bill:politics

The BBC is reporting that Pakistan’s Assembly has passed a new law amending how rapes are prosecuted, taking them from the religious to the civil courts. Their version of Sharia (Islamic law) required a woman to bring four men to bear witness of her accusation, or else find herself being charged for adultery. You may recall the punishment for adultery in Pakistan is stoning.

While I’m glad to see this development, assuming the upper house of the legislature also passes it and key US ally Dictator/President Pervez Mussharaf signs it, I’m frankly sick at the reaction of the country’s religious leaders. Religious parties boycotted the vote, saying the bill encouraged “free sex” and that the new legislation will be “a harbinger of lewdness and indecency in the country.”

Because, of course, the raped women are responsible for what happened to them. There really are no rapes in Pakistan, despite research from the country’s independent Human Rights Commission showing there are at least 15 a day–the men are honest and true believers and the sex that happens does so because loose women tempt men beyond any reasonable resistance!

This seems to be the same sad line of reasoning that requires Islamic women to wear hijabs and burkas as well require them to be accompanied by a male from their household when out of the home. To do otherwise simply breaks men of their ability to keep their hands, and other body parts, to themselves.

One has to wonder, then, how men such as myself manage it, in the decadent American society where women flaunt uncovered skin anywhere one looks. I’m 45 years old and somehow lived all these years without forcing a woman to have sex against her will and, as far as I know, neither has male of my acquaintance. Which is not to say none of the women I know have been raped, sadly several have suffered this terrible violation. Fortunately, none of them required four (male) witnesses to ‘prove’ the crime occurred.

Federation is sponsoring a major rally this Sunday, July 23, at 5:00 at the Circle of Palms, the Plaza on Market St. between the Fairmont Hotel and the San Jose Museum of Art.

If you live further north, a similar rally will be held that day in San Francisco at noon at the Justin Herman Plaza at the foot of Embarcadero and Market St.

Show the world that we Stand With Israel during these terrible days! Please remember to wear blue and white. Feel free to make your own signs but please no signs or graphics offensive to any racial, ethnic or religious group including but not limited to Arabs, Islam, or Palestinians.

If you can’t attend or want to take care of this ahead of time, you can donate to the Israel Crisis Fund online. Only $350 can take an Israeli child out of bomb shelter and bring him or her to a summer camp in a safer place (photos).

JRobb speculates on how the Bush Misadministration may move against Iran if UN-centered sanctions are blocked by China and/or Russia and–let me tell you–it ain’t good! If you’re not familiar with “effects-based operations” (EBO), think of the first Gulf War with the bomber nose cone footage shown on CNN with bombs (theoreticaly) precisely targeted on key infrastructure and facilities.

That’s how he thinks our Doofus in Chief will try to get the Iranian nuclear program into the dustbin. The more likely result is oli prices will immediately double, triple or more and the nukes, because of Iranian nationalism, geographic realities and protective measures already in place, will still be controlled by the Mad Mullahs. Hooray for our side, eh?