Are we losing taxonomists?
I know that I’d never have the patience for it.
Yes, There’s A Large Population In Each Of The Fifty-Seven States
I’m not sure which is more disturbing — that the president believes that the US is a Muslim nation at all (let alone one of the largest ones, and while denying that we are Judeo-Christian), or that the Times is so uncritical in reporting such a belief. Kuwait probably has more Muslims (over three million) than the US does, and it’s a tiny Muslim country. We know what would be the press response had George Bush made such an egregiously nonsensical and innumerate statement.
[Update a few minutes later]
Respecting the faithful versus respecting the faith. Yes, the two can, and should be separated. And it applies to all religions, not just Islam. We can respect the right to believe something without respecting the belief itself. I for one respect no religion, other than my own, but I will defend the right to believe in any of them, at least until acting on such beliefs violates my own natural rights.
[3 PM update]
More thoughts from the Belmont Club:
By choosing to give his speech in Egypt, an authoritarian Middle Eastern country, instead of a more moderate country like Indonesia, he runs the risk of accidentally conveying the sense that democracy is on the back burner. What message does President Obama wish to project when he says “Les Etats-Unis sont “l’un des plus grands pays musulmans de la planète”? Is it of Islam as the future of America or America as the future of Islam? The President’s speech seems innocent enough, but emphasis is important. Didn’t he say, “don’t tell me that words don’t matter?”
In the interview, President Obama says one of the goals his trip is to foster dialogue between the West and the Muslim world. Maybe some communications strategist or public diplomacy consultant has advised “rebranding America” as the sort of place Muslims can identify with. That way it will be an easy sell. What better way to do it than by saying, ‘America is one of the biggest Muslim countries on the planet’. Ich bin ein Mussulman, or however you say it. That won’t necessarily fly; it doesn’t seem to work too well for India, which has a genuinely huge Muslim population. But there’s a hidden danger. His audience can say right: just look at how advanced and rich America is, and it’s one of the largest Muslim countries on the planet. See nothing is broken in Islam. America is proof. There comes a point when rebranding may become misleading packaging.
But hey, “misleading packaging” is the man’s forte, after all.
Great Historical Moments
…ruined by technology. These are pretty funny.
I Dub This “Ecofascism”
“At what point do we jail or execute global warming deniers — Shouldn’t we start punishing them now?”
Yes, they are obviously enemies of the people and the planet. They cannot be allowed to continue their thought crimes.
Comparing Software Installation
Between Linux and Windows. Well, it’s no surprise — we always knew that one was much more difficult than the other.
A Motorcycle Dispute
Over at Winds of Change. While Marc gets the better of the argument, and I’ve been long on record that Harleys completely suck and the world would be a much better place without them, I have to admit that a bike called the Hypermotard sounds like something that someone would ride after missing the short bus.
What Did He Expect?
Marty Peretz is shocked, shocked, that Obama only sees one country to be pressured in the Middle East. But I’ll bet he didn’t vote for John McCain.
On Being A Chicken Abortionist
Some meditations. I, too, have sinned, and probably will again in the morning.
On the other hand, there’s the old saying in management seminars about dedication to a project: in a ham and eggs breakfast, the chicken was “involved,” but the hog was committed.
Comments Hygiene Note
I finally got fed up with “jack lee” today. The last-straw comment can be viewed here. He will no longer be endimmening us with his ignorance and stupidity, at least with that IP address.
Commenting here is not a right. It is a privilege, and one that he has been abusing (as he abused our intelligence) for years. No more.
“A Conspiracy of Euphemism”
Thoughts on selective self-censorship by the press:
The news reader, Nora Raum, outlined the incident and stated that the shooting appeared to have “religious motivations.” She did not name the suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, or tell NPR listeners what those religious motivations might be. In other words, it could have been a radical Unitarian who gunned down the soldiers, or possibly a violent Presbyterian.
Why the shyness? Why not tell people what is actually happening in the world? We saw this a couple of weeks ago, when the press only gingerly acknowledged that the malevolent though incompetent suspects in the synagogue bombing-conspiracy case in New York were converts to Islam. How is the public served by this kind of silence?
As noted, it’s only one religion that seems to be fair game for discussion as motivation for criminal behavior.