| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"maff" |
| Date: |
27 Jan 2007 06:00:53 AM |
| Object: |
Islamophonic |
Islamophonic
Riazat Butt
January 26, 2007 01:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/riazat_butt/2007/01/post_998.html
Islamophonic, the new Muslim podcast from the Guardian, is not about=20
Islam. If you want to learn about the religion, then read the Qur'an=20
or the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). Or go to=20
a mosque and talk to Muslims - perhaps the ones featured in the=20
Channel 4 Dispatches programme piqued your interest?
Islamophonic is about Muslim life, aspects of which may or may not be=20
Islamic, and our approach will not please everyone. The show will=20
venture beyond the hoary old chestnuts of terrorism and extremism -=20
although these issues are enjoyably provocative and will no doubt=20
resurface when a new batch of Muslims are carted off to HMP Belmarsh.=20
It will include features on other minority groups and I expect these=20
items will also raise hackles. Although gambling is haram, I'm betting=20
that someone will soon describe me as an enemy of Islam.
Davos 07: we love the internet
Julian Glover
January 26, 2007 01:42 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/julian_glover/2007/01/
post_999.html
The heavyweights are in town. Gordon Brown swapped private jokes with=20
Rupert Murdoch at an early-morning discussion. Some of the world's=20
richest and most powerful people waxed lyrical about the way the=20
internet is opening up the world.
Do they really mean it? Whether it was the man who owns Fox News=20
praising pluralism and ideals, or the head of Goldman Sachs (bonus=20
last year: $53.4m) praising eco projects in South America, there was=20
something unreal about it all.
Let them eat history
John Harris
January 26, 2007 02:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/john_harris/2007/01/
let_them_eat_history.html
Stop them, before this gets really silly. Jack Straw wants us to come=20
up with a "British story" that might somehow match the national myths=20
of the US, Australia and Canada.
In a speech last night at Oxford University, he joined the dots=20
between Magna Carta, the English Civil War, World War II and our=20
modern struggle against terrorism, threw in the necessary helping of=20
"freedom, fairness, tolerance and plurality" and came up with=20
something he thought might ease the tensions that were last enflamed=20
by his inspired kicking-off of the veil "debate".
Mixed up
Sunder Katwala
January 26, 2007 02:22 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sunder_katwala/2007/01/
mixed_up.html
Laura Smith, in an article for Cif earlier this week, wants more=20
recognition of mixed race Britons. We are a growing power in the land,=20
yet remain "invisible at government policy level", she complains.
Davos 07: old media holds the floor
Alan Rusbridger
January 26, 2007 02:41 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/alan_rusbridger/2007/01/
davos_media_dinnerrusbridger.html
The so-called media leaders of the world had one more gathering last=20
night at a dinner to discuss the impact of social networking on the=20
media landscape as a whole. As before, the event was organised on=20
Chatham House rules, which dictate that you can report what was said,=20
but not who said it.
There were two main speakers, one from the old media world, as it=20
were, one from the new - though the old world speaker has made=20
interesting moves into the new. He thought newspapers had been slow to=20
wake up to the challenge of the new world. It might have been due to=20
the inbuilt arrogance of journalists that they didn't take this new=20
world seriously enough to begin with. But they did now. He predicted=20
the web 2.0 websites would have an "immense" effect on the forthcoming=20
American election and decried the common misconception that old media=20
had a significant effect on the political process. "Some politicians=20
may be paranoid enough to think that, " he said. He paused. "Actually,=20
all politicians are paranoid about newspapers. Our readers think for=20
themselves. So I think all this stuff is overdone."
Fuelling the crisis
Tony Juniper
January 26, 2007 03:20 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tony_juniper/2007/01/
fuelling_the_crisis.html
The urgent need for action to avoid the worst effects of climate=20
change is leading to an ever wider range of proposed solutions. Some=20
are potentially problematic, however. In seeking to solve one=20
environmental problem, we could make others worse.
This week President Bush announced plans to reduce dependence on=20
imported petrol through a dramatic increase in biofuel production.=20
This particular option is politically attractive because it can be=20
presented as a means for us all to have our carbon cake and eat it.=20
Instead of changing our driving habits, we can simply change the fuel=20
source, or so it is implied.
Davos 07: groundhog day
Larry Elliott
January 26, 2007 03:40 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/larry_elliott/2007/01/trade.html
It's groundhog day in Davos. This time last year, a bunch of trade=20
ministers arrived in town for a crisis meeting designed to breathe new=20
life into the Doha Round. Pascal Lamy, the World Trade Organisation's=20
director-general, issued a stark warning that time was running out.=20
The dark clouds of protectionism were looming, all agreed.
Well, here we are 12 months later and it's deja vu all over again.=20
Four hours of talks to revive the Doha Round are planned for tomorrow=20
afternoon; Lamy will no doubt issue the same blood-curdling warning; a=20
return to the beggar-my-neighbour policies of the 1930s is just around=20
the corner.
Writing on the wall
Ian Williams
January 26, 2007 04:01 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ian_williams/2007/01/
on_carter.html
The fuss over Jimmy Carter and his new book, Palestine: Peace Not=20
Apartheid, gained new momentum this week as the former president spoke=20
at Brandeis University, near Boston.
Carter's critics - of whom there are many - demanded that he use his=20
speaking engagement to debate Alan Dershowitz, the prominent defender=20
of torture and Israel. I look forward to similar demands that every=20
time Dershowitz speaks, he give space to one of his opponents - Noam=20
Chomsky, say, or Al Sharpton - and lets them counter his arguments.
Rebels, rulers and terrorists
Sasha Simic
January 26, 2007 04:20 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sasha_simic/2007/01/post_1001.html
I brought a roll of posters with me from the UK featuring a picture of=20
President Bush with the message "World's #1 Terrorist". These have=20
been very popular on the huge anti-war marches back home and proved=20
equally popular at this year's World Social Forum in Nairobi.
One elderly Somali woman has spent three days walking around the forum=20
with this poster clutched to her chest and has been featured on the=20
front page of both of Kenya's main national dailies. The poster was so=20
popular that I ran out of them after a few days and of the many=20
stickers I bought of the same design. Most went to Kenyans but my last=20
stickers went to two women from San Fransisco who begged them off me=20
in the hotel lift.
Davos 07: it's gone green
Richard Lambert
January 26, 2007 04:40 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_lambert/2007/01/
post_1004.html
Davos has gone green. The first thing you see on entering the=20
conference hall is an invitation to make your visit carbon neutral by=20
way of a handy offset programme. And the agenda is packed with=20
discussions about climate change, often with a surprisingly green=20
flavour.
Thus in one series of debates, business leaders voted against the=20
motion that markets were superior to regulation in leading companies=20
down the path of righteousness; against the idea that a global carbon=20
tax would do more harm than good; and against the idea that nuclear=20
energy and clean coal were the only viable alternatives to oil.
Primary education
Thomas F Schaller
January 26, 2007 05:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/thomas_f_schaller/2007/01/
primary_education.html
In 2004, the US presidential primaries offered little excitement.=20
Incumbent George W. Bush was the Republicans' obvious choice, and the=20
Democratic nomination process effectively ended with Massachusetts=20
Senator John Kerry's victory in the Iowa caucus - an early win that=20
led his party to coalesce quickly around him. But the 2008 primary=20
will be much different. Both nominations are wide open because, for=20
the first time in half a century, neither side has a sitting president=20
or vice president in the race. As many as two dozen candidates may=20
run. And this means that the state-level contests to pick the nominees=20
promise to be more important and exciting than ever.
Given this newfound relevance, it's not surprising that several states=20
are, in the hopes of exercising greater influence over the process,=20
trying to change the dates on which their primaries are held.=20
Democrats in four of the most populous states in the country -=20
California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey - recently signaled that=20
they want to hold their primaries earlier in the campaign. Since the=20
early states determine which candidates have the momentum - snowballs=20
are hard to stop when they start down the mountain - the potential for=20
change is huge.
Where did you get that rock?
Paul Mitchell
January 26, 2007 05:21 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/paul_mitchell/2007/01/
where_did_you_get_that_rock.html
Few shoppers buying jewellery take much interest in the source of the=20
diamonds or other precious minerals they purchase. Even fewer=20
consumers of the vast range of everyday products containing metals and=20
minerals - from taps to televisions to solar panels - inquire about=20
how these materials were mined. So it takes something attention=20
grabbing, like a Hollywood blockbuster, to dent this general lack of=20
concern about the ethics of the mineral supply chain.
A new film, Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio (released in the=20
UK this week) now appears to be doing just that. An action-thriller,=20
the film highlights the role of revenues from artisanal or informal=20
diamond mining in Sierra Leone in the 1990s in fuelling that country's=20
horrific civil war. (Sales of diamonds also helped to finance a number=20
of other conflicts in Africa around this period.) The British MP Mary=20
Creagh has written for Comment is Free this week, calling on consumers=20
buying diamonds to ask retailers whether they know where the stones=20
came from - part of a general wave of comment and publicity which the=20
film is generating.
Davos 07: privacy and the creep factor
Alan Rusbridger
January 26, 2007 05:44 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/alan_rusbridger/2007/01/
davos_privacy.html
An interesting session on internet privacy, chaired by John Battelle,=20
the author of Search, a brief history of Google. Battelle reminded us=20
what most of us know at some level - that every time we use a search=20
engine we leave an eternal footprint. "The big question is whether=20
we're happy to have those footprints turned into commercial use or=20
other kinds of use ... it's an issue society has yet come to terms=20
with. Do you have a right to decide on what information is available=20
to whom? My guess is the marketplace will decide. If you think it's=20
creepy you'll go to a search engine where the creep factor is lower."
Could it happen again?
Stephen Smith
January 26, 2007 06:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/stephen_smith/2007/01/
could_it_happen_again.html
After a generation of multiculturalism, we have made some progress. We=20
try to ensure that the workplace is fairer, the school curriculum is=20
more inclusive, and we have more prominent individuals - from=20
newsreaders to footballers, politicians to police - who reflect our=20
diverse society.
But you only have to scratch beneath the surface to find ignorance and=20
distrust. Often the more diverse we are, the less we know about each=20
other, and consequently the more fragmented we can become - as=20
demonstrated only too well in the Celebrity Big Brother House=20
recently.
In the zone
Dan Plesch
January 26, 2007 06:20 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dan_plesch/2007/01/post_1002.html
Henry Kissinger, Sam Nunn and George Shultz, and Max Kampelman are all=20
now working for a world free of WMD. If Henry is so worried that he=20
wants to Ban the Bomb, then we should be in a panic. Sadly, the=20
political and media elite drift along. On Iran, Blair and Bush seem=20
ready to start another war to, as they see it, stop a new Holocaust.=20
Opponents of a new war seem content to "Just Say No", or comfort=20
themselves with the thought that because they don't want war, there=20
won't be one. As diplomacy fails, those who want a peaceful solution=20
are offering little new.
Davos 07: five points about North Korea
Julian Glover
January 26, 2007 06:47 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/julian_glover/2007/01/
davos_07.html
An engaging discussion took place on the military threat posed by=20
North Korea. A team of policy makers - including the special adviser=20
to the Japanese prime minister and a very impressive analyst from the=20
Chinese army - spoke more frankly than perhaps they had intended to=20
do.
Here are five points that emerged - all new to me.
Learning to love again
Simon Barrow
January 26, 2007 07:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_barrow/2007/01/
adopting_the_wrong_starting_po.html
The battle between the Catholic church and the UK government over the=20
Equality Act has found a new front - Scotland. Archbishop Mario=20
Conti's idea seems to be to get the Scottish executive into a clash=20
with Downing Street and then, by not complying with the law, to=20
conjure up police state images of government officials rushing to=20
close two innocent Catholic adoption agencies in Scotland.
The evasive formulae of earlier exchanges between Scottish bishops and=20
the executive, changes the story from "blackmail" to "betrayal",=20
argues Archbishop Conti. No it doesn't. Despite continuingly emollient=20
words about service and conscience, the church message to the prime=20
minister is still crystal clear: "allow us to discriminate against=20
lesbian and gay people, or we pull the plug on 'our' adoption=20
agencies".
What the demo will show
Gary Younge
January 26, 2007 07:21 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/gary_younge/2007/01/
what_the_demo_will_show.html
Tomorrow will see a major demonstration against the war in Washington,=20
which will be crucial for three reasons.
First, it will be a significant test of the level of disquiet about=20
the war. The extent of anti-war feeling has been known for some time.=20
But this will give some indication of how much people care. From the=20
response to Bush's state of the union speech earlier this week, which=20
ranged from at best tepid to at worst contemptuous, it is clear he is=20
isolated. What's not clear is if that is going to make any difference=20
on the ground.
Davos 07: Hope and hot air
Julian Glover
January 26, 2007 07:58 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/julian_glover/2007/01/
davos_07_hope_and_hot_air.html
It looked like a scene from Casino Royale. Sat round a long floodlit=20
table in the centre of a room packed with onlookers, Tony Blair, Bill=20
Gates, Bono, Thabo Mbeki and others dealt the cards that could=20
determine Africa's future.
Or at least that is how they would like to think of it. There was no=20
doubting the absolute goodwill and enthusiasm of yesterday's Davos=20
panel on Africa's future. But they cannot offer a guarantee of=20
success. The best that they could do was try to act, and hope.
Vote for change
Andrew Brown
January 26, 2007 08:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/andrew_brown/2007/01/
margaret_beckett_and_the_truth.html
What is this thing called democracy that we are bringing to Iraq? One=20
way to approach the question is to watch it in action, so I have been=20
reading carefully the Hansard report of Wednesday's debate on Iraq. It=20
is one of the joys of democracy that anyone can be horrified in this=20
way. Mine wasn't the horror of ignorance. I spent a year covering=20
parliamentary debates, so I know how to read Hansard, and I generally=20
admire politicians. They are not, in my experience nastier or more=20
dishonest than journalists. Many of the things said in the debate were=20
thoughtful, interesting, and well informed. To that extent, Jackie=20
Ashley was quite right to praise the debate.
No, the complaint is not with politicians, but with democracy itself.=20
The justification of democracy, after all, is not that it produced=20
better leaders, or better policies, than other systems of government,=20
but that it is better at recognising and correcting mistakes. The=20
opposition does not provide a shadow government so much as a shadow=20
enemy, which can propose in the play of the House of Commons the=20
difficulties which real life and real enemies will generate for the=20
country outside it.
Get a (second) life
Lucy Atkinson
January 27, 2007 08:50 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/lucy_atkinson/2007/01/
post_1006.html
I have an alternate identity. Some evenings I am Misty Trilling, a=20
girl who likes nothing better than to put on her pink fluffy bunny=20
slippers and fly over chimney tops looking for mischief. Yes, I am a=20
Second Lifer, one of the growing network of users of the online=20
virtual world currently attracting a whirlwind of attention. Believe=20
some commentators and it's all about making money, whether by big=20
corporations with imaginary offices or the lurid trade in virtual sex.=20
To others it is a disengagement from reality, heralding another nail=20
in the coffin for society, and the rest find it so tedious they can't=20
imagine why anyone but the gawkiest of geeks would bother.
Well I bother, and here's why. It's fun. I've jumped off the Eiffel=20
Tower, tangoed the night away, got a pet kitten, and tried to steal a=20
Harrier jump jet. I've got into fights, refused to pole dance, and=20
worn a coot on my head like a hat. I've even borrowed my friend's=20
login and gambled all her money away at virtual poker while she was=20
cleaning the bathroom, but no one's supposed to know about that.
Davos 07: the sound of the city
Ken Livingstone
January 27, 2007 09:09 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ken_livingstone/2007/01/
davos_07_the_sound_of_the_city_1.html
This year, for the first time in human history, more people will live=20
in urban areas than rural areas. Some of the quantitative statistics=20
are staggering. Every day in the world, 200,000 people migrate to=20
cities. Half the new buildings in the world in the next 10 years will=20
be built in China. Mexico City has gone from three million to 20=20
million. In 1950 50 million people a year crossed national borders=20
mainly from cities - last year it was 840 million. But even more=20
interesting is the qualitative: the city has a logic of its own.
The first sign of this at Davos was the emergence of clear allies on=20
real issues. Like Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, who last=20
year attended the signing of the agreement between the C20 group of=20
large world cities and the Clinton Foundation for action on climate=20
change. San Francisco has the highest rate of recycling domestic waste=20
of any city in the world - nearly 75 per cent. We also heard from=20
Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute and Lawrence Bloom of=20
Ecocities.
Socialism is dead. There now remain only socialists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1999730,00.html
Most of what the left yearned for has been achieved, but those who=20
attack it still have some explaining to do on Iraq
Martin Kettle
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
Talisker in hand, foolishly declaiming Robert Burns's To A Louse to a=20
packed house of three on Thursday night, I blundered Englishly into=20
the final lines: "O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us / To see=20
ourselves as others see us! / It wad frae mony a blunder free us./ And=20
foolish notion." Never was a wiser word written, I realised too late.
Yet those lines had already come to mind that day while reading What's=20
Left?, Nick Cohen's roaring polemic of outrage against the moral and=20
political crisis of the liberal tradition. It is already one of the=20
most discussed current affairs books of the new year. At the very=20
least it forces, or ought to force, anyone on the left to think=20
carefully about where their movement has ended up in the modern world.
The myth of McCain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1999728,00.html
Once the presumptive next US president, the Republican frontrunner's=20
popularity has nose dived
Sidney Blumenthal
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
When Senator John McCain appeared at the Conservative party conference=20
in Bournemouth last October as the presumptive next president of the=20
US, the stars seemed fixed in the firmament for him. The myth of=20
McCain appeared as invincible as ever.
His war story - a bomber pilot shot down over North Vietnam in 1967,=20
held prisoner for five years and tortured - is the basis of his legend=20
as morally courageous, authentic, unwavering in his convictions, an=20
independent reformer willing to take on the reactionaries of his own=20
party, an "American maverick" as he calls himself in his campaign=20
autobiography.
Our willing executioners
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1999723,00.html
Holocaust Memorial Day underlines the madness of maintaining Britain's=20
murderous capability
Paul Oestreicher
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
'How is it that a nation like Britain can come to support instruments=20
of mass slaughter as a means of defending its values, its freedom, its=20
independence, its heritage?" asks the veteran Jesuit Gerard Hughes.=20
That question needs to be asked on the annual commemoration of the=20
Holocaust. If the United Kingdom believed its survival was ever=20
seriously threatened by some future foe, would we be prepared to turn=20
to ashes vast numbers of men, women and children, and so poison the=20
atmosphere that many would die agonisingly over more than a=20
generation? That is the Auschwitz question British people should be=20
considering in response to Tony Blair's invitation to debate whether=20
Britain should retain nuclear weapons into an indefinite future.
Face to faith
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2000007,00.html
The 'many-sidedness' of Jainism could inoculate us against=20
fundamentalist rigidity, says Aidan Rankin
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
The word Jainism conjures up images of ascetics who cover their mouths=20
and sweep the ground before them with small brushes to avoid injuring=20
the most minuscule forms of life. Some are also aware of the Jain-
owned animal sanctuaries where even the sickest, most deformed birds=20
and beasts are protected and cherished. These overt manifestations of=20
an ancient faith challenge the comfortable - and near-universal -=20
assumption of human precedence over other creatures. They dramatise=20
for us the doctrine of ahimsa: non-violence or, more literally, the=20
avoidance of anything that causes harm.
A sense of adventure shouldn't mean stereotypes
David Gilman
January 26, 2007 12:13 PM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/01/
a_sense_of_adventure_shouldnt_mean_stereotypes.html
Tom Kelly is absolutely right when he says we don't need impoverished=20
stereotypes being heroes for young readers. But who's to say that=20
adventure books for boys need to be old-fashioned or teach "worryingly=20
outdated attitudes"?
It is important to get books into the hands of young readers and the=20
stories being told should offer elements that go beyond a visceral,=20
heart-thumping yarn - though surely that's a core value in its own=20
right. It's not that there's a problem with adventure books as such,=20
it's just a question of how you get them to reflect something more=20
meaningful.
Is anybody Big bothered?
Simon Swift
January 26, 2007 11:38 AM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2007/01/
is_anybody_still_big_bothered.html
So farewell then Jade Goody - off to India to atone for her behaviour=20
and unlikely to trouble our television sets in any meaningful way=20
again. (That's if her contribution to Living TV was ever considered=20
meaningful.) Perhaps when cooking Sunday lunch she might look at the=20
stock cubes, shake her head and lament at what might have been.
The consequences of Muslim bad guys on-screen
Nasar Meer
January 26, 2007 10:40 AM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/01/muslims_in_movies.html
So who'd have guessed it? Hollywood presents Islam and Muslims in a=20
negative light! At least this is the conclusion of the Islamic Human=20
Rights Commission's recent study.
Be it the careless ridicule of funny accents and clothes in the=20
Indiana Jones trilogy (by a director who really ought to know better)=20
or the more malevolent terrorist caricatures evident in The Siege,=20
True Lies and countless others, Muslim bad guys (and so far it's=20
always men) have never been more prevalent on screen.
China censorship damaged us, Google founders admit
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1999900,00.html
Jane Martinson in Davos
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
Google's decision to censor its search engine in China was bad for the=20
company, its founders admitted yesterday.
Google, launched in 1998 by two Stanford University dropouts, Sergey=20
Brin and Larry Page, was accused of selling out and reneging on its=20
"Don't be evil" motto when it launched in China in 2005. The company=20
modified the version of its search engine in China to exclude=20
controversial topics such as the Tiananmen Square massacre or the=20
Falun Gong movement, provoking a backlash in its core western markets.
Bush is left isolated as America turns green
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/
0,,1999930,00.html
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
For years, the most powerful voice in the US Senate on the environment=20
was a conservative Republican from Oklahoma, James Inhofe, who=20
famously declared "global warming is a hoax", and compared warnings=20
about climate change to Nazi propaganda. This month, he was replaced=20
by Barbara Boxer, a Democratic senator from California who considers=20
global warming "a potential crisis of a magnitude we have never seen".
George Bush may have two years to run on his presidency, and remains=20
personally opposed to mandatory caps on carbon gases, but the change=20
in the Senate illustrates how the rest of America has moved on.=20
Congress, big business, state governments such as California, and=20
mayors have embarked on a course that could bring America into step=20
with the international community on climate change.
US answer to global warming: smoke and giant space mirrors
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1999966,00.html
Washington urges scientists to develop ways to reflect sunlight as=20
'insurance'
David Adam, environment correspondent
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
The US government wants the world's scientists to develop technology=20
to block sunlight as a last-ditch way to halt global warming, the=20
Guardian has learned. It says research into techniques such as giant=20
mirrors in space or reflective dust pumped into the atmosphere would=20
be "important insurance" against rising emissions, and has lobbied for=20
such a strategy to be recommended by a major UN report on climate=20
change, the first part of which will be published on Friday.
US troops authorised to kill Iranian agents in Iraq
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1999816,00.html
=B7 Washington fears growing influence of Tehran
=B7 Tougher stand risks escalating conflict
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington and Ian Black
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
President Bush has authorised US forces in Iraq to kill or capture=20
Iranian agents as part of a campaign aimed at countering Tehran's=20
influence in the Middle East, the White House said yesterday.
In a further indication of concern in Washington at Iran's influence=20
in Iraq, White House officials confirmed a decision to take more=20
rigorous measures against Iranian agents in Iraq, accused by the US of=20
arming and training insurgents.
Victim of US torture flights wins =A34.5m in damages
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2000021,00.html
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
A Canadian citizen who spent more than 10 months under torture in a=20
Syrian prison after being swept up in the CIA's secret "extraordinary=20
rendition" programme received a written apology from his government=20
yesterday and C$10.5m (=A34.54m) in compensation.
The case of Maher Arar, a Syrian-born wireless technology expert whose=20
life and career were devastated by what his lawyers call a smear=20
campaign by the Canadian police, is the best-known example to date of=20
the US practice of rendition - in which suspects are flown to other=20
countries for interrogation under less humane conditions - during the=20
"war on terror".
Ch=E1vez tells US ambassador to stop meddling
http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,1999834,00.html
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
The Venezuelan president, Hugo Ch=E1vez, is threatening to expel the=20
outspoken US ambassador William Brownfield for what he claimed was=20
meddling in the country's affairs.
Mr Ch=E1vez made a similar threat to Mr Brownfield last year when he=20
said he would have to pack his bags if he continued to be provocative.=20
In a tit-for-tat diplomatic exchange, officials from both countries=20
were expelled in a spying row.
The president delivered the new threat on Thursday night after Mr=20
Brownfield intervened over Venezuela's proposal this month to=20
nationalise the country's main telephone company, in which US firms,=20
including New York-based Verizon Communications, are minority=20
shareholders.
She survived Jade, Jo and Channel 4. Now Shilpa reaps her reward
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1999876,00.html
Agent receives 45 calls per hour with offers of book, film and TV=20
deals
Esther Addley and Randeep Ramesh
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
At 9.46am yesterday, Shilpa Shetty, a Bollywood actor, began applying=20
make-up. Four minutes later she sat down at the kitchen table. At=20
9=2E54am she began brushing rubbish from the kitchen floor, before=20
asking if anyone would like to share a banana.
Almost two weeks after incidents of allegedly racist bullying of=20
Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother led to an international furore, events=20
inside the reality TV studio may have slumped into soporific tedium.=20
But outside the frenzy shows little sign of abating.
Original spin
Diarmaid MacCulloch lauds Martin Goodman's compelling account of two=20
crucial centuries in Jewish history, Rome and Jerusalem
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilisations
by Martin Goodman
656pp, Allen Lane, =A325
History which never happened both comforts and tantalises by hinting=20
how we might have avoided present miseries. What if Rome had never=20
grown to be more than a small, undistinguished Italian city-state? It=20
is unlikely that any other Mediterranean empire would have obliterated=20
the Temple of Jerusalem, as did the Roman emperor's son Titus in 70CE=20
- at least, it is very unlikely that the temple would not have been=20
rebuilt or redeployed for a new sort of faith. Total destruction was=20
not the way in the ancient Near East: witness the seventh-century=20
struggle over the ancient holy place of Mecca, which Muhammad=20
transformed into the focus of a newly conceived religion. Without the=20
Romans, temple worship would have continued in Jerusalem, with=20
thousands on thousands converging on it yearly, ecstatic to end their=20
pilgrimage in a centuries-old sacred city, as still happens on the=20
hajj to Mecca.
The Kaiser's jihad
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1999367,00.html
Nigel Fountain is engrossed by Edward Paice's account of western=20
empires clashing in early 20th-century Africa, Tip & Run
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
Tip & Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War in Africa
by Edward Paice 488pp, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, =A325
For Major-General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck the armistice of November 11=20
1918, which concluded the first world war, did not come as a surprise.=20
It did not come as anything at all, since von Lettow-Vorbeck, a man=20
who, unlike pretty well any other commander, had succeeded in getting=20
through that bloodbath undefeated, didn't believe the news. If the war=20
was over, he reasoned, then the result would have been favourable to=20
Germany. When told by one Hector Croad, a British district officer in=20
what was then Northern Rhodesia and is now Zambia, that the Kaiser had=20
fled to Holland and Germany was a republic, the "Hindenburg of Africa"=20
dismissed these as clearly outlandish propositions.
The sick society
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1999542,00.html
Oliver James's Affluenza shows how wealth and misery go hand in hand,=20
says William Leith
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
Buy Affluenza at the Guardian bookshop
Affluenza: How to Be Successful and Stay Sane
by Oliver James
400pp, Vermillion, =A317.99
In his 1997 book Britain on the Couch, Oliver James asserted that=20
"advanced capitalism makes money out of misery and dissatisfaction, as=20
if it were encouraging us to fill up the psychic void with material=20
goods". In this book, he explores the idea further, and it's terrific.=20
A lot of readers, wanting to put their finger on why the affluent=20
world they live in makes them so uneasy, will want to cheer. Here he=20
is saying, loud and clear, that capitalism is bad for your mental=20
health. And then he tells us why this is the case, and what we can do=20
about it.
'Be nice, be thin, have daughters'
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1999543,00.html
Steven Poole searches for the secret of eternal life in Brian=20
Appleyard's How to Live Forever or Die Trying, and The Never-Ending=20
Days of Being Dead by Marcus Chown
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
How to Live Forever or Die Trying: On the New Immortality
by Bryan Appleyard
307pp, Simon & Schuster, =A312.99
The Never-Ending Days of Being Dead: Dispatches from the Front Line of=20
Science
by Marcus Chown
300pp, Faber, =A314.99
There is a silent catastrophe going on all around us. Every day,=20
100,000 people die of a condition that might be curable. If it were an=20
ordinary disease it would be called a plague, a pandemic, and epic=20
public-health plans would be drawn up. So why aren't we devoting more=20
of our resources to finding a cure for this one? Because it's old age.
High on giraffe liver
Nicholas Lezard on a celebration of unpopular culture from Mark=20
Pilkington, Strange Attractor Journal Three
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
Strange Attractor Journal Three
edited by Mark Pilkington (Strange Attractor, =A313.99)
This is a magazine, strictly speaking, but it comes out in paperback=20
format and is certainly book-priced, so qualifies as a paperback. It=20
is also, quite perversely and deliberately, unlike the magazines you=20
will see displayed on the racks at your local Londis. "Celebrating=20
unpopular culture" is its slogan. It can say that again. The cover=20
itself I found rather intriguing, in that I couldn't work out what the=20
hell it was. It certainly wasn't a picture of Sienna Miller or Jade=20
Goody. Some kind of seaweed on snow, I thought, but how to account for=20
the blue colouring? (It turns out, we learn inside, to be an artwork=20
constructed from moss, copper and a battery-operated fluorescent=20
light, which has been quietly fizzing for six years.)
Dare to know
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1999370,00.html
For all the talk of universal human nature, Enlightenment portraits=20
glorified the individual. Tristram Hunt charts the rise of the citizen=20
heroes
Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
"Let her in, came the voice from the bath. She found him soaking, with=20
the habitual wet cloth tied about his brow, an arm slung over the side=20
of the tub ... Her chair was directly by the side of the bath. All she=20
had to do was to rise, lean over the man, pull the knife out from the=20
top of her dress, and lunge down hard and quickly. There was time for=20
but one strike, beneath the clavicle on the right side. Marat shouted,=20
'A moi, ma ch=E8re amie', before sinking back into the water."
Hillary and Barack battle it out for Hollywood elite's millions
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2190022.ece
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
Published: 27 January 2007
Barack Obama's surging campaign for the White House is winning him new=20
friends in Hollywood, where chequebooks speak louder than political=20
opinions and some of the most influential entertainment industry=20
figures are already promising big-money contributions that might=20
otherwise be going to Hillary Clinton.
Senator Obama will be feted at a $2,300-per-head fundraiser at the=20
Beverly Hills Hotel hosted by Steven Spielberg and his former=20
DreamWorks partners David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg next month.
World ignores signs of civil war in Lebanon
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2190046.ece
By Robert Fisk in Beirut
Published: 27 January 2007
This is how the 1975-90 conflict began in Lebanon. Outbreaks of=20
sectarian hatred, appeals for restraint, promises of aid from Western=20
and Arab nations and a total refusal to understand that this is how=20
civil wars begin.
The Lebanese army lifted its overnight curfew on Beirut yesterday=20
morning but the smouldering cars and trucks of a gun battle was=20
matched only by the incendiary language of the country's bitterest=20
antagonists. Beirut's morning newspapers carried graphic pictures of=20
gunmen - Sunni Muslims loyal to the government and Shia supporters of=20
Hizbollah - which proved beyond any doubt that organised, armed men=20
are on the capital's streets. The Lebanese army - which constantly=20
seeks the help of leaders on all sides - had great difficulty in=20
suppressing the latest battles.
Normandy grave hints at 300-year defiance of the Roman Empire
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2190045.ece
By John Lichfield in Evreux
Published: 27 January 2007
A macabre 1,700-year-old mass grave of people and horses, discovered=20
in Normandy, poses perplexing new questions about the Roman conquest=20
of France. Was there a small part of ancient Gaul which refused,=20
Asterix-like, to surrender for 300 years?
The grave site, from the 3rd century, which was discovered by French=20
state archaeologists at Evreux, appears to contain ritual arrangements=20
of human and horse remains. In one, a human skull is clasped between=20
two horse's skulls, like the two halves of a giant shell.
Howard Jacobson: Imagine what Charles Dickens would have done with a=20
character like Jade Goody
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/howard_jacobson/
article2190061.ece
While he saw qualities in the downtrodden, he did not confuse=20
misfortune with virtue
Published: 27 January 2007
And then the silent shame of the conspirators. That was always going=20
to be the way of it after Jade Goody's eviction from the nation's=20
favour, however faint that favour was. As with Aufidius after=20
overseeing the slaughter of Coriolanus - a scene I seem to need to=20
allude to often in this column - "Our rage is gone, / And we are=20
struck with sorrow."
The aftermath has witnessed much soul-searching about our soul-
searching. In our relentless hunting down of racism have we not=20
displayed the equally odious intolerance which is snobbism? Is there=20
not hypocrisy in our loading all the sins of prejudice on to the=20
underprivileged working classes? Do you solve the problem of=20
scapegoating by making a scapegoat of the scapegoater? It is as though=20
we have created conscience's equivalent to perpetual motion - no=20
sooner impelled to condemn an outrage than embarked upon a fresh=20
outrage of our own, whereupon others are impelled to voice outrage at=20
our outrage... We could be here for ever.
Rupert Cornwell: This time, Bush could not suspend disbelief
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2190028.ece
Barring a miracle in Iraq, Bush is likely to limp along with Nixonian=20
approval ratings
Published: 27 January 2007
As Watergate buffs will have noticed, E Howard Hunt died this week.=20
Hunt, of course, was the ex-spook who headed the infamous White House=20
"plumbers unit" responsible for the 1972 break-in that led to the=20
downfall of Richard Nixon. But he was also a fantasist, addicted to=20
madcap schemes with only the most tenuous connection to reality. A=20
man, in short, perfectly suited to the surreal flavour of the moment=20
here in Washington, where reality has been elbowed off the stage=20
entirely.
Last Tuesday, President Bush delivered the State of the Union address,=20
the purest moment of theatre in America's political calendar.=20
Normally, it is an occasion that, at least for the hour or so it=20
lasts, carries off the theatrical trick of suspension of disbelief. As=20
you listen to a chief executive reeling off a list of worthy domestic=20
initiatives, and proclaiming his noble vision for US foreign policy,=20
for a fleeting moment you feel that all's well with the world.
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