winterbadger (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
winterbadger) wrote2006-09-20 01:40 pm
winterbadger) wrote2006-09-20 01:40 pm
Entry tags:
and while I'm grummishing...
from the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5362052.stm)
Sorry, but this strikes me as totally ostrich-headed. It's unrealistic to ask parents to keep an eye on their kids, to try to keep them from getting recruited by terrorists? Why would that be?
And, yes, people in, say, the Welsh Methodist community are not being asked the same thing because the Home Sec is not speaking in Welsh Methodist communities because Welsh Methodists ahve not been setting off bombs and trying to kill people!
Obviously terrorism and the underlying tensions in the British Muslim community and between that community and the rest of society that lead to young people being recruited by terrorists are are something that all Britons are concerned about and that all Britons need to try to address. Ethnic and religious animosity and related economic and social problems are things that need to be solved by everyone coming together. But there's no point asking me to keep an eye on my kids--I haven't got any! In the same way, there's hardly much point in asking the parents of nonMuslim youth to look out for and try to intercept Muslim terrorist recruiters from suborning their kids--those kids are not the ones being recruited by Islamic extremists for bombing campaigns! Multiculturalism doesn't mean throwing common sense out the window.
Reid Speech Disruped by Hecklers
...
During his time in Leytonstone, east London, which also involved a visit to a mosque, Mr Reid said community and religious leaders could play a key role in the fight against terrorism.
The home secretary said "our fight is not with Muslims generally". Instead, he said, there was a "struggle against extremism".
And, warning that terrorist fanatics sought to influence youngsters, he said: "There is no nice way of saying this. These fanatics are looking to groom and brainwash children, including your children, for suicide bombings, grooming them to kill themselves in order to murder others."
He stressed that by protecting families the community would protect itself.
The speech came after some Muslim leaders expressed concerns about the UK's foreign policy and called for it to be changed.
Mr Reid did not tell Muslim parents to report their concerns to the police but wants them to confront their children's behaviour and talk to them.
...
Massoud Shadjareh, who chairs the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said Mr Reid's demands were "unrealistic and not demanded from any other community".
Sorry, but this strikes me as totally ostrich-headed. It's unrealistic to ask parents to keep an eye on their kids, to try to keep them from getting recruited by terrorists? Why would that be?
And, yes, people in, say, the Welsh Methodist community are not being asked the same thing because the Home Sec is not speaking in Welsh Methodist communities because Welsh Methodists ahve not been setting off bombs and trying to kill people!
Obviously terrorism and the underlying tensions in the British Muslim community and between that community and the rest of society that lead to young people being recruited by terrorists are are something that all Britons are concerned about and that all Britons need to try to address. Ethnic and religious animosity and related economic and social problems are things that need to be solved by everyone coming together. But there's no point asking me to keep an eye on my kids--I haven't got any! In the same way, there's hardly much point in asking the parents of nonMuslim youth to look out for and try to intercept Muslim terrorist recruiters from suborning their kids--those kids are not the ones being recruited by Islamic extremists for bombing campaigns! Multiculturalism doesn't mean throwing common sense out the window.
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And I love the story about the holidaysl I have to tell that to my mum--she would love it!
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There's a Buddhist monk who, for years, would beat his drum every Friday late afternoon/early evening. He had a certain route in the downtown, and I first saw/heard him in '79. In '93, I bought a condo downtown and it was on his route. I'm not sure if it was the same man, but it was reassuring on Fridays to hear and see him.
Boulder is different. Sometimes I truly miss it. We're going there this summer, and I'm planning on two weeks since I'm off and we have plenty of crash space there. :)
Once, when the Dalai Llama came to speak at Naropa, Boulder High kids were able to attend. (Naropa literally is right down the street from Boulder High -- maybe seven blocks away. And the University of Colorado is just a couple of blocks the other way up a hill. Those kids are surrounded by all sorts of interesting cultures. :) Anyway, the kids from the Peace Group met him. Pretty cool. To be honest, those kids had a decent school, and a lot of interesting guest speakers. The school hosts some speakers for the University of Colorado World Affairs Conference each spring, with some talks coming to the Boulder High auditorium, which actually is a pretty good venue. (E-town has been taped there when the Boulder Theatre isn't available.) The kids have priority seats at those talks. When I was there, Roger Ebert, Molly Ivins, Margot Adler, etc. were regular speakers at the high school. Not bad.
Now you know why I went through culture shock when I left Boulder. Not every city of its size has an abortion clinic attached to a women's health center with sliding scale fees and free GYN/family planning services to poor women? Really? (I used to moonlight there.) Not every city of its size has a regional Peace Center? (Rocky Mountain Peace Center is there). Not every city of its size has a working chautauqua from the 19th century? Really? Doesn't every high school have a gay/straight alliance? Didn't every city vote in gay rights back in the '80s and transgendered rights in the '90s? I'm serious. I took a lot of things for granted there.