A man will die, but not his ideas.

Monday, February 20, 2006

More Evidence of Double Standards

British historian sentenced to 3 years in prison for denying the Holocaust
Source: CBC News
February 20, 2006

Posted by A :: 9:58 PM :: 0 Comments:

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Saturday, February 18, 2006

The Need for Communication

After the recent events, there seems to be a persisting need now, more than ever before, to communicate with each other and open channels for dialogue. I get reluctant to use the term "the other" because it sounds as if we are talking about some kind of aliens or another strange kind of energy (if you saw the movie "The Others", you'll know what I'm talking about). One organization that I think could play a role in this is the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures. I really hope we could join hands instead of fighting and argueing and start understanding and respecting other.

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Posted by A :: 11:09 PM :: 0 Comments:

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Tell me it is not double standards...

Danish paper rejected Jesus cartoons
Source: The Guardian (Digital Edition)
Monday February 6, 2006

Thanks Simon Pole for bringing this to mind.

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Posted by A :: 9:43 PM :: 0 Comments:

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Tuesday, February 14, 2006

The Incorrect Image of Islam in the Western Media


Posted by A :: 9:13 PM :: 2 Comments:

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Friday, February 10, 2006

Africa Cup of Nations 2006 Champions


EGYPT



Posted by A :: 10:00 PM :: 0 Comments:

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And I'm Back From MDC 2006

A couple (or triple) of entries ago I said that "MDC Is Back ..." Well, now I'm back. This year I really enjoyed the event. And I think it was better organized than before. Most of the gang was there: Stephen Forte, Malek Kemmou, Patrick Hynds, and Rafal Lukawiecki. In addition, a new member joined the club. Clemens Vasters, who has recently joined Microsoft, made three great sessions on the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), codenamed Indigo. Perhaps one of the great experiences in the conference was watching the semi-finals match between Egypt and Senegal in the African Cup of Nations 2006 (Egypt 2 - Senegal 1) with all the attendees on a wide screen in one of the big theatres in the Cairo International Conference Center. You could feel the emotions flowing in the air.

All in all the conference was great. There were four wonderful sessions by Stephen Forte, as is the case with all his sessions. For me, perhaps the most interesting of the four was Writing Secure Code with ASP.NET, because the others I've already attended in last years conference. Another interesting session was the one about BizTalk Server 2006 by Malek Kemmou. Patrick Hynds also gave an informative session titled Passwords: Keys to the Kingdom. The only thing I missed in this year's conference was the closing session because I catched a cold on the final day and got really sick. There's a rumor that I won a prize in the draw that was held in that session but I'm not so sure about that since my luck was never that good in such matters.

One event that occured in the conference which really made me feel proud was that last years graduation project that I supervised came second amongst the final three projects in the .NET University Program Competition 2004/2005. I applauded real hard when the graduates were on the stand receiving their award. Good work guys...

Posted by A :: 12:09 AM :: 0 Comments:

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Thursday, February 09, 2006

More thoughts on the Danish newspaper incident...

Dear Annamarie, I thank you for your nice feelings and nice words. I don't think you need to apologize for something you haven't committed. And I really feel sorry for those who don't have the courage to admit that they did wrong. I thank you and Simon for being open-minded and understanding (I'm sure that many ignorants will laugh at this and say that being open-minded is the other way around).

Following are some other thoughts regarding this matter:

As I mentioned in a previous comment, to those who don't know anything about the prophet they offended and to those who want to know more about prophet Muhammad's life, I recommend watching the following 2002 PBS documentary:


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Posted by A :: 10:36 PM ::
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Thursday, February 02, 2006

Freedom of Speech. Is It?

I'm really fed up with how the western culture keeps taking the phrase "freedom of speech" as an excuse for harassing and insulting others. It is as if freedom of speech is a luxurious right that only they can enjoy. And if someone else as much as imply something they do not like, freedom of speech is thrown out the window.

Of course, anyone reading this will most probably know what I am talking about. Yes, it is the recent incident of the Danish newspaper and their insulting cartoons. Again, the excuse is "freedom of speech". Those people don't even know what the phrase stands for. Since when did freedom of speech mean you can make fun of or insult someone?! What would they say if, God forbid, it was the other way around and a newspaper in any of the Islamic countries published cartoons about Jesus - peace be upon him - (which no Muslim would dare do because Allah, i.e. God, ordered us to believe in and respect all his prophets)? Will it be freedom of speech? I don't think so. George W. Bush would probably get on the stand and say: "Let's bomb that country." What if some newspaper in the west published something against the Jews? Freedom of speech? Anti-Semitism is more likely. Well let me tell you that this Danish newspaper's act is an anti-Semitism act. Because, in case you didn't know, Arabs are considered Semites.


It would seem that the west is losing more and more ethical values by the day. And that this is the expense of scientific leadership. Hey, we don't have to get very far. Just look at what they are saying about Clinton after a statement he made at an economic conference in Qatar. OK, I'm not saying the man is great and wonderful. But he spoke very rationally. If only those who attacked him in the media or from the public on the Internet were just as rational and thought about what he said. Anyway, if it is their right to say whatever they wish, it is ours to react, object, and defend our prophet (whether they aplogized, half-apologized or not). Boycotting will continue until they realize how far astray they went. And this will be the case with any other country that walks on their footsteps. And in the future they should think twice before insulting others.

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Posted by A :: 10:28 PM :: 11 Comments:

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