Tuesday digest

- Here's another qualified individual from the scientific community who thinks that the man-made global warming argument is bogus.

- Windsor's school board has decided to offer Arabic "immersion" to students at a school where half the pupils' mother tongue is Arabic.

I would argue that the public school system is not the place for this kind of instruction, but rather, private homes and community centres, self-funded of course, are.

It seems like this issue is still evolving as the Ontario Ministry of Education has some concerns. I'll be watching it closely.

Meanwhile, a recent survey of American Muslims suggests that three-quarters of those questioned under the age of 30 believe that suicide bombing of civilians to defend Islam can never be justified.

As for the other quarter? "Often" (2%), "sometimes" (13%) and "rarely" (11%) would suicide bombing in the name of Islam be justified.

Even building in a margin of error of a generous 8% for the 30 and under crowd would put the "justifiable" figure between a range of 17 and 33%.

Yikes.

I hope that survey is flawed, but assuming it's indicative of at least some sentiment at some level, I think that if Western societies want to see that number decrease, I don't think state-sanctioned segregation is a good idea.

- The going rate for a John Edwards (D-NC) speech on poverty?

A cool 55 G's.

- Looking at France, George Will explains why it's so hard, yet so vital, to wean that culture off the government teat, here.

- I'm certainly no expert on the immigration bill that is generating so many headlines in the United States, but one thing is almost certain: this will divide American conservatives far beyond any other piece of legislation in recent history.

- Another issue I haven't commented on is the removal of Paul Wolfowitz from the World Bank, partially because I think it's pretty much either a non-story or character assasination - take your pick.

I really don't think he did anything wrong in removing his girlfriend from the Bank and recommending her for a post at the State Department, along with compensation for transferring, in order to avoid a potential conflict of interest. More likely is that his underlings, and official Washington, just tired of him and decided it was time to pile on. Myself? The more I think about it, I'm not even sure if he is (or was, considering his career is pretty much over) a true onservative, given his naive idealism concerning Iraq. That said, I still think that everyone should read this article by Bob Kerrey, former Democratic senator from Nebraska, concerning the way forward, the ramifications of which we are likely to feel long after Paul Wolfowitz the man fades from view.