November 27, 2003

Heart surgery on Iraqi baby succesful JPost.com - A week-old baby from Iraq succesfully underwent heart surgery at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel and is now recouperating in the cardiac intensive care unit.  No child in Iraq has ever had this operation. This was done by the humanitarian organization Save a Child's Heart. Save a Child's Heart was founded in Israel and receives most of its funding from donations in Israel, the United States, Canada and Germany. It has given medical treatment to almost 1,000 children since it was founded in 1995, including more than 300 Palestinian babies and several Jordanians. 9:45:03 PM

Elderly cleric emerges as Iraq's most influential leader San Francisco Chronicle - He receives a select few, and hasn't left his home since April. His public pronouncements on politics are rare. He has refused to meet with American officials, including chief Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer. But Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani -- a frail, 70-something Shiite Muslim cleric with a heart condition -- has emerged in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq as the land's most influential figure, something U.S. planners may not have counted on.  2:04:21 PM

CNN - President Bush pays surprise visit to U.S.troops in Iraq. 12:12:49 PM

Canada preparing to enforce Islamic law WorldNetDaily - Canadian judges soon will be enforcing Islamic law, or Sharia, in disputes between Muslims, possibly paving the way to one day administering criminal sentences, such as stoning women caught in adultery. UPDATE: Eugene Volokh is a Laywer with a blog, and he doesn't seem concerned about this. Now that I have read what he has to say, I feel better. "this simply provides that Muslims may voluntarily submit their civil disputes to an Islamic law arbitrator, and then have his decision be enforced by Canadian courts. That's the same right that Americans (and perhaps Canadians) have long had as to nonreligious arbitration. If you and I agree to submit our dispute to binding arbitration (whether the agreement is made before the dispute arises or after), the arbitration award will generally be enforced by civil courts. That's perfectly proper: It's part of our freedom of contract, and it can often better fit the desires of the parties (as well as produce quicker resolutions). If you don't like this, don't enter into the arbitration agreement." 12:11:46 PM