Isaac Schrödinger

Unsatisfied Reader

Something tells me s/he didn't quite get what they wanted.

Islam Says No to Wickedness

A question that needed to be asked:

What is ruling of hijab if a woman is at a women’s gathering? I know it is permissible for her to remove her scarf, but how much of her body can she expose?

This is how the answer starts:

If she is in the presence of trustworthy Muslim women, her nakedness is only between her navel and knees. As for what is above that, such as her chest, it is permissible for her to uncover it in front of them, as often happens with nursing women. As for if she is in the presence of:

1. a non-Muslim woman, or
2. a Muslim woman who is wicked through extramarital sexual intercourse (Ar. zina), or
3. a Muslim woman who is wicked through lesbianism,

I always thought that lesbianism was wicked but not in that way.

Sandmonkey chimes in:

There used to be a time, not long ago, when people would react to my revelation to them that I am a muslim with "Islam? Isn't that the religion where a man can have 4 wives?" instead of the current "Islam, isn't that the religion where people just blow shit up?" response, and I believe we can bring those days back again.

Hunh.

We just have to market it right, and I figured the best way to do it is to flaunt the islamic perk of having more than one wife at a time by putting a 21st century spin on it. Something along the lines of "Islam, the religion of threesomes, Foursomes and Moresomes", you know? Cause what's the point of having two wives if you can't have threesomes, right? But, unfortunately, according to this Fatwa, the muslim women can not be naked in front of non-msulim women or women with lesbian tendencies, so that plan is all shot to shit.

Yeah, Islam has got very little positive going for it today.

Al Qaeda Begins

Rediff:

Nothing -- not even the rise of Osama bin Laden -- shook the foundations of Saudi Arabia as the siege of Mecca 28 years ago.

From the interview of Wall Street Journal reporter Yaroslav Trofimov:

Why do you believe there is a co-relation between the events of 1979 and the genesis of Al Qaeda?

The Mecca uprising of 1979 was the very first operation of global jihad in modern times, uniting radicals from all over the world -- Saudis, Egyptians, Pakistanis, even American converts to Islam. This organisation served as a model to Al Qaeda in the future, and some of the surviving rebels actually went to Afghanistan and later joined Al Qaeda.

But this is not the only connection. In order to storm the Grand Mosque in 1979, the Saudi government needed a fatwa from the leading Islamic clerics, the Wahhabi ulema. The clerics obliged -- on the condition that the kingdom become much more rigid in enforcing the Wahhabi brand of Islam.

As part of this grand bargain, millions of dollars in Saudi petrodollars started to flow all over the world to fund the clerics' effort to spread Wahhabi Islam -- creating the Islamic madrassas, charities and welfare groups that would breed the new generation of Al Qaeda recruits.

I blame Bush.

Link via Brothers Judd via Infidel Bloggers Alliance.

Just Don't Go There

Canadians are mild customers but even they have their limits.

The government-commissioned study says the old, inefficient "beer fridges" that one in three Canadian households use to store their Molson and Labatt's contribute significantly to global warming by guzzling gas- and coal-fired electricity.

The scientists have gone too far!

Link via Tim Blair.

Absolute Evil

Raymond Ibrahim compares two totalitarian ideologies from across the ages. It's quite a telling presentation.

Here the topic is democracy:

MK: “And that is why this type of democracy has become the instrument of that race which in its inner goals must shun the light of day, now and in all ages of the future. Only the Jew can praise an institution [democracy] which is as dirty and false as he himself,” (p. 91).

AQR: “You [Americans] elect the wicked from among you, the greatest liars and most depraved, and you are enslaved to the wealthiest and most influential [among you], especially the Jews — who direct you through the lie of ‘democracy,’” (p. 210).

Here we see direct opposition to peace.

MK: “In exactly the same way, our German pacifist will accept in silence the bloodiest rape of our nation at the hands of the most vicious military powers if a change in this state of affairs can be achieved only by resistance — that is, force — for this would be contrary to the spirit of his peace society” (p. 112).

AQR: “But what does amaze us from some who claim to adhere to Islam is that when the infidels attack and ridicule their religion, openly advertising it as a “Crusade” against Islam, we suddenly find them responding by saying that they do not crave war but instead they desire coexistence, universal peace, and justice… Does this not count as a defeat? Is it not a perversion of the Islam of Muhammad?” (p. 23-24)

The conclusion -- the very last sentence -- is something I can't disagree with.

Deviation Shall Not Be Tolerated

Not Muslim Anymore:

Many Muslims say that people who leave Islam shouldn't be killed, but many say they should. This Islam Q and A (Question and Answer) site explains the "good" reasons why.

Oh good!

We also say that the death penalty exists in the modern laws of man to protect the system from disorder in some situation and to protect society against certain crimes which may cause its disintegration, such as drugs etc. If execution can serve as a deterrent to protect man-made systems, then it is more appropriate that the true religion of Allaah, which Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it  [cf. Fussilat 41:42], and which is all goodness, happiness and tranquility in this world and in the Hereafter should punish those who commit acts of aggression against it and seek to extinguish its light and defame its image, and who fabricate lies against it to justify their apostasy and deviation.

Not Muslim Anymore replies:

So all apostates lie about the religion? How does leaving Islam and stating what you think about it relate to the death penalty in modern laws? That is for murderers, not people who want to change their religion!

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read!

Islamic "logic" tends to get that reaction.

Early "Education"

This is one of the scariest things I've read regarding Canada:

The Ontario government appointed a special adviser yesterday to develop a plan to implement full-day kindergarten, which would be phased in starting in 2010.

Creepy.

"I'm of the view this is no longer a luxury in a society that lays claim to being progressive and availing itself of all the best pedagogical advice that we can get our hands on," Mr. McGuinty told reporters. "If we want our kids to be at their very best, and I think all parents want us to work toward that end, and I can tell you business people want us to do that same thing as well ... then we've got to start in the early years."

[Emphasis mine.]

Make Love Not War

Another Dubai secret:

The [British] Consulate is also a shining example of the wonderful multiculturalism that Dubai fosters. On its noticeboards are posted the banns of courting couples, hoping to marry in Dubai. How heartwarming to see that every "John Brown, DOB 1947" or "Trevor Jones, DOB 1952" has found a "Svetlana Molotov, DOB 1982" or "Ludmilla Kalashnikov, DOB 1986". It makes one quite proud to come from a land with such a blatant lack of xenophobia or age discrimination.

Tink!

I wouldn't mind her pesky behavior.

The Cult of Muhammad

A revealing post on the Muhammad teddy bear story:

The teacher worked at a fee-paying school attended by wealthy Sudanese, and in September - two months ago! - invited the infant-school children to vote on a name for a class teddy bear. The children voted on Muhammad, which just happens to be the name of the most popular boy in the school.

That's right.

I'm no Islamic scholar, but having read the relevant sections in a translation of Qadi Iyaad al-Yahsubi's famous text Al-Shifaa' and heard other scholars talk about the rulings on this matter, particularly in regard to offensive writings attributed to certain Indian Islamic scholars of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is obvious that this lady's actions do not constitute an insult.

Now the lovely reminder:

For someone to be punished for an insult, it has to be intended, even if not premeditated.

The author, by the way, lives in the West.

Please, Take Care

That's an order!

The Teddy Bear of Blasphemy

Josh Scholar provided this link in the comments here:

A British schoolteacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Sky News mentions the possible punishment:

A British teacher is facing 40 lashes in a Sudanese jail if convicted of insulting Islam's prophet by letting children name a teddy bear Mohammed.

Artist's depiction of the Muhammad Teddy Bear:

Note: The artist in no way means any disrespect to teddy bears.

More commentary:

• Harry's Place
• Little Green Footballs (Modified photo above stolen from here.)
• Michelle Malkin

Understatement of the Day

Haven’t exactly been keeping up with my Google Mail account

Yikes!

Hello Happiness

What are they trying to market to kids!?

Misunderstanding the Allies

What is the unifying force which joins America, Israel and India?

The New York Times and Sepia Mutiny come to the wrong conclusion.

Spoiled Already

Who owns who.

Light Burns Them

Ummah Pulse:

with most attacks on Islam and Muslims nowadays, the retort when challenged invariably boils down to a tantrum about the "sanctity of race and ethnicity" as opposed to the "flimsy veneer of religion". As far back as 2004, Neocons working for the Daily Telegraph were arguing for the right to criticise Islam on the grounds that it was not an ethnicity. In 2005, the comedian Rowan Atkinson appeared in the House of Lords and argued that "to criticise people for their race is manifestly irrational but to criticise their religion, that is a right".

The author links to a few studies and then concludes that

religious distinctions play a far more decisive role in the formation of identities than genetics, which begs the question as to why on earth is race given such an advantage over religion when it comes to discrimination, ridicule and insults? In other words why should race be a “no-go area” and religion a "free-for-all"?

Because awful choices have consequences.

I've seen this coming. In the Islamic world, criticism of Islam or Muhammad is punished aggressively. (For example, see section 295C of Pakistan.) Now the Islamists are trying very hard to put Islam above criticism in the West as well. The "problem" you see isn't that Islam advocates all sorts of barbarities; the problem is the uncouth person who dares to point this out and holds Muslims accountable.

Bollywood Scores in Pakistan

Pakistan has lifted the ban on Indian movies in cinemas.

The second commenter there says:

I hate f*&kers who are all about money and business and they will sell thier mother to the indians should it make them a bit of profit. (Not unlike the Jews some say)

Lovely. What's wrong with viewing a Hindi filim on the big screen?

This is a direct investment of your money into the Indian Arms Industry to make the bombs and the bullets and buy the jets to kill you with.

. . .

Like a Virgin

Mark Steyn:

Let me give you a small example, from last week's Evening Standard: "Women Get 'Virginity Fix' NHS Operations In Muslim-Driven Trend."

That's like having your cake and eating it twice.

Sex, Islam and government health care, all in one convenient headline! According to one expert cited in the story, Muslim girls are "modern and they have adventures like other Europeans." Which sounds good, doesn't it? Soon they'll be so assimilated they'll be indistinguishable from any old homegrown Britneyfied teen slattern. Alas, as the expert continues, "But on the other hand, fundamentalism is spreading and these girls are getting sent back to their countries of origin to marry. And they will be rejected if it is found out that they are not virgins." Solution? Free "hymen replacement."

The Brits are literally paying for the backwardness of their Muslim neighbors. Soon all of Europe will pay.

Too Hot for Qatar

The Peninsula via Rofasix:

Success has a price. The same holds true for the first Qatari woman pilot, who made history when she became the only Arab female to fly a helicopter, but societal pressure and ridicule has stopped her from enjoying this unique achievement.

Update: Though the enjoyment has diminished, she still remains a pilot.

Munira Al Dosri gave an interview to a local paper which also carried her photo in a pilot's uniform (gasp!).

“All phone calls had a similar message to convey. People were telling me they felt ashamed to see me without the abaya and veil (Qatari women’s traditional attire). They told me they were ashamed of me being a Qatari woman,” she said.

They're idiots.

“I want society to realise how important it is to respect people’s personal freedom. I believe that we are living in a society which has a mindset which would take long to change. People here should learn to respect others’ freedom.”

Indeed!

Black, White and In Between

A somewhat confusing conversation about race / skin color.

The author writes in the comments:

I think with arab women who marry black men it is not the same as white women who marry out of their race. i have never had such coments made by white women. I think when some Arab women see, for instance me and exotic sister married to white men and they have black men - then it is kind of humiliating for them. I mean how can an ugly black woman pull in the o so desired white man, while a beatiful Arab woman (white according to some) gets stuck with the black man they look down on.

My heart bleeds.

saudistepfordwife says:

I’ve had three very dark-skinned Muslima friends who’ve all had bad experiences with marrying “lighter”. One was a Saudi woman of Nigerian descent who married a Bedouin. Although he was happy with her, his family forced him to divorce her. She eventually married a Syrian then divorced him after 3 kids due to his condescending attitude towards her then decided to marry a black guy her third try. Don’t know how that went because I’ve lost track.

The other was a dear friend in England, one of the best Muslimas I’ve met in my life, who is of Jamaican descent and about as dark-complected as a human can be. She married a Pakistani and ran into the same issues as my first friend, the family forced them into a divorce after she had one child. Later she was engaged to marry an Egyptian guy but that didn’t go through.

The third was one of the cutest Saudi girls I’ve met. She is very religious and strong in her convictions despite it making her unpopular at times amongst her “modern” peers. She had the most beautiful face and smile which was completely overlooked because although she is not of African descent, she is very dark complected and doesn’t have “good hair” by Arab standards. Upon being “viewed” for by a potential suitor for marriage, she was rejected because of her color.

alwaysred comments:

I had a very ‘interesting’ experience at the local mosque here. I had a somali or sudanese lady who was talking to my son and obviously liked the way he looked, ask where I was from. So I told her I was Pakistani and then I told her that my son is half Egyptian though. And she goes something like ‘oh that’s why he’s so beautiful’.

Ouch!

Halaal Greeting

Umar Lee:

As a Muslim man I always try to show respect to a brothers family when I enter his home; but one of the problems is I do not always know how to do this. There is a good friend of mine who is a white American convert to Islam and is married to a non-Muslim woman who is an attorney. When I first met him I had not visited the home of a non-Muslim not in my family socially in years and I did not know how to act. Because I was in the habit of ignoring women and not speaking to them in the home of Muslim friends of mine, because that is what they expected, I did not speak to his wife. I forgot about this brief encounter, but the brother’s wife was mad at me for years because she felt I had disrespected her.

That uppity woman doesn't have the sense to see just how much Lee respected her by refusing to acknowledge her existence.

Read the rest. It's funny in a sad way.

Choices, Choices

For $1500 you can buy or build yourself a nice desktop setup with a 24-inch monitor or you could just get a new keyboard.

Lost in Translation

This won't be a very popular Christmas gift.

Wii P.I.

How it caught a cheating wife.

Link via Hardocp.

Terrifying Information

Jerusalem Post via Elphi Delphi:

A senior Zionist official stationed in Switzerland during World War II was likely the first person to receive information from a German source regarding the plan for the systematic extermination of Europe's Jews, according to a new book published by Yad Vashem.

Chaim Pazner, head of the Jewish Agency's Palestine Office in Geneva, immediately forwarded the information to senior British officials and to Jewish officials in British-ruled Palestine, and the report reached the top echelons of the British government, according to the book, Chaim Pazner - The Man Who Knew.

Wow.

Bunch of Younglings

The Force is silly.

Screwing America Can Be Costly

The logic of war gets a result:

Saudi sheikh Dr. Salaman bin Fahd Al-'Awda has said that jihad in our time has caused more damage than benefit, and that waging jihad now is a mistake vis-à-vis the religion, society, and human life.

Link via Jihad Watch.

An Essential Part of Civilization

Samizdata:

It is particularly refreshing to read an American arguing against gun control without once mentioning the US Constitution. I am not opposed to the US Constitution, most of it, but I think that Americans should spend at least some of their time explaining why most of it is right, instead of just taking it for granted as a stack of unchallengeable axioms.

Good advice.

A Different Kind of B.A.

Why wasn't I told about this profession in university!?

You Cannot Escape It

It being economics.

Rahman + Deva

Charles Johnson:

Completely whacked out, but oddly appealing in a twisted multicultural kinda way.

Indeed!

I remember watching that in 1994. It was in Saudi Arabia; at the time my family shared a satellite with fellow desis in our building. We got less than 10 channels but they were light years ahead* of the soul-crushing dreck in the local arena.

This song, from the movie Kadhalan, was a megahit for two reasons:

1. The music composer, A. R. Rahman, was continuing his meteoric rise in the Indian movie scene. His new sound, a fusion of Western music with an Indian core, was becoming the gold standard and this soundtrack put the rest to shame.
2. The main actor, Prabhu Deva, brought his unique kinetic and wicked ishtyle to the dance sequences. It's usually the actresses who do the heavy duty dance scenes, so Deva had really no competition.

By the way, Charles titled his post, "Saturday Night Bollywood". Technically, this is not from Bollywood since that term refers to the Bombay-based Hindi movie industry. This song is actually in the Tamil language. (Though, because of its massive popularity, the entire movie was later dubbed into Hindi and called Humse Hai Muqabala.)

* Baywatch was the most popular show, of course.

Undermining Sanity

Reporters Without Borders:

Khaiwani has worked for several publications since his weekly was closed in 2005. He was arrested in June after the publication of photos he had taken showing abuses committed by the army in its attempts to combat a Shiite rebellion in the north.

He is being prosecuted

on a charge of “publishing information liable to undermine army morale” under article 126 of the criminal code, for which the maximum penalty is death.

Link via Armies of Liberation.

Need for Power

Confusion about the European Union:

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has suggested the European Union should work towards including Russia, Middle Eastern and North African countries, the BBC reported.

Horror

Do they recycle that?

Sex, Blood and Deceit

Daily Mail via Dhimmi Watch:

Women are being given controversial "virginity repair" operations on the NHS, it emerged last night.

Taxpayers funded 24 hymen replacement operations between 2005 and 2006, official figures revealed.

A slight cultural difference:

Dr Magdy Hend, consultant gynaecologist at the Regency Clinic, Harley Street, London, who started hymen reconstruction more than 18 years ago in the Middle East and the Gulf, said: "In some cultures they like to see that the women will bleed on the wedding night. If the wife or bride is not a virgin, it is a big shame on the family."

Apparently it's preferable to con the taxpayers and deceive the spouse.

Ignoring History

Eric Alterman:

When Enola Gay pilot Paul Tibbets died November 1, the New York Times repeated Tibbets's contention that "It would have been morally wrong if we'd have had [the atomic bomb] and not used it and let a million more people die." That virtually no reputable historian would put the casualty figure for a US invasion of Japan anywhere near that high (leaving aside the question of whether an invasion would have been necessary) was not mentioned in the story.

Oliver Kamm via The Corner:

One of my regular correspondents, the military historian D.M. Giangreco, wrote a definitive paper on the administration's casualty estimates, published as "'A Score of Bloody Okinawas and Iwo Jimas': President Truman and Casualty Estimates for the Invasion of Japan", in Pacific Historical Review, Feb 2003, and reprinted in Hiroshima in History: The Myths of Revisionism, ed. Robert J. Maddox, 2007, pp. 76-115. From his scrutiny of primary sources, he observed: "Truman's much-derided accounts of massive casualties projected for the two-phase invasion of Japan are richly supported by US Army, White House, Selective Service and War Department documents produced before the use of nuclear weapons against Japan and stretching back through the last nine months of the Roosevelt administration."

The American casualty figure was over 25,000 at Iwo Jima -- a piece of rock barely over 20 square kilometers. Out of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers who defended that island, less than 300 survived. On the basis of such heavy losses and fanatical Japanese resistance, it is reasonable to predict that American casualties would have approached the million mark upon, and leading to, the invasion of mainland Japan.

Can You Feel the Warmth?

Copious amounts of evidence for global warming.

Update II is my favorite.

Lord of the Neocons

The people at Muslim Matters are not big fans of Giuliani:

His team consists of the same people responsible for the Iraqi war and will likely take us to war in Iran soon if Giuliani takes over.

More:

His team is more right-wing and more hawkish than even the right-wing Likud party of Israel, and will make every effort to destroy any chance of achieving lasting peace in the Middle East.

It's always interesting to see which US presidential candidate attracts the most vitriol from the Muslim blogosphere. In my eyes, it counts as a plus.

It's Beautiful

Video: A Word to Islamofascists.

Appearance Trumps Justice

Achelois:

Tainting a Muslim man’s name is serious crime, more serious than molestation itself. Either the victim is to pretend for the rest of their lives that the abuse never happened or suffer in silence. A friend was raped by her husband for seven long years but she suffered in silence because the husband was a deeply ‘religious’ man and her mother made her believe that there is no rape in marriage. Then last year the boy of someone we know was saved from being raped in the basement of a mosque. It took great courage for his parents to report the assault to the police because of threats of ostracisation from other Muslim families.

Sexual abuse takes place everywhere and the Muslim world is no exception. Let’s accept it.

Two major, intertwined issues stand in the way.

1. Self-criticism

Muslims often complain about "too much" freedom and the sexual openness of the West. How often does one see Muslims railing against the total lack of freedom and the sexual apartheid in Saudi Arabia or Iran?

Open criticism is often reserved for the infidels. Physical and sexual abuse, marital rape, STDs -- all these things are found all over the world but many Muslims keep silent or, worse, try to deny their existence in the Islamic sphere. Instead of help, punishment and treatment respectively, too many Muslims wish to put up an untainted show.

It's often said in a different language but the meaning is the same: "We don't want to give the kafir any ammunition." The shattered victims attempt to construct their lives whereas the evil men continue to destroy more. Justice is sacrificed on the altar of appearance.

2. Individualism

Religion is the core identity of a Muslim. To publicly point out a flaw of a Muslim is somehow equivalent to sniping at Islam.

For example, the abuse of a child by a gym teacher or a biology teacher in no way discredits exercise or science but Islamic societies can't seem to separate the two. This is why the abuse of children by Quran or Islamic studies teachers rarely results in any punishment for the vile perpetrator.

Related: On this subject, Amy Berg made Deliver Us From Evil. Any chance we'll see an Islamic version of that movie soon?

How The World Doesn't Work

A friend emailed the link to this news:

At first glance the supermarket off Avenida Francisco Miranda appeared to be a gourmet dream. Smoked salmon in the freezer. An aisle filled with Italian olive oil, balsamic vinegar and pesto. Another aisle stacked with Perrier, champagne and the finest Scotch.

But of milk, eggs, sugar and cooking oil there was no sign. Where were they? The question yesterday prompted a puzzled look from the manager. "There isn't any. Everybody knows that. Pasta is probably the next to go," he shrugged.

This is what happens when one disregards the law of supply and demand. Sadly for the miserable public, the socialist thug-in-charge is in no mood to reverse his destructive policies.

Liberals Losing Big Time

The big three US TV networks have been losing viewers for many years but I didn't know it was this bad. The graph there is striking.

Another Reason Why Islam Sucks

MSN:

Singapore has banned the sale of an Xbox video game that features an intimate scene between two female characters, a statement said.

Link via Hardocp.

Butter Head?

Miss Universe 1994 didn't know what she was getting in to.

A Hindu Goddess

Last week in India via William Saletan:

Thirty-six doctors covering a range of specialities from paediatrics to plastic surgery are involved in the 40-hour operation at the Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore.

Click here to see why.

Mean Life

Greg Mankiw:

The Carpe Diem blog has an interesting table, reproduced above, that corrects life expectancy data for differences in the rates of premature death from non-health-related injury, such as homicide and car accidents. The resulting number reflects health-related mortality.

The result might be surprising for some.

I Want Them All!

Cafe Alpha left a link for me! that I have to share.

Also, the fluffiest chai in the world.

Fresh Hardware with Malware

Slashdot via Kate:

About 1,800 brand new 300-GB or 500-GB external hard drives made for Maxtor in Thailand were found to have trojan horse malwares pre-installed (autorun.inf and ghost.pif). When the HD is in use, these forward information on the disk to two websites in Beijing, China: www.nice8.org or www.we168.org.

Damn. I'm sticking with Western Digital.

Hazy on "No Compulsion"

International Herald Tribune via Dhimmi Watch:

Joe Stork, the HRW Middle East deputy chief, said it was a systematic policy to deny documents to members of faiths other than Islam, Christianity and Judaism — the only three religions officially recognized by Egyptian authorities.

ID cards are mandatory here, but persons seeking to have "Bahai" listed as their faith on the card, for example, are denied the document, Stork told reporters in Cairo.

The report quoted some 40 people the watchdog groups interviewed as saying they were told in applying for papers that they must list themselves as either Muslim or Christian, or risk not being able to obtain the document.