*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.
