Is anyone surprised by this news? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Several prominent scholars who were interviewed in a bitterly contested documentary that suggests that Jesus and his family members were buried in a nondescript ancient Jerusalem burial cave have now revised their conclusions, including the statistician who claimed that the odds were 600:1 in favor of the tomb being the family burial cave of Jesus of Nazareth, a new study on the fallout from the popular documentary shows.

The dramatic clarifications, compiled by epigrapher Stephen Pfann of the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem in a paper titled “Cracks in the Foundation: How the Lost Tomb of Jesus story is losing its scholarly support,” come two months after the screening of The Lost Tomb of Christ that attracted widespread public interest, despite the concomitant scholarly ridicule.

Look, I’m not a scholar, and I was ridiculing the find. Let’s not just credit scholars for jeering. We all thought it was shinola, too.

James Cameron really needs to get a life or something. Or find a new Aliens, ’cause his work has mostly sucked since then. No, wait. Dark Angel actually got better after the first season. I liked it towards the end.

The AFP has the balls to publish what the AP and Reuters usually downplay.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Hamas’s exiled leader Khaled Meshaal vowed Friday that his organisation would continue to resist
Israel and would not compromise its claims to all of historical Palestine.

Speaking from Damascus by telephone, Meshaal addressed thousands of Hamas supporters who had gathered in the
West Bank city of Ramallah to mark the third anniversary of the deaths of former Hamas leaders Abdel Aziz Rantissi and Ahmed Yassin, who were killed by Israel within weeks of each other in 2004.

“Hamas will not back down. We will not give up on a single metre of our homeland,” Meshaal said to thunderous applause.

“We will and we must continue in the path of resistance,” he added.

Of course, even the AP is obtuse. Here comes the laugh-line:

Earlier this year, in a bid to end a Western-lead aid boycott, Hamas formed a unity government with the rival
Fatah faction loyal to president Mahmud Abbas.

Israel and the West, however, say they remain unconvinced the new government meets international demands for acceptance, including recognising Israel and renouncing violence.

Gee. Ya think?

Hey, girls. Are you from Saudi Arabia? Do you want to get a scholarship to study abroad? No problem! But first, you have to have a male companion to go with you, since you’re leaving one of the most female-unfriendly nations on the planet. What’s that you say? Can’t find a male guardian to accompany you for three or four years while you study? No problem! Just find yourself a husband, and presto! You’ve got that scholarship. And a husband, too, how cool is that? So what if you don’t know him, like him, or love him. Problem solved.

Women students aspiring to go abroad on scholarships as part of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program were told last month that they would be unable to leave the Kingdom without a legal companion in the form of a husband, brother, or father — something that has caused an increase in a form of marriage dubbed the “mesfaar marriage” (the travel marriage).

Thirteen students have so far announced their intentions to get married solely for the purpose of being able to travel abroad and qualify for the scholarship program. The students say their family circumstances make it difficult for their brothers and fathers to accompany them abroad for long periods of time, sometimes three or four years.

“After learning about the requirements that women students need to have a male guardian in order to go abroad, some friends and I decided to get married. We announced that we were hoping to marry quickly in order to meet the deadline for our scholarship applications,” said an applicant of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program.

Speaking about the name of the marriage, student Zuleykha (not her real name) said: “The name was coined because we announced that we wanted to get married in order to travel abroad. That’s why it’s called the mesfaar marriage.”

According to Zuleykha, mesfaar marriages are perfectly legal and do not contradict principles of Islamic marriage. “They are in accordance with normal marriage conditions, which include the acceptance of the marriage from both sides, the attendance of witnesses, marriage registration, the consent and knowledge of families from both sides and the dowry,” she said, adding, “We don’t care so much about the name of the marriage as long as it’s according to Islamic norms.”

Wow. They’re getting married so they can get a scholarship. Gee, it’s just like deciding which laptop to buy for Western women. Except that it’s not.

Once again, I’m thinking those people who insist that Islam has a history of being good to women are, well, delusional.

Muslims wish everyday that the world would stop viewing Islam as being biased towards women and instead look back to the history of how women elevated through Islam along the years with the moral values and the character that can help them survive in today’s world.

It would help if you didn’t do things like force women to get married so they can qualify for a scholarship to study abroad.

It’s as plain as the nose on your face: Women don’t like men having multiple wives. And you know, it just doesn’t really work all that well, either. For the women, anyway.

RIYADH - A Saudi man lost part of his nose in a heated argument with his two wives because he threatened to marry a third woman, Shams newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Judaie bin Salim jokingly told his wives that he would marry again if they were unable to resolve their differences over how to divide their new house, the paper said.

Salim repeated the threat because of how ill-mannered his wives had acted.

This proved a provocation too far for the women, who then attacked him and left him with a part of his nose missing, a broken cartilage and needing seven stitches.

“I never thought my wives would respond to such a degree,” Judai told the daily, adding the only way to restore his diginity would be to go ahead and take a third wife.

No word on the punishment for the women, but I’m guessing they got their asses kicked by their husband once he got back from the hospital. Probably brought along some of his male relatives to help.

Yeah, those Muslim women. They’re really right up there with Western feminists in how free Islam makes them. Uh-huh. Sure.

So, I have a question about 24. If you haven’t seen last night’s episode, and don’t want to be spoiled, well, too late.

How is it the Chinese guy knew exactly, to the secondhttp://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3386040,00.html, when Jack would be done playing with Fayed and his boys, before calling? I mean, do they have a tracker in his butt or something? Or did someone hand them an advance copy of the script?

Wow. The show’s become so cartoonish that you expect to see a piano fall on Jack’s head, then see him lying there with little birds tweeting in a circle around his head. While the credits roll and Porky says, “Th-th-th-that’s all, folks!”

These guys are even more super-terroristic than the superterrorist from two years ago, that Marwan guy. But that’s probably because everyone knows he was really the Mummy come back to life, so he had superpowers. I think he transferred them to Fayed. You could tell, because both of them shaved their heads.

Yeah, I know. My analysis makes more sense than the show.

And I knew Audrey wasn’t dead.

As usual, it’s a take-it-or-leave-it threat from Hamas. As usual, mass murderers of Jews are on the list of prisoners that the terrorists want released. As usual, there is a great fear in Israel that the Prime Minister will comply.

But I don’t think Hamas is going to get what it wants.

Israeli officials said some prisoners with “blood on their hands” will not be released, which might complicate the negotiations.

Although some Palestinian officials in the Palestinian Authority have been upbeat about a possible prisoner exchange deal, Israeli officials
have made it clear that Shalit’s return is still a long way off. They said the price for Shalit’s release has decreased due to the long time that has passed since his kidnapping, but added that it would still be heavy.

I think that’s official-speak for “You’re not getting the murderers.”

The IDF has vetted the list before giving it to Olmert. And say what you will about Olmert, I don’t think he’s going to let the man who plotted the successful assassination of an Israeli cabinent member go.

Additional Palestinian prisoners on Hamas’ list include Ahmed Saadat, who headed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small PLO faction. In 2001, gunmen from Saadat’s faction assassinated an Israeli Cabinet minister, Rehavam Zeevi, in a Jerusalem hotel.

[...] The list includes, among others, the names of prisoners convicted for their involvement in dozens of suicide bombings inside Israel. The most prominent of these is Abdullah Barghouti, a Hamas leader in the West Bank who is serving out 67 consecutive life terms. Barghouti pleaded guilty to building the bombs that murdered 66 people and wounded more than 500 in a series of suicide bombings.

Hamas is also demanding the release of Hassan Salama, a Hamas leader who in the mid-90’s led a wave of suicide bombings. Salama was convicted of murdering 67 Israeli citizens and was sentenced to several dozen consecutive life terms.

This is why Israel needs the death penalty for those found guilty of terror attacks. To stop Hamas from trying to get these murderers back to plan more attacks and kill more Jews. I’d love to see the next PM run on a platform that included a plank to end these problems by just such a method. By all means, swap the ones who have no blood on their hands. But the ones who do? Change the laws. Capital punishment for the planning and execution of terror attacks that result in the death of Israelis.

I’d bet that would be a popular platform.

Update: Olmert shows he’s a vertebrate.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has expressed his disappointment over the list of prisoners Palestinian groups want released in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

First, the bomb plot according to the Israeli media:

ccording to the details released by the security service, the driver, a suicide bomber, had managed to cross into Israel in a vehicle laden with about 100 kilograms of explosives. However, once he reached Tel Aviv, and for reasons that are still unclear, he changed his mind and returned to Qalqilyah.

Nineteen members in the cell have been arrested by the security forces. No names of the suspects were released for publication.

Next, the bomb plot according to Palestinian “police” officers quoted by the AP:

Palestinian police officials in the town said the 19 suspects weren’t connected to any bombing. They said the militants were rounded up at a Hamas ceremony marking the third anniversary of the Israeli assassination of the group’s founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

Police said the car held less than 2 pounds of explosives and that it was unlikely Hamas was connected because the bomb was so small. However, they said it remained unclear why the car was carrying explosives.

Last, a note: The AP actually quotes the Ha’aretz article, yet they find someone who denies all the facts of it. Oh, and this, too:

Hamas officials in Qalqiliya denied the account and said they were not involved in any plot.

Meantime, Ha’aretz, which is the newspaper most quoted by, and most loved by, the anti-Israel left, had this to say about Hamas:

This latest incident has further boosted the evidence that Hamas has resumed its terrorist activities following a long hiatus that began with the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip last November.

Egypt recently arrested a Hamas suicide bomber who was trying to cross from the Gaza Strip into Israel through Sinai.

Hamas militants were also involved in a number of sniper attacks targeting Israelis driving close to the fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip. In one of the attacks, an Israel Electric Corporation employee was moderately wounded.

The man believed to be behind the attacks is Ahmed Jabari, the head of the military wing of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, who opposed the establishment of the unity government between his party and Fatah. Jabari is particularly dissatisfied with the fact that he and his men are not being awarded the positions of power they believe they deserve.

The degree to which Jabari and the Qalqilyah-based cell are linked is unclear. During the past two years, most of the Hamas cells operating in Samaria had followed orders originating in the Gaza Strip.

Funny, isn’t it, how Ha’aretz’s reporters can find plenty of evidence of Hamas terror attacks over the last two years, but the AP can find only denials that Hamas is involved in terrorism.

What anti-Israel bias? What are you talking about? Really, I don’t get the point.