Don Singleton

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

$65 million panrs

WaPo reported Before trial began yesterday in the case of the D.C. judge who sued his neighborhood dry cleaners after they lost his pants, the most extraordinary fact was Roy Pearson's demand for $65 million in damages.

Why has this stupid case made it to trial?

That was before Pearson, an administrative law judge, broke down while testifying about the emotional pain of having the cleaners give him the wrong pants.

He should be put in jail next to Paris Hilton; then he would have something to cry about.

... The "willful and malicious conduct" Pearson described consisted of this: In 2005, Pearson was starting his new job as a judge and therefore needed to start wearing suits again after a couple of years of unemployment. He brought five suits in for alterations because he'd put on 20 pounds and needed to have the pants let out. Four suits came back fine. One came back without the pants.

And it must have been his favorite pair.

Pearson says the Chung family -- Korean immigrants who came here from the charcoal factories of Seoul in 1992 and now own three cleaners, including the one a short walk from Pearson's place in the Fort Lincoln section of Northeast -- had no intention of living up to the sign in their shop that said "Satisfaction Guaranteed."

They should have said Satisfaction Guraranteed to reasonable people. Stupid judges excepted.

Therefore, Pearson said, he had no choice but to take on "the awesome responsibility" of suing the Chungs on behalf of every resident of the District of Columbia.

I wonder if they appreciate his "awesome effort."

Judge Judith Bartnoff went to remarkable lengths to try to keep Pearson moving along while disabusing him of the notion that he represented either the tens of thousands of people who have used Custom Cleaners or the half million people in Washington who might theoretically be at risk of being dissatisfied with the shop's service.

Really hating Rush

South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Rush Limbaugh has long been a thorn in the side of liberals, but now, because of him, some Democratic politicians don't even want to join with a local radio station to broadcast hurricane information.

Are you afraid some liberal might tune in to find out about an approaching hurricane, and learn something from Rush?

Radio station WIOD, AM 610, has been the official channel for emergency information from Broward County government for the past year. The County Commission, all Democrats, balked at renewing the deal Tuesday, unable to stomach the station also being home to Limbaugh's talk show. Commissioner Stacy Ritter said she did not want to support a station that's out of step with area politics.

If there are not a lot of conservatives in your area, I doubt the station would carry Rush.

Very good

A big tip of the hat to The Anchoress for telling readers to head over to this site (H/T Pianogirl) and see why art is important and why it matters. Stuck in our little gerbil cages (especially here in the ’sphere) and tucked into our own little worlds…stuff like this can lift us out of ourselves and bring wonder, amusement, awe…and perhaps an openness of mind.

Hamas claims control of northern Gaza

In writing on Jihad Watch about an item in Jerusalem Post (Hamas captures Fatah security headquarters, claims control of northern Gaza) Marisol makes a brilliant suggestion Someone should propose a "two-state solution" -- not with Israel, but between Hamas and Fatah. It would be instructively absurd, demonstrating that "sharing" land they feel absolutely entitled to will never be enough. If they can't share "Palestinian" land among themselves, how would they share with Israel in a two-state solution?

Mr. Wizard is gone

Los Angeles Times reported Don Herbert, who explained the wonderful world of science to millions of young baby boomers on television in the 1950s and '60s as "Mr. Wizard" and did the same for another generation of youngsters on the Nickelodeon cable TV channel in the 1980s, died Tuesday. He was 89.

I watched him when I was young. We need more programs like his.

Herbert died at his home in Bell Canyon after a long battle with multiple myeloma, said Tom Nikosey, Herbert's son-in-law. A low-key, avuncular presence who wore a tie and white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, Herbert launched his weekly half-hour science show for children on NBC in 1951. Broadcast live from Chicago on Saturdays the first few years and then from New York City, "Watch Mr. Wizard" ran for 14 years.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Do away with public schools

Los Angeles Times Why have public schools at all? OK, cue the marching music. We need public schools because blah blah blah and yada yada yada. We could say blah is common culture and yada is the government's interest in promoting the general welfare. Or that children are the future. And a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Because we can't leave any child behind. The problem with all these bromides is that they leave out the simple fact that one of the surest ways to leave a kid "behind" is to hand him over to the government.

You got that right.

Americans want universal education, just as they want universally safe food. But nobody believes that the government should run 90% of the restaurants, farms and supermarkets. Why should it run 90% of the schools — particularly when it gets terrible results?

I agree completely.

Consider Washington, home of the nation's most devoted government-lovers and, ironically, the city with arguably the worst public schools in the country. Out of the 100 largest school districts, according to the Washington Post, D.C. ranks third in spending for each pupil — $12,979 — but last in spending on instruction. Fifty-six cents out of every dollar goes to administrators who, it's no secret, do a miserable job administrating, even though D.C. schools have been in a state of "reform" for nearly 40 years.

The only way for a poor person to get a good education for their child in DC is to be lucky enough to get a voucher.

In a blistering series, the Post has documented how badly the bureaucrats have run public education. More than half of the District of Columbia's kids spend their days in "persistently dangerous" schools, with an average of nine violent incidents a day in a system with 135 schools. "Principals reporting dangerous conditions or urgently needed repairs in their buildings wait, on average, 379 days … for the problems to be fixed," according to the Post. But hey, at least the kids are getting a lousy education. A mere 19 schools managed to get "proficient" scores or better for a majority of students on the district's Comprehensive Assessment Test.

A standard response to such criticisms is to say we don't spend enough on public education. But if money were the solution, wouldn't the district, which spends nearly $13,000 on every kid, rank near the top? If you think more money will fix the schools, make your checks out to "cash" and send them to me.

ROF, LMAO

Private, parochial and charter schools get better results. Parents know this. Applications for vouchers in the district dwarf the available supply, and home schooling has exploded.

Wife Beating in Islam

MEMRI TV reported Ahmad Al-Tayyeb: With regard to wife beating... In a nutshell, it appeared as part of a program to reform the wife. [According to the Koran], first "admonish them," [then] "sleep in separate beds, and beat them."

Qur'an 4:34 says Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.

Interviewer: I think we must stress that this pertains to a rebellious woman...

Oh, so they don't beat all women, just those that do something the husband does not like.

Ahmad Al-Tayyeb: Of course. It's not that anybody can start beating as he sees fit. [Westerners] who claim this talk about an Islam which is a figment of their imagination. They are villains because they know there's no such thing in Islam, and they want to pin this interpretation on it. Why? Because Islamic culture is the only culture that is spreading, and is viewed with fear by people of other cultures.

Cancer spreads, and we have chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery with which to treat it.

In any case... This method appeared as part of the treatment of a rebellious wife. I am faced with two options - either the family will be destroyed by divorce, or I can use means that may bring my wife, the mother of my children, back to her senses.

Would a woman whose husband beats her prefer divorce or to be beaten senseless?

The first means is admonishment. [...] The second means of treatment is "sleeping in separate beds." Why? Because this targets the honor... A lot could be said about this. The strength of a woman lies in her ability to seduce the man. The man is strong and can do whatever he wants,

Not in Western society

but the woman has a weapon of her own. This weapon can be targeted.

So because you fear a woman might seduce her husband into getting what she wants you want to disarm that ability.

Many women will come back to their senses, when they realize that this is what's involved. [...] By Allah, even if only one woman out of a million

a lot more than that are beaten.

can be reformed by light beatings... It's not really beating, it's more like punching.

Oh that is different. Why should a woman mind being punched? Or shoved or poked? As long as it isn't a beating, and as long as she was rebellious.

.. It's like shoving or poking her. That's what it is.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Hilton Calls Barbara Walters From Jail

ABC News reported I asked what happened in the jail that led to her being released or reassigned to her home. She said she had not been wailing, sobbing or screaming as had been described.

Does she also deny wailing, sobbing, or screaming in court?

"But," she said, "I was not eating or sleeping. I was severely depressed and felt as if I was in a cage.

You were in a cage. That is what jail is. And you were going to be there for 23 days.

I was not myself. It was a horrible experience." "How are you different?" I asked. "I'm not the same person I was," she said. "I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute.

And were you not smart enough to realize that act was not cute?

It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me. I know now that I can make a difference, that I have the power to do that. I have been thinking that I want to do different things when I am out of here. I have become much more spiritual. God has given me this new chance."

He does that when you turn to Him. But He can tell when you are acting as someone you are not. So be careful.

I asked what kinds of things she might want to do. She said she would like to help in the fields of breast cancer — her grandmother had breast cancer — or multiple sclerosis.

Couldn't they tell the difference?

Her father's mother suffers from that disease. She thought she might get toy companies to build a kind of Paris Hilton playhouse, where sick children might come, and the toy companies could donate toys.

Would you get to play with them too?

She has had a person whom she described as a spiritual adviser who said, "My spirit or soul did not like the way I was being seen and that is why I was sent to jail."

Actually you were sent to jail for twice driving on a suspended license from when you were driving drunk, and for not respecting the court.

"God," she said, "has released me."

It is worse here in the US

Telegraph reported The curriculum in state schools in England has been stripped of its content and corrupted by political interference, according to a damning report by an influential, independent think-tank.

It is worse here in the US, with the Secular Humanists and the teacher's unions both working to destroy the schools.

It warns of the educational apartheid opening up between the experience of pupils in the state sector and those at independent schools, which have refused to reduce academic content to make way for fashionable causes.

The don't teach students to read and think for themselves, they tell them what to think. Just like in the madrassas, except in our schools you can't mention God.

... "The traditional subject areas have been hijacked to promote fashionable causes such as gender awareness, the environment and anti-racism, while teachers are expected to help to achieve the Government's social goals instead of imparting a body of academic knowledge to their students," it says.

And they should be teaching Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, and letting the students form their own social goals.

... Testing at the ages of seven, 11 and 14 places stress on pupils, teachers and parents, says the council, which wants a return to the previous system under which children did not sit any national exams until the end of compulsory schooling at the age of 16..

I disagree there. You don't want to wait until age 16 to find out they are not learning anything.

.. Teenagers studying for GCSEs are being asked to write about the September 11 atrocities using Arab media reports and speeches from Osama bin Laden as sources without balancing material from America, it reveals.

That may make since considering that if they don't wake up soon the entire country will be a majority Islamic country in another generation, and then everyone else will become a Dhimmi.

... The Department for Education defended the curriculum changes and accused the Civitas report of being "based on a profound misunderstanding of the national curriculum and modern teaching methods".

Actually they do understand the national curriculum, they just don't like it, or these new "modern teaching methods." And it is not something new. When my mother was in school she was in the School of Education, and the Dean called her in to chew her out about so many absences, and she said the did not cut class in the important classes, just in the education classes. He was not amused.

"It is insulting to the hard work of pupils and teachers to claim that the education system is just a political football to promote political or social goals," said a spokesman.

It may be insulting, but it is the truth.

Dr. Sanity blogged In the end, all totalitarian/collectivist idealogues have to deliberately and callously use and brainwash children. Whether it is Fidel and his communist indoctrination in Cuban schools or the mirror image of the Palestinian's using a Mickey Mouse look-alike to make little children comfortable with the idea of murdering Jews. Each has their own idea of "social justice", and they insure that their children's minds are never able to break out of the ideological box within which they have confined their respective societies.

Collectivists--either from the right or the left--could care less about the harm they do to the souls of the children who are used or brainwashed in such a manner. For them the individual, whether a child or adult, has no meaning except insofar as they can advance the ideology. A child's total worth is only equivalent to their willingness to be fodder for the good the "cause.".... The left's indoctrination of children today is really no different than what is going on in the madrassas of the Arab world.

Bookworm blogged If we’re not careful, just as our past was once England (and a fairly good legacy of freedom and democracy it gave us), soon our future will be England too, and that, sadly, is a very depressing though

Tim Worstall blogged I'm told that there is no online version of this report. You, err, have to actually buy it. Apparently the information contained is so important to the body politic that only those interested enough to forgo a few pints should have access to it.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Jihad Etiquette

NYT reported We were in a small house in Zarqa, Jordan, trying to interview two heavily bearded Islamic militants about their distribution of recruitment videos when one of us asked one too many questions. “He’s American?” one of the militants growled. “Let’s kidnap and kill him.” The room fell silent. But before anyone could act on this impulse, the rules of jihadi etiquette kicked in. You can’t just slaughter a visitor, militants are taught by sympathetic Islamic scholars. You need permission from whoever arranges the meeting. And in this case, the arranger who helped us to meet this pair declined to sign off. “He’s my guest,” Marwan Shehadeh, a Jordanian researcher, told the bearded men.

I bet the NYT thinks its reporters should get a free pass as well, but the Jihadis don't agree.

With Islamist violence brewing in various parts of the world, the set of rules that seek to guide and justify the killing that militants do is growing more complex.

This jihad etiquette is not written down, and for good reason. It varies as much in interpretation and practice as extremist groups vary in their goals. But the rules have some general themes that underlie actions ranging from the recent rash of suicide bombings in Algeria and Somalia, to the surge in beheadings and bombings by separatist Muslims in Thailand.

The more uncivilized you become, the faster you move to more uncivilized behavior

Some of these rules have deep roots in the Middle East, where, for example, the Egyptian Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi has argued it is fine to kill Israeli citizens because their compulsory military service means they are not truly civilians.

They don't have compulsory military service. The orthodox (most religious) are exempt.

The war in Iraq is reshaping the etiquette, too. Suicide bombers from radical Sunni and Shiite Muslim groups have long been called martyrs, a locution that avoids the Koran’s ban on killing oneself in favor of the honor it accords death in battle against infidels.

And they hope God honors their twisting His Words. It is interesting to note that the scholars that say it is ok don't do it themselves. They must not be sure.

Now some Sunni militants are urging the killing of Shiites, alleging that they are not true Muslims. If there seems to be no published playbook, there are informal rules, and these were gathered by interviewing militants and their leaders, Islamic clerics and scholars in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and England, along with government intelligence officials in the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

Fatwa forbids PA Muslims to emigrate

Jerusalem Post reported Alarmed by the growing number of Palestinians who are emigrating from the Palestinian territories, the Palestinian Authority's mufti has issued a fatwa [religious decree] forbidding Muslims to leave.

Why would anyone want to be a Muslim. They kill you if you change faiths, and now they forbid you to leave an area where they stirred up violence, if you just want a peaceful land to live in.

Sources in the PA Foreign Ministry told The Jerusalem Post that some 10,000 Palestinians have filed requests to emigrate from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the year. They said the requests had been approved. "Every day we hear about hundreds of Palestinians who file requests for emigration with different consulates and diplomatic missions," the sources said. "According to our statistics, there are at least 45,000 emigration applications being reviewed by different countries." The sources said most of the applicants were young men seeking work abroad. They said the majority of them wanted to move to the US, EU and Canada.

Where they don't have nutcases firing rockets into the country next door, which may provoke a response that will accidently get you rather than the really guilty party

The number of Palestinians who wish to emigrate increased significantly after the second intifada broke out in September 2000. Figures published by a number of Palestinian groups show that 50,000 to 80,000 people emigrated in the first few years after the violence erupted.

Gee, Muslims that are more worried about their own lives, and those of their children, than for the pleasure of killing Joozzz, or sending their children to die in hopes that a Jew will be killed.

Robert Spencer blogged What? To the Great Satan and other infidel strongholds? Why not to Saudi Arabia? Iran?

Of course, among the people who want to emigrate to the West there are doubtless many who are not ideologues, who just want to get on with their lives. But they are trapped.

Michael P.F. van der Galiën blogged Dr. Nu’man Amr of Al-Quds University explained to the Jerusalem Post that so many people want to leave Palestine “the harsh economic situation and the high rate of unemployment.” Now, perhaps it’s just me but what about the, you know, civil war? Doesn’t that play a role at all?

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Climate Deal

NYT reported The United States agreed today to “seriously consider” a European proposal

We can seriously consider anything, as long as we don't have to destroy our economy to implement it.

to combat global warming by halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, breaking a trans-Atlantic deadlock at a meeting here of the world’s richest industrial nations. The compromise, hammered out in tough negotiations between the United States and Germany, also endorses President Bush’s recent proposal to gather together the world’s largest emitting countries, including China and India, to set a series of national goals for reducing emissions.

Unless those two nations are on board, doing anything to hurt our economy would be sheer stupidity.

The agreement does not include a mandatory 50 percent reduction in emissions, a key provision sought by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Mrs. Merkel, the host of the meeting, proclaimed it a “huge success.”

50% is insane, but it is nice that she has backed down.

After days of discord between Europe and the United States, which had threatened to veto any reference to concrete reductions, the deal amounted to a face-saving compromise for Mrs. Merkel. It also reaffirmed that climate negotiations should take place under the auspices of the United Nations

Of course. They have done such a wonderful job preventing Iran and North Korea from getting nuclear weapons, and in stopping the genocide in Darfur, why shouldn't we do it through the Usless Nations.

— something else sought by Mrs. Merkel.... With Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain planning to leave office later this month, and the new French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, an unknown quantity to Mr. Bush, Mrs. Merkel may be the president’s best friend in Europe, and he can ill afford to cause strain to the relationship.

It would be even worse if he did something to hurt our economy. US Carbon Emissions decreased on Bush's watch, without Kyoto and ten of 15 European Union signatories will miss the Kyoto targets.

Cry Baby

Canada.com reported Paris Hilton was released from a Los Angeles County jail early Thursday because of an unspecified medical problem and will fulfill the reminder of her sentence in home confinement, a sheriff's spokesman said. The 26-year-old hotel heiress was sent home shortly after 2 a.m. fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet. She had spent five days

5 days??? It was just a little over three days. She reported just befor midnight, and they let her out in the very early morning.

at the Century Regional Detention Facility in suburban Los Angeles for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.... Whitmore said that under the new agreement, Hilton would be confined to her home for 40 days. "Because she has agreed to this through her attorney, her sentence is now back up to the 45 days. She has served already five days so that's 40 days," he explained.... "I am trying to be strong right now," she told reporters at the time. "I'm ready to face my sentence. Even though this is a really hard time, I have my family, my friends and my fans to support me, and that's really helpful."

But after a few days I realise jail is not a place I want to be. Boo Hoo. I want to go home.

.... Hilton was housed in the "special needs" unit of the 13-year-old jail, separate from most of its 2,200 inmates. The unit contains 12 two-person cells reserved for police officers, public officials, celebrities and other high-profile inmates. She didn't have a cellmate.

AvtressArchives blogged Richard A. Hutton, the attorney for Paris Hilton, had said that his client was doing well under the circumstances, but there were reports yesterday that Paris Hilton had been crying and cold in her cell.

I wonder if that would work for Scooter Libby.

Shaun Mullen blogged Paris Hilton Bawls Her Way Out of Jail.... The reason: Paris couldn’t sleep and had become a sniveling mess.

If you can't do the time, then don't do the crime! That applies to everyone except Robert Blake.

StateOfTheDay blogged Paris Hilton, whose only appreciable contribution to society is far less than those advocated by her supporters, has flown the coop. Apparently she was able to wrest herself free from the bonds of justice by doing what she does best: crying and whining until she gets her way.

Of course the official story is that her sentence was commuted to house arrest because of a "medical problem" which had developed during her five days spent behind bars. Most likely she had an allergic reaction to the reality that the world does not in fact revolve around her blond maned cranium like so many paparazzi satellites.

Now we must endure the endless stream of news cycles discussing her harrowing time in lockdown while we wait for the tell all book to hit the store shelves this fall. My money's on it being a pop-up book given how flat and two dimensional the participants are.

UPDATE: Hilton was brought back to the court room and was sent back to jail, screaming and crying, for the full 45 days. The only surprise is that the sheriff is not being held in contempt.

Beware the Bloggers' Bile

TIME reported A strange thing happened to me the day the House of Representatives voted to pass the Iraq-war-funding bill. Congresswoman Jane Harman of California called as the debate was taking place. "Look, I would love to have cast a vote against Bush on this," she told me.

She would love to vote against it, not because of the merits, but because she would like to hurt the President. If Dems take the White House in 2008 will they understand Republicans voting just to hurt the President?

"We need a new strategy, and I hope we can force one in September. But I flew into Baghdad [with 150 young soldiers recently]. To vote against this bill was to vote against giving them the equipment... they need. I couldn't do that."

She could not possibly vote against the troops getting the equipment they need. But she did.

I posted what Harman said on Swampland, the political blog at Time.com, along with my opinion that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had changed their positions and voted against the funding for the worst possible reason: presidential politics.

Everything they say or do is for political reasons. They want the power.

And then Harman changed her position. After we spoke, she voted against the funding. The next day, I was blasted by a number of left-wing bloggers: Klein screwed up! I had quoted Harman in the past tense—common usage for politicians who know their words will appear after a vote takes place. That was sloppy and... suspicious! Proof that you just can't trust the mainstream media. On Eschaton, a blog that specializes in media bashing, I was given the coveted "Wanker of the Day" award. Eventually, Harman got wind of this and called, unbidden, to apologize for misleading me, saying I had quoted her correctly but she had changed her mind to reflect the sentiments of her constituents.

She did not care about her constituents; she just did not want to make the nutroots mad at her.

I published her statement and still got hammered by bloggers and Swampland commenters for "stalking" Harman into an apology, for not checking her vote in the Congressional Record, for being a "water boy for the right wing" and many other riffs unfit to print.

Biologists Make Skin Cells Work Like Stem Cells

NYT reported In a surprising advance that could sidestep the ethical debates surrounding stem cell biology, researchers have come much closer to a major goal of regenerative medicine, the conversion of a patient’s cells into specialized tissues that might replace those lost to disease.

The NYT seems so happy that this discovery might sidestep the objections Pro Lifeers raise to the use of embryonic stem cells. They don't realize that we don't object to the cures; we object to the destruction of embryonic life to achieve the cures. We support adult stem cell research, cord blood work, and this sounds very promising.

The advance is an easy-to-use technique for reprogramming a skin cell of a mouse back to the embryonic state. Embryonic cells can be induced in the laboratory to develop into many of the body’s major tissues. If the technique can be adapted to human cells, researchers could use a patient’s skin cells to generate new heart, liver or kidney cells that might be transplantable and would not be rejected by the patient’s immune system. But scientists say they cannot predict when they can overcome the considerable problems in adapting the method to human cells.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

A view from behind the veil

Megan Stack wrote in ILos Angeles Times As a woman in the male-dominated kingdom, Times reporter Megan Stack quietly fumed beneath her abaya. Even beyond its borders, her experience taints her perception of the sexes.... The rules are different here. The same U.S. government that heightened public outrage against the Taliban by decrying the mistreatment of Afghan women prizes the oil-slicked Saudi friendship and even offers wan praise for Saudi elections in which women are banned from voting.

I wish Saidia Arabia would treat its women better, just I wish they would stop funding extremist clerics in the west. And a lot of the people on the planes on 9/11 were Saudis but the act was not planned there, but in camps in Afganistan under the Taliban.

All U.S. fast-food franchises operating here, not just Starbucks, make women stand in separate lines. U.S.-owned hotels don't let women check in without a letter from a company vouching for her ability to pay; women checking into hotels alone have long been regarded as prostitutes.

And if we don't wake up Europe will like that soon.

As I roamed in and out of Saudi Arabia, the abaya, or Islamic robe, eventually became the symbol of those shifting rules. I always delayed until the last minute. When I felt the plane dip low over Riyadh, I'd reach furtively into my computer bag to fish out the black robe and scarf crumpled inside. I'd slip my arms into the sleeves without standing up. If I caught the eyes of any male passengers as my fingers fumbled with the snaps, I'd glare. Was I imagining the smug looks on their faces? The sleeves, the length of it, always felt foreign, at first. But it never took long to work its alchemy, to plant the insecurity. After a day or two, the notion of appearing without the robe felt shocking. Stripped of the layers of curve-smothering cloth, my ordinary clothes suddenly felt revealing, even garish. To me, the abaya implied that a woman's body is a distraction and an interruption, a thing that must be hidden from view lest it haul the society into vice and disarray.

Young Saudis must not have any self control.

The simple act of wearing the robe implanted that self-consciousness by osmosis. In the depths of the robe, my posture suffered. I'd draw myself in and bumble along like those adolescent girls who seem to think they can roll their breasts back into their bodies if they curve their spines far enough. That was why, it hit me one day, I always seemed to come back from Saudi Arabia with a backache. The kingdom made me slouch.CQ blogged One passage struck me in particular as revealing. Stack met a couple who had traveled abroad and educated themselves in the West. When they lived outside of Saudi Arabia, the wife was independent, outgoing, and able to take care of herself. When they moved to Saudi Arabia, she could not do any of those things -- and the husband realized that she had become a dependent, an added burden. The system traps everyone, but no one seems ready to change it, and certainly not the religious police that Stack narrowly avoided on one occasion.

This also points out the dangers of moral relativism and multiculturalism. Obviously Stack objects strongly to the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia, and rightly so. However, a multiculturalist would probably criticize that objection as a result of Western projection -- especially since it was Stack who went to Saudi Arabia. She could find herself accused of American cultural imperialism, and in fact had that experience when talking with some of the women. Yet, Stack was expected to abide by that culture while in Saudi Arabia, while some Muslims who emigrate to the West demand that we respect that culture when they arrive here, arguing for multiculturalism that doesn't exist in their homelands (and that's not limited to Muslims, either).

AllahPundit blogged Ayaan Hirsi Ali always says that women’s liberation is the key to reversing Islamic extremism. Intuitively that makes sense, but this is the second MEMRI clip in a week touching on “women’s issues” where the most progressive voice in the room has been a male one. Let’s hope that’s only because most Arab women are wary of speaking out against their oppressors, not because they’ve bought the line that this is for their own good. Because if it’s the latter, the long war is going to be even longer than we thought.

Support for Senate Immigration Bill Falls

Rasmussen reported Public support for the Senate immigration reform bill has slipped a bit over the past week. A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Monday and Tuesday night found that just 23% of voters now support the bill while 50% are opposed.

Support is falling fast. It was 49% opposed when the title was written, and opposition had increased to 50% by the second sentence.

Last week, 26% supported the Senate bill while 48% were opposed.

Arabs blame problems on 1967 war defeat

Yahoo! News reported Forty years after Israel's stunning victory over three Arab armies, the defeat still lingers in the Arab world — so much so, some blame it for everything from a lack of democracy in the region to the rise of religious extremism.

They really should blame it on the stupidity of thinking an 8th century mindset could defeat 20th century technology.

On June 5, 1967, Israeli warplanes destroyed 400 aircraft belonging to Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq — most of them sitting on airport tarmacs. Egypt lost the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip, Syria gave up the Golan Heights, and Jordan relinquished the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Trying to minimize the defeat, Arabs have long called the Six Day War the "naksa," or "setback," but its impact remains a deep wound.

And they would like to wound themselves again. I wonder if this time Israel will just end up with all the land originally planned for them in the Balfour Declaration (current Israel, the "Palestinian Terrorities" and Trans Jordan (modern day Jordan), or whether they will get even more land. I

Egyptian columnist Wael Abdel Fattah wrote in the independent weekly Al-Fagr newspaper that Arabs blame the defeat for "everything" — from "price hikes, dictatorship, religious extremism, sectarian strife, even sexual impotence."

The real problem is trying to live with 8th century customs in the 21st century.

"A military defeat, that could have been limited, has been transformed to an overall defeat, represented by regimes ... and societies that fear change," Syrian writer Bakr Sedqi said in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat. Jordanian columnist Faisal al Ref'ou said the defeat has fueled a cycle of violence all over the region.

Karol blogged If the Arab world, or, more accurately, the entire Muslim world, ever wants to improve its lot, letting go of the defeat of 40 years ago would be a good start. But, of course, as that's never going to happen, Israel should remember that the road to peace with Egypt was waged through war. Israel has to regain its confidence, and needs to ignore the rest of the world when dealing with its terrorism problem. I don't imagine that the Israel of 40 years ago would have ever responded to the kidnapping of its soldiers with a small incursion into Lebanon while taking a kid glove approach until the international community made it stop. The Israel of today should take some lessons from the Israel of 40 years ago.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

One-hour marriages

Scotsman.com reported The Shia Muslim tradition of temporary marriage, or sigheh, allows a man and a woman in Iran to marry for a set period of time, ranging from an hour to 99 years. However, the practice is regarded as illicit sex by the majority Sunni community.

Gee, they do something sane.

... Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a cleric, said: "We have to find a solution to meet the sexual desire of the youth who have no possibility of marriage. Temporary marriage is God's rule. We must encourage that.".

What about castration for the youth who have no possibility of marriage?

... Sigheh is seen as a way of channelling young people's sexual urges under Iran's strict sexual segregation. "I have no money to set up a matrimonial life. I don't want prostitutes. What should I do with my sexual needs?" asked Reza Sarabi, 23, a taxi driver

Have you considered masturbation?

.... Once the contract is over, temporary wives cannot enter another relationship for three months and ten days - to determine if there is a child and to establish its paternity. There is no such restriction on men.

What a shocker. Islam treats men better than women. Whoda thunk it.

Pamela Geller Oshry blogged Sounds like something the Hollyweird crowd could dig their ........ teeth into. No community property though.... Who certified Islam as a religion? These are lunatics.

Monday, June 04, 2007

A prom of their own

TwinCities.com reported More than 100 Muslim teen girls let their hair down Saturday night. Both literally and figuratively. Muslim girls who wear the headscarf in public slid them off as they walked into the first Minnesota Muslim prom exclusively for girls and women. With no men there, they didn't have to cover up and were free to let loose and dance.

Unless they are lesbians (and I thought Islam was hard on homosexuals), how is that fun?

"I'd hate to miss this," said Sabrina Wazwaz, 15, a freshman who goes to Twin Cities Academy in St. Paul. "I think it's really nice how they thought of the Muslim girls who can't go to the American prom, so they made this for us." The event was called PROM, an acronym which stands for Party foR Only Muslimahs, or Muslim girls, and was held in accordance with Islamic culture and values. Many Muslim girls don't go to their high school prom for cultural reasons: They aren't allowed to dance with the opposite sex, and prom dresses can be too revealing for some Muslim girls to wear in public. As an alternative, the event, held at the University of Minnesota's Coffman Memorial Union, allowed participants to dance, wear what they wanted and not feel like they missed out on a staple of the high school experience.... "Some people don't understand Islam," she said. "They just think, 'Oh, her parents are strict, so she can't do anything,' but it's really the opposite. We can do stuff, but it's just the non-Islamic stuff that we can't do."

So they can behead people, hate Jews, blow themselves up, and many other "fun" things.

.... "What we have in common with every other girl is that we just want to feel pretty, be girly and have fun," she said. "We want an excuse to dress like a princess."

Do Muslim princesses dress like that in public?

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