February 2007

Yes, I do. I hate my damn internet service provider. Grrrrrr!! Oh ya and remember the thing I told you about my brother who’s here on holiday? Well, multiply that by ten. My uncle, his wife and their 2 years old baby boy are now also here. Last but not least, I HATE spam. I HATE it!

I’m really getting sick and tired of all these so called “scholars” who interpret the “beating verse” in their own twisted way. I vehemently oppose them. We need more Laleh Bakhtiars:

Laleh Bakhtiar, whose English translation of the Qur’an (the first done by a woman) is due out in the spring, brings the session of ijtihad to a close by discussing what she learned about the Qur’an through personal study. Take the controversial verse 4:34. Conventional translation of it reads, “Husbands who fear adversity on the part of wives, admonish them, leave their bed, and beat them.”

But how could the Qur’an instruct men to beat their wives, Bakhtiar asks. After consulting numerous Muslim scholars and conducting her own in-depth study, she concluded that the Arabic root word “drb” (which has always been translated to “beat”) also means “to go away.”

So she translated the verse to be “Husbands who fear adversity on the part of wives, admonish them, leave their bed, and go away.” Now that’s major ijtihad. “We must deal with inconsistencies in the Qur’an,” she says, because the Qur’an is not wrong. The mistakes come, Bakhtiar says, in how we interpret it.

G. Willow Wilson also said the following:

…‘yidrab’ is almost always used in modern Arabic to mean ‘to beat’; but that doesn’t mean it was used this way 1,400 years ago. Part of the reason we have Wahhabis running about sporting the Abrahim Lincoln beard is because they are reading ‘yihla’ as ‘to cut off’ [one's mustache] (its colloquial modern meaning) when in classical Arabic it means ‘to trim’. Hilarity ensues.

For more on the issue check this video out.

I had a weird dream last night. I can’t really remember it well since it’s vague by now but let me tell you about it anyways. I don’t remember how it started but apparently somehow I ended up in Canada studying for a Masters Degree. I then met a lovely Jewish girl there, fell in love with her and got married. I wish I can remember what happened next but I can’t, so I guess we won’t ever know. Oh well, at the least the Jewish chick was nice.

A huge thank you to the American Islamic Congress and all others involved for launching a Muslim and Arab initiative to help the people in Darfur. This is my only post for today.

(hat tip: Ali Eteraz)

The “he”, I’m talking about is some arrogant Arab weirdo, I had the displeasure of meeting recently through a guy I know here. Now this weirdo is one of those guys who made up some crazy  story to get asylum in America to stay and enjoy the good economic benefits of being there. This shouldn’t come as shocking. I know a number of true stories about people who lied just to get asylum in America for the same reasons. However this guy who ended up becoming an American citizen about 10 years ago is very different. While conversing about random stuff, we started talking about politics and the question of who he voted for during the previous elections popped up. His answer? He voted for Bush the first time because of his stance regarding moral issues. After that 9/11 happened and America invaded Iraq. Things changed. Kerry wanted out but Bush wanted to stay the course and staying the course meant American troops staying in Iraq longer which in turn meant the pile of dead American soldiers getting higher which ultimately resulted and apparently continues to result in a bigger smile on his face!! Lovely right? Ungrateful hypocrite retards like this guy truly amaze me. Americans, you seriously need to start implementing lie detector tests during asylum interviews. I’m not joking!

Remember those death threats they got after this? Do you remember this too? Well it looks like their career ain’t over. They just won a freaking Grammy. I guess we can now safely say that the Dixie Chicks are back in business. Anyways, me think Shania Twain is better.

Oh those damn hidden evil dark forces, how I hate them. Read it all if you have time. Very informative… and quite depressing.

Sorry, me busy again. Please bear with me. Blogging will resume soon. Meanwhile I encourage you to check out the posts of my fellow Sudanese bloggers.

And now I leave you with Akon’s best song ever. Mama Africa! If the bassline doesn’t make you want to move your body, then there’s something really wrong with you!

UPDATE: It seems like Akon’s “Mama Africa” is a remake of this song. Here’s the original called “Dem Gone“.

LOL, I know, I know. Now this might be old news to some of you but hey what the hell. Alright so yesterday a friend came up to me and told me something along the following lines: “ey yo man, did you know that the filthy Christian British architects who designed Burj Al-Arab secretly included a Cross in the building’s design? After the project was finished and the architects got paid all their money, one of them broke out the secret about their dirty accomplishment, the biggest Christian Cross in the Muslim world. Can you believe this crap? This is a freaking insult to Muslims!”… Oh well, so I did a little research and behold! I present to you the biggest Christian Cross in the Muslim World:

Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, UAE
There was a considerable controversy regarding the claim that the structure looks like a huge Christian cross when viewed by anyone sailing into city. Some locals claim that this was an intentional move on the part of the British architects. This issue is more ironic when one considers that the Tower of the Arabs is widely considered to be Dubai’s most important landmark.

View A_Steyn’s map

Taken in Dubayy, (See more photos here)

25°8′ 45″ N, 55°11′ 18″ E25.14590655.188446

Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, UAE
There was a considerable controversy regarding the claim that the structure looks like a huge Christian cross when viewed by anyone sailing into city. Some locals claim that this was an intentional move on the part of the British architects. This issue is more ironic when one considers that the Tower of the Arabs is widely considered to be Dubai’s most important landmark.

Ya right! LOL. This is kinda like me looking at the shape of the clouds in the sky only to start seeing something… oh no… a shape… crap, it looks like a cartoon. HUH!! Oh no they DID NOT!! Another cartoon? In the sky this time? Oh those evil bloody filthy cunning Zionist CrUSAders! They just keep getting smarter with their dirty games and insults.

Jihaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!

UPDATE: I just wanted to clarify something. My friend is not in the habbit of calling all people from other religions “filthy”. He just thinks the evil ones are… ehm ehm… in this case the British architects. Oh ya and there’s one more thing he told me. The cross isn’t just a cross. It’s also facing Mecca! Oh well… sigh! The conspiracy theories continue.

It has begun!

President Bush has approved a plan for the Treasury Department to aggressively block U.S. commercial bank transactions connected to the government of Sudan, including those involving oil revenues, if Khartoum continues to balk at efforts to bring peace to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, government officials said yesterday.

The Treasury plan is part of a secret three-tiered package of coercive steps — labeled “Plan B” — that the administration has repeatedly threatened to unleash if Sudan continues to sponsor a campaign of terror that has left as many as 450,000 dead and 2.5 million homeless. But the administration has held back on any announcement of Plan B, even after setting a Jan. 1 deadline, in hopes of still winning Khartoum’s cooperation.

The delays have increased skepticism that the administration is willing to risk potential diplomatic and commercial fallout from targeting Khartoum.

The U.S. plan would put pressure on Darfur rebel leaders who have refused to participate in peace talks or who have targeted humanitarian groups operating in the region, officials said. The information on Plan B was provided by officials in four government agencies on the condition of anonymity because the administration had not planned on releasing details yet.

Some aspects of Plan B have already been stealthily launched, such as stationing four U.S. Army colonels last month as observers on the Sudan-Chad border in full view of Sudanese intelligence. The unannounced move was intended as a signal to Khartoum, which the administration accuses of launching a “quiet war” against Chad’s government to widen the Darfur conflict.

Meanwhile Bush has confirmed the plan for a US command in Africa:

U.S. President George W. Bush confirmed plans Tuesday for the Pentagon to set up an Africa Command to oversee its operations there.

“This new command will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa,” Bush said in a statement. “Africa command will enhance our efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa and promote our common goals of development, health, education, democracy and economic growth in Africa.”

As for US military action against Sudan, it seems unlikely (for now) at least according to this. As soon as I have some time, I’ll blog an analysis of these latest events. China won’t be left out.

A lovely post that put a smile on my face. Will this get major coverage? I doubt it. I mean hey, it’s not like this ever got any real coverage. Right? More here.

I don’t have much time to blog today and I don’t think I’ll be blogging for a day or two. Anyways, for now I thought maybe this would be interesting to post here for everyone to see. It’s a bit personal and was written in a rush but it will give you an idea of what’s going on inside my head. I left the following comment on a great blog called The Benin Epilogue Part 1: African-Read for Business:

I’m not sure how my plans will start rolling. I’d love to go back to Sudan and start a company there asap. The time is perfect with all the investment happening now. I have the connections there and elsewhere in other countries. I am afraid of one thing though. Maybe you can give me your thoughts on it. I have some older friends who went back and started companies. They’re doing well but there’s one thing they ALL have in common. They ALL had to bribe a few people to get things going. This is the sad reality of Sudan. It’s a dilemma for me honestly. I hate the corruption in Sudan and I oppose it. I want it to go away but if I do as others do then I simply contribute and become a part of it. That will make me a hypocrite. It won’t improve Sudan. It will just make it worse. Entrepreneurship should be about creating development, generating employment for the unemployed, providing experience and skills to the inexperienced, moving people slowly towards a knowledge based economy etc.

My friends keep telling me that when you start, you have to play by the existing rules of the game even if you don’t like them and by the time you’re in the game, you can start changing the rules. I say that’s crap. Maybe I’m taking this too emotionally, I don’t know. All I know is that this is a challenge I need to overcome.

Here’s what Benin Mwangi had to say in reply. It’s very interesting and insightful. Thanks BW. I appreciate your thoughts. I really do.

Sigh!

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide truck bomber struck a market in a predominantly Shiite area of Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 121 people and wounding scores among the crowd buying food for evening meals, the most devastating strike in the capital in more than two months.

The attacker was driving a truck carrying food when he detonated his explosives, destroying stores and stalls that had been set up in the busy outdoor Sadriyah market, police said.

The late-afternoon explosion was the latest in a series of attacks against mainly Shiite commercial targets in the capital. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but it appeared to be part of a bid by Sunni insurgents to provoke retaliatory violence and kill as many people as possible ahead of a planned U.S.-Iraqi security sweep.

Mortars reportedly struck predominantly Sunni areas hours after the attack.

Until when?! I had the impression that things might be improving in Iraq while reading the posts at ITM. Will the situation get much worse before it gets any better? Grrrrr… damn it, I don’t even know what to say about this shit anymore. If there was a button I could push that would wipe away all those filthy animals from existance, I would push it in a second. And after ALL THIS, they’re so damn sure they’d end up in heaven to enjoy their virgins! Sick butchers! No, wait are they really? Oh no no no, this is the doing of evil Zionist CrUSAders using the “divide and control” methodology. At least that’s what some guys I know keep saying. Sigh!