American Buddhist Net

Foreign Office spells out dangers to Beijing visitors. Chinese to take tough line on athletes and spectators.

* Paul Kelso
* The Guardian,
* Thursday July 24, 2008

British spectators and athletes have been warned that they face arrest and detention by the Chinese authorities if they stage demonstrations during next month's Beijing Olympics.

Many activists are based in the UK and will be travelling to China as tourists or sports fans, with a number of groups planning protests in Beijing and Hong Kong, which is hosting the equestrian events.

Athletes, meanwhile, have been encouraged by groups including Free Tibet and Team Darfur to use the global platform provided to make political statements at medal ceremonies, during competition or during media appearances. There are genuine concerns in Beijing and within International Olympic Committee circles that the issue could overshadow the Games, which begin on August 8.

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When governments are violent and deceitful, as they are, this kind of trend is all but inevitable. The example set at the top influences the young most of all. ABN
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A spate of fatal knife attacks in the UK has sparked a debate about youth violence and gang culture in the country. But is the UK's experience mirrored in other nations? BBC correspondents compare situations around the world.

DANNY WOOD, SPAIN

...According to Mr Bauer, Western societies are all caught in a similar pattern of youth violence, which he says is linked to a collapse of confidence in authority.

"Across the West, we have a set of moral references that date from the 18th century, 19th century laws, 20th century police - and 21st century violence," he says.

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David Leppard and Claire Newell

A top aide to Gordon Brown has been a suspected victim of a “honeytrap” operation by Chinese intelligence agents.

The aide, a senior Downing Street adviser who was with the prime minister on a trip to China earlier this year, had his BlackBerry phone stolen after being picked up by a Chinese woman who had approached him in a Shanghai hotel disco.

The aide agreed to return to his hotel with the woman. He reported the BlackBerry missing the next morning.

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...they invented the first musical instrument ‘played without a player’. This device could create its own music with no human influence. It was called the Aeolian harp. Built by the Greeks probably in the fifth century BC it represents the first automatic instrument in history.

The harp got its name from the Greek god Aeolus, the ruler of winds, and with a good reason. The instrument is basically a wooden box which has two bridges connected by strings. The strings are all of the same lengths but can vary in thickness and, very importantly, tuning. It was placed near an open window so the wind currents could pass over the string goading random compositions. Varying pitches could be produced thanks to the diversity of the strings or the power of the wind. The later is responsible also for the intensity of the sound which could range from being barely audible to loud.

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In Sarajevo many young women are choosing to wear the headscarves that their mothers spurned. It's a provocative decision in the moderate Muslim country, where one young visiting Muslim says she feels more accepted back home in Des Moines, Iowa.

07/20/08
By Ann Tornkvist

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (WOMENSENEWS)--Being disowned at 21 was as frightening as it was heartbreaking for Jasenka Muminovic-Kuric.

Her mother had sent her on holiday to stop brooding, but she spent most of it by herself, deep in thought.

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By Jonathan Petre

The rector who presided at the controversial 'gay marriage' of two priests has caused fresh outrage by conducting £1,800 'white wedding' services for Japanese tourists.

The Rev Martin Dudley has benefited from a craze for Western-style ceremonies among Japanese couples - many followers of Shintoism or Buddhism - by blessing their unions in his London church.

The blessings - which feature traditional music, a white bridal dress, prayers and Bible readings, bouquets and confetti - are not banned by the Church of England but critics say they undermine the dignity of marriage.

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Pair kicked to the ground in front of shoppers

Murad Ahmed and James Peach
July 19, 2008

Two police officers who asked a teenager to pick up some litter she had dropped were attacked by a mob in a suburban high street and punched, kicked, slapped and bitten.

Witnesses said that the two male officers had to use batons to fight off about 30 teenagers who had kicked them to the ground. But two men then joined the attack, one of whom punched an officer in the face, as they shouted insults at the officers.

The extraordinary scene took place in the middle of the afternoon in a high street in Croydon, South London. Local shopkeepers said that the area was plagued by youths and gangs fighting and causing trouble.

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Saturday, 19 July 2008

She's not the messiah, she's the mayor of Aberystwyth and she has a plan.

Sue Jones-Davies is trying to overturn a near 30-year ban imposed by the town on Monty Python's Life of Brian - the film in which she played a role.

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Which is more stressful, the country or 'Murder Mile'? David Smith uses a new gadget to find out.

Sunday April 16, 2006

Imagine strolling through the countryside or bustling down crowded city streets. Then imagine taking a bird's eye view not only of the route you took - right down to fields, footpaths and zebra crossings - but how you were feeling each step of the way.

This is called emotion mapping and it enables people to compare their moods with their surroundings more precisely than ever before. It measures not just major reactions that tend to stick in the memory, but also the degrees of stimulation caused by speaking to a stranger, crossing the road or listening to birdsong.

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18 July 2008

Musician Cat Stevens - now known as Yusuf Islam - has won libel damages over articles suggesting he refused to talk to women not wearing a veil.

The stories also claimed that the singer - a Muslim convert - would only speak to women other than his wife through a third party.

His lawyer told The High Court in London that "Mr Islam has never had difficulties working with women".

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It is always interesting to see how the French, who've taken separation of church and state farther than anyone else in the world, deal with their large immigrant population. See this article for a brief overview of French secularism. Robyn
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Thursday July 17, 2008
Angelique Chrisafis

It is known as the Veil and is described by its architects as a giant glass Muslim headscarf in the heart of Paris. The former French president Jacques Chirac saw it as one way to avert a clash of civilisations in the run-up to the Iraq war. President Nicolas Sarkozy calls it the symbol of France's friendship with the Arab world.

The Louvre's bold new Islamic art wing had its first stone laid by Sarkozy yesterday, launching the museum's most daring project since IM Pei created the giant glass pyramid 20 years ago. The world's most visited museum will have Europe's biggest purpose-built exhibition space for an Islamic art collection, which France hopes will reconcile the secular republic with the world of Islamic heritage.

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Thursday July 10, 2008
John Hooper

It is the very symbol of the glory that was Rome. It figures on the badge of the Serie A side, AS Roma. It was used as the emblem of the 1960 Rome Olympics. For Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator, there was nothing more representative of the might of the empire he hoped to revive than this magnificent, life-size bronze of a she-wolf suckling the city's legendary founders, Romulus and Remus.

Only problem: it was made 1,700-1,800 years later than supposed.

Until two years ago, the so-called Capitoline Wolf was almost universally recognised as an Etruscan statue from the early part of the 5th century BC. But, according to an article published yesterday by one of Italy's most eminent archaeologists, radio-carbon tests have shown it was manufactured in the Middle Ages.

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Ancient Roman road gets virtual life

Straight from the heart. Well-said. The article referred to is pure twaddle. ABN
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leflanuer's comment Jul 17 08, 00:33am

Up until reading this article i was a big fan of your work (Nathan Barley, screenwipe). But you have really pissed me of with this pathetic article, which has made me look at you in an entirely new light. Unlike yourself Charlie i have indulged myself in certain conspiracy theories to find the truth and not to make myself feel important.

Yes i have a dull monotonous life but dont look to 911 theories to make it interesting but because of the massive ramifications 911 has had particularly on Afghans and Iraqis. Do i take it your life is so interesting now that you believe in disintegrating planes, indestructable passports and in J.F.K's case magic bullits.

I'm no scientist but can follow an argument and you don't even present one you merely mock those who care enough about the horrific path of current global politics to question how planes can disintegrate yet every passengers d.n.a can be identified, how buildings collapse at freefall speed due to fires (albeit intense) on relatively few floors - too mention just a couple of queries. Your only argument is that it seems too elaborate and you cant imagine there being enough cold calculating bastards around to do the job. Oh yes you also mention the ability to refute every bit of evidence pointed out by theorists like the loose change authors yet fail to do this with any of thier evidence even once in your article. I suggest if you are so sick of all us so called Emperors of Pluto i suggest you get your spirit level and calculator out and write a proper article arguing your case with facts rather than merely mocking empathetic people with less priviliged positions in society than your mighty self.

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07/16/2008
By Jochen Bölsche

The planned construction of over 180 mosques in Germany is mobilizing right-wing xenophobes but also an increasing number of leftist critics. They fear the Muslim places of worship will facilitate the establishment of a completely parallel society.

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When 200,000 anti-globalisation protesters converged on the Italian city hosting the G8 summit in 2001, all but a handful came to demonstrate peacefully. Instead, many were beaten to a pulp by seemingly out-of-control riot police. But was there something more sinister at play? And will the victims ever see proper justice? Nick Davies reports

# Nick Davies
# The Guardian,
# Thursday July 17, 2008

It was just before midnight when the first police officer hit Mark Covell, swiping his truncheon down on his left shoulder. Covell did his best to yell out in Italian that he was a journalist but, within seconds, he was surrounded by riot-squad officers thrashing him with their sticks. For a while, he managed to stay on his feet but then a baton blow to the knee sent him crashing to the pavement.

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July 17, 2008
By SARAH LYALL

LONDON — Every day, it seems, there are more victims. Shakilus Townsend, 16, stabbed to death by a masked gang. Ben Kinsella, also 16, fatally stabbed during an argument outside a pub. Victims in Bristol, Manchester and Glasgow. Four people fatally stabbed in London in one 24-hour period alone last week.

In a country where few people have guns or access to them, a spate of knife attacks, many involving teenagers, has forced the issue to the top of the domestic agenda. The Metropolitan Police are so concerned, they said recently, they have made knife crime their top priority, along with terrorism. Government and law enforcement officials are scrambling to produce plans to allay public fears.

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Technician in Liechtenstein Turns Over Names of Americans With Secret Bank Accounts

By BRIAN ROSS and RHONDA SCHWARTZ
July 15, 2008

Hundreds of super-rich American tax cheats have, in effect, turned themselves in to the IRS after a bank computer technician in the tiny European country of Liechtenstein came forward with the names of US citizens who had set up secret accounts there, according to Washington lawyers investigating the scheme.

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By JANE SIGAL
Published: July 16, 2008

EVEN if you couldn’t be on the Champs-Élysées for Bastille Day on Monday to watch seven parachutists float down in front of President Nicolas Sarkozy, you can still celebrate the greatness of France with a new local tradition.

Eat a hamburger.

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KIEV (AFP) — US troops on Monday began military exercises near the Russian border in ex-Soviet Ukraine and were poised to launch them in Georgia, amid tense relations between Moscow and Washington, officials said.

A ceremony inaugurating the Sea Breeze-2008 NATO exercise was held off Ukraine's Black Sea coast, a Ukrainian defence ministry spokeswoman said, against anti-NATO protests and a hostile reaction from officials in Russia.

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Previously unpublished conversation by Eutelsat employee confirms move was politically motivated

10 July 2008

Reporters Without Borders calls on Giuliano Berretta, the CEO of the European satellite company Eutelsat, to quickly reverse its decision to suspend independent Chinese-language broadcaster NTDTV’s use of Eutelsat’s W5 satellite to broadcast to Asia.

Eutelsat claims it was forced to suspend NTDTV (New Tang Dynasty Television) on 16 June because of a technical problem but a recorded conversation with an employee of Eutelsat show it was a premeditated, politically-motivated decision violating the free flow of information and the convention under which Eutelsat operates.

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A natural human sized sculpture of the famous "Shy Venus" with a very high level of craftsmanship was discovered earlier today at Archeological site 'Skupi', near Skopje.

Preliminary results showed the sculpture dates back to the 2nd century.

Next to the 'Shy Venus' sculpture, the team of Macedonian Archeologists discovered a Dolphin, a known Venus' attribute.

Acording to archeologist Lence Jovanovska, who together with Marina Oncevska, heads the current research efforts, says this sculpture can easily be the main attraction in the Galleries of the most famous Museums.

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By Walter Jayawardhana

Making a record as the first man to commit suicide in a British court a Sri Lankan Tamil drank poison on the dock at Isleworth Crown Court in London and took his life.

Anandakumar Rathnasabapathy (40) took a concoction made out of crushed sleeping tablets on the dock of the court when he was found guilty of assaulting his baby daughter and leaving her quadriplegic , epileptic and partially blind, an inquest held into his death was told.

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By Tom Heinen
Thursday, Jul 10 2008, 04:08 PM

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly" -- which got word this week that Lilly Endowment renewed funding for the award-winning PBS newsmagazine's 12th season to the tune of $6.25 million for 2008-'09 -- has two interesting pieces on its program this coming Sunday.

The cover story, on Lourdes' 150th anniversary, looks at the religious significance of the historic village and Marian shrine in southwestern France.

Then, in an exclusive U.S. interview, Kim Lawton talks with 23-year-old Karmapa Lama about his role as Tibetan Buddhism's second highest-ranking spiritual leader.

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July 10, 2008

SURRY, Maine—Janwillem van de Wetering, a Dutch-born author who penned a popular detective series set in his home country, has died at age 77.

Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Van de Wetering moved to Maine in 1975 and enjoyed a passion for Zen Buddhism, motorcycles and jazz, among other things. He died on July 4 of complications from cancer, said Nikki Smith, his longtime literary agent.

Van de Wetering lived in a number of countries including Japan, where he joined a Zen monastery, which he wrote about in his first book, "The Empty Mirror: Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery."

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Thursday July 10, 2008

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has defiantly spoken over warnings that he should not meet with the Dalai Lama.

He said no one could stop him from meeting Tibet's spiritual leader and that he would say "when the time is right" whether the two would meet.

China has warned Mr Sarkozy of "serious consequences" if the two met.

"I wonder who could possibly stop me from doing such thing," Mr Sarkozy said about a possible meeting.

"It's not for China to set my agenda and my appointments, just as it's not up to me to set the Chinese president's agenda."

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