September 2006 Archives

Surge in Anti-Muslim Incidents Reported - washingtonpost.com

The Washington Post reports a surge in violence against American Muslims:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations received 1,972 complaints of harassment, violence and discriminatory treatment in 2005, up from 1,522 in 2004, according to an annual report released yesterday.

Andrew Sullivan quotes Jeffrey Hart on the President's betrayal of the conservative tradition.

Caterina comments on tea.

Jamie Raskin for State Senate - Silver Spring and Takoma Park

I have sporadically followed Jamin Raskin's career as an American University professor, author, and civil rights activist. I think he will be a good choice for the Maryland Senate.

Owing to problems with the Montgomery County election, the polls were kept open an extra hour, so I was able to vote on my way home today. (Throughout the county, the election officials forgot to ship the key cards that unlock the voting machines to the polling stations.) There are some good people running, and I want to support the Democratic alternative to the ruling party. In light of the Republican lock on the federal government and the lack of a really convincing agenda on the part ot the Democrats, I can't say that my heart was really in it, however.

Two weeks from now I hope to take my brother on a short cruise on the 56-foot yawl Mariner before his wedding. The boat was a labor of love for Robert and Elizabeth Teidemann, who parlayed their love of boats into a boat restoration and executive training business. Apparently, they spawned a mini industry in Narraganset Bay taking people on charter cruises of boats in the 12 meter racing sloops formerly used in the America's Cup.

I am going to do my best to keep my radio and television turned off tomorrow. I will try to remember quietly the tragic deaths of the people killed on that date, many of them a couple of miles away from me. But I do not want to hear the nauseating, self-serving, back slapping, self congratulatory, complacent, hypocritical, bathetic, crass, exploitative, ghoulish rhetoric of our shallow political class.

I am reading the final chapters of 1812:Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow. Reading about the last stages of Napoleon's retreat in subzero termperatures, I have never been so attached to my nose as when reading how the noses and toes of Napoleon's soldiers broke off in the cold. Soldiers who did not freeze were in many cases burned alive in overcrowded huts, starved to death, murdered for their supplies, or, in some cases, killed in combat or picked off by the Cossacks. By the end of the march, Napoleon's 650,000 man Grande Armee had essentially ceased to exist.

The Morocco Foundation announces:

When you shop at Macy's on September 16th, 2006, you help the Morocco Foundation fund its various humanitarian and educational projects in Morocco . Purchase the Macy's Discount Pass from MF ($5.00) and enjoy a wide array of discounts up to 20% throughout the store.

To take advantage of this unique offer, email us at:
info [at] morocco-foundation.org

To directly purchase your tickets:
Nadia.Serhani [at] morocco-foundation.org