What's Inside Your Chicken?

I knew I shouldn't have read this but I did and now I'm not sure I ever want to eat chicken again unless I'm in a village and I can see for myself that those chickens are not like the ones I just read about.

South Africa Turns the Screw on Mugabe

South Africa has refused to give a $1 billion bailout unless conditions aimed at restoring democratic government are met. China, which has provided buses, passenger planes and fighter jets in the past year, gave only $30m after it received warning telephone calls from the presidents of Nigeria and South Africa.

Quoted by Judith who says: This is almost too good to be true. Is it possible that South Africa and Nigeria are willing to play the role of responsible adults on that continent?

Should Saddam Be Executed?

Perphaps sentenced according to Islamic law? If exceptions to the sancity of life could be made, Saddam and Hitler would top my list. But since lives are sacred I can't argue for his death although I really whish he would just dissapear from earth. But Islamic scholar Imam Khaleel Mohammed says he should die (there's even graphic art):

I do not accept that if Saddam is found guilty, he should not be sentenced to death. Far from setting a good example, such a decision would send a disastrously wrong message, and would feed, once more, conspiracy theories. We would hear that the Americans used their influence to save Saddam, for murky or obscure reasons, and that the trial was a sham.

And let us face yet one more fact: Saddam, as he appeared the last time we saw him on 60 Minutes, has morphed into a devout Muslim, even interrupting an interview to complete prayer. Surely, as a sign of respect (albeit undeserved), we can allow that he be given a trial according to Islamic standards!

Psst! Al-Qaeda, Look Here

The bacteria lie dormant, freeze-dried in sealed ampules, in a refrigerator on a teeming university campus beside the Nile. They're among Earth's most common germs -- clostridia perfringens, a cause of food poisoning, a specimen for research. But this pathogen can also be a weapon: Iraqi scientists worked for years to mobilize this "Agent G" for Saddam Hussein's wars.

In an America nervous over bioterrorism … demanding registrations, reporting, background checks on scientists. Egypt, in a region roiled by terrorism, has no such laws.

…the bacteria at Ain Shams University are kept in a locked refrigerator, accessible by one authorized technician, in a laboratory protected by foolproof electronic keys, said Nabil Magdoub, microbe collection director.

"We have to be alert," he said, but not "unreasonable."

Can billions of dollars build biodefenses?

Al-Qaeda to Kill Omar Sherif

And Lawrence is no longer around to rescue him. Anyway, Al-Qaedaism is going too nutty. Not that Sherif has been very popular in the Arab world after he snogged a Jewish woman, Barbara Streisand, in 1968 when memories of the six-day war with Israel was fresh in Arab minds – his movies were banned in Egypt as a result – but threatening to kill him is going a couple of steps too far.

I blogged Sherif’s come back yesterday and mentioned that one of his recent roles was that of Moses father in law, Jethro. That alone is not cause for a death-fatwa since Moses is one of the many thousand minor prophet’s that paved the way for the major Prophet (insert blessing). Playing St Peter is, apparently:

A message on a web forum used in the past by al-Qaida had a link to a site carrying the threat.

"Omar Sharif has stated that he has embraced the crusader idolatry," it said. "He is a crusader who is offending Islam and Muslims and receiving applause from the Italian people. I give you this advice, brothers, you must kill him."

Says the Guardian: “the 73-year old actor, a convert to Islam, said he had "seemed to hear voices" during the filming of St Peter, a two-part mini-series shown last week."

Sherif: "Playing Peter was so important for me that even now I can only speak about it with difficulty. It will be difficult for me to play other roles from now on."

I wonder what it is like to be a young Al-Qaedaist and think that the only cool thing you can do is to tell other people to go out and kill those you don't agree with? I imagine it must be an internal hell. God knows what other issues they're dealing with. Let's pray for them too.

Gamal Launches Battle of Mubaraks

Our President Jr. stole the show when the National Democratic Party kicked off its election campaing this weekend. AFP was there: "Party apparatchiks filled the front rows, backed by some 2,000 supporters -- most of them bused from the various constituencies -- singing the praises of their leaders." Further:

"Gamal Mubarak was given the role of a modern politician glowing with composure and self-confidence. His various pledges for more housing and better sanitation were interrupted by cries of "Youth and workers, we all love you Gamal"."

"The political speech was allocated to NDP secretary general Safwat al-Sherif, who symbolises the regime's old guard." Guess what he said?

"Egypt's judiciary will not allow one single corrupt man to remain free."

Remind, me please; Who is the biggest thief of them all?

Toward a Virtual Caliphate

Al-Qaeda is not the only game in town in terms of the transnational forces competing for Muslim hearts and minds, Peter Mandaville says in Yale Global Online. He is pointing to an emerging infrastructure on the internet and satellite television (among other channels) with Islamic scholars that is challenging al-Qaeda's global rhetoric, but like Al-Qaeda is also seeking to establish a transnational religious polity in the empty space created by waning nation-states under globalization. Perhaps most interesting and least noticed, he says, is

a diverse body of "superstar" religious scholars whose efforts might serve as a more metaphorical embodiment of the caliphate. For this group, the caliphate is not so much a political institution attached to sovereign territory, but rather an ideal of pan-Islamic ecumenicism – a moderate and relatively inclusive form of lowest-common-denominator orthodoxy.

In their minds, this community of shared knowledge and religious interpretation is explicitly designed as an antidote to bin Laden and the radical jihadis. Given the means of its establishment and propagation, such a tendency might perhaps best be thought of as a "virtual caliphate.

At the forefront of this movement is the Qatar-based Egyptian Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Mandeville is warning that “the worst thing the West could do is to cast figures such as Qaradawi as part of the problem simply because his views don't precisely correspond with US goals.” – E.g. he is not one of the ‘good Muslims.’

Well, he is in exile, as good as dead if he ever returns to Egypt. Although he is a moderate by regional standards, he is not exactly the kind of sheikh you would like your children to meet. A few of his opinions:

1) The Israelis might have nuclear bombs but we have the children bomb and these human bombs must continue until liberation.

2) It is not suicide; it is martyrdom in the name of God.

3) By Islamic law… the blood and property of people of … non-Muslims (are) not protected.

Manderville is aware of his radical standing but “…one has to wonder whether US goals and those of the emergent "virtual caliphate" might not overlap more than they diverge. After all, a vote for Qaradawi is a vote against Zarqawi. Furhter:

While increased recruitment into the Qaradawi camp will not by any means produce a generation of Muslims favorably predisposed to US foreign policy, it will represent a consolidated, critical mass of influential and respected Muslims with whom meaningful dialogue with the hope of tangible progress can take place.

So out of two evils, take the least evil? Perhaps that would be a strategy if you have no other options. Fortunately, there are plenty of learned Muslims “with whom meaningful dialogue with the hope of tangible progress can take place.” The problem is that Qaradawi is taking too much space, not that he is the only one you can speak too. He should be met in the door, not allowed inside until you find more suitable company. Then again, via the telly and the PC, he is already a popular guest in many Muslims’ living rooms.

Link to the article. h/t: Aardvark

Al-Jazeera Not Popular in Iraq

Iraqi’s are turning to Al Arabiya for their daily news feeds. A new survey holds that the Dubai based channel captures 41 percent of the satellite TV viewers; almost as many as the local Al Iraqiya news channel. Al-Jazeera on the other hand only ranked number six. Aarkvard says Al-Jaz “has struggled with an official governmental ban, many Iraqis dislike al-Jazeera because they don't like its coverage or resent its allegedly pro-Saddam coverage before (and after) the war.” He also notes that the US government sponsored Al-Hurra doesn’t appear at all in the survey.

Liberal Larry: So Wrong, So Good

Liberal Larry does it again. I can't hold back any longer; I just have to give you this excerpt:

Bush Drowns Three Children in San Francisco -- When I heard last week that a San Francisco woman had been arrested for throwing her three children off a pier and watching them drown, my first instinct was to jump out of my bean bag chair and cry "What Ever Happened to a Woman's Right to Choose?"

2000! -- Two thousand soldiers killed for a lie. Two thousand lives destroyed in an illegal and immoral war waged without cause, reason, nor France's blessing. Two thousand young men and women who will never experience a consensual relationship with a member of the same gender, nor enjoy their Constitutional right to choose.

Then there's the one that is more wrong than the other: Troops Still Insensitive to Religion of Peace

Egypt Speaks Up About Iran's Blunder

Egypt's foreign minister became the first Arab government official to break the silence on Iran's anti-Israeli remarks. Amed Abul Gheit said the disappearance of a United Nations member state was never seen in history.

Perhaps it is two strikes in one move: I suppose we could say he is distancing Egypt from the call by Iran's president for Israel to be wiped off the map as much as from our own late president Nasser's call for Israel to be pushed into the sea in the sixties. Egypt was the first country to make peace with Israel in 1979.

Mujahedeen Cyber-Cemetery

Hero Worship: They were once medical students, fathers or businessmen who took their own lives -- as suicide bombers in Iraq. Their obituaries, which can be read on the Internet, are documents of men who were blinded by their deadly version of faith... from Spiegel Online.

Omar Sherif: We will Never See Democracy

The first news is that Peter O’Toole’s legendary co-star in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is not dead yet. Sherif, now 73, says he has been staying away from the international screens after his grand-children were teasing him for appearing in so many bad movies. – He did it for the money; his obsession with bridge-playing led to huge debts.

Now, Sherif is acting in a television play called ‘The Ten Commandments.’ His character is Moses’ father in-law, Jethro. Shooting the series takes him back to Ouarzazate, where part of "Lawrence of Arabia" was filmed more than 40 years ago.

Fast forward to what he has to say about politics:

"I don't find any terrible fault in the political situation in Egypt." The problems, he says, are poverty, ignorance and overpopulation.

“There will never be democracy in the Arab world, because we are tribal people. We are not nations."

"Egyptians are used to having a pharaoh ... People are ignorant. They like to look up to someone .... They look up to God. They look up to the saints."

Threesomes – Halal or Haram?

Does Islam permit threesomes? ‘Aqoul members are throwing their cents into the ever growing fatwa haven. Neither of the participants could recall any explicit ban on threesomes in the Qur’an or Hadith. Then again, they’re not scraggy-bearded Islamic scholars. And it’s not exactly the question you raise in your local mosque. Hints to an answer come from a question posted at Islam On Line’s fatwa generator:

A person is married to two wives. He wants to have sex with both of them together in the same bed as a threesome. Is it haram to do so if the wives are willing to do it? Thanks!

Having deconstructed the question and tackled the major problems, such as rules holding that no women should see another woman’s private area, ‘Aqoul is concluding:

So, if the threesome is in the dark where the women cannot see each other’s awrah and there is no discussion afterwards, then surely the husband is only fulfilling his duty to treat both wives equally and thus justify his decision for taking another wife in the first place.

Fewer Maids Run Away this Ramadan

Qatar's leading English Daily have the impressive headline about a falling number of runaway maids - obviously a national concern. With only four days left of Ramadan, not more than 30 Indonesian household helpers have escaped their masters. Maids are known to complain about overwork and harassment, as well as lack of sleep. Last year, some 150 girls went home without their sponsors' approval. So what are the Qatari's doing better this year? Improved working conditions? Lesser hours? Maid-Unions? Not quite; recently introduced recruitment rules is making it more difficult to get them into the country in the first place. "“It is extremely difficult to recruit an Indonesian maid after the new regulations were put in place recently and that explains why there is a drop in runaway cases,” officials said. Tough life. Big News.

Update: Filipino guest workers who had converted to Islam while working in the Middle East are an emerging threat, Australian counter-terrorism official says. Jihadi Maids? Watch out for the exploding broom.

Dwarf Mummy Unearthed

Would you believe that this 25 cm kid was 12 - 16 years old when he (she?) died 1,000 years ago? The mummy was found in Iran by illegal excavators this summer; the police recently recovered it in a sting operation, posing as potential customers.

Tips for Dodging Terrorists

Terrorist or just a poor driver? In Baghdad, it’s not always easy to know. Thank God for the anti-jihadi driving school!

At an anti-terrorist driving school, I learned how to ram out of the way a vehicle being used as a roadblock. Clearing a blocking car isn't difficult (more later). Instead, the challenge is to distinguish between poor driving and a terrorist attack."Iraqis are terrible drivers," the instructor said (sensitivity was not his specialty).

"It's extremely difficult to tell a bad driver from a terrorist." The instructor also said that after Baghdad fell, a lot of bad Iraqi drivers were wrecked. These were simple, innocent Iraqis — just bad drivers whose actions were misconstrued as threatening.

Welcome, Little Green Football Players

I am Ritzy Mabrouk and it is my pleasure to have you here. A customary introduction: do look around; any LGF reader is a friend and should feel at home. Geopolitically speaking, we are in the middle of where east meets west. Making sense of that meeting is mostly what this site is about. Head for the archives or use the Technorati search box in the side bar – either way I hope you will find that we are also having a lot of fun.

PS: here is my site feed and here is a quick link if you want to bookmark me at Del.icio.us or put me on your Blogrolling blogroll or Technorati Watchlist.

Update: Naturally, my welcome is extended to The Anchoress' readers, it is an honour to meet you.

KSA to Execute 14 Year Old Egyptian Boy

A 14-year-old Egyptian boy faces execution in Saudi Arabia after a flawed trial in which he was convicted for the murder of another child, Human Rights Watch says.

Neither the Saudi nor Egyptian government has responded to letters on the case that Human Rights Watch sent several weeks ago.

Ahmad al-D. was sentenced to death in July for the murder of three-year old Wala Adil Abd al-Badi in the city of Dammam in April 2004. The families of both children are Egyptian nationals living in Saudi Arabia. Wala’s parents have refused to accept blood money from Ahmad’s family. Ahmad remains on death row.

Saudi Arabia has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits capital punishment for offences committed by individuals under 18.

Saudi Arabia stated in its 2004 report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child that the “Islamic Shariah in force in the Kingdom never imposes capital punishment on persons who have not attained their majority.”

Sentence Based on Pubic Hair

The Saudi authorities violated Ahmad’s due process rights and well as international legal protections for children at every stage of the investigation, detention, trial and sentencing. He had no legal assistance or representation. Press and police accounts throw into question his psychological stability during this period and his ability to participate in his own defence.

Ahmad told the Saudi online newspaper al-Yaum al-Elektroni that he confessed only after police questioned him for the third time because “my strength dwindled and I lacked the capacity to refuse.” He said that while in pre-trial solitary confinement for three months he “cried from fear and loneliness.”

Although he was only 13 at the time of the murder, the court tried and sentenced Ahmad as an adult, based on its assessment of the coarseness of his voice and the appearance of pubic hair.

Children can benefit from adult provisions, such as the right to work where it is not hazardous or does not interfere with their right to education, but they may not be used to deny individuals under 18 rights guaranteed to them in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The court also reportedly refused his family’s request for a psychological exam that could have helped to establish diminished legal culpability, despite press accounts and statements by Saudi officials that point to a deeply troubled child in need of care and rehabilitation rather than an adult who is fully responsible for his actions.

No Help from Egypt

The Egyptian consulate reportedly has made little effort to protect Ahmad’s due process rights or to intercede with Wala’s family in Saudi Arabia, although both families are Egyptian.

In a letter to the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Human Rights Watch on September 22 urged the foreign minister to make a formal request that King Abdullah commute the death sentence. The letter also urged Egyptian consular officials to visit Ahmad regularly during his detention to monitor his well-being and ensure that his rights are protected. Consular officials should also assist settlement talks between the families and, should facilitate a diya – blood money - or other settlement. Egypt has not replied to the letter.

On September 22, Human Rights Watch wrote to King Abdullah urging him to commute Ahmad’s sentence to a punishment consistent with his age and culpability and to state publicly that Saudi Arabia does not impose the death penalty for offences committed by persons under 18 at the time of the crime. The KSA has not replied to the letter.

Link to Human Rights Watch. Hat-tip: Sabbah

Next time a foreign politician or TV-presenter slips and imply that this is not the ‘civilized world’ and the honourable Amr Moussa or Hosni Mubarak freaks out on live TV that this is where civilization began and no one should come and teach us about ‘their’ values of Human Rights, remember this story and the support they didn’t’ give this boy who is on death row in a country who didn’t bother to follow its own laws or give him a fair trial.

And by all means, write to Robert Fisk and ask how he will incorporate this in his rants about how the west has no moral authority to lecture Arabs about Human Rights. Write also to the family of the dead 3-year old and offer your condolences and ask what good they think they are doing by not accepting blood money and have Ahmad killed. Did they ask themselves that, what good they are doing? Or is it just about the dark desire of revenge? Did not God teach us otherwise? How can they choose to live in a country that is claiming to be the closest to a home on the earth that God has and at the same time so profoundly overlook what God and the Prophet (insert blessing) have told them?

The HRW made the letters to KSA and Egypt public a few days ahead of the Eid holy-days. Will the King and the President meet the challenge? Will the religious community demand that they step in to save his life? If not, what does it make them? Just asking.

Saddam Accepted Exile Plan to Avert War

A quick search pulls out the articles from 2003 where Powell, Bush and many others are urging Saddam to leave Iraq to avoid the invasion. Apparently, that is what he wanted. Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League, said no.

Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had secretly accepted a last-minute plan to go into exile to avert the 2003 Iraq war, but Arab leaders shot the proposal down, Al Arabiya television reported on Friday.

UAE President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan made the proposal for Saddam to go into exile at an emergency Arab summit just weeks before the U.S.-led war began in March 2003.

But the 22-member Arab League, led by Secretary-General Amr Moussa, refused to consider the initiative.

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak says in the documentary that the United States had signaled its support for the proposal.

Can Nations, Regimes, be Evil?

As the world is flabbergasted by the Iranian President’s remark that amounts to nothing less than a desire to exterminate millions of people, the question if a nation and regime can be evil keeps beating my mind. An evil ‘nation’ would include the country’s entire population, which sounds like nonsense; people go on with their daily life and cannot be blamed for their oppressive governments. Yet, millions are supporting the regime and others are quietly standing by, allowing their country to slip further down the dangerous path. Are they excluded from moral obligations? If so, how can we say they are part of the nation? If individuals are not responsible for the way the collective is heading, what make those individual different from the hens, sheep and donkeys that occupy the same land? We can’t say that Germany’s entire population was evil during the Second World War. Yet, something was obviously missing in the collective psyche. If we turn the question around one more time, the Iranian President and many with him have not spared any efforts since 1979 to brand the Israeli nation and leadership as evil. Not worthy of existence. Ought to be wiped off the map. How can we convince them that it is not true? That they are two nations who have no other choice than to learn to co-exist? The Israeli government will obviously conclude that it is not possible; the best we can hope for is to keep Iran’s regime within the boundaries. When they cross, the Israelis will hit. Another war. And we will ask: Why? Was there no other possibilities?

Less doomsday-ish: Judith has noted two comments from my neighbors in the blogsphere, first SM and then Jeffrey:

And what's funny is that Iranian political envoys are being summoned by European governments and asked for an explanation for A.J.'s remarks. Which makes me wonder: which part of "Israel should be wiped out" did you not get exactly? That wasn't clear enough for you? Dude, it was said in a conference called "A world without Zionism". Ehh...Hello.....anybody home? Which part needs further explaining to you? Oh god, why does Europe have to be so retarded?

As support for this claim, consider, if you will, wise Sandmonkey's ripping commentary on Ahmadinejad's recent injunction that the Israelis ought to be "wiped off the map,", which is surely reminiscent of Nasser's blustering "pushed into the sea" prediction back in the sixties that blew up in his face – literally (*cough*1967*cough*).

Quote for the Day

Life is like a festival. Just as some come to the festival to compete, and some to ply their trade, while the best come as spectators, so in life the slavish men go hunting for fame, or gain, but the philosophers, for truth.

- Diogenes Laertius, The Life of Pythagoras. via Andrew

Egypt and the Oil for Food Scandal

Among the 2,200 companies that allegedly made illicit payments to Iraq is Egypt's Holding Company for Food Industries, which according to the report paid $30,5 million in kickbacks.

Most of the contracts went to Russian and French companies and individuals, who were rewarded for their governments' outspoken opposition to the sanctions. Still, even firms in countries supportive of the sanctions, such as the United States, found ways to manipulate the system illegally — sometimes by using Russian firms as middlemen.

The report strongly criticizes the U.N. Secretariat and Security Council for failing to monitor the program and allowing the emergence of front companies and international trading concerns prepared to make illegal payments.

The report cleared former U.N. Secretary-General, Egyptian Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who headed the world body when the oil-for-food program was launched, of accepting bribes.

Among the individuals targeted in the report, investigators found that Jean-Bernard Merrimee, France's former U.N. ambassador, received $165,725 in commissions from oil allocations awarded to him by the Iraqi regime. He is now under investigation in France.

Other "political beneficiaries" included British lawmaker George Galloway; Roberto Formigoni, the president of the Lombardi region in Italy; and the Rev. Jean-Marie Benjamin, a priest who once worked as an assistant to the Vatican secretary of state and opposed Iraqi sanctions.

The Gamers Are Revolting

This student resistance leader helped remove former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic from power. Now, he is working on a game that teaches players the strategy of non-violent conflicts. That is something for a toppled dictator to write about in his memoirs: "I held the country for decades, then computer gamers kicked me out." Arabization franchise, anyone? Start with Syrian Arabic.

America's Best Leaders

Con dolcezza, in Italian, means "with sweetness," a musical reference. This article says Rice, "a classically trained pianist, can indeed show a touch of southern charm in her meetings with foreign leaders." But she can also be tough:

(she) ...physically blocked burly Russian leader Boris Yeltsin from barging in on then President George H. W. Bush without an appointment.

Some things she did and I love her for doing it:

A devout Christian, she attended church services in Beijing, a not-so-veiled statement for religious freedom in the Communist country. And after the arrest of a democracy activist in Egypt, she canceled an expected visit. When she did travel to Egypt, Rice met with the activist and delivered perhaps the sternest public lecture ever by a visiting American diplomat on the need for Egypt to move toward full democracy.

And because she is so disciplined:

Rice awakens most mornings at 4:30 a.m., a legacy of her youth as a competitive figure skater, when she rose early to practice at the ice rink. Rice began her piano lessons at age 3 and still plays for pleasure, sometimes for a couple of hours on Sundays in her Watergate apartment. Brahms and Mozart are favorites. So is pro football, a personal passion for Rice, who also plays tennis.

Rice starts her days with an hour of exercise, then goes to the office by 7 a.m. She often takes her lunch at her desk on the seventh floor of State. A speed-reader, she has immersed herself in the details of the department's budget. Rice chairs staff meetings after 8 a.m. and again to wrap up the day at 6 p.m.

Naguib Mahfouz: Unity in action

Al-Ahram Weekly is using archived quotes by Nobel Litterature Laurate Naguib Mahfouz every week. This time, a very timely topic.

Every society in the world has a core of beliefs that defines its way of life. For Egypt one such premise was national unity. My generation stuck together. We didn't think of ourselves as Muslims and Copts but as Egyptians. And this was at a time when the British were still in Egypt and political strife was a daily phenomenon. In his memoirs Lord Cromer said the only difference between a Muslim and a Christian in Egypt is that one goes to a mosque and the other to a church. Aside from that they live the same way, observe the same traditions and share the same language and culture.

It was only by chance we would know the religion of a friend. No one asked and no one paid much attention. I discovered that one of my closest friends was Christian only when his father died and I was told that he would be available for condolences at the church.

In my time the cabinet included 12 ministers among which it was customary to have at least two Copts. Wissa Wassef, a Copt, was parliamentary speaker for many years. When prime minister Ismail Sidqi, a Muslim, disbanded parliament Wassef attacked him fiercely and was hailed as a national hero for doing so.

The Basilica Church Vigil Oct. 30, at 6:30 PM

Karim and other bloggers are calling for a vigil at the above time and location to display Egypt's religious interconnection. Says Karim: "Let us grasp the opportunity of the last few days of Ramadan to make this display of affection for each other."

Welcome Back, Mohamed Jihadi

Mohamed Abouhalima is back in Egypt, deported from the U.S. where he was staying eight years in jail for his involvement in the 1993 WTC bombing that killed six and injured more than 1,000 people.

He didn't actually blow the bomb. His brother, Mahmoud did. Mohamed was convicted for driving Mahmoud to the airport, knowing he was responsbile for the attack and was escaping to Saudi Arabia. Link.

Comeback Kid

Cairo Magazine has an interview with controversial editor Ibrahim Eissa.

The difference betweent the old and new al-Dustour:

In 1995, we had only one colleague who knew how to navigate the web, and we used to say “Wow!” and look at him like he was a space alien.

The real reasons behind the suspension of al-Dustour in 1998:

I believe there were 120 reasons, 119 of which we know nothing about.

...we never eulogized Mubarak and ... we urged other papers to do the same. We released 116 editions in the first era, none of which contained Mubarak’s photo on the first page. Nor did we congratulate him on any occasion.

The current state of the Egyptian press:

The Egyptian press is gradually collapsing. It’s like a person putting a barrel in his mouth. It’s still confining itself within the boundaries of what officials say. Due to the lack of sources, it doesn’t depend on accurate data or provide informative articles. So papers turn into producers of official statements and fake news. Many journalists have turned into salespeople, just selling ads. Most opposition party papers are like political newsletters.

The future:

The Egyptian people have been hiding their true feelings toward the pharaoh for 7,000 years. There is a space of awareness that’s opened lately. But I’m still not that optimistic. What has been steadily ruined over the past 52 years can’t be fixed in a year or two.

Link. h/t: Abu Aardvark

Coptic Christians Fear Ethnic Cleansing

“Extremist Muslim groups are planning to surround the Alexandria churches again on Friday, Oct.28, and at the end of Ramadan on the following Tuesday, promising the death of Christians and the continued destruction of churches throughout Egypt."

The warning is issued by the International Christian Union (ICU) and American Coptic Association (ACA). They are calling on the U.S. Government and the United Nations to take immediate action to stop the bloodshed and destruction of churches.

Dr. Monir Dawoud, president of the ICU/ACA, faults the security forces for encouraging violence by first "giving the green light to the mob," and then failing to control the resulting riots. "If the momentum of the riots is allowed to continue, the crowds will be impossible to contain," Dawoud said.

Kill the Pope

It is also reported that the newspaper El Fagr has published threats made by Muslim radicals against the Coptic Pope Shenouda III. According to this report, Muslim radicals publicly announced their threats through mosques in the outskirts of the city of Alexandria and were calling for the death of the Pope in revenge for an alleged insult to Islam's prophet.

A website called “My Christian Blood” that the ICU/ACA are referring to says El-Fagr has confirmed that Islamic fanatics have released a fatwa that killing Pope Shenouda is Halal - "ok by religion". It says “the fanatic extremist newspaper claimed that they are going to have a massacre for all Christians, priests, and pastors. They started putting signs and marks on some Christians, priests, and pastor's houses.” The web site then cries out for help ‘before another Rwanda ethnic cleansing happens.”

The banner displays pictures with the caption “1 Nun, 8 Churches, 100’s of Property is attacked by 1,000’s of Muslims.” “Exclusive videos” claim to show destroyed churches and burned Bibles.

Question: is this heated language going to improve the situation? Did not Pope Shenouda call for reason just a few days ago?

Previous posts: The Other Side of the Coin; So Far Today, Only Verbal Attacks; Church: Riot is Connected to Elections; Empty Words from Sheikh Tantawi; Alexandria, Yesterday and Today; St.Gergis: Three Killed, Dozens Wounded; St. Gergis: Student Stabs Nun; Alexandria on Sectarian Fire; I was Blind but Now I can See. Technorati Search “Coptic” on this site.

Flatter, All the Way

Since Mr. Ghost went through all the trouble of making an In T View and some interesting graphics to go with it, I'm obliged to share the URL: You Love Her, You Read Her, You Want To Know More About Her: It's The In T View: Ritzy Mabrouk. The Ghost, of course, is the same Ghost who is haunting our favorite Iraqi Bloggers Central.

Java Sea Reveals Lost Treasures

In Jakarta, divers have recovered 250,000 artefacts over the last 18 months. Among the treasures that was hidden by the sea for more than 1,000 years are brightly coloured glassware from the Fatimid dynasty.

Holiday From Hell In Egypt

A group of holiday makers are demanding compensation for a trip to Egypt that included a stay at the five star SAS-Radisson in Taaba Heights and gastric illness. It is all too common. This country would double its income from tourists if it got rid of its 'revenge of the Pharaohs' reputation. But when the number of arrivals are growing steadily with five percent a year and all hotels are fully booked during high-season, why would anybody care? Would a five star hotel even consider offering compensation on the spot? Of course not, it is not 'their' guests - all issues should be handled by the tour operator. I call for a branch organization that voluntary work to clean up Egypt. If those who are cashing in most on the business can work actively together to make their business more friendly to the environment, they can also work together to make it safer for the tourists. They would be able to set standards. Like: All restaurant staff need access to hot water in the bathroom. (You didn't really think they have that, did you?). They could control temperatures in refrigerators and teach chefs not to put warm food in a cool fridge. Stuff like that. All to make us and our guests more happy.

Is Religion Good for You?

An MIT economist thinks so and has published his research. h/t: andrew

In Malaysia, Non-Muslims Must Wear Scarves at university campuses. Is religion good for them too?

Or for the battered women who no longer has the full protection of the police who are now being advised to treat Muslim domestic violence cases differently out of respect for Islamic traditions and habits?

A Kurdish Vision of Iraq

Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, is writing in Washington Post.

In recent weeks Iraq has passed three important milestones. The constitutional referendum on Oct. 15 was a powerful demonstration of Iraqis' desire to establish democracy and save a country still recovering from its disastrous history. Two days later the remains of 500 of my kinsmen were returned from a mass grave in southern Iraq for reburial in Iraqi Kurdistan. Another 7,500 of my kin are still missing after "disappearing" from a Baathist concentration camp in 1983 in the first phase of the genocidal Anfal campaign, which caused the death of 182,000 Kurdish civilians during the 1980s. Then, on Oct. 19, Saddam Hussein finally went on trial.

None of this would have been possible without the U.S.-led liberation of Iraq...

Elevator News: Who Needs a Space Shuttle?

In the world of wonderful things I never thought would be possible: the space elevator. Well, perhaps it is. "According to many engineers, within a couple of decades it will be both possible and cost-effective to construct a fixed line from the Earth's equator to a satellite 60,000 miles out in space." Absolutely fantastic.

King Tut Drank Red Wine

Boy King Tut's tipple was red wine. How sofisticated of him! How un-Islamic of him!

I don't know what "chromatography" and "mass spectrometry" is but scientists have used them together to reveal syringic acid in scrapings taken from two jars in King Tutankhamun's tomb. Syringic acid is released by the breakdown of the compound malvidin, found in red wine.

A jar from Tutankhamun's tomb was marked: "Year 5. Wine of the House-of-Tutankhamun Ruler-of-the-Southern-on, l.p.h (in) the Western River. By the chief Vintner Khaa.''

Tutankhamun, died in 1352 BC. BBC

The Price of Parliament

This article is telling me that the current price of a NDP seat in the parliament is one million EGP ($175k). Fine, I’ll take two please, to be delivered on the day of election.

Up to a fifth of the People’s Assembly are wealthy businessmen. Too many, says Kefaya opposition candidate Kamal Khalil in a manifesto posted on his blog:

"Never did the political hegemony of businessmen reach that level at any point over the past 50 years.

This country has become the target for the biggest organised looting operation, carried out by a handful of monopolists allied with the ruling gang, headed by Mubarak and his family," he says.

Calling Galloway's Bluff

Here is Christopher Hitchens' most recent take on the Galloway smoking gun. Loaded with facts. And here is what he says in the intro: "I added that I wanted no further contact with Galloway until I could have the opportunity of reviewing his prison diaries." That day has indeed been brought measurably closer!

Oh! And here is how Hitchen ends: "I wonder if any of those who furnished him a platform will now have the grace to admit that they were hosting a man who is not just a pimp for fascism but one of its prostitutes as well."

Blogs for Cash - Egyptian Worth

So what are my neighbours in the Egyptian blogsphere worth according to the method in my previous post?

Egyptian Sandmonkey: $0.00
Baheyya: $0.00
One Arab World: $0.00 *

Strange, all their lovely work and they can't even sell it for a pixel's worth? Na, this engine can't be working. Let's test a non-Egyptian site:

Andrew Sullivan: $2,092,185.24

Hmm... maybe it's working too well. I'll never be able to buy him out. What about Michelle?

Michelle Malkin: $2,889,315.72

Ok, nothing wrong with the engine. Let's test again with a really good Egyptian blog.

Big Pharaoh: $132,666.90

Bingo! Someone got it right. Mabrouk!

*) Update: Apologizes to Karim, I had not noticed one of the three parts of his URL onearabworld.blog.com. The value when I tested it now with the correct URL is: $27,097.92

This Blog is For Sale!

Current value: $29,356.08. - based on the same link to dollar ratio as the AOL-Weblogs Inc deal. Go here to get an update on the value for this blog, or your own. Check the latest addition to my side bar, it's towards the bottom. h/t: Improbulus.

Sex in the War, Sort Of

Solider-Blogger-Author Colby Buzzel is writing in Nerve about relationships on a distance while on mission abroad. And then there is this bizarre solution:

(Check the pink one...)
... better than looting and raping, is it not? h/t: Regina

Lake Nasser, glittering in the sun, as seen from space and captured by a NASA photographer. Link.

Bush, Torturer in-Chief

Andrew has the facts:

Over a hundred detainees have died in captivity. The ACLU looked at the records of 44 such deaths and concluded that 21 were homicides and that "at least eight resulted from abusive techniques by military or intelligence officers, such as strangulation or 'blunt force injuries'.

An Iraqi detainee died on January 9, 2004, in Al Asad, Iraq, while being interrogated. He was standing, shackled to the top of a door frame with a gag in his mouth at the time he died. The cause of death was asphyxia and blunt force injuries.

* A detainee was smothered to death during an interrogation by Military Intelligence on November 26, 2003, in Al Qaim, Iraq. An autopsy report lists “asphyxia due to smothering and chest compression” as the cause of death and cites bruises from the impact with a blunt object.

* A detainee at Abu Ghraib Prison, captured by Navy Seal Team number seven, died on November 4, 2003, during an interrogation. An autopsy report shows that the cause of his death was “blunt force injury complicated by compromised respiration.”

* An Afghan civilian died from “multiple blunt force injuries to head, torso and extremities” on November 6, 2003, at a Forward Operating Base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

* A 52-year-old male Iraqi was strangled to death at the Whitehorse detainment facility on June 6, 2003, in Nasiriyah, Iraq. His autopsy also revealed bone and rib fractures, and multiple bruises on his body.

Sahara sand sea, as captured from space by a NASA photographer. Link.

Alexandria, Yesterday and Today

Mona Eltahawy doesn’t fail to impress us this week either. Must read. Money quote:

Why is that Muslims always seem to react violently to real and imagined offense?

A week before the violence in Alexandria, an independent newspaper in Egypt published a full-page report on what it said were false passages in the Bible. Why didn’t 5,000 Christians take to the streets of Cairo to attack mosques and to stab any woman wearing a veil?

Is Islam so fragile that it needs Muslims to demonstrate and riot in Alexandria to protect it? Muslims in Egypt are the majority so why are they acting as if Islam is on the verge of collapse?

When are Egyptians going to end our self-denial and admit that there is a problem between Muslims and Christians? We pretend everything is just fine and that anyone who dares to say otherwise is a traitor or an agent from abroad sent to sow the seeds of sectarian strife in Egypt.

The Copts and Their Political Implications

A short backgrounder from the Washington Institute.

Sex, Drugs and Rock’n Roll in Ancient Egypt

It is a freshman's seminar at John Hopkins University. The course explores the ancient Egyptian notions of divine experience and the ritual magic that assisted with it. The means of experiencing the gods in ancient Egypt often involved rituals that included drunkenness and music. Sexuality helped to guarantee the maintenance of world order and was important to all notions of life and death. Link.

Police Clash with Demonstrators

The police clashed with a group of 30 demonstrators, most of them mothers, wives and children to political detainees. Security sources and protestors told AFP two were injured. A child was hit in the eye and another child with heart problems were injured in the back.

I was not there, but I think the conscripted police troops are regretting the injuries to the children as much as anyone else. Tell me I am wrong, until then I will remain convinced no harm was intended.

The protest were organized by the immediate families to some of the between 16,000 to 30,000 political prisoners in Egypt. Imagine the scene if all their children, wives and parents would take to the street. Only 30 showed up; is that due to anything but fear of further problems? Link.

Empty Words from Sheikh Tantawi

The grandest of the Grand Imam’s, Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi says decisive action is needed to prevent sectarian tension from escalating in Egypt. “We should take quick action to bridge the chasm...”

In my reading, “bridge a chasm” implies there are two sides at fault and the task at hand is to make them sympathize with each other. What a grand thought. No one is blamed or told that what was done was utterly wrong. With that, we can happily live together for ever. Or? Not. There is only one side at fault here and that side needs to hear why they are wrong -preferably from both a moral and religious perspective. Another Grand Imam has already declared there is nothing offensive on the CD/DVD that was recently distributed. The play is two years old. Even if it was offensive, it doesn’t motivate violent attacks and repeated riots.

In Alexandria last week, there were attackers and victims. If Tantawi wish to avoid further tension, he ought to call it for what it is. And tell the angry crowds to back off and shut up. Else they may get into trouble on the last day. Link.

Inquiry: Galloway Lied Under Oath

An inquiry is claiming George Galloway had "knowingly made false or misleading statements under oath" about Saddam Hussein's multimillion-pound oil-for-food programme when he appeared before a committee hearing in Washington in May. The British MP angrily rejected the accusation last night.

The latest report from the committee claims:

· Galloway personally solicited and was granted oil allocations from the government of Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein - totalling 23m barrels.

· Galloway's wife received approximately $150,000 in connection with one of those oil allocations.

· Galloway's political campaign, the Mariam Appeal, received at least $446,000 in connection with the oil allocations under the oil-for-food programme.

· The Hussein regime received improper 'surcharge' payments amounting to $1,642,000 in connection with the oil allocations granted to Galloway and the Mariam Appeal.

Says Tariq Aziz, Iraq’s former deputy prime minister: "These oil allocations were for the benefit of George Galloway and for Mariam's Appeal. Aziz also allegedly told investigators that Mr Galloway had expressed concern to him about "the appearance of taking money directly from the Iraqi government", and asked for his and his wife's name to be omitted from official documents. However, the report found that several documents, authenticated by former regime officials, did mention Mr Galloway by name.

Says former Iraqi vice-president Taha Yasin Ramadan: Mr Galloway was a "friend of Iraq" who "needed to be compensated for his support". "Galloway needed money to pay for his actions," … "we gave him oil to sell to make the money".   Guardian.

Poor Nations are Littered with Old PC's

Much of the used computer equipment sent from the United States to developing countries for use in homes, schools and businesses is often neither usable nor repairable, creating enormous environmental problems in some of the world's poorest places, according to a report issued yesterday by an environmental organization.

The report, titled "The Digital Dump: Exporting Reuse and Abuse to Africa," says that the unusable equipment is being donated or sold to developing nations by recycling businesses in the U.S. as a way to dodge the expense of having to recycle it properly.

More than 63 million computers in the U.S. will become obsolete in 2005. An average computer monitor can contain as much as eight pounds of lead, along with plastics laden with flame retardants and cadmium. NYT

Blame Bush, anyone?

There will be Monitors

Egyptian Monitors for the parliamentary elections are allowed as long as they register with the government first. This way it will be easier for the government to round them up and arrest them after they rig this election as well.

- SM

Two On Rice

The first, by the Telegraph, is looking at Condi’s recent trip to her home state and if she really doesn’t want to run for the presidential office in 2008, as she says she do not. The second, an op-ed in the Washington Post, is asking why Dr. Rice cannot see what every other black American can see. Well, the answer may just be that she does see and that she understands better than most other people – hard as it is to get, she could be right and the ‘majority’ wrong.

Camp Nightmare

I found this letter in Al-Ahram Weekly:

Sir-- We had the misfortune of staying at Ahmed's Desert Camp in Bahariya three weeks ago. I'd like to pass on my impression of Ahmed's camp to interested readers. Ahmed's camp is a foul, disgusting, filthy, littered place. It's not really fit for human occupancy and if Egypt had a board of health it would immediately close Ahmed's Desert Camp as a hazardous site. The food is laced with flies and unfit for consumption. The staff is surly and disinterested. There are 100 projects started and none finished. Campers beware.

Robert Ramey
Louisiana
USA

Let’s hope Mr. Ramey is having better luck next time he is coming to Egypt, if he does. We wouldn’t want him to fall in the trap one more time. Unfortunately, there are plenty of traps in this industry that at large is treating visitors as one-time occasional by passers. Since tourism is our major income, every story like this one should be treated seriously. I second Mr. Ramey in his call for more government control. It is time to raise the standards. With the billions pouring in, there is no excuse for treating visitors like anything but the honoured guests they are. Link.

Arab Nations Healthier than Egypt

According to a survey, Kuwaiti citizens can expect to stay healthy until the age of 65; people from the Emirates and Bahrain until the age of 63; Tunisia and Qatar 61; Oman and Saudi Arabia 60; Jordan and Libya 59; Syria and Algeria 58; Egypt 57; Morocco 55; Iraq 52; and Yemen 49.

Japan has the healthiest people on the planet, followed by Switzerland and Australia where people are expected to live and stay healthy until over 74 years of age. In countries such as Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and Zambia, the corresponding ages is around 30.

Veiled with a Bikini

Her bikini didn't conform to the rules of Islam, so each time she took a dip she would quickly cover up and pray on the beach. The guilt spoiled the fun. The solution? La Femme – a women’s beach west of Alexandria where the veiled can strip down to skimpy bikinis safe from God's disapproval.

"Here I am sitting at ease, knowing that I'm not doing anything wrong."

Cover of the Week

No further comment - I am amused by it, that's all.

They Hold the Keys to Cairo

Resident correspondent Megan Stack of the L.A. Times has the good habit of providing her readers with pieces about the oddities of Cairo. This time it is an expose of the bawabs – doormen – who can be anything from religious policemen to pimps – money typically define the role they choose. Anything else wouldn’t work for them and the many other good, simple and hard working people who constitute the core of this country. Yet, my favourite story is that of a young couple in Cairo who entered a conflict with the keeper at their vacation house. His revenge was to do his morning business underneath their bedroom window. Another anecdote:

His bowab blares Koranic verses from a radio at 3 a.m. and washes cars in a noisy exultation of water at sunrise. When the Williams family forgets to pay his monthly salary, less than $5, he gives a tactful nudge by showing up at the door with gritty, squashed brownies wrapped in newspaper. At first Williams threw the cakes away; then it occurred to him that the bowab was going through his garbage, piece by piece.

Elvis was Proud, Black, and Arab

Q: Was Elvis a Proud, Black, Arab?
A: No.

Q: Did Elvis want to be a Proud, Black, Arab.
A: Hell Yes!

The man sang blues songs, had belly dancer hips, wore gaudy clothing, and lived in kind of opudecadence that would make Arab royalty blush.

- from Abdullah X, also known for the Rich Arabs Blog.

Who Appreciates Egypt These Days?

The pyramids of Giza - the oldest and sole survivors of the Seven Wonders of the World - only secured eighth place in an updated list of modern marvels revealed yesterday.

Don't reach for your dagger just yet. It is only the travel magasine Wanderlust’s readers who have been voting. Ptah! And the British are calling themselves civilized! Another reason for the Pharaohs to turn in their graves. That is, had they still been there and had not British archaeologists already shipped half of the treasures from the pyramids to a certain museum in London.

The top wonder of the 21-century according to the magazine’s readers is the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru. Somewhere in the mountains, I believe. You cannot even reach that place with the tube. How 21-centurish is that! And I'm not sure it deserves to be called antique: some insignificant Incan Pharaoh built it around 1460 AD.

Second place: temple complex of Angkor in Cambodia; third: India's Taj Mahal; Petra in Jordan fourth. Then there is the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China and the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador. Nothing in Egypt. Have the British lost their ability to marvel? No wonder our Arab brothers are trying to blow up London once in a while. If this is how the UK has become, I wouldn't stand being there either. Give their national detoriation ten more years and they will vote for Bodrum and Hurghada and think I ought to be pleased with that. I see now why the Queen is detaching herself from the English people.

Travellers in the old age knew how to appreciate their destinations: The seven wonders of the ancient world were the pyramids at Giza, built during the fourth dynasty; the hanging gardens of Babylon; the temple of Artemis at Ephesus; the mausoleum at Halicarnassus; the statue of Zeus at Olympia; the Colossus of Rhodes, and the lighthouse at Alexandria. Link.

The Other Side of the Coin

The trouble-makers in Alexandria deserve to hear that they are doing wrong and why, as expressed here and in other blogs and by religious and political leaders. That said, and since so many tend to see the world as black and white today, we ought to stress that the world is not black and white. In other words: this is not a religious conflict; it is a conflict by troubled people who are hi-jacking their religion for whatever other purposes. True, that is not how many demonstrators see it; they want it to be a fight between Muslims and Christians; good and bad; faithful and not. But that a group of people - even a large group or a majority - feel that it is between black and white does not make it black and white. It means nothing more than that is how they perceive it. That these people perceive it this way is not the same as that is the way it is. In other words: there is no inherent conflict between the two religions just because the troublemakers in Alexandria want to believe there is.

Fortunately, most people know this. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not want to know this. They want everything to be "them against us." And since they choose to define themselves by religion it becomes a conflict between religions. In Alexandria at the moment, the victims are the Coptic Christians. In my eyes, they are innocent victims. The tabloid-talk about an offensive DVD is old rubbish. Adults should know better. But of course, they do not want to know. They are troubled and they need an outlet. Have no illusions that it is only among the Muslim population you find the radical and ignorant. Absolutely not. There is plenty of fanatic Christians as well in this country. Loads of people who don’t know a lot at all. Regardless of religious faith, it is not their fault. It is what poverty does to a nation. It is what happens when the educational system has collapsed. There cannot be any other way when people have been robbed of their opportunities. We should rather ask why they are not more radical. Why they are not more violent. Then there is a question to which we already know the answer: the reason they are not attacking the root of their problems. It is because they are afraid. It is also because they have been brought up on lies. They hit at what they can. It does not hurt them selves as much as challenging what they always have thought is true will. It is their loss. And our biggest problem.

But why is it Muslims, again, who are resorting to violence? Because they are more frustrated? Because the Muslim population is so big it make more noise? A lot of people like to say it is because of faith; that there is something in Christianity that doesn’t is in Islam. I think the history of fundamentalism answer that question; enough autocracies have taken place under the banner of Christianity that we should not have to doubt that all religions can be hi-jacked. It makes judgements by either side obsolete. This is the point where religious and political leaders like to stop. End of discussion. It is the easy escape from the threats that are facing our societies. Instead, we should face up to the question of why, in this particular moment, the violence is taking place under the banner of Islam. Why the religion is hi-jacked. Why, on religious grounds, they are misled. Attempts to answer occasionally surfaces. Al-Azhar is issuing statements by duty and default. So does the Presidency and the Ministry. But when are they going to stop the hatred that is preached in newspapers and on satellite TV and in some places, the mosques? When will it be replaced with talk about the love of God and tolerance?

Or is the problem that those who should provide the alternative do not have the answers themselves, that they simply do not know what to say? I find that very hard to believe (rather: stomach). If that is the case, we are in big trouble. Not because there is not a solution because there is. But because the solution is Change with capital C and such changes do not come easy or without pain.

That, if nothing else, is a notion I share with the demonstrators in Alex.

God Bless.

So Far Today, Only Verbal Attacks

The demonstrators burned copies of the Gospel yesterday. This is unacceptable and right now we cannot even accept excuses.

- Maher Khella, the Coptic candidate of the ruling National Democratic Party in Alexandria.

I'm not asking for an apology but the Church must make a clear statement because the DVD was watched by many and it clearly harms the image of Islam.

- Osama Gado, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Should Christians be blamed for mere rumours that are spread by newspapers?

- Pope Shenuda III, stressing that the play had been performed only once two years ago.

A lot of Christian women usually wear a cross around their necks in order to deflect criticism for not wearing the veil and avoid having Muslims say rude things about Copts thinking we are one of theirs.

But today I'm not wearing it because I'm too afraid someone will try to snatch it or insult me.

- Mary Hanna Wasef, a woman in her 60s.

Link.

Church: Riot is Connected to Election

The Coptic Church in Alexandria is also saying the attacks by Muslims on St. Gergis Church appear to be about politics:

It was unclear who was giving out the DVD, and church officials, as well as local residents, speculated its distribution may somehow be connected to the upcoming parliamentary elections, where aggravating sectarian tensions could help certain candidates win votes.

"Raising this now is to be looking for a problem to break national unity," the church said in a statement issued Saturday. "We believe that this problem was raised in light of the coming parliamentary elections."

NYT's correspondent has noted an attitude that always bewilder me:

In Alexandria, several shopkeepers and pedestrians spoke of their waning patience for their Christian neighbors, and of a sense that their tolerance has been taken for granted and abused.

"Did we make plays that insult the Christians?" said the pharmacist, Mr. Ali Mahmoud. "They will pay the price in terms of their security, comfort, and now no priest will be able to walk in the streets."

It may be that there is only about one Coptic believer for every ten faithful Muslim, but tolerance is still a mutual thing; Islam may be the official way but the Coptic Church is equally recognized. Can we please therefore try to get away from this notion that the Copts are visitors that ought to behave like guests in the presence of their housemasters? Even if anyone is offended by a DVD? Which very few people actually are:

Though few people interviewed Saturday said they actually saw the play or the DVD, the word on the street was it was anti-Islamic.

Needless to say, scenes of trouble always attract the worst sort: filling your pockets with gold is hardly a mark of the faith you're claiming you're demonstrating to defend:

A shoemaker, who said his name was Muhammad Abdo, said that police first fired tear gas into the crowd, which only served to anger those in the streets. The crowd, he said, then went wild with people turning over cars and lighting them on fire, smashing storefronts and looting a gold shop.

The shoemaker is also revealing a notion of ignorance this nation have to overcome:

"No one will stop until they give a formal apology," Mr. Abdo said, adding that he heard the play denied a central tenet of the Islamic faith - that Muhammad was God's prophet.

In their ignorant bliss, most people can' grasp that if you acknowledge Muhamed as God's prophet, you are a believing Muslim. If you do not, it simply means that you are not a Muslim. Nothing more or less. It does not mean that you deny the Muslim believer his or her right to acknowledge the prophet. Only that you do not. It would be odd if Christians, Jews, Buddhist's and other believers suddenly said God is Great and Mohamed is his Prophet. That would make them Muslims.

Most people haven't thought that far though. They are raised to declare that God is the Greatest and Mohamed is his Prophet; not to question it or to search for other world views. That someone does not subscribe to the same idea is unfathomable. Thus, in their view of the nation, everybody do belive Mohamed is the prophet. Even if they are Coptic Christians. It just means that they are not realizing his importance. Or that they are on the wrong path here and there in their spiritual quest. To this people, saying that a Coptic Christian probably do not think there was another Messiah or Prophet after Jesus is to say that the world is not flat. Equally upsetting.

Fortunately, a lot of people, including the faithful, are better educated than that. But if we are speaking about the rioting masses, this is the level where you have to begin. Link.

Grand Mufti says CD did Not Insult Islam

Egyptian Grand Mufti Ali Juma'ah says there is no CD/DVD that is offending Islam that has led to the riots in Alexandria. Instead, he says, there are people who are trying to create problems by claiming that relations between Muslims and Christians are weak, in order to achieve personal interests and not the best of the country.

Flogging Another Blogger

A young Iranian blogger has received 30 lashes of the wip as part of his sentence. Imprisoned since 29 June, Ahmad Seyyed Saray was charged with 'offending the authorities.' The cruel punishment might prove to be the easy part of his ordeal: he is still awaiting sentencining for the related charge of 'attacking the security of the state.' Link. Hat-Tip: Discarded Lies

Also from Iran: Al-Qaeda training manuals on CD's are distributed generously in the country's eastern and southeastern provinces.

St.Gergis: Three Killed, Dozens Wounded

Three demonstrators were killed during clashes with the police in the protest outside St. Gergis Church in Alexandria according to Reuters. The agency is also quoting the ministry of interior saying one demonstrator was killed; 20 police and 25 demonstrators were injured. More than 30 people were detained.

Police formed a cordon to prevent the crowd approaching St. George's church, prompting some of the demonstrators to try to storm another church nearby, the sources said, adding that dozens of police and protesters were injured in the clashes.

Also via Reuters: Coptic Bishop Armia has denied accusations that the play that caused the demonstration in any way insulted Islam, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported, as monitored by the BBC.

AFP says one demonstrator was killed; 20 police and 60 protesters were wounded; one protestor later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. One police car and six other vehicles were burned in the clashes

The Muslim protestors had earlier attacked the church and injured a passer-by, as they vented anger over the DVD release of a play produced by Saint Girgis two years ago they consider to be anti-Muslim.

The protests came three days after a man lightly wounded a nun with a knife at the entrance to the same church, and a man who came to her aid was stabbed in the back.

Pardon me for being blunt, but when 5,000 Muslims in one of the most peaceful countries in the Middle East are attacking churches; torching vehicles and are hurting innocent passersby, we may excuse the people in the west for 'always having the wrong impression' about Muslims and Islam. And this is about a two year old DVD record. A nun is stabbed. Since when did Muslims stop honoring the sancity of the house of God? By what right? In Ramadan?

If the remaining peace-loving people of Alexandria have any character, they ought to gather en-masse outside St. Girgis and keep a 24-hour vigil for weeks or months if necessary, to prevent further attacks and to prove that this outrageous behaviour never was, and never will be, accepted in Egypt.

The sad fact is, they would never do anything like it, they would never consider it. That's another shame we have to live with.

Peace. Enjoy Ramadan.

St. Girgis Church Attacked Again

Police had to disperse nearly 5,000 Muslims who attacked St. Girgis Church in Alexandria and injured passersby. Teargas and batons were used by the police. Like last Friday, the attack took place after Friday prayers when the faithful proceeded from the Mosque to the Church. Earlier this week, a young man ran into the Church and stabbed a nun and a man while calling out "Allah Akhbar."

"A police force tried to prevent the protesters from approaching the church and attacking it, but they did not heed police warnings and stoned the church, the force and passersby, which resulted in injuries," the ministry of interior said.

The Muslim protesters are upset about a play that allegedly was performed in the Mosque last week. The play is two years old and has since long been condemned by Church authorities. The first protest took place after a Tabloid paper published a story about DVD recordings of the play.

A Good Weekend Read

I am not saying I won't be blogging during the entire weekend – chances are I cannot resist the temptation– but I do have another agenda that will take most of my time. I invite you instead to have a look at some good reading I have collected from Arts & Daily, always a good resource on sunny days when we're too cautious about our colors to head outdoors.

The Tyranny of Design by the Guardian is asking why dictators have poor taste when they are anything but poor themselves. Saddam’s tacky palaces are included in the round-up. I also learned that Ghadafy’s bodyguards are virgin females. Didn’t know that. I wonder for what purpose and for how long they remain virgins.

I have nothing against Christopher Hitchens, I should read him more often, and this article about him; ‘The Purest Neo Con,’ will be at the top of my reading list.

Interesting and occasionally amusing is The Atlantic’s inquiry into samizdat – The Greatest Stories Never Told.

The Nation is asking Why is Africa Still Poor – is it the chicken or the egg, e.g. poverty or dictators.

On another continent, The Moscow Times is looking at the newly translated Memoirs of Catherine the Great, apparently there are things we would never think about her, or at least things the censors wouldn’t want us to think about her.

Although Nietzsche-an, this article that is defining what marriage is today is not hard to get at all: The ties that do not bind, the decline of marriage and loyalty.

Francis Fukuyama was featured in Al-Ahram as far back as in August in an attempt to show that democracy is perhaps not that necessary after all. How the writer can quote him extensively and still miss the essentials of “The End of History” – the driving force of democracy and capitalism that make other ideologies obsolete – is a mystery to me.

In this week’s Weekly, a feature about pop-style preacher Amr Khaled would be informative if you’re not familiar with him and if the current edition is available on the site http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ from where you are – from my position I’m taken to a page where I’m asked to dial-in to their own ISP. Who would have thought that their former editor-in-chief’s running away with hundreds of millions in USD would make this media tycoon so strapped for cash?

Finally, I have a few treasures in my sidebar: a link to a Russian site with a lot of George Orwell’s writings; and two collections of historic images from Egypt and the Levant. And if you haven’t been to Webdonkey yet, now is the time to go.

Only in America

Really, the only similar thing I ever heard was about a Brit who was sodomized by his dog in a public park. This is the second U.S. 'farming accident' recorded by MSM in the past few months: Man charged with trespassing on farm in horse-sex death.

A truck driver identified in court papers as taking part in an incident in which a friend died after having sex with a horse on an Enumclaw farm was charged Tuesday with having trespassed on the farm.

Tait can't be charged with bestiality. Washington is one of 17 states that permit bestiality. (my italics)

Police say Tait, 54, was videotaping his friend having sex with a horse in July when his friend "received the injuries that ultimately led to his death."

Tait told police that he, the Seattle man who died and another man repeatedly had sneaked onto his neighbor's farm in the middle of the night, without permission, to engage in animal sex.

On a related note, here is Salon.com's story "Just like a woman" [Wikipedia] about thousands of men in the U.S. who are paying $6,500 to get a life-size doll. "Davecat and his doll, Sidore, do everything together, including playing video games." To some, it is about company and love. To others, it is about sex. Some of them have two, even three, because they like to see them in action together.

A young man's parents bought him a doll so he would stay at home focusing on his studies instead of chasing girls. He brought his 'doll-friend' to the manufacturer for repairs after one year - they wouldn't believe how he could have made so much damage to it in such short time. In chat rooms, doll-owners exchange pictures and advice; which head is beast and how do you wash her? Male dolls are available too, but the manufacturer refused to make a dog-doll and is often rejecting callers who want child dolls.

That said, to paraphrase a company employee quoted in the article, these men shouldn't have families and children anyway, perhaps the dolls are keeping them off the streets. I hate to say it, but that's actually quite civilized.

Now I would like to ask you, how do we blame Bush for this?

Diet - Atkins or the Sunnah?

Right, you don't need to submit your weight concern to popular methods from America, such as the Atkins diet. Instead, head to the world of Islam and modify your eating behaviour with the help of... pom pom pom ... drumwhirls! ... The Prophet Mohamed! (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). Try, it must work. Here is my review of the holy diet:

- Eating can be looked upon as not only something pleasurable, but also as an act of worship. [YES]

- Like other acts of worship, this form of worship shouldn’t take up too much time. ...so dedicating approximately 30 minutes to each meal would be better than wolfing it down. [YES]

- Knowing what you eat and its source, mentioning Allah’s name prior to eating, being grateful for provisions, and being content with them are duties. [FAIR]

- Sitting on the left foot, eating with three fingers, eating from the food closer to you, and licking the fingers (used while eating) are Sunnah. [NOT Applicable to this Lady]

- Restricting the size of each mouthful of food, chewing very well, refraining from looking people in the face, and washing the hands (afterwards) are manners. [PLEASE REPEAT - Most people in this country constantly fails to remember these rules that the Prophet (peace upon him) told Ali ibn Abi Talib].

Read more. I'll stick to Atkins for just a little while.

Entire Alexandrian Night at the Central

Nightlegend is "Angry before eftar!!" after a visit to the local telephone central where the answer to 'please I want another phone line' was 'come back in January.' Telecom Egypt is still a government company, I see. I was actually impressed when I discovered their new call center a while ago. Just dial 111 and you have polite and knowledgeable people answering your questions. Nightlegend's experience was a healthy reminder that the government operated incumbent still have a long way to go! That said, one of the favorite anecdotes is about the married couple who in the 1990's opened the door and was greeted by a 'congratulation, your new telephone line is installed.' - That line had been ordered by the bride's parents on her behalf when she was a baby. Thank God we don't have to suffer such waiting lists any more!

Googleize Your Name

Or: Logoglize your name, which ever you prefer. I picked this up from Tarek's Green Data blog; just enter a name in the field and you have it back -Google style. For fun.

When you're past that, try this template I've been playing with in Blogger's preview mode a couple of times in the past weeks: 'My Google Blog.' If you dare publishing it for a couple of days (I did not) - let me know!

Need another geek-kick? In case you haven't heard yet (where have you been in the past 24?), the Flock blog browser is here.

OpenOffice.org 2.0 is Here

After a long beta phase, OpenOffice.org 2.0 the free open source office suite is finally here. Go to the native language section to get the Arabic and Swahili versions if that's your cup of tea.

Bird Flu - is it Safe to Eat Chicken?

Yes, it is safe to eat chicken says 'The International Poultry Council' that is now setting up a panel to correct misinformation before more people stop eating chicken and eggs.

So far the disease has not spread by human to human contact. The World Health Organisation has said the primary way humans can get infected with the virus is by coming in direct contact with infected poultry or surfaces or objects contaminated with their droppings.

Remember kids, wash that cutting board and knife in hot water and avoid the chicken poop on your grandmothers roof!

Female Candidate Opposes Gender Equality

Egypt’s female Islamist opposition candidate says there is no point arguing for sexual equality, as such a demand "goes against nature".

"We believe that domestic chores are not less [than other types of work] and we oppose battling against men's superiority to women."

She thinks gender equality is to blame for the social problems of the West:

"Violence against women and children in Western societies stems from going against the idea that men are superior to women," she says.

"Almighty God entrusted man with being the family's breadwinner and granted him the right to repudiate his wife.”

Given that 94 percent of Egypt’s women think it is acceptable to be beaten, she may have a good chance to win the popular vote!

Justice in Baghdad

The Nuremberg trials were clearly ‘victor’s justice,’ yet it was, in retrospect, a huge success, writes Anne Applebaum (WP).

“If it achieved nothing else, Nuremberg laid out for the German people, and for the world, the true nature of the Nazi system.” The Iraqi Special Tribunal is potentially weaker and more easily manipulated than the Nuremberg court," she says, but:

“In the end, it is by the quality of that evidence, and the clarity with which it is conveyed, that this trial should be judged. The result is irrelevant: Quite frankly, it doesn't matter whether Saddam Hussein is drawn and quartered, exiled to Pyongyang, or left to rot in a Baghdad prison. No punishment could make up for the thousands he killed, or for the terror he inflicted on his country.”

“But if his Sunni countrymen learn what he did to Shiites and Kurds, if the Shiites and Kurds learn what he did to Sunnis, if Iraqis come to realize that his system of totalitarian terror damaged them all, and if others in the Middle East learn that dictatorships can be overthrown, then the trial will have served its purpose. That, and not an arbitrary standard of international law, is how the success of this unusual tribunal should be measured.”

Hat Tip to Judith, who is also linking to this article: Don't hurry over Saddam. The whole Arab world needs to watch this trial.

Finally, Judith's own well directed kick:

“If you doubt the necessity of instilling such fear and trembling into their hearts just read about the treatment meted out by Mubarak and Mubarak Fills to the recently "elected" Mubarak will to Ayman Nour, the man who dared challenge their monopoly of power, by garnering 7% of the presidential vote. Ironically, rather than chastise the Egyptian administration, Michael Slackman seems to jeer Nour: "Mubarak Foe, Bravado Gone, Feels Smeared."

"Shameless.”

In the Red Sea

"The Bohar snapper is as fearsome as it looks, being one of the larger reef predators in the Red Sea.

The snappers gather in large numbers during their spawning season."

Alexander Mustard, UK, won the Animal Portraits category for this shot. Wildlife Photography 2005. See also the Animal Behaviour category's winner 'Toad Orgy.'

More About the Sharm El-Sheikh Fence

The Governor of South Sinai denied yesterday that a fence was being built around Sharm El-Sheik to keep terrorist out. He said it was only small hinders near traffic junctions that will keep stray camels off the road. But this recently filed report as well as this information from Reuters are quite specific about the details. Let's see if more will be said about this today!

UNAIDS: 12,000+ HIV Infected People in Egypt

Only 2,115 cases of HIV/AIDS have been reported to the health ministry since 1986. But UNAIDS reckons the infection is much more widespread: It estimated there were 12,000 HIV positive people in Egypt at the end of 2003.

According to the UN 2005 Common Country Assessment of Egypt, 64 percent of all reported HIV infections in the country were caused by heterosexual intercourse, while 31 percent were the result of infected blood.

UNICEF reckons that a fifth of Egypt's population – some 15 million people – are vulnerable to contracting the virus that causes AIDS. UNAIDS expressed concern in its 2004 report on Egypt that the country still did not have a National Strategic Plan for dealing with the pandemic. Read more in this article by Reuters: Lifting the veil of taboo on HIV/AIDS

St. Gergis: Student Stabs Nun

A young man shouted "God is Great" when he burst into St. Gergis church in Alexandria and stabbed a nun and a man today. The police arrested the attacker and said the injuries he had caused were not serious. - this is just out from Reuters.

Last week, the church was put under siege by thousands of Muslims. Coptic christians in the neighborhoud fled the area in fear. Read my previous post Alexandria on Sectarian Fire.

When leaders of the Muslim community demonstrated and called for attacks on Christians outside the mosque last week, they legitimized aggressive behavior. When you do that, younger hot-heads will always interpret it as a thumbs up for more serious action.

There is only one God and this is not what he wanted, no matter if you are Muslim or Christian.

Fence Around Sharm - Not True

This blog was one of the first to mention the building of a fence around Sharm El-Sheikh to protect tourists yesterday. It has been widely reported today, even by the BBC. But now it appears it is not true - the governor of South Sinai says only concrete walls, no more than 80 cm high, are being built near junctions to stop camels straying on to the road and causing accidents. It was reported by the official MENA news agency, picked up by Reuters and Haaretz this evening.

Alleged Crimes of Saddam Hussein

The Guardian has a list of other alleged atrocities Saddam may also have to answer to in the future.

A Corrupt World

Transparency International today released its annual report about corruption in the world. Egypt is somewhere in the middle on the scale, sharing position #70 with: Lesotho and Croatia, Syria and Burkina Faso, Poland and Saudi Arabia. See the table here. Read more here. Get the report here.

Mubarak Foe, Bravado Gone, Feels Smeared

The New York Times is telling Ayman Nour's story. The former presidential candidate still has to fight in court and while he is at it, someone is sending him fake tapes of secret conversations between him and his wife. - The usual tactics says those who know and have been there themeselves.

If anyone thought it was easy to be in opposition in Egypt, Think Again.

Saddam's Popularity in Jordan

Mental Mayhem says there is fierce opposition to Saddam's trial in Jordan. Some papers are claiming the imprisoned Saddam is not the real Saddam and that he is on trial to increase the popularity of the U.S. preident. Opposition groups have applied for permission to rally in solidarity with the X-dictator...

Those Disgusting Foreigners!

I have just learned that the first toothbrushes were invented by the ancient Chinese who made toothbrushes with bristles from the necks of cold climate pigs.

Most Americans did not brush their teeth until Army soldiers brought their enforced habits of tooth brushing back home after World War II. h/t: Althouse

Who said the U.S. Army never did any good? And, ahem, let's leave the discussion of the dental state of our own nation to another day.

UK Prison Service Encourages Paganism

Exporting Imams to Britain suddenly doesn't seem to be such a bad idea. Bear to the Right is linking to some freaky news:

Pagan priests will be allowed to use wine and wands during ceremonies in jails under instructions issued to every prison governor. Inmates practising paganism will be allowed a hoodless robe, incense and a piece of religious jewellery among their personal possessions. They will also be allowed to have Tarot cards but are forbidden from using them to tell the fortunes of other prisoners. The guidance, issued by Michael Spurr, the director of operations of the Prison Service, makes it clear that Skyclad (naked pagan worship) will not be permitted. Prison staff have been told that pagan artefacts should be treated with respect...

As if the inmates weren't messed up already (I presume). God Bless them all.

Rice Explains How Iraq Fits in Terror War

From DefenseLink.mil. "There is no one who could have imagined a different kind of Middle East with Saddam Hussein still in power," she noted.

9/11 was Good for the Muslim World

Mona Eltahawy writes in the CS Monitor.

Update: Also by Mona, this time in the IHT: Accountability comes to the Arab world.

Professor of Death

Job: Contractor
Business: Suicide Bombers
Clients: Iraqi insurgent groups

More than 30 human bombs have been trained by him. Most were foreigners – Arabs who "come a long way from their countries, spending a lot of money and with high hopes. They want martyrdom immediately." Sometimes he will videotape the climax of the operation on behalf of the bomber's sponsors.

After he is contacted by insurgents who want a suicide bomber, he trains and equips them – and finally, sends them on their lethal mission. He becomes their father and tutor; they spend the last weeks of their lives in his care, usually in a safe house. He has several. About his current trainee:

“You can't imagine how excited and happy he is. He can't stop smiling and laughing, even singing. He is sure he is going to paradise, and he just can't wait."

Even the family is involved. Said his 9 year old son: "Daddy, I want to be a martyr. Can you get me an explosive belt?" He didn’t’ equip his own son but he “recently taught the child how to make roadside bombs and how to fashion a rudimentary rocket launcher out of metal tubes. He is so proficient at facilitating suicide bombings that he says his own brother and sister have asked to be considered for "martyrdom operations.”

More and more Iraqis are volunteering for suicide operations but insurgent groups prefer to use the foreigners. "Iraqis are fighting for their country's future, so they have something to live for.”

His dealings with jihadist groups have left him suspicious about their long-term goals in Iraq. "I've had many conversations with them, and I keep asking, 'What is your vision?'" he says. "They never have a straight answer." Link. Picture: Times/ Yuri Kozyrev

Egypt’s Mujahideen and Pig Priests

Any “pig priest who controls a church and makes a speech” has to “present himself as a sacrificial lamb within 72 hours”.

That is from an “urgent message” issued October 16, by the so called Mujahideen in Egypt following a Muslim siege of a church in Alexandria where it is alleged a controversial play was performed last week. The Mujahideen claim the play “desecrated and insulted” the prophet Mohammad.

The statement says the group approached the church where the play was acted and sought to destroy it; however, they were astonished to find the “government dogs of the police, intelligence, and national security” surrounding the church.

“Let the world know that as long as they find somebody who opposes Allah’s religion in Egypt, the Mujahideen of Egypt are there waiting for them.”

Previous: Alexandria on Sectarian Fire.

The Soccer Fatwa

More news about the fatwa against football I blogged on Sunday: some say it is satire but it is treated seriously by Saudi clerics and newspaper columnists who say it has convinced some players that the game is un-Islamic and has been used to recruit them into the Iraqi insurgency. That said, it is also reported that senior Saudi clerics have rejected the fatwa. And newspaper columnists are calling it an example of an extremist ideology targeting Muslim youth.

In Egypt, where football is even more appreciated than in Britain, religious authorities are more in tune with the population’s desire: Soccer is an inappropriate topic for a fatwa, says the secretary-general of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Abdel Sabour Marzouk. He says football has absolutely nothing to do with a fatwa. It is an athletic activity about which no revelation has been given by God, and the Koran has not referred to it.

He doesn’t even have anything against sports-wear, like shorts and t-shirts, in contrast to other scholars who have issued fatwas that demands modest attire from both men and women. He says only people with sick minds and weak souls are focusing on the players’ legs instead of how well the player shoots the ball.

Ups! My mind must be the sickest of the sick and my soul corrupted more than he can imagine because honestly, I never found anything interesting with soccer-football except the player’s bodies. Especially in Egypt where they don’t know how to play anyway. But keep playing, Ahli and Zamalek. And know that I and my girlfriends are in front of the telly while you’re at it, with loud comments that are nothing less than sexual harassment.

Maybe we need that fatwa. It is Ramadan, after all. Peace. Link.

The Flu Birds are Coming

Yes, the coughing birds are expected to visit Egypt. According to the ministry of agriculture, 27 observation posts have already been set up along the borders. At the same time, they are ruling out the possibility of contamination of domestic birds by wild birds. "The country's privately or publicly-owned chicken, turkey and most importantly quail farms are all indoors."
The official should also have mentioned that the large majority of this country’s population keep their own birds. A quick glance over Cairo’s roof-tops will tell you there’s roughly a bird-cage on every second house. In less affluent cities, every household keep their own birds. Or just about. And it’s not like we’re relying on frozen chicken breasts form the supermarket to a great extent. Or why else would there be caged poultry on just about every street and in every food souk?
Fortunately, Egypt’s neighbouring countries, Libya, Israel, Gaza and Sudan have not reported any case of bird flu so far. The country closest to Egypt in which birds were infected with the H5N1 killer form is Turkey. Link

Wire Fence around Sharm El Sheikh

Do we really need this?: "Egypt started building a wire fence around Sharm El-Sheik's tourist spots in a bid to prevent attackers from crossing into the Red Sea resort that was hit by deadly bombings in July. The fence aims to block cars from entering tourist areas except from four designated points and thus prevent possible terror attacks. It would span 20km, stands five feet high, and be patrolled by security forces. Work has already started. Once the fence is complete, access to the city will be restricted to police-monitored entry points, equipped with state-of-the-art explosive detection equipment. The opposition newspaper Al Wafd put the fence price tag at 20 million Egyptian pounds ($3.5 million), but did not say how it obtained the figure."

1,300 Pilgrims Rescued from Sinking Ship

Yesterday,: two people died and at least 40 were injured after an Egyptian passenger ship carrying more than 1,300 Muslim pilgrims collided with a cargo ship and sank in the Gulf of Suez last night. Early reports suggested that panicked passengers were injured as they rushed to escape.

The accident happened at around 7.30pm after the vessel was struck by a Cypriot cargo ship at the southern entrance to the Suez canal. At least 12 rescue boats rushed to the stricken ship to try to save the 1,350 passengers, Egypt's transport minister said.

The incident did not force the closure of the 120-mile Suez canal, through which about 7.5% of world sea trade passes. Accidents are relatively frequent during pilgrimages to Mecca. Every year more than 2 million gather at the holy site for the Hajj and worshipping crowds can be at risk of turning into stampedes. In 2004, 250 people died following stampedes. In 1998, 180 people were crushed to death; in 1994, 270, while in 1990, 1,400 people died in stampedes. In 1997, 350 pilgrims died when fire swept through tents.

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.