A chance for radical Islam to show its mettle. The 3 sons of the radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza (pictured above) were jailed in the UK yesterday for their part in the theft of more than £1 million worth of luxury cars that were then sold all over Europe. The cleric’s sons, Hamza Kamel, 22 and Mohamed Mostafa, 27, along with his stepson Mohssin Ghailam, 28, helped run the 2-year fraud with 4 other men. The gang targeted BMWs, Range Rovers and Mercedes that had been left for weeks in long-stay car parks. They exploited a loophole in the vehicle licensing system to divert registration details from the real owners to front addresses. Using false documentation they received log books and keys. Other cars were stolen during domestic burglaries. I wonder if our old friend Abu, currently being held in custody as he fights deportation to the US at UK taxpayer’s expense, would advocate amputations as punishment for his thieving relatives ? Or in Abu’s perverted alternative universe does Sharia Law only apply to law-abiding infidels, not criminal Muslims ?

North Korea’s increasingly strident sabre rattling (pictured above) continues, with the threat of a second all-out war on the Korean peninsula in little more than half a century reportedly increasing. An effective response by the UN Security Council (what a novelty THAT would be) has become an even more urgent requirement after Pyongyang threatened to launch an attack on South Korea, after Seoul announced that it would join an international effort to stop and search vessels leaving North Korean ports, which are suspected of carrying nuclear technology or materials. “Now that the South Korean puppets were so ridiculous as to join in the said racket and dare declare a war against their compatriots, the North felt compelled to take a decisive measure”, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried by the state media in North Korea. This Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea also seems to think that threatening nuclear war will assist the peaceful reunification process, so clearly the UN shouldn’t assume there’s much rationality or logic on offer during any forthcoming negotiations.

And more conflict in the Far East. It’s been reported in a UK newspaper that it could soon be a crime for Malaysian men to call their wives ugly. The Malaysian Women’s Development Department, which is a branch of the government, plans to ask the Malaysian Parliament to ban “emotional violence” (example above) against women. Physical violence is already illegal. Campaigners say offenders who “demonstrate a pattern of causing mental and psychological damage” should face counseling, fines and jail terms. Ms (inevitably) Noorul Ainu, head of the Women’s Development Department, said: “It could be a case where her husband tells his wife she is ugly or humiliates her until she feels emotionally pressured.” There were no immediate details about when the Malaysian Parliament would discuss the plan. Similarly, there was no information as to whether the proposed protection would be extended to mothers-in-law. All this emphasis on women’s rights – where are the Islamic fundamentalists when we need them ?

In the UK tourism bosses in the seaside town of Bournemouth (pictured above) have accused the Meteorological (Met) Office of costing the resort millions of pounds in lost revenue after forecasters predicted thundery conditions on the bank holiday last Monday – which turned out to be the hottest day of the year. Officials, seemingly not content with the crowds attracted by sunny, and correctly predicted, conditions on Saturday and Sunday, said thousands stayed away on Monday because of the “cautious and negative” forecast. I must admit to being surprised at the public reaction. If the Met Office predictions had been true to form, people would have stayed away on Saturday and Sunday and flocked to Bournemouth on Monday !

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