• Culture,  Media,  Politics,  Religion

    Muhammad Caricature Watch: Muslim Threatened Norwegian Pressman Continues to Defend the Right to Publish Offensive Material

    Iranian protestors burn the emblem of the Norweigan embassy in Tehran, Iran after tearing it off the wall in protest over the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad, February 7, 2006.

    Reuters: Threatened Norway pressman defends right to offend

    The head of Norway’s press association, whose life has been threatened by Muslims angered by satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, said on Tuesday the right to offend others was crucial to freedom of expression.

    Amid spiraling unrest over the images, Per Edgar Kokkvold, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Press Association, told Reuters in an interview he was unafraid and would continue to defend the right to publish offensive material.

    He neither drew them nor published them, but Kokkvold has been in the eye of a storm over the publication in Norwegian, Danish and other European newspapers of cartoons of the Prophet, which has ignited widespread rage in the Muslim world.

    “It is important to defend not only freedom of expression but also the right to offend people, even if offending people is not always a beautiful sight,” Kokkvold said.

    “People who live in our society have to realize that we have the right to our values and to our freedoms, including freedom of expression,” he said. “Without freedom of expression, you don’t have the other democratic rights either.”

    One person’s offense is another person’s credo.

    So, agreed!

    Previous:


    Muhammad Caricature Watch: Demonstrators Attack Norwegian Embassy in Tehran, Iran

    Muhammad 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 Ablaze

    Muhammad Caricature Watch: Syrian Protesters Set Danish Embassy Ablaze Over Cartoon


    Muhammad Caricature Watch: Protests Over Muhammad Drawings Intensify

    Muhammad 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: , , ,

  • George W. Bush,  Liberal Morons,  Politics

    Coretta Scott King Funeral Watch: Classless King Eulogists Jab President Bush

    Rev. Joseph Lowery (C) speaks as U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush listen during funeral services for Coretta Scott King at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia February 7, 2006.

    Reuters: King eulogists jab Bush at funeral

    Speakers took a rare opportunity to criticize U.S. President George W. Bush’s policies to his face at the funeral on Tuesday of Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

    Civil-rights leader the Rev. Joseph Lowery and former President Jimmy Carter cited Mrs. King’s legacy as a leader in her own right and advocate of nonviolence as they launched barbs over the Iraq war, government social policies and Bush’s domestic eavesdropping program.

    The Quotes:

    Joseph Lowry

    “She extended Martin’s message against poverty, racism and war / She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar.”

    “We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there / But Coretta knew and we knew that there are weapons of misdirection right down here / Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor.”

    Former President Jimmy Carter:

    “It was difficult for them personally with the civil liberties of both husband and wife violated, and they became the targets of secret government wiretapping and other surveillance.”

    The Jab: Ex-President Carter: Eavesdropping Illegal

    The CLASSLESS LEFT strikes again.

    Matt Drudge now has a Flash:

    Today’s memorial service for civil rights activist Coretta Scott King — billed as a “celebration” of her life — turned suddenly political as one former president took a swipe at the current president, who was also lashed by an outspoken black pastor!

    The outspoken Rev. Joseph Lowery, co-founder of Southern Christian Leadership Conference, ripped into President Bush during his short speech, ostensibly about the wife of Martin Luther King Jr.

    “She extended Martin’s message against poverty, racism and war. She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar. We know now that there were no weapons of mass destruction over there,” Lowery said.

    The mostly black crowd applauded, then rose to its feet and cheered in a two-minute-long standing ovation.

    A closed-circuit television in the mega-church outside Atlanta showed the president smiling uncomfortably.

    “But Coretta knew, and we know,” Lowery continued, “That there are weapons of misdirection right down here,” he said, nodding his head toward the row of presidents past and present. “For war, billions more, but no more for the poor!” The crowd again cheered wildly.

    Former President Jimmy Carter later swung at Bush as well, not once but twice. As he talked about the Kings, he said: “It was difficult for them then personally with the civil liberties of both husband and wife violated as they became the target of secret government wiretaps.” The crowd cheered as Bush, under fire for a secret wiretapping program he ordered after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, again smiled weakly.

    Later, Carter said Hurricane Katrina showed that all are not yet equal in America. Some black leaders have blamed Bush for the poor federal response, and rapper Kayne West said that Bush “hates” black people.

    Developing…

    Michelle Malkin has UNHINGED AT CORETTA SCOTT KING’S FUNERAL

    The Democrats just can’t restrain themselves. Absolutely ungodly.

    Expose the Left has video of Jimmy Carter and Joseph Lowery gone wild with Bush-bashing sermons at Coretta Scott King’s funeral.


    Technorati Tags: , , ,

  • Culture,  Politics,  Religion

    Muhammad Caricature Watch: Demonstrators Attack Norwegian Embassy in Tehran, Iran

    Fire burns at a window of the Norwegian Embassy, started with a firebomb thrown by an Iranian protester, in a protest against drawings of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad published in European newspapers in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006. A group of about 50 protesters Tuesday night hurled stones and firebombs at the Norwegian Embassy in the Iranian capital, marking the second straight day of violent protests against European missions over the publication of caricatures of Islam’s prophet.

    Irish Examiner: Protestors hit Norwegian embassy with firebombs

    A group of about 50 protesters hurled stones and firebombs at the Norwegian Embassy in the Iranian capital tonight, marking the second straight day of violent protests against European missions over the publication of caricatures of Islam’s prophet.

    A small fire outside the embassy was quickly contained but the protest continued, underlining Iranian anger over the drawings on a day that saw the government break all trade ties with Denmark.

    Also today, a Tehran newspaper announced a contest for caricatures of the Holocaust, which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called a “myth.”

    Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, meanwhile, called the prophet drawings a scandal, particularly as they came “from those who champion civilisation and free expression.”

    In a speech aired on state-run radio, Khamenei said the drawings were part of a “conspiracy by Zionists who were angry because of the victory of Hamas.”

    However, the cartoons were first published in September – four months before the Palestinian elections.

    An Iranian protestor, throws a stone at the Norwegian Embassy, as another one at right holds a banner that reads from top to bottom: Death to U.S., Death to Israel, Death to Norway, in a protest over drawings of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad published in European newspapers, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006. A group of about 50 protesters Tuesday night hurled stones and firebombs at the Norwegian Embassy in the Iranian capital, marking the second straight day of violent protests against European missions over the publication of caricatures of Islam’s prophet.

    Earlier in the day:

    ASSociated Press: Protests Over Drawings a ‘Global Crisis’

    Denmark’s Prime Minister on Tuesday called protests over drawings of the Prophet Muhammad a global crisis and appealed for calm.

    “We are now facing a growing global crisis,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. “It now is something else than the drawings in Jyllands-Posten.”

    The Jyllands-Posten, a Danish paper, first published the drawings that have sparked violent protests in Muslim countries worldwide. They have since been reprinted in media around the world.

    Reuters: Bush calls Danish PM with support in cartoon row

    U.S. President George W. Bush called Denmark’s prime minister on Tuesday to voice support for the Nordic country, whose embassies are the target of violent protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

    “I am happy to inform you that just a few minutes ago, President Bush called me to express support and solidarity with Denmark in the light of the violence against Danish and other diplomatic missions,” said Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

    “We agreed that the way ahead is through dialogue and tolerance, not violence,” Rasmussen told a news conference.

    And Muslim Computer hackers are blasting Denmark in a Net assault.

    Gangs of pro-Muslim computer hackers have unleashed a withering cyber attack on Danish and Western websites in the past week, escalating their defacement barrage to coincide with dozens of violent street-level demonstrations across the Arab world in protest at the publication of a cartoon depiction of the Prophet Mohammed.

    The number of Danish websites alone – those carrying a ‘.dk’ suffix – knocked offline in the past week numbered 578 between 30 January and 6 February, according to Zone-H.org, a cyber-crime observatory that tracks website defacements. Hundreds more websites of European, Israeli and American companies and private citizens have also been defaced during that period, with the vast majority occurring after the re-publication last week of the cartoons in European newspapers.

    ‘The number is nearly doubling every day,’ said Roberto Preatoni, the founder of Zone-H.org. A team of Zone-H technicians collect and verify reports of sabotaged Web sites from both victims and hackers. The number of attacked Web servers has been at record levels since the controversy reignited last week, Preatoni said.

    ‘This is the largest ever attack directed against a single country, bigger than the Intifada, the Chinese-U.S. spy plane incident, and even the war in Iraq.’

    Michelle Malkin: WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER

    Next will be American Embassy assaults. And United States Marines reponses……..

    Stay tuned…….

    Previous:

    Muhammad 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 Ablaze

    Muhammad Caricature Watch: Syrian Protesters Set Danish Embassy Ablaze Over Cartoon


    Muhammad Caricature Watch: Protests Over Muhammad Drawings Intensify

    Muhammad 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: , , ,

  • Culture,  Iran Nuclear Watch,  Politics,  Religion

    Iran Watch: Iran Paper Holds Holocaust Cartoons Contest

    A Palestinian youth holds up a Koran during a demonstration against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad in the West Bank city of Hebron, February 7, 2006. Iran’s best-selling newspaper has launched a competition to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust in retaliation for the publication in many European countries of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.

    Reuters: Iran daily holds contest for Holocaust cartoons

    Iran’s best-selling newspaper has launched a competition to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust in retaliation for the publication in many European countries of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.

    The Brussels-based Conference of European Rabbis (CER) denounced the idea and urged the Muslim world to do likewise.

    The Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-semitism, described the competition as “deliberately inflammatory.”

    The Iranian daily Hamshahri said the contest was designed to test the boundaries of free speech — the reason given by many European newspapers for publishing the cartoons of the Prophet.

    “Does Western free speech allow working on issues like America and
    Israel’s crimes or an incident like the Holocaust or is this freedom of speech only good for insulting the holy values of divine religions?” the paper asked.

    Davoud Kazemi, who is in charge of the contest, told Reuters that each of the 12 winners would have their cartoons published and receive two gold coins (worth about $140 each) as a prize.

    Ok, Flap WILL publish these cartoons. If they are as inane as the Muhammad ones then so be it.

    What the Islamic fundamental countries MUST understand is that blasphemous/critical/sacrilegious comment is a daily occurrence in the Western world. All without violence and bloodshed.

    In Paris, CER President Joseph Sitruk, who is also Chief Rabbi of France, said: “The Iranian regime has plummeted to new depths if it regards the deaths of six million Jews as a matter for humor or to score cheap political points.

    “Sadly, we are not surprised by this action,” he said, recalling Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s calls last year for Israel to be “wiped off the map” and his dismissal of the Holocaust as a myth.

    Stay tuned……

    Previous:

    Iran Watch: Iran Paper Plans Holocaust Cartoons


    Technorati Tags: , , , ,

  • Culture,  Politics,  Religion

    Muhammad Caricature Watch: 4 Killed In Afghanistan in Caricature Bloodshed

    Jordanian Islamists burn Danish and U.S. flags during a protest against Prophet Muhammad’s offensive cartoons, published in Danish and several other European newspapers, in Amman, Jordan February 7, 2006.

    Reuters: Afghan police kill four in cartoon bloodshed

    Afghan police killed four protesters on Tuesday in some of the worst violence to erupt over satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad which have provoked a deepening crisis between Europe and the Muslim World.

    British troops were ordered to the Afghan town of Maymana to restore order after crowds attacked a NATO base of Norwegian troops with guns and grenades and police opened fire bringing the protest death toll in the Middle East and Asia to nine.

    Afghan protesters burn a Danish flag in the western city of Herat, Afghanistan February 7, 2006. Norwegian soldiers in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan were attacked on Tuesday by a crowd throwing stones and which smashed their way into the force’s camp, Norway’s defence ministry said. The attack occurred three days after Norway’s embassy in Syria was torched by Muslim demonstrators angry at the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish and Norwegian newspapers.

    Where are the moderate Islamic clerics asking for the cessation of violence? Their silence is deafening.

    “The situation is still out of control, but we have established some kind of a show of force with F-16s,” Norway’s defense ministry said. Norway was the second country after Denmark to publish the cartoons, one of which depicts Mohammad wearing a turban resembling a bomb with a fizzing fuse.

    A wave of Muslim fury spread across the Middle East and Asia on Tuesday over the cartoons as leaders urged restraint and struggled to contain the protests which in recent days turned from peaceful to volatile and bloody.

    Afghan protesters burn a Danish flag in the western city of Herat, Afghanistan February 7, 2006. Norwegian soldiers in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan were attacked on Tuesday by a crowd throwing stones and which smashed their way into the force’s camp, Norway’s defence ministry said. The attack occurred three days after Norway’s embassy in Syria was torched by Muslim demonstrators angry at the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish and Norwegian newspapers.

    This entire display is reminding Flap of the inanity of the French riots by Islamic immigrant youths. The countries so affected with Muhammad caricature demonstrations must show force, quell the violence and protect the foreign embassies.
    Indonesian students burn a tire on a Danish flag during a protest outside their university in Makassar, South Sulawesi province February 7, 2006.

    In Iran, which is locked in a nuclear stand-off with the West and which has cut trade ties with Denmark where the images were first published, a crowd pelted the Danish embassy in Tehran with petrol bombs and stones for a second day.

    After rioters set Danish missions ablaze in Syria and Lebanon at the weekend, the European Union presidency issued a strongly worded warning to 19 countries across the Middle East that they are obliged to protect EU missions.

    Denmark’s Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller called his Iranian counterpart “and demanded in clear terms that Iran does all it can to protect the embassy and Danish lives,” a spokesman said, as the Tehran mission was once again attacked.

    So, who is “snow-balling” these demonstrations? It is likely that this is an organized attempt to stir unrest and violence.

    Who will benefit?

    The fundamentatist Islamic regimes……..

    Previous:

    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 Ablaze

    Muhammad Caricature Watch: Syrian Protesters Set Danish Embassy Ablaze Over Cartoon


    Muhammad Caricature Watch: Protests Over Muhammad Drawings Intensify

    Muhammad 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: , , ,

  • Day By Day

    Day By Day by Chris Muir on NSA Surveillance Hearings

    Powerline: Questioned by a Republican? Impossible!

    Chris Muir’s Day By Day comments on Paul’s participation in today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing:

    It occurs to me that in all the years that Ted Kennedy and Dick Durbin have stood before microphones on Capitol Hill, answering questions posed by the Washington press corps, they might never have had to answer a question asked by someone who wasn’t a fellow Democrat. This may, indeed, have been a watershed moment.


    Technorati Tags: , , ,