I'm speechless

There are no words. The article and all that it implies speaks for itself.

Then again, maybe there is a silver lining in all of this. The article indicates that Muslims would also have to wear certain clothing. It's one thing to force women to cover their hair, but perhaps it will be the last straw for Iranian society as a whole when even men are forced to wear distinctive clothing? Anger and anti-regime sentiment has been simmering for a long time. C'mon Iranian people, free yourselves before it is too late! The way things are going, it's not a matter of if the U.S. or Israel attacks, but when.

New Iranian law to require Jews to wear yellow band
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST
May. 19, 2006

A new dress-code law reportedly passed in Iran this past week mandates the government to make sure that religious minorities - Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians - will have to adopt distinct colour schemes to make them identifiable in public, the Canadian National Post reported on Friday.

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Under the new law, which still awaits final approval from Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Jews will have to wear a yellow band on their exterior in public, while Christians will be required to don red ones.

If the law is approved, it is scheduled to go into effect at the beginning of next year.
Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter responded to the new law Friday night, saying, "Whoever makes Jews anywhere wear the yellow star again, will find themselves in a coffin draped in black."

Furthermore, according to the law, the Iranian government has envisioned that all Iranians wear "standard Islamic garments" designed to remove ethnic and class distinctions.

The purpose for the law was to prevent Muslims from becoming najis "unclean" by accidentally shaking the hands of non-Muslims in public.

Ophir Paz-Pines, minister-without-portfolio responsible for culture, sports, science and technology, who is also a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset, called on the government's secretary to ensure the issue be immediately addressed during the next Cabinet meeting.

"The State of Israel was created after the Holocaust in order to ensure it would not be repeated. The yellow star is a bright red warning sign that obligates us to muster the entire world in the face of events there [Iran]."

Paz-Pines also called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to make the issue his top priority when he visits Washington D.C. next week to meet US President George W. Bush.

Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin said, "Israel could no longer be satisfied with warnings, and that the moment Jews are forced to wear the yellow band, Israel must act to evacuate all Jews from Iran." He added that, "Israel must stand at the forefront of efforts to separate Iran's crazy and Hitlerite regime from government control."

"The new law resembles the Holocaust," said head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, Rabbi Marvin Heir, and warned that, "Iran was nearing Nazi Ideology."

According to Army Radio, Wiesenthal Center officials sent a letter to United Nations Director General Kofi Annan urging him "not to ignore" the new law, and reminded him that, "The world ignored Hitler for many years."

The new law was drafted during the presidency of Muhammad Khatami in 2004, but was blocked. That blockage, however, has been removed under pressure from current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

According to Ahmadinejad, reported the National Post, the new Islamic uniforms will establish "visual equality" for Iranians as they prepare for the return of the Hidden Imam.

The final shape of the uniforms is yet to be established but there is consensus on a number of points.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations released a statement saying, "We have been seeking to clarify these reports but do not yet have confirmation. There are clear indications that various Iranian government agencies, including the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, are working on new uniforms to be introduced in the fall.

"While such legislation would be reminiscent of dark periods in the past, like the Nazi era when Jews and others had to wear identifying badges, it is also consistent with the racist and extremist ideology propagated by President Ahmadinejad.

We are monitoring the situation and seeking to ascertain the facts in order to determine the appropriate response."

Update:

It appears that the law passed does not require religious minorities to wear identifying patches, however it does recommend that Iranian women dress more chaste (as if they don't already, although in the last few years things have relaxed a little) and that Muslims should dress in some Islamic-Iranian style, whatever the heck that means. It was, however, proposed in a different law that religiouis minorities wear identifying gear. I am confused, frankly, as to what is going on exactly.

Welcome Ayaan!

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of my heroes. If you don’t know much about her, read her statement about why she is giving up her seat as a member of the VVD party in the Netherlands.

Politics in post-Christian politically correct multicultural Europe are mind-boggling in terms of how self-loathing and self-destructive some of their policies are.

Ayaan -- a brave and bold woman born into a strict Islamic, clan-like society in Somalia -- escaped to the West and turned herself into a success story, getting elected to parliament and fighting for immigrant (read: Muslim) women’s rights. But because she says things that are uncomfortable about the reality of Islam as practiced by many Muslims, a number of cowardly Dutch would rather silence her voice and kick her out of the country than face reality. People who lauded the murder of Theo Van Gogh, treat women like cattle, hate the West and are probably fomenting hatred or even terrorism RIGHT NOW walk about freely in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, a lady like Ayaan is told she is persona non grata. For the most liberal country in Europe, you have to wonder what is going on in some of the heads of the leadership. Will the Netherlands give up their free-wheeling liberality and tolernace because they are too tolerant of intolerance?

The upside is that Ayaan will most likely be coming to the United States to be a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

The Netherlands' loss is our gain, as has happened so many times in our short history as a nation. Europe rots, America blooms.

We gripe about illegal immigration from Mexico. I say, let's just make sure we save room too for the many talented and educated and western oriented immigrants from Europe that may come calling in the next few decades as Europe becomes less and less European. And by that I do not mean less European looking (white); this is NOT about color or skin tone; I'm talking about mentality.

Anyway, Ayaan, I doubt you'll ever read these words, but I give you a big hearty Midwest American Welcome! And Ms. Ali: if you want to go out with a nice agnoistic Jewish guy, give me a call ;)

Finished... sort of

Just finished my last class of graduate school. Hooray! That leaves a thesis, which I'm really going to try to complete this summer. But NO MORE CLASSES. No more assignments due, no more three hour long classes to attend. Done. Fini. Garmarti!

It feels good though, feels really good. Tomorrow is the first full day off I've had in a really long time. I can already predict that I'll let myself sleep as late as I damn well please.

I'll also blog. If I can't find something to blog about, I'll simply blog about not having anything to blog about.

Also, soon my brother/roommate moves to the third floor. I can't wait. We've lived together since 2000, and before that for most of our lives. I love the bastard, but I'm sick of living amidst his chronic messiness. My new roommate, Brad, sees eye to eye with me about cleaning; that cleaning isn't something you do once in a while when things get messy, but that it is a daily chore to prevent things from getting really messy in the first place. It's all about preventative cleaning, sort of like taking care of your heart, but not.

It looks like the dog, Obie, will stay with me. This is because I do most of his caretaking. I feed him, give him water, let him out in the morning. Jesse just reeps the benefits. I think Obie is aware of that, and loves me more. Akh, who am I kidding. He loves anybody who gives him attention. But Brad also has a dog -- an older one -- and a cat. So, now my flat will have four cats and two dogs. But we'd need another ten cats and 8 dogs to make the kind of mess that my brother makes on his own, so it's a fine trade off.

... and what will our government do about the murder of its citizens?

Last Passover an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber detonated himself near a food stand in Tel Aviv, killing nine. The Hamas-led government of the Palestinian Authority supported the blatant act of terrorist murder. But has that prevented countries like Sweden and Norway from extending a diplomatic hand to these depraved murderers?

Recently an Israeli injured in the bombing succumbed to his wounds, and now we've learned that 16-year old American tourist Daniel Wultz just died.

And what will the U.S. government do about the murder of its citizens? The reason I ask is because in this instance, a U.S. citizen was murdered by an outlawed terrorist group that operates freely and has sanctuary in the Palestinian ruled-areas. Will anybody be made to account?

Almost there...

Ten pages down, five more to go and I am FINISHED for the semester! Yeeeehaaaaawwww!