Speculation about who will receive what honor at the Academy Awards starts early and runs right through the ceremony itself. So let me openly campaign for a person who I believe should receive a major standing ovation that night. This has nothing to do with Whoopi or Mel.

This story is old, but still very important. I ran into it while cleaning out the newspaper clips pocket of my shoulder bag after the last road trip. Why is it worth calling to your attention? Reporter Paul Wiseman has packed it with color and information and it contains the following paragraph: “Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, an Islamic scholar by training, is trying to promote what he calls Islam Hadari. Roughly translated, it is Arabic for ‘Islamic civilization.’ Abdullah’s somewhat vague version of Islam emphasizes economic and technological development, social justice and tolerance for other religions.” However, as a legal activist there puts it: “While all of us are equal some of us are more equal than others.”