Posted by Sana Saleem  Transgender rights represent a relatively new frontier in civil liberties activism. In Pakistan, eunuchs have historically been disregarded and marginalised by mainstream issue advocates. The discriminations against eunuchs reveal our petty-bourgeois mentality that is mostly reluctant to recognise gender deviance. Over the years, the complete isolation of eunuchs from the very fabric of our society has denied them access to education, employment and health care – a direct violation of fundamental rights. Instead, they are forced to beg, dance, and enter prostitution as the only means of livelihood. Forms of discrimination impacting them include housing discrimination, … Continue reading A new frontier in civil liberties

By Iftikhar A. Khan Tuesday, 05 Jan, 2010 // // The then ambassador, Kamran Niaz.—File photo ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s embassy building in Tokyo was sold out at a throwaway price in 2007 after a huge spending on its renovation, ostensibly on a pretext that later proved to be false. An investigation carried out by Dawn revealed that the deal, which had been kept a “guarded secret”, was made on a false pretext that under metropolitan rules and regulations there was a bar on construction beyond three storeys. The construction of a seven-storey building on the same land makes the deal all … Continue reading Embassy building in Tokyo sold at half the price

By Rafia Zakaria Wednesday, 06 Jan, 2010 // // US Transportation Security Administration officer Robert Howard signals an airline passenger forward at a security check-point at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Monday, Jan. 4, 2010, in SeaTac, Wash. – Photo by AP. In the frenetic aftermath of the thwarted bombing attempt on a Northwest Airlines flight, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued a new set of screening guidelines. In effect from Jan 4, 2010 the new guidelines will be applied to all passengers on flights to the US and will subject those from “countries of interest” to special scrutiny. Included … Continue reading Patting down Pakistanis

by SAMERA KHATOON A BURTON man is ʻconfidentʼ he can recruit thousands of people to join him on an Islamist march through an English town which has become world famous for remembering Britainʼs war dead. Zakeel Abbas, of Sydney Street, Horninglow, has defended his decision to take part in the procession through Wootton Bassett – the Wiltshire market town which holds silent vigils in honour of the service personnel as their bodies are driven through its streets after being flown home from Afghanistan to nearby RAF Lyneham. The march will turn this traditional form of commemoration on its head by … Continue reading WHY I’M HOLDING ISLAMIST MARCH

Is Flying While Brown the New Driving While Black? Posted on 03 January 2010 by Danios The paranoid calls to profile Muslims on airplanes have become louder in recent days.  Here’s a story from 2008 that ought to make us think twice about such an un-American response (hat tip: KevinMD.com): Doctor Flying Southwest Tries To Go To Bathroom, Ends Up In Jail By Chris Walters on September 24, 2008 A 65-year-old urologist, born in India but living in the United States for 38 years now, was flying from his home in Missouri to a medical convention in Las Vegas on … Continue reading LOONWATCH: – Is Flying While Brown the New Driving While Black?

Posted on 04 January 2010 by Garibaldi I am a little apprehensive in writing this piece because I don’t want to give more credence or traffic to some back water unknown Islamophobe then he deserves. However, I do think it is instructional considering the persistent affection and repetition with which they hold one particularly morbid fantasy: bombing Mecca. I could go into a historical analysis of what we call the Nuclear Card, charting how various belligerents starting from the Crusader Raynald of Chatillon all the way to Tom Trancredo in the present day have employed the threat of destroying Mecca … Continue reading LOONWATCH – Bob Beers: How about we Bomb Mecca?

Spot the difference: Islam4UK & the Westboro Baptist Church Rate This // The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is a ‘Christian’ church based in Kansas, United States. It was established in 1952 by one Fred Phelps. The church is essentially a ‘platform’ for the views and teachings of Fred Phelps. Islam4UK is a ‘Muslim’ organisation based in the United Kingdom. It was established circa 2005/6 by – amongst others – one Anjem Choudary. The group has been described as a ‘platform’ for the now proscribed Al-Muhajiroun. The WBC is primarily known for its sensationalist protest activities: gay events, Kansas City Chiefs football … Continue reading Anjem Choudary is linked to the Westboro Baptist Church?

Ignore Islam4UK’s self-serving provocation. Instead, let’s have the open public discussion we need on the war in Afghanistan Salma Yaqoob guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 January 2010 08.00 GMT When I was invited to appear on Question Time at Wootton Bassett, I did feel a hesitation because of the programme’s location. I was very mindful of the fact that this is where every soldier who has been killed is honoured and where respects are paid. Regardless of where you stand politically, their loss is a very real and human tragedy for their families. But these are more than personal tragedies. Our soldiers … Continue reading The debate beyond Wootton Bassett

Perfectly sensible celebrity observations about science are being mocked by a group that’s no innocent fact-checking service Zac Goldsmith guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 January 2010 17.00 GMT Every few months, an organisation called Sense About Science (SAS) issues a pamphlet that makes fun of celebrities getting their science wrong. It is full of what it regards to be false assertions by celebrities about the benefits of homeopathy and so on, and ends with an offer by the organisation to act as a fact-checking service. Newspapers always lap it up. The problem is that they have fallen into a trap again. While … Continue reading So much for ‘Sense’ About Science

• Attacks expose long-term US intelligence failings • Obama launches inquiry into Christmas jet bomb Ewen MacAskill and Daniel Nasaw in Washington Jon Boone in Kabul guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 January 2010 19.51 GMT The CIA headquarters in Virginia. Former officers have accused the service of institutional weakness. Photograph: Larry Downing/Corbis/SygmaLong-term weaknesses in US intelligence-gathering have been ruthlessly exposed over the last fortnight by the Christmas Day airline plot and the Afghanistan suicide bombing that killed seven CIA officers, according to former and serving intelligence officers. They are scathing about the way the operation in Afghanistan has been run and say … Continue reading CIA agents in Afghanistan are ‘menace to themselves,’ former operatives claim