Category Archives: politics

Britons Abroad

Cross-posted on The Corner Via The Daily Telegraph: An influential British-based preacher is leading an armed gang of more than a hundred Islamist fighters in Syria, it can be disclosed. In a video posted on the internet in the last … Continue reading

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Or Maybe The Line Crumbles

Writing in The Washington Post, Jonathan Turley notes the West’s retreat from freedom of expression. The whole article is well worth reading, but here’s a key extract: [Blasphemy law is] the oldest threat to free speech, but it has experienced … Continue reading

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The Line Still Holds (Just)

Cross-posted on the Corner: The Daily Telegraph reports: A key proposal by Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party to outlaw blasphemy in the new constitution, stoking fears of creeping Islamisation, is to be dropped from the final text. The agreement to drop … Continue reading

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The diversity of conservatism

The American Conservative has an interesting piece up on the redoubtable John Randolph, Who Was John Randolph?. This part spoke to me: The danger of Buckley’s effort to construct a tradition is that it slowly became a template. Anyone who … Continue reading

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Turkey & the EU

Cross-posted on the Corner Andrew McCarthy has a piece on possible Turkish membership of the EU up on the home page, very well worth reading in many respects, but not least for this observation: In Turkey, the administrators of the … Continue reading

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For Misery in Massachusetts

Cardinal O’Malley (The National Catholic Register reports): Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston is leading a statewide fight to defeat the Death With Dignity Act, a November 2012 ballot measure that would legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts. He has outlined the … Continue reading

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Erdogan, Again

Cross-posted on the Corner: Turkey’s thuggish (“mildly Islamist”, if you are The Economist) prime minister Erdogan is doing his bit to restrict free speech. The Seattle Times reports: Prompted by the anti-Muslim video produced in California that has stirred deadly … Continue reading

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Untold Story

Cross-posted on the Corner: Today of all days, it is disheartening to read this: A screening of a controversial documentary on the history of Islam has been cancelled on security advice after its presenter was threatened. Historian Tom Holland’s Channel … Continue reading

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A Question of Timing

Via Opposing Views: The ‘Woman’s Health and Safety Act’ signed into law by Arizona Governor Jen Brewer in April goes into effect this month. The law calculates a woman’s pregnancy as starting the very first day of the last menstrual … Continue reading

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Same Script, Different Stage (Ctd.)

Cross-posted on the Corner: Bamiyan, Timbuktu, and now Tripoli. Al-Jazeera reports: Attackers in Libya have bulldozed a mosque containing Sufi Muslim graves in the centre of Tripoli, a day after Sufi shrines in the city of Zlitan were wrecked and … Continue reading

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