July 2007

It’s the first documentary of its kind by an Arab about Darfur. It’s very vivid and it comes with tons of interviews. Those who understand Arabic will find it extremely revealing (non-Arabic speakers, don’t worry there are English subtitles). Click here.

Heh?

Funding for tertiary courses in prostitution could be considered under changes aimed at boosting quality and relevance in the sector, New Zealand education officials say.

But MPs on parliament’s education and science select committee were told today that although courses in the world’s oldest profession might be considered if providers put them forward, they would still have to meet tight criteria to get funding.

*Scratching head*… interesting…

They still continue to make it through into Israel. A few hundred have already gathered.Some are for, others are against.

I spent 268 hours making sure that Darfur Stoves is not a Jewish conspiracy against Darfur. I was satisfied after convincing myself it isn’t. Now I come across THIS project, Solar powered stoves for Darfur… from the Jewish World Watch and I think to myself “how stupid and naive could you be Drima?”

Next time I will spend 687 hours making sure this all isn’t a Jewish conspiracy. 268 hours is not enough. All Jews are evil. I knew it! This concert which took place about a month ago in Israel is further proof.

I’ve been looking for decent pictures of this for a fairly long time. Still can’t find any but this is the best I’ve come across so far. Thanks Amjad!

The waters never mix and I was told both retain their own unique properties. It’s truly amazing! You have to be there to really see it.

UPDATE: This is what the logo of alSunut symbolizes:

Interesting…

(Mubarak al-Fadil)

KHARTOUM, July 15 (Reuters) - Sudanese authorities have arrested 17 people including opposition leader Mubarak al-Fadil and retired military officers, accusing them of trying to overthrow the government, state security leaders said on Sunday.

Fadil and Abdel Jalil al-Basha, both of the Umma breakaway party, were arrested in the early hours of Saturday morning. Fadil’s party denied the accusations.

“Their plan was to overthrow the government, but it was very weak,” Mohamed Abdallah Atta, deputy head of Sudan’s state security organ, told reporters. “They were ready to fight for seven days,” he added.

He said the group had wanted to execute their plan on July 15 but, lacking arms and soldiers, they had decided to delay and meet again on July 20. Lacking support, they planned instead to cause chaos in the capital.

Atta said the group planned to bring 1,000 conscripts from South Kordofan state in central Sudan, but only 30 had arrived in the capital.

He said Fadil was the group coordinator and was now in Kobar prison, but others were still being questioned by state security. Those charged would be taken to court, he added.

Atta said contacts had been made with undisclosed foreign countries, but said no neighbouring Arab country was involved.

And then…

July 16, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government accused the US for the first time of involvement in a sabotage plot foiled yesterday.

US Embassy in Khartoum responds…

July 16, 2007 (KHARTOUM, Sudan) — The American embassy in Khartoum denied Monday allegations by Sudanese officials that the U.S. was involved in an alleged plot to destabilize the government.

“We categorically deny any connection with this alleged conspiracy,” the U.S. embassy said in a statement.

Hehehehe… I’m finding this finger pointing really amusing. But seriously though, I’m quite skeptical about this so called attempted coup. I’m even way more skeptical America had anything to do with it. After all the NCP is cooperating with the CIA extensively. Why mess that up? It’s all just distractions from important issues I say.

I asked a few people about their reactions and read some by other Sudanese. Iraq’s experience is what most fear (that includes me). A few year’s ago before the invasion, I remember people would usually be happy to hear or contemplate this kind of stuff. Now? “Nope, too risky, we don’t want Khartoum turning into another Baghdad” they say.

New Yorkers, if you’re interested you could go check it out on the 21st of July. Click here for more info.

Stoves that save lives. Cool! I just found out about them via Black Kush:

How can stoves that use fire wood safe lives in Darfur? Strange, but it is something that is happening. A group of scientists have built a special stove that uses less firewood [75% less] for effective cooking. Result: it reduces the number of trips to gather firewood, thus less chances of attacks and rapes.

Here is the project’s website. I hope that none of the people involved are Jewish, otherwise it could be a dangerous conspiracy.

I found this hilarious. It can apply to other countries too, not just Malaysia. LOL!

Some good news for the people of Darfur:

July 15, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan and a splinter rebel faction from Darfur have signed on Sunday a peace agreement in the Egyptian capital, the official SUNA reported today.

The Sudanese government and a breakaway faction from the Justice and Equality Movement, (JEM) led by Ibrahim Yahia Abdelrahaman, signed an agreement in Cairo according to which leadership of the former rebel faction would return to the Sudan and engage in dialogue for resolution of issues of difference.

Sudan has inked this deal with a small rebel faction while International mediators in the Darfur crisis, who met in Libya, discussed ways to bring all the Darfur rebel groups to negotiate with Khartoum to end the four year conflict.

More to sign hopefully.

UPDATE: Even better news. One of the really messy things about this conflict is that the rebels themselves aren’t united and have different agendas which makes reaching political agreements very difficult. But now…

July 14, 2007 (ASMARA) — Five Darfur rebel groups agreed on Saturday to unite ahead of possible peace talks to end a four-year conflict in the region which so far has defied resolution, in part because of fractious rebel groups.

In a statement to reporters, the new group, the United Front for Liberation and Development (UFLD), called on other rebels in Sudan’s western region to join them.

That’s a very good development. But their name, oh their wonderful name, it’s a nice set of words. I just hope they really do honor it. It would completely suck if we witness an agreement which stops the war and gives the rebels power only to later witness major corruption by them. This is what’s unfortunately happening with SPLM in South Sudan. Check out Black Kush’s post on the issue.

I like the balanced narrative he provides:

Andrew Natsios told a news conference in Khartoum following a visit to Darfur that both sides were to blame for the conflict that has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

… A May 2006 Darfur peace deal was signed by only one rebel faction. Since then rebels have split into a dozen groups. “Some of them are descending into warlordism and criminality and this is not a good trend in Darfur, which is all the more reason why we need to accelerate the political process for a peace agreement,” Natsios said.

“Some rebel leaders are cynically obstructing the peace process and the United States government is very disturbed by this. It needs to end now,” he continued.

I’ve said 2 things many times before and I’ll say them again:

1- Both sides need to be pressured, both.

2- This is not a “good Vs evil” kind of story. It’s “bad Vs worse”.

Ah, yes finally. I’m back again. Been way too busy. Done with my internship which lasted for about half a year and now getting ready to go back to my campus. Blogging to resume in about 12 hours. Need to get some sleep now.

UPDATE: By the way, I’m in the process of evolving this blog and I’d really appreciate some feedback from you. What do you like the most about it? What changes do you suggest to make it better in terms of topics covered and also in terms of design? Please share your thoughts if you have any. Thanks!

Sigh! Me sincerely apologize to you all. I’m doing fine and well but just busy with a few things. Blog techie issues also need to be fully resolved. It should take a few days, hopefully 2 or 3 at the most. After that I’ll be back in business with lots of posts. Cheers!

Coooooooool!

More later.