Archive for March 30, 2007
A rare wise statement by a US Senator: ““Iraq belongs to the 25 million Iraqis who live there. It doesn’t belong to the United States. Iraq is not a prize to be won or lost.—
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
American occupation soldiers raided their homes, so…they asked to have their pictures taken with them. (Well, they have been quoted by Bush to the effect that he is “making progress” in Iraq). (thanks Amina)
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“To avoid the closing of borders, UNHCR would set up camps in Jordan, Syria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, effectively separating the refugees from the local population and economy, he said. Nouicer did not say how much of an increase in the number of refugees would prompt construction of the camps. Thousands are leaving Iraq daily.” [...]
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“Mr. Nusseibeh is really an Israeli dream.” Who can disagree with that? But then Bonner says: “Such refreshing self-deprecation — rare in Arab public writing…” How would you know when you don’t know Arabic? Or did you hear that on good authority?
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
Mr. Hariri Propagandist: The Tale of the Kind Billionaire who allowed his bodyguard to kiss his hand. I finished reading Nicholas Blanford’s Killing Mr. Lebanon. I am reviewing a couple of books on Lebanon for an academic journal. Are you kidding me? When I finished reading it on the plane, I felt that I owe [...]
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“Mr. Ban said Thursday that Mr. Siniora told him it was politically too risky for him to allow an Israeli writer into the country now.”
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
I saw this picture in the New York Times and felt ashamed that I complained last week about the DVD player in my classroom. “A ramshackle, overcrowded school near Kindu exemplifies the problems Congo faces in building a functioning government.”
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“Except for a few brighter spots, the general trend from Morocco to the Persian Gulf has been towards a reinforcement of central control, a curtailing of public freedoms, and a fading of hopes for peaceful democratic change. Egypt itself, a country that is often seen as an Arab bell-wether, provides a useful example.”
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“It is now absurd to expect Iraq to serve as a democratic inspiration—it has done more to inspire jihad.”
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
Look at this. (Click to enlarge, NOW). So 62% of all Iraqis think that things now are either the same as under Saddam or (50%) think they are worse. Take your “liberation”…
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“In much of China, children in state care are given unusual surnames that clearly identify them as orphans. Common choices are Dang meaning “party†(the Communist one, naturally), or Guo meaning “country†or “stateâ€. Those saddled with these names face a lifetime of funny looks, or a bureaucratic quagmire trying to change them.”
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“N SECRET locations and using secret methods, human beings are scanning lots and lots of books for Google, the world’s largest web-search company. That humans are involved is beyond doubt (fingers are visible in the corners of many pages on books.google.com) although this is uncharacteristic of Google, which has a fetish for purist technology. Google [...]
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
Pork goes to war.
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
News about “draft laws” in the sovereign (and unoccupied) country of Iraq: “The draft, which was released by the U.S. Embassy early Tuesday….Alaa Makki, a Sunni lawmaker who said he had not seen the draft…”
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“Nun: John Paul II cured my Parkinson’s” (thanks Marc)
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
Where do they find those Arabs? When an Arab gets into Congress, or into a mainstream newspaper, lousy Arab and Muslim American organizations in DC find reason for celebration. Not me. Usually, I expect some token member on a rope. Look at this writer for the Washington Post from Saudi Arabia. “In his rare call [...]
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
Raghidah Dirgham is a courageous Lebanese journalist. No, she really is. I mean, she writes for a Saudi newspaper but she is not afraid to praise the House of Saud.
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“In the late 1940s, Walther (Walter) Rauff, an SS officer who was responsible for the murder of at least 100,000 people and was wanted by the Allies as a war criminal, was employed by the Israeli secret service. Instead of bringing him to justice it paid him for his services and helped him escape to [...]
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“Angry rhetoric in some Shiite Muslim mosques today blamed the United States for one of Iraq’s bloodiest days in months, a pair of bombings Thursday that killed more than 125 people in a Baghdad market and a town north of the capital.”
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad
“IDF widows’ organization blacklisted minority members”
Posted on March 30, 2007 by As'ad