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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Afghans Stone Women Protesting Sex Law

KABUL (April 15) -- A group of some 1,000 Afghans swarmed a demonstration of 300 women protesting against a new conservative marriage law on Wednesday. The women were pelted with small stones as police struggled to keep the two groups apart.
The law, passed last month, says a husband can demand sex with his wife every four days unless she is ill or would be harmed by intercourse — a clause that critics say legalizes marital rape. It also regulates when and for what reasons a wife may leave her home alone.
Women's rights activists scheduled a protest Wednesday attended by mostly young women. But the group was swamped by counter-protesters — both men and women — who shouted down the women's chants.
Some picked up gravel and stones and threw them at the women, while others shouted "Death to the slaves of the Christians!" Female police held hands around the group to create a protective barrier.
The government of President Hamid Karzai has said the Shiite family law is being reviewed by the Justice Department and will not be implemented in its current form. Governments and rights groups around the world have condemned the legislation, and President Barack Obama has labeled it "abhorrent."
Though the law would apply only to the country's Shiites — 10 to 20 percent of Afghanistan's 30 million people — it has sparked an uproar by activists who say it marks a return to Taliban-style oppression. The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001, required women to wear all-covering burqas and banned them from leaving home without a male relative.
Shiite backers of the law say that foreigners are meddling in private Afghan affairs, and Wednesday's demonstrations brought some of the emotions surrounding the debate over the law to the surface.
"You are a dog! You are not a Shiite woman!" one man shouted to a young woman in a headscarf holding aloft a banner that said "We don't want Taliban law." The woman did not shout back at the man, but told him: "This is my land and my people."

Monday, April 13, 2009

Nasrallah to Ahmadinejad - "If Loving You is Wrong, I Don't Want to be Right!"


By far the cutest couple since Satan and Sadaam Hussain hooked up in The South Park Movie! Insider reports indicate that during their recent meeting, Iranian President Ahmadinejad serenaded Hezbollah leader Nasrallah with a heartfelt rendition of the classic tune, "If Loving You is Wrong, I Don't Want to be Right!" We were unable to verify whether Ahmadinejad chose the Luther Ingram version or perhaps the Barbara Mandrell version. In either instance, the tears flowed as the lovers embraced, no longer ashamed to bear witness to the love that dare not speak its name!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Counting The (H)Omer, the Simpsons Way!




Counting the Omer has never been more fun! OK, there are lots of other, shall we say, more overtly spiritual ways to count the Omer (most notably Rabbi Simon Jacobson's "Spiritual Guide to Counting the Omer" which I've used for the last 4 years) but if you want some semblance of fun and the occasional smile and laugh to intrude into your spiritual life, it doesn't get better than this. CLICK HERE to go to the Homer Omer Calendar, and don't forget during the first week of the (H)Omer, doughnuts are chametz - hands off!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The End isn't Near, It's HERE

It's obvious to anyone with eyes to see on the ground here in Jerusalem that THIS IS IT. We're in it, Geula is upon us and we should lift up our eyes because our redemption is near.
Is the shit hitting the proverbial fan in your life? In the lives of people around you? Has "crisis" become a commonplace and constant feature in your daily existence? As on Earth, so in Heaven - and conversely, even more so.
So how does this affect daily life in the Holy City, the place we call Jerusalem, Israel? We who dwell here look at each other with knowing eyes. You who dwell without can only see us on TV, read our blogs, listen to uninformed talking heads discuss us in the press. You can't see anything, and you know less than nothing. We, however, are going into this with Eyes Wide Open on one hand, and Eyes Shut Tight on the other. For you see, there's always Another Hand...especially here, especially now.
Every soul that has ever been born before is rushing back for the Final Act, we're all here and we're all now and the stage is set...
(enter Bugs Bunny with a cane, in top hat and tails)
Overture! Hit the Lights!
This is It! The Night of Nights!
No more rehearsing, rehearsing of parts ... we know every part by heart!
And oh what heights we'll hit -
On with the Show! This is IT!