While Natasha Walter’s book provides some genuine insight, its appeal is restricted to British, middle-class, heterosexual readers Syma Tariq guardian.co.uk, Natasha Walter says at the start of her engaging new book, Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism, that it accounts for the British, heterosexual experience of gender inequality – and this it does with genuine insight. The author interviews people from all backgrounds, including sex workers, lap dancers, teenage girls and professional women. These interviews show how degrading attitudes towards women are silently becoming mainstream. It’s all around us, she writes: there are more lap dancing clubs on the high … Continue reading Feminism shouldn’t be exclusive to a select few fanatical Amazonians

Report blames ‘Islamophobic, negative and unwarranted portrayals of Muslim London’ for increase in attacks in the capital Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk, Muslims at an east London mosque: a report has blamed sections of the media and politicians for a rise in anti-muslim hate crimes. Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images A rise in the number of hate crimes against Muslims in London is being encouraged by mainstream politicians and sections of the media, a study written by a former Scotland Yard counter-terrorism officer, published yesterday, says. Attacks ranging from death threats and murder to persistent low-level assaults, such as spitting and name-calling, are … Continue reading Media and politicians ‘fuel rise in hate crimes against Muslims’ says former Police Spy

Dawn.com Maz Jobrani. – AP (File Photo) History says Maz Jobrani is descended from Caucasians. Some Americans think he’s a dangerous Arab. Jobrani, however, prefers to call himself ”Brown and Friendly.” That’s the title of a new comedy special from this Iranian-born comedian who was raised in the United States and now travels the world running roughshod over ethnic stereotypes. Jobrani starts his show laughing at his fellow Persians, then widens his scope to the whole Middle East. His Indian wife gets no mercy. Before the end of the show, Mexicans, white Americans, Japanese, the Swiss and more get lampooned, … Continue reading From Mullah to Comedian, Iranian-American scholar spares no race!

By Tariq Fatemi One cannot but be saddened at how much Obama’s administration has reneged on its commitments. –AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Pakistan More bickering More bickering It is not only in domestic politics that President Obama has wavered between keeping faith with his followers and placating the opposition. In the field of foreign policy the disappointment has been greater, especially in the Muslim world. Recalling the uplifting words of his inaugural address and the assurances held out in his Cairo speech, one cannot but be saddened at how much his administration has reneged on its commitments. It is, however, … Continue reading A growing gulf between Muslims and the US

Posted by Nadeem F. Paracha  What can one say about Imran Khan? A great former cricketer, a compassionate philanthropist … a sorry excuse for a politician. But his continuing forays into bad politics and tactical blunders can be excused, for he is yet to understand that politics is not a game of cricket, and that the democratic election process does not follow the selection policy he enforced as the captain of the Pakistan cricket squad. The truth is, Khan’s penchant for picking up talented players seemed to have gone haywire when he decided to pick his early political mentors. Coming … Continue reading The froth of Imran Khan (RCM) – Racist Champagne Mullah?

Alyssa Ravasio displays her page on the social networking site Facebook, while attending school in Los Angeles January 26, 2010. – Reuters LOS ANGELES: College senior Alyssa Ravasio gave up MySpace on the day she got a Facebook account and never looked back. She has already lost interest in Twitter. But how does Facebook know it can keep her loyalty? The brief history of the Internet is littered with the ghosts of websites that people have abandoned in their relentless pursuit of something newer, faster, better and cooler. Tech-savvy Ravasio, a 21-year-old UCLA student designing her undergraduate degree around the … Continue reading Facebook: A valuable Internet commodity?

Syed Talat Hussain US Defence Secretary Robert Gates’ visit to India and Pakistan last week was a classic study in contradictory behaviour. He praised India’s role in Afghanistan and mouthed the usual rhetoric about Pakistan being the epicentre of global terrorism As these lines appear in print, the London Conference on Afghanistan will be in full swing. This one-day event shall culminate in a communiqué from all the interested parties spelling out the course of the international community’s response to the Afghanistan challenge. It is good that the world is now waking up to the grim realities in this war-torn … Continue reading Cold and blinkered in London — Is it time Pakistan stood with a stronger backbone?

Miranda Husain Nothing is as fragile as the male ego and no one more bitter than a man scorned; such cads become genuinely and surprisingly affronted when a woman tries to steer the banter back to the path of most resistance A chance encounter with a former colleague has led me to ponder. About men and how even those who have perfected the art of projecting an outward image of sophisticated intellect still, when it comes to women, nurture the soul and ego of the adolescent schoolboy. Nudge nudge, wink wink. Take my former colleague, for example. The gentleman in … Continue reading Sex and the city!

Yemen pledges to reform and wins support for fight against al-Qaida Foreign ministers from the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia and 20 other countries met to pledge not to interfere in Yemen’s internal affairs Ian Black, Middle East editor guardian.co.uk, A protester holds a South Yemen flag during a demonstration outside 10 Downing Street. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Yemen tonight won broad international and Arab support for fighting al-Qaida but was urged to carry out economic and social reforms to address the causes of its instability and stop it becoming a failed state where extremism can flourish. Foreign ministers from the … Continue reading Yemen pledges to reform and wins support for fight against al-Qaida