Freedom Of Ideas Does Not Mean Freedom To Insult

Yemen is once again on the agenda due to an act of terror. But this time the attack took place in France, not in Yemen. The brothers Said and Shaarif Kouachi killed 12 people in an attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda (AQAP) issued a video communique saying that they had given the job to the Kouachi brothers. In its statement, al-Qaeda said that the Paris attack had been perpetrated at the command of their leader, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, but they were not involved in the separate hostage- taking in the kosher market. Speaking on the video posted on YouTube, Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, one of the organization’s leaders, said, “… we, the Organization of Al Qaeda al Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula, claim responsibility for this operation as vengeance for the Messenger of God.” As Muslims, it is very important to recognize that barbarity and heinous murder to shoot people savagely, hunt down defenseless people is a vicious act of terror simply because they think wrongly or insult or are hostile to Islam. Those who commit cowardly murder behind a mask of “Islam” and imagine they are taking revenge and waging jihad are in fact, in the eyes of the true Islam, murderers. Terrorism is a scourge cursed by Islam, the most horrible and savage face of fanaticism. As a second point, freedom of thought and expression is very important. Everyone can and must be able to express his opinions freely. However, insults, and especially insults directed against religious values, are not a form of expression as they contain no thoughts. One of the most trusted courts on the subject of human rights, and certainly one with the widest powers, is the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR was founded to prevent states from violating their citizens’ individual rights and freedoms in democratic European countries. The court rules on the basis of the European Convention on Human Rights, a text that guarantees minimum rights and freedoms for individuals for the maintenance of democratic regimes in Europe. The rulings of the ECHR have a tremendous influence on judiciaries and state functioning in European countries. In many of its previous rulings, the ECHR has stated that insulting religious values is not within the scope of freedom of ideas: One such ruling is known as the “Forbidden Phrases Ruling” and concerns an incident that took place in Turkey. The Istanbul public prosecutor alleged that there was blasphemy against “God, the Religion, the Prophet and the Holy Book” in the book entitled “Yasak Tümceler” (The Forbidden Phrases). On 28 May, 1996, the Istanbul Court of First Instance sentenced the defendant in that case to two years’ imprisonment and a fine, finally commuting the prison sentence to a fine. The Turkish Court of Cassation upheld that judgment on 6 October, 1997. The proprietor and managing director of the publishing house that published the book appealed to the ECHR on the grounds that the freedom of expression enshrined in Article 10 of the Convention had been violated. In its ruling of 13 September, 2005 on the case originated in the application no. 42571/98, the ECHR said; “As paragraph 2 of Article 10 recognises, the exercise of that freedom carries with it duties and responsibilities. Among them, in the context of religious beliefs, may legitimately be included a duty to avoid expressions that are gratuitously offensive to others and profane (see, for example, Otto-Preminger-Institut v. Austria, judgment of 20 September 1994, Series A no. 295-A, pp. 18-19, § 49, and Murphy v. Ireland, no. 44179/98, § 67, ECHR 2003‑IX). This being so, as a matter of principle it may be considered necessary to punish improper attacks on objects of religious veneration.” “ A State may therefore legitimately consider it necessary to take measures aimed at repressing certain forms of conduct, including the imparting of information and ideas, judged incompatible with respect for the freedom of thought, conscience and religion of others (see, in the context of Article 9, Kokkinakis v. Greece, judgment of 25 May 1993, Series A no. 260-A, and Otto- Preminger-Institut, cited above, pp. 17-18, § 47).” “… the present case concerns not only comments that offend or shock, or a “provocative” opinion, but also an abusive attack on the Prophet of Islam. Notwithstanding the fact that there is a certain tolerance of criticism of religious doctrine within Turkish society, which is deeply attached to the principle of secularity, believers may legitimately feel themselves to be the object of unwarranted and offensive attacks …” After the above statements, the court decided unanimously that freedom of expression had not been restricted. France is one of the countries in which European Court of Human Rights rulings are binding. In addition, the United Nations, which France is again a member of, has also decreed several times that insulting religious values is a crime. This subject has been in the media a good many times. Therefore, libelous statements against religious values are neither thoughts nor forms of expression. This must be kept in mind not only by France, but also by all European countries. On the other hand, certain circles may deliberately keep addressing this issue. If states and ECHR’s rulings fail to stop such aggressive acts, what should Muslims do? Muslims should definitely not resort to any act of violence. The barbarity called “terror” is the work of ignorant and bigot people who are remote from the Qur’anic morality, people who are in fact murderers who have nothing to do with faith. We need to remember that all kinds of terrorist acts are violence and corruption in the view of Islam. Terrorists commit such violence only with the intention of attacking religion itself. It may well be that those who carried out this violence did so to present religion as evil in the eyes of people, to divorce people from religion and to generate hatred towards those who are religiously inclined. Consequently, every attack on undefended and innocent people is actually an attack made against religion. The cultural solution to these people and groups who perpetrate violence under the guise of religion, no matter which, is to teach people the true teachings and morality of Islam. In other words, Islam and Qur’anic morality do not support terrorism or terrorists, but in fact is the cure to save the world from the scourge of terrorism. What Muslims should do in the face of attacks against Islam is to struggle by means of the law, ideas and knowledge and this is what the reason, logic and the law requires. This attitude is the one compatible with the moral values of the Qur’an that Allah expects of Muslims. Adnan Oktar's piece on National Yemen: http:// nationalyemen.com/ 2015/01/18/freedom-of- ideas-does-not-mean- freedom-to-insult/

Seeking the American Dream

Seeking the American Dream

Written by:Harun Yahya Americans once again went to the ballot box on November 4th for the midterm congressional elections. Even though this was considered as one of the most expensive elections in the American history with approximately 4 billion in donations, the turnout was quite low at 38%. Some quick facts about the US congressional elections: congress consists of two chambers called the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both the 435 members of the House and the one third of the Senators are elected every two years. In addition to the House and Senate elections, Americans also voted for 38 governors. While Republicans were able to maintain almost all the incumbents in office, the Democrats lost some seats to the Republicans. Where did the votes go? In the governorship races, Republicans had more seats to retain compared to the Democrats. Not only did they retain incumbent members, they succeeded to gain seats from the retiring Democrat governors in Arkansas, Maryland and Massachusetts. Consequently, Republicans gained three new seats while the Democrats lost three. With his re-election Republican Terry Brasnstad become the longest serving governor in US history. He has initiated his sixth term as governor of Iowa. In the House of Representatives, the Republican Party won 246 seats (a net gain of 13 seats) and the Democratic Party, 180 seats. Finally in the Senate, the Republican Party won 23 (a net gain of eight seats) and the Democratic Party won 12. The race in Louisiana is headed to a run-off) in December 2014. The most expensive elections in American history What marked these midterm elections the most is the donors granting greater amounts of fund, 3.67 billion dollars according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It is important to note it as one of the most expensive elections despite the decline in the number of donors. Due to the restrained campaigns and the indifference of the voters, the turnout was fairly low, which concerned Democrats of losing their seats in the Senate. Regrettably, their fear came true and they lost their majority. An arbitrary but interesting comparison to let’s say the country of Tunisia’s governmental election, in which Tunisians went to the polls to vote for their new government. The government election was a huge success in terms of enthusiasm for the ballot box since Tunisia is in a transformation phase towards democracy. More than 90% citizens voted, which is quite a surprise when compared to the 38% turnout in the American midterm elections. President Obama praised the Tunisians for this high turnout and described it as an important stepforward. The number of young American voters declined enormously which shaped 13% of the votes. Although it rose one percent since 2010 elections, young Americans have been apathetic towards voting for more than a decade. There are however various reasons for that indifference. Ashley Spillane, president of the non-partisan group Rock the Vote, relates this issue partly on the politicians not talking to the young voters, saying: “You have young Americans disproportionately impacted by unemployment and saddled in student debt, but you didn’t hear candidates talking about that.” Single women who have sympathy for Democrats declined in some amount in these elections. Surely, this decline in turnout cannot be the only reason for the Democrats losing in the Congress. Is the Congress acting on behalf Americans? The Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government that represents the American people. It is also the only branch of the government that is elected directly by the citizens. When we evaluate the results of these midterm elections, we encounter a serious dissatisfaction of Americans with the President’s domestic and foreign policies. Americans want to see a President they can be proud of and give voice to their needs, yet they are not pleased with the choices he makes. There is a huge gap between the government and the people and it is getting wider everyday. The current American political system does not give many choices to the people in terms of elections. Citizens have to vote either for the Republicans or the Democrats, there is no third option. Contrary to popular belief, the two parties, which mostly cater to elites, do not differentiate in many ways and basically work together. For example, anonymous donors give financial support to both parties during the electoral campaigns and that makes sure the government sets the economic agenda in favor of these elites. Interestingly, 95% of the wealth created since Obama came to office has gone to the elite and the wealthy. When the voters are dissatisfied with the party in power, with no third option left, they punish the governing party by electing the other in return. This cyclical and robotic behavior of voters is generally acknowledged, but there isn’t much that they can do even though most are frustrated and unsatisfied. For Americans to exercise democracy with more freedom, they should be given more options than just a two party system to represent themselves in Congress. Additionally, private donors should be disclosed and the amount they can donate should be limited in order to prevent their influence on the outcome, and the creation of inequality. Restoring American ideals not just through votes In order to restore the American dream, Americans should become more proactive about the issues facing them, and the people in power should be open to understanding the needs of the American people. The United States is a beautiful country with vast fertile lands and its people are cheerful and intellectual people full of love. However due to bad decisions by its leaders and erroneous policies many countries around the world have a negative view of the US. Its economy is also in trouble, in just the month of September 2014, US recorded a trade deficit of 43.03 billion dollars. Many countries do not want to make trade agreements with the US because of anti-American hype. It is the duty of Obama and the members of the Congress to work together and implement policies that are peaceful and beneficial to the American people, and rest of the world. Other countries should also help to restore and make America like it used to be. We should help revive America, make it vivacious, lively like the old times. It’s important to show America as a beautiful, affectionate and polite country. Let America come forward with its compassion, honesty, good intention, giving utmost importance to culture and science. Let America be the joy of the world like it used to be. Let everyone have the American dream they have been seeking. Adnan Oktar's piece on Arabian Gazette: http:// www.arabiangazette. com/seeking-the- american-dream/
Source:Harun Yahya

Face of Buddhist terrorist

This illustration picture taken on June 24, 2013 in Bangkok shows a man reading a copy of the July 1 issue of Time magazine carrying a picture of controversial Myanmar monk Wirathu on its cover. (AFP/Christophe Archambault)Time magazine’s decision to label Burmese monk Ashin Wirathu as

“the face of Buddhist terror”

in its July cover has drawn criticism from all sides. Wirathu, a proponent of Buddhist nationalism, is known for controversial statements comparing Muslims to "African carp"and describing them as quick-breeding and violent. Some have blamed his speeches for the rise in anti-Muslim violence in the newly democratising nation- state. The government of Myanmar issued a press release condemning Time’s cover story, and Wirathu was quoted as saying ,

“This is being done because the Islamic extremists want my downfall.”

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Facebook Beats In Q3 With $3.2B Revenue, User Growth Up A Slower 2.27% QOQ To 1.35B

For the ninth consecutive quarter, Facebook beat earnings projections thanks to 1.12 billion mobile users contributing 66 percent of its ad revenue. Facebook racked up $3.203 billion in revenue with a $0.43 EPS in Q3 2014. Total user count grew 2.27 percent to 1.35 billion monthly users, but that’s slower than its 3.125 percent user growth in Q2. The social network counts 864 million daily users and 703 million mobile daily users. Facebook now has 456 million mobile-only users, up 14.2 percent from 399 million last quarter to make up one- third of Facebook’s user base. Mobile growth was 4.67 percent from 1.07 billion to 1.12 billion, which is a significant amount slower than the 5.9 percent that the figure grew last quarter. For its size, the 2.27 percent user growth looked decent compared to the 4.8 percent growth Twitter says pushed it to 284 million users. And Facebook’s mobile money dwarfs that of other ad giants like Yahoo, which saw just 17 percent of ad revenue from mobile this quarter. Wall Street did not like the earnings report , as $FB is now down 9.77 percent in after-hours trading to $72.88, compared to pre- earnings level of $80.52 and its previous all-time regular hours high of $81.16. Screen Shot 2014-10-28 at 1.20.54 PM Facebook saw solid growth in its home US & Canada market, reaching 206 million users up from 204 million last quarter. However, its growth in Asia slowed from 5.12 percent last quarter to 3.96 percent, leaving it with 426 million users in the region now. Average Advertising Revenue Per User (ARPU) growth slipped a bit internationally, but grew from 13.08 percent last quarter to 15.91 percent this quarter in the US and Canada to reach $1,362. That may indicate that new ad offerings like premium video and Audience Network may be picking up steam in Facebook domestic markets, which gives a promising outlook for how they’ll fair internationally given some time. Screen Shot 2014-10-28 at 1.32.55 PM Facebook’s earnings beat Wall Street’s estimates of $3.12 billion in revenue and $0.40 EPS. Facebook now has $14.25 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, giving it ample ammo to make acquisitions. Screen Shot 2014-10-28 at 1.36.37 PM There are a few big questions for the earnings call later today. The performance of Facebook’s premium video ads is of interest, as is the early progress of Facebook Audience Network, its mobile advertising network. Analysts may want to hear how Facebook thinks its Creative Labs standalone app strategy will pay dividends, following the slow traction of Paper and Slingshot, and the new release of Rooms. Most importantly, though, is that we’ll see if Facebook is willing to give any data on the engagement of teens. Many suspect it has fallen significantly, with a Piper Jaffray study saying teen usage is down from 72 percent in the spring to 45 percent in the fall 2014, though surveys like this are suspect, as teens may be exaggerating their exodus to sound cool. Last time Facebook mentioned teen data on Q3 2013’s earning call, citing a slight drop amongst younger US teens, its share price cratered and the company has been mum on the subject ever since.

About Royal Bank of Canada(RBC)

Marketing is a discipline that thrives on ideas — ideas for new markets, better products, more effective promotional campaigns; ideas concerning smoother administration and better customer service. However, no financial company (or any company for that matter) can survive solely on one good idea; you need a constant flow. How do you nurture this steady stream of creativity, or is it even possible to do so? Sources for good ideas are plentiful — financial and marketing journals, business newspapers, suppliers, customers, employees, and even competitors. This chapter explores just a few examples of how some companies found their best marketing notions. FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES Traditionally, management sessions and competitor copycatting have been the only sources of new marketing ideas. However, there is another way — go to your employees. James Shanahan, sector vice president of Marketing for MasterCard International, believes that employees can be a goldmine of new ideas, particularly those who are in close daily contact with customers. His belief is based on experience: “Staff who have contact with customers in a service organization are a fantastic source of ideas about what can be done better or about new products. These people have probably been the best source I’ve ever had for new ideas.” Shanahan recalls a specific example of employee input during his days with a large U.S. full-service bank. The bank’s customer-service people had noted that clients were constantly seeking answers to basic investment questions such as, What kind of certificate of deposit should 1 buy? or, Should I consider a money-market account instead? With no official bank support, staff were trying to serve these people by providing financial planning advice based on the employee’s own personal experiences. “Customers want this service,” stressed the hank’s stall, “so let’s give them what they want and formalize what we’re doing already.” That is exactly what their employer did. Financial Plans were offered to hank customers at a cost of $20 each. And to encourage stall participation in the project, $20 cash bonuses were handed out to employees for each plan sold. The final tally at the end of a six month lest phase in eight branches reached 750 completed plans at an average asset value of $45.000. Shanahan also saw employee idea generation work well in a former position with a rival credit card company. Me recalls, “We did focus groups with customer-service people on an ongoing basis.” The firm also developed an idea prize catalogue, targeted at those employees who had a lot of customer expertise, for example, the company’s sale- force. Points were given for each new idea submitted, with additional points accruing as the idea moved through the various stages of new product development. If an employee’s idea actually made it to the last phase and was introduced to the public, he or she would receive 100 points. Points could be traded in for increasingly more attractive gifts from the catalogue-. “Not only did it work in terms of creating new ideas but it was a great morale builder as well.” says Shanahan. THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA (RBC) ‘ “GREYPANTHFHS’ AN EMPLOYEE IDEA The Royal Bank’s Grey Panther Project grew from an employee idea. Substantial customer assets were flowing out of the bank due to a missed selling opportunity by bank staff. Many Canadians hold large- amounts of money with their financial institutions in a pre retirement vehicle; called a Registered Retirement Savings Plan or RRSP. However, under Canadian tax legislation, at the age of 71. consumers must terminate: their RRSP plans, with only a limited number of options to choose from in disposing of these funds. The Royal B ml- would have preferred that its RRSP clients transfer retirement funds to an option known as a Registered Retirement Income bund (RRIF), a product available through the bank. Unfortunately, due, to its complexity, a RRIF is time con sinning and difficult to sell at the branch level so Royal employee’s were neglecting to inform clients of this option. This left customers with no choice but to take their RRSP funds out of the bank for options offered elsewhere. Putting this problem into a numbers perspective, this is how things shaped up: by 1985, Royal’s total RRSP deposit volumes exceeded $3 billion, yet only $11 million in RRIFs had been sold during that year. Quite obviously, such a trend could not be considered a healthy one for the bank. But fate took a hand. A letter from an ex-branch manager bemoaning the waste of good banking talent as a result of employee retirement arrived at head office. The bank’s marketing team saw a glimmer of light in this criticism. Why not use retired bank employees to sell RRIFs to pensioners like themselves? Seven willing ex- employees were tracked down, put through a regular sales training program and sent on their way. Sales of $500,000 during the test phase encouraged the bank to commit additional funding to the Grey Panthers Project, a name chosen for this non-traditional selling team by the participants themselves. Larry Wyse, then manager, Sales Programs, Personal Banking, recalls the very positive response from customers to the program: “They identified very closely with our representatives.” In response to information gleaned through debriefing sessions with the initial seven Panthers, a special one-week training program was devised, catering to the specific needs of the Grey Panthers sales force. The Royal had no intention of making the Grey Panthers a stand- alone sales force. Explains Wyse, “We did not want to upset the branches by taking away their responsibility for business generation.” Thus, each team member was assigned to a branch and had access to RRSP files as a source of potential customers. These files identified RRSP customers who would turn 71 within a year. Branch managers sent a personalized letter to each of these prospects, introducing the pensioner who would subsequently come calling. Twenty thousand dollars of newspaper arid magazine advertising in local media supported the retirees’ direct selling activities throughout 1986. A typical ad, for example, showed nine of the pensioners under the headline, “Our retirement planning team can help your retirement savings go the distance.” The Royal celebrated the initial success of The Grey Panthers through its many branch employee newsletters (Fig. 5-1), including a special write- up praising the gentleman who had provided the idea in the first place. However, the bank didn’t stop at just thanking the fellow. “We awarded him a: check for $1,000 initially, plus an additional $9,000 when the project was so successful,” recalls Jim Walker, vice president of Marketing and Sales, Personal .Banking. In 1986, during its first full year in operation, Grey Panthers sales reached nearly $32 million, followed by a $130 million inflow for 1987 — a profitable testament to the innovative use of a non-traditional sales force, ON THE CATTAILS OF THE COMPETITION Taking advantage of ideas generated by your competitors is still 3 a profitable pasttirne, as Midland Doherty Financial Corporation can affirm, MIDLAND DOHERTY FINANCIAL CORPORATION SELLING “THE REAL THING” Just a few years ago, most Canadians were unfamiliar with the U government debt security known as the Treasury Bill (T-bill). However, when one of the country’s largest trust companies, Canada Trust, introduced a new T-bill account, Midland Doherty Financial Corporation’s former marketing manager, John Vivash, saw a chance for his company to ride on the trust company’s coattails. “They were going to make a product from my industry very acceptable,” recalls Vivash. : Midland capitalized on this happy turn of events by launching a newspaper advertising campaign for ‘””the real tiling,” offering a better rate than the Canada Trust product. These ads emphasized rates, pure and simple. “Normally, we speak in a soft voice but this was one of the few times we shouted our message,” says- Vivash. “We shouted loudly and; it was incredibly successful.” The gamble did indeed pay off handsomely — not only did the firm acquire $ 73 million of new money but the accounts of their new customers were 30% larger than the company’s average. Proclaims Vivash, “It was a real win in terms of quality of accounts to the firm.”