Global Pulse: Culture War Archives

Category: Culture War

Radical Islam Flourishing in Bosnia

Spiegel 09 Nov 2007 @ 18:48 GMT | Permalink | Comments

They were supposed to have gone home after the Balkan Wars. But the foreign mujahedeen who imported radical views of Islam stayed in Bosnia. Saudi financiers pumped half-billion euros into building mosques, and Wahhabism is spreading. Analysts fear the country could become another training ground for terrorists.

Islamist Governments Stifling Science

06 Nov 2006 @ 17:02 GMT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Islamist governments stifle science and research unless it involves the military.

Across the world, Islamist governments share several things in common. They tend to be undemocratic and restrict freedom of expression. And the advancement of science and technology falls victim to their policies, says the journal Nature.

In an unprecedented look at the place science has in Islamist countries, Nature is offering "Islam and Science," a package of features, for free. (Very generous of them.)

Which countries will block access to this feature when an Arabic translation becomes available?

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 17:02 | Permalink | Comments (1)
TAGGED: Freedom | Islam | Science

Malaysia Unleashes Language Police

06 Oct 2006 @ 15:22 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Malaysia is cracking down on Manglish (Malaysian + English), which the culture minister says is polluting the official language. Like with Denglisch and Franglais, Manglish is deeply entrenched in the country. Undoing it will probably be impossible.

Still, billboards, advertisement and other writing that appears in public must be in the official Bahasa Malaysia (Bahasa Melayu) or the perpetrator will be fined RM 1,000 (Malaysian ringgit; US$271).

In a country where bastardized forms of English and Malay and a mix of the two are popular among youths, advertisers may have a tough time reaching the hip crowd. Even the Malaysian government uses Bahasa rojak (mixed Bahasa) which would be illegal under the new law.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 15:22 | Permalink | Comments (0)
TAGGED: Language | Malaysia | Orwellian

Of Toilets, Boys and Human Rights?

06 Oct 2006 @ 13:31 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Vidar Kleppe was kicked out of the Progress Party of Norway, is a two-time loser in federal elections and has too much time on his hands.

He is waging a bizarre war for school boys, claiming the Dvergsnes elementary school, in Kristiansand, is violating human rights by making boys sit while urinating.
The boys are not good at aiming, according to Principal Anne Lise Gjul.

"When boys are not allowed to pee in the natural way, the way boys have done for generations, it is meddling with God's work," Mr. Kleppe told the Dagbladet newspaper. Norway's Aftenposten translated his quote for its English language version. "It is a human right not to have to sit down like a girl," he said.

There is no mention of a male's right to urinate standing up in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Meanwhile, medical students at Oslo University are are using hospital toilets to examine patients due to a shortage of regular rooms.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 13:31 | Permalink | Comments (0)
TAGGED: Norway | Rights | Strange

T.H.Y. Flight Hijacked to Protest Pope's Visit

03 Oct 2006 @ 11:43 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Türk Hava Yolları Flight 1476, service from Tirane, Albania, to İstanbul was hijacked this afternoon by two Turkish nationals who were protesting Pope Benedict's pilgrimage to Turkey in late November.

The plane landed in Brindisi, located on the heel of the boot that makes up Italy.

The Boeing 737-400 was carrying 107 passengers and 6 crew members, according to daily Hürriyet. It was scheduled to leave at 15:30 local time but did not leave until 16:20, according to the airline. The plane was scheduled to arrive in Istanbul at 18:30.

The pilot changed his transponder code to notify ground control of a hijacking, which occurred over Greek airspace, La Repubblica said. Unidentified Greek military jets escorted the plane to the international border with Italy, where two F-16 fighter jets from Trapani Air Base in Sicily intercepted the passenger plane.

Even in secular Turkey, Pope Benedict XVI's controversial speech on Islam has stirred anger as well as protests against his visit. Pope Benedict is scheduled to visit Istanbul to meet with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople at the end of November partly to calm tension with Muslims and partly to patch things up with the orthodox church.

At his speech in Regensburg, Germany, Pope Benedict quoted Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologos as telling a Persian scholar, "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

The Pope has since apologized repeatedly and sought dialogue with various Muslim leaders in Europe and elsewhere to show he has nothing but respect for their faith. Yet it has failed to convince hard-liners in the Muslim world.

Mehmet Ali Ağca, the would-be assassin of Pope John Paul II, warned Pope Benedict last month that his life would be in jeopardy.

"Assassination of the Pope" (Papa'ya Suikast in Turkish), a novel by Yücel Kaya, has been rising steadily in popularity among hard-line Turks.

The book, published in May, appears to be like the "Da Vinci Code" involving secretive groups that are vying for the upper hand.

The Guardian sums up the plot:

In the Muslim city of Istanbul, once the Christian capital of Constantinople, the Pope arrives on a huge mission: to undo the Great Schism of 1054 and reunite Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christianity. This is not to everyone's liking: reactionaries from Opus Dei, the dark operators of Turkey's security "deep state", and the evil geniuses of Italy's P-2 masonic lodge form an alliance to stop the Vatican. In Istanbul, a journalist is contracted to assassinate the pope.

Musharraf's Mess: Bugti, Hudood and Wars

06 Sep 2006 @ 17:07 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Presidents Pervez Musharraf and George W. Bush in 2004.

Presidents Pervez Mushrraf and George W. Bush shake hands in the Oval Office in 2004.

General Pervez Musharraf couldn't have picked a worse time to introduce the Women Protection Bill of 2006 or deal with the killing of Balochi leader Sardar Akbar Shahbaz Khan Bugti.

At least there is hope from North Waziristan, where tribal leaders and the military have agreed to lay down their arms.

It is amazing what negotiations, instead of shooting, can do to resolve conflicts of cultures. Gen. Musharraf would be wise to sit down with Balochi representatives before the country becomes even more destabilized.

After all, he does not need another embarrassing moment.

Auckland in Uproar Over 'Boobs on Bikes'

21 Aug 2006 @ 13:40 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Auckland is not immune to controversies surrounding nudity, as New Zealand's largest city prepares for the third annual "Boobs on Bikes" parade of about 30 to 50 topless porn stars.

Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard has tried and failed to stop the event, saying "the parade does our image harm rather than good." He has not commented on what he or the City Council thinks of Brazilian carnivals.

He intends to stop future parades at all cost and amend the bylaws if necessary. The City Council's first order of business was to find ways to shield itself from the political liability of even tacitly endorsing the parade.

How to Make Denglisch

01 Aug 2006 @ 10:08 GMT | Permalink | Comments (2)

Nowhere else has English bastardized a language so much as it has in Germany. English words are commonly being turned into verbs, while many Germans are opting to use English phrases rather than a German equivalent.

Will German survive? Will Denglisch take over German?

A group of concerned Germans, who find the "unrestrained use of Anglicism extremely annoying," are trying to hold back the tide of Denglisch (deutsch + englisch).

Anti-Gay Policy Costs U.S. $364 Million

30 Jul 2006 @ 20:18 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Hundreds of high-tech, medical and language experts have been dismissed by the U.S. military under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. And it is costing the Pentagon a fortune to replace them.

The Pentagon has spent an estimated US$364 million to replace 9,359 homosexual service members discharged between fiscal 1994 and 2003, a university study shows.

One thing The Washington Post did not mention was that among those fired for being gay were pilots, physicians, counterintelligence officers, communications intelligence officers and other intelligence officers.

How to Make Franglais

30 Jul 2006 @ 00:39 GMT | Permalink | Comments

A ritualistic purification of Farsi has been ordered by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who no doubt dislikes the language of the imperial "Great Satan." Like the French, he will fail.

"Ketchup" and "best-seller" among others now appear in the Académie française's dictionary even as the French culture ministry tries to reinvent "podcasting" and "homogenous charge compression ignition."

How do you make Franglais (français + anglais)?

London Overrun by 'Assassins'

25 Jul 2006 @ 15:15 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Log of StreetWars Water Gun Fight in London

"StreetWars" started in London today and will last for three weeks. And police are getting nervous.

"StreetWars," the London edition, starts today, and police in the capital are on alert for "assassins" carrying water guns. They fear the role-playing game could ignite panic in a city already jittery over possible terrorist attacks.

The British Transport Police [BTP] urged players avoid the Tube, which was attacked in 2005, so as not to panic passengers. They warned that StreetWars players might be mistaken as criminals.

Criminals? With water guns? In fact, The Met and B.T.P. should make a simple announcement.

Why U.S. Counterterrorism Efforts Are Misguided

20 Jul 2006 @ 09:18 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Tennessee believes Osama bin Laden will attack the Mule Day Parade. Indiana thinks its popcorn factory is a target.

To fight the "war on terrorism," the U.S. Air Force has given away US$450,000 to a group of scientists to study blogs. Early conclusions are startling:

Blog entries have a different structure. They are typically short and are about something external to the blog posting itself, such as a news event. It’s not uncommon for a blogger to simply state, ‘I can’t believe this happened,’ and then link to a news story.

I can't believe this happened!.

There is more. The Homeland Security Department counts a petting zoo, a poker club, a popcorn factory and car dealerships as potential terrorist targets. See the complete list below.

South African "Taxi War"

11 Jul 2006 @ 14:20 GMT | Permalink | Comments

It's not a case of road rage. It is a real war that claimed the lives of thousands of real, innocent people. It involved hit men, Molotov cocktails, assault rifles and corrupt fat cats vying for routes.

This violent war resulted from poor or lack of oversight of the taxi industry as well as corrupt government officials. Yet two reports review how the taxi industry has helped alleviate poverty for some black South Africans even as violence continued. That may all come to an end soon.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 14:20 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Libya's Gadhafi Finds New Enemy

06 Jul 2006 @ 12:30 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Photo of Col. Moammar Gadhafi kicking a football.

The Revolutionary Leader kicks a football around the pitch in a publicity photo released by the Libyan government.

Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, who recently lost his job as the anti-U.S. terrorism supporter, has found a new enemy. In a scathing letter, he defines FIFA as the symbol of everything that is wrong with this world.

Times have changed since the colonel was the go-to man for many extremist groups, from disenchanted students to sophisticated terrorists. The U.S. has officially set up shop in Tripoli. Britain is offering a mutual defense pact. And Chinese-made Maples (automobiles) have arrived.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 12:30 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bloated FIFA 'Occupies' Germany

21 Jun 2006 @ 14:38 GMT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Namibia recently took orders from Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Now Germany is taking orders from FIFA, the "occupying power" Germans and others are beginning to hate.

Cash-hungry FIFA and its Executive Committee ("Excomm") have turned the organization into a business machine that will earn US$2.35 billion, a lot more than dozens of countries around the world make in a year.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 14:38 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Globalization and FIFA World Cup 2006®

21 Jun 2006 @ 12:16 GMT | Permalink | Comments

How did World Cup take place before "globalization?"

From loss of productivity in Australia to imported turf, the international sporting event that comes around every four years has direct and indirect economic consequences worldwide.

Corruption and bribery scandals also show that FIFA officials may have manipulated where the money went and how it was spent to benefit certain companies in specific countries.

Most of the grass for the 12 World Cup stadiums comes from a secret farm in the Netherlands. A changing economy in the 1970s forced that farm to abandon cows and pigs for grass.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 12:16 | Permalink | Comments (0)

WHO: Stop Female Genital Mutilation

12 Jun 2006 @ 13:00 GMT | Permalink | Comments

A new study calls for an end to this horrible practice that puts young girls women and their babies at risk. The World Health Organization-sponsored study on Female Genital Mutilation [FGM] deplores the "medicalization" (when done by trained physicians) of this ritual.

Amnesty International estimates that 135 million women and girls worldwide have been subjected one of three levels of genital mutilation. It is practiced in at least 28 countries in Africa; in Egypt, Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East and North Africa; and by some Muslims in Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. But it has also been reported in industrialized countries like Britain and the United States primarily among immigrants from countries where it is still common practice.

Sexual, sociological, hygienic, health and religious reasons are cited commonly. Still it harms women physically and emotionally and places them at increased risk of complications during childbirth.

Unicef estimates that more than two million girls are at risk each year of having their genitals cut or mutilated. (WHO calls it "FGM," but Unicef calls it "FGM/C" to include cutting.) WHO defines three levels of genital mutilation:

Type I (FGM 1) - excision of the prepuce, with or without excision of part or all of the clitoris

Type II (FGM II) - excision of the clitoris with partial or total excision of the labia minora;

Type III (FGM III) - excision of part or all of the external genitalia and stitching/narrowing of the vaginal opening (infibulation).

The study appears in the June issue of The Lancet.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 13:00 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Psyop: Barry Manilow vs. Car 'Hoons'

06 Jun 2006 @ 15:31 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Barry Manilow's music is being enlisted as the weapon of choice in a psychological warfare against Australian youths who are revving the engines of their souped-up cars and playing ground-thumping music at a neighborhood parking lot. Officials are hoping the crooner's tunes are just as repulsive to them as Bing Crosby's "My Heart Is Taking Lessons" was to mall-going teenagers. General Noriega and the Vatican might appreciate the effects of music from loudspeakers.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 15:31 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sex, Lies and Terrorist Attacks

25 May 2006 @ 15:39 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Exotic dancer "Samantha" tells the San Francisco Chronicle about her encounter with a 9/11 hijacker.

Terrorists, as well as would-be terrorists, have been caught relaxing with hardcore porn. Not a pastime for a pious Muslim. When the F.B.I. arrested a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old and searched their homes, what fell out of a suitcase was a pirated copy of a hard-core porn flick. Several of the September 11 hijackers were also seen "engaged in some decidedly un-Islamic sampling of prohibited pleasures" before the attacks. Why?

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 15:39 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Turkey On Brink of Political Upheaval

19 May 2006 @ 16:29 GMT | Permalink | Comments (2)

The murder of high-ranking judge, who upheld the controversial ban on headscarves, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his party's radical rhetoric that incited the incident places Turkey on the brink of another political upheaval. If political and grassroots pressure fails to unseat the misguided prime minister, the military, which sees itself as the guardian of the country's secular nature, could be forced to intervene again.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 16:29 | Permalink | Comments (2)

U.N. Chastises Thai Male Dominance

30 Mar 2006 @ 12:22 GMT | Permalink | Comments

In a report issued just days before national elections, the United Nations has urged Thailand to raise the number of women in politics and civil service, chastising the country's "cultural and traditional prejudices of a male-dominated society." Thailand will fail to meet its own ambitious goal to double the proportion of women in government. The report blames unflinching attitudes of men for the lack of progress. Gender equality is third on the list of U.N. Millennium Development Goals. In some places, however, married women are just now being allowed to own land, female fetuses are aborted and women do not get maternity leave.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 12:22 | Permalink | Comments (0)

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