Going Nuclear

CIA: Saudi Arabia will go nuclear

Will the world be a safer place with Islamic nuclear powers? At least one Islamic cleric has said publicly they would use nuclear weapons against Israel if they had them. Arabs are chomping at the bit to get rid of Israel. Israeli says; "Never again!" There are many Jews who would be willing to bring down civilization as we know it rather than see their people burned in the ovens another time. Who could blame them? Is this the beginning of the end?

No Apology Needed

The chairman of the Muslim Society for Wales wants an apology from Lord Of The Rings actor John Rhys-Davies.

I BELIEVE in racial equality not racial discrimination. All I was commenting on was that there are cultural changes taking place in Europe that I consider to be unacceptable.

The fact that a minister of the French government has to fly to Cairo to talk with one of the religious heads in one of the mosques to get his approval for a ban on headscarves can be seen in two ways.

One, is how wonderfully culturally sensitive. The other, it seems to give an authority to a wholly unelected figure well outside Europe's jurisdiction.

I am really proud to be living in a society that accepts women as our equals, that accepts civilised discourse that allows people to hold different opinions without coming to any act of violence.

Here in America when that earthquake happened in Iran the reaction of everyone I knew was horror and dismay, the reaction of everyone when they heard that the old woman had been brought out alive long after they thought there was anyone there was absolute awe at the extraordinary capacity of the human spirit to survive. Contrast that with people jumping up and down and clapping at the 9/11 disaster in certain countries.

I don't think that Western society is opposed to Islamic society at all. I think a very important part of Islamic society is opposed to Western society.

They say he just doesn't understand Islam. Perhaps he understands more than they'd like.

Bill Clinton Understands

Speaking at a conference in Saudi Arabia, former President Bill Clinton told a Muslim audience Islam's founder Muhammad would have let women drive if cars had been around 1,400 years ago

Clinton said, however, Muhammad would have let his wife get behind the wheel.

"He probably would have made Saudi Arabia the first automobile producing nation on earth and put her in charge of the business," he said, according to Reuters.

Oh yeah, he understands.

Preserving Civilization

Dennis Prager: Why Democrats use the F-word

Curse of Intelligence

Wesley Clark and the curse of intelligence

The truth is intelligence is not synonymous with success. A certain amount can be very helpful, to be sure, but beyond a certain point, the ability to see diverse possibilities starts to become a hindrance. It is much easier to weigh the odds of three or four options than it is to balance 10 or 12, and it takes less time, too. As data gathering and processing capability increases, the ability to focus and ignore unwanted information becomes increasingly important. Otherwise, there is a tendency to become either paralyzed with doubt or divorced from reality as one gets lost in elaborate probability models.

It does seem that the more successful people have the ability to get the job done without worrying about the what ifs and, quite frankly, sometimes they aren't smart enough to realize that they can't do what they are doing. If only I was that dumb.

To the average man, one of the great mysteries of life is how brilliant academics can be so reliably stupid. This is because there appears to be a strong correlation between one's level of intelligence and the importance one places on the abstract as opposed to quotidian reality. Thus, a brilliant Marxian economist can dismiss a century of total socialist failure with a wave of the hand, because none of the historical real-world applications precisely matches the theoretical vision in his head.

But, I'm glad I'm not smart enough to believe socialism is good.

Vatican Denial

Pope never commented on Gibson's 'Passion' film, says papal secretary

According to published reports, McEveety and Michelini said Archbishop Dziwisz told them the pope reacted positively to the film and said, "It is as it was."

But, Archbishop Dziwisz told CNS, "That is not true."

"I said clearly to McEveety and Michelini that the Holy Father made no declaration," the archbishop said.

The truth or backtracking?