TOKYO (AFP) -- As the International Whaling Commission started its annual meeting in Portugal Monday, a group of bars and restaurants near Tokyo have sought to lure patrons with an exotic new spread of whale dishes. That sizzling noise is the simultaneous explosion of millions of eco-wacky heads.
On the menu, alongside local staples such as whale sashimi, were new creations including whale spring rolls, whale bacon and even an Italian cheese whale cutlet -- all served with a dollop of local whaling history. ....and served up by topless PETA models....
"Whale meat is a very important part of Japanese tradition," said Masanobu Tai, the restaurateur leading the promotional drive in the Noge district of the port city of Yokohama, an area of narrow lanes filled with bars and eateries. For squeamish westerners, we still offer our world-famous fluffy bunny pie and kitten casserole...
"If whaling is not done to excess, I think this is a great thing... Whale meat is delicious, high in protein, low in fat," he added as staff in his pork cutlet restaurant dished up a new treat, whale dumplings.
Anti-whaling nations led by Australia and New Zealand, as well as environmental groups, have attacked Japan for its annual whaling expeditions, including in Antarctic waters, criticising them as cruel and unnecessary. Japan hunts whales by using a loophole in a 1986 IWC moratorium on commercial whaling that allows "lethal research," and Tokyo often accuses western critics of insensitivity toward its traditions.
Tai said he and others were trying to celebrate that tradition in Yokohama, which this year marks 150 years since it opened its doors to the world in an era when American traders and whalers led the push to enter Japanese ports. "When we opened the history books of the city, we learned that whale was very much part of it," Tai said, adding that whale meat sold in the local black market in the lean post-World War II years was a precious source of protein. "I think Japan should protect our culture within the framework of the IWC while seeking understanding in the international community," he said.
"Not many people eat whale any more," Tai conceded. "Some people come to our restaurants to remember the past. Some people bring their younger colleagues from work to taste whale," Tai said. A 2008 survey by the Nikkei business newspaper found that only 12 percent of Japanese in their 20s eat whale meat.
The Worldwide Fund for Nature in a report last week charged that Japan, as well as Norway, has been wasting millions of dollars in taxpayer money to sustain whaling, which it said was likely a loss-making industry. Not if they could pick up History Channel sponsorship.
Hopes were muted for much progress on reaching compromise on whaling and conservation at the IWC meeting starting Monday on Portugal's Madeira island. The focus of talks is now whether to allow Tokyo to conduct commercial whaling near its coast if it scales down its Antarctic hunt. The guerrilla theater pirates known as Sea Shepherd would have a much harder time of it in Japanese waters.
#2
I actually already have eaten whale meat, but, looking at it with hindsight, I'm not that comfortable with the thought of having eaten something that was probably cleverer than me by half, if not more.
#4
I gotta admit the "Japanese tradition" excuse has always made my hair stand on end. There are a number of Japanese tradtions that have gone (thankfully) by the wayside for good reason.
Cocaine production in Latin America fell last year because of declining demands in global markets, tougher law enforcement, and shifting trends in the production and consumption of narcotics. Cooling markets have also led to a reduction in the value of the coca leaf -- the raw ingredient in the production of cocaine -- causing some farmers to stop growing the crop.
The downturn was seen mostly in Colombia, the world's largest producer of cocaine, where production of the drug plummeted by 28 percent, the United Nations' annual report on drugs revealed. "In terms of ... production, the 2008 results are the lowest in Colombia in a decade," said the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, which produced the report. But increases in the cultivation of cocaine in the smaller producer nations Peru (by 4 percent) and Bolivia (by 9 percent) partially offset the drop in Colombia -- where half of the world's cocaine is produced, it said.
Narcotics experts say changes in the $320 billion global cocaine market partially explain recent drug-related violence in Central America, with cartels fighting for a shrinking market. Aldo Lale-Demoz, U.N. agency representative for Colombia, said traffickers tend to migrate to countries where there is less police pressure and eradication. "There's a shift from Colombia toward Peru and Bolivia," he said. Peru was more worrisome, he added, because of "the penetration of international cartels, above all Mexicans." But in both Peru and Bolivia, local police authorities have given drug producers freer rein. Crop eradication was down by more than 10 percent in the two countries, U.S. anti-drug officials said. They complain that Bolivia, which expelled U.S. drug agents last year, is no longer a serious partner in combating drugs.
The UNODC's executive director, Antonio Maria Costa, also had a warning for Colombia's two Andean neighbors. "The increases for Bolivia and Peru show a trend in the wrong direction," he said, adding, "Peru must guard against a return to the days when terrorists and insurgents, like the (guerrilla group) Shining Path, profited from drugs and crime."
The U.N. report warned that the production and consumption of synthetic drugs -- amphetamines, ecstasy and methamphetamine -- are making inroads in developing countries by going from a cottage industry to "big business." The report acknowledged the difficulty of estimating the size of production of cannabis and synthetic drugs, as they can be made in laboratories anywhere. But the report said the production of amphetamine-type stimulants, like ecstasy, methamphetamine tablets, crystal meth and other substances, is worsening. It also warned that criminal gangs may try to exploit the production of synthetic drugs in vulnerable, developing countries.
Sri Lankan police say they have arrested an astrologer after he predicted serious political and economic problems for the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse. He knew that was coming. It was written in the stars.
Chandrasiri Bandara, who writes an astrology column for a pro-opposition weekly, was taken in on Thursday, police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara said. "The CID (Criminal Investigations Department) is questioning the astrologer," Gunasekara said on Friday, adding that they wanted to find out the "basis" for the prediction. Um? He's an astrologer. Something to do with Venus being in the fourth house and Uranus rising.
The astrologer had predicted that a planetary change on October 8 will be inauspicious for parliament and the government may not be able to arrest rising living costs -- a prediction already made by private economists.
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06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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Villagers, many straight from their farms, and armed with machetes, sticks and axes, are shouting and crowding round in a big group in Kenya's fertile Kisii district.
I can't see clearly what is going on, but heavy smoke is rising from the ground and a horrible stench fills the air. More people are streaming up the hill, some of them with firewood and maize stalks.
Suddenly an old woman breaks from the crowd, screaming for mercy. Three or four people go after her, beat her and drag her back, pushing her onto - what I can now see - is a raging fire.
I was witnessing a horrific practice which appears to be on the increase in Kenya - the lynching of people accused of being witches. I personally saw the burning alive of five elderly men and women in Itii village.
[Mail and Globe] President Robert Mugabe says Zimbabwe may revive the use of its own currency because the United States dollar introduced to tame hyperinflation was unavailable to a majority of people in the countryside. His comments contradict a pledge made to investors this week by Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma to stick with the dollar, and raise questions about who is in charge of policy in Harare's fractious power-sharing administration.
Was that really a question?
Friday's state-run Herald newspaper quoted Mugabe as saying the government set up with rival Morgan Tsvangirai was battling to ease economic hardship, but Zimbabwe could not have a system where rural people were forced to trade their livestock. "We cannot have a country like that. We are reviewing this so that we can go back to the use of our own national currency," he was quoted as telling a meeting of his Zanu-PF party.
In January, Harare lifted a ban on the use of foreign currency to stem hyperinflation of more than 230-million percent that had rendered the Zimbabwe dollar almost worthless. The decision led to falling prices and a flood of goods on to previously barren supermarket shelves, but Mugabe said it had caused untold suffering because rural people had no access to the dollars and South African rands circulating in towns.
At the time of currency liberalisation, economists predicted it could make life tougher for ordinary Zimbabweans, most of whom would continue to be paid in local currency but be forced to pay for goods and services in foreign currency.
Mugabe's and Mangoma's contradictory comments suggest the unity administration formed in February to try end a devastating political and economic crisis was still at loggerheads over very basic policies. "It creates the impression of a divided government which has not worked out some positions on very basic issues," leading economic consultant John Robertson said. "Potential donors will be worried about this."
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06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Gunmen killed three persons including two businessmen belonging to the ruling alliance, and wounded another in broad daylight at the city's Karwan Bazar yesterday. The attack is believed to have been in reprisal for efforts to stop extortion in the capital's premier kitchen market.
The three are M Faruque Mollah, 55, Ashraf Miah, 53, and Nuruddin Sarkar Jewel, 35. Faruque was president of Karwan Bazar fruit traders association and general secretary of Tejgaon unit Jatiya Party. Ashraf was former vice-president of DIT Market Traders Association and senior vice-president of ward-39 AL. Jewel was Faruque's bodyguard.
The wounded, Abdur Rahim, is a homeopath and a ward unit AL leader.
According to witnesses, a gang of around six youths stormed the DIT traders association office at 12:45pm. As they sprayed those sitting there with bullets, two died on the spot.
The business community of Karwan Bazar have expressed deep concern about their safety.
Security guard Zakir Hossain, who was at the office during the incident, told The Daily Star, "I was sleeping on a bench in far corner of the room, and woke up to the sound of gunshots.
"I saw four youths getting onto a white microbus near the TCB building, some 100 metres off the scene."
Sprinting towards the vehicle, they fired a few rounds into the sky to scare off the locals after them, Zakir continued. "I don't know who attacked the office and who else were there at the time because I was deep asleep after night shift."
Local businessmen said Faruque, Ashraf and Rahim had lately been campaigning against extortion and other crimes in the area. Of them, Ashraf and Rahim used to frequent the office as shop owners and former leaders of the market. But for Faruque it was quite rare to spend time there.
Fellow traders took bodies of Faruque and Ashraf to DMCH, while police recovered that of Jewel from 25/30 yards off the scene.
Faruque's brother Mobarak Mollah told The Daily Star, "My brother was the target, while the other two might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Talking to this correspondent at DMCH, he said, "We know who were behind the killings. Wait for the dust to settle, you'll know everything you need to know."
Tofael Hossain, Ashraf's brother-in-law, said they have no clues to the identity of the killers.
Hailing from Karimganj upazila of Kishoreganj, Faruque was a four-time president of the fruit traders association. Though he had no links to organised crime, he had good relations with top terror 'Pichchi' Hannan, who was killed in Rab crossfire in 2004.
Since then, he had his attention totally focussed on business.
Meanwhile, persons close to Faruque suspect his slaying might be linked to that of Juba League leader Mamun two months back. Mamun's men, who believe Faruque had a hand in their boss's death, might have committed the murders yesterday, the sources added.
Mamun, office secretary of city Juba League, would coordinate the extortion activities against Karwan Bazar traders. After his murder that is still unresolved, extortion declined considerably, said local shopkeepers.
Deputy Commissioner Chowdhury Manzurul Kabir of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Tejgaon zone) told The Daily Star, "For now we know little about the motive. We are however working to know if extortion had anything to do with the triple murder."
The businessmen at Karwan Bazar however are convinced that extortionists had carried out the killings.
Police recovered a magazine with three bullets from the spot.
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06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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The sixth meeting of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's (CPPCC) Standing Committee, the highest-level advisory body of the People's Republic of China, met ahead of the general plenary that is taking place in Beijing from June 22 to 27.
During one of the committee's working group meetings on June 18, the former deputy chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and standing committee member of the CPPCC, General Zhang Li, recommended that China build an airport and seaport on Mischief Reef located in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
The additional facilities, Zhang said, would enable China to conduct aircraft patrol of the area, support Chinese fishing vessels and demonstrate the country's sovereignty over the disputed islands.
The call for building military installments on the disputed islets by General Zhang, a senior high-ranking military officer, may be signs of China's increased willingness to use force in resolving territorial disputes as tension between China and ASEAN-member states (i.e. Philippines, Vietnam) boil over the contested islets in the region.
A Chinese media source reported that the PLA Navy, under the direct order of the Central Military Commission (CMC) under President Hu Jintao, recently conducted a large scale naval exercise in the South China Sea to demonstrate Chinese sovereignty over the islands.
China officially imposed a fishing ban in the South China Sea on May 16 to reportedly prevent "over fishing," and sent eight patrol ships to monitor 128,000 square kilometers of the region.
In recent months, tensions flared between China and Vietnam, which is one of the claimants contesting sovereignty over the islands, and Hanoi reportedly signed a $1.8 billion deal with Russia for six Kilo-class submarines in what analysts say appears to be the strongest response sent by Hanoi toward Beijing for what it increasingly sees as China's encroachment on the South China Sea islands. The submarines, which are designed for anti-sub and anti-ship warfare, could help protect Vietnamese claims in the South China Sea by denying access to its more than 2,000 miles of coastline.
In his remarks at the committee meeting, Zhang described the situation in the South China Sea as "very grim," and recommended that the Chinese navy add vessels and boats that have a displacement of 3,000 tons or higher for the navy and naval police that operate in the disputed area.
According to Zhang, the PLAN only has eight operational naval vessels that are deployable to the region, and these vessels are usually executing other missions in different areas, thus their capability to respond to any contingency that develops in the South China Sea is very limited.
If the airport and seaport are constructed, Zhang said that China will then be able to control the Spratlys and provide a platform for Chinese naval vessels to bypass the Straits of Malacca, which Chinese military strategists consider a strategic choke point for the country's national security.
The Spratly Islands are comprised of over 500 islets, while Vietnam occupies 29 of these islets; the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei occupy three or more islets each, and the General noted that China only controls four of these islets.
Save some for us!
Moreover, according to Zhang, China does not possess a single oil well in the area, but other countries have more than 1,000 wells that extract from 5,000 to 1 hundred million barrels of oil per year. In response, Zhang advised Beijing to increase its investment in naval surface ships, satellite surveillance, intelligence facilities and basing construction in the region, while expanding oil exploration and production in the South China Sea.
[ADN Kronos] Turkey's army chief Ilker Basbug on Friday called for an end to speculation about an alleged military plot to overthrow the government and condemned what he called a smear campaign against the military.
"At a time when there are important things taking place in the world, notably in Iran... Turkey has used a lot of energy pointlessly over a piece of paper," he told reporters.
The document to which he referred was allegedly from a colonel in the general staff and published recently in the liberal newspaper Taraf.
It purportedly dealt with a plot to destabilise the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Basbug, who was surrounded by the army's most senior officers, repeated to reporters that military investigators considered the document to be a fake.
He also said the army would not stand by and watch the "growing and organised" smear campaign.
"We are an institution attached to the constitution and we will not permit anyone in our ranks to get involved in unlawful activities," he said.
The document published by Taraf newspaper, which has been a regular critic of the army, has sparked a fierce controversy in Turkey. The army has toppled elected governments there four times since 1960.
Taraf alleged that the document was a reaction to an ongoing probe into an alleged plot by the shadowy ultranationalist group Ergenekon to overthrow the Islamist-rooted government.
Suspects linked to Ergenekon allegedly sought to foment unrest and political chaos to pave the way for a military coup targeting the government of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Ergenekon investigation, which began in June 2007, has fuelled tensions between the AKP and its hardcore secularist opponents.
Over a hundred people, including several generals, party officials, and journalists have been detained or questioned since July 2008 in relation to the Ergenekon plot.
Hearings began last October and are expected to continue for some time.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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But, will they ship 100000 pairs of surgical gloves along, so the Holy Book isn't defiled by being touched by unbelievers???
On the premise that nothing makes a better gift than a good book, a Muslim civil liberties group is launching a campaign to hand out 100,000 free copies of an expensive Arabic-English copy of the Qur'an to elected officials and influential policy makers.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is planning to announce their campaign at a press conference Tuesday. The group's executive director said the project was inspired after hearing people in his office heard Obama's speech to the Muslim world last month, in which Obama talked about seeking "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world."
"When he quoted the Koran on the fundamental values we share such as sanctity of human life, racial Diversity, importance of speaking the truth, we believe it was a surprise to many people not familiar with Islam," said Nihad Awad.
The hope is that by reading the Qur'an, the central holy text of Islam, elected leaders and others will better understand Muslims and the Islamic faith and ease prejudices that have increased sine 9/11.
"One major source of Islamaphobia is a lack of accurate information and idea about muslims. Perhaps this will change some of that," Awad said.
The book, Awad says, is an expensive $78 version, which has Arabic text, the English translation along with English commentary. CAIR, which is subsidizing the project, is asking Muslims requesting a book to give to their local officials to pay $45 per copy.
The group is planning to issue copies to from U.S. congressmen and state governors down to the local level like police chiefs and city councils. Even if the officials don't end up actually reading the book, the group believes the act of giving the book will spark dialogue that didn't exist before.
#1
could you imagine the outcry if the bible was given..so much for sep of church and state...
Posted by: Dan ||
06/27/2009 17:35 Comments ||
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#2
This is hilarious. All some group has to do is publish a xeroxed, 5 page addendum, with those parts of the Koran used to justify terrible acts of murder and injustice. It could also include any number of statements from living Muslim leaders supporting the most appalling agenda around.
$70,000 should cover the cost of the xeroxes and postage.
All the elected officials would have to do is look it up to see that the xerox was right.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/27/2009 18:03 Comments ||
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#4
I would be a whole lot more interested in whether the translation was dead accurate, bet it's NOT.
Depends greatly who did the translating, and their motives.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/27/2009 21:04 Comments ||
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#5
Oh goodee. Toilet paper is a huge expense and now they don't have to pay for any for a month or so.
#1
I got an email from a Nigerian Prince who will send me Obama's birth certificate if I will just help him put some money in a US Bank by giving him my account info and SSN.
#4
eBay made the auction disappear. Just like when I tried to sell an original set of lawn darts, or a vintage 1960s pro-cannabis pamphlet. ("Too dangerous!", "Can't promote drug use!").
#5
#2 You just know that SOB is going to make about $50k. Posted by gorb 2009-06-27 05:38
He's making over $ 400,000 per year gorb, and that's not including per diem percs such as icecream, in-and-around NYC and Paris transportation, per diem etc. Not bad for a kid from Peoria.
[Geo News] A loud explosion occurred at a house being employed as firecracker-producing factory in Gharibabad area of Karachi, killing at least two persons and injuring 32 others including 14 women and nine children.
A powerful blast occurred at 1730 PST at a godown with stored goods for fireworks, causing the two-storey building at which the godown was situated to collapse completely; while, over two dozens of nearby buildings were greatly damaged.
Also, the gas pipeline passing through the area caught extreme fire triggering panic among the residents. The Sui Gas personnel arrived before long and cut off the connection, putting off the blaze.
According to eyewitnesses, the blast was heard far and wide.
The rescuers and relief team members faced great hardships in relief activities, as the area was over-crowded and has narrow streets; however, initially, the local residents on their own, took out the people trapped under the rubble and rushed them to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Liaquatabad General Hospital by the ambulances of Edhi and Chhipa Welfare.
According to eyewitnesses, police, the Rangers, City government warden, town administration and their personnel arrived 45 minutes late on the blast site. On this occasion, police baton-charged the people gathered there to break them up.
The crane of City Government and other heavy machinery clawed away the debris to rescue the injured from there.
According to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Mashhood Farooq, at least 27 injured were brought to the hospital, of them, four are in critical condition.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A high court in Pakistan has dismissed a case of tax evasion filed against former premier Nawaz Sharif which could have sent him behind bars for 14 years.
The court ruling came on Friday to revoke Sharif's earlier conviction of not paying taxes on the alleged purchase of a helicopter used during an election campaign in the 1990's.
Pakistan's national accountability court in 2000 sentenced him to a 14-year jail term and barred Sharif from holding any public office for 21 years as well as a penalty of 50 million rupees (625,000 US dollars).
On Friday, Sharif's lawyer Khwaja Haris told the court that the case against his client was politically-motivated, adding that Sharif had got the helicopter on lease for his party's election campaign and not for personal use.
Today's court order is the second ruling in the past two months to lift the ban on Sharif's ability to run for public office. On May 26, Pakistan's Supreme Court said Sharif was eligible to hold public office.
The former premier leads the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) -- the second largest political party in Pakistan -- and is expected to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Overthrown by former army chief Gen. Parvez Musharraf in 1999, Nawaz Sharif was exiled to Saudi Arabia in 2000, only a few days after his conviction.
The two-time premier has already filed nomination papers to run for a vacant National Assembly seat.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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A recent thread on the Al-Falluja jihadist forum discussed the case of whether a Muslim who has nothing else to eat may kill an infidel in order to eat him. The discussion was prompted by a recently published book by Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, one of the most influential jihadist sheikhs active today.
"Is It Permitted To Eat The Flesh of American Soldiers?"
On June 13, 2009, a member of the Al-Falluja forum who uses the moniker "Al-Maqdisi's Student" wrote a post based on this passage [in full report] titled "Is it permitted to eat the flesh of American soldiers? A quote from the illustrious Sheikh Al-Maqdisi, may Allah preserve him." He began by recounting an exchange between the early Muslim commander Khalid b. Al-Walid and the Byzantine commander at the battle of Yarmuk (in the year 636 C.E.) The Byzantine commander said to Khalid that the Muslims had only gone out from their land due to hunger, and offered to buy them off. Khalid responded: "It was not hunger that drove us out of our land, as you say; we are a people who drink blood, and we know that there is no blood more delicious than Byzantine blood. That is why we came."
"Al-Maqdisi's Student" then cites the aforementioned passage from Al-Maqdisi's Beginner's Guide [in full report], and follows up with the words: "The mujahideen should inform their belligerent [infidel] and apostate enemies of this exceptional law so that they can bring it up and study it at their conferences on human rights, counterterrorism, and so on! Then they in turn can proclaim that our soldiers lick their lips [at the thought of] eating the flesh of their hamburger- and Pepsi-eating soldiers!"
"If We... Eat Americans, Let's Make Them Into A Gunpowder-Flavored Kabsa With Some Hors D'oeuvres Made Of Apostates"
Most of the numerous responses to the post were off-topic. Some responses, however, did take up the flesh-eating issue. "Abu Hajir Al-Muqrin" wrote: "If we are forced to eat Americans, let's make them into a gunpowder-flavored kabsa with some hors d'oeuvres made of apostates."
"Muhammad Al-Baghdadi" wrote: "But the slaughtering needs to be according to the shari'a. He then wrote "perhaps this is the best way" above stills from the Nick Berg decapitation video.
"Al-Maqdisi's Student" weighed in again towards the end of the thread and wrote: "A true story: a group of mujahideen from one of the brigades was in the mountains during the jihad against the Russians. One of them was sent off on a mission; he went and came back, but he couldn't find any of the brothers. He saw a roasted calf leg that the brothers in the brigade left for him for dinner, and he ate of it until he was full. When he went back to the main camp, the brothers saw him and offered him dinner! He said: praise Allah, I already ate! They said: Where did you find dinner? He said: You left me roasted calf leg! They said: No, no, that wasn't calf, that was the leg of a Russian infidel! He answered: No matter, it's all Islamic slaughter! (smile)"
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
06/27/2009 14:59 ||
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#1
They might as well have unicorn steaks. Just as likely.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A prominent Egyptian preacher has issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, approving the use of punctuation in copies of the Quran, which has sparked protests by religious scholars who say the meaning can be changed if punctuation is inserted in the wrong place. If it's read without punctuation then it's subject to an even wider range of meanings, isn't it?
News of the fatwa comes after Egyptian poet and preacher, Abdel-Salam al-Basyouni, said he had researched the issue and discovered using punctuation such as commas, colons and semi-colons would make understanding Islam's holy book easier. "Hang on a second, guys! This isn't Klingon! It's... ummm... something else!"
Prominent Sunni scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi welcomed the news and said "I personally do this when I cite verses from the Quran in my books and lectures and anything I write," Egyptian daily independent, al-Shorouk al-Gadid, quoted the sheikh as saying. "I advise everyone to follow suit," he said. "If you put a colon after every eighth word it makes ever so much more sense!"
Qaradawi, however, objected to the use of parenthetical dashes as they imply that the sentence between them is not originally in the text and this could cause confusion. I read the Koran once. I was confused. It must have been the dashes.
But did you read it an English translation? In the original Arabic? In the ur-original Syrio-Aramaic? Each would add its own special level of confusion, after all, given that the scribe was by all accounts illiterate in all three languages.
The sheikh explained that in the past scholars had broken away from the traditional Ottoman style text and used punctuation marks in the Quran when citing parts of it in an article or a research paper.
This article starring:
ABDEL SALAM AL BASYUNI
Learned Elders of Islam
SHEIKH YUSUF AL QARADAWI
Learned Elders of Islam
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Straits Times] THAILAND on Friday destroyed six tonnes of narcotics worth US$276 million (S$401.7 million) to mark the UN's annual day against drugs, as the government vowed to step up its campaign against illegal substances.
The drugs, which were gathered as evidence in nearly 4,500 court cases, were burned in an incinerator in front of public health officials.
'Drugs present a serious threat as they destroy the brain, the family, and social and national security,' deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban said at a meeting of state anti-drug officials.
'Therefore the government has put drugs on the national agenda, to stamp them out swiftly to protect younger generations,' he said.
The drugs burned on Friday included 2.7 tonnes of methamphetamine, 2.9 tonnes of marijuana, 228 kilos of heroin and 10 kilos of ecstasy tablets.
Nine kilos of cocaine and 3.1 kilos of ketamine were also destroyed.
The total street value of the drugs was estimated at 9.4 billion baht.
Friday marks the United Nations' International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
So they "destroyed tons of drugs? Yeah, and I taught my cats to recite Shakespeare last night...
#1
Sounds like he's well positioned to win that seat in Congress. The only knock against him is that he was in the Army, but since he's not anymore, it should be ok.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Sri Lankan police say they have arrested an astrologer after he predicted serious political and economic problems for the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse.
By Odhiambo Joseph BBC News, Kenya 
[ADN Kronos] Turkey's army chief Ilker Basbug on Friday called for an end to speculation about an alleged military plot to overthrow the government and condemned what he called a smear campaign against the military. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] A high court in Pakistan has dismissed a case of tax evasion filed against former premier Nawaz Sharif which could have sent him behind bars for 14 years. 
A recent thread on the Al-Falluja jihadist forum discussed the case of whether a Muslim who has nothing else to eat may kill an infidel in order to eat him. The discussion was prompted by a recently published book by Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, one of the most influential jihadist sheikhs active today. 
