Mike Renzulli

Well this is good to know. I came to understand that the Wahhabi sect was very strong but at least since this brand of Islam is only being exported and not practiced whole heartedly in the Muslim world means that there maybe a slight chance to undermine the orthodox strains of Islam from within the religion. It would take time and a lot of work but it could be done. However, there is still the Muslim Brotherhood. I get the impression they are have been and still are very influential in Islam at least mostly in the Shi'a sect. Of course the group has helped influence not only Khomeini but also helped establish a number of groups such as CAIR and MSA in the US as well as supported groups like Hamas. I think they had a hand in helping to bring about the uprisings we saw in Egypt and possibly other Muslim countries.

In terms of the Wahhabi influence in the religion, the facts clearly speak for themselves. A 2007 article in the UK Independent (link below) is one of many articles and studies published about the sect's influence in Islam. The Wahhabi's have had the support of the Saudi monarchy when they took power and even before that. During the 18th century the scholar Muhammad al-Wahhab was taken under the wing of the House of Saud when the cleric taught two of ibn-Saud's brothers. The Saudi chief later made a pact to implement the cleric's teachings in the places the Saudi's controlled and conquered. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wahhabism-a-deadly-scripture-398516.html As far as the Muslim Brotherhood's influence in Shi'a it is quite extensive. Clerics or scholars from the Ikhwan, for example, influenced Ayatollah Khomeini. If you noticed Iran publicly supported the uprising against Hosni Mubarak obviously because they knew the MB had something to do or ultimately benefit from the rebellion. I believe Islam as practiced in Egypt (while officially Sunni) resembles Shi'a Islam more.

Since the Wahabbis have dominated Sunni Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood has influenced not only the Sunni but largely the Shia sect their point of view will be the dominate voices in the faith. Hence, the radicalization of Muslims and the hatred the fundamentalists espouse will not go away. I read one statistic that over 80% of the Mosques around the world and the madrasas that teach the religion in Middle Eastern countries are dominated by Wahabbist teachings and Wahabbi scholars. By default they and the Ikhwan make up what is to be known as Islam. The only way to stop this so other points of view in Islam can emerge are to force the Saudis supporting the Wahabbis and the Syrians and Iranians who support the Muslim Brotherhood to shut their funding spigots shut off.

Goodbye and good riddance!

Why?

The U.K. Telegraph broke a story in which one of their reporters was given a document leaked by a high-ranking Syrian official pointing out that Syrian dictator Assad orchestrated the protests at the Israeli border. The U.N. has already reported that Syrian troops let protesters cross the border into Israel breaking a cease fire agreement the country has with Israel. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/michaelweiss/100092061/breaking-syrian-state-documents-show-assad-orchestrated-nakba-day-raids-on-golan-heights/

David Kelley's ground breaking book that started the "open" faction of Objectivism can be read online in it's entirety for free. http://www.atlassociety.org/sites/default/files/The_Contested_Legacy_of_Ayn_Rand.pdf

I also think this begs the question why aren't David Kelley or Ed Hudgins gettng appearances on these shows? It would seem to me that John Stossel and Andrew Napolitano's programs would be 2 of many shows TAS could get exposure since both show hosts are libertarians. Instead, ARI is getting most (if not all) of the major media appearances in outlets that once might have been deemed heresy in the old days of ARI. He's appeared on other Fox shows, I don't see this as any big deal. In fact, I think he appeared at the same time as Nick Gillespie once. Not a big deal to you, not a big deal to me, but why is it not a big deal to Binswanger, who has followed lockstep with Peikoff and Peter Schwartz in their condemnation of any collaboration with libertarians? Binswanger has a "loyalty Oath," which potential subscribers must sign in order to be allowed to join hist forum. Libertarians are specifically excluded.He has made additional statements on his website and on the ARI websites that specifically condemn any appearance by an Objectivist at a libertarian event. Napolitano's Freedom Watch fits that description. Binswanger has appeared on other Fox shows, but these were not promoted as being specifically libertarian-oriented, whereas Napolitano's show is (and mentions the word "libertarian," and his own identification with it, multiple times on every show). Binswanger, in his appearance on Freedom Watch was asked his opinions (he was part of a panel of three) on Obama's economic policies and on Greece. He gave the correct answers that one would expect (indistinguishable from the libertarian positions). He was not asked about Objectivism, per se, or about libertarianism (although at one point he indicated his agreement to a leading question from Napolitano that used the Judge's favorite word, "libertarian). Naturally, I am not condemning him for appearing on the show, in fact, I am all for it, and hope others in the ARI camp do likewise.

I tend to agree except its kind of hard not to sign on with ARI since they have a lot of money and resources. The activism and scholarly work coming out from ARI and other orthodox objectivist groups associated with them is very impressive. The orthodox faction is where the IOS/TAS faction was during the 1990's. As a result of the resources ARI has I am sure they are able to reach many students, attract new activists and young people which keeps them active with new generations of Objectivists.

WOW! Color me impressed! I will see if I can catch this. If Binswanger does actually show up and doesn't cancel at the last minute, this may actually be a signal that ARI is opening up further. We shall see.

When the John McCaskey fiasco went public, one observer thought that the turmoil resulting from McCaskey's quasi-purge was creating quite a stir in orthodox Objectivist circles to the point where there might be a split. It's almost a year later and (so far) I have not seen anything that has lead me to believe that a schism has or will occur. Does anyone know if there could be a aplit among ARI rank and file or has the controversy subsided?

I finished watching the Republican debate in New Hampshire on CNN. It was very interesting. I think all of the candidates did well. However, out of all of them, I must say I liked Herman Cain's performance. He did a great job! Certainly someone I will be keeping my eye on and might support should Rick Perry not jump into the race.

Very unfortunate he is gone. He has had an influence in my life. I would have liked to have met him.

I will break the trend to talk about "Atlas Shrugged" and stump for a movie I just saw on Saturday. So far, X-Men: First Class is the best movie of the summer. Great action, special effects and the acting isn't half bad either. I have enjoyed every X-Men movie I have seen but, so far, this is the best one out of all of them (in my opinion).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHAEL!

I don't think she will jump in but, I guess, at this point anything is possible. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5isBBhBvkwKSYuzDrS7lc5ueK0gEw?docId=CNG.786a247f547d853c8e2d1faaf7adddf7.1201

Being that I live in a state where it is predominately sunny (Arizona), it just so happens that the issue of solar power came up on a local TV's station's news program when Obama was pushing his green energy programs. I believe that the reporter stated that the average time it would take for solar energy to pay for itself if you rigged your home with it was about 10 years.

GOP Presidential field looks Perry promising. http://blogs.reuters.com/frontrow/2011/05/25/gop-presidential-field-looking-perry-promising/

http://blogs.forbes.com/merrillmatthews/2011/05/25/is-gov-rick-perry-running-for-president/ A Forbes magazine commentator's take. More and more it looks like Perry is gearing up to run for President.

As it turns out, Pawlenty may have to contend with a scandal that can have HUGE implications. This news item was reported by Politico in which they picked it up from a news report in the Minnesota press in December: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55413.html

I never said Perry was a friend of capitalism. I said, if he were to run for President, he would be friendliest to capitalism. The vantage point I am coming from is how Ayn Rand wrote on how to pick a political candidate. If you take into account her logic, Rick Perry fits her description well.

What's significant about the article I posted was that it was reported by the U.K. Guardian which is well known in Britain for being a left-wing rag. I'll bet the staff of that paper took pains to report the story of Spanish socialists getting spanked. Having lived there a number of years in my youth, I take great pride in learning the socialists are out on their ears. I guess the lessons learned during the Spanish Civil War didn't stick as much as it should have. ~ Shane

The only notable thing that Pawlenty has done that a libertarian might appreciate is that when asked during an interview what he would do for fun, Pawlenty replied he would play hockey and drink beer. That's not saying much. I am impressed with the manner in which he is articulating his economic policies but think it's Pawlenty's stridency on social issues that ultimately will be his undoing. Pawlenty is absolutely TERRIBLE on social issues. He hasn't got a libertarian streak whatsoever. As an economist I do think Pawlenty at least sounds good on economics (I can only go by the single interview with him that I've watched) but good economic policy is insufficient.

I think Lawrence vs. Texas will put the brakes on anymore attempts to try to bring Intelligent Deception ... er ... Design into the classroom. The ruling itself is so specific that there is no way ID can rear its ugly head for long. Question: Is hepatitis contagious? I could possibly forgive him for require HPV vaccination but I cannot forgive him for advocating Intelligent Design being taught on equal footing with the Theory of Evolution. Ba'al Chatzaf

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/23/zapatero-socialists-defeated-peoples-party