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June 30, 2007
Democracy in Arab countries
Given the substantial stress placed on "justice" in Islam, I reckon that if democracy is to establish roots in Arab countries, it will have to be linked to the concept of justice more than to the confusing ideology of freedom.
"Open secrets: Discussable but not publishable," in "An Invitation to Laughter: A Lebanese Anthropologist in the Arab World," by Fuad Khuri, 2007
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Sourpuss and Bitter Old Man
Through the better part of his public actions since voters in 44 states rejected him, this sourpuss [Jimmy Carter] has helped redefine the term Bitter Old Man. In order to honor that achievement, we have named this prestigious award in his honor.
"Dan Rather Wins 1st James Earl Carter Bitter Old Man Award," GayPatriot, June 29, 2007
Posted at 12:37 AM · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0) · Categories: Humor , Politics
June 28, 2007
Fred Allen
"I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me."
-- Fred Allen
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June 27, 2007
"more nails in the coffin of Palestine"
When Palestinians voted for Hamas, they chose war over statehood; resistance over peaceful coexistence; and self-destruction over progress. And why did they do that? Maybe Golda Meier was right: Maybe these people simply hate the Jews more than they love anything, even their own children. In any case, the dream of Palestinian statehood is dying; and the Palestinians themselves are killing it.
And one more thing: Whenever you hear terrorist-sympathizers blame it all on Israel, know that they are putting more nails in the coffin of Palestine. Nothing has been more debilitating and dehumanizing to Palestine than the world's legitimatizing the very terrorists who are destroying it.
"Is the Dream of Palestine Dead?" by Mario Loyola, NRO, June 26, 2007
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June 22, 2007
Episcopalian priest says, "I could not not be a Muslim..."
"I could not not be a Muslim..."
. . .
With the benefit of hindsight, it should have been obvious that the first female imam would be an Episcopalian...
As Chesterton said, "When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing -- they believe in anything."
And as Oscar Wilde said, "The Catholic Church is for saints and sinners alone. For respectable people the Anglican Church will do."
Also see:
The situation in Malaysia clearly illustrates how poorly the West, especially its media, understands the world beyond its insular borders. While Western human rights advocates and transnationalists speak grandly about the "UN Charter" and "international law" and the universality of the Geneva Conventions, in reality much of the world merely pays lip-service to them. Or invoke them to bludgeon the United States without any intention of applying these so-called "international standards" to themselves. CAIR, for example, can rise indignantly to claim rights and freedoms in the United States that are not reciprocally granted in Saudi Arabia or Malaysia. That would not surprise those who believe laws and customs vary according to country. But it would publicly astonish -- emphasis on publicly -- those who claim that "international standards" are universally valid and accepted, even though they are manufactured in the small city of Brussels, whose delusions vary proportionately to its insularity.
"Oh Joy," The Belmont Club, June 19, 2007
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June 20, 2007
Can you read this?
From a friend:
Spelling reconsidered! All that time wasted learning spelling words!
fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aza! nmig hu h? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.
More
- The Simplified Spelling Society
- The Simplified Spelling Society - from Wikipedia
- NuSpeling: New Spelling & other Replacement Writing Systems
- Mark Twain quotes about spelling
Posted at 07:27 AM · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0) · Categories: Fun
June 17, 2007
Consensus
Nothing is more coercive and less efficient than the insistence on consensus. . . . As a Lebanese proverb states: "Plenty of ejaculations, but no pregnancies."
"Establishing an Arab association for the social sciences: The tyranny of consensus," in "An Invitation to Laughter: A Lebanese Anthropologist in the Arab World," by Fuad Khuri, 2007
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June 11, 2007
"Silence on al-Qaida torture"
Yesterday, Matt Drudge broke this story:
**WARNING: GRAPHIC**: Pentagon releases al-Qaeda torture manual drawings, victim photos …
The link was to The Smoking Gun, which reported:
In a recent raid on an al-Qaeda safe house in Iraq, U.S. military officials recovered an assortment of crude drawings depicting torture methods like “blowtorch to the skin” and “eye removal.” Along with the images, which you’ll find on the following pages, soldiers seized various torture implements, like meat cleavers, whips, and wire cutters.
What was Amnesty International’s reaction?
"Silence on al-Qaida torture," by Don Surber, May 25, 2007
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