Naut's View

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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

How the Judge Lost His Innocence

Before I go on to more serious matters again, although, in a sense, this too is serious, a few observations on a comment made by Mr. Justice Gomery. For the benefit of my American friends, His Honor was appointed by the former Canadian government to investigate wrongdoing by Liberal politicians, the... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Happy Valentine...

Poetry is not my strength, but today I thought I’d share a ‘Shakespearean’ sonnet with you, composed recently! A Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! Sonnet The songs of love that men have sung at times Have sighed, have wooed and pledged their singers’ lives To lovers, flirts and even concubines,... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Mistakes...

I read the news today, oh boy…no, sorry, that was the Beatles’ line, but I did, some of the news, as is my habit, leisurely over my morning tea on weekends, slightly more rushed during the week. Among the plethora of unpleasantness there was one item that, although on the face of it insignificant,... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

An Aside on Political Semantics

To be concerned with semantics is to be concerned with the meanings of words. As we all know, many if not most words (and I shall restrict myself here to nouns), can mean different things to different people at different times and in different contexts. I am tempted to say that most nouns are... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Burning Embassies...

In my post ‘Islamic Caricatures’ I suggested that we are facing a clash of cultures, exemplified by Islam’s violent reaction to the publication of some satirical caricatures of Mohammed. Writersjourney, (WJ as I prefer to call him for short), a liberal, though a very articulate and thoughtful one,... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, February 2, 2006

Islamic Caricatures...

There is much to be said about the rapidly escalating controversy over the publication of caricatures depicting the prophet Mohammed, but I shall confine myself to one point: that nothing serves better to illustrate the deep cultural divide that separates ‘us’ from ‘them’. Many in the West... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, January 30, 2006

Hamas: To Fund or Not To Fund

In an earlier post I suggested that an electoral success for Hamas might be an opportunity for peace in the region. I am still beholden to that idea, even though at the time it was not clear that Hamas would score an outright victory which, I think, took most people by surprise. It is not certain,... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Disaster or Opportunity?

At first blush, the emergence of Hamas as a party with a strong presence in the new Palestinian parliament appears disastrous. Hamas has been, is and will remain a terrorist organization, at least for now. But, as Steven Gutkin writes in the Seattle Post Intelligencer “… if the elections pull the... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

The Iran Dilemma

We can take it as a given that Iran is on the road to develop a nuclear bomb. I’ll be happy to sell the Brooklyn Bridge to anyone who doubts that, and throw in the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal for free. Like other nations before them, such as India, Pakistan, North Korea and, yes, Israel, Iran... Sign in to see full entry.

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