June 2007

Me liked this article on Business Week. Maybe you will too. Bloomberg for President? New Yorkers what do you think? I don’t like Giuliani. I’d prefer to see John McCain win from the Elephant side since he’s someone I actually have respect for. Even though I don’t agree with all his views, I think he’s the best the Elephants have to offer. The rest, either I don’t know much about or I just don’t like. As for Bloomberg, I don’t much about him except for what I just read in this pro-Bloomberg article. And in case you’re wondering, from the Donkey side, I’d prefer to see Hillary. Not so sure about Obama anymore (even though he’s such a good and passionate speaker compared to boring robotic Hillary. Seriously, I’m not American and even I was moved by this, [forward to 3:20]).

Bleh, I have a headache. If only Colin Powell was running for President. Making a choice could have been a lot easier. Americans, enjoy your ‘08 elections! They’re going to be of paramount importance for the future of your country and the Middle East.

Hilarious!

Here we have a man, who is no longer a Muslim, and which most of the Muslim world claims to hate (certainly the fundamentalists do), get knighted by a nation, UK, which formerly colonized most of the Muslim world. Upon his knighthood, the hardline clerics in both Pakistan and Iran become extremely upset.

There is something wrong with that picture. If the hardliners hate Rushdie, they shouldn’t really give a flying f*ck whether he gets knighted, abducted by aliens, or anally probed. Yet the fundos care very much about all those when it comes to Rushdie. Why? Get a life, you freaking losers. He doesn’t like you. Not only that, but he actually left the faith you both once shared. He dislikes you that much. Stop acting like a stalking ex-boyfriend and leave him alone. The best revenge — if that is what you want — is to ignore him, not keep having ejaculations every time you hear about him. That just gives him more power over you.

LOL! But hey seriously, I won’t be surprised if this turns into another “cartoon fest” and gets blown out of proportion. Let’s hope it doesn’t.

UPDATE: More reactions I agree with…

Once you get an itch, sometimes it really doesn’t stop, does it? You scratch and scratch, and eventually you realise that your scratching has made the problem much worse than it was at the beginning.

I really despair of my fellow Muslims. It’s like a Pavlovian reaction. Mention the name “Salman Rushdie”, and rhetorical filth and insanity starts pouring out. When will we learn that the whole story of Salman Rushdie has been an unmitigated PR disaster for the Muslims and the image of Islam?

I’ve written elsewhere about the pitfall trap phenomenon: Muslims know that there’s a nasty hole in front of them, filled with sharp sticks like press freedom and human rights, but can they stop themselves from jumping in?

No, it’s just too tempting for some retards. More here also:

So, once again, the response has to be direct and straight forward: no compromise on freedom of conscience; no compromise on freedom of expression; no compromise on freedom of speech. Forget if people’s religious sensibilities are hurt. They will have to get over it and live with it like all the rest of us whose sensibilities are assailed by burning tires, burning cars, strikes, and demagoguery.

You know what? Make that super strong partner.

WASHINGTON — Sudan has secretly worked with the CIA to spy on the insurgency in Iraq, an example of how the U.S. has continued to cooperate with the Sudanese regime even while condemning its suspected role in the killing of tens of thousands of civilians in Darfur.

Yaaaay to my government! Next time I visit the United States I won’t be held for 2 hours of questioning or “soft interrogations”. There will be a red carpet spread before me as I descend from my plane. By then Paris Hilton will already be out of jail and she’ll be anxiously waiting for me in person at the airport by the open door of a stretched Hummer limo. Oprah will be waiting there too with lots of cotton candy specially prepared for me. They’ll kneel on the ground, kiss my hand and proclaim “oh citizen of the great Sudan, we are so delighted to have you here amongst us. What an honor it is to be kneeling before you. We welcome you with wide-open arms, as all Sudanese citizens ought to be welcomed. After all, your glorious government is aiding ours in our fight against super evil al-Qaeda. Together we shall defeat them, together we shall be glorious and together we shall bring them to justice.”

More later… (and more also on Sudan’s conditional acceptance of UN troops in Darfur).

UPDATE:

Okay, it’s now time for some serious thoughts. First of all, what the hell is the LA Times doing releasing such a report at this time? By revealing that some Sudanese in Iraq are spying for the US, they’ve basically made most, if not all Sudanese there a target for al-Qaeda. Great. Let’s celebrate!

Most of the things stated in the article are old news. I found nothing new except for the fact that Sudan is helping the US spy in Iraq. I’ve always known there was cooperation between the Sudanese intelligence and the CIA but I didn’t know it was that extensive. However I expect many people who are in the dark to find this news very surprising, which brings us to the lovely question of how the US can praise and partner with a government which at the same time it accuses of genocide. Why the contradicting behavior and continuing mixed signals? Here are my summarized observations.

There is a struggle within the US government on what to do about Darfur, hence the mixed signals and contradicting behavior.

Bush values the Sudanese intel on terror (which I presume has started increasing in value again recently). That’s why if you examine the sanctions closely, they aren’t really meant to be tough sanctions but a warning. The White House’s language towards Sudan was very hostile previously. It isn’t anymore but that’s not to say that the White House has stopped pressuring Sudan.

Darfur is not really a high priority for Bush. Maybe even he himself, just like Natsios doesn’t regard it as genocide anymore. Of course he can’t say that openly. Moreover he can’t give that impression at all. He and his party are accountable to voters. Natsios is not. That’s why he’s pretty straightforward when compared to Bush. Plus Natsios after visiting Sudan a few times now seems to understand the situation well. I’ve noticed how his opinions have enhanced since the time he took up the position. He also seems to understand that intervention will do little to solve the problem and achieve long-term peace.

On the other hand, I’ve noticed from news reports that almost every high government official who has recently called for intervention and bombing Sudan is a left-leaning liberal or a Donkey. The Elephant right doesn’t really have Darfur on its radar (even though there are some within it who have regime change in mind). The Elephant right is way more concerned with Iraq, Iran’s nuclear program, Afghanistan, terrorism etc.

Also during the Clinton era, the American approach towards Sudan was very isolationist. It isn’t really so under Bush at the moment. As for now, we can be certain about one thing. The labeling party has begun. Sudan and America, the new hypocrites, or so some people say.

Anyways, I’m glad there’s cooperation between both sides. Besides kicking Turabi out of government and putting him on house arrest previously, this is another move by al-Bashir which I support. We’ve got to focus on doing what’s in our interests as Sudanese.

As for Sudan’s acceptance of UN-AU troops in Darfur, do not forget that it is conditional. There are demands that the force be fully comprised of soldiers from African countries and that it be under AU control. Those 2 things still need to be worked out. I wasn’t so excited when I first heard the news since I thought it was the old usual “let’s waste more time” tactic. I view things differently now. I’m actually quite ecstatic over the development but I’m just being a little cautious and I’d advise you to be too.

Sorry, still super busy but here’s a well-written and straightforward post on Darfur and AI’s latest initiative related to the conflict. Here’s Colin Powell on Guantanamo and finally the news of Norman Finkelstein’s tenure denial.

I found this both extremely interesting and damn amusing. It had me laughing really hard. The title chosen by whoever uploaded it is pretty dumb and misleading though. Anyways, check it out. It’s only a minute and a half long.

I was so happy when I read this article and I’m really hoping that this initiative comes into being. Good luck guys. Long live the blogosphere and all bloggers sitting behind their keyboards dreaming of freedom and demoracy! May we all live to see and smell that day.

(Thanks for the link Jennifer! Hope your Dishy Duds T-shirts are selling well )

Hardly anything bad is happening in Darfur. There’s little violence. Everything has been over exaggerated by those evil filthy Zionist CrUSAder piggy apes. 200,000 dead? A hundred thousand dead? 50,000 dead? Are you nuts?!! Only 9,000 have died so far. Not just that, but they only either died from malnutrition or disease. That’s it. Full stop. End of story. Let’s get on with our “lovely” lives. Let’s continue drowning in victimhood. Blame the smelly Jooooooooooz! They’re the root of all evil. Bleh, whatever.

Thank you Amnesty International for this stunning website! Stunning, absolutely stunning.

Amnesty International USA’s unprecedented Eyes On Darfur project leverages the power of high-resolution satellite imagery to provide unimpeachable evidence of the atrocities being committed in Darfur - enabling action by private citizens, policy makers and international courts. Eyes On Darfur also breaks new ground in protecting human rights by allowing people around the world to literally “watch over” and protect twelve intact, but highly vulnerable, villages using commercially available satellite imagery.

Oh and just in case you didn’t know, many if not most Israelis consider Amnesty International to be biased against Israel.

Hello dear readers. Sorry, posting will be light in the coming 2 weeks. I’ve got many things coming up during that period and I won’t be so free to blog every day. Just letting you know. Ya’ll take care.
Cheers!

Surprise, surprise, Sudanese girls and boys in da house (especially you naive ones)! Allow me to introduce to you Ali, a gay Sudanese who blogs at BlackGayArab. I just discovered his blog today!

So, what’s your reaction? Sooner or later this was going to happen you know. Do you think it’s real… or is it just some fake blog by a stupid guy trying to tarnish the image of Sudan? Worse still, it could even be a Jewish conspiracy.

Ah, the wonders the blogosphere can bring these days.

UPDATE: Ali responds.

This was so difficult for me to read. It’s too damn heart breaking. I swear, I can’t believe how some people can manage to do this shit to other human beings and not even be bothered by it. Don’t they feel a single ounce of guilt?

I witnessed such treatment with my own eyes during my childhood days in Qatar, kids as young as 9 slapping their maids and spitting in their face. I still remember how disgusted I used to be seeing it all. This is nothing less than slavery.

Besides Sudanese intelligence and the CIA cooperating on terrorism issues and a recent report describing Sudan as a strong partner in the war on terrorism, we have something else which I just discovered. This. Andrew Natsios, the US envoy to Sudan is basically saying there’s no more genocide in Darfur.

On one hand you’ve got Bush saying it’s genocide, and on the other you’ve got his own envoy to Sudan saying it’s not anymore. Wonderful. Mixed signals give me serious headaches.

Did you guys notice something about the recently announced sanctions on Sudan? There are numerous rebel leaders playing their part in running the Darfur show, but only one got singled out.

The companies named by the Treasury Department yesterday include a sugar producer, an automobile company and a vegetable oil producer. The administration also singled out two senior officials — Ahmad Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and Awad ibn Auf, the country’s director of military intelligence — and Khalil Ibrahim, leader of a rebel group called the Justice and Equality Movement.

Why only Khalil Ibrahim? What makes him different from other rebel leaders? Maybe this ought to explain it.

1-

Turabi often referred to Osama bin Laden as a hero. More recently, the United Nations and human rights experts have accused Turabi of backing one of Darfur’s key rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement, in which some of his top former students are leaders.

2-

Dr Khalil Ibrahim, a protege of Islamist hardliner Dr Hasan al-Turabi. Formed in November 2002, JEM is increasingly recognised as being part and parcel of Dr Turabi’s Popular Congress.

So the one with ties to Turabi got targeted and those with no ties weren’t even mentioned. Is that it? Hmmmm…