NOTE to infidels

Salman Rushdie's fatawa is still in effect. That means Sir Rushdie is a dead man walking.

In case you missed the news about Rushdie's knighting, see "Pakistan Lawmakers Condemn U.K. Award for Author Salman Rushdie." Pakistan's religious affairs minister said the award justified suicide attacks, the Associated Press reported, citing his speech to Parliament.

Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, Pakistan's religious affairs minister, said the award justified suicide attacks, the Associated Press reported, citing his speech to Parliament. ``The West is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If someone explodes a bomb on his body, he would be right to do so unless the British government apologizes and withdraws the `sir' title,'' AP cited him saying yesterday.

We're not, of course, advocating exploding a bonmb on his body -- necessarily -- even if he did blaspheme Muhammad and the Quran. Rushdie alleged that Islam wasn't always a monotheistic religion and that in its first unedited edition the Quran had namned some daughters of Allah. Those would be the Satanic verses. But there's one overriding thing to remember:

It never happened. You got that? Your life may depend on it.