| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"maff" |
| Date: |
08 Nov 2006 04:07:53 AM |
| Object: |
Away with the manger |
Away with the manger
Open Thread
November 7, 2006 01:50 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2006/11/away_with_the_mange=
r=2Ehtml
The festive season is officially underway, the shops have been playing
Christmas carols, the Oxford Street lights will be switched on this
week and the Royal Mail has released this year's Christmas stamps. It's
all feeling rather festive, but according to Christian leaders, we are
missing the point.
The stamps include all the familiar seasonal images - Santa Claus,
reindeer, snowmen and a Christmas tree - but the religious story has
been omitted. So the Royal Mail has inadvertently re-ignited the annual
debate about the role of religion in public life.
Click for freedom
Julien Pain
November 7, 2006 02:14 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/julien_pain/2006/11/post_589.html
Across the world, there are currently 61 people in prison for posting
"subversive" content on a blog or website. Certain authorities see the
internet as a threat and impose various kinds of censors, exploiting
the flaws of the medium and attacking those who pin their hopes on it.
Multinationals such as Yahoo! cooperate with the Chinese government in
filtering the internet and tracking down cyber-dissidents. It is time
to take some action against this worrying situation.
Today (November 7), Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without
Borders) is calling for everyone who uses the internet to campaign
against the censorship that infiltrates the world wide web. Bloggers,
journalists, students and the general public - for 24 hours everyone is
invited to register their opposition to censorship with a simple click.
There are four main points to the campaign.
Keeping the oil pumping
Dilip Hiro
November 7, 2006 02:59 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dilip_hiro/2006/11/post_585.html
While Russia's opposition to any sanctions against Iran on its nuclear
programme has stalemated diplomatic moves at the United Nations
security council, the United States seems to be pressing ahead with its
contingency military plans against Iran.
On October 30 the Pentagon led a five-day naval exercise, codenamed
Leading Edge, in the Persian Gulf involving the participation of
Britain, France, Italy, Australia - and Bahrain, which hosts the US
Fifth Fleet. There were observers from 19 other countries, including a
few in the Gulf region. And this led the Pentagon to declare, falsely,
that the naval manoeuvres involved 25 countries.
The new globalisation
Anthony Giddens
November 7, 2006 03:51 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/anthony_giddens/2006/11/post_580.html
Globalisation is in the news again, following Gordon Brown's call
yesterday to "rout the anti-globalisation forces of protectionism". It
isn't news that globalisation is in the news. It has been written about
almost endlessly over the past few years, by scholars as well as by
politicians and the press. I believe I was one of the first to use the
term, and discuss its likely impact upon our societies, in the early
1980's.
Since then globalisation has been debated so intensively and so
continuously - by those who want to push it further, as Brown does, and
those who feel it does more harm than good - that it is tempting to
think that nothing original can any longer be said about it. But such a
thought would be wrong. Anyone interested in how globalisation is
changing our lives, and our economies, would do well to ponder the
recent writing of a group of eminent economists at Princeton
University. They are Professor Gene Grossman, Alan Blinder and their
colleagues, together with a British author working in Geneva, Richard
Baldwin, who has commented usefully on their work.
Midterm crisis for the special relationship?
Michael White
November 7, 2006 04:22 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/michael_white/2006/11/post_590.html
In his history of the Reformation, Professor Diarmaid McCulloch argues
that the greatest achievement of northern European Protestantism was
the creation of the United States.
It's a good point and suggests why the ties that bind Europe with the
US have been strong enough to endure the sweeping incompetence in both
domestic and foreign policy which may make the second administration of
George W Bush the most disastrous since Warren Harding in the 1920s.
Why Theos will fail
Martin Newland
November 7, 2006 04:40 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/martin_newland/2006/11/why_theos_will_f=
ail.html
Prompted by Jack Straw's recent public criticism of the Muslim niqab a
few weeks ago, I wrote a piece for the Guardian criticising secular
society for its inability to understand the motives behind religious
observance, and arguing that it was quite possible to be at the same
time deeply religious and quite rational.
I detailed some of my own Roman Catholic beliefs in the certain
knowledge that this would prompt in many readers exactly the kind of
visceral intolerance and mistrust of personal religiosity I was seeking
to draw attention to.
From comandante to caudillo
Andrew Anthony
November 7, 2006 04:55 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/andrew_anthony/2006/11/the_comandante_w=
ho_became_a_ca.html
No doubt there will be those who will hail Daniel Ortega's victory in
the Nicaraguan election as a triumph for the left in Latin America.
And, of course, America's bogeyman from the 1980s will be expected to
take his place alongside Hugo Chavez and the ailing Fidel Castro in the
vanguard against American imperialism.
Certainly, Paul Trivelli, the American ambassador to Nicaragua, did
Ortega's cause no harm by warning Nicaraguans not to vote for him. A
move that makes you wonder whether the US State department understands
even the elementary basics of international diplomacy.
Midterm adness
James Crabtree
November 7, 2006 05:15 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/james_crabtree/2006/11/midterm_adness.h=
tml
It's polling day in America. Frankly, there isn't much left to say.
$2.6bn dollars have been spent. No one really knows who is going to
win. And there isn't much anyone can do to affect the outcome. So while
we wait for the results I thought I'd post a little election day fun,
and link to the best adverts I've seen this season.
I've avoided the vast majority, most of which are of the "I'm a good
guy who believes in families" or "my opponent voted to support the
terrorists" variety. Some are downright scurrilous. Some stretch the
truth. Others break it entirely. And some are quite brilliant. I'm not
sure that critics of American ads will be entirely persuaded by this
selection. Nonetheless, they are the most interesting and memorable
I've seen.
Liberty is not on the cards
AC Grayling
November 7, 2006 06:15 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ac_grayling/2006/11/from_ac_grayling_2.=
html
Every time a member of the government defends the introduction of ID
cards, a new ground is offered to justify them. The latest effort, by
the prime minister himself, is very revealing. At his news conference
he said that the question of ID cards (along with other matters such as
antisocial behaviour orders, CCTV cameras and the DNA database) are not
about civil liberties but about "modernity", meaning that in these
modern times we must use "new technology" to tackle crime and other
problems.
There is almost too much to say about this remark and the mindset it
reveals. For those who wish to argue from "we have the technology" to
"let's use it therefore" as Mr Blair here does, in respect of cloning,
embryo research, nuclear weapons, and so indefinitely on, this is a
highly useful piece of illogicality. It surely does not need saying, in
response, that for each and every individual possibility offered by
technology, a separate case has to be made for its acceptability. In my
view the answers would come out: cloning and embryo research, yes;
nuclear weapons, no; mass surveillance and invasion of privacy of the
national population, no.
Giving up the vote
Andrew Brown
November 7, 2006 06:45 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/andrew_brown/2006/11/the_last_american_=
elections.html
Might today's elections be the last that matter in America? This is, I
know, a gloomy and apocalyptic idea. But we live in gloomy and
apocalyptic times, and I believe that if the Republicans do well enough
this year they will destroy all faith in democracy on the left. No one
will believe that the election was not stolen with the aid of crooked
computers. Hell, I won't believe in a pro-Bush result, knowing how easy
it is to break into one of the Diebold voting machines. There are
already stories spreading across the net that signal this has been
spotted, from such commentators as "the thoughtful Baptist", the
journalist Fred Clark.
Even the Miami Herald has reported "a story" about voting machines that
mysteriously registered a press on the Democratic candidate as a vote
for a Republican one. Similar stories have come from Texas.
Saddam: good riddance!
Oliver Kamm
November 7, 2006 07:15 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/oliver_kamm/2006/11/post_591.html
"Realpolitik, its many current fans should realise, no more guarantees
you a quiet life than does interventionism. But at least the latter
puts the tyrant in the dock," wrote David Aaronovitch in his Times
column today.
If you're to credit David Cox's scabrous apologetic for Saddam Hussein,
it's a crying shame the tyrant was put in the dock at all. The
political congealment of an isolationist and anti-American left with an
obdurately reactionary right has been a singular part of political
debate in the last five years. But not even the collection of Leninists
and Islamists that makes up the misnamed Stop the War Coalition has yet
advanced cynicism on Cox's scale.
The midterms: blow by blow
Richard Adams
November 7, 2006 09:15 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_adams/2006/11/the_midterms_blow=
_by_blow.html
As America goes to the polls today to elect 33 senators and 435 members
of the House of Representatives, here's your blog-out-and-keep guide to
the key races to look out for, and the times to watch.
In brief: the Democrats need to win 15 seats off the Republicans to
take control of the House of Representatives, and take six seats in the
Senate. While most commentators expect the Democratic party to
comfortably win enough House seats (for a majority of between 20 and 30
seats - with 30 representing the high end of Democratic expectations),
the Senate races are all very close, and the Democrats need to win six
out of seven Republican-held marginal seats while hanging on to both
Democrat-held seats in bruising races in Maryland and New Jersey. That
may prove to be too difficult, unless the national mood has swung more
firmly against the Bush administration than most opinion polls suggest.
A group of exit polls published after 1am UK time will show whether or
not the Democrats are likely to be celebrating wins in both houses of
Congress.
Dirty tricks and tight races
Richard Adams
November 7, 2006 11:13 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_adams/2006/11/dirty_tricks_and_=
tight_races.html
With a succession of close races in today's US midterm elections
holding political power in the balance, every vote counts. That makes
accusations of fraud and manipulation all the more serious - and there
are signs that the Republican party is engaging in bare-knuckle tactics
in order to defend their most important seats.
The Washington Post reports inaccurate sample ballots being distributed
in Maryland, while the FBI is reported to be investigating voter
intimidation in Virginia, with voters saying they have received
deceptive phone calls saying their polling station had changed.
The accidental senator
Ben Whitford
November 8, 2006 02:26 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ben_whitford/2006/11/the_accidental_sen=
ator.html
And so the bogeyman falls. As everyone and their dog predicted,
arch-conservative Rick Santorum has lost his Pennsylvania senate seat
to the Democratic state treasurer, Bob Casey Jr. The man liberals love
to hate may yet escape the double-digit drubbing forecast in the polls,
but with both ABC and CNN calling the race against him, Democrats
across the state - and the country - will be feeling entitled to
indulge in a little preliminary schadenfreude.
Rightfully so. Rick Santorum was a genuinely influential senator with a
penchant for genuinely atrocious policies and rhetoric. His
fearmongering over terrorism, his unrepentant support for the Iraq war,
his closeness to the president, his backing for intelligent design, and
above all his mind-bendingly ugly views on homosexuality always grated
in Pennsylvania, a moderate swing-state that backed Kerry in 2004 and
Gore in 2000. Santorum himself liked to joke that Democrats couldn't
understand how he'd managed to hold onto the state for 12 years. "A lot
of them see me as a fluke. They say, 'How's a guy like this get elected
in Pennsylvania? He's just so lucky,' " he told the Washington Post.
"They see me as an accidental senator."
Midterms: Oops, she did it again
Ben Whitford
November 8, 2006 04:20 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ben_whitford/2006/11/midterms_oops_she_=
did_it_again.html
=B7 Amid the divisiveness and acrimony of polling day, it's good to
stumble across a bit of news that brings everyone together. "Midterms,
schmidterms: tomorrow's headline has already been decided," declares
FishbowlDC. That's right - tonight is all about Britney, with bloggers
from the left and the right united to condemn Ms Spears' deplorable
attempt to spring an election-night surprise.
"It's a voter suppression plot," declared Michele Malkin, and a swift
survey of Livejournal entries suggests she might be right: "Is it wrong
that I care more about Britney Spears' divorce from K. Fed than I do
about the results of the midterm elections?" asks Blairbarella;
"Elections? What elections? Britney Spears =3D way more important,
clearly," notes Leila82.
America has spoken
Martin Kettle
November 8, 2006 05:18 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/martin_kettle/2006/11/america_has_spoke=
n=2Ehtml
America has spoken, George Bush told the nation this morning two years
ago, and it had given him its trust and his confidence. He would
continue his policies at home and abroad, buoyed by the public's
endorsement. Now, two years further on, America has spoken again - but
this time in a very different tone and with the opposite conclusion,
issuing a direct warning to the leader it re-elected 24 months ago to
change his policy in Iraq. The cheering can be heard not just in
America itself but around the planet.
So the big question this morning and over the coming weeks and months
is this: which George Bush will respond to the American voters' verdict
in the 2006 midterms? Will it be the same apparently humble and
responsive president who said he heard the popular verdict in 2004 and
would act on it? Or will it be a defiant president, who opts to spend
his final two years in office in conflict with the new legislature that
Americans have chosen to represent them?
The last sleepless night?
Eric Alterman
November 8, 2006 05:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/eric_alterman/2006/11/the_last_sleeples=
s_night.html
Democrats got a little giddy early on Tuesday evening watching the
blow-out by Bob Casey of Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum in Pennsylvania,
hoping against hope that the rest of the evening would find them riding
a wave of the kind we say in 1994, reversing some of the horrors of the
past six years. It was not to be.
The Republican structural advantages - money, extreme gerrymandering, a
"freak show"-dominated media that pays more attention to a flubbed joke
by an ex-Democratic candidate who wasn't running for anything than a
flubbed war, economy, etc - kept the wave at bay and, it appears, kept
the senate Republican.
A good night that could still be a great one
Richard Adams
November 8, 2006 07:05 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_adams/2006/11/exit_polls_add_pi=
nch_of_salt_a.html
At the end of a night of across-the-board gains, in house, senate and
governorship elections, the Democratic party finished by acheiving more
than they had dared hope even a few weeks ago. If talk of replicating
the stunning 1994 midterm sweep by the Republicans turned out to be
inaccurate, the end result was still satisfying: a majority in the
House of Representatives of around 30 seats, a strong hand of Democrat
occupants in state capitals including a revival in traditional
strongholds such as Massachusetts and New York, and the capturing of a
quartet of Senate seats in Ohio, Rhode Island, Missouri and
Pennsylvania. And, as night turned into morning, the Democrats still
had a slim chance of taking control of the Senate, pending the outcome
of two tightly contested races in Montana and Virginia - a far better
performance than many would have anticipated before voting began on
Tuesday.
The strength of the Republican get-out-the-vote operation, and its much
vaunted "72 hour project", helped keep it within fighting distance of
many races, not only in the vital Senate races but in a slew of tough
House contests. But the Democrats were still abe to pick off vulnerable
Republicans, including some veteran representatives such as Clay Shaw
in Florida and Anne Northrup in Kentucky - doughty campaigners who had
previously warded off attempts to unseat them. The Democrats also
harvested the knot of Republicans caught up in sleaze allegations or
tainted by association with the likes of Mark Foley, Bob Ney or Jack
Abramoff. Both Foley and Ney's old seats fell into Democrat hands, as
did Tom DeLay's old seat in Texas, thanks in part to the Hammer's name
still being on the ballot.
Coming in from the cold
Azzam Tamimi
November 8, 2006 07:59 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/azzam_tamimi/2006/11/revisiting_khalid_=
mishal.html
I've known Khalid Mish'al, head of the Hamas Political Bureau, for many
years and I can tell when he is upset and when he is upbeat. When I
interviewed him recently for the London-based Alhiwar Arabic satellite
TV channel (broadcast this week) I found him in the middle of extremely
sensitive negotiations with a multitude of regional and international
players over the formation of a national unity government that would,
once agreed, bring an end to the sanctions imposed on the Palestinians
by the "international community". He was anxious not to jeopardize the
effort, which could imminently bear fruit.
But he was generally in jubilant mood. Hamas is doing extremely well,
in spite of all the efforts to suffocate it. One of his associates told
me there was a time earlier in the year when Mish'al's telephone did
not ring unless his wife called him. The policy adopted by the United
States and its allies toward Hamas intimidated most of the Arab regimes
that initially welcomed the movement's electoral victory and had
promised both political and financial support.
Bush needs harmony for his swan song
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldbriefing/0,,1324846,00.html
Simon Tisdall
Tuesday November 7, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
George Bush has always been a divisive politician. When he first won
the presidency in 2000, the manner of his victory - decided by a split
vote in the supreme court after Florida's "hanging chad" fiasco -
polarised the nation as rarely before. But was Mr Bush chastened? No.
Ignoring his lack of a broad popular mandate, the new president stormed
into office in pursuit of a sectional, hard-right conservative agenda.
In six years his appetite for the politics of confrontation has not
diminished. His refusal to engage diplomatically with foreign
governments thought hostile to the US mirrored his contempt for
domestic opponents. The Democrats were simply shut out.
A brutal taste of the future
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1941784,00.html
The assault on Beit Hanoun is a terrifying example of what lies in
store for Palestinians
Sami Abdel-Shafi in Gaza City
Wednesday November 8, 2006
The Guardian
The initiation of Avigdor Lieberman - widely regarded as an outright
racist - into Ehud Olmert's Israeli government seems to have already
brought a taste of things to come. For the past week, the Gaza Strip
city of Beit Hanoun has been made a ground zero by the Israeli army. By
yesterday, more than 260 Palestinians lay dead and injured, with 53
fatalities - women, children and ambulance drivers among them.
Ancestor worship
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1941787,00.html
Scrapping around for old DNA is the very opposite of history. It is
pointless and self-regarding
Zoe Williams
Wednesday November 8, 2006
The Guardian
Genealogy is like PlayStationing - you think it's just special-interest
fun for people who don't do friends, then you look round and
everybody's at it. There are 3 million people trying to find their
ancestors through the national archives.
The archives are, of course, the internet face of the Public Record
Office, which in the days before the wonderweb was like any other
public library, without the children - rammed to the gills with old
people. I did not pick up the idea that family-treeing was an elderly
pursuit, like embroidery and complaining, off the telly, but prima
facie from working in the Public Record Office at Kew (since you ask, I
was researching black history in Lewisham). I never saw anyone under
60. Well, genealogy is not a young person's game. By definition, it
lacks high drama - if anyone in your family had ever done anything
remotely interesting, nobody else in the family would have stopped
talking about it.
Fighting flicks: China braces for clash of the titans
Jonathan Watts
November 7, 2006 04:55 PM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2006/11/fighting_flicks_china_braces_f.html
Beijing is abuzz with anticipation ahead of the premiere of director
Zhang Yimou's latest martial arts epic at the American Film Institute
on November 12. Described by the few Chinese critics allowed an advance
viewing as the film-maker's best work in more than 10 years, Curse of
the Golden Flower has been selected to represent China in the best
foreign film category at next year's Academy Awards.
To live up to this accolade, it will have to prove that it is better
than the season's other highly touted arthouse fight flick, The
Banquet, which will represent Hong Kong at the Oscars even though its
director, Feng Xiaogang, is a mainlander.
Democrats take control of House
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1942100,00.html
=B7 Washington power balance shifts
=B7 Pelosi becomes House speaker
=B7 Senate hangs in balance
Julian Borger in Washington
Wednesday November 8, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
President George Bush's job is a lot tougher this morning, after the
Democrats won control of the House of Representatives, breaking the
conservative monopoly of power in Washington and clearing the way for
congressional investigations into the conduct of the Iraq war.
The future of the Senate still hangs in the balance, with two states
yet to be decided. The Montana count is tight but leaning towards the
Democrats, while in Virginia lawyers were preparing to fight over the
outcome. The Democratic challenger, Jim Webb, holds a lead of a few
thousand out of 2.3m votes cast. If the vote is close enough, with less
than a 0.5% margin, Virginia state law gives the loser the option of
calling for a recount once the first count has been finalised by
November 27.
Democrats return to state houses
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1942073,00.html
Associated Press
Wednesday November 8, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Democrats today reclaimed governorships across the US, putting their
party on track to take a majority of state houses for the first time in
12 years.
Victories in Massachusetts, Ohio, New York, Arkansas, Iowa and Colorado
meant Democrats would control the top elected office in at least 28 of
the 50 states, provided they held their own seats.
Such an edge over the Republicans could prove pivotal in the 2008
campaign for the White House.
Virginia Senate race is the closest
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1942084,00.html
Agencies
Wednesday November 8, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
The Republican incumbent in the Virginia Senate race today suggested he
would push for a recount in the tightest vote of the evening.
With 99% of precincts reporting, George Allen was just over 2,000 votes
behind Democrat James Webb. Mr Allen told supporters the election was
not over.
"I've been in a lot of fights in my life. This is nothing new," he
said. "I just want all of you to know it's going to take a while. But
at some point, I think very soon, we're going to be on top."
Parties locked in mortal combat in southern testing ground
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1942082,00.html
Suzanne Goldenberg in Vienna, Virginia
Wednesday November 8, 2006
The Guardian
In the thick of the crowds at the election night party, the Democratic
campaign volunteer and blogger known as Teacher Ken held his Mac aloft
and proclaimed that last night belonged to Jim Webb. "If this holds up,
it's going to be a clobbering," he said.
Teacher Ken, aka Ken Bernstein, may have been a little premature. Early
returns from one of the most fiercely contested Senate races in the
country, pitting the incumbent Republican, George Allen, against
Democratic challenger Jim Webb, revealed only that it would be a long
night ahead.
Democrats pile pressure on Bush as glitches hit US poll
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1941895,00.html
=B7 Republican senators lose Ohio and Pennsylvania
=B7 Questions raised over electronic voting system
Julian Borger in Washington and Ed Pilkington in Evansville, Indiana
Wednesday November 8, 2006
The Guardian
The Republican hold on Congress was under intense pressure last night
amid a volley of early Democrat victories in US midterm elections that
were marred by technical glitches and accusations of fraud.
The Democrats won Senate seats from the Republicans in Ohio and
Pennsylvania while defending a vulnerable seat in New Jersey, according
to projections from exit polls and early results. Early returns also
showed Democrats making gains in the House of Representatives in
normally conservative states like Indiana. But it was too early to tell
whether the party had done well enough to regain control of the House
and Senate for the first time in 12 years, and severely limit George
Bush's power in his last two years as president.
States of flux
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1941519,00.html
The congressional midterms may hog the spotlight, but today's
gubernatorial elections could be equally telling, writes Philip James
Tuesday November 7, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
While all eyes are focused on the outcome of the races for both houses
of Congress, an equally critical contest is culminating in 36 of the 50
state houses, where elections for governor and other state-wide offices
are taking place.
Thirteen Republican governors and 13 Democrats are seeking second terms
this year, in ballots where the power of incumbency usually favours the
office holder. But, in a year where the national mood has turned toxic
for the GOP, there are no guarantees of safety for them.
Gary Younge: Will people be heard?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/11/07/will_the_us_people_be_=
heard_today.html
Bush made to suffer in the 'bloody eighth'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1942080,00.html
Indiana seat renowned for its close election results goes to the
Democrats
Ed Pilkington in Evansville, Indiana
Wednesday November 8, 2006
The Guardian
An incipient Democrat surge in US midterm elections claimed its first
victim early this morning when John Hostettler, the Republican House
representative for the south-eastern corner of Indiana, suffered a
dramatic defeat.
In the first confirmed defeat for the Republicans, the Democrat
challenger Brad Ellsworth swept out the incumbent, giving a clear
indication that the Republicans were facing a long hard struggle to
maintain control over Congress.
Elsewhere, several Republican senators were staring defeat in the face.
In Ohio, the ultimate swing state in the 2004 presidential elections,
Democrat Sherrod Brown, who is on the left of the party and has
campaigned openly against the war, overcame the Republican incumbent
Mike DeWine. The Republicans were similarly vulnerable in Pennsylvania.
In all, the Democrats needed to pick up 15 seats to carry off the House
of Representative and six to win the Senate.
US readers on their elections
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/11/07/american_readers_on_th=
eir_elections.html
News blog: Simon Jeffery rounds up opinion in the US on the midterm
elections.
Iranian soap star faces lashing after sex tape made public
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1941720,00.html
Robert Tait in Tehran
Tuesday November 7, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
The career of a rising young Iranian actor has been left in tatters by
the widespread distribution of a private film showing her having sex.
Police are investigating the woman, who has not been officially named,
for a suspected breach of Iran's strict morality laws forbidding sex
outside marriage. Unmarried people who break the law are subject to
punishment by lashing.
Investigators have also asked Interpol to arrest and extradite the
woman's male partner, who is thought to have fled to Dubai.
MPs accuse ministers of twisting science for political purposes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1941806,00.html
=B7 Evidence distorted to give figleaf of respectability
=B7 Inquiry highlights drug policy and crime statistics
James Randerson, science correspondent
Wednesday November 8, 2006
The Guardian
The government often hides behind a figleaf of scientific
respectability when spinning unpalatable or controversial policies to
make them acceptable to voters, according to a report by MPs critical
of the way science is used in policy.
The parliamentary science and technology select committee said that
scientific evidence was often misused or distorted to justify policy
decisions which were really based on ideological or social grounds.
Bush battered as Democrats seize House
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1962535.ece
AP
Published: 08 November 2006
Democrats have won control of the House of Representatives and are
challenging the Republican majority in the Senate in a mid-term
election blow to President George Bush.
Democrats rode to victory on a powerful wave of public anger over the
war in Iraq and scandal at home. They also reclaimed governors' offices
throughout the country, giving them a majority for the first time in 12
years.
Another election is marred by dirty tricks
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1962443.ece
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
Published: 08 November 2006
Early yesterday morning, Tim Daly of Clarendon, Virginia found a
message on his voice mail threatening him with arrest if he showed up
to vote.
"This is the Virginia Elections Commission," the message said. " We've
determined you are registered in New York to vote. Therefore, you will
not be allowed to cast your vote... If you do show up, you will be
charged criminally."
Hamish McRae: The growing problem of America
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/hamish_mcrae/article1962416=
..ece
Will political disruption push the US more towards a protectionist
society?
Published: 08 November 2006
What happens in American politics is hugely important to Britain for
the most obvious of reasons, hence the wall-to-wall analysis of the
midterm elections. But it is also important to the American economy,
and hence to the world economy, and there has been much less dissection
of the consequences there.
However, the financial markets, ahead of the elections, had already
made up their minds. They were thrilled. Whatever the precise tally at
the polls there would be a more bipartisan approach. Put bluntly,
America would have weak government for the final two years of the Bush
administration. Wall Street went to a new "high". As far as the markets
were concerned, weak equals good.
'No abortion' law rejected by voters
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1962548.ece
AP
Published: 08 November 2006
South Dakotans have rejected a law that would have banned virtually all
abortions, even in cases of rape and incest.
The outcome was a blow to conservatives, although they prevailed in
four other states where voters in yesterday's US elections approved
constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage.
Phosphorus shells used in Lebanon invasion, UN says
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1962447.ece
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 08 November 2006
Israel fired artillery shells containing white phosphorus in its recent
conflict with Hizbollah militants in the Lebanon, according to an
official investigation by the United Nations.
White phosphorus is banned under the Geneva Convention when used
against civilians or in civilian areas, although Israel insists that
the shells were directed against solely military targets.
Focus on Hillary Clinton after New York victory
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1962551.ece
AP
Published: 08 November 2006
US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton set off for a New York state-wide
victory tour today after romping to re-election - a political milestone
that bolstered her status as the Democratic front-runner for the 2008
presidential nomination.
Clinton easily dispensed with her Republican challenger, former Yonkers
Mayor John Spencer, winning nearly 67 per cent of the vote in a
lopsided contest. She planned to fly from Manhattan to stops elsewhere
in the state today where she was certain to face new questions about
her presidential campaign plans.
Republicans feel heat in bellwether Virginia
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1962442.ece
By Andrew Buncombe in Arlington, Virginia
Published: 08 November 2006
Everyone knew the Senate race in Virginia was going to be one of the
tightest contests and 88-year-old Janice Johnson wanted to ensure she
was part of the fight.
"I always vote," said Mrs Johnson, as she left the polling station at
St George's Episcopal Church in Arlington yesterday morning, having
cast her vote for the Democratic candidate, Jim Webb. "And I think we
are due for a change."
Another election is marred by dirty tricks
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1962443.ece
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
Published: 08 November 2006
Early yesterday morning, Tim Daly of Clarendon, Virginia found a
message on his voice mail threatening him with arrest if he showed up
to vote.
"This is the Virginia Elections Commission," the message said. " We've
determined you are registered in New York to vote. Therefore, you will
not be allowed to cast your vote... If you do show up, you will be
charged criminally."
Democrats make gains as President suffers backlash
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1962441.ece
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 08 November 2006
Democrats took a clear advantage in early results from America's
bitterly contested congressional midterm elections, gaining two Senate
seats and making strides in the House of Representatives, where the
Bush White House was last night braced for a loss of the 12-year-old
Republican majority.
In the first Democrat gain of the evening, Brad Ellsworth won Indiana's
Republican-held 8th congressional district. A Democrat was also
narrowly ahead in Kentucky's closely watched 3rd district, where a win
would put the party firmly on track to pick up the 15 seats needed to
win back the House.
Bring on the Baccalaureate
Francis Sedgemore
November 8, 2006 09:54 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/francis_sedgemore/2006/11/bring_on_the_=
baccalaureate.html
Science education has been much in the news of late. Moaners have
decried the state of science education in Britain's schools, and
politicians are trying desperately to spin their way out of a hole
without actually doing anything substantial about the problem. So
nothing new there.
It was interesting to read a few days ago a report from the House of
Lords Science and Technology Committee on Science Teaching in Schools.
Although widely reported in the media, the Lords' document has been
commented on by few, and for this small mercy the government will no
doubt be relieved. The reason is that the noble Lords have made a
sensible policy suggestion, and this, of course, is simply not on.
.
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| User: "marika" |
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| Title: Re: Away with the manger |
10 Nov 2006 08:06:22 PM |
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maff wrote:
Away with the manger
Open Thread
November 7, 2006 01:50 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2006/11/away_with_the_manger.html
The festive season is officially underway, the shops have been playing
Christmas carols, the Oxford Street lights will be switched on this
week and the Royal Mail has released this year's Christmas stamps.
thank you
It's
all feeling rather festive, but according to Christian leaders, we are
missing the point.
Yes, I would like to have the certificate of authenticity.
The stamps include all the familiar seasonal images - Santa Claus,
reindeer, snowmen and a Christmas tree - but the religious story has
been omitted.
I will not be offended if you send these certificates separately, at a
later time.
So the Royal Mail has inadvertently re-ignited the annual
debate about the role of religion in public life.
Click for freedom
Julien Pain
November 7, 2006 02:14 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/julien_pain/2006/11/post_589.html
Across the world, there are currently 61 people in prison for posting
"subversive" content on a blog or website. Certain authorities see the
internet as a threat and impose various kinds of censors, exploiting
the flaws of the medium and attacking those who pin their hopes on it.
especially if it will help them do their job better,
mk5000
"the size of your paycheck has nothing to do with how much your boss
likes you; it's how much he needs you. Befriend your boss' assistant
and ferret out the boss' pet projects that have never gotten off the
ground, and a possible future direction for the company. Then target
the following coworkers: somene who is liked but not too talented (a
potential scapegoat) and an industrious youngster who'll work hard but
it not too clever"--Robert Greene
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| User: "JPG" |
|
| Title: Re: Away with the manger |
08 Nov 2006 05:25:32 AM |
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maff wrote:
Away with the manger
Open Thread
November 7, 2006 01:50 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2006/11/away_with_the_manger.html
The festive season is officially underway, the shops have been playing
Christmas carols, the Oxford Street lights will be switched on this
week and the Royal Mail has released this year's Christmas stamps. It's
all feeling rather festive, but according to Christian leaders, we are
missing the point.
The stamps include all the familiar seasonal images - Santa Claus,
reindeer, snowmen and a Christmas tree - but the religious story has
been omitted. So the Royal Mail has inadvertently re-ignited the annual
debate about the role of religion in public life.
Why can't these god-bothering idiots in fancy dress with fancy titles
just wake up and accept that their superstition is all but dead and
buried.
If the terminally deluded want their fairy stories they can go to
church and have them, just leave the rest of us alone to feast and
enjoy ourselves at the Yuletide festival.
JPG
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| User: "Hatter" |
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| Title: Re: Away with the manger |
08 Nov 2006 11:59:37 AM |
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JPG wrote:
Why can't these god-bothering idiots in fancy dress with fancy titles
just wake up and accept that their superstition is all but dead and
buried.
Because the majority of the world still believes...that's far from dead
and buried. While their time is waxing, they still have at least a few
hundred years left.
Hatter
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| User: "Martin Willett" |
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| Title: Re: Away with the manger |
08 Nov 2006 10:13:21 AM |
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JPG wrote:
maff wrote:
Away with the manger
Open Thread
November 7, 2006 01:50 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2006/11/away_with_the_manger.html
The festive season is officially underway, the shops have been playing
Christmas carols, the Oxford Street lights will be switched on this
week and the Royal Mail has released this year's Christmas stamps. It's
all feeling rather festive, but according to Christian leaders, we are
missing the point.
The stamps include all the familiar seasonal images - Santa Claus,
reindeer, snowmen and a Christmas tree - but the religious story has
been omitted. So the Royal Mail has inadvertently re-ignited the annual
debate about the role of religion in public life.
Why can't these god-bothering idiots in fancy dress with fancy titles
just wake up and accept that their superstition is all but dead and
buried.
If the terminally deluded want their fairy stories they can go to
church and have them, just leave the rest of us alone to feast and
enjoy ourselves at the Yuletide festival.
Absolutely. Merry Christmas.
Keep the Christ out of Christmas, the holy out of holiday, the Saxon
mother goddess out of Easter and the Nordic thunder god out of Thursday.
Christmas: there's no room for paganism there by Jove!
--
Martin Willett
http://mwillett.org/
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: Away with the manger |
08 Nov 2006 11:31:35 AM |
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On 8 Nov 2006 03:25:32 -0800, "JPG"
<j_peasemold_gruntfuttock@hotmail.com> wrote:
Why can't these god-bothering idiots in fancy dress with fancy titles
just wake up and accept that their superstition is all but dead and
buried.
Fear of death.
If the terminally deluded want their fairy stories they can go to
church and have them, just leave the rest of us alone to feast and
enjoy ourselves at the Yuletide festival.
Part of their belief is that they have to drag as many others down to
their level as they can.
--
rukbat at optonline dot net
"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can
solve them."
-Isaac Asimov
(random sig, produced by SigChanger)
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