The Wing and the Wheel
Last week, Apple launched its long-awaited tablet computer, which was something of a surprise to me as I had read that Steve Jobs had earlier given an explanation, at length, as to why he...
Indigo Jo Blogs Blog
The differences between the Inglis and Gilderdale murder cases
Earlier this week, a mother named Kay Gilderdale was acquitted of the attempted murder of her daughter Lynn in December 2008. Lynn Gilderdale had been bed-bound since the age of 14 with severe ME...
Juan Cole: Bin Laden tape irrelevant
Informed Comment: The Irrelevance of Bin Ladin Juan Cole on why the latest Bin Laden tape is most probably faked, as its contents are not in keeping with his past style and wasn’t picked...
Opposition to the war wasn’t just about anti-Americanism
There is a letter in the Observer today in response to an article from last week’s paper from Nick Cohen, who said that the Chilcot inquiry won’t declare Blair a war criminal and disputed...
On Mercy
Yesterday a man who attacked someone who had burgled his house and terrorised his family had his sentence cut and suspended (having had his conviction overturned) and released. Also yesterday, a woman who had...
Taj Hargey launches fresh anti-Islam stunt
Taj Hargey is no stranger to long-time readers of this site: he is notorious for his anti-Shari'ah publicity stunts and for being able and willing to come out and attack Muslims in the press,...
Thunderbird and Android updates
Thunderbird 3 has been out for a few weeks now, although I’d been using it on Linux since well back in the beta days. It was actually the standard version of the software on...
Muslim women driving, and contrasts on niqab
I didn’t watch the Muslim Driving School programme, which was on BBC2 last Tuesday (at the right time to clash with Defamation, which I reviewed in my last entry), but I finally got round...
Defamation: perception and reality of anti-Semitism
Defamation, a documentary researched and presented by the Israeli journalist Yoav Shamir, was part of More4’s True Stories slot and was on Tuesday night. The idea that anti-Semitism was somewhat overhyped and used to...
Andy versus Maajid
I just watched the online copy of last night’s “discussion” between Anjum “Andy” Choudhary of al-Muhajiroun (which will no doubt have a new name by the end of this week, as the government has...
Regarding abusive comments
I’d just like to send out a warning to certain people that the rules on abusive comments apply to everyone. I’ve been refusing quite a few comments recently because they contain insults to other...
Rod Liddle and the Independent
Recently some of my Facebook friends joined a group called something like “I won’t buy the Independent again if Rod Liddle becomes editor”, and I thought briefly of joining. But I haven’t. The simple...
She ain’t heavy …
Yesterday William Peace AKA Bad Cripple commented on a recent case in Canada in which a French family were denied permanent residency because they have a daughter who has cerebral palsy (and, according to...
Muslims versus Anjum Choudhary
Recently the “Muslim extremist” organisation currently trading as Islam4UK — really al-Muhajiroun — announced that they were planning a march through Wootton Bassett, the town just outside Swindon through which the motorcades bring the...
Kingston and snow
I’m stopping to type this on my phone in the middle of a long trudge through the snow and ice on the back streets between Kingston and New Malden. I’m using the back streets...
Terrorism and privacy
So, once again a terrorist associated with al-Qa’ida has nearly taken out an aeroplane, and governments are scrabbling around trying to find ways to prevent that exact type of attack from ever happening again....
Facebook ‘fakery’ and vaccine scares
The noughties are defined by fakery | Hadley Freeman | Comment is free | The Guardian Hadley Freeman, normally a fashion columnist for the Guardian and someone I normally agree with fairly readily, opines...
More scaremongering over ISOCs and al-Qa’ida
Following the nonsense in the Daily Mail from Melanie Phillips (last entry) on Monday, there is a front-page story in the Times this morning claiming that the guy who tried to bomb the plane...
Mad Mel: ban Shari’ah to stop terrorism
MELANIE PHILLIPS: To our eternal shame, Britain is STILL a hub for Islamic terror | Mail Online Melanie Phillips, in response to the attempted aeroplane bombing on Christmas day, writes another of her rants...
Anwar al-Awlaki: trauma and extremism
Recently we heard that the Yemeni-American Muslim preacher, Anwar al-Awlaki, may have died in air strikes in Yemen, although other reports said he was miles away from where the strikes happened and was safe....