Kia's World

From the BBC:

Gordon Brown says he wants to "win the argument" in Parliament over his plans to extend the pre-charge detention limit for terror suspects to 42 days.

The prime minister is facing the prospect of a Commons defeat over the plans which are opposed by the Tories, Lib Dems and some Labour backbenchers.

Huzzah for our Brit friends :)

Defeat for Mr Brown - when MPs vote on the Counter Terrorism Bill next month - would come as a major blow to the prime minister's authority.

Don't know much about Gordon Brown, but maybe you Brits think this is a good thing? 

Also, this article is a little out of date (printed May 15th); I found it by following links from a subsequent article posted on the JTH site.  To follow the progress of this issue, use the following liniks:

Here is an article that describes the attempts to get the law through by making some compromises

Here is an article on how the supporters of the law are trying to win MPs over

Here is an article about how Home Secretary jacqui Smith is trying to win support for the law before the vote comes up.

From MSNBC:

Dunkin’ Donuts has pulled an online advertisement featuring Rachael Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic support for Muslim extremism and terrorism.

Sigh.... I'm not even going to comment over how dumb this is.

A statement issued Wednesday by Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Brands Inc., however, said the scarf had a paisley design, and was selected by a stylist for the advertising shoot.

“Absolutely no symbolism was intended,” the company said.

For the record, she wasn't even wearing the scarf around her head.  There's a picture in the article.

“I think that a right-wing blogger making an association between a kaffiyeh and terrorism is just an example of how so much of the complexity of Arab culture has been reduced to a very narrow vision of the Arab world on the part of some people in the U.S.,” Bishara said in a phone interview. “Kaffiyehs are worn every day on the street by Palestinians and other people in the Middle East — by people going to work, going to school, taking care of their families, and just trying to keep warm.”

Duh.

From the Rolling Stones:

This article has seven parts and is too long for me to search out appropriate tidbits.  I would highly recommend that every read this one all the way through and in detail anyway.  It describes the production, growth, and integration of the Chinese police state and how the rest of the First World, including the UK and especially the US, seem to be looking to the Chinese model for tips.  Many thanks to Faolan for the heads-up!