Monthly Archives: September 2010

Dinesh D’Souza’s poison

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Heather Mac Donald

Forbes magazine has now “fact-checked” Dinesh D’Souza’s infamous September 27 cover story, “How Obama Thinks,” and has uncovered one “slight” misrepresentation, it says, of an Obama speech on the BP oil spill.  Such a “fact-checking” feint is irrelevant to this … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics | Tagged , , | 96 Comments

The Rise of the Orthodox

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

Via The Economist: Just 42% of adult Israeli Jews define themselves as secular, according to recent official figures. The rest range from mildly to devoutly religious. And because the most religious seem to have the most children, the secular figure … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged | 9 Comments

Dhimmitude and demise done well

Posted on September 26, 2010 by David Hume

Sometimes readers will ask about a good book on the history of religion, and I’m pretty hard-pressed to recommend something without qualification, caveat, or caution. But I can recommend The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The markets are rational?

Posted on September 26, 2010 by David Hume

Sarah Palin: Still Not the Front-Runner: …But right now, in autumn 2010, at what seems like a moment of maximal populist outrage and anti-establishment fervor, Sarah Palin can’t crack 20 percent in primary polling, and Mitt Romney (for all his … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged | 19 Comments

Will November be a Pyrrhic victory?

Posted on September 24, 2010 by David Hume

Matt Yglesias explains his recent shift toward liberaltarianism: It was suggested to me by a number of parties this week that I should give some explicit account of why the blog has turned in what you might call a more … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged | 25 Comments

Blasphemy Laws by the Back Door

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

To describe public burnings of the Koran as uncivil behavior is an understatement, but this piece of news doesn’t say much for the state of free speech in Britain: Six people have been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred … Continue reading →

Posted in law | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

“Wisdom” from Facebook

Posted on September 24, 2010 by David Hume

Here’s something I saw on a Facebook discussion which caught my attention: … The idiots who threatened violence over South Park are no more representative of Islam than the idiot threatening to burn Qur’ans is representative of Christianity. Let’s grant … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 5 Comments

Republican Kitsch

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Heather Mac Donald

I heard some of the news conference introducing House Republican’s “A Pledge to America” today.  While some of the individual proposals—such as ending government control of Fannie Mae and repealing the health care law (good luck)–actually have some concrete meaning, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 14 Comments

Magical Thinking Watch: “Promise Neighborhoods”

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Heather Mac Donald

The Obama Administration has announced the latest desperate twist in the country’s nearly half-century-long evasion regarding the central truth of inner-city dysfunction.  Twenty-one social service organizations, schools, and universities have received $10 million to draw up plans for a cradle-to-grave … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 24 Comments

Enslaved on Hajj

Posted on September 22, 2010 by David Hume

Some readers are generally confused as to why I discount to a large extent the influence of official ideology, text, or received tradition, over the long-term course of a religious society. The main reason is that the exceptions to the … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged | 10 Comments