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21. mai 2006
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Saddam Hussein realises he is in trouble:
With his finger-pointing denunciations of the judges and the prosecution lawyers as agents of the American occupation, his menacing attacks on witnesses against him and, above all, in his encouragement of the insurgents who have tied down 130,000 American troops, the former ruler acted more like a man seeking to reverse the political tides than one on trial for his life.
Now that he faces a formal charge that carries the death sentence, Mr. Hussein may find cause to take the trial more seriously. He has told the court he does not fear death, and boasted of how he cheated it once, fleeing to Egypt after participating in a failed assassination attempt in 1959 against Iraq's ruler, Abdul Karim Kassem.
But after Judge Raouf pronounced the indictment on Monday, and allowed Mr. Hussein to argue anew about his right to immunity as Iraq's lawful president, a striking thing occurred: When the judge ordered him to sit down, he did so promptly, and remained pensive, and unobstructive, for the balance of the day.
It's difficult to teach manners to a has-been homicidal dictator, but obviously it can be done.
9:43:49 PM 
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The Saudi government insists it has reformed its school curriculum to remove the hate propaganda directed towards Jews, Christians and essentially all non-Wahhabists. Not so, writes Nina Shea, director of Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House, in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.
A review of a sample of official Saudi textbooks for Islamic studies used during the current academic year reveals that, despite the Saudi government's statements to the contrary, an ideology of hatred toward Christians and Jews and Muslims who do not follow Wahhabi doctrine remains in this area of the public school system. The texts teach a dualistic vision, dividing the world into true believers of Islam (the "monotheists") and unbelievers (the "polytheists" and "infidels").
This indoctrination begins in a first-grade text and is reinforced and expanded each year, culminating in a 12th-grade text instructing students that their religious obligation includes waging jihad against the infidel to "spread the faith."
Poisoning another generation of young Saudis, assuring no end to the war on terror. Unsurprisingly, religious indoctrination dominates Saudi schools, instead of preparing the young for a life as productive citizens they are taught to hate outsiders.
Already in first grade we see how unbelievers are dehumanised.
" Every religion other than Islam is false."
"Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words (Islam, hellfire): Every religion other than ______________ is false. Whoever dies outside of Islam enters ____________."
By the eight grade, the students are taught even more derogatory racist and xenophobic teachings.
"Some of the people of the Sabbath were punished by being turned into apes and swine. Some of them were made to worship the devil, and not God, through consecration, sacrifice, prayer, appeals for help, and other types of worship. Some of the Jews worship the devil. Likewise, some members of this nation worship the devil, and not God."
By twelfth grade, it is about time to teach the young to become good terrorists:
"Jihad in the path of God -- which consists of battling against unbelief, oppression, injustice, and those who perpetrate it -- is the summit of Islam. This religion arose through jihad and through jihad was its banner raised high. It is one of the noblest acts, which brings one closer to God, and one of the most magnificent acts of obedience to God."
There are even more examples in the article.
I don't see precisely how Saudi Arabia is an ally in the war on terror.
9:37:39 PM
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I have not written much about the Da Vinci Code, neither the movie nor the book, for the reason I haven't read nor seen it. Unless somebody very attractive drags me along to watch the movie, I doubt I will be bothered to see it.
Occasionally, somebody I am debating with tells me I have to read (or watch) this new, revealing book/movie that tells the whole truth about Jesus and Christianity. Sometimes they are hard-line Christians preaching the orthodox gospel, other times they have some new age interpretation. I probably come across as arrogant (heck, I am arrogant; I admit it) when I just brush them off.
The fact of the case is that the entire source material concerning Jesus and the first Christians is very, very sparse. And I know this material, having read and studied every bit of it. Unless someone has a credible claim to some new 1st century manuscript or artifact, I know they aren't able to come up with anything new. The sources have been debated, analysed and debated again for centuries, and nothing really new is going to come up now. We hardly have a solid case that Jesus even existed, and far less any basis for arguing he was a stoner, gay, revolutionary or that he married Mary Magdalene or whatever people come up with. Those who claim the opposite simply don't merit wasting my time.
Obviously, I totally sympathise with those Christians who say that the Da Vinci Code is total fiction, devoid of serious arguments. I am absolutely not a Christian, but I have a lot of respect for Christian scholars who have a massive depth of knowledge and understanding about this topic (I am one of very few atheists in this world who find a good Bible Commentary top reading material). Believers are right that those theories are totally bunk.
The flip side, however, is that there is not much better basis for the orthodox gospel than the new found fiction. I wonder if that is not the most significant reason that some of the brightest minds in the Roman Catholic Church are up in arms about this new movie. Now, Dan Brown's fiction is obviously not well supported by any evidence. But then again, the Christian gospel isn't, either.
My friend Jason sent me a link to an interesting posting by The Professor about the Da Vinci Code, Jesus and Christianity. Well worth a read!
4:12:35 AM
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Today's excuse:
"Even the baby Jesus accepted gifts, and I don't think it corrupted him," said Rep. Drew Saunders, a Mecklenburg County Democrat.
Not a big surprise an increasing number of people can't even be bothered to vote.
Via Fark.com.
3:32:50 AM
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I've always envied people who could sleep soundly through anything, but maybe this is a bit too much:
A 70-year-old motorist did more than doze off behind the wheel on Friday morning.
Not only did the elderly driver fall asleep while driving on highway 22, he didn't even wake up after his unconscious ride was over, NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) reports.
Police were not impressed with the man's performance and confiscated his drivers license on the spot, near Elverhøy in Fet.
The man drove across the road while asleep, and into a garden before coming to a stop on a lawn. The car stopped, and the man slept on.
Not bad. I envy him that ability, if not the consequences. Luckily, nobody was hurt.
3:29:17 AM
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© Copyright 2006 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.06.2006; 21:17:10.
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