The Crescent
This is a tricky issue: Turkeylink. On the one hand, I am a strong supporter of the free expression of religion, meaning I believe women should be allowed to wear headscarves if they please. On the other hand, though, practical experience shows us that when Muslim populations are given greater freedom of public expression of religion, such as in Iraq, the rights of women are swiftly, substantially, and lamentably curtailed. So, if Turkish women are allowed to wear any type of headscarf they choose at universities, I do not feel it is inappropriate to wonder how much longer those same women will be allowed to attend universities altogether.

And so, despite its horrific record of human rights violations towards the Kurds and continued denial of the Armenian genocide, on this issue I place my faith in the Turkish military to be the guardians of not just secularism, but sanity.

As as aside, it took centuries for Christendom to learn to treat women with respect and dignity, and the Good Lord knows we still have much work to do. The task of dragging Islam kicking and screaming into the 21st Century will be the work of generations.

Meanwhile...
Algerialink
Pakistanlink
Iraqlink

The Victors
This weekend was a bitter pill to swallow: Friday, a loss to the dastardly Spartans in hockey; Sunday, a loss to those same bastards in basketball; and the brightest ray of sunshine, though still pretty obscured by clouds, was Saturday's last-minute, miracle tie in hockey. Bog, I hate the Michigan Agricultural College, or whatever they are calling themselves this week.

Go Blue!