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Muhammad Caricature Watch: Manifesto Against ISLAMISM
The Muhammad Caricatures. The individual caricatures are here.
Published in today’s Indland Jyllands-Posten (Denmark):
MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism
After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.
We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.
The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.
Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man’s domination of woman, the Islamists’ domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.
We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of “Islamophobia”, an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.
We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.
We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.
12 signatures
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn WarraqThanks to Michelle Malkin who has A MANIFESTO AGAINST ISLAMISM
Danish blogger Agora reports: The manifesto “will be brought in the French weekly Charlie Hebdo tomorrow, Wednesday. Charlie Hebdo has urged other papers to print it, as a show of solidarity.”
Show Sammenhold! Spread the word far and wide.
Early blog reax:
Rusty Shackleford: “Add my name.”
Atlas Shrugged: “Heads are gonna roll…no pun intended.”
No Pasaran!: File under freedom
Stockholm Spectator: Riots to follow, no doubt
Vince Aut Morire: I’ll Take Your Fatwa And Raise You A Manifesto
Johan Norberg: Against the New TotalitariansOk, Michelle, Flap is in!
SOLIDARITYThe twelve brave individuals who signed the MANIFESTO:
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, from somilian origin, is member of Dutch parliement, member of the liberal party VVD. Writter of the film Submission which caused the assasination of Theo Van Gogh by an islamist in november 2004, she lives under police protection.Chahla Chafiq
Chahla Chafiq, writer from iranian origin, exiled in France is a novelist and an essayist. She’s the author of “Le nouvel homme islamiste , la prison politique en Iran ” (2002). She also wrote novels such as “Chemins et brouillard” (2005).Caroline Fourest
Essayist, editor in chief of Prochoix (a review who defend liberties against dogmatic and integrist ideologies), author of several reference books on « laicité » and fanatism : Tirs Croisés : la laïcité à l’épreuve des intégrismes juif, chrétien et musulman (with Fiammetta Venner), Frère Tariq : discours, stratégie et méthode de Tariq Ramadan, et la Tentation obscurantiste (Grasset, 2005). She receieved the National prize of laicité in 2005.Bernard-Henri Lévy
French philosoph, born in Algeria, engaged against all the XXth century « ism » (Fascism, antisemitism, totalitarism, terrorism), he is the author of La Barbarie à visage humain, L’Idéologie française, La Pureté dangereuse, and more recently American Vertigo.Irshad Manji
Irshad Manji is a Fellow at Yale University and the internationally best-selling author of “The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith” (en francais: “Musulmane Mais Libre”). She speaks out for free expression based on the Koran itself. Née en Ouganda, elle a fui ce pays avec sa famille musulmane d’origine indienne à l’âge de quatre ans et vit maintenant au Canada, où ses émissions et ses livres connaissent un énorme succès.Mehdi Mozaffari
Mehdi Mozaffari, professor from iranian origin and exiled in Denmark, is the author of several articles and books on islam and islamism such as : Authority in Islam: From Muhammad to Khomeini, Fatwa: Violence and Discourtesy and Glaobalization and Civilizations.Maryam Namazie
Writer, TV International English producer; Director of the Worker-communist Party of Iran’s International Relations; and 2005 winner of the National Secular Society’s Secularist of the Year award.Taslima Nasreen
Taslima Nasreen is born in Bangladesh. Doctor, her positions defending women and minorities brought her in trouble with a comittee of integrist called « Destroy Taslima » and to be persecuted as « apostate »Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie is the author of nine novels, including Midnight’s Children, The Satanic Verses and, most recently, Shalimar the Clown. He has received many literary awards, including the Booker Prize, the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel, Germany’s Author of the Year Award, the European Union’s Aristeion Prize, the Budapest Grand Prize for Literature, the Premio Mantova, and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature. He is a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et Lettres, an Honorary Professor in the Humanities at M.I.T., and the president of PEN American Center. His books have been translated into over 40 languages.Philippe Val
Director of publication of Charlie Hebdo (Leftwing french newspaper who have republished the cartoons on the prophet Muhammad by solidarity with the danish citizens targeted by islamists).
Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq , author notably of Why I am Not a Muslim ; Leaving Islam : Apostates Speak Out ; and The Origins of the Koran , is at present Research Fellow at a New York Institute conducting philological and historical research into the Origins of Islam and its Holy Book.Antoine Sfeir :
Born in Lebanon, christian, Antoine Sfeir choosed french nationality to live in an universalist and « laïc » (real secular) country. He is the director of Les cahiers de l’Orient and has published several reference books on islamism such as Les réseaux d’Allah (2001) et Liberté, égalité, Islam : la République face au communautarisme (2005).Spread the Word……
Write and ask these newspapers to print and sign the Manifesto:
New York Times
Washington PostOh, and don’t bet the farm on a favorable reply………
Previous:
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Pakistani Children – “Hang Those Who Insulted the Prophetâ€
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Protests Continue in Pakistan
Muhammad Caricature Watch: “Death to Americaâ€Muhammad Caricature Watch: German Court Convicts Man for Insulting Islam
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Malaysia Reprimands Newspaper for Lampoon Muhammad Caricature Cartoon
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Protesters Rally in Pakistan and Iraq
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Christian Anti-Muslim Riot in Nigeria Turns Deadly
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Islamic Radicals Call for More Protests
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Map of Cartoon Riots After the Publication of Caricatures of MuhammadMuhammad Caricature Watch: Saudi Papers Print Danish Editor’s Apology
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Weekend Protests in Pakistan “Spinning Out of Controlâ€
Muhammad Caricature Watch: London Protest of Muhammad Caricatures Draws 15,000
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Nigerian Muslims Protesting Muhammad Caricatures Attack Christians and Burn Churches
Muhammad Caricature Watch: “Roses of the Prophet Muhammad.â€Muhammad Caricature Watch: For the MORONS Who Defaced My Site
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Abu Ghraib Image Hypocrisy FLAP
Muhammad Caricature Watch: The FLAP Over Publication of Muhammad Caricatures on the Internet
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Thousands of Protesters Rampage in 2 Pakistani Cities
Cox & Forkum on the Muhammad Caricatures: Overboard
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Pakistan Police Gas Students Protesting CaricaturesMuhammad Caricature Watch: Condolezza Rice – Muslim Outrage Could “Spin Out of Controlâ€
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Denmark Withdraws Diplomats from Iran and Indonesia
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Thousands Protest Against Prophet Drawings
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Muslim Leaders Urge Calm
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Are Extemists Fanning Caricature Outrage?Muhammad Caricature Watch: Egypt and the Muhammad Caricatures
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Condoleezza Rice – Iran and Syria Stoking Anger – The Response
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Condoleezza Rice – Iran and Syria Stoking AngerCox & Forkum: Western Dhimmitude
Muhammad Caricature Watch: French Weekly Charlie Hebdo Reprints Muhammad Caricatures
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Demonstrators Attack Norwegian Embassy in Tehran, IranMuhammad Caricature Watch: 4 Killed In Afghanistan in Caricature Bloodshed
Muhammad Caricature Watch: A Right to Blasphemy
Muhammad Caricature Watch: New Protests Erupt Around the World
Muhammad Caricature Watch: The False Cartoons and Danish Imams
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Angry Demonstrators Set Danish Consulate in Beirut AblazeMuhammad Caricature Watch: Syrian Protesters Set Danish Embassy Ablaze Over Cartoon
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Protests Over Muhammad Drawings IntensifyMuhammad Caricature Watch: Anger Over Cartoons of Muhammad Escalates
Day by Day by Chris Muir on CNN
Day by Day by Chris Muir on Muhammad Caricatures
Cox & Forkum: Publication of Caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by a Danish Newspaper
Technorati Tags: Jyllands-Posten, ProphetMuhammad, Islam, Muhammadcaricatures
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Methamphetamine Watch: Ads Battle Methamphetamine in Montana
Photo Courtesy of Montana Meth Project
New York Times: With Scenes of Blood and Pain, Ads Battle Methamphetamine in Montana
The camera follows the teenager as she showers for her night out and looks down to discover the drain swirling with blood. She turns and sees her methamphetamine-addicted self cowering below, oozing from scabs she has picked all over her body because the drug made her think there were bugs crawling beneath her skin, and she lets out a scream worthy of “Psycho.”
Turn on prime time television here, and chances are this or another commercial like it will interrupt.
The spots are part of the Montana Meth Project, a saturation campaign paid for by Thomas M. Siebel, a software billionaire and part-time resident who fell in love with Montana’s vast skies and soaring mountains as a ranch hand in college and now wants to shock the state away from a drug that has ravaged it.
Since it began in September, the project has become the biggest advertiser in the state, blanketing radio, television, newspapers and billboards with advertisements so raw that officials quickly asked that they be removed from television before 7 p.m. Now, with other states expressing interest in the campaign, Mr. Siebel and state officials say they want to make it a national template for halting a problem that has cursed many largely poor, rural states.
READ IT ALL
The Montana Meth Project website is here.
The Montana Meth Project Televison ads are here.Bathtub (:30)
Laundrymat (:30)
Eyebrow (:30)
Just Once (:30)
That Guy (:30)
Like most states, Montana has restricted pseudoephedrine, the cold medicine that is the key ingredient in homemade methamphetamine, only to discover that demand for the drug remains just as high and has been met by imported methamphetamine.
State officials say the drug is responsible for 80 percent of the prison population — and 90 percent of female inmates — and about half the foster care population.
“It’s destroying families; it’s destroying our schools; it’s destroying our budgets for corrections, social services, health care,” Gov. Brian Schweitzer said. “We’re losing a generation of productive people. My God, at the rate we’re going, we’re going to have more people in jail than out of jail in 20 years.
Education is the key to combating this HORRID drug.
The Combat Methamphetamine Act which will be passed when The Patriot Act is signed into law will help and tighter border control laws/enforcement aimed at Mexican drug cartels are imperative.
Previous:
Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 Watch: Bill Dies with Patriot Act Extension
Methaphetamine Watch: Mexico Cuts Cold-Drug Imports to Battle Meth
Mexico: Primary Source of United States Methamphetamine Crisis
Methamphetamine: Oregon Tightens the Prescription of Pseudoephedrine
Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 Watch: Bill Setback in House-Senate Committee
The Methamphetamine Files
Technorati Tags: Methamphetamine, CombatMethAct, ThomasSiebel, MontanaMethProject, NotEvenOnce
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Muhammad Caricature Watch: Pakistani Children – “Hang Those Who Insulted the Prophet”
Pakistani boy, covering his face with headband thatsays ”There is no God but God.,Muhammad is the Prophet of God’,’ takes part in a rally against the publication of cartoons depicting Islamic Prophet Muhammad printed by some Western newspapers, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 in Karachi, Pakistan.
And Michelle Malkin leads with SCHOOL’S OUT: RAISE YOUR DAGGERS!
ASSociated Press: Pakistani Kids Rally Over Prophet Cartoons
About 5,000 children chanting “Hang those who insulted the prophet” rallied in Pakistan’s largest city on Tuesday in the latest protest in the Islamic nation against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
The children, ages 8 to 12, burned a coffin draped in U.S., Israeli and Danish flags at a traffic intersection in the port city of Karachi as police in riot gear looked on.
The rally was organized by Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s largest Islamic group. The children, some wearing school uniforms and headbands emblazoned with “God is great,” were released from schools to take part.
Wonderful……
Do the islamic radical fundamentalists have NO shame?
Nope…..involve their children in this HATE campaign. Either do as WE say or put the kids in the street…….
And these are REALLY protests over insulting caricatures? NO WAY!
President Bush will be travelling to Pakistan shortly………
Stay tuned……….
Pakistani children chant slogans during a rally in Karachi February 28, 2006. Opposition Jamat-e-Islami party organised the rally to protest against the publication of cartoons and caricatures depicting the Prophet Mohammad in European newspapers.
Previous:
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Protests Continue in Pakistan
Muhammad Caricature Watch: “Death to Americaâ€Muhammad Caricature Watch: German Court Convicts Man for Insulting Islam
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Malaysia Reprimands Newspaper for Lampoon Muhammad Caricature Cartoon
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Protesters Rally in Pakistan and Iraq
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Christian Anti-Muslim Riot in Nigeria Turns Deadly
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Islamic Radicals Call for More Protests
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Map of Cartoon Riots After the Publication of Caricatures of MuhammadMuhammad Caricature Watch: Saudi Papers Print Danish Editor’s Apology
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Weekend Protests in Pakistan “Spinning Out of Controlâ€
Muhammad Caricature Watch: London Protest of Muhammad Caricatures Draws 15,000
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Nigerian Muslims Protesting Muhammad Caricatures Attack Christians and Burn Churches
Muhammad Caricature Watch: “Roses of the Prophet Muhammad.â€Muhammad Caricature Watch: For the MORONS Who Defaced My Site
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Abu Ghraib Image Hypocrisy FLAP
Muhammad Caricature Watch: The FLAP Over Publication of Muhammad Caricatures on the Internet
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Thousands of Protesters Rampage in 2 Pakistani Cities
Cox & Forkum on the Muhammad Caricatures: Overboard
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Pakistan Police Gas Students Protesting CaricaturesMuhammad Caricature Watch: Condolezza Rice – Muslim Outrage Could “Spin Out of Controlâ€
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Denmark Withdraws Diplomats from Iran and Indonesia
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Thousands Protest Against Prophet Drawings
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Muslim Leaders Urge Calm
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Are Extemists Fanning Caricature Outrage?Muhammad Caricature Watch: Egypt and the Muhammad Caricatures
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Condoleezza Rice – Iran and Syria Stoking Anger – The Response
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Condoleezza Rice – Iran and Syria Stoking AngerCox & Forkum: Western Dhimmitude
Muhammad Caricature Watch: French Weekly Charlie Hebdo Reprints Muhammad Caricatures
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Demonstrators Attack Norwegian Embassy in Tehran, IranMuhammad Caricature Watch: 4 Killed In Afghanistan in Caricature Bloodshed
Muhammad Caricature Watch: A Right to Blasphemy
Muhammad Caricature Watch: New Protests Erupt Around the World
Muhammad Caricature Watch: The False Cartoons and Danish Imams
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Angry Demonstrators Set Danish Consulate in Beirut AblazeMuhammad Caricature Watch: Syrian Protesters Set Danish Embassy Ablaze Over Cartoon
Muhammad Caricature Watch: Protests Over Muhammad Drawings IntensifyMuhammad Caricature Watch: Anger Over Cartoons of Muhammad Escalates
Day by Day by Chris Muir on CNN
Day by Day by Chris Muir on Muhammad Caricatures
Cox & Forkum: Publication of Caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by a Danish Newspaper
Technorati Tags: Jyllands-Posten, ProphetMuhammad, Islam, Muhammadcaricatures
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Meathead Economics
California Governor Arnold Schwarzengger and Hollywood Producer and First 5 California Children and Families Commission Chairman, Rob Reiner.
The Wall Street Journal: Meathead Economics
Hollywood liberals drive productive Californians to leave the state.It takes hard work to drive anyone away from California’s sunshine and scenic vistas, but politicians in Sacramento have been up to the task.
But the worst growth killer may well be California’s tax system. The business tax rate of 8.8% is the highest in the West, and its steeply “progressive” personal income tax has an effective top marginal rate of 10.3%, or second highest in the nation. CalTax, the state’s taxpayer advocacy group, reports that the richest 10% of earners pay almost 75% of the entire income-tax revenue in the state, and most of these are small0business owners, i.e., the people who create jobs.
And things may soon get worse, thanks to Rob Reiner, who played the liberal “Meathead” on the “All in the Family” sitcom in the 1970s and now plays the same part in real life. He and his rich Hollywood friends have put an initiative on the state’s June ballot that would add a 1.7-percentage-point income-tax surcharge on “millionaires” with income over $400,000, with the proceeds earmarked for universal pre-school.
Class warfare politics – don’t you love it. Soak the rich to pay for universal pre-school because President Bush and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will NOT enforce the immigration laws with Mexico and Central America. After all, who is the beneficiary of universal pre-school?Meathead Rob Reiner has helped qualify Proposition 82 (Preschool Education. Tax on Incomes Over $400,000 for Individuals; $800,000 for Couples. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.) for the California June ballot. As Chairman of First 5 California Children and Families Commission Reiner used taxpayer money (from a tobacco tax surcharge) to air televison ads clearly in support of qualifying the initiative, Proposition 82 for the ballot. Hugh Hewitt has been all over the story.
The text of Proposition 82 is here (pdf file).
So, what will Proposition 82 do to California taxpayers?
All of this has contributed to the trend of wealthy taxpayers disappearing from the state. State finance office data indicate that the number of Californians reporting million-dollar incomes fell to 25,000 in 2003 from 44,000 in 2000. That decline has cost the state $9 billion a year in uncollected tax revenues. The dot-com implosion of 2000 and 2001 no doubt wiped out many paper millionaires, but migration out of the state to escape its hefty tax premium has also played a role. Republican Assemblyman Ray Haynes notes that the average high-income individual can buy a newly built house in neighboring Nevada and pay for it just from the money saved in a year of not paying California taxes.
The state has been here before, as a new report from economist Arthur Laffer reminds us. In the early 1990s under Republican Governor Pete Wilson, the state raised its top income-tax rate to 11%, triggering one of the worst fiscal crises in the state’s history. Tax revenue fell as high-income people fled the state, while public debt exploded. That tax surcharge was removed in 1995, but now the state’s politicians want to do it all over again.
Why, of course, high income earners will simply shift residency or their businesses to neighboring Nevada or Arizona. Some will just leave California as many of Flap’s patients and colleagues have done over the past decade. After all, why pay for illegal immigrant’s childrens pre-school? California taxpayers paid for OUR childrens pre-school with AFTER-TAX dollars and what help did we receive from the State of California?
But, you say, it is only the rich that will pay. Does the reader really believe this program will be any different than K-12 public education in California? Will the program expand with the growth of illegal immigration? Will the unions bid up the pay and benefits for the teachers and school workers? Once establsihed as an entitlement will it be hard to resist lowering the tax surcharge threshold or pay for it with California general fund monies?
You betcha on all counts…….
Some solutions and call to action…….
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger should immediately replace Rob Reiner as Chairman of First 5 California Children and Families Commission
California Controller Steve Westly should immediately call for an audit of First 5 California Children and Families Commission
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer should investigate and prosecute any malfeasance in the Proposition 82 television advertising FLAP
Campaign and VOTE against Proposition 82
Previous:
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: The Reiner Anchor Around Schwarzenegger’s Neck
Rob Reiner Watch: Taking a “LEAVE†from First 5 California Children and Families Commission FLAP
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Meathead Rob Reiner Won’t RUN
Rob Reiner Watch: Candidate for California Governor?Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: New Add Comparing Arnold to George Wallace OUTED
Rob Reiner Watch: Tax the Rich for Pre-School
Technorati Tags: ArnoldSchwarzenneger, RobReiner, First5CaliforniaChildrenandFamiliesCommission, California, CaliforniaElection2006
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Day By Day by Chris Muir on Mad Mikey Blog
Mad Mikey is a proud member of the Bear Flag League.
The story of Mad Mikey is here.
Donations can be sent to:
Mad Mikey
c/o SMASH
PO Box 882353
San Diego, CA 92108-2353or
Flap knows you will be glad you DONATED……..
Technorati Tags: DayByDay, ChrisMuir, MadMikey, BearFlagLeague