Archive for October 21, 2006

I like listening to Marcel Khalifah sing; I like listening to him play the `ud. I like his CD tasbahun `ala Watan. But I can’t stand it when Marcel Khalifah talks. He is so annoying: he was annoying when he spoke the Stanlinist line, and he is more annoying talking the peace line now. And [...]

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

Distorted Beauty (thanks Shelly)

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

““Bangladesh and Bolivia are two countries widely recognized for having the most successful micro credit programs in the world. They also remain two of the poorest countries in the world.” In the statistical tables of human development Bangladesh ranks 139th, worse than India, with 49.8 per cent of its population of 150 million below the [...]

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

According to Al-Afkar magazine, Iyad `Allawi (former puppet prime minister/car bomber/embezzler-in-Yemen/Saddam’s henchman) has purchased land in Ba`abda (a Christian neighborhood East of Beirut) to build a house for himself. I suggest that the US funds a housing complex for all the puppets of Iraq who would need housing once US (and Macedonian) occupation troops leave [...]

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

“Clearly the lessons of Suez were lost on the Americans: The events of 50 years ago marked the end of the British Middle East. For the US, there are uncomfortable parallels“ (thanks John)

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

I assure you that Palestine–all of Palestine–will be liberated. The question is when.

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

A “liberal” Lebanese journalist writes a tribute to his Sri Lankan maid. This passes as humane in Lebanonese culture.

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

I have a hard time reading anything that Fu’ad Matar writes. This Lebanese journalist started with An-Nahar in the 1960s. He became a loyal propagandist for the Nasser regime. After the death of Nasser, he became a loyal propagandist for the regime of Saddam Husayn which funded his London-based magazine, At-Tadamun. After the 1991 war, [...]

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

“The United Nations office in Baghdad says that Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, has ordered the country’s medical authorities to stop providing the organization with monthly figures on the number of civilians killed and wounded in the conflict there, according to a confidential cable.”

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

When the moon hit the sky….Do you know that Arab countries wait for a special committee (the Committee To Spot the Crescent of Ramadan–I am NOT making this up) in Saudi Arabia to spot the moon to announce the end of Ramadan? `Abdullah Al-Khudayri (a member of the Committee) told AlArabiya TV that he is [...]

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

Bin Laden and mini-Hariri reach an agreement: they agreed to appoint this guy (Usamah Ar-Rifa`i) Mufti of `Akkar. Bush administration hails the agreement.

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

“At least 914,000 Iraqis have fled their homes since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, more than a third of them since sectarian bloodshed increased early this year, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday.”

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

“Oriana Fallaci had described the pontiff as an ally in her campaign to rally Christians in Europe against what she saw as a Muslim crusade against the West. As she battled breast cancer last year, she had a private audience with Benedict, who was elected only a few months earlier, at the papal summer residence [...]

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

“The Bush administration has decided to end its funding of a groundbreaking program that has sought to curb the spread of HIV by offering subsidized circumcisions to men in Swaziland. A statement issued Thursday night by the U.S. Agency for International Development said that it had only recently learned of the program and that it [...]

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

“President Bush is reviewing Iraq strategy with top commanders for a second day in a row as election-season pressure increases to make dramatic changes amid deteriorating conditions.”

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

“Human Rights and the Legacy of Decolonization in the Middle East” (thanks Mouin)

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

Notice that Arab regimes of the Gulf are sending food and medical aid to Lebanon but don’t dare send anything to the Palestinians for fear of displeasing Bush.

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

Cotopaxi, 1862, F.E. Church.

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

Terrorist donkeys. Israeli commanders explain their defeat in Lebanon: it was the terrorist donkeys. “Lt. Col. Ishai Efroni, deputy commander of the Baram Brigade, had for months seen donkeys carrying sacks on the other side of the border.”

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad

“Just two days after Israel launched a punishing counterattack against Hezbollah this summer, Israeli military and diplomatic officials were deeply split over war strategy. On July 14, as Israeli aircraft prepared to bomb south Beirut, the research unit of Israel’s military intelligence branch presented a report to senior Israeli officials that questioned the war plan’s [...]

Posted on October 21, 2006 by As'ad