All entries by this author

Annual Peter Tatchell Human Rights Fund Meeting *

Mar 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

Maryam Namazie asks how can it be Islamophobic to say people should be able to live a 21st century life?… Read the rest



Lords Overturn School Jilbab Ruling *

Mar 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

Law lords verturned a court ruling that Begum’s human rights were violated.… Read the rest



Eta Declares Permanent Ceasefire *

Mar 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

The ceasefire will take effect on Friday, the statement said. … Read the rest



Lamentable Disrespect and Raving Lunacy

Mar 21st, 2006 11:07 pm | By

Charles Taylor joins the flock.

“The publishing of these caricatures shows a lamentable disrespect,” said Taylor, who elaborated on his views to an audience of nearly 200 people at an event organized by the Heinrich Boell Foundation. “Freedom of speech means you can’t outlaw the printing of these cartoons,” acknowledged Taylor, “but in order to get through this difficult time, we need an informal code where that kind of gratuitous insult can not take place.”

Well doesn’t that sound just like Jack Straw and Sean McCormack and Franco Frattini and the pope and Kofi Annan and that student union spokeswoman at the U of Cardiff – doesn’t that sound just like all of them saying No you may not … Read the rest



There is a Limit

Mar 21st, 2006 10:47 pm | By

I admire freedom as much as the next person, but we all know there are limits, right? There is such a thing as too much. Liberty does not mean license. There are some things no one can be free to do. Cough at the opera, spit in the soup, wear black in summer, and – one other thing.

A man could be sentenced to death after being charged with converting from Islam to Christianity, a crime under Afghanistan’s shariah laws, a judge said yesterday…The accused was charged with rejecting Islam…”We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law,” the judge said. “It is an attack on Islam.”

Read the rest


Revenge Attacks Killed 20 Nigerian Muslims *

Mar 21st, 2006 | Filed by

Religious riots intensified last month after archbishop said Muslims had no ‘monopoly on violence’.… Read the rest



Archbish Calls Creationism a Category Mistake *

Mar 21st, 2006 | Filed by

Criticised Archbish Akinola in Nigeria for warning that Xians could retaliate against Muslims.… Read the rest



Francis Gilbert on Yob Culture *

Mar 21st, 2006 | Filed by

His previous books were accounts of the anarchic nightmare that is modern British schooling.… Read the rest



Charles Taylor on Cartoons, ‘Lamentable Disrespect’ *

Mar 21st, 2006 | Filed by

‘[W]e need an informal code where that kind of gratuitous insult can not take place.’… Read the rest



Republicans Annoyed With Catholic Church *

Mar 21st, 2006 | Filed by

Scold Catholic bishops ‘for invoking God when arguing for a blanket amnesty’ for illegal immigrants.… Read the rest



Possible Death Penalty for Leaving Islam *

Mar 21st, 2006 | Filed by

‘We are Muslims and becoming a Christian is against our laws. He must get the death penalty.’… Read the rest



Al-Afif al-Akhdar’s Life is in Danger *

Mar 21st, 2006 | Filed by

Fighter for secularism and democracy works to expose dangers of Islamic fundamentalism.… Read the rest



Festival Refuses to Cancel ‘Blasphemous’ Show *

Mar 21st, 2006 | Filed by

Archbishop of Toledo rails, government frets about offending Catholic sensibilities, show goes to Rome next.… Read the rest



Toda Women Rejecting Patriarchal Society *

Mar 21st, 2006 | Filed by

‘The girls want to study. They want to achieve something…The girls want a different life.’… Read the rest



It Needs a Big Brain to Hold so Much Nonsense *

Mar 21st, 2006 | Filed by

Did causal beliefs lead to tool-making, or did tool-making lead to causal beliefs?… Read the rest



That’s That Done

Mar 20th, 2006 10:26 pm | By

Very good, it’s set up now. I actually got the actual update, so I can tell that it’s working. And people are accepting the invitation or signing up for the first time. Very good. Greetings.

Go here if you want to sign up.

A good day then. That update has been bugging me for six months. How glad I am to have a decent substitute at last. And it was a good day even before that. Someone emailed to give his opinion of the book, and it was – well, you get the idea. People rushed from all directions to apply ice to my head to prevent swelling.… Read the rest



Weekly Update

Mar 20th, 2006 7:02 pm | By

So – after a considerable wait, Google accepted the mailing list and I have – I think – sent out the first update since October. But I think people have to click a link in an email message from Google in order to be added to the new list, so the update probably went to no one at all. And I haven’t even received it myself, despite being thoroughly added, so maybe it doesn’t work at all. So if any of you are on the old list and get an update or alternatively don’t get an update, it would be helpful if you would let me know.

Update (on update – how confusing). No don’t bother yet. They’ve sent me … Read the rest



Women Say No

Mar 20th, 2006 5:32 pm | By

The Times notices something that astute, attentive readers of B&W (and you all fit that description) have known for a long time.

Sitting in the airy living room of the spacious modern [house] where Sultan and her husband live, it is hard to believe this small, neatly dressed woman could be at the centre of an international firestorm. Just as improbable is that the most important and controversial critics of Islamic fundamentalism, violence and intolerance are, like Sultan, women, mostly from Islamic countries.

Well it’s not very improbable to us, is it; we’ve known that for years. Years.

They include Ayaan Hirsi Ali…Irshad Manji…Amina Wadud, an African-American convert to Islam and Muslim academic and author, who has infuriated traditional Muslims

Read the rest


Johann Hari on Why He Was Wrong About Iraq *

Mar 20th, 2006 | Filed by

‘The evidence should have been clear to me all along: the Bush administration would produce disaster.’… Read the rest



Rousseau and His Dog, Hume and his Waistcoat *

Mar 20th, 2006 | Filed by

Wittgenstein and his poker, Spinoza and his pipe, Leibniz and his umbrella.… Read the rest