I'm not sure why the post here, about how to make your Moleskine into a more efficient planner, gave me the giggles, but it's also set me thinking again about notebooks again. My basic notebooks small (bag/pocket) and big (desk/holidays) are not organised in any way, except that I start at the beginning, and fill it from left to right, till it's full. I did once decide to collect my PhD thoughts at the back, but kept forgetting to put them there: now everything gets bunged in together. In life, I like things sorted and organised by function and logic. I'd rather keep books on the floor and papers on the desk until I've time to put them away in the right place, than have muddle in the shelves and files. I use diaries and to-do lists and shopping lists: even the icons on my desktop are...

Lord Sacks accuses astrophysicist of logical fallacy in book excluding possibility of supernatural creationThe chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, hit back at Stephen Hawking after the astrophysicist said God did not create the universe.In his new book, The Grand Design, published next week, Hawking concludes that science excludes the possibility of a deity and that it is unnecessary to "invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going".But his finding were described by Sacks as an "elementary fallacy" of logic.Writing in the Times, the chief rabbi said: "There is a difference between science and religion. Science is about explanation. Religion is about interpretation. The Bible simply isn't interested in how the universe came into being."Sacks also said the mutual hostility...

(David Kopel) Ann Coulter’s column today argues that Obama is not a Muslim; rather, he “is obviously an atheist.” The gist of the argument is “The only evidence for Obama’s Christianity is that he faithfully attended the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years....Attending Wright’s church is the conscious, calculated decision to immerse yourself in hate-filled demagoguery and call it ‘Christianity.’” I disagree with both the facts and the conclusion. Coulter is accurate in calling Jeremiah Wright “a racist nut.” However, that does not prove that Wright (and by extension Obama, to whatever extent Obama believes in Wright’s theology) is not a Christian. Some practitioners of “liberation theology” (including the black liberation...

As recently discussed on Pickled Politics, last week Jon Stewart and The Daily Show brilliantly exposed the fact that the unnamed person Fox News had been repeatedly claiming was allegedly financing Park51/Cordoba House (aka the “Ground Zero Mosque”) and with implied ties to radical Islamist extremists was actually the Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the second-largest shareholder of Fox News’s parent company News Corp and an individual closely affiliated with News Corp's primary owner Rupert Murdoch himself. Fox News have subsequently completely dropped their stories about the shadowy "unnamed financier", and are apparently also refusing to respond to post-Daily Show queries about the matter. Nevertheless, the issue raises the following questions: · Why is Prince...

Production costing $30m to be filmed in Israel and Palestinian Territories with all-Indian cast of mainly childrenMonty Python was condemned for irreverence, Mel Gibson was castigated for violence and Martin Scorsese got into trouble over the sex scenes. But the pitfalls of portraying Jesus have not deterred Bollywood from an ambitious and expensive project to recreate the life of Christ in its own unique way.A $30m (£20m) production involving an all-Indian cast of mainly children will begin shooting on location in the Holy Land in October and is scheduled for release next year. As yet untitled and unscripted, the film will cover Jesus's life from birth to crucifixion. Its star, alongside the amateur child actors, will be Pawan Kalyan, introduced at a press conference in Jerusalem today...

(Ilya Somin) The ongoing debate over the “Ground Zero Mosque” has generated lots of commentary. But I fear that much of it conflates three separate issues: whether the government should use its power to block the construction of the mosque, whether the construction of any Islamic facility near Ground Zero is objectionable, and whether this particular mosque is problematic because of the views of its leaders. In my view, the government should not suppress the mosque, and I see nothing wrong with building an Islamic facility near Ground Zero. But objections based on the dubious record of Cordoba Project leader Feisal Abul Rauf are not so easily dismissed. There are many weak, foolish, and bigoted anti-mosque arguments out there. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any good ones. ...

Hindus worldwide celebrate today as Krishna’s birthday, so “Happy Janmashtami” to PP readers who are marking the occasion. According to Indian tradition, Krishna was born approximately 5000 years ago, although modern-day historians have estimated that the period of ancient Indian history described in the semi-mythological Mahabharata was more accurately around 3500 years ago. Festivities are held at Hindu temples around the world, including major temples in Britain such as the Swaminarayan temple in Neasden and Bhagtivedanata Manor near Watford. The late George Harrison left the latter building to the associated Hindu sect when he passed away and they usually hold large-scale festivities every year, involving tens of thousands of visitors during the course of several days and...

(Eugene Volokh) As I mentioned last week, Terry Jones — a minister at the ironically named Dove World Outreach Center — is organizing a burning of Korans to mark September 11. That strikes me as both largely pointless, non-substantive rudeness (as opposed to fair and substantive criticism of Islam, which would be perfectly proper) and as largely counterproductive to any realistic attempt to try to convert people from Islam to Christianity. In fact, it plays into the hands of those who are trying to associate American criticism of Islam — including more substantive, reasoned criticism — with angry, substance-free extremism. But it seems to me that the response from Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (as quoted in this New York Times national feed story)...

I learn from Yasmin Alibhai Brown that, during his much-anticipated visit Pope Benedict XVI will award Tony Blair "one of the highest Vatican honours for 'services to peace'". And Tom Lehrer thought that it was giving Kissinger the Nobel Peace Prize that marked the death of satire.This latest nod couldn't have come at a better time for Tony Blair. With his memoirs about to hit the bookshelves - the greatest publishing event since the launch of the final Harry Potter, or so the hpe surrounding it would lead one to believe - this stamp of approval will dovetail nicely into the publicity blitz. Salman Rushdie once described the Ayatollah's fatwa as "the worst review ever". By that yardstick, Tony's Papal gong must count as the best.The Vatican is certainly sparing nothing to ensure that...

I saw this on a note on Facebook and just had to share it to a wider audience.01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning. 02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall. 03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of...

Original Home Page – And another very early post from this blog Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here Comment at end 27th August 2010 1) H/t to Jihad Watch patcondell | 04 June 2010 Stop the stealth jihad. Petitions against the Ground Zero mosque http://www…. With four and a quarter million views, as I write, Pat Condell seems to be saying what most, if not all of our western politicians are too terrified to say, Geert Wilders excepted. More on him below. ________________ Cordoba Mosque, Mezquita, Spain. Click for source information. ___________ 2) Official Islam Rising Trailer ClockWorxOrange The trailer to the new documentary from PRB Films. Geert Wilders lives with a constant death threat over his head....

I haven't commented so far on the "Ground Zero Mosque" - or multi-function Muslim venue within walking distance of Ground Zero if we're being strictly accurate - largely because I've found it genuinely difficult to work out who is most wrong. Almost everyone is at least partly wrong. Robert Spencer of JihadWatch, for whom it is an "Islamic Supremacist Mega-mosque" planned by radical Islamists intent on destroying American democracy, manages to torpedo any valid criticisms he might have had about the insensitivity of the proposal with his absurd, rabid conspiracy-mongering. But Barack Obama was just as wrong to imply that it was purely a question of religious liberty and planning law. Those who claim - with the venue's planners and their liberal cheerleaders - that the building is...

From here: A singer who performed in front of a “mixed audience” of men and women was lashed 39 times to make him “repent,” after a ruling by a self-described rabbinic court on Wednesday. Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak, founder of the Shofar organization aimed at bringing Jews “back to religion” (hazara betshuva), has made it his...

Fox News have recently been at the forefront of whipping up hysteria about the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque”. This is actually quite a major turnaround for them, considering that Fox had previously interviewed both Imam Rauf (the head of the Cordoba Initiative) and his wife Daisy Khan, and their attitudes towards these individuals and their efforts were very positive indeed. Park51/Cordoba House was even explicitly discussed with Daisy Khan during an interview in December 2009, and the Fox anchor at the time stated “I can't find many people who really have a problem with it....I like what you're trying to do.” With the exception of the upbeat interview with Daisy Khan on Fox News after the New York Times published a detailed front-page article on 9th December 2009 about the...

Supporters say clergymen are being punished for seeking help over provost's relationship with young manIt is a mystery that would perplex Sister Fidelma or Father Brown – the continued exile and silence of three popular clergymen from a prestigious Catholic institution preparing for a visit from the pope.The disappearance last May of Father Philip Cleevely, Father Dermot Fenlon and Brother Lewis Berry from the Birmingham Oratory has puzzled and angered parishioners, who want to know why the men have been dispatched to monasteries around the world, and are campaigning for their reinstatement.It has led to accusations that they are paying the price for seeking help over the "intense but physically chaste relationship" between a young man and the head of the Oratory, Father Paul...

When I was growing up in Gainesville, Florida, the Klan was still a force. Now a pastor wants to burn the Qur'an, what's changed?The New York Times is reporting that a pastor in my hometown of Gainesville, Florida is planning to "commemorate" 11 September 2001 by publicly burning the Qur'an. The photograph that accompanies the story showed the pastor, Terry Jones, standing in a field of grass behind signs that read "Islam is of the devil." The tall pines of my childhood tower behind him and I was shocked to see those two images together. From my apartment in Tel Aviv, I searched the edges of the photo for something else familiar, something that would soothe me. Where is my hometown? I thought. This is not the Gainesville I grew up in. Gainesville is quintessential America. It's swimming...

A focus on women's rights is being used to justify intervention in religious and public life that would otherwise be unacceptableIf there were any doubt about the motivation for the ban on Islamic face coverings passed by the French national assembly in July, the Sarkozy government's actions in August have laid them to rest.The issue isn't women's emancipation, for all the pious rhetoric we've heard about equality being a "primordial value" of the French nation. It isn't the danger that terrorists and robbers will hide behind burqas in order to blow up buildings or rob banks – the exemptions in the law for motorcycle helmets, fencing and ski masks, and carnival costumes quickly dispel that argument. And it isn't about enforcing openness and transparency as an aspect of French...

Study finds medics' faith affects care of terminally ill, as hospital clinicians admit 'ethically controversial' decisionsTerminally-ill patients would be well advised to find out the religious beliefs of their doctor, according to research showing the effect of faith on a doctor's willingness to make decisions that could hasten death.Doctors who are atheist or agnostic are twice as likely to take decisions that might shorten the life of somebody who is terminally ill as doctors who are deeply religious – and doctors with strong religious convictions are less likely even to discuss such decisions with the patient, according to Professor Clive Seale, from the centre for health sciences at Barts and the London school of medicine and dentistry."If I were a patient facing end of life care,...

You may have read today that a Priest in Northern Ireland in 1972 might have been actively involved in mass murder and that the police, the Catholic Church and the state conspired to cover up a priest's suspected role in one of the worst atrocities of the Northern Ireland Troubles.Nine people died in bombings in Claudy, County Londonderry in July 1972 and high-level talks led to the Priest, James Chesney, being moved to the Irish Republic.In December 1972 Willie Whitelaw met Cardinal Conway to discuss the issue. According to one report, 'the cardinal said he knew the priest was a very bad man and would see what could be done'. The church leader mentioned 'the possibility of transferring him to Donegal...'Doesn't this sound a little too similar to the church moving suspected pedophiles to...

Just a quick one. Does anybody know what you have to do to get the boot from the Catholic Church. Seems murder or kiddie fiddling aren’t enough....

[comics] Go Look: nana nana nana nana...

This is a follow-up to the previous PP article discussing the Pakistani Sufi rock group Junoon and its founder/current lead singer Salman Ahmad (recently also interviewed by Rolling Stonemagazine). As discussed previously, Junoon have been heavily involved in opposing Islamist extremism along with promoting pluralistic interfaith understanding & friendship; Salman himself is also a UN Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS, and has worked in conjunction with both the Clinton Global Initiative and Dr Tahir ul-Qadri’s Sufi organisation Minhaj ul-Quran, along with giving a concert at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in 2007. Salman Ahmad, who is currently based primarily in New York, recently visited the UK and was interviewed at length by Stephen Sackur on BBC 24’s HARDtalk programme....

In May through to June of 1994 a civil war broke out in Yemen between the Yemeni government in Sana’a and Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) supporters. As Ghaith Abdul-Ahad noted in the first of his Guardian articles yesterday about time spent in Yemen, fighting that war with the government of the time were Islamists who ended up bagging much political achievement in southern provinces of Yemen during the nineties. When the socialists of the YSP, whose neighbourhoods and market places they created can still be seen, were defeated in the civil war the Islamists were handed authority of Jaar – a town in the province of Abyan, South Yemen. Abdul-Ahad’s report shows that radical Islamist presence in the town grew from there, enjoying sums of money from Saudi Arabia and...

There’s an excellent article in Foreign Policy mag (hat tip @HabibaHamid) Muslim Americans are, by and large, both socially and economically conservative. Sixty-one percent of them would ban abortion except to save the life of the mother; 84 percent support school choice. Muslims overwhelmingly support traditional marriage. More than a quarter — over twice the...

Spokesman praises corporation's output, but says it needs a specialist correspondent to act as 'trusted guide'The Church of England has called on the BBC to appoint a religion editor to act as a "trusted guide" for people with faith as well as those without.The Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester and the Church of England's senior spokesman on communications, said it made no sense to have editors for arts, science and business but not for religion.It backed a call made by Roger Bolton, the presenter of BBC Radio 4's Feedback programme, for BBC News to appoint a religion editor earlier this year.McCulloch made the comments in the Church of England's response to the BBC Trust's review on BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and digital station Radio 7, which is to be rebranded as Radio 4 Extra.The...

(This article is an immediate continuation of Part 1. Readers are therefore strongly advised to read that part first before continuing below). Indian history and “the Sikh 9/11” Firstly, during India’s “Great Mughal” era, the 6th Sikh Guru actually had a mosque built for the ordinary Muslims who had settled in the town he had founded in Punjab – despite the fact that his own father had been severely tortured over a period of several days upon the orders of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, and ultimately died of his horrific injuries. In fact, that same mosque was very recently jointly renovated by Sikh and Muslim volunteers in India as part of a major restoration project. There are even mosques in Amritsar itself, the “holy city” of the Sikhs. It’s certainly a far cry from...

Miss USA Rima Fakih is a Muslim who opposes the proposed mosque near Ground Zero. I totally agree with President Obama with the statement on Constitutional rights of freedom of religion," Fakih told "Inside Edition" in an interview that will air tonight. "I also agree that it shouldn't be so close to the World Trade Center. We should be more concerned with the tragedy than religion." Former Visit seniormagazine.blogspot.com to read the entire entry....

(Eugene Volokh) “Is America Islamophobic?,” asks Time magazine. The lead story is abridged online here. I have little opinion on the title question, partly because I’m not a public opinion researcher, and partly because I don’t know what exactly “Islamophobic” means. And paragraphs such as this don’t help much: Although the American strain of Islamophobia lacks some of the traditional elements of religious persecution — there’s no sign that violence against Muslims is on the rise, for instance — there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that hate speech against Muslims and Islam is growing both more widespread and more heated. Meanwhile, a new TIME–Abt SRBI poll found that 46% of Americans believe Islam is more likely than other faiths to encourage violence against...

Like many Muslim Americans, I had high hopes – now dashed: our brother drinks beer, eats pork and won't fast at Ramadan…One wonders why only 20% of Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim, considering the overwhelming evidence conclusively proving his slavish allegiance to Islam and utter disregard for Christianity.After Obama's wishy-washy defence of Muslim Americans' freedom to build a community centre, which includes a mosque, two blocks away from Ground Zero, a poll from the Pew Research Centre reveals that nearly 20% of Americans – up from 11% a year ago – consider him a Muslim, and nearly 43% are unsure of his religion.As a Muslim American, I presciently spotted the tell-tale signs of Obama's Muslimy-ness and raucously celebrated – along with the entire monolithic...

“It is rash to condemn where you are ignorant.” Much has recently been said about the proposed Cordoba House facility in New York, dubbed the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque”. As is now widely known, CNN anchor and Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria returned his award to the ADL and explained his rationale extremely well; Alex Massie also recently discussed the issue and made a number of brilliant points. This article in the New York Times by the acclaimed historian William Dalrymple about the Cordoba Initiative's Sufi connection is excellent too, as is this article by Richard Cohen of the Washington Post. US President Barack Obama himself has now emphatically voiced his support for the right of the founders of Cordoba House to build the proposed centre (also see here). Even...

Catholic Care sought exclusion from the 2007 sexual orientation regulations on grounds of religious beliefsA Catholic adoption agency has lost its attempt to restrict its service to heterosexual couples after the Charity Commission found there was no justification for barring gay and lesbian parents.Leeds-based Catholic Care sought exclusion from the 2007 sexual orientation regulations and began legal action to change its constitution so it could continue helping married couples only. The commission initially refused to give its consent, but the charity won the right to appeal against its decision.Catholic Care told the high court that it would have to stop finding homes for children because Catholic donations would cease if it helped gay prospective parents. Mr Justice Briggs instructed...

Fear that linking plan with Pearl Harbour could backfire as leading Democrat calls for inquiry into 'covert funding'Republicans are ratcheting up attacks on proposals to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York ahead of November's midterm elections after Barack Obama endorsed the plan.But even as some prominent Republicans compare the construction of the mosque with Japanese attacks on the US, others in the party are warning the tactic could backfire. A leading Democrat has called for an inquiry into those behind opposition to the mosque, suggesting it is being covertly funded.The assault on the plans for the Islamic Centre two blocks from Ground Zero is rapidly becoming a campaign issue in local congressional races far from the World Trade Centre site.Newt Gingrich, the former speaker...

Long time readers will know a little about my love of "alternative" religions (some call them weird, but I think ALL religion is weird and thus don't approach any with a particular prejudice). Well I'm back on my Latter-Day Saints trip right now and think you should watch the following awesome PBS documentaries. Absolutely fascinating overview of Mormon history. and If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist...

A few weeks ago I was invited to a discussion by the global warming denialists Institute of Ideas. The subject of the Burqa came up. On the panel was Jo Phillips who said she was ‘somewhat libertarian’ on the issue and then proceeded to completely contradict herself. She said she found it annoying that many...

There were a hundred excellent reasons to duck it and stay out of it. But what the hell. He's the presidentYes, I'm leaving for the beach momentarily, and my daughter is in my lap and for the moment not crying, but I felt obliged to write a quick take on Obama and the lower Manhattan mosque.Good for him for saying what he did. There were a hundred excellent reasons to duck it and stay out of it. But what the hell. He's the president. A president ought to lead sometimes. Say what he actually thinks about something. Hang the consequences.This is going to be demagogued to death in the next few days. The important part is going forward. Hang tough. Stand by the position. Don't trim sails or add asterisks after Mitch McConnell or Dick Cheney or whomever says whatever hideous thing they're...

Relatives of 9/11 victims accuse president of 'abandoning America' over support for Islamic cultural centreThe US president, Barack Obama, has defended controversial plans to build a mosque near the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, saying to oppose them would be un-American.Prominent Republicans have led protests against the construction of an Islamic cultural centre and mosque two blocks from the site of the former World Trade Centre. The proposed building would not be visible from Ground Zero.Obama acknowledged that "sensitivities" surrounded the 9/11 site, which he described as "hallowed ground", but he said Muslims had the same right to practise their religion "as anyone else".In a speech at a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan, he said: "As a citizen, and as...

I'm not sure if PoTUS* reads my humble little blog. I did get a number of hits from Washington yesterday so you never know. However, I do know we are on the same wavelength over what I posted yesterday.Speaking after a Muslim Iftar dinner, breaking the daily Ramadan fast, last night at the White House he said:"We must all recognise and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development...

Kenan Malik has been on my mind lately. I recently read his book From Fatwa to Jihad and I have learnt that he will be speaking at Westminster Skeptics early next year. Today I thought I’d search his name on YouTube and was thrown up a video of a Newsnight episode on which he appeared with Tariq Modood, Ekow Eshun and Germaine Greer. The latter guest, Germaine Greer, is often thought to be one of those annoying feminist, liberal, middle class bastards! She once stood accused of asking Salman Rushdie to apologise for writing his book The Satanic Verses and offending. Though on Newsnight, she denied having done this, before explaining what she meant when she used “apology”, “Rushdie” and “The Satanic Verses” in the same sentence. Below is the...

O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?There are estimated to be between 2.54 and 7 million Muslims living the the USA, 37% of that number are Caucasian, 24% black, 20% Asian, 4% Hispanic and the rest mixed race. That is between 0.8 and 2.3% of the total population. Currently there are just over 1,200 mosques in the country but...

1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 8 Don’t mind me – I’m just counting the number of months that have passed since Xmas Eve 2009. That was when two Irish Catholic Bishops submitted their resignation to the Pope in contrition over their role (albeit a minor one) in putting the reputation of the church first before the welfare of young people abused by Catholic priests in Ireland. It has taken 8 months – Jeez, I’m constantly surprised by the breathtaking speed at which the Pope makes decisions (bet he doesn’t take so long to decide what he wants for brekkies) – but Pope ‘I was never a Nazi’ Benny has finally decided to refuse the Bishop’s resignations. Now there’s lots I could say about this decision but . . . for now I will content myself...