Women

Have I mentioned in the last few minutes just how brilliant The Middleman is? I believe there might be just one original episode left in the series. It's unlikely to be renewed by ABC Family, who deserve kudos anyway for green lighting the series in the first place. It will always remain one of television's (and literature's) finest moments.

The Middleman: Fighting Evil So You Don't Have To. I know the fictional world is safe in the hands of Wendy Watson (as portrayed by Natalie Morales on the right). But what of the real world?

You want a strange and disconcerting night? Just watch Michelle Obama's excellent speech at the Democrat Convention, highlights (errr.... lowlights) of Nancy Pelosi's speech to the same convention and then watch Natalie Morales and Matt Keeslar. Of course there is less fiction in any five minutes of Javier Grillo-Marxuach's Middleman that in any corresponding five minutes of Pelosi's speech.

But I'm actually getting carried away (as usual). I do have a point for you to consider. Compare this week's Democrat convention to the current events in any nation of region generally operating under Islamic law.

In Denver, Colorado we are watching some of the world's finest and brightest women showcased on television for the whole world to see. As I already mentioned, Michelle Obama was wonderful in telling her American story to the world. Michelle is a woman, a woman of color, who is a heroine to women everywhere.

And we saw Carolyn Kennedy deliver a moving speech. She is, in many ways, the future of the Democrat Party.

I've already mentioned Nancy Pelosi and, as much as I dislike her, she is probably the third most powerful person in America.

For the next two nights, the Democrats will showcase Hillary Clinton, a woman who has nearly achieved the highest elected office in America (which is arguably the most powerful position on earth).

Compare America's celebration of women in power to the virtual invisibility of women throughout much of the Islamic world. Under the most conservative (fundamentalist) rule, women are denied all education, denied medical care and denied all basic human rights. Even under relatively modern Islamic societies women are denied the right to own property, hold elected office and, in some countries, denied the right to drive a car.

Often women are forced to avoid all contact with men except for direct relatives. They cannot dine in restaurants or even enjoy a cup of coffee in Starbucks (an American women was recently arrested in a Starbucks in Saudi Arabia).

In one of the greatest injustices and ironies of Islamic society, being raped means jail time for the woman, even as the rapist walks free. Sometimes being raped means a death sentence, as the woman's family must kill her to save the family's honor.

In really big news this week, Iran has notified the world that it might, just might, outlaw the stoning of women. But they're not sure yet. But for certain women cannot participate in sports or even attend sporting events. The Ayatollah's have spoken on this issue.

Now the Democrats will spend the next three nights bashing John McCain. And that's OK by me. It's tradition. And while it's actually rather unlikely any speaker from the dais will speak out FOR the oppressed women of the world, the very presence of women sharing power and the stage with men speaks volumes.

Strong women around the world are fighting evil, from Hillary Clinton to Natalie Morales. But we all need to join the fight.

Blind Prejudice

I've been writing a great deal lately about the blind prejudice that all too often turns into absolute hatred in our political and economic discourse. Much of what is written in blogs and repeated on talk radio (from the left and right) is nothing short of hate speech.

And while racial prejudice and sexual discrimination (and the objectification of women in our society, hat tip to the ikonoclast) continue to fester and infect our society, the "Derangement Syndromes" surrounding political philosophies and our supposed opponents and members of opposing political movements has reached a boiling point.

It hit really close to my home (both physically close and close in terms of religion and values) Sunday with the shooting and murder of two members of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church during morning services. The shooting occurred during a children's performance. Thank God no children were killed.

The shooter, Jim D. Adkisson, left a letter in his car with the reason for his rampage. Adkisson "stated hatred of the liberal movement."

Thankfully Adkisson himself was not killed in the rampage and didn't have the chance to commit suicide. One report stated he had 76 shotgun shells and planned to use them all. He was wrestled to the ground by church members. He is now being held by the Knoxville police.

Among the many sins of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church were it's sponsorship of the American Civil Liberties Union and its support of women's rights and gay rights. They had recently put out a sign welcoming gays to the congregation.

These people were shot for the very beliefs I hold and practice every day.

As a society we must learn to respect each others views, religions and politics or we will find ourselves mired in internal fighting like the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, or past sectarian battle in Ireland.

Love is the spirit of this church and service is its law. This is our great covenant: to live together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help one another. Written by James Vila Blake and used in many Unitarian churches (including the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church) as a Statement of Faith.

If only everyone could live by this simple and non-sectarian creed. Please send your prayers and thoughts to the friends and members of the Knoxville community touched by this tragedy. This tragedy touches everyone.

Here is a link to the website of The Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church

Timetable? We Should NEVER Leave Iraq

Aided by blind hatred and near sickening political demagoguery by those who simply despise George Bush, America stands on the verge of making one of the worst foreign policy decisions in all of history.

And George Bush and his aides are so wounded, not to mention virtually incompetent in all matters political, they are doing nearly nothing to prevent the coming disaster.

This textbook failure will make Viet Nam look positively heroic.

Put simply, America stands poised to snatch defeat (and so much worse) from the jaws of victory. Bush and the military leaders in Iraq have virtually won the peace. We've gone from Invasion, to War, and then on to Occupation. FInally we are on the verge of peace.

I believe the occupation is now at an end and we are ready to enter into a period of mutual support, cooperation and even friendship.

And the Iraqi Government clearly believes the same thing. We should see troop withdrawals begin this fall.

If intelligent forces were guiding the foreign policy of our country, instead of electioneering and demagoguery and the flames of personal hatred, we would be entering into a long term agreement of mutual support and protection between our countries. The agreement would absolutely mirror our agreements with Japan, Germany and dozens of other countries.

Instead, Bush is unable to negotiate such a treaty. Not because the Iraqis are unwilling, they are actually begging for such an agreement, but because Bush is terrified by our Congress and the mood of the electorate.

He cannot bring a treaty before a Congress that most certainly will fail to ratify it.

No the mood in this election year is retreat, submit, withdraw and abandon. There are no facts on the ground that will ever placate a Congress effectively controlled by Moveon.org.

Bush is so inarticulate and so inept he cannot speak to the American people and convince them to do the right and intelligent thing. He lacks the powers of persuasion of his predecessors and the current Democrat Presidential candidate.

Instead Bush has "promised not to tie the hands of his successor." No treaty, no agreement, no nothing.

And Obama will most certainly leave a very fragile Iraq to fall under the control of a religious dictatorship that will become the greatest enemy ever faced by any power on earth.

And it's so damned unnecessary. The war is won. The occupation is over. All we need to do is support the people of Iraq, exactly as we have supported the people of Germany, Japan and South Korea. Trade, financial aid, rebuilding, mutual aid. Iraq is ready to govern. If we don't abandon them.

Please read the entire Wall Street Journal article from Friday, How Prime Minister Maliki Pacified Iraq.

America is very close to succeeding in Iraq. The "near-strategic defeat" of al Qaeda in Iraq described by CIA Director Michael Hayden last month in the Washington Post has been followed by the victory of the Iraqi government's security forces over illegal Shiite militias, including Iranian-backed Special Groups. The enemies of Iraq and America now cling desperately to their last bastions, while the political process builds momentum.

These tremendous gains remain fragile and could be lost to skillful enemy action, or errors in Baghdad or Washington. But where the U.S. was unequivocally losing in Iraq at the end of 2006, we are just as unequivocally winning today.

And while you're in a reading mood, please read the news report from this morning, Iran police start wider crackdown on un-Islamic dress. Is this really the future we want to grant to the women of Iraq?

Evil

I really hate to post so frequently because I feel posts often get overlooked. Please do take time to read my post on $8.00 Gasoline immediately below.

Having said that, occasionally I read a post on another blog that is so important that it DEMANDS to find a larger audience. Rachel Lucas has, once again, written such a post. It's short. And I'm not reprinting a single word of it here. It's titled Who’s the hottest ring in hell reserved for? Click on the link and read her post.

We often get so absorbed in our local politics, especially during a Presidential Election, that we lose all perspective. Thank you Rachel for reminding us that we need a wider vision.

Staying to Help in Iraq

I have the greatest admiration for Bono and Bob Geldof and Mia Farrow and Angelina Jolie and others who are able to transcend politics and move past the demagoguery and actually work constructively to improve the lives of oppressed people around the world.

There are all too many politicians in Washington and sideline commentators around the world for whom victory only means dealing a political defeat to their opposition.

So when Bob Geldof praises George Bush's humanitarian activities in Africa and condemns the media for failing to give President Bush the credit he so richly deserves, I want to cheer. Not because I'm a Bush cheerleader, but because Bob Geldof actually places the welfare of the poor in Africa ABOVE politics!! Geldof has consistently looked for answers and help for Africans, not headlines or political points.

By the way, Geldof's article in this week's TIME MAGAZINE is a must read for everyone: Geldof and Bush: Diary From the Road. But, as usual, I've wondered off track....

Today I want to once again give praise and credit to Angelina Jolie, one of the brightest, most articulate and passionate people working today to help the poor, the oppressed and the forgotten. Jolie's work in Iraq this past week (and the past several years) is magnificent.

In a Washington Post Op-Ed letter today, Jolie recounts the situation in Iraq and her recent visits with both the refugees in Iraq and with U.S. Army General David Petraeus, United Nation's High Commissioner António Guterres, and Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Jolie is a woman on a mission and she is succeeding.

Certainly Jolie is no fan of George Bush. She is deeply affected by the suffering of (by Jolie's estimates) over 4.5 million Iraqi refugees. She wants to help these people to return home safely and to rebuild their lives.

More than that, she wants and expects the United States and the United Nations to step up to the plate and provide financial and humanitarian assistance in this effort.

Jolie doesn't endorse the surge, she doesn't endorse the war. Jolie doesn't play politics. But she does recognize both the real situation on the ground and the need for the United States to play a significant role in rebuilding the lives of the people.

I think it's really significant that instead of sitting safely at home and running "General Betray Us" ads in the New York Times, Jolie goes and meets Petraeus and gets the support she needs to increase the humanitarian aid.

I hope you'll read Jolie's entire article: Staying to Help in Iraq

Today's humanitarian crisis in Iraq -- and the potential consequences for our national security -- are great. Can the United States afford to gamble that 4 million or more poor and displaced people, in the heart of Middle East, won't explode in violent desperation, sending the whole region into further disorder? What we cannot afford, in my view, is to squander the progress that has been made. In fact, we should step up our financial and material assistance. UNHCR has appealed for $261 million this year to provide for refugees and internally displaced persons. That is not a small amount of money -- but it is less than the U.S. spends each day to fight the war in Iraq. I would like to call on each of the presidential candidates and congressional leaders to announce a comprehensive refugee plan with a specific timeline and budget as part of their Iraq strategy. As for the question of whether the surge is working, I can only state what I witnessed: U.N. staff and those of non-governmental organizations seem to feel they have the right set of circumstances to attempt to scale up their programs. And when I asked the troops if they wanted to go home as soon as possible, they said that they miss home but feel invested in Iraq. They have lost many friends and want to be a part of the humanitarian progress they now feel is possible. It seems to me that now is the moment to address the humanitarian side of this situation. Without the right support, we could miss an opportunity to do some of the good we always stated we intended to do.

How Real Investigative Reporting is Done

While The New York Times was wasting four reporters for six months investigating a non-story about John McCain that ultimately cast only the New York paper itself in a negative light, The TIMES OF LONDON was doing real work investigating and now revealing a stunning connection between British~Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchiand and Democrat Presidential Candidate Barrack Obama.

The highly detailed and fact rich TIMES OF LONDON article, complete with time lines and charts, raises serious questions about "loans" of millions of dollars to Obama's campaign and Obama's already questionable purchase of a Chicago Mansion.

The headline story was just released moments ago on the TIMES OF LONDON website. It remains to be seen if the American media, which seems lovestruck with Obama jumps on the story. It will be equally fascinating to see how Hillary Clinton and John McCain react.

Here are some key portions of the story. Please be certain to read the entire story. And, if you have contacts at the New York Times, suggest they study how real reporting is actually done.

A British-Iraqi billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama's fundraiser just weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times discloses. The money transfer raises the question of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain’s wealthiest men, helped Mr Obama buy his mock Georgian mansion in Chicago. A company related to Mr Auchi, who has a conviction for corruption in France, registered the loan to Mr Obama's bagman Antoin "Tony" Rezko on May 23 2005. Mr Auchi says the loan, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA, was for $3.5 million. Three weeks later, Mr Obama bought a house on the city's South Side while Mr Rezko's wife bought the garden plot next door from the same seller on the same day, June 15. Mr Obama says he never used Mrs Rezko's still-empty lot, which could only be accessed through his property. But he admits he paid his gardener to mow the lawn. Mrs Rezko, whose husband was widely known to be under investigation at the time, went on to sell a 10-foot strip of her property to Mr Obama seven months later so he could enjoy a bigger garden. Mr Obama now admits his involvement in this land deal was a “boneheaded mistake”. Mrs Rezko’s purchase and sale of the land to Mr Obama raises many unanswered questions. It is unclear how Mrs Rezko could have afforded the downpayment of $125,000 and a $500,000 mortgage for the original $625,000 purchase of the garden plot at 5050 South Greenwood Ave. In a sworn statement a year later, Mrs Rezko said she got by on a salary of $37,000 and had $35,000 assets. Mr Rezko told a court he had "no income, negative cash flow, no liquid assets, no unencumbered assets [and] is significantly in arrears on many of his obligations." The house-and-garden deal raised questions about whether Mr Rezko, a property developer and fast-food restauranteur, made it possible for the Obamas to purchase a mansion they could otherwise not afford. Mrs Rezko paid the asking price for the garden but the Obamas bought the house for $1.65 million, - $300,000 less than the asking price. The sellers deny they offered the Obamas a discount on the house because the garden had fetched full price from Mrs Rezko. The spotlight fell on Mr Rezko's ties to Mr Auchi last month when the Chicago businessman was thrown in jail for violating his bail terms by failing to declare a different $3.5 million loan from the British billionaire, made in April 2007. Prosecutors feared Mr Rezko, who travels widely in the Middle East, might flee to a country without an extradition treaty such as his birthplace of Syria. Mr Auchi was convicted of corruption, given a suspended sentence and fined £1.4 million in France in 2003 for his part in the Elf affair, described as the biggest political and corporate scandal in post-war Europe. He, in a statement from his media lawyers, claims he is appealing against the sentence.

The Excellence of Steven Spielberg

I want to thank Steven Spielberg with all my heart. He has exhibited rare courage and extraordinary moral leadership. And he has placed his principles and his concern for mankind above everything else.

Steven Spielberg is already a living legend. The Academy Award winning director's place in history is already assured. However, Spielberg could have capped his career with his opportunity to direct the entire artistic exposition of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is a real testament to his skill and craftsmanship to have been chosen by the Chinese government and Chinese Olympic Organization as the Artistic Director.

But Steven Spielberg realized that China is not only failing to condemn the genocide in Darfur, but is actually funding and supporting the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of people.

First Spielberg attempted to put pressure on the Chinese Government through public comments and private negotiations. He became a very vocal critic of China's involvement.

As it became more and more obvious that his pressure was having little effect, Spielberg made the difficult decision to resign his position with the 2008 Olympics

"I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual," he said in a statement. Steven Spielberg was an artistic adviser to the Chinese Olympic Games "At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies, but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur." More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million forced from their homes in the five-year conflict between Sudan's Arab-dominated government and Darfur's ethnic African rebels. Human rights activists have accused China of being partly responsible for the trouble in Darfur because of its diplomatic backing of the Sudanese government. Spielberg said: "Sudan's government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these ongoing crimes, but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more to end the continuing suffering there.

If only Warren Buffett had just one ounce of Spielberg's courage, honor and humanity, perhaps we could finally turn the situation in Dafur around.

Recommended Reading

My wife did something very "retro" recently. She joined the public library.

In the 1950's , when I was a mere lad back in Pueblo, Colorado, every school aged child had a library card. Because, unless you were very, very rich, the library was where books came from!!

Back in 2001 I boldly predicted that the Internet would ultimately change all that. I believed that Congress, or perhaps even the publishers themselves, would overcome the enormous complications created by copyright laws and all books would be availble on-line for an affordable fee. Sadly, I wasn't quite correct in my predictions....... at least not yet.

Consider for a moment the magnitude of the opportunity to serve mankind.

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with nearly 119 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves. The collections include some 18 million books.

For the purpose of this discussion, let's assume each of those 18 million books has 250 pages.

Now my wife is a voracious reader. She can read 100 pages in a book in one evening. But even reading at this torrid pace, she could only read 11,680 books in her lifetime. And that's if she read for 100 pages a day for 80 years. Not a likely scenario.

But if she did, that's only 6/10ths of 1% of the books only in just the Library of Congress. And The Library of Congress itself only contains a small portion of the writings world wide.

In other words, we don't have a prayer of ever scratching the surface of human knowledge and creativity.

And of course a substantial portion of human creativity has already been lost. Books go out of print and fade into the dustbin of history. Which brings me to the point of this essay.

Paul Crume was one of the most talented and insightful writers and essayists who ever lived. His column appeared on the front page of The Dallas Morning News from 1948 until his death in 1975. And selected essays have been collected into two books, now both long out of print.

My wife and I have been rereading The World of Paul Crume, because we are lucky enough to actually own a copy. This book, published back in 1980 won't be found in any library outside of Dallas, and probably not even there. As of this writing a few old and well worn copies of the book are available on Amazon but I can't promise you any will still be there when you click the link.

Sometime in the mid 90's Marion Crume (Paul's wife) or another relative set up a Paul Crume Website on Geocities. But even by 2001 the website had fallen into disrepair. Links were broken or missing. Nothing remains today.

Small snatches of a very few of Paul's essays used to be available at this site. My guess is that even for Paul's wife there were copyright or other legal hassles that prevented a larger portion of the books to be reprinted.

And here is where our society and government must allow and even force change. Every essay Paul ever wrote should be archived on-line. It would be easy and very inexpensive to do this. For a small fee (or perhaps advertising support) Every person in the world would be able to read his writings, be warmed by his wit, be touched by his love.

Millions and millions of similar, perhaps even greater works are held back from humanity out of greed, ignorance or simple stupidity. Today lawyers and "creative rights managers" in this country will withhold creative works from the Internet and let them disappear rather than allow one person to read the work for "free."

Every day this week Paul Crume has made my world a better place in which to live. We need for it to be possible for you to have the same experience. At the click of a button.

excerpt from the essay SCIENCE CAN'T KEEP UP by Paul Crume* .....people know a great many things that science has not yet discovered. Science will eventually get around to discovering them and making them official, but meanwhile they work just as well while they're undiscovered. It was several millennia after people had begun to use a good stout sapling to pry rocks with that science discovered the lever, and Archimedes announced that with a proper lever and a fulcrum to put it on he could move the world. This is an "iffy" scientific attitude. Science discovered the wedge and the wheel after people had been using them for years. This inability of science to keep up with people is called a cultural lag. It has only been 300 years since Issac Newton discovered that an apple, if it becomes detached from the tree, falls to the ground, though we may reasonably suppose that generations of apple-knockers had known this all along. True, Newton did figure out why the apple falls, a discovery of very little utility if you know ahead of time that it is going to fall. * from the book The World of Paul Crume, edited by Marion Crume, copyright 1980 Marion Crume, SMU Press.

Here's hoping that science (or maybe the lawyers) will soon discover the Internet is a good way to both store and distribute the knowledge, wit and wisdom of mankind to all of mankind.

People have been knowing this for years, as Paul Crume might have said.

First They Came for the Gays

As we wait for the Florida Primary results tonight.......

Take a few minutes to read about recent events in Europe where modern liberalism may face its strongest real challenge since the fall of communism, as millions of fundamentalist Muslims immigrate into western European countries.

This resulting clash of two cultures, two lifestyles, two religions (or one fundamentalist religion against a generally secular society), is having its greatest impact at the fragile edges of modern Europe, the Gay and Lesbian community.

I encourage you to read Bruce Bawer's First They Came for the Gays

Not very long ago, Oslo was an icy Shangri-la of Scandinavian self-discipline, governability, and respect for the law. But in recent years, there have been grim changes, including a rise in gay-bashings. The summer of 2006 saw an unprecedented wave of them. The culprits, very disproportionately, are young Muslim men. It’s not just Oslo, of course. The problem afflicts most of Western Europe. And anecdotal evidence suggests that such crimes are dramatically underreported. My own partner chose not to report his assault. I urged him to, but he protested that it wouldn’t make any difference. He was probably right. The reason for the rise in gay bashings in Europe is clear – and it’s the same reason for the rise in rape. As the number of Muslims in Europe grows, and as the proportion of those Muslims who were born and bred in Europe also grows, many Muslim men are more inclined to see Europe as a part of the umma (or Muslim world), to believe that they have the right and duty to enforce sharia law in the cities where they live. Such men need not be actively religious in order to feel that they have carte blanche to assault openly gay men and non-submissive women, whose freedom to live their lives as they wish is among the most conspicuous symbols of the West’s defiance of holy law.

Even more frightening than the anecdotal stories presented by Bawer is the amazing twin approaches of denial and accommodation by many European governments who seem willing to trade away long cherished freedoms and rights for women in an effort to appease the growing Muslim communities who demand Sharia Law.

Look for this clash of cultures to grow.......

The Thought Police: Death for Insulting Islam

In Afghanistan a 23 year old journalism student downloaded an article that, according to Afghan judges "misinterpreted the verses of the Koran" and then he distributed these writings to other students. For this act of "blasphemy" Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh has been sentenced to death.

For those who are appalled by the treatment of women in Islamic societies, it is important to note that article in question specifically criticized the Koran's teachings about women.

Kambakhsh didn't write the article, he just made copies and discussed the articles with fellow students. It's exactly the kind of intellectual discussion and debate encouraged by institutions of higher learning around the world.

Can you imagine not being allowed to discuss the role of women at an American University?

Can you imagine a journalism school forbidding reading of any article or report?

Reporters Without Borders was outraged that Afghan judges completely ignored the new Afghanistan Constitution that specifically protects Freedom of the Press.

“We are deeply shocked by this trial, carried out in haste and without any concern for the law or for free expression, which is protected by the constitution,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Kambakhsh did not do anything to justify his being detained or being given this sentence. We appeal to President Hamid Karzai to intervene before it is too late.”

But Afghanistan officials defended the verdict and even went so far as to threaten other reporters who might protest the decision with arrest.

"This was not a violation of human rights or press freedom, not a violation of rights of a journalist," Balkh Province Attorney-General Hafizullah Khaliqyar says. "[Kambakhsh] violated the values of Islam. He did not make a journalistic mistake; he insulted our religion. He misinterpreted the verses of the Koran and distributed this paper to others. All ulama [Islamic clerics] have condemned his act."

Khaliqyar added that the trial was conducted in a "very Islamic way."

If all this sounds terribly familiar, you probably have been reading my entries in this blog about Abd'al-Karim Nabil Suleiman. Suleiman, a blogger who used to write under the name Kareem Amir, has been fighting for his freedom in Egypt for committing almost exactly the same crimes as Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh.

It seems questioning the plight of women in an Islamic society is an unpardonable crime. But Kareem is far luckier than Kambakhsh. Living in modern Egypt, Kareem was only sentenced to five years in prison. He did not face a death sentence like Kambakhsh faces in Afghanistan.

Pressure does need to be placed on Afghanistan President Karzai from the US government, the international press and the world wide blogosphere to commute the death sentence on Kambakhsh.

And we must continue our efforts to free Kareem Amir.

Slavery Is Alive and Extremely Well

When does placing women on a pedestal in a position of honor cross the line into denying her most basic civil rights and, in effect, indenturing her into a lifetime of forced servitude? In other words slavery?

It's happening every day in virtually all Islamic countries, but especially Saudi Arabia.

The Associated Press reports, in what is just the latest horror story from the Kingdom, Forced annulment keeps couple apart:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Two years ago, a knock on Fatima and Mansour al-Timani's door shattered the life they had built together. It was the police, delivering news that a judge had annulled their marriage in absentia after some of Fatima's relatives sought the divorce on grounds she had married beneath her. That was just the beginning of an ordeal for a couple who — under Saudi Arabia's strict segregation rules — can no longer live together. They sued to reverse the ruling, publicized their story and sought help from a Saudi human rights group. But the two remain apart and Fatima said she is considering suicide if her recent appeal to King Abdullah does not reunite her with her husband. "Only the king can resolve my case," Fatima told The Associated Press by telephone in a rare interview. "I want to return to my husband, but if that is not possible, I need to know so I can put an end to my life." Fatima's case underscores shortcomings in the kingdom's Islamic legal system in which rules of evidence are shaky, lawyers are not always present and sentences often depend on the whim of judges. The most frequent victims are women, who already suffer severe restrictions on daily life in Saudi Arabia: They cannot drive, appear before a judge without a male representative, or travel abroad without a male guardian's permission. Recently, the king did intervene and pardon another high-profile defendant — a rape victim who was sentenced to lashes and jail time for being in a car with a man who was not her relative. The two cases have brought Saudi human rights once again into the international spotlight, revealing not only the weakness of the kingdom's justice system, but the scant rights of Saudi women. "When I heard that the (rape victim) was pardoned, I couldn't believe it. My case is so much simpler than hers, since my divorce is invalid," Fatima said. But on Feb. 25, 2006, police knocked on the couple's door to serve Mansour with divorce papers — which said his marriage had been annulled nine months earlier. "We were shattered. How did this happen? Why?" Fatima asked. Under Saudi law, a woman needs the permission of her family to marry. Fatima took the couple's 2-year-old daughter and 4-month-old son to live with her mother, who had persuaded her to let Mansour deal with the legal issues on his own. But after three months without her husband, Fatima and the children sneaked out of her mother's house and flew with Mansour to the western seaside city of Jiddah, where they sought to live in anonymity. Saudi police soon discovered them and imprisoned the family for living together illegally. "My children and I were thrown in a cell with women sentenced for pushing drugs, practicing witchcraft and behaving immorally," Fatima said. Authorities allowed her to send her daughter back to live with her father, but the infant stayed with Fatima in jail. Despite their legal fight, Fatima and Mansour remain apart. After nine months in jail, Fatima moved to an orphanage where she and her son share an apartment with several other women. Fatima said she is holding out hope the king might pardon her, and recognize her as "married to Mansour, before God." "I love him more than ever. He's the only one who has stood by me," she said.

Isn't it fascinating that the family IS NOT DISGRACED by having their sister and daughter held in jail or forced to live in a orphanage, in absolute poverty, but the family IS DISGRACED by having her live with a loving, caring and supportive husband from a lower caste?

Isn't it equally fascinating that most American Women's Rights groups are cowered into absolute silence by the plight of Islamic women?

I would just love to provide a link to the statement from the National Organization for Women...... but they have declined to issue one.

And I would love to link to a listing of all the posts by the over 100 so-called liberal bloggers over at The Huffington Post, but not one single blogger has issued one single comment. Not one.

Saudi women deserve a strong, unequivocal voice for freedom and basic human rights in the world forum.

For me this case and the thousands just like it are the strongest argument for energy independence.

Party Like It's 2008

Reuters gets my vote for the best news story starting off 2008:

On New Year's Eve Ridaa al-Azzawi squeezed into his pointy snakeskin boots, his tight black sweater and his snazzy corduroy flared jeans, hustled down to a Baghdad hotel ballroom and partied for peace. 2008 arrived in a less-violent Baghdad, and residents said it was the first real party they had seen in years. At the stroke of midnight, exuberant locals fired into the air with automatic rifles, sending red tracer fire streaking over the city, as fireworks lit up the sky. "The security has changed and it took us by surprise. We're very happy. Especially us young people," said al-Azzawi, a 22-year-old student taking a break from dancing to a traditional Iraqi band in the ballroom of the Palestine Hotel. "I haven't seen a happy place like this in so long. I wanted to see if I could maybe meet a few girls!" he said. "I only hope the Iraqi people can enjoy more happy times like this." Salah al-Lami, 27, the singer who performed at the Palestine ballroom and then for another New Year's Eve crowd at the Sheraton Hotel across the street, said it was the first time he had sung before a live audience in four years. "This will be the year that we take our freedom!" he told Reuters after singing through a boisterous set in front of a packed dancefloor. "When I went up on the stage and started singing I felt like I was performing for my family." Belly dancers also took the stage, and revelers showered a female singer with dinar notes, the Iraqi audience's ultimate sign of approval.

My warmest wishes to everyone throughout the world for peace, security, freedom and happiness in 2008. May it be our best year ever!

Intelligent Design

This Christmas Season I've been thinking about "Intelligent Design."

And I want you to look at the pictures below and consider the wonders of life. God's amazing capacity for creation. These Turkish Angora kittens are simply beautiful.

Except for the fact that they glow in the dark. And that these remarkable glowing kittens were designed by man.

Well, man did have a little help. The original design of the cat has existed for thousands of years. But scientists in South Korea did tinker with the genes and cloned these new cats that glow in the dark under ultraviolet light! Genetic engineering is advancing at light speed (if you'll pardon the pun).

The South Korean Ministry of Science and Technology reported Wednesday that "South Korean scientists have cloned cats by manipulating a fluorescent protein gene, a procedure which could help develop treatments for human genetic diseases."

It is a side-effect that the cloned cats glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet beams.

The Ministry's Press Release continued "The ability to produce cloned cats with the manipulated genes is significant as it could be used for developing treatments for genetic diseases and for reproducing model (cloned) animals suffering from the same diseases as humans."

And yet all this is happening while we have candidates running for President who absolutely refuse to acknowledge the possibility of evolution or other basic scientific facts.

And it's happening at a time where religious fundamentalists deny women in almost 1/3rd of the world even the most basic of human rights. The right of women to vote, the right to own property, the right for women to even walk alone in public is forbidden in all too many countries and regions of the world.

Scientists is South Korea are advancing rapidly on techniques which hold the promise of curing diseases, preventing birth defects, extending life and, eventually, designing new species of life.

Today we have adorable kittens that glow in the dark. How soon will it be until every child wants one?

How soon will it be until scientists endow kittens or puppies or horses or cows with the intelligence of man? It will happen. Will we give them the right to vote? Don't laugh. The question will arise.

And we will "improve" humans, too. For better or worse.

If are scientists are truly gifted maybe they can create human leaders who won't continue to deny basic scientific facts.

And maybe, if our scientists are truly gifted, they can design humans who will actually treat other humans with the respect, honor, and dignity that each one of us deserves.

Or maybe we will just glow in the dark.

Iranian Minister: Gays Should Be Hanged

I can literally hardly wait until January 9, 2009 when the new President, whoever he or she might be, is inaugurated. Not because Bush will be leaving, but because maybe.... just maybe.... all my long time liberal friends and allies will return to their sanity.

I hate the "Bush Derangement Syndrome" that has infected so many of my friends because it has so thoroughly blinded them to the real issues and the real problems, the real prejudices, the real crimes and the real tragedies around the world. And the plight of homosexuals in Iran is one of those real tragedies.

Further down this page will be a story that is resonating
with liberals and progressives around the world. But you won't find a single sentence about it on The Huffington Post (go ahead and do a search) or on The Daily Kos. Nope, to find this story here in the USA you need to go to the liberal bastion of truth and justice: Little Green Footballs.

For those who simply cannot bear to click on a link to lgf, here is a link directly to the story from the Times of London: Gays should be hanged, says Iranian minister

Key quotes from the Times Story:

Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The Times has learnt. Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit that Iran believes in the death penalty for homosexuality after a spate of reports that gay youths were being hanged. Britain regularly challenges Iran about its gay hangings, stonings and executions of adulterers and perceived moral criminals, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) papers show. The latest row involves a woman hanged this June in the town of Gorgan after becoming pregnant by her brother. He was absolved after expressing his remorse. A series of reported executions of gays, including two underage boys whose public hanging was posted on the internet, has alarmed human rights campaigners. Minutes taken by an official describe a meeting between British and Iranian MPs at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a peace body, in May. When the Britons raised the hangings of Asqari and Marhouni, the leader of the Iranian delegation, Mr Yahyavi, a member of his parliament’s energy committee, was unflinching. He “explained that according to Islam gays and lesbianism were not permitted”, the record states.... those in overt activity should be executed [he initially said tortured but changed it to executed]. He argued that homosexuality is against human nature and that humans are here to reproduce. Homosexuals do not reproduce.” Nicole Pichet, a researcher who also took notes of the gathering, told The Times that the discussion began with British MPs discussing the underage gay hangings. Mr Yahyavi responded by saying homosexuality was to blame for a lot of diseases such as Aids. Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Nigeria apply the death penalty for homosexuality, according to the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

The Bush Derangement Syndrome casuses some of my friends to say that we cannot possibly criticize Iran because Bush criticizes Iran. We can't be on Bush's side of the debate.

Does that mean we must turn a blind eye to injustice? Our help is needed. We wouldn't tolerate this activity in Texas or Montana or Israel or France. Why do we tolerate it in Iran?

I'm hopeful that once Clinton or Obama or even Guilani is elected, liberals and progressives can once again focus on issues without considering the spectre of George Bush.