Religious arbitration in the UK
BBC 'Magazine' feature: An end to one law for all? A very interesting (and, I'm sure, controversial) feature on the largely little-known system of arbitration in the UK. The best-known example is the Jewish...
Author: Matthew Smith
Prostitutes and druggies welcome – but no veils please
Intolerance in Europe – washingtonpost.com An editorial from today's WaPo which highlights the hypocrisy of Europe's increasing intolerance towards its Muslim minority: Sometimes the bigots portray their crude attacks on Muslim beliefs and culture...
Rats out, roaches in as Nazis try to butter up Jews
There is a letter in the current edition of the Jewish Chronicle, the "establishment" paper of the British Jewish community, from Alan Goodacre defending the British National Party from this article by Melanie Phillips...
Time for a new way of funding religious societies
With the controversy over Nadia Eweida's cross having now led to British Airways reviewing their policy on staff uniforms and religious jewellery, a related controversy, over funding of student religious societies, continues to make...
Mormons, Muslims and abusive polygamy
The Guardian yesterday carried a major feature on the fundamentalist Mormon polygamists who dominate two small towns in the Utah/Arizona border area: Husband and Wives gives the whole historical background, the details of the...
The Indie frees its comments pages
Via Harry's Place, it appears that the Independent has abandoned its policy of charging people to read its comments pages online. Personally I wonder if this was because most of the columnists worth reading...
Naima Bouteldja: Muslims and European authoritarianism
Naima Bouteldja, in today's Guardian, discusses the impending Dutch niqab ban and the pattern of governments stoking anti-Muslim hostility for political ends: Naima Azough, a Dutch Green MP, points out that the ban would...
Have the jobsworths struck again?
Today a Coptic Christian woman, Nadia Eweida, lost her appeal against a decision by British Airways staff not to allow her back into a public-facing role while wearing her cross pendant. Today the Archbishop...
419 scams “still a huge problem”
A study by Chatham House reveals that the Nigerian "419 scam", in which people are scammed out of "advance fees" when they respond to letters asking for help getting the scammers' wealth out of...
Announcement: rally tomorrow in London
Via Islamophobia Watch, a rally to "defend freedom of religion, conscience and thought" and "end attacks on Muslims" is to be held tomorrow (Monday 20th) at Methodist Central Hall (in Westminster, across the road...
Neurocentric: Denial / Defamation
Neurocentric: Denial / Defamation In which the author refutes the common claim that the Muslims are silent in the face of Muslim extremism: the real culprits (this is my observation also) are the authorities,...
British passport codes – cracked!
Cracked it! Guardian Unlimited Steve Boggan explains how he and "a friendly computer expert" managed to crack the security codes on the new British biometric passport (the one which provided an excuse to hike...
Craig Murray sees himself in BBC drama
That's Me on Screen! (free registration required) Craig Murray (former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, who resigned after exposing the human rights abuses carried out by "Islam Karimov" and then stood against Jack Straw) on...
Mad Mel repeats blood libel
Apparently unaware of the irony of perpetuating a racial libel when she routinely refers to attacks on Israeli military practices as "blood libels", Melanie Phillips reproduces this appalling smear against the British from one...
BBC London and its “sudden death” swearing policy
Last night I was listening to the late-night show on BBC London hosted by Jumoké Fashola who was talking about "modern icons" in response to a feature on so-called cultural icons on the BBC...
Pros and cons of compulsory schooling
Pros and Cons of Compulsory Schooling This is from the Society supplement in today's Guardian, in which a former headteacher discusses the case of "Charlie", "a determined 15-year-old truant" who has been working, illegally...
British to “wage propaganda war” against al-Qa’ida
Independent Online Edition > UK Politics The Independent today reports on the planned propaganda campaign to spell out British values to young Muslims in some sort of effort to lure them away from extremism,...
Racist rabble-rousers let off
The BBC reports that the leader of the British Nazi Party, Nick "well-directed boots and fists" Griffin, and one of his lieutenants, Mark Collett, have been cleared of inciting racial hatred at their retrial...
Widespread corruption in US election
The Guardian reports on the widespread corruption and "technical problems" which are alleged to have affected the recent American congressional elections: The former first daughter Chelsea Clinton ran into polling trouble. Senator Clinton told...
Provincial Tories reject Asian City worker
The local Conservative party in Witham, Essex have rejected an Asian candidate, City chartered accountant Ali Miraj, dealing a blow to David Cameron's policy of getting more ethnic minority candidates selected for winnable Commons...