AN OUTSIDE VIEW

Moslems have a problem to explain away. When followers of other faiths than Islam practice violence, they are going against the teachings of their religion. But the core texts of Islam, uniquely amongst world religions, preach violence against those who do not follow its teachings. This would not present a problem if it was clearly and constantly taught that these problematic texts were meant as metaphor, but that is not the case. So when the Iranian government propose passing the death penalty on Muslims who convert to Christianity, and persecute the Bahai for being heretics, they are only following the teaching. My personal experience of Muslims is that they are seriously mistaken in their ideas about what Christians believe and consequently regard them as idolators or believers in three gods. If they corrected their misconceptions they would find nothing to object to in orthodox Christianity. But living in their cloud of confusion, it is easy for feelings of hatred to brew up.

The American dream has always been a myth but more and more people are coming to experience it as a nightmare. Listen to this front line report by Sacha Abramsky.

I sometimes cook for a dozen or more. It is easier than cooking for one. Mostly I do some kind of vegetarian stew such as a ratatouille or curry. People have asked me for a recipe. They are all prepared in much the same way, the differences being the herbs and spices. To bring out the best of the flavours, plenty of oil is needed and the stew should stand, half-cooked, for several hours to allow the oil to draw out the flavours of the herbs and spices, which are mostly terpenes of some kind which dissolve in oil but not in water. With the exception of turmeric, do not use powders. Once ground, the flavours soon vanish. To serve a dozen people you need a 10 litre saucepan. You also need a frying pan. Depending on what is in season and good value, the ingredients list goes something like this. 3 large onions 3 - 5 cloves garlic 1 kilo mushrooms 5 large courgettes 1 large aubergine 3 peppers Sunflower or corn or soya oil. For an Italian flavour 3 cartons crushed tomatoes, a tablespoonful ...

The ballot papers for the Euro elections were huge. There was a long list of parties, each with its list of candidates. But voters could only put their cross on their party of choice. They could not pick individuals, so it was not possible to spread ones choice across candidates in different parties. I did not vote for the party that was my first choice because I have been unimpressed by the individual at the top of one of the lists. This is an example of the wrong sort of proportional representation. It gives too much power to the party political power-brokers.

Öppet hav är den sista av fyra romaner av Annika Thor, som handlar om två judiska flickor under andra världskriget. Flickorna som heter Steffi och Nelli, föddes i Wien av rika föräldrar vars familj hade bott i en fin del av Österrikes huvudstad. Hennes mamma var sångerska på operan och deras pappa var läkare. År 1938, när nazisterna invaderade Österrike skickas flickorna på barntransport och hamnade de i Sverige. Samtidigt skickades deras föräldrar till ett koncentrationsläger. I början bodde de i Teresienstadt där deras dog mamma av tyfus. År 1943 skickas deras pappa till Auschwitz. Därifrån kunde man inte skicka brev och flickorna hörde inte av honom på två år. I Sverige, bodde båda flickorna i början med fiskar-familjer på en ö i skärgården utanför Göteborg. Nelli, den yngsta flickan, bodde med tant Alma och farbror Sigurd i sex år. Steffi bodde med tant Märta och farbror Sigurd Jansson det första året och sedan flyttade hon till Göteborg för att studera på läroverket och sedan på g...

Capitalism is a term misused by both its advocates and its opponents. It is a word so vague as so be almost meaningless. "Capitalism" has become just a generic label loosely applied to relatively uncontrolled systems of econonomic organisation. It is characterised by land enclosure and private appropriation of the rent of land, and systems of credit based on usury, with joint stock companies operating under government legislation which gives them special rights and privileges not available to individuals. There nothing natural about such systems, which in many respects goes against natural law and scripture. A limited degree of economic freedom emerges through the market mechanism, which leads to a measure of prosperity. But since land is not free, labour is coerced into accepting whatever terms it can obtain, and the end result is a few people get very rich, many become very poor, and whilst those in the middle can live reasonably well, their livelihoods are forever precario...

Oxford ligger vid floden Thames omkring 100 kilometer västerut från London. Staden grundades i Anglo-Saxon tider när den Heliga Frideswide grundade ett kvinnokloster under 700 talet. Hon är fortfarande stadens heliga skyddspatron. Stället valdes på grund av flodens ytlighet och den stora höjd som ligger vid flodens bank. Där kan man gå över floden utan fara. Efter William erövrade landet år 1066 byggdes en skans på höjden och under 1200 talet flyttade professorer dit från Paris och grundade det berömda universitetet. Ursprungligen var studenterna unga människor som studerade till präst, och de bodde i vanliga hus. Så startade dessa nuvarande instituten. Under medeltiden undervisades bara teologi, filosofi, matematik och medicin på universitetet. Mycket ändrades efter Reformation. Under inbördeskriget besattes instituten av kungen Charles I och han armé. Samtidigt samlades vetenskapsmän som var intresserade av fysik, kemi och astronomi. År 1649 avrättades kungen och sedan fanns det inge...