“Opinions flourish only in periods or cultures without a dominant religion. A medieval monk in his Cluniac abbey or a contemporary mullah in his mosque and, indeed, a fine Victorian gentleman, had little use for original opinions. The collective opinions of religion are inflexible dogma, not interesting expressions of private thought. The best opinions are contrarian, not conformist, although that is in itself a matter of opinion.” – Stephen Bayley, Daily Telegraph.
FISKING THE GUARDIAN’S GRAPHICS: A blogger decodes some fishy graphs on global warming. Meanwhile, the whole notion of an unprecedented modern human impact on the atmosphere is given a little more perspective here.
A SPANISH DISSIDENT: Former deputy and avowed leftist, Pilar Rahola, is having the same epiphany that others on this side of the Atlantic have had:
The most absurd thing is to watch leaders of the left today greet and celebrate Arab leaders, even when they are fundamentalists. For example, in the debates that followed the attacks of September 11, we heard an anti-American discourse here, pooh-poohing the victims, something which is in and of itself terrible ! And there were those who tried to downgrade-with that tawdry third-worldism which characterizes some circles of the left-the danger embodied in individuals like Bin Laden, who is, in fact, an authentic fascist. I believe that for the moment the world remains blind to the biggest totalitarianism of the twenty-first century, which is Islamic fundamentalism. Now we must prepare ourselves seriously to face this danger : For me, this totalitarianism is without any shadow of a doubt comparable to Stalinism and Nazism, the biggest scourges of the twentieth century.
Rahola even supports – shock, horror – the existence of the state of Israel. No wonder she has few friends on the European left these days.
The Dish 