Daryl Hedding

Four days ago, Dutch MP Geert Wilders was refused entry to the UK on the grounds that he would threaten public security. He was interviewed by the BBC after being detained immediately upon arrival. It should be noted that Wilders represents the 3rd largest political party in the Netherlands and that he has no criminal convictions against him in the EU. Charges of hate speech have been filed against him in the Netherlands, but he is still innocent until proven guilty. Wilders had actually been in the UK a few weeks before, without inciting any violence, or threatening any public security. The issue here comes down to the fact that he was invited to show his movie Fitna at the House of Lords. Wilders has had numerous death threats made on his life as a result of the critical views of Islam he expresses in the film. As if that is not ironic enough, it would seem that the British government is now willing to muzzle free speech for fear that its Islamic community may live up to the kind of...

It's popular nowadays to bash Bush. Few will rally to his defence. But, today, that didn't stop the President from defending Israel, and laying the blame for the ongoing violence in Gaza squarely at Hamas' door. He said that Israel has the right to defend itself and that a truce must see Hamas unable to launch more rockets into Israel. Bush has set a standard for dealing with the Israel-Palestinian conflict; no moral equivalence. Try to find another world leader who's ready to call it like it is, who's willing to take a side and admit the obvious that Hamas and the Palestinians who voted them into power have brought this trouble upon their own heads. Obama has many challenges before him when he takes office this month. Meeting the Bush standard on this issue will certainly be one of them.