Hizbullah's Holy War for Reconstruction

No. "Jihad" does not mean 'holy war'. In Arabic, the term for "holy war" would be harb muqaddasah, which is not actually used. Jihad just means 'effort' in general, not necessarily in the form of war.

The distinction is more than just academic, because the term has plenty of non-martial applications. For example, this reconstruction fund: Obviously, something constructive is contrary to war which is destructive. Therefore Cole's translation of the name is incoherent and nonsensical.

The name in Arabic is جهاد البناء Jihad al-Bina' which actually means 'Construction Effort'. ("Reconstruction" would be i‘adat al-bina'; "reconstruction" may well be the implied meaning, but it doesn't actually say that, just "construction").

I'm astonished and dismayed that Juan Cole published something so inaccurate; of all scholars in America, I'd expect him to get it right. He has a better track record on getting things right than any other white Western non-Muslim pundit. I wonder how he slipped up in this instance, it's uncharacteristic of him.

Also: Sidon is the correct spelling, not "Sideon."

I'm against the war, against the death penalty, and against any restriction on women's reproductive rights. I think Hillary got it right. Reduce the incidence of abortion by making birth control, and education about birth control, as widely available and as easily accessible as possible -- not by legislating against women's reproductive rights.

Sink that sick joke called "abstinence" birth control to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. The religious right's "abstinence" miseducation is probably the number one cause of abortions in the present day.

I loathe the no-eyebrow look. Like most women, I try to steer a sane and rational course through the middle of the extreme zigzags of fashion. My economic situation is suffering badly these days, but shaving eyebrows is certainly not the answer. I wield some mean tweezers and, unlike shaving, DIY tweezing is completely free of cost. Unfortunately, I can't do as good a DIY job as the salon where I get my eyebrows threaded, but until I can afford to go back there, I can take matters into my own hands well enough, thank you.

Watch for the zig to zag-- up next, the lowest-cost alternative of all: Bushy unkempt eyebrows! You read it here first.

¡Y son todos cubanos!