Robert Wright has a good article in Slate about dubious and valid fears about the Iraq war and its consequences. Dubious fear No. 1: The war will be long and messy. Valid fear No. 1: The postwar occupation will be very long and increasingly messy. Dubious fear No. 2: The war will unleash a wave… Continue reading Iraq War Worries
Month: March 2003
Forced Marriage: Post #1
See my first post in this series on cousin marriages here. I’ll start out by quoting from Amnesty International’s reports about forced marriages in Pakistan as well as what sometimes happens if a woman marries someone of her own choice. Please note that even one such case is heartbreaking, but as always it is not… Continue reading Forced Marriage: Post #1
A Personal Note about Islamic Books, Law, etc.
Islamic scholars have over time worked on a number of religious issues, e.g., commentary on the Quran, collection and authenticity of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (known as Hadith (singular) and Ahadith (plural), and fiqh which is the codification of religious rules for everything under the sun. Unfortunately, there is not much material available on… Continue reading A Personal Note about Islamic Books, Law, etc.
Asylum in Canada
The Manifest Border, a legal blog focussed on immigration, pointed me to this story in the Washington Times: Thousands of illegal immigrants from Middle Eastern countries are seeking asylum in Canada, massing in run-down motels and refugee sanctuaries on the U.S. side of the border, where they are sheltered —- and sometimes hidden —- from… Continue reading Asylum in Canada
Dentist
I had a long dentist’s appointment today and my teeth and gums are still hurting. So the series on marriage will have to wait till tomorrow.
Support Democracy in Iraq
I am not in favor of war against Iraq. But I do want democracy there. So for Salam: BTW, go read Salam’s rant about war and democracy in Iraq.
Julius Caeser
I went to Shakespeare Tavern today with a few friends to watch the play Julis Caeser. The performance was not great but it was interesting.
Marriage: Between Cousins
Bill Allison had a post recently on the subject of cousin marriage recently: Quite a sad story about marital practices in Saudi Arabia from Arab News, in particular, the practice of marrying daughters off to their cousins. An excerpt: The final word comes from Maha, another woman. “There is the tradition of keeping a girl… Continue reading Marriage: Between Cousins
Haloscan Acting Up Again
Haloscan has not been reliable as a commenting system recently. They have too much down time for “maintenance”. Same thing today: Server work in progress We’re doing some routine maintenance on the server. We will have the commenting restored later today. Update: We’ve restored the commenting but a couple of the most recent posts from… Continue reading Haloscan Acting Up Again
Guns, Warlords and Afghanistan
Said Tayeb Jawad, chief of staff for President Hamid Karzai, had an op-ed in the NY Times calling for a de-militarization of the armed groups in Afghanistan. Just over a year ago at the conference in Bonn on organizing a post-Taliban government, the factions of Afghanistan pledged “to withdraw all military units from Kabul.” A… Continue reading Guns, Warlords and Afghanistan