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The Beginning of the End

The October 2006 issue of Vanity Fair contains two important articles, which are worth reading: Empire Falls, by Niall Ferguson, and Under Egypt’s Volcano, by Scott Anderson. In Empire Falls, Fergusson uses historian Edward Gibbon’s theories on the decline and fall of Rome to make an interesting, if not convincing, case for the same state of conditions currently in play in the West. Gibbon’s blamed Rome’s decline on external military overreach, internal corruption, social decadence, religious transformation, and barbarian invasion. Fergusson counters with the War on Terror, the cult of personality, superficiality, reality TV, cultural decline, immigration, and the rise…

Tariq Ramadan misses the point

Yup, Sha’ban hits it on the head. Ramadan says the following in his Washington Post op-ed: No doubt, it is the legitimate right of Muslims to build a community center near Ground Zero. Yet, I believe it is not a wise decision, considering the collective sensitivities in American society. This is a moment to go beyond rights and reach for the common good: To build it elsewhere, if possible, would be a sensible and symbolic move. Doing so does not mean we must accept the false premise that Islam is responsible for 9/11, and it does not mean sacrificing one’s…

Brown People, no more pressure

As many of you have now heard, there were attempted bombings in London and Glasgow Airport. BBC round-up. In case we needed further proof that terrorists are idiots, these guys are doctors who apparently don’t know basic chemistry or physics, so the whole thing failed, thankfully. What have learned from this experience: Doctors are not necessarily smart people. Terrorists are stupid. Doctors who are terrorists are definitely not smart people. For brown children everywhere who are pressured into being doctors, you can now tell your parents with a straight face, doctors are stupid and people fear them. No prestige, no…