Old Timer

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's army commander staged a coup Tuesday night and ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was in New York, circling his offices with tanks, declaring martial law and revoking the constitution. Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, who is known to be close to Thailand's revered monarch and is a Muslim in this Buddhist-dominated nation, took power without a shot being fired. He will serve as acting prime minister, said army spokesman Col. Akara Chitroj.

Amor, you are correct. In quoting Fallaci,

Armor, read Fallaci's The Force of Reason and The Rage and the Pride and then get back to me. The quote was hers for which those peaceful Muslims placed a death threat on her head.

I certainly hope you're right O'Dannyboy. You would think that would be the obvious result of Muslim conduct. But...it's Satan's world and most folks just don't get it.

If you want to move around the world (without seeing the space station) click on the "Google" color icon at the bottom left of the picture. This will open a new page allowing you to navigate the entire planet.

Here is the article at Arutz Sheva. Partial quote: Also examined in the statistical survey were age trends according to religion. The average Jewish age is 30.6 and the average Muslim age is 18.6. Those 65 and older made up 11.8% of the Jewish population, and just 2.8 % of the Muslim total. Also, whereas 25.6% of Jews are below the age of 15, 42.6% of Muslims are. Oriana Fallaci, who just passed away, had written of the Muslim's that "they breed like rats." She will be missed.

Amor, I think I understand what you are saying here and your position. As we would approach any individual Muslim (or anyone else) you are absolutely correct. The problem I see, and the fault that others make reference to, is that you seem to condone the actions of militant Muslims while finding fault with Christians who abhor Islam. Certainly, we are to always question our motives in reference to what Jesus taught and the Bible teaches. We are to do good to others, love our enemies, etc. But that does not relieve us from the duty to stand against evil when we find it. I can speak out against homosexuality while praying for the sinner and trying to bring about his repentance. In other words, love you enemy but hate the sin. Love the individual Muslim but hate Islam. As to actually helping our enemies when they are wounded in battle or lie sick I think you will find that Israel has done just that. I can give posts and references but it will take a while to find them again. I suggest you go to the site of Brigitte Gabriel and listen to her testimony, a Lebanese Christian caught up in the war of the 80

I submit this as an appropriate apology the Pope should make: I extremely sorry that Muslims misinterpreted the quotes I read from a 14th century monk and applied the violence, brutality and non productive contributions to civilization he attributed to Mohammad and his followers to their own behavior. I am deeply saddened that Muslims are now engaging in violent, brutal and non civilized actions to demonstrate their misunderstanding of what I purposely quoted in my thoughtful and carefully considered remarks.

I am somewhat disappointed at the number of posters that take the

Some comments on Fallaci at Debbie Schlussel's blog:

As Islam has been described as a

Yes, the shuttle is due to return shortly. I imagine just the space station will then show. Due to unlock at 8:50 EDT. I wonder if we'll see a separation and follow the shuttle to landing. Maybe I want too much? Separation on schedule. Shuttle will be close to space station all day tomorrow (Monday) so will probably show the same on GoogleSat2.

Well, he now is bending a bit. He said, "These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought." ... not in any way express his personal thought. Too bad, I was hoping it exactly expressed his personal thoughts.

"DingALing" - A screen name well chosen.

Good for the Pope! Did you read his

ENOUGH ALREADY!!! As I started this thread I will jump in here to say,

ROME - Oriana Fallaci, the Italian writer and journalist best known for her abrasive interviews and provocative stances, has died, officials said Friday. She was 76. Fallaci, who had been diagnosed with cancer years ago, died overnight in a private clinic in Florence, said Paolo Klun, an official with the RCS publishing group, which carried Fallaci's work. Klun said Fallaci, who lived in New York, had come back to her hometown days ago as her condition worsened. Fallaci, a former Resistance fighter and war correspondent, was rarely seen in public. During her journalistic career she became known for challenging interviews with such world leaders as former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Her work

An internationally known Princeton "bioethicist" and animal-rights activist says he'd kill disabled babies if it were in the "best interests" of the family, because he sees no distinction in the child's life whether it is born or not, and the world already allows abortion. Earlier, WND reported Singer believes the next few decades will see a massive upheaval in the concept of life and rights, with only "a rump of hard-core, know-nothing religious fundamentalists" still protecting life as sacrosanct. World Net Daily

From USA Today: Ellison's victory marks a turning point for American Muslims, according to community leaders such as Ali Khan of the American Muslim Council. Ellison, 43, was raised Catholic in Detroit and converted to Islam as a 19-year-old student at Wayne State University before moving to Minnesota for law school. A criminal defense lawyer, he called for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, universal health care and the impeachment of President Bush. Ellison says he never brought up his religion or his race

GoogleSatTrack2. A high altitude moving picture of earth as the shuttle moves across. Zoom in and out. I just thought folks would be interested in seeing this.

Now that is on topic! I copied this: "Pope Benedict and his former doctoral students plan to publish the proceedings of their weekend seminar on evolution to promote a dialogue between faith and science on the origins of life, participants said. (9 days ago)" I have not been able to find any publication of the debate. Here some more news but dated Aug.23. "Pope Benedict XVI has sacked his chief astronomer after a series of public clashes over the theory of evolution. He has removed Father George Coyne from his position as director of the Vatican Observatory after the American Jesuit priest repeatedly contradicted the Holy See's endorsement of "intelligent design" theory, which essentially backs the "Adam and Eve" theory of creation. Benedict favours intelligent design, which says God directs the process of evolution, over Charles Darwin

No one is saying the the RCC does not allow its followers to read the Bible. They just aren't allowed to think about it or to deviate from the official church position on any position. This is from Wikipedia: Magisterium (from the Latin magister, "teacher") is a technical ecclesiastical term in Catholicism referring to the teaching ability and authority of the Pope and those Bishops who are in union with him. According to Catholic doctrine, the Magisterium is able to teach or interpret the truths of the Faith, and it does so infallibly within the Sacred Magisterium. "The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. [1997], pt. 1, sect. 1, ch. 2, art. 2, III [#100]). The list that Arthur gave may need some further explanation or refining but it is certainly a laundry list of heresies of the RCC. To claim that this one or that one switched to Catholicism and that

Well, you are correct, of course. Now you've ruined my whole day by making me realize how evil I am - but I guess I already knew that. My best, Art

From the New York Times, Sept. 10, 2006 for the entire article. In 2005, more people from Muslim countries became legal permanent United States residents