... The life of one yeshiva boy is worth more than the lives of 1,000 Arabs Rabbi Eliyahu This is from the same guy who said the Tsunami was God's punishment for disengagement from Gaza; that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment to the US for supporting it; and who now advocates carpet bombing Gaza. Do I really need to comment on this? Normally, I shouldn't even have to bother; I mean, obviously this guy is known for his outrageous and mad statements, and nobody should care about a thing he says. But, as a former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of...
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Queen Rania of Jordan, has launched a YouTube channel in an attempt to reach out to the west and break down Western stereotypes about the Arab world. Queen Rania, an outspoken advocate of women's rights and education reform in the Arab world, aims to start a conversation with people in the West through this YouTube channel to try and break down negative stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims that have become especially widespread over the past years. The conversation will go until August 12, which is International Youth Day. The introductory video, that has been watched over 80,000 times since being...
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The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano announced yesterday that Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world’s largest religion. Catholics accounted for 17.4 percent of the world population, a stable percentage, while Muslims were at 19.2 percent. Monsignor Vittorio Formenti attributed the change to Muslim families having more children, while Catholics have tended towards fewer offspring. When considering all Christians and not just Catholics, Christians make up 33 percent of the world population. [Source: Yahoo! News] [Via: Truemors]...
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Above is a heat map of the world according to the attention each country gets in the New York Times’ coverage. This is one of several heat maps developed in a project to indicate the regions that some of the major western media outlets, and the blogosphere, give more attention to. These maps allow you to grasp several media trends at a glance. First, traditional newspapers are highly selective in their coverage of world news. Looking at the three British dailies, editors favour countries that are bigger and more populous, but also closer to home and better developed. They...
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A really interesting idea using the illegal Israeli barrier wall to support local Palestinian businesses... As Israel continues its illegal land grab of Palestinian territory, by caging in the West Bank, the controversial barrier wall has become more than just oppressive concrete slabs to some; it’s become an easel for various artists. Two Palestinians have come together to put a new spin on rendering the wall into an art form, by starting an organization called send.a.message, whereby you can pay them (online) to spray paint whatever message you want on the wall. It’s only $45 and it goes towards supporting...
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Interesting bit of news from Harvard... In a test of Harvard’s famed open-mindedness, the university has banned men from one of its gyms for a few hours a week to accommodate Muslim women who say it offends their sense of modesty to exercise in front of the opposite sex. The policy is already unpopular with many on campus, including some women who consider it sexist. […] No men are allowed in the gym between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Mondays, and between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Even the staff during those times is all...
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Came across this bit of news on BBC News today. A book fair in Paris has become the subject of controversy with several Muslim countries announcing boycotts because the guest of honour is Israel. Saudi Arabia has become the latest to withdraw, following Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Isesco) has also urged its 50 members to pull out from the fair, which starts on 14 March. [...] The organisers of the book fair have said their aim is to honour literature and promote dialogue between cultures. ... the Paris book fair...
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In response to written questions by the Washington Post, Barack Obama talks about a major speech, within his first 100 days of office, at a major Islamic forum, in which he'd redefine the US struggle and their relationship with the Muslim world: "As president of the United States, I will directly address the people of the Muslim world to make it clear that the United States is not at war with Islam, that our enemy is al-Qaeda and its tactical and ideological affiliates, and that our struggle is shared. In this speech, I will make it clear that the United...
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Just came across this bit of news from the Arab world: The Arab League is to step up the fight against intellectual property (IP) theft, piracy and counterfeiting, which costs the Arab world up to $50 billion each year. [...] In many countries across the region, over half of all software in use is believed to be counterfeit, and local attitudes to the concept of IP are said to contribute to the growing problem, with piracy still viewed by some as a harmless crime. ‘Arab World Protect 2008: The First Arab Consumer and Brand Protection Forum’, to be held in...
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Interesting Gallup Poll results from Islamic World: - 93% of Muslims Worldwide Condemn 9/11 Attacks; and most said the biggest obstacle to better relations with the West was the latter's lack of respect for Islam. - 0% Approve of Attacks on Religious Grounds. Among the seven percent who viewed the Sep 11 attacks as justified, not one gave religious justification for their views, instead expressing their fear of US plans for occupation and domination of the Muslim world. - Substantial majorities in all Muslim countries said they supported bringing democratic principles to their own countries and admired the US primarily...
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I posted on Twitter this morning about Fidel Castro's resignation as president of Cuba and commander-in-chief of Cuba's military. I heard the news in the morning, and thought about posting it on the blog, but I didn't really have much to say about it. It's hard to really judge a person like Fidel Castro who is seen as a hero by so many people and a hated dictator by so many others; it's obvious both sides have credible and real points; in the end, all I hope for is for things to get better for the Cuban people, whether it...
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"Does Israel have a right to exist?" people ask. What does that mean? Do countries really have rights, or do people have rights? The Jewish people have a right to exist, the Israeli people have a right to exist, but what does "Israel" mean? Israel defines itself as the state of the Jewish people. It is not a state of its citizens. It is a state of many people who are not its citizens, like myself, and is not the state of many people who are its citizens, like the 20 percent of its population that is Palestinian. So...
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"I am a Muslim" Kill me & call it "Collateral Damage" Imprison me & call it "Security Measure" Exile my people en mass & call it "New Middle East" Rob my resources, Invade my land, alter my leadership & call it "Democracy" [Source: Edge of Space] [Via: you.presscue]...
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Interesting and important report from the World Bank on education in the Arab world... The World Bank has said the quality of education in the Arab world is falling behind other regions and needs urgent reform if it is to tackle unemployment. [...] It said that although education was becoming more accessible and the gender gap was being reduced, the region had not witnessed the positive changes seen in Asia and Latin America, particularly in literacy rates and enrolments in secondary schools and universities. [...] The report said unemployment in the Arab world averaged 14%, which is higher than other...
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The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein has condemned a decision by Israeli authorities to demolish the Al-Omari mosque in the village of Umm Tuba near Jerusalem under the pretext that the building had been built without a license... Sheikh Hussein told Ma'an that the mosque was built more than 700 years go, and it was last restored in 1963. It is the only mosque in Umm Tuba. The Mufti claimed that Israeli authorities have been attempting to wipe out historic Islamic sites in Palestine which is violation of all religious values and international treaties. He warned of...
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I am not opposed to all wars, What I am opposed to is a dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics. -- Barack Obama...
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Andrea Levin, president of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) said in a speech: "The American media is much, much more geared to understanding that there is an unwritten contract between them and us..." What is this "unwritten contract"? I'll tell you what it is: it's an agreement to censor anything and everything that offends the Lobby and its glorified, sanitized view of Israel. Here, after all, is a country that practices apartheid, imprisons children, and was founded on ethnic cleansing and bigoted religious obscurantism – and yet they present themselves to the world...
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The Dutch MP Geert Wilders who recently called for the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands, will soon be releasing a film on the internet which insults the Koran, and which is reported to show the Koran being torn up and otherwise desecrated. The extreme right wing politician has made the ten minute film promoting his belief that the Koran inspires people 'to do the worst things'. His views have inspired him to talk about a 'Tsunami of Islamisation' in Europe, for the Koran to be banned, and for Dutch Muslims to either give up their religion or leave...
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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama launched an online viral counteroffensive Tuesday against persistent e-mail chain letters that lie about his religious and political background. [...] There are various versions of the e-mails, but they generally insinuate that Obama is secretly a Muslim who attended a radical Islamic school in Indonesia. One of the e-mails charges that he's a radical Muslim who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Another e-mail claims that he was sworn into the Senate using a copy of the Quran. All of the allegations are false. [Source: Wired] I don't even know what to say...
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". . . as Bush basks in the glow of his own fantasy, the suffering in Gaza, one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, along with the savage occupation of Iraq, continues to fuel widespread anger and rage. . . . he has, with Israeli encouragement, isolated governments, even friendly governments, in the Middle East that raised feeble protests. But his day is past. There is open revolt. Opinion polls show that two-thirds of Palestinians, and three-fourths of Israelis, do not believe Bush can affect events in the Palestinian territories. . . . The agenda of the Bush White...
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I just came across a really interesting post in which the writer puts himself in the others shoes, looking at the situation from another perspective, imagining how it would be if it happened to him and his country... Some highlights: It’s been eight years now. Eight long years. Sure, initially I was glad when China toppled the Bush regime and executed the “retarded tyrant” as I love to call him. It wasn’t that bad at the start, but as time wore on and I realized they weren’t leaving, it started to gnaw at me. [...] Initially, people seemed to accept...
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While checking out the news today, I came across what has to be one of the dumbest articles in the history of news and media; it's so stupid I thought the guy who wrote it was actually just being sarcastic, but no it turns out he's seriously deranged as he believes what he wrote. The article's title is: "Middle East indebted to Bush"; I couldn't believe my eyes when I read it; Do I even need to go any further to show how crazy this person is? In the article he talks of the malignancy of the Middle East, how...
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IT companies outsourced programming there, other companies outsourced customer support amid other services, now it's pregnancies that are being outsourced to India... The small clinic at Kaival Hospital matches infertile couples with local women, cares for the women during pregnancy and delivery, and counsels them afterward. Anand's surrogate mothers, pioneers in the growing field of outsourced pregnancies, have given birth to roughly 40 babies. More than 50 women in this city are now pregnant with the children of couples from the United States, Taiwan, Britain and beyond. The women earn more than many would make in 15 years... [Source: The...
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So here's an interesting quote from John Deady, a designated surrogate for Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign, and a leader with a group called "Veterans for Rudy"... "He's got I believe the knowledge and the judgment to attack one of the most difficult problems in current history and that is the rise of the Muslims, and make no mistake about it, this hasn't happened for a thousand years. These people are very, very dedicated and they're also very smart, in their own way. We need to keep the feet to the fire and keep pressing these people until we defeat or...
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On the heals of the Annapolis peace conference in which Israel and the Palestinians agreed to move forward on bringing peace to the region and launching talks on final status issues, which are supposed to end up with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state; Israel doesn't seem to want to stop building illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land, and it has been revealed that money will be put aside to construct 740 new buildings next year. The construction ministry's proposed budget for 2008 includes 500 apartments for the Har Homa area in east Jerusalem, and 240 at Maale Adumim,...
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I just came across an article about ten humanitarian crises that should have gotten more coverage in the year 2007, but didn't, and that have been more or less forgotten, even though they still largely exist. -Colombia: Internal refugee crisis after four decades of civil conflict Large numbers of Colombians live in areas controlled by militia or guerrillas, with basic human rights under threat and unpredictable violence. - Sri Lanka: The civil war between the government forces and the separatist Tamil Tigers, taking a horrendous civilian toll. - Somalia: Violence and increasingly ferocious guerrilla style attacks surpassing even Darfur in...
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A quote by an IDF soldier that gives a clear picture of the Israeli forces' illegal actions in Gaza and the state of mind that drives them. "The best thing is that you're not obliged to follow any laws or rules. You feel like you are the law. You are the law. You decide. It's as if the moment you leave Israel and pass through the Erez Checkpoint into the Gaza Strip, you are the law. You are God." -- Comment by one of the IDF soldiers interviewed by Israeli psychologist Nofer Ishai-Karen. [Via: Lawrence of Cyberia]...
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First there was Taysir Alluni, the Al-Jazeera reporter, who was sentenced to jail for 7 years in 2005 because of an interview he did with Osama Bin Laden in 2001, accused of collaborating with Al-Qaeda. Then there was Sami Al Haj, the Al-Jazeera cameraman, who was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 while he was going for a journalistic assignment in Afghanistan, and has been held in Guantanamo Bay ever since. And now, there is Pulitzer prize-winning Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, who has been imprisoned by the U.S. military in Iraq since April 2006 without a trial or even being...
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I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace. -- George W. Bush, June 2002...
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Well most of you must already know the news by now; I've been expecting it and was pretty sure it would happen, and even though I'm a bit late, I just had to write about it: US Former Vice President Al Gore and the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) won the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change. Gore, whose film "An Inconvenient Truth" won an Oscar earlier this year, has made climate change the focus of his public life in the years since he lost the...
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Imagine... if one million people demanded an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with one voice. On Oct. 18th, 2007 hundreds of thousands of people all over the world will unite for the OneVoice Summit – an unprecedented mobilization of moderate voices to achieve a two state solution that fulfills the overdue aspirations of the Palestinian and Israeli people to end the occupation, to end all forms of violence, to permanently end the conflict, and achieve international recognition, respect, peace, and prosperity. + Learn more about the One Million Voices Campaign + Sign the OneVoice mandate...
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New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke announced New Zealand's intention to commit to 90% renewable electricity by 2025. The country already uses 70% renewable electricity, primarily hydro- and geothermal power and will continue to increase its use of renewables over the next 20 years. The Prime Minister also gave a brief outline of further goals, which included a 2040 target of reducing by half per capita emissions from transport and widely introducing electric vehicles. She also stated the goal of achieving a net increase in forest area of 250,000 hectares (617,000 acres) by 2020. This is the kind of news...
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Good to see some people are thinking of moving beyond petroleum... As part of an admirable but highly optimistic plan for a "Zero-Carbon Britain" by the year 2050, British Liberal Democrats announced plans to completely abolish gasoline- and diesel-powered cars by 2040. To aid them in their quest, the politicians proposed increasing Britain's car tax by £2000 (or roughly $4000) for the least efficient sport-utility vehicles. Nobody has yet mentioned the specifics of such a plan, except to note that it would mandate automakers to cease production (in Britain, at least) and importation of gasoline- or diesel-powered cars, in favor...
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"We must always make clear our commitment to the security of Israel, but we cannot be peacemakers if American government leaders are seen as knee-jerk supporters of every action or policy of whatever Israeli government happens to be in power at the moment [...] Under AIPAC pressure, there are few significant countervailing voices in the public arena, and any balanced debate is still practically nonexistent in the U.S. Congress or among presidential hopefuls [...] The American friends of Israel who demand such subservience are in many cases sincere and well-intentioned people, but on this crucial issue, they are tragically...
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We should drop the motto "In God We Trust" and adopt a new one, "Let Us Mind Our Own Business." -- Charley Reese, A New Motto for America...
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Ex-Reagan Aide Calls Bush a "Mass Murderer"... Bush is too self-righteous to see the dark humor in his denunciations of Iran for threatening "the security of nations everywhere" and of the Iraqi resistance for "a vision that rejects tolerance, crushes all dissent, and justifies the murder of innocent men, women, and children in the pursuit of political power." Those are precisely the words that most of the world applies to Bush and his Brownshirt administration. The Pew Foundation's world polls show that despite all the American and Israeli propaganda against Iran, the US and Israel are regarded as no less...
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According to a study by The Center Against Racism, via YnetNews : Over half of the Jewish population in Israel believes the marriage of a Jewish woman to an Arab man is equal to national treason 75 percent of participants did not approve of apartment buildings being shared between Arabs and Jews Sixty percent of participants said they would not allow an Arab to visit their home 40 percent of participants agreed that "Arabs should have their right to vote for Knesset revoked" over half of the participants agreed that Israel should encourage its Arab citizens to immigrate from the...
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This morning I finished reading former US President Jimmy Carter's book by the name "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid". I've been wanting to read this book ever since it was published, I found it in Tunisia in the Al Kitab bookstore but it was too expensive, so I posptponed and bought it from Prime Megastore on my last trip to Jordan. In this book, Jimmy Carter tackles the Middle East crisis and the question of Israel's peace with its neighbors--in particular, how Israeli sovereignty and security can coexist permanently and peacefully with Palestinian nationhood. It is a comprehensive and well-informed...
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Muslim charities and aid organizations putting together a Live8-like music concert in London to help raise funds and awareness for the Darfur crisis. A Muslim Live8 is to be staged at Wembley to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Darfur... The charities Islamic Relief and Muslim Aid, which are organising the event, want the concert to raise funds and awareness about the genocide in the region, where combatants and victims are all Muslim. Speaking at a press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Jehangir Malik of Islamic Relief said: "We are going for our own equivalent of Live8. We are...
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More and more money for weapons... US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns has signed a deal that will provide Israel with $30bn of military aid over the next 10 years. The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has said the aid will preserve his country's military advantage over other countries in the Middle East. The new military aid package represents a 25% increase from present levels. [...] Mr Burns called the aid package an "investment in peace", saying "peace cannot be made without strength". [Source: BBC News] Now, this isn't really something unexpected, the US has been pouring billions upon billions...
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David Walker, comptroller general of the US, draws parallels between the state of the US and the fall of Rome... The US government is on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector, David Walker, comptroller general of the US, has warned. [...] Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and...
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Bits of news like this show me we have yet a long long way to go ahead of us before anything like peace, understanding and mutual respect is reached... A Dutch member of parliament has called for the Quran to be banned in the Netherlands, describing it as a "fascist book" which calls on people to kill non-believers and rape women. Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Freedom Party, called for the ban in a letter published in De Volkskrant newspaper. [...] "I am fed up with Islam in the Netherlands: no more Muslim immigrants allowed. I am fed up...
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So here are the thoughts of Tom Tancredo, one of the 2008 Republican US presidential candidates... Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo’s campaign stood by his assertion that bombing holy Muslim sites would serve as a good "deterrent" to prevent Islamic fundamentalists from attacking the United States. "This shows that we mean business,” said Bay Buchanan, a senior Tancredo adviser. “There’s no more effective deterrent than that." "If it is up to me, we are going to explain that an attack on this homeland of that nature would be followed by an attack on the holy sites in Mecca and Medina,” Tancredo...
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The Atlas of Faiths from Encyclopedia Britannica (2003): Check the larger version....
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Burj Dubai, the supertall tower designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill for developer Emaar being built in Dubai, is now the tallest building in the world. A year and a half ahead of completion and already 512m tall, the skyscraper known as Burj Dubai (Dubai Tower) has become the world's tallest building, according to its developers. It is is now taller than Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which officially held the record for being the tallest tower since 2004. The final height of the Burj is a closely guarded secret. Emaar, the state-owned development company, is only willing to say that...
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The colonial tactic of conquer and divide is being put to use on the Palestinians yet once again; initially in the Gaza Strip between Fatah and Hamas and now between the West Bank and Gaza. [...] Part of a conquer and divide strategy is timing. Why did Israel wait until this moment to consider Mahmoud Abbas a “partner committed to peace” when his positions have hardly changed since his election over two years ago? Why is Israel only now considering freeing Marwan al-Barghouthi, a convicted Fatah activist? Why only now release the frozen government taxes ($570 million) that the Palestinians...
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After farms, it's now the turn of firms... President Robert Mugabe's government has published a bill to move majority control of "public companies and any other business" to black Zimbabweans. The goal is to ensure at least a 51% shareholding by indigenous black people in the majority of businesses. Zimbabwe's official inflation is 4,500% but independent economists and retailers say it is really above 11,000% and picking up speed. With inflation levels that high and the country suffering from shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency; this really isn't the time to make things even worse by applying the same...
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The United States will increase its military assistance to Israel and sign a new agreement securing American aid to the country for the next decade, President George W. Bush announced Tuesday following his meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. (...) Israel asked for a gradual increase in the aid over a 10-year period at the tune of $50 million per year. At the end of the 10 years, Israel will receive $2.9 billion annually in military assistance from the U.S. Olmert told the president that an announcement on the increase in aid would be an expression of American support for...
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My respect for Canada has just gone up another notch... A raft of subsidies and other incentives is making Ontario a hot spot for solar panel manufacturers and others in alternative energy. This week, the province's government announced a $610 million fund to develop a green technology industry and attract carmakers and solar panel makers. Municipalities will also be able to dip into a separate $206 million fund for retrofitting buildings. Additionally, the province has unfurled programs that eliminate sales tax on Energy Star-rated lightbulbs and appliances for a year, offer homeowners up to about $4,689 to install energy-efficient appliances,...
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Military spending worldwide has risen by 37% over the past 10 years, reaching 1.204 Trillion dollars in 2006, according to the annual report published by SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) on June 11th. The United States, with a spending of 528.7 Billion dollars in 2006, accounts for 46% of the total military spending worldwife, way ahead of all the other countries. Right behind the US are the UK and France that both account for 4 to 5 % of the worldwide miltary spending in 2006. The top 15 countries in the list alone account for 83% of the global...
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The first study to rank countries around the world according to their peacefulness and the drivers that create and sustain their peace was released on May 30th. The Global Peace Index studied 121 countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe and its publication comes one week before the leaders of the world's richest countries gather for the G8 summit in Germany to discuss issues of global concern. According to this Global Peace Index, Norway is the most peaceful nation and Iraq is the least, just after Israel and Sudan. The survey places Israel at the bottom end of the scale at #119....
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(...) Until the spring of 2004, its parliamentary government was increasingly controlled by right-wing Hindu extremists who condoned and in some cases actively supported violence against minority groups, especially Muslims. (...) If we really want to understand the impact of religious nationalism on democratic values, India currently provides a deeply troubling example, and one without which any understanding of the more general phenomenon is dangerously incomplete. It also provides an example of how democracy can survive the assault of religious extremism. (...) The real "clash of civilizations" is not between "Islam" and "the West," but instead within virtually all...
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So, yesterday was big presidential election day in France, and Nicolas Sarkozy won; he got 53% of the vote. I was expecting this, and it came at no surprise to me; I haven't followed the campaigns closely, because after all it is not a story that is of any special importance to me, but I caught some bits and pieces of debates or talk shows here and there, and Sarkozy is simply put a better salesperson and speaker than Ségolène Royal; even though it's obvious he's just playing on all sides and trying to fakely warm up to all constituencies...
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An interesting article by Naomi Wolf in The Guardian: ... If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective. It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps. [...] 1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy 2. Create...
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I just came across one of the most absurd articles I've read in a while, by a certain Kenneth Levin, a clinical instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a Princeton-trained historian, a commentator on Israeli politics and an author of a book I'm sure is full of more nonsense called "The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege". The article lists some so-called seven pillars of Middle East reality that he thinks stand in the way of peace with Israel. Here are the seven points and what I think of each one: Arab leaders have no interest in...
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Madonna will be heading the star-studded line up for the Live Earth concert at the new Wembley Stadium to highlight the threat of climate change. Other star performers for the London leg of the global gig are: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Razorlight, Keane, Snow Patrol, Genesis, Foo Fighters, Beastie Boys and the Black Eyes Peas. Headliners for the U.S. concert at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., include Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews Band, Kanye West, Rihanna, John Mayer, Smashing Pumpkins and Fall Out Boy. Other shows will take place in Shanghai, China; Johannesburg, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; Tokyo; and Rio...
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"We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities. Passionately desiring to keep the occupied territories, we developed two judicial systems: one - progressive, liberal - in Israel; and the other - cruel, injurious - in the occupied territories. In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the occupied territories immediately following their capture. That oppressive regime exists to this day." -- Michael Ben-Yair (Israeli's Attorney-General 1993-1996), The War's Seventh Day; Ha'aretz, 3 March 2002. [Via: Lawrence...
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Qatar Airways plans to become the first airline in the world to fuel its aircraft with natural gas, the company’s chief executive said in an interview. Akbar al-Baker said the airline was talking to oil giant Royal Dutch Shell and engine manufacturers about using a form of diesel made from natural gas, known as GTL, or Gas-to-Liquids fuel, in its planes; and as soon as the engine manufacturers certify their engines to be used with GTL, Qatar Airways will be the first airline to fuel its airplanes with GTL. Qatar has the world’s third-largest gas reserves and is keen to...
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Over 5,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army since 2000. Since the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada in September 2000, until late January 2007, the Israeli army has killed 5,050 Palestinian men, women and children, wounded 49,760 others and detained 10,4000 others. 351 Palestinian women have been killed, 150 patients have died at checkpoints and 66 others have been killed due to beating by Israeli settlers. 36 medical staff have been killed, 9 members of the press, and 220 sportsmen. According to B’Tselem (The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights) for the same period, 704 Israeli civilians...
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Environmental activists led by former US Vice President Al Gore announced plans yesterday for a 24-hour pop concert across seven continents in July to mobilize action to stop global warming. The "Live Earth" concerts will be taking place on July 7th and will bring together more than 100 of the world's top musical acts. The names of the performers haven't been announced yet though. The idea of the concerts and a new campaign under the name Save Our Selves (SOS) is to try and reach a global audience of around 2 billion people, through concert attendance, radio, television and Internet...
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I finally got to watch the movie "Blood Diamond" yesterday, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou, directed and produced by Edward Zwick. I've been wanting to watch this movie ever since it was released, mainly because I wanted to see how the issue was handled and presented, and secondly because Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of a Zimbabwean diamond smuggler, with the accent and all, so yeah there was some nostalgia involved. I really liked the movie, and I think it hits the right spot. As someone on imdb rightly puts it, this movie is a lot like...
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"War prisoners apart, the average citizen of Oceania never sets eyes on a citizen of either Eurasia or Eastasia, and he is forbidden the knowledge of foreign languages. If he were allowed contact with foreigners he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what he has been told about them is lies. The sealed world in which he lives would be broken, and the fear, hatred, and self-righteousness on which his morale depends might evaporate. It is therefore realized on all sides that however often Persia, or Egypt, or Java, or Ceylon may change...
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Before the U.S. House of Representatives on February 6, 2007; Ron Paul, a Republican member of Congress from Texas, had these words for the President of the United States of America regarding the possibility of striking Iran: It's a bad idea. There's no need for it. There's great danger in doing it. America is against it, and Congress should be. The United Nations is against it. The Russians, the Chinese, the Indians, and the Pakistanis are against it. The whole world is against it. Our allies are against it. Our enemies are against it. The Arabs are against it. The...
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Former US Vice President Al Gore, who should have become President in 2000 instead of the miserable failure that is Bush, was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world's attention to the dangers of global warming, a Norwegian lawmaker announced yesterday. During his eight years as Bill Clinton's vice president, Al Gore pushed for climate measures, including for the Kyoto Treaty, that Bush flushed down the drain. Since leaving office in 2001 has campaigned worldwide on climate issues, including with his documentary on climate change called "An Inconvenient Truth," which is nominated...
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Tunisian man is first Arab to be nominated for holocaust honor for risking his life to save Tunisian Jews from Nazi persecution. At the height of World War II, Khaled Abdelwahhab hid a group of Jews on his farm in a small Tunisian town, saving them from the Nazi troops occupying the North African nation. Now, Abdelwahhab has become the first Arab nominated for recognition as ''Righteous Among the Nations,'' an honor bestowed on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from Nazi persecution. [...] ... Abdelwahhab, the son of an aristocratic family was 32 when German troops arrived...
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The keepers of the "Doomsday Clock" plan to move its hands forward next Wednesday to reflect what they call worsening nuclear and climate threats to the world. The symbolic clock, maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, currently is set at seven minutes to midnight, with midnight marking global catastrophe. The major new step reflects growing concerns about a 'Second Nuclear Age' marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing 'launch-ready' status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism,...
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Juan Cole compiles a list of the top 10 myths about Iraq, which goes as follows: 1. The U.S. can still win in Iraq. 2. US military sweeps of neighborhoods can drive the guerrillas out. 3. The United States is best off throwing all its support behind the Iraqi Shiites. 4. Iraq is not in a civil war 5. The second Lancet study showing 600,000 excess deaths from political and criminal violence since the US invasion is somehow flawed. 6. Most deaths in Iraq are from bombings. 7. Baghdad and environs are especially violent but the death rate is lower...
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As the attacks on Iraqi civilians and U.S. military go on daily in Iraq, the AP reports the following... The latest U.S. deaths brought the number of members of the U.S. military killed since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003 to at least 2,978 — five more than the number killed in the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. President Bush has said the Iraq war is part of the United States' post-Sept. 11 approach to threats abroad. Going on the offense against enemies before they could harm Americans meant removing the Taliban from...
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In a December 18 blog post headlined "Barack Hussein Obama: Once a Muslim, Always A Muslim", right-wing pundit Debbie Schlussel argued that because Sen. Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein, his late, estranged father was of Muslim descent, and he has shown interest in his father's Kenyan heritage, Obama's "loyalties" must be called into question as he emerges as a possible Democratic presidential candidate. In the column, Schlussel asked: "So, even if he identifies strongly as a Christian ... is a man who Muslims think is a Muslim, who feels some sort of psychological need to prove himself to his...
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Some interestings bits and quotes from Kofi Annan's farewell address to the United Nations: "...in today’s world, the security of every one of us is linked to that of everyone else. That was already true in Truman’s time. The man who in 1945 gave the order for nuclear weapons to be used – for the first, and let us hope the only, time in history – understood that security for some could never again be achieved at the price of insecurity for others." Respect for human rights and the rule of law can be advanced only "if America remains true...
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Economist Muhammad Yunus accepted the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday for his breakthrough program to lift the poor through tiny loans, saying he hoped the award would inspire "bold initiatives" to eradicate a problem at the root of terrorism. Yunus shared the award with his Grameen Bank, which for more than two decades has helped impoverished people start businesses by providing small, usually unsecured loans known as microcredit. He is the first and so far only Bangladeshi to win the prestigious award. The award also marked a shift away from the conventions by awarding it to someone who worked to promote...
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