Francis Chartrand for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles

Labels: Art and culture

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 3:09 AM 0 Comments

Labels: Islam, Religion and fanaticism

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 5:26 PM 0 Comments

The auditors have been entitled to a preemptive lynching without explanation or put in context. For many Quebecers, the extreme right refers to neo-Nazism and fascime. Lépine then tells us that Wilders is one of the most popular politicians in the Netherlands, a country hitherto known for its liberal values left close to those of Quebec. It would have liked to know how a people can suddenly hear an equally dramatic shift towards the extreme right. What happened? Not a word! Nothing. The journalist Lépine, its high moral acknowledge, judge and condemn and asks us to believe on parole.

However, after running Fitna a court in The Hague has dismissed the Federation of Islamic Netherlands requesting an injunction banning the film. The Tribunal held that the right to freedom of expression allowed Wilders to publicly criticize radical Islam and passages of the Koran, and that although it is provocative, the message Wilders is not a call to hatred or violence against Muslims.

The spirit of Munich refers to the cowardice before Hitler. The Europeans have refused to fight Nazism while he was still time. We know the result.

Several of us share the concern of objective information released from the straitjacket of the single thought. We seek to understand and we are surprised at just under this chronic lack of depth and probity in the analysis of current events, such as this in the media.

At Radio Canada or in newspapers widely circulated only conformity with generally accepted opinion is tolerated. There is a reason beyond the so-called progressive ideas and anti-that everyone is supposed to feel and convey, we discover a state of mind similar to that which prevailed in the 30 years before the Anschluss and Munich Agreement: The difficulty in admitting the existence of danger.

It must be said that the danger is practical only when it was something very valuable to defend. The Western elites are not aware they have something worthwhile to be protected. For many intellectuals and those who go for such contempt and denigration of our civilization is a mark of intelligence, they boast of being "iconoclasts" as though Western civilization and its values were icons and not the same land where they are rooted! The relativism is really a negation of its own values, it invariably akin to nihilism.

When one wants to deny the validity of a message on throwing stones at the messenger in dealing with racist and Islamophobic, and woe to anyone who dares to draw conclusions practices into line with the seriousness of the message. Ask the danger of Islamism in Leftists and pacifists, they will tell you that the danger comes not from Islam but those sounding the alarm about it, just as pacifists of 1938 for which the danger did not come Hitler, but Churchill!

But the "crime" of those who, like Geert Wilders, lift the veil on the violence of Islam, has an aggravating circumstance, it undermines the naively optimistic ambient and blindness voluntary. To demonstrate that Islam is inherently violent is contrary to the vulgate pacifist. The facts are not enough to absolve those who relate objectively. Describe the reality is in itself a crime, expected that informing people is warn them of danger; strange as it may seem this is the awareness of the threat which is denounced as responsible for the conflict, not threat itself.

The Western newspapers have hung the label "extreme right" on Geert Wilders, while the latter defends liberal values threatened by Islam: freedom of expression, gender equality, democracy, secularism, non-violence, gay rights etc. . Is this ignorance or misinformation? For some it is the pathological lack of curiosity, they repeat a good parrots what other newspapers have written. For others it is simply the well will be adopted to discredit a politician who showed a rare courage in denouncing extremism and violence. The media are seeking to destroy a person who risks his life to defend the kind of society without which these same media could not survive!

To reduce someone to silence or discredit it suffices to accuse, without the slightest evidence of racism or Islamophobia. He hangs a "yellow star" to better insulate the rest of the citizens and to muzzle anyone who might be tempted to approve it aloud. The process is very convenient, the accusers are not required to provide evidence and their victims are automatically stripped of their rights. In the case of Mark Steyn and magazine Maclean the presumption of innocence, the right to be heard, the right to make full answer and defence have been trampled upon by the very people (the Committee for Human Rights) who were supposed to promote them.

We are witnessing here in a strange alliance, that of the far-right Islamist and somehow left that has lost its bearings. The hatred of the West gives his hand to the self-hatred: tactical alliance with Islamic alliance but suicidal for the left. When our worst enemy becomes our main ally to submit our partner there is a problem.

And we do will come out not so collectively we refuse to admit that there is problem. To cure it is necessary above all else s'avouer ill and put away the habits and behaviours that exacerbate the disease. The Quebec society must take note of the dangers that Islam poses to all citizens. This ideology of extreme right violently opposed to democracy, freedoms and human rights, it attacks the rule of law that seeks to distort and to submit. For islamolucides the challenge is enormous, objectively inform people using its best, their intelligence their judgement and their sense of values.

Labels: Hostile races, Islam, Marie-Êve Marineau, Religion and fanaticism

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 2:33 PM 0 Comments

At least 65 people were wounded in shooting early this morning in Kalma Camp in Darfur, Sudan. They were admitted to a clinic run by Médecins Sans Frontières. Kalma Camp is home to more than 90,000 people, and is one of the largest camps for displaced people in Darfur.

MSF is currently evacuating 47 patients from the clinic to a hospital in Nyala, about 17 km away. More than half of the patients admitted to the clinic are women and children.

Today’s shooting follows weeks of increasing tension in and around Kalma Camp. In recent weeks, around 6,000 families have been displaced by flooding. There has also been a shortage of clean drinking water due to a lack of fuel to run the pumps.

MSF has worked in Kalma Camp since May 2004. Staff run an outpatient department and a women's health centre. A mental health program addresses the profound psychosocial stress and trauma experienced by the population. The MSF team also responds to the emergency needs of new arrivals as needed.

Labels: Doctors Without Borders, Iba Bouramine, Sudan

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 12:00 PM 0 Comments

Labels: Québec, Religion and fanaticism

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 8:48 PM 0 Comments

Canada's reputation as a champion of democracy and human rights is shamefully surfaite.

To our many readers of the Maghreb countries who hope to forward a visa to immigrate to Quebec, know what awaits you. The raw truth is revealed without complacency by journalist Mario Roy of the newspaper La Presse, a daily newspaper in Quebec seriously big draw. Mario Roy wrote today that Canada is not worthy to receive the Olympic Games (editor's note: even less immigrants). He recalled that Canada has been repeatedly condemned by the international community. In particular, Canada has been:

"... repeatedly denounced by various agencies UN and human rightist his abuses against indigenous people, or the homeless, or cultural minorities."

"Exaction" means abuse, violence, looting committed against the people, abuse of power.

The accurate portrait of Canada is based on reports from UN agencies, a reliable and credible source. The authors of these reports are also informed by Canadian NGOs very close to reality on the ground.

Also, Canadians, especially Quebecers, are also known for its endemic racism, Islamophobia rampant, the systematic practice of racial profiling by the authorities, and the brutality of its unnamed police officers who tend to kill members of minorities, without moods and with impunity.

To those who are thinking of immigrating to Quebec, I, Francis Chartrand, I give you a proud service in preventing you from ignoble fate that awaits you here. We strongly recommend that you consider another destination for your projects migration. In essence, the country where you live now is probably much more civilized and fair. Your fate will be nothing improved immigrant in Quebec. Quite the contrary! Your life will be a continued escalation of "abuses" of injustice and persecution.

Your compatriots from Maghreb now settled in Quebec complain right, and in all forums imaginable, atrocities which they are victims as low minority in the hands of a tyrannical majority. They fear in particular that Quebec, a nation known for his Nazi sympathies and his heavy genocidal past, did come very soon Muslims interned in camps of death.

It is a humanism that we'll reveal the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about Quebec and Canada. The sense of honor prevents perhaps your former compatriots say how much they are unhappy here. Many people complain that their immigration project is a failure, because of the malice of Quebecers, of course. They bitterly regret their decision.

You can not say that you did not know.

Labels: Francis Chartrand, Human mistake

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 8:22 PM 0 Comments

APA - London (United Kingdom) A Somali citizen detained in Britain and considered as the 'prime suspect' in murder of French police, Sharon Beshenivsky, refuses to share his cell with white people, believing that it would " a violation of their human rights. "

The British prison authorities said Thursday they had been forced to leave Mustaf Jamma care of a jailer Muslim because of his frequent complaints and its requirements racists.

"He always complains that her guardian is white," confesses a prison officer.

In 2005, after firing on the officer Sharon Beshenivsky, Jamma, then aged 27, had managed to deceive the vigilance of agents of the British security, disguising as a woman is veiled from head to toe, and taking into used the passport of her sister.

He was found last year in Somalia and brought back to Britain, where he is awaiting judgement from Wakefield Prison in West York.

According to the prison authorities, Mustaf refuses any contact with prisoners or staff Caucasian, especially when it comes to women, on the pretext that he wants to be respected religion and human rights.

"He refuses even to make basic things, like collecting his mail, he entrusts to other prisoners black Muslims, simply because he wants no contact with whites," added services, prisons.

"It must regularly undergo testing for drugs, but refuses to cooperate," added the officials of the prison, very embarrassed.

Source: The "racist requirements" of a detainee Somali embarrass his jailers English, APA, April 25, 2008 (here)

In English: Somali Suspect's "racist Demands" Pose Extra Burden for UK Prison Officials, Net News Publishers, April 24, 2008 (here)

Labels: Anne Humphreys, Hostile races, United Kingdom

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 5:51 PM 0 Comments

For our collaborator Helios d'Alexandrie, a Quebecer adoption, it is good to live in Quebec, a haven of peace which must not be sacrificed on the altar of obscurantism. Helios draws a portrait of Quebecers people through its history of openness to immigrants. He criticises Muslims who show contempt and arrogance toward those who have welcomed and gave their all constitutional rights, including that of the publicly denigrate.

Through a comment on the statement of Touhami Rachid Raffa submitted to the Commission Bouchard-Taylor in September 2007, Helios gives us his vision of the Quebec nation and its people. It describes the broader issues that mask the debate on religious accommodations, a tree that hides the forest. He talks about the reaction of politicians, media, courts and the people. He denounced lobbyists Muslims in derogatory speech to the Quebec people whose attitude "slamolucide" is marked by the legitimate concern to preserve its heritage and its values of peace and social harmony that try to disrupt the Islamists present for obscurantist Quebec. In fact, everything was going well in Quebec before the Islamists arrived. - Marc Lebuis

Commentary on the memory Touhami Rachid Raffa, by Helios d'Alexandrie

In the introduction to his brief filed last September in the commission Bouchard-Taylor, Touhami Rachid Raffa would like to link the issue of reasonable accommodations and that, quite alien to debate, the care and the integration of immigrants. It does not spare his criticism to the government and, even if the latter had better fulfill its role in this area, there is no reason that this review should automatically be spread on subjects which are not related.

Criticizing the government, the task of full responsibility, is easy but it is not provided a credible diagnosis of the situation. The failure to integrate have multiple causes, whose main concern people themselves. To ignore this reality is likely to déresponsabiliser those individuals and groups to which they belong.

The critic's function is free to deflect responsibility and the consequences of failure on society or the government, which feed a sense of collective guilt with respect to those who, with a time assistance, must learn to take care and adapt to their new environment. More government intervention will bring no solution is the empowerment of individuals is the key.

But critics also free function of asserting a very good account, the compassion of the author and his interest in the cause of immigrants who are struggling to integrate. It serves as a kind of card.

For the severe judgement as it relates to the Government in its introduction, TR Raffa gives a polemical tone in his memory. While recognizing, he asserts that his presence is "a proof of his sincere desire to make a small contribution to the reflections of two eminent intellectuals of the most credible and most respected who has been assigned a daunting task that some describe 'Impossible'. Raffa handles the censer with such dexterity that handles the verb, we take it for a court poet who praised the sultan. On the premise that it gives nothing for nothing, the flattery seems to provide the author to provide evidence of its sincerity far more tangible than its mere presence before the committee.

Hierarchy of rights

His genuflexion accomplished, Raffa committed in the heart of the matter which has no relation to the introduction to his memory. He expressed his concern about the idea dMune possible hierarchy of rights. At first glance it offers no detail on this point, but it is probably referring to possible conflicts between freedom of religion and gender equality, the latter concept would receive an interpretative clause in the charter of rights giving an precedence over freedom of religion.

Remaining in the wave, it favors without saying so clearly the status quo, citing the delicacy of the topic which he said is "difficult reducible to any hint of standardization and management."

The last provincial election

Then suddenly and without warning, he embarks on a long detour that away for a time of the hierarchy of rights and who engages on the ground accommodate religious and political events that preceded the last provincial election. Suddenly the obséquiosité given way to controversy and Raffa is sparing no attacks against the government, media, political parties and to the Committee on Human Rights. The Quebec people or rather, according to Raffa, "a fringe of the so-called majority population of Quebec strain" is seriously bullied.

To give an idea of your argument, it is worth mentioning these short excerpts: "Spirits stung (it means warmed), controversial and popular media, shameless media hype, confusing and difficult debate started on the language, bad faith, confusion inextricable , Emotional context, old feeling of being besieged, confused framework, bias on the part of government irresponsibility of the state, nationalist passions, xenophobic connotations, guilty silence, tension identity, (who) has slipped without control, historic reflex fear, operated with duplicity and shameless, populist party of the right marginal, and repeated attacks indiscriminately, Quebec society that is hard to tame statements and the expression of identity, Islamophobia and anti-Semitic feelings, sacrosanct gender equality ".

In short if you follow the reasoning of Raffa, the fringe of the so-called majority population of Quebec strain "suffering from chronic insecurity and growing a siege mentality, saw its old fears exacerbated by the media concerning religious accommodations harmless. Old identity reflexes were then put in motion, leading to an uncontrolled skid where nationalist passions, racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are expressed without restraint, and that the government failed, unable or unwilling contain or stop in time and that a populist political party and (horror!) right has managed, not without hypocrisy, to exploit to his advantage! The emotionalism and irrationality of Quebec did impact on Raffa? I could not stop myself from reading his memory to think about the parable of the straw and the beam.

The Quebec and their government are invited to recognize in this caricature, at least Quebeckers committee members must be convinced that it represents reality. To achieve its goal Raffa is absolutely necessary to put the people of Quebec off; this fringe of the so-called majority population of Quebec strain "which presents such an attitude and such behaviour does not merit being taken into account in decisions Equally important on accommodations and… the religious hierarchy of rights! QED.

Praise the status quo

The rest of his memory is a ode to the status quo. We must not affect the dynamics of accommodations and let the judges decide on a case by case indefinitely. The hierarchy of rights is a very bad idea because a law (the religious) can not be less than another (the right to equality of the sexes).

Raffa protests against what he calls the "sacrosanct gender equality." In believe it is a disruptive element, a dog that would launch in the bowling religious accommodations. Those or rather those who are advocating a kind of religious fundamentalists, they are gender equality an icon! The fact that this notion is of course also fundamental equality of citizens before the law does not appear to have retained his attention. Finally, it is not the Islamic veil in all its variations, the imposition of the veil for girls non-pubères, premises for prayer, separate pools, cafeterias halal, the requirements of all kinds in the field of medical care And in child care that deserve to be described as sacrosanct, but the notion of gender equality!

For the commissioners whose mandate is to collect the views of Quebec, Raffa went to say not to listen to Quebec! This is probably at this level that is the unease felt he says facing the mandate of the commission. In other words, it does not recognize the validity of the commission and still less any conclusion which would be based on the opinions expressed with the exception of those who agree with his.

Gérard Bouchard who is a historian and belongs to the fringe of the so-called majority population of Quebec strain "is left to count. It is useful, given the tone and content of memory, put things in terms of history, if only to restore the facts and make the people of Quebec what it deserves.

Algerian-Quebecers and Canadians

But before discussing the topic I would like to emphasize that TR Raffa, in his memory, identified as Algerian-Quebec and Canada. His Algerian identity and its ties with Algeria are present as well must be present to his memory the tragic events in Algeria has experienced over the past twenty years. The killings and abuses of all kinds had both political causes and religious causes. In turn, the Islamists and state security murdered without mercy on poor villagers and urban disarmed. The results of the slaughter: beyond a hundred thousand killed. Such an "Algerian" (Islamist) "resolve problems" is perhaps one reason why he left Algeria and immigrated to Quebec, it is he remembered when he wrote his memory? One thing is certain, many Quebec confronted with requests for religious accommodations remember the causes of these massacres and all the massacres, which until this day, are perpetrated in the name of Islam.

Quebecers: a democratic and peaceful people

If we had only one adjective to describe the people of Quebec, it would choose peaceful. Its history over the past four centuries is disappointing for those who bear an interest in armed conflicts. From the battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, the crisis of October 1970 through revolt patriots in 1830, Quebec has seen very few conflicts. Those of its young people who died in combat fell on the battlefields of Europe during the two major global conflicts. We owe them our freedom to party.

The Quebec have so abhor the violence that any organization or political party who take leaves can be found quickly without support and completely rejected by the population, is the sort experienced by the FLQ after the assassination of Pierre Laporte in 1970. Two referendums on the national question have been held, and although Quebeckers were politically divided over their future, no violence is coming undermine the popular consultation process. That one of 1995 was decided by a very narrow margin, yet the disappointment of the losers has caused or riot or demonstration.

The democratic traditions of Quebec are well entrenched, they go back to the eighteenth century. The country has known no coup d'etat or dictatorship. During the last century it has hosted a large number of immigrants many of whom came from the Middle East. These people are well integrated into the country and the population even if initially they did not speak french. The itinerant trader Syrian or Lebanese, from village to village offering household fabrics and things were very much alive in the memories of grandmothers Quebec, there is barely thirty years, yet spoke with affection and nostalgia.

Arab Presence in Canada

In his book very well documented: "The Arab presence in Canada," published in 1981, Baha Abu Laban, doctor of philosophy and sociology professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, relate to page 107, and I quote "At the beginning, the Arab hawkers were mainly attracted by Quebec because, according to our respondents older, unlike the English Canadians, Canadians french were nice and friendly, they showed less arrogance. One of our respondents spoke for many when he told his fellow as follows its debut in the hawking at the beginning of the century: I can not express the gratitude and friendship for Canadians french. I remember many instances where I could not go home at night, either because of long distances or a snowstorm. At that time, roads were not plowed. I knock at the first door that I met and asked hospitality. Je ne parlais ni l’anglais ni le français. I spoke only English or french. At any time, they were pleased to help me." And the author adds: "This feeling of sympathy for the Canadian french, and the fact that Montreal is a port city and a center of commerce may explain the constant increase in size and importance of the colony in Arabic Quebec. "

In addition to Gagnon, Rivard, Thériault and Tremblay, small towns in Quebec from 1882 hosting of Aboud, Assal, Bounadere, and Khalil. Among these last several made fortunes thanks to their work and their business sense without causing among Quebeckers no negative sentiment. The secret of this friendliness is very little, people lived together, that's all! But there is another point and it should not be neglected. The Quebec are curious when they meet someone who comes by the way, that is why they can not help but ask him what country he comes from, but they never inquired of his religion.

Having themselves suffered colonization and have colonized person, Quebeckers do not morbid sense of guilt towards the Third World countries. They have shown solidarity with the peoples who have obtained their independence while noting in many instances, the emergence after the decolonization of leftist dictatorships whose most notable achievement was to loot, and impoverish the délabrer countries on which they ruled. "The proverbial ignorance" of Quebec on international issues is a myth which has a tough life. From the fifties emissions such as "Focus" and "Format sixty" got ratings listening very high. The communicators the most knowledgeable and brightest such as René Lévesque, Andre Payette and the inspired Pierre Nadeau.

Distrust face of Islam

It is because they are familiar with the situation in Islamic countries that Quebeckers are rightly very cautious in everything related to Islam. Their flair rarely the wrong, even when it comes to missed their elites. To observe and draw conclusions from what we see is easy for whom a good eye and did not suffer prejudice or mental block. This is what ordinary Quebeckers whose collective behaviour so reflects their desire for change but continuity, especially smooth and without violence.

The thrust of Islamic world after the first oil shock was seen in Quebec since the advent of Khomeini in Iran. The assassination of Sadat by Islamists followed shortly unrest in Iran. Since then, it does not happen a week without the Islamic fanaticism does about him. From the Salman Rushdie affair in the assassination of Theo Van Gogh, taking power of the Taliban attacks of September 11, news had ceased to show the bloody events which radical Islam has been blamed. Alongside these events, the ordinary citizen observed a phenomenon no less disturbing that a theater for Islamic countries. The thrust of Islamism in countries like Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Thailand is invariably associated with intolerance and violence against non-Muslims. The repression and violence also reached the progressive or modernist Muslims, particularly artists, thinkers and journalists (this phenomenon has been particularly active in Algeria and Egypt). The correlation between the strict observance of Islam and intolerance against another is very high wherever Islam has succeeded in winning a significant number of followers.

Status of Women

But that's not all, Quebeckers and more the Quebec have found that this surge of Islamism is a worrying deterioration of the status of women. The claim of the veil by some Muslim women (activists) is an attempt sewn white wire to divert attention from the distressing situation affecting women in Islamic countries. The UN report on social development in countries of the Middle East could not be more eloquent. Where women are oppressed, relegated to household chores, forced to hide, few in public spaces, social development is at its lowest. This phenomenon associated with the absence of democracy is responsible for this stagnation and even regression of the Arab and Muslim countries.

The example of European countries

Last but not least, the example of European countries made with an immigration uncontrolled and poorly integrated from Islamic countries is enough to incite caution anyone with judgement. The desire not to repeat the example of the United Kingdom, Belgium and Holland, besides that of France, is more legitimate and should be credited to Quebec.

That is why attempts by Islamists to reproduce earthen Quebec and Canada the same scenario they managed to impose on Muslim countries and Europe, faced as much resistance on the part of Quebec. This resistance is not only legitimate, it is also beneficial.

That is why everything must be done to prevent the Islamists to impose their program. It is our future as the peaceful nature of our society. The debate on religious accommodations or on the hierarchy of rights serves as a screen to more fundamental issues, it is sort of the tree that hides the forest. Islamism seeks to impose itself on spare parts that would later be collected to build a wall separating Muslims from non-Muslims. It is useless to discuss how best to respond to requests for accommodations. Whatever the honourable compromise that the host society will strive to find, it will never be regarded as definitive, the Islamists will use as a springboard, or at best a new starting point.

Progress of radical Islam in Quebec

The inclusive and pluralistic society that Quebeckers have established for decades is threatened by the rise of Islamism in Quebec. The Quebec strain is not the only ones to say, the vast majority of immigrants, including Muslims say the same thing. Those who come from the Middle East and who fled oppression Islamist are well placed to detect signs which do not hide: the veil in all its variations, the imposition of the veil for girls non-pubères, premises for prayer , Separate pools, cafeterias halal, the requirements of all kinds in the field of medical care and child care, sermons in mosques hate, hate literature imported Arabia, honour killings, assassinations because apostasy and proved the presence of jihadists are all indicators of the progress of radical Islam.

In this context, it is not surprising that provincial elections in spring 2007 have caused "surprises". Several factors have contributed to the results, including dissatisfaction with the outgoing government and doubts about the ability of the head of the official opposition to fulfil the mandate of prime minister.

Hérouxville and elections

However, the Hérouxville factor has played a significant role. Against a small municipality that had the courage to define what its inhabitants do not want to, the reaction of media and elites has proved to be derogatory. There have been few voices were raised to recall that the gesture of hérouxvillois reported a real concern, but they were drowned in the flood of accusations of racism. Politicians, with the exception of outgoing prime minister who has been condescending, preferred discretion. The leader of the ADQ had merely repeating what some columnists have said while stressing the fact that immigrants have a duty to integrate respecting the culture of the host society. In this position he was dealing with Jean-Marie Lepen of Quebec!

The Hérouxville event has proved important in the eyes of Quebec because he uncovered the inability of the major parties and elites to acknowledge the threat that radical Islam poses to society. Rarely has the divide between the people and those who claim to represent him has been so blatant. This factor largely explains the postponement of hundreds of thousands of votes in favour of the ADQ. The people of Quebec has indicated in the polls for its refusal of political correctness when it prevents the government to cope with problems.

The Quebeckers are known for their collective wisdom when it comes time to launch a powerful message, they have done democratically and peacefully as they have the habit of doing so. The government regularly lends an ear to the complacent pressure groups was called to order: it is the people which is the source of power and not the representatives more or less self-certain groups of citizens.

Legitimate concerns

The Quebeckers in the many briefs they submitted to the commission Bouchard-Taylor frankly explained their concerns regarding Islamism. They did not fail to emphasize the commissioners their fears that immigrants in Quebec to import the serious troubles that afflict their country of origin. Can we say that these legitimate concerns were taken seriously? In fact, despite the unequivocal warning served by Quebeckers in the polls, the government finds it very difficult to take note of the situation. It continues to set its eyes on the tree (the religious accommodations) behind which hides the forest (radical Islam).

It is both surprising and gratifying to see how the people is more insightful than its elites. The think-on, even the judges of the Supreme Court do not come, in terms of common sense, the kingpin of the ordinary citizen. Seeking to settle on some requests for religious accommodations, our brave judges have chosen to rely solely on test of the sincerity of the applicant. That, they say, not to find themselves caught in the skein contradictory interpretations and not set itself up as religious courts because of their incompetence in the matter. This reasoning apparently flawless suffers from a defect of the most profound: the test of sincerity is entirely subjective and does not take into account the context of the applicant. In terms of religious belief, Buddhist and Islamic placed on the same footing, they are accepted as sincere, but the first for a spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the second Osama bin Laden!

Given the close correlation between the strict observance and religious intolerance should be openly acknowledge this reality. The impasse mental and self-censorship are only push forward the confrontation of the problem while the amplifying. A very narrow legalistic attitude has so far prevailed. It is also defended by all those who have no interest in change, but it is contrary to the general interest. No one from the Islamists has interest in seeing the look Quebec in Lebanon or Bosnia. That is why the most basic wisdom requires that we take as soon as possible preventive measures and this is certainly not giving more and more religious accommodations that will succeed in avoiding disaster.

CONCLUSION

The brief filed by Touhami Rachid Raffa the commission Bouchard-Taylor is derogatory in respect of Quebec. Its author is showing arrogance and contempt for the society that has welcomed and gave it all constitutional rights including the bashing in a public forum. Do not dislike him, Quebeckers are a people and Quebec is a nation and not as he defined as "a fringe of the so-called majority population of Quebec strain."

The people of Quebec since 1882 hosts and integrates immigrants from the Middle East, they are Jews Christians and Muslims. Everything was going well until the arrival of Islamic fundamentalism. This religious ideology obscurantist and retrograde is a source of problems wherever it seeks to relocate and expand.

It is good to live in Quebec! Of all the countries that is probably the one who most deserves to be known as a haven of peace. These good ancestors Quebec (and j'inclue here Aboud, Assal, Bounadere, Khalil and all other originating in the Middle East and elsewhere) we have conveyed this deposit which is also a priceless treasure. Will we sacrifice on the altar of religious obscurantism?
Helios d’Alexandrie Helios Alexandria

Labels: Québec

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 4:04 PM 0 Comments

According to Ayatollah Khomeini, are considered unclean "urine, excrement, semen, bones, blood, dogs, pigs, humans and non-Muslim women, wine, beer, sweat camel eating garbage, and so on. "Indeed, for Muslims, the infidels are animals. It will now add postcards to the list of what is impure, and perhaps even banish the word "dog" in the dictionary ...

A postcard with a nice puppy sitting in a hat police to give publicity to the new phone number of force Scottish aroused the indignation of Muslims.

The new telephone number of Tayside Police for non-emergency calls has sparked complaints from members of the Islamic community.

The choice of image on the maps of the Tayside police - a black dog sitting in the hat of a police officer - was raised with the Chief Constable John Vine.

The announcement has upset Muslims because dogs are considered ritually impure. It has sparked anger as some traders Dundee refused to display the ad.

The adviser to Dundee, Asif Mohammed said: "My concern is that this is not welcomed by all communities, with the dog on the cards".

"It was probably a waste of resources allocated to these communities."

"The police should have included. Since then, the police said it was an oversight on their part, and if they had known that the offenserait, they would not have done."

Councillor Asif, who is a member of the Tayside Joint Police Board, said that the force had a diversity consultant and is generally very aware of these issues.

He raised the issue with Mr Vine at a board meeting. The police chief said he was not aware of the concerns and that the force did not attempt to provoke or upset anyone but said he would look into the matter.

Councillor Asif said: "People who have stores will not display the postcard. But police said it was simply an oversight and they did not seek to offend."

The maps showing the Rebel police dog training have been distributed to communities in the entire region to announce the number of single point of contact for non-emergency calls to police.

Labels: Hostile races, Human mistake, Marie-Êve Marineau, United Kingdom

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 3:12 PM 0 Comments

"The media have focused on the death of Freddy Villanueva during a police operation. But who knows virtually nothing about this death, the case is under investigation. This does not need an investigation report to be immediately reviewed, these are riots. On this side, however, very little analysis, as if the fact that a band of thugs have fired on police, firefighters and ambulance was inconsequential. As if such a riot was not only in a pure logic of violence, but in a context of rationality "progressive", on one side opposing the "excluded" and another "executioners".

Carl Bergeron, 28, is a graduate in literature and political science. Essayist, he recently published The State of Quebec and the carnival of decadence. He is also director of blog intelligence consistent. We resume his ticket on August 12 on the recent riots in Montreal-Nord. For a complete dossier on these riots here.

The riots of Montreal-Nord: some observations

Let's first events of Montreal-Nord, as the focal point of media analyses did not focus on the riots as such, which were the real event to dig and cover, but on the death of young Freddy Villanueva in a park during a police operation. This is not anecdotal, when one considers that no one knows virtually nothing about the death of Villanueva, a case under investigation by the Surete du Quebec. The versions heard on both sides are so contradictory that only the investigation will take stock of what has actually happened. The normal procedures will make its way before we know more. The best that can be done in the circumstances is to wait until all the facts in hand before judging.

However, this did not need an investigation report to be immediately reviewed, these are riots. On this side, however, very little analysis, as if the fact that a band of thugs have fired on police, firefighters and ambulance was perfectly harmless, as if Molotov cocktails (a weapon worthy of a civil war) had not been used against the police, and as if, finally, does such a riot was not in a logic of pure violence, but in a context of rationality "progressive", a dissident d On the one hand the "excluded" and another "executioners". La Presse headline indeed one of his articles "A community angry", which was quite the social pattern in which we wished to present events.

The riots of Montreal-Nord are a case too serious to be left in the hands of community workers, nurses social, editorialists mollassons, therapists district, all those unable to help, once again, see only the "social" where there are only political. The riots of Montreal-Nord must call the contrary in the first place Public Safety, and ultimately the army. What we witnessed was a show of force on the part of thugs who had explicitly land claims. "This is OUR neighborhood! We will protect you! "Shouted one of these bandits citizens gathered on the sidewalk, while his compatriots, further, lit fire over fire, threatening homes and shops nearby. These thugs no longer recognize the authority of the City of Montreal on the territory of Montreal-Nord. They therefore decided to wage war to the police, like a street gang dispute in which a gang rival the monopoly of a territory.

This war is not new, it has been underway for many years behind the scenes lobbying social. It began with the establishment of all-round victimaires policies, which have undermined the authority of the police and have too feminized, transforming this institution dedicated to security and order in hospital and humanitarian centre ' psychological assistance. How many efforts, since 15 years, to "bring" youth, playing basketball, inflating ballounes in McDonalds, give nananes, walking a bicycle, making the "awareness" open "posts Community "?

The victimary lobbies - which are rare perversity - have wanted the police lowered the level of youth until his authority is confused with them. They succeeded. The police are now "equality" with young people, especially those in sensitive areas such as Montreal-Nord. It is in this light that one must understand the behavior of thugs who no longer hesitate to openly defy the police, refusing to comply when they are apprehended. The police are our "boyfriend"? Then it jumped above, the stabs, it strangles, on the beat, insult, the misunderstanding as if it was our "boyfriend". The victims among street gangs are not they all killed by former "buddies"? The last thing to do with such individuals, it should be their "boyfriend". For these young people do one thing: force. That is precisely what is lacking in SPVM (editor's note: Police Service of the City of Montreal) and society in general, who has completely lost the sense of the concept of authority, without which no society is viable and no common world possible.

What we saw in Montreal-Nord is doomed to repeat itself in a district to another, as the State authority, through a moribund police department and a justice system complacent, will continue to fragment. Gradually, the law of the jungle will supersede the law of society, and the Mafia and other gangsters become, as once the time of barbarism, tribal chiefs in charge of "security" of a parcel of territory. The regular readers of The IC know, I myself left the neighborhood where I lived for many years, Cote-des-Neiges, because life had become unsustainable, excessive current violence and gangs street too present. I would be little surprise that similar riots broke out in Cote-des-Neiges in the next five or seven years, both the ghettoization of this area is obvious.

The entire sectors of the city, with the assistance of Quebec institutions that promote this type of cultural differentialism are doing secession symbolically with national policy space. By dint of repeating the immigrants they are victims, that they are inherently superior by their foreign character, mobile, nomadic coolissime; force to tell them that our history is filled with horrors, and that the lesser of their folk custom is admirable; strength of their hammering that the West is despicable, it is possible to do anything in Quebec, you can always accommodate, forcing to drive in hatred Naturally, well, you see, they eventually we believe: we're crap and they need to eliminate us.

The cult of Immigrant hysterical, identity métèque, Metis, bastard, uprooted, finally activate a mechanism strong resentment among some of the immigrant population, which no longer why it should undergo to institutions and codes which, according to the rhetoric of repentance into force, it would in any way inferior. The feeling of belonging that is being developed among immigrants is the ethnic communalism, which not only arises out of the national reference, but arose against. It turns a passive hostility to an active insurgency, a decline community an offensive identity. Note that these conditions of civil war have been allowed by our authorities, and nobody else. The cowardice, the well-pensance progressive language of wood and political correctness of the media and political class did the rest. Today, now that war broke out and it went from champ symbolic - where she was taking place for several years - in fact, the "pacifist" tell us that this is not a war but an evil to live; should not be replicated by law enforcement, but by "prevention". They say the same thing riots of Cote-des-Neiges in five years, and so on until the wave of violence to achieve personally in the beautiful areas of Outremont and Saint-Lambert: while there are only they wake up and it will be too late.

I have read, under the pen of several columnists that the "violence on both sides" was "not acceptable" and unprecedented "punishment was resolved anything." What does this mean? How about "violence on both sides" when it comes to government faces a band of thugs? The own State authority is concentrated in its hands the monopoly of violence on its territory: it is the fundamental definition of political sovereignty. No one but the state is supposed to use violence, and yet this same monopoly that the thugs were challenged, enjoying the tacit support of the media class, for whom the "victims" and "excluded" will always right against "the established order."

In a civilized society, violence is legitimate, and it is not "both sides": it lies on one side, the law and order, which has the duty of Use for the common good. It was felt, however, a soft condemnation of the riots, a recognition of the legitimacy of violence among thugs, as if they had been right to loot everything in their path after the death of the young Villanueva, a death that I repeat, there are still nothing.

For those who evoke the fictitious "police brutality" is pleasant to identify deaths that occurred during police operations SPVM over the years, as was the case in La Presse, they do deserve one thing: that the enclave city of Montreal and that we suspend the practice of law in the territory for an indefinite period. No police, no patrol, no guns, no "police brutality", "racial profiling" and other ignominies occidentalo-centrists. Nothing. That dialogue and openness between "citizens of diverse origins." The bikeways, picnics, workshops MNI (editor's note: Institut du nouveau monde).

As for us, fucking rednecks "ethnic" as we are, it will install on the other side of the river, with our binoculars and our sales rifles. Cell phone and walki-talkie in hand, we will then have ample time to discuss different issues with the techno-progressive remained on the ground: "openness to the world", "inclusion", "intercultural mediation", "No - Violence ", etc.. It is possible that the conversation is frequently interrupted because of fires and Molotov cocktails, which can damage the telecommunications infrastructure, but it is a detail. Nothing could prevent the dialogue. The dialogue is eternal and invincible…

The power of the media now dominates political power, to such an extent that it can be said of the media, with Elizabeth Levy and Philippe Cohen, they are able "to shape reality." This would explain the bias of the media for the rioters and their false neutrality compassionate for police. When the media bring to the fore the emotional abuse of a parent bereaved mother, who cries out vengeance on the front page of all newspapers, and they collect 24 hours later the fruits of their staging with riots télégéniques more than ever, they do more than "cover the event": they create it.

In their essay on journalism, Our business has gone wrong (Thousand and One Nights, 2008), Levy and Cohen describe journalism as a "belief", which is still under the auspices of progressivism: "From the standpoint of journalism , They write, the past is necessarily wrong, and the future necessarily desirable, even that power is suspect and challenge its legitimacy. "With this in mind that journalism has become unfit to embody the critical judgement to him is historically allowed. The SPVM necessarily messed up, it is obvious doubt, even if nothing is known of the death of Villanueva, it must be assumed that the authorities have acted badly and that the riots are based largely on a sociological causality, data décryptables in terms of social progressivism. By contrast, it never does come to mind that this is the systematic power among the rioters, who could be the whole problem in this case. For the present reality in this light, for the media, would eventually undermine the "progressive consensus" which they are rightly their bread and milk.

The rioters are too good Show to be like that, overnight, disqualified as a key protagonists of the media spotlight. They are matamores, criminals, bandits, but never mind: we will give them a psychological depth that they have not, we will scrutinize their past, find family photos; short, we will tell a story . The victimary lobbies will remake a health, media-progressive consensus will appeal to more money for community organizations, schools and other therapies fariboles; "ethnic Quebecers" will once again be rehabilitated; ethnic activists will denounce the "racism" the police are still trying to cover the same friendliness and, who knows, a clown nose to patrol; demagogues will continue to fuel the powder keg, and then it will be a rendezvous in Côte-des-Neiges, within five years, for a new episode of the show.

Labels: Hostile races, Religion and fanaticism

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 2:43 PM 0 Comments

Born in Transylvania in 1979, Radu Stoenescu lived in France for two decades. A graduate in philosophy from the Sorbonne University, he is the author of Gandhi, the voluntary exile published in 2007.

He has published in the latest issue of the journal French riposte Lay an article which discusses classical rhetorical traps with which readers point BASCULE are now familiar. "Keywords" which he speaks are "contextualization", "essentialism", "defamation" and "Islamophobia". Using arguments based on reason, Stoenescu thwarts each of these pitfalls of a strong and convincing.

We also join in the bottom of page one two-page leaflet giving arguments in a discussion with Muslims, and you can download. There is particular question outline tactics and the dialectic of Islam. The objective of the authors of the leaflet is to enable you to meet, after his reading, the following questions: Islam is the religion like any other? This tract is available on the internet in french and english.

We also recommend the ticket of 27 February 2008 from Swiss Alain Jean-Mairet. It provides a valuable General Council to criticism of Islam.

Dismantling four rhetorical traditional defenders of Islam, by Radu Stoenescu, Riposte Lay, March 26, 2008

"What is Islam?" Wondered how anxious a lot of our citizens. Let words on our fears we fear that the Muslim ideology is a doctrine fascisante, misogynist, anti-democratic, which aims to subvert republican laws in order to establish its own law, sharia, the whole population , As it does in some Muslim countries. But how do we know if we are right? Who to believe? Malek Chebel, Tariq Ramadan, Ben Laden, Abd al Malik, suburban youth who cry "Allah Akhbar", Robert Redeker, Ayaan Hirsi Ali?

Sources of Muslim ideology

The sources of Muslim ideology are fairly easy to identify: it is the Koran and the life of Muhammad. The life of Muhammad is the key interpretation of the Koran, and it is the perfect example of a Muslim, according to the Koran itself. Muhammad brings the Koran, which itself presents Muhammad as the ideal model of Muslim life. This means that one must study the Hadiths, ie collections more or less apocryphal "acts" of the prophet of Islam. These collections are enormous, and their respective validity is challenged by different currents of Islam.

In the public debate around Islam, whenever one speaks what is most problematic in the Koran and the life of Muhammad, fierce defenders of the Muslim ideology using a series of keywords , And in a specific order. When we cite facts honourable little of the life of Muhammad, such as the consumption of his marriage to a girl of nine years, or the massacre of the Jewish tribe of Banû Quraïdza, we are told that " contextualize "these facts and gestures.

When we cite verses can not be more explicit about the violent attitude to deal with non-Muslims, as the notorious "Verse of the Sword", which says "Kill the infidels wherever you find", c It is still summing interlocutors "contextualize" that attempts to justify the unjustifiable. Then, when you try to enunciate a clear judgement on the nature of Islam, such as the fact Ayaan Hirsi Ali, saying that Islam preaches violence or that Islam is incompatible with democracy, Semi-skilled denounce in their interlocutor "essentialisation" of Islam.

At the same time, they rush to relativize the incompatibility of Islam with democracy recalling the evils of Catholicism five centuries ago, as the Inquisition and the Crusades, or the most obscure verses of the Old Testament As if the Republic had something to do. If one goes even further, and if we advance that Islam and the example of Muhammad are immoral, those who otherwise have no pity nor for circumcised women in Africa, nor adulterers stoned Iran, nor for apostates executed in Afghanistan feel wounded in their sensitivity and cry to "insult" or the "defamation".

And finally, they will threaten a trial for "incitement to racial discrimination", while accusing you know nothing of Islam, "surf on fear" and be "Islamophobic." I will try to thwart all these rhetorical traps to provide intellectual weapons to those who want to express in public their concern over the development of Islam in France.

1. Contextualization

Start with the summons "contextualize". Those who denounce the fundamentalists as "false Muslims" because it lifted out verses from their context, not ever noticed that on the contrary, the fundamentalists recall ever a context to justify their actions. The fundamentalists spend their time to contextualize, ie to try to find and reproduce in their daily lives the same context as one in which Muhammad took this or that decision, then to reproduce the same decision.

The Muslim exegesis works by analogy with the paradigm of the life of Muhammad, "the beautiful model." This is evident in the statements of bin Laden, but also in religious opinion on matters as trivial as how to greet others, or dressing or bathing. For this context, there is a model in the life of Mohammed, you need to copy to be a good Muslim. The call for Jihad against the unbelievers is associated with a context: we have to define the mécréant, and the situation of legitimate self which the rejoinder violent.

This is not about the meaning of the verses in their context that different Muslim fundamentalists of those peaceful, but on the existence of this in this context. The question is not is it that a Muslim must seek reconciliation rather than war when it attacked, no, the question is: today's context is the same as in Medina 627? When the murderer of Theo Van Gogh decided to kill him, he has only a faithful reproduction of Muhammad, Muhammad ibn Maslama, made when the Jewish poet Ka'b Ibn Al-Ashraf was mocked Muslim women: he killed with his blessing. The obligation to contextualize the verses is perfectly followed by the fundamentalists!

Unfortunately for Islam, there is no moral laws to follow in a non-contextualized. Muhammad did not take the Ten Commandments of Moses. The context is precisely what prevents the emergence of a peaceful Islam, not the best way to guard against violence, because the calls for mercy and kindness are also contextualized that calls murder!

In Islam, peace must not be sought at all costs, in absolute, but only if there is a numerical inferiority. The mercy against non-Muslims should only be performed if the unbelievers are not hostile to Muslims. Christians and Jews must not be tolerated in Muslim societies that they submit to Muslim and accept the humiliating status of dhimmis. To put it in philosophical terms: the moral imperatives Muslims are not categorical, but hypothetical. So whenever you're objected that you exit a fact of life of Muhammad from its context, replicate that this episode is itself an enabling environment for teaching and decided that the Muslim believer is called to reproduce.

2. Essentialisation

Turning to the accusation "essentialize Islam." This is a ploy éristique very well explained by Arthur Schopenhauer in his little treatise art have always right. This is the trick 32: "We can quickly eliminate or at least make a statement suspicious of the opponent opposite to ours in putting in an execrable category, as long as related by similarity or even very vaguely. For example, "It is Manichaeism, it's arianisme, (…) is idealism, and so on." In doing so we assume two things: 1) that the statement in question is actually identical in this category, or at least contained in it, and we therefore écrions: "Oh! We are aware, "and 2) that this category is already totally refuted and can not contain a single word of truth."

When you are told "you essentialisez Islam," said qu'essayer you understand precisely what Islam and the judge is essentialism! But this is a lie. Because essentialism is a philosophical doctrine (disproved) that men have a fixed nature makes them always in the same way, in short, they have no free will. But Islam is not a man, but a doctrine. A ideology has a nature, it has no free will as a man.

You can not accuse someone of essentialism that seeks to define precisely the nature of Islam. This does not fall within the category of essentialism. Nobody is accused of essentialism in seeking the exact nature of Christianity, Kantianism, Judaism. Why would you if you try to define Islam? It is difficult to define its nature, but it is the task of thought and all university chairs history of religions. Islam is an object of study, albeit multifaceted, but still definable.

When we come anyway, after much effort, to accept that Islam is étudiable and it is not very nice, its defenders are quick to reduce its harm recalling the tasks of other religions or Other doctrines, including Christianity has generally their preference.

It recalls the Crusades and the Inquisition to relativize the wars waged by Muhammad, and hardness of the Shariah. This too is a ruse rhetoric, for two reasons. First, this does not diminish the harm of a doctrine if others have been equally criminal. Then we confuse historical facts of a certain group of Christians at a certain time with the fundamental teaching of Christianity. The actions of the Crusaders or Torquemada had no exemplary value, while the actions of Muhammad are absolutely paradigmatic. The teaching of the Gospels is not corrupted by the criminal acts of some Christians, while the actions of Muhammad are warriors from the base of Muslim teaching.

3. Defamation

When you arrive at this point in the debate, often rational discussion ceases and defenders of Islam retreat in a pose injured, and began to scream blasphemy, insult and defamation. They treat these words of provocation to racial hatred and accuse their opponents of Islamophobia, praying very strongly that one day a law was passed in France to prohibit criticism of the "beautiful model" Muhammad. Here several legal clarification is needed: "Any allegation or imputation of an act which infringes the honour or reputation of the person or body to which the act is charged is a defamation.

The publication directly or through reproduction of the allegation or imputation that is punishable, even if it is made in the form doubts or if it is a person or body not specifically named, but whose identification is made possible by the words speeches, shouts, threats, written or printed placards or posters in question.. " Wikipedia says: "The author of defamation may exempt itself from its responsibility by providing proof of alleged or charged by demonstrating its good faith.

In a judgement delivered on June 6, 2007, the Cour d'appel de Paris recalls the conditions inherent in each of these possibilities exemption. As "proof of the truth of defamatory facts must be perfect, complete and the corresponding charges in both their materiality and in scope and in their defamatory meaning." As a good faith, "four elements must be met for that [his] benefit (...) can be recognized warned the legitimacy of purpose, lack of personal animosity, prudence and the extent to l 'Expression, and the quality of the investigation. "

In other words, tell the life of Muhammad is not a defamation of Muslims who claim because the facts are defamatory attested by Muslim sources themselves, including by Ibn Hisham, who wrote the biography's oldest Prophet of Islam and which, according to his translator Wahib Atallah, is the most recognized in the Muslim world, "official biography" in some way. So for defamation. The tactical error by Robert Redeker was not cite sources for Muslim support his remarks.

Apart from the alleged defamation, sensitive souls outrées by denouncing the example of Muhammad, accusing critics of Islam to make "incitement to racial discrimination." But the law on this point is very clear: "The images forced the words unpleasant and criticisms are not sufficient alone to be a provocation, with no provocation if formulas too general, vague or ambiguous ( Examples: accuse immigrants of abusing sick leave, controversy among politicians, ...) if those words do not lead to hatred or violence. "In this case, this French law is used exactly by those who might fall under his coup: if political Islam seeks the establishment of a discriminatory social system, in which non-Muslims would have a lower status (dhimmi), then political Islam is "a provocation to racial discrimination because of the MEMBERSHIP NOT a religion. " Political Islam, intimidating, threatening, harassing critics of Islam does exactly what he accuses others to do against him.

One could go further and ponder the implications of the last sentence of each of the five Muslim prayers must impose a daily basis: "there is no other god but Allah, we are sincerely faithful Him in His adoration and our religion DESPITE THE HATRED OF MECREANTS." What are the implications due to be repeated each day that all non-Muslim hate you? Is not this a terrible prejudice against all non-Muslims? How can we live together when the obligatory prayer of every Muslim ends on the free assertion that the hate unbelievers, especially since the Muslim must respond to aggression in a violent manner?

Someone who solemnly repeat five times a day that all others are hostile does not finish it by seeing nothing but enemies around him, then feel entitled to retaliate violently? The reflex Muslim shouting to injustice and oppression when it makes the slightest criticism against Islam, would it not purely Pavlovian induced by this ressassement daily? It seems to me that it might even be regarded as a self-fulfilling prophecy: strength to say that you hate the other a priori, we end up watching them with mistrust, fear and hatred, which will not fail to provoke return to a hostile reaction on the part of these unbelievers, thus confirming the initial statement. The mécréant eventually give evidence of its "Islamophobia" unfairly assumed in the first place. "You do not seek m'aurais if you do not find me."

4. Islamophobia

I come in the last term used in the debate with Muslims, the term Islamophobia. We already know that this is a term coined by Khomeini to stigmatize all criticism of Islam and equate to racism. Nevermind that Islam is not a race, he is not a group of people, but a doctrine, and as such criticism as any other. What I would like to stress is that when someone accuses of being Islamophobic, it actually tries to cripple mentally.

When we make criticisms against Islam it is usually driven by fear before the conduct of Muslims and to the policy of Muslim countries. It was a fear of Islam. When we reply "you have a phobia of Islam", it tells us two things: 1) your fears are not legitimate, there is an irrational fear, a phobia, and 2) you n 'Have no right to be afraid. But it was always reason to feel something, our feelings are not guilty or reprehensible.

It is the expression of these sentiments which may be questionable. Then, these fears are legitimate, because based on verifiable facts, whether by reading the biography of Muhammad, or by observing the history of Islamic civilization and the fate of non-Muslims.

In conclusion, prohibiting non-Muslims to be afraid of Islam, his minions actually forbid them to resist. For the courage for a condition of existence… fear! Courage is not the opposite of fear, but it is "the fear of something attached to the hope of avoiding the damage caused by this object resisting." Those who are not afraid, can be no courage. I'm afraid of Islam, but I hope to avoid the damage it could cause the Republic, resisting. Surfons on our fear, with the board of our hope!

Labels: Hostile races, Human mistake, Islam, Noémie Cournoyer, Religion and fanaticism

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 1:51 PM 0 Comments

As if Britain did not have to think about. Each year in this country, 20 000 girls are circumcised ... but it is racism toddlers that devotes a Guide of 366 pages ! which will certainly be followed by multiple reports indicating progress in the reformatting of babies .... occupant industry gurus of multiculturalism and experts on anti-racism (one-way course) for centuries and centuries, at the expense of paying taxes!

The children who do not like spicy food are "racist"

The children who raise the nose on foreign spicy food could be treated by a racist government agency.

It could be a child as young as three years which reacts negatively, saying "yuk" when it serves food of a culinary tradition with which he is not familiar.

(...)

The instructions specify that no staff racist incident should be ignored. "When there is a clearly racist incident, it is necessary to condemn the action in a specific manner."

Bewaring that the failure to resume toddlers on their racist attitudes could instill prejudices, NCB adds that if children "show negative attitudes, lack of reprimand could point out that there is nothing in repréhensible Such attitudes."

The nurseries are encouraged to report as many incidents as possible to their local council. The guide adds: "Some think that if a large number of racist incidents are reported, it will give a bad reputation to the facility. In fact, the opposite is the case".

Labels: Human mistake, Iba Bouramine, Religion and fanaticism, United Kingdom

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 1:35 PM 0 Comments

After being awakened for the third time in one night by a group of students drunk and noisy, Jo-Mindell Calvert had lost his sense of humour.

The former police was dressed, she was released outside and told the students: "Why do not you go back where you come to make noise there? I bet your families and your neighbors n'endureraient not do that.

"You do not care about us and you do what you want. What gives you the right to frighten my old neighbors, causing damage and keep us awake at night?"

She also reported the incident to the police, who dispersed the eight students.

The grandmother of 51 years was amazed when four months later, she was arrested and accused of racism. It turned out that two Muslims in the group had complained to the police.

In April, Ms. Calvert-Mindell, who has never had any trouble with the police, has been the subject of an indictment for aggravated words or behaviour racist and threatening, under Article 5 of Act law and order.

In May, she appeared in court in Folkestone in Kent, where she pleaded not guilty.

The cause was suspended above his head until the prosecutor's office of the crown decides to abandon the pursuit last week, admitting he had little chance of obtaining a conviction. Now, she filed a complaint against the police for the way she was treated.

Yesterday, Ms. Calvert-Mindell, a liberal Democrat city councillor and community volunteer, said: "The last thing I am is a racist. I have an attitude totally inclusive face of different races and cultures. I do not whether you're black, white, green or Martian."

"The color had nothing to do with it, it was their behaviour."

"I think there is something very wrong with our society when a resident can not go out and try to prevent crime and disorder and encourage defendants to return home, and they can then play cards Race and discharge from liability for their behaviour. "

"The authorities today are so afraid of being accused of racism that any allegation of racism raised their antennae, instead of using common sense".

(...)

Labels: Human mistake, Iba Bouramine, Religion and fanaticism, United Kingdom

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 1:21 PM 0 Comments

How my son can it be racist, asked the mother of a boy accused trisomic after an altercation at the playground with a Muslim girl.Until recently, Fiona Bauld believed that his son Jamie aged 18 had not fully grasped the gravity of the situation in which he was.

She was heartened that her child mental al'âge trisomic which a child of five years, has not completely understood the accusations of racism and aggression brought against him, much less begun to consider the consequences.

But shortly after Christmas while the family watched television, Fiona realized with horror that Jamie was not so unconscious that she would have hoped.

A scene showing a prison appeared on the screen and Jamie said quietly: "I do not want to go to prison, Mom. Please do not leave me there." He then broke into tears.

"I've made in my arm and told him that everything would go well," said Fiona.

"Throughout this nightmare I have done my best to smile and act normally around Jamie, just to protect from all this. But that evening, as he sanglotait in my arms, I was not sure that everything will be OK."

"My worst fear was that Jamie would be taken somewhere and that I would not be able to protect it. I said: "Jamie, you n'iras not in prison," but I also melted into tears."

When Fiona - who lives in Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, with her husband James, 46 years, telecommunications entrepreneur, and their daughter Stephanie, 17 years - uses the word "nightmare", this is not a euphemism.

His situation is so ridiculous, it would be laughable if possible ramifications had not been so serious.

Its history is also an example of how disturbing whose extreme political correctness may allow minor incidents were inflated out of all proportion.

The events which have both anguished over the past few months have begun with an incident on a playground between two individuals with special needs.

Everything has quickly degenerated into a 7-month criminal investigation that could have led to drag the son of Fiona in a court where he would emerge with a criminal record.

Last September, Jamie - who is 18 years but can not even tie his own shoelaces, needs help on the toilet, should not be left alone in the house and still on his mother to put to bed the evening - had an altercation with a Muslim girl the same age, also a student at Motherwell College in Lanarkshire for individuals with special needs, where Jamie is a student.

In two words: the girl has angered the boy, the boy pushed the girl and told him to leave. Then, the girl spoke to the professor.

The two were sent on their own and their parents informed of the incident.

Given their mental age, this was not a more significant altercation on a playground between two children five years. It should have stopped there.

Instead, a notice was placed in the local newspaper - we do not know by whom - calling witnesses to a "racial aggression" in college the day in question.

This is not yet clear whether this is the opinion which led to the police investigation or if the family of the girl who was contacted. Anyway, just over a week later, Jamie was accused of racism and assault. It was a crazy example of political correctness zealous, a local policy of zero tolerance against racism applied to the extreme with no common sense, let alone account for the unusual circumstances of the individuals involved.

After months of stress and fear, proof Baulds ended yesterday when, in a remarkable escalation, the office of Crown issued a formal apology to the family for the distress caused over the last seven months .

All charges were dropped, but for Fiona, this is not enough.

Not only have they been faced with confusion, red tape and lack of compassion in their dealings with the Scottish legal system, they fear that the reputation of Jamie is tainted forever as a result of the charge.

"Our family has been subjected to a terrible ordeal for nothing," said Fiona. "It is absolutely ridiculous that the authorities have laid charges against our adult son, who was not only innocent, but obviously unable to understand why he was in trouble."

"For example, when the police arrived for an interview with Jamie, he greeted with a big smile and a handshake. As they read him his rights, he said thank you for coming to see me, and has acquiesced to anything they said."

Those who have Down's syndrome are often agree with everything you said to them simply to please others.

Fiona continues: "I said: 'Do you realize that he did not understand what you say?" Police officers have admitted that they had no training on how to deal with people who special needs.

"But the formal process was already enclanché. From this moment, it seemed there was nothing that my husband or I can do to stop it."

(…)

But shortly after the visit, a letter arrived, saying that the authorities had enough evidence to accuse Jamie.

"This is where the hell has begun for the whole family," said Fiona. "I read the letter with trembling hands, and I was crying. I telephoned the prosecutor's office five times and asked if they knew that Jamie was trisomic, but nobody wanted to talk about the case with me."

(…)

Only a fortnight ago - seven and a half months after the initial incident - that the family received a short letter saying that the prosecutor would not the prosecution. He has not apologized.

And although the Crown has submitted an official apology yesterday, Fiona has the impression that they were victims of "political correctness gone mad".

A spokesman for Scotland Trisomy is also horrified by the case and called for better treatment and understanding.

She says "I've never met a trisomic that is racist. This incident should have been limited to school. It was very poorly managed."

Next week, Jamie returned to college, and his mother believes it is likely he will forget the events of the last seven months before it.

(…) .

Labels: Hostile races, Human mistake, Iba Bouramine, Religion and fanaticism, United Kingdom

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 12:57 PM 0 Comments

While coming to an end the Olympics, a dozen foreign nationals are still being detained for having publicly criticized the Chinese presence in Tibet.

The U.S. Ambassador Clark T. Randt Jr. insisted Sunday with Chinese authorities to immediately release these activists, American majorities. He deplored the move that Beijing has failed to benefit from the Games to "show tolerance and openness."

Some fifty foreign activists were arrested in Beijing during the Games as well as in the days preceding the opening, for having deployed banners in support of Tibet. It also found among them a number of bloggers.

Soon arrested by Chinese authorities, most were simply expelled from the country. But those apprehended during the last week of the Games have been imprisoned under a law which allows detention without charge individuals for a maximum period of 14 days.

The latest arrests occurred on Thursday. The authorities say they intend to release them at the end of August.

A freedom in brackets

The hiccups made by Beijing to its own commitments to respect a certain freedom of expression, in the wake of obtaining Games in 2001, were numerous.

China had said it would allow particular events during the Olympics in three locations, provided that the demonstrators are seeking permits.

However, none of the requests made by citizens has been approved. Moreover, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 15 Chinese citizens were arrested for having requested the right to demonstrate.

RSF also reported Friday that at least "50 activists of human rights Beijing have been placed under house arrest, harassed or forced to leave the capital during the Games." Twenty foreign journalists have also been "hampered" attacked "or" challenged "in their work.

According to RSF, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has a share of responsibility in this situation and must take steps to ensure that this does not happen again at other Games. Its president Robert Menard urged the IOC to now make respect for freedom of expression an explicit criterion for the award of the Olympics.

IOC President Jacques Rogge, took to defend its record to a few hours of the closing ceremony.

"The IOC and the Olympic Games can not impose changes to sovereign nations or solve all the ills of the world [...] We are first and foremost an organization dedicated to sport," said Jacques Rogge, who 'says otherwise is satisfied with the conduct of the Games.

Labels: Anne Humphreys, Sports

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 11:06 AM 0 Comments

Labels: Sports

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 8:23 PM 0 Comments

Fighting has calmed in and around the breakaway region of South Ossetia, and the warring parties have reached a ceasefire agreement. The short, violent conflict has displaced a lot of people in Georgia, South Ossetia and the Northern Caucasus region of Russia.

As of 20 August, MSF is still unable to access South Ossetia, the area where the conflict had broken out, in order to conduct an independent needs assessment and provide medical and humanitarian aid to the population if necessary. Our teams are negotiating with the authorities to gain unimpeded secure access to the region.

In the last three days in Georgia, MSF assessed camps for displaced persons in and around the city of Tbilisi, where around 20 settlements have been established, and in the city of Gori. In the 10 camps that MSF visited so far, hundreds of people were living in public buildings, lacking water and basic sanitation. MSF is providing basic relief supplies and medical care through mobile teams in eight of these camps, serving over 3,200 displaced people. Our teams will continue visiting other camps in the region.

An MSF team working in the western Georgian city of Zugdidi also conducted assessments in the sea port city of Poti, and in another coastal region, Adjaria. MSF found that the local health authorities were coping with the situation, but is ready to provide assistance if needed.
MSF continues to treat multi-drug resistant TB through programmes in Sukhumi (Abkhazia) and Zugdidi (Western Georgia). MSF is concerned that some of the patients in the Zugdidi programme were forced to interrupt their treatment during the acute phase of the conflict, which can have adverse effects on their illness. Since multi-drug resistant TB is a highly contagious illness, an interruption in treatment also poses a risk to those around them.

Thousands of refugees from South Ossetia have crossed the border with Russia fleeing violence, and have been accommodated by local authorities in the regions bordering South Ossetia. MSF has visited several refugee camps set up in public buildings, such as schools and sanatoria, in the regions of North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. Immediate needs were being addressed by local authorities and strong community support.

MSF has donated hygiene items and toys at two sites in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, where 350 people, around 200 of them children, have found refuge. The organization remains ready to render further assistance to the population, as needed.

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Labels: Doctors Without Borders, Noémie Cournoyer

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 8:03 PM 0 Comments

(New York, August 9, 2008) – Georgia and Russia should not under any circumstances target civilians as the current hostilities intensify in South Ossetia, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch, concerned by reports of attacks targeting civilians, called on all sides to respect the absolute ban against targeting civilians or carrying out attacks that indiscriminately harm civilians.

“All sides must remember that attacks on civilians, or acts intended to terrorize civilians, clearly violate international humanitarian law, and may constitute war crimes,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This would be true even if they are carried out in reprisal for indiscriminate attacks by the adversary.”

After weeks of low-level hostilities, the conflict in South Ossetia, a breakaway region of Georgia backed by Moscow, escalated dramatically in the early morning of August 8, 2008. Georgia declared that it intended to restore constitutional order and launched a large-scale military offensive. Russia sent additional troops to South Ossetia, saying they were reinforcements to Russian peacekeepers who are in the area to monitor a 1992 ceasefire between Georgian and South Ossetian forces.

South Ossetia authorities claimed that Georgian forces used Grad multiple launch rocket systems to shell civilian areas, particularly in the capital, Tskhinvali, and that dozens of buildings were destroyed or damaged, including the university, the hospital, a shopping center, schools, and several government buildings. According to unconfirmed media reports, several Ossetian villages, including Dmenis and Tsunar, also sustained significant damage.

Reports on casualties vary widely, with different media agencies citing figures ranging from 15 to 1,400 people killed in South Ossetia as a result of the attacks. None of these reports could be confirmed.

According to the Russian Federal Migration Service, 971 people fled South Ossetia on August 8 and sought refuge in North Ossetia, a Russian province that borders South Ossetia. North Ossetian hospitals reported that they were ready to admit the wounded; but the head of the regional hospital was quoted by Kavkazskii Uzel, a news website, as saying that, “the road which was intended for evacuation of the wounded has been bombed,” and doctors did not have access to the wounded.

Russia’s military command claimed that 12 Russian peacekeepers deployed in South Ossetia were killed and 120 injured, and also blamed the Georgian side for obstructing the evacuation of the wounded from Tskhinvali.

In the meantime, according to the BBC and other international media, Russian tanks have reportedly reached the northern suburbs of Tskhinvali while the Russian air force has been carrying out air raids in South Ossetia and further into Georgian territory. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili accused Moscow of bombing Georgian air bases and towns, resulting in the deaths of 30 military personnel and civilians.

Human Rights Watch called on both parties to abide by the fundamental principle of international humanitarian law, which requires armed forces to distinguish between combatants and civilians, and between military objects and civilian objects, at all times. It is also forbidden to carry out indiscriminate attacks or attacks that cause damage disproportionate to the anticipated concrete military advantage.

South Ossetia was an autonomous province of Georgia during the Soviet era. It declared independence from Georgia in 1990, and armed conflict between South Ossetian and Georgian forces ensued in 1991 and 1992. The conflict ended in 1992 with a ceasefire and establishment of a tripartite peacekeeping force, with Russian, Ossetian and Georgian peacekeeping battalions. The ceasefire adhered, but tensions continued, with Georgia accusing Russia of providing assistance to South Ossetia’s separatist movement.

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Labels: Francis Chartrand, Human Rights Watch

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 7:45 PM 0 Comments

15/08/2008 06h06

Yesterday, in my column, I said that, contrary to what some people suggest that tripent on the concept of "community policing", the cops have other things to do than play ball with the young Montreal-North.

As stop bandits, for example. At the end of my column, inviting the police to give me their reactions. I have received many e-mails.

In the coming days, I'll introduce excerpts of these stories.

(Note that in order to encourage the police to say the substance of their thoughts, I use pseudonyms.)

MICHEL

"I am currently an employee of the Surete du Quebec. I must tell you that the rapprochement with citizens is good, except that we should not carry. Between you and me, I have other things to do than go give lectures in schools!

The police are caught between the tree and the bark. On the one hand, we must be tough to enforce. But when it is severe, citizens complain about our attitude!

No wonder that criminals to carry out wide. People who show authority are misunderstood in our society. What is needed is a change of mentality. When the population will be tired this soft attitude, the minister will lobby the National Police Academy to change how it trains officers.

But by then, nothing will change ..."

MICHEL

"I am a policeman for more than twenty years. I joined forces to enforce the laws without discrimination. But over the years, I am disillusioned. The police has become too political.

I was part of a group of riot intervention. I have worked for big events, I'm starting all kinds of objects, I was insulted, pushed, and so on. But they were ordered not to intervene, even if criminal acts were committed in front of us! The buss found it too difficult ...

I am now agent movement. When I stop young blacks and young Latinos, they tell me that I intercepts because they have dark skin! I tell them beautiful that I could not see their faces because I was behind their car, it does nothing, they treat me whenever a racist.

I'm sorry, but we have laws and all citizens must respect, whether black or white ...

Finally, concerning the death of a young Montreal-Nord, I find it disgusting to see politicians making capital from the funeral home even before knowing the results of the investigation. That's disgusting! "

MARC

"I worked on call in a police force for one year. But one day I learned that opened eight full-time positions. I have submitted my candidacy.

I was sure we were going to give me a job because my superiors kept telling me that I was doing an impeccable job. However, it has preferred to hire eight new police officers who had NO experience!

You know why? Because it was women and that it was good for the image of the police. My colleagues - and my counterparts, who knew me - do not believe their ears. So I decided to leave the police ..."

SERGE

"I am a policeman for more than 20 years. When I started, I had a big mouth, and I knew my rights and what I could and could not be done.

But today, I note that the new police have no initiative and they take no decision without consulting a superior, afraid to put their feet in the flat.

In my time, you were working with police experience but today, often, your partner has no experience and you need to refer to your superior, which has only four or five years' experience.

The training Nicolet is based on community policing and on YOU. But in the police, there is a time for VOUS and a time for TU. Some people do understand that the TU."

ROBERT

"I am policeman in a city of 70 000 people. Police pink candy you speak so well, I décrie past 15 years.

Every year, when I see the troops arrive at new police officers, I fell on the butt.

Where I work, we have a police 4 feet 11 inches to 95 pounds. And many others who are around 5 ft 2 feet, 5 feet 3 inches. We also have a male police officer of 115 pounds!

It made the point where it is embarrassing. By the way, wherever I go, people talk about me early on 4 feet 11 inches. People laugh it constantly.

Officially, we can not say that we do not feel safe with these small officers. But unofficially, we are not.

The result is often in the evening or night, we avoid some vehicles to stop suspects. We call upon other colleagues to cover us when we receive a call for mayhem, and so on."

CHARLES

"I am a policeman for 11 years and I have full arse to be the scapegoat for everything that happens.

Thanks to the leadership SPVM to be gone to the funeral home of the young man. What message you send to the people! And thank you for firefighters we have refused access to the roof of their building so that we can do our work during the riot!

I have a scoop for you: young people who were on the scene of the event attempted to disarm a police officer and that's why that one of them fired.

We are not killers! It just wants to help people to live in peace! "

You are a policeman and you want to tell me about your job? Write me rmartineau@journalmtl.com

Link

Labels: Richard Martineau

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 12:00 PM 0 Comments

Journalists criticize much Nicolas Sarkozy, for some time. They say it is too much, too scattered, too bling bling.

But the president of France failed because of bad things in his career.

Take a look, February 3, 2003, when he was Minister of the Interior (the equivalent of our Minister of Public Safety), the husband of Carla Bruni went to Toulouse to meet with police. Here's what he told them:

"You're not social workers. Organize a game of rugby to the youth of the area is very good, but this is not the primary mission of the police. The primary mission of the police, the investigation, arrest, the fight against crime. "

EVERYONE HIS JOB

Some would say that what Sarko are backward. I find them as relevant to me and courageous.

Look at what is currently happening in Montreal North. To hear some speakers, the cops should spend their time playing basketball with the youth of the area and take coffee with residents! Is this their role? Is this why we pay?

You do not think they have more important things to do - like catching bandits, enforce the law and protect the population, for example?

Calls there social workers and managers youth centres to give tickets? No. So I do not see why we ask the cops to participate in competitions dance hip-hop with young people.

Everyone his job.

MR ROGERS

It is all very well, community policing, but a cop, not a scout. Neither a Knights of Columbus.

The mission of the police does not help p'tites old to cross the street or to help young people to organize a pool of hockey.

Yesterday, my colleague David Santerre we learned that traders Montreal-Nord live in terror. They must give a portion of their income to street gangs, they are robbed, mugged ...

You think that they are interested, you see the police play a Rock paper scissors in the schoolyard?

What some police lack heat, nobody is disputing. But from there to transform the cops in physical education teachers or educators in child care, there is a limit evil.

WE ARE SO FINE!

Mind you, this vision, candy pink, police work is not surprising. It fits perfectly into the general atmosphere of relaxation that prevails in Quebec.

Parents are friends. The teachers are leaders. The students are users of the education system. The State is a partner.

There is no proof of authority, we understand. It does not punish, forgive.

Why say no when you can say yes? Why risk being throw rocks when you can be like everyone else?

JUST A MIDDLE

I do not want the return of Dirty Harry. But between a policeman who walks with a Magnum in his belt and a cop who sells soccer balls, it seems to me that there is a balance.

If you are a policeman and you want to respond to this column, write me. I'll protect your anonymity.

"Go ahead, make my day."

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Labels: Richard Martineau

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 7:22 AM 0 Comments

Are you fed to hear people blame society for their problems?

If so, you plug your ears with cotton wool because in the coming days, Quebec will be submerged by a wave of unprecedented victimology.

There's crime in Montreal North?Because of the racism of Quebec society. There have been a riot? Because police officers.

Youths looted shops? Because of the consumer society, which leads them to acquire even more property.

The district of Montreal North has a bad reputation and some people dare not venture there? Because of the media.

Always an excuse, always a culprit.

BLACK WORLD

Yes, indeed, the unemployment rate is high in the black community (as was the case for a long time among French Canadians). But that does not mean that the horizon is completely blocked. Each day, I crossed black doctors, black lawyers, black artists, police black ...

Luke Mervil, Maka Kotto, Michaëlle Jean, Normand Brathwaite, Anthony Kavanagh, Gregory Charles, Bruny Surin, Mélanie Renaud, Michel Mpambara, Boucar Diouf, Didier Lucien, Joachim Alcine, Stanley Péan, Dany Laferrière, Boule Noire, Emile Ollivier, Philippe Fehmiu , Clan Biddle, journalist Azeb Wolde-Ghiorgis, the journalist Francois Bugingo, the judge Guylène Beaugé, Dr. Jean-Claude Fouron (one of the greatest luminaries in pediatrics in the world) ... How these people are made there? They are gifted? No: they have identified the sleeves and they worked.

They did not spend their time blaming everyone for their problems. One day, they are removed and they said: "I will not let the color of my skin define myself nor my brake."

A MODEL

Do you know Elrie C. Tucker? The Montreal native of Trinidad immigrated to Quebec in the early 1950. His mother raised her four children alone after their father had abandoned. She had an obsession: its children are educated. She worked hard and they were well supervised.

Result: Elrie C. Tucker became a respected gynecologist who earns his living very well and in 1991 he founded the Medical Association of Black people of Quebec, to help youth of his community.

Has he sat by saying "I'm Black, I never n'arriverai nothing? Has it complu in a position of victim? Has he joined a gang to be "respected"?

No. He worked.

BUNING HEADS

I am sure that young people who have put Montreal North fire and sword Sunday evening view themselves as victims of society, activists, protestors. They are nothing all that. They are criminals, criminals.

Burnt heads who take advantage of a tragedy even more to demolish their neighbourhood.

You want to denounce police harassment? Form an association, call a toune rap, shoot what's happening in your neighborhood and show your images to the media - in short, do something constructive instead destroy everything. And if you have children, take care.

As the saying goes: "Help God help you ..."

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Labels: Richard Martineau

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 12:16 AM 0 Comments

12/08/2008 05h19

I have great respect for police. I would not do their job for nothing in the world.

On the one hand, they are asked to be tough against criminals. On the other hand, we want them to demonstrate openness and understanding.

You can imagine their situation? It should not be funny every day to be taken sandwiched between criminals who dream of you fuck a bullet between the eyes and pressure groups who rise to the barricades when you use a little too your muscles.

It must be hard on the nerves.

THAT IT HAS THE PAST?

However, even if I have much sympathy for the cops, I asked about the events surrounding the death of Freddy Villanueva, the young man shot dead by a policeman during an intervention that went wrong, Saturday evening, in Montreal North.

What happened? Why the officer he used his firearm to calm youth rather than a jug of cayenne pepper?

Did he panic? Was there any reason to believe that his life and that of his consoeur were in danger?

This tragedy is all the more regrettable that, according to Christine Black, director of the Youth Centre Escale, the summer had been relatively quiet in the neighborhood.

"We spent a quiet summer, I said it. A few hours before the death of Freddy, a disputed youth basketball game against policemen, not far away. The youths sat in the stands applauding whenever the police had a point. There was no tension, everybody fun ... "

THE TWITS

For now, we do not know what exactly happened at the rear of the arena-Henri Bourassa, Saturday evening.

But one thing is sure: the voltage is cut with a knife in the district. Several residents say they are victims of harassment by the police.

"The police who patrol the neighborhood of members of street gangs, said Michelet. They know who they are. Why do they embêtent everyone, then? It is as if the cops embêtaient the full population of a village just because there were few riders ... "

"I feel caught between two groups of twits, I launched Yasser, a young real estate agent: street gangs and police. They are also heavy as the others ... "

THE HATE

In the wake of riots that have engulfed France in November 2005, the director Mathieu Kassovitz wrote on his blog:

"Hatred fuels hatred for centuries and yet Nicolas Sarkozy (who was then Minister of the Interior) still think that repression is the only way to prevent the rebellion ..."

What the future president replied: "Living in a popular district or be the son of immigrant parents does nothing to throw Molotov cocktails on the police and stones at the firefighters. To suggest otherwise is insulting all those who, under conditions of existence identical, behave as responsible citizens." Three years later, the debate has moved with us.

Hopefully we learn from our mistakes cousins. Because violence is unacceptable, from one side to another.

Link

Labels: Richard Martineau

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 12:01 AM 0 Comments

This weekend, Helene Buzetti from Le Devoir has taught us that, having threatened to withdraw any subsidy to films that go against public morality, Stephen Harper has abolished a program of $ 4.7 million to help artists and intellectuals Canadian occur abroad.

The reason? The prime minister does not want radicals and marginal tarnish the image of the country.

HEE HAW!

The first time I saw Stephen Harper on TV, I thought to myself: "Oh boy, this is a big cowboy from the West who care about culture as its first rib of beef ..."

But I immediately stopped telling me that one must never judge people on their appearance and must always be given the chance to rider.

But you know what? My first impression was correct. Stephen Harper is a big cowboy from the West who care about culture as its first rib of beef. This man did absolutely nothing to the arts.

For him, the only works of art that deserve to be financed by the state are those that are good, who advocate good values and show how Canada is the country for more than beautiful in the world.

The Inuit sculptures. Some quilts showing farmers currently working on the land. The rigodons from Aspen Cove and Harbour Breton.

The guy is so straight and flat so it would pass the former Canada pavilion at Expo 67 for the headquarters of Hustler.

AN IRONIC "CONTREPOINT"

A conservative source very well placed in the governement said to Le Devoir that the program was abolished because it had already been used to finance the travel of persons or groups who "were not consensus."

But the interesting art is never consensus! The role of an artist is not to please everyone, but to explore sensitive subjects, controversial.

Even though its Bedonnesse think, there is life after the Group of Seven! It is all very well, the Algonquin Park and major Canadian landscape, but art is not just paint spruce and moose.

The most ironic in this whole story is that this new release is the same weekend where we celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of Refus Global.

We could not find a more savory counterpoint.

LOW RISK

Here's how Borduas described the Quebec 40-50 years:

"A small people around the tight soutanes remained the only depository of faith, knowledge, truth and national wealth. Held to shelve the development of universal thought full of risks and dangers ... The revolutionary works, when by chance they fall under the hand, seemed the bitter fruits of a group of eccentric ... " It seems Canada, by Stephen Harper.

A country very "gnan-gnan" which is not vague and refuses to give $ 10 000 to a troupe of dancers under the pretext that they sometimes show their nipples, but that does not hesitate two seconds to spend $ 292 million for 'purchase of six military helicopters. Like what the concept of obscenity is all relative.

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Labels: Canada, Richard Martineau

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 11:38 PM 0 Comments

In 1973, Alain Peyrefitte wrote a book titled When China awakes.

The title was borrowed from a prophecy allegedly made Napoleon: "When China awakes, the world tremble ..."

Josephine's boyfriend was right. Not only China has awakened, but she got up, she took a shower and she was dressed. All this while the West was sleeping mouth open.

THE GRAND YELLOW LAUGH

In his column on Sunday, my colleague Marco Fortier wrote that the Chinese middle class has between 100 and 200 million workers. Five times the population of Canada. It makes the world dimsum.

And us, what we do, while the yellow tide rises?

We are wasting our energy in unnecessary fights. Quebec City against Montreal, urbans against urban commuters. Should we change the colour of margarine, should remove the crucifix in the National Assembly, should we allow a firefighter french to extinguish fires in Quebec as he has learned to handle a garden hose in another country ...

It will be the pancake for nonsense ...

If it continues, you know what will happen? In Dollarama in Beijing, we will sell plastic stuff made in Quebec.

And the Chinese students will donate money to their teacher to buy little Quebecers ...

THE ZIZANIE

Goddamn that Quebec is disheartening, sometimes ... The fire was caught in the house, and we are here to wonder if we should leave the furniture on the front or the rear.

Instead of uniting our forces, we yell, we shout names, we are throwing rocks ...

It is quite upset because a newspaper in the suburbs south of Liverpool mentions on page F9 that Paul McCartney gave a show in the Old Capital.

Fuck!

SUPER CHILL

In a few years, all mcjobs will move to India or China. People who have no education will find themselves the butt on the straw. There will be no factories for hire, no call centres to give them work, nothing.

You call the corner pizzeria to make you deliver an "extra-large all-dressed", and is a student of Calcutta who will respond and will take your order. You do not know, because it will speak a perfect french.

And when your pizza arrives at you, your children, who bear clothing made in China and will play on their Nintendo made in Japan say that it is full hot, super cool and chill. That's what awaits us.

Young Asians and young Indians are ready for all sacrifices for education, and we, what do we do?

We are walking in the street because we do not want the state increases the fees for FIFTY DOLLARS IN SESSION.

EYE OF TIGRE

Do you remember Rocky III? The former champion is so sure of its superiority that it has become big and lazy, while his younger opponent has "the eye of tigre".

Well, Rocky it's us. And the young on the other side of the ring, it is India and China.

Who will be fighted, do you?

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Labels: Québec, Richard Martineau

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 10:21 PM 0 Comments

Many people are concerned that the Games are held in a country with so little respect human rights and stressed that the decision was inconsistent with the Olympic ideal: to promote a peaceful society sensitive human dignity . When the decision was taken in 2001, the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese government told the world that these concerns were unfounded. They argued that these Games raffermiraient China's commitment to universal values of respect for human rights.

This was only rhetoric. Little progress has been made over the next seven years. And very few efforts have been made to push China to respect its commitments. In fact, the latest report by Amnesty International documenting a litany of broken promises.

Serious violations and continuing human rights being committed in China despite Olympics to come. But even worse, we are witnessing serious violations caused by the Olympics.

The spokesman of the local who tried to file complaints when people have been driven from their homes to make way for Olympic facilities are in prison. The militants, who wanted to speak about the Games and rights associated with them are in prison. The campaigns of "cleansing" pre-Olympic have targeted people from outside Beijing-beggars, street vendors without permits and others. Many of them were sent to be "rehabilitated" in the notorious labour camps of a merciless hardness.

Chinese leaders and IOC have responded with irritation that the debate is moved and we should not mix politics with sport. We are just beginning to hear Jacques Rogge, IOC President, issue some criticism. We have heard little recrimination - whether from the government or representatives of the Canadian sport - indicating a willingness serious, constructive or plans to put forward human rights at this crucial time.

The goal is not to mix politics and sport. It goes far beyond politics. They are defending universal values most precious uniting us: fundamental rights.

The pride of China is at stake. All China looks forward to these Games, whose prestige is expected to affect its inhabitants. But why defend its pride with anger, denial and censorship? Imagine instead what pride China could reap if it showed the world that these Olympics will leave a positive imprint on human rights on its territory.

The state places? Prime Minister Harper has expressed concern about violations of human rights in China and announced that he would not at the Games. In the same breath, however, he asserts that his decision has nothing to do with human rights and that Canada will send "a high-level delegation". This is far from clear.

A few days of the opening ceremonies, all countries and all IOC members must make their voices heard around the world to call for an end to human rights violations in China. The reforms for human rights must be undertaken without delay.

The many Chinese prisoners of conscience, including activists, journalists, bloggers and anyone who criticized the Olympics, must be released. The censorship of the media and the Internet must end. The authorities should abolish the cruel and abusive practice of re-education through labour camps and the death penalty. And that's not all.

The thousands of Canadians who signed petitions delivered today at the Chinese Embassy have made their voices heard against human rights violations in China. They will continue their work pressure for Chinese defenders of human rights so that they can continue their fight.

Now, it is the turn of the Canadian government to add its voice to international pressure calling for respect of human rights in China.

Labels: China, Marie-Êve Marineau

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 11:11 PM 0 Comments

On July 20, 1969, eight years after the launch of the Apollo Project, Neil Armstrong became the first human to leave a footprint on the moon. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

But this evocation of the Apollo project, Kennedy's national effort to put a human on the moon, is not a call back to space, to another and greater race, perhaps for the stars, nor one to defeat a Cold War rival, but a race to replace what U.S. President George W. Bush has called "America's addiction": oil.

Late to the party

But the politicians are johnny-come-latelies to this big-project approach. Scientists, economists and others who are convinced a warming planet is a global emergency have been proposing — and opposing — it for at least 10 years.

As emerging economies surge and CO2 emissions soar, that debate has grown more bitter. Often, the metaphor is not the 1969 moon walk but a grimmer scientific triumph: the Manhattan Project.

The Second World War Manhattan Project used this massive building in the East Tennessee Technology Park to enrich uranium. The project culminated in the first atom bomb. (U.S. Department of Energy/Associated Press)

Between 1942 and 1945 in the darkest days of the Second World War, the U.S., Britain and Canada put their brains and resources together to produce the world's first atom bomb.

Walter Cicha, a chemist at the National Research Council Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, says the Manhattan Project is a bad model since the subsequent bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki meant many people died as a result. But the technological achievement was astounding and, conceptually, exactly what is needed, he says.

"In the history of mankind, no country has ever done that, what they did in three years," Cicha said. "They were behind it because they sensed [it] was a matter of life and death."

Similarly, Cicha and others believe preventing climate change is a matter of life and death.

To prevent what the United Nations calls "dangerous" climate change and find substitutes for depleting oil reserves, these experts agree the world needs a massive transition to carbon-neutral power - that is, power that does not produce CO2 emissions - by mid-century. But that is where agreement ends.

Existing vs. new technology

"There are no energy systems technologically ready at present" to produce carbon-neutral power, concluded the authors of a much-referenced letter to the journal Nature in 1998.

"Transformative technologies [are needed] with the urgency of the Manhattan Project or the Apollo space program," it said.

Another paper, published in 2002, said "radical restructuring of the global energy system could be the technology challenge of the century." And late last year, 37 prominent experts, including three Canadians, appealed to the U.S. Congress for an "Apollo or Manhattan" type investment of $30 billion a year in innovative, new energy technologies.

"Technology, technology, blah blah blah," is the response of climate policy analyst Joseph Romm of the Center for American Progress to such appeals.

"Somehow, the government is not just going to invent one TILT (terrific, imaginary, low-carbon technology) in the next few years; we are going to invent several TILTs," he writes. "Seriously. Hot fusion? No. Cold fusion? As if. Space solar power? Come on …"

A dangerous diversion?

For as adamant as big-project proponents are that off-the-shelf technology alone cannot produce the amount of carbon-neutral power required, opponents are equally adamant that it can — and that waiting for carbon-neutral pie-in-the-sky technologies just gives politicians an excuse to stall.

'You can construct the problem so that existing technology won't do it. But why would you do that?'—Danny Harvey

"The problem is this is going to divert attention from the nuts and bolts things we need to do," says geographer and energy policy expert Danny Harvey.

"You can construct the problem so that existing technology won't do it. But why would you do that?" asks the University of Toronto professor.

To tackle the problem with existing technology, he says, of course means massive deployment of wind turbines, concentrating solar power and hydro (but never nuclear, corn ethanol or carbon capture and storage, which Harvey calls "the three worst possible choices"). More importantly, Harvey says, it also means designing buildings so that they themselves become "collectors and transformers of solar energy" (forget all-glass condominiums). It means laying out cities so they are compact and connected by high-speed transit infrastructure. It means abandoning the use of the time it takes to accelerate from 0 mph to 60 mph as a measure of engineering achievement in personal vehicles.

And, he adds, it means restraining population and economic growth.

The knowledge on how to do all this already exists, says Harvey. "What doesn't exist is the skill level among the architect and design profession." So they, and the trades, need to be retrained.

Harvey was a lead author on a paper prepared for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which in 2007 concluded current technology and technology that is expected to be commercialized in the near future can stabilize climate.

"I just don't believe it," says McGill University economist Chris Green. "I don't buy it. We don't have the technology."

Or a dangerous assumption?

In a commentary for the journal Nature titled "Dangerous Assumptions," Green suggested the IPCC was "seriously underestimating the scale of the technological challenge" needed to stabilize greenhouse-gas concentrations.

Why is this "dangerous"? Because, says Green, the IPCC's assumption that we have the technology we need allows politicians to set targets, such as the recent G8 commitment to cut emissions by half by 2050, and think that's enough. "It's far enough off that these guys can promise just about anything, and who's going to remember? It's a charade," he says.

Like many who believe innovative technology will be essential, Green thinks the regulatory approach - targets and carbon trading and offsets - has led nowhere.

"We need an energy technology race. We need different countries … working on competing, different energy technologies," he says.

'We need to invent totally new energy systems that we haven't even thought of yet.'—Michael Shellenberger

And that requires staggering sums of money. Michael Shellenberger of the California-based Breakthrough Institute says the U.S. needs to invest $50 billion US a year until at least 2050; Canada, $5 billion.

"We need to invent totally new energy systems that we haven't even thought of yet," says Shellenberger, co-author of Breakthrough: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility. Without investment, "emissions will not go down," he warns.

"These programs are extremely expensive," says Cicha, a consultant on fuel cells and other innovative clean-energy technologies. "These are basically the [equivalent of the] military budgets of the United States that are needed to keep these programs going. So they have to be, by definition, international efforts."

Show me the money

The International Energy Agency agrees with Chica about the high costs. In a presentation prepared for the G8 this June, it said "unprecedented co-operation across all major economies" would be needed to halve CO2 emissions from current levels by 2050.

Success will require an additional investment of $45 trillion US in both current and future technologies between 2010 and 2050, the agency said.

Which brings us to the real issue: what trillions? For that matter, what billions?

If the world were afloat on a happy sea of economic prosperity and goodwill, it might seem plausible for nations to put their best brains and resources together. We could scale up current knowledge and technologies, electrify the world's transportation systems, develop better batteries, explore nanotechnology, put solar energy power plants in space - do, in other words, whatever is deemed necessary. But the world is not prosperous or all that friendly. Even if trillions of dollars were spent, we might find there are, in fact, no new energy systems to spend them on.

"This is a tough slog," says McGill's Green, "and nobody can say whether we will succeed."

'If energy doubles in price one more time, I don't think we're going to be developing those technologies. And then the question one has to ask is, 'What are we going to do?'—Walter Cicha

All sides in this complex debate agree the need to begin the shift is urgent. Cicha goes further. He warns that unless we begin now, we might find we can't begin at all.

Technology requires materials: platinum for fuel cells; uranium for nuclear; silicon for solar; oil, gas or coal to power the manufacturing of new technologies. And prices of many materials have doubled, tripled, quadrupled or more in the last few years.

"If energy doubles in price one more time, I don't think we're going to be developing those technologies," says Cicha. "And then the question one has to ask is, 'What are we going to do?'"

Labels: Canada, Environment, Francis Chartrand, Science and theory

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 9:11 PM 0 Comments

Members of the Chinese security tried to remove the banner of pro-Tibet demonstrators.

According to Students for a Free Tibet, the messages were visible for an hour.

The incident recalls several stages of the torch relay in the spring, including London, Paris and San Francisco, where protibétains demonstrators protested against the Chinese repression in Tibet.

Several thousand soldiers and policemen were deployed in the Chinese capital, where the Olympic flame must move for three days before lighting the cauldron at the opening ceremony.

Wednesday, the first torchbearer in the capital since the Tiananmen Square was the Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei. The basketball player Yao Ming followed shortly thereafter.

Labels: China, Noémie Cournoyer, Sports

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 11:45 AM 0 Comments

Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, was found guilty on a terrorism charge Wednesday in the first verdict to come through the controversial U.S. military tribunal process at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Hamdan, a Yemeni citizen who was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001, was convicted of providing material support for terrorism but acquitted of conspiring with al-Qaeda. Hamdan was taken to Guantanamo in May 2002.

The Pentagon-selected jury deliberated for about eight hours over three days. After the sentence was read, Hamdan held his head in his hands and wept.

In this courtroom sketch, defendant Salim Hamdan watches as FBI agent Craig Donnachie testifies Thursday about his interrogations of Hamdan before the military tribunal at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Janet Hamlin/Pool/Associated Press)

The judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for later Wednesday. Hamdan could get life in prison.
Hamdan was the first Guantanamo Bay prisoner to go on trial. Of the base's roughly 265 other prisoners, including Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, the Pentagon says it intends to prosecute about 80.

The White House released a statement saying it was pleased with the verdict.

"The military commission system is a fair and appropriate legal process for prosecuting detainees alleged to have committed crimes against the United States or our interests," deputy spokesman Tony Fratto said.

"We look forward to other cases moving forward to trial," he said.

Identified al-Qaeda safehouses, U.S. authorities say

U.S. authorities have said that Hamdan identified key Islamist leaders, mapped out bin Laden's escape routes and led them to al-Qaeda safehouses after he was captured at a roadblock in southern Afghanistan in November 2001.

Hamdan's defence lawyers argued that he was a low-level employee who did not materially contribute to militant acts.

The system of military tribunals, introduced under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, has come under fire for years from critics who say it is unconstitutional.

In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the military tribunals illegal and in violation of American and international law.

As a result of that ruling, the Bush administration made changes to the military tribunals, which now have congressional approval.

In June, the top court ruled that foreign suspects held at the high security military jail at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the American Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.

"This is the first full test of the special tribunal system that was implemented by George Bush shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks," said the CBC's Nahlah Ayed in Washington.

"It is a system that been criticized because, for example, it allows the kinds of evidence that would never be allowed in regular courts — or even military courts — such as hearsay or statements made under interrogation," Ayed said.

"This will be very important not only for the system but also for President Bush."

Besides Hamdan, only one other prisoner has been found guilty at Guantanamo. As part of a pretrial agreement, Australian David Hicks pleaded guilty in 2007 to providing support for terrorism and was sent back to his home country to serve the remaining nine months of a seven-year sentence.

Labels: Anne Humphreys, Bush, Guantanamo, United States

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 9:44 AM 1 Comments

Labels: Creationism, Human mistake, Marie-Êve Marineau, Religion and fanaticism, Science and theory

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 12:27 AM 0 Comments

This page shows some of these nonsense.

The fable of Darwin and Lady Hope

Some creationists say that Darwin renounced his theory on his deathbed, was finally converted, and so on. This story is a pure fabrication, popularized by American évantélistes shortly after the death of Darwin. The story of Lady Hope has never been confirmed by anyone, it made several statements contradict. ( Source ). See also a creationist site admitting at the outset that this argument is fraudulent.

"Newton was creationist!"

Isaac Newton (1643 - 1727), who died nearly a century before the birth of Charles Darwin, has never experienced the theory of evolution, it has not been stated time. The creationism, as a religious doctrine opposing evolution, was born in the mid-19th century. Therefore, Newton was not creationist.

Crocoduck and Bananas

The creationist Kirk Cameron thinks that the banana, since it up so well in his mouth, is proof of the existence of God. (Yes, we know there is something else having the same shape and could also go in his mouth ...)

Kirk Cameron (and his colleague Ray) also say that if evolution was true there would be animals as crocoduck (crocodile + "duck, duck.) Here is a montage representing the beast imagined by Cameron.

The Atlas of the establishment ... a guide to hunting and fishing?

The work of Muslim creationist Adnan Oktar has many pictures of insects and fossils, claiming each time that if the bug is still in its original form then evolution can not exist.

Some shots are actually wrong, and come from a site that sells bait for fishing, as well as insects postiches for the photo and film. On a photo, the authors of the Atlas have forgotten to hide the hook in the bait:

(See Atlas of creating pages 241 and 244 for shots and fraudulently presented plagiarized.)

Dawkins failed to answer a question

Dawkins takes a break

Asked to whom this page responds: "Why Richard Dawkins has frozen when he was asked a simple question?"

This rumor can still be seen in a video distributed by the fraudulent creationist organization Answers in Genesis. AiG knows now that he is a catch, but continues to sell the tape.

The myth

During a debate on creationist asked Dawkins examples of information that increases without the intervention of an external intelligence. He froze for 11 seconds and answered later.

The famous question was to give examples of increased information that would be the result of pure chance. Dawkins could not answer and frozen for 11 seconds.

The facts

Knowing that Dawkins receives no creationists in his home, a band was rather bold move for a team of TV to enter at Dawkins. At some point during the "interview" Dawkins it is reported since the questions were typical of those we hear from creationists. There he froze. The effect has been exaggerated to mount.

It should be noted that Dawkins had already addressed this issue in several previous books like The blind watchmaker and Unweaving the Rainbow.

The video clip without editing:

The faked and the original version, superimposed:

Occurrences of the argument

Youtube video entitled Richard Dawkins stumped by creationists' question, or Richard Dawkins exposed.

VHS cassette sold by a creationist organization.

It seems however that the video aimed at restoring the main facts now placing on the Web, it is difficult to locate the version of VHS with caller added to the assembly.

Stones of Ica

These stones are supposed to be evidence that humans in South America have coexisted with dinosaurs, and therefore that the earth is 6000 years.

However, this is, of course, false manufactured by residents who sell to tourists.

Traces of man alongside those of dinosaurs

These traces of men alongside dinosaurs, or "Burdick print" are an obvious fraud or misleading interpretations. These cases all have a common denominator: the city of Glen Rose, Texas, where there have been cases of fraud carried on exactly what kind of traces. The little documentation that we have concerns marks on pieces of rock previously posted ground, never on the floor, which also indicate that this is a fraud. In addition the origin of these pieces of rock has never been authenticated. The only evidence of their provenance is the testimony of one who claims to have found in the bed of a river.

The morphological analysis of traces indicates that the attempt to make a foot "old" is ridiculous and obvious. In particular, the ratio of the length of the foot and toes is unlikely. In addition, a geological analysis shows that the architect of this fraud crude dug traces on the wrong side of his piece of rock: apparently the men walked in the ground, upside down!

It is often found traces of dinosaur in the bed of the Paluxy River in Glen Rose. They are often eroded and may suggest, through the magic of a photograph, traces of men. These people, however, would have feet of 50cm long, therefore approximately 3m high, that is what creationists forget to mention showing a photo that is not to scale. It is likely traces of dinosaurs as interpreted by human creationists desperate to prove their assumptions.

Conclusion: It is simply evidence of dino is presented as humanities. In other cases, inspired by traces of dino he saw near his home, a joker cut a piece of rock at the bottom of a river, has returned and has carved traces improbable. Some creationists (as Laurence Tisdall) have bitten the hook and still employ this argument to "prove" that the Earth is young, men who cohabited with their enemies prehistoric.

The legend of Mokele-mbêmbe

Occurrences: ASCQ gobbles any raw bullshit about the dinosaur living in Gabon.

This legend is just a legend. The imaging satellite or helicopter could have long certify the existence of giant bugs.

We found Noah's Ark (in Turkey)!

This modern myth was fuelled mainly by the film The incredible discovery of Noah's Ark. False documentary concocted by a certain George Jammal, who later admitted that it was a joke to denounce the credulity of some religious groups face the "religious fraud". The groups themselves seem to be fooled at the point of believing in spite of this confession.

The "wood of the Ark" seen in the documentary was made of wood railroad from California, that Jammal had baked in an oven. Or a little pin that was boiling with the tincture of iodine and... teriyaki sauce.

Jammal admitted never went to Turkey and has produced this documentary for Sun International Pictures, a company specializing in this kind of docu-fiction, which among other on UFOs, the shroud of Turin, and so on.

The man has more in common with a frog with the monkey

Where this argument he been seen? Duane Gish, in a televised debate 80 years.

This argument has probably been launched like that, without evidence, and is therefore rejected in this way.

Plesiosaur decomposing found off Japan

Where this argument he been seen? In the Minds of Men by Ian T. Taylor, on www.creationscience.com employed by Kent Hovind, the National Center for Science Education, Laurence Tisdall (circa 1996, perhaps even today), Kent Hovind (often).

"We found a dino off japan, then the land has less than 10 000 years!" What they want us to believe is, of course, that the earth is 6000 years and that aquatic dinosaurs did not off during the Flood. Evidence in support: this picture.

Unfortunately for these people particularly dupes, "dino" is actually a rotting shark. Tests have shown. There have been several shark half who had broken the same pace. But still, some creationists still employ the argument. They will even add that, in Japan in 70 years it has even produced postage stamps commemorating the "discovery", but that here (because of the indoctrination of religion Darwinism) nobody wanted to admit it was a dinosaur.

Another fun fact: Tisdall conference emphasized that "some people believe it is a shark, but this is not a shark." Point. Without further explanation.

See http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/paluxy/plesios.html for all the details of this story.

Dust on the moon and conspiracy at NASA

"In 1969, NASA scientists expected that the moon is covered with a thick layer of dust. This was not the case! This proves that the universe has at most 10 000 years. But NASA has denied everything."

Where this argument he been seen? In various magazines creationists dating back 70 years. On this page, during a Creationist conference at the University of Montreal in December 2000 (source).

This story is a total fabrication. It was already known before 1969 that the moon was not covered with a thick layer of dust, first by the albedo of the moon, followed by data collected by the probe Surveyor I.

Hubble Telescope and the NASA conspiracy

"The Hubble telescope has enabled to observe a phenomenon which proves that the universe has 6900 years! But NASA has concealed evidence to silence history. "

Where this argument he been seen? Look at this page.

Joshua lacking Day is another conspiracy of NASA

"NASA has found that a lack day in time exactly when Joshua stopped the time!"

Where this argument he been seen? Increasingly rare, can still be seen here.

The man has a coast unless the woman

Where this argument he been seen? It has almost completely disappeared today but we still intends rarely. Maybe here. But it has seen its hours of glory. The argument was spotted here.

It seems that since "Adam" has created Eve via cloning of a coast, men who are currently living would have a coast and less. It is quite amusing to see that this assumption is based on a design Lamarckiste (inheritance of acquired) and that those who claim this type of nonsense does not clearly give the trouble to verify what they say.

Russel Humphrey, degradation of the Earth's magnetic field

This argument assumes that the Earth's magnetic field is deteriorating at a speed X, and that if the earth had 5MM years, it would be invalid. Although this argument is not a shining example of fraud, document presented to support it is a flagrant deception.

In summary, Humphrey has altered data on charts in order to support his thesis.

The Creationists: persecuted?

Is there an "establishment" against the scientific creationism?

To promote adherence to the methodology and ethics, science contemporary works via a system of scientific publications, which are subject to review by an independent committee of peers and anonymous. This is the famous "peer review".

Both scientific journal articles that doctoral theses go through this filter. Although there are many cases where this is clearly not sufficient to ensure consistent results, it limited to a minimum the event of bias, favoritism, fraud and plagiarism.

The journals, moreover, also publish critical reports and articles published elsewhere (in other journals, books, or independent sources), which reinforces the phenomenon of peer review.

An original thesis, if it is supported and sustained by experimentation, may well be published in a newspaper. Scientific publications are generally very enthusiastic about public disclosure of new ideas and, potentially, a future Nobel Prize.

Thus, several newspapers have accepted for review articles arguing in favor of creationism. However, most (if not all) were rejected, usually because of their academic level too low. In fact, even assuming all the articles, books and texts creationists have been a peer-review (relevant or not), it remains less than a quarantine.

By comparison, a scholar google search for the term "evo-devo" (a branch of the very recent theory of evolution) returns nearly 2000 results.

Why creationists are not taken seriously

The creationists are not free shot in dérisions. There are several reasons for making sure they do not get the desired credibility. Here are a few:

There is no scientific model creationist (or intelligent design). If a group of researchers creationists (?) Developed a consistent pattern, giving themselves the trouble to support it and support it on empirical facts, this would already be a big "plus".

As long as creationism will remain a campaign of denigration of the theory of evolution (and science in general) coupled with a moralistic rhetoric (from right, of course) nobody will take this movement seriously.

Too many arguments creationists are a stupidity to breathtaking stupidity of a breath.

The goal of creationists movements is clearly not scientific. They are in the religious proseletism, political lobbying, the monetary gain, but not in scientific research.

The unpleasant personality and tactics of the bottom floor of creationists certainly does not help matters (see below).

Who persecutes who?

Trying to start a debate on the blog Uncommon Dissent, the blogger Abbie Smith was sexually harassed by a moderator. Having prepared a rebuttal of some of the arguments of the last book by Michael Behe, this lady has been entitled only to sexist insults in response.

Fired of the university where he worked, William Dembski has published on its website a false letter insult by the rector of the university, seeking to mobilize against his admirers management to regain his post. He will say later that it was a joke, but without apology to the rector.

The biology teachers have received death threats from a creationist. (See also here, and here, too.)

Some hackers have attempted to close the sites Panda's Thumb and Talk Origins.

External Links

Sternberg article in The Washington Post

Labels: Art and culture, Creationism, Human mistake, Noémie Cournoyer, Religion and fanaticism, Science and theory

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 9:43 PM 1 Comments

Be careful not to confuse Muslims and Arabs: the Arabs are a minority among Muslims (20 to 25%), and there are Arab Christians (Egypt: 10 to 15% of the population, Lebanon (20 to 40%), Syria ( 10%), Jordan (5%), Palestine (5%), Iraq (3%). There are also Jews Arabic (Morocco, Tunisia ....)

Breakdown by continent

Of a total of 1, 3 billion Muslims around 930 million to almost live in Asia, including 240 million in the Middle East (Fertile Crescent, Iran, Arabian Peninsula and Turkey) and 690 million in South Central Asia, 320 million reside in Africa, including approximately 130 in North Africa and 190 in Sub-Saharan Africa. North America does little more than 5 million Muslims and Latin America a million and a half. For Europe see below.

The majority of Muslims living in Asia.

The Muslim country in Asia with the most Muslims is Indonesia with about 200 million people are Muslim, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh and India (minority of 13% over 1 billion people).

Shiites and Sunnis

The Shiites are the majority faith in Iran (94%), Iraq (62.5%) and Lebanon (34.1%, compared to 23.4% Maronite, Sunni 21.2% and 11.2% Orthodox), while represent significant minorities in Kuwait (30.3% against 45% Sunni) in the United Arab Emirates (15.9%) and Syria (12%). In Oman, against by the majority of the population is Ibadite faith (or kharédjite) (73.6%).

The Sunnis are the majority in all other countries musulmans. Countries with most Muslims:

Indonesia: 200 million

Pakistan: 139 million

India: 130 million

Bangladesh: 112 million

Turkey: 64 million

Iran: 60 million

Egypt: 58 million

Nigeria: 55 million

Europe

The European Union has 15 million Muslims from 466 million; the European continent as a whole about 32 million.

There are 12 million Muslims of European origin in what is called the arc of Muslim Europe: Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia, Bulgaria.

France is the European country which has the most Muslims, about 4 million people are Muslim. Germany has 2.5 million Muslims, mostly of Turkish origin, the United Kingdom 1,600,000 Muslims mostly from the Indian sub-continent. Spain: 1 million, the Netherlands 850,000 or 6% of the population, as in Denmark, there are about 700,000 Muslims around 5.5 million inhabitants.

Converted into Europe

Their number is difficult to establish and statistics are very unclear.

It is estimated that in France around 3500 people convertiraient to Islam each year. The France would consist of 40,000 to 70,000 converts. It is estimated that in the opposite direction, between 600 and 900 Muslims convertiraient annually to Christianity (1 / 3 to Catholicism, 2 / 3 evangelical Protestantism).

Germany: 15,000 to 100,000 converts.

Belgium: between 6,000 and 25,000 converts.

Spain: 5000 to 20,000 converts.

(Source: Le Monde of 12 September 2007)

Other religions (estimated end-2003): Christianity: 2 billion (1131 billion Catholics [source: Pontifical Yearbook], 440 million Protestants and 220 million Orthodox), Hinduism: 840 million, Buddhism: 380 million, Judaism, 14 5 million

Labels: Arab World, Europe, Iba Bouramine, Islam

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 5:00 PM 0 Comments

The 133-page report, "'As If I Am Not Human': Abuses against Asian Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia," concludes two years of research and is based on 142 interviews with domestic workers, senior government officials, and labor recruiters in Saudi Arabia and labor-sending countries.

"In the best cases, migrant women in Saudi Arabia enjoy good working conditions and kind employers, and in the worst they’re treated like virtual slaves. Most fall somewhere in between," said Nisha Varia, senior researcher in the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. "The Saudi government should extend labor law protections to domestic workers and reform the visa sponsorship system so that women desperate to earn money for their families don’t have to gamble with their lives."

Saudi households employ an estimated 1.5 million domestic workers, primarily from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Nepal. Smaller numbers come from other countries in Africa and Asia. While no reliable statistics exist on the exact number of abuse cases, the Saudi Ministry of Social Affairs and the embassies of labor-sending countries shelter thousands of domestic workers with complaints against their employers or recruiters each year.

Excessive workload and unpaid wages, for periods ranging from a few months to 10 years, are among the most common complaints. The Kingdom’s Labor Law excludes domestic workers, denying them rights guaranteed to other workers, such as a weekly rest day and overtime pay. Many domestic workers must work 18 hours a day, seven days a week.

The restrictive kafala (sponsorship) system ties migrant workers’ visas to their employers, and means employers can deny workers the ability to change jobs or leave the country. Human Rights Watch interviewed dozens of women who said their employers forced them to work against their will for months or years. Employers often take away passports, and lock workers in the home, increasing their isolation and risk of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. After interviews with 86 domestic workers, Human Rights Watch concluded that 36 faced abuses that amounted to forced labor, trafficking, or slavery-like conditions.

"The Saudi government has some good proposals for reform but it has spent years considering them without taking any action," Varia said. "It’s now time to make these changes, which include covering domestic workers under the 2005 Labor Law and changing the kafala system so that workers’ visas are no longer tied to their employers."

The Saudi Ministry of Social Affairs, in cooperation with the police operates a shelter in Riyadh to assist domestic workers to claim their wages and return home. However, in many cases shelter staff negotiated unfair wage settlements between employers and workers, often leaving workers empty-handed because they had to forego back pay in exchange for their employer’s permission to leave the country.

Poor investigations and criminal proceedings that often stretch for years mean that abusive employers are rarely punished through the criminal justice system. For example, after three years of proceedings, a Riyadh court dropped the charges against the employer of Nour Miyati, despite the employer’s confession, ample medical evidence, and intense public scrutiny. Nour Miyati, an Indonesian domestic worker, had her fingers and toes amputated as a result of being starved and beaten daily by her employers.

Human Rights Watch said that rather than seeing their abusers brought to justice, domestic workers are more likely to face counter-accusations of witchcraft, theft, or adultery. And in such cases, domestic workers often face severe delays in getting access to interpreters, legal aid, or consular assistance, or are denied help.

The punishments are severe. In a sample of cases studied by Human Rights Watch, punishments for "witchcraft" and "moral" crimes such as adultery and being in the presence of unrelated men included up to 10 years of imprisonment and between 60 and 490 lashes. Domestic workers who are pregnant as a result of rape also risk prosecution if they cannot meet strict evidentiary standards to prove the rape.

"Many of the women I talked to did not file complaints for fear of countercharges," Varia said. "In other cases, they dropped the charges against their abusers, even if they had a strong case, because otherwise they would be stuck in an overcrowded shelter for years, away from their families and unable to work, and with very little chance of ultimately getting justice."

In the absence of effective local redress mechanisms, the foreign missions of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Nepal often play a critical role in providing shelter, legal aid, and assistance to those who have wage claims or court cases. The demands placed on these embassies far outweigh their resources, and many domestic workers complain of long waiting periods with little information about their cases and, in the cases of Indonesia and Sri Lanka, overcrowded and unhygienic shelters.

Human Rights Watch called upon Saudi Arabia to investigate and punish abusive employers and to protect domestic workers from spurious countercharges. It also called upon Saudi Arabia to cooperate more effectively with labor-sending countries to monitor domestic workers’ employment conditions, facilitate rescues, ensure recovery of unpaid wages, create shelters for survivors of abuse with comprehensive support services, and arrange for timely repatriation. Both Saudi Arabia and governments in labor-sending countries should also establish mechanisms for rigorous and regular monitoring of labor agencies and recruitment practices.

More than 8 million migrants work in Saudi Arabia, comprising roughly one-third of its population. They fill critical gaps in the health, construction, and domestic service sectors, and also support their home economies, sending back US$15.6 billion in 2006, approximately 5 percent of Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product.

Select accounts featured in the report:

“My employer didn’t allow me to go back to Indonesia for six years and eight months…. I never got any salary, not even one riyal ... My employer never got angry with me, she never hit me. But she forbade me from returning to Indonesia.”

– Siti Mujiati W., Indonesian domestic worker, Jeddah, December 11, 2006

“After awhile, the employer started showing some affection for me. He called me into his bedroom. He said, ‘I want to tell you how I got you from the agency.’ He said, ‘I bought you for 10,000 riyals.’…The employer raped me many times … I told everything to madam … The whole family, madam, the employer, they didn’t want me to go. They locked the doors and gates. [After escaping and waiting in the embassy for nine months for the trial to conclude,] I don’t want to go home feeling empty like the others…. One day, they told me the case was unsuccessful [and I will be sent to deportation to return home.]”

– Haima G., Filipina domestic worker, Riyadh, December 7, 2006

“For one year and five months, [I received] no salary at all. I asked for money and they would beat me, or cut me with a knife, or burn me. There are markings on my back. My body ached all over. They would take my head and bang it against the wall. Whenever I requested my salary, there would be a fight.”

– Ponnamma S., Sri Lankan domestic worker, Riyadh, December 14, 2006

Labels: Francis Chartrand, Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 12:04 PM 0 Comments

The 113-page report,“Law and Reality: Progress in Judicial Reform in Rwanda,” examines changes to the judicial system adopted over the past four years. The report documents reforms including the abolition of capital punishment, but identifies continuing areas of concern, including the susceptibility of judges to pressure from members of the executive branch and other powerful persons, and the failure to assure basic fair trial standards – including the presumption of innocence, the right to present witnesses in one’s own defense, and the right to protection from double jeopardy.

“Rwanda has made technical improvements in the delivery of justice, but the system still falls short in key areas,” said Alison Des Forges, senior advisor to the Africa division at Human Rights Watch. “We identified serious problems in such areas as judicial independence, the right to present a defense, and the right to equal access to justice for all. It’s still the case that defendants in Rwanda may be denied their right to a fair trial.”

The report is being published as the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is examining decisions by the lower court refusing to transfer cases from the tribunal to Rwandan national courts. The ICTR was established by the United Nations to try crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed in Rwanda in 1994. As the tribunal nears the end of its mandate, the prosecutor has sought to transfer some of the remaining cases to national courts, including in Rwanda.

Judicial systems in other countries such as France and the United Kingdom are also considering whether to send persons accused of genocide back to Rwanda for trial. Judicial decisions at the ICTR and in other national courts hang in part on evaluating whether fair trials can be guaranteed in Rwandan courts. Although courts in France and the UK decided in favor of extradition to Rwanda, the French decision was reversed on appeal. The UK decision will be appealed but has yet to be considered at the appellate level.

Based on two years of research for the report, Human Rights Watch has taken the position that, at this time, the independence of the courts and the assurance of fair trial rights in Rwanda are insufficient to permit extradition or transfer.

“It is extremely important that those implicated in serious crimes such as genocide be tried,” said Des Forges. “But they should be tried in legal systems that can guarantee independent and fair trials, and appropriate punishments.”

Concerns about judicial independence raised by the report took on new relevance in July 2008 when the Rwandan National Assembly approved a constitutional amendment establishing review of judicial mandates every four years. Previously, Rwandan law guaranteed judges other than those on the Supreme Court tenure for life, except in cases of misconduct. The amendment, likely to further limit judicial independence, was one of 50 adopted by the assembly.

Another constitutional amendment adopted by the assembly makes it possible to prosecute Rwandan presidents for crimes committed during their time in office only while they are actually in power. They are guaranteed immunity from prosecution for these crimes once their terms have finished. This amendment contravenes Rwandan law and Rwandan adherence to international conventions guaranteeing that liability for certain serious crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity, may not be limited or revoked.

The Senate has not yet acted on the amendments voted by the assembly, but is expected to approve them. Approval by a majority vote of three-quarters of both legislative bodies is necessary for an amendment to be adopted.

Among judicial improvements in Rwanda in recent years, Human Rights Watch singled out as most important the abolition of the death penalty. This improvement was counterbalanced, however, by establishing life imprisonment in solitary confinement as the maximum criminal penalty. This penalty constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment in violation of international conventions.

The guarantee of the right to counsel at all stages of judicial proceedings and the prohibition against arbitrary and prolonged detention are also noteworthy improvements in the protection of human rights. Other advances include higher educational criteria for candidates for judicial posts and greater efficiency in deciding cases.

Human Rights Watch also called for further efforts in eliminating torture and in providing humane conditions of detention.

Human Rights Watch emphasized the need for all citizens to be able to bring their claims before the courts, including those who suffered at the hands of the Rwandan Patriotic Army, the military force that defeated the government responsible for the genocide. Last month, Rwanda charged four of these military officers with having killed 15 civilians in June 1994.

“The trial of military officers for killing civilians could mark an important step on the road to real justice in Rwanda if it’s seen to be fair and if the punishment of any person convicted fits the crime,” said Des Forges. “We look to Rwandan judicial authorities to make this the beginning of a new effort to assure that all citizens have equal access to justice.”

Labels: Francis Chartrand, Human Rights Watch, Rwanda

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 11:11 AM 0 Comments

The Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died in the night from Saturday to Sunday in Moscow announced Russian news agencies. He was 89 years old.

According to his son, quoted by the Itar-Tass agency, he died as a result of acute heart failure. A student at school and university science Rostov-on-Don, he studied literature, mathematics and Communist doctrine he knew well. He joined the revolutionary ideals of the time. During the German invasion in 1941, he fights as a gunner. He was sentenced in 1945 to 8 years imprisonment in labour camps for activity against-revolutionary, having maintained a critical match against the Stalinist political skills and his warriors. According to Solzhenitsyn, the war with Nazi Germany could have been avoided if the Soviet government had reached a compromise with Hitler. Solzhenitsyn accused the Soviet government and Joseph Stalin have been more responsible Hitler of the terrible consequences of war on the Soviet people. He was sentenced to time as a traitor. When he left the camp in 1953, a few weeks before Stalin's death, he was sent to perpetual exile in Kazakhstan. He was rehabilitated in 1956 and settled in Ryazan, 200 km south of Moscow, where he teaches physical sciences.

It was his book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, published in 1962 in the journal Soviet Novi Mir, thanks to approval by Nikita Khrushchev in person, who acquired him international acclaim. However, three years later, it is impossible to publish anything in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and his novels Prime Circle and The Cancer Pavilion and the first volume of his historical epic The Red Wheel, appeared in the West where he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970, reward it may levy that four years later after being expelled from the USSR. It has not been able to travel to Stockholm for fear of being stripped of his Soviet nationality and unable to return to the USSR, the Swedish government refused to submit the price to its embassy in Moscow.

His life becomes a permanent conspiracy to steal the right to write in spite of monitoring more and more diligent KGB. A portion of its archives is entered in one of his friends in September 1965, and there is insufficient be assassinated in August 1971 (by a "Bulgarian umbrella"). One of his closest collaborators has narrowly escaped a strangulation and a car accident. In December 1973, appears in Paris (in Russian) The Gulag Archipelago, where he exposes the system of the Soviet Gulag concentration camps, he lived on the inside, and the nature of the totalitarian regime. Written between 1958 and 1967 on tiny pieces of paper buried one by one in gardens friends, a copy was sent to the West to escape censure. He decided his release after one of his aides was found hanged: she had confessed to the KGB cache whereabouts of a copy of the work. This publication brings him to be stripped of his citizenship and be expelled from the USSR in February 1974.

He settled first in Switzerland, then emigrated to the USA. After a turbulent period of interviews and speeches (including the famous speech delivered at Harvard in 1978), the USA, Solzhenitsyn was often invited to major conferences. On 15 July 1975, he was even invited to give a lecture on the world situation in the U.S. Senate. The West discovered a man and deeply conservative Orthodox slavophile very critical of Western society of consumption. He withdrew with his family in Vermont, in St. Johnsberry, to write the work which he dreamed since his youth: The Red Wheel. Historical epic tells the embourbement of Russia in the revolutionary madness, it has several thousand pages.

After the fall of the USSR, the Russian nationality he is returned and the Gulag Archipelago published. Via France (inauguration of the memorial Lucs Boulogne-sur-(Vendée) on September 25 1993), then he returned to Russia Friday, May 27, 1994 where he resides since. Until 1998, it retains an intense social activity at its own television show, travels through Russia, meets a multitude of people. The disease has interrupted this activity.

A committed intellectual ... and finally recognized

Long a symbol of intellectual resistance to Soviet oppression, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is regularly attacked. The operations of destabilization against him have practically never ceased since the 1960's. A zek (detainee), manipulated by the KGB, accused of being an informer of the communist authorities, and why writing a false denunciation. The KGB did write a few books against him by former friends, as his former editor, Alec Flagon, and even by his first wife. During his literary career, no indictment has not been spared: successively or at the same time accused of being nationalist, tsarist, ultra-Orthodox, anti-Semitic or supported Israel, traitor, accomplice objective of the Gestapo, the CIA, francs Masons, french secret services and even the KGB. Solzhenitsyn has responded to these accusations by juxtaposing to cancel them, in writing his autobiography, The grain fell between the millstones, and again recently in an article of the Litératournaïa Gazeta, "barbouilleurs not looking light ". In fact, his political opinions, forged throughout his life by a common destiny outside, are too complex to be labelled. He did not believe that the country can move, overnight, a totalitarian regime to a regime-type Western democracy. If it supports a strong presidency, it is especially supporter of local democracy, quite close to the ideas of Alexis de Tocqueville: Solzhenitsyn, true democracy is not established by the electoral system but by a fabric d 'associations managing local affairs independently of the central government which, he should take care that national affairs (army, foreign policy, etc.).. It is a fervent patriot, but not a nationalist: for example he always opposed the war in Chechnya. He had a favorable comment to President Putin during his coming to power, hoping to significant changes, then took his distances quickly. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has never refuted the accusations of royalisme brought against him by Soviet power. His orthodox religious beliefs are also distrust in progressive circles.

According to Moshe Lewin, who relays this criticism, "as long as [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn] conducted its battle of the interior, foreign observers have assumed that he fought for a democratic system [...]. But once Solzhenitsyn exiled in the West, they quickly realized that was not automatically anti-bearer of democracy. The battle Solzhenitsyn was actually in the service of an ideology deeply undemocratic, which combined elements of "national-statism" archaic traits of the Orthodox religion, but the very concept of Democracy. In short there were at Solzhenitsyn a deep attachment to a authoritarianism of its own which, if it was not made during his first appearances in the public arena, has developed during his fight. "

The American historian Richard Pipes, whose work on the history of Soviet Russia had been described by Solzhenitsyn "Polish version of Russian history" (Pipes is of Polish origin), responded to it in the taxing of anti-Semitism and ultra-nationalism. In 1985, Pipes has developed his remarks in his criticism of a new Solzhenitsyn, August 1914: "Each culture has a clean form of anti-Semitism. In the case of Solzhenitsyn, it is not racial. This has nothing to do with blood. He [Solzhenitsyn] is not racist, the question is fundamentally religious and cultural. It has many similarities with Dostoyevsky, who was a devout Christian, a patriot and a fierce anti-Semitic. Solzhenitsyn takes place in doubt the vision of the Revolution defended by the extreme-right Russian, as a creation of Jews."

It has been throughout her literary accusations of anti-Semitism because of the publication named administrative manager of the Gulag, its historical work on the Bolshevik revolution and, more recently, because of its opposition to Russian oligarchs and the publication of his book historical Two centuries on relations between Jews and Russians from 1795 to 1995: the writer and former Soviet dissident Vladimir Voinovich has tried to demonstrate anti-Semitic character of this book in a study controversy. In France, Trotskyist historian Jean-Jacques Marie devoted a section to each of Volume Two centuries together, which he describes as "anti-Semitic Bible." According to Jean-Jacques Marie, "Solzhenitsyn describes, in two centuries together, a conception of the history of Jews in Russia worthy of being included in a handbook of falsifying history" by restoring a history of pogroms "as it was seen by Tsarist police." The British historian Robert Service, however, defended the book by Solzhenitsyn, arguing that a study of the place of Jews in the Bolshevik party was fully justified and that Trotsky himself had criticized their overrepresentation in the leadership of the party.

The end

Solzhenitsyn lives near Moscow withdrew in the midst of his family. The Fund assists Solzhenitsyn former zeks and their families in paying their pensions, paying for medicines. After thought he would play a decisive role in post-communist Russia, then disappointed, having already more or less "buried", the Russians seem these days look again at its figure and rediscover value of his writings politico-social. An international symposium on his work was dedicated in December 2003 in Moscow.

On 12 June 2007, President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to Solzhenitsyn in awarding him the prestigious State Medals.

Friend of Philippe de Villiers, Chairman of the Vendee, he called a college of Aizenay College Alexander Solzhenitsyn, inaugurated by the son of the writer.

He died at his home in Moscow to 89 years in the night of 3 to 4 August an acute heart failure.

Labels: Art and culture, Francis Chartrand, Russia

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 10:36 AM 0 Comments