Greetings from Eurabia

It sure is nice to be back in London again. I love this town.

Had a remarkably smooth trip via British Airways last night. Man, there's something to be said for traveling in the front cabin. Nothing like First Class to make you feel like a trip across the Big Pond is a hop, skip and a jump. That and a Fast Pass through Immigration and Customs can make your trip a good one. Bless you BA for all you do.

We hopped on the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station and I have to say that if you are planning a trip to London the Heathrow Express is the way to get into the central city. It was easy as pie and took roughly a quarter of the time it would take a cab or hired car. You can take your baggage trolley all the way to the train if you are worried about schlepping your big bags and the trains are beautiful, clean and frequent. If you got the greenbacks, pay the extra shekels to go First Class. It's not crowded, there's a place for your bags, you can hang your coat, relax and catch up with the news on the strategically placed TV screens. Being a newshound and a basketball fan, catching up with the news and the latest NCAA brackets are important. (LSU rocks! You tell me. Is there another Shaq on the NBA'a horizon? And where the heck is George Mason from?) It is also very reasonable. I think it's even free for some folks with the right kind of airline ticket. Anywho. If you are taking the night flight from North America you can get a good shot of caffeine(coffee or diet coke) and enjoy a DANISH at Paddington Station before setting off to check your bags at your hotel. (You know your room won't be ready and that will fuel you for a walkabout town until you get into your room and crash) Which is exactly what we did.

FYI- March 26th is Mother's Day here in the UK and there were lots of mums out and about.

There were lots of jilbabs, hijabs and Muslim headscarves about too. Interesting given the recent ruling about the jilbab in public schools here in London. The answer to that dilemma being "Just say not to Jilbab" according to the House of Lords. Get a load of this:

The House of Lords yesterday overturned an appeal court ruling that a Muslim teenager's human rights were violated when she was banned from wearing a head-to-toe Islamic dress to school.
The unanimous ruling by five law lords was greeted with relief by teachers' bodies and the Department for Education and Skills, which feared that upholding the ruling would throw schools' policies on uniforms into chaos.

Shabina Begum, 17, argued that banning her from wearing the jilbab at Denbigh high school in Luton, Bedfordshire, breached her rights to education and to manifest her religion, as guaranteed by the European convention on human rights. She lost two years' schooling before moving to a school which allowed her to wear the religious garb.

But the law lords said there was no right to be educated at a particular school, and she could have moved earlier to a single-sex school where the garment would be unnecessary or to a school where it was permitted.

Shabina had worn the shalwar kameez (tunic and trousers) for her first two years at the school, but when she was nearly 13 she went to school in a jilbab. Shabina, who was represented on legal aid by Cherie Booth QC and the Children's Legal Centre, said after the judgment: "Obviously I am saddened and disappointed about this, but I am quite glad it is all over and I can move on now. Even though I lost, I have made a stand."

Not for nothing, what is Cherie Booth doing? Is she nuts? Once again, did bra burning feministas torch their Maidenforms so they could clothe their daughters in burnooses? (burnoosi? I don't know what the heck is the plural of burnoose?) I know I didn't....

It's been a little weird here since I arrived. Okay, it might be me reading too much Mark Steyn, but it seems like Eurabia has definitely arrived. Not for nothing, the hotel tv has the usual BBC channels and it has CNBC, MTV and CNN (horrors), but it also has Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Abu Dhabi TV...you know that my comment card will be asking why they don't at least carry Fox News. Hey, fair and balanced, you know?

THen when we stopped into the lobby bar for a nightcap it was loaded with Middle Eastern types. I have no problem with that. But there were only five women in the bar and I KNOW I was the only honest woman there. It just weirded me out to see many groups of these guys, drinking, smoking and hanging out with hot blonde babes talking about their wives at home - saying things like (FYI-Dinah is a world class eavesdropper); "I will always respect her - she is the mother of my children" while swilling expensive cognac, smoking Cuban cigars, fondling their prayer beads AND THE HOT BLONDES in their HOOCHIE MAMA clothes at the same time. (I swear to God this was what was happening) Paging Cherie Blair...

Needless to say being a wife herself, Dinah was giving them the dick eye....

Now before you say 'Dinah, what kind of flophouse are your staying in?" Dinah will tell you it is a 5 star hotel in Knightsbridge, the only one with a pool on the roof. It's not your basic hot sheet operation here. During the day, it seems like a normal family establishment, at breakfast this morning there were lots of families (with their nannies-also an interesting phenomena), but at night it takes on a totally different character.

It could be me and the jet lag kicking in though, too.

Other big news in the papers here: The Ungrateful Hostage - Norman Kember. Get a load of this:

The row has exposed an unbridgeable gulf between the peace campaigners who want Western forces out of Iraq and the military. The CPT arrived in Baghdad in October 2002 with the motto "Getting in the Way". It was the first Western group to publicise the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib, promotes close ties with Muslim leaders, and refuses to use bodyguards in Iraq.

It has also said it would not welcome any armed attempts to rescue its members. Jan Benvie, 51, a Scottish schoolteacher on standby to travel to Iraq for the CPT, said she and Mr Kember had signed "statement of conviction" documents asking not to be rescued by military force. "I don't want my life to be bought with the price of somebody else's life," she said yesterday.

I say Norman and his friends should pay for his rescue.

I also say, the jet lag is kicking in big time. My Lord and Master is out cold and I think I'm going to have to say good night as well. I hope I don't read this in the morning and say 'what was I thinking?'

Cheers - Dinah