Castro Cedes Power to Raul For Now

Just short of his eightieth birthday (August 13), Castro, the longest ruling head of state in the world, has temporarily relinquished power to his brother Raul while he undergoes intestinal surgery according to a FNC Alert. On Hannity & Colmes, Dick Morris asserted that based on his knowledge of the Cuban exile community, it will be months or just a few years before Raul is ousted and Cuba becomes a modern democracy. Of course, this prediction presupposes that the long-time leader of Cuba does not reassume his leadership role that he has held since 1959.

Syria Raises Alert Level

Syria's military was put on heightened alert by President Bashar al-Assad who promised to stand by the Lebanese resistance. On the 61st anniversary of the Syria Arab Army's formation, Assad asservated, "The barbaric war of annihilation the Israeli aggression is waging on our people in Lebanon and Palestine is increasing in ferocity." He further stated, "We are facing international circumstances and regional challenges that require caution, alert, readiness, and preparedness." (The Syria Arab Army had already been on alert since Israel's retaliation on July 12 in response to Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on Israel's soil.) On Hardball with Chris Matthews tonight, Martin Fletcher of NBC News stated that Syria had called for this heightened readiness because Israel had called up three reserve divisions that would be operating on the Syrian/Lebanese border only 20 kilometers from Damascus. He added that for the first time in fifteen or twenty years a bomb detonated on the border between Syria and Israel. In light of Qana and the widening conflict, it seems to be getting more and more difficult for Israel and its American ally to contain the current conflict to Lebanese land and abutting Jewish territory.

Cf. http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-07-31T212727Z_01_L31883392_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST-ASSAD.xml&src=rss&rpc=22.

Paris Gets Religion

After the traumatic riots of October and November 2005 by young Muslim youth from its seedy slums, Paris authorities have become attuned to a more restrictive clothing ban on its artificial shores. The Le Parisien reported last Saturday that Paris City Hall passed a law banning indecent clothing to preserve public order on its man-made beaches created each ete since 2001. According to its wording, "People must behave according to good standards to maintain tranquility, security and public order: notably indecent attire (nude sunbathing, g-strings, toplessness, etc.) is forbidden." Anyone showing too much skin can be fined 38 euros. Pascal Cherki, a city hall sports official, said that such indecent clothing "could have led to temptations and dangerous behavior on the banks of the river." The secular may still bask in Ole Sol as they see fit on France's natural beaches for now. Will the French change their cuisine as well?

Cf. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0%2C22049%2C19955577-5001028%2C00.html.

Talking Bikinis

Girls, now your bikini-clad bodies can be safe from the sun's rays but not necessarily from overtly appreciative eyes. Solestrom has designed a new bikini that sports a UV overexposure alarm with a meter within the belt: ergo, when your $190 bikini starts beeping, go get a margarita or a cosmopolitan at a shaded cabana bar. Demand for this bikini is strong in Australia and South Africa where skin cancer rates are the highest in the world. This suit will become available in the U.S. next month. The ever popular bikini was designed in July 1946 by Frenchman Louis Reard who named it after Bikini Atoll, site of the a-bomb testing by the U.S. True to his prescient prognostications, the world was rocked by his creation: its explosive echoes reverberate ever mellifluous to many of Aphrodite's acolytes.

Cf. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/life_bikinis1_dc.

FEMA: No to Trailer Park Free Speech

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials are not allowing media assess to governmental trailer parks unless escorted at all times by a FEMA agent. For example, a guard in a Morgan City, LA trailer park ordered a reporter and photographer off of the property after they were invited by Dekotha Duvall, a trailer resident; called police when the reporter attempted the "forbidden" act of handing Duvall a business card; and then commanded another resident, Pansy Ardeneaux to not speak through a chain-link fence to reporters (and to return to her trailer home). "If a resident invites the media to the trailer, they have to be escorted by a FEMA representative who sits in on the interview: that's just policy," Rachel Rodi, spokesperson for FEMA said. Congressman Bobby Jindal (R-LA) impugned FEMA's position, stating, "You don't lose your fundamental rights just because you're living in temporary housing: it's an outrageous pattern of behavior." The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) asked FEMA to evaluate the constitutionality of its policy. The letter stated, "We are outraged by the arrogance and contempt for public discourse on display in Louisiana, a year after FEMA's performance in the wake of Katrina earned it widespread criticism."

Cf. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51240.

Dems Slam Arab Democrat

The cause celebre of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is even impinging on Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki's visit to the U.S., where he is scheduled to address a joinst session of Congress tomorrow. Al-Maliki addressed Israel's actions as he stated, "The Israeli attacks and airstrikes are completely destroying Lebanon's infrastructure." He added, "I condemn these aggressions and call on the Arab League foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo to take quick action to stop these agressions: we call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression." Congressional Democrats were quick to attack Iraq's recently elected prime minister. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) asseverated, "Unless Mr. Malaki disavows his critical comments of Israel and condemns terrorism, it is inappropriate to honor him with a joint meeting of Congress." Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) joined by New York senior senator Chuck Schumer asserted, "It is imperative that the U.S. Congress and the world know immediately whether you support or condemn Hezbollah's acts of terrorism." Even though Al-Maliki should obviously be even handed in his condemnation as to Israel and Hezbollah, he could be forgiven if he wondered if these lecturers were aligned with him in his war on the terrorists and insurgents plaguing his country. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert rejected these Democratic attempts to deny the new democratic leader of Iraq the honor of speaking to a bicameral Congressional audience.

Cf. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,205521,00.html and http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/20/world/middleeast/20shiites.html?_r=2&ex=1153713600&en=78691f5524ed9816&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin&oref=slogin.

Turkey: Burka Babes v. Bikini Beauties

Turkey's beaches are witnessing an incredible juxtaposition of beauties clad in bikinis (or even topless) with babes donning head-to-toe swimwear. Under moderate-to-conservative Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Muslim sensitivities about women's clothing are getting a more sympathetic ear. Thus, tailors such as Mustafa Karaduman, nicknamed The Prophet's Couturier, are pioneering efforts to make swimming attire in strict adherence to dictates of the Qur'an. These suits allow Muslim lovelies to tan guilt free as the cloth allows the sun's rays to bathe their bodies but not expose them. Within the secular democratic society of modern Turkey bequeathed by her Western-oriented founder Ataturk, the differences in garb are likely to continue to coexist as long as fundamentalistic tendencies are kept in check. Of course, the bikini and less is likely to rule in Western societies where feminine beauty is celebrated and not cloaked.

Cf. http://www.guardian.co.uk/turkey/story/0,,1788565,00.html.