Somalis in Denmark are shocked

Perhaps even shocked, shocked:

The Somali community in Denmark is shocked that [Danish security service] PET is saying a Danish-Somali is the suicide terrorist who was responsible for the suicide bomb that cost 24 people their lives last week in Somali's capital, Mogadishu.
"I know him as a nice, smiling and well-behaved boy. The Somalis in Denmark are shocked that he's accused of being responsible for the bomb," says Ahmed H. Dhaqane, head of the Somali Association in Denmark and member of the Rødovre council for the Social Democrats.
Dhaqane says that the man whom PET suspects was the suicide bomber from Mogadishu came to Denmark when he was five, about 17 years ago, together with his parents, and lived in the Rødovre suburb of Copenhagen. He lived there until he got married to a Somali woman from Copenhagen, after which he moved to Amager (Copenhagen).
"The family is quiet and calm. Also they aren't particularly religious. It isn't a family there have been problems with," says Dhaqane.

That's from Islam in Europe, a blog that provides English translations of European press reports about issues related to Islam.

Let us indeed rally behind religious expression and freedom of speech

by Smitty

As Ace notes, the Swiss have banned construction of new minarets.

Stand by for the cacophonic outcry.

The ban should have been worded differently. For example:
"All mosque construction is on hold until after completion of the first house of worship of any non-Muslim stripe in Mecca."

The asymmetries in religious tolerance around the world take on the stench of global warming.

Update: Brussels Journal

There is a backlash on the way: at present it is showing itself in small ways, over minor matters such as minarets, but presently it will manifest itself on more substantial issues such as immigration and bogus climate change. It is no coincidence that the people most loudly bemoaning the ban on minarets in Switzerland are those who most vociferously applauded the prohibition on crucifixes in Italian classrooms. The consistent principle is an attack on European Christian civilisation, complemented by subservience to all the enemies of that civilisation, secular or Islamic.

Allen West: 'It is what it is'

The retired Army lieutenant colonel on Fort Hood:

We have become so politically correct that our media is more concerned about the stress of the shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The misplaced benevolence intending to portray him as a victim is despicable. The fact that there are some who have now created an entire new classification called "pre-virtual vicarious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)" is unconscionable.
This is not a "man caused disaster". It is what it is, an Islamic jihadist attack. . . .
What we see are recalcitrant leaders who are refusing to confront the issue, Islamic terrorist infiltration into America, and possibly further into our Armed Services. Instead we have a multiculturalism and diversity syndrome on steroids.
Major Hasan should have never been transferred to Ft Hood, matter of fact he should have been Chaptered from the Army. His previous statements, poor evaluation reports, and the fact that the FBI had him under investigation for jihadist website posting should have been proof positive. . . .

Read the whole thing. Meanwhile, there's also this:

The official said investigators were looking into Hasan's association with the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., in early 2001, about the same time that a radical Islamist prayer leader and two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were there. . . .
Authorities were focusing aggressively on whether Hasan more recently had been following the fiery online sermons and blog postings of that imam, Anwar al Awlaki, the official said.
Awlaki, a U.S. citizen, left the United States in 2002 and is believed to be in Yemen. He is actively supporting the Islamist jihad, or holy war against the West, through his website.
Early this morning, after Awlaki's name was publicly linked to Hasan's, a posting on Awlaki's site was titled "Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing."

Jihad? What jihad? Nothing to see here. Move along.

UPDATE: ABC News reports:

U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.

But don't start "jumping to conclusions" or anything.

Even worse than fake boobies or . . .

. . . how do you say "ick" in Arabic?

If you're a woman in a conservative Muslim country, you had better bleed on your wedding night. If you don't, your husband or his family will know you aren't a virgin. For that, you could be beaten or killed. . . .
The Artificial Virginity Hymen kit, distributed by the Chinese company Gigimo, costs about $30. It is intended to help newly married women fool their husbands into believing they are virgins—culturally important in a conservative Middle East where sex before marriage is considered by many to be illicit. . . . .

Via Instapundit and there's sickeningly more at from the L.A. Times and the Associated Press. Every blogger and his brother has already commented on this, and there's probably not much more I could say. Yet I feel that I must, even though I'm running late for an appointment in D.C. Perhaps the commenters can further elaborate on the wrongness of this situation.

Innocence is a wonderful thing, but deceit is heinous. Who is the worse fool here?

• The man whose obsession with bridal chastity is so extreme that he would kill his own wife if he learned she was not a virgin?

or

• The woman who would perpetrate an elaborate ruse in order to be considered acceptable by such a buffoon?

Is not honesty a virtue equal or superior to chastity? And what virtue shall we praise more than mercy? For even if society condemns fornication -- as well it should -- it would be a most cruel thing to seek a woman's hand in marriage under such terms as to require her to engage in a horrid deceit, lest she suffer death for being honest.

If this is genuinely the state of society in some places, then there is only one proper and honorable course of conduct for any woman who, for whatever reason, may have fear of this particular custom: Let her reject the proposed marriage.

Her would-be husband, if he genuinely wants her, ought to be willing to accept her as she is, however she is. Should the woman's suitor or her family demand to know the reason for her refusal, the woman is not obligated to incriminate herself by any confession of fault. Her adamant rejection could inspire suspicion that she hides a secret sin, or it might be supposed that she is merely excessively proud, and unwilling to accept a suitor she deems beneath her.

Either way, no woman should ever be compelled to accept marriage on dishonest terms.

How about a delicious cup of . . .?

Wild Irish Rose:

McCain is a violent, right-wing extremist nutjob… an unhinged serial bully who uses threats and thuggery to intimidate, harass and silence anyone who criticizes him. Unfortunately, he has a lot of company in the right-wing blogosphere… and a shameful amount of support from diseased right-wing conservative websites like Hot Air that should be soundly criticized and shunned for allowing their sites to become vehicles for thuggery, hate speech, racism and bigotry.

Violent, ma'am? Diseased, ma'am? Criticized and shunned? There are those who claim to have definitely identified your LGF colleague "Madaura." And now conservative lesbian Cynthia Yockey asks, "Is Kejda Gjermani working as a concern troll to support Islamic jihad?"

Just askin' questions, you see . . .

Ex-Lizard Da Tech Guy is reporting the blow-by-blow ("Johnson gets the round 10-9 Current Score 58-55 McCain after 6") but is neither the judge nor the referee. A bloodied pugilist stands at mid-ring, bows his head to pray, and awaits the bell in silence.

"Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding."
-- Proverbs 17:28

Thank God, and please keep me in your prayers.

The Fatwah and the Furious: Riyadh Drift

Eternal gratitude to Founding Bloggers for this one: Saudi kids have discovered the joys of "drifting" and getting into hilarious wrecks in the process:

Talk about your triumph of Western imperialism! Once the youth of the Islamic world discover the joys of hot-rodding, it's only a matter of time before they're chilling with some 40s, cranking up the subwoofers and telling the radical clerics, "Jihad? Dude, that's like so 2001."

What next? Mud-bogging in Yemen? Motocross in Damascus? Jet-skis in the Persian Gulf? Right now, there's probably some Iranian teenagers risking the wrath of the mullahs by skating a half-pipe in the suburbs of Tehran and sharing bootleg Tony Hawk videos with their homies.

Again, thanks to our friends at Founding Bloggers.

Guests at five-star hotel in Pakistan bothered by slow room service and Jihadi terrorist bombers, but mostly . . .

. . . Jihadi terrorist bombers:

Militants opened fire on security guards and rushed a small truck packed with explosives through the gates of a five-star hotel . . . detonating a huge bomb in the parking lot that killed at least 11 people and wounded 55 . . .

Lots more at NTCNews.com. Irony-laced reactions from Robert Spencer, Stop the ACLU and Pamela Geller, more blogging at Memeorandum.

Obviously, this is another example of the "right-wing vigilantism" Eric Boehlert is worried about . . .

UPDATE: Yeah, that "right-wing vigilantism" is everywhere, I tell you . . .

Things beyond my ken

by Smitty

  How does the imagining left, especially the feminists, force western manhood to wear a hairshirt, while maintaining relative silence over what goes on in Muslim countries? Is it a "simple" case of displacement?
  Larry Johnson is unforgiving on the point: Yo Bitches, Wear that Hijab.
  Larry is less than fair. For that kind of a blog-drubbing, he owes the POTUS an alternative text on the topic. Getting the issue raised at all is something of a win. I liked the allusion to the list of countries that have elected female leaders. Nice oblique slap at the rest who've either had the same clowns in power for decades, or don't even bother with them thar newfangled "ee-leck-shun" thingies. I doubt there is much cure for such cultures, other than a couple hundred years.
  As a thought experiment, would we gain anything if we could give the feminists to these "retro" dudes for some "western male appreciation training"?

Pope walks out after Muslim cleric goes on anti-Jew rant during 'interfaith dialogue'

Via Instapundit and Gateway Pundit, the Jerusalem Post:

Chief Islamic Judge of the Palestinian Authority, Sheikh Tayseer Rajab Tamimi, launched a poisonous verbal attack at Israel at a Monday night gathering attended by Pope Benedict XVI. . . .
Taking the podium after the pope without being on the original list of speakers scheduled for the evening, Tamimi, speaking at length in Arabic, accused Israel of murdering women and children in Gaza and making Palestinians refugees, and declared Jerusalem the eternal Palestinian capital.
Following the diatribe and before the meeting was officially over, the pope exited the premises. Army Radio reported that the pope shook Tamimi's hand before walking out.
The Pope was immediately denounced as a "Eurofascist" and a "notorious Pamela Geller sympathizer" by the Little Green Footballs blog.

I might have added that last part.

The Demographics of Dhimmitude

DEMOGRAPHIC CRASH

Striking a blow against American Zionist imperialism . . .

. . . by killing French schoolgirls.

Remember this the next time someone tells you that the only reason Muslims hate us is because of Israel, or because we're in Iraq, or because we're not sophisticated like the Europeans.

Why do they hate us? Because They Hate.

'Pay no attention . . .'

". . . to that dead body; the real victim here is Islam."

Marriage at 10? All-righty then!

Pundette confesses herself "speechless" over some news we missed over Valentine's Day weekend:

Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric was quoted Wednesday as saying it is permissible for 10-year-old girls to marry and those who think they're too young are doing the girls an injustice.
The mufti's comments showed the conservative clergy's opposition to a drive by Saudi rights groups, including government ones, to define the age of marriage and put an end to the phenomenon of child marriages.
"It is wrong to say it's not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger," Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, the country's grand mufti, was quoted as saying.
"A female who is 10 or 12 is marriageable and those who think she's too young are wrong and are being unfair to her," he said during a Monday lecture, according to the pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper.

Right. You're being "unfair to her." And that doesn't even begin to address the injustice to the elderly sheik, whom these so-called "rights groups" want to deprive of his 10-year-old fourth wife.

After all, who are we to judge? Let's see what the progressive feminist womyn have to say about this:

(Crickets chirping.)

Thank you, progressive feminist womyn!

'Influential member of the local Muslim community'

Don't blame me, that's what the story says:

Orchard Park police are investigating a particularly gruesome killing, the beheading of a woman, after her husband -- an influential member of the local Muslim community -- reported her death to police Thursday.
Police identified the victim as Aasiya Z. Hassan, 37. Detectives have charged her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, with second-degree murder. . . .
Muzzammil Hassan is the founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, which he launched in 2004, amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light.

How's that working for you, Mr. Hassan?

Al Qaeda endorses Obama

Less surprising even than the New York Times endorsement:

An al Qaeda leader has called for President George W. Bush and the Republicans to be "humiliated" . . .
"O God, humiliate Bush and his party, O Lord of the Worlds, degrade and defy him," Abu Yahya al-Libi said at the end of sermon marking the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, in a video posted on the Internet.

Allahu akhbar, Obama!

UPDATE: Another dangerous extremist, Erica Jong:

"My friends Ken Follett and Susan Cheever are extremely worried. Naomi Wolf calls me every day. Yesterday, Jane Fonda sent me an email to tell me that she cried all night and can't cure her ailing back for all the stress that has reduces her to a bundle of nerves." . . .
"If Obama loses it will spark the second American Civil War. Blood will run in the streets, believe me. And it's not a coincidence that President Bush recalled soldiers from Iraq for Dick Cheney to lead against American citizens in the streets."

You know, it's funny what she said about Jane Fonda. I've been sleeping like a baby ever since I got back from seeing the thousands who lined up Tuesday to see Sarah Palin in Pennsylvania. I'm more worried about Saturday's Alabama-LSU game than I am about Tuesday's election.

Radical Islamic feminism

It's illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, but apparently the Blessed Prophet says blowing yourself to smithereens in pursuit of jihad is an equal-opportunity gig:

A female suicide bomber has killed nine people and wounded 12 others in an attack on an Iraqi market, police said. . . .
The use of women to carry out suicide bombings has become a regular tactic of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The US military says there have been more than 20 suicide bombings by women this year in Iraq.
A BBC reporter in Baquba says women and children were among the casualties in Monday's attack.

This kind of reminds me of a joke:

Q: If male suicide bombers get 72 virgins, what do the women get?
A: Shut up, you Zionist infidel dog!

I didn't say it was a funny joke.

Saudi official: Sex at 9? OK!

Video at MemriTV. The money quotes:

There is no minimal age for entering marriage. You can have a marriage contract even with a one-year-old girl, not to mention a girl of nine, seven, or eight. This is merely a contract [indicating] consent. The guardian in such a case must be the father, because the father's opinion is obligatory. Thus, the girl becomes a wife... But is the girl ready for sex or not? What is the appropriate age for having sex for the first time? This varies according to environment and traditions. In Yemen, girls are married off at nine, ten, eleven, eight, or thirteen, while in other countries, they are married off at 16. Some countries have legislated laws forbidding having sex before the girl is eighteen. . . .
The Prophet Muhammad is the model we follow. He took 'Aisha to be his wife when she was six, but he had sex with her only when she was nine.

(Via Marty Peretz at TNR.) The interviewer then asks whether the marriage of a 12-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl is valid under Islamic law:

If the guardian is the father, and he marries his daughter off to a man of appropriate standing, the marriage is obviously valid.

It's very simple: Under Sharia law, a daughter is her father's chattel. Period.

'Pusillanimous nancy-boy'

Mark Steyn's next book title? "Pusillanimous Nancy-Boy" ... or, perhaps, "Obfuscatory Suffix":

Diana West thinks that my column on excessive deference to Islam reveals me as a pusillanimous nancy-boy because right at the end I use the word "Islamist". She thinks "Islamism" is a linguistic dodge that attempts to draw a false distinction between Islam in general and a, er, few bad apples.

(Via Memeorandum.) Steyn a "nancy-boy"? Tell it to the Canadians!

BTW, it's good to see Diana West blogging.

The reason I resigned from my job in August -- storming out the door in a fury -- was because the multitudinous obligations of my job prevented me from writing up the hourlong interview I did with Miss West when her book, "Death of the Grown-Up," was published last year.

I had allowed myself to become overscheduled, and my job at that point consisted of four different jobs, with three different bosses. As a result, there wasn't enough time to do the job I actually wanted to do, namely writing -- and I hadn't had a real vacation in years.

The fault was entirely my own. This is a point -- personal responsibility for one's own career failures -- that I've tried to get across to some of the young people I've mentored. If you ever find yourself in a job situation that's making you miserable (if not, indeed, driving you to an early grave), you have no one to blame but yourself.

There are other people who are happy and successful in their jobs. If you are an unhappy failure -- and that's how I felt on that August afternoon -- whose fault is that?

After I quit in August, my bosses talked me out of an immediate resignation and rearranged my duties. Then I got a deal to go to Sudan and work on a book project. Pretty cool. So now I'm going out the door with a smile on my face.

This happy ending never would have happened, however, except that I was willing to admit my own responsibility for my own failures.