Suppressed Books on Terrorism Highlighted

The Spiked Review of Books gives space for the authors of five politically-diverse books on terrorism which have been “‘erased from the map’ by English libel actions” to showcase their suppressed works.
As I noted a few days ago, not only have the books themselves been taken out of the public domain – the UK media [...]

Journalist-Critic of Uzbek Regime Murdered

Reporting on Islamist groups led to “terrorist” designation in US
Twenty-six-year-old Uzbek journalist Alisher Saipov has been shot dead in the city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan, apparently by Uzbek security agents. Human Rights Watch reports:
Saipov was a regular contributor to news agencies such as Ferghana.Ru, Voice of America, and RFE/RL. In May, Saipov began regularly publishing a [...]

Book Review: Barbara Victor (2005) The Last Crusade

Barbara Victor
The Last Crusade: Religion and the Politics of Misdirection
London: Constable, 2005
This review refers to the UK paperback edition.
An evangelical advisor to George W Bush who believes that to kill by dying has been “programmed into the DNA of all Arab people since the beginning of time” (242). An ex-associate of the Promise Keepers who [...]

Private Pasts and Public Interests

Here’s an interesting free speech case, from The Anorak:
“BBC star’s grandfather faced Nazi war crimes trial,” announces the [Daily] Mail…The Mail notes that the elder and now dead Szymon Serafinowizc appeared at the Old Bailey in 1997 accused of “enthusiastically” helping eradicate the 3,000-strong Jewish population around the capital of Minsk. He was a police [...]

UK Press Spikes Another Article on Bin Mahfouz

The new Private Eye magazine (1196, p. 7) notes the continuing chill over free speech in the UK caused by litigious Saudi billionaire Sheik Khalid bin Mahfouz. As has been widely reported (and blogged by me here and here), thanks to the Sheik’s libel threats, both the left-wing Pluto Press and the Cambridge University Press [...]

Florida Governor’s Bible Scroll Controversy

Here’s one I missed from a few days ago:
TALLAHASSEE –  Saying it is ”fundamental” to freedom to be able to display ”religious symbols,” Gov. Charlie Crist has quietly placed a boxed Jewish scroll on the door leading into his formal Capitol office…Crist said…that he is “celebrating the diversity that is Florida: many religions, many people, [...]

World 6,010 Years Old TODAY!

See here.
Funnily enough, when WND first announced it was selling copies of Archbishop Ussher’s opus, it actually downplayed the “4004″ date. I blogged on the book and its publisher here.

Documentary Highlights Orthodox Nationalism in Russia

Russian news announcer:
Today Moscow celebrated Paratroopers’ Day and the Orthodox Christian festival of St Elijah. The Federal and Moscow governments have decided to make it a joint holiday and to bring the paratroops and faithful together on Red Square because St Cyril is the patron saint of the paratroopers. The festivities demonstrated the union of [...]

Lukashenko Complains of “Pig Sty” Jewish City

Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko, 2000:
On December 28, Alexander Lukashenko, who is planning to visit Israel on January 4-7, blamed the Jewish state for the “limited relations between the two countries.” “Although many Israelis are former Belarusian Jews and there are still 100,000 Jews remaining in Belarus, the two states have failed to build close or [...]

Identities of Internet “Saloon-Bar Moaners” Protected

UK judge rules on “messages which are barely defamatory or little more than abusive or likely to be understood as jokes”
For bloggers in the UK, there are a number of issues concerning legal liability for comments left by readers. If a comment contains material that may be libellous, does the blogger have a responsibility to [...]