Canada isn't the only infidel land where there's an issue about a woman being able to give sworn testimony in court while wearing a gal bag. They're having the same go-round with it Down Under:
A Perth judge is set to decide this week whether a Muslim woman can wear a full burqa while giving evidence before a jury in a fraud case.
WA District Court Judge Shauna Deane is due to hear submissions on Thursday from lawyers for the prosecution and defence regarding the witness who wishes to wear the burqa, also called a niqab.
Er, actually, a burqa is the sack in toto, while the niqab is merely the facial shmatta portion which may be worn with or without the sack. And why would any chick feel the need to go incognito?
The woman is a strict Muslim who does not want to show her face to men.
Strict Muslim men don't want her to show her face (a way of exerting control over her), more like. But why would that present a problem in court?
Defence lawyers have raised concerns about how the jury is expected to read the woman’s facial expressions if they cannot see her face.
Can we at least be honest enough to admit that if a mask's in place, it's well nigh impossible to read anyone's face. But, now, how long has this case been going on and what's it all about?
On Tuesday, the jury in the case was discharged after the estimated time for the fraud trial of a Muslim college director blew out from 10 days to five weeks, causing attendance problems for five jurors.
A new jury will be empanelled when a retrial is approved...
Anwar Sayed has been charged with fraudulently obtaining $1.125 million from the state and federal governments by falsifying the number of students at the Muslim Ladies College of Australia in Kenwick in Perth’s south.
Sayed from Canning Vale, is the director of Muslim Link Australia, which runs the school...
The Muslim Ladies College of Australia, huh? Sounds ever so genteel and "old-fashioned". A regular haven, I'm sure, for "old-fashioned" burqa-wearers.
Update: Looks like there's more to the story than the above yahoo! story revealed. There's this, from 2007, in the Australian:
Zubair Sayed, an Afghan war criminal, until December 9 2007 running "terrorist making factories" in Australia at taxpayers expense.
A PERTH Muslim school has been shut down for focusing too heavily on religious instruction, as its director was charged with fraud over the alleged theft of $355,934 from the college's federal funding.
State Education Minister Mark McGowan yesterday closed Muslim Ladies College in Kenwick after a departmental investigation found the school was employing unregistered teachers and failing to comply with the West Australian curriculum.
With only five days to go until the end of term, Mr McGowan said departmental staff were working with parents to place their children in new schools from next year.
A separate police investigation has resulted in the arrest of the kindergarten to Year 12 school's acting director, Zubair Sayed.
Mr Sayed, who has been filling in as director of the school in Perth's southeastern suburbs since his brother Anwar went to Afghanistan earlier this year, appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Saturday charged with fraud.
Police prosecutor Scott McCormick told the court Mr Sayed wrote a Commonwealth Bank cheque for $355,934, drawing on federal government funding for the college.
It is also alleged the school had been overclaiming for both state and federal government funding.
"This is a matter which is of extreme seriousness, whereby Mr Sayed obtained public money from the commonwealth by deceit," Sergeant McCormick said.
He told the court that detectives had discovered the money had been sent to Pakistan...
To aid all those Pakistani widows and orphans, no doubt.
Supposing I were to tell you that in Gravenhurst, Ontario, the town where I spent this past weekend and where I met up with my canine doppleganger, there was a national historic site dedicated to a man who's a "hero" both in Italy and Canada. And, further, suppose I told you that this "hero" was Benito Mussolini's army doctor, a noted "humanitarian" who did his utmost to ensure that the fascist forces were treated for wounds incurred on the battlefield in furtherance of the fascist cause. And, as the icing on this suppositional cake, what if I said that every year thousands of Italians make the trek--pilgrimage, really--from Italy to Canada to visit this historic site, once this fascist hero's home?
"Preposterous! you might well exclaim. "Unfathomable!" I can hear you add. And, of course, you'd be correct. It is absurd to think of Parks Canada maintaining such a shrine. Preposterously and unfathomably, however, it does maintain one to a man who's a hero both in China and Canada--Dr. Norman Bethune, who garnered fame and glory for being Mao Tse Tung's army surgeon.
Mao--you know, communist dude, perhaps the greatest mass-slaughterer in history, a guy who, when it comes to bloodthirstiness makes Benito Mussolini look like the Dalai Lama?
Mind you, since the good doctor was a communist and not a fascist, and since both plaques in front of the historic site--one placed there by the province, the other by the feds--mention that the he was an early champion of "socialized medicine" (while, shall we say, overlooking both the communism and Mao's proclivity for mass murder), and since Parks Canada's Bethune House continues to attract pilgrims from China come to pay homage to Mao's army surgeon, thereby boosting the local economy, I guess it's okay to continue venerating this "great" Canadian.
As per this in Ha'aretz, not so much:
Sinai was and still is a hotbed for Global Jihad. Weapons are being smuggled from Sinai into Gaza, including Grad missiles. Some of these missiles presumably remain in Sinai, waiting to be launched... Global Jihad activists have come to the Gaza Strip, trained there, armed themselves and returned to Sinai to commit acts of terror against tourist targets in Sinai and elsewhere in Egypt. That may be the case this time as well.
Oh, well. I'm sure the next "land for peace" deal will work out much better.
If you're a clueless squish who knows (or who has made a decision to know) nothing about Islam, nothing about "jihad is the way; sharia is the goal," nothing about the modern resurgence of supremacism being pushed by the Muslim Brotherhood, the Saudis and the Khomeinists, then, and only then, could you write something like this:
I was deeply saddened by the Anti-Defamation League’s position against the construction of the Sufi community center in downtown Manhattan.
The hostile reaction that has met the plans for the Cordoba Center should come as no surprise. Some of the arguments even sound reasonable but that does not make them acceptable. ADL National Director Abe Foxman recommends that the community center should be allowed to exist but at a distance from the World Trade Center site. Indeed, in our society we have sought to ensure a minimum level of decorum around mourning and treatment of the dead, even when it interferes with other core principles.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is not attempting to erect a statue of Osama Bin Laden or to spew hatred. His message appears to be one more of dialogue and reconciliation. All Muslims did not seek to destroy the Towers and kill Americans. Many stand as proud Americans.
The Jewish people share collective trauma, and Foxman’s response demonstrates that the Holocaust continues to shape our collective psyches.
Many complain that they do not hear moderate Muslims rebuking their radical co-religionists. Let’s demonstrate what a truly free society looks and acts like. German society has not shied away from confronting the Holocaust. One cannot walk through Berlin without being assaulted by memorials to the past. Give a Muslim population that chance to come face to face with these issues on a daily basis...
Yes, as Jews is behoves us to give that nice "interfaith" imam the benefit of the doubt. And maybe if we do, "the Muslim population" will be spurred to "come face to face" with uncomfortable issues--like, say, the Muslim propensity for Holocaust denial and the ugly, bald-faced Judenhass written right into Islam's holy texts. Don't worry 'bout a thing, 'cause every little thing's gonna be alright.
Anyone else hear echoes of German Jewry circa 1933 (with maybe a hint of Bob Marley) in any of this?
Update: Robert Spencer says NYC approving construction of this mega-edifice amounts to a "greenlight for Islamic supremacism."
Funny, that also describes the squishy, self-loathing Western social doctrine of multiculturalism.
Update: Andy McCarthy sees parallels between the "interfaith" imam and Turkey's p.m.:
The GZM’s backers — Imam Rauf, in particular — are striking reminders of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. For years, American and European opinion elites ignored a wealth of evidence to the contrary and pronounced Erdogan a moderate Muslim — purveyor of a hip, modern, tolerant, Western-friendly Islam. His Islamist past? His reluctance to condemn terror groups like Hamas? His practice of sending one message to Western audiences and another, quite different one to Muslim audiences? Nothing to worry about, we were told.
Move along now, folks. No Islamic supremacism of any sort to see here.
The Arab American National Museum in--where else?--Dearborn, Mich., is said to be raising funds to erect a statue to its very own Lady Gaga, Helen "Send the Joooos 'Back' to Poland" Thomas.
Nutty Hezbo chieftan Nasty Nasrallah claims he has irrefutable "proof" that the Jooos and not his own odious minions were behind the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's Rafik Hariri.
Nice try, Nasty.
In a country where the multiculti cult of "human rights" has turned us into a bunch of hyper-sensitive weenies cowering before the likes of Barbara Hall and Jennifer Lynch, is it any wonder that airport security workers are reluctant to make waves (and risk being accused of--quel horreur!--racism and/or profiling) by asking Muslim chicks to remove their face shmattas? In such an environment, isn't is just a whole lot easier to let the women through without verifying that their faces do indeed match their passport photos?
The answer to both questions, obviously, is yes. Nonetheless, Transport Minister John Baird has vowed to crack down on this potentially deadly security lapse:
“I think if there’s people who think that, wow, this is too sensitive – that we’ve got to make exceptions – that is just a non-starter,” he said Tuesday morning about the possible reasons why Air Canada officials, who were boarding the passengers, appear not to have asked the women to uncover their faces.
He says political correctness is not a valid reason for not asking someone to show their face. “It’s one law for all, everyone is treated equally and this is not an invasive request to see someone’s face. This is Canada. We’re an open society. It’s part of our Canadian values and principles.”
One law for all? Oh, Mr. Baird, you're so funny. Everyone knows that the law can be set aside if and when peoples' precious and easily-hurt "feelings" are at stake (and the "insensitive" minimum wage airport security workers don't want to be on the receiving end of a "human rights" suit).
Update: Are we now harvesting the fruits of Elmo's "sensitivity training"?
Four hot-to-trot virgin-seekers tried to blow themselves up inside a NATO base in Kandahar with the aim of offing lots of kafirs. Luckily, they were really "amateurish" and the infidels had no problem taking them out.
Re that particular (and oft-employed) characterization: aren't they all "amateurs" until they manage to pull off the big kaboom? At which point they turn "pro"--but only for the split second it takes to self-eviscerate.
The Grand Holy Rollah has ruled that playing tunes in his rancid land is strictly verboten. From Iran Inquirer:
In some of the most extreme comments by a senior regime figure since the 1979 revolution, Khamenei said: “Although music is halal, promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic.”
Khamenei’s comments came in response to a request for a ruling by a 21-year-old follower of his, who was thinking of starting music lessons, but wanted to know if they were acceptable according to Islam, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. “It’s better that our dear youth spend their valuable time in learning science and essential and useful skills and fill their time with sport and healthy recreations instead of music,” he said.
And why, pray tell, are Iranians obliged to heed this joyless churl? Why, because the "unassuming" despot thinks his words manifest the same heft as those of Islam's founder:
Unlike other clerics in Iran, whose religious rulings are practised by their own followers, Khamenei’s views are interpreted as administrative orders for the whole country, which must be obeyed by the government. Last month Khamenei issued a controversial fatwa in which he likened his leadership to that of the Prophet Muhammad and obliged all Iranians to obey his orders.
Besides, the Ayatollah's distate for tunes goes waaaay back:
Khamenei has rarely expressed his views on music publicly, but he is believed have played a key role in the crackdown on Iran’s music scene following the revolution. When Khamenei was president, he banned western-style music, forcing many stars to go into exile.
Houshang Asadi, a former cellmate of Khamenei before the Islamic Revolution said: “He hated the music from the beginning.
“There were times I sang a song by Banan (a popular vocalist) for him and he told me to avoid music and instead pray to God”, said Asadi, who shared a cell with Khamenei for four months in Moshtarak prison in Tehran in 1976 and stayed friend with him for several years after the revolution. “The only music he liked was revolutionary and religious anthems,” said Asadi.
Quel Grinch. Hey, Ayatollah--this one (from Hairan: A Shia Tribal Musical) is 4 U:
When Mahmoud has scratched his seventh louse,
And Iran’s allied with Hezbo and Hamas,
Then war will guide the planet
And jihad'll cause a fuss.
This is the dawning of the age of A-scary-us,
Age of A-scary-us,
A-scary-s, A-scary-us.
Disharmony and tons of seething.
Bullying and hate abounding.
Lots of falsehood and taqiyyah,
They will bait and then deceive ya.
You won’t know what to believe.
A-scary-us,
A-scary-us.
When Mahmoud has spied the 12th imam,
He knows just where the guy is comin' from.
Last seen a-scramblin' down a well.
Soon Joo-oos'll roast in Hell.
This is the dawning of the Age of A-scary-us,
Age of A-scary-us.
A-scary-us,
A-scary-us.
Let the nukes fall,
Let the nukes fall,
Let the nukes fall
The nukes fall down…
Scores in Pakistan murdered last night.
A massacre--no, a real blight.
A UN "probe" of Karachi?
Hey, don't be so touchi.
A "flotilla" is nowhere in sight.
