Soob

What do these three have in common? Nothing. But they do make for interesting reading.

Islamic Lawfare: A recent meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Senegal finds an initiative to pursue international legal action against the blasphemous. The initiative would "seek redress" from nations who dare to allow their citizens to "defame or denigrate" Islam. A particularly interesting bit:

Some delegates point to laws in Europe criminalizing the denial of the Holocaust and other anti-Semitic rhetoric.

We have it on good authority that the delegate from Iran appeared distracted and whistled softly too himself when this bit was brought up.

Tibet's Riot: Peaceful protests turned to riots in Lhasa, Tibet as the general populace joined and then eclipsed the efforts of Buddhist monks. The Chinese authorities have responded with force which, given an upcoming international sporting event, isn't a particularly wise avenue of mitigation. Expect a very politically charged Beijing Olympics 2008.
The last time an uprising of this measure occurred the communist party chief responded in a quick and brutal fashion. Said party chief was some fellow named Hu...

Caribbean Crimewave: White, pink and black sand. Clear, aquamarine water. A murder rate that quadruples that of North America. Caribbean leaders are calling a conference to address rising crime rates. A notable snippet:

Officials say that the geographic proximity of the Caribbean to drug-producing nations in South America as well as its mid-point status to North America makes it easy prey for powerful drug cartels, which are able to pump money into gangs and buy large amounts of weapons and ammunition.

Imagine that.