Terry Firma, though born and Journalism-school-educated in Europe, has lived in the U.S. for the past 20-odd years. Stateside, his feature articles have been published in the New York Times, Reason, Rolling Stone, Playboy, and Wired. Terry was the founder and Main Mischief Maker of Moral Compass, a now-dormant site that pokes fun at the delusional claim by people of faith that a belief in God equips them with superior moral standards. He was the Editor-in-Chief of two Manhattan-based magazines until he decided to give up commercial publishing for professional photography... with a lot of blogging on the side. These days, he lives in an old seaside farmhouse in Maine with his wife, three kids, and two big dogs.
She traded in her Flying V for a Kalashnikov: A middle-aged British mother-of-two and former rock band member has joined jihadists in Syria and wants to behead Christians with a blunt knife, British media reported. The reports identified the woman as Sally Jones, 45, from Kent in southeast England, and said she now goes by the name Sakinah Hussain, or Umm Hussain al-Britani… Read more
A Muslim inmate is fighting all the way up to the Supreme Court to force U.S. prisons to give the thumbs up to religious beards: The new case was brought by an Arkansas inmate, Gregory H. Holt, who is serving a life sentence for burglary and domestic battery. Mr. Holt, also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad, sought to grow a half-inch beard. More than 40 state prison systems allow such beards, which are shorter than a dime. Most allow longer ones. The exceptions, according to Mr. Holt’s brief, are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Prison officials have explained that the no-beards policy exists to promote security and safety. Read more
In the New Republic, Graeme Wood explains what the Islamic State’s ostensible caliphate means to Muslims the world over: The word khalifa means “successor” (to Muhammad), and as such, a rightful caliph can demand the allegiance of all Muslims. But historically, an applicant for the job has had to fulfill a few conditions. He (always he) must be Muslim, fully grown, devout, sane, and physically whole. Read more
