Okay to Joke on Twitter!

Some of you may remember when a disgruntled air passenger tweeted about blowing up an airport in 2010.  He was originally charged and found guilty of sending threatening messages.  Well, the UK High Court finally decided that yes, the man was joking.  This whole situation was of real concern to anyone interested in preserving free speech in the West.  Thank goodness for common sense!

Women's News April 25, 2011

A Muslim woman may be representing the UK in the Miss Universe contest.  And she's getting some flack for doing it too.  Here are some comments condemning and supporting her.

What I find ironic, is compare those Muslim reactions in the UK to this American commercial featuring Miss Turkey.  It wouldn't surprise me if many Americans were confused by this, because they think of Turkey as a Muslim country, whereas it's really more of a secular country.

Neat article about Emirati women at a university in Sharjah (UAE) who attended a conference discussing all sorts of topics that you don't think would normally be discussed: mental health, suicide, divorce, substance abuse, etc.

Racism in Britain?

By now, everyone should know that England has a lot of CCTV cameras, especially in London. Birmingham also has cameras, but they're running into problems. They put up extra cameras, often covertly, in areas with larger Muslim populations. The police say it's in areas with more crime.

This is something that is still under discussion in America: when is something good police work and when is it racial profiling? There are a lot of good Muslims out there and they are really tired of being treated as criminals. But there are a few bad eggs here and there that ruin it for everyone. I don't know if this is the area where some of the British bombers have come from, but if it is, I could see why the police would want to watch it. But that doesn't change the fact that a lot of innocent Muslims would also be scrutinized. Where do you draw the line? And if you start taking away civil liberties for one group, then how can you save them for other groups? Should we all have cameras watching our every move - then the police would always catch the correct criminal!

Archbishop of Crazybury

What the hell is going on with the Archbishop of Canterbury? First he says that Britain should allow some people to use Sharia law if they want to. Then the former Archbishop disagrees with him. Then the Archbishop says he meant what he said, but some people misunderstood him.

Analysis:
I, for one, do not think Sharia law is "unavoidable" in Great Britain. I also think that the law is the law and should apply to everyone. If you start allowing Sharia, where will it end? Will other religions want to have their rules applied? What if there's a cross-religious event? Then which law would you use? This is such a can of worms, and it should never be opened.

British Pakistanis Claim Islamophobia

Okay, this one annoys me. If you read my blog, you'll notice that often I'll explain what's going on in the Middle East and why it's not crazy or weird. Well, this is one of the opposite times. A British minister made a comment about how first-cousin marriages cause more birth defects. Apparently the Pakistani community in Britain took offense to that. The Muslim Public Affairs Committee even asked the Prime Minister to fire the guy.

Analysis: This is totally ridiculous!!! It is well known that when you marry your first cousin you are more likely to have children with birth defects. Just because your culture allows and even prefers that, does not change the facts. And claiming Islamophobia just detracts from the REAL cases of Islamophobia. Get a clue! They also have valid statistics showing that the Pakistani community has a much higher percentage of birth defects than the rest of the British population. This is so ridiculous it's almost painful.

Smart ID Cards in Qatar

Apparently Qatar has jumped on the ID Card wagon. According to the Gulf Times, all Qatari nationals have one and the expats will be getting them soon. Let's hope they have better luck guarding data than the UK who is working on their own version.

UPDATE: Gulf News: Saudi Buys Fighter Jets

Here's the old link, so you can refresh your memory. The latest news is that the former Saudi Ambassador to the US received hundreds of millions of pounds from BAE to facilitate a deal. The British Ministry of Defense (or Defence as they spell it) knew about it too.

Huzzah - Hostages Freed!

Yes, you've all heard that the British hostages have been freed! And without anybody firing a shot - let's hear it for diplomacy. Of course, it might have helped that an Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped in Iraq was freed too. And the Iraqis are trying to get the US to free 5 other Iranians. Iran says they are diplomats, the US says they were helping terrorists. All I know is, they were affiliated with the Iranian Embassy, which in the rest of the world means you get deported for illegal activity, not 'disappeared.'

Update III: British Soldiers Captured by Iran

Things have taken an interesting turn. Great Britain went to great pains to show that according to GPS coordinates, their troops were in Iraqi waters. Iran is saying that Craig Murray is disputing that. For those of you who have not heard of Craig Murray, I have a link to his blog on this page under "Blogs - Misc. Politics." Craig Murray is a British writer who used to be the British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, where he spoke out against the Uzbek ruler, who was (is?) being funded by the US. According to him, Iraq and Iran have never agreed on a border in the sea by their countries. So how can Great Britain just make one up? Food for thought.

Update II: British Soldiers Captured by Iran

The capture female soldier has now appeared on Iranian TV (BBC, IRNA), saying that the Brits were in Iranian waters, and they're being treated well. Yada, yada, yada. That's pretty much what happened last time. So far things seem to be progressing normally in that respect. Let's hope it stays that way.

Update: British Soldiers Captured by Iran

IRNA is now reporting that the British soldiers have confessed to being in Iranian waters. The British government is saying they were in Iraqi waters, and demanding that Iran release the soldiers. Something similar happened in 2004, to British troops in Iraqi waters near Iran.

British soldiers captured by Iran

I know, you've seen this on the nightly news. Here's the BBC article on it. I'll try to keep up with this story as it unravels. So far IRNA (the Islamic Republic News Agency - "official" Iranian news) doesn't have anything listed on it's English language website. I don't read Farsi, so I don't know what has showed up on that site.

Child Soldiers?

According to reports on France 24, about 15 British soldiers sent to Iraq were under the age of 18. That goes against UN protocol which forbids child soldiers in war.