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Thomas Friedman, Dell's theory of Conflict Prevention and development of peace in the Middle East starting with Iraq
Thomas Friedman in his book "The World is Flat" discusses Dell's theory of Conflict Prevention. In its essence the theory suggests that countries with mutual economical dependency and benefits through free market economy would not resort to wars if the heat of political or religious confrontation arises. He takes China and Taiwan as two countries that developed mutual economical benefits through Hi Tech western investments in both countries. Everyone knows that the conflict is about the China's claim of Taiwan and Taiwan's claim for independence. Dell's has invested billions of dollars in hi tech manufacturing components in both countries and that has generated mutual economical dependency and subsequently prevented catastrophic wars.
I think the model can be implemented in the Middle East to create the peace we all wants starting with Iraq as the first fledging democracy where western investments can be injected followed by further investment in neighbouring countries to generate mutual economical dependency and benefits.
To some this proposal may seem simplistic but it can happen as it did happen in China and Taiwan.
Thursday, 25 December 2008
Thomas Friedman, Conflict Prevention and Peace in Middle East and Iraq
Thomas Friedman, Dell's theory of Conflict Prevention and development of peace in the Middle East starting with Iraq
Posted by Al & Albert at 12:09 0 comments Links to this post
Monday, 22 December 2008
Muntazer al-Zaidi, shoe throwing and Mr Bush
Muntazer al-Zaidi has chosen to deny the fact that Iraq is much better place than Saddam's times. He vented his anger by throwing his shoes at Mr Bush. His anger is a clear manisfestation of the sense of shame attached to been liberated by foreign forces from a horrible dictatorial and savage grip.
This act is a good representation of tribal people's inability to express their emotions in a form of language or articulate them more effectively or the inability for better emotional expressions, subsequently they resort to throwing shoes, violent acts, hysteric episodes...etc.
As someone from that part of the world, I know how such defecit (the inability of effective emotional expression) hampers and delays our emotional development and subsequently our rational thoughts. It also makes children feeling inferior for all times to come.
The other side of coin is that this event is a great representation of the sense of security Iraqis now feeling when it comes act of defiance that isn't violent.
Finally, I don't think a 15 years sentence should be imposed, this man should be freed as soon as possible or perhaps fined or sentenced to a community services penalty rather than trying to intimidate the rest of Iraqis for protesting in this manner.
Posted by Al & Albert at 02:28 0 comments Links to this post
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Gun fights among Hamas, PLO and a powerful family
Today's clash or I should say gun fights among Palestinians (i.e. Hamas, PLO and Halas family) is good evidence Palestinians' inability to tolerate each other and incapable of working with each other for the common good of all Palestinians. My question to Arabs and Muslims in general and Palestinians in particular is quite simple, why differences among Arabs and Muslims are usually dealt with by violent means? Contrary to that their neighbours the "horrible" Israelis though differ in their views don't pull guns and fight to resolve a conflict.
Relating to the above my ultimate fear is that Iraqis may fail to develop democracy in Iraq due to similar inability to tolerate each other and fail to resolve difficult situations by peaceful means unless they become acutely aware of the fact that negotiation is a better option for every Iraqi.
Posted by Al & Albert at 11:53 0 comments Links to this post
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Sawah Abu Saif tortured by Hamas, why?
An Arab journalist, by the name Sawah Abu Saif, working for a German newspaper was detained and tortured by Hamas gangs claiming he is a spy for Fatah. This spying business is a disease plagued the Arab world for decades and has to be exposed.
Any Arab who may disagree or not committing himself to blind loyalty to an Arab tribe or a religious sect and dares to speak the truth about the inhumane treatment of others is normally accused of spying and espionage by whoever in power. Hamas or other radical Arab and Muslim group may detain westerners but surely will not torture them, but if the detained person is an Arab or an Arab by origin then he had it.
There is a similar parallel of mistreatment of Arabs or naturalised Arabs when visiting another arab country. When you get to passport control of an Arab country and the passport control officer learns from your name or by other means that you are an Arab then delays, demanding bribes, and threatening gestures is what you get. I lived such experience when visiting Egypt. In my first visit I pretended that I do not speak Arabic therefore was no delay but in my next visit I spoke Arabic then demand for bribes and delays was evident. A westerner will never be treated the same way.
Posted by Al & Albert at 23:17 0 comments Links to this post
Al Bashir president of Sudan and crimes against humanity
Asking for the head of Omar Al Bashir the president of Sudan by the international court of crimes against humanity is a model that requires extension to become the norm in global policies against genocides or ethnic cleansing, political and religious dictatorial regimes, and other systems of the similar calibre of brutality. The court should be given real judiciary and military power to arrest presidents, prime ministers…etc of oppressive regimes and giving them sentences that even range from few months to life sentences. This idea may sound a bit cynical for its suggestion to arrest head of states or members of states involved in oppressing or the killing of their own people, but the new 21st century realities demands the total elimination of dictatorial and brutal regimes hiding behind the concept of sovereignty. Mugabe is another example who should be sent to this court to be tried.
Posted by Al & Albert at 12:20 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Iraqi oil industry infrastructure
Iraq has decided to open up its oil industry's infrastructure for renovation by outside companies; companies who develop United Arab Emirates from a desert into a country that can be one of the biggest financial centres in the Middle East and Asia and that was within 25 years.
This very courageous move is going to detach Iraq from the stupidity of Arabs nationalistic politics and the simplistic idea of foreign companies steals Iraqi oil wealth; let these companies steal the Iraq oil if that takes Iraq to where the United Arab Emirates has reached now.
Currently oil price is quite high and Iraq can benefit from that by exporting 6 millions barrel a day in the next 10 years. This is what Iraq needs.
Globalisation has a great impact on nations like Iraq where Gordon Brown's recent proposal of countries like Iraq can invest into British renewable energy industries and Britain and other western nations can invest in developing better oil industry's infrastructure. This is called innovation and not stealing, this is called 21st century business deals, this is called old colonial practices cannot be practised in 21st century, this called the best way forward for Iraq to disentangle itself from the rest of the Arab defective politics and develop independent of them.
Although I disagree with ideology of party leading the current Iraqi government, I endorse its proactive move to develop Iraq's oil industry infrastructure and snubbing all Arab nationalism's nonsensical voices and focus on how their ancestors the Babylonians build the Tower of Babylon and the infinite library of Babylon.
Posted by Al & Albert at 08:07 0 comments Links to this post
Iran accuses Ashtari of spying for Israel
Iran has taken another victim accused of spying for Israel. Ashtari is a businessman who is sentenced to death by one of those brutal revolutionary courts normally headed by a bloodthirsty Mullahs such as the early eighties judge called larijani whose victims' blood still on his hands.
There is a pattern in all of this business of spying for foreign agencies or Israel where all dictatorships share. When dictatorships get cornered as in tightening economic sanctions on them or threat of bombing their nuclear facilities as in the Iranian case, they tend to display their strength and defiance by exhibiting extreme intimidating actions and victimisation of their own people; that sort of action is a good representation of cowardice and lack of courage to confront whoever involved in the sanctions or threat. The closest example I remember is the 1969-70 Saddam's regime public hanging of ten innocent Iraqis accused of been Israeli agents despite the fact Saddam's regime was just a couple of years in power and Israel had no idea what sort of regime it was? This sort of sick dynamics represents a good example of dictatorships' projection of extreme fear, neuroticism and paranoia on their own people.
The way dictatorships do such thing [e.g. hanging of the innocents] can be fast and furious; in other words it happens like lynching where crowd of supporters display their anger in the streets of the capital or making the news of catching the spy public in a flash or by other immediate means. I can tell everyone that actions like that can be very intimidating and paralysing; one would freeze and submit to the will of the powerful of the brutal Revolutionary Guards for example.
Ashatari could be innocent victim of the Mullahs' brutal regime or perhaps he was lured to some business dealings with Mullahs' regime but watched to make some mistakes then caught and accused of being an Israeli spy.
By the way this business of Israeli spy is used by all dictatorial regimes in the Middle East.
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:13 0 comments Links to this post
Monday, 30 June 2008
Africa and the despot Mugabe
The world is watching carelessly the despot Mugabe taking the fate of Zimbabweans in his cruel hand and leading them into another hell again; he is taking an oath that he doesn't' deserve and claims to serve the country. Aren't these despots like Saddam Hussein ashamed of themselves for claiming patriotism, anti-imperialism and their serving the people of those countries? Aren't the world and the UN are ashamed of watching the brutal events happening without any action? Aren't the world in general and the UN particular are ashamed of letting those dictators hide behind International Laws and the brutal concept of sovereignty?
We call on the international community to intervene directly to establish democracy in Zimbabwi and other oppressed nations and take solid action to protect those nations by allowing stationed troops for further protection. We call on UN to stop its own corruption in turning blind eye of such mockery and allocate some funding through cutting some of its staff fat salaries to station troops.
People of this world deserve protection from the claws of dictatorial regimes hiding behind the cruel concept of sovereignty. The west must start taking real steps toward the ending of those regimes and toward the freeing of oppressed people wherever they are?
Posted by Al & Albert at 06:44 0 comments Links to this post
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Iran and Light Water Reactors proposal
Recently it has been suggested to the government of Mullahs in Iran to use Light Water Reactor to limit the likelihood of producing nuclear bomb. Of course the mullahs refused the offer and their refusal clearly tells everybody the mullahs' intention of the Uranium enrichment process, it is to construct a nuclear bomb.
Please don't let this mad dog or any other regional dictatorial regime such as Libya, Egypt, Syria…etc acquire nuclear weapon because these dictatorial mad dogs would drop a nuclear bomb just of getting upset with someone or as a simple act of retaliation.
Some people argue and say: why Israel was allowed to continue its nuclear research and later manufactured a nuclear bomb, obviously the answer to such question is: a nuclear bomb in the hand of dictatorial radical Mullahs is more dangerous than a nuclear bomb in the hand of a rational mind. I think the idea of letting only Israel to have a nuclear bomb and not to allow any of its neighbouring or regional mad dogs such as the Mullahs' regime of Iran, Syria, Egypt, Libya…etc is a reasonable thing to do. Just imagine the Palestinians having the capacity to develop a nuclear bomb…Well; they would annihilate Israel as soon it is in their hands. I think deterrents should be in the hand of nations that have reached a stage where its citizens are reasonably content and has the democratic power to stop states' mad acts such as dropping a nuclear bomb just to retaliate.
Just as we have the "Anti War Movement" we should have a campaign "Anti Mad dogs' acquisition of nuclear bombs"
Posted by Al & Albert at 04:40 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, 13 June 2008
Former Palestinian collaborators forge new life in Israel
Article title: Former Palestinian collaborators forge new life in Israel Guardian 13 June 2008:
Five Palestinian families decided to seek refuge not in an Arab dictatorial state who always claim sympathy with Palestinian issue but Israel after helping it to acquire intelligence on radical Palestinians' activities. These courageous people broke a mould that no one dared to break; a mould instilled by dictatorial regimes that chained the souls of all ordinary Arabs and stifled them for decades. The mould always manifested itself in the form of shame attached to admiring or working for a fair, compared with regional dictatorial regimes, Israeli system which is seen by Arab dictatorships as the only enemy. These people must have been tormented by Arabs' dictatorial misleading patriotic nonsense and want a decent life under the only neighbouring humane system.
One can be sure that majority of ordinary Arabs are against suffocating dictatorships and wish an end to them, but the tremendous fear of being prosecuted or even annihilated made the nightmare to carry on for decades.
One should be glad to see people like those families taking a huge risk and set precedence for other Arabs to make similar move.
Israel should start encouraging these sorts of moves among Arabs and not to fear anything. Encouraging Arabs to leave their countries seeking better life in Israel may be the necessary move leading to the end of dictatorial Middle Eastern regimes which always threaten Israel security and suffocate their own people. Since the majority of ordinary Arabs if given the opportunity to live decently under the rule of law would appreciate that and Israel shouldn't fear a thing; on the contrary Israel will be seen as the only state that sympathise and protect if necessary oppressed people from its neighbouring countries.
Posted by Al & Albert at 05:46 0 comments Links to this post
Gadafy's view of Obama
Gadafy of Libya predicted that Obama can be worst than white men in their racism and bias to Israel. The genius Gadafy uses crude psychology to make flawed generalisation which is distinctive feature of Arab dictators.
Let me give some background before delving into details. In the late sixties while studying for my degree at Baghdad state university, I got exposed to Gadafy's crude and simplistic theories of social and political development. How I was given that rare opportunity to read an Arab's genius theories was down to a friend of mine who went visiting Lebanon and on the way back to Iraq smuggled in few banned books and one of them was Gadafy's "The Green Book". In his book "The Green Book" Gadafy spelled out his crude social and political theories. Of course Iraq was controlled by Saddam brutal Baath party that banned every single piece of literatures that isn't inline with Baath's dogma including Gadafy's crude book. Initially I imagined The Green Book as volumes of books telling us what we need to know about the universe and its intricacies. Next day the friend brought the book and there it was three small pamphlets filled with lots of nonsense or to describe mildly patch work. So that is Gadafy at the time and I don't think he has changed or developed his thinking further since then but one must admit his inflated ego is tamed due to old age.
Back to the main point, although Gaday believes his country is part of Africa, he also believes as an Arab he is superior to all blacks and he should be leading them rather than being part of them because they haven't got the capacity to run their affairs intelligently. The idea of leading African blacks was endorsed by some African nations who were desperate for Gadafy's aides which at the time he was throwing at them. One needs to remember that because other stronger Arab dictators controlling the arena of leading the arab nations, Gadafy's dream to lead Arabs had been shattered therefore flirting with Africans to lead them would compensate.
So really he hasn't got high opinion of blacks anyway and his recent comment on Obama as someone who may be worst than whites because of some inferiority complex is a typical crude racist remark by an Arab dictator.
The article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/13/barackobama.libya
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:55 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Naomi Klein and city of Shenzhen-China
Naomi Klein, city of Shenzhen-China and police states In yesterday's Guardian Naomi Klein again threw up her hatred for a climate, free market economy and liberalism, which allows her to access unrivalled freedom of speech by any standard. She claimed that having CCTV cameras in the major industrial city of Shenzhen-China can be seen as the move toward a police state, but what she forgot is that communist China is a police state already and all what it is doing is using available technologies to monitor the movement of every citizen in China whatever the origin of technologies is. Of course what she is implying is that installing CCTV cameras in western cities such as London can be a prime factor to change a liberal democracy into a police state! this is a nonsensical argument. Liberal democracies have proper effective mechanism to maintain liberties.
The story starts like this: Shenzhen is a Chinese city hosting thousands of successful high-tech collaborative manufacturing businesses between China and Western Corporations. Klein claims that over a million CCTV cameras have been installed in the city and that to Klein is enough proof for consolidating a police state, but again what she forgets is that billions of dollars businesses need protection rather than seeing it as an evidence of a start of a police state (China) which is a police state already.
Pompous writers like Klein need a taste of Saddam's brutal police state for example to appreciate what she has in the West and not to blindly supporting dictatorships just to attack liberal capitalism. This shouldn't be understood that we shouldn't criticise the liberal west, but Klein and the like shouldn't present the West as the worst place on this planet and even side rotten dictatorships to prove an anti-capitalism political point of view. Klein and the like should be equally critical of rotten dictatorial regimes and any negative aspects of liberal democracies. But unfortunately those western radical leftists are more interested in criticising the liberal west and say nothing about the brutality of dictatorships around the world; on the contrary they praise these dictatorships to support their criticism of western democracies.
Once and on Big Brother programme the one I dislike most Goerge Gallaway was asked if the people of Iraq loved Saddam Hussein and his reply was yes they did; a complete lie. These lies propagated by some leftists are quite damaging and may justify the oppression and brutality of those dictatorships. Klein and the like is guilty of such crime. When I was 17 years old young man and in conversation with family German friends visiting us in Iraq I was asked: what would I choose if I had to choose between freedom of speech and the daily necessary meals and my reply was freedom and I still believe so. But pampered people like Gallaway praising Cuba for its educational and health systems as if human beings are designed to accept being stripped off basic rights such as freedom of speech if offered good education and health. What a stupid argument?
I wish to see a new generation of western leftists who invest the same amount of efforts and energy to criticise the liberal west's negative issus as much as exposing the brutality of despotic regimes and work effectively toward ending them.
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:29 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, 30 May 2008
Fallujah's deformity cases as reported by channel five
In last night news on channel five, it was reported that some children from Fallujah suffer from facial and other body's deformities. Children's parents were told by local Fallujan doctors that these deformities are consequences of the American bombing of Fallujah when Al Qaeda followers started to launched their attacks to terrorise the country. Of course you could see the tears in Natasha Kiplinsky's eyes, the newly crowned channel five's angelic princess, reporting on those cases. What channel five has forgotten is that politically motivated individuals from Fallujah trying very hard suggests implicitly that Falluja is a victim of an American campaign and the evidence is quite clear through reported deformity cases.
Fallujah used to be one of Saddam regime's pillars but after the fall of Saddam's regime the tribal Sunni elite, not ordinary poor people, lost the power they enjoyed for decades and subsequently trying to compensate for that through siding the Sunni Arabs' anti-American campaign by creating a newly heroic image of themselves displaying a self destructive sense of Arabs and Sunnis' bravery and courage. What these people forget (i.e. tribal leaders of Falluja) is that by siding Arab nationalism and Arabs' anti-American sentiments are not going to pave a way to democracy and freedom but another form of self-destructive Arab dictatorship.
Look at how Palestinian youths are wasting their lives through suicide bombing proving their Arabism, heroism and recently religious dogma. Anyone's heart would bleed for the waste of Arabs' youth under a detrimental sense of tribalism, blind loyalty, religious manipulation and cultural machismo.
Posted by Al & Albert at 01:27 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Can the despot Mubarak feed the people of Egypt?
So the wealth-sucking Vampire of Egypt Murbark has decided to send the Egyptian army and police force to bake bread for the starving Egyptians; also he increased the salary of all civil services' employees by 30% to cope with the rising prices of basic food stuff. These are measures of a despot pampering starving Egyptians. Perhaps few questions can shed more light on the despots' intentions of such measures: first, how the Egyptian despot managed to cater for 30% increase just like that, there must be some cash stashed somewhere in his private accounts or it is a lie to temporarily stop people from complaining? Second, knowing that the army and the police if employed to bake bread for the nation can only cater for 1% of people's need, how such measure is going to help to control the a desperate situation?
The whole thing is rotten and despotic and reflects typical dictatorships' stupid gimmicks. I remember similar gimmicks when living in Iraq; these gimmicks are more of dictatorial regimes traditional tactics to make people happier and subsequently getting their loyalty, what nonsense? Here is one of them out of my memories in Iraq: people are granted an extra day off work to go out and demonstrate against Israel or something that keeps dictators longer in power. Obviously having a paid day off work makes the regime the loveliest of all in the eyes of majority even if it annihilates 99% of its political opponents.
What amazes me or actually makes me more angry is that decade after decaed and the same dictatorial misleading practices produce the same result, the staying of despotic regimes!
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:30 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, 23 May 2008
Consortium for Uranium enrichment on Iranian soil !!
The Iranian proposal to let her build a factory for Uranium enrichment on her soils as part of an International Consortium should be thought a bit more in order to prevent the oppressive regime of mullahs who is desperate to join the nuclear club to intimidate neighbours, from constructing a covert replica or the acquisition of Uranium enrichment expertise. The international community should accept the Iranian offer but subject it to conditions as in:
1. All personnel from shop floor to top management must not include any Iranian personnel to stop any attempt to acquire Uranium enrichment expertise.
2. The Government of Iran must acquire the product via means as if it buys enriched Uranium from abroad.
3. All security personnel must not be Iranian.
4. By no means the Iranians should be able to nationalise the facilities as despotic regimes normally do as sign of patriotism.
5. Monitoring of the facilities shouldn't be given to UN for its lax attitude toward nuclear threats in the region. The monitoring should be in the hand of the Security Council.
6. Military presence for the protection of the facilities should be thought of carefully, no nonsense of not having foreign troops on our soil because we are sovereign country. You want enriched Uranium you get with conditions.
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:22 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Mubarak of Egypt leading democratic reforms!
In his visits to Middle East, Mr Bush is been openly critical of oppressive regimes in the region. People of the Middle East would openly support any open views that expose those dictatorships that have plagued these nations for decades. In the past the United States was not as open as it is now in criticising dictatorial regimes such as the one in Egypt. In the last couple of days Mubarad the ancient dictator of Egypt reacting with claims that democratic reforms are underway, what is amazing about dictators like Mubarak is that he claims leading democratic reforms in Egypt but the question one may ask is: why would a dictator like Mubarak spearheads democratic reforms? Is it because he would like to remove himself from his own throne? Or what?
We need the support of all nations around the world to put pressure to oust dictatorial and brutal regimes around the world in general and those medieval killers of the Middle East such as the one in Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Tunisia, Palestinian authority …etc.
If George Bush is sincere about his criticism of Middle Eastern dictatorships then we would like him to spearhead and encourage the international community to set effective pragmatic plans to free those nations or at least effectively help them to free themselves from the tight grip of brutal dictatorships and not to let those dictatorships hide behind what is called sovereignty.
Human rights and people freedom must the 21 century priority and all nations and pressure groups of the world have an obligation to free their brothers and sisters from the brutality of those killer dictatorships.
Posted by Al & Albert at 07:55 0 comments Links to this post
Persepolis the movie
The movie is simply a brilliant historical account of the events that struck Iran since the mullahs took over power in 1979; it is also a personal account of a woman who sincerely trying to portray a picture of a country plagued with dictatorial practices from Shah's to the turban-led one.
The movies showed very accurate scenarios of revolutionary guards' and Baseege (i.e. the young rottweilers of revolutionary guards) dogmatic belief, intrusive and aggressive behaviour and their obsession with controlling people lives.
The very funny episode is when the young woman was running in the street of Tehran to catch up with her university lecture where she was followed by revolutionary guards who at some point asked her not to run and wiggle her bum although it is fully covered with the thick and loose Islamic dress; I supposed they were quite excited and do not want to fanaticise about her since doing so is a great and unforgivable sin.
The people of this poor nation are still captured by the mullahs and their paranoid and brutal revolutionary guards and young rottweilers and this reality is well portrayed in the movie; it is a good portrayal of silent cry for help to be freed from the claws of this brutal regime.
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:16 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Killing women in Iraq
Zeina Zaatari wrote an article in the Guardian CiF addressing the problem of a surge in killing Iraqi women and it starts:
"Iraqi women's organisations and international observers point to an escalating war against women in Iraq, aided by widespread chaos and lawlessness under the US occupation"
Link to the article:
First I don't think killing women in Iraq is due to chaos and lawlessness but due to typical Arab and religious misogyny facilitated by chaos due to the occupation. After the fall of Nazi Germany German people did not go around killing each other or killing women but let the law take its natural course. So suggesting that killing women in Iraq is a direct by-product of occupation is an utter nonsense and what we need to look at is stories of honour killings in Iraq and in the rest of Arab and Muslim world even during the secular and brutal regime of Saddam.
One of the CiF commentators by the name Freewoman suggested angrily that Iraqi women need to learn how to protect themselves by even carrying a gun and shoot any man who tries to harm or kill them. I thought that is really good idea but it needs to be expanded more to stop those religious and tribal misogynists from killing women for whatever reason. I think it is the duty of US and others international forces to form local women groups, arm them and train them to protect women in neighbourhood. This is a similar exercise to arming local Sunni misogynists to protect their communities from attacks by the other misogynists of the Shiite militias.
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:17 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Hillary Clinton and the obileration of the iranian regime
Hillary Clinton's language of the US's capacity to obliterate Iran if, in the next ten years, it chose to drop its home-made nuclear bomb on Israel is a language the Iranian regime understands/uses very well; it is called the language of intimidation; a language the Iranian regime is well-versed in and uses for the last 29 years in its daily oppression of its own people; Saddam used the same language for 45 years to stay in power, Mubarak of Egypt for the last few decades…etc. Also the Iranian regime love to push its luck to its favourite position "Being the victim of a superpower especially the US". This political concept is part of what is called in psychological terms the self-destructiveness and is inline with Iranian mullahs' push for every young soul to seek martyrdom the mullahs' biggest nonsense.
By no means to suggest that self-destructiveness is unique to the Iranian regime but a human phenomenon normally triggered by feeling unable to reach one's potential as desired deeply. This fatal dynamics is due to the belief that something beyond us (can be others) stopping us from reaching our real potential. This feel normally plagues desperate young people and oppressive regimes take advantage of it to stay in power. But brutal regimes cannot stay misleading their people by simple games therefore seek varieties of clashes to avoid misleadingly the feel of its own and those of young people self-destructiveness via for instance developing nuclear bombs followed by real threats of dropping such bombs on other nations if the opportunity arises. To calm the spirit of the youth those brutal regimes play a major game of creating something that misleading injects some meaning into those young souls' lives. One can see that clearly in how Palestinian brutal leaderships brainwash the youth to commit suicides through suicide bombing.
To save those young souls, Hillary Clinton and anyone else interested in stopping mad regimes like the Iranian regime from dropping nuclear bombs on Israel should be thinking of the democratisation of those brutal regimes through direct intervention rather than threatening to obliterate them.
Posted by Al & Albert at 03:21 0 comments Links to this post
Monday, 21 April 2008
Iraq's crack down on religious militias
What we need to consider when Iraq cracks down on religious militias?
Today's Guardian reported US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice praising Iraqi government and Prime Minister Al Maliki for the crack down on the mad and the misogynous mullah Moqtada Al Sadr's militias. As someone from Iraq would like to announce publicly my anxieties on such exercise:
1. We need to make sure that Saddam's legacy and its deeply rooted Arabs' culture of political elimination is out the equation or we will fall in "Only us know the rights and duties of Iraqis and let us kill whoever disagrees with us or opposes our brilliant progressive moves for being ignorant of the Iraqi people needs" old trap of Iraqi and Arabs' politicians.
2. Like other Arab countries Iraq would easily slip into the oppressive and sick authoritarianism if politicians are not coached and monitored properly; therefore a continuous monitoring and coaching of Iraqi governments for the next three to four elections is vital and essential to the survival of democracy. People may think that I don't have faith in my people…. not yet.
3. Of course disarming militias is one of the vital moves, but we need to educate people that it is ok for women to dress the way they like and speak their minds and to depart from religious and common misogyny.
4. Distrust between citizens and governments is an integral part of Arabs' and Iraqi history which stems from the lack of protection or support of dictatorial governments toward their citizens. This has been the disease of Arab world for the last century and it plagued Iraq for decades. Therefore building new ways of protecting citizens and showing that nobody is above the law would help to break this eternal antagonism between people and governments and build bridges of trust with Iraqi governments.
5. We need to show Motada Al Sadr and others Sunnis or Shiites that they are not above the law but protected by law if choose to protest on abuses or malpractices by Iraqi governments through political means not physical elimination.
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:14 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, 11 April 2008
Ali Eteraz writes about the treatment of Hidus in Pakistan
Ali Eteraz writes in today's Guardian on the treatment of Hindus in Pakistan. Read this humane account and how Muslims should behave. Link: http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ali_eteraz/2008/04/protecting_pakistans_hindus.html
I must thank people like Ali Eteraz for been brave and courageous to expose these kind of daily inhumane practices in Pakistan and other Islamic states or countries with Muslims' majority....Thank again Ali for such important exposure and thank for being so precise in categorising human's prejudice in Pakistan and other so-called Muslims' countries. This delusion of feeling superior to other religions is a plague and a social and religious defect which struck Islam by the most ignorant people "the mullahs" who continually brainwashing general public to feel superior to cover a deeply rooted inferiority complex. One can find that happening in Egypt presumably educated people influence by ignorant mullahs teaching children as young as 5-6 years old that Koran mentions how the Jews are related to pigs and apes, how black non-Muslims are inferior to Muslims and how Muslims must wash their hands if accidentally touched a Jew, Christian, Hindu..etc. One would find these practices in Somalia, Saudi Arabia and other Muslims' countires.
I lived it myself in Iraq when I was a child. As a young boy I used to have a very dear friend who as it happened be Christian. We got on very well and used to play together, my family never objected about him but the rest of society look down to Christians as lesser than Muslims.
We need more courageous and brave people who lived such horrible experiences in their own Muslims' country to expose such horrifying public perception of Muslims toward other people of different religion or creed.
Posted by Al & Albert at 03:36 0 comments Links to this post
Thursday, 10 April 2008
What Iraqis must do?
As an Iraqi I am very concern about Iraqis' inability to truly love their country and very sad for not stopping the destruction of the country through their nonsensical sectarian fighting which is aided by social defects and tribal and religious narcissism. I would like to say to those destroying Iraq to wake up and start building Iraq rather exploiting the language of blame to justify their inability to love themselves and others. Arabs' self-hatred has infected Iraqis and influences them to just pretend loving their country but it is deeply rooted pretension. It is high time to get out of Arabism and Islamism and related narcissism and move forward.
I really believe that it doesn't matter what the intention of the Americans is and whether to stay or leave? Iraqis can, if willing, to force America not by fighting her but by solid and persistent negotiation and assertion to build Iraq and its flourishing democracy. We need people young and old who are confident and prepared to take on the rest of the world and take the necessary steps to make Iraq the first democracy among those rotten Arabs' dictatorships and stop playing the old Arabs' role "the victim" and just speaking the language of blaming for their misery.
Posted by Al & Albert at 01:05 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Five years after the liberation of Iraq & Anas Al Tikriti
SonOfLiberty is one of the audience on Comment is Free CiF on the Guardian wrote: "The only ones to blame here are the Iraqi's for not standing up and taking advantage of the help offered by us for a better tomorrow."
To read the full article go to : http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/anas_altikriti/2008/04/shock_and_despair.html
As an Iraqi I fully agree with SonOfLiberty; Iraqis should've grabbed that opportunity of been liberated from the most brutal regime and develop a better Iraq, but the stupidity of Arabs' tribal culture gets them into a deep power struggle which they consider as healthy and good. The trouble with such culture is that everyone thinks and believes that s/he knows the rights of Iraqis for better living more than the majority of Iraqis and even better than the West which gave such a golden opportunity, this is typical of tribal narcissism. People like Anas Al Tikriti who are more interested in
Posted by Al & Albert at 10:34 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, 4 April 2008
Sadr's men of Iraq are just a gang of misogynists
On the behalf of the rest of good humanity Jonathon Steele and men alike keep suggesting that US withdrawal from Iraq would stop Sadr's gang from attacking civilians and will lead to more stable country. OK let us take his scenario a bit further by letting Mr Steele know that Sadr's gang are not driven by patriotic duty as he implicitly suggests but by the imposition of their religious believes as their graphity on the walls of Basra suggest declaring war on women using beauty products and do not wear hijab. Sadr's men like religious Sunnis men are a blend of extreme misogynists and women haters who condemn first the beauty of women and worst than that if women demonstrate an equal intelligence and capacity to lead as men. So Mr Steele asking for US withdrawal may satisfy your left desires but will not solve the current mess in Iraq. So enlighten us with a more practical solution to a mess created by the necessity of ousting Saddam's brutal regime.
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:07 0 comments Links to this post
Monday, 31 March 2008
What Moqtada Al Sadr of Iraq trying to prove?
A macho culture such as Arabs' or Muslims' culture or a culture plagued with blindness to the usefulness of pragmatism may get men into battles that don't serve Iraq or its people. Al Sadr and his followers worrying to be seen betraying their country if they stay quite without fighting the elected government as opposed to the Sunnis who proclaimed heroism fighting the occupiers is getting Al Sadr's gangs into proving their patriotism regardless how hampering their activities to the development of Iraq.
Iraq is a country that's plagued with disabling machoism and its young men are more absorbed in proving their virility or their ability to fight rather than thinking and taking courses of action that serve Iraq and its people. This may suggest that the root of dictatorial regimes dominating Iraq through history.
As an Iraqi I am very angry about Iraq being shattered by fanatic and savage factions bogged down into power struggle to monopolise the political arena through the elimination of each other. When this nation gets out of its tribal and backward mentality and does something that helps itself developing a stable democracy?
Posted by Al & Albert at 04:34 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
The Battle for Haditha by Nick Broomfield
Western leftists try very hard to locate heroes from other cultures to sympathise with them; Nick Broomfield is not an exception. If we examine closely this identification with heroes from other cultures, we find that western leftists pick their heroes from groups that they think are the underdogs and in "The Battle for Haditha" it happens to be the Sunnis and subsequently support their cause and stories they come up with. So what makes the leftists sympathise with what they believe the underdogs from other culture? The answer can be as simple as they believe that they are the underdogs in their on societies and identification with other underdogs is justified.
In "The Battle for Haditha", although Broomfield tries to portray an unbiased picture of the events by telling accounts from both sides, but one can see that he sympathises with Sunnis and portrays their violent reaction as a natural reaction of the American troops' behaviour forgetting that those Sunnis have lost a privileged life under Saddam regime and are not interested in patriotism as Broomfiled try portray them rather than loyalty to the dead brutal regime.
This western leftists' obsession with Sunnis has to stop and they should focus on how Iraqis are suffering now including the Shia and come up with solutions to the current situation.
Final word, regarding human brutality I always wondered and ask the following question: why people like Naomi Klein, Broomfield and other western leftists come with detailed accounts of American and western oppression but never wrote, argued or display images of the brutal torture of Saddam regime of the Iraqis?
Posted by Al & Albert at 01:54 1 comments Links to this post
Sunday, 16 March 2008
Interventionism and British troops withdrawal
Iraqis are protesting against the withdrawal of British troopsAndrew Marr in his Sunday morning program announced to his Sunday audience that Iraqis are not happy with the idea of withdrawing British troops from south of Iraq therefore protesting by marching in the streets of Basra. Then in an interview with William Hage he asked him if the timing of withdrawal is the right. Mr Hage replied yes because we need to let the Iraqis to take over controlling the south and because there have been more attacks by Al Qaeda on British troops recently. We need to look at the situation closely from different angle and conclude.
The first scenario is that if Iraqis police and army are given control of the south then there won't be attacks on British troops but still possible that attacks on Iraqi police continues and Al Qaeda or Shia militias will gain more ground to enforce the backward Shariaa laws. So we save the skin of the troops but get religious fanaticism in all shapes or forms taking control and abusing human right and this is in reality what's happening.
The second scenario is that if British troops withdraw then Iraqis would appreciate the presence and the protection of the troop compared with the oppression of religious fanatics and will do something about it, but then how can they do something about it without the help of the international forces?
The third scenario is that the troops stay and support and protect the majority who are protesting against the oppressive practices of those religious groups regardless of the possible increase of attacks on British troops and Iraqi police and army, but the they [British troops] can take a supportive role to Iraqi police and army rather than planning to abandon them after making huge difference in the lives of Iraqis through the removal of most brutal regime on the face of planet, i.e. Saddam's regime. Of course there are so many scenarios one can envisage, but one may conclude that in complex situation such as the one in Iraq direct interventionism can be a good option. Interventionism has the capacity to focus on parameters that aid achieving planned outcomes and produce desired results, on the other hand exhaustive calculated planning may end up with doing nothing but exhaustive planning and nothing to stop the oppression human beings in Iraq and around the world.
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Thursday, 6 March 2008
Racism in the Arab world
The following link leads to an article written by a brave sudanease women:
Racism in Arab countries comes in different dress. In Iraq, I experienced it in the form of not belonging to an Arab clan. For example if someone like me of Iranian ancestors he won't be welcomed in his attempt to belong to Iraq; Iraq is insignificant before belonging to an Arab tribe.
I remember scoring very high in my Baccalaureate examinations [equivalent to the A level] and I was entitled for a scholarship to Britain to study engineering but I was refused a place through twisted game of the authorities which lasted weeks subsequently missed the deadline.
I admire people like the writer who is from that part of the world and have the courage to speak of negative cultural issues of their origin. I applaud the writer.
Posted by Al & Albert at 01:22 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Fresh view on Islam and secularism
An argument on how Muslims mustn't be indoctrinated not to accept secularism Interesting argument on Islam and secularism by Ali Eteraz of the Guardian newspaper: http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ali_eteraz/2008/02/the_prophet_and_politics.html
Posted by Al & Albert at 03:41 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Transsexuals in Iran
The BBC TV programme on transsexuals in Iran sheds good light on social issues that young men have to deal with in oppressive societies such as the Iranian one. There were few interesting points made by participants:One of the programme's participants declared that life is a lot easier for women than men in the current religious Iranian one. This particular statement was stressed by other young men who were going for a female sex change. One angle to all this is to suggest that a society led by mullahs who love and treat women of submissive behaviour better than men [this has been recently stressed by Ahemadinejad's talks at Columbia university] can generate a social dynamic that places greater pressure on young men to either take a tiring macho role and ask not to be loved or go for sex change. Obviously this dynamic may lead to severe inadequacy and confusion for those young men and furthermore attempt to please through sex change.
Another participant said that "Seegha" [temporary marriage which can last from an hour to months or years] is becoming an easy option to earn good money. Because transsexuals cannot conceive then it is more convenient for older men to strike temporary legitimate sexual contracts with transsexuals rather than with females who may conceive and subsequently men have to take responsibility of any conceived children.
This is how the mullahs of Iran are legitimising a form of prostitution….Al
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:30 1 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
British manipulative game in Iraq
As a matter of guilt, the British now trying to compensate - by sending experts to collect and protect ancient Iraqi artefacts and places - for deserting the south of Iraq in the hand of religious group who is currently imposing by intimidation Sharia law. Labour government failed to stay in the south of Iraq to protect people from the mad man Moqtada Al Sadr because of the tremendous bullying of western left despite the fact that the British military man in charge of the south of Iraq and on a number of occasion reiterated the fact that it is too soon to withdraw troops from there.
Sending experts to protect ancient Iraq artefacts and places as a compensation for troops' withdrawal is an old game usually played by parents to confuse children and subsequently control or quieten them. When I was child I remember been given an apple and banana to stay at home with my grandmother while the rest of my family heading to Turkey. The feeling was very confusing for a little child where I was happy with the apple and the banana and therefore have to stay with my grandmother but resentful for not joining the rest of the family for the nice trip to Turkey. The British plays the same game with Iraqis giving them attention for their ancient artefacts and places but leaving them in the hands of mad religious people.
In the long run, these manipulative games normally leave very deep resentment in the heart of a child or a nation…Al
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Tuesday, 19 February 2008
The wrath of the Egyptian God "Al Fayed"
Few words on the Egyptian God's culture, paranoia and his ambition:
Can the Egyptian God "Al Fayed" abuse authorities in the current blood sucking dictatorship of Egypt? The obvious answer is NO and if he does he would be put in prison for the rest of his life and all his possessions will be confiscated. So why he is abusing a reasonably just and democratic system where he lives in currently? The answer is: when a Middle Eastern acquires a powerful status whether it is the acquisition of money or political power then his dictatorial traits surface and he would start challenging anyone stands in his way.
The Egyptian God "Al Fayed" can be seen as an extension of the typical Middle East's obsession with conspiracies which can give a clear way to see oneself as a victim and that is an integral element of culture of the region [i.e. victimhood]. So his current claim of an international plot that killed his son; he is using his son death as platform to defy a reasonably just legal system [that one of his ambitions] at the same time acting as a victim of this system [his paranoia].
One can predict The Egyptian God's next step it would be to ally with even Al Qaeda to break a system that did not facilitate proving his son's death conspiracy; he already draw some reasons for the conspiracy summarised by the fact that Britain cannot handle a marriage of a Muslim [his play boy son Dodi] to a royal princess; what a fantasy but then The Egyptian God is a great fantasist.
Beside his campaign to prove Britain's conspiracy against his son, why doesn't' he campaign to stop the circumcision of the 95% of the women in Egypt?…Al
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Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Introducing democracy around the world
Tonight David Milliband the foreign secretary spelt it loud and clear suggesting that Britain must be at the forefront at promoting democracy around the world. He may be the first British official who dares to recognize that the rest of the world needs liberal democracies to intervene in the promotion and the introduction of democracy to those deadly Dark Age dictatorships around the world. Of course the western left is quite skeptical about this and will come up with all sort of conspiracy theories which may suggest that western liberal democracies are not interested in the spreading of democracy around the world but to create wars to benefit from as Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine where she promote her complex and intellectual but wouldn't-care–less-about-the-rest-the-world-if-killed-by-dictatorships argument.
Yes, Britain had colonized the world and sucked it's blood during 19th century, but that doesn't mean any humane step by Britain toward introducing democracy replacing rotten dictatorial regimes around the world should be ruled out. Although western leftist intellectuals have a great input into the global dynamic but they need to be made aware of the necessaty of introducing democracies replacing those brutal dictatorships.
The question I would like to ask Mr Milliband is: if mistakes were made in Iraq then Britain should start fixing those mistakes and not just to talk about promoting Britains' future role in introducing democracy around the world. Hey Milliband do something about my country Iraq and don't let it slip into the hands of a religious dictatorship…Al
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Thursday, 7 February 2008
Sayed Pervez Kambaksh & religious tradition treatment
Sayed Pervez Kambaksh –the Afghan student imprisoned for distributing women's right literature in Afghanistan – telling us about his brutal experience in prison where threat of being killed exists coupled with the likelihood of been sexually abused to break him. Those experiences neither been admitted by young men nor imagined or acknowledged by westerners.
I can identify with Pervese through similar experience. During Saddam's regime my brother and I were imprisoned for three months. In the first night we were put in a cell occupied by a young man with severe mental disorder who was not allowed to leave his cell so his urine and faeces were all over the cell. On that night we heard one guard telling the other about us and how they were instructed to break the spirit of the two young engineers by putting them in the same cell as the man with mental disorder. Few nights later we were transferred with other young educated prisoners where we all fed with poisoned food which left us with severe stomach pain.
In cultures dominated by rigid traditions or by religious or political dogma you find young spirits present the most dangerous and threatening elements to figures in authority, and if the opportunity arises then those culture allow men in power to break or even annihilate young spirits.
Posted by Al & Albert at 02:41 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Iranian regime and public hanging
A week or so ago, one Iranian religious figure pretending to be the kind element of the brutal regime called for the suspension of public hanging. We all know that public execution has an immense impact on people and it is seen as the most intimidating tool brutal regimes can use to subdue a nation.
I remember the first public hanging of ten or so innocent people accused of spying and espionage after Saddam and his gang took power in 1968. The impact of that day was immense; fear seeped deep into every Iraqi soul. Those innocent people were hanged publicly and their bodies were left dangling for one day in the capital Baghdad "Al Tahrir Square". Public hanging is the most powerful tool used to suppress any nation, it is brutal, it creates a mix of deep anxiety and intense curiosity in the event. I remember people from all around iraq left their work and their daily jobs and went to see the bodies in Al Tahrir Square….Al
Posted by Al & Albert at 01:57 0 comments Links to this post
Honour Killing - article from the Guardian
Here is an article and comments by the public regarding the barbarous killings of women in muslims' and arabs' countries in the name of honour:
Honour killings and female circumcision are two issues that need to be addressed by the international community. It is known for example that 95% of Egyptian women are circumcised against their will. These practices must be stopped regardless of their origin whether it is religious or cultural…Al
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:20 1 comments Links to this post
Thursday, 24 January 2008
Ahmadinejad visiting iraq
The Iraqi government has invited the crazy Ahmedinejad of Iran to visit Iraq for the following possible reason:
After learning that Labour government can change its mind about British troops in south of Iraq at a whim due to approaching election and after witnessing the recent withdrawal of those troops, all that coupled with the likelihood of Bush losing the next election to Obama who would pull american troops from Iraq in two days the Iraqi government and people of Iraq lost faith in western commitment toward the protection of democracy in Iraq; all that accompanied with Iran plaguing the region with continuous intimidation of Iraq and the neighbouring countries Iraqi government tries to dampen the relationship with the Iranian bully, just in case western forces leave at a sudden, by inviting Ahmadinejad to visit Iraq and massage his big ego and his immense appetite for nuclear weapons….Al
Posted by Al & Albert at 00:24 0 comments Links to this post
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Why the Iranian Revolutionary Guards provoke the American in the Gulf?
The reasons behind the provocative act of the Iranian revolutionary guards in the Strait of Hormuz can be seen in its simplest and trivial form:
Life for young men is very boring in a country where religious preaching is the only "creative" activity young men and women can engage in. Dictatorial regimes such as the Iranian can get obsessive about everyone in the country to accept and praise its ideology. There isn't much difference between a religious or secular dictatorship behaviour-wise; both are normally absorbed by severe narcissism. Narcissism can affect individual human beings or regimes in the same way; it is a form disorder that fogs human creativity to see alternatives and set the human focus on matters that the individual hasn't develop great of conviction in them; subsequently those individuals try to push forcefully the importance of these matters to raise the level of conviction and self-esteem. This form of behaviour [pushing forcefully the importance of matters] if taking the minds of the elite of the dictatorial regime then young people have no choice but to get sucked into the regime's rigid ideological practices and processes such as martyrdom. Martyrdom is a brainwashing exercise that is very luring for young men in particular due to the superior sense of heroism involved. Similar dynamics was evident during Iraq Iran war where Iranian young men walking on mines to clear the way for the regular army. The recent provocative act is a thrill for those young men and it can go further if necessary….Al
Posted by Al & Albert at 02:21 1 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, 9 January 2008
The Boys from Baghdad high on BBC2
The video diaries created by those four Iraqi teenagers[ a Kurd, a Christian, a Shiite, and mixed of Shiite and Sunni and a Sunni] were brilliant and a very touching documentary. It triggered an immense optimism about Iraqis' capacity to speak their minds without the old fear instilled in their hearts during Saddam brutal dictatorship.
At some point two of them reminded me with how we used to avoid religious studies classes by all means; they used the same tricks to skip that boring class. One of them, a Christian, chatting to his mate saying that he doesn't need to attend religious studies class because he is Christian and his Muslim friend said I have just decided to be Christian so I am skipping this class laughing at his own comments.
From the hour and a half documentary it was apparent that everyone in the documentary:
1. Was pleased with Saddam's death sentence;
2. Said that Saddam deserves that because he tortured and killed Iraqis in their thousands;
3. Said that insurgency is driven by foreign terrorists rather than Iraqi resistance as some western leftists fantasise about it;
4. Never wished that international forces to leave the country as some western media trying to push.
5. Wished that Iraq get back on its own feet
6. Was openly critical about elements of Iraqi culture that don't assist Iraqis or support them in achieving their ambitions. One of the mothers asked: why the government is making it difficult for my son to get a document that proves been Iraqi although he was born here? This particular issue reminded me with the same treatment thirty years ago, but still there.
Seeing that documentary triggered some optimism that Iraqis are trying to free themselves from the old fear society to the new free society….Al
Posted by Al & Albert at 04:00 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
Enlightened men and women is what Iraq needs
This man, a member of Iraqi parliament, and many others of the same calibre are what Iraq needs to develop democracy further. He was a target of four assassination attempts by religious fanatics. Here is a link to his views: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1641.htm
Posted by Al & Albert at 06:50 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Women in Basra and how to defy religious fanatics.
On one of Iraqi TV channels women publicly admitted that it is becoming hard for them to wear what they choose; this has been pointed out by the head of the Iraqi police in Basra.
Men of proud religious dogma coupled with rigid tribal values are becoming bold to tell women to wear appropriate Islamic dress. Let me put some cultural prospective to this phenomenon and put forward some thoughts on how to stop those fanatics from intervening in others' lives.
Men of that category can be very aggressive if confronted by women wearing less Islamic dress, but they can be easily intimidated by women who abide to Islamic dress but promote ideas or practices that promote women's freedom or even ideas that differ from Islamic values. Therefore women who are pro-women freedom must gather in groups and be aggressive in their behaviours toward those men but they need temporarily to abide to Islamic dress until the time becomes right where they should go in their thousands to demonstrate for more freedom. This is purely tactical move and women should adopt it to gather better momentum and then take the street in their masses to demonstrate against those religious fanatics.
Since those religious fanatics are brought up in a social environment like Ahmedinejad's of Iran one, i.e. they shy away from groups of strong women but they may brutalise single strong women. Those men are normally afraid of women in groups, subsequently women must form groups when defying those fanatics….Al
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Tuesday, 1 January 2008
Nuclear technologies may fall in the wrong hands. Sarkozy and Mubarak regime
Sarkozy is welcomed in Egypt by its long serving parasitic dictator Mubarak whose speciality is siphoning billions of American and European aids into his corrupt institutions to consolidate his dictatorial regime. Sarkozy is there to strike lucrative deals to supply Egypt with French nuclear technologies. This is France the sensible European nation who always wore the colourful mask of world's peace more than anybody else. It is interesting to see that Europeans are not so concerned of the deal; if it was America then we find half the Europeans screaming mad. The West should start questioning the concept that dictatorships may bring stability to the region and democracies are high risk that won't bring stability to the region. The West must learn that dictatorships are entities of high risk and maintenance and mustn't be supported anymore and democracies have to replace them as a natural alternative. Parasitic regime like Mubarak's mustn't be supplied with nuclear technologies for reasons obvious to everyone. Although the dictatorship has lasted over 25 years and seems misleadingly stable, but Egypt is one of most fertile breeding ground for religious radicalism and a collapse of the regime can lead powerful technologies in the wrong hands….Al
Posted by Al & Albert at 04:21 0 comments Links to this post


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The John Dredge Building is home to Roscoe Sweets & Treats. This charming candy shop offers over 1,000 different candies and chocolates. You 'll be delighted to find vintage favorites, along with hard-to-find items.
The History of the John Dredge Building - c.1846: John Dredge built it and sold it to Christopher Miller the same year. John Dredge made furniture and owned a chair factory in the village. After Miller died in 1847, the ownership changed to James C. Harrison, who in 1856, opened the Harrison Tin Shop, a hardware store and sheet iron manufacturer in this location.
Hours of Operation
Open 7 Days a Week!
10:00 a.m. - 6 p.m.
What Do Our Visitors Say?
Fascinating Historical Gem of Ohio. How wonderful that this little gem, Roscoe Village, has been lovingly restored. It is fascinating to learn about this part of Ohio's history. The canal used to run right along side Roscoe Village where Route 16 is now. All but one of the buildings is original to the site. Visiting was definitely a day well spent.

subset: commoncrawl


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Ink Exchange
Melissa Marr
HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins publishers
This second book in the series takes on a sinister note as the reader is introduced to the ways Dark Court faeries. With their penchant for war and blood, the Court has grown weaker in the new found peace between the Summer King and Queen and the New Winter Queen. Under the previous Winter Queen, Beira, the court thrived in the wake of her cruelty. But now, the dark fey are starving for lack of food and drink and it is up to Irial, the Dark Court King, to find a way to feed them or go to war. Some of his court want war, but he wants to try another way by linking them with mortal emotions through an ink exchange – tattoos that make mortals conduits for the emotions the faeries feed off of.
Main characters –
- Leslie, a mortal girl, damaged by violence, a friend of Aislinn and under her protection is nonetheless stolen away by Irial in an ink exchange that makes her his own.
- Irial, the Dark Court Faery King, is changed by the ink exchange more than he cares to admit and becomes increasingly reluctant to lead his court.
- Niall, advisor to Keenan, Summer King, protector of Leslie begins to care for her as he has cared for no mortal in centuries. His desire for her will change his life forever.
Secondary characters –
- Rabbit, a tattoo artist, who performs the ink exchange has secrets of his own.
- Gabriel, leader of the Dark Court Hounds and enforcer of the King's edicts.
- Bananach, an avian faery who longs for war and seeks to overthrow Irial.
Other characters –
- Keenan, Aislinn and Seth are really background material here as the Dark Court is the center of all the action
I read the book in two marathon sessions; it was that good. Perhaps it was because of the darker nature of the story, but I found it more enthralling than Wicked Lovely. The story was paced well, the mystery of the ink exchange, why it was so important and what it did to both Leslie and Irial was carefully constructed over time. I appreciated the way the author did not write about the violence that was integral to the story but showed only its aftermath and did so in a delicate yet explicit way. Truly well written.
My rating: 4 paws for story, characters and the darkness.
Click on photo for courtesy link.


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Barack Obama's 1st acts as US President
January 22, 2009 § Leave a comment
New US President Barack Obama just signed three Executive Orders, two of which concerns political lobbying and a freeze on the salaries of top White House officials. The other one is an E.O about the financial stimulus package. He also signed an order temporarily stopping the prosecution of those jailed over at Guantanamo bay.
What's the meaning of all these? What Obama is trying to say is this—he wants to clean up the government, save the people some money and send a message to the world that the Obama presidency is respectful of human rights. That's the right way to start his 100 days.
Obama expects a series of meetings with Congressional leaders on how to pass and implement the 820 billion dollar stimulus package that is expected to create 3million jobs. Though the stock markets continue to plunge, Obama and his economic advisers hope that the infusion of new money into the economy will reinvigorate the markets and production starts humming again.
Let's just hope that this works. Sectors say Obama is just being given at least 100 days by the American technocrats and power-shakers. It's unfair. Yet, in American politics, that is all the patience these tradpols allow to a sassy neophyte like Obama.


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John McCain vs. Random Animals
Round 1
Gonna have to give this one to the Gopher purely on style points. The old man is scary however.
Random Animals 1
John McCain 0
Filed under: counter culture campaign, Let the "Culture Wars" begin, McCain vs. Random Animals, misc. | Tagged: "Culture Wars", 2008 election, Big Eye, Dramatic Gopher, John McCain, McCain vs. Gopher, Old Man, Presidential debates, Scary McCain |


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by Lowell
Andy Parker is the father of former WDBJ7 reporter and Martinsville, Virginia native Alison Parker, who was gunned down on live television in late August while conducting an interview. I couldn't agree more with him on the deplorable Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), utter tool of the NRA.
I also agree that it's utterly laughable to call a murderer "pro-life" in any way. In fact, many people who call themselves "pro-life" are not consistently so -- on the death penalty or war, for instance. More accurately, these people are anti-abortion, not "pro-life" (note: supporters of women having access to full family planning services, including safe and legal abortion if necessary, are accurately called "pro-choice"). Finally, Parker is correct that "too easy access to guns," including by far-right extremists and assorted "wingnuts," is a huge problem.
As for the Republican presidential candidates, can you imagine the volume of their outrage right now if the shooter in this case had been a Muslim (or liberal, for that matter) who attacked an evangelical church? It would be deafening. Instead, what we've overwhelmingly gotten in this case, a white man with a gun shooting up a Planned Parenthood clinic, has been silence from 2016 Republican presidential candidates. Fascinating, eh?
Andy Parker Rips Rep. Bob Goodlatte as "OK with...defunding Planned Parenthood" but NOT Holding Hearings on Gun Legislation
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Posted by Lowell at 12:01 PM


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Here's What I Did Today...
-Woke up, at seven thirty.
-Went to Mcdonald's, Starbucks, and Burger King, all for breakfast for me and my dad.
-Tag sale. We spent two fucking hours without customers. At least. Then BAM! A lady shows up and buys eighty dollars worth of Barbie shit, and 90 Barbies.
-Sell more shit, we actually made money.
-Looked up blogs, and left fun comments. I may or may not have left a really creepy comment on gaymosexual
telling him that I want to kidnap him. I get kinda weird, when I'm desperate for friends/high off lemon pledge/hyped up on caffeine.
-Did random art, and had an psycho moment with my hot glue gun. Now I have these...
and yeah....they're hot glue turds.
But I did do something productive today...
YAY! It's my K.
I still need to do the edges, but its so hard/boring.
Today kinda sucked, but I did talk to Katharine, and we might be hanging out tomorrow.
Unfortunately when i talked to her, she was tripping on codeine because she was having an attack. Hopefully she remembers our conversation, and is feeling better tomorrow.
She's also starting a blog of her own, which i am UBER psyched for.
Links Will Follow.
October 12, 2008
Hot Glue Gun Turds
Posted by Kylie at 2:46:00 PM
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With winter behind us now, most of us are looking forward to spending more time in the great outdoors!
Whether you love to walk, run, cycle, hike, or just enjoy being outside, there's a reason that you always feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Being outside is good for you, and offers a number of invaluable health benefits. It can also do wonders for your mind. In fact, some studies have shown that spending time outdoors helps you feel healthier and happier. A little fresh air, it seems, really can go a long way!
If you're looking for more reasons to spend time outside this year, let's take a look at some reasons that spending time in nature is one of the most reliable ways to boost your mental and physical health.
Improves Mental Energy
Mental fatigue, that feeling you get when your brain seems to come to a sputtering stop, is real. Just as taking breaks is important for the rest of your body, it's important for your mind as well. Spending time outdoors is one way to help boost your mental state and give you your energy back again. Studies have also shown that being in a state of awe over seeing something amazing, such as a natural source of beauty, is also a good way to gain a mental boost.
Boosts Happiness
Let's face it; some of your fondest memories probably took place in the great outdoors. Spending time outside can help reduce stress and increase happiness. The longer you spend in nature, the more your mood shifts towards positive thinking. Many of the sights, sounds, and even smells that are found in nature all have a calming and uplifting effect.
Clearer Thinking
Sometimes, removing yourself from your everyday routine and stepping back from the hustle and bustle of life is exactly what's needed to gain much-needed clarity. Take a break! Heading outside for a walk will help realign your thoughts, giving you some fresh perspective and direction.
Improves Mental Health
Recent studies have shown that walking can help to improve your outlook. One group of researchers from Stanford University concluded that spending time in nature can help to reduce rumination, which is what happens when you feel really sad, and you can't stop thinking about the negative things that are causing it. If rumination is left unabated, depression can set it. If you're feeling sad, or even a bit under the weather, a simple walk in nature could help.
So next time you start to feel anxious or stressed, or overwhelmed and lacking clarity, think about heading outside. Don't overlook the importance of unwinding in a natural environment. It's vital for your health and overall wellbeing to spend some time in your favorite nature spots—unwinding and just taking it all in.
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With our busy lives, it's easy to forget to unwind. If you're ready to start making time to refresh and recharge, then you'll want to ensure that you're scheduling it in. One of the best tools today for organizing a hectic life is Day Designer—an intuitively-designed daily planner that makes it easier to prioritize, allowing you to fit in more of what matters most. Shop for your planner today or try our FREE daily planning page to see just how well it works for you!