Current Affairs

> A mother described yesterday hearing her son shot dead after he refused to convert to Islam. . . . > Mr Marriott, an accountancy student and gang member, was killed in a park near his home in Brixton, south London, in June 2004. > Three members of a rival gang, known as

For those who missed news about the highly-respected Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near: [http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051229-090610-4704r] > Kurzweil's latest futuristic tome is the sequel to his last bestseller, The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence, which

According to this NYT article, India is on the brink of a sexual revolution. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/02/business/media/02playboy.html?ex=1293858000&en=48ecbc9cf9fcc214&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss] India with a sexual revolution? One like we experienced in the

Where children aren't cherished and wanted, they're abused. A disturbing story out of China about waves of child snatching. LA Times Link [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-childsnatch1jan01,0,4305055.story?coll=la-home-headlines] . Excerpts: > The reasons for the terrible growth industry in child

Chilling article in WaPo this morning about the worst Islamic threat [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/31/AR2005123101056.html] : Westerners who convert to Islam. Excerpt: > Converts are prized by radical Islamic groups because they can usually operate freely in Europe, Asia and North America without

> Massachusetts could face an "angry, divisive" fight if a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage reaches the 2008 state ballot, Rep. Barney Frank says. > The congressman blamed backers of the initiative petition for trying to provoke a new fight despite a lack of controversy over

Nice essay about the doom and gloom folks that control the media [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3284-1961659,00.html]. Excerpt: > The year 2005 does not enter the top league of disaster years, even if we include the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. The 20th century alone

First, they tell Poland that its stance on homosexuality will hinder its inclusion in the EU. Now, they're posturing to make abortion an international human right [http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/596]. > A European Union advisory panel has issued a statement saying that medical professionals are not

From this morning's NYT: [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/28/international/asia/28land.html?hp&ex=1135832400&en=553f5143549e60e2&ei=5094&partner=homepage] > [A]a 1989 statute that entitles people to sue the state, remains a beguiling fiction, scholars say. > "