AN AGE LIKE THIS: 1) “Can Islam Change?”: “…Since 9/11, there has been a seismic shift in this perception. More and more Muslims now perceive Islamic law to be dangerously obsolete. And these include the ulema, the religious scholars and clerics, who have a tremendous hold on the minds of the Muslim masses.”

Via Hit & Run.

2) “Now They Want to Euthanize Children.” “FIRST, Dutch euthanasia advocates said that patient killing will be limited to the competent, terminally ill who ask for it. Then, when doctors began euthanizing patients who clearly were not terminally ill, sweat not, they soothed: medicalized killing will be limited to competent people with incurable illnesses or disabilities. Then, when doctors began killing patients who were depressed but not physically ill, not to worry, they told us: only competent depressed people whose desire to commit suicide is ‘rational’ will have their deaths facilitated. Then, when doctors began killing incompetent people, such as those with Alzheimer’s, it’s all under control, they crooned: non-voluntary killing will be limited to patients who would have asked for it if they were competent.

“And now they want to euthanize children. …

“Why does accepting euthanasia as a remedy for suffering in very limited circumstances inevitably lead to never-ending expansion of the killing license? Blame the radically altered mindset that results when killing is redefined from a moral wrong into a beneficent and legal act. If killing is right for, say the adult cancer patient, why shouldn’t it be just as right for the disabled quadriplegic, the suicidal mother whose children have been killed in an accident, or the infant born with profound mental retardation?”

Via NPM.

3) “‘Ghost detainees’ number up to 100.” US in violation of Geneva Conventions. This article doesn’t mention something I’ve seen in other reports: Rumsfeld signed off on at least one of these violations.

Via Dappled Things.

4) “The military’s mess at Guantanamo and how to fix it.” Stuart Taylor, via How Appealing.

All very much worth your time.