A Teddy Bear Called Muhammad

A teacher asked her class to pick a name for their class Mascot a 'Teddy Bear' Now to children of a certain age a Teddy Bear is a 'friend' and therefore it was logical that they should pick a very popular name, in this case a boys name (all Teddy Bears seem to be considered male).
As this is the Sudan it was almost inevitable that the choice would be Muhammad. A perfectly reasonable name for a friend.
The Teacher who feels that parents should be 'kept in the loop' wrote a letter including this news. None of the parents were outraged, or even concerned, after all they understood. But it appears a fellow staff member was deeply affronted that a children's toy should be named after the Muslim Prophet and alerted the authorities.

Now instead of giving this stupid person a dressing down for wasting their time, they arrested the teacher and made her stand trial.

The case of course should have been thrown out, instead the poor woman was convicted and some consider her lucky to have only received an additional 10 days in Jail to be added to the 5 she has already spent in prison awaiting trial.

Welcome to the insane world of the Sudanese Religious Politics
The British Council of Muslims has condemned the Sudanese Government (about time they did something worthwhile), Muslim Writers and even proponents of Shia Law (which I personally find a distasteful legal framework) have done the same.
But I don't see British Muslims protesting outside the Sudanese Embassy.
Why not!.

Muslims in Britain often feel they are misunderstood and marginalised. Well if their coreligionist's insist on acting as if they living in the 12th century and certain Middle Eastern Countries refuse to allow Christians to wear symbols of their faith, certain Mosques preach hatred against Christian and Jews and anti-Christian and Jewish cartoons are regular feature in certain papers. What do they expect.
So this incident is the 'final straw that broke the camels back'.
I have spent my entire adult life believing in religious tolerance, but i am now so fed up with Muslim Intolerance, I now see that pure ideals of the Koran have been corrupted by too many groups and countries for their own agendas so that I now view Islam as something to be treated with suspicion and distrust . A sad conclusion, but one that has been coming for a long time.

The Natwest Three

David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew, the three British former executives of NatWest (now part of Royal Bank of Scotland) who were controversially extradited to the USA to each face seven counts of fraud and who have consistently protested they are innocent, were lying.

On Wednesday the 28th November they pleaded guilty to a single wire fraud charge each in an Enron-related case as part of a deal with U.S. prosecutors.
Initially I was personally disappointed that they were only sentenced to 37 Months in Jail (with no appeal)..
However I am pleased to find that as part of the plea bargain they are going to have to repay $7.35 Million to the RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) which was their 'share' of the $19 Million Fraud carried out against their Employers.

One hopes that the British Authorities now:

• Ensure that once they are released these men are never allowed to work in any part of the Banking and Financial Sectors again.
• Investigate to ascertain if they have carried out other frauds.
• If such frauds are discovered seize their British Assets to the same value.

Although I still believe they treaty under which they were extradited to the USA needs to be revoked and renegotiated - See:
UK-US Extradition Treaty and Certain American Politicians Support for Terrorists (13th August 2006), I am pleased that although they didn't get the 'extremely' heavy sentences i feel they deserve, at least they are going to have to repay the profit from their crime.


Other Related Posts In this Blog:
Extradite Gary McKinnon, no problem. But now let's fix the Extradition Treaty
- 01st August 2009