Top Scoops: Comment & Opinion Digest - Nov. 13-16

Thursday, 16 November 2006, 9:55 am
Article: Alastair Thompson

SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:
Public Address: Keith Ng Bakes Coddington Pie
Antiquities: Suzan Mazur Scrutinizes A Somewhat Secretive Sale
Women & Islam: Must The Veil Be Banned?
Jackie Little: Asking The Neighbours For Money
U.S. Midterms: Bernard Weiner On Bush's Brain
American Coup: Ohio's Not So Fraud Free Election
Iraq: Latest Solution For Iraq Is No Solution At All
MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:

Public Address: Keith Ng Bakes Coddington Pie

- Fisking is its own reward - mostly because it's unlikely that it'll lead to any other sort of reward - but it is quite satisfying to deconstruct a work and rip its still-beating heart out as a trophy.Oops. Sorry, that's just me being a blood-thirsty Asian. The cover story of the current issue of North & South, penned by Deborah Coddington, is entitled "Asian Angst: Is it time to send some back?".See... Public Address 15/11/06 - Coddington Nation [1] MORE PUBLIC ADDRESS:Public Address 14/11/06 - The Stadium And God [2] Public Address 13/11/06 - Glory [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00286.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00258.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00235.htm

Antiquities: Suzan Mazur Scrutinizes A Somewhat Secretive Sale

- With a searing ancient Near East focus, Hicham Aboutaam, the 30ish Lebanese antiquities dealer sweeps into the back of his Phoenix gallery showroom in Manhattan to greet me. He is dressed in French elegance, his handshake somewhat reserved. I later notice the smooth, manicured, almost translucent quality of his fingers -- certainly absent any trace of anything freshly dug up. See... Hicham Aboutaam: "It Is Good To Be Scrutinized" [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00257.htm

Women & Islam: Must The Veil Be Banned?

The question of the veil has become a heated debate in the British media. In this debate some fundamental principles seem to be at stake: Individual freedom to practice one’s religion, freedom of choice, freedom of clothing and discrimination against a particular community, that is, the so-called Moslem community. See... Azar Majedi: Revisiting The Question Of The Veil [1] & The Reality of Iran's Women’s Liberation Movement [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00238.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00237.htm

Jackie Little: Asking The Neighbours For Money

- I answered the door recently to find a genial elderly gent who was laboriously doorstepping the street attempting to recruit - well - people to laboriously doorstep the street. He was after collectors for a forthcoming street appeal for a well known and worthy charity. See... Jackie Little: The Charity Collection [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00234.htm

U.S. Midterms: Bernard Weiner On Bush's Brain

- Psychiatrist: The last time we met [1] , you were so upset with me I thought I might be headed to Guatanamo. But those of us in the psychiatric profession are used to momentary rages from clients when they're dealing with highly sensitive topics. So why did you ask to see me again? See... Bush's Post-Election Session With His Shrink [2] MORE POST U.S. MIDTERMS COMMENT:

[1] - http://www.crisispapers.org/essays6w/shrink.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00277.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00236.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00254.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00285.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00265.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00256.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00253.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00252.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00230.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00288.htm

American Coup: Ohio's Not So Fraud Free Election

- The percentage of uncounted votes in the allegedly "fraud free" 2006 Ohio election is actually higher than the fraud-ridden 2004 election, when the presidency was stolen here. A flawed voting process that allowed voters to be illegally turned away throughout the morning on Election Day may have cost the Dems at least two Congressional seats and a state auditor's seat. See... A Statistically Impossible Swing To The GOP In OH [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00280.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00239.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00279.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00264.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00251.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/features/usacoup.html

Iraq: Latest Solution For Iraq Is No Solution At All

- President George W. Bush conferred yesterday with members of the James Baker-led Iraq Study Group against a background of chaos in Baghdad, a quisling government demonstrably incapable of stemming the violence, and an Iraqi resistance emboldened by the vote of no confidence given to the president's Iraq policy. As expected, yesterday's meeting was primarily photo-op. The important question is: Can the Iraq Study Group be expected to come up with constructive suggestions for alternative policy on Iraq? The answer is no. See... Ray McGovern: Iraq Study Group "Bipartisan?" [1] MORE ON THE IRAQ RESCUE PLAN:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00275.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00281.htm

MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00283.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00241.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00284.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00273.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00282.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00274.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00278.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00276.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00255.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00250.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00249.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00248.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00240.htm
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00233.htm
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00232.htm
[16] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00231.htm

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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