Labour: (doing what?) for Wales in Europe

So the (Welsh) Labour party conference is over in Swansea.

One particular 'incident' at the conference drew my mind back to the Cymdeithas Cledwyn report, on winning votes for the Labour Party in the 'Fro Gymraeg'.

Well one possible recommendation for the next report is, if you are going to use bi-lingual banners at your (Welsh) conference, and if you are going to make them so large and place them so prominently on the stage above Gordon Brown's head, it would help if you could spell the Welsh bits correctly in case anyone from the 'Bro' is actually in the audience or watching on their TV - just a thought.

Plaid Llafur: Enill dros Gymru yn Ewrop - ahem, yes.

Budget Spinmonger

Surely someone must have thought of a way to blame Muslims for this budget?

Let me have a try then...

With an annual increase on alcohol duty for the next four years and the impact this will no doubt have on public houses all over the UK, surely this must be Sharia by Stealth?

Chancellor, the public has a right to know...



NB: 'Spinmonger' - I don't think this is even a word (yet) so cite me as the source if you decide to coin it in the future ;) Basically I give the Spinmonger this definition:

Spinmonger
A political press agent or publicist employed to promote an unfavourable interpretation of events to journalists in order to encourage a people or nation to fear or hate (possibly both) minority groups within their society. (An ideological spinmonger would probably do it for free)

It's basically a combination of the following:
Spin Doctor
A political press agent or publicist employed to promote a favourable interpretation of events to journalists.
Warmonger
A pejorative term used to describe someone who is eager to encourage a people or nation to go to war.

Some terrorists are more equal than others

“Close all the churches in Wales or we will behead one Christian a week until our demands are met”

– what’s your first reaction?

Horror?
Disgust?
Anger?

What if the person was arrested before he was able to carry out his violence on an innocent faith community - Relief? Expectation of swift justice?

Would you expect the media to let us know what sick views are in the minds of the extremists behind this evil plan and a detailed analysis of the extremist group of which he was a member?

Would you expect the case to be followed closely throughout the trial until the inevitable prosecution of the twisted individual under some terror charge?

Well I would hazard a guess that the overwhelming majority of us would.

But this didn’t happen.

In fact the extremist in question threatened to behead one Scottish Muslim a week until all mosques in Scotland were shut down. The public reaction would indeed have been horror, disgust and anger if the media had given this case anywhere like the attention we are used to with regards to other forms of terrorism. Fortunately, this mad man, joining the long ranks of those who wish to impose their world view on others through violence, was caught before he could harm anyone.

And the charge?

Breach of the peace.


Read it and weep in The Scotsman:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Racist-escapes--terror-charge.5169939.jp

Not the first time either:

Not a Muslim in Sight (Trailer): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFEnJXC0Zuc

Musulmanipulate my Blog ranking

Just wondering if the Government's plans to help Muslim groups manipulate their website's Google ranking will also be extended to Bloggers :)

Is there no such thing as 'bad' publicity?

This is the question that was troubling me when I read an article in Thursday's South Wales Evening Post on the BNP's forays into Carmarthenshire. Even in an article where this unpleasant little far right outfit is being condemned by all the mainstream political parties I wondered, could they possibly benefit from their profile being raised in this way?

As a Muslim I am well aware of the debates going on within Muslim communities across Britain about the best way to marginalise extremists in our own midst and it is always a question of 'Let them be heard so their arguments can be challenged publicly, don't force them underground or you increase their mystique and appeal' versus 'Don't help their message of hate reach further than their limited appeal or finances already allows'.

How many people are aware of the BNP's origins and their real views? The BBC's Panorama programme 'Under the Skin' exposed them brilliantly in November 2001, but how many of us remember the documentary? So now they have memorised new lines for use on the doorstep, hiding the language of the past that would instantly repel the ordinary decent person. They have worked hard at disguising themselves, discarding the thug's uniform in favour of the politician's suit. I worried how many people might be taken in by the political equivalent of the confidence trickster who pretends to be a workman (fluorescent jacket, hard hat etc) in order to gain entry into an unsuspecting elderly person's home. I felt a bit let down that a Welsh newspaper with a decent circulation would give them a platform in this way.

Then I spotted the article directly across from it on the opposite page 'Bid to halt con artists' about a new initiative launched in Swansea called 'Scambusters' that would help tackle the con merchants who prey upon the trusting public. I would like to think the positioning of the article by the editorial staff was not co-incidental.