OFF TOPIC but interesting...
Thanks to a special Freeper for pointing to this article:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1406433/posts
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"India: Need a cheering crowd?" (Rent-A-Mob tactics proving to be prosperous for new company)
News 24 (South Africa) ^ | May 19, 2005
Posted on 05/19/2005 9:36:24 AM PDT by Stoat
"Need a cheering crowd?"
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "New Delhi - A former politician in southern India has launched a "rent-a-crowd" company to recruit people to cheer at party rallies and said he has been deluged by would-be recruits, a report Friday said.
"When all political parties and organisations are doing it discreetly, why can't we do it professionally?" the Hindustan Times newspaper quoted the company's founder, Devarajan, who goes by one name, as saying.
Indian political parties are known for paying people to show up for rallies, often transporting them in fleets of buses, but usually the recruitment is carried out by the parties.
Devarajan is offering recruits training, guaranteed wages and says they can be deployed when parties need a "decent-sized crowd" at a rally, the newspaper reported."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1406635/posts
"Qur'an Hate Message Rekindles 9/11 Fears"
Islam Online (IOL) ^ | 19 May 2005 | Islam Online
Posted on 05/19/2005 2:33:27 PM PDT by Cornpone
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "LOS ANGELES, May 19, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A hate message scrawled on the inside cover of a Qur’an copy has rekindled fears of increasing discrimination against American Muslims in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
“I was taken back to 9/11, my fear that somebody is going to hurt me,” Azza Basarudin, a graduate student, told a news conference at the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles, reported Los Angeles Times on Thursday, May 19.
She had discovered a “Death to all Muslims” message on the inside cover of a Qur’an copy she ordered from Amazon.com.
“I felt that fear coming back. It really hurt me,” Basarudin told the press on Wednesday, May 18.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said on May 11, that anti-Muslim hate crimes, discrimination and harassment in the US have increased by half over the past year."