August 27, 2007

Foreign Policy, Texas Style

The European Union don't like much about Texas, and something in my DNA suggests the feeling is mutual. Latest evidence: EU wringing its soft perfumed hands over Texas' use of the death penalty. Quothe the BBC:

The EU expressed "great regret" at Texas' preparations to carry out its 400th death penalty and renewed its call to the US to halt executions. . . . But Robert Black, a spokesman for the Texas governor, told the BBC News website: "Two hundred and thirty years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination.

"Texans long ago decided the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens.

"While we respect our friends in Europe ... Texans are doing just fine governing Texas."

The Texas government should try to repackage its approach to the death penalty. Why not call it an expression of some random judicial impulse, perhaps "sharia," and then dare the EU to denounce its very own prospective legal system, which has a rich heritage of death penalty?

Van | 08/27/07 at 06:40 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

April 12, 2007

O! For a British Al Sharpton

It's A Good Thing Tony Blair Doesn't Work at NBC .

Because they would be firing him just about now:

Tony Blair yesterday claimed the spate of knife and gun murders in London was not being caused by poverty, but a distinctive black culture. His remarks angered community leaders, who accused him of ignorance and failing to provide support for black-led efforts to tackle the problem...

Black community leaders reacted after Mr Blair said the recent violence should not be treated as part of a general crime wave, but as specific to black youth. He said people had to drop their political correctness and recognise that the violence would not be stopped "by pretending it is not young black kids doing it".

At least in America, this is the kind of statement which generally only receives approbation when uttered by an extremely successful member of the black community. In our case, someone such as Bill Cosby whose speeches are controversial, but are accepted.

I wonder if Tony Blair is unaware of this rule? Or if he decided to crash the gates of political correctness because he felt that the stakes were important enough finally to act. Not that that will do him any good, I imagine.

Continue reading "O! For a British Al Sharpton"

Alcibiades | 04/12/07 at 10:39 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

March 27, 2007

Push the Button gets the nod

Some good news: "Push the Button" has been allowed into the Eurovision contest, after some controversy over the lyrics. So that's a good excuse to post the video again. (More Teapacks videos here.)

UPDATE: Ra'anana Ramblings waxes nostalgic about Eurovision contests of yore. Complete with video.

Judith | 03/27/07 at 09:04 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

March 26, 2007

The Madness of King George III

For those with an interest in history, there's been some interesting new research on the Madness of King George III.

As has been long suspected, King George III was suffering from porphyria. The new information is that his case was made more severe because he was treated with arsenic, which heightened the effects of his illnesss.

Alcibiades | 03/26/07 at 12:10 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

March 15, 2007

Erasing History, One Objection at a Time

Does objecting to history because it hurts your feelings make it go away?

The University of Leeds was accused of infringing free speech last night when it cancelled a lecture on “Islamic anti-Semitism” by a German academic.

Matthias Köntzel arrived at the university yesterday morning to begin a three-day programme of lectures and seminars, but was told that it had been called off on “security grounds”.

For security grounds, read "insecurity grounds." Namely, the fact that some Muslims can't deal with the free discussion of history. And some academics in the west seem eager to pander to their every insecurity.

Continue reading "Erasing History, One Objection at a Time"

Alcibiades | 03/15/07 at 01:03 AM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

February 26, 2007

Aussies, Brits and Frenchmen Who Love America!

Amidst all the media doom and gloom and the vitriolic commentary coming from the America-hating left, it's easy to forget that our nation is still a beacon of light to much of the world. With that in mind, a few examples of people from other nations showing such appreciation may be in order.

Via AFP (linked at Drudge) came this great photo from down under. It shows Australians expressing their appreciation not only for Vice-President Dick Cheney (in Sydney to meet with Prime Minister John Howard, who many of us Americans absolutely adore in return), but for America. As someone with a fair amount of Australian relatives, I just have to say, good on ya, mates!

Continue reading "Aussies, Brits and Frenchmen Who Love America!"

Cinnamon | 02/26/07 at 04:48 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

January 22, 2007

Nick Cohen on the Anti War Left

Nick Cohen, raised a principled liberal, where even the decision of what fruits and vegetables to buy was a moral decision, from his own account, did not knowingly come into contact with a Conservative until he was 13.

I still remember the sense of dislocation I felt at 13 when my English teacher told me he voted Conservative. As his announcement coincided with the shock of puberty, I was unlikely to forget it. I must have understood at some level that real Conservatives lived in Britain - there was a Conservative government at the time, so logic dictated that there had to be Conservative voters. But it was incredible to learn that my teacher was one of them, when he gave every appearance of being a thoughtful and kind man. To be good you had to be on the left.

And of course a lot of liberals are to this day raised with these kinds of assumptions - assumptions that act as blinders. How do you reconcile the dogma with which you are raised and that colors your worldview - that all good people are, by definition, liberals - with facts on the ground that challenge that assumption.

He tells us this for a few reasons. On the simple level, in the narrative of his changing political stance, this was his innocent starting place. It also gives him "liberal creds." Without them, he would be all too easy to swipe away. He'll still be easy to discount from the conversation, as an apostate who lost his faith, but recounting his narrative might lead to some dislocation among other individuals and strengthen them in their sense of jarring disjunction, as reality and political orthodoxy diverge from each other.

Moreover, Cohen's adolescent sense of dislocation appears to mirror, indeed even foreshadow, the much greater sense of dislocation from the left that he experienced since 9/11 and, particularly, since the discourse about the Iraq War began to burgeon in 2002-2003 and on. So that, they found themselves even unable to oppose Abu Musab Al Zarqawi:

Continue reading "Nick Cohen on the Anti War Left"

Alcibiades | 01/22/07 at 11:22 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

January 17, 2007

Martin Amis on the Most Depressing Thing in Britain

In a Q&A at the Independent, with questions sent in from online readers Martin Amis was asked:

What is the most depressing thing about Britain you have observed since your return? And the best? GRANT MULLIN, Surrey

The most depressing thing was the sight of middle-class white demonstrators, last August, waddling around under placards saying, We Are All Hizbollah Now. Well, make the most of being Hizbollah while you can. As its leader, Hasan Nasrallah, famously advised the West: "We don't want anything from you. We just want to eliminate you." Similarly, when I went on Question Time the other week, a woman in the audience, her voice quavering with self-righteousness, presented the following argument: since it was America that supported Osama bin Laden when he was fighting the Russians, the US armed forces, in response to September 11, "should be dropping bombs on themselves!" And the audience applauded. It is quite an achievement. People of liberal sympathies, stupefied by relativism, have become the apologists for a creedal wave that is racist, misogynist, homophobic, imperialist, and genocidal. To put it another way, they are up the arse of those that want them dead.

[Hat tip: Stephen Pollard]

Alcibiades | 01/17/07 at 12:20 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

January 07, 2007

Life in the Kuffrocacy Otherwise Known as Britain

Who is a modern Cassandra now?

Irony of ironies, could it be the Observer?

An undercover investigation has revealed disturbing evidence of Islamic extremism at a number of Britain's leading mosques and Muslim institutions, including an organisation praised by the Prime Minister.

Secret video footage reveals Muslim preachers exhorting followers to prepare for jihad, to hit girls for not wearing the hijab, and to create a 'state within a state'. Many of the preachers are linked to the Wahhabi strain of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia, which funds a number of Britain's leading Islamic institutions...

The 12-month investigation ... recorded a deputy headmaster of an Islamic high school in Birmingham telling a conference at the Sparkbrook mosque that he disagrees with using the word democracy. 'They should call it ... kuffrocracy, that's their plan. It's the hidden cancerous aim of these people.'

Continue reading "Life in the Kuffrocacy Otherwise Known as Britain"

Alcibiades | 01/07/07 at 12:16 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

January 02, 2007

515 years ago today Muslim rule ended in Spain

Lisa Ramaci-Vincent emails me a quote from some history book, about the anniversary of the end of an era:

Continue reading "515 years ago today Muslim rule ended in Spain"

Judith | 01/02/07 at 05:25 PM | 9 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

December 20, 2006

The BBC Modernizes

Some good news from the BBC for those who are fans of its tv programming.

The BBC has entered into a deal to make available 100s of its television episodes with the bittorrent client Azureus on its Zudeo program, which offers high definition videos.

This will include current programs and some classics.

Alcibiades | 12/20/06 at 11:22 AM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

December 17, 2006

Britains Are Nazis, Too

Not just the Jews Israel, but Britain too, has become Nazi-like.

A senior Muslim invoked Hitler's 1930s Nazi regime while attacking the [British] Government over its treatment of British Muslims.

In a presentation to MPs, Mr Bari went so far as to ask: "What is the degree of xenophobia that tipped Germany in the 1930s towards a murderous ethnic and cultural racism?" ...

Mr Bari, the head of the Muslim Council of Britain, criticised the Government for "unfairly targeting" Muslims, and said that it was undermining their status as "equal citizens".

"In recent months there has been a veritable drip-feed of ministerial statements stigmatising an entire community. We have seen ministers' tours and even legislation being proposed on the premise that 'mosques are a problem'.

"We have been told to accept that greater numbers of Muslims will be stopped and searched and also to 'inform on our children'. You will understand our worry about where all this is leading. Some Muslims have even sought the MCB's advice on whether they should change their names in order to avoid remarks.

Mr Bari also rejected Tony Blair's call for Muslims to do more to fight terrorism. He put the responsibility squarely at the door of the Government...

Mr Bari later said: "Politicians have failed to consider underlying causes of Muslim disaffection and have reacted hastily by over-legislating.

Uh huh. If you only were understanding about why these poor folks - poor in a metaphorical sense, because the majority of suicide bombers are comfortably middle class - became suicide bombers to begin with than you would be more understanding and would not create laws to prosecute them to thereby protect society.

And in an irony - after invoking the "Nazi-horror" to explain the horror of Britain's current existential state vis-a-vis its Muslim minority, Mr. Bari called for the continued boycotting by the Muslim Council of Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain.

Continue reading "Britains Are Nazis, Too"

Alcibiades | 12/17/06 at 11:18 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

November 26, 2006

Another Celebrity Divorce?

Scotland has wanted to regain its independence from England for a while, and now it looks like England is beginning to return the favor.

The United Kingdom should be broken up and Scotland and England set free as independent nations, according to a huge number of voters on both sides of the border.

A clear majority of people in both England and Scotland are in favour of full independence for Scotland, an ICM opinion poll for The Sunday Telegraph has found. Independence is backed by 52 per cent of Scots while an astonishing 59 per cent of English voters want Scotland to go it alone.

There is also further evidence of rising English nationalism with support for the establishment of an English parliament hitting an historic high of 68 per cent amongst English voters. Almost half – 48 per cent – also want complete independence for England, divorcing itself from Wales and Northern Ireland as well. Scottish voters also back an English breakaway with 58 per cent supporting an English parliament with similar powers to the Scottish one.

In related news, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted the collapse of Britain, attacking what he called their ``oppressive behavior.''

Hey, do you think he's been reading British polls?

Alcibiades | 11/26/06 at 02:12 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

October 24, 2006

2nd Al Durah Trial Starts Today

Neo Neocon is in Paris to cover the second Al Durah Trial with an explanation of who France2 is suing for libel. And why it is bound to strike Americans, used to freedom of speech, as absurdist right off the bat.

And Richard Landes has a fascinating follow up analysis of the legal dynamics of the first trial.

[The verdict] shows a minimal grasp of what the evidence before them implies, and an extraordinary capacity to ignore inconvenient evidence. The judges work like journalists, bad journalists...

The tragedy here is that justice becomes the handmaiden of social order defined in terms of the “honor” of the elite. When faced with the classic dilemma of the Dreyfus affair, and here the Muhammad al Durah affair — honor or honesty — those in favor of “social order” choose honor.

Pretty much as I thought. France2 is too much of a state aligned company for France - in the person of the judge - to damage it, which would mean to damage herself, her own honor.

Continue reading "2nd Al Durah Trial Starts Today"

Alcibiades | 10/24/06 at 09:10 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

October 19, 2006

Eminent British Military Historian

John Keegan reminds us why Iraq is nothing like Vietnam, militarily speaking, and why the present situation is nothing like the Tet offensive. He thinks the President was unwise to be drawn into admitting that some people would see a comparison, since the media are going to play up this message and it was also the media that insisted that the Vietnam war was lost by nightly pummeling home that message, despite the facts.

By January 1968, total American casualties in Vietnam — killed, wounded and missing — had reached 80,000 and climbing. Eventually deaths in combat and from other causes would exceed 50,000, of which 36,000 were killed in action. Casualties in Iraq are nowhere near those figures. In a bad week in Vietnam, the US could suffer 2,000 casualties. Since 2003, American forces in Iraq have never suffered as many as 500 casualties a month. The number of casualties inflicted in Iraq are not established, but are under 50,000. In any year of the Vietnam war, the communist party of North Vietnam sent 200,000 young men to the battlefields in the south, most of whom did not return. Vietnam was one of the largest and costliest wars in history. The insurgency in Iraq resembles one of the colonial disturbances of imperial history....

Continue reading "Eminent British Military Historian"

Alcibiades | 10/19/06 at 10:44 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

October 16, 2006

BBC - The News Suppression Corporation

Not only is the BBC biased against Israel, which one can observe simply by watching it. But now it turns out, the BBC is going to court, using public funds supplied to them by the execrable license act (of which . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/16/06 at 11:14 AM | 5 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

October 12, 2006

The Labour Party Starts To Get A Clue!

This policy represents a major change in Britain! The Government there is finally getting a clue on dealing equitably and rationally with parts of its Muslim population - they are not going to support and pay lip service to the . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/12/06 at 10:24 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

October 11, 2006

What's the matter with Holland (Thursday at NYU)

This is tomorrow night, here in NYC. Tony Judt moderating, Ayaaan Hirsi Ali on the panel. Sparks should fly. The Remarque Institute and the University of Amsterdam present Religion and the Limits of Tolerance: Dutch multiculturalism in question Thursday, October . . . more »

Judith | 10/11/06 at 06:59 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

September 15, 2006

Oriana Fallaci: 1929 - 2006

Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci died today in her beloved Florence, after a long battle with cancer. She was 77. Fallaci is best known since 9-11 as a fervent champion of Western civilization, foe of Islam, and severe critic of . . . more »

Judith | 09/15/06 at 08:00 AM | 1 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

Hope in Europe?

A French high court gives a sympathetic hearing to media critics fighting for their right to call BS on propaganda ... and politicians across Europe stand up for Israel. Finally, don't call Nicaolas Sarkozy a cheese-eating surrender monkey. Neo brings . . . more »

Asher Abrams | 09/15/06 at 01:31 AM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

September 10, 2006

Minhag Anglia

Melanie Phillips, in one of her bravura pieces, calls British Jewry to task for failing to make a peep while Israel was culmniated left, right and center, during the recent War in Lebanon. Nary a peep from the Jews, which . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/10/06 at 03:23 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

August 14, 2006

A View from Britain: The Peace Party Ain't What It Used To Be

[ RELATED from Judith: Scott Johnson relates a similar slow conversion by author William Shawcross, who reconsidered his support for the anti-Vietnam War movement, after the boat people and the killing fields made it clear that he had been "far . . . more »

Alcibiades | 08/14/06 at 04:14 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

Security Notes From Perfidious Albion

The Wall Street Journal has a great op-ed piece today contrasting UK and US anti-terrorism tools. Written by two former Justice Department officials, David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey, the essay shows practical ways the US can ramp . . . more »

Van | 08/14/06 at 09:14 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

August 07, 2006

We Go Together..Like the Fire That Needs the Flame

Londoners demonstrate their support for Hezbollah: Walid Phares: “The vast majority of intellectuals still live on a pre 9/11 planet. They refuse, even after the rise of democratic movements and dissidents in the region, to acknowledge that the jihadists are . . . more »

Alcibiades | 08/07/06 at 09:52 AM | 1 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

August 05, 2006

Truth in Advertising: A Fitting Logo For the BBC

BBC has been test marketing its new logo: [Hat Tip: Stephen Pollard] . . . more »

Alcibiades | 08/05/06 at 10:27 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

July 07, 2006

The State of Londonistan

Steve Emerson interviews Melanie Phillips on Londonistan. UPDATE: And for an example of Londonistan in action, read Diana West's exposé of how the British police dealt with protesters against the Danish Cartoon Protest. In other words, the sane people objecting . . . more »

Alcibiades | 07/07/06 at 11:30 AM | 7 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

June 27, 2006

Ann Coulter versus Jeremy Paxman on the BBC

Ann Coulter versus Jeremy Paxman on the UK BBC Newsnight interview. These two deserve each other, although I think that Jeremy Paxman makes it too easy for Ann. He gives her far too many straight lines, being of the opinion, . . . more »

Alcibiades | 06/27/06 at 05:27 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

June 22, 2006

Taking Care of Business, in the USA

As Judith pointed out earlier, anti-Americanism blooms anew even when the U.S. isn't involved in an issue. A corollary theme is the boorish, fumbling behavior of individual Americans and corporations abroad. This involves not so much political actions but the . . . more »

Van | 06/22/06 at 11:00 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

June 20, 2006

Enduring anti-Americanism

Last week we sneered at the handwringing response to the Pew Research Center's poll on anti-American attitudes in Europe, which the poll claims are worsening. But let's zoom out for some context. First of all, Tigerhawk found some good news . . . more »

Judith | 06/20/06 at 01:09 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

June 14, 2006

Don't say Londonistan

Apropos of my post on the new climate of fear in Denmark, a small detail in the latest Mark Steyn column on the Toronto jihadis: [Melanie] Phillips is one of Britain's best-known newspaper columnists. She appears constantly on national TV . . . more »

Judith | 06/14/06 at 10:39 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

June 11, 2006

Scenes from a Parallel Universe in Nuremberg

The photos and stories coming out of Germany today, from the Iran-Mexico soccer match, left me speechless. They seemed to float in from a parallel universe where Israel is an honored country with the full support of the West that, . . . more »

Van | 06/11/06 at 08:48 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

June 08, 2006

That's My France! Black Wackos Run Amok in Jewish Quarter, Flics Shrug, Jews Cower

This disturbing story out of Paris combines anti-semitic violence, Jewish passivity, and a Gaullic shrug of the shoulders by French flics, with a flicker of concern from French Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. Read it all; these excerpts set the depressing scene: . . . more »

Van | 06/08/06 at 07:37 AM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

June 04, 2006

Some Good News for Israel and Other Things

It turns out that the confluence of events in recent months - from Europe to Gaza - is beginning to impact public opinion about the Palestinian situation in Europe. Palestinian support 'crashes' in Europe New public opinion surveys conducted among . . . more »

Alcibiades | 06/04/06 at 03:20 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 31, 2006

The Politics of Boycotting

There is good news of a sort on the British teaching union, NATFHE's, boycott of Israel. The AUT, the union that passed the boycott last year, then decisively rescinded it in a much larger vote, sent out a press release . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/31/06 at 08:17 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 30, 2006

The Political Odd Couple: Bush and Blair and their state of play

Tim Hanes gets it just right in much of this column in his analysis of the Bush/Blair relationship: AT A TIME when divorce is evidently getting easier and more lucrative, it is touching to see one couple soldiering on despite . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/30/06 at 10:04 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 29, 2006

The Good News and the Bad News

There's some positive news from the Presbyterian Church leadership - a recommendation from a group of eleven Presbyterian Church (USA) leaders who completed a five day fact finding mission to end its policy of divestment. While adoption of the divestment . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/29/06 at 10:02 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 28, 2006

American soldiers aren't nice enough

A BBC story claiming the Iraq war has caused an increasing number of deserters from the British army has been debunked by USS Neverdock using the BBC's own figures from previous stories. (He also links to a story in the . . . more »

Judith | 05/28/06 at 09:16 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 26, 2006

True at a meta level

From the Corner: A man arrives from Europe at Ben Gurion International Airport with 2 large bags. The customs agent opens the first bag to discover it is full with money in different currencies. The agent asks the passenger, "How . . . more »

Judith | 05/26/06 at 12:26 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 19, 2006

Ciao Italia

Nearly Romano Prodi's first task on getting elected Prime Minister of Italy is to bring home its 2,700 troops from Iraq. To do so, though, he has to survive a vote of no confidence. Making his first policy address as . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/19/06 at 10:03 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

Gor Lives!

Turns out there's a sex-slave cult devoted to the science fiction world of Gor whose proponents are merrily going about their existence in Britain. A sex slavery cult based on a series of 1960s science fiction novels has been uncovered . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/19/06 at 09:37 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 16, 2006

Ayaan Ali Hirsi's Dutch Citizenship Revoked

Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk’s ruled that Hirsi Ali was never a legal citizen of the Netherlands in the first place and revoked her citizenship. Outspoken Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali has reacted with shock to the news she was . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/16/06 at 02:10 PM | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 15, 2006

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me

[ UPDATE: Pieter Dorsman of Peaktalk will be talking about Hirsi Ali on this radio show 7 PM tonight, Calgary time. Here's a timeline of events since AHA returned from the US last week. Her own party is quite gratuitously . . . more »

Judith | 05/15/06 at 02:03 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 14, 2006

Thrown to the Wolves

The sleazeoids are out and about this weekend. First Michael Schiavo and his TerriPAC, and now a campaign to discredit Dutch MP and challenger of Islamism, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. After a lecture tour in the US, Ali has come home . . . more »

Judith | 05/14/06 at 12:44 AM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 13, 2006

Londonistan

Melanie Phillip's new book, Londonistan, is out. She's been touring the US and giving interviews. Clifford May reviews the book here Here she speaks to Jamie Glazov, at Front Page Magazine. . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/13/06 at 09:45 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 08, 2006

Le Plus Ca Change...

Le Plus C'est La Meme Chose Britain opens up its National wartime archives to disclose historical proof of the presence of Nazi S.S. agents in Mandatory Palestine, working closely with Palestinian leaders. Historical documents in Britain’s National Archives in London . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/08/06 at 06:04 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

Hirsi Ali in Boston on Tuesday

Video of an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, on Norweigan TV (in English). If you didn't get to hear her speak anywhere else, this is an excellent introduction to her ideas and her style. It's about 20 min. long. . . . more »

Judith | 05/08/06 at 05:32 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

Iran makes strange bedfellows

It's interesting to see certain national leaders who have reputations as appeasers react to Ahmadinejad's threats. First Jacques Chirac reverses his earlier position:President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that France was prepared to launch a nuclear strike against any country that . . . more »

Judith | 05/08/06 at 05:00 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 03, 2006

Ayaan Hirsi Ali at the NYPL

On Sunday Mary, Jeff and I all met up at the New York Public Library (the main building with the lions out front), found our way through a warren of hallways and levels to an auditorium in the basement, . . . more »

Judith | 05/03/06 at 07:21 PM | 4 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

"Secure and hold" - not

For everyone who is looking to the Blue Helmets or NATO to take out the Janjawid in Darfur: The fact that American troops are pulling out of southern Afghanistan in the coming months, and handing matters over to NATO peacekeepers, . . . more »

Judith | 05/03/06 at 02:59 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 02, 2006

Darfur: A challenge to progressives

[ David Blue's post on the nature of this global war is an excellent frame for what I wrote below. A must read, also the comments. Mary picks up where David left off, with more evidence that Jimmy Carter was . . . more »

Judith | 05/02/06 at 09:11 AM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May Day II

May Day 2006: A Day Of Remembrance at Catallarchy: a list of links describing communism's victims. . . . more »

Judith | 05/02/06 at 05:46 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

May 01, 2006

A Juan Cole potpourri

(In response to Professor Cole being in the news again, we retrieved the Best of Juan Cole from the Kesher Talk archives, which was a good first pass at assessing how Cole has acquitted himself in the fights he has . . . more »

Judith | 05/01/06 at 08:08 AM | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

April 26, 2006

Chernobyl: April 26, 1986

From a book of photographs of Chernobyl, the control room of the nuclear power plant: . . . more »

Judith | 04/26/06 at 11:06 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

April 24, 2006

Tony Blair on the Effect 9/11 Had on Him

Con Coughlin interviewed Tony Blair on the political effect that 9/11 had on him. I never had a moment's doubt about this. Because 9/11 for me was, 'Right, now I get it. I absolutely get it.' This has been building . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/24/06 at 12:22 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

April 19, 2006

The Former-Leftist Manifesto

In reply to the British Euston Manifesto, promulgated by Norm Geras and Nick Cohen, among others, who classify themselves as disenchanted-with-the-left, pro-Iraq progressives, Stephen Pollard writes the Maida Vale manifesto for leftists who have already thrown off their shackles: There . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/19/06 at 11:06 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

April 16, 2006

Go Lord Carey, Go!

There is a move by other Anglican bishops to quell former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey's "disloyalty" to Rowan Williams, the current Archbishop. Among other things, Lord Carey announced to the world he was ashamed to be an Anglican after . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/16/06 at 12:05 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

To Read a Story On Its Face? Or Between the Lines?

These days when I read a story like the one appearing in today's Scotsman, whose headline blares that Blair refuses to back Iran strike, I go into immediate story deconstruction mode. To begin with the story is entirely leaked by . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/16/06 at 08:36 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

April 01, 2006

Honest at Least

Condi With Jack Straw and the Mayor of Blackburn. At least he's honest. The Mayor of Blackburn on Condoleeza Rice's visit to Blackburn with Jack Straw: In front of City Hall a little earlier, Mayor Yusef Janvirmani, a native . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/01/06 at 02:43 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

March 25, 2006

Report on the London Anti-Toonophobia Rally

[ UPDATE: Kesher Talk has a new category for announcements and reports of rallies and protests: Power to the People, where you can find previous entries about rallies for Denmark, Sudan, Protest Warrior actions, etc. ] Official report from . . . more »

Judith | 03/25/06 at 09:07 PM | 2 Comments | 5 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

March 24, 2006

The London March for Freedom of Expression

David T. at Harry's Place has the idea of an appropriate slogan at the London Freedom of expression March, that Judith links to just below. "What do we want: FREEDOM OF SPEECH. When do we want it: NOT NOW BUT . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/24/06 at 12:40 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

March for Free Expression in London

[ UPDATE: The March for Free Expression is only for free expression if it doesn't offend Muslims. Well, censoring speech that offends Muslims was kind of the point of the world-wide attempt to intimidate the West, which attempt this . . . more »

Judith | 03/24/06 at 12:30 PM | 6 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

March 11, 2006

A tale of two towns

First, the timidity of Valencia, Spain: In the Fallas festival, giant sculptures of the high and mighty are placed in the streets for the public to mock before being destroyed in an orgy of gunpowder and flames. It has . . . more »

Judith | 03/11/06 at 12:23 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

March 04, 2006

God is a Bad Word

The new orthodoxy, in Britain. So it turns out that Tony Blair, well known to be a religious man, actually did something as shocking as pray to God (gasp!) before he made the decision on War in Iraq. Shocking, indeed! . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/04/06 at 11:08 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

The Beautiful Soul of Rachel Corrie

In the world of international theatre, the writers of Rachel Corrie, Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner are very upset that they cannot show American audiences the beauty of Rachel Corrie's soul. As James Nicola, the theatre's artistic director, said yesterday: . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/04/06 at 09:33 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

March 03, 2006

Getting the Short Shtick

As a result of the July bombings in Britain, Tony Blair announced a plan which would ban certain terror organizations from Britain, among them Hizb ut Tahrir. In response to this, former international development secretary and current MP, Clare . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/03/06 at 12:28 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

March 02, 2006

Spreading support for Denmark

First, I want to apologize to whoever made this beautiful banner for not linking back to you, but I can't remember where I pulled it from. Second, check out this justifiably bitter Danish site. One more reminder of what . . . more »

Judith | 03/02/06 at 10:32 PM | 5 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

February 28, 2006

Mayor Livingstone I Presume

Last week, Mayor Ken Livingstone of London received a suspension by the Board of Standards from his mayoralty for egregiously insulting a Jewish journalist, Oliver Feingold, by comparing him to a a concentration guard even after he learned the man . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/28/06 at 09:14 AM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

February 18, 2006

Forty Years Ago

The following song was written to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II. Which would be 1985. Nothing much has changed in the past 20 years, has it? (See Bruce Bawer on the pervasiveness and persistance . . . more »

Judith | 02/18/06 at 11:58 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

February 13, 2006

'I Feel Ashamed to be an Anglican'

Melanie Phillips has a long post on the recent Anglican decision to "disinvest" from Israel that I recently mentioned here. Apparently, though he was voting for disinvestment, Rowan Williams did not "realize" he was voting for disinvestment. A position that . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/13/06 at 10:47 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Across the Pond

A bit of spine in France

Via Michelle