Tidbits August 7

Islam for TeensYou've probably already heard about ClearGuidance, the website for Islamic teenagers, which is chock full of hatred, odes to violence and outright threats against Jews and "kafirs". Tal G. apparently found it, and Charles Johnson, Glenn Reynolds and James Lileks all wrote about it today. This website is sick. It's upsetting and it seems to be a sincere expression of somebody's "faith". Where are the leaders of the "mainstream" Muslim community? and why aren't they speaking out against this nauseating website? Or is this the voice of mainstream Islam after all?

Rummy RocksThere shouldn't be anything remarkable about this quote from Donald Rumsfeld, speaking what can only be described as common-sense about the status of the so-called occupied territories of West Bank and Gaza. What is remarkable is the fact that so few world leaders in the last 35 years have spoken the truth so plainly.

My feeling about the so-called occupied territories are that there was a war, Israel urged neighboring countries not to get involved in it once it started, they all jumped in, and they lost a lost of real estate to Israel because Israel prevailed in that conflict. In the intervening period, they've made some settlements in various parts of the so-called occupied area, which was the result of a war, which they won.

They have offered up -- successive prime ministers have offered up various portions of that so-called occupied territory, the West Bank, and at no point has it been agreed upon by the other side.

(link found over at PejmanPundit)

Saudi Arabia said Wednesday its ties with the United States were "excellent in all fields," dismissing a report of a briefing to a Pentagon body depicting Riyadh as an emerging enemy. Nevertheless, the oil-rich desert kingdom has made clear to Washington — publicly and privately — that the U.S. military will not be allowed to use the kingdom's soil in any way for an attack on Iraq.

Now remind me again. They are our ally because...

Garbage.com I just got a bulk e-mail inviting me to the Garage.com "Capital Summit on Technology Fundraising" where one can (for only $699) spend a couple of days listening to some of the brightest lights of the venture capital community (read: some of the guys who brought forth the likes of pets.com, Webvan and DrKoop.com). If you want to raise VC money to start a company, let me give you some free business advice: If you already have a fledgling company with the basic elements of a management team, a product, some deals, a business strategy and you also have some acquaintances who can introduce you to some VCs, skip the conference and ask your acquaintances to introduce you to some VCs. If you don't have all of the above, then instead of going to this conference you should be out there putting together a team, building a product, finding a customer who's willing to pay for your product , refining your business strategy and meeting people who can introduce you to VCs. If you don't think you can do all of those things without raising a lot of money first, then rethink your whole game plan until you can.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 07, 2002 02:24 PM