Boekpresentatie : De islam in Europa

Overgenomen van de site van deBuren :

Boekpresentatie 'De islam in Europa: dialoog of clash?'
De boeken van deBuren | DI 09.09.08 | 20.00 > 21.30
deBuren, Leopoldstraat 6, 1000 Brussel
gratis

Op 9 september wordt het door Johan Sanctorum samengestelde boek De islam in Europa: dialoog of clash? bij deBuren gepresenteerd, in samenwerking met uitgeverij Van Halewyck.

Schrijver Benno Barnard, filosoof Jan De Pauw en LDD-politica Mimount Bousakla schreven elk een polemische bijdrage aan De islam in Europa. Onder leiding van Johan Sanctorum gaan zij in discussie over de vraag die ook in het boek wordt gesteld: hoe om te gaan met de islam als religie, levensbeschouwing en cultuur? Kan er sprake zijn van een integratie en verrijking, of escaleert dit tot een open conflict, waarbij het religieuze discours in toenemende mate het publieke debat domineert?

Naast de bijdragen van Barnard, Bousakla en De Pauw bevat De islam in Europa bijdragen van Geert van Istendael, Rik Pinxten, Ludo Abicht en Johan Sanctorum zelf. De auteurs stellen de zaken scherp, elk vanuit hun achtergrond.

In samenwerking met Uitgeverij Vanhalewyck

Lees ook Marc Vanfraechem in een ouder bericht : "Nadenken gaat nog het beste in de schaduw" op zijn blog
victa placet mihi causa

Veto use in the Security Council

Not surprisingly Russia has threatened to veto any Security Council resolution on Georgia that didn't include a six point peace plan as proposed by French president Sarkozy. As a consequence, a recent draft was binned before it even got to the table.

In recent times news of Russia and/or China using or threatening its veto power in the United Nations Security Council has become more frequent. It seems as if both nations have only recently discovered their blocking capabilities, and are using them now with a vengeance.

For instance, a Zimbabwe resolution was vetoed by both countries; a Myanmar resolution was vetoed; China threatens to block a vote on a proposition to send Sudan's leader to The Hague; and Russia threatens to do the same with a Georgia proposal - as we mentioned above...

Only in their opposition to Iran have the five permanent SC members managed to occupy common ground - so far. It remains to be seen how long that will last in the face of growing international tensions surrounding the Georgia debacle...

Amidst all the consternation over the recent voting behaviour of Russia and China, one should remember that the US is an avid user of the veto too, especially with regard to the Middle East and Israel.

Russia has in fact used its veto rather sparingly so far, at least since the collapse of the Soviet empire. It is as yet too soon to say if a new trend is developing whereby Russia will translate its newly found self-confidence and national grandeur into obstructive behaviour in the SC.

China on the other hand seems to have definitely broken away from its former veto-reluctance. Even if it has only cast its veto 6 times so far, 4 of those have been issued in the last decade, and the last two vetoes have been submitted in 2007 and 2008, both in conjunction with Russia. The question whether China has turned to the veto to counterbalance US power is now open.

For those interested in the somewhat longer view of the situation, I recommend the following tables available at the Global Policy Forum website.

Changing Patterns in the Use of the Veto in the Security Council
as well as
Subjects of UN Security Council Vetoes

A general reading of the veto problem can be found on this Wikipedia page

Double Dunkin' Dubstep

Audiolink also posted at Clubcircuit.be

Bart Haegens, ex-Rits, currently VRT, has produced a three part audio series on Dubstep, the subgenre of drum'n'bass. He invited me to contribute some profound insights and widely reverberating ramifications on the subject.

I haven't spoken on pop- and subcultures in ye-a-r-s. Not since my days at De Verbeelding, now Ladda.
So I downed me a drink, occupied my seat at the table, and talked real to the man.

Included, my dialectic me and some of the best stuff I ever whipped up in my kitchen on my own !

Have fun !
(podcast +/- 30 MB, 30')