Can Islam reform?

Little Green Footballs[*1] discusses an article in the U.K.’s Spectator titled “The myth of moderate Islam.” Excerpt:

Muslims must stop this self-deception. They must with honesty recognize the violence that has existed in their history in the same way that Christians have had to do, for Christianity has a very dark past. Some Muslims have, with great courage, begun to do this.Secondly, they must look at the reinterpretation of their texts, the Koran, hadith and Sharia, and the reformation of their faith. Mundir Badr Haloum has described this as ‘exorcising’ the terrorism from Islam. Mahmud Muhammad Taha argued for a distinction to be drawn between the Meccan and the Medinan sections of the Koran. He advocated a return to peaceable Meccan Islam, which he argued is applicable to today, whereas the bellicose Medinan teachings should be consigned to history. For taking this position he was tried for apostasy, found guilty and executed by the Sudanese government in 1985.

Unless there is serious reform within Islam, the 21st Century will continue to see the worldwide resurgence of the most heartless and terrible of all human activities: the religious war. Let me be clear: religious intolerance and violence is not restricted to Islam. We see the depravity of religious war in the Arab-Israeli wars, the IRA “troubles,” the Palestinian problems, attacks of 9/11 and the Spanish and London bombings, among many other atrocities. While religious fanaticism of any stripe holds within it the seeds of sectarian hatred, most religious warfare going on in the world today involves Islam. We are all of us edging towards the brink of a long, long fall. To say “it could get nasty” would be a drastic understatement. The only group right now with the power to pull us back from the brink is the worldwide community of Muslims, because it is the most violent and radical elements of Islam which are pushing us toward global religious war.

Bolton to get recess appointment

Reports say President Bush is set to install known meanie John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. via the seldom-used recess appointment[*1] . It’s seldom used because, as surprising as this may sound, the U.S. Senate actually does come around to doing their job of “advise and consent” more often than not. But sometimes, like now, they are simply derelict in their duty.

“Advise and consent” does not mean “passive-aggressive refusal to consider (i.e. vote on) nominees which require Senate confirmation.” Hey, Senate, if a position is important enough to require the Senate to vote on nominees, isn’t it important enough for, well, um, the Senate to VOTE ON IT??? That’s kinda the key element of a democratic government–he/she who has the most votes, wins.

European probe finds Martian ice lake

Space.com reports that the European Mars Express spacecraft snapped a picture of a small ice lake[*1] . The ice is in an unnamed crater in the Martian northern hemisphere.

The crater is 22 miles (35 kilometers) wide and has a maximum depth of roughly 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) beneath the crater rim.

The ice patch is present all year round, as the temperature and pressure are not high enough to allow the frozen water to escape into the atmosphere.

Goodbye to Division I-AA?

There are three NCAA Division I classifications, differentiated by the nature of the football program at the various schools. Division I-A schools offer 85 football scholarships, Division I-AA offers 63 scholarships (also allowed are zero-scholarship programs in I-AA), and Division I-AAA schools do not run a football program at all.

A commonly held view is that the I-AA designation relegates otherwise D-I schools to second-class status. Nobody calls Georgetown or Marquette I-AAA, they’re just Division I.

So, I-AA Board President Don Patterson wants a different spin[*1] .

A proposal from Western Illinois coach Don Patterson, who serves as president of the I-AA Board of Directors, is starting to gain support.

Instead of Division I-AA, Patterson suggested “Playoff Championship Series,” which would mesh with the Bowl Championship Series used by the I-A conferences.

Morning Whip, July 29, 2005

Well, this took a while. Upside: more commentary (i.e. more in-depth smart-a$$ remarks rather than quickie smart-a$$ remarks). Downside: it’s 10-freakin-30 in the a.m. I started on this sucker at 6:30. Geez, I gotta pick up the pace!
#10: Economy continues steady growth
#9: Reuters closes Kansas City area software office
#8: Gotcha game: Kennedy questions Roberts
#7: Gotcha game finally tags Bolton
#6: Gotcha game: Bush demands Senators release their
#5: Tampa Bay 10, Kansas City 5
#4: Shuttle Discovery still in orbit
#3: IRA says they’ll disarm
#2: Media criticized, screech like stuck pigs
#1: Legislation Landslide