[BRIEF NOTE] If anyone ever wanted to take Islam Online seriously ...

From "Anniversary of Aqsa Mosque Arson Highlighted":

A Jordanian government official said there was "crystal clear proof" that Israeli authorities were involved in instigating the fire in the holy site, the Washington Times said Saturday, August 21, quoting the Jordanian official Petra news agency.

In response, Israel rejected the accusation, saying it was part of the wrong claims of the Arab world against the state of Israel .

"This is an outrageous libel against us, similar to the continued claims in the Arab world that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are genuine," said Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Israeli Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Steinitz was referring to a controversial document from Czarist Russia about a Jewish plot to take over the world - a document that is accepted as fact today throughout much of the Arab world, but Israel insists it is a forgery. (Emphasis added.)

Look: Isn't it easy to normalize the most pernicious myths of anti-Semitism?

[NON BLOG] Weekend Events

As I was heading west on the Queen Street West streetcar Friday at midnight, I began shivering violently. I thought that it was simply a product of the cold outside; the 18th of August, I suppose, was the last summer night in the GTA. It turned out that was a sufficient explanation, but not a complete explanation. More on that later.

I was planning to go to two barbecues on Saturday. The first was intended to be a gathering of dormmates from Queen's, hosted by a former dormmate who conveniently lives in Little Portugal not 15 minutes away from me by foot; the second, a barbecue hosted by another group of friends, over by Church and Wellesley. I had to beg off the second barbecue, as I discovered that the previous night I wasn't shivering only because of the cold, but also because I was developing a case of the flu, the same one that has apparently been making the rounds in Toronto. So, I suppose my sociability rating has dropped unavoidably, but in my defense I went to bed at 7 in the evening yesterday and woke up fully only at 5 today.

The first barbecue was great, even though I had to cut my stay short owing to my developing illness. Three other dormmates were in attendance, including our hostess. We sat in her backyard, a surprisingly large area by downtown Toronto standards, drinking and eating under a grapevine-covered trellis, and catching up. Despite the horror stories from dorm--yes, echomyst, I'll write about the knife-wielding fellatio couple shortly, I've not forgotten--I really enjoyed the whole experience. Good people, all of them.

[BRIEF NOTE] Munch's "The Scream"

By now, news of the theft of 19th century Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream" has probably propagated far and wide.

I remember the first time I saw "The Scream." I was 9, and at a north shore Prince Edward Island trailer park. My father drove me and some of my friends to a neighbouring drive-in movie theatre, where we watched the first Batman movie. After inviting Vicki Vale to dinner at Gotham City's art gallery under false pretenses, the Joker gasses the denizens (save for Vicki, of course, who had been given a convenient gas mask) and enters the museum with his thugs. To the sound of Prince, they proceed to enthusiastically vandalize the works assembled there. Just as one of his subordinates swings a knife down against the canvas of "The Scream," Joker interrupts the weapon's arc with his cane. "I kinda like this one."

Here's hoping it gets returned shortly.