Archive for September 11, 2009
Bullhorn of the Prince
My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: “Bullhorn of the Prince: the Sojourn of a Lebanese journalist”
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Israel bombs AbuKhalil lands
The Israeli terrorist state today shelled the sahl of Qulaylah: the village east of Tyre where most of the AbuKhalil’s are from and where most reside. My father is buried there. Israel has been bombing the area for decades–literally, as Joe Biden w…
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Revolution Airport: Ghassan Kanafani and Wadi` Haddad
When I received the new book, “Revolution Airport: In the Shadow of Ghassan Kanafani” [in Arabic] by `Adnan Badr, yesterday I knew that it was the book that you could not put down until you complete it. I finished it yesterday and it is written by a p…
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Banning eating in Ramadan
Egyptian official confirms that banning public eating during Ramadan is now the law of the land. (thanks Hossam)
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Obama’s smart power
“”We also expect that the strong defense trade relationship with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries will continue,” Shapiro said. Such partnerships are essential to address shared security concerns and to Secretary of State Hil…
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Saudi Arabia’s “reforms”
“”The anti-terrorism measures introduced since 2001 have set back the process of limited human rights reform in Saudi Arabia,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. “Combined with severe rep…
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Trivial Feminism in Lebanon: Kheda (Hariri) Kasra
The Hariri family now is feigning feminism. This is as absurd as George W. Bush feigning Leftism. Look at this video. This is part of a campaign by Rafiq Hariri’s sister, Bahiyyah. Back in 2000, I talked to Bahiyyah Hariri for 2 hours on women’s is…
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Speaking (and reading) skills of mini-Hariri
Hicham did a statistical study of the reading skills of Mini-Hariri. He sent me this: ” .hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana } i counted the number of words Saad read off of one page when he e…
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Saudi ban
Saudi religious authorities admit that they banned educational pamphlets on swine flu because they contained pictures of “those with spirits.” (thanks Laui)
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
King of Kings
Qadhdhafi–the self-designated king of all kings of Africa–talks to the kings and princes of Africa. (thanks Michel)
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Converted to Islam
Saudi media are celebrating: they claim that 660 Chinese workers in the kingdom have converted to Islam. They insist that the conversion were entirely voluntary, with a minimal use of electrocution of genitals, flogging, and regular beatings with stic…
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Good economic news
“The total value of Harvard’s endowment plunged nearly 30 percent in the last fiscal year as the Ivy League institution’s portfolio was battered by the worldwide recession, the university’s management company said Thursday.”
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Poverty and wealth in Lebanon
Comrade Rami on poverty and wealth (and the kooky Finance Minister) in Lebanon.
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
This is way too emotional for you to read: be careful
Saudi King announced that he will spend the last 10 days of Ramadan near the Ka`bah. As for the 10 days after Ramadan, he said that he will spend them next to the IKEA store in Saudi Arabia. If this is not piety, there is no piety on earth.
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad
Leave it to a Lebanese
A Lebanese-American now claims that he could have prevented 9-11. He said that had he lived early in the 20th century, he also could have prevented WWI: “”A lot of the cases after 9/11 were manufactured or enormously exaggerated and were announced wi…
Posted on September 11, 2009 by As'ad