The Art of Weaving

Last year, VB was wearing her favorite J. Crew linen jacket, (she's a "dedicated follower of fashion") out to dinner. Doggie was just a pup, with incisor like claws. Springer Spaniels like to, well, spring, and jump. She did so, and in the blink of an eye, VB's jacket had a massive (to VB's eye) tear. Actually, if VB were to stick a pin there, no one would notice, except that it was lower down on the jacket. It sat for a year. In the meantime, VB tried to mend it herself, but here's only so much VB can do - she's not Superwoman. Finally, in February, VB found a weaver. He's located on Road 153, just off of Road 7, in Maadi, directly below the bridge towards the Nile. VB had just had the jacket dry cleaned too. And wondered if the dry cleaner put spot remover on the rip, since it looked lighter in color. (Below): A close-up of the torn jacket after dry cleaning.

(Below): A view of what you might see had VB been wearing it (i.e. more realistic.)

Most weavers we have had in the past, including Wizard Weavers of Hyde Park, in Cincinnati, Ohio have a modus operandi. They remove a piece of the same cloth, from the inside of the jacket. Normally it's a site that won't be detectable. They then weave this into the damaged area, and viola! They also charge about $50.00 (well that was back in the early 1980's) for one piece. Now, the weaver off of Road 7 doesn't have a western (English) business card. He's tucked into a hole in the wall, basement area, next to a huge framing business on the corner of Road 153. VB went there and figured, "what the hell," it can't look any worse than it does already. Well, this guy, wove together the broken threads on the jacket, without removing anything else. VB kept looking, all over, for a piece of linen that had been removed from inside the jacket. Not one teeny weeny little piece! (Below): The woven product. Yes, the spot is lighter, but that's not his fault. Again, VB thinks the dry cleaners did this. Still his weaving skills - simply amazing!

He speaks English and just says, "Whatever you wish." The charge was only 40 LE, and he had it finished within a week.


From an Internet site called Without A Trace:

""Clothing is very expensive," Ehrlich explains. "It’s easier to fix than replace." The most common clothing injuries are small moth holes, cigarette burns and rips, most resulting from clumsiness. Repairing these in expensive, high-quality suits is well worth the $50 or so cost of reweaving. "It’s saving them a whole new garment," says Ehrlich.
The method of repair usually depends upon the type of problem. Without a Trace specializes in three types of reweaving: inweaving, French weaving and reknitting. Inweaving is necessary with larger tears and works best with patterns. A patch of fabric, cut from the pocket or hem of the piece, is frayed along the edges and hand woven into the fabric.
Smaller holes are repaired using the French weave, also known as the invisible weave. The weaver takes strands of threads from hidden areas of the garment, then interweaves these threads together over the hole - as Ehrlich says, "recreating the fabric."
Reknitting is the process used in repairing sweaters. As in the French weave, the knitter uses yarns from other parts of the garment to repair holes and pulls."

And from The Washington Post, Reweavers Take a Delicate Approach to Fabric Repair:

"The work is time-consuming. Using high-powered microscopes so they can see even the finest individual threads, reweavers work by hand with special needles. "You have to weave one thread at a time to get the invisible look," explains Susan Kim, owner of Beverly Cleaners in Alexandria.
In this "French weave" process, the reweaver takes matching fabric from another area of the damaged item, picks it apart thread by thread, then weaves across the hole so it is no longer detectable." "Reweaving professionals suggest that you decide how much the item to repair is worth -- and consider carefully whether you wouldn't be better off buying something new. Repairs for small holes (up to a half-inch) range from $20 to $50. Larger reweaving projects can run $70 to $100. Most jobs require at least a week, and complicated projects can take much longer."

Happy Birthday Lotus!

Happy Birthday to VB's puppy Lotus! She's one year old today - that's right September 11th!

She was all for it, but Cooper, her older half brother, wanted nothing to do with the hat! Although, he did vacuum up his slice of cake.

BTW, we bought them raincoats today. VB used to have a matching lined one for VB Doggie (that's right, VB and Vagabondblogger Doggie had matching coats.) So we decided, after that bitch of a storm Hanna tore through here, and it was getting close to autumn, they needed rain coats. Check it out!

(Below): Lotus posing, while in the background, Cooper fights with the hat.


(Below): Hat free, Cooper has the appearance of a dog who is "having nothing to do with this!"



(Below): The new raincoats.

Recognition - Finally!

Yessss! Finally, VB is acknowledged for something (leadership qualities)?!?!?!

Though she's not sure they're talking about the same "sneakers" she wears. VB thinks the poll was taken with Type A personalities who participate in physical activity more often than they really should. She's bought four pairs this past year, and below is a sampling. Obviously, hers are not your oft seen tennis, power walking, cross trainers, cycling, yoga, blah, blah, blah, (hideously fugly) shoes. Still, she thinks it's a good thing. On the other hand, who really gives a shit anyway? It just kind of makes her feel good about herself. And that's what counts.






Always buying sneakers? It's the sign of a leader: poll

"NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Got a passion for buying sneakers? It could be a good sign, with a poll finding that people who buy three pairs of sneakers or more a year are far more likely to be a leadership type that other people.

Mindset Media, a media company that examines personality traits of different consumers, found that people who buy more than three pairs of sneakers a year are 61 percent more likely to have the qualities of a modern leader.

These qualities were defined as having ideas and vision, and a style with others that is both inclusive and decisive....

Lauren Arvonio, a spokeswoman for Mindset Media, said sneaker buyers were more likely to fly by the seat of their pants.

"It is often said you can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear, and now we have some hard data to back that up," Arvonio told Reuters.

"What is interesting is that these personality traits held true across the board, regardless of age, income, or gender.'"

(There's more at the link.)

Weekend News Roundup - Prelude

A few tidbits to chew on, while you're waiting for the Weekend News Roundup. Two Opus comics that were censored from major U.S. newspapers, such as the Washington Post. You never know, even the hijab or burkini in a comic strip could cause trouble. And as for burkhas, ever wonder why the Taliban demanded that women wear them? Could it be they felt threatened? You'll have to check out the photo essay below, to see where Vagabondblogger is coming from.


CENSORSHIP:
Opus, the censored comic

Opus, Burkini comic



Violent Femmes: The Taliban's Secret Photos
A Magnum photo essay. During his coverage of the fall of Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 2002, photographer Thomas Dworzak discovered a stash of pictures showing male Taliban members in curious, effeminate poses.


If player / video doesn't work you can view it at here at Slate.

Funkengroovin Wednesday - On The Road

Vagabondblogger often sees VW's when she is on the road traveling around Cairo. One of the things she hates is when the windows of her own car, get in the way of a photo. It's also annoying to have a camera that won't take the picture right away. So, since the title of today's post is "On the Road", here's all the VW photos I practically missed - the ones that got away. Let's just say the eye is quicker than the hand, and the damn driver won't slow down for Vagabondblogger - Sheesh!

Oh and this week, due to the overwhelming excitement from the news media about Mad Men, today's blog includes more "style" and "fashion" than usual (how could that be?)


Road Rules

Aug. 13, 2007 issue - Jack Kerouac's "On The Road" gets the full 50th anniversary treatment next month, and both cheerleaders and hand-wringers acknowledge that it radically changed American culture—somehow or other. True, the National Quiet Desperation Index has only risen since 1957, and if the book's exaltation of junker cars and diner food had really taken hold, we'd have fewer SUVs and fast-food franchises. But "On the Road" showed, and continues to show, generations of young readers a more intense, more passionate—and more closely examined—life. Some who've busted out to live it themselves died on the streets. Others have refreshed the American sensibility, in music, art, fashion, or in simply learning to kick back and take pleasure in pleasure. This book has stayed, as one of its early readers would say, forever young.

Turns out Vagabondblogger is a trend setter now too. Don't say I didn't tell ya to watch the show.


'Mad Men' sells the '60s with authenticity

AMC's period drama Mad Men (tonight, 10 ET/PT), set in a Madison Avenue ad agency in spring 1960, is a universe on the precipice of revolutions, from social to racial, political to sexual. And those threads of change are carried through in the details, the carefully researched artifacts of the era, some evocative, some barely remembered. "When you look in the past, everybody knows the broad strokes," says prop master Scott Buckwald. "It's the little slices of life that make the difference." USA TODAY dusts off a handful of the items in Mad Men's attic.

Volkswagen 'Beetle'

Mad Men angle. "No chrome, no horsepower, foreign, ugly," says art director Salvatore (Bryan Batt), looking at a VW ad. "I guess they went with their strengths."

Infestation. Before Toyota, before Honda, this was the import invasion. The Volkswagen (the descriptive Beetle wasn't officially acknowledged till 1967) was economical, reliable and adorably homely, soon to be embraced by the counterculture even as it was rejected by the establishment. The ironic, understated ads were as revolutionary as the auto. In 1960, 127,000 were sold in the USA; by 1970 they were selling more than 400,000 a year.

Insect aside. Prop master Buckwald says they pulled the ad from an old issue of Life, tinted it and rebound it in another magazine. And it turns out on the series that the neighborhood divorcée, Helen Bishop (Darby Stanchfield), drives one, which will do neither's reputation any good.

A Return to That Drop-Dead Year 1960
By RUTH LA FERLA
Published: August 23, 2007

To a style aficionado, “Mad Men” is that rare TV show in which an ashtray, a lipstick or an aerosol tin gets star treatment.

Magic Bus: Project VW reveals hidden surprise

For the owner of a 1958 double panel restoration project, the drug connection hit a little close to home. When checking out the undercarriage of his new purchase, TheSamba forum member Joshua B. found 14 LBS of marijuana stashed away. While we can't provide an exact street value of such a find (if you can, let us know in the comments) we can assume that it's a hell of a lot more than the value of this rusted out old groove-mobile.

Check this picture out:
The Billiards Table Volkswagen Bus seen at the Woodward Dream Cruise

If you are a surfing dude but also a great fan of billiards, then it seems as if all your dreams can be answered as at the recent Woodward Dream Cruise event visitors had the chance to see a Billiards Table Volkswagen Bus, man this VW Camper come Billiards Table is so cool.

The Virtues of Avoiding Interstates

Many connoisseurs of the highway are championing the use of slow roads — back roads with scenery and history — instead of faceless Interstates.

The List:
Scenic Roads That Deserve a Detour

Here are some slow roads with special attractions.

Off the Road

Hey, Jack Kerouac, I know you dressed like a bum, but a shop in Soho is selling your boots for $475

So maybe, given your late-in-life embrace of capitalism, you'd actually endorse that Hogan merch (especially if you got a cut of the profits). In any case, as so often happens, you're worth far more dead than alive. Want to really spin in your grave? Check this out: Johnny Depp once paid $15,000 for an old raincoat of yours, and $10,000 for a tweed overcoat.

Six Days On The Road - Dave Dudley

Politicians, Dress Codes, and Losers #2, Plus Fashionable Fundies

SAGGIN' PANTS, CHASTITY RINGS - OUT!

CROCS-IN ( AND WITH PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL)!
HIJAB & NIQAB - STILL DEBATABLE

The news this past week, threw me for a loop! Besides the numerous articles on saggin' pants and the niqab, what really caught my eye was this:

“Echo”: Hijab Related Problem in BP
Now, you'd think a savvy international company, one that's been around the world for ages would be a bit more tolerant, but according to Echo / Pravo:

Thus, number of information agencies informed that girl practicing Islam and wearing headscarf in accordance with her religious beliefs was dismissed from BP. Particularly, it is reported that it was Esmira Heydarova’s religious beliefs that caused her dismissal. She worked for Sangachal terminal “BP-Azerbaijan”. It is also reported that the dismissed was warned on the part of leadership to come to work without headscarf. In response, Esmira Heydarova, declared that her clothing is expression of freedom of religion that is why she can’t take off headscarf. In the end it entailed the cease of contract with E. Heydarova.

BP ignored the laws in Texas, where fifteen workers died; in Alaska they spilled more oil; they have a disabled oil rig, "Thunderhorse" in the Gulf of Mexico; and in the U.K. they tried to lie to the court so Lord Browne could hide the fact that he had an affair with a call boy, and allowed him to use his personal business computer; and now this, a blatant attack on a woman due to her dress. And that's not all:

Following information leaked out of independent sources, E. Heydarova was officially dismissed not for wearing hijab, but for some bureaucratic impediment puts on her way by the leadership of company. It is also reported that some women-workers of BP wishing to wear hijab don’t do it fearing to lose their job.

Here's the other news on Hijab, Niqab, Saggin' Pants and Chastity Rings. It looks like the out-of-touch politicians have decided to become fashionistas. Just as an Egyptian court ruled against American University of Cairo's rule against the niqab, I'm sure an American court will rule against the saggin' pants law coming out of a small town in Louisiana. As least in the States we have a myriad of legal excuses for the way we dress. As much as I would like to outlaw some of the biggest offenders, I believe in a free society. Besides, once you start outlawing one form of dress, the ball gets rolling and you can dictate what and what not to wear. Where does it stop?

Some of my personal thoughts regarding why the hijab and niqab are becoming more popular have been confirmed, at least by some of the news reports. Yes, there is a religious movement afoot, but identity seems to be a major motivating factor. Just as we Americans decided to flaunt the love of our country by flying a dozen gazillion flags off our cars after 9-11, the women of Muslim descent decided to show their heritage, as well. Someone is going to come in a scream at me for this, but I suspect in many of these cases, just as we no longer see many of those annoying flags on vehicles, this show of faith will be deemed a passing phase too. Besides whenever you tell people they can't wear a certain type of clothing, they'll revolt by doing just the opposite, and who do the hijab salesmen thank for this upsurge in the U.K.? Jack Straw - see below.

America was attacked on 9-11 and I was living in the Arabian Gulf at the time. When we returned to the States, a month later, for a visit, we were shocked by all the show of temporary patriotism. All of a sudden, everyone was a "patriot." Those of us who chose not to fly a flag off the car, or buy those magnetic "Support Your Troops" car symbols (because we suspected someone, not the troops, was making a shitload of money at the expense of the soldiers) seemed to be in the minority. This is what I suspect is going on with many women wearing the hijab or niqab, particularly after the backlash against Muslims. It's a reaction and somewhat of a natural one, but never ever-lasting. In the Sixties kids embraced Che. In solidarity with Che's ideals and the Cuban Revolution, the Venceremos Brigade started going to Cuba (illegally) to pick sugarcane, in defiance of the U.S. Kids still wear tees with Che's silhouette etched on them. But how many of these youngsters do we see signing up to go to war or even the Venceremos Brigade? How many women wearing the niqab or hijab, which is viewed by some as extremist, would blow themselves up? Or, as some Egyptians believe, prostitute themselves?

As I said before, no one has the right to tell a woman (or men) how to dress, whether it be in a skimpy outfit at Hooters (or practically nude at the Bada Bing) or in a niqab, hijab, or a burkha, if it's her choice. As for the saggin' pants, I'm not a fan. I have to say it just spells out S-L-O-P-P-Y to me, but read on, as it might spell out something else to others. It's a prison fashion. Do you really want to be a prisoner, advertising the fact that you're "available"?

Here's the other articles, follow the links for the full dose of news worthy comments. I've included only quotes that caught my attention and to summarize the whole article for the lazy readers out there. One item that surprised me was how a woman wearing the niqab in Egypt is viewed as a prostitute, but that would jell with the comments from young non-veiling women in the book, Muhajababes. (Again- see below.)



In Vogue, Hijab Style

The recent debate over a Muslim student banned from wearing a face veil at the American University in Cairo highlighted the East-West chasm over the much-debated Muslim attire.

The right to don a hijab, the Muslim head scarf, has created a storm in European countries such as France and Great Britain, pitting Muslims and non-Muslim against each other in the name of freedom.

In Gaza, the hijab has even become an issue of life and death. Palestinian female journalists have been threatened with murder if they continued to display a bare head.

But a hijab is not only a sign of religious fervency, and contrary to Western perception, not all religious Muslim women are dressed uniformly.

A more learned Muslim will point out the subtle differences between the abaya, the jilbab, the galabiyya and the chador; or between a regular hijab, a patterned one, a burka and a niqab.

Veil sales surge post Straw comments

Jack Straw's controversial request for Muslim women to remove their veils has led to an upsurge in sales of the religious garment, according to one of Britain's most senior Muslims.

And his views appear to be reflected in a dramatic upturn in sales.

Research for More 4 News and Channel 4 News Online has shown that there's been a dramatic rise in the number of hijabs being worn - and for the first time there are now more than a million hijabs distributed in Britain every year.

In an interview Dr Bari said: "The veil was never an issue in the Muslim community, only a minority wear it. But when he made those comments, and certain elements of the media picked it up, it turned into a storm.

"What's happening now is that young girls are feeling

that they have to wear it: it's a sort of rebellion, a form of protest or statement.

Yunis Sidat, manager of the Islamic Establishment shop in Leicester, said: "We're selling more veils; it's a bit like when the Koran sold out after 9/11.

"I think they are selling out because people are more confident about wearing them - and there is more awareness in the general public about why people wear them.

"I can't say exactly how many more we are selling - but there has been a definite impact on sales from Jack Straw's comments."



Muslims’ Veils Test Limits of Britain’s Tolerance

Some who wear the niqab, particularly younger women who have taken it up recently, concede that it is a frontal expression of Islamic identity, which they have embraced since Sept. 11, as a form of rebellion against the policies of the Blair government in Iraq, and at home.

LONDON, June 16 — Increasingly, Muslim women in Britain take their children to school and run errands covered head to toe in flowing black gowns that allow only a slit for their eyes. On a Sunday afternoon in Hyde Park, groups of black-clad Muslim women relaxed on the green baize lawn among the in-line skaters and badminton players.

Their appearance, like little else, has unnerved other Britons, testing the limits of tolerance here and fueling the debate over the role of Muslims in British life.

Many veiled women say they are targets of abuse. Meanwhile, there are growing efforts to place legal curbs on the full-face Muslim veil, known as the niqab.

There have been numerous examples in the past year. A lawyer dressed in a niqab was told by an immigration judge that she could not represent a client because, he said, he could not hear her. A teacher wearing a niqab was dismissed from her school. A student who was barred from wearing a niqab took her case to the courts, and lost. In reaction, the British educational authorities are proposing a ban on the niqab in schools altogether.

A leading Labor Party politician, Jack Straw, scolded women last year for coming to see him in his district office in the niqab. Prime Minister Tony Blair has called the niqab a “mark of separation.”

Some who wear the niqab, particularly younger women who have taken it up recently, concede that it is a frontal expression of Islamic identity, which they have embraced since Sept. 11, 2001, as a form of rebellion against the policies of the Blair government in Iraq, and at home.

“For me it is not just a piece of clothing, it’s an act of faith, it’s solidarity,” said a 24-year-old program scheduler at a broadcasting company in London, who would allow only her last name, al-Shaikh, to be printed, saying she wanted to protect her privacy. “9/11 was a wake-up call for young Muslims,” she said.

Other Muslims find the practice objectionable, a step backward for a group that is under pressure after the terrorist attack on London’s transit system in July 2005.

“After the July 7 attacks, this is not the time to be antagonizing Britain by presenting Muslims as something sinister,” said Imran Ahmad, the author of “Unimagined,” an autobiography about growing up Muslim in Britain, and the leader of British Muslims for Secular Democracy. “The veil is so steeped in subjugation, I find it so offensive someone would want to create such barriers. It’s retrograde.”

Many more Muslim women wear the head scarf, called the hijab, covering all or some of their hair. Unlike in France, Turkey and Tunisia, where students in state schools and civil servants are banned from covering their hair, in Britain, Muslim women can wear the head scarf, and indeed the niqab, almost anywhere, for now.

But that tolerance is slowly eroding. Even some who wear the niqab, like Faatema Mayata, a 24-year-old psychology and religious studies teacher, agreed there were limits.

“How can you teach when you are covering your face?” she said, sitting with a cup of tea in her living room in Blackburn, a northern English town, her niqab tucked away because she was within the confines of her home.

She has worn the niqab since she was 12, when she was sent by her parents to an all-girl boarding school. The niqab was not, as many Britons seemed to think, a sign of extremism, she said.

She condemned Britain’s involvement in Iraq, and she described the departure of Mr. Blair at the end of this month as “good riddance of bad rubbish.” But, she added, “there are many Muslims like this sitting at home having tea, and not taking any interest in jihad.”

The niqab, to her, is about identity. “If I dressed in a Western way I could be a Hindu, I could be anything,” she said. “This way I feel comfortable in my identity as a Muslim woman.”

No one else in her family wears the niqab. Her husband, Ibrahim Boodi, a social worker, was indifferent, she said. “If I took it off today, he wouldn’t care.”

Some British commentators have complained that mosques encourage women to wear the niqab, a practice they have said should be stopped.

One woman, Sajida Khaton, 24, interviewed as she sat discreetly in a Pizza Hut, said she did not wear the veil on the subway, a precaution her husband encourages for safety reasons. Sometimes, she said, she gets a kick out of the mocking.

“ ‘All right gorgeous,’ ” she said she had heard men say as she walked along the street. “I feel empowered,” she said. “They’d like to see, and they can’t.”

She often comes to the neighborhood restaurant along busy Whitechapel Road in East London for a slice or two, a habit, she said, that shows that even veiled women are well integrated into Britain’s daily life.

“I’m in Pizza Hut with my son,” said Ms. Khaton, nodding at her 4-year-old and speaking in a soft East London accent that bore no hint of her Bangladeshi heritage. “I was born here, I’ve never been to Bangladesh. I certainly don’t feel Bangladeshi. So when they say, ‘Go back home,’ where should I go?”

Behind the Veil

According to Newsweek:

An Egyptian court has ruled that universities can't bar Islamic face-coverings. But that's unlikely to stop the headdress attracting unwelcome attention on the streets of Cairo.

A special chamber of the court ruled on June 9 that the American University in Cairo (AUC) could not bar a female scholar who wears the niqab from using university facilities.

Egypt’s battle against the niqab has a long history. Authorities originally banned students from wearing it to school in 1994, saying that it violated security standards. Dozens of pupils were suspended in the decade that followed. In nearly all cases however, the court overturned the decision and allowed the girls to return to class...However, the American University stayed firm, refusing to permit even the niqab-wearing mothers of graduates to attend the commencement ceremony, according to some students.

Certainly, the concerns run the gamut from women using the face veil to cheat in exams—be it by stashing away crib sheets or trading places with other students—to young men using it as a disguise to sneak into the girls’ dormitory. Then there are the political concerns; across the region, the increasing influence of Islamic parties poses a viable threat to the old, Western- friendly boys’ club of Arab rulers.

Certainly, the decision is a sign of the times. Just 30 years ago, young women attended Cairo University wearing miniskirts and the latest Paris fashions. They strolled along the beaches of Alexandria in skimpy swimsuits. The hijab was often perceived as a social-status indicator; women of the upper and middle classes rarely veiled at a young age and those who did usually observed more fashionable interpretations of the religious head-covering.

All of that changed along with the politics of the region. The Iranian Islamic revolution caused a religious shakeup that leaked into the Arab countries to its west. Government crackdowns on Islamic parties grew fierce as the country’s poor turned more to groups like the Muslim Brotherhood for support. Recently, the war in Iraq set off a tidal wave of anti-Western sentiment across the region, causing millions to embrace their own traditions and beliefs more proudly than ever before.

Ironically, despite the conservative trend that has engulfed the nation, the face veil is viewed by many Muslims as an “un-Egyptian” tradition and in many places, the practice is shunned. In fact, one of the stereotypes that exist among some communities is an association between the niqab and prostitution. “Prostitution is certainly one of the stereotypes for both hijab and niqab—as though these women hide behind it,” says Pakinam Amer, a Cairo-based journalist. “However, many also associate it with extremism, as well as terrorism, even here in Egypt.”

Despite the obstacles and harassment, any casual observer on Egyptian streets can see that the number of women wear the niqab is growing. Nor does it seem to be confined to specific social classes or ages. Some women insist that it is nothing more than an “outfit.”

Court ruling favouring niqab stokes controversy

The court, however, obliged the student to lift the veil to have her identity checked by female or male security personnel on entering the AUC compound.

Veiled anchor on Egyptian local TV breaks the stereotype

CAIRO: Hala El-Malky, a presenter on Channel Five, will be the first veiled anchor to appear on a local Egyptian television station.

El-Malky was not allowed to appear on TV after she donned the Islamic headscarf. This led her to file a lawsuit against the station, which she won.

Regardless of whether we agree or disagree on the veil issue on principle, we all have to accept and respect the individual's right to decide her style of clothes, Gamal Eid, executive director for the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, told The Daily Star Egypt.

"But we also have to accept unveiled women and not treat them with less respect than veiled ones," Eid added.

The style of dress of Egyptian women has been the subject of widespread debate as last year.

Last January, Minister of Religious Endowments Hamdy Zaqzuq expelled an employee from a meeting for refusing to remove her niqab (the full face cover).

Farouk Hosni, Minister of Culture, set off a firestorm last November when he criticized the veil and those who choose to wear it.

This trend of women covering after marriage has long been adopted in Egyptian society. Up till the last ten years, the veil was only adopted by old married women, and it was hard to find young veiled Egyptians.

However, recently the situation changed.

Over the past decade, Amr Khaled, a famous Egyptian televangelist, managed to gather many youngsters to his lectures and speeches in Cairo's most popular mosques in elite areas like Mohandiseen and Sixth of October City.

Khaled's speeches focused on the veil and as a result, lots of Egyptian girls adopted it.

British High Court Wrestles With Symbol of Premarital Purity

A 16-year-old evangelical Christian protested that her school has refused to allow her to wear a so-called purity ring, symbolizing a commitment to premarital chastity.

Hijabs and Muhajababes

Just as there is a division within Islam between Sunni’s and Shites, a fashion divide has splintered Muslim women into three factions. On one side are those Muslim women who are true believers. Around the world -- in hijab hotspots -- these traditionalists are fighting for their right to wear head scarves as expressions of their religious piety. Caught in the middle -- sometimes in the crossfire -- are Muslim women who live in countries with issues on what constitutes national identity. On the opposite end of the spectrum are a new generation of young Muslim women known as “Muhajababes,” rebels who cover up to be cool, but hide their true selves behind their veils.

Their stories may surprise you.

“Take sex before marriage,” said one candid Muhajababe. “I know it is haram (forbidden by Islam) but the veiled girls . . . they are all at it.”

School apologizes for demanding Muslim girl remove headscarf

Thirteen-year-old Issra Omer told her parents she was too embarrassed to show up for summer school classes at Seaside High School in Monterey County on Wednesday, the day after a monitor demanded she remove her hijab (hee-JAWB) to conform to the district's no-hat policy.

Issra explained that her scarf is worn for religious reasons, but she says the school employee still yelled at her.

In Louisiana town, wearing low-rider pants may cost you

Supporters say the new ordinance aims to curb indecent behavior while opponents say it infringes on freedom of personal expression.

DELCAMBRE, La. - Buying jeans three sizes too big, young men across America, many of them black, are taunting both the laws of gravity and fashion by wearing their pants below their behinds.

But if they won't heed the age-old mother's lament to "pull your pants up," will judges have to step in to enforce a general belt-tightening?

As states, cities, and activists across the country either outlaw or hold belt rallies to draw attention to the trend of "saggin'," Delcambre, La. (pop. 1,700) last week took the boldest step yet. Getting caught with one's pants too far down could now cost $500 in fines – or six months in jail – at least on this side of Bayou Carlin.

"It's just unbelievable what they do with their pants," says Carol Broussard, the town's mayor. "What's next? Are they going to take their pants off completely?"

To be sure, it's not the first time middle America has kvetched – and even passed laws – about fashions from bell-bottoms to G-strings.

"This isn't so much about comfort or carelessness or letting something fall where it naturally falls, it's a specific look and a statement which some people have to work hard to affect, sometimes seeming to defy gravitational laws," says Robert Thompson, a pop-culture expert at Syracuse University in New York. "It represents a certain attitude and style that people are very nervous about."

Taking cues from prison culture, where belts are banned, the trend has been around for several years, moving from urban hip-hop centers like Atlanta and New York out into the boonies, and emulated not just by blacks, but Anglos, Mexicans, and Vietnamese. Some kids say it's more for comfort than a statement, even though some take on a peculiar swinging gait to create enough thigh pressure to hold on. Others just hold them up.

An informal poll in the Lafayette Advertiser newspaper last week showed 79 percent of residents support the town's ordinance. Jet Magazine, known for black style, carried an article in May that was critical of sagging.

Moreover, civic organizers in Atlanta, Detroit, Nashville, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala., are planning antisagging rallies, says Pastor Dianne Robinson of Jacksonville, Fla., who last week handed out 78 donated belts at a "belt rally." "This sagging of the pants is to me a defiant act, and it has all kinds of implications," says Ms. Robinson, who is black. "If you can't get up in the morning and pull your pants up, that says a lot about you, even if I don't know anything about you."

The chief legal issue, experts say, is whether wearing one's pants too low is indecent, especially if all that's showing is heavily branded underwear. "This is an effort to legislate taste and morality as opposed to any legitimate case that this is indecent exposure," argues Mr. Thompson.

Here in Delcambre, where life revolves around the church and the bayou, sponsors of the antisagging law acknowledge potential legal tangles. "We don't know if we can enforce it, but we're going to try," says Mr. Broussard.

Ultimately, residents say it might be hard to catch them in the act. "When they see the cops coming, they're just going to pull their pants up," says Mr. George.

Florida Senator Battles Sagging Fashion

Democratic Senator Gary Siplin Wants To Ban Low Riding Pants

In what may be the biggest waste of a state legislature's time since Texas congressman Edmund Kuempel fought to get guns in the hands of blind people, Orlando Senator Gary Siplin has finally dropped his "pull up your pants bill" but not before lecturing members of the gallery on the evils of low-riding trousers.

Under Siplin's proposed amendment, which he has proposed unsuccessfully several times now, students caught wearing their pants below the waistline, or with underwear peaking out, would be punished. First time offenders get a warning, "followed by a three day suspension for a second offense and a ten day suspension for a 3rd violation." If you think that's extreme, Siplin originally proposed jail time as a punishment though that disappeared, possibly because of cries of hypocrisy. You see, the state senator "is a convicted felon, who skipped jail time in favor of parole." Perhaps this is how he knew that "[w]hen a prisoner wears his pants below the waist he's indicating that he's available for the night," as he told the crowd of sixth graders.

Sagging Pants: Hip Hop Trend or Prison Trend?

...he turns around and the outfit and style go down the drain. I look down to see this boy/man's pants hanging under or in the middle of his butt. He pulls his pants up repeatedly because they start to drift down as he walks, and he's perfected that slow dip walk so they don't fall down altogether...Suddenly he's not so attractive to me and I walk away with a vicious eye roll.

But there is an even more obvious reason why pants are sagging in prison. If the pants are below a man's bottom, it is to introduce to other men that he is homosexual. As Eazy E once said about women in skirts, "For easy access, baby."

But when did wearing baggy pants have to be so exaggerated? Can't they just be loose fitting but still on the waist? How is it attractive for a woman to see some man's pants sagging so far down under his butt that it looks like there's a private party going on around in his knees?

This trend increased when new citizens came out of prison and were so used to wearing their pants this way that they continued on. You know America loves a bad guy; we can see that in movies and music everyday. So, many young boys and men emulated this seemingly hardcore status...Now how is it that the actual prisoners who were used to wearing their clothes this way are now wearing suits but the boys and men who'd never make it out of jail and would cry at the thought of going are so hell bent on representing this crew? Do women a favor, guys. Pull your pants up. Sometimes your outward appearance can represent something positive or tell a lot about you, such as the attractive man I spoke of in the first paragraph, but other times it can represent something that'll turn women away regardless of how attractive you may be. However, it might turn more men to you, specifically the ones that think they can get in your pants easy, literally. If that is your preference, by no means do I have the right to judge. But if it's not, you're sending out the wrong signals to women.

Louisiana Mayor Bans Sagging Pants


Not every one of our black sons is lost


Fight 'ghetto' as a mindset, author urges

Ghetto is no longer a place, says author Cora Daniels - it's a mindset. And it has traveled far beyond sagging pants on urban street corners, says the 35-year-old black New Yorker, who visited Cleveland this week to promote her new book, "Ghettonation: A Journey into the Land of Bling and the Home of the Shameless." (Doubleday, $23.95).

What is ghetto? Daniels defines it as a mindset that embraces the worst behavior instead of the best, a get-rich-or- die-trying mentality that can't fathom long-term goals and prefers immediate rewards. Her book is peppered with instances of how she, a Yale-educated writer who grew up in a Manhattan tenement, has had plenty of her own ghetto moments: She buys bootleg DVDs, for example, and has sneaked into movies at the cineplex.

Daniels, a former writer for Fortune magazine who said she felt obligated to follow the money, points out that corporations earn big profits from "ghetto" products like the toy company that markets a miniature pole-dancing kit for kids. "The most devastating part about ghetto is that it sells," she writes.

Corporate America is only doing what's natural, she said. "They're there to make money. They're not destroying their own back yard, they're exploiting someone else's." She finds it troublesome that blacks are willing consumers of the music, books and movies that depict them negatively. "We don't have to make it so easy" for corporations to make money degrading blacks, she said.

Her views sparked an introspective discussion Thursday during a book signing at Deuteronomy 8:3 Café in University Circle. One attendee said many people fear correcting the behavior of young people. "It's time for us to stand up. We are the grown- ups," a Cleveland teacher responded. "You can't say, 'I'm above it,' you've got to be in it."

Bakari Kitwana of Westlake, a nationally known hip-hop expert who attended the Friday luncheon, felt the book didn't accomplish much besides point a finger at poor people. "We continue to let the society off the hook," he said. "A much more powerful thing to do would be to challenge the industry. Instead of challenging the powerful, we're challenging the powerless."

Nixing name brands for better grades

There are a couple tricks to sagging your pants.

First, you have walk with your legs spread apart, as if on a horse. Your oversized jeans can’t fall all the way down. And when a teacher tells you to pull them up, go ahead and pull them up. You can just drop them again when you’re in the next hallway.

Cuevas keeps a few pairs of suspenders in his office, for the main offenders, but teachers are tired of dealing with it. It’s something he notices in his Hispanic students, and they do it to fit in, because they saw someone else doing it.

Hear Ye', Hear Ye' - For all those liberals wearing Crocs: Crocs Chairman hosted a fundraiser for the Virginia Republicans!

By Executive Order, Crocs Aren't Chic

Crocs have been given the presidential seal of approval but this is not necessarily a good thing.

George W. Bush was photographed recently in a pair of black Crocs -- Cayman style, $29.99 -- as he was heading out from the White House to ride his bike. He wore the clunky resin clogs -- which have ventilation holes and a heel strap -- with a pair of black shorts, a white camp shirt, a baseball cap with the image of an unidentified Scottish terrier and black bike socks imprinted with the presidential seal. He had the backstraps of his Crocs flipped forward so they rested on the top of the shoes -- turning them into slides. This subtle gesture -- coupled with the subdued color -- actually made the exceedingly unattractive shoes look tolerable.

Could they have been in a goodie bag at the May fundraiser for the Virginia Republican Party, which, according to the Associated Press, Crocs Chairman Rick Sharp hosted and Bush attended?

Crocs were created in 2002 and roared to ubiquity during the summer of 2006, just after the company went public. The company now manufactures about 4 million pairs of Crocs a month and last year had revenue of $354 million, says Mattson. Among the most enthusiastic early adopters were people who spent the major part of their day on their feet: hairstylists and nurses, for instance. They were perfect shoes for walking the dog. Gardeners found them both comfortable and functional.

Did someone say comfortable? Because this is a culture quick to justify wearing virtually anything in the name of comfort -- pajama bottoms as pants, sneakers as business footwear, leggings in lieu of trousers, Uggs with miniskirts -- Crocs now rival flip-flops as the most annoyingly omnipresent style of summer footwear. City streets are inundated with shuffling phalanxes of men and women with bright orange, yellow and red Bozo feet.

And now cold weather may no longer offer a reprieve from Croc-mania. The company has a new line of footwear: You by Crocs. The first collection, called High Spirits, will be in stores for fall. Priced from $149 to $299, the shoes and boots will have leather and suede bodies, but their platform and wedge heels will be made of Crocs's signature resin.

Politicians, Dress Codes, and Losers

I like reading certain political blogs, which I don't list as links.
Crooks and Liars is one of my favorites and I found this little gem on their site. Marie Claire Magazine is at it again. You'd think they'd quit after the article on hijabi-style clothing and shopping for abayas in Dubai. Some people accused them of supporting the Islamofascists. Now they've exposed Mike Huckabee for the true fundamentalist conservative he is (I know, "surprise, surprise"). Apparently Mike Huckabee has a problem with mini-skirts (can you believe that - a man who does not like mini skirts?) and he has a definite opinion on how women should dress. That's cool (also annoying as hell), but as a politician, he should keep his mouth shut on that front; the same goes for Jack Straw and Tony Blair. Tim Gunn, though not a politician, can express his opinion all day long and I'll listen intently, just like I do to his podcasts. Since I'm a big supporter of free speech though, I say let these two-bit politicians throw in their two cents!

Rachel Maddow's Campaign Asylum- Huckabee Mini-skirt Madness

I don't believe wearing a hijab should be outlawed (as in the French system) and I also don't believe it should be forced (as in Iran, Saudi Arabia). I don't think anyone has any business dictating what a woman should or should not wear (although Trinny and Susannah are experts at dissecting a woman's pathetic sense of style). I've worn a mini-skirt in my time, and I used to keep a hijab and abaya in my car when I lived in the U.A.E., "just in case" I might need it as a cover up, particularly when dealing with the police. The last thing you want, is to be in a traffic accident in your mini skirt, shorts, tennis skirt, etc. when you're just driving up the road on your way home from "the club" or a day at the beach. (I learned my lesson after that experience I had wearing an "OUZO" tee-shirt in a traffic accident.)

There are women I see and define by the way they dress, i.e. low cut jeans, ass antlers peeking out, bare midriff with showy belly ring bling, super tight tee = skanky. I don't care if the girl is a virgin, she still looks skanky. Oh and those sweats just spell out L-A-Z-Y to me! Anyone who's seriously working out / exercising does not wear sweats all day, particularly ones with a butt logo. Look, I may hang out in my P.J.'s half the day blogging (pajamahadeen?), but I don't go to lunch, out shopping or to school / work in them. And if you're a parent who hangs out in your sweats - take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Do you really think you look attractive or even desirable as a friend (or a parent)? Are you wondering why you can't get play-dates for your kids? You all look like losers! So to all the people who dress like that, keep doing it, because it just makes my life easier, gives me something to talk and harp on about and just makes me feel so much better than you! At least I change my clothes before going out in public (and I brush my teeth).

Oh yeah, and something else I noticed about those sweat-pants ladies - they're the ones who drive around parking lots, circling, crawling up your ass, trailing you, looking for a parking spot close to the entrance. Maybe if they got some exercise, such as, actually changing their clothes, and a little walking (like from a farther parking spot) they wouldn't be so embarrassed or (again) L-A-Z-Y or do I mean, just plain S-L-O-P-P-Y? Might I add, that when you do that, you're contributing even more to the Greenhouse Gases - just thought you losers might want to know.

"First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible professions or studied actions. A man's look is the work of years; it is stamped on his countenance by the events of his whole life, nay, more, by the hand of nature, and it is not to be got rid of easily."
William Hazlitt

I've written about hijabs and I feel equal time should be devoted to other clothing styles, as well as opinions. Thus the video about Mike Huckabee's fashion preferences. I'm interested in fashion and sometimes wonder why people dress the way they do. I, myself, can be quite judgmental about it, no? I was one of the ten finalists for The Project Runway Ultimate Fan Blog last season. I was addicted to Project Runway when I moved back to the U.S. from Baku, Azerbaijan, where the sense of fashion was, well words cannot describe - just look here on Carpetblog. You decide for yourself. See if you can come up with a description. (Is it truly S-K-A-N-K-Y? Or possibly ex-Soviet Republic s-k-a-n-k-y, as in taking it to a new low?)

Now you may ask why I, someone who is obviously a fashionista, was not picked as "The Official Fan Blogger". Well, the decision was based on how many votes you got from all the friends of your friends, persons within six degrees of separation, and the rest of the freaking world. It takes a village to elect the Project Runway Ultimate Fan blogger, don't you know. To tell the truth, I was lacking in friends - okay, I admit it! I have no friends! (Yes! I'm a loser too. Boo-Hooooo)
Here's what the e-mail said:

Subject: Project Runway Ultimate Fan Blog Contest
Good news -- you're in!
We are pleased to inform you that you are a finalist in our "Project Runway Ultimate Fan Blog" contest.
We sifted through scores of entries and would like to offer our congratulations, you're in the top 10.
Finalists will be announced later today, so you can see your submission and check out the competition here:
http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/fanblog/
BravoTV.com readers will be able to vote for the winner through Monday, August 7.
Here's what we suggest: Send this to all of your friends, tell them to vote for you and then tell them to send it to all of their friends. Make it work, and then just sit back and wait. You can check the website on the morning of August 9th to find out who is auf, and who is the winner of Project Runway's Ultimate Fan Blog Contest.
Good luck!

http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/fanblog/

Since I'm pretty much living overseas, in Cairo, these days, and have to watch many of my favorite shows by downloading them from iTunes, I have to find other ideas to fit my fashion appetite into my blog.

I highly recommend trying out for the Project Runway Fan Blog if they have another contest for it this season. My only advice is to write it up immediately after watching it (possibly taking notes, so you don't lose any of those snarky thoughts in your head) and forget who's who. I should have just called Jeffrey "Tattoo Guy" last year (bottom far right photo), instead of trying to remember his name. Trying to remember all the new names will just drive you batty and make you lose your concentration. Fourfour usually has excellent reviews of each episode. His are the best! (Do I sound like I'm over-anticipating here?) I may have to get a subscription for it on iTunes, and not to let it take over my other blogging interests.

I'm having a hell of a time not commenting on VH1's Flavor of Love's Charm School starring Mo'Nique. She's the host - no loser here. The contestants are the losers from the Flavor of Love (that's so lowdown it's scary), and it's one cat fight after another! I just love Mo'Nique's description of Brooke's (aka Pumkin's) behavior at a party as "slutacious." And that had nothing to do with the way she was dressed, since Mo'Nique picked out the dresses. I love Mo'Nique!


I guess we're all a bunch of losers (skanks, whores and sluts - in men's eyes) regardless of what we wear,say,or do, (like I care); but Mike Huckabee and his ilk will be the major losers (personally, I think he is already) particularly if he doesn't keep his mouth shut. I hate it when a man tries to tell women how to dress. Really, is it for me or for you, honey?

I dress for myself, sweetheart.

Hey, even Ann Coulter (who's in love with Joe McCarthy) wears minis (talk about skanky assed mega, ass backwards thinking, WTF?, losers!)



















The damn fonts on this page are (I fucking swear) driving me crazy!!!!!

Hijab in the News

I will be on my way back to the old U.S. of A. Friday, so I decided to post an update on the hijab news items I've found. I should have the Weekend News Update posted, provided I'm not disturbed by hungry growls from the kids (ages 18 and 22, who can cook for themselves, particularly when they request "breakfast" after 12:00 P.M.) Breakfast ends at McDonald's at 10:30 AM, but apparently it's supposed to be an all day event at the Vagabondblogger household. Then, of course, there's lunch / supper and dinner. It's a non- stop eating fest, with no vomitorium (oh no, now I'm thinking of Rome, another show Nephewson copied for us.) No shirts, no shoes and pets - all allowed (although no one has gone shirtless since they were babes). No buffet service provided, though. Open kitchen - yes. Someone to clean up the mess - you're looking at her!

Btw, Sunday dinner in honor of the Sopranos finale has been decided: Meatballs (home made), baked ziti, salad, plenty of boxed Cabernet Killer Juice, (or we could have the Coppola Claret, which has been sitting / laying around), and then the Boss Man's going to go up the road and get us some Cannoli for desert, although Awesome Daughter is requesting Tiramisu. Also, home made Limoncello, that is, if someone and their friends haven't been drinking it all. Yeah, we got this all planned out!

I hope to post again before that, but if not, have a lovely weekend! I'm sort of in a crash and burn mode personally - I hate flying, I hate leaving Doggie behind, and I would like to have one home!

This first post is a repeat, but I liked the headline so much, I had to include it. A few rants (not mine) and what I thought were fairly comical musings here. As usual, links provided. My next post should be from the U.S. Inshallah.


No scarf, no head: warning

The threat to "cut throats from vein to vein" was delivered by the Swords of Truth, a fanatical group that has claimed responsibility for bombing internet cafes and music shops. The threat is the first time the organisation has targeted a specific group of people, and adds to a growing climate of extremism, fear and suspicion in Gaza.

In many parts of the Muslim world, conservative religious policies keep women out of TV anchoring positions or let them take the jobs only if they wear headscarves.

Or, in the case of Egyptian law, which is being appealed: Newscasters are not allowed to be on TV on local stations if they wear a hijab. Again, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

In Saudi Arabia, a view from behind the veil

As a woman in the male-dominated kingdom, Times reporter Megan Stack quietly fumed beneath her abaya. Even beyond its borders, her experience taints her perception of the sexes.

Conservative Hijab Updated

Following Western trends, the hijab fashion houses adopt various names for their styles, indicating their design concept, such as sun sequin wrap, classic Jacquard wrap, contrasting stripes wrap, starry night wrap, geometric wrap, two moons wrap and the summer wrap.

The attempt to ban the hijab in Europe has raised more awareness of it among Muslims, who are attempting to convert the conservative hijab into a fashion statement that may make it acceptable among religious and non-religious people.

Muslim women harbor different opinions about head coverings, question interpretation of Quran

While many people see veils, scarves as signs of oppression and discrimination, other women view them as symbols of free thinking and community solidarity.

Fanta Diamanka wears something against her parents’ wishes — something so important to her that she would rather leave the country than remove it. It is the hijab, or Muslim head scarf, a piece of religious garb that is under debate in both Muslim and non-Muslim societies.

“When people are oppressed, it creates solidarity,” she said. “I think many are now looking for their Muslim identity because they feel threatened.”

Lybarger said that Muslim women who wear the head scarf now represent a generational shift. The previous generation often removed the covering as a protest against patriarchy, he said.

Diamanka said she thinks the media often stereotype Muslim women who wear the hijab as submissive and oppressed, but for her, the head scarf represents just the opposite.

“I think people should stand up for what they believe in,” she said. “Nobody told me to wear a veil — I had to struggle to wear it.”

New US Magazines Target Muslim Women and Teens

A new publication is aiming to break negative stereotypes about Islam and to help young Muslim women feel confident and optimistic about being Muslim in America.
Muslim Girl was launched in January with the headline: "Enlighten, Celebrate, Inspire." The bi-monthly magazine targets hundreds of thousands Muslim teenagers in North America who want a magazine that reflects their values, ambitions and goals.

Muslim Girl is the latest of several new magazines catering to Muslim Americans. Each targets distinct demographics -- teenagers, professionals, mothers, secular Muslims, but each also aims to take pride in who they are, and what they believe.

For those beyond their teens, there is Azizah, which has been on the market for seven years, and calls itself the voice for Muslim women.

Azizah, which means "dear" in Arabic, offers articles on health, travel , food and spirituality, but also tackles tougher issues -- from custody battles to AIDS in the Muslim community, to inheritance laws, to "how to spot men who marry for Green Cards." Other recent stories in Azizah have dealt with issues like autism, breast cancer, leadership, fashion, marriage, and a whole gamut of subjects reflecting the diversity of Muslim American women.

Both Muslim Girl and Azizah were launched as a counter-balance what most American Muslims feel is the stereotype of oppressed and uneducated Muslim women -- fueled largely by reports on Islam and Muslims from overseas.

In defense of the Muslim sisterhood

I have a bee in my bonnet -- or hijab to be more precise.
On an almost daily basis there are horrific stories pouring out of Tunisia about how the state police are ripping off the hijabs of women living there.

Some of these women, who are merely fulfilling their religious obligation to wear a hijab, have been assaulted, molested, and even locked up in prison by the authorities.

Unbelievable when you consider Western tourists are topless sunbathing on the coastal resorts.

There’s been an outcry in the Western media about how the Iranian authorities are fining women who fail to wear their hijabs correctly in public.

I call these women the half-jabis -- you know the ones, they balance their designer scarfs precariously on the back of their heads and spend the rest of the day adjusting and picking their scarfs from the nape of their necks.

It might have endeared Princess Diana to half the Muslim world when she ‘covered’ in Muslim countries, but most women who try to emulate the Di style just look plain stupid.

Welcome to the summer of hate

Forty years ago, the world seemed to be singing in tune. On June 1, 1967, in London, The Beatles released their eighth and arguably most influential album, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It marked the beginning of the Summer of Love - which, apart from Jimi Hendrix mesmerizing flower-power children in Monterey, California, also had room for the escalation of the Vietnam War and Israel's lightning victory in the Six-Day War

Iran at the same time is deeply "reforming" Iraq - whatever the rhetoric coming from the White House. Iranian cultural influence on Iraqi youth is overwhelming - via the financing of at least a cultural center or a library in every village. The foremost foreign language is now Farsi, not English. Girls are exchanging the Arab hijab for the less constraining Iranian chador. Iraq's schoolbooks are now manufactured by Iranian printing presses. Most of Iraq's oil, gas and electricity is now provided by Iran

A pioneer in life and in politics

She created history in 1999 by becoming the first female leader of a political party in Malaysia.

Azizah, then 47, inherited his reformasi movement. "I had a husband in jail and six young children. I felt that as a Muslim woman, I must have the strength and resolve to fight injustice."

Her mother, the wife of a top Malaysian secret police official, did not wear one. Azizah went to a Catholic convent – "we recited the Lord's Prayer all the time." When in Ireland, "the hijab was given to me by a Dutch convert in 1973. I have worn it since."

Her five daughters wear it as well – as also an increasing number of Malaysian women. It is an individual choice, says Azizah, who does wear lipstick and shake men's hands.

"I hope I project an image of Islam that's compatible with modernity – that Muslim women can be educated, can stand on their own, face the odds and fight oppression. If I've achieved that, I am happy."

Why do Muslim women have to cover their heads?



Hijab Haute Couture or Burkha Barbies

While flipping channels I stumbled onto something that must have made a million feminists pop an artery or two: a fashion channel was showcasing the Malaysian International Fashion Week (MIFW for those who follow these things rather more closely).

The ramp residents were like at any other fashion week with one important difference - they were all covered up head to toe, including the traditional headscarve, the hijab.

Belgian group launches campaign in support of hijab

A Belgian civil society platform BOEH (Boss over own head) has launched a poster campaign in protest against the municipal ban on the wearing of religious symbols in the city of Antwerp.

The ban was introduced by the socialist led administration in Antwerp at the beginning of this year.

From niqab to jilbab to hijab

“There was no breach of human rights, or of the Human Rights Act, because a common-sense decision had been made,” argued Lord Falconer, who is a close friend of Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
In March, the Education Department sent out guidance to schools advising them that full face veils could be banned under uniform rules and it left to the Head Teachers to decide whether to disallow religious dress.
The question to ask is, are we slowly moving to the French model of banning the hijab?

Young Journalists Explore What It Means to Be Muslim in Italy

With the help of a new monthly magazine, 'Yalla Italia' (Come On, Italy), some young second-generation Egyptian, Moroccan and Tunisian immigrants are attempting to explore and address the stereotypes considered an obstacle to their full integration in this predominantly Catholic European country.

There is not only one Islam in Italy, but many, just as there are many ways of being a Muslim, say the student journalists born in Italy to immigrant parents.

"Public debates often simplify Islam-related issues, as if Muslims were a monolithic bloc, when in reality the Muslim faith embraces many different cultures," she said. "Yes, even Arabs can smile, without feeling insulted."

The cartoons published by 'Yalla Italia' address religion ("What are you reading, daddy?" "The Koran, my son, I have read it since I was a child." "And haven't you finished it yet?") and traditional values ("No, dear, this is not a veil," explains an Egyptian girl pointing to her long hair wrapped around her head like a hijab, the veil worn by Muslim women, "it's a new hairdo called 'tradition and modernity'.")

"Coming back from the mosque, Rassmea told us that some of her friends did not appreciate the ironic cartoons we published, which they found disrespectful," said Pillitteri. "This is confirmation of the theory that there are sometimes more difficulties in dialogue between moderate and fundamentalist Muslims than between Catholics and Muslims."

But future editions are to be even more explicit, covering all the arguments of concern to the children of immigrants: the generation gap with their parents, the use of the veil, mixed marriages, respect for Ramadan -- the Muslim sacred month of fasting -- the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, and balance between religion and freedom.

Like Timex: Muslim Assimilation in Europe Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking

In one of today's posts, he exudes excitement because his 8 year-old son asked the Mrs., “Do you lick a dick a day?” Though Rachman's first response was "I wish," he was soon struck by a less primordial thought when he learned the boy acquired this catchy and repeatable phrase from his friend, Jamila, a peer of his -- a little hijab-wearing Muslim girl. Rachman "found the episode strangely heartening.

Besides the glorious lure that is oral sex, he sees "Jamila’s taste in doggerel" as a positive sign of the advancement of Muslim assimilation.