Radical Muslim cleric goes on trial in London

For the past decade, Abu Hamza, the one-eyed, hook-handed cleric (wouldn't Pirate have sounded better than cleric, honestly), has been depicted as a hate-filled bigot who has distorted Islam and provided the British tabloids with an archetypal villain.

Well, its easy to depict people in their true light. I heard some of the things this guy has to say and, let's just say we won't see him on Sesame Street anytime soon.

The Egyptian-born Mr. Hamza is accused, among other things, of soliciting to murder, inciting racial hatred and possessing offensive recordings. He has pleaded not guilty to the 15 charges. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

Yesterday, the prosecution played a black-and-white videotape of a sermon in Arabic, recorded in the notorious Finsbury Park mosque. He was the cleric there from the 1990s until 2003, when the trustees ousted him. In a rambling discourse, he said it was a religious duty to kill Jews.

Well, no terrorist talk so far.

The jury heard Mr. Hamza's views on tourism, additives in food, women and the evils of democracy, which the prosecution said were attempts to create a "blueprint for living" for his followers.

In New York we call people like him "raving derelicts" and we let them wash our windshields sometimes.

In another videotape, he told an audience it was permissible to steal from "non-believers" to pay off debts.

Why would such an upstanding person like Hamza be in debt?

"Whether it is drugs money or cheese money, you can take it," he said. He also said children should be trained to fight.

What the fuck is cheese money?

This guys a loon, either give him his own TV show or put him in a cell. Anything other than those two options would be counter-productive.