Archive for April 1, 2009
Lebanese newspaper, An-Nahar: their methods of sectarian agitation
The sectarian-Christian, right-wing, racist anti-Syrian (people), anti-Palestinian (people), newspaper, An-Nahar, which is witnessing its last waning days, is distressed because Michel `Awn has been criticizing Nayla Tuwayni, who is running for a parliamentary seat in Beirut in alliance with Samir Ja`ja` (Ga`ga` in Egyptian accent). So to discredit `Awn, the paper today linked his name [...]
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
The name is not simple, for the New York Times
The New York Times reviews books on their merits: “I also wish Saïd Sayrafiezadeh had a surname that is simpler to pronounce.”
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Focus
““Can you determine and report to this committee whether mosques have been entered by FBI agents or informants without disclosing their identities under the authority of the attorney general guidelines and, if so, how many?†Feingold asked. “I will say that we do not focus on institutions, we focus on individuals. And I will say [...]
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Dahlan: posing as a radical now
“A longtime Fatah leader says the organization has never recognized Israel’s right to exist. Mohammed Dahlan, the former Fatah security commander, made the remarks during an interview with a Palestinian Authority-controlled television station.”
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Israeli threats
“The ambassador, John Gunther Dean, writes that over the years he not only came under pressure from pro-Israeli groups and officials in Washington but also was the target of an Israeli-inspired assassination attempt in 1980 in Lebanon, where he had opened links to the Palestine Liberation Organization.” (thanks Nizar)
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Denial
“The American University in Cairo and the American embassy in Egypt denied Monday allegations that the university was receiving secret funding from the Pentagon after an Egyptian paper exploded the controversy in a press report.” Would the American embassy lie? Would any American embassy lie?
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
What the F. Is this??
Can the “staff” of the Daily Star explain this headline and this story for me: “Israeli soldier wounded in 2006 war out of hospital.” Who effing care? Why is this a story? This is like a story about Sharon moving his toe.
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
UN Reports: Depressed
“The vast majority of Palestinian youth are depressed, but do not believe that violence is helpful in resolving the Middle East conflict, said a UN report released on Tuesday. “More than 80 percent of young Palestinians are depressed and 47 percent identify themselves as Muslim rather than Palestinian,” the United Nations Development Programme report said. [...]
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Poverty
“Growing up poor isn’t merely hard on kids. It might also be bad for their brains. A long-term study of cognitive development in lower- and middle-class students found strong links between childhood poverty, physiological stress and adult memory.” (thanks Olivia)
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Wahhabi entertainment
The Saudi religious police arrests actors while shooting a TV serial. (thanks Saeed)
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
When Arab parliaments attend to business
“WITCHCRAFT and sorcery could soon be outlawed, following allegations that suspicious packages containing hair, nails and even blood are being shipped to Bahrain. Parliament yesterday voted in favour of making such activities criminal offences.” (thanks Fahad)
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Oligarchs
“Squeezing the oligarchs, though, is seldom the strategy of choice among emerging-market governments. Quite the contrary: at the outset of the crisis, the oligarchs are usually among the first to get extra help from the government, such as preferential access to foreign currency, or maybe a nice tax break, or—here’s a classic Kremlin bailout technique—the [...]
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Really?
“Nevertheless, Israel is not innocent of serious mistakes in its attitude toward the population of East Jerusalem in general, and regarding the issue of illegal construction in particular. The gaps in services and infrastructure between the Jewish and Arab parts of the city – sometimes by thousands of percentage points – cry out to the [...]
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Of course: they want Mo’ Money
“In interviews with 14 leaders of the Awakening movement, which has been credited with helping to reduce violence, all said they believed that the jihadi presence in their areas had increased.“
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Awakening movements
I like this definition of the Iraqi Awakening movements: “…on members of the Awakening movement, some of them former insurgents who switched sides for pay…”
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Flawed democracies
Flawed democracies (thanks Terry)
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Aristrocratic but not elitist
“He believes in aristocratic – though not, he insists, elitist – values: elegance of manner and mind, grace under pressure, which is why you must shave before being executed. He believes in the Mediterranean way of talking and listening.”
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Lebanon’s pride
Lebanon is very proud of its production of pirated CDs, software, games, and DVDs. (As-Safir)
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
A nice story
I never report nice stories. Here is one.
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad
Saudi fables
“These disgraceful episodes are preludes to understanding what has happened to Mrs. Jane Rodway. She and her husband Christopher, an engineer, were once living and working in Riyadh. One day in November 2000 they drove to a garden centre. A bomb had been set under their car, and its explosion killed Mr. Rodway and concussed [...]
Posted on April 1, 2009 by As'ad