What's in a name?

I have a friend whose legal name happens to be Mohammed. Although he's a citizen of Great Britain and isn't even a Muslim, this alone, perhaps combined with the fact that he was born in Iran, adds an hour or two to his transit of US Customs.

This shouldn't be. The myopic preoccupation with given names displayed by US officials is simply unforgivable. As anyone who has tried to look himself up on Google already knows, most people share their first and last names with dozens of other people. To stop someone at the airport simply because his name is the same as that of a suspected criminal is rather sophomoric; as if no criminal ever travels under an assumed name.

What's really dangerous, in this Global War on Terror that is really the Crusades revisited, is to have an Islamic name. Not only because the pool of people is so huge and the pool of names they share so relatively tiny, but because just having an Islamic name makes one automatically suspect of belonging to a terrorist organization.

Just ask Khalid el-Masri* of Ulm, Germany, who on the sole bases of his name and hometown was imprisoned at the Macedonian border and handed over to the CIA for transport to Afghanistan and months of torture.

Just what sorts of activities Khalid el-Masri was involved in prior to moving to Germany in 1985, aren't known. But one thing is for sure: he's not the Khalid al-Masri of Al Qaeda fame that the CIA was looking for.

In this day of RFD passports, biometric identifiers, and Google Images, one would think that such a case of mistaken identity could no longer happen. But it does. Repeatedly.

If you have an Islamic name but you don't live in an Islamic country, you might want to consider doing what John Forbes Kerry's grandfather did, and change it. In fact, make it sound as much like a highly placed US official's name as you can--it couldn't hurt, and it might come in handy some day.

How about George W. Clinton?

*I should add that this isn't even an Islamic name--it just sounds like one. Khalid means "glorious" or "immortal" in Arabic, and Masri means "Egyptian" (el and al are just two different ways of transcribing the article). I have a friend named Gloria England; substitute a different country, change the gender, and her name would be the same as his.

Marriage Resources

There are two prevailing views on marriage among believers today:
1) Marriage is for life, unless one of the partners abandons the marriage and initiates another one.
2) Marriage is for life, even if one or both of the partners are living in adultery with someone else.

A problem with both views is that they don't often address the "I blew it--now what can I do to make it right" question.

Sincere Christians are divided on this topic, and many are uninformed on important facts basic to a right understanding of the issues.

Here are the best websites I could find, respectively, giving Scriptural and historical support for the two views, along with a "then what" site:

1)Marriage can end in remarriage
2) Marriage can only end in death
3) What to do if you feel you should end a marriage

It is possible to make money over the internet: just ask Google!

The White Male has been away from his post for a while, having ideas about what to post but not the dedicated time to make them presentable.

So for your entertainment in the mean while, here is the transcript of a chat between a customer trying not to sign up for a Google "internet money-making package" that is guaranteed to make money for Google over the internet. The following conversation ensued when he pushed the 'back' button to see what kind of monetary arrangement he had just started to agree to, and was told to "stand by to chat with a live agent:"

[dialog box opens]

Jenny Says: Hey wait! We hate to see you go. So we would like to sweeten the deal! If you signup for the Google Automated Income Kit, we will reduce the shipping price to only $0.99 (Normally $1.97). A 50% savings!

Jenny Says: Please type 'HI' or 'HELLO' in the space below to let me know you are there...

Jenny Says: This is a limited time offer available through this chat only. CLICK HERE to get back to the signup page with the cost of shipping reduced.

Jenny Says: Just let me know you are there...

Jenny Says: Whenever you are ready, just type 'HI' or 'HELLO' and we can get started...

Jenny Says: This will only take a few moments.

You: bye

Jenny Says: Remember, this 50% OFF on your SHIPPING offer is only available through this chat and for a limited time. What do you say; would you like to take advantage of this last-minute offer? :-)

You: no

Jenny Says: OK, Thank you for your time. To end the CHAT simply CLICK on the "X" in upper right.

You: ok

Jenny Says: Okay great. CLICK HERE and fill out the page in order to take advantage of this great offer.

You: no

Jenny Says: This 50% OFF on your SHIPPING offer is only available through this chat and for a limited time. CLICK HERE to take advantage of this deal.

You: are you really alive, Jenny?

Jenny Says: I'm a live virtual agent.

You: What a joke!

Jenny Says: Don't you want your own Automated Google money-making machine, ready to launch and 100% Google compatible? This is proven to make you money, don't let this opportunity pass you by.

You: not!

Jenny Says: Giving you HALF OFF on SHIPPING for your entire order is just our way of thanking you for shopping with us!

You: What other kind of tricks can you do, Jen?

Jenny Says: Can I provide you a link back to the order page with the cost of shipping reduced?

You: You tell me.

[the line goes dead]

Why did Mary Winkler kill her husband?

The murder trial of Mary Winkler is scheduled to start soon, and I'm going to predict that she will be acquitted. If there is any evidence that she premeditated shooting him in the back with his own shotgun, it hasn't come up yet.

The short answer to the above question seems pretty simple: Because she had access to his gun. Being as much smaller than him as she was, it's unlikely she would have been physically capable of inflicting mortal harm on him without it, given her professed mental state at the time of the killing.

This is one more good reason not to keep a loaded firearm readily available. An unloaded one will be practically as effective at scaring away intruders, but totally ineffective at being turned on the owner in a fit of fury.

Personally, I'd rather not keep a gun in the house at all, but for those who do, I suggest keeping the gun in plain view and the ammunition hidden away where no one else can access it.

It may prolong your life enough to give you the chance to work out your marriage problems.

Just a thought.

ETA: Here's my answer, based on the trial report (she was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter): She didn't mean to, but because he was in the habit of pointing a loaded shotgun at her during arguments, she did the same and, not having any training in the safe handling of firearms, wound up pulling the trigger in the process. Except that the argument hadn't quite got going again yet, as he was asleep at the time.

My moral stands.

Update September 16, 2011:


Here's another case in which a person was used to ordering family members around with a pointed, loaded gun--and somebody died; Only in this case, it was his 6-year-old brother.

Will the burkini actually help prevent lust?

The blogosphere is abuzz with discussion of the Islamically legal swimwear collection categorized under the heading 'burqini' (usually spelled 'burkini').

The item, if not the word for it, has its origins in the Australian Muslim beach community. Apparently wet suits didn't quite cut the mustard, and a form of swimwear that was both modest and practical emerged (concealing all the Islamicly shameful areas of the female form), along with the interesting name for it, which is an English combination of 'burka' (from 'burqua', an Arabic word for a garment which is 'draped' over the entire body) and 'bikini' (a French word based on the native name for an atoll in the Tropical Pacific). So far they are available in black, dark black, and off black; more fashionable versions to follow.

In this report, it turns out that the burkini was developed as a way to integrate more Muslims into the Lifeguard community; there were plenty enough of them on the beach already, but in numbers disproportionate to their representation on the lifeguard chairs. The solution was to recruit 10 male and 10 female Muslims, but is the burkini really a solution to the problem of lust? Sure, none of the beachgoers will be turned on by their 10 muslima lifeguards this way, but what's to keep the 10 muslim men from being turned on by the thong-clad topless beach babes they are charged to watch?

Well, now that both Muslim lifeguards and Muslim swimwear are available, how about a Sharia beach for all the Muslims to enjoy together in mixed company--along with anyone else willing to dress by the rules? Uncovered-only beaches may be officially sanctioned in Australia, but I have a feeling that a Covered-only Beach may be asking too much of today's legislators.