BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iranian to pay 124,000-rose dowry

BBC NEWS Middle East Iranian to pay 124,000-rose dowry
Men have to pay a dowry to their wives in Iran. They don't have to do it at the wedding, but they do have to give it to her whenever she wants. It's part of the wedding, so if it is not paid, the wedding is not valid.
So this lady decides her husband is a cheapskate - he won't even pay for her coffee when they go out to eat. So she decided it was time to claim her dowry - 124,000 roses. I have no idea why he agreed to that, but, he did. He says he can only pay 5 roses a day; the judge has ruled they must all be given at once, and has seized his apartment until the payment is recieved.


Why do writers pretend to be Indians? - By David Treuer - Slate Magazine
There are a lot of them. And it's sort of pathetic.


NPR: Studies: Iraq Costs US $12B Per Month
Yup, it's expensive.


Immigrants who served U.S. deserve citizenship - MSNBC TV Experts- msnbc.com
This guy is of the opinion that those who fight for us deserve to get citizenship - and not at some distant point in the bureaucratic future eternity, but right damn now. If they are willing to fight and die for us, why would we want to give them trouble?
I, too, think this is a problem.


If only actors can smoke, everyone's an actor - Addictions- msnbc.com
In Minnesota, smoking indoors is illegal - unless you are an actor portraying a part. Then you can smoke. But only in character.
So a lot of bars are having "actors nights," where everyone's a star!
No one is making the employees work where they do, and non-smokers don't have to go there, either. Why is it illegal?
I'm all for this, especially if it encourages people to be creative. It'd be better if everyone respected the law, but it's absurd, so it's better to mock it.


China.


Is China the key to Africa's development? - By Eliza Barclay - Slate Magazine
It's an interesting article. I didn't know it, but should have - there are African traders now living in China.

Taiwan memories fade for China parliament delegates World Reuters
The mainland continues to pretend it rules Taiwan by appointing delgates for Taiwan. Most of them have never been there. I especially liked this one:

"I'm from Wulai," (Chen) said, referring to a rural area outside of Taipei
perhaps better known for its waterfall. "I've been. I took a
photograph."

Yeah, you sound real qualified to speak for those people's concerns.
I liked this part, too:

The delegates used Communist phrases like "socialist market economy" and
"harmonious society", which would sound distinctly out of place in Taiwan, with
its free-wheeling and sometimes chaotic democracy.
(...)
Taiwan reporters attending the delegation's meeting could barely suppress
their giggles at some of the staid answers they received, being more accustomed
to dealing with feisty Taiwanese politicians. "They don't represent us," one Taiwan reporter remarked dismissively of the delegates.

Damn straight. Those guys are crazy. They throw chairs at each other. Each meeting of the Legislative Yuan is more like Jerry Springer than anything else.


China's latest crackdown: The liquid lunch - International Herald Tribune
Drinking obscene amounts of liquor is important for party discipline...or it was, until it wasn't, and now is the time it no longer was ever appropriate. So it's being cracked down on. That's good, I suppose. But man - they're right about that baijiu (白酒) -

"I've never met anybody, even at the heights of alcoholic derangement,
prepared to admit that they actually liked the taste," Clissold wrote of baijiu.
"After drinking it, most people screw up their faces in an involuntary
expression of pain and some even yell out."

Actually, the taste isn't so bad. It isn't good, though, and it is fire-y.



Heroes.

Iraq's 'cult of Chuck Norris' - Conflict in Iraq- msnbc.com
Yeah, looks like not only do our guys like him, but the Iraqis admire him, too. They aren't always sure who he is, though.

He fell from sky, into their hearts - Wonderful World- msnbc.com
I really like this guy. I have to admire him. He got shot down over one of the islands of Papua New Guinea during WW2, and should have died. The place was occupied by the Japanese, he got lost in the jungle, and was starving and sick after several weeks alone. The natives of the island had practiced cannibalism, and no one was sure they didn't still.
He was found by a native tribe - and they saved him. They risked their lives to help him, they nursed him back to health, and they sheltered him for 8 months until he could get away from the island and into Allied territory.
He never forgot them, and he spent the rest of his life building them schools, and trying to improve their quality of life.
I admire this guy.