Philosopher STEPHEN RAINEY considers the morality of the Naseer-Khan decision

The idea that animals have a ‘right’ to privacy is a trojan horse for even madder ideas, says TIMANDRA HARKNESS

The Penny’s moral panic is a sideshow – the real story is the infantalisation of adult women, says DAN JEWESBURY

England’s new tougher regulations on lap dancing are a victory for middle class hypocrisy, not women, says ELEANOR TAMS

Calls to ban head shops are illiberal and silly but so are pro-drug voices who complain about alcohol and tobacco, says JASON WALSH

James Lovelock’s authoritarian complaints about humanity are not only undemocratic, they’re wrong

Adding green to the red, white and blue doesn’t make forced deportations, colonisation or militarisation acceptable, says JASON WALSH

Nationalisation is not public ownership, says JASON WALSH

The decision to open pubs on Good Friday is the right one but it’s being done for the wrong reasons, says JASON WALSH

We have to defend Lars Vilks because free speech matters but he’s a fool and his alleged would-be assassins arrested in Ireland are bumbling idiots, says FINBAR ROSATO in Sweden

Why is modern Ireland home to some of the most conservative politics in Europe, asks JASON WALSH

STEPHEN MCGLENNON wonders how ‘liberal’ became a term of abuse and argues there’s still life in the old dog yet

They may offend liberal opinion but tabloid newspapers are the first line of defence for a free press, says JASON WALSH

ANNA MORVERN says the alleged Mossad assassination should not be allowed to force biometric identity documents on us

Official censorship pales in comparison to unofficial censureship, says BRENDAN O’NEILL

The authorities have given over authority to children, argues DENNIS HAYES, and it is tantamount to child abuse.

Sun, sea and… no sex or politics. According to reports Australia has gone censorship crazy, at home and away (on the internet). DAVID JACKMANSON brave the battle of the (bantam) breasts to find out what’s really going on

The lesbian, the Pope and the right to free speech

The new lowered speed limit of 30 kilometres per hour is not about traffic management or road safety, it’s an assault on mobility – and the statistics prove it, says JASON WALSH

Today’s proliferation of rights is having the effect of making us less free

OWEN POLLEY argues against the North’s proposed undemocratic Bill of Rights

forth editor JASON WALSH reporting for the CS Monitor

Martin Cullen is being torn to pieces (not literally) in the press for using a metaphor. Both his critics and Cullen should grow up, says JASON WALSH

Why personal communication should be personal, in Global Comment

Frequent forth contributor DR STEPHEN GINN addresses a critic on the issue of government-issued ID cards

Paul Chambers arrested under controversial law and banned from airport for obvious joke, report forth editor JASON WALSH and MARK HUGHES in the Independent of London

China’s execution of British man Akmal Shaikh was a disgrace but it had nothing to do with Copenhagen, despite the green conspiracy theories, says JASON WALSH

Jason Walsh asks if we’ve got it wrong about rights

Civil partnership likely to be approved but many want marriage

forth editor Jason Walsh comments on the gay marriage debate in the Guardian

Ireland, amid fast cultural change, is set to approve civil unions for same sex couples, writes forth editor Jason Walsh, reporting for the CS Monitor

With identity cards being launched in Manchester STEPHEN GINN asks why Labour is persisting with this unpopular, unworkable and failed idea

forth editor Jason Walsh writes about the government’s plans to beat-up the working class in the name of the environment

Philosopher Stephen Rainey reports on the withdrawal of abortion advice in the North

The appalling abuse of children by Catholic priests should not be allowed to make children of us all, says Jason Walsh

David Attenborough has joined the ranks of the bossy greens who want to save the planet – from humanity. Jason Walsh asks if the environmental movement is winning the battle but losing the war by making ever more extreme demands

No church in two states: a secular Ireland would be good for religion – and the rest of us, says Brian McClinton

Another US state has said no to gay marriage – but what is the state doing in people’s bedrooms anyway?

British government drug policy preaches harm reduction but actually the agenda is moral and political, says Dr. Stephen Ginn

Killjoy Ireland’s war on fireworks

Restrictions on freedom of movement are an offence to human decency

If we denied a platform to every political party that espoused idiotic views there would be no politics on television at all

But it doesn’t have to be valuable. Professor of philosophy, Gerard Casey says there should be a platform for idiots

A message from the editor of forth: shut up! Unless, of course, you think people complaining on a website is the most significant thing happening in the world

The Twitter-led virtual lynching of Jan Moir is a sad indictment of what passes for politics in these atomised times, says Jason Walsh

Morons are entitled to free speech too, says Jason Walsh. Even morons using Twitter

The only thing more predictable and irritating than the Daily Mail is the ‘offencearati’ of people outraged by it, says Brendan O’Neill