OTB Radio – TONIGHT at 7

The next episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live from 7-8 Eastern Wednesday night as per usual. The special Tueday Night Marvel Team-Up with League of Ordinary Gentlemen, Conor Friedersdorf, and Dan Riehl was waylaid by technical concerns and they will instead run it solo on Thursday at 2 Eastern using a different mechanism. Instead, Dave ...

“Look upon My Works, Ye Mighty!”

Shelly's poem Ozymandias is forced to mind when reading this piece from the Herald-Tribune of Sarasota, Florida. It makes perfect economic sense---cheap, useful cars with good gas mileage---but does it ever speak volumes about the inevitability of change... Indian car company readies Sarasota showroom Toni Whitt SARASOTA COUNTY - While working for General Motors in the 1980s and early 1990s, Pawan Goenka discovered ...

Bow? Wow!

The conservative media and blogs have been having a field day parsing the bow that President Obama gave before Saudi King Abdullah in London last week. Some see it as a sign that he is submitting in fealty to Saudi Arabia. Others find 'coded messages' about how the US will submit to Islam. His act stirs up the canard that ...

Major Reforms in Saudi Arabia

Saudi King Abdullah announced a major shake-up in his government over the weekend. Among the changes was the naming of the first woman to a high government office, Deputy Minister for Girls' Education. The promotion of a woman in a country that generally treats women as second class citizens is indeed a big step. More interesting--and important--were changes he made in ...

So, Has Rev. Warren Become Muslim?

I don't think I'm the only one who noticed that during his invocation, Rev. Rick Warren used the phrase, "You, the merciful one; You, the compassionate one'. That phrase, the heart of the bismillah, was not accidental, I believe. The bismillah is the prayer that is used to start nearly anything done by a pious Muslim, even appearing at the top ...

The Capitol Is Otherwise Engaged

"Prostitution Free Zone" During Inauguration Some headlines just scream for attention... UPDATE (James Joyner): The story itself is rather amusing: District police have placed signs along 5th and I Streets. They read, "Warning, Prostitution Free Zone." Those who disobey could be fined 300 dollars, and even jailed. But will the city's plan work? DC City Councilman Jim Graham said officers cannot enforce ...

Blagojevich and the Constitution

[caption id="attachment_29454" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Gov. Rod Blagojevich's decision to appoint former state attorney general Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate has sparked controversial reaction throughout the political world. (Getty Images/AP Photos)"][/caption] While it may be galling for Rod Blagojevich to get to appoint someone to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat while he's under federal indictment for trying to sell said seat, ...

Robin Toner Dies of Colon Cancer

Sad news: Robin Toner, who was the first woman to be the national political correspondent of The New York Times and who had a significant hand in the coverage of five presidential elections, innumerable Congressional and gubernatorial campaigns and the great legislative debates of the day, died early Friday at her home in Washington. She was 54. The cause was complications of ...

Saudi, Sharia Laws Applied in US Courts

Particularly in light of the fooforaw following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement about the inevitability of Sharia law in the UK, this piece from The Volokh Conspiracy on the application of Saudi Sharia law in Texas and Minnesota is interesting, to say the least! The issue is not actually whether Saudi law applies in Texas (or other states as the article ...

Saudis Loosen Women’s Shackles

Various media are reporting on some serious reforms in Saudi Arabia, starting with giving women permission to drive. The story, so far sourced only to a correspondent of the UK's The Telegraph, but being widely picked up, says that the government has bowed to the inevitable and is in the process of writing regulations and setting up the infrastructure needed, ...

OTB Radio – Tonight at 7 Eastern

The next episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live tonight from 7-8 Eastern. Dave Schuler and John Burgess will be joining me to talk about the recent Saudi rape case, the rioting in France, the Annapolis Conference and whatever other topics come up. We'll also be taking your calls at (646) 716-7030.

Book Review: The Siege of Mecca

I’ve written a review of The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam’s Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda, a riveting retelling of the events of November, 1979, when a group of around 500 Islamic extremists (including at least two American Black Muslims) seized the Grand Mosque at Mecca. The author concludes that this action, taken along ...

Beltway Traffic Jam

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‘The Kingdom’: US-Saudi Relations on Film

Review: 'The Kingdom' Watching the trailers for 'The Kingdom' over the past several months, I was curious about how the film would portray Saudi Arabia and Saudis. I had personal experience with terrorist bombings of residential compounds in Riyadh and wanted to see how accurate the film might be. The film could have taken the low and easy road, pandering to stereotypes, ...

OTB Radio – Tonight at 7

The next episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live tonight from 7-8 Eastern. I'll be joined tonight by Chris Lawrence, Dave Schuler, and John Burgess. We'll be talking about the foiled terrorist plots in Germany and Denmark, tonight's GOP "YouTube" debate, the incessant "bomb Iran" talk, John Edwards' plan to force ...