Tag Archives: radical Islam

The far right, with a little help from Russian bots, are gunning for McMaster

By Mark | August 6, 2017

When news broke that members of the U.S. intelligence community were in possession of recordings proving that, contrary to what he’d said to the FBI, Michael Flynn had been in direct communication with Russian operatives prior to Trump’s inauguration, he was forced out as White House national security adviser, and ultimately replaced by Lt. Gen. […]

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged #FireMcMaster, Alliance for Securing Democracy, Alt Right, Anthony Scaramucci, anti-Semitic, Ben Garrison, bots, David Petraeus, deep state, Derek Harvey, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, George Soros, H.R. McMaster, Joel Rayburn, John Kelly, Lock Her Up, McMasterLeaks.com, Michael Flynn, Michael Flynn Jr., Mike Cernovich, Mike Pompeo, National Security Council, pizzagate, racist, rape, Reince Priebus, Rich Higgins, Russia, Sharia law, Susan Rice, Twitter, white nationalism | 10 Comments

Charlie Hebdo, terrorism, and the attempted assassination of political satire

By Mark | January 7, 2015

This was Stéphane Charbonnier, better known as Charb. He was a political cartoonist, and the editor-in-chief of the French satire publication Charlie Hebdo. Today, he was murdered in Paris by masked gunmen along with 11 others, including cartoonists Cabu, Wolinski and Tignous. The men who perpetrated the attack have yet to be found, but evidence […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Religious Extremism, Uncategorized | Also tagged Allahu Akbar, Cabu, cartoons, Chab, Charb, Charlie Hebdo, David Pope, Everybody Draw Mohamed Da, France, Free Speech, God is Great, Islam, Islamophobia, Joe Randazzo, Muhammad, Paris, political satire, religious extremism, satire, Stéphane Charbonnier, The Onion, Tignous, Wolinski | 87 Comments

Because you asked for it, here’s my ill-informed, not-terribly-thoughtful, completely unsatisfying post on Syria

By Mark | September 9, 2013

I have absolutely nothing of value to add to the debate on whether or not we get involved in the Syrian civil war. I know that. And I’m inclined to just keep my mouth shut. But, as people keep writing to me, demanding that I take a stand, as though what’s said on a tiny […]

Posted in Observations, Other, Uncategorized | Also tagged Bashar Assad, chemical weapons, Civil War, foreign policy, foreign relations, John Kerry, Juan Cole, Malala Yousafzai, Robert Reich, sanctions, Saudi Arabia, Syria, USS Nimitz, wars, world events | 14 Comments

The Humanists present their “sensible approach to Islam”

By Mark | September 24, 2012

A few times a year, inspired by my ever-growing admiration for Kurt Vonnegut, I get the urge to delve into Humanism. (For those of you who are unaware of what Humanism is, Vonnegut, a devout Humanist, described it thusly… “Being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you […]

Posted in Religious Extremism, Uncategorized | Also tagged American Humanist Association, human rights, Humanism, jihad, jingoism, Kurt Vonnegut, Muslim, nativism, religions, religious extremism, religious fundamentalism, secularism, separation of church and state, Sharia law, terrorism, the secularist agenda, theocracy, women's rights, xenophobia | 7 Comments

Trying to reason with people on the existence of moderate Islam

By Mark | September 22, 2012

A few days ago, in a thread about the killing of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens a conservative Christian reader of this site, who goes by the name EOS, proclaimed definitively, “There is no such thing as moderate Islam regardless of how much we might wish it were so.” When confronted with facts, and asked to […]