A tense situation in Tel Aviv, as a Palestinian informer requesting asylum in Europe infiltrated the embassy, then holed up with what appeared to be a gun. Israeli anti-terrorism units stormed the embassy. The gun turned out to be plastic, and nobody was hurt. The Palestinian man was an informant for Israel who was told by Palestinian terror groups that he'd be killed if he … [Read more...] about Palestinian Informer Attempts Asylum in British Embassy

(click on photo to enlarge) Water crisis in Australia? Yes, this news took me by surprise, especially as I am preparing for my Christmas vacation there. I wouldn't have taken the story seriously but for the fact that it comes from a staid British magazine, The Economist. "The world's driest inhabited continent, Australia is facing water shortages unprecedented in the two … [Read more...] about Australia is becoming thirsty

Aziz Poonawalla at City of Brass discusses Islamic identity and American identity, and notes the synthesis of the two along with how that merging is the whole point of America. When discussing Islamic identity, it is important that we recall the Christian identity that many in the United States profess to have, and to consider why we fear the concept of an Islamic identity … [Read more...] about The context of identity

No, this isn't Katie's doing. At least it doesn't appear to be. So, no, she doesn't deserve the blame (just as she didn't necessarily deserve the blame the last time she was mixed up in a Sign of the Apocalypse (SOTA), our ongoing series at The Reaction — see here). In fact, she claims, she likes the original image, the real Katie, more than the touched-up one. Fair … [Read more...] about The “new” Katie Couric and the manipulation of reality

UN chief Kofi Annan Thursday heads for talks in Syria, a key supporter of Hezbollah, whose stance will be critical to the success of the tenuous ceasefire between the Shiite Muslim movement and Israel, says the Middle East Times. "After failing Wednesday to convince Israel to quickly end its blockade of war-devastated Lebanon, Annan faces in Syria a regime that has taken a … [Read more...] about UN Chief Kofi Annan on ‘Peace Mission’

Learn Arabic for peace! A veteran Israeli military officer is giving this advise to fellow Israelis as the Jewish nation grapples with pressures to make peace with the Arab world post-Lebanon, says DNA World - India's prestigious daily from Mumbai. Avi Azrieli says in the International Herald Tribune that one problem Israel faces is very few Israelis speak Arabic even though … [Read more...] about A Veteran Israeli Military Officer’s Advice

Over at The Reaction, co-blogger The (liberal) Girl Next Door has a provocative post on how elections have become "so last century". She looks at "the ugly reality of how broken our election systems are" and wonders why Democratic leaders aren't making more of this issue. Fore more, see here. … [Read more...] about Elections, shmelections

Last year, almost to the day, I wrote a post on the latest census numbers with respect to the state of poverty in the U.S. -- you can find it here. I quoted John Edwards: "America should be showing true leadership on the great moral issues of our time -- like poverty -- instead of allowing these situations to get worse." I quoted Michael Harrington: "This suffering is such an … [Read more...] about Still the other America: The rise of poverty in the United States (revisited)

In the Western mind when the word Arab seems to have become synonymous with 'terrorism', it is interesting to read such fullsome tributes to an Arab writer. 'Egypt's National Treasure', writes Lev Grossman in Time magazine paying tribute to Egyptian novelist, Naguib Mahfouz, who died Wednesday at 94. "Mahfouz was considered the eminent literary voice of the Arab world — a … [Read more...] about World Media Pays Homage To An Arab Novelist

Wow! This is a royal treat and good news. At a time when Classics are just disappearing from students' mindscape, Google is making available thousands of great old books free to read and download. "Just in time for the start of a new school year," says The Boston Globe. "For now, the Google Book Search service offers full downloads only of 'public domain' books, whose … [Read more...] about Classics on Google: Free Download

What if the dinosaurs had survived? Or Hitler won in 1945? Or the aeroplane had been invented 1,000 years earlier? Would there even be life on earth if the moon had failed to form? Science fiction writer Stephen Baxter takes an interesting look at the possibilities in The Independent. … [Read more...] about “What if…?”….Of World History

It could be the (nearly non-existant) connection at this hotel, but it's impossible to access the email that has parts II and III of our Guest Voice post. As soon as it's sent to us again we'll run the final two installments, on Friday's and Saturday's dated blogs. It's well worth the wait. … [Read more...] about Guest Voice Parts II & III Will Run Friday And Saturday

It could be the (nearly non-existant) connection at this hotel, but it's impossible to access the email that has parts II and III of our Guest Voice post. As soon as it's sent to us again we'll run the final two installments, on Friday's and Saturday's dated blogs. It's well worth the wait. … [Read more...] about Guest Voice Parts II & III Will Run Friday And Saturday

I'm on a 825 mile drive to do a fair in Nevada. Before leaving I did some preventive car maintenance, but on the way to the fair, about 200 miles into my trip, I had a major car problems while heading up a big hill. I had to cancel my reservation down the road at a motel that has a great Internet connection, and drive to a nearby big city instead and get into a hotel here. … [Read more...] about TMV NOTE TO READERS:

Two new additions to my (not the TMV) blogroll get their own personal introductions. "Doing Justice" by K.C. Sheehan, a leftist feminist law professor at Southwestern University. "Security Dilemmas", by Seth Weinberger, an international relations and political philosopher at the University of Puget Sound. … [Read more...] about Introduction To The Club

So says The Washington Post. "After decades on the sidelines, U.S. defense contractors are eyeing India's growing military budget and aging arsenal as a multibillion-dollar opportunity that could help offset a projected slowdown in Pentagon weapons spending and extend production lines for such items as the F-16 fighter. "India has been effectively closed to U.S. defense firms … [Read more...] about U.S. Arms Contractors Eyeing India

Sideways Mencken asks a valid question about our history (and our future):Sixty five years ago we fought a war with Japan following their attack on Pearl Harbor. Within a matter of a few months we were burning down Japanese cities. The Japanese of that era favored wood construction and we dropped incendiary bombs. Later, when the technology became available, we dropped atomic … [Read more...] about The Morality of War

There was a time, and even now, many so-called educated people blamed India's huge population for everything that went wrong in the country. That seems to be changing now. Take for example Thursday's story 'The Next Industrial Giant Is...India?' in the New York Times. "India's economic advancement no longer rests on telephone call centers and computer programmers. "A prime … [Read more...] about India’s Young Population Powers An Industrial Revolution

Scott Adams, whose The Dilbert Blog has had many surprises but managed to avoid a schtick that would become tiresome, has written a post on self-criticism in the context of being American citizens that captures exactly what I have tried to convey in my three years of blogging at Random Fate. From the final paragraph of his post comes a succinct statement of the key idea: I … [Read more...] about Start with step one

According to the Family Research Council, marriages in which multiple pre-adolescent girls (as young as ten) are forcibly conscripted into plural marriages are bad. But gay marriages are far worse. Ugh. … [Read more...] about FRC Morality