http://ubiwar.com/2010/02/04/crowdsourcing-counterterrorism/ by Tim Stevens Lets be clear about this: the UK government’s new initiative for reporting hate, extremism and terrorism online has a very limited shelf-life. On the other hand, what else could government have done? To be fair to the Home Office, they have made it perfectly clear that “most hateful or violent website content is not illegal. While you may come across a lot of things on the internet that offend you, very little of it is actually illegal.” Good call, and a message it’s good to see reinforced. They also clearly indicate what steps you can take if … Continue reading Crowdsourcing Counterterrorism

A Muslim lawyer who was defending a man accused of planning the Mumbai terror attacks has been gunned down in a suspected underworld hit. Shahid Azmi, 33, was representing Fahim Ansari, an Indian accused of carrying out reconnaissance work for the Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people in November 2008. Mr Ansari is on trial in Mumbai alongside Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistani national alleged to be one of ten Islamist militant gunmen who kept India’s commercial capital under virtual siege for 60 hours. Mr Azmi, whose rise from convicted child terrorist to respected advocate had made him a Muslim … Continue reading Mumbai terror lawyer Shahid Azmi killed in ‘professional hit’

England’s daft and pleasant land Irreverent, bawdy and unafraid of morris-dancing Sikhs: the new Englishness has no interest in the BNP’s rancid nationalism I went morris dancing the other day. Sorry, but there it is, with a hey nonny-nonny. I was researching a book about Englishness and how it has changed, and you can’t get more English than a bunch of middle-aged bearded men with bells on their ankles, waving hankies and prancing like their piles are on fire, can you? My dancers were not like that at all, actually; but in general, the morris is a pursuit that makes people … Continue reading Englishness has no interest in the fascism of the EDL etc etc

Free speech wasn’t meant for this Scott Roeder’s YouTube interview allows the man who killed Dr George Tiller to justify and spread his message of violent hatred On May 31, 2009, Scott Roeder walked into Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas and shot Dr George Tiller, who was handing out church bulletins to congregants. Tiller, a physician and medical director of Women’s Health Care Services, one of only three clinics in theUnited States to provide late-term abortions, died – and he died because Roeder, as he explained in his confession, believed himself justified in order to “defend innocent life”. Roeder, like … Continue reading Christian Terrorism in the US and Free Speech

Christian TV presenter reads out Star Wars plot as story of salvation An email prankster tricked the host of a Christian TV show into reading out the plots of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Star Wars in the belief they were stories of personal salvation. The unsuspecting host read out most of the opening rap to The Fresh Prince, a 1990s US sitcom starring Will Smith, apparently unaware that it was not a genuine testimony of faith. The prankster had slightly adapted the lyrics but the references to a misspent youth playing basketball in West Philadelphia would have been … Continue reading Christian Mullah TV presenter reads out Star Wars plot!

Lately, there’ been a lot of talk about talking to the Taliban, and talking to the Taliban about talking to the Taliban. I wonder what high-level policy think-tank came up with this harebrained scheme; after nearly a decade of violence, someone sitting in a conference room must have snapped their fingers and said, “I’ve got it! Why don’t we ‘talk’ to the Taliban?” There must have undoubtedly been a flurry of official documentation, and policy ruminations about why talking to the Taliban would be a stronger strategy than indiscriminate bombing. Well what can I say other than ‘Wow!’ I mean all this … Continue reading How to talk with the Taliban and other assorted Mullahs

Will the Shiv Sena succeed? Developing countries have in parochialism a menace which disrupts normal life. A small number of people take the law into their hands and whip up a frenzy by playing on divisive and communal sentiments. They not only mar the rhythm of development but also weaken the nation’s cohesion. The Shiv Sena in Mumbai is one such organisation which feels proud in sowing the seeds of separation. Its followers are like the Taliban, less violent but equally fanatical. They have adopted Marathi, one of India’s 14 main languages, to push their agenda for a distinct identity. … Continue reading Hindu Mullahs in Bollywoodland!