’Visualizing the Sacred: Islam on Film’ at UCLA
LOS ANGELES TIMES: IN THE post-Sept. 11 world, images and impressions of Islam in the Western media have often been synonymous with extremism. To temper this, the UCLA Film and Television Archive is offering "Visualizing the Sacred: Islam on Film," an attempt to present a more inclusive look at the religion. "Obviously Islam and images of Islam in the media are a big issue these days," notes programmer Paul Malcolm. "It's just been overwhelmed by the focus on terrorism and radicalism. . . . These films show the other side of Islam and the Muslim experience."

The program, which runs this weekend through June 7 at the Hammer Museum in Westwood, was originally conceived as a showcase for films created after 2001. But Malcolm says he soon realized "that the 9/11 marker was maybe too limiting in terms of getting the kinds of films that I thought would be great for audiences to see."

One of those films is "The Message," Moustapha Akkad's 1976 epic on the birth of Islam that kicks off the series at 7:30 p.m. Friday. "We have the term 'biblical epic,' but this is a Koranic epic," explains Malcolm. Films such as "The Message" and the animated "Muhammad: The Last Prophet" (2 p.m. May 24), he adds, "are very similar to the Hollywood biblical epics of the '50s and '60s; they're part of that genre and they draw on that genre."

Both movies also tackle the challenge of portraying the prophet Muhammad when the religion forbids representations (the subject of May 17's panel discussion). "What's fascinating is that they found cinematic ways to respect religious tradition and custom while telling engaging and entertaining stories," says Malcolm. "They use . . . other
ways of really expressing the powerful spiritual presence of Muhammad without actually depicting him on screen." ’Visualizing the Sacred: Islam on Film’ at UCLA >>> By Allyssa Lee | May 8, 2008

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Islam in Europe: Power Wars Spell Dead-End for French Muslim Council
AFP: PARIS — Five years after it was set up by Nicolas Sarkozy, France's official Muslim council has hit a wall: hamstrung by infighting, critics accuse it of failing the country's five million Muslims while giving fundamentalists a stronghold in French public life.

President Sarkozy created the French Council for the Muslim Religion (CFCM) when he was interior minister to bring together the rival currents in French Islam and give an official voice to the country's second largest faith.

Charged with hands-on duties -- organising the pilgrimage to Mecca, appointing prison chaplains -- it was also intended to discourage what Sarkozy called the "Islam of basements and garages", sever French Islam from foreign influences and keep tabs on Islamic fundamentalists by including them.

But five years on, its track record is "zero", says Olivier Roy, a French specialist on Islam.

"It's just not working," he said. "On the training of imams, nothing, on appointing chaplains, nothing. On contributing to public debates, nothing."

"We've failed in our mission," admits Chems-eddine Hafiz, lawyer for the Great Mosque of Paris and a board member of the CFCM. "Our work has been crippled by conflict and rivalries between different camps."

Experts point the finger at interference by France's former colonies in north Africa, the original homeland of the overwhelming majority of French Muslims, that prevents the different communities from working together.

"This is a conflict between Morocco and Algeria for the control of France's Muslims," Roy said. Islam in Europe: Power Wars Spell Dead-End for French Muslim Council >>>

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Islamic Banks Join Race for Africa
Turning towards Mecca >>>
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Teach Your Children
WORLD DEFENSE REVIEW: More and more Muslim Americans, the New York Times reported recently, are home schooling their children – particularly girls. It is an alarming development, and grows more alarming still as it becomes clear that no one plans to do anything to stop it.

Leaving, for the moment, the low quality of these children's education – we'll get back to that – the motivations behind home schooling that Times reporter Neil MacFarquar observed – naively, it seems to me – sound a warning cry I find impossible to ignore. Reporting from Lodi, California, MacFarquar states, "Some 80 percent of the city's 2,500 Muslims are Pakistani, and many are interrelated villagers who try to recreate the conservative social atmosphere back home. A decade ago many girls were simply shipped back to their villages once they reached adolescence."

Slipped gracefully into a report on Islamic home schooling is an indication of horrifying abuse likely taking place in many of these homes. Why has no one noticed? Why has no one paid attention, and why, now that the Times has let this item out, is nothing being done?

Here's some more: "As soon as they finish their schooling," MacFarquar reports, "the girls are married off, often to cousins brought in from their families' old villages."

Forced marriage. Abbreviated educations. Notes the Times, "The girls follow the regular high school curriculum, squeezing in study time among housework, cooking, praying and reading the Koran. The teachers at the weekly tutorials occasionally crack jokes of the 'what, are your brothers' arms broken?' variety, but in general they tread lightly, sensing that their students obey family and tradition because they have no alternative."

Is anyone listening to this? Teach Your Children >>> By Abigail R Esman | May 8, 2008

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Canada: Terrorism Suspect Tries to Walk Out of His Own Trial
GLOBE AND MAIL: TORONTO — An Islamic convert facing terrorism charges was re-arrested after trying to walk out of his own trial Tuesday – saying simply that “I'm outta here” – after telling the court he wouldn't recognize Canadian law.

The 20-year-old, who can't be identified because he was underage at the time of his arrest two years ago, had been released on bail. But he spent last night in jail, and his legal future is unclear.

At the time proceedings broke down, a police officer had been on the stand, and the court was discussing the young man's mental status, including whether he was suicidal.

The only youth among 11 Torontonians accused of a variety of conspiracies is also the only suspect whose case has got to its trial phase. He faces charges of attending a terrorist training camp. The court has heard only preliminary motions so far, and has yet to delve into evidence or testimony.

While on bail, the young man had been living with his Hindu parents.

A Toronto Muslim preacher told The Globe that the suspect had been coming to Friday prayers, saying that he'd rather return to jail than live in a non-Islamic household. Terrorism Suspect Tries to Quit His Own Trial >>> By Colin Freeze | May 6, 2008

Hat tip: Jihad Watch

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Malaysia's Islamic Court Makes Landmark Ruling to Let Muslim Convert Return to Buddhism
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A Malaysian Islamic court allowed a Muslim convert Thursday to return to her original faith of Buddhism, setting a precedent that could ease religious minorities' worries about their legal rights.

Lawyers said the Shariah High Court's verdict in the northern state of Penang was the first time in recent memory that a convert has been permitted to legally renounce Islam in this Muslim-majority nation.

A rising number of disputes about religious conversions has sparked anxiety among minorities — predominantly Buddhist, Christian and Hindu — because in the past, courts virtually always ruled against people seeking to leave Islam.

Penang's Shariah court, however, granted Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah's request to be declared a non-Muslim. She embraced Islam in 1998 because she wanted to marry an Iranian, but claimed she never truly practiced the religion.

"I am very happy," Siti, a 39-year-old ethnic Chinese cake seller, told The Associated Press by telephone. "I want to go to the temple to pray and give thanks."

The Shariah court, which governs Muslims' personal conduct and religious lives, ruled that Siti's husband and Islamic authorities failed to give her proper religious advice.

"So you can't blame her for her ignorance of the teachings and wanting to convert out," said Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz, a lawyer for the Islamic Affairs Council in Penang.

Minority leaders hailed the verdict as a step to protect religious rights. Malaysia's Islamic Court Makes Landmark Ruling to Let Muslim Convert Return to Buddhism >>> Associated Press | May 8, 2008

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German Court Rules Muslim Girl Can’t Skip Swimming Lessons
FOX NEWS: A German court on Wednesday ruled that a Muslim student cannot skip co-ed swimming lessons because her religion prohibits form-fitting clothes that do not cover her body, The Local reported.

The 12-year-old girl’s parents sued a school in the northern city of Remscheid after it refused to let the girl skip the lessons.

The court sided with the school, saying that the state’s responsibility to educate the girl outweighed an infringement on her religious freedom.

Last year the girl’s parents rejected an offer from the school saying she could swim in leggings and a T-shirt. They argued that her body still would be visible through wet clothes, The Local reported.

The court concluded that because the swim lessons take place in water, there would be very little time that her body would be seen.

The parents’ attorney said the family will appeal the decision. [Source: German Court Rules Muslim Girl Can't Skip Swimming Lessons] | May 8, 2008

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch

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Why the West Moves Closer to Bombing Iran
THE TELEGRAPH: Another week, another British fatality - and yet more evidence of Iran's lethal meddling on the battlefields of the war on terror. Whether Revolutionary Guards were directly responsible for the massive roadside bomb that killed 29-year-old Trooper Ratu Babakobau in Afghanistan's Helmand province last weekend may never be proved.

In their long history of involvement in terrorism, the Revolutionary Guards have become highly adept at covering their tracks. Even though the first Western hostages kidnapped in Lebanon in the 1980s were put in crates and shipped back to Tehran, Iranian officials persisted with the fiction that they were blameless.

Today, the Iranian government continues to maintain its innocence of any involvement in supporting the bloody insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan; this despite the fact that coalition forces regularly discover large arms caches containing powerful weapons clearly marked "made in Tehran". Why the West moves closer to bombing Iran >>> By Con Coughlin | May 9, 2008

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Networked from Birth
THE GUARDIAN: Boris Johnson's election as mayor now means that there are two men with remarkably similar histories at the top of the Tory party: both he and leader David Cameron are Old Etonians who went to Oxford and were members of the same notorious drinking club. But the Conservatives are just reflecting modern Britain, says John Harris - a nation that is now less meritocratic than in a generation

And so it came to pass that Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was elected Mayor Of London. Last Friday, at the formal announcement of his victory at City Hall, the proceedings were watched by his children, Cassia Peaches, Milo Arthur, Lara Lettice and Theodore Apollo. News of his win was presumably also cheered by his five siblings, all of whom went to either Oxford or Cambridge, including his Paris-based financier brother Leo, Sunday Times columnist sister Rachel, and half-brother Max - who, according to the London Evening Standard, is currently "studying for an MBA in Beijing". Meanwhile, media observers have inevitably been drawing attention to the new mayor's alma mater, and the fact that the election of one old Etonian may well have laid the ground for the arrival of another in Downing Street - who, if David Cameron makes it, will be the first Eton-educated prime minister since Harold Macmillan in 1957.

On the Tuesday before polling last week, the Today programme's John Humphrys testily asked Cameron about his and Johnson's past history, their now-infamous membership of Oxford University's Bullingdon Club, and the photograph of the two of them in the club's signature £1,200 tailcoats that last year mysteriously disappeared from public circulation. In that week's Sunday Times, there was a typically scabrous cartoon by Gerald Scarfe: Cameron and Johnson in "Buller" attire, locked in a triumphal embrace, simply captioned "Toffs rule OK". The Guardian's Steve Bell, meanwhile, carried on portraying Johnson as a nightmarish amalgam of Joseph Goebbels, Attila the Hun and Bertie Wooster. Networked from Birth >>> | May 9, 2008

BBC:
Ex-BBC Man Is Boris Johnson's Spokesman: New London mayor Boris Johnson has hired ex-BBC political correspondent Guto Harri as his director of communications >>> | May 9, 2008

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Gobbledydygook from a Roman Catholic Cardinal! Can You Really Understand This Message?
Photo of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Conner courtesy of the BBC
BBC: The Archbishop of Westminster has urged Christians to treat atheists and agnostics with "deep esteem".

Believers may be partly responsible for the decline in faith by losing sense of the mystery and treating God as a "fact in the world", he said in a lecture.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor called for more understanding and appreciation between believers and non-believers.

The leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales said that a "hidden God" was active in everyone's life.

The Cardinal's lecture at Westminster Cathedral comes after a spate of public clashes over issues such as stem-cell research, gay adoption and faith schools.

Mystery of God

He expressed concern about the increasing unpopularity of the Christian voice in public life, saying: "Our life together in Britain cannot be a God-free zone and we must not allow Britain to become a world devoid of religious faith and its powerful contribution to the common good."

Last year, he complained of a "new secularist intolerance of religion" and the state's "increasing acceptance" of anti-religious views.

To stem this tide, he said Christians must understand they have something in common with those who do not believe.

God is not a "fact in the world" as though God could be treated as "one thing among other things to be empirically investigated" and affirmed or denied on the "basis of observation", said Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor.

"If Christians really believed in the mystery of God, we would realise that proper talk about God is always difficult, always tentative.

"I want to encourage people of faith to regard those without faith with deep esteem because the hidden God is active in their lives as well as in the lives of those who believe." 'Respect Atheists', Says Cardinal >>> | May 9, 2008

THE GUARDIAN:
Cardinal Says Britain Must Not Be a 'God-free Zone' >>> By Riazat Butt | May 9, 2008

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1945: Rejoicing at End of War in Europe
Photo courtesy of the BBC
Audio: War Ends in Europe (1945)
BBC: On This Day - The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, has officially announced the end of the war with Germany.

In a message broadcast to the nation from the Cabinet room at Number 10, he said the ceasefire had been signed at 0241 yesterday at the American advance headquarters in Rheims.

Huge crowds, many dressed in red, white and blue, gathered outside Buckingham Palace in London and were cheered as the King, Queen and two Princesses came out onto the balcony.

Earlier tens of thousands of people had listened intently as the King's speech was relayed by loudspeaker to those who had gathered in Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square. 1945: Rejoicing at End of War in Europe >>>

BBC:
Germany Says Hitler Is Dead >>>

BBC:
Audio: Adolf Hitler Is Dead

THE TELEGRAPH:
Winston Churchill and Walter Thompson: a Bullet-Proof Team: From IRA gunmen to Nazi assassins, one man kept Churchill alive. Dominic Sandbrook tells his story >>>

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PBS Frontline: The House of Saud

PBS FRONTLINE: THE HOUSE OF SAUD 1 OF 6
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The Saudi Royal Family & Corruption

Saudi royal family & corruption
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Israel Celebrates Its 60th Anniversary
Photo courtesy of the BBC
Watch BBC video: Israeli 60th Anniversary Celebrations
BBC: Celebrations are taking place across Israel to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state.

Fireworks, concerts and an aerial display were among the events laid on, while Israeli families prepared picnics and barbecues for the national holiday.

Israel declared itself an independent state on 14 May 1948, three years after the end of World War II and the death of six million Jews in the Holocaust.

But Palestinians know the foundation day as al-Nakba, or "the Catastrophe".

They were holding solemn marches in the West Bank, meant to symbolise the hope of Palestinian refugees to return to villages in what is now Israel.

The Israeli festivities began amid tight security at sunset on Wednesday at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl memorial, named after the founder of modern Zionism.

Soldiers raised the Israeli flag from half to full mast as Memorial Day - when Israelis honour soldiers killed since the state was founded - gave way to anniversary celebrations. Israel Marks Its 60th Anniversary >>>

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£16m to Spread Islam
Photo of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Abdulaziz al-Saud courtesu of Google Images
THE INDEPENDENT: Two of the country's best known universities are to set up research centres aimed at promoting a better understanding of Islam.

Cambridge and Edinburgh universities will share a £16m endowment from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Abdulaziz al-Saud, a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family and chairman of the Kingdom Foundation – a charitable and philanthropic foundation set up to alleviate suffering around the world.

Both universities, members of the 20-strong Russell Group, which represents the leading research institutions, will set up study centres with the aim of fostering better understanding between the Muslim world and the West.

In Cambridge, the HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies will seek to develop a "constructive and critical awareness of the role of Islam in wider society". There will be research programmes on Islam in the UK and Europe and the portrayal of Islam in the media. Public lectures, conferences and summer schools will be organised to promote better understanding, with policy makers from both worlds invited to become visiting fellows at the centre.

At Edinburgh, the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Modern World will aim to concentrate on promoting understanding of the history of Islamic civilisation and of Muslims in Britain.

Professor Carole Hillenbrand, head of the department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Edinburgh, said the centre's programme would have "twin emphases on both the past and the present and how they reinforce and illuminate each other". Saudi Prince Gives Universities £16m for Study of Islam >>> By Richard Garner | May 8, 2008

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On Halal Butchery and Cruelty
Photo of halal chickens hanging in a butcher’s shop courtesy of The Independent
THE INDEPENDENT: Halal and kosher meat should be labelled when it is put on sale so the public can decide whether they want to buy food from animals that have bled to death, the Food and Farming minister says.

Lord Rooker said all meat from animals killed by slitting their throats should be marked, allowing customers to decide whether the suffering troubled their consciences. "I object to the method of slaughter," he said.

"My choice as a customer is that I would want to buy meat that has been looked after and slaughtered in the most humane way possible."

His office later said that Britain would play a "full part" on religious slaughter practices in negotiations to introduce a European-wide labelling system by 2010.

Lord Rooker's comments were welcomed by the RSPCA, which is concerned about the experience of animals killed for Jews and Muslims.

The veteran minister, who speaks for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the Lords, raised the issue of religious slaughter in a discussion of animal welfare in other countries. "The country, source of origin and method of slaughter for meat ought to be on the label because that way I could stop the bloody halal meat that is excess to the industry's requirements being slipped into the food chain without people being told."

More than 100 million animals a year are killed for kosher and halal meat in Britain. They bleed to death in what government advisers say is "very significant pain". Certain cuts such as the hindquarters of cattle, however, are deemed inedible by religious teachings and are sold back into the general food chain. Halal and Kosher Meat Should Not Be Slipped In to Food Chain, Says Minister >>> By Martin Hickman | April 7, 2008

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The Islamic Veil

Le Voile islamique : eléments pour un débat éclairé
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Churchgoing on Its Knees as Christianity Falls Out of Favour
Does the union of Gene Robinson and his gay partner have something to do with the falling numbers in congregation, perhaps?
TIMESONLINE: Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation, research published today suggests.

The fall - from the four million people who attend church at least once a month today - means that the Church of England, Catholicism and other denominations will become financially unviable. A lack of funds from the collection plate to support the Christian infrastructure, including church upkeep and ministers’ pay and pensions, will force church closures as ageing congregations die.

In contrast, the number of actively religious Muslims will have increased from about one million today to 1.96 million in 2035.

According to Religious Trends, a comprehensive statistical analysis of religious practice in Britain, published by Christian Research, even Hindus will come close to outnumbering churchgoers within a generation. The forecast to 2050 shows churchgoing in Britain declining to 899,000 while the active Hindu population, now at nearly 400,000, will have more than doubled to 855,000. By 2050 there will be 2,660,000 active Muslims in Britain - nearly three times the number of Sunday churchgoers. Churchgoing on Its Knees as Christianity Falls Out of Favour >>> By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | May 8, 2008

DAILY MAIL:
'More Practising Muslims than Christians in Britain by 2035' >>> By Ben Clerkin | May 8, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
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The Fighting Spirit: Hillary Vows to Fight On
Photo of Hillary Rodham Clinton courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton has vowed to continue her campaign despite losing ground in the latest primary contests and her financial problems.

Mrs Clinton beat rival Barack Obama by just two points in Indiana's primary, while he won by 14 in North Carolina. Clinton Vows to Continue Campaign >>> | May 7. 2008

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Clinton’s Dream All But Over >>> By Anne Davies Herald Correspondent in Indianapolis, Indiana | May 8, 2008

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
The End of the Clinton Era >>> By Gabor Steingart | May 7, 2008

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Germany Bans Two Far-Right Groups
BBC: German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble has shut down two far-right organisations, describing them as "reservoirs" of Holocaust deniers.

In a statement, the interior ministry said the authorities had raided 30 sites linked to the groups, which were based in three western German states.

Mr Schauble said they had been involved in "disseminating anti-Semitic propaganda" and glorifying the Nazis.

Holocaust denial is a criminal offence under German law.
The interior ministry said both groups had violated Germany's constitution.

They were named as Collegium Humanum and the Association for the Rehabilitation of Those Persecuted for Questioning the Holocaust, and were said to be based in Lower Saxony, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. [Source: Germany Bans Two Far-Right Groups] | May 7, 2008

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Ken Livingstone, the Ex-Mayor of London
Ken Livingstone trying to look his Islamic best for a photoshoot.
Hat tip: Pierre of Québec.

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Europe at War
World War II in Europe
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Some World History Courtesy of ‘Maps of War’
History of Religion
Imperial History
March of Democracy
Hat tips to Pierre of Québec, Alain Jean-Mairet of Switzerland, and of course to Maps of War itself.

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Barack Obama’s Muslim Childhood
In view of Obama’s recent successes in the US primaries, it's worth reading what Daniel Pipes has found out about Obama’s childhood. With many thanks to Pierre of Québec for drawing my attention to this article:

DANIELPIPES.ORG: As Barack Obama's candidacy comes under increasing scrutiny, his account of his religious upbringing deserves careful attention for what it tells us about the candidate's integrity.

Obama asserted in December, "I've always been a Christian," and he has adamantly denied ever having been a Muslim. "The only connection I've had to Islam is that my grandfather on my father's side came from that country [Kenya]. But I've never practiced Islam." In February, he claimed: "I have never been a Muslim. … other than my name and the fact that I lived in a populous Muslim country for 4 years when I was a child [Indonesia, 1967-71] I have very little connection to the Islamic religion."

"Always" and "never" leave little room for equivocation. But many biographical facts, culled mainly from the American press, suggest that, when growing up, the Democratic candidate for president both saw himself and was seen as a Muslim.

Obama's Kenyan birth father: In Islam, religion passes from the father to the child. Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. (1936–1982) was a Muslim who named his boy Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. Only Muslim children are named "Hussein".

Obama's Indonesian family: His stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was also a Muslim. In fact, as Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng explained to Jodi Kantor of the New York Times: "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim." An Indonesian publication, the Banjarmasin Post reports a former classmate, Rony Amir, recalling that "All the relatives of Barry's father were very devout Muslims." Barack Obama's Muslim Childhood >>> By Daniel Pipes FrontPageMagazine.com | April 29, 2008

The same article is available in French HERE

Hat tip: Pierre of Québec

DANIELPIPES.ORG:
Confirmed: Barack Obama Practiced Islam >>> By Daniel Pipes FrontPageMagazine.com | January 7, 2008

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Fascism on the Rise in Italy, Says Peter Popham
THE INDEPENDENT: A young graphic designer called Nicola Tommasoli died in hospital in Verona yesterday afternoon, victim of a neo-fascist mob. After he refused to give a cigarette to a skinhead who approached him, five of them, captured by a surveillance camera, punched and kicked him unconscious. And when it emerged that they belong to a neo-fascist fringe group, Italians began asking themselves: is this the first flick of the whip of the new regime, the first taste of what is to come?

The respectable right was quick to insist that the attack was nothing to do with them. "I would be the first to condemn neo-fascist violence if it really existed," shrugged Ignazio La Russa, a senior figure in the post-fascist Alleanza Nazionale (AN), likely to be appointed a minister this week. "A certain amount of violence has always existed in society," cooed another AN leader, Maurizio Gasparri. "To warn of a possible return to a climate of political violence is the umpteenth example of foolishness..."

But the fact is that Italy, which has been defined as a laboratory for bad ideas, has embarked on an alarming new experiment. On the cusp of what may prove to be the worst slump in living memory, the far right is closer to the heart of power than at any time since the fall of Mussolini.

The key players in the new Italian right wear beautiful suits and pastel ties and take to the heights of institutional power like ducks to water. Gianfranco Fini, leader of AN, the man who once eulogised Mussolini as the greatest Italian of the 20th century, has become the maestro of the volte-face: in his speech to parliament last week on taking office as speaker of the chamber of deputies, he was careful to pledge his loyalty to Liberation Day, the day of liberation from Nazi-Fascism. It was another statesman-like gesture by the distinguished-looking character who has been straight man to Berlusconi's clown for the past seven years, and is positioning himself to take over when the clowning has to stop.

Gianni Alemanno, his party colleague who won a stunning victory a week ago to become the mayor of Rome, is youthful- looking and fizzing with energy and sincerity, and tends to fly off the handle when linked in too obvious a manner to the "F" word. How is he to blame if his supporters raise stiff right arms on the steps of Rome's town hall to celebrate his victory? Like Fini, Alemanno has put 15 years of clear blue water between himself and his neo-fascist past. Like Fini, he reaches out warmly to the nation at large. In his acceptance speech he said: "I will be mayor of all the Romans, especially of those who didn't vote for me..."

To renounce the Fascist past, as Fini and his colleagues have done, means to renounce anti-Semitism and militarism and to make it clear that one is very sad about the abuses that occurred in the Mussolini years. But they hang on to an irreducible, core idea, and it is the same idea that impels clean-living young thugs to beat up people who refuse them cigarettes, or who have long hair, or have dark skin, or speak with southern Italian accents. Italian fascism is once again on the rise: The cry is out with the gypsies, in with the police; restore the city to those who possess it >>> By Peter Popham | May 6, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Italy)

Gripping Night Gives New Advantage to Obama
THE INDEPENDENT: Barack Obama scored a resounding victory in North Carolina last night but very narrowly lost the state of Indiana to Hillary Clinton after a cliff-hanger night of counting votes. She finally squeaked by a bare two percentage points or about 22,000 votes.

The split outcome will mean that the struggle of the Democratic nomination is not over yet. It will give cause for relief and for frustration in each of the camps - as well as grief for the party’s hierarchy which frets that the longer the slug-fest between them continues the better it is for the Republicans.

Clearly, however, the night was better for Mr Obama. He desperately needed to capture a big state – and decisively – after weeks of campaign stumbles. And because North Carolina, which he took by a healthy 56-42 percentage point margin, offered more convention delegates than Indiana, it will reinforce his critical delegate lead and make the mathematics for Mrs Clinton more prohibitive than ever. Gripping Night Gives New Advantage to Obama >>> By David Usborne in Indianapolis | May 7, 2008

TIMESONLINE:
Watch Obama’s ‘Victory Speech’ in North Carolina

NZZ Online:
Obama und Clinton wollen beide weitermachen: Je ein Sieg bei Vorwahlen in North Carolina und Indiana >>> | 7. Mai 2008

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Kuwait: Envoy's Son Behind Jewish Abduction
The son of the Kuwaiti ambassador has been charged with briefly abducting three Jewish teenagers at a hotel and claiming he had a bomb, press reports said Tuesday.



The 23-year-old son of Ambassador Khaled Al-Shaibani, identified only as Mohammad A., was charged with holding the teenagers against their will, Warsaw police spokesman Anna Kedzierzowska told AP.



Al-Shibani was too intoxicated to undergo questioning on Monday, but he spoke with authorities and confessed on Tuesday morning, police said.

He faces a suspended sentence of 10 months to three years. He will be released pending his court hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.



The Kuwaiti Embassy confirmed the suspect was the ambassador's son, but declined further comment.

Police on Monday stormed the room in the Warsaw Holiday Inn to free the three Brazilian Jews, who were taking part in a Holocaust memorial event.



Al-Shibani had said he had explosives, but none were found in the operation. The hotel was evacuated and searched. [Kuwait Envoy's Son Behind Jewish Abduction] | May 6, 2008

Hat tip: Jihad Watch

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)

BAE to Appoint Ethics Tsar After Bribery Claims
THE TELEGRAPH: BAE Systems is to appoint a senior executive to oversee the implementation of a new code of conduct at the defence company after its chairman, Dick Olver [sic], and chief executive, Mike Turner, accepted that it had not paid sufficient attention to ethical standards.

The company, Europe's largest arms manufacturer, is to incorporate 23 recommendations laid out yesterday in the Woolf Report, commissioned last year after years of allegations that BAE had engaged in bribery and corruption to win contracts. 

The 146-page report, dismissed as a whitewash by some and a road map to better corporate governance by others, also calls on the Government and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to play a greater role in improving the reputation of Britain's defence industry.

The year-long inquiry, led by retired senior judge Lord Woolf of Barnes, recommends that BAE publishes and implements a global code of ethical business conduct with regular, independent audits of that conduct. "Critically, both the chairman and chief executive, in discussions with us, acknowledged that the company did not in the past pay sufficient attention to ethical standards and avoid activities that had the potential to give rise to reputational damage," the report said.

BAE's insufficient attention to ethical standards was combined with an "acceptance of conditions which constrained its ability to explain the full circumstances of its activities", the report said. "These contributed to widely held perceptions that it was involved in inappropriate behaviour. They recognise that, justly or otherwise, these perceptions have damaged the company's reputation." BAE to Appoint Ethics Tsar After Bribery Claims >>> By Russell Hotten | May 7, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Woolf Report Points BAE Towards Higher Moral Ground >>> By Damian Reece | May 7, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Putting a Gloss on Unethical Business Practices >>>


The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
ethics tsar