ReasonableFaith.org >>>
With thanks to Judah of Judah’s Journal >>>
Judah’s Journal: Different Deities >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
BBC: One of Osama Bin Laden's sons is to mount a legal challenge after being refused entry to live in the UK with his 52-year-old British wife.
Omar Osama Bin Laden, 27, was told his visa application had been rejected because of newspaper suggestions he could still be loyal to his father.
He currently lives in Cairo, Egypt with wife Zaina Alsabah-Bin Laden, formerly named Jane Felix-Browne, from Cheshire. Mr Bin Laden, one of 19 siblings, has publicly condemned terrorism.
The couple hoped to move to Mrs Bin Laden's home in the village of Moulton, near Northwich in Cheshire, where she was a member of the parish council until recently.
Mrs Bin Laden, who is severely visually impaired, said she needed access to medical treatment in the UK but refused to be apart from her husband. Bin Laden's Son in UK Visa Appeal >>>
TIMESONLINE:
Omar bin Laden Banned from Britain >>> By David Brown | April 30, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
LE FIGARO: Le chef de l'État a plaidé mardi pour une plus étroite coopération économique entre les deux rives de la Méditerranée.
La Méditerranée encore et toujours ! Au deuxième jour de sa visite d'État en Tunisie, Nicolas Sarkozy est revenu sur un sujet qu'il affectionne entre tous. «Ensemble, le nord de la Méditerranée et le sud de la Méditerranée, on peut créer un pôle gagnant-gagnant qui concurrencera l'Asie», s'est enthousiasmé le chef de l'État devant un parterre de 500 chefs d'entreprise français et tunisiens.
«Il n'y a pas un bon d'avenir pour l'Europe si l'Afrique en général, et l'Afrique du Nord en particulier, ne connaît pas le développement. (…) Nous pouvons créer un modèle qui triomphera dans le monde entier», a poursuivi sur sa lancée le président français.
Encore largement virtuel, le grand chantier méditerranéen suscite un écho favorable chez les décideurs tunisiens qui l'envisagent comme un «accélérateur de projets», espérant aussi bénéficier du statut privilégié de leur pays dans les relations franco-maghrébine. Nicolas Sarkozy vante à Tunis l'Union pour la Méditerranée >>> D’Alain Barluet | 29. 04. 2008
LE FIGARO:
Sarkozy persiste sur les Droits de l'homme en Tunisie >>> | 30. 04. 2008
LE FIGARO:
Carla, la première dame en visite de bienfaisance >>> De Charles Jaigu | 30. 04. 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché)
The Dawning of a new Dark Age (Relié)
BBC: Iran's top prosecutor has called for restrictions in the import of Western toys, saying they have a destructive effect on the country's youth.
The Prosecutor General, Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi, said that toys such as Barbie, Batman, and Harry Potter would have negative social consequences.
Mr Najafabadi wants measures taken to protect what he called Iran's Islamic culture and revolutionary values.
Correspondents say Western culture is becoming increasingly popular in Iran.
Mr Najafabadi's comments were made in a letter addressed to Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi, and quoted in several Iranian newspapers.
"The displays of personalities such as Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter... as well as the irregular importation of unsanctioned computer games and movies are all warning bells to officials in the cultural arena," he wrote, according to a copy of the letter seen by Associated Press.
"The irregular importation of such toys, which unfortunately arrive through unofficial sources and smuggling, is destructive culturally and a social danger," he said.
The BBC's Pam O'Toole in Tehran says the increasing popularity of Western culture has been causing concern in Iran's clerical establishment for years. Iran Calls for Ban on Barbie Doll >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Turkey's parliament has accepted the government's reform of a law used in recent years to persecute writers and political dissidents. The law against "insulting Turkishness" is now a law against "insulting the Turkish nation." Whether it will help Turkey join the EU is an open question.
A long-awaited change to a law against "insulting Turkishness" was passed early Wednesday morning by Turkey's parliament, though writers and activists say the revision isn't strong enough. Critics of the law have long considered it a curtailment of free speech in Turkey and a major obstacle to Ankara's ambition to join the European Union.
Legislators voted 250-65 in favor of amending Article 301 of Turkey's penal code, which has been used to convict 745 people since 2003, including Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and murdered journalist Hrant Dink (more...), according to the Associated Press.
The revision redefines the crime as insulting the "Turkish nation" -- instead of "Turkishness," which was vague enough to allow the government to harass political opponents. The new law also cuts the maximum jail sentence from three years to two, and requires the justice minister to approve any investigation into possible violations.
Critics are calling the reform superficial. "What needs to be done is to abolish 301 altogether," said Fatma Kurtulan, a pro-Kurdish legislator, according to AP. Kurtulan said the reform was designed to appease EU demands without actually bringing about any real change. A Nod to Europe: Ankara Amends Controversial 'Turkishness' Law >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
NEW YORK TIMES: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Senator Barack Obama broke forcefully on Tuesday with his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., in an effort to curtail a drama of race, values, patriotism and betrayal that has enveloped his presidential candidacy at a critical juncture.
At a news conference here, Mr. Obama denounced remarks Mr. Wright made in a series of televised appearances over the last several days. In the appearances, Mr. Wright has suggested that the United States was attacked because it engaged in terrorism on other people and that the government was capable of having used the AIDS virus to commit genocide against minorities. His remarks also cast Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, in a positive light.
In tones sharply different from those Mr. Obama used on Monday, when he blamed the news media and his rivals for focusing on Mr. Wright, and far harsher than those he used in his speech on race in Philadelphia last month, Mr. Obama tried to cut all his ties to — and to discredit — Mr. Wright, the man who presided at Mr. Obama’s wedding and baptized his two daughters.
“His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church,” Mr. Obama said, his voice welling with anger. “They certainly don’t portray accurately my values and beliefs.” Obama’s Break With Ex-Pastor Sets Sharp Shift in Tone >>> By Jeff Zeleny and Adam Nagourney | April 30, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH:
Barack Obama Denounces Rev Jeremiah Wright: Barack Obama has made an impassioned denunciation of his controversial former pastor, calling remarks the Rev Jeremiah Wright made earlier this week “outrageous” and contradictory to “everything I have done in my life”. >>> By Alex Spillius in Washington | April 30, 2008
TIMESONLINE:
Pastor Goes on Attack to Give Barack Obama Fresh Headache >>> By Tom Baldwin and Tim Reid in Washington | April 29, 2008
THE GUARDIAN:
This Time with Anger >>> By Michael Tomasky | April 29, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
YAHOO NEWS: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A governor in northern Saudi Arabia has ordered authorities to punish men who flirt with women in public places by cutting their hair, local media said Tuesday.
Prince Fahd bin Badr, governor of the northern al-Jof region, ordered police to carry out the punishment after seeing a group of men with long hair pestering female students as they left school in the northern al-Qurayat province, Al-Hayat newspaper said.
It said the prince told a gathering at his palace in the northern town of Skaka on Sunday he has instructed police to apply the punishment to all youths guilty of flirting, including "the sons of senior military and civil officials."
"The decision doesn't include men who spend their free time in public places without hurting anyone," the paper quoted the prince as saying. Saudi Governor Orders Haircuts for Men Who Hit On Women >>> Associated Press | April 29, 2008
Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
AFP: OTTAWA — A complaint by Canadian Muslims against a leading local news magazine has sparked a national debate on the limits of press freedoms in this country often cited as a beacon of multiculturalism.
"Protest while you still can," shouted this week's edition of Maclean's, a publication similar to US magazines Time or Newsweek, saying in an editorial that human rights boards are undermining free speech in Canada.
The controversy dates back to October 2006, when Maclean's ran an article excerpted from noted author and journalist Mark Steyn's book "America Alone," entitled "Why the Future Belongs to Islam."
A self-described agitator, Steyn argued that demographics and Muslims' global ambitions ensured Islam's eventual world domination and that Europe was "too enfeebled to resist its remorseless transformation into Eurabia."
For four Toronto law students, Maclean's had crossed the line by proposing that "Muslims are part of a global conspiracy to take over Western society and impose an oppressive form of Islamic law," Khurrum Awan, one of the students, told AFP.
"We did some research and realized that Maclean's had published 19 articles with such a tone," he said, adding that his group asked for but was denied the opportunity to publish a response when they met with the magazine's editors.
Maclean's, which is defending itself against accusations at a human rights tribunal that its articles incited hate, said the students' demands for a 5,000-word rebuttal and to direct the magazine cover art were unacceptable.
"This is a complete fabrication," said Awan, insisting the editor-in-chief told them he would rather see the magazine go out of business than publish a response, or, according to the magazine, hand over editorial reigns.
The students, backed by the Canadian Islamic Congress, lodged a complaint with the federal human rights commission and two of its provincial counterparts in Ontario and British Columbia.
The federal and British Columbia tribunals are still mulling over the case. Islamophobia Accusations Spark Debate on Canada Press Freedom >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Canada)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Canada)
FOCUS NEWS AGENCY: In the summer of 2004, in an interview little noticed outside the country, the prominent academic scholar of Islam Bassam Tibi predicted a future for Germany that many decried as provocative nonsense at the time.1[sic] In ten years, Tibi said, Germany will be the scene of large running battles between police and gangs of marginalized Muslim youth, bringing cities like Berlin, Cologne and Frankfurt to the brink of chaos. This will be the inevitable result, according to him, of a trend that is already visible. Muslims are not interested in integration. They are, in fact, obligated not to integrate by the radical Islamic ideology dominant in their communities, and live increasingly segregated in parallel societies. The main difference between 2004 and 2014, Tibi believed, would be that the highly marginalized Muslim population would have more than doubled to 10 million, sharia would have been gradually introduced in Germany and the Islam preached there would be even more radical and resemble Nazi totalitarianism.
Today, more than three and a half years later, a new study of attitudes among young Muslims by the German interior ministry would seem to confirm Tibi’s fears. According to the survey, 44 percent of respondents have fundamentalist Islamic beliefs, 50 percent believe that “Muslims who die in the armed struggle for the faith (Jihad) go to paradise,” and one in four is ready to engage in violence against non-Muslims.2 [sic] Stumbling Toward Eurabia >>> By Alex Alexiev
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
THE TECH (MIT): Amal Dorai G mischaracterizes my letter from last week. Far from saying that we should accommodate the intolerance of other cultures, I was posing a question — how do we reconcile our liberal society (here I use “liberal” in its classical sense) with respect for multicultural diversity, when some of our own values, such as respect for the rights of homosexuals, conflict with those of other cultures? Do we dare to assert the superiority of civilized Western liberalism over the medieval puritanism which still persists in some parts of the world today? Dorai seems to think so, and his letter suggests that it is ridiculous to think otherwise — he believes it is “ludicrous” to accommodate another culture’s bigotry.
However, appropriate limits to multiculturalism are not as obvious to our friends in Europe and Canada. According to the BBC, the Canadian government, flouting free speech rights, brought writer Mark Steyn before a human rights tribunal for writings which were critical of Islam (as if boorishness is on par with, say, genocide). In the UK, Islamic Sharia law courts, where the laws of evidence are more lenient, now operate as an alternative to the legitimate courts of the British government, according to The Telegraph, undoubtedly encouraged by the climate fostered by idealists such as the ruling Labour Party, which had insisted for many years that their country is “multicultural.” In Germany, the judge of a German court cited the Koran in rejecting a Moroccan woman’s petition for an accelerated divorce due to domestic violence and death threats from her husband, according to the International Herald Tribune. While mainstream Muslim leaders, to their credit, swiftly condemned the ruling, the apparent alacrity with which the judge subordinated German legal principles to the Koran illustrates the paralysis of justice which could result from permitting cultural accommodation to become too ingrained. In France, philosopher Jean-Francois Revel has commented that the institutional reluctance to teach French to immigrant children in French schools has stunted the upward mobility of these immigrants, causing resentment which sometimes boils over into the youth riots we have witnessed in recent years. Homosexuals, in particular, comprise one group which has much to fear from the growing Islamization of Europe. In the Netherlands, attacks on gays have increased in recent years, mostly perpetrated by Moroccan youths, according to Radio Netherlands. In Iran, Sharia law calls for the execution of homosexuals. It may be ridiculous now to think that something like that could happen in western Europe, but such changes do not occur suddenly, and we only notice too late when things have gone too far, just as a frog submerged in a pot of cold water does not jump out of the pot if the water is brought gradually to a boil. Multiculturalism May Erode Strength Of Western Values >>> By Justin Wong | April 29, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
LE FIGARO: Cet ancien journaliste de 43 ans, qui ne sait pas résister à une blague, pourrait, jeudi, ravir la capitale britannique au travailliste Ken Livingstone. Avec ce drôle d'oiseau, le camp conservateur n'a pas fini d'en voir de toutes les couleurs.
Avec son épaisse tignasse blonde en désordre, ses costumes froissés et son éternel sourire en coin, Boris Johnson n'a pas l'air d'un homme à qui on confierait le contrôle de la plus grande capitale européenne et la responsabilité d'un budget de 10 milliards de livres. Et pourtant, à la surprise générale, le candidat conservateur devance dans les sondages le redoutable Ken Livingstone, maire travailliste depuis la création du poste en 2000.
Il y a encore quelques mois, lors de sa sélection, facile, au sein du parti conservateur pour devenir candidat à la mairie de Londres, de nombreux observateurs étaient dubitatifs sur les chances de celui qu'ils qualifiaient de «bouffon», de «clown». L'homme est plus célèbre pour ses gaffes et ses bons mots que par la clarté de ses programmes politiques. Sur YouTube, plus d'un million d'internautes ont déjà regardé la courte vidéo qui le montre en train de faire un plaquage de rugby sur un autre joueur, lors d'un match de football organisé par une œuvre caritative. Après le match, il s'excuse, en précisant tout de même : «J'ai tenté de jouer la balle avec la tête, ce qui est une action légitime au foot, je crois.»
Son étonnante popularité doit aussi beaucoup au succès de ses interventions lors de shows télévisés. Sa chevelure blonde très reconnaissable et son sens de la repartie le rendent rapidement célèbre. À plusieurs reprises, il réussit à répondre avec humour et ce sens si britannique de l'autodérision aux piques que lui lancent les présentateurs en rappelant les nombreux scandales qu'il traîne derrière lui. Boris Johnson, le «bouffon» de Londres >>> De Cyrille Vanlerberghe | 28. 04. 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché)
The Dawning of a new Dark Age (Relié)
BBC: Democratic US presidential hopeful Barack Obama has expressed "outrage" at comments made by Rev Jeremiah Wright.
He said that any relationship he had with his former pastor "has now changed" as a result of the comments.
Clips of Rev Wright's fiery sermons triggered a storm of criticism when they were aired last month.
Meanwhile, Mr Obama's rival Hillary Clinton was endorsed by North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, and Republican John McCain unveiled a healthcare plan.
'Saddened'
Mr Obama was responding to a series of recent public appearances by Rev Wright, in which the pastor refused to back down from the controversial statements made in his sermons.
"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened by the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Mr Obama told reporters.
The Illinois senator described Rev Wright's comments as "divisive and destructive" and said they "end up giving comfort to those that prey on hate". Obama ‘Angry’ at Pastor Comments >>> | April 29, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
DIE ZEIT: Am Persischen Golf boomt die Wirtschaft. Aber es ziehen dunkle Wolken auf. Im Irak tobt bereits jenes politische Unwetter, das sich in den kommenden Jahren über der ganzen Region zu entladen droht.
Vorletztes Wochenende fand in Riad, der Hauptstadt Saudi-Arabiens, auf Einladung zweier saudischer Think Tanks eine Konferenz mit Saudis, Amerikanern und Europäern zur Zukunft des Iraks statt. Dabei geht es schon längst nicht mehr um die Frage, ob die USA den Krieg im Irak gewinnen können oder nicht. Die Antwort darauf fällt eindeutig aus: Diese Chance wurde seit Langem vertan, wenn sie denn je bestanden hat.
Die eigentliche Frage aus Sicht Saudi-Arabiens und der anderen arabischen Golfanrainer lautet vielmehr, ob die islamische Republik Iran der große Gewinner des neokonservativen Abenteuers an Euphrat und Tigris sein wird oder nicht. An der Antwort auf diese Frage droht sich aus Sicht Riads auch die Zukunft des eigenen Landes zu entscheiden.
Vieles spricht dafür, dass die Ängste der Saudis berechtigt sind. Eine iranische Hegemonie am Golf allerdings würde das regionale Gleichgewicht der Mächte fundamental verändern und birgt deshalb die Gefahr einer umfassenden Konfrontation in sich. Konfrontation am Golf >>> Von Joshka Fischer
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe)
BBC: A 19-year-old Bristol man has been charged with terrorist offences relating to explosive substances.
Andrew Ibrahim, of Westbury-on-Trym, was arrested on 17 April. Three controlled explosions were later carried out at his flat.
He has been charged with possession of an explosive substance, the intention to commit terrorism and the possession of articles for terrorist purposes.
He will appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
Speaking ahead of his appearance in the London court, Mr Ibrahim's family spoke of their "shock" at the charges.
In a statement, his relatives said: "As a family we have been shocked and deeply distressed by the events of the past fortnight.
"We are still coming to terms with the news and trying to deal with this shock as a family. We therefore would ask that the media respect our privacy at this extremely difficult time." Teenager Facing Terrorism Charges >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
INTERNATIONAL ANALYST NETWORK: The Bush administration has launched a new “outreach” policy reflecting it’s reluctance to discuss jihadism in public. This time, it has targeted language. We are no longer at war with “jihadism”. Rather, we are engaged in a war against “extremism”.
In a document titled: "Words that Work and Words that Don't: A Guide for Counterterrorism Communication” released in March 2008, Federal agencies including the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counter Terrorism Center will now be issued instructions on how not to describe "jihadists”, or the "mujahedeen", or to use any references relating to Islam, Islamic theology or Muslims in the context of our current war. Nor are these the only words to be struck from the government’s political lexicon. Words and phrases like “al Qaeda movement”, “Salafi”, “Wahhabist”, “Sufi”, “ummah” (the Muslim world), “Islamic terrorist”, “Islamist”, “holy warrior” and even “caliphate” are also to be removed from diplomatic discourse.
The erroneous rationale given is that these terms promote support for “extremism” among Arab and Muslim audiences by providing religious credibility to “extremists” while offending moderate Muslims. The directive states that the term “jihad” tends to “glamorize terrorism, imbues terrorists with religious authority they do not have and damages relations with Muslims around the world". The memo says the advice is not binding and does not apply to official policy papers, but should be used as a guide for conversations with Muslims and media.
This directive mirrors identical policy guidelines distributed to British and European Union diplomats last year to better explain the current war to Muslim communities there (as if they don’t already get it). Last summer, Prime Minister Gordon Brown prohibited his ministers from using the word “Muslim” in connection with terrorism. And in January this year, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith went even further, announcing that the British Government had dropped the terms “War on Terror” and “Islamic extremism” altogether. Civil servants now have to refer to Islamic terrorists merely as “criminals” without any reference to Islam in order to “prevent the glorification and incitement of terrorism”. Bat Ye’or would call these actions just another manifestation of creeping British “d’himmitude” [sic] (infidel submission to Islam), but the fact that the US government is now following the British lead (where fear under the guise of “outreach” is the motivating factor) is disturbing. America’s War on Words >>> By Mark Silverberg
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
BBC: One of the most remarkable archive sequences we came across while researching the Age of Terror programme, features a seven-year-old Algerian boy called Abdelkahar Belhadj. He is seen addressing a political rally of thousands in 1991 with all the confidence and fire of a mature adult.
"There are a billion Muslims and we don't have a state that rules by God's Holy Law. Isn't that a dishonour and a shame on us?" he proclaims in the voice of a child.
He is cheered ecstatically and lifted on high. It was revelatory to hear the philosophy of jihad - the struggle to overthrow infidel regimes and replace them with Islamic states under Sharia law - emerging from the lips of one so young.
In 2007, 16 years later, we watched another clip, a propaganda video announcing the launch of al-Qaeda in North Africa featuring non other than Abdelkahar Belhadj, now a fully-fledged jihadi.
When I first saw the clip of the young Belhadj, I was instantly reminded of an interview I'd done in an IRA stronghold in Belfast in the mid-seventies with a little boy called Sean. I vividly remember he had the initials IRA inked on the back of his hand.
Sean told me he wanted to fight and die for Ireland. Years later I met him again, this time on an IRA wing inside the Maze prison. He had gone to jail after fighting for the cause he had embraced all those years ago.
Sean and Abdelkahar Belhadj illuminate the bigger picture of the Age of Terror: how the "cause", be it Islamist or Republican, Basque or Palestinian, flows from one generation to the next and on through the veins of history. Algeria and the Rise of Islamist Extremism >>> By Peter Taylor | April 29, 2008
BBC:
Age of Terror Website >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
INDIA eNEWS: Senior Islamic leaders of Malaysia have rejected a proposal by Prime Minister Abdullah Amad Badawi that requires non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam to inform their family before doing so.
Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) director-general Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz said it was decided at a recent conference that met to streamline Syariah*, the Islamic laws and civil laws.
'Based on Syariah laws, there is no 'nas' (quotations from the Quran to prove or settle a point) compelling a person wishing to convert to Islam to inform the family before doing so,' Wan Mohamad said in a statement Monday.
The conference also decided that the need to inform loved ones should be left to the discretion of the person wishing to convert.
Wan Mohamad said present Syariah laws on conversion and related matters were sufficient and the present practices should be continued.
'Nevertheless, provisions for registration, custody and the education of converts need to be formulated in a more effective manner,' The Daily Star quoted him as saying Tuesday.
Wan Mohamad added under the Syariah laws, the duties and responsibility of the convert towards his non-Muslim parents did not stop after the conversion.
Badawi had said the government would introduce a regulation requiring non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam to inform their family before doing so.
He said this would prevent problems of families disputing the conversion of their loved ones when they die. Muslim Clergy Opposes Badawi's Proposal on Conversion >>> | April 29, 2008
*Shari’ah
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
Listening to this man speak about the ‘glory’ of Islam, one is left asking oneself the question: If this is all true, then why has the Islamic world fallen so far behind?
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
Monday, April 28, 2008
BBC: Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor of the US presidential hopeful Barack Obama, has hit back at critics of his fiery sermons.
In two speeches, to journalists and African-American activists, Mr Wright said that attacks on him were attacks on the black church.
And he said that his six years of service in the military was proof of his patriotism.
Senator Obama rejected Mr Wright's language in a speech last month.
Publicity campaign
Mr Wright remained silent when old sermons containing politically charged remarks were circulated on television and online in March.
But he is now conducting a publicity campaign to defend himself against the criticisms that were made after the clips were aired. Obama’s Pastor Replies to Critics >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
INDIA eNEWS: Iran is to counter the anti-Islamic video Fitna (Discord) made by Dutch legislator Geert Wilders with two documentary films, Fars news agency reported Monday.
The Iranian films are titled Reply to Fitna and Beyond Fitna and aimed at what the filmmakers call neutralizing the 'plot' by the Dutch against Islam.
The two Iranian filmmakers have also declared their readiness to have a debate with Wilders over his film.
Tehran has condemned the anti-Islamic video, terming it 'insulting and anti-Islamic' and symbolic for the 'deep antagonism' of some Western states towards Islam and Muslims.
The Iranian foreign ministry last month summoned the Dutch ambassador to Tehran to lodge a protest against Wilders' video. [Source: Iran to Counter Dutch Anti-Islam Video with Two Documentaries]
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
GLOBE AND MAIL: It was in 1947 that "Canadian citizen" replaced "British subject" as the legal description of a voting participant in this democratic society. One might think that by now the transition would be complete, the concept of our citizenship mature. It is not. It has not kept up with changes in the world around us. Canadian law on citizenship and immigration is in need of another radical revision.
Most of us are proud to belong to a nation welcoming diverse peoples and accepting many cultures. But present law permits, even encourages, confusion of loyalties and plurality of citizenship. The sense of a Canadian identity is increasingly diluted. It need not be.
In the beginning, in the 1867 escape from colonies to nation, what it meant to be Canadian was plain. It was to be different from American. As the United States emerged from its bloody civil war, and found purpose in the manifest destiny of rolling west and potentially north, determination to have no part of it was equally strong in the British and the French.
The BNA Act was soon supported by the National Policy of tariffs and the railroad. That was not enough, however, to build an economy from sea to sea. Farmers from a cold climate were needed to break the Prairie sod. It was immigration from central Europe that made it possible for Quebec and the old British colonies to grow into a nation state. We remained a dynamic economy. In the mid-twentieth century, particularly, remarkable and diversified growth called for many new workers. At first they came from Britain and Europe, but prosperity there soon diminished those sources. The temper of the 1960s in any case called for openness to all peoples, who have since come especially from south and east Asia.
It is, however, a new imperative that calls for them. Canadians have become much less productive of offspring. Our fertility rate is barely two-thirds of the population replacement level. We are, of course, far from unique in that respect. But our population is already slight in relation to our resources. Smaller numbers would damagingly increase the burden of infrastructure overheads imposed by our geography. They would reduce the economies of scale possible for an economy whose manufacturing and service sectors are already challenged by growth elsewhere. Much as the world as a whole will eventually benefit from lower birth rates, it will be a long time before both economic and social pressures cease to call for migration to Canada, migration substantial in relation to our otherwise declining population. Canada Is Much More Than a Hotel >>> By Tom Kent
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Canada)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Canada)
LE POINT: Nicolas Sarkozy entame lundi en Tunisie un séjour de quarante-huit heures largement voué au développement de la relation politique et économique très étroite qui unit la France et son ancienne colonie, à peine perturbée par l'entêtante question des droits de l'Homme.
Après le Maroc et l'Algérie l'an dernier, le président, accompagné de son épouse, conclut chez son homologue tunisien Zine El Abidine Ben Ali sa première tournée des pays du Maghreb. Nicolas Sarkozy en visite d'Etat de 48h en Tunisie >>> Par Philippe ALFROY | 28. 04. 2008
LE MONDE:
Nicolas Sarkozy place sa visite à Tunis sous le signe de l'économie et de l'Union de la Méditerranée >>> | 28. 04. 2008
LE FIGARO:
Méditerranée : Sarkozy défend son projet à Tunis >>> Par Alain Barluet | 28. 04. 2008
Alain Barluet
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché)
The Dawning of a new Dark Age (Relié)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
AFP: KARACHI — Thousands of Pakistani women rallied here Saturday to protest against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed and a Dutch film said to insult Islam, witnesses said.
The women shouted "death to Denmark and death to Netherlands," as they marched about a kilometre (less than a mile) on a busy street.
Police said up to 4,000 women, mostly from an Islamic party, took part in the noisy demonstration, venting anger against the Internet release of a 15-minute film last month by far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders and publication of the Prophet caricatures.
In a resolution the rally urged the government to cease diplomatic ties with Denmark and the Netherlands and expel their envoys.
"We will defend the honour of our prophet and our religion at the cost of our lives," the fundamentalist Jamaat-i-Islami party said.
The Pakistan foreign ministry last month summoned the Dutch ambassador and lodged a "strong protest" over Wilders's film, which it said "deeply offended the sentiments of Muslims all over the world."
The cartoons originally appeared in a Danish newspaper in September 2005, sparking anger and protests across the Muslim world. Five people died in Pakistan in February 2006 during violent protests against the drawings.
At least 17 Danish dailies reprinted one of the cartoons in February, vowing to defend freedom of expression a day after police in Denmark foiled a plot to murder the cartoonist. [Source: Pakistani Islamic Women Protest 'Anti-Islam' Film, Cartoons]
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
Secular Islam Summit
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
BBC: The role of Islam in Turkish society is a subject of continual debate. Secularists are protesting against what they see as the government's increasingly Islamic agenda, and as Sarah Rainsford found out, the latest battleground could be across the butcher's counter.
"We're going filming at a pork butcher's and a pig farm," I told my Turkish cameraman in a text message. Slightly anxious, I added: "Is that OK with you?"
A moment later a message from Gokhan flashed back.
"Yes," he wrote. "I like a good pork steak!"
He is not the only one.
Another Turkish friend told me that eating pork, which is forbidden by Islam, is increasingly popular in secular high society here.
She described this as an act of defiance by some Turks who fear religious dictates have begun creeping into their lives since a government led by devout Muslims took power.
But those people could soon be looking for a new way to rebel because Turkey's pork industry is on the brink of extinction. The Demise of Turkey’s Pork Butchers >>> | April 26, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
BBC: A popular Saudi blogger who was detained by the authorities in December has been set free.
Fouad al-Farhan had used his website to criticise alleged corruption and call for democratic reforms in his country.
No official explanation was given for either the detention or the decision to free him.
Mr Farhan's detention had sparked protests from fellow bloggers. International human rights groups had been campaigning for his release.
Unlike most bloggers in Saudi Arabia, he wrote under his real name.
He used the blog to expose problems in Saudi society and campaigned on behalf of jailed Saudi liberals.
Correspondents say the whole affair surrounding the arrest Mr Farhan is part of a wider internet phenomenon issue in the Arab world.
With most governments in the region tightly controlling the activities of the official media, young people are increasingly turning to the internet to express dissent. [Source: Saudi Blogger Released from Jail]
Fouad Is Free >>>
CNN Report: The Detention of Fouad al-Farhan in Saudi Arabia >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)