Their slogan is “Never Stop Improving,” but lately, “Never Stop Denying” seems more fitting. Lowe’s has rebuffed a 200,000-signature petition to reinstate ads on the new reality television series All-American Muslim on The Learning Channel.

As U.S. drones continue to take flight over Pakistani soil and that country’s restive population becomes more and more resentful of what it views as excessive foreign meddling in its affairs by various actors – the West, Al Qaeda-inspired terrorists, and its old rival India – I think the topic of empire is more relevant than ever to the two countries that I consider my own.

President Barack Obama faces pressure from a number of different directions as September 11 and the planned burning of the Quran at Dove World Outreach Center draw closer. It can be assured that no matter what response he chooses, that response will face strong opposition. Because many of his previous actions can be interpreted in terms of which fear controlled the response, it is informative to look at the pressures he will be facing in this situation and how fear when facing those same pressures has controlled his past behavior.

It’s a great pleasure to host this Book Salon for My Dream of Stars: From Daughter of Iran to Space Pioneer, by Anousheh Ansari with Homer Hickam. It’s an engaging read, from a unique perspective, and an enlightening story of real determination.

I wasn’t familiar with Anousheh Ansari’s story before reading this book, but I did know the name “Ansari,” from the Ansari X Prize. That was a contest that offered ten million dollars to the first private enterprise to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space. The prize money was collected in 2004, in an event that captured the attention of space enthusiasts throughout the globe. Most of the prize money was put up by Anousheh Ansari and her brother-in-law Amir Ansari, who are true space enthusiasts themselves.

[Welcome Malcolm Nance, and Host Matt Duss] [As a courtesy to our guests, please keep comments to the book.  Please take other conversations to a previous thread.  - bev] An End to Al-Qaeda: Destroying Bin Laden’s Jihad and Restoring America’s Honor Few Americans can claim the knowledge of radical terrorist ideologies that Malcolm Nance can. [...]