Columbia University President Lee BollingerBollinger showed himself to be a spineless coward who cowed under pressure from critics he launched a rude and counterproductive "introduction" of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and undermined the "free speech" that he has said he supported. For someone who is a First Amendment lawyer Bollinger did little to push forward open discussion and instead made Ahmadinejad look gracious because of his reasoned reply.
Disagree with Ahmadinejad? So do I. However, instead of allowing for a dialogue Bollinger front loaded the lecture with invective. Bollinger also publicly agreed with unsubstantiated claims made by the Bush administration about alleged Iranian support of insurgents in Iraq. Although it is feasible that Iran is supporting its key ally, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, it is unlikely that they would simultaneously support the SIIC's rivals, namely Muqtada al-Sadr's rival Shi'i party and militia and the Sunni nationalist and Sunni Salafi insurgents.
Bollinger is also a hypocrite since he is more than happy to welcome other "petty dictators" to his university, such as Pakistan's Generalismo Pervez Musharraf and the president of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, the latter this past week.
The press comparisons of Ahmadinejad to Hitler are also inaccurate. Did Ahmadinejad murder 5.8 million Jews and 10 million others? No. Has he made outlandish statements about Israel and Zionism? Yes. Is Zionism the same as Judaism and vice verse. NO.
As much as Alan Dershowitz, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and the Anti-Defamation League want to convince us that anti-Zionism is the same as anti-Judaism, a rational examination of the facts quickly disprove this. One can be critical of Zionism or expressions of Zionism without having any problem with Judaism as a religion or a set of cultures. Case in point, many American Zionists are actually Evangelical Christians who want to help Jesus come back and many of Israel's most vocal critics are Jewish and/or Israeli and have done much work to burst the myths that were propagated early on in their country's history (see Avi Schlaim, Ilan Pappe, Tom Segev, Baruch Kimmerling, and to a lesser extent Benny Morris and for American scholars see Norman G. Finkelstein, Joel Beinin, and Mark LeVine.)
Tens of thousands of Burmese defied warnings by the military junta, and staged another day of marches in cities across the country. In Rangoon, monks led the way from the revered Shwedagon Pagoda, which has become a focal point of the growing protests.
They have been joined by large numbers of students and supporters who until Monday had stood on the sidelines cheering the monks.
Along with Buddhist flags, some marchers carried flags bearing the image of a fighting peacock, which was used by students in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. The protesters took to the streets again today even though the junta warned it would "take action" after some 100,000 people marched on Monday. The international community fear a repeat of 1988, when government troops brutally suppressed a popular uprising, killing some 3,000 people.
Basic Principles, which is based on the ninth official Arabic edition of Qutb’s Khasa’is al-Tasawwur al-Islamī wa Muqawwimatuhu, provides a useful and comprehensive overview of Qutb’s religious thought. Framing the essentials of Islam as he saw them, such as the comprehensive, stabilizing authority of the one undivided God and the problems inherent with other religious traditions such as Christianity and Judaism Basic Principles provides readers with an essential primer of Qutb’s theological arguments. This in turn illuminates concepts and themes which appear frequently in Qutb’s better-known publications including Milestones and Social Justice in Islam and is thus a useful companion to these works.
Buddhist monks in Myanmar have staged a series of protests against the country's military government. The protests were sparked by a sudden hike in the price of fuel on August 19. but after scores of pro-democracy activists were arrested, monks have taken up the civil-disobedience campaign.
The monks' protests have not chanted anti-government slogans or carried anti-government banners, but the symbolism of their marches has gained widespread support. Monks are universally revered by Myanmar's majority Buddhist population, and their involvement in anti-government protests poses a major challenge to the military rulers.
Witnesses say crowds of onlookers have formed human chains to prevent authorities from disrupting the monks' marches. Many monks have said they will refuse to accept alms from members of the military of their families – a move considered a major snub in [Burmese] Buddhist culture. 
Calligraphy inside the Iskandariyya Mosque in Zabid, Yemen, which dates back to the 14th and 16th centuries in its present construction.
Cityscape of Bayt al-Faqih, once a center of Medieval Islamic religious and scientific scholarship.
Mosque in Zabid.
Inside the fortress in Bayt al-Faqih near Zabid.
A remnant of Zabid's Arab Jewish history.
The Grand Exalted Leader: 'Ali 'Abdullah Saleh, President of the Arab Republic of Yemen & Patronage Friend of Tribal Shaykhs.
Bab al-Yemen, the main gateway into the Old City of Sana'a, Yemen which leads to Souq al-Mileh, a large market district in the Old City.
Souq al-Milleh
Yemeni straw hats
The 'Amiriya Madrasa in Rada, one of the largest monuments in Yemen, was commissioned by Sultan 'Amir bin abd al-Wahab of the Tahirid Dynasty. All in all, the 'Amiriya is the most flamboyantly ornate monument in the Yemen, a profusion of domes, arches, and niches on the outside, and a decorated delight on the inside, with superb carved stucco patterns and inscriptions and extraordinary painted frescoes whose colors were still vibrant, even after 500 years of neglect. 
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