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[ by Charles Cameron — pop culture, AQ, media ]
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Sadly, the Vlad Tepes blog site mentioned appears to be having technical issues…

[ by Charles Cameron — a contribution to media studies ]

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Feeling more than usually (ir)religious?  Wanna have an argument?

Advertise on (or in) a bus!

That’s how the British do it.

American humanists weren’t far behind their British cousins, either…

The bus proclaiming the late Lubavitcher rebbe as King Moshiach goes with the motto: “Just add in goodness and kindness” — not so far from the humanists’ “just be good for goodness’ sake”…

Ah, but what of Islam?

This business of religious argument appears to be a never-ending story…

Those buses will catch you coming or going, inside or out…

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But you know, from a theological point of view, I think I’ll let the Metro bus company in that second Judgment Day image have the final word, commenting on the advertisement’s proclamation of May 21st — less than a week away as we speak — with its own small midrash in lights:

[ by Charles Cameron ]

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I spend a fair amount of effort as you know, trying to monitor the various forms of end-times religion manifesting in the Abrahamic faiths, so it came as a shock to me to find a seam of material on Sunni Mahdism that I hadn’t previously run across, now a year old, from over on my old side of the pond of all places…

Look what happens to London:

And if that isn’t graphic enough for you — and it really isn’t very graphic — look at what happens to New York…

The End of Time… A New Beginning…

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The first image comes from a poster for a tour of Ireland in October of last year — though why the good people of Ireland should be so worried if London is consumed in sulphurous fog and flame is a little hard for me to understand — while the second graphic advertises a conference in London — though why the good people of London should be so concerned if the city of New York… no, I won’t go there, there’s the Special Relationship, isn’t there?  Is there?

I missed both events, alas, living quietly here in the United States, or I might have heard, in Ireland:

a clear description about life in the grave, the trials of the last day, the major and minor signs leading to the last hour and the day of resurrection including Imam Mahdi, The Dajjal and many more.

I could have taken notes, and published them here on Zenpundit. After all, as the advertisements advertised:

On the Day of Judgment those who pass the test will be rewarded with Paradise.

Cliff’s Notes for Judgement Day — a sure best seller!

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Not to worry, I can still study up on the January 2009 London conference, at which Anwar al-Awlaki reportedly hosted a live video question-and-answer session, presumably beaming in from Yemen — even though tickets are no longer available…

If I can just get hold of the DVDs…

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Sadly, though, they’re out of stock…

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Okay seriously now — three points:

This is associated with al-Awlaki.  This has slick PR, intercontinental video feeds, and DVDs.  And this is Sunni Mahdism.

Check?

[ by Charles Cameron — second of three ]
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Trust — or mistrust — but verify.

So: can you trust crowd-sourcing, can you trust officialdom?

Can you trust Pakistan?

Spinning the Law: Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion by Kendall Coffey

Just received a courtesy review copy of Spinning the Law from Ruby at FSB Associates. This is not the genre of books that I typically review and I was initially hesitant that it would just be a pop culture title, but in skimming, I am pleased to report that the author, former US. Attorney Kendall Coffey, is engaged in an analysis of how public opinion, shaped by the media, impacts the justice system.

Coffey explains the strategies and tactics that prosecutors, defense lawyers and their clients employ as well as the hazards and mistakes made in playing to the media. Coffee’s reach includes the trials of  Joan of Arc, Socrates and Aaron Burr as well as more recently infamous characters as the American Taliban, John Walker Lind, Jose Padilla and Governor Rod Blagojevic. Spinning the Law would seem to have a great deal of applicability to those readers interested in IO and public diplomacy, as well as those with conventional interest in the legal system and American politics.

I look forward to reading this and eventually posting a full review.