The news is going around breathlessly that 50.4% of births in the US in the past 12 months were to families categorized as ethnic minorities, presaging the time when ‘whites will be a minority’ in the US. The unselfconscious deployment of these categories just takes your breath away. Who gets to decide which ones are […]
Egypt’s Tantawi Pledges no first Strike Abroad, Fair Elections at Home
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi addressed Egyptian troops on Wednesday and attempted to raise their morale for praising them as the guarantors of Egypt’s security. Al-Masrawi reports: “Field Marshal Tantawi said, “We are heading in the right direction.” He deplored the allegations that sometimes issue from activist organizations “that we are in enmity with this state […]
Omar Khayyam (130) On Forgiveness and Falling off the Wagon
I singlehandedly keep this bar afloat. My heart has bled with repentance a couple thousand times. But if I don’t go on sinning, what would divine mercy do? He can’t bestow forgiveness unless I keep falling off the wagon. Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 130
Thomas Jefferson on Polytheism and Atheism (Poster)
Charges of Afghan Army Torture Prevent British Detainee Transfer (Stickler)
Angus Stickler writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: British troops have been banned from transferring suspected Taliban prisoners to the Afghan authorities because of claims of torture by local forces. The move, which follows a ruling by the British High Court, is a blow to Nato countries that want to formalise their detainee transfer […]
Top 10 Green Energy Good News Stories Today
1. The Department of the Interior has given the green light to a power transmission line that is intended to bring power from Google, Inc.- backed offshore wind farms in the Northeast of the US to the mainland. Environmental impact studies will take 18 months to two years. The US, unlike Germany, so far has […]
Legalize Pot, Save Public Education, and end Student Indebtedness
College students and graduates in the United States have a debt crisis on their hands, owing a trillion dollars. Some 80% of university students attend public colleges and universities, which were set up to provide inexpensive education. These public institutions are increasingly expensive, however, in large part because [pdf] state legislatures have systematically cut their […]
Omar Khayyam (129) “No one ever returned”
We travelled far and wide over desert wastes, and journeyed toward the horizon. We never met anyone coming from other direction. When once they set out on that path, no one ever returned. Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 129
Top Ten Ways the US Military can Avoid Teaching Hatred of Muslims
The Pentagon brass are condemning a course on Islam taught at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., which mischaracterized mainstream Muslim persons and organizations as radical, violent extremists, and called for treating the Muslim civilian populations the way the Japanese at Hiroshima were treated. Those who took the class were encouraged to think […]
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