Harry's Place

News about Christopher Hitchens:
I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus. This advice seems persuasive to me. I regret having had to cancel so many engagements at such short notice.
Let’s hope he is off the ropes and back in the ring in good time.

This is a crosspost by Ben Cohen of Z Word.

One of the tell-tale signs of a regime in distress is that its top officials begin sounding off on subjects quite removed from their remit. So it is with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who claims to have discovered the reason behind the exit of [...]

“If you only take offense when the president of your party is compared to Hitler, then you’re part of the problem.”
–John Avlon, author of “Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America,” as quoted by Michael Gerson.

It is somewhat presumptuous of me to comment on a book that I have not read, but for this purpose I am going to assume that Chas Newkey-Burden has not taken the following sentence from Melanie Phillips’ new book, The World Turned Upside Down: The Global Battle Over God, Truth, and Power (Encounter Books, 2010), [...]

A predictable but pretty disgraceful (and untrue) attack on Peter Tatchell from Andy Newman of Socialist Unity:
Despite the fact that Scott Long was making a substantial contribution to an important political debate, he, and Human Rights Watch, have chosen to make a statement of apology and retraction in response to a libel threat from Peter [...]

I’ve never attended one of the Socialist Workers’ Party’s annual “Marxism [insert year]” extravaganzas, and I’m pretty sure I never will, but I’m fascinated by them.
For one thing, it’s always interesting to note which stars of the previous year’s Marxism past have become unpersons at the next year’s Marxism. Recent examples include George Galloway, [...]

This is a guest post by Amjad Khan, a former member of Hizb ut Tahrir
It hasn’t been a good year for Hizb ut Tahrir (HT), the radical Islamist group that seeks to conquer the world through armed Jihad and enforce a medieval and de-contextualised understanding of Shariah on everyone. The Marriott in Chicago has refused [...]

This is a Cross-Post from A Rabbit’s Eye View of the Hyperborean North.

During the expenses scandal at Westminster, the LibDems and SNP were keen to present a pious public image of themselves. As the former now are discovering, one reason for this was their then lack of any importance in the political landscape.
Despite representing [...]

This is a Press Release from Peter Tatchell
“Inappropriate, disparaging, inaccurate, condemnatory and intemperate personal attacks,” acknowledges HRW
“Apology accepted, let’s move on and work together,” urges Peter Tatchell
London – 30 June 2010
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has made a full and unreserved apology to human rights rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
The apology has been made by HRW’s Executive [...]

Lenni Brenner is a Trotskyist who is best known for his travesty, Zionism in the Age of the Dictators: A Reappraisal. While this book has been thoroughly discredited, Noontide Press, a publishing house for neo-Nazis and  Holocaust deniers, were clearly impressed as they viewed it worthy for republishing.
In his younger days Brenner was known as [...]