Inconvenient Data

Whatever we do, let's not allow the facts to confuse us.

Why Revolutions Happen

Third World Internationalism: A New Humanism

A New Humanism | Qalandar Bux Memon

Professor Juan Cole Runs the Numbers

Click here for source and commentary.

Indeed.

The wrong kind of Caucasian - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Another Perspective on the Marathon bombing

Courtesy of loonwatch.com.

Once Again, Red Herring Is On The Menu

Media desperation in the wake of the tragic events that began to unfold in Boston on April 15th (and came to a violent conclusion yesterday) is palpable. Whenever Muslims commit crimes, the gold-standard of yellow journalism is to report on the alleged perpetrators in such a way as to imply that their tenuous relationship to the Islamic community was the cause of their criminality. The possibility that there is a difference between a correlation and cause never occurs to anyone.

The energy and ingenuity invested in order to achieve the desired result is impressive. The claim that many journalists have wished to make was that the Tsarnaev brothers were devout Muslims; but there is very little evidence to support such a claim. Failing that, it has been reported that they were Chechens. Unfortunately, this has not turned out to be true. Consequently, the phrase "ethnic Chechens" has appeared in a variety of news sources. What is the relevance of such ethnicity? If you have to ask, you are clearly not in the know.

My mind keeps going back to an April day six years ago (April 16, 2007, to be precise)--the day when another immigrant, Seung-Hui Cho, an "ethnic Korean" who grew up in a devout Christian household, went on a shooting rampage at his University (Virginia Tech). When he was finished, 32 people were dead and 17 wounded.



Before embarking upon his reign of terror, Cho created a video manifesto in which he compared himself to Jesus and Moses. And yet, in his case, the journalistic establishment was able to distinguish cause from correlation.

Funny how that happens. In the United States of 2013, non-Muslims who commit horrendous crimes are "troubled"; Muslims who commit horrendous crimes are, well, Muslims.

Informed Comment By Juan Cole

Fathers and Sons and Chechnya.

The New York Times Defines "Terror"

As it turns out, the mass murders at Virginia Tech, the Aurora Colorado theater, the Sandy Hook elementary school, etc., were not acts of terror.

The Rise of the West

In Le Pere Goriot, Balzac penned un mot juste that accounts quite well for the so-called "rise of the West":

"Le secret des grandes fortunes sans cause apparente est un crime oublié, parce qu'il a été proprement fait."

The crime was colonial appropriation of natural resources and human capital; it has been "forgotten" solely because the criminals have chosen to "forget" it. Moreoever, when criminals write and enforce the laws, they have the luxury of selective amnesia.

Class Warfare

It's back--with a vengeance.

Everyone Makes Poor Decisions At Some Point In Their Lives

This is one of the worst.

The Beginning of the End

Obama attacks Medicare and Social Security