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Fresh Facts, and Opinions, this week: from a robot to the circus, civilization’s clash to Pakistan’s madness

Attend to the Real Clash of Civilizations, by Tom Regan, Summoning Orenda  F&O column  “Am I my brother’s keeper?” How you answer this question tells a great deal about you as a person and about the kind of society in which you would like to live. And the great clash of civilization is between tolerance and intolerance. Pakistan’s long road to the Lahore bombing, by Jonathan Manthorpe, International Affairs   F&O column The Easter Sunday suicide bombing in Lahore, which was aimed at Christians but killed and maimed mostly Muslims, is a gruesome metaphor for the religious madness that has consumed Pakistan

Fresh: Facts, and Opinions, this week

  The West’s racist response to terrorism, by Tom Regan. Column It was a horrible attack. The terrorist gunmen walked up and down the beach, slaughtering men, women and children with each step they took. In one case, a small child begged for his life only to be murdered by the gunmen. A deaf child in the water, who others tried to warn of the danger, was also gunned down.  In the end at least 20 people lay dead, including two soldiers from a group who had arrived to confront the al-Qaeda terrorists. But I’m guessing you don’t know about this attack.

Balkanization and the Radovan Karadžić verdict

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić  was convicted and sentenced today by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. The U.N judges found him guilty of genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, and of nine other war crimes charges. Read the Reuters news report on F&O, with a photo-essay: UN Court Finds  Karadžić Guilty in Bosnia Genocide Trial, by Thomas Escritt and Toby Sterling. Karadžić is the most senior political figure to be convicted in the tribunal  — but  in some ways this is only another chapter in the larger sage of the Balkans conflicts. There are dozens of accused from the former Yugoslavia, some convicted, others whose cases are

The Attacks on Brussels

At least 30 people were killed and scores injured in terrorist attacks on Brussels today, March 22. Reports and analysis on Facts and Opinions, listed below, provide the crucial information as well as the deep context. But first, a note. Soon, if they have not already, critics will complain that those of us in developed countries pay undue attention to horrific events in our own realms, while ignoring the horrific events in less familiar, sometimes less developed, places. There is truth to such allegations — but the critics are wilfully ignoring human reality. Horror, or terror, if you prefer, is not an abstract concept. It is a response of the gut,

Facts, and Opinions, that matter this week

  Trump or no Trump, the Democrats are going to win in the fall. Tom Regan, F&O Columnist I’m tired of all the handwringing about Donald Trump. Yes, he’s bringing out a lot of new white voters, particularly angry white men. Yes, more Republicans are showing up to vote in the primaries than Democrats are. Yes, Trump is the “unexpected factor” that no one saw coming. Yes, underestimating Trump in the coming fall, as Republicans did last fall, is the greatest danger the Democrats face. It doesn’t matter one bit. BRICS turning to rubble. Jonathan Manthorpe, F&O Columnist  Report The leadership chaos in Brazil

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