Archive for October 8, 2009
General: what do you teach the natives?
“Defense officials said that Adm. Harward and his deputy, Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, will work to implement practices first honed in Iraq that try to rehabilitate detainees by teaching them moderate Islam, literacy and vocational skills.” (thanks Guthman)
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
The courage of the Fath Movement
Flash. The Central Committee of the Fath Movement has called for a general strike on Friday in solidarity with Jerusalem. The only thing is that Friday is a holiday anyway.
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
sexual rights
“And at other times it came as a direct political demand such as in Zeina Zaatari’s speech for the inclusion of sexual rights in our feminist discourse. The issue was also raised by members of the Feminist Collective who asked about queer issues in r…
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
Arab Feminism
A report on the conference of Arab Feminism at AUB. (thanks Zeina)
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
The King Abdullah Univ of Wahhabi science
Syrian students are prohibited from using the Shahin super-computer due to a US ban. (thanks Hisahm)
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
US really hearts House of Saud: it is almost sweet
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs Prince Muhammad bin Nayef today concluded a three-day visit to the United States. Prince Muhammad met with senior U.S. officials, including President Barack Obama.” As i…
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
Hamas will come to the rescue of Abu Mazen
Did I not tell you? Hamas will come to the rescue of Fath in return for few political perks.
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
Neither Fath, nor Hamas
Hamas is predictable. Whenever they do something stupid, you know that they will soon do something even more stupid. “The Hamas government has banned motorcycle riders from carrying women on the back seat — the latest in the militants’ virtue campa…
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
The Bride Who Crawled Through a Tunnel
“That meant that if the couple were going to marry, it would have to be May who left the West Bank. She and her mother took a shared taxi to Jordan and then travelled on to Egypt. She then had to bid her mother farewell at the Egyptian side of the bord…
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
Not an option
“But that wasn’t what the FBI had in mind, Farahi says. The agents wanted him to become a secret informant who would investigate specific people. And they knew Farahi was in a vulnerable position. His student visa had expired, and he had asked the gove…
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
Oh, please. Spare me the tears
“”I never expected we’d come to this point,” said Shama, the head of the Sadr City District Council. “The U.S. Army and the U.S. Embassy have abandoned us. After six years of very hard work, we’re worthless. They call us agents, spies for the Americans.”"
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
Ramadan TV Serials
My sister Mirvat followed closely the Ramadan TV serials. She reported to me that she was pleasantly impressed with the heavy anti-Israel messages in many of them (including the Egyptian ones).
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
Orwellian sons of…Zayid
“Within a year, the United Arab Emirates will become the first country to begin building a national DNA database of all residents, the Abu Dhabi-based National newspaper reported today…Authorities say the program will help solve and prevent crimes, b…
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
Tyre: against the clerical kooks
People in Tyre are still outraged at the decision by clerical kooks (of Amal and Hizbullah) to ban a Brazilian dance troupe from performing in the streets of the city. Here, Malak Khalid (a leftist from Tyre), explains a few things to the clerical kooks.
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
A PA Minister: who hearts Qatar
Comrade Joseph sent me this (I cite with his permission): “Bassem khoury the PA minister who resigned referred to the report this morning on Al-Jazeera as teh “Goldstein report”! He also spent some time defending the owning of the telephone company sa…
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
French culture
“The French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand is facing intense pressure over a book he wrote which said he paid for sex with “young boys” in Thailand.” (thanks Amer)
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad
AlJazeera not for sale
“Egyptian-born Jewish businessman Haim Saban is negotiating with Qatar’s emir the purchase of 50 percent of the Al Jazeera television network, the independent Egyptian newspaper Al-Mesryoon reported earlier this week.” I don’t buy this. This fanatiz …
Posted on October 8, 2009 by As'ad