Buying and reading Ayaan's new book (and posting about it) earlier today, reminded me of an article written by her for the American Enterprise Institute, which got published at the AEI website one month ago called Women the Future of Freedom. As with all her brilliant articles, it provides for a great, inspiring and informative read. Please consider reading it and sharing your … [Read more...] about Women the Future of Freedom

The Dutch have voted: according to my fellow Dutchmen, we are the third "most loutish, bad-mannered nation" in Europe. The number one? Russia (vodka). The number two... drumroll... France (no further explanation necessary). The best mannered nations in Europe according to the Dutch: Swiss, Scandinavians and the Belgians. What can I say... we simply like TO PAAAAARTY! H/t … [Read more...] about But Hey, We Couldn’t Vote For America

How can anyone who isn't a mental robot and cares about kids read this and not decide that it's time for a major change in Washington? … [Read more...] about The Foley Scandal: The Big Spin

U.S. President Bush is expected to sign a bill this week which makes it harder for gamblers to place bets on the Internet. Bush was expected to act quickly after Congress approved the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act making it illegal for financial institutions and credit card companies to process payments to settle Internet bets. It also created stiff penalties for … [Read more...] about Bush Fighting Internet Gambling

Can't get enough of The Foley Affair (a.k.a., Foleygate)? I've done a few round-ups (with commentary) over at The Reaction (which I won't bother to cross-post here for fear of overkill): The Foley Affair The Foley Affair: Partisan hypocrisy, personal abuse The Foley Affair: Warning ignored, abuse enabled I'm sure we'll have more, much more -- here, there, and everywhere. … [Read more...] about The Foley Affair

Americans Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello "have won the Nobel Prize in Medicine" earlier today for "for discovering a powerful way to turn off the effect of specific genes". Before I will use an excerpt of the NYT's article explaining this process and its importance, I cannot help but object to the use of the word 'won' in this context. Since when is the Nobel Prize a race? … [Read more...] about Americans Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello Receive Nobel Prize in Medicine

The New York Times reports that a gunman walked into an Amish schoolhouse: six people have, reportedly, died. Among them the gunman. According to early reports, the gunman, described as "not a young person," entered the school about 11 a.m. and took several girls hostage, ordering the boys to leave. When the state police arrived on the scene - the community has no local … [Read more...] about Tragedy At Amish Schoolhouse

So, you know, there was that curfew in Baghdad this past weekend. Remember? Well, according to the AP, "[t]he curfew was lifted early Sunday". And what happened then? At least 23 people were killed in violence Sunday, and 21 bodies were found in Baghdad or to the south, many of them bound and tortured. In the evening, gunmen burst into a frozen food factory in Baghdad, … [Read more...] about The killing continues in Iraq

So these were only "naughty" emails according to White House press spokesman Tony Snow? Not according to ABC -- which now says that emails show now-resigned Congressman Mark Foley sought to meet a male underage page:In addition to explicit sexual language, former Congressman Mark Foley's Internet messages also include repeated efforts to get the underage recipient to rendezvous … [Read more...] about Emails Say Foley Sought To Meet Page

The BBC reports: Austria's opposition Social Democrats have won a surprise election victory, defeating Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel's People's Party. With all but absentee ballots counted, the centre-left Social Democrats won 35.7% of the vote, narrowly beating the the People's Party at 34.2%. But what now? A "grand coalition" of the Social Democratic Party and the People's … [Read more...] about Austria’s electoral uncertainty

Sebastian Mallaby wrote a compelling column for today's Washington Post. His main point: Democrats seem to be unwilling to push through / support certain necessary reform on the one hand, while on the other hand not putting their feet down regarding extremely important issues such as the latest law regarding the treatment / rights of detainees: After years of single-party … [Read more...] about The Democrats’ Problem: No Principles

It is time to say it because you can NOT be a moderate if you condone this: this crew has GOT to go:White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, appearing on CNN this morning, downplayed the Foley scandal. Soledad later noted that Snow "tried really hard to minimize the impact and any kind of political fallout." Soledad asks as "a parent" why any communication between a 16-year old … [Read more...] about White House Spokesman: Foley’s Emails To Teen Were “Simply Naughty” (UPDATED)

(Abdul Qadeer Khan with President Musharraf.) Dina Khan, the daughter of the disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist AQ Khan, has criticised claims made by President Pervez Musharraf in his autobiography, says the BBC. "In her first statement since her father's arrest in 2004, said she wanted to set the record straight. "Dr Khan was put under house arrest after admitting … [Read more...] about Daughter of the Father of the Islamic Bomb Speaks Out

A very interesting post over at Strategy Page called The Joke's on Osama. In short: Osama Bin Laden was once a highly popular figure in many Muslim countries. His 'popularity peak' perhaps, was on 9/11/01. However, five years after the attacks on the World Trade Center Al Qaeda is talking the talk, but no longer walking the walk: Al Qaeda has not been able to carry out attacks … [Read more...] about Osama Bin Laden Losing Popularity

Today I bought Ayaan Hirsi Ali's new book: Mijn Vrijheid: My Freedom. To be honest, I am not sure whether it has been translated into English yet. That being said, I will read it the coming days and will publish a review of the book either Wednesday or Saturday. … [Read more...] about Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s New Book

If Foley thought that he had hit rock bottom, that things could not possibly get worse, well... I guess he has to change his belief system: The FBI has announced that it will examine Foley's notorious e-mails.The FBI announced last night that it is looking into whether former representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.) broke federal law by sending inappropriate e-mails and instant … [Read more...] about FBI To Investigate Foley

"Yes," says Dr James Martin, Britain's leading computer scientist and physicist. This is likely to raise the hackles of groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, especially because Martin himself is a prominent green who has spent much of his large IT and publishing fortune on research into global warming and environmental science, says The Times. "Though nuclear … [Read more...] about Is Opposition To Nuclear Power ‘Irrational’?

Much has been written about the Bush administration turning a deaf ear to the clear warnings before 9/11 about the imminent terrorist attacks. Bob Woodward's new book again brings into focus this fact with a detailed and more chilling account of what transpired between the ex-CIA Chief George Tenet and the powers that be. Here is what the NYT has to say: "Members of the Sept. … [Read more...] about George Tenet & 9/11 : Secrets Out In The Open?

Hurricane Katrina seems to be striking again — only this time as a political storm. The San Francisco Chronicle's blog says it best:While Bush administration defenders say critics are drawing the wrong conclusions from the leaked parts of the NIE report, that Bob Woodward's book is full of "myths", and that the Mark Foley affair is no worse than various Democratic … [Read more...] about The Republicans’ “Perfect Storm” And The Center (UPDATED)

Arizona Senator John McCain, as the Guardian notes, may sense something in the wind:Senator John McCain may have been in Bournemouth phsyically, but his speech to today's Conservative party conference seemed to have a least one eye on the pending midterm elections in the US. With little over five weeks to go before elections for the US Senate and House of Representatives, the … [Read more...] about McCain Criticizes GOP In Great Britain Speech