Archive for June 1, 2006

Caillebotte, Gustave, Le pont de l’Europe, 1876.

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

“The Missionary Position” (thanks to many). I dont know this author. This is a very effective review, but the tone is defensive in that she goes out of her way to not offend the two authors in question, and she goes out of her way to equate Western wars with Muslim fundamentalist death threats against [...]

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

Today, Bush called this massacre “an incident.” “After the roadside bombing, the Marines arrived first at the door of Abdul Hamid Hassan Ali, 89, an amputee who used a wheelchair. They shot him, then turned their guns on his three sons and their families, survivors said. Waleed Abdul Hameed, a 48-year-old worker in Al Anbar’s [...]

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

Could Western media end their obsession with the veil already?

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

“Americans believe George Bush is the worst president since 1945, while Ronald Reagan was the best, according to a Quinnipiac University telephone poll of 1,500 registered voters nationwide released yesterday.”

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

“How Voltaire praised the ‘enlightened despot’ Catherine the Great“

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

“Omar Saed, 55, a university lecturer in Baghdad, said: “We’d like to send a brief letter to all the world: ‘Please stop the American troops killing any more people.’ We need full cooperation from all to help us avoid any more incidents like what happened in Haditha and Ramadi and all the [other] Iraqi cities.””

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

“The BBC has uncovered new video evidence that US forces may have been responsible for the deliberate killing of 11 innocent Iraqi civilians.”

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

Saatchi and Saatchi played an unreported role in the Hummus Revolution. Its director, Elie Khuri, here calls himself a “Lebanese nationalist.”

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

Fire in Beirut. Tell Bush that his Cedar Revolution advances. Hummus hitting the fan everywhere in Lebanon last night. After a program on LBC-TV which mocked Hasan Nasrallah, thousands of Shi`ite demonstrators took to the streets all around Lebanon. And violent clashes between Shi`ites and Sunnis, and between Shi`ites and Maronites were reported in different [...]

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

“Ramallah rampage” (thanks Muhsin)

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

“Afghanistan: On the Brink” (thanks Laleh)

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

“Within the Department of Defense, the hawks were intent on calling the shots. Determined to have a decisive voice in deciding when and where the United States would fight, they also wanted to dictate how it would fight. The team Rumsfeld recruited to assist him in managing the Pentagon contained an unusual number of military [...]

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

Iraq Reconstruction (thanks Zeina)

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

My distrust of Marwan Barghuti only increased with the release of his very suspicious letter from jail.

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

Abuse of Syrian workers in Lebanon continues. Two Syrian workers in Lebanon, Muhammad Dyub and Mahir `Abdul-Hamid Hasan, were beaten by a father and son in `Akkar. They later put Mahir in the trunk of a car, adn then threw him out.

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

Pierre Dahir versus Samir Ja`ja`. Who owns LBC-TV? It seems to me that this is not about the satellite station.

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

Mini-Hariri continues his world tour. Here, he is offering his congratulations to Wolfowitz for his successes in the Iraq war.

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

It seems that Rif`at Al-Asad, according to various reports in Arab media, is now negotiating his return to Syria with the government of his nephew. (Formal) Arab politics is still the realm of uncles, fathers, and sons.

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad

Walid Jumblat: his knowledge is limitless. It is amazing how some standards (and criteria) prevail in Lebanon. In Lebanon, Jumblat is considered the most knowledgeable and “intellectual” politician. Today, in rejecting proportional representation for Lebanon, he said that proportional representation exists ONLY in “Japan and Israel.” Of course, those countries also adhere to proportional representation: [...]

Posted on June 1, 2006 by As'ad