The archeological dig taking place near the Mugrabi gate to prevent the destruction of artifacts—which is the real reason why the Waqf and the Muslims don’t want Israel digging around the Temple Mount area—has already brought results.

As the controversy swirls around the construction of the new bridge leading to the Temple Mount at the Mughrabi Gate, archeologists have already uncovered finds from the medieval period and early Islamic era that shed new light on Jerusalem’s history.

“We have dug three meters down and discovered massive walls which we believe are from the early Islamic Umayyad period,” Jerusalem’s chief archeologist Yuval Baruch said. “Because of its proximity to the Wohl Archeological Park, I personally hope to find the rest of the Umayyad palaces.”

So what have they found? Lots of evidence from the eight century, but also this:

Among the findings at the site currently being excavated for the rebuilding of the bridge to the Mughrabi Gate, the archeologists have found pipes belonging to a medieval water system, but for Baruch, “the most interesting find is that we have found the evidence which suggests that right under the Umayyad ruins are Byzantine ruins [135-638], and under these, we believe there are Herodian roads and other ruins from the Second Temple period.”

“The main excavations of the Umayyad and Byzantine ruins at the Mugrabi area will begin in a couple of days, and if we are patient enough, in five or six months time we could find Second Temple period ruins” to add to what has already been discoved in the adjacent archelogical park, Baruch added.

In other words: More proof that the Temples existed, which the Muslims are trying their damnedest to prevent. Those wily Jews just keep on finding archeological evidence to the contrary, though.

I have always hated Valentine’s Day. It’s yet another Hallmark holiday that people feel forced to observe. It caused multitudes of horrible feelings in grammar school because back then, they didn’t force us to give valentines to all of the kids, and we only sent them to the kids we liked—ergo, some kid would always have zero or the least amount of cards, and feel like crap.

This one’s for you, kid. (No, I wasn’t that kid. But I always felt bad for them. Unless I was one of the kids not giving them a card.)

Pakistan is introducing a bill to ban forced marriages, including the ones that use women as a payment to settle feuds.

Pakistan’s ruling party on Tuesday introduced a bill to outlaw forced marriages, including under an ancient tribal custom in which women are married off in order to settle feuds.

[...] Hussain’s party, which has a majority in both houses, strongly supports President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who has vowed to give women more rights in line with his policy to project Pakistan as a moderate, progressive Islamic nation.

“Whoever coerces, or in any manner whatsoever compels a woman to enter into marriage shall be punished with imprisonment” for up to three years and a fine, according to the proposed law.

The bill foresees the same penalty to discourage “wanni” or “swara,” a tribal custom in which a woman is forced into marriage to settle a dispute between two families or clans.

Another provision bans forcing a woman into a “marriage with the Holy Quran,” a practice still seen in deeply conservative rural parts of Pakistan in which a woman swears on Islam’s holy book never to marry. Critics argue the tradition is used to prevent a woman from taking her share of a family’s land with her when she marries.

Illegally depriving a woman of her inheritance rights would be punished with up to seven years in jail, under the bill.

Woo-hoo! Those wacky Pakistanis! They’re going to join the 21st century!

Islamic radicals, who accuse Musharraf of trying to introduce Western secular values into the country, staged rallies across Pakistan to protest the changes, calling them un-Islamic.

Or maybe not.

The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said last week that at least 565 women and girls died in 2006 in so-called “honor killings,” nearly twice as many as the previous year.

Some men consider it an insult to family honor if a female relative has an affair outside of wedlock or marries without their consent, and view attacking or killing the women or their partners as a way to restore family honor.

You see? Pakistan is getting even more radicalized and backwards. Yeah, that radical Islam thing—it really improves the standard of living. As long as you’re not female or non-Muslim, and of the right brand of Islam or sect, of course.

How many ways can a news service describe Kim Jong Il as a nutjob without actually saying it or, in fact, referring to it?

This many:

The negotiation that yielded Tuesday’s landmark agreement for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programs now gives way to a more arduous phase: making sure the communist country keeps its promises. Secretive, belligerent and with a reputation for skirting past deals, North Korea makes a rough prospect for arms control inspectors, experts said. It allegedly set up a secret nuclear weapons program, even as it shut down a different program a decade ago and put it under U.N. inspection.

Translation: We can’t trust Kim Jong Il, because he’s an effing nutjob.

As the United States, China and other regional partners look to enforce their hard won agreement, getting past North Korea’s usual intransigence is critical.

Translation: We don’t think the deal will stick, because Kim Jong Il is an effing nutjob.

Ultimately there is the question of whether Kim Jong Il, dictator of an impoverished and politically isolated country, intends to relinquish his nuclear weapons.

Translation: Kim Jong Il is an effing nutjob.

“South Africa was a model,” Liu said. “Without that kind of cooperation it’s extremely tough. If you say ‘we think you have more fuel,’ they won’t acknowledge it, and if you think you’ve got it all, they’ll keep any remaining materials for later.”

Translation: The people running South Africa weren’t effing nutjobs like Kim Jong Il.

You see, reading the news can be very educational if you understand the subtext.

Israel’s latest test of its Arrow missile defense system proves Israel has a jump on its fiercest enemies, Iran and Syria, a senior lawmaker on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said Monday. “The test yesterday was exceptional,” said MK Yuval Steinitz, a former head of the committee. “It proved it can bring down any kind of ballistic missile, a capability no power in the world possesses.” He said that, “Even if Iran or Syria were to develop more sophisticated missiles than they now have, Israel is one step ahead.”

MK Yuval Steinitz, a senior lawmaker indeed and a respected former head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee indeed, usually comes through as a serious and informed in all matters military person. This time, however, he was way off the mark, and I hope unintentionally.

There is no such thing as a hermetic anti-missile defense. This is a business of percentages: no matter how sophisticated your radar and interceptor system are, there is always a percentage of incoming missiles that will break through. And a single successful nuke in the great Tel-Aviv area will be a disaster that may very well mean the end of the state of Israel. Even if our response will be devastating to the other side, it will hardly matter.

I can’t believe that Yuval Steinitz is unaware of that simple truth. So what is the reason for his overly optimistic communique? Aside of being a lullaby, it may mean that our powers that be are already willing to adjust to the new reality - that of nuclear Iran.

At least somebody in the military establishment is not willing to join the soporific melody:

A defense establishment official took issue with Fattal’s assessment, however. “There is no significance to the results of the test,” the radio quoted the unnamed official as saying Monday. “There is simply no such thing as defense against nuclear missiles.”

Right.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

It is up, and my section is on the silencing of Israel’s critics, who are, er, extremely loud, considering that we’ve worked so hard to silence them.

And you know, it wouldn’t kill you folks to let me know whether or not you actually read my posts, listen to my podcasts, or do anything other than load the main page and then take off.

I get the AP and Reuters to change their incorrect description of the Temple Mount, and you ignore it. IGNORE it.

It’s okay. I’ll just sit here. Alone. In the dark.