16 May 2006
King warns Saudi media about women's pictures

Which really makes perfect sense, given the status of women in Islam. They're property:

"There are photographs published in some newspapers ... and one needs to think if he would want his daughter, sister or wife to appear like that. Of course, no one would," the king was quoted as saying at a meeting with newspaper editors late on Monday.

Note that the relevant issue to the House of Saud is what "he" wants - women are referenced only by relationship to men: wife, sister, daughter.

Once the good king gets word of our NAIS program, I have no doubt he'll consider implementing a RFID tagging program for the human females in his kingdom, to permanently relate them to their proper owner, and maintain better breeding records. After all, they're just livestock ...

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, under pressure from Islamists to curb reforms, has warned local media against showing pictures of Saudi women, local newspapers reported on Tuesday.

(link) [CNN.com]

23:10 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Teen jailed for her own safety, prosecutors say

Horrifying. The prosecutors seem to be saying "you'll be held until you say the things we tell you to say". She gets no legal counsel. What happened to habeas corpus? Is the Padilla case bearing bitter fruit?

A 14-year-old Ohio girl has been jailed nearly a week after failing to testify against a man accused of molesting her.

(link) [CNN.com]

07:34 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Bush Seeks 'Middle Ground' on Immigration

Haxton's First Law of the Middle Ground: People who sit on fences often get a board up their ass!

AP - The Senate is delving into contentious immigration legislation after a prime time TV prod from President Bush to toughen border security with National Guard troops and find a "rational middle ground" on citizenship for millions of men and women in the country illegally.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

07:21 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Zoo visitors shocked as bears eat monkey

Welcome to the world of nature, folks! "Red in tooth and claw" isn't just a fancy saying, it's a reality. A friend of mine who's a zookeeper has told me tales of folks complaining when they say the keepers feeding eagle meat and fish: "How horrible", they cried, "The poor thing should be getting a healthy diet of bird seed!"

There are a lot of limits built into the natural order, but one thing that seems utterly limitless is the capacity of humanity for sheer stupidity.

Bears killed and devoured a monkey in front of horrified visitors at a Dutch zoo, officials and witnesses said.

(link) [CNN.com]

07:11 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link