Best phrasing of the day…

Technorati Tags: New York Times,Bob Herbert,Gun violence,Language,Politics,Political commentary

Here’s the opening para of Bob Herbert’s piece in today’s New York Times:

By all means, condemn the hateful rhetoric that has poured so much poison into our political discourse. The crazies don’t kill in a vacuum, and the vilest of our political leaders and commentators deserve to be called to account for their demagoguery and the danger that comes with it.

Here’s a nominee for best phrasing:  “The crazies don’t kill in a vacuum.”

There are a lot of commentaries holding that the rhetoric of the right wing cannot be proven to have been related to the shooting in Tucson last Saturday.  See, for instance, David Brooks in the same issue of the Times.

Point taken…if you’re looking for specific, direct-line relativity.

Herbert, though, takes the argument; there is no social vacuum in today’s world.

Trust, but verify.

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It’s a start

Technorati Tags: Islam,Egypt,Terrorism,Koran

Here, Dear Gentle Reader(s), is a link to a UND website which contains a statement by an Egyptian Muslim leader repudiating the efforts of certain Islamic extremists to use the Koran to justify killing.

Salient point:

There is no religion worthy of the name that does not regard as one of its highest values the sanctity of human life. Islam is no exception to this rule. Indeed, God has made this unequivocal in the Quran by emphasizing the gravity of the universal prohibition against murder, saying of the one who takes even one life that “it is as if he has killed all mankind.” Islam views murder as both a crime punishable by law in this world and as major sin punishable in the Afterlife as well. Prophet Mohammad said, “The first cases to be decided among the people on the Day of Judgment will be those of blood-shed.”

The Islam that we were taught in our youth is a religion that calls for peace and mercy.  The first prophetic saying that is taught to a student of Islam is, “Those who show mercy are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Show mercy to those who are on earth and the One in the heavens will show mercy to you.” What we have learnt about Islam has been taken from the clear, pristine, and scholarly understanding of the Quran, “O people we have created you from a single male and female and divided you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.”

Terrorism, therefore, cannot be the outcome of any proper understanding of religion. It is rather a manifestation of the immorality of people with cruel hearts, arrogant souls, and warped logic. It is thus with great sadness and outrage that we witness the emergence of this disease in our nation with the recent bombing outside a church in Alexandria that killed tens of Egyptian citizens. There is no doubt that such barbarism needs to be denounced in the strongest of terms, and opposed at every turn.

We need more of this sort of discussion.

Trust, but verify.

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Gaydar Humming…mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Technorati Tags: Owen Honors,Culture Wars,VirginianPilot

Um, Dear Gentle Reader(s), this teapot tempest about the Navy officer and his politically-incorrect videos is indicative of not very much, isn’t it?

It’s astonishing to watch one of them as presented by the website of the Virginian Pilot*, but only in the sense of “Huh?”

Even a few years back, when these videos were made, we had evidence of the omnipresence of private information available through the internet.  How could Honors have not known these vids would come back to, er, bite him on the ass?

Besides, I’m not nearly so offended by fag and faggot.  Black men call each other nigger all the time—at least they do on certain tv shows and in certain movies.  Why should I be offended when a man, who most certainly has a strong marriage and enough offspring to crew a small boat, sets my gaydar off?

Let him keep his command, I say.  He’ll do more good than harm after this exposure.

Trust, but verify.

*Thanks to the paper for posting three videos.

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