You know Timmy,
if I had been in better shape, I could've outran the Romans.


Loads of amusing Jesus pictures with amazing captures at Mia: Shaken Not Stirred.

In Ramadan, Avoid the Anger Hour

According to this article, anger hour is between 5-6 PM during Ramadan. Says the police: "It's just crazy." Says the ambulance crew: "Unbelievable." Link , Hat-tip: Saudi Jeans

Scenes from a Saudi Mall

“We sat at the food court. A few minutes later, most of the employees at the mall came and sat there. They were chatting, smoking, and killing time, waiting for the prayer time to end so they can go back to their jobs.

Later, we heard some screams, and saw some guys running. "Oh, shit! It's the religious police. Run away!" my friend said. We jumped from our seats, looking for the nearest exit. We took the escalator, and had to leave the mall using the gates of the parking lot.”

- Blogger Saudi Jeans, out and about in his hometown.

Al-Azhar Boycotts US

Our Grand Imam Sheikh Tantawi who is known to the rest of the world for blessing suicide bombers has decided that the Sunni high-seat in Cairo, Al-Azhar, shall break all its relations with the U.S.

Why? The US Embassy in Cairo refused to give a co-Sheikh, the head of Al-Azhar’s Fatwa Committee, an entry visa, giving no reasons. Sheik-T had set up a lecture round in the U.S. for Sheikh-Fatwa; apparently the embassy officials, who procrastinated the visa application for weeks, decided his application falls in one or the other categories named ‘suspect terrorist endorser, avoid.’ Something like that. Can we blame them?

However, American diplomats are expected to apologize for the denial and eventually give Sheikh-Fatwa, whose name is Al-Atrash, the visa. But Sheik-T has already “decided not to send Al-Azhar scholars to the US in the future even if Washington granted them entry." Link

A Big Day in History

Yesterday, actually, but we shouldn’t miss the opportunity to remember some landmark events; personally I think it places our current affairs in a healthy perspective. Here we go, October 16:

1970: Anwar Sadat was elected president of Egypt, succeeding the late Gamal Abdel Nasser. 1984: Desmond Tutu was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of non-violent struggle for racial equality in South Africa. 1995: A vast throng of black men gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Million Man March led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. 2000: President Clinton launched a fresh effort to try to cool Middle East tensions at an emergency summit in Egypt that included Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as well as the leaders of Egypt and Jordan and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

And 1978: Cardinal Karol Wojtyla became the new pope; he took the name John Paul II. Also, in 1793, during the French Revolution, Queen Marie Antoinette was beheaded. Link

Today, October 17, has also witnessed some significant events in history: 1979: Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 1931: Al Capone was imprisoned. 1919: Radio Corporation of America was formed. And in 1973, the historical oil-embargo was launched by the Arab oil producing nations.  Link

Good News from Egypt

This NGO moved into one of the poorest neighborhoods in Giza. In just four crowded streets, 150 families are trying to get by. The target: find women from households with less than LE 400 per month (USD 70) and equip them with skills to get a job. The success: 50 women are employed and 24 more are trained to work from home. They earn around LE 200 per month; money needed for the family’s dinner table and school books. A key to the project is that it is also helping the women to find a job, even bargaining with employers. Women from other deprived neighborhoods have already come to ask if the project will be extended. Congratulations! Link

From Queen to Pharaoh

Some 300 objects from the period of one of this country’s strongest female personalities are christening the re-opening of San Francisco’s De Young museum. How I wish I would be there. Or that the exhibition would come to Egypt – we have plenty of antiquities here but when the art-world is pulling something like this together, it ought to be shared with the country of origin. Fair enough? We lend you some of the show’s signal objects; you show us what you’re doing with them and the other treasures that are scattered around the world?

Queen Pharaoh Hatchepsut ruled Egypt during almost 20 flourishing years. Her reign is marked by art, not war. She wore the attributes of a Pharaoh God; the nemes headscarf and royal beard – a clever move to keep control in a patriarchal society and court.

Shariah on the Soccer Field

Funny and related to my previous post today about Egypt’s Fatwa Crisis: There is even a Fatwa ruling the football game for Muslim players. Picks and pieces in the name of God, the merciful and benevolent:

Spit in the face, punish and reprimand him who puts the ball between the posts or uprights and then run to get his friends to follow him and hug him like players in America or France do.

Instead of crying ‘foul’ and stop the game if someone is hurt and instead of giving a yellow or red card to whoever was responsible; use Shariah rulings concerning broken bones and injuries.

Young crowds shouldn’t watch your game. If you are there for the sake of sports and strengthening your bodies, you should make them join your physical fitness and jihad preparation. Or say: "Go proselytize and seek out morally reprehensible acts in the markets and the press and leave us to our physical fitness."

Do not follow the heretics, the Jews, the Christians and especially evil America regarding the number of players. Do not play with 11 people. Instead, add to this number or decrease it.

Coloured shorts and numbered T-shirts are not Muslim clothing. Be aware of imitating heretical and Western clothing. Play in your regular clothes or pyjamas or something like that.

Play to strengthen the body in order to better struggle in the way of God on high and to prepare the body for when it is called to jihad. Soccer is not for passing time or the thrill of so-called victory.

Do not set the time of play at 45 minutes, which is the official time of the Jews, Christians and all the heretical and atheist countries. This is the time used by teams that have strayed from the righteous path.

Do not play in two halves. Rather play in one half or three halves in order to completely differentiate yourselves from the heretics, the polytheists, the corrupted and the disobedient.

And a Saudi daily has reported that a young athlete had joined the jihad in Iraq under the influence of a fatwa forbidding playing soccer by regular rules. Link

Schools Forcing Students to Fast

Girls in Jeddah’s primary schools are forced to fast. Their parents are angry as they believe that fasting is inappropriate and physically harmful to the health of their daughters. Teachers have been refusing girls to open their lunch-boxes. Drinking water during the hot days in school is not allowed. The good news: there is no general rule about fasting from the authorities, which instead are saying the decision should be made by the girls themselves. Good. Now tell the fanatic teachers. And don’t tell me they’re all from Egypt.

Egypt's Fatwa Crisis

Even our own Grand Mufti (no, he is not a fictional character created by J.K. Rowling) is so fed up with the soaring number of Fatwas in this country that he is calling for a supreme authority to handle the business alone: no impostors welcome, thank you very much. Based at Al-Azhar in the heart of Islamic Cairo, the Mufti is not only a power-seeking careerist; he rightly notices that when more Fatwas has been issued in the past decade than in the past 1,400 years, something is wrong.

And that is in this country alone. Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed says media is to blame. TV is just too popular and no one is checking the credits of lesser Muftis who are heading to the silver screen. As they are trying to outbid each other, it is no wonder we have Fatwas about every aspect of daily life today. Al-Rashed says these unruly Muftis are too popular; they can’t be controlled. The only alternative for the Grand Mufti is to set up a body for media to consult when selecting their religious experts

Yes! Let's have a religious ranking of our telly-muftis. And let the people vote with a sms-system like the one they use on pop music channels. How fun it would be to see the rolling banners on the screen: “love fatwas by mufti-abdallah; sms 4321; career-fatwas by mufti-hameda; sms 6789.”

Egypt Brought Russian Security to Gaza

One more Yom Kippur surprise for the Israeli’s: the Rafah border crossing to Gaza was opened on Oct. 13 to let in 15 Russian intelligence officers – a.k.a. military advisers – who will train Palestinian security forces.

Israpundit/Debkafile says this first Russian military presence in a Palestinian war zone represents a “flagrant Egyptian violation of its commitments under the new military protocols it signed with Israel to bar the Philadelphi border crossing to foreign military personnel.”

The report says Israel was floored by the news. Jerusalem had not been notified.  Egypt’s involvement is not doubted: “The Russian officers were flown in directly from Moscow to Cairo and then overland to the Egyptian side of Rafah where they were welcomed by Egyptian military intelligence officers.”

Russia has announced it will donate 55 armoured vehicles to the Palestinian police but Israel has so far opposed the move. Putin has also promised the PA 1,000 armoured personnel carriers. Russia will sell surface missiles with a believed range of 300 km, placing all of Israel in its range of the missile’s 480 kg warhead.

Israel TV reported Saturday that Egypt warned Israel that the Palestinians had smuggled longer-range Qassam rockets during the previous security hiatus on the border. Channel One noted that sharing this information was indicative of Egyptian cooperation.

Alexandria on Sectarian Fire

Only one major media outlet has so far reported on the 3,000 angry Muslim men vs. 200 police officers who were trying to protect a Coptic Christian congregation in Alexandria, but here is some news from the blogsphere:

The offensive play is two years old and is actually banned by the Coptic Church. Protesters who surrounded the Church of St. Gegris were distributing DVD’s with the play about a young Christian man who converts and reverts. Big Pharaoh says the social fabric has been torn apart and he doesn’t expect it to be mended in his lifetime – Egypt didn’t use to be this way. He is also putting the blame on the pastor who put on the play in his church. Unfair as that may be, this clergyman’s freedom of expression doesn’t seem to be appreciated in his Alexandrian neighborhood.

After a tabloid broke the story about the play, Muslims from a nearby mosque broke into the church, assaulted the priest and people in attendance and put the Church under siege. The Christians in the area fled after rampant terror on the streets, Sandmonkey is reporting, in additon to this: The local mosque fueled the fire; a leader used loudspeakers to urge more attacks on the Christians. So what is behind this? The very same Muslim leader almost lost in local elections against a Christian candidate from the same circuit.

So this is a new campaign tactic for the upcoming elections a’la the Muslim Brotherhood. Are we sure we want them back in our political living room? I'm sure we can find a few good reasons to have them banned forever.

Kill Nurses to Save Faces

On death-row in Libya: time is running out for the six foreigners in the country’s AIDS case. The five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor are accused of intentionally infecting more than 400 hospitalized Libyan children with the AIDS virus - in order to undermine the Libyan state. They were also charged with working for Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service. The nurses' final appeal is scheduled to be heard by the Libyan Supreme Court on Nov. 15.

Experts traveling to Libya have testified that the infection was caused by poor sanitary practices at the institutions. The nurses have testified that they were tortured. Bulgaria’s foreign minister says negotiations to secure their release are not going well. Libya says they want $10 million in compensation for each of the 420 children allegedly infected with AIDS. It would amount to 25 percent of Bulgaria’s GDP. A fair sum says Libya, because that’s what they agreed to pay the families of the victims killed by Libyan agents in the Lockerbie case.

Church Recommends Good Sex on Sundays

Not in Egypt, I’m afraid. But if you, in these times of religious celebrations, have thoughts about improving your record with the judge who is presiding on the final day, you may consider joining the Church of England.

Well, where else would a religious institution try to reclaim the Sabbath by advocating a favorite secular pass-time? It is after all the same nation that told the morally obsessed but morally corrupt Vatican to stay in their own miniature state – ages ago.

The Church says “it is more important than ever for people to find time for life’s spiritual dimension.” Good for them. And for their congregation. If they bother to show up at all on Sundays hereafter!

Top Jihadi Hair Stylist Arrested in Iraq

U.S forces in Iraq are breaking new grounds: the latest capture to reach the headlines is the Al-Qaeda’ most famous ‘barber.’ He is a master of hair-dyes; trimming facial hairs and introducing new cuts among the closest associates of Ossama Bin-Laden.

Good for Al-Qaeda! He may be the best but judging from the pictures of Al-Q operatives we have seen, his favoring of long beards and unruly hair-do’s was outdated already when the war started. With such appearance, they never stood a chance of winning the war. This is their golden moment to improve their public relations. And no one should have to die without a proper hair-cut. Not even in war. I’ll tell Kofi that next time he is around.

I Was Blind But Now I Can See

In Alexandria, 200 policemen had to keep some 3,000 demonstrators from entering and disrupting a controversial play staged in the Coptic St. Gergis church. The play “I was blind but now I can see,” features a student who is converting to Islam after promises of money and is threatened when he later wish to return to Christianity. Muslim leaders said the performance, which also was distributed on DVD’s, was offensive because it “tells you how Muslims are all terrorists and how they deceive Christians to convert to Islam either by force or money.

Palestinian Humor

"A friend sent me these self-deprecating jokes from the Muslim stand-up comic Goffaq Yussef," says Judith.

Good evening gentlemen, and get out, ladies.

On my flight to New York there must have been an Israeli in the bathroom the entire time. There was a sign on the door that said, "Occupied."

What do you say to a Muslim woman with two black eyes? Nothing! You told her twice already!

Did you hear about the Muslim strip club? It features full facial nudity!

Why do Palestinians find it convenient to live on the West Bank? Because it's just a stone's throw from Israel!

What does the sign say above the nursery in a Palestinian maternity ward? "Live ammunition."

A Palestinian girl says to her mommy: "After Abdul blows himself up, can I have his room?"

It is Ramadan, it is Christmas

For a holy month, Ramadan is not what it used to be, says Hassan Fattah in the IHT/NYT. "Once an ascetic month of fasting, prayer and reflection on God, Ramadan has gradually taken on the commercial trappings of Christmas and Hanukkah, straight from the hanging lights that festoon windows to the Ramadan greeting cards and Ramadan sales and advertising campaigns that have become the backbone of commerce for the month."

He is reporting from Dubai and it is nice to see that someone is noting the secular social changes in the region as well - it's not all about Islamization, you know. Of course, that is what makes the Islamists upset: the culture is 'westernized' and the 'west' is to blame for everything that isn't like it was. It is a reaction to changes they are not educated to understand. It is that simple - although it is a complex issue!

Forget the DishWasher - the DishMaker is here

Kitchentopia realized: instead of having to wash your dirty plates and cups you just put them back in the machine that made them for you - and get a new set made of the old ones. It is the MIT - of course - that has designed the DishMaker, the size of a regular dishwasher. It makes cups, bowls and plates out of acrylic wafers by ways of heating and pressing. And you don't need your own nuclear reactor to run it either - it uses a heating element of a toaster.

Pros: It holds 150 acrylic wafers so if your extended family are surprising you in time for dinner, you won't run out of dishes. Chefs can produce plates on demand.
Cons: Although the material is sterilized, it doesn't (yet) get rid of food grease that tend to settle in the plastic. (Yuck!)

Australia Abandons Camp Nauru

Actually I had forgotten all about them who were seeking a new life in Australia but were instead locked away in camps on remote islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Some 1,200 people, mostly Iraqis and Afghans were detained at Nauru in the past four years. Just 27 remain and 13 will soon fly to Australia. The country's PM says the method worked - without camp Nauru the country would still have a problem with illegal immigration.

Ruling Party Kicks One Third of its MP's

Egypt's National Democratic Party,NDP, that somehow manages to dominate the parliament after each and every election, has decided it is time to get rid of some of it's bench-warmers and will replace a third of its existing MP's before next month's elections. That is, 130 of its 388 members in the 444 seat parliament is not standing for re-election.

Finally a feature of our political system that we ought to export to other countries; say, Britain and France to begin with. Let them go!

In other pre-election news: the largest opposition force, the Muslim Brotherhood - banned from forming a political party - is urging its memembers to vote. This time they say, it will be a change. Also, the presidential contender Ayman Nour is having hard times in court; his request to get the judge changed was denied.

Brian Whitaker says what should be said about the current political situation in his 'The case for the opposition' from Tuesday's the Guardian.

Back from my Blogger Bug

Thanks to Jeff for pointing out in the comment forum to the most recent post that my site wasn't PINK any longer. Puh! I have been working in preview mode during the past hours because I'm trying to re-design the site. And although I occasionally look if there has been any movement on the site, like new comments, my view of the site is that of the new template. I would assume that your view is that of the old pink template - the current one we're watching now, in other words. I've came to trust Blogger that much that I didn't reload the site from the server just to check that everything is fine. Bad move!

If you're interested in knowing my side of what happened, read on, and avoid similar problems with your own blog. So, to get the code for a new Blogger template, you have to go to the settings / template page - as you know if you're on Blogger. When you pick the template, it is saved. To my knowledge, there is no other way to get the code. But, and here is the catch: after the new template has been saved, a message says you have to upload the site, or the index file, to see the changes. I swear, I did not. I can't be that tired or dumb. I'm usually not. But I did go into another settings area to see if I needed to turn a function off. I did not. If I had, I would have got another message telling me to upload the site or the index. End of story. I think a bug interpreted my move to leave the template area to another setting area as an upload. If not, I have to accept I'm clumsy and be more careful in the future.

Anyway, apologizes to Jeff and anybody else who missed the pink. There's a lot more pink coming soon. Promise!

Dutch Bans the Burka

Dutch unveil the toughest face in Europe with a ban on the burka
The 'time of cosy tea-drinking' with Muslims is over, says the minister who would ban the burka. She recently cancelled a meeting with Muslim leaders who refused to shake her hand because she was a woman. But she also admits it may be difficult to implement the suggested legislation. The solution is to prohibit the garments “in specific situations” on grounds of public safety. The ban is likely to be enforced in shops, public buildings, cinemas, train and bus stations and airports, as well as on trains and buses.

Dear Rich Arab...

... I want a divorce. Sure that would be a worthy cause? xx / ritzy

Why i-Pod, I Have Breasts

Musical breast implants: one boob could hold an MP3 player and the other the person's whole music collection. Yes; computer chips that store music could soon be built into the silicion pads.

And where is the volume control? 'Oh, sorry mam, was that your nipple only, I just wanted to make sure you can hear me.' And 'Hi Pam, is that a subwoofer in your breast?' But according to the inventors, the breast-player will be bluetoothed to a panel on the wrist.

There's more magic: the sensor can warn you about blood-pressure increases, diabetes and breast-cancer. Good. But does it really have to play Pavarotti too? I think I'll stick to the i-Pod in my pocket. It has a wood case.

Sad State of Litterature if this is Nobel

Michelle Malkin is pointing to the web site of the Nobel Prize winner for litterature, Harold Winter. She apologizes for the profanity. I don't care about his political opinions. But here is the Nobel laurates prose:

American Football / Hallelullah! / It works. / We blew the shit out of them. / We blew the shit right back up their own ass. / And out their fucking ears. / It works. / We blew the shit out of them. / They suffocated in their own shit! / Hallelullah. / Praise the Lord for all good things. / We blew them into fucking shit. They are eating it. / Praise the Lord for all good things. / We blew their balls into shards of dust, / Into shards of fucking dust. /We did it. / Now I want you to come over here and kiss me on the mouth.

Egyptian Women: Yes to Beating

In Egypt, 94 percent of women thought it was acceptable to be beaten, as did 91 percent in Zambia.

In Ethiopia between 94 and 91 percent of women between 15 and 49 years have been beaten and believe wife-beating is justified for at least one reason.

As many as 70 per cent of married women in India between the age of 15 and 49 are victims of beating, rape or coerced sex.

In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States, 40-70 percent of female murder victims were killed by their partners.

Each year more about 529,000 women die of pregnancy related causes that are mainly preventable.

Lack of access to contraceptives in the developing world results in 76 million unwanted pregnancies and an estimated 19 million unsafe abortions worldwide each year.

In some districts of India, 16 per cent of deaths during pregnancy were attributed to domestic violence.

Clinical studies, for example, in Hong Kong SAR, China and Uganda found that about 30 per cent of women who had abortions reported abuse as the main reason for terminating their pregnancies.

- The United Nation Population Found (UNFP) today released its State of World Population 2005 report.

The only "good news" I find is that "only" 34 percent of Egypt's women has been beaten by a spouse or a partner.

Mousa Not to Meet with Saddam

Arab Leauge Secretary General Amr Mousa has not solicited a meeting with Saddam Hussein during his upcoming visit to Iraq, his office said yesterday. Last week, Iraqi officials said Mousa was seeking Saddam's mediation to help curb the violence in the country.

Muslim Student Demonstration

Several thousand members of the Muslim Brotherhood student's association from all over Egypt assembled in the capital yesterday and demonstrated at Cairo University. Among the demands were political reforms, free elections to student unions and cheaper text-books. Sandmonkey has noted that the demonstration were "Islamic Style": the students marched in separate columns for men and women.

Police intervention: Seven student leaders were arrested, a police officer told AP. Late Tuesday, the organizers could not confirm this. Earlier in the day, they complained that the police had detained 100 students on their way to Cairo. A police officer said cars with students had been stopped and that the students were asked to return home but were not detained.

Top 72: Virgins, Skinheads or Raisins?

He is a laugh. You've got to love this Saudi blogger for sharing his thoughts about the notion of 72 virgins in heaven. "We are not great on self-criticism, he says," and mentions a few examples of television shows that caused outrage in his home country. One portrayed the Talibans in a negative light. Outrage! But how do you portray them positively? Another show tells the story of Arabs living in residential compounds in Saudi Arabia and their problem with the local hood: militant Islamists who want to blow them up so they can collect their rewards in heaven — 72 beautiful virgins.

The Religious Policeman’s interest in the 72 maidens began when he was a spotty adolescent. He has been looking for the right pages in the Quran ever since. By the time he started his quest, it was perhaps the closest one could get to pornography in the KSA. He never found it, because it is not in the Quran. It is in a Hadith – a witness report of what Mohammed said. “Bush's reported comments... God would tell me, George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did...” is also a Hadith. His theological speculations continue:

Firstly, are there 72 virgins for each male, or 72 virgins, period? ...There [are] an awful lot of men in Paradise and the number is rising.... if there are only 72 to go round everyone, then we're going to need some sort of queuing system... and we all take a numbered ticket, and wait in line. Our ticket says 18 billion and something, and the display says 3 billion and change, but not to worry, we've got eternity to play with.

But is it the other way around: 72 virgins for every male? “They all have their needs and desires, both emotional and physical. So how are you going to satisfy them? ... Let's say you spend a night with each? ... Ever kept your "significant other" waiting just 20 minutes?”

Now, this Religious Policeman never really believed in the virgins. “Do you expect... God is going to reward a terrorist bomber with some sort of sexual Disneyworld? “ Perhaps the description was wrong and it is instead “72 ex-convicts, just released after doing hard time for... sex and violence offenses. ...As our Jihadi is their only available option, they are going to make do with what they've got. ...Don't necessarily assume that it'll be ‘one at a time.’”

New: Yahoo Blog Search and Goo.glicio.us

A new beta service by Google is bookmarking selected pages from a search; it is similar to Del.icio.us but doesn't have the social factor of sharing - yet. To use it: Logg in to Google. From the search-result page, click "search history" in the top right corner - remember to select a site first. Yahoo!'s My Web 2,0 beta offers more services: you tell me if they're worth our attention!

Yesterday, Yahoo! launched a new blog search, sort of. It integrates in the news search and displays the results on the same page but in a box to the right. My instant test search resulted in posts by the big blogs that mentioned Egypt, most were out of date. But indeed, manaala.net appeared as well! That's a success for Egypt's humble blog community. I have just learned that Yahoo! have many new search features. Even a desktop search.

Oil-for-Food: French U.N. Diplomat Arrested

France's former U.N. ambassador has been taken into custody as part of an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing in the Iraq oil-for-food program, judicial officials said Tuesday. Jean-Bernard Merimee, 68, is suspected of having received kickbacks in the form of oil allocations from the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He was also a special adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan from 1999 to 2002.

Journalists, Bloggers, Men

Journalists are like men: they raise you to the skies and then suddenly they take you down. We are left alone. Hugging our tear-soaked pillows. They don’t love us. Hearts are picked at, egos are deflated. It hurts. Then one day we wake up and everything is colored again. We are back in our usual gears. It was a phase. And sometimes an experience we wish we never had to experience.

That is why we perhaps ought to be concerned about Baheyya’s blog who everybody are impressed by; not at least the editors at the local weekly Cairo Magazine. Well served. A lot of work has gone into her writing. Please keep her in the skies, permanently. Sandmonkey was mentioned as well; this time he was not pleased. For a site that is describing its writer as “an extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian, disgruntled Sandmonkey” and is asking everybody who doesn’t like it to “sod off,” I think the review portrayed what’s going on at the site fairly accurately. But I also understand why Sandmonkey is outraged (to the point where he is calling names): if you don’t share his kind of humor (I mostly do), you will not be entertained; might even call it bitchy.

Damned truthsayers! When you can send off an opinion in an instant, it is too easy that your blog is filling up with comments on everything you disapprove of. I am guilty of that crime too. As one of my favorite bloggers The Anchoress reminded us a few weeks ago: I wish those who are just complaining about everything would actually do something. The blogsphere eventually did; raising money for victims of the Katrina disaster, for example. So there is a good side to bloggers as well. Riding Sun’s “What is being done in our name” and Chrenkoff’s “Good News from Iraq, Afghanistan” are other examples of good-casting. Here in Egypt, bloggers raised money to families of the victims in Sharm El-Sheikh. Alaa and Manal are providing technology and know-how to bloggers. In addition, they use the Internet to rally people for their political cause.

Sandmonkey has of course a lot of positive things to say as well. And I love him for it. But by the end of the day, it was a review by a fellow writer; a person with an intellect, tastes, preferences and opinions. Reviews are supposed to reflect opinions. So that is not the problem. If reviews are unfair, discriminating, poorly researched, un-intelligent, biased, misses the target, lack substance – etc., that is another story. This review wasn’t any of that as far as I can tell. It reflected Sandmonkey’s blog ambience quite well. It didn’t tell of the excellent writing or positive spins or God-loving good-doing. But that’s not what the site is about. It says so in the masthead. And I like it for what it is: sometimes refreshing, at other times annoying. Just the way Sandmonkey wanted it to be.

Damn the truthsayers! And yes, we bloggers can be like journalists and men as well.

Finally, Sandmonkey is concerned about his security as an anonymous blogger and he has every right to be. Although, Cairo, in the last piece of this blogger-feature, says that compared to the situation in other Arab countries, Egyptian bloggers can count their lucky stars.

Update: It appears that Sandmonkey has removed his blogentry http://egyptiansandmonkey.blogspot.com/2005/10/i-have-been-reviewed.html

Jihadi vs. Jihadi

For the Jihadi's and Al-Zarqawi who is sensible to public opinion, the war in Iraq is not going that well. Too many Muslims are killed. By Muslims. This is a piece by Bernard Haykel in the NYT; this is Andrew's take.

Dream + Rich Arab = Reality

Dear Rich Arab, blogging doesn't support my lifestyle. Is there anything you can do? Is PayPal accepted? I have a button on my site. Love / ritzy
Rich Arabs blog

IDF: Al-Qaeda Bases in Sinai

IDF’s Intelligence Security Chief has told Israel’s government that Al-Qaeda recently took over a large area in the Sinai Peninsula. Mines around their new base signaled Egyptian security forces not to come near. He said the base was used for training terrorists and for preparing them to enter Gaza for further movement to Israel where they can perpetrate attacks.

Gen. Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash told the Israeli cabinet that Egypt is not taking actions against the terrorist cell because the country fears that a direct clash with Al-Qaeda will lead to more terror attack against Egypt. Daily Arutz Sheva says “Egypt cannot take massive military action in the demilitarized desert without Israeli permission - something it does not wish to request.”

Egypt denies the allegations. A security official said "we absolutely do not have bases for al-Qaeda in Sinai, we have repeatedly confirmed that. ’Since the beginning, we ruled out any relation for the executors of the attacks in [Taaba and Sharm El-Sheikh] with al-Qaida, but Israel continues to say that Osama Bin Laden’s organization exists in Egypt."

Egypt Bans Bird Imports to Stop Flu

In addition to banning the import of all live birds and tightening up quarantine controls at airports, the government has also cancelled the annual bird-hunting season to minimize contact between people and the migrant birds.

Ups! That's a hundred or so street vendors in Cairo who doesn't get the income from cooking quail at the sidewalks this season. The small birds are caught by nets on the coast of Sinai. Older people are recalling how Alexandria and Port Said was sometimes invaded by the little birds; apparently the men would net the birds as they were flying by the sidewalk cafeterias they were sitting in.

And yes indeed, it was the quail that according to the Bible and the Quran alleviated the hunger of the Israelites in Sinai:

The Israelites began to complain of deteriorating conditions, and God provided them with a steady diet of manna and quail. (Exodus 16:13-14)

O ye children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemy, and we made a covenant with you on the right side of Mount Sinai, and we sent down to you manna and quails, saying: “Eat of the good things we have provided for your sustenance, but commit no excess therein, lest My Wrath should justly descend on you: and those on whom descends My Wrath do perish indeed.” (Sura 20:80-81)

Arab League Seeks Peace via Saddam

A convoy of Arab League officials was attacked by gunmen in Baghdad on Monday, killing three policemen but leaving officials mostly unscathed. The delegates are in Iraq to help oversee Saturday’s referendum on a new constitution and to plan an upcoming visit by its secretary general, Egyptian Amr Moussa.

Speaking to BBC, Moussa said he fears Iraq is on the brink of civil war. He said there is no leadership in the country and the League would work to bring different groups together. Moussa has not visited Iraq since the 2003 U.S. led invasion.

Instead of actively seeking to help Iraq, the ex-foreign minister of Egypt has spent his time playing golf since he was ousted from his ministry. Does anyone think that the Arab League can do any good for Iraq? “I’d prefer they leave us alone or even kick us out of their league of corruption and tyranny,” says blogger Iraq – the Model:

I don’t know whose idea was it to invite the league into Iraq but it was a very dumb idea... this league can do nothing good for Iraq... Iraq now isn’t qualified to be a member of the league (in the league’s standards of qualifications; that’s being pan-Arab fascists ruled by a mentally retarded sociopath) and I hope we don’t get qualified at all.

Can anyone tell me how are we supposed to believe that the ones who caused the trouble in the first place have the intention to help solve it now? I don’t think the league is the least sad about the bad things happening in Iraq, I can picture them laughing and celebrating each and every death in Iraq and they keep pouring more doom and gloom into the scene as that is what they really want to see.

He also drops a bomb: Amr Moussa is allegedly going to visit Saddam Hussein in jail. His ‘solution for Iraq’ is to appease the terrorists by bringing Saddam back to a position of power! Quote:

Iraqi MP Jawad Al-Maliki the 2nd man in Jafari’s Dawa party, said that news has leaked telling that Mousa put paying Saddam Hussein a visit in his jail on the schedule of his visit to Iraq.

Al-Mailiki added that this visit to Saddam would aim at including Saddam and the Ba’ath in the “reconciliation” plan and Al-Maliki said that his block would probably be calling for a vote in the parliament to stop Mousa from coming to Iraq!!

While there’s no way to verify these claims I wouldn’t be shocked if it turned out to be true.

I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what Moussa really wants but I don’t think he has the guts to even try. Just picture the phone call from senior White House officials when they learn that Moussa has applied for a visitor’s day pass to Saddam’s prison!

Also from Iraq: Iraqi prosecutors have issued arrest warrants against five ministers from the US-backed government of the former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi over the misappropriation of military procurement funds. About $1 billion were spent on overpriced deals for poor quality weapons and military hardware in order to launder cash...

Related: Al-Jazeeras reporter in Spain was found guilty on charges of terrorism; seven years in jail for joining a terrorist cell and facilitate laundring of money.

Rafah Border Open, Egypt Firing

Egyptian security forces shot and wounded an Israeli suspected of trying to cross the Gaza-Rafah border illegaly with smuggled goods. Israel Radio said the wounded man, an Isreali Arab citizen, had been shot by Israelie troops in the back. Link
The crossing was opened for 24 hours today for an estimated 5,000 pilgrims wishing to pass through Sinai to reach the holy city of Mecca. Link

Imam Outraged by Mohammed Sketches

In the kingdom of Denmark, a Muslim cleric is causing a stir by demanding revenge by the 'righteous sword of the Prophet" for sketches of Mohamed published by a daily newspaper. Although his words doesn't mean more than that we will all be judged by God, he doesn't make it easier for him by choosing this kind of language. Yet, we have no reason to blame him. That a national paper chose to print depictions of Mohamed in spite of common knowledge that it is sacrilegious to Islam is outrageous. It is so wrong. The editor of the paper ought to print an apologize immediately. Not only to the Muslim community in Denmark, but to all people in the country for this intolerant move and lack of respect. Link (Respect isn't a keyword for that site either who have no qualms about publishing sacrilegious images of any kind).

Unicef Smurficide

Children i Belgium are in chock after having witnessed an entire Smurf village beingh annilihated by warplanes. Broadcast on the main evening news, the 25 second advertisement by Unicef (=UN+Children+Care) shows tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from bombs, before being felled by blast waves and explosions. The final message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children." Link

I say: that's a cruel way of getting the message through. Killing Smurfs? Outrage!

Male Victim of Honor Stabbing

There is equality, after all. Sort of. A Muslim student was stabbed 46 times. Horrible as that is, the father of the victim's girlfriend had actually ordered the attacker, his son, to kill the man who brought shame and dishonour on his family. This happened in Britain. The victim is Iranian. His pregnant girlfriend's family is from Bangladesh. via Judith

Churches Preach on "Porn Sunday"

If the Americans can have a National Porn Sunday" to combat smut, why can't we have a "National Porn Friday"? Let's even send some bearded imams to the KSA - polls do tend to show that they're into it on the net more than any other nation. Headline: Egyptian Imams led prayers in Mekka on "National Porn Friday." Or: "Havoc in the streets when religious youth felt they didn't get what they came for."

USA: Bombs at Georgia Tech

Three explosive devices found in a courtyard between two Georgia Tech dormitories on the East Campus Monday morning were part of a "terrorist act," an Atlanta police official said.
One of the devices exploded, injuring the custodian who found them inside a plastic bag. Two others were detonated by a bomb squad.

"It is a terrorist act at this point and depending on the outcome of the investigation it potentially could become a federal violation as well," said Major C.W. Moss of the Atlanta Police Department.

Under Georgia state law, a terroristic act is described as the release of a "hazardous substance," specifically for "the purpose of causing the evacuation of a building" with "reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror."

The custodian found the three devices about 9 a.m. in a plastic-type garbage bag, Moss said. When he picked up the bag, one exploded, as it was designed to do when handled. The explosives were made up of chemicals placed inside plastic bottles and could have seriously injured someone, officials said. Numerous agencies were on the Georgia Tech campus to search for suspects.

Link via Michelle Malkin - follow her updates.

Blogfun: Testing how Backlink Displays

Edit: DONE & OVER -- thanks for your patience! / ritzy

A reason for testing different templates is to see how it handles the new backlink feature. So far I have republished my blog with three different templates and the backlink feature is behaving somewhat differently in each. In the template I'm using right now for example, it is listed in the comment box on the post page but have a different font-size. Not a big bug - but an ugly one! I'll keep this template until tomorrow so if you're interested, have a look at the postpage I am refering too.

A Little Test

Temporarily Test! During the next couple of hours I'll try a few templates to see what kind of redesign I will decide on eventually. And to get that to work the template has to be uploaded, a preview in the control area only shows the front page and I would like to know how a few things works and looks on archive and post pages as well. So be prepared for my first plastic surgery and do come back often, I have a few goodies in the pocket that I'd like to show!

New Probe of Khufu Pyramid Shafts

Zahi Hawass is doing it again: another robot will be sent in to the great pyramid of Khufu (a.k.a Cheops) to reveal what is behind the mystery shafts. Maybe, maybe there is a chance that there is another burial chamber. Maybe Khufu's mummy is still in the pyramid while he is enjoying eternity, as gods should do. Hawass, the director of the antiquities department, is making the right decision: even if there is only the slightest chance, why not try it? And finding Khufu will make him an immortal too; at least in the world of archaeology. But what about Khufu who built a 145 metre high grave to protect his right to rest in peace? Of course he couldn't have anticipated specially designed robots from Singapore. And perhaps the old wrap was stolen a long time ago. We'll see, eventually we'll know. Until then, let's be excited!

Confessions of a Human Bomb

From Palestine comes this lengthy letter that is supposed to be from a soon-to-be volunteer suicide bomber. I doubt. One of the first arguments the writer is tackling is the notion that suicide bombers does it for the virgins in heaven (pst! it's raisins, not virgins, haven't you read the latest translations?!) and I can't relate to any live people I met who actually think that is a serious issue for anyone, most times it is spoken about it's with sarcasm. My second doubt is because the letter is not personal, although (in my eyes) it pretends to be. "I always wanted to be a doctor..." - well, how about the real issues you must be thinking about if you're gonna blow yourself and a bunch of other people in the air? Third, the letter is loaded with references to the Quran and the prophet that we have seen many times before. I'm not reading a letter from someone who is really writing about her personal religious concerns in the face of what she is about to do (rather; says she will do). Prove me wrong but what I read is a write up from someone who wants to convince young people to become suicide bombers and is using well-known passages from the Quran to legitimize the action. If that's true... whatever, let's pray for the author too.

Qatari Hit and Fly Prince Arrested

A Qatari prince who outraged Egypt after killing five people and injuring ten in an illegal car-race has been arrested in his home country to which he escaped moments after the crash. Read: Al-Jazeera’s article; Big Pharaoh’s take on the accident.

Corpse for Porn Site Operator Arrested

He is an American ex-cop living in Polk County, Florida. Here is his mug-shot. Christopher Michael Wilson, who mixed pictures of “cooked Iraqi” soldiers on his site with sexual pornography, was arrested on Friday. Read about the site here.

But the charges are unrelated to the images of corpses from Afghanistan and Iraq, which Wilson encouraged troops to post to his site in exchange for free pornography. Wilson faces one count of wholesale distribution of obscene material and 300 misdemeanor charges relating to the Web site and pornographic photos. He is being held in jail under a $151,000 bond. "In my 33 years of law enforcement experience, this is one of the most horrific examples of filthy, obscene materials we have ever seized," said the Sheriff.

Investigators have removed computers from Wilson's home. They will be looking for customer lists and other documents to assist the investigation. An army investigation into the images of corpses was dropped. The Pentagon has said it found no evidence any of the photos were posted by soldiers.

Wilson's lawyer questioned the motivations behind the prosecution, noting that there may be hundreds of thousands of Web sites with explicit material. He said it is the army that has most to gain from this investigation. The Sheriff said prosecutors will make available any information that army investigators might need. h/t: Jami

The story was first brought to media’s attention by bloggers in mid-August. The Orlando Sentinel says the charges are likely to reignite the debate about obscene material in the Internet age.

Apologizes to Firefox Users Called For

Ups... just discovered that my site is not a site anymore in the Firefox browser. That's something I didn't note when I finished installing the code for Backlink today. It works fine in Internet Explorer (6) and Opera (8), at least on my side. But there is obviously something wrong and I apologize to Firefox users. Even more because I am not going to sort it out tonight - simply because this time I ought to learn some html and css before I start. {smile} I know Mozilla users don't willingly start IE (but I can't see why) but please do it for me, until I get this right! There's another issue with Firefox I ought to mention again: many blogs, including my own, doesn't re-load without clearing the cache. Sure, due to bad site coding, but Opera and IE overcomes that... Sorry.

Alternative Notes

Jeremy Clarkson always makes me laugh and here is how he got seduced by 'the bearded airways' - not bad considering the love of British Airways he was coming from:

Unfortunately, it’s hard to find fault with something you love. And, strangely, one of the things I’ve loved most of all over the years is club class on British Airways. I love the way that when you’ve finished working in some godforsaken Third World fleapit you’re welcomed on board by a homosexual in grey flannel trousers and you think: “Aaaah. We haven’t even taken off but I’m home already.”

I love their scones and clotted cream. I love the way they have back-up planes for when yours goes wrong. And I love the calmness of their pilots, all of whom have abbreviated Christian names and reassuring three-syllable surnames. “Welcome on board, ladies and gentlemen. Mike Richardson here on the flight deck . . .”

TE Lawrence: Action man -- since I always loved the classic movie about him (Peter O'Toole!) and I so many times so much enjoyed reading his book Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The prose is as brilliant as the story. It was the Shaw's who taught him how to use the semicolon; (my favorite punctuation mark!) and this FT story is asking whatever happened to it -- most of the piece is unfortunately now for subscribers only, search the blogsphere if you want to read more. Anyway, the link at the beginning of this paragraph is to an article about Lawrence; it is now seventy years since he died (I might have to watch the movie again tonight) and there is an exhibition about him in London. And no, I myself will not debate over his genuine ambitions for the Arab world vs. sell-out, I prefer to keep the ambience of the movie.

Saddam's Palaces Looted Again!

His white-walled 12 bedroom villa in 'Billionaire’s Hill' overlooking Cannes and another luxury property on the French Riviera were looted when former Iraqi intelligence officers carted of with all its furnishings. Now, skinhead squatters are the new masters of the house. French as they are, they couldn't resist the temptation of re-decoration: spray painting slogans in various colours on the walls, for example. Setting fire to left-behind cupboards is another favorite activity. Pity, says the neighbours, who get to see the bonfire on the rich Arab's hill during weekends. Still, perhaps that is better than having the rapist and killer Uday throwing garden parties in the summers. The butcher of Baghdad himself never visited the property that was purchased in 1982. Quote:

The dictator’s interest in the property probably dates from a visit he made to Provence in 1975, with President Jacques Chirac, then French prime minister. Saddam reciprocated by offering Chirac a banquet of barbecued Iraqi carp.

The visit resulted in a bonanza for French business, including a deal worth £3 billion to supply Iraq with a nuclear reactor. It ended up being destroyed in a bombing raid by the Israelis in 1986.

Awaiting trial and a public hanging in Baghdad, Saddam says he is in good spirits and will be acquitted of all the charges laid against him. He says he is still the legitimate a ruler and that a foreign army came and deposed him. Apparently, a nation engaged in constitution drafting and elections are not good enough for him -which sounds very familiar to the arguments voiced by the anti-Bush-league these days.

Condi the Hillary Killer

Politically speaking, that is. As Hillary cruises to victory in her re-election bid for her US Senate seat next year, she will launch a formal bid for the White House. Who is better to stop her than the US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice? She says she will not run, but that may be a strategy. Rice is an antidote to the “history” factor — Clinton’s historic quest to become the first woman president. And she is black. Her name is routinely included in polling for the 2008 election. She would add glamour and intellectual weight to the office. Can you say that about Mrs. Clinton? That said (and I have said this before), the question is if the Americans can resist another set of episodes of the Clinton's White House drama? You tell me. This blogg was pro-Condi when it started and still is. Link

A Glossy Muslim Lifestyle

This Catholic girl adopted the white hijab when she was 17 and converted to Islam and agreed to an arranged marriage. Now at 34, she has launched the first successful Muslim lifestyle magazine in the U.K. - targeting the non-muslim market as well. The titel is Emel (hope) and the editor says “A Muslim is depicted as someone who wears this and eats that. We’re offering a window into Muslim communities, away from the clichés.” The glossy monthly is distributed in 30 countries. Says the Times: "With a mixture of fashion, food, polemical commentaries, travel, gardening and design, its layout is striking and the content absorbing. The message is that there is more to Muslim communities than religious dogma and politics."

22 Additional Earth Quakes in Pakistan

Look at this list to see how the earth quake has been measured at 22 additional points in Pakistan (plus one in Indonesia) in less than 24 hours; all instances are around the magnitude 5 mark; several well above; one at 6.2 mag.; no one bigger than the 7.6 mag. quake that first hit Pakistan at 03:50 UTC on Saturday (8:50 am local time). And here is a map with the 169 current (sic!) earth quakes.

And here is the backgrounder: Earthquakes in this area is caused by the movements of the Indian subcontinent. It is moving northward at a rate of about 40 mm per year and is colliding with the Eurasian continet. The collission is causing uplift; that produces the highest mountain peaks in the world. These include the Himalayan, the Karakoram, the Pamir and the Hindu Kush ranges.

Pakistan Earth Quake: 18,000 Dead

That is in addition to 41,000 injured. Let's pray for the people in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan; that those of you who have friends and relatives in the disaster struck areas are well. Finally, a quiet prayer that the Mullah's know better than trying to score political points on this catastrophe as well. God Bless.

Introducing Backlinks

'Links to this post' is Bloggers latest feature and you can see it at the bottom of this message next to the comment's link. In theory, sites that are linking to this post (via the permalink URL) will be displayed together with the comments when we press such a link. In practice, the links that will appear are only from sites that are searched by and indexed by Google. Since Google doesn't crawl blogs very often there will be a delay before the link appears. And since bloggers are used to work in real time, that is a problem.

Then again, not even the excellent Technorati pick up links instantly; they suffer from delays as well, presumably it is difficult to catch up with all the new blogs that appear on the Internet every second. On the other side, Trackback, such as provided by Haloscan and used on this blog, works in an instant. That is, when it works. All too often a ping is returned with an error message. Typically, 'you are pinging too fast.' Eh? Pinging my links to two sites within ten minutes is too fast? Another drawback is that it is not 'automatic,' filling in the ping forms is a pain and it takes time. Perhaps that's why this site haven't received a ping in several months? {smile}

Anyway, we are bloggers and we're growing with the technology and the technology is growing with us, so let's give it a go. My Backlink is installed and when I've tweaked everything I'll post a few URL's with Backlinks if you want to see how the results are displayed. To learn more, visit Blogger's Buzz. Unless you have changed your template very recently, you'll have to add the code manually. The help article has a link of how to do it, but it didn't work very well for me. I sent off a message and a few hours later this night the article was taken down, the link now says 'not yet written.' Perhaps too many bloggers sounded an alert. I bet they are working on it!

When you have installed the code, remember to republish the whole blog. Unfortunately, I got stuck with the August archive again so I had to switch over to the weekly archiving; it works but doesn't look good. Keep an eye on A Consuming Experience (Improbulus) also; she will be the first with the how-to on the latest, as always! (She will also tell you how to index your site on Google sitemaps, without the headaches).

Nuclear Peace Prize

Tens of thousands of Iranians demonstrated hours before IAEA was awarded the ultimate peace prize for opposing the spread of nuclear arms. “Nuclear science is our right;” “Death to America, death to Israel and death to Great Britain,” chanted demonstrators gathered after Friday prayers. [Iranmania]

U.N. inspections could stop said Iran’s FM on state TV, unless the IAEA changes its resolution passed last month that is warning Iran it could be referred to the Security Council unless it allayed fears about its nuclear program. [Guardian]

In no other Nobel category could the prize go to someone who accomplished precisely nothing. You can't win for Physics just because you tried — really, really hard, mind you — to achieve cold fusion. Even Literature laureates have to write something. [Riding Sun]

Bookmaker Ladbrokes list of likely winners were topped by Finland’s former president, Martti Ahtisaari. His efforts to broker a peace deal in Indonesia have made him a three-to-one favorite. Rock singer Bono had eight-to-one odds. President Bush and Prime Minister Blair were at 500-to-one. [AP]

But why did not Mahatma Gandhi win? His omission has been criticized to the extent that later members of the Nobel committee publicly regretted it. When the Dalai Lama was awarded the prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi". Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, a few days before he was murdered in January 1948. [India Times]

Perhaps this tip gives a clue: for anyone aspiring to win the Nobel Peace Prize: visit Norway. In a curious mix of coincidence, luck and lobbying... Since 1990 alone, about half the laureates have visited Norway, won another Norwegian prize beforehand or had some other strong prior link to Norway. [Reuters]

Was the prize a critique of President Bush's administration, which tried, but ultimately failed, to remove him from his post for much of the last year? Nobel Prize officials denied this was a political statement and said ElBaradei had been a strong advocate for diplomacy while working to rid the world from the threat of nuclear weapons. [Slate]

While tasked with policing the spread of nuclear weapons, the IAEA is also responsible for spreading the very technologies and materials used to make nuclear weapons. However, in opposing the Iraq war and championing a nuclear free Middle East, ElBaradie has in recent years been a voice of sanity in the world of nuclear non-proliferation. [Greenpeace]

The prime mover in dismantling the most dangerous focii of nuclear weapons production was the Bush administration rather than the UN nuclear watchdog and its director. It was only after these episodes were successfully concluded that ElBaradei realized that Washington had drawn up new rules for the international nuclear game. He began cooperating in earnest with America’s effort to disarm North Korea. [Debka]

[Previous post]

Abused Popular TV-Host Escapes the KSA

It is now official: the popular Saudi TV talk show hostess Rania Al-Baz has escaped and is not going back to the KSA where she is not feeling safe any more.

Rania, who fled the KSA after a near-death assault by her husband (see her face photographed by her father) has described how she left the country hiding in a truck going to Bahrain, from where she continued her journey to Europe.

Earlier last week, she was prevented from flying out from the airport in Jeddah. She was going to Paris for a follow-up plastic surgery.

Rania was giving interviews from Paris last week but the issue has not been mentioned by Saudi media until now, which according to blogger The Religious Policeman means the government has approved the story.

Says the Guardian:

By the time she was in her early 20s, Rania al-Baz had become one of the best known and best loved faces in her home country of Saudi Arabia. As presenter of a programme called The Kingdom this Morning on state-owned television, her hair was always covered by a hijab, as is required, but her face remained uncovered, and she would choose headscarves of defiantly flamboyant colours to cover her immaculately styled hair.

...suddenly, on April 13 2004, Baz disappeared from the airwaves. When she emerged two weeks later, her face was all over the newspapers, but it was barely recognisable. Her husband had savagely assaulted her, slamming her face against the marble-tiled floor of their home until it suffered 13 fractures. He was disposing what he assumed to be her dead body when she showed signs of life and, panicking, took her to hospital, where doctors gave her only a 70% chance of survival.

...after she recovered, she decided to permit the photographs to be published, thus doing what no woman in the Kingdom had ever done. Of course, there was nothing particularly unusual about her bruises: Baz was a victim of one of the world's most common, and least punished crimes. But in Saudi Arabia especially, Baz had shattered a wall of silence about domestic violence.

Baz would also go on to divorce her husband - almost unheard of in Saudi Arabia, where divorce is invariably the other way round - and win custody of her children, again in defiance of precedent.

[Rania] adds, "none of this is about a religion, it is about society. What happened to me happens to women all over the world. But you can take what happens to women all over the world, and in Saudi Arabia, multiply it by ten.

"It is a society in which we have the worst of all worlds. We have a private, closed society according to the Bedouin tribal system, mixed with Givenchy and the invasion of technology from the west.”

Norwegian Dhimmitude Watch

Just a week after the piggy-debate in Britain, the Norwegians are showing that they are going down the same road. A teacher was told to take off the Star of David he was wearing around his neck. ”The Jewish symbol could be deemed a provocation towards the many Muslim students at the school.”

Since when should a Muslim object to any believer’s right to display symbols of his or her faith?

The teacher says it is a violation of his freedom of expression (it is) and that he is usually wearing the small (16 mm) star under his t-shirt anyway. He is not Jewish but explains that to him, the symbol is the oldest religious symbol. The school’s principal said the Star of David can also be interpreted as a political symbol for the state of Israel:

The Star of David would be a symbol for one side in what is perhaps the world’s most inflamed conflict at the moment. Many have a traumatic past that they have escaped and then we feel that if they are going to learn Norwegian then they can’t sit and at the same time be reminded of the things they have traveled from.

Sure, that is considerate of him but the teacher should still be allowed to wear his necklace, or for that sake, proclaim that he is Jewish if he would be inclined to do so. Why? Because it is one of the fundaments of secular democracies; you neither judge or discriminate people on grounds of religion; freedom of faith and expression goes hand in hand. For my part, I don’t sympathize with the argument that a Muslim woman’s hijab could be deemed offensive in European cities either.

‘Displays’ of religious faith can only bee deemed offensive by those who are not tolerant of other peoples beliefs, culture and opinions. See my previous post on V.S. Naipaul – and the discussion – here.

For the Norwegians, this incident would perhaps have been less controversial if the teacher was not employed at an education center for immigrants in a city with Christ’s name: Kristiansand. h/t: lgf

Bloggers Jailed for Anti-Islam Commenting

In Singapore, two Chinese bloggers has been jailed for racist comments against the minority Malay community. The judge said young Singaporeans "must realize that callous and reckless remarks on racial or religious subjects have the potential to cause social disorder, in whatever medium or forum they are expressed."

Lim Yew, an unemployed 25-year-old, had posted disparaging comments about Malays and Islam on an Internet forum for dog lovers in a discussion about whether taxis should refuse to carry uncaged pets out of consideration for Muslims, whose religion considers dogs unclean. He was sentenced to a fine of $2,969 and a nominal day in prison. Benjamin Koh Song Huat, 27, an animal shelter worker, was sentenced to one month in prison for advocating desecration of Islam’s holy site of Mecca. h/t: lgf

PS: The blog alert box in my side bar displays more news about bloggers around the world; it is from the Committee to Protect Bloggers.

Israel to Egypt: Stop Flow of Weapons

Israel said anti-tank rockets and shoulder-held missiles have reached Gaza through the Gaza-Egypt border since the Israeli pullout from the coastal territory last month. / Well surprise surprise, that's a month after Egypt's military security chief told members of the PA that this country would never stop its support to liberate all of Palestine. Apperently it's supposed to be done the sneaky way. Surprise surprise.

HTTP 404 Porn Not Found

A quick look will not hurt.

Google Feed Read, More Great Services

Google just announced a new feed-reader, available at Google labs or direct at reader.google.com. [h/t: BoingBoing]

Feedburner recently teamed up with Feedblitz, so if you have a Feedburner feed your readers can subscribe to your blog entries via e-mail. Read Improbulus analysis as well as the VIP answer she receives in the comment forum. Re. e-mail subscriptions, I mentioned a similar service from Blogflux the other day; my own e-mail casting service is subscribed to by clicking here. There is also a button in the sidebar.

Another new service CollaborativeRank was brought to my attention by Wired.com. Unlike a normal page rank search, this service is giving you results from Del.icio.us - the social book marking service where you can see what sites other people are tagging and what is most popular now. If you are an influential bookmarker, your favorite sites will appear more often in searches. At the time of writing, this site cannot be accessed - possibly due to the attention brought on by the recent Wired article. Further: Bloggrolling announced a shape-up today, including new servers and extended support - even a blog and a forum where we can communicate. I'm pleased; because it is a great idea but the service has suffered occasional hick-ups and almost no support. It is free and valuable.

And as I'm preaching Internet stuff in high gears already, let me tell you that my own first Hack that doesn't come with a manual from Blogger Help or Improbulus is now completed, and not. It's the Google Search Box I mentioned yesterday. It looks quite ok - see the sidebar - but the third radio-button I wanted for Blog Search just never worked... I'll pick it up later on. Some how. Last but not least, I really like Yahoo!'s instant search.

Times: ElBaradei has been a Failure

One of the first opinions on the Nobel peace prize 2005 that was awarded to ElBaradei and IAEA is delivered with a bang by the Times' foreign editor:

Giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Mohamed ElBaradei is a slap in the face for the United States. That was surely the motivation; it is hard to see any other reasons for the award to him, shared with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In the past eight years, they have failed to detect covert nuclear programmes in at least three countries - and failed to get diplomatic purchase on the problems when others have finally brought them to light. That does not amount to a contribution to world peace.

The single judgment which ElBaradei has got right in his eight years as Director-General of the IAEA is the one most provocative to the US: that Iraq, in 2003, had no significant nuclear programme. Cont.

Pet Ball Implants

Artificial replacement testicles for dogs - available in three sizes, and three degrees of firmness – was one of the inventions that secured the spoof lg Nobel prize for fringe scientists this year. Another prized achievement was the calculation of pressure when Penguins poop.

The spoof prizes, awarded by the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research, were presented yesterday at a ceremony where the winners were asked to explain their work in a minute or less.

Testimonials by pet owners who are caring for their castrated dogs on the Neuticles site say: "He's a guy and I wanted him to remain looking like one." "Neuticles were the absolute least I could do."

861 Prisoners Freed

As tradition has it, the president released 861 prisoners to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war on 6 October that year. Many of those freed had been convicted of evading military service. None were political prisoners. Egypt and Syria went to war with Israel during its celebration of the Jewish festival of Yom Kippur, in an attempt to reclaim land they had lost to the Israelis in the 1967 Six-Day War. They failed to regain these territories, and Egypt went on to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

/ Cosmetic kindness, that is. Thousands remain locked up for years for minor offences or no official charges at all, in addition to some 15,000 (or more) political prisoners.

Nobel Peace Prize to ElBaradei

One more Egyptian to frolic in the ranks of Nobel Laurates: Mohamed ElBaradei was awarded the 2005 peace prize, together with IAEA, the nuclear watchdog he is heading.

"I think the prize recognizes the number one danger we are facing today and that is the threat of proliferation of nuclear weapons."

The former Egyptian diplomat began a third term at the IAEA last month after the US withdrew its objections to his reappointment. Washington had complained that he was being "soft" on Iran.

It is the 111th peace prize to be awarded. In all categories, 721 men, 33 females and 18 organizations have been awarded the Nobel prize. Jean Paul Sartre is one of two who has declined the price. Adolf Hitler forbade three awardees to receive the prize; the Soviet Union one.

Former peace laureates include: Anwar El-Sadat and Menachem Begin, 1978; Yasser Arafat, 1994 together with Yitzhak Rabbin and Shimon Peres; Kofi Annan, 2001; Jimmy Carter, 2002 and Shirin Ebadi, 2003.

/ I am disappointed with the Norwegian Nobel Committee; ever since 2001 the obvious candidate is George W. Bush!

Python Pops after Swallowing Aligator

A 13-foot Burmese python in the Everglades National Park tried to swallow a six-foot alligator. Apparently, it was too big a bite. The python population was introduced in the Everglades by people dumping their pets.

The gory evidence of the latest gator-python encounter — the fourth documented in the past three years — was discovered and photographed last week by a helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher. The alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it. AP Boing Boing

The Muslim (?) Oklahoma Suicide Bomber

The Jawa Report, Michelle Malkin, Gateway Pundit and others are examining the case of the Oklahoma Suicide bomber and his connections to the local (ahem) mosque. Sabbah is skeptic: "They just can’t go to bed without having an Arab or a Muslim screws their dreams!!!"

Jihad Unspun!

Iraq’s Mujahideen Go On The Offensive
From shellings to spitting out more American hummers, there is no denying that Mujahideen operations against US forces have dramatically increased in the past 48 hours, leaving to speculation what is in store for the rest of the Holy month of Ramadan... (cont.)

That is from the disagreeable but interesting site Jihad Unspun - A Clear View of the US War on "Terrorism." Its news-section is frequently updated with "unspun" news, such as this item above. Follows:

"Here are some of the statements released yesterday by Al-Qaida in the Land of the Two Rivers and Jaish Ansar Al-Sunnah, published here uncut and uncensored..."

Al-Qaida Shells Crusaders In Mosul
In The Name Of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

O Allah! Make our shots hit their intended targets and fasten our feet firmly to the ground. Praise be to Allah, peace and prayer be upon our prophet, his family, and all his companions.

Your brothers from the military division in Al-Qaida in the Land of the Two Rivers, on Tuesday, Ramadan 1st 1426, (October 4th 2005), bombarded the old presidential place, the crusaders base, with nine 82mm mortar rounds, by the grace of Allah.

Allahu Akbar...Allahu Akbar... Glory is to Allah, His Prophet and Believers.

Military Division, Al-Qaida in the Land of the Two Rivers
Ramadan 2nd 1426 August 5th 2005

You might also want to check out the section "Osama Bin Laden From the Inside." It features interviews, statements and backrounds. - Everything a fan would ask for! If you like, you can also purchase the "Ossama Bin Laden Collector Edition" set of 3 DVD's, see the image above.

Egypt Warn Hamas Over Weapons

Egyptian mediators have warned Hamas that parliamentary elections set for Jan. 25 could be postponed if the Islamic militants don't abide by a truce, including a promise to keep their weapons at home, an official close to the talks said Thursday. Hamas, popular with voters and eager to claim a share of power, wants the election held on time. Egypt delivered the warning after deadly weekend fighting between Hamas and Palestinian police.

Current Hack: Google Search Box

I'm trying to add a search box to the site with the three options 1. Search the Web, 2. Search Miss Mabrouk, 3. Search Google Blog Search. As you can see at the bottom of the side panel under the heading "Current Hacks," I've been working on three different models. The first is a hack of Google Free service, with code from Newster.Net. The second and third are adjusted versions from Ask Dave Taylor. So far so good but I can't get the "Blog Search" feature to work: it will either take me to the blogsearch page and display other blogsearches, or it performs a normal sitesearch. The solution is probably very easy, but of course this lady geeka has no clue. If you've been thinking about getting a search box for your own site, give it a go! I'm posting the codes in the comment forum. Meanwhile, the Technorati site search I've had on this blog for ages really works really well! PS: Blogger spell check still doesn't recognize 'blog' or 'google.'

King Sends Cables

Thought it could be fun to see what Bahrain's News Agency is reporting about Egypt:

Manama, Oct. 6 (BNA) HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa sent cable of congratulations to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the occasion of sixth of October.

HM wished Mubarak continued health and further development and progress for the Egyptian people. HM hailed the leading role of Mubarak in boosting Arab and Islamic matters and his efforts in backing up the joint Arab work , praising the strong ties liking Bahrain and Egypt and their friendly peoples. HM also sent congratulatory cable to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on the occasion of sixth of October. HM wished Assad continued health and further development to Syrian people under the wise leadership of Al-Assad, hailing the strong relations linking both countries and their peoples.

Reminds me of those wonderful quiet Saudi television newscasts where the king is shown greeting visitors and talking to them but where talk and commentary is replaced by background music as if what was said during those meetings were above the viewers ability to comprehend.

To be fair to Bahrain, they also reported this:

Eighty Egyptian youth, who were arrested by the Italian police on attempt to infiltrate from Libya into the Italian territories, arrived at Cairo International Airport on Wednesday. The deportees were carried to Cairo aboard an Italian plane, escorted by 90 Italian officers. This is the second group to arrive at the airport which received 70 other youths who were deported from Malta yesterday.

Poor lads. Dreams of well-paid work abroad are crushed. Back home in time for Ramadan though.

Hosni vs. Hawas

A probe into reports about mysterious damage to a Pharaonic statue during restoration work at the Egyptian Museum was ordered by minister of culture Farouk Hosni on Tuesday, a few hours after the head of the antiquities department, Zahi Hawas had dismissed claims that a statue of Khafre had been found damaged in the museum basement.

Numerous artifacts have been vanishing from museums and archaeological sites around the country. A few weeks ago, officials announced the disappearance of three artifacts from the Egyptian Museum basement, which houses thousands of priceless treasures from different periods. Many other artifacts have also vanished from high-security sites around the country, some of them eventually traced to international antiquities dealers.

In early August a Cairo court sentenced seven Egyptians to jail terms of up to 55 years in the biggest antiquities smuggling case in the country's history. The prosecutions followed the seizure of a cache of more than 600 artifacts from the time of the Pharaohs at London's Heathrow airport.

Meanwhile, the Greco-Roman museum in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria has been closed and will remain so for two years to allow restoration work to proceed.

6 October: Sadat Died, War on Israel

6 October, 1981: President Sadat of Egypt has died after being shot by gunmen who opened fire as he watched an aerial display at a military parade. A number of other dignitaries including foreign diplomats were killed or seriously wounded. The Egyptian authorities have declared a state of emergency. President Sadat was attending the eighth anniversary of the Yom Kippur war with Israel as Field Marshal of the armed forces.

America has lost a great friend, the world has lost a great statesman, and mankind has lost a champion of peace.

- US President Ronald Reagan

6 October 1973: Arab states launch war on Israeli forces. Heavy fighting has erupted between Arab and Israeli forces along two fronts. The attacks have come on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, and the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Israel's Prime Minister, Mrs. Golda Meir, claimed in a radio address that heavy losses have been inflicted on both Egypt and Syria. But an Egyptian military communiqué has stated the Canal is now almost entirely under their control.

Look Like a Terrorist

Says Riding Sun: French label Anticon (anti-conservative?) is coming out with a new line of terrorist-inspired hoodies. Just zip the hood up over your face, and you're ready for action. Anticon claims (in French) that they'll be popular with "graffiti artists, ugly people, snowboarders, or simply superheroes". Says Michelle: The latest in French Fashion - Please tell me this is a joke.

Update: Says Nightlegend in the comment forum: Obviously not a joke, but actually those outfits doesn't look like terrorist clothes, they look more like the clothes worn by anti-war activists during the demonstrations!

Egyptians Third Happiest Population

The research, spanning 30 countries, asked respondents how satisfied they were with their overall quality of life. Australia topped the chart with 46 percent of its population saying they were ‘‘very happy’’, followed by the US (40 percent), Egypt (36 percent) and India (34 percent). The UK and Canada shared the fifth spot, with 32 percent claiming to be very happy.Topping the list of what makes people happy was good health, followed by financial security, home ownership, a happy marriage and children. Control over one’s life, an interesting job and leisure time also ranked high in the list. Material comforts such as luxury cars, nice clothes and gadgets, rated comparatively low.

Not Without My Cat

I just now found a new blog that gives me great joy: "Not Without My Cat" has been up since September and is the blogging home of Rani, a German girl who converted to Islam before she married her Saudi husband. You should read the full entries, let me just post some teaser-quotes:

A Good Fake Muslima
I gave it a chance, though, I've read the bible from the first page to the last, just to find out that it was definetely the most stupid, intolerant and narrowminded book I've ever read. It well explained the more embarrassing parts of European history.. In short, I really wasn't from the material you make pious people from. And I didn't become a Muslima because I suddenly became religious or wanted to be pious. Actually, I only became a Muslima because my husband asked me to. ... As my husband once pointed out, if America would have been conquered by Arabs the natives would nowadays run around in thobes and go to the mosque at friday. ... And so I became a Muslima. It wasn't really difficult, it didn't even require me to lie. There are actually only two little things that you have to agree with... What really struck me as weird was that no-one from the family that so vehemently insisted on me becoming a Muslima seemed to care much afterwards. Sure they all were happy but that was it.

What do you know?
Now I'm constantly on the jump to take care that the cats won't catch anything again, and if, take it away from them as fast as possible. Ah, if anything had happened to my sweetie they would have had a Saudi terrorist here that would have make Osama bin Laden look like a Vienna choir boy!!

The dreaded Abaya
Okay, let's face it - women in Saudi Arabia are all forced to wear an ominous black cloak and hide themself as much as possible. My macho husband even expects me to wear a niqab which covers the face beneath the eyes. Shocking, isn't it? ... So do I mind wearing the abaya? No. And why should I? It's the tradition of my husband's country and I just respect it, as a matter of politeness. Running around on a Saudi street without the abaya is something akin to visiting the Cologne philharmony in your nightie, I guess I would be ashamed of doing either one.

IE6 SP2 Blogger Photo Warning Question

Sorry to bother you about this but I've been over the IE6 settings so many times and I can't figure it out! The case: Installed SP2 and got a lot of security stuff included I'd rather be without. For example, every time I want to upload an image with blogger I have to click away some 28 warnings - even if I've set all security zones to "low" for the moment. A hint, anyone?

Blogger Up in the KSA

Blogger isn't blocked any longer in Saudi Arabia, according to Farooha. If you check the comment forum to that post you'll also find advice on how bypass the government's proxies. I blogged the black-out of Blogger and Flickr last night and here are the facts from Reporters Without Borders (who hasn't said anything yet about any lifting of the block). Google blog search results here.

Update: OceanCreep confirms that Blogger isn't blocked any longer. For this Bloggers first hand experience of the block, read this. According to the most recent post, these sites are still blocked:

Flickr.com
Megaupload.com
Livejournal.com

Update2: Saudi Blogs are also reporting that Blogger can now be accessed again. (via Alaa).

Heart of Darkness

"The remarkable thing about the terror in Iraq is the silence with which it is greeted in other Arab lands," writes Fouad Ajami in the Opinion Journal. [h/t: Judith] The article is titled Heart of Darkness - From Zarqawi to the man on the street, Sunni Arabs fear Shiite emancipation. One quote on Egypt:

The drumbeats against Iraq that originate from the League of Arab States and its Egyptian apparatchiks betray the panic of an old Arab political class afraid that there is something new unfolding in Iraq--a different understanding of political power and citizenship, a possible break with the culture of tyranny and the cult of Big Men disposing of the affairs--and the treasure--of nations. It is pitiable that an Egyptian political class that has abdicated its own dream of modernity and bent to the will of a pharaonic regime is obsessed with the doings in Iraq. But this is the political space left open by the master of the realm. To be sure, there is terror in the streets of Iraq; there is plenty there for the custodians of a stagnant regime in Cairo to point to as a cautionary tale of what awaits societies that break with "secure" ways. But the Egyptian autocracy knows the stakes. An Iraqi polity with a modern social contract would be a rebuke to all that Egypt stands for, a cruel reminder of the heartbreak of Egyptians in recent years. We must not fall for Cairo's claims of primacy in Arab politics; these are hollow, and Iraq will further expose the rot that has settled upon the political life of Egypt.

Introducing Blog Flux

A new promising blog service, Blog Flux offers a blog-directory, page-rank checker, pinging service, map-statistics and perhaps best of all: a button-maker! There is also a subscription service that delivers blog-updates as e-mail. Some of the links are also in my sidebar. I haven’t got the html code for the MapStat service but I’ll put it up as soon as I get it.

Hotel Security Outsorced to US Agents

U.S. security agents are residing in every major hotel in Egypt, according to Sandmonkey's latest post. He says they're marines or Secret Service staff who are here on a contract from the Ministry of Interior that apparently has realized they need help with hotel security. SM doesn't disapprove but he says it's a sign of what state this country is in when a 2 million strong police force cannot handle hotel security.

There is no link to the source but I would assume these foreign security consultants are not employed by the US government but are hired by a private security firm that has been contracted by the Egyptian government or directly by the hotels after instructions from the government and that those employed are former US military or intelligence personnel. If the story is true I think it's a brilliant move to show the foreign tourist operators and ministers that Egypt is indeed taking the security of visitors seriously - and what else can they do after the Sharm El-Sheik attack than using all means to save the industry?

Should Egypt have handled this alone? We have a strong security apparatus but on the other hand, terrorism is a very special threat and international cooperation is necessary. Protecting hotels from terrorists today requires specialist knowledge and technology – bound to be imported in one way or the other.

Input anyone? I hope it is true. Fact is the hotel security managers typically have a background in casinos and night-venues and have somewhat different concerns. The tourist police are mainly occupied with collecting passport details, searching handbags and posing at the entrances. Whatever the security- and intelligence people have been doing in the past it has left a sloppy impression to say the least. – The typical scene would be a busload of retired Americans queuing in front of a metal detector that only sometimes work while the back entrances for delivery are only protected by a LE 200/month unarmed guard and a cc-monitor. If foreign specialists are improving security, it is all to the better.

Update: I think the issue has been solved in the comments forum now. Just one remaining problem: if they're not on duty, who is then in charge of hotel security?!

Is Democracy Possible Without Islamists?

This take on the possibility of democracy in the Arab world and the future role of political Islam is worth reading. Even Juan Cole is quoted. This time for the better, I think.

ICG Report on Reform for Democracy

Issandr at the Arabist has read the full ICG report on reform strategies for making Egypt a parliamentary democracy, focusing on the upcoming elections. Here is what he says and my comment would be his take on the report is just as essential for those who are interested. Quote:

The International Crisis Group has a new report out on Egypt, the first one that looks at the general political situation in a while. It’s pretty much essential reading for anyone who is interesting in contemporary Egyptian politics or even the wider question of Arab reform.

Blogger & Flickr Blocked in the KSA

Sabbah in Jordan says:

Two days ago, the Internet Services Unit (ISU) at King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the governing body of the internet in Saudi Arabia, have blocked Blogger, denying users inside the country accessing their blogs. They have also blocked photos from the popular photo hosting service Flickr. Users still can log on to the site, but photos are no longer visible.

Egyptian General: 9/11 White House Inside Job

You can't change the minds of old farts but I'm sincerely tired of all the wicked conspiracy theories that still are voiced by people in this country. Don't they ever try to learn something new? Here is a retired general who is blaming 9/11 on the White House; it was an insider job that started during the first Bush presidency. Also from Jihad Watch:

- A researcher is claiming that terrorists are driven by religion, not poverty.
- The Oklahoma bomber was reading Jihad material...
- Muslim scholars at a conference conclude the West is to blame for linking Islam and terrorism.

Hello Frisco, Love Nest

Mr. Ghost at the Iraqi Bloggers Central is asking "What Other Iraqi/Kurdish/Mideast Bloggers Could Be Joining Raed & Niki In Their "Hello Frisco" Love Nest?" The answers can be quite amusing!

Them Too!?

Cute. But if that's how all the good ones are gonna live their lives, all I can do is to jump in between! Is that the soap between your legs, Kirk?

By: Anki. h/t: Boing Boing

Jeremy Goes to Alexandria

One of the first things Laura (my Alex traveling companion) noticed when we got to Alex was the big no-honking sign right outside the east train station. What suprised me is that it actually seemed to mean something: The corniche, 10 lanes of traffic that divide the city from the sea, is actually a pretty quiet place. Compared to Cairo, at least, where one cabby has all the tools he needs to wake the dead.

"Jeremy of Arabia" - an AUC student blogger who's been around for a while but I completely missed out on until now. There's a loveley picture as well - from Alex that is, not the portrait that is currently topping Jeremy's blog and is likely to scare off most visitors.

Opposition Told to Get its Act Together

Says AFP: The NDP offered some cosmetic changes to the country's nominal democracy, but the opposition must unite and formulate propositions of its own if broader change is to occur. The report entitled "Reforming Egypt: In Search of a Strategy", by the International Crisis Group think-tank said the Egyptian opposition is "congenitally weak". It acknowledged the electrifying effect that the new Kefaya (Enough) movement had on political debate in recent months but it also stressed that Kefaya failed to draw the masses and remained locked in a negative agenda, missing the turn from opposition to proposition. Read it all.

Previous post today: Reforming Egypt. Technorati search of previous posts: Kefaya, Kifaya, Opposition, Election

Egypt Returnee Faces Torture

Says the BBC: Human rights lawyers in the US have criticised the Pentagon's decision to send a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp back to his native Egypt. Sami al-Laithi was transferred at the weekend after being held without charge at the camp for more than three years. Lawyers for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights said there was a risk he could be jailed or tortured in Egypt. The Pentagon said Egypt had guaranteed he would be treated humanely. According to the US State Department's annual report on human rights, torture of prisoners by Egyptian security forces is common. Read it all.

Previous posts: Egypt Promises to Treat Gitmo Returnee Well, Black Hole - The Life of Captured Islamists, More

Carnival of the Cats #80

Here's one for all the kitty-lovers out there: Blog Carnival of the Cats #80. Since Cairo has about - I guess - four cats per square meter we should be able to make a contribution to this carnival in the future. Just bring the camera next time you're outside - or is expecting to wake up with your favorite pet next to you on the pillow.

Militant Son, Please Return from Afghanistan

This Saudi father is urging his Islamist militant son to come home from Afghanistan.

Jaafar al Qahtani condemned his son, Mohammad's appearance in a videotape broadcast on the al Arabiyah news channel were he praised the September 11 attacks and held militant groups responsible for influencing his son and introducing him to violence in the wake of the US invasion of Afghanistan .

Mohammad had changed dramatically since leaving to Afghanistan and became angry and violent, according to his father.

Jaafar advised him not to commit any crimes and take part in bombings. Instead, he hoped Mohammed would return to his country, Saudi Arabia, through Iran.

"You cannot engage in jihad (holy struggle) without the consent of your parents. You have already committed many mistakes. I urge you to return to Saudi Arabia through Iranian territory. If you stay in Afghanistan you will perish, you will either be killed or you will be captured by US forces.”

He should lead the 'Adopt a Jihadi' program.

Ugly American, Arab Without a Nose

A brilliant column by Mona Eltahawy, published today. She is arguing that America and the Arab world need each other. Karen Hughes’ recent visit to Egypt and the Middle East is illustrating her points. Money quotes:

We will do anything to stand up to America and prove a point to America, forgetting in the meantime that ultimately we’re hurting ourselves the most.

And nowhere is this more obvious than in the Arab world’s reaction to the bloodbath that is washing over Iraq.

...we have a blind spot of our own towards the Shia of Iraq. Muslim terrorists slaughter fellow Muslims in Iraq but the Arab world – from where many of these terrorists come from - issues weak and meaningless condemnations because it is mostly Shia who are dying.

But this is what the Arab world forgets: while it stands by wanting the Americans to suffer defeat in Iraq, it is the Arab world that is being defeated by the terrorists who have turned their guns on the Shia of Iraq.

What the Arab world forgets is that those guns can just as easily be turned against the rest of us, just as the suicide bombings that were once used against Israel only are now being used against everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim.

Egypt Promises to Treat Gitmo-Returnee Well

A few days ago I asked how the Gitmo prisoner that will be released to Egypt will be treated on his return. It has now been reported that the Egyptian government is promising to treat him humanely. But rights activists fear he will be tortured... The question is still open, in other words.

What if Egypt would decide to be the ‘better person’ and use the case of this 49 year-old teacher to show that criticizing the practices of the USA in Guantanamo Bay was not just empty words? The man has rights – can someone please respect them?

Another lecturer is asking “Why do no Egypt let me leave, why do they let us hate our beloved Egypt.” Authorities are denying him the right to continue his research abroad.

Reforming Egypt

The International Crisis Group launched a report today and here is the summary and executive recommendations - all on the topic of how to reform Egypt and introduce democracy. h/t: sandmonkey

Ramadan - the Violent Side

I hope there will not be an increase in violence but the authorities are right in being extra observant during the holy month. One would have thought Ramadan would mean absolute peace for everybody but unfortunately it is not so. (Launching the Yom Kippur war during Ramadan was an act of heroism according to some Egyptian school-books). For terrorists with twisted minds, the twist doesn't stop just because it is annual time of holiness. For some, the Islamic holy month of fasting and spiritual introspection “has become a time of increased attacks by suicide bombers who believe they receive extra blessings.”

Egyptian police planned increased watchfulness throughout the month, while insisting no specific threats had been received.

In recent years, a spike in violence has been notable, especially in Iraq. Some Islamic extremists believe that those who die in combat for a holy cause during Ramadan are especially blessed.

"This is a month that has a spiritual feel to it, which condones the issue of jihad (holy war)," said Diaa Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on Islamic groups. Tradition holds the Prophet Muhammad led his forces in winning battles against nonbelievers during Ramadan.

h/t: sandmonkey. Read also: Violence Still Plagues Desert Peninsula

Ramadan Karim

Yesterday, the learned men with long beards at prestigious religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Jerusalem said the crescent moon was sighted after sunset, signaling the start of the month of Ramadan on 4 October. So for 29 or 30 consecutive days our pious people will fast and pray and hope that observing God's call will bring them closer to bliss. The great benefit is that all good-doing is multiplied during Ramadan, which hopefully sets the score right before the final day.

I have always loved Ramadan, although I have to admit that fourteen days would be enough. I don’t think God (or if I’m allowed to be blasphemous, Mohammed) took into consideration that 1426 years on we would live a very hectic life. Or perhaps that just what he did, because changing the priorities away from the daily stress of working and living towards spirituality can only benefit our stressed minds.

In particular, I’m looking forward to all great dinners. I can even put up with the sloppy table manner of those who haven’t eaten in the whole day just to get my share of the excesses. Not all restaurants can provide the best cooking for so many diners at one given moment (the sunset) but in general, the chefs have put so much love in their work that it is worth going out. Or is it just because I’m starving? Not that I am fasting every day (ahem) but it can indeed be a bit tricky to get your meals when you want them when no one else is inclined to eat during certain hours. I want to thank the long-beards at our religious high-seat, Al-Azhar, for not issuing fatwas against take-away services during Ramadan.

What I can’t tolerate though is invitations to families who insist keeping the telly on during dinner. Always at high volume so no one should miss a line spoken in the latest soap drama because the kids are loud. Unfortunately, this is the way most people do it. So if I don’t answer the phone when you are about to invite me – this is a hint why. Let’s be friends anyway – after Ramadan.

In the next few days, I’ll stay clear from human beings while their bodies are adjusting to the new routine. The rows and fights over the silliest things that are turning perfectly sensible people into miniature monsters these days I can be without. It is part of the test. Within a week their levels of blood sugar will be more balanced, and so will their temper.

About two weeks from now I’ll really start feeling I’m on a month long holiday. That’s when everybody has completely given up on doing anything of importance. That’s when staying up all night is the norm, just as appearing at work at 11 am and departure again at 1:30 pm to avoid the worst traffic. It is when our minds are no longer focused on work and careers and we have instead become used to meeting our friends just about every evening and as often as we like. It is a mind-soothing experience. And it is why Ramadan is so great; it is for our spirits and if I feel so good without feeling overly obliged to observe daily prayers, I can only imagine the sense of refreshment among those who are dedicating themselves to this form of religious meditation. And if I’ve done a lot of wrongs, let us hope they sometimes are including me and everybody else in their prayers. Ramadan Karim, everyone!

"At least I'm wearing my veil."


Apparantly it's a Saudi Girl putting herself out with the help of Bluetooth mobile phone technology. The associated message is "A sexy girl your heart would love".


From: The Religious Policeman who photoshoped her face after finding the image on Farooha.

My previous post on Bluetoothing in the KSA is here.

Kaplan, Muttawa on Karen Hughes

Fred Kaplan is asking what on earth Karen Hughes is doing in the Middle East:

Let's say some Muslim leader wanted to improve Americans' image of Islam. It's doubtful that he would send as his emissary a woman in a black chador who had spent no time in the United States, possessed no knowledge of our history or movies or pop music, and spoke no English beyond a heavily accented "Good morning." Yet this would be the clueless counterpart to Karen Hughes, with her lame attempts at bonding ("I'm a working mom") and her tin-eared assurances that President Bush is a man of God (you can almost hear the Muslim women thinking, "Yes, we know, that's why he's relaunched the Crusades").

Also not to miss from The Religious Policeman:

The group of women, picked by the university, represented the privileged elite of this Red Sea coastal city, known as one of the more liberal areas in the country. And while they were certainly friendly toward Ms. Hughes, half a dozen who spoke up took issue with what she said.

Two points here. One, no group of Saudis, whatever their situation, would ever admit that something was wrong with Saudi Arabia, to a member of the widely-detested Bush regime. They could be up to their waists in boiling oil, and they'd just say that they were, on average, quite warm. Two, in a country where the female employment rate is less that 1%, anyone with a job is a member of a privileged minority, and any female student hopes to become part of that 1%, just like people elsewhere hope to win the lottery.

Islamist Students Demonstrate for Freedom

Thousands of students demonstrated yesterday on University campuses around the country; incl. Al-Azhar and Cairo University. The demonstration for fair and free parliamentary elections were organized by the Muslim Brotherhood's student organization.

"State security is everywhere on campus. We have no freedom to do anything, the security services do not only target us religious Muslims, but everyone in our country's universities," said 24-year-old demonstrator Alaa Alam.

Says Al-Jaz: The students demanded the immediate release of all political detainees and urged the government to organise free elections starting on 8 November. The Muslim Brotherhood is officially illegal and could not field a candidate for the 7 September presidential election but is nevertheless expected to make a strong showing in the parliamentary polls, where its candidates run as independents. It was the first time the banned but tolerated movement organised a university protest under its name, rather than under the looser Islamist banner.
Picture: AFP

Google's Office in Cairo

That's also how most of the country's Internet Cafés look like. It must be years since anyone actually counted them (to my knowledge) but there are thousands only in Cairo, often several on the same street - in central areas they have more modern fronts than this - and it doesn't matter how far out in the country we are travelling, there always seem to be plenty of places to go for a daily dose from the Internet. Even some old workshops in the Khan El-Khalili bazaar have turned into game-rooms and Internet access centers. It is just fantastic.
This picture is from: ...Or Does it Explode?

Updated Blogroll

My blogroll in the sidebar is reflecting what I am reading at the moment. It is a tool and the best thing with Blogrolling's service is the applets that a) makes it very easy to edit the roll and, b) opens the roll in an IE sidebar. But as I'm finding new sites it tend to grow larger than I can handle. But now it is as fresh as it can be; these are the blogs I try to visit every day or every week. I would like to add more personal sites; the kind of people who are blogging their lifes that are so different from mine. Also, I'd like more sites with writing I disagree with, because they are useful and important. The problem is, I haven't found many I actually can bother to visit. So if you have any tips, please drop them in the comment box!

Lovely Roaches

Cockroaches - A man's best friend... or something like that is the theme of Mostafa's latest blogentry. Yuck. Can't even stand the thought of them! So, to overcome my fear, I'll try to get to know them, step by step, by reading all the links Mostafa is providing. Slowly slowly, day by day... Even "roach fetish." Yuck!

Who are the Insurgents in Iraq?

From the beeb, a short introduction to the various organizations fighting in Iraq.

Net Body Photos Inquiry Dropped

The US army has dropped an inquiry into whether soldiers posted photographs of dead Iraqis on a website in exchange for access to pornography. A preliminary investigation had failed to determine if US soldiers had posted the gruesome pictures and whether these showed actual war dead. Colonel Joseph Curtin said the investigation could be reopened if new evidence was presented.

"If the army thinks it's in its interest to investigate something, we will."

"There are multiple challenges here. One is the anonymity of the sources, dates, times, locations, units, anything that is reasonably identifiable that we can work off of."

"Any time new information becomes available that's credible... they potentially could reopen the case," he said.

New Bi-Lingual Blog Service

Regional portal Al Bawaba is launching a billingual blog service: http://blogs.albawaba.com. Check what Roba (And Far Away...) has to say. They like to be on the edge in Jordan. Remember pioneering Arabia.com? It got dwarfed when MSN hooked up with Link.Net to launch MSN Arabia - and today when I tried to check it I'm redirected to another place; looks like they have thrown in the towel. Too bad since MSN is so streamlined it doesn't, in my eyes, provide any value at all. In the blogsphere, the Jordanians have the impressive Jordan Planet aggregator. I really like the interface and hope someone will set up something just as pretty here in Egypt, to complement Manal and Alaa's excellent bit bucket -- that to my great delight have gone pink, by the way! As we're suffering from information overload we need technology to help us sort and filter. New aggregators and simplified tweaks to RSS readers will do that - and we should be thankful to those who understand the technology and set it up for us.

Update: Check what Alaa is saying in the comment forum -- a lot of work is done for the Egpyptian blogger community. If you know how to - see if you can help!

More Saddam Capture Memories

From the same Sunday Times article:

Samir lunged for the hands. Suddenly the soldiers around him were joining in, pulling Saddam by his clothes, his hair, his beard — any part of him they could get hold of. He was lifted clear of the hole and thrown onto the ground. Saddam uttered only one phrase in English: “America, why?”

His appearance was shocking. Eight months on the run had taken their toll. “He looked so old and tired. And he looked so scared and shaken. He was hair all over — long beard, long hair. His hair was greasy — God knows how many times he never took a shower.”

Grabbing Saddam by the beard with both hands, Samir started shaking him, yelling in his face: “You killed Kurds! You killed Shi’ites! You destroyed the country.” Then he spat at him.

Saddam responded with primal rage. He had never been spoken to in such a way. Struggling against Samir’s grip, he tried in vain to bite his arm. Samir let him go in disgust, but Saddam was not finished.

“You are nothing but a traitor. You’re a spy. You are not Iraqi,” Saddam shouted. “I didn’t destroy the country — the Americans destroyed the country. I am Saddam Hussein. The Iraqis — good Iraqis — know who Saddam is. Not you. You are no good. You love the United States. You are a spy.” This was too much for Samir.

“He made me really upset and I had to punch him in the face. I punched him a couple of times in the face with some kicking in the face and head and he started bleeding from his mouth.”

My Night with Saddam

I'm still on page one and have three more to go; this is the article you want to read this Sunday. Here is the story: An Iraqi who worked with US special forces tells how he wrestled with the dictator after flushing him from his hiding hole. Quote:

Months of painstaking work finally paid off in December 2003, when Mohammed Ibrahim Omar al-Musslit, one of Saddam’s bodyguards, was picked up. Known as “the Fat Man”, he was one of only two men thought to know Saddam’s whereabouts.

Al-Musslit was interrogated in one of Saddam’s old palaces. At first he lied, but he did not hold out for long, says Samir. “He started crying and said, ‘Don’t kill me, I will take you to Saddam before it gets too late. Saddam’s going to know I’ve been captured. Let’s go now’.”

Ongoing: The Battle of Sinai

Packed with information from Egyptian and Israelis sources, this WaPo story on the hunt for the terrorists behind the Sharm El-Sheikh attack is worth reading. The official line is still that the perpetrators were a combination of ‘lawless Bedouin gangs’ and ‘Muslim rebels.’ If so, the bombings represent a dangerous return of political violence aimed at civilians.

Officials say the investigation is not suggesting any foreign connections, such as training in Afghanistan or Pakistan, outside financing or recruiting by Muslim networks in Europe. When it comes to Bin-Laden, the wording in this article is “no direct ties.”

Yet the bombings, which together killed more than 100 Egyptians and foreigners, shared key characteristics of al Qaeda actions. They hit high-profile targets that are important to the economy. The dates of the attacks contained political symbolism -- the bombings in Taba occurred on Oct. 6, the anniversary of Egypt's 1973 war with Israel, while those in Sharm el-Sheikh came on July 23, the date the Egyptian monarchy was overthrown by Gamal Abdel Nasser 53 years ago. The bombers were able to hatch plans freely in north and central Sinai, a remote and largely ignored section of the country.

In Israel, senior military intelligence officials say the attacks might have been planned or assisted by foreign organizations, such as Al-Qaeda. They point to the complexity of each operation, involving multiple, almost simultaneous explosions. Working with Egyptian officials on the investigations, the Israeli senior military intelligence officer says we are dealing with two cells working within the same “terrorist infrastructure.” The Sharm El-Sheik bombers learned from mistakes made at the attack in Taaba last year. For example: Chassis numbers on the cars used in Sharm el-Sheikh were removed; such numbers were used to trace the owner of the truck involved in the Taba Hilton bombing, leading to a number of arrests.

The Interior Ministry says the bombers are influenced by Salafism, a militant, fundamentalist form of Sunni Islam that is related to the Wahhabi Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia.

Guantanamo-Egyptian Returns Home

An Egyptian imprisoned at Guantanamo bay was released last week after a tribunal determined he should no longer be considered an enemy combatant. Will he get his fifteen minutes of fame to tell us all about his horrible experiences at national TV and in the papers? Or will he simply disappear into another prison? Given our prison systems love of ‘therapeutic’ treatment with water and electricity, will he even wish he was back at Gitmo?

In the U.N., the Security Council has approved sanctions of seven Egyptians associated with terror organizations. The sanctions include bans on travel and financial restrictions. Egypt suggested 20 of its nationals to be black-listed, but the US, Britain and Denmark thought the evidence were too thin.

In Israel, a Boy is a Human Shield

Sabbah is showing a newspaper page with an image of a boy that is supposedly tied to an Israeli military vehicle - and that's in order to stop his friends from throwing stones... " Headline: "The day Israel used a boy aged 13 as a human shield." And it happens all the time, Sabbah says. That's ugly. Don't these soldiers have grandmothers?

Top Dollar Counterfeiters

Says Chase Me, Ladies, I'm in the Cavalry:

KILLER FACT!
The top countries for counterfeiting dollars, according to the US Secret Service:

1. Mexico
2. Israel
3. Colombia

Colombia held the number one spot for two decades, but in the last few years their market share has plunged from 43% to 15%.

Big Pharaoh Does it Again

He is so funny:

30 Reported Dead, Hurt in Bali (Indonesia) Explosions
Indonesia should end its occupation of Iraq!

France's Sarkozy to Boost Surveillance Amid Threat of Attacks
France should end its occupation of Iraq!

I Love Feedburner

The great Improbulus is pointing to a new Feedburner feature called PingShot -- lovely, it takes care of all your pinging needs.

Little Miss Piggy

Someone in the blogsphere was annoyed by my piece "Iraq - was it worth it?" that I posted earlier this month. I wanted to give him the courtesy of a reply but after having read about a third of it, I concluded "Gert" is a nutter. But by all means, if you're up to it, have a look and tell me what you think. If there's anything in the argument worth discussing, let's do it here.

Corpse for Porn - Investigation

Finally, the US army is investigating the pictures of dead Iraqis on the web. I described the corpse-for-porn site on August 23; it was aggregated on Jordan Planet and mentioned on ‘Aquol about the same time; the latter if I remember this right also had links to the blogger who first put up an alert. Andrew Sullivan became (to my knowledge) the first power blogger to pick it up on September 18; and since he has some 40k+ visitors every day I guess it is ok when he now says “this blog broke the story…” After his first entry, quite a few bloggers posted replies, saying it is old news. Sort of, yes, but it is now the real story begins: Who put up the pictures? Is it a breach of the Geneva Convention? Punishment? Discharge? Watch this space.

Afghan Oprah On Air

Afghanistan's first talk show for women, Oprah-style, airs three times a week. The presenter, who is a veterinary science and psychology major, is hoping the show will become the much needed pulpit for women to speak in this closed society where women need their husbands permission to go to the hairdresser. (THAT is a justified cause for gender revolution!)

Of Biblical Proportions

Are we going to be invaded by locusts every year now? Is God angry? If so, it must be becuase we've given in to the zionist conspiracy instead of fighting our enemies in Iraq.
EGYPT: Precautionary measures to be taken against locust invasion

Update: informative article on stable flies, a.k.a Stomoxys calcitrans, thought to be the fourth plague of Egypt - Exodus 8:20-24.

Police kill Sinai Bomb Suspects

So there has been another exchange of fire in the Sinai mountains. Also this time, so called masterminds of the Sharm El-Sheikh attack has been killed. How many times have the capture and shooting of such masterminds been 'leaked' from the intelligence community? This time it's the ministry of Interior who seeks the spotlight though. Whatever. Check this report also that says a lot about how the people in North Sinai are coping with the situation. For example: "Farhan Adel Farhan says he was electrocuted, blindfolded and suspended by the wrists when Egyptian police questioned him over bombings in the Sinai Peninsula last October."

The Need to Get Away from it All

Ever Since A.D. 270, the Need to Get Away From It All - a nice piece by the NYT about St. Anthony's Monastery and the recently found monk's cells dating to the fourth century -- the oldest ever discovered. St. Anthony's is generally considered to be the birthplace of the Christian monastic movement.

Bye Bye, Mugamma

Did I not say before that certain elements of our government are very sensible and have good taste? Let me back up that claim with the news that the Kafkaesque Mugamma building on Tahrir Square is to be evacuated. If the monstrous concrete complex that is the worst of many eye sores on our most central square will actually be deleted as well, I wouldn't know. I assume so. Let's hope they don't decide to turn it into another shopping mall with 500 boutiques who offer the same LE 45 shoes in fake leather. Or even worse: a Soviet-style super mosque. Na, just blow it up. When it’s gone, people may even begin to realize that the government isn’t that powerful at all. Read the article.

Also: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Jalila, the new Arab super heroine, coursing across the sky, black hair flying, in her battle to right the wrongs and ensure that justice prevails in the Middle East.

Islamic Guide: How to Beat Your Wife

An imam who wrote a book on how to beat your wife without leaving marks on her body has been ordered by a judge in Spain to study the country’s constitution.

The judge told Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, imam of a mosque in the southern resort of Fuengirola, to spend six months studying three articles of the constitution and the universal declaration of human rights. h/t: lgf

One Laptop Per Child

Nicholas Negroponte can still amaze: here is his latest brain-child: a laptop under the $ 100 mark and Egypt is one of the first countries to get it. Big talk? He says there can be up to 150 million shipped every year after 2007; the first millions will be produced this year. The laptops are virtually indestructible, foldable in different ways and come with a hand crank for when there is no power supply.

Yahoo! Site Explorer

Yahoo! is putting out another beta-bid in the war of search: this is the site-explorer; entering my favorite URL (eh... my own) returned quite a few results.

While I was Away

It feels good to be back from a trip out of town; it doesn’t matter where I go or how much more beautiful other cities are, Cairo is still Cairo… so full of love. Instead of trying to catch up with the past week’s news right away, let me tell you what the other bloggers have been up to, if you haven’t been there either for a while.

Baheyya, of course, knows what was happening on both sides of the doors when the president promised to be a good president for one more term. In particular she is noting the creativity of the new political generation. Big Pharaoh also attended the demonstration and ended up smoking shisha with Marxists and catching soldiers playing with Kifaya balloons. Meanwhile, our Egyptian Person is arguing the case for civil marriages and Freedom for Egyptians is picturing what would happen if Cindy Sheehan would come to Egypt. From Cairo on the other hand announced today that he is bored with his blog and will keep blogging at an anonymous location; the comments from Jane and LouLou catches what ought to be said. Across the Atlantic in the great colony in the West, Judith is as always well informed and quick to provide educated comments; here is one about Bush-aide Karen Hughes and Egypt. Hughes went to the KSA too; Sandmonkey caught her there while she was speaking to Muslim women. You shouldn’t miss ‘Aqoul’s take on the same issue. At the Arabist, Issandr have several interesting posts, including a press round-up about the Beni Suef theatre fire scandal. In response to Issandr’s criticism of Juan Cole’s article on the Egyptian elections, Sphinx says Issandr is too hard on Cole. Finally, from our neighbor the Religious Policeman, a post about a failed suicide bomber who got to tell his heroic tale on Saudi national TV…

Madrassa Abuse

Where is that hand going?

I really don't know what is going on here or where Dangerous got the picture from.


Just as worrying is this report:


Islamic schools under abuse scrutiny

The accounts are disturbing: beatings, forced sex and imprisonment with shackles and leg irons. Abuse accusations from hundreds of children sent to study at Islamic schools are prompting growing calls from parents and rights groups for a full-scale investigation.

Last year, a Pakistani official stunned his nation by officially disclosing more than 500 complaints of sexual assaults against young boys studying in madrassas.

Poor families often count on the nation's more than 10,000 madrassas to take one or more young sons to ease financial strains at home. The boys typically receive little more than Quranic studies for an education. But the big dividend for families is the housing, clothes and meals offered the boys. The schools, which have up to 1 million students, operate with almost no official oversight.

"The mullahs think they are above the law," said Asma Jehanghir, chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a nongovernment agency. "We have to break this wall of silence."

In the Middle East, few activists have demanded investigations into conditions in Islamic schools, but that could change as groups increasingly challenge traditional centers of influence. "Pakistan is now a center of the showdown between modernizing Islam and forces resisting change," said Irfan Khawaja, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York who follows Islamic affairs. "The madrassa issue is part of this. It will spread around the Islamic world."

Amnesty International and the Human Rights Council of Pakistan have recounted cases in Pakistan of students shackled to prevent escape and noted growing allegations of sex abuse.
"Leaders of religious parties resent official probing into the functioning of the madrassas and threaten retaliation if they are more closely controlled," Amnesty wrote.

Every discussion about Pakistan's madrassas leads eventually in an uncomfortable direction for authorities: the potential problems of leaning too hard on Islamic schools. The madrassas have ties to influential religious and political groups. The core of madrassa funding is a tour of powerful networks: government aid, Saudi donations and zakat, the traditional Islamic practice of giving alms.

Read the full story.

And this IS my last post before I travel. I've tried to upload the picture several times today but Blogger failed me until I gave it one last try.

Far Away Wedding

Suzi dear, it's time for one of those weddings again, that we don't necessarily want the hustle of traveling to attend, but cannot escape. So, after a few intense and interrupted months on the blog, I'll be off for a little while, about four days. The good thing is that I can hand over my PC to the workshop while I am away; perhaps they'll find out why the motherboard fire-alarm is going wild each time I boot it up. Never mind, if the machine is not on my desk, chances are I will not miss it so much while I'm away. I'll send you a post card from the beach - or where ever to I escape the relatives. xx / ritzy

Farming Threatens Ancient Egyptian Sites

Egyptian reliefs dating back thousands of years could disappear within a decade, archaeologists said on Thursday. As Egypt's population grows, agricultural land moves closer to ancient temples and funeral monuments. Water for irrigation is weakening temple foundations and eroding the carvings. cont.

The antiquities are even more threatened than this brief story tells. It is not only about farming, it is inadequate sewage systems, the effects of the high-dam etc. etc. To borrow the voice of the Egyptian Sandmonkey: how do we blame this on the Zionist conspiracy?

Coulter: What Would Reagan Do?

She is fire and she makes me laugh; here are the latest sweets from Ann Coulter's weekly column - don't we just loooove to hate her?

Perhaps President Bush has inadvertently nominated a true conservative to the court with this Roberts fellow. I remain skeptical based on the following facts: (1) Anita Hill has not stepped forward to accuse Roberts of sexual harassment. (2) The Democrats did not accuse Roberts of having a secret life as a racist. (3) We have no idea what kind of videos he rents.

While liberals were preoccupied staging die-ins against Rehnquist and accusing him of chasing black people away from the polls with a stick — something they did not accuse Roberts of — Reagan slipped Scalia onto the court.

... Bush has enacted massive new spending programs, obstinately refused to deal with illegal immigration, opposed all conservative Republicans in their primary races, and invited Teddy Kennedy over for movie night. He's even sent his own father to socialize with aging porn star Bill Clinton.

UN: Resurgence of Racism, Intolerance

UN report warns of global resurgence of racism and religious intolerance As a result of the proliferation of anti-terrorist policy, discrimination against religious groups, minorities and migrant populations is on the rise, particularly at waiting areas at airports, ports and borders, the United Nations' top official for monitoring racism warns in his latest report to the UN General Assembly.

Discrimination against Muslims must be given special attention, but greater vigilance might also be needed against anti-Semitism and "Christianophobia," said Doudou Diene, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on racism and related intolerance.

Sharon to Follow Barak?

Judith's take on the report about Sharon's eventual resignation I blogged yesterday deserves to be posted here as well:

When I turned on my computer, I found an email from Ritzy asking me to comment on Debka's claim that Sharon is about to retire to his ranch. I was surprised as he is the son of two famously stubborn parents.

He is facing a leadership challenge in the Likud which he just may lose. Popular figures (including Sharon, Yadin and Ben Gurion) who tried to create new parties ended up heading a temporary and small party rather than changing the Israeli political landscape. Of course, Sharon hopes that his threat to leave the party will help him win the internal battle.

His problem is that like Barak, Sharon suffers from credibility gap. He betrayed own campaign pledges by adopting his opponent's platform. The voters rejected Mitzna's idea of a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and Sharon who argued against it, executed it. His opponents will have little difficulty reminding voters that his platform cannot be taken seriously. The corruption charges which haunt his son and the recent financial campaign fund irregularities which haunt him merely increase his vulnerability.

Following Ben Gurion's example and retiring to his ranch would be a gallant way to go. Even those who opposed the disengagement could not but admire the way he executed it. Maybe Peres will also see the light. It is time for a new generation to take charge. The old warhorses are far too worn out. No one is irreplaceable though those in power often come to believe they are.

(http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/16081.html)

Critical Eye on Juan Cole

Issandr at the Arabist is providing good criticism of the Juan Cole article I linked to yesterday. Lovely. Keep Blogging

Cindy Goes to Washington

... marches down Pennsylvania Avenue to deliver a letter to Bush; are followed by 30 (sic!) supporters. / Said it before and I'm saying it again: Time to go home Cindy.

Millionare Flower Genius

Here is a florist that is earning ten times more than the top executives at Toyota. One part Liberace, one part Martha Stewart, the high-earning rose pedal artist mirrors the feminization of Japan's men.

His name is Shogo Kariyazaki and with such fame and money, I have to be his fan. But I'm not sure I'd like to see a similar gender-balancing of the Egyptain men. Like if the hairy Saad and Abdel on my street would take up an interest in home-decoration? Na, let them stay the way the are.

Essential Handbook for Bloggers

Reporters Without Borders today publishes a Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents. Read Global Voices Review. Quote:

The Handbook for Bloggers is for people who want to be serious participants in the emergent online global conversation: How to set up a quality, credible blog. How to get it noticed. And.. if you’re in a country where there government might not like what you’re saying, how to avoid getting in trouble when you by-pass the information gatekeepers and talk directly to the world.

Laura: It is Jim Beam or Me!

Wet was Katrina and the news of the disaster had Bush to break his promise to stay dry.

"When the levees broke in New Orleans, it apparently made him reach for a shot," said one insider. "He poured himself a Texas-sized shot of straight whiskey and tossed it back. The First Lady was shocked and shouted: "Stop George!"

Don't know if its true but I credit him for his reasonably good taste in Whiskey.

Sharon to Retire

The Israeli PM plans to retire to his Sycamore ranch, according to reports published in the past hours. It is said that Sharon's team has conducted private opinion polls that are indicating that all critical Likud votes would go against him. The central committee will decide to bring forward the leadership primary election from April to December, as demanded by former PM Netanyahu and others. Debka's Washington sources says that President Bush has already been informed of Sharon's plan to retire. Sharon is not expected to set up a new party alliance.

Talabani: Please Do Not Leave Iraq

We Need American Troops
Thank you for liberating my country. Please don't leave before the job is done.

- By Jalal Talabani, President of Iraq. h/t: Stephania

Turkish Beach Dress Code

Istanbul -- male holiday makers on the sea of Marmara beach are told to dress up, females on the same beach are told to dress down. Quote:

"We are Ataturk's women!" shouted Mine Okcugil, 38, clasping the hand of the woman in the chaise longue next to her at Caddebostan. Her own bikini was in danger of falling off her front.

"We are all modern women of the republic," said Semra Aydemir, 52, also in a tiny two-piece.

"We are against terrorism. We are against violence. We are against ugliness."

So it is that men and women roaming the beach in T-shirts reading "Security" keep an eye peeled not only for men wearing too little but for women wearing too much. Female beach-goers no longer are allowed to wade with their legs covered by flowing fabric.

Autoban Traffic Held by Snakes

Sometimes speed is not without limits. Poisonous vipers, giant boa constrictors and iguanas were among the exotic reptiles to escape onto the busy motorway. They brought traffic to a standstill after the van carrying them overturned. The road had to be closed while emergency services rounded up the exotic escapees who did not suffer any injuries.

More snaky moves: First Exotic Dancer Returns To New Orleans...

Cull 10,000 Elephants, Protect Trees

Elephants facing slaughter to protect trees
Up to 10,000 elephants are facing slaughter as South Africa prepares to end its ten-year ban on culling the beasts. I say, let's give them asylum in Egypt; our Elephants went south thousands of years ago. I bet Moses took them all to Israel in a Zionist conspiracy. That would explain how they crossed the sea and how the inferior Jews managed to crush the native Palestinian peace-campers when they forcefully occupied their land despite all UN treaties. So bring back what rightfully belongs to the Egyptian people. Our tourist industry has suffered long enough from not being able to push husk-busts of pharaohs on greedy tourists. And we're kind of fed up with the donkeys in the shawerma and could do with a change on the menu.

Iran Nuke Talks Halted Due to Boredom

Thanks to Phat Phree for making me smile one more time. Best quotes:

After declaring that they were "bored to tears" with U.N. sponsored talks over the future of their nation's nuclear program, Iranian diplomats withdrew from the negotiations without setting a date for further talks.

"Day after day, the same shit. Uranium, plutonium, centrifuge, blah, blah, blah. I just couldn’t take it anymore. Praise be upon the soul of the Prophet for putting solitaire on my Blackberry," said deputy foreign minister Hamed Hamaninejad, who led Iran's delegation.

Though the Europeans are confident that an agreement will eventually be worked out, the Iranian minister is unsure that any agreement would have the desired effect.

"Look, if the mullahs really want to build a bomb and nuke Israel, they're not gonna let some agreement with the Eurofags get in their way.

Somalis Trek 4,000 km for Asylum

A record 4,000 km trek by 26 Somali's during six months from their wrecked country on the Horn of Africa to Mugabe's Zimbabwe. Thank you God, my life isn't so bad after all.

Egyptian: Al-Qaeda didn't Pay Enough

An Egyptian detained in Canada since year 2,000 fears for his deportation that will be decided by a court within days. He is ranked number 20 among those accused for religious violence in Egypt. He is also an Islamist fellahin who ditched Al-Qaeda because they didn’t pay enough.

Mohammad Zaki Mahjoub, 45, was an employee of Osama Bin Laden for fifteen months during 1992-1993. He complained about his monthly salary of USD1,500 since other Islamist were better paid by Bin Laden although they were not actually doing any work while he was working hard in the fields as an expert.

He says prison time is “hellish” and that prison guards unfairly call him “Osama” although he was arrested before 9/11. Sometimes the guards would call him “terrorist” and incite other prisoners to assault him.

Monofi or Sohagi? Yesterday I blogged about Mahjoub's 76 day long hunger strike but forgot to link to the article. Here it is.

Saudi Jihadis Most Popular

In Iraq, foreign Jihadis joining the holy struggle are more popular than their counterparts from Egypt and other poor countries. Apparently, 10 percent, or some 3,000 of the estimated 30,000 insurgents in Iraq are foreign nationals. Although Algeria, Syria, Yeman and Sudan all export more Jihadis than Saudi Arabia, it is the Saudis that has the biggest impact because they often arrive with up to USD 15,000 in cash donations. But they are also the most sought after militants becuase of the media attention their deaths as martyrs bring to the cause. Yepp, they're officialy regognized as such.

I say, it is not only about religion, it is also about class. Welcome, Misters Marx and Engels.

This article says illegal drug trade is funding terrorism in KSA and Iraq. Criminals!

Egypt HR to UK: No Extraditions

Update: Egypt's National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) has turned down a British proposal that it act as a safeguard against torture in the case of Egyptian dissidents threatened with deportation from the UK. Yesterday's post.

Juan Cole on the Presidential Elections

This article was introduced to me recently via blogger Sphinx and I've been looking forward to reading Juan Cole's take on the presidential elections - indeed I enjoyed reading it and appreciate his take on Mubarak's crushing power and the historical background. Keep it. What he fails though is what he is setting out to do: he is criticizing the idea of an 'Arab spring', e.g. democratization following international pressure and the war on terror. That discussion is always welcome. 'Spring' is a punch-line, no one should hold such expectations, at least not yet. But we can't deny the changes in many neighboring nations either; put together they form a picture that is different from how it looked a few years ago. It is too early to say how fast things will change; it may not change much at all. But for now, the fragments are speaking progress that shouldn't be overrated or denied. For one observer’s personal account that isn't far off the mark and that was published today, read this. The problem with Cole is that he doesn't even try to analyze this country's recent events in a regional perspective. Still, worth the time reading if you're not familiar with recent political events or the parliamentary history.

Fudgy Fisk Continued

Let us look at Robert Fisk’s argument one more time, since blogger Sphinx has posted a comment saying I ought to re-read Fisk’s article. Fisk’s argument is exactly as I laid it out. His point is that he doesn’t want leaders of regimes he despise to propagate for values that he feels are not appreciated in this part of the world. That makes him a sucker.

Fisk disagrees with the policies of ‘the Christian West;’ these are in direct conflict with his own views of how the situations in Palestine and Iraq (and many other places) should be handled. That is his opinion. For a moment, he forgets about the Eastern European and Asian countries that are part of the same treaties, forums and conflicts. But so far, so good; to this point nothing is telling me that he is not supporting Universal Human Rights. In the same way, if I disagree with Bush and Blair, I may still be able to understand that they made their choices out of concern for Human Rights, not against it. Joshka Fischer disagreed with them, and I understand that his argument was also based on the universal rights of people everywhere in the world. Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan failed in Serbia and Rwanda, but I still think they should carry on their mission for Human Rights.

That is however not how Fisk sees it. The hands of ‘the Christian West’ are sullied beyond belief and since the West no longer have any suitable people to carry the torch of Universal Human Rights, those who try should shut up. He even goes one step further: the Human Rights are not Universal after all.

How can we suggest that a religion based on "submission" to God must itself "submit" to our happy-clappy, all-too-Western "universal human rights"? I don't know.

They are “too-Western.” But that discussion should start from the other end: if HRs are not Universal, which specific rights then are not applicable to non-Western people, e.g. Muslims, and why? In other words: “Mr. Fisk, I know you disagree with my actions but if you would be so kind and try to think of this as an intellectual discussion (see, I don’t agree with everything going on in the world either but for the sake of humanity, I am open to discussion). The answer I am demanding is to a question any moral man would be obliged to answer: if Human Rights are not Universal, tell us why that is and what rights it is you think doesn’t' apply to whom. Also, what alternative do you offer?”

At some point in history, even Arab leaders must have subscribed to the idea of Human Rights because their states are part of the charters. They weren’t dishonest, were they? ‘The Western Christian World’ - despite its failures if you so like - still has a few things to say about HRs also because Arab leaders do not say it at all. They are not reluctant to promote Human Rights for religious reasons, but for political. Their power is oppressive; upheld by abusing their citizens. Speaking about HRs would be to admit mass-abuse of a whole nation.

For the Arab leaders, it is easier to hide behind religious clerics that yet haven’t dared to take on the intellectual challenge and explain what God said to the Prophet that is impossible to accomodate with UHRs. Since Fisk thinks HRs are not Universal, he doesn’t bother to go that way. It is a no-go land to re-interpret the Quran and that is the end of the story. Except of course, Westerners shouldn’t follow their tanks to our lands and tell Muslims what is right and wrong. But it is not a question of ‘the Christian West’ against the Muslim. Can I stress that enough? You will hear it from ‘the Christian West;’ because that is the only compass you have today, even if you pick it apart with all its faults. Who else is willing to propagate for HRs? It would be a suitable cause for Islam; it would fit into the idea of a global Muslim community. But we are not there yet. Rather quite far away.

Let me put it this way: “The majority of the refugees in the world are from Muslim nations. And so are the terrorists. I am not trying to lecture you, I am just asking you to recognize that this is what the world is dealing with and since one part of the world firmly believes in Universal Human Rights and you do not, how will you solve your problem, and what alternatives will you provide?”

Fisk thinks that is too much to ask, so he really is a sucker.

He has already argued along this line: “they propagate UHRs but they don’t live according to how they learn.” The answer is: That is your opinion but please remember that two wrongs do not make one right. “But they have blood on their hands.” Well, let us take them to court for that but we still owe them and the rest of the world our answer.

A point about this quote from Fisk because he is really stuck in the fudge:

…our constant, whining demands that prominent Muslims must disown the killers who take their religious texts too literally, that we have long ago lost our moral compass.

…we are in no position to lecture the Islamic world on human rights and values.

The East and the West cannot demand that religious leaders here in the Middle speak up against fundamentalists – it is an issue to be hidden behind borders according to Fisk. Thus, Egypt can demand an end to the occupation of Iraq but Spain cannot demand religious leaders to confront the arguments made by preachers of terrorism and make it clear to everybody what is acceptable according to Islam and not. Regarding Human Rights and moral values, we are in the fortunate position where people in the Middle East are several steps ahead of Mr. Fisk. No one wants to be lectured but no one minds when foreign politician are speaking up for the rights of the people in the Arab world. Most of us would like them to say it more often, and stop propping up our corrupt and oppressive regimes that can’t bother about the rights we deserve. Hint: December 10, 1948.

Fisk, Still Stuck in Fudge

Blog-fella Sphinx has decided to keep me busy this week by hailing first Galloway, then Juan Cole and now Robert Fisk. I appreciate the argument and love different voices in the Egyptian blogsphere. And I can't resist commenting on this Fisky article.

The larger part of the article is concerned with less flattering quotes from the Bible and the Quran; violent and bloody indeed. Thank God we don't take it literally, as fundamentalists on all sides have done and still do: Karen Armstrong has dealt with it so much better so many times before. Fisk, however, is arguing that we need not seek conciliation between religion and human rights; and since it is Islam that is the topic of discussion it is Islam he wants to protect from the notion of human rights. Hello? Anyone home?

Human Rights are not universal according to Fisk and the Western Judeo-Christian world shouldn’t impose its conception of Human Rights because – here it comes – the Western world itself is failing to live up to it!!

Leave aside the philosophical debate of whether Human Rights are universal, that debate is academically over for most scholars; Human Rights are universal. Fisk doesn’t even mention the philosophical reasons it shouldn’t be, he just brushes it off with a ‘we are no better’ explanation. Even if the west is not ‘better’ (and in many cases I’m arguing it is not) that by itself is not a valid argument against the idea of universal human rights; it is stupidity, at its best since two wrongs still do not make one right. Period.

The U.N. was formed after the WWII – as a reaction against war and cruelty if you so like. The guiding principles for the organization were adopted December 10, 1948; it is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Links: UN, UN, UNHCHR, Wikipedia. Getting the world together has been a struggle ever since. The 50+ year project is still an effort. For example; member-states go to war despite UN declarations opposing it; member-states known for total disrespect of Human Rights are chairing Human Right boards in the UN. Still, just because our world is not what we want it to be, we don’t give up on the principles. Right? Unless you are Fisk:

How can we suggest that a religion based on "submission" to God must itself "submit" to our happy-clappy, all-too-Western “universal human rights"? I don't know. Especially when we “Christians" have largely failed to condemn some of our own atrocities - indeed, have preferred to forget them.

His argument is that the West has lost its moral compass. In some ways, perhaps it has. If so, let us help the West or anyone else willing to take it back. Universal Human Rights is not an issue of geo-politics. It has nothing to do with nation. It transcends religion. Yes, that is difficult for some Islamic scholars at Al-Azhar to grasp, just as it has been for Judeo-Christians throughout history (think Crusades). It doesn’t make it less true though. Read the charter and tell us what principle shouldn’t apply to you because you are Arab, Muslim, Chinese, Hindi, or Scientologist. Fisk is of course at the opposite end:

A hundred years of Western interference in the Middle East has left the region so cracked with fault lines and artificial frontiers and heavy with injustices that we are in no position to lecture the Islamic world on human rights and values.

Not? Well, pass the lectureship to Mubarak and Ghadaffi! Finally, it is true that the West can be blamed for a lot of problems in the region. But the main problem is still the fact that people living here are not allowed to choose their own governments. If they try, they are beaten, imprisoned, sometimes executed. And it is not as if people here do not know it. It is just easier to blame someone else. It is also the line from the official propaganda machine to divert the blame. Fisk has made a career buying into it. He has as much intellectual moral weight as Galloway and Cole – which is roughly on the level of the dictators we have been discussing.

UK Radicals Fear Deportation to Egypt

Britain is talking to Egypt about handing over exiles wanted by Cairo. Some Egyptian Islamists in Britain are wanted for militancy in Egypt, where they face death sentences. Egypt's prime minister said in May the United States had transferred as many as 70 militant suspects to Egypt, whose government has been fighting Islamist groups for decades. New-York based Human Rights Watch said the U.S. war on terrorism had made Egypt the world's main destination for detainees transferred under a practice known as rendition, which usually occurs in secret.

Read also this report on Hani al Sibai, the Director of al Maqrizi Center in Hammersmith in London, who says he have credible information the British ambassador to Egypt have held discussions with the National Council for Human Rights in Cairo to try and reach an agreement to extradite him and other Islamists currently residing in Britain, including a high-ranking official in the banned Gamaa Islamiya. Also: the deported Omar Bakri who is reversing his fatwas out of fear! Further: my previous posts on how radicals are treated in Egypt. Link. Link.

Baheyya on President Gamal

The Return of Baheyya! This time she's unveiling the plot to install the younger Mubarak as President. Of Ruses and Resistance - read it all.