From Torah.org (yeah I'm feeling like I need a little more Torah)

Don't even think you can trump me by saying that I'm guilty of this. I know. THis is actually a fence around speaking lashon hara (gossip, slander, criticism, you know) but I feel almost guilty about a few things I've been saying lately.

Introduction
Avak Lashon Hara refers to speech which incites the speaking of actual Lashon Hara. Avak means dust, symbolic of the dust that gathers on one's shoes and clothing as he travels.

1. What is Considered Avak (dust) Lashon Hara?
Some things are forbidden because they are Avak Lashon Hara (traces of Lashon Hara - it can incite speaking of Lashon Hara). For example, someone might say, "Who would have expected So-and-So would be like he is today?" or, "Stop talking about So-and-So, I don't want to tell you what's going on with him," and other such statements.

Furthermore, praising someone in front of a rival is also Avak Lashon Hara, because it will cause the listener to disparage the subject. (Note: From this we learn that other conversations are forbidden, such as simply mentioning the name of someone about whom the listener is likely to gossip.) Excessive praise is forbidden even if the listeners do not dislike the individual, because it is common to end off such statements with criticism, such as "except for his negative character trait of...." or that the listeners will respond, "Why do you praise him so much when he has such a negative trait...."

2. Speaking in Public
The above [not giving excessive praise, since it could precipitate Lashon Hara] applies when not speaking in public. In public, however, it is forbidden to praise a person at all, because in a group of many people it is common to find people who distort facts or act with envy, so that by mentioning someone's good points it brings about disparaging talk.

(Note: If however, one knows that the listeners will not speak negatively about the subject, for example if they don't know him, it is permissible to praise him, so long as it is not overdone.)

If one wants to praise someone who is known by all to be a good and righteous person in whom no evil or culpability is found, the speaker may even praise him before his enemies, for they will be unable to disparage him. Should they try to speak unjustly of the subject, everyone will know that they are wrong.
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(no subject)

Iranian President calls for world peace for all nations.

Of course, this is an effort to curry favor with the Bosnian Muslims whose lives are owed to the U.S. bombing campaign that came too late for many of them.

And we all pretty much know his solution to Israel/Palestinian peace.

Odd

Katrina inspires Iranian director to stage “Uncle Tom's Cabin”

TEHRAN, Nov. 12 (MNA) -- Discrimination against racial minorities in housing and the slowness in delivering relief after the destructive Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and other parts of the U.S. South have inspired Iranian director Behruz Gharibpur to make plans to stage “Uncle Tom's Cabin” in Tehran in the upcoming year.
Authored by American writer and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), “Uncle Tom's Cabin” (1852) is a forceful indictment of slavery and one of the most powerful novels of its kind in American literature.

Gharibpur had dramatized “Uncle Tom's Cabin” before, and Qatreh Publications is to publish a book of the text of the play in Persian in the near future.

“After I staged ‘Les Misérables’ (in Tehran) in 1997, I was interested in performing ‘Uncle Tom's Cabin’, but the opportunity was not provided for the event,” he told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) on Friday.
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Best Headline of the Day

Bush urges end to Cartoon Violence.



Edit: The bastards edited the headline. Is CNN losing its sense of whimsy? Well maybe, but they are doing stories about really fat killers...

Ok this might be the last thing I say about cartoons in Danish newspapers

Sure, the Danish cartoonists insulted the muslims. And sure the Danish officials bent over backwards to kiss the collective ass of the Islamic extremists, but we should all cut Denmark some slack. I hear they have problems.

I hear their prince is mad.

stealing from the Onion