The Amboy Times

Say a Prayer for Mumbai

Now that the Thanksgiving festivities are over, my heart goes out to Mumbai and the victims there.

Kate Anstee	Australia	24	Injured	shot in leg at Leopold Cafe, femur fractured	[27]
Rafael Beaus	Spain		Injured	shot in leg (fractured femur). Neumotorax	[28]
Ralph Burkei	Germany	51	Dead	fell from the Taj hotel while trying to escape, died en route to hospital	[29]
Commando Chander	India		Dead	NSG member, shot at Nariman House	[30]
David Coker	Australia	23	Injured	grazed by bullet	[31]
Helen Connolly	Canada		Injured	grazed by bullet	[32]
Studdar Daphne	Australia	50	Dead	see hospital list from helpMumbai	[33][34]
Sadanand Date	India		Injured	1990 batch IPS officer from the city and the additional commissioner of Mumbai police	[35]
Antonio Di Lorenzo	Italy	63	Dead	from a grenade in the first phase of terrorist attack	[36]
Brett Gilbert Taylor	Australia	49	Dead	arrived at hospital dead	[37]
Lakshmi Narayan Goyal	India	57	Dead	near Ville Parle	[38]
Gavriel Noach Holtzberg	Israel United States	28	Dead	held hostage in the Chabad House	[39]
Rivka Holtzberg	Israel		Dead	held hostage in the Chabad House	[40]
Lo Hwei-Yen	Singapore	28	Dead	found on 19th floor of the Oberoi	[41]
Ashok Kamte	India		Dead	Additional Commissioner of Police
Ashok Kapur	India/span>		Dead	Unknown causes but found dead at Trident Oberoi. Chairman Yes Bank	[42]
Hemant Karkare	India	54	Dead	Head of the Mumbai ATS	[43]
Tatsuya Kessoku	Japan	44	Injured	see elevator story	[44]
Andreas Dionysiou Liveras	United Kingdom	73	Dead	shot to death after making call from inside hotel	[45]
Doug Markell	Australia	71	Dead		[46] [47]
Jihad Mihyar	Jordan		Injured	hospitalized, but discharged	[48]
Michael Murphy	United Kingdom	59	Injured	shot in the ribs, in intensive care	[49]
Diane Murphy	United Kingdom	58	Injured	shot in the foot	[50]
Vishwas Nangre-Patil	India		Injured		[51]
Linda Ragsdale	United States		Injured	underwent surgery for bullet wounds	[52]
Michael Rudder	Canada		Injured	shot three times, stabilized at hospital	[53]
Maria Rosa	Spanish		Injured	stabilized at hospital	[54]
Vijay Salaskar	India		Dead	Encounter specialist
Alan Scherr	United States	58	Dead	shot in Oberoi Hotel	[55]
Naomi Scherr	United States	13	Dead	was with father, shot in Oberoi	[55]
Michael Stert	Australia	73	Dead	see hospital list from helpMumbai	[56]
Hisashi Tsuda	Japan	38	Dead	shot in the back of the leg, stomach and chest at the Trident hotel, died at hospital	[57]
Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan	India	31	Dead	NSG officer, at Taj hotel	[58]
Uguarinni	Italy		Dead	listed on hospital roles	[59]
Andi Varagona aka Rudrani Devi	United States		Injured	shot in arm and leg	[60] [61]
Watt Wilson	United Kingdom		Safe	Hostage rescued from Oberoi Trident	[62]
Dowson Oliver Francis	United Kingdom		Safe	Hostage rescued from Oberoi Trident
Arnold Sbarretti	Italy		Safe	Hostage rescued from Oberoi Trident
Emanuel Lattarzi	Italy		Safe	Hostage rescued from Oberoi Trident
Walsh Nancy Elieen	USA		Safe	Hostage rescued from Oberoi Trident
Nanki Vell Gay	Canada		Safe	Hostage rescued from Oberoi Trident
Sajjad Karim	UK		Safe	Staying in Taj Mahal Palace, shot at but escaped.	[63]
Mrs. Broy Jennifer Dean	Canada		Safe	Hostage rescued from Oberoi Trident
Noda Petsu	Japan		Safe	Hostage rescued from Oberoi Trident

May you never submit.

Osama Christmas

It's a little early for this, but what the heck.

.

Why did Micheal Jackson convert to Islam?

I'm sure this had nothing to do with it.

New York, NY, November 23, 2005 … Reacting to revelations that Michael Jackson referred to Jews as "leeches" in a voicemail to a former business manager, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today said the pop music icon "has an anti-Semitic streak" and hasn't learned from his past mistakes, including the use of anti-Semitic epithets in a 1995 song he wrote.

In tapes aired yesterday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Mr. Jackson was heard saying of Jews, "They suck … They're like leeches.  … I'm so tired of it … It is a conspiracy.  The Jews do it on purpose."

(...)

We had hoped that Jackson would have learned from his mistakes.  While he apologized for, and later removed the anti-Jewish lyrics in "They Don't Care About Us," it is clear now that he never was able to completely remove the bigotry from his own heart.

Rather, he embraced it.

Historic British Pub Offends Muslims...

...And is forced to change it's name. That's right, if you have a 300 year old piece of Brit history that offends Muslims, you just change it.

From the OPINIONATOR.

BIRMINGHAM Mail readers have spoken out against the decision to change the name of a historic city pub – accusing it of being “politically correct”.

The home of the famous Saracen’s Head, in Kings Norton Green, will become known as Saint Nicolas Place said its owners, at the nearby St Nicolas Church.

Saracen is the medieval European name for Muslim.

Angry letters fired off to the Mail said the church had no right to “wipe away 300 years of history” for fear of offending Muslims.

Ann Spooner, of Kings Norton, wrote: “To us it will always be the Saracen’s Head.”

The 18th-century former inn was originally built as a rich wool merchant’s house in the 1400s and was given to the church in 1930. In 2004 it won £500,000 to help bring it back to its former glory in the BBC programme Restoration.

Cannon Rob Morris said the church consulted with its congregation of more than 300 and the Friends of Historic Kings Norton in reaching the controversial choice.

In 2004 the Birmingham Mail reported how the Very Rev Morris said the name was “offensive” to Muslims. But he said the reason behind the name-change was to stop people from mistaking the building – now a community centre and church office – for a pub. It was also to recognise the role of the church and its more than a million pounds’ worth of investment.

Keith Carton, from Kings Norton, said: “When was the last time anyone can recall coachloads of lager louts turning up for a heavy session?”

Rod Murphy, from Northfield, said: “This barmy decision has nothing at all to do with people thinking the building is still a pub. The only people who use the building are locals and they know full well it is not a pub.”

Rod was among many who felt the new name was prompted by a fear of offending Muslims.

He said: “This is the real reason that the name is being changed. How the misguided, deluded do-gooder Canon Rob Morris can be allowed to wipe away 300 years of history is beyond belief.”

Mr Morris denied the charge adding the site would be home to the Saracen’s Head Cafe.

He said: “I’m surprised at how many people have complained.”

I'm surprised by the dhimmitude and lack of civic pride.

Michael Jackson converts to Islam

No big surprise here, Jackson escaped to Bahrain some years back. No doubt tired of the continual child molestation charges, he has found a nice hiding place under a burka.

Pop singer Michael Jackson has converted to Islam and changed his name to Mikaeel.

The 50-year-old star pledged his allegiance to the Koran in a ceremony at a friend's mansion in Los Angeles, the Sun reported.

Jackson sat on the floor wearing a tiny hat after an Imam was summoned to officiate -- days before the singer is due to appear at London's High Court where he is being sued by an Arab Sheikh, the paper said.

Hmmm, I wonder if this has something to do with the conversion?

The star decided to adopt the new religion while he was recording a song at the home of his friend where a Jehovah's witness was brought up to help him through the ceremony.

Apparently the star of hits like The Way You Make Me Feel-was convinced by his producer and songwriter friends David Wharnsby and Phillip Bubal.

"They began talking to him about their beliefs, and how they thought they had become better people after they converted. Michael soon began warming to the idea.

"An Imam was summoned from the mosque and Michael went through the shahada, which is the Muslim declaration of belief," the source revealed.

Mikaeel is the name of one of Allah's angels.

"Jacko rejected an alternative name, Mustafa meaning "the chosen one", the source added.

The singer, who rarely ventures out without a mask, (sic) is due to give evidence on Monday in a 4.7 million pound lawsuit brought by Prince Abdulla Al-Khalif of Bahrain for defaulting on an exclusive recording contract.

No reason to question his sanity, noooo sir.

Russian magazine "insulting or humiliating" to Muslims

Hat tip, DW.

Dhimmified self-censorship has reached Russia.

Moscow prosecutors say they have warned the Russian-language edition of the Newsweek magazine for allegedly insulting Muslims.

The Moscow Prosecutor's Office says the magazine published two stories that could be "insulting or humiliating" to Muslims. It said Tuesday on article also included one of the 2005 Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

The magazine published the stories on Muslims in the European Union in late October. It could not be immediately reached for comment. About 20 million Muslims live in Russia.

Under President Vladimir Putin and his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, Russian news organizations have come under increasing official pressure. If prosecutors' warnings are ignored, publications can be fined or threatened with closure.

Algeria upholds convictions for smoking on Ramadan

Another one for the List.

Algeria's highest court on Tuesday upheld convictions for three men caught smoking cigarettes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan but reduced their prison terms, a defense lawyer and a rights group said.

The Algiers appeals court, the North African country's top jurisdiction, cut the sentences from three years to two months for "offending religion," the group and the lawyer said.

The men — all construction workers in an upscale Algiers neighborhood — were caught by police smoking cigarettes on a street Sept. 21, and have been detained since. The lawyer said they would likely be released this week.

No law in Algeria explicitly bars people from eating, drinking, smoking or otherwise breaking the daytime fast during Islam's holy month, which this year fell in September. Justice Ministry officials declined to comment on the case.

But Algerian secularists worry authorities are placating Islamists by increasingly enforcing religious rules. Read on..

Marines Ban Anti-Islamic Terrorism Bumper Stickers

Ironic Surrealism brings us the latest on the self-censorship front.

Marines Ban Father of Serviceman Killed on USS Cole from Expressing Opposition to Islamic Terrorism

ANN ARBOR, MI – Jesse Nieto is a 25-year Marine veteran whose honorable service to our nation included two combat tours in Vietnam.  His youngest son, Marc, and 16 of Marc’s shipmates were killed on October 12, 2000, by Islamic terrorists who bombed the USS Cole.  Nieto has worked as a civilian employee at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina since 1994. 

Since 2001, Nieto has displayed various decals on his vehicle expressing anti-terrorist sentiments, such as “Remember the Cole, 12 Oct 2000,” “Islam=Terrorism,” and “We Died, They Rejoiced.”  On July 31, 2008, two military police officers (MPs) issued Nieto a ticket for displaying “offensive material.” 

In mid-August, after Nieto refused to remove all “offending” decals from his vehicle, the Base Magistrate issued Nieto a written order, ordering him to remove his vehicle from the base until all decals were removed and banning his vehicle from all other federal installations.  The order in effect prevented Nieto from driving his vehicle to Arlington National Cemetery (a federal installation) to visit the grave of his fallen son.

As a result of the Marine Corps’ action, the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, this week filed a federal lawsuit against the Camp Lejeune Commanding Officer and the Base Magistrate on behalf of Nieto in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The civil rights lawsuit challenges the military’s ban on Nieto’s speech on the basis that it violates Nieto’s constitutional rights to freedom of speech and the equal protection of the law. Read the rest.

Freedom of speech, one of the rights Nieto gave his life for.

A Fatwa on Emoticons

Thanks again to Sounder for bringing this to my attention.

The Jawa Report tells us of the latest crazy fatwa, emoticons.

Emoticons are forbidden because of its imitation to Allah’s creatures whether it is original or mixture or even deformed one and since the picture is the face and the face is what makes the real picture then emoticons which represent faces that express emotions then all that add up to make them Haram

I especially love this discussion over why this ---> :-) is okay, but not this --->

Then there's this:

A woman should not use these images when speaking to a man who is not her mahram, because these faces are used to express how she is feeling, so it is as if she is smiling, laughing, acting shy and so on, and a woman should not do that with a non-mahram man.

It is only permissible for a woman to speak to men in cases of necessity, so long as that is in a public chat room and not in private correspondence.

Since I'm already in for a penny, might as well be in for a pound. If emoticons are harem, what about emoticons of dancing terrorists?

Thanks to Jane.

UPDATE: Black Flag gets the fatwa for the day!

Don't even get them started on Mohammed emoticons. ;)

Dubai Tourists given Fair Warning...

...but not until after they arrive. You won't be reading this in the travel brochures.

One of Dubai’s most popular beach hotels has issued guests with an “etiquette guide” after two Britons were convicted for having sex on the beach near the hotel.

The etiquette guides, which suggest the hotel’s guests could be arrested for inappropriate public displays, are left on tables during the weekly brunch event at the Madinat Jumeirah hotel.

The guests should "employ discretion" in expressing affection publicly, says the hotel, with "anything more than a peck on the cheek" likely to result in police involvement.

(...)

On the subject of drunkenness, the hotel’s etiquette guide warns: “Drinking is not a part of Muslim culture and alcohol is not served openly. Drunken behaviour, especially outside licensed premises in the hotel, is severely punished.”

More than one million Britons visited Dubai last year, with twice as many expatriates now living in the Emirate.

Surrender your rights for sunny beaches, real smart.

The Madinah Jumeirah is one of Dubai's biggest and most popular beach hotels, next to the iconic seven-star Burj Al-Arab. More Britons visit than any other nationality - the hotel has 584 rooms in total, split between the Mina A'Salam and Al Qasr brands.

A spokeswoman for the hotel told Times Online: "Following the recent media attention surrounding etiquette in the Emirate, we have received additional enquiries from our guests. As a result, we have taken the initiative to produce information cards to inform our guests about local culture and customs here in Dubai.

“These cards are distributed throughout and advise our guests about driving around the Emirate, acceptable dress codes, public displays of affection, drinking and other responsible and respectful behaviour.”

Orwell was wrong. 1984 didn't come to England, the English go there on vacation.