The claim that Hinduism is a uniquely pacific and tolerant religion is dangerous bunk, says (UK) Guardian columnist Rahila Gupta.
There is a profoundly disquieting myth about Hinduism which has been put about by its adherents so often and so successfully that it is in danger of crystallising into a truth – that of its essentially [...]

Federal Grit leader Michael Ignatieff just visited Nova Scotia and, based on the Halifax Chronicle-Herald report, he had nothing substantive to say. What do you expect from the man of whom Rick Mercer said, “Does he have any opinions on anything? I haven’t heard them.”
Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says Rodney MacDonald and [...]

Twitter channel @DelaraDarabi is reporting that Delara Darabi was hanged early this morning at Iran’s Rasht prison. Delara was condemned to death for an alleged crime committed when she was 17 and spent over five years on death row.
Despite the fact that Iran has signed two international agreements forbidding capital punishment for crimes committed [...]

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak issued a letter of greeting to the Coptic Diaspora on the occasion of Easter, which Eastern Christians celebrated on 19 April. Voice of the Copts says President Mubarak’s letter contains Taquiah—dissimulation or falsehood permitted by Islam under certain conditions. (The word is also spelled “Taqiyya” in English.)
In last week’s [...]

As far as the federal government is concerned, Canada Day is just another opportunity to curry favour with Quebec.  Naturally, the feds are incredulous that someone thinks there’s anything wrong with that. Quebec is entitled to its entitlements.
The Harper government was criticized yesterday over its spending for Canada Day celebrations, but it argued that there [...]

A Glasgow jewellery shop has decided to bar individuals wearing face coverings after being robbed by two men in Muslim female dress. BBC News reports.
ATAA Jewellers in the west end of Glasgow was raided by two Asian men entirely covered apart from their eyes.
[…]
The two girls working at the time were left so shaken [...]

Compare and contrast these two video clips of US Rep. Barney Frank.
A few days ago on PBS’s Tavis Smiley Show, he blamed unnamed “conservatives” for mass housing foreclosures in the United States.  They “pushed” people into buying houses they couldn’t afford. don’t ya know?  He, on the other hand, has advocated affordable rental housing all [...]

Delara Darabi is 22 years old and has been on Iran’s death row for almost six years. In 2003, she confessed to killing someone to protect her boyfriend, who was 19 at the time and told her she would not face the death penalty because she was under 18. She has since retracted [...]

Recent Muslim attacks on Christians in Bauchi State, Nigeria, killed 14 people and forced 4500 to flee their homes. The state government waited five days before offering relief materials to internally displaced persons. That aid has now been refused and refugees are demanding that the governor pay them a personal visit.
Lamenting bitterly, the [...]

This video was recorded as Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, spoke to the European Parliament in Brussels last Thursday.
Some of those MEPs sure didn’t like what Mr Klaus had to say, did they? So, what did he say, anyway?
Fortunately, Czech ex-pat blogger Tanja has summarised his main points:

“The EU is a revolutionary [...]

A week ago, I posted an item about a long-running child custody battle that ended up in an Ontario court.  Ten years after the parents split, Justice Faye McWatt ordered their three daughters taken from the mother and given into the sole custody of the father because of the mother’s relentless campaign to alienate them [...]

Earlier this week, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan walked out of a debate with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres about the war in Gaza.  The moderator of the debate gave Mr Erdogan only a minute to respond to a long statement by Mr Peres defending the Gaza action.
Before he left, Erdogan said this.  (From the [...]

The National Post reports today that it has seen evidence that payouts to residential school survivors have contributed to social pathologies, including suicide, depression, and alcohol and drug abuse.  The “Common Experience Payment” (CEP), which began in the fall of 2007, was intended to compensate aboriginals who were taken away from their communities to attend [...]

I imagine that anyone who follows news on the internet has seen the cringe-inducing “I Pledge” video of celebrities promising to do a bunch of good stuff because they’re so enamoured of Barack Obama.  If you haven’t seen it yet and really want to, it’s on YouTube.  Here’s a snippet from the show’s script.
I pledge [...]

Ahmad Obeidi, a 24-year-old Muslim man on trial in Hamburg, Germany, killed his younger sister Morsal (at right) because she wore make-up and tight jeans and went to the disco with her friends. He thought she should wear a veil and go to mosque every day.
Meanwhile, he admits he regularly enjoyed drinking with his [...]