Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:


Please use this thread for off-topic, but preferably BBC related, comments. Please keep comments on other threads to the topic at hand. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments – our aim is to maintain order and clarity on the topic-specific threads. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog. Please scroll down to find new topic-specific posts.

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574 Responses to Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:

  1. Allan@Aberdeen says:

    BioD’s pointers to moslem ‘entryism’ are invaluable. It is evident that islam sees all portals into western opinion-forming as routes of attack. I wonder just how many of the BBC’s staff are fifth-columnists like the commentators who claim to be Welsh. By fifth-columnists, I don’t mean the PC-brigade: I mean muslims or white converts, the latter being particularly dangerous and treacherous.

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  2. Anonymous says:

    .
    Inside the real Iran

    “Iran’s leaders seem intent on picking fights with the West. But, say David Blair and Damien McElroy, behind the poverty and paranoia of this fundamentalist regime is a young, educated and quietly rebellious population that is desperate to join the rest of the world”
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/07/wiransoc07.xml

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  3. archduke says:

    the “wales” angle is interesting. you might want to check out anything suspicious about Cardiff University.

    Hitz Ut Tahrir reports… entryism… takeover of student union – that kind of thing.

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  4. Oscar says:

    Comparing the 15 servicemen’s treatment with that of ‘enemy combatants’ in Guantanamo is a good example of the madness of moral equivalence gone mad.

    It’s not just dubious Welshmen (?) on the HYS site making this comparison. James Naughtie did his best to push this line in an interview with Christopher Meyer and an Iranian emigree on the Today programme this morning. Despite neither of the interviewees taking the bait, Jim pressed on regardless with the Gitmo equivalence meme. And further pushing the Iranian line the Today team did their best to discredit British accounts – preferring to highlight Iranian propaganda. From the Listen Again site:

    0709 The Iranians have attacked the British military for stage-managing yesterday’s press conference.
    And in case you didn’t catch that one:
    0744 Iran has accused Britain of “theatrical propaganda” in the press conference held by some of those captured in the Gulf.

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  5. archduke says:

    look at how matt drudge reports

    http://www.drudgereport.com/

    “TIED UP, BLINDFOLDED AND WAITING TO DIE”

    and the IBC?

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/
    “Iran seeks goodwill over captives”

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  6. Oscar says:

    More soft spin for Iran from the IBC, this time on the trend for going ‘tieless’:

    While dress codes are strict in Iran, the suit and open-necked shirt worn by President Ahmadinejad is to stress openness and approachability, says Dr Newman.

    “He is a lay person and not a cleric, so wears a suit to show informality,” he says.

    The president’s attire has become something of a talking point. At the height of his popularity, his trademark fawn-coloured windcheater – known to some as the Ahmadinejacket – spawned many a mini-trend, with entrepreneurs ordering copies of the garment from China to meet the demand from his supporters.

    Whether his love of the open-necked shirt can be credited with starting the recent smart-casual tie-less revolution among some politicians and office workers in the UK is less certain. (i.e. covert dig at Cameron’s tories – a two for the price of one scoop – promote Iran, attack the Conservatives).

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6528881.stm

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  7. Greencoat says:

    What’s this big thing about not wearing a tie on official/formal occasions? It’s just patronising laziness, a slight dressed up as a compliment.

    As for President Ahmadjamajingjong and his crew, I can’t till the Israel gets all ‘disproportionate’ on them.

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  8. Oscar says:

    Compare and contrast:

    Guantanamo treatment ‘inhumane’
    Shaker Aamer’s lawyers want him released from solitary confinement. A UK resident held in solitary confinement at Guantanamo Bay has had his rights under the Geneva convention violated, his lawyers have said. According to a motion filed in the US, Saudi citizen Shaker Aamer, 39, has been beaten, sleep deprived and subjected to temperature extremes. He has been treated inhumanely and must be removed from isolation, Mr Aamer’s lawyers said.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5361004.shttp:

    Iran seeks goodwill over captives
    The naval crew have shared their experiences with the media
    Iran’s ambassador to London has said Britain should respond “in a positive way” to the release of the 15 Royal Navy personnel held for 13 days … Iran has said a press conference where the crew described being bound and held alone was “theatrical propaganda” that did not justify their “mistake”.
    ….
    The BBC’s Frances Harrison, in Tehran, said Iran feels the press conference revelations were the result of sailors “being briefed” by the UK government who “dictated to them [the sailors]”. She pointed out that Iran said it was “standard procedure” for military personnel who intruded into Iran to be held in isolation…

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6534335.stm

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  9. archonix says:

    Greencoat, I don’t like ties, and I avoid them whenever they can partly because they make me uncomfortable, partly because they anachronistic (they were designed to cover up the big buttons on people’s shirts, back when they were more crudely made – we don’t strictly need them anymore).

    I suspect I may start wearing them more now. Ties as a political statement?

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  10. dave t says:

    But our guys statements and the GPS SHOW that they were in Iraqi waters…and despite this the BBC still take the Iranian line that the Marines etc strayed into Iranian waters…..

    Meanwhile some murdering thugs enter Iraq from Iran to kill British and US soldiers, get captured and I will bet they are not in isolation with weapons being cocked at their heads….

    Do the BBC not realise that Abu Grahib is run by the Iraqis and has been for ages now? But hey, why tell the truth when you can have another wee dig. If the Yanks and our Forces were so evil as the BBC keep claiming how come they are still allowed to broadcast their lies or omissions of the real story?

    I note that most of the inmates at Gitmo have put on weight since getting there and that may don’t WANT to go home! And with the full glare of the world’s lefties screaming brutality I doubt very much if all these things that Amnesty claim actually happened. And anyway weren’t Amnesty invited to go along to Gitmo but refused? Would they have seen the truth and found that they were wrong? Can’t have that can we! I also note that immediately anything illegal happens at Gitmo etc the offenders are tried and jailed if guilty.

    The war against “militant” Islam will be lost thanks to the likes of the BBC and the cowards of the left undermining the institutions and defence of the state.

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  11. Oscar says:

    More from the religion of peace to add to Baggie’s excellent links:

    Firebomb attack at Yemen mosque
    Two assailants burst into the mosque during Friday prayers, spraying worshippers with petrol before setting them alight, Yemeni news sources said.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6534433.stm

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  12. archonix says:

    I eblieve amnesty and other visotors to the place have argued that they were shonw staged propoganda and that the real conditions were obviously horrendous. Ironic, considering they’re guilty of doing exactly that on behalf of the dictator on the far side of the fence of camp x-ray.

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  13. mick in the uk says:

    Is it just an urban myth, or is the lack of ties due to the perception that it (the tie) makes a cruciform shape when worn?

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  14. UK Daily Pundit says:

    BBC Wales Political Editor Hits Out … at the BBC

    http://the-daily-pundit.blogspot.com/2007/04/bbc-wales-political-editor-hits-out-at.html

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  15. archduke says:

    ” mick in the uk | 07.04.07 – 12:07 pm”

    not an urban myth. radical islamists do believe it looks like a cross. its also a symbol of “western imperialism” , so its frowned upon in iran.

    much the same way as the letter “X” is banned in Saudi Arabia as it looks like a cross.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    .
    My Trip to Gitmo:

    Terrorists who have the will to decapitate and amputate, blow themselves up, fly planes into buildings, use women and children as human shields and shoot infants in the back are prepared to commit extreme acts of violence to escape confinement. Confining them to an offshore detainment facility in the middle of the ocean with a tyrannical dictator outside the gates is an ideal solution to a difficult problem
    http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27608
    .

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  17. Biodegradable says:

    While dress codes are strict in Iran, the suit and open-necked shirt worn by President Ahmadinejad is to stress openness and approachability, says Dr Newman

    Dr Newman is talking out of his bum – archduke and mick in the uk have it right.

    http://en.allexperts.com/q/Islam-947/Wearing-Ties.htm

    http://home.planet.nl/~franc240/iran.html
    The gents: do not wear ties. They are seen as a western decadency and are not appreciated. So, if you have a business meeting, no matter how important: don’t wear ties!! Nobody will say anything and you may notice nothing. But the absence of ties is appreciated!

    http://www.iran.embassy.gov.au/tran/relations.html
    Although officials of the Islamic Republic are not allowed to wear a tie, it is very common for visitors to do so although proper business attire need not include a tie.

    Imperialist Fashion: The Necktie

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  18. Biodegradable says:

    So much for Dr Newman’s theory. You couldn’t make this up:

    ‘Un-Islamic ties’ spark raids in Iran town

    Tehran, Oct. 1 – State Security Forces (SSF) in the town of Bukan, western Iran, raided several wedding ceremonies and arrested a number of young guests. The detained men have been charged with wearing ties.

    Ties are considered by the Iranian regime to be “un-Islamic” and a symbol of corrupt Western influence.

    The SSF released a statement denouncing ties and warning that anyone wearing a tie would be considered “immoral and un-Islamic and liable to be arrested.”

    The same statement warned clothes store owners to refrain from selling ties and added that stores selling ties would be shut down.

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  19. The Fat Contractor says:

    Anonymous | 07.04.07 – 12:45 pm |

    with a tyrannical dictator outside the gates is an ideal solution to a difficult problem

    Somehow I can’t see Castro being that hostile to America’s enemies.

    As to ties, I hate the patronising way people like Blair and his Beeboids don’t wear ties with suits in order to look ‘less threatening’. It’s just another means of dumbing down standards.

    A suit without a tie is slovenly.

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  20. The Fat Contractor says:

    Does anyone know why I cannot view haloscan comments after the number exceeds 600 comments (or so)? After this number I just get a black haloscan windoe.

    I don’t think this is a hardware problem (beefy machine in use). Is there a limit switch somewhere?

    Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask …

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  21. The Fat Contractor says:

    Doh! that’s ‘blank haloscan window’.

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  22. TPO says:

    Oh dear, it’s that time of year again. The annual nutters conference.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6535089.stm

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  23. TPO says:

    Further to the above check out what the first ethnic minority president of the National Union of Teachers has to say about the workers’ paradise of Cuba.
    Who says the BBC has stopped doing comedy.

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  24. CarnackiUK says:

    Did anyone else hear the April 4th edition of ‘Belief’ on BBC R3? Joan Bakewell’s guest was Jordanian calligrapher Nasser Mansour. Ms Bakewell indulgently allowed him to make da’wa and extol the spritual virtues of Islam. At the end of the show Mansour invited her to join the ‘Community of Islam’, possibly the first time someone has been invited to convert on a BBC radio show (or perhaps not.)
    Mansour took the opportunity to practise a little taquiyya by saying that only representations of ‘the Divine’ were forbidden but that illustrations of birds, animals etc were allowed. Also the familiar refrain that muslims love Jesus (you know, that guy that managed to escape getting crucified and went on to accept Mohammed as the ‘true Prophet’.)
    One of Mansour’s most interesting revelations was that – according to him – London has been a magnet for islamists for years because the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts is one of the few places anywhere that teaches traditional Arabic arts such as classical calligraphy. Thank you, Prince Charles! (He has ‘deep respect and love for the Islamic arts’ fawns Mansour.)
    Bakewell marvels how he can put up with London: “the materialism…the advertising..the vulgarity.” Maybe it won’t be long before she takes up his invitation to join the Islamic community.

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  25. paulc says:

    “The gents: do not wear ties. They are seen as a western decadency and are not appreciated. So, if you have a business meeting, no matter how important: don’t wear ties!! Nobody will say anything and you may notice nothing. But the absence of ties is appreciated!”

    A suit but no tie?
    That ‘fresh out of the cells’ look?

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  26. Anonymous says:

    .
    The paradise of Cuba.
    http://www.therealcuba.com/index.htm

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  27. El Cid says:

    Ms Baljeet Ghale tells the NUT Conference (what a delightful acronum) that:

    “She wanted an education system that valued diversity and accepted her right to support Tottenham Hotspur – but France in the European Cup, Brazil in the World Cup, Kenya in the Olympics and India in cricket but England in the Ashes.”

    Ah, I get it…she’s not racist, but the only time she’ll support England is when it plays another even more alien mob of red-necked white racists.

    You couldn’t script funnier typecasting if you tried!

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  28. El Cid says:

    AcronYm!!

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  29. Biodegradable says:

    El Cid | 07.04.07 – 2:49 pm

    What’s also notable is that it’s fine for her to say that, but the BBC raises questions about ‘dual loyalties’ among British Jews when England plays Israel.

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  30. Oscar says:

    The same statement warned clothes store owners to refrain from selling ties and added that stores selling ties would be shut down.
    Biodegradable | 07.04.07 – 12:51 pm
    |
    And this from the religion that thinks it’s an abuse of human rights if Muslims aren’t allowed to wear niqabs and jilbabs in UK schools?

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  31. British Lion says:

    It’s a shame there are so few updates to the actual blog these days.

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  32. The Fat Contractor says:

    CarnackiUK | 07.04.07 – 2:26 pm
    “the materialism…the advertising..the vulgarity.”

    That’s where I’d agree with fanatical muslims too. There is far too much materialism and vulgarity in our culture, the BBC being one of the main culprits.

    I’d like to see an end to the way little girls are sexualised simply to sell tat. If you look at the way groups like ‘The Pussy Cat Dolls’ are sold to little kids on BBC programmes doing routines that wouldn’t be out of place in lap dancing dars, then I can see Joans Bakewell’s point.

    However I don’t want to chop anybodies hands off …

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  33. Anonymous says:

    Weblog of the week:
    http://www.sgtdub.blogspot.com/

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  34. anon says:

    Indeed British Lion

    I was suprised there was no mention of “The Retreat”, some kind of reality show on al-Beebzera wherein some “british” people (most of them obviously of asian descent) escape to some kind of islamic center and discover “peace” …or something. I suppose it is just too predictible.

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  35. The Accused says:

    Check out this blatantly pro Islamic rule item on Somalia. No mention whatsoever of the atrocities committed by the Union of Islamic Courts and no mention of their persecutions etc etc. Just the unsubstantiated claim that without them piracy will start again. This is dhimmisim of the highest and most despicable order.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6534557.stm

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  36. Montag says:

    As long as ‘socialist’ goons like Baljeet Ghale get ‘standing ovations’ from the NUT and the usual smug publicity from the BBC, I think the UK has a few problems on the horizon. Note the selected quote on Cuba. It’s also worth googling this character’s credentials – an ardent socialist who supported an academic boycott of Israel. But of course these details are irrelevant to the BBC, who is so eager to give people like her a free platform.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6535089.stm

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  37. Bryan says:

    “Have” Your Say censors shut this debate down pretty abruptly:

    Has the word “terrorism” lost its meaning?

    http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=5992&&edition=2&ttl=20070407164726

    143 comments posted in less than 4 hours? (And those were just the ones they let through.)

    Maybe they figured it wasn’t going to be a popular debate?!

    I’d love to see Reith wriggle out of this one.

    Now I have to go out. If Reith pops in, I hope he doesn’t say anything nasty about me behind my back.

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  38. Pickwick says:

    The Now Show and Any Answers were truly awful today.

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  39. TPO says:

    During the unfolding kidnap saga of the last two weeks did anyone wonder why there has been not one sighting of the Secretary of State for Defence, one Des Browne. Certainly didn’t make it into any BBC studio.
    Seems an explanation can be found here:
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1623907.ece

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  40. GCooper says:

    Pickwick writes:


    The Now Show and Any Answers were truly awful today.”

    I don’t listen to the former any longer (it’s only kids showing off), but you’re right about the latter.

    Small wonder, though, when the carefully selected audience gave Wedgewood Benn huge rounds of applause and Dimblebore allowed the raving old lunatic to spout lies, quite unchecked.

    Given the alacrity with which the chairman interrogates anyone he pleases, his decision to let Benn utter the clapped-out untruth that ‘the West armed Saddam’ can only suggest he wants that lie perpetrated.

    And there are still idiots around who claim the BBC isn’t biased?

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  41. TPO says:

    Peter Barron, editor of Newsnight, did not see fit to include my comment on the BBC’s excrutiating Editors’ Blog.
    I can’t think why when all I did was to question one sentence of his post ‘Guido’s keyboard-orientated pyrotechnics were no match for Michael White of the Guardian’s verbal swordsmanship.

    Clearly on Newsnight some tired old far-leftie hack inferring that someone is a ‘prat’ is classed as verbal swordsmanship.
    I’d rather call it dumbing down, but then again the BBC is getting rather good at that these days.

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  42. TPO says:

    On the front page of bb.co.uk Middle East Section

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/default.stm

    HAVE YOUR SAY
    ‘What would the British Government do if our navy was even 500 metres over its border?’
    Mitra, Tehran

    Well we know the answer to that Mitra. What is the BBC thinking of pumping out this nonsense.

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  43. Anonymous says:

    Up until recently the BBC used the weather forecast in the run up to the weekend up as ‘idents’ for various sporting fixtures they were covering (‘light showers expected over Twickenham during the England v France rugby international which you can see exclusively on BBC2 at 3.00pm tomorrow’).

    Anyone else notice how, in the run up to Easter, the BBC weather forecast became a party political broadcast for The Green Party (‘might be better to stay at home this Easter with temperatures here expected to be higher than in many southern European resorts…’)?

    How long will it be, I wonder, before the weather forecast will allow us to ‘experience’ the virtual climate of the Azores (‘join BBC Radio Five Live at midnight tonight to hear the tide going out…’)

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  44. Ralph says:

    ”What would the British Government do if our navy was even 500 metres over its border?”

    Kidnap some of are sailors and take them back to Iran seemingly.

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  45. Oscar says:

    A snippet from the ever decent Charles Moore’s Spectator notes- explaining why Norman Lamont is more favoured by the Today (and other) studios than the hapless Des Browne (v.funny sketch TPO.)

    …isn’t it rather annoying to find Norman Lamont making speeches in the House of Lords, and elsewhere about how Iran is a much misunderstood country? Lord Lamont is the chairman of the Anglo-Iranian Chamber of Commerce and has business interests there.

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  46. Anonymous says:

    Baljeet Ghale (see Montag | 07.04.07 – 4:51 pm) raises an interesting point. What does it mean when people chooses not to support their geographical teams? I don’t necessarily mean when there is some sort of divided loyalty e.g. Pakistan plays England in the cricket. What should London-based Ahmed do? But as a general question as in Baljeet Ghale supporting Tottenham Hotspur – but France in the European Cup, Brazil in the World Cup, Kenya in the Olympics and India in cricket but England in the Ashes. Can you be loyal to a country without supporting it’s sporting teams?

    A South African friend of mine once told me that in Apartheid-era South Africa the Blacks would cheer for any opponent of the geographical team i.e. Rep of S.A. Of course their support for any team but South Africa was a political statement of rejection.

    Could you imagine a Cuban sitting in the stands (if they would let him in) and waving the flag of Cuba’s opponent? Wasn’t that part of Stalin’s charge against the Jews that they were rootless cosmopolitans? What defines a rootless cosmopolitan more than rejecting the local/area/national team?

    Oh, just to keep things on thread. What does it mean when the BBC appears to support the opponents of the English team? I don’t mean when England plays Scotland. What is London-based Jock to do?

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  47. Anonymous says:

    Europe, Christianity and Islam
    http://www.aina.org/news/2007040694930.htm

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  48. archduke says:

    ” The Fat Contractor | 07.04.07 – 3:42 pm |”

    i have a simple answer to that one in my house. the “off” switch.its remarkably effective. i have yet to experience “pester power” from mini-archduke. (or maybe that also because mini-archduke has never visited a MacDonalds. yes , certain things are just banned outright my house. rules are important for kids growing up.

    and anyway – what a bunch of utter hypocrites those Islamists are – some of the most vulgar and materialistic people on the planet are the layabout playboy Saudi and Kuwaiti Princes.

    and guess who funds Wahabbism?

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