Middle East OmniBlog

Ayad Allawi as Willie Nelson: on the Road Again, Making Music with his Friends……….

2010-05-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

“On the road again - Just can't wait to get on the road again. The life I love is making music with my friends And I can't wait to get on the road again. On the road again…….” Willie Nelson

NINA reports that Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed al-Nahiyan, Vice Ruler of the Western Province, yesterday received Ayad Allawi who is visiting the UAE. So he is still busy campaigning all over the capitals of the oligarchies for the job of prime minister of…….. Iraq.

On Iraqi politics, the Los Angeles Times asserted that Ayad Allawi of the Aliraqiya coalition is in fact a “secular Shi’a”, and that his coalition of blocs is in fact a “secular moderate” coalition once you take out the odd Islamist group or two and the hundred Ba’athists, or two.

For his part Allawi, taking heart from all this, has now printed new business cards that read:

Dr. Ayad H. Allawi, Title: Secular Shi’a Corporation: Moderate Secular Aliraqiya Coalition.
Cheers Mohammed

Of Winning Arab Poets, Loyal Tribes, and GoDaddy Super Bowl Chicks……………..

2010-04-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

“Members of the al Ajami tribe have defended a campaign costing millions of Kuwaiti dinars that propelled Nasser al Ajami to victory in the Million’s Poet competition. Nasser was crowned the Million’s Poet champion on April 7 despite being beaten on the judges’ scorecards by the third-placed poet Hissa Hilal in each round of the popular TV contest. The Kuwaiti was catapulted into first place because 40 per cent of the final score was determined by the public. He received twice as many SMS text votes as the Saudi woman. The weighted voting system has led some to question if a large and supportive tribal network had more bearing on the result than the poet’s creativity and oratory skill. At a gathering of more than 4,000 tribesmen on the outskirts of Kuwait City to celebrate their family member’s success, the consensus was that voting based on tribal allegiance was a tactic employed by many of the contestants. They just did it better. “It’s like the election of a president: it’s not enough for individuals to vote,” said Mishal bin Hethlain, a sheikh of the al Ajami tribe’s leading family, which organised and partly funded the campaign. “He got to the final without support, but to win this competition you need the support of your family.” Mr bin Hethlain said that three weeks before the final he co-ordinated a fundraiser to persuade wealthy members of the tribe to donate. Without specifying the amount of money raised, he said “we’re talking millions” of Kuwaiti dinars………..”

Next time they should just advertize the tribe during Super Bowl: much cheaper. Of course they’d have to compete with the GoDaddy.com chicks…….

Cheers

Illusory Persian Gulf Demographics, Self-serving Plutocrats, and Supreme Planning Schmucks…….

2010-04-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

“That there is no clear, common definition underscores the difficult task facing the Government as it attempts to halt what it sees as the erosion of Emirati culture and heritage. A sense of urgency has emerged in recent years, driven in part by the persistent decline in the percentage of Emiratis among a largely expatriate population. Recently, the Cabinet issued a charter that stressed the need to uphold the country’s traditions, including the use of Arabic, and urged Emiratis to have “large and cohesive families”. Most experts and officials agree that the population imbalance, combined with the sweeping effects of globalisation, are the greatest contributors to the erosion of the nation’s identity, social habits and language………..”

It is true, what the old song says: some fools never learn. They have never read my theory, posted often here, that having large native families will not solve the population imbalance. Au contraire, as they say. I have seen it in my own country, and in other Persian Gulf states: they always seek increased native birth and larger families to reduce the percentage of expatriates. They don’t seem to realize (or maybe they do) that the more natives there are, the more foreign expatriates they will need. This has always been the trend, because each native needs the services of several expatriates (housemaids, drivers, nurses, doctors, builders, waiters, etc) to keep him going. As the Gulf potentates, and their planning councils composed largely of oligarchs and plutocrats, have pushed for more babies (and multiple wives), they have watched the percentage of expatriate labor increase consistently.

Which has often frustrated me. It makes me wonder whatthefuck is wrong with these schmucks?
Okay, I know the oligarchs like to take the easy way out. They also prefer to rule over a larger population than the oligarch next door: the Arabian Joneses syndrome. As for the plutocrats, it is simple: they need the cheap expatriate laborers and they need the increased demand for the goods they import, they know that the more people, the more money they make.
Cheers
Mohammed

Surly Egyptians and Stoned Jordanians, Banning Hashish and Humor………

2010-04-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

“But amid all this deprivation, one commodity that is consumed by more than seven million Egyptians has all but disappeared from Egypt’s back alleys and dark corners. Thanks to a renewed law enforcement effort, hashish smokers – nearly 10 per cent of the population, according to official statistics – must now face their worst bout of cognitive clarity and short-term memory gain in more than a decade. But even as law enforcement officials suddenly have something to celebrate, drug users and crime analysts say Egypt’s addicts are beginning to turn toward more corrosive and addictive drugs, such as alcohol, cocaine and heroin, to fill hashish’s void. “This is reflected in the prices on the street. There are very high prices for hashish and low prices for psychotropic drugs,” said Enas Gafarawi, a professor in narcotics research at the national centre for social and criminological research, who added that the price of heroin appears to have dropped to 100 Egyptian pounds (Dh67) per taskara – equivalent to a few milligrams – from 360 pounds several months ago. ……….”

Egyptians have a long history with hashish. Now, just as the population reaches a new low in economic and psychological conditions after 30 years of the current dictatorship, the regime pulls the plug. No more hashish. Since other ‘diversions’ are also restricted or too expensive for Egypt’s increasingly impoverished middle class, what is there? Religious extremism is one outlet for some. Many others naturally seek cheaper, and more dangerous, alternatives- hard drugs. Then there is, of course, that other diversion of begetting and begatting which has pushed the population well beyond what the country can house and feed.

As they said, and still say: let there be light in Egypt, let them light up. It may do them some good, and I would advice Texans to do the same. I almost forgot Jordanians: the banned Egyptian social habit may be just the solution for the severe lack of humor that has bedeviled Jordan since the British created that country more than seventy years ago. A stoned Jordanian can’t be a surly one now, can he? Can he?

Cheers
Mohammed

Fate of Dr. ElBaradei: a Sudden Death, a Serious Illness, or Prison …………

2010-02-20T08:48:00.000-08:00

“A heavy security operation was under way at Cairo's airport today as crowds gathered to welcome home the former UN nuclear weapons chief, Mohamed ElBaradei. ElBaradei, who stood down as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency last year, is seen as a potential challenger to the three-decade rule of President Hosni Mubarak in next year's elections. Crowds carrying welcome signs and singing the national anthem gathered at the airport shortly before ElBaradei's plane was due to touch down. There was a heavy police and state security service presence at the airport but no evidence that 6,000 troops had been deployed, as was being reported by some local news organizations. It was thought that the reports of troops might have been a tactic to dissuade protesters from taking to the streets. ElBaradei supporters were being searched as they arrived at the airport. Some were singing "There's no turning back now, Mr ElBaradei", in an attempt to encourage him to declare his candidacy………”

If the past is any indication one of the following will happen to him: he will die mysteriously, he will fall seriously ill, he will go to prison on trumped up charges. Or a combination of the above.
Welcome back to the moderate New Middle East, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei. Thirty year old dictatorships do not give up power easily in the moderate New Middle East, even if the said dictator is 84 years old. Even in the city where President Obama made his famous speech promising Muslims respect, understanding, alliance, and (tacitly) continued dictatorship.

Cheers

Mohammed

GCC Gulf Currency Union: My System for a Timetable……….

2010-02-14T10:13:00.000-08:00

Extremes..........

Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Mohammed al-Jassar claims he has not lost hope that the UAE and Oman will rejoin the GCC common currency (Gulfie) project. Last month, the Omani minister of economy completely rejected any chance that his country will return to the project. All GCC states tie their currencies to the US dollar, with the exception of Kuwait which ties its currency to a basket of major currencies.

I can categorically state here that Oman and the UAE will not return to the Gulf currency for some years. I can also assure you that I am pushing back the date for the start of the common Gulf currency to at least 2017, most likely beyond that. A few years ago I had predicted that the joint currency will not be born before 2015 (their official plan was for 2010, which I thought was absurd, and they changed it last December to 2015). Now, based on my highly educated guessing ability on this issue particularly, I push the whole thing off a few years more.

My Monetary Rule: based on experience, I automatically add more years to any announced deadline for monetary (and other economic) issues in the Gulf (and the Middle East in general):

Add five years (or more, sometimes much more) to the initial officially announced date.

Add three years (or more, depending) to the first revised officially announced date.

For the second revision: I will tell you when we get there, but it usually means DOA.

(For the wider inter-Arab plans: I would add a quarter century to the initial date, and then I would revise it to when hell freezes over).

Cheers
mhg

GCC Troubles Resurface: Issues of Sovereignty, Independence

2009-11-24T08:36:00.000-08:00

The United Arab Emirates has formed a special federal council “Council of Border Affairs”, which means that relations with Saudi Arabia are set to get even more tense on the eve of the GCC summit in Kuwait in December. The measure comes after Riyadh stonewalled about making requested clarifications on certain border issues. The border has been an area of contention since before the UAE was formed. And there have been periodic flare-ups especially over the past year. Saudi Arabia has used trade pressures over the border and other issues, as when it blocked thousands of trade trucks from the UAE from crossing the border twice this year. Once this past summer the Saudis even rescinded a joint agreement that citizens of both countries can use their ID cards to travel across the border. That forced many UAE pilgrims to scramble to go to Riyadh in order to get new papers before they could go home. Some had to go back from the border area. It was a small and bullying type of behavior on the part of Saudi Arabia: it was also stupid because it did not endear them any more to the UAE citizens.

Another issue that rankles the Saudis is that the UAE has joined Oman in refusing to join the GCC Gulf common currency. The project is being postponed (as I expected on the site) and revised because the earlier studies were not sufficient and did not cover many economic and technical issues that are necessary to implement it. The UAE partly objected to the Saudis forcing through the selection of Riyadh as the venue for the future Gulf central bank.

The issue of sovereignty is even more important. Oman has always had an eye across the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean. My impression has always been, from interacting with them, that they were skeptic about deeper integration with the Gulf or the wider Arab world. Omanis are clearly worried now about Saudi hegemony, as is the UAE now. The Saudis have been acting as if Riyadh will be the capital of some form of a united Gulf, which raises serious political issues. For example, Kuwait has an electoral system that imposes certain checks and balances on the ruling family. There are no checks and balances in Saudi Arabia, the name of the country tells it all: it is “Saudi”, which means it belongs to the al-Saud. Politically there is no compatibility. This is not a group of democratic European countries seeking to integrate.

Look for independent Qatar to either withdraw from the common currency or to become even more active in asserting her independence. The Emir of Qatar followed the Sultan of Oman in visiting Tehran last week. He was followed this week by the Kuwaiti prime minister. The smaller states are reasserting their independence, and that is a good thing. The Iranian wolf may still be a wolf, but it is across the sea, not across a disputed border.
Cheers
Mohammed

A Gulf Arab “Intellectual” Opines, But Where are the Half-wits…………..

2009-11-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

“Kuwaiti “Liberal” writer Sami al-Nusuf called that Egypt become a monarchy again, with Gamal Mubarak crowned king. He said that will guarantee the stability of Egypt and the prosperity of her people…… He said that spain and Greece have gone back to the monarchy system and they have done well……… He also happened to say that Elaph was the best media outlet in the Arab world…..” Elaph

Didn’t they call this same guy a “thinker” a few days ago? Now he is a mere “liberal writer”, demoted: which means they are on the right track, but not quite there yet. That “liberal” has got to go. How about “plutocrat”?

Greece never went back to a monarchy system.

Egypt has a king already, and he has screwed up his country real good for 28 years.

What was that old E F Hutton commercial? It can be rephrased: when half-wits talk, Arabs listen, especially in the absolute royal Saudi media………….

I tell you, he didn’t leave much for the rest of us half-wits .

More on this same later…..

Cheers
Mohammed

On the Gulf: Plutocrats, Tribals, Islamists, et al…….

2009-11-12T08:40:00.000-08:00

A political tug of war has been going on in Kuwait. It is essentially a struggle for power between an elected parliament and unelected plutocrats of the merchant families. It is also a struggle for the economic pie.

The plutocrats, the merchant families who control businesses and the media, are pushing for adoption of sweeping packages of major construction projects. They would get the contracts and the benefits from these contracts, and they are salivating at the prospect. This would not benefit the other classes much since the plutocrats usually import cheap labor from Asia and Egypt rather than hire locally. A plutocrat family usually has one or two of its sons manage a multitude of imported cheap labor and a few imported white-collars: that is how they run their businesses.

Parliament, now mostly representing tribal elements and middle to lower classes, is pushing, part of it is pushing, for direct support for the debt-ridden consumers, their voters, rather than to the business classes. They are holding up government projects that would benefit the plutocrats until the consumer issue is resolved.

The merchant classes used to be considered the “liberal” classes of Kuwait, but that was way back then. Now they are “liberal” in the sense that they support more opening of the economy and making it a competitor to places like Dubai. That also happens to benefit them mostly. But they have shifted away from their old “liberal” support for elected democracy in order to preserve the old political influence of their class. In the past few years they have pushed for reducing the number of electoral districts, with the goal of reducing the influence of tribal and Islamist elements. They got the districts reduced from 25 to only 5. Still, the tribal-Islamist alliance won. Now they are calling for making the whole country one single district. I doubt that will change things. Demographics are against the plutocrats. The old merchant families are few and they tend to intermarry among themselves, which does not make for a growing political base. Once the tribes discovered the joys and the power of the electoral process, the political goose of the plutocrats was cooked.

More recently the plutocrats have formed among themselves a Group of 26 that has sought to directly influence policy, through lobbying the ruling family. Some are hinting in their media of the need for suspending the constitution and allowing a period of “suspended democracy” in order to pass major legislation through an unelected cabinet. This has been picked up and eagerly adopted by the Saudi media, never supporters of electoral democracy in the Gulf region, or in the larger Arab region.

Kuwait went through two periods of suspended democracy, essentially unconstitutional rule. Both had disastrous consequences. They were characterized by major corruption scandals that did not come to light until after constitutional rule was restored and the media freed from censorship. The last one ended with the Iraqi invasion of 1990.

The goal this time will probably be an interregnum during which the electoral system can be changed. Most likely some will opt for the Bahraini solution, whereby the monarch appoints a second assembly of his choosing that would dilute the powers of the elected one. That appointed assembly will automatically be dominated by the plutocrats who cannot win many elections these days.

But how can the constitution be changed without the consent of an elected assembly? That in itself would be unconstitutional. Besides, suspending the constitution is unconstitutional, by definition.

A dilemma, n’est-ce pas?

Cheers

Mohammed

A Squared Shaikh, A Jihad is Declared, Heretics Denounced……..

2009-11-10T08:03:00.000-08:00

“Mufti of Saudi Arabia declares soldiers at Yemen border in Jihad situation, calls Houtji thought based on fitna and prejudice. Shaikh Abdulaziz al-Alshaikh said the ideas of the Houthi (Shi’a) Yemeni rebels are perverted and rotten. He, Head of the Council of Major Ulema (Saudi Pope?) said that Islamic countries should reject their heretical ideology. He praised the security forces and soldiers………In an interview with the daily Okaz…..”

The old sheikh has had his marching orders: they all g them at some point. That is the price of hitching his wagon to the oligarchs.

The Houthis are a bit odd on their own: some say they have retro ideas and want the old Yemeni Imamate (monarchy restored). Funny: that sounds exactly like what the Saudis have right now.

But Shaikh al-Shaikh (mathematically he would be called Shaikh squared) is a direct descendant of Shaikh Mohammed Bin Abdul-Wahab, after whom the term Wahhabi is named. He was an ally of an early al-Saud prince in Najd. It was the first alliance between the ambitious theocrat and the ambitious clan sheikh, one that has lasted until today. He must not, however, be confused with the late Mohammed Abdelwahab, the talented Egyptian composer and singer who was not fundamentalist. I preferred the latter.
Cheers
Mohammed

War of Israeli Falafel Flares, Arabs Eye Gefilte Fish and Yarmulke……..

2009-11-06T13:59:00.000-08:00

“Israel steals Lebanese falafel and wins New Jersey prize. An Israeli company yesterday won the top prize in a New Jersey food exhibit with its newly packaged Falafel. Head of the Lebanese Manufacturers Association angrily made television rounds announcing he will send a letter those in charge of the exhibit protesting “the Zionist entity posing as international Falafel salesman….He promised a vigorous international campaign to regain the usurped glory of Lebanon and all Arabs…..” al-Manar TV (Hezbullah)

My two cents: I think it is another lost war. The Falafel is gone the way of East Jerusalem, the West bank, and the Golan. The Lebanese should give it up, that part of their past glory. Maybe they should have had Hezbullah run the Falafel campaign; they seem like the only Arabs who are able to best the Israelis in anything. Although I believe they would be beaten in a Falafel war.

My advice is to start encroaching on traditional Jewish food and call them “Lebanese”. But what would they call Gefilte Fish in Arabic? (געפֿילטע פֿיש, or דגים ממולאים)?

Or they can hit below the belt by usurping the yarmulke…….
Cheers
Mohammed

Ahmadinejad Hotter than Merkel, Gulf Dichotomy of Looks, Arabs Dominate Ugly Ducklings, the Pope Beats Kim, the Reliable Swimsuit Test……..

2009-10-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

The list of hottest heads of state is out, whatever it means. Here are some interesting rankings for all its worth, which is nothing more than entertainment and giving me a chance to vent. I have added my own insight after every name:

1. Yulia Tymoshenko Prime Minister of Ukraine, and almost deservedly so.
5. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner President of Argentina. I thought she should be a close runner-up.
9. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo President of the Philippines I though she should be the second runner-up.

15. Barack Obama President of the United States of America . They broke Michelle’s heart with this one, but gave the Republican right a lift, especially former co-president Dick Cheney who probably thought he would be on the top ten list.

18. Vladimir Putin Prime Minister of Russia. Must have been his Street Car Named Desire undershirt.

22. Saad Hariri Prime Minister of Lebanon. They must have slipped him in as a joke, or maybe it was the old Lebanese way: money changing hands. And what about Hassan Nasrallah? He cuts a nice figure in a swimsuit.

31. Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister of Israel. Now that is another joke: they must have looked at him, say, twenty years ago…

48. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad President of Iran. This one is rather confusing. I am not sure he deserves such a high ranking: after all we have never seen him in a swimsuit, although he probably wears one in the shower.

50. Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. Not sure what he is.
54. Abdullah II King of Jordan. This one is also over-rated. I’d put a swimsuit on him then quickly move him past 100.

82. Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah King of Bahrain. They are being too generous here. Bahrain royalty, like those of most of my native Gulf states are ugly, to put it politely- unlike us the peoples who are mostly handsome. A strange dichotomy of looks, This one is lucky he was rated so high, too high. Maybe they got his photo mixed up with someone else. I’d put him past 120.

At the bottom were the following. I certainly have no further comments on these. There is no need, is there?:
138. Nouri al-Maliki Prime Minister of Iraq
164. Abdullah King of Saudi Arabia
166. Omar al-Bashir President of Sudan
168. Robert Mugabe President of Zimbabwe
170. Hamad bin Khalifa Emir of Qatar
171. Pope Benedict XVI Sovereign of Vatican City
172. Kim Jong-il Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea
Cheers Mohammed

GCC Gulf Currency Acrobatics, Watermelon Ministry, Watermelon Economics, Watermelon Policy……...

2009-10-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

“Kuwait ‘strongly backs’ Gulf currency in January. Kuwait strongly backs the launch of the Gulf monetary union and single currency on time in January 2010, the undersecretary of the finance ministry said on Monday, a day after the ministry demanded a delay.
"Kuwait strongly supports the Gulf monetary union and the launch of single currency as scheduled next January," Khalifa Hamada said in a statement cited by the official KUNA news agency. "Kuwait is keen to cooperate with its partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at all levels to speed up the completion of all issues related to launching the single currency on its target date in January 2010."…..On Sunday, a statement by the finance ministry carried by KUNA called for a delay in the 2010 launch date to allow committees and concerned parties to complete unfinished technical issues……..”

“Kuwait calls for delay on Gulf currency launch. Kuwait, one of four Gulf states to sign a pact to launch a monetary union and single currency, on Sunday called for a delay in the 2010 launch date, citing incomplete preparations. "The ministry of finance calls for revising the target date for launching the Gulf single currency until all committees and concerned parties have completed technical issues," the ministry said in a statement cited by the KUNA news agency.
" The ministry of finance calls for revising the target date for launching the Gulf single currency until all committees and concerned parties have completed technical issues "……..”

I don’t know who this Finance undersecretary is and how he got his job, but he certainly did not get it for his expertise on monetary affairs. I suggest they give him the task of preparing, synchronizing, and choreographing for the implementation of a unified currency by next January (2010) as he suggests, then fire him when he fails to get it ready, which he certainly will. That would be the best outcome of the futile task: getting rid of one incompetent official.
Such is economic policy done in a watermelon economy, by watermelon officials……
Cheers
Mohammed

GOP Nominates Failure for Nobel Prize, Carla Nominates Sarkozy, Hariri Nominates Saudi King, I Preferred Pete Seeger……

2009-10-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

“It's also created a remarkable bit of fury among the president's Republican opponents. One week after conservatives were exuberant with Obama's failure to secure the Olympics for his hometown of Chicago, they were left bitter and bemused that he was bestowed the world's most prestigious honor. The real question Americans are asking is, 'What has President Obama actually accomplished?'" reads a statement from the Republican National Committee. " It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain -- President Obama won't be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action........" HuffPost

There were 205 nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. Organizations can nominate anyone they deem deserving. French president Nicolas Sarkozy was nominated, presumably by Carla Bruni (he didn’t nominate her). Also nominated wwere Ingrid Betancourt of Colombia, Chinese dissident Hu Jia, among others. Some organizations were also nominated, and I thought that The Cluster Munitions Coalition should get the prize (it campaigned effectively against cluster bombs, which means they may not be used over the Shi’a tenements in the next Lebanon war). My second choice was Pete Seeger.

Someone had nominated King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, presumably by the Lebanese Saad Hariri or Fouad Saniora, or maybe alseyassah. For some reason Hezbullah did not nominate Ayatollah Khamenai. The Republican Party (USA), discovering that ‘Dr. No’ was dead, nominated failure.

I doubt that I was among the 205. My spouse refused to nominate me, claiming we never got an invitation from the Nobel Committee to submit nominees..
Cheers
Mohammed

Gulf Views on Iran and the West, the Audacious and the Craven, Dr. Strangelove of Arabia, Slim Pickens……….

2009-09-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

The Audacious:
“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is discussing Iran's nuclear capabilities just as Israel accused the monitoring body of holding back on its most recent report on Iran. Israel says it "expects the international community to take substantive and prompt steps to halt Iran's military nuclear programme."…….
“But what about Israel's nuclear arsenal? It is a well-known secret that Israel has nuclear capabilities and nuclear weapons. Officially, Israel has a policy of not confirming or denying its nuclear capabilities……”
He is just asking, I think……

The almost craven:
“In a few days Iranian and European negotiators will meet. I don’t want to say that we are having a repeat of yesterday’s Iraq (but he will anyway), but riding the same train of challenge will lead to the same results…..Does Iran face a crisis or an historic opportunity? I think both doors are open……Iranian are smarter than Saddam Hussein. Iran can reassure the ‘international party’ and she will have to provide a new position with enough transparency and ‘accommodation’ which would reduce tensions…..Otherwise , inflexibility will lead to tougher sanctions and…..remember that since World War II two of every three international sanctions ended with a hot war……”
Except that Saddam Hussein turned out not to have any WMD, and that the evidence may have been fabricated. Even I believed it and cheered on that war in 2003. No more.

The totally craven:
“The Iranian regime is weak internally, its legitimacy reduced after the election crisis……Negotiating with Tehran while she is weak can be dangerous, for the regime may become adventurous in order to divert…….Iran may offer to negotiate everything, not just the nuclear issue, in order to reduce pressure and preempt an Israeli military strike…..That means we should watch Hezbullah, Iran’s most loyal follower and agent…we must also not forget Hamas…..”
Okay no negotiations according to this chap. Does this mean this editor, or his Highness his boss who owns the newspaper, is volunteering with the first military strike force that flies over the Persian Plateau toward Qom? Ever see Dr. Strangelove? Slim Pickens anyone?
Cheers
Mohammed

Gulf Currency Union, Issues of Pegging and Trade, Ibn Saud and Demography…….

2009-09-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

“Gulf states should implement a monetary union and single currency in phases, Kuwait's central bank governor said in comments published on Sunday, casting further doubt on a 2010 target date. Due to the limited progress achieved so far... I believe that the best way is to work out an administrative plan for the monetary union and single currency and implement it in stages……
“The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plans to launch monetary union and a single currency in 2010, although many experts believe the target date is too ambitious and unrealistic…….Sheikh Salem said the administrative plan should focus on the institutional requirements of the union including financial, trade, statistical and common market policies. He also said that printing banknotes for the new currency would take three years to complete.

“The GCC states have agreed on a number of monetary union requirements but failed to reach consensus on others. They have also failed to fully implement a customs union launched at the beginning of 2003……..”

He was stating what I knew, what many have known for some time.
Finally, it is good to hear practical public statements, for a change, from GCC officials on the Gulf currency union project. Economically and politically it makes sense to do so. Without implementing some gradual preliminary steps the whole project will be a disaster. It is better, much less costly, to admit short-term failure and work on redrawing plans, than to try to force the issue and create huge problems later on.
I recall some years ago when it was impossible to get everyone in the GCC to peg their currencies to the same anchor. Some preferred the dollar, others the SDR, and one a special basket.

It was absurd to expect anything to be in place by 2010 without first ironing out the differences on such issues as trade, and without reaching the agreement on the grueling and time-consuming process of the actual issue of notes and coins. This is something that I had mentioned earlier on this site. I believe I mentioned Zollverein in Arabia more than once on this site.

It can be shocking how little interest both the GCC general public and politicians have shown in the issue of currency union. It was being treated as a ‘political’ issue that concerns only the officials. It does have political implications, of course, but its immediate impact would be to affect economic issues. Even the legislatures and what passes for legislatures in some countries have rarely ventured to deal with the issue, most likely because they are technically incapable of doing so.

Of course, having the union confined to one large country (Saudi Arabia) and two smaller countries (Kuwait and Bahrain) does have political implications- I expected Qatar to pull out at some point. There are always concerns, valid concerns, about the loss of sovereignty and political independence. After all, the current borders of Saudi Arabia were extended when old Ibn Saud expanded out of his native Najd to swallow several smaller kingdoms and emirates of the Arabian Peninsula during the 20th century.
(Ibn Saud also expanded in another way; demographically, by marrying into almost every tribe he could get his lusty hands on; eventually filling the kingdom with thousands of princelings. But that will be a topic for another day.)
Cheers
Mohammed

2009-09-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

Why are speeches of Qaddafi and Ahmadinejad covered live, but nobody does so for speeches of King Abdullah, Mubarak, and others? Consistently networks carry live the speeches of tehse tow, and maybe Hugo Chavez. So what do these tow have that others in the Middle east do not have?

1. Because they are more important?

2. Because they are wiser?

3. Because they are more dangerous?

4. Because they are more entertaining?

5. Because they are cool?

6. Because they are hunks?

I would immediately take out the one about wisdom, although there is a Middle East saying about “taking wisdom from the mouths of mad men”. I would rate (4) and (1) at the top, followed by (3). I suppose at middle school (junior high) one can say these guys are cooler than others. By the time one gets to high school, they become hunkier, but not these guys.

That Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah should work on their abs and get hunkier somehow; try to get cooler and polish up their charisma, or at least rent some.

Dumbest question heard in the US, especially on the media: why are these guys allowed into the USA? Why are they here? One CNN anchor Kyra Phillips even asked: “why is he allowed to speak?” And I don’t think she is even really blonde!

The answer is simple: they have the right…… unless you want the UN to move to Geneva or Tegucigalpa (look it up).

Oops the loquacious Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is on CNN again ranting about Qaddafi. Whatever his motives, the good rabbi should drop this; it only gives him more attention. It’s not like Qaddafi is planning on immigrating and living in the New York area.

Cheers

Mohammed

Friedman on Dick Cheney’s Wisdom, Roadmap for Iran, ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Lebanon, Horse left the Barn……

2009-09-23T07:35:00.001-07:00

“For the first time….we have a glimmer of hope for a diplomatic solution to this problem — as long as we are not too diplomatic, as long as the Iranian regime is made to understand that biting economic sanctions are an absolute certainty and military force by Israel is a live possibility.....
"While real sanctions are necessary to exploit this moment, they are not sufficient. We also need to keep alive the prospect that Israel could do something crazy. I don’t favor Israeli military action against Iran and hope we’re telling Israel that privately. But I do believe that U.S. officials, particularly the secretary of defense, Robert Gates, need to stop saying that publicly. Gates is a smart power player. He knows better. If any U.S. official is asked for an opinion on whether Israel should be allowed to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, there is only one right answer: Refer them to former Vice President Dick Cheney’s 2005 comment that Israel “might well decide to act first”………”

Thomas Friedman must think Iran's mullahs and other leaders are as gullible as some of his readers, those who buy the argument. And to have to go back to Dick Cheney for fonts of wisdom on such an issue; that is really scraping the bottom of the diplomatic barrel. Oh yes, we can rely on the man who gave us Iraq….to give us an Iran war. Brilliant.

But I call much of Friedman’s stuff ‘feel good’ analysis. He also announced ‘mission accomplished’ in Lebanon just after the last election, and I commented on it at the time. Lebanon still does not have a cabinet, nor can it have one without the Hezbullah bloc; so much for the new era.

I would guess that the horse has already left the barn as far as Iran's nuclear program is concerned. In fact it left the barn the day after George W Bush added Iran to his ill-conceived and sophomoric ‘Axis of Evil’ just after they had helped in Afghanistan.
Cheers
Mohammed

Dark Slavery, White Slavery, Baser Instincts, Contemptuous Familiarity, Creating New Enemies.....

2009-09-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

“Our Coming Problem: (no he does not mean the Iranian nuclear program, Jihadist terrorism, petroleum prices, or the spread of Shi’ism. It is more basic than that).
“ An American court has ordered a Saudi citizen to pay his Indonesian maid $ 143 thousand, compensation for wages he had refused to pay her for seven years, and for forcing her to work 14 hour days and did not allow her weekend leave and holidays….
“The Saudi Shaura Council last July deleted a stipulation giving maids 7 hours of daily rest, between 10 PM and 5 AM. The council justified this deletion using the ‘special needs’ of Saudi families and the traditions of Saudi society. This type of abuse and worse has become part of family life not only in the Gulf states, but has spread to other Arab countries, where abuse and exploitation is even worse…..Then there is the case of the Saudi graduate student who is in an American jail for abusing his Indonesian maid……”

“There are reports that the Saudi Labor Importing Authority(there actually is an organization that negotiates with source countries) is negotiating with some Central Asian Republics for the import of housemaids from these countries…” Saudi Media

From “dark” slavery to “white” slavery. The housewives will be sure to get more creative now, more “basic”, and so will some of their husbands…….
What is that saying about ‘familiarity breeding contempt’?
Cheers and Ramadan Kareem
Mohammed

Nuclear Mullahs, Nuclear Shaikhs, Nuclear Chic…….

2009-09-09T21:43:00.000-07:00

“DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates is days away from awarding the largest ever energy contract in the Middle East for the development of a nuclear power plant, industry sources said on Tuesday. The contract to build at least four reactors is expected to cost the world's third-largest oil producer as much as $40 billion, consultancy Eurasia Group said in a research note published in August.
“President Nicolas Sarkozy was in the UAE in May to open a military base, and some analysts saw the visit as enhancing the French consortium's prospects of winning the contract….."France is already a major partner to UAE in the defence area and I wouldn't be surprised if they are leading in the bid now."……………..”
Cheers and Ramadan Kareem
Mohammed

Plato’s Gulf Republic: Doctorates in Watermelon Studies

2009-09-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

“Dr. (Fadhel …….) Minister of Public Works and Municipality may not be in danger…... Meanwhile assembly member Dr. (Waleed …..) objected in a speech……But assembly member Dr. (Jama’an …….) requested a “To Whom it May Concern” legal clearance for the session on Swine Flu …All this while assembly member Dr. (Mohammed …..) wondered why the government refuses to attend the special session on the Swine Flu…….For his part assembly member Dr. ( Faisal……) aimed had in his crosshairs the minister of……”

I might add that Dr. Watermelon, however, declined to comment, playing his mysterious cards very close to his hairy chest……
And what about Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Dre, Dr. No, Dr. Kevorkian, et al?
I almost forgot my favorite, second favorite, Dr.: Dr. Maxwell Edison.
With all them Drs. (real and otherwise; serious, online, and Shari’a) You’d think it is a veterinarian’s convention on the shores of the (Persian) Gulf……
Cheers and Ramadan Kareem
Dr. Mohammed

Song of a Prince: Saved by a Terrorist’s “Anatomy” and the Mufti’s Shower Tunes

2009-09-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

“May Allah Protect You? The two companies will join efforts with a television satellite network to produce the new video clip about the Prince……The lyrics will be written by famous Saudi poet…..Director said it will be a major effort.....”

As I reported here, an al-Qaeda man blew himself up in the presence of the son of Saudi Arabia’s top anti-terrorist chief, Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. He is the son of the country’s new strongman Prince Nayef, but that is a mere coincidence; almost everybody over there publicly believes that he got the job on merit- and I believe that they do publicly believe that.
The man managed to kill himself because the explosives were hidden in his rectum (apparently royal security is reluctant to inspect recti in the presence of royal princes). His body, as I mentioned, bore the brunt of the explosion.
Now two major Saudi media companies are joining efforts to produce a song about the terrorist suicide attempt (these attempts are always terrorists when they happen in Saudi Arabia, but not when they kill the ‘right’ kind of people in places like Iraq).
Needless to say the video clip portrays HRH the Prince in a heroic light, and it will become the new hit on Saudi Arabia’s top Forty Hits, right after the favorite shower songs of the Mufti.
Don’t expect any praise for the part of the man’s anatomy that saved the Prince.
Cheers and Ramadan Kareem<
Mohammed

2009-07-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

“Even before the television debates, the Iranian candidates were going along with the regime….the were in denial, just as they were on the eve of the occupation of Fao (Peninsula)…..before their forces collapsed in all operational fronts….

“One of the most exciting events of the Fao ‘epic’ is that Iraqi disinformation planners wanted to convince the Iranian command that Iraqi forces…….
"They are making the same mistakes they made during Fao….following the same route…”

Idiotic Iraqi general, who was head of Saddam’s military intelligence during the war crimes: during the use of chemicals and gassing of Kurds and Iranians, during the invasion of Kuwait, during the setting of the Fires of Kuwait when 700 burning oil wells spewed smoke for for nearly ten months (I know, I breathed that black smoke with others, there was no escaping it, 24/7 for many months), and during the massacres of Shi’as and Kurds in the popular rebellions of 1991. I know people who were tortured and killed by the grisly regime that he was part of. Others know even more.

He is still fighting old lost wars, using the massive media of his former victims from a safe distance. A losing general Samarrai in search of a new war that would set the Gulf region on fire again, just like it did when he served his old master. A losing general in search of a winnable war…..a war that American boys and girls or, barring that, Israeli pilots can win for him and his new masters.

So, every time General Wafiq Samarrai publishes a piece advocating a new war, I will have to respond with my own wish list which consists of one item: his head in the hands of his main victims; the Iraqi people.
Cheers
Mohammed
Mon Email

On Jacko, Kim Jong-Il, Bush, Netanyahu, and Mother of All Follies

2009-07-11T17:47:00.000-07:00

CNN, which can be truly called the Michael Jackson News Network has interviewed a Jacko insider (a friend names Chopra, but no dollar amount was put on this particular friend, yet) who mentions that Jacko was thinking of reaching out to Little Kim in old Pyongyang. He said that Jacko always reached out to strangers, calling them late at night (this doesn’t sound good) trying to learn from them. Maybe he could have gotten the Dear Pudgy Leader to give up some of his nukes for a duet, or a spot on his aborted tour?
Look for Larry King (Michael Jackson Live) to elaborate on this one for the next week or two. Hey, the news business is slow in summer.

“What if Israel does it? Thank God that Benjamin Netanyahu and George Bush did not manage to get together (in power. That would have been the Mother of All Catastrophes. Thank God there is a wiser master in the White House today, one who doesn’t look at the world with the arrogant eye of the neo-conservatives: wither with us or against us. The new Israeli government is more in tune with the last American administration…..

“If Netanyahu, lulled by the ease of the Ozirak operation in the early 1980s tries to bomb Iranian facilities…this would be the greatest gift to Ahmadinejad and the extreme conservatives in Iran…..” Asharq Alawsat
Cheers
Mohammd

An Iranian Summer and GOP Family Values

2009-06-19T15:34:00.001-07:00

Ayatollah Ali Khamenai seems to have opted for the hardline against the masses of protesters in the cities of Iran. Not sure how this will work out: historically, Iranians don’t like to be cowed by brute force and they have always returned to challenge those in power. This has always differentiated them from their Arab neighbors to the west.

The Shah’s security forces could not do it. Besides, the armed forces usually refuse to fire on their own people, as they largely refused to do so during the 1978-79 Revolution. It will be interesting what happens when the memorial for those killed comes around in a few weeks. Not sure how things will go now: it largely depends how the ‘opposition’ leaders lead now. Either way, I doubt things will be the same in Iran. As for Prince Reza Pahlavi, I wouldn’t start polishing that crown yet: remember the Romanovs never made a comeback, even after Yeltsin.

Interesting how Republicans have tried to capitalize on the situation in Iran for their political purposes. They are calling for more support for the Iranian people. The same people they were eager to bomb to oblivion until recently. They use it to score points against Obama, but it took Henry Kissinger, their foreign policy uber-guru to come out and debunk their argument. Next: expect Jim Baker and Brent Scowcroft to wade in.

Still, all this probably will not take public attention away from Senator John (Family values) Ensign- it turns out he was doing some kind of four-some with his chosen partners, a whole family involved in either adultery and/or payoffs. Newt Gingrich’s own version of (family values) has probably faded from public memory. It turned out his values were worse than Bill Clinton’s, the man he criticized so much in public (they both fooled around with the help). Almost forgot that other stalwart of family values: Sen. Vitter of Louisiana- he of the hookers’ blackbook fame.
It almost looks like family values (Republican version) = screwing around, with females (and males if necessary), while married- without getting caught, of course. Once you get caught, it ain’t family values no more.
In fact the GOP has surprised us when it comes to sex: many more of their politicians are involved in/with adultery or prostitution than Democrats. It didn't use to be that way. It must be the many years of power, or maybe it is all these new enhancement drugs.

FYI-speaking of family values, Iran, Tom Daschle, and health care: in the semi-( or is it quasi)-democratic Iran of the mullahs they have both the public and private options in health care. of course in the Cuba of the Castor brothers, there is no choice: it is all public. That is what Michael Moore discovered: they would not accept his Visa.
Cheers
Mohammed

American Sports, Arab Sports, Northwest Grog, and Uptight Gulf Potentates

2009-06-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

This last entry is copied from web site:
Of Seattle Mariners, Potentates, and empty Gulf Stadiums. How a Friday night game watching the Mariners lose another one made me ponder the chasm of sports cultures. Of ballpark food and grog, bike rides, and the usual Arab ennui in public. Why escaping Arab politics into Arab sports can be a more depressing affair. Sfeir, Netanyahu, and Hezbullah may be preferable to games presided over by tense Gulf potentates:

Went to another Mariners’ game last night (Friday). Lots of fun, tens of thousands of eager fans, singing, dancing, and waving signs. A typical Friday night baseball scene. The food was tasty, and the Northwest micro-refreshments great. But we left at the top of the ninth inning: the game against the Twins was tied 1-1, but I guessed what was coming and we decided to leave early. Besides, we wanted to avoid the crush out of the parking lot. I heard the final score on the way home: I was right to leave.

Just came back from two hours of biking along the beach. We needed the exercise to burn off and sweat out all the food and grog at Safeco Field.
Browsing through the news, I started to ponder sports, and how they differ among nations. I mean how people deal with them. The ritual of watching the game, and the whole event. The contrast could not be different between a ball game in America and a sports game in most Middle East countries, especially Arab countries, especially on my native Gulf where I was born and raised.
In my hometown on the Gulf, few people go to local soccer games these days, even though they claim to be passionate about the sport and about their favorite teams. Local teams would not survive as private concerns: ticket sales are lousy. Most people watch them on television, and you can see the stadium nearly empty. Maybe a few hundred show up, maybe one thousand in some cases. And usually one or two potentates and quasi-potentates. I have always suspected that the few who show up are connected to the presiding potentates, maybe their employees or favor-seekers. Or maybe they are given free Lotto tickets- not sure

There is no festive atmosphere as at Safeco Field. Watching the few people and the presiding potentate can be disheartening, it is like a wake (‘azaa) for somewhat who had died. The spectators are nearly all male. They all seem to be overly concerned with their headgear (ghitra & agal), keeping them straight: I am not sure why- maybe they expect a scout to be around seeking new faces for a remake of Lawrence of Arabia. But I do the same when I am home.

All, everybody who is over 18, sit with grim looks on their faces, with the grim potentate and his flunkies taking up the first row. Rarely does anybody smile, there certainly is no laughter. Everybody steals occasional glances toward the presiding potentate- some of them do it so often, you’d think it is Carla Bruni, Angelina Jolie, or Nicole Kidman presiding (I thought I’d throw in Nicole because her tall blond looks are so un-Arab, mate). Certainly the schmuck up front does not deserve a second look.

A soccer game without a potentate or two is not considered worthy of showing on state television, also run by other potentates. There is no food and refreshments, no singing and dancing. Arab men are absolutely the most uptight anywhere in the world in public, and the men in my native Gulf hometown are the most uptight of Arab men. The most uptight of the most uptight: get the picture? Don't get me wrong: they can raise private hell with the best of them, I know that firsthand- but in private.

Not sure exactly what this has to do with politics or economics of the region- but I was taught early at school that "a healthy mind lies within a healthy body"- no, it is not a quote from Chairman Mao.

But writing this beats reading up on Lebanon, on Patriarch Sfeir warning Christians not to vote for Hezbullah allies (at least half of them will anyway), on a Hezbullah leader predicting they will get the majority vote tomorrow (maybe, maybe not, not that it would change much), on Netanyahu being miffed at Obama for calling for a two-state solution in Palestine (the only solution that will not make Israel into an apartheid regime). Not to mention on Iraq and Kuwait going back to a silly Saddam-era game of verbal escalation through the media and through irresponsible politicians. Not to mention Saudi media gloating that Obama visited their king before he went to see Mubarak in Cairo. Not to mention Iran’s Ahmedinejad and his opponents for next week’s election blasting each other in their televised debates (if he loses, the next leader will not be nearly as entertaining). Not to mention…….
Cheers
Mohammed

Egypt Losing War on Swine. What Iran, Hezbullah, and Israel Have in Common

2009-05-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

"Ghazwat al-Khanazeer": this is what some commentators in Arab media are calling the new Middle East War- and it is not all tongue in cheek. The name harkens back to the early Islamic battles of 14 centuries ago in the birthplace of the faith, the Hijaz Region of the Arabian Peninsula.

Arab media report that in its "War on Pigs", the Egyptian army has succeeded in killing only about 10 thousand enemy combatants so far. This is considered by many commentators as an unhappy level of performance, especially in view of the billions of dollars of arms purchases and foreign military aid. There were estimated to be more than 300 thousand pigs in Egypt, the actual number is probably much higher, but de-Nile is a river in Egypt- n'est-ce pas?

Initially there had been high hopes, even by the Islamist militants, that the army will quickly route the enemy and rid the country of the abominable pig (referring to the four-legged variety). National pride in the military has not been unanimous: Christian Copts, for example, have strongly, and in some cases violently objected to a move that pretends to concern public health while trying to encroach on their own cultural heritage- at least encroach on their cuisine. Some may see the military campaign as a prelude to end the presence of pigs (four-legged ones) in Egypt, thus destroying a rich history that goes back thousands of years.
But would liquidating the swine make the country even more homogeneous?

Some in the pro-regime media (i.e. almost all the media) are already laying the groundwork to blame a possible Tabout Khamis (fifth column) that sympathizes with the plight of the pigs. This fifth column is suspected by some of undermining morale and some even believe it may have helped the pigs directly. This looks suspiciously like the end of October 1973.
Some are seriously looking into an Iranian connection, others suspect a Hezbullah connection and yet others are seeking a possible Israeli connection. There is some logic in all that, of course: all the above do not like pigs. I forgot all about the grim boys of Hamas.
Cheers Mohammed

2009-05-07T06:17:00.000-07:00

Egypt's army and the pigs:
“The death of his wife did not keep prime minister Ahmed Nazeef (Nazeef=Clean) from closely monitoring developments in the war being waged by the Egyptian government against pigs…..Meanwhile more than fifty thousand Copts (Egyptian Christians) who work in garbage collection warned that they might force confrontation with the authorities if they find themselves swine-less…” al-Quds al-Arabi

The Egyptian government had decided to liquidate (i.e. destroy) all local pigs, estimated at more than 300 thousand, for fear of the Swine/Mexican/H1N1/N1H1/R2D2 flu. Reports from the battlefields have been sketchy, but it does not look like the Egyptian army is faring well against the swine so far. It may be facing its toughest battle since 1973 when Ariel Sharon punched through to the western side of the Suez Canal and threatened to encircle and destroy the army- the Egyptians still call that a 'victory' mainly because he actually did not destroy their army. For some odd reason he did not: let's ask Kissinger.
Better be careful: the pigs may pull a stunt and surprise the army with a multi-front counterattack led by their very own Wellington and Gebhard von Blucher. But then, after the swine Waterloo, who will end up on Elba, or maybe even St. Helena?

Speaking of porcus:
“The Imam of the Holy Mosque in Mecca has said that all Shi’a ulema (clerics) are heretics without exception. He also denied that Saudi Shi’as face sectarian (Wahhabi) discrimination. He told the BBC that Saudi Shi’as have taken more than their rights. When asked if he agrees with those who cast the Shi’as as heretics, he answered quickly that for the Shi’as in general this is an issue that can be looked into and considered, but as for their ulema (clerics), they are heretics without exception…..When Shaikh Adle alKalb-ani was asked if he believed in religious freedom he said that there should be limits to freedom, asking almost rhetorically (my term) ”Do they have mosques in the Vatican?” …He also said that we will never hear the sound of church bells in the Arabian Peninsula…..(my rhetorical question: so how do they get married to their ten year old brides over there?)”al-Quds al-arabi
I must say, if I had way I would cast most clerics of all faiths as heretics. I may not even start with the good Shaikh Adle alKalb-ani himself. A disclaimer: Shaikh Adle al-Kalbani is not completely adled. His last name derives from ”canis” , a k a man’s best friend but presumably not the shaikh's- look it up.
This is the last word on pigs and their wars for now. But stay tuned.
Cheers
Mohammed

On Terrorism, Cuba, and Don Corleone. Middle East Swinocide and Literacy. A Guantanamo Closes in Lebanon.

2009-05-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

"As a ring of gold in a swine's snout So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion" Proverbs 11:22

"And the swine, though its hoof is parted, and is cloven-footed, yet it chews not the cud; it is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall you not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you" (Leviticus 11:1-8)

"Prohibited for you are 'al-maytah' (animals that are found dead),
'Al-Damm' (blood), 'lahm Al-Khinzeer' (the flesh of pigs),
and animals dedicated to other than God." Quran

Terrorism, al-Qaeda, Don Corleone, and (a fly) Swat: “US State Department report names Iran as the major sponsor of terrorism in the world…But al-Qaeda, which has restructured and rebuilt in Pakistan, is the biggest threat….The Bush administration deleted North Korea from the list of states supporting terrorism… Which leaves Iran, Syria, Sudan, and Cuba….”
Cuba? Maybe, but it sounds so twentieth century…sort of like talking about the gulag or Generalissimo Franco...Or even Batista, Hyman Roth, and Don Corleone (fils).

Everybody, almost, knows about al-Qaeda regrouping in Pakistan/Afghanistan after their defeats in such places as Iraq and Saudi Arabia, for now. But which of these four states on the list sponsors al-Qaeda? Could it be not a state, but part of a state apparatus, such as the Pakistani ISI? Or maybe it is done in a roundabout way through the ‘more palatable’ local Taliban.
FYI: al-Qaeda also has growing influence in Yemen (Arabia Felix), where the qat (ghat) is eminently chewable (by all) and the various tribes and sects are restless when they are not stoned.
BTW: the green Afghan grasshopper (Karzai, if you need to ask) has been awfully quiet lately, ever since the fiasco about legal conjugal rape.

Church and Dungeon: “Churchgoers are more likely to back torture…survey finds.” CNN, today.
So, what else is new? I could have told you that without a costly, funded, survey. That has been often the case since before Tomas de Torquemada. Just look around: religious fun-dementa-lists of all denominations are more prepared to condone violence. Look at the Middle East (as well as America). Both the Islamic fundamentalists as well as the extremist Jewish fundamentalist settlers in the West Bank who stand in the way of peace. Not to mention the political fundamentalists of the right who have never met a contracted private torturer thy didn't like.

Update on Egyptian swine: The decision to slaughter the swine in Egypt has been clarified. The healthy swine will be slaughtered for food, as they are supposed to be (ever hear of pig milk or pig cheese? Come to think of it, why not?). The contaminated swine will be utterly destroyed. Apparently they have not heard the cautions from WHO and other health officials that the pigs are not carriers, not the four-legged pigs anyway. Maybe Egypt’s politicians are like most other Arab politicians: they do not read beyond comic books.
If it makes any difference: the UAE has banned the import of all sorts of swine. Told ya about the aversion to reading thing, didn’t I?

Along the same vein: “An Egyptian wife, a female doctor, has asked a judge to annul her marriage after her husband refused to grant her a divorce. This all happened after she discovered that her husband is in fact an undertaker, not a veterinarian as he had been claiming to her. She discovered his true job by accident while she eavesdropped on a phone call…” Alarabiya, today.
When confronted, the husband is reported to have coolly told his wife that “So what. At least I deal with humans instead of animals as you had thought.”
Not exactly a hate crime, but…

Guantanamo in Beirut: Four top Lebanese security officers (some of the very top security chiefs in Lebanon) had been held by the Lebanese government four years without charges, suspects in the bombing assassination of former PM Hariri. Yesterday the International Court reviewing the case in the Hague ordered them released because they were being held illegally and for lack of evidence to indict them. The four (a mix of Muslims and Christians) came out swinging in favor of Hezullah and its allies. The 'opposition' are ecstatic, even though they are playing it cool, not gloating too loudly in this tense election year. The Hariri-Saniora camp has several eggs, exactly four eggs, on its collective face, for it was the government that held these four so long without charges. They would have preferred the four released after the June elections.
Lebanese analysts seem to think that this will affect the outcome of the election. Maybe but not by much, on va voir.
Cheers
Mohammed
mhg6363@gmail.com

On Pigs, Middle East Politics, and American Politics

2009-04-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

"You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig." Barack Obama
“I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” Winston Churchill (well, he said it)

Swine on the Nile: "Egyptian parliament votes to execute 250 thousand pigs..." The parliament, totally dominated by the ruling party, has shown one sign of life. A quarter million pigs are to be liquidated. This may worsen sectarian problems inside Egypt between Muslims and the minority Copts who probably operate most of the pig farms. In true Middle Eastern fashion, all the pigs in question are out of power, of course. So, a viral strain of flu starts in some pig farm in the Mexican state of Vera Cruz, but spreads through humans....is spreading only through humans, and Egypt's assembly votes to kill a bunch of pigs- all out of power pigs. Since the pigs are now neutral, they are not spreading the flu, why not leave them alone and go for the real culprits? Why not start executing people who are the real carriers? And why not start with political imbeciles who make stupid decisions about killing pigs for a disease spread by humans? I mean kill them politically, not physically, of course.
Speaking of a swine flu i: There are rumors, for now mostly spread by me, that the fully-appointed Saudi advisory council started a move to recommend killing all pigs in Saudi Arabia. It is quite plausible. Then someone mentioned that there are not supposed to be any four-legged pigs in the kingdom.

I wonder how the Iranians are dealing with the swine flu and with swines in general? I imagine they have four-legged pigs in the country even though the mullahs, like their Saudi counterparts, frown upon the jambon, even the Virginia honeyed jambon. So far Ahmadinejad has kept his cool (tres Obamaesque): not a word in public about pigs or swine. It seems suspicious to me, this silence of his. On the one hand he can't possibly say anything good about pigs, the four-legged kind. On the other, he can't say anything too bad about pigs either, because he doesn't want to be seen to openly agree with the Israelis, especially the religious extremists that dominate the current Likud coalition, on anything. That might offend his current Hamas fundamentalist friends who he remembers were originally close friends, nay the creation, of the Saudis before they took power and refused to toe the line. It is tough being pig-headed.

Speaking of a swine plot ii: "Did you see how Obama went to Mexico and right after that they got this terrible killer flu? He brings disaster to everything he touches..." Rush Limbaugh, biter and demoralized on the radio. Speaking of fat, stupid pigs.... I wonder what has Glenn Beck opined recently on this issue? I hear that he thinks it is somehow related to illegal immigration (what about Lou Dobbs?), although Sean Hannity seems to think it may be part of a plot to sneak in health care reform and universal coverage for all Americans, even those who do not deserve it. Others have expressed fear that it might help Obama turn the United States into a European country of the type where bitter people don't necessarily cling to their semi-automatic guns. This is especially relevant these days for people in places like small-town western Pennsylvania: for what would they do without their guns when the pandemic crosses the Ohio, the Monangahela, and the Alleghenny?
Cheers
Mohammed

mhg6363@gmail.com

2009-04-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

Of arms and fat cats:

“There was a significant increase in arms shipments to the Middle East….The UAE is the third biggest importers of weapons in the world for 2008…..It imported about 6% of total weapons exported in the world, while India imported 7% and China imported 11%.....The UAE, (with a population of less than 3 million) imported twice as much weapons as Egypt (with a population of some 80 million)……” SIPRI
I like to think that fat sales commissions to fat potentates are probably not an important factor behind these transactions. Even with the notorious example of the BAES-alYamama case a few years ago.

Iran, Israel and Orange diplomacy:

“Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak said that Iran uses a chess strategy in managing her nuclear portfolio. He said the Iranians are not playing domino, but the game of chess, since they are the ones who invented this game. They play chess in a very complex and they play in a very programmed way....” Middle East Online
“Ahmadinejad had been distributing Israeli oranges to his supporters….”
“The oranges came into Iran through another country, probably China, where the county of origin was changed…..”
“This is one example of the duplicity of Iran towards Israel and the Palestinian cause…”
“Israel and Iran are two faces of the same coin…” “Maybe it is part of a new rapprochement with the Obama administration…Would that leave the Arabs again out in the cold?” Various Saudi media columnists.

Actually, maybe there is something to all this. First he says that he would support the two-state solution if the Palestinians agree to it, and now he promotes Israeli oranges. What will come next? Will he recant and agree publicly with what he knows privately: that the Holocaust actually did happen? Will he rent Schindler's List from his local Blockbuster or Netflix? But what if the oranges are really Palestinian, as grown by Palestinian workers in Israeli orchards? Maybe he knows that too. Will we be calling this the beginning of the era of "Orange Diplomacy" between Iran and Israel? Of course his losing the June election will put an end to all this speculation.

Of swine flu and kosher Salafis:
“Egypt is considering executing thousands of pigs. Gulf Cooperatin Council States (GCC) have declared they have taken the total readiness steps to face the danger of the Swine flu that may be brought in by foreign travelers. GCC and Yemen will meet in Doha Saturday to coordinate….” Alarabiya
Shouldn’t they also include all regional countries? Israel already has at least one case of the flu. Shouldn’t they also invite Israel, Iran, Turkey, and other Arab states? Does the flu know when it is outside the Gulf region? Swine flu in the Mideast is further proof that we are part of the world: imagine some pigs in the scenic state of Vera Cruz have managed to spread fear so far away. But it was discovered in Israel, so far: that could mean that they are not as kosher as we are, even though they have as many religious nuts in their government as we do in the Arab/Moslem world. Speaking of which: expect some fun-dementa-list shaikh to come out railing against the West for eating pork and therefore causing the swine flu.

Hillary visits a shrine in Beirut:
“Secretary of state Hillary Clinton came to Beirut and met only with the president, and the March 14 (Hariri camp). She did not meet with her Lebanese counterpart, foreign minister Fawzi Saloukh, who is part of the March 8 group (Hezbullah and its partners). She brought along former US ambassador Jeffrey Feltman (who in the past some in the opposition have erroneously called the real leader of the March 14 movement)…” Aafaq
Lebanese media on the Hariri side are ecstatic that she did not meet with the minister. Media of the Hezbullah allies seem resigned to it, since they did not expect her to meet with the minister during this period of political fog. During her two hours in Lebanon, she also managed to visit the shrine founded for assassinated former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, something the Hariris treat as a mini-version of Yad Vashim. Or perhaps as their very own mini-Karbala. A better comparison may be to the Lenin mausoleum in Moscow: except that old Hariri is not embalmed in a glass box.
But what if the opposition, i.e Hezbullah and its Shi’a, Sunni, and Christian allies get a majority in the June elections? Would that tilt the country more toward Shi’a fundamentalism rather than Wah...wah...wah....(was that a habi?) fundamentalism?

Citigroup, Apple, financial innovation, financial stupidity, and greed:
“Kuwait’s minister of finance has said that he expects to make profits from the deal whereby the country purchased shares of Citigroup a few years ago.....” Elaph
He was wise enough to add ‘Inshallah, God willing’, since I don’t expect him to see profits from the Citigroup investment in my lifetime, or in his lifetime even though I hope he lives long enough to see it. I know him: he is a really nice person and an improvement over the ministers before him. He is a simple man and hard working, not an empty dishdasha and bisht. But the Citigroup stake was probably bought at somewhere north of $25 a share, how much north I am not sure, could be north of $30 a share. It would take many many years to recoup that kind of a loss. At less than $3 a share, Citigroup is no Apple: it does not have innovators who can whip up desirable new products like Steve Jobs and his colleagues. Greed can be creative, but only up to a point. Financial stupidity disguised as innovation, of course, has no bounds, as we have found out in recent years. I still believe, firmly, that the guy in the KIA American Investments Dept responsible for that investment in Citi should be demoted to serving thick syrupy sweet tea and water.

Egypt, again:
“A new study from the Center to Combat Terrorism at West Point points out that the Egyptian government is encouraging the growth of extremist Salafi (Wahhabi) movements in order to block the increasing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood (the main Islamist opposition). The government has released many followers of the Salafis, who tend to be extremely intolerant of people of other faiths (like Coptic Christians and Shi’as).” Aljazeera TV

“Egyptian authorites have released a Saudi doctor who was arrested on charges of possessing a picture of Hezbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah in his apartment. The suspect was held for about a week.” Al-Quds Alarabi, Rasid.

Cheers

Mohammed

mhg6363@gmail.com

A Northwest Epiphany: Muslims and Global Warming. The Governess and I: A Rain Prayer Or a Rain Dance

2009-04-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

One day last week, at a point when we thought that we will never see a full day of sun again, after six long months of cloudy skies, rain, snow, and hail I made a remark to someone at home. I suggested that the monarch around here, may he lead a long life, should also lead an un-rain payer, or a sunshine prayer. Or maybe it should be called the stop-the-rain prayer. A sort of tea party against long weeks of damp, cold, dark weather.

She looked at me as if I was delivering another of my senseless suggestions, the kind I make in frustration and despair (doesn’t everybody?). I patiently explained that in Saudi Arabia the king leads what is called the istisqa’ prayer, the rain prayer. That they do the same in other countries of the Middle East, especially in the Arabia Deserta region. The mullahs in Iran probably don't do it, they have rivers, nor the Iraqis, nor Husni Brezhnev Mubarak in Egypt.

“No, you mean they do the rain dance….”

Now I was really getting into it: “Maybe they do the dance as well, like the Indi…the Native Americans, I am not sure. But I know they do the rain prayer every year, especially when things look dry. And you can’t get any drier than Saudi Arabia….unless you’re talking Afghanistan under the Taliban. If you get my meaning.” She seemed to get my meaning, but was not amused about the inevitable pun.

“We don’t have a king. We have a governor.”

“Well the governor then…but Chris Gregoire is a woman. A governess? Like the south Asian and southeast Asians that run households and raise Arab children?”

That last remark managed to elicit some laughter, not without mirth: “Not a governess, a governor. She is the equivalent of a king or a shaikh here, an elected one. Our Arnold.”

“Ah. An elected king or shaikh… a female one at that. Not sure how the muftis and the ulema will look on that. Not sure how the tribes will look at that.”

Which for some reason led me to think about global warming, that gimmick created by liberals, progressives, and leftists of all stripe to undermine the business community, rabid talk radio hosts, and the American way of life. Not to mention undermining the major oil companies, Halliburton, and OPEC. Is it possible that it is an act, nay a process, of divine will?

Some U.S. conservatives believe in the phenomenon, the fact, we call global warming, but they do not believe that it is necessarily caused by man or woman or whatever. This line of thought has the advantage of accepting plain facts, yet disarming the main arguments of the left, the part about the need to d something about it and harming the oil majors and Halliburton.

Which led me to think: if not caused by man, then who made it? Other creatures on Earth do not have the potency and ability of man: not even all the cows and horses in Montana and Wyoming, throwing in the famous prolific asses of Jordan and Yemen, can together produce enough methane to account for the melting of the polar ice caps.

If we pray for rain, then maybe it is because we know the draught is caused by someone else. Ditto for global warming. So, ergo, global warming could be an act of God. It is his way of telling us he wants us elsewhere, either back where we came from, up there somewhere, or down there in that other place that Dante wrote about.

In the meantime: Our lawn is still soggy, after three days of non-rain, to the extent that it is like walking over a huge green sponge: water spurts up into your shoes and your socks as you walk, with sounds of noisy suction emanating around you. I still roll up my regulation Northwest jeans in order to go check the mail (I haven’t got used to the regulation Northwest outfit of shorts combined with fleece in temperatures below fifty).

Back in the Middle East: FYI-did you know that the head of Libyan intelligence is a gentleman named Musa Kusa? That would be Moses Kusa (Zucchini), or Moishe Kusa (Zucchini). Who knows, some day we may see a president Musa Kusa (Zucchini) at the Middle East summits. Then I can tell the leaders at the next summit what they can do with that kusa. I thought someone might be interested....

Cheers

Mohammed

Roxana and the Mullahs, Disunited Police States of the Mideast. Pinning Their Hopes on Bibi

2009-04-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

Rewinding Iranian justice: The Iranian kangaroo court, in true Middle Eastern style, took only one day to pass a sentence of eight years in prison on Roxana Saberi, former beauty queen from the frozen great state of North Dakota. It had to be a kangaroo court because no self-respecting judge would pass judgment in one day. In case you didn’t know: outside Iran and Saudi Arabia it takes days to bring in witnesses and have them testify and cross examine them.
She is held in Evin prison, often called notorious by the Western media, the same prison that gained notoriety under the Shah. Apparently some things don't change much in the Middle East no matter what the regime.

She was held for working as a reporter long after her credentials expired- not a smart thing to do in the Middle East. But apparently the authorities in Iran knew she was reporting, of course they knew: security services in the police states of Old and New Middle East know everything. They gave her at least tacit permission for almost three years.
She was sentenced for espionage after a trial that reportedly lasted one day. Even under the ancien regime trials lasted longer than that. This is something that would drive an attorney like Alan Dershowitz mad- although I would not advise him to show up at Mehrabad Airport (or have they changed the name?). It is not clear yet what specific charges or evidence the court heard- but even Saddam Hussein got three years to make his case in court.

Iranian mullahs, some elements of them, are good at shooting themselves in the foot. Or maybe they are good at derailing chances for improved relations with the United States, something that anecdotal evidence shows most Iranians welcome and many of the mullahs fear.

Speaking of Iran: some Arab media, especially in the Gulf region, which have been despondent lately at the dimming prospect of an attack on Iran, are perking up. They waited years for George W Bush and Darth Vader Cheney to get their act together in Iraq and Afghanistan so that they could make a similar case for an attack on Iran. The US intelligence community torpedoed that with its famous NIE Report of the fall of 2007.

With President Obama making peace overtures, the war camp had just about given up this year. Until Israeli polls showed Banjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud ahead in the polls. I suspect that many potentates and their media gunslingers prayed for a Likud victory. I would not go so far as to speculate that they vowed to make the usual 5-star Hajj or Omrah trips, putting up with such inconveniences as first class flights and 5-star hotels for the sake of the Lord. No, I certainly would not- but some may have slaughtered a few sacrificial sheep after Peres gave the nod to the Likud. Well, at least some kosher chickens.

Now they have it, and the editorials seem hopeful again of the prospects for an air attack on Iranian facilities. The airwaves carry waves of excitement reminiscent of early September 1980, when the potentates and their print media hitched their wagons to the Takriti star, their media egging him onward (Onward Ba'athist soldiers, marching as to war.....reminiscent of a favorite daily hymn at the chapel in my old Pennsylvania school). We all know how that one ended in 1980 and for long after that.

The partnership of Netanyahu and Lieberman (the thug Avigdor not the goofy-looking Joe) is making the right noises.
Of course Israeli planes must fly over Arab territory to reach Iran, and some countries are unlikely to give permission. Turkey definitely won't. And it is highly unlikely the assault will be sustainable enough to do serious damage. And the Israelis have not yet done their homework in Lebanon, where a heavily-armed Hezbullah lurks. But they are apparently looking for a way to bloody the Iranian allies in Lebanon before that. Egypt has been the focus of that with almost daily reports of uncovering Shi'a cells (sort of like uncovering Baptist cells in Massachusetts or Vermont). There is an intense and coordinated campaign by the Egyptian and vast Saudi media to soften public opinion for an assault by either or both (no, not an assault by these two Middle East wusses, they can't assault a crippled rabbi. I was talking about Israel and the US).

Aljazeera website, not yet a favorite of Arab ruling classes, reported yesterday a possible solution to the problem of crossing Arab-American lands on the way to Iran. It hints that some Arab F-16 jets may be repainted with Israeli marks to join the attacks (but the pilots will be Israelis, I assume, otherwise all will be lost).

“Israel learns empty boasting from Iran. For the nth thousandth time, we’ve lost count,…Israel getting ready to strike Iran” Middle East Online, apparently frustrated.

“Israeli strike could take place within hours…awaiting the green light…” A hopeful Alarabiya.

Editorials in the Saudi media like Asharq Alawsat, al-hayat, Alarabiya, and Elaph are almost solely focused on that Hezbullah-Egypt topic or something to do with secret cells spreading the Shi’a faith. Apparently every hired editorial writer and columnist is expected to contribute to the case, because they all have tediously. One chief editor and owner (alseyassah) has specialized in this: it takes up almost as much of his time as kissing prominent cheeks (if you are unfamiliar with the last term, look it up in the dictionary of vulgar vernacular, or is it a dictionary of human anatomy?).

Most of these editorials read like they were written by the same person and edited by the purported writer- after all how many different ways can you make the same point. Which reminds me: I should end this posting right now!
Cheers
Mohammed

Rich Man’s Tea Party, Poor Man’s Tea. Can Republicans Tell Yellow Monkey From Zeitgeist ?

2009-04-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

April 14, 2009:

I told my wife this evening as we watched the news that those Republican operatives and agitators should eschew the plebeian teabags and go for the real stuff: the Yellow Monkey. She did not seem to think that my idea merited a response, maybe she thought I was dissing her tea. I looked at Scooter, apparently speculatively, because Scooter gave me a don't-you-dare look, growled softly and man's best friend, my best friend, quickly turned to face the fireplace instead of me. So here goes:

Tomorrow the GOP will have its Tea Party. On tax day, apparently many people have been convinced that their taxes will go up soon. Most of them will probably get tax cuts, but perhaps they do not realize it. People who earn a quarter million or more are highly unlikely to join the Tea Party (unless they are politicians): they will encourage others to do so. The instigators, those who initiated the idea of the Tea Party know that they will have to cough up more taxes, especially when the Bush tax cuts expire.

Fox News will cover the events, just as it has been drumming up attendance for them. I will venture to guess that the most vocal media supporters, other than politicians, will not attend. The likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, O'Reilly, and Medved will not be there: it costs them too much in money, many thousands of dollars per hour to participate in the silly things they urge other poor saps to join. Besides hardly any of them drink tea, not until they hit sixty and worry about digestive issues. It shows how out of touch with zeitgeist the Republicans are: they should at least be dumping $3 lattes and $4 mochas instead of these silly teabags that did not even exist in the eighteenth century.

Now if they want to dump real tea in Boston Harbor, which will not be as hospitable to them as it was to the original Tea-partiers, hey should go for the gold. Get some of the real stuff, get some potent Yellow Monkey. That should put some ideological hair on anyone’s chest, including Joe the Plumber who is a plumber no more. Well, not anyone’s chest: I can think of a certain governor in the farthest corner of the Northwest, farther than even I am right now.

In any case, they can afford it, even if those they have talked into the event cannot. And FYI: the Yellow Monkey is not something that one smokes furtively, contrary to what many Republicans might think. It is brewed in hot water and served in cups. And it is not related to the Orange Outang.

It is probably too late for me to go out for a cup of Zeitgeist, and it is ridiculous to cross the Lake just for that this late at night.

I don't believe any of this stuff has anything to do with the Middle East- not directly, not yet.

Cheers

mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com

2009-03-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

On Plebeian Jackasses, Middle East Politics, Netanyahu, and CPAC 2009

Back to asses and donkeys of the Middle East:
I have received a couple of comments from people objecting to my recent reference to asses and donkeys in the context of the Middle East and Arabia. I did not mean to single out asses from our region, but this blog is about the region and therefore it is normal that I cover Middle East asses, especially Arab ones, more than other asses.

The fact is that we have, in our native region, our fair share of donkeys and asses: some of them in high places, many of them write in the local nausea media, and a few are even bloggers. I don't mean here to equate our more highly-placed asses with the plain plebeian asses, what some in my native country call the hiffai. Despite what a great Declaration says, all jackasses are not equal. Maybe they are created equal, but are no longer so, especially in the Middle East, where ironically some of the biggest asses belong to the oligarchies and their retainers.

This is not to say that there are no donkeys and asses in other parts of the world. There are plenty of those. And since we are on the subject of asses: did you know that Bibi Netanyahu is almost back in power in Israel?
I have traveled and lived in many parts of the world and I know, for example, that Europeans have their fair share of jackasses, and maybe more. Just look at Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, and there are many more in high places (I exempt Carla Bruni but Nicolas Sarkozy is on probation).

As for America: did you see the (U.S) Republican National Convention last summer? And the CPAC 2009 this past week? That should have convinced you that asininity has long crossed the Atlantic and is a worldwide phenomenon and not confined to one continent or one faith. Maybe it is part of the new globalism. It may even be exportable: George W. Bush may live to fight another day as Bibi Netanyahu.
I still like the old Latin adagium: asinus asinum fricat. Look it up, but it is not in calculus books, that would be asymptotes (vertical or horizontal).
Cheers
Mohammed

2009-02-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

Saudi King Changes Personnel. Iran, Bahrain, and Three Islands. Israeli ‘Winners’ Flirt with Lieberman- NY Post Goes Ape: Dead Chimp and a Vast Political Wilderness. Hugo Chaves vs Ayn Rand

Middle East: of elections, reforms, personnel changes, and fuel alcohol:

Saudi king Abdullah announced reforms that involve mainly changes of personnel rather than institutional or “constitutional” changes. Even so, these changes are quite unusual for Saudi Arabia, and would not have been expected a few years ago. The king changed the head of the very powerful religious police (Society for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice), the head of the judiciary, as well as some cabinet members. He also appointed the first female undersecretary, predictably in the Ministry of Education. She will be in charge of “female” student affairs. It is still easier for a woman in the kingdom to ride an ass than drive a car.

The changes are touted as momentous reforms, but in fact they are not: they involve mainly changes in the personnel rather than institutional, legal, or political. Real reform would call for disbanding the religious police and making the advisory council membership by election, among many other measures. Personnel changes usually reflect internal struggles rather than basic reforms. Still, by Saudi standards they are, well, changes, if mainly of personnel.

Saudi media and their satellites have not yet called King Abdullah the Arab Obama: after all he has been around forever, and he is an absolute king, and he doesn’t need to find a couple of Republican senators to pass a stimulus deal. But they are sending strong signals.

On the other hand, a leading Saudi cleric, a professor at the high judicial institute and member of the Supreme Theological College, has warned Saudis living abroad, especially students, from resorting to the use of alcohol fuel instead of gasoline. He quoted the Prophet Mohammed as putting ten curses on alcohol, including buying, selling, and carrying it. Except that they did not have cars in those days- camels always make their own gas, as the shaikh probably knows very well. Besides, the human body probably ferments its own alcohol through the digestive system.

A political prisoner released:

Egypt’s president Mubarak has released Ayman Nour, the man who ran against him once and paid for it with three years in prison on trumped up charges accepted by a state kangaroo court. Some Arab commentators speculate that maybe now he (Mubarak) will have a chance now to enter the new White House for a chat with you know who.

Iran and Bahrain-a shot in the foot:

Iranian officials have a knack for shooting themselves in the foot. Recently a “high” official has revived the old claim to Bahrain as an Iranian province. This is not the first such claim in the past year or two. In the early 1970s, at the end of British rule, the Bahraini people, most of whom are Shi’a, voted for independence. That should have settled the issue- it did.

Iranian claims do not help the people of Bahrain, who have some legitimate grievances against the ruling oligarchy. Such claims also do not help ease tensions in the Gulf region which is now highly polarized and some like to see even more polarized along ethnic and sectarian lines. They also do not help Iran’s position in the region. Perhaps the claims are related to Iranian elections, or perhaps they are in retaliation for public Arab claims to three Gulf islands that Iran holds and considers its territory. The UAE also claims those islands.

Israel scrambles to form a cabinet:

In Israel, Tzipi Livni’s Kadima came ahead by two seats, but the more right-wing Bibi Netanyahu has a better chance of forming a coalition. Avigdor Lieberman (no direct relation to Joe), who is further to the right of both, is more likely to join the Likud than Livni in a coalition government. Lieberman is reported to want to evict all Arabs from within Israel’s recognized borders: that is some chutzpah for a guy who arrived from Russia as an adult to want to expel people who have been there for over fifteen hundred years or so. One The Nation magazine article calls him virulently anti-Arab- that means anti Israeli Arabs.

The combination of Netanyahu-Lieberman, if it comes to that, is dreaded by the moderate Arab governments who have tried to push the settlement agenda in order to reduce Iranian influence in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. It almost certainly will be a setback for the prospects of a settlement. Of course, with a hostile fundamentalist Hamas in Gaza and the Israelis own fundamentalist settler crazies clogging the West Bank, peace prospects were never that good during the past two years. This whole jockeying for power leaves Ehud Barak and Labor in the dust, an unfortunate development in recent years. It looks like both Israelis and Palestinians veer to the right whenever they have a chance to vote these days. I think they are somehow related?

On asinine economics, a dead chimp, and political wilderness: Lessons from the Gulf?

The dead chimp cartoon in the New York Post (Feb 18) shows how unhinged the right wing has become after its well-deserved election defeats. The prospect of many years in the political wilderness of minority status is painful. Listening to Rush Limbaugh on the car radio has convinced me that he sees the prospect of a long time in the political wilderness. At least he strongly suspects it- it comes through the bravado that he needs to show for his $50 million/year contract.

“It may be necessary to nationalize the banks temporarily in order to save them…” An almost-repentant Alan Greenspan (Financial Times)

“Greenspan backs bank nationalisation: Temporary government-control may be necessary…” FT

“Bank nationalization gains ground with Republicans: Long regarded in the US as a folly of Europeans, nationalization is gaining rapid acceptance among Washington opinion-formers – and not just with Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman. Perhaps stranger still, many of those talking about nationalizing banks are Republicans….” FT Feb 18

Have they all now become disciples of Hugo Chaves instead of Ayn Rand?

Actually one advantage of ‘partial’ nationalization is that it may be the only way to get rid of the old failed management that seems to cling to power even as the results of their overpaid genius are out in the open now.

The state of the US financial industry now reminds me of another financial industry I am quite familiar with-outside the US of course. Maybe they/we have influenced the American financial CEOs in some ways: as in how to screw up real good, lose billions, ask the government for aid, get the public aid, and cling to corporate power. Then do it again every few years.

Cheers

Mohammed

2009-02-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

Valentine and Equus Asinus in the Middle East- Damascus: Ancient City of Asses- The Revered Donkeys of Egypt- On George Washington, Women, Cars, and Jackasses

Jordanian Valentine?

This gruesome photo of animal abuse from Jordan on al-Jazeera TV (on the left) focused my attention on the life and times of Arab jackasses. Jackasses, a k a donkeys, a k a asses, have been an integral part of the economic life of the Middle East for thousands of years. They are perhaps more important in politics these days than ever before. The social and political power of asses in Arab countries cannot be over estimated. This is the case in both the moderate New Middle East and in the radical old Middle East. Like it or not, the Arab peoples are stuck with their asses (and donkeys) today as much as they have ever been in their long history. The same can be said of other Muslim countries. The only exception to close political association with donkeys probably was a period spanning a few decades from the end of the 6th century to the early part of the 7th century A.D, the first few decades of Islam.
The asses took over after that. It is interesting that the political ascendancy of Arab asses started in Damascus, after the era of the First Four Caliphs. Damascus at some point was called the city of donkeys. Maybe it still is a city of asses, but it now has tough rivals for that title across the Arab Middle East, and in Israel and Iran. Nowadays in the Middle East: asses rule but the people don't drool.

“There is consensus that the most probable ancestor of the domestic donkey (Equus asinus) is the Nubian subspecies of African wild ass.... The earliest known remains of the domestic donkey date to the fourth millennium BC from a site in Lower Egypt. It is probable that cattle-raising peoples in Nubia, in the distribution area of the Nubian wild ass, first developed the domestic donkey as a beast of burden....

“Damascus, known as the city of asses through cuneiform writing and a center of the caravan trade, became famous for its breed of large, white riding ass. At least three other breeds were developed in Syria. This is the first indication of specific mammoth breeding, 3200 years before introduction and importation to North America. In Arabia the Muscat or Yemen ass was developed. This strong, light-colored donkey is still used in caravans and also as a quality riding animal…..

“George Washington was one of the first American farmers who imported several male (jack) and female (jennet) donkeys from Europe in order to develop a strong work mule…..” The Red River Donkey Company of Manitoba

Donkeys have been prominent in Arab media this past week. As they should be every day for several reasons most of which I shall not divulge here with the aim of protecting the innocent.
In Jordan, citizens protesting against any signs of Valentine’s Day celebration painted a donkey with the color of a red rose (above). I never though Jordanians had much of a sense of humor, but this really takes the cake. I guess lack of humor is closely related to stupidity- and I am not talking about the donkey either.

Donkeys are reported to have acted as suicide bombers in Afghanistan: which makes sense to me although it is still surprising. I didn’t realize a donkey can be stupid enough to take up the Taliban cause. I guess there are enough Salafis everywhere, even in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A Yemeni website prides itself in the intelligence of local asses (donkeys), noting that some of them act as smugglers of hashish into Saudi Arabia. Saudi border guards now thoroughly inspect all Yemeni donkeys crossing their border. It is not clear what they mean by a “thorough inspection” of a donkey, but I can’t help but feel bad for the poor asses. When a donkey refuses to stop at the border, he is promptly shot. Some of these donkeys are especially raised and trained as smugglers. A good ass is reported to fetch a price of $100.
That is probably more than the Queen of Sheba (Saba') cost King Solomon.

Recently a Saudi dissident writer complained that women in his country are not allowed to drive cars, but they can ride donkeys. He thought that was an odd thing. I am still trying to figure out what he meant.
Another Saudi Shi'a dissident uses the ass to complain. “We are the donkeys of the Two Holy Shrines: this was the title of an article by a Saudi Shia writer who has asked King Abdullah to punish an extremist religious shaikh who called Shi’as ‘donkeys (asses) that are ridden by the Jews’…..” Aafaq

At a new ancient tomb complex, overlooking the ancient town of Abydos on the Nile about 500 km south of Cairo, archeologists this year found the skeletons of 10 donkeys that had been buried as if they were high-ranking officials. These are the first animals to be found in an Egyptian burial site. To me, this indicates that asses were as revered in ancient Egypt as they are obeyed in modern Egypt.
Which brings us to the next quote: "A study by the Egyptian government concludes that 89% of the Egyptian people are happy and content with their situation….” Alarabiya

Asses, as in jackasses or donkeys, are appreciated in the Middle East, even though they are verbally abused as stupid creatures. I grew up with donkeys all around me, and not just figuratively. In those days some donkeys, those of the hammara that carried water, were important for the local economy- more important than many people I've known and worked with, and much less harmful. I have read that a vice principal of my old high school has even titled a chapter of one of his books “How I have found my happiness with donkeys”. A friend of his, who is also a former high school (secondary school) teacher of mine, claims in al-Watan that this man has a rare license to ride donkeys, a license he claims he got in Spain during a festival of donkeys. No, he doesn’t live in a communal stable now.

For some reason I could not find much about jackasses or donkeys of Iran. I don;t think they are banned; so maybe they have moved into the cities. I am sure they have their fair share of asses in various positions in Tehran and other places. I know at least one I can mention, but not right now.
Cheers
Mohammed

Facebook of Arabia: Pairing Off Leaders Online. A King, Kosher Razorbacks, A Palindromic Mufti, Tzipi Livni, Ahmadinejad, and Ann Coulter

2009-02-13T06:58:00.000-08:00

(I cannibalized this posting from the most recent piece of my other website)

I was exploring Facebook this evening and I discovered some interesting potential friends. I discovered that many Middle East leaders, oligarchs, and plain crazies have Facebook accounts in their names. I also found out that even some of the dead leaders have accounts as well. Some have been dead for years, yet they keep in touch, and possibly plot coups, through the network. Even the Arab Baath Socialist Party has several accounts, and not just the Syrian Baath.

Saudi King Abdullah has a Facebook account under the name: King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz (al-Saud, of course). It has a nice official photo of the king. Oddly, he lists his address as Little Rock, Arkansas. Maybe he is a secret Razorback supporter although I doubt he went to college there. Still, deosn’t have to eat them to be a fan. It is kosher to support them.

There is a link on his page (wall) asking me to ask his majesty to add him as a friend. Dutifully I clicked on the link and now the king has a request from this humble person asking to add him to my empty list of friends. After all, I haven’t been near a monarch in many years, and the last one wore a cocktail dress and pearls. I may do the same with Carla Bruni (Sarkozy for now).

I took a peek at his majesty’s friends and was surprised that not many of them look royal or even kingly: some look downright stoned out of their heads, like the weeders of yore that I knew. And a couple of the female friends are appropriately skimpily clad, (if you are the type that looks at the glass as half-empty, which I am usually not, especially in a case like this).

Egyptian President Husni Mubarak, in power for 28 years, has over 20 accounts, two of them carrying his full name, Mohamed Husni Mubarak. Most of his accounts don’t list Egypt as his location: maybe that is for security reasons?

There is, however, a Husni Mubarak Fan Club, with only 360 members: a surprisingly small number for a leader who has never lost an election, one who doesn’t even need to hold elections. Maybe these are the only people who have benefited from his rule. I wonder if Ayman Nour, who is rotting in Maubarak’s jail on trumped up charges, has more fans. He was the only man ever to run against Mubarak, and somehow I don’t think anyone will, ever again.

The Dauphin, his son Gamal (Jamal in non-Egyptian Arabic), has several accounts one of which lists his supporters at 401. Probably those who benefit from his father’s rule plus others who expect to benefit from his rule when he takes over. There was one account for Gamal Mubarak Lovers, with 265 members only. Which means that not all those benefitting from his father’s rule love the son also.

Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Salih, president for over 30 years, has an account listed as: United Happy Yemen without Ali Abdullah Salih: I think they meant “with” rather than “without”. He has another account listing him as residing in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where there is no qat to chew but plenty of Jim Beam.

Bahrain’s king has an account listed as: King of hearts - King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. This first reminded me of Las Vegas for some reason, then I remembered that Valentine’s is upon us, even though it does not specify what kind of heart. His fan club has 810 members only, although the ruling elite in Bahrain numbers much more than that, I think. Maybe they left out a few zeros.

Syria’s Bashar al-Asad has his account as well, under the title: Bashar Al-Asad, and he has 7,564 fans exactly, which is surprising. He couldn’t be more popular than the other oligarchs and potantates. These must be the only ones that have been officially asked to admire him.

His Most Royal Highness Prince al-Waleed Bin Talal al-Saud has several accounts under his name. One of these accounts is a joint one with a woman. He is listed as having 1,681 fans, which made me somewhat jealous: I have no fans, not yet. I wonder how many of these fans are Citigroup executives and CNBC anchorwomen, and possibly a few anchormen.

Iraq’s Muqtada al-Sadr has more than six accounts in his name, but two of them are suspicious because they are located in Winnipeg and Stockholm. No militias are listed.

Iran’s Mohmoud Ahmadinejad has many many accounts, and, and many more carry his fan club and hate club names. Apparently he shares one Facebook account with Ann Coulter, another conservative icon, which makes sense. The other one I really liked was for the “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Appreciation Society”, but I declined to join it.

His boss, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenai has an account that lists 903 fans only. I guess it has been a long time for many Iranian.

Usama Bin Laden about 8 accounts in his name (there are more under Osama), but none lists the Pakistan, Saudi, or Afghanistan networks.

On the dour side, the Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Shaikh Abdul-Azeez Aal al-Shaikh (a k a ash-Shaikh), has no account. FYI: he is the great great grandson of Mohammed Abdelwahab (the late Najdi freak not the late Egyptian singer). I call him the palindromic sheikh for obvious reasons (check the dictionary). Maybe he can double with Israel’s Tzipi Livni: double not couple to the old man’s chagrin. Tzipi has many, many, accounts under her name. More than any Arab leader, and she has many fans and supporters. She also has many detractors. Anyway, the sheikh can do much worse- as for Tzipi, she can’t do worse. That’s for sure.

Libya’s Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi has 15 accounts and boasts 835 fans, one in the name of his son Hannibal.

Even Saddam Hussin still has his account under his full legal name: Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي. He is listed as a politician, and he has 280 supporters, which is more than I do, and I am still alive.

Abu Musaab Al Zarqawi still keeps 5 accounts open, from the beyond, presumably keeping an eye on his former fans in al-Anbar and Samarra.

Che Guevara is the most popular dead person, based on Facebook accounts, even more than Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov or Stalin.

The most popular among all, dead or alive, are President Barack Obama and Governor Sarah Palin. Their friends and fans count in the millions (Obama) and hundreds of thousands (Palin). Those Arab rulers need to improve their image some more.

Most of the Arab oligarchs are not really active on Facebook; they are probably even less active than me. However, I bet they are active when the moment is right, as they say on television. Still, it is not as potentially dangerous for them as it is for their subjects to post on the network. Many people have ended up in jail or worse, and I am not talking about mere waterboarding here, simply for giving in to the temptation of venting off online.

Maybe they, the oligarchs, do it because they think it is important to save face, even when your flank is completely exposed.

There are many more world oligarchs and potentates on Facebook than I mentioned, but I shall refrain from commenting now, with the admirable goal of protecting the innocent.

Cheers

Mohammed

What Muslim and American Theocrats Share- Vultures of Palestine, Unite- The Popes of Arabia Try Multitasking- How to Thank a King in American

2009-01-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

“Iran makes BBC Persian language TV channel illegal”.
This was the headline early this morning (CNN) and it reminds me of 2006, when the Bushies issued a fatwa making al-Manar TV of Lebanon (Hezbullah) illegal, making marketing the satellite channel in the US an act of terrorism. That was a post-First Amendment moment for Mr. Bush.

“Palestinians: ‘our leaders have let us down and they are fighting over the Gaza War booty’.” Aafaq
Just as I expected in one of my last postings. The $ 1-2 billion talked about for Gaza by the Arab petroleum states at one of their three summits last week are already being fought over. The Saudi king alone promised $1 billion. Hamas would like access to the money, but they are not likely to get any of it unless they break away from Iran and embrace the Saudi axis. The Fatah potentates of Mr. Abbas in Ramallah are salivating at the prospect of access to the money. I bet their offshore bankers are also salivating at the prospect: they recall the last bonanza of the 1990s, when their predecessors under Arafat, the ministers and leaders, got rich from all the post-Oslo aid funds. That was when Hamas saw its opportunity, took up the slack and provided the public services the Fatah boys would not.

Maybe the two Palestinian factions can get together for a while for a very good cause: they can join in a sting to get access to the petro-money. Afterwards, having split the money, they can go their separate ways. Until the next oil boom: petroleum prices are certain to rise again after the world recession ends sometime in the next two to three years. Then the whole circle can start again.

Just think of it, Arab oligarchs and potentates last week managed to do what no other group of leaders has ever done. They held three separate summits at three different locations. Various and often overlapping groups of them held summits in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait- all within the same week. These guys can multitask, they can walk and chew gum, or better yet: they can walk and play with their....misbahs. The Europeans have never achieved anything quite like it- they came close once when they had two popes at Rome and Avignon, but that was a long time ago.

A Brown-backed Logic in Kansas:
“If detainees of Gitmo are brought to the Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas, the military trainees in Kansas of allied Muslim countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia have said that they will leave. They will not stay in Kansas if these people are there…” Sen Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) on MSNBC.

And to think that this man was once a candidate for president of the United States. But that’s okay: it was only for the Republican nomination. Now that B.S is a Brownbacked logic.

“Gaza war fallout: Barak describes Olmert as a chameleon, and OLmert calls him a failure…Israel’s Haaretz daily calims that the tunnels at Rafah are being rebuilt quickly and that a ticket for crossing costs about $400…” Elaph

“Jim Thorpe startled the world in 1912. As part of the U.S. delegation competing at the 1912 Summer Games in Stockholm, he pulled off one of the most impressive sporting feats in history, simply destroying the world's best in the decathlon and pentathlon. Perhaps the greatest all-around athlete of all time, Thorpe, a Sac and Fox Indian (Native American), bested his competitors by enormous margins, finishing first in nine of the 15 separate track and field events that made up the two competitions.
Thorpe was a track and football star at a vocational school for Native Americans, before and after his trip to Stockholm. On the boat trip over to Sweden the naturally gifted Thorpe mostly napped while his teammates trained.
At the Games' closing ceremonies King Gustav V told him, "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world!" To which Thorpe reportedly replied, "Thanks, king." “ Infoplease
Clearly Jim Thorpe was ill-mannered: oddly, he did not dedicate the gold medals, or attribute them, to any American leader, or to the Swedish king, or even to any of the many Arab kings, oligarchs, and dictators for life….
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-11-22T13:52:00.000-08:00

There is a battlefield in the War on Terror that Western powers are studiously ignoring- especially the Bush administration.
Many ships, including huge tankers have been hijacked off the Horn of Africa by alleged Somali pirates- in polite company they are Frenchified and called corsairs, but not in Swahili.
So, why are these pirates ignored, not attacked or threatened? Is it because they are sort of kindred souls to the robber barons of the current administration? They are a sort of free market supply-siders, these pirates who are not really new. I recall my late father telling us long ago, when we were children on the northwestern shores of the Gulf, old tales about Somali pirates' misdeeds. At that time, even my child's wandering mind wondered if there was, right then but far away, some old Somali father telling his Somali children old tales about the fearsome pirates of the Gulf states.

Perhaps their ideology fits in perfectly with the idea of unregulated, the current word is deregulated, markets. Piracy on the high seas is the ultimate unregulated/deregulated market, the better test tube for Commercial Darwinism- better even than some corporate headquarters.
Actually I have heard reports of the Indian navy confronting some pirates, but nothing about others. Who else can confront them? The Somalis have no navy, don't even have a defined state. The Yemenis across the gateway to the Red Sea can't do much: they can't send a flotilla because they don't have a flotilla: camels don't float, not even Yemeni camels.

But help is on the way: alarabiya and other media report that Islamist militias, the al-Qaeda type Salafi groups that the US earlier urged Ethiopia to send troops into Somalia to destroy, have intervened on the side of the good guys. The network reports that the Islamists are searching for the pirates who hijacked a ship owned by an "Islamic" state, i.e Saudi Arabia. Maybe it is a turf war: maybe they want that $100 million tanker and all those Ukrainian tanks on the other freighter for themselves. Maybe they have heard that the pirates are demanding $25 million for the oil tanker.

Meanwhile, even more help is on the way, but of the dubious kind: representatives from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan and other Arab countries have met in Cairo and announced that they will increase cooperation among them to deal with the matter and to prevent piracy from spreading into the Red Sea. King Abdul of Jordan may even send units of his crack security agents in rubber dinghies, once they learn how to swim, just to frighten the pirates away from the Red Sea. But they won't spread into the Red Sea: they'll have strong navies waiting there, including the US Navy and others.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-09-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

In this posting: Palin Wins the Afghan Grasshopper and the Pakistani Widower- A Candidate and Arab Leaders on Steroids- Kissinger As Elder Statesman?

Alaska's Sarah Palin and Iran's Ahmadinejad failed to convert other UN leaders to their respective faiths. In the Iranian's case it is hard to imagine him converting anyone to anything. He even has less charisma and makes less sense than Senator McCain. He is not as shifty-eyed, though (read the next paragraph).
Palin did win over the new president of Pakistan, the moderate state where the omnipotent ISI plays both sides of the War on Terror, straddling the fence between its former Taliban protegies and its neocon paymasters in Washington. Mr. Zardari, recent widower and former jailbird, properly corrupt in the fashion of all elected Pakistani leaders, was clearly impressed by most of her.

She may even have won over the president of metropolitan Kabul in his green grasshopper coat. Mr. Karzai seemed amused by the meeting, but unlike his Pakistani neighbor he did let go of her hand.

Why did McCain look so shifty-eyed at the first debate? He would not look at Obama, never made eye contact with him, even when they shook hands. It was likely a tactic by his advisers with the aim of making Obama look small, unimportant. It only made McCain look odd, with a silly smirk/grin/grimace pasted on his face that made him look like an advanced resident of one of those homes where they turn off the lights at 8 PM.

Someone asked me late last night as we crossed the SR-520: are politicians allowed to take steroids?
There probably are no rules against them doing so- unlike in sports. The only downside for politicians is that it shrinks their gonads (cojones) down to hazelnut size- a terrible price to pay for any man, especially one with a politician's ego (or his girlfriends).
In that case many Arab leaders should take more steroids than Viagra or Cialis or whatever it is they take. That way they can multitask adequately and, more important, equitably, as required by the rules of polygamy, while continuing to run their countries to the ground. It is not only about walking and chewing gum, nor about running a campaign and suddenly appearing to be busy at Capitol Hill.

“So he theatrically suspended his campaign and rushed back to get in the way of a bipartisan solution to the economic turmoil. When the two macho guys of the Republican Party — W. and McCain — took extreme measures not to look emasculated, they ended up emasculating themselves.” M. Dowd, NY Times.

Henry Kissinger helped open up Chinese-American relations in the early 1970s. After that it was downhill for him as a policy adviser and maker. He was wrong on Southeast Asia. He expanded the Vietnam War into Cambodia and Laos, and thus caused the US to lose all three countries instead of just one, and ushered in the era of Khmer Rouge mass genocide. That is what an elder statesman is: someone who is looked at more fondly, or at least with much less disdain, AFTER they leave office.

Watched Bill Clinton talking about Obama and McCain. This man sure holds a grudge. I can see 2012 written all over his face- but then again, 2008 was also written all over his face four years ago. How about 2016? In any case, it is almost obvious that he fervently wishes for McCain to win.

A Cairo appeals court has passed a two month prison sentence on Ibraheem Issa (Abraham Jesus) the chief editor of the opposition newspaper al-Dustour (which ironically means The Constitution). He has been convicted of spreading rumors about the health of President Mubarak, who is nearly 200 years old. I imagine the editor of the National Inquirer would be beheaded in the moderate New Middle East with its neo-democratic leaders.
Cheers
Mohammed

Is the Reagan 'Counter-Revolution' Dead?, Gulf Investment Blues, A Financial Banana Republic, A Financial Potemkin Republic

2008-09-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Was the financial crash of the past three days one more nail in a deregulated system that had spun out of control?
The system was never actually 'deregulated'. It was allowed to be 'self-regulating', which meant that it was regulated by an incestuous group of CEOs who were often recycled as they corporate-hopped, essentially changing jobs whenever they failed in one place, moving to other leadership positions in other firms as they left behind wreckage.

Some twenty years ago, at the peak of Reagan's power, market 'guru' Ivan Boesky, soon to be arrested and convicted for securities fraud, went to speak at UC Berkeley, that one time bastion of Free Speech Movement, Mario Savio, Bettina Aptheker, among others. He is reported to have started his lecture by stating that: "You know, greed is good..." And hundreds of young MBA throats cheered their approval.
Soon after, "the Russian" was in jail, proving that at some point of the greed process diminishing marginal returns kick in (but all MBAs are not that big on Econ, not even Micro-econ). But the 'revolution' from the top continued, taking on gaudy and absurd features under George W Bush and the neocons who thought they could run a country as a corporation.

In the bad old days some banana republics used to be run as corporations, they were often run by corporations or their surrogates. (Whatever happened to that Ante-bellum plantation on wheels: the United Fruit Company?). What the Reagan counter-revolution and the Bush sequel have done is to convert the US financial sector into a banana republic, albeit a very powerful one with highly productive and hard-working people. A nation more in debt to the Chinese (the rightwing loves to call them Chicoms)and oil producers.
So far, McCain has not provided any sign that he will be any different if he wins. I am not sure he knows what he will do if he wins.

Mr. Bush is flying to Houston to check on the results of the latest natural disaster, Ike. He is heading away from the bigger disaster created by his own party. And the even bigger disaster created by his re-election in 2004.

In the Persian-American Gulf region, stock markets also declined sharply (the index declined 6.5% in Saudi Arabia, 7.4% in Qatar yesterday). The Saudi market also lost the equivalent of $27.3 billion of capitalization on Monday. State investment funds are already intevening to stem the bleeding.
Many of the Gulf 'sovereign' funds have sustained huge losses in international markets as well, especially the US market. Kuwaiti media report that the US investments arm of Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), which invests for the state, had lost over $5 billion in investments in Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, and that was before the recent crash. That $5 billion loss has certainly increased greatly by now as a result of recent events and the huge decline in shares of these two financials. (I believe whoever is in charge of US investments for KIA should be looking for a new job, and soon). Only last November, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority reached agreement to purchase $7.5 billion in Citigroup. It is not clear how much that is worth now, but it is easy to calculate- you do the math. They must have followed the exhortations of that other investment genius, Prince al-Waleed Bin Talal who called Citigroup's decline a 'mere hiccup' and that was when the share was over $40. Now, it is about $15.

It is not clear how much these funds have in AIG, possibly the next Potemkin corporation to topple, or how much they have (had) in Lehman Bros. AIG under Hank Greenberg was one firm being pushed for some time by Jim Cramer of CNBC, along with CountryWide under Angelo Mazzolo. He also pushed Wachovia when it was worth about $50+. That is what happens when you decide investment policy by looking into the eyes of CEO's and seeing through to their souls- especially if they are your pals.

"According to results of survey, in which over 4,500 people participated, 75% chose McCain while only 22% preferred Obama." Jerusalem Post, Sept 16. Damn, the old codger is more popular in Israel than in Arizona or Texas. More popular than even in Alaska. That's what happens when you get more Russians than 'other' ethnics.

The Seahawks are still as wussy as ever, as their falling apart at home against the 49ers last Sunday proved. Next time they face the St Louis Rams, again at Qwest Field. This is the bottom o the barrel for this season, and if they can't scrape it...well....
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-08-30T18:27:00.000-07:00

"John McCain will win the war in Eyeraq and prevent Eyeran from going nuclear..."
Thus spake the Republican candidate for vice president, ex-beauty queen, ex-reformer, uber-Darwinist but only in social and economic and market matters not in matters related to the origins of the species.

"She is the governor of Alaska, and that is near Russia, so she has foreign policy experience (or something to that effect)." Steve Ducey, anchorman and commentator for Fox News TV.
Ergo: it proves that I am more ignorant and dummer than I have let on.
BTW: does this mean that anybody who lives along the US-Mexico border, including John McCain, has foreign policy experience? The fence should not reduce that foreign policy experience, since apparently the very wide Bering Strait does not.

"Der Spiegel, the German news magazine, has revealed a major scandal in the FIFA Soccer World Cup of 2006. It reporta that a Ghanian player was involved with a betting operation in Asia and may have helped Brazil win against Ghana...." Alarabiya.
So, alles klar: that is why Saudi Arabia never made it past the first round and had no chance to win the World Cup.

"How the old goats of petroleum practice the game of love in London nights: Every August of every year London , the land of Shakespeare, Dickens, and Wellington, among others, undergoes a great change. Rich Gulf Arabs congregate in Knightsbridge, where the British aristocracy hangs out. The method of these old rich men of the Gulf is to walk around with a retinue of sidekicks and flunkies, the larger the retinue the more importance is implied. Many are influential leaders in their countries, yet they behave recklessly where women and sex are concerned. Some do not hesitate to throw their cell phone at any woman who attracts their interest, with the expectation that she will enter her own cell number into the phone and throw it back to the petro-lover. This mini-Olympiad often ends with a meeting that involves much liquid money. Sometimes, a few of the women end up retaining a lawyer's services and threatening a lawsuit for sexual harassment, and they get some hush money. Older Gulf Arab women also have their share of adventure in the world of love, but they do it more discreetly. They often discard the abaya and hijab, and die their hair to change their identity. Unfortunately for them, these women are quickly recognized as Gulf women from the way their bodies are too full in certain parts." Elaph.
It is a wonder the old goats don't get sued for violence and assault: a thrown cell phone can be awfully painful when it meets any part of a human body. Also, I recall that the poorer ones hung around Edgeware Road.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-08-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

McCain, Hillary, UBL, Ahmadinejad, Qadhafi and All That

For a week or two John McCain and the Republicans were reduced to adopting one of their favorite punching bags, Hillary Clinton, as an ally. Hillary, much abused by the GOP over the past 16 years, is being used in TV ads to save the GOP from its own eight years of failed policies, both foreign and domestic. They have been essentially hiding behind her skirt, or pantsuit. Not to mention Britney Spears and Paris Hilton's whatever they wear.

Back in the real world- Arab media tour:
Arab media report that the Emir of Qatar, on a state visit to Iran, has invited President Ahmadinejad to attend the next summit of leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Except that the summit will not be in Doha this time, it will be in Muscat, Oman. Man o' man.
The world's most famous holocaust-denier, and GOP campaign mascot, did attend the last GCC summit at Doha. The better GOP mascot would be UBL, but he represents utter Republican failure to find him, dead or alive. McCain has promised to go in wherever UBL is and find him: maybe he will do that before next November? He did say that he has a plan for that. So did Nixon once say in '68 that he had a plan to end the Vietnam War, which turned out to be the invasion of Cambodia and the resurgence of the murderous Khmer Rouge. Nixon's plan, and Kissinger's, ended with the loss of all of Indo-China.

Algerian media report that the ruling party, ruling for the past 46 years, is getting ready to nominate current president Bouteflika for an unconstitutional third term. Bouteflika, in true Arab leadership fashion, is demurring, claiming he is not convinced of it. My eiyiees (that is a southern drawl).
Bouteflika means 'father of Teflika' or 'the one with a Teflika': but no one knows wtf a Teflika is. It sounds rather Greek to me than Arabic or even Berber. Teflika has a similar ring to it as sovlaki (dare I say even ouzu?). There are other Greek words that rhyme with Teflika, but I won't mention them here.

"The Chief of the Jordanian Diabetes Center, a former Health Minister, has said that half of Jordanian women over the age of 25 suffer from at least one serious disease. (It gets more interesting now) The official also said that 62% of Jordanian men suffer from sexual impotence problems to some degree. Ouch" Al-Khabar, Jordan.
Does this explain the phenomenon of rampant 'honor' killings in the country, sort of 'if you can't join them, kill them' ? But that would be the case if the only recognizable symbol of honor is.....anatomical. Oh well.

Lebanese legal authorities have issued an order for the arrest of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qadhafi. He is suspected in the disappearnce of the former leader of the Shi'a Amal movement in 1978. Imam Moussa al-Sadr disappeared during a visit to Libya in the summer of 1978, thirty years ago. The Libyans have always denied their responsibility for the disappearnce during the years of the Lebanese civil war. Except there are no records of al-Sadr ever leaving Libya or entering another country.

"A huge Saudi-American arms deal worth billions of dollars is waiting the return of Congress....The Saudis have taken a 'take it or leave it' attitude toward some demands that the deal be adjusted to meet Israeli concerns." Elaph.
"The Saudis note that they have other options. Recently a $4 billion arms deal was negotiated with Russia by chief of Saudi National Security, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan al-Saud, (he of other controversial famous arms deals). Ooops." Elaph
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-08-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

In this post:
Iraq: Muqtada Goes Civilian.
Tribe Defeats God in Arabia.
Salafis vs Shi'as in Egypt.
Intelligence failure in Georgia?
Hypocrisy in Africa.

Iraq:
Muqtada al-Sadr is into diversification: he has changed the bulk of his Mahdi Army into a religious and cultural unit, while keeping ad portion of it armed to 'resist the occupation'. This comes after prime Minsiter al-Maliki more than once publicly supported the idea of a timetable for American withdrawal from Iraq. Oddly, sentiment on the Iraqi street seems to have forced the neocons and the Bush administration to abandon the idea of permanent bases in Iraq, a foolish idea to start with. Iraqi opinion seems to be firmly with a timetable for withdrawal.
Out are Senator McCain's one hundred years of occupation a la Germany and Japan.

Tribe Defeats God in Arabia:
Alarabiya reports today on an unusual but all too common tribal celebration in a courtroom in Saudi Arabia. Members of one tribe became rowdy in celebrating their success in obtaining a decision to annul the marriage of a tribal woman to a man who is a 'stranger'.
'Stranger' in this case does not mean that he is a foreigner, or that he lives far away, or that he is Hindu, animist or bisexual. It means that the man is of a different tribe. Initially the father of the bride had agreed to the wedding, but other tribal 'men' objected strongly and applied strong pressure. The husband was threatened repeatedly, but refused to give up his wife.
The report says that after the court decision and the husband's agreement to end the marriage, all men of the tribe prostrated themselves in thanks to God for this decision. No strange man will penetrate that tribe, for now.
It did not say which God they prayed to: probably one of their own making, just like their pagan ancestors fifteen centuries earlier.

Salafis vs Shi'as in Egypt:
Elaph reports that Egypt has banned the annual celebrations of the birth of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed and one of the most revered men to Shi'as. The media report that there is worry that there are too many Iraqi Shi'as in Egypt and that such celebrations may play into the hands of a Shia revival, whatever that means. There are active Salafi porganizations in Egypts who strongly oppose allowing Shi'a festivities, and even marriages between Shi'as and Sunnis. Leaders of these groups are men who had spent years in the Persian-American Gulf region and were closely associated with the Talibanesque Salafis of the Gulf who tend to be rabidly anti-Shi'a.
Historically Egyptians have been among the most tolerant of Arabs and there are shrines in Cairo to many historical figures revered by the Shi'as. Al-Azhar University itself was established by a Shi'a dynasty (the Fatimids) that ruled Egypt for some time.

Intelligence failure in Georgia?
The Russian incursion into Georgia is ruthless, but not as ruthless as that other earlier march through another Georgia: General Sherman's.
Still, what prompted the Georgian government to miscalculate so badly the Russian reaction to events in Ossetia? And did US intelligence not see the crisis coming to start with? Did they not predict the Russian reaction?

Hypocrisy in Africa:
The African Union which organizes inter-African official meetings and almost nothing else, has spoken about the coup in Mauritania. It has suspended Mauritanian membership. The response is good and extremely hypocritical.
Africa is full of regimes that are either unelected or organize phony elections where the leader rules for life. Look at Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, etc.
Oddly, many in the media of Arab regimes have also criticized the coup as undemocratic, which it is. The coup government is undemocratic as almost all other Arab regimes.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-08-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

Media Tour:
"The wealthy begin to feel the pain in down economy..." Drudge Report 8/4/08
So instead of coke the celebs go back to.....ecstasy?
Besides, help is on the way: John McCain has promised to reduce their taxes some more.

I thought Paris Hilton's energy policy was better than the other two candidates for president- at least the version in her free video, no, the recent video. Her special effects were better than McCain's, especially when he looked like a mummy, and she sounded more credible, perhaps because she is not seeking elective office yet. She was, however, short on details.

"Many Iranians confront poverty while the Mullahs confront America." Middle East Online, 8/4/08

"President George W Bush has led America during two terms marked with setbacks and catastrophes. He has waged two failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has pushed the economy into a depression (probably means 'recession' here). He has burdened the federal budget with a deficit of $450 billion, after he had inherited a huge surplus from his predecessor. It is not far-fetched for Mr. Bush to respond again to recent Israeli provocations and urgings and resort to the military option against Iran in a desperate attempt to salvage a political and military legacy that has so far been full of failures and defeats." Alquds Alarabi, London.

"It was no coincidence for U.S Secratary of State Condi Rice to order all foreign minister of the moderate Arab states to meet with her at Abu Dhabi while she was en route to Asia. She made sure to bring along Mr. Burns who met the Iranians in Geneve." Alquds Alarabi, London.

"Iran is playing with fire by being uncooperative with the West. She will be attacked just as Iraq was." Libyan leader Colonel Qadhafi, on a visit to Tunisia.

"It warms my heart to see Mr. Bin Ali running for a sixth term as president of Tunisia." Colonel Qadhafi who, like all other Arab leaders has never heard of term limits or losing an election. BTW: what is an election?

Wages of Sinning by Telephone in Arabia:
A Saudi appeals court (I did not know they had those) has upheld a sentence of flogging and prison for a Saudi academic and one of his female students. He was sentenced to a flogging of 600 lashes and 8 months prison, she was sentenced to 350 lashes and 4 months in prison. They will both need to spend the months in a hospital ICU, if they survive the lashes.
He is accused of establishing an illicit relationship with her over the telephone (seriously) and encouraging her to break up her marriage. Talking over telephone with an un-related woman is considered a form of sinning in parts of the moderate New Middle East. She is accused of breaking up her marriage. All this was allegedly done through telephone conversations about her research paper.

The husband had sued after he had agreed to the divorce (for a price of Saudi Riyal -Real en Espanol- 70,000 paid by the wife to the husband for her freedom). The good husband took the money, granted the divorce, but sued one week later, after the money was safely in the bank.

The professor has declared that he refuses the sentences although it is not clear how he can stop them, unless he has access to the royal palace.

Wages of getting stoned in Arabia:
On the subject of the law and judicial justice: police in Dubai reported yesterday that they have busted a Saudi judge and his wife for possession and use of Hashish in a hotel room. Initially Saudi authorities were quick to deny that the man was a Saudi judge, the ministry of justice denied that he was on their list of judges. But now alarabiya (Saudi) reports that an attorney for the Saudi consulate in Dubai will defend his honor the judge, who turns out to be a judge after all.

The media were quick to report that the arrested wife is in fact the judge's second wife and that she is 'Moroccan'- hinting that a native Saudi woman would never be caught dead smoking Hashish, and even if she smoked she would never inhale, and even if she inhaled she wouldn't like it. In either case, she would never consent for a stoned husband.
And to prove it: they report that the man's first wife, a conventional and definitely 'square' Saudi of course, was with them at the same hotel, but staying at a different room.They had, all three of them, arrived from Cairo. I guess the judge made the rounds in the hotel, unless he was into groups.
No word yet if the first wife was the one who ratted on the blissful couple. The man's othere wives, if he has others, were not with them in Dubai.

Alarabiya volunteers to share with us that the judge was a good straight man, you might say an average decent Saudi, before he married the Moroccan wife. He was just an average Saudi judge who sentenced people to such things as flogging and sentenced poor people to public beheadings for committing such crimes as murder, resorting to witchcraft, committing adultery, or smoking Hashish.
I wonder what the punishment in Dubai is for smoking Hashish with one's second Moroccan wife in a hotel suite while the first wife is in another room at the same hotel?

And so it goes in the moderate tribal New Middle East with the famous birth pangs that Condi Rice mentioned in the summer of 2006 while the Southern suburb of Beirut was burning.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-07-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

In this posting:
All quiet on the Mideast front- What an Arab king and Senator John McCain have in common: it is the liquidity, stupid- What the two Middle Easts stand for: the Old and the New- The minimum wage, bitter underemployed white men and Limbaugh's $63,000 hourly wage- Abe Linclon's take.

The drums of war have been quiet all across the Middle East, both the moderate New Middle East that stands for freedom, justice, and the American way of life (with a few absolute monarchs and life-long dictators thrown in for local flavor) and the radical Old Middle East that stands for other things. Gulf media have stopped debating the odds of a strike on Iran, and some Gulf (Persian-American Gulf) neocon editors seem withdrawn for now, almost forlorn and in need of rehab. Even Iran's noisy Ahmadinejad gave a polite interview to Brian Williams and hinted at improved relations. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, urged by his own 'handlers' also played like a John McCain fighting for his share of media attention: he chaired some obscure inter-faith meeting, safely tucked away in Europe, far away from the faithful.

The King has something in common with Senator McCain, and it is not only their age. Both the king and McCain depend on liquids for their wealth, in both cases someone else's liquid wealth. The King's wealth comes from the black liquid that really belongs to his people, and McCain's wealth comes from the cold amber liquid that belongs to his wife.

Two weeks ago Rush Limbaugh signed a deal to continue his radio show for 8 more years, at a price of $400 million, and the usual endorsement fees, etc.

Last week Limbaugh was quite angry and upset on his radio show: the reason? Congress had voted to increase the federal minimum wage by 77 cents per hour. Seventy-seven cents per hour vs $400 million for eight years (that would be $50 million a year, for the arithmatically-challenged). Limbaugh's 50 million a year translates to about $189,000 a day. That would be $62,893 for every hour he is on the air. And he does not produce anything tangible. No wonder he claims he is 'having more fun on the show than anyone should' . The poor angry underemployed white men of the rust-belt are not having nearly as much fun, even with their guns and their bibles.

Against all odds, he was trying to rile up the blue collar white folks about the 77 cents per hour raise just after he had inked his own $63,000 an hour deal. And what is odd is that he may succeed.

Was it Abe Lincoln who said something roughly to the effect that people don't remain fools for long?
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-07-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

A Belgian Wfle Swallows the King of Beer. Campaign Myths: Obama is Muslim and McCain Wears a Diaper. Of Thanksgiving Turkeys and Arab Leaders

Of Beer and Politics:
The times, they are a-changin’. Bob Dylan was absoeffinglutely right.
A Belgian brewer (InBev) is buying Budweiser. Actually their own Stella Artois is a tasty beer, or so I understand from second or better yet third hand accounts, but still: Belgium? Belgium: a fake funny Old Europe kingdom buys out the King of Beer?
I think of all the good times I spent at Larry Blake’s (on Telegraph Ave) and other welcoming joints stretching from Manhattan, though Clemson in the Deep South all the way to the dock of 'The Bay', especially East Bay. I was following Manifest Destiny, westward from coast to shining coast with the famous welcoming sign. The King of Beer. That Bud was for me, for all I do, the King of Beer was coming through…
The main distinction of that country, that would be Belgium, is that it has a waffle named after it, for a reason that almost no one knows. A waffle of a country, a word that would make an American presidential candidate squirm as much as flip-flop.
Another questionable distinction is that the Battle of Waterloo between old Europe (Britain, Prussia, Russia, Austro-Hungary) and New Europe (Revolutionary France) was on its soil, but that depends on which side one rooted for at the time. I would probably have rooted for Nappy if only because I could not stand those stuck-up, in-bred, retentive mushrooms that were the aristocracy.
Oh, and another distinction of Belgium that I remember is that it is the country that periodically uncovers a vast network of pedophiles. I mean really nasty networks of pedophiles. But in fairness I haven’t heard of many of those in recent years.

On the other hand, the great Pacific Northwest has cured me from the King of Beer for some time now, for reasons that anyone who has been to the area would understand.

The shaikhs of Abu Dhabi have bought the Chrysler Building, a Manhattan landmark. But then again, major US oil companies are poised to control Iraq’s vast oil fields. Halliburton, of Dick Cheney fame, has already reaped massive benefits from contracts in Iraq, many with the US government, the military, and with Iraq.
At least the White House will never be for sale, no? Well, not really, maybe just for rent every four or eight years, when they start talking about something called a 'presidential library'. Not sure why they would call it 'presidential' when most of the funding and financing is done in very un-presidential fashion.

Campaign myths and Arab leaders:
The notion that Obama is a Muslim, secret or otherwise, will never go away. Maybe if he is elected and has spent some time in office the idea will be dispelled, especially after he pardons his first Thanksgiving Turkey instead of slitting its throat (incidentally, expect Bush to pardon many turkeys early next January). Actually his election in itself will put an end to that, unless he shows up to his victory rally in a turban or a checkered kaffiya.

Recently there was also a hint from someone on a cable network (definitely not FoxNews) that Senator McCain may be wearing a diaper. The pace of the campaign is grueling, but that type of information is a personal thing between a candidate and his doctor (specialist, of course).
Besides, by that measure there are many leaders who would be candidates for wearing diapers. I can think of a few in the Arab World. Let me see, one, two, three, At least three, but don’t worry: there will be more as the years go by and younger Arab leaders turn old, then very old, in office. Some die in office and that is the end of it. Others, both monarchs and presidents, continue through their progeny. Unfortunately the latter has been the trend in recent years, and look for it to continue as the moderate New Middle East and the Old Middle East enter the post-Bush, post-Cheney, post-trigger-happy era.
Cheers
Mohammed

On Despots, Genocide, and the Campaign for an Islamic Pope

2008-07-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

“I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world, and yet they lay their hands on everything they can get” Napoleon Bonaparte

"Saudi Salafism hopes to appear more liberal at the Madrid dialog." al-Rasid, (Saudi activist Shi'a web site)

Media Tour: Hired and other Media on Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, etc.
"Don't expect much from the new government (cabinet) of Lebanon. Hizbullah and Iran have a veto power, and even Syria has a seat." Chief editor, Asharq alawsat.

Fact is, everybody has a seat at the Lebanese cabinet, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United States, and France. Lebanon's new cabinet has not been welcomed by the Saudis. If the controlled media is any indication, the cabinet in which Hizbullah and her allies now hold the veto power is clearly considered a political defeat for the Saudi side. Announcement of the cabinet had clearly stunned the media because it took them a while to report it.

Meanwhile, some Saudi mouthpieces in other Gulf states have taken to attacking Qatari rulers again for their role in the Lebanese settlement, which ended the old Ta'if deal. As the following quotes indicate, they have had their marching orders:

"Exactly one week ago, Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasim al-Thani, Prime Minsiter of Qatar, invested US$43 million in an Israeli medical company called 'Medical Industries-D'" Columnist on last page of alwatan, Kuwait, July 12, 2008.

"On July 7, 2008, an amount of US$5 milliom was deposited in the account of the Speaker of the Lebanese parliament in Zurich. The money was received from the Qatari prime minister, and is part of regularly scheduled payments. Soon, Speaker Berri will be richer than Sa'ad Hariri." Same coumnist, same day in alwatan, Kuwait. I doubt it, Hariri will always be richer because his paymasters have deeper pockets.

"On July 3, General Michel Oun (Christian ally of Hizbullah) received US$20 million from Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasim al-Thani of Qatar, which raises the total amount he has received since the Doha Agreement to US$60 million." Same columnist in alwatan, July 12, 2008.

"Reliable sources have told us that the recent border agreement signed by Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Saudi Interior MInister, among other things, and Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasim al-Thani, Qatari prime minister, includes Qatar ceding three locations to her big neighbor. As well as an official promise that aljazeera TV will not be allowed to insult Saudi Arabia again." Same columnist in the same alwatan, July 12, 2008.

"The same reliable sources told us that Israeli prime minister Olmert has told Egyptian president Husni Mubarak recently (he must have woken up from his longgg nap) that Tel Aviv will strike at Iran." Probably wishful thinking by the same columnist in alwatan, Kuwait, July 12, 2008.

"The Arab League has announced that it will hold an urgent emergency meeting of foreign ministers on the indictment of Sudanese president Omar al-Basheer, without setting a date for the meeting." alarabiya. Coming to the aid of a fellow despot in trouble?

"Sudanese parties considered that the possibility of an arrest warrant against the president is a move that targets Sudan and is against its sovereignty." alalam (Iranian TV), which conveniently did not specify which parties supported Ahmadinejad's favorite despot.

"Iran promises to work toward release of four of its diplomats kidnapped in Beirut since 1982." alalam

"Iran will target 32 American bases and the heart of the 'Israeli entity' if attacked." alalam

Some Arab media speculate that the Bush administration is angry at Iraqi PM al-Maliki for defying it and rejecting the draft security agreement as it is. King Abdul of Jordan canceled a state visit, first by an Arab leader to Baghdad, soon after. Some Arabs believe that the Bush administration have talked him into canceling it, as punishment or warning to the Iraqis. Other Arabs differ: they believe that the Bush administration 'ordered' King Abdul to cancel the visit, just as they had earlier ordered him to make it.

"Ron Arad's family given new photo: Israel receives two new pictures, snippets of letters and excerpts from a diary as part of swap deal (with Hizbullah)." Jerusalem Post, July 13, 2008.

"Snoop Dogg is planning a tour in Israel , but Palestinian groups are urging him to cancel."

Prepping a Saudi Pope?:
"Huge efforts by the Saudi monarch to establish international dialog: the invitation of king ABdullah Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud for a dialog among heavenly religions, civilizations, and cultures, repersents a call to peace and coexistence among all peoples, since all Muslim countries have adopted the royal initiative, and reacted to it in such a way that proves to the whole world that Islam is the religion of peace and coexistence with others, and disproved any connection between Islam and terrorism, and that terrorism exists everywhere in the world and does not differentiate among religions......yadda, yadda, yadda, and more yadda." Elaph editorial, July 12, 2008
My own two cents:The Saudi king is sponsoring and chairing an inter-faith dialog next week that is also sponsored by the Islamic World Institute. It includes representatives of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism- Hindus, Buddhists, and Europe's vast community of agnostics and atheists need not apply. There will be shaikhs, imams, parsons, priests, and rabbis.

The catch is: it is not being held in Riyadh, the Saudi capital where the hosts rule. It is being held in Madrid, from whence Fernando and Ysabel, from their joint conjugal throne of Castile and Aragon led the reconquista in 1492.

The Saudi king might be a well-meaning man, but they are hosting the conference in Madrid- not in Riyadh! That saves them the 'embarrassment' of having rabbis with top hats and yarmulkes land in Riyadh or Jeddah.

The Saudi-controlled media, the vastest and best financed in the Middle East, have given it extensive coverage. Their in-house and hired intellectuals have tried to drum up enthusiasm. The rest of the world media have yawned and taken a pass. Most Europeans couldn't care less about interfaith matters: to them faith is mainly a private matter between a person and his chosen deity, which sounds like a reasonable arrangement.

In the kingdom of dialog, as in the Islamic republic across the Persian-American Gulf, one can lose his or her head or rot in prison if one dialogs too much, as many Sunni reformists (e.g Dr. Matrouk al-Falih) and Shi’a activists can attest.

In the kingdom of dialog, this new apparent opening to dialog is most likely the creation of some public relations firm in Washington, DC. Not necessarily on K Street, but close. Or maybe they now have local branches.

Cheers
Mohammed

2008-06-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

A Treaty Down the Throat:
Iraq's Nuri al-Maliki is caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock is the Bush administration that is pushing incessantly for a long-term security treaty with Iraq (only it won't be called a treaty in order to avoid Senate hearings). They want the treaty finalized before next January, preferably before next November, and the next (Democratic) president stuck with it. Who said graduates of such places as Yale, Harvard Business School, and Wyoming are not smart?
Mr. al-Maliki has taken to wearing one of those clip-on ties: he clips it on in Washington and Europe, but he pulls it off before landing in Tehran or Qom, something he did this week. Columns and editorials are being written on his tie, or non-tie.
It is that old Arab saying: when in Qom....

Hardly anybody writes in support of the long-term treaty that is not called a treaty. I have not seen an Arab column or editorial openly supporting it. There are some supporters, but they are too shy to come out for it. One editorial in Asharq alawsat managed to criticize it while making the case for some form of US-Iraqi pact. Of course none of them are likely to have read the draft, anymore than I have. Which reminds me: I better find a copy online.

With the UN "mandate" expiring later this year, the Bush admin is pushing hard for its conclusion- the treaty. It won't have to be approved by the US Senate, the Iraqi parliament, Ayatollah al-Sistani, and the militias because none of the above approves of it. It is not clear where the competing bands of former and future tribal thugs now called Awakening Councils, Sons of Iraq, or Sons of "Whatever" stand on the issue.

Th treaty will ensure that Senator McCain, in the unlikely and unfortunate event that he is elected president, will never have to surrender, my friends.

Speaking of which. Mr. McCain reiterated his idea that US troops remaining in Iraq are not a problem: it is the US casualties that matter. Again, he compared Iraq to Germany or Japan. Cherries and cacti, senator. Iraq is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, tribal place with a thin veneer of a common national history. Violence has ebbed because some of the thugs, the terrorists have been bought off. As soon as they see that the US intends to remain forever, the bullets will start flying again. The Brits tried a treaty that made Iraq seem subservient to them, and it led to continued instability, including a pro-Nazi coup in 1941 (Mr. McCain is surely unaware of that bit of history).

The price of the ETF on an Iran war has gone up again. Just a everybody had given up, and Arab media had shifted to an American-Iranian rapprochement based on perceived or suspected "common intetests" of the Mullahs in Tehran and the Mullahs in Washington.That comes after ominous statements by an Israeli minister who wants to replace the outgoing Olmert, Mr. Bush, and their brain-trust Danial Pipes.

Foreign Policy is quoted by Elaph that "Egypt and Jordan are among the most dangerous places for terrorists." This is probably true in the short term, but in the long term mismanagement, corruption, and lack of freedom tends to breed more terrorists: so, why breed them if you don't want them?

The piece says that King Abdul, de Jourdanie, deepened his ties with Sunni tribes in Iraq and has shared intelligence with the US and Israel, after the al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) bombing of a hotel in Amman that killed many people. Which means that before the attack in his own country, and so long as AQI was killing Iraqi Shi'as and American soldiers, his most tribal majesty was happy enough with the way things were going. It is not clear if that was before or after he got to address a joint session of Congress.

Desert Justice- Whipping it in Arabia:
Aafaq reports that a Saudi judge has sentenced a university professor and one of his female graduate students to jail terms and hundreds of lashes. The professor will get 600 lashes and eight months in prison, if he survives the lashes. She, being more dainty, gets 250 lashes and six months in prison, if she survives the lashes.The judge believes that the professor encouraged the woman to split with her husband.

Apparently she talked with her professor about her research paper and once talked about her marriage. Two months later she sought divorce, which her husband agreed to for the price of Rial 70, 000. After she paid him, the husband sued that the professor had talked his wife into seeking a divorce.
No evidence was presented, none was needed.

The chief of the Saudi religious militia/police (Mutawa'een) is asking for a 20% salary raise for his staff. He calls the raise a compensation for "danger". Maybe they are positioning themselves, financially, for termination of service.

In Iran, a major state-owned company has threatened its bachelor staff woith firinmg if they do not get married. The merry singles have until September 21 to meet their moral and religious responsibilities by gettingh hitched or they'll get fired.

President Hugo Chavez has offered to send a Venezulan-made bicycle to President Bush. He claims it is made in Venezuela with Iranian nuclear technology (canned laughter).

Apparently cement shortage is becoming a serious issue in the GCC Persian Gulf states. And apparently Saudi Arabia holds one key to the supply problem. Bahraini newspapers report that the Prime Minister (no less) of Bahrain has met with the Saudi Ambassador on this issue. Meanwhile, Kuwaiti media report that a caravan of trucks loaded with cement were prevented by Saudi border guards from crossing into Kuwait.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-06-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

In This Issue:
Iraq Resists US Treaty.
Bush and his court: what a nice bi-partisan guy.
Cardiac NBC.
Fed-speak on Inflation and Wages.
Chacun a son gout: love in Third World cities.

Iraq Resists US Treaty:
Fresh from a trip to Tehran and Qom, and visiting some Arab states, Nuri al-Maliki has finally opined what he thinks of the draft US-Iraq security deal (Bush-secret, no one outside gov’t yet knows details). He seems to agree with everybody else (except perhaps Iyad Allawi) that it is a bad deal for Iraq, including: Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Muqtada al-Sadr, Ahmad Chalabi, various Sunni groups including PM al-Hashimi, as well as many Arabs and Iran’s Khamenai, et al.
AL-Maliki said that the talks have reached a dead end and that the draft agreement Mr. Bush is intent on ramming down his throat violates Iraq’s sovereignty.

"Today Muqtada al-Sadr announced that a new "Special Group" will be formed from his al-Mahdi Army to resist the American Occupation".

Meanwhile, the US premier national security expert, the potential next LBJ, Senator John McCain, has not yet opined on the matter. He is AWOL on this matter, unless his Florida hope Joe Lieberman is opining for him.

So why is the US pressing for a deal that Iraqis apparently overwhelmingly oppose because it clearly not acceptable for a sovereign state? I have not yet seen one Iraqi opinion outside Kurdistan supporting it (Mr. Allawi has not spoken yet).
Who the hell is advising them? What are they thinking? The idiots are making sure that next resurgence of terrorism in Iraq will not only be Sunnis or Shi’as, but both. They need to go back to 1920 and the years after: read up some more of the history.

"The American-Iranian partnership in the New Regional Order." alHayat columnist.

"Huge forces begin widespread operations in al-Amarah, supported with air power. The goal is to eliminate al-Mahdi army fighters from the city."

What a nice bi-partisan guy:
"Mr. Bush said that he disagrees with the Supreme Court decision about the Guantanamo detainees, but that he will abide by the ruling".

Fedspeak on Inflation and Wages:
A couple of TV analysts noted this AM that the CPI has gone up about 4+% this year, but that wages have declined. They noted that the Fed thinks this is good for the economy, because higher prices for gas, food, and medical care have not reached wages yet.That means: the average worker is getting screwed, and that is why things aren’t as bad as we think!

The analysts (on CNBC) claimed that consumers are being made to worry by all the headlines about increased prices, that the headlines may cause them to worry about inflation, and they might actually demand higher wages, and that would be real inflationary and harm the economy!

So far, they inferred, they have not sought higher wages to match the increased living costs, and that is a good thing! They also agreed that a weaker economy (perhaps they meant higher unemployment?) helps keep wages down and limits inflation, and that is a good thing!
(This is not exactly what I was taught in graduate school, but then I have not agreed with many things I was taught in school, beginning with kindergarten and summer religious school (I quit after one month) all the way through college and graduate school).

These analysts did not elaborate on who it is good for. There seems to be some agreement among various analysts this past week that price inflation is good for the economy, as long as it is not transmitted to wages. I suspect they were focusing on the effect on stock prices rather than on the national economy.
Now, talking about real world economics…

Cardiac NBC:
"NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert has died." News Agencies.
What is the matter with NBC? Why are its best public figures dying? First David Bloom in Iraq, now Tim Russert in Washington.

Chacun a son gout- In Third World cities:
"A court in Singapore has sentenced a man to 18 lashes followed by 14 years in prison. This man was original, I think, if anything : he was convicted of sexually harassing women by sniffing their armpits."

An Egyptian court has refused to approve the marriage of a 92 year old Arab man to a female who is younger by 75 years which makes her 17 years old. Usually when Egyptian media says “an Arab man” it means a man from one of the Persian Gulf states. Egyptian media quotes the Ministry of Justice that they do not approve of age differentials over 25 years, and that they frown upon trafficking in women.

Cheers
Mohammed

2008-05-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

Arabs, Burmese, and A Tale of Two Cities

Tale of Two Cities:
Burma (a.k.a Myanmar) News: “The ruling military junta declared that it has won a 92.3% approval of the constitutional referendum in the second statge of the referendum held in areas devastated by the hurricanes. Voter participation was put at 93% from a total of 4.5 million voters.” Florida, eat your heart out.

Cairo, Egypt News: “The Egyptian People’s Assembly has approved a two year extension of the emergency laws that have been in place since 1981.” The emergency laws allow the government to arrest people for long periods without trial, and it allows civilians to be tried in military courts (so that is why they are called military courts). Human rights organizations claim that many people in Egypt are held for ten years or longer without a trial.

The emergency rule was started when Husni Mubarak became president in 1981. Imagine, many, many Egyptians have spent all their lives not knowing any state other than a state of emergency. It is like a life sentence- with hard labor since you have to look at the leader's visage every day of your life, several times.
Soon, most Egyptians will have known only emergency rule.
Meanwhile, the country is fast moving past second rate Mideast country, and fast becoming a third rate Mideast country...third rate in the Middle East! Not an easy accomplishment. It is now the most famous sidkick of Saudi Arabia.
Isn't it great to be a citizen of the moderate New Middle East?

A Royal Jordanian gem:
King Abdul II, de Jourdanie, has stated that continuation of the Arab-Israeli dispute hampers development in the Middle East. His majesty also opined that the region will continue to suffer instability as long as the Palestinian issue is not resolved. (Damn, he should be appointed head of the IBDRD).

Whip it good:
Saudi authorities are trying to force parties to legal disputes to attend court session for their cases. Apparently absences delay rulings and crowd the courts. Now absentees may get whipped, as in flogged, for their absence. Alarabiya reports that judges may get the permission to impose prison and flogging sentences on these people.

Oil Zakat but no Chevron:
A theological committee of al-Azhar University in Cairo has recommended that a tithe tax (zakat) of 20% be imposed on oil revenues of all Islamic oil producers. It notes that Islamic law allows for one fifth tax on all Moslems.
Soon all will be cleared up when a certain phone call is made from Riyadh to Cairo. The call could as well come from Tehran, or even from Caracas for that matter. This is something that would even agitate Hugo Chavez.

Lebanon haggle:
The Lebanese are now haggling over the new cabinet, which will not be headed by either Mr. Saniora or Mr. Hariri. Saniora is certain to be gone: Arab media report that opposition ministers refused to attend a lunch invitation by the PM, which is a good indication that he can’t be the PM.

Bush vs the Potentates: A falling out?
Some Arab regimes of the moderate New Middle East are openly pissed at President Bush because he actually, for once, did the right thing. He urged increased reform and democratization, criticizing some o them. It has probably finally dawned on him that the potentates are not Jeffersonian democrats (small ‘d’), and that was his parting shot before he left the region.
The potentates and their media, will full participation from their house intellectuals, are blasting Mr. Bush. The question of a US-Iran deal to partition the region is being bandied about in the Saudi media again (they do that whenever they are miffed at the administration, and this time they have added Israel and Syria as the two sidekicks).
Maybe he is just realizing, in the waning pre-Crawford days, that some of these guys have been taking him for a ride for several years now.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-05-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Tale of Two Cities:
Burma (a.k.a Myanmar) News: “The ruling military junta declared that it has won a 92.3% approval of the constitutional referendum in the second statge of the referendum held in areas devastated by the hurricanes. Voter participation was put at 93% from a total of 4.5 million voters.” Florida, eat your heart out.

Cairo, Egypt News: “The Egyptian People’s Assembly has approved a two year extension of the emergency laws that have been in place since 1981.” The emergency laws allow the government to arrest people for long periods without trial, and it allows civilians to be tried in military courts (so that is why they are called military courts). Human rights organizations claim that many people in Egypt are held for ten years or longer without a trial.

The emergency rule was started when Husni Mubarak became president in 1981. Imagine, many, many Egyptians have spent all their lives not knowing any state other than a state of emergency. It is like a life sentence- with hard labor since you have to look at the leader's visage every day of your life, several times.
Soon, most Egyptians will have known only emergency rule.
Isn't it great to be a citizen of the moderate New Middle East?

A Royal Jordanian gem:
King Abdul II, de Jourdanie, has stated that continuation of the Arab-Israeli dispute hampers development in the Middle East. His majesty also opined that the region will continue to suffer instability as long as the Palestinian issue is not resolved. (Damn, he should be appointed head of the IBDRD).

Whip it good:
Saudi authorities are trying to force parties to legal disputes to attend court session. Apparently absences delay rulings and crowd the courts. Now absentees may get whipped, as in flogged, for their absence. Alarabiya reports that judges may get the permission to impose prison and flogging sentences on these people.

Oil Zakat but no Chevron:
A theological committee of al-Azhar University in Cairo has recommended that a tithe tax (zakat) of 20% be imposed on oil revenues of all Islamic oil producers. It notes that Islamic law allows for one fifth tax on all Moslems.
Soon all will be cleared up when a certain phone call is made from Riyadh to Cairo. The call could as well come from Tehran, or even from Caracas for that matter. This is something that would even agitate Hugo Chavez.

Lebanon haggle:
The Lebanese are now haggling over the new cabinet, which will not be headed by either Mr. Saniora or Mr. Hariri. Saniora is certain to be gone: Arab media report that opposition ministers refused to attend a lunch invitation by the PM, which is a good indication that he can’t be the PM.

Bush vs the Potentates: A falling out?
Some Arab regimes of the moderate New Middle East are openly pissed at President Bush, because he actually, for once, did the right thing. He urged increased reform and democratization, criticizing some o them. It has probably dawned on him that the potentates are not Jeffersonian democrats (small ‘d’), and that was his parting shot before he left the region.
The potentates and their media, will full participation from their house intellectuals, are blasting Mr. Bush. The question of a US-Iran deal to partition the region is being bandied about in the Saudi media again (they do that whenever they are miffed at the administration and this time they have added Israel and Syria as the two sidekicks).
Maybe he is just realizing, in the waning pre-Crawford days, that some of these guys have been taking him for a ride for several years now.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-05-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Media Notes
Lebanon, Syria and Joe Lieberman:
"Lebanon: permanent solution or a temporary break?"
I say: temporary break. If not, then the Bush administration has been forced to accept a huge defeat in that country after Hizbullah and its allies got almost all what they had demanded. Something must be brewing somewhere: my Middle Eastern conspiracy-sensitive nose tells me that.
So, was Lebanon really lost this week? And how did Joe Lieberman allow that to happen? Can he reverse it if he ever fulfills his new ambition and becomes McCain's Secretary of State?

"Hariri: discussion of Hizbullah weapons was started 'effectively' at Doha." Ah-huh, sure it was 'discussed', but only effectively.

"Solution does not resolve the deep-rooted issues in Lebanon." Were they supposed to?

"Olmert willing to go far in concessions for Syria, provided it breaks with Iran and Hizbullah."

"The enemy insists that Syria break its relations with Iran and Hizbullah" al-Manar, Hizbullah TV.
'The enemy' is the term traditionally used by Arab media and leaders for Israel. It is being used much less now, as reality has set in and delusions have evaporated.

"Italy considers Hamas the source of all evil in the Middle East" Arab quote of an Italian official.

Wagging the dog: "Olmert needs a Syrian breakthrough to divert attention from his corruption investigation scandal."

Algeria: oil, poverty, and human rights:
"Algeria drowns in oil money while its people drown in povery. Oil revenues exceed $81 billion and 40% of the people are below poverty."
And they don't even have ten thousand princes and princelings to support! The forever-ruling FLN of president Bouteflika is not done with the country. There is a lot more screwing, or is that screwing up, to do.

"Algerian woman sentenced to 3 years in prison for converting to Christianity. Six others face prosecution (persecution) for converting without official permission."
So that is how it is done in the more enlightened parts of the moderate New Middle East, the ones with Condi Rice's famous birth pangs of the summer of 2006. Or maybe those were not birth pangs, just the noises made by the select ones who received the cluster bombs dropped exclusively on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

In fairness, I must also mention the Hizbullah rockets that rained on civilian homes across the border in Israel, although those bombs were more 'equal opportunity' missiles and were not as 'selective' as the cluster bombs north of the Lebanese border.

Egyptians against stupidity, especially from the top:
Alarabiya reports that some Egyptians have started a new political movement aimed at reducing the "high levels of stupidity" in their country. It staretd by attacking many stupid state policies that encourage stupidity in the whole population.

They note certain patterns of stupid behavior by the general population as well, such as:
Accepting riding in an extremely overcrowded bus, rather than wait for the next one. (maybe they are not sure the next will be any better)
Not taking the time to read and understand their legal rights, which makes them easy victims for police and other state agents.
It also blames opposition parties that do not plan carefully to mobilize the people against corruption.

The movement, Citizens Against Stupidity (CAS), plans conferences, symposiums, and marches in order to reduce the level of stupidity in government decisions and policies. It also plans to coordinate with other organizations lik Citizens Against Inflation (CAI).

No report yet about what President Mubarak and his son and cabinet think of all that. I suspect they will take it personally, given that stupidity starts at the top (that is, it is a matter of the brain).
Speaking of stupidity at the top: I better check on the date of the next summit of Arab leaders.

Speaking of which, and perhaps as an intro for the next item: the media report that an Egyptian butcher was arrested this week for selling the meat of sick pigs and sick ass (as in jackass) as beef.
"Economic fears unsettle Americans. They reduce their consumption
of fuels but their appetite for food remains undiminished."
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-05-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

Lebanon, Syria and Joe Lieberman:
"Lebanon: permanent solution or a temporary break?"
I say: temporary break. If not, then the Bush administration has been forced to accept a huge defeat in that country after Hizbullah and its allies got almost all what they had demanded. Something must be brewing somewhere: my Middle Eastern conspiracy-sensitive nose tells me that.
So, was Lebanon really lost this week? And how did Joe Lieberman allow that to happen? Can he reverse it if he ever fulfills his new ambition and becomes McCain's Secretary of State?

"Hariri: discussion of Hizbullah weapons was started 'effectively' at Doha." Ah-huh, sure it was 'discussed', but only effectively.

"Solution does not resolve the deep-rooted issues in Lebanon." Were they supposed to?

"Olmert willing to go far in concessions for Syria, provided it breaks with Iran and Hizbullah."

"The enemy insists that Syria break its relations with Iran and Hizbullah" al-Manar, Hizbullah TV
'the enemy' is the term traditionall6y used by Arab media and leaders for Israel. It is being used much less now, as reality has set in and delusions have evaporated.

"Italy considers Hamas the source of all evil in the Middle East" Arab quote of an Italian official.

Wagging the dog: "Olmert needs a Syrian breakthrough to divert attention from his corruption investigation scandal."

Algeria: oil, poverty, and human rights:
"Algeria drowns in oil money while its people drown in povery. Oil revenues exceed $81 billion and 40% of the people are below poverty."
And they don't even have ten thousand princes and princelings to support! The forever-ruling FLN of president Bouteflika is not done with the country. There is a lot more screwing, or is that screwing up, to do.

"Algerian woman sentenced to 3 years in prison for converting to Christianity. Six others face prosecution (persecution) for converting without official permission."
So that is how it is done in the more enlightened parts of the moderate New Middle East, the ones with Condi Rice's famous birth pangs of the summer of 2006. Or maybe those were not birth pangs, just the noises made by the select ones who received the cluster bombs dropped exclusively on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Egyptians against stupidity, especially from the top:
Alarabiya reports that some Egyptians have started a new political movement aimed at reducing the "high levels of stupidity" in their country. It staretd by attacking many stupid state policies that encourage stupidity in the whole population.

They note certain patterns of stupid behavior by the general population as well, such as:
Accepting riding in an extremely overcrowded bus, rather than wait for the next one. (maybe they are not sure the next will be any better)
Not taking the time to read and understand their legal rights, which makes them easy victims for police and other state agents.
It also blames opposition parties that do not plan carefully to mobilize the people against corruption.

The movement, Citizens Against Stupidity (CAS), plans conferences, symposiums, and marches in order to reduce the level of stupidity in government decisions and policies. It also plans to coordinate with other organizations lik Citizens Against Inflation (CAI).
No report yet about what President Mubarak and his son and cabinet think of all that. I suspect they will take it personally, given that stupidity starts at the top, that is, it is a matter of the brain.
Speaking of stupidity at the top, when is the next summit of Arab leaders?

Speaking of which, and perhaps as an intro for the next item: the media report that an Egyptian butcher was arrested this week for selling pig meat and ass meat (as in jackass) as beef.
"Economic fears unsettle Americans. They reduce their consumtion
of fuels but their appetite for food remains undiminished."
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-05-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

Bush visits, oil prices spike again:
Re: my maligned theory of causality between Bush-Cheney Middle East visits and crude oil prices.
Mr. Bush arrived in Saudi Arabia last week, but oil prices preceded him, upward. They moved up when he was en route and they moved up more after his arrival. With each visit, both Mr. Bush and King Abdullah, as well as a gaggle of princes, get richer. The American consumer ends up paying even more for his gasoline and for his heating gas.
And they said he is there to try and reduce crude prices. If he really wants to limit prices, he should stay put in Washington- or, better yet, go back to the ranch in Crawford.

Interesting how about a year ago a Saudi adviser threatened that his country could drown the world in oil and cut prices by half (that was when prices were close to $50-60 per barrel). The idea was that they can hurt the Iranian regime and weaken its influence in Iraq. At the time I suggested that would also hurt the Saudi regime, as they have high unemployment and need a large budget to keep their people happy. Not to mention the adverse effect on the lifestyles of the thousands of princcelings. I was right, n' est-ce pas? Oh, and that adviser was fired quickly, never to be heard from again.

Arab Media Headline Summary:
"The defeat of Hizbullah." (this is a gem, a classic doublespeak from the editor of the Saudi daily asharq alawsat.
"The legend of Hizbullah is finished."
"The leader of Hizbullah is finished."
"Eisenhower reaches Berlin. Eisenhower is finished!" That would be an equivalent 1945 headline in a German daily.

"Bush in Saudia to sign four accords about nuclear energy and protection of oil facilities."

"Hizbullah 'coup' is part of a new Middle East regional system of Iranian hegemony."

"Current Lebanese crisis has further marginalized the Christians."(That is because the Saudi media now dominating the New Middle East did its best to make the complex Lebanese political feud into a sectarian Shi'a-Sunni issue, thus marginalizing the Christians, about half of whom are allies of Hizbullah).

"Jumblatt: what happened is like a summer cloud, it will soon clear up. Concessions are needed." Now what is he up to???

"A new power equation in Lebanon that favors Hizbullah."

"Th great Iranian victory in Lebanon: our congratulations and condolences."

"Lebanon, in the State of Iran."

"The Lebanese crisis in its explosive sectarian phase."

"Washington has reservations on the solution reached to the Lebanese crisis."

"Arab solution: General Suleiman as president, and negotiations over the government."

"The Arab mediators need to return things to the way they were before May 8th." almustaqbal, the Hariri newspaper. (And how does one return all the toothpaste back into the tube? Oh, little silky one?)

"Bush celebrates the anniversary of the 'rape' of Palestine in Israel." Bahrain's Akhbar alkhaleej.

"A London restaurant offers its clients fish slaughtered according to Islamic Shri'a." So, now we have kosher fish.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-05-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

(This entry is from my other web site)

Le Mufti

Mr. Bush and oil prices:
Mr. Bush is heading to the Middle East again! Which means, if past history of such visits is any indication, that oil prices will start rising. Over the past two yeas at least, every time Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney visited the region oil prices moved up at the end of their visit. This time oil prices spiked up before the visit, as soon as it was announced. The visit was partially discounted by the market. Today it moved up and I expect a brief pullback while he is enroute or on the first day of the trip, perhaps tomorrow or the day after. After that, some time over the next week, look out, it will rise again! The veto-proof Congressional vote today about replenishing the Strategic Reserve may help.

A Mufti has an epiphany, squeals:
In the Arab countries, in fact in almost all Moslem countries, there is someone called a Mufti. he issues religious edict that get a lot of publicity. A Mufti, however, is in fact no more than a religious bureaucrat appointed by the ruler (king, emir, president-for-life, etc.). He always issues edicts that agree with whatever the current ruler's policies are. I do not recall a mufti ever issuing an edict criticizing the government, or disagreeing with its policies. A mufti's job is to support and justify the ruler's actions.

Today the Mufti of Saudi Arabia (the dapper bearded gentleman in the photo above) issued a fatwa, a religious edict during a lecture that Hizbullah does not belong to Islam. He did not explain how he came upon such information, or when he had the epiphany. (In fact the mufti never believed that Shi'as of any stripe belong to Islam).

He said that Hizbullah cooperates with the "Jews", and that it prepares the ground for the entry of Jews and other heathens into the land of Islam.

The Mufti is Shaikh Abdulaziz al-Shaikh, his last name indicating that he is a descendant of Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab the founder of the Wahhabism, the very same ideology that has given us the Salafis, al-Qaeda, Taliban, al-Zarqawi and UBL. He is not to be confused with the great Mohammed Abdelwahab, the late great Egyptian composer and singer who was not a Wahhabi and had nothing with such fundamentalist ideology, as far as I know.

Comments on Lebanon:
My version: The Lebanese are probably the biggest idiots in the Arab world, no mean feat. Every generation or so their warlords start another civil war for which they invariably blame outsiders. They may be right this time: part of the blame lies with the regional and foreign backers of BOTH sides.

Elaph (Saudi) agonizes over "How the Hariri militias collapsed within hours?". It headlines that "fighters assert their leaders betrayed them." It quotes the LA Times that Mr. Hariri depended on hired mercenaries from a specialized company to fight his battles for him. It notes that they surrendered quickly to Hizbullah fighters who truned them over to the Lebanese army. So much for motivation.

Others note that the cabinet will agree to a deal whereby it rescinds its decision about the airport security chief and Hizbullah cimmunications, and the Hizbullah will end the civil disobedience. Probably a non-starter. Most likely Hariri and Co. will agree with the army and rescind the cabinet decisions unilaterally.

Asharq alawsat (Saudi) agonizes over the neutrality of the Lebanese Army: "What a starnge Army!" an article headlines (To which I say: relax, it is only a typical Arab army). Except that the Lebanese Army must remain neutral, otherwise it won't be a "Lebanese army", it would break up into its factions and sects. Maybe this is what they want for it.

The Saudi al-watan editorial warns that "Time is not on our side. It is on the side of al-Qaeda and Hizbullah." Except that al-Qaeda is not related to Hizbullah: it is closer to the editor and his bosses than to Hizbullah.

Mamoun Fandy, who is close to the Saudis and is with one of the "think" tanks in Washington, writes in a Kuwaiti daily (aljareeda) warning against an "Iranian Lobby" in Egypt. Now I have heard everything: an Iranian lobby in Egypt! This is like warning of an Obama lobby in West Virginia. He reminds me of the man at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft years ago: he carried a sign that said "The End is Near".

A Jordanian writer who lives in the US has a cute take on events: the battles and the defeat of the Saniora-Hariri were part of a trap set for Hiizbullah, and it fell for it! De Nial is a river in Egypt!

Both Mr. Bush and the Lebanese leaders get some severe criticism. There are hints in the media of the moderate New Middle East (with all the birth pangs) that the rump-cabinet was betrayed by its foreign (and Arab?) friends. That they were encouraged to challenge Hizbullah and were not supported when it foolishly did so.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-05-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Mufti

(This is reproduced from my other web site of last night: www.ArabiaDeserta.com):
Mr. Bush and oil prices:
Mr. Bush is heading to the Middle East again! Which means, if past history of such visits is any indication, that oil prices will start rising. Over the past two yeas at least, every time Mr. Bush or Mr. Chebey visited the region oil prices moved up at the end of their visit. This time oil prices spiked up before the visit, as soon as it was announced. The visit was partially discounted by the market. Today it moved up and I expect a brief pullback while he is enroute or on the first day of the trip, perhaps tomorrow or the day after. After that, some time over the next week, look out, it will rise again! The veto-proof Congressional vote today about replenishing the Strategic Reserve may help.

A Mufti has an epiphany, squeals:
In the Arab countries, in fact in almost all Moslem countries, there is someone called a Mufti. he issues religious edict that get a lot of publicity. A Mufti, however, is in fact no more than a religious bureaucrat appointed by the ruler (king, emir, president-for-life, etc.). He always issues edicts that agree with whatever the current ruler's policies are. I do not recall a mufti ever issuing an edict criticizing the government, or disagreeing with its policies. A mufti's job is to support and justify the ruler's actions.

Today the Mufti of Saudi Arabia (the dapper bearded gentleman in the photo above) issued a fatwa, a religious edict during a lecture that Hizbullah does not belong to Islam. He did not explain how he came upon such information, or when he had the epiphany. (In fact the mufti never believed that Shi'as of any stripe belong to Islam).

He said that Hizbullah cooperates with the "Jews", and that it prepares the ground for the entry of Jews and other heathens into the land of Islam.

The Mufti is Shaikh Abdulaziz al-Shaikh, his last name indicating that he is a descendant of Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab the founder of the Wahhabism, the very same ideology that has given us the Salafis, al-Qaeda, Taliban, al-Zarqawi and UBL. He is not to be confused with the great Mohammed Abdelwahab, the late great Egyptian composer and singer who was not a Wahhabi and had nothing with such fundamentalist ideology, as far as I know.

Comments on Lebanon:
My version: The Lebanese are probably the biggest idiots in the Arab world, no mean feat. Every generation or so their warlords start another civil war for which they invariably blame outsiders. They may be right this time: part of the blame lies with the regional and foreign backers of BOTH sides.

Elaph (Saudi) agonizes over "How the Hariri militias collapsed within hours?". It headlines that "fighters assert their leaders betrayed them." It quotes the LA Times that Mr. Hariri depended on hired mercenaries from a specialized company to fight his battles for him. It notes that they surrendered quickly to Hizbullah fighters who truned them over to the Lebanese army. So much for motivation.

Others note that the cabinet will agree to a deal whereby it rescinds its decision about the airport security chief and Hizbullah cimmunications, and the Hizbullah will end the civil disobedience. Probably a non-starter. Most likely Hariri and Co. will agree with the army and rescind the cabinet decisions unilaterally.

Asharq alawsat (Saudi) agonizes over the neutrality of the Lebanese Army: "What a starnge Army!" an article headlines (To which I say: relax, it is only a typical Arab army). Except that the Lebanese Army must remain neutral, otherwise it won't be a "Lebanese army", it would break up into its factions and sects. Maybe this is what they want for it.

The Saudi al-watan editorial warns that "Time is not on our side. It is on the side of al-Qaeda and Hizbullah." Except that al-Qaeda is not related to Hizbullah: it is closer to the editor and his bosses than to Hizbullah.

Mamoun Fandy, who is close to the Saudis and is with one of the "think" tanks in Washington, writes in a Kuwaiti daily (aljareeda) warning against an "Iranian Lobby" in Egypt. Now I have heard everything: an Iranian lobby in Egypt! This is like warning of an Obama lobby in West Virginia. He reminds me of the man at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft years ago: he carried a sign that said "The End is Near".

A Jordanian writer who lives in the US, a Mr. al-Nabulsi, has a cute take on events: the battles and the defeat of the Saniora-Hariri were part of a trap set for Hiizbullah, and it fell for it! De Nial is a river in Egypt- n'est-ce pas?!

Both Mr. Bush and the Lebanese leaders get some severe criticism. There are hints in the media of the moderate New Middle East (with all the birth pangs) that the rump-cabinet was betrayed by its foreign (and Arab?) friends. That they were encouraged to challenge Hizbullah and were not supported when it foolishly did so.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-05-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

The pro-Saudi rump cabinet of Lebanon has suffered a stinging political and military defeat this week. It was an unnecessary defeat that they walked into through blunder. Or perhaps they were trapped into it by the mouth of Walid Jumblatt, their Druze warlord ally. A good measure of the defeat is the reaction of their financiers and friends in the region to recent events in Beirut:

A pissed-off Asharq alawsat, mouthpiece of Saudi Prince Salman, said today that there are two sides in Lebanon: thugs and "respectable" ones, armed ones and civilians, outlaws and those who are law-abiding.

Even the somnolent President Husni Mubarak of Egypt (80 years this week) awoke from his long nap to assert that he will not allow a force supported by Iran to dominate Lebanon. President Mugabe Mubarak them went back to his 27 year old nap.

Aalquds alarabi notes that when Messrs Saniora, Hariri, and Jumblatt, find themselves trapped in their headquarters, this is a clear indication of where the balance of power in Lebanon lies. It specualtes that perhaps the American-Saudi-Israeli axis forced this issue in order to show Hizbullah as a militia that would use its force not just against the Israelis, but also against fellow Lebanese. In fact reaction in some Saudi media outlets seem to support this point of view.

It looks like the Lebanese cabinet, what is left of it, has just lost a battle of nerves, wills, and arms with the oppposition led by Hizbullah. Mr. Hariri, the real leader of the pro-government and Saudi Arabia's man in Beirut, called on the army to arbitrate. The army did just that yesterday: it rescinded the cabinet decision to fire the chief of airport security and to dimantle the Hizbullah communications network.

It is not clear why the cabinet took its earlier decision, right after Druze warlord Jumblatt unexpectedly called for such measures. Speculation is that the rump-cabinet was promised support, otherwise it would not have the guts to act on its own in such a provocative way. Presumably, some Arab media hint, it was encouraged by its Saudi-American paymasters.

Mr. Hariri returned recently from somewhere outside of Lebanon, materializing right before the crisis. He owns homes in Saudi Arabia and Paris, among other places. He was doing a Muqtada (as in al-Sadr) by vanishing among his foreign and regional friends in times of crisis. This time, after Hizbullah routed the militias of the rump-cabinet, the neutral Lebanese army has spoken, and it has handed the pro-cabinet forces a stinging political defeat to match their military defeat.

al-Manar TV, mouthpiece of Hizbullah, claims that Hariri returned with strong Saudi prmises of support. It also claims that the Bush administration has promised to increase pressure on the Syrian regime through massing naval forces and bringing up the issue of a possible nuclear program. It also reports that Hariri has sent a delegation including 11 Shi'as to Washington, with the goal of proving to Congressmen that all Lebanese Shi'as do not support Hizbullah. Now we know that at least 11 of them do not.

The pro-cabinet media charges that Iran is trying too reach the Mediterranean through Lebanon. The opposition charges that the Saudis are trying to extend their influence to the shores of the Mediteranean through Mr. Hariri and Mr. Saniora in Lebanon. Both are partly right and they know it. The situation in Lebanon is more complex than the mere Shi'a-Sunni and Iranian-American conflict. At least half of Lebanon's Christians are siding with Hizbullah and Amal, as do some prominent Sunnis. even though the Saudi media tries hard to make it into a sectarian conflict and sharpen the lines.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-05-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

(This entry is from my web site):
The Rice and Bush Oil Effect:
Crude prices passed $122 this morning, which proves my theory of a strong causality between the movements of Air Forces One & Two and oil prices. Anyone remember my often stated theory that oil prices are directly related to visits by high US officials to the Middle East? How visits by President Bush and Mr Cheney are immediately followed by crude price hikes? Now we can add Condi Rice to the list of oil price movers.
Only last week there was serious talk of oil going down below $100, perhaps back to $80 or less, the wild Nigerian guerrillas and striking oil workers nontwithstanding. The bullish predictions of Professor Economides were pooh poohed by market 'analysts', even though he has been right more often than most of them.
Then it was announced that Secretary Rice is going to the Mddle East in order to, get this, prepare the ground for yet ANOTHR Bush visit. I was out of town two days ago and missed the implications. I missed the spike in prices that followed the next day. I could kick myself for missing the sure signals to make some money, if I could, that is.

It looks like Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and Ms. Rice will manage to keep oil prices robust for the rest of their term. Now, if Cheney has Halliburton holdings in some kind of a lockbox, then the lockbox will be unlocked come January and, voila! It sure beats having bought property in California’s Inland Empire or along Florida’s geriatric strip. And if there is to be a third Bush term under John McCain...

A Long Hot Summer:
Things are heating up in the old and New Middle East. It looks like like it is possible to have more of Condi Rice’s famous bang-bang birth pangs before the end of the year, either in Iraq, Iran, or over Lebanon.

In Lebanon, the frustrated rump cabinet (of part of Beirut) has transferred the general who is chief of airport security for being too soft on Hizbullah. The rump cabinet accused Hizbullah of operating its own communications systm (is that like Verizon?) and installing spy cameras around the airport. Imagine, spying on your political, and potential military, rivals. What is Lebanon coming to.

The issue came to head after Druze warlord Jumblatt was assigned the role of raising it noisily as is his style, and he called for removal of the airport security chief. The opposition, including Hizbullah, retorted that this is part of a plan to internationalise Beirut Airport and its surroundings and place them under foreign control. I am not sure what foreign country will want to place its troops anywhere near Beirut airport, even if they are under UN command. The area had a tragic history during the 1980s. Lebanese alliances are notoriously unstable and treacherous- just look at General Oun and Waleed Jumblatt.
Hizbullah has rejected the charges and refuses to dismantle its communications network. The cabinet considers the network as impinging on its authority, but the opposition does not recognize that authority. This network has been talked about in the media of the moderate New Middle East for over a year now, which means that something may be brewing for the summer.

Of course the selection of a Lebanese president has been postponed again. With the economy moving along as it is doing, does anybody other than the rival warlords really care? It may get postponed indefinitely, until either the Second Coming or until the Mahdi reappears, whichever comes first.

Iran is back in the crosshairs, this time for both the nuclear issue and for things it may be doing in Iraq against US soldiers with its devices. The question of who will “take out” the mullahs is being bandied about in some Gulf newspapers. Some newspapers seem to think that once the United States, or Israel, bomb some sites in Iran, probably the worng sites, then everything will be just fine on the shores of our Gulf: all the potentates will hold hands and sing Kumbaya forever.
But wasn’t that what we thought when Saddam was in the crosshairs? And years before that when the earlier mullahs were in Saddam's crosshairs? And years before that when the shah was in Khomeini's crosshairs? As Pete Seeger said "Oh, when will they ever learn"?

Family Awards and Blue-Collar Kings
This has been a month of more awards in the Arab world.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has received the Abu Bakr Award (Abu-Bakr, the Second Caliph, no less) of the first class from the Arab Organization for the Red Crescent and Red Cross. This was in appreciation of his humanitarian efforts. This is the third or fourth award his majesty has received so far this year. And how many has Bush received? For that matter: how many did Mother Teresa receive?

Princess al-Jawhara (the Jewel, or is it the Gem) has received an ward from the King of Bahrain for aiding (and abetting?) the Arabian Gulf University and establishing a medical research center.

The one award that was not within the family was largely ignored by the local press. It was given to a Saudi human rights activist, an independent one not of those sanctioned and appointed by the rulers. He is A. al-Lahim and the award is from the American Bar Association. But he won’t have a gaggle of princes to fete him. He is banned from traveling and has been disbarred to boot. So, no schnapps at the zwolf-apostelkeller for him next July, that is if he is so inclined.

Mr. al-Lahim was gracious enough to state that the award is a crowning achievement for human rights in his country. He may yet get to Vienna, but only with a “magnanimous” kingly decision (that is, a decision by the king). Arab potentates love doing this type of theatrics: at the last minute they pardon someone who was never guilty. They can teach Hillary Clinton a few things about public politicking- but she has them beat in one respect:they can never claim to come from blue-collar roots. Whatever color they are, they are not blue.
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-05-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

The Martian, Iraq, and Iran:
Is the war in Iraq still going on? Or has the mission been finally accomplished? That may be the impression a proverbial Martian would get from watching cable news channels: Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc.
(Of course if he watched Fox News every day, he would wonder if it is not about time to start a new overdue war with some place called Iran, which confuses him).

The Martian and Polygamy:
He, the Martian, or she the Martianette would think that a retired black pastor with a small moustache and a smirk for the deserving cable TV cameras is the main problem facing the planet Earth.
Had the Martian landed last week, he would have thought that a desert compound for a polygamist sect was the main problem facing the planet Earth. He would note with amusement the location of the compound in a place called Texas eerily resembling some of the arid lands near Valles Marineris.
He hears that this Texas place is supposed to be renowned for its steers and beers, among other things. He is surprised that they are still not sure who won in the elections in Texas, but he thinks it funny that people in another place called Florida do not seem able to organize a smooth vote.

Hill, Bill, cojones and chest hair:
A labor official pushed Hillary Clinton's candidacy today by stating that the country needs a president with "testicular fortitude" a.k.a balls, cojones. In that case perhaps Mrs. Clintoin can enjoy the benefits of a good niche Lebanese film called "Caramel". The film evolves around women in a salon that specializes in hair removal: they use the sweet sticky brown stuff and they munch on it. But the film is almost a chick flick, which may be dangerous territory for the recently macho New York Senator. It certainly will not put any hair on her chest.
No, Rocky Balboa never made it to that salon in Beirut, but maybe Rambo did, which puts it right up the alley of the self-annointed obliteratrix.

The Martian and Democrats:
Somewhere in between these two weeks, the Martian would have thought that the whole planet was concerned with the strenuous efforts of an affable white-haired man, elegantly dressed, in offering up his wife who apparently likes to wear pantsuits. He would not know what he is offering her for. Is she for sale? Is she offered as a sacrificial non-virgin for some peculiar god? Is he trying to get rid of her in order to buy a new wife?

He would hear about someone named Obama and hear questions about whether he has distanced himself enough from something or someone named 'the reverend'. He would conclude that this Obama is some sort of evil spirit that threatens the planet. That is, if Martians believe in evil spirits.

He would hear the same reports and the same mantra repeated all days, for many days, and he wonders why. Then it dawns on him that perhaps these Earth people are either natural slow learners, or perhaps the news anchor people are as dumb as those distant Mercurians he had met. He notes that some of them, including a loud famous radio commentator, pride themselves on coming from a place called the "show me state", which reinforces his conviction that they are too dull to imagine, and that they need to be shown everything.

The Martian would also wonder about some unseen super-creatures so powerful that he cannot imagine what they look like. Creatures that apparently no ordinary human can see, let alone a humble Martian. Creatures only whispered about in the repetitive cable TV newsrooms and in the other corridors of power. And he would wonder: who the hell are these super-delegates?

Cheers
Mohammed

2008-04-21T08:25:00.000-07:00

Nimium Papa: Is the Pope Arab?
Embedded Military Experts, Muqtada, and Hillary's Blank Cheque.
Oddest new regulation: Extreme Red Light laws on the Gulf.

Nimium Papa:
The Pope is a good person. I am sure the last three Popes, at least, were all good, nice people. Things get a little murky as we move away beyond those three or four latest ones. Other Popes way back in history werre not so nice, especially the Borgia Pope Alexander the nth- according to Mario Puzo anyway. In fairness, the history of Islamic top banansa has not been any better over the centuries, most have died violently or suspiciously prematurely. I am not sure about the Jews: perhaps they were kept too busy over the past two millennia to develop an omnipotent and rapacious hierarchy like the two latecomers.

The Pope deserves a lot of attention on his US visit, since it is a rare visit, mercie a dieu, Gott sie dank!

But I can't turn on any news channel today without seeing His Holiness, or mediaheads parsing his every word as if he is running for the Democratic nomination. This place has looked, at least on TV, as fundamentalist as my homeland on the Gulf. It reminds me of the ubiquitous kings and presidents of the Arab world, those potentates whose every move is broadcast on state TV evey day. (Hey, he did reduce TV time for the Texas polygamists, which is not a bad thing).

The good news is that he will be gone in a few hours. The Arab kings and dictators, unfortunately, will be on television, haunting their peoples, boring them to death each and every day.

Embedded Military Experts, Muqtada, and Hillary's Blank Cheque:
Finally we learn that all those retired generals and colonels embedded with the cable news networks as experts are moles, planted by the administration to push its foreign policy, especially about Iraq and Iran. The exception may be the Fox News fair 'n balanced military "experts".

Muqtada al-Sadr is threatening all out our if his Mahdi militia are not left alone and US-Iraqi assaults on their areas not ended.

Hillary Clinton is doing anything she can to look macho, short of growing a moustache. She has just issued a blank cheque covering all moderate New Middle East countries, which on the face of it is welcome news to the countries concerned. But it complicates things in the region. Still, she will never out-McCain McCain.

Senator McCain says he will act "quickly and decisively" on the economy. How? Ba, ba, ba, bomb inflation...
He also said that "time for partisan debate in the United Sttes is over". I wasn't aware that the elections were over.

In case anybody has noticed: the Lebanese have not yet agreed on selecting a new president, not that it matters anymore. The country may be functioning better than a few months, or even a year ago. Perhaps all Arab states should pack their heads of state to a vacation somewhere in Europe, to their London or PAris mansions, and try to get along a la Rodney King?

Oddest new regulation: In one Gulf state, the Ministry of Interior (in charge of police and immigration) has ruled that all foreigners who drive through a red traffic light will be deported. The first two "victims" were Syrians.
Queston: what happens if a Saudi or an Egyptian runs a red light? What if it is a citizen mof the country? Will he be shot?
Cheers
Mohammed

2008-04-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

Oil Prices and Politicians:
Oil prices keep rising, days after Vice President Cheney departed the Middle East. Was my (direct) causality pop-analysis correct ? It is correct as far as it goes: oil prices HAVE risen for some time after each visit by Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney. Not sure about the (statistical) significance, though. There are dips, but the trend ratchets upward. When Cheny left, crude sold for about $100, today it is above $108.

Iraqi Game of Chicken:
News reports that Iraq's al-Maliki has given Muqtada al-Sadr and his followers an ultimatum to lay down their arms. Fine, but should he not also give a similar ultimatum to the equally bloody various armed Sunni militias of the Awakening Councils? Especially in view of the fact that they recognize his government even less than the Sadrists do.
AL-Maliki also threatened today to prevent al-Sadr and his followers from participating in the political process if they do not disarm. Did he just give a hint to one major reason behind the abrupt Basra campaign that was aborted? Are the October provincial elections involved as some have hinted?
It is not clear whether he has the "constitutional" right to do that, or if he is just reverting to Iraq's past and doing it a l'Arab. Th Sadrists today rejected the ultimatum.

Egyptians Restless, Finally:
Egypt's rulers have mobilized the security forces to prevent a national strike for one day. The streets of Cairo saw something they have not seen in many years, Egyptians protesting and resisting. I knew that the stoic Egyptians patience had limits, somewhere. People wrre on the streets, but so were the goons of the regime.

Meanwhile, the Number Two moderate country of the New Middle East has disqualified several thousand candidates of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, leaving only about 20 to run, according to Arab press reports. This looks suspiciously close to the disqualification tactics of the mullahs in Iran. (For those who don't know: Saudi Arabia is the Number One country of the New Middle East, but they have no election problems, none whatsoever. By that standard, Saudi Arabia is by far more of a Number Two in this case). The Brotherhood, the main opposition party, decided to stop playing in this charade and boycot the upcoming "selections".

Egyptians are hungry and desperate, the vast majority of them. Many of them are probably fed up with the prospect of having President Mubarak (80 years and in power for 27 years) with them for the rest of their lives in the person of his son Gamal, his Dauphin.

Two Tales of One City:
Speaking of Egypt and hunger: a daily columnist in the al-watan daily, published in Kuwait, yesterday covered the crisis in Egypt by recalling a recent visit to Alexandria with some potentate. He wrote with relish that they devoured pounds of fresh shrimp and calamari, as well as several lobsters each, among other exotic seafoods such as cioppino and grilled fishes. In view of the Egyptian protests about the price and scarcity of bread, he noted that the restaurant had its own bakery. The total bill came to about US $200- which is reasonable as far as that goes. Presumaby the man tactfully left out the wine bill.
He was probably trying to tell us about how good life can be in the New Middle East.

Demographics, Sectarianism and Lies in Bahrain:
Shi''a activists and politicians in Bahrain have been complaining that the government (controlled by Sunnis) has been issuing national identity to foreigners from such places as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Jordan. The goal is to chnage the demogrphics of a country that is over 70% Shi'as, but whose economy and politics are dominated by ruling Sunnis.
The Bahrain government has continuously denied the charge. Some Shi'a parliamentarians have tried to question the relevant ministers, and to force votes of no confidence in them, but pro-government and Salafi members have managed to prevent that, so far.
Bahrain's rulers deny that any discrimination exists against its Shi'a majority, and have steadfastly refused to take measures to redress their grievances. Bahrain is too small for its resources to be shared by all its people.

The Economist noted this last weekend that the population of Bahrain has been increasing at an annual average rate of about 2.4%. Then, it noted, that total population jumped by 41% last year, and that the number of citizens increased by 15%. Fifteen percent! Which has made the down-trodden Shi'as go ballistic.
Still, the government of Bahrain continues to deny the charges.

Arabian Chuzpah:
An article in an Arab newspaper criticizes Raul Castro of Cuba for lack of freedoms in his country. It is a simple question of which kettle is blacker. But i think I know the reasom for this focus on Cuba. It is a symbolic call for freedom, but not in Cuba. The writer does not want to step on any local toes, so old Raul comes in handy.
Cheers
Mohammed