J. M. Verville

The Pakistani government is acting more than foolishly as of late:

Pakistan has begun moving thousands of troops to the Indian border, intelligence officials said on Friday.

The army’s 14th Division — about 20,000 troops — was being redeployed to the towns of Kasur and Sialkot, close to the Indian border, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

The redeployment, which will relocate about one-fifth of Pakistani troops serving in the country’s tribal areas, began on Thursday evening.

“Senior security officials said a limited number of soldiers had been pulled out from non-essential positions along the Afghan border,” the CBC’s Barbara Plett reported from Islamabad. (more…)

Talk about walking on egg shells and blowing things out of proportion:

Movie buffs in China won’t be able to see the blockbuster Batman film The Dark Knight on the big screen.

Citing “cultural sensitivities in some elements of the film,” Warner Bros. said in a statement on Friday that it has cancelled the release of the 2008 hit in mainland China.

It did not elaborate on what it meant by “cultural sensitivities,” but the New York Times speculated that the Hollywood studio may have been concerned Chinese censors would be offended by scenes shot in Hong Kong, including those in which Batman, played by Christian Bale, nabs a Chinese money launderer. (more…)

After they get gay marriage they want their gay Christmases:

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Amsterdam hosted a Christmas celebration for its gay community on Sunday featuring a nativity tableau with a male Mary in drag that church organizations denounced as an affront to traditional values.

Organizers said the event was meant to raise Amsterdam’s profile as a gay capital at a time when homosexuals feel threatened.

Christians for Truth, an independent religious group, had asked the city council to cancel the “Pink Christmas,” event, saying it made a mockery of Christian tenets. The city did not comment.

A male entertainer known as Wendy Mills posed as Mary in a blonde wig and high-heeled black boots and holding a plastic doll. Another man played Joseph in black leather trunks and a silver shawl.

Huffington Post

It is one thing to want to have equal protection under the law; it is another to make a mockery of Christianity like this.

I love this: in Europe you can howl mockery at the Cross and you can defame every facet of our Christian Faith, portraying the Holy Virgin Mary as a drag queen, but in Europe you cannot even release a book or properly criticize Mohammed The Pedophile Prophet piece of Filth perverter of righteousness and founder of the Obscene.

Europe protects the memory and shields pedophiles from criticism (the Prophet Mohammed) while helping in the celebration of a homosexuality’s triumph over Christianity. Christianity is left muttering in a corner like a boy who got a lump of coal and two sticks under their Christmas tree. We sulk sadly and all alone while they desecrate our sacraments.

This is the state of our world, ladies and gentlemen, and I think you should be ashamed of yourself.

It speaks for itself:

DISCRIMINATION against dominant white males will soon be encouraged in a bid to boost the status of women, the disabled and cultural and religious minorities.

Such positive discrimination — treating people differently in order to obtain equality for marginalised groups - is set to be legalised under planned changes to the Equal Opportunity Act foreshadowed last week by state Attorney-General Rob Hulls.

The laws are also expected to protect the rights of people with criminal records to get a job, as long as their past misdeeds are irrelevant to work being sought.

Herald Sun

OK, Australia — way to follow Europe and the US. At least you say it more bluntly and prefer not to blow smoke up our rears. (more…)

I really dislike it when people try to encourage progress with useless talk on a subject. Just look:

The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution aimed at giving fresh momentum to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The draft describes US-brokered talks between Israelis and Palestinians as “irreversible” and urges greater diplomatic efforts to secure a deal.

The resolution is the first on the Middle East issue adopted by the 15-member council in almost five years. (more…)

Well, there you have it: one side is interested in maintaining peace and the other side is interested in shelling them, even during the truce, and complaining when Israel tightens security around the borders:

The Islamist militant group Hamas says it has ended its six-month ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas had earlier said it would not be renewing the truce when it expired at 0400 GMT on Friday.

The Egyptian-brokered deal began on 19 June but has been tested regularly by Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli operations in Gaza.

Israel said it would like to renew the truce, but Hamas said Israel failed to ease its blockade of Gaza. (more…)

Russia may be enacting new legislation which will essentially empower the government to leniently label their own citizens as traitors and prosecute them:

MOSCOW (AP) - New legislation backed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would allow Russian authorities to label any government critic a traitor—a move that rights activists said Wednesday was a chilling throwback to times of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. The bill, which is expected to become law, would expanded the definition of treason to include damaging Russia’s constitutional order, sovereignty or territorial integrity. That, rights activists said, would essentially let authorities interpret any act against state as treason—a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Activists said that would catapult Russia’s justice system back to the times of Stalin’s purges, calling it “legislation in the spirit of Stalin and Hitler.”

“It returns the Russian justice to the times of 1920-1950s,” the activists, which included Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva and Civic Assistance director Svetlana Gannushkina, said in a joint statement.

Existing law defines state treason as actions harming external security by passing information to “foreign organizations.”

Putin’s bill would add non-governmental organizations based anywhere in the world that have an office in Russia to the list of banned recipients of state secrets. The government has repeatedly accused foreign spy agencies of using NGOs as a cover to foment dissent. (more…)

Bad habits die hard — Iraq still has not overcome the desire to install dictatorship and dominate their neighbors:

Dozens of officials and military officers at the Iraqi Interior Ministry have been arrested in a sectarian turf war between the Prime Minister and his opponents before elections next month.

The arrested officials include Sunni Muslims and some members of the opposition Constitution party. They were accused of being members of the banned Baath party and of plotting a coup. They denied the charges. The arrests were reportedly carried out by a military unit controlled by Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, a member of the majority Shia community. (more…)

Of course America will always be the first to be criticized in the world and then… There’s Dubai.

The world’s first refrigerated beach is to be built at a luxury hotel in Dubai so the filthy rich holidaymakers don’t burn their feet on the scalding hot sand.

The revolutionary beach will sit next to the new Palazzo Versace hotel and will include a system of heat-absorbing pipes built under the sand and giant wind blowers, designed to keep tourists cool in the searing 40-50C heat. (more…)

This is not surprising after the recent Michigan Church assault:

A suspicious fire has torn through the church attended by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who apologized if the blaze was related to her White House run.

Palin, Republican John McCain’s running mate, was not at the church during the Friday night fire that caused about $1 million damage.

A small group of women and children were in the Wasilla Bible Church doing crafts when the blaze was set at the building’s entrance. The group escaped when a fire alarm sounded, Pastor Larry Kroon said.

NY Daily News

I think Churches are quite a sacred place and this is a pretty huge affront. It is also no coincidence that it is Palin’s church and more than just a general assault on Christianity it is also representative of their opposition to Palin in general. It was basically a symbolic assault on the right wing. (more…)