Child Brides

The problem is not confined to Islamic countries, but it is one that is seen in a number of third world nations where there are Islamics, as well as Hindus.  The National Geographic is once again highlighting the plight of young girls forced into marriage with older men.

The villagers often know that what they are doing is against the law, but they hide and have their wedding ceremonies in the middle of the night. One very distressed 9 year old was married off against her will, and her father threatened to kill her if the police were called.

There are many reasons why these girls should not be married off, and why they should not be forced into sexual intercourse at such a young age. Their bodies are not mature enough to cope with sexual activity. Many of these girls have no idea what is happening to them when they are pregnant and about to give birth.

 

Denmark spoils the fun of some intending terrorists.

The group of terrorists arrested in Copenhagen had plans to seek revenge for the publishing of the Mo the Paedophile cartoons.  It seems that they are denying that they had any intention of doing such a thing. However, the special forces involved with counter-terrorism would not have swooped upon these Muslim Jihadist fanatics if they did not suspect that their plans were about to be put in motion.

Der Spiegel has an interesting article on the alleged terrorists, as well as their probable links to David Headley who was involved in the planning of the Mumbai massacre.

Danish and Swedish authorities are currently investigating links to the attempted plot by David Headley. Der Spiegel relates:

“What is known is that authorities in Sweden and Denmark are currently investigating whether there are any connections to the so-called "Mickey Mouse Project." That terror plot, which was also cantered on Jyllands-Posten, was foiled with the arrest of David Headley, a United States citizen of Pakistani origin, at an airport in Chicago in October 2009.

There is a likelihood that the plan foiled on Wednesday was at least inspired by Headley’s plot. Indeed, both apparent plots bear strong similarities.

For his part, Headley was operating on behalf of top terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri. The Pakistani is the head of his own terror group, Harakat ul-Jihad Islami. In addition, he has close and very explosive connections to the terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LiT) and al-Qaida. Initially, Headley also served on behalf of LiT and scouted targets for them that would eventually be attacked in the terror strikes in Mumbai in November 2008. Headley had also filmed the site of an attack in the Indian city of Pune before a bomb exploded there — in front of a German bakery. Kashmiri later claimed responsibility for the attack”

You can read more here

Turkey probes Richard Dawkin’s "God delusion"

Now this is an extremely interesting twist with regard to Islamic style probes, because it is the Turkish authorities who are examining Richard Dawkin’s book on the grounds of the possibility that the book is an attack on religious values. The party at risk in this story is not Dawkins, but the publisher.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – A Turkish prosecutor has launched a probe into whether a book by best-selling atheist writer Richard Dawkins is an attack on religious values — a move that could lead to the prosecution of the book’s Turkish publisher.

“The God Delusion” has sold some 6,000 copies in Turkey.

Publisher Erol Karaaslan said he would be questioned by an Istanbul prosecutor on Wednesday as part of the official investigation into Dawkins’ book, “The God Delusion.”

Karaaslan could face trial and up to one year in prison if the prosecutor concludes that the book “incites religious hatred” and insults religious values, Milliyet newspaper reported. Karaaslan is both the publisher and translator of the book.

The investigation of the British scientist’s book comes at a time when Turkey has been criticized for targeting writers and intellectuals for expressing opinions. The European Union, which Turkey hopes to join, is pressing Ankara to change laws that curb free expression, calling them inconsistent with the bloc’s free speech standards.

Turkey said this month it would soften a much-criticized law that makes denigrating Turkish identity, or insulting the country’s institutions, a crime.

A probe was launched into “The God Delusion” after one reader complained that passages in the book were an assault on “sacred values,” Karaaslan said.

No one was available for comment at the prosecutor’s office.

You can name a child Mohammed, but not a teddy bear – give me a break!!

An English teacher has been arrested in Khartoum because children in her class named a teddy bear that she intended to be used for instructional purposes, Mohammed.

The offense is insulting Islam, which is an offense under the Sharia rules in the Sudan.

 

KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNN) — A British teacher arrested in Sudan after allowing her class to name a teddy bear “Mohammed” has been charged by authorities with offending religion, British officials say.

An undated amateur photo of Gillian Gibbons.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, is being held by police in the capital Khartoum after she asked her class of seven-year-olds to come up with a name for the toy as part of a school project, Robert Boulos, the head of Unity High School told CNN.

It is expected that she will appear in court Thursday, Sudan state media reported.

A British Foreign Office spokeswoman said Gibbons had been charged under Article 125 of Sudan’s constitution, the law relating to insulting religion and inciting hatred.

The spokeswoman said the Sudanese ambassador had been summoned to the offices of the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband to discuss the case. Gibbons was arrested under the country’s Islamic Sharia law after parents of some of her students complained to police.

Paris Riots Redux – Sarkozy denounces those who shot at police

 

The French President has made it clear that the rioting that broke out after two minors who had stolen a motorcycle and drove it into the path of a police car died at the scene of the accident.

To date there has been three days of rioting in scenes that remind us of the previous riots caused by the minority rabble of Paris.

PARIS, France (AP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that rioters who shot at police would be brought to justice and called the violence that rocked Paris suburbs “absolutely unacceptable.”

Technorati Tags: paris riots

It was the first time Sarkozy, who had just returned from China, entered the fray since the rioting broke out Sunday night.

The violence ebbed Tuesday night after police were deployed in force and quickly rounded up youths lobbing Molotov cocktails and setting cars ablaze.

The violence has drawn comparisons with riots that raged through suburbs nationwide in 2005, and has shown that anger still smolders in poor housing projects where many Arabs, blacks and other minorities live largely isolated from the rest of society.

“We will find the shooters,” and they will “be brought to account before justice,” Sarkozy said after meeting with a wounded police captain hospitalized in Eaubonne north of Paris.

The violence erupted Sunday after the deaths of two minority teens whose motorscooter collided with a police car in Villiers-le-Bel, a blue-collar town on Paris’ northern edge.

Residents claimed the officers left without helping the teens. Prosecutor Marie-Therese de Givry denied that, saying police stayed on the scene until firefighters arrived.

Sarkozy described the teens’ deaths as “distressing.” But he added: “Shooting at police has no link to this incident.”

The French president was meeting Wednesday morning with the families of the two teens who died, and with the mayor of Villiers-le-Bel before having a security meeting with his top ministers.

While cars were set ablaze for a third night Tuesday, officials said the violence was less intense than the two previous nights. Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said the overall situation was “calm.” Still, she said on Europe-1 radio, police presence would remain reinforced “as long as necessary.”

She said 39 people were arrested in the Paris region Tuesday night.

Bands of young people set more cars on fire Tuesday in and around Villiers-le-Bel. In the southern city of Toulouse, 20 cars were set ablaze, and fires at two libraries were quickly brought under control, police said.

The previous night, 82 officers were injured, 10 of them by buckshot and pellets, the police force said. The use of firearms — rare in 2005 — added a dangerous dimension.

New threat of attack from al Qaeda for Spain?

The Telegraph reports that terrorism experts believe that there is a real threat of another attack on Spain by al-Qaeda. This belief derives from the fact that despite the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq, the threat of a new al-Qaeda attack on Spain has not diminished.

“It is one of a number of Western countries that has been singled-out
[by al-Qa'eda], along with the UK, France and the US,” said Fernando
Reinares, a terrorism expert at the Royal Elcano Institute in Madrid.

The Arabic name for Spain is al-Andalus and Osama Bin Laden has repeatedly called on his followers to fight to restore al-Andalus.

Historically, the Moors attempted to take over Spain, but in the end the Moors were overpowered by the Spanish government, and by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. The Moors had presented a serious threat to the stability of Spain, and at one time the Moors were underwritten by Jews who were interested in taking power away from the Christians, this in turn led to the introduction of the Spanish Inquisition, a move that was meant to flush out those Jews who were attempting to gain power in government through false conversions to Christianity.

 

Osama bin Laden has repeatedly called on followers to fight to restore
al-Andalus, the Arabic name for Spain when it was under Islamic rule
before the Christian reconquest of the 15 century.

In an address last month, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qa’eda’s second in
command, called on followers to “wipe the Maghreb clean of the sons of
France and Spain”.

This cry has been taken up by al-Qa’eda’s north African wing, which has
claimed responsibility for recent bombs in Algeria and Morocco. Since
March 2004 Spanish security services have stepped up surveillance of
Islamist cells operating within Spain.

They say that they have disrupted several large-scale plots, including
one to ram a truck packed with 1,000lb of explosives into Spain’s main
anti-terrorism court.

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What kind of psychological problems for these children in the future?

A picture can paint a thousand words, and the pictures of these innocent babies paints a rather horrible story. From a very young age they are being taught to hate others. It is hard to imagine the kind of psychological problems that these children will have if they ever make it into adult hood. With the kind of hatred that is being built up within them, they are facing a very bleak future. This is what is so very rotten about the condition of the Islamist Jihadis in our society. How can any decent human being support this kind of brainwashing of the innocent? Dr. Sanity offers the following perspective

From a wider perspective, though, what Steyn is talking about is the politicization of children; i.e., the use of children to advance a political or ideological agenda. This sort of child abuse is going on on a number of levels, both in Western culture and in Middle Eastern culture. Specifically, I want to focus on the hyper-sexualization of children in the West, and the concomitant hyper-”aggressivization” of children in the Arab/Islamic world.

A recent search of the headlines will give us plenty to ponder on the sexualization being waged in the West. Consider this. And this. and this. In Norway: this Or how about this?

What does any of the above represent, except an all-out assault on the sexual identity and genitalia of today’s children. Oh, don’t bother to tell me this is all done with the best of intentions…quite frankly, I’m rather sick of hearing that particular line.
Don’t these do-gooders ever consider the long-term consequences of their actions? Or is it just enough for them to feel in the moment oh-so-good about what wonderful, modern, tolerant, progressive people they are? They will conveniently forget that it was their policies and their agenda when the sexual chickens come home to roost (imagine an entire society of Brittainys and Madonnas and their male equivalents).

Meanwhile their socialist counterparts in the Middle East really have perfected a way to accomplish what the Stark Raving Mad congressman from Maine insinuated (i.e., “President Bush wants to breed a generation of sickly uninsured children in order to send them to Iraq to stagger round the Sunni Triangle, weak and spindly and emaciated and rickets-stricken, to get their heads blown off)–with one little creative modification!

When they blow their little heads off, they will be dying to blow yours off, too. These jihadi kids don’t draw guns and play as a means of discharging youthful aggressive impulses on the road to civilized behavior; they shoot them for real, at real human targets and are rewarded according to how much they are able to express the uncivilized cultural hatred that motivates the adults in their society. Instead of learning civilized behavior, they learn to project their hatred onto Jews and Christians. This is a violent video “game” in real life.

Do you imagine there is not a difference between fantasy play (which teaches a child how to control impulses and tame his or her inner monsters in the safety of fantasy) and participating in real-life violence, brutality or sex (which gives tacit permission and actively encourages the child to become his or her inner monsters) ?

If you are unable to distinguish the difference, then you must be a member of the so-called “reality-based” community who seem to specialize in utopian fantasies where human aggression has been magically eliminated from the species, and we all “make love, not war” in some utopian meadow of the not-too-distant future.
Good luck with that.

Instead of channeling human aggression and sexuality into societally productive avenues that benefit both individuals and cultures in which they live, we are witness to the spectacle of the political left gleefully encouraging and supporting dysfunctional sexuality that reeks of entitlement, irresponsibility, and perversity. Their moral counterparts in the “religion of peace”, channel it directly into hatred and religious fanatacism.

Frequent visitors to this blog might recall that I have written quite a bit about psychological defense mechanisms (and here, for example) which operate unconsciously for the most part; and that they exist in a spectrum from immature to mature. On the immature end we have psychotic denial and ordinary denial (which children engage in frequently). As they mature, ordinary denial will morph into psychological repression (a neurotic, lower level psychological defense) and with maturity, the individual may evolve into using a process of sublimation, one of the most mature defenses, to manage any inappropriate sexual or aggressive impulses.

Contrary to the usual marxist propaganda, it is not capitalism that is encourages the use of immature psychological defenses, but life itself. But, it is capitalism and the capitalist system that offer a healthy channel for the redirection of negative psychic energy into something positive for both the individual and the group at large.

Something, I might add, that marxism, socialism and all its malignant variants completely fail to do. In fact, what they encourage are the use of unhealthy defenses (acting out, reaction formation, denial, projection, displacement to name a few) which, because such defenses are suboptimal and even self-defeating in the long-run, do nothing to improve the lot of either the society at large, or the individual unlucky enough to be living in it.

Societies, like individuals, can adopt mature defenses and deal with reality; or they can deny reality and look elsewhere for the source of their problems. Many countries, like individuals, prefer to put the blame for their own failures onto an outside source, since that is safer for the self-image. In order to maintain the fiction that their problems are caused externally, a group or country or culture needs to indoctrinate children at the earliest age possible in order to make sure that their cognitive faculties are short-circuited and won’t question the ideology or dogma.

A “healthy” country, like a healthy individual will utilize mature defenses to cope with their aggressive and/or sexual impulses. They are not afraid of their aggressive impulses because those impulses are reigned in by reason and not indulged in lightly. They are able to find pleasure and satisfaction in their sexual impusles, not by indiscriminantly indulging in every pleasurable urge or whim, but by harnessing that sexuality to values that promote true intimacy and happiness.

Healthy societies do not encourage either sexual or aggressive (i.e. violent) acting out in their children. On the contrary, healthy societies encourage responsible sexual behavior and appropriate and realistic compromise and accommodation of others.
Sex and aggression are very closely connected. According to Freudian theory, all behavior can be thought of as motivated by a desire to feel pleasure. That motivation is organized and directed by two instincts: sexuality (Eros), and aggression (Thanatos). Freudian psychology in its earliest incarnations was almost obsessively preoccupied with sex. This is because Freud himself lived in a puritanical Victorian-era society and was reacting against the extreme prudishness of the age. The psychological symptoms Freud saw in his practice and described so brilliantly were to be expected in a society that ruthlessly repressed sex.

One does not need to wonder what kind of symptoms are to be expected in a society that, instead of repressing it, glorifies it and indoctrinates its children into sexual pleasures without concomitantly teaching them about personal responsibility or that there are real world consequences to one’s behavior (something that can only be learned with maturity).

In my profession, we have been dealing with these “counterfeiting” symptoms since the “sexual revolution” peaked in the middle of the last century. Nothing like a little Utopian Marxism-gone-berserk to really alienate people from themselves, destroy interpersonal relationships and produce a society that joyfully celebrates sex without personal intimacy for the glorification of the state.

Here in the West, we have glorified one instinct (sex) while ruthlessly suppressing the other (aggression)
Meanwhile, children on the other side of the world are indoctrinated into violence without benefit of conscience, as their religion and culture ruthless suppress sex and glorify aggression and violence in the name of god.

French Parliament adopts DNA Bill

A new immigration bill, introducing possible DNA tests for foreigners who want to join “relatives” already in France has been adopted by the parliament.

Supporters of the Bill say that it will speed up the process for genuine applicants and cite similar laws in other European nations, but the critics claim that the law is racists and question the use of genetics as a basis for citizenship.

How typical of the left to not see the wood for the trees. If there are DNA tests, then this gives the authorities a greater opportunity to monitor potential terrorists from contries such as the Sudan, Morocco, Nigeria and Algeria. It gives the authorities the opportunity to check the DNA of the person against the DNA of wanted and known offenders (whether for terrorist acts or otherwise).

Strict measure do need to be adopted against all foreigners if there is going to be any chance of preventing a terrorist disaster on the scale of the bombing of the New York World Trade Centre. I do not think that any nation can afford to continue with this pussy footing around that we have seen wherever the looney left is left in control of government and immigration policy. This is not about racism, since Islam is not a race, neither is Christian a race, it is about preventing criminals from entering into a European nation.

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How people seeking to tell the truth are treated on campus

Speaker Nonie Darwish Says Female Students Are ?Hamas Trained?

Robert Stacy McCain blogging at The Washington Time?s Fishwrap sends this update on Nonie Darwish.

Nonie Darwish is an Arab-American writer and public speaker. She is the author of the book Now they Call Me Infidel; Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror. Nonie’s message is not about disloyalty but love for her culture of origin. She blames Arab leadership and the media for the endless rage and violence of the Arab street.
Phyllis Chesler describes how Nonie Darwish was treated by the the crowd at Wellesley College last week during her talk at Pajamas Media:

Last week, on October 18, 2007, our hero Darwish spoke at the all-female Wellesley College as the guest of Hillel on campus. She was not treated as a hero; then again, maybe she was, maybe her treatment is precisely how heroes are greeted on American campuses today.
About 80-100 students came. Far more Muslim than Jewish students came and ?so many? of the Muslim girls were wearing head-scarves.
According to Darwish, the female students in head-scarves did the following: As she spoke, they made exaggerated, ?mean girl? faces at her. They rolled their eyes, practiced ?disbelieving? facial expressions?did everything but stick out their tongues. And they continued to talk to each other in loud whispers while Darwish spoke: ?How can she tell such lies!? ?I was never, ever indoctrinated against Jews!? ?Can you believe what she is saying?? ?We do not call Jews pigs and apes, how can she lie about her own people??
In addition to the ?mean girl? faces and the continual loud whispering, one by one, at least four to five head-scarved girls, got up to leave the room during Darwish?s speech. This meant that each girl took two minutes to move to the end of her row, physically causing the other students to get up or twist aside, causing the entire room to look at the departing student, not at their invited guest?and then each girl did precisely the same thing when she returned two minutes later, presumably from a bathroom break.
They quadruple-teamed Darwish and did not stop until Darwish ended her lecture. Twenty to thirty minutes of soft-core, well-choreographed, goon squad behavior. ?They are Hamas-trained? says Darwish.
?And all the while,? Darwish says, ?the Jewish students cringed and cowered, so afraid that they might have hurt Muslim feelings. (Or rather, that the Muslims might physically hurt them afterwards. According to Darwish, one Jewish student told her that ?she ?was locking her door. I am scared.?)
She is probably right to be. During the Question and Answer period, many of the head-scarved students expressed calculated, injured outrage. ?How dare (Hillel) bring this woman to our campus? How dare she insult Islam, tell lies about Islam? etc. ?We are free under Islam, how can she deny this??
?Darwish concludes: ?Muslim girls like these are like gangsters. They know more about their rights in America than the Jewish girls do. The Muslim girls all have a chip on their shoulders.?
And then she is silent. Softly, she says: ?We are fighting an avalanche. We are too few. I am frightened by my culture of origin. I am scared of my own people.?

Nonie Darwish is speaking tonight at UC Berkeley. Andrew Marcus is filming the event and blogger Megan Sego from California Patriot Blog is in attendance.
This is cross-posted at Incorrect U.

Denmark grants asylum to Eritrean Christian.

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Asylum for Eritrean gospel singer
She does not belong to one of the 4 recognized religious groups, but she belongs to the Evangelical Rema church. Helen Berhane is a Gospel singer and she was arrested in 2004 because she belongs to what is termed in Eritrea as an underground and illegal Church. After a lot of pressure was put on the Eritrean government to obtain her release, Helen Berhane escaped to Khartoum in the Sudan.
What is extraordinary about this story is that Helen Berhane and her daughter Eva applied for asylum in the UK in January, but after 7 months of waiting no decision had been made. Yet, it took the Danish officials one month to accept that Helen and Eva were genuine refugees.
After reading about the torture that Helen and thousands like her experienced in yet another Muslim country where there is such “tolerance” for Christians, one has to wonder what is wrong with the British officials. Helen has to use a wheel chair because of her injuries. This is totally scandalous and against all human rights. Here is some more of the story as posted by the BBCL

An Eritrean Christian gospel singer who was tortured and detained without charge for two years in her homeland has been granted asylum in Denmark.

Helen Berhane was imprisoned inside a metal shipping container and beaten in an effort to make her recant her faith.

Freed in December 2006, she took refuge in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, before being granted asylum.

Ms Berhane uses a wheelchair because of severe injuries to her legs and feet sustained in prison beatings.

More than 90% of Eritreans belong to one of four recognised religions – Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran Churches and Islam.

All other religions were outlawed by a government decree passed in May 2001, though Jehovah’s Witnesses had been denied their rights as Eritrean citizens as early as 1994.

Helen Berhane is a member of the unregistered Rema Church and had just released a cassette of gospel music when she was arrested in the Eritrean capital on 13 May 2004.

She was one of an estimated 2,000 members of illegal evangelical church groups in Eritrea who have been arrested in recent years, according to the human rights group Amnesty International.

Arbitrary detention

After an international campaign, she was released in December 2006 and fled with her sister to Sudan, fearing she could be killed to cover up what had happened to her at the Mai Serwa prison camp near Asmara.

Among the tortures she endured was the infamous “helicopter” position, in which the prisoner is placed face down with arms and legs tied behind the back.

Her account of the cruel and inhumane treatment she suffered is echoed by the testimony of hundreds of others persecuted for their religious beliefs.

Prisoners say they are routinely subjected to extremes of heat and cold, denied water and sanitation, according to testimony collected from exiles by Release Eritrea, an organisation that campaigns for the rights of religious minorities.

Ms Berhane’s daughter, Eva, who joined her in Khartoum, accompanied her to Copenhagen where the two were greeted by campaigners and well-wishers on Friday.

Dr Berhane Asmelash, Director of Release Eritrea, said: “We are relieved that Helen and Eva are finally safe and would like to thank everyone who has supported them.”

“We hope that Helen will now have the peace and space to recover her health and rebuild her life.”

Initially Helen Berhane applied to the United Kingdom for asylum and was interviewed by immigration officials at the British High Commission in Khartoum in January 2007.

Seven months later, with no decision on her case by the British, Ms Berhane sought help from Denmark which took one month to determine that she was a genuine asylum seeker.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said: “We are thrilled that Helen has now finally found refuge for herself and her daughter after so many years of suffering.”

“We cannot forget, however, that 2000 other Christians still languish in Eritrean detention centres simply for holding on to their faith,” Mr Thomas said.