Islamic punk was just an idea in a novel by a disaffected Muslim convert – but for the bands he inspired around the world the scene became real. Now, as The Taqwacores is about to be released, has the scene has already betrayed its ideals? There was a time when the words “Muslim radical” painted a clear enough picture – a young man strapped with explosives, perhaps, or a bearded cleric calling for Sharia law from Land’s End to John O’Groats. But things have changed. The protestors of the Arab Spring are both Muslim and radical, as
Continue reading …The Pentagon can’t tighten its belt any further without putting America in danger, Leon Panetta warns. The defense secretary says major cuts beyond the $350 billion outlined in the debt ceiling deal are “completely unacceptable” and could do “real damage ” to national security, the New York Times reports. The deal…
Continue reading …Missouri has passed a law barring private Facebook messages between children and teachers, and lots of people aren’t happy about it. The first law of its kind in the nation will still allow messages easily viewed by the school community between teachers and children concerning assignments, but all exclusive one-on-one…
Continue reading …Life apparently isn’t so, so perfect in Gwyneth Paltrow land. The super-mom actress who cooks a mean organic dinner, shoves it down other people’s throats in her healthier-than-thou blog , then launches a new singing career, has found marriage to Cold Play’s Chris Martin isn’t “all rosy.” Sometimes it’s “hard being…
Continue reading …At the Duck and Cover bar at America’s embassy in Kabul, cats are a contentious topic, the Washington Post finds. Some 30 semi-feral cats roam the embassy grounds and some staffers are fiercely resisting plans to exterminate them to prevent rabies. The embassy “cat committee” has been told that diplomats…
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FTSE falls below the 5500 mark after European commission president’s crisis warning and fears of new US recession Stock markets took another tumble on Thursday after the European commission president warned that the crisis in the eurozone was threatening to engulf Italy and Spain. Fears over the health of the global economy, and predictions that America could slide back into recession, also helped to drive the latest bout of heavy selling. The FTSE 100 index fell below the 5500 mark, leaving the blue-chip index firmly on track for its lowest closing level in nearly a year . The worst of the selloff came after commission president José Manuel Barroso called for the eurozone rescue fund to be significantly enlarged. Barroso warned the crisis was spreading and that Europe risked losing the faith of the financial markets. “Markets remain to be convinced that we are taking the appropriate steps to resolve the crisis,” Barroso told European leaders, as he urged them to review “all elements” of the €440bn (£382bn) European financial stability facility (EFSF) and its €500bn replacement , the European stability mechanism (ESM). “We are no longer managing a crisis just in the euro-area periphery,” Barroso said. “Euro-area financial stability must be safeguarded.” Analysts have warned that neither the EFSF nor the ESM has sufficient firepower to handle a bailout of either Italy or Spain. With Italian and Spanish 10-year bond yields above the 6% mark, investors are losing their taste for risk. Gold touched yet another record high, hitting $1.678.31, while the FTSE 100 slumped to 117 points to 5466. “We’re back to worrying about the future of the eurozone and the sovereign debt crisis, and the generally stuttering economy,” said Will Hedden, sales trader at IG Index. European markets were also in retreat, with Germany’s DAX down 1.35%. The FTSEurofirst 300, which tracks the top 300 listed companies across Europe, recorded its lowest level in 11 months. The euro fell sharply against other major currencies, losing nearly 1.5 cents against the US dollar to $1.4170. There was frenzied action on the foreign exchanges after the Bank of Japan intervened to drive down the value of the yen . Jean-Claude Trichet, governor of the European Central Bank, appeared to hint that the ECB was buying up bonds issued by the region’s weaker governments. This week has seen a steady flow of disappointing economic data, with few bright spots . Economists have been speculating that America’s economy could contract again since last Friday’s disappointing GDP data . Many traders now accept that the world economy faces a much tougher time. “It is increasingly becoming apparent that this economic recovery will be slower and more difficult because nations and some consumers are overladen with debt,” said Louise Cooper, markets analyst at BGC Partners. “Repaying the loans will take longer and be more painful than we had previously anticipated. We are in a catch-22 situation. We desperately need growth to pay off the debt, but we cannot grow because of the amount of debt we owe.” European debt crisis Economics Global economy Stock markets Currencies European banks Banking Europe European commission European Union Italy Spain European Central Bank US economy Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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Ah, Autumn, my favorite season. The temperature drops to a pleasant cool; warm apple cider is served all over the countryside; and the leaves on the trees change colors almost as rapidly as the supposed release date for the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5, we were told, was definitely coming in September. The Wall Street Journal had sources saying September, as did John Paczkowski of All Things Digital, as did Boy Genius Report, as did 9to5MacRumors. Basically, a lot of people close to Apple — suppliers, parts makers, AT&T employees, etc. — assured a lot of bloggers that September 2011 was the month of the launch. “Yes,” all of these informants nodded in anonymous unison, “It certainly looks like September 2011.” Which is why I’m going to bet it will be a little frustrating for you all to hear that the latest rumors have the iPhone 5 coming out in October. YES, THAT’S RIGHT: OCTOBER … WAIT, OCTOBER? John Paczkowski of All Things Digital was the first writer to predict, all the way back in April, that the iPhone 5 would be released in September. He is now also the first writer to predict, all the way back on Monday, that the September reports are “wrong,” and that October is now the month. Boy Genius Report, meanwhile, joined the October crowd in part, saying to expect the new iPhone on October 1 — in Canada. They stand by their original claim that the iPhone 5 will be out in the United States in September, while Gizmodo sourced an anonymous tipster working for AT&T who told them that AT&T retail employees were banned from taking vacation during the last two weeks of September, which of course can only mean that the iPhone 5 will be released late in that month. Paczkowski responds to this tipster in his most recent post, saying that his Apple source told him that Gizmodo’s AT&T source was incorrect, and that if AT&T employees really were forbidden from vacation in the last two weeks in September, then it wasn’t because of an iPhone 5 release. Oy. Vey. As iTunes-approved punk rockers Green Day sang, wake me up when September ends. It’s a lot of work wading through all of this Dookie. Despite a lot of white noise, we are essentially no closer to knowing the release date of the iPhone 5, as Apple spokespeople aren’t confirming or acknowledging any of it. WHICH IS TOO BAD, BECAUSE PEOPLE REALLY, REALLY WANT ONE What we do know about the iPhone 5 is that consumers are incredibly, some might say irrationally, excited for it. A recent survey by online shopping store PriceGrabber showed that one-third of Americans are going to buy the next iPhone, no matter what it looks like or how it is upgraded. And according to an unrelated survey by consulting firm Piper Jaffray, Verizon users aren’t going to buy a new iPhone until it’s a new iPhone — that is, an iPhone 5, or an update to the iPhone 4. Target and Radio Shack fueled the crazy iPhone 5 speculation by cutting prices on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS in an apparent inventory cleaning, and 9to5Mac reported that the 3GS might be discontinued as soon as the iPhone 5 is inevitably available. AND WHAT, MIGHT YOU ASK, IS THIS iPHONE 5 GOING TO LOOK LIKE? While we don’t know much about the newest iPhone beyond the fact that it exists (prototypes have been shipped out to English carriers, according to The Guardian tech blog), we do have a whole mess of rumors that we can wade through. We already told you about the reports of the stronger rear-facing camera and the slimmer and thinner body; since then, even more anonymous tipsters and supposed spottings-in-the-wild have come forward. For grainy pictures of what may be the iPhone 5 being tested out by developers and carriers, you have to do some Web-hopping. A Vietnamese blogger claims to have a white iPhone 4s — a cheaper version of the iPhone 5 to be released simultaneously with its more expensive cousin — which he said (according to Google translate) runs faster, has a wider screen, and has a plastic rather than a glass screen. On the other side of the world, 9to5Mac has a picture snapped on a train in San Francisco, apparently of an Apple employee playing with his new unreleased iPhone, with wider screen, thinner back and more rounded edges than the iPhone 4. This squares (no pun intended) with the Nickelodeon-Gak green iPhone 5 covers 9to5mac thought they had found in — well, somewhere in Asia. And hey, speaking of Asia: Despite the iPhone 5 not yet being released anywhere, the knock-offs are already out there! Photos and video of a fake iPhone 5 made in a factory in Shenzhen have been circulating lately, thanks to the tech blog Gizchina. And since Apple phones are built in Shenzhen, China, who better to design a perfect replica of the phone than citizens of Shenzhen themselves? The “iPhoney” is thinner than the iPhone 4 and has the rounded glass that 9to5mac’s covers hinted at, but, unfortunately, it’s not an exact replication, as it only costs $108, which I think we all know won’t be the case for the iPhone 5. Shaw Wu, an Apple analyst with financial services firm Sterne Agee, meanwhile, added that the next-generation iPhone will be thinner and have a wider display, and will not run on 4G. So there’s that, too. WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS Whether the new iPhone is wider, thinner, fatter, or shaped like an octagon, or whether it is released in September, October, November, or Decembruary, is still anyone’s guess. Most people are still pegging an official announcement to Apple’s annual Fall Media Conference (the first week in September), so we will only have to deal with this rampant, sometimes silly, speculation for another month or so. Though there is not much agreement on what the iPhone will look like or when it will be available in America or elsewhere, one thing remains consistent: The Apple hype-machine keeps rolling its sleek white tires, riding silently as ever toward that announcement in September. Or October.
Continue reading …Chris Matthews: Southern ‘Secessionists’ Want to ‘Kill’ Obama…’Politically’
August 3, 2011 No Comment
MSNBC's Chris Matthews took his hateful attacks on conservatives to a new level Wednesday, smearing “southern” “secessionists” as wanting to “kill” Obama. The Hardball host quickly amended, “politically.”
Continue reading …Blue America’s Donation Contest: Win an autographed Green Day Guitar for supporting Ilya Sheyman
August 3, 2011 No Comment
We’ve always felt that supporting progressive candidates is the way to go in any election and if you’re experiencing any debt ceiling blues, Blue America is auctioning off a stratocaster guitar signed by the entire Green Day band. Howie explains: We’ve written about Ilya before , because he’s a serious progressive with a real chance to kick out Rep. Robert Dold, a Republican freshman who has shown he’s more than willing to put anything, including Grandma’s Medicare, on the chopping block, if his Tea Party so dictates. — In the midst of the House debate around this fabricated debt ceiling “crisis,” Ilya was one of only a few Democratic candidates around the country willing to take the potentially risky position against the debt deal, saying, very clearly, he would have voted “no” if he was able. So here’s our point of optimism. We can seize this moment and reject the Tea Party politicians who hijacked this process (and the Blue Dogs who proved their willingness to sell out working families once again). Let’s support Ilya and other candidates who actually took the right position, even when it meant standing up to powerful forces within their own party. Here’s the Act Blue page we set up for him and the other progressives who are standing up for working families against the corporatocracy. Now’s our chance. Off the topic, we’d like to raise $2,000 for Ilya’s campaign in the next 24 hours. I don’t expect any one person to contribute that much, of course, but if enough people give $10 and $20 contributions, it’s going to mount up fast– and that will set off the trigger. Trigger? A different kind of trigger from the one in the SatanSandwich bill. You see, I used to run Reprise Records, Green Day’s record company, and Ilya mentioned to me that he’s a huge Green Day fan. So, when we hit the trigger, someone will be eligible to win an autographed– like in signed by Billie Joe Armstrong, Trey Cool and Mike Dirnt– Fender strat that the band gave me around the time they were recording Warning . So who gets the guitar? If we were Republicans, we’d give it to whoever gave the most money. But we’re not. So everyone has an equal chance. As soon as we reach $2,000 we start a random drawing. We’ll pick one name out of a bowl on Thursday at 6pm (PT). and I’ll send you the guitar. Enter here . enlarge Credit: Crooksandliars Ilya Sheyman Digby was on the Nicole Sandler show and said this: We have the patience and the commitment to go beyond these various ups and downs and we keep our eyes on the prize from election cycle to election cycle. 2010 was brutal. But we’re in a period of political disequilibrium and there’s good reason to believe that we can come back from that. And anyway, what choice do we have, aside from moving to another country? (And right now, there aren’t a whole lot of safe havens — the whole world is in turmoil.) So, Blue America continues its long and arduous quest to elect more progressives to congress and help them form an independent bloc, answerable to their supporters. It’s not easy changing a Party’s political culture but we believe it’s essential that we try. I told Howie that I’d take the guitar myself, but that would be selfish of me so please donate to Ilya Sheyman and get a chance to win this very cool guitar. Enter here
Continue reading …Blue America’s Donation Contest: Win an autographed Green Day Guitar for supporting Ilya Sheyman
August 3, 2011 No Comment
We’ve always felt that supporting progressive candidates is the way to go in any election and if you’re experiencing any debt ceiling blues, Blue America is auctioning off a stratocaster guitar signed by the entire Green Day band. Howie explains: We’ve written about Ilya before , because he’s a serious progressive with a real chance to kick out Rep. Robert Dold, a Republican freshman who has shown he’s more than willing to put anything, including Grandma’s Medicare, on the chopping block, if his Tea Party so dictates. — In the midst of the House debate around this fabricated debt ceiling “crisis,” Ilya was one of only a few Democratic candidates around the country willing to take the potentially risky position against the debt deal, saying, very clearly, he would have voted “no” if he was able. So here’s our point of optimism. We can seize this moment and reject the Tea Party politicians who hijacked this process (and the Blue Dogs who proved their willingness to sell out working families once again). Let’s support Ilya and other candidates who actually took the right position, even when it meant standing up to powerful forces within their own party. Here’s the Act Blue page we set up for him and the other progressives who are standing up for working families against the corporatocracy. Now’s our chance. Off the topic, we’d like to raise $2,000 for Ilya’s campaign in the next 24 hours. I don’t expect any one person to contribute that much, of course, but if enough people give $10 and $20 contributions, it’s going to mount up fast– and that will set off the trigger. Trigger? A different kind of trigger from the one in the SatanSandwich bill. You see, I used to run Reprise Records, Green Day’s record company, and Ilya mentioned to me that he’s a huge Green Day fan. So, when we hit the trigger, someone will be eligible to win an autographed– like in signed by Billie Joe Armstrong, Trey Cool and Mike Dirnt– Fender strat that the band gave me around the time they were recording Warning . So who gets the guitar? If we were Republicans, we’d give it to whoever gave the most money. But we’re not. So everyone has an equal chance. As soon as we reach $2,000 we start a random drawing. We’ll pick one name out of a bowl on Thursday at 6pm (PT). and I’ll send you the guitar. Enter here . enlarge Credit: Crooksandliars Ilya Sheyman Digby was on the Nicole Sandler show and said this: We have the patience and the commitment to go beyond these various ups and downs and we keep our eyes on the prize from election cycle to election cycle. 2010 was brutal. But we’re in a period of political disequilibrium and there’s good reason to believe that we can come back from that. And anyway, what choice do we have, aside from moving to another country? (And right now, there aren’t a whole lot of safe havens — the whole world is in turmoil.) So, Blue America continues its long and arduous quest to elect more progressives to congress and help them form an independent bloc, answerable to their supporters. It’s not easy changing a Party’s political culture but we believe it’s essential that we try. I told Howie that I’d take the guitar myself, but that would be selfish of me so please donate to Ilya Sheyman and get a chance to win this very cool guitar. Enter here
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