Links for 5 May 2009

I don't know if this will become a regular feature, but I'm going to give it a try. Here are various stories, grouped under certain topics, that I found of interest in the past 24 hours:

Politics:
Hunting People for Jesus: Growing Fundamentalism in the U.S. Military

Neal Horsley, the mule-loving Republican candidate, said he would kill his own son for liberty and to secede from the Union

Joe the Plumber: I would never let gay people ‘anywhere near my children.’

Gonzales And Ashcroft Disagree With Rice: Just Because A President Says It Does Not Make It Legal

Volcano continues to make a mockery of Bobby Jindal

Economics:
Right to Water

Islam/Muslim Blogs:
Ibu Susuan/Wet Nurse

Science:
Rembrandt Impact Basin on Mercury

Glenn Greenwald on the Right's Paranoia of the "Grave Muslim Threat"

Glenn Greenwald has had a couple of interesting posts in recent weeks regarding the American right's paranoid fantasies regarding the so-called "grave Muslim threat." In mid-September, Glenn wrote:

Our Civilization Warriors like Kirchick -- last seen justifying multiple new Middle Eastern wars -- are either so fearful of Muslims or so eager to demonize them as the Greatest Threat Ever (and, in the process, depicting themselves as Brave and Courageous Warriors for Freedom) that they live in a world that exists only in their imagination. If there is one thing that exists in abundance, it is anti-Islamic commentary in the U.S. Does Kirchick's paranoid claims about what happens to the brave souls who express such thoughts bear any remote relationship to reality?

Of course, none of this is new to us Muslims, who have read and listened to numerous examples of hate and incitement against Islam and Muslims over the years. Greenwald runs through a list of various Islamophobes (Michelle Malkin, Charles Johnson, Marty Peretz, Norm Podhoretz, Mark Steyn, Robert Spencer, Glenn Beck, etc., ad nauseum), most of whom are familiar names (unfortunately). Greenwald then continues:

Obviously, there is an extremist sect of Islam that is prone to violence, and there have been acts of violence or threats of violence directed against those perceived to have offended Islam, with some truly outrageous and tragic results. The same is true for Christianity, Judiaism and many other religions. And while one can, if one is so inclined, engage in the rather adolescent exercise of claiming that "one side does it more," the very notion peddled by Kirchick and his anti-Islamic warmongering bosses -- that one cannot speak out against Muslims or make a joke about Islam without endangering one's life, and that Americans live in fear of uttering any comments against Muslims -- is fear-mongering and/or paranoia of the highest order.

This lie is also very familiar, and one I've had leveled at me and other Muslims; one woman I knew would wildly criticize Islam and Muslims on Beliefnet... but never on the numerous boards set up to discuss Islam, including the Islam Debate board, which was the appropriate forum set up by Beliefnet for that very purpose. The reason? Muslims would become so incensed by her criticisms of Islam that they would find out her address, come to her house, and kill her. Yeah, right.

So, naturally, Greenwald was criticized by the wingnuts for his daring to upset their fantasy, and he's apparently come up with a theory as to what's driving that fantasy. Glenn published an e-mail he had received, of which I'm including the second paragraph:

I picture this moment, Glenn, and it brings me a little chuckle. It's you, begging some terrorist for your life, pointing out all the wonderful things you wrote that undermined America's resolve to fight against Islamic terrorism. "Look," you say, pulling articles out of your pockets with shaking hands, "I have served you! Clearly this means that I deserve to be spared!"

I won't tell you how it ends, Glenn.

Glenn responded:

One can only marvel at how developed and richly detailed is the fantasy that he has created and carries around with him -- being on one's knees before a Muslim terrorist, begging and pleading and shaking, dialogue about "having served you." It is really right out of some cheap, trite sadomasochistic pornography script, and yet these fears and truly creepy fantasies are the foundation for their political beliefs, driving most of our political discourse and policy.

And this bile that spewed forth really illustrates so much about why we continue to fight one of history's most absurd wars ever, whereby we occupy Iraq indefinitely even though the original justifications for invading have long ago vanished and even those who want to stay have no idea what we are trying to accomplish. It is the same dynamic that fueled so much of the intense and obsessive hatred for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and which drives the insatiable quest for new Enemies to attack, including what looks increasingly like the new War with Iran.

Bombing and killing Muslims is the only path for avoiding the humiliating scenarios which our nation's war cheerleaders carry around obsessively in their heads, and which are currently filling my inbox. They're not going to be the ones on their knees, begging. They're not going to be the "faggots." Instead, they are going to send others off to fight and bomb and occupy and kill and thereby show who is strong and tough and feel protected.

Homosexuality and humiliation. That seems to be what's driving the American right. Is it any wonder the Republican party has gone through so many homosexuality scandals in recent years? No, I don't think so. I think there is a disconnect in the minds of many men on the right, who are seeking the forbidden fruit they have been told all their lives they can't have, yet pursue it anyway, even at the potential cost (and, perhaps, subconscious fulfillment) of being caught. I think they may be enjoying a psychological game, call it "Catch me if you can," and the humiliation of being caught is the payoff. (Now would be a good time for me to review Eric Berne's classic of Transactional Analysis psychology, "Games People Play". ;) I suspect we could find a "game" in there that matches up to this scenario.)

Muslims, of course, by and large don't practice homosexuality, which may be driving the fantasy further: to seek the forbidden fruit among those men who are least likely to succumb to their seductions. Muslims then are "punished" through vilification for both being an object of desire and to prove to the non-fantasizing right that these men are hetero and macho.

Of course, all this is purely speculation and certainly there are other factors at work, but I wouldn't be surprised if the above isn't at least partially correct.

Bill O'Reilly is a Lesbian

Well, not exactly, but Bill O'Reilly is showing himself (and his network, Faux News) to be the moron(s) that he is (they are). The Southern Poverty Law Center has a recent article about a story O'Reilly did on supposed pink pistol-packing lesbian gangs that are "terrorizing" American streets. Of course, the evidence that O'Reilly and his guest, Rod Wheeler, present is extremely shaky (not that that should surprise anyone familiar with O'Reilly). There's a video of O'Reilly's interview with Wheeler on the SPLC website (click on either of the links above or go to Orcinus; I can't be bothered to add such trash to my blog). Also, I've added one small comment to the article below, in blue.

A "national underground network" of pink pistol-packing lesbians is terrorizing America. "All across the country," they are raping young girls, attacking heterosexual males at random, and forcibly indoctrinating children as young as 10 into the homosexual lifestyle, according to a shocking June 21 segment on the popular Fox News Channel program, "The O'Reilly Factor."

Titled "Violent Lesbian Gangs a Growing Problem," the segment began with host Bill O'Reilly briefly referencing for his roughly 3 million viewers the case of Wayne Buckle, a DVD bootlegger who was attacked by seven lesbians in New York City last August. Deploying swift, broad strokes, O'Reilly painted a graphic picture of lesbian gangs running amok. "In Tennessee, authorities say a lesbian gang called GTO, Gays Taking Over, are involved in raping young girls," he reported. "And in Philadelphia, a lesbian gang called DTO, Dykes Taking Over, are allegedly terrorizing people as well."

After this introduction, O'Reilly went to a split-screen live interview with "Fox News crime analyst" Rod Wheeler.

"Tell me what's going on," O'Reilly said.

Wheeler, a Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department officer-turned-paid Fox News commentator, launched right in: "Well, you know, there is this national underground network, if you will, Bill, of women that's lesbians and also some men groups that's actually recruiting kids as young as 10 years old in a lot of the schools in the communities all across the country," he reported. "And they actually carry a number of weapons. And they commit a number of crimes."

Wheeler asserted that "we've actually counted, just in the Washington D.C. area alone, that's Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, well over 150 of these crews. … And they — like I said, they recruit these kids to be members of these gangs."

O'Reilly asked, "Now, when they recruit the kids, are they indoctrinating them into homosexuality?"

"Yes," Wheeler answered. "As a matter of fact, some of the kids have actually reported that they were forced into, you know, performing sex acts and doing sex acts with some of these people."

Flabbergasted by the sheer depravity of it all, O'Reilly nevertheless forged ahead. "I never thought of this," said the host of the "no-spin zone." "It makes sense that, if you had lawless gay people, they would do this kind of thing. You associate homosexuality more with a social movement, not a criminal movement. But you're saying this is all over the country, detective?"

"It's all over the country," Wheeler replied. "I mean, you go from New York to California to wherever you want to name, you can see these organizations." Next came the pink guns. "Now, the other thing, too, that our viewers are going to find very, very interesting, is the fact that they actually carry—some of these groups carry pink pistols," Wheeler said. "They call themselves the pink-pistol-packing group. And these are lesbians that actually carry pistols. That's 9-millimeter Glocks. They use these. They commit crimes, and they cause a lot of hurt to a lot of people."


The Authorities Disagree

Nine-millimeter Glocks painted pink? Dykes taking over? More than 150 lesbian gangs in the Washington, D.C., area alone? These claims are, as Wheeler suggested, "very, very interesting." They're also very, very flimsy. Gaithersburg, Md., Detective Patrick Word, president of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Gang Investigators Network, an intelligence-sharing organization of 400 criminal justice professionals in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, said there is no evidence whatsoever of a lesbian gang epidemic in his region. "Our membership reports only one lesbian gang," Word told the Intelligence Report.

Sgt. Brett Parson, a member and former commander of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department's Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, also questioned Wheeler's numbers. "We have 150 to 175 total gangs in the D.C. area, and out of those only nine where the predominance of members are female," he said. "You simply can't make the jump that they are lesbians. I think it is fair to talk about violence and female gangs. But to sensationalize or marginalize a community by making a statement like that seems irresponsible."

Confronted by the Intelligence Report, Wheeler was unable, in several phone and E-mail exchanges over a two-day period, to specify a single law enforcement agency or officer, police report, media account or any other source he relied upon for his D.C. area lesbian gangs claim. But he insisted that his report was accurate and that any law enforcement officer who disagrees is "out of touch." "For some reason or other, these organizations don't lay it on the line because they don't know what is going on on the streets," said Wheeler. "This is a serious crisis and the so-called experts are missing it."

According to Wheeler's personal website, he is a member of Jericho City of Praise, a conservative Christian megachurch in Landover, Md., whose leadership publicly advocates against equal rights for gays and lesbians. The website details Wheeler's 500-plus appearances on MSNBC, Court TV and Fox News Channel shows including "The O'Reilly Factor," "On the Record With Greta Van Sustern," and "Hannity & Colmes."

Fox News officials and Bill O'Reilly did not return E-mails seeking comment for this story. O'Reilly is quoted on Wheeler's website heralding Wheeler as "America's most recognized and trusted authority on crime analysis and law enforcement."

Another ringing celebrity endorsement on the site is attributed to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow: "We turn to Rod Wheeler to help us better understand and solve some of these terrible crimes in America." [No wonder this administration has got its head up its @$$.]

Wheeler told the Report that he spent seven years in professional law enforcement before going to work as a corporate security officer for McDonald's Corp., a job he has since left. These days, Wheeler is a "food defense specialist" for the American Institute of Baking. Just this spring, he publicly warned that the Big Mac is vulnerable to bioterrorist attacks at "250 points" during production.

Viewers left wondering what, exactly, Wheeler was smoking before he went on "The O'Reilly Factor" might find a 1994 Washington Times article intriguing. The paper reported that Wheeler was suspended from the Metro D.C. police force after testing positive for marijuana in a random drug test. Wheeler told the Report that samples were mixed up and that he was eventually "exonerated."


Facts and Fiction

The only specific instance of actual violent lesbian gang activity that Wheeler cited on "The O'Reilly Factor" was a May 19 attack on a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed near a transit station in Prince George's County, Md. "And the police found out that it was a group of six women who identified themselves as being members of a lesbian gang that actually attacked this young man," Wheeler told O'Reilly.

According to a June 15 article in The Washington Post, however, two of the three individuals arrested in that assault were teenage males, though the article did note that, "Metro officials said the fight was between two gay and lesbian gangs that operate in Maryland."

An extensive Internet search seeking to verify O'Reilly's assertion in the introduction to Wheeler's interview that a lesbian gang called Dykes Taking Over is "terrorizing people" in Philadelphia turned up only one possible source. WCAU-TV, a local NBC affiliate in that city, reported in 2004 that a small group of 8th-grade girls at a West Philadelphia middle school were allegedly "bullying, groping and harassing" other girls in gym class with "gay remarks." The report made no mention of the 8th-graders using pink pistols or other weapons.

Similarly, O'Reilly's introductory mention of a Tennessee lesbian gang called Gays Taking Over that is "involved in raping young girls" appears to have been based solely on a highly dubious Feb. 28 television report from WPTY-TV, an ABC affiliate in Memphis, Tenn. Featuring dramatic "reenactments" of high school bathroom rape scenes shot in grainy black-and-white footage, the lengthy segment's vaguely salacious claims about local high school girls being raped and "sodomized" with "sex toys bought on the Internet" was based almost entirely on the lurid musings of a single Shelby County gang officer.

Titled "Violent Femmes," the sweeps-week segment was so thinly sourced and grotesquely sensationalized that it's difficult to believe that any professional journalist found it to be credible. And it wasn't. Under intense pressure from local gay and lesbian activists, the affiliate's station manager finally admitted that WPTY-TV's reporters had neither independently verified the gang officer's overheated claims nor obtained any documentary evidence such as arrest records or written police reports to substantiate their tale. As the station grudgingly conceded, "Our investigation did not turn up widespread violence in schools due to this."

Rashad Robinson, the senior director of media programs for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), said that while he wasn't pleased to see the inflammatory "Violent Femmes" segment used as a source for a national television "report" on Fox News, "I wasn't startled."

"The sad truth is that sensationalized, undocumented, fear-driven reports about [gays and lesbians] preying on children are proven to be a ratings winner, and the station managers and news producers know that because they're reporting about gays and lesbians they don't have to be as concerned about backing up their sensationalism with actual facts and figures," Robinson told the Report. "The O'Reilly segment essentially reported a national epidemic of lesbian gangs preying on young girls without offering up one solid figure or one credible source. This type of reporting creates a climate of homophobia and fear and perpetuates dangerous stereotypes of gay people and definitely helps feed into a climate of anti-gay discrimination and violence, which is a true national epidemic, but not one you're likely to see reported with such zeal by Bill O'Reilly."

The third case O'Reilly referenced, the assault on 29-year-old Wayne Buckle in New York City last August, did actually occur. Buckle was whipped with belts and stabbed by women who identified themselves as lesbians. But there is no evidence the women are members of a criminal gang, and O'Reilly failed to report that the attack was prompted, according to the New York Daily News, by Buckle spitting, cursing, and flicking a cigarette at the women after one of them rebuffed his sidewalk sexual advances.

And then there are the pink Glocks.

There have been no media reports at all of lesbian gangs committing violence while armed with pink-painted 9-millimeter pistols or calling themselves, as Wheeler colorfully described it, "the pink pistol-packing group." Several law enforcement officers contacted by the Report found the idea laughable. There is, however, a well-known national organization of gay and lesbian firearms owners called the Pink Pistols. This group has never been implicated in any gang activity. Asked by the Intelligence Report if he'd perhaps confused the Pink Pistols with a criminal organization, Wheeler denied it. "I wasn't referring to their pink pistols," Wheeler said. "These [lesbian] crews, these gangs, they buy a Glock 9-millimeter and you can paint them pink."

Pink Pistols spokesperson Gwen Patton said the pistols the group's members carry are, by and large, not actually colored pink. The Pink Pistols are now demanding an on-air apology from Wheeler, O'Reilly and Fox News.

"A lot of people are confusing these imaginary, lesbian, gun-carrying gangs with our organization," said Patton. "We would appreciate it if Mr. O'Reilly would invite Mr. Wheeler back onto his show to clear up this nonsense in the same arena it started — on national TV."

Regarding Gay Muslims and Irshad Manji

"My first question is, just exactly how visible is discussion about gay/lesbian and related issues within the Muslim community, especially in the U.S. and Canada?"

To be honest, I couldn't really say. While homosexual behavior for either sex is considered a major sin in Islam and is condemned as such, I do know that there are gay Muslims and some people who support them (almost exclusively in the "progressive" Muslim camp). However, the vast majority of Muslims in North America (let alone around the world) do not agree with the progressives on this topic.


"The only lesbian Muslim voice I can think of off the top of my head is Irshad Manji, but I have no idea how she's been received, or how representative she is."

Irshad is widely condemned among orthodox Muslims, nor is she representative of us. At this point in time, I couldn't even say if she still considers herself to be a Muslim, although that's not for me to decide. (Allah (swt) will judge her concerning that matter.) The fact that Irshad is a lesbian is almost beside the point; she is a pariah to most Muslims because of her unIslamic thoughts and beliefs. The problem with Irshad, from our perspective, is that she tells you (the non-Muslim community) only what you want to hear; she doesn't say what orthodox Muslims actually think. In that respect, she and others like her cater to non-Muslim prejudices against Islam and Muslims.


"My second question might require the perspective of a gay or lesbian Muslim, but it would seem to me that salat, as you describe it here, would pose a special challenge for gay and lesbian worshippers. If there is open discussion about the issue in worshipping communities, does salat pose one of the challenges to dialogue on the subject?"

You're right in that I'm not really the person to ask; however, I will say that how we pray (with the sexes segregated) isn't going to change in 99.99999% of the masjids worldwide (or even in North America). Other than that, I really can't say.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell?

These are two rather odd print ads for towels from World War 2, and I've been trying to think through the purpose of the images. Of course, many ads from that era featured soldiers in one manner or another, and ads for towels such as these two would naturally feature a bathing scene like these. But in this day and age, the pictures strike me as being rather homoerotic. So what message is the artist trying to convey? Was he (or she) trying to titilliate the women back home while their boyfriends and husbands were off to war? That the troops were comfortable enough with their sexuality so that they could joke and frolick with each other while being nude? Or that the bond between fellow soldiers in a prolonged male environment (fighting in a war against other men) becomes stronger than normal, perhaps to the point of the men becoming gay?

One other thing to note in the above picture are the dark, silent natives in the background. They stand and stare at the white soldiers while the latter are oblivious to the spectacle they are creating.

From Boing Boing.

Clay Aiken Sued for Being Gay

Yeah, I know, I've been real busy today...but this one was just too good to pass up:


AIKEN FANS MAKE GOOD ON THEIR PROMISE

LATEST: Nine former fans of AMERICAN IDOL star CLAY AIKEN are forging ahead with threats to sue his record label bosses for false advertising.

The one-time devotees have been shocked by recent US tabloid claims the wholesome pop singer is gay and they've filed a Federal Trade Commission complain against executives at RCA and Sony/BMG, alleging they were duped in marketing and promotional campaigns.

The nine-strong group, listing themselves as "aggrieved consumers" SUSAN J, PATRICIA A, JACQUELYN C, KAREN G, PHYLLIS S, CAROL M, KAREN G, KIM M and LINDA F, hail from all over America.

They allege that employees of RCA, Sony/BMG, and Aiken himself "engaged in collusion to prevent public disclosures they believed might be harmful to their product."

The angry ladies go on to state, "This is tantamount to a manufacturer concealing information about a defective product. Therefore these actions were both unfair and deceptive to consumers."

A spokeswoman for the group says, "As consumers, we feel ripped off. It is obvious now that the private Clay is very different from the manufactured packaged public Clay that was marketed to us."

The group is asking the FTC to investigate the practices of the record companies, to invoke civil penalties where appropriate, and to enjoin the companies from violating the Federal Trade Commission Act.

So Clay's gay. So what? While I'm not a fan of homosexuality (I'm glad Brokeback Mountain lost the Oscar for Best Picture), I'm not sure I see what the point of the lawsuit is. Now that these women know he's gay, they're devestated that he'll never marry any of them and allow them to bear his children? (Rolling eyes.) Grow up, little girls, and get a life!

The G Quotient

There are several posts I've been wanting to write in recent days, and I'm hoping that I can post them all soon, insha'allah. However, I do want to warn my readers that this particular post should be considered R-rated (or "M18" for the local folks ;) ) for profanity and sexual content.

Anyhoo... Recently, I received a catalog in the mail that sells various books about management: Training and Development, Human Resources, Consulting, Leadership and Management; you know, innocuous stuff. However, one book for sale in the catalog caught my eye, and not for a good reason. It seems that there's a new book coming out later this year by a Kirk Snyder, who's written "The G Quotient." Let me give you the catalog's blurb, as there isn't any on Amazon's page for the book yet:

The G Quotient identifies a management phenomenon that will forever change the way people view successful leadership, based on a landmark and bound to be controversial five-year study by Kirk Snyder, one of the nation's leading career and workplace experts at USC. In the last ten years, across-the-board levels of employee satisfaction, workplace morale and job engagement have plummeted in the US, and while many businesses are baffled by this steady decline, Snyder's research has uncovered a unique exception. Organizations and working units under the leadership of white-collar gay males are collectively experiencing 25-30% higher levels of employee satisfaction, workplace morale, and job engagement in addition to reporting greater employer loyalty and individual productivity. Empowered workers are responding to a new type of organizational leader. The old rules about effective leadership no longer apply in the new world of work."

Yeah, right. The "reason" why you are dissatisfied with your job is because your boss is straight. Want to have higher job satisfaction? Get your boss to start sucking ¢ð¢&. Morale at the office is down? Your boss isn't getting his fudge packed.

Yup, Kirk's gone and written the great American "Gee, work would be so much better if my boss were gay like me" book. Keep patting yourself on the back, Kirk, and tell yourself how wonderful gay executives are in comparison to those straight executives who do so - uh - "poorly" at business, you know, guys like Bill Gates, Jack Welch, or Steve Jobs. Kirk Snyder: America's moral decadence at its finest.

Sheesh, what's next? Queer Eye for The Apprentice? "Donald Trump, you just have to do something with that hair! And those ties the guys are wearing! Power colors are so 1980s! Here, try wearing this tie in a nice pastel pink, I know you'll love it..."

HARAM! LOSERS!

"The Mother of All Teenage-Boy Fantasies"

I woke up this morning to find my hit counters had gone crazy overnight: Angela Keathley (the brunette on the right-hand side of the photo) is back in the news. Oh, it's no big deal this time - she's accepted probation and community service for her part in the infamous brawl at Banana Joe's nightclub in Tampa, Florida, or, as The Boston Phoenix put it, "the mother of all teenage-boy fantasies."

According to the The Charlotte Observer, "Angela Keathley will receive six months probation, must perform 32 hours of community service, write an apology to Tampa police and pay court fees, said assistant state attorney Pam Bondi.

"If Keathley completes the program and stays out of trouble during the next six months, the charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing or opposing a police officer would be removed from her record, Bondi said.

"She did not have to enter a guilty plea to join the program."

According to her attorney, Keathley did not want to face a trial (no kidding), and had been accepted into a six-month diversion program for first-time offenders. As her attorney said, being accepted into the program would be, in his opinion, "a fair and wise resolution in the matter," to which I agree. In the meantime, the other ex-TopCat cheerleader involved, Renee Thomas (the blond), apparently will be in the news for a little while more (insha'allah):

"Also Wednesday, attorneys for Thomas filed a counterclaim against a woman who says she was punched in the incident.

"Melissa Holden of Tampa filed a $15,000 civil suit against Thomas in December seeking payment for injuries. Police had said Thomas allegedly punched Holden during the fight.

"Thomas' countersuit accuses Holden of defamation, said attorney Peter Anderson of Charlotte. 'It was the false allegation in regards to the sexual activity that spun things out of control,' Anderson said.

"Thomas has another appearance in criminal court on Feb. 15. She had been charged with battery, presenting a false driver's license, and giving a false name, causing harm to others."

For more information, see my original post on this matter, Desperate American Women?


Question to my Readers: Why do so many more people try to look up information on Angela Keathley than they do on Renee Thomas? For example, out of the past 20 search engine queries, 18 referred to Angela with two of those referring to both Angela and Renee; however, none of the 20 referred to Renee alone. This is not a one-off occurrence, either; Angela has consistently been more popular than Renee since November, when this story first broke. Are there any suggestions as to why this is? Is it because of her personality? Her looks? A better attorney? Inquiring minds want to know. ;)

Christmas in Malaysia

Justin Raimondo, of antiwar.com, has just written an excellent essay, entitled "Christmas in Malaysia." Raimondo writes about current events/politics, and every now and then he has written some line about Islam that has shown his ignorance. Otherwise, he is an excellent writer, and I've been reading his columns off-and-on for the past four years or so.

Raimondo was invited to speak recently at the Perdana Global Peace Forum in Kuala Lumpur (KL), and he initially showed his ignorance regarding Malaysia in particular and what life might be like in an Islamic country in general:

"To say that Malaysia is not what I imagined would be an understatement of epic proportions. Situated just south of Thailand, north of Indonesia, and quite close to the equator, the country describes itself as officially "Islamic," and this, at least in the minds of most Americans, means a stultifying uniformity, a monolithic apparatus of cultural and all too often political repression. It means women in burqas, gay people in hiding, and a society generally groaning under the weight of an enormous repression."

In other words, all the typical cliches that we've come to hate. But Raimondo has an open mind:

"I am now well into my second week of staying in Kuala Lumpur, at the fabulous Crowne Plaza Hotel, and it is clearer than ever that my prejudices were not only mistaken – they were and are the exact opposite of the truth. Malaysia is the virtual incarnation of religious and ethnic diversity, a veritable melting pot of racial and devotional groups that somehow manage to live in relative harmony far beyond anything I have seen even in that paradigmatic paragon of multiculturalism, California. Malays, Chinese, Indians, Arabs, and a generous smattering of Anglo expats swarm the streets of Kuala Lumpur, the biggest city in the country: yes, there is a Muslim majority, but non-Muslims are not subject to sharia law. Malay Muslims coexist with Chinese Catholics, and Buddhist priests roam the Bukhit Bintang plaza, begging, amidst crowds shopping for the latest fashions and punk rockers with pink hair stroll fearlessly down the street.

You never saw such diversity. And that's just during the daytime. At night…"

A little bit later, he writes:

"I have to say that I am… astonished by Malaysia. Here is an "Islamic" country where a gigantic Christmas tree sits in the lobby of the hotel I'm staying at, and the café waiters in the plaza a few blocks away are dressed like Santa's elves. Here is a city where the nightlife puts San Francisco's to shame. Where the city's oldest gay bar, the Blue Boy, makes Baghdad-by-the-Bay seem like a dive in Podunk, Idaho; where people party well into the morning light, and you can have a good time for a few ringgits (the Malay currency: around 30 cents). The food is fabulous: Malay (spicy, somewhat Thai-like), Arab (there's a great place right off Bukhit Bintang), Chinese (you haven't lived until you've sampled the pleasures of Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown), and too many more to go into here. The place is a gastrointestinal paradise!

"Modernity is juxtaposed next to traditionalism: on the one hand you have the soaring heights of the Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world, lit up like a vision of futurity against the night sky, and on the other hand you have women in traditional dress – colorful costumes of bright color and the requisite head covering – traversing its corridors. Two, three, many worlds coexisting: the past and the future converging into a new synthesis of creativity and entrepreneurial energy. The impression one gets is of a tremendous vitality, a restless yet directed life-force that seems to spring right out of the earth."

Raimondo even discovers that Malaysia's former Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Muhammad, isn't the person he thought he would be:

"I had some concerns about former Prime Minister Mahathir, but then I read this Paul Krugman column and my fears were somewhat allayed. Upon meeting Dr. Mahathir, whatever reservations remained were put completely to rest: the man seems to emanate benevolence and great gentleness, almost an aura of serenity, like some sort of Buddhist guru."

And so, I have some hope for Raimondo, that perhaps when he writes about Islam in the future, that he will remember his Malaysian experience and realize that his preconceived notions are not necessarily true...

Unfortunately, I don't have the same hope for most Americans, many of whom wallow in their ignorance regarding Islam and the Muslim world. But for those of you who can afford the trip, I would suggest that you come here to visit Malaysia and Singapore to see not only how Islam is lived by we Muslims, but to see how our two cultures can live harmoniously together despite the ethnic diversity (which, IMO, is much more diverse than most Western cultures).

On a personal note, I'd like to say that I can attest to most of what Raimondo wrote about Malaysia and Dr. Mahathir, that what he's written is true (except for the part on the gay bar - I have no idea about that ;) ). Malaysia's a great country, and I've enjoyed every one of my visits there (the most recent of which was just last weekend, when Milady and I drove up to the city of Melaka, along with some of her family). I've been to KL several times (one of which was for Milady's and my honeymoon), and it's a great city. You're missing out if you don't visit us here in Southeast Asia.

Side note: While you're at it, be sure to read Eric Garris' story about his return to the United States after going to the Perdana Global Peace Forum.

Desperate American Women?

A couple weeks ago, I resisted the temptation to blog about the two Carolina Panther cheerleaders, Angela Keathley and Renee Thomas, who may or may not have been making out with each other in the bathroom stall of a bar. But then there was the story of 37-year-old Lisa Lynnette Clark, who got pregnant by and married the 15-year old friend of her teenage son. And now, this morning, I read about the case of Debra Lafave, the 25-year-old middle school teacher who plead guilty to two counts of "lewd and lascivious battery" for having had sex with her 14-year-old student.

It's making me wonder, just what-the-heck is going on back in America? What are these women thinking? The two boys I can understand. At that age, the hormones are fully raging, American culture fully encourages pre-marital sex (through movies, TV, advertising, and popular music), and the older women offering themselves would be an enormous temptation. But these boys are minors, and while they may have the intellectual and emotional capability to make a proper decision, they may not have enough worldly experience to understand the ramifications of their actions. (Unless Clark has an abortion, how is the 15-year-old going to cope with his impending fatherhood?) The women, on the other hand, are all of an age where they are expected (and legally obligated) to know better. So, are these cases of "desperate American women?"

And what do these three cases say about American men? Pro football cheerleaders who may be hot for each other instead of for guys? A thirty-something divorcee who'd rather bop and marry a teenage boy instead of trying to meet an adult man? And a 25-year-old newlywed who found a 14-year-old more interesting than her brand new husband?

Weird.


Updates:

Click here for the latest on Angela Keathley and Renee Thomas.

Posts of mine on Lisa Lynnette Clark:

Lisa Lynnette Clark Gonzalez Speaks

Lisa Lynnette Clark to be Released from prison

What Ever Happened To... Lisa Lynnette Clark

Lisa Lynnette Clark Timeline

Lisa Lynnette Clark gives Birth

Desperate American Women?

Debra LaFave has had all charges dropped against her in Marion County, Florida (although she will still be on probation for charges in Hillsborough County).

LaFave also has been interviewed by NBC's Matt Lauer.