Eideard

Flowers by the canal where the bodies of the Shafia sisters and their mother were found

Few phrases in the popular discourse are as contentious as “honour killing,” but the Shafia trial, currently taking place in Kingston, Ont., is forcing Canadians to once again grapple with this controversial issue.

Mohammad Shafia, his wife, Tooba Yahya, and their son Hamed stand accused of killing four female family members.

In 2009, teen sisters Sahar, Zainab and Geeti Shafia, along with Mohammed Shafia’s first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad, were found dead in a submerged car in the Rideau Canal. The Crown alleges the four women were killed because Sahar and Zainab Shafia were thought to have dishonoured the family by having boyfriends and living a modern lifestyle…

In a wiretapped conversation between Mohammed Shafia and his wife and son after the bodies were discovered, Shafia revealed his anger at seeing suggestive cellphone photos of his two eldest daughters: “Curse God on both of them. Is that what a daughter should be? Would a daughter be such a whore?”

Though often linked to sexual issues such as adultery and premarital sex, the perceived “offences” that have prompted honour killings have ccome to include a woman’s push for independence…There are documented cases of men being killed for ruining a family’s reputation, but the vast majority of the victims are female.

To some observers, honour killings confuse the issue of domestic abuse with religious connotations. For others, it’s an important designation of a cultural phenomenon distinct from domestic violence…

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Three U.S. citizens traveling to spend the holidays with their relatives in Mexico were among those killed in a spree of shooting attacks on buses in northern Mexico…A group of five gunmen attacked three buses in Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Veracruz on Thursday, killing a total of seven passengers in what authorities said appeared to be a violent robbery spree.

The Americans killed were a mother and her two daughters who were returning to visit relatives in the region, known as the Huasteca, said an official in the neighboring state of Hidalgo, where the mother was born.

Hidalgo state regional assistant secretary Jorge Rocha identified the dead U.S. mother as Maria Sanchez Hernandez, 39, of Fort Worth, Texas, and the daughters as Karla, 19, and Cristina, 13. Rocha said all three held dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship. A 14-year-old Mexican nephew traveling with the three was also killed…

While funeral plans were unclear, Rocha said Sanchez Hernandez’s mother wants her daughter to be buried in Mexico.

Three other Mexican citizens were killed in the Thursday attacks on the three buses. The five gunmen who allegedly carried out the attacks were later killed by soldiers.

Earlier in their spree, the gunmen shot to death three people and killed a fourth with grenade in the nearby town of El Higo, Veracruz…

The US consulate urged Americans to “exercise caution” when traveling in Veracruz, and “avoid intercity road travel at night.”

As I have advised my friends and relatives – stay the heck out of Mexico!

Mom says, “Oops!”

You can’t blame Gail Davis for hanging up on the person who called her to congratulate her on downloading Apple’s 10 billionth app and winning a $10,000 iTunes gift certificate. Her husband and her both don’t have iPods capable of using App store items.

“I thought it was a prank call,” Gail Davis said to Cult of Mac. “I said, ‘Thank you very much, I’m not interested’ and I hung up.”

However, the call – which came from Apple’s VP of iTunes Eddy Cue – was completely legitimate. Her 14 and 17 year old daughters had downloaded the free Paper Glider app on their mother’s account and told her mother this was the real thing.

They had downloaded the app around 9:30AM their time (UK), 1:30 AM PST/4:30 AM EST. “The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a genuine call,” she said. “The girls were getting quite tense. They never would have forgiven me. They would have held it against me for all eternity.”

One of Cue’s colleagues called back, and the Davis’ family will be using the prize money to, you guessed it, download more apps.

Har! Hanging up is definitely something I’d do.

America’s author-in-chief is back.

President Obama has written a children’s book titled “Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters,” according to a news release from Random House.

A 500,000-copy first edition is scheduled to be released November 16.

The illustrated book, according to Random House, is “a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation — from the artistry of Georgia O’Keeffe, to the courage of Jackie Robinson, to the patriotism of George Washington…”

The manuscript was completed before Obama took office in 2009, the news release stated.

Proceeds from the book, which has a suggested retail price of $17.99, will be donated to a scholarship fund for children of fallen and disabled soldiers.

Rock on!

Daylife/Reuters Pictures

President-elect Barack Obama, in front of millions of witnesses in Chicago and watching their televisions, promised his daughters they’d get a dog.

“I love you both more than you can imagine,” Obama told his daughters, Sasha and Malia, during his victory speech at the Windy City’s Grant Park. “You have earned the puppy that is coming with us.”

Malia, 10, who has allergies, expressed interest in a “goldendoodle,” a hypoallergenic hybrid of a golden retriever and a standard poodle, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday. It usually can’t be found at the local pound and hasn’t been recognized as a breed by the American Kennel Club.

Everyone with a vested interest in one or another breed, dogs in general, animals of the world and, maybe, a couple of other planets, as well – is offering their advice. I haven’t anything polite to say about that.

Just get a nice dog and be certain the kids learn how to be happy together with their new companion.