Im sorry I haven't been posting for sometime, I have been unexpectedly away. Posting will be back to normal from today. :-)

Glorification of terror?

Where is this protest? - Hizbollah flags flutter alongside Palestinian and Lebanese flags. The Lebanon? Palestine? Syria? Iran? ........







No. Its central Birmingham earlier this month. Every so often there are anti-Israel, pro-Palestine marches, and that's just fine, I mean we all have the right to free and peaceful protest. But we don't have the right to glorify terror or terrorist organizations, or at least by my understanding we don't.

So what I want to know is, can waving flags and placards with the logos of terrorist groups be construed as glorifying a terrorist group?

Revealing interview

Asian Network ran a interview with Asghar Bukhari from MPACUK yesterday in which, after their "its racist" argument was flattened ,the real reason for their Orange complaint was revealed - they want Inigo sacked because "he is pro-Israel in his article".

For MPACUK being pro-Israel is a not a legitimate viewpoint, and they have gone after others before:

-In the 2005 general election they handed out explicitly anti-Semitic leaflets calling on voters not to vote for a Jewish Labour MP.

-In July 2001 Asghar Bukhari was named in the House of Commons in connection with the alleged harassment of MP Michael Gapes.

-MPACUK forums contain a list of Labour/Tory friends of Israel so they can "start planning against them and dig up some dirt... ob these evil MPs".

-Another current target is John Ware, Panorama documentary maker, see here for why.

-They have even attacked the BNP for being pro-Israel!

-This should give you some idea how their 'Zionist Alerters' work.

Iain Dale is on More 4 news tonight (8pm) with an MPAC spokesperson to debate the article. Presumably this will be Asghar Bukhari, so it should be worth watching.

Uni costs

As one of those 'A-Level' results day facts in the papers, someone has worked out the total average cost of a three year degree is now £30,000. Basically translated this means rich kids will go to uni while poor kids wont. Another success for comrade Tony's peculiar brand of socialism.

The futures Orange..... but is it bright?

To my understanding freedom of speech implies the right to express any expression in public, and the corresponding right to experience anybody's expressions in public, without being pressured, denied access, arrested, or otherwise punished by anyone, subject to somewhat fuzzy, but fairly well-understood exceptions, with those exceptions usually being libel, slander,threats and so on.....

I mention this because something of a row has broken out over comments made by Inigo Wilson, on ConservativeHome. Inigo wrote an article on the 'Lexicon of Leftyspeak' in which he accused the left of using the term Islamophobic against "anyone who objects to having their transport blown up on the way to work".

This prompted a complaint to Mr Wilsons employer, Orange, from the 'Muslim Public Affairs Committee' (MPAC), a slightly dubious organisation to say the least. MPAC has been criticized for publishing anti-Semitic material and supporting the terrorist group Hezbollah . Its leader was also named in the House of Commons in 2001 in connection with the alleged harassment of Members of Parliament who were connected to the Parliamentary Labour Friends of Israel.

Mr Wilson has since been suspended by Orange for writing the satirical article and is facing an investigation.

Some argue that Mr Wilson has brought his employer into disrepute by making these comments and his suspension is therefore deserved , however it must be said that he did not mention that he worked for Orange in the article and that this is something that has been found out subsequently by MPAC.

This is surely a serious question of freedom of speech. Can Orange be allowed to punish someone for what they say in their private time and outside their capacity as an Orange employee?

I am not defending Inigo Wilson's views, just his right to freedom of speech. Those of you offended by Orange over this should convey your views directly to: stuart.jackson@orange.co.uk.

UPDATE:
The Telegraph reports the story
The Guardian gives its opnion

Tolerance?

Leaders of some UK Muslim groups 'turned the tables' on Ruth Kelly during emergency meetings called to tackle Islamic extemeism in Britain. They came out demanding the introduction of Sharia law for Muslims and public holidays on Islamic holy days. Sharia law, which is practiced in large parts of the Middle East, should also be introduced in Britain, they argued. While it specifies stonings and amputations as routine punishments for crimes, Dr Pasha -secretary general of the Union of Muslim organizations of the UK and Ireland, said he wanted it only for family affairs. Dr Pasha claimed the legal changes he proposed would help convince young Muslims to integrate better into British society.

Obvioulsy Dr Pasha is on a different planet if he seriously believes that adopting a 'us and them' approach is the best way of encouraging young Muslims to integrate better into British society. At the end of the day Britain is still a predominately Christian society, if I moved to a Muslim country I would be expected to adhere to their 'rules' which is the right/polite thing to do. There can be no place in Britain for multiple legal systems for people of different religious or ethnic backgrounds, only one code which applies to all UK citizerns.

Like an alcoholic at an AA meeting the first thing for Muslim 'leaders' to do is to stand up to their communities and admit there is a problem with extemeism and that its not just an external problem but also a problem from within their communities.

Racist Graffiti in Parliament

Think the graffiti in your street/neighborhood is bad? Don't worry your not alone. According to Kerron Cross 'racist' BNP graffiti has been in the lifts of Portcullis House now for over a week.

Cash Strapped Disgrace

If you needed even more proof of the scandalous state of funding in our overstretched armed forces, you only have to look at today’s papers. The situation is so bad that the army can’t even afford to build a fence around one of its bases, and top level meetings have to be arranged at such times that the attendees are able to use train saver tickets!

The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that the Land Command, the organisation responsible for ensuring that British troops are properly equipped and trained to fight anywhere in the world, has been ordered to cut more than £40 million from its budget in the next eight months.

To add to this the Sunday Mirror is reporting that the MOD are re-commissioning tanks that are so old that they take pride of place in the British Tank Museum, as replacements for the unarmed snatch Land Rovers, in which so many British service men and women have lost their lives.

Blair may be prepared to send British service men and women to fight, but he is not prepared to pay to protect them on the battlefield. Too many lives are being put at extra risk due to cash and equipment shortages, and our army is beinging to look like a laughing stock - it’s a national disgrace.

Welcome

Given the current climate in which I find myself stating this blog in, I think this comment from the blog of Ian Dale is most appropriate for my first post.

"If I don't like my lot in life, what do I do? If I don't agree with the government, what do I do? If I don't like Tony Blair or George Bush, what do I do? As a civilized person, I write articles, I blog, I make speeches, I do interviews, I write letters. I might even demonstrate. In short I exert my democratic rights. What I don't do is strap a couple of sticks of dynamite round my waist or mix chemicals to blow a plane up."