Foresight or commonsense?

This is prescience I don’t need, from The Guardian:-

Iraq’s political and religious leaders were engaged in a desperate effort last night to stop the country from sliding into civil war after a huge bomb shattered the golden-domed mosque in the city of Samarra, one of Shia Islam’s most revered sites.
At least six people were killed as demonstrations and armed clashes erupted across southern Iraq, and there were retaliatory attacks on Sunni mosques in Baghdad as thousands of furious Shia Muslims took to the streets. In an apparent reprisal attack, gunmen in police uniforms seized a dozen Sunni men suspected of being insurgents from a prison in the mainly Shia city of Basra and killed 11 of them, police and British forces said.

Appeals for unity and calm were made by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s senior Shia cleric, and the president, Jalal Talabani, who warned that Iraq was in “grave danger” and urged Iraqis to work together to prevent a civil war.

The calls were echoed in Washington and London. President George Bush pledged American financial help to reconstruct the mosque. “Violence will only contribute to what the terrorists sought to achieve by this act,” he said. Tony Blair, who also promised help with the rebuilding, said the attackers’ aim was to foment violence between Shias and Sunnis, and urged both communities not to “fall into the trap”.

Grow up

Personally I don’t think maturity has a lot going for it. In fact a short consultation with people who know me will be able to confirm that this is a conviction I take seriously.

For like-minded juveniles, click here to artfully demolish my website….

Iraqi sectarianism explodes

The opening shot of the Iraqi Civil War?

Where’s the left-wing satire gone?

Mark Steyn wrote earlier this year about the lack of humour among the political left, published this January in the National Review, the article protested: -

Occasionally I get asked by a reader what it will take to finally scuttle contemporary western progressivism. And, having mulled it over for a few years, I’m convinced the left will be done in by its humorlessness. By comparison, as we can see from the Arab street’s loony tunes jumping up and down over the Danish cartoons, Islam seems to have done a much better job than Stalin ever managed in persuading its populations to take everything so damn seriously. But it’s a tougher sell to western multiculti types. Aside from those employed by the grievance-mongering industry, I don’t believe there’s many people who can read a report that affirmative action discriminates against black people without having a massive guffaw along the way. And that’s the problem: there’s gazillions of people who are pro-affirmative action, pro-abortion, pro-environment, pro-“peace”, pro-pretty much the entire lefty agenda, but they’re also pro-having a laugh, and that’s increasingly difficult when the left requires you to take everything so seriously.

I have to say I think Steyn is right. The Left, which historically has been the bastion of satire, has become overtly serious, as its control of the debate has increased. As society slips further under the control of the PC crowd, the left’s sarcastic dissent has been replaced by the dour seriousness of its own self-importance.

Beyond the still brilliant cartoons of Steve Bell and Martin Rowson, one fails to find a sense of humour in left-wing commentary, which is always so righteous, bumptious, and po-faced. The satirical floor has been left open to the jibes and taunts of the centre-right, as they sit on the outside, poking fun at the mess the liberals are making. Satirists such as P.J. O’Rourke and Boris Johnson join Steyn in highlighting the glaring hypocrisies in the left-wing argument: abortion, democracy, and political correctness. And even here in the UK we now have the pro-market, pro-Iraq, centre-right ribbing the left. The two articles below convey the growing satirical confidence of the Centre-Right….

Michael Gove in today’s Times pitching his alternative Hollywood narratives:

Treatment 1 — The Distant Almoner

A modern morality tale that examines how Big Pharma interacts with the developing world. Carl (Ralph Fiennes) is a brilliant biochemist who produces a breakthrough drug that could cure cancer. The development costs have been massive, but after years of work his company could be on the verge of ending misery for millions.

Before the drug can be released, however, Carl’s company faces a crucial court case. A team of radical activists led by Rosa (Rachel Weisz), who is lead singer with a band called No Logo, has demanded that Carl’s company sell all its drugs at below cost price in the developing world.

In a crucial heart-tugging scene, we see Rosa cradling a sick child in her arms and crying to herself at the heartlessness of big business which insists that drugs make a profit. Then, as the camera pulls out, we see the cheering crowd at Glastonbury acclaim the moment. Rosa celebrates the success of her call to the world to care by sharing a huge spliff with the rest of No Logo in a sublime moment of togetherness. Rosa’s dealer (a cameo role for Robert Downey Jr) salutes her commitment to tackling the empty commercialism of pharmaceutical companies by delivering an impassioned speech explaining why the market cannot be left to dictate the supply of drugs……

Also in the Times, published yesterday, David Aaronovitch gives us insight into a parallel universe: -

From a Reuters report, Rome, some time around now

The Vatican has protested in “the strongest possible terms” against the publication in paperback of Dan Brown’s bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Cardinal Loopi, of the Office of the Defence of the Faith, condemned the book for defaming Catholicism and, in its suggestion that Jesus Christ was married, of heresy. “We demand that the book be destroyed and that the author be punished,” said Loopi, “otherwise we cannot be held responsible for how Catholics throughout the world may react.”

Excerpt from a speech by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor

Merkel: “The affront to the honour of the one true Church is in fact an affront to the worship of God, and to the seeking of truth and justice, and an affront to all the prophets of God. Obviously, all those who harm the honour of the one true Church . . .”

Crowd: “Death to Dan Brown.

Death to Dan Brown.

Death to Dan Brown.

Death to Dan Brown.”

From the Paris correspondent of al-Jazeera

A Lyons priest today offered half a million euros and a top-of-the-line Toyota as a reward to anyone who killed Dan Brown or any executive of the Da Vinci Code publishers, Jonathan Cape. Speaking to a 1,000-strong crowd gathered after Mass outside the church of St Marie-la-Vierge, Fr Jules Monbiot announced that the offer was “a unanimous decision by all bishops that whoever insults the one true Church deserves to be killed, and whoever will take this insulting man to his end will get this prize”.

If the left doesn’t get its act together, it will face the sort of ridicule that turned the Tories from natural leaders, into national figures of fun

An apology and a thank you

I know the blog is a little slow today, but I am working on an essay that will be published as soon as it’s completed, hopefully sometime tomorrow night.

Ironically, considering my inactivity, this may end up being the busiest day for traffic since I created the blog, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the readers, and especially those who have found time to contribute comments, they are very much appreciated.

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Oh and congratulations to Arsenal, who beat Real Madrid away tonight 0-1 (Henry).

Creationism assault on UK universities

Last month I wrote about the crisis in American science, as it battles the onslaught of the religious right as they seek to supplant Darwinism (evolution theory), and replace it with ‘intelligent design’, the quasi-scientific theory that dictates that nature is too complex, not to be the product of an intelligent being.

How this is science is beyond me, and the advocates who swear this is not a religious theory, are unable to give any insight as to who created the creator? Confused? You will be.

Well imagine my chagrin when I read this report in The Guardian: -

A growing number of science students on British campuses and in sixth form colleges are challenging the theory of evolution and arguing that Darwin was wrong. Some are being failed in university exams because they quote sayings from the Bible or Qur’an as scientific fact and at one sixth form college in London most biology students are now thought to be creationists.
Earlier this month Muslim medical students in London distributed leaflets that dismissed Darwin’s theories as false. Evangelical Christian students are also increasingly vocal in challenging the notion of evolution.

In the United States there is growing pressure to teach creationism or “intelligent design” in science classes, despite legal rulings against it. Now similar trends in this country have prompted the Royal Society, Britain’s leading scientific academy, to confront the issue head on with a talk entitled Why Creationism is Wrong. The award-winning geneticist and author Steve Jones will deliver the lecture and challenge creationists, Christian and Islamic, to argue their case rationally at the society’s event in April.

“There is an insidious and growing problem,” said Professor Jones, of University College London. “It’s a step back from rationality. They (the creationists) don’t have a problem with science, they have a problem with argument. And irrationality is a very infectious disease as we see from the United States.”

Well it seems irrationality is alive and well on this side of the pond also.

Mac Book Pro gets boost…already

Apple have boosted their MacBook Pro clock speeds from a previous max of 1.83Ghz, to 2.0Ghz and 2.16Ghz (CPU), barely a month after the company launched the new range. The 1.83Ghz model remains on sale, but the 1.67Ghz entry level version no longer appears to be available.

Whether this is because of supply issues or simply a red-hot commitment to keep the new notebook at the cutting edge is unclear. The new models can be ordered from the Apple Website today.

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Other Apple News:

PC MAG.COM reported some gossip that Apple plans to abandon OS X for Microsoft’s cumbersome Windows operating system.

No, no, it’s not April yet.

The David Irving trial should collapse…UPDATED

David Irving is a rotter, and a racist, but his current trial in Vienna is a travesty of justice.

Austrian law forbids holocaust denial and Irving faces up to ten-years. Today he pleaded guilty to the charges, claiming that it was pointless to contest the charge as he was clearly in violation of the laws, which date back to the late 1940’s.

The real irony of this case is a statement from the prosecuting State Attorneys office that claimed Irving’s 1989 statements were “a dangerous violation of freedom of speech”. How hypocritical can one be? How can exercising ones innate right of free speech be anything other than a – albeit perverted - celebration of this right, not a violation of it? This highlights the hypocritical position the Austrian authorities now find themselves in.

In this difficult and sensitive time, when conflict between Western liberalism and Islamic sensitivities is raging, we have a European democracy curbing freedom of speech and thought, in the protection of Jewish sensibilities. Could we appear anymore duplicitous? Muslim conspiracy theorists will point to this double standard as proof that the West is a Zionist construct out to destroy Islam. Free Speech that insults the prophet is acceptable, but don’t you dare question the holocaust, or you’ll find yourself at the mercy of the law.

I personally have no doubt that millions of Jews were gassed under the Nazi regime, but any orthodoxy that fears challenge (in many cases it is the extent of the murder, that is questioned) is begging to be toppled.

I loathe Irving, who attended an event in 1994 that also had Klu Klux Klan leader, David Duke, in attendance; but if we are to advocate the right to free speech and the freedom of thought, we must be consistent. We must understand our rights extend equally to those whose beliefs we find odious.

The Austrian authorities are practicing totalitarianism, under the veil of fighting anti-Semitism: nothing better than thought-police.

****UPDATED****

Irving received a 3-year sentence. From the BBC: -

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the UK’s Holocaust Educational Trust welcomed the verdict. “Holocaust denial is anti-Semitism dressed up as intellectual debate. It should be regarded as such and treated as such,” Ms Pollock told the BBC News website.

But the author and academic Deborah Lipstadt, who Irving unsuccessfully sued for libel in the UK in 2000 over claims that he was a Holocaust denier, said she was dismayed.

“I am not happy when censorship wins, and I don’t believe in winning battles via censorship… The way of fighting Holocaust deniers is with history and with truth,” she told the BBC News website.

How true Deborah….how true.

Duck feather combat - New York Style

For an example of New Yorkers going nuts, check out these pictures of the 2006 Union Square Pillow Fight.

Murray wins first ATP tour event

A huge congratulation to Scottish tennis player Andrew Murray on winning his first ATP Tour title last night, coming from behind to beat Aussie Lleyton Hewitt 2-6 6-1 7-6.

Bearing in mind the rising star wasn’t even in top 400 this time last year, he has guaranteed a top 50 placing when the rankings are published on Monday.

Murray’s victory was no fluke as he stunned the San Jose crowd in the semi-finals with a 7-5 7-5 victory over American Andy Roddick, on his home soil. Murray has been quick to downplay his Wimbledon credentials, arguing the frenzied pressure of the British crowd makes winning the tournament additionally hard. Murray also prefers the hard-court surface as opposed to the grass courts of London. Murray argued that he would be better suited to the US Open, where he won as a junior.

It would be fair at this point to tip ones head to Tim Henman, who has received much criticism for failing to claim the Wimbledon prize. Henman proved that British tennis doesn’t have to be an embarrassment, a stagnant pond. You only have to listen to his training partner, the great Pete Sampras, to know that Henman is a skilled and technical player, at his best volleying, attacking his opponent. Henman, although a grass player, was never good enough mentally to overcome the pressure of Wimbledon, and in my opinion was unlucky to have played his best tennis during the Sampras era.

Henman didn’t break the British duck, but he did offer us hope and showed young players like Murray, that British players can be taken seriously.

Murray appears to have a much better all-round game than Henman, offering power and technique to overcome the big hitting top ten players. But as Murray himself has protested, let’s not get carried away.

Congrat’s Andy,

From the BBC: -

“I thought I played really well and got my tactics right, but didn’t execute them well in the first set,” [Murray] said.

“Lleyton came up with some really big serves when I had my first two match points and I almost let him back in, but I managed to come through.

“To win 7-6 in the third set against Lleyton is a dream come true.”

Jyllands-Posten’s Flemming Rose speaks out

Flemming Rose, the cultural editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which is at the heart of the Mohammed cartoons story, has written an opinion piece, published in today’s Washington Post.

Rose makes some good points, and cites Libertarian hero, philosopher Karl Popper, in his defense, but I believe most readers have made up their mind on the issue. I may comment more on this tomorrow, but here are a few paragraphs for your review (although the article really should be digested in full): -

…So, over two weeks we witnessed a half-dozen cases of self-censorship, pitting freedom of speech against the fear of confronting issues about Islam. This was a legitimate news story to cover, and Jyllands-Posten decided to do it by adopting the well-known journalistic principle: Show, don’t tell…

[…]

The cartoons do not in any way demonize or stereotype Muslims. In fact, they differ from one another both in the way they depict the prophet and in whom they target. One cartoon makes fun of Jyllands-Posten, portraying its cultural editors as a bunch of reactionary provocateurs. Another suggests that the children’s writer who could not find an illustrator for his book went public just to get cheap publicity. A third puts the head of the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party in a lineup, as if she is a suspected criminal.

One cartoon — depicting the prophet with a bomb in his turban — has drawn the harshest criticism. Angry voices claim the cartoon is saying that the prophet is a terrorist or that every Muslim is a terrorist. I read it differently: Some individuals have taken the religion of Islam hostage by committing terrorist acts in the name of the prophet. They are the ones who have given the religion a bad name. The cartoon also plays into the fairy tale about Aladdin and the orange that fell into his turban and made his fortune. This suggests that the bomb comes from the outside world and is not an inherent characteristic of the prophet.

On occasion, Jyllands-Posten has refused to print satirical cartoons of Jesus, but not because it applies a double standard. In fact, the same cartoonist who drew the image of Muhammed with a bomb in his turban drew a cartoon with Jesus on the cross having dollar notes in his eyes and another with the star of David attached to a bomb fuse. There were, however, no embassy burnings or death threats when we published those.

[…]

Still, I think the cartoons now have a place in two separate narratives, one in Europe and one in the Middle East. In the words of the Somali-born Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the integration of Muslims into European societies has been sped up by 300 years due to the cartoons; perhaps we do not need to fight the battle for the Enlightenment all over again in Europe. The narrative in the Middle East is more complex, but that has very little to do with the cartoons.

Giuliani a serious contender?

While your first source should be Mr.Zhisou’s comprehensive series on the runners: 2008 Watch, for another interesting review of Ruddy Giuliani’s chances see Andrew Sullivan’s excellent article in today’s Sunday Times review.

New book slates Bush as small government conservative

Johan Norburg is a leading Swedish free-market acolyte and author of the excellent book In Defence of Global Capitalism (don’t be shy, buy it now). On his cracking blog he draws our attention to a new book by Bruce Bartlett, also a leading small government economic liberal. I’ll let Norburg fill you in: -

I CAN´T WAIT TO READ HIS BOOK:

One of the consistent free market/small government conservatives in the US, Bruce Bartlett, has repeatedly criticised president Bush´s spending and trade policies. As a result, NYT reports, Bartlett has now been fired from the conservative think-tank National Center for Policy Analysis.

I bet on two outcomes: the NCPA loses a lot of credibility as an independent institute and Bartlett´s new book, Impostor : How George W Bush bakrupted America and betrayed the Reagan legacy, will be a bestseller. (Thanks Mattias)

Reader request - The Henry Jackson Society

Regular reader Richard W. Symonds has requested reader opinions on the Henry Jackson Society, the neoconservative Cambridge society launched last year.

For more info please refer to this post.

May I ask this hypothetical question of your readers :

If neo-Conservative “crazies” within the present American administration threatened to “peacefully” invade and occupy our country (England) “to protect American interests” (of which there are many), would you resist by the use of force ?

Richard W. Symonds
THE CYRIL JOAD SOCIETY (THE CJS)

I’m sure Richard would appreciate all contributions to the debate.

Brokeback to the Future

I had a good chuckle at this video mock-up, which I found on a forum.

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On the Hi-Fi: Hey, The Pixies

This…is the best version I’ve seen.