Australians Muscle In On Body Obsession
More and more young Australian men are choosing to put their lives on the line for the perfect physique. In their quest to attain the body beautiful, some have taken it to the extreme. Al Jazeera's Fauziah Ibrahim reports from Sydney.

Douglas Murray: Why Are Islamic Nutters in Nightdresses So Obsessed with Gays?
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: If anyone missed Channel 4’s Dispatches the other night, can I very much recommend it? “Britain’s Islamic Republic” is available here and is vital viewing. Andrew Gilligan’s programme will be shocking even for those of you who, like me, thought they couldn’t be shocked by this sort of thing any more.

One interesting addition, if I may, which Brett at Harry’s Place also points out here. Though there has been a lot of press coverage of the documentary, there has been far too little outrage about the opening sequences showing the East London Mosque (yes, that one, favoured by Boris Johnson and Prince Charles) as the venue for events at which the most virulent anti-gay and anti-women perverts preach. I know that’s no surprise, but stay with me a moment.

One preacher, an evidently lunatic semi-literate called Abdul Karim Hattin, is shown playing what he calls “a game” called “spot the fag”. For this tittersome “game” he uses a slide to show a picture of Elton John beside one of the dead rapper “2-pac” (Tupac Shakur).

This confuses me a lot. I think the point this unfunny bigot is trying to make is that you can somehow recognise Elton John as gay because of the way he looks. But surely there is some mistake.

In the photo Elton John is wearing a respectable casual red top. Tupac on the other hand is topless, rather conspicuously ripped, and his naked torso glistening with sweat. Now I don’t want to spoil this “game”, but to my, not untrained, eyes I’d have identified “2-pac” as gay in this gay identity-parade.

But as it turns out, Mr Hattin also thinks (though for baffling reasons) that Tupac’s image was somehow gay. I’m not sure I go along with this. In any case, Mad-as-a-Hattin is saying all this whilst wearing what looks to me distinctly like an elderly lady’s nightdress. >>>

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CAIR Seeks Probe of 'Radical Islam' DVD
ASSOCIATED PRESS: A U.S. Muslim advocacy group Tuesday asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether a nonprofit group that distributed a controversial DVD about Islam in newspapers nationwide is a "front" for an Israel-based group with a stealth goal of helping Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

The promoters of "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" denied trying to promote any presidential campaign. They said it's also incorrect to tie the DVD campaign to Jerusalem-based educational group Aish HaTorah International, although current and former employees are involved with the project.

The Council for American-Islamic Relations asked the FEC to investigate the DVD distribution, which targeted about 28 million households mostly in battleground election states.

The DVDs — which critics call anti-Muslim propaganda — were inserted this month into more than 70 newspapers and paid for by the Clarion Fund, a nonprofit founded in 2006. The group's focus is "the most urgent threat of radical Islam." It has declined to identify board members or its funding.

Never picked up for traditional distribution, "Obsession" features scenes of Muslim children being urged to become suicide bombers, 9/11 carnage and interviews with critics of Islam. Muslim Group Seeks Probe of 'Radical Islam' DVD >>> By Eric Gorsky | September 24, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>

West Risks Obsession with Islam, Warns Vatican
What is particularly surprising in this newspaper article is the comment made by Cardinal Tauran that all religions are equal. Did you ever think you would hear a cardinal stating such a thing? If Christianity is no better than any other religion, then why should people convert to it? Shocking! Can’t the Vatican do better than that? Little wonder the churches are emptying! - ©Mark

TIMESONLINE: The Vatican has given warning that the West's efforts at inter-faith dialogue must not be “held hostage" by Islam and are in danger of becoming "obsessed" with it at the expense of other religions.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, said that the Church “has to have regard for all religions". He said that the council had this week discussed new guidelines for inter-faith dialogue.

“What was interesting about our discussions was that we did not concentrate on Islam because in a way we are being held hostage by Islam a little bit," he told the Catholic website Terrasanta.net. "Islam is very important, but there are also other great Asiatic religious traditions. Islam is one religion."

Pope Benedict XVI has convened an unprecedented Catholic-Muslim forum for October. He has also sought to make amends for his controversial speech at Regensburg University two years ago, when he appeared to suggest that Islam was irrational and inherently violent. He later visited Turkey and prayed at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul alongside the local imam. West Risks Obsession with Islam, Warns Vatican >>> By Richard Owen in Rome | June 10, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers
The Dawning of a New Dark Age –Paperback, direct from the publishers