Critical Thoughts

I remember her very well, since she was a product of my generation. At an age younger than me by at least four years, she stepped into Oxford (taking up Maths, no less!) while I was struggling in 2K1 at Sekolah Menengah Abdullah Munshi (and didn’t do well at Maths during that time, I admit). But while I have today become not only a problogger but also Internet activist, what has she become?

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I have my reservations about the AK Party of Turkey (which I am not willing to divulge at the moment) but certainly this news fills me with a sense of euphoria and pure joy:

Secular Turks Fear End Of Head Scarf Ban
Bill To End Islamic Head Scarf Ban At Turkish Universities Raises Secular Fears

A bill that would lift a decades-old ban on women wearing head scarves at universities was submitted to parliament on Tuesday, worrying secular Turks who fear the government is raising the profile of Islam.

Deniz Baykal, leader of the pro-secular Republican People’s Party, called the attempt to lift the ban a “threat against the republic.”

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Very interesting read indeed from Alexander Cockburn about the realities of “modern” America. Note especially this:

…the suicide rate among middle-aged Americans has reached its highest point in at least 25 years. The rate rose by about 20 per cent between 1999 and 2004 for those aged 45 through 54 - far more than among younger adults, whose own suicide stats are also on the rise.

The previous high was in 1982, a year when there was a terrible farm crisis in the Midwest.

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I sometimes find it ironic that proponents of secularism tend to wave around the “hudud” flag and claim that since Islamic law condones the so-called “barbaric” practices such as cutting off the hands [and forgetting that this can only be implemented if exceeding a certain value], lapidation [again, forgetting that there can only be four witnesses to married adulterers caught in the act] and other such punishments deemed “unsuitable” [according to whom?] to them, it therefore follows that secularism remains the only alternative. How ignorant they truly are, these miserable folks! They should get a good book on Shariah if they wish to comment about it.

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