The title of this post may be the Clintons’ epitaph.
Reforming Islam?
Let’s hope so:
Commentators say the very theology of Islam is being reinterpreted in order to effect a radical renewal of the religion.
Its supporters say the spirit of logic and reason inherent in Islam at its foundation 1,400 years ago are being rediscovered. Some believe it could represent the beginning of a reformation in the religion.
Turkish officials have been reticent about the revision of the Hadith until now, aware of the controversy it is likely to cause among traditionalist Muslims, but they have spoken to the BBC about the project, and their ambitious aims for it.
Well, if anyone can do it, it seems like the Turks should be able to.
Old Habits Die Hard
Bill Clinton had a Freudian slip while supposedly campaigning for his wife. “If you elect me…”
Strange Internet Problems
As some of you have heard (it seems to be the main news now on cable), Florida had a massive power outage today. It didn’t affect me, except indirectly.
About quarter after one, I heard a little click from my UPS, which usually indicates a power drop, but we didn’t lose power, and even a computer that wasn’t on a UPS didn’t seem to have a problem. But I noticed shortly afterward that I had no internet connection. The DSL modem lights were all working fine, but I couldn’t connect, even after repeated resets. I ended up being on the phone with AT&T for over an hour, and they finally got things working again. They told me that somehow (somehow?) my authentication had gotten screwed up, and that they had rejiggered (or some other technical term) the lines to get it working again. They didn’t believe that it had anything to do with the power outage–that it was just coincidence. I’m skeptical.
Anyway, as you can see, I’m back on line.
No Truth In Labeling
Obama doesn’t want to be called a liberal. Even though his positions seem to be uniformly “liberal” (used here in the modern, statist sense, not the classical sense).
I recall another liberal presidential candidate who didn’t want to be called a “liberal”:
JIM LEHRER: Do you think he successfully painted Dukakis as a liberal?
MS. STEELMAN: Oh, no, the beauty of last night was that he didn’t have to paint at all. Dukakis clearly painted himself as a liberal. His responses were right down the liberal line, every one of them. That was the thing that most of us inside the Bush campaign found most remarkable is that he didn’t even try to move to the center. George Bush, on the other hand, I think has shown himself as a very moderate candidate, a very conservative candidate at the same time, conservative on the issues where the American people believe the Reagan Administration has been successful, interest rates, inflation, economy, and moving forward on other issues where the American people clearly believe we need to have some answers like child care and others. And we think it was a very good debate because we didn’t paint anything. There was no image making. Dukakis is a liberal and it showed. Bush is very much in the mainstream of American values and American opinion. And that showed.
It didn’t work out very well for him.
Did He Call Him A Son Of A Bitch?
In the overzealous law enforcement department, a man was arrested for animal cruelty after yelling at a police dog.
Are Americans Stupid?
Phil Bowermaster has some thoughts:
See how deftly it’s done? Stupid religious Americans, clever “heathen” Europeans. Unfortunately, in the context, this doesn’t make a heck of a lot of sense. Americans are opposed to stem cell research because we’re ignorant religious bigots. Okay, sure. But we’re opposed to nanotechnology for the same reasons? And GM foods?
GM foods? Now wait a second…a lot of Europeans are opposed to GM foods. I bet they would even say it’s on moral grounds! Yet somehow, they manage to pull that off without being either 1) religious or — more importantly — 2) stupid. Personally, I think being morally opposed to GM foods is kind of stupid, and being “morally” opposed to nanotechnology is idiotic. However, I don’t see how American stupidity is dumber than European stupidity; one may be informed by religious belief, the other by a paranoid superstitious dread of scientific progress. Advantage: Europe? If you say so.
I just hope that Americans aren’t stupid enough to fall for Obama, as the Democrats currently seem to be.
Report From Anbar
Another photo essay from Michael Totten:
“Don’t get any closer,” Corporal Waddle said. “We need to stay out of the blast radius in case it blows.”
One Marine, whose name I didn’t catch, accompanied the Iraqi man to the location of the explosive. “It’s an 82mm mortar round,” he said when he returned. “It’s not an IED. Most likely a round that didn’t go off when it was fired.”
Every time I thought something vaguely exciting might happen, it didn’t happen. There is no war in Western Iraq any more. This is a mop-up.
Build A Little, Test A Little
Well, OK, not really. More like build a lot, test a little.
NASA apparently isn’t going to know how serious the vibration problem on the Ares 1 is until they do a flight test.
Words fail.
[Via Shubber Ali, who does have some words]
[Update late afternoon]
No one who know him will be shocked to read that Mark Whittington thinks that this is a great idea.
But of course! How could it not be? NASA is doing it.
Fascism In America
As for the NRA logo, it’s a reminder of the happy days of FDR’s attempts to revive the economy by pouring a bowl of alphabet soup over its face. The NRA, among other things, was intended to prevent the depredations of competition, and “allowed industry heads to collectively set minimum prices,” as this rather scant wikipedia entry notes. (The same page relates the story of the tailor who was arrested for charging 35 cents to press a suit; the NRA rules specified the price at 40 cents. So he was arrested. Consider that the next time someone complains that liberty and civil rights have been eliminated in the last 7 years.)