Random Politics & Religion #10

I like warm apple cider with vodka. It's like, the cider is too tart and the vodka is...vodka and together the vodka tames the cider to make it delicious.

Random Politics, Religion, and Liver Damage #10.

Even without the alcohol, I'm pretty sure Politics and Religion would cause some kind of organ failure.

It's always amusing to see people make the same statement about how awful p&r is for the thousandth time then get right back into posting in it...

Armed police officers forced a woman at a Nice beach to remove some of her clothing as part of the French city's controversial ban on the burkini.
Photos of the incident quickly did the rounds on social media, sparking outrage in many quarters and support in others.

Nice is one of 15 towns that have banned the burkini, a full-length swimsuit that covers the whole body except for the face, hands and feet. It's favored by many Muslim women, but officials say the ban is a response to growing terror concerns.
The incident in Nice took place at the city's Promenade des Anglais, site of last month's Bastille Day truck attack.
The photos show officers, armed with guns and batons, standing around the woman, who was lying on the beach in a blue headscarf and a matching top.
After the woman takes off her full-sleeved tunic, an officer is seen crouching beside her writing what appears to be a note or fine.

Nice authorities say the police officers were simply exercising their duties. Christian Estrosi, deputy major of Nice, denounced the photos saying they put the officers in danger.
"I condemn these unacceptable provocations," he said.

A leading French Muslim body requested an urgent meeting with the government to discuss the ban following the publication of the photos.
The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) tweeted: "Muslim women stigmatized, fine in Cannes and woman forced to withdraw her tunic in Nice: CFCM requests a meeting with (French Interior Minister) Bernard Cazeneuve."

Meanwhile, some in the French Muslim community are fighting back with their checkbook.
One local organization is helping Muslim women who were fined on French beaches. Marwan Muhammad, president of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, told CNN that out of the 15 women they are helping, none were wearing burkinis -- only headscarves.

An Algerian entrepreneur has also stepped up, offering to pay burkini fines for any Muslim woman in France.
Nice authorities told CNN the decree does not specifically ban the burkini itself, leaving beach patrol officers free to interpret and enforce the ban subjectively.

This is the second incident of its kind in recent days.
A 34-year-old mother was fined 38 euros ($42) on a Cannes beach on Tuesday after she was confronted by three police officers.
She told CNN affiliate BFM TV the officers informed her she was not appropriately dressed and that she had to wear her headscarf as a bandana or leave the beach -- which she refused to do.

"I was not wearing a burkini, I was not wearing a burqa, and I was not naked. I think that my outfit was appropriate," she said.
The confrontation divided nearby beach-goers surrounding the family -- some supported her; others insulted her, she said.
"The insults were like 'Go home,' 'We don't want you here' (and) 'France is a Catholic country,'" the woman told BFM TV. "Those hurtful words were said in front of my kids. My daughter was crying. She did not understand why her mother had to leave the beach. It's the first time I faced such discrimination."

"A beach outfit showing in an ostentatious manner a religious affiliation, given that France and religious places are currently the target of terrorist acts, has the nature of creating risks of troubles of public order (mobs, conflicts, etc.) that are necessary to be prevented," said the new law.

Armed police officers forced a woman at a Nice beach to remove some of her clothing as part of the French city's controversial ban on the burkini.

We should ban the bikini top.

So we could be like "Nice."

Honestly don't like burqas or even the burkini, they don't fit in any European culture really.

I don't like the Islamaphobia that's spreading across Europe and America right now. This is a perfect example of the stupidity of the current situation.

I'm just talking about the clothes though. Making a law against it is a little extreme. You also can't make a law against the religion itself if you want to claim to have religious freedom.

Police searched the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul early Thursday and killed two attackers who stormed the campus with guns and explosives, Fraidoon Obaidi, chief of Kabul police's criminal investigation department, told AFP early Thursday.
"We have ended our clean-up operation. Two attackers were gunned down," Obaidi said about 10 hours after the assault began.

The gunmen detonated explosives and fired guns, witnesses said, causing some students and faculty to flee. Others hid inside buildings, a senior State Department official told CNN.
One security guard was killed and 21 students were injured, the head of Kabul Hospitals said Wednesday night.
No group immediately claimed responsibility. The Afghan government and supporting US officials have battled the Taliban for years. Two professors were abducted recently.
Despite its name, few Americans study at the school, a senior US State Department official told CNN. But a number of Americans serve on the faculty and may have been trapped inside buildings. The school is regarded as a symbol of cooperation between Afghanistan and the United States.
Ahmad Samin said he was teaching a chemistry class Wednesday evening when the assailants struck.
The attackers opened fire and detonated explosives on the campus. Quickly, the lights went out in Samin's classroom.
"It was very dark, (and) everyone was running. Everyone started screaming," said Samin, who is a US citizen. "(It) was the scariest moment in my life. I was just thinking about my son and daughter who are in (the United States)."
Amid black smoke, he took off running with the students and other faculty, and "the smoke entered my mouth" as he fled, he said.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene.
A student, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear for his safety, told CNN he was attending a lecture class when he heard a "very enormous and harsh sound" -- an explosion roughly 50 meters from his classroom.
"Everyone looked around the room looking for an escape," he said. "We have an emergency exit area in the corner of the campus. It's like a gate that opens when people need to get out of campus. Everyone was running out of there."
He heard gunfire as they ran, then a second explosion. Both explosions came from the school's entrance, he said.

"People were screaming for help. Everyone was screaming," he said.
He saw several people injured -- some from glass, others by bullets. A guard had injuries that appeared to be a result of one of the explosions, he said.
The student said he had heard from friends trapped in three buildings.
Bilal Sawary, a journalist in Kabul, said he'd heard from several people on campus.
"One of my family members who was there told me the attackers had maps, they were drinking Red Bulls, clearly aiming to stay as long as they could and some of them were tossing hand grenades," he said.

The school opened in 2006. It's the only private, nonprofit coed university in the country and has about 1,700 full- and part-time students.
The university is a very close partnership between the United States and Afghanistan and is an important symbol of the partnership between the two countries, the State Department official said.
It is considered an elite school that represents the modern and moderate Afghanistan, where many afghan government and nongovernment organization officials have studied. The United States funds a lot scholarships for Afghans to study, including many for women.
The blast occurred at 7:50 p.m., when students were gathering and eating together.
It comes less than three weeks after the school was forced to suspend campus operations after two teachers -- an American and Australian -- were kidnapped at gunpoint. Their whereabouts remain unknown.

A rash of kidnappings and Taliban bombings have heightened security fears in Kabul, the Afghan capital. American and other diplomats have been barred from traveling by road the short distance from the city's international airport to their diplomatic missions. Instead, they've been ferried by helicopter.
Many countries, including the United States and United Kingdom, have longstanding travel advisories against all but essential travel to Afghanistan because of the security situation.
"We are closely watching the situation at the American University in Kabul," a U.S. defense official told CNN. "A small number of advisers from the Resolute Support Mission is currently assisting Afghan forces as they respond. These advisers are not in a combat role; they are advising their Afghan counterparts."
The National Security Council issued this statement on Wednesday: "The United States condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack today on the American University of Afghanistan. We salute the quick work of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces who responded to the attack and secured the university. We send our thoughts and prayers to the families and loved ones of those killed and our heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery to those wounded. We further reaffirm the support of the United States for the Afghan government and people as they continue to build a more stable, secure, and prosperous Afghanistan."

My personal feelings are that it shouldn't be allowed in customer service jobs or any other job where you interact with people on a daily basis

Any place that requires your face and body to be visible (security concerns)


I don't think a law against it is gonna do much. People are already afraid and lashing out at Muslims that don't even wear one, or just Arabs in general

The burka is not a exception in Nations that are not governed by the quran.

If that were the case then people can wear face masks in banks and stores. Good luck finding a positive identification especially if wearing gloves.

I think there was a case in Australia about a moslem woman who was pulled over for a traffic infraction and she lied in court that he ripped off her burka and his video camera caught her lie.

She even went as far in court with her lawyer lieing that the lady the officer pulled over was not the same lady because she was wearing a burka.

The burka has no place in western society and I would advise women traveling to moslem nations in the middle east to avoid those destinations.

Nothing sexier than a woman in a burka on a hot summer day !