If Saddam can stall his execution until after his 70th birthday on April 28, 2007, he can’t be put to death without a change in Iraqi law.

-Brad L. Maaske

A prominent Iranian newspaper opened a competition Monday seeking cartoons about the Holocaust in what it called a test of whether the West would be as supportive of freedom of expression over Nazi genocide as it was with caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Hamshahri, one of Iran’s top five newspapers, published the international call for cartoons in English and Farsi under the title: “What is the Limit of Western Freedom of Expression?” on its Web site. The announcement also appeared on page 31 of the print version of the paper.

“We don’t intend retaliation over the drawings of the prophet. We just want to show that freedom is restricted in the West,” said Davood Kazemi, who has been cartoon editor at the paper since 1992 and is executive manager of the contest.

Kazemi noted that the Iranian paper would not accept any “insulting” cartoons. He did not elaborate.

So I had to do it.

(Arabs) ...indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable.”

“Dresden,” which premiered at the European Film Market at the Berlin Film Festival, quickly reopened old wounds about what many Germans privately call a war crime - and even act of terror.

A film portraying Germans as victims would have been unthinkable even a decade ago in a country weaned on guilt for its war, but public broadcaster ZDF made the three-hour film to stir a debate - and maybe find overseas buyers.

“It’s fine with us if it sparks controversy,” said Guenther van Endert, a ZDF film editor and co-producer of the most expensive television film (10 million euros) in German history, after a special press screening on Monday.

“We have tried to carefully show both sides,” he added, noting British and German historians served as advisers. “It was an extremely delicate task. Controversy will be the by-product but it’s not its main aim. We wanted to make a balanced story.”

I bet this will be very pop-pop-popular in Iran.

We got a dusting of snow last night here in my neck of the woods.  While throwing the tennis ball for Huckleberry Finn, Canine Superstar I noticed the flowers on this bush with snow on the leaves.

Huck vs. the tennis ball.

Close the book.

.................6.  Pig is the most shameless animal

The pig is the most shameless animal on the face of the earth. It is the only animal that invites its friends to have sex with its mate. In America, most people consume pork. Many times after dance parties, they have swapping of wives; i.e. many say “you sleep with my wife and I will sleep with your wife.” If you eat pigs then you behave like pigs. We Indians look upon America to be very advanced and sophisticated. Whatever they do, we follow after a few years. According to an article in Island magazine, this practice of swapping wives has become common in the affluent circles of Bombay.

TAS (for the Weener-Baby too)

Just recently, the Australian government informed its Muslims that those amongst them who want to live under Islamic Sharia law should leave the country. In other words: if secularism is not your cup of tea, Australia is not for you.

This tactic by the Australian government is clearly designed to rid its society of radicals and to protect its people from potential future terror attacks.

Should America follow this path? How can a democracy that values tolerance take measures against those that are intolerant? Can a liberal society force certain citizens to leave, or not enter, simply if they do not believe in secular law? Have we come to the point where we have no choice but to go down this road?

As to mine, I begin with three premises:

[1] we are at war, just as much as we were in WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam,

[2] there is a literal (not figurative as in Fonda-Hayden-Spock-type) fifth column hard at their subversive work within the United States,

[3] many, if not most of them, are Muslims. Andy and Cliff know much more about (2) and (3) than I do.

There is an “ought” and an “is” to this analysis.

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Former Vice President
Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed “terrible abuses” against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment.

Gore said Arabs had been “indiscriminately rounded up” and held in “unforgivable” conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida’s hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.

“The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake,” Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. “The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States.”

Gore told the largely Saudi audience, many of them educated at U.S. universities, that Arabs in the United States had been “indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable.”

NBC Claims ‘Error’ in Britney Spears Press Release

The press was replete with reports that on NBC’s “Will & Grace” Britney Spears would portray a Christian conservative TV host in a cooking show called “Cruci-fixin’s.”

The source of the story? An NBC press release that read: “In the episode, when Out TV is bought by a Christian Television Network, Spears is brought on to be Jack’s new religious co-host - until Will (Emmy winner Eric McCormack) and Jack loosen her up. Spears brings her own additions to the talk show when she decides to do a cooking segment called ‘Cruci-fixin’s.’”

In a subsequent statement NBC claimed that “some erroneous information was mistakenly included in a press release describing an upcoming episode of ‘Will & Grace,’ which in fact has yet to be written. The reference to Cruci-fixin’s won’t be in the show, and the story line will not contain a Christian characterization at all. We value our viewers and sincerely regret if this information has offended them.”

BUMMER! That’s Hi-larious!!!

*Lloyd

The National Weather Service said 26.9 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, the most for a single storm since record-keeping started in 1869. The old record was 26.4 inches in December 1947.

So, anyone know if Gore was to be blowing hot air giving a global warming speech in NYC again?

Using the web to send Valentine’s wishes is a new way to say the same old things.

*click*