Back to blogging!
With my MBA done, I’ll have more time to write so look for posts here thrice weekly!
Halakhah can be amusing!
Can I play Wii with my wife while she is a [niddah] since our cars may touch each other?
— Physical touching is to be avoided, interaction is ok.
LOL!
You might not get this if you’re not Jewish, but I thought that was really hilarious!
More here: “Ridiculous Halachic Answers” on February 6, 2009, on Mystical Paths.
Hallelujah for Obama!
So, after a virtual hiatus, one of my favorite bloggers has returned to blogging, thanks to Obama’s win. So at least one good thing came from Obama’s victory.
Don’t miss out SobekPundit‘s sensibility and wit (yea, verily, his wit doth cut to the very center).
Soldiers = angels
If you want to lighten your heart, there are two pictures you must see. The first is nice, it’s the second (a zoomed verison of the first) that highlights why it’s such a touching picture.
Again, it’s “Trust” on Wednesday, June 25, 2008, by Maryann of Soldiers’ Angels Germany.
Found via “Another Iraqi Child Being Tortured By An Imperialist U.S. Soldier” on Wednesday, July 2, 2008, by DMartyr of snapped shot.
Who found it via “Picture worth a thousand words” on Tuesday, July 1, 2008, by Michelle Malkin.
It’s a stretch, but (Matthew 13:41-43, emphasis added):
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
More understanding = fewer freedoms?
In “More attacks on free speech”, while reflecting on the recent cases involving Mark Steyn and Brigitte Bardot, Geoff of Uncommon Misconceptions posed an interesting thought that is quite germane to the challenges the West and its defenders are facing:
It is one of my biggest frustrations that, as man is supposedly becoming more sophisticated in understanding himself and his societies, we end up with fewer and fewer freedoms, rather than more. That sort of regression is not only nonsensical, but dangerous.
Steyn the Man
As S. Weasel informs us in her post “Free Mark Steyn! (Relatively inexpensive Mark Steyn, anyhow)” Today starts the trial of Mark Steyn for offending Muslims. He did this by publishing a book, America Alone. The suit also is against the Canadian magazine Maclean’s for publishing an excerpt of the book and for not allowing Islamists to hijack the magazine to refute the article.
(See also: “Mark Steyn’s week long show trial begins today” by Five Feet of Fury.)
(Some talking points: “Demo Leaflet #1” by Covenant Zone.)
(Andrew Coyne of Maclean’s will be liveblogging the trial.)
They want Steyn silenced. And they may win. And I will be heartbroken. But I will have hope because Steyn is an American citizen, and he can’t be silenced here. But the Islamists’ victory in Canada will bode very ill for all of us.
The following is the entire article, “The future belongs to Islam”, published on October 20, 2006 in Maclean’s. Once I get home I’ll update the post to reflect what chapter and pages the excerpt is from. (Any errors in formatting are mine.)
The Muslim world has youth, numbers and global ambitions. The West is growing old and enfeebled, and lacks the will to rebuff those who would supplant it. It’s the end of the world as we’ve known it. An excerpt from ‘America Alone’.
Homework
At one point, I didn’t really understand when favorite blosophere figures would complain about having to do homework. How long would it take?
Oh, now I know. With work and homework, one has little free time. I should schedule in time for posts too now.
Muslimehess
Evidently, An Event occurred over at Ace of Spades HQ over virulent anti-Islamic sentiment.
Now, let me make it clear that I am no fan of Islam. Indeed, I find a number of bloggers I admire very much to be way too soft on the issue. But I cannot deny the reality that not all Muslims are the same. There are very many Muslims who love America, who are tolerant, and who are have not a violent bone in their selves. There are many who are otherwise.
While I, and others, may carry on detailed and convoluted discussions as to what “real” Islam is and as to what Islam actually teaches, the fact remains that despite the results of such a debate, Muslims remain varied and with substantial plurality amongst themselves. (And this greatly annoys extremists.)
If someone hates on Muslims, they are hating on Muslims who are quite decidedly non-violent, such as the Nizari and Bohra Ismailis. Or the Lahori and Qadiani Ahmadis. (Indeed, the Ahmadis have been excommunicated by Muslim authorities partly because of their rejection of jihad.) There are even a number of high-profile historical contextualists, such as Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and Amin Ahsan Islahi and Hamiduddin Farahi all of Pakistan, who categorically reject the relevance of violent jihad.
Indeed, the case may be made that Muslims are ferociously debating jihad among themselves, which explains the desperation and fanaticism of the mujahidun (those who wage jihad): they have enemies from within Islam. The debate continues, believe it or not, and the modernists’ message is being spread.
My point is that it benefits no one when we categorically hate on Muslims, when we engage in Muslimehess. There is a difference between hating ideologies and hating a whole group of people. It does not behoove us to engage in the sort of blanket hatred that some of our enemies are wont to do. When we do so, we loose track of the elements among the Muslims that are, wittingly or not, on our side.
New plan
I have a new plan. (Let’s see how long it will last.) I’m going to try to put up posts at least three times a week (I’m aiming for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).
I also plan to diversify a little more: more posts about religion, religious topics, diabetes, languages, politics, and so on. Whatever strikes my fancy.
If anyone still reads here, I do appreciate your patience with me.
We don’t tolerate anti-soldier-ism
In this comment (over at “Don’t Question Their Blah Blah Blah” by Ace of Ace of Spades HQ), it is written:
I’ve told my son (a marine reservist going back for his second 7 month vacation in the cradle of civilization) that I would fully expect him to beat the poodle piss out of anyone spitting on him upon his return. Bail wouldn’t be too hard to come by.
I am grateful that while America may be full of anti-war moonbats, anyone physically spitting on a soldier would find himself or herself on the receiving end of a lot of displeased reactions from ordinary, everyday Americans (civilians especially).
We love our soldiers, we do.
Victory! Maj. Coughlin to be retained by DoD
Thanks to Nice Deb for alerting us: Major Stephen Coughlin, who was to be fired by the Pentagon under pressure from an Islam Hisham (close aide to Gordon England, Deputy Secretary of Defense), and known Islamist-sympathizer, will be retained by the DoD albeit in another area.
For more info, please see:
When the Jihad posts will be appearing
The posts on jihad will begin to appear on Monday, February 4. I had a lot to write, so it will take a few days for all of them to appear. Which is better: better to read it in portions rather than in one large treatise-sized post. How they are divided, what each installment will contain, and what will appear when, will be posted on Monday before the first post.
No post today: next one is on Monday
There will be no post today. Instead, I am working on a two-part thing dealing with jihad. Deo volente, I’ll post it on Monday and Tuesday. The first part will deal with the reality of jihad and the oft-touted “spiritual warfare” element, and the second part will deal with jihad and the authoritative (textual) sources thereof.
The MoxArgon Group: alien observers of earth
I welcome our (potential? future?) alien overlords: The MoxArgon Group under Remulak MoxArgon, Ruler of the Known Universe. These alien watchers, currently writing from Canada, observe and comment on our puny human affairs. They’re quite amusing but always right on.
Another casualty from Islamism: Maj. Stephen Coughlin
Major Stephen Coughlin, employed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was recently fired under pressure from Islamists, most alarmingly the ring-leading Islamist (Hisham Islam) working in the Department of Defense. They opposed his exposé of the rôle of Islamic law (shari’ah) in jihad. Declaiming him to be an extremist and whatnot, endangering the military’s efforts to build bridges with the Muslim community.
(I learned about this from Lady Vorzheva’s blog Spanish Pundit in her post “Terrorismo islámico (III): continuación del caso Stephen Coughlin, el experto anti-terrorista despedido del Pentágono por “islamófobo”” which means “Islamic Terrorism (III): continuation of the case [of] Stephen Coughlin, the anti-terrorism expert fired by the Pentagon for “Islamophobia””. I was a little but surprised I had not heard of this before.) Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes real life has a tendency to interfere with virtual life
No post today. Sorry. Maybe later in the day.
New comment moderation policy
Effective immediately, I will impose a policy of not approving all comments. Rabidly anti-Semitic, rabidly anti-American, and otherwise unacceptable comments may be deleted. I will be going back and purging some comment threads of such comments.
I believe no justification is necessary.
If you submitted a comment and it does not appear, it means I have not approved it yet or I have deleted it. Please e-mail me to enquire. If I purge a comment, I will say so in its place rather than deleting it entirely.
Lack of posting: why
One of the reasons I have not posted lately is because every other day I compose long, multi-part posts. And then I delete them. Either they start rambling or I feel the issue they discuss is not an issue I necessarily want to discuss.
Muslihoon 