| The war against tolerance
Kamal has since become a man on a new mission, as an ambassador for the one true and living God, the great I Am, Jehovah God of the Bible."
This creeping Christian chauvinism has infected our political and social discourse. It was behind the rumor that Barack Obama was a Muslim. Obama reassured followers that he was a Christian. It apparently did not occur to him, or his questioners, that the proper answer is that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim, that persons of great moral probity and courage arise in all cultures and all religions, including Islam. Christians have no exclusive lock on virtue. But this kind of understanding often provokes indignant rage. The public denigration of Islam, and by implication all religious belief systems outside Christianity, is part of the triumphalism that has distorted the country since the 9/11 attacks.
Pedal power: Yuma woman shares Tour de France past
Some people walk into the pages of history. Betsy King chose to pedal. Today this spunky Yuma gal works far from the spotlight, doing her best to make folks feel better as a family nurse practitioner. But just a few years ago, King was earning thunderous applause and making headlines around the globe. That's when King racked up more than 10,000 miles a year on her bicycle, making her living by leaving everyone in the dust. That's back when King made history by competing in the world's most famous bike race of them all: the Tour de France. "All the crowds cheering and the people throwing water on you," she said, describing the thrill of crossing the finishing line. "It's amazing. It gives me chills just thinking about it." King competed in the Tour de France not just once, but five of the six years that a women's race was offered in the 1980s.
When Camelot comes to Canberra
Well, maybe the summit will come up with something.
Rudds use of the phrase 'best and brightest' should make anyone with a sense of history nervous to say the least. It was made famous by the legendary American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author David Halberstam who used it, ironically, to describe the men who sat at the heart of JFKs Camelot (though it may originally have come from a poem by Shelley).
Kennedy, a generalist himself, wanted to be surrounded by men of unsurpassed expertise.
One of the 'best and brightest' recruited by Kennedy was Robert McNamara, a brilliant young manager from the Ford motor company. He was so good that he became the first President of the company from outside the Ford family. He was skilled at systems analysis and championed an approach to government policy which placed analysis and rationality above other considerations, like political ideals.
Daily Blabber Celebrity Gossip Blog from iVillage Entertainment
They just spent Christmas together in Texas, where they cussed out a cop and Eva, who is Mexican, reportedly made a derogatory comment about the cop being Mexican. Oh, those crazy kids. Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban: Tom Cruise, Q-Tip, Lenny Kravitz... Nicole Kidman has eclectic taste in men, right? Well, this year she fell for Australia country singer Keith Urban. (And, yes, there is such thing as an Australian country singer.) In late May, they took a motorcycle trip. By fall, she was visiting him on tour. Thing have gotten serious as of late -- they spent the holidays together with their families. Maybe next year they'll make my Year in Review: Celebrity Weddings list. Orlando Bloom & Kate Bosworth: After taking a break last year, this genetically-blessed twosome reunited in '05.
US Consumers Oblivious to GM Food Fears
Concerns over genetically modified foods have failed to make much impact in the United States, where consumers and the US media are less fired up about the issue than in Europe, activists say. Dr Michael Hansen, a biologist with the major New York-based Consumers Union, says the media doesn't talk about GM issues and there is more apathy in the US. "When the public is asked in the survey, a high percentage wants food labels," he said. "They just don't realize the extent to which certain food such as corn or soybean are genetically engineered, and often they have not heard of any of these food safety concerns." On Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy banned the only genetically modified crop grown in France, the Mon 810 maize produced by the US agriculture giant Monsanto.
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