Saturday, Sept 27

ANTI-WAR PROTEST IN LONDON TODAY: Thousands expected at London anti-war demo today, Saturday. The march will be the first major protest since the end of the war as Britons hit the streets again to show their unhappiness with military action and the reasons given for war by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

:: Article by Michael Holden
-- for Reuters at MSNBC

Fri-Sat Overnight, Sept 27

"His beautiful old house..."

A fascinating literary hegira following Edward Said and his family around:

*[Said] himself grew up not in Jerusalem but in Cairo, where his father, an American citizen, had moved as an economic expatriate approximately nine years before Edward's birth and had become the owner of a thriving business; and there, until his own departure for the United States as a teenager in 1951, the young Edward Said resided in luxurious apartments, attended private English schools, and played tennis at the exclusive Gezira Sporting Club as the child of one of its few Arab members.*

-- Copyright 1999 by Justus Reid Weiner

:: Link to this saga courtesy of:

-- Winds of Change Weblog.

Friday, Sept 26

Edward Said has died.

I was not a fan of his.

*Scholar, Mideast activist dies at 67
Professor and author was strong advocate for Palestinian cause

by Richard Bernstein*

Obituary at The Charlotte Observer

Unfortunately, in context with others in his field, he is destined to always seem second-rate and derivative.

Sir Wilfred Thesiger, who also died recently, makes Said seem lightweight by comparison.

And towering over just about everyone else in the post-WWII period, Dr. Frantz Fanon is the predominating idealogue in colonial/post-colonial theories.

Friday, Sept 26

LOOSE LINKS: Doctor Who returns to TV - the BBC story.

:: Dr Who's BBC Hompage

:: BBC - Cult TV - Homepage

Friday, Sept 26

'Message of the Day' - Catching up with . . . Bigwig . . . still culture-jamming the Saudi Religious Police by sending them hilarious complaints, using their own jargon, about imaginary blasphemous miscreants . . . and Bigwig provides instructions.

:: The foregoing reminder is
from a recent Judith Weiss blog memo ;-)

Friday, Sept 26

OBIT: George Plimpton, the self-deprecating author of "Paper Lion" and other sporting adventures and a patron to Philip Roth, Jack Kerouac and countless other writers, has died. He was 76.

:: From AP piece at Newsday.

Thurs-Fri Overnight, Sept 26

AUTO-BAGHDAD: *At the neighborhood level, the nine District Councils of Baghdad that form the City Council meet regularly and appear to be working harmoniously. "To the credit of the CPA civilians who work with the City Council, the degree of transparency and cooperation in the work of the council is impressive," says Rend Rahim Francke of the Iraq Foundation, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) working for democracy and human rights ..."Self-government, long advocated for Iraq, appears to be working well when put into practice," says Francke.*

:: From an article by Julie Flint
-- at The Daily Star of Lebanon.

Thurs-Fri Overnight, Sept 26

BAGHDAD BRUT:

Zone - *Bremer's headquarters, inside the old Republican Palace, feels like a terrarium in which an American bureaucracy has sprouted like an exotic plant ...The compound is known as "the green zone," with the implication that what's outside is a different world.*

:: David Ignatius revisits Baghdad at the WashPost.


On Hashimi's Brutal Murder - No suspects have been arrested for the attack on Hashimi, but many Iraqis believe she was gunned down by angry members of the Baath Party she once served.

In a statement, the Governing Council said Hashimi, 50, had died "at the hands of a heinous, infidel group known only for their mischief and darkness."

:: Translation of Council statement courtesy of

-- Anthony Shadid at the WashPost.

Thursday, Sept 25

Getting some buzz today:

The Rat of Baghdad by Jack Shafer

:: At Slate Magazine online.

Thursday, Sept 25

MS CLOSES ITS CHATROOMS: *Microsoft's move to monetise its chattering classes is understandable... Microsoft, like all those of us with free talk areas on their websites, is hosting an expensive online party from which it could never hope to turn a profit... Social connectivity through the internet is an awesome thing. It is beginning to undermine the vision of an "atomised" society... If television killed the art of conversation, the internet restores it... *

:: Excerpted from an op-ed piece by Emily Bell
-- Editor-in-chief of Guardian Unlmtd.


:: For some further discussion of this issue:
-- see An end to chat by Neil McIntosh.

Thursday, Sept 25

IRAQI COUNCILWOMAN DIES: Aquila al-Hashimi, one of three women on Iraq’s American-picked Governing Council, died Thursday, five days after she was critically wounded in an assassination attempt, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority reported.

:: From a report at MSNBC News.

Thursday, Sept 25

TEMPLE MOUNT NEWS: Joseph Farah is reporting the structural collapse of an interior wall on the Temple Mount. It is reported to be situated near the Islamic Museum.

:: From a report at WND by Farah

-- but no sources attributed.

Wednesday, Sept 24

~~ Big Cats May or May Not Be at Large ~~

Earlier today (Wednesday), the search for a big cat had been narrowed down to a wooded area in Northern Ireland. It was believed to be a puma.

The hunt then narrowed to the village of Ballybogey. The cat is linked to the death of six sheep in that area.

The search followed more than 20 sightings of a wild animal in the north coast since August.

The local animal wefare society now claims that there are two big cats loose in that neighborhood, a puma and a black panther, roaming the north Antrim coastline.


~~ But Maybe Not . . .

"Are big cats living wild in the UK? Or are we just imagining them?" asks David Hamblin.

:: From an article at The Guardian

-- Thursday, August 7, 2003.

Tues-Wed Overnight, Sept 24

MASKS, HOODS & HEADSCARVES: With this story, Al Bawaba seems to be advocating the deceitful premise that there is no significant difference between someone wearing a mask and one wearing a headscarf.

*This controversial issue-- of prohibiting or allowing Muslim women to cover their heads... *

It's important to note that this story is from the section of the website that is typically used to provocatively ellicit public debates and controversies.

There are hundreds of these cultists wearing KKK-like hoods and masks already living in Canada where they run around rioting and vandalizing the universities and cities. I am in favor of expelling all of them from the US and of establishing a complete non-admission policy toward them which prevents any of them from entering the US from now on.

This is not about religious liberty, it's about promoting criminality with impunity. I think we need to keep these psychopathic and nihilistic cultists very far away from our society. How long is it going to take for those in Washington to realize just how dangerous and destructive these cultists can be? You would think that after 9/11, they would have figured this out already, but some of them seem to be just as confused as ever.

:: From Al Bawaba's "VEIL" controversy

-- (or see right sidebar).

Tuesday, Sept 23

"A DEAR GUEST" - Memri's Sept 24th press release (Baghdad Dispatch #9) includes material about Sheriff Ali bin Hussein, pretender to the throne of a prospective constitutional monarchy, and the debate of whether to restore this kind of political arrangement.

"Quietly, and without introductions or declarations, electricity has returned to [an] almost normal situation. No one has asked himself or others: How was electricity restored to this level? Was it the work of a magician or a holy warrior who specializes in these matters? The important thing is that electricity is no longer an exception but a normal thing. We hope that it would continue to be a dear guest in our homes, businesses, offices and streets, God willing [thanks to] the efforts of those [who are] loyal." [12]

MEMRI includes a note on their moving news ticker that PLO Farouk al-Qaddoumi who was supposed to preside over the Palestinian delegation to the meeting of the UN General Assembly did not get an entry visa from US authorities in time to allow him to take part in the discussions.

An American official, in response to a press question about it, said: "the request to get the visa is still under study."

:: The source cited on this is the Arabic News.

:: MEMRI's Baghdad Dispatch #9.

Tuesday, Sept 23

RELIGIOUS OR CRIMINAL? There is a very strange phenomenon going on today in the Middle East. The impulse, agenda, and movement to obliterate individual identity purportedly for religious purposes.

Individual identity is a component of Civilization. Each soul, which is unique, is understood to be responsible for its behavior. It is culpable of any crimes.

By obliterating individual identity, criminals believe that can act with impunity because they cannot be identified and held responsible for their crimes.

Thus, we see many men wearing kafiyahs over most of their faces and wearing hoods similar to those of the Ku Klux Klan. And these men are trying to obliterate the identities of their female family members, too.

One forms the impression this movement has declared war on Civilization in general. And it is disturbing to see how they are trying to pick over the prone and vulnerable body politic of Iraq as if they were vultures.

But what can be done about this? We are not in the habit of banning the news media. Is there some other way to afford some control and self-defense?

Tuesday, Sept 23

IRAQIS PLAN MEDIA BAN: The Iraqi Governing Council has voted to expel reporters from both Arabic Sat TV channels for a month.

Council member Mudhar Shawkat was quoted as saying: "Inciting violence is what these channels proclaim."

"They show men in masks carrying guns and call them 'resistance'. They're not resistance, they're thugs and criminals," he said.

Mr Shawkat said the council's attitude towards the broadcasters hardened after the attempted assassination of council member Aqila al-Hashimi at the weekend.

:: From an article at the BBC.

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

Iraq's governing council is to declare Tuesday a one-month closure of local offices of Arabic satellite television stations al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya because they “promoted violence and terror.”

:: From an article at Al Bawaba.

Monday, Sept 22

INRE: MYSTERY! It looks like last night's Inspector Lynley episode may be the last of the season's shows. But if we don't get run over by a truck... Lynley may be back next year... who knows... or there may be other detectives...

Meanwhile, what's the Anglosphere to do? I dug around a bit and think I've come up with some other links you can fall back on if this itch starts acting up during their off-season.

Let's try to avoid the hand-wringing and cries of anguish a la Gory, O.K.? Maybe you could limit yourself to a case of the vapors or a very brief fainting spell. I still remember when Miss (Frances) Stelloff used to collect the Gory books mainly for his groupies who used to come in for them.

Just think: somewhere there may be a fascinating discussion taking place about contemporary literature on the internet but you're missing out on it because you don't know about it or you don't know where it is taking place. Oh, my my... nah, just kidding.

:: Link to BBC Books Page :: LINK ::

:: and Link to BBC Arts Homepage :: LINK ::

Monday, Sept 22

LOOSE LINKS: Cute short essay by Roger Rosenblatt from Lehrer's Newshour (PBS-13) on the movie A Mighty Wind about the folk music scene.

Monday, Sept 22

LOOSE LINKS: Kathy K has found a good story about Afghan girls learning martial arts with which they can defend their safety. Self-defense is a human right. Anyone who tries to take away a woman's right to defend her safety is a criminal, as far as I'm concerned.

There were only nine students in Rezahi's tae kwon do class at the Afghan Youth Club this morning... There were 13 girls participating until last week, when police came and locked the clubhouse doors twice, unnerving some of the teenage students and their parents.

There is a connection to Iran and also an ethnic friction undercurrent involving the Hazaras and the Tajiks. At issue here is: the Afghan Youth Club.

:: From an article by Pamela Constable at WaPo

-- link courtesy of On The Third Hand.

Monday, Sept 22

VEILS, SCARVES & BAGS: This article is a good illustration of how Aljazeera's reporting can be misleading. While they are talking about head scarves, in some French schools the Muslims have already tried to introduce the practice of putting female students into BAGS which completely obscure their identities and even any trace of their humanity itself. In this story, Aljazeera plays a "bait and switch" game with scarves, bags and the use of the vague word "veil."

French PM wants veil ban

The French government is heading for a collision course with Muslims over the issue of the veil or hijab.

by Roshan Muhammed Salih

These young women who are being put into bags which obliterate their identities and even their humanity are being used in this way for purposes that can only be construed as criminal. I guess it makes me angry to see young women being used like this. I do support the right of women to wear a head scarf, of course. But there is a lot of vagueness and confusion going on in this situation.

Sun-Mon Overnight, Sept 22

VISIT CANCELLED: Israel's Netanyahu cancelled his UAE visit for security reasons.

"He is a hated figure," Ahmed Hafez Ibrahim, a leading banker, told Reuters.

Netanyahu is loathed across the Arab world for opposing Palestinian statehood. But Jordan, which ruled the territory previously, is lavishly loved.

The raising of the Israeli flag on UAE soil and allowing the Zionist delegation to enter the country is a precedent in the UAE's history... which taints the purity of the Arab race's blood and soil.

The UAE's Committee Against Normalisation of Relations with Israel, a non-official body of former government officials, called for an assurance that Israel's attendance would not lead to normalisation of relations.

Don't worry. No one would ever imply that you're normal.

:: Derived from Aljazeera TV Net.

Sunday, Sept 21

WHEN THE 2nd SHOE IS A LAWSUIT - Just weeks after the publication of The Bookseller of Kabul, Mohammed Shah Rais has flown to Europe, determined to drag Seierstad, it's author, through the courts and campaign for the destruction of her book. 'It is slander and salacious. I hate her,' he says.

:: From a report by Tim Judah
--at The Guardian's Observer

Sunday, Sept 21

WARNING: BBC EVIL TWIN DEPT AHEAD

The original interactive Q & A session with the Baghdad Blogger and the transcript of the session were just fine the way they were. But, nooooo, this material just needed a little sexing up here and there... so, now the BBC Evil Twin Dept gives us their "interpretation" of the interlocution... their twisted spin on the session. It's despicable, disgusting and in very poor taste. TACKY, TACKY, TACKY!!! ...and then they wonder why people don't like what they do with some material and are deeply offended by it.

Please put a wooden spike through this article's heart. And kill it. This article is deeply offensive and in the worst possible taste.

Salam Pax is NOT a student [sic]... He is an accredited architect whose branch office in Baghdad is temporarily on leave. The main office, in Beirut, is waiting for the reconstruction projects to be disbursed and assigned. While his branch office is on leave, Salam has been working as a translator and guide to American journalists visiting Baghdad.

The Evil Twirp who manufactured this slanderous drivel is not identified but appears to have a heavy drug-dazed problem, and should be directed to a support program for mentally disabled drug addicts.

I am a fan of the BBC-- mostly of the feature stories, many of which are wonderful. The confabulator who fabricated this article deserves to be walked out into the middle of the Black Forrest and then just left there wearing some whipped cream. In Vienna they say, everything is better with whipped cream. Get rid of him. Lose him. Piss on him. He is slime.

There is a wilful disregard for the readily available facts going on here which is downright malevolent.

Sat-Sun Overnight, Sept 21

AND NOW FROM BAGHDAD: Zane has made it to Vaguely Baghdad where he is blogging on a propped-up laptop from one of the trailers we've heard so much about inside a palace compound. Well, what were you expecting-- his coordinates?

His security team seems to be from the French Foreign Legion who are a bunch of very rough characters, even rougher than the Aussies. Or, Zane suspects, they are French-speaking mercenaries.

In his previous entry, which includes a dashing portrait of him in kevlar, he describes his journey northward. If you find this sort of thing interesting, you may want to bookmark him.


And in Shoot-Em-Up Baghdad . . . When I first came across the terrible news about the attempt to assassinate Aquila al-Hashimi, I tried to think of some strategy or measure that could be taken that might be helpful in keeping the gals on the Gov Council safe.

Musings . . . The first thing I thought of was Col Qadafy's female security guard team that often shows up with him when he arrives at meetings like the Arab League confers. (Thought balloon: maybe Col Q could lend out a squad of these highly trained gals to guard the Iraqi gals on the Gov Council?) Coincidently, Zane mentions that one of the security personnel in his convoy to Baghdad was female. That assassination attempt just made me heartsick.

~ Rant (?) . . . I think I have also developed very mixed feelings about watching tv "interviews" with masked renegades who claim that they are some kind of "resistance" fighters or "liberationists." I caught a bit of such an interview the other night. I don't like guys who wear ski masks or kafiyahs like masks. Inevitably, these disguises look criminal to me and do not evoke sympathy or even fear. And a lot of their outfits look like the Ku Klux Klan to me, which disgusts me even more. In my mind, the "interview" showing the masked renegades set off an entire chain of associations involving affluent, upperclass, yuppie scum.

Maybe because of the recent release of Kathy Boudin, this issue seems to be on the front burner again. Mohammed Atta, the Egyptian architect, who had a fixation on or obsession with the Disney Corp seems to be yet another example of this genre. He believed that the US has an imperialist agenda to force other countries to make their architecture resemble or conform to Disneyworld or Disneyland. Quirky?

If he only complained about it, or even wrote op-eds, it might be quirky. But running a jumbo jet into an NYC office building is not in the category of quirkiness any more. Yes, quite often: It's all about THEM!

I hope the news quiets down for the rest of the weekend. Maybe then we can take a look at some upcoming Fall Previews of new books, films, etc.

~ /Close Rant :-)