Saturday, Sept 20

~~ FIRST NEWS ~~ IRAQI FEM GOV SHOT:

Akila al-Hashemi, a member of Iraq's Governing Council was shot Saturday, CNN reported. Hashimi is a diplomat who had served under the former regime and is one of three women on the Iraqi council. Before the fall of Saddam regime, she was a mid-level diplomat in the Iraqi Foreign Ministry and reported to Saddam's deputy Tariq Aziz. She holds a doctorate in French literature.

:: From the story at Al Bawaba.


~~ Additional from CNN as follows:

Her brother, and two other people, were also shot as six gunmen in a white pick-up truck opened fire on al-Hashimi's convoy as it left her house about 7:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) Saturday, the policeman added.

No further details on the condition of al-Hashimi, or her companions, are available at this time.

:: Posted on CNN at 4:44 am EDT (0854 GMT)


~~Update: Check out Sky News

Akila al-Hashimi was hit twice in the stomach, once in the shoulder and once in the leg. She was taken to the al-Yarmouk hospital where heavy security has been put in place.

A number of people have been arrested in connection with the attack.

:: More from Sky News.

Friday, Sept 19

ANGLO-PLASTICS: If rubbish interests you Not At All, you can skip this entry! Otherwise, you know how I have referred to my fascination with the similarities and differences between us and the English when discussing the Mystery TV series. I'm still not sure I can articulate exactly what the crux of my fascination is, but I shall continue the struggle to do that.

Anyway, this article on the BBC website is a difference. In my town, we are required to recycle plastics and glass along with cans to be put at the curb on Tuesdays. All three can be mixed together. The only complication is that the plastics are graded according to different letters, numbers, or codes, and only some of those can be recycled. Some are not wanted. One must check for the coding on the plastic item to make sure it's wanted.

This article presents the issue from the perspective of the English.

One similarity at least: we also have a collection depot at the supermarket for the plastic grocery bags. But the English are calling those bags "carrier" bags.

Among the comments at the bottom of the article:

-I live in Tokyo where under strict local laws, we have to separate all our rubbish each week...

-I've lived in Germany & Belgium & was used to recycling. Here no-one wants to bother.

Friday, Sept 19

MORE BEEB: The Japanese cartoon film Spirited Away is the jumping off point for a brief article about contemporary Japanese popular culture and "manga."

Friday, Sept 19

BEEB - THE BAGHDAD BLOGGER: Salam Pax had another interactive session today. Read the transcript. Notice toward the end that Hossein Derakhshan got a question in about the Iranian weblogs relative to the Iraqi weblogs.

Hossein: ...Do you think it will become a catch in the Arab world?

Salam: Once the internet becomes more widespread-- yes it will I'm sure. ...It's very important to get as many Iraqi voices on the internet to tell the world what they feel. I hope we get to a point where we have as many Iraqi bloggers as Iranians-- I so totally respect what the Iranians have achieved.

Want more? Here's the transcript.

Thurs-Fri Overnight, Sept 19

Are you ready? It's "Point/Counterpoint"

AL-RA'I... WAL RA'I AL-AKHR

Some of my readers use Ajeeb for this feature.

QUESTION: Should the Palestinian Refugee Problem be linked with the Arab Jews' Refugee Problem?


:: POINT -

"There was a de facto exchange of population in the Middle East. When the Palestinians speak of the right of return, people should be aware that Jews were expelled."

The World Jewish Congress (WJC) has estimated that around 900,000 Jews were forced to leave their homes in Arab countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen.

------------------------------

:: COUNTER-POINT -

Despite the cultural richness and skills that Jews contributed to the region, Arab commentators say that the linkage with the Palestinian issue is invalid.

"We are not responsible as Palestinians for what happened to the Arab Jews in Iraq and other Arab countries. This is something Israel has to settle with each Arab country."

------------------------------

:: Comment: I do not think this is the right moment to bring up this sensitive topic. It's O.K. to think about, but it's better to wait until the Iraqis are in a more comfortable situation to discuss it.

------------------------------

This feature was adapted from an article by Jonathan Saul on Reuters Wire Service published on Zawya/Iraq Section for Sept 19th.

Just something to think about :-)

Thursday, Sept 18

INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE: Hanoch Marmari, editor of Haaretz, delivered this lecture on Monday at the International Press Institute's 52nd General Assembly in Salzburg. Excerpts follow:

The problems journalists face in Iraq exemplify the dilemmas inherent in filing stories from a war zone...

More than a dozen representatives of Israeli newspapers have worked in Iraq since March, most of them during the war itself...

There is no reciprocity between Israel's attitude toward journalists from Arab countries and their countries' attitudes toward Israeli journalists. The Arab satellite networks operate in Israel with wide-ranging freedom...

:: From the article at Haaretz.

Thursday, Sept 18

SYRIAN "PUPPET" - Exiled Lebanese General Aoun gave a speech before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington on Wednesday about the Syrian occupation of his country. :: From Naharnet ::

Thursday, Sept 18

WHAT THEY SAID: "If I were in Dubai, I would feel disgusted and pissed off at seeing Israelis come and go in an Arab country," Jumana Heresh, a resident of Jordan, commented.

:: From Aljazeera's story:

Israel in Dubai angers Arabs.

Thursday, Sept 18

POINTER: Yahoo News sidebar gives a pointer to an article in The NY Review of Books for *Iraq: The New War* by Mark Danner.

Duly noted. I'll try to look at it later.

Thursday, Sept 18

ZANEWATCH: A friend of Zane's left a comment on Zane's Blog noting that a couple of US convoys have been attacked today and worrying about Zane's convoy. He asked readers to be on the alert about this situation and watch for any indications that Zane's convoy has been hit.

Thursday, Sept 18

BAGHDAD WIRE UPDATE: In Baghdad, police backed by U.S. soldiers and helicopters sealed a large part of the center of the city Thursday in a raid to capture car thieves. Two men were arrested at an auto repair shop on suspicion of having stolen a police vehicle.

Also Thursday, Sanchez said no Americans or Britons were currently being held by coalition forces in Iraq. An official said earlier this week that six arrested guerrilla suspects had claimed to be American and two others claimed to be Britons.

:: From an article by Tarek Al-Issawi
-- for AP via Yahoo News M.E.

Thursday, Sept 18

THE KARACHI HORROR: Nina Burleigh reviews a book about Danny Pearl by his wife at the NY Observer.

And the Table of Contents at-a-Glance is HERE.

Thursday, Sept 18

A GLANCE AT THE WEEKLIES

GAIMAN'S SANDMAN REDUX: I don't follow this author, but there is an interesting article about his work at the Village Voice this week written by John Giuffo. And I know he has intensely devoted fans.

THE NEW YORKER MAG is lookin' good this week. There's an article covering Helmut Newton's biography, Adam Gopnick talks about Department Stores, and maybe more, depending on your interests.

Wednesday, Sept 17

KSA GIVES HALF HAMAS BUDGET: According to the NY Times, citing estimates by US law enforcement officials, US diplomats and Israeli figures, at least 50 percent of Hamas' current operating budget of about $10 million a year comes from people in the Saudi Kingdom. [The Saudis deny this.]

:: From an article at Al Bawaba.

Wednesday, Sept 17

PAN-ARABISM DEAD HERE: Saddam played the Palestinian card for all it was worth. Iraqis widely believe that the support, both vocal and financial, he gave to families of Palestinian suicide bombers was the reason behind the wrath of the "Zionists" in Israel and America.

Pan-Arab nationalists will find that their dreams have died in the dusty streets of Baghdad and the narrow lanes of Fallujah. Iraqis just aren't interested.

:: From an article by Mustafa Alrawi
-- for Iraq Today.

Wednesday, Sept 17

ZANE'S ANNOUNCEMENT: I convoy up to Baghdad tomorrow morning starting at 9am. If all goes well I should be in Baghdad by nightfall. If we are delayed and we can't make it by nightfall, we're going to stay in Hillah for the night. Therefore I may or may not have Internet access. If you don't hear from me or this blog is not updated tomorrow... DON'T PANIC.

From Babel On! Blog.

Wednesday, Sept 17

BUSY BUSY BUSY . . . I have been busy with legal and financial responsibilities. Will try to get back later this evening, but have to do some grocery shopping, too.

Wednesday, Sept 17

MORE BOOKER TALK: If at first you don't succeed, try, try, and try again... A piano teacher from Birmingham, whose first four novels were rejected by publishers, has beaten Martin Amis to the last six of the Man Booker Prize.. [snip] ...

Morrall took three years to finish her story of a childless woman who kidnaps a baby, in hours snatched between teaching children at Bluecoats prep school. Even if she wins, she does not intend to give up her day job.

:: From a story by Fiachra Gibbons at the UK Guardian.

:: And another by Emma Brockes.

Wednesday, Sept 17

CLANDESTINE SEDITION AND TRICKOLOGY

Islamic veils under scrutiny in France

In an effort to get around the banning of the scarves in state schools, a private Muslim high school opened in the northern city of Lille this month with 12 students.

The six girls in the Lycee Averroes all wear veils.

Notice how the writer does not describe the girls' appearance-- being encased in bags like sausage casings so that they are no longer human. Notice the use of empty cant: "all wear veils." This is inherently mendacious. All wear sausage casings.

Sometimes the psychopaths let the women use tiny slits to see through, but not too well, because they also want to confine them under house arrest, where they can beat the shit out of them, enforced by their pathological creed, which is also practicing full-tilt child and human sacrifice in the Levant (with the unctuous connivance of the UN) and cannibalism elsewhere (they have a well-known obsession about ingesting blood). Of course, I hope the savages devour their French handlers. Maybe then the French will wake up to the danger they are in.

In my opinion, the people who wish to travel through France encased in these disguises should be sent back to where they came from and expelled from France for sedition. They can dress this way in their native countries. They don't belong in France or the U.S. This is a criminal activity not a civil or human right.

The purpose of forcing women to wear bags is to eliminate any evidence of their humanity and to destroy any trace of their individual souls. This practice is Pure Metaphysical Evil.

Trickology: Any woman who is fooled into believing that this is virtuous is too weak to survive and is destined to perish. I believe this activity involves a lot of what the late Malcolm X used to call "Trickology."

:: From a story at Aljazeera TV Net.

Tuesday, Sept 16

SEATTLE EXPRESSO TAX: This whole situation is totally tragic. The US is setting a course for steering our society into a deep economic depression. Leading this front is the Cigarette War which is slated to ruin the Hospitality Industry, including hotels and restaurants. Thus, this Seattle issue is only on the fringe of the main front. A fellow named Grover Norquist is reputed to be the force behind the whole campaign to deliberately steer our society into going through another profound depression. And, I guess, this Seattle skirmish is just the fallout from the rampant Social Darwinism aimed at destroying the entire Hospitality Industry.

They could always sell some prime real estate in their inner city core to a Japanese auto dealer and turn Main Street into a used car lot which would pay a lot more in taxes. And then they could put an ad over the main door at City Hall for Toyota or Honda. I mean, if they really need to raise money...

You know, there are always going to be rubberneckers and cheerleaders to yell: "Jump! Jump!" This was originally the reason the government decentralized the population, emptied out the cities and developed the suburbs was to destroy any social groupings or cohesion that could present a perceived threat to the government as part of The Cold War. These kids are making the same mistake by meeting in some restaurant. So that's going to be the end of those restaurants, belated victims of the post-Cold War. Bye bye, Expresso Joints.

The simple fact is: they need some revenue. And robbing a bank is not an option. But is this the best they can do? Social fabric can be very fragile.

Meanwhile, this is the reaction of England's eggheads who don't see anything wrong with this idea. Hmmm... maybe sugar should be heavily taxed in England because it leads to tooth cavities.

I find the whole situation very sad.

Tuesday, Sept 16

BOOKER PRIZE TIME: It's that time of year again. The list has more female authors nominated this year. The winner will be announced on 14 October at a ceremony in London, which will be broadcast on BBC Four. The Beeb site has some links you can surf. Brick Lane seems to have attracted a lot of readers who have been "chattering" about it, but it didn't sound like my cup of tea.

Tuesday, Sept 16

SUB ROSA: Kandahar Chronicles seems to be up and running. You may need to think about downloading the entries to a floppy or something so that you can peruse them at a more convenient time. This was the weblog originally pointed to by Ben Hammersley. At first or second glance, it looked kind of dense. Good luck to them-- it's a tough life out there.

Tuesday, Sept 16

QUICK NOTES:

:: Zane just went through Kuwaiti Customs... should arrive in Baghdad... soon? Just quickly skimmed... don't have time now to read... will go back later.

Zane at :: Babel On! :: blog.


:: Riverbend posted a lengthy entry about the current status of the feminine condition today. Unfortunately, I don't have time for it right now. Will try to go back to it later. But you might want to check it out.

:: Baghdad Burning :: blog.


I'm having some problems today. Hope everything works out O.K.


:: Update: Diana at Letter from Gotham is commenting on Riverbend's entry. Gotta go now.

Tuesday, Sept 16

AMERICANS BEING HELD: U.S. forces are holding six people who claim to be Americans and two who say they are British for alleged attacks against coalition troops in Iraq, an American general said Tuesday. It was the first time the military reported holding Westerners in the attacks... The eight alleged Westerners are being held 12 miles west of Baghdad at Abu Ghraib prison.

I'm sure we're all wondering what their stories are.

:: From a story by Tarek Al-Issawi for AP

--at The Washington Times.

Monday, Sept 15

THE BERBER LANGUAGE is being taught in Moroccan schools for the first time from Monday.

:: Interesting feature story

-- by Sebastian Usher at the BBC.

Monday, Sept 15

MYSTERY - "For the Sake of Elena"

-- Who murdered a deaf female jogger out for exercise near Cambridge University?

Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Series Two, Episode 3

The last episode put me to sleep, but this one didn't. The puzzle in this episode was acceptable; maybe not terribly clever or outstanding, but the puzzle is not generally why we watch or read these stories, is it?!

This episode gave a glimpse into the subcultural enclave of The Deaf. The author has also given Sgt Havers a private life taking care of her elderly, senile mother. I don't like to watch this part because I recently went through a similar episode in my own life, and, thus, find it very painful. In some ways the experience has drastically changed my worldview for the worse. This is one of the reasons why Lynley and Havers are not my favorite pair of detectives, as I've mentioned before.

Why watch then? In some ways, the world which is depicted in this show is very similar to the world I live in and am familiar with. I recognize it and with immediacy. But in other ways, the world in this TV show is different from the world I live in. There is a dynamic tension between the familiar and the foreign or strange which I sometimes find fascinating, sometimes somewhat creepy or, at least, interesting.

The English are just like us, aren't they? In some ways, in many ways, they are just like us. But in other ways, they are different than us. I sometimes find the resulting texture interesting. We do trade TV shows and cultures back and forth sometimes. Some of the TV shows "travel" well, but some do not.

Sometimes when I'm watching this Lynley Series, I get a feeling that's almost like deja vu. And yet, at other times, I feel rather estranged. Maybe I just can't explain accurately what it is that interests me about this. At least, not yet . . .

Monday, Sept 15

PURPORTED DEMOGRAPHIC STATISTICS:

Survey: U.S. Jewish Population Decreases

*A study of U.S. Jews, released Wednesday after a delay that threatened its credibility, provides evidence of a smaller but in some ways more engaged Jewish community in America. The National Jewish Population Survey concluded that the number of Jews has decreased 5 percent to 5.2 million in the past decade, as a low birth rate combined with slightly rising levels of intermarriage.*

:: From Jewsweek.

......................................

First, it is not possible to calculate how many Jews live in the United States because there is no "Central Registry of Jews." And this state of affairs has occurred by deliberate design.

The number of Jews in the U.S. has not "decreased 5 percent" or any percent at all, because there has been an influx of more Jews into the country from various places around the world which may include Russia, Israel, Argentina, South Africa and Zimbawie, plus elsewhere.

There has not been any rise in the level of intermarriage. The "low birth rate" occurs because more Jewish men are marrying Christian women and having children with them, rather than having children with Jewish women who are left permanently barren and then abandoned completely and sometimes murdered. The survey makes it appear that Jewish women are willing participants. In fact, they are not participants at all. Sometimes, you may read a news item which explains that a Jewish woman was found murdered in her home. She lived alone. And there are no suspects. They never investigate her family or relatives.

But what is really going on with this picture? The Organized Jewish Community is becoming much more agressively exclusive.

They are making the qualifications necessary to belong to the Jewish community tougher and tougher for ordinary Jewish people to join up with, so that more and more Jewish people are being forciby and involuntarily locked out of their faith community.

And even if they just want to attend a Jewish social function, the ticket of admission may be priced so high, that they can't afford even that. Also, they may require a married man and woman with at least two children. Many people today are single, widowed or divorced and childless. Traditionally, single women are not accepted for affliation. Thus, many people are automatically disqualified from affliation.

The OJC ("organized jewish community") is telling people that there are fewer Jews here so they can more adroitly redirect the money they collect in the U.S. and divert it elsewhere. They have virtually abandoned the indigenous Jewish population inside the U.S. It is no longer possible to get any social services from them, for example. They suck the money out of the population in the U.S. and then send it somewhere else like Israel.

As they lock more and more people out of the Jewish Community, the apparatus running it claims there are fewer Jewish people.

What credibility... ?! Look, everyone has his or her own opinion. And anyone can massage numbers. So, one person's take on the situation has just as much merit as the next guy's.

Monday, Sept 15

IRAQI RECONSTRUCTION: A couple of articles marking the progress of the process.

:: There's balsamic vinegar in Baghdad but...
-- by Peter Ford.

:: Iraq reconstruction fights through war rubble
-- by Borzou Daragahi.

Monday, Sept 15

CROP CIRCLES UPDATE: Whitley Strieber has a story on Canadian crop formations this week. Scroll down to the bottom of the front page for it under Other News, dated Sept 12th. He says there have been 16 formations this summer so far. And there are photos. From Whitley's :: UNKNOWN COUNTRY ::

Sunday, Sept 14

MYSTERY! COMING UP: This episode is supposed to be "For the Sake of Elena." They say it's about a deaf jogger near Cambridge University.

I notice that someone comes around afterwards, Googling for reactions to or reviews of the episodes and comes by here. But I haven't been in any hurry to post a review, so they usually arrive before I comment. I hadn't realized until last week that anyone had more than a passing interest in my opinion.

Talk about a niche audience or market! The vast majority of the TV audience is probably tuned to something else. Tonight, for example, Jurassic Park is being shown on another broadcast channel. I have no idea what is being shown on Cable or even Sat because I don't get them. I've never been much of a TV viewer.

So, I'll be logging offline for the next hour or so. Please try to refrain from making any earth-shattering changes while I am immersed elsewhere. Toodles!

Sunday, Sept 14

OPEN-ENDED: Issandr El Amrani has a powerful entry posted this weekend that raises issues revolving around Mubarak's seemingly endless incumbency. It's hard for an outsider to determine how sensitive it might be for a writer who usually lives in Cairo to even raise this subject in public. Or... how dangerous.

It is, I believe, cogent to keep in mind that a pro-American Egyptian journalist named Reda Hilal just "disappeared." [Last noted on this blog on Sept 11th.] One suspects that the Muslim Brotherhood may have kidnapped him to shut him up. That would be somewhat like the KKK kidnapping someone. One worries that Hilal may not have survived.

Because of these contextual circumstances, one hesitates to draw too much attention to El Amrani, so as to avoid exposing him to similar risk by raising his public profile too much. I certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for him coming to harm.

On another note related to this weblog, whenever I read this one, my fan goes on, and I get the impression that reading it strains my computer. I don't know why this is happening, but it worries me. El Amrani seems to be on the Mac system, and I'm on the Windows system, but I thought that internet browsers would make any of these systems (including Unix) cross-accessible. Whatever the cause may be, I think it's worth noting.

Sunday, Sept 14

FEATURE STORY ON 'Hi' MAGAZINE: Stay well-informed about information campaigns the Feds are conducting. This used to be the province of the US Information Agency, but times change.

"Hi" in Arabic means US propaganda...? The US government has recently launched various media initiatives in order to improve its image throughout the Arab world...

On the right sidebar, Al Bawaba Editors have a category called "Behind the News" in which they place articles or essays that raise provocative questions that will stimulate debate, discussion or response. This one is a feature story about a new US magazine aimed at Arab readers in the Middle East.

Keep in mind that the editors here deliberately try to be provocative with the articles in this section by adding their commentary and raising questions.

Sat-Sun Overnight, Sept 14

LEBANESE ARMY ON HIGHEST ALERT: The Lebanese Army and Coast Guard were reported Saturday to have gone on 'red alert' to stop Israel from deporting Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to Lebanon, or at least to try to head off such banishment.

Army units were put on the highest state of emergency to cope with Arafat's potential expulsion to any of the five Palestinian refugee camps straddling the southern ports of Sidon and Tyre, the local media reported.

:: As reported on NAHARNET ::