First of her 2 terms as PM - even one term is still a rare feat for a woman in any land, but especially rare in any Muslim one.
And whoever rules Pakistan controls nuclear weapons.
Thursday, 27 December 2007
Triumphant in 1988
Benazir Bhutto at Oxford University
1976 1st Muslim woman to become President of the Oxford Union - the internationally-famous university debating forum.
Benazir Bhutto
Elegant, striking, and commanding.
A model for Muslim women, and also for all other women.
Benazir Bhutto
Strong, confident, and beautiful.
And only her body could be destroyed, not her spirit, or her memory, or her impact.
Benazir Bhutto, freedom fighter.
She knew she was a target, but did not let that stop her, or even influence her.
The first target for the vicious Jihadis is not US, or Israel, or UK, but lovers of freedom and democrarcy in their own lands.
And Benazir and those, women and men, who bravely will follow in her path, are the front-line defenders of freedom for all of us.
14 days before her murder
Easy to slaughter, as was Gandhi, but her legacy, inspiration, courage and example are not.
Benazir Bhutto June 21, 1953-Dec 27, 2007, first woman to lead a Muslim
The latest victim to be murdered by Islamo-fascist Jihadis. And being a woman as well as leading a democratic political party, and unconditionally opposed to terror, this brave leader was their ideal target.
Two brothers were murdered, and her father, also a PM, was hanged. She was 12th and 16th Prime Minister of Pakistan.
As with Egypt's President Sadat murdered in 1981, or Jordan's King Abdullah in 1951, or PMs in Lebanon or Egypt, Muslim fanatics continue to be a grave threat to their own peoples, as well as to their neighbors. The savage Jihadis are the common enemy of all democrats, and the reaction to Benazir's murder will show who is really determined to confront, and eliminate, such conspirators, and their ideology. There is no room for neutrality, much less ambiguity, in this struggle for human decency and freedom, which unites people of all faiths or lands.
Friday, 7 December 2007
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
Saturday, 17 November 2007
The Ancient City of Athens : The Parthenon
Lest we forget ..
and without the 300 at Thermopylae, there is no enduring freedom..
or culture or beauty or truth .. ..
or without Normandy June 6, 1944 ..
and freedom will never be free
Sunday, 4 November 2007
Maryam Namazie
Iranian freedom-fighter, one of 12 signatories of 2006 Manifesto following Danish Cartoons Jihadi agitation, and in Council of Ex-Muslims of UK.
Another very brave woman of Muslim background - like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wafa Sultan, Nonie Darwish, Irshad Manji.
Friday, 2 November 2007
Cavtat
In Southern Croatia, near delightful, historic Dubrovnik, a spot now so peaceful but in a region marred by Pavelic and his Ustashe pro-nazi savagery from 1941 to 1945, when Jew, Gypsy, and Serb Orthodox were massacred, and when Balkan Muslims were recruited for 2 Nazi SS Divisions - by the Palestinian Arab leader, Husseini, the UK-installed Mufti of Jerusalem, a hero of Arafat, and also fomentor [ with Saddam's uncle among others ] of the pro-nazi April 1941 **Golden Square** plot of Rashid Ali in Baghdad. This lovely region was again savaged by Milosevic and his Serb-based tribal gang from 1991 to 2001.
On both occasions, peace was eventually enforced only by superior force - deployed by the defenders of freedom. And also far too late on each occasion.
Monday, 29 October 2007
Ovation Royale
Betrayed politically by her long-term partner during the election campaign, she rightly removed this traitor both personally and politically soon afterwards
Ségolène Royale
Amazing that this elegant candidate did not know on TV how many strategic nuclear submarines she would command if elected French President
Rachida Ddati
Her rise has been rapid.
Is she another of Bin Ladin's nightmares ?
A hijab-free, female, Arab Justice Minister in Europe ?
Like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wafa Sultan, Nonie Darwish, or Irshad Manji ?
But where are all those Arab MEN when it comes to challenging the Jihadi monster that claims to speak and slaughter in their name ?
Rachida Dati
How many votes is that smile worth ?
And with male or female voters ?
And how can you know whether it [ or any smile ] is really genuine ?
IMG_1212
Do the French hear .. a woman ..
an elegant, articulate one ..
an Arab ....
a tough, imaginative politician...
a self-made, confident, talented woman ?
A vision of their future ?
Sarkozi-Cecilia
So what was missing ?
And what comes first - for any of us - the kiss, or the deep connexion of spirit ? Or practical daily partnership and mutual support ?
And which might we most need ? All 3 ?
And must they always go together ? Or which is the real foundation ?
Is the kiss the easy, uncomplicated bit ?
And what can a kiss mean ? Does it all depend - and on what ?
Not just for N and C - here, or at any time.
Mayybe its never [ just ] about the kiss ?
FRANCE-SARKOZY/
So Cecilia CAN smile - or at least she still could on May 16, 2007.
Or at least smile at his son.
Nicolas Sarkozy, wife Cecilia, Justice Minister Rachida Dati070720_OV01_wide.hlarge
Nicolas Sarkozy, wife Cecilia, justice Minister Rachida Dati070720_OV01_wide.hlarge, originally uploaded by benzaloy.
Have these 2 women heard it all before, and so often, and so dont need, or cannot bear, to listen to the same old story yet again ?
Or dont believe in his message ?
Or dont care about that message - if there really is one ?
Or is The French President really grapping with what the poet TS Eliot called **the intolerable wrestle with words and meaning** ??
And how many political leaders do ?
Or preachers ?
Or media commentators ?
Or writers ?
Who would you name as really doing so ?
Nicolas Sarkozy - AFP. En EL PAÍS de hoy
Has he really read them all ? Or even looked at them ?
Or any of them ?
And when do ANY politicians get to read anything ?
Except for reports drafted by their officials ?
Nicolas et Cécilia Sarkozy
The two expressions tell it all. But what exactly ?
A story of political life being often hostile to enduring relationships, or perhaps another sad reminder that relationships do not last of their own accord, and that survival means re-inventing roles and rules and expectations, and finding adventure anew ?
Recognising that there are stages which must be transcended, that we simply cannot remain unaltered, in a relationship as in anything else in life, or else stagnation and boredom slowly eats away at the foundations ?
We cease to wonder and explore and grow and expand, and so slowly wither and eventually die - in our spirit. Neglect [ be it of each other, or of ourself ] exacts its inevitable fatal price.
That YOU either change as a partner, or else you will [sooner or later] change partners ?
The choice is not whether to change, but only how, and when.
**To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often** [Cardinal Henry Newman].
Libeeration _couv 181007
The body-language may indeed suggest as much, but do we elect only the candidate, but not also their partner ?
And if only the candidate, why should their personal relationships be of the slightest concern to the public - or to any media - or to political opponents - anymore than those of our lawyers or medics ?
Is it time to challenge the US disease in this area, and universalize traditional French respect for privacy ?
Michela Vittoria Brambilla
She is Italian.
Has a degree - in PHILOSOPHY. [ As Aristotle said in his Metaphysics, To wonder is the principle, root, of Wisdom - Thaumazein esti arches tes sofias]. I wonder do Italian schools include Philosophy in their subject-options ?
Is now 40 [born Oct, 1967].
Is a business-woman.
Leads and founded her own **Freedom Party**.
And established a satellite TV channel - Freedom.
She was a candidate on Berlusconi's Forza Italia list in 2006, but was not elected.
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Kirschner cartoon "Hard Sell" Nov11,2k6
And as with Hizb--ALLAH in south Lebanon, the Islamo-fascict Jihadis hide their weapons among children, and then they and their apologists scream when the democratically-accountable defenders of the peoples of Israel, of their Druze, Jewish, Christian and Beduoin citizens alike, respond to Jihadi aggression.
The issue is simple - it comes down to the right of the UN-mandated State of Israel to even exist. And so it has been since the UN decision of Nov 29, 1947.
There is peace along the Egyptian and Jordanian frontiers, since they recognised Israel's right to exist. Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian Arabs also know what to do - IF they too really want a better and peaceful fututre for their own children.
But do they ?
Do tyrants always need scapegoats ?. Especially Jewish ones ?
An Iranian Lebanon - Kirschner cartoon (Dec4,2k6)
An Iranian Lebanon - Kirschner cartoon (Dec4,2k6), originally uploaded by Anaximaximumphotographics.
And as Churchill once famously said, the optimist is the one who thinks the crocodile will eat him last.
So Japan could invade Manchuria in 1931, Franco could take over Spain in 1936, Mussolini could attack Ethiopia, Hitler could occupy the Rhineland, then annex Austria, invade Czecho-Slovakia, all with total impunity, but the Western crocodile-lovers just waited.
Now Hizb-ALLAH ignore the UN resolution for the de-commissioning of ALL armed elements in Lebanon, attack Israel across the undisputed international frontier, support Syrian imperialism, and assassinate political opponents, while Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad respond to the total Israeli withdrawl from Gaza of Aug 2005, with continuing rocket attacks, and Iran develops both its nuclear and long-range missile capabilities, clearly proclaims its genocidal aims for Israel, but again the Western crocodile-lovers wait.
And wait. Learning nothing from history, and forgeting everything.
Leb Army uniforms for Hizbullah "NxtStps" YaakovKirschner cartoon
Leb Army uniforms for Hizbullah "NxtStps" YaakovKirschner cartoon, originally uploaded by Anaximaximumphotographics.
And it is actually Hizb-ALLAH
Cartoons & cartoonists + comix panels
This reminds me of Brecht's famous jibe that in 1953, when the people in the East German Soviet Occupation Zone protested against the Communist Party tyranny, and workers demonstrated in East Berlin, in spite of 19 Divisons of the Red Army and their tanks, the Party Politburo lost confidence in the people !!
Dry Bones - the New Heroism
Thre is also freedom of expression in Iran, but not freedom after expression.
Party standings - Israel vote
The Israeli electoral system, unique in the world, allocates seats according to votes cast nationally, if parties exceed a modest threshold level.
Its major problems are that [a] elected representatives are answerable not to local voters, but to central party machines, and [b] that massive policy and spending influence can be exercised by marginal forces, on whom multi-party coalitions depend. A directly-elected presidential chief executive would circumvent that latter serious structural problem, while the former issue could be tackled by regional multi-member constituencies, possibly along with US-style primaries.
The great bulk of the 20% Arab voters clearly vote for mixed parties, not only for Labor but also for Kadima, and not for the Arab parties, which shows how absurd is the apartjeid libel hurled at Israel by enemies.
Northern Ireland Vote Results - Oct 2005
The 18 UK seats elected from Northern Ireland in 2005 would be DUP 6, not 9, if the UK electoral system alloted seats in proportion to party voting support., as happens in the Republic of Ireland to the south, or in Israel. The major loser from this unfair system was the UUP of former First Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner, David Trimble, which deserved 3 seats, not 1.
Hamas also gained a major boost in seats over their actual popular vote in 2006, whereas a proportionate system would have delivered a Fatah-led secular majority in the Palestine Authority.
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Saturday, 6 October 2007
Wednesday, 12 September 2007
Thursday, 30 August 2007
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Friday, 13 July 2007
Wednesday, 11 July 2007
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Monday, 25 June 2007
Sunday, 24 June 2007
Friday, 22 June 2007
Thursday, 21 June 2007
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
Monday, 18 June 2007
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
Monday, 11 June 2007
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Friday, 11 May 2007
Thursday, 3 May 2007
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Monday, 26 February 2007
Monday, 19 February 2007
Saturday, 17 February 2007
Religion, OR Freedom, ... Or
A Sociology Professor at the University of Exeter in England, Prof Grace Davie, also the Director of their Center for European Studies, told a meeting in Wittenberg, Germany on Feb 16, 2007, that "You cannot privatise Islam", and that "The presence of Islam is a catalyst that re-opened issues that Europeans thought closed".
She was addressing a joint 15-18 Feb meeting of the Roman Catholic "CCEE" [ Council of European Bishops Conferences] and "CEC" [Conference of European Churches] which represents Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Churches, in preparation for the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly in Sept 2007 in Sibu, Romania. She quoted the Danish Cartoons crisis and the French head-scarf ban as examples.
Far from being undeniable, this academic waffle betrays fundamental human freedoms. The right to censor free expression was not granted to Islam, or to any other faith, by either the US Constitution, or post-war by the UN Declaration of Human Rights, or the European Convention of Human Rights. We have the right to reject, or criticise, Islam, or any other faith, without fear, or threat, and the Jihadi concept of censorship was illustrated when Dutch film-maker, Theo Van Gogh, was murdered on the street, and Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali forced to live with permanent armed bodyguards, for exercising their right to free speech.
Nothing needs to be "re-opened", but our hard-won rights need to be vigorously defended, and any Muslims who choose to reject our basic values need to be confronted, on all levels, and left in no doubt that our culture and fundamental rights are not up for surrender, or re-negotiation. We have been fully warned, first with Salman Rushdie, then Van Gogh. If some Muslims in the West want their Sharia enforced on the rest of society, let them find another battlefield for that project. We are not for sale, or surrender.
Turkey has long shown that Muslims can be free to live as they choose, to follow their beliefs and rules, in their own lives and families, without needing to enforce their Sharia on anyone else. Why should we dream of allowing any minority, however determined, to reverse the flow of our history, and re-instate dictatorship in any form ?
How odd, and indeed sickening, that compromise in the face of Jihadi terror is advocated by another woman academic. Fortunately, from the ranks of Muslims are coming brave and clear-thinking women, like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, with her new, well-argued book, "Infidel", who know well the risks posed to all, and particularly to women, by Sharia, by clerical dictatorship, and by Jihadi terror. And the late Oriana Fallaci was another brave such voice, like Irshad Manji in Canada, or Egyptian Nonie Darwish.
Its about time that some Western women academics [like Grace Davie] learnt some courage and insight from such defenders of freedom, and abandoned their present "multi-culturalism" which pretends that all cultures are equally valid, and that there are no universal human rights. The women in Kabul know the price they [but not Western academics and "liberals"] have paid for such denial and betrayal of universal rights and freedoms. Let not Baghdad or Gaza or Beirut or Mecca or Chicago or Leeds or Tehran be treated as ghettoes where brutal bigots are allowed to enslave women, or where free-spirits are denied the right to think and speak for themselves. Freedom may not always be the "best policy", but it is certainly better than any mere "policy". And it is indivisible. But only attained, and defended, by constant vigilance, together with determined strength.
She was addressing a joint 15-18 Feb meeting of the Roman Catholic "CCEE" [ Council of European Bishops Conferences] and "CEC" [Conference of European Churches] which represents Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Churches, in preparation for the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly in Sept 2007 in Sibu, Romania. She quoted the Danish Cartoons crisis and the French head-scarf ban as examples.
Far from being undeniable, this academic waffle betrays fundamental human freedoms. The right to censor free expression was not granted to Islam, or to any other faith, by either the US Constitution, or post-war by the UN Declaration of Human Rights, or the European Convention of Human Rights. We have the right to reject, or criticise, Islam, or any other faith, without fear, or threat, and the Jihadi concept of censorship was illustrated when Dutch film-maker, Theo Van Gogh, was murdered on the street, and Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali forced to live with permanent armed bodyguards, for exercising their right to free speech.
Nothing needs to be "re-opened", but our hard-won rights need to be vigorously defended, and any Muslims who choose to reject our basic values need to be confronted, on all levels, and left in no doubt that our culture and fundamental rights are not up for surrender, or re-negotiation. We have been fully warned, first with Salman Rushdie, then Van Gogh. If some Muslims in the West want their Sharia enforced on the rest of society, let them find another battlefield for that project. We are not for sale, or surrender.
Turkey has long shown that Muslims can be free to live as they choose, to follow their beliefs and rules, in their own lives and families, without needing to enforce their Sharia on anyone else. Why should we dream of allowing any minority, however determined, to reverse the flow of our history, and re-instate dictatorship in any form ?
How odd, and indeed sickening, that compromise in the face of Jihadi terror is advocated by another woman academic. Fortunately, from the ranks of Muslims are coming brave and clear-thinking women, like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, with her new, well-argued book, "Infidel", who know well the risks posed to all, and particularly to women, by Sharia, by clerical dictatorship, and by Jihadi terror. And the late Oriana Fallaci was another brave such voice, like Irshad Manji in Canada, or Egyptian Nonie Darwish.
Its about time that some Western women academics [like Grace Davie] learnt some courage and insight from such defenders of freedom, and abandoned their present "multi-culturalism" which pretends that all cultures are equally valid, and that there are no universal human rights. The women in Kabul know the price they [but not Western academics and "liberals"] have paid for such denial and betrayal of universal rights and freedoms. Let not Baghdad or Gaza or Beirut or Mecca or Chicago or Leeds or Tehran be treated as ghettoes where brutal bigots are allowed to enslave women, or where free-spirits are denied the right to think and speak for themselves. Freedom may not always be the "best policy", but it is certainly better than any mere "policy". And it is indivisible. But only attained, and defended, by constant vigilance, together with determined strength.
Saturday, 20 January 2007
Friday, 19 January 2007
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