Greece voted itself the contents of its treasury. It ended badly.
Now it’s voted itself the contents of the combined European treasuries. How will that work for it?
One Greek, not one much troubled by the great austerity, has been honoured by our Prime Minister. Arise Sir Phillip.
During the reign of Ms Gillard one got used to the notion that prime ministers would be cynical, lying, brazen, self serving, self indulgent, patronising, opportunistic and unpleasant. Our present incumbent is so earnest, it comes as a pleasant surprise. So earnest …
There has to be a brain in that earnest head somewhere, he was after all a Rhodes Scholar.
Nothing looks more stupid than someone so earnestly stupid.
Around about 85,000 years ago my ancestors, and yours, took advantage of a bit of climate change and escaped northwards from Africa. They weren’t the first people in the genus Homo to make the break but there is good genetic evidence to suggest that all modern people outside of Africa are descended from that group.
They initially spread along the coast and by 74,000 years ago they had reached as far as China.
Mt Toba, a volcano in Sumatra then went pop, big time. Volcanic ash covered India and Pakistan, it produced a winter that lasted six years or so. The human population went through a bottleneck, there may have been no more than about 10,000 adults that survived this event. If you’re reading this your ancestors were in the lucky few, oh that gossamer thread.
Sometime in the ten thousand years after that folk in the east shook hands and said “good luck”. Some continued east and colonised Australia, others headed back west, and when things thawed out a bit colonised Europe. There is a nice summary of events <HERE>.
On 26 January 1788 the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson and the descendants of those brave, early Homo sapiens were reunited. We are all one species. Your ancestors are my ancestors, my ancestors are yours. G’day.
The foolish assumption behind that comment helps explain why our civilization is sleepwalking off the cliff: Oh, my! How can beheading be “always in the news” if this is “really 2015”?
This reader assumes that societal development only goes in one direction: it advances.
But that’s not true. If you’re as careless with our inheritance as we are, society can go backwards, and get worse. Much worse.
Why is beheading in the news if it’s really 2015?
Answer: It’s because it’s really 2015 that beheading’s in the news. If this was Britain in 1975 or 1955 or 1925 or 1885 or 1835, it wouldn’t be in the news. But it’s 2015 and beheading’s on the upswing.
Beheading was introduced to England by William the Conqueror after 1066, but was generally reserved for the highest of the high – men of noble birth, for whom execution by decapitation was felt to be the closest thing to death in battle – and for the lowest of the low – traitors. So the last person to be beheaded in Britain was Lord Lovat in 1747, and the last corpses to be beheaded were those of the Cato Street Conspirators in 1820, who had their heads severed posthumously by axe.
And that was it until the 21st century, when for the first time soldiers were beheaded on the London streets in broad daylight, and octogenarian widows in the privacy of their gardens, and now unfortunate ladies with intemperate husbands. Unless you’re prepared to do something about your immigration policy, get used to more decapitation. It’s 2015, and beheading is just one strand in the vibrant tapestry of the multicultural utopia.
Close to one quarter of the world’s population are Muslim.
Those countries in which the majority of the population is Muslim are shown in colour. For a better look at the map just click on it – you will need to use the back arrow in your browser to return to this page.
That’s approximately 50 countries.
Six make Islam the corner-stone of their constitution …
Afghanistan
Iran
Mauritania
Pakistan
Saudi Arabia
Yemen
A further 14 have endorsed Islam as their state religion. Five, including Indonesia, haven’t made a declaration regarding the official place of Islam. Twenty-three states have gone to the trouble of officially separating state and religion.
Thus if Islam is the religion of peace the 20 countries shown in green should be veritable hotbeds of peace and harmony with the bright green countries leading the way.
Tolerance, democracy and gender equality are not components of the Islamic peace. There are ten countries in the world in which the death penalty is available for homosexuality, all are to be found in the coloured portion of the map and most are coloured green. None of the countries will be found in the list of full democracies in the 2012 Democracy Index. As for women …
Quranic verse 4:34: “Allah has made men superior to women because men spend their wealth to support them. Therefore, virtuous women are obedient, and they are to guard their unseen parts as Allah has guarded them. As for women whom you fear will rebel, admonish them first, and then send them to a separate bed, and then beatthem. But if they are obedient after that, then do nothing further; surely Allah is exalted and great!”
The rules for management of women can throw up some knotty problems …
In Saudi Arabia, women aren’t allowed to drive, or even ride bikes, and men aren’t allowed to drive women they’re not closely related to. The kingdom is currently dealing with the dilemma of how to get 367,000 girls to school on buses that can only be driven by men.
Could be enough to make you quit Islam. Hang on a moment. In most of the Muslim world apostasy is a crime. If you’re lucky it could be prison or a flogging but …
The countries surveyed that expressly make apostasy a capital offense are Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Well at least I’m safe from accusations of apostasy, I have no faith to renounce. Duh, did I just admit that? Atheists and other religious skeptics can be executed in at least thirteen nations: Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
I’m glad I’m not Charlie, I have an aversion to being shot (and for the record, decapitated as well).
The barbarity exhibited in Paris in recent days has brought a massive response. Consciousnesses have certainly been raised.
The people, the politicians and the cartoonists have led the way.
Let’s have a look at them in a slightly different order. Monsieur Hollande has been quick to reassure France that the French way of life will endure and that this is nothing to do with Islam. Mark Steyn was not impressed …
Yeah, right. I would use my standard line on these occasions – “Allahu Akbar” is Arabic for “Nothing to see here” – but it’s not quite as funny when the streets are full of cowards, phonies and opportunists waving candles and pencils and chanting “Je suis Charlie.” Because if you really were Charlie, if you really were one of the 17 Frenchmen and women slaughtered in the name of Allah in little more than 48 hours, you’d utterly despise a man who could stand up in public and utter those words.
The louder the perpetrators yell “Allahu Akbar” and rejoice that the Prophet has been avenged, the louder M Hollande and David Cameron and Barack Obama and John Kerry and the other A-list infidels insist there’s no Islam to see here. M le Président seems to believe he can champion France’s commitment to freedom of expression by conscripting the entire nation in his monstrous lie.
Is he just pandering? There are, supposedly, six million Muslims in France, and he got 93 per cent of their vote last time round. Or is he afraid of the forces that might be unleashed if the Official Lie were not wholeheartedly upheld? Stéphane Charbonnier said he’d rather die standing than live on his knees; M Hollande thinks he can get by with a furtive crouch.
Harsh words, sadly entirely fair. Standing shoulder to shoulder with the leader of the surrender monkeys, Barack Obama. Such were the forcefulness of his words I almost expected him to draw another line in the sand. Our very own Tony Abbott had a few platitudes to mouth. They ring hollow whilst section 18c remains on the books.
And the cartoonists and their employers, praising the courage of their fallen comrades, there were a couple I liked …
… and one that M. Hollande would have preferred, what we might call the ABC approach …
… it’s all about the backlash.
Guardian Australia cartoonist Andrew Marlton was in no hurry to offend his Muslim audience. As he explained last week …
I don’t depict Muhammad because it’s probably racist and also I don’t get to put my family and my coworkers at risk of being firebombed.
Now, I’m not particularly against Marlton’s gutlessness over the non-drawing of old Mo, which regrettably has become an industry-wide standard – although his line about racism is interesting (what race is he talking about?).
Instead, Marlton is awarded the yellow sash for the second part of his statement – that he fears his family or the Guardian‘s office will be firebombed if Marlton upsets Muslims.
This is a fellow who makes his living frequently ridiculing what he depicts as an exaggerated fear of Islamic terrorism and who routinely describes as bigots and idiots those who condemn Islamic terrorism. While his leftist fans just lap that stuff up, it now emerges that Marlton himself believes he is just one cartoon away from the possibility of fiery death.
Notably absent from the main stream press were the Charlie Hebdo cartoons themselves. If you need to see what the fuss was about you can find a collection <HERE>. At least one of them would be truly offensive to Muslims, much in the way that putting a crucifix in a jar of urine would be to a christian.
The people’s response was spontaneous and in many ways quite nice. Je suis Charlie, we care, we stand united against barbarism. Charlie’s next edition will happen and it will be a sellout and that is all good. And then they will go back to work and to school and then … what?
Well we wouldn’t want to overreact. Here in Melbourne, Victoria we certainly won’t. Today’s news …
Khodr Moustafa Taha, 35, from Brunswick, allegedly tweeted Victoria Police with the chilling message: “I’m going to hurt your officers.”
Police raided his home and allegedly discovered ammunition and three swords.
Mr Taha, who is Australian-born of Lebanese heritage, was also accused of running several additional Twitter accounts posting material supporting Islamic State.
Another contained a profile picture of the al-Qaeda flag.
Police argued in Melbourne Magistrates Court last week that Mr Taha — suspected of brutally bashing his mother and attacking his ex-boss with a hammer — posed an unacceptable risk of reoffending.
But Deputy Chief Magistrate Jelena Popovic let him walk from court,
“I’ve taken a view, on balance, that any risk can be fixed by the (bail) conditions.
There’s a bad day coming folks, wrap yourself in copies of the Racial Discrimination Act and have your bail conditions ready. Be prepared for the next time you are caught in an Islamic massacre …
bobmcgee 