Writing in today’s Australian newspaper, Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs Concetta Fierravanti-Wells described such comments as simplistic and lacking an understanding of the basic facts about Islam.Senator Fierravanti-Wells, who did not refer to Mr Abbott by name, said “megaphone politics” were a potentially dangerous distraction.”Recently we have seen calls for a reformation of Islam. This requires a reality check and some basic facts being instilled into the debate,” she said.”Our neighbour [Bali] is the largest Muslim country, where not only does moderate Islam prevail but the coexistence of the diversity of faiths and tolerance is a good example for others to follow.Media player: “Space” to play, “M” to mute, “left” and “right” to seek.VIDEO: Watch an excerpt of Tony Abbott’s interview (ABC News)”Megaphone politics not only distracts from this, but has implications for our relationships with our neighbours.”
Category Archives: Fail!
The jihadist of the Islamic State behead three well-known imams in Mosul – Fides News Agency
Mosul (Agenzia Fides) – The self-styled Islamic State of jihadists (Daesh) beheaded three well-known Sunni imams in Mosul in the public square accused of not obeying orders that forced them to recruit young people for the Jihad. The three imams, known by the local people for their profile of authentic men of God: Kazim Abdulkarim, Bilal al- Sheikh Agha and Abdullah al-Hayalli, had opposed to the atrocities committed by jihadists in the name of their bloody religious ideology. They were killed on Monday, December 14, in front of dozens of people gathered to witness the beheading. On the same day – report local sources to ARA Kurdish News Agency, also Ashwaq al-Nouaymi was murdered, a professor of Mosul who refused to give his students the teachings included in the new school curriculum imposed by Daesh.Already in June 2014, a few days after having conquered Mosul, jihadists of Daesh had killed many Sunni imams of the city, including the Grand Imam, for refusing to swear allegiance to the Islamic Caliphate. The slaughter of the imam in Mosul was virtually ignored by the Western media. All Christians in the second Iraqi city managed to escape, and their houses were expropriated by jihadists.
Source: The jihadist of the Islamic State behead three well-known imams in Mosul – Fides News Agency
Yahoo Shareholders Propose Plan To Cut 9,000 Jobs: SFist Greenmail deja vu with little care for people who would be fired to give them more money and power – trash men
Now another activist investor, New York hedge fund SpringOwl, has sent a lengthy 99-slide presentation — or list of demands, really — to Yahoo’s board. In order to save $2 billion a year, they argue, the company should lay off 9,000 employees, reducing staff to 3,000 full-time employees and contractors.
Source: Yahoo Shareholders Propose Plan To Cut 9,000 Jobs: SFist
Garbage Human Martin Shkreli Once Again Plans To Massively Raise Cost Of Lifesaving Drug: SFist
Much reviled pharma guy Martin Shkreli has yet again revealed himself to be operating from a place of questionable morality. The 70 percent owner of South San Francisco-based KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. has announced plans to increase the two-month treatment price of a lifesaving drug from $100 to an estimated $80,000.Shkreli’s Turing Pharmaceuticals was in the news earlier this year, when the founder announced he would raise the price of a drug used by AIDS patients to treat parasitic infections from $13.50 to $750 per pill.Tech Times notes that the more recently proposed price increase, announced in an investor conference call last week, would target a drug used to treat Chagas disease, a particular parasitic infection that can be fatal.The two-month course of the drug, benznidazole, is currently available at the cost of $50 to $100 in Latin America, notes the Times, but at present is only available in the United States directly from the Centers for Disease Control (the CDC makes the drug available for free).Shkreli’s move, suggests the New York Times, is part of a larger scheme to acquire a FDA voucher for expediting the review process of another drug. By bringing benznidazole to the US commercial market, albeit at an exorbitant rate, Shkreli would be eligible for a voucher originally intended as a reward to encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for neglected diseases. His company could then sell this voucher (vouchers have sold for as much as $350 million, notes the New York Times) to another pharmaceutical company.“It’s caused a lot of angst in the Chagas community,” says Dr. Sheba Meymandi, the director of a Chagas treatment center. “Everyone’s in an uproar.”It is estimated that 300,000 people in the United States suffer the disease.
Source: Garbage Human Martin Shkreli Once Again Plans To Massively Raise Cost Of Lifesaving Drug: SFist
Documenting Rape in India – The New York Times
In recent years, disturbing and widely publicized accounts of several gang rapes have begun to make the subject of sexual assault somewhat more visible in Indian society. But in her research, Ms. Sharma found that most of her subjects had either been accused of bringing dishonor upon their families or blamed by the police and neighbors for provoking their rapes.“The problem is not how women dress but how women are objectified by a patriarchal and feudalistic mind-set,” she said. “First the father owns them and then a husband owns them. They’re not treated as equals but second-class citizens.”
Video: Israeli settlers blast “Muhammad is dead” song at Palestinians | The Electronic Intifada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obH84k46g_k
This video shows a group of Israelis from the Kiryat Arba settlement “playing hate songs through a loud speaker to residents of the Hebron neighborhood of Jabal Johar,” according to Israel’s B’Tselem human rights group, which published it last month.The song heard in the video, filmed by Mai Dana on 11 October, includes the repeated refrain “Muhammad is dead” – disparaging the prophet. Its lyrics say:He is no prophetJust another ArabHe has a moustache with fleasAnd he eats goat cheeseHe is a construction laborerEven when he’s fasting on RamadanAnd he has an orange ID cardMuhammad is gay and the son of a prostitute.The video shows many settlers, including young children, laughing, singing and pumping their fists as the music blasts.The song refers to the Israeli-issued ID – which used to come in an orange-colored case – carried by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank which restricts their movements, in contrast to settlers who can go where they please.In other words, the settler song celebrates apartheid.
Source: Video: Israeli settlers blast “Muhammad is dead” song at Palestinians | The Electronic Intifada
Shrimp Peeled By Slave Labor Found At Whole Foods, Other Major Retailers: Gothamist
A harrowing investigation into imported shrimp found at major retailers in the United States and Europe has exposed the brutal working conditions behind shrimp sold around the world. Victims of human trafficking in Thailand are subjected to inhumane conditions in so-called “peeling sheds,” forced to work in dangerous and often unsanitary conditions to pay off “debts” they accrued by brokers who sold them to shrimp manufacturing companies, reveals an investigation by the Associated Press. The cleaned, peeled and de-veined shrimp then found their way into grocery stores, restaurants and pet food brands in the United States and beyond.The victims of this abuse—often illegal immigrants promised a better life from their native countries of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia—are often forced to work from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m, peeling hundreds of pounds of shrimp each for $4 a day. Breaks are practically non-existent, as is any form of medical attention or protection from abusive managers; the victims also include children. There are reportedly hundreds of peeling sheds in Samut Sakhon outside of Bangkok, the largest area of shrimp production, many of which are little more than a crude garage without proper running water.
Source: Shrimp Peeled By Slave Labor Found At Whole Foods, Other Major Retailers: Gothamist
Young people vote far-right in Europe | Europe | DW.COM | 14.12.2015
Rudolf van Hüllen, a political researcher and expert on right-wing extremism, believes that young people in Germany don’t fall for the NPD in droves, because the country does a good job educating them about the horrors of the last time a far-right regime was in power during the Third Reich. Starting prevention early, he says, is key.”That’s what makes youth and young adults less susceptible to any form of extremism: right-wing, left-wing and Islamism,” van Hüllen told daily “Die Welt.” “I see encouraging success there. It’s a strong and self-confident generation that’s growing up today.”Still, the NPD is also aiming to garner more support among young people by shedding its skinhead neo-Nazi style .
Source: Young people vote far-right in Europe | Europe | DW.COM | 14.12.2015
Community on Racist Mascot: “This is Who We Are”
Despite this hostile atmosphere, this courageously 14-year-old girl, took the microphone, to explain what it is like to be a Native student in a school with a racist mascot. She bravely told them about harassment, despite her voice shaking. When speaking about the killing of Native men, women, and children, and the selling of their scalps (known as r*dskins), she became emotional and had to stop for a moment to compose herself. Because of this pause, her time ran out, but she tried to conclude her thought, just as the many of adults who spoke prior to her had.However, adults in the crowd began shouting at her, just as they had us, prior. She courageously told them “I’m almost finished”, to which someone in the crowd shouted “Get off the stage, squ*w!” Understandably upset at being called the worst vulgarity that can be directed towards a Native women, she expressed her disgust at the barbaric behavior and returned to her seat, as the crowd yelled “Go, R*dskins!” at her.So, yes, she did become emotional and stormed off, for which she personally apologized to each board member. However, as a Native women, I think that her response showed a great deal of restraint and grace, considering the verbal assault that she had just been subjected to. That the board would tolerate such verbal violence in their presence, and still characterize keeping the very mascot that embodies and encourages such racism as an “ethical” choice, gives me grave concerns for the safety and welfare of Native children in their district.You see, the emotional pleas from mascot supporters who tearfully said “it’s more than a mascot” are absolutely correct. It is more than a mascot. It is evidence of a much deeper problem that continues to divide our communities, and plague our future generations. When towns like McLoud, and many others, are presented evidence of the harms, yet take the stand that “this is who we are”, embracing the racism and accepting the resulting victimization of members of their community, the impact is not limited to only their closed minded communities. We all have to interact in this world with the generations who are reared in that environment. Racism and division hurt us all.
Spain arrests man known as ‘The Nurse’ for forced abortions on Colombia rebels | World news | The Guardian
Montealegre said there was evidence that Farc fighters used forced abortions to avoid losing female fighters “as an instrument of war”. In the past the Farc has denied forcing women and girls to undergo abortions and said contraception is provided to female fighters in their ranks.Spanish police said that according to Colombian authorities, victims of “The Nurse” had been raped by Farc fighters and included at least 50 underage girls. Some were forced to abort in the late stages of pregnancy.Most of the abortions were carried out between 1998 and 2000, the police added.









You must be logged in to post a comment.