*Ø* Reclaiming Islam from the Radicals
"With two French journalists facing execution in Iraq by Islamic radicals unless France scraps an imminent headscarf ban in schools, Muslims are protesting against the hijacking of their religion by terror groups.
"It is not only the government in Paris and numerous colleagues who demand the release of the two kidnapped French journalists in Iraq who have been threatened with death: There are also many voices from the Islamic world, including Amr Mussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League.
"The calls for the release of Christian Chesnot of Radio France Internationale and Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro newspaper have stressed that from the very beginning, France was opposed to the war in Iraq. Therefore any French reporters on the ground would be operating in a neutral capacity.
"But this latest case of westerners being held captive under a death threat in Iraq has little to do with the contentious conflict in that land.
"It is claimed that their detention and possible execution in fact has its roots in a situation within France, their own country. The kidnappers from the so-called 'Islamic Army of Iraq' are not concerned with France's political involvement in the Iraq war but with the headscarf ban in French schools which comes into effect at the beginning of September.
"The kidnapping case has revealed a level of public protest more notable and with more supporters than the amount of Islamic federations who stand against the headscarf ban. The protest is against the kidnapping itself and it is coming from a large contingent of French Muslims.
An insult to all Muslims
"Those who have joined to protest are angry about the use of the word 'Islamic' in the title of the group responsible and in the justification of its actions. They see this as an insult to Muslims all around the world, and reject the claim made by the group that the actions are dictated by the Koran, Islam's holy teachings."
Continue here
"With two French journalists facing execution in Iraq by Islamic radicals unless France scraps an imminent headscarf ban in schools, Muslims are protesting against the hijacking of their religion by terror groups.
"It is not only the government in Paris and numerous colleagues who demand the release of the two kidnapped French journalists in Iraq who have been threatened with death: There are also many voices from the Islamic world, including Amr Mussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League.
"The calls for the release of Christian Chesnot of Radio France Internationale and Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro newspaper have stressed that from the very beginning, France was opposed to the war in Iraq. Therefore any French reporters on the ground would be operating in a neutral capacity.
"But this latest case of westerners being held captive under a death threat in Iraq has little to do with the contentious conflict in that land.
"It is claimed that their detention and possible execution in fact has its roots in a situation within France, their own country. The kidnappers from the so-called 'Islamic Army of Iraq' are not concerned with France's political involvement in the Iraq war but with the headscarf ban in French schools which comes into effect at the beginning of September."The kidnapping case has revealed a level of public protest more notable and with more supporters than the amount of Islamic federations who stand against the headscarf ban. The protest is against the kidnapping itself and it is coming from a large contingent of French Muslims.
An insult to all Muslims
"Those who have joined to protest are angry about the use of the word 'Islamic' in the title of the group responsible and in the justification of its actions. They see this as an insult to Muslims all around the world, and reject the claim made by the group that the actions are dictated by the Koran, Islam's holy teachings."
Continue here
"Giuliani recalled standing below the north tower on Sept. 11 and seeing a man jump to his death from the 101st or 102nd floor. 
"A Staffordshire family home has been plagued by an infestation of tropical spiders for almost two months after they were brought in on a bunch of bananas.
"Australian engineers have created an electricity generator fuelled by decomposing bananas, and hope to build a full size fruit-fired power station. 
There is, of course, no level playing field in international sport. Australian athletes are supported by huge taxpayer-funded institutions; most countries have no chance of matching that largesse. And when people with full bellies beat hungry people, what is the cause of national pride? Two thirds of the world's population don't stand a chance, and hungry people have other things on their minds. That makes international sport sound like a cheating game to me.
"ELEANOR HALL: While David Hicks has been able to see his family, however briefly, the other Australian inmate in the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is yet to enjoy similar privileges.
"The UK could 'sleepwalk into a surveillance society' as a result of ID cards and other plans, UK information commissioner Richard Thomas has warned. 
August 26, 1883 
Mindful of the fact that, just as a crazy rich man is eccentric but a crazy poor man is a nutter, a rich man has PR and a poor man has shameless self-promotion, your almanackist is pleased to report we have passed the mark of three quarters of the 
"A former federal president of the Liberals thinks the party would be better off without John Howard.
A work of origami, or paper folding, is shown on display during the origami convention in Tokyo, Friday, Aug. 20, 2004. Showcasing a renaissance in the ancient Japanese art of origami, some of the best paper-folders in the world descended on Tokyo on Friday for a three-day competition and convention to celebrate the artistic possibilities of origami, which is believed to have been used to create sacred ornaments at the Grand Shrines of Ise, the center of Japan's native shinto religion. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa) 
"LONDON - Doctors working for the U.S. military in Iraq collaborated with interrogators in the abuse of detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, profoundly breaching medical ethics and human rights, a bioethicist charges in 
Hey Mr Rumsfeld, you said it!
"NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes pounded areas near a shrine where radical Shi'ite militiamen were holed up early on Friday after their leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, defied a final demand from Iraq's interim prime minister to disarm. 
"SEATTLE (Reuters) - A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday ...
"The temperature is rising in inboxes as spammers attempt to promote a summer of 'love'.
With the Iraq crisis, it's easy to forget that Russia has its own Iraq, and it's called Chechnya.
RENNES, France (AFP): "A tiny French village in Brittany -- the self proclaimed capital of twin-dom -- has played host to an international gathering of thousands of identical twins, triplets and quadruplets. 
"The US assault on Najaf is a war crime. The spectacle of the world’s foremost imperialist power unleashing its overwhelmingly superior military might against poorly armed opponents of foreign occupation recalls the most notorious crimes of the twentieth century, including the fascist bombardment of Guernica in Spain, Mussolini’s rape of Ethiopia, and the Nazi blitzkrieg against Germany’s European neighbors in World War II.
Capital, which is so heavily invested in the 
August 16, 1969 Woodstock Day Two: Yippie activist Abbie Hoffman, slightly out of his gourd, attended 
The credibility of Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, is on the line once again over the 
"Given that the outer wall of the Pentagon had not yet collapsed, how does a plane over 44 feet tall and 125 ft. wide, fit into a hole which is only 16 ft. in diameter, as shown in the crystal-clear photographic evidence from the Pentagon? Can physics explain this? 
"A giant colony of ants stretching 100km (62 miles) has been discovered in the Australian city of Melbourne, threatening local insect species.
Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a – you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities.
"Michael Moore yesterday released unseen footage of the new CIA boss explaining his own unsuitability for the role. The scene, which didn't make the cut for Fahrenheit 9/11, shows Porter Goss pointing out that his lack of language and computer skills means he 'wouldn't get a job' with the CIA ...
"Athens, August 10, 2004: The Play Fair at the Olympics campaign staged an action in Athens on the eve of the opening of the Olympic games in solidarity with sportswear workers worldwide.
"Appeal court judges yesterday defied human rights campaigners by ruling that British courts could use evidence extracted under torture, as long as British agents were not complicit in the abuse.
CCR Submits Their Detailed Account of Abuse to Senate Armed Services Committee
Chords for Change 
Feast day of St Lawrence
LONDON (Reuters) - "Traces of the anti-depressant Prozac have been found in the drinking water supply, setting off alarm bells with environmentalists concerned about potentially toxic effects.
How many people have been found in Hussein's mass graves? Blair said 400,000, but finally admits it is one-eightieth that number, ie, 5,000. Just a tad less.
Losing the Southern Cross
After 
"A number of serving defence force officers shared the concerns of a group of 43 former defence chiefs and diplomats who wanted a return to truth in government, retired defence chief General Peter Gration said today.
"The Edinburgh Military Tattoo has begun its three-week sell-out run amid protests in the Scottish capital ...
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - "A tech-savvy young San Francisco man who staged his own mock beheading on the Internet duped international media today into believing Islamist kidnappers had executed an American hostage in Iraq.
Ask any Australian how many people died in Vietnam and you'll be likely to get the answer "about 500". Ask an American and chances are they'll say "About 60,000".
New book identifies Ireland as Atlantis 
GW told a roomful of military brass on Thursday that he'd never stop looking for ways to harm America. I saw him on TV. He didn't even realise what he'd said - just carried on blathering. The Texymoron, perhaps? 
Hiroshima, August 6, 2004
LONDON (Reuters) - "A British couple booked themselves into a clinic to quit smoking after the vet said it was the only way to save their beloved sick parrot.
August 5, 1936 "Adolf Hitler walked out of the 1936 Summer Olympics stadium in Berlin, Germany after African-American athlete Jesse Owens won gold in the 200 metre race. Owens's four gold medals were an eloquent refutation of Hitler’s theory of the inferiority of the black races."
When will King Sebastian return?
Look, it wasn't my favourite protest, 
"LONDON (Reuters) - A police sniffer dog died of a suspected overdose while out hunting for drugs, British police said on Monday.
August 2, 1100 England’s King William Rufus (b. c. 1056) was killed when shot through the chest by an arrow while hunting. 
