Only a handful of people showed to today's talk. I worked two hours on that speech. The words of the wise Homer Simpson:

Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try.

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Why do I blog anonymously? A variety of reasons. The number one reason, though, is that my views are not particularly popular in academia. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany than in academia. Evidence?

On September 12th, 2001, I raised my voice in a class I was a teaching assistant in, and voiced the opinion that Muslims who followed Osama bin Laden's teachings were a grave threat to the United States and Western culture. The professor, literally, looked at me and, literally, began to yell at the top of his lungs that my statements were out of order and that they could have been uttered by a Nazi. Opposition to radical Islam is equated to Nazism......

Richard L. Rubenstein's run-in with those who would make us all dhimmis at an academic conference is further evidence. more...

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Hammasa Kohistani has become the first Muslim to crowned Miss England. Pics below. She's quite a dish. Thanks to Flea's prurient interests for finding this one.

A good sign? Yes. This is the build up to the Miss Universe pageant which is known as quite a racy event. In even better news: four of the finalists were Muslim.

But what about the swimsuit competition? Expect a mixed reaction ranging from delight by more progressive Muslims to horror and a fatwa by more conservative groups.

Washington Times:

An 18-year-old Uzbekistan native has become the first Muslim to wear the Miss England tiara.
Hammasa Kohistani, 18, was selected at Liverpool's Olympia Theatre from a group of 40 beauties to represent England in the Miss World championships, Sky News reported Sunday....

Kohistani said she was happy to be making history as Britain's first Muslim beauty queen and added, "hopefully, I won't be the last."

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Professor Chaos, Bill Dauterieve, and myself once thought about an acedemic symposium on South Park. We we're going to call our panel Life in a Quiet Little Podunck White Trash Redneck Mountain Town: The Rise of Libertarianism and Right-Wing Thought in Fictional Media. Of course, we quickly nixed the idea. Not academic enough.

But an academic conference on Bruce Springsteen? Now that's academic!

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The American Political Science Association has invited the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies and Director of the notoriously antisemetic Middle East Institute at Columbia University to give tonight's keynote address.

Rashid Khalidi will speak on 'Resurrecting Empire', also the title of his latest 'academic' book. The thesis of the book boils down to the Iraq War being about a Neocon right-wing conspiracy to protect the interests of Israel. Khalidi, like many I'm-not-antisemetic-I'm-just-pointing-out-the-fact-that-there-are-a-lot-of-Jews-in-the-Bush-administration-who-are-really-pulling-the-strings-of-power political scientists also puts oil interests at the center of this conspiracy. Of course, the Jewish Neo-Con conspiracy isn't really a conspiracy because, you know, conspiracies are secret and every one knows that the Jews control Washington's foreign policy.

Everyone in the Administration has some connection to oil, and even Condi Rice is somehow being personally enriched by the War.

I would like to think that the American Political Science Association has sunk to a new low inviting this conspiratorial moonbat to give a keynote address. Unfortunately, the practice is common place in the academy. The neo-conspiracy theories of the Left, couched in academic language, will probably be well received by the audience. Any one who questions the appropriateness of including Khalidi in the program will be branded an advocate of censorship and a Brownshirt trying to quash academic freedom.

The address will be tonight at 8:30 in Salon 1 at the Washington, D.C. Marriott-Woodman Park (near the Zoo). I'll be the guy sitting in the first row, wearing the anti-Bushitlerhaliburton mind probe tin foil hat.

More on Rashid Khalidi can be found at the Little Green Footballs archives

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Above (click for larger image): Paul Mirengoff of Powerline speaks at the American Political Science Association. Next to Paul (from left to right) is John Klenker of the Claremont Review of Books, Scott Johnson, also of Powerline, Peter Cannellos, of the Boston Globe, and Bill Gertz, of the Washington Times. (Bad photo, I know, but it's from a camera phone). Charmaine of Reasoned Audacity sat right behind me and has a few better photos here.

Report from the panel: Wasn't able to stick around and meet Paul or Scott from Powerline because I had to rush off to a job interview.

Two memorable observations from the panel. First, a heated exchange betwen Peter Cannelos and Scott Johnson. more...

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Hung out with some fellow anonymous political scientist bloggers last night. We met up with the not-so-anonymous Daniel Drezner. He's good people.

Next door, Cornell West was at a party. Wait, that guy is a political scientist. I thought he was a hip-hop artist or something?

Two worlds colliding. You know about the worlds. A non-blogging, not-in-the-know about "Rusty Shackleford", friend from grad school was hanging out at the party with us. Turns out, he and Steve the Llamabutcher know each other. Small world. Awkward, since none of could talk about blogging around him. Best to keep academic world and blog worlds apart.

If you have to make a choice between going to a party hosted by libertarians or conservatives, go to the libertarian party. Just trust me on this one.

Best. Advice. Ever: Never challenge Steve the Llama Butcher or Professor Chaos to a drinking game. more...

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Above (click for bigger pic): The guy in front of me falls asleep during Michael Ledeen's talk.

Panel 3, Sponsored by the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy

A Neo-Conservative Conspiracy? Principles and objectives of Bush's Foreign Policy: A Roundtable

Excellent roundtable. Most of these academic panels put me to sleep. Not this one. Unfortunately, the guy sitting in front of me wasn't as into the talks as me. I couldn't resist snapping a picture of him with my cell phone. That's Michael Ladeen, author of War Against the Terror Master, in the background talking.

Speaker 1: Adam Wolfson, former editor of Public Interest

Wolfson began by talking about how Bush outrages both Realists and Idealists. Later, Wolfson would claim that Bush is a Hamiltonian Realist. Hamiltonian Realists believe that the character of opposing regimes is somehow connected to our national security.

Bush is also not a Wilsonian Idealist, as some on the Right like to accuse him --think Pat Buchanan. This is evidenced by Bush's willingness to selectively apply his idealism. Think Cuba. After the Cold War, Cuba ceased to be threat. Bush's unwillingness to invade Cuba does not reveal a hypocrisy, as many on the Left like to accuse, rather it is consistent with a Realist foreign policy. No threat, no need for regime change. Iraq, on the other hand, was a threat and therefore only by regime change could we ensure the long-term national interests of the country.

Wolfson reminded us, though, that the cause-effect relationship between democracy, peace, and our national interest is a theory we are trying to test. It could very well be that the theory is wrong. Bringing democracy to the Middle East may not, in fact, bring peace and serve our interests in the long run. Let's hope the theory is right.

Random thought : This guy should definitely blog. more...

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