…continues. As Glenn notes, this is just going to make the academic bubble pop that much faster.
Category Archives: Political Commentary
Thoughts On Muslim Charity
…and fake “reformers”:
Sura 9:60 explicitly says that one category of Muslims to whom alms are to be given is those toiling “in the cause of Allah.” This passage is interpreted by classical Islamic scholarship to refer to those engaged in violent jihadist operations — a proposition for which I cite Reliance of the Traveller and the annotations to the official Saudi version of the Koran that interpret sura 9:60.
It is not an answer to this to say, as Ms. Qudosi does, “I am not an Islamic scholar.” She makes that concession, by the way, in order chastise National Review because “all it takes is a little bit of research and fact-checking to make sure you know what you’re talking about, rather than indulging in bigoted statements that ensure higher readership among a fringe audience.” But who is the one who has failed to do the research and fact-checking? I’d be delighted if Ms. Qudosi’s jihad-bleached version of Islam enjoyed such broad acceptance among Muslims that the interpretation I am writing about could be described as “fringe.” Unfortunately, it is accepted by millions of Muslims the world over, precisely because it represents the Islam of authoritative Islamic scholars and jurisprudents. Saying, “I’m not a scholar,” and putting your head in the sand rather than giving us a compelling reason why these scholars have it wrong may win you applause from Westerners desperate to be convinced, or from Muslims whose idea of “reform” is to pretend that the bad stuff is not in the doctrine. But it is not going to get you anywhere with the millions of Muslims who believe al-Azhar sheikhs and other scholars who’ve spent their lives studying authoritative sources like Reliance of the Traveller are a more reliable guide.
If it were only them sticking their heads in the sand, it would be one thing, but they insist that we all do.
Gas-Pump Activism
This is a great idea.
As I wrote earlier, reminding people of what Obama wanted, and what they got, will be very potent campaign theme.
[Update late morning]
I’m glad that only 45% of the population embraces it, but dismayed that the number is that high.
“Malevolent Altruism”
An interesting discussion on the violence inherent in political correctness.
As noted there, when someone tells you how moral and upright they are, hold on to your wallet, and watch your back.
We saw Atlas Shrugged last night, and the Mouches of the world are classic examples.
[Update a while later]
Link was bad before, fixed now.
Climaquiddick Whitewash
I never took very seriously the notion that the climate frauds had been “cleared” of any wrongdoing. This is one of the reasons. The whole business is far too incestuous to have scientific credibility.
Nancy Pelosi
According to a study published in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science, Botox may not only numb facial muscles, but also – and for the same reason – numb users’ perception of other people’s emotions.
Res ipsa loquitur.
The Next War
…in Syria?
We should have been seeking regime change in both Syria and Iran for the past decade. They (not Israel) are the primary bad actors in the region. I thought in fact that this was the longer-term goal of removing Saddam, but apparently the Bush administration was much less strategically competent than I thought.
The Joys Of International Cooperation
If Mike Griffin had let Steidle continue, we’d probably have a CEV flying on an Atlas by now, and wouldn’t have to worry about potential extortion attempts like this. Deciding to end Shuttle without focusing on getting a new system in place first was a policy blunder of the highest order. Unless we simply pull out of ISS, the Russians have us over a barrel. They can continue to help Iran develop nukes and missiles with impunity, and they can continue their monopoly by obstructive behavior such as this. Bob Bigelow needs to start getting some facilities up, and NASA needs to accelerate the Boeing and SpaceX activities. Also, while I know this is controversial, I think that they should start crewing Dragon ASAP, and not wait for an abort system. And that’s what we’d be doing, if space were important.
China’s Train Wreck
High-speed rail in China isn’t all it’s cracked up to be:
Liu’s legacy, in short, is a system that could drain China’s economic resources for years. So much for the grand project that Thomas Friedman of the New York Times likened to a “moon shot” and that President Obama held up as a model for the United States.
Rather than demonstrating the advantages of centrally planned long-term investment, as its foreign admirers sometimes suggested, China’s bullet-train experience shows what can go wrong when an unelected elite, influenced by corrupt opportunists, gives orders that all must follow — without the robust public discussion we would have in the states.
And where we have robust discussion, it gets canceled (as in Florida). Unfortunately, the discussion in California hasn’t yet been sufficiently robust.
So What Else Is New?
The WaPo editorial board says that the president’s inaction on Syria is shameful. I don’t think he’s capable of shame.