Malayala Manorama Indian Newspaper of Malayalam Language from eight places in Kerela
Bobby Jindal again denies running for VP
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New York,: Bobby Jindal, Indian American governor of Louisiana, has reiterated that he does not want to be considered as the running mate for John McCain, scotching media speculation that the Republican presidential candidate was meeting him Wednesday to be able to decide the matter this week.
"I look forward to continuing to be governor of Louisiana. This is a once in a lifetime chance to improve our state. We've cut six taxes but we've got a lot more work to do right here in Louisiana," Jindal told FOX & Friends, a morning TV programme, Wednesday.
Jindal said he did not have any inside information on whether McCain would make a decision this week on his pick for the No.2 spot.
"I've never talked to the senator about the vice-presidency or his thoughts on selecting the vice-president. I would certainly be surprised if they made a decision this week, but that's entirely up to the senator and his campaign. They'll make that decision I think when they're ready," he said.
Jindal said the ability to possibly serve as president is the most important quality for a vice-presidential candidate.
"I think the most important thing in picking a vice-president is not what state they come from, not what demographic they appeal to, but rather whether the senator thinks this person would be ready to be president if - god forbid - that situation arises. That's probably the only thing that should matter," he said.
The Washington Post's politics blog, The Fix, said earlier this week that McCain's meeting with Jindal in New Orleans was possibly over selection of a running mate, quoting sources close to the McCain campaign. It added that McCain's trip to Louisiana Wednesday was not in his earlier schedule.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Obama's 'Muslim' picture kicks up a storm-USA-World-The Times of India
tag: Muslim-hate
Obama's 'Muslim' picture kicks up a storm-USA-World-The Times of India
Obama's 'Muslim' picture kicks up a storm
14 Jul 2008, 2148 hrs IST,AP
Obama as a Muslim
A US magazine cover depicts Barack Obama as a Muslim and his wife Michelle as a terrorist (AFP Photo)
WASHINGTON: Barack Obama's campaign says a satirical New Yorker magazine cover showing the Democratic presidential candidate dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist is "tasteless and offensive".
The illustration on the issue that hits newsstands on Monday, titled "The Politics of Fear" and drawn by Barry Blitt, depicts Barack Obama wearing what is commonly construed by Western media as traditional Muslim garb - sandals, robe and turban - and his wife, Michelle - dressed in camouflage, combat boots and an assault rifle strapped over her shoulder - standing in the Oval Office.
The couple is doing a fist tap in front of a fireplace in which an American flag is burning. Over the mantel hangs a portrait of Osama bin Laden.
"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton. "But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."
In a statement on Monday, the magazine said the cover "combines a number of fantastical images about the Obama and shows them for the obvious distortions they are."
"The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall? All of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that's the spirit of this cover," the New Yorker statement said.
The statement also pointed to the two articles on Obama contained inside the magazine, calling them "very serious."
Republican John McCain's campaign spokesman, Tucker Bonds, agreed that the cover was "tasteless and offensive."
Already the cover was generating controversy on the Internet. The Huffington Post , a left-leaning blog, said: "Anyone who's tried to paint Obama as a Muslim, anyone who's tried to portray Michelle as angry or a secret revolutionary out to get Whitey, anyone who has questioned their patriotism - well, here's your image."
Obama's 'Muslim' picture kicks up a storm-USA-World-The Times of India
Obama's 'Muslim' picture kicks up a storm
14 Jul 2008, 2148 hrs IST,AP
Obama as a Muslim
A US magazine cover depicts Barack Obama as a Muslim and his wife Michelle as a terrorist (AFP Photo)
WASHINGTON: Barack Obama's campaign says a satirical New Yorker magazine cover showing the Democratic presidential candidate dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist is "tasteless and offensive".
The illustration on the issue that hits newsstands on Monday, titled "The Politics of Fear" and drawn by Barry Blitt, depicts Barack Obama wearing what is commonly construed by Western media as traditional Muslim garb - sandals, robe and turban - and his wife, Michelle - dressed in camouflage, combat boots and an assault rifle strapped over her shoulder - standing in the Oval Office.
The couple is doing a fist tap in front of a fireplace in which an American flag is burning. Over the mantel hangs a portrait of Osama bin Laden.
"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton. "But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."
In a statement on Monday, the magazine said the cover "combines a number of fantastical images about the Obama and shows them for the obvious distortions they are."
"The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall? All of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that's the spirit of this cover," the New Yorker statement said.
The statement also pointed to the two articles on Obama contained inside the magazine, calling them "very serious."
Republican John McCain's campaign spokesman, Tucker Bonds, agreed that the cover was "tasteless and offensive."
Already the cover was generating controversy on the Internet. The Huffington Post , a left-leaning blog, said: "Anyone who's tried to paint Obama as a Muslim, anyone who's tried to portray Michelle as angry or a secret revolutionary out to get Whitey, anyone who has questioned their patriotism - well, here's your image."
US president lifts executive ban on offshore drilling
tag: oil
Economic Times - Indian Newspapers in English Language from seven editions.
US president lifts executive ban on offshore drilling
15 Jul, 2008, 0625 hrs IST, AGENCIES
WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore oil drilling Monday and challenged Congress to do the same, a gambit to turn the enormous public frustration about gasoline prices into political leverage.
Democratic lawmakers rejected Bush's plan as a symbolic stunt. With gas prices topping $4.10 a gallon (euro1.08 a liter) nationally, Bush made his most assertive move to extend oil exploration, an energy priority of his presidency. By lifting the executive prohibition against coastal drilling, Bush rescinded a White House policy that his father, President George H.W. Bush, put in place in 1990.
The move will have no practical effect unless Congress acts, too. Both executive and legislative bans must be lifted before offshore exploration could happen.
Bush had urged Congress a month ago to go first, then reversed himself Monday. He said the country could no longer afford to wait.
``Democratic leaders can show that they have finally heard the frustrations of the American people by matching the action I've taken today, repealing the congressional ban, and passing legislation to facilitate responsible offshore exploration,'' Bush said in an event held in the White House's Rose Garden.
The president's direct link between record gas prices and offshore drilling glossed over a key point. Even if Congress agreed, the exploration for oil would take a decade or more to produce real results. It is not projected to reduce gas prices in the short term. Even the White House routinely emphasizes there is no quick fix.
Both presidential campaigns weighed in on the hot political topic.
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, called Bush's move ``a very important signal'' and prodded his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, to drop his opposition to offshore drilling.
``If offshore drilling would provide short-term relief at the pump or a long-term strategy for energy independence, it would be worthy of our consideration, regardless of the risks,'' Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. ``But most experts, even within the Bush administration, concede it would do neither.''
Other Democrats also were unmoved by the presidential action. ``The Bush plan is a hoax,'' responded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. ``It will neither reduce gas prices nor increase energy independence.''
None of that stopped the president from building his case around today's prices at the gasoline pump.
He said every extra dollar that families have to spend on gas is one they could be using to put food on their tables or to send children to school. The American people, he said, are now ``waiting to see what the Congress will do.''
The White House says that acting now on a long-term solution would send a serious signal to the market that more oil supply will be coming on line. That, in turn, could ease oil prices, advocates say. Business groups and many Republican lawmakers praised the move to expand the energy supply in the United States.
Several Democratic leaders in Congress said oil companies already are sitting on millions of acres of public and coastal lands where drilling could be undertaken.
A proposal by Democrats to release oil from an emergency reserve has been rejected by the White House as a gimmick that would not reduce prices.
Economic Times - Indian Newspapers in English Language from seven editions.
US president lifts executive ban on offshore drilling
15 Jul, 2008, 0625 hrs IST, AGENCIES
WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore oil drilling Monday and challenged Congress to do the same, a gambit to turn the enormous public frustration about gasoline prices into political leverage.
Democratic lawmakers rejected Bush's plan as a symbolic stunt. With gas prices topping $4.10 a gallon (euro1.08 a liter) nationally, Bush made his most assertive move to extend oil exploration, an energy priority of his presidency. By lifting the executive prohibition against coastal drilling, Bush rescinded a White House policy that his father, President George H.W. Bush, put in place in 1990.
The move will have no practical effect unless Congress acts, too. Both executive and legislative bans must be lifted before offshore exploration could happen.
Bush had urged Congress a month ago to go first, then reversed himself Monday. He said the country could no longer afford to wait.
``Democratic leaders can show that they have finally heard the frustrations of the American people by matching the action I've taken today, repealing the congressional ban, and passing legislation to facilitate responsible offshore exploration,'' Bush said in an event held in the White House's Rose Garden.
The president's direct link between record gas prices and offshore drilling glossed over a key point. Even if Congress agreed, the exploration for oil would take a decade or more to produce real results. It is not projected to reduce gas prices in the short term. Even the White House routinely emphasizes there is no quick fix.
Both presidential campaigns weighed in on the hot political topic.
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, called Bush's move ``a very important signal'' and prodded his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, to drop his opposition to offshore drilling.
``If offshore drilling would provide short-term relief at the pump or a long-term strategy for energy independence, it would be worthy of our consideration, regardless of the risks,'' Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. ``But most experts, even within the Bush administration, concede it would do neither.''
Other Democrats also were unmoved by the presidential action. ``The Bush plan is a hoax,'' responded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. ``It will neither reduce gas prices nor increase energy independence.''
None of that stopped the president from building his case around today's prices at the gasoline pump.
He said every extra dollar that families have to spend on gas is one they could be using to put food on their tables or to send children to school. The American people, he said, are now ``waiting to see what the Congress will do.''
The White House says that acting now on a long-term solution would send a serious signal to the market that more oil supply will be coming on line. That, in turn, could ease oil prices, advocates say. Business groups and many Republican lawmakers praised the move to expand the energy supply in the United States.
Several Democratic leaders in Congress said oil companies already are sitting on millions of acres of public and coastal lands where drilling could be undertaken.
A proposal by Democrats to release oil from an emergency reserve has been rejected by the White House as a gimmick that would not reduce prices.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Fight to retain "allah"
Login - The Times of India
Malaysian Sikhs fight to retain 'Allah' in Granth Sahib
5 Jul 2008, 0357 hrs IST,AP
KUALA LUMPUR: A Sikh group in Muslim-majority Malaysia is demanding the right to use the world "Allah" as a synonym for God and has joined a legal battle by Christians against a government order banning non-Muslims from using it, an official said on Friday.
The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council filed an application at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Tuesday seeking to join a suit by the Herald, a Roman Catholic newspaper, against the government over use of the word "Allah", said council president Sardar Jagir Singh.
The home ministry previously ordered the newspaper not to use the word "Allah" in its Malay-language publication as a translation for God, saying using the word would confuse Muslims. The Herald then filed suit, claiming it had a right to use the word.
Jagir said his council, representing more than 100,000 Sikhs, wanted to join the suit because the ruling would affect them.
The word Allah appears on "numerous occasions" in the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, he said. "Not a word can be altered. It's our holiest book ... it will mean we can't practice our own religion."
Jagir said so far he has not received a court date. The high court is scheduled next Wednesday to hear the applications of several Islamic institutions that have applied to intervene in the suit to defend the ban.
The Herald says "Allah" is an Arabic word that predates Islam and has been used for centuries to mean God in Malay.
The government has not explained how the use of "Allah" by other religions would confuse Muslims, but apparently wants to draw a sharp distinction between the Islamic God and all other deities.
The case is an example of increasing complaints by religious minorities in Malaysia that their rights have been undermined by government efforts to bolster the status of Islam, the country's official religion.
Malaysian Sikhs fight to retain 'Allah' in Granth Sahib
5 Jul 2008, 0357 hrs IST,AP
KUALA LUMPUR: A Sikh group in Muslim-majority Malaysia is demanding the right to use the world "Allah" as a synonym for God and has joined a legal battle by Christians against a government order banning non-Muslims from using it, an official said on Friday.
The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council filed an application at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Tuesday seeking to join a suit by the Herald, a Roman Catholic newspaper, against the government over use of the word "Allah", said council president Sardar Jagir Singh.
The home ministry previously ordered the newspaper not to use the word "Allah" in its Malay-language publication as a translation for God, saying using the word would confuse Muslims. The Herald then filed suit, claiming it had a right to use the word.
Jagir said his council, representing more than 100,000 Sikhs, wanted to join the suit because the ruling would affect them.
The word Allah appears on "numerous occasions" in the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, he said. "Not a word can be altered. It's our holiest book ... it will mean we can't practice our own religion."
Jagir said so far he has not received a court date. The high court is scheduled next Wednesday to hear the applications of several Islamic institutions that have applied to intervene in the suit to defend the ban.
The Herald says "Allah" is an Arabic word that predates Islam and has been used for centuries to mean God in Malay.
The government has not explained how the use of "Allah" by other religions would confuse Muslims, but apparently wants to draw a sharp distinction between the Islamic God and all other deities.
The case is an example of increasing complaints by religious minorities in Malaysia that their rights have been undermined by government efforts to bolster the status of Islam, the country's official religion.
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