Beslan and the servile Russian media
A report from today’s Guardian, on how the Russian media, much of it owned by establishment figures who are trying to curry favour with Putin’s gang. The author of this report was the victim...
Indigo Jo Blogs Blog
Dennis Prager on shooting children
I don’t know how many of my readers regularly read Townhall.com, a site by the Heritage Foundation which contains an archive of articles by various right-wing columnists. Dennis Prager is one of them. The...
Tories scrapping tuition fees … but there’s a catch
The BBC just reported that the Tories have announced a policy to scrap university tuition fees when (or if!) they next get to power – and they intend to replace it with loans on...
About Robert Spencer
I’ve just been looking for info on Robert Spencer, the dishonest bigot behind the “Jihad Watch” blog, and found this post on the “Democratic Underground” forum: The threat of Robert Spencer and the danger...
eWeek: Linux Doesn’t Make Sense for Desktops
An article on the eWeek website opines that Linux isn’t viable for the desktop – anyone who wants to get away from Windows to a decent desktop should get a Mac, says David Coursey....
Review of What’s the Matter With America?
I’m not one for reading books cover to cover; I hardly ever read novels, most of my reading matter is nowadays computer related (and most of my bookshelves are dominated by religious and travel...
High death toll after Beslan siege
The BBC reports that at least 200 people have died at the school in Russia which was occupied by suspected Chechen separatists earlier this week. This is, of course, the second time the Russian...
Further to “The Two Sides of Yusuf Qaradawi”
Note to Al-Muhajabah: the new trackback is because of the new blog. Al-Muhajabah, in her blog “veiled4allah” links to an article by anti-Bush blogger Juan Cole attacking Yusuf al-Qaradawi for endorsing attacks on Americans,...
Abortion sob story in “Mother Jones”
The September/October 2004 edition of Mother Jones has hit the shelves of Borders here in the UK (I don’t know how many other outlets stock it), and on page 50 there’s a story by...
Of Africa, ex-colonials and ex-slaves …
George Monbiot has an article in today’s Guardian (link is now to his site) about why there might be suspicion about the British government’s recent moves to get involved in the Darfur situation –...
I’m going off tech blogs
The last year or so, my web surfing habits have changed somewhat. Before, the first place I went, usually, on starting up my computer was to head over to the Yahoo groups I subscribe...
Bullying is in the news again
The British charity Childline, which runs a helpline for children in need, has reported a 42% increase in bullying-related calls this year over last. An increasing number are from children 11 years old or...
Microsoft warned over anti-Linux ads
Microsoft, an American company which makes an office package for the Mac and also a useless “operating” system for the PC, has been reprimanded for the British Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) for a misleading...
Here are some real terrorists
When people in Britain these days think of terrorism, they usually mean so-called Islamic terrorism, specifically al-Qa’ida, or Palestinians attacking Israelis. In this country, a real terrorist campaign has been going on, in which...
Hey, is this a good idea?
There’s a report on the BBC news site that an “online school” is being set up in a small village in Wales, which will be a full school, with real lessons from real teachers...
Othman the Italian resurfaces
A few years ago a book was published called Ian Dallas: The Shaykh Who Has No Clothes, which purported to expose the leader of the Murabitun movement as a fraud. The author set up...
New “Ecologist” magazine out
The latest edition of The Ecologist (no prizes for guessing what it’s about) has recently come out. It’s a special feature on supermarkets: How they drive local business out of business How other local...
What’s all this about “middle-lane hoggers”?
The BBC reports that “up to a third of motorway capacity is being wasted by drivers’ poor lane discipline, according to research by the RAC Foundation” (the RAC is the Royal Automobile Club, a...
Polly Toynbee and the “Islamophobia awards”
Polly Toynbee, an anti-religious liberal who writes regularly in the Guardian, mentioned today that she had been labelled the “Most Islamophobic Media Personality” of 2004 by the Islamic Human Rights Commission. I had not...
Women and children targeted for immigration service abuse
There is a real blood-boiler in today’s Guardian, Women and Children First by Natasha Walter, in which she explains how the immigration services seem to be targeting women and children for deportation and abuse....