part 4
Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available as an E-Book H E R E ! and as a paperback H E R E !
Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://allans-perspective.blogspot.com
I read a newspaper article from Australia today that got me thinking about women's rights and what is socially acceptable in society. 
First of all. I believe that forcing a woman to wear a Hajib --->
is a gross insult to women. It is demeaning, misogynistic, and a huge road block to the emancipation of the ladies.
Equality for women is the first, and some would say the most important step in bringing Islam out of the twelfth century and into the twenty first!
By the same token we do have to respect religious and cultural characteristics amongst various groups, and this means a certain amount of sensitivity and discretion from the more liberal and progressive cultures.
While on the one hand we want to free Muslim and Asian women from the cultural shackles they are bound with, we should also be aware of offending the sensibilities of various groups with an attitude that is too free and open.
In Australia, Conservative MP Fred Nile says he wants topless bathing banned in NSW to protect Sydney’s Muslim and Asian communities.
The Reverend Nile has rejected allegations that prudishness is behind a bill he has prepared to ban nudity, including topless sunbathing, on the state’s most popular beaches.
Australia’s reputation as a conservative but culturally inclusive society was at risk of erosion by more liberal overseas visitors, he said:
“Our beaches should be a place where no one is offended, whether it’s their religious or cultural views,” he said.The practice was at risk of raising the ire of Muslim men in particular, Mr Nile said.
“If they’ve come from a Middle Eastern or Asian country where women never go topless - in fact they usually wear a lot of clothing - I think it’s important to respect all the different cultures that make up Australia.”
“I don’t want to have any provocations or disturbances on our public beaches,” he said.Acting Premier Carmel Tebbutt and the NSW Opposition Leader, Barry O’Farrell, have both said that topless bathing is an issue for local councils, not state governments.
“I think if you survey Australian women you’ll find a lot of women would be uncomfortable if it became the custom [to be] topless at the beach,” he said.That's what it all boils down to kids, a little bit of sensibility and sensitivity.
“Australia’s always been a conservative country as far as beachwear goes.
“Once being topless is accepted as lawful the next question will be why can’t women go totally nude on a public beach and I don’t think Australians want to go down that pathway.”
Once again here are the Perspective fearless predictions for 2009
Politics
1. There will be an assassination attempt on Barack Obama. (Let's face it folks, this one don't take no brains to figure out!)
2. Russia will be at serious odds with Ukraine and Europe over gas and oil. (Again a no brainer!)
3. The world-wide economic situation will not be as bad or last as long as first thought.
4. Oil will settle at 50 to 70 dollars a barrel for the next few years.
5. Some of the shine will fall from China's image in the world. A faltering economy.
Social
1. Social networking will start to lose it's appeal on the Internet.
2. Religious strife between Christians and Muslims will increase.
3. The Rolling Stones will be no more due to health reasons.
4. Major medical break throughs (especially cancer) led by an advance in genetics.
5. The poor economy will provide a major boost to the entertainment industry.
Tech
1. A revolution in so-called cloud services and computing, in which software and other applications are delivered to end-users over networks, or "the cloud."
2. Like cloud computing, "virtualization" helps companies reduce the cost of operating machines such as servers. The technology basically allows a single piece of hardware to run systems or applications that previously had run on multiple machines - essentially allowing companies to squeeze more out of existing hardware and even defer new purchases.
3. No matter how bad things get out there, American consumers are unlikely to part with their broadband connections, an Accenture study found. Indeed, they are more likely to get rid of cable television channels (once considered practically a utility) or their mobile phones than their high-speed Internet connections.
4. With SMEs being hit by the credit crunch perhaps harder than anyone and yet having the same need for up-to-date tech as other companies, 2009 could well be the year that 'free as in beer' software takes off. There are already a handful of software companies providing their services to SMEs ostensibly free to the customer, using advertising to make their money.
5. Mobile broadband beats fixed. Australia's incumbent telco Telstra has already gone live with a 21Mbps mobile network while Vodafone in Europe is testing a 28.8Mbps equivalent – I predict it won't be long until the UK's operators launch their super speedy networks on the unsuspecting British public. dito for North America.
Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available as an E-Book H E R E ! and as a paperback H E R E !
Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://allans-perspective.blogspot.com
