This and That | Ain't Complicated

Haredim: What’s That?

Haredim in US may set up ‘mehadrin’ airline

In the face of an imminent boycott of El Al, haredi businessmen in the US have expressed interest in setting up a haredi-owned airline, said Monday Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknoph, secretary of the Rabbinic Council for the Holiness of Shabbat.

For what do you stand?

And how strong are those convictions?

And to what extent would you go not to violate them?

Commendable But Doomed

Nobel peace winner unveils bold vision for ending poverty:

Micro-credit pioneer Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, founder of Grameen Bank, has unveiled a bold vision for ending global poverty as he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Poverty is a threat to peace,” the economist turned humanitarian banker said in accepting the 1.1 million euro (1.4 million dollar) prize. “The frustrations, hostility and anger generated by abject poverty cannot sustain peace in any society in the world.”

The Grameen Bank, which shared the award, has helped millions in Bangladesh extricate themselves from penury through tiny, collateral-free loans, and has been successfully emulated throughout the world over the last decade.

I commend Mr. Yunus and Grameen Bank for their helpful vision. And generous, too, by the sound of it.

But the lofty vision of eliminating poverty is a doomed cause. Jesus said we would have the poor with us always.

Of course, that does not mean we should not help the poor and try to help at least some out of poverty.

Sense and/or Nonsense

I got this first one from Kim Priestap over at WizBangBlog. Thanks!

Blair Nixes Multiculturalism?

Tony Blair formally declared Britain’s multicultural experiment over yesterday as he told immigrants they had ”a duty” to integrate with the mainstream of society.

Tony Blair yesterday: ‘We don’t want the hate-mongers’

In a speech that overturned more than three decades of Labour support for the idea, he set out a series of requirements that were now expected from ethnic minority groups if they wished to call themselves British.

These included “equality of respect” – especially better treatment of women by Muslim men – allegiance to the rule of law and a command of English.

Sounds good to me, Mr. Blair.

Bolton’s Successor

Zalmay Khalilzad, who was announced this week as leaving as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, is the leading prospect to replace John Bolton as envoy to the United Nations.

President Bush was reported by aides as looking for someone who approximates Bolton’s combination of toughness and diplomatic skill and has tentatively decided on Khalilzad. A native of Afghanistan, he has served in government posts dating back to 1985 and is the highest-ranking Muslim in the Bush administration.

Mr. Bush, this one sounds otherwise to me, but now I sound anti-Muslim or Islamophobic or something. 🙁

BurroCrats

I’ve been using that word for years to refer to bureaucrats.

I thought my friend StevenH made it up way back when.

So I thought to post a question today: “Who make better burrocrats, elephants or donkeys?”

But in doing a Web search, I find quite a few hits for burrocrat.

Oh well.

Follow-Up to ISG

Follow God or vanish:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Western leaders to follow the path of God or “vanish from the face of the earth”.

“These oppressive countries are angry with us … a nation that on the other side of the globe has risen up and proved the shallowness of their power,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the northern town of Ramsar, the semi-official news agency Mehr reported Wednesday.

“They are angry with our nation. But we tell them ‘so be it and die from this anger’. Rest assured that if you do not respond to the divine call, you will die soon and vanish from the face of the earth,” he said.

Somehow I’m not seeing much flexibility in his negotiating stance.

How will you dialogue with him, oh ye Western leaders and members of the Iraq Study Group?