Month: July 2009

Causality and Meaning

  1. Nothing happens for a reason. There’s no reason for sunrise or nightfall, no reason for life or dying. There’s only what we do, regardless. 7:57 PM Jun 30th
  2. Causality is not teleology. The cause of an event provides no “meaning” for it: that’s our job. The search for meaning is a human vocation. 1:23 PM Jul 1st
  3. As is the case with hope (with anything really), the need for meaning is not necessarily conducive to it, nor is it a sign of its existence. 1:45 PM Jul 1st
  4. While we agonize over material things, the main theme for our suffering relates more to the unfulfillability of most our non-material needs. 1:53 PM Jul 1st
  5. For the greater good, we are often urged to put up with the lesser evil, until we drown in a flood of if. All evils are essentially equal. 3:34 AM Jul 16th
  6. There are no lesser evils, just shifting priorities, diverging interests and balances of power. 7:32 PM Jul 16th
  7. Your “greater good” suffocates me. Your “lesser evil” poisons me. Why does all that you do hurt me? Maybe you’re not really listening to me? 5:09 AM Jul 18th
  8. The most difficult choices we face are about the quality of our life, not life and death. But there are times when all choices are the same. 6:52 PM Jul 20th

Their Audacity to Hope

Brave individuals who challenge the status quo in authoritarian societies—and expect our support

Mention in the Wall Street Journal

Mr. Muravchik might have said more about why Western states should support liberals, in all their vulnerability. Take the Syrian dissident Ammar Abdulhamid. Audacious and articulate, Mr. Abdulhamid abandoned a life of privilege in Syria (he is the son of a famous actress) and chose exile in the U.S. so that he could give full force to his criticism of the Assad regime. Yet like many of those described by Mr. Muravchik, he has committed himself to a liberal ideal, and sacrificed a great deal, in return for very little so far. When Western governments revert to so-called reasons of state — where “realism” and supposed self-interest often triumphs — Middle Eastern liberals become a vanguard easily discarded.

Obama’s Regional Tour

  1. The inability to see and believe the obvious reflects an equally obvious inability to envision an effective strategy for dealing with it. 3:17 AM Jul 6th
  2. U.S. policymakers refuse to see the obvious in our region: unfriendly regimes will always be unfriendly and will not be part of any solution 3:55 AM Jul 6th
  3. The status quo in our region is crumbling, but America won’t have any friends unless she invests herself fully in producing the alternatives 3:57 AM Jul 6th
  4. Fighting blood-thirsty tyrants with eloquent speeches, handshakes and assurances of respect make good PR but not a good foreign policy. 4:04 AM Jul 6th
  5. You cannot fend off vampires with lollypops. You cannot oppose tyrants with words. You cannot win respect by a show of weakness. 4:10 AM Jul 6th  Continue reading “Obama’s Regional Tour” →

الإشاعات

للإشاعات والمبالغات دورها الكبير في أي مواجهة مصيرية، وقد لا تتجلّى الحقائق إلا في اللحظات الأخيرة للمعركة، وبعضها لن يتضح إلا بعد سنين وعقود من انتهاء المواجهة.