"The surge worked" ...unless you own a hotel in Baghdad. Sunni insurgents, unhappy with the Shite-led government, carried out a series of suicide bombing at several high-end hotels on Monday. Sunnis, Shites, al Qaeda, Taliban; America is sick of the whole mess. We need to get our people out of Iraq and Afghanistan now, as in right now. Those countries are as stable as an invading force can make them. News stories about bombing in Iraq need to return to page 10, the same page that carries reports of coups in Somalia, Sri Lanka and Macy's underwear ads.
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But on a happier note... Ilich Ramirez Sanchez aka "Carlos the Jackal" is back in the news. Carlos hasn't let a little thing like multiple life sentences in a French prison keep him from protecting his good name. Through his lawyer/wife Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, Mr. Jackal has filed suit in French court demanding editorial approval of a documentary chronicling his exploits. After all, a man who killed and kidnapped his way across Europe for twenty-five plus years can't afford a blot on his escutcheon.
Ramirez did most of his best work for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine or PFLP as opposed to the PLF or Palestine Liberation Front. (It was anacronamic distinctions like this that kept the Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli tanks for 20 years.) His current retirement in La Sante Prison in Paris for the murder of two French agents hasn't kept The Jackal out of the news. He published an autobiography in 2004 (sales were hampered by his inability to appear on Oprah) and last year sent a letter to President Obama presumably requesting a copy of The Audacity of Hope with a hacksaw inside.
We wish Mr. Jackal nothing but success with his lawsuit. After all, if you're not careful the former administration might accuse you of having Osama on your Facebook friend list.
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Our friends the French are once again attempting to deal with the issue of face-covering veils worn by Muslim women. In 2004, a law was enacted prohibiting women from wearing head scarves in schools. As with most rulings involving Muslim sensitivity, street demonstrations were immediately organized. The new definition of nano-second is the time between a Muslim community's indignation and the local domestic unrest. Now the government is trying to ban the veils in public areas such as hospitals and public transportation. President Sarkozy is quoted as calling the veils "unwelcome on French Territory".
Setting aside the desirability of covering some French people Muslim or not, the government is approaching this from the wrong angle. Veils should be banned, not for religious reasons but because they present a safety hazard. Imagine driving a car with a full-face veil over your head. (This might actually improve the driving of some Asian nationals. Just kidding!) If you thought French drivers were scary before, try them with a tarp covering their eyes. Yeah, I know, Muslim women aren't allowed to drive. Well, if you were wearing a 500 thread-count bed sheet on your head I wouldn't let you drive either. Besides, how are you supposed to update your Facebook page while walking down the Rue de Merde if you have an oversized beach towel on your dome? Speaking of Facebook, Muslim women on Facebook must consist of two million friends named Basheera and Jameela with no photos, no school listing and no personal information.
So good luck to the French. If they can't get the veils banned, at least they might get Muslim women to cut eye holes or install visors. If nothing else they wouldn't look so much like Cousin It.
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With the crime rate down and the World Series parade a distant memory, the City of New York and its mayor have returned to their favorite pastime...banning stuff. First it was smoking, then cellphones while driving, then texting while driving a bus, then transfats. Now Mayor Bloomberg has taken aim at the popcorn industry's favorite condiment...salt. In an effort to lower the blood pressure of its citizens, the Mayor has raised the blood pressure of fast food purveyors and manufacturers from Canarsie to Riverdale.
The Mayor wants to reduce the salt content of foods in New York by 50% in ten years. Without transfats and salt, the bill of faire at McDonald's and Taco Bell would be indistinguishable from the cardboard containers that envelope the entre. Apparently throwing salt onto icy roads doesn't offend Mayor Bloomberg's sensitivities. Just don't throw it on your fries. Bloomberg is rewriting the old song lyric. I may be able to make it anywhere but without fat and salt, I can't make it in New York, New York.
Nannyism is everywhere but in New York it's an art form. One should soon expect the demise of such guilty pleasures as comic books (they make you stupid) and pizza (that grease running off the back gets on your clothes and inflates your cleaning bills). Next will be neckties (no practical benefit and, if they get caught in a moving set of rollers, good night nurse.) Other municipalities are legalizing medical marijuana (bless 'em) while the Apple is deciding if apples have too much sugar. How about The Big Brussels Sprout or The Big Celery Stalk? No salt on that celery, please!
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