McCain in Tonight’s Debate

Bin Laden’s Lonely Crusade | Politics | Vanity Fair. Is al-Qaeda simply going to wither away? Yes, with a little help, though not in the short term. History shows that small, violent groups can sustain their bloody work for years on end with virtually no public support. However, embedded in the DNA of groups such as al-Qaeda are the seeds of their own destruction.  To begin with, al-Qaeda and allied groups have launched terrorist campaigns from Iraq to Indonesia that have killed thousands of Muslim civilians. For groups that claim to be defending Muslims, this is not an impressive achievement.…

Separate Justice System for Muslims – NYTimes.com. Since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, genuine concerns about national security as well as politicking and fear have led to a shift in the balance between civil liberties and law enforcement. That much is indisputable, and widely discussed. Yet it’s rarely acknowledged that the attacks have also led to what’s essentially a separate justice system for Muslims.

Follow the link. Really good interview on the topic. The interviewer also clearly did his homework, and asked some good questions. The Gist: What the Protests Mean for LGBT Egyptians. Activist and scholar Rasha Moumneh, a researcher with Human Rights Watch who works with feminist and LGBT groups in the Middle East, including Egypt, spoke with me on the show from Beirut on Tuesday about what the protests might mean for LGBT Egyptians, who’ve long been brutally repressed by the Mubarak regime.Here is the full interview.