Stanley Kurtz, one of my favorite authors on cultural matters and the man who convinced me of the importance of defending marriage, is taking up the issue of Muslim assimiliation in western Europe. Coincidentally, or not, he thinks that marriage, specifically parallel cousin’ marriage, is a big part of the problem.
You don’t really need to read the first article, explaining parallel cousin marriage, to understand the second (I read them in reverse order actually), but I encourage everyone to read the whole second article. Here’s the conclusion Kurtz gets to in the second, though:
The “self-sealing” character of Islam is part and parcel of a broader and more deeply rooted social pattern. And parallel-cousin marriage is more than just an interesting but minor illustration of that broader theme. If there’s a “self-sealing” tendency in Muslim social life, cousin marriage is the velcro. In contemporary Europe, perhaps even more than in the Middle East, cousin marriage is at the core of a complex of factors blocking assimilation and driving the war on terror.
This isn’t a problem in America right now, except indirectly as part of the Global War on Terror, but it could become one if we’re not aware and vigilant. So I find it worth thinking about.
Five game losing streak. Come Back Luke Walton!
The Washington Times caught some key quotes from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony to the Congress, and it’s not pretty. Says the Times:
“I can’t speak to the overall combination of taxes and spending, other than to say that they should be in balance. But I will go so far as to say that I think that there’s a significant return to investing in young kids,” the Fed chairman told Sen. Bob Casey, Pennsylvania Democrat, in response to a question about whether Congress should vote to extend tax cuts or increase funding for the Head Start program for poor children.
Mr. Bernanke said taxes have an "important" role to play in narrowing the widening income gap between rich and poor through income-transfer programs, and Congress needs to balance that goal against the desirability of tax incentives that spur innovation.
“The tax code has an important role to play in generating more equality,” he said, although "entrepreneurs and the people who take risks — we have to give them incentives to take risks” as well.
Did Alan Greenspan ever call for tax hikes? Somehow I don’t think his successor is going to be as widely loved, if he keeps up this drumbeat for tax hikes.
Will this road trip ever end? It seems like I haven’t watched basketball in ages, and that the Lakers haven’t won much lately either.
What an amazing slam dunk contest lineup: Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Julius Erving, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter. Too bad for the NBA that these are the judges, not the competitors.
Hey, at back over .500 for the road trip. But what did Smush do to get a technical foul?! It sure wasn’t scoring lots of points: he went 1-8 with no free throw attempts for three points.
Rocky start to the road trip, definitely, going 2-2. But Kobe and Gilbert put on a show, and it was fun, so we’ll take it I guess.
Oh come on. Apparently the Lakers choked in the fourth yesterday, getting outscored 32-14 to lose a game they should have won.
This was a game that could have gained ground in the west, but no. Now the Lakers are only a half game ahead of the East’s best. Still four ahead of the Clips for #7 though.
I hate KCAL sports post-Chick Hearn, I hate it when television networks tape delay sports events, and so I hate Lakers east coast road trips.
Pacers tonight, I guess tomorrow I’ll read about what happens.
Sick of Flyerhawk and his ilk at Red State? Try The Minority Report instead.