Too Guilty to Fly, Too Innocent to Charge?

war on terrorism, Canadian government, Jennifer Stoddart, racial profiling

Transport Canada must not be given a carte blanche to deprive Canadians of our liberty, mobility, equality and privacy rights, even though aviation security has now become a legitimate national security concern. The government’s appeal to national security should not exempt it from due process, principles of fundamental justice, accountability, transparency, oversight and a full Parliamentary debate.

Documentary-in-progress on U.S. soldiers refusing to fight in Iraq

Iraq, soliders, alternavision films

strong>Alternavision Films, based in Los Angeles, has launched the production of a new documentary. Joan Sekler and Bill Haugse, the producers/directors of this film will reveal how U.S. soldiers are refusingto fight in Iraq. Some soldiers have already been to Iraq and refuse to deploy again and some have refused to deploy for the first time. Some are facing courtmartials and prison. They have publicly stated that the war in Iraq is illegal and immoral. Some have filed for conscientious objector status and many others have gone AWOL. Over 1,000 active duty soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries have signed an on-line Appeal to Congress to stop the war and bring the troops home.

Threats Unlikely to Silence Bloggers as Egypt Jails Youth for “Insults”

bloggers, Mubarak, Abdel Kareem Nabil, Egypt

"We (the Egyptian people) are enduring oppression, poverty and torture, so the least we can do is insult the president.” Mubarak does not own Egypt and he does not own Islam. The bloggers will continue to remind him. And they cannot be silenced. Not just because they know how to hopscotch over blocked IP addresses but because it is impossible to silence youth. They will always find a way to have the last word.

The Polyandry Fatwa

Sex and the Umma, Mohja Kahf, Polygamy, Islam

Polygamy in Islam has traditionally been a male prerogative. The preservation of nasl, or paternity, is cited as the reason why the Quranic verse allowing polygamy for men cannot be assumed to apply in both directions. This has always posed an interpretive problem, since Quranic commandments phrased in the male gender case are not generally assumed to apply exclusively to men. Many verses commanding prayer and fasting, for example, or detailing how zakat must be distributed, are offered in the male pronoun, but apply equally to women.

The Power of Blogs in the Arab World

Blogs, Arab Blogs, National Press Club

moment a recent triple whammy--or hat trick, to use soccer parlance--scored by Egyptian blogs: One: the exposure by blogs of sexual assaults on women in downtown Cairo by gangs of men during a religious holiday in Cairo in October 2006. Bloggers forced the issue onto the national agenda, turning it into headlines from satellite television channels to the Associated Press.