April 2009 Archives

Egypt: The tentacles of the Jewish Conspiracy are everywhere, you know, especially if you're a bigoted bampot. The latest evidence is, apparently, the Starbucks logo, which is not the mermaid we all think it is, at least according to Safwat Higazi:

The girl in the Starbucks logo is Queen Esther, he insisted. This queen is Queen of the Jews.

And the crown she wears?

This is the crown of the Kingdom of Persia. This girl you see is Esther, Queen of the Jews in Persia....

Can you believe that in Mecca, Medina, Cairo, Damascus, Kuwait and all over the Islamic world hangs the picture of beautiful Queen Esther with a crown on her head and we buy her products? exclaimed Higazi. It is inconceivable.

Englandshire: To no-one's surprise, a new report shows that faith schools have completely failed to improve educational standards and have instead led to social fragmentation:

Academics at the London School of Economics and the Institute of Education, both part of the University of London, found no proof that providing parents with the choice of a religious secondary school either raised results or helped drive up standards in other local schools.

The research suggests that government policies to promote a market in education - by promising parents a choice of school in the belief that the competition for children will improve standards - only create a more socially fragmented system.

The paper concludes that there is "significant evidence that religious schools are associated with higher levels of pupil sorting across schools, but no evidence that competition from faith schools raises area-wide pupil attainment".

Despite this, the government still seems to think it's a good idea, yet do not ask themselves why they thought a law against incitement to religious hatred was necessary.

Faith schools 'failing to improve standards'—The Guardian, 18th April 2009.