Join the Free Thinking Film Society as Bruce Bawer returns to Ottawa with his colleague Hege Storhaug to speak on the problems of immigration in Europe.
Hege Storhaug is the information director of Human Rights Service in Norway and the author of several books on immigration and integration, forced marriage, women in Pakistan, and related subjects.
Bruce Bawer & Hege Storhaug: The Problems of Immigration in Europe. Wed. June 8, 2011, 7 PM Library and Archives Canada 395 Wellington Ottawa, Canada 7:00 PM
Admission: $20 (includes HST), $10 for students/ seniors Compact Music, 785 1/2 Bank Street, 190 Bank Street Ottawa Festivals, 47 William Street Collected Works, 1242 Wellington
South Africa finally -- finally -- has wound up the courage to criticize one of Africa's longest-serving tyrants (and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe has not been shy about shouting back). So far, we've only seen rhetoric. But perhaps this is a sign that the era of Mugabe, which has sunk his country into misery, is coming to a close.
How did things descend to this nightmare level? Robert Mugabe did not come to power through a coup. He emerged as the leader of a serious guerrilla army, who then fought and won a British-supervised election. For his first several years in office, he practiced a policy of reconciliation (at least with the white population, if not with his tribal rivals in the Matabeleland province). During the years of the revolution, I met Mugabe several times and am still ashamed of how generally favourably I wrote him up. But he was impressive then, both as soldier and politician and survivor of long-term political imprisonment, and when I noticed the cold and ruthless side of his personality I suppose I tended to write
If you thought a uni-polar world based on American supremacy was a bad idea, what do you think of a planet modeled on Iranian justice?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that Iran and India need to help spread justice in the world, as the pair share humane perspectives on international affairs.
There is a real need for more pressure and open dialogue with insurgent forces for their violations of the laws of war.
Open dialogue with the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
It's easy to ridicule her and others that think along those lines. Too easy. Dialogue is of course the best solution for settling problems.
The West has largely been a peace-bubble for the last decades. Wars? Not here. Robbery? Call the Police. Quarrel? Go to court. Jimmy pulled Jenny's hair? Off to the psychologist.
The largest part of Western society and certainly most of the chattering classes live in a sort of bubble, completely disconnected from the use of physical force to achieve any goals. That is first of all a most remarkable achievement.
But the basic problem remains: there are still men who just want to see the world burn. They don't understand any other language than force..
Canadians were captivated by the plight of Amanda Lindhout in 2008 and 2009. She was an Albertan freelance journalist taken captive in Somalia. Speaking in Edmonton this week, Lindhout recounted her experiences in Somalia, and spoke about the plight of women there. However, she did not omit any silver lining to the misogynistic cloud hanging over Somalia; hope remains.
Al-Shabaab translates as “The Youth”. This militia group has been credited as having taken control of vast portions of Somalia, and has begun imposing a Taliban-esque interpretation of Sharia law wherever they can.
Al-Shabaab would later claim that Lindhout had given birth to a child while in captivity, allegedly fathered by one of their members. They claimed to have named the baby “Osama”. (Apparently, nothing in Al-Shabaab’s favoured version of the Koran forbids rape.) So one thing quickly becomes crystal-clear about Al-Shabaab. They’re a very classy bunch.
(Note that they made the claim after Lindhout had been released. There is no evidence to suggest that Lindhout ever gave birth to such a child, and...More >>
As we search for meaning in the holiday season, trying to elevate the atmosphere of Christmas above the commercialism of it, various moral principles come to the fore of our minds at this reflective time of year: giving, forgiveness, love, kindness, and most of all, compassion.
The former nun and interfaith proponent Karen Armstrong’s latest book, “Twelve Steps To A Compassionate Life” argues that compassion as a principle lies at the heart of all religions. Others would argue that this is wishful thinking, as did philosopher Ophelia Benson in her straightforward response to Armstrong’s book: “The principle of obedience to God lies at the heart of many religious traditions, and it is a modern illusion to think that is identical to compassion.”
In any case, it seems clear that compassion is not a regular enough part of the practice of either the faithful or the faithless, whether or not it’s a principle we fancy ourselves as espousing.
By this I don’t mean to say that we don’t take care of own, but that much of the time,...More >>
It’s as curious as it is concerning that the London Review of Books should be considered staple reading for anyone wishing to get anywhere in intellectual or academic circles, but with its almost 50,000 per edition readership making it Europe’s most widely circulated literary magazine, it undoubtably has become just that. However radical the publication’s rhetoric it is of course quite entitled to write whatever it likes, that’s something I don’t think anyone would want to see taken away.
What I object to however is that I or indeed anyone else in the country should be having to bankroll this kind extremism through their taxes. Research recently undertaken by Just Journalism has exposed that throughout its 30 year long history the London Review of Books has been funded by uncomprehendibly generous levels of public money.
Just Journalism has exposed that starting in 1981, shortly after its establishment, the London Review of Books has received no less than £767,679 from the Arts Council England, all public money. Money that rather than going towards public services well and truly...More >>
Today is International Human Rights Day, but it feels like there is little to celebrate. The will of the world's most authoritarian and fascist regimes is prevailing at the UN in one incident after another in a process that is decimating the original spirit of the UN's establishment, which was to protect and further human rights, not to cripple and erode them.
Last week the UN General Assembly approved a revised resolution on extrajudicial, arbitrary and summary executions with the removal of a specific reference to sexual orientation as an unacceptable reason for executions, after several Arab and African countries banded together in a bid to have the reference removed. Consequently, the United Nations, the world body mandated to uphold the universalism of human rights, opted not to defend the rights of human beings not to be murdered by their governments on account of their sexual orientation.
And now, the UN "Human Rights" Council (the saddest joke of the decade) is considering a draft resolution on “combating defamation of religions” sponsored by a derisive Morocco on behalf...More >>
Join the Free Thinking Film Society as Bruce Bawer returns to Ottawa with his colleague Hege Storhaug to speak on the problems of immigration in Europe.
Canadians were captivated by the plight of Amanda Lindhout in 2008 and 2009. She was an Albertan freelance journalist taken captive in Somalia. Speaking in Edmonton this week, Lindhout recounted her experiences in Somalia, and spoke about the plight of women there. However, she did not omit any silver lining to the misogynistic cloud hanging over Somalia; hope remains.
It’s as curious as it is concerning that the London Review of Books should be considered staple reading for anyone wishing to get anywhere in intellectual or academic circles, but with its almost 50,000 per edition readership making it Europe’s most widely circulated literary magazine, it undoubtably has become just that. However radical the publication’s rhetoric it is of course quite entitled to write whatever it likes, that’s something I don’t think anyone would want to see taken away. 
Egyptian blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman 
