Despite some minor lapses, there is a wealth of information here, without obvious bias and including varying perspectives, conveniently assembled and clearly organized, and with appropriate historical background. Although cross-references are extensive, there are some gaps, such as the lack of a direct connection between the Salafism article and the entries on al-Qaeda or Bin Laden (Jihadist Salafiyya's most prominent follower). Wahhabism, subsumed under Salafiyya, is underindexed. Neither the article on slavery (discussing links between Islam and enslaved African Americans) nor the index point to the actual brief discussion of Islamic law on slavery. The Druze and Sufism articles do not note wide Muslim persecution of such splinter groups (though information on Muslim-Muslim intolerance can be found elsewhere in the book).

Why Atheists Are Such Lousy Debaters

I watched the movie "The Great Debaters" last night, and it helped me to understand why atheists are such bad debaters. The movie portrays four students from a little black college in Texas, and shows how, under the tutelage of their pugnacious coach, they went on to defeat Almighty Harvard. Denzel Washington, who plays the coach, says early in the movie that debate is a kind of bloodsport. It's great virtue is that it puts rival ideas up against each other, as argued by people who passionately espouse those ideas, and then it lets the truth emerge through a kind of gladiatorial elimination. For about three years, it appeared as though the leading atheists were formidable debaters. But the reason was that Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens were selecting weak opponents and then generally giving them a public whipping.

Branding the magazine world

H&M Magazine has bagged Corinne Day, the photographer who discovered Kate Moss, and a Sienna Miller interview, while Abercrombie & Fitch has returned to form with the fashion photographer Bruce Weber (so expensive that U.S. Vogue is said to afford him only twice a year) and no "product" shots in the 200-page hardbound publication.

Soldier victim in one scam, pawn in another

I was helping her out with her tuition and I got scammed," he said. "I was on a [forward operating base] most of the time, so any contact with humans helped, so I kind of got milked out of that."

Hallenbeck, a former Marine who later joined the Army National Guard, said he found out about the scam involving the British woman only when he was contacted by an Army public affairs officer, who was informed by Army Times.

BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept

Yesterday, DailyTech reported on VW's intention to bring a diesel-electric hybrid Golf to market. The hybrid powertrain would boost fuel economy to nearly 70 MPG on the small two/four-door hatchback.

Unlike the previous BMW X6 ActiveHybrid concept vehicle which was a full hybrid, the Vision EfficientDynamics is a mild-hybrid vehicle. A 15kw generator boosts total power to 221 HP, while regenerative braking steps in to help power the vehicle's electrical systems and recharge the rear-mounted lithium-ion battery pack.

Retired music teacher making ‘dramatic’ recovery

A former Wausau orchestra teacher hates to miss his son direct the music for a theater production this week but has little choice while he continues to recover from a brain injury suffered in an Aug. 30 collision between his bike and a school bus.

Chuck Olsen, 64, is a retired John Muir Middle School teacher who since has traveled the country six to eight months of the year, often on a bicycle. It was while biking with his wife, Pat, in northwestern Indiana that the life-altering crash happened as Chuck rode across a roadway on the Prairie-Duneland Trail and struck the passing bus.

The impact threw Olsen from the bike, shattering his helmet.

Family members from Wausau, Florida and Kentucky traveled to a hospital in Illinois within 20 hours of the crash.

Weak Markets, Strong Dollar and Coastal Strike Weigh Heavily on ...

Earnings for the fourth quarter of 2007 include one-time items of $1.0 million, or $0.02 per share, which included an income tax recovery of $1.2 million ($0.02 per share) resulting from a reduction in recently enacted federal income tax rates. Before one-time items, the Company reported a net loss of $9.9 million, or $0.21 per share. Comparable net losses for the third quarter of 2007 and fourth quarter of 2006 were $2.2 million ($0.05 per share) and $1.0 million ($0.02 per share), respectively.

The current quarter's results also include a long term incentive compensation ("LTIC") recovery of $1.0 million ($0.7 million, or $0.01 per share, after tax), compared to a recovery of $4.2 million ($2.8 million, or $0.06 per share, after tax) for the third quarter of 2007, and an expense of $1.4 million ($0.9 million, or $0.02 per share, after tax) for the fourth quarter of 2006.