News Roundup for April 20

The UN is at it again, poo-poo-ing Israel for more insensitivity toward child terrorists.

A UN envoy [special representative for children and armed conflicts, Radhika Coomaraswamy] Thursday said Israel's detention of Palestinian children and denial of proper trials are "a problem" that feeds the violence in the region.

And all this time I thought it was the 24-hour a day incitement against Zionists on Palestinian TV, in mosques, and in their school textbooks.

She said she urged Israeli officials to consider rehabilitation instead of detention for children detained on minor charges.

Yes, it's Israel's job to undo all those years of Jew-hating that UN money to the Palestinians funds and fuels.

"The process they are subject to is a military process ... and not a judicial process. That is something that we feel is a problem," she said. "I think children are getting very hard and bitter through this experience."

So is Ms Coomaraswamy saying that the children were not "hard and bitter" before they made the decision to try and kill Jews?

Coomaraswamy met with four children in the prison, including one held without trial. A 12-year-old and a 16-year-old were jailed for throwing firebombs, she said. "My sense is this kind of detention practice is feeding the cycle of violence."

My sense is that whoever throws firebombs, or any other kind of terror, is feeding the so-called cycle of violence. But what do I know?

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Amnesty International, who was horrified at dictator Saddam Hussein's execution, is again horrified that Iraq is executing more terrorists (*gasp*).

Iraqi authorities executed at least 65 people - including two women - in 2006, a total surpassed only by China, Iran and Pakistan, the human rights organization said. "This represents a profoundly retrograde step," the report said, "one that should not be overlooked simply because far larger numbers of lives have been lost due to ongoing violence."

I guess they expect Iraq to treat mass murderers like Israel and put them in a country club prison. Anmesty should be horrified that it uses Israel as an example of something good, for once.

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Well, Hizbullah continues the 'good cop/bad cop' routine, except the way they do it more resembles 'dumb cop/stupid cop'. The UN is concerned about Hizbullah's rearming themselves with Iranian weapons through Syria, and Hizbullah is self-righteously taken aback.

Hizbullah lashed out at the U.N. Security Council, saying reports of illegal arms smuggling from Syria to Lebanon were "inaccurate," and assuring that the group has enough weapons that it need not be re-supplied.

Resigned Hizbullah Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish said the U.N. report was "definitely inaccurate and unrealistic … for merely political desires to distort the truth in favor of some states."

There he goes throwing his "definitely" around again, so you can be sure he is not telling the truth.

"The Resistance arms' supplies are enough to carry out required missions," Fneish said in remarks published by Lebanese newspapers on Friday. "Hence, it (resistance) is in no need for smuggled arms," Fneish added.

When one is lying, it is vital that one is able to have a good memory. From four days ago:

Hizbullah has "enough weapons to defend Lebanon against Israel's aggressiveness," Hassan Nasrallah's advisor said in an interview published Monday by the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Halil addressed the organization's rearming by smuggling arms to Lebanon through Syria. "We object the fact that the border between Syria and Lebanon is being supervised, but in any event the weapons possessed by Hizbullah will not run out if the border is closed," he said.

Given Hizbullah's pathological history and mentally unstable leadership, it is not hard to figure out the truth of what is going on in Lebanon.

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And finally...

Islam doesn't appreciate witch doctors soiling its image.

Witch doctors have “soiled the image of Islam” by prescribing harmful treatments in the guise of faith healing, according to Muslim clerics and doctors who gathered in Abu Dhabi to affirm the healing powers of the Quran.

Hmm, sounds like we may have a Muslim Benny Hinn soon.

Islam “is not opposed to reason, science and modern technological developments,” Ali Salem al-Kaabi, the head of Abu Dhabi’s Family Development Foundation said at a recent conference,

The conference followed several reports in the Belgian media about faith healing practices of some European Muslim communities which turned into tragedy, including the story of a Moroccan girl who died after drinking several litres (quarts) of water mixed with black cumin oil, which an exorcist had said would purge evil spirits.

Black cumin oil? What on earth is "black cumin oil" and what would possess someone to drink it?

The herbal remedy predates Islam and has been administered in the Middle East since the time of the Egyptian pharaohs. The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) [Peace Be Upon Him- ed.] is said to have declared that “black cumin heals every disease except for death”.

Since the prophet (PBUH) can't possibly be wrong, this girl apparently just had a bad case of death.

Delegates agreed that the Quran has healing powers, with some going so far as to claim that the holy book can cure AIDS and some forms of cancer.

This is starting to sound a bit creepy.

Many Muslims believe the Koran can cure illness. The most common treatment consists of drinking water with pieces of paper bearing Quranic verses dissolved in it.

Uh, this is starting to sound a bit stupid.

In what he described as a blending of the longstanding practice with modern technology, Sharif Shukran, an Algerian biomedical engineer attending the conference, proposed transforming the sound of Koranic verses into electromagnetic waves and passing them through the water instead.

Ok, this is ridiculous. There's more, though.

In December 2006, a top Malaysian university published a report claiming that the postures used during Muslim prayers benefit the heart and spine, while increasing the capacity for memory and attention.

Of course, this is Islam! It has an answer for everything!

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the study affirmed the power of prayer in a person’s life, the New Straits Times reported in December. “The study investigates the physiological interactions and effects of the salat (prayer) postures on the human body,” Abdullah said.

More likely, it seems that all of that blood rushing to the heads of Muslims when they pray has caused something to go way wrong with their ability to think properly.