I recommend you read all of this Martin In The Margins post: Taliban tactics in Tower Hamlets: I’m not sure why I’ve been so affected by the story of Gary Smith, the east London RE teacher who was assaulted by four Islamic extremists because they disapproved of him teaching religion to Muslim girls. Perhaps it […]
Read MoreSome commentators who have opinionated about the recent murders in Afghanistan, murders supposedly committed “in response to” a US pastor’s burning a copy of the Koran, have resorted to what I ironically call “good racism”. Bad racism is what unemployed people living on council housing estates display when they blame their being unemployed on immigrants. […]
Read MoreThe BBC reports: A former soldier who was jailed for refusing to fight in Afghanistan has handed back a medal in protest at Britain’s involvement in the war. “There’s a real up-swell of awareness now among military families and among the military, and among the people in this country, that this conflict is, has kind […]
Read MoreThe BBC News Website has changed its original headline: SARAH PALIN LASHES OBAMA AT FIRST TEA PARTY CONVENTION —bring your houseboy, and let’s party like it’s 1779!—to this one: SARAH PALIN CONDEMNS OBAMA AT FIRST TEA PARTY CONVENTION but, Liz Jones’s latest wibble—search for it if you like; I’m not going to link to it—retains […]
Read MoreI have just searched Google News for “Afghanistan”. The top three stories are, in order: 500 more British soldiers will go to Afghanistan—[report] Italians bribed the Taleban all over Afghanistan—[report] France will not send any more troops to Afghanistan—[report]
Read MoreI picked up this Prospect blogpost, via the magazine’s twitter feed, where it carried a headline that falls into the Kamm/Rentoul category of “Great Historical Questions To Which The Answer Is ‘No’.“: “Is Afghanistan Obama’s Vietnam?” The article itself doesn’t bother with the question mark, but is a classic of the “another Vietnam” genre, once […]
Read MoreBernie Ecclestone, the Formula One chief, said yesterday that he preferred totalitarian regimes to democracies and praised Adolf Hitler for his ability to “get things done”. Mr Ecclestone endorsed the concept of a government based on tyranny. “Politicians are too worried about elections,” he said. “We did a terrible thing when we supported the idea […]
Read MoreI was at a birthday party yesterday evening and had to explain this one again to a fellow guest: They hated us long before “Iraq”. Here’s a step-by-step by Martin In The Margins and another reminder from Oliver Kamm.
Read MoreWhen I was a kid I was fascinated by a 3-D photo viewer called the View-Master. Last night as I lay in bed with my ThinkPad having finished off my latest post on the Wedding Photography Blog, I followed Design | asides from my blogroll there to the Magnum Photos site and experienced the same magic I […]
Read MoreVia Instapundit I came upon this unfortunate opening to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram report on the release of Abdul Rahaman: KABUL, Afghanistan—An Afghan court on Sunday dismissed a case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity because of a lack of evidence and he will be released soon, officials said. Let’s hope the […]
Read More“Well, Abdul, we were going to kill you because you changed sky-fairy in mid flight, The US and three Nato allies have expressed concern over reports that a Muslim convert to Christianity could face the death penalty in Afghanistan. Abdul Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and could be executed under Sharia law unless he […]
Read MoreFor a while I wondered if she was a parody, so broken and infantile and hackneyed were her arguments. Now I only ever read her when someone writes about her. Madeleine Bunting‘s intellectual and moral development has been so corrupted by the ideological diseases of our time that she is hardly qualified to read out […]
Read MoreYou thought Harry “Haystacks” Pinter was unbeatable, but now, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Michael “The Bomber” Rosen. [via Voslunga] UPDATE: I thought I’d have a go myself. (Anyone is welcome to join in in the comments.) War is bad When Americans do it. Blowing up civilians is understandable As long as you’re really, […]
Read MoreOn Tuesday evening I was pleasantly surprised (as were a couple of commenters) by RESPECT candidate Salma Yaqoob’s responses in a BBC Radio 4 interview about the London bombers. Given enough rope by “Mad Dog” Milne of The Guardian‘s opinion pages, however, she happily climbed the scaffold: “This cycle of violence has to be broken. […]
Read MoreUnder the headline “Asylum Falling Around The World”, The Beeb reports the United Nations reporting that: “The number of asylum seekers coming to the industrialised world fell by a fifth in 2004 to its lowest level in 16 years, according to the United Nations.” . . . “…the number of asylum seekers from Afghanistan and […]
Read MoreSquander Two on the Irish President on the Holocaust Tim Newman on Gary Younge on Uzbekistan (but really on Amerikkka of course) Michael Ignatieff on his “fellow” liberals on the Iraq elections Oliver Kamm on David Aaronovitch on Douglas Hurd
Read MoreA frequent correspondent points me to this story in which Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, takes exception to the Prime Minister of Iraq describing non-participants in the liberation of his country as “spectator” states. My correspondent suggests that, rather than apologize to Juncker, Allawi should have told the esteemed European leader to “go […]
Read MoreSUE FROM BBC LOCAL RADIO: I’m standing in the grounds of an ordinary central Cambridge apartment block where local resident Damian Counsell has found himself at the centre of a controversy following his construction of a sculpture he has called, somewhat provocatively even he must admit, “You Bet Your Sweet Ass It Was In My […]
Read MoreThe Anonymous Economist drew my attention to this one in the New York Times this morning. You can draw your own conclusions about which group of organizations it damns most completely.
Read MoreIraq begins self-rule ahead of schedule. NATO promises 10 000 troops to secure Afghanistan's upcoming elections. Evidence appears in support of the Accelerated Life Theory of Britney Spears, within hours of my first postulating it. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything to write about any of these things.
Read MoreIn Afghanistan, you should let your women vote because they will, after all, vote for who you tell them to. [via FARK]
Read MoreThe Sunday Express has been claiming that Osama bin Laden and his sidekick, Mini-Me, are trapped in an area of 100 square miles by UK and US special forces. No one else seems to have picked up the story, except to hold it at arm’s length.
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