gdp's Comments

Islam in Europe : France: New Report Accuses Police of Discrimination

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:32:54 +0000

I guess, police should stop and subject to humiliating checks elderly white ladies, to balance its attention toward segments of population known to be most criminogenic.

Islam in Europe : Belgium: Turkey protests anti-immigrant poster

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:40:45 +0000

The poster definitely does not speak well of its authors... But by bullying Europeans, trying to silence them and implicitly insisting that immigration is a right of Turks rather than a privilege, this ambassador only proves that the poster's authors do have a point.

Islam in Europe : Germany: Israeli-Arab killed in antisemitic attack

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:42:09 +0000

It is sad that people whose only fault is being of mixed origin often suffer from other people's bigotry.

Islam in Europe : Germany: Foreigners set up a third of all new firms

Fri, 6 Jan 2012 12:47:48 +0000

Yes, of course some are successful, but unfortunately others are not. Authorities in some German cities even complain that they are overwhelmed by Bulgarian wannabe immigrants. Many of these Bulgarians do not even speak German yet as EU citizens do not qualify for subsidized language courses and other services. I am talking about poor and uneducated yet generally good and law-abiding people. There are also others who go to Germany wishing to prosper as thieves or pimps. They put a stain on the reputation of Bulgarians as a whole.

Islam in Europe : Germany: Foreigners set up a third of all new firms

Thu, 5 Jan 2012 10:47:15 +0000

Rumcrook, things are not as straightforward as you see them. Many poor unemployed Bulgarians go to Germany and create some company which never starts actual business activity. The purpose is to legalize their long-term stay in the country without being officially employed. Then, they enter the black labour market and are hired illegally for a fraction of the minimum wage.

Islam in Europe : France: Citizens forced to convert to Islam to get married

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:35:10 +0000

Agree. Alternatively, the French citizen could leave Islam after the wedding. And if someone threatens his freedom to do so - the state should guarantee it.

Islam in Europe : Denmark: Parliamentary candidates campaigning in Arabic

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:06:52 +0000

We in Bulgaria have a large ethnic Turkish minority settled centuries ago, yet campaigning in Turkish is forbidden. The bottom line is that all members of the public must be aware what is told during the election campaign.

Islam in Europe : Sweden: New 'mythbuster' website to fight racism

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:08:53 +0000

The original Discovery "Mythbusters" test different myths and come out with two possible results - myth either "busted" or "confirmed". I would ask, if some of the myths in question are confirmed after all, will this be declared on the website? Or will government shamelessly announce things contradictory to facts of everyday life? I don't know whether Swedish children today eat pork in school, but some 10 years ago a teacher forbade eating pork to a Swedish schoolgirl of Bulgarian-Turkish origin. "You should not eat this because you are a Muslim." This girl, now a young adult, wishes to emigrate to the USA. She says that Swedes have always been nice to her but she doesn't feel to truly belong there. Small wonder. You cannot feel included if your classmates happily eat pork stakes and the teacher takes the stake out of your plate to force you to obey some 7th century taboo.

Islam in Europe : Denmark: Immigrant families reject special-ed schools

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:24:22 +0000

It is another matter that many of these parents have been careless to decide to move in the first place, thinking only of the better economic opportunities for themselves while burdening their children with education in another language and also with the need to explain to other children (who are always more intolerant than adults) that there is nothing wrong in being from X country. People should plan their lives more long-term than the distance of their noses.

Islam in Europe : Denmark: Immigrant families reject special-ed schools

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:24:07 +0000

If transfer to spec-ed is suggested to "at least one bilingual student in every class", this clearly indicates that teachers and bureaucrats are pushing non-disabled kids to schools for disabled ones. I know from Bulgarian emigrants that authorities of the host countries typically enrol immigrant children in the same classes as their local peers, based on age. Nobody assesses the linguistic and academic abilities of the immigrant children, let alone prepare them for local school programme. When they (surprise, surprise) prove unable to cope with school tasks, they are often diagnosed with attention deficit - hyperactivity disorder or even autism. Let's also add that many disability activists are so unsatisfied with the quality of education in spec-ed classes that have campaigned for many years for inclusion education of disabled children along with their non-disabled peers. So I think immigrant parents are absolutely right to think that being in a spec-ed class isn't the best for their children.

Islam in Europe : UK: Church fury over opening of McDonald's on Christmas Day as Muslim manager is drafted in

Wed, 7 Dec 2011 20:49:09 +0000

Am I too militant an atheist to think these church leaders are making fools of themselves?

Islam in Europe : Belgium: Teacher suspended for discriminating against students without headscarves

Mon, 5 Dec 2011 09:42:33 +0000

+ 1

Islam in Europe : Denmark: Town uses imam's verdict to stop welfare benefits

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:22:39 +0000

I find this story outrageous. I hope some attorney will step forward to represent this single mother pro bono. I also hope that, in the meanwhile, good-hearted people from her community, or (more likely) from other communities, will provide her with emergency help, because babies don't tolerate well cold and hunger.

Islam in Europe : Frankfurt: Gunman shouting "Allah Akbar" attacks US soldiers, two killed

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:10:36 +0000

Abellard, Serbia took over vast territories populated by Bulgarians in 1913, so I don't think any Serb was surprised when Bulgaria behaved as enemy in WWI. About the bitter historical memories - all nations have them. However, history should be remembered and used as teaching source, rather than allowed to hold present-day people hostage and spawn new atrocities. When in 1999 a US journalist asked Serbs why they insisted to keep Kosovo in Serbia, she could not obtain a better answer than "it is our historic territory, and here we fought the famous Battle of Kosovo Pole". She commented, "I just cannot understand why we are forced to have a war today because, 6 centuries ago, some battle has been lost!"

Islam in Europe : Frankfurt: Gunman shouting "Allah Akbar" attacks US soldiers, two killed

Tue, 8 Mar 2011 13:09:57 +0000

I keep a Bulgarian-language blog at Wordpress and an English-language blog at Blogger. So, if someone wants to check who I am, using my Wordpress profile will direct him to a blog in a language he does not speak. Never mind, this is a minor point. BTW I hope the reputation score reflects readers' "vox populi" and not your opinion, because if you, the blog owner, rate me so low, I really must never comment here again!

Islam in Europe : Frankfurt: Gunman shouting "Allah Akbar" attacks US soldiers, two killed

Tue, 8 Mar 2011 11:02:44 +0000

In Bulgaria, Christianity was forcibly introduced by prince Boris I in 9th century. Many noblemen protested and announced they would stick to their old Pagan religion. The most stubborn - more than 50 men, were executed together with their wives, children (!) and servants. This event is well documented, and modern archeologists have found what they think is the mass grave. Esther, I like your blog very much, but I have problems viewing comments on it - I must try 3 or 4 times to succeed; and why can't I comment from my Blogger profile?

Islam in Europe : Frankfurt: Gunman shouting "Allah Akbar" attacks US soldiers, two killed

Tue, 8 Mar 2011 10:57:38 +0000

Southwood, I disagree with you. I also think that detention of US and Canadian citizens of Japanese origin was an act of paranoia, understandable in wartime, but not excusable from humanistic point of view, and pointless from military point of view. Some Japanese-American men were in the US army and fought loyally for their country while their families were in the camps. Moreover, even to duscuss any infringement on rights of Muslims, the "war with Islam" must have been voted by our Parliaments and officially declared by our governments.

Islam in Europe : Frankfurt: Gunman shouting "Allah Akbar" attacks US soldiers, two killed

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 08:40:15 +0000

Then, Kosovo - how can people still claim that it is Serbian, after the majority of the population is not? It is bad when a speedily reproducing group steals your land demographically, but nothing can be done about it. Or, let's deport white Americans to Europe, black ones to Africa, and return the territory to the native, is this the right thing to do? My opinion about Kosovo is here: http://mayas-corner.blogspot.com/2008/03/about-ko... Bulgaria indeed suffered much from the Ottoman Turkish conquest. I have written about it here: http://mayas-corner.blogspot.com/2006/08/convert-.... I am an Islamophobe, because I think Islam does not value human life and is incompatible with human dignity and freedom. However, if we Islamophobes wish to deprive Muslims of their basic human and civil rights, of self-determination, where does our claimed moral superiority go? Where the wind blows, where the water flows.

Islam in Europe : Frankfurt: Gunman shouting "Allah Akbar" attacks US soldiers, two killed

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 08:39:46 +0000

Sorry if I have reacted too emotionally. I did not mean that ALL Serbs are supporters of barbarism. And yes, we Bulgarians also did atrocities to the Serbs (but we had much less opportunity - only in wartime, because Bulgarian lands were given to the Serbs and not vice versa). In Slovenia, the Serb aggression indeed killed "only" about 50 people. A family friend who emigrated to Slovenia told me how unarmed people went out to stand for their newly independent country. About Croatia - remember what lord Owen said at one time: "If Dubrovnik is bombed to ruine like Vukovar, we may reconsider our attitude to Serbia." About Macedonia - it was left alone only because pawns loyal to Serbia continued to rule it. Recently, a young Macedonian woman named Slavka Mitrova openly stated her Bulgarian identity. Authorities put her in jail and took her baby away from her.

Islam in Europe : Frankfurt: Gunman shouting "Allah Akbar" attacks US soldiers, two killed

Sat, 5 Mar 2011 20:06:39 +0000

Dear guys, are you all in your right mind? Does any of you belong to a nation that has been victimized by your darling Serbs? I do; I am a Bulgarian, we are Orthodox Christian majority, for the record. After WWI, Western powers gave to the Serbs lands populated by Bulgarians - the Western border lands, plus Vardar's Macedonia. History keeps the record (for those who wish to read, of course) how Bulgarians in these lands were forcibly turned into Serbs and "Macedonians", by illegal executions, torture, gang-rapes, mass and arbitrary incarcerations etc. Today, Bulgarians are a tiny manority there and still subject to persecutions. At least, haven't you heard how the Serbs in 1991 attacked the Christian nations of Slovenia and Croatia because the latter no longer wanted to live under Serbian rule? You are ready to praise shamelessly and uncritically anybody who kills Muslims. Frankly, I don't think you are better than the Islamists.