Guest post by award-winning, bestselling author Samreen Ahsan Our world is trending on controversial hashtags these days: be it #JeSuisCharlie, #PeshawarAttack or #IWillRideWithYou. We all have our own opinions and thoughts—but what exactly does “freedom of speech” mean? Is it having the right to express an opinion on something that you observe or read, […]
Creative Commons Every January, pundits put on their Janus masks to look back and forward at the same time and make predictions about the year to come. They try to give their words as much gravity as they can, but if we look at history, we see they’re somewhat less reliable than the weather. Some […]
Photo Credit: CanStockPhoto under creative commons licence Where is the line between the right to free expression and the responsibility to respect others? There’s a debate going on now about whether media outlets should republish the cartoons from Charlie Hebdo that enraged three men in France enough to kill 25 people at the magazine and […]
There is a world-wide, religious war going on right now, even though Western, democratic and governmental leaders don’t want to admit it. It’s not a war prosecuted by all Muslims, not by any stretch. But it is a war, a campaign against freedoms the West purports to stand for: freedom of thought, freedom of […]
Ukrainian Christmas Eve Paska and candle. January 6, as everyone knows, is “Ukrainian Christmas Eve.” Actually, it’s Christmas Eve according to the old Julian calendar. So my Ukrainian Christmas present to readers, and to Ukrainians around the world, is an excerpt from my upcoming book, still unnamed, the sequel to Army of Worn Soles. […]
Creative Commons My best wishes to you for 2015. May you all be happy, healthy and successful in whatever you endeavour.