Some catch-up articles

1. Charles Moore argues that whether in Northern Ireland or among Britain's Muslims, extremists will exploit the reasonable majority. Here's an extract:

"The extremists are much more aware than we are that the front line of the rule of law matters. So they demand that the front line be broken. Sinn Fein made sure, as a condition of entering government, that Tony Blair would abolish its most formidable adversary, the Royal Ulster Constabulary. One reason that three members of the security forces died this week is that we no longer have the police and security knowledge needed to prevent such attacks.

In facing militant Islam, the police, attacked for "institutional racism" and "Islamophobia", effectively seek "Muslim permission" for legitimate inquiries. This risks hampering proper police work.

Guess whom the Bedfordshire Police arrested in Luton. Not the demonstrators with their revolting insults, but the members of the soldier-supporting public who threw things at them. "

2. Ed Husain says

"We can expect Luton-style protests and worse in the years to come unless the Government gets a grip on Islamism" and includes these thoughts: "It's comfortable for us to think that these are the actions of a small minority – but are they? The vile mob that hurled abuse against returning troops does not operate in a vacuum, somehow removed from other Muslims. Only two weeks ago, the same group of extremists openly marched in Tower Hamlets, Britain's most densely populated "Muslim area". Where was the local outrage against these bigots? The nearby east London Mosque – Europe's largest Muslim institution – sends groups of young vigilantes to hound local prostitutes and drug dealers, but it turns a blind eye to extremism.

This nationwide network of fanatics, who give themselves various names at different times to deceive the authorities – from al-Muhajiroun to the Saved Sect – is an offshoot of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group that shares al-Qaeda's aim of a global caliphate, but uses different methods."

3. Was it really Michael Jackson at the London Arena tour announcement. Does anyone really care about the shrill voiced freak whose singing career has left me somewhat unenthusiastic since he went solo.


4. Himmelgarten Cafe explains why DNA profiling is not as accurate as we have been lead to believe:

"Suppose the police have a big DNA database. They find a degraded DNA sample at the crime scene which matches only one in a million people. A name pops out of the database, plod dashes round and makes a swift arrest. If there is no other evidence what is the chance of chummy being guilty?

The prosecutor's fallacy is to say it's 99.999% - there's only a one in a million chance that the DNA sample got the wrong man.

In reality, if the sample matches one in every million people, it must match around 60 people in the UK alone so, if we know no more than the criminal is probably from the UK, the chance of chummy being guilty is 1 in 60, or 1.67%."

5. Rugfish explores Gordon Brown's Monopoly tactics:

"Gordon meanwhile, is on his way to the bank and he's not said a word because the Bank of England is "independent", and it's got "nowt to do with him". It would appear that Gordon is acting more like a silent Monopoly Man with our economy, rather than someone who's a part of the game others have no choice but to play."

6. ExPatYank discusses what is a citizen. Do read the whole very interesting article, here's an extract:

"So increasingly absent the unifying Established Church that had for centuries helped mark out a large part of the “national boundary,” what remains? Shakespeare and Gibbon (and some today) might well have shared the views of certain Muslims regarding the proper fate of a pope. But that doesn’t mean that they would have shared the view that those same Mohammedans Muslims could be just as English as they themselves: how could they be, given they don’t adhere to the Established Christian Church?

Mr Norman and his Independent though, have cracked the exceedingly complicated question. No longer need we ponder it. Yes, we get it at last: if you are born in a barn, you are indeed a horse."

7. Brackenworld exclaims that

"The next person to argue to me that this recession is happening because of "deregulated" banks is going to get a carefully gift-wrapped punch in the face."

Do read the whole piece.