<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[The Dish]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://dish.andrewsullivan.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Andrew Sullivan]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://dish.andrewsullivan.com/author/sullydish/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[The Best Of The Dish&nbsp;Today]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='580' height='360' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/NQBUChBG98Q?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe></span>
<p>Only days after Reihan declared himself <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/04/neocons_and_rand_paul_what_libertarians_don_t_understand_about_american.html">still a neocon</a>, the latest results of the Iraq War and the triumph of good over evil came in. The Shiite democracy is getting ready to legalize marriage for girls <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10753645/Iraq-ready-to-legalise-childhood-marriage.html" target="_blank">as young as nine years&#8217; old</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>The legislation, known as the Jaafari law, introduces rules almost identical to those of neighboring Iran, a Shia-dominated Islamic theocracy. Ayad Allawi, a former Iraqi prime minister, warned on Tuesday that approval of the law would lead to the abuse of women. &#8220;It allows for girls to be married from nine years of age and even younger,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There are other injustices [contained in it] too.&#8221;</p>
<p>While there is no set minimum age for marriage, the section on divorce includes rules for divorces of girls who have reached the age of 9 years. Marital rape is condoned by a clause that states women must comply with their husband&#8217;s sexual demands. Men are given guardianship rights over women and the law also establishes rules governing polygamous relationships.</p>
<p>Hanaa Edwar, a well-known activist and head of the charity Al-Amal (&#8220;Hope&#8221; in Arabic), has campaigned against the law as a setback for women&#8217;s rights in a country that has struggled since the 2003 invasion. &#8220;It turns women into tools for sexual enjoyment,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It deletes all their rights.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>So we spent a trillion dollars, thousands of American lives and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives to &#8220;delete all the rights&#8221; of Iraqi women. I wonder if anyone has asked Condi Rice about that.</p>
<p>The most trafficked post of the day continued to be &#8220;<a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/09/why-arent-gay-men-on-the-pill/">Why Aren’t Gay Men On The Pill?</a>&#8221; – with replies from readers and Truvada-user Dave Cullen <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/10/why-arent-gay-men-on-the-pill-ctd/">here</a>. Runner-up: my <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/10/where-the-hard-left-says-no/">defense</a> of Ayaan Hirsi Ali against her hard-left critics at Brandeis. Other popular posts included <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/10/text-of-the-day-3/">my socks&#8217; appearance</a> on Colbert last night and the <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/10/yglesias-award-nominee-100/">response</a> to Jim DeMint&#8217;s surreal view of American history. You can comment on the posts at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheDishBlog" target="_blank">our Facebook page</a>. See what people are saying about @sullydish <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%40sullydish&amp;src=typd&amp;f=realtime" target="_blank">here</a>. It can get brutal over there:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A close up pic of Andrew Sullivan&#8217;s moderate <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23GOP&amp;src=hash">#GOP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LGBT&amp;src=hash">#LGBT</a> socks from his appearance on <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome">@StephenAtHome</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/sullydish">@SullyDish</a> <a href="http://t.co/ovCLYExMSV">pic.twitter.com/ovCLYExMSV</a></p>
<p>— Patrick Connors (@uppityfag) <a href="https://twitter.com/uppityfag/statuses/454310509353791488">April 10, 2014</a></p></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Yo <a href="https://twitter.com/sullydish">@sullydish</a> wtf is up with your socks? Are you on house arrest? Because it sure looks like you&#8217;ve got an ankle monitor under there</p>
<p>— Chris Jacques (@chajax) <a href="https://twitter.com/chajax/statuses/454103565678940160">April 10, 2014</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Meanwhile, our most popular reader thread right now is on <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/10/hyperactive-prescribing-ctd-3/">ADHD and how to medicate for it</a>. And these posts have updates you might have missed: a video for <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/10/colbert-to-take-over-for-letterman/">&#8220;Colbert To Take Over Letterman!</a>&#8221; and <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/10/where-the-hard-left-says-no/">another disclosure </a>that Ayaan Ali Hirsi is indeed a personal friend. A Dish dad got <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/10/beard-of-the-week-19/">Beard Of The Week honors</a>. Also: <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/10/mental-health-break-491/">sloth squeaks</a>.</p>
<p><del>21</del> 25 more readers became subscribers today. One writes:</p>
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<p class="p1">I just <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/subscribe/">resubscribed</a> &#8211; basically I had been riding free for a few months. The main reason I re-upped: not that I wanted to read the full pieces, although that is an attraction, but because I want to be part of your project &#8211; not just in an abstract way, but in reality. When I have emailed you thoughts on various issues, or links or suggestions, they have in several cases wound up as items in your blog. You have replied to my emails personally. One day you had a link, totally unexpected, to my wife&#8217;s scholarly book, based on a TLS book review &#8211; which blew my mind and hers. <span style="color:#222222;">Though I&#8217;d taken some time off, I wish to reconnect and support you always, and I&#8217;ll be in touch.</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>It doesn&#8217;t get much better than that. If you&#8217;ve been procrastinating, <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/subscribe/" target="_blank">subscribe</a>!, and we&#8217;ll be able to keep the Dish both alive, profitable and ad-free &#8211; something almost unheard of on the commercial web.</p>
<p>See you in the morning.</p>
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