All entries by this author

Stop Her!

Jul 22nd, 2006 7:59 pm | By

Here we go again. The community. Offend. You can’t. Protest. Warn. Prevent. You mustn’t, you can’t, you shan’t, we’ll stop you, shut up, don’t write, don’t talk, don’t say, shut up, The Community.

But to many of the residents on Brick Lane…the novel offers such a negative portrayal of the community that they have mobilised protest groups against a film being made…[R]esidents and traders gathered to prevent filming after hearing that a crew were to begin their work along the Brick Lane area. Some residents have warned of blockades to stop the film from being made…”Yes, you create a work of fiction, but you do not create fiction which offends a whole community.”

Authoritarianism and do-what-I-tell-youism raises its nasty … Read the rest



Janet Browne on the Controversy over Darwin’s Book *

Jul 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

Four of Darwin’s friends carried the brunt of the public storm: each a specialist in his scientific field.… Read the rest



Swimming in Body Armor, What Fun *

Jul 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

The Islamic swimwear is a full-body suit and a hood over a tight bonnet – for women, that is.… Read the rest



Protests at Filming of ‘Brick Lane’ *

Jul 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

‘You do not create fiction which offends a whole community.’ Oh yes you do.… Read the rest



HRW Says Little is Known of What Happened *

Jul 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

No major news organization outside Iran has tracked down what really happened.… Read the rest



Doug Ireland on the Protests *

Jul 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

A lot of material.… Read the rest



Protests, Vigils, Dialogue Mark Anniversary *

Jul 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

Vigils were held to mark the first anniversary of Iran’s hanging of two teenagers accused of homosexuality. … Read the rest



Is There a ‘Pogrom’ Against Gays in Iran? *

Jul 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

HRW says no, Doug Ireland says yes.… Read the rest



Pearse’s “Perfect Little Pigs” or Translating Celsus

Jul 22nd, 2006 | By R. Joseph Hoffmann

Since it first appeared on his blogspace in 2002, the most frequently Googled article about me—depressingly—is a piece called “Celsus, Origen and Hoffmann” by a certain freelance Tadler named Roger Pearse. The irritable Mr. Pearse has become in the intervening years a watchful enemy of my work and a sort of unconsecrated bishop in the church of Anglo-Patristic Orthodoxy. So dutiful is his vigilance in this office (by day Mr. Pearse disguises himself as an unassuming computer programmer) that I have occasionally felt remorse at not giving him enough work to watch. This may seem petulance, I know. But I prefer to think of it as anger; and as Aristotle reminds us, “To be angry with the right man, to … Read the rest



Iowan Arrested for Flying Upside-down Flag *

Jul 21st, 2006 | Filed by

Charged with disorderly conduct, getting death threats from a forum on a Marine vets’ website.… Read the rest



The Fad for Yob Lit *

Jul 21st, 2006 | Filed by

Gilbert recasts insignificant bits of everyday life as being the source of social decay today. … Read the rest



Barney Frank’s Speech to Congress *

Jul 21st, 2006 | Filed by

‘This is an administration which considers checks and balances to be a hindrance to effective governance.’… Read the rest



Barney Frank on the Plebiscitary Presidency *

Jul 21st, 2006 | Filed by

The president is not the single decider. He is the most important in a system of multiple sources of power.… Read the rest



Maclean’s Provides Articles on/by Jahanbegloo *

Jul 20th, 2006 | Filed by

Ottawa is powerless to do anything about the imprisonment of one of its citizens.… Read the rest



Danny Postel Interview with Ramin Jahanbegloo *

Jul 20th, 2006 | Filed by

Interview was conducted via e-mail in January and February 2006 – just before Jahanbegloo’s arrest.… Read the rest



Japanese PM Continutes to Visit War Shrine *

Jul 20th, 2006 | Filed by

Despite the presence of war criminals there and anger of Korea and China.… Read the rest



Bush Brandishes Baby, Vetoes Stem Cell Bill *

Jul 20th, 2006 | Filed by

Leading researchers call Bush ‘hypocritical’, ‘out of touch’ and ‘selfish’ over his decision.… Read the rest



Older Students to be Allowed not to Worship *

Jul 20th, 2006 | Filed by

Younger students still forced to attend daily ‘collective worship’ in UK.… Read the rest



Guatemala: Killings of Women Increase in 2006 *

Jul 20th, 2006 | Filed by

Over 2,200 women and girls have been brutally murdered in Guatemala since 2001.… Read the rest



Dogma

Jul 19th, 2006 11:43 pm | By

Jeremy Waldron in the LRB:

A more troubling reading, however, is that Nazi speech is worth protecting even if a consequence of that protection is that someone gets hurt or killed. ‘I will defend your right to say it, even if your saying it makes violence more likely against the people attacked in your pamphlets.’ Is that what is meant? Defenders of free speech squirm on this point…they assure us dogmatically that there is no clear evidence of any causal connection between, say, racist posters and incidents of racial violence…

Yeah. The assurance often seems very dogmatic to me – it just somehow has to be true that there is no causal connection between racist speech and racial violence, … Read the rest