Showing posts with label alcohol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alcohol. Show all posts
Monday, July 15, 2013
Young British Muslims Drink On The Sly
Muslims Drinking Alcohol
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
DAILY NEWS | EGYPT: As new hotel opens in Hurghada serving no alcohol, hotel groups call for reconsidering ratings system
Last week, the Les Rois hotel in Hurghada opened to the sound of breaking glass as bottles of alcohol were smashed in celebration.
The hotel was touted as Egypt’s first non-alcohol serving hotel, but the move has some recent precedents. When Abdul Aziz Al Ibrahim, a Saudi businessman who bought the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Egypt, prevented alcoholic drinks from being served at one of Downtown Cairo’s major luxury hotels, the move sparked some debate, spurring former tourism minister, Zuhair Garana, to threaten to cut the hotel’s ranking from five stars to two.
The owners of Les Rois have decided to not serve any alcohol to tourists at the hotel, in order to promote “a new kind of tourism”.
The hotel administration has also announced it will not be providing any services which violate Islamic Sharia law.
It will also be allocating a floor for women only, complete with female security guards, which will include a swimming pool, a restaurant, and a dance lounge.
The hotel owners said that the hotel earmarked the fourth floor as a women-only space because it overlooks a mountainous area, reducing the risk of violating “female modesty”. » | Hend El-Behary | Tuesday, May 07, 2013
Thursday, April 04, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (AU): QANTAS has removed pork from its in-flight menu on flights to and from Europe as a result of its partnership with Middle Eastern airline Emirates.
No food containing pork or pork products will be served on those flights - which now has a stopover in Dubai - because it is strictly forbidden in Islam and is considered "unholy".
All meals offered on the route in first, business and economy classes will also be prepared without alcohol in keeping with the Islamic religion. A note on the Qantas menus on flights in and out of Dubai states that the meals do not contain pork products or alcohol. The airline has also introduced a mezze plate offering traditional Middle Eastern fare in its upper classes and has Arabic translations after in-flight announcements. » | Angela Saurine and Peter Holmes | The Daily Telegraph | April 05, 2013
My comment:
The West is caving in to Islam, Muslims at every turn. Jews do not eat pork, but we never had to ban pork on flights for them. What makes Muslims so different? Oh, yes, I know: Intolerance.
It is sickening in the extreme that we are kow-towing to these barbarians. It is also sickening in the extreme that we are allowing all our finest properties and businesses to fall into rich Middle Easterners' hands. Would they do the same for us? I think you know the answer to that question.
Is there no Western leader out there who will put a stop to this insanity? These people are tightening their grip on the West in a pincer-style action. Soon it will be too late. We will be employed by Muslims, paid by Muslims, owned by Muslims. And as the old saying goes: 'He who pays the piper calls the tune.' Welcome to the new world order! One brought on by wimps, appeasers, and politicians without cojones. – © Mark
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
THE INDEPENDENT: In the Middle Ages Islam had no problem with alcohol, now - from Sharia Patrols in the UK to flat out bans in Egypt - the crackdown is gathering strength
In the last few weeks, Al Jazeera has been posting videos on its global web site of Islamic vigilantes “patrolling”, as it puts it, the streets of Whitechapel ensuring that the various British citizens inhabiting its pavements are doing their best to conform to shar’ia law. A notorious instance involved an unfortunate, and wholly innocent, gay man who was told that he was “dirty” and should get out of the neighborhood immediately. “Yes,” he was forced to say, presumably under the threat of a boot in the groin, “I am dirty.”
The British mosques duly condemned the patrols, and the Metropolitan Police made its usual ineffectual vows. But the videos themselves, as far as I could see by watching them in Dubai that week, evoked very little disgust in readers sharing the Faith. It struck me immediately that there was very little reason that such patrols should not progress from the rarified joys of beating up homosexuals to demanding that people stop drinking in public in the same neighborhoods. Lo and behold, other videos show drinkers being forced to pour the contents of their cans on to the streets.[.]
It would be easy to dismiss these patrols as outliers. But then again, who twenty years ago would have foreseen them ever happening in the first place? The Islamic revival, for want of a better word, which is changing the face of two civilizations at once – ours and Islam’s – has not been flexible on the question of alcohol, any more than it has on the question of gay love.
Writing about Cairo recently, I made so bold as to mildly observe that the number of “baladi” bars in that once bibulous city has noticeably diminished. A few grizzled ex-pats chose to deny it, but most Cairenes are all too ready to lament the gradual erosion of their once free-ranging alcoholic night-life (the sale of alcohol has recently been bannedaltogether from settlements around the capital). The world of Om Khaltoum and Mafouz and Youssel Chahin was saturated in drink, but the Cairo of 2013 is headed in a very different direction. One might even claim that a link exists between the diminishment of overflowing bars and the increase in covered female heads. It is far from preposterous. » | Lawrence Osborne | Monday, February 18, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Holidaymakers to Egypt have been reassured about the future of the country as a tourist destination after authorities moved to restrict the sale of alcohol.
This week the government – led by Mohamed Morsi of the Freedom and Justice Party, which has strong links to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood – said it will no longer issue licenses to sell alcohol in some urban areas, including newly-built “satellite cities” on the outskirts of major population centres.
Announcing the move, Nabil Abbas, vice-president of the New Urban Communities Authority, said: “We cannot allow stores spreading debauchery in our society.”
Although the ban is unlikely to affect any key holiday destinations – particularly Red Sea resorts such as Sharm El Sheikh – it has raised fears that growing conservatism could soon affect those travellers wishing to visit the country and enjoy a drink. One Cairo-based news website described the move as “the end of alcohol in Egypt”. » | Oliver Smith | Friday, February 15, 2013
Monday, October 29, 2012
Clashes broke out between alcohol sellers and hardline Salafist Muslims in the Tunisian capital, a security official said on Sunday, wounding a police commander in the latest illustration of religious tensions in the home of the Arab Spring.
Tunisia, whose authoritarian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was overthrown by a popular uprising last year, now has an elected Islamist-led government.
The struggle over the role of religion in government and society has since emerged as the most divisive issue in the North African country, which for decades was considered one of the most secular countries in the Arab world.
On Saturday night, a group of hardline Salafist Muslims attacked alcohol vendors in their small shops, a security official said. Police intervened to stop the violence. » | Reuters | Monday, October 29, 2012
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Sunday, May 06, 2012
Mr Bercow also suggested there may be politicians with "other addiction issues" as he insisted the House reflects wider society.
Last week it emerged Commons staff are to be told to top up MPs' glasses fewer times at Parliamentary receptions to encourage "responsible alcohol use".
The move comes in the wake of the fight in the Commons Strangers Bar that saw Eric Joyce attack fellow MPs.
Mr Bercow said there is no longer a heavy subsidy on alcohol served in Parliament's bars.
In an interview for Sky News' Murnaghan programme he said: "I think that there are a number of other factors. I think there are issues relating to members who have had too much to drink.
"I think it is important that the medical service in the House is aware as it can be of members with problems.
"There is some evidence now that more members and staff who have got drink-related issues are seeking help and that's a positive.
"I think we are a reflection of society and just as there are people in every walk of life who have got issues to do with alcohol, and possibly other addiction issues, there can be problems in this place." » | Sunday, May 06, 2012
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Muslim students at a university which proposed to ban the sale of alcohol from parts of campus on their behalf are claiming the decision is “divisive”, “irresponsible” and based on a “gross generalisation”.
The students at London Metropolitan University said the prospective alcohol ban was “ill-advised and misleading”, demonising them and exacerbating “Islamophobia” at the university and in wider society.
They warned the proposals had created such ill-feeling amongst students that it is "only a matter of time" before a Muslim student is assaulted.
They accused Vice Chancellor Professor Malcolm Gillies of “immorally” using them as “scapegoats” in order to justify a decision not to renew a costly lease for the student bar.
Their comments, issued on behalf of the LMU Islamic Society and Shia Muslim Society, follow a suggestion from Prof Gillies that he was considering banning the sale of alcohol from parts of the university's two campuses.
This, he said, was an issue of “cultural sensitivity” resulting from a “high percentage” of students considering drinking “immoral”.
Earlier this month, he said: “There are students who do come from a tradition that stays alcohol is evil and they need to feel that they have a place at London Metropolitan University.
“They don’t have to feel that this is an alcoholic environment, we are an educational environment, we are not seeking to push particular cultural or gastronomic values, we meet the needs of our students as they actually are.”
In an open letter, students have now reprimanded Prof Gillies for failing to consult all students on any proposed alcohol ban and have demanded a retraction and an apology for his comments.
They said: “There has never been a demand for an alcohol ban on campus from Muslim or non-Muslim students. Read on and comment » | Hannah Furness | Monday, April 30, 2012
Related »
Thursday, April 12, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A London University may become the first in the country to ban alcohol from part of its campus to attract more Muslim students, its Vice Chancellor has said.
London Metropolitan University is considering banning the sale of alcohol from some parts of the campus because a "high percentage" of students consider drinking "immoral," Prof Malcolm Gillies said.
One-fifth of the University's students are Muslim, and of those the majority are women. It is an issue of "cultural sensitivity" to provide drink-free areas, Prof Gillies told a conference, adding he was "not a great fan of alchol on campus".
"It's a negative experience - in fact an immoral experience - for a high percentage of our students," he said.
He went on: "Many of our students do come from backgrounds where they actually look on [drinking] as a negative. And given that around our campuses you have at least half a dozen pubs within 200m, I can't see there is such a pressing reason to be cross-subsidising a student activity which is essentially the selling of alcohol." Read on and comment » | Matthew Holehouse | Thursday, April 12, 2012
My comment:
The Islamisation of the United Kingdom grows apace. How long will it be before the burqa will become mandatory so as not to offend the Muslims? This is a disgrace. Shame on Prof. Gillies! – © Mark
Monday, March 05, 2012
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Supermarkets could be banned from advertising cheap alcohol under Coalition plans.
The ban, which would form part of the Coalition’s alcohol strategy, would see an end to retailers such as Tesco and Asda advertising money-off deals on beer, wine and spirits.
Promotional deals by supermarkets such as ‘3 bottles of wine for £10’ or half-price lager have been seen as contributory factors to the increase in binge drinking in the UK.
The move, which is still under discussion, would see the outlawing of TV and poster ads pushing cheap alcohol.
Supermarkets have used such advertising around ‘events’ such as football tournaments, bank holidays or Christmas in order to drive sales. » | James Hall, Consumer Affairs Editor | Sunday, March 04, 2012
My comment:
This prime minister must be the joker in the pack! Does he seriously think that abolishing deals on alcohol is going to stop the binge-drinking? All this will do is punish the decent people who enjoy a tipple.
The problem of binge-drinking starts in the home. The people who overindulge are people who haven't had a proper upbringing. They probably also do not have an extended family to sanction their bad behaviour.
What Mr. Cameron and his government need to concentrate on is how to get back to a situation in which children have a proper family and home-life. Then, and only then will children have a hope of being raised in good, solid homes; and then, and only then will children be raised with values which will enable them to eschew such debauched ways of life. Bring back the family! That will solve the problem(s) in today's sad society. Increasing taxes won't even go half way to solving them. – © Mark
This comment also appears here.
THE INDEPENDENT: Cameron to defy Cabinet and insist on alcohol price cap: Sharp increases in the price of cheap cider and beer sold in supermarkets are on the cards after David Cameron backed plans for a minimum price of alcohol. » | Andrew Grice, Monday, March 05, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
There are car dealers on both sides of the road – Rolls-Royce on the right, Ferrari on the left – leading to the bridge over to the Pearl in this new district of Doha. Located on a man-made island to the north of Qatar's capital, a mixture of big houses with private beaches, 50-floor luxury hotels and marinas for the ultra-rich, the Arab Riviera, as its promoters have dubbed it, is the emirate's most recent folly.
But the sale of alcoholic beverages was banned on the island at the end of last year and gloom has gripped many residents. The managers of top-notch restaurants and boutiques complain sales have dropped by about half.
"When we heard the news we thought it was the end of the world," says a waitress at the Mango Tree, a Thai restaurant where the bottles behind the bar have been replaced by water jugs. The foreigners who once turned up in droves on weekend evenings, filling the cafe terraces of this golden enclave, have taken refuge in the hotels at West Bay, the business quarter of Doha, where alcohol still flows freely.
"We'll die of boredom here," says the proprietor of a coffee stall. » | Benjamin Barthe | Guardian Weekly | Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Alcoholic drinks should be made weaker under in Britain under Government plans to tackle the "deadly problem” of binge-drinking, a health minister has said
Anne Milton warned there would not be “one silver bullet” to deal with drinking problems when the Government’s alcohol strategy is published next month[.]
But the junior health minister said one of the key goals was to “remove significant number of units of alcohol from the UK market through changes in how alcohol is produced and sold”.
“Quality above quantity is something we’re aiming to do,” she said. "We can't turn this problem around overnight but we're deadly serious about a deadly problem."
In the strategy, ministers are expected to unveil measures to increase the price of alcoholic drinks according to how strong they are. This could be done through higher taxation per unit, minimum pricing per unit or simply higher levels of duty for strong drinks. Ministers will also encourage companies to produce weaker alcoholic drinks.
Prime Minister David Cameron is known to have sympathy with the idea of minimum pricing, which medics say could save nearly 10,000 lives per year if set at 50p per unit. » | Rowena Mason, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, February 07, 2012
My comment:
This government is little better than their NuLabour predecessors. They all love nannying; in fact, it's their second nature.
I shall never vote for any party that decides to water down my favourite tipples: Scotch whisky and wine. Fie on those that try to do so!
If children were raised in families that had a good, sound relationship with alcohol, there would be no need to be discussing this. Children need to be introduced to alcohol at a young age: they need to be taught to take it for granted. They need to be taught how to live with it, they need to be taught how to be the master of alcohol, and not allow alcohol to be the master of them.
There was plenty of alcohol in my home when I was growing up. I was allowed to try everything, but in moderation. It never did me any harm. On the contrary, it taught me to be responsible. Were I to have children, they would be raised in the same way. I would NEVER hide alcohol away from them, regardless of what the government of the day thought.
ALWAYS work on one simple principle: Forbidden fruits taste the sweetest. – © Mark
This comment also appears here
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Gunmen from the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram killed eight people, including four police officers, after opening fire at a beer parlour in northeast Nigeria.
The shootings come as the sect has promised to target Christians in Nigeria's Muslim north, expanding its campaign of assassinations and bombings.
Tuesday night's attack occurred in the town of Potiskum in Yobe state. Local police commissioner Tanko Lawan said the six gunmen began shooting as patrons drank beer, which the local Shariah law technically opposes, though bars remain open for those living there. » | Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Saturday, November 05, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: With two prime ministers and 13 cabinet ministers among its alumni, the Oxford University Conservative Association has become a conveyor belt for future leaders since it was founded in 1924.
But the student body, whose patron is Baroness Thatcher, is facing potentially the biggest crisis in its history after its own officers accused members of anti-Semitism, debauchery and snobbery at its alcohol-fuelled meetings.
Four of the Association’s most senior members have announced they will be resigning after members allegedly sang a Nazi-themed song, while others complained that members from working-class backgrounds were ridiculed by a clique of former public schoolboys.
Students are now facing possible disciplinary action by both the University and the Conservative Party, both of which have launched investigations.
OUCA, whose honorary president is William Hague, uses its website to promote a public image of studious debate, with recent guest speakers including Sir John Major and Iain Duncan Smith.
At its weekly “port and policy” meetings, however, drunkenness and discrimination have been the main items on the agenda, according to some disillusioned members.
One officer claimed that members regularly sang a song which includes the words: “Dashing through the Reich…killing lots of kike (Jews).” » | Gordon Rayner, and Richard Alleyne | Friday, November 04, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
In what her supporters claim is a politically motivated prosecution, police issued a warrant last night for the arrest of Atiqa Odho, 43. "What can I say?" Ms Odho told The Independent, apparently resigned to her fate. "The people have to decide now."
In one of the most bizarre instances of judicial activism, the ill-fated duty free purchase four months ago has seen Ms Odho dragged into the harsh glare of a local media that has long celebrated her as one of its most recognised faces, after the country's top judge sharply objected to her transgression after returning to Pakistan from the United Arab Emirates. Pakistan has been a dry country since the late 1970s, when alcohol was banned in a bow to rising religious opinion.
Outraged by the decision of the airport police to release her after a brief detention, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry resorted to discretionary powers. In Pakistan, the Supreme Court can take notice of perceived misconduct by acting "on its own initiative". Every Pakistani is now familiar with the Latin equivalent, suo moto, given the judge's taste for its use. » | Omar Waraich in Islamabad | Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
They say they believe the attack, which occurred in a beer garden, was carried out by the Islamist sect Boko Haram.
The group wants to establish an Islamic government in Nigeria.
It has carried out a number of bombings in north-eastern Nigeria, as well as an attack on police headquarters in the capital Abuja earlier this month.
Gunmen on two motorcycles attacked a packed beer garden late on Sunday, officials said.
"The attackers believed to be Boko Haram members threw bombs and fired indiscriminate gun shots on a packed tavern at Dala Kabompi neighbourhood, killing at least 25 people and seriously injuring around 30 others," an unnamed police officer told the AFP news agency. » | Monday, June 27, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)