A dip in the dark: Muslims demand swimming pool windows be covered to protect modesty

From The DailyMail U.K.

Swimmers plunged into dark after council covers swimming pool windows ‘to protect Muslim women’s modesty’

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:04 PM on 5th July 2010

A council has sparked anger after officials blacked out windows on a glass-panelled swimming pool to protect the modesty of Muslim women.

Darlaston Leisure Centre in the West Midlands’ town of Walsall, was hailed for its ‘ultra-modern’ design when it opened ten years ago.

But now council staff have covered 250 windows with dark-tinted film following complaints from Muslim swimmers.

Darlaston swimming poolDispute:The swimming pool in Darlaston, near Wolverhampton, West Midlands, where some users are unhappy by the council’s decision to cover windows with an opaque film

Muslim swimmers Darlaston swimming pool No looking please: The clear glass panes towards the bottom of the pool’s outer wall have been covered in a frosted film to prevent people outside looking in

But other users say the move has plunged the pool into almost permanent darkness and branded it ‘political correctness gone stark-raving mad’.

Pauline Poole, 65, a retired legal secretary from Walsall, said: ‘I returned to swimming after having a cataracts operation some months ago and was looking forward to looking out on some lovely trees while swimming.

‘What I found was a situation that reminded me of how it felt like before my operation, like looking at a horrible cloudy view.

‘If it was done for a minority of people, then why was there no vote on it?’

Retired building surveyor John Ewart, 63, from Walsall, added: ‘I cannot believe this council has agreed to something so loony.

‘The whole thing smacks of political correctness gone stark raving mad.

‘A lot of the people who swim are elderly or retired and they now have to swim in the gloom.’

A worker at the pool, who did not want to be named, said: ‘The windows were covered up and it’s probably cost a few hundred pounds.

‘Several customers complained it made the pool dark and dingy but we didn’t have a choice.’

The council initially refused to replace the windows with frosted glass because it was too expensive.

Today, the council defended the decision, saying they had ‘listened to the concerns of users’.

Councillor Anthony Harris said: ‘I’m pleased that we’ve been able to make these modifications because not only does it show we’re listening to the views and concerns of our users but also because it enhances the privacy of swimmers.’

A spokeswoman for Walsall Council said the complaints had predominantly come from the Muslim community but that non-Muslim women had also objected.

She said: ‘We received a request from the Muslim Community to protect the modesty of swimmers.

‘There were also requests made by some non-Muslim users as well.’

IHH preperations for Israeli soldiers aboard the Gaza bound love boat.

A youtube user named sion5509 has been making some fascinating comments on the video of the German news clip on the facts surrounding the people behind the main boat used to lure the Israelis into a public relations disaster.

I asked him to send me a link from where he was getting this information and he was kind enough to do so immediately. Here is the rest of the info from that page:

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

June 9, 2010

Video Recordings of Statements from Mavi Marmara Crew Members about Preparations Made by IHH Operatives for the Violent Confrontation with IDF Soldiers 1

Overview

1. The videotaped statements of two Mavi Marmara crew members show that preparations for a violent confrontation with IDF forces were put in motion about two hours before the boarding began, when the Israeli Navy hailed the ship and told it to halt.

2. According to the statements, the atmosphere aboard the Mavi Marmara was tense and the crew noticed a gathering on the main deck. When they checked the upper deck they discovered that IHH operatives were cutting the ship’s railings with metal disks they had brought with them into lengths suitable to be used as clubs. The crew members said the activities worried them and that they tried to stop the operatives but were unsuccessful.

3. The following are the statements of the one of the ship’s captains and an officer. This bulletin contains the text of the statements and the videotaped interviews.

Appendix

The Statements Continue Reading →

Something’s rotten in Denmark and it’s not cheese.

From 9MSN News, courtesy TROP

Anti-Muslim Danish MP faces charges.

The Danish parliament voted on Wednesday to remove a far-right politician’s immunity from prosecution so he can face charges over anti-Muslim comments, parliamentary sources said.

Jesper Langballe, a veteran member of the Danish People’s Party (PPD), a crucial ally of the centre-right government, wrote in a newspaper column published in January that “Muslims kill their daughters (over crimes of honour) and turn a blind eye while they are raped by their uncles”.

The column, which discussed the status of women in Islam and the “Islamisation of Europe”, triggered a political storm and his comments were condemned by Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen.

The Crown Prosecutor decided to pursue Langballe on the grounds that his comments broke anti-racism laws, and sought the lifting of his parliamentary immunity.

The PPD, with the exception of Langballe, abstained from Wednesday’s vote, split between a desire to respect the law and its opposition to the anti-racism provisions, which it says go against freedom of expression.

Langballe himself voted for the lifting of immunity, as he wishes to prove the truth of his comments in court, according to Danish parliamentary television.

The date of the trial has not been set.

“And this in a supposedly free country” -Bruce Bawer

June 15, 2010 Pajamas Media

When it comes to the right to speak one’s mind about Islam, the record of the last few years makes it clear which direction the West is moving in. In France and Italy, Oriana Fallaci is put on trial for disparaging Islam. In Canada, Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant are hauled before “human rights commission” tribunals for criticizing Islam in print. In Australia, an Islamic organization sues two pastors for “vilification of Muslims.” In Britain, a Daily Telegraph columnist is arrested on charges of hate speech for having written negatively about Islam, and the Archbishop of Canterbury proposes that Parliament pass stronger laws against such speech acts.  And in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, the head of the Freedom Party, which performed so well in the June 9 general elections that Wilders may end up in the governing coalition, still faces trial for having made a film about the Koranic foundations of terrorism.

Then there’s Norway, where I live, and where the last few days have seen yet another dark development. By way of background, permit me to begin by quoting myself.  On pages 230-31 of my book Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom I sum up the more alarming aspects of Norway’s Discrimination Law, passed in 2005:

It forbids “harassment on the grounds of ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, skin color, language, religion, or beliefs,” and, in turn, defines harassment as “actions, omissions, or utterances [my emphasis] that have the effect or are intended to have the effect of being insulting, intimidating, hostile, degrading, or humiliating.”

In other words, it’s illegal just to say certain things.

Defendants may be accused not only by the individuals whom they’ve supposedly offended but also by semiofficial organs such as the Anti-Racist Center and the Center against Ethnic Discrimination (both of which helped formulate the law, and both of which exist less to oppose real racism and discrimination than to oppose political incorrectness generally) or by the government’s Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud.

Which means that a handful of far-left organizations have been given enormous power to silence those they disagree with.

Violations of the law by individuals are punishable by fine; violations by individuals in concert with at least two other persons (such as a writer conspiring with an editor and publisher, perhaps?) can be punished by up to three years’ imprisonment — this in a country where murderers often get off with less. Moreover, the burden of proof is on the accused: you’re guilty until proven innocent.

And this in a supposedly free country.

Please click here for the rest:

Youtube: “messing with the wrong Jews.”

Here is an interesting and somewhat concerning post from Caroline Glick’s blog:

YouTube silences Latma, removes We Con the World

gagged-liberty-silenced.jpg
As Israel went offline for the Jewish sabbath, YouTube removed most versions of Latma’s hit parody song We Con the World. If you try to access the song on YouTube you receive the notification:
This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner/ Chappell Music, Inc. .
Copyright experts we advised with before posting the song told us in no uncertain terms that we were within our rights to use the song because we did so in accordance with the Fair Use Doctrine. The Fair Use Doctrine, copied and pasted below from the US Copyright Office stipulates that it is legal and permissible to use copyrighted material under the fair use doctrine for purposes of parody.
Copyright attorneys also warned us that given our clearly lawful use of the song We are the World, if anyone wished to silence our voices, they wouldn’t target us. Instead they would target YouTube. It is YouTube’s standard practice to remove any material that they receive even the flimsiest threat for because the company wishes to avoid all litigation.
At the same time, this is not YouTube’s first move to silence Israeli voices. During Operation Cast Lead, the IDF Spokesman’s Unit established a YouTube channel and began posting combat footage on its channel to bypass the anti-Israel media and go directly to news consumers.
Shortly after the IDF channel began making waves, YouTube – which is owned by Google – removed IDF videos from the website. After the move evoked a storm of protest, YouTube restored them but flagged the videos in the same manner it flags pornography. People trying to access the videos received a screen saying, “This video or group may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube’s user community. To view this video or group please verify that you are 18 or older by singing in and signing up.”
Here’s a link to the write-up of the YouTube move.
If YouTube didn’t already have a track record for censoring pro-Israel material, I would say that despite the obviously frivolous and unsubstantiated nature of the copyright claim against We Con the World, the company was simply erring on the side of caution.
The fact that more than 3 million people have already seen the video and that it has been written up in major newspapers and featured on major television networks around the world since we first posted it last Thursday night however causes me to fear that something else is going on here.
Despite these obstacles, we at Latma have no intention of crying Uncle. By tomorrow, we will repost our song on blogs throughout the world. If you already downloaded the song, please post it on your website. If not, I will post a non-youtube version on my site tomorrow with instructions from my webmaster about how to download it.
Moreover, stay tuned for our next video next Thursday night.
If someone is in fact trying to silence our voices, they will soon discover that they are messing with the wrong Jews.
Here’s that Fair Use Doctrine from the US Copyright Office
One of the rights accorded to the owner of copyright is the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords. This right is subject to certain limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the copyright law (title 17, U. S. Code). One of the more important limitations is the doctrine of “fair use.” The doctrine of fair use has developed through a substantial number of court decisions over the years and has been codified in section 107 of the copyright law.
Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission.
Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.
The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples of activities that courts have regarded as fair use: “quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.”
Copyright protects the particular way an author has expressed himself. It does not extend to any ideas, systems, or factual information conveyed in the work.
The safest course is always to get permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted material. The Copyright Office cannot give this permission.
When it is impracticable to obtain permission, use of copyrighted material should be avoided unless the doctrine of fair use would clearly apply to the situation. The Copyright Office can neither determine if a certain use may be considered fair nor advise on possible copyright violations. If there is any doubt, it is advisable to consult an attorney.
FL-102, Revised May 2009

Here it is from BLIP TV:

Canadian court case to decide whether or not to be sharia compliant at trials.

From The National Post

Muslim group alleges ‘misuse of religion’

Tarek Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress argues for a  defendant's right to see his accuser in court over religious freedom.

Tyler Anderson, National Post

Tarek Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress argues for a defendant’s right to see his accuser in court over religious freedom.

Shannon Kari, National Post · Friday, Jun. 4, 2010

A precedent-setting case that could determine whether a woman can wear a niqab while testifying in Canadian courts has a leading feminist group and a national Muslim organization on opposite sides of the contentious debate. But their respective positions, outlined in written arguments filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal, may come as a surprise. Continue Reading →

Facebook caves to Islam

Facebook Submits to Islam: Censors and Destroys “Everybody Draw Mohammad Day” Page
We’ve been promoting it. Pakistan flipped out over it and banned Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Flickr. Now Facebook has decided to submit to Islam and censor a page, or better yet,  a community of nearly 80,000 fans and over 6,000 photos uploaded…..  The Dhimmis who run Facebook are making the Islamists proud.

At the current moment, when clicking on the link for the “Everybody Draw Mohammad” page, it just takes us to the Facebook home page.  That means Facebook has removed the content.  However, Facebook is known for both its glitchiness and its indecisiveness in these matters.  They used to deactivate and reactivate the founder of the JIDF twice a month for about a year, before they finally made up their minds.  Thus, there is a slight chance that the page could magically crop up again.  Let us know if it does.

please click here for the rest of this story:

****   Everybody Draw Mo FB page/group is now up again a/0 9:07 AM  *****

(comment)

This week’s Tales from the ‘Freedom’ Files

This week’s stories remind us once again of how ‘old fashioned’, rational thought is being replaced by ‘progressive’, irrational ideology. The Loony Left in its mission to create a better, more thoughtful world continues to cast aside what they consider the useless notions of public consultation, debate and majority consent in favour of their gentler, wiser, dictatorial approach. Initially we at vladtepesblog were reluctant to post these stories, as we felt they may provide more data for the social engineers of our cities to expand their role of government interference in our personal choices and anything else enjoyable. Quickly concluding they will rail on regardless, we got over it. Enjoy.

#1. From The U.K.  Man Banned from Buying Flowers. Co-op Supermarket customer David Houlgate wanted to buy some flowers for his daughters but was denied the purchase after store staff told him they had ‘passed their due date’. Despite the fact that the flowers had been reduced for sale and had some life left, the grocery had slated them for destruction.

‘I can understand not selling food which has gone past its sell-by date – but flowers? I did tell the manager that I wasn’t planning on eating them, but she insisted I could not have them”, Mr. Houlgate said adding, ‘It’s frankly ridiculous that flowers cannot be sold to someone willing to buy them simply because they are past their sell-by date.’ Co-op’s customer relations officer reiterated store policy stating, ‘In the case of plants and flowers, we are unable to guarantee the quality of these products after their expiry date, therefore instruct the store not to sell them.’

A man was told he could not buy a bunch of tulips because they had  reached their 'use by' date

Communism, one of the three.

There are three great horrors the world has witnessed in the past 100 years.

Communism

Nazism

Islam.

This site deals mostly with Islam, which is the more pressing of the three, it would appear. But if you talk to any recent university graduate from the past few years in many if not most of the Western World’s most prestigious universities, you would think the West had lost the cold war.

And I think you would be right.

Below, a series of clips on communism and the hell on earth it created.

First few courtesy of KitmanTV and The Soviet Story trailer I made myself, as I was simply too moved by this excellent and powerful film not to do something to help promote it.

And below, a trailer for The Soviet Story. Find this movie, and watch it.

Britain: Catholic schoolgirls told to dress like Muslims for mosque visit or face truancy

From The Daily Mail U.K.

Parents’ outrage as children told ‘dress as a Muslim for mosque trip – or you will be branded a truant’

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:19 AM on 12th May 2010

A Catholic schoolgirl has been branded a ‘truant’ by her teachers after she refused to dress as a Muslim for a school field trip to a mosque.

Staff had ordered 14-year-old Amy Owen and her classmates to dress in headscarf, wear trousers or leggings and keep her arms covered for the compulsory visit to the mosque after it was arranged to promote ‘community cohesion.’

Parents at the 1,100 pupil Ellesmere Port Catholic High School in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire were also told they were each required to make a £3 contribution towards the trip for all Year Nine students.

Michelle Davies' daughter Amy Owen was ordered to wear a headscarf  and trousers or leggings for a school trip to a mosqueMichelle Davies’ daughter Amy Owen was ordered to wear a headscarf and trousers or leggings for a school trip to a mosque

But when Amy refused to dress in Muslim attire for the visit to Al Rahma Mosque in Toxteth, Liverpool, staff warned her about rules and said refusal would mean non attendance which would then be marked down as an ‘unauthorised absence.’

In a stern letter to her family with words in block capitals and underlined, the school’s headmaster Peter Lee said the visit was ‘as compulsory as a geography field trip.’ Continue Reading →

This week’s “Tales from the ‘Freedom’ Files”

This week’s stories remind us once again of how ‘old fashioned’, rational thought is being replaced by ‘progressive’, irrational ideology. The Loony Left in its mission to create a better, more thoughtful world continues to cast aside what they consider the useless notions of public consultation, debate and majority consent in favour of their gentler, wiser, dictatorial approach. Initially we at vladtepesblog were reluctant to post these stories, as we felt they may provide more data for the social engineers of our cities to expand their role of government interference in our personal choices and anything else enjoyable. Quickly concluding they will rail on regardless, we got over it. Enjoy.

#1. From Egypt.  Arabian Nights Obscene say Lawyers. A group of Islamist lawyers have called for a ban on ‘Arabian Nights’. Known in the original Arabic as ” One Thousand and One Nights”, the collection of folk tales and short stories has raised the ire of the lawyers who claim it is a call to ” vice and sin”. They were shocked to find offensive language and depictions of sexuality, arguing that the references to sex were calls to sin. Writers Union spokesman Ahmed Megahed said the lawyers were behaving like the Taliban and any call to ban the literary classic was an assault on the freedom of expression. ” We will not be influenced by a bunch of people who use Islam in order to suppress freedom” he said.

#2 From Britain.  Election Protest Poster Branded Racist. Fed up with being inundated with canvassing politicians leading up to the U.K. election, pensioner and former Tory councilor Roy Newman 74, put up a red, white and blue election poster in a window of his home. The sign read ” Get the Lot Out”. Ninety minutes later the police arrived informing Newman they were responding to a complaint by which an individual had interpreted the poster to be racist as the colours represented the Union Jack. In response to the complaint, Mr. Newman added yellow, but refused to take his sign down from the window despite being threatened with arrest. The police later explained the sign to the complainant and no charges were laid.

Defiance: Mr Newman put up the sign after being bombarded by   canvassers

#3. From The U.S.  American Flag Logo Tees Offensive to Mexican-Americans. Five California high school students were sent home for wearing ‘American flag’ t-shirts to school on ” Cinco De Mayo” day. They were told they could wear them on any other day, but not on Cinco De Mayo as Mexican-American students may take offense. The students were told to either take off the shirts or risk being suspended at which point they chose to go home. Their parents are outraged. Insulted, some Mexican-American students have demanded an apology, but none has been forthcoming. The school district is not in agreement with the local high school’s decision.

#4 From The U.K.  “Unhealthy” Cheese Sandwich Confiscated from Toddler. A two-year old boy has been pulled out of a nursery after staff claimed a cheese sandwich his mother had made for him broke their ‘healthy eating’ rules. The youngster was left in tears after nursery workers took away the sandwich from his packed lunch box and offered him their own fruit and vegetables instead. Jack Ormisher’s parents were told that had the sandwich included tomato or lettuce, he would have been permitted to eat it. The Westfield Children’s Centre in Pemberton, has drawn up a list of ‘healthy eating options’ for youngsters which include fruit, vegetables, rice, pasta and potatoes. A spokesman for Wigin council said ” a cheese sandwich would not be featured on the list”. Jack’ parents have since moved their son to another nursery.

#5 From The U.K.  Christian Foster Mother Struck Off Care Register. A Christian foster mother has been struck off the care resister and banned by her local council for failing to prevent a Muslim teenager from converting to Christianity even though the 16 year old changed religions of her own volition. The foster mother who has 10 years experience and has successfully fostered over 80 children, has since had to move from her home due to loss of income. The girl now 17, had been taken into care after suffering assault and abuse by a family member and saw baptism as a symbol of a ‘fresh start’. Despite the foster Mum’s attempts to offer the teenager alternatives and a place to practice Islam, the young woman insisted she wanted to convert. As a result, officials struck the carer off their registry, claiming she breached her duty of care as a foster parent. ” They consider that she should have taken steps to prevent the conversion” her solicitor said. A member of the Christian Institute also remarked ” I cannot imagine that an atheist foster carer would be struck off if a Christian child in her care stopped believing in God”. Apostacy is strongly condemned in the Quran and within Muslim communities. The teenager is back in the care of her family and remains supportive of her former carer. The legal case is ongoing.

Islamic roots of the African slave trade. Fighting fiction with facts

Here is a video of Farrakhan spouting unfounded unsubstantiated historical revisionism about Jewish involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. This is pretty clear as to what it is. Again, it is just a guy holding a book and ranting. The facts of course are that Jewish people marched with Martin Luther King and where first and foremost in the civil rights movement in the US. Then below, please watch the expertly researched documentary on the Arab-Islamic roots of the African slave trade. The facts are clear and in good evidence.

H/T to Bad Faun for the Farrakhan vid

replacing another video that was taken down

Court clears Holocaust cartoon publication

The following story exemplifies pretty much everything that has gone wrong in the west in the last 50 years. First of all, how can a charge even exist that is about feeling insulted? And if such a charge exists then why bother with a judge or court at all. Ask the person who claims to be offended if they are insulted, and when they answer in the affirmative then book em Danno and throw away the key.

Secondly, Geert Wilders would appear to be up on a similar charge in the Netherlands. It will be quite telling if he is found guilty of offending Muslims for telling the truth about Islam, (something even the prosecution does not deny, but mitigates with ‘The truth is not at issue, it is whether or not what Wilders said was Legal”) while the Arab League is found not guilty of insulting Jews for telling lies about a part of history that is sensitive to say the least, to Jewish people.

Eeyore for Vlad

From Dutch News:

Thursday 22 April 2010

Judges in Utrecht have found the Dutch arm of the European Arab League not guilty of insulting Jews for publishing a cartoon which suggested they invented the Holocaust.

The league first published the cartoon on its website in response to the Danish cartoons poking fun at Mohammed four years ago and then again last year. The organisation said the aim was not to insult anyone but to highlight double standards in society.

The court said that while the cartoon is tasteless and upsetting, the right to freedom of expression is more important, Nos tv reported.

‘The court considers the cartoon insulting, if considered by itself,’ the court said. However ‘the context in which it is placed removes the criminally insulting nature.’

The public prosecution department had called for a €1,000 fine.