The iPINIONS Journal

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Muslims have decreed that Pope Benedict XVI must die for implying that Islam has been hijacked by evil and inhuman radicals…duh! Meanwhile, you’ve probably heard about people dying in America from e. coli-laden spinach. In fact, U.S. intelligence experts have always suspected that al-Qaeda might try to contaminate the food supply. But using spinach hardly… Read more.

Turkey is arguably the most democratic and progressive of all Muslim countries. Yet, Article 301 of its penal code, which provides for the incarceration of anyone who “denigrates Turkish national identity”, has led to a series of criminal trials in recent years that make Turkey seem more like Afghanistan under the Taliban. In fact, Turkey’s… Read more.

Yesterday, while Thailand’s Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (Left) was strutting his stuff upon the international stage – at a meaningless Non-Aligned Meeting in Cuba and an equally meaningless UN General Assembly 61st Session in New York – army Commander-in-Chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin (Right, in green) was orchestrating a military coup d’état to oust him from… Read more.

On Saturday, it became patently clear to me that violent Muslim reaction to a homily Pope Benedict XVI delivered last week was beginning to ape their violent reaction to the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad last February. The alleged trigger that set Muslims off on this latest round of mob protests – to… Read more.

Not so long ago, some of us considered the war in Afghanistan as much an unqualified success as we deemed the war in Iraq an unmitigated failure. But a new crop of Taliban fighters are beginning to surpass die-hard insurgents in Iraq in their ability to undermine U.S. efforts to “stand up” a democratic government… Read more.

Since Tuesday, Muslims have been engaged in what is fast becoming an ironic and perverse religious rite: namely, defending perceived offenses to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad by rioting, looting and threatening to kill! Their latest acts of holy vigilantism were triggered – unwittingly, one assumes – by Pope Benedict XVI’s comments on a 14th… Read more.

Englishman Mark Burnett should not be criticized for playing the race card to lift sagging ratings on his show Survivor: Cook Islands. Rather, he should be criticized for playing the American people for fools – by proclaiming that he’s playing the race card as “a social experiment like never before”. After all, Burnett knows as… Read more.

On Wednesday, I received an email from an old friend which bore all of the hallmarks of one of those infamous chain emails that become urban legend. In this case, my friend – an unqualified supporter of the U.S. military – wanted me to help spread the word about an incredible act of spontaneous generosity… Read more.

I have always been stupefied by people who compound a bad decision to marry by refusing to divorce. Therefore, I was heartened by yesterday’s announcement that Whitney Houston has finally decided to divorce her self-described bad-boy husband Bobby Brown. Let me hasten to clarify, however, that I am not one who holds Whitney blameless for… Read more.