Albertoo

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Member since: Thu Dec 4, 2014, 02:08 AM
Number of posts: 2,016

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UK: Muslim Shopkeeper Murdered for Wishing Christians a Happy Easter

Brussels, Lahore, Glasgow, radical Islam is getting out of hand.

Muslim shopkeeper who wished Christian friends Happy Easter 'knifed by Islamic fanatic'

Newsagent Asad Shah was brutally murdered just hours after he posted a heartfelt Easter message to Christian friends

A DEVOUT Muslim shopkeeper was stabbed to death in a suspected religious hate killing hours after wishing Christians Happy Easter. Peace-loving Asad Shah, 40, was knifed outside his newsagents’ shop.

A 32-year-old fellow Muslim, who was in hospital last night, was arrested in connection with the attack yesterday, a source said.

Police confirmed they are treating the incident as “religiously prejudiced”.

Four hours before the killing Mr Shah put his Easter message on Facebook in what was to be his final post.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/7027550/Peace-loving-Muslim-shopkeeper-brutally-murdered-hours-after-wishing-Christian-friends-Happy-Easter.html

Posted by Albertoo | Sun Mar 27, 2016, 08:49 PM (17 replies)

Now that Cruz is DOA, can the GOP avoid Trump?

Trump is a major liability,
with scores of Republicans who will oppose him or just stay home on election day.
Does the GOP have one last card to play to avoid a Trump meltdown?

This election is .. special ..

Posted by Albertoo | Fri Mar 25, 2016, 09:52 AM (18 replies)

Re:Brussels, it makes no sense to claim "Islam is a religion of peace"

I understand religion has a specific forum, but I am reacting to a post here, in 'General Discussion', which claimed re:Brussels that "Islam is a religion of peace"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7705340

So, as the board rules mention that "Open discussion of religion is permitted during very high-profile news events which are heavily covered across all newsmedia.", without any animus towards Muslims, I wish to just simply state why it is wrong to claim that "Islam is a religion of peace", especially in context.

First, define Islam? It's impossible. (*)
- The texts are unreliable and contradictory. Muhammad's biographies and hadiths were written about two centuries after Muhammad. The Quran contradicts itself on key tenets of doctrine (what Adam was made of, how to deal with unbelievers, etc)
- the interpretation of the texts are contradictory: from peaceful Sufis to ISIS, from gay Muslim centers to the hanging of gays in the name of Islam.

Second, can Islam be decreed peaceful?
- part of the texts incite to violence: some Quran verses and hadiths
- the way a plurality of Muslims understand Islam is not peaceful: half of the world Muslims believe their religion calls them to stone adulterers. Can this be called peaceful?

Third, in the context of Brussels, I understand part of the reason people would want to make that claim: to shield innocent Muslims from people who would advocate a blanket indiscriminate backlash. But misleading sentences do more harm than good, especially when they appear to want to exonerate an ideology from its harmful consequences.
Because the motivation of the Brussels attackers IS Islam. Their ISIS brand of Islam (*).

Wrong diagnostics do not help to find solutions. And the context of a terror attack, rushing to issue a blanket statement that "Islam is peaceful" can come across as rather insensitive.
I cringed when I saw halfwit GW say just that just after 9/11.

Peace to all.

Posted by Albertoo | Tue Mar 22, 2016, 10:39 PM (117 replies)

Black Trump supporter hits white demonstrator

Trump's populist appeal is jobs, not race.
That's why painting him as Hitler doesn't deter his fans.

Posted by Albertoo | Mon Mar 21, 2016, 12:14 AM (73 replies)

How Muslim Governments Impose Ignorance

Excerpt: "Muslim societies are underdeveloped in science, technology, economics and culture. This will be overcome only with more freedom."
To have more freedom, these societies need to become less Muslim. The Catch 22 of religion.

How Muslim Governments Impose Ignorance

ISTANBUL — I recently spent a few days in Malaysia, where I was promoting the publication of the Malay edition of my book, “Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty.” (..) My publisher was worried about censorship. The risk, I was told, was that the Department of Islamic Development, a government body that “was formed to protect the purity of faith,” could ban the book if it was viewed as violating traditional Islamic doctrine.

....... Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” was banned because, according to the home minister, it “goes against Islamic teachings,” and even “endangers public harmony” — whatever that means. ....... Malaysia isn’t an anomaly in the Muslim world. ........ In Malaysia, the government brazenly condemns “liberalism” and “human rights-ism.” .......

Today, many Muslims, including those who censor books or punish “heretics,” long for that “golden age of Islam” and lament that our civilization is no longer great. Few seem to realize, however, that the greatness of Islam was made possible thanks to its openness to foreign cultures and ideas. The Muslim world began to stagnate and then decline after the 13th century, as this cosmopolitanism was replaced with self-isolating dogmatism. In the meantime, Europe flourished as Europeans began to think more openly.

The Muslim world today is in a state of malaise. Muslim societies are underdeveloped in science, technology, economics and culture. This will be overcome only with more freedom. Progress depends on more Muslims questioning whether policies that promote ignorance are really devised to protect their faith — or to protect the power of those who rule in its name.

Mustafa Akyol is the author of “Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty,” and a contributing opinion writer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/opinion/how-muslim-governments-imposeignorance.html

Posted by Albertoo | Fri Mar 18, 2016, 12:46 AM (15 replies)

Trump 1933?

Posted by Albertoo | Tue Mar 15, 2016, 11:49 PM (0 replies)

Mega Tuesday: First results lean toward Hillary

Posted by Albertoo | Tue Mar 15, 2016, 08:06 PM (2 replies)

Trump's appeal to blue collars

Amazingly, it's a good article in the Daily Mail, something more rare than eclipses of the Sun.
Written by an American consultant to David Cameron who doesn't support Trump.

(..) simply to dismiss Trump as a reality show entertainer with nothing of consequence to say would be to make a big mistake (..) there’s no doubting he is a divisive figure. But he is also one who makes a real connection.

He is a much more serious, interesting and historically important political figure than his detractors allow. Trump is challenging not just some of the basic tenets of Republican ideas, but those of the Democrats too. The truth is, we live in a world that is run by bankers, bureaucrats and accountants. For decades, they have pushed a technocratic agenda that has been implemented by politicians of both Left and Right.

This agenda favours big business over small, fetishises globalisation, and is relaxed about immigration – regardless of the consequences for working people. As factories close, jobs disappear and wages fall, the response from the elite has been callous and inhuman: ‘This is the world we live in: suck it up and get with the programme.’

Well, people have had enough of being dismissed and patronised by the elite – who, by the way, do very nicely out of this technocratic agenda. Big businesses use their market dominance and unfair access to the levers of power to rip off consumers, exploit workers, and keep entrepreneurial competitors from challenging them. Globalisation is undoubtedly a force for good and has helped poor people in poor countries get richer. But the biggest rewards have gone to the already rich in the wealthiest parts of the world. And uncontrolled immigration gives them cheap labour for their businesses – not to mention an endless supply of nannies, housekeepers and gardeners.
{snip}

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3489656/To-dismiss-Trump-bigoted-buffoon-YUGE-mistake-s-elite-bashing-hit-workers-Political-svengali-helped-sweep-David-Cameron-power-gives-stunning-appraisal-president.html#ixzz42pXy8GaW

Posted by Albertoo | Sun Mar 13, 2016, 07:58 PM (4 replies)

The world as seen by Trump

Posted by Albertoo | Sat Mar 12, 2016, 10:15 AM (0 replies)

Did Mitt Romney Just File Papers To Run For President?

More fun?

It shows Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan preparing to make another presidential run – a plan that began back in October according to the filing date. This appears to come from the official FEC.gov website.

Check it out:

Posted by Albertoo | Sat Mar 5, 2016, 07:31 PM (11 replies)

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