the Scott Stein

"One day, the Sharia will be implemented in Britain. It's a matter of time."

This review of H.L. Mencken on Religion might be of interest. The book came out in 2002, but the review by Garin K. Hovannisian is from the December 2006 issue of Liberty.

... to write satire. Don't believe me? Read "Turk workers urge pope's arrest" on CNN.com. The money quote:

They said the pontiff had violated Turkish laws upholding freedom of belief and thought by "insulting" Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.

And really, what could a satirist, brilliant though he may be, possibly add to that?

My nephew was born eight days ago, so today is his bris. Without the benefits of anesthesia, he will be circumcised in front of 70 people he's never met before.

Then everyone will eat.

Last week two people were killed for watching soccer. Now CNN reports that a Somalian band was beaten for playing music at a wedding.

"We had warned the family not to include in their ceremony what is not allowed by the sharia law. This includes the mixing of men and women and playing music," Sheik Iise Salad, who heads an Islamic court in the northeastern Huriwaa District, told The Associated Press. "That is why we raided and took their equipment." (Source: CNN)

Aside from informing us that this Sheik Iise Salad must be a real dick, this story reminds us that Somalia just can't catch a break.

A long time ago, when Phil Hartman was still alive and Bill Clinton was President-Elect, Saturday Night Live had a funny sketch with Hartman as Clinton at a McDonald's discussing the crisis in Somalia. You remember it: Hartman-Clinton kept taking the food from customers and shoving it into his mouth as he tried to explain that warlords were preventing food aid from reaching the Somalian people.

Now, Somalia is lucky enough to have won the Islamic-law lottery.