Prime Blog Au Jus

Clarke unveils deportation rules ..Amnesty has a good track record in exposing government abuse, not least in Saudi Arabia, so I’ll be interested to see what they say as things develop. The Muslim Council of Britain is another case entirely – I’ll come on to them in a bit.

The government here is still reluctant to send people back to governments that are, shall we say, less gentle than theirs. My view has always been that if you come here from that sort of country, then you should be grateful to live among the tolerant and civilized British, and if you abuse their hospitality, then you deserve to be sent back.
A particular case in point is the Saudi Dissident, Muhammed al-Massari, about whom I was uncertain earlier. However it is now emerging that he has changed from Dissident to something far more sinister.

Saudi exile runs urban warfare website in UK. ….

(on Hunter S. Thompson, 08/25)…As much is shown in these much-quoted words of his: “I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” The fact is they did not work for him. The drugs and alcohol – an immovable, prominent fixture in his social philosophy and life – appear to have ruined him. His writing lost its verve; sometimes, in the later years, it seemed little more than the work of someone stumbling toward being average. His health deteriorated. I can’t know how happy his life was, but some press reports indicate a miserable, unholy shambles at times.

….Q: What kind of place won’t let people leave?
A: The same kind of place where the government confiscates property upon which dissidents recently gathered…..

Greg is harnassed back into his blog ( oh I know he will love that thought!) and gives us: Food for thought

…And this whole idea of loving the unlovely reminded me of this passage from John Ortberg’s wonderful Love Beyond Reason:

There is such a love, a love that creates value in what is loved…

ROOTS OF ANTI-AMERICANISM (1)

A reader reminded me that RFK’s bullying of the Dutch is of course a perfect example of talking in absolutes, that American trait so deeply disliked across the ocean:

When this sort of fact comes to light, I can see why Europeans, who are not privy to the huge debates which constitute American politics, and who have to rely on local press which may well be anti-American, might come to regard the US as an unthinking, self-interested hegemon.

Media Round-up: Conservationists, Sex, Boorish Customers and More
I have lots of things for you to browse, nibble and feast upon.

indeed she does…Arethusa does classic movie reviews with lots of suggestions and conversation from her commenters. Looking for a movie suggestion or two? Perhaps some of her menu is to your taste.