Hot coffee, anyone?

This is an old case that people bring up when they are talking about frivolous lawsuits. Don't ya know coffee is hot? Well duhh, of course. However:

During discovery, McDonalds produced documents showing more than 700 claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992. Some claims involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Liebecks. This history documented McDonalds' knowledge about the extent and nature of this hazard.

McDonalds also said during discovery that, based on a consultants advice, it held its coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees fahrenheit to maintain optimum taste. He admitted that he had not evaluated the safety ramifications at this temperature. Other establishments sell coffee at substantially lower temperatures, and coffee served at home is generally 135 to 140 degrees.

Further, McDonalds' quality assurance manager testified that the company actively enforces a requirement that coffee be held in the pot at 185 degrees, plus or minus five degrees. He also testified that a burn hazard exists with any food substance served at 140 degrees or above, and that McDonalds coffee, at the temperature at which it was poured into styrofoam cups, was not fit for consumption because it would burn the mouth and throat. The quality assurance manager admitted that burns would occur, but testified that McDonalds had no intention of reducing the "holding temperature" of its coffee...

McDonalds also argued that consumers know coffee is hot and that its customers want it that way. The company admitted its customers were unaware that they could suffer thirddegree burns from the coffee and that a statement on the side of the cup was not a "warning" but a "reminder" since the location of the writing would not warn customers of the hazard.

The jury originally set punitive damages at 2.7 million, but it was reduced to $480,000, 3 times the compensatory damages.

In a nutshell, McDonalds Knew their coffee was much much hotter than people were used to at home and at other places that served coffee, but they didn't care even after hundreds of cases of burns. The woman originally just tried to recover her medical expenses, if McDonalds had paid that they wouldn't have had to go through a lawsuit, which probably cost them more than they paid out to her. Too bad the higher punitive damages didn't stick.

A, not a regular coffee drinker

Ex-parliamentarian arrested for criticising corruption online

I guess they're not as liberal in Jordan as they claim. Maybe next time he'll use a pseudonyme.

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the arrest of former Jordanian parliamentarian Ahmad Oweidi Abbadi on 3 May for accusing King Abdallah’s government of corruption in an open letter to US senator Harry Reid that he posted on the Internet.

“This is the first time that someone has been arrested in Jordan because of what they posted online,” the press freedom organisation said. “Using imprisonment to silence a government opponent and to cover up embarrassing scandals in unacceptable.”...

The traditional media are closely watch in Jordan, and journalists have to belong to the government-controlled Jordanian Press Association.

A.

Feminist, socialist, devout Muslim: woman who has thrown Denmark into turmoil

Interesting article about a Danish-Muslim woman who is running for Parliament.

The 25-year-old social worker, student and town councillor describes herself as a feminist, a democrat, and a socialist. She has gay friends, opposes the death penalty, supports abortion rights, and could not care less what goes on in other people's bedrooms. In short, a tolerant Scandinavian and European.

She is also a Palestinian and a devout Muslim who insists on wearing a headscarf, who refuses, on religious grounds, to shake hands with males, and who is bidding fair to be the first Muslim woman ever to enter the Folketing, the Danish parliament in Copenhagen...

The 25-year-old social worker, student and town councilor describes herself as a feminist, a democrat, and a socialist. She has gay friends, opposes the death penalty, supports abortion rights, and could not care less what goes on in other people's bedrooms. In short, a tolerant Scandinavian and European.

I think she should have the right to wear a scarf if this is what she believes. Why can't she be a tolerant Scandinavian and a Muslim who believes she should cover?

"This goes far beyond the extreme right," says Toger Seidenfaden, editor of the Politiken daily newspaper. "Asmaa is insisting on the right to be a religious Muslim and that's provoking broad debate among the public."

I don't know about Denmark, but in the US she would have the right to wear a scarf and get a job anywhere.

"We don't like the idea of her performing as an Islamist in the parliament," says DFP spokesman Kim Eskildsen. "We find it wrong that she'll use the parliament as a tool for Islamism ... We don't consider this woman a Nazi. But the way the headscarf is used is comparable to other totalitarian symbols."

Why are they afraid of a small scarf? Do they think all Muslims are terrorists? Just because she wears a scarf doesn't mean she will try to make everyone in the country Muslim or use Parliament as a tool for Islam. That is ridiculous. She should be judged on more than just her looks.

Ironically, Muslims are not on her side either!

But conservative Muslim leaders are also disapproving of her activism.

"Some Muslims don't think it's right for a female to act like this. They go to my father and tell him, get her married, get her married," she laughs. "Others think you can't be Muslim and Danish at the same time. Some of the Muslims and the extreme right are just the same.

I say go girl. Go with what you believe. As long as you aren't saying that all non-Muslims are going to hell and stuff like that, then live your life according to your own path.

Muslims are more integrated in society in the United States, in all kinds of jobs and parts of the country. They have jobs in government and schools. I think they need this in Denmark, so they won't think that all Muslims are terrorists or want to convert all non-Muslims.

A.

Veil Row in England

If you haven't read about it: No Discrimination in Veil Row.

Aishah Azmi, 23, was asked to remove the veil after the Church of England school in Dewsbury, West Yorks, said pupils found it hard to understand her.

The tribunal dismissed her claims of religious discrimination and harassment on religious grounds...

Headfield Church of England Junior School, which has 546 pupils, suspended Mrs Azmi because it said pupils found it hard to understand her during lessons.

Kirklees Council said the decision was taken after a monitoring period in which the impact of wearing the veil on the teaching and learning was studied.

I am against discrimination in women wearing hijab or niqab, but sometimes the situation just isn't conducive to someone wearing niqab. Teaching children at a Christian school is probably one of them. She brings up that if you call someone in a call center, you can't see what they are wearing. Yes that is true. But she wasn't working in a call center, and what you wear around children can impact their education.

I have posted an interesting interview with her above from You Tube (here's the link if you can't see it). You noticed the interviewer asks her several times if she wore a veil in front of a man during her interview. She kinda beats around the bush (doesn't really answer the question) before she answers that no, she didn't. She can't say that she can't take it off when she is teaching there, when she wasn't upfront and honest during her interview. It sounds like she is wearing it selectively. If you wear hijab or niqab and say it is obligatory on you, but only wear it sometimes, then that kind of negates your wearing it for religious reasons, doesn't it?

A, just my 2 cents.

Rewriting the Ad Rules for Muslim Americans

I thought this was a good article, thanks for sending it to me L! First part of the article:

For years, few advertisers in the United States have dared to reach out to Muslims.

Either they did not see much potential for sales or they feared a political backlash. And there were practical reasons: American Muslims come from so many ethnic backgrounds that their only common ground is their religion, a subject most marketers avoid.

That is beginning to change. Consumer companies and advertising executives are focusing on ways to use the cultural aspects of the Muslim religion to help sell their products.

Some areas, such as Detroit, have a large Muslim population, and some already carry products for Muslims:

Companies in the Detroit area, where there is a dense population of Muslims, are leading the change. A McDonald’s there serves halal Chicken McNuggets; Walgreens has Arabic signs in its aisles. And now, Ikea, which recently opened a store in the suburb of Canton, Mich., that has had trouble attracting as many Muslim customers as it had hoped, has been touring local homes and talking to Muslims to figure out their needs.

The biggest problem is that Muslims come from such a variety of countries, as well as American Muslims, who are in between all the cultures. The article addressed that, although there is no easy solution, or maybe no solution to that at all.

A.

Yusef Islam, building bridges between Eastern and Western cultures? NOT!

Yusef Islam Ignores Bare-headed Women

Muslim singer YUSUF ISLAM reportedly refused to speak with the female guides at a German event over the weekend (24-25MAR07) because they weren't veiled - despite accepting an honour for building bridges between Eastern and Western cultures.

Hmm, how how can you bridge bridges to people you don't speak with because they are different from you? Sign language, maybe?

This is idiocy to treat others as if they are not good enough to speak with because they are not covered. Do you expect everyone to become a Muslim, or cover because you are uncomfortable with seeing their bare head? Isn't building bridges about getting along with people of different cultures, not alienating them? Did you forget that you grew up in the "Western" culture? If Muslims had treated you like that, I'm sure you would not have converted. Let's hope not, at least.

Little Mosque on the Prairie

Little Mosque on the Prairie From the NY times article:

“Little Mosque on the Prairie” ventures into new and perhaps treacherous terrain: trying to explore the funny side of being a Muslim and adapting to life in post 9/11 North America. Its creators admit to uneasiness as to whether Canadians and Americans can laugh about the daily travails of those who many consider a looming menace.

“Little Mosque” is the brainchild of Zarqa Nawaz, a Canadian Muslim of Pakistani origin whose own assimilation, particularly after she left Toronto for Regina, Saskatchewan, 10 years ago, provides much of the comic fodder.

This is a very interesting concept of a show, with the idea of it by a Muslim. I wish they would have one like that here. Maybe they will show it here, or we can get it on dvd. I would watch it. It even has some humor * gasp, Muslims have a sense of humor? Who'd a thunk it?

The struggle over what constitutes modest dress is central to the show. When a Muslim girl flounces into her immigrant father’s presence with her navel showing, he recoils in horror, saying, “You look like a Protestant.”

She counters, “Dad, you mean a prostitute?”
He responds, “No, I meant a Protestant.”

Now don't you all dress like Protestants. Because we all know how Protestants dress, now don't we? (yes I was kidding, hear the sarcasm there?)

A., who never dresses like one ;)