An important moment for the freedom of speech in Europe, more specifically Denmark: Danish Court Rejects Cartoons Lawsuit. The City Court in Aarhus rejected claims by seven Danish Muslim groups who said the 12 drawings printed in Jyllands-Posten were meant to insult the Prophet and make a mockery of Islam. Islamic law forbids any depiction of the Prophet, even positive ones, to prevent idolatry. “It cannot be ruled out that the drawings have offended some Muslims’ honor,” the court...

Lesson 1. Know how to present yourself. Sound knowledgable, likable and humorous while you’re, in fact, working very hard at destroying all existing opposition.

Michael Barone had the privilige – together with seven other conservative columnists – to interview U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday afternoon. Michael reports about it for USNews here. It – logically – provides for an interesting read and more: he also posted an MP3 audio recording of the entire, one hour long, interview. Bush, in essence, repeated his general message: First of all, Bush started off with a lengthy monologue, trying to put a historical perspective...

Karl Rove, the president’s top political adviser, is interviewed by radio talk show host Sean Hannity, right. Hannity and 39 other mostly conservative radio hosts were invited to join top officials and broadcast from a large tent on the White House grounds. Story, A7. (By Susan Biddle — The Washington Post) Peter Baker reports for the Washington Post that the GOP has decided to use the same strategy it used in the last “two campain cycles”. The strategy, quite simply, is...

The Washington Post published a column written by Richard Holbrooke. It’s a great read. As all of you have witnessed, my opinion about Iraq has evolved. It seems to me that Holbrooke’s view on Iraq makes a lot of sense and I agree with it full-heartedly. Your real choice comes down to escalation or disengagement. If victory — however defined — is truly your goal, you should have sent more troops long ago. You and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld say that the commanders in...

As always a great post by Shaun D. Mullen over at Kiko’s House: It’s still the economy, stupid. Why such a dramatic disconnect? * While the gross domestic product has been going up, employment has stayed flatter than a flounder. The upshot is that the rich get richer, feeding those spectacular Wall Street numbers, and almost everyone else gets poorer. The boom that Kudlow and his fellow travelers babble on about is passing the Sixpack family by. Jane and Joe have no money to invest,...

©2006 Galerie Beckel-Odille-Boicos A self-portrait of William Utermohlen in 1967, top, and 2000, above The New York Times reports about a wonderful – albeit heart-breaking – exibition: When he learned in 1995 that he had Alzheimer’s disease, William Utermohlen, an American artist in London, responded in characteristic fashion. “From that moment on, he began to try to understand it by painting himself,â€? said his wife, Patricia Utermohlen, a professor of art history. Mr....

No mobile phonecalls for me anymore: Men who use mobile phones could be risking their fertility, warn researchers. A new study shows a worrying link between poor sperm and the number of hours a day that a man uses his mobile phone. Those who made calls on a mobile phone for more than four hours a day had the worst sperm counts and the poorest quality sperm, according to results released yest at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in New Orleans. Doctors believe the damage...

Commenter ‘Interested’ informed me that he just casted an ‘early vote’. To be honest, I am not familiar with this concept. Anyone else voting early as well? What were your experiences? And, if you like to share, how did you vote? P.S. ‘Interested’ also informed me that they made it quite difficult for him to cast his vote. In his opinion, purposefully. What did they do? They did not open the door for him and did not offer him a cup of coffee. Unacceptable! Just...

Outside A vase No, a bowl On a wooden table two feet high and three feet wide Rain and wind Blistering thunder! The bowl… falls

Not too long ago, I read a book (Erfstukken: pieces of inheritance) by one of the Netherlands’s most respected journalists: Paul Witteman. He is not just a great political journalist, but also an expert regarding classical music. Anyway, an important part of the book or more of an essay actually, was dedicated to the belief that ‘talent’ decides who will be a successful musician and who will not. Well, he wrote that most of that belief is nonsense. After doing research, so he wrote,...

I am one of those annoying people who greatly enjoy making ‘personality tests’. I just found this one at CCN.money (via an article I plan to write about later today). If you enjoy tests too, take it and drop a comment with your result in the comment section of this post. My result: Your final score: 24 out of 30 ANALYSIS: You have a balanced view of what is within your control and what is not. Your responses to circumstances are fluid and complex, leaning toward internalism in some situations...

From The Guardian: Tony Blair will put pressure on the Iraqi government today to demonstrate that its security forces will be ready to take over from the British army in southern provinces within roughly a year. Amid mounting international concern over escalating violence, Mr Blair is expected to use today’s Downing Street talks with Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Barham Saleh, to discuss plans for an exit strategy for British troops, with some ministers openly contemplating withdrawal...

French police are speaking out more and more: the violence from immigrant ‘youths’ is escalating and has developed into a, almost religious, war against the French police. Michel Thooris, head of the small Action Police union, claims that the new violence is taking on an Islamic fundamentalist tinge. “Many youths, many arsonists, many vandals behind the violence do it to cries of ‘Allah Akbar’ (God is Great) when our police cars are stoned,” he said in an interview....

Good news for a lot of commenters here at TMV (quite some people seem to think highly of Obama): Senator Barack Obama admits considering a run for president in 08. The Illinois Democrat said he could no longer stand by the statements he made after his 2004 election and earlier this year that he would serve a full six-year term in Congress. He said he would not make a decision until after the Nov. 7 elections. “That was how I was thinking at that time,” said Obama, when asked on NBC’s...

Yeah… emancipation of women right? Another great column in today’s WaPo. This time one about the veil: Yvonne Ridley explains why we in the West interprete the veil and Koranic verses completely wrong. In fact, so she argues, the Koran is great! for the emancipation of women. Charles has some background information on Yvonne Ridley: Yvonne Ridley is a member of George Galloway’s RESPECT party, and has written numerous essays defending Islamic terrorism. She described those murdered...

Jan Pronk The Sudanese government told UN Envoy Jan Pronk (Dutchman) to leave Sudan within three days time after he – according to the Sudanese government – was involved in psychological warfare against it. What did Jan Pronk do that was so terrible? He wrote on his personal weblog ‘that Sudanese army losses in recent fighting in northern Darfur “seem to have been very high. Reports speak about hundreds of casualties in each of the two battles, many wounded soldiers and many...

Will the Democrats be able to take control of the US Senate? According to the WaPo they have, at least, “significantly improved their chances” of doing so.

Albert Pujols homers As I wrote before, I am a big fan of the New York Yankees, but the St. Louis Cardinals is my second favorite team. It is therefore a joy to link to this article in the Washington Post about game one of this year’s World Series. Apparently, some other physical phenomenon, besides the replenishing of energy and the healing of injured body parts, was taking place as the American League champion Detroit Tigers were kicking back this week waiting to learn the identity of their...

From Submission Gaius links to this column in the Washington Post by Asra Q. Nomani. She writes: When dealing with a “disobedient wife,” a Muslim man has a number of options. First, he should remind her of “the importance of following the instructions of the husband in Islam.” If that doesn’t work, he can “leave the wife’s bed.” Finally, he may “beat” her, though it must be without “hurting, breaking a bone, leaving blue or black...

BBC’s Bias As a European conservative, one of the most frustrating networks around is, in my opinion, the BBC. The BBC’s reporting is quite obviously left. Its favorite pet: multiculturalism. Not just multiculturalism though, the BBC is also anti-American and constantly trying not to offend Muslims while giving jack about the opinions of Christians at the same time. Well, what else is new, right? Anyone who watches the BBC every now and then will most likely be convinced of all the...

In yesterday’s debate, Republican candidate for Senator of New York ‘accused’ Senator Hillary Clinton of having ‘Presidential aspirations’. Clinton acknowledged that she has thought about running for the presidency in 2008, but said she is committed to running for Senate re-election. Personally, I like how she transformed an ‘accusation’ (if that is the best you can come up with as an opponent, I am not sure whether you should consider running against Hillary...

Read this post at Dr. Sanity. It is a fascinating post for different reasons. One – to me the most important one – is that it shows a particular kind of reasoning that is – as far as I can tell – present on both sides of the political equation (in the US). It is not just thinking in terms of ‘opposing views’ on what’s best for the US. Instead, the way of thinking is one in which the ‘other side’ is simply ‘evil’ or at least the enemy...

The Washington Post on Nancy Pelosi. She scares me…

When will they – finally – hold themselves responsible? The attack was rough but not unique. In the last three weeks alone, three similar assaults on the police have occurred in these suburbs, which a year ago were aflame with the rage of unemployed, undereducated youth, mostly the offspring of Arab and African immigrants. In fact, with the anniversary of those riots approaching, spiking violent crime statistics across the area suggest not only that things have not improved, but that...