International

From an article titled "U.S. probing alleged rape of Sunni woman" by Oren Dorell in the USA Today:

Ahmed Abdullah, 29, a Sunni from Zaiona, had doubts [about whether or not a 20-year-old Iraqi was raped by members of the Iraqi police force]. "I don't believe that Iraqis will rape a woman. We don't have such a culture. We might kill, behead or do torture, but rape - I don't think so," he said.

From the current issue of The Week magazine:

West African amputees got to cheer on their own this week at the first All-African Amputee Football Championship. Thousands of West Africans had their arms or legs hacked off by rebels during Sierra LeoneÂ’s brutal civil war, which drew in militias from neighboring countries and spread across the region before ending in 2002. AngolaÂ’s civil war, which also ended in 2002, left thousands of buried land mines that continue to maim civilians. Amputee soccer teams from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, and Nigeria are competing. Each team consists of six one-legged players and a one-armed goalie.

This is a nice story about people who have been devastated by war in Africa finding a way to move on with their lives and not let their injuries be a limitation. I also have to think it would be a curious soccer game to watch.

Tonight we watched Kingdom of Heaven (2005,R) (ScreenIt! Review). From the Wikipedia entry:

The story deals with the Crusades of the 12th century, and involves...a village blacksmith who goes on to aid the city of Jerusalem in its defense against the great Islamic leader Saladin, who battles to reclaim the city from the Christians. The script is loosely based on the life of Balian of Ibelin. Professor Hamid Dabashi of Columbia University was the film's chief academic consultant.

So much violence. So much battling of God's enemies. So many cries of "God wills it." From both sides. I give it 3 out of 5. Coincidentally (before I started watching Kingdom of Heaven, I didn't realize that it was all about war between Christians and Muslims), today I also watched the Fox News special Radical Islam: Terror in Its Own Words (on the recommendation of a relative). I thought it was instructive in emphasizing the danger, in giving more full attention to what we usually only hear in brief soundbites...the chants of "death to America", the way children raised to be martyrs. Much emphasis was made that the special was addressing radical Islam, not its moderate relative, but that moderate Islam is too reticent in condemning the radical fringe. I guess these are all points that have some validity. This violent, radical Islam is not something that human society should tolerate. But the coincidence of watching these two things today reminded me again of the obvious parallels between then and now. A battle between a Christian king and a Muslim general from Tikrit. The infamous reference by king George to crusades. The spiritual significance tied to death as a crusader...to death as a Muslim martyr. It's tempting to think that we have progressed so far since then but that they are still stuck in such a primitive place, but many of us still think of what we've been doing lately as going to war in God's name, with his blessing. I was brought back to the feeling of how important it is that we not sink to the level of these murderous extremists...not to torture, not to trust in nor embrace violence. Not to allow our enemies to draw us away from the things that are so noble and wonderful about our country.

From an article of the same title in the Nov 9, 2007, issue of The Week:

An Iraqi Shiite who was sentenced to death in Kuwait for the 1983 bombings of the U.S. and French embassies is now a member of Iraq's parliament, U.S. military sources told CNN this week. Jamal Jafaar Mohammed had fled Kuwait and was convicted in absentia for the bombings, which killed five people. He was elected to parliament in 2005 as part of the Shiite alliance of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose Dawa party claimed responsibility for the embassy bombings at the time but has since recanted. Military officials said that Mohammed acts as a liaison between Iraqi Shiite militias and Iranian special forces in Iraq. He hasn't been to parliament in months, and is currently believed to be in Iran.

As I mentioned before, Terneuzen wasn't much to write home about. Since I made my arrangements so late, there were no rooms available at the place people typically stay: the Golden Tulip. Instead I was in the Hampshire Inn City Terneuzen. It was fine, but not up to the highest of standards. It did have a week of wi-fi access for about 23 euros. At the Crowne Plaza in Antwerp, they wanted 30 euros for one day of access...wi-fi robbery! Friday evening I road with my colleague Tom to Ghent, Belgium. It was raining, but we walked around the city center a bit. We had dinner at a fondue restaurant called Lucifer. I stayed in a hotel downtown. The next morning I walked around a bit more and then took a taxi to the train station (Sint-Pieters railway station, which is outside Ghent). In the photos below from Ghent, the Lys is the river. In the famous view from St. Michael's bridge, the three towers are the Belfry, St. Nicholas' church, and St. Bavo's Cathedral. The taxi driver who drove me to the train station was an out-of-work industrial engineer. He searched every nook and cranny of his coat two or three times trying to find his business card in case I could help him get a job. He was wearing a different coat and couldn't find any of his cards.

the three towers, seen from St. Michael's bridge

The high density of bicycles I noticed around the Ghent train station would come in handy later that day when I was trying to find my way back to the central train station in Brussels at dusk...when I glimpsed a bunch of bikes, I knew that must be the train station. The other interesting thing about bikes in Belgium and the Netherlands is that people are riding them around these cities (often in traffic), but no one is wearing a helmet. In the US these days, it seems that any safety-minded person wears a helmet. Not so with the culture over there. It can be rationalized partly by the fact that they have many more bike paths and drivers have more experience coexisting with cyclists...but still I would buck culture and wear a helmet if I was biking over there. I took a train from Ghent to Brussels. I checked in at the Sheraton at the airport in Brussels, where I stayed because I had a flight early the next morning. I then took a train to downtown Brussels and spent the afternoon walking about.

Here's a bit of video from the main shopping street in the city center of Brussels late on Saturday afternoon. It gives you a feel for how many people were there in the rain, but I don't think it does it justice.

On the flight back to the States I watched The Queen and Grand Canyon. I've already told you about the adoption story...a good end to the trip.