At the present time, during Ramadan fasting, my only source of news is Al Jazeera.,by choice. The Qatar owned and operate-rated network is readily accessible, its news reports are trustworthy, well written, clear and concise. They are not overly intellectual, the stories do not talk down to people, nor do the writers try to impress their readers with their massive vocabularies. The stories convey ideas concisely – one does not get the impression that the reporters are paid by the word – whereas, some New Yorker writers do give that distinct impression.
This article emerged and brought shock waves, well to me anyway.” Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for Muslim-majority countries to band together to lobby Western governments to criminalise the insulting of Islam’s prophet, as negotiations between his government and a far-right anti-blasphemy religious group continue.” Has that man lost his mind? In Pakistan if one speaks out against Allah in any way, one can loose their life – capital punishment for, in a sense free speech. Kahn is allowed to continue his rant. “In a televised address to the nation from the capital, Islamabad, on Monday, Khan said he would lead a campaign of Muslim-majority countries to “convince” Western countries on the issue of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad.” Now, I am convinced that leaders of Western countries will not be convinced about the wisdom of this – shall instead see it as folly. The synonyms of folly accurately describe the actions of Kahn. foolhardiness, stupidity, idiocy, imbecility, silliness, inanity, lunacy, madness, rashness, recklessness, imprudence, injudiciousness, lack of caution, lack of foresight, lack of sense, irrationality, illogicality, irresponsibility, thoughtlessness, indiscretion; informal craziness; British informal daftness. ANTONYMS wisdom; good sense. All of these words accurately can be used to describe this ridiculous notion. Using humor once could say it is pure daftness but the seriousness of such an action calls forth the words injudiciousness, lack of sense, lack of foresight, thoughtlessness, recklessness, irresponsibility and down right craziness.
Kahn likens the proposal to discussion of the Holocaust. “Khan likened the issue to that of the Holocaust, saying the Western nations had understood that questioning the Holocaust hurt the sentiments of the Jewish community, and that it needed to treat the issue of insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in a similar manner.” But this comparison makes no sense whatsoever – if one doubts the Holocaust and speaks out – one is not faced with the death penalty. Moreover, if allowed to speak the Holocaust deniers are certain to reveal their stupidity, their lack of knowledge of fundamental facts and their sheer paranoia. Holocaust deniers given the ‘right’ to speak are seen not as a threat but actually do confirm the massive evidence a dreadful atrocity committed by the German community at that time.
For interesting reasons, I am somewhat familiar with the lay of the land in Pakistan. At one point in the not too distant past, a Muslim husband was being sought for me in Pakistan. Needless to say, and thankfully so, the effort failed. That is a huge PHEW a gigantic PHEW. But some efforts were made at that time to familiarize myself with the land and its leader. Khan is not doing very well at all. The country faces vast economic difficulties brought about by his misguided policies. He spoke, at the UN, I do believe, blaming money laundering and the payback of same as the reason for economic downturns. But, that is absurd because a country can legislate against the entry of dirty money. Many countries including the USA have done so and so the effects of dirty money in the USA are negligible. That is not true in Canada – dirty money and laundering money plagues, not only British Columbia, but other provinces. Prime Minister Trudeau has done nothing – is instead printing his own, in a real sense, dirty money, printing government bucks.
Kahn is attempting to deflect attention away from his mismanagement and the ills of the country by making such incendiary comments. He is also doing so as he is rapidly loosing his tenuous hold on the nation. Again from Al Jazzers:” Khan’s address came as his government continued to negotiate on Monday with the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) group, which held days of violent protests last week and abducted several police officers on Sunday as they continued their agitations on the issue of perceived “blasphemy” by the French President Emmanuel Macron. “ So he is apparently trying to ‘calm down’ the violent protestors by offering a totally inoperative plan and solution.
Now the French President Emmanuel Macron is no better and is doing exactly the same thing. Trying to cover his mistakes, his poor leadership, by acting like an asshole and picking on Muslims residing in his country. In the beginning, he looked like such a good guy – handsome and with his much older wife. Well he let me down, not only me, but his country. There is a magnificent saying that describes the stand off between Macron and Kahn: Two wrongs do not make a right. You heard it here first: “The first known citation in the USA is in a 1783 letter by Benjamin Rush: Two wrongs don’t make one right: Two wrongs won’t right a wrong.”
The misuse of these anti-blasphemy laws is revealed in another Al Jazeera April 16, 2021 article. “Pakistani police have registered a blasphemy case against organisers of the feminist Aurat Azadi [Women’s Freedom] March in a northwestern city, while a court in the country’s second city dismissed the same charges as having no grounds.Police in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar registered the First Information Report (FIR) under the country’s strict blasphemy laws, which can carry a mandatory death penalty, on Thursday.”
So in other words, you could die by being an outspoken feminist. I am ecstatic the the search for the Muslim husband for Alexis McBride failed. I would be a dead duck. Then, in my thorough fashion, google ddead duck and came up with the following truism about how ducks show their affection.” Other than cuddling and following, ducks may also show affection by nibbling on each other or a person’s fingers, hands, and face” I am not exactly sure how to apply that knowledge, or even if I want to. There are ducks at the Marin Civic Center and apparently feeding them will bring forth affection. I am not that desperate for affection – yet, but who knows with this faith imposed chaste state? But back to serious matters.
The cruz of the problem in Pakistan is revealed in another Al Jazeera article. “Elite privilege consumes 14.7 bn of Pakistan’s economy. This from the article: “Economic privileges accorded to Pakistan’s elite groups, including the corporate sector, feudal landlords, the political class and the country’s powerful military, add up to an estimated $17.4bn, or roughly 6 percent of the country’s economy, a new United Nations report has found. Released last week, the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) National Human Development Report (NHDR) for Pakistan focuses on issues of inequality in the South Asian country of 220 million people.”
But the real crime is this: the disgusting diatribe by Kahn is this. Allah would never approve of such tactics. It is apparent that Kahn has never read the Qur’an, and if he did he forgot its contents. The Islamic faith is inclusive, the most inclusive faith in the universe. One does not reach inclusivity by promoting anti-blasphemy laws. Excuse Me, Prime Minister Khan. Unfortunately I was harmed, defrauded and misled by another man named Kahn who had never read the Quran, despite being in the faith for almost sixty years.
So excellent leaders are in short supply these days. I once suggested that the Emir of Qatar, an excellent leader, take over the leadership of Canada and the United States. That was, of course, during Trump days. President Biden is doing a masterful, simply masterful job. But the Emir of Qatar is still needed in Canada and now Pakistan. I do occasionally feel sorry for the Emir of Qatar – he is not altogether perfect, do realize that.
Me: Your Highness, there are just too many ads on Al Jazeera. You are absolutely excellent at making money but I hate ads as they do interfere with my reading and my concentration.
He: (Not expecting a response as this was not conveyed to him personally, but who knows?)
This admittedly as been a most serious blog, and I am aware that this blog is read by people wanting and expecting humor. Here comes a tiny portion. Yesterday AAA and I were in Rite Aid, buying Gatorade for the fast and she found me the most darling unicorn to add to the collection. This one is small and squeezable – we came up with the following nickname for him: Mr. Horney Squeeze. Pictures of my menagerie have been included in past blogs but did forget about my donkey. He was purchased in Russia – a day care facility featured on the tour sold animals to fund the school. So I bought one – gosh he does not have a nickname. I will think of one later.
I awoke to a rather awesome email from Former London Lover and a text from a charming young 21 year old making plans to get together soon. Not bad for an old lady.
