A stronger Europe?
Guardian says: “The Lisbon treaty will bring the continent closer together and give it a single, firm voice.” Which would be fine, if that voice was saying the right things…
GUARDIAN, 03 Jan 2010: The Lisbon treaty, which came into force on 1 December, opens up a new stage for the European Union, for this project of coexistence between 27 countries and 500 million people, a project created on the values of freedom and human dignity, of tolerance and solidarity.
As presidents of the European council and of the government of the rotating presidency, we would like the application of the Lisbon treaty to be as diligent and rigorous as possible. In a spirit of co‑operation, we will promote the EU’s new institutional order so we can address and resolve the problems that concern us all. Together we will address the priorities set out in the programme of the presidency.
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The Equality Bill – It really is enough to make you weep
Even though this is Labour’s little ‘baby’, truth is Cameron’s lot are just as likely to go ahead with it if they win the next GE.
FROM THE TWISTED MIND OF HARRIET HARMAN, 07 Jan 2010:
October 2010
Most of the provisions of the [Discrimination Bill, known in ‘polite’ and deceitful circles as the] Equality Bill are expected to come into force as the Equality Act 2010. The purposes of this legislation are to harmonise the different strands of discrimination law and strengthen protection. Changes in the draft bill include:
- Extending the prohibition on “associative and perceptive” discrimination and harassment to all discrimination strands. [I.e. If you were found guilty of discriminating against someone else and I perceived that you were discriminating against me, then you must have been!]
- Employers will be explicitly liable for failing to prevent harassment by third parties. [I.e. Your employers will become the new Equality Thought Police to prevent themselves being heavily sued – thanks for your understanding, boss!]
- Expanding the concept of positive action to allow employers to recruit or promote someone from an under-represented group where they have a choice between two or more “equally suitable” candidates. [I.e. More discrimination against white men, particularly white working-class men.]
- Introducing the concept of a discrimination claim based on two combined characteristics where there may not be enough evidence to prove discrimination based on one characteristic alone. [“Iz it coz I iz a black queer?”]
- Under the current proposals, there will be the potential for employees to claim direct sex discrimination in respect of pay and conditions based on a hypothetical comparator where there is no “equal” male-female. The majority of claims, therefore, should still be brought under the traditional equal pay concepts, rather than sex discrimination, but this new avenue will enable an individual to claim even where there is no actual comparator. [I.e. Where there wasn’t any evidence to prove sex discrimination in pay levels, all of a sudden we can invent it! Girl power!!]
- An extension of age discrimination legislation to cover the provision of goods and services. [That one’s fair enough, actually.]
- Introducing an “occupational requirement” defence across all protected characteristics and removing the job-specific “genuine occupational qualifications” in sex, gender reassignment and race cases. [I.e. Only only one-armed lesbian gypsies will be able to become One-Armed Lesbian Gypsy Outreach Workers. The rest of us won’t be able to complain we didn’t get the “job”… which is fair enough, actually… since we’ve got real jobs to be getting on with.]
- Tribunals will be able to make recommendations that respondents who have lost discrimination claims take steps to remedy matters, not just for the benefit of the individual claimant, but also for the benefit of the wider workforce. Where the wider workforce is concerned, however, there is no remedy for failure to comply with the recommendation. [I.e. More tax-payers’ money will go to legal aid for lost cases to be resurrected for the ‘greater good’ of the poor and down-trodden victims, oops, minorities.]
Black blogger accuses HP computers of being ‘racist’
The blogger in question says his comments were made in jest. The most interesting thing is the widespread online response to the story, saying ‘yes Hewitt Packard are definitely racist’. You couldn’t make it up, right?
NEWS.AU.COM, 23 Dec 2009: HP has admitted its new face-tracking webcam has “issues” with black users.
The issue was first brought to worldwide attention earlier this month, when a US man known as “Black Desi” posted a YouTube video that showed his HP webcam – built in to its new computers – refusing to track his face.
The webcam has been developed to enhance live conversations and is supposed to follow the user in all directions and zoom in and out.
Titled “HP computers are racist”, the YouTube video quickly attracted some 500,000 hits and showed Black Desi’s webcam working as it should when his work colleague “White Wanda” stepped in front of the camera. No such luck for Desi.
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Rather die than be called a racist?
EXAMINER.COM, 29 Dec 2009: On Christmas Day, accused Muslim terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was allowed to get on U.S. airliner which was headed for Detroit, without a passport or any luggage. He was allowed to do this, even though officials knew he had ties to al Qaeda, his own father had even reported him to U.S. authorities. Of course, the Nigerian tried to set off a bomb which fortunately failed to detonate.
The very next day, another Nigerian man on the same flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, caused panic on the plane because he acted strangely and refused to come out of the restroom for over an hour. He simply ignored the demands of the flight attendants.
Despite the concerns of the passengers and crew that the man may be another one of the terrorists that the U.S. government claims are on the way, and could be arming an explosive device–no one forcibly removed the man from the bathroom.
Why, in a post 9/11 world would we see such weak-kneed reactions? Could the virus known as political correctness be the culprit?
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“New poll shows why multi-culturalism works?”
Over at Pickled Politics, they seem to have gleefully pounced on the George Soros-funded survey of British Muslims, reported in the The Times (posted here), as ‘proof’ that multi-culturalism works. Remarkable that they failed to mention the blindingly obvious bias in the survey… The survey didn’t ask any white English people their views on the subject, let alone the white working-class who are the main ‘beneficiaries’ of enforced ‘enrichment’.
BLOGOSPHERE, 14 Dec 2009: The study and report is a slap in the face for right-wing dogma on the issues concerned for many reasons.
Firstly, it shows that Britain’s relaxed attitude to differences in religion and culture has made British Muslims more likely to identify with this country and be proud of the liberal traditions they live in, rather than constantly face state-sanctioned discrimination like in Switzerland and France.
Secondly, it shows that Muslims (and this goes for minorities generally) feel much more British than their parents. The figure for British born Muslims is 94% and similar for non-Muslim minorities. In other words the offspring of minorities end up taking the identity of the country they’re born in – rather than become the fifth columnists that right-wing columnists portray them as.
Third – Britain is a model for other European countries to follow. Not only for its relaxed attitude towards differences between people, but also because it is moving away from Britishness being defined as a genetic, ethnic or cultural identity. It’s the idea of a nation as a people together – whether towards a common purpose or towards commonly shared ideals, that makes it cohesive. Neither of these need to be defined by trying to exclude people, as Germany and France have consistently tried to do.
This is what makes Britain great and this is why the percentage of minorities who feel ‘British’ is so high.
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UK Muslims are Europe’s most patriotic
'Patriotic British Muslims' found guilty of aiding 7-7 bombers
Muslims in Britain are the most patriotic in Europe — but more than a quarter in some parts of the country still do not feel British, according to a new study.
THE TIMES, 13 Dec 2009: The report, funded by George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist, found that on average 78% of Muslims identified themselves as British, although this dropped by six points in east London. This compares with 49% of Muslims who consider themselves French and just 23% who feel German.
The findings, based on more than 2,000 detailed interviews, suggest that Muslims may be better integrated in Britain than in other parts of the European Union.
The report will reopen the debate about the merits of multiculturalism, a policy that has actively promoted cultural and religious differences among minorities in Britain but has been criticised as a barrier to integration by Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
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Teen badly hurt in ‘racist’ attack
THE PRESS, Dewsbury, 11 Nov 2009: A TEENAGE boy was knocked unconscious with a house brick, stabbed with a screwdriver and “left for dead” in a vicious race attack.
Joseph Haigh, 14, was savagely beaten by the gang of up to 15 Asian youths in Thornhill on Friday night.
The gang hurled racist abuse at him, constantly referring to the colour of his skin, yet police refused to classify the attack as racially-motivated.
Joseph’s dad Jonathan, 42, of Thornhill, said: “It was a racist attack.
“They were calling him ‘white trash’ and white this, that and the other.
“This is why people are angry about what is happening in this country.
“If it had been an attack by whites on an Asian lad it would have been a definite race attack. When it’s the other way round they don’t want to know.”
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New film uncovers racism in Germany
Another attempt to prove whites are racist – this time in Germany – but no attempt to explore or expose the racism taking place against whites in their own countries.
BBC.co.uk, 6 Nov 2009: Is Germany a racist country? That is what a new documentary, Black on White, is trying to find out. Its findings are shocking. But, as Damien McGuinness reports, the filmmaker himself has been criticized by black Germans for his methods.
For more than a year, journalist Gunter Wallraff travelled across Germany wearing a dark-haired curly wig and with his white skin painted black.
Equipped with a secret camera, and calling himself Kwami Ogonno, he went to predominantly white areas to see how a black man with a foreign accent is treated.
The experience, he said, was even more depressing that he had expected.
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Buddhism is fastest-growing religion in English jails over past decade
Buddhism is the fastest-growing religion in England’s jails, with the number of followers rising eightfold over the past decade.
DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5 Aug 2009: Although adherents to the Eastern faith believe in peace and the sanctity of life, almost all of the Buddhists behind bars in this country are serving lengthy sentences for serious crimes such as violence and sex offences.
Some jails and secure hospitals including Broadmoor have opened shrines known as Buddha Groves in their grounds, and there is a nationwide network of chaplains to cater for the growing population.
It is claimed that most of the Buddhists in jail converted after their conviction, and chose it over other religions because its emphasis on meditation helps them cope with being locked up.
Supporters of Buddhist criminals say they also believe the spiritual development they gain in prison will help them once they are released, and prevent them from re-offending.
Lord Avebury, a Liberal Democrat peer who is the patron of Angulimala, the Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy Organisation, told The Daily Telegraph: “The numbers are quite remarkable. I think one of the reasons is that they convert to Buddhism in prison – it’s a reasonable hypothesis that they become interested when inside.
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BNP would love it here, Emma Thompson tells Exeter students
Actress urges students to carry on fighting prejudice; claims Rwandan-born son endured ‘unpleasant’ experiences.
GUARDIAN, 6 Nov 2009: The actor Emma Thompson has urged a university to work to stamp out racism after her adopted son endured “unpleasant” experiences while studying there. Thompson says Rwandan-born Tindyebwa Agaba suffered because of the colour of his skin during his first year studying politics at Exeter University.
[snip]
On Thursday, during the debate entitled All Africans Now: Artistry and Activism, a member of the audience raised the issue of the BNP and comments by its leader that London was no longer a British city because of its racial diversity.
Thompson replied that Griffin “would feel very comfortable here”. The questioner asked: “What can we do to change the whiteness of Devon and Cornwall? How can we expand our university?”
