Streams of Consciousness

The family and I have descended upon the elder Vajentic clan in the hamlet of Montrose, Iowa for the next few days. Every once in awhile we have to get away from the big city of Kansas City. ==I brought 1776 with me to begin reading, inspired by Sean's historical posts. I'm looking forward to responding to some of what he dug up once I get a little ways into the book. I feel like I have a decent background schema, after reading McCullough's John Adams book. Also, I've fairly recently read some Jeff Shaara historical fiction books set in this time period. Bring on the revolution! (Uh, I hope the CIA is not monitoring this post :)

Afghan Case Highlights Debate Over Religious Freedom I guess democracy can mean different things to different people, but I don't see much sense in declarinig a government democratic if it is not going to uphold the principle of religious tolerance. Alternatively, if religious tolerance is not a facet of democracy, then democracy is not the goal for which to strive. It looks like this individual, Abdul Rahman, will be spared because of the international outcry over his trial. However, how many of these types of cases are lurking below the surface? If the number is substantial, we are doing a great disservice by upholding Afghanistan as a democratic country while it practicies such undemocratic procedures as trying and executing converts away from Islam. I just finished reading Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", which is his play about the Salem witch-hunts. The play is a powerful polemic against religious intolerance, and extremely relevant to what is happening in the wo