In Terror and Liberalism, Paul Berman has a few good ideas which either warranted a newspaper/magazine article or a much thicker book. Unfortunately, we got a 210 page book. The premise of the book is reasonable. Berman tries to compare the Islamists with the totalitarian ideologues of the 20th century, i.e, the fascists and the… Continue reading Terror and Liberalism
Year: 2003
What to Do in Iraq?
Talking about the despicable desecration of US soldiers’ corpses in Mosul, the Poor Man captures some of mythoughts on US involvement in Iraq. If this is true, if this is the way things happened, it is going to be very hard to blame this on Ba’athists, foreign fighters, and “dead enders.” If this is true,… Continue reading What to Do in Iraq?
Grading and More
In case you are wondering, I am alive and well. Just busy with work. Today is grading day for part 2 of the project. So a whole day dedicated to the task. In addition to work, I am being pressured by people (i.e., family, who else) not to spend too much non-work time on the… Continue reading Grading and More
What Is Your Animal Personality?
What Is Your Animal Personality? brought to you by Quizilla Via Ejaz Asi.
What 20th Century Theorist Are You?
Apparently, all these years of grad school have gone to waste. Despite being out of undergrad for a decade, I am still one at heart. You are an undergraduate! Your mind has not yet warped into the utter oddness of contemporary theory. If you put down the beer bong, and start reading dreafully weird theory,… Continue reading What 20th Century Theorist Are You?
My Life in Kashmir VII
Another brother of our Colonel neighbor was an Additional District Magistrate (ADM). He visited us in mid-November and informed us that Sheikh Abdullah had been freed from prison and made Prime Minister of the state on 7th or 8th November 1947….
Nutcases and Murderers
What can I say about the murder of 20 people in Turkey? Near-simultaneous car bombs exploded outside two Istanbul synagogues filled with worshippers Saturday, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 300. The government said the attack had international links, raising suspicions that the al-Qaida terror network was involved. One blast tore apart… Continue reading Nutcases and Murderers
Slavery, Women and Islam
Let us start with a suggestion: Abrogate the bold parts in the Quranic verses below. Quran 23:1-6: Successful indeed are the believers who are humble in their prayers, and who shun vain conversation, and who are payers of the poor-due; And who guard their modesty – save from their wives or the (slaves) that their… Continue reading Slavery, Women and Islam
My Life in Kashmir VI
A few days later, three women came to the house we were staying in. They were the mother, sister-in-law and elder sister of my sister’s friend. The sister-in-law had a deep one inch wide wound in her neck which had become septic…
Political Surveys
You might have heard of the Political Compass survey which asks you a bunch of questions and then maps you on a two-dimensional map where the horizontal axis is for left/right economic views and the vertical axis signifies libertarian/authoritarian. My results were in the left libertarian quadrant (-1.62, -5.33). Tim Lambert has a table with… Continue reading Political Surveys