Spend an evening with some very funny ladies and support Paradigm Shift NYC

If you're in the New York area on December 9th, you should definitely check out F-WORD: FEMINISM, FUNNY & FEARLESS! It's a fundraiser for Paradigm Shift, one of our favorite organizers of thought provoking, fun, and (yes!) feminist events.



The event is hosted by the Abbie Crutchfield (MTV, NBC Stand-Up For Diversity Finalist) & Jen Dziur (Williamsburg Spelling Bee, McSweeney’s), who are the co-founders of New York’s all-female Ladybits Comedy. There's lots more info here.



The evening features performances by:

Jessica Delfino, Comedian

Publicly denounced by the US Catholic League, A comedy rock star”- Comedy Central

Leah King, Writer-Performer “Hey, you. Can I get a smile?”

Known in the Burlesque world as LadyLUXXX, her one-woman show about street harassment fuses music, dance, and spoken word.

Hadiyah Robinson, Comedian

Finalist NBC Stand-Up For Diversity, Performances on BET’s “Comic View” and “One Mic Stand”

Here's all the event info:

Thursday, December 9th, 7-10 PM

Angels & Kings 

500 East 11th St. Between Ave A & B

$25 students / pre-paid, $30 at door. You can buy tickets here

[Please note the venue requires ID]

You can RSVP and invite your friends on Facebook. If you can’t make it, please donate to Paradigm Shift anyway. They need your support to keep doing great events! Donations are secure using Pay Pal.

Denmark: Quarter of immigrant pensioners live in poverty

Denmark: Quarter of immigrant pensioners live in poverty

Via Copenhagen Post:

Figures show a worrying trend for poverty amongst the elderly

Out of the capital’s 561 pensioners who live in “serious poverty”, 482 have an immigrant background, according to new figures from the City Council.

(...)

While only 1.1 percent of ethnic Danish pensioners live in poverty, the figure for their immigrant counterparts is a full 27.4 percent, according to new ECLM figures, based on the OECD's poverty line definition of 50 percent of the country's median income.


Older immigrant’s poverty problems stem from a regulation requiring individuals to be in Denmark for 40 years before collecting a pension. During the first ten years of residence, of which at least five years must be spent here before turning 60, there is no possibility of earning a state pension.

The city’s deputy mayor for social affairs, Mikkel Warming, said the state pension for immigrants was too low, and that it was wrong to deny pensions to people who come to Denmark after having turned 65.

(...)

“Many elderly immigrants live lonely lives with their own language,” he said. “Their children and grandchildren are being integrated into society and may not be as close to their elderly relatives as one might think. This is more than simply a question of finances. It is a significant social and humane problem.”

(source)

Somalia: New al-Shabab recruiting video features Swede, Brit; issues death threat to Lars Vilks

Somalia: New al-Shabab recruiting video features Swede, Brit; issues death threat to Lars Vilks

(image via Gudmundson, who also links to the film)

Via Jihadist Forum Monitor:

On 23 November 2010, a video produced by the Mujahidin Youth Movement’s (MYM) [aka al-Shabab], media division, al-Kita’b, was released onto jihadist forums entitled: ‘An Invitation to the Lands of Jihad and Ribat’. It urges Muslims around the world to travel to Somalia and undertake combat training with the MYM and graduate as mujahidin.

The production, dated November 2010, lasts for over 35 minutes and uses a number of video-clips of non-Somali MYM fighters urging their countrymen – in their native tongues – to join the group. Many of the men featured wish their fellow Muslims around the world a happy Eid [holiday], which suggests it might have been produced fairly recently. The video also has narration in Arabic with English and Somali subtitles.

(...)

‘Abu Dujana’ – identified as a UK national, whose appearance would suggest that he is of African origin, addresses Muslims in Britain in British-accented English. He urges them to travel to Somalia and train for jihad, and live in a society governed by Sharia.

‘Abu Zaid’ – identified as a Swedish national, appeals to Muslims in Sweden to do the same, and tells them that it is ‘an obligation upon you’. Like, Abu Dujana, his appearance would suggest he is also of African origin, but he addresses his audience in Swedish. He adds: ‘Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to come here to Somalia to take part in the jihad in Somalia. He continues: ‘I want to send this warning to Lars Viks, who was behind the caricatures defaming our Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him. And I say to Lars Viks that wherever you are, if not today or tomorrow, know that we haven’t yet forgotten about you. We will get hold of you and with God’s permission we will catch you wherever you are and whatever hole you are hiding in, God willing. Know what awaits you, as it will be nothing but this: [he then makes a cutting gesture with his finger on his throat] slaughter! For that is what you deserve’.

(source)

Brussels: 15 people arrested for recruiting Jihadists

Brussels: 15 people arrested for recruiting Jihadists

Yesterday police arrested a suspected Jihadist cell in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Later in the day Belgian police arrested another cell in Brussels.

Via AFP:

Hours later, Belgian officials announced the detention of some 15 people in Brussels in connection with a separate probe into a group suspected of recruiting would-be "jihadists" willing to do battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(...)

The arrests followed a three-year investigation into the Belgian Assabil Islamic Centre, considered a hotbed for Muslim radicalism since the 1990s.

A French-Syrian imam from the centre, Bassam Ayachi, was sentenced to four years in prison in Italy in May 2009 for smuggling illegal immigrants and is under investigation in Al-Qaeda-linked plots in France and Britain.

(source)

UK: Family of Jihadist wants tougher action

UK: Family of Jihadist wants tougher action

Via the Telegraph:

Awais Arshad, whose brother Umar, absconded from a control order, said police should have acted more quickly to stop him leaving the country.

He accused the police of “gross negligence" in failing to stop his brother and added: "How could he still be allowed to leave the country I do not know.”

Mr Arshad’s comments will add to the controversy currently surrounding control orders, which is threatening to split the coalition after pledges made by the Liberal Democrats to scrap them.

The Muslim community is often thought to be against the orders but Umar Arshad’s family actually contacted the police themselves asking them to stop him leaving.

He is one of seven people who have absconded after being placed under the orders, a loose form of house arrest. Most are thought to have left the country and join al-Qaeda.

(source)

More here.

Spain: Majority think it's better to have different religions, as long as it doesn't 'bother the Spanish'

Spain: Majority think it's better to have different religions, as long as it doesn't 'bother the Spanish'

Via Spanish News:

31% of the Spanish population agree that immigrants that find themselves unemployed for a long time should be expelled from the country, while 65% have expressed that they do not agree, according to a survey conducted by the Bertelsmann Foundation, presented on Monday.

The findings of the survey also showed that 89% are in favor of people travelling and working in any country, nevertheless 72% feel that immigration is a “worrying issue” and 67% feel that the number of foreigners in Spain is high.

72% also believe that it is better for a country to have people from various religious backgrounds, while 68% declared that immigrants should only maintain their habits and cultural aspects which don’t “bother the Spanish”.

(source)