Anyone know which is the only country to have used biological weapons in battle?
Answer here - and pretty gruesome it is too.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Iranian justice?
Hmm, if anything makes me feel sympathy for the Iranians and Sharia law, this will...
Killer of 16 boys flogged and hanged
Killer of 16 boys flogged and hanged
Harvard feminists revisited
As a follow-up to Dan's post of 22/3/05:
Bright idea, dumb reaction
Camilla Cavendish
Are men better than women at maths and science? Harvard's feminists don't even want to discuss it
Bright idea, dumb reaction
Camilla Cavendish
Are men better than women at maths and science? Harvard's feminists don't even want to discuss it
Bush wins vote to begin Alaskan oil drilling
Bad, bad, bad....
Bush wins vote to begin Alaskan oil drilling
March 17, 2005
From Roland Watson in Washington
The Rape of Nanking - truly unbelievable
One final victim of the Rape of Nanking?
March 17, 2005
Oliver August
A young historian's book on the 1937 atrocity unleashed a tide of repressed anguish and international recriminations that continue even after her suicide
...
The Rape of Nanking in 1937 began with the march of invading Japanese soldiers up the Yangtse River. They occupied the Chinese capital of the time and soon conquest was followed by bloodlust. Soldiers slaughtered between 100,000 and 300,000 civilians sheltering in a few city blocks. Slowly.
Over a six-week period, up to 80,000 women were raped. But it wasn’t so much the sheer numbers as the details that shock — fathers forced at gunpoint to rape daughters, stakes driven through vaginas, women nailed to trees, tied-up prisoners used for bayonet practice, breasts sliced off the living, speed decapitation contests.
March 17, 2005
Oliver August
A young historian's book on the 1937 atrocity unleashed a tide of repressed anguish and international recriminations that continue even after her suicide
...
The Rape of Nanking in 1937 began with the march of invading Japanese soldiers up the Yangtse River. They occupied the Chinese capital of the time and soon conquest was followed by bloodlust. Soldiers slaughtered between 100,000 and 300,000 civilians sheltering in a few city blocks. Slowly.
Over a six-week period, up to 80,000 women were raped. But it wasn’t so much the sheer numbers as the details that shock — fathers forced at gunpoint to rape daughters, stakes driven through vaginas, women nailed to trees, tied-up prisoners used for bayonet practice, breasts sliced off the living, speed decapitation contests.
Wolfowitz profile - with interesting twist
Bush selects Iraq war architect to be new head of World Bank
March 17, 2005
Bush selects Iraq war architect to be new head of World Bank
From Roland Watson in Washington
Mr Wolfowitz’s girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza, works at the World Bank. Ms Riza, who was born in Tunis and grew up in Saudi Arabia, is an ardent proponent of spreading democratic rights throughout the Arabic world. Her low-key presence in Mr Wolfowitz’s life surprises critics, who assert that he masterminds a Zionist conspiracy from the Pentagon.
--------------------------------------------------------
Steyn (as usual) is on the mark vis-a-vis Wolfowitz:
Election validates Bush's vision for Iraq
Sun Times
March 6, 2005
Mark Steyn
A couple of years back, I went to hear Paul Wolfowitz. I knew him only by reputation: the most sinister of all the neocons, the big bad Wolfowitz, the man whose name started with a scary animal and ended Jewishly. In fact, he was a very soft-spoken chap, who compared the challenges of the Middle East with America's experiments in democracy-spreading after World War II. He said he thought it would take less time than Japan, and maybe something closer to the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe. I would have scoffed, but he knew so many Iraqis by name -- not just Ahmed Chalabi but a ton of others.
Around the same time, I bumped into Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister and man of letters. He was just back from Egypt, where he'd been profoundly moved when he'd been asked to convey the gratitude of the Arab people to President Chirac for working so tirelessly to prevent a tragic war between Christianity and Islam. You don't say, I said. And, just as a matter of interest, who asked you to convey that? He hemmed and hawed and eventually said it was President Mubarak. Being a polite sort, I rolled my eyes only metaphorically, but decided as a long-term proposition I'd bet Wolfowitz's address book of real people against Villepin's hotline to over-the-hill dictators. The lesson of these last weeks is that it turns out Washington's Zionists know the Arab people a lot better than Europe's Arabists.
In Praise of Nepotism
Interesting article about nepotism by Alexander Waugh. Kind of sticks in my craw on an instinctive level but I'm not sure if I actually disagree...
Excess baggage? Beat this!
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia needed five jumbo jets to carry his 200,000kg of luggage when he holidayed in Marbella in 1999. His 400-strong entourage were split between his private palace and a five-star hotel.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Meet the 'Neets' - they make chavs look classy
Oh - and it's your money they're spending (and nicking):
Meet the 'Neets': a new underclass
Sunday Times Comment
March 27, 2005
Robert Winnet
A group of 1.1m people who are not in education, employment or training (Neets), are being blamed for many of society’s ills. Robert Winnett on the battle to tame Britain’s feckless youth
Neet facts
Meet the 'Neets': a new underclass
Sunday Times Comment
March 27, 2005
Robert Winnet
A group of 1.1m people who are not in education, employment or training (Neets), are being blamed for many of society’s ills. Robert Winnett on the battle to tame Britain’s feckless youth
Neet facts
Portillo hints the French Maastricht elections were fixed
Michael Portillo: The escape door's open, but Blair stays on as EU hostage
Sunday Times Comment
March 27, 2005
Twelve years ago selected members of John Major’s cabinet gathered at Admiralty House to hear the results of the French referendum on the Maastricht treaty. Eurosceptics like me longed for a “non”, and the enthusiasts like Douglas Hurd counted on a “oui”. Major just yearned to be delivered from the nightmare of having to get the Maastricht legislation through his party and parliament. Opinion polls said the result was too close to call.
Within minutes of the ballot boxes being sealed Major received a call from Paris to tell him that the vote had been carried by 51% to 49%. That surprised me. In my experience of elections it had never been possible to know the outcome of such a close contest so quickly. To this day I harbour shameful doubts about how the French government could be so sure so soon. British ministers exchanged sceptical glances in private as Major went outside to tell the media of his pleasure at the result.
Sunday Times Comment
March 27, 2005
Twelve years ago selected members of John Major’s cabinet gathered at Admiralty House to hear the results of the French referendum on the Maastricht treaty. Eurosceptics like me longed for a “non”, and the enthusiasts like Douglas Hurd counted on a “oui”. Major just yearned to be delivered from the nightmare of having to get the Maastricht legislation through his party and parliament. Opinion polls said the result was too close to call.
Within minutes of the ballot boxes being sealed Major received a call from Paris to tell him that the vote had been carried by 51% to 49%. That surprised me. In my experience of elections it had never been possible to know the outcome of such a close contest so quickly. To this day I harbour shameful doubts about how the French government could be so sure so soon. British ministers exchanged sceptical glances in private as Major went outside to tell the media of his pleasure at the result.
Sullivan on Republican right-to-life hypocrisy
Sullivan his usual fascinating self:
Terri is the dying martyr the Rebublican right can use
Sunday Times Comment
Andrew Sullivan
March 27, 2005
Terri is the dying martyr the Rebublican right can use
Sunday Times Comment
Andrew Sullivan
March 27, 2005
Bookmark this fact checking website
Channel 4 will be running a fact checker during the election campaign. I followed one during the US election and it was excellent. (Though it mostly just confirms that everyone twists the truth into a pretzel of distortion.)
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Hizb ut-Tahrir & 3 Brits in an Egyptian jail
There was a *very* long (10 mins) report on Radio 4's Today programme this morning about the plight of 3 British men in jail in Egypt:
Today programme 24/3/05 - Permalink
Zubeida Malik reports on three British men in jail in Egypt, who claim to be wrongfully convicted for promoting an Islamic political group.
Here's some background on the story for those with less time:
BBC: Britons' trial in Egypt begins
Mr Pankhurst, Mr Nawaz and Mr Nisbet claim they were tortured. The trial of three UK men accused of promoting an illegal Islamic group in Egypt was opened on Saturday after long delays.
Today programme 24/3/05 - Permalink
Zubeida Malik reports on three British men in jail in Egypt, who claim to be wrongfully convicted for promoting an Islamic political group.
Here's some background on the story for those with less time:
BBC: Britons' trial in Egypt begins
Mr Pankhurst, Mr Nawaz and Mr Nisbet claim they were tortured. The trial of three UK men accused of promoting an illegal Islamic group in Egypt was opened on Saturday after long delays.
There was no discussion at all on Today of the organisation the men are supposed to be member of, Hizb ut-Tahrir, so have just done a bit of checking. This organisation is banned in Egypt, legal in Britain, and as far as I know, the men are indeed members of it.
Here's what Hizb ut-Tahrir say about themselves.
And here's another view:
GlobalsSecurity.org
Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Party of Liberation)
Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Party of Liberation) a radical Islamic political movement that seeks 'implementation of pure Islamic doctrine' and the creation of an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia. The group's aim is to resume the Islamic way of life and to convey the Islamic da’wah to the world. The ultimate goal of this secretive sectarian group is to unite the entire ummah, or Islamic world community, into a single caliphate. The aim is to bring the Muslims back to living an Islamic way of life in 'Dar al-Islam' [the land where the rules of Islam are being implemented, as opposed to the non-Islamic world] and in an Islamic society such that all life's affairs in society are administered according to the Shariah rules.
Its basic aim was struggle with infidels and the organization of a universal caliphate embracing all Islamic countries. This objective means bringing the Muslims back to living an Islamic way of life in Dar al-Islam and in an Islamic society such that all of life’s affairs in society are administered according to the Shari’ah rules, and the viewpoint in it is the halal and the haram under the shade of the Islamic State.
....
In 1999, the group was blamed for a series of bomb attacks in the Uzbekistan capital, Tashkent. It is believed by some to clandestinely fund and provide logistical support to a wide range of terrorist operations in Central Asia, and elsewhere, although attacks may be carried out in the names of local groups.
...
In February 2003, the Russian Supreme Court put Hizb ut-Tahrir and 14 other groups on a list of banned terrorist organizations. A month before, Hizb ut-Tahrir was outlawed in Germany on charges of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli propaganda.
COMMENT
Egyptian jails and security forces are loathesome places, and I don't doubt they have been mistreated, and possibly abandoned by the UK government. But I would have been interested to hear more about the organisation they belong to in the Today report.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Holy Warriors Murder Women
Holy Warriors Murder Women
There may be a better way to describe these murderous savages than the Sunday Times’ innocuous word “rebels:” Rebels kill Iraqi women as ‘betrayers’ of Islam.
There may be a better way to describe these murderous savages than the Sunday Times’ innocuous word “rebels:” Rebels kill Iraqi women as ‘betrayers’ of Islam.
One for the ladies...
"It takes one's breath away to watch feminist women at work. At the same time that they denounce traditional stereotypes they conform to them. If at the back of your sexist mind you think that women are emotional, you listen agape as professor Nancy Hopkins of MIT comes out with the threat that she will be sick if she has to hear too much of what she doesn't agree with. If you think women are suggestible, you hear it said that the mere suggestion of an innate inequality in women will keep them from stirring themselves to excel. While denouncing the feminine mystique, feminists behave as if they were devoted to it. They are women who assert their independence but still depend on men to keep women secure and comfortable while admiring their independence. Even in the gender-neutral society, men are expected by feminists to open doors for women. If men do not, they are intimidating women." - Harvey Mansfield, in the Weekly Standard.
Courtesy of Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish
Courtesy of Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish
Frankensteyn
Actually the pun has little to do with the article, though there is a tenuous science connection.
Anyway, I know Steyn has a lot of fans here. I also believe that many contributors are pro-choice when it comes to abortion.
So I thought you'd be interested in Steyn's (inevitable) provocative contribution to the debate.
The Strange Death of the Liberal West
Anyway, I know Steyn has a lot of fans here. I also believe that many contributors are pro-choice when it comes to abortion.
So I thought you'd be interested in Steyn's (inevitable) provocative contribution to the debate.
The Strange Death of the Liberal West
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Little Schumacher
Another way to improve the lot of women in the Middle East?
It's an inspirational story although it does contain the unfortunate choice of phrase "the petite woman racer caused yet another upset by beating off her fellow 12 Proton teammates — all of whom are men"
For more coverage and a picture go here.
It's an inspirational story although it does contain the unfortunate choice of phrase "the petite woman racer caused yet another upset by beating off her fellow 12 Proton teammates — all of whom are men"
For more coverage and a picture go here.
Whatever happened to the WMD?
Very interesting post on Harry's Place about those ol' WMD.
The thrust is there were WMD, but they've gone off somewhere - which somehow justifies the war while condemning the way it was handled.
Anyway, thought it was thought provoking. (Some funny ideas about 'looting' too.)
The thrust is there were WMD, but they've gone off somewhere - which somehow justifies the war while condemning the way it was handled.
Anyway, thought it was thought provoking. (Some funny ideas about 'looting' too.)
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Organic myths
I'm a big fan of 'organic' food - or at least I have been ever since my good lady wife persuaded me that I should be.
Then today I read this in the Telegraph.
"A little pesticide does you good but 'organic' farming harms the world."
And it slightly took the wind out of my sails. Anyone know more about this topic?
Then today I read this in the Telegraph.
"A little pesticide does you good but 'organic' farming harms the world."
And it slightly took the wind out of my sails. Anyone know more about this topic?
Yasmin's 'Dangerous Delusions'
Interesting article in yesterday's Independent by Yasmin Alibhai Brown about the 'ripple' of democracy in the Middle East . No link beause the Indy make you pay for the archive. But here are some choice highlights:
"The 'ripple' claims are both absurd and dangerous. Why not go further back in time to seek cause and effect? Why not give credit for these welcome rumbles of change across the Middle East to the 11 September attacks [...]? If those hadn't happened, then the Taliban wouldn't have fallen..."
This line is quite startling. By this logic Zionists should give thanks for the Holocaust as it undoubtedly hastened the creation of the state of Israel. I think Yasmin fails to see the difference in intention. The intention behind 9/11 was not to democratise the Middle East. Whatever other motives one may impute to Bush & Blair demicratisation WAS and IS very much parted of their stated aims. So that observation seemed a bit silly really (though it did remind me of a discussion with JP about how historical events end up as morally ambivalent as even 'good' things can come out of 'bad' and vice versa. But I don't think that's YAB's point.)
The other bit I wanted to share was this:
"An acquaintance of mine, a Jordanian professor, says in a furious email he wrote after hearing these claims of the virtuous domino effect: '[...T]hey must think Arabs are stupid to believe that their democratic longings will come out of this state terror of the UK and the US and Israel.'"
YAB doesn't give the full context but if the Jordanian prof is writing about the Iraq war then I find something disturbing about the inclusion of Israel in that list (and in YAB's unquestioning acceptance of it.) Perhaps I'm missing the point so am open to being enlightened. And at the risk of seeming churlish those 'democratic longings' of which the prof speaks haven't seen that much manifestation till now...
"The 'ripple' claims are both absurd and dangerous. Why not go further back in time to seek cause and effect? Why not give credit for these welcome rumbles of change across the Middle East to the 11 September attacks [...]? If those hadn't happened, then the Taliban wouldn't have fallen..."
This line is quite startling. By this logic Zionists should give thanks for the Holocaust as it undoubtedly hastened the creation of the state of Israel. I think Yasmin fails to see the difference in intention. The intention behind 9/11 was not to democratise the Middle East. Whatever other motives one may impute to Bush & Blair demicratisation WAS and IS very much parted of their stated aims. So that observation seemed a bit silly really (though it did remind me of a discussion with JP about how historical events end up as morally ambivalent as even 'good' things can come out of 'bad' and vice versa. But I don't think that's YAB's point.)
The other bit I wanted to share was this:
"An acquaintance of mine, a Jordanian professor, says in a furious email he wrote after hearing these claims of the virtuous domino effect: '[...T]hey must think Arabs are stupid to believe that their democratic longings will come out of this state terror of the UK and the US and Israel.'"
YAB doesn't give the full context but if the Jordanian prof is writing about the Iraq war then I find something disturbing about the inclusion of Israel in that list (and in YAB's unquestioning acceptance of it.) Perhaps I'm missing the point so am open to being enlightened. And at the risk of seeming churlish those 'democratic longings' of which the prof speaks haven't seen that much manifestation till now...
Monday, March 14, 2005
A terrifying envoy for the UN to handle: he tells the truth
A terrifying envoy for the UN to handle: he tells the truth
Sunday Times
Andrew Sullivan
Sunday Times
Andrew Sullivan
"There is no such thing as the United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world and that is the United States, when it suits our interest and we can get others to go along."
It’s not race that keeps black boys back
Very interesting, especially on Trevor Philips and the dreaded CRE.
It’s not race that keeps black boys back
Rod Liddle
The Sunday Times
Comment
March 13, 2005
It’s not race that keeps black boys back
Rod Liddle
The Sunday Times
Comment
March 13, 2005
Mum's big crush on Hamza
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005120824,00.html
Mum's big crush on Hamza
Pity you can't see the full article online, but trust me - if this old mama gets her hands into Hamza, he'll need both hooks fully-sharpened to survive. Should be a battle royale!
It actually makes me wonder if we shouldn't use humiliation more in the fight against the Islamists - it had notable success during the Iraq invasion:
http://www.psywarrior.com/OpnIraqiFreedomcont1.html
"...as American armored columns pushed down the road to Baghdad, 400-watt loudspeakers mounted on Humvees would, from time to time, blare out in Arabic that Iraqi men are impotent. The Fedayeen, the fierce but undisciplined and untrained Iraqi irregulars, could not bear to be taunted. Whether they took the bait or saw an opportunity to attack, many Iraqis stormed out of their concealed or dug-in positions, pushing aside their human shields only to be confronted with American tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles."
46 die as suicide bomber targets mosque funeral
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1520070,00.html
March 11, 2005
46 die as suicide bomber targets mosque funeral
From Catherine Philp in Baghdad
COMMENT:
As Pipes points out, the first victims of Islamists are other Muslims. I still find it odd that a suicide bomber (presumably a religious fundamentalist) can bring himself to blow up other Muslims in a mosque, though...
Spanish Muslims issue fatwa on bin Laden
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/11/wspan11.xml
Spanish Muslims issue fatwa on bin Laden
By Isambard Wilkinson in Madrid
Muslims in Spain issued a fatwa against Osama bin Laden yesterday. The ruling by the Islamic Commission of Spain, the main body representing the nation's one million Muslims, came on the eve of the first anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, which were linked to the al-Qa'eda network.
The fatwa said that, in accordance with the Koran, "the terrorist acts of Osama bin Laden and his organisation al-Qa'eda... are totally banned and must be roundly condemned as part of Islam". The fatwa is believed to represent the first major condemnation of bin Laden by a mainstream Muslim organisation.
--------------------------------------
Two comments:
1 Good
2 About f***ing time too. You hear all the time about the 'moderate Muslims', and yet it takes FOUR YEARS for the "the first major condemnation of bin Laden by a mainstream Muslim organisation".
Friday, March 11, 2005
Africa received £220 billion of aid between 1960 and 1997, the equivalent of six Marshall Plans
What a stat...
We need good governors, not aid
By David Blair
[today] Tony Blair's Commission for Africa unveils its report on the world's poorest continent... Its main remedy for the continent's ills is thus a depressing throwback to the 1960s school of aid and development - that Africa should get an extra £13 billion of aid by 2010 and another £13 billion after that.
Bitter experience suggests that even if these huge sums were multiplied tenfold, they would do little good. For Africa received £220 billion of aid between 1960 and 1997, the equivalent of six Marshall Plans, and finished up even poorer than before.
The Black Death wasn't bubonic after all!
My god, this is fascinating stuff!
HIV immunity 'evolved from ancient mutant'
By Nigel Bunyan
Oh, and I can't recommend this book on the subject highly enough - unputdownable & horrifying:
Plague's Progress: A Social History of Man and Disease
Milosevic trial - researching Seb's points made at lunch
Hey Seb,
1 Didn't you say no mass graves had been found?
New mass grave finds in Serbia
Friday, 29 June, 2001
2 Was looking into the Hague trial's extradition illegalities you referred to.
Found these:
Milosevic in the dock
Q&A: Milosevic trial
Your concern is about him being tried for all counts at once, right?
1 Didn't you say no mass graves had been found?
New mass grave finds in Serbia
Friday, 29 June, 2001
2 Was looking into the Hague trial's extradition illegalities you referred to.
Found these:
Milosevic in the dock
Q&A: Milosevic trial
Your concern is about him being tried for all counts at once, right?
RIP Dave Allen
Very sad to see that the comedian Dave Allen has died aged 68.
I was lucky enough to meet him years ago when he was doing a show at the Palladium and he was utterly charming.
Perhaps he couldn't face another red nose day either.
I was lucky enough to meet him years ago when he was doing a show at the Palladium and he was utterly charming.
Perhaps he couldn't face another red nose day either.
Red Nose Day
Today is Red Nose Day. I am not a fan of enforced jollyness and wanted to post a suitably grumpy article by Janet Street Porter but those online swine at the Independent don't allow access to it for free. I was looking for other voices of dissent but all I found was this clown forum.
Anyhoo, I've no beef with the cause (if you want to donate go here) but I do resent the whole country turning into one big rag week.
Anyhoo, I've no beef with the cause (if you want to donate go here) but I do resent the whole country turning into one big rag week.
Upcoming election
A charming lunch with JP and SL yesterday. SL who hails from outside this country observed that it didn't matter who we vote for - we're equally screwed. Curious to know people's thoughts about the upcoming election.
Johann Hari says it's a real choice.
JP has vowed to stop voting for single issue pressure group type parties. I'm in one of the safest labour seats in the country and an somewhat typically undecided about my intentions. The idealist in me likes the Lib Dems. The pragmatist in me likes Labour. And the burgeoning misanthropist in me likes the Conservatives.
As a reference here are links to the main parties:
Labour
Conservative
Lib Dem
Johann Hari says it's a real choice.
JP has vowed to stop voting for single issue pressure group type parties. I'm in one of the safest labour seats in the country and an somewhat typically undecided about my intentions. The idealist in me likes the Lib Dems. The pragmatist in me likes Labour. And the burgeoning misanthropist in me likes the Conservatives.
As a reference here are links to the main parties:
Labour
Conservative
Lib Dem
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Tokyo air raid
Got an interesting one from JP re: Tokyo air raids.
Worth looking at - particularly in the light of recent Dresden commemorations.
Anyway, here's good 'ol JP:
"It always amazes me that it isn't brought up more often, given how often Hiroshima and Nagasaki make the headlines. I think the Tokyo bombing killed more* than either of them, and many other Japanese cities** (made of wood and paper) were incinerated in firebomb raids - surely relevant facts to a discussion of the moral dimension of the Atom bombings.
JP
*maybe not if you include longer-term fallout victims.
**Actually the people of Hiroshima thought they were receiving divine protection, as the mass raids never touched them, and on the day the A-bomb fell they looked up, saw just a single plane, and were relieved they were going to be spared again."
Worth looking at - particularly in the light of recent Dresden commemorations.
Anyway, here's good 'ol JP:
"It always amazes me that it isn't brought up more often, given how often Hiroshima and Nagasaki make the headlines. I think the Tokyo bombing killed more* than either of them, and many other Japanese cities** (made of wood and paper) were incinerated in firebomb raids - surely relevant facts to a discussion of the moral dimension of the Atom bombings.
JP
*maybe not if you include longer-term fallout victims.
**Actually the people of Hiroshima thought they were receiving divine protection, as the mass raids never touched them, and on the day the A-bomb fell they looked up, saw just a single plane, and were relieved they were going to be spared again."
JP says 'It's PC gone mad!'
Playground insults banned
By Ben Leapman Home Affairs Correspondent, Evening Standard
8 March 2005
JP bangs in his fist and yells: '"Pro"? What the hell kind of insult is that?'
For my own part, I don't think kids yelling 'slag' and 'slut' at each other is particularly healthy (the film Mean Girls expresses this nicely and is good frothy fun too by the way). Oh and JP - 'pro' would be short for 'prostitute'.
Seb responds to the Sun story
Re Hamza. Perhaps his cellmate was taking the cleric's advice on how to treat one's 'wife'
JP's original post.
JP's original post.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
JP's bedtime reading
Back in the office - 15 million emails from JP with links to various neocons (and a few from SD who I hope will contribute soon.)
JP is currently wary of blogging as he feels some nefarious web space provider will interfere with his archive. Looks like he won't come on board till he finds a blogspot exit strategy.
In the meantime, here's a small selection from the googleplex of links I received when I checked my email. Some of these articles are undoubtedly quite interesting.
Anyway JP writes:
"Just as the Independent starts asking if Bush was right, a timely note of caution from the prescient Pipes:" (Pipes is big JP fave - I'll probably put up a permanent link to his site soon.)
A Neo-Conservative's Caution
by Daniel Pipes New York Sun March 8, 2005
[NYS title: "Good News Could End In Mideast"]
Blood for Oil?No Oil Money for Bloody Terrorists
by Victor Davis HansonTribune News Services March 8, 2005
Oil is pumped out of the ground in the Middle East at costs of between $5 and $8 a barrel. Through the power of a cartel, it is then sold to the world for $50.
(Strikes me as one of those stats that everyone ought to know, and few do.... JP)
And here's one from SD (who I hope will join us soon):
Islamism - fascism - terrorism
Asia Times Online is worth checking every so often for a chap called Spengler, who's good value, especially as it's free.
And finally (from me) in the interest of balance - here's a link to Johann Hari's thoughts on freedom.
JP is currently wary of blogging as he feels some nefarious web space provider will interfere with his archive. Looks like he won't come on board till he finds a blogspot exit strategy.
In the meantime, here's a small selection from the googleplex of links I received when I checked my email. Some of these articles are undoubtedly quite interesting.
Anyway JP writes:
"Just as the Independent starts asking if Bush was right, a timely note of caution from the prescient Pipes:" (Pipes is big JP fave - I'll probably put up a permanent link to his site soon.)
A Neo-Conservative's Caution
by Daniel Pipes New York Sun March 8, 2005
[NYS title: "Good News Could End In Mideast"]
Blood for Oil?No Oil Money for Bloody Terrorists
by Victor Davis HansonTribune News Services March 8, 2005
Oil is pumped out of the ground in the Middle East at costs of between $5 and $8 a barrel. Through the power of a cartel, it is then sold to the world for $50.
(Strikes me as one of those stats that everyone ought to know, and few do.... JP)
And here's one from SD (who I hope will join us soon):
Islamism - fascism - terrorism
Asia Times Online is worth checking every so often for a chap called Spengler, who's good value, especially as it's free.
And finally (from me) in the interest of balance - here's a link to Johann Hari's thoughts on freedom.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
JP says 'The Sun has gone too far'
My esteemed colleague JP is still sceptical about this whole blog thing. Perhaps we can persuade him to start posting. But in the meantime here are his thoughts on The Sun and Abu Hamza:
JP says:
"Hamza is a disgusting and dangerous individual, The Sun (!) has actually done some good work in highlighting his excesses, and I sometimes find myself in the "hanging's too good for them" school for these types - but even so, I find The Sun's 'congratulations' message below distasteful and wrong. Perhaps I'm getting inconsistent / bleeding-hearted in my old age?"
The Sun's Story:
Was it a right hook?
By Neil Syson
HOOK-HANDED Abu Hamza has been viciously attacked by a fellow jail inmate, it emerged last night. The fanatical Muslim cleric, 47, was thumped inside London’s top-security Belmarsh prison, a jail source said.
DID you whack Hook? If so call The Sun on 020 7782 4105. And by the way,
WELL DONE!
Alternative coverage of same story here:
Hamza 'beaten in jail'
JP is showing an uncharacteristically liberal side here. Let's hope he will join this blog himself soon.
Update - you can now read a response from Seb here.
JP says:
"Hamza is a disgusting and dangerous individual, The Sun (!) has actually done some good work in highlighting his excesses, and I sometimes find myself in the "hanging's too good for them" school for these types - but even so, I find The Sun's 'congratulations' message below distasteful and wrong. Perhaps I'm getting inconsistent / bleeding-hearted in my old age?"
The Sun's Story:
Was it a right hook?
By Neil Syson
HOOK-HANDED Abu Hamza has been viciously attacked by a fellow jail inmate, it emerged last night. The fanatical Muslim cleric, 47, was thumped inside London’s top-security Belmarsh prison, a jail source said.
DID you whack Hook? If so call The Sun on 020 7782 4105. And by the way,
WELL DONE!
Alternative coverage of same story here:
Hamza 'beaten in jail'
JP is showing an uncharacteristically liberal side here. Let's hope he will join this blog himself soon.
Update - you can now read a response from Seb here.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Some more opinions on the Begum case
As is often the case I found some of the most interesting comments in the Letters pages of newspapers. The following are from the Independent. There are four here, including one that is supportive of Begum. You can then read a follow up to the supportive letter here as well as the comments of the rather brilliantly named Marilyn Mason of the British Humanist Association.
And more good stuff from Harry's Place if you're interested in the legal ruling itself.
And more good stuff from Harry's Place if you're interested in the legal ruling itself.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Secularism
JP and I have been get fairly exercised about the Shebina Begum case. You can read about it here.
Anyway, while researching this topic I found an excellent post at Harry's Place about faith schools which I recommend.
This in turn lead me to the National Secular Society who I think are most definitely worth a visit.
Anyway, while researching this topic I found an excellent post at Harry's Place about faith schools which I recommend.
This in turn lead me to the National Secular Society who I think are most definitely worth a visit.
Welcome to Important Decisions
A pollster approaches a house. The door is opened by a woman with two toddlers at her feet and a baby in her arms.
Pollster: Excuse me madam we're doing a survey about who makes the decisions in different households. In your house, is it you or your husband who makes the decisions?
Woman: Well, I make all the small decisions and my husband makes the important decisions?
Pollster: I see. Can you give me an example of some of the 'small' decisions that you make?
Woman: Stuff like where the kids will go to school, who our doctor will be, and what we eat.
Pollster: And your husband?
Woman: Stuff like... should we join the Euro and should we invade Iraq.
I am indebted to JP for this joke which pretty much sums up what this blog is about. It's also an attempt to turn a bunch of emails into something more accessible. We'll see how it goes.
Anyway, welcome.
Pollster: Excuse me madam we're doing a survey about who makes the decisions in different households. In your house, is it you or your husband who makes the decisions?
Woman: Well, I make all the small decisions and my husband makes the important decisions?
Pollster: I see. Can you give me an example of some of the 'small' decisions that you make?
Woman: Stuff like where the kids will go to school, who our doctor will be, and what we eat.
Pollster: And your husband?
Woman: Stuff like... should we join the Euro and should we invade Iraq.
I am indebted to JP for this joke which pretty much sums up what this blog is about. It's also an attempt to turn a bunch of emails into something more accessible. We'll see how it goes.
Anyway, welcome.
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