September 2008

If there is any video you watch online today, it’s this one.

It’s sooo funny, I almost died with laughter. Pure genius! Seriously, whether you’re a Donkey or an Elephant, you gotta admit that this is hilarious as hell.

Yeah, without the prepared and carefully worded speeches, Palin sadly exposed herself as a disaster, but on the bright side, we now at least have this priceless entertainment.

Gosh, I’m still laughing.

WATCH IT!

Can we get a McBama or a pre-Iraq war Collin Powell please?

No?

Oh well, good luck America. And great luck to the rest of us.

Uh, um, chili is not cold, and I went to the supermarket because light travels from the sun when I yawn and then he disagreed since 1987 beyond Tom Cruise until monkey banana.

Gosh, this is so bad, it’s not even funny. Heck over at Pajamas Media you even have people wondering whether Bobby Jindal would have been a better choice.

This is so absurd.

On the other hand, this is funny.

Seriously McCain, given your not-so-young age, the least you could have done is pick a more articulate and qualified candidate for vice presidency, you know, just in case God forbid the situation arises.

Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari is one of my favorite liberal Arab intellectuals. Believe it or not, he’s also the former Dean of Islamic Law at Qatar University.

Next time you hear people asking you “where are the moderates,” show them this video.

Don’t say they don’t exist. We’re everywhere, but we need to start “shouting” louder.

Enjoy and yaaay to liberalism.

The last bit about Germany is interesting too.

I know this is old news, but still. When I first read about it, my initial reaction was anger at what I saw – and still see – as a travesty. I thought to myself “what the hell is wrong with you Brits?”

Seriously, what is wrong with you Brits? It doesn’t look to me like you’re doing enough.

ISLAMIC law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.

The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.

Here’s what stood out to me.

Under the act, the sharia courts are classified as arbitration tribunals. The rulings of arbitration tribunals are binding in law, provided that both parties in the dispute agree to give it the power to rule on their case.

It’s good to see that the process is voluntary, but I don’t feel comforted nonetheless. Something tells me, many Muslim women will be coerced into giving such an agreement.

… There are concerns that women who agree to go to tribunal courts are getting worse deals because Islamic law favours men.

Gee, ya think so? Oh my!

I don’t see this as a good development, mainly because I suspect too many Muslim women won’t step into these sharia courts voluntarily. Plus, it doesn’t set a good precedence. Who knows, soon you might have other religious groups demanding their own religious courts. I’m sure having different legal systems should be fun.

Yaaay to Britain where multi-culturalism is taken to an extreme sometimes.

A friend of mine sent me the following article to dispute an earlier post I wrote.

Here’s the excerpt I want to highlight.

Nationwide, there are about 42 million registered Democrats and about 31 million Republicans, according to statistics compiled by The Associated Press.

The Democrats have posted big gains in many competitive states, including Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado and Florida. They have also been targeting historically Republican southern states.

Hmmm…

That’s a huge difference, a difference of 11 million voters.

Americans in da house, what do you guys think? Historically, has there ever been such a big difference in the numbers of registered voters in both parties?

Here’s a simple and decent summary about a group of early Muslims I’m increasingly fascinated by.

The Mutazilites belonged to very early school of thought (9th century CE) in Islam which stressed human free will and the justice of God. They attempted to find a “middle path” between the heretical Kharijites and more orothodox beliefs by asserting a “rationalist” method of interpretation.

This rationalist method was, in turn, derived from the philosophical writings inherited from ancient Greece. The Mutazilites urged Muslims to turn away from a strict, legalistic faith and instead transform Islam into a more humanistic religion. The Mutazilites were supported and encouraged by the leaders of the Abbasid Caliphate, but they also threatened the position and traditions of many religious leaders. These in turn eventually succeeding in suppressing the Mutazilite ideas, leaving Greek humanistic philosophy to European Christians to later develop and learn from – leading first to the Renaissance and later to the Enlightenment.

I believe we desperately need more Muslim Neo-Mu’tazilites. Personally, many of their ideas resonate well with me as do those of Muslim philosophers like Ibn Rushd, affectionately known as Averroes in the West, where he actually ended up having more influence than in the Islamic world.

So why do we need more Neo-Mu’tazilites you ask? Well, one of the main problems I see with Islamic theology today is the dominance of dogmatic literalism and the inadequate emphasis placed on reason. For that you can go ahead and thank the Traditionalists. As for the crazed, puritanical Wahhabis, give them a big hug for their role in all of this. They so deserve it.

Meanwhile, allow me to end this post with a favorite and very pertinent quote.

“If I don’t have the freedom to disbelieve, I cannot believe” — An-Na’im

Related:

• Kant on Reality and Empericism.

Sarah Palin without a doubt has invigorated the McCain camp in a pretty significant way.

I mean let’s face it. Just about a week ago, McCain was the old, dull and boring guy that the media couldn’t be bothered too much with. It was Obama fever all over the place, and when Biden got into the picture, the fever got even hotter.

Then unexpectedly, Palin comes onto the scene and BAM, attention shifts. The Alaskan politician who only just days ago was virtually a no-name politician in the United States, is all of a sudden the most talked about woman in the whole damn world.

I bet McCain is happy with his VP pick and how she’s brought the spotlight.

Palin’s entry should not be ignored and perceived as inconsequential to the race. While I think the overall momentum at the moment is still left-leaning, I think McCain has a pretty good chance of winning now.

Sure, most Americans still dislike Bush, and they’re unhappy with the economy and the higher unemployment rate, but by just going through the comments sections of blogs in the American Rightosphere, you can see a huge boost in enthusiasm.

Previously, most comments reflected lots and lots of frustration and bitterness towards Obama. The Elephants’ self-esteem didn’t look too good. The media was all over Obama. Plus, McCain is not exactly known for being an excellent orator.

The dinosaur puts me to sleep sometimes.

Enthusiasm is important, because if potential voters get enthusiastic enough, they will show up in bigger numbers at the voting booth.

Karl Rove helped Bush get elected and then re-elected because he knew exactly how to mobilize the conservative base. He turned things like gay marriage and abortion into red hot issues that got conservatives all worked up… worked up enough to show in bigger numbers. That was his genius.

Palin managed to really pump up things for people on her side. She turned into a loved figure over night amongst many, if not most conservatives. Furthermore, she could turn drilling and energy policy into a key issue, and hence, establish herself as a credible authority on the subject. But more importantly, she has made conservatives excited.

She uplifted their morale.

Given things as they are right now, I still believe Obama has the bigger chance of winning BUT… if Palin and the McCain camp manage to get their base mobilized fast and adequately enough, they just might end up grabbing the White House.

~~*~~*~~*~~ 

As for what I think, I gotta say that while I love Palin’s fierceness and libertarian leanings, her religious worldview turns me off in a heinous way. It’s disturbing to know that somebody who blurs the line between separation of church and state like she does, can be a heartbeat away from the presidency. As for Biden, I’m very reluctant to embrace him thanks to his interventionist stance on Darfur. His addition to the Obama camp means more hostility towards Sudan, which brings me to this.

Too little pressure, like what the Elephants are doing now, and the situation won’t change much in Sudan. Too much pressure and hostility, like what the Donkeys might very well end up doing, and you risk screwing up the situation badly turning it into a Somalia-like scenario.

This doesn’t even begin to go into Iraq, Iran, genuine support of liberalism and democracy, terrorism,  the re-rise of Russia, boosting the global production of Prozac, protecting endangered pandas, and legalizing marijuana.

Hmmm…

I gotta admit, trying to be a non-partisan “independent” can be a total bitch sometimes. Not only that, but at times, I really do feel that ignorance is indeed bliss.

I’m going for a swim.

Meanwhile, Sarah Palin fever continues.

Some dude left a pretty interesting comment in the comments section of an older post I wrote, but I can’t clarify if it’s true or not.

Here’s the comment (posted by Asaru Nun Atun on August 22nd, 2008 8:05 am):

Shalom luk wa Barukuwth a’l Ent. I am student of Rabbi: Dr Malachi Zodok york El/also known as Issa Al Haadi Al Mahdi who is from the Sudan of the Mahdi family. He has taught us that before Sudan was an Islamic country it had a large population of nubian poeple that were Judaic tribes, before and after the destruction of the temple mount in Jerusalem during the time of 70 A.D.

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Kareem Amer is getting harassed in jail by the tyrannical idiots keeping him in there and the other inmates.

Spread the word if you can.

And I mean literally deadly diarrhea…

… then on one hand, we could end up with an old dude who’s heavily experienced, and one the other hand, we could end up with a hardly experienced woman from Alaska.

Given the ages of Obama and McCain, there’s a higher probability we could end up with the Alaskan inexperienced female as President of the USA.

Sweet right?

But hey, there’s more.

Today’s highlights are none other than these annoyingly amusing statements made by Obama and Palin about the war in Iraq.

Okay, so let’s get started with Obama:

LANCASTER, Pa. – Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Thursday that the escalation of U.S. troops in Iraq, which he had opposed, has succeeded in reducing violence “beyond our wildest dreams.”

But Iraq still has failed to achieve the political reconciliation and self-sufficiency that is required, he said, and he vowed to withdraw American troops and end the war.

Awww, so he admits the Surge succeeded but nonetheless still wants to withdraw asap and squander all the significant progress that has been made in the last few months?

Wonderful!

I prefer McCain’s position and I’m glad the Elephants finally stopped being stubborn and started talking to Iran… but, I admit I do get ticked off when I read things like today’s second highlight, a super comforting comment by Palin:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a “task that is from God.”

… “Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God,” she said. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God’s plan.”

Thank you dear. That’s just the sort of thing we need: more religion fused with politics.