From New Humanist, an article on the reputation of Tariq Ramadan, the man widely hailed as the saviour of Islam; forget the booze cruise, Sanal Edamuruku on the night a guru tried to kill him live on Indian TV; Winston Fletcher finds that, with a little patience, you can get sozzled in Syria; and Laurie Taylor gets medieval with the cults. The Cult of the Presidency: Who can we blame for the radical expansion of executive power? Look no further than you and me. We are all Kemalists: Turkey's supposedly antagonistic "democratic Islamists" and "authoritarian secularists" are actually cut from the same cloth. Whatever happened to the gentleman? From Utne, a series of articles on the American Dream. From Foreign Policy, an interview with Mohamed El-Erian on the new global economy. A review of The Erotic Phenomenon by Jean-Luc Marion. An article on Indiana Jones as the bad boy of archaeology. Why doesn't evolution discourage suicide? Barney Frank, the rumpled, cantankerous Massachusetts Democrat, has emerged as a key deal-maker in the House. A review of The Purpose of the Past: Reflections on the Uses of History by Gordon S. Wood. While the horror classics of 1968 may have indeed revitalized the genre, few today are aware of these movies' impact on the canon — if they acknowledge them at all. More on Liberty of Conscience by Martha Nussbaum.
