Isaac Schrödinger

Muhammad The Merciful

Cafe Alpha asks:

Wow. Mohammad raped a women - and took her as a slave "wife" immediately after torturing her husband to death and killing her father.

What's the source for this one?

This occurred at the end of the Battle of Khaybar in 629.

A Jewish tribe called Banu Nadir was present at Khaybar during that time. Safiyya was the daughter of the chief of Banu Nadir. She was married to the treasurer of the tribe. Muhammad had interrogated her husband but he refused to divulge any information about their precious belongings.

So, Muhammad had him tortured.

The fellow died and took the secret to his grave.

Muhammad on the same day beheaded all the adult males of the tribe. Safiyya lost her father and husband within a few hours.

Then Muhammad took her as his wife and raped consummated the marriage on the same night. Truly what a glorious example of morality!

Update
Islamic sources follow:

Sahih Bukhari: Volume 1, Book 8, Number 367. An excerpt:

Anas said, 'When Allah's Apostle invaded Khaibar, we offered the Fajr prayer there yearly in the morning) when it was still dark. The Prophet rode and Abu Talha rode too and I was riding behind Abu Talha. The Prophet passed through the lane of Khaibar quickly and my knee was touching the thigh of the Prophet . He uncovered his thigh and I saw the whiteness of the thigh of the Prophet. When he entered the town, he said, 'Allahu Akbar! Khaibar is ruined. Whenever we approach near a (hostile) nation (to fight) then evil will be the morning of those who have been warned.' He repeated this thrice. The people came out for their jobs and some of them said, 'Muhammad (has come).' (Some of our companions added, "With his army.") We conquered Khaibar, took the captives, and the booty was collected. Dihya came and said, 'O Allah's Prophet! Give me a slave girl from the captives.' The Prophet said, 'Go and take any slave girl.'

Sahih Bukhari: Volume 2, Book 14, Number 68. An excerpt:

Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) offered the Fajr prayer when it was still dark, then he rode and said, 'Allah Akbar! Khaibar is ruined. When we approach near to a nation, the most unfortunate is the morning of those who have been warned." The people came out into the streets saying, "Muhammad and his army." Allah's Apostle vanquished them by force and their warriors were killed; the children and women were taken as captives.

Sahih Bukhari: Volume 3, Book 34, Number 437. An excerpt:

The Prophet came to Khaibar and when Allah made him victorious and he conquered the town by breaking the enemy's defense, the beauty of Safiya bint Huyai bin Akhtab was mentioned to him and her husband had been killed while she was a bride. Allah's Apostle selected her for himself and he set out in her company till he reached Sadd-ar-Rawha' where her menses were over and he married her.

Sahih Bukhari: Volume 5, Book 59, Number 513.

Anas bin Malik said, "The Prophet took Safiya as a captive. He manumitted her and married her." Thabit asked Anas, "What did he give her as Mahr (i.e. marriage gift)?" Anas replied. "Her Mahr was herself, for he manumitted her."

How generous of him. A Muslim man gives her wife a gift. Muhammad provided Safiyya a simple one: he freed her from slavery.

Who was her owner? Muhammad.

Sahih Bukhari: Volume 5, Book 59, Number 523.

The Prophet stayed with Safiya bint Huyai for three days on the way of Khaibar where he consummated his marriage with her. Safiya was amongst those who were ordered to use a veil.

But, I thought that these women wore the veil by choice.

That Sky is Evil

See it for yourself.

Safe, Legal, and Utterly Useless

Ars Technica:

Customers who have purchased music from Microsoft's now-defunct MSN Music store are now facing a decision they never anticipated making: commit to which computers (and OS) they want to authorize forever, or give up access to the music they paid for. Why? Because Microsoft has decided that it's done supporting the service and will be turning off the MSN Music license servers by the end of this summer.

Nice.

"You will need to obtain a license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008. If you attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August 31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play."

So, some months down the road when you upgrade to a new computer, the songs for which you've paid will refuse to play.

Very nice.

Link via Vox Popoli.

Oh. My. God.

This is horrifying.

I can only manage 23.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Can you feel The Rhythm?

So Perfect

Hassan Radwan: Prophet Muhammad.

I've written quite a bit over the years about this "flawless" role model of humanity. Here's one that deals with his behavior towards the Jewish tribe Banu Quraiza.

Also, see this post where his personality is distilled down to seven words.

A Waste of Time

BBC via IBA:

Muslim scientists and clerics have called for the adoption of Mecca time to replace GMT, arguing that the Saudi city is the true centre of the Earth.

That's a cute proposal, coming from a people who can't even make a watch.

I Wouldn't Live There

A bit too ostentatious for my taste.

Another Loser of Islam

The National Post via LFG:

Naeem Muhammad Khan wants everyone to "Support Our Troops," but he's not talking about the Canadian Forces in Kandahar.

From his apartment in Toronto, Mr. Khan has been posting messages on the Internet calling Osama bin Laden a "hero" and "champion of Islam."

How patriotic.

In his online postings, Mr. Khan calls Tarek Fatah, Irshad Manji and other moderates "apostates," and says that under Islamic law, the punishment for apostasy is death. The same goes for those who insult Islam.

"Behead her!!! And make a nice video and post it on YouTube," he writes about one "Islam basher." As for "Jews who support Zionism and Israel … since they are killing Palestinians … killing them is not bad … they deserve to die."

At least he doesn't sugarcoat the teachings of his faith.

Mr. Khan said he was angry when he wrote these and did not mean anyone harm.

He's an ace at taqiyya too!

Oh, The Oppression!

I feel so sorry for Indian men:

"All the organisers are doing by making scantily-clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male. It is revolting, appalling and shows the game in very poor light."

Cricket historian Ramachandra Guha on the cheer girls in the IPL

That's in India. Imagine if someone were to suggest that these babes visit the friendly neighbor to provide some entertainment ...

Update
My apologies to readers for not providing any informative, um, links.

Here's one:

More here; an interesting excerpt:

"The Cheerleaders? Oh, they are hot, they are rocking. I want their numbers. Can you do that for me?" quips 21-year-old Goney Kakwani. He and his friends have imitated, screamed at and pretty much stared at the cheerleaders all night. Dozens of empty beer cups sit at their feet.

But challenged as to whether he would want to see Indian cheerleaders dressing like the American cheerleaders, dancing like the American cheerleaders, he sobers up a bit.

"Indians should be Indians. Indian beauty is like — they wear beautiful clothes. They can wear their clothes. They don't have to wear anybody else's clothes."

Hmm.

It's Quite Shiny ...

... but the core is still rotten.

Photogenic Jack

The brown-white combination is a killer (check out the last one).

Moody Weather

Daily dose of imagery:

It seems like winter is finally over.

Let's hope it stays that way. A few years ago, we had the same situation when all of a sudden we got hammered with a winter storm in April! I had to help a shocked friend in getting his car out the driveway. It took 30 minutes.

Submission: Baby Steps

The Daily Star:

About 1,500 children were due to take part in a parade to commemorate the patron saint of England on Wednesday.

But council bosses in Bradford, West Yorks, have ditched the event over concerns it could upset the Asian community, many of them Muslim.

Gateway Pundit:

The police fear for the safety of the children in the parade.

Bad Review

My last computer had an ASUS motherboard and so does my present one. Seeing this behavior isn't comforting:

ASUS officially admitted that it provided better batteries to reviewers of its popular Eee PC 900 than those it shipped to actual customers. According to reports flowing in from Hong Kong, customers who purchased the new UMPCs on launch day complained that ASUS mislead consumers and reviewers. The batteries that were given to reviewers were 5800mAh batteries while consumers were given 4800mAh.

Piling On the Zzzz

Busy day ahead. Get some rest.

The Fat Kiss of Death

Tim Blair:

Michael Moore - who supported Ralph Nader in 2000 (then later claimed to have been a Gore Democrat) and backed Wesley Clark in 2004 - now urges his remaining fans to vote for Obama.

Obama is so screwed.

Quote of the Day

Cliff May:

Surely, if there’s one thing we should know about Islamists it’s that they generally venerate, rather than dismiss, “ancient documents.”

Hunh. Jimmy Carter continues to enhance his position as the worst American president of the 20th century.

Loathing Liberty

Bruce Bawer: Hating America.

One excerpt:

Hutton is a true statist, the sort of person who feels less than fully comfortable in societies where the government fails to make its presence sufficiently felt: “In a world that is wholly private,” he writes, “we lose our bearings; deprived of any public anchor, all we have are our individual subjective values to guide us.” Part and parcel of this philosophy (which might well be straight out of Mao’s Little Red Book) is an enthusiasm for, as he puts it rather clunkily, “publicly owned TV stations with a mandate to provide a universal public service as guarantors that ordinary citizens will have access to core news and comment delivered as objectively as possible.” In other words, the way to ensure objective reporting is to put the government in charge! Hutton is dismayed that the U.S. spends too little money on public TV and that “only 2.2 percent of viewers” watch it; by contrast, he’s delighted with “European governments and the EU,” because they’re “aggressive in their regulation of broadcasting content” and ban, for example, “racist expression.” He favors, in short, allowing government bureaucrats to decide what is and isn’t racist (or, for that matter, sexist or homophobic) and to punish transgressors. It’s breathtaking to see a writer so eager to quash freedom of speech.

Read the entire piece.

What the West Needs to Know

Google Video: Islam: What the West Needs to Know.

Spend 98 minutes of your time and be utterly depressed.

Link via Connie in the comments.

Fatwa in 4 ... 3 ... 2 ...

You Tube: ISLAM? NO THANKS!!!

The man speaks the truth.

Easy Question

Rainbow asks in the comments:

tell me if the Islam is mistreated the women like u said ..how come there alot of women all over the world r converting to Islam?

Because they're dumb and/or ignorant.

Herstory!

You Tube: How Hillary Can Still Win.

Pejman:

She should major in miracles.

Praise Be to Jews

Middle East Times via Muslimah Media Watch:

An error led to the first-ever female Muslim Israeli-Arab soldier recently joining one of the Israeli Air Force elite units. But after the mistake was discovered the unit's commander was so impressed with the woman's ability and achievements that he allowed her to stay, breaking all the rules.

This has to doubly suck for Islamist terrorists: To get blown up by a Muslim woman! What sweet karma.

American Oppression

Shabana Mir:

American women need help. They are so victimized that they suffer themselves to be treated like objects and toys, desiring no change. Their false consciousness prevents them from criticizing their situation. They should aspire to be protected rather than exposed, clothed rather than stripped naked for every purchaser. They should expect to be given privacy from the hunter-male gaze.

We have to liberate them. We have to let them know that their way of life is evil at its core. Years of subjugation and conditioning have rendered them incapable of desiring something better. We have to empower them to hate their civilization, their culture, their people, their norms of gender and sex.

It's supposedly satirical.

Slightly Off Target

Is he kissing the nose?

Video of the Month

You Tube: How Camera Lenses are Made.

I wonder how many such facilities exist in the Arab / Islamic world ...

Insta-Orgy

LFG: The Breasts and Thighs of the Black-Eyed Virgins of Paradise.

There is no god but Allah. He told us that if you entered one of the palaces, you would find ten black-eyed virgins sprawled on musk cushions.

Ten!? What happened to the other 62?

Still, it doesn't do it for me. I like brown or green eyes.

LOL Awareness Day

Please, think about the kittehs.

Laissez Faire

Sepia Mutiny:

On the News Tab, KXB posted a link to an article in Time about the skyrocketing global price of rice, which has the potential to destabilize economic conditions (and governments) all over Asia. For those who haven’t been following it, the price of rice has more than doubled in the past six months, peaking recently at more than $23.00 per hundred pounds.

Later:

The question I have for those who understand these issues better than myself is this: what should the Indian government do, keeping in mind that the vast majority of Indian consumers of rice cannot afford the current price?

The Indian government ought to do nothing because their tampering with the simple market will make matters worse. One of the unappreciated advantages of the higher prices is that it signals to the farmers to produce more rice in the near-future -- so that they can cash in. If the Indian government were to squash that incentive, then this shortage will last longer -- and it'll signal to farmers and producers to not bother producing more of other foods as well.

Update
Here's what Gary Becker has to say:

The Moroccan government forced bakers there to hold the price of bread steady during the holy month of Ramadan. The European Union has suspended, unfortunately not rescinded, its rules that prevent farmers from planting cereals on a specified fraction of their land. Many other countries are also considering controls, subsidies, and regulations to prevent food prices from rising so rapidly.

Most of these policies are counterproductive because they discourage rather than encourage food production. This is especially true of price controls since farmers will grow less of the foods that have artificially low price ceilings.

Exactly.

Obama Uncensored

Right Wing News: Barack Obama In Quotes: Version 1.0

"Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula? I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff." -- Barack Obama

What's arugula?

Another quote:

"The point I was making was not that Grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person..." -- Barack Obama

He just keeps on digging.

This. Is. Canada!

True madness on display.

Dirty Infidels Not Welcome

David T:

This morning, my son asked to go swimming at 10 am. As he was going to play with a friend at 11.30, I agree to take him early. I checked the Pool Programme online at the Clissold Leisure Centre website, and the opening times. Apparently, the pool was open, and no special programmes were being run. So, off we trundled.

When I arrived at the pool, I was told that we could not swim in it until 10.45. The reason is that it was being used for "Muslim Male Swimming". This is apparently so, every Sunday morning.

Taxpayer-funded, of course.

Link via David Thompson.

Rhetoric Matters

Brian Micklethwait:

I brought prejudices acquired during the Cold War to the struggle between civilisation and Islam, but tried – and try still - to be careful to see the differences as well as the similarities between the two struggles.

In this spirit, I at first thought that whereas Soviet communism was ideologically breakable, Islam is not breakable. More than a billion souls believe in it, and however true it might be that it is evil and repulsive nonsense, saying this would accomplish very little. It would merely poke the hornet's nest with a stick. But slowly, I have been coming round to thinking almost the complete opposite.

Hmm.

Not only does denouncing Islam as evil nonsense establish the mere right, of us civilisationers, to denounce Islam - along with our right to say anything else we might want to say - true or false, nice or nasty, sensible or daft. Such talk also, I am starting to believe, strikes a dagger into the heart of the enemy camp, by spreading doubt in it about basic beliefs and hence sewing discord and confusion. I used to think that Islamists were indifferent to such ideological attacks. Now, I am starting to believe that they fear them very much. Hence all the murder threats. They sense that this is one of their weakest and potentially biggest fronts in the struggle. The biggest front of all, in fact.

[Emphasis mine.]

Exactly.

And even if only a few "apostates" materialise, they are of huge significance, for they bring with them deep knowledge of the enemy we face and how we can see the enemy off.

I agree.

So Lean

This photo reminded me of Doctor Zhivago.

Freedom of Speech

Kate:

Someone in media asked me in private conversation why this issue is so heated, so personal. I answered, "Then, you don't understand. This is an existential threat to the Canadian blogosphere. This is not about what we say - this is about who we are."

Yup.

Uncomfortable Questions

Hassan Radwan: Proof that Islam is True?

Radwan asks many questions that don't provide reasonable answers. It reminds me of the many I used to ask.

Update
A funny video here: Prophets of Islam.

Allah, for some reason, is obsessed with the Middle East.

A Looser

A fellow named Racist hater left this comment in a post from last year:

you stupid bastards dont know what your talkin about. Youre just a bunch of loosers with nothing better to do than discriminate muslims. If you think youre so brave why not leave your address.

I'll pass.

Our World War

An excellent topic is discussed at Uncommon Knowledge:

Professor Bruce Thornton of Cal State Fresno describes a European civilization that after twenty-five centuries is drawing to an end. He lists the symptoms: Economies are less adaptable and competitive because of an enormous regulatory burden; social welfare entitlements are incredibly expensive; and, demographically, Europeans simply aren’t reproducing. At the source of this demise is a loss of the foundational belief system that created the West — that created Europe — in the first place.

The interview -- The Decline and Fall of Europe -- is divided into five parts. Here are the links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5.

A Church in West Virginia

On Location with Rick Lee: Threat or Promise?

I wouldn't dare find out.

The Party is Downstairs

A most unusual post at Winds of Change:

The creators of hit comedy show South Park have made every episode available online - for free, with ad support, as a joint venture with Comedy Central. These episodes were already wildly popular online as shared clips; all this does it ensure that the creators pick up revenue from the naturally viral nature of their show.

Upon trying to watch a video, I get this:

This. Means. War.

We Can Defeat Them

Infidel Bloggers Alliance:

I have some very serious "domestic policy" differences with Newt Gingrich. I never thought I would find myself watching him speak and wishing he were our front runner candidate for president, but viewing these two superb short statements by him did just that.

Click here for the first video. Watch the second here.

The Evils of Math

A Muslim girl says:

"I grew up too quickly," she said. "From 11, I was studying maths all the time. I didn't have any friends."

She added: "I don't have any regrets."

She has been very naughty:

MATHS genius turned hooker Sufiah Yusof reveals how she drives men wild... by reciting EQUATIONS to her clients as they have sex.

Mmm, equations.

Link via Achelois.

Barack “37” Obama

Michelle Malkin:

When I think of “small-town Pennsylvania,” I think of the people of faith and fortitude I met last week–with open hearts, big smiles, and a boundless belief in the ability to help others, even on a shoestring budget and a steep political incline.

Click here to find out what Obama thinks of these Americans.

Leave It Alone!

This is just mean.

More!

• CPR gone horribly wrong.
• What exactly are we to do now?
• When adults embarrass.
• I would have asked for Beethoven.

Non-feline:

• The Geico mafia?
• Those budgies can sure hold a grudge.

McCain's Opponents

How can one be this historically ignorant and politically stupid?

In a newspaper interview in his home state, Rockefeller let loose this stinker: "McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."

Huntley writes:

Never mind that laser-guided missiles hadn't been invented during the Vietnam war. Bombing is a part of warfare, and McCain was serving his country as have legions of other bomber airmen. Rockefeller smeared them all. One further point: McCain was a prisoner of war in Hanoi when U.S. planes bombed the city, on the orders of McCain's admiral father.

Gus Van Horn offers his take on the matter.

The Moderate Muslim

Martin Kramer:

Professor John L. Esposito runs a slick operation at Georgetown with $20 million of funding from Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The shared agenda of these two is to make us all feel guilty for having wondered, after 9/11, about Saudis, Muslims, and the contemporary teaching of Islam. Esposito now has a new book (with co-author Dalia Mogahed, who runs something called the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies), bearing the pretentious title Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think. It's based on gleanings from the Gallup World Poll.

The core argument of the book is that only 7% of Muslims are "politically radicalized," and that "about 9 in 10 Muslims are moderate."

Kramer goes on to destroy this sugarcoated definition of "moderate".

He mentions a Pew poll from 2006:

In one of the survey's most striking findings, majorities in Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan say that they do not believe groups of Arabs carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The percentage of Turks expressing disbelief that Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks has increased from 43% in a 2002 Gallup survey to 59% currently. And this attitude is not limited to Muslims in predominantly Muslim countries—56% of British Muslims say they do not believe Arabs carried out the terror attacks against the U.S., compared with just 17% who do.

Kramer asks:

How can a book subtitled What a Billion Muslims Really Think not make so much as a single mention of this pervasive 9/11 denial? How many hundreds of millions out of the billion think 9/11 wasn't justified, because they suspect the CIA or the Mossad did it to smear the Muslims? And how would their believing that make them "moderate"?

If I remember correctly, the Muslims who want to apply sharia in society are also considered "moderate" by Esposito. What's funny is that even with this asinine definition of moderate, we still get 70 million Muslims who want to end Western Civilization.

You know, a tiny minority.

Fighting Words

Sandmonkey: Texans are wussies!

A commenter says:

Texans don’t need guns! They have chuck norris!

True.

No, My Lord

Samizdata:

David Selbourne is one of those intellectual figures who swims in similar currents to that of John Gray: mixing a sort of gloomy, conservative (small c) dislike of much modern culture and public life; a sort of grumpy dislike of the inevitably messy impact of individual liberty combined with a sort of authoritarian desire for those in power to somehow rein in all this terrible individualist excess and take us back to say, 1950. Tim Worstall, well known around here, subjects his latest article to a fairly gentle fisking.

While not subjected to a full-scale fisking, he's still thrashed.

Harsh Life of a Billionaire

Pejman:

For the first time in my life, being a billionaire seems like a bad thing.

He does have a valid point.

What is Illegal?

Tambi Dude emailed this link and asks, "Can you believe this?"

Nope. It's like something out of The Onion: Muslim is spared a speeding ban so he can drive between his two wives.

Islam In All Its Ugliness

Robert Spencer received a tremendous email:

I am writing to tell you about a small success story in the struggle against Sharia. I am a law student at the University of Cincinnati. Last Thursday our school hosted a Sharia apologist from Saudi Arabia, Dr. Abdulkareem Hamad A. Alsaiygh. He's Dean at the Center for Contemporary Islamic Studies and Dialogue among Civilizations, Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University.

Some hard questions were asked.

Among other things, our questions forced Dr. Alsaiygh to admit the following:

1. That apostasy is rightly punishable by death under Islamic law and the law of Saudi Arabia.

2. That there will never be a Christian church in Saudi Arabia.

3. That a Christian church is considered a national security risk to Saudi Arabia and other Islamic states.

4. That stoning is appropriate punishment for adultery.

There's more. Point #8 is the most comforting.

Heading into the event, the vast majority of students in the audience were sympathetic and welcoming to the speaker and his ideas. By the end of the event, they were all rightly horrified.

Unfiltered Islam tends to have that effect.

Al Qaeda Criticizes Hamas

The reasoning is truly bizarre.

I wonder if there were women and children on those planes on 9/11 ...

Riots in Egypt

Yahoo via the Sandmonkey:

Egyptians angry with the government about high prices set fire to shops and two schools in a Nile Delta textile town on Sunday after police thwarted plans for a general strike and countrywide protests.

Police fought battles through the streets of Mahalla el-Kubra with the protesters, led by textile workers who tried to go on strike for more pay to compensate for inflation.

The demonstrators set ablaze a primary school, a preparatory school and a travel agency, among other shops in the working-class town, and stopped an incoming train by putting blazing tires on the railway tracks, witnesses said.

US out of Egyp-, er, never mind.

Tiny Logos

Fun at McMaster:

Dr. LaPierre's group used a focus ion beam microscope (FIB) to shoot a beam of gallium ions at the surface of a human hair, carving atoms off the of the surface of the hair to etch these McMaster University logos. When not tattooing hair, they'll use the FIB microscope to fabricate nanoscale devices.

Damn!

Come to think of it, I like that. Tattooed hair. It's discreet.

Link via [H].

Aged Look

He looks like an old fellow.

Here Obedient to Their Laws We Lie.

Chicago Boyz:

Thermopylae and The Spartans can be profitably read by specialists yet also serve as an enjoyable introduction to the world of ancient Sparta to the general reader. Cartledge concisely explains the paradox of Sparta, at once the “most Greek” polis among the Greeks yet also, the most alien and distinct from the rest of the far-flung Greek world.

What Words Mean

Joseph Sobran via the Adam Smith Institute via Greg Mankiw:

"Need" now means wanting someone else's money. "Greed" means wanting to keep your own. "Compassion" is when a politician arranges the transfer.

Ain't socialism grand?

Barefoot and Naked

Daily Mail:

On a clear day, the view from the top will take in the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Ocean - providing you've a head for heights.

Plans for a mile-high tower in the Saudi Arabian desert have been unveiled by the billionaire owner of London's Savoy Hotel.

Austrolabe provides a prophecy from the time of Muhammad:

…Barefoot, naked, shepherds compete in building tall structures. [Sahih Muslim]

See, the building of such structures shows that the prophecy is coming true.

Two problems:

1. The people who want to construct these buildings aren't barefoot, naked, shepherds.
2. The building of "tall structures" has been going on for centuries. Given the wording, this prophecy has been coming true for all that time!

Anyway, some think that the project is a waste of money. A commenter says:

This tower is being built by a private company, Walid Ibn Talal has given money in the past to the Palestinians and to the poor in Lebanon, when Jenin was demolished by the Israelis he helped fund the rebuilding of the camp, this is why Mayor Juliani of NYC in 2001 refused his donation to help the victims of the attacks.

It's amusing how 1400-year-old garbage is treated with reverence but the true meaning of a recent event is perverted.

A Bit Too Much

Question asked.

I know it's not polite but, still, I'll answer with a question: Why should others have a say at all in how many pairs you buy?

I have two, by the way. One is four years old; the other eight.

Microsoft Getting Hard

Reuters via [H]:

Yahoo Inc has three weeks to accept Microsoft Corp's $31-a-share cash-and-stock offer or Microsoft may lower its bid and take its offer to Yahoo investors, Microsoft said on Saturday.

Steve Ballmer sent a letter to the Yahoo's board of directors. An excerpt:

"If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors," Ballmer wrote.

No pressure.

Another Caturday

• There's something Avada Kedavra about them.
• I have to agree; that looks a lot like Garfield.
• What a pose! A catty cat.
• A different kind of feline.