"Civilizations die from suicide, not murder" - Arnold Toynbee

For my last meal, I'd like all tofu Baba Ghanoush, a slice of seven grain low cholesterol bread, a glass of molecularly distilled water, and a tasty bowl of frozen soy milk for dessert.

"Then September 11 happened. And bizarrely the reaction of just about every prominent Western leader was to visit a mosque: President Bush did, the prince of Wales did, the prime minister of the United Kingdom did, the prime minister of Canada did . . . "

THE CENTURY AHEAD It's the Demography, Stupid The real reason the West is in danger of extinction. BY MARK STEYN Wednesday, January 4, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST Most people reading this have strong stomachs, so let me lay it out as baldly as I can: Much of what we loosely call the Western world will not survive this century, and much of it will effectively disappear within our lifetimes, including many if not most Western European countries. There'll probably still be a geographical area on the map marked as Italy or the Netherlands--probably--just as in Istanbul there's still a building called St. Sophia's Cathedral. But it's not a cathedral; it's merely a designation for a piece of real estate. Likewise, Italy and the Netherlands will merely be designations for real estate. The challenge for those who reckon Western civilization is on balance better than the alternatives is to figure out a way to save at least some parts of the West.

If you have not already, you will want to read Mark Steyn's essay from Wednesday's Opinion Journal.  Well, you may not want to, but you do need to. NOTE: This is a very nice companion piece ... "After the suicide of the West," by Roger Kimball