Archive for April, 2007

More Barberic Behavior

Yesterday, I posted about the dangers of being a barber in both Iran and the palestinian controlled territories. Now you can add Iraq to the list (hat tip: David).
The cleric’s young men fanned out across the neighborhood, moving from shop to shop, posting the new religious decrees.
Printed neatly on white-and-green fliers, the edicts banned vices [...]

Separated at Birth

Some unfortunate Afghan tribesman, and Osama bin Laden.

Background:

An Afghan tribesman with an uncanny resemblance to Osama bin Laden has now been arrested twice, both times following reported sightings and massive manhunts for the al Qaeda leader, Pakistani intelligence officials tell ABC News.
Over six feet tall and with the same angular nose as bin Laden, Sher [...]

A Predictable Turn

The Bob Woolmer murder investigation may be heading down a familiar path.

Pakistan’s cricket coach Bob Woolmer may have been murdered after angering radical Muslims, according to a BBC investigation.
 
The Panorama TV show suggests some players followed the extremist Muslim movement, Tablighi Jamaat.
 
The claims come as preliminary toxicology tests confirm Woolmer was rendered helpless with a powerful poison [...]

Poll Position

Brain teaser for the “Israel is an Apartheid state” crowd: explain this.
A vast majority of Israeli Arabs would support a constitution that maintained Israel’s status as a Jewish and democratic state while guaranteeing equal rights for minorities, according to a poll whose results were published on Sunday.
Among the 507 people who participated in the poll, [...]

Animal Crackpots

Just when you thought PETA could not get more asinine…they get more asinine.
The animal activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has written a letter to Norm Goldstein, the editor of the AP stylebook, asking that the book be changed so that pronouns referring to animals always be “he,” “she,” and “who.” AP [...]

Unibrow-Beaten

In Iran, it seems like cutting off heads is much easier than cutting hair.
Iranian police have warned barbers against offering Western-style hair cuts or plucking the eyebrows of their male customers, Iranian media said Sunday.
The report by a reformist daily, later confirmed by an Iranian news agency, appeared to be another sign of authorities cracking [...]

Friends Again?

Things between Israeli PM Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz never used to be so bad.
I guess it all started after Peretz’s infamous binocular gaffe…

..when Olmert went out of his way to prove he was the smarter one.

Peretz decided he had to take revenge, and he began by placing a foreign substance in Olmert’s [...]

Getting Jibby With It

Today’s the final day for voting in the first round of the 2007 Jewish and Israeli Blog (JIB) awards.
 
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I would like this blog to make it in to the final round of voting, just so it can enjoy some increased exposure. After that, I really don’t care, [...]

Blow Up

The Sunday Telegraph reports:
Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal has warned against pursuing the economic and political blockade of the Palestinians, who are “on the verge of exploding”.
On the verge? They’ve been exploding for years.

Common Ground

Looks like French taste is improving.
The French dislike themselves even more than the Americans dislike them, according to an opinion poll published on Friday.
The survey of six nations, carried out for the International Herald Tribune daily and France 24 TV station, said 44 percent of French people thought badly of themselves against 38 percent of [...]