No. 7s and attached a suffix to the address. Six of the nine postcards spell the word “Jihad” correctly, while the others are incorrect.

Go and read her post.

Related post: Could US suffer a new Beslan?

This would be a slight modification from the plan…

And no, nothing has been said of this in Spain.

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Sarko offers nukes to Germany but Merkel refuses citing Non Proliferation Treaty h/t I think therefore I err:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy didn’t mention the bomb right away. Instead, he took a little detour by way of atomic energy: Whoever is serious about averting global warming should build more nuclear power plants, he told Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during last week’s informal meeting in Meseberg palace (more…), the German government’s guest residence north of Berlin. Then came the surprise offer.

Seeing as they were discussing the benefits of all things atomic, the French president continued, he had another suggestion as well: Because the French nuclear umbrella protected France’s neighbors as well as La Grande Nation itself, perhaps the Germans would consider taking a political stake in the French atomic arsenal?

Both the chancellor and her foreign minister were speechless. The idea of possessing nuclear weapons is taboo in Germany. Sarzoky’s predecessor Jacques Chirac cautiously brought up the issue 12 years ago, but he quickly realized it was pointless to pursue it.

Steinmeier was the first to regain his composure, explaining that Germany did not seek to become a nuclear power, which is why the country had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1975. Merkel offered a friendly smile and backed up her foreign minister.

Hmmm, don’t know what to make of this really…

From Gallia Watch:

An article in Le Figaro brings us the not-unexpected news that France may be actively aiding and abetting the entry of Turkey in the EU. Until now, article 88-5 of the French Constitution required a referendum before a new candidate country could be officially admitted to the body. However that may be changing:

During a meeting of Edouard Balladur’s committee on institutional reform, secretary of State for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet’s suggestion that article 88-5 of the Constitution be eliminated came as a bolt out of the blue.

The referendum had been sought by Jacques Chirac, then voted on by French parliamentarians at a convention in 2005 in Versailles, and is supposed to apply to all new memberships following that of Croatia in 2010, hence Turkey in particular. “Is it necessary to keep this requirement, or should we eliminate it?” asked Jean-Pierre Jouyet, who quickly added that it would be rather “delicate” to go back on a commitment that lies at the heart of the Constitution. The secretary of State declared that he was expressing his own personal opinion. Huh!

😯

Related news: Kouchner, French FM, says world must be prepared to go to war over Iran’s nuclear program. The ayatollahs answer:

“The occupants of the Elysee (the French presidential palace) have become the executors of the will of the White House and have adopted a tone that is… even more inflammatory and more illogical than that of Washington,” IRNA news agency said.
On Monday Mr Kouchner said even in the absence of UN action, the European Union should prepare its own sanctions against Iran.
Following talks in Paris, his Dutch counterpart Maxime Verhagen said his government would be willing “to apply EU sanctions in common with the United States sanctions“.
Mr Kouchner later travelled to Moscow, where he is to hold talks with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.
Russia has a UN Security Council veto over any new sanctions, and its support is seen as vital for any new approach to try to force Iran to give up enrichment.

But, hey, from Deustche-Welle:

In a bid to play down the controversy, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Monday, Sept. 17, that tensions with Iran were “extreme” but insisted there was still room for diplomacy in the nuclear stand-off.

“Everything must be done to avoid war,” Fillon told reporters. “The Iranians must understand that tension has reached an extreme point.”

While saying that Kouchner was right to call the situation with Iran dangerous, Fillon added that a confrontation was “the last option that any political leader would want.”

The French foreign minister called on the European Union to impose economic sanctions on Tehran outside of those imposed by the United Nations.

“These would be European sanctions that each country, individually, must put in place with its own banking, commercial and industrial system,” Kouchner said.

And now, the hilarious part, considering that Iran keeps on menacing Israel (and please take a look at the photo in the link ):

Iranian Vice-President Reza Aghazadeh, who is also the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, told the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Western countries “have always chosen the path of confrontation instead of the path of understanding and cordial relations.”

Of course Ahmi has ever chosen the peaceful way with Israel….

And lastly, two photos. A lady reciting a poem to Ahmadine-jihad (how many whiskies, ehh, well, you understand me, has she had before that…):

Uuuyyyyyyyy, Ahmi, what a smile….  You must be careful: Do you remember Khatami shaking hands with a young lady in Italy and the following scandal? Well, he has a legal suite awaiting for him at court. 😆

And now the ayatollah (I think it’s Rafsanjani…), learning to use a computer:

Hmm, take care, it’s a Western computer. What are you going to search with that?

Both pictures thanks to Kamangir.net.

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About Syrian-North Korean affair, read this entire post by One Free Korea, because it analyses the different theories about the Israeli strike on Syria last week. I’m only reproducing an excerpt which is interesting enough about what we really know:

North Korea is believed to be the source of North Korea’s SCUD-C missiles and precursors for its chemical weapons, but the transfer of nuclear weapons, equipment, or technology would be a major escalation of that relationship. Diplomats have noted considerable escalation in the cooperation betweent the two nations recently. Both the Times of London, quoting Israeli sources, and Fox News, quoting American sources, note increased sightings of Syrians moving in and out of North Korea by air and by rail, via China . It wasn’t all whispers and surveillance, either:

On August 14, the North Korean minister of foreign trade, Rim Kyong Man, was in Syria to sign a protocol on “co-operation in trade and science and technology.” His delegation held the fifth meeting of a “joint economic committee” with its Syrian counterparts. No details were disclosed. [Times of London]

We had previously heard that Iranians were present at the July 4, 2006 missile tests in North Korea. The Times now reports that Syrians were present, too (you can’t help wondering how they know that). Readers may even recall that after the Ryongchon explosion, one theory had it that the explosive substance was Syrian-bound missile fuel, and that the explosion killed several Syrian scientists.

Finally, the Times claims that Syria has served as a transshipment conduit for missiles components and technology headed from Iran for Syria. IMHO, that one just defies logic. Iran has plenty of perfectly fine seaports, while Iran and Syria don’t even share a land border. (doesn’t seem very logical, no… )

The world’s going nuts… And what suprises are in the making?

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Other news:

1. Augean Stables wants you to sign this petition.
2. Instapundit: GOOD THING WE HAVEN’T abandoned them yet. “American commanders in southern Iraq say Shiite sheiks are showing interest in joining forces with the U.S. military against extremists, in much the same way that Sunni clansmen in the western part of the country have worked with American forces against Al Qaeda.” 😆

Read Full Post »

Chinese hackers on Pentagon, Sudan, Microsoft, Che’s hair, desecration of cemeteries, photos, Iran, Jihadi “love”, censorship, SIOEC and Muslim clerics vs kisses

Some days ago I wrote about Chinese hackers on German computers, now it’s on US Pentagon’s computers:

The Chinese military hacked into a Pentagon computer network in June in the most successful cyber attack on the US defence department, say American ­officials.

The Pentagon acknowledged shutting down part of a computer system serving the office of Robert Gates, defence secretary, but declined to say who it believed was behind the attack.

Current and former officials have told the Financial Times an internal investigation has revealed that the incursion came from the People’s Liberation Army.

One senior US official said the Pentagon had pinpointed the exact origins of the attack. Another person familiar with the event said there was a “very high level of confidence…trending towards total certainty” that the PLA was responsible. The defence ministry in Beijing declined to comment on Monday.

China Military Hacked Into Pentagon « Status of Chinese People

😯

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So now, NYT is worried about Arabs kiling Arabs in Sudan…:

Some of the same Arab tribes accused of massacring civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan are now unleashing their considerable firepower against one another in a battle over the spoils of war that is killing hundreds of people and displacing tens of thousands.

In the past several months, the Terjem and the Mahria, heavily armed Arab tribes that United Nations officials said raped and pillaged together as part of the region’s notorious janjaweed militias, have squared off in South Darfur, fighting from pickup trucks and the backs of camels. They are raiding each other’s villages, according to aid workers and the fighters themselves, and scattering Arab tribesmen into the same kinds of displacement camps that still house some of their earlier victims.

United Nations officials said that thousands of gunmen from each side, including some from hundreds of miles away, were pouring into a strategic river valley called Bulbul, while clashes between two other Arab tribes, the Habanniya and the Salamat, were intensifying farther south.

Darfur’s violence has often been characterized as government-backed Arab tribes slaughtering non-Arab tribes, but this new Arab-versus-Arab dimension seems to be a sign of the evolving complexity of the crisis. What started out four years ago in western Sudan as a rebellion and brutal counterinsurgency has cracked wide open into a fluid, chaotic, confusing free-for-all with dozens of armed groups, a spike in banditry and chronic attacks on aid workers.

No, honey, this is just racism, because the Arabs from the North are white while the Arabs on the South are Black. (By the way, they are not Arabs, they are Muslims…)

By the way, Ban Ki-Moon is in Sudan to press for new talks:

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in Sudan to “give a push” for a new round of talks to end the four-year regional conflict and mobilize support for the speedy deployment of a new 26,000-member peacekeeping force, a top U.N. official said Monday.

Ban was expected to have dinner with President Omar al-Bashir before heading to southern Sudan on Tuesday to assess implementation of the 2005 agreement that ended a separate 21-year civil war between Sudan’s Muslim government in the north and the mostly Christian southern rebels.

He was then due Wednesday in Darfur to visit a camp for some of the 2.5 million people displaced by the conflict there, which has claimed more than 200,000 lives.

“It is important to move on several fronts,” Jean-Marie Guehenno, the U.N. undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, told reporters traveling with Ban. This is why the secretary-general has come to Sudan at this time, he said.

After his behaviour with NK, I don’t quite consider him really pushing for anything anywhere…

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Microsoft copying Google:

This week, it plans to turn that strategy upside down, making available free software that connects its Windows operating system to software services delivered on the Internet, a practice increasingly referred to as “cloud” computing. The initiative is part of an effort to connect Windows more seamlessly to a growing array of Internet services.

The strategy is a major departure for Microsoft, which primarily sells packaged software for personal computers. With this new approach, Microsoft hopes to shield its hundreds of millions of software customers from competitors like Google and Salesforce.com, which already offer software applications through the Internet.

Microsoft’s new Windows Live software suite includes an updated electronic mail program, a photo-sharing application and a writing tool designed for people who keep Web logs.

The new service is an indication that Microsoft plans to compete head-on against archrival Google and others, and not only in the search-engine business where it is at a significant disadvantage. Instead, Microsoft will try to outmaneuver its challengers by becoming the dominant digital curator of all a user’s information, whether it is stored on a PC, a mobile device or on the Internet, industry executives and analysts said.

Well, this is not a surprise…

Brian Hall, general manager for Microsoft’s Windows Live services, said, “We’re taking the communications and sharing components and creating a set of services that become what we believe is the one suite of services and applications for personal and community use across the PC, the Web and the phone.”

The Windows Live service — which will be found at www.live.com — includes new versions of the company’s Hotmail and Messenger communications services as well as Internet storage components. Microsoft executives said there were roughly 300 million active users each on the Hotmail and Messenger services, with some overlap.

The software release will offer PC users the option of downloading a set of the services with a single Unified Installer program, or as separate components. The individual services are Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger 8.5 and Windows Live OneCare Family Safety, a computer security program.

We will see…

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Shameful:

Gustavo Villoldo, 71, was involved in Guevara’s capture in the jungles of Bolivia, according to unclassified U.S. records and other documents. He plans to auction the hair and other items kept in a scrapbook since the joint CIA-Bolivian army mission 40 years ago.

“It’s time for me to put the past behind and pass these on to someone else,” said Villoldo, also a veteran of the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.

The scrapbook also holds a map used to track down Guevara in Bolivia, photos of Guevara’s body, intercepted messages between Guevara and his rebels and a set of Guevara’s fingerprints taken before his burial.

let’s party afterwards.

Now if you understand Spanish, and want to vomit afterwards, read this interview by moderate centered and objective El País, “the independent diary of the morning“, to Adelaida Guevara, daughter of Ché (thanks Kate for finding it…). And then speak about “the imperialistic Spain in Cuba“. Buaff…

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tiberge writes about the desecration of some French Christian cemeteries with no one raising their voices and no important MSM reporting about it:

Satanic inscriptions in English and swastikas were discovered on Friday in ten vaults of a cemetery in Toulouse (…) Several graves were covered with the words “Damned the Christ” or with swastikas, while flower pots were turned over and signs pointing to various sections of the Terre-Cabade cemetery were damaged,” according to an AFP report.

Elentir writes that in Spain some far-leftist vandals desecrated the cemetery of Paracuellos -where the victims of Communists in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War are buried- and a fascist web published a map of red (=communist) toombs and monuments to desecrate and destroy them.

What surprise me of this people is that they attack the dead. They should see the Dead of Lord of the Rings… You know: “This path is guarded by the Dead. The dead do not suffer the living to pass“. 😈 And this people so brave with the poor dead people were going to run at a huge speed. 😈

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Now for some photos: This is the Bolivarian Embassy in Peru before and after Chávez. And this is the new Bolivarian 5-star hotel in Caracas. 😈 I wonder what the grand-daughter of its owner would think of the move…

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From Demediacratic Nation:

Provisional Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran Ayatollah Mohammad Kashani sermonizing before a standing room only congregation said:

“US administration is propagating a certain version of Christianity that is not based on Jesus Christ (PBUH) teachings, but after securing Zionists’ interests. 😯 [US administration is propagating a version of Christianity not based on Jesus Christ?? Well, then, how would you call that? 😉 ].

Based on this mentality, the Jews must gather in Palestine and then in the course of a revolution two thirds of them to get killed, and the remainder should see the reappearance of Jesus (PBUH).

Therefore, they are after gathering the entire Jews of the world in Palestine, which is definitely a move with political and Satanic roots, but the idea is put forth in the framework of an idea behind the hope for reappearance of Messiah. US President George W. Bush is the standard bearer of that mentality. That man is loathed to an extent in the United States today that the mentality he supports, too, has very limited number of supporters.”

Hey, this man should write script or something. What an imagination!! Heh. 😈

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You can also read this post from Red Alerts:

The second YouTube video in as many months where a fairly young guy argues for marrying children based on Islamic values. His argument is straight from the undergraduate liberal arts textbook. He’s preaching moral moral relativism, the flip side of social science doctrine to view cultures without your inherent ethnocentrism. His argument is that since our (westerners) ethics aren’t universally accepted, it isn’t “ethical” to judge other cultures using our moral compass, but we should use the morals and ethics of the society we’re judging to judge them.

[…] Watch to be disgusted, it’s in two parts so settle in. Vid one starts slow, but the last three minutes will make any feminist worth their salt go ballistic. It’s also the verbatim argument made by Jihadi Pervert one who was from California. Odd that the someone from Canada would be repeating the same tripe. It’s almost as if their being self radicalized by hanging around a jihadi propaganda outlet.

And watch the videos inside… 😡 You know, just like the female professor I wrote about yesterday about FGM.

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About censorship to Atlas Shrugs, read 1389 Blog: she has been clasified as “Violence/Hate/Racism blog by SonicWALL, a site of rating for blogs.

Anyway, she has had as ever a beautiful response from readers. Blogpower!

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Announcement from Vigilant Freedom / 910 Blog:

Baron Bodissey of The Gates of Vienna is seeking assistance in producing a Counter-jihad Calendar. Each month of the calendar will feature pictures of famous scenes from various countries under threat from Islamisation, along with a series of links for anti-Islamist blogs in those countries. The following countries will be represented: Britain, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Greece, India, Australia, and the USA. Search your blogrolls for your favorite blogsites which focus on the Islamist threat in these countries, and forward them to Baron at vigilantfreedom dot com.

I’m doing a list on Spanish anti-Jihadi sites. If you’re Spanish and you have an anti-Jihadi blog, you can write a comment in this post with the link and your name so I can forward the complete list in a fortnight. According to Baron this is a summary of what this calendar is about:

The calendar was started to supplement the SIOE demonstration at the EU Parliament in Brussels on September 11th, 2007, to protest the ongoing Islamization of Europe.
SIOE asked me to help with graphics and logos for their efforts, and I was glad to comply. In the process I decided to launch a parallel enterprise, one which fits in with the Brussels demo but which will continue afterwards. I call it the “Counterjihad Calendar Project”, and it will include an iconic image of a notable Western monument for each of the twelve months.
One of the themes of the SIOE rally is “Enough is enough!” With the help of people from the various countries involved, versions of the slogan in nine different European languages were created.
Bearing in mind what has happened to Cordoba Cathedral in Spain, Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, and an uncountable number of Hindu temples in India, I wanted to associate a well-known Western building or monument on each page of the calendar. I’ve finished seven months, and have five more to go.
Since our focus at Gates of Vienna is not just on Europe, but on the ongoing Islamization of the entire civilized world, the countries on the calendar will include India, the USA, and Australia.
Some of the monuments used in the images will be well-known to everyone; others will be familiar mainly to the citizens of the countries involved. If all goes well, when the last month is ready, I’ll create a wall calendar that will be sold at our Café Press store.

The kinds of sites I want are those that spend a least 25% of their time posting about Muslim and jihad-related issues. I want to exclude anti-Semitic sites or those that hate Israel, and antything that is truly racist. The issue is the religion and ideology of Islam, and not race.

Thanks for your collaboration.

By the way, please, enter the name of your blog or of someone who has give you express permission. I do not want that later some bloggers complaint about being in the Calendar without their express consentment.

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And now, something pleasant: Let the Kissing begin by Angel. Je:

SARAJEVO (AFP) — Organisers of an event in which almost 7,000 couples kissed simultaneously in a Bosnian town on Saturday said their effort deserved a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Bosnia claims world kissing record
Mus-lim clerics in Tuzla called for a boycott of the event, arguing it was not in line with Mus-lim tradition.

“it doesn’t appear in the Quran!!” Bwahahahaha!! Must be because there are no boys kissing old men… 😦

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Hizb ut-Tahrir incites war on West, Pakistan, Al-Qaeda, So-called art, British immigrants, Another cartoon rage, UK great escapade, More riots in Paris, SIOE and Mike

I have written about HuT’s demonstration on Indonesia, asking for a “Global Caliphate” and about this group introducing hard line propaganda on Internet. Well, now they are inciting war on West:

Controversial Islamic organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir celebrated its annual congress in Copenhagen on Sunday with words of anger against Jews and the West, reported daily free newspaper Nyhedsavisen.

Nearly 600 Muslims attended the meeting at KB Hallen in the city’s enclave of Frederiksberg, where religious leaders spoke of the rise of an new Islamic Caliphate and the fall of Western powers.

‘The Caliphate can arrive in an hour, two months or two years from now,’ said Fadi Abdullatif, Hizb ut-Tahrir’s president, who owns a previous conviction for publicly urging his members to kill Jews. ‘We are working for a Caliphate from Morocco to Indonesia and from Khazakhstan to Saudi Arabia.’ [This man has forgotten about Spain… but don’t be ridiculous: one thing is that they don’t speak about it and another what they really think about it…. 😡 ].

The union of nations under a common Islamic law could be created by force if necessary, according to another of Hizb ut Tahrir’s leaders, Atta bin Khalil. Khalil also told those in attendance to ‘continue their state of war against the Jewish nation’.

A third speaker at the congress, Emir Shamil, said that ‘heads may roll’ in the recreation of the Caliphate. [WOW, is there any occassion in which for this people, “heads are not going to roll”?].

So why they have not barred/forbidden this organization?

Many politicians have unsuccessfully attempted to dissolve the organisation in the past, but Sunday’s congress may have been the straw that breaks its back. Nearly all political parties are in agreement that some type of action must be taken against the organisation. [I wonder what parties aren’t].

From my point of view, they have not tried really hard about it. And let’s see if now they do it…

And let’s hope that here in Spain they also do a similar thing with this so-called group.

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Pakistan: the dance continues:

The president of Pakistan’s ruling party, one of President Pervez Musharraf’s closest political allies, said Friday that General Musharraf would resign from his post as chief of army staff before parliamentary elections scheduled for the first week of January, but said he would run for re-election as president in the coming weeks, while still in uniform.

Really, this is frightening. We have to take into account that Pakistan has nukes… and that nowadays nobody can predict what is going to happen with the country. A country in which fundamentalists are so important… and Christians and followers of other religions are persecuted. Pakistan is also an Al-Qaeda priority, organization who has the same goal as the fundamentalists: the Global Caliphate and who considers really as very interesting the Pakistani nuclear capacity.

Also Benazir Bhutto vows to return to Pakistan, even if she hasn’t reached an agreement with Musharraf.

😐

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I have written about online jihad before, but never about ciber-jihadis protesting about the counter-offensive to shut down their webs:

Al Qaeda in Europe Recruiting Cyberjihadis, Whine About CIA Plot to Take Down Islamist Websites

In today’s statement GIMF (Global Islamic Media Front) pointed to a concerted campaign at pressuring webhosts to take down jihadi forums and websites. That effort, they admit, is paying off. In addition to an unnamed individual and the ‘mercenaries’ this person has been able to marshal for the ‘harassment’ effort, GIMF also claims the CIA and FBI are now involved in counter-cyber-jihad efforts.

GIMF claims that the CIA and FBI are organizing conferences on how to fight the cyber jihad. They have also recruited Arab intelligence agencies in the effort, naming [the British-Zionist built] Jordan and Egypt specifically.

Triumphantly they declare that for every cyber-jihadi arrested 1000-3000 more will take their place. Maybe, but since arresting the cyber-jihadis isn’t the only option, one has to wonder how many Salafi geeks sitting at a computer in Mommy’s basement are really ready to go that far?

But that is not all: we have also the manual to be a Jihadi:

“Do you really have to meet Osama bin Laden in person in order to become a jihad fighter? Do you have to be recognized by Al-Qaeda as one of its members to become a jihad fighter? If Al-Qaeda commanders should be killed, would the jihad be eliminated? What would you do if Al-Qaeda did not exist today? How is Osama bin Laden different from you? – [yet] he managed to establish the world jihad organization. Who provided training to Osama bin Laden and Abdallah ‘Azzam when they went to Afghanistan to become the first Arab jihad fighters?

“The answers to these questions are the following: I don’t have to meet Osama bin Laden to become a jihad fighter. Moreover, there is no need to meet even one jihad fighter to become one. Neither do I need recognition from Al-Qaeda…

“As the first step, imagine that Al-Qaeda does not exist and that you are interested [in waging] jihad – what would you do in this case?… If you know any young people – whether one, two, or more – in your area, mosque, or university who are as dedicated and enthusiastic about jihad as you are, come to an understanding with them, and together form a cell whose objective is to help Islam and only Islam…

😯 Specially the thing about the “recognition from al-Qaeda” clause is comical. Yes, pal, you need to register at the Jihadi Fight-against-anyone-who-does-not-endorse-everything-I-say Club Registrar. If not, your suicide would not meet the required elements to be considered as such, and you would not have the 72 virgins…

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New magnificent piece of art h/t Custos Fidei :

The Blake Prize entry titled “Bearded Orientals: Making the Empire Cross” by artist Priscilla Bracks is exhibited in Sydney August 30, 2007. The “double vision” print, which depicts both Jesus Christ and Osama bin Laden, in a Christ-like pose, depending on which side.

I saw this story this morning and then some more information at Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex where the articles explains her motive.

When you observe these two people, Osama Bin Ladin and Jesus, their ethics could not be more different. But they were both pursued by two of the world’s most powerful armies – the US and the Roman armies. Jesus is clearly defined by history, but I am interested in how history will treat the image of Osama.

This work has quite an open text so people are likely to read the image in many different ways. Some have mentioned they see it as a juxtaposition of good and evil, whilst others are interested in its comment on how iconic figures are created.

Well I think it would be more correct to say that Jesus pursued the Roman army (as he pursues all of us) and not that he was pursued by them. Though members of the Roman army did pursue Jesus at times such as the Centurion with great faith who requested that his slave be healed or the other Centurion that at Jesus’ death said “Surely He was the Son of God.” This artist though has totally missed the fact that the Roman army as a whole had little to do with Jesus nor any other army.

One thing about this painting though is that it does show a truth despite the artist’s intention. We should see Christ in everybody, especially our enemies when it is the hardest and most difficult to discern. Bin Laden’s actions in no real way reflect Jesus and any parallels are of the reverse type. But Bin Laden like all of us is is created in the image of God. Unfortunately for Bin Laden his message is “Spread the Koran always and if necessary use bombs.” It is quite difficult to pray for our enemies and is almost impossible in the case of this terrorist if we can’t discern Christ’s image in him by at least recognizing that Jesus actively wants him to be saved.

I have to say for me it’s a little difficult to pray for Bin Laden. But what this writer says it’s true.

[Which does not mean idiot and stupid appeasement… You can see God’s image in Bin Laden, but I’m sure that wasn’t what stopped Clinton for killing him, was it?].

But that is not the only irreverent image at the exposition: you have also the Virgin with burqa (photo inside).

A member of the Jury, Blake Prize, who represents the “United Church” (never heard of it, really, has said that they were only “promoting a debate about spirituality in a cynical, degraded world which is also in crisis” … Ahem… How to say this? What this man has taken before saying such an stupid remark?
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Remember the Danish cartoons rage? A new “cartoon rage” is rising:

“Sweden ‘regrets’ Prophet cartoon,” from the BBC (thanks to all who sent this in):

Sweden’s embassy in Pakistan has expressed regret over the publication of a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper.Pakistan had complained about the cartoon, which depicted the head of the Prophet on the body of a dog.

Sweden’s government said it regretted any hurt but could not apologise as it was not responsible for the drawing and could not prevent its publication….

The new drawing depicting the Prophet’s head on the body of a dog was published in the Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda on Sunday.

The cartoon’s creator, Lars Vilks, told the Associated Press news agency the drawing was art.

“I’m not against Islam. Everybody knows that,” he is quoted as saying.

The publication prompted the Iranian government to complain to Swedish diplomats earlier this week….

Pakistan and Iran, two magnificent democracies in which the people who do not believe in Allah are very respected, rights of women are considered every time and democracy and Human Rights flourish everywhere. My goodness….

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From Nuevo Digital:

The Mirror speaks of “the Great Escape”. The Daily Express, of “éxodus”. But also the main diaries abandon themselved to disturbing rhetoric metaphores to describe the last official figures. The Times: “Record High in the Stampede out of UK”. The Independent prefers the el “emigration boom” of the British to foreign countries. They all explain the last official data released by the Office for National Statistics. And they all point out the accelerating rythmn in the Uk nationals emigration, because life is now unbearable for them in the country where they were born, while at the same time, it also surges the massive entry of illegal emigrants.

One out of four children who are born in the UK have a foreign mother or father. Besides, and continuing with the data of Office for National Statistics (ONS), the rythm in the birth of foreign children is knowing a unknown acceleration. If on July 2001, the proportion of new-born babies with, at least a foreign parent, was one out of five, now is of one out of four. So in five years, the new British with foreign parents have raised from 20% in 2001, to something more than 25% now.

But the data were also very hard-striking in the movement of nationals and foreigners in the UK. Nearly 400.000 people abandoned the country in the twelve months from July 2005 to July 2006 without any plan or intention of coming back, in what is a new historic record for the period since 1991, when this statistics began. Of that nearly 400.000 people, 250.000 were British and went mainly to Australia and Spain, with new and growing destinos in USA and South Africa, as the real state and security situations are deteriorating in the paradises of Costa del Sol and Valencia mainly which attracted so many people of the British .

There is another curious movement though: the immigrants from the Eastern European countries are also leaving, after the people who were coming with them were called undesirable by some official leaked memos.

So, who are really staying there? 👿

Expat Yank has also written about this. Well, in Spain I see a lot more of foreign people now than, sa, 5 years ago.Anyway, the weather is better but, well, I don’t see the political situation vert different from the one they have in UK nowadays.

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There have been more riots in Paris.

Thirty people were arrested during the night of Monday August 27 to Tuesday August 28, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, after “fights and armed violence” between rival gangs.(…) Six individuals, primarily from the department of Hauts-de-Seine were held by the PUP, the neighborhood urban police, who saw this outbreak as a consequence of the incident at the Gare du Nord on Sunday.

Two persons were slightly wounded, apparently with side-arms, during a fight inside the Gare du Nord, early Sunday evening. Three persons were arrested and held.

The same two gangs were assumed to be involved in Monday night’s melée, one from Hauts-de-Seine, the other a local gang from the 18th arrondissement, “where it does its thing,” explained the police.

The incident unfolded near Pigalle where about 50 youth armed with machetes and axes confronted each other. (…)

The police do not know precisely what the motives of these confrontations are and have opened an inquiry on “voluntary armed violence.”

Go and read over this post by tiberge.

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About SIOE: the Brussels’ ban on the demonstration stands. Here you have more updates on the matter.

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I have been talking on the phone with Mike. I’m sorry to say that, although the Liberty Alliance was going to be launched on Monday, it won’t be possible till next week-end. Firstly, his PC died and has been the last week without accesing Internet and today has had a tragedy in his family and will be busy throughout all the week. 😥

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Sunday Post

Well, I have to say that being in the coutryside, I am not going to have much time to post these days. Anyway, I will manage to post something everyday.

Today the most horrible news I have read -I confess I have not read much- comes from Always on Watch blog:

The official reported that on a couple of occasions in Baqubah, al Qaeda invited to lunch families they wanted to convert to their way of thinking. In each instance, the family had a boy, he said, who was about 11 years old. As LT David Wallach interpreted the man’s words, I saw Wallach go blank and silent. He stopped interpreting for a moment. I asked Wallach, “What did he say?” Wallach said that at these luncheons, the families were sat down to eat. And then their boy was brought in with his mouth stuffed. The boy had been baked. Al Qaeda served the boy to his family...

Yes, in case you have not taken care of what this people are doing, Al-Qaeda served baked and stuffed 11-year-old boys to families they wanted to convert into their way of thinking.

Repulsive and beastly. And yet there are people who wants to negotiate with these beasts… What? The taste of the sauce your boy is going to be cooked??? Excuse me if I sound not very moderate, but this is really disgusting.

And by the way, if they choose that way to convince me, I think they would succeed… in convincing exactly to do the contrary they would ask me to.

Also FT published yesterday an article about Al-Qaeda linked to operations from Iran:

Evidence that Iranian territory is being used as a base by al-Qaeda to help in terrorist operations in Iraq and elsewhere is growing, say western officials.

It is not clear how much the al-Qaeda operation, described by one official as a money and communications hub, is being tolerated or encouraged by the Iranian government, they said.

Anyway, Iranian diplomats have visited the Iranian captives in Iraq, accused of belonging to the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

I also have to point you to a blog post in Pajamas Media which describes the situation in Spain nowadays. Basically, it says that while we are beginning to consider the danger, we are stuck because we do not know what to do. My own experience has taught me that 3 years ago when I talked of these things to people here, they looked at me as if I had lost my mind. Now those same people just tell me they are trully worried. We have to be realistic: the threat is real and is great. And people are not prepared that their comfortable lifes with their home, their cars, their apartment at the beach and their winter holidays skiing are menaced. And yet to discover how to fight and counterrest it at the same time.

No, I really think there are improvements. Where I really do not see much improvements are in the politicians’ ideas. They are afraid of what is coming -or just do not look farther than their noses-. Europe cannot live on past glories: we should and must evolve into the future. And we must do it, without fear but also being realistic. We cannot being stuck on the past, because then we are going to be destroyed as a civilization.

Other news include:

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I bet Oliver Stone is not going to consider this for his new movie

Plateau writes about the new film Oliver Stone is going to make: about Ahmadinejad (no, you have not read wrongly):

Oscar-winner Oliver Stone has sent aletter to the Iranian president’s office requesting permission to makea docudrama on President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, stated an Iranian producerwho is regularly consulted by the president’s art and culturaladvisors.

“The request was made three months ago byStone, the famous U.S. filmmaker, who has directed numerous films with socio-political themes over the past few years,” Alireza Sajjadpur toldthe Persian service of the Iranian Students’ News Agency on Friday.

“I think it is a good proposal and I would like the request to be accepted,” he added.

I bet he is not going to consider the treatment of women,

of gays

or of minors (also here) for the movie…

Oh and I bet he is not going also to consider the treatment to the Amir Kabir students.

There are good reasons to believe that the students have received repeated physical and psychological tortures in order to confess tofalse confessions about the allegations attached to them by statenewspapers.

I just can’t stand this millionaires who had no consideration of the real world. What a difference with this other film. Really impressive. Plateau describes Iranian film Persepolis:

Persepolis is the poignant story of a young girl coming-of-age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken nine-year-old Marjane that we see a people’s hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power — forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the “social guardians” and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable.

I will search for it in Spain.

Sent to Open Trackbacks to 123 beta, Pirate’s Cove, Right Truth, Demediacratic Nation, A Blog for All, Blue Star Chronicles, Blog@MoreWhat.com, Women Honour Thyself.

technorati tags:Iran, Oliver_Stone, Ahmadinejad, Islamic_revolution, women’s_rights

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Saudis arrest Christian for entering Mecca: Spanish expatriates in Saudi Arabia

Saudi officials have arrested a man in Mecca for being a Christian, saying that the city, which Muslims consider to be holy, is off-limits to non-Muslims.Nirosh Kamanda, a Sri Lankan Christian, was detained by the Saudi Expatriates Monitoring Committee last week after he started to sell goods outside Mecca’s Great Mosque.

After running his fingerprints through a new security system, Saudi police discovered that he was a Christian who had arrived in the country six months earlier to take a job as a truck driver in the city of Dammam. Kamanda had subsequently left his place of work and moved to Mecca.

“The Grand Mosque and the holy city are forbidden to non-Muslims,” Col. Suhail Matrafi, head of the department of Expatriates Affairs in Mecca, told the Saudi daily Arab News. “The new fingerprints system is very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of criminals,” he said. [Note: if you are a non-Muslim entering Mecca you’re a criminal…]

Similar restrictions apply to the Saudi city of Medina. In a section entitled, “Traveler’s Information,” the Web site of the Saudi Embassy in Washington states that, “Mecca and Medina hold special religious significance and only persons of the Islamic faith are allowed entry.”

Highway signs at the entrance to Mecca also direct non-Muslims away from the city’s environs.

Saudis arrest Christian for entering Mecca | Jerusalem Post. h/t El Rejunte.il.

Hmm, yes, I know of those signs. There are several Spanish in Saudi Arabia writing blogs. They are very informative about a country that releases so little information. For example, Destructor, from The fucking croqueta –croqueta is a very well-known meal in Spain, although I do not know how to translate it; if someone knows he/she can leave it in comments– has a post about this sign:

A very clear image… So, he says:

Do you imagine this in Europe? We would have to bear thousands of absurd complainings from the friends of the Muslim Humanity. I support the idea of beginning a platform not to let Muslims enter in Saint Places like Rome, Santiago de Compostela, Santiago, Liébana, Valladolid, etc.

 I would only announce it, saying that this is a reciprocity matter.

Crispal, from In Partibus Infidelium, writes about Saudi Arabian violations of Human Rights:

A detailed report by the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) on the state of human rights in Saudi Arabia has cited violations of the rights of women, prisoners and workers as well as injustice in law courts, discrimination against non-Saudis and forced confessions from those detained by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The report also noted that domestic violence had reached an alarming level.

The 67-page report by the nongovernment body was released two days ago and is the first to be published by a human rights body in Saudi Arabia. It is the result of extensive studies carried out in the Kingdom since the NSHR’s establishment on March 9, 2004.

According to the organization, over the past three years, it has received over 8,570 complaints from citizens and residents.

An NSHR spokesperson said that its report was based on findings related to complaints it had received, reports in the media and reports submitted by foreign human rights organizations. The violations listed in the report were against both local and international treaties which the Kingdom has signed.

Go on reading. It’s ahem, a shame.

And lastly, but not least -there are others, that I would link other day– there is Stuck in Riyahd. He posts about how Spanish -whatever some Catalanists say – soccer team Barça is very famous over there. They have posters of it, but with the crucifix conveniently removed, as Equisese says “for preventing the loyals to Islam from being contaminated”:

Tags: Saudi+Arabia, Human+Rights, Human+Rights+violations, Mecca, Christianity, Medina

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Venezuela: Fighting for the freedom of expression

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Venezuelans rally for TV station:

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have rallied in the streets of Caracas to protest against President Hugo Chavez’s plans to close a private TV station. The head of the RCTV station addressed the marchers, urging them to defend freedom and “free independent media”. President Chavez has said he will not renew a licence for the RCTV network which is due to expire on 27 May. He accuses the opposition-allied TV station of supporting a failed coup against him in 2002. He has referred to opposition television stations in general as “horsemen of the apocalypse” and has blamed RCTV in particular for spreading immorality with its steamy soap operas. Mr Chavez plans to replace RCTV with a government-funded TV station.

Well, this is normal, taking how the country is going.

There is protest going on in Internet: Free RCTV, where I have found this video, that proofs that this is a chronicle of an announced death. You can also see this other video.
More in Reuters.
Venezuela: no criticism from pope | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle:

The top spokesman for Venezuela’s leftist government insisted on Monday that the pope’s condemnation of Marxism wasn’t directed at President Hugo Chavez, who says he’s steering Venezuela toward “21st century socialism.” “We all know that the current pope is characterized as a conservative man, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we must automatically think that any word he utters … is against Venezuela,” Information Minister Willian Lara told state television. Pope Benedict XVI concluded a trip to neighboring Brazil on Sunday by telling a bishop’s conference that Marxism — as well as unchecked capitalism and globalization — were to blame for many of the region’s problems. “The Marxist system, where it found its way into government, not only left a sad heritage of economic and ecological destruction, but also a painful destruction of the human spirit,” the pope said. Chavez has explicitly embraced Marxism and is a close ally of communist Cuba. Left-leaning leaders also govern in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, though most do not claim to be Marxist.

Noticias24 :: Actualidad » Brutal asesinato de 2 militares colombianos en Venezuela:

Last week, in a Bogotá’s funeral parlour, there was a sealed coffin. The ceremony was discrete and quickly. Inside there was the dead body of Colombian Captain Camilo González, Official of Militar Intelligence, who belong to the First Division of the Army, widely known as Rime uno, whose base is in Santa Marta. His body had signals of brutal torture: electric shocks, burned parts with acid substances and several rifle shots. Two weeks before, in Bogotá, they had received another dead body with similar signals. He was corporal Gregorio Martínez.

Both military men had been for several months in Venezuela in a secret and covered mission against important chiefs of the FARC that take refuge there. According to newspaper SEMANA, guerrilla fighters from this organization suspected that they were military men. Some days ago, they were followed to Santa Marta, where they corroborated that they were uniformed men. At the end of April, the guerrilla leaders let them get into Venezuela and they were ambushed. They were carried to the main offices of the National Guard in Santa Bárbara del Zulia, near the Maracaibo lake (Venezuela).

It has been impossible to establish if their deaths happened inside or outside the garrison offices. But members of that force, with a guerrilla man from FARC, where they were badly tortured. They could have confessed that they were military men and so were killed. Other international agencies are convinced that the people who killed the 2 Colombian military men were members of the Intelligence service of Venezuela (also known as DIGIT).

Also blogging Reliapundit.

Related matters: Chavez demands apology from Pope.

Related posts: Colombian situation (I): US Dems, FARC and the paramilitaries.

[post en español]

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Spanish Elections Watch (part 3): more violence and ANV

From ABC.es:

 

The special Police Corp Tedax (explosives experts) has de-activated an explosive device in an industrial loft in Lugo which belonged to the building firm Mon, according to policial sources.
The device was localised outside the building, situated in an industrial area in O Ceao, and consisted in a pressure cooker with explosive inside build mainly of screws and a detonator.
According to a policial speaker, if the device would have exploded, it would have been “a massacre”. Once de-activated, the device was carried away to the experts in de-activation of explosives to analyse their composition and search for possible leads.
The police received the call that alerted of the existence of the device around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. In the offices of two newspapers in Lugo some e-mails written in Galician-Portuguese “against the destruction, generalised resistence”.
The message contained a reference to the explosive device and also accused the building firm Mon as “responsible of urban damages” in the city of Lugo.

There has been more menaces against a PP member, now in Catalonia (yesterday I wrote that there has been several attacks in past days):

The candidate of Catalan Popular Party to be Major of Ulldecona, Isabel Salas, has denounced this Tuesday before the Civil Guard that she has received menaces against her and against the party she represents.
According to the popular candidate’s communiqué, on Monday night she received in the local office of PPC in Ulldecona a piece of newspaper where the aggressions suffered by a councilor on Basque Country were reported. With the photo of the beaten councillor, it is written “You will be the next” or “Isabel go to Spain“.In El Vendrell PPC has seen how since the beginning of the campaign, the propganda has been systematically torn apart.

But, without doubt, the worst of all the acts has been the one happened in the Madrid’s village of San Fernando de Henares. Some unknown people have written “ETA kill them” in a photo of PP’s candidate to Major in the propaganda shown in the streets (photo, left).

But in other photos of candidates, the PP candidates are called “murders”:
Some more menaces: to the candidate to Major of Mostoles: Parro, we are going to kill you:
So, what do this people want? A new Civil War? No opposition -that is, to begin a new dictatorship-? Riots?

The other important item has been the appearance of ANV (Basque Nationalist Action). This political party did not support the violence on 1978 but the next year it entered on the orbit of Batasuna-ETA.

The terrorist platform presented another party before: Abertzalen Sozialisten.

As I wrote here, a political party can be illegalised if it’s defending violence or supporting terrorism.

So the question was: Do ANV or AS defend violence or support terrorism?

The Supreme Tribunal consider totally against law all the electoral lists from Abertzalen Socialista and a great part of the ANV. In its resolution, the Magistrates from Special 61 considered that they could have anulled all the lists from ANV, if the Government had began the right process. The Tribunal considered that, as ANV was used as a fraud the right process was to declare totally void ALL the party. They also consider that ANV is the the heir of Batasuna.

There are protests scheduled for May 22nd whose objective will be to ask for the illegalization of ANV.

But the worst thing regarding Spanish politics, is that, after seeing bloody ETA terrorist De Juana Chaos in a video, broader and fatter, when PP has pushed in Parliament a vote to return him to prison, all parties except PP, have voted against it. They have voted for De Juana not to be in jail for the rest of his punishment. And they have done it before the victims, specially before Gerardo, one of the elite policemen from TEDAX corps, whose colleague Esteban del Amo was killed by a bomb put by De Juana. Genaro’s life was saved thanks to Del Amo’s heroism: knowing that he was going to die, Del Amo sprang and put his body between the bomb and Genaro. No body was found, just some little pieces.[We will be eternally grateful to British newspaper The Times for their photos about De Juana].

Gerardo after the bomb exploded. Thanks, The Times. And thanks, every one and to the last you cowards of Spanish Parliament. Do you see this man’s hands? Well, that is nothing to what happened to Del Amo: his remains were nowhere. What would happen if instead of them, would have been your sons and daughters?

Yes, I know that I normally do not write things like this. Normally I only write facts, but this is so grave, so insulting, so wrong…

The protest against PSOE for these acts has already surfaced Second Life:

The menaces to non-nationalists continue in Basque Country. Philosopher Savater has said: “we do not need human solidarity, we need political solidarity”. Well, seeing how the campaign is going, I see there is little human solidarity in some circles and politicians.

By the way, this is the hour, that neither the Socialists, Communists or Nationalists have condemned the menaces and harrasment of PP or Ciutadans candidates.

To foreigners who do not like Spanish politics, and consider that ETA should not be considered, because it’s just a “Spanish issue“, just tell them, that De Juana had gone on hunger strike twice last year, that he achieved what he wanted (2nd penitentiary grade, while having a magnificent share of penitentiary priviledges). Well, 14 of the Islamists who are accused of Madrid March 11 bombings are on hunger strike:

The accused on hunger strike are the accused of being the material authors: Jamal Zougam and Basel Ghalyoun; the accused of belonging to terrorist organisation: Mouhannad Almallah Dabas, Mohamed Larbi bem Sellam, Otman el Gnaoui, Rachid Aglif and Abdelilah el Fadoual el Akil; and the accused of collaborating with terrorist organisation: Hamid Ahmidan y Mahmoud Slimane Aoun.

We also have to add the two ideologues: the Egyptian and Mouhamed Belhadj, who is also the ideologue of the hunger strike.

But Judge Bermúdez has warned them he is not going to stop the process, just because they are feeling bad as a result of the hunger strike -some of them are also not drinking liquids. In his words:

We are informing the accused that if they continue with this attitude they are going to be expelled temporally or definitively from the oral phase and the process will continue in their absence. So, the process will not be suspended by that motive. But some measures can be reinforced such as issue an order to make them drink water or have food with or without their will.

The message is clear: if De Juana is out in the streets, why we cannot? If Zapatero is negotiating with ETA why not with us?

Barcepundit also notes this puts the Government in a rather bad situation. Situation that would be worse if opposition (=PP, the rest of the groups are no opposition at all), would also point out the obvious fact…

And the fact that the pericial report has not pointed out what kind of explosives were used does not help…

Other news:
The murderer of Tomás y Valiente, ex-President of the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal, Bienzobas -below-, has been condemned to 30 years in prison. Let’s hope he is not given the 2nd grade tomorrow, because, well, let’s be pacifist for a while and we must speak with anyone.

 

 

 

 

Related posts:
Obscure communist association who has received public fundings, wants Aznar to be tried by International Criminal Court.
Two PP Councilmen who were leaving active politics, know they were going to be killed if De Juana was not given 2nd grade.
Zapatero: This is the 1st time a Government recognizes that he has caved into ETA’s blackmail.
Pro-ETA supporters ask for more demands.
Today’s demonstration 2.
Today’s demonstration.
Goverment sends police to out peaceful demonstrations.
Friday’s protests and new developments.
De Juana is given the 2nd grade for “humanitarian” reasons.
DE Juana will be freed for ” humanitarian” reasons.

Sent to Open Trackbacks at: Dumb Ox, Outside the Beltway, The Amboy Times and Blue Star Chronicles.

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Spanish Elections Watch 2007 (part 2): agressions on PP members

One of the things that were more shocking about the leftist opposition to Aznar in the 2 years before the 2004 elections was precisely the systematic agressions on PP members. But, as Aznar and PP considered that the possibility of punishing them criminally was possibly going to surge the conflict, no one was punished nor even criminally prosecuted nor any process was begun because of these attacks.
There has been 4 days of campaign in these elections and yet there had been 8 agressions on PP members:

13.05.07. Burgos. Unknown people attack the campaign office of the PP in the Burgos’ quarter of Gamonal. Some painting balls were shot in the exterior walls of the office.

13.05.07. San Agustín de Guadalix (Madrid). Unknown people destroyed the scenery for a meeting and the exterior cristals of the party offices in this peaceful -normally- village in the north mountains in the Autonomous Community of Madrid.

13.05.07. Alcorcón (Madrid). Radicals beat and insult two militants of PP who were giving electoral propaganda after a football game between Alcorcón and Orense. 15 people got near the PP’s van and “insulted, threw stones at them and had baseball sticks”, according to the popular candidat in this other Madrid’s village, Fernando Díaz Robles.

12.05.07. Pinto (Madrid). The PP members of this locality -also from Madrid- denounces that they have been called “fascists” by some paintings in the exterior walls of their offices.

12.05.07. Móstoles (Madrid). Some menacing paintings appear in the offices of PP in this other Madrid’s village.

12.05.07. Valencia. A home-made artifact explodes in the lateral side of the office of PP in Valencia, st. Beato Gaspar Bono. The explosion caused damages in a window.

12.05.07. Bilbao. Pro-ETA terrorists beat and throw stones to the PP speaker in Sondica, Nerea Alzola, and the PP candidate to councilor of the village of Ermua, Virginia Arroyo, when they were sticking electoral propaganda in the square Sagrado Corazón in Bilbao. These are these two brave women: Virginia Arroyo,first -who was punched in the face and has a broken tooth- and Nerea Alzola, who has been threatened by ETA terrorists repeatedly.

11.05.07. Morales del Vino (Zamora). The PP candidate to the city’s Major, José María Barrios, that is the actual Major and temporal vice-president of the Zamora’s province Diputation, denounced the United Left Candidate before the Civil Guard after insulting, menacing and scratching and breaking his shirt. The United Left candidate also menaced his son, a minor.

Today, the Madrid’s Major Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, Ana Botella y Pedro Calvo were insulted fueron in a meeting held in Villa de Vallecas (11.30 this morning).

One of the insulting bodies, who received the PP candidates calling them “killers“, was identified by PP members as the district’s PSOE speaker, Amalia Rodríguez Alonso. The socialist shouted several times “killers” and then she shouted Ana Botella, Aznar’s wife and one of Madrid’s councilors, shouting her: “tell your husband about the dead of Santa Eugenia”, in reference to the March 11 bombings.

The PSOE candidates and, especially, the President of the Government, Zapatero, have said nothing about this. What is more, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Bermejo, has asked to vote PSOE to “give PP a good laxative” because PP “has a partial mind constipation”.

At the same time, Alfonso Alonso, PP candidate to be Vitoria’s Major, has said that “no PP member will give a stride back in the today’s climate of pressure“.

Rajoy has also called on Zapatero to guarantee the Basque PP candidates’ freedom when campaigning.

Others blogging about this subject:

Batiburrillo: We are living in a totally anormal country regarding democratic values. No one can be deceived on this. When an ex-President of the Government, Felipe González Márquez, calls “MSM rubbish” to the most popular journalists in Spain, when a Minister -even if she is a women’s share Minister, she is a Minister- expresses publicly her wish of killing the President of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, or when the main opposition party goes from agression to agression (we wrote before LD about this here), and at the same time, is labeled as a “far-right-extremist”, something is not working in this country.

Desde el Exilio: writes about the reaction in Menéame, a web similar to Digg but in Spanish, in which some people are laughing about Virginia Arroyo and Nerea Alzola.

Elentir points out the total contradiction in PSOE’s arguments: the PSOE speaker in Parliament -I think he is…- Mr López Garrido, has said today that PP members are the speakers of ETA!!!

Espacio Liberal congratulates PP members for their behaviour regarding the agressions.

Anghara links Spanish leftist writer Elvira Lindo in a very good article: “Spain is full of fascists”. She ironically, describes the situation like this “oh, thank God there were those guardian angels, knowing about the riot-like deed these two young women were doing -referring to Nerea Alzola and Virginia Arroyo-, left their pintxito and arrived there to give them both a lesson”.

La Verdad os Hará Libres considers that it is inevitable to link these events with the agressions to PP offices before the 2004 elections.

Prevost titles his post “The violent left: Alcorcón and Guadalix”. He also links to Criterio in which they report about the violence against Catalan party Ciutadans. The independentists, calling the Ciutadans “españolistas”, have arrived at the entry of the Civic Center Fort Pienc of Barcelona where Ciutadans’ MP in Catalan Parliament, Alfonso Robles, was giving a conference. The Police had to arrive to protect the people who were attending the conference.

El Cerrajero, Caballero ZP and Cambiemos el Mundo also write about this.

Hazte Oir.org, the Spanish citizen platform, has launched the “Operation PP propaganda” to go to Bilbao on May 20th, to help Alzola and Arroyo in their quest with PP propaganda. I have known it thanks to Adosinda.

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Debate: Cuba después de Castro

A friend of mine has sent me the link to these two videos in You Tube. They are about a debate hosted by Digital TV Libertad Digital about Cuban situation today and the country’s prospects. Really interesting -debate is in Spanish though-.

Primera parte:

Segunda parte:

El blog de Jorge Moragas (Popular Party MP): Los 300 de Cuba.

Patético, vergonzoso y humillante para todos los demócratas cubanos, españoles y europeos. En el útimo minuto la dictadura cubana se mofó de España. En la rueda de prensa final, el Canciller cubano Pérez Roque hizo saltar por los aires el compromiso que un ingenuo o incapaz Moratinos nos pretendía vender como un éxito:Así, del acordado y raquítico mecanismo político bilateral para hablar de Derechos Humanos entre España y Cuba quedaban excluidos manu militari los presos políticos y de conciencia cubanos que se pudren en las carceles de los Castro. A Zapatero y a su Gobierno que se ha ido de Procesión de Semana Santa a Cuba les han tomado el pelo como a unos pringadillos en viaje de fin de curso al Caribe. Ellos sólos se han metido en la trampa de la dictadura y su soberbia terminal y su fascinación por la ingeniería social castrista les ha empujado ignorar los llamamientos no sólo del PP y de Mariano Rajoy a la cabeza, sino de otros como: los mismos disidentes, Reporteros sin Fronteras, Amnistía Internacional, las Damas de Blanco, Oswaldo Payá y el Proyecto Varela, el Comité Internacional de Protección de Periodistas(Openheimer, Conkrite, Amanpour y otros fachas…) así como de ese Corazón de Europa que debería ser el Parlamento Europeo. Todos ellos, todos nosotros somos simples voces que claman en el desierto moral de este insensible Gobierno hippypiji.

El blog de Gustavo de Arístegui (Popular MP): Cuba, Venezuela y el populismo.

Es simplemente insultante que el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores diga que se va a hablar de todo, incluso de derechos humanos sin que se haga mención alguna a los presos políticos y de conciencia de Cuba. Nadie ha contestado desde el gobierno socialista a la repugnante declaración del ministro de exteriores cubano Pérez-Roque tildando a los presos políticos de mercenarios y terroristas.

Es triste, patético y escandaloso que el gobierno haya llegado hasta este nivel de entreguismo y claudicación. Convendría recordarle al gobierno socialista que hoy España bajo gobierno socialista no va a poder jugar papel relevante alguno en la transición cubana –palabra por cierto proscrita y maldita por el régimen cubano, lo que confirma su inmovilismo. Los disidentes rechazan de plano la vergonzosa política del gobierno socialista hacia Cuba, el Régimen cubano nos desprecia y nos da por descontados y los Estados Unidos (Republicanos y Demócratas por igual) desconfían del actual gobierno de España.

Related posts: Anti-Castro website launches an anti-Spain campaign.

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Technorati tags:
antizp.org, Castro, Cuba, Human Rights, MSM, PP, PSOE, Spain, Zapatero

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Hermann Tertsch: "The people should be more afraid of President Zapatero"

I wrote about this journalist some weeks ago when he was expelled from Spanish newspaper El Pais because he did not had the same ideas as the directors. He has spoken about Spanish situation with Spanish political platform Bastaya.org, dedicated to fight against ETA. Translation below:

“Miedosos e insensatos a un tiempo, sectarios, incultos y por ello perfectamente inmunes a la autocrítica, son gente por talante mucho más cercana a los aparatchiks de los regímenes autoritarios o totalitarios que al político humanista de una sociedad abierta democrática“. Así define Hermann Tertsch a la generación de políticos socialistas agrupados bajo la figura de José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. El experimentado periodista recientemente despedido de El País ha concedido una entrevista al diario digital http://www.bastaya.org en la que asegura que “Zapatero es un autista moral y político que no tiene cura” por lo que “la gente debería tenerle más miedo“.

“Lo mejor que puede sucederle a la historia de España es que Zapatero quede en trágica y grotesca anécdota. Por autoestima“. asegura el periodista y analista internacional Hermann Tertsch quien cree que “quien es consciente de que su vida política depende ya del capricho o conveniencia de los asesinos de ETA, no está capacitado para gobernar a los españoles“. “Zapatero se ha convertido en un peligro él mismo“, asegura.

Tertsch considera que “la nueva generación que llegó al poder bajo Rodríguez Zapatero y sólo gracias a toda una concatenación increíble de accidentes insólitos es la peor cosecha de los fracasos de la sociedad española tras el franquismo“. Considera que “los denominadores comunes de la misma son la mediocridad y un relativismo tan profundo que hace que sus miembros sean perfectamente inmunes a cualquier discurso que no sea su propia letanía sectaria“.

Source: La Nación – Hermann Tertsch: “La gente debería tenerle más miedo al presidente Zapatero

“Fearful and foolish at the same time, sectarians, uncultivated and just because of that, insensitive to any critic, this people are nearer the aparatchiks of the totalitarian regimes than to the humanist politic of an open democratic society“. That’s how Hermann Tertsch defines the generation of Socialist politicians grouped under the figure of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

The experienced journalist, recently expelled from El País has been interviewed by the digital diary www.bastaya.org, describing Zapatero as a “moral and politician autist that has no healing” reason why he considers that he “should be much more feared“.”The best thing that could happen to Spain’s history is that Zapatero is no more than a tradical and grotesque anecdote. Just by self-esteem“, he states.

Hermann Tertsch, international journalist and analyst, believes that “Zapatero knows that his political life depends only of the caprice or convenience of the ETA terrorists and is not able to govern the Spanish citizens“. “Zapatero has evolved into a danger in itself“.

Tertsch considers that “the new generation that comes to power under Zapatero and only thanks to an unbelievable sum of surprising accidents, can be safely considered as the worst of the Spanish society since the end of Franco’s regime“. He also considers that “their common characteristics are the mediocrity and a relativism so deep that their members are perfectly immune to any reasons that are not in their sectarian lethany“.

I can see why he was expelled…

This comes as The Economist and the Financial Times have also critisized Zapatero:

Las advertencias de la prensa extranjera sobre la política económica de José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero son cada vez más numerosas. The Financial Times, ya ha advertido de que España tiene un “débil status” como cobijo de inversiones extranjeras, en lo que también incide The Economist. Y ha acusado a Zapatero de esconder su fracaso antiterrorista tras los datos económicos. Este miércoles le advierte además de que la economía española es “muy vulnerable” y que él no ha hecho nada para mantener un boom que se debe a las reformas del Gobierno de Aznar. Acusa a Zapatero de “lindar con la arrogancia”, y de hacer muy poco para atender los desequilibrios de nuestra economía.

[…] “Los tres elementos principales que están sosteniendo la expansión económica de España son: bajos tipos de interés europeos, poner a trabajar a un enorme stock de trabajo inempleado y un boom de la construcción desaforado”. Un cócktail que es “muy vulnerable”, especialmente “cuando se combina con: un bajo crecimiento de la productividad, una débil base tecnológica y un sistema educativo obsoleto”. Y no sólo eso: “el segundo déficit por cuenta corriente más grande del mundo, después de los Estados Unidos, de al menos 107.000 millones el año pasado, o el 8,8 por ciento del Producto Interior Bruto”.

Source: Financial Times critica la “arrogancia” de Zapatero y le advierte que la situación económica es “muy vulnerable” – Libertad Digital

The foreign press is critisizing more frequently the economic policy of Zapatero. The Financial Times considers that Spain has a “vulnerable status“, something in which it agrees with The Economist. It has accused Zapatero of hiding his lack of success in antiterrorist policy by pointing the public’s attention on the economical data and of doing nothing to continue the expansion of Spanish economy, expansion which was made possible only by Aznar’s Government’s reforms. It considers that the acts of Zapatero are “very near arrogance” and of doing very little to reduce the economy’s problems.

“The three main elements that are maintaining the Spanish economic boom are: the European low interest rates, the employment of a large stock of non-working people and an out-of-order building boom. A very vulnerable cocktail […] specially when it is combined with a low growth of productivity, a very frail technological base and an obsolete education system. […] And all of that is worsened by the 2nd biggest deficit in commerical trade in the world, after USA, raising to, at least 107,000 millions last year, the equivalent to 8.8% GDP“.

 

del.icio.us tags: Zapatero, Hermann Tertsch, Basta Ya.org

Technorati tags: Zapatero, Hermann Tertsch, Basta Ya.org

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Today’s demonstration 3

My good blog-friend snipfer has left me the photos he has done at the demonstration. You can see them here. I have selected this one -it’s beautiful-:

Feels like you’re in the demonstration, eh?

Pablo Molina wrote before the demonstración: “Los dirigentes del PSOE no pueden, sin caer en el ridículo, denunciar que en las manifestaciones que apoya el PP aparecen enseñas preconstitucionales, sencillamente porque lo que en las convocatorias a las que acude la derecha es un suceso marginal, en las algaradas de la izquierda es la norma. Repásese el archivo fotográfico de cualquier manifestación organizada por la izquierda, con los políticos del PSOE en primera fila, y si alguien consigue detectar una bandera constitucional de España que lo diga para inscribirlo en el Libro Guinness por su agudeza visual sobrehumana. Tiene gracia también que José Blanco ponga el grito en el cielo porque algún grupúsculo friki cante el Cara al Sol, cuando su partido acaba sus reuniones tarareando La Internacional (la izquierda progre actual ya no se sabe la letra), que no es tampoco una oda a los valores democráticos ni a la libertad precisamente”.

“The PSOE leaders cannot really denounce the use of the preconstitutional flags because in the demonstrations supported by PP that is a marginal thing, while in the disorders of the left that is the normal thing. Just take another view to the photographic archives of any demonstration organised by the left and if someone can detect ONE constitutional flag of Spain, please tell it to the rest so he can have a Guiness record because of his extreme visual acuteness. It is also a very comical situation to listen José Blanco -PSOE’s Secretary of Organization- lamenting the freaky mini-group singing the Cara al Sol -the tradictional falangista and Franco-ist song- when his party finishes his own reunions singing The International, that is neither a song to the democratical values or to freedom precisely“.

Vice-President De la Vega: “This is the main party of agitation“. She did not said that when she was in the opposition and Zapatero was nicknamed pancartero, that is, the one, who carries a banner, because of all the demonstration and banners he went to.

PM Zapatero and Interior Minister Rubalcaba are not going to attend the concert dedicated to the terrorism victims. The Kings have invited them with all the terrorism victims today at night. They do not want to see the victims after the massive demonstration.

Another marvellous photo:

More comment in Aragón Liberal HT Cartas y artículos. 2 millions just to begin with.

Barcepundit and Publius Pundit has both commented and linked to me. Thanks!

Related posts:

Today’s demonstration 2.

Today’s demonstration.

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Today’s demonstration 2

More reaction:

Gateway Pundit: MASSIVE Rally Against Terrorism in Madrid!

MASSIVE Rally Against Terrorism in Madrid! Hundreds of Thousands of protesters rallied against surrendering to terrorists in Madrid!

Antes de que empiece la guerra de números » Desde el exilio

Me da igual. No importa si son un millón, medio, más o menos. Son muchos. Muchísimos. Demasiados para ser todos fascistas, liberticidas, franquistas, crispadores, marionetas al servicio del PP o de un “Losantos” (cuánto poder en sus manos de ser así!) No percibo ni mareo, ni vómitos ni me apetece apagar la televisión (Por cierto, sólo Tele-Madrid ofrece cumplida información de lo que ocurre a los que vivimos en el extranjero). No veo ira, ni armas, ni puños cerrados por el odio.

Fernando Savater, de la mayúscula al punto, hoy en El Correo (via Daniel Tercero.net):

La argumentación más inconsistente y menos convincente para apoyar el disparate gubernamental con De Juana es apelar a las supuestas excarcelaciones de etarras antes del plazo debido por parte del Gobierno de Aznar o los acercamientos de presos realizados en el mismo período, para probar la ‘hipocresía’ de la oposición (la palma se la lleva la ‘Ser’, que siempre bate el récord de bajura con este tema, proclamando la gran noticia de que ‘el Gobierno de Aznar’ no actuó contra De Juana cuando el miserable pidió ‘champán y langostinos’ para celebrar el asesinato de Tomás Caballero: ¿sólo le falta decir que se los envió Aznar pagados de su bolsillo!). Como sabe cualquiera que se moleste en enterarse de las cosas, el PP insistía en cambiar la legislación para hacer cumplir íntegras las penas pero entretanto, como no podía ser de otro modo, cumplía con la legislación vigente y sus reducciones de condena. En cuanto a los acercamientos de presos, no respondían al chantaje de ningún recluso, sino a reiteradas peticiones parlamentarias y de medios ilustrados de comunicación. Pero en fin, aunque no fuera así: ¿y qué? Si el Gobierno Aznar lo hizo mal entonces (aunque lo que hizo nada tiene que ver con la excarcelación mediante chantaje de De Juana Chaos) ¿por qué el PSOE no se lo reprochó en su día, cuando tantas cosas le censuraba en otros campos? Aún peor: si aquello fue un error, ¿por qué ahora se utiliza como justificante en lugar de haberlo tomado como advertencia de lo que no debe hacerse, visto el resultado? Es floja excusa para equivocarse el que otros se hayan equivocado antes y uno repita de buena fe los errores.

Red part translated: “If Aznar’s Government was wrong at that time (he did not do anything which could be levelled with De Juana’s blackmail), why PSOE did not critisize that then, when Socialists were so hard critisizing PP? What is even worse: if that was an error: why now is used as a justification, and not as a advise of what it should not be done, once we have seen its result?“

Also Barcepudit.

Nauscopio has a lot of links both to news and to blogs. Among them: Juan Pedro Quiñonero: Madrid’s demonstration viewed from Europe: he links to IHT, Le Monde,

Specially interesting for me is Le Monde’s treatment of this demonstration: on the first page up and with the title: “Massive demonstration of the Spanish opposition in Madrid“. In another link, it considers “historic” the demonstration … to consider afterwards the “apparition of the symbols that we here call preconstitutionals, that have the Franco’s eagle“.

Le Figaro: The right in mass against Zapatero‘s clemence.

Il corriere della Sera: Chieste le dimissioni del premier. 1 milione in piazza contro l’Eta e Zapatero. Grande folla a Madrid, convocata dal Partito Popolare (opposizione di centrodestra), per denunciare la scarcerazione del membro dell’Eta Inaki de Juana Chaos.

Triste Romeo: The success is a fact. Now we have to echarle huevos.

I had laughed when I had seen this photo:

Zapatero dressed as a bride acting as bridegroom Otegi, the speaker from BATASUNA-ETA.

Reflexiones Iracuandas reflects upon how the Spanish left has seen the demonstration: Orwell reloaded: The demonstration has been below hopes“. It reminds me to a comment in El Pais website: Only if 45 million Spanish demonstrate, it will be a success. Hmmm, yes, of course….

With all the pressure about the flags, some people have tried to expell from the demonstration, a woman who was carrying the flag of the pollo, as here is called the eagle’s flag. Video.

Related post:

Today’s demonstration.

Technorati Tags: De Juana , Spain , demonstration , Zapatero , terrorism , ETA

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Today’s demonstration

NOTE: This post will be updated as more news coverage is realeased.

Madrid Autonomous Community (PP) raises the number to 2.125.000 demonstrators!

Saturday’s demonstration to protest the De Juana’s 2nd grade cannot be considered but as a great and marvellous success. Probably it has been the most important gathering -in numbers- in Spanish history. Before, only the Pope John Paul II had gathered so much presence (700 buses and estimated more than 1 million people). Today 1.000 buses have driven people who live outside Madrid. So we can safely state that at least 1 million people have gathered there. LD considers that possibly between 1,5 and 2 million have demonstrated against the Government’s decision..

Anyway, whatever the number, there has been a huge quantity of people… and that’s what I really like…

Photo found in El Pais website.

The exhibition of Spanish flag has been done PROUDLY, something which is MARVELLOUS. For so long the constitutional Spanish flag has been considered as something which should be hidden. And now, after weeks of hearing stupid statements as “only the far-right demonstrates with the flag” or “the demonstrators are coup d’état fans“, seeing too many flags -and people carrying them- has been a reward worthy of sustaining all critics.

There are some Spanish journalists who are fearing the use of the flag. PSOE supporters consider that people who carry the Spanish flag -a symbol of unity- have stolen it from the citizenship.

What happens? That PSOE supporters cannot use the flag? We have been seen throughout all the anti-Iraqi war demonstrations huge numbers of the Republican flag, and no one has said nothing.

But the worst attack on Spanish flag has come from a journalist in famous “El Pais newspaper” (the dependent from PSOE diary of the morning) in which he wrote that the constitutional flags in right-wingers’ demonstrations are FALSE. Why? Since the first demonstration, 3 or 4 -literally- fools from far-right political parties have appeared at the demonstrations, all of them carrying -what is believed to be- Franco’s flag. And the TVs and photographers go like hyaenas to rot meat: “grrr! this is going to be tomorrow’s news“.

It is a pity, but they were trying the rest of the “normal and decent” people not to go to this demonstration -and all the others- for that reason. But the normal and decent people HAD gone.

Yesterday, a militant from PP was beaten-yes, you are reading correctly- because he was protesting against De Juana. The attacker tried first to snatch the Spanish flag the attacked had in his neck: he hit hin repeatedly while the attacked was in the ground, till he was succesful and then run away. The conforting scene happened in Tarragona (Catalonia- SPAIN).

But what has made me blink my eyes more -just to see if it was true or not- , has been the statement teh Police Union has made. In an official one, consider “miserables” the people who are demonstrating against De Juana’s penitentiary nowadays state and that Jiménez Becerrill’s sister -one of the most important speakers of the Terrorist Victims’ association whose brother was killed by ETA and one of the people about whom De Juana said “Their cries are my laughters“- is “spitting on the blood of their relatives“. Uaughhhh! The curious and appalling thing is that in their website you can read “if it would have been for us, De Juana would have exited the prison when dead“.

Anyway, the relatives of the killed in the terrorist attack of the Barajas airport terminal T4 (Dec 30), Diego Armando Estacio and Carlos Alonso Palate, both of them from Ecuador, have been at the demonstration. Estacio’s mother has said to TV that he was there because Zapatero has promised her justice and because she wanted to “stay with the relatives of other victims and to share with them the lose of a beloved relative“. Hmm, justice and Zapatero in one line…

All my colleagues at antizp.org -today I have written it right-, are there yet. But I have gone only to stay there, to be there, and then I have come back. I am alergic and the spring is in, so you can guess why I am not yet there….

Anyway, there are also demonstrations against the 2nd grade throughout the world…

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Marcha por el ‘caso De Juana’ | elmundo.es

Imagen de la cabecera en la que se han situado los líderes del Partido Popular, como su presidente, Mariano Rajoy (c), que conversa con el alcalde de Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, momentos antes del comienzo de la manifestación bajo el lema ‘España por la libertad, no más cesiones a ETA’, convocada por el PP en protesta por la concesión de prisión atenuada al preso de ETA José Ignacio de Juana Chaos. (Foto: EFE)

Marcha por el ‘caso De Juana’ | elmundo.es

Varias personas sostienen grandes banderas de España y del País Vasco, ambas con un gran lazo azul. (Foto: EFE)

Denuncian la agresión a un militante del PP de Tenerife tras manifestarse contra la cesión del Gobierno a De Juana – Libertad Digital

El presidente de Nuevas Generaciones del PP de Canarias, Jaime Hernández Abad, ha denunciado y condenado que el expresidente de dicha organización juvenil en Tenerife, Javier Bueno, ha sufrido este viernes por la noche una “brutal” agresión tras la protesta convocada por este partido contra la mejoría en la situación penitenciaria del etarra De Juana Chaos. Un individuo intentó arrancarle la bandera de España que portaba alrededor de su cuello. Le tiró al suelo propinándole numerosas patadas en la cabeza y en el resto del cuerpo, “hasta que el salvaje agresor consiguió arrebatarle la enseña nacional, tras lo que huyó corriendo del lugar de los hechos”.

La madre de Diego Estacio se une a la manifestación porque Zapatero “me dijo que se haría justicia” – Libertad Digital

Familiares de las dos víctimas del atentado contra el aeropuerto de Madrid cometido por ETA el pasado 30 de diciembre se han sumado a la manifestación con el lema Por la libertad. No más cesiones a ETA, que este sábado ha reunido a entre 1,6 y 2 millones de personas en la capital de España. La madre de Diego Estacio declaró a Telemadrid que su presencia obedece a su “necesidad” de estar junto al resto de las víctimas del terrorismo de España y “compartir con ellos el dolor por la pérdida de un ser querido”. La Confederación Española de Inmigrantes se ha unido a la manifestación, así como otras organizaciones de inmigrantes con representación en todo el país.

El SUP acusa a la hermana de Jiménez Becerril de “escupir sobre la sangre de sus familiares muertos” – Libertad Digital

LLAMA “MISERABLES” A LOS QUE PROTESTAN POR LA EXCARCELACIÓN DE CHAOS El SUP acusa a la hermana de Jiménez Becerril de “escupir sobre la sangre de sus familiares muertos” El Sindicato Unificado de la Policía (SUP) ha emitido un documento interno en el que fija su postura sobre la decisión del Gobierno de excarcelar a De Juana Chaos. Contrariamente a la postura que venía manteniendo hasta ahora -en su página web dice que “si llega a ser por nosotros, De Juana habría salido de la cárcel muerto”-, el sindicato cambia en esta nueva circular de parecer, manifiesta su apoyo a Zapatero y arremete contra las víctimas. Llega a decir que algunas de ellas, y menciona a la hermana de Jiménez Becerril concretamente, “parecen escupir sobre la sangre de sus familiares muertos”. Uno de los miembros de este sindicato dijo recientemente que a Luis del Pino “le metería en una habitación sin Estado de Derecho”.

Los primeros datos del PP estiman más de 1,6 millones de personas en Madrid contra ETA – Libertad Digital

Los primeros datos del PP estiman más de 1,6 millones de personas en Madrid contra ETA Panorámica de la manifestación, este sábado en Mad Las primeras estimaciones del PP, convocante, indican una superficie de 400.000 metros cuadrados ocupada por manifestantes, lo que significaría una cantidad aproximada de entre 1,6 millones y 2 millones de personas. Otro dato refuerza que se trata de la mayor manifestación de toda la etapa constitucional: la llegada de más de 1.000 autobuses de toda la España peninsular, cuando el hito anterior del que se tiene registro son los 700 autobuses llegados en 2003 con ocasión de la visita del Papa Juan Pablo II.

El trato de favor a De Juana indigna a medio mundo y habrá concentraciones en América y resto de Europa – Libertad Digital

La decisión del Gobierno de conceder el segundo grado penitenciario al sanguinario terroristas De Juana Chaos, ha indignado a medio mundo. La gran manifestación prevista para este sábado en Madrid será reproducida en ciudades como Buenos Aires, Miami, Zurich, Londres, Ciudad de México, Montevideo o Frankfurt, entre otras. Así pues, la rebelión cívica que intenta frenar la cesión del Gobierno al chantaje de ETA ha traspasado fronteras y Zapatero tendrá que decidir si hace oídos sordos o no a una clamorosa multitud en España y a las voces que llegarán desde América y el resto de Europa.

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Blog reaction:

Batiburrillo: Gigantesca manifestación del Partido Popular (II)

Estamos escuchando a un periodista que ha perdido los papeles hace años, Antonio Casado. Fíjense en las dos boutades que ha soltado este señor: 1) que no se puede “patrimonializar” la bandera nacional; 2) que hay un “exceso” de banderas españolas. Lo que no aclara el periodista es por qué la siniestra nunca saca las banderas constitucionales ni cuántas banderas nacionales colman el vaso de lo “tolerable”.

NOTE: I have corrected some things that were wrongly written.

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Technorati Tags: De Juana , Spain , demonstration , Zapatero , terrorism , ETA

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Today is a sad day for bloggers

Some days ago I wrote about him, because of an alert my friend FFE sent me. Well, he has been finally sentenced to 4 years in jail for insulting Islam and President Hosni Mubarak and inciting sedition (¡!).

Abdel Kareem Nabil, a 22-year-old former student at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, an Islamic institution, had pleaded innocent to all charges, and human rights groups had called for his release.

Nabil, who used the blogger name Kareem Amer, had sharply criticized Al-Azhar on his Web log, calling it “the university of terrorism” and accusing it of suppressing free thought. He also often criticized Mubarak’s regime on the blog.

In one post, he said Al-Azhar University “stuffs its students’ brains and turns them into human beasts … teaching them that there is not place for differences in this life.”

He was a vocal critic of conservative Muslims and in other posts described Mubarak’s regime as a “symbol of dictatorship.”

The university threw him out last year and pressed prosecutors to put him on trial.

The judge issued the verdict in a brief, five-minute session in a court in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. He sentenced Nabil to three years in prison for insulting Islam and inciting sedition and another year for insulting Mubarak. Nabil had faced a possible maximum sentence of up to nine years in prison.

Nabil, wearing a gray T-shirt and sitting in the defendants pen, gave no reaction and his face remained still as the verdict was read. He was immediately taken from the pen and put in a prison truck and did not comment to reporters.

Egypt arrested a number of bloggers last year, most of them for connections to Egypt’s pro-democracy reform movement. Nabil was arrested in November, and while other bloggers were freed, Nabil was put on trial – a sign of the sensitivity of his writings on religion.

Hafiz Abou Saada, head of the Egyptian Human Rights Organization, described the verdict as “very tough”.

Even his family has disowned him some days before the trial:

His father, a retired mathematics teacher, has demanded applying the Sharia [Islamic law] ruling on him by giving him three days to repent, followed by having him killed if he does not announce his repentance.

The verdict can be appealed at the Alexandria Appealing Tribunal, but his lawyers are not very hopeful. This sentence was the appeal.

There have been a lot of reactions to this men’s sentence:

Big Pharaoh [by the way, he is leaving the blog and he says that he does not when he will be posting again. I am very sorry to hear that, it is a great loss for the blogosphere]:

What really upsets me is the fact that Abdel Kareem enjoys very little sympathy in the Egyptian street because of what he said about Islam and religion in general. Some are calling for his execution.

Abdel Kareem will enjoy sympathy in the Egyptian street once Islam gets reformed. Once cussing Mohamed, Allah, whatever does not send you to prison or the gallows. If Abdel Kareem was living 500 years ago in Europe and he would have wrote the same thing about Christianity, he would have been burned at stake. Luckily Christianity got reformed, Christians in Europe understood that God would not be a very happy person if they imprisoned or killed someone who wrote/said something they considered offensive to the Christian faith. This is the reason why Dan Brown and Tom Hanks are still alive today.

Sandmonkey has announced that he will be writing a report for Pajamas Media and that he will be speaking about this in BBC.

Patrick from Clarity and Resolve expresses his concerns about Kareem’s survival in prison.

Eye-on-the-world writes that:

The London-based rights group Amnesty International said in a statement: “This is yet another slap in the face of freedom of expression in Egypt.” The group considers Suleiman to be a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for peacefully expressing his opinion, the statement added.

The Paris-based press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders said the sentence was “a disgrace” and the United Nations should respond by disqualifying Egypt from hosting an Internet Governance Forum in 2009.

[…]

One of Suleiman’s articles said that al-Azhar in Cairo, one of the most prominent seats of Sunni Muslim learning, was promoting extreme ideas. Another article, headlined “The Naked Truth of Islam as I Saw it”, accused Muslims of savagery during clashes between Muslims and Christians in Alexandria in 2005.

He has also described some of the companions of the Muslim prophet Mohammad as “terrorists”, and has likened Mubarak to dictatorial pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.

“I was hoping that he would get a harsher sentence because he presented to the world a bad image of Egypt. There are things that one should not talk about, like religion and politics. He should have got a 10-year sentence,” said lawyer Nizar Habib, who attended the trial as a member of the public.

More reactions at Global Voices.org, that also informs that there will be rallies protesting this in several cities:

There are also petitions online and a support site.

If you want to take part in the international campaing to support Kareem insert this logo on your blog:

and link it to the support site. Thanks.

Also read Morphemetales, MNM, Freethoughts, Pub Philosopher, The Moderate Voice, Michael van der Gälien. Iain Dale has also commented upon it.

Also read Gateway Pundit: Iranian student activist Ahmad Batebi who has been imprisoned since the Student Protests in July 1999 suffered a second stroke this week…

Batebi had several seizures on Friday night and was in a coma for a few hours. Yesterday, Batebi had a second brain stroke and was taken to the Evin Prison’s clinic, where doctors began monitoring his condition.

Batebi’s colleagues in prison contacted outside sources to announce that Batebi had a brain stroke on Friday and had spent 3 hours in a coma.

Ahmad Batebi, who was first arrested in the aftermath of the 1999 student uprising, was taken back to jail this summer and lived under deplorable prison conditions. It was reported that prison officials had confiscated and taken away all of Batebi’s personal belongings after his second stroke.

Lastly, Spanish digital newspaper Libertad Digital reports that SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Escritores, that is, General Society Authors and Writers) wants a “driving licence” to surf the web, as they want to end the anonimity on the Net. Pedro Farré, the SGAE’s lawyer, has based this on the lack of responsibility the actions in the web have. [HT: Caballero ZP]

Later, there have been a lot of campaigns on the Internet against SGAE’s taxes, imposed on MP3, computer memories, even printer memories, etc, supposedly because public was using this for copying music CDs and DVDs. A lot of blogs took part on those campaigns. So, are they willing to see who are their critics?

Related posts: Censorship “made in Spain” is coming?

Hace unas semanas ya escribí que a Abdelkarim le podían caer hasta 9 años, por criticar insultar al Islam y al Presidente Mubarak y contar la verdad sobre el régimen egipcio e incitar a la sedición. Le han sentenciado a 4, por acusar a la universidad en la que estudiaba de ser un centro de terrorismo que suprimía la libertad de expresión y por tratar a sus alumnos como bestias sin permitirles considerar las diferencias en la vida. También calificó de dictador a Mubarak.

Sin embargo, con todo y con eso no es esta la peor sentencia. Su propio padre ha pedido que se le aplique la Sharia y que “se le debería matar si no se arrepiente“. Cariño paternal que tienen algunos…

Algunas personas han expresado su preocupación por la vida y la integridad de este blogger en prisión.

Como veis hay una campaña internacional en su apoyo. Así que los que teneis blog, por favor, poned el logo de arriba enlazado con la dirección http://www.freekareem.org.

Los grupos de Derechos Humanos habían protestado pero, como se ve, no ha surtido efecto la amenaza.

En español podeis leer a: Disculpen las Molestias, Resolutivos, Carmelo Jordá, Luz de las Naciones. También a El Opinador Compulsivo, Juan Carlos Hidalgo, En Defensa de Occidente.

Además, el activista iraní de los Derechos Humanos Ahmad Batebi, que lleva en prisión desde los disturbios de 1999, ha sufrido hoy su segundo infarto cerebral. Los médicos han dicho que sufre por múltiples problemas tanto físicos como psíquicos, y que debe ser tratado fuera de prisión. Sin embargo, está en la clínica de la prisión.

Y en España, la SGAE quiere que para circular por la Web, nos saquemos un carnét de conducir, porque, dicen, que “el anonimato es malo porque, claro, la gente no se hace responsable de lo que escribe…“. La campaña por el canon no les ha gustado nada, pero nada, ¿eh?

Technorati : Abdel Kareem Nabil, Ahman Batebi, Egypt, Iran, Islam, Mubarak, freedom of expression
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